Random News

-Life is never dull with child #3.  His vocabulary is impressive and his thought process...  Unique.  His 12th birthday came and went a couple weeks ago, and with that milestone, the onset of a tiny bit of acne.  He was proud.  So, I bought him and his older brother some masculine face wash of the pore-cleansing variety.  The day after his inaugural "facial":  "I can almost hear all the bacteria crying for mercy!"  

-When you have a couple kids with "special needs," (but, really, don't we all have some of those?), the little things become the big things....   Pulling up your pants all by yourself?  Cause for ice cream.  Following the directions of your swimming teacher?  Party time.  Every little accomplishment is a big deal.  As it should be.  

-Speaking of swimming lessons, Crash has been taking some private lessons at a little Swim School.  They have been great!  The first thing they work on is jumping in and turning around to grab the wall.  Apparently, many drownings occur right beside the edge of the pool when kids fall or jump in.  They don't remember or realize how close they are to the edge.  I love that this is the first skill he's working on, and after only 6 weeks of lessons, he's almost there!!  

-This unseasonably warm weather - what a treat!!  Please don't leave us with dreary coldness again.  Spring, don't tease us.  We've already become accustomed to leaving home without coats and playing outside.  

-Found on my iPad- about 100 pictures like this:

-Preparing for Lent:  So far, while the kids have been talking about what they'll give up, all I have done is buy an Easter Dress for Yoyo.  Time to plan some reading materials, etc.  I love that Stations of the Cross is available every Friday at Church...  Just by participating in the life of our parish, Lent finds us.  

-Big basketball tournament this weekend plus Snow White ballet rehearsals.  Thank Goodness for my little camper.😀

-If anyone out there is actually reading this😍, please pray for my friend Joe, married to my lifelong friend Jenny.  He has a brain tumor.  

God bless you!!

Nutcracker 2016

The kids work so hard all year, taking classes day after day, spending all their Saturdays at rehearsal.  And they love it.  Then the performance day comes, and there's so much excitement.  Costumes, lights, an audience, the stage...  And then it's over for another year.  But they're already thinking about what parts they may earn when the cast list comes out in September.  

The Nutcracker was Saturday.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Thank you so much to our friends and family who showed support by coming to the show.  

First Snow

At the first sign of winter, all normal people put on their bathing suits...

...and snow suits!!

(Doggie in camouflage)

Yay for snow!  Can't wait for more.  

Fall Review

Yesterday, snowflakes returned, unofficially marking the end of fall.  Somehow, perhaps because of the unseasonably warm weather, it seems to have come and gone in record time.  Or perhaps that is just the way of life when every day is full to the max.  As they say, the days are long but the years are short.  So true.  

This post is dedicated to summarizing some highlights of the past few months...

School days:  here I am in my glory looking over somebody's math. 

I turned 44!  Yoyo lovingly brought me breakfast in bed, but I was already up. So...  Breakfast in the chair in our bedroom!!

Uncle Ashley came to visit and brought along his sons - some of our favorite cousins!!  

Joy turned 15.  Um... What?

Our good buddies visited from Pittsburgh and the kids put on a 'FOM' in the garage (a fake prom).  So much fun:

Yoyo turned 9.  Here she celebrates with ballet buddies at Smoothie King.  Crash and I tag along:

Basketball season has begun!  Spike has 2 tournaments under his belt, and the team is looking great in spite of 2 of the best players being on the 'injured' list.

Joy works at a local dance studio, so we signed Crash up for her 3-4 year old tap class.  He loves it.  Here they are on Halloween!

Goofing around in the parking lot outside Friday afternoon homeschool art class.

Friday may have been the last day of summer-like weather...  So Crash, Grandma, Pada and I spent some afternoon time at the park.  Pada may have gotten busted for climbing he equipment himself:

Daddy, curiously absent from all the pictures, has spent a decent amount of time traveling to various medical conferences and serving as expert witness in trials.  We'll be glad to have him home more in coming months.  

Bring on the snow!!

New Wheels for Fall

1998 Winnebago Rialta

A fall walk

Our first dinner in the camper while parked in the ballet school parking lot.

Me and my camper-loving Dad

For years I've been joking that I just need a camper. 

All our kids' activities are several days a week and on the other side of town.  Most days, we spend several hours away from home.  This year, we made a decision to send one child to school half days, and another child has a need for ongoing occupational therapy...  all of which are also 30 minutes away from home. 

We prayed for help and were provided with 2 young adults who are available to help me with driving.  But still, we were spending so much time in motion, it was becoming difficult to complete all our school lessons and eat meals at reasonable hours. 

So, I started looking online for small campers.  My dad helped me with the search.  We found one...  a 4.5 hour drive away.  We needed an older model to fit both our budget and the size of our garage.  This one fit the bill. 

So, my faithful father and I set off on a trek to check it out.  It has a little rust, but has been very well taken care of.  So, I drove it home. 

In it's first week home, we drove in it every day.  It is comfortable, has a table for schoolwork, and even a little bathroom for emergencies. 

We can't wait to take it on a real camping trip.  And, for the record, my anti-camping husband is fully on board.  He loves and tolerates me -  crazy ideas and all.  God bless him. 

En Pointe

Hard work pays off.  Yoyo has been given the green light from her teachers to begin an exciting journey in her ballet training:  pointe work!! 

She has lots of blisters and pain ahead.  She couldn't be happier about it! 

Bonus is having a big sister to show you the ropes, including how to sew on those elastics and ribbons.  

Great job, little Miss Happiness!!  We are proud of your dedication and sunny attitude.   

Preparations

It's Saturday morning, and the puppy and I are nestled in the recliner drinking coffee (me) and catching a few more winks (him).  In a few minutes, I'll drive child número uno to a work seminar ( I have a child old enough to work...  Wait - what??!!), pick up some fresh meat from our favorite farm, and get to work on preparing for the week ahead.

For the first time ever, one of our kids will be attending an actual school of the brick and mortar variety.  It's tiny.  It seems lovely.  He's only going half a day.  I think it's going to be great!  On Fridays they have a homeschool program which we will all attend!

Still, it is a huge departure for me from life as we've known it.  Please pray for us.  Thanks so much!!!

Here's a glimpse at today's productivity so far:

(The puppy moved on to another lap...)

Have a great weekend!!