Smudged

Drat--Looks Like I Need to Go To The Post Office ;)

2012-02-13T22:17:00.000-05:00

If I'm horrible about going to my own mailbox--I'm even worse about going to the post office. :)

But tis the season to spread love--tomorrow is Valentine's Day, after all.

We spent the afternoon finishing valentines for school parties this week. In other words, I heard myself say, surely at least a million times, "Write your name here. 'T.' Line down. Line across the top...."

Completely taking this idea from Pinterest--this year we made these...

How hilarious are their faces?

And if you are a grandparent or sister maybe, perhaps, you will find one of these in your mailbox, let's say, sometime this month--along with one of these...

Our better-late-than-never Christmas thank-you's. :)

Also of Pinterest fame. :) M's handprint on the left, T's on the right, and Beza's fingerprints make the falling snow.

Happy Valentine's Day! :)

He Was Supposed To Be Sleeping

2012-02-08T13:05:00.000-05:00

I had just finished reading this and this when T peeked his head out of his door at nap-time.

So I put down my to-do list and snuggled up in his bed with him.

Just as I was about to call M over to join us--she was tiptoeing down the hall with this note for me.

(She didn't know I was in T's room.)

I like my mom becus (because) I like it wen (when) my mom sngls (snuggles) with me.

Perfect timing.

Collecting snuggles while I can. :)

(Reality Check: This was a high point of the day--there were plenty of "grounding" moments--like the screaming fight in the car over a drink, or when finding crayons buried in T's bed didn't leave me smiling. :)

How We Get To Sit At The Table A Little Longer

2012-02-07T23:12:00.002-05:00

Without fail almost every time we sit down to eat a meal someone needs a refill. And then five minutes later another one.

And then after all of those refills there's a little leftover that could be kept in the refrigerator, but someone forgets to put it away.

Too much up and down. Too much wasted. Ahhhh!

Solution: These little thermoses that hold at least enough milk for one day AND keep it cold in case it gets left on the table a little longer. Little metal sanity savers. :)

Speaking of milk, I tried this smoothie recipe today with Almond Milk--SO GOOD!

And so purple.

Sunday Funnies: Why Do Guys Do This?

2012-02-05T20:30:00.005-05:00

T: Why do guys do this sometimes?

J: To hold up the wall.

Friday Favorites: The Balancing Act

2012-02-03T16:51:00.004-05:00

When I went upstairs to get Beza up from her nap this is how I found her.

Proudly balancing Gordy on her head. She said "Woah!" and gave herself a round of applause. I may have joined in the clapping.

Dear child spends a significant portion of her day balancing things on her head. Cups. Toy Tools. Blankets. And hats.

And not only does she balance them--but she walks all around with them on her head. When she's feeling particularly confident, or gutsy, she literally does deep knee bends just for show.

I promise that I have never walked around with bowls on head--this is ALL her! :)

Happy Weekend!

Is There a Certificate for This?

2012-02-02T21:34:00.002-05:00

Because I'm pretty sure that building one of these that actually works qualifies someone for some sort of recognition. ;)

GeoTrax yard sale steal.

(And goodness knows I need this photo to help me build it again!)

Reason Number 4,395 Why They'll Need Therapy Someday

2012-02-01T20:22:00.000-05:00

Okay, first--if you read this you are sworn to secrecy. For. Real.

Because here's the thing--we have a little bit of Santa-Claus magic going on around here. It's a mystical process called a "Fluffing."

You see, the bears around here are loved. Very, very, very loved. And they show every ounce of that love. Ben is basically hopelessly matted and completely neck-less. And Beary--well, he's crusty and and he's become an unsightly shade of gray.

Beary and Ben. Quite the bedraggled pair. (Photo taken by M in November.)

They are washed fairly frequently. This, no doubt, leads to the fur issues--but it does assuage the germ ickiness factor.

Once every year or two, when a bear becomes particularly ragged (You know, when the Package Delivery Person takes a step back when they see the bear or if a friend uses a pillow to move a bear instead of touching it.), then we know it's time for a "fluffing."

The bear is tossed into the dryer with a load of laundry and after a few minutes emerges "fluffed." "Like" new. (Wink. Wink.)

In process.

Ben has been "fluffed" about 4 times (This was Beary's first "Fluff."). At his last "fluffing," two years ago, M (age 4) held the fluffed Ben right up to her nose and peered into his eyes for a very long time. We held our breaths. Had our cover been blown? Then she tucked his neck into the crook of her arm and went back to her day. Whew!

This time I thought for sure she would use her powers of perception to completely expose the process. Fortunately, it appears as though she has just accepted that "fluffings" are magical.

(It should be noted that "Fluffed" Ben emerged with a hole in his belly seam. Presumably from all of the abundant "fluffing" of his belly stuffing. Oh, what tangled webs we weave...)

Ben and Beary. Fluffed.

Who's going to step back from those bears? :)

A few morals from the story:

If you have any power over what stuffed animal or other object your child chooses as a "lovey" make sure it's

1.) washable.

and

2.) easily accessible.

Neither are washable. And Ben? Well, Ben is a rare, hard-to-find bear that I have spent many a night on the internet searching for. I currently have a few stashed here and at a grandparent's house. Yes, I do.

And why do we do this exactly? Because they love their bears. And because they love their bears, we love their bears. And, well, honestly, we don't want to be creeped out by these little bundles of love. And in the end it's more about their essence than their appearance. (I'm sure there's some kind-of metaphor in there.)

And there you have it, our dirty little bear secret. Shh.... :)

Friday Favorites: Love These...

2012-01-27T10:17:00.001-05:00

Hands.

Fiercely.

When Books Make Me Barf

2012-01-25T09:18:00.000-05:00

Appetizing, huh? Over the past two weeks I've been stuffing my brain with some heavy books and, quite frankly, it's a mess in there. Because this blog gives me a place to chronicle what's happening in our lives, I want to attempt to highlight just a bit of what is moving my heart these days.

Do you ever have that insatiable appetite to gobble up everything you can about a restless stirring. That's where I am.

7, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years, Interrupted, Forgotten God, Passport Through Darkness

It's hard to pinpoint when it started, but these past few weeks kicked off with reading 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. (She "fasted" from seven areas of "excess"--taking on one "excess" each month.) Actually, back in the late fall when I watched the promo for the book, I knew it was going to scratch some sort of internal itch. Just the preview was all that I needed to start taking on recycling with gusto (no more cardboard in my garbage can), to look even more closely at food labels and to scrutinize even more of what we're doing with our resources (and where what we consume comes from). My overall take-away was that I have been blessed with MUCH--what am I going to do with it?

I loved 7. But there was one part when I had to put it down and walk away. It was the part when she talked about how much money we have within the church. And how just a portion of that could help stop some of the most horrible effects of poverty. But it's being used to build bigger buildings and better programs and coffee bars, etc. So not cool. Actually, it's appalling.

...I don't want to be a part of that.

Then I picked up Donald Miller's A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. I know that I have just this one life to live and I want to make the most of it. That's really what his book was so much about--how our lives are a story that we get to write. What an opportunity!

Okay, so I want to live a "rich" story making the most with what I have been given. What does that look like? How do you do that?

In 7, Jen mentioned her previous book, Interrupted, the story of how her family followed the call to make a difference to the people in need in Austin. I read about their journey to trust God as they left everything familiar and easy to start over from nothing, starting with a clear call to reach the poor and hungry.

Take away--God is moving hearts to reach out to those in need. Where do I fit into that?

Not sure what to read next, I glanced through my Kindle selection and saw that a year ago I had started Francis Chan's Forgotten God--time to clear the unfinished clutter on my list and read it.

At the end of the book he talks just a little bit about how hearing about child sex slavery completely burdened his heart. How when he thought of how young the girls were he could only imagine what he would do if it were his children. How he would do anything to make it stop.

I paused. Woah...little girls like my girls? No. This is not okay.

That week, on a whim, I followed a link on Facebook to Sevenly.org--an awesome company that sells shirts (and hoodies) and donates $7 of the purchase to a new cause each week. It sounded intriguing. The cause that week happened to be Sex Slave Trade. I still didn't know much about it, but I watched the video for the Somaly Mam Foundation--and I was horrified--horrified--by ages of the girls. 4 or 5. No!

Later in the week I came upon a recent podcast about, again, Sex Slave Trade. My stomach churned. I listened.

Then, I read the book, Passport Through Darkness. And I felt even more sick. The stuff I was reading was not some made-up horror story--it is real life. Real life as in life today. Not fifty or even twenty years ago--No, stuff happening within the past few years of my life. I had no idea.

Literally, half-way through the book I had to escape. I gathered everyone into the van and we went to Dunkin Donuts before dinner and we ate donuts. I wanted to make the sick feeling go away.

Kimberly Smith tells her story of working primarily with women and children in Sudan. She writes about terrible acts that I can only barely speak in a whisper and about how no one cared to stand up for what was right.

I saw myself in her book--the story of a mom with three young children--my children's ages--whose village was attacked--how they fled on foot. How she watched all of her children die horrible deaths in the pillage. I saw J--the father who prayed that he wouldn't be at work when the attackers came to his village. How he was at home when the enemy came--but that he still couldn't protect his wife, children or neighbors from unspeakable deaths.

Poverty and it's effects are beyond heartbreaking. But this--what I am reading and hearing and seeing--it is human suffering born of purposeful, direct acts of evil. I'm having a hard time comprehending it.

On top of that she shares how many children in just one community were eaten by wild animals (278 in 10 months!). Eaten alive. I can not process this. How is this okay? Why isn't more being done?

Then she talks about how when she comes home to the States she shares what she's been experiencing with Churches--and too many of them tell her that it's too hard to listen to and they aren't interested in making people feel bad.

What does that mean? What does that say about us?

And then I realized that I was one of those people. I mean, there is so much hard stuff in the world--can I really stand to hear another sad thing? I have seen the links on Facebook and I haven't clicked on them. Ugh... I don't want to be that way.

This is the world we live in. It's the place where we get to use our gifts and talents and time and resources to make a difference. If I don't listen, then why should anyone?

So, my head is a whirling mess of jumbled up priorities and sadness and hope and a bunch of other stuff.

Crud. There are questions like--Should I buy this really nice, pricey shirt that blows the budget or buy this inexpensive shirt that might profit and encourage slave labor? Mix that in with if children are being sold into sex slavery as nearly toddlers while others are being eaten by animals, and if neighbors are killing neighbors and no one is making it stop--where does that leave me in my little world where my biggest worries are if my kids have the right healthy snacks to eat? I can't seem to reconcile the differences.

It's a mess that's pushing me back to the basics.

For the first time ever, I am going to try to read through the Bible in a year (with friends). If I really believe that there is more to this world than I can see with my eyes--that there is a Creator who made us to know and love Him--a God who does not want us to be orphaned, hungry and hurt beyond repair--a God who made each one of us special--then a really good place to start would be to read His whole Book.

And these accounts of children dying and being sold into slavery and being abandoned are making me hold my little people even closer. I am so very aware that the simple act of holding their hands is an extravagant blessing. I am so thankful for them and I am holding them tight.

I know I can not change the whole world. But I (a jumbled mess) can play a part in it. Starting right where I am..

(I'm also reading Led by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide and The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine.)

Profiled

2012-01-23T20:03:00.002-05:00

Today we did a long-overdue quick craft.

M and T had profile cut-outs of themselves on their doors apparently from way back when T was a baby and M had a chin-length bob. It was time for a little updating.

Oh, the chins! I LOVE the chins! T's even has a roll!

I snapped a few side-views of their little heads.

Seriously--check those eyelashes!

Uploaded them to the computer. Printed them, cut them out and then traced them onto scrapbook paper.

And to get all wild and crazy ;), this time we did pattern on pattern. Pattern on pattern chosen by them. Hold onto your hats!

Again, those eyelashes... She loved the bird on this paper.

He liked all of the "bubbles."

Her little neck is missing--it was hidden under her sweater today. :)

The finished product.

My, how they've grown!

(Beza's is on her future room. :) She's still bunking with us (in her crib).)

Happy Monday!

Sunday Funnies: Not Her's Mommy's Answer

2012-01-22T22:25:00.000-05:00

Today I was hanging out with M and I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up.

M: (Thoughtfully) I don't know...
Me: Hmm...(laughing) when I was in kindergarten I wanted to be either a teacher or a secretary (M calls them "sehcreters.")
M: Oh yeah! I know what I want to be--I want to be a principal!

Why a principal? Well, to make the rules, of course. Her dilemma--she wants to be a teacher, too. So her first point of action as a principal would be to make a rule that principals can be teachers at the same time. :)

Love how true our little first-born, deep thinker's answer is to herself. :)

Got to spend the afternoon shopping for jeans for this girl stuck between sizes. We touched almost every pair of size 5 and 6 jeans in the entire mall--checking for the softness factor. Jeans aren't known for their softness. No dice. We did however come home with enough on-clearance, soft, jersey-lined, khaki cargos to last until she's 10. Whoo-hoo! :)

(Bears in Slings from 12/21/11.)

Friday Favorites: The Grocery Store Story That Makes Me Laugh

2012-01-20T14:21:00.000-05:00

I've recently started to follow Inspired to Action--an awesome, encouraging blog about being the best mom you can be. Three of my most favorite things from her blog (besides her honesty) are...

1. Her free e-book about Maximizing Your Mornings.

2. A daily prayer calendar for you children. It's posted by my mirror.

3. This post, Survivor: Suburbia – The Grocery Store with Children Challenge, about grocery shopping with three kids. HILARIOUS!!! I convinced J to read it and he totally cracked up, too. Mostly because we felt like maybe she actually went grocery shopping with us--it's all SO REAL! :)

Here's a small excerpt:

The Participants
To prevent any harm to real children, participants are required to carry a slippery octupus (to simulate an infant), a deaf monkey, the howling kind (to simulate a toddler – who is apparently deaf to all parental commands), and a repetitive, inquisitive parrot who incessantly asks questions. Incessantly. With the questions. Repetitively. A lot. With the questions. Repetitively. (To represent a school age child).

They have to be carried and herded in from the back of the store parking lot because a car full of teenagers will take the only close up parking spot. The participant will have to carry 50 pounds of offspring and pull the remaining child by hand through an obstacle course of flying shopping carts and whizzing cars. Halfway to the store, it will begin to rain, and the participant will be required to return to the car for the green bags and sippy cups.

Head over here to read the rest and to find all kinds of inspiration for moms.

Happy Friday! :)

There's a Jar For That (And One of my Favorite Things About Starting The New Year)

2012-01-19T23:26:00.002-05:00

When the New Year started we brought back the "Diamond Jars" to help reinforce some good habits with the small crew.

When they get "caught" doing something well they get a "diamond" dropped in the jar. It makes a satisfactory job-well-done clink.

On the flip side, they can also lose a "diamond"...or two.

When the jars are full they get to go to one of their favorite Inflatable Jump Play Places.

Needless to say these jars are very powerful. :)

We're also going to start trying to teach them about money by giving them an allowance.

I think that the plan is to give them $10/week. So, yeah....We're two weeks in and those jars are still empty..we have some catching up to do...

Anyway...Nine of that will go into "Give" and the remaining dollar will be split between "Save" and "Spend." Interesting distribution, huh?

Here's why--and this is one of my most favorite things--on New Year's Day they each picked their own child to sponsor through World Vision. (Very inspired by this.) They each picked a little person with their same exact birthday. M is sponsoring 6-year-old Bongekile in Swaziland and T is sponsoring one-month-shy-of-4 Breiner in Columbia.

They LOVE writing letters to their new friends (and I love that it can all be done online--that walk to the mailbox is my undoing. ;). And they've been accumulating a nice stack of drawings and stickers to share. (Once we add some photos of us I will actually have to make that walk. :)

Sidenote: See T's sweater? I love that sweater. Him? Not so much. He does however have an affection for Superman. I thought I would be so clever and I ironed that patch right on that sweater. Seemed like a win-win. Handsome warm sweater superhero-ed up. But apparently the appeal of the Superman badge is not stronger than his dislike of the stripes. And so despite my efforts, most of the time the sweater remains in his "not my favorite" pile. :)

Here's to a New Year with jars full of "diamonds" and making new friends all over the world.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T20:43:00.003-05:00

One Word

2012-01-17T22:39:00.001-05:00

I've been reading on blogs and in magazines and I have to say I agree--January is a great time for a "fresh start." I feel like I've been spending the past few weeks sorting and purging and rearranging our stuff. And I've been cramming in books that are totally messing with me. And it's good. :)

I love, and to be honest, am a little bit scared by, the unknown possibilities that come with a new year. I think this will be a big year for finding direction--direction with careers and schools and children and, well, life. :)

And that is why my word for the year is

(Sweet) Together.

Because no matter what lies ahead on this great adventure, we're in it TOGETHER.

As a new year starts I am so very thankful for the people who I get to walk through it with.

Including the photographer. :)

Sunday Funnies: The Dealer

2012-01-16T13:19:00.000-05:00

T peddles iphones like nobody's business. As a matter of fact, at least once a week, he gives me 3 or 4 new ones. And if you come over--he'll give you one, too.

And that would be because these days his distinction between reality and imagination is still a bit blurred.

Dude is so enamored with our phones that he decided to "make" his own. The backs of beginner "I can read" books have numbers on the back. Numbers that apparently look like iphone apps. He even swipes his finger across the cover to change the "page."

While on the topic of these books, I must mention that he has become obsessed with making sure the price is covered. Apparently this is from something I must have done with a Christmas gift? He covers (or gets in in the general vicinity) the price with a sticker saying, "Ain't (I have no idea where he got that from) it polite to cover the price?" Yes, yes I suppose it is.

When he isn't dealing iphones, he's giving me a hot steaming cup of black coffee--just the way I like it. It's in the shape of that CAT guy.

Or, the other day we were shivering after getting in the car at the grocery store. He asked if I was cold. I was. So he told me, "No problem. I'll turn on your fireplace." He likes to pretend that we each have a personal one. "Are you feeling warmer now?" Why, yes, I am. Thanks for taking such good care of me, Buddy.

And just the other day Jimmy Fallon was doing a bit with Elmo on Sesame Street about the word "Inspect." At the end they "inspect" us. T totally thought they were actually complimenting his shirt and smile.

This kid never fails to make us laugh. :)

A winter bubble swim.

2011 Card (In Tweets--If We Tweeted)

2012-01-09T13:27:00.000-05:00

(For today, I'll let this up EXTRA-LARGE. :)

Sunday Funnies: Christmas Card Out-takes (and one of my worst photos ever)

2012-01-08T23:45:00.002-05:00

So...this year for our Christmas "Letter" we wanted to show the happy "Christmas Card" us versus the "real life" us. A concept that required not one, but two photos.

As usual December was ticking right along with zero photos. Feeling the crunch two weeks before Christmas, J and I hatched a last ditch plan to try to take our own family portraits.

After naps we dressed in fairly respectable clothes and packed a bag of our more "usual" looks. We drove to a nearby Church and found a lovely tree to use as the backdrop.

Then we set up the camera on a step-stool. J used the "smile" feature. Basically anytime the camera detects a smile it snaps a shot.

A few out-takes from Round 1:

Actually love this one--we're all laughing at something.

Then there are the headless J ones. And I suppose you could also call us foot-less.

I think I might be baring my teeth...?

And this would be the "I'm laughing at J because he's about to fall over" one. Really laughing... :)

Clearly, something was downright hilarious. But, I'm the only one laughing.

So, those were the "Christmas Card" us photos. After that we all scurried back to the van and changed our outfits right there in the parking lot. It was a balmy 35 degrees. We changed quickly. :)

I'll post our letter tomorrow, but for now, I will leave you with one of the worst photos of myself. (Mom and Dad have the "garden photo" in their possession--that probably is the worst. ;)

This was the result of setting up for the second round of photos and checking the camera to see if it was still working well in "smile" mode. I kept making large toothy expressions to make it snap. Apparently this pose looks "happy." Seriously, doesn't it look like someone photo-shopped it and put my smile on upside down? Not to mention the apparent neck strain it took to pull the look off. CRACKS ME UP! :)

And that was a good Sunday night laugh. :)

Happy Sunday!

Melkam Genna

2012-01-07T21:35:00.000-05:00

Today was Christmas in Ethiopia. :)

We celebrated with our own coffee ceremony and popcorn.

And then, while exchanging gifts is not a part of Christmas in Ethiopia, the small crew finally exchanged the gifts they picked out for each other at the dollar store. :)

Hopefully next year we'll add some Ethiopian cuisine to the celebration.

Melkam Genna!

A little TOO prepared? Christmas Week in Review

2012-01-04T22:18:00.001-05:00

Because I can't even remember what I had for dinner last night. Wait, I just couldn't even remember what I just ate--okay, because I definitely have a horrible memory--even though all of our Christmas decorations are tucked back into their bins, if I don't post about our Christmas week, I will obviously forget too much of it. :)

To recap--Christmas was on a Sunday. We almost always spend Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with J's. And we try to have our own Christmas here the day before we go. That was Friday this year.

I strongly dislike packing. It makes me grumpy. I didn't want to make our Friday Christmas grumpy--so we packed all of our bags and presents into the van on Thursday--a whole 2 days in advance. That never happens!

T had a horrible cold all week--you know the feverish, hacking cough (with a hundred reminders a day to "please cover your mouth when you cough!"), and a whole box of tissues gone kind. Beza woke up croupy and not quite herself on Friday--later in the day we found out she had an ear infection. M woke up on Saturday with an upset stomach from cold-related issues. Don't we sound like perfect company? :)

Because we didn't want to give anyone (especially our great-grandparents) the gift of a virus for Christmas--we didn't make it "home" for Christmas Eve--the first time ever in 33 years. It definitely felt a bit sad--but we tried to make the most of it. :)

On Christmas day the crew seemed a bit better and our chances of passing on our bug seemed a bit less risky so we made plans to finally make it "home" for Christmas. And we still got to see all of my family and J's family late that day--so thankful! :)

The Week in Pictures

The Christmas Birthday Cake. After doing the Jesse tree for the first time this year--such a fun way to celebrate that after God promises all through the Bible that he will come--he did come on Christmas Day.

Nothing like a doughnut to make you feel better.

Practicing superhero poses.

When we finally made it "home" this rocking horse was waiting for Beza. Great-Grandpa made it all by hand. Incredible. He made T that wooden box in the back filled with custom-made fortress blocks. And for M, he made a special jewelry box with beautiful inlaid wood. All keepsakes for sure.

Fun gift-opening with J's family on Christmas night.

Look-a-like shirt fun with my family on Monday. They went patriotic this year. :) The baby is clearly having a blast. :)

Later on Monday we got to go to a beautiful (and LARGE) Christmas party with my Dad's family (he has 11 siblings). Loved seeing everyone. But what did we take a picture of? The people we love? Nope. The sticky bun. The family recipe sticky bun. The sticky bun with a side of carrots and green beans. Good, good stuff... ;)

We loaded up the van with way too many gifts (Thank you everyone--we'll think of you every time we use them!) on Tuesday to come home.

And Wednesday, well, Wednesday was my birthday. The big 3-4 (I keep telling myself that in 10 years that number will sound sooo young and so I welcome year 34 with wide open arms. ;).

How did I spend such a momentous day? Re-decorating, of course. :) Putting away the Christmas decorations and adding some "winter" touches (in other words, leaving the white lights on the mantle because I'm not ready to part with their warm sparkle just yet.). And taking down the Christmas tree. The poor tree wasn't well-watered during it's first week with us. Four weeks later it was basically tinder. If you even breathed beside it, it rained needles. For real.

Like that all the way through the dining room (including on the table covered with ornaments), the hallway and the kitchen. That's a lot of needles.

We spent the rest of the week getting well and hibernating, really. :) And now we're totally ready to start a fresh new year--looking forward to what's ahead! :)

Happy New Year!

A Public Service Announcement--About Rice (for Play)

2012-01-03T22:25:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we finally made our own "rainbow" rice.

So fun. And so easy!

We followed this tutorial. The vinegar is a bit, hmm..pungent--but it's fading. :) (Other recipes suggest rubbing alcohol.) Also, I was completely out of red liquid food coloring--a somewhat necessary primary color. :) I did however have a fine stash of gel food coloring--it totally worked and the colors were awesomely vibrant!

We keep it in a large plastic bin and we've been playing with it "gently" in the kitchen. It looks like rainbow sprinkles--so fun!

Play Rice Public Service Announcement

(To make the obviously obvious, even more obvious.)

Pre-sandbox, I thought that a rice bin would be really fun. Especially because if they played in it outside I wouldn't have to worry about cleaning it up. Brilliant! (I thought.)

One fine day, rice play went a little crazy. There was easily more rice on the deck than in the bin. But no worries--it was outside! And I could just sweep it up. Later. Or tomorrow. You know, clean once instead of twice.

It got dark. We went to bed. It rained. On the rice. Great gobs of rice. On the deck.

We woke up to a sticky rain-cooked paddy of rice all over the entire deck.

At first it was kind of funny. And then, not so much. It was sticky. And then it was pasty. And then plastered to the deck. It caked the brooms. It firmly ground itself into the spaces between the boards. It took days of sliding butter knives through the cracks to make a respectable difference.

And so, while it now seems very obvious that rice and moisture don't play well together (unless you're eating it, of course), if you're like me and you just kind of roll with the weather as it comes (you know, never knowing the forecast in advance), I strongly suggest cleaning up stray rice if you take it outside. :)

circa 2008

Sunday Funnies: Christmas at Present Speed

2012-01-01T19:39:00.000-05:00

One hour of Christmas "morning" condensed into 3 minutes... (Suh-weet.)

Song: Christmas This Year (2010)--TobyMac

A few things to know.

1. We celebrated Christmas on Friday--so that (in theory) we could go to PA early on Christmas Eve.

2. We started by opening some gifts that M made for each of us just a few days after Thanksgiving. They had been stashed under her dresser for over a month. She could barely contain her excitement that it was finally time for us to open them. She made me some bookmarks and she made J a kite. They are tucked away in a memory box.

3. Have you ever seen anyone clean up wrapping paper that fast?

4. Beza thought the video camera was a mirror. She kept watching herself in it.

5. T is swinging around a spiderman on a retractable string. A few hours later he cut the string--just trying out some scissors. :)

6. Speaking of T--he actually looks like he's flying in his cape.

7. The nerf guns? Yeah, they're a "Daddy gift." It's all fun and games until someone shoots their eye. But really, when does that happen? The very next day, actually. The offender? J. Yep, he was trying to be all sneaky sniper-ish and got T right on the eye. Thankfully the projectiles are soft. And T is forgiving. :)

8. One of their most favorite gifts? That cardboard house (a steal on Black Friday). (Beza and M each got a house. T got a spaceship.) Genius.

9. I see more shots of my backside in this video than I (quite thankfully) see in an entire year. :)

10. Loved spending the day with 3 little people this year...

(And the rest of Christmas--well that's a story recap for another day...)

Sunday Funnies: Who's Been in the Christmas Tree?

2011-12-25T13:34:00.001-05:00

What Are We Going To Do Next Week?

2011-12-22T15:48:00.001-05:00

Ever since we tucked our pumpkin-pie-filled selves into bed on Thanksgiving, we've been listening to Christmas music practically twenty-four/seven. And in between we've been squeezing in as much Christmas fun as possible.

Two weeks ago we met our friends for a fun morning at a local market with only THE-MOST-DELICIOUS-CIDER-DONUTS-EVER,

This picture would be right before Beza toppled over head-first. Thankfully her coat and fluffy hat--and maybe my arm--absorbed the fall. :)

horse-drawn wagon rides (with jingle bells),

and,of course, a few Christmas-y characters to hug.

We also spent an evening making "gingerbread" houses.

J and M's creation. Sweet ride in the front.

T & I made this one. See that boxy structure in the front--with the orange wheels. Yeah, that's my version of a car. Oh, man. Really, it's more like an SUV, maybe?

Beza and T met Santa at their Toddler & Tots group. Well, actually, T met him. Beza wanted to head for the hills. :)

T's preschool class had a little sing-a-long. And while he may sing all of the words just a little off from the rest of the class, he is nothing if not passionate. (Sometimes J and I laugh at how different he is from our boring selves--we LOVE it! Can't get enough of it, really. :)

M's kindergarten class had a sweet performance, too.

Santa came on the firetruck.

And in between we've been filling up the Jesse Tree. LOVE this.

Those branches in the vase are completely covered in ornaments. (Love this Jesse Tree book, too.)

We've been reading Christmas books, talking a ton about this story (The Rich Family), watching Christmas movies and even caroling (thankfully with some people who can actually carry a tune).

Totally embracing the wonder and hope of this season--probably one of my most favorite Christmases yet.

But, really, what ever are we going to do next week? ;)

She Is Totally Teasing Them

2011-12-21T13:11:00.001-05:00

M and T are bear-holding thumb-suckers. Beza loves her bear. She does not suck her thumb.

She does however tease M and T about it.

If she spies on of them with a thumb in their mouth, she gets a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous smirk. Then she looks at her hand to find her thumb and then dangles it out of the side of her mouth.

Sometimes she accidentally sticks her finger in her mouth instead. Then she pulls it out, looks at her hand again to find her thumb and then sticks the right one in her mouth.

Hilarious!

(She doesn't usually stick her tongue out :)--the camera just happened to catch this face. :)

Tuesday: Talk About It

2011-12-21T07:10:00.000-05:00

This is the new video from our Adoption Agency. It touches my heart to see familiar faces in it.

Be The Difference from Videos for AGCI on Vimeo.

This past week has been a sad one. Last Friday one of J's very good work friends passed away suddenly and unexpectedly (not at work). He was 46. He has a wife and two young daughters. Praying that God would comfort the aches in their hearts as they learn how to walk through this life without their daddy.

Thankful for Hope...

Stale Bread Solution

2011-12-19T00:26:00.001-05:00

This is one of our most loved recipes. We try to have one kid-favorite meal a week. We cycle through four of them--and this one makes the cut. :)

This makes a very yummy breakfast with friends, too. :)

Speaking of breakfast with friends--Less than a week before Christmas! Still busy working on this year's Christmas Card--nothing like cutting it close!

Here's a peak back at 2009--the year we officially started our adoption paperwork.

Happy Monday! :)

Sunday Funnies: Square and Fair

2011-12-18T23:47:00.004-05:00

When we were packing to go to PA for Thanksgiving, M walked up to me and said,

M: This time I'm not going to be a square.
Me: (Hmm...) What do you mean?
M: Well, last time we packed, T was fair and I was square.
Me: Oh. Why is that?
M: Because he packed lots of fun toys--he was fair. I packed boring stuff--square. So this time we're going to be fair and fair.
Me: That sounds like a great idea... :)

When You Have a Little Guy and You Buy Wrapping Paper

2011-12-14T14:36:00.000-05:00

You might just decide to make his day by turning yourself into (wrapping paper roll) "SwordMan."

You will probably try to capture the moment on your handy iphone--totally blurry--but it captures the essence of the moment. :)

And you might strike menacing poses and say the only fencing lingo you know, "on guard," easily one hundred times. You might even leap off of the couch in mad pursuit because after all they seem to get the biggest kick out of that themselves and maybe you would want to see what all of that leaping hype is about.

Trying to escape in their "boats."

And then because you're out of breath from all of that "rough-housing" you might just have to take the battle to finger-fencing in the raspberry bowl.

Happy Wednesday!

On Our Hearts Tonight...

2011-12-13T21:41:00.000-05:00

Praying tonight for a miracle for an adoption friend. Her family has been living in Uganda for the past 9 months just waiting to bring their youngest daughter home. You can go here to read (and see) her family's story.

Also praying for a family who tragically lost their daddy yesterday... (You can go here for more details and ways to help.)

And for our friends R&K who are expecting a new little one tomorrow through the miracle of adoption.

Welcome to Our Christmas Open House

2011-12-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

To set the mood--MY FAVORITE "new" Christmas song--Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Andrew Belle.

(From this past week's Under the Radar episode featuring all brand new this year Christmas songs.)

A peek into Christmas at our house.

Wishing you a warm and cozy Christmas Season!

Oh, and before you go, a little peek back at Christmas 2008--the year T was born--and two weeks later we locked him in the van with our keys. Also the year J made an accidental personal hygiene purchase and was "mildly" obsessed with heat pumps--good stuff... :)

Happy Monday!

(Off to tackle some Christmas projects. :)

Sunday Funnies: The Superhero Who Sleeps Down the Hall

2011-12-11T19:57:00.001-05:00

We share a house with a superhero. A hero hybrid of sorts.

Caped. Disguised. And Super.

Our Superhero.

Shhh...it's a Christmas secret...he (and his super wonderwomen) might just be getting a "real" cape(s) very soon. :)

When Food Makes You Mad

2011-12-09T19:39:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we took the 2 Dollar Day Challenge. Our goal was to feed our family with just $2.00 for the whole day. The purpose was to open our eyes and hearts to the plight of nearly half of the world's population.

J and I based our menu off of the food listed on the 2 Dollar Day site, what our friend's priced out from Aldi's and on what one of the organizers of the challenge bought that day in Ethiopia. (Because J was at work, our total food cost was difficult to figure out, but we tried to eat as closely as possible to $2.00.)

Everyone except Beza played along. (....she already lived that life.)

Breakfast

1.5 cups of cooked oatmeal lightly sweetened with brown sugar. Divided in three.

(J had his own before work.) (M and T also had an apple with peanut butter--something they have every day--I didn't want them to be hungry at school.)

Lunch

One Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich made with 1 TB of peanut butter and 2 tsp of jelly. Divided in three.

One banana--divided three ways.

(We used homemade bread--I cut the slices extra thick--I didn't want them to be hungry--and quite frankly, neither did I...)

Afternoon Snack

One banana--divided in half (T didn't want any).

Two cups of "black" tea.

Dinner

Six scrambled eggs and 2 cups of rice. Divided by four.

Note: M and T had very close to their normal portions for all of their meals and even left food on their plates at dinner. T had a morning snack at preschool. They only complained about being hungry right before dinner. Definitely the biggest change to their day was not having a substantial healthy afternoon snack. They also struggled with the lack of choices. T was really frustrated that he couldn't have a fruit bar...

What did we learn from the day?

None of us likes to feel hungry. It makes us cranky and tired and it makes it hard to think about anything else.

During the day, both J and I took food from our plates to give to M and T. Even though our stomachs were growling, we didn't want them to be hungry--even for one day.

We can not imagine living this day in and day out. We woke up to a pantry full of food.

We also woke up to a warm house, closets full of clothes, a stable, well-paying job, a bank account, health care and nine faucets, just on the inside of our house, flowing with clean water.

I tried to think of what I would really do if I only had $2 a day to feed my family. But the truth is that I honestly can't know what I would do. I am a healthy, robust adult. But what if I had started my life without enough to eat--without medicine or vaccines. Even without dental care. And probably with at most a very limited education. Wouldn't I be a tired, hungry adult just trying to survive...?

Not to mention that with that same $2 a day I would somehow need to fund some sort of shelter and clothing (forget about diapers). And clean water.

What would I do if one of my children or husband got sick? (Malaria and HIV/AIDS--just to name a few of the many insidious diseases--are rampant in countries where the majority of the population lives below the poverty line.) How is there any money for that?

There isn't.

$2 a day is not enough.

So now what?

For sure I think that what we're left with is this--a much deeper compassion for those who walk this road. A compassion that, God-willing, will help us to focus our priorities..and our hearts. A compassion that will compel us to make a difference...because if I were living on $2 a day I would want someone to see me and to love me enough to help me change my future.

For more information about living on just $2 a day check out these resources.

Levi, who moved with his family from CA to Ethiopia a few years ago, shared his reflection of the day in a post called, "It's Complicated."
He also recently spent the night on the streets of Addis Ababa--he wrote about it here.
Jerry, who also lives in Ethiopia with his family, shared about their breakfast, lunch and dinner. He also shared what real moms living in Ethiopia feed their families.
These are just a few statistics about worldwide poverty.
This is an article written by one man about his experience of living in the Republic of Niger, one of the poorest nations in the world, for seven years.
And this article reviews the book, Portfolios' of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day. (Learn even more about the book here.)

One Year Ago Today....

2011-12-08T19:23:00.001-05:00

We saw her face for the first time.

Little Beza. 9lbs at 5 months old. Extravagantly beautiful.

So thankful for the privilege of being her parents...

Our Referral Story

A Morning in the Life of Beza (How Different From One Year Ago)

2011-12-07T14:49:00.001-05:00

After we drop M and T off at school on Fridays, Beza follows her own little quite predictable routine.

The drop-off.

Once home, always closing the pantry door (open doors appear to be one of her major pet peeves) on the way to the living room while murmuring, "Melmo. Melmo. Melmo." (Elmo. Elmo. Elmo.)

Always standing to watch her favorite show.

Always leaning with her hands on the ottoman.

Even if she's standing in front of it--still always leaning with those hands on it.

And then, always paging through a book. Girl loves to read.

Do you know what her current favorite is? The photo book with pictures of us in it that we left for her in Ethiopia between our two trips. How sweet is that? She loves pointing to M and T and saying their names.

And do you know what tomorrow is? I can hardly believe it, but it's our referral-versary. Here's the post from this day last year--the day before we saw her little face for the first time...

A Letter

Dear Sweet Girl,

Today I want you to know just how very much you are loved. We have been waiting for you for such a very long time and not long from now we will see your face for the first time. Sometimes this waiting seems like it will go on forever, but I am realizing that this part of the journey is just another part of our story. I am wondering where you are and what is going on in your little life right now. Know, that even though we may never know the details, you are so constantly in our hearts. Our prayer for you when you are not with us is that you would know that you are so very loved--that you would feel a full belly and a cozy bed--but most of all that you would have warm arms that hold you tight and that let you know how beautiful and wonderful you are.

Longing for you...
Mommy

Outnumbered in the City (By Three Children and One Rogue Stroller)

2011-12-06T22:04:00.001-05:00

On Sunday we took a spontaneous trip to the city. It was simply glorious weather for December.

J is holding our fuel. ;)

Bez was a fan of the car-seat-less train. :)

The question was? How many strollers should we take? The double was out because--whew!--that would be impossible on a subway. Beza had her spot reserved in the back carrier. So, would we be walking far enough to tire out one or two of the others? After much discussion, we opted for one lone umbrella stroller.

T was impressed with Grand Central Station.

On the train we had practiced what to do in case anyone got lost. (Love that conversation.) We even "tattooed" T's arm with our phone number.

We started our day with a carriage ride through Central Park. As we were trying to figure out how to flag a carriage down we noticed that M was missing. (!) Very thankfully after a frantic look around we quickly spotted her nearby, but very scared. She had been looking at a horse and each of us thought the other had her hand. (No more loose hands after that!)

All together, we had a lovely ride through the park.

But what they really wanted to do was to climb all of those gigantic rocks.

We had a charming lunch at a small pizzeria--you know the cute Zagat-rated kind with like 12 tables. SO good!

Beza slept.

After lunch we checked out the Manhattan Children's Museum.

Gross...

Then we went across the street to Cafe Lalo (from You've Got Mail)--cute, but way too overstimulating after a full day. We left a tip and grabbed a coffee from Starbucks instead. (Sad, but true.)

We made one last stop in Times Square to see the lights.

Do you see that stroller? Yeah--no one used it. It was basically like our 4th child. Someone had to hold its "hand" the whole time. :) Good note to selves for next time--the walkers can, in fact, walk. :)

We walked back to Grand Central Station taking in the views. Views including Elmo giving out hugs. Elmo is Beza's favorite! No smile, but she gave him side-long glances until he was out of site.

Such a fun day of memories!

Made It: The Up-cycled Jewelry Board (And a Look Back at the Big 3-0)

2011-12-03T21:33:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I was sorting through some baskets in my closet and I found my little bag filled with "costume" jewelry--stuff that I rarely wear, but that I think will be loads of fun for M and Beza to sift through some day while playing dress-up. Anyway, M and I were digging through the pieces and some of them actually seem wearable. :) But digging them out of the basket on the top shelf of the closet is not exactly convenient.

At the same time, M got a few necklaces for her birthday and we've been keeping them in her small jewelry box--where they basically become one big tangled nightmare.

This big frame has been in my closet for over a year. Last Christmas we used it to display our Christmas cards.

It's been collecting dust because the fabric I used is just a little busy. :) With a small make-over it seemed like it might be the perfect solution to our necklace chaos.

But first, I had to take out all of those tacks...

Then, not wanting to ever remove pesky tacks like that again, I hot-glued burlap to the back. :)

Then I carefully hammered in equally spaced nails. And added our "bling."

Now we can see everything all in one place! Love it! M gets the lower quadrant, but can totally borrow anything she wants (well, maybe everything except for that coffee-bean necklace from Ethiopia. ;).

The "statement" pieces. ;)

This is what I have on everyday--but seriously, how fun would some of those be to wear?

Hope for Orphans necklace from TVP

And while I didn't plan it that way, because it's burlap, it works perfectly for displaying our earrings, too!

(I used to keep all of my earrings in this little container.)

Now...

I can even display earrings right beside their matching necklaces. How fun is that?

J hung it in our closet over the weekend and we've been playing "jewelry store" ever since. :)

And in the Christmas Card "Countdown," here's a look back at 2007,

Happy Monday! :)

(2006)

(2005)

(2003)

Sunday Funnies: Things That Go Bump In The Night

2011-12-03T20:41:00.003-05:00

Things That Go Bump In The Night

Last night after we tucked everyone in we were sitting quietly on the couch (watching the Cosby Show--seriously so funny as a parent) when there was a raucous upstairs. T was convinced that there was a monster in his room. He was bumping his knee against the wall to keep the monster away. He insisted that something was making a "pop" and sounding like someone crinkling a helium balloon. But that we would have a to wait a bit to hear the sound, too. (Yeah....right....)

Like anyone who just wants to savor the sweetness of sleeping children, J looked around the room, declared it monster free and adamently told T to Go.To.Sleep.

When T argued that the monster sounds were still happening I went up to bat and told him that there were no monsters--I don't like monsters, and believe me if there were monsters I would be the first to tell him--and that please, instead of thumping the wall with his knee so that he couldn't hear the monster and consequently driving M mad, could he maybe just scratch his sheets. He fell asleep.

Just as I was going to bed, I walked into his room and heard a strange sound. Scratching. And meowing. Riley the cat was trapped in his closet.

Poor kid really was hearing "monsters" in his room!

Getting His Attention

Also, last night I asked J if he had seen the PayPal statement from the day. He hadn't--so I started to tell him about my GREAT deal!

In the morning I had been reading on a blog about having children open a new Christmas book a day during December. What a great idea! We have a lot--but not enough for every day.

Photo by M

So I told J that I went to Amazon and loaded up my cart with $254 worth of Christmas books (that's 15 books). How fun!

I paused for his reaction. Do you know that turkey said? He said, "Wow, I think I was listening to you kind-of like a commercial but then when you said $254 you got my attention." A commercial, huh?

I laughed (sometimes his "shop-talk" is a bit hard to follow, too) and went on, "But then I went to eBay and ordered a lot of 17 Christmas books for just $21!"

Of course, he was like so impressed with my shopping prowess, ;) and we've been joking all day about "commercial talk." ;)

Lurker

And this is totally random--but all week long this strange mustached guy has been lurking in the bathroom...

Happy Sunday! :)

Do Not Wash Crayons With Clothes

2011-12-01T21:12:00.001-05:00

We spent last week celebrating Thanksgiving with our families. The little people and I got to spend some quality time at "the farm." It was corn harvesting time. M was beyond thrilled to be able to ride on the gravity wagon full of field corn--my sisters and I spent many afternoons parading around the fields that way. Girl after our own hearts, she couldn't get enough. We even got to ride on top stargazing just as the sun was setting. Sweet...

We also picked out our Christmas Tree from J's grandparent's tree farm.

That smile cracks me up!

Here it is in all of it's glory--

She's a beauty! ;)

M and T were beyond delighted to decorate it all by themselves (minus the lights).

Also, during our travels T thought it would be a great idea to put crayons in his pockets and socks (I know, that sounds terribly comfortable, doesn't it?) so that he would always be prepared to create a masterpiece at a moment's notice. Clever.

Not so clever--washing and drying laundry with crayons. A whole load of travel-laundry, including my own clothes, ended up looking like this...

and this...

In case you should find yourself in this unfortunate predicament, I found this concoction to work remarkably well. (How To Remove Crayons From Clothing) After one round with that mixture and about 4 more with just hot water and regular laundry detergent, I think that at least 75% of the crayon came out. And considering that within minutes of getting dressed most of our (their) clothes are already covered in something (milk, fruit bars, toothpaste, etc), I consider it a "good-enough" success. :)

Speaking of T--today he got stuck in a tree (I was on diaper duty at the time.)

And is anyone else having trouble keeping track of what day it is? I've been off all week. We were ready to walk out the door today to drop M off at school when she mentioned something about T being in school today, too. I completely forgot. He had just enough time to put on real shoes instead of the slippers he was wearing--but not enough time to change out of his 3-day-old-and-totally-showing-it-jeans. But all is well. :) And tomorrow is Friday (I'm on top of that one.).

Happy Thursday Night!

I Don't Mean to be Mean, But...

2011-11-28T23:20:00.001-05:00

"...I think that looks more like winter than Christmas. I think it needs more red," said M gently, describing my attempt at decorating the mantle for Christmas last night.

It's a work in progress. As a lover of all things neutral, red is a stretch. :)

However, in an attempt to make it more "Christmas-sy," I added just a touch of red to this photo and framed it for the mantle. (Inspired here.) It's a start... :)

And while I was at some word-art fun, here's our bucket list for this Christmas Season.

It's seriously time to get working on that Christmas Letter. In my countdown to that feat--here's a look back to 2006...

Hmm...I see a pile theme...

Christmas 2003

Christmas 2005

Happy Monday!

Are we there yet?

2011-11-27T14:28:00.001-05:00

A little photo diary of our trip back to the red house.

While J was with Beza at Urgent Care we hung out at Starbucks for 2 hours. Someone told me it was nice to see children enjoying themselves so much. :)

(Then I randomly ran into my mom at Subway. :)

Now Beza is conked out and the rest of them are, for the most part, quietly coloring--while listening to Veggie Tales Christmas music on repeat. (They can't wait to go decorate that tree that is sticking out between them.)

Two hours down--two more to go!

(Randomly ordered photos...)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T13:55:00.001-05:00

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving! :)

The Tricked Out Van--Toddler Style

2011-11-21T19:32:00.001-05:00

The key to any good car trip (besides making sure everyone uses the potty before you leave the house), is a well stocked vehicle. Ours is definitely stocked. :)

It's an ever-changing tetris of children's paraphernalia--but here's a peek inside our hot ride.

Front Console

Coffee. Tissues. Wipes. Lip gloss. Spare hair clips for Beza--always have to be prepared to accessorize. :)

Driver's Door

Phone Earpiece. Hand Sanitizer. Tire Pressure Gauge. Walkie talkies. Flashlight. Small Tool for slashing our seatbelts and busting out of the windows in case we find ourselves submerged in water (gift from my parents. ;).

Passenger Door

Coupons. Hand Sanitizer. Blankets--the driver likes to cruise in arctic temperatures.

Glove Compartment

A bunch of stuff on top of the vehicle information booklet. J loves to dig through here. ;)

Back Seat

Three Seats. One stained floor.

Back Seat (Passenger Side)

Extra Diapers. A LOT of extra diapers. (There are more under the front seat.)

The Snack Bag--granola bars, fruit bars, goldfish, sandwich bags (for distributing goldfish), Goober (gross-but shelf stable), plastic knives (for spreading Goober). Just add bread. Oh, and water.

Back Seat (Driver's Side)

Movies.

The Wayyyy Back

Neat Sheet (for spontaneous picnics).

Foam "Seats" to make the back of the grocery cart a little more comfortable for little bums.

A basket with a complete extra outfit for each child, warm blankets, extra wipes, a potty (lined with a bag when rarely used, then thoroughly cleaned before being returned to the basket)--awesome in an emergency, and butter. I kid--those are crayons. Of course.

On top of that basket:

The Diaper Bag

A bottle. More diapers. More wipes. A Medicine Kit for Little People with fever and pain relievers, a thermometer, first aid creams, and an assortment of character band-aids.

I NEVER use the diaper bag--but it's there if I need it. :)

Beside the Diaper Bag

The Toy Bag

Cars. Dolls. Coloring Books (hence the crayons). Travel Magna-doodles. A fabric car playmat.

The toy bag was definitely utilized for all of those trips to the post offices, courts and police departments for adoption paperwork.

The WHOLE Back

Bugspray and Sunscreen--you just never know when you might need them. Three Strollers. I only have two arms, but there are three strollers (two singles and a double) in there. Really, it's just a convenient storage place and that way we're always prepared. ;) Oh, in case three strollers won't cut it, there is a big back carrier in there, too. And I'm not done yet. We also travel with a baby booster seat (traveling high chair). And, sometimes, the pack-n-play joins the party.

Seriously, what did we do before the van?

Here's a peek back to Christmas 2005--when the word "van" had four letters. :)

(Christmas 2003 Letter)

I would love to hear how you make your cars work for your families. :)

Happy Monday!

Linked up at:

Sunday Funnies: Thanksgiving Smile

2011-11-20T22:18:00.001-05:00

I found this on my porch on Friday morning.

It's part of a Thanksgiving placement from T's school (Becca dropped it off because T was absent with a fever on Friday).

I laugh every time I see it. I can just picture the teachers asking him to smile. And that's his little smile. Cracks me up!--Love that guy...

Not Your Barney Clean-up Song

2011-11-18T00:49:00.001-05:00

Okay, so the room messes around here. Epic as of late.

And I can hear myself saying the same things every day (or so) about cleaning up. I'm tired of hearing myself say those things. I can only imagine how tired they are of hearing it, too.

When I get frustrated, I produce a good lecture, eat chocolate, put myself in a time-out and then eventually, I brainstorm. Surely there must be an easier way to go about this. To not nag.

Then I started to think that really it just needs to be fun. Doesn't music make things fun? Hey, what a great way to let everyone know that it's "Clean Up" time without words!

But the clean-up song--well, it's just a little bit too Barney. (The key is to read that without singing it, because like the peanut butter all over T's pants before school this morning--once it's there--it just won't go away.)

The answer to all song questions (except for the "I'm going to Kentucky, I'm going to the fair" song that T keeps singing) is YouTube. And do you know what they have? A robot cleaning up song. No kidding--a robot. They LOVE robots!

I waited for a really good mess--the kind where you can't walk without stepping on something (I didn't have to wait very long ;)--and then I turned it on. They were just as impressed as I hoped they would be--and, boy, did they ever move! (The robot does a little countdown at the end--totally motivating.)

Not only did they love the song and clean up the whole first floor. But they also begged me (for real) to let them clean up their rooms with the songs on. How awesome is that?

I know this song magic won't work forever, but it sure is fun for now. :)

These are three of the songs that make the messes disappear and that create some hilarious spontaneous dance moves. :)

(When you push "play," it takes a few seconds for the first song to start.)

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Clean-Up Robot by Mark D. Pencil

Clean Up Song

Tidy Up Rhumba Song by Musical Playground

It's a Good Thing They Don't Judge Us

2011-11-17T09:40:00.001-05:00

on parental fitness by their hair.

Exhibit 1: The every-day knot right in the back of M's head. It's a tear-producer (for both of us).

Exhibit 2: T's bed-head and randomly long pieces of hair. Thankfully, this look is a bit more "in"--or at least I pretend that it is.

Exhibit 3: And Little Beza--well, whew, we're still working on getting hers just right. I use headbands as a distraction from the mess in the back.

Right now she's in "hair therapy." We've been trying to be much better about conditioning it all day, hence the little scarf on her head. She wears it well, sweet girl! :)

(Friday afternoon Mary Poppins.)

Someday they'll be in control of their own hair--hmm...that could make things even more interesting! ;)

I NEED this Book (and check out this Giveaway!)

2011-11-16T00:41:00.001-05:00

I can NOT wait for this book!

Seven by Jen Hatmaker

And you definitely need to check out the awesome Basket of Love Giveaway over here. It is an AMAZING basket of beautiful and fun stuff that will help to bring a little one home--a win win. :)

Made-It: Goodbye Florals and "Pile Talk"

2011-11-14T14:06:00.001-05:00

Every once in a great, great while, an actual card makes it's way out of our house and into the mailbox. Cards and letters are not my strong point. But it is not for lack of my mother's trying. :) (She is amazing at that stuff!)

When we got married she gave us this box of cards to send to other people.

While the exterior is definitely cheery--it's just a bit too floral for my taste. So it's been tucked away in a closet. (Maybe that can be my excuse?)

Eleven years later, I have finally refurbished it. Now it's on our desk. (Bummer, there goes my excuse.)

Also in this box are all of our old Christmas letters. When I was putting all of the contents of the box back inside, M and I reread those old letters. There was some funny stuff in there.

Because it's that time of year, again--the time to start working on this year's letter--I thought that it would be fun to "re-post" those old letters. I think of Christmas letters as our once-a-year opportunity to "burst into" our friend's and family's homes--so I try to make them show a bit of our personality. :)

This was our very first attempt to write a family "Christmas letter." Just a simple little one-pager with a lot of apparently inside jokes (my dad says that line in the letter to my mom at dinner to make her mad) and "pile talk." We had been married for 3 years--I had finished 2 years of grad school that summer and had just started my first professional full-time job and our cats were our kids.

Happy Monday! :)

Sunday Funnies: The Lingo We Love

2011-11-13T19:16:00.001-05:00

Using his (notably unsyruped) pancake as a mask. Of course.

Little Dude has recently become aware that his "Are me going to school today?'s" are grammatically incorrect. (Today he changed it to "Are I?" ;)

Here are some of his other latest and greatest that are quickly fading.

Rootbeard: Rootbeer

"I wuv rootbeard wowwipops."

Pickle-axe: Pick-axe

"My guy is using a pickle-axe to dig in the dairt."

Hwahmp: Swamp

"What wivs in a hwahmp?"

(Sometimes it takes quite a bit of time to figure out what he's talking about.)

Jams: Germs

"There are jams all over Mommy's tissue box in the van."

(He's told several people this. After they figure out that it's not strawberry preserves, it still sounds pretty enticing, huh? *Sigh* The box is covered with illustrations of germ-monsters.)

Foo: Who

"Foo ate the wast brownie?"

Griwls: Girls

"Naiwlpowish is for griwls."

To help them learn how to spell their names we sing a little song that kind-of sounds like the Mickey M-O-U-S-E song. But for poor T we've (when I say "we" I really mean "J.") started to sing it like this, "T-_-_-_-_ smells T, smells T..." It makes him laugh. And he knows how to spell his name. (Poor kid. :)

He puts his dirty laundry in J's laundry basket because he's "a daddy, too!"--a Beary daddy.

Playing a game from his favorite--"P-B-S kids dot org"--on J's iphone.

Photo taken by M on my iphone.

Love this crazy guy who throws his entire self into what he's playing and how he makes us laugh. :)

When Home is Hurting

2011-11-12T19:43:00.001-05:00

Darren Rovell on WhoSay

This past week the news from a place that is "home," --the place where we made huge, fundamental life decisions, life-long friendships, and unforgettable memories--has left us deeply broken-hearted.

We have shed tears as we've grieved for the victims while reading the allegations, walked around in silence as we've wrestled with the news, and experienced a range of emotions from sadness to anger to hope.

I have been surprised at our feelings of hurt and betrayal...but upon reflection we've realized that a part of us expected our dear alma mater to be a little piece of heaven. Yet, we can't read the details without examining ourselves--not to condemn--but to recognize that in our humanness this world will never be perfect. Even when part of us expects it to be.

That expectation has made the realities of this week's events chip away a bit more of the allure of this world.

Today we struggled to find the words that would shatter a bit more of their innocence as we explained the magnitude of today's game to M and T. But, in the midst of the depths of this tragedy we were also overcome by the solidarity of two opposing teams bowed together for the victims of abuse. Hope rising in a broken place.

The Amazing Creator of this World created us to freely choose love. And with that choice comes the equal opportunity to chose the opposite. In each of us lies the ability to make that choice.

This morning we filled our shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We talked with M and T about how amazing these gifts are for children who barely have what we consider necessities. How it is a picture of God's amazing grace towards us. He offers us an abundant life, but we need to choose it.

We know the living, moving organism that is Penn State to be immense, diverse and passionate. Those passionate hearts can swarm together to create chaos but more often the Penn State we know swells together to create tremendous good.

It is our ardent prayer that from this there would be great healing. And that we would put our hope in What we do not see and from His great love for us learn to love more fully moment by moment. In the easy and in the incomprehensibly hard.

(As we've been processing this week's events, we were moved by this perspective shared by the director of Cru at PSU. You can go here to read his talk in it's entirety or here to listen.)

Living it up in the land of monopoly money

2011-11-10T14:21:00.001-05:00

This is our story...the story of how our hearts are being moved.

In early October J and I sat down with a fun stack of papers. Money papers. The details of our financial world right there in our faces. Good, good stuff...

Enlightening for sure.

We are goal-oriented people. We like checking successes off of our lists. We like a good financial plan. And we have been really good at making those plans. They work something like this: Sit down and look at the sobering reality of where our money is going--house, cars, college funds, savings, retirement, utilities, food, clothes, giving, etc. Talk about and make changes to our giving and savings goals. Go about our regularly scheduled business. When the credit card bills start looking a bit high, just cut back a little. We're living the "American Dream."

Grocery shopping with a superhero.

The problem is that so much of this is totally wrecking us. How do I go on living in my own little world when I KNOW that this is the reality for so many. Really it haunts me--truly, what if it were me?

I (We) have this one life to live and we are beyond blessed that we get to chose what to fill it up with. I am so disturbed by posts like this, that I can not keep going the same way. Stuff is not bad, but consuming my heart and time with it is not so good. And ignoring the genuine pleas of help from so many is not okay with me.

I want what we do to be about more. I want to live more generously. I want M and T's heart that says, "What?! They don't have food? Well, give them the money in my piggy bank. I don't need any of it!"

And so, we've hunkered down to become more intentional. I'm not a fan of the word "intentional"--it's too, well, formal and...disciplined. To me it's not, shall we say, very romantic--it lacks a certain...spontaneity. But sometimes, it's what I need to readjust my habits.

We've turned those financial goals into an actual budget. And we're doing it with monopoly money. :)

And the Ethiopian princess. :)

The nitty gritty--most of our expenses are already determined, but there are a few things that have a bit more variability--Food, Household (clothing, gifts, entertainment, etc) and Home Improvement expenses each have a wad of available paper money in a marked envelope. We use credit cards for almost everything and then we we come home we take the money from the "available" envelope and put it in the "spent" envelope. When it's gone, it's gone. (PB&J for dinner, anyone?)

The oh-so-glamorous envelopes. ;)

The goal is that by having a better idea of where our money is going dollar by dollar, we'll be able to make wiser decisions and we'll be able to give more spontaneously without that nagging notion that, "Hmmm...well, I don't know...if I donate money now, won't that make the end-of-the-month statement sky-high? Maybe I'll do this later..." Then out of sight, out of mind.

We are so, so not perfect. Definitely not even close. In fact, we're a bumbling mess. But it is our heart's desire to use what we've been entrusted with to the best of our feeble abilities.

And so it is that we are taking these tiny baby steps to respond to the faces and stories that God has been using to nudge us. Totally laughing at our colored paper money, yet absolutely discovering how unexpectedly fun it is to find ways to save money when you understand the power it has to make a difference to someone else. And doing it together.

Starting to Make those Christmas Lists

2011-11-08T20:59:00.001-05:00

And this is totally helping me to keep it in perspective...

Operation Christmas Child (with Samaritan's Purse) National Collection Week: November 14-21

You can watch Oksana's story here (a young girl who received a box as a child in an orphanage and who was recently able to deliver shoeboxes herself.).

Made-It: Thankful Leaves and Thanksgiving Mantle

2011-11-08T08:02:00.004-05:00

Our Thanksgiving mantle.

(Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away--how is that possible?!)

To help cultivate those "thankful hearts," the little crew and I tea-stained a few index cards last week. (Fun project!)

Then, in an ideal world, every night we each write something that we're thankful for on the cards.

He totally said that completely unsolicited...dude is hilarious.

We've been clothes-pinning them to these metal leaves that have been there forever. (I might have a slight obsession with clothes pins--more are on the grocery list this week. And the metal leaves remind me of the metal lampshades like this or THIS that I once saw with recipes pinned all over them and loved it!)

Today I am thankful for a school day off to hang out with the small crowd. :)

Happy Election Tuesday!

Linked up at:

Sunday Funnies: Survivor Hair (and other more serious stuff :)

2011-11-06T19:37:00.001-05:00

Because he just never knows when the wind will mess with his tresses...

(Posted with permission. ;)

The girl on his head on the other hand--now that he could use some protection against. :)

But, seriously, on this Orphan Sunday, today (like so many days) we are reminded of her story. And that there are so many hundreds of thousands more like it. The little faces behind the numbers who wait for a full belly, a warm bed, medicine...and a mom and dad.

Orphan Sunday Video from Videos for AGCI on Vimeo.

Go here to find a huge list of organizations involved in Orphan Care--love that there are so many ways to get involved.

Friday Favorites: Hot of the Press Haircut :)

2011-11-04T14:17:00.001-04:00

I had almost half of my head trimmed off this morning with Beza in tow. I'm sure I lost like, you know, 10 lbs--at least. ;) (If only it were that easy!)

Okay, so I have some downright scary before and after photos to share. Seriously, holding the camera in my face is just obnoxious. But it does make for a good before and after hair story--which I personally always love. :)

We were very early for the preschool drop-off this morning--like 15 minutes early--so there was plenty of time for "before" shots--with a little help from T. The "after" shots are courtesy of my other camera partner-in-crime, M.

Brace yourselves...

It feels so good....!

(And soon it will grow and I'll be right back in a ponytail, again. :)

To finish off the fresh new haircut--I thought it would be fun to get a new nail polish. I hear that nude colors are all the rage. Beza and I cruised around the big chain pharmacy and came out empty handed. In one last attempt to shop with just one little person (and to spend as little as possible because JMill and I have just started a new, and oh-so-fun, budgeting system :), we stopped by the local pharmacy and found some Essie (my favorite) nude-ish colors for half off! Score! :)

Excuse me while I go get all gussied up--because it's Friday--and what better day to get gussied up? :)

Happy Weekend!

Mean Mom

2011-11-03T19:53:00.002-04:00

That's me!

Oh, man. So, T had been having a few, shall we say, "meltdowns" in the morning when it was time to get dressed because he basically refused to wear any of the long-sleeved shirts that he picked out when we went school shopping.

And so do you know what this mean mom did? I put all of the shirts that he likes "away" for a while, leaving only the ones he found distasteful. (Such a meanie!)

One of about six shirts that weren't his favorite.

(Making dough cookies with the leftover pumpkin pie crust.)

The first two days were a bit rough for just a few minutes. But now (about 2 weeks later), quite thankfully, he loves all of those previously undesirable tops. Phew!

If he could, he would wear shorts every day. He usually puts them on for naptime. But have you seen the weather around here? It's been just a bit chilly--maybe not exactly shorts-season. ;)

I'll give it another week or two, and then he can have the rest of his shirts back. :)

Then to pile on to the mean streak, JMill and I recently had a little chitchat on the swings. About laundry. The endless piles of laundry. And the need for a few "rules."

Rule 1: If it's not in the basket--it doesn't get washed. (I made a new schedule card for the younger gang to help them remember this.)

Rule 2: If you change your clothes 3 times a day and then run out of clean clothes, you will need to wear something out of the dirty laundry basket. (Wow--sooo mean!)

Rule 3: If you put it in inside-out--it will come back to you clean and fresh, but still inside-out. (This is a rule for the age 5 and older crowd.)

Oh, yes, and there my friends, are just 2 of the ways I've been laying down the law as "mean mom." ;)

It's not pretty, but I guess somebody's gotta do it?

A Beza Meet and Greet

2011-11-02T20:03:00.003-04:00

Time for a quick lowdown on 16-month-old Beza.

Meet Kitty and Gordy--two of her best little furry buddies. Gordy is her favorite. Mom confession: I may have been a bit of a Gordy pusher for awhile. I used my best bear voices to make him irresistibly charming. She fell in love with the little guy. Appropriately, she calls him "Gord-o" (which in Spanish means something like "pleasantly plump." :)

And this is Dwayne. He obviously likes to read books (and is learning Spanish). Just like Beza (the reading, not the Spanish part). Her current favorite is Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

Hmm...and let's see, what else? Oh, yeah--she has been walking around with her hands behind her back--kind-of reminds me of a little grandma pacing around the floor.

And in that pacing, she usually finds some baskets to dump out and to climb into. Then she gets stuck. :)

She has names for everyone in the house, including the cats--who, btw, do not share mutual feelings towards each other. :)

And she LOVES her people. She is quite generous with her hugs.

She is doing very well. :) She loves singing--her two favorites--Row, Row, Row and Open Them, Shut Them. Her little personality is coming out more and more every day--there is a quiet "passion" that can make things interesting (like really not liking not being able to put all of the walnuts on the shelf into the cart at the grocery store. :) But, she is so funny--her expressions are priceless--I don't know how she can roll her eyes so far back into her head--but it's a crowd pleaser.

Helping me put away the TP today--all while holding onto a balloon.

Such a fun little age! :)

A Link that Goes to the Heart...

2011-11-02T14:02:00.000-04:00

Read this today and know so much of it to be true...

Jen Hatmaker-How to Be The Village

Dressed Up for Halloween...And Winter?

2011-10-31T23:34:00.000-04:00

We spent Saturday afternoon digging through basement bins for boots and snowpants so that everyone could go out and play in the ~11 inches of snow that was dumping down.

These poor trees are still fully covered in green leaves.

Sunday morning wonderland.

Beza loves snow.

Taking a break after a long walk exploring the woods before all of the snow fell off of the trees.

Besides dressing up in snow gear--we've also been digging through the basement dress-up bin for Halloween costumes. :)

(A quick rundown for the grandparents. :)

Preschool Trunk-or-Treat. Dude totally sang all of the Halloween songs loud, off-key and out-of-sync--but with great passion. :)

Neighborhood party--the "builder" and 2 princess fairies. (Look at that snow.)

Halloween night--our 2 astronauts.

And the Nittany Lion (simply thrilled to be eating some chocolate.).

The hand-made "Nittany Lion" costume through the years...

Now it's time to tuck away all of the costumes for another year. The snowsuits, on the other hand, well, it looks like they're here to stay for a few months...

Sunday Funnies: Skiing with Walkie Talkies

2011-10-30T14:53:00.001-04:00

J has the walkie talkies stashed in the front door of the van.

So this week T was asking about them and I said:

Me: I'm not sure why they're in the van, but Daddy uses them when he goes skiing.
T: Oh! When I'm big like Daddy can I put them on my feet and go skiing down big hills?

Ohmyword--this kid! :)

Dressed up for "Trunk-or-Treat" at preschool.

Friday Favorites: Wipes--How many ways do I love thee?

2011-10-28T14:24:00.001-04:00

This is my ode to baby wipes. I have them stashed everywhere. (Literally.)

Inside this bin--stored under the kitchen sink--are my very favorite wipes:

Target Brand Unscented Baby Wipes.

These are just a few of the many uses for them.

1. The obvious.

2. Cleaning sticky hands after little fingers have smashed their way through a fruit bar.

3. Washing the hair of a little friend after said sticky-fingered baby pulled the friend's hair with said fruit-barred fingers.

Not mentioning any names... ;)

4. Removing pancake syrup off of seatbelts (I know this is a no-brainer--but don't give your children pancake syrup in the car. :).

5. Dusting the van while in the drop-off line at school.

6. Distracting a sleepy baby from falling asleep in the car so that they take a nice nap in the afternoon at home.

7. Wiping up spilled paint from tile--and carpeting.

8. Erasing crayon from floors and futons and desks and chairs and dressers and toy bins.

9. Blotting off the remains of a large spider from the back of a board game box. *shiver*

10. Sweeping up a baked potato that exploded all over the floor after it fell out of the microwave above the stove.

Ahhhh---baby wipes--what would I do without them? :)

Fall Photo Journal (And Out-takes)

2011-10-27T14:04:00.005-04:00

A little photo record of how we've been filling our days...

(Some of the photos were taken with an iphone and are just a bit fuzzy. :)

We've been going on a hike almost every weekend.

Two weeks ago we walked 3 miles on the Appalachian trail with friends.

Last weekend we walked another 3 miles to a lake at the top of a mountain.

Beza had quite a view for the last part of the hike. ;)

On the way home we followed some parachuters to watch them land.

We celebrated the bears' birthdays. Happy Birthday Beary and Ben.

We visited the local fire station.

We flew kites on a rare windy day.

And we have been very busy working on a huge leaf maze complete with secret doors and passwords.

Trying to get Daddy lost in the long dead-end "tunnels." :)

And as I was going through these photos there were a few that just cracked me up. They are
The Out-Takes.

Beza is totally glaring at the cameraman and me, well, I'm clearly listening to T's head (I was actually using his head to swish a piece of hair back behind my ear).

Her first taste of a lollipop. She didn't love it, but J's head and shirt were kind-of stuck on it (ha-ha). :)

Oh, yeah, and there was a small snake on that walk.

How Beza really felt about that "view." :)

An unfortunate landing.

T stuck in a tree on Columbus day.

What these two were really like in the truck-cart yesterday. Beza was a bit of an aggressive driver. :)

And the ham from last night's birthday celebration. :)

Phew--and now, I think I am up-to-date. :)

A Birthday Day--Simple Style (And Inside the Cake)

2011-10-26T23:01:00.000-04:00

Our day ended with a very happy 6-year-old.

It all started with her breakfast of choice--Cocoa Pebbles--a cereal reserved for special occasions. :)

(Yum!)

And then off to school to deliver some rice krispie treats on a stick.

While M was in school, these two helped me pick up a few more of M's food choices for the day--raspberries, strawberries and rotisserie chicken.

After that they had a little Halloween party with their Toddler & Tots class.

Later in the day there were fun birthday calls.

And after dinner--finally time for cake and presents.

I had grand plans for the icing--the cake was going to be covered in pink roses. That so did not work out. :) So it's just a nice simple pink. :)

The inside of the "rainbow cake."

Meg got a lot of small princesses, a My Little Pony, colored pens and fun paper, a book, hair clips and her absolute favorite--Soul Surfer.

So, because I love re-usable gift bags I have no wrapping paper. But I think that little people love ripping open packages way more than peering into bags. I did however have old newspapers. Dear child had her gifts wrapped in that newspaper. :) Sad or creative, I don't know--but it worked. :)

We spent the rest of the night laughing as two worlds collided with princesses and rough and tough hero figures trying to fly into space.

Fun day. Can't believe that she's 6! So thankful she's a part of our family. :)

Happy Birthday, M!

Happy Birthday (Celebrating 6 Years of M) :)

2011-10-26T14:14:00.001-04:00

Heavy Heart

2011-10-26T13:15:00.001-04:00

Over the past few months we've been praying for a college friend's sweet little baby. This past week they said goodbye to him as he went into the arms of Jesus. They are walking through a journey I can not imagine with such grace and hope. Praying for you still M, B and C...

Monday Made-It: Making the Mail Pile Disappear (And THE cake)

2011-10-25T00:04:00.000-04:00

Our office is often covered in piles of papers--and a good chunk of it is unopened mail or mail that I'm not sure if J has seen yet or not. Really just a big stressful mess.

Sometimes those same piles start collecting in the kitchen and dining room where they get moved from counter to counter and back again--growing as they go. A mess.

Solution: A mail filing system right inside the front door. I used a basket that I already had and decorated old file folders with scrapbooking paper--making it a free project. LOVE free projects. :)

Just at the same time that I finished the folders I found this little stand at a yard sale--perfect fit for inside the front door. It doubles as the shoe holder. It seems that Beza likes to decorate our house with shoes. The cupboard door prevents shoe "decorating" making it much easier to find shoes for school in the morning (in theory at least). :)

In other news, I just finished crumb coating this...

(Vanilla rainbow cake.)

With the most insane amount of knock-your-socks-off sweet icing that is most definitely more of a look but don't eat treat.

But it will pretty. :)

Can't wait for our rainbow-loving birthday girl to see it on Wednesday. :)

Sunday Funnies: Dirty Socks

2011-10-23T19:33:00.000-04:00

Mommy, those helicopters (maple tree seeds) look like big dirty socks.

Apple Picking: The Real Story

2011-10-19T21:23:00.001-04:00

Making Sweet Memories Despite The Good, The Bad and The Ugly:

It all started one beautiful fall day six years ago. Let's go apple picking! One cute little girl absolutely delighted in the whole experience. It was a warm and fuzzy feelings kind-of day. We couldn't wait to do it again the next year.

One year later--another beautiful Fall day--Let's go apple picking! Same place, same gorgeous kind of day, totally different experience. Mother of all tantrums--twice. In public, with people staring, stuck in a field for 30 minutes, stuck in the car for 45. Memorable.

Slightly traumatized from the year before, we kept the Third Year simple. Local place, just me and now two little people. Short and sweet.

Feeling brave, for the Fourth Year we headed back to the original apple-picking orchard--with memories from that first year starting to fade away memories of the second. Two walkers eager to pick some apples. Two walkers who weren't so happy to walk, who weren't so happy to hold hands in a parking lot, who weren't so excited about the actual apples. Who cried in the car on the way home. Nostalgic.

Fall Number 5 with children was fading fast. Just me and my two adventuresome buddies at the local orchard. The local orchard with long lines, high prices and no apples on the trees. Trying to make it into some sort of memory despite a stomach-ached child, we picked our fruit off the ground. We made applesauce and apple pie. Together. Sweet pie from sour apples.

Year Number 6 with now three growing little people. Back to the first orchard full of hope. Warm, picturesque day. Donuts, hayrides, wooly-worms and apples. Perfect...

Here's looking forward to Year 7! :)

What if...?

2011-10-18T22:28:00.001-04:00

Starting to think about Orphan Sunday--November 6, 2011...

Monday Made-It: Vegetables in a Cake

2011-10-18T09:12:00.000-04:00

Getting vegetables into the people here is quite a difficult task.

But the people love their bread. White, wheat, cinnamon-swirl, banana, pumpkin, zucchini--they can't get enough.

The Garden Harvest Cake is extra sneaky--within it's moist cakeyness there are apples, carrots and zucchini--triple points!

Chowing down. :)

She is hilarious!

Sunday Funnies: Lesson Learned

2011-10-16T18:10:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time I made some Pasta e Fagioli with extra to freeze. Yum!

A few weeks later that Pasta e Fagioli (which is incredibly hard for me to remember how to spell) sounded like a great quick dinner.

Except for this.

That would be my Pasta e Fagioli frozen solid around the freezer grates. Not exactly quick. :)

Oh, and a little girl here has just learned what to do when the camera pops out.

Is that a gorgeous smile, or what? :)

Friday Favorites: Breathing It In

2011-10-14T14:37:00.004-04:00

The sights and smells of Fall.

A Fall walk (Columbus Day) with falling leaves and waterfalls.
(J surprised us and took the day off--at the end of the day he said, "I never would have remembered a meeting from today, but I'll remember my time with these guys forever.")

The colors just coming to our backyard this week.
(It was the color black day at preschool today.)

Wishing they could stay this way for a long, long time--but yet, we can't wait for them to fall so that we can build our leaf mazes. :)

Miller, Am I Crazy?

2011-10-11T09:48:00.002-04:00

I probably asked JMill that no less than 10 times last night as I stood in the kitchen grating a bar of soap. And then another bar.

Why was I grating soap you ask?

Well, because I thought it would be fun to make my very own body wash for sensitive skin (I have been blessed with very sensitive skin.).

And then, just for kicks, I thought it would also be fun to make my very own laundry detergent.

Yep, I made my own laundry detergent. I surprise even myself.

And when I was done with all of that concocting, I whipped out a bleach pen and created a one-of-a-kind t-shirt design. (That one is still a work in progress. :)

People, I can.not.stop.

Source: sarahperkinsphotography.com via Ida on Pinterest

This week alone I made a vast amount of headbands utilizing various flower-making techniques,

Baked Pinterest-inspired cookies-and-cream cupcakes,

Created Pinterest-inspired paint-chip invitations with M and T,
(They are "Bee our Guest" invitations to a Bear Party--I made those up--I do, on rare occasions, have my own original thoughts. ;)

Attemped to bake bear-head shaped rolls,

Made P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps (ohmyword-so-good), found this recipe for microwaveable individual chocolate cakes to be a bit rubbery, gobbled up banana ice-cream like it's the hottest thing around and silently cheered to myself when my groceries came in paper bags so that I can make these.

I keep asking myself, "is this a good thing or a bad thing? Have I gone too far?" ;) I think it's good--it's maybe kind-of like taking classes or something. I mean, I'm learning something new everyday, right? :)

Okay, off to go make more things!

Source: freshpickedwhimsy.typepad.com via Gini on Pinterest

Sunday Funnies: Cookie Monsters

2011-10-09T19:56:00.000-04:00

Friday Favorites: The Blue Sweatshirt

2011-10-07T14:18:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite fall book. Something about the leaves on the ground, pumpkin smells and smoke coming from the chimney take me back.

But, then, just this year I realized that maybe I like this book so much because quite possibly I look just like the boy in the story.

Jeffrey in his blue sweatshirt.

Two-year-old me in my blue sweatshirt--eating a donut, of course. :)

What would happen if you wrote a family mission statement?

2011-10-07T00:05:00.000-04:00

Well, for one thing, you might discover that you and your spouse are borderline ogres.

This past weekend, JMill and I sat down to create a family mission statement. A pretty big job, I might say.

Basically, we've got just this one life to live--what do we want to fill it with? We don't want to look back someday with huge regrets for how we spent our time (although, certainly, mistakes are inevitable and can provide unexpected opportunities for growth.). A mission statement can help to define where you're going and set parameters for the path to get there.

So, yeah, where in the world to begin?

First we watched this video from Franklin Covey answering the question, "What do you want people to say about you on your 82nd birthday?" Wow--um, we see lots of room to grow... :)

Then to get our creative juices flowing (and for a healthy reality check and deep thinking late on a Saturday night;), we answered the questions from this post (where we came to our ogre conclusion).

It is still a work in progess. Can't wait to share our personal family mission statement someday. But in the meantime, I came across this, and it seems to say it all pretty perfectly.

You can get one HERE.

The Family that Bikes Together...

2011-10-05T21:00:00.004-04:00

Stays together.

Unless someone starts going in the wrong direction.

Not mentioning any names.

I have recently acquired a new (inexpensive) purple bike and my very first bike helmet (I think that it's been well over 12 years since I've last ridden a bike--you know, when I was like 10. ;)

And with the addition of a bike trailer, we ride in style as a whole family. Fun! Mostly. ;)

This past weekend we made a bucket list for the fall.

We decided that it was the perfect weekend to take on the Rail Trail.

Cool fall air--M trying to get her hands in her sweater sleeves.

T sported this face--his worried face.

He was worried that there might be wolves in the woods. Where would he get an idea like that?

Dude needed pretty much constant reminders to stay on his side and on the trail (he only bumped into one fence post.) And he had a blast trying to "beat" me.

Such a blurry photo, but seriously, could he get any more thrilled to be "racing" past me?

Okay, so the first two miles--so easy. The small bikers were begging, begging, I tell you, to go farther. We vetoed--knowing full well that the two miles back might just be too much.

Mile 3 was the most memorable. Smallest biker was pretty much at a standstill. After a quick "What-In-The-World-Do-We-Do-Now?" Brainstorm, we concluded that we could just pop him in with Beza. Pat-on-the-back, brilliant solution. I mean, who wouldn't want to ride in the chariot?

T, that's who.

Let's just say that it was good that no one else was around. And after his release his strong sense of indignation about being put in the trailer with a baby made him pedal faster than ever.

And we all made it back to the van! In one piece.

With fond memories of quiet trails, peaceful ponds, colored leaves, tired legs, angry wails, sleep-drunk babies (who are not allowed to sleep outside of naptime under any circumstances ;), and our longest bike ride accomplished together as a family. :)

Monday Made-It: Porch Makeover

2011-10-03T14:44:00.000-04:00

The evolution of a porch.

1. Blank canvas.

New blue pots from my dad.

Country-blue door.

A small rock collection.

A very sad T.

2. Room for two.

Wicker "pod" chairs.

Chocolate brown door.

Vintage watering can.

(Christmas lights.)

3. Well worn.

Shiny new chairs not so shiny anymore.

Spray-painted to make them last another year.

Bugs take up residence in the nooks and crannies.

No one sits in them anymore.

4. Making room to cozy down.

A glider.

A rocking chair.

A new door color.

(My attempt at this.)

Room for all to watch the world go by.

Sunday Funnies: Going Viral

2011-10-02T19:15:00.000-04:00

Well, at least to us... :)

We have always told M that she could get her ears pierced whenever she was ready. We explained that it would hurt and so she would have to be prepared for that.

Over a year-and-a-half ago she was with J at the mall and on a whim he asked if she wanted to get them pierced. She did.

Our little girl who cries when she bumps her finger, but doesn't make a peep during vaccinations (in fact, she likes to watch--crazy kid), didn't even flinch (although she was a bit nervous) during the whole process.

J put the video on YouTube to share with our parents, sisters and friends.

That little video has over 16,000 hits between the two of us. Crazy! :)

Just in case you, too, want to catch our greatest hit ;), here it is...

Three Days of "Unlawful Absence"

2011-09-29T14:10:00.001-04:00

Last week we got to spend three days living it up at Penn State--J got to go there for work.

We keep trips like this hush-hush until right before we leave--it keeps the excitement level a little more under control. :)

Us: "Family announcement!"
Them: Come running into our room where we're packing.
Us: "We're actually not going to Nana and Pop's."
Them: Silence.
Us: "We're going to Penn State."
Them: Silence
Us: "We're staying in a hotel."
Them: "Ahh!" Ear-piercing screams.
Us: "For three nights."
Them: "Ahhhhh!" Even louder ear-piercing screams.
Us: "And it has a pool."
Them: "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Un-conceivably even louder ear-piercing screams.

Yeah, they might like hotels...with pools. :)

While Daddy was at work, I spent one afternoon with my mom (one hour away).

My parents' house is tucked in the mountain just up the road from that Church. The little crew and I took our first ever walk there together to see the beautiful inside--where, once upon a time, I went to school.

I spent another afternoon visiting my sister and new nephew. (An hour and a half in the opposite direction.)

Awww...what a cute picture with the baby. ;) Seriously, what is up with that face?!

And on the way back from her house we took a car break at a cute little park.

The leaves there were already turning colors.

On our last day there we did all things Penn State.

We visited the Nittany Lion Shrine.

Yes, I was there, too. :)

Where did she learn that pose?

We visited our favorite farmer's market for fresh organic raspberries after meeting my cousin for bagels.

And had a lunch of ice cream at the Creamery.

And on the way back home then next day, we stopped at the Amish store for pumpkins.

Fun Fall trip!

The Result of Picture Day

2011-09-28T21:52:00.000-04:00

Is a little girl who has spent the day posing her stuffed animals for class pictures with our old camera.

She learned how to use the "timer" feature tonight and J hooked her up with a tripod.

But first she makes sure that their "hair" is just right. Her teachers thought her hair needed a little help this morning and they spent a bit of time working out the tangles and putting in her barrette just right. :) Apparently I miscalculated the importance of "picture day." :)

Nothing like an impromptu family photo at the end of the day (Beza was already in bed.)

Every few months we download her photos--always fun to see just exactly what she's captured.

Besides her stuffed animals, the most common object of her affection is Riley the cat.

Or other still life in our home--showing it like it really is.

Bags of garbage by the front door.

There are sometimes some of us.

Some of them are from unique angles (sharing this one instead of the lovely amount of ones taken of me early in the morning.)

She gets up close and personal with her subjects.

And she captures their eyes.

Love her point of view...

Her reflection in the water at the bottom of the grate.

In this last month of her being 5....

Love seeing the world through her eyes. :)

Plastic Clay

2011-09-27T20:57:00.001-04:00

In my mom's group we're reading The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd.

I love the reminder in this poem about the powerful role of a mom in this stage of life...

Scheduled (But...um...THAT is NOT shampoo!)

2011-09-26T11:52:00.001-04:00

The new school year is just two weeks old and we've been spending these past two weeks working on getting organized. Or maybe a better word is "scheduled."

Funny thing is that schedules make me cringe. I LOVE being organized, but there is something about being "scheduled" that makes me feel like I'm a slave to time. It feels like such a restrictive word. Funnier still, I live a pretty scheduled life--I just don't write it down (hmmm...maybe that's why my library books are always overdue.). I think that maybe I've been afraid that if I actually wrote down a schedule of any kind (daily, menu, etc), that if I didn't accomplish everything at the right time or in the right order I would feel like I had failed.

But I am learning to fully embrace the "schedule"--the "flexible schedule." :) And what a great time of the year to start some new things!

Here's a bit of what we've been working on:

Inspired, once again, by Pinterest, I made this hanging chalkboard (using spray paint) on an old wooden box and wrote some fun things to do each day with the gang. (

Yes, they are learning how to do laundry and garbage! (Tuesday Towels & Trash--gotta love alliteration.)

And when by Day Four of school we had already had the "Forgot-To-Use-The-Potty-At-Home-And-Majorly-Dislike-Public-Restrooms" Fiasco and the forgotten backpack, I made our own handy little schedule cards (hmmm...wonder where I got that idea? :).

Some of the cards are upstairs...

The rest are downstairs under the new Menu Board.

SO excited about this board! My neighbor sent me a link to the "30 Meal Plan" over at NannyGoat.

I went through all of my recipes and printed out 30 of them using these templates.

(Bonus: Now I can just print a copy to share.)

I am totally loving this recipe card set up--it makes it so easy to quickly see what ingredients I need from the grocery store for the week. And when it's time to make dinner, I just bring the card into the kitchen--I don't have to look for the recipe in my cookbooks.

My favorite recipe card:

I snagged that board at a yard sale for $2.00. In keeping with my "small children and tacks don't mix" philosophy, I found ways to use clothespins to hold almost everything in place. I had birds left over from this project and just glued them onto the pins that are clipped onto some yarn.

Then I found these fun printables to add a little character:

T is a green bean addict and M always says, "I will never, ever stop loving you."

To help us get out the door on time, I set this alarm clock near the front door to go off 10 minutes before we leave. That's our signal to get our shoes on and have our school bags/coats ready to go. (Don't faint, Mom, but) So far, so good on getting there on time. :)

Loving these new things to help keep us on track. It doesn't feel restrictive at all! And believe me, we have had plenty of opportunities to keep it "flexible."

Because there are curve balls that look a little like this:

M: Mommy, T has soap in his hair!
Me: What? He's just washing his hands.
(Walking into the bathroom:)
Me: T! That is NOT shampoo!

T thought that the marshmallow handsoap bubbles were an awesome addition to his morning routine.

The result: A completely "unscheduled" pre-preschool bath. :)

(And a little boy that smelled like marshmallow for a good three days.)

Linked up with:

Sunday Funnies: Growin' em Strong

2011-09-25T19:48:00.001-04:00

Or something like that. ;)

So...I saw this pose on Pinterest and found the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl outside a church at Penn State this past week.

This shot requires willing participants and a set of steps with a large connected sidewalk (to look like a wall). It also requires a skilled photographer. ;) Hmmm...working on that one. :) Anyway, while the angle is a bit off, thought these were kind-of fun.

"Jumping" for Joy! ;)