A simple skirt (or how I burnt off frustration and a bad mood in about an hour)

Sunday afternoon there was no mistaking I was straight up grumpy. Not sure why or where it came from. I just was. In an effort to spare my family more of my wrath I decided to focus my energy on something productive and creative. Here's the finished product:

I used this simple pattern and instructions and even I, the beginning sewer, was able to complete the skirt start to finish in about an hour. Not my favorite fabric choices, but it was what I had and Haven never shies away from anything bright, butterfly-y or purple so I figured it was going to be a hit with her. Eight strips of fabric sewn together with blanket binding as a waist band and it was done. I can see more of these skirts in my sewing future!

Cooking and baking and playing

Yesterday was a first for me, but it won't be the last. Amber came over, with half her kitchen in tow, and we settled in to produce some breakfasts and dinners for our families to fill our freezers. We were very successful and had a great time doing it. We both had to re-read our recipes several times because we kept getting distracted with all the talking, but I'm pretty sure everything turned out great. We blew some fuses, turned the oven off mid-bake on accident and washed a lot of dishes. Imagine that here is where a picture would be of all the goods we made, except we forgot to do that. But here's what we accomplished in about 4.5 hours:

-4 dozen muffins

-2 loaves banana bread

-4 dozen pancakes

-3 pounds of taco meat

-2 pounds of sloppy joes

-2 meals worth of Italian calzones

-4 pans of Honey Lime Chicken enchiladas (my family LOVES these!)

It was fun to have company in the kitchen and to know that we've got easy breakfast and dinners to pull from over the next month or two. A fun day that ended even better with both our families all together for some snacks and a night of Wii playing. I'm pretty sure we'll have a repeat event in a few months!

notes from today...

Today was Haven's last day of Tuesday School. Boo, sniff. She has had a great year and we have loved her teachers. Sunday night is the big program. Haven informed me that it is the big finale which is a fancy way of saying the end, ala Fancy Nancy.

I ate not one, not two, but all three of my meals out today. That is a very rare occurrence and not something I'm proud of, but it was delicious. Timmy's for my morning bagel. Chick-fil-a for lunch to celebrate a sweet girl's birthday. Dinner was at The Spaghetti Warehouse thanks to a coupon I found for $4.99 Spaghetti and Meatballs. Man, was it good! The four of us ate there for $14 and brought enough home for Cale to take for lunch tomorrow. Who knew the food was so good there?!

On the drive home tonight Haven asked if we saw pictures of her on the computer (an ultrasound) when she was in my belly. We told her yes. Then she asked if she sent us an email to tell us that her name was supposed to be Haven. Seriously? This girl is too much!

We have no heat. Again. We always seem to let ourselves run out of oil at least once a year. At least it's not in the midst of a snowstorm. (We've done that before!) I keep going over to the thermostat to turn it up a degree or two because I'm cold and the blank screen just mocks me. So we'll be snuggled under the down comforter extra deep tonight with the space heater on high!

Tonight we started what I hope we'll become a new tradition for our family (no, not $4.99 spaghetti and meatballs! although there would be nothing wrong with that!). I followed this guide and made our family a set of Resurrection Eggs. Each day leading up to Easter we'll open one up and it will tell part of Jesus' story. I think it's going to be a great way to talk about what Jesus did for us in an engaging way with the kids.

And that was Tuesday around here.

Growing up

I had a 25 minute drive each way today to do some shopping. I'd put an old cd in the stereo last week, but hadn't listened to it until today. The kids indulged the turned up volume and my singing along. It's amazing how music can transport you to a different time and place. I don't think I realized how much I grew up with this music.

I was awash in memories...

...a 16 year old devastated by a change in plans and my big brother bought me a CD that made me feel at least a little bit better... sitting in my car, confused and second guessing decisions I'd made; but He showed me the answer I needed and I walked through the door He unlocked... a girl longing for love and wondering when someone would feel about me the way I heard it expressed in a song... struggling through major life changes and disappointments and figuring out what I believed and Who I believed in... a night spent waiting to say goodbye to one who wasn't mine... being half a world away and missing the familiar; putting my headphones on and listening to music that made me feel connected to the life I missed...finally understanding what they were talking about when it came to love...

And then it's back to reality. I'm married to my best friend, mom to the greatest kids and driving a station wagon. Is the life I imagined as that 16 year old, sitting on her floor crying? Or sitting on a boat in Africa wishing I were home?

Nope.

It's better.

...in case you care i was listening to this...

Trying to play hooky

Last night Cale and I were able to go on a date (thanks, Amber!). Before we left I was sure to set up the VCR to record my favorite Tuesday night show to watch at a later time. Yes, I did just say VCR; we are old school around here! My to-do list is not that long this afternoon, but a dirty kitchen floor is definitely on the list. I decided to skip it and watch my show instead. Well, joke's on me. I just settled in to enjoy a few minutes of it while the kids are napping and guess what? I recorded three hours of QVC instead!

Guess I better go clean that floor!

Life as we know it

Cale and I had a wonderful time last weekend. We had almost 48 hours of just focused time on each other and it couldn't have been better. We'd recommend A Weekend to Remember to anyone!

But it's been back to life as we know it this week. Haven's been taking a gymnastics class at our local rec center and she's loving it. She's spending lots of time doing head stands and back bends and trying so hard to do a cartwheel (we're not quite there yet!). She's also decided that this week she needs to learn how to use a knife and spent 5 minutes cutting up her pancake at breakfast. But she did it and was proud of herself. Breakfast also found us telling jokes back and forth. Haven loves the idea of telling jokes but doesn't get it yet. We're going to have to find a joke book at the library next trip I think!

And then there's Mati. He is one crazy, busy boy! Yesterday we discovered that he is terrified of umbrellas, especially pink Princess ones! Also has a fear of a spiky dinosaur toy that Haven was chasing him with. Or maybe it's just because she was chasing him with it while roaring in her meanest voice. He fell of his little bike in the kitchen last night and busted his lip up. He has some sharp teeth and they just went right through his bottom lip so he's walking around with some super large lips today! Last night Mati also refused to eat his dinner (a first!), spent a lot of time in time-out for hitting and gave about a hundred kisses to his mama. You take the good with the bad, right?

Completely unrelated, I just felt the need to share that my kids both have short sleeved shirts on today. I forgot how darn cute their little elbows are! I can hardly wait til they can wear shorts and I can see their cute knees all day long!

So that's life as we know it so far this week and I wouldn't have it any other way.

thursday

A few things I'm enjoying today...

-the sunshine! Oh, how I've missed you!

-these rolls of fun packing tape and the package I get to send with it. Thank you Michael's dollar section.

-anticipating a weekend away with Cale at this event. Also, a real live dress-up date including dinner and a show!

-using my Thymes Wild Ginger bath gel and lotion that were a birthday present. My sister-in-law introduced me to this stuff years ago and helps keep me in my habit. It always reminds me of spring!

-a cleaned up playroom---even if it took an hour to get there!

-a delicious dinner awaiting us.

-reading Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross during this Lenten season. I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating that this is a great book!

What are you enjoying today?