Yellow Makes Me Happy

Resolutions

 

Christmas is over... I have the Christmas hangover AGAIN!  I was not ready for it to be over... I wanted it to stay longer, ya know?

So they say I'm supposed to make resolutions now.  I'm really not much of a resolution girl... Not that I think I don't need improvement or anything... I just feel like I'm constantly trying to improve myself & make myself better!!  There are so many things I want to achieve, be better at, try etc... But what the heck!  I'm going to set some concrete goals this year & check in a year & see how I did... Will you be my witness?  Great!!  Here we go...

1. Make a goal for my career future. (I'm stuck in the pickle of following the path I started before I had kids & getting my Masters in Teaching or following my dream & going to pastry school & openning a bakery OR something completely unrelated!!)

2. Run the Portland Marathon on 10-10-10!  It'll be my 4th time to run the Portland.  It's my favorite run ever!

3. Craft more.  I have been so overwhelmed with toting the girls back and forth to pre-school & Sam back & forth to sports I have just let my inspirations slide!  What a shame that has been!

4. Focus on my marriage & be more romantic. Zach and I have been so busy raising babies, I just want to make sure we are still connecting the way we should be!!  

5. Be more organized.  We have a lot of crap stored around here & it DRIVES ME CRAZY!! Clean it up, donate, throw it away, recycle it!

6.  Teach my children how to save.  Not only show them how to save, but be a better example of it myself!

7. Take my family to Disneyland!!  It's been a while since we've been on vacay & it's time!!

8. Do more good deeds.  Donate more, cook for people, rake yards for those who can't, watch someone's kids so they can be free for a few hours, DO GOOD!

9. Go to church more regularly!! So important... Excuses are lame!

10. Garden like a fiend! I want my yard to look like botanical garden this summer!!

These goals are in no particular order.  They are things I would like to accomplish.  There are many, many more things I need to accomplish!  We'll see where the year takes us!

Happy New Year my friends!! 
  
 

Christmas Goodness...

I am sometimes very guilty of getting caught up in the materialistic aspect of Christmas.  I want my kids to have these AWESOME memories of cool gifts & AMAZING Christmas mornings.  Every year I want so much to do a better job of celebrating Christ's birth; of teaching my kids the joy of giving!  While we still got them some sweet presents (Barbie camper, DSi, Green Machine) we did not go overboard gift wise & we did do some giving!  In fact, I think some of our giving was the very best part of our holiday season & all of my family would agree!

I spent Monday morning baking 6 different types of cookies (no-bake oatmeal, fudgy oat bars, candy cane swirls, cherry almond shortbread, cranberry-orange-coconut cookies & butterscotch cheesecake bars).  We plated them up & delivered them to the police & fire station.  One of Zach's best friends growing up is a detective for our local police department & one of my friends from high school is a fire fighter.  They were so gracious.  The kids got to sit in the cars & on the engines.  They got to see where these men & women who put their lives on the line everyday for us work!  It was so awesome!!

 

Charley & Sam behind the police car...

Georgie & Charley checking out the sweet motorcycle!

All three of the kids in an OLD engine!  Super cool!

Georgie & me in the backseat of the engine...(I was more excited than they were!)

 
Sam workin' the headphones!

Charley LOVED our trip!  Can ya tell?

 
The whole fam.. We had an incredible day... It was a big highlight for me & I hope it was for my little stinkers too! God Bless you & your family.  May your New Year be amazing!
  
 
 
 
 

Teacher-in-Service day

Today there was no school= Teacher-in-Service day.  Sam is very atonomous.  Georgie loves to play alone & check in with me from time to time... but Charley, she wants to know what activities we are doing from the minute we get up until the minute she goes to bed.  She likes a plan.  She likes structure.  A day off from school does NOT equal down time for Charley.  So today I whipped up a batch of Sugar Cookie Playdough. 

I actually doubled the recipe which I found here.  The Cookie Shop is an awesome blog, make sure you stop by & check it out!

This is Charley's cherry that she made...

Here is my little Frankenstine.  Of course you know that I had to get in on the fun... Although, I have a small case of OCD & can't stand it when they mix the colors together!!  I really have to prepare myself when I make the choice to get the regular playdough out!!

The next picture I feel like I have to prepare you for...  Sam made it, & it's supposed to be an apple tree.  I did a double take & had to ask what it was. 

See what I mean... I warned ya.  Boys are so dirty!

 We sure did have a lot of fun!  If you have a rainy day, you should try these...
 
  
 
 
  

Breakfast is HARD!!

Sometimes I struggle with what to feed my kids for breakfast... do you?  I don't really remember what I ate for breakfast when I was little except for the apple fritters that my dad used to bring home Saturday mornings.  I'm pretty sure I ate cereal before school, but who remembers?  For some reason I just cannot bring myself to feed the little peeps cereal before school.  I like to think they are going off with bellies full of nutritious, warm food.  So, we have a regular rotation, but I'm always on the lookout for new recipes to add into our usuals.

I came upon a recipe on Bakerella (fabulous, awesome, delicious blog).  It was for Chocolate Chip-Maple Pancake Dippers.  They went over REALLY well around these parts!

 You want some, don't ya!!

They each got their own little dish of warm maple syrup to dip them in.  Can you say MMMMM?  Here's the link... give them a try, your little people wont be sorry you did!   

  
 
  

pride

Do you ever feel a surge of pride when your kids are good at something, they make a good decision, or all the lessons in manners and kindness show up unexpectedly?  I get a special surge when they display interest in something that I like!  It makes me feel good when Sam is interested in cooking, when Charley wants to play baseball, or when Georgie wants to be artsy with me!  I love it!

Today however I had completely different swell in my heart!  I am a complete and total chicken!  There is not a dare devil bone in my body.  I don't even like to ride bikes down hill!!  I don't know why I feel like that, I've gotten hurt or anything... I'm just a weiner.   Anyway, my kids were at my moms house last night and Naynay and Papa Tom (my mom and stepdad) took them to the Grey's Harbor County Fair.  They came home with all kinds of stories of elephant ears, corn dogs, magic shows and rides!  I noticed that Charley was busting at the seems to tell me about her adventure, so I asked the other kids to let her have a chance.  She rode the Gravitron with her brother!  She's 5!!!  The Gravitron is the ride where the floor drops out and you stick to the sides of the ride because of centrifugal force!

It makes me feel this strange excitement that not only did she NOT inherit my fears, but she is adventurous & not afraid to try things!  I'm so proud that she dives right in and tries different things!  Yea for  my girl!

Sam's trip

We had a very traumatic event in our house recently... My good friend, Sandy, and her family moved away.  Her middle child was Sam's best friend and her youngest was Charley's best friend.  It was so difficult...  They left Washingon on July 17th & it took them a week to drive to Missouri.  Three days afer they arrived, my Sam was flying into St. Louis to be with his 2nd family.

Sam had more fun in the week that he was there!  Missouri is totally different than the nothwest. 

The ate crawdads for dinner & Sam loved them!!

They swam in the creek...

They lit off MORE fireworks even though it's not the 4th of July anymore...

And of course they went to a St. Louis Cardinals game! 

They also road 4-wheelers all week, but I don't have any pictures of that.  Sam had a wonderful time and was so excited by to fly by himself (first class no less!) So thankful for my friends & that they are so good to my kids!

I'm back... this time I mean it!

I have been uninspired by my blog... Do you ever feel like that? It's summer time now, and I am trying to get things going again.  I LOVE reading other peoples blogs.  They are so inspiring.  I want to use my blog more wisely... I am in desperate need of a creative outlet.  I spend my days tending to the needs of my little people (and my big person, when he's home).  I need to reorganize and have fun & do something besides "mom" stuff!  We do fun things all the time & I want to write about them and take pictures of them... and I'll tell you what!  I'M GONNA!

Just so this post is not boring, I have a couple of summer pictures so you can see that we didn't fall off the face of te earth!

 Charley graduated from preschool & will be going to Kindegarten in the fall... I'm gonna ball like a baby!

Georgie Lou has become a water baby!! She has taught herself how to swim... She's awesome...

I put my little man on an airplane today...  He flew all by himself to St. Louis, Missouri!  He went to see his best friend who just moved away.  He landed safe & sound... again I balled like a baby.  (I did wait until he was on the plane before I got weepy!!)

Well my friends, I will be back soon... hopefully with something fun, or crafty, or insightful... Who knows?  The world is my oyster right now!

Peanut Butter Cups & Field Trips...

We have been trying to come up with activities to keep us busy inside when it rains... The kids have had a glimpse of the sun and all they can focus on is playing outside!  Alas, that leaves me to come up with SUPER exciting things to do inside to distract them when it rains!  So last week for one of our rainy day activities we made homemade peanut butter cups... Let me just say... YUM!  I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but I could live on peanut butter and mashed potatoes...

Finished product...

Here's a shot of the inside...

 You may never buy Reese's again...  I used this recipe.  Life in a Peanut Shell is such a cool blog!  She bakes the coolest stuff!  Totally inspiring!

We also had a field trip to the zoo for preschool last week.  It was CROWDED.  The zoo is in Tacoma, and it was "Free Tacoma" day.  Meaning if you live in the city you can go for free... Everyone and their uncle was there!!

The girls still had fun, and watching them encounter new things is priceless :)

  

Those are Gerogie's hands on the belly of a walrus... he swam right up against the glass and she wasn't scared (if you have ever encountered my little person you would know she's kind of a weiner, God love her anyway)

Here's a pic of the big sissy on the Merry-Go-Round... This might've been the highlight for her!  She didn't want to get off... She could've stayed on except for all the dang middle schoolers that were there! 

Sam went to the beach with his best friend & family this weekend...  They were there all weekend and I could tell they had so much fun...  He hasn't stopped telling about his adventures from the minute he walked in the door.

 Sam and Ben...

This one is a little hazy, but they look so happy... I love it!  It's a little bitter sweet for me, watching these two.  Ben"s mamma is also a good friend of mine and his little sister is close with the girls.  They are moving across the counrty at the end of July.  It breaks my heart to see them go... I'm trying to remind myself that with every door that closes, another opens. 

Alright... enough sappy!  It's supposed to be 81 degrees on Thursday!  Enjoy that my peeps!  Lover every minute of it!

signs of summer

To me, one of the first signs of summer is baseball.  I know it technically starts in the spring, but they don't call them "The Boys of Summer" for no reason!  This year I only have one ball player.  Sam opted not to play (now I think he wishes that he had!).  Charley is fearless on the field!  (I used to be a softball player... it was one of my true loves, so it gives me much pleasure to have my girl feel the same joy that I used to!)

Can you see the ball coming off her bat?  I am coaching the team this year, and it is SOOO hard for me not to go over board when she does something awesome... I am bursting!

We also had teacher appreciation last week.  I tend to think homemade goodies are where it's at...  Sooo

Lilac's clipped from my yard, my super duper homemade oatmeal M&M cookies, and of course a homemade card.

I love the new Koshi Doll from A Muse.  She is SOOO cute... We have been so blessed by each of the teachers that we've had this year.  I can honestly say that each of my children are thriving.  Wow!  What a awesome thing to be able to say!

One last activity to show you... We still had a few chilly days in the last couple of weeks, and that always brings out the cook in us ladies around here!  The girls and I made soft pretzels.  Yum!  We ate them all...  no leftovers!

 Some had salt, and some had cinnamon and sugar... They were doughy goodness! 

Happy sunny day everyone!

My mojo went missing...

I think it might be coming back though... I have been doing things, but I've been having a hard time taking pictures.  I've also been having a hard time focusing on life.  It's been topsy-turvy around my house for the last 4 months or so.  My husband, Zachory, works at Microsoft.  They have gone through two rounds of lay-offs recently.  So far we have come through unscathed, but it REALLY makes you feel vulnerable.  He's been with the company for 11 1/2 years... I am biased, but he is brilliant... I don't know how they could get rid of him, but you just never know...  Anyway, I got a forward in my e-mail in-box the other day... It was a conversation with God.  What I gleened from it was to focus on today... not tomorrow.  Today Zach is employeed. Today we have money in the bank, and our bills are paid.  Today everyone in my house is healthy and for the most part happy :)!  Today our lives are in God's hands!!  For that I am enternally greatful! Soo... with all that out, here are some of the things I've been up to lately!

Here are some cards that I made... The first two are a little blurry... Zach messed with my camera, and I had a hard time getting it to focus. 

 This was for my neice... I took a class from Julie way back in February and she colored the cone like this on one of her cards... Needless to say I like it!

   This one was for my nephew... His first b-day...  I think two minutes from beginning to end... Gotta love that!

This is a little something I whipped up for one of my friends.  Her family is moving across the country to MO.  It's really hard on her family and my own.  Her 10 year-old is my 10 year-old's best buddy, and our five year olds are besties too!  I thought I'd send her a little pick me up...  (Plus I wanted to use my chalk!)

On to a little something yummy...  Sunday, at Zach's request, I made Chicken Pot Pie for dinner... It's my own special creation...  I usually make it with a kind of cheese sauce inside, but he prefers  just gravy... I have to say, YUM!  My crust turned out GOOD too... Crust is iffy sometimes... I'm getting better though...

Of course yesterday was Cince de Mayo... We had a little fiesta around these parts...

 Charley was the only one I could get to pose in costume... She's always game!

We had tacos, homemade guacamole, pico de gallo & orange soda in margarita glasses...  It was fun... The kids always enjoy a little celebration!

Have an awesome day & I promise to be back REALLY soon!