A Lifetime of Love

I haven't posted in a while because the busyness of the holidays took over. Well, that's not exactly true. The boys did their Sandy Hook fundraiser that ended up being a huge hit! Someone notified the newspaper about it and that sparked more interest, resulting in them baking, cutting snowflakes, and me shopping for supplies. The final tally was 5 dozen banana-chocolate chip muffins, 12 loaves of Amish Friendship bread, 3 dozen cookies, and over 100 paper snowflake ornaments. They collected a total of $241.02 and mailed a cashier's check (donated to them by Family Trust Credit Union) on New Year's Day. They enjoyed every minute of their efforts, and I am so proud of them! Since then, we are back into the routine of school and such. I was able to get caught up on paperwork and am researching options for next year. I am considering doing year-round school simply to afford us more breaks throughout the year instead of all during the summer. The breaks would give the boys...

My children, particularly Thomas & Tanner, were deeply saddened by the events that transpired in Connecticut. They really wanted to do something for the families of the children who were killed...so they did. Monday we forwent our original school lessons for the week, and instead the boys set about baking banana-chocolate chip muffins, cutting out paper snowflakes, creating flyers describing their cause, and packaging up goodies to distribute at various places in town. I also sent out an email to church friends and posted about their plan on Facebook. The response has been overwhelming! They sold dozens of muffins, ornaments, & loaves of Amish Friendship Bread. Between Monday and Wednesday, they raised over $100! They are overjoyed and I am extremely proud of them. They have displayed many godly character traits such as compassion, kindness, selflessness, and worked together to accomplish their goal. Although this wasn't in our schedule for school, they learned far more...

Teagan had her 4 year well-check the other day. She was all smiles (as usual) when we got there and even after we got back into the exam room. But once the exam was over and she realized she would be getting 4 immunizations, fear set in quickly! She hid on the floor behind the stroller in hopes of avoiding the inevitable. I felt terrible for her, but as I attempted to reason with her, it was for her health and protection that she get them. I had to hold her down and I hated every second of it just as much as she did! Afterwards we went to Krispy Kreme to enjoy a donut fresh off the line. That helped make it better! :)

Tristin-Grace came home from school just now excited to show me what was in her bag. I unzipped it and found a "Difference Maker" t-shirt that she received from her teacher. Her teacher said that she makes a difference because every morning she walks another girl to class. This has been going on since the beginning of the year when the girl was crying because she didn't want to walk in alone. Tristin-Grace offered to walk in with her, and they have been doing it ever since. Her teacher also said that Tristin-Grace is good about cleaning up her work space and helping others tidy up theirs. That is really no surprise to me as she loves to organize things! I am one proud momma!

Today is Tristin-Grace's birthday. I am so thankful for her as she is such a mini-mommy. Tristin-Grace likes to take Annie potty, brush her hair, and help her get dressed. She really enjoys helping me take care of Taryn by changing her diaper, dressing, feeding, and playing with her while I am busy doing other things. This year TG has learned to fix her own hair (a time-saver for me!) and we are working on braiding. Tristin-Grace has also started helping me more with laundry, cooking, and cleaning. She has learned to sort the clothes by color, and she can make her own cereal or oatmeal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. Tristin-Grace LOVES to clean, and really doesn't mind cleaning the toilets or washing dishes. The tougher the job, the happier she is! Since school has started, she has started to read better and it's been fun to listen to her read to her younger siblings (and sometimes Tanner). Tristin-Grace loves homework and on the days she doesn't have any, ...

Today the kids and I visited a local apple orchard. We had never actually been there before although we've lived here for more than 9 years. We had so much fun! It was the perfect length (just over an hour) to keep anyone from growing bored after doing an activity for too long. I do hope to go back again when TJ is able join us, perhaps next year.