The gathering of a group

One of my dearest besties lives about an hour away, so we don't get to hang out as often as I'd like. Recently, we went to see October and her kids, for her birthday.

Yes, her name is October

and nooooo, she was not born in October.

Her kiddos are the short ones in black shirts, and mine are the tall and colorful children. ;)

By golly, you can tell which of my children is ALWAYS photo-ready, huh?

Not a bit shy, that one.

 These are our trying-to-get-the-herd-together photos that my very

NON-photographer husband decided to snap.

I'm thankful. Really.

I love that little Miss Liana put my Oldest in her place.

They're like sisters, those two. Good for both of them.

Someone--*ahem*-- always has to be the center of attention!

We're proof that opposites attract.

My darling non-make-up, casual attire, public school teacher friend with

me, a colorful eclectic paint-my-make-up-on-for-fun kinda homeschooler.

We fill in the gaps for each other!

We've been through shed-building, bike-fixing, baby-having, you-name-it together.

Love this girl like a sister!

Book Art

I Miss You, Stinky Face is one of my Littlest's favorite books.

For afternoon art recently, we did projects that went along with beloved storybooks.

For Little Man's book, we made paper plate alien space-crafts, below.

What could be simpler? Paper plates + markers + bendy straws = spaceships!

My Oldest Boy choose a Dino Fossil Hunter book, and illustrated the cover.

Love it!!

My Middlest Dude picked Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late.

Of course.

He loves those books, possibly because they start to annoy me!

He did a very fine job of reproducing the cover, in ink. :D

I'm so thankful to share two of my greatest joys-- books and art--with my kids!

Happiness Baseline?

I was recently reading a couple of books that both mentioned baseline levels of happiness. Basically, that we’ll inevitably adapt and return to our genetically determined baseline level of happiness, regardless of our experiences.

First, what are your thoughts on this?

Are some people "destined" to be happier than others?

Can people become happier?

And, if so, are they doomed to return to their baseline, which may be below an "average happiness level"?

Things to think about.

Me? I think it's more about personality and choices.

Yes, certain personalities tend to be more meloncholy,

but that doesn't necessarily mean they are less happy.

For one thing, they may rate happiness differently.

I do believe, for sure, that people can become happier.

Or change their baseline, for that matter.

I believe that many people have slight fluctuations...

And some personalities, like mine, tend to do spikies.

(Yep, that's a psychological term, I'm sure.)

My "normal" happy level is pretty high, I think.

The world is great, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, what's not to love?

But when I do feel sad, it's like a sudden downward spike...nothing gradual about it.

Thankfully, I usually spike back up again just as quickly.

Awesome graphics, right? Thanks.

I don't believe I'm genetically predisposed to be above-average on the happiness scale.

As far as I'm concerned, it's habit.

Do you make a habit of appreciating each new day?

Does each sunrise still mean something?

Do you stop to smell the flowers?

Do you notice the little miracles all around you?

Are people predisposed to happiness?

Or do some people LEARN to continually appreciate goodness?

I believe it's habit.

And a reminder, now and again, doesn't hurt. :)

Today choose to smile.

Look around you and notice your blessings.

Let your thankfulness pour off of you, and affect others.

Mama Moments

You see that, up there? That's my boy, about to catch the ball.
I should make it very, very clear to you that we are not a "sports family." Sure, my husband is obsessed with football.... but me?
I couldn't even tell you how many points a touchdown is.
(Yeah, he's ashamed of me.)

So, anyway, my kids did a stint with Tball and soccer
(I am NOT a sports mom, and have no desire to do that again.
We prefer bicycling, running, swimming, tennis, hiking, rafting, caving....)

I'm quite sure that, going into this game, my son had no idea how to play football.
All that to say, you can be thoroughly impressed with his catch and amazing play!

 I think he's even holding it right! Right? Who knows. But it worked!

Also, I should note that this is our Homeschool Fitness Friday class, organized and led by an amazing woman. This is not the screaming-parents, yelling-coaches, crying-children kind-of sports that we had previously experienced.

THIS I can do. THIS my kids enjoy. :D
This may make me rethink my position on team sports.

At the same time, my Middlest played Wiffleball. Before Friday, I had no idea what Wiffleball even was, so I'll explain briefly, in case you are as ignorant as I.

It is baseball.

I'm sure there's a difference, but not one as far as my untrained eye could detect!

Add to that, I was the assistant coach.
Go ahead and laugh.

More than anything, I let the "real coach" do his job, and I stood around yelling encouragements,
and generally embarrassing my son. 

He turned 8 today!!! WOOOOOOO! Happy Birthday, My Speedy Son!

I'll get the obligatory Halloween trick-or-treating pic out of the way, too.

My Papaw managed to get a picture of my family trick-or-treating

(while following us around from house to house, camera in hand. Serves me right!)  

I had no idea just how well my yellow and white cardy shows up! Wowzers!

 

Okay, now that my proud mama moments are out of the way, I'll dig deeper on the next post. ;)
I have stuff to say, y'all!

Halloween Love

I'll admit it, I love Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays! What's not to love?

Dress-up? Check. Chocolate? Check. Parties? Check. Excited kids? Check.

This year, we had a knight, hot dog, Mario, and Wonder Woman, all posing with my Papaw. 

So I was surprised to see a Facebook thread yesterday, with women pouring out of the woodwork about their disdain for the holiday. Really? It never occurred to me that it would be so unloved.
Now, I understand that many people simply don't celebrate Halloween...and that's not at all what I'm talking about here. Not something I care to get into.
The complaints were about costumes (expense and preparation,) time constraints, junk food.
Okay, I get that. BUT don't the pros far outweigh those cons?
Costumes? We buy at after-Halloween sales, and always have fully stocked Dress-Up Tubs. Sometimes they get costume items for Christmas. Makes their day.
I'm not one to drop $60 on the cutest-ever-last-minute-pick Halloween costume at the flashiest store, so my kid can get candy. No, we give it thought and get creative, but never spend more than a few bucks on each costume.
We also pick up costumes at yard sales throughout the summer. All of our Star Wars costumes have come from the beloved summer sales, and none have set us back more than $3.

Then there are crafts! And who doesn't love crafts?? C'mon, black cats and spiders, gross-looking foods, hanging webs....that stuff is just FUN, y'all.

Today we worked on spider web boards (nails driven into square boards, with embroidery thread-- think: natural geo board.) What does this accomplish? Besides the obvious FUN, you're looking at fine-motor development, color combinations, creativity, patience, and design.
There is a place for play. It's important. Creating is important.

I also tried my hand at "ghost eggs." Can you see?

Please tell me you can see it.

I really ought to have used a larger pan...but it was in the sink...and I'd rather cook than wash dishes, so there ya have it. The kids enjoyed it, at any rate.

We did the crayon molds, which I talked about briefly before. Easy peasy craft, but I got plenty of BOOM for my buck on it. Crayons on sale at Wal-Mart for 50 cents a pack + a little boy who needs something to do in order to listen to stories= fantastic crayon crafts, right and left. The kids were thrilled. Especially the crayon-peeling kid.

Have I mentioned that Halloween means chocolate?

Lots of wonderful chocolate.

I consider this a binding contract.

As if that's not enough, I got to dress up again and again and again.

I do so like to dress up.

Oh... and the weather! Isn't this time of year fabulous?

It was about 70 degrees and sunny today, in my neck of the woods.

Perfect hiking, biking, running, dressing-up-and-grabbing-for-candy kinda weather!

Let's show Halloween a little lovin', folks.

The little bit of work can cause a whole lot of fun and happiness!

Not to mention memories. :D

Costume Party #3

That little weiner in the front is my Middlest Boy. Cracks.Me.Up.

Costume Party #3-- a Birthday Bash for my sweet niece, Caitlin!

We had princesses, zombies, hot dogs, a batman....even a cute little bunny...

Below, my precious sister-in-law, Olive Oil, and her Popeye boyfriend. Cuteness!!
(Incidentally, they borrowed these costumes from us, so expect to see my Man and I decked out in them before long! #Ilovedressup)

We also made skeleton crayons for Halloween!

Just peel crayons, break 'em up, stick them in a silicone mold (this is the Wilson skull mold). Next, put them in the oven on 275 degrees for about 15 minutes. When they were all hot and melty, I used a toothpick to swirl the colors a bit.

Then just let 'em cool and they'll pop right out.

Have fun and stay safe, my friends!

Costume Party #2

Update in photos:

Top Row: Chris, Carina, Kristin, me, Fred, Astine, Amy, Joshua, Jason
Second Row: Coli, Vu, Isabelle, Julie, Jenny, Bryan
Bottom: Athena and Traci

 Traci's costume totally cracked me up!!!

The right to bear arms-- yeah, baby!

Below, my lovely youngest sister, and my incredibly tall and beautiful teenage daughter.
They're 16 years apart, but about the same size. :)

 I went as Cleopatra to this party, and my Man went as Julius Caesar.
We're trying out the couple theme outfits this time around.
(We also own the Popeye and Olive Oil set!)

Here we have Jenny AKA Cat-Nurse from Dr.Who, and Amy AKA Harlequin mime.

And now, to get ready to go, once again! :)