About the new look on the blog. This comes from messing around trying to get my blog to look like those fabulous blogs out there that look like scrapbook pages and NOT backing up my original blog html. Lovely. I'm trying to learn and I have learned some but I have house work to do and the beans are coming on.
My counter tops are covered to overflowing with Zucchini and Yellow squash. I need to Google to see how to go about freezing said squash for later consumption. Does it need to be blanched like corn....and, oh yeah, the corn is coming on as well.
So my blog will look lovely brown probably until sometime after the first snows, if I'm lucky. Hopefully you won't hate it too badly.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
She Didn't Get Detention
When I went to pick up j from her first day of school I gave her a big hug and asked her how it went. Her reply "I didn't get sent to detention." I guess that's a good day at school when you don't get sent to detention.
As I posted a while back we had the kids switch rooms. Well the girls room is finally finito. The boys room is really close to being done I just need stars for the flag and material for the blind and the closet doors.
Anyway, here are the before and after pics. Actually it's just a set of before pictures and a video of the room how it looks now. I am very happy how it turned out. I would have LOVED a room like this growing up. My mom says it "Looks like and Easter egg." Which is true but my girls love it and that's all that matters.
So here we go.. This is actually an older picture of the room but it shows basically the colors and what it looked like. I had taken the bunk beds apart and they had two desks in there as well as a dresser and two large bookcases. It was pretty crowded.
And here is what it looks like now....
As I posted a while back we had the kids switch rooms. Well the girls room is finally finito. The boys room is really close to being done I just need stars for the flag and material for the blind and the closet doors.
Anyway, here are the before and after pics. Actually it's just a set of before pictures and a video of the room how it looks now. I am very happy how it turned out. I would have LOVED a room like this growing up. My mom says it "Looks like and Easter egg." Which is true but my girls love it and that's all that matters.
So here we go.. This is actually an older picture of the room but it shows basically the colors and what it looked like. I had taken the bunk beds apart and they had two desks in there as well as a dresser and two large bookcases. It was pretty crowded.
And here is what it looks like now....Monday, August 25, 2008
j's off to school
So today is j's first day of Kindergarten. In fact I need to go and pick her up in about a half an hour. What did I do with the free time? I got the pictures that I took of her cropped and taken care of so I could post about it. So all in all I didn't do much.
She didn't seem to be nervous. She was a little excited but I got more of a "Let's just get this going and over with" type of vibe from her than anything else.
She is my baby. My last one to start school. Did I cry? Nope. I have been a little sad as each of the kids have started on their edamucational journey but only a few tears were shed as each started out. I was always more excited and happy for them than anything else.
I often have conversations where moms bring up how fast their kids grow up and how sad they are about it. Most of the time I feel uncomfortable in those conversations. Like some kind of wierdo. Why, you ask? Because I don't have those same feelings. I'm not sad to see my kids grow up. Isn't that why we are here? To grow and learn and progress.
I've come to the conclusion that I need to enjoy them in the moment. Not mourn the past or worry about the future (too much) but just enjoy them here and now. Celebrate with them as they reach new milestones, love them and help them through difficult times.
This mindset could come from the fact that I do have a difficult time when they are babies. But mostly I LOVE learning about them each day. Hearing stories of things that happened at school and how they liked Art but didn't like what was for lunch, or whatever!
I hope j. has an awesome time in school today. She's is more shy than the other three were and has some anxiety in large groups so hopefully all will be well. I can't wait to hear all about it as we walk home and forward on our journey here together.
She didn't seem to be nervous. She was a little excited but I got more of a "Let's just get this going and over with" type of vibe from her than anything else.
She is my baby. My last one to start school. Did I cry? Nope. I have been a little sad as each of the kids have started on their edamucational journey but only a few tears were shed as each started out. I was always more excited and happy for them than anything else.
I often have conversations where moms bring up how fast their kids grow up and how sad they are about it. Most of the time I feel uncomfortable in those conversations. Like some kind of wierdo. Why, you ask? Because I don't have those same feelings. I'm not sad to see my kids grow up. Isn't that why we are here? To grow and learn and progress.
I've come to the conclusion that I need to enjoy them in the moment. Not mourn the past or worry about the future (too much) but just enjoy them here and now. Celebrate with them as they reach new milestones, love them and help them through difficult times.
This mindset could come from the fact that I do have a difficult time when they are babies. But mostly I LOVE learning about them each day. Hearing stories of things that happened at school and how they liked Art but didn't like what was for lunch, or whatever!
I hope j. has an awesome time in school today. She's is more shy than the other three were and has some anxiety in large groups so hopefully all will be well. I can't wait to hear all about it as we walk home and forward on our journey here together.
Friday, August 22, 2008
My husband the Yogin
I just want to publicly congratulate my husband on his new job. (It's not his full time job it's a second job.) But it's been a dream of his for a while now and I think that it's awesome that he is following his dream, making it a reality.
He's been practicing Yoga now for a few years and has been talking about wanting to become certified to teach and maybe even open his own little Yoga studio someday. He's been saving up money to go and get certified but in the meantime he's taught a few free classes at our church and kept up his own practices. When a friend mentioned that they were looking for a Yoga instructor at the community center and that he should go and apply, at first Ty wasn't so sure because he isn't certified. But he decided that he would put in his application and see what happened.
He got the job. He has be come a Yoga Instructor at our local community center. Way to go Honey! In fact he is there right now getting ready to teach his third class. He has a website that is in my links to the left called Everyday Yoga. You should check it out. (and if you feel like congratulating him yourself in his comments that would be great!)
I've gone to the classes that he's taught at our church and think that he does a great job. His voice is very calm and soothing. I had a hard time staying awake when we did the relaxation portion at the end of class sometimes. He knows and loves Yoga. He's going to do a great job and I hope that we can get the money saved up soon so that he can go and get his certificate.
He's been practicing Yoga now for a few years and has been talking about wanting to become certified to teach and maybe even open his own little Yoga studio someday. He's been saving up money to go and get certified but in the meantime he's taught a few free classes at our church and kept up his own practices. When a friend mentioned that they were looking for a Yoga instructor at the community center and that he should go and apply, at first Ty wasn't so sure because he isn't certified. But he decided that he would put in his application and see what happened.
He got the job. He has be come a Yoga Instructor at our local community center. Way to go Honey! In fact he is there right now getting ready to teach his third class. He has a website that is in my links to the left called Everyday Yoga. You should check it out. (and if you feel like congratulating him yourself in his comments that would be great!)
I've gone to the classes that he's taught at our church and think that he does a great job. His voice is very calm and soothing. I had a hard time staying awake when we did the relaxation portion at the end of class sometimes. He knows and loves Yoga. He's going to do a great job and I hope that we can get the money saved up soon so that he can go and get his certificate.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces (LONG post alert)
My cousin was up visiting her mom, my aunt (my dad's younger sister), from California this past week. She brought with her a game. She brought the game so that I could have a chance to play it again.
It's a game that was played almost weekly during the colder moths on the floor of my grandmother's living room. Most every Sunday the families of my grandparents would gather at their home for homemade ice cream and cake. In the Summer we were outside. All the younger cousins running around playing "No Bears are Out Tonight", Hide and Seek, climbing the many trees in the yard or playing in the barn. The adults sitting in lawn chairs or on the back porch just visiting until it was dark. When it was too cold to be outside we went indoors and the board and card games were brought out. Husker Du, Pit, Chinese Checkers, Rummikub, Uno.
But for a long time there was one main game that kept our attention. Match II. A memory game with pictures of the flags of different countries around the world. They were on little tiles that you put into a blue board and you could flip them over but you didn't keep the tiles when you got a match you moved a little marker on the side of the board that kept track of how many matches you had. When all the tiles were flipped over you could take them out and set them back in the board and it was a whole new memory game.
We played this game over and over and over. We had fights over who would get to play because only four people could play at a time. We all vied to get the American Flag. We would sit on Grandma's green carpet in her front room or sometimes at the kitchen table while the adults were all around talking or watching television. We called the Puerto Rico flag the Pure-Toe Rico Flag and rolled the R in Rico. When the French flag was flipped we would try to use a French accent to say Fran-say.
This gathering happened pretty much every Sunday evening. Some of my happiest memories of childhood are from these times. My grandmother was an amazing cook. Her cakes and brownies and home made ice cream are legendary. She had three children. My dad, his brother and his sister. His sister and her family and my dad and his family stayed in the same town as their parents. I grew up around the corner from my grandma and grandpa. My uncle and his family moved to Arizona but every Summer the would come up for a visit.
When my grandpa died and my grandma got too old to stay by herself any longer she let the family go through her house before she died and take things that they wanted. My cousin in California wanted the Match II game. Which had become known as "The Flag Game". There wasn't arguing about it. That was fine.
A few years later as I was looking on ebay, after I had found an old Husker Du game like the one that was at grandma's house, I tried looking for "The Flag Game". At the time the box to the game was long gone and the name of the game was not printed on the board or the tiles. Just the brand "Ideal". I searched and searched the internet to no avail. Because I couldn't remember the actual name I came up against a brick wall.
Fast forward to this past week when my cousin brought the game for me to play. I was only able to find time to play it once, with j. But that once was enough. Enough to bring the memories of those good times flooding in so that, like the movie quote in the title says "The memories were so thick I had to brush them away from my face". (Bonus to who knows what movie line the title of this post came from.) To be able to remember the feel of that green carpet beneath me. To remember the smell of her homemade cake and the taste of her ice cream. To remember the laughter and love and the warmth that filled my grandparents home.
I want to thank my cousin for bringing that game with her all the way from California. She didn't have to do that. I didn't ask her to. She was thoughtful and kind enough to think of that all on her own. Because she did that though I was able to find a date on the back of the game board. 1978. Typing that into Google with the name brand Ideal I was able to find out what the name of the game was. Match II.
Of course I then searched to see if there were any out there for sale. Nothing on ebay. I did find one store, Don's Game Closet, in Missouri that has a listing for them but they were sold out. The game was listed as rare. I sent an email to the owner of this store, it specializes in out of print board games. I'm hoping to find out how often he sees those games and asked if I could get my name on a list to buy one if/when one does come through there. I there was a phone number on his site I would call him but there is only an email address.
And if you've made it through that long post above, thank you for walking down memory lane with me. If any of you out there have this game and would like to sell it, or if you know where I might be able to buy one PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know. And yes I took pictures of this game.
It's a game that was played almost weekly during the colder moths on the floor of my grandmother's living room. Most every Sunday the families of my grandparents would gather at their home for homemade ice cream and cake. In the Summer we were outside. All the younger cousins running around playing "No Bears are Out Tonight", Hide and Seek, climbing the many trees in the yard or playing in the barn. The adults sitting in lawn chairs or on the back porch just visiting until it was dark. When it was too cold to be outside we went indoors and the board and card games were brought out. Husker Du, Pit, Chinese Checkers, Rummikub, Uno.
But for a long time there was one main game that kept our attention. Match II. A memory game with pictures of the flags of different countries around the world. They were on little tiles that you put into a blue board and you could flip them over but you didn't keep the tiles when you got a match you moved a little marker on the side of the board that kept track of how many matches you had. When all the tiles were flipped over you could take them out and set them back in the board and it was a whole new memory game.
We played this game over and over and over. We had fights over who would get to play because only four people could play at a time. We all vied to get the American Flag. We would sit on Grandma's green carpet in her front room or sometimes at the kitchen table while the adults were all around talking or watching television. We called the Puerto Rico flag the Pure-Toe Rico Flag and rolled the R in Rico. When the French flag was flipped we would try to use a French accent to say Fran-say.
This gathering happened pretty much every Sunday evening. Some of my happiest memories of childhood are from these times. My grandmother was an amazing cook. Her cakes and brownies and home made ice cream are legendary. She had three children. My dad, his brother and his sister. His sister and her family and my dad and his family stayed in the same town as their parents. I grew up around the corner from my grandma and grandpa. My uncle and his family moved to Arizona but every Summer the would come up for a visit.
When my grandpa died and my grandma got too old to stay by herself any longer she let the family go through her house before she died and take things that they wanted. My cousin in California wanted the Match II game. Which had become known as "The Flag Game". There wasn't arguing about it. That was fine.
A few years later as I was looking on ebay, after I had found an old Husker Du game like the one that was at grandma's house, I tried looking for "The Flag Game". At the time the box to the game was long gone and the name of the game was not printed on the board or the tiles. Just the brand "Ideal". I searched and searched the internet to no avail. Because I couldn't remember the actual name I came up against a brick wall.
Fast forward to this past week when my cousin brought the game for me to play. I was only able to find time to play it once, with j. But that once was enough. Enough to bring the memories of those good times flooding in so that, like the movie quote in the title says "The memories were so thick I had to brush them away from my face". (Bonus to who knows what movie line the title of this post came from.) To be able to remember the feel of that green carpet beneath me. To remember the smell of her homemade cake and the taste of her ice cream. To remember the laughter and love and the warmth that filled my grandparents home.
I want to thank my cousin for bringing that game with her all the way from California. She didn't have to do that. I didn't ask her to. She was thoughtful and kind enough to think of that all on her own. Because she did that though I was able to find a date on the back of the game board. 1978. Typing that into Google with the name brand Ideal I was able to find out what the name of the game was. Match II.
Of course I then searched to see if there were any out there for sale. Nothing on ebay. I did find one store, Don's Game Closet, in Missouri that has a listing for them but they were sold out. The game was listed as rare. I sent an email to the owner of this store, it specializes in out of print board games. I'm hoping to find out how often he sees those games and asked if I could get my name on a list to buy one if/when one does come through there. I there was a phone number on his site I would call him but there is only an email address.
And if you've made it through that long post above, thank you for walking down memory lane with me. If any of you out there have this game and would like to sell it, or if you know where I might be able to buy one PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know. And yes I took pictures of this game.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Mental Health Day
So yesterday was a serious mental health day for me. I have been going full tilt for much of the last part of Summer. Especially the last two weeks, trying to get the kids' rooms finished before school started. So yesterday I sat in front of my computer and did pretty much nothing.
Well not nothing if you include making the collages of my kids in the previous post and then spending WAY too much time at Yearbook Yourself. That was so much fun and of course I then needed to make a mosaic of those pictures so I could share with you all my yearbook pictures through the years. I got the link and idea from Mindi's blog. She has no idea who I am but I read her blog regularly and even comment now and then.
I was still in my pj's when M and G came home for lunch. It was nice to just veg out and do pretty much nothing. Especially since today is going to be stressful. Anyway here I am in all my glory through the years.....well at least according to Yearbook Yourself. (Hint if you go and do this you can adjust your face in each years picture. Just move your mouse over the bottom part of the picture and it will give you the tools to do so. Not being happy with some of the pictures and having time on my hands I took some of them into Paintshop and messed around with them to make a better fit but surprisingly only a couple.) You can click on the picture to make it larger.
The two middle pictures of the fourth row are the years 88 and 90 (they only do even years at that site, go figure) I graduated in 89. Here is my actual yearbook photo.
Well not nothing if you include making the collages of my kids in the previous post and then spending WAY too much time at Yearbook Yourself. That was so much fun and of course I then needed to make a mosaic of those pictures so I could share with you all my yearbook pictures through the years. I got the link and idea from Mindi's blog. She has no idea who I am but I read her blog regularly and even comment now and then.
I was still in my pj's when M and G came home for lunch. It was nice to just veg out and do pretty much nothing. Especially since today is going to be stressful. Anyway here I am in all my glory through the years.....well at least according to Yearbook Yourself. (Hint if you go and do this you can adjust your face in each years picture. Just move your mouse over the bottom part of the picture and it will give you the tools to do so. Not being happy with some of the pictures and having time on my hands I took some of them into Paintshop and messed around with them to make a better fit but surprisingly only a couple.) You can click on the picture to make it larger.
The two middle pictures of the fourth row are the years 88 and 90 (they only do even years at that site, go figure) I graduated in 89. Here is my actual yearbook photo.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
BACK TO SCHOOL!!!! Woot! The older three started school yesterday and the youngest goes for half a day starting next Monday. What to do, what to do? Actually I don't know that I'll have too much of a problem finding things to do for the next little while. I'm still trying to pull the house back together after the great switcheroo (pictures to come soon) and the veggies in the garden are starting to explode so I'll be trying to get those taken care of.
I'm trying not to think too much about what I could do with the time that the kids are in school because it seems that when I start making plans other stuff starts to pop up. So I know it sounds goofy but I don't want to get my hopes up too high about getting to do things I want to do.
Anyhow. Here are the pictures of the three older kids on their first day. I didn't try to get artsy or anything. Just wanted to document it. They don't like it when I take too long anyway.
So there they are. My 8th grader, my 5th grader and my 4th grader. Amazingly it was hard for me to watch J. go off this year. He is just getting so big and growing up to be an amazing young man.
I'm trying not to think too much about what I could do with the time that the kids are in school because it seems that when I start making plans other stuff starts to pop up. So I know it sounds goofy but I don't want to get my hopes up too high about getting to do things I want to do.
Anyhow. Here are the pictures of the three older kids on their first day. I didn't try to get artsy or anything. Just wanted to document it. They don't like it when I take too long anyway.
So there they are. My 8th grader, my 5th grader and my 4th grader. Amazingly it was hard for me to watch J. go off this year. He is just getting so big and growing up to be an amazing young man.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Broken
One of my online friends had a post about how "God is o.k. with us broken, foolish people." And I couldn't agree more. In fact there is a song that I have heard on the radio the last few Sundays that has really touched me. It's called Broken and it's by Kenneth Cope.
I searched for the lyrics but couldn't find them. But what do you know? Someone's put together something on You Tube with this music. I love it. It reminds me, as did my friends post, that my Heavenly Father loves me. Broken me.
Here is the video from You Tube.
I searched for the lyrics but couldn't find them. But what do you know? Someone's put together something on You Tube with this music. I love it. It reminds me, as did my friends post, that my Heavenly Father loves me. Broken me.
Here is the video from You Tube.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Shake It Up
As Ty and I were laying in bed the other morning all of the sudden I felt the bed begin to shake. I also have a lamp next to me that has little beads hanging off of the lampshade. They were swaying back and forth. The bed was vibrating against the wall. It only lasted for a second...maybe two. I had my back to Ty and I asked him "Was that just an earth quake?" His response?
"No. I was just scratching my ear."
That must have been some BIG itch!!
"No. I was just scratching my ear."
That must have been some BIG itch!!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Paint
Paint Sprayer+ Thick primer = much frustration and anger
So the girls room is about halfway done. We should be finished painting today. The biggest part of the room is going to be Exquisite Pink. The names for the other two paint colors are Atonement and Truly Soulful. Any guesses on what those colors are?
So the girls room is about halfway done. We should be finished painting today. The biggest part of the room is going to be Exquisite Pink. The names for the other two paint colors are Atonement and Truly Soulful. Any guesses on what those colors are?
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Snarkiness
If you are not aware let this be your notice. Less is more when it comes to perfume of any sort.
In fact I think that NOT being able to smell someone is a good thing. It's pretty bad when you can smell your perfume before you walk past me the parking lot and then I can still smell you as you are walking away.
Granted I guess it's better than smelling a foul smell of b.o. or stale ciggy smoke or such. But really it's not much better, plus it gives me a bit of a headache for a little while after.
In fact I think that NOT being able to smell someone is a good thing. It's pretty bad when you can smell your perfume before you walk past me the parking lot and then I can still smell you as you are walking away.
Granted I guess it's better than smelling a foul smell of b.o. or stale ciggy smoke or such. But really it's not much better, plus it gives me a bit of a headache for a little while after.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Switching Things Up
In my house we have three bedrooms. Therefore the boys share one room and the girls another. And Ty and I have the Master. Unfortunately the sizing of the kids' rooms is not equal. The girls have the much smaller room and have had it for all of the ten years that we have lived here in this house. ( Well for about 5 years of that M. had the room to herself but she doesn't remember that very well because she was so little.)
This week we are changing rooms. The boys are moving into the smaller room and the girls get to take over the larger room. Needless to the say the girls, especially M., are ecstatic. The boys are handling the move pretty well. They can see the fairness of it and are being very nice and calm about the whole thing.
Along with moving the kids comes the painting of the rooms. The girls want a pink and green and blue room and the boys are talking about painting the American flag on one wall and making the other walls camouflage. I'm not too sure about that. The flag I could do but I think the camo walls would overwhelm such a small room. I have to have a chat with the boys. We have 12 days until school starts and I'm hoping that we will be done with the switch by the first day of school.
Wish me luck!
This week we are changing rooms. The boys are moving into the smaller room and the girls get to take over the larger room. Needless to the say the girls, especially M., are ecstatic. The boys are handling the move pretty well. They can see the fairness of it and are being very nice and calm about the whole thing.
Along with moving the kids comes the painting of the rooms. The girls want a pink and green and blue room and the boys are talking about painting the American flag on one wall and making the other walls camouflage. I'm not too sure about that. The flag I could do but I think the camo walls would overwhelm such a small room. I have to have a chat with the boys. We have 12 days until school starts and I'm hoping that we will be done with the switch by the first day of school.
Wish me luck!
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