Guess Who...

One of these girls won the local Christmas coloring contest. They were in the same age category. Can you guess which one is the crafty coloring connoisseur (aka: this year's winner)?

Rewind: Pre-Christmas Festivus

Let's go back, just briefly, to before the ripping and tearing, before the pre-Christmas Drama.

I just wanted you to have a quick feel of the Christmas Festivus here at the Seriously, Though household.

There was popcorn stringing...



And tree decorating...



And gingerbread house making...


And reindeer food sprinkling...

Ho! Ho! The Big Guy Arrived...

I have a bazillion photos to share from the Christmas Festivus. There was the making of the gingerbread house, the stringing of the popcorn, and the singing of the carols (which has caused Kate to believe that we should knock on random strangers' doors and sing Christmas songs loudly, any time of the year). Please forgive us if we show up at your house in the coming months (and please clap loudly and yell bravo after we conclude our version of Hark the Harold Angels Sing...because, you know, it makes the wee ones happy).

Here's just a brief snippet from Christmas morning. It was fun. Not as fun as last year. There was a tired and cranky four-year-old. There was a mama who was expecting a little more excitement and enthusiasm from two certain red heads. There was a man who didn't laugh as loudly as one might expect when he opened his brand new Batman underwear. I'm just sayin'...he should have been exstatic about such a gift, don't you think?

But all in all, it was a happy, joyful, relaxing Christmas morning, complete with a visit from Pappy and Grammy, and a breakfast of pancakes and bacon.

Around Here…

Kate went to her first roller skating party. She was adorable. Do you remember when you were in sixth grade and you thought the coolest thing ever was “couple skating” with a cute boy? Well this month I got to hold the hand of a tiny, 5-year-old girl. She stumbled and she giggled and she fell. And it was so much better than skating with those cute boys from sixth grade!

And Ellie…well, she’s catching up on her reading. See?

Notice that she’s reading “Boundaries with Kids.” That’s my newest library book. Obviously, I’m having a hard time. With kids. And boundaries.

Here's a recent conversation with Ellie:

Ellie: Hi Mom. How's your private parts doing?
Me: Um...they're good. Thanks for asking.
Ellie: Oh... mine are just fine, too.

See. Boundaries. And Kids. We're having problems with that!

Kindergarten...a Recap!

We interupt this Summer Send-Off Series to bring you a brief recap of:

Kate's First Day of Kindergarten (said loudly, like a car commercial)...

Thankfully, I did most of my crying in the days prior to the start of the school year. And let me tell you, I cried me a river (and then some). There were a few tears the morning of the big day, but I hid in the office briefly until they passed, and my sweet girl was none the wiser.

Mostly, she was excited. Because it's KINDERGARTEN (said loudly, like a car commercial)...

We had to do some last minute shopping in the morning (Kate goes to afternoon Kindergarten), so we made a quick trip to Staples in search of the ever elusive Ticonderoga fat, primary pencils that were on her school supply list. Yes...I was still searching for them mere hours before the start of her first day. And yes...I found them! Yay, me (and thanks, Sheila, for the suggestion)!

There was also a little discussion about whether or not she should put a sock or a mitten in her pencil box (as the school supply list said that she could use either one as a white board eraser). She wanted a brand new mitten (which, just so happens to be very difficult to find in August). I gave her a cool sock. She cried and told me that everyone would laugh at her if she put a sock on her hand. So we picked out an old mitten, shoved it in the box and she was happy!

She had a new dress, thanks to Grammy (who took her on her first back to school shopping extravaganza the week before). On said extravaganza, Kate picked out three dresses, a necklace, a bracelet, and her first book bag.



She got dressed quickly, proudly posed for pictures, and was thrilled to jump in the car and head on her way to KINDERGARTEN (loudly, like a car commercial, remember?).



We got there and I could tell she was a little nervous. We found her cubby (which was unmarked without her name tag on it...a little snafu to the start of the day, which she seemed to handle well). She sat down with an apprehensive look on her face (even though she was seated directly across from her friend Colin...the first boy she ever kissed. And hopefully the last until she's 20 something).

I took some more pictures, told her it would be a great day and I couldn't wait to hear all about it, and I calmly walked out the door...leaving my baby girl in the hands of a woman I had barely met. But I didn't cry. I talked with some other parents for awhile and then I headed home to bake the much loved and highly anticipated after school snack...blueberry muffins. I had a little helper. She was great (and very sad that she couldn't go to Kindergarten). Poor Ellie said that it isn't fun to hang out with just me, even though we played Pretty, Pretty Princess and baked muffins. It kind of hurt my feelings.

And then Steve arrived with first-day of school balloons (which, by the way, are not dorky...all the cool kids get balloons on the first day of school! Right? Tell me I'm right!). I stood by the window for 20 minutes watching for the bus and then we made the long trek (all 40 feet or so) to the bus stop, camera and balloons in hand.


As the bus approached, I snapped a few pictures for posterity and waited anxiously for my girl to get off the bus when the doors opened.

Except...she wasn't on the bus. It's the first day of school and my girl was not on the bus. I thought I might need to be resucitated right there. But instead, I ran up the bus steps and said, "Where is she????" Thankfully, our fabulous bus driver made a few calls and we found her within a minute or two. My girl was still at the school, because her teacher thought she was a car rider. There were a few tears when we picked her up, but only because she really, really wanted to ride the big bus (I think she had been looking forward to that part of Kindergarten most of all!
The day was filled with so many emotions. I was so proud of Kate. She was excited and nervous and she was so brave. My girl is growing up...and I'm just praying that she knows how much we love her, how special she truly is!


Day #2: Getting off the bus...finally! Woo Hoo!

Summer Send-Off: Thrill Rides

Ladies and gentleman, it's time to say farewell to a much loved, small town America tradition...The Carnival. You know, those totally safe and perfectly clean rides that are set up in 30 minutes and run by men who smell like Jack Daniels and cigarette smoke?

Ah, yes...and what an innocent, sweet, summer tradition it is (as you cover your kids' ears in hopes that they won't hear the multi-pierced teenagers swearing like a bunch of drunken sailors). My friends, carnivals are small town at its finest. And honestly, I love ours.

Love. It.

Except for the five minutes when Ellie was sucking on the hand bar of the ferris wheel (It's okay, though, because I'm sure it was cleaned with lysol wipes by the tattoo covered, dog collar wearing ride operator just moments before she sat down).

So here's a quick farewell to our beloved carnival and all the colorful sights and sounds (and people) that go along with it.

Summer Send-Off: Farewell to Sprinkles

My girls love sprinkles. Me? Not so much. Melty ice cream with dripping sprinkles is not among my top five summer pleasures. But the girls think it is hilarious to get sprinkles up their noses, down their shirts, and in their socks. Seriously, though...how could you not love a little shot of sprinkles up your nose?

Into the World....

How can it be that my girl is going to kindergarten in just over an hour? I cried last night...big, sobbing, alligator tears. I wondered if I had prepared her enough, if I had taught her enough. Mostly, I wondered how our five years together went by so quickly. It seems like she was just born, just smiling at me with her toothless grin, just waddling her first steps across the floor, just saying "mamamamamama" for the first time. And now she's heading out into the world. My heart is breaking. And today I am praying that the world will love my sweet Kate just as much as I do.
Now go get 'em, girlfriend. The world is out there waiting for you (and your mama will be just a few steps behind, cheering you on all the way)!

1 in 565...

Out of 565 vacation pictures, I think this one is my favorite. Stay tuned...there's more to come!

Roy G. Biv (special focus on the G)

Are you sitting down? No? You're standing up and looking at the computer? Weird. Are you in the kitchen, standing at the island, searching for a recipe? That's about the only reason I can think of to be standing while on the computer. It doesn't matter...if you're standing, grab a seat. I have some News from the Farmstead. Are you sitting? Okay...this week on the Farmstead, I have learned:

If you plant it and care for it and love it and blow kisses to it and pray for it and photograph it and wait patiently for it, and finally, pick it...

She will eat it!

I'm afraid to type this, for fear that I may jinx it and she'll never eat a green veggie again, but this little girl ate lots of steamed green beans this week. GREEN BEANS. Do you hear the complete and utter shock coming straight through the computer? She ate them (and I'm not even concerned that they were dipped drowned in ranch dressing). I'm focusing on the fact that they were green. beans. Did I mention that they were green. beans? Green. Hooray for the G in between the Roy and the Biv.

There's another little girl in this house who has not caught on yet, but I'm not giving up hope.

There's still tomatoes and peppers and sweet potatoes and carrots and broccoli to pick. She's bound to eat something, right? But I'm not focusing on that right now. Because one little girl in this house ate green. beans.

Today, there is much rejoicing on the Farmstead. Green has become one of my new, favorite colors! Yay for green beans!


Check out other colors of the rainbow on the Week 13 KinderGardens Round Up. Or, you could read the Week 14 KinderGardens updates (I'm late, as usual)!