...and a Hug Around the Neck

A few things from this week:

Just finished this painting for a friend.  It was such a fun one to do!  She wanted this sweet saying on a canvas because it's something she remembers her mom and grandmother saying to her as a child.  I wrapped it in brown paper and pink string, added white polka dots to the package and shipped it to its new home in Texas. 

(My friend later sent me this photo of the party table)  :)

Alexee's class had a bring-your-stuffed-animal-to-school day yesterday.  I think it was a reward for great behavior when they had a sub last week.  They even got to watch a movie.  Lex took two very large stuffed dogs with her:  Rosie was strapped to her backpack and "Big Bobo" (the stuffed schnauzer like our real Bogart/Bobo) was tucked under her arm.  It seemed like a lot to have to carry to me, but she was happy as could be!  :)

Crosby and I built a Lego fire station yesterday--loved the yellow and orange staircase he made. And I love that he likes to wear super hero PJs all the time.  Do I have to let him go to Kindergarten????

We've been getting ready for A's birthday party this weekend.  She's having some neighbors and classmates over for brunch on Saturday.  For party favors we've made chalk-board mugs and small bags of homemade hot cocoa mix.  I ran through the white paper bags through the printer (one is still jammed in there--so sorry, Lane), added three servings of mix and tied them with pink tulle ribbon.  Alexee also made a mini b-day banner to hang in the dining room.

 Crosby dressed up in his Power Ranger costume and made a Valentine decoration for the fridge.

I don't have a picture of Rhett from this week for some reason, but he's staying really busy with guitar lessons, two after-school math team practices and science club each week.  They are learning to write computer code in science club, which is just amazing to me!  And he's enjoying guitar lessons.  He's learned several chords and is currently learning a Chris Tomlin song, Awake My Soul.  What a blessing to watch your kids grow and learn new things!

Hope you are having a great week!

Friends and Bike Riding

It was a weekend of nice weather and visits with friends!  Saturday morning we had breakfast with Sandra and her family.  We had not seen them since September '08.  They still live in China, but have been back in the states for a few months.  It was great to get to catch up and meet her little girls for the first time!

Here's a photo from January 1997 when Sandra and I first became friends.

17 years later!
January 2014

We had breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.

Another 1997 to 2014 photo:

(L:  on a lake somewhere in Austria; R:  Arkansas-in front of Mimi's Cafe)

Their sweet family!

Sandra and the kids played at our house while her husband and mom returned their rental vehicle.  The girls had fun playing princess dress-up while her son played with Rhett and Alexee.  And we had great weather, so we went outside to ride bikes, scooters, etc.  So thankful they were able to come through town and hang out with us!

That afternoon Alexee learned to ride her bike without training wheels.  She practiced a lot this weekend and is doing great!

She was so proud!  Her friend drew a chalk portrait of her on her bike.  :)

*****

And then on Sunday we got to have lunch and play time with Lianne and her kids--visiting from TX! It still does not seem right that they are "visitors" here--I really still feel like they live around the corner from us.  It was so good to hang out with them for the day, and I just hated to see them drive away.  We'll hopefully go see them soon.  The boys went on a short walk through the neighborhood while the girls and Crosby rode bikes.

So thankful for the time with them!

Lately...

Another random catch-up post:

We're still busy doing little things around the house to get it ready to show.  We've had a few warm(er) days, but for the most part it's hard to get motivated to get outdoor items checked off the list in January.  Here's Lane cleaning the dining room windows.

I recently found this cute letter organizer in the garage and had just enough chalk paint left in the bottom of the can to give it a quick update.  This belonged to Lane's grandmother, and he said he can remember where it was in her house when he was a kid.  He then used it in his apartment in college and I look forward to finding a place to use it at our new house.  The three compartments are labeled "LETTER", "BILL" and "MISC."--I tried to lightly sand around the words and the edges.

before & after

Thursday evening I had a meeting at the kids' school then went straight from there to a dinner baby shower for my friend/neighbor.  We can't wait to meet her baby girl!  Another neighbor ordered these monogrammed chocolate petit fours, which I thought were so cute (and delicious).

Bogart is very much in need of a bath and a haircut!  His beard has looked like this a lot lately.  He has an appointment with the groomer next week.  

Alexee came home with a new box of play-dough from the treasure chest.

We went to Mellow Mushroom for lunch after church last week.  The "Mighty Meaty" pizza was SO good.  I'm ready to go back to order another one!  

Last Monday was MLK Day so the kids were out of school.  Rhett was invited to a classmate's birthday party at the new trampoline park.  There were a million people there, but he had a blast.  (This is the only picture I took.)

I started working on chalkboard mugs for A's b-day party.  My sister came over one afternoon after her haircut, and I made an apple pie for National Pie Day.

Crosby spent most of Wednesday in his Wolverine costume.  He wore it to Sonic happy hour and ate dinner in it (including the claws) that evening.  :)

Happy New Year

Hello again, and Happy New Year!  I looked back at January 2013 and realized that I did the same thing then...after all the Christmas fun,  January seems to be a good time for a blog break.  I kept thinking I'd do a 2013 recap or a word for 2014 or something...but I never got around to it.  So I'm just going to start here, two+ weeks in, and catch up:

The kids wanted to have "sleepovers" in Rhett's room almost every night of Christmas break.  I thought it was sweet and loved seeing them spend time together.  I pray that they will always be close friends and have a special bond.  Rhett and Alexee slept in R's bed and Crosby slept in the oversized chair.

This picture of Crosby asleep reminds me:  I think he has stopped sucking his thumb.  This is great news--I know he needed to stop--but for some crazy reason it makes me terribly sad.  A friend told me about something called Mavala Stop, which Lane ordered and eventually started painting on his thumb at night (I couldn't make myself do it.  It sat in the cabinet for several weeks, and I finally asked Lane to go put it on C's thumb).  It took several applications, but I really don't remember seeing him suck his thumb in probably two weeks.  And he no longer asks for his soft brown football at night because he used to hold it right by his thumb.  This is hard for me too.  I've spent a lot of time searching for those footballs, which was sometimes frustrating, but now I want him to keep holding them...and not grow up so fast.

Alexee got these pink moccasin boots and vest for Christmas--so cute!  She's been wearing them a lot.  She likes to dress up and even likes to draw outfits with matching boots, hats, etc.  Maybe she'll be a fashion designer?  :)

I love that Rhett has taken a new interest in cooking.  He likes to follow recipes and can do most things without assistance.  He made a chocolate cake with chocolate icing one day before they started back to school.  That night he wanted me to show him how to make an omelette.  He's growing up so fast too.  They all three are.

Everyone started back to school on Tuesday the 7th.  Then on the evening of the 8th we got a little bit of freezing rain, so school was delayed one hour on Thursday.  I had dining room duty that day then had lunch with Lane at Big Orange.

We have several projects to do around the house to get it ready to show soon.  We've started touch-up/repainting trim and bathroom cabinets.  It's a time-consuming task, but really needs to be done.  We finished the bathroom last Friday, I painted the kitchen trim on Sunday and the hallway, guest bath and laundry room on Monday.  A little bit of fresh paint helps so much!

My parents were in town last weekend for my niece's basketball tournament.  We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and watching Jaiden play on Saturday.  My sister and brother-in-law coach the team, and they let R & A sit on the bench with them--they loved that!

Jaiden asked for Rhett to go home with them that night.  We hadn't packed a bag or anything...which I've decided is the way to go for sleepovers!  It was so easy, and I don't like to pack or unpack anyway!  R borrowed some gym shorts and a t-shirt for bed and Mic washed the outfit that he had on so that he could wear it back to the games on Sunday.  They've always loved spending time together--I'm so glad!  Alexee, Crosby and I went back to another game on Sunday afternoon, then we went from there to Razorback Pizza to have dinner with Ali and her family.  It was a great weekend.

Monday morning Alexee woke up with a sore throat. She'd had a cough, but wasn't running a fever so I sent her to school.  I somewhat expected a call from the school nurse, which I received shortly after 8:00.  Crosby and I went back to get her, and she rested on the couch most of the day.  She didn't seem to feel terrible, but just acted tired and complained of her throat hurting.  She still didn't have fever at all, and felt better Tuesday morning.  She wanted to go back to school (she loves school), so I sent her and checked in with her teacher at lunch time to make sure she was doing okay.  She's fine now and no one else got sick!

Tuesday 1/14 after school we had plans to meet A's friend M and her family at the park.  I thought it was going to be warmer--we didn't stay too long because it was pretty chilly and Crosby had a bathroom emergency not long after we got there.  The girls "planted" a tree there.  :)

Wednesday 1/15:  Crosby and I made five trips to the school that day.  Two carpool trips, plus we went to help with Accelerated Reader (AR) end-of-semester party prep.  Then the 3rd-5th grade honor assembly was that afternoon at 1:00.  Rhett received awards for All-A's Honor Roll and Outstanding Citizenship.  R had an after-school club so we went back to get him at 3:25 then the boys had haircut appointments at 4:00.

And it's time to start thinking about birthdays here!  Alexee's is first, so I've printed her invitations and started planning her birthday brunch.  She has invited several friends over to celebrate and has been helping me with ideas for food and party favors.  More on that soon!

Thursday 1/16:  R had math team after school and A & C had friends over to play.  It was windy, but they played in the grass at the school while we waited for Rhett to get out of the building.

Friday 1/17:  AR party day.  Crosby went with me to help decorate after we dropped the other kids off in carpool line.  Then we came home for a quick lunch and went back before party time.  The party was a super hero/super reader theme, so we decorated with bright colors and gave treat bags containing themed stickers, straw, a pizza gift certificate, candy, a cup, bookmark and pencil.  Each student also received a new book.

Crosby & Em watching a movie while we worked

Alexee was excited about attending her first AR party!  The kids got super hero masks to decorate at their tables.

A friend sent me these next three pictures--thanks, Emily!

Crosby got a mask too.  He wore it all afternoon, including during R's eye doctor appointment after school.   :)

So that's some of what has been going on so far this year.  I'm glad it's Friday with no school on Monday.  Hope you are having a happy January!