Happy thoughts.

Just some random things that have been making me happy lately...

1. Date afternoon. Last weekend, Nathan and I took advantage of a Groupon deal to go to a whiskey tasting and tour at a new local distillery, Feisty Spirits. Though we don't think that whiskey is going to be topping our drink orders anytime soon, lol, we did enjoy the tour and learning more about whiskey. The time together was pretty cool, too. ;)

2. Door sign. I would have guessed that Noah'd have been the first to put a sign on his door. As it was, the 8 year old taped this to his door recently:

So polite, right? ;) Apparently, he kept getting scared by Noah who (intentionally) would barge into Micah's room unexpectedly. That kid cracks me up. ;)

3. Actually saying the right thing at the right moment. Don't you hate it when you think of a great response *after* the moment has passed? Yeah, me too. Last week, though, I had a moment. Noah was complaining about his homework...arguing that if I insisted on making him take a shower and then he was ten minutes late on his homework, it would be because of the shower...and similar remarks throughout the morning trying to finagle extra time before his homework would be due. Argh. But. I'm so proud of my response. :) I told him that, okay, I'd extend the deadline for things like taking a shower...*IF* I could also shorten the deadline for every time I saw him during the week *not* working on his homework when he had the opportunity to. Ha! He promptly announced that the normal deadline would be just fine. ;)

4. Front yard tree. I love when the leaves change color. Love it. So happy that I managed to capture our front yard tree in full fall glory last week...before our recent cold snap and the subsequent nakifying of the tree. ;)

5. New favorite cookies. A couple weeks ago, I tried a new cookie recipe (thank you Pinterest!). Seriously in love. It's probably a good thing that I don't bake often. ;)

6. Halloween decorating. Though he hasn't had a costume or gone trick-or-treating for a few years now, Noah still enjoys the Halloween spirit. He took charge of our outdoor decorations this year:

In the end, we opted for simple...just a bunch of webs and pipe cleaner spiders...a handful of pumpkins and maybe some strobe lights. Originally, though, his plans included ghosts (made of chicken wire and painted with glow in the dark paint), fog machines, black lights and scary music. After much discussion, we decided that we get a number of young trick-or-treaters and perhaps should keep things nice...we'll save the spookier ideas for a future haunted house or something. :) Still. It was lovely just stepping back and watching Noah direct Nathan in hanging decorations. 

7. Boots. Went looking for snow boots for Noah recently. (We didn't get around to finding any for him last year and he ended up just using his sneakers and freezing...by the time we'd looked, we couldn't find any locally in his size.) Usually, btw, I just get used snow boots at the local gently used store for kids...because I don't like to pay more for an item that gets used so little before being out-grown. ;) But. I'm now realizing that, while I can still get used things less expensively for the younger two and for myself, finding men's sizes is considerably more difficult.

How, then, is this on my list of things that make me happy? :) Well, in looking for boots for Noah, I came across some boots for myself that I'm now in love with, lol. I haven't bought them yet (still looking for a deal and/or trying to justify the cost) but it makes me happy just to know they exist. ;)

8. Poetry. Asher and I have truly been enjoying his new writing curriculum, Cover Story. This week's lessons have focused on poetry and we've been having such fun. Today's limerick (using his super hero theme that he chose and that runs through his entire year):

There once was a dude named Nick Fury
Who always was in such a hurry.
He tripped on his shoe
And out his eye blew,
And suddenly things went all blurry.

9. Friends. Friends rock. ;) Feeling so blessed to have such good friends...to be able to chat and complain and laugh and kibitz together...to know there are others who "get" you.

Okay, off now to get costumes ready and such. :) Will post Halloween pictures soon!

Also Last Saturday

Given the foggy, drizzly weather of yesterday and today, it looks like we were just in time in taking our annual leaf walk last Saturday (before Asher's recital)...when it was gorgeous. 

(click to make larger) Yup, we headed out around our neighborhood...

• raked up a pile of leaves for boys to jump in and then throw at each other...
• rolled in the leaves down the hill...
• played some touch football (that third picture of Noah kicking the point-after cracks me up because Asher was so scared of being kicked accidentally that he kept pulling away and I totally had flashbacks to Peanuts, lol)...
• and threw more leaves at each other and up in the air.

We also had a little spectator that Micah insisted join us...

 
Don't worry; he also brought a little box for Koaly to stay in during the activities so that he didn't get dirty in any way. Apparently, Koaly just really wanted to see what we were up to, lol. Plus, who can refuse such a sweet eight year old who proclaims to you along the way that "my favorite color is fall," right?

And we even managed to get a few shots of just Nathan and me...

 
Happy sigh. I love our leaf walks! ;) 

Last Saturday

Asher had his first ever clarinet recital on Saturday. It was organized by local music instructors and took place at a local assisted living facility in conjunction with a donation collection for The Kayla Foundation. Though the kids (there were maybe a couple dozen) were invited to wear their Halloween costumes, Asher chose not to, as he was already feeling pretty anxious about everything. :) (Though he's performed in front of audiences plenty through winter and spring programs and demo team, he still gets nervous every time.)

He waited patiently for his name to be drawn (they pulled names out of a pumpkin, so the performances were random)...

...and then finally was called up. He did some brief tuning with his instructor before settling in to play his piece with his instructor accompanying him on the piano:

I have a video but haven't taken the time to figure out how to load it here. ;) So, you'll have to take my word for it that Asher did a fabulous job...especially considering that he's been taking lessons for less than two months. :)

(Honestly, I'm really so impressed by how quickly he picks up new instruments. All three boys play numerous instruments, actually, but Asher plays/has played the most...piano, recorder, chimes, guitar, drums/percussion, handbells and now clarinet. Amid all that, I seriously can't read music at all and have never played an instrument...so am ever so thankful to the many instructors the boys have had over the years.)

Last Friday

Time for the annual karate portraits. ;) Given the cost, this year we opted to not purchase any photos but still took the boys in so that they can be included on the board the school hangs each year with photos of their members. Asher also had demo team portraits...which are hilarious, as the older members, in particular, enjoy hamming it up and striking a number of different poses. ;) 

Anyhow, I snapped a few pictures with my iPhone while they were in their full uniforms and this is what I ended up with:

(This was actually one of the tamer demo team poses, lol. I love how much fun they have together! For what it's worth, due to "size math," the boy on the top of the pyramid wasn't actually on top of Asher and the other boy (who's the same age and size as Asher).) 

Whew. I was worried that the boys would be upset at not getting the official portraits since they've enjoyed them so much before. (They like getting to pose with the cool weapons, lol.) After discussing it with them, though, they realize that I already have plenty of photos of them from karate throughout the year (at tournaments and promotions and performances) and were good with that. ;) 

By the way, here's their first karate portrait...three years ago:

Aren't they adorable? ;) 

Last Thursday

Noah had his first swim meet of the 2013-14 season last Thursday. As usual, they're just small internal meets, such that Noah's really only competing against himself. He managed to set a new personal best in freestyle and came pretty close in backstroke and the IM. ;)

Honestly, it's wonderful to watch him...his stroke and strength has improved so much since he began swim team. (I'm sure growing almost a foot hasn't hurt, either, lol.) He's really a very good swimmer who just isn't interested in taking things to the next level (even his coaches have talked to him about switching to a more competitive team) and is quite content to simply work on his own form and enjoy the exercise. 

Unlike previous years, this first meet of the season was held at the outdoor pool since Miramont still has it open through the end of October. It was, um, chilly. The coaches warned everyone to bring extra towels, blankets and jackets (though a number of parents apparently didn't read the email so were scurrying around trying to find things to wrap their kids in, lol). I want to go on record as saying that I had blankets and jackets available. But. I also have a very stubborn almost thirteen year old who stead-fastly insisted he would not be cold and that I should not bring any extra towels or blankets, lol.

In the end, he relented and let me bring him his jacket but continues to believe that he was not cold...despite the completely goose-bumped skin, blue lips and visible shivering. Of course. ;)

Anyhow, here's the team warming up with some practice starts:

Noah's in the far lane. ;) And here he is during backstroke:

And during the IM:

Ta da. ;) And that was Noah's swim meet.