holiday defined

fancy thank you notes have flooded my doors.  someone trained them well.  in my thoughts i am so thankful, but then life invades all good intentions of formalizing such thoughts.

with each post-mailed card i've felt a little more pressure (self imposed) to return a heartfelt thanks.  so.  here is an attempt to turn these images into some kind of meaningfulness.  some kind of love.  some picture of how much i appreciate the ones so often sought after through my lens.

for me, the word holiday is defined in many ways...but mostly it is a time to be grateful for the many things with which God has blessed us, the greatest of these being the gift of his Son.  here are some of my many blessings...

sibling love.

long mornings and endless pots of coffee.  

note to self: must have as many mugs as coffee drinkers.

surprises.

a bit of feisty holiday drama, red sweaters or otherwise...

grampy on his best behavior.

no drama from him this time,

at least not during the four-day festivities.

gram.  great gram.  mom.  to all.

cousins.

heroes.

super heroes.

slippers.

knowing that there is always someone who will 

know how to make it work...usually with more patience

than we have.

golf umbrellas.  for the clubs.  i'm sure i represent 

someone who is thankful for these gadgets.

sing-song laughter.

naps.

competitive games.

jewels.

kissable cheeks.

traditions.  new and old.  and kissable cheeks.

special birthdays.

define holiday. 

it's not the date on the calendar.

it's not the decor.

it's where your family is.

so the next time you are with your loved ones...

celebrate.

make it a holiday.

school days

the big news for our school year is that this little munchkin has started kindergarten!

there were several circumstances, both at the "big school" and at the preschool which led to this difficult decision.  the short story is that mrs. jackson is teaching, and a moment in mrs. jackson's classroom is worth more than gold and rubies and diamonds.  

we know because big sister has been blessed to have mrs. j twice!

 and here she is.  now in 5th grade.

the handsome mess pictured below is in 3rd grade!

gulp.  i'm teaching three grades at once.  if i were truly homeschooling this would be a little less daunting because there are several areas where a teacher can overlap subjects (older students working with younger ones.)  not so in our situation.  the classroom teacher dictates what we do on our home days.

my free time is a bit puny at present.  i'm still working to find it.  i'm sure it's buried around here somewhere...i'm just not used to having quite so many piles.  pray for my sanity.

pray specifically for wednesdays.  there simply aren't enough hours in wednesday.  it's sandwiched by classroom days where classroom teachers require prompt submission of assignments.  imagine that.

our wednesday routine is especially unique this year.  we have been doing school with another family that also has a third grader and a kindergartner.  one mom focuses on the littles and the other primarily works with the third graders.  the fifth grader works almost independently (we are working toward this.)  this solution has worked surprisingly well.  the kids are motivated by play at the end of work, and they are willing to work much longer because they are sitting by a buddy who is having to work hard as well.

the adjustment has been a slow one, but we are finding ways to balance the seemingly infinite workload with the finite hours in our week.

i'm off to learn about porpoises.  yes, it's saturday.  but, hopefully we saved something fun for our weekend learning.

august summer wrap up

august

southern pines, nc

this was a quickly planned, much needed family gathering.  it just didn't last long enough.

we caught some fun at the pool, which we had virtually to ourselves.

1.

 he sets his sight on the target...

a warped, flimsy apparatus.

2.

 he goes for it...

trusting firmly in the rubber soled shoes.

3.

 his aim is secure...

will it hold?

4.

 yes, ladies and gentlemen.

he's still got it.

a kid at heart.

 a bit of quirky humor.

 these two must have been too mature for suits on this august day.

certainly more so than the afore mentioned.

yeah, that smile will get ya. 

 babes in the pool.

watch out.  grampy's teaching new skills.

july ii

july
crane house

the little girls had a weekend with grammy and grampy...all to themselves.
complete with a tea party...a real one.

 grampy's girls

 good morning cuties

they are already talking about when they get to do this again.  i'm not sure if grammy and grampy aren't wondering the same thing.  wink.

july i

july

michigan

chillin' with the winter kiddos

 a taxi ride at the car museum

old fashioned fun

the not-so-innocent duo

so wet.  so fun.

telephone

just chillaxin

 sun kissed freckles

the best

the end and the tears always come, so we hold close to the memories, continue to let the laughter ring clear to the soul, and pray that time flies until next time.