Under the Pear Tree

A New Adventure for Our Family

2011-09-16T13:30:00.011-04:00

It's been quite a long time since I've posted. Lots of things have been happening around here. We had a terrific summer, throughout which Jeremy and I pondered and prayed about changes for our family and our goals for the future.

It was with nervous anticipation that we welcomed the new school year and the changes that the year would bring.

We have decided to school our girls at home this school year. There were lots of reasons we decided this was best for our family: our choice of curriculum, building stronger relationships, better use of time, and many more.

We have now completed our first four weeks of schooling at home. I have been pleasantly surprised at the results! I had no idea what to expect but some things I've observed so far are:

* that we work together as a family to accomplish things (sometimes Laura will help Lindsay with what she is learning, sometimes Lindsay entertains Nathan while I help Laura, sometimes Jeremy helps the girls accomplish tasks at night or on the weekend, etc)

* the girls are pitching in more with housework (simply because they are home more and can)

* I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with knowing I taught them a new skill!

* My schedule is easily adapted for my busy toddler that still needs lots of attention from his mama

* I enjoy knowing everything we are studying at "school" so that I can point out real world examples when we come across them in our non-school time

* RELATIONSHIPS! Laura and I have had lots of discussions on lots of topics from the mundane, everyday stuff to important moments spent studying the Bible. We have so much more time to talk now. I treasure the afternoons when Lindsay's school is over & she disappears upstairs to do whatever it is that first graders to in their free time, Nathan is napping & I work on orders from my shop and she does her school work and we just talk about whatever comes up & is brewing in her young brain. It seems like we never had time for this when she was in public school and when we did have time to talk, we were so disconnected that we couldn't just pick up where we left off.

* I love that my evening is no longer filled with fighting about getting homework done. Yay!

* Freedom! We can choose what to do when or what not to do! We are looking forward to being able to take trips and excursions in the middle of the school day.

A few things that we miss about public school:

* feeling of being part of a whole & feeling of belonging at school

* the girls miss their friends

* I thought I would miss "my" time while they were away at school. I don't. I suppose there are moments when I do but for the most part, I really do enjoy have everybody at home!

My biggest challenge to schooling at home is a busy toddler. He is into EVERYTHING while we are trying to do school. It's getting better though. I'm figuring out ways to keep him occupied and also trying to squeeze in time while the girls are both busy to give him a bit of one on one attention for a minute or two.

Some stuff we've been up to...

The Monster Turns ONE!

2011-05-20T07:12:00.011-04:00

Perhaps I am not cut out to be a blogger. I don't know why but I have such a hard time keeping up with this blog. I would like to blog much more frequently but I can't ever seem to do it. :(

My little monster turned one last month. I had a really hard time with it. I just cannot believe how fast he is growing up.

He's a busy guy these days. He runs around getting into everything. He jabbers constantly but we can only distinguish a handful of words. He says "uh oh" to everything. He loves to eat. When he's hungry he will go and get a plate or bowl out of the drawer (the kid dishes are down low where they can reach them) and bring it to one of us. Or, he will stand at the refrigerator and scream. He loves to play with balls. He loves to chase the cat and on the off chance that he catches her, he grabs a huge handful of hair. (She is not so much a fan of his.) He loves to spend time with his big sisters when they actually have time for him. Most of the time they are locking him out of wherever they are because he is getting into their stuff. He is a biter. He bites us A LOT. We're working on that. Hopefully he'll catch on soon that we don't love that behavior.

I wanted to post a few photos from his birthday. Both sets of grandparents visited around his birthday. For his birthday, we had pasta, salad & bread. Of course there was cake & ice cream too. Nate ate lots as always. We bought him a wagon and a climber for inside the house. He loves both. He gets in his wagon and screams for someone to pull him. Too funny.

My talented sister made his adorable hat & monster shirt. I made the monster banner. I bought a new Cricut cartridge just for the occasion. Ha!

I love this little guy so much. He brings a monster load of joy, laughter and love to our home. Happy First Birthday Nathan!

Life is GOOD when you're eating...

2011-04-02T08:09:00.005-04:00

a banana! This boy loves bananas & eats them like he's getting paid. A couple of times the girls have left a banana where he could reach it (whole, unopened) and he brought it to me having bitten the peel open and was eating the insides. All the while, laughing and grinning, so pleased with himself. What a monkey!

I am a list maker.

2011-03-29T19:00:00.007-04:00

So, I've been all, "I should blog" for weeks now. But I just can't seem to find time/opportunity/motivation.

I decided making a list would be a good idea (thanks Valli). So,

Our dog ate my SD card from my camera and with that, about half the photos of Nathan's life. I now have a mostly empty baby book and a dog looking for a new home. (At least scrapbooking 2010 won't take me much time...)

We have found the dog a new home. He will hopefully be moving in with his new family this weekend.

Perhaps we are not dog people. I suppose we must be cat people then?

Nathan will turn ONE in less than a week.

His first birthday celebration will be monster themed. It required purchasing a new Cricut cartridge and stamp set.

I finally bought a new camera to replace our Canon Rebel that was stolen in September out of our van. I used my Christmas & birthday money because I am tired of saving for a new Rebel and decided to buy something less expensive.

The girls have been busy. They went to cheer camp a couple weeks ago. Both girls were selected to have some artwork featured in the school district's art show. Yay!

I bought some adorable clothes for my sweeties to wear for Easter. I spent less than $25. Have I mentioned how much I love consignment shopping?

Nathan is starting to say "words". We have now deciphered "Laura", "Lindsay", "dog" & "Daddy", though they sound nothing like the actual words.

We STILL have quite a bit of work do finish in our house addition (painting doors, baseboards, casings, railings, some casings that still need to be cut, nailed, etc., curtains/window treatments hung, decorating)

We are planning to put a patio in our courtyard this spring. We will be replacing our driveway at the same time. (See photo below - how trashy are we?!) We are excited to get this project underway so that we can enjoy our courtyard this summer!

This post is really boring. Sorry.

Baby Shower Keepsakes: Tag Albums

2011-02-02T16:45:00.013-05:00

These have been really popular since I've been offering them in my Etsy shop.

The idea here is for these tags to be laid out on a table(s) and then for each guest to write a favorite piece of advice, a blessing for the baby, a message to mom and/or baby, etc. This makes a great keepsake and can also serve as a "guest book" of sorts so that the mom-to-be will have a record of who was at her shower.

I love the challenge of matching a specific theme for someone. Some people request that I match the baby's room decor or bedding. Some have requested that I match the baby shower invitation.

These would also be great for anniversary parties, bridal showers, birthdays, good-bye parties, etc. I am thinking about making some for Nathan's first birthday. We'll see.

Oh, the CUTENESS!

2011-01-15T09:13:00.008-05:00

So, my boy. He's nine months old. I simply can't believe how fast he is growing up. He's crawling. He's getting into everything. He's cruising the furniture. He's standing on his own. He eats everything (food or not). He babbles constantly (just like his sis Laura). He loves to empty the dishwasher (a huge help). He loves to wrestle with Daddy. He loves to watch the dog. (Oh yeah, we got a dog.) He nods & shakes his head no. He dances. He loves to put items in & out of containers (or the trash).

He hates his snowsuit. He doesn't like apples. He hates his car seat. He HATES getting his diaper changed and he HATES to get dressed. He pretty much hates sleeping though I can usually still manage to force two naps a day.

I spent a small fortune on these 9 month photos because, well, the cuteness. Irresistible. I guess I will have to take on a few extra orders this month to help pay for the huge bill...

The stress of the holidays...

2010-12-22T09:22:00.002-05:00

has been getting to us around here.

Nathan is getting a tooth. He is not a fan:

The sign I found taped to Laura's door after a "root beer spilling incident" last evening:

Hope your Christmas season is less stressful than ours!

I'm slightly concerned.

2010-11-08T19:53:00.005-05:00

Okay, that may be a bit of an understatement. I'm downright terrified. If this is what he's doing at *just* over seven months old, WHAT will he be doing when he's three??? Fifteen???

Pray for me...

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-28T08:04:00.015-04:00

This is one tradition that the girls have grown to love SO much! They ask often when we will be going to the pumpkin patch. This year we missed our original date because Laura was sick. We picked a later date - she was sick again but did manage to at least pick out a pumpkin.

Nathan was most interested in picking up dirt & rocks to eat as I frantically tried to get him to look at me so I could take some cute photos. I think I got a few but wow, nothing like making a fool of yourself just to get a couple of photos.

Auntie Beth made Nathan's pumpkin shirt - it is too stinkin' cute! You can't see it that great in the photos but his name is embroidered under the truck. She has been busy sewing away and making the CUTEST shirts and other goodies too. She is amazing - I can't believe how fast she can not only learn new things, but master them.

6 & 6

2010-10-18T10:43:00.012-04:00

Ahhhh, I just can't seem to stay caught up with my life, whether it be blogging, house cleaning, orders from my shop, etc, etc. Actually, forget stay caught up, I can't catch up at all, let alone stay there! Life is busy, but good.

We have dealt with lots of sickness already this school year so that's not cool. Laura has been sick a bunch. I need to figure out something to get her well and keep her that way. She's always been so healthy, this is unusual for sure. She is home sick again today. She has no voice and sounds like a seal when she coughs. I keep teasing her that she sounds like a monster. Appropriate for the season I suppose.

I have been wanting to post these photos for awhile now. My little cuteness turned six years old late last month! She wanted an ambulance and a wooden train set for her birthday. She has wanted the train set for many months and she has also wanted the ambulance for awhile. She is so sweet. She thanked us at least 20 times for her gifts.

The weekend before her birthday she got a very quick, impromptu visit from her cousins and aunt & uncle. She loved that! Her cousin Karilyn is held in highest regard in her book! Karilyn is almost exactly one year older than Lindsay. We had a pizza & pinata party. Unfortunately it was getting dark & my photos didn't turn out but, trust me, a good time was had by all!

For her birthday dinner she wanted "chicken-in-a-pot" and green beans. (A whole chicken cooked in the crock pot with onions & carrots.) She had cupcake cones for her cake. She took in Play-doh with her name on it for her birthday treat at school. She chose a hot dog book (a history of hot dogs, actually) for her birthday book from the school library which Jeremy & I thought was hilarious!

As for the other six, my baby boy is SIX MONTHS OLD! He is absolutely precious, though all boy, I am beginning to see. He grunts & growls, he "passes gas" like it's his job. He throws everything on the floor, he can clear the table in about two seconds flat. He's rough, a hair puller, a head butter, a skin pincher. And, I love every ounce of him so very much! At his six month check-up, he weighed 14 lbs, 10 oz (10th percentile). He was in the 30th percentile for height.

Five Months Old

2010-09-08T07:53:00.007-04:00

Oh, sweet boy, you're growing up way too fast! He has perfected the "army crawl" and can scoot himself wherever he wants to go. He is sitting on his own for short times now. I know it won't be long before he is crawling and pulling himself up on furniture. He is a rough & tumble boy already - look out world, here he comes!

Back to School

2010-08-30T09:07:00.013-04:00

The girls started school last Wednesday. They were so excited they were up at 5:00 a.m!

I can't believe my baby started Kindergarten. I'm SO glad she only goes half days! So far, all has gone well. Both of their teachers seem great, which I am thrilled about.

Lindsay came home from the school the second day and informed me, "A boy likes me." I asked her how she knew & she informed me that he told her. Okay then, let's not beat around the bush. It's promising to be an exciting year...

WIRED

2010-08-25T07:39:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago, Laura began her first phase of orthodontic treatment. She has a pretty significant underbite and also some issues with spacing, jaw size. She will wear these braces for at least 15 months. After that they will let more of her permanent teeth come in (she will wear retainers during that time) and than see what they need to do in phase two (let's hope nothing)!

So, here is my girl's new "smile".

At the orthodontist - "Before" & below is "After"

Just to Catch Up!

2010-08-24T07:25:00.007-04:00

I'm so far behind in my blogging and everything else in my life. I spent last week extremely ill with kidney stones so now I am another week behind in everything. It's so frustrating to be so overwhelmed all the time. I am hoping that as the kids start back to school (tomorrow) that I will feel a little less overwhelmed. I don't want them to go to school and at the same time, I tend to do better with a more strict routine for myself unlike the unorganized self I have been this summer.

Here are a few things I wanted to highlight this summer but never got to...

Laura spent a week at horse camp again this summer. This year she was responsible for "controlling" the horse all on her own. She did such a great job & looked so grown up on that huge horse! Her horse was being stubborn during the show but Laura did a great job.

My boy! He is now 20 days into being four months old & I have yet to post his 3 month photos. So, here are 3 months old & 4 months old.

He is an absolute joy! I am SO glad we decided to take that terrifying leap and have another child. He is so sweet and good-natured these days. He is rolling all over, army crawling himself right over to where the girls leave choking hazards out, he is *almost* sitting up. (He can actually sit by himself but loses his balance still.) He is growing so quickly, I can't believe it! A few days ago, he reached his arms out to me to pick him up for the first time. Nothing melts a mommy's heart like that does!

Tomorrow the girls start school. Lindsay has been somewhat nervous & anxious about starting Kindergarten. She met her teacher last week and seems less nervous now. Pray for them (& me) tomorrow if you think of it. Sending them (back) to school is always hard & I miss them so much. I know I will be sad to let Lindsay go for the first time. Luckily for me, she is only going to Kindergarten half days so I still get her for the other half day. :)

Beth is going to be mad if I don't post photos of "Wired" so I'll be back *real* soon to post those!

Catch a Tiger by it's Tail

2010-08-16T13:47:00.004-04:00

I took these photos a couple weeks ago...

Christmas in July

2010-07-23T10:18:00.005-04:00

I just had to take some photos of this! My girls were having some kind of Christmas "show" this week. I went to see what they were doing and happened upon this. They created a Christmas display(s) in the landing of our stairs.

I LOVE this one that Laura created. It is a Nativity scene, complete with Polly Pockets (Joseph & Mary), a Baby in my Pocket (baby Jesus) and Pet Shop animals - lamb, pig & cow.

(You may notice the now filled but yet to be painted holes in the baseboard.)

There were also dolls & Polly Pockets dressed in their finest Christmas frocks. There was a Christmas tree with a revolving Pet Shop mouse (wearing a scarf) on a sled. (I was given a demonstration of how that worked).

I am going to miss these girls when they go back to school in a few short weeks. I LOVE seeing all the things they come up with to do! They have such great imaginations!

Safetyville Square

2010-07-09T07:40:00.004-04:00

Lindsay attended Safetyville June 14-18. She loved it! This cracked me up - Laura asked her after she came home the first day, if she had made any new friends. She answered rather nonchalantly that she hadn't. I don't think she cared one way or the other. She is definitely more of a "loner" than her sister who chatted incessantly about her new friends on the first day she came home from Safetyville years ago! (Lindsay did eventually get to know a few kids.)

When the kids came out to perform their show for the parents on the last day, Lindsay came out with McGruff the Crime Dog - she was holding his hand. Too cute! Who needs Kindergarten friends when you have befriended a large furry mascot?!

Her favorite part about Safetyville was riding the bus (just like her sister). She also thought meeting the fireman & policeman were pretty cool, along with sitting in the police car.

It's Summer!

2010-07-08T08:22:00.005-04:00

Wow, I've been a bad, bad blogger. I wanted to share a few things even though it's been a REALLY long time since they happened. I think I'll try to do several smaller posts so I'm less overwhelmed!

First of all, "School's Out"!

Laura came off the bus crying her eyes out. I was so worried that she was hurt or something bad had happened. She was crying so much she couldn't answer me when I kept asking her what was wrong. Finally she stopped crying enough to tell me that she was sad that school was out and she was going to miss her friends & teacher & most things school related. I'm pleased as punch that she's a good student and loves school!

Anyway, here are a few photos of her on her last day, June 9th.

Guess the sun was in their eyes a bit on this last photo. Oops.

I still cannot believe that when the school bell rings in the fall (later this summer, actually), I will be sending two of my little ones off to school. My baby is going to Kindergarten. Ahh, it doesn't seem possible. I sure will miss her - good thing it's only half day. Good thing I'll have Nathan to keep me busy!

Don't forget to check back soon. I'll do my next mini blog entry.

Two Months Old

2010-06-11T14:21:00.011-04:00

Ah, my sweet boy! Can't believe he is already two months old. Actually, he is two months and a week old but these photos were taken at two months.

He weighs 11 lbs, 3 oz. He is 23.5 inches long. About the 50th percentile for everything. Average!

I'm so bugged that it's been so long since I've blogged. I'll be back soon. I have lots to blog about, just can't seem to find the time recently!

Finished Bedrooms & Math Equations

2010-05-18T10:09:00.012-04:00

Finally, here are the photos of the finished bedrooms (except for painting the doors and adding knobs to the closet doors). We are getting there! My mom & dad were here last weekend to help us again. Dad finished the bathroom and mom did a bunch of landscaping work outside.

On another note, I think it is hard being a mother of three. I don't have enough hands or ears to go around. For all you mothers of three (or more) out there, how do you handle three crying kids at a time???

Here is my most frustrating moment of the day yesterday:

The school calls. Laura's teacher is on the phone. Laura is very upset & crying because she has spilled blackberries all over her shoes. She is in the bathroom trying to wipe them off. Is it possible for me to bring another pair of shoes. I, of course, agree that that would be best. I had just gotten out of the shower. Lindsay was not dressed. I tell Lindsay to get dressed and I hear Nathan waking up from a short nap. He is crying so I go to get him. While I am getting him ready to go, I hear Lindsay wailing from her room. She is frustrated because she cannot get her Polly Pocket dressed. Everyone is crying (except me who should be) and I am only one person. We eventually got our act together and made it to the school with clean(er) shoes.

Having three kids is definitely harder than having two! I'm making it though. Somehow we always get through those moments when I just want to scream!

Here is my little reward from today:

I love the "blackberries + lunch = dirty shoe"! Hilarious!

I love being a mom!

One Month Old

2010-05-10T16:12:00.008-04:00

Nathan turned one month old on May 4th. I had to take some photos in the hopes of getting at least one good one for the gorgeous Classic Pooh first year scrapbook my sis made me. I can't believe he is over a month old already! I am sad that he is losing his hair and developing male pattern baldness. I would say, he gets that from his dad, but I don't want his dad to be mad at me. :)

The girls had Fifth's Disease, also called "slap cheek" (which is actually a virus) last week so that is why their cheeks are so red in the photo. They ended up with bright red rashes covering their entire bodies. Wow. All in all though, a pretty minor ordeal!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T14:00:00.002-04:00

I have a wonderful mother. I wish I was a better mother. I wish I were not so often frustrated with my children. I wish I knew all the answers to give them and the right things to say to them. I wish I never lost my patience or yelled at my children. I wish I was the mother I always pictured myself to be before I had kids.

Even though they do frustrate me sometimes and I lose my patience with them and I don't know the right answers to the challenges they bring, I am blessed to have three beautiful children. I love being their mom.

Laura (the party planning queen) was insistent that we have a Mother's Day party. She used her own money to buy pink plates, napkins and a tablecloth. She is helping Daddy make a cake. There are gifts, flower bouquet, the whole shebang.

One of the gifts she (and her class at school) made was a book of advice. It is titled "If we were going out into the world today, this is the advice we think our mothers would give us!"

Here is Laura's advice:
1. I love you
2. Brush your teeth
3. Comb your hair
4. Your special
5. Don't lie
6. Tell the truth
7. Speak loud, but slow
8. Work hard
9. Have fun
10. Play games
11. Don't smoke
12. Don't spend all your money
13. Go to church
14. Don't drink
15. Have kids

I had visions of taking adorable photos today to go with this post. This is my first Mother's Day as a mother of three after all. It's a no go. Lindsay insisted on wearing a weird outfit (not the adorable dress that matches the one her sister is wearing). Nathan has been fussy all day (except for while we were at church), etc. I give up...

Happy Mother's Day!

Girly Girl

2010-05-07T16:08:00.007-04:00

I know, shocking, two posts in two days! This is another one-handed post, by the way.

This bedroom is for my girly girl, the one who loves horses. She wanted a pink & brown room. I was happy to oblige...

Speaking of the girly girl, a few months ago, she had an assignment to do a report on an American citizen who made a difference. Laura chose Clara Barton, teacher, nurse & founder of the Red Cross. As part of the assignment, parents were invited to come and see a presentation of all of the "Americans" - they each had to dress like the person and read their reports to the class & parents. Laura looked so cute but read her report REALLY quietly! She did great though - all the kids did! I loved watching them all. Second graders are hilarious!

Meow!

2010-05-06T16:01:00.006-04:00

I cannot seem to find time to blog unless it's one-handed with a baby in the other hand! My little man likes to be held at all times for best results! That's okay, someday he won't be interested in his mother anymore so I'll take him now while he needs me!

This is Lindsay's room pre & post carpet. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the cat chair my mom snagged & re-covered for her in faux fur. Lindsay loves it too! It's complete with it's own tail. Absolutely adorable! Some nights Lindsay even sleeps in it.

Linds picked out her own colors and theme. She insisted on a blue room - the bottom color in the photos was her choice. She also insisted that it had to be cat themed. It turned out so cute & she loves it. Success!

As soon as I get some time, I'll get photos of the "moved in" room with her furniture, curtains, wall decor, etc.

My Favorite Little Boy!

2010-04-13T17:41:00.004-04:00

A few updated photos as I adjust back into life/schedule/routine sort of...

He is the absolute sweetest, most delicious baby. I can't get enough of him! I do believe he may be my only babe with brown eyes like his father.

He's {finally} Here!

2010-04-07T17:47:00.008-04:00

Nathan James

April 4, 2010

8:46 a.m.

7 lbs. 10 oz.

19 inches

My Little Artist

2010-03-29T15:47:00.008-04:00

Laura's school sponsored a "Fine Arts Night" for the students to display their artwork. They also featured performances by their strings bands. (Are they bands, ensembles, choirs?) Anyway, performances by the older kids who play stringed instruments...

Laura, my little artist, was excited to create something to display in the show. We decided a collage would be best (and least messy when our house is already in chaos).

The local children's hospital was on hand to view the art work and select some to frame and display in the new wing. They will pay $20 to each child whose artwork they select and the child agrees to sell.

Laura was giddy to find her artwork that night adorned with a ribbon and little sign explaining that her artwork had been selected. What fun!

We are STILL awaiting baby boy's arrival. He is a stubborn one and NOT in a hurry to get here. While we are waiting, we are getting lots of moving done into our addition. The girls are now both sleeping in their new rooms which we all LOVE. They turned out SO CUTE! I will post some photos of the pre-move and post-move soon.

The Breakthrough

2010-03-25T09:54:00.006-04:00

This was something that was quite worrisome to me. I have somehow survived although my house is still REALLY dusty! There is a thin (or not) white "film" of dust on everything in my house. Yuck!

Once the carpet is complete (TODAY!!!), the dust should be MUCH less and we can get things cleaned better.

They broke through the wall in what used to be a large storage closet. The closet is gone now and the area is completely open. It has all be drywalled & repaired now. Just needs painted.

I'll be back soon with photos of the still *almost* finished painting and carpet!

DRYWALL!!!

2010-03-19T08:27:00.012-04:00

I finally convinced my husband to upload photos from his camera so I could update here. Things in our household have been in complete chaos for the past few weeks so I just haven't found the time to update my blog like I would like to.

These photos are of drywall. We are further along now - *almost* all of the painting is done, some of the trim work is done, bathroom vanity, sinks, toilet, etc are all in, lights and outlets, etc, are all in, HVAC is complete. We hope to accomplish quite a bit this weekend so that we can schedule our carpet installation. That is, if baby boy doesn't decide to make his appearance this weekend. :)

I've been having contractions all week off & on so we'll see...

This is the "opening" to the existing house. The wall is open now. More photos to come soon of the "breakthrough". What a mess!

I am SO excited to show you photos of the girls' rooms, bathroom, etc but I want to wait until we're just a bit further along. Here is a sneak peek of the first color on the walls. :)

Each of these rooms has a theme. Any guess as to what they are?!

Be back soon with photos of "the breakthrough" to the existing house and maybe a photo of baby Perry if he decides to make his appearance?

Door, Windows, Siding & Roof

2010-02-16T08:46:00.011-05:00

Lots of progress has been made, I am just slow at posting photos...

We have siding, a (shingled) roof, windows and exterior door. The inside is all insulated and the electrical work is complete. Drywall is here and installation will start ASAP.

In other news, I am now 33 weeks, 4 days pregnant so a sweet baby boy's birth day will be upon us before we know it. We are so excited!

I have been super busy with lots of custom orders lately. Here is one large one I finished recently - 14 "School Days" paper bag albums. It has been good to be busy because it keeps my mind off some of the stress of this adding on. Have I mentioned how tired I am of mud-clad boots in & out of my house??? I'll be so glad when the guys are done here!

We have been busy figuring out paint colors, flooring options, lighting, etc, etc. So many decisions - not good for someone bad at making decisions!

We are BURIED in snow. We have somewhere around ?18-20 inches of snow on the ground. Laura is on her third snow day in the last week. Even the base is closed today so Jeremy is home also.

Stay warm & I'll be back soon with drywall photos.

Up & Up

2010-02-01T19:51:00.013-05:00

Things are REALLY moving along! The projected finish date is February 18th-ish. (Just because we know there will likely be a few more hold-ups.)

We now have an upstairs and a roof. They will be starting shingles and siding in the next day or two. The windows and doors have arrived. Our bathtub is in the bathroom. Drywall will start shortly also.

The guys worked until late tonight so the only photos we could get were in the dark but hopefully it will help you get an idea of what's going on! We are really excited about our upstairs "bonus room". I love the peaked ceiling. It will have closets along the whole short wall for plenty of storage. This will be the space we have waited a long time for - a place for the girls to hang out & have friends over, etc.

Locks of Love

2010-01-29T16:38:00.008-05:00

I have never really cut Lindsay's hair - just had it trimmed a few times over the years. It was getting really long and sometime last fall she decided to donate her hair to Locks of Love. It was really long and combing through it was getting stressful for both of us so last week I figured it was time! I was so nervous and sad but she wasn't at all. She was excited to get her new haircut. After all was said and done, I wasn't sad anymore and she looks adorable with her new short hair! It is SO easy to comb through now! She donated 10+ inches of her hair.

And look, I even scrapbooked it already!

In addition news, we now have a second story and ROOF! Be back soon with more photos!

FRAMING!!!

2010-01-25T20:52:00.017-05:00

More photos finally! The guys have been very busy at work as you'll see. The foundation is complete (except for facing that they will put around the block work) and framing is well underway. We are getting excited now!

(No, I did not get on the roof to take this photo, my husband however, did.) To the left is where we will enter the addition from our existing house. There is also an outside door on the left side. In front of that is my laundry room. Down the hall (in the center) and to the left will be Lindsay's bedroom. In the right back corner is Laura's room. In front of Laura's room is the staircase (with a landing halfway up so you can see two areas where steps will be. On one side under the stairs will be a storage closet.) In front of the stairs and on the right side is the bathroom. Hope you are able to make sense of that!

Be back soon!

Foundation

2010-01-17T17:42:00.009-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, things are moving along with the addition. First of all, I do have my bathroom (and hall & partially my storage closet) back. The builder, foundation experts, and plumbers have all been busy outside instead of inside the house now.

The first thing we had to have done was have our electric lines moved since they ran smack dab through the middle of where we are building. After those were moved, they started the foundation work. Before they could finish the foundation, the plumbers had to plumb our new water and sewer lines for the new bathroom and laundry room. This week they will pour the rest of the foundation and begin framing.

We are so excited for the framing stage! I'll post photos of that soon. (The photos below were taken over about a week & a half period. The last photo was taken this afternoon - you'll see the white plumbing pipes sticking up.)

I forgot to add, Lindsay has been fascinated by the process so far. She has informed me that she wants to be a backhoe operator or concrete truck driver/operator when she grows up. She LOVES to go out and watch what the guys are doing even when it's been 10-15 degrees outside. I, on the other hand, prefer to stay inside in the warmth and step out occasionally and take a photo!

Dairy Delight

2010-01-15T14:54:00.007-05:00

I've had these photos for awhile but am finally getting around to posting Lindsay's five year old portraits. She certainly made the photographer earn her money on this particular day. She did not find the traditional "I'm taking your picture" antics amusing whatsoever! Lindsay is certainly full of personality and most certainly not a conformist. When she has her own ideas, you better just give in and go along! She is most certainly a feisty one and I love her to pieces! She certainly adds a lot of spice and flair to my life!

And now, the dairy delight. Recent conversation:

Lindsay: "Mama, when I grow up, I'm going to change my name."

Mama: "Really, what are you going to change your name to?"

Lindsay: "Milkshake"

She has mentioned this several times since then. Her favorite dollhouse person is also named "Milkshake".

Oh well, who doesn't love a good milkshake?!?

I'll be back in the next post with addition photos. Things are moving along nicely.

It's GREAT to be EIGHT!

2010-01-06T09:24:00.005-05:00

My sweet girl Laura turned EIGHT years old on December 29th. Her grandparents (the Perrys') came to celebrate with us. I can hardly believe that I have an eight year old!

We have recently had some struggles with real life issues and things have been tough for her and with her. I am finding that parenting never does get easier! She is certainly much more independent of me than ever before but at the same time, she needs my mental and emotional energy more than ever. I am so proud of her for doing so well in school, for always being so generous and loving with her little sister, for helping me out around the house, for choosing to follow Jesus with all her heart. My one wish - that she would clean up her bedroom!

She wanted homemade pizza, salad, and ice cream cake for her birthday. She got clothes, some accessories for Kit, her American Girl doll, and money. She is saving her money for another American Girl doll.

She is REALLY curious about the baby. I'm sure you can imagine the questions that have come up so far. One night after one of our question & answer sessions, she said this to me before going to bed, "Mom, thanks for talking to me about the placenta." Too funny! I'm sure once HE is here, there will be even more questions.

She is also asking me every day what we are going to name him. If only we knew... We can't seem to find the "perfect" name. I'm sure we eventually will. We have decided that naming girls is MUCH easier than naming boys!

I'll be back soon with the latest photos of our addition progress.

Big fat round hugs to all!

Underway...

2009-12-22T16:41:00.010-05:00

The permits have all been (finally) garnered and things are officially underway for our house addition. Wow, this is definitely more involved inside the house than I had thought...

In order to plumb our new bathroom and laundry room, they need to gain access to our water supply. This means digging up one of our existing bathrooms to gain access to the pipes in our concrete foundation. They have jack-hammered a trench through our bathroom, hallway and closet to reach the nearest outside wall.

Two days before Christmas and this is what my house looks like. Of course everything from our storage closet has been re-located to our bedroom, everything from the bathroom has been re-located to our other bathroom and the laundry has been moved to Lindsay's room. Needless to say, our whole house is pretty much a disaster right now...

We hope to have our second bathroom back next week sometime...

In the meantime, pray for us. (Pray for me actually, this is very hard for my controlling self! This is an exercise in letting go...)

Foundation work (for the new foundation) is scheduled to begin Monday.

For now, here is what we are living with (I will spare you the photos of our bedroom because, well, wow.)

Step 1: Pull back carpet - this is my hallway leading into our (master) bedroom. To the left is our storage closet and to the right is the bathroom.

This is the current view down the hall from our front entry.

The hall. The plastic is covering our bedroom door.

Our (poor) bathroom. The blue pipes are a temporary repair because when they cut through the concrete, they also cut through our hot & cold water lines. In most houses, the water lines are buried much deeper. In our houses, they were buried just under the floor. Praise the Lord, the plumbers were excellent and took quick action to contain the geyser that began spewing all over the bathroom and more. He said he took about 25 gallons of water out of the house...

Inside my storage closet.

Oh, and, I can't take a photo of this but, it stinks, bad! The smell is nasty. We're starting to get used to it now though.

Just for fun, here is what my hallway & bathroom should look like...

Be back soon with more photos of the next step plus some Christmas photos - we've been busy with both girls' Christmas musicals, Breakfast with Santa, gingerbread house creating, cooking & baking, decorating, gift making, etc.

Additions

2009-11-18T12:26:00.010-05:00

I guess it's been awhile. We're still here and soaking in the news that our new addition will indeed be a baby boy. We are SO excited!

Speaking of additions, things here have been busy as we prepare to start a 1000 square foot addition to our house. We expect that the foundation will be poured in the next few weeks. Photos to come as things get underway...

I thought I would post these pics even though we got them taken back in June. They were taken shortly before I found out I was pregnant.

Little Politician

2009-10-23T11:16:00.006-04:00

Dear Parents,

Your child had decided to participate in the "elections" and run for Student Council Rep for our class. ... Please help your child understand that only one child from the class can be chosen. This can be hard for them if they are not chosen.

This is an excerpt from a letter I received via Laura's backpack last month. I was a bit surprised as Laura tends to be on the shy side (usually) and I didn't picture her as the student council type - her dad and I certainly aren't!

Anyway, I spent most of the time before the election trying to help her prepare for the (what I thought was probably) possibility she might lose. We talked about it several times. In the meantime, she busied herself with making posters, goodie bags, and writing her speech with a little help from mom & dad.

Here is her speech:

"Hi. I am Laura and I want to be in student council. I would be a good student council rep because I am a good friend. I would make good decisions for the class, trying to make everyone happy. I listen to the teacher and do what's right. So vote for me."

Election day came and guess who came bounding off the bus yelling "Guess what mom? I won!!!" She never ceases to surprise me!

Here she is working on her poster:

I forgot to get a photo of the finished poster but it said "VOTE LAURA She never forgets her homework and she is a good friend" Lindsay helped her with that...

Here she is after her first meeting - her assignment was to create this poster for Sports Day:

And finally, just because, here is her 2nd grade school photo...

Fantastic FIVE!

2009-10-14T15:21:00.007-04:00

Dear readers, I do apologize for my gross neglect of this enthralling blog. In my state of pregnancy-induced can't-remove-myself-from-the-couch fatigue, I have found it too much work of late to eject the CF card from the camera, insert it into my computer, select photos and post them here. I am feeling much better in recent days and am no longer napping to make it through the day SO...

Lindsay turned FIVE on the 27th of September. We met her Grandparents Perry (halfway between their house and ours) for lunch and some shopping on Saturday. Lindsay decided to spend her birthday money on a Fisher Price digital camera and some play-doh. She selected her favorite place to eat for lunch, Steak-N-Shake. Fun times!

On Sunday, after church, we dined on her choice of birthday meal with a little help from people who actually eat food (Mom & Dad). She wanted chicken nuggets (just about the only meat she'll eat), mac-n-cheese (not the real stuff, only Kraft will do) and green beans (the only green food she'll eat). We edited her menu with baked chicken instead. (She did eat some.) Yes, she is about as picky as they come. If only we were all as picky as her, we'd be skinny too. :)

She opened her presents (a baby doll that really cries and a kitty outfit) and we had cake & ice cream. It was a simple celebration but we enjoyed family times like these really are priceless. I love these times!

Her hair is getting SO long. We are going to donate it to "Locks of Love" in the near future but she needs a 10 inch ponytail. She has a 10 inch ponytail but it wouldn't leave her with much so we're waiting just a bit longer.

My first craft show is this Saturday and my whole card rack is filled except for two spots which I will be filling in the next few days. See, I haven't been sleeping all the time.

I'll be posting again soon about "The Little Politician", family pictures and Laura's school photo.

My $10 Find

2009-09-09T12:09:00.003-04:00

Last time I was visiting my mom & sis, we happened upon a garage sale that had a rather haphazard looking card rack for sale. The seller wanted $10 for it but I wasn't sure - it was in need of a good cleaning and a new paint job, etc. She wouldn't take "no" for an answer and you know me, I of course, bought it whether I wanted it or not. (PUSHOVER.) Anyway, I brought it home and cleaned it up and Jeremy helped me by giving it a coat of spray paint. It actually looks pretty good. Not bad for $10.00.

I have decided to do at least one craft show this year. My goal is to get this rack FILLED with cards. It has 72 slots. So far I have made 18 differenet designs (which means I'm 1/4 done). I have until October 17th to finish the rest. My goal is to make at least one card design per day. Most days I've been making more than one design. I'll keep you posted on my progress...

(You can see Lindsay made some cards for my rack also.)

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

2009-08-26T18:25:00.009-04:00

Summer is officially over. Today was my sweet girl's first day of second grade. I just can't believe how fast she is growing up. I didn't get the best photos this morning because the bus came SIX minutes early. What is up with that??? We had to run up the street to her bus stop and then I didn't even have time to say good-bye. I was so sad , I had to come back home and cry. :(

Anyway, here's what I got...

Picture me running down the sidewalk, camera in hand, trying to take the photo below!

Lindsay and I counted down the hours 'til sissy came back home. She was missed so much! Daddy came home from work early to see her get off the bus - a yearly tradition on the first day of school. As soon as she got to the sidewalk, Lindsay gave her the hugest hug!

Laura said her new school was "awesome". I was relieved because she is attending a new school this year. The last two years she was in a K-1 building. Her new school is grades 2-5 (and not next door anymore).

We have another BIG change coming to our family. Coming in the form of a new baby. We expect to see our newest (and final) addition on or about April 3, 2010. The girls are thrilled. Jeremy is thrilled. I might be thrilled later. When I'm not sick. When I'm not so tired I have to take two naps a day. For now, I'm still kind of shocked and scared to be doing this again!

I think that's enough change for now. Later!

Horsin' Around

2009-08-20T08:58:00.010-04:00

I've been a lame blogger lately. Sorry. Summer seems to get so crazy - lack of routines, spur-of-the-moment activities, weekend trips, busy home business!

Since school will be starting next week, I am hoping to return to a more normal schedule/routine. I thought I'd share some more photos of our summer before school. Laura says she is excited to start school. I, on the other hand, am not excited at all! I have LOVED having both of them home all day during the summer. We've had so much fun and I have truly savored hearing the sounds of their laughter and watching their creative escapades. We've rarely turned on the television this summer and it's been fun to watch them come up with so many fun activities to keep themselves occupied. I am absolutely going to miss this.

Laura attended "Horse Camp" during the last week of June/first week of July. She and her fellow campers performed a show for parents on the last day. Laura had the time of her life! She cannot get enough of horses. She is already looking forward to going again next year. Lindsay really wanted to go to horse camp too. (Next year she'll be old enough.) It was hard to drag her out of the barn each day after dropping Laura off. Bribery = parents' best friend.

My cat lover - she LOVES cats! I was worried it had fleas but if it did, we didn't catch any. :)

Be back soon with more photos!

"I Can't Believe It Mama!"

2009-07-17T13:07:00.010-04:00

"I have had tons of parties before and this have never happened." -Laura

I'm pretty sure there is nothing Laura loves more in this world than throwing parties. Her dad and I are not sure where she got that gene from as neither of us is really a "party animal".

About once a week, she plans some sort of grand celebration - faux Christmas or other holdiay, stuffed animal or doll birthdays, any sort of occasion she can think of is a reason to party. We even had to have a Memorial Day party this year. She planned all sorts of activities for us to do including finger painting and her famous pinata. Last fall for one of her celebrations, she made a pinata from a small cardboard box, some colored paper and a bunch of tape. It has been used for most of her celebrations since then. I was going to post a photo of it but I can't find any photos. Shoot.

Anyway, today she planned a celebration for one of her doll's birthdays. She had everything set up and activities planned in the yard. L&L kept coming in and telling me to get outside for the party. I was working and made them wait a bit. Oftentimes, as in the case of today, she is also bugging me to make food - menus are important, you know. I declined her requests today. She wanted me to make rice & I didn't feel like it. I'm sure I will regret saying no to this request one day. Anyway...

I finally made my way outside to the party. First I had to sign in.

After getting the signing in formalities attended to and my party hat on, I was pleasantly pleased to see this:

The tables and chairs are ready. The children and babies are dressed in their finest party frocks. Let the festivities begin.

This is what I see next. A (mostly) pleasant game of Chutes and Ladders taking place.

By the way, if you feel you may have seen these fabulous party hats before, you may have. They are leftover from Jeremy's pirate birthday earlier this year.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it could be avoided no longer. The sky was getting dark and the clouds were looking menacing. Then it began to sprinkle, followed immediately by a major downpour which resulted in this:

And this:

In the downpour, Laura had to run out to rescue her hanging pinata from the tree house. Whew, all is well.

The downpour ended as quick as it had begun. The party animals decided to re-assemble their party in the yard. Party on!

Unfortunately, once the party was set back up and I was summoned back outside, it began sprinkling once again. Repeat previous steps.

It was decided that the party should move indoors. Eating commenced. The pinata (hanging from my refrigerator) was broken open.

The party was a rousing success.

Even though now I have a big wet mess all over the place, I love days like this. These two girls light up my life in ways I could never have imagined. How thankful I am that the Lord saw fit to allow me to be their mother.

What is summer

2009-07-08T19:57:00.009-04:00

without watermelon???

Guess who...

2009-06-30T12:05:00.006-04:00

is riding her bike at the age of 4 years & 9 months with NO training wheels?????

Ahhhhhh, my sweet baby is no baby! :(

School's Out for the Summer!

2009-06-26T08:24:00.008-04:00

Finally, here are photos of Laura's last day of school. These were definitely worthy of sharing because they are funny! Yes, Lindsay is wearing a "cat" suit. I believe it is actually a leopard costume but to her, it is a cat. She LOVES cats! She loves wearing this costume! I will say though, that I certainly garnered some strange looks at the post office when my cat came with me...

Jeremy and I recently spent many hours spreading this:

Jeremy did much more mulch-moving than I did. I am happy to report that the last shovel-full was removed from our driveway last Friday evening while I was away enjoying a "scrapbook night" with a friend. (It took almost a month to remove this 15 yard load from our driveway and place it around our house and in our new backyard landscaping plan.)

Here is a first photo of Jeremy's lofty project. He is building the kids a treehouse in our backyard. We have a GIANT apple tree just begging to house a fun fort in the air! There is lots more done now, photos coming soon...

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are!

My Little Author

2009-06-10T09:12:00.013-04:00

I already missed my goal of posting every day. That didn't take long...

The week before school was out Laura's class hosted an "Author's Celebration". Lindsay and I were able to go and check out the books Laura had written. Laura even got up in front of everyone and read a poem she wrote. We couldn't really hear her but she was brave to do it! Lindsay LOVED being there with the "big kids" and was fascinated watching them!

Here are a couple photos of Laura reading one of the (non-fiction) books she wrote, "Hummingbirds".
This is my favorite book she wrote - I think it is hilarious!

It is called "When I Got Sick" (very fitting since we seemed to do a lot of that in 1st grade).

(Notice the doctor implements on the cover.)

"I got strep throat then it got worse."

"I had scarlatina. I had to go to the doctor's."

"I had to take disgusting medicine."

"I had to miss one week of school."

"But I am better."

I love this!

Time Flies!

2009-06-08T07:16:00.014-04:00

I've been lax in my blogging. I've not been lax in my living. Things have been busy and crazy and fun. I wanted to post weeks ago about Memorial Day weekend. We met Jeremy's family at Hocking Hills to hang out and have fun. I have lots of photos...

I wanted to post about Laura's "Author's Celebration" at school. Lindsay and I were able to go to school and see Laura's class "perform" a poem, we got to read many of the books (stories) Laura has written. I think I'll share one of my favorite stories soon. We played games and even had snacks. The students planned the whole celebration - very cute!

I wanted to post about what's been keeping us so busy. Anyone know what 15 yards of mulch looks like? I've got photos of that too...

Jeremy has been extra busy outside with another lofty project. Any guesses?

I wanted to post about Laura's last day of school. I guess she's now officially a second grader. (She almost missed her last few days of school due to another bout with strep throat.)

Our family has also been busy welcoming my sister's newest addition, baby Diana Rose, born May 27th at a whopping 9lbs, 7.5 oz. I am SO excited to be headed up north to see this little miracle this weekend!

My goal this week is to post EVERY day with all of the photos I've been taking recently of everything we've been doing. I'll do a different theme each day because putting all the photos on this one post would take me forever. (Does anyone else think blogger's photo adding feature is time consuming and frustrating?!?)

Today I am going to include some photos from our Hocking Hills trip.

(Yes, that is Laura way down there on the left side of the photo above.)

See ya' tomorrow with more photos!

I Can't Believe We Won!

2009-05-20T21:00:00.008-04:00

This time of the year is so crazy! Our weekends have been jam packed with "events" of all sorts lately. I thought I'd share some of last weekend's events. We kicked off the weekend on Friday night with a trip to Dayton to watch the Dragons play baseball - it was fun! The girls were SO excited - not to watch baseball though, they go for the vittles. Almost immediately upon finding our seats, Lindsay was begging for Dippin' Dots. Jeremy made them wait until the 5th inning. They did finally get their ice cream and then we left in the 8th inning because the girls cannot sit still and were driving us crazy! Hmm. I wonder who won the game?

Isn't this just the greatest family portrait?!?

Saturday consisted of various household duties (cleaning, grocery shopping, yard work, etc.) Jeremy and Lindsay and I drove to the Commissary on base to do our grocery shopping. (Laura was at a friend's house playing.) We are usually too lazy to go all the way to the Commissary and usually prefer to shop at the much closer Krogers. But, we thought it would be fun to take a trip to the base especially because Lindsay LOVES to look at the planes. We got some seriously good deals! I have enough toilet paper, kitty litter and laundry soap to last until 2011. (Not really but the "case lot sale" they were having was unbeatable price-wise!)

Sunday afternoon after church, Laura had an "Ice Cream Social" to attend for school. The girls were really excited and have been looking forward to it for weeks. Laura encouraged me to buy some raffle tickets because the PTO was raffling off some VERY nice items including a kids digital camera, a 20" girls bike and a "Chrissa" American Girl Doll. I purchased $20.00 in raffle tickets because Laura REALLY wanted the doll. Guess who got blessed? I was so shocked I almost peed my pants!

The ice cream lovers:

The balloon release (to wish the first graders well as they move up to their new schools next year) :

And finally, a little scrapping I've done for myself lately (gasp!):

Laura's Baptism:

Last year's Dragons game:

Later folks!

Will you please join me in prayer?

2009-05-17T21:53:00.002-04:00

For my sweet friend Melissa and her family? My heart is breaking for this precious family.

I went to college with Melissa and her husband Doug but didn't really get to know them until we moved here from New Mexico four years ago. (I think of them often even though last fall, Melissa & Doug moved to a new area for career reasons.) Melissa is the sweetest friend and mom you could ever know. She loves Jesus with all her heart and seriously, I don't think Melissa could ever say a cross word about ANYone. She is so very kind & gentle. In March 2008, Melissa was diagnosed with lymphoma and has fought a very courageous battle against this terrible cancer. Last Monday, she was given some very devastating news. I can't stop thinking about her and what she is going through. I can't begin to imagine how she is feeling right now. She has three adorable children who need her.

If you want to read her words about the news she was given, or to see the rest of her blog, go here.

I have never been more thankful for my health and that of my husband and children.

Please help me pray for a miracle for my friend. She wants to live and will need a miracle to do so. Please pray also for her husband (Doug) and her children (Caleb, Lauren & Audrey).

Remember to hug those you love often - none of us are promised tomorrow. What we are promised though, is that we are never alone and I am so very thankful for that. God hears us when we humble ourselves and call out to Him.

Thank you for your earnest prayers! God is good!

New Additions

2009-05-04T15:24:00.013-04:00

For years now, the girls have begged to have a pet cat. They would ask us constantly if we could go to the pet store and visit the pets there. Apparently this was not pet enough for these two animal lovers.

I was a bit resistant about the cat thing just because I figured I would do the bulk of the pet care if we ever got one. (By the way, I was right about that...) On a spur-of-the-moment a couple of Saturdays' ago, Jeremy and I decided we would make their wildest seven and four year old dreams come true. I was VERY apprehensive about this - I spend WAY TOO MUCH time analyzing and over analyzing how each and every decision I ever make will affect every aspect of my life. I know, big surprise for those of you who know me well. Anyway, L&L were positively giddy with happiness.

Unfortunately, they had to wait a few days to enjoy "Kipper" because she absolutely refused to come out of hiding. This is what we saw for about the first four days:

She eventually did venture out into our dangerous and very scary house and realized we were friendly. She has since adjusted beautifully and is patient and playful with the girls. She is not a lap cat but is friendly with us nonetheless. One thing I love about her is how sweet & gentle she is. Oh, and in case you were worried, I have adjusted well too. She is actually a breeze to care for and has added a lot of happiness to our home in recent days. (Amazing how easy a cat is to take care of after you've had babies!)

I love this photo of all of them looking out the window longingly!

Yesterday was "Baby Day" at our church & I was "in charge" of putting things together. Baby Day is to meet & get to know a bit better the babies of the church. It is a yearly happening. I made these scrapbook frames as the gifts the parents would receive. I made 22 of them.

Here are most of them in my kitchen:

And here they are at the church:

My big order is finished. Now I am working on several smaller ones and trying to get my house back in some semblance of order after a rip-roarin' garage sale over the weekend. Not really that great but at least less stuff is present in my house!

Monkey Business

2009-04-27T18:24:00.011-04:00

A friend from church is expecting a sweet baby boy very soon so several ladies from church got together last week for a baby shower. Her "theme" for the baby's bedding is green/blue/brown & monkeys. I created this paper bag album for her based on her bedding. I paper pieced this monkey from a drawing I did after looking at her crib blanket.

I also made advice/blessing "tags" for her shower attenders to write a message on. I have done these for several showers in the past - it is becoming a tradition! You may also remember these dolphin shower tags I made several months ago.

The "front" of the tag is decorated & the "back" of the tag is hand stamped with journaling lines.

And, since you all seemed so concerned about the disaster that is often Lindsay's bedroom, this is what else happens when I'm busy with 8+ orders and doing the above pictured goodies...

This is approximately five loads of laundry waiting to be folded. Not too bad in and of itself except, this was just the start of what needed to be washed/dried/folded/put away. (And, I'm still working on it...)

Finally, it was Jeremy's turn (today) to provide a birthday treat for someone he works with. Unfortunately last night, after he mixed the cake batter, he realized that the only cupcake cups we had were festive Christmas Santa ones. We decided that we should add to the festivity with a variety of holiday sprinkles. We tried to include most major seasons/holidays. You will find he was able to create cupcakes for Christmas, fall, Halloween, Easter, spring, Valentine's Day, and July 4th with sprinkles conveniently located right in my very own kitchen cabinet.

P.S. I have 67 of 72 pages done of my big order. I plan on being done by the weekend. Yeah!

Catching up: a hodgepodge of happenings

2009-04-21T16:02:00.016-04:00

My blog entries are not nearly as frequent as I would like or plan for them to be SO... I will be using this post to catch up on several topics I have been meaning to post about but just can't seem to find the time. Speaking of time, I have still been incredibly busy - getting about an order a day. Also, I have 57 of 72 pages done on my "huge order". I hope to be completely done with this one by next week sometime and I will be SO HAPPY! I have also been busy keeping up with the housekeeping though of course not up to my neat-freak friends' standards (Kristina and you others). Why do I have so many friends that are neat-freaks and I am so not? What does this mean? What does this say about me? About them?

SOOOO, is this better?

And no, I did not just shove everything in the closet (though my clever children seem to find this method of "cleaning" quite effective).

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Next topic: When Perrys' Met Sally. Several weeks ago, Laura's first grade class made muppets. First they studied all about Jim Henson and the muppets. Then they all made their own muppet characters. This was too cute! I got to see several of the muppets when I went for Laura's parent teacher conference. Laura created a horse named Sally and wrote a story to go along with it. She was SO EXCITED for us to meet Sally. So far, she says this was her favorite thing about first grade.

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Next topic: A blessed day - January, 25, 2009. Jeremy and I were so proud of Laura's decision to be baptized. She attended classes at church to learn more about baptism and it's significance in her life. She has expressed an interest in being baptized for quite some time and it was truly a joyous occasion for our family to watch her interest turn into reality. I am so thankful that she has chosen early in her life to follow Jesus. I pray that she will always seek Him no matter what her circumstances may be. She read a statement in front of everyone about her decision to be baptized and what it meant to her. I wanted to put it on here but I can't find it at the moment. It was great though - she really thought about it and took the initiative to write it out all by herself. I was so proud of her!

Unfortunately my photos are not very good because my camera battery was dead unbeknown st to me until I got to church. These photos are just "stills" from our video camera. Hopefully you'll get the idea though...

Okay, I'm getting REALLY annoyed because the photos are apparently on our laptop. Since they are not great photos anyway, I'm just going to forget it. Picture a beautiful girl being baptized in a pink shirt!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next topic: Worms! My four year old little girly girl LOVES to dig in the dirt. Loves to find worms and keep them captive in her sand box buckets. She also LOVES to wear dresses. I just think these photos are cute. She's the perfect combination of girly girl & tomboy! : ) I don't love worms but I DO love these two girls!

Ahhhh, the smell of big, pink, wet worms in spring...

I suppose that's an adequate amount of catching up for now. More soon...

He is Risen!

2009-04-15T20:37:00.012-04:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We certainly did. Here are a few photos of the busy weekend...

First, our church's annual "Egg"stravaganza:

Dyeing eggs:

My attempts at getting cute photos of the girls in their Easter dresses:

Needless to say, I got no adorable Easter dress photos. Oh well!

For anyone keeping track, I now have 44 pages of 72 done on my "big order". I also have about six or seven other orders for albums - LOTS of albums plus two shower gifts I'm working on. Business has been good but I'm certainly feeling the pressure. I can only do one job full-time - either housekeeping or working on my scrapbooking orders. I already have the other full-time job of taking care of my family. Anybody got any great suggestions for how to manage it all at once???

When I'm busy working on orders and not keeping track of what my children (Lindsay in this case) are doing, this is what happens:

I need some serious HELP around here!

Do not be alarmed if you don't hear from me. I'm either working on scrapbook pages for people (certainly not my own - everyone else will have nice scrapbooks of their children except me). Or, I have drowned in a sea of dress up clothes and dollhouse furniture.

Circus, circus

2009-04-01T10:30:00.010-04:00

We had SUCH A FUN weekend with my parents, sister & brother-in-law, and my nieces! It was so nice to spend some time relaxing, shopping & laughing. Laura & Lindsay had a BLAST at Aunt Beth & Uncle Dave's house which will now be known as Kid Heaven. They LOVED spending time with cousins Karilyn & Heidi!

On Saturday, we all (sans Grandpa 'cause he was working) went to the Shrine Circus. The kids really had fun. Well, sort of. Laura and Karilyn enjoyed it, Lindsay got hot and irritable and went outside to hang out with Daddy for the second half. Heidi slept through most of the second half. They did enjoy going for a pony ride except Heidi who would sooner have her hair pulled out one strand at a time than sit on a pony. According to Laura, riding the pony was her favorite part of the circus and "it was well worth the money". (She paid?) Thanks Uncle Dave for taking us to the circus!

My photos didn't turn out too well - it was dark inside the Civic Center but here are a few...

One of my highlights of the weekend was going to the paper store and filling two huge boxes & a bag with cardstock I will now use and hoard for scrapbooking. (They sell paper by the pound & it's really cheap!) I LOVE going there. I LOVE paper! But now, where, oh where will I put you, you glorious paper???

Now the only bad news of the weekend. I didn't work. I actually took time off (Gasp!) and tried not to think about all I had to do. Now I am feeling behind and overwhelmed and unmotivated. I did finish one of my custom paper bag albums yesterday. Here are some photos:

Next up (I am writing this here so I don't forget!): Laura's baptism photos, Worms, & When Perrys' Met Sally. Next time you hear from me, I better have done some work.

Working, working, working

2009-03-26T08:53:00.010-04:00

I've been super busy work-wise lately. I mentioned a couple posts ago about the HUGE custom order I am doing right now. I have 15 of 72 pages done. Slowly but surely...

I am working on a bunch of other projects right now also. I thought I would share photos of a few I finished last weekend. The first is an ABC chipboard album for my friend's baby - I gave it to her for her first birthday. The second is a bridal shower paper bag album that was a custom order. It was done in the same colors/theme as her wedding invitation. It has kind of a "tropical" feel to it because the wedding will be in Florida. It had mats for photos, places to write the gift list and included 16 page tags for guests of the shower to write a personal message to the bride. Finally, a photo of another of the layouts from the "huge order".

Laura starts her Spring Break tomorrow. We are pretty excited! While she is off next week, we are going to do some cleaning. She has become a little pack rat in her room lately. I am also planning to work on some fun projects with them. I am hoping to finish a "pets" paper bag album. Their only pet at this time is a goldfish but I'm pretty excited about the album we're going to make. I'll keep you posted on how that goes...

We are headed to Canton for the weekend to spend time with family. The girls CAN'T WAIT to see their grandparents & cousins!

Wanna win a FREE PaPeR BaG SCRAPBOOK ALBUM?

2009-03-20T08:32:00.010-04:00

In recent months I have been working on a bunch of custom layouts for sweet girl I met on etsy. Because we have worked together so much, she asked me to donate a premade paper bag album from my shop for a giveaway on her blog. Here's YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A FREE PAPER BAG ALBUM CRAFTED BY MY HANDS. If you win, you get to select any paper bag album I currently have listed in my etsy shop.

Go here to enter:

http://andbabymakesfourperrine.blogspot.com/2009/03/paper-bag-scrapbook-giveaway.html

So, go enter. Now. You only have a week.

Happy Friday!

Aaaaarrrrrrrrhhhhh!

2009-03-18T14:23:00.009-04:00

Aye, mateys! We celebrated Jeremy's 33rd birthday on Monday with a pirate party - Laura insisted. She LOVES to plan parties and must have all the proper trimmings. She begged me to buy hats and balloons. Then streamers. Then decorations. She planned games including pirate tic-tac-toe. Instead of X's & O's, she made scary pirate faces and cross bones.

Here we aaarrrhhh~

I know you may think Martha Stewart made this absolutely gorgeous cake, but it is me that will awe you with my prowess in the kitchen...

This picture is hideous but he insisted we needed one of us with our festive treasure party hats.

Happy Birthday babe! We love you!

I took on a HUGE custom order this week - 70 premade pages. Yikes! It will take me 2-3 months to finish and I'm feeling overwhelmed! One of the pages that was ordered was a cucumber themed layout. I paper pieced cucumbers to put on it - kinda fun. Thought I'd share...

Finally a bonus: ways to entertain yourself. With balloons. After a super exciting pirate party...

Yes, we realize we are incredibly dorky and need to get out more. Thanks for your concern.

Cheer Madness

2009-03-15T21:38:00.007-04:00

Last week Laura went to cheerleading camp in the evening at the High School. She had a great time! On the last night they performed for parents what they had been learning all week. I couldn't believe how many girls there were - I guess cheerleading is really popular around here. The kids were grouped by grades and went from K-8.

It's pretty unbelievable how competitive kids sports are these days. It seems that if they want to be able to do a sport in HS, they have to start now (if they haven't already) and be practicing constantly and doing the sport all the time. Otherwise, they won't be good enough & experienced enough to be able to do it. (For example, they told us that if the girls want to be cheerleaders, they need to be in tumbling classes right now to be learning everything they need to know.) I'm not sure I could or would want to really push one sport or activity that much. Laura really enjoys doing a variety of activities and sports and I don't think she would want to pick just one to focus all her attention on. I guess she most likely won't get the opportunity to be a star athlete/cheerleader/whatever. I'm certainly okay with that. I would rather her focus on the more important things (in my opinion) in life anyway...

Here's a few photos of the performance.

Tons of girls - all around the blue mat.

Laura's group

Not the best photo because we had to sit SO FAR away but Laura is the one to the left of the girl in the pink shorts.

Artsy-Fartsy

2009-03-08T15:39:00.007-04:00

Laura was selected to have her art work displayed at the High School as part of a district wide K-8 art show. Today they had a reception and all of the art work on display. We really enjoyed seeing her "self portrait" as part of a study they did at school.

I am so proud of my little artist! I love this girl!

Lindsay was really fascinated by these "Day of the Dead" paper mache statues that some fourth grade students had made. She kept wandering back over to them to check them out??

It was another BLUSTERY day here in the buckeye state!

I still do promise photos of Laura's baptism very soon. Hugs to everyone!

We R Bugs

2009-03-02T17:34:00.018-05:00

I beg your pardon (once again) for my lack of posting.

Last week the girls battled strep throat/scarlatina all week. It was a L-O-N-G week with fevers, sore throats, crying, pediatrician visits, rashes, antibiotics, more crying, and more. I'll spare the really gory details. Laura missed the whole week of school but (thank you Jesus), was able to go back today.

I had dreams all night about my blog so I decided I better blog today. The guilt was getting to me.

I wanted to take photos of Laura with the scarlatina rash ALL OVER her body including her face but she absolutely refused. Instead I'll share this. The girls have this "game" they play "We R Bugs". They dress up like bugs (Lindsay is always the butterfly and Laura the bee) and play music. They keep this sign and hang it up on the wall each time it's time to play We R Bugs. I don't know why I think this is so funny, I just love it that their imaginations are so vivid. I love it that I have a couple of little artists. I love it that they love to play together. They decided to play yesterday and since I find it so hilarious I thought I'd take some photos and share.

Some of the orders I've been working on recently...

"Udder-ly Adorable" 12x12 layout

8x8 Baby Boy jungle themed album

Happy Birthday (to my little sister) Beth! We love you. When I told Lindsay it was your birthday, she determined that Karilyn and her Daddy should wrap presents for you. (Heidi would eat the wrapping paper.) So, hope they got to it. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T20:32:00.008-05:00

I wanted to take some cute photos of my Valentine sweeties. It was an ordeal. Seriously, is it too much to ask for just a few minutes of cooperation? I guess these ones aren't too bad.

And one of Laura with her Valentines for her classmates.

Our Valentine's day was not romantic but it was productive, which in my book, is really attractive in a husband. : ) I love a man who can paint. (And he bought me some thoughtful gifts including a really cute "family" frame with quotes and LOTS of openings for photos.)

Jeremy painted our living room today so our re-arranging project has taken a giant leap forward. Hopefully we will be done soon. Here's hoping...

Let's pretend...

2009-02-12T14:11:00.012-05:00

that it hasn't been over TWO WEEKS since I last posted. I've been a bad blogger. Oops.

I wish I could say I haven't posted because I have been busy finishing up my room re-arranging project. Or that I've been cooking gourmet, delicious meals for my family. Or that I've been selling like crazy. Or that I've been doing tons of fun crafts and educational activities with my kids. Or that I've been training to run a marathon. Or that my computer was broken (well it is, but I'm still using the laptop.) Or that I read my entire Bible cover to cover. But alas, I've been being lazy. Not cooking. Not finishing my room re-arranging/organization project. Not selling. Not keeping my laundry current. Not doing anything great or worthy. I've just been being lazy. And watching The Biggest Loser, The Bachelor, and The Office.

I do want to share some photos of one of the projects I actually have completed lately. At least I did do a little something, right?

I got these princess papers & embellishments with a gift card that my very thoughtful husband bought me for Christmas. Normally I am anti-princess, BUT, I simply could not pass up these adorable papers & embellishments. Ahh, glittery goodness. I tried to think of something a little more unique than the traditional "my daughter is so wonderful, she's a princess" theme. It's a letter to our daughters by Jeremy & I. The photos I used are various princess ones I found from the past several years - photos I have of the kids in crowns/tiaras.

These products are from the "Fairest of Them All" collection by Imaginisce just in case you need to run out and buy yourself some.

This is a 5x5 chipboard album and I made one for both girls but am just showing photos of Laura's album here.

Upcoming posts will include photos of Laura's baptism if I can get my husband to get some still photos off the video camera since my camera battery was dead. Also, photos of my room re-arranging project. I am loving my new & bigger studio.

Love to you all!

Snow Day!

2009-01-28T17:56:00.010-05:00

Laura thoroughly enjoyed her second consecutive snow day today. Even Jeremy got in on the action today (the base was closed) - we were pretty much snowed in - and lovin' every minute of it!

We got about two inches of snow, followed by an inch of ice, followed by about seven more inches of snow.

We played outside for a few hours even though it was freezing! We even ventured next door to the park and had a blast jumping from the swings and playing on the playground toys. Unfortunately I have no photos of our park fun because it seems I killed my camera. It no longer takes photos, only says constantly "Lens Error". Whatever. Here are a few I took before it decided to live no more.

By the way, there are not many photos of Lindsay. She didn't really like being outside much. It really interferes with her love of all things fashionable.

Ten random tidbits...

2009-01-22T13:46:00.010-05:00

Well the boring-ness of January is in full swing. As I was going to bed last night, I was thinking that it has been a week since I last blogged and what should I blog about? I couldn't think of anything particularly interesting or fun so I thought I would challenge myself by thinking of ten random tidbits to share.

1. I have been in a baking mood lately. I LOVE to bake (deserts). (Cooking dinner, don't love) In the last week and a half, I have made oatmeal cookies, banana bread, cherry cobbler, and monkey bread. All delicious and I've got the thighs and gut to prove it.

2. It has been RIDICULOUSLY cold here. Last Friday as I was driving home from scrapbooking with some ladies from church, this is what my van temperature thing-y read:

No, I was not having a seizure. I had to take the photo with the flash off because that is the only way it would show up. This is what happens when my cheap camera takes photos without flash. Anyway, it reads -1 degrees. Laura had the day off from school because it was -11 when we got up for school.

3. Our computer died so I have been using the laptop. It's annoying.

4. Sales have been SO S-L-O-W! To keep myself busy, I have started about 20 projects and finished none. Hopefully I'll have some photos soon to prove it. I have made my girls a couple of fun mini albums and also finished several layouts. I already scrapped 2008's Christmas photos. Does that mean I'm caught up? (Absolutely not!)

5. We're re-arranging our living room/family room/my studio. It is A MESS. Rather than figure out what to do next, I think I'll blog.

6. Laura is going to be baptized at church on Sunday morning. We're excited about that!

7. I made a really cute "Owl Always Love You" tag album and listed it in my etsy shop today.

8. We are going to be out of clothes soon because I apparently don't do laundry anymore. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just sort of happened. It's been piling up and piling up and I just haven't felt like it. I guess I'd rather blog.

9. Lindsay is into having tantrums. She would rather scream and throw herself to the floor than ask her mother to help her get her baby's shoe on. I am praying that this is four-ness and shall pass.

10. I love watching "The Office". This is a new past time spurred on by the variety of people in recent months who have commented that I remind them of Pam. (?)

I better go find something else to do to waste time so I don't have to do laundry.

Happy January doldrums!

sNOw FUN

2009-01-15T20:32:00.009-05:00

Finally, we have snow! We took the kids sledding yesterday since we had been promising them we would when we finally got some snow. Jeremy, Laura and I had a lot of fun. Poor Lindsay was terrified after a few mishaps near the brush & creek at the bottom of the hill (not her mishaps, Laura's). She didn't want to sled anymore after she witnessed Laura streaking backwards straight into a bunch of brush/sticks and then screaming at the top of her lungs. She wasn't actually hurt, I think it just scared her. Anyway, that was enough for poor FREEZING Lindsay. I think next time we will find a hill more suitable for wimps. : )

I know, I know...

2009-01-09T08:18:00.006-05:00

Christmas is over. BUT, I haven't had a chance to post any photos yet and still wanted to. We had a wonderful Christmas. We stayed home and enjoyed every minute! Christmas Eve was spent just hanging out as a family. We watched our favorite Christmas movies together and had some of our traditional favorite snacks (summer sausage, cheese & crackers, EZ Cheez for Laura, Christmas cookies, buffalo chicken dip). We were planning on going to the Christmas Eve service at church but poor Lindsay fell asleep about 5:45, just before we should have been walking out the door. We decided to stay home and let her sleep. (Never wake a sleeping Lindsay). The three of us still awake opened our one gift reserved for Christmas Eve - new jammies. Then Daddy read the Christmas story from the Bible. Laura headed to bed and Jeremy and I put out the rest of the gifts.

Christmas morning, Laura came in to wake us up about 8:00. Since Lindsay was unavailable the night before for our Christmas Eve photo, I made everyone get their picture taken before we opened gifts. They were thrilled as you can imagine.

I did finally let them open their gifts. Laura ripped through hers in record speed. Lindsay on the other hand, took her time. The first one she opened was a baby doll with outfits that she threw a fit over at Kohl's one day. (She literally threw a fit - the first and only time she has done that to me in a store. What the???) She was perfectly satisfied to play with that all day. As you can see she also received her long awaited crib for her babies. Some of Laura's favorite gifts were a guitar, a new Razor scooter, and a Littlest Pet Shop VIP pet horse.

Jeremy and I cooked together - something else that has become a tradition on Christmas day. We made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, made from scratch rolls, deviled eggs, and key lime cheesecake pie. It was delicious! : )

I only wish Christmas could last a little longer.

P.S. Did anyone else notice I talked a lot about food in this blog entry? Yeah, I've been busy eating this holiday season. My body certainly noticed... back to exercising and eating reasonably now...

P.P.S. Oh yeah, and another big deal. Jeremy and I celebrated 11 years of being married on December 27th. I love you babe!

Seven years ago yesterday...

2008-12-30T14:37:00.007-05:00

my first beautiful daughter was born. It is hard to believe she is seven years old already. I remember this day seven years ago. Her father and I brought her home from the hospital and I remember thinking "what now?" Not to worry, she took charge and let us know!

What a blessing she is. Always cheerful and thoughtful. I've never known anyone who talks as much as she does (non-stop). I love the way she is always happy and trying to make sure everyone else is happy too.

For dinner, she wanted to have cheesy bread sticks that she learned how to make at school. We also had salad and of course her favorite, cupcake cones. She was THRILLED to receive a horse music/jewelry box that she has wanted for ages!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

I am adding this photo too as I know you will appreciate "the fashionista's" party attire...

I will be posting photos of our joyous Christmas Eve, Christmas, and our anniversary soon. (Whew, it's been a crazy week!)

Hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!

Handmade Gifts

2008-12-23T16:32:00.009-05:00

Just thought I would share some of the handmade Christmas gifts I have made this year. First up is the set of cards I made for the girls' Sunday School teachers. I used one of my all time favorite Stampin' Up sets, "All God's Children".

Next up, I made this 12x12 frame for my neighbors. Their son is serving in the US Army in Afghanistan. (My heart is with all of our men & women in uniform serving in Iraq & Afghanistan and their families. Some of my most difficult days came when my husband was in Iraq & Afghanistan and I am SO thankful to have him back with us safe & sound!)

Finally, this is an accordion album I made as a custom order for a friend. It is filled with beautiful 5x7 photos of her family and is a gift for her grandparents. It opens and on one side are all the horizontal photos. On the reverse side are the vertical photos. Interspersed among the photos are some quotes she likes. There is also a fold out envelope for notes or letters of love for her grandparents.

Sweet Weekend!

2008-12-21T21:52:00.008-05:00

This weekend involved lots of family time & Christmas traditions. We made & decorated three dozen+ sugar cookies and our gingerbread house. It was a lot of fun, a lot of sugar and possibly a bit much "excitement". I am enjoying these quiet minutes while the kids are in bed. Here are a few photos of the festivities.

By the way, please don't confuse me for Martha Stewart. I know that my cookies are gorgeous and my gingerbread house is a masterpiece. Or not. (Although I can't take ALL the credit for decorating these fine confections...)

Hope you are keeping warm out there wherever you are. It is a "chilly" -2 degrees here in Southwest Ohio. Yikes!

Up next, some homemade gifts I made this year. Stay tuned...

Hey Santa!

2008-12-16T19:04:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday we attended "Breakfast with Santa". Life for my kids doesn't get any better than crafts, chocolate chip pancakes, story time and a giant inflatable slide.

When Lindsay sat on Santa's lap, she requested the same thing she's been asking for for months - a crib and high chair for her baby dolls. This has been the only two things she has requested. She has not wavered a bit. The girl knows what she wants. Always. (This is probably why she was so very stubborn about not wearing the overalls...)

Laura, on the other hand, sat on Santa's lap and requested something totally new. An easy bake oven apparently. This girl does NOT know what she wants. She prefers to practice the womanly trait of changing her mind. Often.

What's up with the easy bake oven? This is the first I've heard of this. I hate to tell her but the shopping is done and the shopping was based on previous wish lists. Oh well. Besides, we had an easy bake oven before and I thanked my lucky stars when it got recalled by Hasbro and was replaced with various "The Littlest Pet Shop" toys courtesy of "Hasbro bucks". You won't be seeing any easy bake ovens here on Christmas morning. Shucks!

It's just not Christmas without...

2008-12-12T08:36:00.009-05:00

the chaos of a children's pageant/play/musical, etc. We have been practicing and getting the sets and costumes ready for months!

Last weekend was our big weekend for the children's Christmas musicals. Both sets of grandparents were able to be here - Jeremy's parents on Friday night and my parents on Sunday for the performances. Laura's age (1st-6th grade) performed "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Laura had a verse to sing from "The Holly and the Ivy" with her first grade friend and they did so good. They were so adorable and looked so little up there with all the bigger kids.

Here's Laura singing her part. (on the left)

Lindsay's age (3-Kindergarten) performed "Who Is Coming To Our House" based on the book with the same title. (If you have little ones, I highly recommend checking out this book - it is adorable!) It was the most precious performance. Some very talented writers and musicians from our church wrote the entire musical based on the book. The songs were amazing and the kids did a great job.

Lindsay was supposed to look farmer-ish - their musical was set in a barn. I found these adorable overalls and sewed little red & green felt patches over the pink flowers that were on the overalls. (How Martha Stewart am I!) They were perfect and SO CUTE on her! She absolutely, flat-out REFUSED to wear them. It made me crazy. I never (well hardly ever) force her to wear certain clothes. We all know she has her own opinion in the style department. Most of the time, I don't care what she wears because it's not worth fighting over, but this time, I cared. I did finally talk her into wearing them for the dress rehearsal but afterwards she insisted that she would not be wearing them again. I became slightly hysterical on Sunday morning - the first thing she said when she woke up was "I'm not wearing the overalls." We fought about it all morning. Eventually Jeremy was somehow able to talk her into wearing them when I left the room. Whatever he gave her or put into her savings account is between her and him. She did have to take other clothes with her to change into after her performance but at least she wore the overalls. (Ha ha, I won.)

Several times since Sunday she has commented "I'm not wearing overalls again." (Again, ha ha, I don't care, you wore them when it really counted.)

Advent

2008-12-06T13:19:00.004-05:00

Our family enjoys celebrating Advent as part of our Christmas tradition. Advent means "coming" or "arrival". The Advent season is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, and of longing. We are preparing our hearts for the arrival of Jesus.

The Advent wreath is a circle that reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy has no beginning or end. The green of the wreath reminds us of the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life. The candles symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His son.

Last Sunday marked the first Sunday of Advent. The first candle traditionally represents expectation or hope. At our house, we light the candle and together we read a devotional and pray. We often find activities or crafts for the kids to do to reinforce what we are learning. This is a great way for our kids to be involved in learning about the true meaning of Christmas and what it means in our lives as Christians. This year, our wonderful preschool pastor at our church created special advent kits for the families. The girls got to make their own kid-friendly advent wreath.

Each Sunday until Christmas Eve, we will light another candle. The third candle traditionally represents "joy" and is normally a pink candle. *A little note about my wreath... three candles SHOULD be purple because it is the color of penitence and fasting as well as the color of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King. Unfortunately when I went to purchase my candles, Hobby Lobby had only one purple candle left so I did it the opposite. Next year I will shop earlier.

May we all celebrate the light and hope of Jesus' birth this holiday season.

I've been busy!

2008-11-26T14:16:00.009-05:00

See?

It's certainly not perfect but I have orders waiting so it will have to do for now.

A bonus of cleaning up - I am finishing up a few layouts I have literally had sitting around for months waiting for journaling. Here is one that I finished (finally) on our camping trip last year. (Sorry the photo is not very good.)

Also as a result of this cleaning process, I am issuing three challenges to myself. Readers, your job is to keep me accountable. : )

Challenge #1: Do not buy more stuff to make more stuff until current stuff is used. (I challenge myself to this one a lot but am not all that great at staying out of my favorite stores.)

Challenge #2: Work on this "Summer 2008" album before I forget what all we did! See, everything I need is here except motivation.

Challenge #3: Learn to use this new Zutter Bind-It-All that I just had to have. (It binds chipboard, cardstock, etc with metal "spirals" to make notebooks, albums, etc.) I wanted it for a long time but wouldn't let myself buy it. I did finally buy it about two months ago and have yet to play with it at all. (Yes, I have a sickness.)

And now a word on Thanksgiving. I am so very thankful for a warm home, plenty of food to eat, health, my husband's job and ability to provide for our family, wonderful friends, and a more beautiful and loving family than I could ever have asked for. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

We are traveling to WV to spend Thanksgiving with Jeremy's family. I hope you all have a wonderful & safe Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and warm memories!

What do you think?

2008-11-22T20:59:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I'm on hiatus from cleaning my studio. I'm still overwhelmed. I began to make some good-lookin' progress but then I had to get ready for my craft show today and everything took a major turn for the worse. The good news is that even though my studio is a huge mess, I sold three of the four albums I made this week for the show. That pleases me immensely. When I'm not so tired, I will resume the cleaning and re-organization process. (Photos to follow.)

In the meantime, Laura brought home her school pictures this week. Here she is:

A long time ago, when Laura was very young, one of my very best friends & expert photographer, Bethany, noticed that Laura resembles Reese Witherspoon. Recently, I have had others make this same observation. One of the hygienists at our dentist's office just told me that a few weeks ago. What do you think?

Things have gotten a little out of hand...

2008-11-17T14:10:00.005-05:00

in my studio. I am overwhelmed. My studio is so messy and I don't know how to get it clean again. I was so busy with craft shows and all the orders I had in October and the beginning of November, that I let things get out of control. I didn't force myself to clean up between projects. I worked on too many things at one time. I am forcing myself to be motivated by posting some photos here for everyone to see. Gasp.

Next time you see this studio, it WILL look better. I think I can, I think I can...

Dear Santa

2008-11-08T08:35:00.006-05:00

I fear that Christmas may be a disappointment for Laura this year. Here is her Christmas wish list:

I will decipher the first grade scrawl:

New music box

Pet cat

Money for Rwanda

A TV in my room

A radio

A flute

A brother

A cell phone

A robe

Chocolate trees

A real clock

Church clothes

Gymnastics leotard

Hmm. Anyone know where I can get a brother? And pronto!

I haven't made my first million yet...

2008-11-06T14:09:00.003-05:00

but I'm well on my way to being able to purchase a new sweater or maybe a pair of jeans. I'm not sure why I do craft shows. I never make a lot of money. Maybe it's the anticipation of thinking of how much money I COULD make if I sold all of my inventory. Maybe it's the gathering of other crafty people that I enjoy. Maybe I like the curiosity factor - which items will sell? Perhaps it's the thrill of the tasty food present at most shows. (The apple dumpling I had at this show was amazing.)

But, is it worth the 12+ trips back and forth to the van unloading all my fine items and the 12+ trips back loading it all back up, minus of course the few items I sold. Is it worth the money I pay for the booth? Is it worth the stress of getting ready for it all? I don't know but for whatever reason, I have done two shows so far this year and have one more to go. Wish me luck, I'm sure I'll hit the jackpot next time...

Here's a few pics of my booth at the first show I did. Sorry they're a little dark. (Much like my profit.)

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T11:13:00.008-04:00

I am busy getting ready for a big show this weekend so this post will be short and sweet - a quick overview of our Halloween festivities! We carved pumpkins this week. Actually, Jeremy carved pumpkins - he does an awesome job, he is truly an artist at heart! (The peanut pumpkin made a nice bat. ) Last night was trick or treat night (don't ask me why they never have it on actual Halloween?!) Lindsay was ADAMANT that she wanted to be a cat. Don't tell her - I believe this costume is actually a leopard BUT, it was only $10 and the other cat costume options were a bit more than I wanted to spend for something she would be wearing for an hour. Laura is an equestrian or horse rider in six year old language. Jeremy walked the neighborhood with them and I handed out candy here at home. He said that Lindsay got tired & cold and he carried her for awhile while Laura went to every house she could. She came home with a TON of candy - more than we will ever eat! By the way, why are so many teenagers trick-or-treating these days? Most of the candy I handed out went to teenagers?!?!?

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

(Do you like Lindsay's choice of (un)matching socks here?)

I blame the Berenstain Bears for this...

2008-10-25T11:04:00.007-04:00

Okay, so as you know per my previous posts, my house was just a teeny bit disastrous after the busy week of orders I've been working on. After I finished Jimmy's Book of Thoughts and delivered it to the postal service yesterday afternoon, the time had come to begin to tackle some of the disarray of my once neat and comfortable home. I was working on laundry and some tidying in my bedroom for awhile. The girls came in begging me to read them a book and I agreed. I told them each to pick a library book from our stack. Laura selected a chapter from her current Magic Treehouse book and Lindsay returned with this:

We read the books and I went back to my cleaning and folding. Eventually I finished my task and stepped into the hallway to find this:

A FAUX GARAGE SALE IN FULL SWING! SUPER!

Nice. As I've been busy getting lots of household tasks done, my children have been creating a mess of epic proportions. I know there surely must be some moms out there who go through this. You are busy cleaning and making lots of progress on getting the house presentable (feeling really good about yourself and what a great housekeeper you are) while unbeknownst to you, your children have been doing some work of their own. Sometimes it is so frustrating! So much for being a good housekeeper. This is my one reason for having them "help" me clean. Their help is not what I would consider "helpful"; however, at least I know where they are and that they are not making additional messes!

By the way, yes they did destroy their whole rooms in order to find merchandise for their faux garage sales. And yes, they each got merchandise from their own rooms. (Why only make a mess in one room when we could make a mess in both?)

I got multiple requests to come and shop at their faux garage sales which I did finally oblige. I "purchased" a lovely miniature baby doll, a Lion King book, and a Littlest Pet Shop mouse. I remember having faux garage sales when I was a kid. (Beth, I know you are reading this and cracking up.) Why did I torture my mom this way? It certainly has come back to bite me in the you-know-where.

Back to the Berenstain Bears, I believe this faux garage sale plot was hatched during the reading of this book. The Bears have too much stuff & clutter in their home and decided to [not] have a garage sale but give all their no longer needed items away to others in need. I noticed that my children ignored the "moral lesson" and decided to go for the garage sale instead. Thanks Berenstain Bears.

Thoughts...

2008-10-24T14:42:00.003-04:00

Next up, "Jimmy's Book of Thoughts". Jimmy contacted me looking for a special gift for his girlfriend. He gave me all the titles and thoughts (in his own words) that he wanted. He was looking for a paper bag album with an autumn/love theme. Hope I was able to capture it!

Dolphins in Ohio??

2008-10-24T09:09:00.004-04:00

I thought I would display a couple of my custom orders I have been working on. This is a collection of tags for a baby shower. I have made a few of these in the past and they have been big hits. One side of the tag is decorated in the shower theme and the other side has lined space for writing.

The purpose is to the tags available for everyone at the shower to write a prayer/blessing to baby or message/advice to mom. The tags add a nice touch to the shower decorations when they are all spread out on the tables. After everyone fills out their tag, the tags simply get placed on a ring and mom-to-be has a wonderful keepsake from her shower. The theme of this particular shower is dolphins and the colors are pastel. Just in case you wondered, it is a bit difficult to find dolpin "stuff" in Ohio. The shower will be taking place in California - maybe dolpins are more popular there?

By the way, I will NOT be displaying photos of my house that has gone un-mantained this week while I've been working on FOUR custom orders. Yikes!

A Fall Tradition

2008-10-19T16:58:00.009-04:00

As long ago promised, here are the photos from the hayride and pumpkin patch. Better late than never I guess. We had a great time. Lindsay was so funny. She had to pick up every pumpkin she came across to determine if it was the one for her. Her rejection of the pumpkins probably could have used a little help as her method was just dropping them back onto the ground. (Sorry pumpkin patch owners.) She ended up finding one that was in the shape of a peanut. She certainly has her own flair! Laura's method was to find the biggest one in the patch. (None were very big. Apparently you had to pay more $ to get a decent sized pumpkin...) She's such a firstborn, always scouting out the biggest and best for herself.

Happy Fall!

This one below is my favorite photo - she's so beautiful!

Lindsay's peanut shaped pumpkin.

Are you obligated...

2008-10-13T20:46:00.005-04:00

to purchase a vehicle if while you are test driving it, your kid pukes in it?

We are now the official new owners of a brand-new-to-us Toyota Sienna. I love it! We were tired of having two somewhat unreliable vehicles with over 100,000 miles on each so we decided to finally take the plunge and replace one of them. We have shopped and researched and shopped and researched and finally decided this was the minivan for us. The fact that Lindsay puked in it sealed the deal. I like how we can trash a vehicle in no time flat.

She (Lindsay) didn't actually puke per se, it was more like a very wet burp. A regurgitation, if you will. This occurred on Saturday when we test drove it. Jeremy and I, kids in tow, made a quick exit after "the incident". We didn't inform the salesman. After another two nights of sleeping on the decision (and feeling bad about "the incident" deception) , we decided that we would indeed purchase the van, despite the unpleasant "incident".

Seriously, the next post will be the pumpkin patch.

Olive You!

2008-10-09T17:17:00.003-04:00

I know, I promised pics of the hayride/pumpkin patch next but I haven't had much time to go through the photos yet. (I don't know how single moms do it all!!!) So, here is a card I made for next weekend's craft fair that I am doing. It's on Saturday which just happens to be "Sweetest Day". I know, it's a Hallmark holiday - all the more reason why people should buy my cards. Look out Hallmark, here I come...

More projects coming soon...

Lindsay's photos

2008-10-06T21:25:00.007-04:00

Finally, here they are - Lindsay's four year photos. Sorry it's taking me so long to fulfill my blog promises. (I know you all are out there checking every 10 minutes to see what profound and amusing nugget I am blogging about now.)

Here are a few of my favorites:

It promises to be a long week for the simple reason that Jeremy left this morning for Kansas and won't be back til Friday. (Good news - I get the bed to myself and can stay up all night and watch TV if I want to. We can eat cereal for dinner. Bad news - no one is here to give me a break from these perfectly behaved & polite children.)

Today we went on a hayride and to the pumpkin patch. (Hmm, I wonder what the next blog nugget will be about...) We had a lot of fun & it was an absolutely beautiful day for it!

Until the next nugget...

The Tooth Fairy Dilemma

2008-10-01T15:20:00.004-04:00

Laura has been studying money at school. She decided that she wanted to take her "gold dollar" coin that the tooth fairy left her to school to show her teacher. Deep down, I knew this was a bad idea because she is accident prone and very forgetful. (Traits that drive me CRAZY because I am so not like that. I CANNOT STAND to lose things.) I'm sure you can see where this is going. She lost the gold dollar.

She decided to write the tooth fairy a note regarding the lost dollar and place it under her pillow. At first the tooth fairy was not aware of the note. Once the tooth fairy had been informed of the note (the next night), she took it and read it over. Here it is:In case you may be unfamiliar with first grade scrawl, this is what it says: "I am sorry tooth fairy. I lost my dollar. Can I have another one? Love, your friend, Laura" The second note says: "Tooth Fairy, take this present." The present is an iced animal cookie wrapped in saran wrap. I was informed that only one cookie was needed because the tooth fairy is very small.

What is a tooth fairy to do? She has already been very lenient because the original tooth that the dollar was given for was lost. Yes, Laura lost her lost tooth but the tooth fairy is kind and left a dollar for a non-tooth.

The T.F. stalled around for a few days (Laura checked under her pillow first thing every morning) and finally decided to let her husband handle this one. Last night, the T.F.'s husband decided that this was in order:

It says: "Laura, I was sorry to hear that you lost your tooth and your gold! I am sorry but I cannot give another dollar at this time. But, be sure you look really good next tooth you lose. I will leave an extra surprise for you. Love, Tooth Fairy"

When Laura got the notification this morning, she seemed fine with it. Dilemma solved.

Up next, Lindsay's photo session.

Still got 'em!

2008-09-30T21:10:00.005-04:00

Ears, that is. When Lindsay was a baby, we always cracked up about her ears. They are SO cute, yet SO sticking out! When I saw this picture from her birthday, I got to thinking about how she still has the same ears except now they're just covered by all her beautiful hair (when she's not wearing a party hat). She's just so cute!

Lindsay at (almost) four.

Lindsay at three months.

Stay tuned for my posts about the tooth fairy dilemma and Lindsay's four year photos (scheduled for tomorrow morning - wish me luck and cooperation!).

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

2008-09-27T12:25:00.012-04:00

Four years ago today, my sweet little girl entered this world, sweet, beautiful, startled and without much warning. Her daddy missed it by a few days but we were extremely lucky that her grandma was able to come across the country to be there for the birth. What a crazy time that was! I can't believe how fast time has gone. I can't believe my youngest "baby" is four.

A celebration is in order! Last weekend, Beth, Dave, Karilyn and Heidi were here for a quick weekend visit and we decided that Saturday was the perfect time for a party. Lindsay wanted to have macaroni & cheese (her favorite) and green beans. Jeremy and I decided to add hamburgers, hot dogs, and pasta salad. She wanted blue (her favorite color) icing on her cupcakes. She is really into cats so we had a cat party complete with decorations, plates, napkins, cups, etc.

After our fine meal, we continued the festivities with a pinata. I think the girls had a good time with that and we even managed to break it open and collect the goodies with no injuries. Lindsay opened her gifts. She got a baby buggy from Jeremy and I along with a new outfit (a skirt and leggings since she will only wear skirts these days and an adorable donut shirt) and a stuffed kitty. (She has been wanting a "buggy" for months now.) The Hodges got her a cute Only Hearts doll - kind of like a Barbie but softer and not as "voluptuous" and an extra outfit for her. Laura got her a new Calico Critter for her collection.

She had a really great time and is happy to be four even though I'm sad that she is getting so old so fast.

We are going to take her to Friendly's later today for a meal and ice cream to celebrate her actual birthday.

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I have been battling a serious case of the lazies and hope to overcome this soon. Have a great weekend!

We DO NOT Like Ike!

2008-09-18T08:07:00.013-04:00

We have survived the hurricane. We were seated in the front row of the bitter bus but we made it. "Hurricane" Ike barrelled through southern Ohio on Sunday. The winds were unbelievable, like nothing I've ever seen. We lost power after church sometime on Sunday afternoon - I think it was around 2:30. We were without power until Wednesday morning. This is no way to live when you're spoiled like I am! I am not a huge fan of camping and yet, we were pretty much camping in our own home. We lost everything in our refrigerator (good-bye money) but were able to salvage our freezers because of a huge blessing. Our neighbors have a generator and were gracious enough to rig extension cords & splitters from it to both of our freezers. We are very grateful. They take great care of us!

There are still thousands without power and I am SO THANKFUL that it's not me still waiting in the dark. Gas, milk, eggs, etc are hard to come by so it certainly has been interesting and not something I truly expected would ever happen. Around us there are hardly any stores or gas stations open because they are still awaiting power to be turned back on.

School was canceled on Monday and Tuesday and delayed yesterday. Finally today is a normal day for students. Laura was pretty excited to be getting back to school.

We are eagerly looking forward to Lindsay's birthday party on Saturday. The Hodges' will be here with us to celebrate. Hope we can find some vittles for the occasion!

I will leave you with some photos from our house and from around our neighborhood.

Our backyard

The playhouse was blown apart and pieces went flying down the street.

Our neighbors on the other side of the school

Neighbors a few houses down. Poor swimming pool.

The park behind our house. The tree is across the road. There was about five feet for cars to get through. Look at how the rest of the tree is leaning. Yikes!

Neighbors down the street

Around the neighborhood

The next street over. I don't even know how these people got out of their house!

"Our" house - the one we had an offer on a few months ago. There are huge limbs across the front door and into the garage roof.

I'm off to exercise. Later!

A love gone sour

2008-09-12T15:04:00.002-04:00

Immediately upon her return from school this afternoon, Laura presents me with this:

In case you cannot tell, it is a note from the school nurse stating that she was seen in the clinic today for "Ice for bump/bruise to finger". I proceeded to ask her what happened in which she states that Keegan stomped on it. I asked her if he did it on purpose. The response: a shrug of the shoulders. So, not sure what this means. I will keep you all posted if she ever decides to spill the beans.

She never wants to talk about school for some reason. She was the same way last year. When asked what they did at school, they never seem to do anything. Every once in awhile she will tell us a story or explain things they did at school but most of the time she has no comment. I have heard that this is normal. You can bet I'll be keeping my ears open for the full story on the day's events...

The Teacher's Pet

2008-09-11T12:05:00.002-04:00

My shy little Lindsay is a teacher's pet. A Principal's pet to be more precise. Who knew the little one who never says "boo" to anyone she doesn't know, would find a BFF in Laura's school principal?! This is too funny. She has on a few occasions in the past had opportunity to say "hello" to the principal during various school events. A few weeks ago, we saw the principal while we were over playing at the school playground and exchanged niceties with her. Then Tuesday night when Jeremy and the girls were riding their bikes in the school parking lot, Lindsay spotted the principal going into the building. She jumped from her bike (leaving it unattended in the middle of the parking lot) and went flying across the parking lot to catch the principal so she could chat with her. Furthermore, last night Jeremy took L&L to a concert they were having at the school while I went to church. When they got home he reported that she spent the last part of the concert sitting on the Principal's lap. Who knew?

I find this to be hilarious because normally Lindsay doesn't care to say much to anyone, let alone people she doesn't know. Apparently though, she has quite a fondness for the principal. This is causing me a bit of concern because I fear we are going to be asked to leave the neighborhood because our kids have a habit of detaining anyone who may be trying to get any sort of work done. (Oooohhh, Mr. Wilson....)

These kids never cease to surprise me. Or, make a liar out of me. ("Oh, she's really shy and is usually afraid of people".)

Later!

Our Summer in Review

2008-09-07T15:52:00.023-04:00

I am totally copying this idea from my sister. She did this on her blog and I loved seeing what her family did this summer. (Thanks for the idea Beth!) I am also doing a whole scrapbook on this summer's events. Maybe this will get me motivated to work on it! Here it is - the top 10:

1. Laura and Lindsay have shared a room since we've lived here (3 years). We decided to give up the guest room and give each of them their own room. What a mess that was for awhile! She wanted a horse theme and pink of course.

2. We went to West Virginia to Jeremy's mom's family reunion in June.

3. We had a blast in Gatlinburg, TN with our friends at the end of June.
4. Laura took ballet & tap class, Lindsay took ballet, together they took cooking & swim and art & swim at the rec center. They also both completed the Summer Reading Quest at the library. (June - August) ( That's Laura in the black & white.)

5. Laura and Jeremy went to Primary Camp at our Nazarene district campground in June.

6. Our friends all the way from Albuquerque, the Eyinks, came for a weekend visit in July.

7. We went to a Dayton Dragons baseball game in July.

8. Laura and Lindsay spent many hours in their little pool in the back yard. Jeremy is currently trying to grow an 8 foot diameter section of grass back...
9. Our good friends hosted a tye die party for the kids to make their own shirts. It was awesome! (July)
10. In August, we had Vacation Bible School and then left early to head down to our last trip before school started up again. We had so much fun in Washington DC and Virginia Beach.

It was indeed a crazy but VERY fun summer!

Hocking Hills

2008-09-02T08:51:00.008-04:00

On Sunday afternoon we took a little road trip up to meet my mom and dad at Hocking Hills State Park. (Crashed their vacation for a little bit.) We had a great time. It was amazing - tons of hiking trails and into these gorgeous caverns and caves. It was like nothing I've ever seen before and I highly recommend going for a new appreciation of the outdoors!

Some of the trails were a bit scary just because one clumsy step could cause you to fall down a cliff and say goodbye to this cruel world. So, keep a very close eye and hand-hold on your children and watch your own step!

You can see the vastness of the rocks in this picture by looking closely -the colored "spots" are people.

Up near the top & center of this photo is a bridge we crossed over to get down inside this area.

Sorry for the blurriness - we had to turn the flash off for anything to show up and that makes it blurry. : (

In one of the little caves - only Daddy would go in there. Grandma and I were a little leery of what creatures might abide in there. I don't think the kids thought about that.

Laura and Lindsay LOVE to see and spend time with their grandparents. That's why I seized the opportunity to crash their vacation for a few hours. I just love this picture! Notice Lindsay's socks. I tried to tell her that they looked funny but she really doesn't care what I think. My friend April calls her "Punky Brewster" for her unique sense of style.

Jeremy and I are already trying to plan our next trip back so he can take his camera and practice up on his photography! This time we just had my little camera.

The rest of the holiday weekend was pretty boring which was fine with me.

Hope everyone else had a great Labor Day weekend!

The makeover

2008-09-01T16:15:00.002-04:00

So I'm sure you've noticed the makeover. I want to have one of those adorable custom templates made for my blog but alas, I am too cheap. I decided to have my own free makeover. I did some scrapbooking/paper piecing for my header/blog banner and it turned out okay. It's really starting to annoy me though because as you can see, my photo does not fit into the header box. I've tried everything and nothing is getting it where it should be. Errrr...

If anyone knows any tricks out there, I would be especially appreciative. Otherwise, I guess I'll be "outside the box".

Thanks!

It's apple pickin' time and the "bully"

2008-08-28T20:02:00.004-04:00

Okay, so here's what's going on at our house. I have a peach crisp in the oven because I stopped at the Farmer's Market today and bought more peaches. These, to go along with the elderly ones that have been in my fridge for longer than I like to think about. I decided I would make peach crisp to use up my elderly peaches. They still smelled good so I think it will be tasty! I have half an hour until I need to get it out of the oven so here goes...

Laura came home from school yesterday complaining that a kid "Keegan" was mean to her. She said he pushed her and said she talks funny. Of course, my ire was up and I began to envision tripping the troubled lad on his way into school. Today she comes home from school and the first words out of her mouth were that Keegan was mean to her again. He "kicked the leg of her chair" again said she talked funny. She then casually added that he said "I love you" to her. Twice. Hmm, poor unknowing Keegan. Apparently he is fond of her but has a poor way of showing it. Some things are universal I guess. (I no longer wish to trip the confused young lad.)

We have the most gigantic apple tree in our backyard. Every spring it blooms and is just beautiful. Unfortunately all of those beautiful blooms turn into a summer-ful of apple picking-up. For four months we go out every day or every couple days and fill up bags of yucky apples. Jeremy keeps saying we should pick some from the tree and eat them. Maybe we will. In the meantime, he told the girls that he would pay them three cents an apple for every apple they picked up. (Why don't I get paid when I pick up apples???) Laura usually picks up a dollar or less and is bored with it. Lindsay on the other hand, is a workaholic. She picked up four bags full yesterday and earned herself a whopping $9.00 - enough to buy her doll "Lilly" some new clothes today. She is so funny!

I love her!

I'm starting to smell peach crisp and it is smelling delicious. Good, that will make up for the "week in review" dinner we had tonight.

Until next time...

When life gives you lemons...

2008-08-28T09:09:00.004-04:00

I finished this layout for Laura's album yesterday. My friend Kristina sort of chided me into working on a little of my own scrapbooking since I don't have any orders right now.

I'm off to meet my friend April at the mall for some girly chat. We're down our two oldest kids so we'll only have two to manage. We'll see how long we all last...

Later!

Me too, I wanna play too...

2008-08-26T13:49:00.003-04:00

Following the lead of my sisters-in-law, I am going to share seven possibly unknown and probably useless facts about myself...

1. When I was little, my life's goal was to be a cashier. Maybe department store, maybe grocery store, it didn't matter. I wanted the power to scan and total purchases. I was lucky in life and accomplished my goals early. I was a cashier at Toys R Us for three summers and three Christmas seasons during college.

Imagine my pure delight upon discovering self-check outs at Wal-Mart for the first time!

2. I wish I could dance. I love to watch people dance. So far my learning has progressed to taking 10 weeks of swing dance lessons with Jeremy and some really lame attempts at Zumba (latin style dance/exercise/aerobics). This probably explains my obsession with watching "So You Think You Can Dance". (I also enjoy other reality TV shows, much to my husband's dismay.)

3. I am a little nervous about writing this for fear it may happen but... I have never been pulled over by the police.

4. I don't like going to church. It's not that I don't think it's a good idea. It's a great idea and it's important. We should go. I need that time set apart in my week to worship our Lord and have communion with others. For me though, it is stressful. It's overstimulating. It makes me uncomfortable. I especially hate that time in the service when it's time to shake hands with others. I'm bad at "small talk" and find myself saying stupid things out of nervousness. That being said, I always go to church. The only time I skip Sunday morning church is when me or my kids are sick.

5. I over-think things WAY too much. It impairs my ability to make decisions. Sometimes I think I'm crazy. Seriously, who spends as much time as I do deciding which kind of dental floss to buy or if I should wear the pink shirt today or save it for Saturday?

6. I like buying scrapbook supplies more than I like making things with them. I hoard paper and ribbon. I "save" my favorites because I can't bear to use them. I try to remind myself of my sister's philosophy - use it up so you can buy more! : )

7. I am a little obsessed with true crime stories. I am not picky with how I fill this addiction - watching TV shows, movies, books, etc.

Hope everyone is having a great week! Things are quiet here. Laura is adjusting to full day school and I am getting a lot of scrapbooking done with the house a bit quieter and no orders this week.

The Evening's Vittles

2008-08-22T19:35:00.003-04:00

I love to bake! Occasionally I like to cook. Jeremy does a lot of cooking around here too. Tonight I made homemade pizza. I quite enjoy making the dough for the bread crust in my bread machine. I also made this DELICIOUS buffalo chicken dip. Here is the recipe if you want a taste sensation...

INGREDIENTS
2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing
3/4 cup pepper sauce, such as Franks® Red Hot®
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS
Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.

Jeremy and I can't stop eating it. See, we had to dig in before I even had a chance to get a photo.

Laura's first (half) week is over. She and Lindsay have definitely been tired. (Laura gets a bit psycho when tired - so hyper that it makes my mind numb.) Lindsay has decided to get up in the morning too. This morning she was up before Laura. I'm not sure what is up with this but hopefully it will end soon, preferably Monday morning. Because we told Lindsay she couldn't sleep in bed with Laura anymore because of school starting, she has been getting up in the middle of the night to sleep in bed with Jeremy and I. She has these tiny plastic animals that she always takes to bed with her. (I know, she's odd.) Well, the last couple of days she has been carrying the tiny animals around in two plastic Easter eggs - you know, the kind you use for Easter egg hunts. Then last night she decided that the animals inside the eggs should be placed in a styrofoam egg carton and taken to bed. I'm not sure how many times exactly I was woken up when I rolled onto the egg carton but it was a lot. I can say with certainty that I've never slept with an egg carton before. I'm not sure that I need to do it again.

Happy weekend everyone!