In the Picture

Before I had kids I read all kinds of blog posts and articles about the importance of moms being in the pictures with their own kids. Too often we are just behind the camera lens. Since I waited so long to have my kids, it gave me a lot of time to consider this and I have worked diligently over the last eight years to get into photos.

So this year, when Facebook released their little year-end video –– the one I normally look forward to seeing; the one where whatever digital algorithm determines what gets in the mix –– I was more than a little sad that I was not in a single one of the photos (besides the leading profile pic). While it was a nice reminder of good memories (mostly with my kids), it didn't actually include me. What the heck, Facebook?

This got me to thinking that I want to be better about taking pictures with my friends. While I am pretty good at taking photos with my boys, and mostly good about snap pictures with Daniel, photos with my best friends are a little more elusive.

So to everyone who humored me for a big group pic this year, or took a minute to pose just the two of us, a big heartfelt THANK YOU. It means a lot to me to have a photo of us. I have moved a lot over the course of my life and I am grateful for the photos that document friendships I've had over the years.

A good friend of mine moved away last year and I only have a couple of photos of the two of us. I have tons of our kids together, but not so much of us. For several years, she was my person. She was there to celebrate the good stuff and offered a listening ear and wise counsel on the not-so-good stuff. I wish I had more pics of the two of us.

If I ask you some time in the future, I hope you will pause and take a pic with me!

2019 Valentine's Cookie Party

We hosted our second annual Valentine's Day Cookie Party this year and had twenty kids attend, along with eight moms!

I should have taken a picture because my driveway and street were filled with the most mini vans I have ever seen. The pizza delivery guy had no problem finding the house for the party!

This is the fourth cookie decorating party I have hosted, and we have grown in numbers from the original three families with six kids in attendance!

I have learned a few things along the way...

1) Expect some degree of crazy and be okay with it. This is especially true if there are going to be twenty kids under the age of 8 running loose in your home.

2) Keep the food simple. I ordered pizza, made coffee for the moms, juice boxes for kids and fresh fruit. Dessert was cookies that the kids would decorate and I had each family pay $3 per kid (moms ate free!).

3) Make the cookies ahead of time. The first couple of times I did this, I had the kids help roll out the dough and cut out the cookies, but we seemed to lose momentum when we had to pause to wait for the cookies to bake.

4) Limit the number of cookies. I used to make a somewhat unlimited number of cookies. This year I made enough for each kid to decorate two and had some leftovers. The leftover cookies are still on my counter.

5) Don't make a big effort with the activities. I had everyone bring Valentines to exchange and bring a box (or plastic grocery bag) to collect their items. The kids passed out their Valentines and then commenced playing in the basement until it was time to eat.

6) Be okay with the mess (see #1), it's probably going to be crazy and messy.

7) Accept help. My friends are so sweet and helped pick up the mess and even swept the floors before they left. My roomba took care of the rest.

8) It's okay to let your preschooler skip to school to stay home and enjoy the fun!

Our party was a success and I am so glad that we can get together like this a couple of times a year.

This year I changed up my cookie recipe and made chocolate sugar cookies and tried icing them with marshmallow cream (straight from the jar!) and also strawberry flavored icing. The chocolate cookies were a success! Here is a link to the recipe I used. I made three batches because my cookie cutters were big.

Friend Friday at Coolidge

For our very first year of homeschooling, we kicked off our Friend Fridays by meeting up with friends at Coolidge Park. We also ended our Friend Fridays for the 2017-2018 school year at Coolidge.

It looks like it may become an annual thing because we decided to kick off  this school year with friends at the fountains at Coolidge (unfortunately we got delayed by a week because of rain).

But, what a great way to end and begin each school year!

As most homeschooling families know, the best time to visit all the local hot spots is while school is in session because it is way less crowded and a lot more enjoyable.

Besides playing in the fountains, we had donuts, and I also took my boys to ride the merry-go-round.

We are so blessed with friends who make an effort to meet up with us on Fridays throughout the school year. We are looking forward to more Friend Fridays in the coming year.

Red Bank Bounce House with Friends

We are so grateful for like-minded friends who are able to meet up with us throughout the school year. We try to do something fun each week on Fridays. Sometimes it is a field trip, sometimes it is play based. But we always have a good time.

We were supposed to go to Coolidge Park to play in the fountains but the weather looked questionable, so we decided to try out the Red Bank Bounce House instead. The change in plans meant that only one other family could come, but we still had a fun time.

The kids wore themselves out, and me and the other mama had a chance to catch up and visit after a busy summer.

Friend Fridays have been happening for several years now, and we are so grateful for these people who choose to do life with us.

Valentine's Day Cookie Party

This time last week, we were wrapping up our Valentine's Day Cookie Decorating Party.

Since beginning our homeschool journey, it has been really important to me that we meet up with friends as often as possible (for both fun and learning), and also make sure we take the opportunity to celebrate and have parties so the kids don't feel like they are missing out on these elements of school.

I guess it's my way of making sure we have the best of both worlds.

Back in December, we hosted a similar Christmas party with a group of our friends, and we had such a good time that Jack wanted to know when we would be having friends over to make cookies again.

Luckily for him, he made the suggestion right before Valentine's!

So I sent out an informal invitation to bring some of our friends together on Valentine's Day.

I followed pretty much the same plan as before, but this time around, the boys and I made all of the cookies before everyone arrived. This freed up more time for play for the kids. And let's be honest, most of them just wanted to decorate the cookies, make a mess, and eat icing!

Since it was Valentine's Day, we also wanted to exchange cards. Everyone came with boxes decorated and cards made, and had a lot of fun distributing their cards.

When they weren't eating or decorating cookies, the kids could be found running amuck, trying on various costumes and acting out all kinds of imaginative play. Kids would come running through with capes and swords, then police and fire fighters or various super heroes.

The kids all had a blast and the mamas had a chance to visit. We had 16 kids ranging in age from infants to first grade, along with 7 mamas.

I look forward to sharing more celebrations together. Jack is already dreaming up the next party we can host... maybe we will celebrate the end of the Olympics with a little field day.

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On the note of Valentine's, Daniel was out of town for work the entire week of Valentine's, so he took the boys to buy me flowers on the Saturday before, and they hid a vase in the storage room in the garage. After the Valentine's party was over, Jack told me he had a surprise for me in the garage. I was definitely surprised.

Later Jack couldn't find the card he had picked out for me. Daniel talked to him on the phone and let him know where he could find it. The next thing I knew Jack brought me a sweet card that he had written in. I couldn't help but laugh when I opened it, because the card was actually the one I had bought to give to Daniel that I had not had a chance to write in yet! We still have not solved the case of the missing Valentine card...

Isaac also celebrated Valentine's Day at his preschool on Thursday. He had fun with his classmates. Coming home he told me that they had juice and cupcakes and loved looking at all the cards and candy that he received from his school friends.

If you've been following along, here are our previous Friend Friday adventures this school year:
August: Coolidge Park
September: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ Greenway Farms Picnic ⎮ Chattanooga Zoo ⎮ Big Soddy Gulf
October: Reflection Riding Center (Monday Friend Day) ⎮ Charlotte's Web
November: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ Pioneer Days at Audobon Acres
December: Christmas Cookie Party ⎮ Christmas Cookie and Bird Ornament Party
January: Creative Discovery Museum ⎮ High Point Climbing Day ⎮ Challenger Center
February: Hidden Hills Farm Maple Syrup Day