My blog
Hooked
I'll be the first to admit it - I'm hooked on crocheting. I love it. I have a dresser upstairs in my guest room with two drawers stuffed full of balls of yarn of varying sizes and colors, the remains of the many projects I've crocheted over the…
Kids 3-22-09
Erica is preparing for her dance recital that is coming up in a few weeks. She has improved greatly since starting this dance class, and I'm very proud of what she has learned and is still learning. She will be dancing to "My Favorite Things" - the…
A Changing Age
I'm getting old. It's true. Little by little, I'm no longer young. It's slightly depressing. Sure - I'm not really old yet (by no means am I approaching the century mark), but I've begun to realize I'm not as young as I used to be. There are too…
Weight Update
Some time ago I decided it was finally time to care enough about myself to lose some weight and get healthy. Highly determined and armed with all kinds of information, I started on my weight loss journey with a numeric goal in mind. After about a…
Kids 1-5-09
Erica brought home her very first report card yesterday. She earned wonderful grades in all areas, and her teacher mentioned that she makes friends easily and always gives her best effort to her work. And, as proof that Erica is growing up, she got…
Kids 12-18-08
It has been a LONG time since I posted about what the kids have been up to, so as you read these, don't think we have lemonade stand weather, or that preschool starts the week before Christmas, or anything silly like that. There's snow outside, and…
The Spirit of Christmas
Christmas has come - the snow has fallen, gifts are piling up, the decorations are (finally) hung, and the kids have had their annual trip to see Santa. We even managed to get the Christmas cards out and most of the gifts wrapped. No doubt about it…
The Joy is in the Little Things
Some days I find myself laughing every time I turn around. Not that my life is really all that hilarious, or that I'm a funny person, or that I happen to have a book of jokes that I carry around with me (though Erica could pass for a book of jokes…
Let them eat cake (and let ME eat the frosting)
Nearly two years ago, I took a cake decorating class with my mom and one of my younger sisters. I've always wanted to learn to decorate cakes and especially how to make a rose out of frosting, so when I saw a Wilton Cake Decorating class offered at…
A Young Artist's Self-Portrait
Isaac has just recently started drawing actual things instead of just scribbling on the paper. He was coloring when I walked over and asked him what he was drawing. "It's me" he said. I looked at the picture and tried to find a person in the…
Making Tortillas instead of Muscles
I've been working on perfecting homemade tortilla shells, for 2 main reasons: 1) I love cooking and I love tortilla shells, so I figured I should try cooking tortilla shells; and 2) I can't believe how much they cost at the store! So I've made flour…
A Place for My Stomach
So partly because I love to cook so much, partly because I love food so much, and partly because I want to have a catering business or bakery someday, I've started a food blog. My current plan is to take pictures of things I make that I'm pleased…
A New Method of Torture...
...or maybe it's the way to avoid the torture?
A friend of mine read my latest post about exercise and sent me an email informing me that perhaps I'm going about my weight loss goals in the wrong manner. He sent me a few links(Interval Training, …
Kids 9-7-08
Erica is learning to play a few songs on the piano. And when I say "learning" what I really mean is "teaching herself". She has taught herself most of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Mary Had a Little Lamb, We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet, and The…
Exercise, Eating, and Weight
So I suppose it is time for an update on my exercise/weight loss project. I set a goal this year to reach a certain weight by the end of the year. It meant I'd need to lose a total of about 35 pounds (since I started in about July of last year)…
Camping
I honestly can't believe I'm saying this, but I went camping this summer for 4 days and actually enjoyed it!
Anyone who knows me will be amazed by that statement, as I've spent most of my life avoiding the outdoors, especially when combined with sun…
More Parenting
Every now and then I have a parenting moment where I find that something I've been doing to raise my kids has actually paid off. Just the other day, I had one such moment...
After a normal morning at home, it was time to make lunch. I gave the kids…
Kids 05-20-08
Erica has started to be much more aware of other people. She has started doing things to help me, especially, often without being asked. I was sick yesterday (it's been going through the whole family) and so Erica, without being asked, got lunch out…
Growing food a foot at a time
Every year I get spring fever. It typically starts around the middle of February, when I've had about all I can stand of the snow and brown, dead landscapes. And so about mid-February I start feeling the itch to grow a garden. I'm roaring and ready…
Kids, 5-2-08
Erica's latest interest is astronomy. She knows more about it than I do (which of course isn't really all that hard to do). She is constantly telling me about things she is learning about astronomy from the (1977) Charlie Brown Encyclopedia of Earth…
My Birthday List, 2008
My family has started asking me for a list of what I want for my birthday this year. I guess it's about time I oblige with the following list:
black purse
ballroom dance lessons, complete with dance partner and babysitter
dance dance…
Pillowcase Skirt
So I've been working hard on losing weight for the past 9 months or so. I've been doing a lot of exercise (90-100 minutes a day, aerobic (an aerobics video along with some stationary bike riding) and a little muscle toning/strengthening), being more…
Health, kids, and trusting my instincts...
There's this thing called intuition. It is defined by Dictionary.com as "direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process." There are a lot of people who may discount intuition as imagination, but I'm not one of them. I…
Isaac's big accomplishment
Isaac is potty trained! We did the training (see this post) yesterday and he really did a very good job. All said and done, the training took about 5 hours with about a 45 minute break for lunch. We're certainly not accident-free yet as we're here…
The smell of change... (diaper change, that is)
My next big project, and the one I have been dreading for about the last 6 months or so, is potty training. My son is going to be 3 in May and he is still in diapers. He will be starting preschool in the fall and they, of course, require that he be…
Reading my way to better parenting...
I love my kids. They are creative, interesting, curious, fun, happy, smart, cute, and a whole host of other wonderful things. They bring me joy and happiness. They give me comfort and hope. They are wonderful people, and I have great hopes for them…
Kids 2-22-08
Erica is becoming quite the little artist these days. She received, as a gift for Christmas, a large set of markers. She has been using them to draw numerous pictures, many of girls in pretty dresses, and several have lately been pictures of pirates…
Nothing says "I love you" like.... neckties?
Valentine's Day. The holiday of love. I've always felt Valentine's Day to be a flower holiday. And that has always caused me a bit of trouble, from the time I was old enough to have a boyfriend on Valentine's Day. It's not so much that it caused a…
Kitchen Tending - the Olympic sport
I used to see the kitchen as a place to cook, a place to eat, and a place (occasionally) to clean. Somewhere to store all the hundreds of kitchen gadgets I have accumulated. A place to look for something tasty to snack on.
And then there were kids.
…
Kids, 1-4-08
The most recent kid posts from the sidebar as I'm updating them again today.
In school, Erica's class has "project" time. Yesterday she said their project was drawing what they want to be when they grow up. I asked her what she drew, and she said…
Let it snow...
If you, like me, have a desire to see a little snow (what little we had here completely melted today) then take a look at these fancy looking snowflakes. If you've got some paper, scissors, tape, staples, and time (these are a little time-intensive)…
That Lovely Piano
My piano, long awaited and often dreamed of, has arrived! No, it's not a name brand, and no, it isn't worth a million dollars, but it is mine, it's here, it's beautiful, and (did I mention?) it's HERE - in my house! I'd say it sounds wonderful but…
A Changing Look
Years ago I received, as a gift, a silk scarf from Italy. And it has made a lovely addition to the top shelf of my closet, as I haven't known what to do with it, being the fashion dummy that I am. It dutifully sat folded and unopened, in the…
The Fabled Piano
So after all our looking around for a piano, we finally found one we thought we'd be happy with. And we bought it. It fit all the bills - Kimball needed a decent sized baby grand (over 5'5"), with a good sound, and I needed a black finish with…
Playing a Song Nightmare
One of the things I have missed the most since we moved is playing my piano. We sold our old piano a few months before moving, after deciding that it would cost just as much to pay to have it moved as it would to sell it and buy a new one in the…
Music Worth Listening To
Little children are intelligent, more so than you may realize. It simply amazes me how much they learn and pick up simply by (seemingly) only being in the room while something is going on, whether they appear to be paying attention or not. They…
Kids, 11-6-07
So in an effort not to lose what the kids have been doing lately, I will put their blurbs into my blog on occasion (when there's something new to put over there on the right side of the screen). So here's the latest to be retired:
Erica has recently…
YouTube
So I've been hearing all about this thing called YouTube lately, mostly from conversations at my parents' house (conversations I listened politely to as I had NO idea what they were talking about - yes, I live a sheltered life). However, I recently…
Chili
So our church had a party the other night - a Trunk-or-Treat/Chili Cook-off. Needless to say we took the kids, who enjoyed the candy immensely (except the baby who has yet to taste candy), and we also took some chili. I don't normally get into…
Uh-oh
As part of my job of Mother and Primary Care-Giver to three adorable children, I've had plenty of opportunity to change diapers over the past nearly five years. Some days this is less fun than others (as you can probably imagine). My 2-year old is…
What's Exercise to YOU?
I'm one of those people who LOVES to eat. I mean that. I LOVE eating. There are some foods I just can't get enough of. Have you ever sat down and eaten a whole bag of Doritos? No, I don't mean the snack size - I mean the big, 13 oz bag. Or maybe an…
Why I Do It
Some days, in spite of my best efforts, I just can't seem to accomplish anything worthwhile. My day is a long string of changing diapers, picking up messes, making food, feeding kids, cleaning up the food (and then the kids), putting them down for…
The Joys Of Motherhood (TJOM)
So today is my anniversary. Seven years ago today I married my husband. Yes, October 13th, and on a Friday no less. We were crazy. :) It doesn't seem like it has been seven whole years, and at the same time I can't believe it has only been seven…