Thursday, February 26, 2009

My Team

They can all shoot hoops now... our driveway is filled with lots of activity. It's hard to believe that they are all big enough to shoot... soon it will be games... we need a fourth player for an even 2-on-2... Don't worry... I've been practicing my shot. When I'm on... I'm really on and when I'm not... well, it's just really bad.

This is a memory for me... the first time my three kids could shoot hoops together.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Crafting and Organizing

I had 48 hours to enjoy without any homework, projects or finals looming over my head. I managed to get a little crafting and organizing in....

It doesn't look like much, but trust me... see those cookbooks... see the yellow binder... I filled the binder with all of the loose recipes that we've printed. The cookbooks had fallen down, the loose recipes were EVERYWHERE... it was a mess! (I forgot to take an original photo.)


Now... they are neat and tidy. I even have dividers in the binder. I used the thick cookbooks to keep the stack from tumbling over... yeah... this project took about 10 minutes and it's been bugging me for months. Why do we (I) wait to solve a problem that can be solved in minutes?

Baby Girl grows very quickly... we give her outgrown clothes to a special friend. Well, one dress, in particular hit a nerve with her... it wasn't one of her better moments. There were tears and sadness... so, we made her a new dress from an idea from special friends mom. It turned out great and better yet it was quick. I used my 50% off coupon from Joanne's for the fabric. I didn't even know you could buy fabric that was already "smocked" (I think that is the right term.) I bought 24" of it to fit around baby girl ($4 and change). Came home turned it right sides together, sewed a seam, added ribbons and hemmed it... done!



Pepe's 2nd grade teacher (from last year) is pregnant expecting baby girl #1. I am very excited for her and saw these hats on this blog last week. I had to give them a try. They are fast, cute and extremely inexpensive. I hope she likes them! It's HAT day at school tomorrow so we thought we'd sent them along for baby's first hats.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Treasures

It was time to clean out the family bus (I mean car). It was bad... I knew it was bad, but this is really gross!



Inventory:
7 water bottles
2 baseball mits/2 baseballs
2 scooters
3 helmets
6 bags
1 music bag
random clothes
2 pairs of shoes
4 coats
1 case of dog food
1 toothbrush kit
1 swim bag
1 wrapping paper roll turned into a walking stick
1 bag of garbage (see the white bag in the front... I picked up all of that trash from in my car!)

Ugh...
Mom lecture #257... you may not eat in my car!
Mom lecture #125... when you get out of the car, take your things with you!
Mom lecture #152... respect your things

Mom is disgusted! Don't tell anyone but one of those bags and water-bottles is mine... I never said I was perfect:) Do as I say, not as I do (Mom lecture #5)

And then I came across this....

I don't give the lectures, I just clean out the car, wash the four coats, 7 water-bottles and random clothes. I put away the bags, scooters, helmets and mits and wait for next week to do it all again.
The life of a mom...

Saturday, February 21, 2009

The View

Just popped in to say hi! It's been a crazy week...

I wrote two final projects for my class (100% on both), finished my final, worked, planned, and ran kids all over everywhere and I survived, but my blog has been set to the side for the week.

It's been a gorgeous week here...

Mt. St. Helens... a view from our driveway.


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

School Projects

Edited: If any of Pepe's third grade friends parents are reading this, I do not mean to be offensive. It's just a question I've always been curious about from a teacher view and it has become even more interesting from a mom's view.


I used to teach 3rd grade... I've assigned projects... I've shrugged when the project comes back and the mom/dad has done a fabulous job on it... I've admired the family that let's the child work, struggle and find joy.

Our project began with me handing it to my husband. I don't have time, I said. I have two projects to write (getting my Masters Degree)... I wished him good luck.

Pepe drew up a plan. Great, I thought. Good start. Then, I noticed that dear husband was out with the saw, drill and supplies. I noticed that Pepe was playing the Wii... it's not my project, I kept telling myself. Finally, I couldn't stand it...

if your dad is going to do your project YOU must at least stand outside with him!

Pepe scurried off to "help". Not more than 5 minutes later, dear husband comes in with steam blowing out the top. Pepe was not helping, but playing light saber with the supplies and smacked his sister in the head. He's on his own.

Fine by me, I smile... he's a smart kid. He can do it. He can stew in his juices a bit.

Dear Tante happened to be in town. She couldn't stand to see him "suffer" and offered her help. I was very impressed with her. She guided him, but (to my knowledge) didn't do the project for him.

Here is the project. He had to create an instrument. His is a type of drum. He labeled each can with a letter and then wrote out "Mary Had a Little Lamb". It's all his. It's not fancy, but it is his and he's proud of it.




I'm a proud mom. I'm a proud former third grade teacher. I looked at the grading rubric last night. He will do fine. He has all of the components and he's ready to present in class. I feel for his 3rd grade teacher. It will definitely be an interesting day in her class.

So... does your child complete their own projects? Or do you have the intention to have them complete their own projects once they are of age? How do you handle the world of school projects?

Monday, February 16, 2009

Fun with Friends...

I'm at my friend's house today... we have played basketball, baseball, scootered, ate lunch (yum), shopped for computers, drank coffee and watched Gilligan's Island! What a fun afternoon :) The point of this post is to show my friend how easy it is to blog!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

My Way

I have to admit, I'm just not that into Valentine's day.

However, I do love the color red... so this is how I celebrate...








Enjoy your day... make it meaningful!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A little of this and that

1. My day began with roofers to clean my mossy roof. Jeep went crazy... barked all morning. I felt bad for him. He didn't know what to do.

Positive note... he will protect us.



2. I thought I'd get ahead of the game and put our dinner in the crockopt... nothing fancy just some chicken and a can of cream of mushroom soup. Make a pot of rice after work and a great dinner. Well, right before I left the house I decided to just throw some rice in with crockpot... I came home to a ooy, sticky, stuck on the pan mess. I'm fighting a cold... so after teaching I invited my friend to come over for a protein shake (you know... watching those lbs). I made her shake through the pressure washing sounds and the mud Jeep was tracking in the house and the panic attack I was having (it was a mess outside... I wasn't sure that they could get everything cleaned up). I went to make my shake and DUMPED its entire contents into the bottom of my freezer. So, without even too bad of words spoken, she helped me clean out the entire thing. What a mess. Oh, that was while the door bell was ringing and the workers needed the garage door shut... I'll get right on it.

Positive note... clean freezer.

3. I threw out the dinner... yes, I did... I threw it out (with help from Velma)... Dinner plan... eat every left over in the refrigerator and like it!

Positive note... no more leftovers.



4. I was exhausted... I did not put the laundry away... I said I'd put the laundry away.

Positive note... the clothes are clean.


5. I love my hair cut... fast and easy... that's a positive! (Although I look possessed in the photo... I'm really not :)
6. I woke to snow... no delays (that's a positive).


Ah, another day. Maybe the laundry will get put away today, maybe dinner will turn out today, maybe I'll keep my freezer clean. It's all okay!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

And the winner is...

#3... Jenny...

My photographer is 7 years-old... so bear with me until I get a real photo!


Now... imagine me before I went in... my hair completely covered the hood on my sweatshirt... There was a lot of hair on the ground. I've been razor cut for volume (need a little of that)... it's shorter in the back and longer in the front... but not too drastic...

Fun stuff... changes are good.

Thanks Tracy!

Friday, February 6, 2009

You know you're loved when...

You really know that your husband loves you when he empties a container (after making dinner) and saves it for you knowing that you can use it for something. It's even better when he says you can use some pretty paper and make it look nice...



I am loved!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Hairspray

It's time for a new do... my favorite gal called and can get me in on Friday! Yeah for me. My hair is REALLY long right now and I love it... when I take the necessary time to do it... product, blow dry, straight iron, big curlers in the top for volume, fluff, spray, etc. Too much for me right now... lately I've been seen with a messy bun on most days. So I'm thinking shoulder length... which will take probably 5 inches off. And... I know for me that shoulder length is very doable. Now... I'm approaching my mid 30s... don't want to look like a frump... I still need the fun factor... Here are some thoughts... in photos...

Thought #1:
Lady in Red

Thought #2
ESPN's Andrea Kremer

Thought #3
Jenny

What do you think? Any ideas? Where do you go for inspiration? Friday is rapidly approaching... for now... a messy bun, again!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Push comes to SHOVE

Remember this? The saga of letting go of swim team... the extra energy, letting my child make his decision, the coach convincing us (he didn't have to convince me) to not quit, but take a break.

Well... I'm over it! He's swimming again. Pepe is a child that NEEDS organized practice. He's not a self entertainer. After a month of no swimming we've noticed his growing need of more activity. He wasn't himself, he was getting into too much trouble with us.

So, I approached him... I told him that I'd noticed that he'd been 'bored' lately. He agreed... "Great", I exclaimed. "We'll head down to the club this afternoon." Not completely sure of what had just transpired, he packed his bag. I knew that I wasn't in the clear, yet. After school came the drama... I don't want to, I don't like it, etc, etc. (What I don't understand is that he can't give any reasons why that and the fact that he has a great time once we get down there... I don't think that he transitions well.) We headed down to the club, missed dry land practice, (there was a parking fiasco that made us late) his coach saw him and Pepe knew that he'd been missed.

After practice he was tired, but he had a glow. He showered (and I only reminded him once to watch the time). His final verdict... I had a good swim... we got to practice back stroke flips and turns. The Pepe glow is back!

On another note... I ran! I was able to sustain 1/4 mile runs with 1/4 mile walks... multiple times. I know for all you runners that I am pitiful, but for me... I DID IT!

Monday, February 2, 2009

The Big Game

One for the Steelers (borrowed little brother's outfit)...

One for the Cardinals...


One for the Packers (a true fan)...

In the end, as the last seconds ticked down... Mommy gave the lecture....

there will be no tears and there will be no gloating!

Doesn't everyone have to give that lecture?