Call 911

Matt's favorite part of the Christmas decorating is pulling out our two train sets. We have a small Thomas Train under our family tree and then Matt got a large Christmas train as a present last year that he keeps in his room.

His favorite thing to do is to cause derails and stage rescues with all his fire trucks. This is the situation I found in his room this afternoon.

I have to say after only one day of the trains being out and being at church for several hours this morning my head is already reeling from hearing those trains "riding" the rails. It is going to be a long holiday season where the trains are concerned but Matt will be very happy!

We had a great day yesterday decorating the house for Christmas. It was a true family event! Matt helped Dave put up and "fluff" the branches on the family tree we place in the dining room. Then Emily helped Matt decorate the tree in his room once hers was up and ready. So, our house has 3 decorated trees and each of them has their own personality. I have to say I don't really mind that it gets dark earlier this time of the year because that means the Christmas lights get turned on and I can enjoy the warm glow throughout the whole house.

Being Thankful

For a few years now, I've been attempting to have the kids write down each day of November leading up to Thanksgiving day one thing they are thankful for. This year I cut out some leaves and trees and hung them in the dining room.

I always love the things the kids are thankful for. For Matt, a few are trains, Fireman Sam, fire trucks, mom, dad, olives, Mrs. Tronza (his teacher), etc. His main theme was fire trucks and trains though - not really a big surprise. Emily's ranged from mom, dad, the Bible, school to earrings and clothes - she pretty much covered all aspects of her 9 year old life. I am looking forward to seeing what they will be giving thanks for next year.

Its the Little Things

The daily busyness of life tends to have me moving so quickly I don't always "see" how quickly the kids are growing up that is until I find little treasures like these. Matt had laying on the floor in his room a notebook where he wrote "Today we are going to school" and on the other side his numbers "1 to 20".

When I saw this, it hit me. Matt is writing. He couldn't really write a sentence before the school year started. Now, here I am finding a well written sentence. It made me realize even though there are many times he acts like my little boy he is growing up.

Emily of course likes to flaunt how she growing up and getting taller and that soon she will be taller than me - she will be!! She also likes to tell me how this birthday she will be "double-digits" which is only 6 months away. UGH!!!

So even though I don't always "see" they are growing up I am glad for my little reminding "treasures".

Black Friday Shopping....not quite!!

Okay, I am one of the guilty!! I did go out on Black Friday but not until around noon. My crime is that I went shopping on Thanksgiving day. I know, I know it is a day set aside to be thankful and be with family and my going out to a store keeps someone from being home. BUT, I had a 30% off entire purchase coupon from Michaels and when you are attempting to make a profit on selling crafts every little bit of savings helps. So, I headed out alone.....I asked but no one, not even Emily, wanted to go with me. The streets were quiet, the drive easy and the only store open in the shopping plaza was Michaels. It wasn't at all crowded and I got my deals as you can see. Will I do it again? You bet, but only to Michaels and if there is the 30% coupon.

This year we stayed home for our Thanksgiving meal. For several years now, we have been going over to the home of our good friends, Jack & Dawn Switzer's, mother's house. With the kids getting older, we thought it would be best to start the tradition of eating at home. Now, I do have to tell you we did a little cheating. We ordered our food from the local supermarket. All we had to do was reheat the turkey for 2 hours and reheat the fixings. Dave actually tended to the turkey and I did the sides. I did reheat the sweet potatoes I had made for Matt's school class food sampling from the day before and per Emily's request I put marshmallows on top but only on half. Oh, and the pies I got from a local bakery as a part of a school fundraiser.

The kids seemed to enjoy it even though Matt doesn't seem to like most of the items of the meal. The kids said grace in unison - quiet interesting. Matt was more than willing to sample a bite from the turkey leg Dave offered. Later in the night we had our pie and just enjoyed the rest of the night watching a movie.....oh and I did go shopping but only to one store. All in all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day.

I am thankful for the unfathomable love of God who sent His Son to pay the ultimate price so that I can have a relationship with my Creator.

I am thankful for Dave who leads our family. He is an awesome husband and father and each day I love him more and more.

I am thankful for my children. Emily's compassion and loving nature for others inspires me to be more compassionate. Her creativity is amazing and each day she strives to do her very best. Matt is my little charmer. He can make you smile with just a look or of course one of his "Matthewism". He has such a sensitive sweet soul and did I mention what a charmer he is!!

I am thankful for my extended family. Although miles separate us, you are always in my thoughts and prayers.

I am thankful for my friends. In this season of life, God has truly blessed me with a core group of girlfriends who encourage me, lift me up and make my life just better.

I am thankful for our church. Not only do they preach God's Word but it is a true family of believers.

I am thankful for the creativity God has blessed me with. It is an outlet of calm for me and the results can be a blessing to others.

And this one you may find odd but -

I am thankful that God chose to have Dave out of work. This time has brought us closer together as a husband & wife and family. Dave has been able to connect with the kids in ways that if working he would not be able to. It has also brought us closer to our God relying on Him to bring about the right job in His time.

I look forward to the year God has in store for our family. With Him on our side, we can handle any disappointments or bad times focusing on the good and blessings He provides in our life's journey.

A Sampling for Matt's 1st Grade Class

Yesterday Dave & I helped provide a sampling of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for Matt's classroom. Last year his teacher did this event all by herself, so this year being the class mom I volunteered to do it for her. The kids had a "taste" of turkey slices, stuffing, cranberry, potatoes, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. The item liked best of course was.........the pumpkin pie.

Another Busy Week

It seems like my weeks just get busier and busier and this week is no exception.

Monday I spent several hours putting up a new bulletin board at our church. The week prior I was painting those letters & cutting those note cards at home in the midst of doing other craft projects.

Yesterday I finished the gold painting detail along with getting some craft supplies for a birthday party I am decorating for next month.

After school pick up, we all headed to the food store to pick up food supplies for a Thanksgiving "sample" plate we are doing for Matt's class. The night included making potatoes, sweet potatoes (yes, I said sweet potatoes) and poaching chicken for tonight's dinner. Oh, I made last night's dinner during all that cooking too.

Today the morning is quiet until I have to get the sample plates ready. The kids dismiss at 1:05 and then the Thanksgiving break officially begins. Woohoo!! For me, the break includes a lot of crafting. December 3rd I am participating in my first vendor fair selling my crafts.

Yes, I am busy but I don't think I would like it any other way!!

Chef Matt

As I've said, Matt is always wanting to help me in the kitchen, well tonight was no different. As soon as he heard the clanging of the pans he came running. He was very appropriately dressed for the event - fireman pajamas, fireman rain boots and garden gloves he uses as fire gloves. I let him mash the carrot mash and help pour the ingredients in the pan for the chicken Marsala. The cutest part was after I made each person's plate he had everyone sit at the table and brought them their plate. It was like his own little restaurant. Oh and by the way the food was scrumptious!!!!

Sometimes You Need a Little Change

Lately, I've been craving change. Of course, it is not like our lives haven't experience much of that lately! :)

Okay, I already know what is on your mind.....isn't this the same girl who is constantly changing her furniture around. Yes, and I still needed some change. Dave & I agreed to change a few things up in the place where our family spends most of our time - the living room. We changed the paint color of the walls that flank the fireplace. They were a mossy green and now a cocoa brown. Check and like!!!

Then we decided our wall decor needed a little change. I've had the collage picture frame for months but just didn't know where to put it, same with our family rules canvas. Well, we found a place for them along with some iron fences I purchased when we took Emily on her first trip to Chicago. Check and like!!!

It is amazing how a little change can make a big difference.

The Reports are In!!

This past Thursday we had the kid's conferences with their teachers where we received their first report card for the year. We were pretty certain as to how Matt did but with Emily we had a few concerns.

Third grade here at the kid's school requires them to have a homeroom teacher who does grammar and writing and then they have to switch teachers and classrooms for Math, Reading & Spelling and Science & Social Studies. Emily biggest struggle this year has been in reading.....she fluctuates in her grades and most of that fluctuation has to do with comprehension and inferring within stories. She has had a few tests of concern so I did meet with this teacher and she will be starting with tutoring, which is provided free of charge from and at school, one day a week for 20 mins. after school. The tutoring will focus on the inferring aspect.... what also helps is that this school term is learning how to infer and get nonfactual information from stories so she will be having major exposure to this issue. She did end up with a B in the class.

Math which is normally her menace has actually gone very well. Since our conversation with her teacher on Back to School night at the beginning of the school year, Emily has been attending the after school tutoring session on Monday's. She had all A's & one B in the class until a recent test where she got her first F. UGH!!!! We did realized that on the test all but one of the incorrect answers was the same math function she did not "get". I spoke with the teacher prior to the meeting and she told me not to be concerned that Emily's average with all the tests and quizzes taken that she had a solid A grade in the class....and she did. We did talk to her again on conference night and she told us that if Emily is struggling in any areas that she is usually at school early and late several nights beside tutor night and Emily is more than welcome to go to her for extra help.

The area of "work" that each of her teacher's expressed is getting Emily to come to them when she has a question or doesn't understand something whether it is during schoolwork or test time instead of her waiting for them to read the panic and upset nature on her face. She has been making small improvements since the beginning of the year though.

All in all her report card was mainly B's and a few A's which is pretty solid for the first marking period of 3rd grade with the curriculum and classroom changes.

Matt is doing very well having received all A's in his first marking period of first grade. His teacher is very pleased with his progress and he is doing very well in class. Matt loves to charm her!! Matt's area of struggle at this point is that they have just started reading comprehension and that is a new area for him..... his penmanship is also a little messy. When it comes to math though, he learns it once and it is in his head.....he has amazing recall. Also, his reading skills are improving and he loves reading!!

So, it was a very successful first period of school. I have to say though that one of the things that has helped the most is having Dave available for homework time......I don't know how I would have been able to help both the kids with their homework without it taking all night because of the work load for each child and the material needing to be covered. Daddy saves the day!!!

My Sous Chef

Matt has taken a "liking" to helping in the kitchen when it comes to baking. On this particular day, I made some Pumpkin/Carrot Muffins...... lets just say with him as a helper I don't really have any work to do in the area of clean up. Matt really puts himself "into" it.

Every time now when I am making/baking anything I always here a little voice behind me saying "can I help?"

The holidays and cookie baking are going to be very fun this year...... Matt is going to be one happy boy... and I can only imagine the joy and full belly he will have after all the "clean up."

The Tooth Fairy Came!!

Woohoo! Matt has lost his first tooth. It took a while for him to finally pull it out. As you can see, the permanent tooth was coming in right behind the baby tooth - just like his sister.

I think his motivation to finally pull it was that my good friend, Debbie, told him that if it came out within a certain period of time that she would take him to the movies - that was last Saturday. Sure enough on Monday, on the way home from getting his hair cut, he pulled the tooth out on the car ride back home. He said "I have something"... I turned in my seat and there was the tooth in his hand. I knew he was a little too quiet....he also didn't have his DS to occupy his hands. Next sentence out of his mouth was "We need to tell Ms. Debbie so she can take me to the movies". He NEVER forgets!! The tooth fairy did come and he was more than happy to have his tooth taken.....unlike Emily who requires the teeth and the "reward".

Here We Go Again

It is official, my crafting has turned into a business. On December 4th, my friend Debbie and I are participating in our first ever vendor fair. The kid's school had a vendor fair last spring and they decided to do it again only this year it is in December. So, I am back up in my craft room making photo cubes, frames and I've started making decorated letters and words now too! This last week the time the kids were at school (3 of those days only half days) had been spent crafting and my days will continue that way until the fair. I've also started making and decorating for a few birthday parties too. So maybe, just maybe this love of crafting I have may turn into something that profits a little green - that would be nice!! I am very excited to see where God takes this.

Changing the Look

With the change of my hair style, I decided to change the look of the family blog too. I know, I know.... "you haven't been blogging in a long time". Well life got crazy with the beginning of school and then there was our current life change with Dave's employment. New things are starting to happen here at home with the kids and myself so I thought it was time to get back into the groove of blogging. This post is only to inform you of the changes and to start looking at the blog again.