Pumpkins Pumpkins Pumpkins!

I have to admit it ... I haven't carved a pumpkin since I was a kid.  I've avoided it like the plague for 7 years with my own girls and this is the year that it came to be.  Maggie asked me last week why we didn't do it and frankly, telling her that we don't do it because I can't deal with the thought of the pumpkin insides or the mess that it makes, just wasn't in the cards.  Let's face it.  I was gone for 9 days, home for 3, gone for 1, home for 2, gone for 2, home for 5 and leaving for 6 again next week so the last thing that I really want to do is keep them from doing something like this.  So, here it is!  Pumpkin carving fun at the Mantel's!!!

The Art of Writing a Letter

The school system is no longer teaching kids how to write in cursive.  They are, however, teaching kids how to write letters.  Good old fashioned get your pen and paper out letters.  So, every week Maggie has to write a letter to her teacher.  After her teacher, Mrs. Kubiak, reads the letter it gets sent home.  I hope you can read these because if you can, they are pretty funny ... the honestly and innocence of children. 

A Glimpse of Her

Have you ever had those moments where you think you hear a voice from your past or you see someone that makes you do a double take because you thought that it was someone that you once knew.  Sometimes I hear a song that makes me laugh because it has a fond memory behind it.  Sometimes it's just seeing a photo of a baby and thinking "wow, she really looks like ... ".  It happens to me.  Maggie has a way of posing for a photo almost every time I pull out my camera.  Its a stance, a specific hand placement, turning of the foot and hips.  I remember the first time I took a photo that came out like this - it took my breath away.  Since Maggie was born I've thought that I wish my Grandma could see her - what would she say?  Then I saw the picture.  Only my Grandma would pose this way for any and every photo op that she could.  And now Maggie does.  She's never seen these photos of Grandma - it's just something she was born with.  And every time I see one of these photos, I laugh.  It makes me smile that I'm looking at my little girl who is so much like the one of the best people I ever knew ... and they have never even met.

Hello World, I'm Back!

I wish I knew where to begin but I don't.  Life has been crazy and a week long trip to Connecticut just complicated things.  However, as crazy as it may be, it is our life. 

I don't know if its that I'm getting older or if it's that I'm becoming more aware of how fast time really does go.  Every trip I take, my heart aches more and more.  But yet, it's just the way it is.  I know that I could quit tomorrow but there are just too many things that I want my kids to see and experience and have ... I'm just not ready yet.  As hard as it is, the thought of not giving them the world weighs more on my mind than the feeling of heading to the airport.  I know that they don't like it but I also know that hearing the word "no" isn't a popular answer in our house and it would be a fact of life if I decided to stay home.  I also know that working makes me a better mom.  Traveling is teaching my daughters that women can be strong and that there is a big world out there and you shouldn't be afraid to jump off the high dive every once in a while.  I give stay at home mom's all the credit in the world - I couldn't do it.  And at the end of the day, if I didn't do what I do, I wouldn't come home to greetings like this!