Noah Rocks...

Noah had another Band concert last week that was short and sweet. We heard songs from the Band I class where Noah plays the clarinet and then from the Beginning Jazz Band, where he plays the saxophone. (Scott and I have been working on that sax thing since Noah was 6 so we are glad it's sticking!) Noah is so much like his father :) and thankfully one of the similarities is their musical ability. Scott can play many different instruments and Noah is also working on the drums while he is at home. He is doing great at all three instruments! I love hearing them play together in the studio. Its so sweet.

Second row, hiding behind his music stand...

Band I - Second row, left side

Great job guys!

Jazz Band

Look at that form. :)

They crack themselves up....and Noah wishes he was that much taller than Scott. ha!

Noah, Scott and Hadlee....How cute!

Great job Noah! You make us very proud!!

comfortable with who you are

Have you ever had someone try to take you down on their way out?  I experienced this last week at work and then saw it attempted on our home front too. Both attempts were silly, futile and pathetic.

A vendor I have used on and off for the last 12 years had moved to a broker only position and while I was trying to send her business to help her rebuild after bankruptcy, the quality of her contracted work was suffering. Our turn around times were getting longer and longer with projects needing to be reprinted because of quality. There was a price issue and overall, the amount of time spent on our account was becoming less and less while our company was getting busier and busier. It was becoming quite a problem and when I let this vendor know that we would be moving part of our business elsewhere, she responded unprofessionally, burned a long standing bridge, lied and tried to take me down with her. It was eye opening to say the least. But more importantly, it didn't work.

As for the home front these attempts are nothing new but are embarrassing for me to hear about, witness and experience. When you spend so much time connected to a person, whether professionally or personally, whether wanted or unwanted, you learn a lot about them. You typically see these "people" at some of their worst times. Whether you want it to or not, information gets passed along and a picture of your life is built using these snapshots of life. It's not necessarily a pretty picture. I have seen several moments of desperation followed by over the top, inappropriate interactions that indicate deep resentment and anger. You only get angry if you care what someone thinks, right? That pretty much applies to every interaction in life.

There really should come a time in your life when you are comfortable with who you are. When you have given up tantrums, manipulation, victim mentalities and destructive actions. When you know that what you are doing is the right thing for your kids, spouse, family, coworkers and employer. When what you do when no one is looking is just the same as when the world is watching. When you exhibit genuine empathy to those who are hurting, when you put your selfishness aside and give what is most needed to those you love. Once you become comfortable with who you are, you can give more of yourself without fear of rejection or loss. You don't have to be afraid that you are LOSING or that you need to one up someone in the competition you insist isn't there....you can finally be free to love and be loved. That bitterness that you hold so dear is killing you. 12 years, 9 years or even 9 days is too long to allow anger, frustration, bitterness and depression to control you.

When you know who you are then silly attempts to take you down are futile. They are pathetic, silly and sad to watch. Manipulation and fear tactics will never win. Those who practice that will always get stuck in the mire and muck and remain there while you pass them by. I am finally in a place professionally and personally that I have long awaited. I am comfortable in who I am at work (and I kick butt at work!) and who I am at home. I know who I love, who loves me and what is best for my family at the end of the day. I am right where I want and need to be....whether you like it or not.

Birthday Festivities

This year is really turning out to be an epic one for us with many "firsts". In Dec. (yes, I know that was technically last year) we got to have Autumn on Christmas Day for the first time ever and now we got to have her on her actual birth day. Another first for us as a family! Woo Hoo! I am so thankful that certain "things" were righted and set in stone so we can be assured of our time with her...but that is for another post...This post is about her birthday festivities....

The kids were home friday-tuesday morning again with Monday being her birthday and no school for all with Presidents day. They enjoyed themselves, let me tell you. On Sunday night Noah invited them up to his place room for a sleep over. They made pallets on the floor and Aslan even found his pillow and settled in. Noah slept in his closet (aka the clubhouse) while the other kids slept nearby.

Looks like fun, huh?

He seriously did go find his pillow and plopped down watching over his babies. He is such a good herding dog!

They really look asleep don't they? ;)

Seriously?! This is what they think they look like when they are sleeping? Cute faces boys!

While the kids were "sleeping" daddy and I decorated downstairs so Autumn would be greeted with love when she got up. :) Pink and purple streamers with a balloon chandelier. Perfect!

Lady Bug tried to eat the balloons that were hanging in the door way. It was great entertainment!

While I was on my way to work, Scott discovered this early in the morning...Eli's face was covered in marker! Apparently, while the kids were "sleeping" they were actually playing Truth or Dare....and turns out no one was interested in Truth....so there were a lot of pranks going on...Eli was dared and you can see how that turned out...Autumn and Noah ended up switching out outfits for the rest of the night (too bad she wasn't in one of her formal dresses!) and Lucas was dared to lick the inside of Noah's sax. EWWWW! All of the dares were accepted and performed....it's a shame our kids don't get along, isn't it? :)

What a great attitude he has! And this marker lasted for 2 days!

While I was at work, Scott made Autumn's birthday cupcakes (from scratch cause he is that awesome!) and had dinner ready when I got home. We quietly celebrated under our balloon chandelier and then opened presents.

She loves Owl City right now so anything OWL was perfect for her.

That's my girl...funky socks!

And this is what a super cute and sweet 15 yr old looks like. Fashionable huh?

Happy Birthday Autumn. We love you!

Happy Birthday Autumn!

Happy Birthday to our sweet 15 year old! (Agghhh! We have a 15 yr old!!!)

For Autumn's birthday card we wrote out a few silly things to make her smile. I read it aloud to her while she tried to guess who wrote what. It was pretty funny and a great way to get her in the birthday mood.

What is your favorite memory of Autumn?

Eli: when it was her 14 b day and the dog took some of her cake!

Lucas: When we climbed the moutain  in Mexico.

Noah: when she told me I was her favorite brother( at gmas house)

Dawma: My favorite memory is the first day I met her back in January 2004. I went with daddy to pick her up and after the ride back to Ottawa, she came to my house while Scott ran next door to his apartment. Autumn came inside my home and walked to my kitchen and when I asked her a question about herself, she told me that she wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers. The girl was in my kitchen but didn’t think she could talk to me! She was soo cute and sweet. I introduced her to my 2 large stuffed gorillas and she decided she could talk to me…and she has been talking non stop ever since! xoxo

Daddy: There are too many to list. But today wouldn’t be possible without the day of her birth. That was a great day!

What is a funny story about her that happened here at home?

Eli: when we were smelling each others butt!

Lucas: The day I got to hold her when she was born!

Noah: I have to agree with eli on this one.

Dawma: A funny story, hmm, when is there NOT a funny story about Autumn? Well, there is this famous recording of Autumn when she was 8 years old and spent a girls night with me. She liked the sound of her flip flops so she made up a whole song about them with flapping sound effects for her dad who was in Alaska. She giggled and laughed the whole time. She is always funny and silly!

Daddy: It wasn’t “at home”, but it was the day we went to the arboretum and Noah pretended to push her in the pond. She spun around and very sternly yelled, “Noah Grey Dawson!!”.  I knew then that she would be able to defend herself in any situation. Don’t mess with this girl!

What do you love about Autumn?

Eli: her face and personality

Lucas: Her fuzzy sence of humor.

Noah: her laugh

Dawma: Her sense of style, that she is a beautiful smarty pants, her loving heart and her willingness to do the right thing.

Daddy: Her brain, sense of humor, beautiful smile, sweet voice and her tender heart.

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being horrible and ten being outstanding, what kind of sister is Autumn? Why?

Eli: number b, cause she nice

Lucas: Number 1212121111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Because she is awesome.

Noah: 7.675 because well…shes a teen

Dawma: Definitely one. One in a million! She is one of a kind awesome!

Daddy: ∞ * 10

What have you learned from Autumn?

Eli: I have learned that I am funnier than I think

Lucas: that she is AWESOME!

Noah: what girls like presents wise

Dawma: I have learned that I have cool hair and that girls talk A LOT about EVERYTHING and that we really like to discuss every detail and how we felt when we experienced that detail and how long we will feel it and when we can look forward to feeling that again….over and over….

Daddy: I have learned that girls can do anything, and that gentle words are important.

What are her best qualities?

Eli: making faces

Lucas: Her sence humor.

Noah: hair color, eye color,anything we both have in common pretty much

Dawma: Her sweet heart, her beautiful smile, intellect and sense of humor. She is the perfect woman!

Daddy: Her intelligence and her stunning beauty.

lucas

lucas is the best in the world. he is also awesome.

**Can you tell that my 9 yr old hacked my blog? :) And because YES, I think he is awesome...I want to show you one of his Speed Stacking rounds. He is in white using green cups.**

Open House

The boys had open house last week and took me around to their classrooms. Scott was in class and missed it :( but I took lots of photos of their work to share. I even got to bring home a story that Lucas wrote. It's great when we get some of their school work to put in their school memory books.

Eli put together two Power Point presentations...one was on Louis Armstrong...

And the other was his book report over The Fire Within...Good stuff Eli!

Eli also shared his Artic Biome group project that he worked on. Creative huh?

Lucas had quite a few things to show us between writing samples, artwork, science hanging mobiles and classroom pieces. We even had an impromptu quiz with his teacher and he passed with flying colors. :)

This is the PRIZED snowman story we brought home...That is BOB the snowman. They had a great adventure! He has such a great imagination and I hope he never loses that creativity.

One of the things that Lucas mentioned this week was that he was great at cause and effect. I would have to agree with him! :) Great job boys!

Home made gifts are the best kind....

Our not so little teenager who seems to be in l.o.v.e......wanted to give his g.friend something special for Valentine's day so my best girly recommendation was to direct him to his father who always makes me beautiful jewelry...and after a few pointers and tips this is what he created....

A pearl necklace with cute, little matching earrings. Gorgeous! The homemade gifts are always the best!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a great Valentine's day at our house! I had a busy day at work but managed to get away for a few hours to help at the boys' school while Scott was able to come after his classes too. We spent most of our time with the 6th graders while they played Bunco and ate a ton of junk food.

Is that enough sugar for 60ish kids? At least Scott and I brought fruit. :)

We snuck upstairs to spend a few minutes with Lucas' class...

Our sweet little valentine...

Back downstairs with the 6th graders, we finally let them attack the food...and attack they did!

I seriously thought Bunco was for old ladies but the kids seemed to have a good time. :)

After a quick wardrobe change, I headed downtown to Power & Light to a mini flash mob type of wedding for my friend Katy. The weather was great and she even made the local newspaper! And guess who married them? BILLY! He even made the paper! :) Billy and Katy are best friends so it seemed perfect for Katy to have her two best men at her side. :)

After the wedding, I headed back home for a little power nap and then my sweet husband made me an amazing Valentine dinner of Poached Salmon in white wine with julienne veggies and couscous (my new favorite food!) It was fantastic...I really have been spoiled the last 3 months on made from scratch dinners!! I also got a sweet card and a HUGE box of chocolates that went perfectly with more Moscato....It was a great, love filled day between time with the kids, a wedding and my hubby. Don't worry, I shared some of my chocolates with my hubby and gave him his own box of chocolates too.

It's so nice to be content right where I am......

Walk Don't Ride

Noah had his second play of the year this month and it was called, Walk Don't Ride. It was a great play about the fight for Civil Rights. Noah had a few small speaking parts and he did a great job.

At this point in the play, they are on a bus and Ms. Rosa Parks refuses to give her seat up to a white man (aka Noah). He did his best tough guy stance while she stood her ground.

The entire bus...

We learned a lot about sit ins, school demonstrations and some of the lesser known stories of heros who fought for civil rights. It was a great play and very moving. It's great to see Noah doing something he really enjoys.