Friday Wrap-Up ~ So Blessed!

On My Mind ~ 2012 was filled with so many blessings. It almost feels like too much. I am not used to things going as smoothly as they did (of course, there were all kinds of hiccups). We start off 2013 with a fresh, new, SAFE neighborhood, new to us minivan, loving relatives, strong marriage and children that are growing healthier and stronger each day. Yet, I feel like a dark cloud is just over the horizon.  Perhaps it is just that I have been so abundantly blessed recently that it doesn't feel fair. Maybe it is because our friends and family are taking to their beds with this flu epidemic, or the horrors of the final days of 2012 committed upon our nation's children, or the realization of some big financial expenditures still looming in our immediate future. I must stay in the present and just enjoy the blessings that we are experiencing. We will be cared for ... All shall be well!

Out of the Home Classes ~ We are rewarding the children for all of their hard work during the move by allowing them to take an extra dance class for the spring semester.  Tom Sawyer is taking Ballet 2, in addition to his usual boy theater/dance class. He is excited about it and likes the teacher, even though he thinks bar work is boring. Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood are doing well in the same class together. She is helping him catch up on different moves at home. The girls are adding an aerial arts class to their dance schedule. We will be skipping choir this spring.

One Word ~ In years past we have picked a word to focus on for the year. This year it is two words ~ DO LESS. This is going to be a huge struggle for me. However, I think much of the friction in our family is due to constantly rushing and trying to jump through too many hoops. Sometimes everything seems like a priority. This year I am looking at the master list each night and picking the five most important things for the next day (beyond meals, love and chores). If I get through those five things and there still is time left, I can look at the master list and pick something else to do. Otherwise, JUST 5 THINGS!

Goldilocks Is 12 ~ How did this girl of mine get to be 12?! She enjoyed her birthday. I think she loved best getting a new bike and going out for a manicure. (She picked a very bright blue nail polish!) We also went to the local ceramic painting place and she painted a dog dish for our dog, Lady. I'm looking forward to seeing the final project when it is fired in the kiln.

Material Blessings ~ This next section is for the out-of-town relatives who want to see what is being done in our new home. Here is the library (living room) that is on the main floor. The room is 90% done. 

If you look carefully in the top picture, you can see where there used to be a doorway to Tim's room. It is now a wall that gave us all more space for books!!

The next room is the family room in the basement. This room has a new vinyl plank floor (called Allure) and hearth for the wood burning stove. We will need to replace the stove/piping or change to a propane stove, since the piping failed the chimney sweep inspection. We still have to move things back into the house from the car port, so ignore the mess outside of the windows. We found the huge sofa at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for a sweet deal.

Then there is our new to us Honda Odyssey minivan! After about five months of getting by with only one vehicle which didn't fit our whole family ... this is a dream come true! We named her Bluebell.

Plans ~ We kick off school next week. In the next few weeks, we are planning on doing unit studies about the artist, Henri Matisse; Laura Ingalls' The Long Winter; and the great scientist, George Washington Carver. It should be lots of fun. I also added a fun list of ideas for the month on our morning board.

The list is as follows ~

• Celebrate the end of the quarter at Chuck E. Cheese
• Read The Long Winter and do projects
• Celebrate our 100th day of school
• Play Truth or Dare with new foods
• Have a poetry tea
• Have a hot chocolate bar
• Learn about Henri Matisse
• Have a double feature movie night
• Perform 26 acts of kindness in remembrance of Newtown, Connecticut
• Make gingerbread cookies for Dr. Martin Luther King Day (this is a tradition)
• Start an ant farm
• Have a spelling bee with prizes

Blessings, Dawn