Friday

Well, we had a whirlwind of a week, mostly involving me shuttling Sydney and Lorelei to and from the high school each morning and afternoon for basketball camp.

In addition to camp, we closed on (sold) our condo Monday, and decided to paint Sydney's and Lorelei's room (which we really, REALLY didn't have time for, but there's no going back now). Ford also did a ton of chores so he could buy himself a new Lego set.

Condo Closing (Sydney was at a camp)

Half-Painted Room (the blue is the new color)

Hard Worker

I hope you had a great week! Tomorrow (Saturday) I have an all-day homeschool seminar, during which Chet will hopefully continue painting the girls' walls. Sunday after church we will pack Sydney for church camp (she leaves Monday and returns Friday).

Hello, June (and some April pictures)!

June is off to a good start -- the kids and I went to the neighborhood pool, gymnastics (Ruthie), and the library. Ruthie and I also picked up a (blue) paint sample for Sydney and Lorelei's room, and painted swatches all over the walls, so there's no going back now.

On Good Friday we attended a service/performance at First Baptist Church Jacksonville. This is not the church we belong to, but our friends are members and very involved in the music ministry, so we often attend special performances to see them sing. I took this picture of the kids:

We took a family picture at our own church Easter Sunday (very, VERY early -- we all look sleepy, ha!):

After the service, Ruthie took her sweet time eating a donut whilst dancing:

 Chet and I didn't understand the term "slow eater" until Ruthie joined our family.

Happy Wednesday!

Goodbye, May!

May was an enjoyable month for our family. In addition to Mother's Day, my mom and SIX of my nieces and nephews had birthdays!

Speaking of nieces and nephews, during our recent trip to West Palm Beach our kids thoroughly enjoyed playing with their cousins. They all missed their North Carolina cousins (ALL the cousins were able to get together at Christmas), but they still had fun. 

We got back home yesterday (Monday) around 3 p.m. We unpacked quickly and washed a load of laundry, then went to our neighborhood pool for about an hour and a half before dinner.

Today we stayed home until we had to leave for Jiu Jitsu at 5 p.m. I reorganized some of my plants. My indoor plants only want to live in my closet (it DOES get the best light).

I also have a fiddle fig plant that only wants to live in the front room that we call the homeschool room. The room has a south facing window, which means that it's also the window where Monster's cat tree MUST to go. We have become a crazy cat family, and therefore can't deprive our precious feline from a nap in the sunshine, as well as a view of the comings and goings of the neighborhood.

Clearly the cat and my plants are the bosses around here.

I hope you also had a great May -- on to June!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is when Americans honor and remember the brave men and women who died while serving our country.

The Daily Wire states that it is a solemn day (it is), and people may not know that it originated with Americans honoring those who lost their lives during the Civil War. (You can read the interesting article here.)

Here is the picture posted today on my USNA class's instagram page:

Sunday

Should I mention the elephant in the room (four months since my last post) (!!!), or just carry on as if no time has passed?

Carry on it is!

Here are some happenings since the end of January:

1) We added concrete pavers to either side of our driveway in order to widen it.

2) Sydney, Lorelei, and Ford finished basketball season (they played through the YMCA).

3) The kids and I visited Crystal River, FL with friends.

4) Ruthie turned 6-years old on March 6th.

5) Sydney, Lorelei, and Ford received a promotion in Jiu Jitsu.

6) Sydney and Lorelei both passed a difficult oral exam for school.

7) Sydney and Lorelei wrote and presented final papers for their afternoon language arts class.

8) The kids and I finished the school year with our homeschool group at the end of April.

9) To celebrate #7, the kids and I visited Legoland with many of our homeschool friends (also at the end of April).

10) Sydney, Lorelei, and Ford participated (virtually) in their (Mississippi) piano teacher’s spring recital.

11) Sydney visited her friend Lucy in Mississippi for a week. 

12) We drove south this weekend to visit Chet’s family for Memorial Day weekend.

More to come tomorrow (and pictures to accompany posts when I’m back on my desktop computer)!

Then End of January!

Normally I am not bothered by the long, cold month of January, because my birthday is the last day of the month.

Now that I'm an adult and my immediate family has FOUR January birthdays, January flies by even faster.

UNTIL THIS YEAR.

Seriously, it's felt 68 days long, and I'm glad to see February 1st arrive tomorrow. In fact, I took down the birthday paraphernalia Saturday and put out the Valentine decorations a few days early.

However, today was still a great day, spent with the kids (Chet is out of town!) doing schoolwork, and then taking them to Jiu Jitsu and basketball practices.

The only downside to the day was when Ruthie asked me if I was eighty-eight.

Chet took this of the kids and me Saturday night (he left for his trip Sunday morning):

Sydney and Lorelei cooked everyone breakfast, and served mine on our "You Are Special Today" plate:

Sydney doing schoolwork amidst the Valentine decorations:

Goodbye, January; welcome, February!

Happy 12th birthday, Sydney!

Sydney is twelve, and she had a great day!

Here is the picture I tried to post last night, her last one as an 11-year old:

Today was low-key, mostly because the weather was cold and dreary. Sydney and I went to the Dollar Tree and Publix (grocery store) after breakfast to pick up a few items, including her birthday dessert (which was frozen yogurt -- she's not very into sweets these days).

She also picked out a Lego balloon at the Dollar Tree:

She opened her cards and presents from her siblings midday:

She was exempt from school today because she has such a nice teacher (me), so she had plenty of time to play with Legos. Monster likes to keep tabs on such things:

I have a couple of more pictures to post, and I'll give details about what she requested to eat for her birthday meals tomorrow.

Happy birthday, Sydney! We love you!

Last Day as an 11-Year Old!

Today was Sydney's last day as an 11-year old!

It's hard to believe she will turn twelve tomorrow, since I can still so clearly recall the day she was born, and the first few weeks of taking care her, our very first newborn.

I insisted she and I take a selfie at (her) bedtime, which I can't post right now because my computer is doing what it wants instead of what I tell it to do.

I can also hear Chet sighing in the other room because he wants us to watch an episode of "Parks and Rec."

I shall post again tomorrow, Sydney's birthday!

Paper Bag

I know most kids enjoy playing creatively with cardboard boxes, but Ruthie enjoys playing with (in) a paper bag every now and then!

She was pretending to be a dog (OF COURSE) while inside the paper bag (I'm pretty sure she was also mid bark in this picture).

Happy Tuesday!

Nature Walk

It was still cold here today, but much sunnier than it has been, so the kids and I went on a late-morning walk. First we took a lap around our neighborhood (exactly half a mile), then continued on a trail right behind our neighborhood. (Sydney opted to do two laps around the neighborhood and then go home to finish her math assignment.)

Ford wanted me to document these "fossils:"

The children do not look/weren't very cold, and were not dressed as warmly as I was. For the record, I was wearing a t-shirt, a turtleneck sweatshirt over that, a vest over that, and a long, puffy jacket over that. I would have gladly added a hat and gloves had they been handy.

Happy Monday!

Grocery Store Pictures

I could absolutely post about something more exciting, but seeing these pictures on my phone make me laugh, and I wanted to share.

Ruthie and I often go to the grocery store on base together 1-2 times per week after dropping off the other kids at Jiu Jitsu. (We do not live on the Navy base any more like we used to in Mississippi, nor do we live exceptionally close. But the kids' Jiu Jitsu gym is right across the street from the base -- I chose this gym for that very reason -- so I am still able to go to the best-priced grocery store without constantly having to go out of my way.)

Anyway, Ruthie loves to accompany me to the store, and often asks me questions like, "Mom, can we buy that [gigantic] bag of peanuts so we can attract elephants?" Sometimes I require her to play the quiet game so that I can think straight and get out of the store as quickly as possible.

One way to keep her quiet is to give her my phone so that she can take pictures. The rule is that she can take pictures of whatever she wants, except other people. She likes to zoom in on certain items, and sometimes chastises me for starting to push the buggy again before she has the chance to capture the perfect shot.

Here are some of her most artistic photos:

I also find quite a few pictures of myself that she took when I later go through my camera roll, but I shall not post those here.

Happy Sunday!

Happy New Year!

 It IS still the new year, right?!

My plan wasn't to let 22 days pass in January before blogging, especially since we've already celebrated two birthdays (Ford and Chet), Sydney got braces, and Sydney, Lorelei, and Ford started their basketball seasons. 

There's much to catch up on.

Speaking of basketball, Saturdays revolve around Sydney's Lorelei's, and Ford's basketball games until the end of February. The YMCA's basketball season is the entire month of January and February (I think the playoff games might be the first week of March -- if there even are playoff games). I'm very thankful for the YMCA's short sports seasons, and that they don't overlap with other sports put on by the YMCA, but we will be quite immersed in the sport of basketball for a while.

In addition to Saturday games, Sydney practices Monday nights at 7:30 p.m., and Ford and Lorelei practice Thursday nights at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.

This particular Saturday, Ford's game was at 9:00 a.m., Lorelei's game was at 1:00 p.m., and Sydney's game was at 6:00 p.m.

Ford's team and Sydney's teams won; Lorelei's team lost.

Just typing that made me ready for bed, and I didn't even play a single minute of basketball myself.

I was telling my dad how Sydney is almost as tall as I am, and I sent him a picture today as proof:

It is very cold here by the way. Not blizzard cold, but definitely Florida cold.

Happy Saturday!