"A Wink and a Smile"

Let me start off by saying that the only part of Halloween that I like is the dress up- take a picture part.  Is that horrible?  I don't really enjoy walking the neighborhood and knocking at strangers doors.  I don't even love the candy part.  Well maybe just the Reece's peanut butter cups.  I don't like the fact that my children will consume about 10+ pieces of candy in a sitting. I envision horrible results at the dentist.  I don't enjoy finding wrappers hidden in various parts of my house AFTER the whole treat part is done.  I don't like spending a lot on costumes, but I am proud when I can put together a costume on the cheap with some extra creativity.  I'm just hum-bug about the holiday. This year I had three of my girls going around the neighborhood.  My oldest (who did dress up) stayed home with about 10 other high school kids and gave out candy, had pizza/soda, chatted, and watched scary movies.  Daughter #2 went to another ne...

First of all, some little person in the house turned 6! And a particular 11 year old was just promoted from 5th to 6th grade. The ceremony was so well done. Way more memorable than what I had as a 5th grader. When I started this blog nearly 5 years ago, these two faces were practically babies. ((((SIGH)))

In early August 3 of my 5 girls participated in a kid's triathlon. The two older ones in the picture below participated last year, so this was TRI #2 for them! It was actually a really GOOD year for Miss {m} who placed 1st in the girls 10 year age group. This was a big improvement from last year when she had some troubles with transitions. This year ... she nailed that part of it. {k}, the 12.5 year old also placed 4th in the 13 year age group ... another improvement from last year. {b}, my just turned 8 year old did really well considering she biked and (partially) ran with her shoes NOT on in the back. I guess those no tie laces that we thought would help were too tight for her to get her feet in fast enough for her liking. I think it was halfway through her run that she decided she needed to really have her shoes on correctly. She placed 6th for her group. 350 participants ... MY GIRLS DID AWESOME! Just a few weeks ago we also came upon some bad news with our 17 month old ...

I know ... I've used this photo twice in the last month (At least this time I changed up the way the photo looks (thank you PW). So sorry. I just can't help it. I love this photo because this IS really my girl. She smiles a bit like me ... with all of her teeth. She squints her eyes ... a little like me. She gets a bit goofy with her pictures ... a little like me. My 3rd little girl is now 10! She is my true middle child ... a little like me. She's quiet She's quirky She's unique She's pretty She's chatty She's always thinking She's strong She's emotional She's a critter lover She's empathetic Happy 10th Birthday to my millennium baby!

Date: Easter Sunday Place: My kitchen Time: mid afternoon Problem: Lots of over ripe bananas, but in need of one extra egg to make bread. Solution: Ask a neighbor for the egg with the intention of giving away half the loaf after it is baked. Everything went as expected after the ingredients were all found. The banana bread was baked and it perfectly popped out of my stone loaf dish. While it was cooling, my 9 year old kept walking by sniffing the air and asking when she could have a piece. I wanted the bread to cool a little longer, so she (im) patiently waited. In the meantime, I did speak about how I would give some of the banana bread to the neighbor who helped out with the egg. It would be the nice thing to do. When the bread was cool enough, I sliced the tiniest sliver off of the end and put it on a napkin for the 9 year old. It was near to dinner time and I didn't want her appetite ruined for the dinner we were making. Just a few minutes later, that same child ask...

My family loves these simple treats ... Ingredients Bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug M&M's candy Instructions Heat the oven to 170F. Set a number of bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolates feel soft when touched with a wooden spoon. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M's candy into the center of each Kiss. Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place them in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes. Place handfuls of the candies in clear plastic bags and tie on colorful ribbons.

Just 1.5 years ago, this cute little girl was diagnosed with amblyopia . Her case was not an extreme one, but we did recognize it late. This explained some of the delays in her reading skills. Anyway, we were told with evening patching and glasses, that maybe in a few years there would be a possibility that she wouldn't need her glasses anymore. She did look awfully cute in those purple glasses. Even the eye patch was dressed up a bit for some humorous laughs. The pink glasses were fun too, but {m} much preferred the purple . Just this past month, she failed her 'in school' eye exam (with her current glasses). Assuming that her prescription was just not working any longer, I took her to the eye doctor for a more accurate exam. PROGNOSIS ... nearly perfect vision! She can forget those cute purple or pink glasses and just go with the au natural look. E V E N C U T E R !!!!!!! *Just a little funny ... On the way out of the eye doctor, {m} put her glasses back on ...

So far it is starting off WELL ... Really great weekend with sunny skies, a longest run, pumpkin carving, trick or treating, Feast of All Saints (beautiful mass and my mom's b-day), and yard cleanup. I love when I can create a list and actually accomplish it. My girls had a blast and were so cute to look at. Little {c} was so excited this year. She loudly spoke "trick or treat" at each house and concluded with a very thankful "THANK YOU!" after receiving her candy. I wish I would have dragged around my video camera. My FLAPPER ... My WITCH ... and my ANGEL ... Today is the Feast of All Souls . I'm not sure I could explain it any better than Karen . Go visit her blog if you can!

I'm taking a few minutes to update the blog while eating my shredded wheat and rice milk ... sounds yummy, eh? I just got three little girls off to school while the other 2 are waiting on me to start their day. Homeschooling is getting a little better. This school year had a shaky start, but we seem to be settling into a groove now. I put on my running shoes the other day for the first time in a few weeks. We've had so much rain and mostly that was my excuse for not running. Yesterday I had a pretty good run while listening to "A Wrinkle in Time" on my iPod. I find that stories and podcasts are much more stimulating to me than music while I run. I always get bored with playlists and after a few songs, I feel like I am watching the clock. It has also helped to have some sunshine ;) Swim team is starting to get busier. We just had our first meet 1.5 weeks ago and we will have one this weekend. The girls did great at the first one ... really cutting their times from the...

I know that I have complained a little about the oh so unattractive still photos that the schools or sports teams "encourage". Well, this year for team photo day, I just grabbed my girls and said ... "SMILE!" I think this may be cuter ... and then I can even play around with it ... This was still cute from last year, but now I saved some $$ ... *HT and much thanks to SARAH for showing me how to make my pictures BIGGER!!!!!

Since I haven't shared my orthodontia update (I know you've been curious ... lol) in a while ... I'm ALMOST DONE. Yesterday I visited the orthodontist ... removal of wires, x-rays, moving of some brackets, and new wires put on. In 4 more weeks I will head back and hopefully at that time I will get some REMOVAL NEWS. I've been promised that I will not be wearing braces by Thanksgiving. That's a good thing because I will be going to my HS reunion back home and I do not want braces for that. It's a good thing we will be driving to that reunion because with all that metal and screws in my head, alarms might sound if I were flying ... I can't wait to smile in photos with TEETH SHOWING. I know that I am physically capable of showing *the cheese*, but I'm vain and choose to look all serious. OTHER GREAT NEWS for daughter #3. She got her braces off! The gums look a little swollen in these pics, but they will go down soon. They even sent her home with ba...

When this mommy starts talking about s w i m m i n g ... A LOT! Short course swim season ended back in February (races that take place in a 25Yard pool). The girls still practiced nearly 4x a week (little ones ... 2-3x) We did have a few "fun" meets THEN ... LONG COURSE season started (races that take place in a 50Meter pool). We've had a few of those meets. The month of May has been quite nutty, but it will slow down just a little until mid-June. The girls have been doing AWESOME ... dropping big time from their times last summer. This MAMA is quite proud! The newest girl to make STATE CUTS for the long course season is my "just turned 9 year old" in the 10/U 100 and 200M freestyle . She is only 2 tenths away in her 50M free ... she'll get it. She seems to have a little bit of the hunger that daughter #2 has. They have very similar builds and stroke styles. It's really very interesting to watch. CONGRATS to {m} ...