Thanksgiving Service Project

 Each month Sydney and I meet with a group of several of homeschool families called Maidens of Virtue. The focus of our group is to build stronger bonds and learn with some of our like minded friends and to train our daughters to be strong and virtuous young ladies. We learn scripture and have Bible stories that pertain young women.  This month was a lesson and service project for Thanksgiving and giving back.  The girls (and some of the brothers) made cards for a sick child who has been in the hospital for a while and for our respective fire departments.  The girls baked pumpkin bread, made muddy buddies and white chocolate popcorn. There was enough for each girl to take a loaf of pumpkin bread and several bags of sweets plus a card to give our neighborhood fire department.

  The girls are so sweet to help with the littles. The little one that Sarah is holding is not her sibling. And see all of the family photos in the dining room? They were taken by our hostess who happens to be the same photographer who took Sydney's pictures last spring. She and I have the exact same camera but she knows how to use it better!

 Sydney and her friend in the kitchen...

Older girls filling bags...

 Yum!

 One of the little girls gets in on the action...

 Littles in the kitchen making Muddy Buddies...

 Some of the families have brothers so were outside making cards...

Misty teaching a Thanksgiving lesson. 

After we finished the lessons and treats many of us went to a nearby park where a craft fair was being held...there were tables set up in the pavilion with samples of salsa, cupcakes, hair bows, Pampered Chef, Christmas wreaths and everything else you can think of.

Saturday afternoon Sydney and I went to the fire department to drop off her care package and it turns out the fire fighter who greeted us was her swim team coach's brother! Sydney enjoyed it so much that she wants to do this again for Christmas! Maybe cookies next time.  She loved the Muddy Buddies so much that we came home and made a batch for ourselves. They are the perfect holiday treat because they are quick, super easy and oh so yummy! You can find the recipe on the back of rice Chex cereal.

Thank you Misty for opening your home to all of us for this fun project!

Linking to Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays

Well it's about time!

Rick and I have been remodeling our house for EVER!  Now that we are done with the hard stuff, we turn to the very much needed replacement of our old sofa and chair. We bought the ones we have 16 years ago when we bought our home. They held up very well for about the first 10 years before the fabric began to disintegrate right before our eyes. Held together with duct tape and a quilt thrown over it to make sure that it lasted until all of the work was done. Anyway...we originally wanted leather, then we got scared, then I found one I loved and got scared again. We have 2 cats (de-clawed) and 1 dog. I went back to the furniture store and found some fabric sofas I really loved and last Monday took Rick to look at them. I showed him the original sofa and isn't it lovely? Well, guess what..he fell in love with it too. So here are the pieces that we chose from the Bernhardt line so it's good quality and should last a long time. Aren't they pretty?  They aren't in stock so it will be after Thanksgiving before they arrive but I am sooooo excited! We will have to get a light colored rug because we have a lot of dark...dark wood floors, dark entertainment center, dark kitchen table...you get the picture?  Oh and they are so soft and comfy! Here are a few pictures of the Haverty's website...

Fall Decorations!

There many bloggers out there who change their decor with every seasonal change.  I'm not one of them! Here is the extent of my fall decor. Corn, gords, pumpkins and candy corn.  It's just dumb luck that the lamp matches! When I first moved into this house I made a gorgeous wreath for the front door and a friend painted a ghost cut out for my front yard and it was really cute! Both of those items were stolen on Halloween night in 1996 and my front door was egged!  Sorry but I'm a Halloween Scrooge. Not really intentionally but for the last 17 years I have had other things to do. 

 Light on...

Light off...

I think the pictures turned out well and they were both taken without my camera flash.

Mainstay Farms...Field Trip!

Last Monday was homeschool day at Mainstay Farms also known as the pumpkin patch...you might notice that I failed to take any pictures of pumpkins which were gorgeous! An interesting view of an old car...show the rest of it later. We are in front of a really nice

Sydney on a fun bench made from tractor seats. We had perfect weather...it is usually a little warm when we have been before!

Another old car was set up for the kids to sign with chalk...I remember those old cars with the dried up finis. Sydney said it had poop in it...I am assuming cats are the culprit.

In addition to being a pumpkin patch (farm), Mainstay also grows Christmas trees and I think bees.

We also took a bumpy hayride but fun as always. The driver does silly things like telling the kids to look out for the bats when we came upon a tree with baseball bats hanging from it and beware of the bees when we saw a tree with wooden letter "B"s hanging from it. 

A three story tree house with several slides. This is at the top of a huge hill at the end of the hay ride. There are picnic tables and a little playground. There is also a 100 foot slide that goes down the other side of the hill.  Sydney took the slide but I walked!

 Sydney was very good for posing for pictures which is unusual...

The other end of that car!

My little ham taking her picture on the ride home.

After we left the farm we high tailed it to Jill's house for a few minutes before she had to run off and pic up her boys at school! Oh well, 20 minutes is better than none! We got together for lunch on Wednesday for lunch with Charlie and Sydney...twice in one week...score!

Happy Columbus Day!

We don't usually do anything for Columbus Day and I don't remember taking the day off from school other that in 2008 when we went to Six Flags which may or may not have landed this roller coaster loving mama in the hospital for repair surgery! I'm not sure if that did it or not but now my husband has banned me from them. Six Flags is not the same with out them. I slightly pushed the limits this summer when I went with Sherilyn.

Anyway, today we slept in a little and then got dressed and met my friend Tracey and her kids Emma and Christopher at Central Market for lunch and some shenanigans! We always have fun with them. When we first met it was Sydney and Christopher's kindergarten and Emma's Pre-K orientation in 2006. Tracey was the first mom I met at Sydney's school. We became friends and Sydney and Christopher because of their last names and they had to sit together in Miss Smith's class also became friends. Over the years, Sydney and Emma have become closer and boys are at the age where they don't much want to be bothered by girly-ness! Well he's a good sport about it all.

Sydney amongst the pumpkins...that is actually a "neck pumpkin" around her neck!

 Here she is with a larger "neck pumpkin" around her waist...they called it a floaty pumpkin.

Christopher and Emma clowning around with their "neck pumpkin"

All three posing together! Emma Christopher and Sydney.

We had perfect weather today cool but not cold, warm but not hot.  A perfect day for eating outside and playing on the playground. Hard to believe how much these 3 have changed over the years. Tracey is from England and a lot like Mary Poppins...and she used to be a Nanny too!

Fun Valley Part II

 Sydney taking off to find a friend to play with. She was so excited to finally have the courage to take her training wheels! With a little encouragement from Gracie!

Stopping long enough for us to get a picture. You can tell by the pictures what time of day it is based on whether or not Sydney has her jacket on.

Visiting her friends on our day trip to Creede, CO.  Creede is an old mining now tourist village about 30 minutes from Fun Valley. Lots of good shops, good food and very tame furry friends!

Line dancing lessons at the square dance hall for young and old...

I'm sure there is a story to this yellow painted rock outside of the square dance hall but I don't know what it is. Kids climb, slide and have pictures on it all day long. 

It was outside the square dance hall that a lady asked Rick if he was having fun with his granddaughter:)

Colorado Horseback Riding and other fun stuff!

In August we went to Fun Valley near South Fork and Pagosa Springs for a week and Sydney got to 

go horseback riding on Thursday. Her horse was named  "Milk Shake".

 The go for 2 hours up the mountain and back down. As you can see it was warmer on the way back.

 Sydney on the iPad one cool and rainy day. There is a game room that has wi-fi...some of the time! Sydney can't wait to wear this cool hoodie again...it's so cute! I'm ready for cool weather too.

You can rent bicycles rather than dragging your own which is great if you have limited 

space like we do. They have quite an assortment...I love this picture!

We had a great time and more pictures to share later!

Our School Days So Far

We always start school the Tuesday after Labor Day. By the time we get back from Colorado, unpack and settle in it just feels like we need a little more free time.  This summer was especially busy and we needed to chill and get organized before starting school.

It always amazes me how eager she is to get started and how well she adapts to the change in schedule. Me, not so much!  I don't have a problem getting up in the mornings but I do have a problem with getting moving! 

Sydney had a darling school desk that was a gift from my friend Tracey when we started homeschooling. She is so sweet and talented! Sydney treasures this desk and will be able to use it at least another year.  Tracey was my first mom friend when Sydney started school at TCA and it meant so much to me for Tracey to want to be a part of starting up our home school. 

 1st day of school 2012.

 Nosey Noel! Why do cats have to try out every surface in the house?

I hope everyone else is having good school days.

So Long Summer, Hello Fall!

...and I am so glad it's behind us even though we are still having highs in the 90s, cooler weather will get here sooner or later!

***CAUTION TONS OF PHOTOS***

So we had a busy and eventful summer just like everyone I know.  In June we started swim team for the 4th year...epic fail! Sydney hates it and I force her to do it and it's kind or torture for me as well. It was 106 degrees for our first swim meet and I was sick for 3 days after!  Practice is Tuesday through Friday from 3:30 to 5:30 (refer to temperature mentioned above) with meets on Monday.  In June we put my father in law in Hospice and he passed away on Father's Day so we only went to one swim meet plus the championship. I might add that was more than enough for me Next summer she will be doing dance or gymnastics...something we can both enjoy!

July brought Sydney's 12th birthday and Jam Camp number four!  Jam Camp is a music and drama camp our church puts on and it is superb!  It was the last week of July but we has rehearsals for her singing and speaking parts a few times a week for most of July. This is probably besides Christmas and her birthday Sydneys' favorite event of the year!

Early August, the day after Jam Camp ended we left for beautiful Colorado (Fun Valley). Ahh!  I can't say enough about this place! Temps in the 50s for this Texas gal were like heaven! We also squeezed in a trip to the American Girl store  and ice skating at the Dallas Galleria with bestie Taryn.

Fort Worth has a wonderful museum of Science and History and we frequently go with my bestie Jill and her 3 boys! The kiddos spent most of their time in this room creating. There were these amazing quotes hanging from the ceiling...museum pics were taken with my phone so they aren't the best.

We started school on September 4th and it is amazing this year. Sydney is in 6th grade and is actually reading on her grade level! She has worked so hard to achieve this goal over the past few years. Now we need to double down and see if we can get the same results in math and spelling! The funny thing is that my personal goal was to have her reading on grade level by middle school so it's big for both of us!

Homeschool Princess! Love the dress code! Glad you can't see what I was wearing!

Sydney has always wanted a locker so we found this at Ikea!

In the meanwhile I have had a little more face lift work done on my house and I will share those pics soon! I have to dig around and find before pics and they are all over the place. I will also do a separate post about our vacation!

How was your summer?

12

Last month on July 27th my baby girl turned 12!  I can't believe how much I love this girl! One more year and she will be a teenager...yikes!  She started off the day before her birthday with a mani-pedi from Granny.  We both have fun visiting with Mie (pronounced Mia).

On her birthday morning we celebrated by opening gifts from Mama and Daddy.  New sparkly Toms!

 I can barely get her to take them off.

A new flatscreen with dvd player!

 Rainbow Dash! One of her favorite of My Little Ponies!

Then on the 29th her birthday party! This was a great but quieter party! Most of her friends were either at camp, or on vacation. So we were missing the Lains, Annunziatos, Andersons, Doretys and Hollmans. We ended up with a sweet group of four. Even numbers are always good with girls! If you have girls you know what I mean. She had a My Little Pony cake 

She recieved many sweet and thoughtful gifts but her favorite was her American Girl "McKenna" doll from Nana, Pop, Mom and Dad! Nana also bought a few outfits too! In the next week or so Nana, Sydney and I are going to the American Girl store in Dallas for more fun! I hope that means I get to visit the Pottery Barn store at the Galleria!

Soon I will post vacation pics, Jam Camp pics, a mother/daughter cooking post and a few new additions to our house. 

I am really hoping to start blogging more often!  

TTYL!