True Blue?

Here's a glimpse at Ellie and Emma all geared up for college spirit day at their school.  BYU had sadly just lost their game to Florida the night before, keeping them out of Elite Eight, but it didn't dampen Ellie's and Emma's Cougar spirit whatsoever.  Ellie even  wore pants for the second time all year, since she didn't think that the shirt matched with any of her skirts!   

Here's a little glimpse at Adam, though,  that very same day : 

Nope....not a stitch of Cougar apparel.  Apparently he believed  that wearing a cutesy Cougar on his shirt would drop his manliness level down a few notches, and that was definitely not a sacrifice he was willing to make for showing a little Cougar pride amongst his peers.  I'm thinking a little updated Cougar apparel might be in order sometime soon!

Just for the record:  I would happily wear the cutesy Cougar any day of the week! 



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One of the coolest perks of homeschooling....

....is Cami learning to cook and help in the kitchen.  Her help with chopping, sauteeing, continuing with dinner while I pick up a child from somewhere,  and making side dishes  each evening is an invaluable service to me.  Of course, I love the help and even better than me loving it....she loves it too! 

This past week, she gave the grill a try for the first time. 

I didn't grill for the first time until a couple of years ago, so she's approximately 24 years ahead of me in this department.

Look at these sweet skills...grilling, spooning on the bruschetta, AND talking on the phone at the same time. 

And the finished product....freshly grilled bruschetta chicken. 

I think I might give her an A+ on her report card for home ec....what do you think? 


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Weekends

A little note: I  feel like I've been complaining here on the blog a bit too much this year, and I just wanted to say for the record that I am the first to acknowledge that I live a very blessed life.  My kids truly are great kids  (most of the time) and I totally adore Glen and am grateful every day for the kindness, love, and devotion he invariably shares with us (even when we're having bad days).   It is my hope that it doesn't offend anyone or make me seem ungrateful when I get a little negative.  I view it as one of my biggest challenges in life, keeping things in perspective and keeping the negativity at bay.  For better or for worse, I use blogging as a way  to get out of my system.    
In any case, I also wanted to thank all of you who read my random posts, whether they be goofy, boring, or complaining.   What started as a tentative step into blogging nearly four years ago, has become an outlet for me and brought me  a network of friends that I never imagined.   Thank you for being awesome!  :)


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Back when I was in high school and college, I lived for the weekends.  I couldn't wait for the break from routine and mostly for the opportunity to sleep in.   For the same reasons that I loved weekends as a kid, I find them extra challenging as an adult.  The routine is gone, everyone's sleep gets messed up,  and the list of things to do is always long.   It's kind of sad, but weekends are often my hardest couple of days of the week as a mother. 

Honestly, this weekend was filled with mostly good things---running kids to various activities, trying to rally the kids into happily doing their chores, hosting a few of the kids' friends for a movie night, and attending the YW broadcast. But because Glen has been flat on his back since Wednesday night with a fever of 104 degrees (he was sick enough with kidney stones + bad flu symptoms that he ended up having to postpone his business trip to China), it meant that for the last few days that  I've been  doing mommy and daddy duty (instead of dividing and conquering).   That, combined with my feelings being hurt, made yesterday seem very, very long.  

This morning we woke up to a very unusual freak late snow covering.  Despite it making me very glad that we live in Virginia, rather than my homeland of Minnesota, where they just got several inches of the white stuff this week, the powdery start to the day seemed   symbolic of fresh new day to me.  After going to church, we spent the afternoon reconnecting as a family.  We had nowhere to go and nothing important to do. 

 The antibiotics finally kicked into Glen's system and he was up and at 'em for the first time since Wednesday night.  He was still pretty weak and sleepy today, but his fever finally broke  and we actually got to converse without him falling asleep.  We played "Ticket to Ride", where I lost soundly, had family home evening, and afterward the kids were only too happy to engage the newly recovering Daddy in a good post-FHE family dogpile tonight. 

Afterward, I let Glen put the kids to bed, where Ellie informed him that she really, really wanted to do a science fair project on what makes ice melt.  She thought of cutting up little bits of apples and placing Cheerios on the ice, to see how it affected the rate of melting (I have no idea where she comes up with this stuff).  I don't know if I should burst her bubble and tell her that she's  past the deadline of entering the science fair or just let her do her own thing  and we can call it a science fair project. 








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Done

This week is done. 
Tomorrow is a new day. 
Glen will get over his flu from hell. 
I will not care about things that I can't control. 
I will not take what seems like an intentional slight as a personal insult.
I will think the best of others.
I will be happy for the blessings I have. 
I will stop dwelling on all the things I can't do. 
I will stop hiding from people and life under the guise of being too busy. 
I will react more slowly and think before I speak.
This week is done. 
Tomorrow is a new day. 

It's Her Birthday and She'll Giggle if She Wants to....

Since today is Ellie's sixth birthday, I've dedicated this post to sharing six things about Ellie that you may or may not know yet.   Following the list are some pictures of her special day today!  

1.  Since the day she was born, Ellie has been a ray of sunshine in our home.   She is very even tempered and rarely loses her cool. 

2.  She is very thoughtful and is constantly asking me thought-provoking, deep questions beyond her years. 

3.  She's a giggler.  From the time she was a young baby, she has had a contagious, happy little giggle that is music to my ears.
 
4.  She loves skirts and dresses layered with leggings and has only worn pants to school, one day this whole school year. 

5.  Ellie is a very verbal child.  In addition to being able to express herself very well, she also loves to answer questions (whether she knows the answer or not)  and tell stories.  Her teacher tells me that she is also quite talkative at school.  :)

6.   She's one of those personalities that's always going, going, going....constantly in motion.  In some people this trait can be exhausting, but because her energy is so positive and cheerful, it's actually contagious and fun to be around.  


Now here are some pictures from today: 

Decorating her ladybug cupcakes that she shared with her class today. 

She was very meticulous in trying to spread the frosting just right.

In the end, she wasn't very pleased with that particular cupcake, but since it was just me and her making 26 cupcakes ourselves, it ended up in the batch anyway!

Here's a glimpse at the final product, except I didn't have time to put antennae on most of them.  Nine were complete and the rest were sadly antennae-less. 

Posing with a batch of the half antennaed ladybug cupcakes...

I walked Ellie into her classroom today to help her in with the cupcakes.  As she walked in the door, her entire class yelled out, "Happy Birthday Ellie!"  She was beet red and as excited as can be at the surprise party-like greeting.  Of course, everyone knew it was her birthday since she'd been excitedly counting down to it for the last 10 days! 

After school, it was time for some birthday pictures with Mom and Dad.... 

And the birthday dinner she'd picked out all by herself....hot dogs, fruit, and chocolate milk. 

Here she is with one of her favorite gifts of the day...a horsey for her American Girl doll.  She also received a play drill set, coloring book, dress (from Grandma Sandy), light up pen (from Cami), puzzle (from Emma), and Barbie (from Adam). 

After Spencer got back from his lacrosse game (where he scored 3 goals), it was time for cake and ice cream. 

I'm forbidden from mentioning the child's name who made the cake, but let's just say that despite it's, um, awesome appearance, it actually tasted dynamite! 

Flourless chocolate cake with fresh strawberry frosting....yummmmmmm! 

I'm still adjusting to the fact that my "baby" is now six-years-old, but I sure hope I can catch a little of this enthusiasm and excitement when my birthday rolls around in a few weeks! 

Happy birthday to our sweet Ellie Bellie!  
We love you!

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Random Tidbits

My kids have been taught to burp and now practice frequently.   Their teacher?  .... my 27-year-old sister.  :)

Got Cami registered for high school today and while waiting I noticed that the student I was sitting next to was reading, "What to Expect When You're Expecting."  

I pride myself on not letting my kids watch tv very often, but apparently they watch enough to catch on to the commercials just fine.  All day today, Ellie was singing,♫ "Nationwide is on your side." ♫ 

Every once in a while  I get into a really silly mood and think I'm hilarious (Go ahead and click.  The link is not what you think it is (unless you're related to me)).   Don't worry, though, the mood never lasts long and I snap back to my half-asleep/boring state again quickly.   

The burping master and her goofy sister.

Exclusive Super Moon Calendars…Get ‘em While They’re Hot

While most people’s walls sport  boring old calendars with pictures of landscapes, flowers,  or cute little puppies on each page…

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“The glorious super moon rising over the Virginia landscape”



        January                    February

                              March                                              April                                     

                          May                                                       June

                               July                                              August

September                       October

              November                                                                  





December

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Our Saint Patty's Day at a Glance

Breakfast: Green German Pancakes  with Lucky Buttermilk Caramel Syrup 

Dinner:  Chicken from the freezer with leftover Alfredo sauce (recipe coming soon) with roasted broccoli for a good dose of green! 

Dessert:  BYU Mint Brownies (I had a cheat day so I could update the pictures for the blog):

My cute little leprechauns head off to school while I spent the day organizing and distributing the spring PTA fundraiser !  (Emma and Spence had already left for school before this picture was taken, but never fear, they were bedecked with green as well!)   



Tonight:  2nd Grade performance of "Make it Healthy" which was totally cute and catchy.  I love our music teachers!  Meanwhile Spence was laxing it up at his 3rd lacrosse game of the season.  Despite their green uniforms and Spence's hat trick of goals, unfortunately the luck o' the Irish did not help his team to win this time. 

And across the country Glen and Cami shed the green for the day and donned their BYU blue! 

They got to Jazzercise and shop with Grandma Sandy, eat lunch with my Dad who is there on a business trip, and also chill with Grandpa Dave and Glen's brother Ryan.  (hopefully they're taking lots more pics to include Dad and Ryan as well). 

And Cami decided to brag about her nice teacher who let her out of school for a few days!  ;o)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!

Luck o' the Irish to ye all! 

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