Take A Breather... If You Can

This beauty was my grandma's next door "neeeeeigh"-bor (now that was a bad joke) before she moved closer to us. I thought the picture was dreamy and relaxing, kind of like our weekend would be... if I could only breathe.

I think I may be getting asthma.

Ugh... I sure hope this is just allergies, but I may be going to visit the doctor on Monday. My throat feels like it is "swollen", for lack of a better word. It does not hurt at all, which is weird, it is just hard to swallow food, and I have had a few episodes when it was hard to breathe because it feels like my airway was being constricted. And I have a lot of phlegm.

And of course ALL of our Tylenol Allergy is expired.

You'd better believe that I'll be picking some more up tomorrow when I do my Walgreens shopping.

Oh, and Mike got the closet in the loft done, and I finally got the shelf liners tacked on today, so I have started loading it up with our "overstock" stuff. A whole new closet!! It's like a dream come true. Our bathroom is going to look a lot better, that's for sure.

I don't know what it is about fall, but for me it is even more motivating than spring as far as cleaning and decluttering. I start to feel claustrophobic with all of our "stuff" surrounding me all day long. Maybe it's because in the summer we're outside so much more, and then in the fall we can't go out as much and have to spend more time indoors, so I notice it more? I don't know.

Well, we have church tomorrow, so I'd better go throw in a load of laundry, because I'm out of nice slacks. I got myself a soft, comfy pair of brown sweatpants last week, and I can't wait to wear them! It's still too warm for me. I want to be cold!

Speaking of being cold, I got my holiday mini catalog from Stampin' Up! in the mail a few days ago. Ahhhhh... I love the Christmas stamp sets!! I think I may need a couple of them. Yes, of course, need. Because the six Christmas sets that I have aren't enough.
And all that talk about decluttering and getting rid of stuff? Yeah. That most emphatically does NOT apply to my stamps. I love them all. And I have a whole shelf in my stamp cabinet that is not being used. Yet.

Mowing Train

Last night, Mike mowed the yard. The boys first had to pick up all of the toys that were all over the yard from the day's playtimes, and then when Mike entered the backyard with the mower, the boys ran and grabbed their dump trucks and followed him around the whole yard. So fun!



Don't you just love the trail that runs around the yard? Courtesy of Gordon. Well, Gordon started it, but the boys happily play on it for a large portion of their outdoor playtime each day. They kick a ball up and down the slight incline on the trail, and shovel dirt from one place to another -- which involves filling up their dump trucks and then hauling the dirt to its new destination and then, of course, dumping it.


We walked to DQ after the boys were done mowing, and Mike and I were laughing most of the time we walked, watching Griffin hike up his shorts and hold them up in the back. Note to self: take the Levi's out of Griffin's wardrobe until next year.

Good Food and Good Times

My front door three days ago.

My front door today.

What I did with the "old" wreath. This garage sale cookie jar is coming in handy! There is a candle inside of it, and I'll be filling it with small pinecones and cinnamon sticks. The candle inside is called Cinnamon Bun, and it is YUMMY. I just love fall!



We had a lot of fun last night. We got to spend time with Adrienne and Nicolas at IHOP; Grandma G. and Suzy (Grandpa) stopped by for a while after a birthday dinner they went to with some long-time church friends; and Caleb came by for a few minutes to pick up their dogs, who spent the week with us. It was a fun evening!




We were handing out cherry pie left and right, because I made one yesterday and everyone knows I love to give people food. It's what I do! You can't come over to my house and walk away hungry. I haven't tasted the pie yet, so I hope it was guest-worthy.

I was going to make tuna casserole last night for dinner, but there was no way I was going to turn down IHOP with a good friend. Now I have chicken that needs to be used tonight, so I think I'm going to make shredded chicken, stuffing, roasted potatoes and gravy for dinner.

I stuck a package of frozen chicken thighs in the crock pot on High on Monday morning with some butter, sea salt and pepper, and by Monday night the house smelled SO good. I'll make the gravy with the drippings and "good bits" that I saved from the bottom of the crock pot.

Here is my tuna casserole recipe. It is easy and fairly quick to make. It's the recipe my mom made when we were kids, and I still love it! The boys (all three of them!) love it too. The leftovers are really good. You may want to use an extra can of cream of mushroom soup if you plan to reheat it more than once so that it stays creamy.

Tuna Casserole

1 bag large shell pasta

2 small or 1 large can tuna (or salmon)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 can sliced mushrooms

1-2 cups shredded cheese

1. Cook the pasta.

2. Mix the tuna, mushrooms and two soups together in a baking dish.

3. Add the cooked pasta and stir together.

4. Cover with the shredded cheese.

5. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is all melted.

I see banana bread in my family's near future.

Sick Day and a Recipe

Not for me, but Mike is sick today. He came home sick from work around lunchtime with a head cold, and went straight to bed. He's been there ever since, and it's 11pm right now.

Griffin and I did our school shortly after breakfast today. That worked out really well. He had a full belly, he wasn't tired yet, and Sammy was content to play with Legos at our feet most of the time we were reading. It was a good homeschool day. :)

I spent most of the afternoon and evening making pumpkin muffins from scratch. Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger or ground cloves

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350.

1. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the dry

ingredients except the last cup of flour.

2. Add the wet ingredients.

3. Beat with an electric mixer

on low speed til blended, and on high speed for 2 minutes.

4. Add the remaining flour and beat til blended.

5. Line muffin tin with paper baking cups.

6. Use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Grocery Gaming Again

So I went shopping at Walgreens on Sunday night, while Mike was putting the boys to bed. I think this may be my new favorite time to shop! Other than the fact that the store had already run out of several of the items I was planning to purchase, which were free after rebate.

Here is a rundown of my shopping trip.

I spent $76.69.
My total before any coupons, discounts or gift cards was $169.10
I saved $92.41, which is %55. Hooray!

I had $48.60 in coupons, $22.92 in store sales (some advertised, some not) and a gift card worth $20.89 from July's rebates. I didn't shop there in August (I had a lot on my plate and didn't devote time to my Grocery Gaming for a month), but now I'm back!

First Week Down!

Our first week of homeschool is behind us. It went very well, and Griffin is excited about what he is learning. We tried to do schooltime during naptime, but that didn't work out too well, so we modified our plans a bit. Monday was Labor Day, and since Mike was off we didn't have school. Tuesday we did our school while Sammy was napping. Same thing on Wednesday. On Thursday, Griffin requested that he be allowed to nap with Sammy, as he was "really tired." And then Mike came home and saved me (if you recall, I wasn't having the BEST day on Thursday). He sent me "out" for an hour before he left to go play poker. *sigh* What a man.



Where was I?



Oh yes. So we didn't do school on Thursday. But on Friday, I realized that the Sonlight schedule actually has us scheduled to do very little actual schoolwork every Friday, and since I had been a day "behind" all week since I thought it was Monday on Tuesday, Tuesday on Wednesday, etc., etc., We did two days' worth of school on Friday, after naptime. I set Sammy up with "The Polar Express," (you know how they can watch the same movie over and over and over again without getting tired of it? This is that movie for my boys.) and Griffin and I got busy in the living room.



Most of schooltime is spent snuggled up on the couch reading, talking about what we read, and practicing the Bible verse for the week. Then we move to the dining room table for his activity book. He loves it! It is fun watching him try SO hard to stay in the lines when he colors. And tracing lines, and listening to rhythms I beat on the table, and circling the matching objects... it's good to be in preschool. Yes, yes, it is.

We did school today while Sammy napped. I think we'll aim for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to get our school work done. Then he'll at least have a nap every other day. And we can easily combine the week's work into 3 days. There is only about 20-30 minutes of "work" to do every day -- if you can actually call it that, it's more like "Mommy Reading Time."

We love school!

Bad Mood

Yeah... it's not happening here, that's for sure! I am in a HORRIBLE MOOD. Don't mess with me right now.

I know I should be in a better mood, but I think it really has to do with the fact that

1. the sun isn't shining,

2. my (normally adorable) two-year-old has been a whiny, demanding MESS all day long and keeps repeating himself over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over,

3. my wrist hurts for some unknown reason and I can hardly bend it,

4. my hair is flat today and would NOT do anything this morning,

5. my eyes have been bothering me and it is hard to wear eye makeup because I feel the need to itch them all the time (must be allergies),

6. my floor will not stay clean for more than 2 hours because of little boy crumbs, toys, blankets, shoes (mine and theirs), and the never-ending layer of dog hair -- and I just vacuumed it yesterday,

7. my dining room table and end tables and bookshelf and other surfaces are cluttered with books, and I should really get more bookshelves to hold them all,

8. I called my husband to ask him if I could have tonight off, and forgot that he is playing poker tonight since he didn't get to on Monday (his normal poker-playing night).

Anyway.

So I'm sitting here trying to think of the GOOD in all of these situations. Like....

1. It has been nice and cool and rainy for the last two days, and we have not needed to have the air conditioner on, and it is so much fun to snuggle up under a blanket with a warm drink (or drive around with a Spiced Pumpkin Latte with Bonnie! That was something fun I did today.)

2. I have two adorable boys who love me so much, and can't wait to spend every waking minute with me. They have both lived past infancy, and are healthy and happy (well, most of the time!). I am so grateful to have been blessed with them.

3. The miracles of modern medicine... AKA Tylenol, Aleve, heat rubs, lotions, ointments, and on and on...

4. I have a fun hair color. I love having red hair.

5. I don't have to use special cleaner to wash off my eye makeup at the end of the day.

6. My children have lots of fun with their toys, and it is so much fun for me to watch the new games they can come up with using their blankets and cars. We have a huge black dog who loves us so much he would sit on us all day long if he could. Sounds weird, but it's true.

7. I have a husband who works hard all day long so that we can afford to buy books to feed my reading addiction. Well, his paychecks are useful for other things, too...like food...

8. I can order delivery for dinner tonight, and watch "Annie" with the boys (haven't seen that movie since I was a kid), and read to my heart's content after they go to sleep.

First Day of Homeschool

Our first day of homeschool was SO MUCH FUN!!! It went so much better than I expected it to. Sammy went down for his nap around 2pm, and he went right to sleep. Normally he will stay awake and talk and fidget and roll around in bed. Maybe this has been the solution all along! I didn't realize that having Griffin in the room with him was keeping him from sleeping.

We'll see if the "going right to sleep" thing lasts once he realizes how much fun we're having while he sleeps. I'm praying it continues!

Griffin and I sat down and got right to work. He wouldn't let me do anything else.

First, I introduced the Bible verse for the week. He will be learning Proverbs 4:20 -- "Pay attention, my child, to what I say. Listen carefully."

Then we read:
"Old Mother Goose," from A Treasury of Mother Goose Rhymes,
"Mouse and the Lion" from The Lion Storyteller Bedtime Book,
"The Poky Little Puppy" from Family Treasury of Little Golden Books,
a poem by Carl Sandburg from Eric Carle's Animals Animals,
we learned about winter from The Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature (Almanac)
we learned about the Island of Banilla (not a real island), its inhabitants, its government structure, and all of the people who make the island of Banilla work in Things People Do

The last things we did were two worksheets from Developing the Early Learner 1. The first worksheet was "Draw a line from the bunny to the carrot without touching any of the other lines with your pencil," and the second was "Color the two identical pictures." Griffin loved both of those (he's a very hands-on guy), and worked on them for a long time. He takes his time coloring now, and wants to make sure that the colors he uses are true-to-life. No more purple trees or green elephants. He checks with me, and if I don't know what color something should be, we look it up online so that he can be accurate.

Can you say "perfectionist"?

He must get it from his father.

It was a good first day of school! And yes, I know, it is only preschool. But he will be learning how to read this year, and learning how to follow written instructions, sit still and listen.

It's going to be a good year!

Sammy-isms

This is a conversation I had with Sammy this morning. I was in my bedroom getting dressed with the door locked. Mike was laying in bed, but he was awake, luckily, because he got to overhear this little conversation.

Griffin and Sammy were in the toy room playing with trains. Or at least they were, until...

S: (quivering voice through the door) Mooommmyyyy???

M: Yes, Sammy?

S: (still quivering, but quite a bit louder) MoooOOOMMMYYYYY?????

M: Yes, Sammy?

S: Griffin LAIIIID on meeee.

M: He did what?!?

S: He LAIIIIIIIID OOONNN MEEEEE!!!!!

M: Oh... really? Um...... did he fall asleep?

S: (with absolute certainty) Yes!

M: He did? (by this time Mike and I are both chuckling)

S: YES. And I DON'T LIKE NAPS.

The end.

Name Change

Hi, my name is... guess what? Take a guess. Any guess will do. But you probably won't guess THIS name!!

Er... huh? What? How did you get THAT from Carody???

Apparently this is what they heard when I went through the drive-through at Starbucks and they asked me for my name. Which has never happened before. Not the going through the drive-through part, obviously (I could happily live in the Starbucks drive-through... yes, Bonnie, I went there today, after we just went there yesterday... it's been a happy weekend!), but the asking for my name part. I thought they only did that when you went inside.

So I didn't spell out my name for him, because I wanted to just see what he came up with. Well, I didn't even notice the name on my cup until we were halfway through the card class I went to this morning with my friend Jaymee. We went to Roni's house (Roni is an awesome Stampin' Up! demonstrator who has a make-10-different-cards-for-12-dollars class at her house once a month) to make our ten cards, and I was so excited about the class (and a bit confused because I hadn't turned on the right street to get to her house, so we had to backtrack just a bit) that I forgot to check out my cup after we left Starbucks.

Then during the class, Jaymee asked me what my cup said. And we all had quite the laugh.

I'm still giggling, actually. Who in their right minds would name their child Tyranny?

In other news (or could it be related?) I found a FUN website just for redheads (I hear we can be a bit tyrannical), at www.realmofredheads.com. It is too fun, and I ordered a couple of shirts from there. I'll show them to you when they arrive.

I went to Mardel -- my new favorite place -- on Thursday night (Mike gave me the night off! Yay!!) and bought two huge maps, one USA and one world map, for the wall of our school room. Griffin is always really interested in where places are, and where we are going, and I thought it would be fun to get him started with geography early. I loved geography, and {shameless bragging about to happen, brace yourself} my junior college World Geography professor wrote a letter to a well-known university and recommended me for a geography scholarship, all without my knowledge. I got a letter from the university praising me for my accomplishment in the area of geography, which came as a huge surprise to me, because I thought my geography professor didn't like any of us.

Anyway, I am preparing for our homeschool year to officially start on Tuesday. It won't be anything earth-shattering, but we will be trying out a new schedule, which we'll need to adjust often, I'm sure. I'd like for Griffin to stop taking naps, and for us have school time during Sammy's nap. We'll see if that happens or not. Griffin sleeps really well at naptime, so his little energetic body might need the rest that a nap provides, even if he is 4 years old.

I have been studying all of the different methods of homeschooling, so that I can tailor the boys' education to their learning styles. There are so many choices!

*Classical

*Principle Approach

*Traditional Textbook

*Charlotte Mason

*Unit Study

*Special Needs

*Carschooling

*Eclectic

*Unschooling/Delight Directed

*Whole-Heart Learning

Just to name a few!

The choices are many, and it will be nice to be able to have the flexibility to teach the boys in the way that they can learn best. I think that right now, our best bets are going to be reading, educational games, and learning by experiencing. I'm also going to use Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Engelmann, Haddox and Bruner. It is supposed to take about 20 minutes a day, and if we do it every weekday we'll be done with the program in 20 weeks. I have the full curriculum from Sonlight for Pre-K, too, so we have a lot ot look forward to this year!

Well, I think I'll go watch a movie with Mike before bed. He was off of work on Friday, and will be off again on Monday, so this has been a nice break!

A Different Kind of Before and After

Before

After

You can barely see it, but it's there... and it didn't go away for about 24 hours after he ripped all of those little stickers off of his poor sensitive belly. Poor guy inherited his Mommy's skin!

Dog Pillow

We got Gordon a new big, soft, plushy, multi-layered dog pillow, made by Cesar something-or-other, the "Dog Whisperer"... and as you can plainly see, the dog just LOVES his new pillow.

Yeah. Whatever. He sleeps on it sometimes (when we tell him to). Only once or twice have I found him there of his own accord. In fact, I have to take a picture of this, be right back...

We even put his "blankie" on it, and he still hasn't quite warmed up to it yet.

Sheesh.

This is what happens when the boys are quiet and sleeping. I revert to my dog-picture-taking days. I have so many pictures of animals from before we had kids. Now the animals are SO neglected.

Not really.

Here is a picture I took of Cleo last week. I actually took about 20 pictures of her, because she was doing all sorts of poses for me. We had quite the photo shoot. Isn't she cute? And she doesn't really "meow"... she squeaks. And she makes REALLY funny noises when she watches the birds out the front window.

I'm off to a kids' clothing blowout/sale/clearance event. Yay!!

Occupation: Housewife

This was in Great Grandma's trunk. It is typewritten on an old yellowed piece of paper.

Occupation: Housewife

What am I doing with my life?
Well --- I am only a housewife.
I'm homework-helper, expert on spelling,
The keeper of secrets without telling,
A band-aider, a hurt-feelings mender,
A peanut butter and jelly vendor,
I'm a bed-maker, laundry supervisor,
Child disciplinarian, a chastiser,
A baseball catcher, a Girl Scout leader,
A hamster breeder, an animal feeder.
I'm a rummage-saler, P.T.A. doer,
Children's piano-practicing pursuer,
A thermometer-reader, cookie baker,
A spring planter-weeder, a fall leaf-raker.
I am a table-duster, vacuummer-mopper,
Little League rooter, argument stopper,
A gourmet chef, hamburger fryer,
Food-purchasing agent, clothing buyer.
I'm a romantic lover, chatty talker,
A midnight to 2 a.m. baby-walker.
A business listener, a sock-sewer,
A concert, a big game, recital-goer.
I'm a dog-minder, lost items finder,
Everyone's daily agenda reminder,
A nose-wiper, an aching-neck rubber,
Itching-back scratcher, dirty-head scrubber.
That's what I'm doing with my life:
I'm only a housewife.

There is no author's name recorded, so I don't know who wrote it. It's a fairly accurate description of what I do all day, though! With a few exceptions, of course. I mean, you DO have to have a girl to do Girl Scouts, right?

I love my job! :)

Letters to Great Grandma

I spent this past weekend at my Grandma's house helping her clean her garage before her big move happens in a week and a half. Christy went too, and although she couldn't lift anything too heavy because of her pregnant state (it's a BOY!!!), she had more energy than I would have thought for someone who is 5 months pregnant. We also loaded up some heavy flowerpots and a birdbath that would have cost a lot to move when you are paying by the pound. and dropped them off at my aunt and uncle's house, close to where Grandma will be moving.

While we were working in the garage at Grandma's, we had the privilege of sorting through an old trunk that belonged to my Great-Grandma Hobbs. In it were pictures of families I am related to but will never get the opportunity to meet in this lifetime, and some pictures of family members I know well, most of them taken when they were children and young adults.

It was fun to see Grandma, Mom, Aunt Susan and Uncle Marty as babies, young people, teens, and young adults. Since I didn't get to know them until they were all adults, it is hard to imagine them being so young, so seeing those pictures was priceless! Grandma will keep most of them, obviously, but I got to bring a few home with me.

Also in the trunk were letters and cards from Great Grandma's grandchildren and great-grandchildren (yes, some from me). Most were thank you cards from birthdays and Christmas. Here is just a sample of the progression of my writing skillz.

I was 6 when I wrote this beauty:

Dear Grandma
we went tothe
fire Department
today.
ihave a loose tooth.
i am having a Birtday
Pretty Soon.

Love
Carody
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also from when I was 6:

Dear Grandma
Thank (backwards "k") youfor the
gloves and the
BarBie yougave me
and the nigtgown
i Love you.

Love
Carody
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was so much more eloquent when I was 7 years old. Here is a sample:

Dear Grandma Hobbs.
I realy likedthe
letter you gaveme.
did you know that
my tooth came out?

I like you a
hole bunch !

LoveCarody
---------------------------------------
And this is from when I was 8 yrs. old:

Dear Grandma Hobbs,
Thank you for
the $5 bill and thank
youfor the card.
It was very
nice of you.

Love
Caro
dy
-----------------------------------------
And then I turned 9 and became VERY grown up. I wrote in my best cursive, and all of the letters slanted to the right at the perfect angle.

Dear Grandma Hobbs,
Thank you for the money. I
liked it very much. (read: I spent it the day after I got it in the mail.) I had a
wonderful birthday. I hope I
will see you sometime.








Love,
Carody
------------------------------------------------
Then I reverted back to straight up-and-down printing for my Christmas thank-you letter.

Dear Grandma Hobbs,

Thank you for the pajamas, they fit
really well. And I've used the soaps alot.
I hope you had a nice Christmas.
Happy New Year!

Love
Carody (this had a heart around it)
--------------------------------------------------
Then I turned 10, and my Grandma complimented me on my cursive, and I swore I would never write in anything but cursive ever again.

Dear Grandma,
I love you. I had a wonderful birthday.
Thank you for the $5.00. I am having
fun at school. I hope I can see you soon.


Love,
Carody
-------------------------------------
The summer when I was 10, we (Christy and I) stayed for a week at Great Grandma's house in a teeny tiny town. She had barns, an outhouse, a garden, a forbidden well, and lots of little places in her yard where my sister and I could hide out and play those rhythmic hand-slapping rhyming games. We also took a lot of walks on the old train tracks that went through the town. This is what I wrote after that experience. Also in cursive, on pink Hello Kitty paper.

Dear Grandma,
Thank you for let-
ting us stay at
your house. We
has lots of fun.
Eating ice cream
and smushing
it was fun.
I had fun
when we went
to the stores too.
Thank you for
buying clothes
for us. We liked
them.

Love,
Carody
-------------------
Then I turned 11. I was very hung up on being proper in my letter-writing, but I didn't put a lot of thought into what I wrote. Here goes! Yes, still in cursive. I even underlined it all.

Carody _____
my address
the rest of my address
April 14 1991

Dear Grandma,
Thank you for the
$5.00. I had a great
birthday. I hope I
can see you soon!
Sorry it's late!

Love,
Carody ____ _____
----------------------------------
After my 11-year-old Christmas. My handwriting looks constipated, but it is still in cursive. I also printed this "card" (piece of paper folded into fourths) from our Atari. I was SO mature.

Dear Grandma Hobbs,
Thank you for the
picture book and the
pajamas. I've worn
the pajamas almost
every night. The
picture book is neat.
I had a great Christmas.

Love,
Carody
---------------------------
When I turned 12, apparently I decided I had had enough of the cursive for a while. My printing was sloppy and pointed in all different directions.

Dear Grandma Hobbs,
(I do remember that when I wrote this letter, I was very annoyed because I ran out of ink after writing "Dear Grandma Hobbs," and had to change pens, and the pen I switched to had a different shade of blue ink than the first line of my letter. Ugh. A pen-lover's nightmare.)

Thankyousoverymuch for the
pajamas & the cross-stitching set.
They are wonderful! The pajamas
fit perfectly. I'm sure I'll start
on the cross-stitching set soon.
Have a very Merry Christmas &
a Happy New Year! I am
having a great school year, &
I hope it continues that
way. I love you very much!

Love,
Carody _____
(sometimes I signed my last name, sometimes I didn't)
--------------------------------------------------------
When I was 13, I enjoyed using "big" words, like "appreciate," and "sometime" (is that a word? I think not). Still writing in print, but very, very neat print.

Dear Great-Grandma Hobbs,

Thank you for the card and the $5.00. I really
appreciate them. I hope you are feeling well.
Maybe we'll get to see you sometime soon.
I had a wonderful birthday!

Love,
Carody
-------------------------------------------------
For some reason, there aren't any letters from when I was 14. Maybe I was rebelling? Poor Great Grandma! But look at this one from when I was 15. I wrote for me and for Wesley, who was 6.

Dear Grandma Hobbs,

This is from Carody and Wesley. We
hope you have a wonderful Labor Day.
We hope we can see you soon. We also
hope (we were very hopeful) you can use this bookmark. It
is a little early, but Wesley couldn't
wait. He says this is enough writing.
He drew a picture for you.

There was a picture of an apple that I drew, and then a very elaborate picture of what I can only assume is Great Grandma. He drew her with big curly hair, a big smile, and some more hair on the side of her face (huh?). The only reason I know this is because I carefully labeled everything. I remember that Wesley was very precise in his drawings, and always wanted everyone to know exactly what everything was in his pictures. He always drew people with their "arms and hands stuck together" and with their "legs and feet stuck together." I wonder what the psychological assessment of his pictures would determine about his personality.
---------------------------------------------------------

When I was 16, I wrote this letter with a green marker on construction paper. Must have been Wesley's idea! I had gone back to my wonderful cursive handwriting, with just the slightest bit of tilt to the right.

Thank you for letting us join
you for lunch and supper. We
really enjoyed it. "Thank you
for the book," says Wesley. I
say thank you for the note
pad. I can really use it
Hope we can see you again
soon. We love you!
Love,
Carody & Wesley
--------------------------------------

Thank you for joining me on this trip down memory lane!

Powder Puff

Need I say more? But, yet again, I will.

I swept three times over the course of the day it happened (sweep, wait for it to settle, sweep, wait for it to settle, sweep) and now you'd never know the floor sported a layer of baby powder. And the carpet. And the furniture. And the upstairs. All. Of. It.

But I'm maintaining my sense of humor, because you just have to laugh, right? And put them in time out until they are 5.

I put him (yes, it was Sammy) in time out for the entire time it took me to clean up the mess. Which was basically all morning. Three hours, I think? He was begging for a spanking about half way through my cleaning, and when I was done, I went to the couch to tell him he could get down and this is what I saw.

He was all tuckered out from working so hard! I mean, it must have taken him a long time to cover so much ground (pun intended). He started very early, because it was that way when I woke up at 7am.

*sigh*

No more sleeping in for Mommy!

When I Grow Up

At bathtime tonight, as the boys sat soaking in a tub full of warm bubbles, Griffin and I had this conversation.

G: When Sammy and I grow up, we're going to get married.

M: Yeah... but not to each other.

G: No, I'm going to marry you!

M: Well, that's very nice, but I'm already married to Daddy, and we can only marry one person.

G: Oh.

M: You will meet a very nice girl when you get older, and you will want to marry her!

G: And then we'll have a baby.

M: And then you can have your baby!

(background: Griffin has been talking quite a bit lately about having a baby when he gets older. He can't wait to be a Daddy!)

G: I want a boy baby.

M: You do, huh?

G: Yeah. And then I'll have to buy a crib!

M: You will need a crib. And a stroller. And a carseat. And lots of diapers. And baby food. And maybe a swing...

G: Mommy?

M: Yes, sweetie?

G: Did you see the Lego tower I made? It was so tall, it went all the way up to my neck!

And that was that.

We have a Wii

Oh my. Do wii ever. I mean we. Have a Wii, that is. So many jokes, so little time.

Mike got a Wii with some of his hard-earned spendin' money, and we have been enjoying the fruits of his labor ever since! For anyone who isn't familiar with the Wii (pronounced "we"), it is a game system made by Nintendo. The system has SO many available games, all priced between about $20 and $50.

When you buy the Wii system, it comes with the Sports CD, which has tennis, golf, bowling, baseball and boxing. You have a handheld device that senses your every movement, and in bowling, for instance, you press a button on the device, act like it is your bowling ball, hold it up under your chin, then swing back and release the button when you want to release your bowling ball. Did you get all of that?

It is very realistic... except you don't have to actually hold the 12-pound ball, and you don't have to wait for the pins to reset themselves after you're done with your first ball. (Unless you are Mike, and can actually get a strike!)

Mike thought it would be nice to get an arcade-type game, so he took us all with him to Best Buy (big mistake). One hundred and forty dollars later, I am a very happy woman.

Okay, well, my stuff was only about $110. So there.

He bought me the Wii Fit. If you have heard anything bad about the Wii Fit, I'd like to know. I am personally head-over-heels in love with this system. The Fit system includes a white board that is about 2 1/2 feet by 1 1/2 feet, and about 2 inches off the ground. It senses your every movement, just like the handheld device. It has a CD with it that includes balance games, aerobic exercises, strength training exercises and yoga. Everything has music and it feels like you are playing games rather than exercising! With the possible exception of yoga. Because I don't know of any games where you hold the Tree pose for as long as possible. I'm working my way up to yoga. Right now I am finding my center of balance.

My favorite "games" or exercises are the balance boards where you have to try to get all of the balls to fall through the holes on the balance board without them falling off the sides of the board (you control the board's movements with your feet), the hula hoops (please don't try to picture ME doing hula hoops, your brain might fall out), the step exercises, the soccer hit-the-balls-flying-at-you-with-your-head game, and the ski jump. Sounds like fun, no? I usually last 17 minutes before my ankles are killing me and I have to sit down. That's my hour of exercise per week! And it's fun. What more could I ask for?

Have I mentioned that I love my husband? He's the best!!!

Coat Closet: Before and After

Before

After

I know, I know... how much fun is it to look at someone else's closet??? But I am totally inspired by before and afters, so I thought I would start posting some of my own. Not all at once, of course, because who wants to clean out all of their closets at one time!? Not me!!!! No, I am taking this one space at a time, and I'm sure that by the time I am finished the first space will need to be changed again.

And you know how it goes. When you reorganize one space, the junk from that space starts to invade the rest of the house. So now I need to find homes for everything that was living in my coat closet without my permission. Wish me luck!

From the Mouths of Babes...

Babes or 4-year-olds, take your pick.

I ran out of my ultra-wonderful super-hold my-favorite-in-the-world but not-for-sensitive-scalps hairspray last weekend. This stuff is so powerful that it's the only thing I need to use in my hair to make it do what I want it to do, and it stays all day. But enough commercials.

The following conversation ensued after 3 days of no-hairspray-for-Mommy.

G=Griffin
M=Mommy

G: Mommy, your hair is yucky.

M: Wh.... what did you just say?

G: Your hair is yucky!

M: Um... okay?

G: no response

M: So. Does my hair look yucky or smell yucky? (Don't ask me why I asked him that, it was a heat-of-the-moment thing.)

G: BOTH. {no hesitation at all}

And that was the end of that conversation. I still don't have any of my uber-wonderful hairspray yet, but I'm planning to remedy that situation with a night off tomorrow night. Or maybe if Mike works from home today I'll go out during naptime, because, oh yeah, our family pictures are ready and waiting for us at Wally World's picture studio. I can't wait to see them!

Samantha

Here it is! I was reminded by Jaymee that I had yet to post the card I had promised, and I finally got it finished today during naptime. I love the color combination, the flower, the twisted wire, the birthday saying, everything! This is one of my favorite cards yet. It took some time to complete (have you ever tied wire into a knot? not easy!), but it was worth the wait!

It says "May every part of your BIRTHDAY have happy in it!"

I used dimensionals on the back of the flower and also on the blue layer of the flower to give it height. I just love my dimensionals! I used 42 on these 6 cards alone. :-)

Here are the card stats. I had stopped posting the ingredients I used to make my cards because it requires keeping track of the brand names of every single piece of patterned paper I use, but I will go back to listing them, just in case someone wants to copy my ideas. I also like to give credit to the paper companies I use the most. I think they deserve some of the credit, don't you?

Samantha Ingredients:

Cardstock: SU Cameo Coral (card), SU Old Olive (layer), SU Tempting Turquoise (circle)

Patterned Paper: Love, Elsie: Roxie Telephone (fabric with adhesive backing)

Accessories: pink buttons from Archiver's, black wire from Archiver's, SU Scallop Circle punch, SU 1 3/8" Circle punch, dimensionals, tiny glue dots (for the button back)

I call this card Samantha. Yes, I have begun naming my cards. I think it's fun. Kind of like those stores (can anyone say Pottery Barn?) that name their collections of bedding and furniture. Yeah. That.

My Latest Shopping Trip

Well, now. Let me tell you about my shopping experience today.

I'll keep it short and sweet.

I walked into CVS armed with 6 coupons, $24 in CVS Bucks from my last trip there, and The List.

I walked out with:

32 lightbulbs

8 rolls of paper towels

6 toothbrushes

2 packages of pads (sorry to any guys who may be reading this)

1 stick of deodorant

1 tube of toothpaste

1 bottle of mouthwash

1 ($20!) blood glucose monitor

I paid (don't hate me): $4.86

I actually paid $6.75, but then I realized that she had charged me for two extra boxes of lightbulbs, so I ran back to the store to claim back my $1.89.

Yeah.

Good stuff, Maynard.

Yeah, about that...

So we didn't end up having the squash casserole for dinner tonight, but it is on the menu for tomorrow! We hadn't had pizza/movie night yet this week, and since Mike took Griffin out (to Pizza Street) on a "man date" yesterday for lunch... another blog altogether... he wasn't in the mood for pizza, but I seriously needed a break after having a very long, trying day with the boys today. So he picked up Chinese on his way home. I was good and ordered Egg Foo Yung (sp?), which I don't even want anyone to tell me is actually bad for me... but I'm sure it is bad for me somehow. Salt, maybe? I order the veggie one, so it's just eggs and vegetables.

Does anyone have a good all-natural pizza recipe, or a brand of pizza you especially like that is made with natural ingredients? I like California Pizza Kitchen, but I'm not sure about the health factor there.

Anyway, I'm off to RedBox to return Flawless (a superb movie, Mike and I both REALLY enjoyed it! highly recommend it) and rent our movie for the night!

Yellow Squash Casserole

This is a recipe that came with my CSA order last week. We will be having it for dinner tonight, since we have all of the ingredients. I will probably double the recipe, actually, since we have about 4 pounds of yellow squash! I'll let you all know how it turns out. :)

Yellow Squash Casserole
from cdkitchen.com

2 pounds small yellow squash
1 medium onion
water
salt to taste
2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese (reserve some for topping)
1 cup whole milk (or use 1/2 milk and 1/2 heavy cream)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
2 cups RITZ cracker crumbs (save some for the topping)

Directions:

Wash the squash well and cut into bite size chunks.
Place in a pot with the chopped onion, add about 1 1/2 cups water, and sprinkle with some salt.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the squash are just barely tender.
Drain well and set aside to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the aquash/onion mixture, cheese (save some for the topping), melted butter, milk, egg and about 3/4 of the cracker crumbs.
Mix gently until all is combined.
Pour into a lightly greased or buttered baking dish.
Combine the reserved cheese and crumbs and sprinkle over the squash mixture.
Bake in a 350 degree oven about 25-30 minutes.

Whole Food? What's That?

I am finding out! It will be a long, hard process, but I am going to be trying my very hardest to stick to a "whole foods" way of living. I am headed toward diabetes at a train's pace... okay, maybe not the speed of the trains that run through our town, but at a FAST train's pace. And my children have diabetes on both sides of their "family lines," so I think it's only right that I make a concerted effort to help us all live healthier lives so that we can spend a long time together as a family, God willing!

I made my first "official" trip to Whole Foods yesterday, and although it is definitely not on The Grocery Game plan, it was a very productive trip. ("official" in that I did my entire week of grocery shopping there, with this new way of eating in mind the whole time) As a dear friend of mine often says, "It is better to spend more on good quality food now than on doctor's bills later." I have always agreed with this statement, but my actions where food is concerned have never matched my beliefs. So now I'm going to work on my actions!

Last night for dinner, we had a rotisserie chicken, white peach slices, homemade guacamole and chips, tomato slices with fresh ground salt and pepper, and carrots. I got home from the grocery store at about 7:15 last night, so we were all starving, and cooking was not an option. So we just threw some stuff on the table and sat down to eat.

I am lazy where food is concerned, and although I love to cook, when it comes to the average weeknight I usually just end up throwing something together (usually not something very healthy).

Anyway, I could say a lot more about this, but I think the proof will be in the so-called pudding. So I will be trying to post recipes and menus on here so that you all can see what we're eating, but also so that you can try the recipes if you want to.

My Guacamole

2 ripe avocadoes -- cut in half, then remove seed by whacking with big sharp knife and twisting out, then scoop out avocado with spoon
1/4 or 1/2 tomato -- cut into chunks, remove the seeds
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
1 or 2 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp salt, or more to taste

Mash avocado with fork or spoon. I like mine chunky, so I don't mash it too much. Add other ingredients and mix together with spoon. Serve immediately. Even with the lemon or lime juice it will still turn brown after a couple of hours. Enjoy!

New Book, New Card

Is anyone looking for some good reading material? These are books by Peggy Chrusciaki (remember Angela and Clayton, who I have mentioned on here a few times? Peggy is Angela's mom). I am about halfway through the first book, and can I just say, they are AMAZING!? I am totally engrossed in the story now, and I can't wait for nap time so that I can read more! It is the story of Ellis Spencer, whose parents and sister are killed in a natural gas explosion at their home while Ellis is away at college, and Simon Garrett, who is an extremely ambitious med student coming from a family with many issues, who feels he needs to prove something to the world. Um, yeah. Is it nap time yet?

This is the new birthday card I made a couple of days ago. I'm working on another card that has stunning colors, and some really fun patterned "fabric paper"... bet you are on the edge of your seat, and just can't wait to see it! ;)

And yes, that is Starbucks coffee you see in the background. I love me some Starbucks! My favorite is the White Chocolate Mocha, nonfat, no whip. I also like the Mocha Frappuccino, on really hot days.

I hope to get that other card finished today, but I'm not promising anything, because, well, you know, I have two good books waiting for me to read them. They're calling to me...

A Trip Down Memory Lane

We went to get our family pictures taken today. Finally!! We were supposed to have them done before Christmas last year, because that was going to be what Mike's whole family exchanged as Christmas presents. Yeah... um. Didn't happen. But we finally got it done!! We went to Wally World, and the lady who took our pictures was very nice, and understanding, and great with the boys. She was older, and had trouble lifting them up sometimes, but they loved her antics to get them to smile.

Griffin kept acting like he was going to jump off of the "picture platform," so she was thoroughly freaked out by the time we were done, but she said that all in all, they were some of the easiest kids she had taken pictures of. Yeah. Right. They probably say that to all of the parents. But the boys were good, for the most part. They only tried to climb up on the "picture stools" (which they were strictly forbidden from doing, lest the picture lady get fired) a few times, and Griffin knocked Sammy off of a wooden bench once and made him cry, but other than that, they were really trying to reign in their enthusiasm and behave.

When we were done, we all went to McD's to play and have lunch. There were a little girl and boy there playing, and we got to know them pretty well as Mike chased them screaming and yelling through the tubes in the PlayPlace. Fun stuff! Mike is tired. Sammy also got to be "The Monster" and chase all of the kids as well. For some reason, Sammy is often cast as "The Monster" or "The Bad Guy" or "The One To Run Away From." Since he is usually the smallest, I don't really understand this, but I think it may have something to do with the fact that he is the least likely to actually catch the kids running away from him. The downside to having him be "The Chaser" is that he generally loses interest in the game at hand very quickly, and will wander off to do his own thing while the other kids are still running away from him. Then everyone becomes thoroughly confused, and they will start to look for Sammy and remind him that he was chasing them. "Oh yeah," says Sammy, and wanders off again.

Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. All 2 1/2 minutes of it. Maybe it IS true, that a child's attention span is as old as their age!

An update on Diamond: She is doing okay, but had been having tummy troubles yesterday from the antibiotic she has been taking for the past few days. I haven't talked to Bonnie to see if Diamond's little stomach was settled yet, or if they will switch her antibiotic. Her face is healing nicely, though, and there haven't been any complications from the actual bites. Pray for Bonnie, though, as she is trying to get all of the loose ends tied up that result from an animal attack on a child. It is a tedious process, and yet time sensitive at the same time. I won't go into all of the details on here, but suffice it to say that it has been very stressful, emotional and heartwrenching for their family.

My grandma will be moving here at the end of August! Well, not HERE, but only about 45 minutes away from here, instead of 3 and 1/2 hours away. Yay!! But speaking of emotional processes, she is in the process of packing, giving away and moving 30 years worth of "stuff" that accumulates when you live in the same house for that long. She and her husband built the house she lives in now, and it is full of memories for her, and also for the rest of the family.

For me, it is the only house that has been a "constant" the entire time I have been alive. Every year, the family would go there for Thanksgiving, eat a big dinner, rest a bit and watch TV, and then bundle up and go outside to collect hedgeapples that had fallen from trees around Grandma's acreage. We collected them in a little red metal wagon, and then we'd all gather at the neighbor's fence, which was surrounded by trees, and throw them as far as we could into the neighbor's yard. (The neighbors were okay with this arrangement, by the way.) It was one of those family traditions that you wish would stay the same.

Grandma would have a puzzle set up on a table in the living room, and there was usually a little group of people sitting around it working away. We would all watch It's a Wonderful Life, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Charlie Brown Christmas, and Garfield Christmas on TV on Thanksgiving night, and then all of us kids (there are 6 of us, although 3 of us have children of our own now) would pile into our sleeping bags on the living room floor and whisper and giggle our way to sleep.

In the morning we would wake up to toast, coffee, juice, cereal, scrambled eggs, little sausages, and homemade pumpkin and banana bread. I always loved breakfast at Grandma's! Then people would either head home, or sometimes we would get to stay for an extra day.

My sister and I spent a week at Grandma's house every summer for several years, too. We sewed our own dresses, played the piano in the piano room, learned how to do latch hook, and threw a big "wiffle ball" back and forth over Grandma's garage roof. We also loved to go for walks in the tall grass that grew in the "field" on her land that she would mow a path through every year. We would come inside and do a "tick search" when we were done.

Christy would inevitably end up with a bloody nose at least once every summer at Grandma's house. The air is a lot drier there than it is where we live. We would go to the library and rent movies, and sometimes even go watch one at the theater. I can remember one time when we went to see a movie, and I had a really bad headache, and Grandma sat there and rubbed my hand to make the headache go away. She said there was a pressure point in there somewhere. It certainly took my mind off of the headache, anyway! I don't remember the movie at all, but I remember that.

Yes, there are a lot of memories in Grandma's house. I will take some pictures when I go sometime in the next few weeks. Mike and I will be making a trip up there soon (without the boys!) to help out with the moving process a bit, and bring home some things that Grandma won't need or doesn't have room for in her new place.

Wow, I just took a trip down memory lane there. I have been writing for over an hour! I should probably go feed my family dinner. The boys are playing happily outside, as I watch through the window. It has been very hot today, so they won't be out there long, but they love to be outdoors!

Okay, time to get off the computer!

Pray for This Family

Hello faithful blog readers. I have some disturbing news today, and any of you who pray, please say a prayer for this sweet little baby girl. My friend Bonnie, who I have mentioned, oh, forty or fifty thousand times on here (!) went through an awful experience last night. Her baby girl, Diamond, was attacked by a ferret. Diamond will be fine, thank God, but has 19 bites on her face and scratches on her body. The doctors don't think there will be scarring, and Bonnie says that she looks a lot better today than she did last night. I just wish I could be with them right now!!

They spent the night in the ER and are being released today. The worst part of all of this is that Bonnie and Diamond are not at home, but on a road trip with friends (who must be absolutely mortified, as it is their pet ferret), and Bonnie's husband Caleb is here at home and has to be feeling so powerless to help them right now.

It was a life-altering experience for Bonnie, and I haven't talked to her in depth about it as she had very few minutes left on her cell phone, but I just wanted to ask everyone to lift their little family up in prayer, both for Diamond's well-being, and also for the emotional well-being of some of my best friends on this earth. Prayer is powerful!

Thanks, people!

New Cards!!

I have updated my card website, www.thekidwellfamily.net, with the new cards I have been creating lately. I added a Christmas section, because I have been working on some new Christmas cards. I can't wait for the new Stampin' Up! catalog to come out in August!! There will be new colors and TONS of new stamp sets for me to drool over and make cards with! Tee Hee! SOOO exciting!! Also, I just ordered a TON of new stamp sets from the Retiring Sets list, and I'll be receiving those soon. Yeehaw!!! I can't wait to go play in my stamp room. :)

Weekly Savings for July 12th

Shelf Totals: $375.00
Spent: $228.45
Saved: $146.55
Savings of: 39%

This week I shopped at HyVee, Walgreens and Hen House. My biggest savings was at Walgreens -- I saved 53% there. I don't think I'm going to keep going to CVS. My savings are the greatest there, it seems, but I have to wait until Monday evening for the list to come out for that store, so that means I either have to wait until a weeknight to do my shopping there, or go the Saturday after, when many of the great deals have already been wiped off of the shelves. Three stores is enough for me, thank you very much!

A Family Picture

Too bad it wasn't taken at Wal*Mart. Mike's family has been waiting since Christmas for us to get our act together and have our family picture taken. They have all had theirs taken, why can't we seem to manage to get it done? We have never even had one taken with the boys! Can you believe it? It has been 5 years since our last professional photo shoot, and obviously, our children had not yet been born. Soon, we will get to a place with a backdrop and good lighting... and then everyone will have the long-awaited professional picture. Until that time arrives, here is this one. ;)