October 2011

October - 2011

It's strange but like all of the other months this year - it went by too quickly! Go figure! Here are a few things that happened this month!

Books Read

Strong-Willed Child by James Dobson

The Boy by Roald Dahl

Mathilda by Roald Dahl

Rhett's bday

Rhett wanted a Winnie the Pooh birthday this year. He loves watching Winnie the Pooh and he reminds me of Tigger with all of his energy. So we celebrated at the church with a barbeque with family and friends. We had a great time celebrating Rhett's third birthday party!

The birthday table

The birthday boy

The birthday friends

The birthday party favors (my friends loved me for them :)

funny moment!

Movies:

We went to got see Courageous with our friends Rusty and Therese. It was a great movie - especially for father's. A must see for every family!

recipes

I enjoy cooking this time of year and it's fun to do some fun seasonal things for dinner. I made these hamburger calzones for Jeremy and the kids for a Halloween themed dinner.

October is not complete without the purchase of these seasonal cereals. They were a fun treat to give the kids (no - not for breakfast, except for maybe one Saturday :)) but for fun when they wanted a snack!

Other Activities

Family outing to Linder Farms!

Playing on the hay bales

feeding the animals at the petting zoo

playing in some corn

finding out way through the corn maze (At first the kids loved it and by the end they hated it :)

Annual pumpkin carving contest

Every year we get together with my family and Jeremy's family and have a pumpkin carving contest. We each pick a theme and put it in a bucket. We also have to put in $5 in the kitty and then we choose a theme, carve out pumpkins and the winner gets the money. Jeremy and I won last year but this year we came up a bit short. The theme was Star Wars and we made our pumpkin into the death star. We thought it was pretty cool, but Aaron and Katie decided to get all fancy on us an did some sort of monogram thing - it was neat and creative and they took the prize! The kids each get to paint their own pumpkins!

CD Release concert

My brother-in-law Derek has a band. They are amazing and it's exciting to see them going places and having concerts and creating a fan base. They tour often and they know some of the right people so we are hoping that they can create a big enough fan base to be able to tour more often. They had their CD release concert at CFC church in Nampa and it was so much fun! We are so proud of them!

Not the best picture but that is them up front!

Fun Day at Jabbers!

I have never been to Jabbers and I had some passes that I bought way back in June and one of my Friday's off I decided that it might be fun to check it out. I had to get a lot of grading done and thought that the kids could play while I graded papers. It worked out nicely! The kids enjoyed playing and I was able to complete my grading while we were there. What a fun place!

Halloween

Halloween this year was a little different! Jeremy wasn't here - he was in Guatemala! So - we trick-or-treated in my parent's neighborhood which was quite nice. There was not much traffic so the kids got special attention from the neighbors. They even received a full-size candybar! It was low key and fun! Then we went home and handed out our own candy for about 45 min. before I shut off our light (don't appreciate the teenagers that show up at 9:00 for candy).

Rhett was a giraffe

My "Bride of Frankenstein" hair

Addie was Minnie Mouse

Us

Trick-or-treat

I also dressed up this year for Halloween - I haven't done that in awhile. I decided to be the Bride of Frankenstein for Halloween so that my students could call me Mrs. Franklinstein for the day. I even changed my picture on my school ID so that it would say Mrs. Franklinstein and there was a picture of her. It was a little darker than I like to go but it was fun and the kids enjoyed it.

My New Love . . .

My blog has suffered the past few months - and it's because of my new love - pinterest! This site is all that I could have ever hoped for. I LOVE crafts, I LOVE to find new recipes, I LOVE to find new clothing options, I LOVE to laugh and giggle at silly sayings and find things that are super cool - and this site let's me to ALL of that and save the things that I like. It' been amazingly fun and I'm using it this year as inspiration for Christmas gifts and things that I want.

So - sorry blog - you have been put on the back burner - but - I need to stay updated on the blog because it is the only way that I scrapbook what my family is up to.

And my plan when I sat down to the computer today was to blog a few things - however - the last hour was spent on pinterest while the kids were playing happily. I think it's time to retire from the computer for now and get a few things done around the house!

It's been a year . . . And

I still miss my grandparents tremendously! And it still hurts! When I sit and actually think about it I realize how MUCH I miss them - I can never look at their house or their garden without thinking of them, I can never plan a birthday party or a holiday celebration without thinking that they won't be around to share it. Let's just say that life this past year has not been quite so sweet - and yes - all because they are not here anymore. I know that life will take on a different kind of sweetness but the bitterness of their death has definately been intertwined into the fabric of my outlook on life this past year. I've been more fearful, brought to tears more often, more distant and maybe a little bit angry and hurt. More than anything I've had my own pitfalls this year in my health and my realization that we are mortal and our lives will end only in death (unless I'm one of those lucky raptured ones - that would be cool!). It's a reality that I've come to terms with this year - more than ever before due to my grandparents passing.

It's been one year ago that my grandma made her way to heaven. And she would probably tell you that it was the best day of her life - for us left behind the day was not so sweet. My emotions were mixed - I knew she was sick and that it was best if she went to be with Jesus but I also knew that she held a place in my heart that no one had ever held before. She was my grandma - she would have done anything for me - her love knew no bounds when it came to her grandkids - and she was one of my best friends.

My grandpa (not to be outdone - or left behind) made his way to heaven a few days later. He was the baffling one. We thought that he could recover and we would still have gramps around for a few more years. Apparently he had other plans - and a life on this planet without his sweetheart was no life for him. He was my strong place, my hero and he would do anything for me. There was never a moment that I ever doubted his love for me.

I long to sit and chat with grams while my children play at her feet.

My heart hurts that Rhett will not remember grammy JoJos and how she would squirt him in the face with her water bottle - he loved that!

I long to hear her giggle and taste her delicious apple crisp.

Sometimes I get this intense desire for a big, bear grandpa hug. I miss them! And I miss his smell!

I miss grandpas mischieviousness and how he could always make grams angry and then laugh.

His smile always lit up my heart - for he was happiest around his family.

Today it's been a year - and it still hurts! However, instead of a gaping hole in my heart that once belonged to my grandparents there is a patch. It's hard to explain because that spot is still tender and sore and easily bruised but it's no longer bleeding or burning with intense pain. It's beginning to be stitched - not back together - because nothing could ever take their place in my life but it's being patched - and that is how it will be from now until I see them again, and that is o.k. with me. I believe that a heart that is not patched in places is a heart that hasn't ever loved - and I would never want a perfect heart!

I miss you grams and gramps- so, so much!

A day with my little man . . .

I had a Friday this month when my little girl was spending a day with her cousins and so I got the little man all to myself. Normally I would have ran some errands and did some much needed things on my "to do" list but not this day. I woke up feeling a little under the weather so I stayed home with my little man and we played and had fun. I took pictures of our day together and at the end of the day I was left wondering why I don't do this more often with my children. All too soon they will be grown and I will be left pondering the "if I only's". I'm glad I had this day with him - even though I wasn't feeling 100%.

This is what we did:

Played Legos

while watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates

did all of his new puzzles

Here all of them are

played with his cars squinkies

went on a short walk on the greenbelt by our house

stopped to play on the playground - of course!

took some pics of my little man!

played on his new scooter in our driveway

colored

and watched the Heffalump Halloween movie

September 2011

Whirlwind to say the least! I only got 1 book read, only tried ONE new recipe and don't remember doing anything of "real" significance. This month has been dedicated to the art of teaching 2nd grade and balancing the many demands of having a family with young children, working full-time, keeping up a house, etc . . . it's been exhausting to say the least. I really haven't discovered if I enjoy it yet - I definately don't prefer it to part-time work but it is what it is and I need to make the best of it.


Books still reading: Mathilda by Roald Dahl (out loud to 2nd graders), The Strong-Willed Child by James Dobson, Teaching to Your Strengths

New recipe tried: Crock - pot chicken with taco seasoning - great for chicken tacos and my new favorite, chicken nachos

Chade's birthday: PoJos - Rhett did a killer job learning the bumper cars - he did so good at it - my camera died and I was unable to capture the moment but we couldn't believe how easily he picked it up.

Season premeire of some of my favorite TV shows: The Biggest Loser, Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Sing-Off and Person of Interest. We have also enjoyed watching "The X-factor" - because I love to see people who deserve to be singing get discovered - I love seeing dreams come true.

I also began a ladies bible study on Wednesday nights while Addie is in Caravans. It is a Beth Moore bible study on Revelation and it is pretty interesting. I'm learning so much. And Addie LOVES Caravans - she is learning so much about manners and ediquette right now. She is excited to earn her badges and can't wait to get her first one. They also have her memorizing scripture and raising money for the care house in Nampa. - It's a great experience for her and I'm so glad it came to our church.

And that's is about it for September - not many pictures, not many moments - it's been regular, every day life - and it flew by.
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Another Blog . . .

I LOVE blogging and wish I had more time to do it and poor into it. So - because I have less time I have created a blog for my classroom this year (doesn't make sense does it?) - mainly to communicate with parents and showcase all of the cool stuff we do in class. I am looking forward to using this site as a way to brag on my students, post pics of our "fun times", as well as send out a few notes and reminders. I'm excited to see how it works - I've already had parents excited about it. Come check it out - mrsfranklininmelba.blogspot.com

The Strong-Willed Child

So - I'm in the process of reading "The Strong-Willed Child" by Dr. James Dobson and on Saturday morning I was reading the excerpt for "Two to Three Years" and this is what some of it said:

"Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the 'terrible twos' is the tendency of kids to spill things, destroy things, eat horrible things, fall off things, flush things, kill things, and get into things. They also have a knack for doing embarrassing things, like sneezing on a nearby man at a lunch counter. During these toddler years, any unexplained silence of more than thirty seconds can throw an adult into a sudden state of panic."

In a later paragraph he says:

"You must keep a sense of humor during the twos and threes in order to preserve your own sanity. But you must also proceed with the task of instilling obedience and respect for authority."

As I sat there and contemplated what I just read I realized that for the most part Rhett has been a pretty easy child. Other than eating discusting things and falling relatively often due to his intense need to make it from point A to point B in the least amount of time possible, I can say that I felt fortunate that he follows the rules for the most part. Neither of my children are outright defiant - at least not to the extent that was illustrated in some other parts of this section.

And it just goes to show that I should not have wrote Rhett off so easily - he is only turning 3 so why in the world did I think that this fairly easy child has somehow escaped the "terribleness" of the toddler years. And I'm sure that JUST because I read that specific section in this book that morning he JUST happened to take purple marker and color all over his sister's blanket and himself - he literally looked like a purple monster when I found him - stomach and hands compeltely covered in purple. I did find the humor in it fortunately and if I hadn't read that section this morning I may not have - so thank God for that. I did discuss with him the importance of preserving our things and not to write on ourselves or blankets - just paper. And to think that wasn't enough - in the evening he proceeded to take some scissors and attempt to cut some pages out of a book (a book that doesn't belong to us). Luckily I caught him in time and he quickly dropped the scissors and looked at me in the most comical way - he had been caught and he knew it. - Where did this come from all of the sudden? Was God preparing me for what lies ahead this year with Rhett by making me read that section of the book "just in time".

So - I am grateful today for Dr. James Dobson and his intelligent insight into the lives of my children. I have not finished the book yet but am learning so much as I read it - I wish I would have picked it up earlier in my parenting. I especially liked the part later in this particular section that said:

"I cannot emphasize the importance of instilling two distinct messages within your child before he/she is forty-eight months of age: (I think it's important at ANY age) (1) 'I love you more than you can possibly understand. You are precious to me and I thank God every day that He let me raise you:' (2) 'Because I love you, I must teach you to obey me. That is the only way I can take care of you and protect you from things that might hurt you. Healthy parenthood can be boiled down to those two essential ingredients, love and control, operating in a system of checks and balances.'"

It seems that I may need to use this system often in regards to my "almost" three-year old this coming year.