Today we:
I did not mean to disappear for a week. Life happened. Life was full. We were trying to soak it all up. I think we did our best.
Here is last week in pics, at least from Thursday on:
We went to the indoor trampoline place with our friends. Loved this. It totally wore him out.
He mostly played dodge ball, which is the only explanation I have for his facial expression.
Another morning we spent some time at the park.
Do you see that look on his face. Priceless.
Some of our favorites at the street painting festival.
On the list for this week:
What's on your list?
Jack's face upon opening the door and seeing his best buddy that he hasn't seen since they moved six months ago.
We had an awesome weekend. Our very dear friends, who moved six months ago, came to visit and stay with us. We had a blast. I haven't laughed that hard in ages. My face still hurts from it. So good to see them again.
When I asked Jack if it was a big surprise, he said "Too big of a surprise."
I don't know why this pic won't post right, but it's kind of funny sideways too. :)
This weekend: Battle of the bands in support of our favorite guitarist-- they did awesome! Recovering from a looooong week with very little sleep. Baseball and lacrosse at the park. Staying up too late again, running errands, driving class with the teens, birthday parties, and cleaning.
On the list this week:
What is on your list?
So busy. So much fun. And so much to be thankful for.
Friday we rang the bell for the Salvation Army. This was such a neat experience. It is on the list already for next year.
Jack taking a break for bell-ringing, singing and dancing.
The big kids got a big suprise on Christmas Eve. I love the pics of their faces.
It's not often we can pull a big surprise on them.
Jack decorated some gingerbread men for Santa.
Christmas morning.
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday. :)
The only pic I took this weekend. Sigh. I know.
This weekend was filled with: sleeping in, cleaning up, errands, computer work, more transferring of files, homework, a birthday party, more sleeping in :), errands, meal planning, more cleaning, a movie with the family- Hugo, and friends.
This week is a lot lighter than normal thank goodness. Maybe I can catch up on life.
On the list for this week:
And that is all I have written down! Seems really light. I probably forgot something. :)If not then we'll hit some Christmas fun big time and do some crafting.
What's on your list?
Forgive the slow week on the blog. I have come to the conclusion that I deal with events in my life by taking on projects and apparently having the bff's move away means painting the interior of the house we are renting. Ahh.. yes. We have wanted to do it from the day we moved in, it needed it badly. Today I did a bathroom, the easiest room, and it looks great. Can I just say I hate flat paint. I have been living with it for 4 years and it's time for it to go. Flat paint+kids= walls that never come clean. Now to figure out the logistics of doing all the big rooms.
Maybe I'll just stick with the bathrooms. :) Now on with my post.
My nightstand reading stack. Can you tel what is on my mind? Rhythm, parenting, seasons, learning. It must be fall. :) Some I have read before and just want a refresher. Like Simplicity Parenting. I've read it before, and I'll read it again. I find myself constantly turning to it to remind myself of one thing or another. The "oh yeah, that is why I always thought this was a good idea" kind of reminder. I love that book.
What's on your reading list?
An old school map we picked up this weekend. I have no idea what I am going to do with it. It's huge adn we have a serious lack of wall space already. But we love maps and it was a steal.
The microscope. I have been searching for months for a used one at an affordable price. We saw this at a yard sale this weekend and I took one look at the price and started walking away. My dear husband, knowing how badly I wanted one, offered them half. They took it. I was so excited. The boys played with it all day yesterday. So cool. Now to order some slides.
salt and pepper
A work in progress.
A $5 find that has been entertaining someone all weekend.
We had a fun, busy weekend. We found a new to us, amazing resturant. My new favortie words are "red wine reduction sauce". Oh my goodness. We've had no internet yesterday which threw off my weekly planning and I actually had to go old school in order to do it. :) We also enjoyed a refreshing thunderstorm. I think fall is finally here.
On the list for this week:
And whatever other fun things we can fit in there. :)
What's on your list?
Lasagna ready for the oven.
Lawn Twister.
What a fun weekend! We had a party for our dear friends who are moving away and were able to spend an evening laughing way too hard and eating way too much.
On the list for this week:
My latest thrift find.
Homeschool planning.
This weekend was a bust. After a long, drama filled week, it seemed only fitting to spend the weekend sick. Saturday morning my eyelid was a little swollen and sore. Zac and I set out on our usual morning coffee date. My head started to hurt and before you knew it he was pulling the car over to let me puke. Yep, I said puke. So Saturday I spent in bed with a full blown migraine. Yay stress!! This morning my eyelid was swollen even more and red so we went in to the doctors. A couple of antibiotic scripts later I was back home trying to salvage my weekend and accomplish enough planning to start homeschooling tomorrow. I have an infected eyelid. Not contagious, thank goodness.
I was able to plan and file our first 9 weeks with what materials I have already. Zac finished my chalboard project for me and everything is pretty much straightened and ready to go tomorrow.
So on the list this week:
What's on your list?
Temperature at 9pm.
Garden tomatoes.
This weekend was filled with: good deals, laughter, lots of talking, late nights, early mornings, an unheard of nap, school shopping, cooking, baking, lots of cuddles, cleaning, having my phone off almost all weekend, and lot of coffee.
On the list for this week:
What is on your list?
Today we went with our homeschool friends to one of our favorite pools to spend the day.
Jack was so excited to go. He bought diving sticks and then slept with them this week. Today we were out running errands before he woke up, when we came home he came running out holding his swimsuit and shirt. Ready to go.
It was a really nice, reasonably cool day!
Jack and his first sparkler. Ever. Don't ask me why that is, but it's the truth. He had a ton of fun with them, until he got a little burn.
All we had in our stash was smoke bombs (I have teens) and sparklers.
But our neighbors all had fireworks and shared. They are so awesome.
Aren't they cute?
After the show out front we headed out back to start a fire and have some smores. All the while wondering if we should have headed downtown to the big show.
Fortunately for us, the firework laws have changed for our area and the neighbors were celebrating big time. In fact tonight was running a close second to the Halloween. So we pulled out our charis and settled in. Most of the fireowrks ended up right over our backyard.
And yes I was practicing the whole photgraphing fireworks thing.
And the fire... mesmerizing.
Can't wait until next year.
Hope you all had a happy 4th of July. Aren't we all so blessed?
Yesterday was my 37th birthday. Time flies! I had a wonderful day filled with friends, family and fun.
I feel so blessed by all the wonderful friends and family in my life.
And yesterday I spent most of the day basking in thankfulness for them all. Something I need to do more often.
Because it is truly a miracle to find people who really get you.
And it's sometimes hard for me to show those people how much I truly care for them.
But I do. I really, truly do.
This last pic is a gift I bought for myself. It goes along with Soul Restoration 2. It has been quite a journey the past few weeks and when I read Melody's poem, I knew I had to have this bracelet.
Today is day one.
Doesn't he look mischievious? He was really just trying to hide from the camera. Time for the paparazzi to take a break.
I learned a new game today. Look at Talisa in the picture above, any guesses?
It's called toilet tag. If the person who is it tags you, you have to freeze like a toilet. Then someone else has to come along and...
flush you to unfreeze you.
I never knew about this game. Honestly. The things you learn from your kids.
Just kidding. Today we had our homeschool group field trip to the fire station.Unfortunately it was cut short when the crew was called out to car accident.
Jack during the question and answer period. I didn't get that many pictures without other kids in them and I don't post other peoples kids.
After that Jack was able to spend the day with his bestest bud. They played with legos, went to the park, played the Wii and laughed themselves silly.
It was a very fun day. Part of a conversation while we were in the car that I can't stop smiling over:
friend- "I feel like a brother."
Jack-"I feel like a twin."
friend-"Well I feel like a bigger brother." Pause, sigh. "I know what Steven feels like now."
So stinking cute.
Today we went on a field trip with our homeschool group to the local wildlife museum. I'm not sure the picture conveys how exxcited he was to see the butterflies, but he was really excited.
I'm finding myself at a crossroads lately with homeschooling and wanting to change how we do things around here. It could be that the usual January blahs are here a little late. It could be that winter has been a little long, so the outdoors is calling us. It could just be that I recognize what kind of learning life we want to have and focusing more on that. I'm hoping to use some time this week to sort it all out in my head.
This week I've been working on a little birthday surprise for one of our wee friends. It's the first felt crown I have made. I used the pattern out of The Creative Family, by Soulemama.
Instead of doing elastic, I don't have a sewing machine, I stitched ribbon into both sides for ties.
It went together quickly and easily. Looking forward to making another one, especially now that the blanket stitch is down. ;)
7/365
I love Friday evenings. We come home from park day with everyone happy and tired. The older kids are excited for the weekend, which means more tech time for them. The little guy is in a state of happy exhaustion after playing with his friends all afternoon. Everyone is ready to relax and sleep in. Everyone goes to their chosen room, or screen in most cases and chills for the evening.
For me it is usually a combo of catching up on blog, missed television shows, and journaling or researching about some great conversation with friends at park. I kind of love Fridays in a big way.
This weekend :
This year we gifted our homeschool friends with some homemade goodness. in other words now you can see what I've been up to for the past few weeks. :)
First up we made little man bowling sets for the younger crew. We painted them and then applied a homemade beeswax polish. We packaged them up in the cute snowmen boxes.
Next up, bath salts for the women. Or as I told one friend, to use in the little boys baths so that they go to bed easier. Whichever helps you more.
Next up some homemade goodies.
We also used some of the leftover items from our holiday bazaar.
We hope they enjoyed them.
