Genius Idea

Have you guys heard of Pinterest? It's an amazing site; although it can be QUITE addicting. *ahem*

Anyway, these past few days I really haven't felt well at all, so I've been perusing Pinterest. I think I've pinned probably 15 recipes. At least.  And lots of other things.

One of the things that caught my eye totally made me go, "DOH!", smack my forehead and wonder why I never thought of it myself!!!

Self Serve Snack Stations. 

I made one for the fridge and one for the cupboard.

 

For the fridge I put cheese sticks, baggies of grapes, baggies of sliced apples and tubs of peanut butter in a tupperware and set the whole thing on the bottom shelf where everyone can reach it. For the cupboard I have granola bars, baggies of pretzels, animal crackers and Cheez-Its.

Now when the kids say they are hungry, I can direct them to either of these tubs!  My only concern is that they are going to eat it all up in one day. ;-)  So I'll have to monitor that, but I must say I'm excited to try it out!

Babies!

Wowza, that was a looooong time with no update or post or anything, huh?

Shame on me. ;-)

But I'm back, with some lovely, wonderful news!

I AM HAVING A BABY!!

 

We are so very, very excited and I will keep you all updated here.

There has been SO MUCH that has happened since my last post, but the thought of writing it all down and finding all the pictures is too daunting.  So just know we've been alive and well and we're all ecstatic about the newest member of our family coming to join us in June!

And please excuse me if I go a little (ok, a lot) baby crazy for a while... It's been 4 years and by the time the baby comes it'll be almost 5 since I've held a little newborn. ;-)

To Maarje, from Estonia

I'm sorry.  I really am.

You caught me at a bad time.  You might have noticed that I was trying to keep 4 kids and 2 dogs inside the door as you gave me your schpiel about books.  I understand you may not have understood the "No Soliciting" sign right above the doorbell you rang.

I admire your perseverance, continuing on even when the kids and dogs went crazy.  And how you followed me around after they all got out and I was frantically chasing the dog we're babysitting.  Who runs like a wild animal if she gets out.  And only understands Spanish.

Truly, it was amazing that you could keep a straight face and tell me about your books as I ran like a crazy woman, calling out "Princessa!!! Ven aqui!!" and not even knowing if I was telling the dog to come here, or maybe saying something completely different. All the while trying to tell my kids in English to please go back inside and take Charisma with them.

Maybe it was the heat.  I could see your fair, European skin couldn't take the direct sun.  I could tell you were hot and tired.  Yet you still took the time to show me on the map where Estonia was.

And even though I repeatedly told you I wasn't interested, and was clearly occupied with my menagerie, you did your job flawlessly.  You did not stop telling me about those books!  For even a second!

Thank you for telling me that flamingos are pink because of all the shrimp they eat, and that if they stopped eating them they would turn gray.  I am SO going to use that piece of trivia some day!

But in all seriousness, I'm sorry you got stuck with such a poopy job, walking neighborhoods trying to sell books to harried mothers such as myself who don't have the time or energy you deserve.  I hope your time in America isn't defined by the semi-insane woman you met at the door today.  Or the circus that you unsuspectingly walked into.

So, dear Maarje (from Estonia).  I'm sorry.  I wish I could've bought your books, or even just listened quietly and respectfully to your speech.  Maybe even offered you a glass of cold water.  Unfortunately, my children and my dogs were very uncooperative.

I hope you had better luck with my neighbors.

Estonia.  It's by Russia.

This and That

*My brother is engaged!!!!!!!!! To a very sweet and fun girl who fits perfectly into our family. =)

*My sister and I gave ourselves fake French manicures with press on nails.  And I spent a good 5-10 minutes trying to get my contacts out afterward, because the nails kept scratching my eye. Oops. (I filed them down the next day and all is well now.)

*I put up some wall words at approximately 11:00p.m. with one of my good friends.  We were very tired and silly, and it was a lot of fun.  I love the way it turned out! I'm trying to get a good picture, and I'll share

*I bought Kate some new shoes and she wore them for a whole day before we realized they were both left feet. :-P

*I started making french press coffee and it is delicious, but it uses way more coffee than the regular kind. :-/

*I had milkshake literally explode all over me TWICE in one week... both times at the hand of my sweet but clumsy daughter.

*We have to start patching Christian's eyes, so we bought him a pirate patch hoping it would make it more fun.  It doesn't, and he doesn't like wearing it, but we're working on it.  Hopefully it'll help until we can get the surgery done in January.

*I was helping Owen after he went to the restroom and he said, "Mom, you're my BEST FRIEND."  And then he gave me one of his exaggerated winks and told me I could be in his club.  :-D

*I made 4 loaves of banana bread and 4 dozen scones for a bake sale at church, and I was so happy that they all sold!  I also bought some cinnamon rolls from said bake sale and they are super delicious.

*I have played more hands of Spades in the last month than in my entire life combined.

*I am obsessed with fresh basil.

*Bubble baths + books = happy me.

*This could possibly, maybe be the last month  Josh has to travel weekly out of state for his job!!!!!!

*I'm not holding my breath on that last one, but it's nice to dream. ;-)

Love Story

I don't remember exactly when we met.  It was about 3.5 years ago, or so I guess.

Our attraction was instant and undeniable.  Love at first sight.  We couldn't get enough of each other.  And we still can't.

Some would call our relationship "unhealthy".  To be so completely, utterly, hopelessly devoted... that can't be good, right?  Don't you want to see what else is out there? Why limit yourself so soon? So completely?

But when you know it's right, it's right. Sometimes you really do just know.

Throughout the past 3.5 years we've met many times over.  We've spent lots of quality time together.  Late at night, while watching a good movie or tv show.  During times of stress.  During times of celebration.

A match made in heaven.

 

Is there anything better than chocolate and peanut butter?? I think not.  And that, my friends, is my love story.

**This post brought to you courtesy of insomnia and an insatiable need for chocolate.**

You're welcome.

Weekend at the lake

A few weekends ago the kids and I, along with my sister and her daughter went to a cabin on a lake.  It was SO nice!

Josh was at a youth retreat and instead of sitting at home twiddling my thumbs, I was enjoying this view:

 

Not too shabby, huh!? It was soooo gorgeous when we arrived and I immediately fell in love with the little cabin.  It only has 2 rooms, but plenty of sleeping space for all of us.  It had a fireplace, open floor plan and little swinging chair hanging from the ceiling that was the highlight of the trip. ;-)

The morning after we got there the kids woke up bright and early, so what did we do? Had a rousing game of Hi-Ho Cherry-Oh, of course!! Christian was a little grumpy because his cherries kept rolling off his tree. :-D

 

We worked up an appetite after our game, so we had breakfast at the bar... And it's SO MUCH MORE FUN to eat at a bar than at the table, don't you know!?

Here's my Owen Boy. 

 

Isn't he sweet!  Although, these days more often than not, THIS is what he looks like:

Ha ha ha, this guy cracks me up!! He's totally into the exaggerated wink/head tilt.  The other day he was helping Josh mow the lawn while Liz and I sat on the porch and watched.  We waved "hi" as they walked by and Owen gave us a sly wink. ;-)  Hee hee!!

There was a dock that the kiddos loved to look at. They threw bread to the seagulls while I had minor heart attacks about them being so close to the water, even though they were wearing life jackets.  Later on I went down and looked for myself and the water was only about 2 feet deep for about 5 feet out into the lake, and then it dropped off.  So even if they would've fallen in they could just stand up and the water would come to their waist; or to Kate's knees, LOL!!! 

As you can see it was really foggy/rainy/cold the second day but the kids didn't mind one bit.  They were out looking at the seagulls, running laps around the house and playing tag.  It was great!

We even had a cleaning crew!

 

Christian was very meticulous and washed a whole sink full of dishes by hand.  So sweet. =)

Sunday of that weekend was Father's Day and Josh came up to join us. =) 

All in all it was a lovely weekend and we can't wait to go back!

I Confess

I confess:

*I am very frustrated with the lack of summer weather.  As posted on my FB page today, it is absolutely ridiculous that I'm wearing knee socks, jeans, 2 shirts and a vest while drinking hot chocolate and it's June 29th. RIDICULOUS, I tell you!

*I skipped swim lessons yesterday because it was just too rainy and cold.

*I ate far too many chocolate chip coconut cookies yesterday.

*I have a muscle in my chin that is twitching and it's driving me batty.

*I've been ripping the velcro out of some cloth diapers for my sister (we're replacing with snaps) and I feel like a little old lady, with my glasses on the end of my nose doing finepoint needle work.

*I am so excited for next week, because we get to stay in a cabin at our church property and hang out with good friends for a week!

*I hope it's sunny and warm so we can swim.

*Josh cleaned the carpets, and although the look much better they still are gross. =( Too bad new carpets are so expensive.

*Josh and I stayed up talking and laughing past midnight the other night and we both felt like we were engaged again.

*We are now squared away and know what we'd spend our money on if we win the lottery. :-D

*I have been a super bad blogger friend and haven't been reading/commenting on anyone's blogs.

*I have some friends from Norway coming over to visit next week, and I can't wait!!!! One of them has an adorable baby girl that I can't wait to hold and give squishy kisses to.

*I am doing a liquid fast until dinner today because I ate far, far too much junk yesterday... and the amount of trips I've made to the bathroom is just insane.

*Please, please summer... Come shine on us!!!!