My Celebrity Morph

Morphs totally creep me out, but here goes . . .

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Oooh, another picture does a cool morph to Salma Hayek. Okay!

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K's got a little Halle Berry going . . .



M's got a little George Clooney going . . .



Hmmm, and both with a touch of Kutcher!

Okay, hubby time . . .

Yum, Tiger!

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Wait, wait, this one is better . . .

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It's Election Day!

As we get more and more involved with the community, we get more involved with local politics. Yes, we're voting today. It's a beautiful constitutional right and privilege. We're also keeping a close eye on national politics. Here's an article that says Hillary Clinton is leading the polls one year from election day 2008.

As one of my good online colleagues says, " I think it's interesting that we had four years of George H.W. Bush, eight years of Bill Clinton, eight years of George W. Bush, and now Hillary's vying for a shot at four to eight years in the WH. That adds up to 20 years (so far) of a Bush or Clinton WH, with a possible four to eight additional years of a Cllinton again to make it 28 years of just two families ruling the WH.

Does anyone else see this as, um, interesting?"

To that I say, UGH.

Nerds

So, I'm looking at our list of reserved books at the library (we're big time patrons) and I ask, "Is 'Ticket Trouble' a Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew book?" K responds excitedly, "Yes, the Nancy Drew books always use alliteration in the titles."



She's seven. Nerd.

November Violin Recital

So here's the video from our little virtuoso. She did a wonderful job and looks so elegant. She picked the right instrument!

Thanks to Daddy for getting the video to load!! Here are some pictures from the recital as well. Thanks for all the fun calls from family and friends wishing her well on her recital--she loves it!! She got a bit teary-eyed when she looked around afterward and asked, "Did anyone we know come?" and we told her no, but we've also told her we're so glad to be here and we're so proud of her! What a nice recital!! Our teacher is great and so nice and makes it so fun and enjoyable!! Suzuki violin is really great!

Getting ready and tuning up the instrument

Before the recital

Heh, we're all looking at Daddy and not the camera. :P

Playing with her accompanist

Playing "Oh Come Little Children"

So graceful!

Bowing and thanking her accompanist--our teacher's mom who has been doing this for 32 years!

Such a good experience! She doesn't even get nervous and enjoys playing for people as much as possible (even makes the comment, "Too bad I couldn't play more songs!"). She really loves to play and is grateful for the opportunity to learn violin!!

Here are all the kids from the recital and the teacher, too! We do group lessons together 2x/month and it's a lot of fun!

Homeschool Fall Festival

We feel it's very important to have a good social network as part of homeschooling. We LOVE our homeschool group!! We have SUCH a great group of wonderful families!!

Our Homeschool Fall Festival! SO much fun!! Great fall day! About 30 people (quite a few couldn't make it):

Tractor Hay Rides!

Frosting cookies!

Allan got to have some fun driving the tractor, too. And M is racing him!

Random Stuff

The spacer (torture device?) is out! Here it is a couple of days before the orthodontic appointment:

Here are the kids with their Halloween Treats from Amy the Great!

I go upstairs to change and check on everyone. M's asleep and K and Daddy are in the hall each reading books--how cute are they?!

Here are the kids playing violin in their jammies (M loves to pretend that various things are violins--like toy guitars and rulers for bows):

What's under the carpet and why we're not refinishing the floors:

Working on said floors:

Twisted Ankle

A couple of days of resting and she's back on her feet and running around!

Fall Back!

Remember to set your clocks back tonight and be careful!

Ironic

Parked right in front of Den's house:

A million pounds of beef recalled in PA

Yuck. We're not vegetarian or anything (though there are days we're so inclined), but we've made the move from ground beef to ground turkey LONG ago. For medical reasons, we've gotten away from beef and it's helped significantly. But the more I read about this kind of thing, the more relieved I am to not even chance it. Too much crap (no pun intended) in beef. Too many recalls. E. Coli is disgusting. Blech.

A Million Pounds of Beef Recalled in PA

And some people think we're crazy for eating raw fish. Have you ever heard of a raw fish recall? Nope. Mmmmmm, I could go for some sushi . . . :P

Lovey's Skatepark

So, the Rats have got us into skateboarding--we're even checking out books about it from the library. Using one of those books, M has set up a skatepark for his teddy bear in the kids' room!

Here's a ramp:

The pillows are more track. See the teddy bear on the skateboard (top of a rubbermaid box) doing tricks?

Carefully studying the book to make sure he gets the trick just right:

The skateboarding book:

Running Jump Hugs!

This is typical. Pretty much every day. Always has been. The camera, low on batteries while filming, kept cutting out, so it's in 4 segments.

Something GOOD about Depression

Did you know that some people believe that depression is simply being realistic? I've heard that in studies, depressed people have a much more accurate and honest view of their lives and the lives of those around them than do people who call themselves "optimistic." Isn't that fascinating?!

Emotional Security

We teach our children again and again things I wish I had known when I was younger, things I've learned working as a therapist, things that save a lot of heartache, things that help us be stronger, and things, quite frankly, everyone should learn in Kindergarten (you know, along with waiting in line, taking turns, and our ABCs).

So, we're walking out the door to go to violin lesson. As I'm locking up, apparently a couple of neighborhood kids playing in the yard try to block our kids from getting to the van (we live in a townhouse development so it's pretty much communal land, but they are, technically, in OUR yard). I don't really notice any of this as I'm locking up and getting stuff together, but the kids fill me in.

Cute, but rather intrusive, little girl who's constantly asking us questions (in a whiny voice, no less) when she sees us:
Where are you going?

K: To violin lessons

Whiny Girl (putting out arms to block our kids): Well, don't go in OUR yard! (remember, this is in our yard).

K: Well, this is our yard. (Walking around girl thinking, "She's not going to stop us").

Whiny Girl's brother: He can't play violin (referring to M).

K: Yes he can. It's a special kind of violin that any age can play (Suzuki).

WG's brother: No, he can't.

K (shrugging): You can think what you want.

I ask the kids if what the neighborhood kids said bothers them. They both shrug and say, "No, they can think what they want. It doesn't bother me. We know what they're saying isn't true."

I am SO proud of them!! No whining (they haven't ever been whiners, thankfully), no self-pity, no woe-is-meing, no buying into other people's junk, no feelings of hurt or self doubt. UTTER self confidence and assurance. I am SO grateful that what we try so hard to teach (I'm sure that we sometimes drone on and on ) and exemplify (we're not perfect and we're always working on this stuff) is making sense!!

Yes, sometimes people make hurtful statements and they're trying to be mean and rude and that stinks. But in general, BE OPEN. Consider what people say. If someone says something and it has some merit or validity, consider it (say someone says you micro-manage--think about it, do you? No need to take offense. Great! Something to notice and work on! Kudos on the self awareness). If someone says something that isn't true ("You're stupid"), consider it, recognize that it's not true, challenge it, and shrug it off ("Am I? I don't think I am. I mean, I read and write well, I can cook, I have good friends, I am organized, I like myself . . . nope, I'm not stupid. {Shrug}.") And be done giving your energy to the nonsense of others. It's not worth it.