Five Minute Friday: Imagine

I'm joining in on Lisa-Jo Baker's Five Minute Friday. The rules are pretty simple. One word. Five minutes of writing. No editing.

Imagine

I put on a light jacket, roll up my jeans and put no shoes on. It's early in the morning so all you hear is nature, moose grazing in the field, seagulls flying in and out. I am so grateful for this moment. The air is misty with salt in it. My coffee so warm, it warms my soul. The closer I get a tear forms in my eye. It's beautiful. I can feel the sand that has been tracked onto the beach beaten path. Then that moment comes when I first set eyes on the ocean. All my senses going out of control because they are on overload. The smell of fresh air. The taste of the wind whipping salt and sand into my mouth. The beauty of the ocean. The sound of the waves lapping up on the shore. The feeling of sand in between my toes. I'm home, free, and clean that's what this place does to me. It cleanses my soul.

Show and Share: Knots

Three boys plus one craft loving Momma... let's see what we get into!

It's summer time and I love being outside! For some crazy reason we hear the boys tell us how bored they are or that there isn't anything to do. Seriously! So, I'm working on crafts that can be done outdoors. We, I say we cause this Momma has little experience with it, are learning how to tie knots. That's right they are taking their string outside and tying up a storm... hopefully not each other. There is definitely an art to tying these knots. I can't wait to get into Celtic and Nautical knots, absolutely beautiful!

I have a few places that have been great resources for knot tying info:

Survival Outdoor Skills

Animated Knots by Grog

Art by: Katherine Codega

Seriously thought there is some beautiful artwork with knots. I can't wait to get the boys further along! There is also tons of ideas on knot tying on Pinterest!

Stay calm and knot on!

Two for Twosday

Two for Twosday: two thoughts/ updates/ photos/ something that I don't want to forget or am flat out oober excited about.

1. Schools out for the summer! The boys had their last day of school on Friday. So very proud of all their hard work that they all put into school every day.

2. We went camping and had such a great relaxing Memorial weekend. Small story that I have to share. On our way home from camping we stopped at Toot Toot. If you haven't been, absolutely go try it out. We hadn't showered in a few days and definitely looked like we had been out... well... camping. We sat down from making our way through the buffet line said our prayer and started to grub. A few moments later our waitress came over to tell us our lunch had been bought for us. We all sat there shocked. Five adults and three children is not a small meal to buy, someone had though. They bought our lunch because we had said a prayer before eating. We didn't get a chance to say thank you because they wanted it to be anonymous. It was a simple but wonderful act of kindness and I sat for a few moments in the beauty of it. Thank you to our anonymous lunch buying friends. God bless you for making this worn out groups meal. God does provide in  beautiful ways.

{this moment}

{this moment} -  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Shadow of Night

Shadow of Night
By: Deborah Harkness
FOUR out of FIVE stars

my thoughts:
So this is the second book in the All Souls Trilogy. The first book is A Discovery of Witches. So picking up from there... they travel time. SPOILER! They make it.

The drama begins from there though because Matthew is in this time and only one Matthew can exist at one time. There are a ton of new characters that come and go in the book, not all of them stick around. Think about it though... how would they they are in the past.

Difficult part in this book was all the little historical things going on that were brought up. Matthew in this time era was well... busy. There were so many little stories that it did at times make the book as a whole loose it's path. The perk to that too is that one of the characters actually says that in the book that they had lost sight as to why they were there. DING!

There is a little back and forth as in future to past. That was super easy to follow though. I mean they are very distinct time eras. Beyond that though Harkness did a beautiful job bringing the past to life. It was soo easy to get lost in the past.

Great read. I am waiting as patiently as best I can for the last book.

the run down:
Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library,she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.

Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot.

Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers...

View

I'm joining in on Lisa-Jo Baker's Five Minute Friday. The rules are pretty simple. One word. Five minutes of writing. No editing.

View 

I let the my emotions take over yesterday and put a somewhat vague status up on Facebook. It went to the tune of...
"It's like this. I have my opinion. You have yours. Sometimes they match. Sometimes they don't. When they do, great. When they don't, great. Different opinions get us to talk, get us to share our thinking, different views. However do not assume that because we do not agree that you are right and I am wrong. Do not assume that by yelling over me that you are smarter. Bad move sir. BAD move."

No, the sir is not my husband. Yes, we have different opinions on different topics. We respect each other enough to hear each other out... most of the time : P Seriously though. I do understand that we are all passionate about certain topics. So yes, I do get that there will be heated topics out there. 

An example... hmmm.... let's see... we could go with one that strikes the fire in me (people using the r-word). Let's keep it simple though. You like the color blue and I like the color green. There might be reasoning behind it, I like green because University of Oregon's color. You like blue because it's Boise State's color. We might disagree on what team is better, Go Ducks. We might joke about who has a better winning streak, Ducks. We might talk about who has snazzier uniforms, Go Ducks. 

The fact is, we all have different ideas, different views. We need to stop and listen to what others have to say. Maybe you hear something that you've never thought of before. Maybe you don't. Maybe listening to the other person's view makes you even sturdier in your view. Maybe it doesn't. 

My point in all this ranting though, don't forget the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you want to be listened to on your view, listen to the others. If you want to have your view taken seriously, take others seriously too. 

Unless they like Boise State.... that blue field is terrible. :)

Keep calm and Quack on!

School days

You ever have one of those mornings you wake up and you just can't get the teary eye emotion out of you. Hello Thursday! Tomorrow is Samual and Louis' last day of school. Samual is moving on to second grade and Louis is moving on to first grade. Rian has a class graduation coming up. Sigh. My boys. When did this happen, all this growing up?

I remember every single year the first day of school my Momma would cry. We would all roll our eyes and tell her to stop, "It's not a big deal it's just school for pete's sake". Now I'm the Momma. Even writting that makes a little tear well up. My boys are heading off to school.

I braved through the first day of school... well. I don't know if I should say brave per say. I know that I pestered the poo out of my husband and co-workers in complete worry. The what if... what if he doesn't know what class to go to? What if he gets lost on the bus? What if he doesn't make the bus? The list went on and on. I had to stop myself from calling the school multiple times. I am ashamed to say that I did give in and made one phone call. The same happened the next year when we sent our second son to school. The what if game was a little more intense.

Now we have a few years under our belt. The first day still brings worry and I do shed a tear every year. The thing that gets me the most though is the end of the year. That last day. To see how much they have grown, not just physically, but intellectually. To see how on the first day they weren't too sure about who to sit with at lunch. Now they have stories upon stories of all their friends at school.

Yesterday I got their class schedule for summer school. Summer school is not like what it was when we were kids by the way. It's a cool thing to go to. You aren't in trouble. There are cool classes that you get to take. You get rewards on your attendance. It was the first few sentences that weighed on me. Samual's second grade agenda. Louis' first grade agenda. Whoa. 

Today they take their yearbooks in to get signed by all their friends and teachers. Tonight we are going to work on a thank you card to their teachers. I'm not sure how to really say thank you. How do you tell a teacher thank you for all that they did. Caring everyday for my child. Teaching them what they need to know. Allowing them to tell their silly stories. Laughing with them and standing by them when they needed them to. Thank you teacher. Thank you for everyday that you taught, not just the curriculum, but the everyday as well.

So to the school year of 2012-2013, I say farewell with tissue in hand.

Show and Share: Baby shower

Three boys plus one craft loving Momma... let's see what we get into!

Okay so this one we did without the boys. We celebrated a very special lady who is having a baby! Could not be more excited for this family.

First craft: Wishing album
what you need~
-paper album
-pens
-stickers

what ya do~
-You can buy your album or you can make it. When I say album basically what it is, is the outside cover is a thicker card stock and the inside pages are plan paper.
- Let everyone know to sign the book with a wish that they have for the baby and or the family.
- Set stickers out to let everyone b-dazzle their page.
-Try to get a few pages empty so that you can go back and stick a few baby shower pictures in.

Second Craft: Headbands

what you need~
-headbands
-flowers, sparkles, pretty-ness, bows
-hot glue gun
-scissors
 
what ya do~
-Pick out a headband
-Pick out a flower or feather or whatever pretty-ness you want
-Glue pretty-ness to headband

*Once the guest was done with their headband we had them take a picture with the headband and our soon to be Momma. We plan on putting these pictures in the shower album.

Decerations:
I had a few gals ask about the decorations that we had.
-We had tissue poof balls, they now adorn our boys rooms. They think they look like truffula trees from 'The Lorax'. We chickend out and bought ours but there are tons of ideas out there on how to make these.
-In the picture below we used empty milk jars from our local dairy farmers. Obviously we washed them out and then used glass rocks to fill the bottoms. Then just added a faux-flower. :)

 

Many blessings and peaceful days to all you soon to be Mommas out there! 

Two for Twosday

Two for Twosday: two thoughts/ updates/ photos/ something that I don't want to forget or am flat out oober excited about.

Louis drew, colored and cut this Angry Birds pig. So proud of him!

1. The boys had field day at school! So awesome that they get to have a day to celebrate their school year. I had the opportunity to take time off work to be there. Got the chance to meet the Sam and Lou's art teacher. We are so grateful for the teachers that our boys have been blessed to have this year. All three of them have such great teachers. There are so many important teachers and assistance that help them learn and grow. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

2. I've been on the hunt for Camp Opportunity crafts! I have the great privileged to be art director again this year for camp! I'm not so great at remembering the fancy title BUT I love the duties. Crafts with these kiddos, is beyond words. :)  So many craft ideas so little crafting time!!!

{this moment}

{this moment} -  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

The Gingerbread House

The Gingerbread House
By: Carin Gerhardsen
THREE out of FIVE stars

my thoughts:

Okay so here's the thing, this is a Scandonavian/Nordic mystery. Gerhardsen was recommended to me because I am a big fan of Stieg Larsson. They have the same publisher and editors, fancy right! If you've never tried Scandonavian/Nordic mystery, DO IT!

Gerhardsen has a terribly big topic. Bullying. It's no joke anymore. This is a real topic that is truly affecting so many. Let's be honest everyone is picked on at some point in their lives. That's maybe what makes some bullies bullies, they have to take it out on someone. Lets make it just a touch more real. Many of the scenes that are in this book happened to the author.

This book has the twist that they bullied aren't going to take it anymore. The one that got bullied has the last laugh. Yeah, there is murder involved. Let's just say a few of the characters... I might have agreed that they got what they deserved. Thank goodness this is just a book review, right?!

Conny Sjoberg (I can't make my o do the fancy dots that are supposed to go on top) the lead detective on the case has multiple crime scenes but can't seem to find a link. They link that he does find though is found upon because who would harbor that much hurt for that long?

Oh the twists!!!

the run down:

In a short space of time, several bestial murders occur in central Stockholm. When criminal investigator Conny Sjöberg and the Hammarby police begin to suspect that there’s a link between the murders, Sjöberg goes completely cold. There is a killer out there whose motives are very personal, and who will not be deterred.The Gingerbread House by Carin Gerhardsen is the first in the Hammarby series, thrillers with taut, suspenseful plots and unexpected twists and turns. This haunting novel explores schoolyard bullying among young children and the effect it has on them when people look the other way. Many of the scenes in this book are self-experienced and based on Gerhardsen’s own childhood. Urban settings and strong portraits of authentic characters are crafted in depth and detail, insuring the books will linger in the reader’s mind long after the finish.The Gingerbread House is written in the same tradition as the Sjöwall / Wahlöö crime novels, and has been described as a book version of the tv series The Wire. It is not only published by the same publisher as Stieg Larsson’s The Millennium Trilogy, but by the same editorial team.

Five MInute Friday: Song

I'm joining in on Lisa-Jo Baker's Five Minute Friday. The rules are pretty simple. One word. Five minutes of writing. No editing.

Song

We would go for a ride by the river. I'm not positive what the street name was but we would say we called it River Rd. Maybe that's right, I don't know. We would put the windows down, and listen. Quietly Mom would start humming. Sometimes you would barely be able to hear her. You would catch just a touch of it. The combination of her humming and the beauty that was passing by was intoxicating. I never wanted it to end. 

I rocked my babies to sleep. The rhythm of the rocker and it's creaking noise always soothed me. Even if it was at the middle of the night. Samual would always fuss until I started to hum. It might have been the combination of the milk sleep and the humming but the humming always stopped his cries. Louis wouldn't go to sleep without my song. First loud and fast then gradually slow and quiet. Rian always wanted me to rub his back while I sang to him. It was always the same tune.

Gram was sick. We sat with her day and night. We knew her time with us was limited. There isn't much that you want or can say. The suffering, pain and hurt in everyone's eyes. No one could leave. She was always there for us and I think in a small way this was us returning that love, coming to be there for her. The nights were hard, so sleepless. My Momma asked me to sing her a song. I only have one song. The one that my Momma hummed to me. The one that I soothed my children with. Then I cried and hummed and sang that same song to sooth my Momma and my Gram.

Show and Share: Beads

Three boys plus one craft loving Momma... let's see what we get into!

Boys like to make necklaces and bracelets too! This week we made a very special lady in our family some bracelets and a necklace. It's a pretty simple project but I have a few tip-a-roos for you.

what you're gonna need:
-string, preferably with a little weight to it, but not soo thick that you can't fit beads on it
-beads
-duct tape
-scissors

what ya do
-Cut your string to the length that you want the necklace or bracelet to be. Make sure you leave a little wiggle room for all the bling and room to tie a knot.

-This is an optional step: At one end about an inch in tie a simple knot.

-Take the end that you just tied and the first inch before the knot, tape down the string to a table with your duct tape. If you choose not to tie a knot, just tape the string down an inch in from the end.

-Start slippin' the beads on! This is a great craft to work with younger kiddos on eye-hand coordination and their dexterity.
*Little tip with the beads :) Beads come in a handy-dandy container. If you have a little bowl or lid to put the beads that you're going to use it will help with the digging into the main container and bead spill over load.
*Make sure to leave a little wiggle room to tie a knot on the end that beads are being put on as well.

-This is an optional step: I like to tie a simple knot at the end once all the beads are on, closest to the last bead that was strung on. That way should your last tie somehow come undone there isn't beads flying everywhere.

-Tie a knot! B-E-A-UTIFUL!

Two for Twosday

Two for Twosday: two thoughts/ updates/ photos/ something that I don't want to forget or am flat out oober excited about.

1. I ran my first 5K! Not something that I thought that I would ever ever do. It was in remembrance of  Laura Reynolds. Please check out their website, www.lbrun.com. I'm not positive if they are going to have the run next year, if so I am signing up for sure.

2. Mother's day was also this weekend and it was beautiful! The boys all made such special gifts.Had a great time being with my family. Missed being able to give my Momma a hug but loved chatting with her. Josh grilled pastrami and made delicious reubens for dinner. So blessed!

{this moment}

{this moment} -  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Ten on Ten: May

May's ten on ten
One photo, ten hours, on the tenth. Find out more at a bit of sunshine!!! Then join in on the ten on ten photo project.

Mom

You taught me to be strong, independent, to care, to love, to have faith, to hope, to keep pushing on no matter the hurdles.
You taught us to cheer for our Ducks, to always stand by the Cardinals.
You taught me how to handle farm animals, how to sew and the best way to cook bubble and squeak.
You cheered me on at Volleyball and Basketball games.
You never ever told me you didn't think I'd be able to accomplish something.
You stood by me in terrible times.
You stood by me in good times.
You make me laugh when I want to cry.
You don't mind getting a phone call in the middle of the night.
You taught me how to love reading.
You showed me how to be myself, to not follow "the crowed".
You are my Mom, Mother, Momma, Ma forever and always.

Thank you for being you.

Happy Mother's Day Ma!

Of Bees and Mist

Of Bees and Mist
By:Eric Setiawan
THREE out of FIVE stars

my thoughts:
HOLY, mean mother-in-law. You think you have issues?!

Okay, good read. Now this before you read. It's going to take you to another place. Not another world, not vampire, werewolf battle. Just... not here. I can't tell you how nice it was to ecsape in this book. Yeah, I think that's a great way of describing this one. It's an escape book, take a moment to wash away what you think and step into this book.

Meridia, has to be the most amazing person EVER.Talk about back bone, grace and ... don't give a trash what others think.

I also have to clarify my rank on this book. I go back and forth on giving it three or four. I liked it, I did. It was a good read to escape from the here and now to read this book. Here's the thing. When I started to read this book... I wasn't buying the whole bees and mist and woooo thing. The more I read, the more it was... accepted the more I was just like yeah that's just how it is. 

the run down:
Of Bees and Mist is an engrossing fable that chronicles three generations of women under one family tree and places them in a mythical town where spirits and spells, witchcraft and demons, and prophets and clairvoyance are an everyday reality.

Meridia grows up in a lonely home until she falls in love with Daniel at age sixteen. Soon, they marry, and Meridia can finally escape to live with her charming husband’s family—unaware that they harbor dark mysteries of their own. As Meridia struggles to embrace her life as a young bride, she discovers long-kept secrets about her own past as well as shocking truths about her new family that push her love, courage, and sanity to the brink.

Erick Setiawan’s astonishing debut is a richly atmospheric and tumultuous ride of hope and heartbreak that is altogether touching, truthful, and memorable.

Comfort

I'm joining in on Lisa-Jo Baker's Five Minute Friday. The rules are pretty simple. One word. Five minutes of writing. No editing.

Comfort 

Comfort: to give strength and hope to 
    to ease the grief or trouble of

Every school morning I woke up to my Momma turning the light on and saying, "It's time to get ready for school" or some sweet way of trying to wake a cranky bear up. There were two things that you could always count on in the morning with Mom, coffee and Bob Miller.

She always had a pot of Folgers coffee brewing and a cup in her hand. Calm and collected. There were four of us getting ready and she was calm. Ready to assist with all the last minute troubles.

You could hear our AM/FM radio tuned into Mom's favorite morning radio show, Bob Miller 1190 KEX. No Pandora, no iTunes, no podcast, no Sirius XML, this was straight up old school rabbit ears, tune in wheel radio. 

When it was football season you would hear Mom turn the volume up when Miller sang his "I'd rather be a Beaver than a Duck" song.  She would giggle and say "Oh Anna, it is a good song but we're Duck fans." 

This is also where we would learn what kind of weather it was going to be. You know the drill pants or shorts, slippers or boots? Mom would wait patiently by for Bob's word on the weather. 


These two constants were a comfort to me. I still sometimes wait to hear Mom tuning in or making a fresh pot of coffee, even though she is a thousand miles away. I have children of my own now and wake them up almost the same way. Maybe just maybe it will be a comfort to them.

Show and Share: Gourd bird house

Three boys plus one craft loving Momma... let's see what we get into!

 This craft the boys made at their after school program and I couldn't pass up on letting their aft project not shine on here. It seems like a fairly easy craft to do.

Gourd bird house

what you need:
-gourd
-drill
-paint
-string


Take your fabulous gourd and drill a hole in the front. Not all the way through just a good little welcome hole that the birds can use :)

Paint your gourd! Let it dry :)

Take your string and tie it around the top stem of the gourd.

See easy peasy! Love that these are hanging up in our yard!!!

Can you guess what boy goes to what gourd?!

 

Two for Twosday

Two for Twosday: two thoughts/ updates/ photos/ something that I don't want to forget or am flat out oober excited about.

1. Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Zabor!
BEAUTIFUL bride ~ awesome wedding ~ Such a special day!!!

Molly, Mandy, MRS ZABOR, Me & Sara

My hubby, Jeb, MR ZABOR, Mike & Wayne

2. Our dear friend Tera had such a nice baby shower this Sunday. YAY for baby girl!!!
By the way... you totally can't tell Tera is prego unless you are looking at her baby belly. SO JEALOUS!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Sunday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

House Rules

House Rules
By: Jodi Picoult
FOUR out of FIVE stars

my thoughts:
Oh Jodi, you did it again. If you haven't ever read Jodi Picoult's books. DO IT! She always gives you something to ponder, life doesn't always give you an easy answer.

I should tell you this from the start, I do not know a lot about Autisim or Asperger's syndrome. I did read a few reviews and they were not favorable towards the book because it did not portray either of these syndromes correctly. To that I do not know.

I can tell you the underlying story of a brother's faithfulness to his brother. Sigh!

Something that I can say that this book made me think about though is our legal system. What measures do we have to truly protect those that have special needs? Granted maybe we do have a better system than what is portrayed in this book... I really really hope so. Lets be honest though, the court system already doesn't treat a person inisent until proven guilty. So would they really have a good system set up for those that need the extra?

There were so many places in this book that I just wanted to shake some of the characters. Again to me a sign of a good book, when they pull my emotions out.

Yes, there were a few patches of predictability. There is, with Josi ALWAYS that twist in the end  that always sets your mind racing wanting more.

the run down:

When your son can't look you in the eye...does that mean he's guilty?
Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject - forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he's always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he's usually right.
But when Jacob's small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob's behaviors are hallmark Asperger's, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacob's mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob.
And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

Brave

I'm joining in on Lisa-Jo Baker's Five Minute Friday. The rules are pretty simple. One word. Five minutes of writing. No editing.

Brave 

Brave: Merriam-Webster 
having or showing courage

About a year ago I met some amazing people at Camp Opportunity. 

When I think of bravery I think of everyone involved in this camp. The men and women that spend all year round getting everything together to make this camp happen. The men that lead the camp. The men and women that are part of the staff. The volunteers that assist throughout the week, stopping by and saying a prayer. The counselors that volunteer their week, opening their hearts to their camper. All of them taking all they have and putting it into one week. The emotional, physical exhaustion.

I think of the children that come to the camp. The bravery that they must show everyday in their lives. The bravery that they show at this camp. The pretend smile that they come with that gradual turns into a real smile. I think of the talent show that the kids do. The bravery that it takes for each child to get up in front of all the other campers. They sing, they dance, they tell jokes, they french braid hair, they are brave. 

Brave is an abused and neglected child opening their heart to love and accepting love from a counselor.  

This camp means so much to sooo many... find out more about Camp Opportunity at campokc.org. :)

April N Review

April

What I'm eating/drinking: 
Coffee and pretzels

What I'm wearing: 
Shorts and a tank top

My last Nook/iTunes/Audible purchase: 
On Audible: Year of Wonders
iTunes: Thrift Shop by Macklemore
Nook: Irish Healer

What I need to do today:
I need to get to the store!!! Puppy chow is on the list :)

What the kids are doing: 
School day!

How I'm feeling:
Good

What I'm listening to: 
Eragon

Words to describe this month: 
FUN... I'm getting old.

Noteworthy: 
A very special question was asked April 28.

What reading/learning did I do this month? 
Agnes and the Hitman
Shadow of Night
The Time Traveler's Wife
Wonder
Year of Wonder

What entertainment did I watch/listen to this month? 
A co-worker introduced me to a new band. Well they aren't new but they are new to me and I am hooked!
The Piano Guys

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends? 
We went on an adults snagging trip. It was such a good time. The boys got to hang out with their Aunts and Uncles and they had a blast without us.

What gifts did I give and/or receive? 
My brother and I finally got a tattoo together. We say this every year on our birthdays. Yes, we are Irish twins, same birthday, four years apart.

What special or unusual purchases did I make? 
A puppy!!! We are the proud new parents of a Corgi/Aussie pup!

What illnesses or health concerns did I have? 
So far the boys are doing fairly well with not haveing to deal with sinuses... Mom on the other hand.

What were my accomplishments this month? 
We are pushing threw all the obstacles that are being laid before us.

What were my downers this month? 
Well we went to a one income, not something planned. I think it is going to have more blessings than sorrow though. Not that there isn't any struggles in that.

What new things did I try? 
I'm trying to stick with black coffee. So far, so good.

How did I do on my goals for the month?
Doing good. We did a few crafts and LOVING it. 

Show and Share

With three boys we are always looking for cool boy stuff to do. No pink here!
Recently at the after school program Sam and Louis did African animal research. The boys were sooo excited and thrilled about this. All our boys are... very inquisitive. They want to know about EVERYTHING! So this was a great opportunity for them to research! They picked one animal and let the kids research the facts. After they had all their facts together they got to make their animal outfit. Then they went on a safari to see all the different animals and hear facts.

Samual researched cheetahs.
Fun Facts that Sam told us about:
-Fastest mammal on land.
-Eats meat
-Endangered species
-They only drink once every three to four days.

Louis researched a toucan
Fun Facts that Louis told us about:
-They have large colorful bills
-Eats fruit
-They nest in tree holes.
-Lives up to 20 years in the wild.

Okay so the learning was awesome. The fact that they got these facts together was really neat. Their animal outfits... LOVED IT!

Samual as a cheetah.

Louis as a toucan.

 

These are some really fun sites the the boys love to visit:
Kids National Geographic
National Geographic Explorer
Xplor
 *Xplor is a local Missouri site. Check your local conservation site to see if you have a kids site!