Blue's News . . .

In the moment, the joy of watching her play, and sweet 16.

2012-05-01T14:47:00.000-05:00

Things I am thinking about:

How sometimes I have to choose to enjoy an experience rather than document it. Lately everywhere I turn, every experience is being documented in some way by someone. I think I miss out on some of the pleasure of being in the moment when I am distracted by my phone or my camera taking pictures. I purposely did not take my camera to our youth group's DNow a couple weeks ago ... mostly because I wanted to BE THERE and not just BE THE PHOTOGRAPHER. As much as I love taking pictures, don't get me wrong, it is so much fun ... but I want to be better about being in the moment sometimes. It is the same way with blogging. When I am in the blogging mode, I am often thinking, "This would be good to blog about" or "I should take a picture for my blog" rather than just living in the moment. SO I have recently just been taking a break to enjoy life without my personal expectations and pressures getting in the way. It is kind of nice, actually. :)

I was reading an article recently, and I can't remember where it was or else I would share a link. It was about how if you have kids playing sports, on the way home from the game we sometimes get caught up in analyzing the game or how our child played ... and the author said this often contributes to so many kids quitting sports at an earlier age. Rather than doing a play by play of the game, we should tell them how much we love watching them play. Period. Find our joy in their joy of just playing the game. I have thought about that a lot since then. Ava plays on a soccer team, she likes it a lot but you know what? The team is not that great, competitively speaking. And yes, I know we are talking about six year old girls here, so I am keepin it in perspective. However, irregardless of how they play, she loves it. She has so much fun playing with the other girls. Sure, they have never won a game. She has never scored a goal in the game. She told me last week on the way home, "It doesn't matter that we don't win. It is about having fun." I want her to get more out of the experience than just winning or losing. I want her to learn how to win or lose gracefully, I want her to love the sport and love the experience. And truly, I do love watching her play. I want to communicate that to her every chance I can.

photo by Dona Gentry

In other news, Becca turned sixteen this month. We had a fun night with a bunch of her friends, going to a drive in movie theater. I love making sweet memories, and I want to soak in every minute with her ... college is coming fast enough. : /

Scenes from Nicaragua

2012-04-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

My Guy

2012-03-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

My guy is having a birthday.

I am one lucky lady.

I have a man who loves me.

He loves our kids.

He loves us in both words and in actions.

He takes care of his family.

Even if it means taking on an extra job to support us.

Not that anyone would ever know if he is overworked.

He does not complain.

When he has added responsibilities,

He just does it.

In a way that the rest of us are completely unaffected.

If I said that I adored him,

It would be an understatement.

He doesn't get so busy "doing ministry" that he fails to make family a priority.

He is intentional that way.

I don't mean to say that our marriage is easy,

because it isn't.

It takes work and effort.

But you know what?

There is no one that I would rather work

side by side

with.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

{40 looks good on you.}

Baby Maverick

2012-03-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

Here is my niece, Autumn. She had this adorable baby on January 30th.

I love a new baby! His name is Maverick Owen and he is so very sweet.

Little feet. Can't get enough.

Here is Maverick's new big sister, Macy. I think she has a big dose of the same sassy that Ava has. Must be a family trait.

Of course it's March and I am just now posting pics. So typical. ;)

Chalkboard Wall

2012-03-13T20:22:00.000-05:00

So here is a little something I did when I was bored one day. I had a quart of chalkboard paint left over from some projects so I painted a random wall in the kitchen. It is fantastic. We use it for writing random notes, verses, quotes, planning out our summer schedule, chores, sight words and more. It is messy most of the time and I wouldn't have it any other way.

PS: I love being able to schedule this so that while I am out of the country, blog posts can still be posted. :)

Memory Game

2012-03-09T19:55:00.000-06:00

With sight words, of course!

Mission: Nicaragua

2012-03-07T19:22:00.000-06:00

Becca and I are going to spend a week in Nicaragua with my dad. We leave this Friday. This is kind of a big deal, something we have been talking about for awhile. At first we thought we would be going to India this summer, but when my dad invited us to go with him over Spring Break, and everything just kind of came together fast.

Did you know that next to Haiti, Nicaragua is the poorest country in our hemisphere? Very few make over $200 a month. My dad's ministry is actively involved in encouraging and resourcing these church leaders. His ministry even started a thriving Christian school with 150+ students and Bible Training Center.

The ways that God has provided for this trip, it has pretty much blown me away.

Once again, I am shown what an awesome God we serve. Just to give you an idea of what we will be doing .. My dad (who has been traveling to and serving the people of Nicaragua for over 20 years) along with another couple are going to lead a conference for Nicaraguan Pastors and their wives. Becca and I will be there to assist in any way we can. We will be involved in some of the teaching (thanks to local interpreters), but mostly we will be available for serving the women. We may be playing with their kids, washing dishes, serving meals, cleaning ... we are pretty much going there to do whatever they need us to. Our goal is to be available to them, period.

Becca and I have been collecting goodies to put together bags for these thirty five women. It has been so exciting to see this part of it come together. Lisa Moose, a friend from church, got an idea to sew drawstring backpacks for us to give each lady attending the conference. She, along with some other terrific women from our church, got together and sewed the bags .. this was fun to be a part of and the bags turned out great! Friends have donated all kinds of stuff-- toothbrushes, floss, toothpaste, hair brushes, pens, mini shampoos, soaps, and more ...over 150 pounds of gifts will be traveling with us there!

If you think of it, will you pray for us this next week? It really does make a difference. Missions trips are life changing and I am looking forward to this special time with my Dad and my Becca. Of course, I will try to take a lot of pictures to show you when we return! :)

Sassypants

2012-03-05T19:37:00.000-06:00

Do you see who lives in our house? Miss.Sassy. She has a whole lotta attitude, that is for sure.

She wants to be a model.

Just in case you couldn't tell.

Pray for us. I think we are in trouble with this one!

youth ministry and all that jazz

2012-03-01T10:30:00.000-06:00

Let's talk youth group, shall we? Neil and I are in our thirties-- yes, I can still say that until November this year, then I have to bump up to being officially ~~old~~ forty. Forty in youth ministry years is like, ancient. No one can figure out why you still want to work with youth, surely you stop relating to them at some point (or so I have heard). I was twenty-one when we started at our first church out of college with Neil as the youth pastor. I think we were pretty cool back then, but I am not for certain. I remember when we would go places and everyone thought we were one of the youth. (Side note: I got to see first hand how poorly people treat teenagers, just because they can.) As time passed, I went from being highly involved in every aspect of our youth ministry to being a busy mom with one, then two, then three, and finally four kids. I missed being a part of every event. I hated missing camps, retreats, missions trips. I felt so out of the loop. I am ashamed to say a lot of the time I was just plain jealous. Jealous of the kids that got to spend time with my husband, having fun and being crazy. Jealous of cute girls who reminded me of a time before I became a frumpy mom. I pretty much went through a stage of the big bad attitude.

Gradually being at home with the kids became the new norm. I developed a new appreciation for Neil and what he does. I saw what an dynamic leader that he is, and how he really does just fine without my "help". You see, when we were young, I used to think I knew a lot more than I think I know now. I used to think, wow, Neil sure is lucky to have me by his side. It is funny to look back on, the arrogance that I had. Oh, and it didn't just show itself in ministry. I totally thought I knew how to parent, too. God has such a good sense of humor . . . he gave us our children and it opened my eyes to how little I do in fact know. But anyway, back to youth ministry. Being able to start getting back into stuff as our kids grew, attending youth group more consistently, bringing the younger kids along, it has been awesome.

I love the place we are at now. I love that we now have our own kids in youth group, we are able to bring the young ones, too. I love being older with some history to look back on, and a better perspective overall. Time has given me a greater understanding of life in ministry. I now have an understanding that sometime people just don't like you. Sometimes they don't want to be a part of our youth group. They will not always appreciate our ideas, our events, the way we handle different situations or conflict. We will never be everything to everyone. There are seasons in life, seasons that you see change over the years when you are married to the guy who does "the youth stuff". I have no idea why I am writing all this. It is just my life and it is what it is. I will end with a couple of my favorite quotes, actual quotes of things people have said to us. More than once.

"So are you going to try and promote to Sr. Pastor someday?"

"I drove past the church on Tuesday and saw Neil's car there. I don't understand, why would he be there during the week?"

Slacker Mom, version 2.0

2012-02-28T21:01:00.000-06:00

Let's revisit Kindergarten and all the fun that goes along with this topic, shall we? After my last vent, I sent a note to Ava's teacher and let her know that I am not interested in stressing my kindergartner out. I said that I want Ava to have positive experience with school her first year. We received a note back that lamented the fact that there is no full day kindergarten, and that is what we need, and much of the work is falling to parents because of the lack of full day. She said, "Do your best, Ava will be fine." Great. That is what I was looking for, actually. :) Fast forward to parent-teacher conferences where we are told that we should consider hiring a TUTOR for our six year old this summer because, while she does know her sight words, she is unable to say all of them "within 3 seconds" of being shown her flashcards. Yep. A tutor. What the hay??

I don't get on board with demanding my kids excel in every aspect of school. Am I alone? Alright, go ahead and add that to my slacker mom qualities, I am okay with that. I do want them to enjoy learning. I do want them to be hard workers. I want them to be able to communicate well, and to be an edumacated (did you catch that? ;)) member of society. But in my humble opinion, there is more to life than school. School is not life. Nope. You will never be able to convince me of that. My ultimate goal for my kids? To have a passion for God, and compassion for others. In other words, Love God + Others. If they do great in school (and thankfully, for the most part they do), that is a bonus. While I am at it, I am not going to force any of my kids to go to college. I really hope that they choose that, because I loved the college experience, but I am totally okay with them choosing a different path. Too many people are spending a ton of money on college and then graduating with huge debt + no job for me to advocate college just for college's sake.

These Moments

2012-01-22T00:38:00.000-06:00

My cousin Debbie sold Tupperware back when I got married. Before the wedding we had a Tupperware bridal shower of some sort where I got a ton of Tupperware. One thing in particular that I remember was a dish that was the perfect size for making meals for two. We used that salmon colored dish constantly. We lived in this little apartment in our little college town. Other than our neighbor's maybe seven year old son who would come and ask if Neil could play, or an occasional study group, it was pretty quiet in our place. Most of our college friends were single at the time, and they didn't like to come over to our apartment much . . . the assumption was that we were always "busy", and I don't mean busy with schoolwork ifyouknowwhatImean, being newlyweds and all. So it was a bit on the lonely side until we got to know some other married couples.

Fast forward to today. Life is very rarely quiet. Our house is typically messy, it just is what it is. When I buy food, it disappears quickly, so it seems as if there is never anything to snack on. That salmon colored dish has fallen to the wayside after being relegated as too small for anything other than a side dish. In life we do a lot of running around, taking kids to friend's, school activities, youth group activities, and everything else. I always have a list of appointments and phone calls that need to be made. Sometimes I can become overwhelmed by all that I need to do but can't quite get accomplished.

This past week I was making dinner, and I was looking around grumbling to myself about how lovely it would be to have a table free from paperwork, when it struck me once again. Life is so fleeting. This time, it is zooming by, and soon Neil and I will be back to a quiet, possibly clean, house once again. In the blink of an eye this stage of life will be over and I will be reminiscing about the days when I was feeding teenagers and cleaning up the same spills over and over, and maybe even laughing about the constant mediation of arguments between siblings. Or not. ;)

Having kids is not something I want to take for granted. It is an awesome, sacred gift that some days feels like more than I deserve. I do not feel worthy of the responsibility that God has given us. In those moments, where I can see the place that I am in right now, I so do not want to have regrets. I want to have an attitude of appreciation for this stage of my life where I am able to serve my family in a way I never will be able to again. It is an act of service to clean up those spills, to make a meal that our family can enjoy together, and even cleaning those toilets. Some people would do anything to be able to have the privileges that I complain about. I am spoiled rotten. There will be plenty of time for cleaning, for now I want to focus on enjoying the moments, and being thankful for what I have.

Life as a multi-tasker AKA "Mom"

2012-01-20T12:24:00.000-06:00

IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MUFFIN by Kathy Fictorie

If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she will trip over boots into the freezer. Running into the freezer will reminder her . .. she has to plan supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. The cookbook is under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old. She will smell something funny. While she is changing her two year old the phone will ring. Her five year old will answer the phone and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

This made me laugh when I read it on a friend's status. I can so very much relate! My kids, they are beyond the diaper stage (praise the Lord)but for some reason I still can't focus on just one task. And they still eat my treats. They find my hidden chocolate stash every. single.time.
Let's face it, it is the ~~ADD,~~ I mean, multi-tasking behavior described above that helped me to get my toilets cleaned yesterday. Some days, you take what you can get ... yes?

[Simplify]

2012-01-13T12:00:00.000-06:00

source

This year if I were to pick a word for the year, a motto for myself, it would be SIMPLIFY. I want to clear out the clutter, get rid of the things we don't need, simplify our lives.

Starting with, cleaning out our closets. Getting rid of the things we don't wear. We all have too many things that we don't wear, and I want us to have less things that we wear more often. I have started doing this over the winter with my clothes and clearing out the "eh" stuff while keeping only the things I love... if I am going to wear the same things more often, then I want them to be things I love. Cleaning out the stuff I have had for years sometimes means I have to be firm with myself and stop rationalizing how I "might need that". I am also simplifying my skin care and makeup routines. I have started some new things with that intention, but I will wait until I have used it awhile and know the results before I share. ;)

Simplifying life in general.

That should keep me busy for a few days. . . weeks ... months...okay, maybe that will keep me busy all year.

Christmas DIY

2012-01-12T11:09:00.000-06:00

If I were to pick a word to describe last year, it might have to be "DIY". I spent much of the year discovering new DIY options for things I use every day, everything from homemade vanilla extract to homemade detergent. I made more things last year than I probably ever have before. And it was so much fun! Mostly I love that I can find a recipe for just about anything by searching it on Pinterest. I discovered Pinterest in the fall of 2010 when I knew about 2 people on it. Now it has exploded and tons of people are pinteresting that I know, which is cool because, well, the more the merrier. When it came to Christmas gift giving, I focused on that same idea of DIY. Here is a sampling of some things I made to give ...

Luxury Lotion Bars-- I am so glad I made these! They are awesome and work better than anything on our family's excema issues. My friend Tracy came over and we made these together using candy molds.

Recipe is HERE if you want to try it for yourself. :)

Lip Balm- Recipe HERE. We played around with the ingredients, you can do that when you do it yo-self, ya know. I liked the almond oil because it is really moisturizing.

Caramels... this recipe is from a friend at church. So delicious! I got the recipe a couple years ago but saw you needed a candy thermometer and for some reason that totally threw me off. Made the whole project seem much more complicated, haha. But I decided to dive in this year, and went to my good friend Hobby Lobby for the candy thermometer, along with my 40% off coupon. I was thinking it would be super expensive (yes, I am ignorant to such complicated gadgets), and what do you know, it was like $4 before my coupon. So yeah, much ado about nothing. It was totally worth it.

My first time making a wreath. Loved the process, it was very fun to do and I honestly had a hard time giving it away, I almost became an indian giver on this one... just kidding. My mom in law is totally worth the time and effort put into the pretty lil wreath.

No recipe here, just playing around with yarn and felt, and random Christmas-y decor.

It was very fufilling to give handmade. Looking forward to doing it again in 2012.

Loss

2012-01-07T23:36:00.000-06:00

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

This week we lost a friend. Not the kind of friend you see around and are friendly with. Not the kind you wish you had known better. But the kind of friend that you have history with. Not history that is pretty. The history we had with him was deep, meaningful, life changing, a bit ugly, and tinged with regret.

When Neil and I first met Jon, we were brand new to Pennsylvania. This guy was the kind of guy that when he walked in a room you noticed it. He demanded attention. Not in a prideful, look at me way. No, to the contrary, he was the embodiment of self deprecation. He was boisterous, and stinkin' hilarious. He made life fun. He drew everyone in with his jokes, his laughter, his silliness. He introduced us to Brian Regan, a comedian that to this day we can never watch without hearing Jon's voice echoing in our heads.

When we met Jon and his wife, I remember saying to Neil, "Now here is a couple that I think we will be friends with." And here is the thing about Neil and I. I thrive on my girl friendships, I do. I need them. Neil, he is different than I am in that he finds a lot of his social fulfillment in ministry and family relationships. He doesn't naturally seek out guy friends. Jon, he reached out to Neil like no one had in a long time. He showed up at our house, invited Neil to hang out or go places, invited us to social gatherings and over to their house for the kids to play together. He was a friend to Neil in a way that Neil didn't even know he needed. He loved on Neil. He opened up and shared his life with Neil. He was real and authentic. He shared his struggles with depression. I saw that and was always so impressed at the kind of friend Jon was to Neil. It was a joy to watch from the wife's perspective.

Life happens, and about 5 years into our friendship something changed. It was unexpected, it was painful, and it took our friendship to a different place. Without sharing anything that doesn't need to be shared, let's just say that the end result was a distance in our relationship. Everyone was well intention-ed, we just came to a sort of impasse. I can only speak for Neil and I to say that it was extremely painful and heart wrenching. We couldn't find a way to restore what was once there. This may very well be the most painful relational issue I have ever been through and I pray to God that we never have to experience anything like this again. However, it was what it was.

We ended up moving to Kansas less than two years later. Before we left I kept waiting for the right opportunity to have a restorative conversation, but it never came and we left with some regrets in that area.

We were never able to get back to PA, it had been over 3 years. Sometimes, I will admit, when taking communion at church, God would bring this couple to my mind. I would struggle with how to resolve this, was there even a way. So much was out of my control. So much was issues of the past, wishing I would have said this or done that. Regret. Loss. Pain. It hurts. I determined that if and when we ever got back to PA I would hunt them down and make things right. Or better. Or something.

This year, for Christmas, we decided to surprise the kids with a trip back. It was a wonderful surprise and the trip was so very lovely. On Sunday we were able to go to church and be surrounded by all these awesome people. I kept looking around for them. They were not there. My heart sank. Was my opportunity gone? Then I saw her, Katie. Their daughter was running around the church with Becca, laughing just like they did when they were young. I asked Katie if her parents were there. She said no. "How are you getting home?" I asked. "My dad, he is waiting in the parking lot for me." Neil and I took off for the door. If you can envision a church parking lot, he was in the far corner of the lot. We walked across the lot, wondering what he was thinking as we walked. We got to there and had to knock on the window in order for him to open it up and talk to us. The conversation we had, well, it doesn't need to be shared here but I will say that we were able to tell him how much we loved him, how much he meant to us, how thankful we were for his friendship. I will say, he looked broken. He was kind and sweet, but so different than the man I remember. It made me sad. Neil and I talked about it on the way home to Kansas, saying how it just didn't seem right, he looked like he needed serious help, and how we needed to call one of the pastors asap.

We got home on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning we got the call that Jon had taken his own life the day before. Devastation.

There are so many components to a person's life. We have not been a part of Jon's life in so many years ... so I have no idea what has been happening, how he has been, nothing. I know nothing. This is just my story and all I know is that God gave me this gift. He gave me this gift of time with Jon during his last few days on earth. He gave me an opportunity to connect and say what I wanted to say, and to take away some regret I would have felt had I not seen him. I have no idea why, no idea about the timing of it all. I wonder what we could have said, should have said, might have said, that would have made a difference. There are no answers on this side of eternity. Let me say this though. He struggled with these issues for so long, I believe that perhaps he distanced himself from those who could help him. Depression is painful and something no one can understand unless you have been there. I will not judge, in spite of all my questions and longings for a different outcome. He is at peace now, with His Heavenly Father, and I look forward to that reunion in heaven someday. Away from the pain and darkness and sorrow. I am so thankful to have met Jon. Thankful to have crossed paths with him in this life. So thankful for someone who knew us and our dirt, who we knew and his dirt. .. not just surfacey Sunday morning side of someone, but the real, nitty gritty stuff that makes us who we are. And we loved him.

Santa Baby

2011-12-24T18:47:00.002-06:00

This is what teenage girls do when they have too much time on their hands. Here is my Becca and her friend Bailee having fun on Friday night. It is my Christmas gift to you. Love and Hugs!

This & That Randomness

2011-12-22T15:56:00.000-06:00

Well, Christmas is just around the corner. Snow started to fall today, and then it stopped.

I dream of a white Christmas every year.

My house is so quiet right now. No one else is home. I am enjoying this moment, I know that it won't last. And I totally should be wrapping gifts but um, I am not. I am blogging since I haven't blogged all week. :) Oh, and I am also getting my Pinterest fix for the day. It is my favorite time waster (yes, maybe even more than facebook) ... I started it last year when there were only two friends of mine on there. Now it has exploded and there are so many people jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon. I really like it for DIY ideas, recipes, and I love the wish list. I suspect that my hubby has used that wishlist for some of my Christmas gifts. Such a smart man!

I have spent the week buried in laundry that has gotten overlooked for the last few weeks . . . I have finally gotten caught up, what a great feeling. Now, if only no one else would dirty any clothes, take a shower, or spill a drink for at least a day so I can enjoy the break. Yeah right.

Crafty with Old Leather (with tutorial link)

2011-12-17T10:00:00.000-06:00

One of my good friends asked me to make some leather cuff bracelets for her nieces for Christmas gifts. They are made out of old leather belts. It was so much fun to do. One of my favorite things to do is getting crafty and creative! Now I just hope she loves them as much as I do! ;)

Beauty Full

Joy & Love

Edited to add: I am far too ~~lazy,~~ I mean, busy to do a tutorial so I will just show you the one that got me started. It is by a friend of mine from high school who is super talented and crafty. Alicia does a great tutorial HERE if you want to learn how to do this. I look for cheap leather belts at yard sales and at the Goodwill, there are so many awesome ones that you can get for like a couple bucks or less (50 cents is my typical yard sale price). I have advanced to the stage where now I try new things like the stamping of metal accessories, etc. Yep, so advanced. haha

If you try it, let me know how it goes!

December Birthdays

2011-12-16T17:45:00.002-06:00

So December is a busy month for us. Evan hit the big "14" this year. Had some friends over to play some video games. We have banned video games in our house ;) so he had his friends bring the gaming stuff, too.

And Ava, well, at "6" she went through the rite of passage that all my children have.

Can you guess what it is?

She dragged the whole family to . . .

Chuck E Cheese. Oh yes indeed.

To be fair, all the kids in our house love that place. Neil and I, notsomuch. We lucked out on this particular afternoon, because it was not busy at all. And we realized how much easier it is now that the kids are older... not so stressful... sort of...fun.

Bitter Betty went through all the pictures on my cell phone and counted how many I had of Ava vs. her. (Ava won by a landslide, but in my defense I am with her during the day still when everyone else is in school!)

Ava has gained my mad skills for skee ball. She spent the majority of her tokens here!

All in all, it was a surprisingly good afternoon

We are enjoying loving on our kids, and thankful for the opportunity to be in their lives. :)

Hello December

2011-12-01T13:37:00.001-06:00

December Already?

The year is just flying by. I am having so much fun getting ready for Christmas. Decorating the tree, the house, putting up Christmas lights, listening to Christmas music, Christmas gift projects, and planning some Christmas surprises for my kids . . . I am loving all of it this year!

My oldest son will turn fourteen tomorrow. That is so insane. He is growing so fast, and it is amazing to see. He is surrounded by these great guys who love him, encourage him and support him ... what a blessing true friends are.

No Shave November was celebrated by my guy this year...

and as cute as he is looking like a mountain man, I am also happy to have his smooth face back now. :)

Holiday Perspective

2011-11-22T20:18:00.001-06:00

This time of year can be quite the challenge for me to keep my priorities straight. To not get caught up with the commercialization of Christmas. Especially as it relates to my kids. I see so many things that I would love to buy them... It would be easy to go crazy because let's face it, shopping is fun! We are committed to our debt free lifestyle though. So this is where the challenge comes in. Keeping perspective on what the holiday is really about. It is not about the gifts. I need this on repeat in my head. Not about the gifts, faith. Not about the gifts! I have lots of handmade gift ideas floating in my head. So excited to put them into action for the people I love. Sadly, it is hard to get to the fun stuff I want to when there is always work (and laundry!) calling my name. Such is life. ;-) My goals for Christmas 2011 . . . Christ Centered. Meaningful. Simple. Lovely. Handmade. Thoughtful. Joyful. Pretty much not what I feel when I see a Black Friday commercial or step into a mall. There it is all about a buying frenzy. It's all about "stuff", as much as you can get, even if it means paying for it for years to come on your credit card. I saw a commercial for one of those loan places where you can "get cash today" and I wondered how many people do that, out of a desperation to give their kids lots of presents in order to make the "perfect" Christmas experience. An experience that will end with a bunch of junk that kids may not even remember, didn't need, may not even want, and will probably be broken in less than a month when they are still not even paid for yet. So again, as a reminder to myself more than anyone else . . . Christ Centered. Meaningful. Simple. Lovely. Handmade. Thoughtful. Joyful.

Is it just me, or is Kindergarten hard these days?

2011-11-18T18:47:00.001-06:00

If there is one thing I love, it's mommy homework. Um, or not. With four kids we do get our fair share of homework around here. For the most part they can get their work done on their own, except for a project here or there. We don't get into the parent doing kid's project routine so our kid's projects end up looking like, well, looking like they did it themselves. We have kid who is a hand holder that requires, well, just that. Enter Kindergarten and our 4th student beginning the process. Suddenly it's like I am homeschooling. Daily. After she has spent a half day being schooled. The amount of homework is ridiculous. I am not new to the over achieving teacher, but they are the kind I want to avoid more than any other. But this teacher has a ridiculous amount of homework that requires my participation ... I mean, hello, it's Kindergarten. We have to sign off on a weekly list of things we are done with how much time we spent on it... new sight words, baggie books, flashcards, reading, etc. If I miss checking off anything, I get a frowny face or question mark alerting me to the error of my ways. Seriously! This is of course on top of the daily homework ... those worksheets where they copy letters, write words, etc. I do not remember any of my other kids having any sight words this early in Kindergarten. (Perhaps Pennsylvania is a more relaxed place as far as Kindergarten goes... that is where all 3 of our other kids started school?). Bonus for us is that last week they also added spelling words to the weekly chore list. Spelling words. I think I am on the bad list for slacker moms, as I get reminders that I need to be quizzing Ava more and more and more ... she must be falling behind since she doesn't know all her sight words yet. If I wanted to homeschool, don't you think I would be homeschooling? Oh, and so Ava has missed the last two days of school. She has been miserable with a fever. Then today I got an email reminder that she has two days for every missed day to get her missed work turned in. Sigh. Oh the joys.

Sick Day

2011-11-17T11:48:00.001-06:00

My little Ava girl is sick today... she woke up with a fever. Which makes it a good cuddling day for the two of us. Forget all the errands I needed to run, cleaning and studying I wanted to get done... all that can wait. Instead we will lose ourselves in "A Little Princess", one of my very favorite movies ever.

Good Will Hunting

2011-11-16T14:41:00.000-06:00

When the weather starts getting colder, and the sales go away I start GoodWill Hunting. You can find some great deals at your local Goodwill. This past weekend I was on the hunt for some blouses that I can wear with sweaters rather than the usual tshirts I wear all the time. Part of it was inspired when I read THIS BLOG. Part of it came from looking at my wardrobe. Anyway, I was off to check it out and this is what I found...

I found this Old Navy blouse that was a red tag special .. whoohoo... that means it was HALF OFF.

So I paid $2.00 for it.

This Banana Republic blouse was $3.99

This blouse was Ann Taylor for $3.99

And this Merona sweater (that's a Target brand) was just $4.49

Now garage sales can make me kind of a cheapskate and I will think, man, I could get that for a buck at a yard sale. But then I remind myself of how much it would cost at the retail store and I am like, oh yes, this is good. Especially when they all look brand new and the total was under $15! I love a deal. :)

Treasure Hunting

2011-11-15T17:50:00.001-06:00

People will say to me many times, I need to go garage saling with you! As if I hold the magic key to which all good garage sales arrive, haha. The honest truth is simply that I go to a lot of sales. Every weekend if possible. I go to a lot of bad sales in order to find the good ones. If I am not being careful, I miss a lot of good stuff. Like when I almost passed by a table filled with jeans because the rest of the sale was pricey and I was ready to get outta there. I glanced at the jeans, saw they were my size and asked how much she was asking for the clothes. When she said 25 cents, I started looking and sure enough, I took home a stack of Banana Republic and Gap jeans for less than a $2.00 total. That is a lot of fun, but doesn't happen all the time. Last month I found a sale where the guy bought out a drug store and stocked up on Burt's Bees toothpastes, chapsticks, and lotions for $1 each. All brand new in unopened packages. I don't know any other way to make it happen other than to go out every week. For me it is like a treasure hunt where you never know what you will find. I always have a list of what I am looking for, and try not to get distracted.

Now what do I do when the garage-saling season is over? I will tell you tomorrow...