What's been goin' on

You might think that because I pretty much dropped out of the blogosphere for three months that I just didn't have anything going on worth blogging about. Au contraire!! The last three months of 2010 simply flew by!
September was mostly spent trying to get accustomed to our new schedule. We enrolled our kids in the local public school for the very first time this school year and it has taken some getting used to. None of our family are morning people, so mornings are struggles because we simply don't want to get up while it's still dark outside! But the kids love it...especially our youngest, who is a fifth grader.
The first six weeks she was chosen by her teacher as the "Wildcat Kid." She made straight A's and had perfect citizenship! (I would like to see what she would have been chosen as if her teacher had seen her at home for six weeks! HA!)

She was invited to a special breakfast with the other Wildcat Kids and got to have her picture taken with the mascot.




Although a karate girl in her heart, I did get Morgan hooked on the Dallas Cowboys. She even picked a favorite player and made a commemorative jersey!




Near the end of the the local high school's football season, the fifth graders were invited to come sing the Star Spangled Banner before one of their home games.


Halloween weekend found our family at our church's Trunk or Treat event. Lot of candy and lots of fun. Not to mention a couple cool characters!




In November I made this very cool zippered pouch as a gift for one of my girls' friends. With a gift card inside it was the perfect birthday gift!


For Veteran's Day, the fifth graders put on a program full of narrative and music. Morgan sang a duet with a friend at the beginning. Have I mentioned my girl can sing? One of the things they did to decorate was make some stars to honor veterans, past and present, that are friends and family.






On a more practical note, I sold my refrigerator that I was in love with. We bought it when we built our house and it was sized for the space it was in. There was no way it was going to fit in the rental. *sniff*


Right before Thanksgiving break, the fifth graders (busy, aren't they?) had Native American Day. The whole day was devoted to studying and being immersed in Native American culture. Morgan even got a new name! I love how teachers can integrate learning and fun so effortlessly!






In December we celebrated my boy's 12th birthday. Unbelievable! He got exactly what he asked for but I think he was still surprised!


And finally, in the midst of getting ready to move I got a chance to have an afternoon with one of my best friends from high school. I hadn't seen her in about 17 years! It was a wonderful time. We ate, talked, got our nails done, talked, went to Starbucks, talked...well, you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, I didn't take any! Of course I wish I had now, but at the time I just wanted to concentrate on getting caught up! However, before I left to meet her I did take a picture of myself. I knew it would probably be the last chance before we moved that I wouldn't be wearing clothes covered in dust from cleaning out closets!


So, that's about it! The last quarter of 2010! I can't wait to see what 2011 holds!

A Fort for your Friday

 When the chores are done...

and a boy needs a place to himself...

what better place than a cozy fort?

He sure can't think of any other place he'd rather be!

That's my boy...er, young man

Karate Kids!

Introducing our new green belt!

and our new brown belt!

We are so proud of these kiddos and the level of commitment it takes to get this far. We know they have it in them to go all the way to black belt!

It goes on and on and on and....

My sweet Bubba is feeling bad again. It started last night with another fever. Although not as high as last week, I didn't like the fact that it had been less than a week since he had the flu. He's had a residual cough since then and I was praying that we weren't heading to pneumonia territory.

I took him to the doctor this morning despite him telling me how much better he felt. I've noticed that he gets very nervous about going to the doctor. I'm wondering if it started back in January when he had his appendix out. The surgeon didn't have a very good bedside manner and really hurt him when she took his drain out a few days after the surgery. After that experience, I can't blame him for being apprehensive.

The doctor heard some fluid in his lungs, but not enough to warrant an x-ray. She also did a flu test just to make sure it hadn't crept back in. That was negative. She put him on Zithromax while encouraging me he should be well on his way to recovered in a day or two. The sooner the better is all I can say, and I think Tristan would agree.

He's on his way

If you are a regular reader of this blog or my facebook page, you know that our 8 year old daughter, Morgan, is currently a blue belt in Tae KwonDo. I've enjoyed every minute of watching her progression up the ranks, and putting all parental bias aside, I happen to think she's very good and will be a black belt before we know it.

Our son, Tristan, has been watching too. And however much Morgan annoys him on a daily basis, he's proud of his little sister. He's the first to cheer her on and encourage her through learning difficult techniques.

Well, yesterday he finally decided he wanted to give it a try for himself. He's not really a very athletic kind of guy, preferring the sports of hunting and fishing to football and baseball. But he's excited. He came away from the first lesson enthused about his own performance and ready to begin his own journey to black belt.

Go Tristan!

 

And what's this? Another new student already checking out his moves? Awesome. Looks like we're going to have a couple of martial arts superstars around here.