Easter Eggs

One more layout to share with you, and then I've got to get back to watching hockey... Go Pens!

A quick one of the kids and their egg coloring. More new goodies from another new designer at Funky Playground. Here's a link to her store if you want to check it out.

Journaling: "3 dozen eggs, 3 packs of coloring tabs, & 6 packs of stickers made for one memorable afternoon of coloring Easter eggs. you were so particular about the color of each egg, so meticulous about the placement of each sparkly sticker. They were almost too pretty to hide!"

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Baby Boy

I got the chance to work with an adorable baby kit (Posh Tots) by a new designer at Funky Playground - Tania Shaw. I right away thought of these hospital pictures of Isaac that I've never done anything with. I think I took at least 15 shots of him just laying in his hospital portable crib / bassinet thing. He was just so peaceful (most of the time) just laying there chillin'. You know, all of those pictures look about the same, but I've still never been able to resist snapping those pictures!


Journaling: I confess. From the moment I saw you, I couldn't take my eyes off of you - your tiny little features, your soft little cheeks. Maybe that's why I took so many pictures of you in your hospital bed just lying there all brand new. All the pictures kind of look the same, but they're all so cute.


***

Now hear this...

Today was Isaac's follow-up appointment with the audiologist and ENT specialist. The results of the visit: his hearing is normal in his left ear and slightly decreased in his right ear. The ENT specialist believes the hearing decrease is due almost entirely to fluid behind his ear. At this point, he just wants to treat Isaac for air born allergies to see if that can decrease the inflammation, which should, in turn, decrease the fluid build-up. I am very thankful that the doctor is looking to avoid surgery to put tubes in. He said today that that would be the last resort if nothing else works. I am believing that by the end of the summer, we will see a drastic improvement in this whole situation, and there won't be any long-term issues for my little man. Please keep Isaac in your prayers if he comes to mind for you. We would certainly appreciate it!

Today's theme: LATE

It's Monday.

7:20 am - woke up (20 minutes later than the latest I can wake up and still be on time... translation - RUNNING LATE).

8:10 am - boys on the bus, I FINALLY get in the shower.

8:55 - leave to drop Meagan off at preschool & head to work

9:10 - drop Meagan off at preschool (10 minutes late... mathematically, I suppose you could say I've made up 10 minutes, right? just trying to find the bright side! lol!)

9:15 - Arrive at work (oops, I've lost 5 minutes again, since I made the choice to stop and get some tea and trail mix for breakfast)

2:10 pm - after working through the morning, our staff meeting, and then one other meeting with another lady, I FINALLY grab lunch for about 10 minutes... then back to work so I can finish up... have to leave early today.

3:25 pm - leave to make a bank run and pick the boys up from school so we can attempt to get to Isaac's dr. appointment on time...we'll see...

3:45 pm - school lets out... I'm still waiting in a LOOOONNNGGG line of cars full of parents waiting to pick up their kids... I could be here a while.

3:55 pm - the boys FINALLY get in the car and get buckled... I'm back to being behind schedule

4:30 pm - arrive at the chiropractor (again, 10 minutes late)

5:00 pm - leave the chiropractor

5:30 pm - pick Meagan up from pre-school

5:45 pm - Burger King drive-thru for dinner (at this point, Isaac's game starts in 15 minutes... pretty sure we'll be late to that too)

5:50 pm - sit down and scarf dinner. Not the greatest, but I thank God we're not starving, eat it and move on.

6:05 - Lucas leaves with Isaac & Meagan to go to Isaac's baseball game.

6:10 - Sebastian and I run to Wal-Mart to pick up snacks for his baseball game (which starts at 7:00).

7:00 - we arrive at Sebastian's game just in time for the game to start. Finally, not late for something today!

8:30 - Pull in the driveway after what has felt like the day that would never end.

8:45 - Sebastian finishes his shower, and everyone is finally ready for bed.

9:00 - I decide to go out for a quick attempt at a run... (I didn't do too badly, considering I haven't run since right before I found out I was pregnant with Meagan... yes, it's been 4+ years. My legs currently feel like jell-o, but I'm doing okay!)

10:10 - finish blogging, take a shower, and fall into bed. Will try to get up by 7:00 tomorrow! :)

When did we get a Hamster?

I had to laugh at Meagan today. We had a bit of a drive today, so she took her new Leapster 2 with her that she got from Grandma & Grandpa for her birthday. We were driving along, and things had been quiet for a while. All of a sudden, she cries out, "Mom! My hamster! I can't find my hamster anywhere!'

I confess, I was stumped. I thought maybe it was something with a Littlest Pet Shop... maybe? I said, 'Sweetie, you didn't bring any of your pet shop animals with you.'

'No Mom! My hamster! I just had it!'

Since I was driving, I couldn't exactly turn around and help her find her *hamster?* so I sort of ignored her in hopes that she would move on to something else. There was a moment of quiet, and then she said, 'Oh there it is! Can you hand it to me?' I looked, and she was pointing in my direction. I looked around, but all I saw was her Leapster in the floor by my chair. When I told her I didn't see what she was talking about, she said, 'It's right there!! My hamster!' I could tell she was getting frustrated with me, but I still was a little lost. Finally, in desperation to quiet her, I picked up her game and handed it to her... 'Here, do you want to play this instead?'

'YES!! That's what I've been saying!'

'What? You mean the Leapster? It's called a Leapster, Honey, not a hamster.'

Thoughtful momentary pause... 'That's okay. I can call it a hamster if I want to.'

Okay. Hamster it is. Glad I could help.


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Easier Than Ever 2

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share this with you... Creating Keepsakes just put out a new idea book called Easier Than Ever 2. I don't normally promote other people's products on my blog, but I'm excited to say that 2 of my 2-page layouts are featured in this book - both of Meagan's birthday from last year actually! Anyway, I know some of you who follow along are scrappers, or would like to be scrappers, or like to scrap but don't have the time or creativity, etc. I thought I would encourage you to take a look at this book... each layout is SIMPLE (hence the name of the book) and GORGEOUS! I would love to have an album full of pages that look this good. The best thing is that each layout comes with step-by-step instructions, ideas for simplifying, an estimate on how long each layout takes to complete, and a list of supplies that you'll need to make each one. How much easier does it get (again, with the name)?! Thought I'd pass the info along if you're interested...it could be worth your time to look into it.

Early Morning

I just wanted to document, for historical purposes that is, that I actually woke up at 5:30, and GOT up at 6:00... in the morning. Here's to hoping I make it through the day without a nap!

Happy Memorial Day!


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note to self

note to self: You are blessed beyond measure. Be a blessing to others. --Me


***

...happiness

Isn't she sweet? She waits for the boys to get home on the bus every day! The few moments it takes for the bus to go down and turn around at the end of the road must seem like eternity to her!
Journaling: boys home from school = happiness

'Those hours when the boys are at school and Meagan is at home can't pass quickly enough as far as she is concerned. She eagerly waits as the bus goes to the end of the road to turn around & bring her boys home.'


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Birthday in the midst of baseball

Well, Meagan is officially four years and 2 days old now! Her birthday was slightly eclipsed by daily life, but we did our best to make it special for her and to enjoy it together as a family. On my way home from work, I stopped at Dairy Queen and got an ice cream cake for her. Then when we came home, she walked in to see her gifts waiting for her on the table... which of course, made her HAVE to open them right then! I love it!



The boys got her 2 books - Pinkalicious (from Sebastian) and Purplelicious (from Isaac). She also got a Tinkerbell mini backpack and Tinkerbell soundtrack CD and hair clips and another game (Princesses) for her new Leapster... But the grand finale was the one thing that she said she wanted time and time again whenever anyone would ask her about her birthday... a ballerina music box... also Tinkerbell-inspired. At the end of the movie, Tink repairs a ballerina music box and returns it to Wendy. Apparently that has really gotten her wheels turning, and she has been wanting one and requesting one for several weeks. Can I just tell you those things are NOT easy to find...in stores anyway. But I found a really really cute one online for only about $40. It's blue with butterflies and ballerinas on the outside with pink velvet on the inside and a little spinning dancing ballerina. It's so pretty, and watching her examine it was beyond precious! Her eyes lit up. And she kept opening it and closing it and re-opening it. And she peeked in the little mirror that's in the box. She even put all of her hair clips in it. She was thrilled! That made my heart happy.

Anyway, after a quick dinner, we did what we could to really actually enjoy the ice cream cake before we headed out the door for 2 baseball games. Ah, well. We had a good day. We had fun playing together at the games. And we were all together as a family, even if it wasn't our typical birthday celebration.

***

Today is Tuesday

Today is Meagan's last day of being three! I can't believe it! She's getting sooooo big so fast!

Yesterday my mom came up to visit and watch the boys' baseball games. She staid the night, and we got up first thing this morning and headed to the school for the boys' field days. Sebastian's class had field day from 9:00 until about 11:30, and Isaac's went from about 1:00 until 3:15. And we fit in lunch at Applebees for Lucas' birthday somewhere in between.

After we left the school, we headed back to the house, picked up Meagan, and left for gymnastics practice. It was my mom's first time getting to see Meagan do gymnastics, so that was fun! After practice, we grabbed Wendy's for dinner, ate quick, and headed to our last small group of the season. We did manage to get home at a somewhat early hour, and all kids were in bed before 9:00. Not bad!

I have a few things to get taken care of before bedtime... namely wrapping Meagan's gifts!! I should probably do that before tomorrow afternoon (on second thought... I think I'll do that tomorrow at lunch time. I just feel like being a lazy bum tonight... I'm pooped!) So maybe I'll just sit here and watch the finale of Dancing with the Stars (which I usually never watch, by the way), and maybe play on the computer for a bit before bed. Sounds like as good of a plan as any, right? 'Night!

Birthday Girl

She doesn't officially turn four until Wednesday, but this past Saturday we celebrated Meagan's birthday. We headed to Grandma & Grandpa's house for the party, so there were lots of friends and family members there to celebrate with us. She had a great time... we all did really... although we were all exhausted by the time we got home Sunday night (although you would never know it by the way the kids went to bed - or FAILED to go to bed! Yikes!!)

This layout is just a series of pictures we took throughout the party - cake, presents, family. It was a Tinkerbell party complete with fairy dust sprinkles on the pink & green cupcakes. She loved it!

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Enjoy Every Moment

Last week, my new friend Krista gave me the chance to use her AMAZING new kit called Enjoy the Moment. That was definitely a nice surprise, and I had a lot of fun with it! Here's the layout I came up with... I still have plans to do at least one more layout with it simply because there are too many good papers & elements in there that I haven't used yet! Can't let good stuff go to waste!
Journaling: I'm still trying to learn this. I take things way too seriously sometimes. Sometimes I get focused on the unimportant things, and I miss out on opportunities to enjoy a moment and make a memory. But on this particular day we were enjoying a silly moment together. We smiled and laughed and grew a little closer. We should do this more often!


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Wishing Flowers

Friday Meagan and I went on a walk around the neighborhood. We found a few exciting things, such as a hatched robin's egg, a nest in a tree, and some beautiful flowers. But her favorite thing by far were the white fluffy dandelions. If I would have let her, she would have picked every last one of them! They are captivating and magical to her! She kept blowing the seeds off and saying goodbye to the fairies that just must have been waiting to be sent to Neverland. I don't know that she ever actually made a wish, but she has officially deemed them to be called wishing flowers.

Credits

It's a great day to be Mommy!

Happy Mothers' Day to all of my mommas... to my mom, Nancy, and Jane... and to all of my friends who are mommas like me, still making our way through the challenges of mothering yet-t0-be-grown-up children.

Yesterday I think I was at a low point for being a mom. Nothing majorly bad happened, but there was a moment when one of the kids did something they really shouldn't have, and I thought, 'Am I even making any impact on their lives? Do they get it at all?' I wasn't feeling like the most effective mom in the world, that's for sure.

But God quickly reminded me of the importance of being a constant presence from beginning to end in the lives of my children... that consistency, perseverance, and habit-forming practices will serve to shape and mold their personalities, directing them to become the adults they will someday be. And this morning, I felt very encouraged, and overwhelmingly blessed!! Even now as I think of it again, my heart swells with love for them, and tears fill my eyes. It's a huge responsibility, and a daunting task when you really think of it. But I can only work with today - it's all I have.

So really, it's just a one-day-at-a-time role. It's about making the best choices with what I have now; instilling the necessary wisdom in this moment; correcting what needs to be corrected right now. Any mistakes I've ever made, harsh words I've ever spoken - they're all in the past... done and over... can't be undone. And all of the things to come have yet to arrive, so I can do nothing about them either.

All I have is today - the day for moms - the day where I got homemade hand prints and magnets and pictures made with love - the day I got to read stories to the boys and play dolls with Meagan. I am so thankful for these things! Today is a good day to be Mommy!

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY!



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Breakfast Casserole

Okay, one more thing that I threw together last night for dinner. I know it's been done before, but I found that out AFTER I made mine...LOL! It would probably have been much easier to work off of a preexisting recipe! Anyway, what I did was slightly different the the recipes I found... same concept, different quantities & cook time etc. * Preheat to 375 * In a 9x13 dish, spread out about 1/2 pkg of tater tots (about 35 pcs) * Then cover the tater tots with 1 lb. cooked ground sausage * Whip 12 eggs and about 1/8 cup of milk together in a bowl * pour the egg mixture over the sausage & tater tots * Cover the whole thing with shredded cheddar * Cook at 375 for about 45 minutes. YUM! It was really good. My kids all devoured it! I'll definitely be making this one again!

Chicken Lasagna Alfredo

Well, I've been on a roll lately with making up random meals to use up things we have. Last Sunday, our church had a carry-in dinner in the evening, and I had nothing that made any sense that was enough to feed a large group of people. Instead, I made something up. I figured, worst case, it wasn't any good, and a few people may still eat it (lol). I made sure to get some on my plate when I went through the line to try it out. And to my surprise - and relief - it wasn't bad! I thought I'd share it with you... also, that way I can come back to this later to see what I did, because I'm really good at forgetting things. I did all of this in my big oblong crock pot.

* spray the crock pot lightly with cooking spray

* in a bowl, combine

• 15 oz. canned white meat chicken (drained),


• 1 pkg frozen mixed veggies (I used peas, carrots, corn, gr beans) - still frozen is fine,


• 2 jars of Alfredo sauce (I used Classico...it was very yummy),


• a bit of milk (maybe 1/8 - 1/4 cup),


• Italian seasoning or oregano - no idea how much, I just put it in ??

* cover the bottom of the crock pot with a thin layer of the sauce mix

* lay out 3 or 4 uncooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pot

*Spread a layer of ricotta cheese over the noodles

* Cover with some of the sauce mix

*sprinkle a light layer of shredded mozz & parmesan cheese over the sauce

* layer another layer of uncooked noodles, ricotta, sauce, and cheese until the pot is full.

* Put the lid on. Cook on high for 1 hour. Then on low for 4-5 hours.

Why ask why

This conversation was held this morning:

me - 'Meagan, I love you.'
meg - 'Why?'
me - 'Why do I love you? Because you're precious and special and smart and funny and sweet, and because you're my girl.'
meg - 'Oh yea, I knew all that.'

:)



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Fun in the Sun

I'm starting to get stir crazy for summer! I'm really hoping to be more proactive this year in finding fun things to do with the kids. Last year I was kind of a lazy bum when it came to being creative with them! I know there is a small lake nearby that lets you swim for free...we may look into that this year. And I may take advantage of the free gardens nearby and so forth.


Here's a layout I did the other day that 100% makes me think summer! I used a new kit by Pink Ellie called Aloha. I LOVE the colors in this kit. I've been holding on to these goggle pics of Meagan for a year now, waiting to find a kit that really does them justice. I was so excited to finally get these awesome pics (thanks Grandma...or Tina!) onto a layout.

Journaling: Summer vacation at Grandma & Grandpa's always provides plenty of opportunity for swimming! This year, Meagan had no problem keeping pace with the boys. With her green goggles and her hot pink floaties, once she got in the pool, it was hard to get her out! Summer 2008

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For those who want to know...

I know a few of you have asked me about baseball/gymnastics schedules so that you can make plans to come up and watch games & practices. I figured the easiest way was to post it here. That way you can't lose it, and I can make changes if needed and not worry about forgetting to tell someone something! So, without further delay, here it is:

Saturday May 9:

• 9:00 am - Baseball practice (S)

Monday May 11:

• 5:45 - Game (S)
• 6:00 - Baseball (I)

Tuesday May 12:

• 4:30 - Gymnastics (M)
• 7:00 - Game (S)

Wednesday May 13:

• 6:45 - Baseball (I)

Monday May 18:

• 6:00 - Game (I)
• 7:00 - Game (S)

Tuesday May 19:

• 4:30 - Gymnastics (M)

Wednesday May 20:

• 6:00 - Game (I)
• 7:00 - Game (S)

Tuesday May 26:

• 4:30 - Gymnastics (M)
• 5:45 - Game (S)

Wednesday May 27:

• 6:00 - Game (I)

Saturday May 30:

• 12:30 - Game (S)

Monday June 1:

• 6:00 - Game (I)
• 7:00 - Game (S)

Tuesday June 2:

• 4:30 - Gymnastics (M)
• 5:45 - Game (S)

Wednesday June 3:

• 6:00 - Game (I)

Monday June 8:

• 5:45 - Game (S)
• 6:00 - Game (I)

Tuesday June 9:

• 4:30 - Gymnastics (M)

Wednesday June 10:

• 5:45 - Game (S)
• 6:45 - Game (I)

Saturday June 13:

• 12:00 - Game (S)

Monday June 15:

• 6:00 - Game (I)
• 7:00 - Game (S)

Tuesday June 16:

• 4:30 - Gymnastics (M)
• 7:00 - Game (S)

Wednesday June 17 (OUR 9-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!)

• 6:45 - Game (I)

Monday June 22:

• Baseball tournaments this week...not sure of the days yet (S)
• 6:45 - Game (I)

Tuesday June 23:

• 4:30 - Gymnastics (M)
• And maybe a tournament game for Sebastian

So, there you have it. If there are any changes, I'll change this post so that it's always up-to-date. The only real change I could foresee is maybe Meagan's gymnastics schedule will be changing for the summer session. Not sure when that starts yet.

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Number 28 & 29

I have officially finished 29 scrapbook layouts so far this year. That really doesn't seem like a lot, but I guess it averages out to a little over 7 layouts a month, which is quite a bit. Here are #'s 28 and 29! I'll set a goal of 55 for the year, just for fun, to see if I can make it! Something tells me I should be able to pull that off!

Anyway....

The first one is a picture of Isaac and Lucas that I took last year at one of Sebastian's t-ball games.

The journaling says: 'this moment is precious to him - sitting in daddy's lap, reading, listening. in this moment, he has his daddy's full attention. it may seem like a small thing - easily overlooked, even lost, among the daily rush & activity. but this moment should not be overlooked. it should not be forgotten. it should be celebrated. captured. remembered. because in this moment, he is learning to trust. to communicate. to share. to be. in this moment, his life is being shaped. his path is being altered, changed, forever. in this moment, he knows what it means to LOVE, and for that, this moment should be remembered.' (click for credits)

The second page is of Meagan on her first birthday. Can you believe this was almost 3 years ago already! I am constantly amazed at how quickly time passes!

The journaling says: "The big giant box should have been a hint that Shane and Tina had something planned for you. I wasn't expecting to see a giant crushed-velvet bear in the box, but that's what we found! You LOVED it, and kept coming back to it all day!" (click for credits)

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Burried in baseball!

Oh my goodness! Yesterday was the first day in 2 weeks of attempts that a baseball / t-ball practice actually went off without a rain cancellation. Sebastian's practice was at 5:30; Isaac's was at 5:45.... or so we thought.

So, I took Sebastian & Meagan to one school, and Lucas went with Isaac to another school - because, of course, they have to be at the same time at different locations... anything else would be too easy, right!

I had been under the impression that Sebastian was playing BASEBALL this year - no tee. But when we got there, there was a tee, and at least 3 kids on Sebastian's team that are in kindergarten. I thought, 'Wow! They're a little young to be skipping over a year of t-ball for baseball!" Although I was wondering a bit, I stopped worrying about it at the point when another kid Sebastian's age (and in Sebastian's class at school) showed up for practice.

Well, we got home before Isaac and Lucas did. I figured since they started 15 minutes later, they'd be home within 15 to 20 minutes, right? Nope. It was at least 7:30 before they got home. Hmmm....

And then Lucas spoke up. "Bec, did Sebastian's team have pitching?" Yes, I answered, the coaches pitched. "Oh no! Not Isaac's team! They had a fast pitch machine! And they were running laps, and doing push-ups! And one kid got beamed in the face with a pitch and started bleeding! Poor Isaac just kept ducking the ball!"

Ah ha! Maybe THAT's why I was so suspicious during practice that something wasn't right! The rec league got our boys mixed up and put them on the wrong teams! So we notified the coaches that, as of next practice, we will be switching the boys around to the other team.

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Okay, that being resolved, I sat down at the calender to put in their schedules. Let's just say, we are going to have to divide and conquer, or there is NO way! Sebastian will have practices or games on Monday's and Tuesday's mostly, sometimes Wednesday's, and sometimes Saturday's. Isaac will practice / play on Monday's and Wednesday's. One at 5:45 or 7:00. The other at 6:00 or 6:30. (And all of this is complicated just a bit by Meagan's gymnastics on Tuesdays, and sometimes Wednesday's or Thursday's). The season runs through mid-June for Isaac. Sebastian's goes the same, but there's a tournament the week of June 22. Thankfully, the calender on my computer lets you keep a separate calender for each person and view them together or separately. (It's also color-coded by person, so it looks like a big giant coloring book!)

Let's just say that I think by the end of June, we will not be sorry to say good-bye to the baseball season.

***

According to You

Look how much Sebastian has grown! A few years ago we did an interview with him to document things he liked at that time. Back in October, we did another interview to update things a bit, and I just got around to putting the whole thing together on a layout. The kit I used is a new one by Traci Murphy at Funky Playground called 'All About da Funk.' It will be released tomorrow, the 30th.

age: 7

fav color: black

fav food: candy corn hershy kisses & hot dogs

fav book/series: hardy boys

worst food: fish & mint anything

fav movie: flicka

best friend: harley

fav sport: football

fav school special: technology

fav school subject: writing

something you like but don't do very often: fishing

best part of school: fun friday

worst part of school: nothing

what are you good at: drawing & making up stories

fav thing to draw: pokemon

fav vacation spot: cedar point

On the Go

Here are 2 layouts I did with a new kit by Ziggle Designs called 'On the Go.' The 1st one is of Sebastian on the day he was born. Wasn't he a cute little peanut! The second one is of the kids at Cedar Point last year. They got Grandma to go on the speedy race cars. They had a blast!

The Crunchy Ones

The other night, we ran out of pull-ups in our house. What to do?! So, I put Meagan in big girl undies for bed time, and covered them with the plastic water-proof underpants. Let's just say, she's not the biggest fan of the plastic pants. She says they're too noisy and crunchy.

Last night at bedtime, Lucas was getting her ready for bed. First the regular undies. Then the plastic ones. When it came time for the plastic ones, she went into full protest. "I DON'T LIKE THE CRUNCHY ONES!" she cried. Lucas responded, "As soon as you learn to stay dry, you won't have to wear them anymore." When that wasn't enough to settle her, he said, "Besides, your brothers had to wear these too when they were learning to stay dry at night."

Sebastian, who was standing nearby, and who hears EVERYTHING, throws his 2 cents in by saying, "Um, I don't remember EVER wearing THOSE THINGS!"

Thanks buddy, that's a lot of help.

She still wore them.

Today, however, we found them thrown away in the trash can in her bathroom. Nice try girl. It's gonna take more than that to get rid of the crunchy ones.

Slightly less broken...slightly

Well, we got the van fixed. However, now it creaks. So apparently, it still needs some TLC. We'll be looking into that tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon, Lucas took it upon himself to repair the garage door, which eventually involved me holding the big bar that goes the full width of the garage while he tightened the cables... Only I couldn't reach, and I could get my hands around the vice grips (or whatever they were that I was using), so I was practically hanging on the thing to hold it... I'm sure that was quite the sight. Thankfully, there were no cameras around! We did eventually manage to get the garage door back into an operable state. We are no longer trapped in our garage, and Lucas doesn't have to lift with herculean might to push the door up.

We did manage to get more caught up (although not completely) on the laundry piles that were accumulating in every corner of every room in the house (not really, but it was starting to feel like it!) Plus, when we went to pick up the van the other day, we left the windows open, only to come home to a flooded kitchen & bedroom thanks to the storm that blew threw while we were away.... which meant that an entire basket of clean laundry that had been sitting under our window, just waiting to be folded, was DRENCHED! Do over!

So, our last three days have been non-stop doing and going. We've been working hard, and I'm thinking right now it's about time to crash! Hopefully the next few days will bring a bit of rest at some point, although we'll have to find time to squeeze it into our schedule between all of the t-ball / baseball / gymnastics practices! (Sheesh, I'm wearing myself out just typing this! I think we just need a vacation!) As for now, I am DONE for the day. I have a nice cozy bed that is calling my name! 'Night!

Pop Quiz

Tonight for dinner, Lucas & I had hot Italian sausage, while the kids had hot dogs. At some point during our dinner conversation, Lucas asks Sebastian if he knows what his hot dog is made of. Without blinking, Sebastian answers very matter-of-factly, 'Yup. Livers, hooves, and intestines.' So I asked him if he knew what that meant. 'Yes, it's stuff from your stomach, or stuff that's inside your rib cage.' Okay, so I guess he passed that pop quiz. And apparently he is unfazed by the contents of his dinner.


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Broken

Broken. That one single word describes way too many things at our house right now. Today was a day dedicated to mending the broken. First off, Lucas took the day off of work today, for 2 reasons (other than just wanting/needing a break). First, we had to take the van to get the front end fixed, and I needed someone to go with me to drop it off to bring me home. Even more than that, though, our garage is in need of repair. A few days ago - Wednesday actually - when Sebastian and I got home from his 1st baseball practice of the season (which, by the way only lasted about 15 minutes because it started raining/sleeting out of nowhere), I pushed the garage door opener so I could pull the van in. Only the garage door only opened about a foot off the ground. Then it closed. So I pushed it again. Same thing. Again. Same. You get the point. I thought Lucas must have been messing with me, until I saw his feet and hands appear at the bottom of the garage door. At that point, I realized he wasn't messing with me at all, but he was actually trying to help get the door open. Anyway, the spring had broken. The funniest part of the whole story is that I actually had to call him home from work Thursday morning because I COULD NOT get the door open. Meagan and I were trapped in the garage! LOL!

So anyway. Today, after we dropped the van off, we headed to Bob's for breakfast. Then went to Menard's to look for a spring for the garage door. In the process, somehow, we ended up picking out a screen door for the front door. BUT they didn't have the one we wanted in stock. We checked Lowe's next with no luck. At that point, we headed out and made a few more stops. On the way home, we happened to pass another Menard's, so we decided to stop and see if they had the door. They did! So, we came home with a screen door. No spring for the garage door yet, but a screen door. I must say it is incredible to have such a good cross breeze coming through the house today. I am a big fan of the new screen door!


Going back to the theme of broken....

After hanging the door, Lucas busted out the lawn mower to cut the grass. Can you believe it? The wheel on the mower busted. Aaaah! Still functional, just a flat tire of sorts.

However, today was a milestone day for Sebastian. It was his first time ever that he mowed the yard! He did a few lines going from the front to back. Then it was time for dinner, after which Lucas just finished it up. So Sebastian didn't really do a lot of it, but he seemed to really like it, and said he wanted to do it again. (I think Lucas has been looking forward to this day for the past 7 years!!! LOL)

To wrap up the day, we had a family DQ ice cream picnic. Sebastian & Lucas were the Blizzard Boys. Meagan got a strawberry sundae. Isaac got the biggest boat of a banana split (and ate it all!!). And I got the yummiest turtle sundae in a chocolate dipped waffle cone bowl.... YUMMMM! It was a nice way to wind down from a busy day of fixing all things broken.

***

As Promised....

I am totally operating off of the "Better late than never" slogan right now! Here are our Easter Pictures... only one week after the fact!

We attempted an outdoor photo session. I didn't consider the fact that it was early morning, and the sun was going to be RIGHT IN OUR EYES. No matter where we went, or what angle I faced them, it was just too bright, and they all struggled to keep their eyes open. But I still think the pictures turned out pretty cute...


So as to try to get a few pictures without squinty eyes, I took them all back inside for some pics on the couch. However, by this time, they were all feeling a little ornery, and the silliness ensued. You can see it first in Meagan's eyes, and then Isaac's, and pretty soon, a whole Bunny Ear battle was under way. It was funny to watch, and they giggled so hard I thought for sure Isaac would burst! I love laughter like that...it's infectious!!


The kids each took turns taking pictures of me with someone else. There were a lot of blurred shots on my camera, but a few turned out okay.


Finally, after church, we did an outdoor egg hunt. We only hid and hunted the eggs that we had decorated the day before. Nothing fancy. But it still was a ball! I think it was a good thing we only did a few eggs, because it took a good 45 minutes for them just to find those. And that was with some heavy hinting at times! LOL!

***

.....

I didn't fall off the face of the earth. We've had some STINKY Internet problems - like dropping service all over the place for no reason. It's been VERY aggravating! I think, however, it may finally be fixed. At least it hasn't done it for about 24-48 hours. Hoping our online streak continues!!

I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) to post some pics from Easter. I know the grandparents have all been itching to see the kids dressed up in their Easter outfits.


***

The Process...

Our big excitement for the afternoon was coloring eggs. I bought a dozen eggs for each kid. After cooking them (the first time), one was cracked, so we decided each of them would have 11 eggs instead of 12 (to make things fair). Lucas decided he would eat the cracked egg, so he cracked it open, only to find that the centers weren't fully cooked. Yuck. So I stuck them back in the steamer for a bit longer...hopefully that worked... if not, then we've wasted $3 of eggs... not the biggest of deals I suppose, although I hate to be wasteful.

Anyway, after steaming them all a second time, we began to prepare the coloring tablets while the eggs cooled. We had 3 boxes of tablets - each box had 6 colors. I figured with 3 dozen eggs, it might go a bit faster with more colors going at the same time. So, we decided to do one set of tablets in vinegar (to make bright colors), one set in lemon juice (to make medium colors), and one set in water (to make pastel colors). Sebastian the science kid made this observation about the way the tablets reacted in each of the 3 liquids: they 'explode like fireworks' in the vinegar, they 'fizz like fizzy bubbles' in the lemon juice, and they 'just sort of sit there and don't do anything' in the water. Funny stuff that boy is.

Once the eggs were cool, the tablets were ready, and the table was covered, we moved our show to the kitchen table and got ready to color. I thought the easiest way would be to line them up by color and by liquid base and then keep track of whose eggs were in which cups... I know that sounds a little over the top for egg coloring, but trust me, without a method to keep track, I would totally lose track, and chaos would ensue... 'no MINE was in that blue one!'... you get the point. Anyway, it worked REALLY well, and the whole thing took us only about an hour at most to color and complete 3 dozen eggs. Now we're just waiting on them to dry so they can put the stickers on.

***

Misadventures of the day before Easter

This morning, almost as an afterthought, I decided to double check to make sure the clothes I bought the kids for Easter actually fit. I'm glad I checked, because Sebastian's shirt was huge on him. So, we loaded up in the van, and headed back to Old Navy to make the exchange. For a special treat, and in the interest of skipping a step at home before being able to leave, we stopped at Speedway and got some donuts for breakfast...(Karen, if you're reading this, you can scold me later). We also got the kids each a bottle of milk, which took one of them all of 30 seconds to spill in the van before we even left the parking lot... sheesh. Other than that, there were no real mishaps. The only real problem was that the mall was packed, then Target (our next stop) was even more packed, and the roads were busy. So it wasn't a bad trip, it was just a congested trip. And it seems that congestion and business makes my kids (and probably me too) a little more tense and uptight than normal. So they were kind of picking at each other, and they were melting a little more readily than normal. It was a bit irritating, but we made it through okay. Our last stop (because Target didn't have what we were looking for) was Wal-Mart, which was the busiest of all. We got 3 packs of Easter egg color tablets, some stickers to put on the eggs, and some ribbon (for Meagan's hair for tomorrow, as she has changed her mind on which dress she wants to wear, and we didn't have ribbon to match her new choice...she's such a girl sometimes! Although, I will say, her new selection will match the boys much better than her initial choice - her dress is blue & green, and they each have a blue shirt and a green shirt. I didn't plan that, but I can't say that I mind).

***

Visitors

Yesterday (Friday) we had some visitors in the afternoon. Some friends of ours came over after lunch and hung out with us until about 4:00. They have 2 boys and a girl, although the age range for their 3 kiddos is from 10 down to 2. The boys all play really well together, and Anna and Meagan have a ball together. So they played - everything from Polly Pockets to kitchen, to legos, to sand box, to wii, to sword/light saber fights. It was a great afternoon of just hanging out and kicking back. Love that. Then, last night we went to Applebee's for dinner. It was the 1st time I'd had Mt. Dew in over a week. Yum. Plus, the food tasted extra good last night because I didn't have to cook it!! Love that, too!

***

Playtime

Here are two layouts I did using the Playtime Collaboration Kit at After Five Designs.

Journaling: Meagan, when you smile, your face lights up, and your eyes sparkle with joy. You have the ability to bring such joy and happiness and laughter to a day of mundane happenings. You can lighten a mood with a look or a sweet word or a gesture. It's such a precious gift from God to be able to brighten the world the way you do. I truly hope that as you grow up, you will begin to share more smiles and less sass. You're like a real-life pocket full of sunshine, and I love that!

Journaling: What I love most about this day was how hard we all laughed trying to get our kites to fly!

Spring Break Updates

I thought as I'm sitting here eating lunch, I'd give a quick update on our Spring Break week. The kids have been pretty good, all in all, as far as attitude goes... although Meagan still insists on fighting me on everything. She can be exhausting!

The boys did their trial class of gymnastics, and LOVED it! They both did really well, actually, and caught on very quickly to the skills and such. Isaac's focus was a little all over the place, and he did lots of bouncing around in between turns (he and Meagan are a lot alike in that respect... neither one of them can seem to sit still... ever!). Other than that, though it went really well. They came home and found ways to practice their vaulting and floor exercises in our house. Of course.

We did find an Old Navy that's not too far away from us - maybe a 30 minute drive. So we got the boys each an Easter outfit for this weekend. And the kids saw the Easter Bunny at the mall. We didn't have time to stop to get pictures taken, but the Bunny did give them each an egg with prizes inside... that was worth the 30 minute drive, as far as the kids were concerned!

Bits and Pieces

Let me just start by saying that it is almost 11:00 at night, and all three kids are still awake. Church at 9:00 in the morning is going to be interesting.

Anyway, we survived April Fool's Day with no known pranks....well, other than Isaac telling us that he bought a cow, and then shouting 'April Fools!' before I even had a chance to process what he had said to begin with. That was pretty cute.

Yesterday was the kids' last day of school until the Tuesday after Easter, so I am bracing for a shift in attitude and behavior - you know, the kind that inherently comes when they get out of routine...say, like being awake at 11:00 at night. We don't have any really big plans for break, because I am still working Monday and Thursday, but a few small things. The biggest excitement that the boys are looking forward to is a free trial gymnastics class this Tuesday. They've been asking for months now to join gymnastics, but I haven't been able to let them because of the timing of the beginner boys classes...there's just no way we would make it there on time without the boys missing a big chunk of school every Tuesday...not for gymnastics. But, since there is no school, missing school is not an issue. They're pretty pumped about it actually.

Other than that, we may have to go Easter outfit shopping for the boys - and regular clothes shopping for me, as my pants are all rapidly developing holes in inappropriate places...EEEK! Meagan and I did ran some errands yesterday, and we stopped at the mall to go to Old Navy, only to find that Old Navy no longer exists in our mall. So we ended up making an over-glorified potty break at Barnes & Noble, and then leaving...pretty pointless trip actually. So I have to go online and see if there's an Old Navy still in existence anywhere near us (I'm only hung up on Old Navy because I have $75 of gifts cards that I want to use up).

In other news, Meagan has been making big birthday plans for the last few days. She is having a Tinkerbell party. We have already gotten the decorations, the plates, the cups, and all the other party necessities. She has decided she wants to have her party at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and she wants to have a big giant pizza, or maybe hot dogs, for her food. Really, she just wanted to have cupcakes for her food, but we finally settled on actually feeding people something other than cake. So anyhow, she wants cherry chip cupcakes because they're pink. And she wants green icing with purple sprinkles because her decorations are green and purple. And she has a list about a mile long of things she would like to have for her birthday. That girl is not lacking for a wish list, that's for sure.

Hmmm... other than that, we've been kind of going about life as usual. Lucas is actually not working this weekend, so he decided to work on the van instead. And as for me, I finally got around to getting groceries for the week, so we don't have to survive on the randomness that we've loosely called meals as of lately.... like the night we had a combination of cereal (for the kids), tuna sandwiches (for Lucas...definitely NOT for me), and cheese and crackers (that was mine) ... after which we had completely run out of milk (the reason I didn't also have cereal with the kids), cheese, tuna, and bread. Nice, huh?

Just Married

I almost forgot to post this layout! How could I??? This is one of Great Grandma & Grandpa H.'s wedding pictures... as they drive off into the sunset (LOL). Aren't they cute?!

Credits: {Matahati Designs} - Vintage Charm

M{eagan}

Another Meagan layout using another new kit by Bren Boone - the kit is called Power Crafter.



These pictures are also from summer vacation last year. I may end up using them again on another layout because I really like them!

Fun Is Good

Here's a layout I did over the weekend with a new kit by Bren Boone that comes out tomorrow...'The Best Thing Ever.' These pictures are from summer vacation at Grandma & Grandpa H.'s last summer. Grandma took some AMAZING bubble pictures. I know the layout doesn't do the pictures justice, but I liked all of them so much I had to include them all...thus, they're a little small. Oh well. The quote is from Dr. Suess's One Fish Two Fish. "If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good."

Staying Afloat

Every now and then - maybe once a month or so - the school has a 'swim for $1.00' day. After school, instead of coming home, the kids get bussed to the aquatic center for about an hour & a half of swimming. Last Wednesday was that day for March.

I went to pick the boys up a little after 5:00. On the way home, as they were recounting their adventures and fun, Sebastian said, "Mom, I wish I could swim in the deep end, but I'm not allowed to yet." As I talked to him about it a little more, I found out that one of his friends in his class has passed the swim test to be able to swim in the deep end. Sebastian, however, is great at swimming under water, but cannot swim on the surface very well.

This led to conversation about past swim lessons, and led Isaac to offer his two cents on the matter. "Well, I know how to swim because I learned in my swim lessons. I just move my hands and feet around really fast so they're floppy....it usually works, only sometimes I go under water. But I almost always pop right back up."

LOL! I love that kid. He has such a great outlook on life! I guess it's all in the technique (and in hoping you resurface quickly when the technique fails you!)

Needless to say, I believe we'll be getting them some more swim lessons this spring or early summer. I think Sebastian might be looking for something a little more definite than floppy hands and feet.

Fever in the moring...

Over the weekend, the kids developed a bit of a cough, but this morning, Meagan woke up with a fever. Bummer. Poor girl, when I went in to get her up to get ready for school, she said, "Mommy, I just want to stay in bed and keep sleeping because I feel sick." I picked her up to carry her downstairs (for the sake of making some form of forward progress), and she felt pretty warm. So, while she was nibbling on a banana and some yogurt, I checked her temp. Not bad - around 100 - but it still qualifies as a fever, so no pre-school for her today....which meant taking her to work with me.

We packed a bag of coloring books, Polly Pockets, DVD's, and a few snacks, and headed out. She actually did rather well...especially considering the wide open potential for all things Meagan! We really only had a few moments of Meagan-ness, and all but one of those were pretty typical 3-year-old goodness. For example, she tried to pour her own water from the water cooler...had a little mishap, so we ended up watering the plant in my office with the overspill. Another example...we were having the carpet laid and finished today at the church, so we were laying out these carpet tiles to find where we wanted to place these accent tiles. Well, Meagan wanted in on the fun, so she picked up the tiles and moved them around a few times. The only incident that made me bust out the full-name, mom-is-serious side of me was when she used my PAID stamp and a black ink pen to decorate a check that I was getting ready to mail out. Needless to say, I had to void that check and rewrite it. Really it was no big deal, and it was my fault for setting all of those things out and then leaving her in my office for a few minutes without supervision....really, what was I thinking?

So, now we're home. We had a late lunch, and a late nap. She's upstairs laying down, and coughing like a maniac. I'm not feeling like the cough medicine is doing so much good, so I have a call into the doctor as of now. Hoping for a good rest (although I'm not holding my breath), and maybe a good night of sleep! Also, hoping no one else comes down with anything. Yuck!

tidbits

While our breakfast blueberry muffins are baking (which we're having primarily because we're out of almost every other kind of food), I thought I'd post a few stories that happened through the week.


SHOPPING WITH MEAGAN:
Meagan and I played hookie from story hour. She wasn't in the mood to go, and, truthfully, neither was I...I figured in those circumstances, it wasn't really worth the struggle. Instead of going to the library, we dropped of recycling and then headed to Wal-Mart to get 'a few things' (does anyone else have those trips when you go for two things and you walk out with several bags? it was one of those days for us). I can't even really remember what we went there for, it was so boring, but as we walked past the clothes section, a dress caught Meagan's eye. She grabbed it off the wrack, hugged it to her, and said in the sweetest little voice ever, "Oh momma, it's the most perfect thing ever!" Uuuuh, how do you say no to that? Anyway, as we went in search of the right size for her most perfect dress ever, I realized that they actually had quite a few really cute dresses and clothes priced really cheap. So, we ended up with probably five or six dresses, a pants/jacket outfit, and a Tinkerbell shirt for Meagan, plus bathing suits for all three kids. And a few other things snuck in for birthdays or Easter.


OVERHEARD:
Last weekend, Sebastian went roller-skating again, so Meagan and Isaac were the only two kids around. It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day, so we got out the cars (at their begging and pleading) and let them have an open derby in the yard. They played outside all afternoon, and seemed quite happy. But Lucas said he overheard Isaac at one point having an interesting conversation that went something like this:
(In a nice, not-at-all mean tone of voice) 'Meagan, could you just not talk to me for a while. Sometimes I try to get through the day with nobody talking to me, but it's just like everyone always wants to say stuff to me. I just want to be quiet and not talk.' (Is that Lucas' child, or what! LOL)

CLEAN-UP:
Yesterday was the kids' second Friday in a row that they did not have school. Last Friday I gave them the day off to do whatever they wanted, so yesterday I put them to work. For the first part of the morning, they weren't too on-board with the cleaning plan. They SAID they were going to help, but when it came to it, they really just played and tried to look busy. After a little 'talking to,' we had lunch and then continued on with our chores (I had been hoping we would have been done by then, but I had told them that we were going to work until the job was done, no matter how long it took). So back to work we went. I'm not really sure what brought about the change of heart, but they were VERY helpful. They got all the toys out of the living room. Sebastian vacuumed the living room floor, the couch and chairs, and even took the edging tool and vacuumed around the edges of the walls. Meanwhile, I gave Isaac and Meagan a bucket of soapy water and two cloths, and they scrubbed the entire kitchen floor, the cabinet faces, and the closet door. Nice. The also made their beds and picked up their room. Even after we were done and I had released them to playtime, they were still being helpful and NICE to each other. They were sharing, they were helping each other with problems, and they offered to help clean up after dinner!

WHAT DID YOU SAY?:
I don't think I've told you this yet... sorry if it's a repeat. During Super Bowl, I noticed something that struck me as odd. When a commercial came on that caught the kids' attention, they all stopped and watched it....then Isaac cracked up laughing and repeated what he thought he had heard. But whatever he said was nowhere near what had really been said. His repeat words sounded like gibberish.

So the next time I talked with his teacher, I asked her about doing another hearing screening for him. Well, about a week ago, we got a notice from the health department that he had not passed his hearing tests (they did two tests on separate days to see if they get the same results). So yesterday we had our follow-up with our family doctor, who then referred us to a specialist. We go to see the specialist sometime in April. We'll see what happens then.

Catching Flies

I took these pictures of Meagan last summer at the zoo. For some reason (not entirely unlike her), she wouldn't just sit and smile at me. She insisted on making funny faces and sticking out her tongue. What a clown!

Credits: {Ziggle Designs} - Forest Friends, Vintage Square frame; {Katie Pertiet} - between the lines alpha brush set

Conferences

Tonight were parent-teacher conferences for the boys. Isaac's was first, and he got to guide us around the room and show us what he does during the school day. We also talked to his teacher for a few minutes. She had lots of good to say - he is a quick thinker, he participates well, he's learning quickly, and he's always helpful. She also made a note to mention that he sometimes has trouble managing his emotions, and she wondered if we have the same issues at home. YES WE DO. So we talked together about some of the things that we find at home that help him settle down. I really like that she wants to work with us so that we're being consistent in both places. She's a sweet lady, and a great teacher!

Sebastian's conference was right after Isaac's. More good stuff to report. He is 'secure' in everything except time management. LOL - He's MY child!! She said he is a little disorganized in his approach to problem-solving or accomplishing tasks. She said he is always running right up to the last minute. (Again, all I can say is, I have a feeling he learned that from watching me...oops). But, seeing as I am trying to work on my how I use my time, maybe we can work on some of those same things with him.

Now the kids are all sitting at the kitchen table doing scribble art together. It's a pretty quiet and peaceful evening around here...kind of nice really. The best part of it, by far is that they are working nicely together, sharing, talking respectfully, and making projects to give as gifts to each other. I'll take more nights like this any time!

Free Digital Kit

I thought I'd pass this along for anyone who is interested. Scrap Orchard's designers all got together and made this great collaborative kit, and they're giving it away for free! It's gorgeous! You just have to work for it (but only a little...doubt you'll even break a sweat). It's a blog train: follow the links, starting at Scrap Orchard, from one blog to the next. At each blog, you can download a piece of the kit. Eventually you'll end up back at the Scrap Orchard blog, and you'll know you've gotten all the pieces of the kit then.

Click on the kit preview to get to the Scrap Orchard blog.

Up in flames

For longer than I can recall, our microwave has been, shall we say...MALFUNCTIONING. It does all kinds of cool tricks...like cracking things, for example. In the course of the past six months or so, we have cracked the microwave plate (that came with the thing to put in the bottom to set the food on...you know, the one that's SUPPOSED to be in there) and then another makeshift plate we used to replace the original plate. We've also managed to superheat one of our microwave-safe casserole dishes until it cracked all along the side...now it's a goner!

Cracking porcelain and glass isn't the only trick that thing can do! Oh no! It can also burn holes through popcorn bags and paper plates! A few days ago, I made Isaac a breakfast burrito in the microwave, and his paper plate came out with about a 2-inch diameter brown spot on the one side of it. A few times we've made popcorn and a hole has burnt right through the bag, which leads to popcorn kernels ZOOMING around freely inside the microwave.

And it's popcorn prowess is not limited to merely releasing the kernels from their paper bag prison. There's more! Sometimes, it absolutely refuses to pop the popcorn at all...it will go through the entire 3 minute cycle without so much as a single pop. That's a neat trick. OR, It will burn the kernels in a matter of 90 seconds, leaving us with char-corn...the kids have lovingly dubbed that trick 'cow plop' (mostly because it smells THAT bad in our house after the popcorn burns).

Well, last night, Lucas and I were having a date of sorts, getting caught up on our tivo'd shows, and Lucas asked if I wanted some popcorn. My response was, I don't think we can have popcorn because of our dumb microwave. Well, he, being the determined man that he is, decided HE would be able to magically make the microwave cooperate. So, he stood watch as the popcorn popped. From in the living room where I was waiting and listening, it seemed as though, from the fairly constant popping, that he was having some success. However, just as I heard the microwave door open, I heard him say something along the lines of "Aaahh." Turns out he was too slow, and at the last second, the bag actually caught fire. He put it out quickly and managed to salvage about 1/4 of the popped corn, but it smelled like fire, so we canned the whole thing and resorted to tortilla chips and queso dip (although we were slightly nervous about heating up the dip, so we did it on the stove top).

Needless to say, we deemed our dumb machine to be an official fire hazard. Today we took a family outing to Menards and bought a replacement. Tonight we had popcorn for a snack. No burning. No laser beam holes in the bag. No cow plop.

Life is good.

Mismatched

I've been wanting to post about this for a few days now, but haven't had the free time to sit down and actually do it. Tuesday, we were getting ready to leave for story hour at the library. We were all set, with the exception of shoes and coats. I set Meagan on a mission to get her shoes on while I rounded up library books to be returned. It wasn't long before I heard, "Momma, I can't find the other one. Can you help me?"

I turned to see what she needed, and found her with one brown shoe on her foot. The other was shoeless. We looked quickly through the shoe drawer with no luck. I made a suggestion or two as to some other shoes she could wear. She picked one. Not one pair. One shoe. A hot pink one. "I think this one will be fun to wear with my brown shoe," she said. I nearly started to tell her she couldn't do that, and then stopped myself. I realized there was absolutely no really good reason I could offer as to why she couldn't wear two mismatched shoes. So, I simply responded, "If that's what makes you happy." "It does make me happy," she said. That was the end of that. We left for the library...one pink shoe and one brown.

I'd retype the journaling, but it's just a shortened version of everything I just told you! :)

Credits: {Ziggle Designs} - Forest Friends; {Amber Clegg} - Date It stamps; {Katie Pertiet} - buzz brushes; {Something Blue Studios} - worn photo overlays; {Michelle Coleman} - hand stamped alpha

Working on Time

I've not forgotten about my posting duties...in fact, I have a few little things in mind. This, however, is not going to be the time that I post them. I have something else on my mind at the moment.

For the last few months, things in my life have been being rearranged - some very small things, some more significant - from the way I approach laundry to the commitments to outside events, and so on. All of the changes that have taken place, and are still in progress, are leading to one thing: being more intentional and purposeful with my time that I have in each day.

For those of you who know me well, it may not come as a surprise to you when I say that I manage to waste a good deal of time in a day. Without meaning to. But I come to the end of the day, and the time is gone, while the list of things to do is not. Which means one of two things (or a combination of both) : 1) I've got too much in my schedule, or 2) I'm not using my time well. I think it's both. So I've been really thinking trough how I can address this. I'm tired of wasting time. If I have down-time, I want to intend to have down time (in contrast with having down time because I'm being lazy or avoiding something else I would rather not do). I also have to acknowledge that I only have so much time in a day, and I can't do everything, and I can't do it perfectly. So I have to learn to set realistic expectations for myself... a tricky one for me. I've always been a bit of a perfectionist, and it overwhelms me to the point that, instead of doing a 'perfect' job, I do a pitiful job. So, I've resolved to find somewhere in between that works for our family and for what time we have available at the moment.

I sat down tonight and tried (for about the 8-thousandth time) to block out a general schedule day-by-day for the week. Every time I sit down and attempt this, I feel like there's no way I can possibly do everything I want to do or need to do. It's a work in progress... may have to revisit it for tomorrow, but I did enough for tonight.

Anyway, not that this really affects you at all. I just wanted to post it so that I can look back at this later as a benchmark to see where I am in my progress.

Celebrating in small doses

The best part of my birthday was Lucas' coming home from training and finally getting to see him and have more than a 2-minute conversation. The kids were ecstatic to see him again!

Last night our church had an event geared toward married couples. We went to that, and it was a good time! I really enjoyed myself, and so did Lucas I believe. It was a great night all-together, and it was very good to have him home.

Today, the plan was to go out to eat and then go birthday present shopping. We got the first part of that done. We went to Max & Erma's (or Max and Erwin's, according to Meagan), and I got tortilla soup (yum!). However, about half way through dinner, Sebastian turned white as a ghost and completely stopped eating. He was struggling to even sit up, and finally resigned to laying his head down on the table. Truthfully, Lucas wasn't feeling well, either, and we were all relieved to be finished.

So, we abandoned the the rest of our plans and went home for nap time. We'll pick up where we left off eventually, whenever everyone is up on their feet again. In the meantime, I was content to continue celebrating by scrapping while everyone else slept.

Adding to the Albums

A few pages I've gotten done recently that I haven't posted here yet...

Sweet Girl: I took this picture of Meagan on her 1st day of preschool back in September 2008. Everything here is from Pink Ellie Designs - her stuff is so much fun to work with!!

Journaling: a little sassy but oh so sweet!

Expressive: These photos are from Summer vacation 2008 - the day Shane & Sebastian did their dino dig. I love the expressions on his face. He is definitely the kind of kid who can speak volumes with a single look!

This stuff is mostly from the After Five Desings March collaborative kit called Nova Vida. I also used a new alpha from Pink Ellie.

Rain rain go away: Last year at Sebastian's birthday party, we were all outside when, all of a sudden, it started pouring rain. We all escaped to either the garage or the house. Isaac, sat at the very edge of the garage, waiting on his Big Wheel for the first break in the weather so he could go back out and play. He's so cute!

This is Bren Boone's new kit, Paper Rain. The whole kit is gorgeous! I definitely have plans to put a few more of the papers to use!!

Fresh Flowers: Finally, these pics are from Meagan's princess tea party at Julia's house a month or so ago. I loved the fresh (pink) flowers on the table. Makes me long for Spring! Just around the corner, right?

This is Bren Boone's new kit, Spring Fever, and her new Wired Alpha.

Officially 30-Something

Well, today is it...my birthday! I am no longer just plain ol' 30...now I'm 30-something! :)

I've been thinking about it a lot lately - how very blessed I am. It's incredible to me the things I am blessed with at such a young age...

• Seems like, even though marriage is sometimes the hardest thing to do, our marriage is making leaps and bounds in a positive direction... Lucas is my friend; he knows me better than just about anyone; we balance each other; and it seems like, even when we have rough spots, those rough spots work in our favor, opening up communication and bringing us closer together in the end. I'm so thankful for our marriage - nearly 9 years - especially when marriages so often crumble apart somewhere between 5 and 9 years. Very blessed.
• I am momma to 3 of the coolest kids God has ever created! Also 3 of the most unique and challenging! But God has worked through them to make me a better person in so many ways! Without them, I would still be caught in my (even more) selfish, and (even more) impatient ways!
• We have a beautiful home, 2 vehicles, and no real lack to speak of. Compared to the rest of the world, we are (statistically speaking, although it's often easy to lose sight of this) in the top 8% for wealth (just owning a car of any type qualifies you for such status!)
• Going along with that, we have food on the table, and more waiting in the cupboards and freezer. We also have fresh drinking water, and running (hot) water to shower with...you get the point!
• I have an incredible job and such an awesome network of close friends who genuinely care about me, my family, and others.

I could go on forever... not trying to get all sappy... I'm just very aware that, at a relatively young age (yes, I still count 31 as young!), I can say that I have been very blessed, and that my life has held joy and purpose. That is what I am celebrating today!

Icky Sicky...again

Yesterday Sebastian was home from school with a stomach bug. Still home today, although doing much better. Pray for us...we are definitely looking forward to a continually healthy family.

This is just not happiness!

Another challenging day with Meagan - there have been a lot of them lately. I'm just trying to stay positive, and I'm trying to keep a perspective on where she might be coming from. It's been a long two weeks with her, though. I think a lot of factors are playing into the mix: she's been sick and is just coming off of an antibiotic, she hasn't been sleeping well, she's growing (pants no longer reach all the way to her ankles...shorts weather needs to get here quickly!), Lucas has been traveling and she misses her daddy, plus last weekend we traveled which always throws the routine off. Besides that, she is three, and she is female. Enough said.

Today was much the same as the several that came before it: sass, fussiness, grumpiness, and an all-around argumentative nature. That being said, there was a moment this afternoon where I thoroughly enjoyed her right in the midst of all her grumpy glory! We were getting ready to leave for gymnastics. She had (defiantly) gotten her leotard on, and was working on the warm-ups to go over it. She had the pants - those were not an issue. As she was getting her sweatshirt on, though, her wining increased to new heights. I tried to encourage her, redirect her train of thought, and whatever else I could do to get her back to even-keel. Not having it. Finally, I simply asked her, 'Honey, why are you so upset? What is bothering you?'

Her reply (in a cry/shout mix): 'All of this is just not happiness!!'

I cracked a smile, but kept my cool. Not a good idea to laugh at an agitated child (at least in our house).

Me: 'What is not happiness? What's bothering you?'

Her: 'When I put my coat on, my sweatshirt goes like this' (as she demonstrates by shoving her sleeves up to her elbows)!

The smile threatens again...

Me: 'Would you like to take the sweatshirt off and just wear your coat over your leotard?'

She nods. And smiles. Thank You, God!

Crisis averted.