chicken feathers

sunday questions

::These are questions posted once a week to help you create your personal history.::  

What was Christmas like as a child?

Did it snow where you lived?  What did you like to do in it?

Describe your Christmas tree, how you would get it and how you would decorate it.

How was your town decorated for Christmas?  Were there any special activities? 

not for breakfast

When Rhett crawled into bed with Russell and me this morning he asked what we were having for breakfast.  A normal question.  Russell said we'd have spankings.  Rhett thought about this for a minute and then said, "Spankin' soup is not for breakfast.  It's just spankins."

snow days

We have finally been hit by some winter weather!  Of course we don't often get much snow so when it comes the town pretty much shuts down.  For a week.  School was cancelled Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday...today is Monday and we have a two hour delay.  We've been trying to avoid killing each other with all this quality time.

There has been sledding.  I finally had to shut down the sledding hill when it started to get really icy and I watched Grant miss the edge of the house by inches but still manage to run into the hose at about 25 mph, shattering the watering can that was innocently lying (laying?) in his path.

 - - -

There has been a date night.  Grant and I braved the roads and went to a Mother/Son dance.  There was dancing, of course, games, prizes, and a paper airplane flying contest...which Grant won!  That was the highlight for Grant.  He will tell you his winning strategy in great detail if you ask...or look like you might ask.  My favorite part of the evening was when Grant broke out of the uncomfortable-to-be-at-a-dance-with-other-people stage and really started cutting up the floor.  He is an AWESOME dancer with all kinds of cool footwork.  I died a million ecstatic mom-deaths when he grabbed a hold of me and spun me around in the joy of the moment. 

dinner before...at burgerville.  grant's choice.

the mighty wingman.  with his plane and prize!

- - - 

There has been playing in a [clean, unused] garbage can.

What, you don't do this?

questions

No personal history questions this week...church was basically cancelled due to winter weather.  More time to work on the boatload of questions from last week!  

I do want to share a really cool opportunity that I stumbled upon the other day.  Strathmore (like Strathmore art papers) is hosting three different *FREE* online art workshops!  I am currently "enrolled" in the art journaling class.  It's self-paced so you can fit it in whenever.  There are vidoes to watch, discussions to read/participate in, and a photo sharing page for displaying finished products.  Very, very cool!

Here's the site:  http://www.strathmoreartiststudio.com/

one moment

"...The biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while [parenting]. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of them, sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."  Anna Quindlen 

 

#23 - write my personal history

Last week I mentioned writing on this blog as one of my goals for 2012.  I have another goal, 33 more goals, actually.  This year I decided to revive my not-every-year tradition of creating a list on my birthday of things to do before my next birthday.  I turned 34 this year so I am now working on 34 things before I turn 35.  I don't know if I'll share the whole list here but certainly some of it.  So, #23.  Write my personal history.  This was inspired by someone at our church who is providing a short list of questions each week that, when answered over the course of the year, will create a pretty thorough autobiography.  I am excited for this directed opportunity to write down some memories and hopefully create a document that will be of interest to my children someday.  It is also proving to be a bit cathartic as I write through some experiences from my childhood.  There is nothing quite like forming complete and coherent sentences in black and white that forces you to process thoughts and feelings - both the good and the not-so-good.

Are you interested in doing the same?  Have you ever felt compelled to write down some memories but just haven't?  Writing prompts are such a great way to get moving and get the stories flowing.  In the interest of sharing the love, I plan on posting the questions here as I receive them each week. Are you game?

Here it goes...

:: Tell about the day you were born.  How much did you weigh?  How did you get your name?

:: What are your parent's and sibling's names and birthdates?

:: Tell about your childhood friends and pets.  What did you like to do together?

:: Where did you live as a child?  Did you move a lot?

:: Did you have a favorite toy?  What was its name?  What games did you play as a child?

:: Do you have any other childhood memories?

:: Tell about the house or houses you lived in as a child.

:: What chores did you do for your family?  Which was your favorite?

:: Describe your childhood home's yard.

:: Do you remember any of your neighbors growing up?

(note: these are three weeks worth.  Usually there will only be 2-4 questions.  easy peasy lemon squeezy.)

here we are

One of the goals I set for 2012 was to write at least one blog entry per week.  It's already the 9th and this is the first post of the year...I can only improve from here!  Especially since I seem to remember making the same goal last year and seriously failing.  It's a new year with new delusions.

We are settling into life with a newborn which, honestly, doesn't seem terribly different than life without one.  It's both chaotic and peaceful, depending on when you peek in.  Chaotic when we are trying to mobilize all personnel to get out the door at a particular time.  "Where are your shoes?  Wait, where are your PANTS?"  "Did you change Rita's diaper?"  "You have spit-up down your back."  "If you don't have those Legos put away in 30 seconds they are mine."  And so on.  Peaceful moments are more rare but do come here and there.  They usually happen within the activity of the day.  It's a moment spent reading a book in the middle of folding laundry.  It's a gummy smile from a just-fed infant.  It's the magic moment when I realize all the children are asleep.  

Our days right now are busy but only within the family.  I've been pretty good about reducing my workload out the the house so I can really focus on doing essentials which consist of feeding and changing Rita, making meals and doing laundry.  I get the first two done consistently - everything else is a crapshoot.  We have stepped outside the walls of the house a few times for some fun and important things and here are some pictures to prove it.

:: school christmas program in which three of our four had parts:

...singing

 

...ringing

 

...and being holy.

 

:: Trip to the Oregon coast where we braved winter storms ::

"scary boots" help keep the rain away for a walk on the beach.

 

:: Grant's baptism ::

Grant's comment on the day - "This has been the best day of my life!"

 

:: Rita's blessing ::

Probably not the best moment of her life since it didn't involve eating but she was very calm nonetheless.

 

:: Pinewood Derby::

The silver car is Grant's.

I have determined that there are few things cuter than cub scouts in uniform.

After this flurry of activity there aren't too many big events in the coming weeks.  As fun as they are I find that I'm happiest right now at home where there's all the excitement I need.