Cozy

Just trying to make out home a little cozier as the fall weather sets in.  It's about time to buy some hot chocolate, make some pumpkin bread and make a fire (better find some firewood first...). 

I may, may, pull out my sewing machine tomorrow for the first time in almost a year.  I don't know what's wrong with me - I finally have the space to make a sewing corner and I haven't.  I've been dreaming of this for years, but now that I have the room, I haven't done a single thing with it.  I'm in a funk, for sure.

My little friend - I  have way too many silly pictures of her, but she begs me to take them, what is a girl supposed to do?

Night Time Tea

The other night, after the older kids went to bed, Rose requested that we have a tea party.  So Ryan, Rose and I had a candlelight tea (Rose - Make the fire Mom!).  We enjoyed Apple Cinnamon Herbal Tea with crackers and cookies. 

So pretty!

Reworking Part 2

Something else I have been reworking is our diet.

During the summer, we got lazy.  I was stressed about the house, stressed about the yard and in the summer, my tiny kitchen becomes an oven when I use the oven.  So our diet (what we were eating) took a hit.

So a few months ago, I started changing things.  I started slow so as to not shock anyone or cause a rebellion.  Here are some examples:

I replaced ____ - with _____

• white pasta - whole wheat (which I usually use, but I was trying to get rid of some food storage and got lazy)
• ALL white bread - whole wheat or another grain bread 
• NO HFCS or MSG, etc.
• We've almost eliminated ALL white/processed sugar from out diet entirely - which is really hard because it's in EVERYTHING!!  Instead, we use raw honey, coconut sugar, maple syrup or brown rice syrup.  But even with those, we limit our sugar intake big time.
• LOTS of veggies everyday (new veggies for us - kale, collard greens, diakon)
• We eat fresh fruit everyday, but limit it.
• Dairy is gone, except for some yogurt the kids have occasionally.  We use non-dairy alternatives and rice milk.
• Meat  - with tofu, quinoa, beans and a variety of food that contains protein
• Desserts are now dairy/egg/processed sugar free - what's left?  Tons!!
• No more processed flour - it's all whole (white and regular) wheat, quinoa, barely and oat flours.

Did this happen overnight?  No.  We're still phasing things out and bringing in new things.  

Why have I done this?

• a few people in the family were developing belly fat
• I was tired all the time with headaches to boot
• people were stinky (gas-wise) and now we're not
• our genetics - we saw different family members struggle with health and now we're trying to be preventative
• Ryan and I were not sleeping well

to name a few. 

More to come - lots going on around here!

Reworking

Ever feel the need to rework things in your life?  Anything really.  I guess you could call it re-evaluating.  Anyway, I have been doing some reworking of things.  Maybe it's the move, maybe it's because of the change of seasons, a new schedule...a combo, I think. 

One thing I'm reworking is my home.  With the advice of my grandmother who has a decorator's eye, I am slowly trying change the feel of my living room.  I've only moved the couch really, though I have other plans (which require money...) but they will have to wait and happen slowly.  Anyway, work in progress.

BEFORE

AFTER - it's not a great pic of the whole thing

Anyway, more to come.  I just need to take some more/better pictures and do some more reworking.

L is for loser and lame-o

A little humility is good, right?  

Well, the past few weeks, my new church ward (congregation) is shaking things up on our Relief Society newsletter/emails.  Apparently right as we moved into our new ward, so did a lot of other families.  And not just run-of-the-mill families (like mine), but the types of families that make you gag after reading their Christmas letters.  The type that after hearing them introduce themselves before speaking in church the last few weeks, Ryan actually told me "Susan, when we're asked to talk, don't tell anything about us.  We'll look like losers".  

So while Ryan and I are pretty aware of our loser-like status, this new ward is reminding us just how lame we are.  

Back to the R.S. emails/newsletter: they are highlighting a different sister every week - sending out a cute family photo with info on the new sister.  They sent out an email to all the new sisters, asking us to submit info on ourselves.  After reading a few, there is no way I will be doing that.  I have come to the conclusion that I will just wait for the ladies to discover just how lame I am on their own, I don't need help.  

Rose "Say cheese Mom!"

Lame.

Oh dear...

I have some ideas of things I want to share on this blog, but I don't have the right pictures.  Instead, I have the wrong ones, like this one:

It makes me laugh.  Most of my pictures of her are these type of faces.  I have lots of them that look like this (above).  And that outfit?  All Rose.

Major accomplishment of the day:  registered car in MO and got new driver's license (and registered to vote).  I'm on fire.

Adjusting

Another new part of our lives has been that Rose started preschool for the first time.  She goes three times a week for three hours each day.  So far, she's been upset every day but her first day.  Once she realizes it's a school morning, she's very apprehensive and gets upset.  But once she's there, she does fine and says she had fun.    

Rose is my youngest to go to preschool.  Claire and William were both four and only attended one year before Kindergarten.  Rose is still three and I've had some reservations about sending her.  However, as far as I can tell, this little school is going to be good for her.  She has never had many children her age that she interacted with on a regular basis and it's been good for her to have to interact with her teacher.  This girl is a handful and needs some management, so I think it will be a positive experience overall.  

Now I just have to convince her!

Goodbye and Hello

This will come as no surprise to most of you:  we moved.  We said goodbye to our home in Illinois and moved back across the Mississippi into the St. Louis area...again.  So what's with us?  Well, initially we moved to Illinois to live close to the train line (which Ryan took everyday to school), the public schools there were good (or good enough), we could afford a house, we wanted a yard, etc. etc.  You get the picture.  

But things changed, as life tends to do.  Ryan got a job out in west county St. Louis, making his commute long and stressful.  Our good public school was not working  for our family any longer, our house had become a time-consuming, money-sucking burden.  But mostly we were tired of not seeing Ryan.  Something had to change.  And to spare you the details of our home-selling fiasco, we moved.  

Moving Day - THE rainy day in August

Our new place

After the shock wore off from the move, I knew we had done the right thing.  Ryan can walk to work in under 10 minutes, the kids are in a fantastic school (and district), and we have a lot more room in our new home.  We now live in a town home, which we are renting - no more buying for us for a long time - no thank you!! We are happy here, for now.  I have a feeling this isn't very permanent.

But I have big plans for our living room, involving paint, a new cover for the couch, etc.  I'm excited to lighten things up and change styles a bit.  Since I now live away from ALL of my friends and family, I plan to be a better blogger and update regularly.  And eventually I'll include more pics.  See ya!