Park Days

I'm learning to take advantage of these Fall days when the sun shines and the rain is sparse. I used to feel guilty about running to the park in the morning because dishes weren't done and we hadn't started schoolwork yet. But I've come to a few realizations: 1. The dishes eventually get done and I'd much rather spend a morning at the park with my kiddos and 2. We've figured out that doing schoolwork after lunch when Moddy takes her nap works better for us. For some reason I was believing that it had to be done first thing in the morning, silly me.

Of course, Clayton started off yesterday at the park by hitting his sister. So I drew a circle in the bark chips and there he stood for timeout.


Miss Moddy loves the park and she loves to climb and sometimes I think she'll give me a heart attack.
She climbs:
She sits:
She does the drop and hang. And she loves it all and has no fear.

Momma, has a little fear.
Ivan and Hannah have both learned to pump on the swings and only occasionally want a little push. Ivan has started sticking his tongue out when he sees me taking pictures (where do they learn this?) I caught him just before here:
Ahh...there it is though:
And my superheroes:
Hannah-Hannah lost another tooth the other morning. It's been loose for awhile and it fell out when she was eating her morning apple. I'm loving the cute toothless smile:
Though I don't know about this type of posing (where do they learn this stuff?):
Again with the "no fear", she holds on, she swings, she leans back to look at the sky and shakes the swing around. I just don't know what I'm going to do with her.
I think I'll keep her though.

I kind of like her.

I kind of like them all.

Pumpkin Carving

The kiddos have been begging to carve pumpkins this year, and a week ago when we were at Fred Meyer we picked up 3 to do just that.
They sat on the counter for a week and everyday I heard "Can we carve our pumpkin faces now?"
So Wednesday we did.
Mod was taking her nap and Clayton had fallen asleep so Hannah and Ivan each picked "their" pumpkin, I gave them a permanent marker and told them to draw the face for me to cut out.
I then cut off the tops and told them to pull out all the insides.
I don't think they realized all that was involved and commented that they never wanted to do this again.
But we made it through.

Clayton woke up and told me what he wanted and I drew it and then cut his out as well.

We had to run to the store for candles but later that night when Daddy got home we stuck in the candles and showed off their creations. Hannah, Ivan and Clayton are all hoping to scare some trick-or-treat-ers with the "really scary pumpkin faces".
Can you guess which pumpkin was designed by which kid?

Breakfast at Emily's

Wow. I've been slacking in my blogging lately. But I still have a recipe up over at Cowgirl Clippings today. It's my favorite (I know, they're all my favorite) Spiced Pumpkin Waffle Recipe.
It's Fall, the weather is colder and rainy and anything pumpkin-y or spicy sounds wonderful and tasty and comfortable. (Can something taste comfortable?) For some reason I can't load a picture to tempt you in that direction, so you'll just have to follow the links for all the goodness. Enjoy!

Breakfast at Emily's

Mmm....coffee.
I love coffee.
So when I found this recipe a few years ago I couldn't pass it up.
Though I left out the rum, I'm not a big rum person.
Especially first thing in the morning.
You're curious aren't you?
Better head over to Cowgirl Clippings and check out the White Spiced Coffee.

Merry Christmas!

Don't hate me.

I've been listening to Christmas music all morning and it's not even Halloween yet.

It's not the first time this month either.

While I will exclaim, "Good grief! It's not even Halloween or Thanksgiving yet and they have Christmas stuff out!" right along with Hannah (true story, it happened the other day at Fred Meyer) I will happily pull out the Christmas music early.

I think it has something to do with Christmas craft bazaars.

(Confused? It helps to listen to Christmas music when you're making stuff to sell at a "Holiday" craft bazaar.)

I love craft bazaars.

I used to any way.

My mom sold stuff at craft bazaars a lot when I was younger and I loved it. And since I want to be just like my mom, I too have attempted selling crafts.

It's just not the same anymore.

Not when you can buy "crafty" looking stuff that's made in China and costs a fraction of something homemade.

But still every year I get a flyer in the mail asking if I want to rent a booth at the "Holiday" bazaar around here.

Every year there is the fleeting moment of "Could I?"

And then I remembered this year that all my craft stuff is packed away in the trailer and besides, there is no way I have enough time to get stuff ready to fill a booth at a bazaar.

I think they should send out the flyer in March, or even as late as July. Then I might attempt it again.

I suppose I could just remember and start now for next year...

...but it's so much easier to blame someone else for my lack of planning.

Oh dear, maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

Now my brain is reeling with thoughts of what I could make and sell.

I better just leave you with a picture of my first craft bazaar. Hannah was about a year and half, she's in the picture there if you look closely, and I was very pregnant with Ivan, but I'm not in the picture, I'm just mentioning it so you have a time reference.

Wood and Vinyl Floors and Counter Tops

Work is getting done.

Flooring/counter top guys were there yesterday, so last night we stopped by and I grabbed a couple pictures to share.`

It looks amazing. I'm so excited.

The view walking in the front door:


The kitchen:
And the master bathroom once again:

Sinks need to go in. Trimwork and carpets need to be put in and then I think there's a bunch of work under the house that needs to be done.

It's fun to see it all come together (and not have to do the work ourselves).

Breakfast at Emily's

I've started making Craisin bread instead of cinnamon rolls when I make sourdough bread every week. I'm sharing that variation with you over at Cowgirl Clippings today. Enjoy!

The TV Battle

We are not t.v. watchers per se.

We are movie watchers.

And I hate it.

Well, it's a love/hate relationship.

I love the distraction of it when I need my kids to calm down and rest for a bit.
Or if I want to take a bath or shower; it keeps them occupied nicely, calmly, and in a safely (yes, I know this is not correct, maybe I'll let you in on the joke later) manner.

I hate when my children start expecting to watch at least one movie a day.

I hate when they cannot use their God-given imaginations and figure out something to do.

I'm not ready to quit cold turkey and just chuck the thing. There's a time and a place for entertainment.

I try to limit the amount we watch but yet it sits there, a large hulking mass, the focal point of the living room, an ever beckoning temptation of entertainment.

I'd love to shove it in a closet or something and pull it out only sometimes. But we've got a huge box of a tv that is quite heavy and does not lend itself to being easily transportable.

I've been dreaming of a wall mounted flat screen that I could hide with a cool cabinet or something but that is most definitely not in the budget anytime soon and then I started thinking.

We only pretty much watch movies on it. Can I hook my flat screen computer monitor that we no longer need directly to my DVD player? It would be portable enough to move around if needed or small enough to hide.

I Googled it.

That's what I do with a lot of things; Google them.

I think it might actually work!

I think.

The computer monitor is packed away, like a lot of other things, in the trailer and so in the mean time I die in anticipation of what could be.

Well, not really die.

Breakfast at Emily's

This recipe for Baked Oatmeal is one my mom shared with me and I'm sharing it over on Cowgirl Clippings this morning. I haven't made it yet but hopefully will be soon. I'm short on casserole dishes right now.

My House Right Now

I'm still indifferent about our whole house situation, just not quite as much as before.

As work is being done I'm finding that my anxious/excited-ness to be back in our home is rising.

Last week the drywall was patched.

Over the weekend Erik, his brother and a friend got the cabinets installed.

And Monday the painters came.

Yesterday I talked with the floor/counter top guy and he's getting everything finalized to start putting all that stuff in.

I'm hoping and praying that everything goes smoothly and quickly.

I think I'm becoming slightly less indifferent because I'm missing things that are packed away in the trailer.

Such as:

My piano. Oh how I miss my piano. I never, ever want to be without one again. I knew I loved the freedom to sit down and play something whenever I felt like it, even if it was for 30 seconds. I didn't realize this was a vital part of my sanity.

My fabric. Another of my creative outlets. I'm getting excited to start on Christmas gifts and other such crafts and yet all of that is locked away for now.

My running shoes. I'm not a runner by any means but I've had the motivation to get moving and I don't have the proper footwear, or any footwear for that purpose right now. I resorted to purchasing "So You Think You Can Dance" exercise videos. These only partly work. Sure I get some exercise but my children think that when I'm attempting these "dances" it's the perfect time to hang on me, cling to me and otherwise get in my way.

I'll make it.

No one has ever died for lack of a piano, fabric or running shoes.

And look at all the fun stuff that's happening over there:

A new kitchen! The desk area there is a new addition, there was counter there before but it was fondly termed "the junk counter"; now it has a purpose!


The sink used to sit at an angle in the corner there, making a completely wasted corner of counter top, that was hard to keep clean, behind it. It also made using the dishwasher awkward. So we turned the sink, lost one cabinet and the sink will now sit under the window, offering a great view of the backyard and garden to whoever is doing dishes.


We also got a new bathtub and new cabinets in the bathroom. We now have two banks of drawers in the vanity. The cabinets are 36inches, making them the same height as a kitchen counter and to the left of the bathtub there was a big empty space that was designed to hold a shower. We alas did not opt for the "glamor bath" package when we had the house built and therefore did not need another shower. We now have a custom cabinet tucked away in there. Perfect for linens and other things.



I'm hoping I'll have more updates for you soon! Can't wait for the new flooring and counter tops!

Everyday

I'm still stuck on Ikea.

But only because the catalog was sitting on top of my Bible when I went to read this morning.

The line under the Ikea heading caught my eye and made me think for a minute.

"Hooray for the everyday."

Wow.

That hasn't been my mentality at all the last few weeks.

I've lived in anticipation for a solo trip to Costco, and girl's day out and a weekend away with my husband in a few weeks but I haven't been excited about the everyday.

I get frustrated with the everyday dishes and cleaning. Forgetting to be thankful that God has blessed us with food to eat, clothes to wear and a place to live. Forgetting to be thankful that I can stay home with my kiddos and teach them and learn from them and watch them grow.

Maybe that's why my patience has been wearing thin and I've been disgruntled and grumpy. My attitude has been rotten.

So of all the "treasures" I found at Ikea, I think my favorite is the complimentary catalog I picked up.

The everyday can be a cause for celebration and hoorays if my attitude is right.

Not because of what I can buy at Ikea.

Time to get celebrating.

Hooray for the everyday!

Girl's Day Out

Yesterday was a wonderful Girl's Day Out.

All 12 hours of it!

I left my house at 8:32 yesterday morning and pulled into the driveway at about 8:35pm.

I was tired.

But I had tons of fun and got tons of stuff.

Okay, not tons, literally, but quite a bit.

I had a list so there wasn't any impulse buying involved.

Well, only some impulse buying.

I started the morning picking up my friend Rebecca in Cannon Beach. We then joined Rolana and Nyssa at Starbuck's on 185th in Beaverton and from there journeyed to Ikea.

Ikea was a new experience for 3/4 of us. And it was fun. And I am so glad I went with a list of things I wanted already.

Otherwise I would have been very overwhelmed.

After a gleeful wander through Ikea we went to Red Robin for lunch and then shopped a few other stores before we parted ways; Rolana and Nyssa in one direction and Rebecca and I on an adventure to Fabric Depot and Lake Oswego.

We hit Fabric Depot, even with faulty directions from Google, and I found some fun upholstery fabric to re-do my couch. We didn't look around much because we had an appointment to meet a lady in Lake Oswego to look at a couple chairs she was selling on craigslist.

I now own matching living room chairs!


I only took a picture of one but the other looks the same.

Then we hit Target, where I almost had a heart attack because I thought I left my wallet in the lady's house in Lake Oswego but then found it in the depths of my purse (it usually resides in my pocket because I'm not one for carrying purses), and Jamba Juice and headed home.

Erik was pleased with the chairs, called my fabric "orange" (it's really more of a rust-ish red with brown and beige) and I watched as his eyes got bigger with each item I pulled from my bags from Ikea. But he only asked once in amazement, "How much did you buy?"

Successful day, shopping wise, and uber-successful day for fun and frolics without children.

Oh and here area couple gratuitous shots of Hannah 'cause she wanted me to take her picture whilst I was taking pictures of my finds.


Where the heck did she learn to pose like that?! Certainly not from her mother! Though if it was from her Father...

Weekend Plans

I am so anxious, but in an anxious/excited sort of way, for this weekend.

Work at our "flooded" house is moving along swimmingly, drywall has been patched, Erik and his brother are installing cabinets on Saturday and I've heard rumors that the painter is suppose to be here on Monday.

I'm sorry, I have no pictures. Maybe after the cabinets are in.

But that is not all.

I get a "Girl's Day Out" to Ikea!

No children, just adult female company and shopping. I am so excited. I've been pouring over the Ikea website making out lists and paring down those lists for days.

I seriously could spend a lot of money there, but I'm trying not to, thus the lists.

And...my mom said she would help me re-upholster my couch so I'm heading to Fabric Depot also to see if I can find the fabric for it.

And...I found a couple awesome matching chairs on craigslist and I have a tentative time to go look at them and hopefully they'll be just what I want and they'll fit in the back of the truck.

I can't wait to share my finds.