A Charmed Life

Busy

2012-02-15T10:23:00.002-06:00

Life has been a little busy lately, but in a very very good way. For many reasons, I have decided to homeschool Claire and William for the rest of this school year, at least. We'll see what next year brings. As a product of public school and as an educator, I never ever thought I would homeschool my own children. And if you talked to me a few years ago, I still never thought I would do it. But I am. I'm so glad we can learn, change, grow and it's OK. I don't always have to think one way. I love being able to change my mind.

We are two weeks into it, and so far it has been a blast. I know that weariness, frustration, and boredom will come into the picture from time to time, but I'm not worried. That's life. Why do I love it? To name a few reasons:

-I love being able to study The Book of Mormon with the kids every morning followed by a family prayer - what a wonderful way to start our morning with no stress of hurrying off to school

-I get to choose what the kids are learning

-We can spend as long as we need on an area before moving (ie long division with Claire)

-So much more time for enriching activities every day! (art, music, swimming, sewing, baking, etc)

-When we take field trips - we have the place to ourselves!

-I get to read with and to the kids more than a few minutes at bedtime - we read and read and read

I could go on and on. But one of the most surprising aspects of homeschool that I really did not expect was how well the kids get along now. I was worried because before, when they would get home from school, there would be bickering, etc., with all three. That has basically stopped on its own (with a little help from me). The kids are in a good mood most all the time. The after-school stress is gone. It's really amazing how that happened on its own.

And finally - I am finding so much enjoyment from planning and teaching everyday. I thought I would go crazy having the kids home with me all day, but it's quite the opposite. We have fun and I enjoy their companionship. It's all been a very pleasant surprise.

Another Day

2012-01-18T11:03:00.003-06:00

Lately, our weather has been so strange. We never know week to week what it will bring. The kids wake up every day asking what kind of clothing they should wear and what size coat to take to school. Tornados, snow, rain, hail, sunshine, wind. It's all over the place.

And while I miss the green, I find the jungle of browns and grays quite lovely.

Our little family has a lot on its plate right now. Big, life-changing, expensive things. So in the midst of all of this change, my job is to sort through it while everyone's gone during the day and try to keep this home living like normal. But I'm not worried. We'll sort it out.

Butterflies and Cockroaches

2012-01-13T15:47:00.004-06:00

Saturdays are special days - and not because we get ready for Sunday, but because we finally get to get out of the house and do fun things! We love to do things, go places, etc. On New Year's Eve, we went to The Butterfly House (for the first time since William was a little guy). It was fun, it was hot and there were TONS of butterflies.

THE picture of the day - makes me smile

Are those all rocks in there with the kids? No, they are cockroaches - yuck

Sometimes Saturdays have to be used to run errands, sometimes yard work, etc, but we try to get out a couple of times a month and explore St. Louis. I work hard to get errands and housework done during the week so we have time to play. We love to play.

Shark Quilt

2012-01-11T14:50:00.003-06:00

Megan, my friend - you are a genius. All it took was the click of a very obvious tab, and my problem was solved. Thank you.

I don't have anything in particular to say. My life is consumed with potty training Rose. It was pretty horrible convincing her to sit on the potty, but once she did and had success, she decided it wasn't so bad after all. We're still in the beginning, so I'm not pushing my luck. Basically, we've been camped out in the dining room (where there are hard floors).

But I really wanted to share some pictures of a quilt I made my baby nephew for Christmas. His parents are water-loving people, so I went with that. The day after I finished it, I shipped it off to TX. But I did remember to take a few photos so I could remember it. Anyway, here it is:

No new projects on the horizon right now. I'm just trying to "get my house in order" as you might say. A very January thing to do.

Blogging woes

2012-01-10T20:52:00.002-06:00

My blog is misbehaving, or at least Blogger is. When I try to upload a picture, I can't see the picture, just the code. I don't know why or how to fix it. I'm going to have Ryan take a look at it but if nothing can be done, I might be shutting down this blog. I'm not a good writer and rarely have anything very interesting to say - without pictures, it's not much. So I'll try to fix the problem and let you know how it goes.

by the way

2011-12-14T09:12:00.002-06:00

Sorry if my blog posts look squished and weird. I'm still trying to get my computer to cooperate. I'm using a new browser which should help - but until that kicks in - it looks awful.

Days

2011-12-14T08:51:00.003-06:00

Lately:

have spent the last two days with a quilt in my lap, hoping to be done today

saw a mouse in the garage - can't figure out where it's living, but it did clean the PB off the traps

need to start cooking again - real cooking

just realized Christmas is in less than two weeks - lots to do

starting to get excited to have the kids home for the break

am on a perpetual elf hat hunt - checked 6 stores with no luck - my elf may just be hatless in the upcoming school play

almost had flowers delivered to me yesterday - only to catch the delivery guy getting back into his truck, the flowers were for someone on the next street named Dawn - oh well

had a better day with my 3-year-old yesterday - only 11 1/2 more months to go...

One of those days

2011-12-12T19:20:00.002-06:00

Clarie snapped this picture of Rose, being Rose

Today was one of those days I do not wish to repeat. Actually, most of my day was OK really. It was this evening...when it all went to pot. I love my dear daughter, I really do, but I'm at my wits end. Having Rose around when I'm trying to run errands or do anything important really is like have some sort of personal gremlin, sent to torture me. I thought things would get better since the twos were so awful, but that proved to be wrong. Three-year-olds are crazy. That's all I can say and keep thing polite.

Hiccups

2011-12-06T16:35:00.003-06:00

Rose ready for a walk with Dad

(the puzzle pieces are in her backpack, but she insisted on carrying the empty puzzle box in her hand)

It seems to be getting darker earlier and earlier around here. I don't really mind it. I'm just grateful for portable heaters, fleece vests, wool socks and lap blankets. After living in places with cold winters for almost half my life, my preference scale is starting to tip towards places with cold winters over hot summers. Luckily here is St. Louis, we get the best of both worlds. But every time I go to Texas in the summer, I melt.

Life continues on as normal here, despite a few small hiccups (my antique spice rack falling off the wall - which was loaded with spices) or large hiccups (like my dryer kicking the bucket). But with good friends to help out, we just keep sailing through.

I would be lost without my friends.

Toasty

2011-12-02T17:15:00.004-06:00

Pictures of my baking center, as promised. I have plans to add some shelves on the wall above to store my baking supplies in jars, but it'll have to wait for awhile. And one day, when I get beautiful mixing bowls, etc, they will go on the shelves below. It takes time to know what I want there. I love love love having this extra working room. Such a blessing!

So I killed the toaster the other day. I dropped it. When I told Ryan, who was still in bed at the time, he asked "That's what I heard?!" I dropped it nice and hard; almost on Claire's feet.

Being toast people, I thought I had better get out there and get us a new toaster and quick! I wanted to get a better one, but when it came down to it, I got the exact same kind, even though I kind of hated our toaster. It had 10 settings, but if the dial accidentally was turned up to 3, a piece of charcoal would eventually pop out. Which made me think, what would happen at lets say, setting 6? An inferno? What about setting 10!? A mushroom cloud maybe?

Maybe I should have spent the extra $20 for the primo toaster (primo according to Target...) so I wouldn't have to babysit my toast anymore. But maybe, just maybe, the maker of my red chrome Oster toaster will have gotten the settings toned down sometime in the last 6 years since I bought the original. I did notice that this new red chrome Oster toaster only has 6 settings...

And that brings me to the movie, "The Brave Little Toaster". Any of you remember that? I loved watching it on TV as a kid, but when I checked it out from the library to watch with my kids, I found it to be really weird and disturbing. My kids didn't like it at all...so what was wrong with me when I was a kid?

World (ok a log cabin) Turned Upside-Down

2011-12-02T10:39:00.003-06:00

Last winter sometime, I started this cross-stitch sampler that I found in the book Embroidery Companion found here http://aliciapaulson.com/. I love her designs and I thought this one would be perfect in the girls' room. I happily started sewing, distracted here and there by kids and life. I started with the log cabin and then moved onto the fence and it wasn't until the fence was done that I realized I sewed the fence on upside-down (in relationship to the log cabin). Now I would call myself a pretty experienced cross-stitcher and this was a major uh-oh. I was so mad that I threw a small tantrum (that Ryan witnessed) and vowed to throw it away. The fence, while easy, was very time consuming, so there was NO WAY I was going to rip it out - it wasn't worth it to me.

So I put it away (Ryan convinced me not to throw it away just yet) and didn't touch it for a few months.

After the sting was gone, I pulled it out, figured out how to make it work without ripping out a single stitch and bam! It's done. I couldn't find a wood frame that I loved, so Claire and I picked out an unfinished one, painted it, and here is the finished product, upside-down cabin and all.

I love how it turned out. It's hanging on the wall next to Rose's bed and the blue ties in with the blue in Rose's quilt and Claire's bedding. Anyway, check out Alicia's book and her blog is great. She is such a gifted lady and lately, her blog has brought me to tears.

Finishing

2011-12-01T06:49:00.003-06:00

Well, it's here. My computer arrived last night. The keyboard layout is a bit different, making me erase a large percentage of what I type, but I'll get the hang of it. And while it's great to have a computer that works, I forget how much I hate getting acquainted with a new operating system and having to "personalize" it all over again. Again, I'll get the hang of it.

But while I have been waiting for its arrival, I have been a busy bee. My many projects are all underway and I have spent the last three days making a quilt and staining furniture. The project above was an inexpensive way to test my staining skills. In the end, I didn't love the color for my other projects, so I did end up buying a darker stain. But last night, I finished putting on the three coats of finish and it was a success! Now onto the real stuff - they have color, but need finishing.

I think I like finishing wood, but I'm not sure yet. I'll wait until it's all done to decide - things could go very badly yet.

Off

2011-11-22T18:03:00.003-06:00

Now that the house is off the market (for the winter), I've decided to continue on with my home improvement projects. A paint color has been chosen for William's room (though it was not his first choice and there were many tears shed -by him, not me- but life goes on and I know he'll love it when it's done), I have three pieces of furniture to stain, which I'm a little nervous about... And I'm once again dreaming of a new front door.

So we move forward, hopeful that the housing mess will somehow all work out in the end. But in the meantime, I'm excited to make our little home a little more homier and I hope soon to be able to post some pictures of my new kitchen worktable. It is awesome! And it only took the cooperation of three other families to get it here!

On a Monday

2011-11-07T16:55:00.002-06:00

We're just here; trying to take things a little slower so everyone can heal. Life keeps trying to creep in and keep us too busy.

Just have to make sure we leave plenty of time for prayers, scripture reading, snuggles and good food.

Oh, what would we do without these blankies?

Whatnot etc,

2011-11-03T23:43:00.002-05:00

No pictures today - laptop crashed. But I'll give a brief update for those of you I don't communicate with often and for personal history purposes. We've had a busy week, some good, some bad.

Monday was of course busy with Halloween.

Tuesday was clean up and recover day, had to pick up kids from school because William had a bloody nose that wouldn't stop so he couldn't ride the bus home.

Wednesday was the usual until Rose fell off the couch, onto the coffee table resulting in 5 hours in the ER and 4 stitches.

Thursday (today) was taking kids late to school because I was up until 3am because of the ER, and the kids didn't fair much better, squeezing in a parent/teacher conference, playgroup where Rose got a nasty nosebleed (it didn't last long, but it wasn't pretty), washing bloody clothes while Rose and I napped, Project night and here I am.

I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a little calmer and less bloody. Some good, some bad. I take them as they come.

Creating Linus

2011-11-02T12:58:00.004-05:00

This Halloween, William wanted to be Linus from "Peanuts"; we're big fans of Charlie Brown. The costume seemed easy enough. All I had to do was find the shirt; but that proved to be harder than I thought to find just the right thing. So I ended up making the striped shirt. My friend Jennifer had the great idea of how to put the thin black stripes onto the red shirt and I must say - it turned out awesome and was really easy to do!

I used masking tape to create the lines that I would paint.

Painting with black fabric paint - I was worried the paint would bleed through the tape, but it didn't! Oh, and I put cardboard inside the shirt to protect the underside.

A view from the back - I ironed on letters so that people would be sure to know who he was.

Linus

This was a great costume because it was cheap (only had to buy a shirt - cheap at the craft store, fabric paint, and red socks) and easy. He loved wearing it because it was so comfortable; not much different from what he usually wears everyday. And the best part? He got to carry around his favorite blue blanket, just like Linus.

Goodbye Terrible Twos?

2011-10-24T17:21:00.003-05:00

As Rose nears her 3rd birthday, something very unexpected has been happening; Rose is chilling out. Lately, she is quieter, calmer, and less...well, crazy. I have found her sitting quietly in her bed, looking at comic books, listening to music for an hour at a time. She will play quietly with her legos or squinkies for hours. It is all very un-Rosie-like. I'm not sure what to think about it. She's not completely calm - she will still stand at her post on the top of the slide and yell at the dog across the street to "go to sleep, dog!" and scream at passing cars, but other than that, she has really mellowed out. We hear "the scream" less and less (which I am totally OK with). I don't know...I don't want to speak too soon or jinx myself, but I think the twos may possibly be worse than the threes for Rose. Claire was a three-year-old from you-know-where and William was always his sweet little self. Who knows, but it's kind-of weirdin' me out.

The Rose I'm used to...mopping the car.

Monday

2011-10-24T17:04:00.002-05:00

As Halloween and a certain birthday inch closer, I've realized that I had better get moving on my plans. Claire's costume is so close to being done, William's is bought, but needs some assembling and I think Rose is ready to go. I just need to finish up and put a little more thought into someone's 3rd birthday! We have been busy as of late - not too much on the calender, but a lot of other "stuff". I think I will be ready for November next week. October is always a little crazy with so much going on. I have found that I like my calm and quiet days, which I don't get too many of. But I love them when I can get them.

The other day, I made these pumpkin scones from this book. It was so, so good. But I had to alter the recipe a bit to make it work. Turns out, that corrections for that recipe have been printed - which I didn't know about.

And our garden yielded A LOT of basil; here is some of it - we canned several jars of pesto and didn't bother harvesting the rest of the basil.

And I want you all to look at the above picture. Do you see that small square of counter space? Well that is all the counter space I have to work with. All cooking, food prep, baking, everything, takes place on that small bit of counter. I'm telling you...a shoebox...but I have plans in the works. Only a few more weeks...

Goodnight Moon

2011-10-22T19:13:00.002-05:00

It's been a long day; a good day, but long. As much as I love getting out and doing things, my favorite place to be is home, with the ones I love most.

Have a lovely weekend.

Getting Cold(s)

2011-10-20T13:13:00.002-05:00

I am glad that I live in a place that has definite seasons. Fall is my favorite; I don't even mind the wind and cooler weather. It's a nice change from the humidity of the summer. But with the cooler weather, comes colds. Luckily, the kids have been doing pretty well thus far. The start of school always means the kids start bringing home gross viruses. I like the excuse to slow down, sit down and enjoy quieter activities. I also love all of the snuggles I get from tired children. I will miss these when they grow up.

Back in Business

2011-10-14T17:11:00.003-05:00

Once again, we are picture-less and until I get a new computer, it might stay that way. I hope you won't leave for lack of pictures.

The past two days, I have not been feeling well. Yesterday was the worst of the two, but I woke up this morning renewed. I'm not back to full energy yet, but it came just in time. Even though my husband did the best he could with the house while I was semi-conscious on the couch, it still amazes me how quickly things can take a turn for the worse. I spent almost the entire day today, just getting the house back in shape. There is still much to be done, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

I'm so thankful Ryan was willing to step in and bathe kids, wash dinner dishes and make lunches. What a good man.

But I think our FedX guy thinks I'm either a drunk or high because when he knocked on the door yesterday, I had to pull myself out of a benadryl-induced stupor to answer the door and my throat was so swollen, I couldn't say anything intelligible. And there was the fact that I must of have looked atrocious and could hardly sign my name with the electronic pen-thing. Let's just say, it was bad. I can just hear him telling his wife..."you wouldn't believe the crazy lady I delivered to today!".

TV schmeevee

2011-10-12T15:20:00.002-05:00

More than a month ago, we got rid of cable. There were several motivating factors in this decision: high expense, kids watching too much, parents watching too much, and I wanted to rearrange my living room and the TV cable wouldn't reach where I wanted to put my TV and there was NO WAY I was going to pay someone to move the cable line because of my crazy furniture rearranging whim.

And unfortunately, our digital converter no longer works making our TV useless except for movies. Have we missed it? Maybe here and there. I will tell you, I don't miss hearing all of those obnoxious pre-teen Disney and Nick shows. The kids haven't seemed to notice. They just play with their toys or go outside instead of laying around the living room. In the evenings, I read or put on a favorite movie while I sew.

When we need something new to watch, we get things from the library. I won't even go into the fact that I think most of what's on TV is pretty trashy and some of it is just plain awful. That being said, so far, this has been a good thing and I don't regret our decision...much :)

Another Rose Story

2011-10-11T16:31:00.002-05:00

If any of the kids have given me a run for my money, it has been Rose. I can not figure her out, after almost three years, you would think I could predict her, but I'm still amazed at what kind of crap she can pull.

This morning, after the kids left for school on the bus, Rose and I went to a nearby park. I took her mostly because she was feeling sad at being left behind. My local friends will know of which park I speak - the giant wood playground by the pond.

Well, Rose and I were the only ones at the playground (it was 8am) and the only other people at the park were old folks walking the gravel trails. She played while I finished my book. All was well until I accidentally stuck my finger down the back of her diaper while trying to situate her on the tire swing. Well, the diaper was filled with poo and I quickly retreated to the car to get a wipe for my hand and a diaper for Rose. The car was very close and Rose was occupied on the tire swing. I quickly returned to where Rose should have been, but wasn't. I said out loud "Oh no she didn't" She did. She had escaped out the back entrance of the playground (which has a wood fence all around except the main entrance and a small, hidden back entrance), which I didn't know she knew about. She had not only escaped, but was running full speed down the empty park road that runs next to the pond. She saw me chasing her, screamed and ran even faster. I caught her, wrestled her to a park bench where I changed her and then promptly returned to the car. What a pill!! I wonder how long and far she would have run if I had let her.

And as I write this, she has taken off all of her clothes (diaper included) and is rolling around on the wood dining room floor with her blanket.?? I hope we survive the threes.

Oh, come on!!

2011-10-05T10:01:00.003-05:00

Once again I am thwarted in my efforts to put on new pictures - my laptop is about done. It's been a good computer; it has lasted me 5 years, which for a laptop, is pretty good. I'm seriously thinking about getting a new one next month.

We had a lovely weekend, but honestly were relieved when it was over. I am excited for some improvements that I'm making to the kitchen/dining room that I will share when it's done (next month). Speaking of the kitchen, we had a house showing last week. I spent much of the day getting the house in spic-and-span order then I had to take my sleeping toddler out in the car for an hour while the showing took place. Well, the next day, we got the results of the showing. The people were not at all interested due to the size of the kitchen. They liked everything else and had positive comments, but the kitchen would not work for their needs at all and so had no interest. Here's my thought - there are 25 freaking pictures online, many of the kitchen and the dimensions are ON THE MLS PAGE!!! If having a big kitchen is that important to you, then get out a measuring tape and measure the size BEFORE you make someone clean their whole house and yard AND leave for an hour so you can be just be "curious" or whatever. I was glad someone was looking at the house, but annoyed with these people. Yes! I know the kitchen is small - it's what I hate most about the house, but for crying out loud, if it's that important to your happiness, do a little research. There are like 100 houses in this area in this price range to choose from...whereas when we were buying our house, there were maybe 5. Oh well. What can I do?

Next time I go house hunting, I will be sure to be considerate in which houses I view - if I'm not serious, I won't look at it and save everyone the trouble.

On a different note, a few weeks back, we had this morning fog roll in, making it look like we live in a rain forest.

And what's with Daylight Savings? Is it normally in November? I'm not loving it being so dark in the morning.

Weekend

2011-09-30T15:11:00.002-05:00

A lovely, but crazy friend of mine has offered to have my three kids join her four kids (one of which is a few weeks old) for an evening of fun so that my husband and I can go out. I will admit that I can't remember the last time we did something, just the two of us. It must have been last year.

Anyway, our weekend is off to a good start as we have a full, fun day planned for tomorrow. I love Octobers here in Illinois. It is my favorite month; the leaves turning, fall activities are in full swing and the weather is perfect. Come November, it will be cold until spring. Right on cue, while we try to enjoy our perfect month, lots of other things keep cropping up to keep us busy. So Ryan and I will battle to keep our one useful month free in order to enjoy our family and nature.

I always have good intentions to blog over the weekend, but it never happens. So be on the lookout Monday for some mind-blowing pictures and inspiring prose. Well, maybe not mind blowing...

The Help

2011-09-28T12:36:00.002-05:00

Rose is having a very productive day, making my day very unproductive; pictures to follow. But who can stay mad at this girl?

Now that my allergies are finally a little better, I have begun work on my many projects. I've decided not to start another on until I finish what I have started. Well, maybe one more... Have a wonderful fall day!

Hobbit Day Revisited

2011-09-27T08:58:00.003-05:00

Last year, my lovely sister informed me of a tradition among Tolkien fans called "Hobbit Day" (Bilbo and Frodo's birthday). She was making a seed cake and eating Hobbit-like fare. I thought it sounded fun, and being a moderate Tolkien fan, I wanted to join in. So this year, my sister reminded me of the upcoming day and I was (somewhat) prepared.

I can't remember what I had made for breakfast, but I was sure to eat both breakfast and second breakfast. I baked seed cake (which was delicious!) and when the kids got home from school, we had a tea party. I'm afraid it wasn't very Hobbit-like, more English I guess, but we had a great time! We've had afternoon tea parties before, but I had to make this one special. So I dressed up in something out of the ordinary, strung some twinkle lights, made some paper chains and brewed up a pot of apple cinnamon herbal tea. When the kids walked in the door, they were very confused by what was going on, but as soon as they saw the tea, my mop cap and heard my atrocious English accent, they joined right in on the fun. We had a lovely afternoon tea and I had to fight the kids off from eating all of the cake so that we could save some for Ryan.

For dinner, we had crispy bacon, biscuits and jam, cold chicken with berry sauce, and taters sprinkled with Rosemary from our garden. We had a wonderful time and plan to continue the tradition every year! Thanks Molly for the great idea!

Hello Again Friends!

2011-09-22T17:09:00.003-05:00

Now that we are back into a schedule and life has calmed down (relatively), I hope to blog once again. For many months, I was either traveling, planning our travels, getting our home ready for potential buyers or just staying busy with the usual summer-start of school business.

I have put off many "homey" projects due to the fact that my main goal was keeping the house in tip top shape for buyers. But seeing as how our house seems to be going nowhere, I've decided to start up again with my many hobbies that I have begun to miss. But first, here's a quick catch-up on us:

Ryan completed his Ph.D. in July, making him a Dr. of Computational Biology
We spent a total of a month traveling to Texas and Oregon
I am no longer serving in the YWs group at our church, but have moved on to the womens group
We put the house up for sale, had a flurry of interest in the beginning, but it has tapered off as the economy tanks
The kids started school again - Claire in 4th and William in 1st
Ryan is now a post-doctorate fellow and will be for a little while yet

So that's about it, really, besides the normal day to day stuff. I have a lot of fun things to share, but will have to wait until tomorrow to add some pictures, as my external hard drive is in the other room. But we have had a lovely Hobbit Day today and I thank my sister Molly for informing of it - she always has something fun going on. See you again soon!

WILL E

2011-04-13T12:02:00.004-05:00

I hope this picture gives you a smile on this sun-shiny Wednesday.

Friday

2011-04-08T15:16:00.002-05:00

Another favorite moment from our day. I asked the kids to make sure the fabric I was putting on the line had a lot of clothes pins due to the high wind. They took me literally. That fabric is going nowhere.

Happy Friday!

Images

2011-04-06T09:51:00.001-05:00

Some of my favorite photos from this past week.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day!

April Fool

2011-04-05T09:48:00.002-05:00

Keeping with blogging protocol, I must post about our latest birthday. Much to William's disappointment, it wasn't his birthday we were celebrating, but Claire's.

I think she had a good day. I saw her all of two hours, maybe three that day. In a nut shell:

cinnamon rolls for breakfast, presents, new outfit to be worn that day, school, talk to grandparents, packing her bag, off to the hotel for a friend's party. They share the same birthday, so the cake had both of their names on it. Apparently, the party at the hotel was a blast and way better than anything we would have done at home that night. It sure made my life easier!

Sat was conference and birthday cake. It was one of my ugly, but tasty cakes. I really should take a cake decorating class or something...

"Better late than never" birthday cake

The denim tote (stuffed with goodies) I made for her friend's present - see previous post

I asked Claire to pose for me...this is what I got.

I have uploaded a new crop of photos, so I should have more posts this week. Things have been a little busy around here, to say the least. See you then!

denim blown wide open

2011-03-30T13:56:00.003-05:00

Whenever I picture any of my school teachers from elementary school, they're all wearing denim skirts with matching vests either covered in buttons or little embroidered school motifs (rulers, apples, chalkboards, pencils, etc).

But when I got my copy of Heather Ross's book Weekend Sewing, I loved her "Everything Tote" p. 15. Seeing as how my current purse was dying and I couldn't find another one that I liked AND could afford, I set out to make myself one.

Enter, the denim.

I don't remember how many yards I got, but it wasn't more than 3 with a coupon at JoAnn's for $11. I got a very dark denim, nothing stonewashed, keeping with contemporary denim styles.

That $11 has served me well. With it, I made my "Everything Tote", me a skirt from Simplicity 2600 skirt D, a skirt for Claire Butterick B4722 skirt E, and a small tote packed full of treats for Claire's friend's birthday present. There's still enough denim to make something small (bean bags, quilt squares, pot holders, whatever).

I would say that's pretty good for $11. The only project that took any real time was the Everything Tote, seeing as how I had to adjust the pattern a bit. Considering I'm a "Stay At Home Mom", I had time in my quiet afternoon hours to do some sewing, and for the most part, I enjoy it. If I had the choice to either go to the store and buy some article of clothing or sew it, I would choose to sew it. I don't particularly enjoy shopping and as I get older, I like it less and less.

I have another couple of yards of a darker denim that I plan on making aprons for my two older kids for Easter. We'll see how that goes. Despite it's bad connotations of my early life, denim has found a place in my heart.

Pictures of projects to be posted later.

I meant to do that...

2011-03-23T16:29:00.007-05:00

As a youth, I was considered "clumsy". I attribute it to the fact that I grew so much so quickly. Grace and poise has never been my strong point, so I have learned to adapt. I embrace those embarrassing moments, share them, laugh at them and hope people have short memories.

For those of you who live in the St. Louis area, Wednesday was very blustery; perfect for line-drying my laundry. My last load was our bed sheets. I kept an eye on them as they precariously blew on the line. I was standing at the back door when I witnessed my flat bed sheet (despite being held on with 8 clothes pins) blow up in the air, off the line, over the fence and into the road. I dropped the three-hole punch I was holding to the floor and ran out to save my sheet from being run over. It was about as embarrassing as the time I fell into the culvert while I was mowing the lawn (and a car stopped to ask if I was OK). Or the time I tried to hop my 4 ft fence only to pull a "Napoleon Dynamite" fence fall in front of many of the neighbors.

There is something to be said for a sense of humor and strong bones.

May the Force be with him

2011-03-23T09:23:00.002-05:00

William has become my little entrepreneur. He went looking for his light saber the other day only to discover that I had thrown it out. But before you judge me and my throwing everything away habit, the light saber was broken. It took one too many beatings at playgroup.

So William has set out to earn the money to buy a new one. My kids don't get an allowance. I don't know if they ever will. They are expected to help around the house as being a part of the family and when they have a reasonable request, Ryan and I will help them pay for it. However, I think a replacement light saber is not a necessary item, so he's having to earn the money. Now I've been having to come up with jobs that I don't normally make him do (or I was planning on doing, but needed a little help). Here's what he's done so far:

fold cloth diapers because I ran out of time to do it
pull weeds from the back yard
sweep the front porch and back patio
vacuum the whole house and put it all back together

I feel like there's more, but I can't think of them right now. Some other possible jobs are:

vacuum out the car
wash the car
sweep out the garage
vacuum out the couch cushions (and he gets to keep any money he finds in the cushions)

I'm still trying to come up with new jobs. Any ideas?

Ryan told William that he would pay William a penny for every night he doesn't come in our room to sleep on the couch. It's working! If the time comes to purchase the light saber and he doesn't have enough, if I feel he's worked hard and saved, I will help make up the difference.

Farewell, my friend...

2011-03-22T16:09:00.002-05:00

For those of you who know me, I enjoy a good Dr Pepper. I didn't always. Coming from Texas, all of my friends grew up drinking this stuff and come high school, I spent a lot of time at their homes drinking...well, Dr Pepper. There are have been years of not touching it, but during my pregnancy with Rose, I had chronic headaches that continue today. Dr Pepper gave me enough caffeine to kick the headaches with some help of a pain killer.

But in the name of frugality, I'm giving it up...again. Is doesn't make sense to save money not using my dryer only to turn around and spend those saving on DP. So for the sake of my health (look, I know it's bad for me, I am fully aware of the bad qualities) and my budget, I'm kicking the habit.

So here's the thing: I am SO tired! I didn't realize how much of my energy came from the caffeine. Holy cow, so so tired. I am definitely going to be less productive than before. Man, no wonder those coffee drinkers get so much done in a day. I just hope this is temporary because, crap.

A Renewal

2011-03-21T17:27:00.004-05:00

Maybe because it's spring, maybe because I don't want to squander our tax return, maybe because I have recently landed myself on a very slippery slope, but for whatever the reason, I have renewed my efforts to be a tightwad...or maybe I should say, frugal...thrifty? Whatever you want to call it, I am working hard once again to watch my spending/budget.

I have been on this road many times before and as the year wears on, I find myself slowly letting expensive, or should I say, less cheap habits creep into my life. Better laundry detergent, getting a $5 pizza once a month or so, pricier trash bags, dish soap, shampoo, etc. We're not talking Tide, Aveda, Dawn, Windex, or Pampers here, but the middle of the road stuff that when added together, really adds up.

I don't know why I keep having relapses, but it happens every year or so. I have never "let myself go" spending-wise, not even close, but as I said before, I have found myself on that slippery slope and I'm bound and determined to not only get off, but stay off...for good.

So some of my recent efforts have been:

cloth diapers (again - I stopped this with Rose a year ago or so - it is also aiding in potty training)
natural light only during the day (except in the bathroom of course!)
frugal meals - not letting anything going to waste in the back of the fridge
homemade cleaning products

This picture doesn't fit in this post - it's just so darn cute

washing dishes in bulk loads with minimal water for cleanliness (same goes for laundry)
shorter showers (5 min or less for Ryan, Claire and I)
less bath water for other two kids
condensing errands - I usually do this anyway as a time-saver, but now even more so

line drying clothes
comparison grocery shopping with my price book (I may explain this another time)
buying in bulk when it's a good deal
mostly shopping at ALDI because even in bulk, their prices are hard to beat
buying the cheapest toiletries/soaps/detergents I can find that get the job done

So you know, old egg cartons (paper) filled with seed soil is by far the best seed-starting kit. We've tried the bamboo and plastic irrigation trays and both breed mold. The egg cartons are cheap and drain perfectly. Don't waste your money on the expensive systems.

growing garden from seeds
reusing things I would normally toss out

Those are a few of the things we're doing. There are more, but I won't go into too many details. There are more drastic changes we're making in regards to total living/shopping/spending habits, but these are some of the smaller things. We're also cutting back with activities, getting rid of cable as soon as our contract is up, etc.

What I really need to change is my attitude. A general feeling a gratitude and contentedness would go a long way. So would not caring so much about the mainstream expectations, because the mainstream is in debt up to their eyeballs. Starting with having let my Better Homes and Gardens subscription end - embracing frugality and letting go of that picture-perfect home is a step in the right direction!

Claire-isms

2011-03-15T15:44:00.004-05:00

While the kids were playing with the Egyptian Playmobil, this is what I overheard:

Claire - Cleopatra was very beautiful.

Willliam - Is she still alive?

Claire - No, she died a long time ago. Now she's all covered with white stuff and looks like beef jerky.

When I asked Claire how we could save money, this was her reply:

Claire - We could buy a lantern and move to Texas overnight.

Me - How would that save us money?

Claire - I don't know, I've just always wanted to do that.

Concerning Claire's bus driver:

Claire - She's really mean. She talks to us like we're monkeys.

Me - Monkeys?

Claire - Yeah. Idiot monkeys.

Whatnot

2011-03-15T10:04:00.002-05:00

We have been gearing up for spring around here, so the snow yesterday really threw us off. But we continue to stay busy with the everyday life.

Ryan is working harder than ever to be done soon. We don't see much of him.

I have been attempting to upload two years worth of photos to be printed, it is taking FOREVER! I will never get this far behind again.

After working on the finances, I have a renewed sense of thriftiness and am revamping my budget - again. I can't seem to get a hold of this long term.

Claire is currently in the middle of the ISAT testing. It will be over Thursday and then we'll all get a break from hearing about it.

William is picking up stuff from school friends everyday - some good, some bad.

Rose is currently wearing a pink princess dress everyday, complete with a magic wand and Claire's flip flops.

William in his scuba mask he made at school,

he wore it and his backpack for about two days straight.

We spent all of Saturday cleaning up the yard; getting out leaves, twigs, etc. from the winter storms. I am still sore, three days later. I had better get in shape or this summer's yard work is going to kill me. Time to shake off this winter sleep!

It's that time again!

2011-03-07T17:18:00.003-06:00

That's right! It's time for a Rosie update. This kooky girl is always up to something, usually no good. While thanks to her growing ability to communicate using words and not screeches, we all get along much better. She's still two, so there's no getting around that, but her logic, sense of danger, and general brain use is increasing. But she's still Rose, and anyone who has met her knows of what I speak.

I was trying to get a picture of her, covered in colorful yogurt, and I caught her screaming "DONE!!" at me. Her patience was gone.

A neighbor girl brought her dog into our backyard while the kids played. The dog was friendly to Rose at first , but got really tired really quickly of Rose putting her blanket on him. And this is why we do not have a dog. Poor Yogi.

If you can't see the layers, there are striped pants with two of Claire's skirts layered on top that she pulled out of the laundry basket - all without a shirt, as usual. Typical style of Rose.

Here I was attempting to do some studying while Rose sat next to me, watching her favorite "Baby Einstein" video. She insisted on getting as close as possible to repeat the various words. "BUS!! BUS!! BUUUSS! BUSSSS!"

A silly Rose face, from a girl who is always making silly faces. Check out that cupid's tip - she will never be a flautist, thank goodness!

I wish a had a beautiful pose of her, but it's rare I get those. Oh, I love this crazy girl.

Girls' Room Is (Almost) Done!

2011-03-04T13:35:00.002-06:00

After thinking about it for ages, I finally decided on a paint color, theme, etc. for the girls' room. I was thinking something cottagey/homey/feminine here. So this is what I came up with:

Pre-painting, getting the room ready for priming (the green wall)

Wall primed by my Mia Maids, the paint going on. In the end I chose a very subtle shade of pink; I'm sorry for those of you who hate pink, but I'm a girly girl at heart and I always wanted a pink room.

Put back together. Claire picked out a blue theme for her bedding and I chose a pink Rose theme for Rose. Both bedding are quilts (bought, not made. One day...) Depending upon the light, you can't tell if the walls are pink or white.

For Christmas Claire was given this wall shelf, bedside table and lamp by my parents. But poor Claire can't put anything on the bottom two shelves because Rose would and has destroyed it. The flower picture hung in my room when I was a girl.

I don't have a good picture of Rose's side of the room, because I'm waiting on a few finishing touches. There is still a little work to do in the room (I want to change the fabric panel covering the closet, and Claire and I are going to make some hand-embroidered cushions for her bed) but all of the big stuff is done. I love how it turned out. Light, airy, feminine and cozy.

Now I have to repaint William's room.

What have I been up to since this project was completed a few weeks ago? Baking, lots of baking. I'm in the mood to make scrumptious little niblits to eat with herb tea or hot chocolate. Today is lemon shortbread with lemon icing.

Um...trying not to lose my mind as Ryan's graduation date keeps getting pushed back again and again. And the occasional cross stitching. I won't mention the endless amount of errands, housework, and church work.

Poetry, Dreams and Purple Crayons

2011-02-15T12:02:00.002-06:00

When I was a senior in high school, my Creative Writing teacher made us write a poem and enter it into some state-wide poetry contest. I'm no poetry fan, so I spent maybe 5 minutes typing up a poem the night before; I don't even think I did spell check. To my surprise, it won first place for the school and went on to regionals (which it also won). The whole thing made me laugh, because it was such a stupid poem and I totally put no effort into it. I just thought, "suckers".

My best friend, who was also in the class, while an incredible technical writer, had spent hours on this assignment and barely passed with a C. She couldn't convince our nutty teacher that she had any "creativity" despite spending hours on every assignment while I wrote ridiculous stories about sad, lost purple crayons that awarded me As. Well, I recently found the poem and Claire and I had a good laugh over it. It was all about dreams (sleeping dreams) which takes me to my next subject.

The reason for lack of writing on here is due to lack of anything interesting in my life. The only thing that I find slightly interesting are my crazy dreams. Recent ones involved visiting an old friend who's phone number spelled out QUAD YELLOW (which is NOT a real phone number, Ryan and I looked it up), who had a roommate who's fiance was named 'Ohio'. Then there was my good friend who's last name was being changed by the government to 'Stomping Ground'. That's right, Jennifer Stomping Ground. I could go on and on. But what's most curious is how so many of them take place on a dream-distorted BYU campus, with old BYU-days friends popping up here and there - you included Cynthia. Does this mean something? Or is my cabin-fever crazed mind working extra hard at night. Well, I have been having a lot of dreams with either the name or state of Ohio in them - I sure hope that doesn't mean anything!

Nests

2011-01-25T17:34:00.002-06:00

On these cold days, when everyone is stuck in the house together, hour after hour, everyone tends to carve out little niches around the house for their own personal peace.

Wherever Rose is, she arranges her blankets, green bird friend (named "Friend'), snack, sippy cup and other various toys she's carrying around that day into what I call her nest. She'll sit there happily, watching a movie or what her two crazy siblings are up to. Sometimes her nest is in the middle of the living room floor, her room, behind the couch or in this case, in a laundry basket.

My nest is in my room, on the red love seat. It was moved into our room to make more space in the living room. I love having the couch in my room. With the sun shining in from the two windows, my music, books, and journal, I can sit there all day. What's not pictured here is the space heater, blowing directly onto the couch.
Claire's nest is on her bed, next to her little reading lamp. I can find her there, reading her many books or playing with her dolls. It really is a cozy little corner. (I will soon be painting that green wall a more appropriate girl room color - on my upcoming to do list)
The boys tend to migrate to wherever the action is. If I had my way, my house would be filled with niches, nooks and crannies! All with their own lamp, window and embroidered cushion, of course.

2011-01-24T13:33:00.002-06:00

"There may be times when we must make a courageous decision to hope even when everything around us contradicts [our] hope." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Random

2011-01-18T15:41:00.003-06:00

Well, I've been knocked flat on my back with the mother of all ear infections - actually, it's not the worse I've had, but it's enough. So due to my lack of photos, inspiration (and balance), I'm leaving you with this for today.

Let's hope the antibiotics kick in before tomorrow night - lots to do for Young Women's. I hope you all have a restful evening.

Twilight

2011-01-17T12:12:00.005-06:00

I love this time of day; when it's light enough that people leave their windows open, but dark enough that it makes the home come to life. I love driving down the street, with lights shining out of windows, where you can see people making dinner preparations, sharing their day with one another.

You can ask my husband this, for I mention it often, how sad it is to drive by homes (the ones we pass day in and day out) that never, ever open their curtains and light never shines out of the shut-up windows. It makes me sad, somehow. Why would you never want sunshine to come into your home?

While our street is hardly traveled, I hope our neighbors and passer-by-ers are cheered as I am, by our bright windows.

quiet moments

2011-01-14T08:56:00.002-06:00

Nothing new going on. Just the day-to-day. Enjoying the sunshine from the warmth of my space heater.

And working on the accompaniment to a new song one of my sweet Young Women picked out to sing at New Beginnings this month. Here's the youtube link - listen to it if you get a chance. It's a beautiful song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKh3wF7DBPk

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2011-01-12T10:16:00.002-06:00

You know those movies/commercials where kids (or clueless husbands) attempt to make a meal or treat for mom and they end up destroying the kitchen? By the time they're done, it looks like every small appliance exploded and there are dishes everywhere. Well, I'm sad to say, that I myself am not the most graceful of cooks.

My kitchen mishaps however, usually involve dropping food-covered utensils, bags of flour, or dishes. I recently burned my eye and wrist when I somehow managed to splash boiling chicken broth all over me. I also recently (while helping my mom with the baking), dropped a new bag of flour all over the pantry floor, causing the bottom of the bag to break open. The kids and Ryan are frequently alarmed when they hear screaming coming from the kitchen as I have injured myself or splashed/broken something.

But while my Mom was here for Christmas, I think I've discovered where I get my kitchen clumsiness from:

Whoops, there's a hole in the flour bag (no, this is not the one I dropped)

A sweet potato mishap, by Mom again

I will tell you one thing, we laughed pretty hard.

O Christmas Tree

2011-01-11T17:29:00.002-06:00

I can't tell you how many blogs and magazines I saw last month picturing these giant, woodland beauties; filled with gorgeous homemade ornaments with a decorating theme/color scheme that made you want to cozy up next to a fire and look at the glory of these beautiful trees.

Now for those of you who do NOT have a tree like that, but instead had a 10 year old tree bought at Wal-Mart for $25, decorated and redecorated by tiny hands with ornaments that can only be described as art-projects-gone-wrong, with only half the light strands actually working, this is for you. This is what my tree looked like by Christmas day. Down to one and a half working stands of lights and a reconstructed base after it fell over the day after we put it up.

This has to make you feel better about your tree.

Fox Creek

2011-01-10T16:42:00.002-06:00

I love it when it's warm enough for my kids to explore outdoors. It's usually too cold (for me anyway) but those two don't seem to notice. It was probably 35 degrees in this picture and they're outside with jackets and sandals - not approved by me!

Their imaginations allow them to transform the drainage ditch around our property into what Claire has lovingly named, Fox Creek. Though there is no water running through this "creek" (except in heavy rains), they have caught all sorts of fish and have muddied up all of their galoshes and snow boots working on their creek.

Tornados and such

2011-01-07T09:44:00.003-06:00

Growing up in Texas, right in the middle of Tornado Alley, we had our fair share of bad storms. I remember school being canceled when a tornado went right through our neighborhood, ripping off roofs, tearing down fences, throwing peoples' sheds around and flipping cars (on our street). Did my family and I go into the basement? NO! Why? Because in Texas, people don't have basements. Nor did we bunker down in the bathroom with a mattress over our heads. In fact, I slept right through it.

So here in Illinois, we get some nasty weather too. Our neighbors, who all have basements, have invited us to join them should there be a tornado. We thanked them, seeing as how we don't have a basement. However, through all the sirens going off, I have yet to panic. So when we had a tornado in our midst the other week, did you find us in our crawl space? Nope, we were on the front porch watching the storm go by with lots of loud hail and lightning.

I caught this right as some thunder hit us - surprise!

Watching the storm

Tiny Clothes

2011-01-06T15:19:00.004-06:00

For Christmas, Claire received this doll from her grandparents. My mother-in-law had made two precious dresses for her, but I did not have time to make anything. So I gave Claire some patterns for Christmas and told her that she could pick out which dress she wanted me to make and also the fabric. Of course Claire picked out one of the more difficult dresses. But I must say, even after spending a day and a half (off and on) sewing this dress, I enjoyed doing it and I love how it turned out. Claire did a fantastic job on her fabric choice. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the dress is a emerald green crepe.

Now I just have to finish the cream-colored organza shawl that goes with it. If I didn't enjoy making it so much, I would say next time, lets just pay the $30 and buy the dress!

First Day

2010-12-20T16:33:00.002-06:00

A gift made by Claire

Today was our first official day of Christmas vacation. Some of us read, sewed, played with cars, and baked. We had two-o-clock (herbal) tea time accompanied by these precious little jam cookies Claire and I made for the occasion.

They were easy to make and yummy with tea, or hot chocolate!

Our plan for tonight is to drive around and look at Christmas lights - with some sort of treat of course! We did this in my family growing up, and I loved it! Love this time of year!

It's Done!

2010-12-17T11:59:00.003-06:00

I finished the embroidery on the pillow case last night while watching "Malcolm in the Middle" on TeenNick TV. Funny, funny show. Anyway, it's done and here it is.

The pillow and mattress - I choses a Rose theme for obvious reasons

I am so pleased with how the painted Rose on the cradle turned out.

The lighting isn't that great, you can't really see the patterns on the fabric. Maybe I'll try taking another picture later.

I had fun working on it, but I'm glad it's done. Ryan thought I was a little bit crazy for spending so much time on it, but that's me. I wanted something beautiful because it would be sitting out in the girls' room and frankly, it's fun to make tiny things for a baby doll. I can make that quilt I've been thinking about forever, but on a small scale that's done quickly!

Snow Day Projects

2010-12-16T17:09:00.003-06:00

So this is the second day this week school has been canceled. I usually don't mind it - we always stay busy with projects around the house. Monday, we made gingerbread cookies, I pieced a quilt, we worked on our Christmas puzzle, the kids and I watched fun movies, etc. It was a good day considering we were all trapped inside our little house. Oh and the kids went in and out of the snow a couple of times, resulting in a lot of snow on the kitchen floor, and gloves and hats everywhere you looked. It will truly be a wonderful day when all of the kids can get themselves ready to play in the snow by themselves!

Rose liked the cookies, but the icing was the best part

The project of choice today was finishing Christmas presents. Rose will be getting a nice baby doll from her grandparents for Christmas, and in the spirit of this gift, Claire and I have been busy making "gifts" for the baby. I made a small quilt, mattress and pillow to put inside a repainted cradle I bought at an antiques store. Claire and I stenciled a rose on the cradle today. I'm finishing embroidering the tiny pillow-case today and when it's all done, I'll post a picture.

I have to admit that every time I see the little cradle and bedding, it makes me giggle with delight! It all turned out SO cute!

Our Bread and Butter (literally)

2010-12-14T14:31:00.003-06:00

The roads have been cleared, the snow is melting (barely) and my husband is back at work, allowing me to do a little blogging. I did take lots of pictures of our snowed-in weekend, but the camera is really taking lousy pictures, and my photography skills, or lack thereof, doesn't help the matter.

To keep the kids busy on Thanksgiving Day, I had the kids make the butter by shaking cream in little jars. It was so easy and so good, that I think we'll make it a Thanksgiving tradition. It isn't really economical to make butter this way, but it sure was a treat.

After the buttermilk is poured off - you get lovely butter
...and yummy buttermilk for pancakes the next morning!

And what goes better with homemade butter, than homemade bread? So good!

I really do love to bake, but limit my sweet baking to once a week for Family Home Evening. The kids have a great time "helping" - actually, Claire is quite helpful now, getting ingredients and reading the recipe as I mix. And Rose? Well she just enjoys sitting on my mixer, or as she calls it, her boat.
Happy baking this season!

Catch Up

2010-12-08T21:23:00.002-06:00

I realized that I didn't put up a picture of the kids in their costumes. I know this is not the best picture, but believe it or not, it's the only one I have of all three kids. Claire was Kirsten - one of the American Girls, William was a ghost (he likes fuss-free costumes) and Rose was a ballerina.

I don't have much of interest going on here. Claire has been home from school with the flu and Ryan has it too. So that pretty much keeps me busy. I had to take Rose with me to Young Womens tonight so that Dad didn't have to deal with her. Rose was very happy and loved the attention.

It's just that time of year again...lots of medicine and trips for more medicine!

And here's a picture of me cutting Claire's Troy (from HS Musical) doll's hair; someone gave it to her for her birthday. He looked a like a girl, so I gave him a little trim. I know you can't tell from the picture, but I was humming "We're All in This Together" as I clipped ;)

Rosie Update

2010-12-07T15:34:00.002-06:00

On her 2nd birthday, at the zoo. The guinea pigs were the only animals she was interested in.

I know, can you believe your eyes? It's been several months since I've been on here. Blogging fell way down on my list of things to do; towards the bottom, really. But I have lately been missing it and wanted to post some funny pictures of my girl, Rose. She had her birthday in October and is now two years old. I love hearing her talk and she is learning new words daily. Thankfully, she is less "busy" and plays with toys a little more. But there is still a lot about her little personality that keeps me busy. Love this girl!

Hopefully, I can stay a little more up-to-date on here, but I'm not promising anything. Our remaining computer runs very slowly, so all of our pictures are on an external hard drive. So in order to access any pictures, I have to plug in the drive, making the computer run even more slowly. It is quite the process. So there you go: my lame excuse...

The Girls

2010-08-21T18:34:00.003-05:00

Some of my best girls

One of the best things about our move to Illinois, has been getting to know some of the most amazing women. It had been years since I had a good friend nearby - many had moved on to other places. I haven't lived near family in 11 years, and it doesn't look like that will be changing anytime soon. But amazingly, our little church ward was chalk full of awesome ladies. I have learned so much from them (I get the best advice and support from them) and they are always there. I know I can at least count on one of them being available, should I need something. Illinois would be a very lonely place without the girls!

Firsts

2010-08-19T20:33:00.004-05:00

Today was the first day of school for the big kids. They have both been so excited; school and all of the logistics is all we have talked about all week. I too was very excited for them to go - it was definitely time for school to start again. William started Kindergarten this year. Tomorrow is a half day for both kids and then Monday is the first full day.

After watching Claire ride the bus for three years, William will finally get his turn.

My big 3rd grader

Some other firsts...the kids and I took a week-long trip to Texas last week. We had a great time seeing my brothers and their families and my parents. My brother Dan rented a ski-boat for a couple of hours and took all of us for a ride on the lake near their place. We had so much fun. My mom and I were the first to experience Dan's merciless driving. But it wasn't until later when I went on the tube with my sister-in-law Katie that Dan let us have it. He about killed me and I know he was holding back a little for his wimpy big sister.

Here's Claire and her cousin - they did so well and had a great time - no fear, these two

We spent a couple of hours at the lake, boating, eating and swimming. Thanks to my Dad, who was able to watch Rose, I was able to play in the lake with my brothers and sisters-in-law. What a fun group they are. What I wouldn't give to live closer.

Another first: Rose is sleeping in a twin bed now. The night we got back from Texas, Rose figured out how to climb out of her crib. The first time was successful, second ended with a sore head. So down went the crib, and out came the big bed. She loves the freedom, but looks so tiny on the bed.

What a busy, busy day. Well, it's a school night; better get ready for bed!

Vintage

2010-07-28T13:09:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I wonder what part of my kids' childhood will they remember? Which house will be "home", which toys will be the ones they remember, which music, movies and TV shows will hold the fondest memories? What years will be the most poignant, which will they almost entirely forget?

Thinking back to my own childhood, I'm sure my mom could have never predicted what we would fondly remember. When my parent's sold my (and my sibling's) childhood home, there were mixed feelings. My parents needed to get out of that neighborhood and their new home was a dream of theirs. But at the same time, I would miss visiting my parents in that home, even though I ceased to live there 12 years ago. I was also amazed at their apparent total lack of sadness; they were ready to dump that place.

But now that I'm a home owner with kids, I know how they felt. This house isn't "home" to me. It's just where we live right now. But it's all my kids have known. William was Rose's age when we moved here; he doesn't remember anything else. Claire was four and though she barely remembers our apartment in University City, when we first moved to the area in 2004, she loves this house. Rose was born here (well, not technically, but you know what I mean). This house is their world. If they, for some reason, were to spend the rest of their childhood here, it would seal their attachment as mine was to that house on Colonial Dr. While I will look back at this house with fond memories and a little sadness, it wouldn't be what my kids would feel.

I don't know if any house will ever feel like "home" again. There is so much uncertainty in the world these days; it's a rare thing when child is left to grow in one place their whole childhood, as I was.

Some favorite shows when I was little, depending upon the age:
Maya the Bee
Noozles
The Smurfs
David the Gnome
The Jetsons
Anything Tom and Jerry, Disney cartoons (Micky, Donald, Goofy, etc) and Bugs Bunny
Pinwheel
Today's Special, though the dark, quiet set did unsettle me a little
Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers
Eureka's Castle
Maple Town
Some show about Koalas, I can still sing the theme song, but I can't remember the name...Koalas lead the way, on a sunny day, we all love to play...

There are more I'm sure, but this is all I can think of right now. For personal history purposes, maybe I should write some of this stuff down in my journal...

Chaos

2010-07-26T09:01:00.002-05:00

Our weekend was very busy, and very tiring. All day Friday was working on the yard/house/shed. Saturday was full of more painting, running errands, a birthday party, and Youth Conference. Sunday was the usual craziness that is supposed to be a day of rest. And here we are to Monday; weekend recovery day.

So I hinted in my last post that I was working on the scary corner of our yard. Well, Ryan and I did manage to paint the shed - though it turned out to be a much brighter green than on the paint sample. I considered just painting it white after putting on a coat of primer, but when I went outside the next morning, the sun reflecting off the crisp primed shed was absolutely blinding. So I went with the green after all. We finished Saturday night as rain clouds were rolling in. Thanks to three tarps and a lot of firewood to act as weights, we saved our paint job; though I'm convinced our neighbors think we're fools.

Next project: William's birthday this week.

Rose discovering the joy of ketchup

Happenings

2010-07-23T15:12:00.002-05:00

It has become clear to me, that my yard is trying to kill me. I have never seen so many weeds, as I have in this area. A bare patch of dirt, left unchecked, will be completely covered with weeds in less than a week. It is truly unbelievable - I have never seen anything like it.

So what have I been up to? Well, last night I spent TWO HOURS edging our yard while Ryan spent that time mowing the yard. TWO HOURS people.

Today I moved our wood pile to another place in the yard (no small feat) in order to get behind the shed, clean out behind it and mow down the weeds that have grown between the shed and the fence. In the process, I discovered several red ant nests, many, many spiders, a wasp nest, a black ant nest (complete with giant eggs - that one was really gross) and unfortunately, I sliced a toad in half with my weed whacker. I was armed with heavy duty insecticide and a can of wasp spray. It was not pretty.

THEN, I hosed down the fence and shed. I started priming the shed; it was a hand-me-down from some friends and has been super useful, but ugly. With a new coat of paint, some weed killing paper topped with pavers and mulch, that part of the yard will be much less scary and hopefully look somewhat nice. So that's it. After receiving a small sunburn, I'll finish priming this evening, when it cools down a little. Whew

Speaking of weeds, here is one of my nieces adorning Claire's hair with one.

This house has made me think twice about having a big yard at our next location. It's nice in theory, but those commercials and magazine pictures of families out playing in their yard with a ball or wading pool only shows the happy kids. What's not pictured are the parents in the other part of the yard, sweaty and filthy as they hack down the grass with heavy machinery or one of them sitting on the weedy yard, trying to decipher the instructions of when exactly to put down the weed and feed granuals... and then praying that the rain cooperates because there is no way a garden hose can possibly reach all of the yard...

Hello NY - not NYC that is

2010-07-22T13:37:00.002-05:00

This past week, we had the pleasure of traveling to New York for a family reunion. All of my siblings and their families and my parents all flew in from various states for the occasion. We did more that I can possibly tell in one post, so I will share a little here and there. In a nutshell we saw/did:

-around town in Buffalo
-Niagara Falls
-The Hill Cumorah Pageant
-The Palmyra Temple
-The Hill Cumorah monument
-The printing press where the Book of Mormon was first published
-All of the Joseph Smith sites in Palmyra (log home, frame home, Sacred Grove, etc.)
-Erie Canal
-a day at Seneca Lake (one of the finger lakes)
-attended church with my Grandma in Pittsford and saw her home there
-had one fun-filled day with ALL of the family at my Aunt's home

I feel like I'm leaving something out - it was a busy 7 days!

The Smith Log Home

Maid of the Mist boat ride to see Niagara Falls

Some of the cousins hanging out by the Erie Canal in Palmyra

Unfortunately, I didn't take that many pictures. Most of my time was spent visiting with my family or keeping my kids under control! We had a lot of fun, but it is good to be home, even if Illinois tried to drown us with the humidity. Hopefully I'll get back into a schedule and will be blogging more frequently. Thanks for stopping by!

It's a Hard Knock Life

2010-07-06T12:54:00.005-05:00

It's no secret that I keep a clean house. It's one of the few consistent aspects of my personality. I go through phases and crazes like a mad woman. But through it all, I keep my room/home clean and orderly. When I was first married, Ryan thought I was crazy for cleaning everyday. Well, how else are you supposed to clean? According to him, once a week. Well, needless to say, we have adopted my style in our household.

But here's the question I get from everyone - how do you do it? How? I tell them the truth - child labor. I am a firm believer in the kids helping to keep the house tidy. If they make the mess, they clean it up. I have been teaching my kids since they were one-year-old. They started with picking up their toys and putting them in the box. I add more responsibilities the older they get. It takes more work initially to teach them how to clean, but in the end, it is so worth it.

We do not assign chores, nor do my kids get paid an allowance to clean. The rule of the Christensen household is, everyone start with taking care of yourself. Clean up your messes, make your bed, take care of your things. That takes most of the work off me, but the next part is crucial - in a family, everyone works together to get the job done quickly. No one person is stuck in the kitchen washing dishes while everyone else gets to watch TV. EVERYONE stays in the kitchen working until it's cleaned. Also, as things need to be done, I ask people to do them. When the kids get older and I get busier, I'm sure I'll leave notes of things they need to do.

Because the kids are still little, I do most of the work (laundry, dishes, deep cleaning, etc). But they can do a lot. Here are our rules:

Clean as you go (no marathon cleaning sessions here)
Be responsible for your stuff
Everyone works together
If you can't get along or are "bored" you will be put to work
The older you get, the more you are responsible for
When you're done playing, put everything away
You may be called to help at any time
If you don't take care of your things/space, it will be taken away

Harsh? I don't think so. It's real life lessons. We are crammed in this little house, we have to work together or we're going to drive ourselves out.

Here are some pics of the kids cleaning

Towels they folded - ready for me to put them away. I continually teach them how to fold properly. We're still working on it.

"Mopping" the dining/kitchen area. They use rags and then dry it afterwards.

Gathering trash and putting in new liners

William loves to vacuum

Dusting, with the help of a little ghost

Claire cleaning her sister's room

Showing off the shiny sink

Putting away dishes

Here's a list of things my kids can do (except Rose of course):
Vacuum the house and the car
Dust
Clean glass
Wash/dry/put away dishes
Gather trash
Sort and wash clothes (with a little help with the machines)
Fold clothes/towels
Make beds
Sweep
Wipe down bathroom sinks
Put away clothes and toys
Wash the car

As an example - if my kids put their hands all over the glass door, they're going to have to clean it off - so they tend not to. They don't wipe their hands on the wall, or take food on the carpet. If I ever find a dirty hand print on the wall or food in the living room, it is addressed and they have to clean it up. That is part of taking care of our things we have been blessed with.

The key here is that with help on the daily maintenance, I have more time to do the deep cleaning on a regular basis.

I instruct and inspect as they clean. If I find it done wrong, they have to fix it. You would think my kids hate me for all of this, but they love it. They feel such pride in our house and love how clean and nice it is. They are beaming when they finish a job. It's fun to watch Claire instruct William on how to do various things - I even have my own little teaching assistant.

So that's it folks. Oh and one more thing - we are not afraid to get rid of things and do so frequently. It's hard to keep a house clean with stuff everywhere. It's all about daily maintenance and NOT BEING A SLAVE TO MY KIDS!!

Claire's Point of View

2010-06-28T15:09:00.004-05:00

It's been awhile, I have to admit; I've probably lost what little readers I had. Claire got a hold of the camera one day after church and took a bunch of random pictures from around the house. Most turned out really blurry, but she had a good time.

Our new shutters. I still have to put on the trim, but that's for another day. I'm not sure how I liked how the green turned out, but too late now!!

The photographer in the reflection

What have we been up to? Not much to blog about, though we stay busy. Maybe I'll retrace some of our past adventures on an upcoming post. That is, if I get around to posting again! While other things come up, some things have to go away for a while. My blog, being highly expendable, is usually one of the first to go. Hope to see you around again soon!

Home Study

2010-04-23T20:40:00.001-05:00

When we were visiting Nauvoo and Springfield, we spent a lot of time touring the homes of important people, seeing how and where they lived. Since I am fascinated with how other people live, I loved this. I love reading about homes, decoration, how others lived over the centuries, etc. I don't love looking at real estate though; that's just stressful and can give me buyer's remorse.

But I am currently re-evaluating my home; the feeling it gives, how it looks to company, how cozy it is, etc. But here are some pictures from some of the homes we saw. I love the simplicity; the warmth of the wood. There was not a lot of "stuff" but what little they did have was quality made. That's a good rule to remember. I'm working on that; when I need something, instead of buying the cheapest junk out there so I can have it right now, I'm waiting until I find something of quality, and something I love (and of course, can afford!). It's slow going, but that's the way the world worked before credit cards.

While I preferred ultra modern and the ideal house to me was a concrete room with a drain in the middle so that I could hose it down, my ideal has changed. I've moved from glass and metal, to wood and other natural material (not that glass and metal aren't natural materials, but you know what I mean). It's a work in progress.

Baptism and Nauvoo

2010-04-21T16:36:00.002-05:00

This past week, we had some very special things take place in our family. Claire, now being eight, was baptized by her dad. We had both sets of grandparents participate in the program. Claire was sweet and very happy. I made it through the baptism and confirmation without tears, but the solo Claire sang was so simple and beautiful, I couldn't help but be moved to tears. What a special girl!!
After the busy weekend, we traveled to Nauvoo, IL with my in-laws and youngest sister-in-law. We had a lot of fun, despite a little bit of illness. I have tons of pictures and a lot of great ones of the whole family, but until I know how they feel about putting their picture on here, I will only include ones of my family.

Ryan and I before we attended the Nauvoo temple. We were able to do work for some of my ancestors. Very special experience.

William boy (when he was feeling better!)

Rose, being her busy self, in Carthage, IL

Claire with the statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Carthage, where they were both killed.

Claire receiving her first set of scriptures

The family, after the baptism

We are so thankful to our family for all of the support and love given to us this past week. We couldn't have done it without you in many ways. How blessed we are!

Good food and chocolate bunnies

2010-04-07T13:34:00.001-05:00

Yes, those are Cheetos's and no, the hat was all her.

As I write this, the sky is quickly darkening for possibly the first spring storm. Our newly planted grass seedlings could do with a good rain. I know that little William has been expectantly waiting for the rain so that he can use the new umbrella he got for Easter.

I am currently preparing for the arrival of my family. My parents are coming tomorrow night and my in-laws, the night after. This will be the first time all of us have been together since William's baby blessing, almost 5 years ago. It will be so special to have this time together. Lots to do before they come!

For Easter dinner, I made a fresh strawberry pie, homemade crust and everything. Thanks to a sale on strawberries at ALDI this past week, we were able to enjoy this treat. It was very yummy, and beautiful.

Rose enjoying a her chocolate bunny. She required a bath when she was done.

Blossoms

2010-04-06T12:22:00.001-05:00

One of our family's all-time favorite places to go is the Botanical Garden. We go several times a year in order to see all of the seasonal changes. This year, we were able to catch the cherry and magnolia blossoms. Truly heavenly.

We were only able to stay an hour, seeing as how Ryan couldn't get off work any earlier, but it was a magical hour before dusk.

Now I look forward to May, when all of the Azalea, Rhododendron, and lily blossoms are out. I love, love, love this time of year!!

Eight

2010-04-02T12:41:00.001-05:00

We celebrated Claire's 8th birthday this week. Through a whirlwind of activities, errands, cleaning and baking, I got (almost) everything done that I wanted to for the special day.

So after that craziness, I am happily being unproductive today. I found nothing wrong with sitting on the couch, reading my book while Rose tore up some Kleenex and the kids watched mind-numbing cartoons.

Claire was beautiful and sweet on her birthday. I loved watching her play with her friends and help decorate the cupcakes. Every so often, when I'm holding Rose, I get a flashback to when I hel Claire like that. Rose resembles Claire at that age, and it makes me realize how fast time really goes.

Now that the party is over, it's time to start planning the baptism. And I have to get ready for incoming family! What a treat!

Casualty

2010-03-26T18:32:00.003-05:00

Some of you may be asking yourselves, "what in the world am I looking at?" Well, what you see above (from a weird angle, the computer is giving me attitude) was once my jewelry box. My grandmother gave it to me over 15 years ago. It survived several moves, but it didn't stand a chance against my one-year-old. To be fair, Rose was only trying to get a bracelet I let her wear once. Unfortunately, to get that bracelet, she pulled the whole thing down, smashing it to bits.

Now my jewelry is sitting in the little surviving drawers of the box on my dresser, far out of Rose's reach. She has taught me a valuable lesson: don't get too attached to things. Who needs earthquakes, rust, floods and fire when they have a Rosie about?

Chocolate Tears

2010-03-25T13:45:00.001-05:00

With Ryan gone this week, the kids and I have been busy playing - not to say that we can't play when Ryan's here, it's just something to keep their minds off of it. William is very confused as to when Dad's coming home (in a few days). He asked me at the dinner table last night if his daddy is gone forever. "No, he'll be back for church." That satisfied him.

Most cake recipes are for 9x13 pans - I needed something smaller. So we found a chocolate cake with chocolate glaze that bakes in a 9 inch pan. Much more suited to our family size. The cake was delicious and William had two large pieces!

This morning, I found him sitting at the table, waiting patiently for his breakfast of chocolate cake. After some cereal, I only managed to stave him off until 8:30am. Then we all had some cake.

While I was feeding Rose her cake, there was some sort of miscommunication - either I was holding the fork weird, or she was full, or something, but she ran off crying and was very angry with me. I'm not sure what happened. But after a little milk, she was ready for more - tear stained face and all.

Optimistic

2010-03-24T16:19:00.001-05:00

After all of the flurry of yesterday, today was rather quiet. I'm sure our productivity coincides with the sunshine. Rose has recently shown an interest in coloring. In the past weeks, she has managed to color on the wall, Claire's homework, the kitchen table, some scrapbook pages I was working on, the floor and my journal. Thankfully, nothing was ruined (of course the wall had to be painted) but now we have to be diligent in keeping any type of writing utensil out of Rose's reach.

A few weeks ago, I was in a bit of a sewing frenzy. I made a dozen dish towels, a sundress for Rose and a skirt for myself. The dress for Rose was my first attempt at smocking. It looks much cuter on her than on a plastic coat hanger. I now want to make one for Claire; a project for next month. I have fabric for another dress for Rose and Claire is going to sew herself a skirt for church. Every thing's ready; we just need to sit down and do it. But it seems such a shame to stay indoors on these perfect, spring afternoons.

This last picture is of my optimistic "clock", as William calls it. It consistently reads 10 degrees higher than the temperature actually is. At least it's consistent.

Sprung

2010-03-23T20:54:00.001-05:00

It's amazing what sunshine can do to a soul. It's at times like these, that I'm thankful for the cold Illinois winters; it makes me appreciate days like today.

Laundry out to dry.

Isn't this heather beautiful? I was drawn to it and thankfully,
I have the perfect spot to plant it. That's on my list for tomorrow.

Years ago, Ryan and the kids planted crocuses throughout our side yard. Each spring, they are the first things that pop up. Sadly, they're already fading. Only a few still bloom. Too bad I couldn't get my camera to focus on the bloom and not the grass. If I laid out in my side yard with my camera any longer, the neighbors were sure to think I'm crazy.

Better Days

2010-03-22T21:37:00.000-05:00

I have nothing in particular to say, but I always have pictures of Rose, up to no good. She is quite the character. Tonight she discovered the moon while we sat out on our patio, enjoying the cool spring evening. Armed with a small flashlight and a glow-in-the-dark constellation book, Claire and I attempted to find a few well-known constellations. We only managed to successfully locate two. We'll keep practicing.

Spring Blues

2010-03-20T22:48:00.000-05:00

Today was one of those days in which I would be happy to forget. A day where all seems hopeless, gray, and neverending. Thanks to my Mom, who let me ball like a baby, gave me a few words of encouragement and sent me back into the thick of things with a little glimmer of hope. Nothing in my life is falling apart (if you don't count me); it was just one of those monotonous, draining, icky days. Let's hope the rest of spring is better than the way it started. A bit of sunshine and some warmer weather wouldn't hurt either! At least my zinnias are on their way here, though they were fallen or stepped on several times today.

Oh and the picture of Rose was taken last week, on a warm(er) day. I found her on the table, yelling out to a dog she saw outside the fence. So much for leaving the patio chairs out!

Girl Time

2010-03-08T08:54:00.003-06:00

Claire and I had a wonderful day together. We had some good girl time. We drove into the city: first we went to lunch and then walked over my favorite salon for a little pampering. We both had our hair cut. Claire was very excited about getting her hair washed and styled. I had fun too! We both felt very glamorous afterwords. I had so much fun visiting with Claire and hearing about her little world. She is so sweet and friendly. We've already planned to do this again sometime in the future.

Just Dropping By

2010-03-01T13:48:00.000-06:00

I hadn't realized that I haven't blogged in almost 4 months. Now I'm not promising anything, but I'm going to try and update my blog more often. I know that there's family out there that appreciate the updates, and I really should be better about it.

What have we been up to? School, work, activities, church, house stuff, holidays, etc. The same things all of you have been doing. So what's my excuse? I've just been focusing on different things. I've been trying to exercise more, eat better, get caught up instead of starting more, writing, etc. In short, I've purposely been spending less time on the Internet (almost none, actually).

Here are a few pictures of the kids, being kids. I have been bad about taking pictures, so I don't have much to share. I hope to start reading all of your updates too - a little at a time. Thanks for stopping by!

A bit from today

2009-11-19T17:50:00.000-06:00

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

2009-11-18T21:17:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-18T17:09:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-10T20:42:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-04T21:28:00.002-06:00

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

2009-10-29T22:48:00.003-05:00

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

2009-10-28T15:52:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-27T13:42:00.004-05:00

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

2009-10-08T14:06:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-29T20:34:00.002-05:00

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...

2009-09-28T12:35:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-26T22:01:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-23T13:15:00.003-05:00

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

2009-09-22T10:33:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-21T22:23:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-09-18T13:13:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-17T20:52:00.003-05:00

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

2009-09-14T12:34:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-11T14:08:00.002-05:00

Rocking out to Sharpay.

Criminal

2009-09-10T12:47:00.004-05:00

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.

A Charmed Life

Busy

Another Day

Butterflies and Cockroaches

Shark Quilt

Blogging woes

by the way

Days

One of those days

Hiccups

Toasty

World (ok a log cabin) Turned Upside-Down

Finishing

Off

On a Monday

Whatnot etc,

Creating Linus

Goodbye Terrible Twos?

Monday

Goodnight Moon

Getting Cold(s)

Back in Business

TV schmeevee

Another Rose Story

Oh, come on!!

Weekend

The Help

Hobbit Day Revisited

Categories

Hello Again Friends!

WILL E

Friday

Images

April Fool

denim blown wide open

I meant to do that...

May the Force be with him

Farewell, my friend...

A Renewal

Claire-isms

Whatnot

It's that time again!

Girls' Room Is (Almost) Done!

Poetry, Dreams and Purple Crayons

Nests

Random

Twilight

quiet moments

Like Mother, Like Daughter

O Christmas Tree

Fox Creek

Tornados and such

Tiny Clothes

First Day

It's Done!

Snow Day Projects

Our Bread and Butter (literally)

Catch Up

Rosie Update

The Girls

Firsts

Vintage

Chaos

Happenings

Hello NY - not NYC that is

It's a Hard Knock Life

Claire's Point of View

Home Study

Baptism and Nauvoo

Good food and chocolate bunnies

Blossoms

Eight

Casualty

Chocolate Tears

Optimistic

Sprung

Better Days

Spring Blues

Girl Time

Just Dropping By