A bit from today

Thursdays are always a little busier with Playgroup in the morning and school in the afternooon. But I love the time I get to spend with some wonderful friends. I love visiting with them and they are wonderful inspiration and help with my projects.

Before playgroup, we did a puzzle (well, William did), did a little Christmas shopping at the bookstore. I'm telling you, I could spend a lot of money at that place. And we got most of our morning chores done. It's always nice to come home to a clean house.

After days of rain, we had a little sunshine this afternoon. It was glorious opening the blinds in the bedrooms to have beautiful sunshine streaming through. Now dinner is cooking and we're waiting on Ryan to come home. It'll be the first night that we actually get to see each other!

Oh, and about that first picture - this is how I typically make dinner; with a small child cliging to my legs until Daddy gets home to hold her. A bit annoying now, but I know I'll miss it one day.

going around and around

So this was the beginnings of my attempt to knit in the round. I used a fourth needle to do the knitting. I started trying yesterday and ripped it out probably over ten times. I finally got the hang of it and when I went to switch to the circular needle, it all fell apart (not literally). So I will begin again tomorrow, for I ran out of time today. I am in serious need of a knitting mentor - I'm reaching the limit of my ability without help from a living person. Knitting for Dummies will only get this dummy so far.

Rosie Update

Rose's first birthday has come and gone, a few weeks ago. I know that the only reason most people look at my blog is for the pictures of my kids. So I will do my duty and post some pictures of Rose. The only problem is trying to find a few out of the hundreds I have of her. I hope these capture her little personality, though the quality of the photos is highly questionable.



Showing the things Rose is best at right now: climbing, snuggling, getting into everything, making mess and being silly.

I have several projects going right now. I get so caught up in my sewing or knitting, that I have to force myself to stop to make dinner, clean up messes, help with piano practice, etc. That would be my main reason for lack of blogging. Christmas is coming soon and there are a lot of gifts to finish. I knitted a third of a hat today using a method I've never used before and was doing great until I make a rookie mistake, forcing me to rip the whole thing apart. Sad.

City Girl

After living in the downtown area for almost two years, the first night Ryan and I spent in our new home, we said something along these lines:

Wow, it's really quiet here.
Are any of our neighbors even home?
It's kind of creepy how there's no noise.
Seriously, are people actually living in these houses?

We had gotten so used to the continuous buzz of city life, that the utter silence gave us the creeps.

We spent the weekend in Chicago - we had a blast. I will have to say, having grown up in the suburbs, vacationed in the country, and lived in the city, I would have to say that deep down, I'm a city girl. I love the vibrancy, life and movement. There's always something going on, people to watch, things to do and places to explore.



The only problem with the city, is the money it takes to live there. I guess the occasional weekend will have to do for now!

2012

So I don't know if any of you have seen the trailers for the movie "2012", but it's basically another "end of the world" movie where a John Cusack is outrunning a giant crevasse opening in the earth in a sports car and then later a helicopter. Then there have been TV documentaries on what could happen in 2012 and the ancient Mayan prophecies surrounding it, etc. Well, then I saw the preview for another show hosted by some sort of survival expert. This "expert" is going to show you how to survive in the event of "the end of the world".

Here's what I'm thinking, 2012 couldn't possibly be the year of "the end" because there is no way Heavenly Father is going to let Hollywood be right on something this big. THEN, if it's going to be like anything this movie predicts or anything like the scriptures predict (wars, cities falling into the ocean, earthquakes, etc.), there is no way you're going to learn everything you need to know to stay alive in some 1-hour-surviving-the-end-of-the-world-special on cable. I think our hour would be better spent reading the scriptures or evaluating our food storage. Call me crazy, but I think we're good at least through the year 2012.

"I like bugs" sung in a really high, horrible voice

There is a kids show some of you may be familiar with, it's called Yo! Gabba Gabba. I'm not sure if I put the exclamation point in the right spot. Anyway, it's completely bizarre and ranks right up there with "Boo Bah" which if you haven't seen...the only way I can describe it is, Teletubbies on acid. What is going on over there in the UK? Anyway, back to Yo Gabba Gabba - the first episode I ever saw contained a song like no other called "I like bugs". Unfortunately, it easily got stuck in my head.

Well, that was two years ago and since then, I sing it to the kids, mostly to annoy them, making up new lyrics, etc. So this past week, I turned on the TV and lo and behold, that exact episode was on. Ryan had only heard me sing this song, so I had to prove to him that it does exist and it is just as weird as I sing it. Hearing the song, Rose immediately started doing her strange belly rocking. So here it is; and don't be surprised if you find yourself singing it tonight.

Firsts

This has been a month of firsts, new discoveries and accomplishments. Here are a few:

Deep fried Oreos are awesome!!
Ryan and I have almost perfected our fried green tomatoes recipe
(lots of deep frying going on here)
Rose is walking - my earliest walker at 11 1/2 months
Rose is almost a year old
We had a toilet overflow for the first time. Not so fun.

I was going to wait until Halloween to post pictures of the kids' costumes (and hopefully had better pictures) but here they are anyway. I took the pictures as we hurriedly left for the ward Trunk or Treat.

Alice in Wonderland "Yes, your Majesty"

WallE of course.

And our Incredible

Claire and William had their class parties today - it was fun to see all of the kids dressed up, but of course I think mine were the cutest!

I'm back...um...maybe

I'm not making any promises, but I'm going to try and start posting on a regular basis again. For those of you who's blogs I normally read, I haven't read any of them in weeks. Just so you know. So if I missed anything important, I'm sorry. Oh, and I don't plan on catching up either.

So why have I been gone so long (not that long people, just a few weeks)? Well, it was a combination of illness (the kids mostly), a hectic schedule, guilt, feeling overwhelmed at being pulled in a million different directions, etc. Has any of that changed? Not really, but I have been feeling that I should put on a few pictures of my kids for those friends and family who only read this for the pictures and who I don't see but once or twice a decade.

And...we have been spending as much time enjoying the beautiful autumn before it turned into today - rainy and cold.



Hope to see you again soon!

Housebound

It's been almost two weeks since illness has entered our house...and it's still here. While we wait for Ryan to start recovering, the rest of us are slowly moving that way. Our life has been filled with lack of sleep, tons of medicine, trips to the doctor and hospital, humidifiers running day and night, and more medicine. That on top of school, errands, piano lessons, girl scouts, housework, church callings, bills, etc., is taking its toll. So until things are better under control, I'm taking a small break from blogging. I'll be here occasionally, when I can. In the mean time, enjoy autumn and its loveliness.

Going on Day Four

My sweet William is still very sick. We're currently waiting for a call from the doctor to see what we should do. Hopefully he'll recover soon. Despite feeling horrible and being unable to talk (except for a raspy squeak), he has been so sweet and patient. Wish us luck...

Almost there...

After a trip to Target with my kids and seeing all of the Halloween decorations there, the kids insisted that we decorate our house when we got home. So though it was still September, we pulled out the Halloween decoration, along with our autumn things. In the evening, our home is lit by spooking candles, haunted houses and jack-o-lanterns.

weekend

Despite our week of illness, doctor's appointments, and everyday business (and a fair bit of complaining by me), our week ended on a good note. After a busy morning, we were able to enjoy some family time - doing the things we love together. The week days full of school, work and activities tend to push and pull everyone in different directions. An afternoon at the art museum, followed by a stroll through the zoo was just what we needed to regroup as a family.

Sick afternoons

Whenever illness enters our house, it forces me to slow down and spend more time sitting with sick kids and doing things that they enjoy. Claire has been home, fighting off some sort of virus - poor thing. So far, none of the other kids have gotten it, but it's only a matter of time. We spent yesterday afternoon playing Legos, watching "Phineas and Ferb" episodes and reading books together. The kids love having an attentive audience, and they love having someone put together their intricate Lego sets.



Our piano is a source of joy in our family. It gets played everyday by someone. Now that Claire is taking piano lessons, hopefully she'll be joining us soon with her little songs. Rose too is a big fan of the piano. She dances to the music and loves to play herself. Playing piano with Rose is a bit challenging, seeing as how she has her own technique...

Hopefully our family will be back in working order, but in the mean time, we're trying to enjoy the quiet, down time.

New Discoveries

My Rose is a master at "faces". She can give quite the look - offending many. I try to tell people to not take it personally, she does it to everyone. Her looks continuously crack me up. This morning, she discovered her nostrils. First one side...

...then the other.

Silly girl; she is hilarious.

I've SO Bean There

I have an excess of dry bean/peas. I'm not sure how I got into this predicament - but I am overloaded with beans. My bags of beans compares with my friend Stephanie's chocolate chip stash. So my brilliant sister had a great idea - cook the beans in a crock-pot. Now why is that a brilliant idea, you ask? Well, dry beans are dirt cheap compared to canned beans. The only problem is, well, they're dry (hard, inedible, useless except for homemade bean bags, bean art and maracas). Soaking and cooking are a hassle, because you can't go anywhere whilst the beans simmer away on your gas stove for 6-8 hours only to not be done. So that's where the crock-pot comes it. Throw in a bag of beans, water and turn that puppy on whatever setting for however long and let em' cook. Just add more water as you need to. Hours later, you have perfectly cooked, cheap beans to be frozen and used whenever. I just did some Great Northern beans to be used this week in some white bean chili I plan on making Thursday. I'm telling you; super easy, cheap and healthy!

Ready to be frozen for later meals

We bought a deep freezer a week or two ago. The only problem is, now that we've bought it, we're out of money to buy anything to put in it. I did however, make a double batch of some yummy Cinnamon Oat Scones to tuck away in my new deep freezer. They're perfect for breakfast or a snack. Delicious!

In the scone-baking process

Now that it is almost (in 1 hour, 23 minutes) autumn, I have busted out the pumpkin puree and whipped up a batch of chocolate-chip pumpkin cookies. As you can see, they were well received.

As I have mentioned before, I have been in a cleaning-out frenzy. It resulted in a trunk full of items to be donated to Goodwill. My front seat is also full. We are so blessed, that I feel donating our things is better than trying to sell them.
And finally - we are ready for October and the Halloween festivities. Costume plans are in discussion and old costumes are making their way out of the dress-up box. Even Rose is getting in on the action.

What is it about fall that just makes me want to bake and cook up soups? Is this just me or do you have the same feeling?

Calling all people with a better 'eye' than me!

We need to repaint our house before we sell it. It's not only because I don't like the current maroon/orange combo we have going on, but because the paint is peeling and dirty looking. So here's the problem: I know what color to paint most of the house - white because that's the color of the gutters and garage door. White works; but my problem is with the trim. So here's where I need help: what color do I paint the trim? The brick is a terra-cotta color; I've been thinking green, but I don't know. So here's the house:

This is upclose with the brick, trim and white all together.

So PLEASE suggest something, if you can. And let's be detailed people, none of this "Blue would look nice" business. Give me shade descriptions and why it would work with the orangy color. Thanks! I'm relying on some of my very artistic friends/family here - HELP!!

Oh, and here's my work closet. I haven't painted it or anything yet. I have plans to make a message/idea board to put up on the right wall and possibly a peg something or other to hold bobbins, etc on the upper left side. I can't take over the whole closet, I still have to store our movies and CD in there since there is no where else for them to go (the cabinet next to the chair) and all of our photo albums are up higher, along with the bath towels on a high shelf above my little "table". It's not great, but it's out of the way, I can close the door on it, but open it up to the living area and keep an eye on the kids too. So while not perfect, it's something!

A moment for peace

Today was one of those days that when it's over, I come home, sit on the couch and not feel an ounce of guilt when I veg for two hours to mindless TV. I need at least two to three days before I can think of anything "Girl Scout-ish". Tomorrow my calendar is empty (except for the usual school stuff) - the first time all week. While there are those crazy, chaotic days; it makes me appreciate the days when I have nothing going on. Too much of one or the other is SO not good for my psyche. I try to mix up my week - a busy day, followed by a day at home to get some things done. It works well, when my schedule (and the kids') allow it.

Ways I like to spend my "off" time at home: knitting, sewing, scrapbooking, writing in my journal, looking through magazines, reading blogs, listening to music, watching a good movie while folding laundry or other sedentary chores, playing the piano, reading, doing crafts with the kids, to name a few.

I have a couple of posts I have been thinking about, but haven't had the time to put together; so maybe tomorrow is the day. I hope you all get some time to yourselves this weekend to regroup and refresh yourselves. What are some things you do when you have time to yourselves? Just curious what others like to do.

Going Ons and Such

A few thoughts I've had today: there are far too many baby/birthing shows on TV and frankly, they just creep me out. I am super excited to try out a new floor cleaner I bought today, and that same excitement makes me a little concerned for my sanity. A man in front of me at the office supply store bought a flat-screen monitor for his computer and purchased the extended warranty. I then saw him tying his new monitor to the back of his motorcycle with twine and I thought "I hope your warranty will cover that too...".

Rose's favorite pastime with the curtains...

My current project is carving out a little work nook for me in our hallway linen closet. I'm not quite done with it; it still needs paint and a few storage items. My friend Amy gave me a few great suggestions. Any time I'm working on improving the spaces in my home, I bring in Amy and the woman has the best ideas. Amy, that's the real reason I invited you over to dinner yesterday...

I'll post pictures later. Instead, enjoy a few of my cuties.

Fabulous

Rocking out to Sharpay.

Criminal

I am in a desperate state right now - one that Ryan hates - I am purging my house of anything and everything that is stressful, unused or unloved in any way. I have suddenly become overwhelmed with my life and since I can't cut out Young Women's or Girl Scouts, I'm cutting out things in my house. I just gave a stack of denim that I was saving for some future project to my friend Amy who is currently using denim for one of her projects. I'm in full-blown closet-cleaning-mode. Nothing is safe from my wrath.

So as I was going through a purse that was headed for the Goodwill box, I looked through it just to make sure I hadn't left anything it it. Sure enough, I found:

-receipts from toys bought for Claire's 5th birthday
-$7 in cash
-a city recycling brochure
-an unpaid St. Louis parking ticket for $10

Yes, that's right. I'm one of those people who don't pay their parking tickets. Actually, when we lived downtown, the parking meter people are absolutely vicious and we received several parking tickets for expired meters - most by only minutes. We always paid them. This particular ticket was dated the day we moved from our loft downtown to Illinois. I had left 11 minutes lapse on the meter and I was probably so sick of the city by that point, that I stuck it in my purse and totally forgot about it. So hopefully nothing comes of it. I do have an Illinois license plate now, if that makes a difference. And I'm not a bit sorry; those meter people can go jump in the river...good riddance.

Falling Off the (very small) Bandwagon

Actually, it would be more like jumping off the bandwagon, screaming desperately to get off. This bandwagon to which I'm referring is using cloth diapers. I've been using them for several months with Rose, and I used them for a stretch of time with my other two kids. But with the consistency of Rose's poo, the smell and mess is just too much for me to be dealing with right now. I need to simplify my life right now and no matter what people say, cloth is a giant hassle and always will be no matter what new miracle diaper cover, etc, they come up with. My good friend Collette continues on and I salute her efforts...as for me, I'm done (at least for now). So I made a trip to Sam's Club and picked up a giant box of disposables. And I haven't looked back.

ready to be pack away

While writing this, I got a phone call from Collette, informing me that she just bought a pack of disposables diapers. We have been beaten into submission. No one survived this war.

Only a brother...

can make me laugh like this.

First

Claire started 2nd grade this year.
Hooray for school!

There's something in the air

For the past three days, I have been feeling under the weather. Nothing has fully developed - just tired, achy and a monster headache. I left church after the first hour, came home and had a quick lunch, put the baby to bed and slept for four hours. If anyone has any clue what this is that seems to be going around, let me know. But despite these aches, which I'm not sure are a legitimate virus, therefore I keep trying to stay busy, Ryan and I have managed to get some things done on the house.

The ceiling fan in the kids' room - it wasn't as bad as expected, though it was still terrible to install.

Friday morning, I risked my life and went into the dark hole that is our crawl space to secure some water pipes to the floor joist. No more banging pipes here. I did a thorough sweep for rodents, spiders and other scary things and then went to work. As I was working, I did my best to not look around or look what I was sitting on.

The hole - or as William says, the scary place down there

Ryan also managed to hook up our ice maker, requiring lots of drilling of holes, screaming up to me from under the house to do this and that and turning the water on and off, over and over. Good times. While our list of home repair/improvement projects is getting smaller, our general thought is: why did we wait so long to do this? Our quest to get this place ready to sell continues - now we just have to figure out where we're going next; any suggestions?

Mischevious

Now that Rose has been crawling and pulling up for over a month now, we are starting to really see her personality. For those of you who know her, she is very quiet and sweet; she doesn't "talk" or fuss much. She just quietly crawls around the house, getting into everything. It's very unpredictable what she will choose to get into. Her favorites are my knitting, the toilet, William's CD player and Claire's My Little Ponies. We'll find her in a dark room, eating paper out of the trash or dancing to heavy metal music she's found on the radio. Though she does attempt to eat any paper product she can find (used tissue, junk mail, toilet paper, newspaper, etc.) and I'm always fishing carpet fibers out of her mouth, it is a lot of fun to watch her explore her house and enjoy her new found freedom.

She likes to put her thumb in any hole she can find.

Like a naughty kitty

Pushing buttons on the VCR

This blue blanket sits on our brick fireplace hearth to keep Rose from bumping her head...you can see here how effective it is as she has pulled it off, curled up in it and gone to sleep.

She is always making goofy faces, this is a frequent one

Last night, after the kids were in bed, Ryan and I heard the tinkling of piano keys coming from the living room. Sure enough, there was Rose...

And this morning, back to her favorite spot.

This girl is going to be trouble.