And the Winner is: Tayler

This year Tayler is in AVID, along with Cali and Sean.  It's been a fun program for them and they've been enjoying the different projects that they get to participate in during the school year.

Every year AVID gives the kids an opportunity to make movies for the school district's annual film festival.  Last year Sean entered it and won (here).  

This year Tayler took advantage of the opportunity.  She wrote, directed, filmed, and edited the entire movie.

You know it's a big deal event when Chick-fil-a caters it.

Because, Chick-fil-a.

Tayler won best short film in the Middle School age category for the district.  They received hundreds of entries and chose the final three for the festival.

You can watch her video here:

Dream A Little Dream.

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This year Tayler decided she wanted to try her hand at the Reflections contest at school.

The theme this year is "Believe, Dream, Inspire."

She created this piece and called it "Dream a Little Dream."

Tayler sat down and thought long and hard about the theme and this was what she decided it meant to her.  She drew the dance scene on paper, and the recreated it with modeling clay.

I love her interpretation of those three simple words, "believe, dream, inspire."

Because when you think about it, those three words really aren't simple.  They're profound.  They hold so much hope, desire, and drive in our lives.

Those three words are things we should never stop doing.

So often I doubt myself.

I'm not good at that...
I'm good at that but not good enough to...
I like this but it's not good enough for other people...

It's a plague that I can't get away from.

I looked at Tayler's finished piece and it actually spoke to me.

Believe it.
Dream it.
Inspire it.

I need to.

I can.

I will.

Circus Adventures. Video One. Catch The Bad Guy.

Cali's Growing Up. NOVA Rockets. SBO Election Posters. A Mess. MC Hammer's Pants.

Yesterday I got home from work and the house was full and busy.

I set myself up on the counter making dinner on the electric griddle (grilled tuna sandwiches with cheese and tomato).

Cali pulls up to the counter and tells me that, at school, she's been assigned to be the buddy of a little boy in our neighborhood.  The little brother of Tayler's best friend to be more exact, and Cali thinks that's pretty cool.  I look up in confusion.  I know the buddy system they have at school.  Big kids are assigned a younger kid to do crafts and projects with.  My confusion is when did my baby girl become big enough to be the buddy instead of the little kid?

She's still so little in my mind and in that moment I realize that I need to be thinking of her as becoming an older kid. It dawned on me that our family is facing a new transition of not just having toddlers, or not just having any preschoolers, but we're on the verge of not having any little kids anymore either.

The Man hauls in with sacks from Hobby Lobby and Tayler and Sean in tow and they start unloading their craft supplies onto the counter.

I pull various items of plates and food items out form under them so I can keep working.

They're making rockets for NOVA.

West is cutting and sanding in the garage, Tayler and Sean are designing and hot gluing on the counter, while I try to finish dinner up.

Cali set herself up with the extra wood pieces and made a rocket too.

As they're using the hot glue guns to put their rockets together we laugh about the time when Casidee was three years old and I made an entire mummy costume with nothing but an old sheet and a hot glue gun.  I had her put on a sweatshirt so I could test how loose/tight the ripped sheet needed to be so she could still move.  I wrapped the sheet around her arm and picked up the glue gun to glue it in place on the sweatshirt before taking it off of her when she panics and starts crying, "don't shoot me!"  I realized that all she knew was that I was holding a glue gun to her arm, and mom was about to pull the trigger on that gun.

It ended up well, I didn't even burn her, and she had a new fascination for crafts.

Brynn set herself up with posterboards and the makings for SBO election posters.

She's running for 6th grade President.

She passed the first round with her application and essay to be allowed to run.  Now it's on to hanging just two posters up in the cafeteria for her peers to see.

I finished grilling sandwiches and stationed myself at the laptop on the counter to print out the pictures she'd need.  Two of herself, and two of her school's logo with the mascot.

She came up with two ideas for what we hope are catchy posters that will help her name stick in people's minds.

Her mascot ends up declaring "Brynn for the Win!" on the second poster.

There's a mess in our TV room as it's under construction again.  This time we're putting in ceiling lights and surround sound in.

It turned out great, The Man does some pretty incredible work.

And a crowded feeling to the office as all the TV room furniture has been pushed into it, along with The Man's desk which is now pushed in a corner.

Last night I snuggled up on the couch with Jayme and Casidee and introduced them to the wonders that are MC Hammer (and his pants) and Milli Vanilli.  We watched a few videos together on my phone, squished in the corner of the couch together, and it occurred to me that as busy as we are, nights like this one show me we're doing just fine in taking care of our family and giving our kids the help and attention they need.  There's always room for improvement, but I think we're doing okay.


After a fumbled attempt at some of the verses and rhymes between The Man and me, the girls were interested in the actual thing.

And the pants, oh the pants.  Cas kept asking, "but why?"

I've been asking that question for over 20 years.(But just barely over 20).

In our house we...

Wear mustaches.

Practice being chiropractors.

Christmas Highlights

 

 

This Season

Here's a taste of what the Christmas season has been around our house.

With the dinning room being under construction, and the fireplace being in the dinning room, stockings have been hung up the railing with care.

And scotch tape.

And the star is too heavy for the top of our tree...

I helped a co-worker drop clothes off at the Homeless Shelter.

This weekend the kids and I will be cleaning out their closets and their toys.  We'll clean out our blanket closet and go buy a bunch of new socks.

And then, with the kids, we'll take their used clothes and toys (all cleaned up) down to the Homeless shelter.

In a hopes to instill in my children how rich of a life they live, and thus have a responsibility to help others.

I got to eat lunch at the Capitol yesterday with my co-workers for our AG Christmas lunch.

I love that building.

I love downtown.

Jayme made this beautiful rag tree that I've kept under the big tree.

And probably will for every year.

"Wrap yourself in the holiday spirit."

I got my Christmas craft on for our neighborhood Christmas breakfast at the church.

With a huge, huge thanks to my girls.  Those lollipops are a two man job.

You have to put the cellophane on the floor, put the balloon on the cellophane, and then hold the tube (sometimes tubes, sometimes rolled up posterboard) on the balloon.  They would hold it while I gathered and hot glued the cellophane around to the tube so we could secure the balloon in without popping it with the hot glue.  I couldn't have done it with out the extra sets of hands.

And Cali got to see Santa again.

Our friends introduced us to the most awesome, magical Christmas house.

There are so many blow up decorations, covering every inch of their yard, up in their trees, hanging on wires in the air, sitting on their roof...

You just can't see it all with one visit.

I've been three times this week and I still find a new blow up that I hadn't noticed before.

Like the mooning Santa:

And the bear with his tongue stuck to a pole:

And Santa in the outhouse, which sadly, I don't have a picture of.

This weekend will be focused on donating to the Homeless Shelter.  I'm hoping that will set the mood for giving with our Circus.  For giving for the simple fact that it creates joy for someone else, and that alone creates the greatest feeling in ourselves.

We have so very much in this life.

We must reach out to those who need a helping hand.

Because when we give what we have, we always seem to have what we need.