TWO COOKIE JARS
THREE CARVING TOOLS
FOUR GHOSTS
FIVE JACK-O-LANTERN LIGHTS
SIX YELLOW LEAVES
(just go with me on this--they really
wanted leaves)
SEVEN HALLOWEEN SONGS
TEN HALLOWEEN BOOKS
and
Grandmas may need to get out their
glasses for:
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Colorful
 |
| Honeymoon-- January 1997 |
Sometimes laundry, endless mess,
and the continuous needs of my family
seem to turn my "happily ever after"
to a monotonous gray.
But, if I can get a little rest and look
at life from a different perspective,
I see that my family is what makes my life
COLORFUL.
and the continuous needs of my family
seem to turn my "happily ever after"
to a monotonous gray.
But, if I can get a little rest and look
at life from a different perspective,
I see that my family is what makes my life
COLORFUL.
Isaac 2006
Kimball and Evan 2005
Evan 2006
Isaac and Josie 2006
Evan and Josie 2006
Kimball 1998
Kimball 2006
Isaac and Mat 2006
Josie 2008
Evan 2009
Ambra and Mat 2010Friday, October 8, 2010
Fall = Football
In our house, fall equals football.
It has taken me years to get used to this concept as I tried to fit football into the schedule as if it were a regular activity instead of
THE ACTIVITY.
This year, with both Kimball and Evan playing (and Isaac helping them practice), we have football everyday except on Sunday.
Football practice always runs from 5pm to 7pm. "But, that's dinner time!" you cry? Yes, it is. The past few years I've wrestled with football practice and lost. I tried getting dinner on the table early. I tried eating dinner together after practice. I tried everyone attending practice and enjoying the fresh air. I tried everything I could think of not to miss out on the family time.
This year, Mat informed me that Kimball had practice Mon, Wed, Fri and Evan was on Tues/Thurs. I forfeited the match. Football wins again. But, this time without the struggle. Guess what? It worked!
I don't attend practices. I make dinner and we eat at the regular time. Whoever is at football eats when they get home and everyone is happy. Mat and I split up on Saturday to watch games which are often scheduled at the same time. I found out I like watching football a lot more without hearing Mat's knowledgeable comments and analysis. I like to be blissfully watching my boys and telling myself how well they are doing. I sometimes even cheer for both teams (if the other team is losing badly and I feel sorry for them). These things I can never get away with when Mat is close by.
The top picture in the collage is my favorite. It is Kimball and Mat running the chains for Evan's game. It is my reminder that, maybe, we're not missing out on family time after all.
Now, if only I could get used to March Madness...
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Homeschooling Josie
(My genius friend, Angie, had an adorable slide show on her blog whichlead me to discover a website called Picnik. I LOVE it! Making collages
is so much fun.)
is so much fun.)
My sister, Cama, always teases me that I like to play "The Glad Game." For those of you who have never seen the movie Pollyanna, I'll explain. All you need to do to play The Glad Game is look on the bright side of EVERYTHING. Pollyanna says there usually is a bright side no matter how bad things get.
Well, I found the bright side to Josie's broken leg. I get to homeschool her this year. And, we are having so much fun.
She was all set to attend Bright Beginnings Preschool with Miss Karen like she did last year, but her trampoline accident and immediate surgery squashed those plans. She has a metal plate and five screws in her left tibia(shin bone), and just a good old fashion break in her fibula(the little bone next to the tibia). So, she has been through three casts these past 6 weeks and has more to come as the year marches on.
It's nice to have her home with me. I homeschooled Kimball for preschool and kindergarten until we moved to Loveland in March of 2004. But, both Evan and Isaac attended preschool. Evan, who's currently in third grade, still talks about the "glory days" of preschool.
"That was the best! You worked a little and then played. You sang and then played some more," he reminisces.
I put her in preschool because she wants so much to be big and go to school like her brothers. I also thought she might find some little girls to play with, but the two children she chose as her best friends were both boys. Oh well, I can't deny that boys are fun. I had considered keeping her home this year to spend more time with her, but I didn't want to disappoint her. So, I guess the broken leg wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. Let's just all pray it heals as completely as the doctor assures me it will.
Until then, I'll try to soak up the extra time with her and enjoy it. The pictures above show a few things we've done. We have played games and learned to say "Good game" to each other whether we win or lose. We learned all about mixing colors to make new ones. We built a cardboard doll house that she is still coloring on. And, I made two charts to remind us both to keep track of all she's learning. She earns stickers for a Treasure Box prize for doing her handwriting and math work. She gets to put an "X" in a box on her Book Count for each book we read. When the Book Count chart is full, she gets to pick out a book at Barnes and Noble. Also, I get to use the calendar and weather chart I made when Kimball was little.
How can I not be enjoying this opportunity that life handed me to homeschool Josie?
Well, I found the bright side to Josie's broken leg. I get to homeschool her this year. And, we are having so much fun.
She was all set to attend Bright Beginnings Preschool with Miss Karen like she did last year, but her trampoline accident and immediate surgery squashed those plans. She has a metal plate and five screws in her left tibia(shin bone), and just a good old fashion break in her fibula(the little bone next to the tibia). So, she has been through three casts these past 6 weeks and has more to come as the year marches on.
It's nice to have her home with me. I homeschooled Kimball for preschool and kindergarten until we moved to Loveland in March of 2004. But, both Evan and Isaac attended preschool. Evan, who's currently in third grade, still talks about the "glory days" of preschool.
"That was the best! You worked a little and then played. You sang and then played some more," he reminisces.
I put her in preschool because she wants so much to be big and go to school like her brothers. I also thought she might find some little girls to play with, but the two children she chose as her best friends were both boys. Oh well, I can't deny that boys are fun. I had considered keeping her home this year to spend more time with her, but I didn't want to disappoint her. So, I guess the broken leg wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. Let's just all pray it heals as completely as the doctor assures me it will.
Until then, I'll try to soak up the extra time with her and enjoy it. The pictures above show a few things we've done. We have played games and learned to say "Good game" to each other whether we win or lose. We learned all about mixing colors to make new ones. We built a cardboard doll house that she is still coloring on. And, I made two charts to remind us both to keep track of all she's learning. She earns stickers for a Treasure Box prize for doing her handwriting and math work. She gets to put an "X" in a box on her Book Count for each book we read. When the Book Count chart is full, she gets to pick out a book at Barnes and Noble. Also, I get to use the calendar and weather chart I made when Kimball was little.
How can I not be enjoying this opportunity that life handed me to homeschool Josie?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
It's Cake
One of the reasons I like to scrapbook and blog is because, when I look back on the pictures, I look for the good stuff. I skip over the ones that reveal the messy house behind the kid.
I can look at the smiles and completely forget that I stayed up until one in the morning making those paper reindeer for the top of Isaac's cake.
I can grin to myself knowing that the reason I put the water for the seal right in the middle of Josie's Pet Shop cake was because the cake had a big dent in it.
I can remember how Evan loves to watch me decorate and hovers asking me to squirt frosting on his finger.
I can remember that Kimball wasn't always too old for a character cake.
I can forget the fact that Mat would rather have pie. Forget all the work behind the birthday party and feel for a few small moments that this thing called life isn't all that hard. It's cake.
I can remember that Kimball wasn't always too old for a character cake.
I can forget the fact that Mat would rather have pie. Forget all the work behind the birthday party and feel for a few small moments that this thing called life isn't all that hard. It's cake.
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