Color

Sometimes I think I'm still 10. I love to color and I love good games. My fav Christmas giftst this year were:

Colorku: Everytime I have a little free time or when I'm just feeling grumpy I play this (alone or with a couple of kids) and I feel better!

Color Me Your Way: Found this awesome coloring book at Costco. I only wish I had bought a bunch. Now I can only seem to find them online for twice the price. arghh! We passed these out to the cousins on Christmas Day and everyone was working on them over the break. I finished another one this week- loved working on it.

Oh and I got a speed Rubick's cube. Not that I'm speedy, my best time is just over 2 minutes, a far cry from Curt's record of 30 seconds (when he was a studly 7th grader). But this cube is so smooth and fun to play with. I'll keep working on that time. Oh and a friend recommended kenken puzzles to me and they are really cool. I'm not very good at them but they're fun to work on with a kid.

So yeah, I'm 10, maybe 12.

NYC Race

Just got back from NYC late last night. Wow- it was an amazing trip! I cannot believe how much we crammed into 4 days. The race was tough. My ankle has really been bothering me and I really hadn't trained well, especially the last month. My running buddy developed a bad chest cold and was having trouble getting oxygen. But dangit we crossed that finish line. A bit slower than our last race but we lived!!

The course wasn't as pretty as the Dallas run but the weather was absolutely perfect. The whole time I was running I kept thinking about how I was going to take a huge break from running and focus more on spinning (I've really been loving the RPM class at the YMCA). But believe it or not, today my ankle is feeling good, really good. (Maybe all that walking in NYC was all I needed.) And the time I get with girlfriends running is just gold. It's like friendship and therapy and exercise all rolled into an hour or so early in the am so it doesn't even mess with my schedule. Running buddies- you rule!

Chair re-do

We have been looking for a chair for the corner of our living room for about 4 years. Stupid right? But I didn't want to spend ridiculous money and I refused to busy something affordable that I didn't love. Then when we were in Canada last summer I came across a picture of a reupholstered couch in a magazine. I was instantly in love with the fabric. I tried searching for it online but came up empty handed. A few days later I pulled out the magazine again and realized that the fabric name was included in the article!!! ya-hoo.

So I found a super creepy chair on Craigslist for $35, stripped it down to the bone, scrubbed it with bleach and vinegar AND let it sit in the sun for several days, refinished the wood (with Curt's help) and recushioned/covered the chair. The stripping was fun, everything else was pretty much torture.



I think recovering is a lot easier when you can keep the orignal padding. Making it all fit and look smooth proved to be pretty much impossible. I still havne't finished the nail heads that are supposed to line the borders. I'll get around to it.

I still adore the fabric and mostly I'm glad I did it but just don't look too closely. :)

February

This has been a hard month. There were some petty troubles, teacher and church issues that were more annoying than anything. And then we found out that Curtis needed to have surgery again on his other shoulder. The surgery itself is not so bad but the 6 month recovery is a drag. He's on day 5. :O Then a few weeks ago Curtis lost his uncle, who was much more like a brother to him and just 4 years older. We've dealt with death before but losing Guy really knocked us both down. He leaves behind a beautiful family and we have been praying for them everyday. We will miss the interesting conversations (he was such a thoughtful person), his great cooking, walleye fishing trips,and his computer-like brain for building things, to name a few. I firmly believe we will see him again and am comforted by the thought that he is finally reunited with his father, who passed away when he was just 15.

Slogging through this month has not been real fun but a few things have helped.

Good food (actually what I mean is bad food. Anything unhealthy seems to be my fav comfort food)
Reading "One Thousand Gifts." Some of it is cheesy but I love the message. I need this message!
This article on grace. For years, Latter Day Saints have frankly gotten this message mixed up and it's so nice to see things being clarified. My sister and mom both recommended the article and it has brought me a lot of comfort.

The Battle in Our Brains

Just had an awesome run with my bud Jen and as usual she directed me to some good reading. Our brains are so funny. I have noticed that when I get upset I head for the cupboard and then to the computer. Usually I find myself munching on nutella and checking email, blogs and facebook. It does distract me from whatever was ailing me but afterwards I often feel empty and regretful. Posting the article here, mostly so I'll have it at my fingertips.

The Battle In Our Brains by Catherine Arveseth

Several months ago I attended the Mormon Women Project Salon Event, at which I heard Tina Peterson speak. The title for her breakout session was, “Becoming a Deliberate Student of the Gospel.” Tina has a degree in Near Eastern Studies and has studied the Old and New Testament in their original languages from multiple sources including the Dead Sea Scrolls.

“That’s where you need to be,” I said to myself. So I chose her class. And by the end of the evening, it was Tina’s words that stayed with me most. They hung in my mind for weeks. She so revolutionized my study and thinking that, with her permission, I share what she taught here.

Tina first talked about the mechanics of effective scripture study. They were the standard “should-dos” until she got to #4.

1. Pray before you begin.

2. Read, cross-reference, immerse yourself in the texts.

3. Keep a notepad and pencil near you. Write down every impression that comes to you, without dismissing thoughts that may seem random or out of context.

4. Over time, look back at what you have written and search for patterns. Trends and themes will emerge. You will see what the Holy Ghost is trying to teach you.
Wow, I thought. I jot down notes, scribble in the margins, underline in various colors, but looking for patterns, themes, and messages over time? That hadn’t occurred to me.

Then Tina got serious, because we were short on time, and she said, “Now I’m going to tell you what I feel strongly you need to hear.” We were listening.
“The battle today, between Babylon and Zion, is happening between the synapses of our brains.”
(I’m no neurologist, but I’ve had enough physiology to know that synapses are how our brains process messages. They are crucial to the biological computation of perception and thought.)

Tina explained that in this information age when messages, images, and information are coming at us almost faster than we can receive them, our brains are creating new neural pathways to accommodate the input. The first time we see an image on a screen (we’re not talking about pornography here, although it does apply) – like a blog page, a news feed, texts, or Facebook – our brain creates a new neural pathway to process that image. It is the same with new sounds or any stimuli to the senses, but let’s use the visual image for this discussion.

Input always travels the path of least resistance. So the second time we see the new image, it will travel the same route. And before long, the new neural pathway has been stimulated enough to “desire” of itself continued activation. A habit is born.
After that, when the brain is not currently occupied, we long for that image. That is why we constantly check our phones or email. That is why, when we have a free moment, we click onto a favorite blog, check Facebook, and tweets, or any other source of input we frequent. Without realizing it, we have begun to crave these places of input, hunger for them, to the point where they can surreptitiously dominate our time.

Tina said the only way to counterbalance this is with ancient and modern scripture. We must expose our brains repeatedly to the image or sound of God’s words. Printed, glowing on the page, read aloud, or discussed with friends. That is where God’s Spirit lives. It is where His mind and will can rise out of the texts we read or the conversations we share, and filter into our lives, allowing revelation to move through us.

Satan knows the physiology of the brain. He knows if he can encourage overstimulation through an overload of mundane or technical information, he can increase the odds that we will not seek more spiritual sources for input, thus making scripture study tedious.

Recent studies have also shown that when our minds are over-stimulated, we begin to make decisions without considering the consequences. Much of the time, these quick decisions are not the best ones for us. An abundance of “information” prompts reactionary responses and elevates feelings of anxiety. All of this distracts us from the peace the Lord offers through His Word, and deprives us of much needed pondering time – time when our minds can reinforce more spiritual pathways.
Then Tina said this,

“Your time with the Word of the Lord is your personal Urim and Thummim. It is here that God will speak to you. Frequent the scriptures often enough that your brain craves that kind of input – that your day feels incomplete without it.”
Have you been there? That place of truly feasting on God’s word? I have. And I’m sure you have too. I love how Jeremiah describes it.

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremia
I have also been in that place where I don’t crave the scriptures, because my reading is sporadic, even neglectful. And in retrospect, I can see I have filled my precious time with things that matter much less.

After hearing Tina talk, I realized I can’t afford to neglect my time in the scriptures.I can’t risk being a voice to my children, my friends, or the Relief Society sisters I teach, if I am not partaking regularly of God’s word. Time with the word of the Lord is its own system of checks and balances for me. It’s how the Lord rights me, keeps me on course.

Naturally, the sources of input mentioned here are not bad things. But Tina’s words have helped me make a conscious effort to open my scriptures each day before computer time, reading any other book, or another leisurely activity.I have started recording impressions. And it is astounding the level of happy confidence I have felt. I am still working on the habit, but I’m getting better at hearing as I go. “The words of the Lord are pure words, said the Psalmist, and I am discovering that within them we can see things “as they really are and as they really will be” (Jacob 4:13).

My First Race

So the Half Marathon is over and it was pretty awesome. It's crazy because about a month before the race I was seriously regretting that I had signed up. My 7 and 8 mile runs were both horrible. I think my girlfriends actually made a huge difference. They were so positive and made running so fun with our good chats. Anyway, two weeks before the race we ran 10 miles and that was the last long run. I was a little bit nervous but when the actual weekend came I felt pretty good. I have to say that there is something empowering about accomplishing a difficult task that you never thought you could do. I know it's cliche but it really makes me wonder what else I'm capable of but not confident about.


Anyway, it was a great time. I mean when else can you:

1) eat the best Italian dinner ever

2) have inspiring religious discussions

3) burn 1500 calories

4) talk kids, boobs and politics

5) celebrate with a trip to "In 'N Out" which -gasp- is possibly better than Culver's

6) get a medal (b/c everyone gets one!!)


7) catch up with an old high school bff

It was good. I love that a girls weekend away can be healthy and inspiring! I hope to do another one soon.

(WHO is this man? We were so hungry and tired we didn't care... :)

Road Trip

Wow- the past 6 weeks has been so crazy! We decided to mix things up a bit this year, hop into the car and drive to Utah for Christmas. My brother Riche lives there and our sister Lisa joined the party all the way from Michigan. We also spent some time with my nephew Mike, his wife Shalyn and their adorable baby, Naomi.

Tips for a successful Road Trip:

Do NOT deliver Christmas cookies the night before. It always takes longer than you think. You will come home tired, crabby and sick from the cookies you decided to eat instead of delivering.

DO remember to drop off your hermit crab, otherwise you will be taking a 20 minute detour on your way out the next morning and that's no way to start a road trip. The bonus? We gifted our crab to the sitters and won't be worrying about pet sitting in the future! (Until we get talked into buying a snake, which, gulp, might happen)

DO make special folders for each of the kids with their picture on the front and a US map inside for recording license plates and a road trip scavenger hunt and paper and pencils. The kids excitement over this will only last for about 13 mintues but during that time you are rock star mom.

DO decide while traveling to wildly alter your travel route to avoid any and all weather. This keeps things interesting. If you can add in a 4 hour detour to a National Park, DO IT!


DO start out with a few healthy food items including celery and raw almonds. Once you pound through these you feel fine eating an entire bag of Swedish Fish.

DON'T forget to check your car battery before leaving on this trip. A dead battery can be fun since you might get to watch a beautiful sunset in Cortez, CO (and reminincse about your bff college roommate for a bit- yo NAOM!) but it will set you back at least an hour. Would have been longer if Curt didn't insist on doing it himself. Love that handy guy!

Utah was a lot of fun! Christmas Eve was one of my favorites ever. We had an amazing dinner (courtesy of Riche, Steph and Lisa). We followed my mom's tradition of roast beef, yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes/gravy and salad. Everything was fantastic. We also enjoyed watching Luke II and having some music (Greensleaves on the guitar by Curtis, Silent Night Duet by Sam and Josh and a really beautiful Swedish quartet by Paul, Lisa, Sam and Josh).


Christmas Day was filled with more Tripp Family Traditions. Oranges, Percy Faith's "We Need a Little Christmas," sugar ceral and plenty of chocolate.




The rest of the visit is a blur of excellent food, good conversation, dancing and listening to music, some sledding & snowmobiling, and an awesome Girl's Day Out. And of course for kids, unlimited video games. No wonder Daniel cried the morning we left. They were all sad to go.

The drive home was more of the same. We really enjoyed listening to a couple of A to Z mysteries on tape and heard most of the first book in "The Mysterious Benedict Society." Jonah has read it several times but it was new to the rest of us and we loved it. Unfortunately we ran out of time and still have not finished it. Guess we need another road trip.

So Thankful!

We've spent our fair share of Thanksgivings without family around. Many years we've invited friends over and have even enjoyed a few by ourselves. Curt and I are HUGE fans of the meal so we always have to make the whole dang thing. Being without family usually meant days of cooking and then days of eating but the good news is that I totally know how to make a turkey!

This year, my brother and his family came to visit us. We had such a fun time! The weather was absolutely perfect-mid 70's all week. They were here for 5 days and we packed a lot in:

1) A trip to the Beach Club. This is a couple of lakes and parks just a few minutes from my house. We walked/ran 3 miles and let the kids play on the playground and exercise equipment.

2) We drove to the hood for some top ranked Mexican food. We got lost several times and the kids were hysterical with hungar but the quesadillas and queso were fantastic! Here is a review I just saw of this place online: "really good basic Mexican food - very inexpensive - lousy, dangerous neighborhood." Information that would've been helpful yesterday (in an Adam Sandler voice!)

3) There was lots of swimming. Turns out that 65F water isn't a deterrent for my neices! :) It helped that we warmed up the hot tub.

4) On wednesday night we made 6 pies, brined the turkey and started the rolls. I still use my friend Melissa's recipe for "Icebox Butterhorns" and they are the best. But couldn't you tell by the name? We usually make our own pie crust but decided to just buy some this year. If I could do it again I would have made the crusts. They hardly take any time and taste SO much better. Note for next year...

5) I wanted to do the local turkey trot but it was super expensive and crowded so we just decided to meet a bunch of our friends at a local elementary on Thanksgiving morning. This turned out to be one of my favorite Thanksgiving memories ever. We played a huge game of kickball (such a perfect game b/c it's fun for 3 year olds and 40 year olds). Curtis was happy because he had the opportunity to peg me in the back with the ball when I made a run for home. There was a really great playground and the kiddos got to play on the swings, play basketball and throw footballs/frisbees. Seriously such a great way to start off the day.

6) We finished prepping the meal and had an amazing Thanksgiving feast that night. Everything tasted so good. I love this meal. I mean I love this meal. Oh and I forgot the cranberries! For reals. (Wow! I found the clip here.) Luckily Kroger was still open and Riche and I made a run for it. We also stocked up on lots of whole nuts for cracking, some subpar chocolates (dang- we should've planned and had Sees!) and a bag of Brock's candy mix that made all of us think of our grandmas. :)

7) We hit Dewberry Farms on Friday. It was meh. Actually Daniel got a huge goose egg on his head within the first 5 minutes. (I think he ran into a post) Then Maya's flip flop broke so she had no shoes (a little gross at a farm- even to me and I'm so not a germ-a-phobe) and then Lauren got huge blisters on her hands from the zip line. So we headed home and rested up until the adults went out for a special date. We took Rich and Steph to "Taste of Texas" which is hands down our favorite restaurant in the world. It has never disappointed. Everything was fantastic: stuffed mushrooms, onion soup, the salad bar and of course the steak. Oh and the wait was pretty long so we headed over the Cavenders to look at cowboy gear. Steph and I got boots. Red boots. Seriously a perfect date! :)

8) We saw several movies. Curtis kept wanting to see "Holes" again, so we rented it. What a great flick. The kids loved it. One night Rich and Steph and Curtis and I stayed up watching "Crazy Stupid Love." It made us laugh. We only hit the theaters once and "Puss 'n Boots" rocked. I'm a huge fan of that kitty. Even stole a little happy meal toy from Lucy recently because it's just SO cute!

9) Just hours before my brother's fam needed to be at the airport we decided to jump out for dinner one more time, just the adults. We went to Pappadeux and enjoyed amazing cajun seafood. Unfortunately I had eated my 4th or 5th plate of Thanksgiving only a few hours before so I couldn't eat much. But I did try alligator and yeah, it tastes just like chicken.

We have so much to be thankful for I hardly know where to start. Freedom, Food, Safety, Comfortable homes, loving families, Friends, Peace through faith.... too many more. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend too!

Color

Went a little crazy with the bathrooms and laundry room. I can't stay away from bright colors. They make me too happy!

Rainbows and Candles

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So Lucy turned three last week. I can't believe my little girl is getting so big. But seriously she turned into a turkety overnight. Church on Sunday was a nightmare (maybe we could blame daylight savings?), today she chased me out of Target and she has suddenly become this screamer, grabber, toddler rule person. Arghh. Guess we were due for something difficult with her. She has pretty much been the sweetest baby ever from day one.

The party was so much fun! And wow, I just cannot believe how little girls actually play the games at the parties. I'm used to boy parties that always end up being a giant battle or wrestling match. These girls were dancing and playing musical chairs and hide 'n go seek. So cute.

The cake was fun and easy to make. Colors just make me happy. Got the idea here although I did not use her recipe for "diet cake" cause it just sounded gross. And I had to have smarmellosh (Lu's word) on the cake for a little cloud vibe. We did recycled gifts because I knew Lucy's friends all had lots of girl stuff around their houses. Lucy loved it! She got all kinds of cute dress ups and bags. What is it with girls and bags? I'm writing a whole post on this soon!

Love my little girl. Happy Birthday Lucy!

Whew!

I'm so happy Halloween is over. The whole thing stresses me out. Actually though, it was super fun trick or treating with Lucy. When our boys were that age we lived in Minnesota and every Halloween it was like 20 F, so we didn't really enjoy the event. But last night the weather was absolutely perfect and three is seriously the perfect trick or treating age. Lucy was edible. She kept telling the people handing out candy "I like your costume." Most of them weren't dressed up. Towards the end she got pretty bold and kept taking piece after piece of candy from the bowls. But no one could say no. The boys went off in a couple of different groups and had a fun time. I didn't want to do anything for their costumes so we pretty much came up with them yesterday. :) Jonah and his buds were ghosts. Isaac a bag of jelly beans and Daniel a Lego Jedi knight. Found Lu's costume at Target. Curtis and I joked about whether it was Little Red Riding Hood or a slutty barmaid. It was WAY shorter than I realized! :)
Now on to the candy. I bought out quite a bit of the boy's candy with books but there is still a lot in this house. I sort of want to force feed it to them tonight so I don't do a repeat of last year. (Eat candy for weeks on end!!!) Ideas? Don't think I can just throw it away... arghh!

Hope you had a fun night too! :)

One Thousand Gifts

I'm not even halfway through this book and I already love it. It took me 10 or 20 pages to get used to the author's writing style. It's different but very poetic- I like it. It's helping me to view the world and my life a little differently.

This morning Jonah missed the bus. He looked sideways at me to gauge my reaction. The sink was FULL of unwashed dishes, confetti all over the floors (courtesy of Lucy), Daniel still in bed. I was no where near ready to host the playgroup that would be starting in less than 2 hours... but words from the book were fresh in my mind from the night before. I quickly told him I was glad to drive him to school so we could have a few more minutes together... and realized I meant it.

The bayou by our house was filled to brimming with fog, the moon a sliver and the sky turning pink. Breathtaking. We talked about condensation and his classes. It was 5 minutes that could have been hurried and ending in curt waves. Instead there was just a sweet peaceful feeling as we said our good-byes. Defnitely a better way to start the day. Recommended reading? Definitely.

Marinara Miracle

Emily gave me Giada's marinara recipe a few months ago and I am seriously in love. So simple and so delicious. Most pasta sauce from a jar tastes blah to me and the good stuff is way too expensive. So here is the solution: About once every 6 weeks make Giada's recipe (doubled). Freeze a bunch and you will have it on hand. We have pasta, bread and salad every Monday. The kiddos all love this meal and it is easy to prepare. If you buy a #10can of diced or crushed tomatoes you save even more money (these cost $2.79 at Costco).

Ingredients:

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 small onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 #10 can crushed or diced tomatoes plus 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
4 dried bay leaves

In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. I don't chop everything super small and so at the end I use my immersion hand blender to blend it up right in the pan.

Freeze remaing sauce in tupperware for future fantastic meals. We love this dinner with Artisan bread and a basic salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing. (I just started making this because I'm sick of throwing away salad dressing from the store). Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup olive oil
3 T Balsamic vinegar
few shakes of salt and pepper

Running

Welp! It's 8 months later and I'm still running. I cannot believe it. Really. I remember back in college when I worked at Great Harvest. A lot of my coworkers and our customers were runners and they would always be talking about it. I thought they were braggy and sadistic. :O The few times I had tried running were pretty much torture. Then I decided somewhere along the way that running couldn't possibly be good for you b/c of all the stress it causes on your joints, not to mention that juggling of your organs part.

I had no intention of ever running as a hobby or even for exercise but it has honestly become a huge happy part of my life. I really can't believe it. And now I totally get why people talk about it so much! It's a little bit life changing!

It actually started right after Lucy was born when a few friends and I decided to walk 3 times a week. We would walk for about an hour in the morning and then let our kids play at the park. I got to know several awesome women from church and really looked forward to our time together. Actually as a side note, this is when I stopped hating Texas. Coincidence? :O

Anyway after a year of walking, a couple of my buddies moved away and a couple more had babies. But I also found that walking was making me restless and I was sort of fighting the urge to run. So I started run/walking with the boys to school. It was okay and I liked that I was working out while getting my kids where they needed to be. I'm all about consolidating.

Then two things happened. The first was that I read some of the book "Born to Run." Not sure if I even believe all his crazy adventures and not sure I have any interest in trying the five finger shoes. BUT... he reminded me how much I loved running as a kid. I mean, I loved it! My best friend Cheryl and I were the only girls in elementary to not join the safety patrol because we could not bear to miss recess. Ever. We played with the boys every day and I wasn't even really boy crazy yet! Games like Jailbreak, Cops and Robbers and tag of course. The book also stressed that running is very natural for humans and we're designed for it. I serioulsy had not sprinted as fast as I could in years and I wanted to feel that again. So then my awesome friend Jen told me I needed to get serious. So I did my first 3 miles ever. It was horrible and took me 37 minutes. But I was proud of myself for making it. I started running 3 times a week with a longer run on Saturdays and was amazed at how much easier it got with each run. About half the time I run with friends and it's so great to talk and laugh while we're getting some exercise.

I've also decided that I am not a treadmill person. Tried that a few years ago and detested it. Running outside makes all the difference. I'm a nature nerd and love looking at the trees and flowers or stars and sunrises. It puts me in a great mood. I kept thinking all summer long that I would probably stop running in the ridiculous heat and humidity but I really didn't want to. This was maybe the hottest Texas summer ever so I pretty much had to run at 6am or 8pm but that actually worked out. It will be so strange to run in cool weather. I'm thinking I'll like it. :) I also think it's sort of interesting to map out different trails and time myself to see how fast I can go. I'm not fast btw. The other thing I love about running is that I get a serious high afterwards. Yes I'm sore but I feel great and motivated.

For the first month I had some aches and pains. My IT band gave me a little trouble but two things seem to work for that. 1) I stretch it out using this big tube pillow that Curtis uses for his back and 2) I have to run 3 times per week. If I let 5 or 6 days go by without running my whole body complains. The good news about that is that it's helped me to stay consistent- which is pretty much a first as far as exercise goes for me.

So long story longer I'm signed up for a half marathon in a few weeks. I'm pretty nervous b/c I don't want to feel the pressure of everyone watching while I run... but I'm going with a bunch of cool girlfriends and my BF, Lou from high school is gonna be there too. We are so excited to just talk and catch up! I'm following the Hal Higdon Novice to Half Marathon plan and just did my first 9 mile. It went great. I cannot believe it! I've found that if I drink and eat really well the day before, get a decent sleep and have a banana with peanut butter before the run it goes very well. I also bought some energy fruity snacks and eating those halfway through gave me some energy. Haven't figured out the best way to carry water yet. Working on it...

Someone asked me if I was still in the honeymoon phase of running. That sort of bummed me out b/c I'll be sad if I just stop liking it one day. But three of my good friends here have all been running for years and said they all still love it! So there's hope. Wish me luck on the race. :)

That time again!

I can't believe General Conference is here again. As I get older I appreciate this wonderful weekend more and more. Sitting through 8 hours of church talks doesn't sounds appealing at first but the messages are so uplifting and hopeful we end up feeling rejuvinated. I am so grateful to live in a time and place where I can easily hear God's prophet speak!.

Some things that help our family through the weekend:

1) Good food. Popcorn and apples, fruit smoothies, a huge veggie plate with hummus and Red Hot Blues (yumma), M&M cookie dough, and ribs for dinner (this is my kid's all time fav). I bought the ingredients to make ice cream and if we are champions we'll get on that!

2) Conference coloring and writing. Some years I am really cool and make each kid a folder with some great printouts. Some years we just have paper and colored pencils. I even like to color while listening

3) A comfy space to watch and listen. This year we got rid of cable but we are able to watch it on our computer upstairs. Beanbags, pillows and blankets help us stay comfortable while watching and allow for that inevitable conference nap. :O

4) For the last few years we have invited friends over to watch the last session on Sunday and then stay for dinner. We have been really suprised at how well behaved the kids are (especially if you invite someone they don't know as well) and it's just fun to have some company (helps curb the Sunday afternoon nap as well!). This year we are going solo since Isaac has a fever and was throwing up yesterday. dang!

The End.

I just wanna sew!

Just stumbled across this and I so want to make it for Lucy. I have several other projects in the works, now I just need some time...



I did finally finish Lucy's bed quilt. (I gave the one that used to be on her bed to my mom.) It's mostly made from "Little Folks" with a few other random prints thrown in. I'm such a one trick pony but I just never get tired of this fabric.


I made her the skirt above after seeing this one. I didn't follow the directions exactly because I'm too lazy but I still think it turned out cute and it took me about an hour to make. I used leftover fabric from her chicken Halloween costume. Speaking of... is it really that time again? I have nothing left to give to this holiday. I don't want to spend any money and I'm not feeling creative at all. Hmmm. I've sort of dreamed of seeing Lucy in a blue gingham dress with braids and ruby slippers and thought about bribing the boys to dress up as Lion, Tinman and Scarecrow... but that's a lot of effort for one Kodak moment. Goodbye

Get rid of that junk drawer (or 12)

So it's really happening. I am junk drawer queen. This problem has only gotten worse because 1) I don't have a defined place for things and 2) I probaly wouldn't put them there if I did. Curtis is the type of person who puts things back exactly where they go and after 14 years I've decided his way is better.
So... I started cleaning out my junk drawers the other day. It was like therapy. Here's some of the fallout:

I finally decided that tape and scissors get a drawer all to themselves. It's disturbing to think of the hours of my life spent searching for these two items. The thing is that organization does not come naturally to me. Some people just look at a room and know what to do. Not me. I just start stuffing so I don't have to see any of the unpleasant stuff. And I hate waste. I keep things around thinking that I will find a use for them but often that ends up just being another thing to do! But I just keep repeating "A place for everything, everything in it's place."

I think I may have finally found a solution to the school paper problem as well. The last couple of years I used filing folders in a drawer and it was pretty much a nighmare. This year I have a clear bin for each of the boys and if there is anything at all that we don't want to throw in the recycling bin, we stick it in here. The bins are big enough to fit those big art projects that we don't want to hang but are not ready to throw out yet. I'm planning to go through these maybe once during the year and then again with the child at the end of the year, keeping only a couple things. In the meantime I don't have piles of papers laying around and it's making me SO happy.

Also trying to get better about taking all the school handouts with impt dates and info, writing what I need in my planner (no I don't use an electronic planner... yet. I just learned how to burn CDs people!) and then chucking those papers. Our school is getting much better at sending things electronically so that's helping too.

Lastly, I've started keeping a bag hanging in my laundry room for any random toys that we get from Happy Meals or birthday parties. Then I periodically give them to teachers for their treasure boxes at school. It's helping to keep the toy clutter down. :)

Inspiring quotes

I like the idea of having inspiring quotes/scriptures throughout my house. Especially in places where people linger like the front door or bathroom. One of my pals in Minnesota said her mom did this and words from those signs where always rattling around in her head. One in particular that she mentioned always rattles around in my head: "Choose Your Friends Wisely, For You Will Be Like Them."
One of my sisters has a bunch of awesome quotes typed up and glued to cute wooden magnets on her fridge. They make for great kitchen reading. Lisa, I still want that one about fashion!!! Here is a very short list I've been compiling and I'd love more, so if you have any you love, please share.

A man is what he thinks about all day (Hinckley movie)

Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I really need it –swedish proverb

Scripture on definition of charity (I'd really love to stitch this one out but have never seen a pattern for it and don't know if I could figure it out for myself)

I stitched the one above on our trip to Canada. Don't look too close- I'm sure real embroiderers (cuz that's a word) would be offended. Can't decide where to hang it, maybe in one of the boys' bedrooms. :)

Squishy

Blueberries

When I was growing up our family often went strawberry, raspberry and apple picking. I have happy memories of me sitting on the kitchen table dipping strawberries in sugar and eating them. Curt's family has a similar tradition except it involves wild blueberries and sometimes bears. But the result is always the most amazing blueberry pie you have ever eaten! Usually when we visit Ontario we aren't there during blueberry season but this time the stars aligned and I finally got to go. Twice! It was dreamy. The perfect combination of spongy, piney scented groundcover that crackles when you walk; soft, beautiful and sweet berries; and a little bit of industry (which always makes me happy).

Curt's Gran (who turned 86 this summer btw) has been picking since she was a small girl. She and her siblings would go out in the bush all day get paid just a few pennies for their work. She said she's seen bears on occasion but only been chased out once. Yikes.

And I'm so excited. My boys finally like blueberries. The tart, tough skinned ones we get here have never interested them. But at least now they know what a real blueberry tastes like. We managed to take 2 quarts home with us and are so happy to have a little slice of Canada back here in Texas with us.