Parent/Teacher Conference

School dismissed early today for parent/teacher conferences. I met Kate at the door of her school, ready to meet with her teachers, only to realize that it didn't start for another hour. No wonder Kate kept saying that no one was going to be in there!

They were using a new concept today- student-led conferences. Instead of sitting down with each teacher, and them telling me how Kate was doing, Kate did everything. She had made portfolios in each class of her completed homework and tests, along with a printout of all of her grades. She would show me each of her papers, tell me what she was doing, and how she thought she could improve. Then afterward, I was able to meet with each teacher and get their view.

It was an interesting concept. The rationale behind it was to get kids more involved and to help them learn organizational skills. It also helps them to self-evaluate and see for themselves what they can be doing. I learned more at this conference than usual when the teacher just tells me the grade she's getting in each subject. I think it really helped Kate as well to see which classes she was excelling at and which needed some improvement.

Overall, she's doing really well this year! Her writing teacher was very impressed with her work and said that she never gives 100% on writing assignments because we could always improve on what we write, but she gave Kate one on one of hers because she felt that there was no room to improve on it! She's always enjoyed writing and we have so many stories she's written. She could definitely use some improvement in Social Studies as there was definitely a big difference in her scores in that class. She's getting a B, but on each of the tests she's taken, she's gotten a C, and that just isn't like her. I think the switching classes/teachers is really helping her like school better this year. Last year was HORRIBLE with a teacher that she really disliked, and it just made the entire year miserable. There's also a lot LESS homework, that's even easier, so that also helps. I'm just glad to see her enjoying school again!

My dining room

It's time for Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner, and this week it's dining rooms! This just may be my favorite room in our house. I love it.
This is the view from our living room.
Looking toward the kitchen. When we bought the house, we knocked out that wall to open up into the kitchen- best decision ever! The bar is usually where they eat their snacks and Kate does her homework there so she can't see the tv. We never actually eat a meal there since there's only room for two stools, but I love it anyway.
Looking in from the kitchen doorway.
I am loving this dresser! I found it all beat up at a garage sale this summer for $10! I thought it would be a perfect buffet! I sanded it down and painted it a very light blue and added some glass pulls. It's very feminine, but so awesome! It adds just enough color to the room- something it otherwise lacks.
My other favorite part of the dining room is all of my photography. This seems to be the place I display my work- it really makes the dining room a family place.
And then there's my Abbey Road prints, because you know, no dining room could be complete without them! My poor window needs some sort of treatment. It doesn't look that bad in real life, but man, that picture makes it look pretty pitiful!

Thanks for viewing my dining room! I hope you liked it!

Times are a changing

Think back to when you were in school. Remember filing out of the school for fire drills, or crouching down in the halls with your hands over your head for tornado drills? Maybe you even got to have earthquake drills and get under your desk. My kids still get to do those fun drills, but this year, they've added a new one- lockdown drill.

Kate came home telling me about this one, and my first thought was, "You've GOT to be kidding!" But unfortunately, she was not. For the past week, they've been doing these drills with the police department on the premises while they are doing the drill. During the drills, they have to turn out all lights, lock the doors, and the students have to line up along the wall where they can't be seen. Kate informed me that if they're in band when it happens, they have to roll the drum cart in front of the door and get into the instrument cubbies. I got tickled by that one! But seriously, it's not funny.

The note they sent home explained that it's not just for intruders, but for anytime that there is a dangerous threat in the community, such as an active shooter, escaped inmate (it's been a few years but it happens...), child custody battle, etc. It's comforting to know that they have a plan to keep students safe, but I pray that they never have to use a drill like this. Or any of the other drills for that matter. Times have definitely changed.

We've been running behind this week, so Kate made it a point to tell me that she HAS to be on time tomorrow. They are having lockdown drill 1st period and if she's late, she'll get locked out of the classroom!

Mishmash

I've got lots of random thoughts and happenings so I'm just going to put them all in one big post!

Preston is now on the junior bowling league! He brought home a paper last week and was so excited that he had it out of his backpack before we even got to the car! He got signed up Saturday after his party and got to bowl a free game at registration. He loved it and is so excited! He only bowled a 24, but it's the fun the counts, right?

Yesterday, one of the heating elements in our oven went out. It worked fine at lunch, but when I went to preheat the over to bake the cookies we had just cut out, it flared up, melted the element and never worked again. The oven wouldn't heat up, so we ended up taking three sheets of cookies up to mom's to use her oven. I have to go to Sears tomorrow to order the part, so until it arrives, I'm without an oven. It pretty much shot my entire week's worth of menu planning as most of it involved the oven. Now I have to figure out what to cook that doesn't involve baking!

I got to babysit my twin nieces today and had a fabulous time! They are such dolls and had me cracking up the entire morning! I got to snuggle with sweet Isabela after her nap while Abbie was still asleep and it was pure joy. I miss having a little baby. I can't believe that they'll be one in two weeks. It seems like only a month or two ago that they were born. I look forward to taking their one-year portraits and capturing their darling smiles!

A very Beatle birthday

Saturday was party 2 of Preston's parties. It was another Yellow Submarine party, although with different cakes.;)
Here's the dining room table.
And here's the basement.
Preston got lots of neat gifts and he loved them all, especially the snow cone maker. We didn't have any syrup for it, so he just ate plain ice, but thought it was wonderful! Here he is with his Sgt. Pepper lunchbox.
This is a picture of last week's cupcakes. For some reason, none of them turned out well this past weekend.
And this cake that I made received so many compliments. Thank you! I love how it turned out. It took forever, but it was worth it. I almost didn't want to cut it! I'd went in to take Preston to the bathroom the night before and he was wide awake, so I asked if he wanted to go downstairs and see it, and he was thrilled! When Kate woke up the next morning, the first thing he did was show her the cake!
Blowing out the candles. And as always, Grandma Lou is in the background making her famous face! I love that she gets so excited!
I had to get a group shot of everyone in their Beatles attire. I was the photog, so I wasn't in the picture, but rest assured that I had mine on, too!

Yesterday was Preston's actual birthday and it was a pretty low-key day. We just hung around the house and did what Preston wanted to do. I fixed his favorite, monkey bread for breakfast and he got to play more video games than he's usually allowed. It was COLD and rainy, so there wasn't much to do. We did go up to mom's that afternoon and Glen was there, so he was beyond happy to get to play with him! I'm still trying to wrap my mind around him being 7. It just doesn't seem real.

Happy Birthday, Preston

Seven years ago today, my sweet baby boy entered our lives and brought us an insane amount of joy. I can't even begin to describe the love I have for my sweet boy. His smile lights up the room. His laughter is contagious. His cuddles and kisses are heartwarming. He is everything I could ever wish for in a son, and I am so thankful to have him. In honor of his special day, let's take a look back on the past seven years.
Me at about 32 weeks. Already big as a barn and I still went another 5 weeks.
My sweetness just minutes old. Tiny and precious, he already had my heart.
Bringing Preston home at one day old.
My little hairy baby.
Right now, he may act like he's too big for his britches, but back then, they were too big for him.
This is what happens when you have an older sister.
Lil blue eyes.
You've got big shoes to fill, son.
My sweet, sweet cowboy.
We've been through many ear infections with some "lovely" side effects. You're still my sweet popeye!
Loving the pool in Florida.
Little boys love their mommas.
And they love to be pirates, too.
I loved being home with you to capture all of your sweet moments, to play with you, to teach you, to laugh with you, to love you.
You love to play.
You love to laugh.
And you love trains, but more than them, you love your boots.
I've seen you graduate preschool and cried the whole time, knowing our days of just the two of us were ending.
We had Mother's Day parties.
You were always a willing participant when I needed to practice my photography skills.
I got to see you lose your first tooth and the crazy way it came out!
I've watched you grow from that tiny baby to the sweet boy that you are now.
And now, you're seven. I terribly miss the days gone by, but I look forward to all the years we have yet to come. And even though it embarasses you now, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRESTON!

It was 7 years ago today

Seven years ago, I was on my second day in the hospital waiting for my baby. We didn't know how long we'd be there- we just knew we weren't leaving until I'd had him. We walked the halls for hours on end. We discussed every baby name we could think of. We got a video of Preston having hiccups while on the monitor. We waited.

Master Bedroom

It's Show Us Your Life Friday at Kelly's Korner, and today's feature is master bedrooms. I really debated wether or not to participate this week as this is by far my least favorite room of the house. The wall color is reminiscent of a hospital. Ugh! I'd like to paint it a light gray and get a bright colored bedding set to brighten it up. It's really dark in there, especially with the dark wood. When we moved in, we also just dumped all of the miscellaneous furniture and "artwork" that didn't make the cut for any other room in our room. So it's a big mishmash.
This is the view walking into our room. You can see the sunroom off to the right, and I do like the big glass doors leading out to it. I just wish you didn't have to go through our room to get out there.
This view is from our closet and you can see the door to the master bath. I'll save that beauty for the bathroom tour. You don't want to miss that one ;)...
This is probably my favorite thing in the whole house. This cedar chest belonged to my great grandma. I would spend hours going through it at her house when I was little, looking at all of the things she kept in there. It was given to me when she died and it's something I will always love.
Here's our sunroom (and our cat, Nonni). I'll share it at another time, but it's a seldom-used room as it has no insulation, A/C, or heat, so it's either an oven or a freezer. It's a rare night around here when my husband doesn't pick up his guitar and entertain us. It's either Elvis, Johnny Cash or our favorite, The Beatles.
This is the view from our master bath.

I'm excited about next week's dining room tour! Please check back then, and I hope you enjoyed our master bedroom!

The things people come up with

I was using You Tube to listen to tunes while I used the computer today and came across this. I knew the kids would love it, and they did! They spent forever clicking all of the Lego Beatles links for different songs.

Seriously, someone has too much time on their hands!

A giveaway!

Jessica at In the Sky with Diamonds is having a giveaway on her blog! She is giving away a custom print or blog header. Head on over to her site to enter and see what you might win!

The little tree that could

We have this little apple tree in our backyard. It's a sad looking thing. It is hollow and the previous owners filled it with mortar. If you look closely (or click the picture to enlarge) you can see the mortar in one of the sawed-off branches, and on the side of the trunk. It's had a massive ant infestation that had to be taken care of. It's even had a family of chipmunks living inside of one of the major branches. In the three years that we've been here, it had never produced any apples that made it to ripen. I had urged Christopher to cut it down on many occasions. I felt that the tree was useless and unhealthy, even dangerous as I feared a colony of wasps would move into its hollow branches. Why did we need to keep a sick tree that continually needed large sections cut off and more mortar applied?

But this year, that scrappy little tree did something surprising...
It made fruit. Not only did it keep that fruit until it was ripe, but they are the most delicious apples I have ever tasted!

It really gave me a new perspective about that scraggly little tree. As much as I disliked it, and had given up on it, God had other plans. He showed me that even that sickly little tree was capable of something great. It's just like with us. We're each capable of something great, no matter how big or small, young or old. We all have a purpose. Even when others have given up on us, God is able to step in and show us that there is something wonderful about us.

Now to create something sweet with those delicious apples. And for the record, that little tree can stay. It now has a special place in my heart. As for the peach tree, I think God was screaming "CUT IT DOWN!" when it was struck by lightening. Now to just get Christopher to listen!

Miscellany Monday

While I was checking out Allison's blog, she participated in Miscellany Monday, and I thought it would be fun since I have a bunch of random topics for today. If you want to join in on the fun too, head over to lowercase letters and link up!
On Friday, the kids' pet frog died. They weren't too surprised or upset as the night before she was flopping around upside down in her tank. When they got home from school, we had a burial service in the backyard and buried her under a small tree. They wanted a grave marker, so I made this for them and they thought it was just spectacular! They even ran around to gather flowers for her, which were still there tonight after all the rain we got yesterday.
When I saw the advertisements for The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network a few weeks ago, I knew it was something I wanted to see. It's a rare thing for me to get hooked on a show, and it's even rarer when I actually set something to record each episode, but this series was great! I loved every minute of it! I hope they come out with another series, soon. This one was too short!
Last night was the series finale and I was SO excited to see who won! I had been rooting for Grill Em All from the begining. I sat down to watch it last night and the dvr screwed up and didn't record all of it, and stopped right at the last 5 or so minutes. Talk about torture! Thankfully it was on again at 11:00, so I set it to record and the first thing I did after the kids got to school was to see who won. I was SO glad Grill Em All won!

This week is going to be so busy preparing for Preston's party. I spent all morning working on his bedspread and will be tomorrow, too. I plan on baking Thursday instead of Friday as Friday is homecoming and the kids get out early for the parade. That gives me all morning Friday to decorate cakes and then I can relax that evening.

I washed windows this afternoon and the dining room blind fell out and onto my head, and then fell and took a gouge out of the new wood floor. I was SO mad. I wasn't hurt too badly, thankfully. But my elbow that I hurt last week is still very painful and a little swollen. I really boogered it up. It's the bone that really hurts, so I think I may have chipped it. And to make matters worse, I feel two ear infections coming on. I didn't sleep well last night because they bothered me, and they've bugged me off and on all day. Just what I need!

Ahoy Mateys!

Saturday we celebrated the first of Preston's family parties. All of my family gathered at mom's for lunch and a fun party! The food was SO good, and I ate so much, but that didn't stop me from having cake! We all had a great time, especially Preston!
Here's one of the party tables with some of our many Beatles cds for decorations. My mom made the records that you can see hanging above the table.
I couldn't resist sharing my sweet nephew, Cooper enjoying his lunch (in my old high chair)! He is such a porker at just under 20 pounds at 7 months! It's hard to believe that Preston was the exact same size at 7 months. Man, I miss my little baby being that little!
Preston opening his gifts. For some reason, my camera wasn't taking good pictures yesterday and most came out blurry.
Here is Preston's cake. I made it to look like George's Gretsch guitar, but as my brother pointed out, I forgot the knobs. Granny thought it was a banjo! Oh, boy!
Here are some of his cupcakes. I'll show some better ones this weekend when we have his other party. I have to make a whole other batch.
By far, these were the hit of the party. My Yellow Submarine cupcakes. Really, they look complicated and time consuming, but they really weren't.
Preston blowing out his candles. You can see Kate in the background harping on him for not blowing them all out in one breath. She won't let him catch a break!

I hope everyone had a great time yesterday! I know that we did, and Preston loved everything he got! Thanks!