Friday Feature: my Friday night

This week has gone by in a blur. That seems to happen to me whenever I have weekend travel plans. I always think I have plenty of time to figure out the details of my trip, to let high school friends know I'm coming home, and to think through options for outfits. 

Then BAM, it's Friday afternoon and I'm struggling to heed the Outlook calendar reminder I set weeks ago that I have now clicked "Snooze for 5 minutes" on at least five times. Gotta go. Gotta go. Gotta go. 

Hit the bank and Walgreens on the way home for cash and a card; run in the house and spend 15 minutes piling clothes on the bed, hoping my best guess for Houston weather in November is close enough; and run back out the door to pick the kids up from school. Get Caroline's bike on the car bike rack; back home to actually put the pile of clothes in a bag; check the kids' overnight bag; throw it all in the car; head over to my best good friend's house. 

See, this isn't just the weekend I'm going home for my cousin's wedding, it's also the weekend Justin has class in Little Rock. I like to think Caroline is extraordinarily mature and independent for nine years old, but unsupervised time at home for the midgets that exceeds about fifteen minutes is not yet in the cards. I am so blessed, so fortunate, that Shauna and Andy are such good friends that they'll keep the kids for me tonight. Score another one for making the deliberate decision that this place is home. 

Dropped them off; hugs and kisses; sandwich from a drive through and off to the airport. So this is my Friday night. 

I'm off to Houston for a whirlwind trip that includes a drive to Austin and back tomorrow. No worries that the last few hours have been the blurriest of the week. I wouldn't miss this chance to be with my family and to celebrate my baby cousin Meredith's wedding. 

Friday Feature: Puzzle Piece

As a mom, I've realized that there are so many things about your children that "just are," despite the assumption that you're guiding, molding, and teaching them in all that they do. This week, Caroline brought home some art that I inferred was a part of a bigger masterpiece, a way to show that every child in her class is unique but still fits in and is an important part of the whole.

Just another reminder that my sweet, sensitive, thoughtful daughter who sometimes mystifies me because she's so different than I am is a beautiful individual, and our family would be missing a piece without her. 

Friday Feature: Crack the code

This is John's first year as a Cub Scout and things are going swimmingly. He has made some new friends, is looking forward to a big event including BB guns, and is cute as a button in his uniform. 

In last week's meeting, his den talked about encryption and secret messages, and then tried their hands at doing their own. 

Get ready, CIA. John's on the case. 

Friday Feature: Who's the Boss

As many challenges as there have been in the first six months in my new job, one consistent positive has been my role as a team leader. I've had the opportunity to hire, train and promote some really great people, and I'm reminded on a daily basis that the business will ebb and flow, but my impact on the people around me is more important to me than numbers on a page.

Even with the daily mantle of responsibility, though, I don't necessarily think of myself as "the boss." Combine that with my general inattention to the calendar and National Boss' Day snuck up on me. Until I walked into my office around 3:00 yesterday afternoon and found this on my desk:

There are a lot of days where I've questioned whether I'm making a difference, if I really have what it takes to transform this business. This was a nice reminder that making a difference isn't measured solely on the P&L. 

Friday Feature: Student of the Month

This school year has been going very well for both kids. They both love GT; they have teachers who inspire and excite them; and we've received only good behavior reports from their classrooms.

That's really no surprise for Caroline but this week, she was recognized for going above and beyond. Way to go, kiddo!!

Friday Feature: Built in best friends

Who's lucky enough to have siblings who are also best friends? THIS girl!!!

Friday Feature: pictures are worth one word

So far, 2nd grade has been fantastic for John. He really likes his teacher, and from that flows all good things. Stellar behavior so far this year; enthusiasm for learning; and curiosity for the things ahead. 

They have done several activities this year where they take a word, illustrate it, and write the word below. Both his teacher and I both thought that this week's efforts went above and beyond. 

Friday Feature: chip off the old block

The conversation on the way to school yesterday morning:

Me: "I'd like for you both to make sure you read your goals for this year when you get home. You need to think about making a plan to achieve them because writing goals down is good, but accomplishing them takes work. Remember what you learned at school, begin with the end in mind. And what do you do after you begin with the end in mind?"

John: "Make a plan!"

Me: "That's right!"

John: "How did you know that, Mommy?"

Me: "Because I know a whole lotta things."

John: "But you don't know everything."

Me: "True. But I know a whoooooooole lotta things."

John (giggling): "You don't know that I'm awesome."

Me: "Yes I do."

John: "How do you know that?"

Me: "Because you take after me!"

John: laaaaaughing and laaaaaaughing and laaaaaaaughing


If that isn't a great way to start a day, I would be hard pressed to say what is.

Friday Feature: get your red pen

This came home from Caroline's class this week. What to even say.

My eye's hurt. (See how I did that?)

Friday Feature: Throwback award

Every once in a while, I'll get something random in the mail from my mom, presumably from a cleaning of a closet or drawer or box somewhere in the house I grew up in. This past week, I got a big package full of certificates from various achievements over the years.

It was fun to flip through them and remember the myriad activities I participated in growing up; there were a ton of piano related certificates, a few athletic awards, several reading achievement certificates and the annual Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo art entry acknowledgement.

This was the only one of its kind in the stack, though:

Friday Feature: goals for the school year

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree; to start out this school year, Justin had the kids write out ten goals for the year ahead. Amazingly, the results were almost 100% their ideas, with just a little bit of help from Daddy to articulate them more clearly.

I believe in the power of writing goals down, and in posting them where you can see them frequently. These goals hang on the wall in the kiddos' rooms, so that they can see them every day - and maybe as importantly, I can see them every evening. I'll help them meet their goals where I can, but I'm excited about a year where they might better understand the link between effort and results.

Here's to achieving the goals we've set before us!

Friday Feature: My dad, Then and Now

This past weekend, we celebrated my dad's 70th birthday at a surprise party that came off beautifully, despite my sister, Mom and I never having put one together before. My main responsibilities were the invitation and the slideshow / video, which meant looking through lots and lots of photos, scanning lots of old photos, and then using the magic of the Mac to create something fun to watch.

I was pretty happy with how it turned out - it's really long, but then again, the funnest part is the beginning with all of the old pictures of my dad and his family. If you make it through some, or all, of the video, thank you for letting me share my dad with you. He's one of a kind, and one in a million.

Friday Feature: tales of our travels

For many years, whenever we've traveled, we've tried to make a point of obtaining two specific souvenirs from our destinations: a Christmas ornament and a refrigerator magnet. As we have a stainless steel refrigerator that isn't magnetic, we've improvised with a metal board from IKEA to display the kids' artwork and schoolwork over the years.

As we completed the unpacking process over the course of a couple of days after returning from our Great Western Adventure, all of the new magnets made their way to their new home. Looks like we're going to have to hit IKEA for a second board when we're home in Houston!

Friday Feature: Inspired Artwork

I think our recent trip must have the wheels turning in John's head about all of the different climates out there in our vast, beautiful country. I came across these drawings strategically placed on the coffee table where I would see them:

Friday Feature: restaurant artwork

As the wi-fi here in West Yellowstone has been slower than dial up, I've been challenged to get my updates posted for our time in Yellowstone. In the interim, a quick Friday feature of John's artwork from last week. 

While waiting for dinner at the Airplane Restaurant in Colorado Springs, John flipped the menu over and using the crayons, created this masterpiece:

Beat 'em!!!

Friday Feature: travel journals

Before our trip, I managed to find some time to get a little bit crafty, pulling out some scrapbooking supplies that don't get used frequently enough. I grabbed three small spiral notebooks sitting in the closet and went to town.

A Quickutz, a Cricut, some rub on phrases and glitter glue, and hopefully we'll fill the pages with our adventures this summer!

Friday Feature: trip preparation

After months of anticipation, it's almost here - our big summer vacation, our Great Western Adventure Driving Tour. We made plans over Spring Break, finding hotels, reading restaurant reviews, determining the best sights and attractions along the way. The kids have been reading about the states we'll travel through and some relevant history to give them some context for the epic two week tour, and we are finally to single digits in our countdown.

Daddy has been doing a ton of work to bring the details together, too. The last week has been spent in confirming hotels; checking drive times; seeing what other nearby monuments, parks, and opportunities we need to capitalize on for this once-in-a-lifetime trip. In the last couple of days, he's gotten down to the details of the packing list. That's brought a little bit of shopping and a whole lot of staging of gear and equipment to make it the best trip ever:

We start the packing process this weekend for our upcoming departure. I'm so grateful that Daddy takes care of all of the details; he worries about all of the little things to make the big things perfect.

Friday Feature: Summer Journaling

It's hard to believe that June is almost over; just like every year, the long summer days go by in the blink of an eye. Around here, though, we're all starting to get very excited about our upcoming epic summer vacation, which I hope to share day by day on my blog once we hit the road.

I read an article once that said one of the ways to make an upcoming vacation better is to enjoy the anticipation. With the kids getting older and better able to conceptualize time, we told them not long after we made our plans in the spring about the summer vacation. The first few weeks of the summer curriculum have been focused on subjects that have helped us get excited, too - the Presidents on Mt. Rushmore, books about the western states we'll be visiting.

The journaling topics helped them both use their imaginations, too. One of the recent journaling topics was:

"What do you most hope we'll see on our trip?"

Caroline's narrative

John's illustrated answer

Friday Feature: Catholic Kidz Camp

As the second full week of summer vacation draws to a close, I can confidently say that 2014 will definitely be a summer to remember for the Coussoule kids. This week's activities included Catholic Kidz Camp at our church, St. Joseph's, and there was much singing, playing, crafting, and learning about our faith all week.

Among the many things they learned, they heard again the story of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. 

Caroline's (top) and John's (bottom) fish

May we all be fishers of men. 

Friday Feature: A boy and his dog

There is quite a menagerie of stuffed animals in the upstairs playroom, but each of the kiddos has their one special friend. Caroline's Kitty is well-loved and even-better-worn, and John's Scoocoo is no different.

It's one of life's mysteries from where the name "Scoocoo" came; John was only 2 or 3 when it came into his possession, and I'm sure it meant something to him then that was unintelligible to anyone other than himself and his big sister. 

Over the years, and through countless games of school; house; city; and any other amusement the kids could imagine, Scoocoo has been a central figure. It was, therefore, no surprise when John brought me an artwork original that was a portrait of his faithful companion:

I never tire of the prodigious artwork in the house, but even my motherly bias is unnecessary to see that it's not a bad likeness for the real thing:

My boy's best friend.