October 2011 – Page 2

Today marks the beginning of my 27th year!  26 was a great year for me and I really feel like I hit my stride as far as a mother and wife.  I’m looking forward to seeing what 27 has to offer too.  To help me be more intentional with my year, I made a list of 27 Goals for my 27th Year.  (If you know anything about me, you know that there aren’t many things I love more than lists and goals…and the satisfaction of crossing them off too, of course!)

So without further ado, here’s my list for my next year of life:

1. Get in shape. I’m stopping the excuses and getting off my ‘duff.  Healthy is my goal.  I used to be an athlete and I want to get back there again. 
2. Read 15 books.  
3. Travel to two places I’ve never been before.  We have one place in mind for next spring, but the second is yet to be determined.  Fun, family-friendly destination ideas on the East coast are welcome!
4. Make bread from scratch. I’ve gotten half credit for making it with the bread machine, but I still want to learn to do it 100% myself.
5. Write down all of the boys’ birth stories.  I need to do this sooner than later…my mind is going to forget all of those important details!
6. Send 5 “just because” gifts to family and friends.  I may or may not be the most exited about this one. 
7. Re-decorate my bedroom.  Our bedroom has become kids toy central (I still don’t understand how they get in there!) and somewhat of a storage area (Christmas, birthdays, etc etc).  I am ready to make a plan and create the “calm oasis” that everybody says a master bedroom should be!
8. Write more about my feelings about motherhood.
9. Find a way to earn a little extra without compromising my time with my family.
10. Donate my hair to Locks of Love.  I haven’t had really long hair since the 4th grade, so this should be a fun experience and end with a great cause.
11. Read two books from my Classics List.
12. Make pasta from scratch.
13. Have silhouettes made of each of my boys.
14. Win a contest of giveaway.  Blogs always have giveaways and I have yet to win one!  15. Run a race with my Dad.  This is my year, Dad.  It may be a 5K, but we’re running something! 
16. Surprise my husband with an awesome 30th birthday.
17. Plan monthly at-home date nights.
18. Eat only local foods for a month.  Challenge: do not step inside the mega grocery store.  Only eat from local farmers and businesses.  We totally could do this!
19. Start a gratitude journal.
20. See a movie in theaters.  It’s only been oh…5 years since I’ve seen my last movie in theaters!  I think I may finagle a way to surprise my husband with this…he’d be ecstatic!
21. Finally visit of the local “sights” around our hometown.  We have so many interesting sights around us and haven’t explored anything!  Time for a little staycation adventure this summer.
22. Attend a homeschooling conference.
23. Catch up on my previous scrapbooks.
24. Make cake pops.  I’m so behind on this trend, but it is definitely something I would love to learn to do.
25. Pull off special birthday parties for both of my parents.  They both have big birthdays coming up next year and I’ve got some great plans. 
26. Install hardwood floors.  I desperately want to get rid of our old carpet and put in new hardwood floors.  The question is: put it in ourselves or pay the pros?
27. Tell the ones I care about how much I love and appreciate them.  No brainer, but I need the reminder to this more often.

Now the question remains…what do I do first?  🙂

Well, what a weekend. If I could, I’d have you over for coffee (or in my case, a Diet Coke or two!) and share with you all the emotions of the past few days.

See, my sweet 91-year-old grandmother just arrived this week to spend the winter at my parents’ home. It is a far cry from her quaint little apartment in New England and the transition period has been a little hard. 

I haven’t seen my Memere (pronounced “Mem-ay” for all you non-Frenchies) in about a year and she has definitely aged since then. It breaks my heart to see her in so much pain.

But I have to say…I feel like this weekend, I’ve been in a sacred place. So many people lose loved ones suddenly, without any notice or time to say goodbye. So I feel so blessed…and so honored to be able to spend this time with her now.  I love being able to serve her, to see her needs and be just one step ahead. That way she won’t have to ask for help, which I know is so hard for her.  I love the opportunity to teach service to my boys in a personal way.  I love that they adore her and warmed up almost immediately.  I am just savoring every moment, because I know that when she does go one day, I will treasure this time forever.

So that was my weekend.  If you were here, I’d thank you for listening and offer you a refill… and maybe a slice of the banana chocolate chip bread I made this weekend (it was yummy!).  And then I’d stop rambling and ask you: How was YOUR weekend?

Another country traveled and two more weeks under our belt.  While I had high hopes for our Italy unit, well…I guess it was a good lesson in rolling with the punches.  Nothing seemed to go as planned: I didn’t get a book I wanted to read in time, I discovered that I was out of a critical ingredient for a project, the boys didn’t listen to directions and totally ruined the science experiment…sigh!  But life’s too short to get all bent out of shape about trivial things like those.  So I kept rollin’ and I think the boys still learned a lot.

The books we used were:

  • Papa Piccolo
  • Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes
  • The Color Kittens
Our Art Gallery for Papa Piccolo
    Not really related to any of our themes, but the boys LOVED this I Spy sheet I found online.
    ROY G BIV puppets – M and D totally didn’t get ROY G BIV and insisted they call him “Rainbow Hair Man”.
    Learning about mixing colors
    Pete the Cat puppets.  I saw this book mentioned on many teacher blogs, so bought it blindly.  But it’s so great!  The message is that no matter what happens, “just keep walking along and singing your song, because it’s all good.”  It’s the perfect book for a kid like M, who tends to freak out unexpectedly. 
    Making gondolas out of Legos.  What?  You can’t tell that’s a gondola?  haha  Me neither…another one of the “roll with it” episodes.
    This was supposed to be a really cool experiment.  You have a pie plate of milk and add a few drops of food coloring.  Then after dipping a Q-Tip in dishsoap, you are supposed to insert into the milk and hold it there.  Key word: hold.  The colors are supposed to swirl away from the soap, making a really cool effect.  Instead, in casa “I don’t listen to Mamma’s directions”, he started in on making his own swirl, making everything brown and just…gross.  Oh well, it’s only PreK right?
    A peek into our lapbook…

    We are taking a break from Five in a Row for the next two weeks to do a little seasonal unit on Fall!  Pumpkins, leaves, and squirrels are on the list with lots of baking and crafts.  I’m excited for a little change of pace and I think M and D will love it too.  Wish me luck!

Have you heard of One Kings Lane?  There are so many “flash deal” sites out there, and while the draw is usually enticing, I rarely find something I just have to have.  NOT true with One Kings Lane! 

OKL is sort of like a sample sale of home furnishings online.  They are deeply discounted (like up to 70% off discounted!) and some of the best deals go fast.  And while many items are still much too expensive for this stay-at-home-mamma-with-three-children-with-a-limited-budget (sigh), there are plenty of finds if you look for them!  Here are a few I’m loving right now:

Town & Country Balloon Cover, Matted and Framed! $159 – This would be so darling in a little girl’s room (love that pop of yellow!)  I’d love it in a living room too.  And I love that it’s already matted and framed, it’s 20″x24″…such a great price! White Half Moon Mirror $119 – I love architectural details and this mirror is so cool.  I can picture it over a sideboard in a dining room or maybe even over the mantel.  Small Serving Tray $9 – This is one of those decor pieces that you can use in a billion ways.  Right now, I think I’d fill it with mini pumpkins and put it on my kitchen table!

  
This is just a small sampling of the things you’ll find at One Kings Lane.  You definitely have to check it out!  And let me know what you see!       

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Today I’d like to share a few blog posts I’ve found recently that were really thought provoking:

Being Home.  Definitely a must read.  I love the wisdom from this mom and this post couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.  I recently was talking with someone I didn’t really know.  When she asked if my oldest had gone to preschool (to which I replied no), she was just incredulous and pretty much made me feel like a freak mother.  This post put into words everything in my heart.  Lonely road sometimes, but so worth it.

A Letter.  Very timely post for me and one that I need to remember more.  Instead of resentment, I want to replace it with gratitude.

Boys & Guns.  Another good one from Dee about maintaining the true essence of boyhood and how her family deals with “playing guns”.  
 
Stay-at-Home Moms Need Help.  One more interesting read.  I’d love to hear your thoughts about this one.

Hello friends!  Can you believe it’s October?  I am so excited because October and November may quite possibly be my two favorite months of the year!  Cooler weather, lots of birthdays and an anniversary (our 6th!), and then the holidays…lots to look forward to!  🙂

Since this time of year tends to be so full, it’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of everyday life and totally miss all that this season is about.  So in an attempt (I’m really, really trying!) to be more deliberate with our days, I created a “Fall Adventure List” to complete with the boys!

I’ve included a bunch of things and I’m sure we’ll only be able to complete part of the list.  But I’m hoping it will become a nice resource for our family to come back to year after year.  I definitely see myself adding to it as the kids get older too!

So without further ado, here is our list!  I hope it will inspire you to make a Fall list of your own!

Play flag football in the backyard Donate food to the food pantry Plant a few mums for our front porch Discover and make a new dip Buy new hats, boots and gloves Leave a love note for my husband just because Make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies Go through the boys’ clothing & toys, and donate unused stuff to charity Go to storytime at the library Go for a ride in the car to look at the leaves Make chicken and dumplings in the slow cooker Complete a puzzle as a family Write a letter to a relative who lives far away Rake leaves as a family and jump in a big pile! Write a birthday letter to each of my children