Saturday, December 30, 2017

One More 10-Miler

I can't believe my friend talked me into it, but I ran 10 miles one more time to finish off the year. On the cool-down walk back to the car, my friend, Emily, found this bottle cap on the ground and gave it to me. It was kind of perfect. I made my goal - 3 times!! I have a runner's watch, new running shoes, multiple sets of cute running clothes, and a developing runner's body. I ran close to 1,000 miles this past year. And yet I wouldn't call myself a runner. I'm not sure why but I always feel like a bit of a poser when I put on the watch or run in public even though for all intents and purposes what else could you call me? Maybe when I start enjoying it more? Maybe after another 1,000 miles, maybe someday I will finally think of myself as legitimate and  add runner to my list of hobbies.

Friday, December 29, 2017

Family Hike




These are the new adventures I want to start having with my babies. Hiking. This winter has been fairly mild so we decided to do a quick hike to Silver Falls. The kids were super excited. Especially the part where they got to walk behind the falls and explore in little caves. They weren't as keen with hiking back up but that's where ritz crackers come in handy. I was pretty impressed with them. They are typical kids in their lack of endurance, but when we finally got back to the top, Boy Howdy was ready for more. Yay!! Hopefully this summer we can do more hikes and less park days.


Monday, December 25, 2017

Innocence

From Matthew's blog:

There are a few things I've noticed over the past week or so that make me both happy and sad at the same time. I think there's a fancy word for that but I can't quite put my finger on it, nor am I motivated enough to go and get my dictionary out.

I love how simple things make children happy. I love how a red balloon from a restaurant can make my son the happiest kid on earth. I love when my daughter tromps around in pink rubber boots and a church dress. I like how she finds puddles to jump in, even if they are half-way across the parking lot. I like that a really cool fort-building set was initially not the most exciting thing they got for Christmas, but when it got to be time for bed time and the possibilities of sleeping in tents were realized, the present suddenly skyrocketed to best thing ever.


I love that just about the only thing they really want and require is time and attention. Sometimes I'm more willing than other times to give it, but the investment always pays off.

The sad part for me, I suppose, is in knowing these simple things will not last forever, and they will face the difficulties of life. I wouldn't want them to stay kids forever, but at the same time wish they could. Each new day is an adventure and brings the promise of awesomeness. For me, the next day more often than not just brings more work, but the silver lining is always coming home at the end of the day and having two little ones pretty excited to see me, unless their engrossed in a TV show. I guess you can't have everything.

Favorite Christmas Presents

I think we had a successful Christmas! We managed for another year to not break our children's hearts with bad presents and enjoyed a very relaxing day together. This year favorite presents included: Markers (they have been asking for these for a LONG time), a Pokemon book (this may stay at the top of the list for the next decade), and new games - Photosynthesis for Matthew and Above and Below for me. Yay Christmas! I should also mention that we gave the kids a fort building set that I may love to play with more than the kids.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Christmas Eve with the Jones

This Christmas my sister who lives just half an hour away suggested that since we were the only ones on either side of the families without plans she should host Christmas Eve dinner at her house and I should host Christmas dinner at my house. Good plan!!

The Christmas Eve tradition of acting out the nativity was made more entertaining with more players than just the two babes. And because we were there, my niece Emmalee finally got to relinquish her role as Mary. Cheeks was happy to fill in as attentive mother of baby Jesus. She instead played the angel, Jacob was a very convincing donkey, Caleb was a tired Joseph, Isaac and Adam were angry shepherds (though no one knew exactly why), and Zachary, Seth and Emmalee (she had double duty) were worshipping wise men. 

Thank you Melissa for letting us be a part of your Christmas Eve!



Cheeks tries Crab



The best part of my Christmas Eve may have been watching Cheeks try crab for the first time. We didn't eat much seafood growing up and it is not something I make as an adult. The kids have tried salmon - a HUGE hit but that's it. A family friend of my sister gave her an early Christmas present of freshly caught crabs. Because she loves her husband, she boiled them and served them along with the rest of Christmas Eve dinner despite her own aversion. Cheeks was off playing shortly after dinner started so she missed out on John pulling out unwashed pliers to serve as leg crackers. When she came back, John, now pro cracker, showed my curious daughter just how to use them to get her own crab meat. She LOVED it. She soon showed everyone still at the table just how determined, committed and hungry for that crab she was. I was thoroughly entertained, as was is my guess, the rest of the occupants at the table.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Gingerbread Houses 2017

This year we opted to do gingerbread houses the Friday before Christmas. Everyone was off for Christmas break, including Matthew! Yay!! Although this year the kids didn't really want any of our help, other than to use our long arms to get them their desired candy.
Cheeks' determined little face and her finished product. I'm pretty sure if they were passing out awards hers would have won for most random.

Boy Howdy's determined little face and his finished product. His was also kind of random but it was also very symmetrical.

I'm not sure mind was any piece of art either but it was still yummy to eat!!

My thanks always go out to my sweet sister who not only hosts EVERYONE every time but also makes all the pieces to the 20+ gingerbread houses and the accompanying frosting.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Last trip to the Children's Museum

The last of our museum passes ended at the end of December so I made sure to get one more trip in before it expired. Boy Howdy was adamant that he didn't want to go, that the drive was too long and it is so BORING, but he assented when I promised frozen yogurt afterwards. When we got there, you would have never known he didn't want to come. Whichever room we entered he wanted to stay 10-20 minutes after Cheeks' was ready to be done. I was especially impressed with how far they both have come in playing well with others, taking turns and working cooperatively.

I have loved going to children and science museums for the last three and a half years, but I think I am ready to move on to new adventures. On to the next era of raising my sweet babes.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Our Efforts to Light the World

For the last two years the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has spearheaded a "Light the World" campaign that consists of doing specific Christ-like activities for each day of December leading up to Christmas. I tried to do it last year and loved the way it changed the Christmas spirit in our home. This year we wanted to get the children more involved. We tried to let them choose what we would do. We didn't incorporate as much of it into the month as I hoped, but the children would mention needing to Light the World, so it made some impression on them and maybe next year we will do better. But I do love the few things we were able to do.

Day 1: Jesus taught: "Freely ye have received, freely give."
How can you show your gratitude to someone who has positively affected you? Send the person a thoughtful thank-you card acknowledging the ways he or she has helped you.
Cheeks and Boy Howdy decided to write thank you cards to their friends Ginny and Bentley. They both decided that taping candy to a card makes it better. I agree.
Dear Ginny, I know you like your best friend named A--. Thank you for being a great friend. You always do great things and giving great things to me. We have a great time playing together. A--
Ginny is a girl from church. She is in Boy Howdy's primary class but will be in Cheeks' grade next year. They are inseparable.
Dear Bentley, I know you call me over to play a lot. Thank you for doing that. Maybe I will call you over to play soon too. Looking forward to seeing you. Z--
Bentley is a boy in Boy Howdy's kindergarten class. They have recently started playing together during recess.

Would someone less fortunate appreciate something you have? Make an anonymous donation to someone who's struggling to make ends meet.
It wasn't anonymous, and I'm not sure she's struggling to make ends meet, but I made a quilt a few months back that I never felt was my own. I prayed one night to know who I could send it to and a woman I used to visit teach immediately came to mind, even before I closed my prayer. I sent it a few days later and she got it as she arrived home from saying goodbye to her dying great grandmother, the third death in the year. In one year this poor woman lost her mother, grandmother, great grandmother, divorced her husband due to his poor choices and moved her 5 small children out of state. She desperately needed some extra love and I am grateful Heavenly Father let me use this quilt to help her feel of His love and mercy.

Day 2: Jesus taught: "I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink."
Did you know that access to clean water has the single greatest impact on global poverty? Consider donating to a cause that helps provide safe water to individuals or communities.
The children decided to donate money although I don't think they intended to donate their own. But with some LOVING coercion, they each gave $0.50.

Day 3: Jesus taught: "Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days."
How can you use your talents on a day of rest? Donate your skills you use at work to bless someone's life on your day off.
There is a family in our ward going through some painful medical issues. The husband had book 1 of Matthew's Wordsmythe series and had expressed interest in the other 3 so Matthew wanted to give them the rest of the series to show them his love. I thought it was perfect.

Day 6: Jesus taught: "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
Do you find yourself sometimes thinking negative things about others? Help to overcome this habit by saying nice things behind people's backs.
There is a boy in Boy Howdy's kindergarten class that frequently makes Boy Howdy's naughty list. When we talked this morning about how we could light the world, this boy was mentioned that yesterday he called my son a "poop head". When I gave him the challenge to do something nice for this boy or say something nice about him, Boy Howdy was pretty adamant that he could not be nice to a bully. I mean, this boy can't even get up the courage to ask friends to play with him, let alone be nice to someone who calls him a poop head (not in a nice way).
But . . . when he got off the school bus he informed me that he offered to give this boy a piece of candy tomorrow at school and that mean is boy is going to give him a piece of candy. Color me shocked!! This is why we are doing this whole campaign! I am so proud of my son and thankful to have daily opportunities to find new ways to emulate the Savior.

Day 7: Jesus taught: "Suffer the little children to come unto me."
How could you make a child's day? Make plans to take time to help a child feel special.
I drove both children to school today. This made Cheeks especially happy as she has started asking me to drive her instead of sending her with our neighbor. Later that night Matthew did his part and said yes to playing "Chutes and Ladders". Both of us hate that game, though Matthew probably more so. But to help his sweet daughter feel loved he tamped down his aversion enough to say yes.

After Day 7 we REALLY lost steam, but on Day 19 we did one more:
Day 19: Jesus taught: "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad."
How often do you stop to think about your blessings? Reach out to someone who has blessed your life, and thank the person for his or her example.
I encouraged the kids to write a thank you card to their daddy.
Dear Dad, thanks for playing Battleship a lot with me. You make cool lego creations. Thank you for working really hard even though you don't want to work. Thank you for giving tickles at night. Love Z--.
Dear Dad, you bless my heart with your love. Thank you for playing legos with me. Thank you for doing the dishes so much and for coming home. And thank you for playing battleship. Even for doing a great job cleaning up everything in our house. Thank you for giving us tickles at night that we keep our room clean. Love A--.

We didn't do tons, but what we did helped us more fully feel the true spirit of Christmas in our home. And I"m grateful we were more proactive this year in including the children. If we didn't Light the World, we at least lit our home more brightly.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

A Master of Legos


From Matthew's blog:

I have a long history with legos. They are a big part of my formative years, from castles to spaceships. I'm big on spaceships.

The point of saying that is I'm an expert. I know how to play with them, and turn any pile of ordinary or un-ordinary pieces into something extraordinary. Last night though, I saw something that truly put me to shame. It was a new way to play with legos.

I guess I never really considered how my lego people felt when I played with them. After a long day's session of building the perfect thing, I left my people in the bin, on the floor, or fixed in place in whatever epic battle I was interrupted in the middle of with bedtime. 

My daughter, done with her people for the night, tucked them in, and then had me tuck her in. 

When she plays with legos, she cares.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Christmas Trees

From Matthew's blog.
I was impressed. It's always kind of interesting to see how our hunt for the Christmas tree goes. I'll be forthright, I don't always like the adventure of trying to find the right tree. This year almost careened into disaster-land when we decided to attempt to find a new tree farm just by driving out towards the hills. I'm not good with wanderlust. I'm a find a place, go there, and ignore everything on the way kind of person. I'm also better at going to the same place I went last year sort of person too.

Regardless, once we decided that wandering around in the hills with about thirty miles of gas left in the car wasn't a good idea, we went to a farm we were familiar with and I swear had a tree picked out within about ten minutes of wandering around. That's expeditious! The kids were successful as well, and got two Charlie Brown small trees for their room. They demanded lights--multicolored lights of course because what kid loves classy-looking white lights like their boring parents? Today was officially Christmas season kick-off because virtually every other word out of their mouths had to do with Christmas.

We did a sanity check to be sure they understood the meaning of the season, and they promptly replied that we are celebrating Christ's birthday. Whew. Okay, they probably will only be thinking about Jesus Christ for brief, fleeting moments, but at least they know what it's about.

So, we have three trees in the house. They smell good. I'm pretty sure my daughter has a pair of scissors in the room and will give her tree periodic haircuts until all the needles are gone, but she's happy. That's good.


Tuesday, November 21, 2017

The Light is Just so Bright!!!

When we got married, I had savings. Not a ton, but I was headed towards buying a house within a year or so. Then I met and fell in love with my sweetheart who was going to law school and I threw caution to the wind and said yes to him and his student loans.

With that "yes" I immediately went from being in the black to being neck deep in red.  I remember being so sick to my stomach when, after finishing law school, we wrote a check for over $10,000 that went solely to the interest he had accumulated while in school.

For our whole married lives (11 years now) we have talked about how rich we will be when we are done with student loans. We would travel, buy fun stuff (just because we could) and not worry about finances. With my infertility I continued to work after he graduated and we talked about paying off all our loans in 5 years. The light seemed dim but attainable in those years. And then we felt inspired to send Matthew back for more graduate school, this time to get his MBA. That 5-year plan died and with it, the light at the end of the tunnel.

Matthew getting his MBA was by far the best career move he has made to date as he doubled his salary with two more years of school, but someday continued to be a far distant construct for us. Fast forward to the beginning of the year. We had about $30,000 left on his loans and we both felt the impetus to focus on paying them off within the year. It felt daunting but we knew the Lord would help us reach the goal he wanted us to achieve.

Thanks to a generous year-end bonus, paying off my car, and work for me, today we are officially student loan debt free!!! We have finally made it to someday!!! Hallelujah and thanks be to a wonderful Heavenly Father who helped us reach that goal!!

Friday, November 17, 2017

Is this a Treat?

Reposted from Matthew's blog - adailysliceofawesome.blogspot.com

My daughter is extremely cautious regarding what she will do with her one allotted treat per finished meal. When we do pizza, we usually get a free two-liter soda with it. Each time we do, she asks before she imbibes: "Is this a treat?" If you say yes, she won't drink it--her notion of value places it lower than a piece of candy. If you say no, she happily guzzles the soda.

Last night, my wife made orange rolls. They are delicious. However, in my eager desire to dispense with dishwashing for the night, I washed the mixing bowl that I mistakenly thought had extra left-over dough in it when it fact, it was the icing for them. They still taste goood, they just don't have the additional icing. So, my daughter finishes her dinner and wants an orange roll. That's perfectly fine.

She asks: "Is this a treat?" I answer: "Yes."
She thinks, and then nods, alright. She goes over to the cooling racks upon which the rolls are resting and picks which one she wants. Then she notices something is amiss.

"Where is the good stuff?"

"What good stuff?" I answer.

"The good stuff that makes it taste good. The icing?"

"I don't know," I reply, with a sinking feeling in my stomach that I put the icing down the sink by mistake.

"Then I don't want it," she puts the roll back. Not worth it. Delicious orange roll + icing = treat. Delicious orange roll - icing = not worth it. I'd rather have a measly small piece of Halloween candy.

It's amusing and a little awesome watching her value different treats.

Monday, November 13, 2017

Allowance

A few weeks ago we decided the babes were ready for additional responsibility. Now, in addition to cleaning their room, they are responsible for clearing and setting the table in preparation for dinner everyday. Despite explaining that I do my job in making dinner and Matthew does his job of cleaning the dishes afterwards, there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth at the change. I wouldn't say the allowance is a bribe for these new jobs, but it may have been the impetus for the institution. That and I want to teach my children about tithing and savings.

Last week I put 10 dimes in a jar for each child. I explained that at the end of the week they would get those dimes, but if they complained about any of their jobs they would lose dimes. Boy Howdy still complained about his new job but with the threat of losing money he begrudgingly held his tongue. Cheeks was good until Saturday when she was supposed to clean her room. She lost $0.30 in the course of an hour. It was a sad morning.

Tonight for family home evening we reviewed how many dimes they had left and the concept of thanking Heavenly Father by paying tithe. We also discussed the merits of savings. To induce them to learn to save, we have opted to pay $0.01 per dime they save per week. Free money, is how we labeled it. With the promise of that "free money" at the end of the week they opted to put all their remaining money into the savings jar. Color me a proud mama. I'm not sure how long we'll be able to keep up with our current interest rate of 40%, but for right now, I'm just happy to start teaching my children the concept of saving and tithing.

Friday, November 10, 2017

Mama has a Birthday

Be still my mother's heart. At bedtime Boy Howdy asked for art supplies so he could make cards for my birthday. When I came to bed I found these two cards on my bedside table. Seeing Boy Howdy's writing "mom" melted my heart (he's just learned how to spell it) and Cheeks' portrait of me makes me so happy.

The next morning the kids were so excited to show me the rest of their creations they made me. Boy Howdy made some adorable cards with hearts and his own portrait of me complete with crazy hair and crown.

At one point after bedtime, Boy Howdy called down the stairs to ask about my favorite animal. I answered that it was the elephant. The drawing is Boy Howdy's rendition, the other is Cheeks'. Both make me so happy.


And here are my sweet girls' creations. She is such an abstract thinker that it makes sense that her artwork takes on the same form. I might not keep any of this but I love my jewels and smiley face with random bits of tape thrown in for good measure.

Boy Howdy put all of his "cards" in a suitcase. Cheeks' couldn't remember where she put hers. She was so very distraught. I tried consoling her that we would find them eventually but she was so eager to give them to me right then (first thing in the morning) she got back in bed crying. Hero mom to the rescue finally found them and boy was she so excited to show me each individual item she had created for me.

I felt so loved. For sure the best way to start my birthday. The rest of the day was just as lovely. Rain poured the night before leaving beautiful blue sky and a rainbow in the morning. Melissa, Jared and Charlotte met me for brunch while Cheeks was in preschool. My friend Danielle took Cheeks in the afternoon. I made a super yummy dinner with an even better cheesecake for dessert and had Danielle and her family over to help enjoy it with us.

The next night I got to go out for a yummy dinner and shopping date with my sweetheart. The weekend before I got to go to Time Out for Women with my sister, niece and their sister-in-law and had a completely wonderful experience. From beginning to end of my week of birthday was so fantastic. Yay good birthdays!!

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween 2017

Halloween definitely ranks very high in the hearts of my children. All year they make lists of what they want to be for the holiday. Boy Howdy finally landed on Blood Monster. He even drew me a picture of him trick or treating in his costume.
I had no idea how I was going to recreate his vision. It honestly kind of stressed me out. Eventually I asked and he agreed to let me make his costume like his ghost from last year. I made it for him, thinking I would alter it to better fit his idea. Nope. No more fuss. He liked it the way it was, but decided he would be a blood bat instead. Not quite sure what a blood bat is but as long as my boy is happy I am happy. Win-win.

Cheeks eventually settled on cotton candy. I found some inspiration on Pinterest. It mostly made it through the trunk or treat at church. She even won a medal (for her pink puffy mystery costume - they were unsure if she was a loofah or a cloud). She wore the medal proudly for the next several days. Sadly I didn't take a picture of her in it because it didn't really make it past that evening. The fluff kept falling off the shirt and I had to diligently follow her around the church with a can of spray glue to put her back together. By Tuesday she had reconsidered her cotton candy costume and decided instead on being a butterfly. I tried getting her to put on some makeup to add credence to her costume but she was against anything of the sort. So my children may look as though their mother doesn't care about them at all; but I promise I really did try.

Monday, October 30, 2017

Pumpkin Carving - 2017

Every year the kids get more involved in pumpkin carving. Boy Howdy actually cleaned out his pumpkin very well. And Matthew interpreted his vision to extreme satisfaction (his is on the right). Cheeks, while excited for the overall activity, was not very interested in the particulars apart from taking the seeds outside and burying them in the yard. She didn't even care to have a say in what face he had. Matthew was left to use his own judgement (hers is on the right). Mine (in the middle) was carved using a drill. My absolute new favorite way to carve a pumpkin. Such nice neat circles and made so fast too. 

Matthew decided to put some undies on his "bumpkin" and call it good. Another successful pumpkin carving family home evening.

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Cheeks has an Owie

Poor Cheeks has been suffering from a cold sore for the last week or so. It hasn't really healed because . . . well, she is a small child. Last night it started bleeding and she asked to have a bandaid put on it. I couldn't help but giggle at her mustache. She was adamant that it is NOT a mustache but I can't look at her and not laugh. I just can't take her seriously. She tried to take it off this morning so as not to draw laughter from people at church but the pain in taking it off was more of a deterrent than having people ask after her mustache. Oh how I love this little chica.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Boy Howdy Loses a Tooth

Boy Howdy lost his first tooth at school today. They were so prepared. They sent him to the office to get his protective tooth necklace to make sure it made it home safely.

A few days ago when it first became loose the kids told me all about the tooth fairy and how she brings money to children who lose their teeth. I'm pretty sure I have never told my babes about the tooth fairy and yet somehow they became educated on her exploits all the same. That's fine. Whatever. When I asked how much money she paid for teeth, Boy Howdy put up both hands and proudly answered, "Ten!"
"Ten whole cents?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes!!"

I was amazed at his excessively low expectations. Wahoo!!

On the day the tooth in the necklace came home, Boy Howdy had started to express his doubt in the reality of the tooth fairy. Was she real or just a fairy tale? He even expressed his concern in his prayer that night. I was touched at his sincerity. Though I couldn't decide if I was impressed with his reasoning skills or the lack of magic I have provided my boy.

Without mentioning the tooth fairy (because I just couldn't bring myself to do it, I have similar issues with Santa and the Easter Bunny) I left him 10 dimes (get it?!?) certain he would be so excited that his expectations were most definitely exeeded. He wasn't initially very interested the next morning (being sleepy will do that for you) but once awake he was over the moon with his good fortune. Ten whole dimes. In addition to the money he received for his jogathon, he was pretty sure he was now a rich boy. His enthusiasm for school has finally started to wane, but this excitement had him running to the bus stop to share with anyone who would listen.

My babies are getting older. In some ways it is sad, but I'm pretty in love with this stage too!

Saturday, October 21, 2017

10 More Miles

After my first 10 miles, I said, never, no never again, will I try doing that again. But then after a month I thought, huh, maybe it would be good to run annually. I made the mistake of telling this to my running partners, one of whom, I'm pretty sure would run 10 miles every Saturday morning, most likely at 6 am. With my acquiescence she won me over to run sooner than later. That sooner would be just 2 and a half months after our first jaunt. And you know what? I didn't die! Again! I still keep praying to enjoy running. Some days are better than others. And I'm pretty sure I will never find my happy place in the exercise, but I am happy to say that I haven't given up my progress I've made. Small joys.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Jogathon 2017

Boy Howdy, and by extension our whole family, had our first jogathon. The day started cold and super rainy but by the end of the day when they had the kindergartners running, the weather was mild and sunny. Perfect weather for small children to run laps. Boy Howdy had a great time, and Matthew and I had a wonderful time cheering for him! Boy Howdy especially enjoyed the money we paid him -  $0.25 for each of his 17 laps. Yay Jogathon!

Monday, October 16, 2017

Pumpkin Patch 2017





For family home evening tonight we went to the pumpkin patch. I think it was Matthew's first year in since 2013 to accompany us since we have always gone during the day. But with Boy Howdy in school, we had to adjust. Matthew's leg has been bothering him for a while now so I don't think he was super into the experience, but the children were so excited to be there and to find pumpkins almost as big as them. I was excited that it was such a gorgeous day to share this fun fall family moment. Despite his pain, Matthew was excited to find a pumpkin that looked mysteriously like a human tushie.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Boy Howdy Loves School

It's been a month since Boy Howdy started Kindergarten. Oh happy day, he LOVES it. For the better part of the last two years I have fought him with getting out of his PJs or having him cling to me as I dropped him off telling me he didn't want to stay. It was a bad place, he told me. He didn't want to miss me. They weren't nice. They were weird. It was boring. These are the excuses I heard more often than not. I was so worried that after the initial excitement wore off from Kindergarten and riding the bus we would be back to the fighting that plagued us before.

Yet a month into it, knock on wood, he still gets excited to go every day. He's nicer to his sister when he gets off the bus in the afternoon, he isn't cranky, he doesn't even seem to mind me waking him up in the morning. I am supremely happily surprised. I feel so crazy lucky that so far so good. I am almost worried I am living in a dream that will come crashing down very soon. But right now the biggest drama is not passing some level at school. I'm not even sure what it means or how to fix it, but it hasn't killed his spirit yet so we are still good.

Cheeks is also thriving in her second year of preschool. Last year she struggled with wanting to listen to her teachers. I have every indication that she acted at school much the way she acts at home. Very pleasant and happy until asked to stop playing or clean up. Then she can get feisty and blatantly disobedient. I'm not sure she had more than a small handful of great days last year. But this year, apart from one pretty bad day, she has been really good. It may have something to do with my incentive of earning a show if she can be a super duper good listener. Even still I am happy to see progress.

What's also amazing is her sudden interest in learning her letters and numbers. I thought for sure this girl was going to make it to Kindergarten only knowing A. But she knows more than she lets on and actually initiates pulling out our fabric letters and numbers to work on them. I am again, shocked and delighted.

Hallelujah!!! Here's hoping it lasts!

Friday, October 13, 2017

Family Pictures - 2017

My darling friend and I had a brilliant plan that we would exchange services in what could be the most brilliant bartering ever. I quilted a blanket for her and she took our family pictures. Awesome. Definitely mutually beneficial. Love it. Here's what I got out of the deal. Definitely the better end. 

This is a good family. I'm so glad I get to call them mine for all eternity!