simple Analogy

Documenting the Un-Glorious

Monday can be one of those "Ugh!" days, so today I made mine more fun by documenting what I did all day long.  Just normal, common, non-ivory palace life happening at my house today.

• Exercised (2 mile high calorie burn) - Yes!  Me!  And I liked it!
• Made banana/mango/peach/blackberry/yogurt smoothies - Trying to clear out the fruit I bought last week that no one ate.  It didn't taste too bad, really!
• Shower, no makeup
• School
• Talked to Bev
• Pizza rolls for lunch - Running low on staples.  Resorting to whatever was still in date in the freezer.
• Sent Joel to the grocery store - He volunteered and I'd be a fool to say No!
• Worked on the nursery schedule for the next two months
• Email, email, email
• Skimmed my "everyday" blogs
• Laundry - Apparently all the towels in the whole house had jumped into the hamper without my knowledge.
• Took a picture of the daisies Joel brought back from the store for me - He knows I hate to do the nursery schedule and these were to help cheer me up.  OK, all together now... "Aahhh!"
• Found out that the ever so slight discrepancy on my paycheck was a raise. - A WHAT?!!  Not that it will fund my dream vacation to Greece, but it made me feel appreciated.
• Spray painted ear buds - Huh?  Later.
• Prayed for Paul - Landon's friend had a heart transplant Friday night.
• Put my feet up for a bit and read a little Jane Austen.
• Picked up take out Chinese for my dinner - My guys were having fish.  Yuck!
• Settling in for a quiet night filled with more reading.

There you have it, my non-exciting Monday, documented for all posterity.

Shivering

You should have seen my dog, Dorrie, last night when I opened the door for her to go out.  She's little (Chihuahua/Italian Greyhound) and according to my grandma "naked".  She looked outside at the freezing cold wind, shivered, and gave me a look like "You GOTTA be kidding me!"  Poor thing.  Poor me too because she wouldn't go unless I went out there with her.  I guess she needed company in her misery.  At least the cold weather sped up her normal hunt for the right spot process.

So how are you all spending your time during this Arctic blast?  We did school this morning and the rest of our day is being spent in the living room.  Fire, loads of blankets, good books, hot cocoa, popcorn, movies from the library, a new knitting project...  Dorrie is even in on all the fun.  She's either under the blanket with me or curled up in her own blanket in her bed by the fire.  She loves it there.  Sometime I'll have to get a video of her whole cocoon yourself in the blanket routine.  It's quite ingenious and a necessity for a "naked" dog. 

Happy Friday and stay warm!

What Our Christmas Carols Sound Like These Days

 

...Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

When we finally beep beep beep,

How I hate going out in the storm.

But if you'll really beep beep beep...

Oh yes!  You've never heard the classic like this before - I'm sure of it!  Boys around the world unite!  No more mushy Christmas carols!

Just think of how lovely it will be going to a wedding this weekend with these guys.  Yes you do have to go, boys!  And no beeping when he pronounces them man and wife!

Earring Giveaway Winner

The winner is Rachel who said,  "First off, these earrings are gorgeous. I love love love the color! As for my holiday tradition, my husband and I always get a tree on his birthday (Dec. 10); his mom started the tradition when he was little, and he looks forward to it every year! It's really sweet."  Congratulations Rachel!  I'll email you for your address!

You have been telling me what your holiday traditions are, now let me tell you a few of mine...

The boys and I ALWAYS make a batch of Christmas cookies.  This year my husband was cracking me up.  As we were cutting them out, he kept swooping in to snatch some dough.  I told him he was a vulture.  He ate so much dough he made himself sick.  We each have a different way of decorating the cookies.  Mine have just enough icing for the sprinkles and sugar to stick.  Noah's have as much icing as you could possibly cram onto one cookie and then about a whole bottle of sprinkles.  Landon's this year were all patriotic.  It's so much fun to spend this time with my kids and it's even funner for us all to sit down with a glass of milk and eat them afterward.

Another tradition that we have is that we go to the Christmas Eve Candlelight service.  We usually end up in the nursery since I am the nursery director, but occasionally we get to enjoy the service.  Then we come home and open ALL our presents on Christmas Eve.  I know!  Sacrilegious!  We always opened them on Christmas Eve when I was a child.  I think it was because Christ was born in the evening (hence the star) and that was the greatest gift ever!

Christmas morning is stocking time and we look forward to that just as much as the presents.  When I was little I had a huge knitted stocking.  I mean the thing was huge and stretchy!  It must have cost my parents a fortune to fill that thing.  When I became a parent, I learned a lesson from my old stocking and bought the boys stockings that are medium size and oh-so-NOT-stretchy!!!  Sorry guys!

Thanks for joining the fun and sharing your traditions!  If you haven't read all the traditions in the comments yet, take some time to do so!  There are some fun ones.  My personal favorites were the "Christmas Adam" one from Angelapea, the goofy grab bags from Michelle (made me laugh), and Emily's.  (This girl has it all together.  She's only 9, learning to sew, AND has her own blog.  Wow!  I'm proud of her.) 

The Last Weekend Before

Our last weekend before we start school (and I do mean we, since we homeschool) went by so fast.  Friday I called my mom and we went for manicure/pedicures.  Mom surprised me by picking up some new magazines for us including Artful Blogging for me to read - one of my favorites.  I like reading about how others started blogging, adore the artwork, and pick up tips and ideas along the way.  We spent the day just hanging out and relaxing.

Saturday I woke up not feeling well and stayed in bed til 11:30!  After I got up and took a shower, I climbed right back into some fresh pajamas.  I rarely do an all day pajama day so it was a treat!  Joel picked up old movies and some pizza for dinner.  I love that man!

Sunday was a blur of church, brownies, and teenagers.  Joel and I hosted the back to school S.N.A.C. (Sunday Night After Church) for Landon's youth group.  I made 5 batches of Bakerella's brownies.  Landon says they were a hit with the teenagers, and several of the adults said they were their new favorite brownies.  I'm with them.  Why eat the others when these are so much better and just as easy!

So, today's the day . . . the official beginning of fifth and eighth grades.  Say a prayer for us!

P.S.  Thanks for your help!  It looks like the geometric bag is the winner.  The other will be in the shop tomorrow!

Down Memory Lane

From first grade through the middle of tenth grade we lived in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  Not a thriving metropolis, but when you live somewhere for 10 years you really make memories.  My memories are of friends and food.  I've said for years that I wanted to go back to Muskogee for just one day to eat.  And so we did!

On our way back from Colorado, we stopped off in Muskogee and ate at my favorite restaurant.  Sometimes when you remember how something tastes when you were a kid, and then eat it as an adult it is disappointing.  This was not the case on my eating binge.  I ordered the same meal I used to order and it was exactly like I remember it!  Delicious!

So if you're ever in Muskogee - and why would you be, but just in case - make sure to stop by Hamlin's and order the meat nachos and smother them with their signature white sauce!  Mom, thanks for going the extra miles for that trip down memory lane!

***My mom has the recipe for the white sauce somewhere, but it's in hiding at the moment.  When she finds it, I'll share!

Boy-ing It Up

Well, hello!  I've been unplugged for quite a while!  Literally unplugged - no cell phone, no internet.  But we were at the biggest playground you could imagine, plenty of wide open spaces to tromp around in.

 We fed chipmunks on our laps.

 

Learned to drive the ATV.

  

Caught fish.  (Landon - 1, Noah - 5)

 

Learned to shoot a bow.  (Landon's bulls-eye)

  

Thankfully didn't meet up with the bear who left this.

 

Put a lot of wet socks in the window to dry.

This time around I was more relaxed with the whole cabin bit.  I didn't turn quite so green on the bumpy roads, although I did wonder how long it would take 911 to respond if we slipped off the muddy road and down the cliff.  No mice were seen - well, that is live mice.  The dead one we came across when we first got to the cabin doesn't count.  We carried air horns and whistles just in case we ran into that bear.  But the real question was, would dad  hear it and be able to come with a rifle to our rescue in time?  I like to keep thinking the answer is yes. 

We had such a great vacation, all the while missing Joel.  I'm glad to be home!  More pictures here.

If the Beginning of My Week Is Any Indication

This is one of those weeks when every waking minute is crammed with things to do.  So far I've managed to do laundry, meet my new nephew, get groceries, watch my nieces overnight, do art and get ice cream with said nieces, shop for the rest of my VBS supplies, take Noah to piano lessons and the library, start sewing Micah's gift for the baby shower, type up all the VBS posters/parent letters/verses, make A LOT of lists, start shopping for the things Landon will need for camp, plan my VBS workdays, clean the kitchen, and watch Emma while cutting out a million stars.  Whew, it's been a whirlwind of activity.  I feel like I've come so far, but still have so far to go.

The rest of my week is more of the same.  I'll just keep plodding along until my lists are all marked through.  On my list for Sunday - planned unconsciousness so that I can get rested up for an even busier week next week.  Planned unconsciousness is what my parents call taking a nap.  Sounds sophisticated, doesn't it?

****Just found out my sister is having a BOY!  Two nephews in one year!  My boys are overjoyed!!!!

Bundle of Boy

This is the sweet little hand of my new nephew, Micah, who was born Saturday night.  Mom and baby are doing great, and Dad is mighty proud - not to mention his three sisters who pointed out all his little features to me the moment I stepped into the hospital room.  Uncle Joel thinks he's just about the most perfect baby.  Cousins Landon and Noah are overjoyed to FINALLY have a boy cousin.  And Aunt Heather?  Well, I think he's a pretty wonderful little bundle of boy!  Welcome to the world, little guy!

Father's Day Afar

Looking through our old family albums, I found this picture of Dad, Tracy, and I dressed up in our "Little House on the Prairie" costumes.  I think this was for an old fashioned Sunday at church.  It is one of the few pictures of us with Dad when we were little.  I don't really remember this event, but there are some things in this picture that I do remember.

I remember my dad's flannel shirt; it seemed that he was always in one of those shirts on his days off.  He is still a flannel shirt kind of guy - specially when it's cool outside.  I also remember his boots, which you can't see in the picture.  We lived on a half acre, and these were his work boots.  I remember seeing them by the door with mud and dirt caked on.  They were truly "Pa Ingalls" boots.  I also remember that couch.  Many a time I would curl up on the couch with him while he watched Star Trek or a boxing match.

These are not breathtaking memories, just the everyday sort that may seem ho-hum to others.  But they remind me of my dad and give me a warm fuzzy feeling.   Since he's out of town this Father's Day, I just wanted him to know that I was thinking about him.  Happy Father's Day, Dad!  There's a Spring Creek gift card waiting for you when you get home so that you can get your smoked meat poundage!