Egg Drop Day 2014

Just before my school started, Greg had the day off, and we were able to go together to our children's Egg Drop Day at their school.

Egg Drop Day is exactly what it sounds like.  The children each package up a raw egg in something they think will protect it/give it a soft landing.  Then our town's fire department comes with their biggest ladder truck....and drops the eggs while the children cheer them on.  Some of the eggs make it.  Some of them don't.  This year I think we were at exactly half-and-half.

Tomorrow....

My first day of school is tomorrow.  I was supposed to start at the beginning of this month, but due to several circumstances, the date was extended....I've been looking forward to and dreading this day for so many months now, it's hard to fully put into words how I'm feeling at this moment.

My career choice to be a stay-at-home mother and wife for the past 13 years has included being an anchor here at home for my children and Greg, and so of course I feel so much guilt and anxiety as I prepare to make this huge life-change.

For the past 6 months or so, we've been prepping our children for the upcoming shift.  Working out chore charts, a Big Guy/Little Guy buddy system for homework/meals/chores, lots of conversations about responsibility and taking care of each other, and even brought them to an Open House at my school to show them where I'm going to be putting in so many hours....yet now that it's down to that final day I still can't possibly imagine what the year ahead will look like....

Open House


...at some point, Elijah got the camera....







I have laid out my black scrubs, packed my lunch, and set my alarm.  So very excited to see what tomorrow brings!

First day of school, 2014

It's the first day of school!!  For this one year, all of my children will be in elementary school together.  The three older children were so excited for Jonah to start school this morning that they forgot to be nervous about themselves.

Each of them bravely walked into their classrooms without a look back.  Of course I cried.  How could I not?  This year is especially difficult for me....the last day of sending a child off to Kindergarten....I can't help feeling a bit bereft.....and then there's the fact that I'll be starting school myself (cosmetology) next week.  It's hard to even imagine what this school year is going to look like; what our lives are going to feel like.

But for today, I am going to rest in the stillness and peace of finally being alone.

teaching friends: first handspun

Two weeks ago, my friend Pixie and I worked to restore a spinning wheel that's been in her family for.....well, and unknown number of years, actually.  But it has obviously been very, very well used, as is evidenced by all of the replaced parts and worn pieces.



We managed to get it to spin with great difficulty, but it seems that this particular wheel will best live on as a monument to past efforts, as there didn't seem to be a way to get this to work efficiently enough to spin more than a few feet of yarn.  But that deep happy feeling of working to restore a tool that has served so many years...that was truly priceless.

Eventually I got some of my drop spindles out, and taught Pixie how to spin on that, because the wheel was clearly not going to be a learning tool.



The look on her face as she spun and plied her very first skein of yarn reminded me why I adore teaching these ancient industrial skills.



A deeply satisfying evening.

Andrew's Kitchen: Episode 1 - Popcorn

Today we woke to ice and snow on the ground....well, just a dusting really, but enough for Central Texas to shut down for the day.  Yay no school!!

Today's events have included: sleeping in (well, just me -- the children all woke up early because they didn't need to ohmygosh), a family workout ("Jillian Michaels: 6 Week Six-Pack" -- available for free streaming right now on Amazon if you have Prime, and kicking my booty oh so good!), baking chocolate chip cookies, friends, and filming the very first episode of Andrew's Kitchen.

Tonight there will be late night movies, and we're looking forward to Greg coming home for the weekend tomorrow night!!

Sour Candy Challenge

Today was a school holiday.  Happily this meant I was able to turn off my alarm, sleep in, throw out the schedule.  Sadly, this meant that...for lack of a schedule, the children eventually turned on each other and it became a bickering, stressful mess of a day.

Then my friend Pixie arrived, we started watching YouTube videos together and....well one thing lead to another, and the next thing I knew, I was out at the grocery store buying a giant bag of the sourest candy I could find.



Then we decided to video the children tasting everything because....well a little kid with a great big sour face is a pretty funny thing, what can I say?



Of course Pixie and I had to try it out next:

In the end, no one had any taste buds left, we were all flying high on sugar, and no one was bored.  Score!

Enchanted Rock

Greg took some time off of work right around Christmas, so one day he took the children to Enchanted Rock for hiking and caving and wild outdoor fun.

















Because there's nothing like an awesome Daddy Adventure Day!!

Family rock climb

Rock climbing is something that Greg and the children have enjoyed for quite a while now, but up until I had the surgery to put my stomach muscles back together last May, I wasn't able to be part of it (due to my complete lack of core strength).  It was frustrating to even think about, because I used to climb everything when I was little, with no effort!

Ever since my Dr released me to start working out again and rehabilitating myself, I've been pushing myself hard to regain strength and build my stamina.  In October of last year (5 months post-op), I decided that I was finally strong enough to attempt to climb.



























(somehow this is the only one I got of Andrew)



And finally....


It was very hard for me to get up onto the wall, and there were a few moments where I couldn't find a good hand or foothold and wanted to give up, but I AM WAY TO STUBBORN FOR THAT, so I kept going...and made it all the way to the top.  Sounds lame to say that I'm psyched to have climbed as high as my small children, but there it is -- I'm right damn proud of myself, and don't you forget it!


My arms ached for days after, and I definitely have a long way to go with building strength and grip, but it felt great that I was able to do it at all.

It was also super fun to spend the morning together as a family....even though I don't really like the outdoors....or nature....and we forgot the bug spray and mosquitoes find me especially delicious....but yay family memories!  I feel like I'm ready to try the wall again soon.  But this time I'm going to remember to take a deet shower first.







(For the complete set, check out all the pics from our day over here on Flickr)

New Year's Eve Costume Party 2013

We have started a tradition of bringing in the new year with a costume party and a bunch of friends.  Because parties are already fun, but costumes!!  Costumes OBVIOUSLY make everything even better.  Obviously.

This year's theme was Board Games and/or YouTube.  Our friends came in costumes that varied in stages of WOW, SMART, and OUTRAGEOUS!!  We didn't award prizes, but if we had, everyone would have won something, because each costume was truly in a class of it's own.

A fox dancer (What Does The Fox Say?) and 7 Minutes in Heaven:

Shoots and Ladders:

Louigi:

Pirate and Bunny:

Twister:

Battleship:

Monopoly:

Risk soldier:

There were a few more costumes we didn't catch photographic proof of (to include Elijah as "one of the blue pegs from LIFE" and Lavella as "Sophia Grace"), but it was certainly a night to remember!  So much fun with our friends, and a wonderful way to kick off the new year.  

Happy New Year!!!

A Fairy House afternoon

Solving the "I'M SO BORED OHMYGOSH I CAN'T POSSIBLY THINK OF ANYTHING TO DO THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE A SCREEN!!!!!!" dilemma.

"How about fairy houses?"

Several hours later....