Everyday Happenings

I thought I would do an Everyday Happenings post showcasing each member of the family.  Here we go.

Billy started the second semester of his freshman year this week.  Because his school does block scheduling he is starting a whole new set of 4 classes.  He's very happy to be done with Honors Algebra 2, that's for sure!

He is enjoying playing basketball for CYO. He's on Stage Crew for the school play as well.  He's also getting a lot of use out of his Community Center membership that Santa brought him.  Playing Clash of Clans on his iPod is his favorite go-to activity when he's not busy with the other stuff.  According to him, his base is "aMAzing."

Ignore the laundry and look at that smile.

Mary (8th grade) is the same sweetheart she's always been.  She's busy with Band (silks/flute) and Orchestra(violin) at school and continues to take private piano lessons as well.  She's done some creative projects for school that I am completely amazed with.  Last Saturday she started her own blog.  (will share the link when it gets more established).  She spends a lot of her free time reading books.

We went to an information night at the high school this week.  She's concerned that she won't be able to take as many classes as she wants.  How's that for driven?  She does NOT get that from me.

Tommy (5th grade) is still the bomb around here.  His personality is super fun.  He's learning trumpet at school and takes private piano lessons. You always know he's the one sitting at the piano when you hear the Jurassic Park theme song playing.  He plays basketball for the township and is participating in an after school volleyball program.

Oh, and he's the school mascot.  

Ann (4th grade) is doing really well in her first year of clarinet lessons at school.  She is also taking piano lessons.  She joined chorus as well, probably because she was tired of me telling her over and over to use the gift God gave her and share her lovely voice!  She too started a blog last weekend and I'm so proud of her.

She's not much into sports, but if there was a roller-blading team I think she'd be on it.  You can find her cruising around the house in these. 

Matthew (1st grade) He likes school and does really well there, so I'm grateful for that. As for basketball...we signed him up but all he did was cry, so we didn't push it.  He's a rule-follower and resident "tattle-tale."  So much in fact that Tommy told him that "Thou Shalt Not Tattle Tale" was in the Bible and he better stop.

This child loves when all 7 of us are together in the same room. You can see it in his face. He often positions himself between me and Bill and has an hand on each of us.  He also tells us to kiss each other, which is so darn cute. (and of course we are happy to oblige)

Big Bill (Grade A) He's the hardest worker I know.  He's gone for at least 14 hours everyday (3 hours minimal of commuting time).  He comes home and has dinner with us, watches some TV, and heads to bed.  He never complains.  He makes us laugh.  He does not like it when the kids fool around past bedtime.  He likes to play Xbox. He is not getting any use out of the Community Center membership Santa got him for Christmas.

Me:  Housewifey, motherly, and volunteery type things take up my time.  Trying to keep busy so that the devil doesn't take over my idle mind and use it as his workshop.

A few more photos below to share:

Family Fun Night/Book Fair at the elementary school.

Love that Rory!

 Free photo booth....Dad walks in just in time to get in the shot.  Billy wasn't there, darn-it!

 A snowy Saturday:

Early morning sunrise after band/orchestra drop off.

Beauty all around.

Mom Fails This Week

I suppose I haven't been blogging because I am too busy being a terrible parent.  Let me recap my week.

#1-Phone call from a mom I know telling me that her daughter has been upset because Ann doesn't play with her at school anymore, mumbles under her breath when she tries to talk to her, and won't sit with her at lunch.  She was calling to ask me if I knew what was going on and if I had any insight.

I get off the phone and interrogate Ann for 20 minutes and cause her to cry because I tend to put all the blame on my kid. When in fact she was standing her ground for some things she doesn't like that this girl is doing.  Good for her for making the call. Shame on me for not giving her the benefit of the doubt.

#2.- Ran into the instrumental teacher at school and he mentions something about Ann's lesson the day before.  It occurs to me that I didn't ask her anything about her lesson the previous day let alone ask her anything about her day at all.

So glad I make being home after school a priority so I can be here to not ask about their day.

#3. Text from the same mom from #1.  It goes like this:

Mom: {Daughter's name} hopes Ann is feeling better.
Me:  I didn't know Ann was feeling bad.
Mom: Not bad, sad.  But {daughter} doesn't want me to tell you why if Ann didn't tell you herself.

Really? Now, keep in mind Ann was at a piano lesson when this text came so I had to wait an hour before I could ask her what was bothering her at school.  Turns out Ann was nervous she lost my flash drive and was afraid she'd be in big trouble when she got home.

Just what I want....my kids to live in fear of me.

#4.- I was helping out at the school during a safety assembly for students in Kindergarten thru 2nd grade.  One of the stations was a car seat safety presentation.  Did you know that a child needs a booster seat until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall?  Guess who is not 4'9" and not in a booster?  Yep. That would be Ann. 

After all of this I tried to make myself feel better by trying to remember things I did right this week with Ann.
*I taught her how to use the price label scale thingy at the grocery store.

 

Ok, that was last month.

But this week: 

*I complimented her singing voice and her writing skills.
*I hugged her a lot.
*I made her eggs for breakfast.

 There--do those 4 things cancel out the above 4?  We'll never know.  But in the meantime it won't hurt to say...

Lord, help me be a better mom to Ann.

Some Fun Things

Here we are on the 9th of January and it's only my second post of 2015.  Apparently I don't have much to say.

{Thinking, thinking....}

Want to hear about some of my favorite things from the holidays? 

You do?  Oh, you're too kind.

1.  Best Candy EVER.

Someone from Bill's work gave this to him and I have been feasting on it every day.  Bill doesn't like candy and I hid it from the kids, so it was all mine. (as was the added poundage.)

2. My new Byer's Choice doll.

My wonderful sister gave me another doll to add to my collection.  Isn't she pretty?

 Here's my collection.

I usually only put them out at Christmastime.  I display it with fake snow and lights on the mantle. I forgot to get a picture of that this year. I took the lights and snow down, but I couldn't bring myself to putting the dolls away just yet.

3.This wine.

It's a Cabernet-Merlot mix.  It goes very well with Toblerone and it's cheap! Ahem... I mean it's inexpensive.


4. Minnetonka Moccasins.

Bill got these for me for Christmas.  They are super comfortable.  I've seen them sold at Marshall's for about $15 cheaper than online, so if you're interested you might want to check there first.

5.Tartan silk pajamas from Victoria's Secret.

Only wholesome picture from google for "tartan pajamas Victoria Secret"

Another gift from Bill.  I basically lived in these from December 26th until January 4th.

Finding a good ending for a blog post can be difficult, so I'm taking taking my cue from Spandau Ballet.

"Why do I find it hard to write the next line?
Oh I want this post to be said."

Ah, ah-ah, aaaah, ah ah.....

Happy New Year!

From our family to yours...

Exhibit A

 Guys...WHAT is with my nose in that pic? It looks like one of these, doesn't it?

Exhibit B

Ok, moving on.
A toast at midnight.

 This guy was working in Times Square.

                                       

Now he can cross that off his bucket list.  He's always wanted me to go but I don't do crowds or cold, so that's never gonna happen.  Although, never say never.  I never thought I'd have to put my nose on a diet, but.... see Exhibit A.

 

Wishing you all a two thumbs up kind of year!