Purely Drivel

Say it with me....

You'll shoot your eye out =)

The kids found these glasses in Hanna's room today (and yes, Mom, they're the Dr. Hanna glasses).

I spent all of the holiday season thinking Caleb looked like Ralphie.  I think I was right.

Not much going on around here this weekend. 

Tom is laying carpet on the new youth room stage (that should probably read that Tom is helping Super Ron lay carpen on the new youth room stage). 

I'm enjoying a day of complete laziness.  I finally got around to watching Rent this week and I'm not embarassed to say I watched it again today and set it to record on the DVR.  And I think I'm going to need the soundtrack (probably original Broadway cast) and maybe a DVD of my own for the office.

And can I just say that this guy just totally stole the movie for me.  I always enjoyed him on Law and Order, but holy-cow-is-he-ever-amazing in this! 

And a couple of quick shares before I forget:

Love this blog.  I've been reading it since last Fall and it's become one of my daily reads.  Love the Baby Steps series she's starting.  I've been soaking my oatmeal for the last couple of months because of one of her earlier posts and I can't eat it any other way now.

And I have to share these photos by the amazing Lisa Russo that actually make me want a baby so bad my ovaries hurt.  That first black and white one...and the little feet....oh, I need to get a hold of myself!  She was one of my favorite big name scrappers for a long time and now she's a professional photographer.  Her work just totally blows me away.  One of these days, I'm going to save up a bunch of money and drag my family up to the Atlanta area for a session with her.

Enjoy your weekend =) 

the good, the better and the weird

• the good - feeling better about the bucket in the shower.  We've looked into rainbarrels, but most we've seen require you have rain gutters and we don't.  It's on the list of things to do, but it's going to be a while. 
  Oh, and Jana - my parents in California get Georgia Public Television with their ginormous satellite dish and they love it.  And a half hour show on making your own rain barrels sounds exactly like something I would watch.
• the better - Took the kids for their annual check-ups yesterday.  Both are growing quite well (Caleb is almost off the charts) and are generally healthy.  Even better news - we hit Caleb's deductible, so the allergy shots that have been costing us over $60 a month will now be about $10 and the next refill on his asthma meds should be about $40 as opposed to $120.
• the weird - I'm not sure if I've ever really written about this before, but I have really strange and vivid dreams on an almost nightly basis. 
  Last night's just might have taken the title as weirdest ever. 
    I was hanging out in Moe's Bar (from the Simpson's) with Brad Pitt...
    and two guys I vaguely remember from high school, but wasn't really friends with...
    watching a really bad high school cheerleading competition (one group had ice cream cones on their uniforms)...
    while discussing parenting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle who wore the blue mask.
  (which of course begs the question, "they're mutant ninja turtles...were the masks really necessary?")
  
  And no, I don't know which one wears the blue mask because...well, I'm a girl and quite frankly, most girls couldn't care less about Ninja Turtles.
  And as to what this says about me...no clue.

I've crossed that line

I'm just not sure which line it is I crossed.

I've either become a tree hugger or a tightwad.

Today I bought a bucket to keep in our shower.

Why?

Well, it takes quite a while to get hot water to the shower in our bathroom and that wastes an awful lot of water. 

This is where the bucket comes in.

If I position it right, the bucket will catch the water that would be wasted (seriously, it's literally money down the drain)...

and then we can use that water for the garden (which we're watering at least daily).

Saving water, saving money, and watering the garden all in one step...it's all happy.  I'm even looking in to ways to catch and store rain water once our rainy season starts later this month.

Definitely not a step I would have taken a year or so ago.

Maybe I'm a tightwad tree hugger =)

And speaking of the garden, it's doing pretty fabulously.  We've had two little harvest so far...

This one from two weeks ago - I threw together a yummy and light cucumber salad with tomatoes, purple onion, feta cheese and a little balsamic vinaigrette.

and this one from this weekend.

I am totally blown away by how quickly zucchini grows.  We picked that one once it hit about 12 inches - two days before it was maybe 4 inches! 

And the tomatoes - they're pretty much going crazy.  We've got at least 40 green ones and so many more blossoms.  I'm hoping some of them are cherry or roma.  I'd like to try a little oven drying.

And a little peek at the whole thing.  I think we seriously underestimated how big squash plants get - it's taking over!  The bell peppers still aren't doing too much.  We just seem to have no luck with them at all.  Our feral broccoli seems to be producing, which is a bit surprising - it was a leftover from the fall garden that we didn't even realize was in there. 

I'm hoping to build 2 more of these raised beds for our next planting in a few months - I'd love to have one of nothing but different squash, one of tomatoes and another for experimenting.  Maybe herbs and lettuce, or even eggplant.  I need to do a little research on what works for our fall growing season.

Mother's Day

I'm counting today as our Mother's Day celebration.  I think Tom and the kids are planning on making me dinner tomorrow, but today was just so good.

A trip to the scrapbook store in Orlando.  Mostly stuff for the business side of scrapping, but a few fun things for me.  Lunch at the Olive Garden.  And then to the Orlando Convention Center to see this guy in concert. 

It was actually at the Orlando Diocese's 40th Anniversary Celebration.  And yes, that would be the Catholic Diocese of Orlando - we sort of crashed the party =) 

I don't think anyone minded though.  And honestly, it was really interesting for us from a Protestant point of view.  And as Tom said when we were leaving, there is still a lot of passion in the Catholic church.  It was a wonderful thing to see.

So was Matt Maher.  There is such a humility in his performance and his love for what he does and -more importantly- for his Savior is so apparent.  I love his CD's, but he is amazing live.  He lead worship for nearly two hours - and it's fair to say I'm still on a bit of a worship high.

There is something in his lyrics that just connects with me. 

This song in particular.  The link is to a YouTube video, and it's not great...so here are the lyrics:

My past won't stop haunting me
In this prison there's a fight between who I am and who I used to be
This thorn in my side is a grace
For because of it the flesh and blood of God was offered in my place

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus you kept the faith in me

Where did my best friends go?
At my defense they disappeared just like Your friends did to You, oh Lord
But you were there
You gave me strength so this little one might come to know
the glory of Your Name

I'm waiting and set apart
Like insense to Your heart
A libation I'm pouring out

Empty and beautiful
Beautiful
Beautiful

You fought the fight in me
You chased me down and finished the race
I was blind but now I see
Jesus you kept the faith in me

Matt talked a bit about how this song was inspired by Paul, near the end of his life while imprisoned in Rome.  Looking back, seeing failures, seeing change, seeing growth, seeing that above all He sought God's heart.  Seeing God's hand in his life.

And this is the song I put on my MP3 player when I lock myself in the bathroom at those times when being Mom is just too hard.  We've had some difficult days around here in the last few months.  We've been busy, Tom's been out of the house a bit more than usual and the boy...well, I know he's still so much better behaved that 95% of the boys out there, but he can still be so very difficult.

Being Mom has never been something that comes easily to me.  From post-partum depression to the daily struggles of raising a 10 year old girl and 5 year old boy, it's been a constant and often wearing challenge. 

I am not a patient person.  I speak too quickly and don't consider my words nearly enough.  Being a stay-at-home Mom can be lonely.   And I often tend to expect more than a 10 and 5 year old are capable of.

And after 10 years of being Mom, I know it is when I am totally empty, totally relying on God to get me through that I do it best.  That my words are kindest, that my patience longest. 

It is when I am at my wit's end that I am most reliant on God to get me through. 

Because even when I've given up completely on my abilities as a parent, He hasn't. 

When I've given up hope that I will ever be worthy of these wonderful and energetic children He's entrusted us with, He still keeps faith in me.

When I am short on patience when a child calls "mommy" for the hundreth time that day, He ever so gently reminds me that I've called on Him at least as many times.

And He answered every single time.

Being Mom isn't easy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Watching my two little ones grow into not-so-little ones has been (and will continue to be) an amazing journey. 

And one that I know has been watched and guided by the Lord since Hanna's first breath.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there.

Especially my own, who never locked herself in the bathroom to escape us...to my knowledge.

Love you Mom. 

 

   

 

Busy, busy

We're in the middle of the mad dash to the end of the school year, which will be followed by a possibly even madder dash to leaving for this crazy-insane cross country trip we're making this summer.

And I realized the other day that if I want to continue to list my auctions while on vacation, I'm going to need at least 18 layouts done before we leave...in addition to all of my regular listings up to that point.  Ugh.  I generally list a bit less during the summer (it would be more like 30 if I were listing at my regular pace), but even 18 is a bit of a daunting number right now. 

Tomorrow I have a Mother's Day Tea in Caleb's class, we're hopefully going to a concert on Saturday, next Tuesday I think I have a women's group meeting at church and the kids have their annual check-ups on Wednesday.   The kids also have field trips and the school carnival coming up, along with everything else we normally have to do. And once school is out, we have exactly one week of summer vacation before Drama Camp, Vacation Bible School, the Bahamas Mission Trip....and then we leave for 5 weeks!

It seems like things just keep getting piled on the poor calendar!

At some point, I'd like to stop and breathe a bit.

There's going to have to be a bit of prioritizing and planning going on in the next few days if I'm going to make that happen.  I've already rearranged my daily schedule so that I can get up at 6:20 and get my walk in before the kids go to school.   I'm also trying to plan some more simple meals so that I can spend a bit less time on meal prep and a bit more working. 

My new mantra - it will all be worth it!

And because I find a post without a photo to be a boring post, here's one my favorite out-takes from Disney last week...
 

Isn't that the perfect picture of what a little brother?

Scrappiness

  This past Saturday was National Scrapbooking Day.

That always sort of cracks me up - I mean, I'm sure it was put together by Michael's and some company like EK Success, but I appreciate that this little obsession lifestyle money-maker hobby of mine has it's very own day.

And exactly how does one celebrate National Scrapbooking Day?

Well, for me it's good if there are M'n'M's and maybe a Diet Dr. Pepper involved, but mostly...you just need to scrapbook. 

Which I did.

Thanks to this here little community that Megan (co-owner of the best scrapbook store ever and all around good friend) introduced me to.

It's been a while since I've been part of a scrapbooking community and I don't think I realized how much I missed it.  I've never been a big crop girl (for my unscrappy readers - crops are where you haul all your crap precious photos and supplies to a store or someone's home and scrapbook there).  Some people love them.  Me?  I get bored after a few hours (back when I worked at the store, after about hour five I was antsy and would spend an hour or two rolling stickers or hang out at the register).  It also seems a bit silly when I've got an entire room devoted to the stuff in my own home.  Not to mention...I have no local scrapbook store anymore, so it's not actually possible unless I drive about an hour.

But having a group of people to share with online...it's nice.  And they're all super sweet and creative women.  And in the two months since I logged in, I've had more inspiration and more need to scrapbook than I've had in a very long time.

So what did I get done?

I'm glad you asked =)

I have stacks of drama and chorus pictures of Hanna's all over the office, waiting to have something done with them.  I think I'm going to put together a bunch of simple layouts like this Aristocats one and give them their own album.

Just a hint - if you're going to do a mosaic layout like this one - plot out where your photos and journaling will be going before you start adhering all those little circles.  There is no point in putting circles you won't be able to see under things (and yes, I know that because I've done it in the past).

Love this one =)  I've always considered myself a simple scrapper.  When I go back through old albums, the ones that I love the most are ones that are photo and story focused with minimal embellishments. 

This one is my favorite from my weekend scrapping.  It's a pretty straight lift from the cover of her book.  I also printed out a blog entry I had done about these photos last Fall and adhered it to the back.  I'm a bit obsessed with turquoise and red together right now (was eyeing paint in a pale turquoise for our bedroom the other day, but have too many projects that must be done first before I can even think about it).

This one is an 8 x 8" for our Disney album.  I finally decided to just give Disney it's own little album and I'll do a few layouts with favorite photos for each visit.  I think I might just do a set of pages for the other photos digitally, sort of wall to wall photos and just have them printed 8 x 8" and slide them in the page protectors with each visit.  The album idea is very much a work in progress, but one that I'm enjoying planning out.

And another 8 x 8", this one for my Mom's Favorites Album.  If you're a scrapper and you don't have one of these, I would totally recommend it.  I got the idea from Stacy Julian years ago at a CKU - a little book of your favorite photos, for no reason other than you're favorites.  I do a bit of journaling for each one and sometimes I use it as a testing ground for techniques I want to try.  I try to add only a few layouts a year to it, and only photos that I just absolutely adore.  It's the album that will be going to nursing home with me someday when I'm old and gray (and I've pawned all of the other hundreds of albums off on the kids).

6 layouts for me in a weekend is pretty much a record.  And 6 layouts that I love - well, that's even more impressive.  I'm still in a scrappy sort of mood.  My great big photo order came yesterday and it's been all I can do to force myself to get my work scrapping done this week.  I'm hoping to carve out a little time this weekend in the office and I'm working some layouts out in my head and on paper. 

Prom Pics

Why, who went to the Prom, you ask?

Tom did, that's who =)

Actually, he and Brad (another local youth pastor and good friend of Tom's who also happens to be Miss A's Dad) drove about a dozen kids to the Prom and then had dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse.

One of our youth girls asked Tom if he could drive them in one of the church vans a few weeks ago.  I personally think it's a brilliant idea - much, much cheaper than a limo (the kids had to pay for mileage on the van and then all chipped in to buy the guy's dinner) and as a parent I find it to be far less stressful than teenagers driving on a night that's not always known for good decision making. 

They even decorated the van Friday afternoon...

and the inside had hanging glittered stars =)

I love this idea.  Actually, I'd love to see it become a tradition...in particular when my own girl is the one in the fancy dress and high heels.

And I feel like I should add that I was Tom's first choice for a date, but I turned him down.  He didn't get home until after 1 am and I knew I would have been miserable for a few days...

and so would everyone else around me.

Peanut Butter Oat Squares with Chocolate Chips

Today is my Papa's birthday. 

On days like this it pretty much stinks to live so far from family. My grandparents were such a strong presence in my life growing up, I love them tons and when I get really homesick, it's their house I want to go to. 

(no offense, Mom and Dad - there's just something about Grammy and Papa's that makes me feel like I'm about 8 again)

I've discovered that on days that I'm homesick, I tend to bake.

So in honor of Papa's birthday, and a wee bit of homesickness, I have a recipe to share.  It's only fitting - my grandfather is the one who makes homemade-from-scratch fudge and who used to make popcorn balls on Friday nights when we slept over.  When we were growing up, he always had a package of cookies (usually Lorna Doons) stashed in the kitchen drawer.

I've also noticed that I don't have any recent photos of my grandparents - whenever we visit, I get lots of photos of the kids and cousins, but rarely any of the adults.  Priority one for this summer is getting pictures of Grammy and Papa!

Don't these look yummy?

I'm calling them Peanut Butter Oat Squares with Chocolate Chips, and the recipe came from this blog (via Tastespotting.  I did a bit of tweaking, so here's my recipe....

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups QUAKER Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 c. mini chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Beat sugar, peanut butter and margarine until creamy.

3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

4. Combined oats, flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture and mix well.

5. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
6. Spread dough evenly in pan.

7. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or just until center is set. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered.

8. Share with everyone you know!

Servings: 32 bars

Happy Birthday, Papa!  We love you and miss you!

Brain Dump

• Tom's going in for another sleep study tonight.  Saturday night, he's going to the Prom.  He's a busy guy.  So why am I the one that's so tired?
• Love this synopsis of the food crisis.  Actually, I really just enjoy this blog.  I have about a dozen blogs from the Frugal Hacks that I read on a regular basis, and I must say I've learned quite a bit. 
• Favorite show of the moment?  That Mitchell and Webb Look on BBCAmerica.  I watched their series Peep Show via Netflix thanks to Stacey's recommendation and loved it.  Later that weekend, they ran 4 episodes of Mitchell and Webb and I'm hooked.  I find it absolutely hilarious in a very British sketch comedy sort of way.  I most definitely wouldn't recommend it to everyone (very, very British humor and all that entails), but if you enjoyed the original British version of The Office, you would probably like this.  Tom calls them Modern Python. I just call them the funniest thing I've seen in a very long time. 
• Finally got a photo order sent in.  It's been over 3 months since the last one.  I've got to stop doing that.  Crossing my fingers that they arrive by this weekend.  And I'm completely addicted to the Pioneer Woman's Define and Sharpen action. 
• This made my nerdy little heart skip a beat.  I'm actually pretty excited about seeing what Guillermo del Toro does with The Hobbit, but I couldn't see it happening without Sir Ian as Gandalf.  I might just have to make it to a midnight showing for this, something I've never done before.  I did see the trilogy movies on opening day, including The Fellowship of the Ring in a theater with Tom and about 40 other guys...some in costume and all looking like they still lived at home. 
• Favorite TV Line of the Week: "It looks like something Elton John would drive in the Everglades." from The Big Bang Theory.  I think I enjoy that dorky little show more and more every week. 
• Pet Peeve of the Week - music on blogs.  I don't know why this drives me so nuts, but there are a few blogs I really enjoy that I hesitate to even click on anymore because of it.  Am I the only one that feels this way?  I hate either having the music I choose to listen to while online garbled up by someone else's choice, or to have a few quiet moments jolted by what is inevitably something like Butterfly Kisses or I Can Only Imagine... or whatever the I'm-getting-older-but-trying-to-retain-my-cool song of the moment is.
• Scrappy stuff is going well.  I've been selling like crazy and have had so many custom orders lately that I've had to turn a few away (let's hope and pray it stays like that!).  And I've had two layouts picked up for publication in the last month.  Not bad considering I've submitted about 6.  I'm trying to submit a few things a month, but not to let it turn into a monster that takes over my life and makes srapbooking a chore.   
• Interesting Fact: using the dishwasher uses half the energy and one-sixth of the water that washing dishes by hand does.  Doesn't that make you feel good?  I've been wondering that for a while, typed it into Ask.com and found lots of answers (all along the same lines), but this one seemed the most in-depth (there's a link to the actual study there somewhere).  So if you're breaking your back and destroying your hands washing in the sink and are doing it to help the environment, load up that dishwasher without guilt!!!
• It's May 1st, and Lovebugs are out in full force. Seems early for those nasty little bugs, but maybe they'll be gone sooner.  It also seems to be roadkill season in Central Florida.  Not sure which is worse.

The Disney Report

   Oh Walt Disney World... what a tangled mess are my feelings about you.

I am so easily caught up in your "magic" (which is in reality great marketing and customer service), and yet I am so nauseated by the consumerism, the general rudeness of your guests, and the fact that so many peopel would rather spend thousands upon thousands of dollars here rather than seeing the true splendor and beauty of America.  And of course... the expense.

Oh well.

We had a great day checking out two parks we hadn't yet visited - Epcot and Animal Kingdom.  And while we didn't even see half of either park, it was enough for us.  We came home exhausted, with sore feet and empty wallets...but happy.

Just a quick warning -  this is going to be a very photo heavy post! 

Hanna decided to get her hair cut short again Saturday morning - and we're all loving it.  The light is a little weird in this one, but I love the two of them together =)

We ate lunch at the Oktoberfest behind Tom, the kids and the fountain.  It's in the German Pavilion at Epcot and is a bit pricey (I know, what isn't at WDW?), but worth it.  Buffet style Bavarian - yummy!  If we'd eaten later, they had a show.  Not sure what it was, but I'm betting there was yodeling involved.

We really enjoyed Epcot, and perhaps even more so because their Plant and Garden Festival was going on.  We found a little garden where they were doing a ladybug release and the photo above is Hanna releasing her little box of ladybugs. 

Caleb wasn't so sure about it =)

We really enjoyed Epcot and finally all got to ride Soarin, but also wanted to get to Animal Kingdom before they closed.  There was an entire side of Epcot we missed and we also sort of ran through the Pavilions...a return trip is going to be needed!

Caleb seemed most interested in shopping.  Every shop, every cart...we had to stop so he could look.  He got to bring a bit of his birthday money to spend and he wasn't going to be happen until he spent every last penny of it.  The boy is a consumer through and through - we're going to have to start working on some saving skills soon with him!

At Animal Kingdom, we really liked the Kilimanjaro Safari.  I was rather amused the group sitting a row in front of us that didn't know animals my 2 year old nephew would and insisited on calling tusks "husks" (and I so wish I were talking about the kids in the group, but I'm not).  Hanna and Caleb just liked seeing all of the animals up close.  Some a bit too close for my comfort.  No one warned me there would be ostriches and that they wouldn't be in cages.  I did get that rather cool photo of a little nest of ostrich eggs, though.

I'm not even sure what kind of fish those are - I just like that photo of Tom and Caleb =)

And possibly my favorite animal find of the day - meerkats!  Aren't they cute?

Another favorite?

  That would be this guy.  I think we saw four gorillas and they always amaze me.  And make me feel like I work for National Geographic =)

Loving this photo too - fun light.

Our little consumer and his new friend.  The new friend is currently a tangled up mess already.  Sigh.

\

And Mom, I think you need this in your backyard!

That's all for now.  I realized last night I haven't had photos printed since Hanna's birthday in January, so I'm going to try to spend a half hour each night this week trying to sort through, edit and then get an order placed.  I hate letting it go that long!