Lately and Recently

Lately we've been...

"Are you talking to me?"

• driving a rental car more than our "new" van.
• learning about the presidents of the USA.
• dealing with temper tantrums from hell.  
• watching some of the best movies of all time.
• listening to birds, day and night.
• reading The Story.
• drinking too much coffee.
• keeping up with our New Year's resolutions.

Recently we've...

• gone to the dollar theater to see Happy Feet 2.
• celebrated Troy's 34th birthday!
• added reactive airway disease to Isaac's list.
• scheduled a wisdom tooth extraction for my almost birthday.
• sorted all our LEGOs.
• started noticing new leaves growing on the trees. 

I hope you've all been busy in a good way.  More to come later!

Resolutions

I asked Orry what his resolutions would be this year.  He asked what a resolution was.  Trying to keep it simple, I said that it was a goal that you would like to achieve or something that you would like to change about yourself or something that you think you can do better throughout the year.  Orry's resolution for the year is make everyone happy.  A lofty aspiration, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try.  He went on to say that he would like to make kids happy.  Maybe even have a parade that kids would enjoy and throw beads.  Sounds familiar...

I asked Isaac what his resolution was going to be.  I wasn't expecting much, to be honest.  From what I can gather, it has something to do with dinosaurs.  I'm imagining that he would like to visit more dinosaur museums and maybe go on a real dino dig.  Maybe that's just my resolution for him...

I asked Annie what her resolution was.  I got nothing.  Well, that's not true.  I got a goofy grin.

I asked Troy what he resolved to do this year.  He mentioned trying to get his kids' names right every time.  We both have a hard time calling each kid by his or her right name.  Just the other day, Troy called Annie "Telcia".  He would also like to eat less meat and dairy.  And there's more excercise and better communication with his siblings.

I asked myself what my resolutions would be for the year.  Here's what I've got.  I'm going to send out birthday cards and do my best to get them to people on time.  I'm going to make sure that Troy and I celebrate Valentine's Day and our anniversary with something special because we typically tend to not do anything on those days.  The big one for me is that I'm going to try to not buy new clothes this whole year.  Shoes, underwear, and socks are not included, but everything else is fair game.  Thrift stores and consignment, here we come!

I'm sure there will be more as we go through the year trying to be the best we can be.  And that's okay with me.  I'm really excited about having another great year.  Have you made a resolution this year?  Well, go on, let's hear it!

We Are Thankful

Weekend before last we had the pleasure of having my parents, Mamita Donna and Poppa Jeffery, come for a visit.  It should go without saying that we had a wonderful time, but I'm going to say it anyway.  We had a wonderful time!  We went to a craft show, watched a killer football game (Geaux Tigers #1!!!), ate tacos from a food truck, went to church, saw Cars 2, went for a swim at the hotel pool, and walked among the butterflies.  

But of all the fun things that we do with our family, my favorite has to be gathering around the table and enjoying a meal together.  This time around we enjoyed hamburgers with all the trimmings.  Child and grown-up alike feasted that night.  All were satisfied.  None went hungry.  

Yes, some of us eat in our underoos...

During this time of year we are encouraged to slow down and give thanks for all the things that we have.  What time of year is it, you ask?  Well, I know it can be confusing.  Halloween is right around the corner.  And while the stores already have their twinkling lights wrapped around tall fir trees with golden presents shining from under their branches, Thanksgiving, that wonderful time of year when we gather around a table with our family, is only 37 days away.  While we do have costumes and candy and cobwebs and pumpkins on our minds, we are also taking time to give thanks for the things we have.

Orry's school is currently collecting canned goods for the local food bank and we are taking this opportunity to really help the kids understand just how fortunate we are.  We talk about the privilege of having clean water and the responsibility we have not to waste it or take it for granted.  We talk about the fresh vegetables and fruits we eat everyday and how lucky we are to be able to access and afford such commodities.  We also talk about sharing what we have with others.

I confess that I am guilty of giving all of my "back of the pantry" goods away whenever I get the chance.  You know, all those cans of baked beans, cooked spinach, and mixed vegetables that seem to hide in the back behind the more desirable items.  But I got to thinking, Shouldn't I be giving things that I myself would want to receive if the shoe were on the other foot?  And so I sent Orry and Troy to the store with specific instructions.  #1: Choose $10 worth of non-perishable food items. #2: Make sure that you pick things that you enjoy and that you think a boy just like you might like to eat.  They came back with a variety of things, but I know that Orry must have remembered rule #2 because he was sure to bring back some mandarin oranges.  He really wanted to give "a boy just like you" some fresh apples, but we had to remember rule #1.  

Being thankful for the things we have is something that we can do all year round.  Giving to our local food bank is also something that we can do all year round.  Hopefully, in this coming year we will do more of both. So tell me, what are you thankful for?

Sending Our Love

My resolution this year was to write more handwritten letters.  I always get a giddy feeling when I receive handwritten letters and I wanted to pass that along.  After telling my idea to Troy, we decided to make it a family affair.  Every Sunday would be devoted to drawing pictures and writing letters that we would then send off to our friends and family.

Like many of my resolutions, I started with a bang and as the year has worn on my enthusiasm has fizzled.  But I am determined to keep this resolution alive.  So today I staged an intervention.  A card making intervention.

I gathered the supplies.  Card stock, glue sticks, paper scissors, a ruler, stickers, magazine cut outs, and crayons (to name a few).  And as a family we started creating some one of a kind cards to send out over the next few months.

There is a certain someone's birthday that is happening in a few days.  So for her, I made this one:

"We hope you have a "WHEEL-Y" happy birthday"

We are also expecting a new baby next month:

Annie made this one for you, little baby Boudreaux!

And we know a couple of kids that are having birthdays in October.  So the boys made these:

Two candles for a sweet little girl

And a special dinosaur joke for a handsome little man

Some undetermined, but still very special, person will get this gem:

Thinking of "mew"

Hopefully this activity will reignite that spark that we had only 8 months ago.  Hopefully we can finish mailing all our friends and family in the four short months that are left in this year.  Hopefully I can keep coming up witty phrases...  There are many more birthdays and holidays before the year is up!