A rousing game of "Concentration" with our dad. I didn't know you could think of so many things that technically qualify as..."ingredients?" You have to be quick around here.

Kendall, Josh and Thomas getting as much playing in as they could before the snow melted.

"Modeling" the gear!

How's that for the first snowfall of the season. I can finally justify firing up the furnace. It's so exciting to get out the coats, boots, hats and gloves in celebration of the changing of the seasons. After this we won't be able to find any of it. They'll probably just wear underpants and a t-shirt. Either that, or they'll just stay in because it's not cool anymore. It's cold!

This is our way of showing off the harvest of the summer season. These are David's pumpkins that he grew using his newfound organic gardening techniques. I'm afraid the picture doesn't do justice to how big and heavy they really are. The boy in the picture is representative of my efforts of the summer. Although he was too little to perform on our family recital in September, he did learn how use the potty completely on his own. He can also dress and undress himself. (Is that a good thing?)

In September, Tom ran his first marathon. He promised it was his only one. I'm not sure if that is true. Despite being injured early on, he finished the race in good time. He definitely proved his ability to persevere by sheer will-power and to accomplish something just by putting his mind to it. After watching some of the other runners, I realized how severely I underestimated this accomplishment. Chamane and I went to be the moral support and that was about the extent of it. If he were to do it again, I think I would make a WAY bigger deal out of it. In any case, we were very proud of our daddy. He decided to do something I would never dream of, set his mind to the goal and did a great job. All this said, we'll be happy when he can walk again and can determine that he won't need knee replacement surgery.

Paul sings Nessun Dorma high quality video/sound

I LOVE this clip. My kids wanted to know why I thought it was so cool. I think it is because of what it represents. It is a reflection on life. We all come to this life with a package that may be wrapped beautifully, but more often, it's plain. If you unwrap it, there is a gift that we are supposed to figure out what to do with. I see myself in this clip. There is something in me that was born to do something so great, but I spend so much time worrying about dumb stuff that I don't always do the things I should be doing to move toward that end. It's amazing how circumstances in your life can change overnight to put you on the path you should be on. Maybe at some point, people will be surprised. Like Paul Potts, I already know it's in there somewhere.

DHTV Homeschooling

What can we say? We're famous. This was a clip put together by the Daily Herald on families who homeschool. Luckily, it was very positive, and the kids got a big kick out of it.

Chamane's Big Day...

...Okay, one of them. Every day is a big day around here. Take this one, for example -- I learned how to post a photo to a blog. Pretty impressive, huh?

Fortunately

This posting to my own blog is kind of fun! Let's see if I can do it again.

I've been planning on painting my house for about 18 months and never have the time or energy to get around to it. Several weeks ago, I got desperate and just picked a weekend with nothing in it (you can do that if you're far enough ahead of that weekend). I set aside that time with a commitment to not let anything else get scheduled in it and went about making my plans. As fate would have it, that weekend fell on this weekend, so I went about rounding up supplies and going to the store to have paint colors mixed, etc. After priding myself on how frugal I had been and how prepared in advance (due to my excellent planning) I was, I loaded everything in the van and started home. Just around the corner from my house, I spotted two boys walking home. I noted they were walking to the same house I was going to, so I stopped to give them a ride. As soon as I offered and they headed for the door, I noticed that one can of paint had shifted and was leaning against the door about to be opened. Though I yelled to them to wait to open the door, it was of no avail. As soon as the door opened, the can landed on the asphalt and dumped the paint into the street in front of my neighbors house. Should I scream? Should I yell? Did anyone THAT I KNOW just see what happened? Why didn't he listen to me? Who's fault is this, anyway? I should clean up this mess. WITH WHAT?? How long would it take to dry? How far would it spread if someone drove through it? Does it look like barf? How permanent is it, after all? You get the picture. There was nothing to do but carry on, though I was bitterly disappointed. As I went throughout the rest of the day, I started to think of things that were fortunate. The paint spilled in the street and not in my car. Whew! No one will know who made that mess (until they come into my living room). But I think the most fortunate thing was that I had the presence of mind to realize that a 6-year-old boy is worth far more than $24.98. There was no point in blaming or yelling or crying...at least not in public. Luckily, no irreparable damage was done.

Counting Lessons

Okay, so sometimes I wonder if I could be losing my mind. Tonight I went to Wendy's to get some frosties for the kids (thought I'd shock them by doing something spontaneous). I ordered 8 of the $.99 frosties, and when the gal asked what flavors, I told her I would take 6 chocolate and 4 vanilla. Huhh? The funny thing was that I didn't even notice when she quoted me the price. It's tricky to add up even dollars, so I just chalked up the difference to a lot of tax. Then I had the problem of what to do with the two extras. It's a tough job, but someone has to take care of these things and I'm willing to do my part.

The Beginning of a Magical Blog...

This post is for the Rogers to keep their far-away-but-oh-so-fun family members up to date on all the great things going on. In the future you can expect to see many more pictures of cute and very talented kids, as well as funny stories and maybe some videos...(no pressure).