Presents, cousins and knits!

I hope everyone had a Happy Holiday! The Manor is currently in the holiday vacation haze. What day is it, did Daryl have an appointment today, is it trash day? The boys have had so many consecutive days of opening presents that Alex was a little disappointing when it stopped. Maybe being a part of a split family isn't so bad! LOL

They had Christmas Eve day with Dad
Came home Christmas Eve and had Christmas Morning with Mom
Dad picked them up for Christmas Day with the Meerpohls
Then we had Christmas with the Stiles on the 27th! Whew!

Here, Alex got Battleship and some Star Wars Legos from Santa. Daryl got a Basketball and Football from Santa. I got Daryl a Guitar and Alex a mountain bike! For books Daryl got a North American Animal Guide, (It's so cool!), Alex got two Dog Man books. They liked all of their gifts and I only mention them here because this is the kind of thing I forget from year to year. And, this blog is our family scrapbook ;-)

Our Brown cousins came on the 25th and Stiles cousins got here on the 26th. From then on out I didn't really see my children, they were hanging out in the basement! It is so fun to have them all together. They all fight over Clara's attention and wrestling is the main event. I wish they all lived closer, but them being so far apart does make their time together special. We went bowling for Henry and Charlie's birthday and all the kids did better than I did!

2018 Holiday was a success!

Alex loves games, this one is perfect because he
can't speed through it.

If you are going to be a cowboy, you need
to learn to play the guitar! 

The kids cave! 

For the second year in a row Clara was the only one to get a knit
gift. I didn't have enough yarn to make it as long as the pattern called for but
the dress turned out great! 

Cousin picture! Only missing Canyon. 

I did it once...Can I keep doing it?

So I'm tossing around this idea. No electronics from 5pm to bedtime. Anyone who knows me knows that my phone is always close by. I might be addicted to it, I might be bored, who really knows.

Here is the unsettling thing, the boys and I look the same at night. We are all looking at a phone or a kindle, sitting in the living room. I admit it, I'm a mom that has no screen time limit. When they aren't on screen time they are on SCREAM time and I get tired of it. I want to do better, but this is the dilemma of the 2018 family. Electronics are a part of our lives and we have to live with them, but I think the Meerpohls need some new rules.

I just let myself imagine an evening with no phones or kindles, there is so much else we could be doing. I could be making them clean for goodness sake! Of course Daryl doesn't want to read when he could be watching bull riding on Youtube. Why would Alex want to build with actual Legos when he has Minecraft?

It's all fine a good to say no devices, but that means I have to do it too. I'm the worst of all of us. This is serious. But, we are only talking about three and a half hours. So it's doable. In fact we did it tonight! It was easier because Daryl had basketball and Alex wasn't feeling well. So they didn't even fight me tonight. I'm not going to get over confident, this is going to be a hard rule to keep. But from after school to bedtime you might not hear from me. Don't worry I will hit you back a little after 8:30!

`Signed a phone-a-holic

PS-I bet if I can do this, I could drink those six glasses of water a day.......

PPS-Going to try and do this first.......

PPPS-There is water in wine (fact)

Because I will never have as much time with them as I do now!
And if it doesn't work, we tried! Day #1 Done! 

The Boys are Alright

I know it has been awhile but most of my free time has been taken up by panic knitting. Right now I'm praying I have enough yarn to finish a gift. It is not looking good!

However, while I have been furiously knitting, buying and wrapping, the boys have been rocking school! I need to brag a bit because they are both knocking my socks off.

When Daryl took his first math assessment of the year he got totally flustered, didn't finish and rated beginning in skill. The scale is beginning, developing, proficient and advanced. His teachers and I have been working with him since August to not give up on himself. He had been totally shutting down the moment he didn't know how to do a problem. It has been his first struggle with school and his whole village has been trying to help him.

His goal for his semester assessment was to be proficient and to gain 180 points. He gained over 300 points, reached advanced and had one of the highest scores in his class! His teacher and I were over the moon. I asked him what he wanted and he said, "my cowboy hat back and a steak dinner." First, yes I did take some of his favorite things away. I was desperate to motivate him! He got his hat back and his steak dinner, he picked Longhorn Steakhouse and we had a blast celebrating his breakthrough!

Alex has been rocking school all year. And he didn't say anything when we were all making a big deal over Daryl. Alex knows how much Daryl had been struggling and he was proud of him too. On Sunday when I was cleaning out the backpacks Alex said "Mom I want to show you something, you are going to be proud of me!"

He pulled out his reading assessment for the semester. The reading levels are represented by the letters of the alphabet. His teacher has let us know he is in the top reading group of the 1st grade classes. I was still super proud to read on his assessment that he is testing at a level M. All 1st grade is supposed to be at a J at the end of the year. And Alberto is already at an M!!

I told him I was most certainly proud of him and where did he want to eat?! So tonight we had Wendy's, and he ordered 10 chicken nuggets instead of the kid's 4 piece meal. AND he ate two of Daryl's on top of that!

Most times I feel inept as a single working mom. This past week has made me proud of my boys and our little family! We are alright!

Saw The Grinch movie last weekend, Love it. Tired Moms, this one
is for us! 

See what they did there? Look at the other picture again. 

Got this note from Alex in my bedroom. I don't know when he wrote it.
For background we have been working on talking about things
instead of crying and throwing fits. He is getting better! 

Hawaii Vacation Day by Day

Day #1 Wednesday-Arrive in Hawaii and marvel at even the airport. It is open and palm trees grow in the middle. Find our condo after much Air BNB confusion. Go to the grocery store slightly grumpy b/c I'm really tired. Buy a tub of butter for some weird reason.....

Day #2 Thursday- Decide this is the day we drive the road to Hana. Road to Hana is very windy. We see some beautiful water falls, I fall in a stream, watch some surfers, and head home after eating the best fish and chips I've ever had. We do not make it to Hana. LOL

Day #3 Friday- MY BIRTHDAY!! Find a cooler in the condo. Fill cooler with adult beverages. Hang out on the beach all day! See sea turtles!! Go to a Luau!! Enjoy the food, drinks, dancing and everything Luau. Best birthday ever!!

Day #4 Saturday- Biking Day! Go and get bikes. I tell Jefferson I'm not good at navigating. He gives me the directions anyway. For an hour I take us to the wrong trail head. He doesn't get mad! I take us to the right trail head. It rains, a lot. We stop biking and head back to bike shop. I had fun, Jefferson claims biking in Hawaii a bust! We watch Moana in Hawaii, I sing all the songs, ALL THE SONGS!

Day #5-Sunday- Golfing Day! I ride a cart and take pictures of mom golfing Hawaii. She only has three states left. Asa can take her to Montana! Get back to the Condo and swim in the pool. Then we go to Maui Brewing Company and have amazing pineapple beer and wings!

Day #6 Monday- Hiking Day! We hike Iao State Valley park and see the Needle. We then hike the top of Haleakalā volcano. Well Jefferson did, for the first time in Hawaii I was cold. The top of a Volcano looks like Mars. I could see it from the car! LOL 

Day #7-Tuesday- Snorkeling Day! We use friendly charters to snorkel with the fish and sea turtles. For real, I swam with sea turtles. I get so excited I dunk my head in the water too far and get a mouth full of salt water. Yuck! They also provided lunch and Mai Tais for the trip back to shore!

Then we flew home and got cold again in Kansas. The end.

Can you see Jefferson on the top of the Volcano? 

Mom hiking Iao State Valley park! 

Biking in the rain! 

Snapchat knows where I am! 

Book of Life Ch. 36

I had a very happy birthday last week in Hawaii! It wasn't unplanned, Mom and I got our plane tickets in June and have been planning since then. Mom got to golf a new state and I got to spend a day on the beach for the beginning of my 36th chapter of life! :-)

The trip was everything I hoped it would be and I think I could get used to a tropical climate! I stayed on Maui and enjoyed the beaches, forests, sea turtles and seafood! Too much goodness to even try to write about. Just go, if you love 70 degree days, ocean waves, jungles and a relaxed pace GO!

Was glad to get home to the boys and Purl. It didn't take long for us to get in the swing of things and for me to yell "Bed Time," when I'd had enough of the bickering. LOL some things just let you know that you are home!

I'm looking forward to a happy and healthy chapter this year, I don't think it could have started any better! I'm mean sparkling wine on the beach and seeing sea turtles come in from the ocean. Can that be beat!?

There will be another Hawaii post, there are too many pictures for just one post!

At the old lahaina luau! It was amazing! 

Food for the Luau. The Poke was good but the crab salad was the best! 

I was blown away by the feral chickens in Hawaii!
That is what they are called and the locals don't love them.

Alex saw this picture and said, Grandma is playing in the bunker!

It was slow, but I like running on the beach! 

Jefferson is a tree hugger! 

This hit me on the head during one of our hikes. That's good luck right? 

Had to stop at Surfing goats to try the cheese. And pet baby goats! 

Deck the Halls! (don't judge)

On Monday I did two things. First, I took down the Halloween decorations then I thought, "What the heck" so, I put up the Christmas tree!

If it took me till Nov. 19th to take down the Halloween decorations it's probably best to just put up the Christmas decorations now.

I always forget how much the boys love our Christmas decoration. When I brought the box from the basement their faces lit up and they insisted on hanging the ornaments. The next morning, when the lights were still on Alex said,"We have the prettiest tree mom!" Years ago we got our little tree because I didn't want to deal with a big tree, our new home might need a bigger tree next year! The proportions of tree to room are a little off....

Last night I took the boys to Papa Mike's so they are ready for Turkey day with the Meerpohls. Alex made a bee line for Papa's notepads because he wanted to draw pictures. Then this happened:
Me-Alex you are going to use all of Papa's notepads!
Alex-Papa I will give you $50 for all of your notepads.
Papa-Deal!
Me-Where are you going to get $50 from?
Alex-I'll just go to Dillons and get money out of that money machine!

Hmmmmm need to teach that boy the ATM just doesn't give money to anyone.......

Wishing everyone a happy Turkey Day tomorrow! Even if you are eating in the presence of a Christmas tree....

Our ornaments have a year on each of them, Alex was telling us how old he was
according to the year on the ornaments! My favorite was when he was negative 2! 

Taller than the tree this year! 

I did make progress on Christmas Knit #1

Knitting Weather!

It has been Chilly  and Dark here since the time change. Cold and Dark means not a lot of active things are happening.

However, that is perfect kitting weather! I finished my hat last weekend. I love the pattern and the Malabrigo yarn is gorgeous! I would have never picked this pattern myself, but Karen knew it was perfect, and she was right. Maybe someday I'll knit the matching cowl. Maybe....

I've started my first of three Christmas knitting projects. So, I better get busy. I have a work trip this weekend so hopefully I can get some knitting done while I'm listening to sessions. I also have some flights later this month, so that will be good knitting time!!! 😎🌴

Daryl's First Campaign

So, last week (or two weeks ago) Daryl did a thing. He ran for Student Council president of his grade school. I tried to talk him into another office, something more first election friendly. But no, he wants to be the president, of everything.

Only fourth and fifth graders get to run for Student Council offices. Each interested youth had to give their speech to a group of teachers at the school and then were notified if they got to run for office. Daryl was the only fourth grader that got to give his speech for president! I think there were four students vying for that position.

Daryl made a poster and changed his speech just a little bit. Parents were invited to watch all of the speeches and both Kelly and I were able to make it. That morning Daryl wanted to dress up and he did. He was the only youth who was wearing dress clothes. He looked very presidential!

He wasn't elected and his biggest fan (Alex) were pretty bummed. Alex's teacher even told me how upset he was that his brother didn't win. There is always next year and I think this will be the first of many campaigns for Mr. Daryl!

He did it all by himself! Great use for old school pictures. 

Giving his speech to the 4th and 5th graders. He ended it with "Go Mustangs!" 

Halloween 2018

Can you guess what we are?! Dropped the boys off to school and so far spirits are high. Looks like we are going to have great weather for trick or treating too! Yay!

I don't think I'm in KS Anymore!

Well just for one day! The weather this weekend was beautiful so I made an impromptu trip to Weston Missouri State Park on Saturday. Jefferson had been before and it was a perfect day trip. After hiking in the park we headed into town to try out the brewery, but on the way found an amazing winery in an old church. The Rose was great and the wine slushes. The place was Pirtle Winery, you should look it up if you ever get to Weston.  I didn't even need to go to the brewery!

It was a great trip to celebrate a full and slightly stressful week. I had to prepare for a seminar for work that was broadcast to our whole system. I don't know how many people watched it but I felt like it went great! I also had to keep getting things for 4-H Achievement Night ready and make the Halloween costumes! I will have no problem sleeping good tonight.

Daryl didn't need me to make anything for his costume but I had to do a little sewing for Alex's costume. I'm an OK sewer and thankfully I can make a simple drawstring bag. I wasn't that excited about it until Alex saw it and said, "Oh my gosh mom, it's perfect!"

That warmed my heart and we are now ready for Halloween. I will have pictures of their full costumes then! Stay tuned.....

I will add this to the album "Jeff looking at maps!"

Wine Slushie!

He is pretty happy with it! 

While the boys were waiting on me at
Parent Teacher Conf. Alex took about 100 pictures!
I love them all!  

Bike Lawrence!

Decided to take advantage of the one day with no rain and biked the path around Lawrence with Jefferson on Saturday. He thinks it is about twenty miles but my legs thought it was longer than that! We made pit stops along the way and played Uno! It was a fun day, we started at 1pm and ended at 7pm. The scariest part was riding on the river levee in the dark because we thought we would be done earlier! Oops! So glad we did it Saturday because it was so rainy on Sunday. The only thing Sunday was good for was soup!

Today, I did a lot of things around the house including decorating for Halloween! I also met with a contractor to figure out what some of my house projects are going to cost. $$$$ I should have mowed but instead went for a run. With all of the rain last week it was my first run since last Monday. Yikes! I'm going to have to get more in than that if I'm dreaming about a half in April. Dreams!!

See the cow behind us? 

Biking through the wetlands

Wetlands

I LOVE PUMPKINS

AND SUGAR SKULLS! Halloween is the best for decor. 

8 Down 3 To Go!

I finished another class!! Yay!! I only have three classes left, so that has to be what, 12 more papers?! It is now time to play catch up on house keeping and knitting. I know this game, I've played it seven times before.

So this weekend I have a half knitted hat I need to finish, and a half read book to finish. After that I will start some new stuff. I have one Christmas present I want to knit so I need to get on that ASAP!

Tonight, the boys and I took advantage of the free admission to the Kansas Children's Discovery Center sponsored by Hy-Vee. They have a Mo Willems exhibit right now and it is FABULOUS! The boys had such a great time, Alex came home and wanted to write a book. So Hy-Vee I can't thank you enough for doing that for Topeka kids. You never know what a positive learning experience will spark. I know we got in for free, but if you have a child you need to go see this exhibit. It is worth paying for! I want to go back and get the Pigeon shirt that says "I love Topeka." What a great, homework FREE day!

Procrastinating Some Paper Writing

I have about two hours before the kids will be in bed and there will be no more reasons not to finish my paper for my communications class. It has to be six pages long, and I am on page three. This week is my last week for that class, and I can see the light at the end of the homework tunnel!

The boys and I had a fun 4-H weekend. We did a program at the library on Saturday, and today the boys went to their first officer leader training. It was themed using The Incredibles movie and they had a lot of fun!

I'm dreaming about what I will do with all my free time once this class is over. I can read what I want, run, knit and work on some house projects. Better stop dreaming for tonight and finish my dumb paper. Boo.

Alex enjoying the chairs I got for the kitchen!

Alex learning lots of 4-H stuff!

Daryl being studious!