January Update

January was a lovely month, because I got to relax.  I didn't schedule much and didn't have anything big approaching.  It was absolutely wonderful!!

Kylen's parks and rec basketball ended.  They lost every game, which was disappointing, but it was the first time he and his friends had competed against strangers.  Kylen thought it was a good experience overall and would have liked the season to last longer.  Greg was an assistant coach and even subbed one week.  We're hoping there will be enough interest to do it again next year.

Driver's ed. started and will continue throughout February.  The classroom portion is three evenings a week, 2 hours and 16 minutes each evening.  The extra 16 minutes shaves off one day.  He'll also be driving with an instructor two hours each week, half of it spent actually driving and the other half observing another student.  Greg has been taking him out every chance they get to practice.  I have requested not to be in the car, as it makes me too nervous.  I'm SO thankful Greg is taking care of this portion of his education!!

It's hard to believe we're halfway through 9th grade!  We're staying on track for the most part.  Kylen will likely finish some subjects early and be done with everything by mid-June.  :)

Since losing a lot of weight on my restricted diet, I've had to replace a large portion of my wardrobe.  I've bounced back and forth between loving and hating it.  Sometimes it's fun to shop for clothes, but other times it's exasperating.  I'm picky to begin with, then once you add sizing variations and my physical limitations . . . and my inability to drive . . . it can be pretty annoying.  I've made more than my share of returns, that's for sure!

Well, not much else going on here!  February promises to be another relaxing month - yay!

Art Journaling

Most of my artistic pursuits over the past decade have served to meet needs, and I have enjoyed those creative outlets.  But they often come with restrictions that take joy from the process.  When preparing a craft for a co-op class, I need to consider the logistics of working in a classroom setting, the ages of the children, ease of obtaining supplies, etc..  So when I noticed a gal was offering an art journaling class for high school students this trimester, I jumped at the opportunity to learn new things and requested to be her aide.  What I didn't anticipate was how much I would enjoy tackling the assignments myself!  It has been SO long since I've done art purely for the fun of doing art, and it feels SO good!!!!!  It's like . . . going back to childhood!  (The downside is that I get very consumed.  I spent most of a Saturday on one entry.  Oof!)

We were asked to journal about our name and its meaning.  Almost as an aside, the teacher showed us a neat way of writing that appealed to me.  I decided to use that style to fill a two-page spread.  Here is the process:

*Use a ruler to divide the page into blocks of varying widths and heights.  I recommend using pencil first.
*Brainstorm words for your topic.  Mine was my name, so I used words describing myself: interests, character traits, etc.  When I came up short, Hubby and Sonshine helped and actually thought of some really obvious words I'd missed!
*Write words such that they fill the entire space, reaching all the way to all edges.  Longer words should be written in wide, narrow spaces and short words in tall spaces.  I did all writing in pencil and went over it again in marker.  (Forgot permanent marker bleeds through, and it bled through pretty bad.  Spoiled the next 2 or 3 pages on either side.  I'll just cover them with paper backgrounds, but it was still annoying.)
*If you are a perfectionist like me, you can use a ruler to measure the width of each space before writing a word in.  Divide it by the number of letters, and measure off tick marks in pencil to see how wide each letter should be. I used mostly millimeters for the sizes I was working with.
*Doodle in spaces around letters.  I did this directly in marker.
*If desired, color spaces around letters.

This is before the doodles were added to the smaller words.

Here is the finished spread after doodles and color were added.  I like the black and white of the lower part and decided not to color there.  For the top, I used crayon and a tissue to smooth it.

Kylen's 15th!!!!! Birthday

He's 15.  My little boy is 15!!  And how about THIS???

I'm not even kidding!!!!

All these years, I've been dying for Kylen to drive (since I can't), and now that he is learning to drive, I'm scared!  My baby steering a multi-ton vehicle down the streets???  Tell me it ain't so! 

But maybe I should back up a little.  I'm getting ahead of myself.

So waaaaay, way back on Saturday, before our son had a learner's permit . . .

Just like his 14th birthday, we played laser tag with 25 friends - all teenage boys and their dads, plus a couple moms.

Kylen even came in first for one of the three games.  I got a picture of him standing below the score only to find out later that the screen switched over to displaying the day's top scorers.  Oh well.

We ate pizza and cupcakes.  It was great!

But then yesterday . . . was his actual birthday when he turned 15 . . .

He got the day off from school, played video games . . .

The headset allows him to talk with his friends while playing.

So serious!

And Greg got off work early to take him to the DOL - Department of Licensing.  NO!!!!!


Waiting . . .

The beginning of signature writing, definitely a step into adulthood!

Standing in front of the DOL with his temporary learner's permit.

He's learning to drive!!!!

 

This is going to be my regular view for awhile.  I needed to sit in the back when Kylen was really little; now, I'll be sitting in the back for the opposite reason!  Full circle!

 

We ate at Red Robin.

This dessert is called "Mountain High Mud Pie."  He also got a free birthday sundae and shared both desserts with Greg.  They let us bring our own candle and lighter.

 

Our boy is 15!!!!!!!  And DRIVING!  !!!!!!!!!!



Happy 2015!

Happy New Year!!!

We had a quiet evening last night.  Some of our friends stay home New Year's Eve to avoid drunk drivers, and we decided to follow their example.  We made a couple appetizers, had tea and cupcakes, and played a game of Dominion.  Someone said their family chats about the previous year - their likes/dislikes and goals for the future. We did that, but it wasn't nearly as interesting as I thought it would be!  It seems we were all pretty content with 2014 and don't really have plans for 2015.  The talk seemed a bit pointless, but it also highlighted something: how blessed we are to have a happy, content home. I guess we are living James 4:

"Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

Today we are enjoying another quiet day at home, getting a few things done here and there. It's nice.  I might start putting away the Christmas décor.  Will be sad to see the outside lights go but glad to get out the Valentine décor.  =)

We wish everyone a wonderful 2015!

The Fudge Turned Out!

After trying a new recipe last year with horrible results, we went back to Grandma's fudge this year.  It turned out great!  Just finished the last piece.  Not sure I should make it again.  We couldn't stop eating it!