My Princess Turns 8 :)

To my:

Princess

Sleepy Girl

Giggle bunny

Little dancer

Big sister helper

Little Chef

Sunshine

Sweet-spirited angel

Artist

Budding author

Amazing reader

Snuggler

Social butterfly

Sweets loving

Shoe loving

Creative

First born

Jamison...

Oh how I have enjoyed this journey from here:

to here:

I am honored to be your mother and am grateful that God blessed me with you 8 years ago today.

Happy birthday Princess :)

Laundry According to My Children

...wow they look so little in this picture (taken last Fall)

Jamison (she & Caleb are both taking a pair of socks and putting them in a dirty clothes pile):  Look Mommy, we are planting seeds.

Me:  Really?

Jamison:  Yes, we plant the seeds and then out grows clean clothes.

Oh, if it was only that simple right :)

Fall Favorite

It think that I have finally made it official...Fall is my favorite season.  Yes, I love the free schedule of Summer (and going to the pool), but there is nothing like the comfort that Fall brings.  There are a few things that I enjoy doing during Fall...one of them is apple picking.

We have been apple picking for a few years now and always go to the same place...Lynd's.  Lynd's is a little pricey, but it is close to where my mom lives and it has become familiar...and those who know me know I love familiar :)

Here are some (unedited) pictures from our day:

We always go when it is time to pick Jonathan apples because they make such good apple crisp (my fav...recipe found here)

Who do you think is the most excited?

This year we got a 20 lb bag...looks like a lot of crisp in our future :)

My favorite apple, and Lynd's most popular, is the Honey Crisp.  It is usually very crowded on the days to pick these apples so I just usually buy a 1/2 peck when we pick the Jonathon apples.

This year Mommy and Caleb munched on yummy kettle corn...it was still warm.

The next Fall outing will be to go & grab a few of these guys :)

What do you love about Fall?

miscellany monday - it's about time :)

Join here

1.  Long time no chat.  It has been quiet on the blog lately and even my blog reading has been reduced.  A lot of it is because I am struggling just a bit...struggling with discontent, disorganization, envy, disconnect, etc.  My mind feels all over the place so I just haven't had that much interesting to say.  I also haven't taken any pictures & what's a blog post with no pictures :)  I read somewhere (on a blog) that it is not good blog etiquette to explain why you are not blogging...let's just hope she's not reading ;)

I am working on focusing Up because I know that God's intention is not for me to remain in this season, but to learn from it.  So, I am around...just a little quiet, but only for a short time.

**I do have some other randoms...

2.  Nacho cheese.  One of the pleasures I get out of going to the movies is having nachos.  For some reason I can never find the same nacho cheese that they serve in the theaters and it drives me a little crazy.  For example, I rented Something Borrowed over the weekend and I would have loved to have been able to have nachos while watching the movie.  But no...the cheese in the stores just isn't the same.  One day I will find the movie nacho cheese...one day.

3.  Speaking of movies...I am officially addicted to Redbox.  For $1 I can rent a new release.  I am able to reserve movies online AND they send me free coupons every once in a while.  It's a win-win.  Do you Redbox?

4.  Sick babies.  I have realized that I worry a ton when my kids are sick.  This weekend Caleb was sick with a cold/allergies (I can never tell the difference) and he started wheezing.  It makes me just want to grab him and hold him until he feels better.  It makes me want to have him sleep with me so that I know that he's breathing OK.  

They will always be my babies :)   

miscellany monday...

Here we are again...another Monday.  Ready to take some time to be random :)

1.  Favorite Show.  Who all has been watching the Friends marathon on Nick @ Nite?  I have been able to catch a few episodes and it reminded me why I love that show so much...because of the laughs that it gives me.  Last night's episode was the episode where everyone finds out about Chandler & Monica.  I laughed so hard I thought I would wake the kids up at one point.

We all could use a good laugh right?

2.  Prep time.  You know how I have been talking about getting our new routine together?  Well I have decided that Saturday is going to be my prep day.  This is the day that I would like to have all of the laundry done for the week, clothes planned for the week, meals planned, prep any food that needs to be ready for the week, etc.  I have found that when I wait to do these things on Sunday that I am frazzled and I don't get to fully unwind before Monday hits.

Do you prep?

3.  BSF!  The new year of BSF starts tonight.  This year we will be studying the book of Acts as well as many of the letters written by Paul.  If you have been around this blog a while you know that I adore BSF and I can't believe that this will be my 5th year.  It is a wonderful tool to keep me in God's Word and understand Scripture.

Find your nearest BSF here.

4.  Check it out.  Did you see my Ten on Ten on Saturday?  Check it out here.

5.  Enlightening conversation.  Yesterday while I was covering in the church office I had an enlightening conversation with another church member.  He teaches a few classes at our church and it was interesting to hear about how he is helping to lead people through the grief process (and not just loss of a loved one, but also loss of a job or an ability for example).

He also shared something with me that left an impression.  He talked about how the first two miracles recorded in the Book of John were changing water into wine and the feeding of the 5K.  These are the two elements for communion..wine and bread.  Coincidence...I think not.  I love how God's Word comes together :)

Write random...join in here.

September Ten on Ten...9-10-11 :)

 

I am very excited to be able to participate in Ten on Ten this month.  Welcome to my Saturday:

9ish...a low-key breakfast.  One child likes milk and one child likes dry cereal.  Don't worry...I did not cry over the spilled milk :)

10ish...time to get the kids cleaned up, dressed and ready for the day (& me too!)

11ish...ready to head out on our errands.  I have always wanted to take a picture like this.  It did not turn out quite as I thought it would...too bright outside my window and there is a strange glare in my rearview mirror.

12ish...stopping at the Verizon store because my phone is not charging properly.  A new one will be shipped to me next week.

1ish...I treated the kids to Wendy's for lunch.  For some reason I find it adorable that Jamison now orders a cheeseburger instead of chicken nuggets.

2ish...time to take a quick snooze.  We are couch nappers :)

3ish...I awake from my slumber to this man coming home.  He had to work at OSU to get ready for the new quarter.

4ish...this little lady and I had a date to watch a praise dance performance.

5ish/6ish...watching my co-worker Tracee (she's on the left) praise God through dance.  It was a really good program with dancers of all ages.

7ish...second to last duty of the day (I also had some laundry waiting for me to fold) before I relax for the day.

Till next time Friends :)

{Friday Favorites}

It is clear that I am s.l.o.w.l.y. adjusting to this new routine.  I am behind in a lot of different areas, including blogging, catching up on emails AND my walking.

But, I can't focus on being behind...I just need to look ahead, to things for which I am grateful...

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentation 3:22-23

~ I am grateful for this verse

~ Belly laughs while talking to my friend Kristina

~ Watching the Friends marathon on Nick @ Nite...love that show

~ Counting down to the new Fall TV season...I miss my shows

~ PTA meetings (this is my year to start being more involved)

~ Fall soap scents from Bath & Body Works (they have a scent called Pumpkin Caramel Latte that is just yummy)

~ I am excited to be able to participate in the 10 on 10 link party tomorrow since the 10th falls on a Saturday this month

~ Cool temps

~ Opening the windows in my house

~ Chipotle for lunch

~ Making plans to go to the big High School football game tonight

~ Seeing all of the people falling in love with the Erin Condren planner (I will be ordering mine for 2012 soon - in zen gems)

~ Looking forward to another productive, yet relaxing weekend

Happy Friday Friends :)

miscellany monday...or is it Tuesday?

** For some reason blogger is not allowing me to add the html for this link.. Join lowercase letters here.

1.  Weekend blogging.  I don't usually blog on the weekends so when there's a Monday holiday I usually extend that...hence the day late post.

2.  Good eatin'.  On Saturday my mom came over and made some delicious food.  First, she made a pork tenderloin.  Here it is marinating...

Then she made something called Texas Caviar...oh.my.  This stuff is DElicious...something yummy to snack on during the day (or late at night if you are that kind of snacker).  And can I tell you that this bowl takes me back because my mom has had it forever.

Here is the recipe (Mommy also added garlic and next time we will include cilantro)...you should absolutely try it:

3.  My new BFFs.  See this guy...

He and his wife are my new BFFs.  I work with his wife Anetia and I was talking to her one day about our siding that was blown off in a storm.  She offered to come over and help us...how nice is that?  She and her husband, Tony, came over yesterday and put up the pieces that were blown off and replaced some of the pieces that were torn.
The generosity of people warms my heart and I will be forever grateful for these two people.

4.  Grace.  Grace is what I am working to give more of to these two...

They need grace from me, they thrive on grace from me.  I tend to let life and stress and worries get in the way too often and then I end up snapping or being too distracted to give them the grace they need.  I need to be purposeful to sit, look them in the eye and listen to what they have to say and respond to their requests.  Dishes can wait, laundry can wait, worrying needs to stop in order to show them love, be silly with them, take time for the them.  I need to give them Grace as He gives me Grace.

Grace :)

{Friday Favorites}

Happy Friday Friends!  Here we are in September with the joy of Fall being not to far away...anyone else excited?  For me, this is the time for a fresh start...the start of a new routine, the start of school, the beginning of a new BSF study & airing out the house that has been closed up all summer :)

This week was kind of crazy with trying to figure out our new routine, meetings at school, and an ice cream social last night.  My messy kitchen is proof of the madness (because I do not like a messy kitchen, so if it is messy it's because things are wild!).

There are quite a few sparkly (hi Rach) moments that I would like to share with you:

First day of school smiles :)

Morning routines going smoothly

Lunches packed and clothes laid out the night before

My Jamison who was such an encouragement to Caleb on his first day of pre-school

Rondell supporting me as I cried the Oprah ugly cry the night before Caleb's first day of preschool

New shoes

New bookbags

Meeting new friends

Playing I Spy while Jamison and I wait for the bus to arrive

Being able to change my schedule so that I can stay home until Jamison's bus arrives

Making chocolate chip cookies for the kids (and Rondell)

Rondell's excitement to be able to lick the spoon

My chocolate chip cookie helper

The Classic Caleb faces (shown above!)

Having cookies ready so the kids can have a treat after school

Making two card sales from my etsy shop (thanks Viv and Lyn)

A co-worker asking me to make her a card to give to her husband for their 25th anniversary

Rondell teaching Caleb skills about grilling

Participating in the fun 10 Day You Challenge

What are some of your sparklies?