I think I'm in....

The other day Grayson handed me a little cut out paper heart that said "will you be my valentine mom- from Grayson." I said yes, of course. That night when Paul got home Grayson informed him that he was going to have to find a new valentine because I'd already decided to be Grayson's this year.

"Fancy"

Yesterday while the kids were home from school due to a "teacher work day" they were hankering for some craft time. I rummaged through my supplies, and decided it was time to introduce them to the wonders of Mod Podge. We dug some empty glass jars out of the recycling, cut up some valentine themed tissue paper, and got to work.
Voila! Festive Valentine candle holders.

The boys were excited to eat by candle light last night. Rowan thought we were being SO "fancy". He's easily impressed.

Celebrations

This weekend we hosted a family dinner to celebrate some January birthdays, my mom's, my dad's, and my sister in laws. Red velvet cake was eaten. We sang loudly and embellished with lots of Cha-cha-chas. We loved on Grandma and Grandpa.

And we introduced Uncle Jim to the highly addictive world of Guitar Hero.
This is why I love living near family!

Best Wishes President Obama

Yesterday morning I sat glued to my TV watching President Obama be sworn in. I can't recall that I have ever before watched an inauguration, but I felt very compelled to watch this one. I had a great feeling of watching history unfold. It was amazing to see the vast numbers of people that were in attendance, and to hear President Obama speak with such hope and determination at a time when things in our country are not looking so good. I sincerely hope and pray that he will have the wisdom and foresight to lead us in the right direction. I had recorded all of the inauguration coverage so that we could watch it as a family, and share in that historic moment. Unfortunately Fuller and Grayson said they had watched it all at school, and it was boring. I guess they're still just too young to understand the significance of yesterday's events.

Watching all of the coverage of Washington DC made me think of my own "visit" to the White House(just as a tourist of course). The year was 1980, and Carter was still in office. I remember hoping to see Amy Carter. She and I are kind of close in age, (and in fact have the same birthday) and in the back of my head I think I thought that we would be great friends if we ever met. Carter is the first President that I really remember, and it's odd to think that Obama is probably the first President that my kids will remember. I'm glad that he has young kids, it gives me extra comfort that he feels the same way I do about wanting to leave my children with a stronger, more stable country.


Heather, Jim and I at the White House- 1980.


Also, did anyone else catch Tom Brokaw referring to Vice-President Cheney as Dr Strangelove? I can't remember when I've laughed so hard.

What they're teaching in school these days...

The other day in the car Rowan struck up a conversation with me about soon to be President Obama. It went something like this:
R: Mom, do you know how many bathrooms Obama gets to have?
Me: No, I have no idea. Probably a lot.
R: 35!!!(He really emphasized that)
Me: Wow, that's a lot of bathrooms.
R: Mom, guess how many rooms his house will have.
Me: I don't know, maybe 100.
R: Like a hundred thirty or something!!!!!
Me: Wow.
R: And did you know he gets to have a special room, called like "the square room" or something?
Me: Do you mean "the Oval Office"?
R: Mom, how do you know so much?!?!?


When we got home I googled the White House to check Rowan's facts. There are 35 bathrooms, and 132 rooms. That kindergartner's got a pretty good memory!

Yeah Fuller!!!!

In the past couple of years Fuller has played on some pretty "down on their luck" sports teams. Last year his basketball team didn't win a single game all season, and his soccer team only won one. This morning Fuller had his first two games of the season. They won both of them! I was really impressed with how well Fuller was playing. I guess playing basketball every morning before school is really paying off. He scored several points in each game, and made some great passes that helped others score. My parents were able to come and watch him play, which was great. My dad commented about Fuller being "scrappy" which was so true. He really gave it his all. I beamed with pride when I heard the opposing coach yell that someone better cover "20". Of course basketball can be kind of a rough sport, Fuller is nursing a sore wrist and elbow from when he was fouled and tripped.
Here he is, happy and exhausted:

Fuller's team only had one sub for their second game, so he ended up playing the entire game. I'm really excited for Fuller that he finally got to start a sport season off on a positive note.

Life's little rewards

This morning, the last thing I wanted to do was drive Fuller to school. I was tired. It was cold outside(26 degrees). Rowan just wanted to stay home and watch Looney Tunes, all snuggled up in his blankets. And I wanted to join him. But we forged ahead, and took Fuller to school. And I was rewarded for doing so. No, I didn't get a nice heart felt goodbye from a certain 11 year old. But I did get to see a beautiful, fog layered sunrise over the river. Watching the sun come up over the river has been one of my favorite things this year. I love that Fuller's school is only a block from the water, and that there is a park right there on the river's edge where Rowan and I can go sit and watch the sun come up. Definitely worth leaving the house for.

Accident prone

I'm beginning to think that Rowan has some sort of freakish, sugar-related accident disorder. On Christmas, after being told that we were not eating any of the chocolate from our stockings until AFTER breakfast, he came to me and sadly reported that he had ACCIDENTALLY eaten an entire chocolate Santa. He said he tripped, and then it just fell in his mouth and got swallowed. He couldn't really explain how it came to be unwrapped, or how he ate such a big thing without taking many bites. One of the great mysteries of this world I suppose. Then this morning I offered to get Rowan some breakfast. He said he wasn't hungry(and that never happens). I asked him if he was feeling sick or something. He said no, but that he did ACCIDENTALLY eat two fruit roll ups before I woke up. Weird! He climbed up on a chair to reach a box on the top shelf and then opened and ate two of the fruit rolls inside, accidentally.

Please pardon my bragging

Have I ever mentioned that I have the MOST talented dad? This year he made me this beautiful Santa to add to my collection. I love how it's just the natural wood. He was able to make it out of one piece of wood, carefully planning so that the red part of the wood was in the back to be his clothes. IT'S FANTASTIC!

And if that isn't enough to make you green with envy, wait until you see what one of my other favorite local artists made, just for me.

Monsieur Rowan's concept of Santa is a bit more abstract, but beautiful all the same.

Flashback Friday- Sibling Love

I love this picture of my brother and sister and I. Don't they look like they just adore their new little sister? (This must have been before they realized I was going to be the spoiled rotten baby of the family.) Over the years of growing up and becoming adults our relationships have gone through many stages. We've been playmates, rivals, partners in crime(mostly me and Jim, Heather was ALWAYS good), and now as adults, good friends. I'm so glad that we can't pick our families, like we can our friends. At different times in our lives I'm not sure I would have "chosen" them, and I'm fairly certain they wouldn't have picked me either. But as much as we may have driven each other, and certainly our parents, crazy- we were somehow meant to be together. We had things we needed to learn from each other. I'm so thankful for them and for what they mean in my life. Love you guys!

We love our cousins!

Over New Years we had a great visit with Paul's brother Aaron, his wife Sandy and their boys. Having the five boys together was great!

Rowan was especially in "Cousin Heaven". He is usually kind of the odd man out in the cousin visits, as he is younger than all of our other sets of cousins. Jack and Ben are the perfect cousins for Rowan to play with. Jack is a first grader and Ben is in Kindergarten like Rowan.



The boys all had a blast playing out in our garage. The climbing rope and rock wall got a good workout!

They are all such sweet boys!

The visit went way too fast, and we were so sad to see them go!

Almost

One of my goals for 2008 was to read more books. I set the more specific goal of reading 24 books. I figured I could do two a month with no problem. Well, I think I must have been doing too many other projects this year, because I didn't quite make it. I was close though! So, I'm going to set the same goal for 2009, and this time I'm getting an early start. I just finished my first book of the year.

Here is my 2008 reading list- my feeble attempt to read more books:

* 1-The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
* 2-The Shadow of the Wind- Carlos Ruis Zafon
* 3-Conversations with the Fat Girl - Liza Palmer
* 4-Animal, Vegetable, Miracle- Barbara Kingsolver
* 5-Three Junes- Julia Glass
* 6-Cage of Stars- Jacquelyn Mitchard
* 7-The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants- Ann Brashares
* 8-Eat Pray Love- Elizabeth Gilbert
* 9-A Great and Terrible Beauty- Libba Bray
* 10- The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
* 11- The Host- Stephenie Meyer
* 12- The Friday Night Knitting Club- Kate Jacobs
* 13- Twilight- Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
* 14- New Moon- Stephienie Meyer (re-read)
* 15- Eclipse- Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
* 16-To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
* 17- Breaking Dawn- Stephenie Meyer
* 18-The Memory Keeper's Daughter- Kim Edwards
* 19- For My Daughters- Barbara Delinsky
* 20- Eight Cousins- Louisa May Alcott
* 21- The Christmas Shoes- Donna VanLiere

Happy New Year!

I must say, we didn't do a very good job of ringing in 2009. Fuller wasn't feeling very well, and he was in bed asleep before dinner was even ready. Grayson and Rowan turned into grumpy little monsters, and were put to bed around nine. Then Paul, tired from his day at work fell asleep on the couch before 10. I held out until 11, but when I noticed that Buster's snoring was the only thing keeping me awake I decided it was time to throw in the towel. Pretty pathetic!