Mikes' Birthday

My handsome groom turned 38 today.  It's been cold, rainy and dreary all day.  The kids had a no school day due to a teacher work day.  Maisie didn't get dressed until 4:00 and acted like a whinny puppy most of the day, Molly's Kool-Aid moustache is becoming permanent and Ross has a flag football game this evening which we are praying gets cancelled due to the weather. 

 

But things are about to change. 

 

After so many delays, today something great happened.  Not only did we celebrate Mike, but his gift showed up too.  It came from the lumber company and includes the building blocks for our house.  It's here.  Our framer is ready to start and our wood has arrived. 

 

The girls dressed up, did their hair and make-up to surprise daddy when he gets home from work.  I have a feeling it just might make his day.

Cursive

Ross came home from school excited to tell me he's learning cursive.  I thought back to my 3rd grade days and remembered how grown-up it felt to write in cursive.  Add a ball-point pen to the mix and you may as well be a full grown adult. 

 

Ross shared some of the letters he's learned to write and we worked on a few he was curious about.  After a while, I took a peek at the easil and realized his penmanship has come a long way.  His maturity... not so much.

 

Yep, my boy writes in cursive.  His word of choice was 'ballsack', but still, he writes in cursive.

Long Grove Weekend Slideshow

Click the below link for a peek at last weekends get together.

 

 

Party Time

What I spent $20 on

The cheer camp form was within hours of being due before I filled it out.  I just wasn't sure.  Last year Sugar Plum did cheer camp, but was too terrified to do any cheers at the Friday night pre-game performance.

 

She told me she wanted to do it again, so I figured we'd give it a shot.  Ross was pretty sure the $20 fee was a rip-off and there were better things he could think of spending $20 on than Maisie going to cheer camp.  For example, the larger stuffed huskie dog calling his name at Ben Franklins for $12.99. 

 

Friday after school, I swore she was experiencing her first bout of pms.  She bawled the entire way home from school that she didn't make it to 'rainbow' on the clip chart at school, she decided she hated all her dark colored pants (which were the pants she needed to wear to the cheer performance), her cheer shirt was too big and her shoes just didn't look right with her feet.  What?

 

I realized things were going downhill fast.  I had to pull out all the stops.  That's when I offered to do her make-up.  Instantly, things turned around.  She chose a dark pair of pants, her sparkle shoes, a side bun and I quickly washed and dried her shirt in a desperate attempt to shrink it. 

 

Lo and behold, Sugar Plum didn't stop smiling the entire performance as she actually did the cheers this year.  It was a joy to watch her confidence soar as her eyes lit up with pride.  She put on quite a show, even if Ross did mumble throughout the performance, "so this is what you spent 20 bucks on mom?"

 

Until next year...

New Doo

It started after he came home from school to tell me his class changed desks.  He now sits next to the girl he likes.  I asked if that was a good thing to which he replied, "yeah, I guess". 

 

 

Fast forward to later in the evening.  "Mom, what do you think I'd look like with my bangs spiked up like Luke Porters?"

"Lets find out", I replied as I grabbed a brush, mousse, a water bottle and hairspray. 

 

 

He felt insecure about changing his hair, yet I can't deny how adorable he looked.  And when I put the pieces together as to why he wanted the new style, my heart turned to goo.

 

Before bed he was obsessed with whether to do the new style for school or not.  Should I or shouldn't I?  What way do you like better mom?  Maybe I should ask dad?  Mom, are you sure?  But what do you think for real? 

 

I advised him to see how he felt in the morning and make his decision then.

 

Morning came and he decided to go for it.  Oh man, this was big.  We got his hair in place as I explained he shouldn't touch it.  To just forget about it and leave it alone. 

 

5 minutes later he forgot and for some reason was rubbing his head on the floor.  "Dang, I forgot", he said.  So we redid it.

 

10 minutes later on our way to school, he put on his sweatshirt with the hood.  "Dang, I forgot again".  "Okay, we'll turn around and go home to fix it", I said. 

So we did.

 

As we rushed back to the van to go to school, both girls hollered from their car seats, "Ross, don't touch your hair!"

 

As he left toward his classroom he discreetly reminded me to buy a can of mousse to keep in his room.

 

And with that, my boy is officially a pre-teen.

 

 

 

Update.  The new doo didn't last 10 minutes.  A couple boys told him he looked strange and Ross immediately brushed the bangs back down before walking into the building.
I think they were jealous.

Lifetouch Photos

Because I know you've all been dying to see the girls' school photos...

 

 

If you recall, Ross was feeling 'barfy' on picture day.  I'll share his photo once it gets taken.

Old Lady Nails, Sidewalk Chalk and Bulldogs.

Welcome to my random blog post.  It's a representation of the way my mind works.  Random thoughts, random statements, random activities.  It seems to be working.

 

 

Below is Maisie painting a random womans nails at a nursing home with the Girl Scouts.  What is it with old ladys having super-long, perfectly-curved and hard nails?  I swear I need to start taking whatever vitamins they're slipping in their applesauce.

 

I think Maisie was making sure this woman was all set for Halloween. 

Poor thing.

 

Meanwhile, I've been working on my indoor photography skills in manual mode.  Lighting is always an issue, but thanks to the photography class I took at Living History Farms several weeks ago, I think I've finally figured it out.  Below is one of my practice photos.  Still a bit dark, but not terrible!

 

As we enjoy the final weeks of nice weather before cold sets in, we've been outside as much as possible.  Ironically, I feel safer from the bats when were outside.  Go figure. 

 

We hit a snag on the building process when it came time to trench/hook up our electric to a temporary power pole in order for the framer to start framing.  It took nearly 2 weeks to complete, and now our framer has started another project.  The projected framing date is set for the middle of next week. 

 

God sure has a way of testing our patience, yet we will continue to trust in His timing throughout this adventure.

 

Lastly, are photos from this weeks flag football game.  The Bulldogs didn't win this week either, but the photos sure make me smile.