It's Christmas Time!!!

I love Christmas, but I can't stand the weather.
I love finding the perfect gift and the anticipation of giving it.
I love the music that surrounds this season.
I love the fact that God lived a real human life and knows what we deal with from experience.
I love that my parents wisely taught us that Santa is a fairy tale, just like Cinderella and Jack-in-the-Beanstalk.
I love the memories of childhood Christmases that were filled with wonder, tradition, and surprise; with laughter and love.
I love my dad for what he's given to me.

A Gift of Love

This morning I was awakened by the sound of Hannah coming into our room cheerfully saying, "Breakfast is served!" She had lovingly prepared scrambled eggs and toast for us, along with juice and toppings for our toast.

Later when we went to Westwinds, Dave talked about the spiritual gift of serving, expressing it as "seeing value in the most simple things."

Hannah truly has this gift, along with a huge dose of compassion. She is one of the most compassionate people I know.

It's so cool to be able to see God's gift in her already and to watch her use that gift to make the world a better place. I know she made our day brighter with that sweet act first thing this morning!

Her act and Dave's talk reminded me that God's gifts are meant to be used, so this week I'm going to try to follow my daughter's example and bring some joy to others every day in "the most simple things."

Soccer Mania!

Okay, so last night Hannah came home elated because she scored THREE GOALS!!! Wow! She was still talking about it this morning as she was getting ready for school, saying, "Mom, as soon as the other team kicked off, I took the ball and weaved in and out and took it all the way to the goal!"

Yep, she's pretty geeked! :)

Soccer, Sickness, and Stan

Hannah's playing soccer right now...in the rain...at Northwest. They've had a terrific season so far and last weekend Hannah helped bring her team to victory with a penalty kicked that scored a goal! She has only two more games: one this Saturday and one this Sunday. Then we're done until spring...unless, of course, she decides to join indoor soccer.

In the meantime, she's also dancing three nights a week. Tuesday and Thursday is ballet and Wednesday is jazz.

Suz is trying to kick the flu bug that hit her. Dr. Million said it's the H1N1, and that she'll be feeling better sometime in the next millinium. She's been out of school all week, although Tuesday afternoon was feeling better. Then Wednesday morning it hit again with a vengeance. Not fun...not fun at all.

Stan is running here, there and everywhere, as usual. He's with Hannah at soccer presently, and then will be off to a middle school concert...either choir or band, but I can't remember which one. He's adjusting to his new life teaching seventh grade science. He says there are pros and cons, but he's glad he made the move.

Saturday...in the park...ok, well, not the park exactly...

This morning Hannah played a fantastic game of soccer and she helped tremendously to bring the team to victory!! She had some good saves while she played goalie and had some good goal attempts when she was playing up front.

On the way home she commented that she definitely doesn't like sitting out...and I thought how funny it is that our two girls are so different from each other!

September--School time!!

One week down and we've started our second one...everyone is happy! Hannah's first night of lots of homework was tonight, so that wasn't exactly the best thing ever, but overall she's pretty satisfied with her teachers and being in fifth grade. She will be going to Fifth Grade Camp soon and that is a very big deal for Western kids.

Stan's seventh graders are "very energetic and entertaining" according to him. He's adjusting well to the switch from high school and is especially glad that he has his own classroom again. His animals seem to be happy in their new home and he's almost done finding spots for all of his 27+ years' worth of paperwork.

Suzanne's new crop of first graders are great! It's pretty cool to be able to see how much of a difference it has made for kids to have had all-day-every-day kindergarten. Wow! What a difference! I still love it when kids tell me that they want to stay at school with me instead of go home! It's nice to feel like I'm fun to somebody!

Labor Day

Last night we had a great time at a picnic where we were able to hang out with lots of other families. Hannah played and played, Stan talked guy talk and I hung out with the girls. Then Colby and Alaina brought Breslin and Dharia and we got to have them for a while so Colby and Al could go out on a date!

After the picnic we brought the kids home and Breslin showed us his movie that has about 15 sight words...he knows them all! And he's not even three yet. What a kid! Uncle Stan is still one of his favorite people in the world. Little Dharia is such a crack-up. Her walk is hilarious and she often looks like a drunk as she attempts to steady herself. When Al and Colby came to get them we just hung out for a while. What a blessing to have such a great relationship with them. They're pretty wonderful.

So today is our last day to prepare for our new crop of kiddos! Stan will be in his first year of teaching middle school science...7th grade...and I'm still in first grade, hoping I never get out!

This is Hannah's last year in elementary school and we are hoping and praying for a very successful year with Mrs. Alderman and Mrs. Rice as her teachers.

It's almost time for school!

Getting ready for school! Stan's very excited to be moving to the middle school and teaching seventh grade science. He's been teaching high school biology and anatomy/physiology forever, so this will be a bit of a change for him, but I'm thinking he's going to love it!

Hannah has been practicing soccer twice a week and is constantly practicing her handstands. She's entering her last year of elementary school, so we have only eight more years until graduation! Wow! It's hard to believe!

I'm pretty excited about my first graders!! I have absolutely fallen in love with teaching first grade and can't wait for the first day of school. I'll have 23 students this year and about half of them are siblings of former students! Is that fun or what???

Here we go

Ok, maybe no one is interested in this, but maybe it's for my grandkids that I'm hoping to have one day (not in the near future, please).