Some things...

... Phinn appears to be color blind. I had suspected it for some time. At school they did an eye screening. He passed all the tests but one. Color. It was confirmed to me tonight when he was doing a Gingerbread man craft and he went in search of red and green construction paper. He came back with green and brown. Most of the time, it's a non-issue. I could tell it was frustrating for him to realize he'd gotten the wrong color. He hasn't been to the optometrist yet. We haven't seen a need for it but I'm sure when he does go, we'll get a better idea of what colors exactly he's not getting. I have a suspicion it's just red but it could be red and green. This is something we'll just have to learn to deal with.

... I made Hamburger Helper for our dinner last night. Daniel was working late again and I didn't have time or energy for anything else so I grabbed the one box I've had in our cupboard for months and made it. So, I maybe make HH 3-4 times a year. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I prefer to know exactly what I put in our food and what everything is. However, after trying a bite or two you would think that I had been seriously neglecting my kids by NOT making HH more often. Sheesh! I bought a magnet with this on it a few weeks ago.



I'm not going to say my kids are ungrateful for the food I make, but when their response to HH is so strong, it makes me wonder what they're thinking with all the other food I make. I will not respond to their response by making Hamburger Helper on a more regular basis. I believe 3-4 times a year is more than sufficient.

... I still haven't started any Christmas shopping. It appears that Daniel and I might do all of our shopping together for this year on Friday. I'm excited. It won't be a day completely to ourselves (we'll have Clementine) but I'm so looking forward to some time with him. He's been working a lot lately.

... Daniel got me an awesome new sewing machine for Christmas. He let me open it early. AWESOME! I have the opportunity to take a class at the place from which he purchased this awesome machine. It may have to wait until after Christmas but I cannot wait. There is so much to this machine that I don't even know where to begin. It does everything but sew the project for you. If you didn't know this about Daniel, he is pretty much the most awesome gift giver ever. It is super fantastic and a little nerve wracking at the same time because I am never this spot on.



... Phinn is nearly finished up with his first semester of Kindergarten. We couldn't be happier with our choice to send him to school. We love his teacher, he's doing a great job, he's having an impact on his classmates (in a positive way) and he's growing into such a big boy. He does still miss me and I him but we've been finding time here and there to have some one on one time just the two of us every so often. I have been volunteering in his classroom on Thursdays for center time. It's been a great opportunity to see how he is in class and how he interacts with his teacher and classmates. And, I get to know some of his buddies. They all call me Phinn's mom, which cracks me up. I also get to stay and have lunch with him, something that reiterates to me that we indeed have the slowest eater in the world as our firstborn. Good grief. We didn't take the decision to send him to public school lightly. At this point, we would make the same decision again.

.... I watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special with the kids tonight. Best. Charlie. Brown. Ever. The kids loved it. GIgi asked if we could watch another one after it finished. Sadly, no.

... Gigi is finishing up her first semester of preschool and she still loves it. She's so social and the interaction she gets from her classmates is nourishing to her little spirit. She's preforming in her first ever dance recital this coming weekend. She is beyond excited. It should be good. I am fearing she is often shuttled aside because of the needs of the baby or Phinn's needs. My recent prayer is that I recognize when I have an opportunity for time just for her and I jump on it.

... Clementine is almost walking. She was 10 months old last Friday and has taken one step at a time on three different occasions. She is so ready. Me, maybe not so much but my back could sure use a little breather. She still has no teeth but seems to be working on some. Who know? She's started shouting everything lately. It is LOUD! And, it's about to send this momma over the edge. I will prevail.

... I feel a little bit more caught up on the old blog (after this post, that is) :)