It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas

We put up our tree today, but we're going to wait to put any ornaments on for about a week. This is Midnight and Bella's first Christmas, and we want to see whether they will be tree climbers before adding decorations! I know we'll need to find a different place to put our more breakable, blown-glass ornaments for the first few years, but hopefully everything else will be able to go on as usual. Olivia helped out by sweeping up the needles that fell during the assembly all by herself.

Get Wet!

What's better than a day at a fun water park with friends? A day at a fun water park when the weather outside is in the 50s! Great Wolf Lodge is an indoor waterpark that maintains a constant indoor temperature of 84 degrees. There is something for everyone to enjoy: a huge fort to climb in and explore, a splash pool with basketball and anchored floats for climbing, tons of slides ranging from tame to thrilling, and an area for little kids that doesn't go over 18-inches deep. We all had so much fun and can't wait to go back again.

Friends for a Decade

How is it possible that an entire decade has passed since Ryan and Samantha were born? Their friendship has grown through the years, and is still as strong as ever, despite their geographical distance. They both eagerly anticipate visits, and have the beautiful, easy kind of relationship that slips back into familiarity whenever they're together. This year, they really wanted to celebrate their birthdays together. Obviously a joint party wasn't feasible since they have different friends who live in different states, but the week after their big day we got together and spent two days at the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC because Sam's family spent Thanksgiving with Steph's family in North Carolina.

We had a great time in the water park, we embarassed them by singing at the restaurant for dinner (the waitresses had all the dinner guests hum The Chicken Dance while they did the movements), and they exercised their brains going on the MagiQuest at the Lodge. It was an appropriately special way to celebrate their birthdays, and their friendship.

Let the Christmas Season Begin

I am firmly against having the Christmas season begin in any way, shape, or form before Thanksgiving is over. I did make one concession, which was to buy the kids tiny trees for their bedrooms a few weeks ago when Michael's was having a great sale on them. But they have sat, in their packaging, in my scrapbook room until this morning. Now that the turkey is behind us, they were thrilled to pull out their little trees. I can't wait to see how they choose to decorate them.

Thankful

We have been blessed in so many ways that I can not even begin to count them all. Our health, our family, wonderful friends, our home, food, clothing, and the list would go on. While I would have loved to spend this holiday with family, Kevin's lack of vacation time due to his new job (there's another blessing), mandated that we spend the holiday at home. Our friends, the Sedgleys, were also home this year, so we got together to celebrate this special day of reflection and gratitude. The food was all amazing, and if you have never brined a turkey before roasting it, make sure you do so the next time you have the chance! The turkey is usually the least favorite item on the Thanksgiving table for me, but this year's bird was moist, flavorful, and absolutely scrumptious.

Apple Pie

Ryan requested that I make apple pie for Thanksgiving this year. I found a wonderful recipe in Southern Living for an apple pie with a crumb topping. It was absolutely delicious! And so easy. I'll be making this one again for sure.

I Love a Parade

We knew that our town had a Christmas parade the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but despite living here for over three years, we've never been. But this year was different. The girls got to be in the parade with their dance studio! Riding a float! Imagine their excitement, if you will.

I loved the small-town feel of the parade. Local high schools, dance troupes and scout troops, plus beauty pageant winners and Homecoming queens, shriners and even local businesses (like an OB/GYN practice!) were all represented. The girls had a ball shouting "A! We're Awesome! D! for Dynamite! Friends Forever! All together!" Their dance company is ADFA.

After the parade we went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant with the Huntleys and Sedgleys and got the waiters to sing Happy Birthday to Ryan. He was duly mortified, and we had a great time!

Thankful for Thanksgiving Skits

Parents were invited into the first grade classes today for a short Thanksgiving skit. I had the pleasure of going to two! The students each were assigned one or two letters of the alphabet, and each letter stood for something about the first Thanksgiving. Each student got to stand and read their letter's fact, and after reading the feather was added to a turkey body until the entire turkey was full. Students were allowed to choose whether to be pilgrims or indians (I mean, Native Americans), and I found it interesting that I ended up with one of each.

Wardrobe Change

There was a time that Ryan's wardrobe was quite varied with polo and rugby shirts, T-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts. But not anymore. His wardrobe can best be described as jerseys. And under armor shirts to go under the jerseys. He wears one just about every day. And while he has primarily Panthers jerseys, he is expanding his wardrobe to include jerseys of favorite players on other teams. He would prefer having 7-10 tops comprising his entire wardrobe to a larger number of non-jersey (read: less expensive) tops. It's so interesting watching my kids develop personal style tastes and personalities that are distinct and separate from each other and from mine. It reminds me that I'm doing my job: I'm raising independent people who will one day be out on their own making all of their daily decisions with minimal, if any, input from me or Kevin.

Change of Plans

Upon arriving in West Virginia, we found out that the wedding had been cancelled earlier that afternoon. It's a long story, but ultimately a good decision for Kevin's cousin. Instead we went out for a nice dinner with Kevin's family and then took the kids to get bathing suits so that they could swim in the hotel pool. Ryan was thrilled to not have to get dressed up on his birthday, and said that he had a much better day than he had expected!

Birthday Boy

We're leaving early tomorrow morning for West Virginia for a wedding so we let Ryan open his birthday gifts tonight. He was thrilled when he found his very own iPod nano inside one of his bags.

New Moon Night

I went to see the New Moon movie tonight with 5 fellow-Twilight friends. The midnight showing. And I didn't get any pictures of us! Ugh! But in honor of the festivities, the kids got to have breakfast for dinner.

True Love? Or True Beggar...

Midnight has become quite the milk monster. And he has learned to wrap our children around his little paw! Every morning, he hops up onto our barstools while I'm getting breakfast ready (he actually hops up on the stools whenever I'm cooking at the island). He is completely polite and just sits and watches, but his eyes tend to focus on the milk. Once the kids sit down, he begins to "work the room" in an attempt to coerce them to share. He has about a 100% effectiveness rate, and always gets to finish the bit of milk in the bottoms of their bowls and glasses.

Budget Buster

I've been informed that I need to stop visiting my favorite store. Apparently it is having a negative impact upon our bank account... Wonder if my edict can wait until after the Christmas shopping season?

Crazy Hair Day, Dry Run

Friday is "Crazy Hair Day" at the elementary school. Ryan is in desperate need of a hair cut, but has begged to please wait until Friday afternoon so that the can wear lots of pony tails all over his head. I decided to do a dry run of the kids' hairstyles this evening to make sure that they:

a.) liked them

b.) I could do them easily on Friday morning

The only way Katy would allow me to try the "cone head" style on her was to show her what it looked like on myself first! We had a lot of laughs trying out our crazy 'do's. And as I look at these pictures, I can't get over how much Ryan and Katy look alike.

Monopolizing

While waiting for breakfast to finish baking, the boys struck up a game of Star Wars Monopoly. A nice, quiet, laidback way to spend the morning after a long day and late night. I love how well they all play together, especially given the fact that they range in age from 7 to 12!

Ryan's Just About Birthday Party

We will be in West Virginia for a wedding on Ryan's actual 10th birthday, so we had his party this weekend. He asked for a football sleepover with his closest neighborhood friends plus one school friend. Pappy built a goal post out of PVC pipe and marked out a football field with marking paint on our back yard. The dads acted as referees and the boys played for several hours. I had dinner set up on the patio "concession stand" style, as requested by Ryan. Hotdogs, french fries, chips, soda and no vegetables (also requested by Ryan). The boys got to wind down in the hot tub after dinner, and then played rock band a bit before cake. Then they watched the newest Transformers movie before going to bed. The next morning featured monkey bread and scrambled eggs for breakfast. The boys had a great time, and Ryan remembered to say thank you to Kevin and me for his party without prompting.

Mystery Reader

The girls' teachers have a special time each Friday where a parent or grandparent gets to come in and read to the class. The identity of this person is always a surprise until they arrive. I worked it out with their teachers so that Nana & Pappy could be mystery readers this week. Nana read to Olivia's class on Thursday (they had someone else scheduled for Friday), and Pappy read to Katy's class on Friday. It meant as much to them as it did to the children who enjoyed the stories. Pappy had his group in the palm of his hand with visual aids (a pinecone and an acorn) that related to the book he read, "Little Badger's Just About Birthday."

Sight Word Game

Reading is taught now as a combination of phonics and sight words. The phonics give kids the tools to unlock larger words by sounding them out, but there are a large number of smaller words that they need to learn by sight. These are often those words that tend to defy the "rules" of phonics, or they are just so common that it makes sense to just memorize them. I made flashcards for these sight words back when Ryan was in first grade, and laminated them. They are back in use this year. Olivia really enjoys playing a game with them--she gets to keep all the cards she knows and whoever has the largest pile at the end wins. Nana helped her work through the stack today, and by the end of the "game," Olivia had all the cards in her pile.

Bowl-o-Rama

What to do on a rainy day when grandparents are in town and school is closed for Veteran's Day? Go bowling, of course! Kevin even came along, taking a short break from work (he was working from home). We played two complete games, and everyone bowled all of their frames with no whining or complaining. Lots of laughter--especially when the kids were beating me! With bumpers. Oh man, talk about embarrassing...

Gymnastics Observation Day

We got to watch one of the girls' gymnastics classes this week for parent observation week. I have a whole new level of respect for how hard they are working each class! They always come bubbling out of the studio and head straight for the water fountain. Usually I am trying to get them home so that we can have a late dinner and get them showered and into bed at a semi-decent time. I will be sure to give them time to drink as much as they want after watching this class. Here is a clip showing them working on their backbends and then working to stand up from their bridge. (Olivia is wearing the pink colored top, and Katy is in the skirted bodysuit that is royal blue on top and black on the bottom).

Pappy Time

Nana and Pap are here to visit for a few days this week. Pap couldn't wait to try and stump Ryan with a new Sudoku game! I love watching them spend time together, and wish they could have more time.

Scarecrow Day

The 4th grade at our school places a big emphasis on students meeting or exceeding reading goals each quarter. The goals are based upon the individual student's ability, and are measured by successful completion of reading comprehension tests upon completion of a book. Every student who meets or exceeds their goal is rewarded with some type of celebration at the end of the quarter.

The celebration for the first quarter was a day filled with autumnal activities: building scarecrows with a team of 2 or 3 other students, a yummy snack of warm cider and caramel corn, followed by a picnic lunch and double recess time.

As a typical group of 4th-grade boys, Ryan's team decided to go the scary route when designing their scarecrow...

Let's Hear it for The Boys

Some of the neighborhood men decided to meet up at our local middle school for a game of touch football this morning. Eight guys showed up and it was great to watch them have fun together.

Only a few of the wives and kids tagged along, but those of us there enjoyed the show. Six of the eight girls put together cheers and did cartwheels and pyramid stunts on the sidelines. At first the boys tried to referee their dads, but soon got bored and started playing their own game off the field.

It was a great way to absorb some sunshine and enjoy the beautiful low 70-degree weather.

Jewelry Woes

This morning Olivia asked to look at my jewelry box. I pulled it out and discovered several things:

1. My jewelry box had become a repository of all types of  non-jewelry items. Buttons, teeth from the tooth fairy, ticket stubs, and a variety of Kevin's items had junked it up.

2. I was woefully unorganized. There isn't room for all the little boxes that jewelry tends to come in, so I had started just putting things inside as neatly as possible, but without the boxes. As a result, my necklaces had become a bit messy (put mildly). And my earrings were scattered amongst the different areas, making it difficult to find them.

3. I possess an awful lot of jewelry that I rarely wear. In the 80s and 90s, I wore a fair amount of yellow gold jewelry, but around the time that I had children, I became much more casual in my style. I lean towards my silver baubles because they seem to fit better with my wardrobe (particularly my Troll bracelet!). I can't bring myself to get rid of any of the older jewelry, though, because it all has various sentimental value attached.

So I re-organized a bit, and can find my stuff a bit easier now. Unfortunately during my reorganizing, I got a lot of the necklace chains inadvertantly tangled into quite the gordian knot. It took nearly 4 hours to get the 20+ fine chains finally untangled! Yikes. Hopefully my new system will prevent that from ever happening again.

Dollar Store Decisions

The girls are still easily motivated with trips to the dollar store. They both brought home excellent report cards today, so while Ryan was at a friend's birthday party with Kevin, I took the girls to pick out their reward. They each had $2 to spend. I loved watching the thought that went into selecting their final purchases, although it took nearly an hour for them to both decide what they actually wanted. It's easy to get caught up in the "it's only a dollar" mentality, but I held firm to their budget to teach them that in life we have to make decisions about what we purchase, even if the choice may be hard.

Their final selections? Olivia chose a small hardbound diary that came with a sparkly ink pen, and a lipstick for playing dress-ups. Katy chose a spiral notebook and some blush for playing dress-ups. She also ended up purchasing a purple sparkly lipstick with one dollar of her own money.

What Lies Beneath...

We're getting our carpets cleaned tomorrow. It's the first time in nearly 3 1/2 years that they've been professionally cleaned, and we're quite excited. Some of the areas are in fairly dire need thanks to kids, people not always taking their shoes off in the house, and cat puke. While we have done fairly well with spot cleaning (particularly in regards to the cat puke), the carpets are beginning to look a bit mungey.

In preparation for the big event, I've been cleaning this week, and today we worked on moving furniture. This is what we found lying beneath our large sofa in the family room. Yikes. You'd think we'd never moved it before, when in fact we move it about once a year for this purpose. Notice the large number of cat toys, though. Oreo had gone past his toy years, so those haven't been an issue for a while. Two new kittens have been quite busy batting things about, or so it would appear!

Made Ya Smile!

Knockout Roses Still in Bloom

Little Miss Sunshine

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Blogging

Sorry.
I know it's been a l-o-n-g time. It's been hanging over my head! I've been taking pictures, but just haven't had the time to sit down and get them off my camera and edited and then posted with text. So I'm taking some baby steps here: they're off my camera, and posted. No editing, no text, but it's the best I can do right now. I'll try to add text as I get more caught up, but October has been a hellacious month!

* Kevin traveled for 2 weeks plus one weekend to see his dad
* The kids all got H1N1
* I got a really bad cold that kept me awake for nearly a week
* I'm a co-coordinator for our school's BoxTops 4 Education program, and we had the contest this month and had to have our box tops submitted by October 31st for reimbursement.
* We took a trip to Washington, D.C. with neighbors who had never been one weekend.
* I'm the assistant in training to run the Book Fairs next year, and this month (of course!) was Book Fair month.
* We have a large Halloween party each year, so the preparation and decoration fell primarily on me thanks to Kevin's travels.
* Plus all the normal daily stuff.

I'm not complaining. I'm just explaining. Because the pictures started piling up, and the days started adding up, and I just put this on the back burner and at the bottom of my priority list. I haven't wanted to spend evenings when Kevin has been home upstairs on my computer! And the days are just jam-packed with other things that have to get done.

So here are the pictures from the past 35 days, and I will get the rest of November up later. For now, it's time for bed!

Getting Organized and Making Trades