What's Up? Wednesday

• Cleaning out our closet. Don't tell my husband, but some of his things are missing.

• vacuuming, mopping, laundry

• Still looking at things on my To Do list that haven't been done...

Fish are still swimming in their algae-ridden tank. They seem happy, as long as they get their food.

• Yesterday's parent discussion session at preschool was on birth order. It was a fun and interesting discussion. It explains a lot. LOL

• a visit to the library ~ a movie and book for Jadyn, and the same for me. My DVD is on knitting. Don't laugh, it could happen.

• a visit to the home improvement store to look at kitchen sinks, faucets, and lighting fixtures.

• Adding to our donation bags. Hooray, for organizations who are willing to come get our stuff.

• Loved watching Fireproof this week.

• Saved Mousie from her misadventure in the recycling cart. My child was in hysterics.

What's up with you?

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Homemaker Monday is hosted by Sandra.

On my bedside table:

magazine, book, remotes, phone, lamp, sound machine, etc. Can you imagine how cluttered it is?

On my TV:

Maybe we will watch Fireproof tonight after the wee one goes to bed. It's our current Netflix rental.

On the menu for tonight:

hamburgers on the grill

On my To Do List:

laundry, cleaning fish tank, random cleaning chores

New Recipe I tried last week:

Hungarian Goulash - It tasted better than it sounds. :) It's something my mom used to make when we were kids and I asked her for a basic recipe. It's a macaroni, tomatoes, ground beef, cheese etc. recipe.

In the craft basket:

What craft basket?

Looking forward to:

Kaitlyn coming home from college in about a week.

Homemaking Tip for this week:

Try to do a little laundry on most days. It's easier than having it all stack up until "laundry day".

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):

Pictures Lots and Lots Look who added to their family this week. A bloggy friend of mine, Michelle, and her family received Sam. Look at this cutie pie. Sam is from the Marshall Islands.

Favorite photo from last week:

Oh, chocolatey goodness!

Lesson learned the past few days:

See previous post. What I've Learned

On my Prayer List:

family and friends' needs

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

What I've Learned

During the past couple of days, I've learned these things:

1. Easter grass does not sit well in a cat's tummy. What goes down must come back up. Ewww! Our little goat-cat likes to eat all kinds of strange things and seems to have a preference for plastic. I put away Jadyn's Easter basket about a week after Easter. I forgot that Bryan still had his in his room. Sophie didn't forget. Not pretty at all.

2. A teenage boy can totally forget the fact that he's babysitting his 4 year old sister, who is napping in her room. Yes, it is possible for him to totally forget that she's sleeping in the room 2 doors down from his room. He will walk right past her room. He will gather all of his things for an overnight band camp. He will get into his little red car and drive away, never looking back. He will totally forget that he left his little 4 year old sister sleeping her room.

His mom will arrive home about 10 minutes later. Mom will look on all three levels of the house for him. Mom will have the horrible realization that her teenage son forgot that he was in charge of his sister. His mom will call him on his cell phone and ask him where he is and if he remembers where his 4 year old sister is. There will be a moment of silence. Then he will say, "Uh, she's not with you?....Ohhh no!"

His mom will not be too pleased with him.

The things that immediately go through a mom's mind...

What if the house had caught on fire in that 10 minutes? I know, it was only 10 minutes, but what if?

What if my 4 year old got up from her nap and frantically searched the house and thought she'd been abandoned? I can only imagine the trauma, especially for our child, who has a huge fear of being left alone.

It was only 10 minutes, and she was sleeping, but still....

Hmm, this may come back to haunt the teenage son.

3. Chuck E. Cheese on a Friday afternoon is survivable. Little prizes are so thrilling for a 4 year old and well worth the time spent following a 4 year old around a crowded game room. One trip to Chuck E. Cheese will hopefully buy me a few months and I won't be bugged to go there. I can hope anyway.

4. Date night is great for Mom and Dad. A nice, quiet restaurant can do wonders for a couple. A drive downtown is so worth it. We didn't have to spend time fighting the crowds in our suburb. Yes!

Our Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner! My lovely assistant helped by picking a name from the bowl.
At 4 years old, she just couldn't seem to grasp the whole concept. I think she thought all of these ladies were coming to our house. "If they don't win, will they go home?" "Why can only one person win?"

Picking the name out.

The winner is......Laura, of Love At Home! Congratulations, Laura! Laura lives in Canada with her family, including 4 children who keep her busy.

I had a lot of fun doing this giveaway, and I will have to do another one before long. I even met 1 or 2 new friends. Very fun.

I'm so glad for the friends who participated in this.

Wordless Wednesday

Helping Mom

I took these photos of Jadyn when she was helping me in the kitchen. Last week, it was our turn to bring snacks for preschool. We brought string cheese and crackers for the kids. It's customary to bring something for the parent discussion group that same morning.

I had a blueberry muffin mix in the pantry, so I made it into a blueberry bread and also picked up some fresh strawberries.

Jadyn loves to help me cook and I don't think to let her do it often enough. I think it's because I usually only think about it when I'm baking. I should try to let her help more with other things too.

"It's really gooey!"

Lick the spoon!

We've had a little rain during the past couple of days. Here's a picture of Sophie that I took today. She was looking out as it started to rain. All is well with her world. -pun intended.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Here's our Saturday, the good, bad and ugly.

Good:

• We practiced a hairstyle for Jadyn to wear as a flowergirl. The wedding isn't until July, but I need practice. It came out pretty decent. Used 31 pins in that girl's hair!


• Jadyn made valentines. She often asks to do this. I didn't have the heart to tell her that people don't usually do this in April, so we did valentines.

• Jadyn gave Mousie a bath. You may remember Mousie from a post last year. :)

• My mom's on Facebook!
  
• We went for a nice walk this evening.


• Dad's giving Jadyn her bath and putting her to bed, even as we speak.

Bad:

• Cut myself shaving. Enough said.
  

Ugly:

• I made a really big mess in the kitchen.
  
  I dropped a bottle of Wite Out. Yes, I really did. It bounced from the counter to the floor. Lucky me, it was Quick Dry Wite Out. That stuff was drying before I even had the paper towels in hand.
  
  I quickly ran downstairs to the computer and Googled "cleaning up Wite Out." They suggested several things, one of which was citrus-based cleaners. Hooray! Goo Remover to the rescue! I was so relieved that it took all of it off. It was everywhere - on the counter, my hands, my address book, the cabinet, the sink. Took me a while to clean up, but I was just glad it worked.

Believe it or not, there was a smiley face in all of that mess. I'd already cleaned up around it when I snapped this photo. Oddly, I sort of wondered if he was laughing at me.

I hope your day was only good!

Thankful Thursday and Giveaway!

Today I'm thankful for the time I had to just be out on my own, alone. I dropped Jadyn off at preschool and then I had some time for reflection, reading, prayer, a walk, and a little photography. It was very nice to have some peaceful time alone. It doesn't happen often.

I took a few photos, looking for a few little signs of spring. I don't claim to be the best photographer, but I hope you'll enjoy these photos. I certainly had a nice time taking them.

Bits of Green

Out with the old and in with the new!

A robin, high up in the tree.

No green here yet, but I know it will come!

Now for the Giveaway. I found these cute little birds at a gift shop and they reminded me of spring. I also liked this plaque because it reminds me of my friends. If you are reading this, consider yourself my friend. I do!

If you'd like to win these cute little birds and this plaque, then leave a comment on this post. If you blog about the contest or become a Follower, you'll receive an extra entry. Please let me know if you did so, or if you are a Follower already. Also, be sure to leave an e-mail address if you don't have a blog. I'll need to know how to get in touch with you. The giveaway will close on Thursday, April 23rd and we will draw a name on that day.

Good luck my friends. I appreciate you!

Just Sharing

The masses have spoken - all 12 of you. The majority - all 6 of you, preferred not to have the curly flower thing in your way while reading. So I changed the design of the blog. How's this for busy and bright?

Oh.My.Goodness! Our weather is to-die-for wonderful this week. We have days in the 60's and that is terrific. We went for a walk last night after dinner. Jadyn was skipping, hopping, squealing and giggling the whole way. I told Alan that it seemed as if she doesn't get out much. :) Let's just say it was a long winter.

I know that everyone, no matter where they live, looks forward to spring. But I do believe that those of us who live in the colder climates enjoy the coming of spring that much MORE. Oh, it feels good to get out and enjoy the wonderful goodness of spring.

I took some photos of Jadyn on our walk last night, using my phone. I tried to catch the moment, but the photos just didn't turn out that well. We also saw a group of at least 6 deer on our walk. That was really neat. Those photos weren't great either.

I did find some photos on my phone that I do want to share. I always seem to do that.

Here are photos that I took while we were in Texas. I already shared them with family. It was necessary to share them when I snapped them, because it satisfied my texting need. Do you ever have that obsessive need to share photos with family, whether they like it or not? My poor family. :)

My mom, Jadyn, and I went shopping one day. We were able to find an Easter dress and shoes for Jadyn, and also her flowergirl dress for Kaitlyn's wedding. A successful day. Our last stop was the grocery store. Jadyn had fun with the little shopping cart she was able to use. They don't have them in the grocery stores here, so it was fun for her.

Here's what happened to Jadyn on the way home, in Grandma's car. Poor thing, shopped until she dropped.
We saw this chess set in the Lubbock airport,on the morning we were leaving. It kept her entertained for quite some time, until it was time for us to go to our gate for boarding. I was pretty happy about that.

This one is from lunch time today. "Look mom! My salami is a pirate ship!" This child certainly makes me laugh!

Our Easter Fun

Here are photos of what we did on Easter weekend. Lauryn and Aaron came to spend time with us on Saturday, since they would be spending time with his family on Sunday. We had an egg hunt and dyed eggs. Lauryn and Jadyn

Lauryn and Aaron

Egg Dyeing Fun

All dressed and ready for church on Easter Sunday.

Chocolate.....and it's all mine!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Someone gave Jadyn this little crocheted chicken with an egg on Sunday at church. I thought it was funny how she used it in her block tower. :)

Your Opinion Counts

Is this cool, little curly flower thingy bugging anyone else? I love this background, but I'm not totally sure about the curly flower thingy. Does it make my post too hard to read?

Please vote in the poll and make my day!


Jadyn funnies ~

Last night, she told her dad she wanted a spoiled egg. Then she changed it to oiled egg. Pretty sure she meant boiled egg.

I wore flip flops today! Hooray for warmer weather! I told Jadyn I needed to buy her some flip flops or sandals, since the weather has warmed up. She said she'd love to have some slip slops. As we were walking down the shoe aisle, she continued to say she needed slip slops. Pretty funny. We ended up with some Croc-like shoes for now. They didn't have the slip slops we liked in her size.

Today in the car, she was trying to tell me about something. I think she realized the point wasn't coming across to me. Then she said, "I don't think moms and kids speak the same language." I just smiled and said, "Oh really?" I wanted to yell, "You've got that right, sister!" :)

Fun With Family and Friends

We've had a good weekend as a family. We were off in all different directions last week and so it's nice to be together again.

When we were at my parents' house, it suddenly occurred to me that we'd never all been so spread out before. Alan was in New Orleans, Kaitlyn in Missouri, Aaron and Lauryn in MN, Bryan in Europe, and we were in TX.

I've enjoyed being with my family during the last couple of days. We were all here, except for Kaitlyn. We missed you, Kate!

Yesterday, Aaron and Lauryn came over. We had an egg hunt, dyed eggs, and cooked dinner. Fun to spend time together doing these things.

As time passes, I treasure time with family more and more. Time with our children and extended family is such a blessing.

When we visited at my parents' house, I just tried to soak it all in and appreciate the time with them and also with my siblings and families.

Here are some photos from our TX trip. Easter photos coming soon.

Here is Jadyn painting with Grandpa. This was cute. I never thought I'd see the day when my Dad does this sort of thing. But, what Jadyn asks for at their house, she gets. :)

Alan's dad came over for a visit that same morning. Here is Jadyn with her other grandpa.

Grandma, reading to Jadyn.

Here is Jadyn with her cousins, Aaron and Thomas. They came for a visit on Wednesday. Aaron and Thomas were adopted domestically, in 2006. My sister told us story after story of their antics. Busy, times two!

Jadyn with Thomas.

"Mom, I picked this for you."

Aaron, in the tree that all of the grandchildren have climbed over the years.

My mom bought Cascarones for the kids to have fun with. Cascarones are confetti-filled eggs and an Easter tradition in Mexican culture. You break them over someone's head and it is said to bring good luck. No photos of Jadyn doing this. She was a little nervous about the whole thing. She later broke hers in the house. There was confetti all through the house, since we all had it in our hair. My mom may be seeing it for a while. :)

Jadyn is playing with her cousin, Kari. Kari is my brother's oldest. She came over for dinner on Wednesday.

We came home on Thursday, and then on Friday, we hosted playgroup at our house. We had 9 families here and we had lots of fun. Visiting, eating, playing, eating some more. It's always so fun to be with this group.