Surprise for Cannon's Class

Yesterday, Cannon's class had a surprise visit from a magician!

The students were entertained for 30 minutes and loved every minute of it!  The magician did a bunch of tricks and then made each child a balloon animal!

Here are a few things that Cannon said about the surprise visit:

He made balloon animals.  
He threw the light and it ended up in somebodies ear and he pulled it out.
He ate the light and then it...I don't know...he's magic.  And the light was in his shirt!  
That's all.

Cannon with his wiener dog balloon animal.

Enjoying every moment.

Quotes

Some of my favorite quotes.
I've been thinking about adding these to the blog.  Now is a good time.

One:  Because I am not feeling very creative to think of another post topic.
Two:  I don't want to upload pictures.
Three:  Maybe now is a time when I really need to revisit some of these quotes.

Enjoying every moment.

Did You Know?

Did you know that Cannon is becoming such a great reader?  He is learning new words each week and becoming more confident.  I love how he stops and self corrects.  He doesn't like to be told he is wrong!

Did you know that Pinterest is my "go to" for new recipes!  Just made two more successful recipes this weekend.  Cannon helped me with parts...

Did you know that I slept 9 hours last night?  I don't even remember the last time that happened!

Did you know that both Cannon and Colson are great cleaners?  Give them a wipe and they will have the dust off of everything!

Did you know that Chris finally took the Christmas lights down?

Did you know that Cannon washed most of my car yesterday!

Did you  know that Colson made it today without a nap and he isn't a crab apple?  Thank goodness for us!  However he did go to bed an hour earlier than normal tonight!

Did you know that Chris' phone isn't working and he keeps missing calls?  Could be good...or bad.

Did you know that Holly and I spent 2 hours grading Pro Cert papers tonight?

Did you know that Colson is recognizing letters and numbers?  He is trying to count and is beginning to learn sounds, too!

Did you know we enjoyed a nice visit with Ray and MaryAnne today?

Did you know that I wish we had a three day weekend every week?  

Enjoying every moment.

Dentist

Cannon went to the dentist for his 6 month check up last Friday.  As always, he does a fabulous job.  I attribute that to his first 3 trips to the dentist, which set the stage.  And those trips were to the dentist in Spokane that Auntie Karin works for.  Having your Auntie at your side as the dental assistant makes all of the difference when something is new.  Those first few visits that could have been scary....weren't.

So our dentist trips are quick and easy.

Cannon had a great report.
20 teeth.
No problems.
Great brushing.
No cavities.

Hooray!

Enjoying every moment.

Hello Photos

Hello beautiful sunset.

Hello AC and DC.

Hello Colson.

Hello yummy hot chocolate.

Hello Cannon.

 Hello cold temperature.

Hello flashlight in the dishwasher.  (Thanks Colson)

Enjoying every moment.

Wednesday Randomness

A few random thoughts...

The computer is back up and working.  Hooray for that!

Duck Dynasty is a new favorite show in our house.

Cannon and Chris are enjoying their evening time together playing with trucks, trailers and boats.

Colson is an awesome eater.  Cannon says yuck before he even tastes the food.  (sigh...)

So far, I'm keeping up on Project Life...only three weeks in!  I'm working on being more creative.

My students like to volunteer to walk Cannon down to his class in the morning.

I need to read more books at 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade level so I am able to discuss books with kids and make suggestions.  It's on my to do list and will be, well...for a long time.  I have a lot of books to catch up on!

Chris has been swamped at work with everything that he does.  Everybody needs him at the same time.  Everybody wants something done.  Meetings. Job site visits.

Crock pot dinners are so wonderful.

I already dislike making lunches every day for the kids and myself.

Colson is a dancing fool.

The fart machine from our house has been found and made it's way to school.  We've enjoyed some good laughs and the girls in class are the ones who are having the most fun with it!

Cannon and Colson love to look at and have books read to them.  I am so glad this is a routine that we have instilled and have set the foundation for life long reading enjoyment.

I've been staying up way too late at night!

Enjoying every moment.

Extra Day = Happiness

Happy to have an extra day.
Happy to sleep in.
Happy to be home with the boys.
Happy to make pancakes for breakfast.
Happy to go to Starbucks for hot chocolate.
Happy to play at the Children's Museum.
Happy to paint and be creative.
Happy to watch stories on DVD on the way home.
Happy to watch the boys play.
Happy to have Chris come home for lunch.
Happy to eat little cuties.
Happy to work out.
Happy to laugh.
Happy to catch up on Project Life.
Happy to finish grading school work.
Happy to make cookies with the kids.
Happy to not be rushed.
Happy to make homemade pizza.
Happy to catch up on some DVR'd shows.
Happy to do some school planning.
Happy to catch up on some reading.
Happy to hang out at home.
Happy.

A few photos from the Children's Museum.  Both of the boys loved the unlimited amount of freedom and exploration.  

Making cookies. Working together. Trying not to spill all over the counter!  Licking the spoon!

Enjoying every moment.

Date Night at the Husky Game

Free last minute tickets to the Husky game = A great date night with Chris.

We love being friends with the Jet Boys who think of us when they can't use their season tickets to Husky men's basketball games.  Lucky Us!

After finding a last minute babysitter, we headed off to Seattle.  The atmosphere is always energetic and exciting.  The student section never lets us down with their hilarious antics.  We indulge in kettle corn.  We cheer loud.  It's always a great walk to and from the area.

Tonight, the Huskies lost to Utah.  They didn't play well at all and Utah did!

And we met Shawn Kemp, who has a son that plays for the Huskies.  He sat in the seat directly behind us!

Enjoying every moment.

Life Continues On...

Busy.
Computer not working.
Busy.
Meetings.
Busy.
Sick kids.
Busy.

And life continues on.

Yes, even though it feels like I can hardly come up for a deep breath, life does continue on.  Writing blogs has been tricky with time and the computer finally decided to stop working.  So I am bringing my laptop home to take care of things that are much easier accomplished than on a tablet or phone.

And life continues on.

A cough and head cold are going through the house.  First Colson, now Chris and Cannon.  I am knocking on wood that I don't get sick.  That CAN'T happen.  Colson seems to be on the mend...just a bit of a runny nose left.  Cannon has been getting worse the last day or two.  We'll see if we can nurse him back to health over the long weekend.  Chris is toughing out the cough and sinus pressure, but he sure isn't himself.

And life continues on.

The piles around the house are growing.  Christmas stuff is still out.  The bonus room looks like a bomb went off.  Bills need to be paid.  We are out of milk, AGAIN!

And life continues on.

We are blessed to have each other...a happy family.  We are thankful for a warm house to come home to on these freezing cold days.  We love to watch Cannon draw and write.  We love to see Colson play and talk and pretend.  I am thankful for the few hours of quiet I get after the boys go to bed.  I am thankful for Pinterest and my books on Kindle.  I am blessed with laughter and silly boys.  I so love my husband who loves me back, too!

I can't wait for the three day weekend coming up to catch up, pick up and feel like I can breath again.  Yes, life does continue on.  Things don't (and never will) be perfect and picked up and I am good at letting some things go...however I have let TOO many things go!  So we'll try and fix that so I can feel somewhat organized and be able to take some deep breaths again.

Breath in.  Breath out.

And life continues on.

Enjoying every moment.
(Lots of pictures to share...but can't get them uploaded without my computer...  :(  So hopefully I will add them later, if I remember!)

Overwhelmed but Blessed

Today was one of those days where the amount of work that had to be accomplished seemed impossible and as the day went on, the piles continued to get bigger.  The class was chatty and took awhile to follow directions and my patience was slim.  I left feeling like I had a lot to improve on from today!

Both boys, especially Colson, haven't been feeling well and at least one was whining or crying from the time we got home until bedtime.  I reminded myself that it wasn't their fault I was overwhelmed during the day and it wasn't their fault my class was not being respectful.  So I used up all of the patience I had left and we did make it...with smiles on our faces...to bedtime!

And today taught me that I am so very blessed.  Even though it was hard and not the day I would have wanted to have, there was a lot of good in the day, too.

We did laugh a lot at school.
Brinn bought me hot chocolate this morning.  I needed it...I was freezing!
I had a great parent helper who came in to finish up some work.
I was able to pop in on Cannon's class twice today and visit.  I love that.  So. Much.
One struggling reader asked when the book order was coming that contained his new books!
The discussion about our next story, a biography on Benjamin Banneker was amazing.
I wrote six "Good News" postcards to students for improving their reading fluency.
I started to read aloud, Number the Stars, by Lois Lowery.  The kids are enthralled.
I had made turkey soup last night from the turkey bones Greg saved so dinner was done already!
Through the tears, I actually made the boys laugh and got Colson to eat MY soup for dinner.
Colson took a long bath and splashed and talked and laughed.
Colson sat on Cannon's lap (and Cannon was on Chris' lap) as they were looking at pictures.
I'm so glad I take a lot of pictures!  And the digital picture frame was the best gift to the boys!
Cannon kissed Colson over and over and over as Colson was sitting on his lap.  
Colson loved laying on my back as we laid on the floor and read books together.
Cannon and Chris drew together tonight before bed.  Such wonderful, quality time.

As for the rest of the night, I will get done, what gets done!
And I will cherish the wonderful, blessed moments from a crazy, exhausting day.

Enjoying every moment.

Winter Camping

Yes, fun can be had even in 30 degree weather.

We were so blessed with wonderful clear, blue skies this weekend on our trip to Mayfield Lake.

The air was cool but crisp.
The sun was bright.
The fire was hot.
The company was good.  (Thanks neighbors for hanging out with us!)

It was a great weekend to go camping and really...just hang out.

I read three magazines, stayed up late reading a book and looking at Pinterest and did some school work.
The boys played a lot, watched Thomas the Train over and over, and threw wood on the fire.
Cannon also rode his bike, drove his RC car, and took a couple of walks with me down to the water.
We all listened to the football games, talked and reminisced, laughed, and enjoyed the relaxing weekend.
And, we had a Thanksgiving dinner in January.  Greg smoked a turkey and we had all of the other fixings for a yummy meal, just like in November.  So. Very. Good.

And a quick trip to Cabela's on the way home...

Enjoying every moment.

What's Going On

Cannon is back to the routine at school.  He is always happy and enjoys every day.  Today they had buddies and he got to work on an art project with Theo, his third grade buddy.

Chris has been working on the Chevelle motor.  He is getting close to finishing.

I have been enjoying my evenings after the kids go to bed spending time on me:  working out, watching some TV, reading and relaxing.

Colson has been into playing with the cat food.  I guess the positive in that is he isn't eating the cat food!  However, we have cleaned up cat food more in the last week than we have ever.

Cannon is doing a wonderful job reading.  We are practicing sounding out words on his homework sheets and he is learning many sight words.  It's wonderful to see him read, try so hard, make corrections on his own and just enjoy books.

I am enjoying starting a new scrap book project:  Project Life.  It is an easy way to document each week of the year.  I'm excited to see everything come together.

Chris just got another side job from Eastside Harley.  He will be fabricating a custom tank for a new Harley. He will be busy for awhile!

Colson has been very defiant lately.  And doing lots of throwing.  When he gets into trouble the first thing he does is find something to throw.  After we reprimand him and send him to time out, he often will go and find the something else to throw.  Oh boy...we are in trouble!

Chris and Cannon have played the new game Granny Joy bought for the boys.  Cannon loves it, especially since he beats Chris half of the time!

Colson has been doing a lot of coloring lately.  He's filled up many pages of paper...and has also scribbled all over their desk.  :)

We are looking forward to camping this weekend!

Enjoying every moment.

The Weekend Lens

Hello Weekend.
So glad you were here and so sad you are over.

Cannon came home Saturday after being away for 15 days!  (4 days with us at the Lake and then 11 days with Auntie Karin.) We are excited to have him back home!  Cannon is happy to be home, but also misses being at Auntie's house.

We watched a lot of sports this weekend...basketball, football and AMA Supercross.  Both Saturday and Sunday were full of games.  And the home team won each game!  Go Zags! Go Huskies!  Go Seahawks!

We did have a lot to accomplish and did get a lot done.  Catching up is a MUST on weekends!

But mostly we were happy that we had time to sit and relax; watch a movie; enjoy the boys; and just be present in the moment.

Enjoying every moment. 

Hello New Year!

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." 

This will be my resolution for this year.  

And I hope to encourage and help others make every day the best, too.  

So far, the "best" days (all three of them) have included:

Chasing Colson around the house. 

Laughing. 

Watching football. 

Surfing Pinterest until past my bedtime. 

Ordering new books to read. 

Eating chocolate. 

Daily devotionals. 

Good talks with Chris. 

Working out. 

Skyping and talking with Cannon while he is in Spokane.

Making 4th graders laugh.

Playing T-ball with Colson.

Being a good listener. 

Watching Ellen. 

Staring a new scrapbook project for 2013:  Project Life!

Here's to 2013!

All bundled up and carrying his basket of  toys. 

Blurry because the kid never stops moving!

Working on the jet boat in the new "garage."

Starting, Project Life and catching up on some other albums.  

Happy New Year!  12:05 am on January 1, 2013!

Enjoying every moment.