back to some thoughts....

A lot of my blog now is about .... well two of the most time consuming things in my life right now, the baby constantly at my side, or on my back, or in my face- and the house, which happens to be taking all my money.

But golly gee, thinking about it this morning. I'm still me. I'm still the same person I've been for the past couple of years.

But here's the thing, I'm a little different.

My mind is a little divided now. I always have one eye on the little guy or one ear open.

But in another way I'm a lot more focused than I once was. My brain processes a lot more than it used to, I finally have some sort of direction I'm headed in and I know where I want to be in the next 6 months (hopefully living in that money draining house of ours) and even 3-4 years from now. That's just down right exciting to me.

I realized this week that so much of our time before being here in Illinois was obviously temporary. College, well we hoped that wasn't lasting more than four years. Dallas, what seemed like forever those first two years flew by in a blink and while I miss it so much, I mostly miss the people and the feeling of security we'd built around us there. I like the feeling of more permanence. Like it's ok if the project I start today doesn't get finished, because we'll still be here tomorrow. That's a comforting feeling. If I could live anywhere in the world, it might not be here (I'd love to live near the beach or in a big city) but I like who I am here and what I can accomplish here. Although I could accomplish more if a Target where closer....

So thanks to those who read this. Especially thanks for those of you who still read as my writing becomes less witty and more practical, a little less reflective, but more refined. Well hopefully refined.

In bloggy news. I'm planning a bit of a redesign and you'll see new buttons popping up along the sides as I go- so check them all out. I'll talk more about all of them as I go. I know I've been bad about Thankful Thursdays too, I promise I'll be trying to get back to those next week. I'm thinking up a theme to keep me going with them.

In other news. It's quiet in my house for now. Laura and Ella are in the air on their way to Spokane and Ryan is driving through Montana with Uncle Rick. This evening Andi and Corey get here for a weekend of fun. Better go wash the sheets on the spare bed!

Snow Fun!

We've had Ryan, Laura, and Ella visiting on their cross country route from Florida to Spokane, WA. We haven't been snowed in, but it's been a lot of fun playing and watching all the snow fall. Laura and Ella are visiting for a few more days while Ryan completes their journey so maybe by then Ella will warm up to scary Uncle Adam.

We went to Old Chicago for dinner tonight (YUMMO!) and we've been watching the recap of Lost tonight in anticipation for next week's episode.

Pictures
Ella really liked playing in the snow until Uncle Adam got too close, maybe tomorrow we'll go out and play some more if the windchill is above 0.


Future CinderELLA in the making, she decided to clean my floor with the dish towel.


Ella likes to wear hats- in the pictures above she's wearing a hat I had made myself, in the picture below she's wearing Max's hat. I'm making her a hat tonight for her to take with her to WA where she'll need it.


Max liked watching Ella in the snow from the safety of the garage. It sure is windy here.


Max has been learning to clap recently. Here's a demonstration of a half hearted attempt. He will hold one hand still and clap on it with the other hand. Too cute!


I've been trying for such a long time to get Max laughing on video, but he normally only laughs when I'm tickling him and therefor I cannot hold the camera too. But today he thought Daddy was HILARIOUS.

I haven't been wanting to post because I like pulling up my blog and seeing the word "PEACE" stand right there at the top. But write, I must, because there's been some things going on and I want to share them with you.

Max
I found a t-shirt I would have dressed him in everyday this week....

This adorable shirt is from -here- I would probably buy one of everything from this etsy shop if I could.

He's such a happy little guy all the time that when he's not (like now that he's been teething this week) it just makes us all miserable. We've been a whiny snappy bunch. It's not been pretty.
But his two front teeth have broken the skin so that's a plus, I wondered if he would ever get teeth.

I've been after him with the camera all week trying to get a picture of them, but he's a quick one. Or he tries to eat the camera, or yesterday he was smart enough to just blow on it to fog up the lens. That one was great. But I captured a picture of those elusive teeth...


Since it's been a bit whiny around here we've been walking around like this


It's hard to be a baby though, dontcha know?


Organizing
I'm a paper hogger. So is Adam. This leads to disasters in our house. Piles of paper everywhere. Forgotten correspondence, bills almost late, things I mean to send to people and don't, outdated receipts and forms. My recent (and most challenging) project has been trying to get rid of the paper clutter- I've broken it down into simple tasks and it's already been helping.

Mail- When it comes in the house, it gets separated (this is hard because now we get mail at TWO houses) into categories - important needs dealt with today, needs filed, needs dealt with but not immediately, fun stuff (includes magazines, catalogs, letters, cards) and junk (which goes immediately into the trash). Then I deal with it accordingly.

Magazines and catalogs- This is one of the specifics out of the Mail category, but is a huge issue for me. I get at least one catalog a day (check out the new PBK if you haven't, it's fabulous) and subscribe to a couple magazines (probably half a dozen) and so that alone causes a build up of piles. I love looking through magazines for ideas for decorating (especially now that I have decisions to make!) and crafts and recipes and inspiration and so I hate throwing any of them right into the trash. Now each afternoon during nap time I flip through as many as I can while Max is asleep - rip out pages if anything is necessary to keep and then throw it out. So far this week I've thrown out each day's hoard, plus additional ones so I'm whittling down what I have.

Binders- What do I do with the ripped out pages? I have a series of binders. (I used to kinda do this but it's so great I'm expanding my collection this year) My most used binder is my recipe one. I used it almost everyday. I have plastic page protectors in there that I slip recipes into and I have it separated by category: Appetizers, Side Dishes, Main Dishes, Breakfast, Desserts, etc. It's perfect to use because I can just wipe down the pages if they get something on them (which they often do) and I can just throw away stuff I don't end up using and replace it with a new one.
I also have a binder for Home Ideas (would be super helpful right now if I could find where I packed it), Crochet Patterns, and General Crafts. This year the new binder I'm adding is a Home Notebook. I read about it on the Gidget Goes Home blog where she talks about her binders and have been putting one together this week. I've been taking the other binders and organizing them, paring down what I don't and won't use.

Craft supplies- I have a lot of paper craft supplies. Wallpaper samples, scrapbooking paper, scraps of cardstock, card making supplies, etc. Hanging around. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be going on a card making binge that will free up some of this stuff. I'm also planning on finishing the Disney scrapbook from our trip in 2007 (yes, that's two Disney visits ago) because I've been wanting to start Max's scrapbook but will not allow myself to have two going on at the same time. I'm hoping that will allow some of that stash to disappear.

This has nothing to do with paper, but it falls under the organizing category

Max's stuff- Babies have a lot of stuff. I got out Max's next set of clothes (he's in 12month stuff) and in the process opened a whole Pandora's box in his closet. So out it all came and back in it all went in a much better appearance. It was also time to pack up some of the toys and things he's too big to use now, so that was one box, and I've been putting up some of his Christmas toys to get down in March when we are bored of what he has now to play with.

Cooking
We've been adventurous cooks around here lately. Well not too crazy, but you know outside out box. Adam got a bread machine for Christmas so we've been playing around with that, we haven't gotten our favorite yet, but it's been fun to try new things.

I decided the other day to make a whole chicken in the crock pot. I've made turkeys loads of times in the oven, but for some reason a chicken has always been intimidating. Except for the grossness that comes with getting the skin off, it was great. And there was a lot of meat (we're still eating it in different things three meals later) and so I feel like it was totally worth it.

Along with the chicken I made fresh green beans. While I was snapping off the ends (yeah, in my living room, Max had a rough day and would scream when I left the room) Max thought it was awesome to sample them. He also liked them once I cooked them. Adam however did not.



Crafting
It's been slow this past week in the crafting department. I wish I was motivated to do something long term (and well enough to actually sell) but I just get into slumps where I could care less about things. But then I realized, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I found some awesome tutorials and ideas for decorations (I don't have any) so I'll be working on those. This constituted a trip to Joann Fabrics today to take advantage of their yarn sale. Horray for new yarn!

I'm still working on a few lingering projects from the pre-holidays (luckily nothing that was supposed to be in the mail for them) and so I'll just keep plugging away at those.

I've also been having a bit of numbness and pain in my hands and fingers which is becoming bothersome. I'm assuming it's a bit of carpal tunnel since all I've been doing is painting and crocheting and typing for hours and hours a day. So that's been slowing me down a bit too.

Word of the Year for 2009

I've decided that this should be the word of the year for me and my family this year. The word has special importance to me this year as last year was so tumultuous. A search for peace this year is just was this family needs. After the pregnancy, graduation, birth, quitting my job, moving across the country, Adam starting a new job, new house, and working on that house, a little peace would be perfect around here.

The word also has a deeper meaning for me. I love to have peace and tranquility around me. I Love people and fun and music but the times I treasure most are the quiet ones - reading on the couch, hands full of yarn crocheting away during nap time, nighttime when everyone else is asleep and there's a quiet moment to think. Ah, so peaceful!

Even deeper than that, is the spiritual peace that I've come to know over the past two years. God has shown His will and grace and PEACE to us repeatedly over the past few years and that peace is starting to ground itself in my heart, and I love that. I love the peace that comes with making the right decisions and knowing you are striving after truth and knowledge. I'm praying that peace continues on into this year.

This post is part of a contest at Tip Junkie

Big Day!

The New Year is off to a good start for our family. I just love a fresh start and all that it entails. I mentioned we are not much for resolutions around here, but I do tend to make some goals to start the year off with. This year I've decided to do coupons. I tend to do coupons for Max's diapers and formula and baby food, but have decided to put more of an effort into daily things. It may be more of a time waster than a money saver, but with online coupons and things like that now, I don't see how a little wasted time could steer me wrong. So I'm subscribing to the Sunday paper (it'd be fun to read some of that anyway), and I'll be scouring the ads, so send me your coupons if you wish!

Also in REALLY big news, Max's first tooth is about to break skin. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago to some people that I thought Max might get his upper teeth first. I had never really heard of it, but his gums seemed irritated and swollen on top and nothing on the bottom. I knew something should happen soon, he's almost 8 months already. I randomly check his mouth now and again but mostly the bottom. The past day or two he's been drooling so much he's been choking on it at night and it's been constantly wetting everything he and I are wearing. He's even been crawling over to me and biting my jeans pants leg. So today I checked the top and goodness! both of them seem to be coming in together- Guess he's getting his two front teeth a little late for Christmas- :) The one on his right is just about through (I can feel the sharp point) and the one on his left doesn't appear to be that far behind. At least as far as I can tell in the millisecond I'm able to see in his mouth or get my finger in there before he growls at me and pulls away. Maybe that explains some of the shorter naps and night crying we've been having around here. I gave him some baby motrin before he went to bed so I hope that helps him a little.

I've also been forgetting to mention our new church website that's being launched. Check it out! Our wonderful friend Danny put it together. The big thing to note on there, will be the addition of listening to Adam's sermons online- those will be up really soon and I'll have a button to them on the side bar here as soon as they are up. Let me tell you- today's was good. Real good.

Home Remodeling Part 11- What we've been doing

We've had quite a bit of time at the house in the past week or two. While Adam's parents were in town we got a lot of stuff done (well they did mostly, I can't say I did a lot while they were here).

They got one layer of the wainscoting off the dining room, all the glue off the walls where the wallpaper had been, everything got a cleaning once over that was badly needed, and the paneling came out of the living room and off the archway leading into the dining room. It doesn't look like so much listed out but man, it looks like a totally different house now.

Living Room
before


currently


Dining Room
before














currently















Earlier this week, I had some help at the house from one of the girls from our youth group. We each had a color and touched up the whole bathroom and then she entertained Max while I kept toiling away. It was great to have some time there with someone to help with Max.

Today Adam and I spent all morning completing little things to aim at starting some bigger ones next week. He worked on a new door for the bathroom and I did some more touch up in the bathroom (there's so much to do with the tile and all the doorways and the ceiling) but Max wasn't completely into being at the house, so mostly we watched Daddy play with his new tools. He's becoming quite handy out of necessity.

Here's what's on our immediate list for soon to be attempted projects....
1. Hanging the bathroom doors with the new handles so that we can "close" the room up and be done with it.
2. Patch the walls in the living room and dining room
3. Decide on wallpaper for dining room (possibly paintable) and one wall in living room
4. Paint ceilings in dining room and living room
5. Paint walls / hang wallpaper in living room and dining room
5.5. Paint all trim in dining room and living room
6. Pull up carpeting in the dining room and living room
7. Pull up subflooring in the dining room to see about the pine floors
8. Hang new wainscoting, baseboard, chair rail
9. new floors (finish boards, or carpet) in dining room and living room

Well there you go, I think we have enough to keep us occupied through the winter.

Our New Year's Baby

We've almost recovered from our all night soiree with 20 teenagers. The Christmas stuff is boxed back up and put away, and college football has been on the television for two days straight. Just the goings on around our house. It's all been between a lot of naps catching up on the sleep we missed.

Max
I think I talk a lot about how cute he is, but I need to mention how SMART he's getting. He knows the word "no" and he's starting to recognize a couple baby signs. Baby sign language is something that I love, I used it with the infants I worked with at the day care years ago and have started a few beginning words with Max. We are working on "all done," "eat," "more," and a few others that I can't think of at the moment.


Cooking
I finally roasted the pumpkin I've had in the garage since October (I was told it would last until late January as long as it didn't freeze) and it is absolutely delicious. Max has been having some at meal times and I'll be splitting it up after making a round of pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies.

I also twisted a Christmas absolute in my house. Black Forest Pie is the easiest of pies, but also one of my favorites. This year I made Black Forest Trifle. Yum!


Crafting
One last thing I finished up before Christmas (it got mailed after Christmas though). A baby girl blanket. I've decided I don't like working with thermal. But it is really cute.