yummy (healthy) treats

Now that the bread is gone, I needed something to snack on today. And I knew it should be healthy. Alina was asking for some crackers today, which of course we don't have any. I remembered seeing a homemade cracker recipe on 101 cookbooks. So I scooted over there and started perusing. In her post she said these tasty crackers would go well with midnight hummus. Hmmm...that sounded interesting. So I clicked on the hummus link and I actually had everything to make it.

So today I tried two new recipes. For the midnight hummus, I used black beans instead of the beluga lentils and only put in a 1/2 teaspoon of cumin instead of the 2 teaspoons it called for. I didn't have the semolina flour for the crackers so I used regular white four. They took longer than I thought to roll out, but it made SO many (at least 150+ crackers total) it was well worth it. I was wishing I had some parmesan cheese to sprinkle on them too, but alas, I used it all for the alfredo sauce I made the other day. Herbs I used were dill weed and oregano and spices were a turkey rub and paprika. Alina was eating them as fast as I was taking them out of the oven. Super easy! Yummy and I'm thinking better than store bought crackers.

Here are the recipes if you're interested.

Olive Oil Crackers
Midnight Hummus

yummy treats

Some new things that have been made over the past few months. And no, none are REALLY good for you, but that's why they're treats!!

Yummy gummy gum drops! Super easy and tasty to boot!










Teapot cake for Anne's baby shower













Cinnamon Swirl Bread (from Taste of Home's Contest Winner cookbook). I made this this morning and it filled the house with an amazing aroma.





No time for commentaries. Another piece of bread is calling!

brain is toast. i think it's all the paint fumes that have been inhaled over the course of the weekend. And I should be worried when Ed sprayed the crack sealant (it's like spray paint but for wall/ceiling cracks) my words were, "I really like the smell of that".

Non flowing conversation.

Sam: Mom, bad news. I broke my backpack zipper.
Me: Huh. We'll just look downstairs for another one.
Sam: Mom, guess what. I'm lucky. I only have 2 homework papers.
Me: Great! You'll fly right through them.
Sam: Mom, guess what!?! (this one was said with a brilliant smile). I just counted to 210 while going to bathroom. By 5's!
Me: Wow! Great job!
Sam: Mom? Can I have a W.H.O.L.E. cupcake for dessert tonight?
Me: sure.
Sam: For snack can I have peanut butter on strawberry frosted mini wheats?
Me: Ummm....if you want to?
Sam: Will I die? If I mix them, will they make poison?
Me: No.
Sam: Do you want some? Have you ever tried it?
Me: Uhh...no thanks.

1 pair of white socks.
1 pair of wool socks.
1 pair of slippers.
1 pair of long johns.
1 pair of sweat pants.
1 long john top.
1 thick sweat shirt.
1 button up heavy shirt.
1 fleece blanket.
1 rocking chair by
1 lit fireplace.
1 broken furnace.
1 adventerous night!

test 3

Last night I made this. Warm snow pea and chicken salad. It could've used a bit less of the sauce (tahini, light soy, rice vingar, and sesame oil (but i used olive oil as I had no sesame oil)). It took forever to slice the snow peas into thin pieces, but Alina helped in putting them in the bowl (and eating the peas out of them). It was three out of four thumbs up. Sam didn't care for it. He said he liked broccoli better than this dish. I told him that was good to know as I'd make something with broccoli in it for the next dinner. His words, "I like this! Never mind!" I explained to him that it will give him lots of energy in gym.

Today he came home and said, "Mom, I'm glad I ate that last night! It gave me lots of energy in gym today. I ran one lap and ran out of gas, but I rested and filled right up again and I kept running and running!"

Can't beat that.. :)

Test one. test two.

A few weeks ago, I said that some new recipes were going to be whipped up in my kitchen. Two have taken place.

The first was taco's. I used this recipe for taco meat and this recipe for shells.

The seasoning for the meat was cumin, oregano and chili powder. Beats all the salt in a packet of seasoning (and was less expensive)! It was SO very yummy and so very good for you. I used ground chicken instead of ground beef. Threw in a can of diced tomatoes with chili's and that was it. Three out of four thumbs up (it was a bit too spicy for the princess).

The taco shells were corn tortilla's, with some olive oil sprayed on them, sprinkled with chili powder and laid over two grates on the oven rack and baked. Again, very yummy.

Second was Cucumber and Black-eyed Pea Salad. I was a bit skeptical about this one, but there was barely any left after the four of us were done with it. Cucumbers, black-eyed peas, red pepper, onions, black olives, feta cheese and an olive oil/lemon juice/oregano/ground pepper dressing. Four out of four thumbs up. I will definitely be making this again. Maybe throw in some cut up chicken breasts for some extra protein.

Tonight is either going to be Warm Snow Pea and Chicken Salad or Pasta with Creamy Mushroom Pea Sauce. Will give results after consumption.

memorieeeees....all alone in the moonliiiiight

This weekend we cleaned out our storage room. 1st off, how we've accumulated SO much since living here is beyond me. We've bought next to nothing, but yet still have so much STUFF! Ed's car is packed full and ready for a trip to Goodwill today. One of the many things I had to go through was a large bag of stuffed animals. Some I kept, some I packed in the car, some I gave to Alina. The hardest thing to get rid of was this:


I won this stuffed six foot neon pink flamingo at Cedar Point back in high school during the yearly youth group trip. I carried it on my shoulders around the park until we left. I've not been able to part with it. But now with having to think about packing our entire house and moving 2000 miles, I knew it was time to let it go. If you by chance want a six foot neon pink stuffed flamingo, let me know. Ed won't be going to Goodwill until this afternoon. Sigh....



I did, though, keep the baby neon stuffed pink flamingo and gave it to Alina.

A rare find!

I found a true treasure digging through an old box of stuff.
Circa 7th grade.

Jean's autograph book: Signed by other kids (a bunch of notebook paper stapled together to form a book)

Jean,
Good luck in the future and the guys! Don't wait for them go get'em! Make 'heart' not war! Nicki

Jean,
Hi. I hope you have a great summer. Maybe I will see you this summer. Well good luck with that boy of yours. bff. Karisa

Have a fun summer, good luck with the guys. Eric

Jean,
Have a great summer. I will never forget you and I will miss you. Call me every other weekend. Not on week days because I will be gone.

Jean,
Hi and bye! the year went so fast! Remember me when you're eating a banana! See ya in Big Bad 8th! Surfers smile sexy so smile surfers style. Roketa "Chaquita"

Jean,
B.Y.O.G. Bring your own gum. Chris

Hey Babe! Miss me! Love, Steve

Jean,
Have a great year in "88" and may the guys be with you! It's been fun this year being a friend of yours and have fun with Eric B! Call me if you want. Ryan

And I didn't include the "explicit" ones as who knows what kind of people I'd get reading this!

So there you have it. I must've been guy crazy in 7th grade and I must have had a GREAT summer with all those well wishes.

changed my mind

Today I went to work on my list of to-do's. One was to scratch the tape off the handrail and sand it a bit so it can be painted. It's full of black marks, paint, indentations, scratches, gouges and you name it. A thought flashed through my brain. "I wonder if I could sand all this stuff out?" So I got the tape off and started sanding. And kept sanding. And more sanding. Oh....the beautiful wood underneath the who knows how many years of use. Luckily I stopped and told Ed over IM and his sensible brain suggested I stop and finish painting the last coat on that wall so no paint drips on the newly sanded part.

I know it's just a handrail, but with not having really re-done any woodwork before, this is very exciting for me. I started having flashes of scouring estates sales and finding gems to refinish. This is very, very scary mind you. A new hobby is a dangerous thing...

Now I need to go blow my nose to get all the sand-dust out.

New recipes

This week I'm going to be trying some new recipes that I found in the Eating Well magazine I was receiving.

Cucumber and black eye pea salad.
Home made taco's with baked corn tortilla's and meat with spices out of the cupboard instead of out of a packet.
Thai pizza.
Warm snow pea and chicken salad.

We'll see how each turns out. I'm excited as all contain lots of veggies and good-for-you ingredients. We'll see how the judges (aka husband, son and daughter) vote.

Tonight was a fast and super duper yummy meatless stewish type dish. Black beans (which the kids love), corn and diced tomatoes. I threw in some oregano, chili powder and cumin. Stirred it up and viola. Dinner.

what a 3 year old can teach you

So last night on the way to church, Alina was singing a make up song and Sam was talking to his Leapster in the backseat. I wasn't really paying any attention to what they were saying until I honed in to what Alina was actually singing. "I love being meeee!!!" over and over again. Then she said, "Mom! Say 'I love being me!!'". I aquiessed and then asked her if she loved being her. "Yes! Do you love being you Mom?" Ahhh....what a great question. I know the 'right' answer. But really, deep down? Do I love being me? How many times do I want to be like someone else? So many I've lost count. Why can't I be joyful for the way my Creator has made me? I'm not like any one else in the entire world. And yet I become dissatisfied with how He made me. Discontent that so and so is better at such and such a thing. How many times I say, "I'm not good enough." or "I wish I was...." In a way it's telling God that He didn't do a good enough job.

And an off shoot of that is what kind of example am I setting for her? If I'm not satisfied with who I am, will she be satisfied with who she growing up in the world we live in? More than likely no.

So thank you my sweet princess for the 2x4 in the head to knock some sense into me that I need to LOVE BEING ME!

Yesterday I ventured out to do some last minute christmas buying (though, I hadn't even been shopping yet, and technically, it wasn't "last" minute) and some much needed grocery shopping (a family can only take so much pasta and spaghetti sauce in a week). The kids and I hopped in the minivan (courtesy of my brother who went to FL for Christmas) and off we went. Kohl's wasn't bad at all. Nor was the 2nd place we stopped (can't quite say as I know Ed will read this before Christmas. Hi my sweet!) We made a quick trip home to drop Sam off and Alina and I cruised the back roads to Meijer. I should've known it was going to be crazy when I had to go down three rows of parking spaces before finding an open one. My 2nd clue as to the craziness was when we walked into the store and you couldn't see down the aisle that had all the checkout lanes. The lines were backed up into the clothes department. But we continued on. We needed the essentials (milk, fruit, veggies, ice cream) to get through another week or so (especially now with Sam home...he's a non-stop eating machine. I tell him no so many times in the day that he can't have a snack as he just ate an hour ago. Boys).

We got all the shopping done and of course, stopped at all the free sample places so Alina could get nourished. One of the samples, I thought, was cheese. Like the kind you squirt out of the can. When I went up, the nice lady said, "would you like to try a pancake?" Turned out to be pre-made pancake mix that you squirt out of a bottle (like ready whip) onto your skillet. And viola! Pancakes! and the kicker was that it was organic. Interesting.

So onto the checkout lane we went. I have never. Ever. Seen such craziness. You couldn't walk down the checkout aisle to find the shortest line. I had to weave through the jewelry, clothes, and lingerie before finding the "shortest" line. I called Ed and said, "I'm at Meijer and there's, oh, 10 people in front of me". His response, "see you in an hour". He was pretty darn close. 40 minutes later I paid. We talked to the people in front of us. The lady in line next to us was a mom of one of Sam's classmates from Kindergarten last year (and who lives two streets away). Alina was a HUGE trooper. And it was interesting watching people. No one was stressed out, going crazy or getting upset because everyone had to stand in line forever. And ever.

The next time I think I'll be standing in line for 40 minutes, I won't buy ice cream. And will I stock up on perishables if I somehow know that we'll lose power in a wind storm for half the night (with it being in the 50's) and half of the next day? No. probably not (but the upside to that is, the temperature plummeted down to 1 degree with the wind chill in a matter of hours, so it stayed chilly enough in here to keep the food from going bad!).

Nothing good can come of eating only 2 cookies the entire day.
And that being at 5:45 tonight.
Oh! And some sweettarts.
yeah..real good.
no lectures needed. I know. i know.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Sunday our tree finally went up. Had to finish painting the living room before the tree could go up. One more project completed.


Our mirrored wall around the fireplace was nice until it was covered with fingerprints (which took about 2 seconds after we moved in). I hardly wash the windows, so the mirrors never got cleaned. So what do you do with something so breakable? Why break it of course!





After the first break, we found this absolutely adorable shade of brown paneling underneath.








Now, no memories of mirrors or fingerprints.









So with that done (and the green wall you can see the reflection of in the 1st picture now matches the rest of the room), the tree could finally go up!

Sunday the four of us fluffed branches and got them all in place. I put the lights up. And that's how the tree sat until last night. Ed works late on Wednesday's, so I gave the option to the kids of either decorating cookies or the christmas tree. Christmas tree was the unanimous vote (cookies are tonight's project).

This year I took a different approach to decorating the tree. I sat on the floor and was in charge of all the hooks. I let the two of them put the ornaments up with no help from me. So the top 1/4 of the tree was bare. :) They did a fantastic job and I had to let go of my left-braininess and not make everything look symmetrical. I kept telling myself (amidst breathing exercises) that it was OK to have three pink balls all in a row or a large section of bare branches. It was difficult, but I survived. After they went to bed, the few ornaments that fell off, I put up top.

This morning I put the tree back in place and added the final touch: Henreitta (she's our angel). I think this is the longest we'll have had our tree up since we've lived in this house.

JOY!

Last night when the decorations were being brought out, Alina found the box that houses our stocking holders. Since the stocking holders are porcelain, we've stuffed shredded paper around them to keep them from injury. I pulled the stocking holdings out and Alina started throwing the shredded paper in the air.

"I'm spreading JOY!" she said. I gave her a few throws and then asked her to put clean it up and put it away.

Today a package came in the mail and sure enough, crinkle paper was in the box. She asked if she could play with the joy. How can one say no to that?
So out came all the blue crinkle paper. She danced through the house singing, "JOY! JOY! I'm spreading JOY!" while throwing bunches of paper into the air.


She's not liking that she has to clean her joy up, now that it's all out of the box.

jobs

The other evening, while sitting outside chatting with a fellow stay at home mom, the conversation of jobs came up. What kind of jobs would we enjoy having? What kind would we be qualified for with not being out in the work place for several years?

When I crawled into bed that night I came up with a list of job titles that she and I would qualify for.

Negotiator
Baker
Chef
Counselor
Maid
Window washer
Seamstress
Vacuuming service
Laundry mat supervisor
Dish washer
Bus boy
Chauffeur
Librarian
Nurse
Garbage woman (has anyone actually seen a garbage women?)
24/7 on call person
Professional "why" answerer
Fashion designer
Dancer
Musician
Answering service
Customer service representative


I'm sure there are a ton I'm forgetting but my answering service needs to kick in as my "mom. mom. mom? mom! MOOOOMMMM!!!!" phone is ringing.

Answer

The answer to the below post is....

Here

oooooo the anticipation!

It's here! Burning a hole in the counter. The answer. In an hour and a half Ed will be home to tear it open.

Waiting....waiting....

double take

Today I (along with the rest of the company) received an e-mail from the president (of the company that is...not the United States). Thankfully it was a good news e-mail. This year there was going to be no Christmas bonus due to where the company was financially, but after speaking with the Board of Directors (one of which started the company) they agreed to give all full time employees a Christmas bonus this year. I was filled with gratitude b/c one of those full time employees is Ed. What a huge, huge blessing this is.

Ed kept IM'ing me asking if I had read the e-mail and when I was finally able to he said, "He (the president) came up to my desk and handed me a piece of paper saying that 'this one got stuck'". It was a 2nd check bonus check. In my name. For half the amount of the full time employees bonus'. When Ed told me that, I stood here dumbfounded in unbelief and my eyes filled up with tears. One check was a surprise, but two was a shock. How grateful and humbling this is, at this time in our lives. And how so very thankful we are. Beyond words thankful.

bone chilling

This morning the kids were up at 6:15. "It SNOWED outside! MOM! MOM!" From my cozy, toasty bed, I groggly said, "please go back to bed!". They were not to happy with me.

I like snow. I like looking at it from a sitting position. Inside the heated house. With a steamy cup of rich hot chocolate topped with bobbing marshmallows.

I'm becoming less and less a fan of the cold weather. It hurts my bones. Especially those days where it's SO cold out, when you breathe, it instantly freezes your nose hairs.

The kids on the other hand don't care how cold it is. And they don't care that I don't like it. So I suck it up and go outside. Of which I need to do right now. Alina is walking around with the bag of carrots (for the snowman's nose) saying, "come ON mom! Let's go get my snowsuit! MOOOOOOOOOOM!"

So off I go to the frozen outside. The driveway is calling to be shoveled and we'll see if we can make a snow man with the little snow there is.

startling discoveries

With home improvements ramping up on the interior, we thought about taking down this fairly large light in the kitchen and putting up a regular light/fan. Ed called from Lowe's and asked what the ceiling condition was like under the wood. I uncovered interesting facts in the process.


#1: The plastic light covering is all one piece on the left side from top to bottom if you will and one piece from left to right (like the shape of an L). With this being found out, you can't change the light that's in the middle small square (very smart on their part!) and it makes it very, very difficult to change the long fluorescent lights when you can only get to 1/2 of the light (again, very smart light-covering-planning on the installers part). And you can't slide the larger pieces b/c of the ceiling fan box above the ceiling fan.

#2: When I found a small plastic covering piece, that I could actually slide back, low and behold, there was wall paper on the ceiling. All wallpaper was removed up to and around that point, leaving a beautiful square of blue floral wallpaper left. Right around the ceiling fan box. Why not just finish the job completely? Welcome to our house.

#3: A finding Ed made concerning the light, but in a different location. The light switch for this particular beast was lovingly CEMENTED into the tile. So if we wanted to change the switch, we'd have to regroute/cement the tile again and who knows what kind of a mess that is.

#4, speaking of the tile, after exploring the possibility of replacing the counter top, the unique and yet beautiful fruit tile back splash was installed over top of the counter and grouted to it.

So......the counter top is staying. The light fixture is staying. The blades on the fan, however will be removed and painted.

Now the dining room light/fan however is being completely replaced as it exploded Saturday night when Ed turned on the light. The fan blades even jammed up. It was quite exciting.

Are we surprised at any of this? Not one bit.

I've been itching to get our Christmas tree up (have to wait until the drywall is finished and painted around the fireplace first). I think the past three years, it has been put up a week out from Christmas. The first year we lived here, it was put up Christmas morning (we had moved in a few days prior). I always envision having Christmas music playing, not being rushed, painting ornaments, try to string popcorn, baking cookies. Course everything in my head is a lot grander than what happens in reality. The music does get played, though the kids get bored after their ornaments are on. I rarely get around to making cookies. The ornaments I bought last year to paint are still in the cupboard. And popcorn stringing will never happen. Why I envision stringing popcorn is beyond me as I never did it growing up. I just want life to slow down. To enjoy the aroma's of the Christmas season and recreate/create memories for our kids. For us too. Maybe this year that will happen.

new pictures

So I braved the snow and decided it was time to go out and take pictures of the house.


Here's what the house mainly looked like when we bought it. Wood shakes were also on the brown parts around the front door. There also was a brick planter that went under the front window. The back and left side of the house was blue wood siding and the right side of the house was also wood shakes.




Here's the house neeked. Ed removed the shakes above the garage and on the side of the house. He also sledge hammered the brick on the front of the house and around the garage (along with the help of some friends). The steps and driveway were also removed, along with the retaining wall by the turn around.





And here's the final outcome. Front and back. New driveway and steps, new siding thanks to Mr. Bill, a new retaining wall thanks to Ed, and new wood chips in the front bed thanks to the willow tree.

The countdown!

Five days and counting!!
Until what you may ask?
The end of NaBloPoMo?
Well, yes, but that has been fun and I hope to continue posting daily even after it is done (now that I'm in the habit). :)
But in 5 glorious days, the Let It Snow Reading Club begins at the local library! I look forward to this each year. A goal to fill up my bingo sheet! To read books that I usually wouldn't read. I have yet to fill up a sheet, but this year is the year.
Ooooo (rubbing hands together in glee) I can't wait!!
In the words of my friend Hillary, "SQUEEEE!"

2nd 1st

Besides doing the around the circle prayer for the first time this year, another first was buying a farm fresh organic turkey. It was a bit more expensive than the store bought frozen turkeys, but I was ready to make that sacrifice. I have to say that this was one very juicy, amazing, close to perfect turkey that I have ever had.



Sam also wanted in on the action with the electric knife and did an amazing job cutting the bird for dinner.







It was also the 1st snowfall of the year on Thanksgiving morning. Which meant the kids wanted to be in it. So the snowsuits and all paraphernalia was brought out so they could play in it before it all melted.

pics

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Seattle last weekend. It was hard to choose from the plethera that we took, but I finally narrowed it down.



Here's the school that our trip was fitted around. We were turning a corner when I took this, hence the blurriness..








This was what we saw when we turned the corner to the baggage claims area at Sea-Tac. What a great, unique idea. The suitcases are threaded through a pole which turns and you could hear the leather of the bags creak and groan.



From the airport, we drove into the city, went to the fish market, went by the school and headed to the hotel and crashed.



Friday started bright and early with Ed's interview. At lunch this is where we went with two other couples (hi Jason, Mandy, Rick and Jennifer!). Salmon fish and chips with malt vinegar. Mmmmmm. What look like windows are actually large garage type doors that open during the warmer months so it's more of an open air restaurant right on the sound.





The sun did come out during Ed's interview and I captured the Cascade Mountains from the window of the school.









We went to dinner with 16 other people to this tiny Thai place where the food was amazing and very filling (I was sad to leave my food behind as it would've made excellent leftovers).









This is Ed and I Saturday morning before going into the school for the final sessions of the weekend.








After we were done with our MHGS Experience Weekend, we took a car ferry over to Bainbridge Island with Jason and Mandy to peruse the little town. We stopped at a tex mex restaurant for dinner and then headed back to the city of which you could see all the lights twinkling from the ferry's deck.







It was a fantastic weekend and a great city to experience.

Thanksgiving prayer

How was your Thanksgiving?

Ours was a great day spent with family and friends. Ed decided instead of doing a prayer before dinner, he was going to shake things up a bit. Half an hour before dinner, he passed out a piece of paper to everyone which read as follows:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is
God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Prior to our Thanksgiving meal together, we are going to give thanks in a new
traditional way. The passage above says to "give thanks in all circumstances." Think back on the last year. What seemed hard, but in looking back you can say, "Thank you, Jesus. I can see that you really had my best in mind."? That is what each of us will get to do. Just before the meal, we will each pray. Thanking Jesus for one specific event or events that was hard, and the beauty that resulted.

Ed will start the prayer of thanksgiving. We will pray around the circle. When your turn comes, you may simply say, "pass" and the next person will pray their prayer of thanksgiving. After the last person prayed, we will read a passage of Scripture together.

We then all read/responded Psalm 136.

Everyone prayed, even my teenage nieces. It was awesome to hear the struggles/hardships and how God sustained/blessed/grew each person. To stop and take a different angle of thanksgiving was a great new tradition that I hope we continue on throughout the next years.

For sure

Things I am for sure thankful about.

Jesus who sustains me every day and is so ever patient with my wandering heart.

The amazing husband who I am blessed to be married to who has never ever given up on me and continues by my side through life's crap and wonderfulness, loving me from the depths of his being even when I'm being unlovable.

My on-loan kids (who I have to keep giving back to Jesus) who teach me about child like faith day in and day out, live life to the fullest every moment and bring laughter and life to our home.

The peeps in my life who push me, stretch me, love me and stand by me. Life would not be the same without you!

Living and breathing: something I need to be more thankful about. How many times I have seen this past year life whisked away in a snap and on the flip side watching new life grow and blossom.

An amazing year full of blessings, adventures, valleys and tippy top mountains.

by the skin of my teeth

I thought for sure today's post wasn't going to happen. With our internet being down since Monday afternoon, after several calls to Comcast, they could get someone out here on Saturday. I knew I could scream and stomp my foot and whine, but it wouldn't do any good in getting someone out here sooner. Plus, I really wouldn't do that. So, the secret weapon was used.

Ed.

He has a way of making things happen. I'm too soft and squishy and don't want to be a bother. He's tough, uses a firm voice and doesn't back down. Heck...he fires and hires people at his job.

For some reason there was a spot open for today (why that spot wasn't open yesterday, who knows). And the guy was here two hours before the scheduled time, was speedy, fixed the problem and was on his way.

Thank you my handsome rescuer! I can now squeak in my post, talk to the outside world, and of course work. Right on!

Today finds me (and Alina) sitting at the office conference table getting ready to work. The internet and tv have been down since 2:30 yesterday afternoon. I don't mind not having television, but internet is another story. Knowing I am not able to work is hard and not having communication to the outer world is also hard.

No pictures today as they are on Ed's computer and with no internet, he can't send them to me. But come they will.

Our house is also done on the exterior and pictures will come of that too. I still pull up to the house and always question myself if I'm pulling in the right driveway.

Work beckons and I need to heed the call.

Last night our eyes saw the back of our lids at 7:30. I didn't think it was going to be so hard dragging myself out of bed this morning at 7:15. Ed even slept in until then (and those of you who know him, know that is REALLY sleeping in for him).

I will have pictures of the trip on tomorrow's post.

I don't think I'm going to have any problem going to bed tonight. I told myself no naps as then I'll be up until 1:00 in the morning wide eyed and rearing to go.

I also need to get back into eating a bit better. I wouldn't be surprised if I gained all the weight back that I lost when I got sick.

So to start off the better eating kick, I think I'll mosey into the kitchen and make some hummus. (Have to offset the Jolly Rancher Screaming Sours that I just ate).

running on fumes

Not quite sure how I'm functioning right now. It was 9:30 (MI time) yesterday morning when we got up. It was 9:30 (MI time) when our plane landed this morning. I thought I'd get some sleep on the plane from Seattle to Minnesota (it took off at 3:55 a.m. MI time), but it was SO turbulant, I vowed never ever to fly again. At one point the plane dropped, so did my stomach and all contents that were in it (which wasn't much). I prayed and prayed more and prayed some more. I was shaking as I was so nervous but kept continuing to pray. The stewardess' had to stop serving drinks and had to sit down and buckle in as it was so bad. The landing couldn't come soon enough.

Thank Jesus the flight from Minnesota to home was SO smooth I even fell asleep during take off that when we were in the air, I thought we were still on the ground. It was the smoothest flying I have ever experienced.

We got home and two hours later the kids were here and life has continued like we never left. Though...did we ever leave?

brain has popped

I think yesterday felt like one of the longest days of my life. It was a good long day though. Ed had the interview process from 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do during that time. All the interviewees went into the room and there was one girl and I left standing alone. We introduced ourselves to each other and sat down on one of the couches and started talking. Her husband was interviewing also. The next hours flew by with chatting and scouring the internet for places to live and before we knew it, our husbands were done and it was time for lunch. The guys had also met another guy whom they asked to go to lunch with us who is engaged. So us three couples, one from Michigan, one from South Dakota, and one from Miami moseyed on down next to the Puget Sound to Anthony's Fish Bar for lunch. Great conversation and awesome food.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with more head stuffing, some phrases that shook me to the core of my beliefs and scared the begeebes out of me, making me wonder "what in the heck is this school teaching?!?", more questions and meeting more people. (But now I'm no longer shocked or my beliefs curled in a fetal position as the phrases were explained and after chewing on them, realized they did make sense and weren't so scary after all).

Dinner found us at a Thai place. Ed and I have never had Thai food before and all I can say is that I am now hooked. It was amazing. We met another couple looking at the school from Tennessee, a single guy and a couple who are students at the school, from North Carolina, and another student who is from Nebraska.

It surprised me that I had not met one local person who went to school there. Though we were told there are some. I have also gotten my introduction phrase down. "I'm Jean from Michigan and yes I do know of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids and yes I've met Rob Bell and have friends that go there." I kid you not. Every. single. person. I have met (student and prospective student) has asked me if I know Rob Bell and Mars Hill Church.

It has been an amazing trip so far and the sun even came out yesterday which let us display Mount Olympus from the windows of the school.

I still have more questions to be answered and hopefully that'll happen today.

It's 6:30, woke up at 5:00. Body says it's 9:30 and actually slept in until 8:00 :)

Todays a busy day of having our brains stuffed with information of which we'll need to munch on later when we can poke them to let it all out.

Really short post today. Time to head back over to the non-smoking Denny's for a Moon Over Mi-Hammy. :)

ins and outs

Some things that I observed and did today:

Saw a lady carrying a bag, which I thought was her small purse over her shoulder, but it was actually a dog carrier (dog included) that fit under the airplane seat in front of her. bizarre.

I don't like the sound of the airplane putting on it's brakes to slow down while we're still in the sky.

It is raining in Seattle right now. No surprise there. :)

Drivers in the city are actually very friendly and no honking occurred (except the guy who was in a HUGE hurry to get to the red light in front of us).

Trying to keep my eyes open and stay awake until 8 tonight (11 home time). Only one more hour to go.

Actually just finished eating at a Denny's which did not see or smell of smoke.

timber!!

This is, or should I say was, our lovely willow tree. The tree where bees liked to hide and jump out to sting Ed when he was mowing (resulting in a trip to the ER). The tree that we didn't mind if it fell on the house (when we weren't home that is...that's how much we liked our house).









But we're starting to like our house. Especially our new siding, steps and driveway and we don't want the tree to fall on it. So the tree met its demise yesterday. I didn't realize how big this tree was until I took the picture below and saw the guy standing straight up next to the cut down trunk and it was taller than him.



I will not miss the tree. Or the bees. Or it possibly falling on our non Adams Family looking house. Good bye tree. We did save some of it though. It'll be displayed in the front garden bed. As wood chips.

a super find

One of my favorite foods are cheese puffs. Not curls mind you. Too crunchy. But I would will myself not to buy them as they aren't the best thing for you.

Then I found these





Oh cheese puffs! Now I can eat a lot and not feel guilty or bad about eating them. Yes, they are a bit more expensive for a smaller bag. I'm learning how to ration and enjoy every single mouth melting bite.

new found word

Roil: To be in a state of turbulence or agitation.

I thought roil was something between boil and rumble. But turbulence or agitation much better describes the state my stomach was in at 3:30 this morning.

This has happened before. When I ate steak. It knocked me off my feet the next day to the point where I was living in the bathroom thinking there was nothing left to come out of me, but stuff somehow managed to be found.

This time it was meatballs. And this time I told myself to throw up as that would make the sick process go much faster. And it sure has.

I also told myself to suck it up as I needed to watch the little one year old today and that I had to make it through and was already praying for strength. 10 minutes later my phone rang and it was her mom saying she was staying home today. I was floored, humbled, in awe and so very thankful that my prayer was answered and not like I expected it to be. I went and crawled back into the toasty bed.

So today I have been feasting on GU2O and Pepto tablets. My tummy is now rumbling with hunger instead of agonizing pain. My back started hurting (just like it did last time), so I knew everything was almost over.

I think my body is telling me not to eat beef. It's not something we eat a lot of, maybe once a month, hence the reason it rejects it in the most horrible way possible.

Of course my favorite treat is prime rib. Oh how I love thee and will miss thee.

mold breaker

Remembering back on growing up, every Sunday was, well, predictable. Church, home to a tantalizing pot roast aroma wafting through the house, eat around the table as a family, nap, homework, church, home for a snack, bed. No tv during the day. No chores. Skirts to church. This was how it was for 20 years. It wasn't bad by any means. That's what was ingrained in my being and the mold that was made for me.

Then I got married.

Today I think I broke almost every Sunday mold. We didn't go to church (but went last night). I did laundry. We watched football. Ed went to the store. I wore pants to church. On some Sundays we eat downstairs. I've cleaned the basement and the kitchen. Ed's working on the car in the garage. I sanded and washed down the front door in prep for painting. He even mowed and de-leafed the lawn.

All this to say that it has been a good day. No rushing around. Taking our time. The house was filled with smells of hamburger (chicken to be exact) soup and skillet corn bread. It's been a restful day even with doing things. While I treasure the memories of growing up, I treasure the new memories being made with my family.

face lift

Awhile back we gave our laundry area a face lift. And by awhile...I mean awhiiiiiile. Here's what our laundry room looked like before:











This was the beautious wall paper and the lovely shade of green paint that was behind it:










With the left over paint from the bathroom, it cost us $4 (bottle of wall paper remover) to redo our laundry area.

Step #2

Today the driveway was poured, rolled and cooled. It took a total of an hour to do the entire thing. Sam can't wait to ride his big wheel on it!

memories for 25 cents

Yesterday on the way to drop Ed off at work, a sign snagged my eye. MOVING SALE. Course sale signs always catch my eye. But this one screamed at me. I dropped Ed off and set a course for the moving sale. One minute later I was flooring the gas to make it up the driveway to the house. There wasn't much of anything special at this sale. Nothing spectacular or a great find. I really didn't even look once I got out of the car. A man came out and said hello. I said, "I saw the moving sale sign and had to come. Honestly, I didn't come for the sale. I wanted to see the house. I grew up here." He was really surprised and said he was so happy I stopped by and would I like to see the inside? Well sure I would! He was the man who bought the house from my parents back when I was 10 years old and actually remembered them. For a split second worry crossed my mind that if I entered the house, all memories would be confused with the current way the house was vs. the way I remember it in my childhood brain. I took the tour of the house. No memories assaulted or rushed forward. There was only one thought. The house had shrunk. The hallway seemed to have been cut in half. The living room was a fraction of the size I remember. My room didn't look the same without the over sized flowers on the wallpaper that I loved. The family room/breezeway didn't go on forever like it used to. The willow tree that we swung on was gone, along with the sandbox I played in for hours. The pine trees that my parents planted had grown so tall and in contrast made the barn look like a shed. I called my parents while walking around and told them where I was. I took a picture with my phone. The memories are still there. I can barely recollect the way it looks now as the 20+ year old pictures seared into my memories over rode a quick walk through years later. I'm glad I did it though. I always wondered if memories could easily be wiped out and now know that they'll always be with me. The time I dropped the bucket full of sand on my big toe and the nail fell off, when I tried to take the dog bone away from the puppy and it bit me in the forehead, rescuing the baby bunny only to find it gone when my brothers "threw it behind the barn as it was dying", picking double headed daffodils, going snowmobiling in the fields behind the house, being left on my own for the first time and sobbing as I was so scared, getting lost in the swamp next door, eating dinner as a family every night, hitting baby mice with a shovel, being terrified of worms, have my own pet chicken (Chicken Little) riding my big wheel, coming home from school one day to a kitchen splattered with chicken noodle soup and hearing my mom was in the hospital from being burned by a pressure cooker full of soup being unpressurized. The list could go on, but I won't bore you.

Oh...and I did buy a 25 cent flour sifter. I've always wanted one of those.

Do you know the muffin man?

In our home, if I make a loaf of bread, be it banana, zucchini, or any type of muffin, with in two days, it has disappeared. Yesterday I made pumpkin muffins (I figured the muffins would last maybe a day longer than when I make the pumpkin bread). 30 to be exact. 7 are left. Though two went with my aunt and uncle to enjoy with their spot of tea while on the way back home to Northern Ireland. One went home with the little one I watch 3 days a week and the rest have gone into our tummies to be digested. A bit more healthy than the recipe called for with whole wheat flour and organic sugar so I feel a bit better letting the kids snack away on them. All this to say, we love bread in our household. And the aroma was pretty nice too.

step at a time

It all started with the steps. The culprit of all things to come. Steps sink, brick pulls away from house, sidewalk crumbles, brick needs removed, house needs sided, driveway needs redone.

The first step has been successfully completed.
What was there before:













What is there now:

it's not about the money...

There is no other feeling like that of witnessing how a simple gesture can touch someone's heart. This happened on Saturday when Ed handed a check to the man who was making our front steps. It was more than he quoted Ed and the gratitude I heard in Larry's voice turned my insides to mush. It also turned my heart to mush seeing that my husband sensed that this man could use the extra money and followed through on helping him and in turn helping his family. Ed was blessing someone else and in turn was blessed himself. There really is nothing like being able to help someone else.

We're back from a busy weekend at the parents house. The kids had a great time with aunts, uncles and cousins.

Now starts another week. Conferences are this week as are two half days for Sam. More construction will be taking place on the house of which pictures will be soon coming.

Not a very exciting post, but I wasn't going to miss a day!

current state

This is the current state of our house. No siding, no driveway, no steps, no retaining wall..
It looks better already!

Fun Friday!

Seems like Fridays turn out to be the busiest day of the week. Take today for example.
6:45 wake up and take shower
7:15 make lunches and get Sam breakfast
7:30 everyone loaded into the car to take Sam to school and Ed to work
8:00 drop boys off at respective places
8:05 trip to Meijer for supplies for a meal
8:40 home to make the meal
9:00 work
9:10 start meal
9:50 out the door to deliver meal
10:20 drop meal off and stay a bit for kids to play
11:15 off to drop Alina at Miss Kari's house to play
11:45 meet mom-in-law and take to Sam's school for Grandparents Day
11:50 stuff Friday folders
12:40 leave to go get Alina
1:00 pick up Alina and chat for a few minutes
1:30 stop to get a bite to eat
1:40 drop mom-in-law off at her car
1:50 go into office to work
2:50 back to school to pick up Sam
3:20 pick up Ed at office so he can have the car tonight
3:40 home
3:41 crash

1st time for everything

I'm going to try the NaBloPoMo for the momth. We'll see if I can actually do this. :)

Still downsizing

Because of this,











We purchased this.











Which as of yesterday we no longer have so we can go here.








This has been by far our biggest sale yet thanks to Craigslist. Having two vehicles for just over one year was wonderful, but not having the worry of when the blue beast was going to need fixed again is even more wonderful. So once again, we're a one car family which is working out swimmingly.

are their jackets really yellow?

It's been awhile since I've posted. Life has been flying by and I've been meeting myself going around corners. This week has been a low key one so far. A good recouping week. Considering the weekend I came off of.

Saturday Ed scraped off the last of the beautiful wood shakes on the front of our house (will show pictures when the exterior of the house is done). I had the job of holding the ladder. Which is hard to do when a yellow jacket crawls up your pants and starts stinging you (I think it knew its victim had never been stung in her 32 years and was the one appointed to end that record). What does one do? Let go of the ladder your husband is on, 2 1/2 stories up in the air, and pray he doesn't fall at that moment into the pile of broken wood shakes with rusty nails pointing toward the sky, or hold on and let the yellow jacket sting to its hearts content? I did both. I held on with one hand (a lot of good that would've done if the ladder slipped) and started pounding myself silly on the leg with the other hand. I was almost to the point of letting go completely to strip my pants off in the middle of the driveway. But right before that (I'm sure embarrassing moment) that horrible insect, which I know God created, fell out of my pants and I smushed it to the point of no recognition. I was MORE than happy to take two for the team though. Because if it was Ed it happened to, he would've jumped off the ladder from where he was, I would've had to stab him with a needle, get the kids and him in the car, and rush to the emergency room so they could administer drugs and probably fix broken bones. My stings were free. So between the yellow jacket and finding a bat under one of the shutters (which was really cool showing the kids it's wings all spread out and its fangs when it screeched at us), it was enough excitement to last me a good couple years.

On Sunday I filled in for Anne at church. I told her that she really knows how to stretch me. She says she tries. I was having dreams for days following up to Sunday about really messing up. I was more than stressed. I was scared stiff. Low and behold, leading music for a LOT of kids (K-5th grade) was a riot. I messed up. Often. But what can you do? Gotta keep goin'. I really don't know how she does it week in and week out. I came home and laid down. It was only 11:45 in the morning! You rock Anne!! No wonder she's so fit! Next time though, give me songs that'll work both my legs instead of just one. It made it hard walking up and down the steps Monday with only one really sore leg! :)

As for the rest of the week, who knows what will happen! Nothing to write home about so far, which is fine by me.

note to self

Next time I try and explain, "if a friend jumps off the edge of a cliff..do you follow? Of course not!!" I should use more specific applicable terminology. Like, "if a friend sticks his finger in the pencil sharpener and then tells you to do it, do you follow?".

His response: But I wanted to see if it would sharpen my nail!
Me: Did you know that there are blades inside the pencil sharpener?
Him: (eyes big and wide). Oh. Can I have a band aid please?

Today started at 5:15 with getting ready and everyone up to take Ed to the airport for his Catalyst trip. Right now he's sitting in Hot-lanta at the airport until 5. You can read about his Catalytic adventures here.

Alina's been sick the past three days with a temp varying between 101 and 103 degree. The nurse said it's croup. Thankfully, today she's back to her 100% self and has already gone outside in her Sunday dress sandals and ducky jammies to yell at the woodpecker who's making designs on the side of our house. Her fever broke about 1/2 an hour ago which is a huge praise (as I was getting a bit worried)!

So today I'll keep Ed company via instant message, be entertained by a ducky laden 3 year old scream at the woodpecker, sing my heart out tonight at church, continue to remind myself to not forget Sam at school, and quite possibly finish the laundry (now THAT would be amazing if it actually did happen).

William Tell Overture Mom

This tells it all...

The weekend and on

This weekend started out with Sam coming back home from school due to a stomach ache and sore throat. I thought, "I hope it's not strep or the flu". Amazingly enough, it was neither. Throat was due to drainage and the stomach ache was cured by a simple act each and every one of us does. A trip to the bathroom. I think it's been a couple day's since he's visited ours. I had a wandering, bored, nothing else to do but torment his sister, 6 year old on my hands who was asking to go to school. So my amazing husband took his lunch break early to come and pick Sam up to take him back to school. Now I can tackle my list for the day (clean bathrooms, bedrooms, vacuum everywhere, climb Mt. Laundry, mop, work and answer the endless "mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy" requests.

The parents and Ed's mom are coming this afternoon and staying over tonight. My niece is watching the kids tonight so us adults can go listen to Dan Allender (president of Mars Hill Grad School where we're looking at going for Ed's schooling) speak at the seminary. Should produce interesting conversations.

Tomorrow is pick up day for Angel Food, yell, jump up and down and cheer at Sam's soccer game and then work on house projects. Church will more than likely be attended tomorrow night and Sunday will be a day of rest.

Then a new week starts of which will be filled with the following:
Bible study, DV:FX, Ed gone to Catalyst for three days, an evening out to a wedding as a friends date (I can't wait!!), soccer practice, soccer game, airport trips, school bus driver, Friday folder stuffer, child watcher, everyday house stuff, and I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting (thank heavens for I-Cal!). :)

For now I need to go hike the mountain and clean Le Toilet Lakes.

This jar has become a huge entity in our home. A goal was set as to how much we needed in it and last week, that goal was met.

Why did we fill it? Well...I'm so glad you asked!

Ed has talked for years about going back to school for a counseling degree, but that is as far as it has gone. In January, different prospects were popping up job wise, and he was holding out hope for a certain job, so school was once again put on the back burner. May 31st was the deadline to apply for the upcoming fall semester at the school he had his eye on, but the paperwork was put aside with the slightest hope of that same job coming to fruition.

The job didn't come about and through a series of events, school popped back into the picture. He talked with several people who encouraged him to seek this school out as it was right up his ally.

So the paperwork was dusted off, filled out, test taken, recommendations given out and fees paid. All that was left was the interview. And for that he has to be there in person. Which of course is on the other side of the country.

November 15th, Ed and I are headed to Seattle, WA to an "Experience Mars Hill Weekend" at Mars Hill Graduate School, where he will interview, we'll meet students, profs, sit in classes, be engulfed with the sights and sounds of school and the city.

The only way we were going to be able to afford this without going into debt was to somehow save enough money in cash to pay for the tickets. And that "somehow" was in the form of selling all things that we no longer used. Toys, dishes, electronics, friend and family stuff (who so graciously said we could put their profits in our jar), odds and ends. $5 here, $90 there, $25 everywhere. Two months and a bit of an empty house later, we had enough.
Tickets have been purchased.
The jar is now empty.
But the selling hasn't stopped. We're on to Plan #2 which is saving for hotel, car and food for the weekend we're away.

Now if the house would only sell as easily as everything else has, we'd be all set!

corn, teeth and the fairy

I had two realizations last night.

1. The next time I decide to make a new recipe involving cutting corn off the cob, I should move the tooth that fell out that morning off the counter. Only because the corn makes a mess (and flies everywhere when being cut off the cob) on the counter and one tooth and one kernel of corn look really, really alike. So far, no hard kernels have been found in the corn and black bean salad I made.

2. Always have an extra tooth on hand. Thankfully, this was tooth #7 that had fallen out, so I had some "spare teeth" up on my dresser. I've heard the tooth fairy isn't too picky as to which tooth she finds under the pillow.

all that's needed is the mini-van...

Saturday was Sam's 1st soccer game. Ed and I were pretty horse after yelling for 40 minutes. "Keep going! Go THAT way!! Move up!! Kick it, kick it! Great job!! Good try!! Awesome block!" It was very entertaining. The purple people eaters won 5-1. With of course, one point being the other team scoring in their own goal. It pretty much went, kick ball...mob follows...kick ball...mob follows. Every time Sam kicked the ball, he would stop, turn around and wave at us as the game continued. All the guys did an awesome job. By the end, I think they figured out that when you kick the ball, you go after it instead of standing there.
This Saturday it's supposed to rain. I can't wait!!

huh

Who knew that when a pop can is knocked off a top shelf, when impact is made, it can explode out the side, shooting a good 15 feet into the kitchen, cover the pantry door from top to bottom, and cover four sets of legs that just happened to be standing there, trying to decide what type of fizzy to have. Obviously not that can.



Who knew that when a bowl is accidentally dropped onto the hardwood floor it doesn't break. But when accidentally dropped onto the head of a 3 year old, it breaks into five pieces, leaving a shard in her forehead, a goose egg on the side of her head and a black eye from the impact.



Who knew that pop could be so hilariously funny and kids heads so hard.

What we found last night on the way to bed.

1st grade

1st day of 1st grade. He told his grandma that it was "really hard" as they had to color a lot today. He asked if I could wash his shirt tonight so he could wear it again tomorrow. I suggested for him to pick out something different. He met a new friend who gave him his juice box since he didn't have anything to drink. He was scared and teared up when he was dropped off as he didn't know where to go. Dad was his hero by helping him out in the unfamiliar situation. He was awake at 5:45 this morning and "just couldn't go back to sleep". It is the 1st night of his 6 years of life that he has slept without bunny. The tender-hearted, care-free, not-afraid-to-hug-his-mom, thinks his dad is the ultimate coolest hero, little boy is still in there.

Seeing how some prayers change. From asking Him to keep him healthy in the womb, that he would be ok in delivery, for surgery's and doctor checkups to be positive and go well, to asking for just one full night of sleep. For him, in his child like faith, realize what Christ has done for him to asking for a good friend who will treat him kindly and not guilt him.

Soon enough he'll be going into jr. high. That literally IS how fast time goes.

It's amazing how one little person can grip your heart, sometimes squeeze it, sometimes make it burst. And no matter what, you love him with everything you have.

flying

This weekend was packed full of some fun, but mainly all work.

Friday night was BBQ with the family and then a night parade to watch my niece play in the drum line.

Saturday the parents were here and each of us accomplished so much. Ed finished re-wiring the basement and ended up with a good 10-20 yards of wire that was not being used throughout the house. He also mowed the grass (which is a two hour job). Dad patched the ceiling in the garage where the previous owner had cut a nice hole out of it and left it and painted the stairway in the garage. Mom took down the lovely border in our bedroom. I cleaned up the basement and had a nice "to sell" pile, some of which has already been sold. I also chopped down the five bushes at the end of the driveway so now people can see when pulling out!

Sunday was church, nap and more cleaning.

Today Ed pulled/dug out all the roots from the bushes I chopped down, worked some more in the basement, shampooed the carpets, and had a little bon fire in the front yard with gasoline, matches and bees. I picked up Candy Land, dropped off baby clothes and went to the store. We dropped off our very first computer (Ed's Ipod has more memory than that thing did) to Goodwill, dropped off boxes to a family that's moving and somewhere in there ate lunch.

The rest of the week consists of 1st day of school, library, grocery store, deliver meal, soccer meeting, watch the new cute little baby, practice at church (I've been dreaming about ants in my pants), drop off bags of clothes and books, sell more stuff, meet with realtor for the house, get the truck ready to sell and I think that's it.

Now it's time for bed.