December 30...364/365

December 29...363/365

Me and my kids...eating birthday cupcakes and getting ready to say goodbye.  Gonna miss these guys...

December 28...362/365

I'm so excited about my birthday gift!  And I can't wait until I can actually play something on the hammered dulcimer.  Hoping for a Brown family ensemble next Christmas!

December 27...361/365

Love her smile...this girl is absolutely obsessed with Soul Surfer...she can recite every line from the movie.  What a great book for her!

December 26...260/365

Doing a puzzle with Aunt Courtney, the puzzle master! :o)

December 25...359/365

Love this look of surprise on her face...a violin for her American Girl doll!

December 24...358/365

I was feeling stressed and guilty about the fact that our Christmas Eve meal wasn't prepared BEFORE we left for church.  But everyone pitched in and we ended up all cooking together and having a great evening!

December 23...357/365

All of this candy and Kool-Aid was donated by families from Zane and Millie's classes at school and in 7 days...is heading to India!!

December 22...356/365

Grandpa visits Millie's class at Mary Castle Elementary.  Reminds me of the days when he and Mom visited Quinn and Clara at Highland for Grandparents' Day.

December 20...353/365

Moved up to yellow belt today.  Proud of himself because Master Mike took a look at his practice kicks and said he needed to get a harder board.

December 19...352/365

Piano Recital tonight.  I have 2 students who are twin sisters and decided to play a duet together for the first time.  They did a great job!

December 18...351/365

December 17...350/365

We wrapped up the kids and put them under the tree tonight in EPIC

December 16...349/465

Bonus picture, actually taken on the 14th...Clara and her good friend Kamy, right before their choir concert this week...

December 15...348/365

Millie's class presented the end of their Music Project today.

December 14...347/365

Sleepy girl waiting for big sis to finish homework. She didn't quite make it...

December 12...346/365

Buckeyes!!

December 11...345/365

Christmas Concert for the New World Concert Orchestra.  They perform at the mall downtown in the Artsgarden, which sits right over a downtown street.  Looks so pretty at Christmastime!!

December 10...344/365

Santa Hat snack mix

December 9...343/365

Delicious dinner tonight with friends...

December 8...342/365

December 6...340/365

One of the Christmas gifts we've crafted this year.  I ran out of H's but I figured they had such a long last name, I could be justified in using a free space!!

December 5...339/365

Zane made this life-sized paper version of himself in art class...he's even wearing his Tae Kwon Do uniform.  But it freaks me out every time I walk by it--there's some strange person laying in my family room!

December 4...338/365

Coloring

December 3...337/365

Millie dances at our church's annual Angel Breakfast

December 2...336/365

Love this!!

December 1...335/365

Gloria!!  My mom bought me my first 2 carolers in 2006...when I was in Ann Arbor for one of her major chemo treatments.  I've since added two more (had to have 4 to represent my four kids, right?)  I love them.

November 30...334/365

The little kids had AWANA tonight, so the big kids headed to Starbucks to do homework (and have our first Peppermint Hot Chocolates/Mochas of the season!)

November 29...333/365

I sat down on my balance ball, getting ready to do some sit-ups when Tonks plopped her head on my knee and refused to move.  If dogs had a love language I guarantee hers would be physical touch.

November 27...331/365

It's Quinn's year to put the angel on the top of the tree.  Next time he does this he'll be a senior in high school. wow...

November 26...330/365

The kids in EPIC love bacon.  Daniel and Traci (our fearless leaders) found the perfect Christmas decoration for the room at church.

November 25...329/365

We were setting up the Little People nativity (yes, my kids are too old for it, but it's tradition) and we were missing a Wise Man.  Went to the regular Little People tub and found him...but he wasn't riding a camel!!

November 24...328/365

Cousins having fun on Thanksgiving!

November 23...327/365

Sometimes I'm amazed at the pictures I get with my phone...

November 22...326/365

Zane's class wrapped up their "hat" project today with an open house of presentations.  Grandma and PaPa surprised Zane by coming to hear what he (and some other very creative classmates) had to share!

November 21...325/365

Classic case of trying to do too many things at once resulted in a complete disaster of my kitchen...yes, I poured a glass of wine (pictured) before attempting to clean up--this is only a small corner of my mess.  Good news is that the Thanksgiving rolls are ready to brown and serve now!!

November 20...324/365

These kids were so fast that my phone couldn't keep up!!  You've heard of "Steal the Bacon?"  Well, Sunday we had an EPIC game of "Steal the Turkey"  We had to be very specific about NOT THROWING THE FROZEN TURKEY.  Common sense definitely has not yet fully developed by 5th/6th grade.

November 19...323/365

The tree is covered with thankful leaves!!  Love this...

November 17...321/365

The new desk we bought when we were at IKEA a few weeks ago.  It folds down flat against the wall when not in use.  Since we have lots of recipes that we have saved on the laptop and use lots of online recipes, we wanted a place close to the kitchen action where we can safely put it for reference.  I am excited about this.  (obviously a little wall repair coming since the desk doesn't work with the chair rail there.  I'm worried about what Matt's going to do to "fix" this, and I'll guarantee it happens while I'm in India and can't say a thing about it...

November 13...317/365

Millie took the picture today (I was accompanying Clara) at the violin recital.  Clara did a great job!

November 12...316/365

Angry Birds Live!!! (not the best pictures, but great fun...)

November 11...315/365

These guys are going to be party of some big fun for the EPIC 5th and 6th graders at church this weekend.

November 10...314/365

My only picture today...Quinn's acceptance card for a class he's interested in taking next year.  I'm a little frazzled at the thought of having a kid in high school next year.  I'm sure I'll survive, but it'll take some getting used to.

November 9...313/365

WOOHOO!!  Today we said goodbye to the VERY old and falling apart dishwasher that we inherited with the house.  We were selected to be part of a dishwasher evaluation study, so we will have this one for 3 months and then a 2nd one for the next 3 month.  As you can see, we don't know what brand or type we're using.  The suspense is kind of driving Matt crazy, but I'm perfect happy to just have something new and functional!!

November 8...312/365

November 7...311/365

Dear Children,
See that middle knob? Please turn it off after you shower.
Sincerely,
Your Mom (who had an unexpected 2nd hair wash today)

November 5...307/365

Took advantage of the beautiful day and got the lights up!!