My boy

My boy turned 6 last month, and no, I did not blog about it yet. Its been hard to keep up with life and writing about it is even more difficult.  Its like trying to catch a moving train!  I have been documenting life of course, with photos as usual.

I came across this poem tonight and just had to share.  It pretty much sums up how I feel about raising children, especially my boy. 

My dishes went unwashed today,
I didn’t make the bed,
I took his hand and followed
Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,
My little son and I,
Exploring all the great outdoors
Beneath the summer sky.

We waded in a crystal stream,
We wandered through a wood.
My kitchen wasn’t swept today,
But life was sweet and good.

We found a cool sun-dappled glade
And now my small son knows
How Mother Bunny hides her nest
Where fern and larkspur grow.

We watched a robin feed her young,
We climbed a sunlit hill,
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky;
We plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected,
That I didn’t sweep the stair,
In twenty years no one on earth
Will know or even care.

But that I’ve helped a little boy
To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years the whole wide world
May look and see and know.

~ Ms. Peifer

Here is a picture of me and my sweetie from a few months ago:

Nine Years Ago

July 27, 2001 my life changed forever. In a really, really great way. I gave birth to my sweet baby girl after a very long wait (26 hours). I wasn't in labor for all of that time but from beginning to end, 26 hours. I had my sweet baby girl at home with a midwife named Charlie and her two assistants.  My husband and sister were there as well.  I've come to realize that this was way too many people watching the pot boil and would have had a faster labor if I had limited the people in attendance, because as we all know, a watched pot never boils. And in this case a watched mama in labor has a longer labor.

Anyway, that first night I remember thinking OMGOSH, now what?!  What do I do with this... baby. I just can't believe that this baby is now nine years old, dancing 'round my living room to Michael Jackson songs in her pink and black bathing suit bugging me to go swimming. Lots of things have happened since she was born, as we have all grown and changed (and moved!). But I have had time to reflect on that learning experience and remember my baby girl coming into this world.

Here is a photo from about 2 weeks after she was born.  I scanned this print, as it was taken with one of our film cameras.  I just love her cute little face.  Look at how tiny she was!

Happy {Secular} New Year! Welcome 2010!

So its now 2010! Time is flying by! We had my brother Daniel, my parents and my niece come visit this week. It was so much fun to see them and to hang out with them. Avery had a blast playing football with Uncle Dan and Ayla was in heaven playing with her cousin. I had a lovely birthday yesterday complete with not one but TWO birthday cakes, balloons, and lots of presents! {I love to get presents}.

{my sweet boy with his Pop-pop!}

{Made & decorated by my kids and their cousin}

{yes that is an ENTIRE Tiramisu cake!}

{From Walt Disney World! Minnie Mouse apron that I absolutely LOVE to pieces}

{a giraffe statue from the Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World}

{O. M. G. A new point and shoot camera!}

{My sweet boy helping me with the candles}

{Having fun with the birthday plates!}

{Adam and the kids decided to get me these plates for the cake! LOL}

Its been a nice Holiday/Hanukkah/Christmas season. We started the month of December off with a trip to Disney World after we shared Thanksgiving with Adam's parents. (Pop I need pictures from Thanksgiving!!) I did my traditional Black Friday shopping but only got a few items at Target. I didn't need a lot this year and nothing that was on sale was anything that I wanted or needed.

At the end of November/beginning of December we spent 6 glorious days at WDW and had a really nice time. We stayed at the Polynesian Resort this time, and we were in HEAVEN in our room which overlooked the Quiet pool. We even had a view of some fireworks that shot up into the sky over the Hawaii Building.

{view from our room}

On the last day of our trip we went to Downtown Disney and had fun shopping in the rain. We stopped for some yummy Ghirardelli ice cream and Decadent Drinking Chocolate-- that is to die for!

After getting back from Disney, Adam and I began the 7 day marathon to finish up the Fall semester. What a hectic time for us. This coincided with the beginning of Hanukkah which made things extra specially crazy! I had two 20 page papers to do, a lengthy presentation to finish and give and a final exam to study for and take all within a span of 5 days! Adam had to read about 30 papers, read and grade 100 exams, finish a lengthy and complicated grant proposal and also turn in grades before the deadline. It was kinda hellish there for a few days but we had a wonderful celebration of the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah 2009 went off without a hitch! Since its a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar there isn't a lot of pomp and circumstance, but some fried foods and some candle lighting.

We had two friends and their families over a few days before Christmas to celebrate the holiday season and to watch A Christmas Story which my friends Randi and Kyle had never seen (or even heard of) before! And get this! Kyle went to school with "Ralphie"--Peter Billingsly, sat next to him on the bus and was friends with his older sister! And he STILL had never heard of the movie. I found that to be really crazy! LOL So we had a mini potluck and lots of dessert cookies to eat and we watched the movie. The kids had so much fun.

Adam and I are so lucky to have such a great support system here. We have wonderful friends that are fellow homeschoolers that we hang out with, share things together and they also watch my kids when we need them too. They know who they are, and I want to say how much I love them and am so appreciative of them and their help. Friends that you can trust don't come around too often, but I've been given this wonderful set of friends here in Columbia that is more that I could ever have wished for. Thank you my sweet friends!

I hope everyone's 2010 is filled with happiness, love, joy and wonder.

Welcome back!

So my poor blog has been neglected! I am so sorry! The summer chemistry class took over my life and then birthdays and before I knew it the fall semester was starting and the crazy circus that is our life has begun again. And oh yeah, WE MOVED! We moved just down the road to a new house, and we are overjoyed, ecstatic, thrilled, and very very very happy. The old house had some bad energy in it, and we are free and so glad to be gone. I truly believe a person's space can effect their sense of well-being. We are all much happier, content and at peace now.

Today was Avery's 5th birthday!! We woke up very early and he opened presents. He has been wanting a Harry Potter party for a while now, and so next week is the HP party. Today we just set up the kitchen with a Batman theme, that was his 2nd choice for a birthday. But he begged for a Harry Potter Quidditch broomstick, the Nimbus 2000 and the Golden Snitch. We also got him a Quidditch robe. He wore that thing all day!! He carried around the broom and pretended to fly all over the place! We were on campus this afternoon and everywhere we went people were smiling at Avery Potter.

I will catch up more tomorrow, I need to get to bed!