Saturday's Super Seven

Wrote this and then wasn't satisfied with it, so I didn't post it. Oh well. It's fine and I'm going to post it now. A week later.

So I really wanted to write a Fabulous Five, yesterday, but with only allotting myself 1 hour and then writing about how I haven't been writing (such a productive use of my time), it didn't happen, so I'm going to do it today instead.

1. The glorious sun is shining! It's been so rainy and cloudy the past few weeks and it is a godsend to see the sun today. Being so far north, the days are getting shorter and shorter and shorter - so the Vitamin D I'm getting as I type this post has been in short supply.

2. Last night we spent the evening playing Yahtzee together. I love that our kids are getting old enough to play real games! I recently read a statistic that said, on average, parents spend about 35 minutes a WEEK actually talking to their kids. That's ridiculous! Just eating dinner together every night increases that number by over 5 times! I obviously feel like I spend a LOT more time than that talking "at" my kids every day, but as I sit and think about it, there are some days that are probably severely lacking in real communication. As a mom, I'm really trying to work on that. Trying to work on really listening to my kids and letting them talk. They are such wonderful people! I'm so excited that as I get to know them better and better over the years, I'm always learning how amazing they are. They are so FUN! and I'm so thankful that the Lord blessed me with such wonderful friends built right into my family.

3. I'm going to start painting the big family room upstairs today! ---- or at least filling nail holes and painting trim. (not quite as fun, but necessary) The kitchen got all finished yesterday and as soon as I put a last coat on the doors and it's magically clean for more than 2 minutes, I'll take a picture. I love paint!

4. I have most of our Christmas presents planned out! I'm excited to not have 14 billion things I'm making this year, but I'm hoping to get started soon on the ones I am. Last night I finally started working on Violet's and Clara's stockings that I never finished last year. I read just the other day how I had planned on finishing them up right after Christmas last year . . . man I'm cool.

5. Thanksgiving is in less that 2 weeks and I am SO EXCITED! We are heading to Monroe to be with Amber and her family. I get to see my new little "cousin-niece" and I seriously think about it every. day.

6. I had Parent Teacher Conferences with my girls' teachers this week. I love PTCs. I love hearing about another person's observations on my girls. They really are such good students. They love learning. Both Hazel and Lilie are excelling at reading - both testing at about a 5th grade reading level (whatever that means). And both are doing amazing at math and writing. Another thing they share is an occasional tendency to not pay attention in class --- but each for somewhat different reasons. :) Lilie, I believe, gets bored. If she thinks she already knows it, she finds something better to occupy her brains -- usually doodling and drawing -- much to her teacher's dismay. Hazel, I think, just gets distracted. Her brain grabs hold on a new train of thought and finds it difficult to pull her back to what's going on in the present. Thankfully, neither have had their grades suffer from their wandering imaginations, but it's still something that they're working on.

7. As I mentioned yesterday, life seems to be reaching some kind of new normal. As I calculate things up, I realize that it has been nearly three and a half years since I've been neither pregnant nor had a baby under a year old. No wonder I feel like a new woman!!! My hormones are finally evening out! It feels like a miracle. sometimes a little bit sad. But mostly really awesome. Life is good.