Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 has been another whirlwind. I have been working, so I haven't gotten as much done at the house as I like, but I was thankfully able to finish the shopping, wrapping, and decorating (with the exception of the real tree).  I didn't get the real tree up this year, and I miss the smell, but I don't miss the clean up and I saved myself the set up time too. 

The kids did have a great time preparing for the season, they each got a special shopping trip with me so they could shop for one another.  They also "shopped" their rooms for extra special treasures, finding things to gift to each other and then wrapping them all themselves.  My favorite part this year though was Christmas Eve, after they had poured their milk for Santa and set out the cookies and carrots, they ran upstairs and all on their own before I had a chance to come and tuck them in, they started telling one another that they needed to say their prayers.  I eavesdropped a little and overheard them all thanking God for Jesus and his birthday, nature, their house, family etc. etc. etc.  It was so cute and the best gift I got this Christmas!

Christmas morning was full of excitement and there were some happy kids at our house.  We are blessed. 

Long Overdue

My library books aren't the only thing overdue theses days... Ok, once again it has been way to long since I have updated this blog.  Darn Facebook.  Haha. 

As ususal, we have been busy busy busy.  I feel like that is probably all I ever say on here anymore, but it's true.  School is going well and our after school activities are keeping us on our toes too.  This year we have volleyball (Quinn), Girls on the Run (Avery) she is training to run a 5K in a few weeks, and Kaleigh has started Daisies. Quinn is still in Cub Scouts and Mom and Dad are both participating in choir.  Hockey season has started back up and the kids have been enjoying going to games with Dad.  Whew. 

I have been toying with the idea lately of starting a photography business, and am very excited to make a career out of something I just LOVE to do.  Still in the really early stages, but I'm having alot of fun thinking about what I need to do to be successful with it.  With that I have been dragging my kids around to locations to try out different areas to shoot... and got some pretty good results I think.  I have sent some of them off to a pro lab, we'll see how they come back!

With the thoughts of doing more with my photography business, comes "busy"ness in my design world.  Got a call a couple weeks ago from one of the Interior Designers who has a shop in our town, and long story short, she hurt her arm and needed help getting her store together,  she knew me from being around town so much, and asked if I would help her out.  I agreed and have found myself working 45 hours a week and then a little seasonal job working for her on the weekends. I am also  priveledged to be able to take on some of her clients because she would like to go into partial retirement and wanted to know if I would take referrals.  Wow. 

Back to School 2011

Well we are back to school and back to getting up early (oh we are not morning people!), routines, and being busy busy busy! I can hardly believe it but Quinn is in 4th grade already, Avery in 3rd and Kaleigh a 1st grader! So crazy!!!

Quinn is in a new building this year and having to deal with lockers! He was a little nervous at first, but I think he is enjoying his new teacher and surroundings.  He pronounced to me yesterday morning that, "I am going to make some NEW friends today Mom!" I told him that would be great, as long as he pays attention to what he's supposed to be doing. :) He came home with all kinds of news about having to line up in a separate "boy" line because they have to line up in boy/girl lines in his new classroom.  His teacher is a BIG Michigan fan, so I heard all about that too, and how Quinn wants to be a safety this year, and how they only got 20 minutes of recess. 

Avery is the "big kid" at the old school now, and loving it.  She told me all about how she got to sit by the class guinea pet, and all about the other pet in the room "Frill" the bearded dragon.  She told me that she got to play with her sister at recess, and how she has to look at the person in front of her's head when she is walking in line, so that she doesn't run into them.  Must have been a "let's talk about our lines" kind of day yesterday...

Kaleigh didn't say much about her first day of first grade, she was HUNGRY when she got home though! She doesn't talk much if she's hungry. :) But she showed us all around at the Open House at school last night, and even introduced us to all of her teachers and the principal (even though we know all of them already).  I am hoping that she thrives this year, she loves to read and hoping she stays that way all year!

The week is almost over now, and we are full up with homework, Open Houses, Cub Scouts, Daisies, etc. etc. etc. I'm ready for Saturday!

Michigan Summer Vacation

We just got home from a week up north, first stop was a trip to Intermediate Lake with the McClelland Clan, a yearly tradition my inlaws have.  They rent a different cottage each year, somewhere in Northern Michigan and all of the grandkids (and their parents) come to enjoy a week at the lake.  This year we were in Bellaire, which I had never been to before (that I know of, my parents took us all over up north as a kid, maybe we were there).  It was a great place, water was (very) warm, and the town was charming.  We kayaked, fished, paddleboated, sat in the tube, painted rocks, colored, found a turtle, made a few trips to the little islands in the middle of the lake, sat around the fire, played games and cards, ate, ate and ate.  It was HOT, but at least we were at the lake, and could take a swim whenever we wanted to cool off.  I made a video with SOME of the pictures I took from the week... I take ALOT of pictures... :)

After 5 days with them, we headed to Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island. Scott and I love to stay on the island whenever we can find a way, but this year we were trying to stick to a budget, and I couldn't find any deals like I did last year so we settled on staying on the mainland and heading over for the day on Friday.  This worked out ok since I really wanted to make sure to take the kids to Fort Michilimackinac this year, as Quinn just finished studying all about the fur trade for school.  So Thursday we headed to the fort, the kids dressed as voyageurs and british militia, helped make a chocolate torte with one of the "french women" got to see the archeological dig, hear the cannons fire, watch the musket demonstration.  I think their favorite part though was the playground just outside the fort overlooking the bridge.  They got to "fire" a cannon and try and carry bales of fur, along with learn a song that they voyageurs would have sung.  After checking in to the hotel, unloading all of the bikes, we headed out for dinner and then to the waterpark that came free with the hotel.  They had a grand time, and Scott and I didn't have to get wet so it was a win win.

Here are the pictures from Michilimackinac put to the Fur Trade song that the kids just LOVE from a CD we got in Manistee a few years ago... that Michigan is a Super State song from the previous slideshow is from that CD too...

Friday morning it was up early and off to the island.  I LOVE Mackinac... I love the quiet, I love the balance between things to do in town and the quiet of the inside of the island.  I love that you are never really more than 4 miles from anything, but you can feel so secluded at the same time.  I love that you HAVE to excercise if you want to get anywhere, and it doesn't feel like excercise.  I love seeing things that most people who just go on the carriage tour and downtown don't see like the little flowers on the trails on the inside of the island, the cute little cottages, and magnificent BIG cottages.  There isn't too much that I don't like, other than the fact that I can't afford to go and stay for a week or a month.  To start our trip we were on the ferry that took us under the Mackinac Bridge.  Scott and I hadn't done that before, and it was free if you made the 9:30 boat, so away we went.  You get a really great perspective from going underneath of an amazing piece of engineering.  Once we got to the island and unloaded our bikes (SO much cheaper to bring your own if you can) we were off to pedal around the island.  We have done this many times, but the last time the kids were really little, and didn't really remember it, so we decided that's what we would do first.  We made all of the "traditional" stops along the way, but took our time and played in the water, skipped rocks, added to rock "towers".  We stopped for lunch on the backside of the island, and then stopped again for ice cream at British Landing at the Cannonball Drive-Inn.  Scott and Kaleigh were crusing right along, as she was on the tag-along behind his bike.  We didn't think she had the stamina to ride on her own, but come to find out she did, she did most of the pedaling around the island and Scott went along for the ride.  After the ride, we stopped to play at the Mackinac Public School playground, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day to just sit under the tree, watch the people and boats go by while the kids played.  The field behind the school was hosting the Festival of the Horse, so the girls took advantage of the pony rides and horse shows.  After playing we headed to the American Fur Trading store and onto the fort for more history and of course CANNONS! Quinn was loving the cannons. After the fort we ended up leaving our bikes and walking to the Grand Hotel the back way, past the stables and golf course.  Again, Scott and I had never been to the Grand, and Scott decided he really wanted to see it so we paid the admission fee and toured the grounds, sat on the porch, visited the Cupola and looked around the hotel.  It is an amazing place for sure.  I still prefer the decor of Mission Point (where we usually stay when we come to the island) but as an interior designer, I can certainly appreciate the beauty of the place.  The kids at this point were in need of food so we continued our walk to Mary's Bistro for some dinner.  YUM!  From dinner we walked back to our bikes and a rest at Marquette park before catching the Festival of the Horse carriage parade.  We then did a little window and souvenier shopping before heading to the south side of the island to play on the beach and wait for the sunset.  On the ferry ride home we got to see the bridge and island all lit up for the night, as we didn't leave until the second to last boat.  Such a wonderful trip and I can't wait to go back.  I will post pictures from the day on the island in a separate post... need to find a good song to go with that slide show...

The trip home on Saturday included a Mom and Joyce (Dad and Mark) adventure... They were all heading up to Horton's Bay for the week and since we were going to pass them on 75 we decided to meet up for a quick visit.  Mom and Joyce are famous for their adventures, and this was one of them.  We decided we would all meet at Hartwick Pines, and since we were coming from the north, we would get off in Frederic and head over the back way.  Well our GPS wanted to take us the REALLY back way, and lead us off onto a 2 track road of sand and weeds through the woods of Hartwick Pines State Park.  This would have been fine (other than Scott getting frustrated with me taking him on a wild goose chase) except for the fact that we were running on 1/8th of a tank of gas, and really we didn't have a clue as to where we were.  Quinn was SO worried that we were going to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with no gas and no way out of the woods.  All was well though, and that two track finally lead us to M-93 where we found our way to the entrance of the park and a visit with Grammy and Grampy before heading home.

Lake Day(s)

The last few Wednesdays we have been spending time with our friends at the lake.  The kids have a great time and it is a beautiful park.  All of us moms (and a couple of dads) get a chance to chat and relax since the kids are busy playing in the sand, or in the water or at the splash park.  It's been a really enjoyable mid-week break this summer, as the kids of course are already "bored" and when they are bored they make major messes that don't seem to get cleaned up. 

The Dog Days of Summer

It's about time to add a new post to this blog, seeing we have finished basketball, had a month or two more of winter, a month or so of spring, and now are well into the dog days of summer.  We had some field trips, said goodbye to a principal, said goodbye to 3rd, 2nd and Kindergarten and headed into summer.  That is the REALLY short version.  I am so wishing I would have written down some of the details of all of the events that have gone on since the time of the last post, but I didn't, you will have to friend me on Facebook if you haven't already and there lives the day to day goings on of the past few months.  But today is a new day, and I will write what we have been up to lately.  After finishing up school, and Vacation Bible School, we had a few days of real summer vacation and have been going to Lake Day with friends, sleeping in, and just plain being lazy.  It's getting old.  The kids have been complaining and arguing and pretty much driving me nuts (especially today... AHH!) But we have had fun too.  We have been swimming in Grammy and Grampy's pool, reading, and we spent time with Scott's family in Bay City for the 4th of July reunion.  Next week we are looking forward to going Up North with Grandma and Grandpa and then to my favorite place for a couple of days.  We couldn't swing it to find a way to stay on the island this year, but I'm looking forward to showing the kids (especially Q) the forts on and off the island.  I'm hoping Quinn remembers all his facts from his report he worked on in that period between basketball and this post. :)

Family Reunion 2011

Kaleigh at Lake Day

Mackinac 2010

Quinn and I at the One Room Schoolhouse

The info I hope Quinn remembers when we visit Mackinac...

Avery and Kaleigh Swimming at Grammy's

Quinn and his Lightning bug catch.

Well I hope to add more posts to the summer of 2011, hopefully I will get around to it before school starts back in the fall! If not, there's always facebook!

Upward!

We have been blessed to have all 3 of the kids be able to participate in Upwards basketball this winter. Today was the last of the practices for the season, and they all play their last games of the season this Saturday. It has been a really fun year, they have all made such improvements in their playing skills throughout the year, and it's been really fun to watch them all be part of a team.

Avery's team has worked really hard at getting to know one another, and running plays. She has really come out of her shell and is frequently disappointed if she doesn't get a chance to make more than 2 "shoots" as she calls them per game. Kaleigh is an excellent rebounder and does really well in the "guard" position, she's a scrapper when it comes to a loose ball too. Quinn has probably made the most improvement (really the girls just started, so there's nothing to compare to) but he played last year, and just kind of went along with things... this year he is understanding the game, and is especially good at defense and has come out of his
shell cheering on his team with MAJOR energy on the court, and not being afraid to go for the ball when it comes his way. It's been fun to see him be part of a team (one that is really good, and made up of mostly 4th graders). His coaches this year have been amazing, so caring and enthusiastic. This is probably what I like best about this program... everyone has Christ at the heart of things, and it's amazing to see everyone working to reflect Him. We will definitely miss their influence on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. They are the type of people that you want to be around with their positive energy, and reflection of Christ-like caring.

Saturday is the last of the games, and we will miss it. Although it will be nice to get a chance to sleep in again on a Saturday morning. :)



Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! Spent the day preparing for school parties, participating in school parties, and cleaning up after school parties.  After that it was a quick dinner, before heading off to basketball practice and then helping my valentine clean at church.  All in all, not very exciting, but it was spent with family so it was not so bad.

I am the room parent for Avery's class this year, so I spent most of my Valentine party time in her classroom.  We played Valentine Bingo, had ice cream sundaes, watched Charlie Brown's Valentine, handed out Valentines, played Charades,  and made some really cool bookmarks.  I got the idea from a fellow blogger (thanks Liz) and since I am an interior designer and all I just had to do it.  So cool, and the kids loved it.  I had gone in last week and taken pictures of all of the kids and they added them to their paint sample, along with some messages and designs from them.  Once they were done, I laminated them, and then they punched the heart shaped holes and strung the ribbon through.  They were all a little different, and it was fun (and easy) to do. 

I did get a chance to stop down to Quinn's

classroom (really just down the hall) and they were in the midst of some serious snack attacks.  My friends had put on a feast! All of the kids came home loaded down with Valentines and yummy treats.  Overall a pretty fun day!

Girls Day

Had some girl time today while Quinn and Dad worked on their Pinewood Derby cars for Cub Scouts. First, we headed out (after sleeping in a bit this morning) to Grammy and Grampy's to help them clean their house.  Well, I cleaned, the girls had fun playing piano, and reading some Junie B. Jones.  After that it was off to the grocery store, and to spend the $10 that Grampy gave them.  They decided on buying some Lunchables for themselves for lunch (better than McD's... sort of...) and some gum, they were so excited to get some change back and have a little money for their banks and pockets.  After lunch we headed back home to help Quinn and Dad load up the Christmas decorations that have been sitting in the family room in boxes for the last couple of weeks, then back again to Grammy and Grampy's to put the stuff up in the garage attic.  After doing that Quinn and Grampy got involved in a building project, this time it was a wooden bi-plane with a 2' wingspan.  Quinn was so excited to be the "designer" for the project.  He keeps thinking if he just adds a few batteries to it though that it will fly... mmmm.... need to work on your engineering a little Quinn. Haha, it is pretty cool though, where I'm going to put it is another story. While Quinn and Grampy were building the girls were busy again playing piano with Grammy and reading books.  Avery learned "Chopsticks" (sort of) and Kaleigh how to do C-G with all 5 fingers.  Once the building was complete it was back to drop Quinn off with Scott for more Pinewood Derby work, and the girls and I headed to the mall to look for some basketball shoes.  We didn't have any luck with that, but we decided to just take a walk around the mall.  I haven't been to the mall in ages, to just walk around anyway, and it was fun to just walk and browse without an agenda or time constraint.  As we were walking we passed the ear piercing place, Avery has been wanting to have her ears pierced for quite some time now, and so I told her I would call and ask her Dad.... he has NOT been wanting to have her ears pierced for quite some time :) but today he gave in, and said she could go ahead and do it if she (and I) would take on the responsibility of making sure they are taken care of.  I thought it would be a nice way to end the "girls day" we were having, and Avery wanted to tell Soph and Ella that her Dad finally said she could get them pierced.  Turns out Soph was planning on having hers done too, so we met up and they got them done at the same time.  Earring Buddies! Avery told Soph that she could go first... haha, a little nervous? Yep, but Soph was READY! They both did great, flinched a little, but NO tears and were chatting it up after their newly installed dolphin earrings were in their ears.  Fun girls day ended by going to watch some "Broomball" at church and some pizza for dinner. 

Lego Art and New Rooms

I dusted off the paint brushes today to make some artwork for Quinn's "new" room.  His "old" room was so tiny (really, that room isn't much bigger than a walk-in closet, that's what you get for an 1895 era house) and his Lego collection so "vast" that Scott and I decided to trade rooms with him yesterday.  Since he didn't really have much room to play, and Scott and I basically just have a bed in our room, it seemed to make sense.  So after getting everything moved, we realized he would need some artwork.  So today I dusted off my brushes and got to work on my Lego art.  His favorite characters are Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter.  Harry Potter is finished, hopefully it won't take me too long to finish the other ones.  Quinn and the girls tell me I am pretty good at art, and helped out some on the painting.  Quinn now wants to make sure I sign my name and that he will get to sign his name too. That will have to wait until tomorrow... for now it's up on the wall, with a spoon under the pillow and the jammies inside out (Quinn is hoping for a snow day tomorrow...don't think it's going to happen, but you never know).

2010 The Year in Pictures

Since I have been updating things, I noticed I went from 145 posts in 2006 down to 16 posts in 2010... catching up for 2011 I think will be my resolution (although I'm not big on resolutions). To start, I will make it two posts in one day by posting something that I intended to post in 2010... The Year in Pictures...  (thanks to Megan for the idea).

January:

New Years Eve 2010... even Lennie got to toast...

February:

Sledding with our buddies!

March:

The Red Carpet for March is Reading Night Festival

April:

Easter Eggs Avery Style

For Easter: A Grammy Sandwich

Frankenmuth Road Trip

Avery Photographing herself at Quinn's class play

May:

Greenfield Village Field Trip for Avery

Scavenger Hunt for Quinn's Birthday

Memorial Day

June:

Spencer and Quinn, FIELD DAY!

Last Co-op Graduation...

Last Day of School 2009-2010

July:

McClelland Family Reunion

Birthday Movie for Avery

Mackinac Island Trip for Scott and I

August:

Otsego Lake with the Woehlkes

Summerfest

Otsego Lake with the McClellands

September:

First Day of School 2010-2011

Kapnick Orchard

Kinderplatz at Harvest of the Arts

October:

Shocking Corn at Opas

Avery's Trip to the one room schoolhouse

Halloween Festivities

November:

Grammy's Birthday

Lilly's Birthday

Thanksgiving

December:

Advent by Candlelight

Kim's getting married!

Cub Scout Float and Christmas Parade Party

The Big Chill

Sunday School Program

Lilly's baptism

Kaleigh turns 6!

Merry Christmas and Congratulations to Melissa and Rich!