Mallory's choir

Mallory had a choir concert on Veterans Day. It was really sweet to hear all the kids voices singing patriotic songs. They invited all Active duty military to wear their uniforms, and Jim was relieved that Mallory forgot to remind him. When they asked for all active duty military to stand, I had to shove him out of his chair and make him stand up. I don't care that he doesn't like attention, I am proud of him! Back to Mallory, she has been going to school early on Tuesdays for choir practice, and she has taken it very seriously. She is also practicing for the 3rd grade Christmas program, that happens to be the Nutcracker. It has been really fun listening to Mallory sing all around the house. I think she has a beautiful voice, and I really hope that she keeps participating in things like this. Mallory is a talented girl, and I love that she is interested in so many things.
The concert itself was wonderful, and it included the 4th and 5th grade handbell choir, that was exciting for me because I absolutely love handbells, and would love, love, love to be in a handbell choir. Perhaps I could pass as a 5th grader? Yah, maybe not. I hope that I can live through Mallory next year and force her to be in it. I don't think that will be too hard.

Halloween

This year Halloween costumes were easy. Kimrie wanted to be Hermione again so that the awesome cape my mom made last year wouldn't go to waste. Mallory wanted to be a queen, and we already had that costume, and Abbey wanted to be a fairy. I made her skirt, but that was the only crafty thing made this year.
We had fun spending the evening with our friends, and I believe this year was the biggest haul of candy yet. Now to just stay out of it!

First Snowstorm!

Last week we had very snow weather! We had a 2 hour delay, 2 snow days, and then another 2 hour delay. We enjoyed it very much! We had hot chocolate, watched movies, read books,etc. The girls got along great all cooped up, and I enjoyed just being with the girls

Fall 2009

Fall, my favorite season! Nothing makes me happier than a sweatshirt and jeans! We've been busy this past month or two, with the pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving, class parties, etc!

Abbey's first lost tooth

Last night was a very exciting night for Abbey!! After 2 weeks of barely hanging on for dear life, her tooth finally gave up the fight. It was so funny, Abbey would let Mallory try to pull it, which Malzy liked because she wants to be a dentist so naturally she is the best one in the family to pull it. Jim tried, Mallory tried, and finally mom pulled it! It was like finding the last puzzle piece on the floor and putting it in the puzzle that others have spent days slaving over. Anyway, she was so excited! And a very good sport as well. The tooth fairy around here has a bad reputation for forgetting to do it's job. That can become rather costly, because of inflation. So luckily the tooth fairy remembered 10 minutes after getting all snuggled in bed. Of coarse Abbey was so excited this morning!
It is such a joy watching the kids grow up. I am constantly wondering how tall they'll be, what they'll look like, etc. Since we are on the subject of Abigail, the last month she has decided that she wants to be a kindergarten teacher. I think that suits her to a T. She'll be wonderful. So now all the kids have their careers lined up. Kimrie wants to be an officer in the Air Force, more specifically a Colonel. Mallory wants to be a dentist, and says she won't give me free braces because she has to make money. And now Abigail wants to be a kindergarten teacher. It's all just too cute.

Jim's weekend

This weekend Jim had the football trip to Minnesota. He has had the best time. They arrived Fri a.m, after they got situated in the hotel, he and some other guys were able to tour the brand new Minnesota football stadium, which he said is amazing. Then they managed to get free tickets to a Twins game. The next morning, he went out to breakfast with the medical crew which included his Academy roomate Dain. Then they had to figure out how to get everyone to the game while downtown was in lockdown for a presidential visit! He has had a great time! The only thing missing was the world famous "juicy lucy" hamburger featured on our favorite show, man vs food.

Just a bit

So, I made the mistake of "blog surfing", or "stalking", whatever you prefer to call it, and it really turned me off blogging for awhile. After reading strangers blogs, I felt old, fat, poor, lame, boring, hideous, etc. Pretty much anything bad to describe myself. I've learned that I'm not alone in this. I was talking to my friend Kristen about this and she had me laughing hysterically when she told me she was reading other blogs, and felt guilty that she didn't make her kids a welcome home from school treat of pencils made out of cheese! It's just too funny, so I had to remember why I started this blog. Why you ask? First, so my parents could see pictures of the kids because I never, ever send any. Second, journaling... I haven't written in a journal since I was 12 and all I wrote was "I love Justin". I should burn those because frankly, who cares who I had a crush on when I was 12?! And yes, that is all she wrote. Just ask Kacie. And third, I want my kids to know how I loved life raising my girls!! The girls and Jim are everything to me. There is nothing I love more than just being with them. But, to add to that list, I want my blog to be real too. I know it's shocking, but I am quite sarcastic. I know you'd never guess that about me, because I'm so meek and humble... So I think a bit of sarcastic humor is ok in here, because that's me. I'm not super cool, I don't wear fancy clothes, we don't go on lot's of vacations, we do get on each other's nerves, some days I stay home, and clean and do laundry. That is real! What else is real is that sometimes I AM old, fat, poor, lame, boring, hideous etc. And that's OK, no it's great! It's real. This blog isn't to impress anyone, it's to remember it all. I also remember that I love my husband, I love my girls, and all that comes with it.
So now I've missed an entire summer of blogging important things, Kimrie and Mallory's birthday, Mallory's baptism. Bjorn family reunion, school starting, etc. The list goes on. I think I will have to do flashback posts to get them all in, because I do want them documented.
Now, in an effort for personal growth now that I'm spilling my guts... This week, I've been putting photo albums together. Nothing cool, just transferring pictures from a box to a plain old book. Just how I like it. While doing so, there were many, many less than flattering pictures of me. Some of them made me want to cry. I wished I could get rid of them, but it got me thinking about my picture phobia. I have a phobia of posting bad pictures of myself. I always want my pictures to be so perfect. I don't want anyone to see if I've gained 10lbs, or my crooked teeth or my hair looking like 1970's man hair. (Thank you Tanya for inventing that term), but again it's real, it's life, so my new goal is to stop freaking out over a bad picture and just post it. Because again... who cares? So, these are my thoughts on the matter, and hopefully this gut spilling will clear the way for more benign posts about the Binns family. Although, I may have to start another blog for all the essays I constantly compose in my head. (another confession, and most of them are sarcastic in nature..)
To make a long story longer... Last week we had an awesome time at the Air Force football game. We sat by our wonderful friends, the Allred's and the Christs, and at half-time we got to see Uncle Ned! We are big time Air Force fans, and I love going to the football games. Kimrie is a super fan, especially because she wants to be a cadet!
So there is my journaling update... Hopefully this isn't too depressing!