Little Hands....

So the kids have made all their crafts for the holidays and presents they are giving out. We've made gingerbread ornaments and a "little hand" craft, which I recently saw on Pinterest and also on a friends Facebook page.


We added some different elements, but overall I'm happy with how they came out and the kids had fund tracing each others hand and cutting it out.

"Facing a mirror you see merely your own countenance; facing your child you finally understand how everyone else has seen you." - Daniel Raeburn

Christmas Countdown

Yes, it is upon us...Christmas time...the kids have their last day of school before winter break tomorrow. Tonight, we took part in my little man's first piano recital. He started lessons in October and he played "O Christmas Tree," he did good for his first performance.
It was funny because prior to going, he asked if he could get a "sports coat" like daddy. So, we looked for a jacket and thankfully found one that was even on clearance. His eyes lit up and he had the biggest grin on his face!
His recital was short and it was great to see all the kids at varying degrees of piano talent and I was so proud to see him up there doing his best.

We also won the holiday "lighting" contest in our neighborhood, which was an unexpected, but nice surprise.
I'm looking forward to Christmas, this year I tried to focus on something the kids are interested in and get things that help foster that interest, so I think I am just as excited for Christmas as the kids are. In the past, the holiday times tend to come with some drama, but I'm happy to report that this year we have had none.
I've had many breakthroughs this year and taking control of my emotions and what bothers me or what doesn't helps. Deciding what I want and focusing on what I'm grateful for has definitely moved things in a more positive direction. I've stopped focusing on what is lacking and instead creating what I want and I'm refusing to let negative thoughts and energy come into my life.


“Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

A house full of cookies....

So, we are in the midst of December and of course baking has taken over in our house. Over the weekend, I hosted a Ugly Sweater Cookie Swap, which I think was fun. We had a ton of cookies and I asked the guests to bring at least 5 dozen cookies and then they got to take home several dozen cookies from the various cookies that were available. It was a good time.



This weekend we are also making swirl-a-ball ornaments to give away. You take clear ornament balls, get some tempera paint mix with some water and then use eye droppers to put into the ornament and swirl the paint inside the ornaments, which makes neat swirly designs.

On on completely different topic, I'm watching "Waiting on Superman," and it is hard to watch without really getting upset to think where we are with the education of our children. We are quickly slipping behind and we are allowing it to happen. Every child deserves the best education and we tell our children to believe and that they can accomplish anything as long as they get an education, but then we can't even give them an education that they deserve. What is it going to take to really change the system, because it is clear that our focus isn't on the children, the system is broken.

I'm thankful that my children are where they are.....and I fully am aware of that. Education should not be to recall a list of facts, words or any other useless information, it should be stimulating and engaging so that it moves to our long-term memory rather than short term.

Crafts and Things.......

I attempted to make a yarn wreath several days ago. It was pretty painless, not entirely time-consuming, somewhat relaxing, and easy. I selected some multicolored yarn from the local craft store along with a wreath and got busy. Not bad for my first attempt - I decided to hang it in front of one our windows in the living room.



This weekend, the kids and I are going to attempt to make yarn balls and from what I've read is pretty messy, which is why I thought the kids would enjoy it. I'm pretty excited to give it a stab. We shall see how it all turns out!

The kids also received their annual letter from Father Christmas and keeping track of how well the kids have been behaving. I told the kids a while back that the cameras you see in stores, etc....are called "Santa Cams" and that is how Santa keeps track of every one's behavior throughout the year, when my kids begin to act out, I simply point to one of the cameras, this has been working well and works year round, however, I'm not sure what is going to happen when my children are older, but I suppose by then my kids should know better than to bicker in public.

And speaking of Christmas, last night we were talking about what is on their lists and my little man, looks at me all serious-faced and says, "do you really think Santa will bring me 30 packets of honey" and I said we shall see as I thought, honey, really? (My son has actually requested manuka honey from New Zealand, which may be hard for Santa to acquire)

The kids had their school auction last weekend, we walked away with some tickets to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, a card basket, movie ticket with candy basket, books, and are splitting a lake cabin with some friends for a week.
We made and donated a rain barrel and two wine "tiki" torches with the citronella. The school sent out final numbers of what was raised, but it was just recently updated with proceeds from the bake sale and remaining items that needed to be paid and the money raised was $15, 387 - I think that is pretty impressive for a school our size. Most of the money will be used to help fund another classroom for next year as well as supplies for teachers. It is always a fun time, I helped checking people in this year, but I think I will help with set-up next time.

I'm also reading a book titled, Montessori Madness by Trevor Eissler, I've just started reading it, but so far I enjoy it. I continue to write letters to the Governor's office, but I definitely think we need more public Montessori schools not only in this state, but in the United States or at least there needs to be more choices for parents than what is currently offered. I'm currently on the part about what is going wrong in schools today and it reminds me of the other book I read and have mentioned, The Art of Learning and Forgetting by Frank Smith. Both great reads for parents!

I've also started a new writing project....I won't go into many details as I'm still sketching ideas about, but it is a great start so far.

“Books fall open, you fall in. When you climb out again, you're a bit larger than you used to be." Gregory Maguire

Reflecting on my dad.....

With Veteran's day tomorrow, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on my dad and the commitment he made to his country. He served 26 years in the U.S. Navy, something I really didn't appreciate or fully understand till I got older.
Growing up I only looked at it as a job that took my father away for long periods of time, I resented the various moves, I resented that he missed out on holidays or birthdays or father-daughter dances.
When we moved to a state that didn't take him out to sea every six months, it was definitely an adjustment period, who was this man that was now home and why was he trying to tell us what to do, that was mom's job and even then I still didn't realize the commitment one makes when joining the service....it didn't really dawn on me, till my father retired from the Navy and going through his retirement ceremony and I cried only then realizing that perhaps there were times that he didn't want to leave us, but it was his job and regardless of how he felt, he had to go.

As an adult and parent, I realize how lucky I was to have had the opportunities that we had - how happy I felt when we would go to the base and eagerly watch the ships coming into port while the servicemen were all lined up on the ship and I would try to find my dad among all the servicemen. Or when my dad would take me to his office and let me type on his typewriter, or play the one game they had on the computer and the nights we would get to come on the ship and get to eat with him; I can still remember the smell of the ship: metal and diesel fuel, sometimes tar-like. Or the great friendships you would make with the other military families.
Or all the places we got to live and experience - although growing up I absolutely hated moving and the process of having to meet new people, new schools and the one year I changed three schools in a matter of six months and I remember my dad walking me into one of the schools, trying to ease my nerves and hugged me and said it will be okay and all I wanted to do was cry and say, don't leave me here, but I didn't because you adjust...you meet some great people that turn into friends. Looking back it definitely helped shape me into the person I am and I wouldn't be the person I am had it not been for all those experiences. It's not an easy life for anyone involved, but it's life just the same and I want to just say thanks, Dad. Thanks for your service to this country and for giving me the opportunity to be a military brat - I'm proud to be your daughter!
And thanks to all the servicemen past and present....not all appreciate or fully understand the type of commitment it takes, but thank you.



"On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when they return home, we leave no veteran behind" - Dan Lipinski

Family Dynamics.....

I debated internally with myself, whether or not I wanted to blog about this, but then I thought, crap, I've blogged about so much other stuff in my life, why not. And perhaps it is because I pretend it doesn't bother me when in reality it does. And thus I don't really want to go into it, because I don't want to stir up anything, so I ignore it, but sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone to really see the bigger picture.
So, whatever is it that I'm eluding to....the family dynamics of my siblings. My husband has his own issues with his siblings, so I'm not going to get in those, but is it just us or do most siblings have closer relationships with friends besides their own sibling? In my case, I'm definitely closer to a few of my friends than I am with my siblings and do I like it that way? Yes and No. I guess I always felt like at some point things would change and eventually get to there and in some aspects of my life it has, but it has always reverted back to more of a "this person has a presence in my life" rather than "this person is a part of my life."

My sister and I have had our ups and downs and growing up I have always envied her "carefree" demeanor, I'm definitely not that gal in settings I'm not comfortable with....whereas my sister has the "don't care what you think" attitude, but she has always been the more social butterfly and gets more laughs, which I admire. However, I have always felt like I had to compete for her attention and at times I felt she resented me, which drove a wedge even further between us.
And time after time, after something would happen and the more disappointed or hurt I felt, I continued to let it go for the sake of wanting her in my life. I would wait for an apology, I would wait for some closure, only to be told not to live in the past, but yet if her feelings were hurt - then it is okay to bring up the "wrongs" in her life. And most recently after something happened, I thought really? I definitely wouldn't take this from anyone else, why in the hell should I take it...I'm not a doormat and I refuse to be one. So, my sister is not really in my life and I am not a part of hers, am I comfortable with that? No, not really, I would love to have a relationship with my sister who I could call up and hang out with, but I'm tired of continually giving emotionally to someone who I feel doesn't give back or can take responsibility for their actions. And I know that if I were to pretend nothing has happened, things would be great, until the next issue arises and once again it will be my fault. I can't continue to live like that and I won't.

Relationships take work and it is easy to let relationships fall then to work on them and the thing is if I really felt like my sister wanted me a part of her life, I would make more of an effort, but it has to go both ways. And instead I feel like an outsider looking in to her world and I'm not going to apologize for my life, I feel like - I've done so in the past and I've tried, but I don't get the impression that she cares one way or the other.

I feel for my children because I don't want them to have this type of dysfunctional relationship with their sibling, at times I wonder what example am I setting for them...I can't rely on my brother, I can't rely on my sister, there is no relationship there and then we have no relationship with my husbands siblings. It's like seriously, these are siblings and my children look at our close friends as aunties/uncles more so than the real ones....what kind of picture is that, but again the relationship with those friendship is that we work on being a part of that person's life.
My little man is taking piano and he said to his piano teacher, how a close family friend's daughter (who is also taking piano) was his cousin. The piano teacher asked if we were family and I laughed and said no, but we see each other that enough that the kids feel like family.
I don't expect a perfect family, but to feel like I could count on my sibling would be enough.

"The most powerful ties are the ones to the people who gave us birth it hardly seems to matter how many years have passed, how many betrayals there may have been, how much misery in the family: We remain connected, even against our wills." - A.Brandt

30 Days of Gratitude

Well we are already into the first week of November, we've been trying to talk about all the things that we are grateful before bedtime. It is always interesting to hear what the kids have to share, such as...my books, my family, my bed, candy, the animals, etc...
I am thinking of making some Thanksgiving and Christmas questions that we can take turns asking/answering during dinner time. The dollar store has some foam craft stuff that I think we can use to decorate and write the questions on - I also have a box that they kids can decorate and I know they will enjoy it.
I've signed the whole family up for the Miracle of the Bell campaign through the Salvation Army, so yes, we will be out there ringing those bells - the kids are pretty excited as they had so much fun last year ringing the bells.
The husband was away this week - I don't mind when he is away, but sometimes it gets old. The kids are always well-behaved, but they miss him terribly - well we all miss him. It feels like he has been traveling more, but I really don't know it that is the case or if I just notice it more, but it is what it is. I just try to enjoy and soak it in when he is home (when he is not wrapped up into all the home projects).
I've also found a new holiday DIY project that I'm excited to try, so I'll post pictures if I start and finish it :)

"Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you. " E. Caddy