failure

We all have challenges, part of mine is being a good educator, facilitator, and mother for my kids. Our schedule mainly consists of basic school time (reading, write, 'rithmetic) in the morning, and in the afternoon we go on some sort of enriching outing or social affair. We now have girl scouts and cub scouts and piano, gymnastics, young stateswoman association, activity days, art classes, and violin, and a myriad of other social, family, and religious obligations.

Sometimes mornings are the worst. We have a lot to do, and when we work like a well oiled machine, we get lots and lots done. But sometimes the kids just don't feel like doing it. And sometimes I don't feel like making them. 

And maybe I hide in my room, shirking my duty, texting sympathetic friends, and reading internet rubbish. Occasionally jealous of nameless internet moms who have love affairs with wine. 

And sometimes, when I am being a stupid failure in the mornings, my children don't waste their time. They do things that bring them joy.

November has brought sun with it. Lovely golden sun and nearly 60 degree days. Weather really does affect me. The kids did not let it go to waste yesterday. They may not have felt like memorizing their times tables or working on writing the letter 'p' correctly, but they made glorious use of the day.

So maybe this one morning was okay for me to hide away. The kids showed excellent self sufficiency. There is hope. 

cold weather slump

Fall hit us fast and early. We were just unsuspecting sun lovers one day, and the next day BAM! Rain and 58 degrees. For a whole month we've been dragging a little as a family. School has seemed more like a chore, chores seem chorier.


We have a pretty busy fall schedule, cub and girl scouts, violin and piano, literature group and Young Stateswoman Association and art, Activity Days and gymnastics. All that dumped on us at the same time. But our outlooks are looking brighter even if the weather is not. Our schedule only sounds too busy, we actually have plenty of free time and only cub scouts is in the evening, and I'm not leading all of the activities, only a few of them. Phew.


Nora seemed to get out of the funk fastest. She has serious toddler skills, and prefers to be a little cold. I can't get her to wear a blanket in our old drafty house. Anyway, she sings and dances and collects acorns and chestnuts as often as she can.


And we exchanged some videos with the Kangs and got to see some of their awesome life in Korea, which was a huge blast of sunshine in our lives. But not literally. They are expecting a monsoon.


And I've been trying to figure out something to do with our mixed media center. It has involve cardboard and particle board for a long time and basically an eye sore unless you are watching a movie and are completely distracted.


I Was pretty proud of myself for figuring out an alternative, not getting hanged by the millions and billions of wires, and making sure everything still worked and everyone could still see the screen.


James liked it. Except that he didn't know how we are going to assimilate his new 200 disc cd changer and watching movies is fine, but when he is playing games, that little bit that is shaded is sorely missed.


Still not going back to particle board. Sorry, James.

little gymnasts

Friday means gymnastics day!
And story time and tux math and the beginning of the weekend. It's practically a holiday. I had a principal that taught the entire school her 'Friday Song', and now my kids know it, too.


But mostly we are celebrating Gymnastics Day!

conference baby

We spent the loveliest weekend with Grandma Cozette and Grandma Linda and Grandpa Jim. We watched a little conference, played some games, ate more Popsicles than Mom would ever normally allow, walked the dogs with Grandpa, went to the movies with Grandma, gave Grandma Cozy lots of hugs (you get the really good, reserve candy sometimes), and had a spectacularly relaxing and care free weekend.
Grandma Linda and Nora even made a birthday cake for our conference baby. Her birthday isn't for a few more days. Conference came early this year. Three years ago this smile producing powerhouse joined us, and it sure has been fun!
Nora and Grandma made the cake together. She wanted strawberry on the inside and red on the outside. And I think the rest of us may have gotten a little Nora slobber, too. She likes to pretend she is a puppy pretty frequently, but I think she just couldn't get the strawberries in her mouth fast enough when she stuck her face in the bowl.

life changers

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Some actual life changing events happened around Christmas, but mostly I just want to discuss waffles.

Because, for Christmas James gave me a Belgian Waffle Iron. And it has been a serious game changer in the breakfast department around here. It's starting to get to Knope status, especially with Lucy.

We have two waffle days a week now, and one day I decided to make french toast to use up some extra bread. OOO Buddy. Ruined Lucy's entire day. Entire Day! And it was really good french toast, too. But no syrup pockets, no deal.

Anyway, I have now perfected my favorite waffle recipe. The kids prefer the recipe with equal parts sugar flour and melted butter (who wouldn't?), but I feel a little more comfortable about pouring more sugar on this one.

And because I never want to forget this very special recipe, I will now immortalize it here:

Tunnell Waffles

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 T baking powder
2 eggs
2 T oil of choice

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix well. Cook in your favorite waffle iron. Burn fingers removing and then eat immediately. These are sweet enough, I don't put anything on top. But whip cream is good. And the maple syrup pockets work admirably. And I am anticipating strawberry season will upgrade these little babies, too.