Welcome to our World

Natalie’s birthday got off to a rough start. She didn’t want to have to do her reading group virtual meeting on her special day so I told her she could open one of her presents after it was over. Michelle and I wanted her to open up the gift Michelle picked out for her because we knew it was something Natalie could wear for the day. Natalie has other ideas so was unhappy when I told her she could either open up the one I chose or wait until later to open one. When she opened up her new High School Musical dress she found the fabric uncomfortable and was upset. With an undershirt and leggings we fixed that and she wore it all day, but not before Michelle broke down in tears thinking her little sister didn’t like her present. Then when Kate told Natalie Michelle was crying Natalie began to cry. As I sat and talked with Natalie as she curled up in her bed I I told her she could stay there as long as she needed to feel sad. Natalie replied she was going to stay there forever since she ...

Especially since Hubby is still going to work like normal, it feels like a summer break with cooler weather.  Instead of having a page or two from their summer workbooks they still have their marvelous teachers giving them assignments every day.  I know some people feel like they are home schooling but I love the fact I don't have to plan out their activities.  I am so grateful for teachers that try to stay in touch and can be another positive adult in my children's lives.  My children got some really good ones this year! Natalie loved her zoom meetings at first but was pretty upset about reading group being three times a week. One morning she was half way done with eating a croissant when it was time for her meeting to begin. Natalie told me she didn’t want to. I asked her if she wanted me to carry the rest of her breakfast into the den for her. She responded in a perfectly sassy tone, “Do you think I’m stupid?!?” We laughed so hard. It was m...

Happy 10th birthday, M!  The day before her big day she pretty much made her cake all by herself. I just cracked the eggs, took it out of the oven and frosted it. She mixed and decorated it perfectly. I am so proud of all the things she can do. M appears very ready to be in double digits and I couldn’t be more thrilled to see what the next 10 years brings her.  As I look back on her first decade I feel such gratitude that this wonderful girl is a part of our family. M put on the Minnie Mouse shirt I ordered from Etsy for the cruise and was ready for the day.  M is thrilled about her Harry Potter bedsheets and duvet cover and lamp. Yes, she wasn’t going to get all that before but I ordered it for her ASAP (and the Penderwick set of books) after finding out our cruise was canceled. Am I buffering?  Heck, yeah. Take my Disney away from me and I will turn to retail therapy, junk food and too much screen time just like the next mom looking at home schooling...

I took the following picture on the walk home from D&N's school on Thursday.  These three cute neighbors figured out how to share one scooter.  Little did we know we would get a whole lot of information later that day, including information that would prevent joyful walks home from school. March 12th has held a lot of different emotions for me for years.  This year I was worried about the news I was hearing about coronavirus & COVID-19 but was still hoping for the best.  On Thursday I sent my children off to school with N having picture day, I did her class's Thursday folders, helping K's language arts teacher at the middle school, dropped off a allergy friendly spice cake for M's teachers as part of their parent teacher conferences when I picked her up from early dismissal, took M  down to Sol Vista to pick up a bigger sized viola, came back to the school just in time for her parent teacher conference, took care of the dogs, and picked up D and N from...

The very first day of March found K and I waking up at 5am to head to Colorado Springs for a volleyball tournament at Doherty High School. What a high school!     K made some really good contributions and I’m so proud of her. Sadly, I began to feel sick while watching her play and a couple days later found myself getting an IV to solve for dehydration. I was quite grateful we made it home safely and Hubby could hold down the fort while I went to bed early. Hubby also did a wonderful job helping my boy finish his Inquiry Expo project for school. D chose to make a water bottle to turn sea water into potable water using a camp fire. I thought it was really neat how it turned out and as I looked around at the projects after doing Thursday folders, D’s was one of my favorites. Of course, he’s my favorite boy in the whole world, so I might be biased.  Also that week we had Girl Scouts at our house with a Hawaiian theme to earn our Flowers and Social Butter...

This was M’s last time having an entire week off school when her siblings didn’t so I wanted to make sure we did something special. I wanted to stay close due to our other obligations that week such as Hip Hop and Activity Days so I chose to take her down to The Great Wolf Lodge in CO Springs for the night. We did everything there was to do and I’m pretty sure we spent just as much time playing Magic Quest as we spent in the water park! It was a great little overnight to supplement a play date with her best friend, planning her birthday party, watching Goblet of Fire, cleaning out her desk, and beginning Order of the Pheonix. We also had too much fun at IKEA on the way home and bought 4 new stools for our kitchen island (since the puppies have managed to break two of them). The day M and I returned from Great Wolf Lodge Hubby and D headed for Utah to spend two skiing/snowboarding and watch two Jazz basketball games with family. They had a great trip even if I-80 got shut down due t...