This week...

...saw the departure of our second round of house guests in as many weeks. (Had a lovely visit with John & Nancy despite the freezing temperatures...sad to see them leave yesterday.)

...the boys started back to Options. (And were delighted to see their friends again, though they were missing their grandparents.)

...feels eerie. (Because yesterday all three boys decided, after considered deliberation, NOT to register for spring soccer. (The registration started early this morning, btw.) Yup, after seven straight seasons of soccer, it appears we're very probably at an end...)

• Last spring was Noah's last season of rec soccer before many of his friends switched over to competitive teams or changed sports to football or hockey. He'd thought about trying again with a whole new team this spring but has now changed his mind. (At U10, kids have to choose between going to competitive teams or staying with the considerably fewer rec teams (from 22 boys U9 rec teams to 6 boys U10 rec teams). In our efforts to be fair to all three boys, we'd informed them from the start that we'd only do rec soccer...not wanting to commit to the travel and expense involved in the competitive soccer program.)
• Asher would have just this one season before being in the same situation as Noah. Ash was so busy last fall with both soccer and karate, though, that he's opted to focus just on karate (after, of course, he gets the go ahead again from the doctor...cast comes off on Friday!).
• And Micah, hilarious Micah, declared that his only real interest in soccer was in getting to go to at least one end of season party. He reasoned that if at least one brother played, he'd get to go to that party. Upon hearing his brothers' decisions, truly, Micah's face fell. Fortunately, I figured it out right away and have now promised him that we'll have our very own end-of-not-soccer-season party, complete with cupcakes. ;)
• In any case, I'm mostly happy with the boys' decisions. I've loved soccer and think that the boys have definitely benefited from the experience, especially the teamwork aspects. And I must admit that I'm a little sad that they won't get that this spring. But. As a family, we're very much looking forward to free weekends this spring and have resolved to use at least every other one of them to do something special together as a family. 

...will see Micah heading back to karate after taking December off in consideration of Asher's broken arm and the holidays. (Asher will have to wait for the doctor's verdict before he can go back.)

...will hopefully provide the time to get on top of a few projects I'm hoping to tackle in this new year. (May even update my blog header here, lol.)

...will continue to be an "off" week from homeschooling. (Because I'm proudly being realistic and recognized that I'll need this week to get things back in order after the holidays and house guests.)

So. Happy sigh. Feeling pretty darn good about 2011 so far. How about you?

One Little Word.

For the last four years, I've joined Ali Edwards and hoards of scrapbookers around the world in selecting a single word to focus on throughout the year. In 2007, I chose create...(click on the layouts to enlarge)...

In 2008, I chose small...

In 2009, it was be. I chose it for its versatility and didn't really make a single layout. Instead, that year, I made my Lists of Me album. (In retrospect, my word that year probably should have been "list," lol.)

Last year, it was home...

For 2011, my word is QUOTE. Yes, I know it seems like cheating. ;) In trying to find a single word, though, I kept coming back to a number of quotes that I liked and wanted to incorporate. So many quotes that I'm in love with right now. :) But, being my indecisive self, I couldn't find any one word that conveyed the varied ideas I wanted to embrace. 

So. QUOTE. 

This way, I'll be able to consider different quotes throughout the year. I'm thinking, actually, that I'd like to create an album of quotes...maybe a quote each week with my thoughts on that quote...advice to my boys. I'll share them here as I can. I haven't made the first layout yet, but the first quote for 2011 is this:

"No great thing is created suddenly."
       -Epictetus (a Greek philosopher A.D. 55-135)

Yup. Gonna start out working on patience...remembering that there's plenty of time to train up these boys to be the men I want them to be. ;) How about you? Do you have a word for 2011?

(And, by the way, happy new year!)

14 years ago today...

...there was a giant snowstorm (with more snow than we've gotten in the past 24 hours but without quite the bitterly cold temperatures that we have today)...I was wearing long johns...I was sick and drugged (and hence don't have very clear memories of the day)...and I was getting married. :)

Fortunately, the marriage has been considerably better than the wedding day was, LOL! I'm so very blessed. Happy anniversary to my sweet husband...

Belated Merry Christmas!

Went missing there for a bit. ;) It's okay. I have a good excuse. My baby sister and her new hubby came to visit and we were out having fun, not blogging. :) So. On the 23rd, they got here and we hit Old Town and painted ornaments:

The next day, Christmas Eve, we were out early to try some ice skating...something we'd been promising the boys for months (before Asher's broken arm). Asher and I sat and watched while Noah worked on his balance (loving the wall quite a bit...takes after me, lol):

Micah was short enough that the upside down trash cans they offered came in quite handy. Soon he was zipping around the rink:

And he even tried a few loops without the can:

After the ice skating, we stopped by a giant gingerbread house:

We'd seen the initial version the year before. They'd added the dog house this year. ;) Inspired, we came home (and were joined by my brother Zach and his wife and daughter) and tried our own gingerbread projects...simplifying by using graham crackers instead of actual gingerbread. The boys and their new uncle Charlie, though, soon ditched the idea of a measly gingerbread house, aiming, instead, to build a Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Because apparently that's what boys do. :) In the end, they settled for a destroyer:

It's sitting next to uncle Zach's gingerbread doll house (and you can't see aunt Cassy's gingerbread castle). And, yes, they resorted to hot glue for the main structure. Priorities, you know. ;) 

Later that night, after a full and yummy dinner and some gift opening and all, the adults played some couples Pictionary...me & Nathan, Cas & Charlie, and Zach & Marcy. Nathan and I, obviously, dominated. ;) Then, we took a group picture:

And that, in a very abbreviated version, was that. ;)

Christmas morning brought roughly 4900 new lego pieces...1141 of which were in the Clone Turbo Tank that Santa brought Asher. Determined, and with a little help here and there, he actually managed, with just the one hand, to put the whole thing together by the next day.

And now, Nathan's parents are here (Cas & Charlie flew home on Christmas Day) and we're taking more pictures and making more memories and will have to update more later. ;)

So. How was your Christmas?

Ooooh. Aaaaah.

Boys are finally in bed (okay, a bit ago), but it was worth letting them stay up late to see this:

Yup. Total lunar eclipse. It was cool! This picture doesn't do it justice. It was fascinating to watch it become shadowed and then turn red (this is actually taken before it was at its peak). But. It's pretty good for having been taken with Nathan's iPhone through the viewfinder on our (inexpensive) telescope. ;) What a nice way to officially start winter...