Every Day Moments

On any given day, if you came unannounced, this is most likely what you would find....

Lilly sleeping on her bed in the living room

Laundry waiting to be folded

Dishes waiting to be washed

Kate taking a bath.  That wooden spoon is a diving board if you couldn't tell

Callie doing her school work.  Why she's in the floor, I could not tell you.  Apparently, it's more comfortable than the chairs/tables and couches that are available. 

I remember, long ago when Cameron and I were DINKS (dual income, no kids), a dear friend of mine who had recently become a stay at home mom told me that it was actually harder to keep her house clean because they were there all day making messes.  I remember thinking to myself something along the lines of, "Yeah right".  Well, let me tell you.  Right now that laundry pile, after having three more loads added, has been folded and put away and the love seat is cleaned off.  That will change as soon as the dryer stops.  The sink and counter are clean, but that will change as soon as it's time to make lunch.  We live here.  All day.  Most days we eat three meals here that I cook.  We sew, we paint, we play.  That's a lot of living and a lot of mess making.  So, you're welcome to come by unannounced, just don't expect this.  Cameron was here alone that week. :)

Grateful For a Great Weekend

Friday morning, at 5:15 AM, Cameron and I left for Cincinnati to go to our very first home school convention.  We got there just a wee bit late due to a rush hour traffic jam.  We had a great time!  We were encouraged, we were challenged, we saw old friends, we talked and talked, we shopped just a little bit and we ate some yummy food (not at the convention center though!) and even though I was worn out and would normally fall asleep the minute we started driving home, we talked the whole way home on Saturday.

 Our hotel was free due to Cameron's traveling and earning points back in December and some wonderful friends kept the girls. 

If you are a home schooling parent, I highly recommend going to a conference.  I know that a lot of women go with other moms as a get away, but I am so thankful that Cameron and I went together.  It was so good to talk about what we were hearing and some times we would split up and hear different speakers.  There were plenty of talks that were geared to the fathers or interesting to both.  If I had gone without him, by the time I got home there would be no way I would remember everything as well and there wouldn't have been the alone and uninterrupted time like we had while we were there and on the way home. 

We are already looking forward to going again next year!

Needle and thRead

I haven't knitted anything since Callie's beret was finished.  Not for a lack of trying.  I tried to start a pair of hand warmers on dpn's, but that didn't go so well, so I just put it away for awhile.  Anyway, since I haven't participated in Ginny's Yarn Along for a while, I was excited to see Elizabeth's Needle and thREAD sew along. 

After making Kate's skirt, I thought that, if I were careful, I had enough fabric left to make a top to go with it.  I found a free Oliver+S pattern for a little sundress and decided that would work.  I printed the pattern and I could have finished it in one afternoon, if I had been able to work interruption free.  Ha!!  Is there such a thing?  Definitely not!  That's okay though.  I prayed long and hard for these "interrupters".  This pattern was super easy.  I strayed a little bit simply because I didn't have enough of the contrasting fabric, but it worked out fine.

It's a little to wide for Kate, but no big deal.  All I have to do is hem it.

While we were touring one of the old homes in Mississippi, I saw a book that I had heard about a long time ago and so when we got home, I checked it out at the library.  An Affair With A House, is a huge coffee table type of book about the author's weekend home.  I will never have a full time home like this, nor do I know anyone who does.  It's nothing short of amazing!  I guess if you were in the wrong kind of mood this could breed some major discontent, but I enjoyed reading about the house and the renovations they did.  It was a nice, easy, relaxing read.

The author has an amazing, sort of ridiculous, amount of dishes.  She said something like, You eat everyday, why would you want to eat every meal off of the same plates?  I laughed out loud.  I know a certain women that would totally agree with her! :)

Spring Weekend Gratitude

We had a very nice weekend together.  I didn't have to work, we had no commitments to be anywhere and it was really nice.  It was the first weekend we've had like that in quite a while.

Saturday, I had grand plans for all that we would get done outside.  We got a pretty good start, but the rain came around lunch time.  We worked and mowed while it sprinkled, but once we heard thunder, that was the end of that!

Sunday we went to our favorite place for lunch.  New India!  We have to drive about 30 minutes to get there, but it is so worth it!  After living in Indianapolis for 16 years and getting used to all the yummy, ethnic places where we love to eat, we would be hard pressed to give those up after moving to the country.

I am thankful for......
426.  God's protection over our family.  We were almost hit by a driver who ran a 4-way stop on our way to church Sunday.   

427.  Working together as a family.

428.  Watching Callie drive the mower while Cameron watched and laughing at all the spots she was missing.

429.  A day of rest.

430.  My favorite food on Sunday, and the fact that I didn't have to cook it or clean it up!

431.  The promise of a weekend away coming up.  Cameron and I are going to our first home school convention.  After 6 years of home schooling, I guess it's about time!

432.  My hardworking husband.

433.  Callie cooking.  She's pretty good.

434.  Kate singing.  Oh how she loves to hum and sing.  After awhile it might drive some people crazy, but I love it.  Callie doesn't remember that she used to do the same thing and drive some people crazy too.  But I never made her stop.

435.  The fact that I am excited to plan our next school year.  Last year, I could hardly stand to think about the next year!  Last night, I stayed up until midnight doing a little planning for the girls.  Except for last year, I love the planning!!

436.  The Boone County Humane Society.  Never thought much about them, but when I made a call about the kitties, they came through with a home for them!  I felt really guilty because of Kate, but oh, the weight off of my mind!  I'll get over the guilt.  Sorry Kate.
437.  Yummy "soup".  Kate can cook too. ;)  Dandelion soup.

 

I started this post Sunday night!  I am thankful for a busy, full life.  I haven't been bored since the day Callie was born!

Easter 2012 with Lots of Gratitude

God continues working on me and showing me the importance of flexibility.  I don't know that I would have thought of myself as inflexible, but I guess I kind of have been.  To some, I would have never shown it or let on, but to others, I'm sure they are laughing!

They're freezing :)  The last few years we've had to wear winter coats!

Every since Callie was born, we have usually had our Indiana family to our house on the Saturday before Easter for a family get together and egg hunt.  The first thing that messed up our "normal" was me.  I forgot to tell the antique mall that I needed off that Saturday.  Then two thirds of the family couldn't come anyway so, plan B.  Plan B was to take a picnic to the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  The grounds there are beautiful and it's a great place to take pictures.  Then we were going to come home and make these really cool fabric covered eggs that I saw on www.sewmamasew.com.  I was looking forward to plan B. 

Saturday, friends from church called and wanted to know if we wanted to go to Turkey Run after lunch.  It's a state park with trails, covered bridges, etc.  It's a really neat place.  So, new plan.  Sometimes it takes my brain a while to switch plans.  What about plan B?  What about doing our eggs? 

 We had a wonderful time at Turkey Run!  Another family came also, the weather was perfect, and we made our eggs on Monday.  I know.  The day after Easter.  A couple of years ago, I would have said forget it, but why?  Who says you can't decorate eggs the day after?  Plan C was great!

This was a fun, if not messy on our fingers, craft.  I wouldn't try it with anyone much younger than 6 though.  I would love to make some more, it was sort of like quilting without measuring and sewing.

My gratitude isn't a long list this time, but I'm just full of thanksgiving for God's gifts of celebrating, family, friends and his mercy.

Forty Bags in Forty Days Success

I honestly don't know for sure how many bags I cleaned out, but I'm calling it a success anyway.  The back of Cameron's Escape was full of things to donate and that's after taking a couple of trash bags of things to my parents to put in a yard sale, a couple of grocery bags of clothes to a friend, some things thrown away, a large box of things taken to a book sale and then several things that didn't really fit into a bag at all.  It wasn't just a success because of the quantity, but because Cameron and I got rid of things that we still liked, but just had to be honest about when it came to storage and practicality.

I'm not bad about keeping a lot of things because I think, "We might need that one day."  My problem is that I am ridiculously sentimental.  Things that belonged to my grandmothers, things given to the girls by their grandmothers, anything bought while we were in China, those are the things that I have a really hard time getting rid of.  So there are a few more things that could have been taken out the door, but I do have my limits.
We gave Kate the Fisher Price Little People airplane for her 2nd birthday and the camping set for Christmas or maybe her 3rd birthday.  She has never really played with them that much and definitely hasn't for a while.  Are they gone?  Nope!  Are they going anywhere any time soon?  Probably not! 

Anyway, this was a good exercise and I hope to do a little more in the next few weeks.  There was one closet that I didn't get to finish that I think I could come up with some more things to get rid of.  Also, we didn't even touch the barn.

Mississippi Moments

It has been a crazy week here.  I thought we would come home from Mississippi recharged and ready to finish our Forty Bags in Forty Days clean out and get back into school with full force.  Instead, we came home to five orphaned kitties that had to be bottle fed every couple of hours and kept inside.

Now I have nothing against animals, however, I do like them better in pictures and call me whatever you like, but I do not like touching them.  I have always been that way.  I guess it's because I had terrible allergies as a child and I couldn't be around animals.  They are cute, I know God created them, but I don't want to touch them!  Something I had never really thought of before is how clean a mama cat keeps her babies.  Without mama, they stink!  Thankfully, I think we have a home for them to go to on Monday until they can be weaned and then we may adopt one back to be a barn cat and keep the mice away.  Also, to keep my children happy.  It is so sweet to hear Kate tell the kitties she loves them.  Callie thinks they are cute and loves them for the first few hours and then she seems to loose interest.

So, I have been able to get some of the cleaning out done and a little bit of school, just not as much as I wanted. Hopefully, by the end of today I will have a picture of a big load of stuff going to Goodwill and/or the local place that gives things away to those in need.  Next week I hope to work in the yard and prepare the garden, but the next rainy day we have I'm going to see if I can't work a little more on some of the spots I didn't get to go through as much as I would have liked.  The girls did help some in their room, I think they brought me a whopping 4 or 5 items that they didn't want anymore! LOL

We did have a good time in Mississippi.  The girls were so excited to see Granny and Poppy and, for the most part, did a great job traveling.  As always, we were spoiled with good food and I did pretty good sticking to my gluten free diet.  Thanks to Poppy who helped me out!!

Dress up is a favorite activity at Poppy and Granny's.  I didn't catch Callie with any outfits on, but at this moment she was busy being the cashier.

A master bubble blower

A giant tree at one of the plantations we visited.

Callie has either a book in her hand or her camera in her hand at all times.  Sometimes, she has a live model.

This is the way Kate's face looked the entire time we were at the fire station.  The fire station is just a few blocks away from Cameron's parents house so I thought it would be fun to take the girls on a little visit.  Callie had done this before when she was little, but Kate never had.  Even though this man started out in regular clothes and both men doing the tour were super nice, Kate was absolutely not enjoying herself.  It was like when she was little and wouldn't look at people or smile at them.  When we got in the car, she said her stuffed animal, Rosa, was scared.  Today, when she saw this picture, she got all excited and said that she had a good time!  Crazy kids!!

There's a little bitty antique shop that we always visit and I always find something good.  I got this whole set of dishes for $17.50.  It's so cute, I just fell in love with it!  It's not often I see old dishes with red.  It's usually blue, or green or brown.  Who could turn down such a bargain?!

Well, I'm off to load up the outgoing stuff!