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Thursday, November 29, 2012

You Capture: Lunch

Every week, Beth over at I Should Be Folding Laundry, hosts a photography link-up.  She gives you a theme and you have a week to take a picture representing the theme and then you post your link at her blog.

Since I have absolutely nothing to do right now with Christmas being only three weeks away, I thought, what the heck, I'll do it this week!  Also, the point of this link-up is to get you using your camera and heavens knows I need help with my camera and I guess one way to learn how to use my camera is to actually use my camera.   So here I am!

This weeks theme is Lunch.

And here's what I had for lunch today:



It's nothing fancy - just some Romaine, chicken, pineapple chunks, goat's milk cheese and Asian dressing.

It was delicious!  The only problem?  I could have eaten two plates. Next time I think I need to add more pineapple. And more cheese.  You can never have too much cheese!

To see how everyone else captured the theme, head on over to I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Oh Christmas card, oh Christmas card your photos aren't so lovely.

We are heading to Washington, D.C. tonight to spend a long weekend with Dan's sister Cathy.  We are taking Colton - Peter's best friend.  Even though we are a few weeks late, this is to celebrate Peter's birthday.

And while I am very excited to go on this trip(probably just as if not more excited that the kids!), it puts me even further behind on all of my Christmas work.  Last night, in an attempt to get the Christmas card photo, I hurried the kids to the shower immediately following dinner and made them put on a nice outfit and stand and fake smile in front of the tree.

And let me tell you.  They were none too thrilled.  Especially Peter.  Oh that boy hates to do anything that isn't on his master plan for the day.

I snapped and snapped and snapped and as I am sitting here reviewing the pictures, I realize that I have 25 great pictures of Sarah and 25 great pictures of Peter.  Unfortunately, out of the 50 pictures I took, that greatness doesn't coincide at the same time. 

I've got Sarah smiling a great big happy smile and Peter looking up to the heavens as if praying to God for relief.

I've got Peter looking happy and relaxed and Sarah staring off to the side as if looking for an escape route.

I could go on and on but you get the idea.

So without further ado, let me present you with our 2012 Christmas card picture:


I really should invest in professional shots next year!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Ding dong around the world!

So now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, I'm finally sitting down to my computer to get a little Christmas shopping done.

I have asked, begged, and cajoled the kids in previous years to make a list for Santa they never do or they make lists and contain items that are no longer made or sold out (Peter) or contain items like globe and bell (Sarah).  What four-year-old asks for a globe and a bell?

The kids had all last week off from school so I took them to Target one morning to get some ideas for their lists. 

Peter wrote down one small Lego set and three video games and then got mad when I told him three video games was enough to put on one list.

Sarah wrote down microphone (the same kind my mom got her last year for her birthday that broke and we had to ship back to the manufacturer and then the replacement broke again) and Barbie make up purse.

After writing those things down, she said, "I don't want to do this any more."  When I asked her why not she replied, "Because then I'll know what I'm getting.  I want to be surprised." 

So I've been drinking coffee and pursuing Amazon for gift ideas and have not had much luck.  But no worries.  I will continue my search and I will be victorious. I think I've done a good job for the last 10 years.  
And if all else fails, I'll get them a bell and a globe. 


Monday, November 26, 2012

The Midway Christmas Parade

Sarah's Brownie troop had a float in the local Christmas parade this weekend.  She had been looking forward to this for weeks and even said, "Mom, it's like I'm going to be famous!" 

The girls decorated a tree, dressed in Christmas colors and tossed out pounds and pounds of candy along the parade route.

When their float approached Sarah and Cheyanne were alternating between smiling and waving like a beauty queen and tossing out candy. 

The girls decorated the tree and the float themselves.

Here they come!

Sarah and Cheyanne were throwing candy and we couldn't get their attention.

Waving to the crowd!

She finally sees us!
The girls had a blast and were already asking their troop leaders if they could be in the Easter parade.  I guess they enjoyed their first taste of "fame".  I think their leaders were ready for a nap!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

What I Wore Sunday

Is it really Sunday already?  Is our long weekend almost over? Sigh...Must be because here I am dressed for church this morning:


Cami: Kohl's
Shirt: Lands' End (I know!  Not Kohl's or Target!)
Pants: Kohl's
Shoes: Shoe Carnival

Necklace: Kohl's

I really probably should have tucked this shirt in but thanks to a lot of eating this last week and a lot of not working out for the last two weeks, my pants were feeling a little snug and I didn't want to have to sit with my stomach sucked in during Mass. 

So, there you have it - What I Wore Sunday.  Head on over to Fine Linen and Purple to see what everyone else wore today. 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

What I Wore to Thanksgiving

Grace, over at Camp Patton, is hosting What I Wore On Thanksgiving. She called me stylish when she asked me to participate so of course, I agreed, because flattery. Hello!

And while I don't think I'm stylish at all, Grace certainly is. Check out what she and her two really, really cute kids are wearing today. Kind of makes me embarrassed to post my outfit but here goes...

Shirt: Target
Jeans: Kohl's
Boots: Target

I have a love/hate relationship with this shirt.  Well, mostly hate.  I've had it since last year and the few times I worn it, I've worn it with black pants and have hated it.  I love the cut of the shirt but I guess it's the pattern I don't care for. 

This shirt was actually in my send-to-Goodwill pile but I dug it out and thought I would see if I liked it any better with dark jeans and my brown boots.  And I guess I like it a little better although with my not working out very much in the past three weeks, I really need a much looser top to balance out my ever tightening skinny jeans. 

So there you have it!  What I Wore on Thanksgiving.

The nice thing about taking this picture before heading over to Mom's for lunch?  When I saw the size of my saddlebags, I decided not to have dessert.  And I'm going to start working out again.  On Monday.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A little DQ can make it all better.

We were supposed to go camping with the Cub Scouts this weekend.  Which in September, when we signed up, sounded like a really good idea.  But now that it's November, and cold, and windy, and cold and ugh, camping.  What was I thinking?  So I was not heartbroken when two  families backed out at the last minute and the trip was postponed until the spring.

And now I'm like, camping?  In the spring?  That sounds wonderful!  I'm in!  Let's do this!  But I know I'll be singing a different tune when it's time to actually sleep on the ground and pee in a latrine.

But not camping this weekend left us some free time so my husband decided we should go for hike.  He wanted to try some place new so we headed for the Piedmont Environmental Center in High Point.

The trail we took was nice - only about two miles.  It weaved through the woods around the shores of High Point City Lake so we had some nice views.

But Sarah decided about half way through the hike that she was over it.  She wanted to get home to work on a project and bugged me about ideas for this project the entire two miles.  Every time I would give her an idea she would say "No. Think of something else."

Maddening.  She's lucky she's so cute and that I really, really love her.

But it's all good because at the end of the hike, we headed for Dairy Queen.

And everyone knows a whiny hike and Dairy Queen trump camping any day.






Sunday, November 18, 2012

What I Wore Sunday



I'm participating in What I Wore Sunday once again.  So, let's see what I wore...

I have one on of those bat-wingy type shirts on.  Is bat-wingy even a thing?  No?  Well, it is now.  Anyway, I had a pale grayish whitish bat-wingy shirt on.  Every time I moved my arms material flapped up at me. It must really be hard being a bat. I am wearing a burgundy tank top underneath but you can't really see that in the pictures but trust me, it's there.There would have been a lot of unsightly pale flesh showing every time I moved my arms if I didn't have on a tank underneath.  shudders

I am also wearing some darker gray skinnies.  And I'm wearing a long silvery chain.  After reviewing these pictures, I think I need a heavier darker necklace to go with this shirt.  The silver is lost in all of the gray.

I have the same boots on from last week but they didn't make it into the picture.  Apparently my photographer doesn't understand that shoes can make or break an outfit.  And I also don't think he really understands the whole concept of taking a picture of your outfit and posting it to your blog.  I have so much to teach my sweet husband.

 Shirt: Target
Tank top: Target
Jeans: Target
Boots: Target
Necklace: Target

Someone needs to quickly step away from Target and perhaps head to the mall or something.

Sarah wanted to have her picture taken as well because she is quite pleased with her outfit.  Dan and I kept making comments like"Sarah, are you done with that big proposal yet?" or "Sarah, what time is that meeting you called?". And Dan kept making her look at her wrist and then say, "Half day today, eh Bob?" We really cracked ourselves up this morning.

Shirt: Consignment Sale
Skirt: Consignment Sale
Shoes: Target (where else?)

Isn't she going to make a really cute executive one day?

And here we are together right before we dash out to the car. 

Head on over to Fine Linen and Purple for more What I Wore Sunday.  I'm sure the other ladies that have linked up are a little less bat-wingy and perhaps have shopped at stores other than Target and Target.

Friday, November 16, 2012

7 Quick Takes Friday


--- 1 ---
I've been at the school a ton this week.  I've been volunteering with the Scholastic Book Fair.  I took donuts in for Peter's birthday and his class is also doing a Thanksgiving Feast today so I'll be helping with the set-up of that as well. 
--- 2 ---
I was going to say that I'll be looking forward to a normal week next week but I just realized that the kids are off ALL. NEXT. WEEK. so nothing will be normal about that.
--- 3 ---
Speaking of taking donuts in for Peter's birthday, when I asked him what he wanted me to take to drink, he quickly replied, "Milk.  Whole milk."  Apparently whole milk is like fine wine to these kids.  When I took the birthday treats to the class, they were at computer class.  As they filed back in the room, I was pouring the milk.  Everyone of them asked me as they were walking by, "What kind of milk is that?"  When I responded, "whole milk," there was a lot of fist pumping and "oh yeahing". Seriously, I think I could have left the donuts at home and just brought in a couple of gallons of whole milk and they would have all been perfectly happy.  I guess by age ten they are starting to realize that 1% and 2% tastes a little chalky.  Or maybe their moms are making them drink....SKIM MILK!  Good grief!
--- 4 ---
Now that Peter's birthday has come and gone, I can focus on Christmas and all that is involved.  I have the worst time getting Peter and Sarah to make Christmas lists.  I think next week when they are out of school I am going to let them wander around Target to get some ideas.It really shouldn't be this hard but it always is.  Like pulling teeth.
--- 5 ---
Now that Peter knows where babies come from I wonder if it's time to tell him about Santa.  Although, a little part of me thinks he might already know.  Last week he said, "I don't want you to get me a ton of books like you did last year for Christmas."  All of the kid's gifts come from Santa so all of those books came from Santa.  I should have said, "Santa brought you those books" just to see what he said but I wasn't ready to go there so I let it drop.
--- 6 ---
If you don't want Santa to bring you a bunch of books kid then you better make a list!
--- 7 ---
Well, I'm off to get my hair did.  Have a great weekend, y'all!
 
For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

One down. One to go.

Sorry to cut yesterday's story short but Peter had an appointment with the allergist and then I had errands to run and then school was over so we had guitar lessons and homework and then before I knew it, it was dinner time. 

They finally called us to our table.  Peter was looking at the kid's menu and since this is a wing joint, in addition to the typical mac and cheese, chicken fingers and grilled cheese, they also had wings on the kid's menu. 

But instead of just calling these wings "plain", they called them "virgin" wings.  Peter saw that and said, "Virgin?  Of course, they're virgin! Chicken wings can't get married!"  And then he laughed because, how ridiculous!

And I thought to myself, good segue way into the conversation we are going to have when we get home. I better jump right in.

"Well, virgin doesn't mean unmarried.  It means something else and when we get home we are going to talk about that and I'm going to answer some other questions you've had lately." 

A look of fear crossed his face. "Does this have anything to do with that baby book?" he questioned.

"It sure does," I answered.

The eye roll he gave me would have made any 14-year-old proud.  He even grunted a little.

We managed to have a nice dinner. We talked about school and video games and his upcoming 10th birthday. And we stayed away from talking about chicken wings - virgin or otherwise.

But when we got home, I made him sit down at the kitchen table and I gave him the book.

He gave me another eye roll but he sat down.  He kept his coat on and zipped up.  He kept the hood pulled over his head and seemed to be using it as a shield so that I couldn't see his face and he couldn't see mine. 

I walked to another part of the room as he was reading. I didn't want to hover over him because I could already tell the whole situation was making him uncomfortable.

After he was done, he tried to escape to his video games but I made him sit down.  I answered a few questions he had asked me in the weeks proceeding this conversation and then he said, "Are we done now?"

I stressed that if he ever, ever, ever, had any questions to please, please, please ask me. The last thing I need is for him to be Googling around the internet.

And I also stressed that he needed to let his friend's parents tell them when they are ready to hear this information.  He isn't to talk about what he's just learned at school.

Peter turned red and said something along the lines of "I'm not talking about this at school!"

And then it was done.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

If anyone is interested, this is the book we used. (And no, I don't get paid for recommending this book.) 

I figure I've got another year or two before I have the conversation with Sarah.  That's going to be a completely different experience because that girl likes to ask questions...and lots of them. Wonder if I could borrow Peter's hooded jacket?  I think I'm going to need it.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

And here's how it went down...

I am sure you are all waiting with baited breath to find out how The Talk went with Peter on Friday night.

In one word - smooth.

But if you want a more than one word then - On Friday night as Sarah and Dan headed for the Daddy/Daughter Dance, Peter and I headed to dinner at a local wing restaurant.  Peter had not been there in ages (and in fact never remembered even going there) because Dan and I don't think the food there is that great.  But we must be the only ones who feel that way because we had to wait 25 minutes for a table.

And we waited outside in the cold.  Peter who is cold natured liked me, was wearing a very large coat.  He had it zipped all the way up and had the hood pulled over his head.  You know how when you are a mom and you are heading out into the bitter winter weather you would bundle your two-year-old up so tightly that they couldn't move?  Kind of like Randy in a Christmas Story:


That's what Peter reminded me of standing there in the cold night air.  A two-year-old. Only Peter was not wearing a scarf or mittens but you get the idea.

And I thought to myself, where did my baby go?  He's ten and I'm about to tell him the facts of life and he's standing there all bundled up and all I want to do is squeeze him and hug him and tell him to stop growing up so fast.  But before I could embarrass him like that, they called us.  Our table was ready.

But I can't finish this story yet because Peter has an allergist appointment and I'm about to be late to pick him up....

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Ten is...

Ten is...

smart
funny
a history buff
hot-tempered
tenderhearted
shy
talkative
handsome
a Cub Scout
a guitar player
an excellent student


Ten loves to...

play guitar
play Minecraft
read
watch You Tube videos
play with his best friend Colton
eat cereal
go camping with his Dad
play outside with his Air Soft guns

Ten has my heart.

Happy Birthday, Peter!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Daddy-Daughter Dance

Sarah has been looking forward to the Daddy-Daughter Dance at her school since last year's Daddy-Daughter Dance at her school.

So on Friday evening she got into her dress and her fancy dancing shoes and was ready to go.  She wanted her hair curly so we did the sock bun method to try to get some curl into it.  Unfortunately her hair is really long and quite fine and she only kept the sock in for a couple of hours instead of overnight ,so even though it looked nice and curly when we unrolled it, it was rather straight almost minutes later.  So I got out the curling iron and tried to fancy it up a bit.  Even with hair spray it still didn't hold. 

Curly or straight, I think she looks gorgeous either way!

Sarah posing in her dress.

Sarah and Daddy (please note the shoes!)

Doing the dance we like to call "The Daddy".
They had a great time and I think she's ready to do it again - as long as she gets a new dress and a new pair of shoes!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

What I Wore Sunday

Today I'm linking up with What I Wore Sunday at Fine Linen and Purple.


I've watched for a couple of weeks as several bloggers I normally read participated in this meme and so today I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a try!

We go to a very large Catholic church and it is very casual.  99% of the women wear pants and I am happy to follow suit (or pants suit as the case may be). 

As I was getting ready this morning, I decided to wear my new skinny brown cords with a white button down and a really cute black blazar that has a couple of ruffles across the back.  I really like that black blazar but I failed to remember that it has 3 quarter length sleeves so it looked ridiculous with the white button-down shirt.

I was struggling to try to make the shirt and blazar work and then Sarah walked in the room and said, "Mom you look just like Ellen in that outfit except you don't have short hair."

All righty then.  So I decided to go with this look:

It's the same brown skinny cords which I recently got from Target.  I'm wearing it with a thin eggplant colored cowl neck sweater from Kohl's over the top of a black cami from Kohl's.  I've completed the look with my new black lace up booties from Target.  Aren't the cute?  (Well except for the rogue laces.  I think I need to work on my tying skills!)

And there you have it.  What I Wore Sunday.  For more looks, head over to Fine Linen and Purple.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Boring to-do list, pretty shoes, and sour cream.

I have been on a tear this morning!  I have been checking things off my to-do list left and right:

Trash to dump
Return library books
laundry
Balance check book
Pay bills
Wrap Peter's birthday presents
Sync car with cell phone
Send pictures to family members
Read book

And yes, read book refers to reread the book that Peter will be reading tomorrow night while his sister is at the Father/Daughter dance.

And speaking of the dance, Sarah is absolutely thrilled with the dress and shoes I picked out for her.  It's usually 50/50.  She has her own certain tastes and they are vastly different from mine but I knew as soon as I saw the size 1 sparkly silver heels she would be smitten.  And I was correct. I have had a time keeping her from tap dancing in them in the bathroom for the last two weeks.



Now I must dash out to visit my grandmother at the rest home and pick up some sour cream because you can't have burritos made out of left over pot roast if you don't have sour cream.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Cub Scouts Raingutter Regatta

On Saturday, Peter participated in his 4th Raingutter Regatta.

I was a good mom and blogged about them here, here, and here.

And since I'm still a good mom, I'm going to blog about it again!

If you look at that first link (and if you do, will you please note how young my little 1st grader looked?) you will see that Peter and Dan went for style over speed and they lost. 

After that, they decided they didn't care how the boat looked they just wanted it to be fast.  This year was no different but they finally built a winner!

Peter got a first place medal out of the Weblos 1 group!  He raced hard in the championship heats but didn't place.  But he was okay with that.  The trophy for winning Weblos 1 seemed to be enough for him.  Plus, he could see how smoking fast the other boats were and he knew he didn't have a chance against a couple of those.

Peter and Dan analyzed the Grand Prize winning boat and I think they are going to "borrow" some things they learned for next year's boat.








Monday, November 5, 2012

4th Grade Country Festival


Since the beginning of school, Peter's class has been working on a big project in Social Studies. 

They each had to pick a country and research it.  They had to learn about the geography, the history, the food, the people, etc. and they had to put their information into a large demo board as well as a travel brochure.  They also had to make a flag.  They worked on this project in class with their teacher, in the media center with the librarian, in computer class, as well as in art class.

They had to present their information in class to the other students and they had to take notes on the other countries as well.

And then the big day came.

The Country Festival!

On Friday, they set up their information boards, brought in food from their countries for their classmates and parents to sample and had a parade through the school.

Many of the kids dressed in costumes from their country and brought items from that country as well.

Then each of the other grades came through, looked at the projects and asked the kids questions about their countries.

Peter loved it!  He said the best part of the whole project was when everyone asked him questions and he knew the answers.  I thought the best part was the food but that's just me!

Peter's country was Russia.  He wore an old Soviet soldier's hat and we got many items from a friend who had been to Russia. 

Here are pictures from the Country Festival:



The whole school lined the halls to watch the 4th Grade parade through with their flags.
Sweden and Russia


Heading upstairs to the Middle School.


After they paraded through the school, they entered the gym while their country name was being called out. (And the Olympic music was playing.)



The kids really enjoyed trying food from other countries.

Peter is imparting his knowledge on the 3rd graders.




Peter is telling the principal, Sister Geri, all about Russia.

Great job 4th Grade!!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Peter said...

Peter:  Mom, was electricity invented when you were born?

Me (exasperated): Yes.

Peter (laughing hysterically): Only kidding!  I know you're old but you aren't that old!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Halloween 2012

Eating our traditional Halloween dinner - Mummy Pizzas

Jason and Devil Girl




We always visit my grandmother before we head out to trick-or-treat

The gang we trick-or-treat with!


Colton and Peter - BFF!

Cheyanne and Sarah - BFF!

We always end the night at my parent's house!