Little Thing 14

It came as no surprise that when we got home from our church fellowship tonight that Camden turned on the TV to watch Star Trek. It came as no surprise that Emma had peed on the rug in the kitchen. It was no surprise that Benjy marched upstairs to play with his Star Wars Legos. What did, however, catch me off guard is where Benjy staged his Clone Wars scene.

Right at the top of the steps.

The spindles were even a part of his base.

In other news, this is the boy wonder.

 The newest sci-fi fan in our home.

Wait till we introduce him to the X-Files.

Aren't those blue eyes lovely?

I swear he grows a bit more every day.

Well, he grows taller anyway. 

He's still only as big as a minute all the way around.

See that smile? That wasn't for me.

That was for TV. 

Ah, Ein is such a foxy cat.

Aren't those green eyes lovely?

It's Oct. 13, which means I owe for Oct. 10, Oct. 11, Oct. 12, and today. Yikes!

Little thing for Monday:

I'm so happy Chris Columbo bumped into North America in 1492. If he'd not, and if the western thinktanks hadn't bothered to celebrate it, I wouldn't have been able to sleep in that day. Don't you love a good day off for no apparent reason?


Little thing for Tuesday:

We started our new karate schedule since Benjy went to purple belt and now is in a different class. Benjy now has class earlier than Camden. I got there late on Tuesday, but was told to usher Child Ben into class anyway. So glad he got in his workout even if I made him late. Tuesdays and Thursdays are extra long at karate.

Little thing for Wednesday:
If you're on facebook, then you've seen this video. If not, here goes. This is me doing the first 2/3 or so of my bo staff form:

I love learning the next moves, trying to make them sharper. I get a thrill from snapping the bo staff and trying to make it really whip and crack. This is my weapon. Granted, I was in the flag corps in high school, so I naturally twirl a stick in my sleep. (I even have nightmares where I am the only one who forgot the routine and messed up the whole entire show!) Don't let me catch you alone in a dark alley. Not that I ever creep into dark alleys. Or that when I do I have my bo staff with me.

Little thing for Thursday: 
Today is a day I would ordinarily celebrate as Friday Eve. But this morning, the Lord led me to think of it simply as Thursday. And so it was. 

I chose to live for TODAY.

Today I...
   Made a conscience decision to live for today.
   Prayed with my class, all together, in a circle, and God was there.
   Read an amazing book to my class about a family escaping an oppressive government to sail for America.
   Celebrated the ease of subtracting with a numberline.
   Stole a hug from Benjy in the hallway this morning.
   Got a "Hi, Mom!" from Camden as I passed him after lunch.
   Received the PEACE sign from a friend.
   Co-created a map of our classroom for our Me on the Map books with some amazing 2nd graders.
   Composed an email to the headmaster about report cards.
   Hugged each and every kid goodbye.
   Drove Benjy to karate.
   Planned lessons while he did his business.
   Drove Benjy home as Curt brought Camden to karate;
   kissed my boys.
   Cooked fried chicken.
   Watched Benjy frown at my fried chicken.
   Loved my boys goodnight.
   Printed out my newsletter for school.
   Relaxed with Big Bang Theory and Person of Interest with Curt.
   Finished this blog posting.

    Thanked God for fall.

Little Things Day 9

I apparently disturbed Benjy when I came into the room talking about something or the other, as I am wont to do.  

"Excuse me, but I'm trying to read the paper," he exclaimed. 

Oh my gosh. 

I love that boy.

It really is about the little things.

And some little things have no pictures. Oh, snap.

We met a family from church at Nomads tonight. Nomads is a giant indoor playground with a bowling alley, laser tag, bumper cars, climbing wall, pizza place, video games, and a lot of noise and people. We grown-ups parked ourselves at a table while the boys and their daughter and son ran back and forth, to and fro, hither and yonder.

And then God worked his awesomeness. Curt talked to the dad. I chatted with the mom. It got deep without getting serious. Our lives tumbled out, and we shared some giggles, tears, and more giggles. The kids shared some giggles, sweat, and germs. 

This family, who coincidentally is moving to Kentucky in exactly one week, crossed our paths at one of the small groups at our church, Calvary Fellowship. We knew them, liked them, but had never spent any real one-on-one time with them. Tonight we did. And I know in my heart that God planned it this way.

We find a family who loves God, loves life, loves home, and they move away. Really???

Sometimes that's just how God wants it to be.

I can't wait to see how God turns this one into a gigantic blessing.

Little Things ~ Day 7

Little things like an awesome push-up.

Little things like balance.

Little things like hemming pants even when you don't wanna. (woops)

Little things like accepting your new belt.

Little things like outranking your entire family.

Little things like being a leader.

In the Leadership Club.

Little things like reading the paper. 

"Mom, I'm reading the paper. Now if you'll excuse me," he said. (Yes, that's Benjy, not me. Don't we look like twins?)

Any idea how much I love being a teacher where my sons go to school? Wow. It's the little things, ya know? 

Our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades visited a nearby pumpkin patch today. Of all the pumpkins picked by these kids, my Benjy was the only one to choose the warty one. I just loved him all over again. He chose the ugly duckling. He saw beauty on the inside.

I asked him on the way home from school why he picked this awesome pumpkin. "Because it was so ugly!" he told me. So much for inner beauty.

The kids ran through the mini corn maze, even pausing to find broken corn stalks to play light sabers with. Naughty children.

This was my favorite pumpkin head of them all.

The Little Things - Day 5

The Red Wheelbarrow 

by William Carlos Williams 

so much depends 

upon 

a red wheel 

barrow 

glazed with rain 

water 

beside the white 

chickens. 

It's about the little things,

which are really bigger than we know.

Today. 

Two years ago. 

Daddy died.

I was there.

So much depends on that last breath. 

glazed with tears,

beside the 

promise of God.

So much depends upon

the lives of those left behind,

gathered around the bed

weeping.

So much depends upon

where we will go,

back to our own lives, still weeping, but 

hoping.

So much depends upon hope,

the promise of a room 

promised to 

us.

So much depends upon the promise

that i will one day

have my own room

on a street near Daddy.

I miss you, Daddy.

Woops, I missed a day. Naturally. I could post a picture of the dinner plate sized pimple I popped this morning. But that's not one of the little things I especially delight in. Especially after two different kids asked me today about it. "What happened?!" they genuinely wanted to know. I thought I'd tell them the kindergarten teacher's tarantula bit me, but I decided to go the way of truth. "This is what happens when you squeeze a zit," I murmured. Wendi, educating the masses on acne since 2:15 today.

So, to make up for my lack of diligence yesterday, here's my Little Thing for Monday:

Aren't the crows just the most adorable creatures? I'm not a real Halloweeny kinda girl. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. I tolerate it. When Curt and I were first married, we spent years hiding out from Trick or Treaters. We faked like we weren't home and instead hid out in an upstairs room watching TV. We'd laugh as the little cretins ran away wailing that they hadn't scored any candy at our homey abode. Bwahahahahahahaha! It wouldn't have occurred to us to, um, go out on the town. We were homey like that.

But now that I have children, and I love fall, I like to dress up the house for the season. Scary things freak me out, as well as gross me out, creep me out, and generally upset my delicate nature, so I stick to what I call Halloween Light. (Not to be confused with Halloween Lite, which is made in China.)

Halloween Light looks like silly crows and black cats, primitive pumpkins and lots of different colored beans all stacked in clear jars. And it looks like my vintage metal tree that stays on the mantel year round. Yes, I change it with the seasons. Bye bye summertime. 

I know y'all can't believe I took these pictures, what with my amazing photog skillz. I'm a mad woman with the camera. But you can clearly see, once you look past the amazing still-shotness of these shots, that I love my rice & beans, my lambs, my pumpkins, and my crows. I even needle felted my own dingdang crows because I wouldn't shell out for the uber fake ones at Dollar Tree. 

OK, and now for today's Little Thing:

I read this book, and the two others in the trilogy in record time. For me. And now I'm sad because it's over! I need a good book. I need a good SERIES that will suck me in and make me want to leave school promptly at 3:30 instead of 5:00 and come home, ignore my family, and read! What say you? Any good books I must read?

The Little Things 2

I was feeling fall-y today, so I rummaged through the boxes in the basement for my fall decorations and found them. Then I lugged them up stairs. No way I could ask Mr. to do it since he pulled his back out last week. That would just be wrong. I decided I could do it myself. Probably not happening come Christmas when those boxes have to be up here pronto. 

I took down all my beach deco and replaced it with a taste of autumn. Here's my favorite pic of fall on the inside of my house. (It's almost fall outside. The leaves are just on the edge of turning.)

And just because she's so dingdang wonderfully adorable, here's Emmalemmalimabean. 

Falling asleep till the flash went off. That's my girl.

It really is about the little things that grab me. Those blessed little moments in life that make me take pause, grab the camera, and snap the moment. And plus also too, my hubby reminding me that I have a  blog commitment.

I'm challenging myself to blog every. single. day. in October.

I'm aiming to find something simple, something little, something that blessed me every. single. day.

Here's day one:

A Glade candle in a warm fall scent. It smells good enough to eat. Or bathe in.

See that picture behind it? Glowing? That's Mom and Dad and me in circa 1960-something. I love old pictures.

  

 

Since I am among the least clever of bloggers these days, I'll give you a very randomy glimpse into my life tonight. 

Pistachio and I made brownies. 

I did not lick a majority of that batter. 

Just a few tablespoons.

Because my dishwasher looked like this:

I handwashed these.

Anything to avoid unloading the dishwasher.

Phineus and Ferb are still alive.

And well.

They are very good frogs.

Sometimes you just need a nice soak to chillax the stress of the day away. Calgon......

Enter - the bathtub. I got this baby for FREE on Craigslist. I just wrote an ad that I was a poor starving teacher who wanted a bathtub for my kiddos to sit in and read. No naked kids allowed. I scored THIS! I love my tub. Camden painted it. I applied the decals. :)

Friday was TENT FRIDAY.

It's becoming a tradition. I guess you can call it a tradition when you do it two years in a row, right???

I've been thinking of Michelle a lot lately. I miss her. I miss her calls. I miss when she didn't call. I miss how she used to ask about "Little Man and Benj". I just miss my sister.

School starts Tuesday for teachers. But I have to go in Monday at 10:00 for an entrance test for a new 6th grader. Drat. So much for sleeping till 10. ;) At least Camden will have a new kid in his class.



This bulletin board has been all over Pinterest. Have you Pinterested? Are you interested? You should be. Wow. Pinterest is a site where you can save all the cool images you find on the internet. Other people can see them if you want. And you can see theirs. It's cool. Soooo cool.

So, anyhow, I found this bulletin board on Pinterest, and I printed it out and totally copied it at school. Only my jump rope is green/blue. And I don't have any small stars, just big size stars. But I'm happy. It looks almost as awesome.


I have no idea where I saw this originally, but I've been singing RELAX since the day.





Here is a song I can't quit singing.
And yes, I own the book.
We'll be using it on Aug. 29. We'll probably write about our school shoes, too.

My mind is spinning so. So spinning. My entire brain is filled with visuals of school, learning, room arrangements. Sounds of CLASS/YES and TEACH/OK and laughter. Yes, laughter. Second grade is nearly here. One more week of freedom, which will be spent sleeping in followed by dragging my dear sweet darling sons to school with me so that I can finish bulletin boards and room arrangements and the stuff I never think of till I'm in the thick of it. Then I'll come home and take a nap just because I CAN.

In other news, we camped in Vermont with our Petki friends. The boys were up till after midnight so, naturally, they slept in till 10:00 a.m. today. Did I take a single pic? NO! Did Curt get up on time to help set up at church? YES! Did we join him? NO! Bad family. BAD!

With one week left of summer vaca, I finally finished my back to school newsletter. At least I THINK I finished it. How does it look? This is my first time using Google docs. I hope it works. :)

Tomorrow my mom has surgery on her foot. She's had foot issues for a while now, so I'd love any prayers you can offer up to God. I KNOW He'll take care of her. God is good that way.

We came home.
We didn't want to, but we did.
I mean, come on - leave this?

Come on, HE gets to stay!

Against our better judgment, we loaded up the truck and we drove to Beverly, er, Connecticut. It took two days. The lowest price for gas we saw was $3.57. We hit the high in the big CT $4.29. Now we just drive to Mass. for gas because it's 30 cents cheaper. Cheap is what we are. Wendi, saving cents since 2011. We came home to learn that the big CT raised taxes RETROACTIVE to January. There goes my raise this year. And then some. This state sucks.


But in Hatteras? On the island? When we checked into our beach house, we were informed that we'd be getting a $14 credit back because they LOWERED the lodging tax. Who knew states still did that?!



So now we've been home a week and that means we only have 50 more to go till our next trip south.

At least I have my pictures. I've uploaded them to Shutterfly, where I keep ALL of our family pix and school ones, too. Did you know they store them FOREVER? And, for FREE? Yeah! No taxes on storage! Wooooot!

I've also loaded a photobook into my cart. It's a bazillion pages because I have that many pictures, but it's gonna be so worth it. All I did was click this Custom Path button, just ONE button, and the magic computer dudes stuck all my photos on pages and made them all beautiful and even themed! I swear, I don't know if it was pure serendipity or intentional, but the pages seemed to flow - the kite flying pix together, the go karts together, the shells together. Wow. Magic, I tell ya.

I'm also gonna have a canvas made of my favorite picture from the trip. One stop shopping. Loooooove it!



If you have a blog, you can head over to register for your own FREE photo book. The Shutterfly folks are giving 1,000 away, so check it out! Sign up here. I did. Be sure to check out the Christmas cards, and thank you cards, too. Winter's right around the corner, you know!