One Wish

Just thinking lately about how much I love kindergarten.  Oh, those kinders.  Endless entertainment.  I've said it before, but these little loves have absolutely no idea how hilarious they are.  Every single day at least one of them makes me smile.  Here's some of the latest gems:

*In one of my reading groups, we were recently reading a story that included Mother Goose granting a wish.  We talked about the wishes of the cow and the dog  and the cat.  So I asked them, "If you met Mother Goose and could have just one wish, what would it be?"  Their answers were delightful:

"I would be a super hero, but only if it came with a cape." (Because, of course...it's all in the cape.)

My favorite:

"I would be a Princess Pony.  A Princess Pony with LOTS of glitter."  (Because when you are a princess pony, I guess it's all in the glitter.)

**A co-worker eavesdropped on a conversation that took place on the tire swing.  A group of boys, talking about me.  And how much they loved reading.  And the kicker?  "Mrs. Carlson is a REALLY good reader."  Well, I do declare.  I guess all these years of practicing have paid off.

***Today a rather sweet little girl who can also be a bit of a...precocious one...warmed my heart in a big way.  She hugged me goodbye at the end of our reading group and said, "Oh, you always smell SO good when I hug you."  Lovebug.

****Tomorrow those bundles of preciousness get to sing their hearts out at their kindergarten program. Hearing all those little faces sing "Thumb in the thumb place, fingers all together....Warm and Cozy I will be, when I put my mittens on me, on me!" 

In other, completely unrelated, thoughts:

1.  Can Mr. Bates be any more wonderful to Anna?  His speech he gave her?  "You are higher and more holy because of your suffering."  We all know that story is not ending there.

2.  I just finished a book that I really enjoyed.  "The Blue Castle" by L.M. Montgomery, same author as "Anne of Green Gables".  It's an easy read, a bit of mystery, yet more of a 'justice for the good girl'.

3.  I can barely contain my excitement this week.  I really wanted to stay home and watch the media day circus and my beloved Seahawks.  But then I would have missed the compliment of my smell.

4.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  That has been the theme of the last couple months for us.  Waiting.  More on that later, but for now, we are still waiting.

5.  It's been so long since I've posted a recipe, I think it's time.  This is a dip I made for the first time a couple weeks ago.  It was so delicious.  We had it as a dip with tortilla chips, and I had leftovers as lettuce wraps the next day for lunch.  Wonderful both ways.  The only change I would make is to add some avocado just before serving.  

Southwest Chicken Dip found here:  http://www.yellowblissroad.com/giveaway-and-skinny-southwest-chicken/

A great addition to your Super Seahawk Bowl spread!

GO HAWKS!

Things That Make Me Go Hmmmmm...

I have had a couple months, well much longer for some subjects, of things making me go "Hmmmm..."  Things that I have chased in circles in my mind, trying to figure out.  Some of those things I have given up and let go.  

Relationships I have accepted as over.  Undeservingly over, but over nonetheless.  I would love to know the whys.  I would love to know how it's possible for some people to be so dismissive, so rejecting, so cruel, so...whatever it is.  I look back and see the signs for many years, many years.  And yet I never knew it could possibly lead to nothingness.  I've silently overlooked things, purposefully let things go.  But now it's un-ignorable, if that's even a word.  I don't know.  Cruelty is never deserved.   I've gone through lots of stages, some longer than others.  Anger came and went and came again.  And then left hopefully for good. And that was replaced by a profound sadness, grief like a death.  And then I grew angry that I felt sad. And then I just let it go.  And now I am peaceful.  I will not chase.  I will not hang a bullseye around my neck and just overlook darts that are thrown.  I'll just let it go.  It's way more peaceful than I imagined.  I do wish I could lay it all out, and I have in more private ways, but I'm not going to say anymore about that.  But oh-boy does it make me go "Hmmm....".  (and it's their loss, by the way)

Still chasing in my mind, still making me go "Hmmmm...":

*Beth is sick again.  Again.  A girl that rarely gets even a small cold, and now down with a very similar thing that she had in December.  Fever not as high, only in the upper 102 range, but all the other junk came back.  Hmmm.

*Alex was home for almost 4 weeks.  And it was just so comfortable.  Yet it was gone in like 12 hours. I dropped that boy off at the airport, watched him go off and stand in the security line and then just walked away.  Well, not true.  I stood there for many minutes with tears pouring down my cheeks.  Then walked away and started the ugly cry for quite some time.  Oh, I miss him in this house.  It's quite the adjustment.  And I'm so happy for him, I really am.  I prayed all his life that he would dream big dreams and have the courage to chase them.  And this prayer coming to fruition means I send him across the country.  Hmmm.

*Downton Abbey.  Hmmm.  Hmmm.  Hmmm.  Anna?  Oh, bless her.  I see a pregnancy coming, an enraged husband perhaps?  Lady Mary?  A new romance on the horizon?  Lady Sybil?  Torn between love and scandal.  Hmmm.

*Scandal.  Hmmm.  Will the pregnancy be written into the show?  Will Huck heal or be more broken?  Olivia's mom....we saw a teaser of her standing in front of the White House.  NOW what????  Is Daddy a good guy that has done terrible things to protect Olivia?  Or is he a bad guy that has done terrible things to protect his daughter??  Hmmm.

*Nordstrom Rack.  Will we ever get one in our area??

*Seahawks.  Can they find a way to pull it all together Sunday and beat the 49ers one more time?  I know Russell Wilson says he has no time to sleep because there is so much to prepare, but is there someone in his life telling him that he needs sleep as part of his preparation?  That he'll be stronger and sharper if he lets his body and mind recover during sleep?  Is Pete Carroll stocked up on his Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum?  He may need some extra wads of gum for this game.  Will my special friend Ricardo get any dynamic catches this game??  Hmmm.

*And so much more.  So. Much. More.  But that's enough swirling thoughts for tonight.

Just for fun: here's a picture of some fun:

After leaving the airport, we did a little retail therapy.  I bought these pajamas with CUPCAKES all over them.  They would only be more perfect if those cupcakes were chocolate chip cookies.  They shall now be known as "my therapy pajamas".  They are bliss.

A Riveting Review of 2013

Oh, my.  I went from a frequent blogger to a weekly blogger to a monthly blogger...to an annual blogger?!  Such a twist of reasons why I have been more infrequent.  Lots to share, lots I didn't want to share.  Probably the biggest reason is just time.  I didn't want to use my time in this way.  Most of that I don't regret, but some of it I do.  I regret the moments I didn't get "scrapbooked" on here this year.  But whadayado?  Ya carry on.

So, with mere hours left in 2013, I will recap some highlights as best I can.


January:
Well apparently January was a bland month around here.  I didn't photograph much, anyway.

We took our Christmas lights down, much to Brenna's dismay.

 

The girls made this quilt with their Grandma, with many of our fun memories from 2012.

 

 

And I had fun giving Lucy expressive eyebrows!

 

February:
February was a busy month of tours and travels.  I deleted most of the college tour pictures once I knew where he was going, but I still have a couple of ASU:

 

 And then, of course, Peabody at Johns Hopkins:

I can't ignore that this was also the month of looooove:

 

 

March:
March was a mixed bag of emotions.  Days after learning of the death of his high school music teacher, Alex played a solo with the Tacoma Concert Band after winning a scholarship competition in February.

I dressed as Fox in Sox for character day at school!

 

Track season began.

Soccer season continued.

Beth and Caleigh performed their flute duet.

And Lucy got her nose stuck in a French fry bag.

 

And an early Easter.

April:
In April, Alex was back at State for the final time. 

Bassoon/Cello duet took 2nd place in state.

Alex took 3rd place at a soloist.

And soccer continued.  And track continued.



AND, the college acceptance started rolling in.  Although accepted to all the school he was interested in, it was this school that he was awaiting:

May:
May was a busy month.

Track continued, where Brenna took 1st place in the mile at the Freshman Invitational.

 

And Lucy just looked cute.

 

And, of course, Mother's Day:

 

 

 

(keepin' it real)

 

June:
June.  A big month.  My firstborn tuned 18.  He graduated from high school.

Senior Prom on his birthday!

Graduation Day!

 

Father's Day at the beach.

 

And Lucy got a bath in a sled.  It came with a free ride around the yard.

 

July:

Alex went on a whale-watching trip with the Peters.

 

 

A biggie:  I hiked to the top of Mt. Ellinor with Brad and Brenna! (Yeah, gross, that is sweat all over me.)

 

Brad had another birthday!

 

 

 

And we hiked:

 

 

Lucy discovered she like raspberries, and would pick them right off the vine.

 

 

August:
August.  Oh, August.  This was the month I took my little boy to Baltimore for his first year of college.  Tough.  Very tough on my heart.  But so happy for him, so proud of him.

And that's all I have to say about August.


September:

Brenna started her cross country season

My 7th grade cheer squad was hard at work.

 

Beth got a new friend, a hamster named Joy.

 

Lucy pulled all the stuffing out of her bed.

 

October:
Oh, October.  I do love fall.

My girls kept cheering.

 

Brenna kept running

 

Beth's squad took 2nd place at their competition!

 

My favorite picture of the season: these girls sure love each other!

 

And Lucy refined her skills in removing the cover of a golf ball!

 

 

 

November:
My beautiful girl turned 13 years old!

And Brenna kept running, though she was sure exhausted in November:

And she ran beautifully at the state meet!  Her season PR was 19.58 for her 5K.

AND...members of the SEAHAWKS came to the school I work at!  Oh, was that a fun "work" day!

Ricardo Lockette.  #83

And he gives great hugs.

And when I jumped up and down when he hugged me, he jumped up and down too!

 

I think this car would look lovely in my garage.

December:
Alex came home.  Home.

And Christmas was perfect.  Perfection.

And with that, 2013 is a wrap!  A year of ups and downs, just as it should be, I suppose.

Here's to a New Year!  May it be blessed and may the Lord be the center of it all!