Looking Ahead to 2014

As I know I've posted in the past, I just LOVE the prospect of a brand new year!  A chance to look at that clean slate, and the hopefulness to fill it with great things!! 

With it being December 31st, New Year's Eve...it is such a strange moment that we get to experience every year.  It is almost like you are hovering between two worlds for a moment.  If you sit and think...your mind wanders back, reviewing the year that is passing, but before too long, your mind is able to look toward the horizon of what may be to come!  When looking ahead...everything seems possible!!  There is no limit to your imagination as you sit here...dreaming...wishing...and hoping what your new year will look like! 

So what are some of the things that I have had on my mind lately for our 2014??   Here is my list as of today {subject to change with no warning whatsoever}...and in no particular order:



Homeschooling:  This is a HUGE piece of our lives!  Actually...if I wanted to get "technical" about it...it's not just a piece of our lives, but our TOTAL lifestyle!!  So, of course, I want to evaluate, then re-evaluate, then remodel...over, and over, and over, and over again!!  Trying to find that perfect recipe for our family....all knowing in the back of my head, that by the time I find that "perfect" jive for us, all the kids will be graduated!!  But...it doesn't stop me on my quest for new ideas, and new ways to do what we need to do.  I've been looking at a lot more "values" and "depth" to add to our days.  More looking toward our filling our time with much "bliss"...if that makes any sense to anyone!?!  I've got a couple ideas...I will write about them later!

Family:  Definitely need to work more Family Time into our lives!!  We've been so so so so busy the past couple years...I'm in a NEED to pull WAY BACK on our commitments.  Which is a hard thing to do with so much great stuff going on!  But I must find a balance.  There are many "sub groups" off of this one of things I have in mind that I would like to try out and see if they work for us.  Things like Daddy Dates, movie nights, family day/nights, etc.  I will keep you updated on how these are going!!


Food/Being Healthy:  This has ALWAYS been a tough one for me.  I've looked into so many different diets, foods to eat, foods to avoid...it's all just SO overwhelming for me.  By the end of the day...I'm not even sure if drinking a glass a water is actually good for us.  I do want our family to be healthier though...so something is going to have to change from what we do now.  Zach's focusing...lack of... is driving me insane.  Danny has had a couple different health issues this year.  I'm overweight.  We just need to try SOMETHING.   More about this topic soon!!


Money:  We are REALLY needing a new house this year!!  It's my "biggie" goal!  We are hoping we are passed the whole identity theft things, but don't know 100% sure yet.  I need to figure out more ways our family can spend less & save more.  Danny has talked about working as much overtime as he can in the next few months to really help out.  We will have our income tax coming in soon.  But on a day to day basis...I must get back to using as little costly things as I can.  Which will end up also meaning less gas.  Which is tough, because under the "being healthy" goal...I am hoping to get out and go walking more often...which would been trying to a local walking track!  Ugh...it's all a vicious cycle.  But all of this has been on my mind lately.  I've slacked in this department...and need to get my focus back!!  I definitely feel a "back to basics" kinda post soon!!


So these are my *BIG FOUR* that I am always working toward...or at the very least, they are usually on my mind, and keeping me awake at night! 

Here is to the New Year...may it be the best & brightest year yet...may it being happiness & contentment in all things.

Nov 2nd ~ Our Day...

Nov 2nd:

We had signed both Danny & Frost up for classes at the University of Scouting, unfortunately...Danny was now, because of our broken van sitting at our friends' house, not able to attend.  Thankfully, another friend of ours was also going for classes, and was so very gracious to give Frost a ride, too.

We signed Frost up for the Youth Leadership Training.  He has been our Senior Patrol Leader in our Boy Scout Troop for some time now.  And he has most definitely grown much, and has really stepped outside of his box since taking on this role.  But, as with any of us, he does still have much to learn.  Hoping he picked up some good tidbits during his time there.

After Danny dropped Frost off at our friends' house, "the plan" was for him to get back to our van to work on it...which was just a few streets over from where he dropped Frost off...but, wouldn't you know it, the key to the van was left at home.  Danny calls me during his 30 min drive back home to let me know that I would have to go with him because although he is very talented, he's not sure he could pull off driving both the van AND car back home.  I agree...but only on the condition that he buys me some yummy cappuccino!!

After picking me up a pumpkin spice cappuccino, we had to stop into a couple auto stores so Danny could pick up what he needed to correct the problem with our van...well, one of the problems at least.  Then we headed over so I could drop him off so they could get to work.

I was really hoping to lay back down after arriving back home, but opted to get online "for a little bit".  Checked my facebook, finishing my blog entry yesterday, and a few other things.  Next thing you know...kids started waking up...so I decided to just stay up.  Did a little cleaning, and some laundry....and kept up on my facebook happenings! 

Time to get ready for Mom's Night Out!!  So excited!!  Hanging out with friends is just so much fun!!  Had the time...and didn't have to get any children ready...so I took the effort to actually get dressed up for the occasion.  Had my purple and black sweater picked out to wear.  Even did my eyeshadow in purple to match.  But after putting on my sweater...I was like, "eh"...then switched to a red shirt...but didn't think about it until I was down the road that I still had PURPLE eyeshadow on.  Whoops.  Oh well.  At least I did make the effort, right?!?! 

Was a little disappointed when I was able to catch up with Frost about his Scout class from earlier that day.  From what it sounded like, it wasn't what we were thinking it would be.  Really hoping for a more in depth explanation and activities to show him, express to him, explain to him HOW to be a good leader.  From what I got after talking with Frost...it was very much lacking...in my opinion at least.

Thanks for dropping in! 

Happy November

Wow...is that correct??  November ...already??  Really!?!?  Seriously!?!?  Where has this year gone??  I know I've said it before...but these years fly by quicker and quicker the older I get!!  Why is that??


Yesterday, I stumbled upon this article:

Living in a Garage  {www.raisingarrows.net/2005/12/stuff-things/}


Just another reminder that our family needs to scale back on our "things" BIG TIME!!  It's a very motivational read...well, at least it was for me!!  The space that the family of 11 was living in until their house was complete was only around 200 square feet smaller than our current house with our family of 6.  Hmmmmm....Got me thinking...again.

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Trick or Treating around our area got bumped to Nov 1st because of bad weather.  On our way over to our friends' house...when we stopped at the traffic light, white steam just pours out of our van.   Ugh!  We pull over...Danny discovers that there must be a leak in our radiator hose somewhere due to fluid being EVERYWHERE.  Oh geez...what do we do?!?!  I suggest going to WalMart and picking up treats...and just heading back home.  We know they kids would be heartbroken, but we'd have the van at home without more damage.  Danny decides sad children is NOT worth it...we put some water in the radiator and push on.

On the way, stopping at lights, the van is just steaming.  I'm sure it was quite the sight to onlookers!!  Probably a little worried that our ride was on fire!!  :)   We did finally make it...got our van parked in our friends' driveway...and there it still sits for Danny to work on Saturday morning.


 We were able to enjoy a great time hanging out on Beggar's Night with some really great friends of ours!  Here are some pics from our evening:

Liam & Zach's costumes:

Decorated yard & Trick or Treating:

Here is a pic of Frost in the light:

....and when the lights go out:

He got SO MANY compliments on his costume this year!!  Which he worked SO HARD on!  I'm so proud of him!!  There was a skull that he made light up on his staff, but it fell off during Trick or Treating.  He made the hat himself {with a little help from big sister}...which you can't tell in this pic, and I REALLY need to get a pic of it, but it has a hole on one side, which the whole inside of the hat lights up around another skull...his Me'maw helped him make the cape, and he added the cobwebs and spiders to it...he added all the lights, with some inspiration on design from me, and last minute help from Arlee.

Thanks so much to our friends for helping us out so much...one thing was a ride all the way out to our house to drop us all off after Trick or Treating.  We walked into our house with the aroma of our chili cooking in the crock pot while we were away.  A yummy ending to our day.

An Early Morning...

Had to get my "I-really-really-REALLY-hate-mornings" butt out of bed before the sun even came up Saturday morning.  Ugh.  I almost didn't.  I almost just rolled back over.  I almost said, "Ah...no biggie."  I almost missed out on spending a great morning with my boys!

Home Depot was having their kids build clinic.  I had signed up Zach & Liam earlier in the week.  It is Fire Safety month, and with their Cub Scout Pack going to be going over Emergency Readiness...I thought this would be a great thing to tie in with it!  I read that they would also get a LEGO set as well.  I knew Liam, my amazing little builder, would LOVE that!  But what I didn't know...is that they had much more going on that day as well! 

We started off building their Fire Rescue Plane...and painting them...

Then they wanted to visit the Chick-fil-a booth where we got to spin the wheel for some coupons for FREE FOOD!!  Zach also got the cow headband to wear!  :)

Next was visiting the Fire Truck & Firefighter...

The hay bale place was after...

Face painting....

 

Then back to the hay bales...

 

....and back to the Fire Truck....

We ran into some friends while we were there!  Which was great to see!  There was also a hay ride!!

After we did all we could do, we took our Chick-fil-a coupons...and went to have lunch!  I fed all three of us for like $3.42!!  The boys put together their LEGO Fire Trucks, and we played the card games that came with their kids' meals!  :)

While at Chick-fil-a, a woman came up to me and asked me if Zach always walked on his toes.  I said, yes, he always has from the time he first was learning how to walk.  She was thrilled!!  Isn't that kinda strange?  But she said she had NEVER seen another child walk on their toes like HER boy did!  We talked back and forth until our food was ready.  Zach said it was really cool to hear about another boy like him! 

I am truly grateful that I pulled myself out of bed this morning...I had an amazing time hanging out with these two awesomely cool guys!  I love them both so very much!  They are really growing up...and I still can not believe my "baby" just turned 8yo.  I'm so blessed to have had such a wonderful morning with these two...should never miss an opportunity to spend with them!

Oh How Time Flies...

I'm starting this post out with a deep sigh.  One of the ones you do when you take that time to really really look at your kids as they are getting older.  You know how you kinda get caught up in your every day regular life stuff...then out of the blue, you look at your child, and it's almost like seeing a whole new person.  It's still them, obviously, but just a little more grown up, a little more mature, a little more of a lot of things...and it really hits you, all at once, in that moment...time is really speeding by.

This evening, we all went to Arlee's Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony.  She crossed over the bridge to become an Ambassador Girl Scout.  We're working toward getting her ready to start working on her Gold Award within the next couple months...and then she will begin working on putting her ideas into motion, and finally making it happen.  This next year will be Arlee's last year in Girl Scouts.  This chapter of her life is coming to a close.  The next time that she will be involved in Girl Scouts will be IF she has a daughter of her own...and I do hope she signs her up!  I know Arlee has really enjoyed her time in Scouts...since 2nd grade. 

Tonight Arlee sang during the ceremony "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield.  If you haven't listened to it before, I suggest you do!  A very inspirational song...and I think it was a wonderful choice for Arlee to sing tonight as her, along with the other Girls, begin a brand new year together.

With Arlee getting ready to turn 17 here in just a couple months...it is REALLY weighing heavy on me.  My little girl is just not so little...hasn't been for some time.  She only has 1 more year of being "officially" a child.  It won't be long before she is ready to move out and start her own life on her own...and she won't be just "down the hall" in her room drawing, listening to music, or watch her tv anymore.  I will have to call her, fb her, or email her when I want to share something with her.   I will have to "schedule" time with her when I want to see her.  What am I going to do when I no longer get to see her every day??  Oh geez.  this is going to be REALLY hard on me.

I had tears in my eyes tonight watching her up there singing her song in front of her friends and their parents.  There she was...my beautiful daughter...all grown up.  And here I sit as I write...with tears welling up again. 

Getting Caught Up

I know exactly why it's so hard for me to keep up with my blog...it's because we are just so darn busy!  And we've even been knocking some things off the calendar to help save a little in our gas budget!  Whew!  Some days...just looking at our calendar can make my head swim.

Sept 4th...Went over to my IL's so Sue could help Arlee make a cape for her costume she made to wear to the Cincy Comic Con that upcoming weekend.  We hung out and chit chatted.  A very nice visit!  And Arlee left with an amazing cape to complete her costume!

She did a great job making her vision of her costume come to life!  See how there is the green sleeves on the red shirt??  She cut those off another shirt, and replaced the red sleeves on that shirt!!  Like her glove??  Those were from that other green shirt, too!  She is just so darn creative!

She even had people stopping HER to get HER picture!  What an awesome compliment for all the hard work she put into this costume!  :)

Sept 5th...This night was our first Girl Scout & Cub Scout meetings for the 2013-14 year!  Whew!  There are SO MANY great families that we get the honor of seeing at these meetings!  I wish I had time to get to catch up with each one...but I sadly don't.  Last year I was a Co-Leader for the "older" Girl Troop...this year, I'm concentrating more on our Cub Scout Pack!  Oh goodness was those boys wired that night!!  They were so excited to be having their meeting...oh my!  They were wild!  None of them were "bad"...just excited and it definitely showed!  I hope they had a good time...and I look forward to a great year of learning together with them!

Sept 6th...Had to get up EARLY this morning so Frost & I could meet up with some other Committee Members from his Boy Scout Troop to complete his & another Scout's Board of Review!  I sat in on the other Scout's one, and Frost had to go in and do his by just talking about the Troop, and what he's done to get to where he is now.  From what I heard, he did a great job...parents are not allowed to sit in, unfortunately...this is why I think they should definitely video them!  Just sayin'!!  So very proud of my boy who is now a Second Class Scout!

In the evening, we got to go hang out with some really good, long time friends of ours!  It was just me the the kiddos...Danny was at his Magic Tourney right up the street.  We had some good food, and great company!  I've missed my friend so much!  We used to spend so much more time together...I always enjoyed my time with her...and I miss it a lot.  I got to shoot some pool with her...lots of fun!  Danny did get to swing by after his tournament...so that was really great!

Sept 7th...Cincy ComicCon!!  Danny, Arlee, & Frost went.  We really didn't have the money for this outing...but there was NO way we could break Arlee's heart like that!  She's been looking forward to it for WEEKS!!  Shoot...maybe MONTHS!?!  They had a good time!  Here are some pics from their day there:

Sept 9th...Boy Scout Night!!  Well...it turned out to just be Frost & one other Scout!  :)   It was totally fine though!  Frost and him did some planning for the upcoming year...and Frost helped him to get a requirement signed off by Danny!  I got to talk with his mom.  So I'm calling it a successful night!  :)

Sept 11th...FIRST DAY OF Co-Op!!!!  It was SO nerve wracking BEFORE class!  I was just too nervous AND excited!!  I couldn't get the internet to work with Arlee's lap top, so I wasn't going to be able to show my video.  :/   And then...I had to fill the time TALKING...and time was moving SO SLOW!  LOL!  But...we managed to get thru it!  I hope the kids had a bit of fun at least...I hope they like the book, and I'm looking forward to some great projects that they get inspired to create and bring in next month!

I also gave them a photo & caption from the book, "The Chronicles of Harris Burdick"...this is a great book to inspire a little creative writing!  You show the photo & caption...and the kids are suppose to come up with a story they make up.  There are stories in the book, made up from famous authors.  I also gave them some prompts in case they'd rather use those instead to come up with stories.

My friend Katrina did the AMAZING photography class...that the boys REALLY enjoyed!!   Liam really liked the Science & Art classes that he did as well!  There is a new 4H group forming from our CoOp families...so we are looking into all we can do with that.  We are TOTALLY brand new to 4H...so we are on information overload right now...but it really looks like a great way for the kids to learn lots of new things!  I can't wait until next month when we get to do it again!  There were so many great families who jumped in and made this happen!  A huge THANK YOU to all of them!  I got to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in awhile...and got to meet some families I hadn't met before...which is ALWAYS exciting!!

Sept 12th...Shooting Sports!!  Arlee & Frost have been waiting for this to start back!  The did Archery tonight...and I think did pretty good for not shooting all summer long!  Then there was a meeting afterward.

So, I guess that pretty much catches us up to the NOW.  I really do need to be heading to bed...I need to get up early to drop Frost off with his girlfriend and her family for an outing they are all going on together.

Thanks for dropping in!  :)  Hope to see you again soon!