Seeds of Happiness

One of my colleagues posted the following quote on facebook the other night:

“You have both seeds of happiness and unhappiness in you, planted by your parents, your ancestors, or your friends.  When seeds of happiness manifest themselves, you feel quite happy. But when seeds of sorrow, anger, and hatred manifest, you feel very unhappy. The quality of our life depends on what seeds we water in our consciousness…”Every time we walk with calm and ease, or we smile and release the tension in us, we are planting seeds that will strengthen our happiness. With each happy step, we plant a happy seed."
- Thich Nhat Hanh -

I'm so grateful for my sweet little girl, who reminds me to slow down, smile, and laugh....to be a seed of happiness.

Pumpkin Patch 2011

I'm not sure if you can tell, but it was so dusty--we were all covered with a layer of grime before we left.  On the bright side, it makes us all appear a little more tan than we really are ;)

Miss Shay was happy as could be perched on top of Dain's shoulders.  Our major achievement following the trip to pumpkin patch has been teaching her to rub her (slightly round) belly and say "pump-in." 

After MUCH deliberation and MANY suggestions from others, Bailey picked a very small, whitish/green one that she calls her "cucumber pumpkin."  Kale's response was, "You can't even carve it!" But really, that's such a Bailey thing to pick a totally random pumpkin, and it makes me smile every time I pull up to the house.

Random Facts

• Bailey's favorite songs to sing these days are "Moves Like Jagger," "Oh, Can You Count the Puppies That Play in the Grass," and "Mean" by Taylor Swift.  We're trying to diversify our children's music exposure ;)

• Shay also loves singing but it's a bit like playing "name-that-tune." However, if you listen really closely you can generally tell what song she is belting out. 
• I have both girls on video singing the above mentioned songs....but it takes a gazillion years to get those things to upload, so you'll have to keep waiting to see 'em :)

• Kale won his game last weekend, and even though he wasn't feeling 100% he managed to eek out two touchdowns. 
• I also finally managed to get him on video scoring, but you know my patience level with uploading those things........
• Later that night he asked us why some kids get to take breaks and sit on the sidelines for a while, but he never does.  We told him to take it as a complement that they need him on the field.  He said, "Well, it's still not very fair."
• Four out of five of us are on antibiotics for strep throat.  I have a a really fancy-dancy hand drawn chart to help us keep us on track, but I'm in the market for a free personal assistant to take over the job if there are any takers.....

• The other night I went to lay down on my bed and felt a crunch....I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached under my pillow and found it was only  a pair of pom-poms.
• A while back Kale admitted that when we pray at church, he likes to ask God to send him a baby brother.  I told him that the man upstairs knows we're out of room for car seats, so he'd better start praying for something else.

• Earlier this month my brother brought some of his Baker players to visit my classroom.  After a little "lesson," he told my students they could ask the players questions.  The first kid asked, "What is 1000 divided by 65?"  The second asked, "Can you tell which is my lazy eye and which is my good eye?"  That pretty much sums up my third graders.
• Bailey decided on her Halloween costume and wasted no time calling Grandma Ballard to place her order (the girl has quickly figured out that when you have a big request it's best to go straight to a grandma): Anyhow, she requested butterfly princess costume with sparkly shoes that make you fly when you push a button.  I'm pretty sure Grandma's got the dress and wings, but I think she's still trying to work out the details on the shoes :)