36 Years and Counting

I am 36 today.  

36 things I've found to be true about MY life after 30:  

1.  Working out simply doesn't work like it used to.

2.  A new gray hair sprouts everyday.

3. My body is lumpy in all the wrong areas with no signs of improvement.

4.  I have had an unexplainable pain in my left foot for the last year.

5.  I'm starting to like getting up early.

6.  The awkward transition of an empty nest.  Miles you need to drop out of school and come back to mommy!

7.  I would rather drink tea than anything else in the world.

8.  Sleeping with Karson is the perfect solution for a snoring husband.

9.  Being "successful" in a paid career (for me personally) isn't on the agenda for now.

10.  Learning to truly accept the person God designed you to be is paramount to your happiness.

11.  Spray tans are awesome (I don't look to orange in the picture above, do I?).

12.  I could go to a concert every weekend.  Matt and I saw Maroon 5 last Sunday.

13.  I have to have a bath every single night, or I can't unwind properly.

14.  I adore hearing Karson play the piano even though I am ZERO help with her studies of the art.

15.  Matt is my other half ~ everything I'm not.  I feel whole with him and am thankful for our 16 years together.

16.  Eating a Great American Donut is better than most things in life.

17.  I'll never drive a mini-van again.

17.  Isaac's smarter than me and better at ping pong.

18.  I am a terrible bowler even though I live with a Regional Bowling Championship coach.

19.  I will probably NEVER be pimple-free.

20.  My house will always be clean, not spotless, just clean.  Totally stealing this blogpost The Messy Debate (lots of good stuff in the comments section).

21.  My first set of preschoolers at GP are now 8th graders, I feel OLD.

22.   I like having bangs, not the blunt kind, but the longer, layered kind.

23.  I love school projects more than my kids do.

24.  I suffer with severe buyers remorse and am constantly taking stuff back.  In fact, I have a bag in my bedroom now that needs to go to the GAP.

25.  How in the world did I live without a SmartPhone for so long?

26. I could watch Pride and Prejudice once a week, it never gets old.

27.  Watching Survivor with my family is one of my favorite nights of the week which happens to be on Wednesday this round.

28. I can't ride roller coasters with my eyes open anymore.  My brain gets lost in the mix.

29.  I have strange hairs the grow out of my chin and jawline. BUT...

30.  I love plucking, popping and messing with things on my face.  **Maybe that's why I will never be pimple-free?

31.  I'm old enough to have a 5th grade child (this fall).  Weird.

32.  I need to get a mammogram soon but that requires having breasts.

33.  I will always have hand sanitizer with me ~ purse, car, let's get those hands clean.  Gas pumps, shopping carts, communal pens, ugh! I'm constantly pumping it on.

34.  I do not enjoy cooking, not sure if I ever will.

35.  I work with some amazing people at SKyPAC and am thankful for the new friendships formed there.  I've almost been working there for a year, whoa.

36.  So I didn't marry Tom Cruise "Maverick", and my teeth are yellower than I'd like. I'll never fit in my wedding dress again, and my skin is pretty wrinkled and spotty. My life is pretty great, no complaints.  I am a wife and mother.  I have an incredible extended family and a loving church family.  I have lots of great friends.  Relationships are all that really matter in life. I'm truly looking forward to the next 36 years =)!  Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Doodle 4 Google

Got this kids Google entries done in the nick of time.  I love encouraging and by that I mean forcing my children to participate in essay/art/poster/poetry contests of all sorts.  Karson actually likes participating, Isaac, not so much.  I let this particular contest slip up on us--the deadline is tomorrow.  I somehow missed the poster contest for Kentucky Department of Agriculture that Isaac won last year:  Isaac's Big Win.  I'm kind of surprised that the Department didn't at least send us some literature on it.  Odd.  Isaac is also participating in the Kentucky Young Writers Contest.  He has had little motivation to complete and illustrate his entry.  The child writes books all the time, but it's like pulling teeth to get him to participate in a contest which INVOLVES writing and being creative.

Karson recently received an invitation to apply for the 212º Academy, a new enrichment program for children in 5th and 6th grades through Warren County schools.  The kids will be transported to the Academic-Aquatic Center one day each week and spend the day learning about science, technology , engineering, arts and mathematics.  There will be specific themes the children learn each time which will involve investigating, creating, experimenting and building--lots of puzzles, lots of riddles, lots of math (ick!!! but right up Karson's alley).  She had to compose two essays, and the school selects samples of her work and her assessments.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll be accepted.  It's quite an opportunity, and one I feel she, of all children, should be afforded.  She is such a leader at school and works so hard.  Keep your fingers and toes crossed and say a little prayer for her this week.

Word FULL Wednesday

A lot of people do wordless Wednesday posts, but I thought I would change it up 

and do a WORD FULL Wednesday post. I'm crazy like that.

Just a little karaoke to brighten your day ~ Listen at your own risk!

 

Is it Spring YET?

Spring has sprung in our house.  I don't consider myself a decorator by any means but do love little seasonal touches here and there.  I don't have a lot of spring or Easter decor and wanted to change that this year. Hobby Lobby here I come! 

I found these wooden bunnies at Hobby
Lobby too.  Aren't they the cutest?  They
look perfect in our living room.

I found the cutest ceramic bunnies for our fireplace mantle.  They are decorative, yet subtle enough to not POP out like the colorful frog (right) I found for the kids bathroom.  Most spring things are bright and vibrant.  Although I like that look, it's not me and not a prominent look I want in my house (only in certain areas).

I have quite a few stuffed Easter animals that Miles loves playing with.  I also like to have all our Easter and spring stories available for reading. There used to be a cute gift shop on Lovers Lane--years ago-- that went out of business or relocated, I don't remember.  I got the glass rabbit (above right) there on clearance and wish I had purchased the other rabbits that went with it.  It's my favorite Easter decoration.

Karson made a spring wreath a few weeks ago which is now located on her bedroom door along with an entire roll of caution tape.  Makes for a nice look, don't you think?

No spring would be complete without a full-service Easter egg dying station.  I purchased a couple of kits on clearance last year which I wouldn't recommend because they are already cheap.  I noticed the capsules and paint didn't work as well as a new box would have (so make that note if you're an after-holiday clearance shopper such as myself). The kids didn't notice or seem to mind at all.  They were just excited to make a mess and have some fun.

Karson started double dipping and got incredibly creative with her designs.  Isaac loved fishing the eggs out and transferring them from dye cup to dye cup.

Miles monopolized the paint roller station and swirled on a rainbow of colors.

Our finished eggs turned out EGGcellent and add a nice touch to our dining room.  We may have a family hunt in our backyard with them.  My mom always has a huge church Easter egg hunt at her house--1,000+ eggs, gobs of candy and simply the highlight of our kids Easter.  I don't know that I've ever had a family hunt though so I may start that tradition this year.

In other news:  we've enjoyed the beautiful weather outside.  The kids have been invited to numerous birthday parties--one of which, Isaac got some silly string.  I ran to Dollar General to get a couple more cans for a silly string fight. It's amazing how much a $1 can of silly string can entertain even older children.  I believe next Wednesday is the official first day of spring.  We are looking forward to it!

Can I Write Another Evil King Book?

Those are words I NEVER thought I would hear from my six year old son, Miles, who during his preschool years could not stand to color, write or learn his alphabet.  He has come a long way since then.  He loves writing books to the point where I have to hide our computer paper because he goes through an entire ream so fast.  He authored the book below yesterday and wanted to write another one this morning.  However, we had to get some snow playtime in this morning before the 2nd book release.

It was a lovely sight waking up to winter wonderland and being able to run around throwing snowballs and making snow angels with my littlest angel.

"The Evol King" BOOK ONE (I'll interpret where necessary):

He was trying to kill him.

I wasn't sure what dic meant, and Miles explained that is was ditch.

Then dead.

(the evil king is put in jail)

 I love Miles's little books.  I have a storage space FULL of them.  I have no idea what has happened between preschool and kindergarten but feel I owe a whole lot to Miles's teacher Mr. Coleman. He has had such a fun year in his classroom.  He looks forward to school every day and always comes home smiling and excited.
-------

 This week was Read Across America with Dr. Seuss.  The kids had the option to dress up each day.  Miles was very excited about participating in the events.  When you are in kindergarten and DON'T participate, you're usually odd-man-out.  The kindergartners (and parents) are always WAY more excited about these events than the older "to cool for that" kids.  I didn't get a picture of all the days such as crazy sock day or PJ day but I did get the following shots:

Hat Day on Tuesday.

Wacky Wednesday attire.  I was surprised Isaac participated.  He rarely does anything on school dress-up days.  I guess his older sis and lil bro inspired his desire to dress-up.  Don't they look wacky? 

Speaking of wacky, Isaac and Jerry Deaton had breakfast together a lot this week.  I have to give Isaac a bowl of cereal and Jerry needs his own bowl too.  Jerry is super pumped about his birthday coming up on JUNE 1st.  It's all he talks about.  Isaac has authored his share of books and even has his own series books.  However, we have had quite a time trying to construct a story worthy of the "Young Writers Contest." This week's titles included "Detective" and "The Revenge of Ducky Momo."  Neither are competition-ready.

 While we are on the subject of competition, my daughter, the basketball beast, finished her season on Monday night.  Her team took second place in the tournament.  Karson has become quite a baller this season.  During the tournament, she was scoring 10+ points a game and usually got lots of rebounds, steals and fast breaks.  Prior to the final game, her team played against the Gold Irish.  Karson just knew the team would beat them since they beat them twice in the regular season.  They gave us a really good run and were actually up by one point in the 4th quarter.  When their team scored the basket (putting them ahead 1) with around a minute on the clock, Karson's face grew pale.  She had played SO hard that game and was watching it slip right through her hands.  Our team in-bounded the ball to Karson, and she was immediately double-teamed which is considered a technical in this league.   Karson went to the free throw line to shoot.  My knees were knocking and lips quivering.  She air-balled the first shot. NO!!!  I couldn't barely watch the second shot which SWISHED right in.  Hooray.  Karson had tied up the game.  We got possession of the ball but quickly lost it and the other team headed down the court when the whistle blew.  I was afraid they were going to call double-teaming on us and give them some free throws.  The referee made a walking call on their team.  We got the ball and headed down the court only for Karson to be double-teamed again.  They called a technical, and the coach put his daughter on the line.  Whew.  I was glad Karson was off the hook.  And, the coaches daughter is actually the better free throw shooter so it made sense.  His daughter hit the first one and missed the second one.  We ended up winning by one point.  It was a nail biter.  I love basketball and am glad Karson enjoys it so much.  She has improved a lot this year.  We are looking forward to next season although are welcoming a break from this one.  Look out Division III.

With her sports season ending, Karson decided to get her long hair chopped off on Wednesday.  She needed a new spring/summer do.  Karson has such thick hair and styling it takes some work.  Although I love it long, she loves it short.  It's her hair, her decision.  I encouraged her to wait 'til after her sports were over.  She's a beautiful child with either cut.  We picked her piano studies back up last week.  With her busy schedule of ball practice/games and academic team commitments, it was impossible for her/us to continue with piano after the winter season.  We found a new piano home, and Karson is with her third piano teacher.  She started at Plano, moved to Richpond Fine Arts and now is at Maggie's Music Studio.  She adores her new teacher.  She is the right fit for my daughter too.  I think we'll stay at this studio for a while.  Karson loves playing and has picked up the study of music so quickly.  I guess some kids are naturals at certain things.  I'm thankful for the talents God has given all of my children.  I &#9829 them so much!