Crayon Art: The Koi Pond

I just posted an art project the boys and I did. It's called Crayon Art and its super easy and fun to do. You can read about all that here. Each crayon chunk was an art piece to me. So I portrayed them as such. Today's featured Crayon Art is The Koi Pond. In Phase II of the project, this piece reminded me of a bright orange koi fish at the surface of the water looking up. It's orange glow stands out from the dark water. Other koi are portrayed but...

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Crayon Art

For some time now I've been saving broken crayons. The boys love to color but they also love to pretend the crayons are swords. So I have been keeping a collection of broken crayons simply because I can't bear to see them go to waste. Well today I was tired of seeing the box of dead crayons and I decided to do some art with them. I'm a huge nerd so I thought it would be okay to figure it out. But I wouldn't do it on my own of course. Caden and...

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Holiday!

Guess who has time to deep clean the apartment!  This girl!  Yay!  I've been on Christmas Break all week and I've been sOoOo HaPpY!!!  I love having time to do deep cleaning in my home.  It's so therapeautic.  But not only do I have time to deep clean, I have time to rearrange my furniture!  Because my apartment is so tiny, I have to make good use of the little space I have.  My living room is also my...

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The Joy of Art

ColorsAll shadesHappinessWaxy happinessGigglingFunny facesAccomplishment Look what I did!RobotsPenguinsSnowmanMeAnything I wantAll colorsHappinessFree ...

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The Mind Changer

Leaving our apartment at sunrise, the boys didn't want to go to school. "Caden, it's a beautiful morning. You're going to have fun. " "No it's not. It's cold." "But look at the sky!" He stops and looks. His frown disappears. His eyes widen. "Mommy. It's beautiful!" "Isn't it? I think you're going to have fun today." "Yeah." ...

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Kids

A poem I wrote a while ago. Enjoy! Little socks Little shoes Little underwear Giant squeals of laughter Toys are everywhere Snacks are needed Thirsty too The dog is wanting out Dishes sit unwashed And the TV's just too loud Crayons rubbed Onto the walls The juice is on the floor Someone bumped his head And the dog is at the door Ice pack healing Pick up toys Where did Caden go? Wipe the spills, erase the purple Follow Cheerios Sean hugging "...

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Featured Poem- The Invitation

I want to share this because it is beautiful. The Invitation by Oriah It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dream for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon... I want to know if you...

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Peace

I am where I am meant to be. And I am at peace with that. Sometimes I get frustrated that I don't have more time, more money, more skills, etc. and every once in a while, like tonight, I stop and remember that God has me. He has never let me go, even when I wonder if He has. I am where I am meant to be. And I am at peace with that. Sometimes it feels as if I were in a tornado with everything moving so fast I feel as if I might get thrown in the...

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Weird Sky Day

Today was cold and gloomy. The sky had a weird darkness to it. But even then, I thought the sky looked really cool. It reminded me of one of those Tim Burton movies....

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Thursday Sunrise

I love driving to work in the morning. Today, my kids sang "The Ants Go Marching" as the sun rose.Sean laughed as he sang the wrong wordsand Caden got mad at him.  When we got to Sean's daycare, we all sat in the car and gazed out the windshield.Caden said,"Mom, it looks like the sky blew up!"And it did.The sky exploded with the sun's beauty,sending the clouds sailing over us.An announcement that the day is startin...

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If you're happy and you know it

Clap your hands! Of the three ferrets, Squish is Caden's favorite.  She was neglected when I got her.  Skinny (you could see hip bones even) and with a bald tail (sign of stress), she was never really outgoing.  While my male, Sammy, was always the happy-go-lucky crazy ferret, Squish has always been more mellow and happy to just cuddle.  Last night Caden and Squish were just too cute.  They were both in my tiny kitchen...

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Sunrises

You are my sunshine.My only sunshine.You make me happywhen skies are gray! Sunrises here are incredible.  I try to catch them every morning. This was above a basebally field by Sean's daycare. A friend of mine said, "That sky is either really coolor really scary."I think it's really cool.  :) Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like...

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Monday

It started off a little rough. I didn't want to wake up. Sean didn't want to get dressed. Bruce didn't want to go in his crate. Caden didn't want anything I offered for a snack to pack. So he got carrots. Then he forgot his backpack. The boys fought in the car because Sean said,"I didn't forget MY backpack."Caden said, "You don't even need one because you don't go to kinder!"I gave Sean a huge hug and kiss when we got to his daycare class. He and...

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Got a kid who has lots of questions??

$14.99 HardcoverFor ages 4 and up Usborne Books & More. Questions and Answ...

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Birthdays and Brothers

Sean's birthday is coming! He will be four.  I can't believe it. While talking about a birthday party, Caden expressed concern. "Why can't I have a birthday?" "I want to have presents too." "I can't eat cake because I'm allergic to milk, remember?" "I'll never have a birthday." "If he has a party, I'll be sad."   Sean said, "Caden, you have a birthday too!  And we'll have a party!" "Caden, you can have one of MY presents." "Mommy...

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Simple Fun

Today we babysat my niece!  The boys are always looking for entertainment.  So I wanted to be prepared. I brought balloons. We blew up a bunch of them. White.  Blue.  Purple.  Pink.  Yellow. They ran around as we threw them in the air. Little balls of air. Big balls of air. Happy kids. Allie got a kick out of all of them! Caden drew faces on some of them.  LOL some of the faces looked funny. I...

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You are my sunshine

I woke up this morning to Sean's smiling face. "I love you Mommy!" It's the best way to wake up. He started singing the song You Are My Sunshine but he always says "shunshine" instead of sunshine. :) I love it. Then Caden had a smile on his face. "You make me happy when skies are gray." He still had his eyes closed. I love my kids. I love being a mother....

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Hugs make me fly

Today was a great day. I spent all morning on a project with my coworkers. Then, we had to evacuate the building because the fire alarm went off! Lol it turns out there was a couch on fire. Don't ask. The crew and I all went to lunch at this really awesome pizza joint. You know the kind of pizza that could give you a heart attack? Yes that kind. The pizza was delicious. After work I went to the daycare to pick up Sean. He ran to me squealing, "Mommy...

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Mommy Sells Books Now

In Kindergarten, 100% of the children are reading.  Parents are excited and involved in their children's progress in developing learning skills.  I get super excited when I catch Caden trying to put the letters together to make a word.  We read one book when we get home from work and school and right before I start making dinner.  Then we read another one before bed.  This is normal, healthy parent-child activity.  Most...

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Sigh... they're growing...

The boys and I spent the weekend at my brother Jerry's house with his wonderful wife and kids.  Today, Jerry showed the boys how to mow the lawn!  They were so excited to push that great big lawn mower.  Sean was so happy when Jerry announced they were all going to cut the grass that he was the first to run to him. It will never cease to amaze me how fast time flies.  This year has certainly sped like crazy.  I need to blog...

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Cheap Fun

Yesterday was awesome. The boys and I were outside from 0930-1230. We played with silly string, bubbles, and wrote on our patio floor and out apartment fence (shhh, don't tell) with sidewalk chalk. After a good crockpot chicken lunch, the boys were ready for more outdoor fun. But it was HOT out. Soooo... What's a mom to do? A few weeks ago I bought a couple of jump ropes for the kids. I didn't realize til I unraveled them that they were the super...

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Leaving Again

A couple of weeks ago I left my boys for a one-week TDY to Virginia to attend a Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership retreat.  The week prior was crammed with crazy deadlines, on-the-spot demands and late nights.  Not to mention, handing off all my work to my second in command so he could successfully manage the shop.  It wasn’t until 2 am the Sunday of my departure that my anxiety about leaving kicked in. I hadn’t slept.  I spent...

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Capoeira

"Oh cool, I should do that one day." "Hmm, maybe I should look into that." "I gotta try that!" Have you ever noticed how many times you say you're going to try something but never do it?  You're involved in a cool conversation and you find yourself thinking "Wow, I wanna do that."  But you walk away from the discussion already deciding that you'll probably never do it.  It's just something nice to think about.  You make up...

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