Crazy Beautiful Chaos

all you need is ……

2012-02-13T16:16:00.001-05:00

Love…and well, this year, lots of activities that are inside, not too rambunctious and things that are entertaining.

My kiddos have been hit hard by a bug, and it’s not a lovebug. Some nasty virus that turned into a bacterial infection for 2 of the 3 of us. So we’ve been crafting, loving, watching movies, cuddling and creating for a week. Yes, a week. Anna’s fever has been here for 8 days. It’s on the way out – she goes to bed with a slight fever and wakes up everyday with a normal temp…phew! Hudson’s body seems to have fought differently and he seems to be on the mend as well…in a shorter amount of time.

Want to keep a record of some of the fun things we managed to do this year, despite the yuckies. The LOVE banner above is a take on all of those fancy-shmancy cloth buntings people make. Ours is out of cardstock, tissue paper, glue and contact paper. Yup, that easy. You can do it!

I cut the letters out of cardstock with an x-acto knife and then gave the kids free reign with colored tissue paper, glue paint and paint brushes….

(and yes, that is our tree in the background – our VALENTINE’S TREE!)

When those dried, I laid them in the contact paper, strung them on ribbon and voila!

Another fun project is paint printing. Cover a piece of construction paper with foamy stickers and then paint over it. While it is still wet, lay a white sheet of paper over the foam paint paper and press down.

See her excitement? Seriously – this is a fun project to watch their faces when they see the print.

Anna and I played a fun roll-em, draw-em lovebug game. It works on number recognition and she got to draw a lovebug!

Hudson worked hard on making a multi-level home for some of our Duplo Lego family – it was sooo cool!

May you and yours be filled with lovebugs, not yucky bugs! Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!!

you may live in the country if….

2012-02-06T16:50:00.001-05:00

You may live in the country if you look out your window and you see this going up your street….

and for some reason it doesn’t seem all that odd. Unique, yes. But not all that shocking.

IN other news….here’s a fun art project for all you “praw-jekt” luvin’ mamas. And all you need is glue, qtips, wax paper and glitter! (Seriously).

First, lay out wax paper and help your little design a snowflake…or if they big enough (like Hugs), then let them design their own. Cut the qtips if they want – but not necessary.

Once designed, put huge dollops of glue at the tips where each comes to a convergence. (Yes, I just used a big word there. Look it up if you need too.) You can use white school glue, or Tacky Glue would be superb as well.

Then sprinkle the snowflakes with a “goodly” amount – that’s my PA Dutch roots coming through – of glitter. This Mama likes to do glitter in an old cake pan or pizza box, as it catches the excess and can be funneled back into the jar.

Let them dry overnight and… VOILA! A snowflake light catcher! I attached string and hung them in our entrance hall, because we rock homemade crafts on our walls.

Guess WHO?

2012-01-27T21:45:00.001-05:00

A little game for your Friday evening….

Guess who cut their hair while Mommy went to a movie with friends today? (I place no blame on the Daddy that was here at the house with her. Honestly.)

Guess who sobbed and sobbed when she was told she would have to have her hair cut short with no chance of pony tails, princess buns or braids for a while?

Guess who sat in the chair like a sweet little cherub because she was excited once we arrived at Daddy’s “hair cut place”? (Side note: Daddy goes to an old school family barber shop that does men’s and women’s cuts.)

Guess who got told she was adorable, beautiful, and pretty as a princess the whole time we were there? (They loved her so much she braided her bangs and gave her a pink flower barrette…the baby girl worked it…)

Guess who looks cute as a button now with this haircut?

I am sure you guessed by now.

GUESSING GAME 2:

Guess who Mommy got to go see in the middle of the day at school? (I go once a week, but this was a special project day :)

Guess who makes me feel OH SO LOVED when I walk in the door of his classroom? He smiles and nearly can’t contain himself until he gets a hug and a kiss.

Guess who slept with his favorite new fluffy friend and has told him stories while he falls asleep the past 2 evenings?

Yup, you’re right.

snowy saturday

2012-01-23T09:47:00.001-05:00

We finally got our first real snow since our “happy snow-o-ween” at the end of October. Personally, I was glad to have a nice snow – you need at least one in January to make it bearable. I mean, if it isn’t going to be 75, the least the weather could do for me is to send a snow to make it look pretty outside!

So, out we go! Gotta get out in the snow!

While Daddy shoveled, Mommy, Hudson and Anna made a snow tunnel. It wasn’t the best packing snow, so no snow family was to be fashioned out of this fluff, but we could tunnel and make snow angels!

the news….

2012-01-18T09:58:00.001-05:00

You’d think that after not really posting for almost a month that we would have news to share. Exciting adventures, cute stories, a profound word on what I’ve been learning. But not really. I’ve been working hard; obviously not on this blog!

I started a new job in January, part time, but still exciting and very mentally strenuous. I have begun a journey as an adjunct professor at a local college in the education department. Like I said, it is energizing and altogether exhausting at the same time.

We’ve been working on some exciting things as a family, too, but those are yet to be shared on the blog….until that time, here are some fun pictures from our past month – because I think these kids are too darn cute not to share!

The prettiest (& smily-est) angel in the preschool pageant!

The princess and her hide out!

2012-01-05T14:51:00.001-05:00

Following a scrumptious tea party, the princess was forced to her hide out to escape the evil minions.

our all american girl

2011-12-21T09:32:00.001-05:00

As an early Christmas gift from Grandmom, she treated Anna and I to a day in the Big Apple….not only a great day with Grandmom and gorgeous 60 degree weather in December (WHAT?!?!) but we travelled with Nana Anne (mom’s super friend) to go to the American Girl Doll Store.

Anna’s excitement could barely be contained as I woke her to put her in the van at 4:50 am…she went back to sleep til about 5:30, but after that, she was too amped. She was a great traveller and we drove straight through to Staten Island to catch the ferry across the Hudson River….above is a pic on the ferry going to the city.

Once we arrived, we put Anna in the stroller and began our trek from Times Square to the store itself – and of course, the sounds of the city, the warmth and the gentle rhythmic bobbing of the sidewalk cracks instantaneously put our american girl to sleep. She took a nice little 30 minute nap as we leisurely strolled the city streets (I hadn’t been in 2.5 years, so it was fun to remind myself of why NYC is so exciting).

We arrived at the store and this is what Anna looked like. Seriously out cold. No response to anyone calling her name. No response to “we’re here!”

So I set her up facing that HUGE picture of the American Girl Doll, gently shook her and said, “Anna, we’re at the Doll Store…” I wish, just wish I had thought to put my video on my phone, because she cracked her eyes open, saw the big doll and literally leaped into my arms gasping with delight. She was laughing and sputtering and smiling all at the same time. She was awake.

Inside the store, we carefully navigated all three shopping levels and browsed the selection – although I’m pretty sure she had a good idea of which one she liked before even entering. Let me tell you, this girl can shop. Seriously. She could shop all y’all under the table – any day. She’s a browser. A looker. A comparer. An admirer. I think she got that gene from mom-mom Smith. She wore me out…but it was too much fun watching her delight in each new thing around each corner.

In the end, she choose the Kanani doll – the 2011 doll of the year (which means it won’t be available after 12/31). She is the Hawaiian doll, and to tell you the truth, I don’t think she meant too, but she couldn’t have picked a doll that looked more like her. Anna has beautiful creamy coffee-like skin, brown eyes and wavy butterscotch hair – as does the doll. People by Rockefeller Center were commenting how beautiful Anna is and how she picked a doll that looked like her.

Mom treated us all to a delicious chili dog lunch by the fountain as we people watched. Anna thought the “statue of liberty statue” lady was funny – and we saw Elmo and Dora walk by as well.

We continued on our journey after refueling and saw gingerbread houses, the Lego store, the Hello Kitty store, Christmas window displays,

SEPHORA to try on some makeup,

and to the mega Toys R Us in Times Square where we rode the indoor ferris wheel!

We ate dinner and by that time the sun was setting – so as we walked back to the subway, we were all treated to the lights of Times Square at night…at Christmas. We had a fabulous day, and my American Girl is very thankful (as is her mama) for the early present of getting to spend a day with Grandmom and Nana Anne watching my baby delight in the city for the first time.

We are Thankful…

2011-12-08T10:07:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our NJ family and were able to spend an extended break with them. Poppy and Mom-Mom kept us (or we them!) busy. On Friday we went to see The Muppets together and on Saturday the four of our family travelled to Philly for the day via PATCO train. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from our very thanks-filled holiday.

making lanterns with Mom-Mom….canning jars, glue and tissue paper

Waiting for the train!

Enjoying our clam chowda in Reading Terminal – and then watching and playing with the Christmas Train display

Watching the Wanamaker’s (now Macy’s) light show accompanied by pipe organ – a Philly staple since 1956

we wore Anna out – she couldn’t help herself to a little nap!

intently listening to the presentation at Independence Hall – Hudson was in awe that George Washington was in the room at one time – as the President!

kids: stewardship and giving

2011-11-19T19:03:00.001-05:00

Giving. It’s not something that comes naturally to some. Actually, I should say I think that it comes very naturally to the little people around us. They see someone in need and think that it is very obvious that we should give to help. I think that it is as we become older, we hold more tightly to “our” money, “our” stuff, “our” things.

What’s sad is that for all of us, we forget that it is not ours. It never was, it never will be. Everything that we have been given has been a gift. Blessings from God…and I imagine that He is just sitting there anxiously awaiting us to figure out how we are going to give it back to Him. Are we going to wisely invest the money or throw it away on useless items? Are we going to give it to those who are in need or help buy a snack for a friend at school who doesn’t have the money? Are we going to set a goal of saving toward something specific that we can then use to bless others?

Yes, we all have needs. Our basic human needs. And we have wants. And they aren’t bad either – but teaching small children the difference is walking a fine line.

I have seen the AMAZING PROVISION OF GOD when Chris and I have faithfully given out of nothing. When we write that check KNOWING that there are other needs we have, other bills that need to be paid. It is painful sometimes (being honest here – my humanity soooo doesn’t want to) – but I have witnessed time and time again of God providing in our need…and amazingly, in our want, too. I have stories and stories of times over my life like this and could fill pages and pages of His goodness and mercy in my life, but that’s not the point of this post.

The point of this post is how we decided to try to impress upon our children the importance of Giving – Saving – Spending. I think my parents did a good job with me on this…I got an allowance, FIRST set aside what I was giving to God, THEN had to choose what I was saving and what I was using toward lunches and needs. (So, if I wanted more money to save, I packed my lunches, and didn’t buy.) My parents weren’t the kind that gave me 20 dollars to just go to the mall with my friends; they just said, go check your bank. And because of this, it taught me to budget and wisely use my money. (at least most of the time! :o)

So for our children, we did some research. We’ve worked with them quite a while on saving. And when they wanted something, they took money from those jars. And when they wanted to buy food for the Horn of Africa Food Crisis through World Vision, they took money from their jars. (Ask Hudson about this – he is passionately concerned about the people in Southern Africa and their lack of food!) And if they wanted to put some in the bank, they sent it to Poppy.

It was working – but we wanted something more. So I found this great idea online, and with a little tweaking of our own style, we came up with the “bank of Hudson” and the “bank of Anna”. Each week they are paid a minimal amount (that’s another post) and they must equally divide the money between give – save – spend. It’s also been a good early division lesson for Hugs.

We’ve been doing this since September, and they love it. And you know what has been making my heart sing? When gifts in a card come to them for Halloween and Thanksgiving and they want to put it all in “give”.

Now that is the kind of heart adults need.

I have a lot to learn from my lovebugs.

maternity shoot

2011-11-16T14:10:00.001-05:00

When our framily asks me to take pictures, of course I am going to say yes – because they are my favorite people to shoot! Our friends Kyle & Dawn are expecting their fourth child ~ and as Dawn declares that this is their last, she also wanted to make sure she had some good shots of her and her beautiful belly before it was gone.

I won’t tell you she also insisted that her face was getting full – oops – but the fact is it isn’t, and she is in fabulous shape for a 7.5 month pregnant mama. She just ran a 1/2 marathon a month ago. Yea. That kinda shape. And per her request, there are not a few of my favorites here because she thinks her belly is pasty white. It’s November. :o)

So I am not a professional by any means, but my dad put my first SLR in my hands around age 8 and I was in love. Through HS, college and beyond I’ve loved looking at the world in my mind’s camera lens. I have a lot to learn, but find joy in practicing on those I love.

And maybe, just maybe, this beautiful friend will enjoy the pictures of her gorgeous self.

happy birthday weekend!

2011-11-15T13:17:00.001-05:00

Happy birthday to a wonderful husband, daddy, and best friend…(all picture credits to my SIL, Stephanie Smith :0)

A walk on one of our favorite back country roads.

Meeting the whole family for dinner together! Including these crazy grandkids!

Mom-Mom and her favorite “baby” girls….and then all her favorites by the Christmas tree.Happy Birthday!

The Pirate and the Princess

2011-11-09T16:02:00.001-05:00

My noble protector…Captain Jack Sparrow.

My eternal princess….Rapunzel. (I made her dress. I just had to say that.)

The above pictures were blessedly taken when the Pirate and the Princess attended a costume birthday party, as for when the day arrived, the Princess was puking. Not pretty. Yes, that was a lot of “p”. Rapunzel really wanted to ride along, hadn’t puked in 4 hours and her temp was down. Hudson didn’t want to miss Halloween and as Mommy was on her own, in the stroller she went.

On the steps, bundled up to leave. The Princess wore her Panda hat (another “p”!).

Upon arrival to our friends’ home in another community (ours had been cancelled that previous Saturday because of snow – remember that post?), we plopped Anna in the stroller and off we went for 45 minutes – until she was almost asleep in the stroller and Hudson had “enough candy for one night.”

Grandmom soldiered on with us trick or treaters and valiantly went to doors for the Princess when she couldn’t get out of her stroller to go to the door. What a good Grandmom!!!!

(I love the eyeliner on his eyes – like they don’t stick out enough, right? )

The next morning Pirate was happy to dump his booty and sort it into piles of “like” things. Many piles….many piles. Booty was collected and the pirate was happy….maybe not his dentist, but he was!

Happy SNOW-O-WEEN!

2011-11-01T10:45:00.001-04:00

subtitled: What we did during our 30 hour power outage…

sub-subtitled: What the heck-snow in OCTOBER?

Chris attempting to battery start our gas fireplace. I say attempted, because it didn’t work. Grateful that it was not windy, just cold. Now we know for next time – we think we have to have a remote starter. To Home Depot we will be going soon!

Grateful that my hubby is an amateur meteorologist – because he warned me that the power was probably going to go out. We had our bathtubs filled with water to flush toilets, pitchers of water, and hot water in a carafe.

Playdough kept us entertained for quite a while ~ Café Hudson was open for business. His sous chef? His adorable sister.

We sang some songs together and Daddy serenaded us on his guitar. Pays to have a musician in the house ~~sometimes~~ all of the time. Music is always floating in the air somewhere!

We wouldn’t let the kids go out in the storm because we had no way to get them dry and warm – so we played games, did puzzles and art projects and……

attempted a family nap.

(BTW, the wall behind our bed? I am totally doing a post on this sometime soon – Aunt Cindy and Uncle Tommy visited and we got our project on.)

So while we were laying there, the power came back on! Wahoo! We transferred Anna to her bed, cranked up the heat, and got as warm as possible. Grateful we did….because right as we were dressing to go out in the snow after Anna rested for a bit – the power went back off. Oh well. We didn’t want to miss a bit of play time in the most PACKABLE snow we have had in a while.

Our neighbor, Dom, came over and played with the kids in the snow. She went sledding with us last year for her first time ever, so she loves playing with the kids and digging tunnels together.

2 hours later and with darkness fast approaching, we headed inside and whipped up a delicious candle light meal of sliced fruit, meats, cheeses and hot chocolate (with the mint chocolate marshmallows Grandmom got us!). The kids were a bit disappointed there wasn’t going to be trick-or-treat (because ours was to be on Saturday night), but we promised them that we’d go to a friend’s on the 31st.

We rounded out the night with going through the Toys R Us big book and making a list for Mom-Mom and Poppy, followed by books. Lots of books. :o) Daddy took a measurement of the snow after dinner and it was 7.5 inches. The official by the time the storm was over was 9 inches….in October. Forgive me, I am still processing this…God and I are still working through my shock.

Of course the next morning, there was no rest for the weary as Chris had to figure out how to get into the church to lead worship services. I’ve come to learn that big churches don’t close. Ever. So he got up early, froze his tuckus off, and ventured to church over our unplowed and untreated roads. He was able to get a shower there.

When the kids and I crawled out of our down filled bed, we were a bit cold, to say the least. It was toasty in bed, not so much out of it. My phone was dying and Hudson used the handcrank emergency radio to recharge it for me – it has a usb input that my phone can plug into. (GRATEFUL!) He charged it enough that I was able to communicate with Margo and she invited all of us to come get warm and get showers at the mission house. She rocks. Thank you, Margo.

After church, the power still wasn’t on….but it returned around 4 pm that afternoon. We had an adventure and reinforced the fact that our family definitely knows how to have fun together. What a great memory!

pumpkin time!

2011-10-28T07:55:00.000-04:00

Linus: Ohh. You didn't tell me you were gonna kill it!

(It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!)

Hmmm….that looks interesting. EWWWW! It feels gross!

wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T18:46:00.001-04:00

Favorite girl, favorite park

2011-10-25T22:12:00.001-04:00

A day with my favorite girl at her favorite park...one of MY favorite moments of the week so far.

Odd tip of the day

2011-10-19T22:07:00.001-04:00

My grandmother recently emailed me a really great tip....(yes, my grandmother emails, surfs the web, checks blogs; she's pretty rockin and hip)...so I needed to pass along the wisdom.

We love strawberries. Berries of any kind, actually. I scored a bunch of strawberries at a great price.So how do you keep all those delish rubies of sweetness fresh?

Wash them in 1 part vinegar and 10 parts water. Apparently it kills the fungal spores.
Rinse if you want, but it isn't necessary.
Drain and store. I store them in tupperware's fridgesmart containers.

It is working so well, I had to share.

adven-chures with my girl

2011-10-17T09:34:00.000-04:00

I say adventures with my girl, some would say adventures with my mini-me. Everywhere we go, “Wow, your daughter looks exactly like you!” I take it as a huge compliment, because I think she’s friggin’ adorable….and pray that someday maybe people will think I’m her big sister. Come on now, my mom and my grandmother have beautiful skin – a girl can hope, right? (enough with the tangent…forging onto the post!)

2 years ago, I did this same exact trip with big brother and his preschool class – and now it is little sister’s turn. She’s a big preschooler, in case you forgot. You know, she gets kinda indignant if you happen to forget that she is four now.

She was so excited knowing that this trip was in her near future and the day finally arrived. Warm, clear and beautiful – the perfect morning for a hayride through the rolling hills farmland. We boarded the wagon and headed out for apples (4 each), a pumpkin (1 each), and gourds (2 each).

The apple station was first – we choose mostly golden delicious, because heck, that is what I like and the looked prettier. (Yes prettier. No comments.) After she politely refused to take a picture documenting our time together picking apples, we wagoned up again and headed to the pumpkin patch. Personally, I think this picture is priceless. My princess who is surely a girly girl but loves playing rough and tumble (and is very scrappy and picks up bugs and frogs and stomps in mud), was saying,

“It’s dirty! I don’t want a dirty one! It’s making my hands dirty!”

Uh-huh.

We managed to find a fairly clean looking one; one that would be worthy of being turned into Cinderella’s coach and were treated to applesauce and apple cider! Yum! A field trip where they feed you? My kinda trip! My mini-me loved the cider too. We had a good day. A good day it was.

LIVE tonight…from ours to yours

2011-10-15T22:17:00.001-04:00

Hudson was learning how to play “Fall Leaves” ~ a left handed song in his beginner piano book. Chris and I take turns teaching him. When the mood strikes and he sits down at the piano, we try to capitalize.

I caught her just looking in amazement at the pumpkin jack o lantern in our front window ~ I love the innocence in her eyes in the last one.

fall zoo day

2011-10-12T21:20:00.001-04:00

We have been so blessed by the beauty of the early fall season ~ the warm sun has been abundant and has brought many great opportunities to let it flow into our souls….you know, those last moments of warmth from the fleeting summer that you wish to store deep within as to pull from when January comes and it feels so cold.

So yes, we’ve been taking advantage – trying to – and we took a family day to the zoo. Our favorite east coast zoo, to be exact; clad in our Phillies garb as to send good vibes to the team cheer for.

Our family of four had a blast – we ate our lunch and then were able to fully enjoy the tour of the grounds. One area we love is the Barnyard – a space where many hands on attractions and up close encounters are plentiful; Anna enjoys driving the pedal tractors.

This Arctic Fox mama was quite protective of her baby that was curled up in the log behind her. She kept a quiet outlook upon her perch.

Anna chose to ride a banana – does that surprise you?

After a busy day, this is what happened on the ride home – fresh air from the open windows after an afternoon in the sun lulled us all to sleep – well, not Chris, he was driving!

What an excellent day! Thank you, Lord!

fun in the mud

2011-09-24T17:38:00.001-04:00

6 LOCOS GRINGOS - Mud. Paintballs fired at you. Fire logs. Mud. Burned out transport vehicles. COLD creeks to your chest. Tire runs. Trail run in the forest. Mud. Storm Drain Pipes. Hay mountain. Mud. A gi-nor-mous wall. Slip & Slide……fun. Yup, fun.

We had the amazing opportunity to run with a group in a recent Big Bash Dash ~ something I’ve always wanted to do; if you’re gonna run a 5k for fun, why not through some mud in the mix, y’all?

We had 3 boys and 3 ladies that joined forces to cross the border into unknown territory and to try to escape the INS. Obviously we chose for our band of gringos to wear sombreros and to call out “aye-yae” and “Arriba” with as much obnoxious tone as one could muster with a mouthful of sludge.

We stuck together – which was apparently encouraging to other runners. After the race, we’ve gotten emails and had comments at the finish line that other participants loved how we stuck together and encouraged one another. (Wait, isn’t that what running as a team is all about? Hmm….) And bless the guys in our group, because I know that they are all competitive; yet they were patient and sacrificed finishing times of grandeur behind them.

Coming out of the mud pits into the fire jumps.

Our adoring fans.

At this point, we think Chris still thought someone was really chasing him with a paintball gun and was going to ask for his citizenship papers…..and the next shot? The rest of us don’t care any more.

Here comes the slip and slide finish – All together now!

These were AFTER we waded through a waist high creek and the slip and slide. Yup, AFTER.

Our lovely and beautiful photographer, Miss Angie….she maxed out my CF card with pictures, so we had a lot to choose from! And Chris getting hosed down by a fireman? Well, let’s just say that was powerful and cold water – but not powerful enough to get all the mud.

As we finished, each participant of age was treated with a beverage worthy of a man running a 5K in a sombrero. And Gringo team leader Daryl certainly earned his!

Anna's Fourth Birthday!

2011-09-22T20:17:00.000-04:00

Our favorite birthday girl "had SOOOOO much fun" (quoted after her guests left). The little lady requested a Disney Birthday party - not just princesses, but she desired to be non-exclusive and include all her favorite characters from her recent trip to Disney World.

Invitations went out, and many guests came to the kingdom for a great night of celebrating Anna's life. We were able to host the party at Gymboree Play & Learn (if you know us, you know how we got to be there) and it was a perfect venue for a bunch of 4 year olds. The kids played dressup, we danced, we tumbled, we did art projects, we ate, we sang and we tired ourselves out. It was an amazing time!

To our beautiful little lady,

We are so proud of who you are becoming. Joy shines through your eyes, your smiles and laughter light up lives, and we see you trying to love like Jesus. Nothing could make us prouder. We love you Anna Banana. Happy fourth birthday!

Anna’s First day of Preschool!

2011-09-15T20:14:00.001-04:00

Thanks to the gift of abundant rain and wind and flooding, compliments of Hurricane Irene, Anna’s first day of preschool was postponed until Tuesday! She was so excited to head off to “Hudson’s preschool” which we now keep reminding her is “Anna’s preschool!

Our fashion diva (honestly, this girl has got style at putting things together – I really don’t understand it, because she puts things together that I never would, and she looks darn cute in them) was totally stoked about the new outfit that Mom-Mom got for her. She rocked it with her new polka-dot backpack that she picked out for herself – and of course, did a rockin’ job modeling.

Big bro wanted in on the action; which was honestly insanely adorable because he kept reassuring her what a great time she was going to have and that she looked “cute”.

Ahhhh…..love. They are one another’s best friends….and at times, best of enemies (although it lasts for about 5 minutes!). PS – she loved it, and is excited to go back again!

Summer’s Last Hurrah pt. 2

2011-09-09T07:13:00.000-04:00

Our darling Daddy and the two youngest darlings had never ventured to an authentic farm show fair before – and right before school began, we had the opportunity to attend one with Grandmom.

How exciting to walk onto the fairgrounds and see the sights, smell the delicious foods wafting in the air and hear the delighted screams of those on the rides. The darlings were ecstatic to come across a “kare AK ter” as we made our way down the first aisle. Hudson even signed up for the opportunity to win a Cars 2 t-shirt at this booth…more on that to come.

The full experience of a farm show is not complete without a visit to the petting station – Hugs was enamored with watching the baby chicks. “Look Mommy! One is cracked! Is it going to hatch? I think it’s going to hatch! It’s wiggling! Look, that one is dead…no it’s not. He’s breathing!” He was a non-stop commentator on the happenings in the egg incubator. Truly adorable – and the older kids thought he was hilarious. Anna was beside herself with the “Toot Cow!”

We rode a few rides – the ferris wheel, a kid’s lovebug drive, and Grandmom took the kids on the scrambler – ugh, it makes me sick thinking about it, but it is one of her favorites!!!

We finished out the night with a game or two and look who won the Cars 2 shirt? That combined with the snow cones for the kids, the latte for Daddy and the caramel apple for Mommy made for a happy family!

Hurricane rain means no school

2011-09-08T12:07:00.001-04:00

The bat queen and super monster scarer are ensuring my safety as I clean the house today...after that sounds like we may play some games, eat our cookies we made, and possibly watch a movie. An impromptu dance party may be thrown in at some point! We are grateful we are dry and our home is too. Pray for so many in our area not that fortunate.

Special Edition–ALD 2011.3

2011-09-05T20:58:00.001-04:00

This special edition of the ALD (Anna Language Dictionary) comes to you courtesy of a trip to see the big mouse and a Daddy and Mommy who are proud of their peanut. If you aren’t aware of the previous editions, you can find them here & here.

Skweeping Beauty (noun)

A legendary princess clad in pink splendor with several names. She is Briar Rose and Aurora. Often referred to in the commoner world as “Sleeping Beauty”.

Tentena (noun)

pronunciation: ten ten ah

The object of which an electronical device receives a radio frequency signal.

Monatrail (noun)

pronunciation: Mon uh trail

A railway system (made famous by Walt Disney Imagineers) that utilizes a singular track….monorail.

Wermaid (noun)

pronunciation: were made

usage: “Ariel is my favorite wermaid!”

Reepunzel (noun)

pronunciation: ree pun zuhl

A literary beauty whose long locks tangle and untangle in a web of love and adventure.

Hotowel (noun)

pronunciation: hoe tOW uhl

Hotel. But make sure you put an emphasis on the middle of the word with an “OWWWWW”. It’s necessary. Seriously.

Summer’s last hurrah pt. 1

2011-08-31T16:32:00.001-04:00

the ocean. the breeze. the crashing waves. children playing contentedly. sweet treats. tropical rains. beautiful sunsets. the smell of carolina pines and fresh cut grass mingled with the intoxicating scent of sea air. sunkissed shoulders. sandy toes. digging for clams. building trenches and burying friends in sand. bocce. cards. board games. tree frogs. chlorinated bleached summer hair. pink lips. laughter. smiles. long runs. grins. meaningful conversation. carefree plans.

All these are why I love the days we have at Myrtle Beach. We hit the beach with our great friends, the Letners, Bryan, and Mom. Between the families, we were blessed with 6 adorable littles – 7, 6, 5, 3, 3 and 1.5. Talk about excitement! I really can’t put the fun into words, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking….There’s a ton of favorite memories!

Big first grader!

2011-08-29T09:04:00.001-04:00

‘Nuf said. (Because I can’t, because I might cry…)

Happy garden

2011-08-22T11:20:00.001-04:00

Came home from vacation and this what my happy self found in my happy garden. Know it isn't much compared to some gardens, but it makes our tummies happy!

Hudson throws first pitch!

2011-08-10T22:13:00.001-04:00

Hudson got to throw the first pitch at the Barnstormer’s game this evening. Grandmom is one of the head-honchos at a Dr.’s office that sponsors the team, and when they asked her if she knew someone that would like to throw the first pitch, she said, “My grandson, of course!” So we travelled the distance to meet her and watch Hudson’s historic “first” pitch in a big stadium.

I asked him why he threw it underhand, and he responded,

“I have better aim underhand, Mommy.”

Good reasoning, right? Being on the field was pretty cool, and here are a few pictures to round out the evening.A big congrats from Cylo for a great first pitch! Aunt Dana, Katelyn and Baby Josh met us for the evening too!

Sunday night....

2011-08-09T20:12:00.001-04:00

This little man was at urgent care Sunday evening for poison ivy on his face. Who knew he could get poison? I've never had it, so it never really crossed my mind that my children were susceptible to it. Apparently at least one is. We had a great time on the rail trail, but this wasn't the best souvenir. After some mad crazy doses of steroids, he is already looking almost normal again....now if he acted normal! (just kidding - I am glad my kid has got spunk and quite a personality!)

what a weekend!

2011-08-07T18:27:00.001-04:00

We certainly packed it all in this weekend – beginning with family Friday…which actually turned into Mommy goes to work and Hudson and Anna come along morning. For the incredible reading audience of tens that I have, most of you know that I recently took a very part time job teaching music at a local music and play center.

I like it. A lot. It’s doing something that I enjoy, with an age that I love, and I even get to take my kids with me – as long as I am not the primary teacher. So, when the opportunity came up to assist in the Monkey Mania camp, we were in! The 3 hour morning was full of jungle play, art projects, letter work on “M”, puppets, snacks and, of course, singing & instruments.

The crazies had a blast – and they wondered when they can come with Mommy to work again. Unfortunately, Hudson won’t be able to, as he is too old to attend regular classes….but I can take Anna almost any time.

Friday night we hit the rail trail – look at Hudson on his bike with no training wheels – and the kid rode 5 miles! We took a break in the middle at turn-around, but what a champ!!!!

After riding for that long together, what does a family need to do on a beautiful summer night with cicadas singing and breeze blowing? Go to the local dairy for FRESH HOMEMADE ICE CREAM! All the ice cream is made on-site and after you eat your

fill, of course you go and pet the cows and run through the corn maze. I personally was in heaven with my summer time fave of banana ice-cream. Don’t knock it til you’ve had the heavenly treat – my grandparents used to make it for every Kentucky birthday I celebrated with them….mmmmmm.

Think we’re done? We’re just getting started (I LOVE SUMMER WEEKENDS!!!!) We participated in a huge service project with our church family in the city. Over 400 volunteers served the city school district with painting, mulching, destruction of old school furniture (awesome, right?), weeding, etc…

Our small group wanted to choose a project that we could involve our kiddos in, so they can see the tangible gift of sharing the love of Jesus through service. See? Even little hands can serve! They pulled weeds, swept, mulched, & carried trash bags.

No project is really a project until someone gets hurt – wanna guess who?

So sad, but after a Sally CARS band-aid, life was better…..and then came snacks, and life was definitely better! And yes, germophobes, we had anti-bacterial wipes that were sufficiently used to eliminate most of the gunk – some germs are good for ya!

After much needed naps for our gang, we headed out to our Saturday night venture….a swim in the pond and a cookout on the farm!

We got to spend the evening with great friends and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation in these parts of the country – seriously, how many kids can say they live in such a beautiful area and get to do awesome things like swim in a pond in the summer….

or go on bike rides…or have big picnics all summer long…or get poison on your face? (That’s tomorrow’s story….and that’s how we spent our Sunday.)

One more peach, mama?

2011-08-03T22:36:00.001-04:00

Today was the 3rd annual peach canning fiesta! I think we are getting faster....or it could be our children are a bit more self-sufficient now. Whatever the case is, we managed to fly through 1.5 bushels of peaches with only one 2 minute interval of pure chaos. (3 children crying: one bee sting, one bleeding, one with a puffy eye - unrelated).

And the request we heard most often from Anna and Sam? "Can I have one more peach, mama?"

Poppy and Mom-Mom weekend

2011-08-01T09:42:00.001-04:00

This past weekend, Poppy and Mom-Mom came to visit us – always a highlight for the kids (and us too!). On Saturday, we traveled together to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA. Pictures tell the best stories in this case, so words will be few. Needless to say, it was a memorable day!

Phew! That was a full day!

Toothless wonder rides bike!

2011-07-28T20:53:00.001-04:00

I thought that if I was posting this to a world renowned news headline for the AP, it would be fun to title it as such….

“Toothless Wonder Rides Bike!”

The national hero is known country-wide for his non-toothy grin and his proficiency upon a bicycle assisted with training wheels. But no longer. In a move recently made by his publicist, Manic Mama, decided it was time for “the Wonder” to set aside his balance aids and go for the big boy wheels alone.

“The Wonder” has been seen near the cow pasture attempting his new transport for short periods. In true super hero fashion, he was reported stating, “Hanging up my cape and rocket fuel powered boosters was difficult ~ but I am prepared to become a cleaner, greener superhero and take to the roads…no matter the difficulties I may face.”

On Tuesday, Wonder met the reality of his decision and conquered the loop. He successfully navigated a flat basketball playground, riddled with puddles, a water splashing nemesis Anna Banana, and a few tetherball poles. Local fans heard of his feat and rushed to the site, where a bystander caught this video.

teeth and lemonade

2011-07-18T18:50:00.001-04:00

Warning: This is an odd conglomeration of pictures…and stories.

What’s better than draining an ice cold glass of lemonade on a warm summer day? Selling fresh-squeezed lemonade on the sidewalk with a buddy and planning how to use your plunder. With the help of a few friends who travelled from nearby, Hudson’s lemonade stand was a success. Our neighbors and friends made sure that his first business venture was successsful ~ Hudson had us put out a “text” to let people know that he was open for business…and a few showed up to feast on his deliciously concocted beverage (thanks to Paula Deen’s famous recipe.)Only a few days later, Hudson lost his “first” tooth. I say first, because if you have seen pics of him, you know that he has been missing his front top teeth since 7/08 (they had to be pulled out following an accident). It’s too darn cute. But now, he is missing his bottom 2 teeth – the legit way! (with his treasure box that he created – he decided he would put his teeth in here for the tooth fairy!) The first one came out on it’s own, and he was a bit freaked by the blood….the second one had a little help from our own personal Dental Hygienist, who happened to be present at our home for dinner that night! Miss Angie put her mad-skills to work, and convinced Hudson that she just needed to see how “loose” it really was. Within seconds, Hudson had lost his 2nd legit-tooth. He looks too cute – really!

Camp Staffaroni 2011

2011-07-08T17:18:00.000-04:00

This year began a tradition. We’ve been friends with Kim and James a long time. I’m not putting exactly how long (but we graduated from Messiah in ‘00) and we love being together. Due to geographical differences, it is not nearly enough, but we make it happen as much as possible!

This year we started Camp Staffaroni. Kim’s parents live in the Poconos and we totally “redneck ghetto camped” in their backyard. I’d love to say it was because we thought it was the best idea ever (which it was!), but mostly it was free. And we didn’t officially “camp”. We convinced the littles that the screened in porch was an open air cabin and they slept outside while the adults slept inside. :)

(Above: Playing the bag game and having devotions before bed with Papa James and Uncle Chris.) Having 1 seven year old, 2 six year olds, and 2 three year olds all together is quite an adventure ~ are we crazy? ~ and honestly so much fun. There were late nights, and lots of fun (naps for all squeezed into some of those days too!). I have over 100 pictures from the trip, so here are a few highlights.

Lots of wiffle ball and swimming in the creek. Swinging on the crazy dome swings where all the kids could touch feet! Obviously, campfires and s’mores!

Little girls tea parties that lasted for hours! Going fishing with Papa James and Hudson & Anna catching their first fish!

Sparklers!!! Callie’s Candy Shop – a Pocono legend. Already looking forward to Camp Staffaroni ‘12!!!!!

11 Chapters…and counting

2011-07-07T15:58:00.001-04:00

11 years ago, I married my prince. (Yes, of course, he sang to me….and I melted.)

We moved to Arizona. Began life together. Began new jobs and learned how to do ministry together, as a team, full-time.

We had one of these…..(Hudson: aka, Bubba, Bubba-Looey, Handsome)

And a few years later we had one of these….(Anna: aka, Banana, Nana, Jellybean, Cutie)

We moved 3,000 miles as a family of four and returned to the East Coast where we felt God had called us to be for the next chapter in our lives.

We have lived, lost loved ones to death and cancer, we have beaten cancer (hallelujah one year cancer free! :), we have grown, and we have learned to love a little better everyday.

We are learning to die to ourselves and strive to live like the one who gave us this life. And with you at my side, I am ready to face the journey with confidence as you hold my hand, lift me up, and encourage me. You stretch me, challenge me, love my ugly, adore our children, step into each day with resolve to be a better man, and pretty much blow me away daily.

Here’s to the next chapter of our lives….

Happy 11th Anniversary, my love.

Suh-weet Cherries!

2011-07-02T16:33:00.000-04:00

Anna’s favorite fruit, if asked, at all times:

CHAIR-WHEEES!

She was in heaven last night! We went cherry picking at a local orchard (which we love, as they have all kinds of u-pick fruits the entire summer season!). Grandmom and Uncle Bryan joined us in our venture and we managed to very quickly assemble close to 17 pounds of cherries. And we didn’t move from where we started. The cherries were plentiful – abundant, really. And

OH, SO SWEET!!

Needless to say, they were sampled. Or shall I say, they were really our dessert as we picked post-dinner. These pictures don’t do the faces justice, but these 2 little people were covered in cherry juice. Particularly their cheeks, lips, and chins…..with drips that made rivers down their hands onto their elbows as they ate more than they were picking. Here’s to cheery times with cherries!

First fruits

2011-06-30T19:18:00.001-04:00

First cucumbers of our own garden! Wahoo!

memory monday–tball

2011-06-27T09:20:00.001-04:00

I shot these yesterday ~ Hudson finished up his last game with the “Red Sox”. Next year we are hoping he gets drafted by the Phillies

I love that if you look closely, you can see Daddy grinning at his son as he takes a swing at the pitch. In Hudson’s league, they coach pitch 3 balls first, and then set the tee if there has not been a successful hit.

Hudson’s adoring fan….

I got it, I got it! (Actually, it is a general miracle he is paying attention. It gets boring out there in the field sometimes!)

Hudson with his bud Braydon.

Made up by me

2011-06-25T17:43:00.001-04:00

So this is a made up by me recipe I am calling strawberry lemon drop cake. I betcha it is out there somewhere on the world wide web, but I made it up. We are headed to a backyard neighbor bbq, sponsored by our church....to get to know people in your area.

It is gonna be a blast....and we had to bring dessert. To make this I used a lemon cake mix and baked it in 9 inch rounds. While it was warm, I poked a ton of holes in it and poured powdered sugar mixed with lemon juice all over it to sink in. After they cooled, I spread a small bit of cool whip lite over layer one and then placed sliced strawberries on it. Place the second layer on, cover with cool whip, and voila!

It is yummilicious.

jersey shore: our way

2011-06-20T17:08:00.001-04:00

Saturday was a rockin’ day for the Jersey Shore…we do it our way, not the way you may think, compliments of MTV’s version. Yes, while guidos and guidettes are definitely in style and en masse, we rocked the shore in a wholesome manner at OCNJ. Our kiddos were so excited to be at the ocean for the day. (I‘ll be honest, I could barely contain myself, too.) We went to Jersey to celebrate our nephew’s 10th birthday (holy cow…he’s ten!), but during the day while preparations were made, we hit the waves and the boardwalk for some Jersey-style fun. I love this picture – they were so overwhelmed to just be at the ocean, that the wonderful feeling of letting your feet sink into the sand was good enough. For at least 30 seconds.At 31 seconds, they could wait no longer and jumped right into those waves. Anna is fearless. Hudson has no boundaries. It makes the ocean a thrilling, albeit slightly frightening experience, for this parent. They do well with rules though, and they understood they weren’t allowed past their knees without an adult. Lucky for us, the waves were just the right size at that depth for our adventurers – for a while. Castle building, digging, playing in the sand, making holes for bodies, baking sand cakes and spending a lot of time between the lifeguard flags for swimming (that is how the Jersey beaches work) took up most of our day….just the way we wanted it. We ate lunch at an OC pizzeria icon, Mack & Manco’s and finished up our day with water ice, salt water taffy and lemonades. That pretty much hit all of the must-have-foods on the boardwalk for us. (Well, Daddy got an iced coffee before we left too). And while we were sad to say goodbye to the salt water air and the gentle breeze, we know we will be back – and we had a party to get too!

to the loves

2011-06-19T10:18:00.001-04:00

To all the men in my life, who have always made the “littles” in their lives a priority – thank you to each of you for showering the Love of the Father onto us….through you.

The love of my life with his littles…….at the beach yesterday.

The first man in my life, who truly showed me what the love of a Daddy is really like.

The greatest grandfather who showed humility and love to his family….who just met his heavenly father face to face 2 weeks ago.

To my other Dad….whom by which I am so blessed, for he loves me as his own and showed his son that loving your children is a priority. (Chris with his Dad :)

And to the other man in my life…who will some day be a great father – he’s a rockin’ uncle.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO YOU ALL!

kool aid and rain

2011-06-16T12:33:00.001-04:00

In my previous life I had really fun learning and literacy centers – little did I know, some of those “kool” tools would come in handy in my now, current, mommy life. I’ve been pulling from that stash of ideas since Hugs was born….today’s rain called for something from my past life.

We made Kool-Aid Playdough. This recipe rocks. Seriously. Earlier this week we did the whole edible peanut butter playdough thing,(apparently we are on a playdough kick) but nothing beats brightly colored, deliciously smelling homemade playdough with Kool-Aid. It is smooth and doesn’t leave a residue on your hands as homemade often does. It also is the perfect portion to use one pack of mix, not 2, as some call for.Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 package unsweetened Kool Aid mix
1/4 cup salt
2 Tbsp. cream of tartar
1 cup water

Directions:
Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and Kool Aid in a medium pan. Add the water and oil. Stir over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes. Remove the mixture when it forms a ball. Knead it until it’s smooth. Let cool and store in an airtight container OR have fun playing!!! Repeat for each color of play dough you want to make.

The fact that is smells incredibly good is a total inspiration in the make believe world of playdough food creations as well. If you get a chance, have these simple ingredients on hand, and want some instant measuring, mixing, creative learning….then this activity is for you!*Recipe compliments of Mama Jenn’s site…a favorite of mine! Hyperlink on recipe.

arizona recap

2011-06-09T22:00:00.001-04:00

I have too many fun pictures from my recent trip over Memorial Day to Arizona to visit our “Fr-amily”. Seriously – I would overload the browser if I attempted such a feat. But because I love my friends there so much, I can not NOT share!

I had a few goals while there: have a rockin’ time seeing Em get married to the love of her life, chill with Tracy and the Wats, catch up with friends and relax. Check, check, check, check.

Thursday when I arrived, I spent most of the day and night with the Yochims, Grandma and Grandpa Diehl and Grammy Lyn. They all were leaving the following day to go to a quincinera(Mexican 15th birthday party) in Rocky Point, Mexico. Our AZ church has a partnership with a mission organization there, called One Mission. They have an awesome ministry that brings in volunteers to minister and build small, sturdy homes for families in need….touching their lives with the love of Christ in super tangible ways.

Friday after I had recovered from being up for 22 hours the day before, I hit a morning out with my chica Andrea. We have too much fun together…honestly. My belly always hurts after hanging out.

For lunch, I met my girls from Canyon Rim Elementary for lunch at one of my fave dining places – Rubios. Yes, we ate outside. It was gorgeous my whole trip. Above is my girl Jaime and I. We began teaching together the same year, the same team, switched schools together and basically stuck together in all storms of in school politics, making sure we kept rooms adjoining when we possibly could.

(Dani, Jaime, Laura, Sue, Peggy, Jen….Me, Jennifer, Katie)

I had to get out every morning and hit the trails behind our community. How could I pass up an opportunity to view this while running?

Friday night the Wats took me to experience my first real sushi night at RA. They ordered, I trusted. It was good.

Saturday Tracy and I took at three hour tour up the interstate to Flagstaff to witness Emily marry Eric – and she was pretty much drop-dead gorgeous. It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful party afterwards.

Sunday we chilled, swam, and hit the Queen Creek Olive Mill and sampled til our heart’s delight.

My last few hours in Arizona was spent outside on a trail, by the pool swimming and soaking in as much love from my FRam as possible. We even got to stuff my belly with some quality Mexican at Macayo’s before boarding the plane – and I got to enjoy the company of Uncle Dave and Jill.

SO blessed to be loved by so many – and so fortunate to get to visit and spend time with each of them.

Yum

2011-06-08T13:52:00.001-04:00

Something so beautiful about freshly canned strawberry jam. Barring major injury and a small mishap with a too-small pot and burnt sugar on the stove, our house smells delicious! Now I feel like I need to make homemade bread to accompany it!

Pretty princess in purple

2011-06-03T13:53:00.000-04:00

Hanging out on grandmother's porch this morning and I caught a picture of this pretty princess in purple

“my mom….”

2011-05-21T08:53:00.001-04:00

To celebrate moms, Hudson’s school had a Mother’s Day Luau in his classroom. It was so much fun. Really. The classroom was decorated in tropical theme, he made a lei necklace and a tie-dyed coffee filter flower for my hair, and we made a fun pineapple magnet craft together.

But one of the funnest (yes, funnest) things about the Luau was a power point movie that his teacher put together with pictures of them, songs and their responses to questions she asked them about their mommies/grandmoms. On the sly, she contacted all the daddy-figures and had them do a q & a with their little ones.

Describe a great mom. “She’s very good at playing with me. She makes good food. She washes my clothes and picks up after me.”

What does your mom do in her spare time? “She likes to read books. She likes to exercise. She talks to her friends and writes about us on her blog.” :o)

My mom’s as beautiful as a… “flower – she’s pretty and she smells good.”

My mom’s so smart, she even knows…. “All about fires, how to count, how to plant a garden.”

My mom is special to me because…. “She likes me; she loves to read books to me; she does crafts with me and plays board games.”

My mom is best at… playing board games, decorating the house, making cookies and making me feel better.”

Hudson is still a cuddle bug. I love the fact that when I drop him off at the bus stop, he is still sure to plant a big kiss on my lips before he climbs up onto the steps of the yellow submarine.

I love the fact that as soon as I walk in his class once a week to help, he demurely waves and gets a big smile on his face, and knowing he isn’t allowed to get out of his seat, he waits until a transition and then will come give me a hug and a kiss.

I love that when we walk down the hall together, he grasps my hand and holds it for all it is worth….and that he counts down the minutes and announces it to me of how long it will be until he sees me after I leave his presence.

And yes….those answers will most assuredly be tucked away in a special place for me to keep forever.

Pampering the princesses

2011-05-16T17:01:00.001-04:00

A friend clued me into a rockin deal at a local beauty school. For the month of May, if you say you are a mama, you get a pedicare for 5 dollars! So while Hudson was in school today, Anna and I went for me to get a pedicure and they painted her nails too! She was so excited to get her nails done, especially because they painted them pink AND purple with a pink rhinestone bow on her big piggy. (pics from my phone)

6th Baseball Bash

2011-05-12T15:50:00.000-04:00

Take me out to the ball game….

Take me out to the crowd…..

Hudson’s official birthday party was this past Saturday – and what a glorious day for baseball. All guests were asked to wear their favorite team’s colors, and we were happy to see a lot of Philly red and white among the crowd.As friends and family arrived, the kiddos were “tatted up”, played and colored pictures of baseball players and equipment. Even Great - Grandmom Smith joined in on the fun with a baseball tattoo on her cheek…she’s a cheeky one, I tell ya! (hehehe) Chris and his grandmoms supervised the play from the upper deck grandstand, and made sure the “dawgs” were properly prepared for the ballpark concession stand. The birthday boy and his pals certainly had a lot of fun – especially making a train down the slide. After the pre-game show, the concession stand opened for ballpark fare….can’t have a ball game party without soft pretzels fresh from the Philly side of town! We played a game where the kids were blindfolded, spun and had to stick their baseball on a “base” on the field that Daddy drew. It was fun…some kiddos asked to go again…and again….Daddy and Mom-Mom supporting their team proudly.

The cutest 6 year old on the planet blowing out his candles and making his wish….the wish? He told me he wished that the cupcake would be delicious…how funny is that?!?! (Note to self: sparkling candles kinda freak out even a 6 year old.)

After baseball cupcakes, Hugs dug into his pile of presents….full of games, outdoor toys, baseball goodies, legos and Playmobil.

Piñata time!

(and yes….it is homemade and slightly mis-shapen. But they loved it!)

Look at all those treats!

We love our family – they make us feel so loved and special….and they are all Phils Phans (never mind Anna’s costume change into her Ariel Mermaid. She was dressed in red at one point.)

L-R: Poppy, Chris, Mom-Mom, Anna, Great-Grandmom Smith, Grandmom, Hudson, Beth, Great Grammy May Hudson’s favorite things from his party? He can’t get enough of his new Playmobil Airplane (yes, he still wants to be a pilot), his new Legos and all of his games. We’ve played a lot of Dog-opoly, Clue Jr. and Buzz Lightyear Operation recently! Phew! We had a blast, but us Smith ball players were plumb tuckered out. Everyone took a nap….and I couldn’t help but snap a picture of these two before I woke them up for dinner.

Hudson’s 6th….

2011-05-05T11:15:00.000-04:00

Hudson had a super 6th birthday and he felt very special with all of the well wishes and kind words from friends and family. I can’t believe that our little boy is 6 – oh my gracious. There are so many things about him that have changed over the past 6 years, but so many things that haven’t – and it just solidifies in my mind how great his character and personality are going to be as he grows.

Anna, even though she was sick, wanted to make sure her big brother, her BFF, her playmate at all times, had a super birthday card.

Birthday dinner request? Homemade tomato soup. The boy loves tomato soup. So, I obliged and we had Pepperjack Tomato Soup with Salads. He helped with most of the preparations. He had also asked for PB cup cookies as his bday dessert.After dinner, we gave him the few presents that Daddy, Mommy and Anna had for him. I love this shot – he was so excited to get a Lego set that builds a helicopter and other vehicles.

We are so proud of how he is growing, learning and loving. Hudson, you are a joy to love ~ and your love brings us joy.

Happy 6th Birthday Bubba!

2011-05-03T11:04:00.001-04:00

Proudly sportin’ the 6th birthday crown, eating off the special birthday plate, and taking well wishing calls from admirers…

Happy Birthday, handsome!

Anna’s clean heart

2011-05-01T20:28:00.001-04:00

“Jesus please come in my heart. Make it clean. Help me make good dee-shizons. Show me how to love. Amen.”

These were Anna’s words as she laid in bed tonight and we were chatting. My heart was, and is, overflowing with the joy of hearing her ask very intuitive questions and put the pieces together.

She has been very aware the past month as she has memorized our family verse for April; “God loves the world so much that he gave His son to die for our sins.” John 3:16

Sometimes I look into her beautiful chocolate eyes and wonder if what we hope to be living and teaching is soaking in…and over the past month I’ve been hearing words come out of her mouth that indicate a 3 1/2 year old’s level of introspectiveness.

She is beginning to see the world outside of her own eyes – seeing and understanding consequences; feeling a great deal of empathy. We’ve been talking a lot about why Jesus had to die on the cross? Why did he have to die to make our hearts clean? What is sin? She has been saying at the end of her prayers (be still my heart), “thank you for the cross”.

And tonight, it was very apparent as she was talking to me that she got it. She’s talked around it before, but tonight, she knew in her head that she wanted to be clean. That’s where it started. She asked if her heart was dirty because of sin. “Is my heart dirty when I fuss and whine and not show love?”

How I wanted to say no (because who wants to think their child is anything but perfect?), but I know the truth, and so did she. “Yes Anna. Our hearts are dirty when we sin. Who is the only one who can make our hearts clean for God?”

“Jesus. He makes my heart clean.” She then continued to talk about loving others more and making good “dee-shizons” and being nice to her friends. “I love God, mommy. I want to have a clean heart and be nice.”

Anna, when Jesus is in your heart, you have to ask Him to help you make good choices. He will help you love others more, but you have to ask Him to help you do that.

And then came the moment my heart has been hoping for….a moment that we have been praying for since her conception, before we knew her face or her name….we prayed together and she asked God to make her heart clean; to live in her. And I know that while Chris and I rejoice here, that there is one big party goin’ on in heaven tonight!

Nearly every night before I go to bed, I go in and kiss her beautiful face and admire the gift that God has given me in this child; a child that teaches me everyday what grace, mercy, faith, love, joy, peace and forgiveness look like. I whisper these words as my heart overflows with thanks…and I will continue to do so, with fervor and gratitude.

“May she walk in grace, live by love, and may her heart see and know the truth to share it with others every day of her life.”

princess Anna

2011-04-29T09:26:00.001-04:00

What three year old little girl isn’t enthralled by the royal wedding? Daddy let her watch some this morning, and they turned it on just as the Duke and Duchess were coming back down the aisle to exit the abby.

On the way to Hudson’s bus stop, she was sure to pick her bouquet.

Looking up at her admirers.

Walking down the aisle with her Prince (and her wedding processional music maker).

Water = kids in it

2011-04-23T09:44:00.001-04:00

This is what happens with our kids when ......
It is warm.....
At a park......
With water nearby.

Crestfallen

2011-04-16T13:56:00.001-04:00

(the other night at dinner…..)

Hudson: Mommy, I’m crestfallen.

Mommy: I’m sorry, Hudson, did you say crestfallen?

Hudson: Yeah. You know. Like sad.

(I’m sorry, you are five years old, right?)

I think that when Daddy used to read the dictionary for fun it somehow entered his DNA and got transferred to Hudson upon conception. Because that word certainly didn’t come from me.

CT scans and strawberry donuts

2011-04-13T10:43:00.001-04:00

Long story made short here, because Anna will tell it below – she fell at a friend’s home yesterday. She slid on the grass and bumped her head on the driveway. Super Mom (ugh!) of the year picked her up, brushed her off, helped her change into her friend’s extra clothes and put her in the car. It is a brushburn on her forehead – not a bump, not a cut, a brushburn.

Unbeknownst to me, it was much more than that. She took a nap (because it was nap time!) and when she awoke she cried, and cried and cried and said her head hurt. I thought she was just having a hard time waking up (once again, super mom of the year). She had a snack and then said she was going to throw up. We went to the bathroom but nothing happened, so I held her and walked into the kitchen…..and then it let loose. On her clothes….then on the steps on the way up the stairs….then in the bathtub.

At the first puke, the alarms went off in my head and I called the emergency line at the pediatrics office. I didn’t know if I should take her to the ER or to the office. To the office we traversed after dropping Hudson off with Mr. Tad and Ms. Kristin. And she started crying and got sick again (2x) on the way to the dr. Chris and I both felt helpless. We arrived and they helped us get her a clean shirt (the towel I had with us hadn’t quite helped enough). And now I will let Anna tell the rest….

Ms. Margo and Emerson came to bring Anna some warm, clean clothes and helped to entertain her for a bit. What great friends! After they released us to go home, Anna was starving. She was feeling much better by this time and they told us she could have Jello and crackers. So since none of us had eaten dinner and it was late, we picked up a gourmet meal at the hospital cafeteria. :)

What a day….and what lessons learned! She is feeling great today – my only challenge is keeping her somewhat chilled out and not running around. Glad it is rainy and that we can maybe watch a princess movie or two…or three…thanks to those of you who had her (and have her) in your prayers.

LIVE from ice hockey!

2011-04-10T19:46:00.000-04:00

We’re at our first family ice hockey game – tomorrow is to be 80, but we’re livin’ it large in the hockey arena with all these crazy fans. We are having a blast – special thanks to El Cap, Marion and crew!

After the first goal – she wasn’t quite sure what to think!

He was SERIOUSLY interested in what was happening!

and then the sugar high hit….and the fans around us thought he was hilarious because he danced like a maniac during each music break.

a little father-son moment: Daddy explaining the finer points of the game.

finding grace

2011-04-08T21:17:00.001-04:00

Grace.

It’s been on my mind today. Mainly because I had to ask God to give it to me. I had to ask specifically for Him to help me to have the eyes to see someone I interacted with using His eyes. I had to ask Him to help me find grace in my heart.

You know, the typical situation when you are out and about and apparently someone near you is having an obvious bad day.

They’re hurried.

They’re not making eye contact.

They’re sighing.

And then it comes….the snip. The snippy comments that make the inside of you cringe and you fight hard to have a good attitude….and to keep somewhat of a smile on your face. OH, I admit, the thoughts were there. I had my comeback on the tip of my tongue – but then I thought, held it and stewed.

I stewed all the way to my husband while trying my best to see this person in a different light. It wasn’t easy. I was clearly the brunt of her tough morning. I didn’t deserve it….hmm, come to think of it, no one deserves stuff like that – BUT, from the moment it happened, it was one of those refining moments. One that you know that God has placed in front of you to teach you something.

Just talking to Chris helped me. It made me say it aloud and realize I’ve been there…yup, it’s been me on the other end and others have given me the benefit of the doubt. Should I not extend it to this stranger?

Sometimes you can almost visualize the battle of the unseen happening around you…well, at least I can. There’s the Holy Spirit cheering you on while you are trying to respond with a Christ-like attitude, and then on the other side of the ring there is the enemy urging you to say something to her boss ‘cause you know it will probably get her fired. And I’m in the middle.

My flesh wants justice.

My heart knows grace and love need to be extended.

The right doesn’t always prevail. I need you to know that. But today, the good guy mostly won. If He had totally won, the thoughts wouldn’t have been there in the first place. But in the end, He won. Why shouldn’t He? He has my heart…ahhh. The crux. He has my heart – but do I daily give it to Him? I am free to chose.

“You my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature [oops on me]; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

The idea has been so rolling around my gray matter that we were talking about it tonight at dinner. And Hudson asked, “What exactly is grace?” My simple answer for my 5 year old pretty much sums up what I need to remember…

Grace is getting and giving love even when you don’t deserve it.

I get underserved love every day from my Savior. How simplistic that I can share that love abundantly with someone that is sighing, hurried and having a bad day. I hope I remember next time.

seafood pasta

2011-04-03T21:36:00.000-04:00

Too delicious not to share.

My husband and my son declared it the best pasta they had ever had. Now that is sayin’ something.

Hudson had three bowls. This recipe was based off of a recipe I found here. This version below is with my adjustments.

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 large onion chopped
a pinch of garlic powder
a healthy pinch of oregano
a pinch of basil
a pinch of rosemary
2 pint sized jars of home-canned chopped tomatoes
3 cups roughly chopped spinach
garlic salt
1 cup dry white wine
shrimp and “krab” (shrimp, crab, lobster, scallops; whatever combination)

Preparation:

In a skillet, heat butter and oil - sauté onion.

Reduce heat; add wine, tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper.

Throw in the spinach. Wilt and reduce through gentle simmer. Simmer to desired thickness. (We like it chunky, so I let it reduce quite a bit.

Add the seafood of your choice and heat through (scallops and raw shrimp take about 5 minutes to cook in sauce).

Serve over whole wheat linguini or your pasta of choice.

ain’t no foolin’

2011-04-02T20:24:00.001-04:00

This is what we woke up to on April 1st….no joke.

Ha, ha. Funny joke, God.

I personally don’t find snow in April that funny. But the fact that the unexpected snow dropped 3 inches in our area, the roads were untreated because no one thought it was coming. We live in a ~~fairly~~ really rural school district and many back country roads would’ve been too icy for school buses to traverse to grab secondary students early in the morning…2 hour delay means no school for Hudson!

We turned the unexpected family morning into an outing to a hands on childrens’ museum. We like our museums. Close enough to a few bigger cities and a couple big metropolises to be able to enjoy country life with the benefits of city livin’.

We arrived early – well, we were at the door waiting for them to open – I am sure we entertained the desk staff with our songs and games while we waited. We hit the first few stations before they got too crowded. Anna requested a butterfly – Hudson got Daddy’s artistic flair of a Phillies “P” and Home Run on his face. (If you didn’t know, it was opening day for us Philly Phans!)

Banana and Hugs loved the Automoblox station – building your own cars to race against one another. We have an Automblox car and Anna was excited to see they had pink and purple wheels!

This is the Ant Cave – it is really cool. I kinda wanted to grab a book and sit in there for a while. We commented how cool it would be if that could be under a bunk bed for a kids’ room – hello Extreme Home Makeover, there’s an idea for you!

We spent A LOT of time in the market. If you’ve ever been to our house, that shouldn’t surprise you much as the kids really enjoy their kitchen, table and chairs, food and cash register at our home. But how cool to have a whole room?

The teacher in me loved the fact that they made the labels easy for little ones to categorize – every food had a label, as did the register, of meat, veggie/fruit, bread, dairy, fat. And they had shopping lists – this really intrigued Anna.

She stayed really closely to her shopping list to fill her basket and only strayed off for two things – eggs and a donut. Who can blame her?

Our little Pilot and Princess loved the dress up station.

We had a fun day hanging out together as a family – and even got to include grandmom in our activities as we met up with her in the evening for dinner.

It was a great day – no foolin’.

Big Girl

2011-03-26T10:13:00.001-04:00

Anna went with daddy today to get her haircut. She went from lllloooonnnngggg to too cute! She loves it!

crayons, catalogs, cute project!

2011-03-23T20:55:00.001-04:00

This may become a favorite go-to of ours…

It turns out, we may have a little fashionista on our hands here. Anna loves dressing up – what little girl doesn’t? – but it doesn’t stop there. Anna is addicted to clothing catalogs – and she is a great shopper. I’m not kidding. She’s 3 and the store clerks adore her because she picks out the most amazing outfits and holds them up and says, “Mommy, isn’t this too cute? This is CUTE!”

While she isn’t old enough yet to have the heart to heart of how we will never be able to afford all the things that come in the catalogs to our home (she has her heart set on this swim suit from Lands End kids…maybe I can find one similar somewhere for less?), we can use the Lands End Kids Catalog for an even greater – more creative purpose!!!!

Grab your crayons, print these adorable people, and cut your outfits from your favorite kids’ catalog. They turned out too cute – Hudson and Anna both loved coloring and picking out clothes for their people. The picture is missing a few – they are hanging out on the sliding glass door at the moment – I think a few of them were taken to play in the dollhouse and didn’t return to their “home”.

The zoo…

2011-03-21T13:05:00.001-04:00

(This is an oriole nest…replica of course!)

Our cousins are here – hip, hip hooray!

What should we do today?

It is quite warm with sun so bright,

We’ve gotta play til’ late at night.

Where should we go? The sky is so blue!

Ah…we know, it’s a perfect day for the zoo.

In September, Matt is moving 3 hours away from us for Med School, and Alli is joining him after their wedding – we are soooooo excited that they’ll be so much closer and we can see them more often….it’ll be so much better than being 12 hours away.

DIY window calendar

2011-03-14T15:47:00.001-04:00

This DIY was as easy as finding an old window at the local antique shop and repurposing it as a calendar. I had a friend that is handy (thanks Mr. Josh) put slider holes - for lack of a better term, the holes that fit a screw and then slide into a narrow line to be secure - in the back. He even hung it for us!

And now I've got a rockin new weekly calendar. And if I change my mind about the calendar, it still looks rockin and I could display pics.

Praisin’ the Lord, Daddy

2011-03-08T21:19:00.001-05:00

Daddy: Anna, look at this picture of you.

Anna: [very matter of factly]

I’m praisin’ the Lord, Daddy!

preschool curriculum–All About Reading

2011-03-06T15:40:00.001-05:00

I’ve been researching some reading programs for a friend that homeschools, and came across this pretty cute curriculum that has been just released for preschoolers. The creators have just added this on to their already well known All About Spelling program. If you have a preschooler and want to take a look at 2 FREE booklets for pre-readers that focuses on listening comprehension, print awareness, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and motivation to read, here’s a link!

http://www.allaboutreading.com/

Scroll to the bottom, download and enjoy!

Spring is here...so are ducks!

2011-03-02T20:58:00.001-05:00

March 1st, and it was nice enough to feed the ducks! Can you tell we were having fun?

ALD 2011.2

2011-02-28T16:42:00.001-05:00

The Anna Language Dictionary has recently released its' 2nd edition for 2011, with 2 new additions to the pages of vernacular. (This is also a shameless excuse to post some ADORABLE pictures I snapped of Anna recently. ;o)

Po-po (noun)

Pronunciation: poe-poe

A person that is silly. A slightly off beat character who may make odd sounds and faces in order to make their child laugh.

Usage: Daddy is a po-po. Berzert (noun)

Pronunciation: ber-zert

A sound made with the lips against another’s flesh by buzzing the lips at a high rate of speed while releasing expelled air from one’s lungs. Also known as a zerbert, a raspberry, a buzzing kiss.

Usage: No MORE BERZERTS, Daddy!

want a word game?

2011-02-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

1. Have your kids grab some of their favorite color paint strips at the local home improvement store.

2. I used the light colored strips, cut them down to one each, and then used a square punch to punch holes in the left side of each strip.

3. Using a sharpie, write common word families on the light colored strips with the square holes.

4. On the narrow strips, write the alphabetic consonants, common blends (letters that are regularly used together) and digraphs (letters that are placed together to make a brand new sound – wh/sh/ch….) Note: I used similar colors for similar categories.

5. Pick a word family to read and and slide the strip under the square to see if it is a “real” word or a “silly” word.

This is a fun game that I used while teaching and recently made for Hudson – it helps not only with word building, but recognition of “chunks” in words and a lot of other skills that are technical – if you really want to know, I’ll email you, but I didn’t want to bore the rest of the world.

I also found that at this site there are more detailed instructions and a list of phonograms (letter or combination of letters that represent a sound) that I used.

And this word is made of 2 phonograms:

ARGH!

melting….

2011-02-21T21:55:00.001-05:00

These shots make my heart melt…I wanted to share them with you! This past Thursday and Friday, the weather was incredible. The warmth of the sun and the temperatures melted the 3 foot snow piles in our yard and we had so much fun we couldn’t contain ourselves – we squeezed as much fun in as possible. I say that my heart and the snow melted, but alas, as I type this, there is more snow falling – up to 8 inches. At least my heart is warm.

see the snow melting in the background as we eat popsicles outside?

WAHOOOO!!!

2011-02-15T08:53:00.001-05:00

Yea, I just checked the weather and this is what came up. I am seriously stoked. Bring on Spring…(I know it’s too early for real, we are due for another storm before April, but don’t burst my bubble). It beats the bitter cold wind today that made me feel like my ears were freezing off when I took my yittle kindergartener to the bus stop this morning!

Thursday

58°F | 42°F

Friday

69°F | 37°F

I may well break out the bikini and run around in snow boots in the leftover snow banks! Just kidding – maybe shorts and a tank top.

the good….well, and the not so good

2011-02-11T14:25:00.000-05:00

I’m choosing to focus on the positives here…so here are the GOODS!

I got to clean out my deep freeze – and really, who can do that in the winter, or feels up to it because you can’t just step out on the driveway to warm up your fingers? Doesn’t it look great?

It’s cold enough and we have enough snow that I could pack up the food and put it in the snow for a few hours.

My husband is a good sport and grills in the snow…with his boots on

God has blessed us with a convection oven – and I can cook more than one thing at a time.

The “not so good”….well – Chris went to grab the burgers we were planning on having for dinner and found that the freezer in the garage was off. The outlet had tripped and we didn’t know it. Good? It was winter! Bad, it had been off for a few days, so we still lost stuff…but not all that we would have if it was 90 in the garage.

Good? I got to meal plan for a week from the freezer because I had to cook a TON of stuff. Some of it was lost for good. So, I am ISO of an alarm that beeps audibly when the outlet stops working. They have to have that somewhere! If not, I’ll be a millionaire because I am going to invent one.

If you want a blueberry muffin, stop by – I had to make four batches with defrosted blueberries – I could refreeze some of them – some were still frosty. I’d be glad to share!!!!

contemplating

2011-02-09T16:15:00.001-05:00

So…I need some help y’all.

I am contemplating joining that awful social network that every person on the planet belongs to (or so it seems). I like my privacy. I don’t feel the need to share every thought that enters my brain, nor do I need to report when I wake up, sleep, take a visit to the loo. In fact, to this point, I’ve enjoyed my “resistance” with joy.

BUT, I am missing some friends in AZ. And I am missing friends in other parts of the world that I don’t get to see on a daily basis. AND, that means, that when they post pictures to their profiles (or whatever they are called), the usually don’t have time to post them in an email to me to see them. So I want to do it for this reason alone.

So this is where I need your help….IF I CONTEMPLATE AND DECIDE TO… what should my alias be? Cuz I ain’t joinin’ under my real name. Give me your ideas ….as whackadoodle as you can think of, or as serious as you think.

Banana’s first movie

2011-02-05T09:45:00.000-05:00

So honestly, I was a little hesitant to take Anna to see her first movie. Not that I didn’t think she would do a great job (she giggled through the whole thing and kept hitting my arm to repeat the line she just heard that made her laugh), but I wanted it to be special…like Hudson’s. He waited 5 years. 5 years to get to see Toy Story 3.

She’s a second child. Enough said, I guess. Armed with a box of Mike & Ike’s to share, she was grinning ear to ear. She was shaking she could hardly contain her excitement.

We were tired of being stuck inside and looking for something to do a couple of weekends ago and thought we’d frequent the local discount theater. We paid 15.00 for 4 movie tickets, kid’s popcorn, a kid’s drink and an adult drink (with free refills on all drinks)….so it was a cheap family night.

We saw Despicable Me and she had a great time – in fact, we all did. I am somehow in my head trying to rectify the fact that when I take her to a “real” movie theater (that isn’t crusty and have 2nd run movies AND costs a ridiculous amount for a ticket) that it will be for a princess movie or something that she really wants to see. Girly. Just like her ;o)

winter just improved

2011-02-03T13:27:00.001-05:00

my life in winter,

in the ~~cold~~ frore,

just got better. Can I get a witness!?!?!?!

My favorite – all – time – best – in – the- world smoothie place has now started to send small packets of frozen love to the freezer section of my local Wally-world. And the fact that they knew that Razzmatazz was in my top five on the menu at my ultimate smoothie joint? How thoughtful they were! And just in time for a killer sore throat? They know I’ve poured money into them all over Phoenix, California, Baltimore, Washington D.C. and NYC.

So, hint to all of you who love me: want to make my day? Send a case of these my way – any flavor – they’re all good.

Thanks, Momma! You ROCK!

(PS. If you don’t think frore is a word, look it up :)

wordless wednesday

2011-02-02T22:10:00.000-05:00

Mozart in training…in a snow tunnel….

feeling sassy and very “Belle” of the ball paging Dr. Hudson…

facebook….

2011-02-01T20:06:00.000-05:00

cause this is pretty much how I feel about facebook most of the time…hence the reason I just look at my husband’s every once in a while to spy in on new pics of oddly associated people.

if you can’t see it, click on the picture. or go to the actual website, because this guy is hilarious. seriously. CLICK HERE.

Fwoppy

2011-01-31T20:01:00.001-05:00

Here. Today. Mark it down in your journals and the annals of history. Anna introduces to the world her newest addition to the upcoming English language Dictionary…version 2011.1.

Fwoppy (adjective)

pronunciation: fwahp-pee

A condition of the skin. A wrinkling of the epidermis. Similar to the skin of plump raisins. Can be used in varied formats…according to the creator

usage: I have fwoppy skin from the bathtub. My hands are fwoppy. OR I feel fwoppy.

So I’m thinking, maybe I’ll turn this into a “buzz” word. Maybe when I think something is a little wrinkled, a little messed up?

Dude, that’s totally fwoppy.

5 snowboys and a snowgirl

2011-01-24T19:35:00.001-05:00

This is the tale of 5 snowboys and one snowgirl

who ventured out on a cold winter’s day.

“It’s only 11 degrees outside,” said their mommies.

“Let’s enjoy the warmth (ha!) and go play!”

So they all bundled up, nice and warm

from head to toe there was nary skin showing.

From the top of the hill they flew like a flash

they zoomed so fast, they were nearly glowing.

Giggles and laughs were all around,

filling the hollow with a delightful sound.

A day to remember, this is for sure;

friendship warms the heart – it’s so pure.

(ok, it was a little K-orny, but it was fun to write.)

I had to include this one – Anna took the hand warmers from her mittens to warm her cheeks!!!!!

And this one – Hudson was being a super big brother trying to pull Anna up the steep, steep, steep hill in her tube instead of making her walk. I guess the chivalry lessons are starting to kick in!

neighbors, family, yourself

2011-01-20T18:20:00.001-05:00

(a conglomerate of stuff and pictures that I figured out how to put into one post…. ;o)

Inside. I know. I could be outside freezing cold, but I choose to be inside. Plus it is is just gross outside. Too wet to roll in the snow, not warm enough to be without a coat. We do go out; because if you know us, I can’t handle being cooped up too long. And when we come inside, I want to be like Anna, and I want to do this…(her new favorite warm up spot; curled up in a blanket) I’m trying my best to avoid my winter “slump” by staying busy with fun things inside. So I bring you….neighbors, family, yourself.

We’ve enjoyed baking a lot together the past few weeks. I should say, we like to bake all of the time, and have for a while. But oddly enough, while we enjoy the process, we don’t always want to eat the results (even though they are delicious!), it is often too much. So here comes the “neighbors.” We like to share our creations with our neighbors and I meant to do something for Christmas wishes, but ran out of time. So we baked up some yummy fudgy mint chocolate chip cookies (yup, they are like the ice cream in a cookie form) and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. The kids helped in all processes and we made up a bunch of plates complete with some delicious clementines we got at market….put the plates on a sled with some little people and delivered love. FAMILY: I like crafts. Always have. Always will. Creating is fun. When I taught, my team would ask me for art ideas because they knew I liked hands on crafts and creativity. And we have a rockin’ art cart (not really an cart, we just like to say that – it’s a cabinet) that is stuffed with odds and ends perfect for “kre-ay-shions”.

Hudson had to make a snowman for school as a family project, so we made Anna her own little guy and we sat together using a large assortment of goodies to be-dazzle their creations. And lest you would think that Anna’s snowman is a boy with mean eyebrows (as her brother did), she will correct you and let you know it is a girl, A PRINCESS SNOWGIRL, with earrings and a crown.

These were not made from nothing – although they turned out super cute. I found ornaments at a local store for a dollar and I loved watching Hugs and Banana choose their placement for their pieces (one wanted to look at the picture, the other had fun with “free” flow artistic impression. :)These beauts are from Home Depot’s Kid’s Workshop Saturdays. Which in the year of 2011, they are doing them the first Saturday of every month. This day Anna built a picture frame with Daddy and Hudson built a race car with Mommy. YOURSELF:

Make yourself a winter feast for the eyes and give your kids something to do. (Thanks Kimmie!)

My visually artistic husband loves the colors in this. I like that it still looks kinda Christmas-y and could transition to Valentine’s Day when I have my kids design some hearts for it (sure to be sparkly!) This was a super easy craft that Kim told me about…she explained it over the phone as she had seen it in a store and thought it would be something we both could manage.

Grab some of your favorite colors. I was going to start with lots of white, red and a little black, but when I got to the fabric store, I found three reds I couldn’t do without. You need:

-1/4 yard black

1/3 yard of each of the reds

1 yard of white

jute long enough for your desired garland

scissors

I used my quilter’s mat and rotary cutter and sliced up the fabric into 6 inch wide “columns”. Then I put a small slice every inch to inch and a half (I eyeballed) and handed them to Hudson. He’d rip them into pieces for me. He really enjoyed this!

I left about 1 foot at the end of my jute rope and started tying. Tie away in a funky haphazard pattern (if you’re like me), or pick a pattern you like (if you are a bit more on the organized and Type A-side :o). I just went with what felt looked fun and funky. This project took nearly no time and I had enough fabric left over that I am sending it to Kim to get a start on hers.

And that is it for “neighbors, family, yourself”. Thanks for hangin.

Keep singing, Ariel!

2011-01-18T10:47:00.001-05:00

Anna loves playing “Ariel” and dressing up in her Little Mermaid outfit….

Sing my Ariel–Sing!

discovery in the port

2011-01-17T22:08:00.001-05:00

The best thing about a day off of school? FIELD TRIP! I’ve found that those fun activities that I took for granted when Hudson was home have turned into big adventures when he has off of school now. We could do them in the afternoons (since he is 1/2 day AM), but Banana still naps. Yes folks, blessedly, my daughter still naps…..Hudson still takes naps about 2 times a week too.

We ventured to the port of Baltimore (not that far!) with Aunt Dana and Katelyn in the good ole’ grandmom-mobile. We borrowed mom’s mini so we could all go together – thanks Grandmom! Baltimore is one of our favorite cities. We love it.

Getting there isn’t hard, but we didn’t have the GPS and ended up needing gas upon arrival to the city. Oops. Not easy to find a gas station in the city. After two directions and a cop helping us, we found the station. Getting back to the highway or to the harbor after that? Eeek. Took longer than it should’ve. Oops, again. But the kids were troopers and I was with Dana, so it made life much better.

Not only is it great for adults, but we love the zoo (have a membership again – thanks Bryan!), the harbor, the aquarium and Port Discovery children’s museum! 3 levels of non-stop constant motion. An amazing climbing structure filled with tubes, ladders, nets slides surrounded by activities of perfection for little hands and growing minds.

There were two particular stations my kids had a hard time leaving: Tiny’s Diner (a fifties style diner where the kids had control of the kitchen – complete with a juke box, menus, booths and order tickets) and the Water Play room (provided with raincoats and crocs if you desired for super-wet play!)

In fact, Hugs got so busy making his Duplo boat to float on the river that he missed his turn on the bubble maker (below) and was so distraught that we made sure he understood we would be back to Port Discovery sometime soon. (Really. We’ll be back.)

The theme currently is Bob the Builder and all around there were neat activity stations that matched. Hudson loved he could be in Wendy’s trailer and this is him using the light board in Bob’s Workshop to design architecture plans for his next building project.

Another fave of the three kids was in the quiet room library. Full of books, games and puzzles. They had a blast water-painting rocks in the nature center.

We were so busy having fun that we barely noticed we were hungry – it was WAY past lunch….but we were prepared (they’d had snacks), we had our lunch place already scoped out – PF CHANGS! We love the Phoenix based restaurant. Delicious asian pacific cuisine. The kids love chinese food and they have kid friendly chopsticks. But the kicker of them all? My fortune cookie, so apropos:

You don’t have to know where you are to know where you are going.

Well, shoot, I’ll remember that next time I’m stuck in the city and can’t get out.

Tubing with the Cuz-ez…

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While the fam from around the country (TX, KY, FL) came to our home on the Eastern seaboard to relax and enjoy one another (hopefully!)….we also made some time for some wicked fun activities. Actually, I don’t think relax was the best choice of words! We didn’t stop much – we were having too much of a blast.clockwise L – R: beth, alli, bryan, will, matt, chris, hudson

The younger (not the youngest!) generation were given a few hours’ pass to go tubing on a not-too-far-away ski slope; along with that gift was childcare for Anna and the chance for Hudson to join us. While we were a bit disappointed that we had to wait for an hour to hit the slopes (there were 8 different runs for tubes), we managed to entertain ourselves with a rowdy game of “up-jenkins” (a Brethren in Christ denominational classic) and coin basketball hoops (a Matt-special).

After our wait, we headed for the lines for tubes, grabbed the overfilled and slippery floats and headed to the people mover.

There is no other way to say that we had a fantastic time than to maybe watch this video….we all laughed so hard the many times we went because we were allowed to go down together – in a chain or in a blob.

This is one activity that I think definitely has me won over about the Northeast – I couldn’t have done this in Phoenix. In this video we all intend to start out together….and the challenge is to pick up a mitten that was lost by a group in front of us.

CRAZY PEOPLE!

a nefarious foe

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(random pictures will be inserted in this post…well, because they are cute…and they are what we’ve been up to!)

time…isn’t she a nefarious foe? Inspiration for ideas of things to wax poetically upon strike me at the oddest moments. Most often, those are moments in which I do not have the “time” to sit down and write. Dr. Anna to the rescue!

Why do I write? I like it. I enjoy it. It’s a creative outlet for me. It is a great way I’ve found to replace scrapbooking (I can still keep track of great stories and pictures and print them into a book!). One day that foe will return my “me-time”…and then assuredly, I will be wishing that I could return to the days that I now trudge through. Although trudging is not always the best of words….some days it is skipping, some days marathoning, and on those really long days…trudging. Hudson’s elation at getting a “double” doggie – now there are 2!

I recently wrote three words on my window at the kitchen sink (read: I’ll see them at least 15 times a day!). Tonight, Hudson noticed them. They are three words that I want to be reminded of this year. Three words that I am constantly trying to keep at the forefront of my mind, because I am so oft reminded that my time with my littles is fleeting.

Stop. Play. Enjoy.

I don’t want that nefarious foe to win the battle. I don’t want the words “my mom didn’t have time to play with me…she was too busy” to cross the minds of my kids when the grow up. So my goal (and please, keep me to it)….is that when someone yells to me from across the house while I am elbow deep in a toilet, or up to my knees in laundry that I can say to myself, “Stop. Play. Enjoy.”

Reading Curious George with Uncle Bryan/Playing Monopoly Jr. with Daddy.

seeing Jesus in them

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Yesterday a family in our community lost their home to arson. While at Mom to Mom learning about “Our Father’s eyes: Seeing our Children as God sees us” (which I just had a very eloquent post about, and my hand hit delete…oh well), a friend from church caught my eye in the hallway and she called me over to briefly tell me the quick story, and then asked to talk to our leader.

The family got out of their home with nothing but a box of pictures and the pajamas on their backs. As they have a 3 year old girl and a boy in first grade, these strangers had my heart….and I knew I needed to tell my kids about this family. Upon picking up Hudson from school, I told the kids the story, and they immediately began brainstorming ideas of how they could help.

Hudson had money in his back pack and wanted to give his handful of change to them. Anna talked about giving babies and clothes. Hudson said he could pick out some toys.

When the two walked into the house, they ran into their rooms and began gathering things…books, cars, toys, puzzles…and precious Anna had gotten her stool and was standing in her closet pulling clothes off of her hangers. She had even laid her brand new Dora doll on her bed as an offering, because she thought it was a tragedy the little girl had no babies to play with. (We ended up swapping out the new Dora doll, but still!)

I was so proud of them – the compassion they were having on kids they didn’t even know. It was a moment that my heart was bursting and I was thanking God for working in my children. Softening them. Teaching them. Loving them.

He does that with all of us, don’t you think? He teaches us, despite our hissy-fits of “why me” and our ungrateful attitudes. He works through me, despite my self-centeredness. He loves me – the most unlovable…and only because of His sacrifice, His grace. ( I had to remember this “loving” part for my children later in the day when time-outs and spankings were looming…)

Yesterday was one big reminder from beginning to end to see Jesus around me. Working. Loving. Being extended through the hands of His children…..my children….my friends….my family….yet all His. From the verse that was in the forefront of my mind when my feet hit the floor in the morning, to the incredible Mom to Mom talk, to my children, to even the movie that Chris and I had for a date night on our couch last night;

I NEED TO KEEP MY EYES OPEN TO SEE JESUS WORKING ALL AROUND ME.

May you see Him too….keep those peepers open.

Merry Christmas!

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stuck inside?

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We are. It’s been cold. Not just cold, but so cold that you aren’t really supposed to spend long periods of time outside. The kind of cold that if you walk the 10 feet from your door to the car without gloves, by the time you go to insert your keys into the ignition, you can’t feel your fingers.

So what do you do when you are stuck inside? Hmm…I used to have grand illusions of what I would do (when I lived in Sunny Arizona) if I was stuck inside. Read a book, watch a movie, cuddle up by the fire…in other words do nothing. The problem with that dream? I didn’t include any small children in my visions.

I’ve made revisions to my vision. :p

Now we make melty ornaments, string cool necklaces with beads (Hugs’ always has a neat pattern – latest is red and green with white ones that have “merry christmas” on the white beads) and bake cookies. And if mommy is feeling really adventurous, we decorate them. Best tricks of decorating with young littles? Use cake pans to catch all the mess. Put colored icing in zip lock baggies and cut off a small corner so they each get their own decorating bag. Set out small bowls of candy to decorate with – but not too much – otherwise, every cookie may have every kind of candy on it. He’s not mad, I promise. He was making a growl-y sound pretending he was going to eat all of the cookies in front of him!

“Power of Love”

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Is it Huey Lewis? Nah….it’s better!

A couple of weekends ago, one of Chris’ life-long dreams came true. He had the opportunity to perform Huey Lewis and the News’ Power of Love. For those of you who aren’t BTTF fanatics, this is the theme song for every Back to the Future geek.

Yup, he’s a BTTF geek, friends. A talented one at that. I know that he has been dreaming of this moment – for a long time. It came to fruition at our last Married Life Live event at church (think Saturday Night Live for married couples). My talented husband rocked with the house band on songs from Huey to U2 and Brooke Fraser. That’s quite a spectrum; that’s musical talent.

Huey Lewis and the News? Eat your hearts out….this man can sing AND he’s hot.

Anna’s quotes of the day (so far…)

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Mommy: Anna, it’s not nice to tease Hudson. Stop.

Anna: But it’s fun to tease!

======================

Anna after she was spanked for disobeying ….

Anna (deep, theatrical sobs with sighs): I need to pray for him! I need to pray for him to make me feel better!

Mommy: (with a bit of exasperation) Who, Anna?

Anna: I need you to pray for Jesus to help me feel better! He will be my friend and help me be a better listener to obey Mommy!