Project Let There Be Light: Complete

FINALLY!  After almost a year from the day I first took down the mantel and started painting  I have a mantel again!  YEAH!

This is what it looked like before we began:

Last November:

Here's what we have today:

AHHHH!  Sooo much brighter! J made the mantel using our old mantel shelf as a base.  To that he added chunkier corbels (the bracket-looking things that the shelf sits on) and molding around the edges.

I'm still working on the mantel decorations...I'm not too good with that sort of thing so it takes me awhile :)  I will admit that I'm WAY too excited about those two silver Pier One candle stick pillars...found them yesterday at Go*dwill for $3.99 ea! 

G Speak

Apparently hospitals are more accurately termed "Doctor Cities" cause there are lots of doctors there.

Kinda hard to argue with that logic :)

C's Bird Report: The Toucan

C's first report of the year was due today...Bird Day (in honor of the end of the bird unit that they've been in :)

His assignment:  Research the toucan, write a report (a combination of fill in the blank and free writing/essay), and make a visual aid.  He presented his report in front of his class today.  Honestly, I didn't really enjoy research projects in school.  I love to read.  I don't mind writing, but I have never been good (or enjoyed) the "visual aid" part...shocker, I know :)  As long as I'm being honest, I may as well go ahead and admit that I wasn't overwhelmed with excitement when the Bird Report assignment sheet came home.  That, however, was NOT the case with C.  He really couldn't wait to get started!  We started with a trip to the library.  We gathered up a bunch of books about the toucan and started reading.   Speaking of reading...this kid can READ!  I helped with the World Book Encyclopedia and a few of the harder books, but he did quite a bit of reading on his own....GO C!

As we were checking out (the ones that  were check out-able), he said "Mommy, I LOVE researching things!"  What can I say, he is his father's son!

Later that week, he started in on his poster board.  Had it been me, I would have been cutting and pasting pictures of toucans like a mad-fool!  Not C, he wanted to draw and paint his own using a picture from the encyclopedia as his example. 

I was so, so proud of him!  He gave it a lot of thought and spent a lot of time on this.  

And I think his hard work really paid off! Unfortunately, I somehow failed to take a picture of the final product. UGH!  Hopefully, his teacher will send it back home.

To commemorate Bird Day, the kids were asked to bring in bird costumes and they "flew" all around the school (to include visits to the Head of School, Main Office, and Kindergarten classes).  Exciting stuff!

The converted party hat into a beak was ALL his idea...I was pretty impressed :)

On an unrelated note:  The power of advertising is pretty amazing.  Despite the fact that I haven't had a bowl of Fruit Loops in at least 15 years, I hear the word "toucan" and I think Toucan Sam. :)

What I Love About G: Heart of Service

I keep meaning to sit down and write a "What I Love About You" post for C and G. These wonderfully touching posts would be complete with insightful comments into their personalities, sweet stories to illustrate my points, and corresponding Bible verses that I intend to pray over them as they grow into the people that God created them to be.  Sounds great, right!?! 

Problem is I keep MEANING to do this, but I NEVER do.   I guess the perfectionist in me wants this to be perfect...perfect takes time...I don't have much of that...so the days pass and I do NOTHING.  Boo! 

My answer...for now...is just to write down things as they come to me. So here goes:

Yesterday after J and C left for school and work, G disappeared upstairs.  I was cleaning the [very messy] kitchen and lost track of time.  When I finished the kitchen and realized what time it was, I called upstairs to see what she was up to. It was quiet, and normally quiet = bad :)  She calls down "I'm cleaning C's room, Mommy.  I wanted to think about him." 

AWWW!  

And as it happens, I DO happen to have a relevant verse in mind...the ultimate and perfect example of service:

Matthew 20:28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve 

and to give his life as ransom for many. 

The Day G's Been Waiting For All Summer

The first day of PRESCHOOL!  

And not one bit nervous either! :)

I'm doing ok....it doesn't really help that the picture above reminds me SO MUCH of this picture (taken taken the day she learned to stand own her own...sniff, sniff :)

Just Like Grandma..

About 6 months ago, G and I took Grandma B. to get her hair cut.  G was in AWE as she watched the hair stylist wash Grandma's hair!  I didn't really occur to me until that day, but G has never really had a "real" hair cut.  Any place I've ever taken her, the stylist just combs her hair, sprays a little bit of water on it, and cuts it dry.   

Well...the blinders were on no more!  G had seen how the other 1/2 lives and she would not rest until she too had experienced a hair cut "like Grandma's." Since then, she's been asking me to take her to get her hair cut at the place I get my hair cut...every time we pass it...and we pass it every day.  The child is nothing if not persistent :)

I delayed because I assumed they would charge a lot.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the gal that cuts my hair - but she ain't cheap!  It is definitely a "treat" for me, and I just didn't see dropping mucho dinero on a kiddo cut.  Imagine my surprise when I called and found out that they charge the exact same as the kiddo salon across town that I took her to last time. And most importantly - you get the full haircut experience :)

Check out that smile!  She was shaking with excitement :)

Ta-Da!

She was super excited when we left!  "Mommy, we both get our hair cut at the SAME place!"  As she was saying that, it occurred to me that I'd better enjoy these sweet days when she thinks that getting her hair cut at the same place as Mommy is a good thing :)

First Day of First Grade

Thankfully C made a full recovery just in time to make his first day of 1st Grade!  YEAH!

And as you can see, he's pretty happy about it!

(this photo is not staged...he really IS this excited :)

What's so exciting about 1st Grade?

Well, according to C, 1st Grade is SURE to be cool because:

• Science (he hears they do that in 1st Grade)
• His own desk (as opposed to table sharing like in K)
• The "sharp" scissors he picked out (they aren't really any sharper than everybody elses, they just happened to come with a little plastic sheath...I tried to explain it was just a marketing trick but he's not buying it :)
• The day lasts longer (don't be confused...he  isn't really excited about being at school for an extra 2 hours.  He's just under the impression that since he gets home later he won't have to have "quite time" in  his room anymore.  I have neither confirmed or denied his suspicions. :)