ten on tuesday

1) My husband is amazing.
    Period.
    There are many ways in which this is true.
One of which being that he sold our 5th-wheel in about 10 hours after listing it on craigslist. For $50 more than he was asking. Yeah. He's cool like that.

2) Pictures of Rowan's first soccer game are on my camera. They will soon be here, on the blog. It is my goal to get them posted before his season actually ends. In two weeks.

3) My baby turned one last week! Yay! Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo. Pictures from his party will also be on the blog soon. And hopefully some awesome portraits my sister is going to take. Yeah. She's cool like that.

4) Getting close to finishing up the school year. We will be finishing a bit late this year but I'm okay with it. Looking forward to trying yet another curriculum next year. It's called Classical Conversations and I am quite excited about it. For many reasons, not the least of which is the 24 week school year.

5) I think we are buying my grandparents patio furniture. I am unreasonably excited about this. It will take up our entire back porch but I am picturing lunches with my kids and iced tea with friends. Sitting comfortably and watching the kids play. Maybe even family dinners out there since we can't all fit around our indoor dining table. *sigh* I guess it's the little things.

6) My goal is to finally finish Avril's room by her birthday next month. Not as her gift  but just because it's been two years in the making. I think I have finally figured out what we are doing, for the most part. It involves a lot of white and a lot of lace. And a lot of all together girliness. Without being froo-froo. If that makes sense?

7) Next up will be our room. I have some really nice things I want to do in there but as with all of the rooms in our house, it is small so it may take some tweaking. One thing for sure, the clutter has got to go. Any suggestions on how to manage dresser tops? Ours seems to be a catch-all.

8) I think I may feel with it enough these days to try a photo a day again. I love looking back at the photos I did actually take and I'm sad about all of the things I've missed since I gave up on it. I have been trying to be aggressively taking photos but life just gets so busy. I guess I just get caught up in living it and forget to capture it.

9) We have a vacation coming up in June. We plan to go to the Oregon coast but the last time we only made it 45 minutes out before we had truck problems. Big time bummer. We are quite excited to go. It's just us and we don't get very many vacations like that. Usually I would say, the more the merrier, but there's just something to be said about it just being family. Family without the pressures of everyday life.

10) I have been working really hard to be places on time. Being late is my hugest pet peeve but I am late all of the time. Even though I have been trying really hard, we are still late 99.9 % of the time. Yeah, I'm cool like that.

Love That Boy

Rowan loves to play the Legos DS game Indian-Anna Jones.
Hee hee.
I just can't correct him, it's too cute.

He also said at lunch to day, "Yes. I love ovals on my taco."
It took me a second to realize he meant olives.

The heel of a foot is known as the chin of your foot to Rowan.

Don't know what I'd do without this love-buggy boy. He is so big but still so little in so many ways. I wonder if he will ever seem old with his dimples & big blue eyes.

Very True

I stumbled across this post today & I think, in spite of the one swear word(hey, nobody's perfect), it is right on and exactly what I needed to hear.

Check it out.

Balance

ten on tuesday

1. Jay & I most definitely did not have the same thing last week. Poor Jay is still suffering from the effects of what we found out to be campylobacteriosis. He is really doing much better but still feels fatigue & weakness. Plus it's just really gross when you start reading how one contracts the lovely condition. I don't envy him the symptoms but the 7 pound weight loss would be welcome.

2. My baby turned 11 months old yesterday. He is getting very big and chubby since he quit nursing. This seems to be the trend with my kiddos. His vocabulary consists of three words: Mama, Dada, & Hi.

3. I am over the cold snap we've been having. I am trying really hard to be content but I long for sunny, warm weather.

4. Jay's parents are coming to visit this week. It has been quite a while since we've seen them. I think it was last July.  The kids are always very excited when Mimi & Papa come. And Jay and I always have a good time as well.

5. I get a garden this year! Jay is going to till me some ground and fence it in. Raised beds & a greenhouse will have to wait until next year but I am more than excited about having a fenced in garden. It is something I have wanted since getting married. There has always been some reason that it just wasn't feasible but this is my year! We intend to make it happen. Of course, the best of intentions die hard around this place so we will see how it works out. Thankfully my parents are quite the gardeners so I have been picking their brains about it.

6. Rowan starts soccer today. He is so excited about it. I am hoping that he isn't setting his expectations too high. I have mixed emotions about sports. They seem to suck so much time away from the family & put pressure on kids to win, win, win. Yet, on the other hand, the family gets to support & cheer on the player & it is a really good way to learn how to work together instead of independently. It is also a good way for my kids to get interaction with others and a potential ministry for them. I am glad to hear that his coach will be a really nice, godly guy that has been involved in a lot of our church functions.

7. This Friday is our tenth wedding anniversary. I cannot believe that it has been that long. We plan on a weekend away in Leavenworth. Thanks to my baby sister we get to go kid-free! I went once as a little girl but hardly remember what it was like. I don't think Jay has ever been there so it should be a fun experience for the both of us.

8. I think my new enemy is clothes shopping for my kids. Rhett & Rowan are pretty much taken care of due to hand-me-downs but Adam & Avril are a challenge. It is hard to find decent clothing. I realize that I am picky and I don't want them to look like bums but even when I completely lower my standards I can scarcely find a thing. Everything in Avril's size is either expensive or it looks like it was dropped in from 1986. The 80's are not the fashion statement I want my daughter making at three years old. And the neon stuff is just so....well, neon. And then there is the skater style for the boys. Tight to the ankle jeans, skulls, chains, & doofy shoes. Or you could always dress them in stuffy polo shirts and too short, creased leg slacks and they could get beat up walking around town here in hick Ville. Grrr. It's frustrating.

9. Jay found out that one of the hernias he had operated on last year needs to be operated on again because it is not fixed. Now he just needs to decide when he can take 4 weeks off of work again for the recovery. Poor guy.

10. My crock pot bit the dust. It never seems to cook anything all the way through anymore so it's time for a new one. I guess it did its job for ten years so I can't complain. Maybe I can get a slightly bigger one this time as our family eats a lot more than it did 10  years ago.

ten on tuesday

1. After weeks of being sick with one ailment or another, Rhett is finally his usual cheerful self. I cannot express how happy I am to have him back. The bummer of it is, Jay & I are coming down with it. Well, Jay done got it. I, on the other hand, am teetering on the edge of it right now. I love me some spring but I am darn tired of the disgusting little germs that like to rear their ugly heads this time of year.

2. Rhett is on day two of being weaned. I feel both saddened and elated. I am sad because my baby is done nursing. Those days of my life are officially over and with that comes a sense of loss. But on the other hand, I get to eat dairy again. And the ease of being able to leave him is quite nice.
 But....my baby is done nursing!

3. We watched the remake of Red Dawn this weekend. I have to say it is one of the better movies I've seen lately. I am having a little bit of a love/hate opinion of it. It sort of scares me...
I think I need to watch the original. Just for kicks.

4. I am officially jealous of my sister-in-law. She told me all about her garden that she started on yesterday. I have been wanting one for years. But my hubby told me that he would make me a couple of raised beds and fence them in while he is on vacation next week. Yay! for my wonderful hubby. And for me getting a garden.

5. I have been walking in the mornings before Jay goes to work and it is lovely. I am always excited when it is finally light enough to go in the early morning. I feel so much more motivated than when I am facing the treadmill.

6. I am not going to make it to ten today. I feel terrible. So time to rest...

Sugar Cookie

A couple of weeks ago I ran across a yummy-looking recipe for frosted sugar cookies. So I decided to make them. I enlisted Avril to help me as she is often very bored while the boys are working on their school assignments. She was more than happy to help. So here are the pics of my little "sugar cookie".

She was quite concerned about the fact that the dough was overflowing out of the mixer. She kept trying to push it back in.

 



Squishing the cookies was her favorite part.

 

I didn't get any pictures of them frosted but they were almost as yummy as they looked.

The best part was baking with my girl.

She is a very willing helper. Especially in the kitchen.

 

I am trying to cultivate that.

Good Friday

 In honor of Good Friday I am blogging about the things that I think are good right now. I am the queen of randomness so don't expect any different today.

1. Jesus. He was born. He lived. He served. He sinned not. He died. He rose. He lives.
 That is very good.

2. My husband. He's good. Actually, the best.

3. My kids. Sometimes. They are good to know. They do not always have good behavior.

4. Coffee. Specifically lattes. My current favorite is sugar-free salted caramel mocha.

5. Spring. Green. Sunshine. Warmth. Spring is good.

6. These cookies are good. Avril & I made them the other day. And that was a good time as well.

(pictures coming)

 



 

 

7. Our Good Friday celebration at church. It's tonight at 6:30 and it was really good last year. I have no reason to believe it will be any less this year.

 

8. This book is good. I just finished reading it and I think it may change my life. I recommend it to anyone who is organizationally challenged like myself. I plan on ordering at least one more of her books.

 

9. This website is good for hair tutorials. I recently stumbled across it on Pinterest.

 

10. This shampoo & conditioner is good. And pricey. That's why I got it on Amazon. It's even worse in the store!

 

11. BareEscentuals makeup is good. I have started buying it on Amazon also.

 

12. Pinterest is good. Well, for organizing & finding ideas. There are other things about it that are not good. Such as how much of my attention it sucks up and some of the weird stuff on there.

 

13. The Dashing Dish is good. I found it both inspiring and very helpful. All of the recipes I've tried so far have been good. And the fact that she loves the Lord is very good. Check it out. You might like it too.

 

14. Timberdoodle home school curriculum is good. This was our first year using it and we really like it. They just revised their cores for this coming year and they look even better! I think I will customize a little bit more this year to have it fit our needs, but overall we really like it. Including the kids! Make sure you look at their different options though. I think this coming year, all my kids will be doing the same science & history. This will save us time & money. Also, you obviously don't need to buy the fun tools more than once, just save those & the textbooks\audios for your younger children. And some of the workbooks could be reused if you are smarter than me & think ahead so you can copy the worksheets for your younger children.

 

 15. Chipotle avocado chicken salad in a pita is good. Unless you're like my mom & hate avocados.