Random Musings

These are just random musings over the past 2 days.  And yes, it's from a happy housewife! :)

Yesterday  H

and I went to the park for a picnic

and some fun. Only it's not so much

fun when your mom is sitting at the picnic

table eating her delicious Panera and you have

to sit on one end of the teeter totter waiting

for her to be done!  :) 

Her favorite thing- the slide!

Every day H and I go out and get the mail.

First, she has to look both ways to make sure

there are no cars, then she walks to the mailbox,

stands on her tip toes to open it up and pulls out

the mail, shuts it and proudly walks back in

the house carrying it.  Then she dumps it on the floor

and proceeds to sort through it and open whatever

she thinks is addressed to her! On this particular

day, there was a card from her Auntie Sara

(addressed to me) but she declared it was hers.

So she opened it, "read it" to me, went and colored

it and has carried it around everywhere with her for

the past couple days.  And I mean everywhere.  Into

her bed for naptime, she asks about it before bed

and it goes to the store with us too.  Precious!!

Yesterday, H (who loves to get her nails painted) decided

she wanted them done.  So, she went and got the tray out of

the closet, set it down on the carpet, sat there and called for V

to come and paint her nails.  :)  The only problem is that

H LOVES to have each nail painted a different color

and that drives V NUTS!!  She hates opening a different color

10 times.  And watch out- when she (H) paints your nails,

you will get exactly the same!

These girls argued over and over- V didn't want her nails

painted a different color but that is H's "specialty"!  :)

Translated: that's all that girl will do!

The past 2 days, we have had quite the treat.... daddy has

come early in time for dinner!!  Yesterday, I made one of his

favorite dinners (not knowing he would be home early) and I

also made ice cream for dessert!  We were enjoying our

homemeade butter pecan ice cream.  Yummy!!

Daddy + homemade ice cream=

a perfect night!!!!!

Lately I have mentioned how picky my little H is and

last night she ate all her dinner plus the ice cream!

And I was thinking she was going to pick out the pecans

in the ice cream but nope- she ate it all up and fast!

She was so happy to have him home that she must

not have thought about being picky.  ha!

This girl has "graduated" from always wanting to play

the ipod to now always wanting the ipad. 

I play Sirius radio through my ipad every morning while

I am getting ready (either Elvis or Southern

gospel!)  and when I am making lunches I set it on the bar.

Well, H saw this up there, pulled up a chair, stood up on it

and proceeded to play her games!  That girl, I tell ya!!

This morning, V had a presentation with her Spanish class

after chapel which H and I attended.  It was so fun to hear her

sing praise songs in Spanish plus many other songs!!

Can you find her?  See the girl in the back, middle in the

blue?  Well, count down two to the right and V is in the gray shirt.

After watching V, we came home to clean up

the house and have a tea party.  H discovered

V's tea set last week and since then, at least

5 times a day, she has tea parties.  She sets

everything up and tells us all to come and drink

our tea.  Too cute!!  Except, she has broken 3 pieces

by dropping them but she always says "I sorry"

and then continues to play.  :)  V isn't too happy

but I'm hoping I can glue them back together!

Then, we were off to library

storytime to learn about bugs!

She learned specifically about

caterpillars and the craft was making

a bug jar.  Too cute!!!

I never know how much she truly

remembers about the topics at

storytime but I sure found out today!

As soon as we went outside, she

immediately went over to the plants

and told me she was searching for

caterpillars!!  I couldn't believe it!

Searching for some here....

and here!  And she claims she found

some which I think were just sticks.  :)

She got really into it!!!!

And outside the library, they have

a butterfly garden and today we

found one!  It was sitting on top of

the rock!  Can you see it??

During library storytime, we discovered her

flip flops were breaking (because that's the

only pair of shoes this girl wears!)  So we went

to Old Navy to buy some more and thankfully

they still were selling them so she got 2 new pairs! 

We haven't been to the mall in ages so it was fun to go!

Then we came home and she played with Gage.

They played with chalk on the driveway and

drew pictuers.  Actually she drew polka dots

and he drew me dinosaurs!

Well, hope you enjoyed my "random musings". 

Happy wednesday!!

Mother's Day

Yesterday I had an incredibly blessed Mother's Day.  After church and lunch, my family blessed me with a scavenger hunt to find my gifts!  Chad had taken the girls shopping saturday afternoon and V prepared hints and hiding spots for me- she sure is Chad's daughter!  He loves to do that for Christmas gifts- it's not "fun" for him unless you have to search around to find your gifts!!

Ok, I am going to ask you to ignore

the look on my face and just notice

all the hints V created for me on the

post it notes on the wall.  :)

She had me going all over the house-

even outside to find then.  Every gift

had 3-4 hints so after I found the first

hint, I had to find 2-3 more before I found

the gift!  I love that girl!! 

Poor H- getting smothered in kisses

from her mom!  This is after I found

my Barnes and Noble gift card.

These are my precious gifts from my

precious famly.

A card, box of delicious Lara Bars,

Barnes and Noble gift card for my nook

and a much-needed, asked-for-gift for

this pregnant momma and her heartburn-

 Tums!! 

After the gift opening, I put H down

for a nap and I ran to Panera for a

bit of "me time".  I only lasted an

hour- I ate my scone, drank my

coffee and read a book.  Then I

decided I couldn't be away another

minute from my family so I went home

and had a blessed afternoon with them all.

My 3 girls are precious and amazing gifts from

God that I am so incredibly thankful for every day.

I couldn't be more blessed!!!!!!!

I hope you had a happy Mother's day too!!

It's official!

So much has been going on in our little family's world and I thought it was time for an update. 
Today was a big day in our lives....

the sign is in our front yard and our house is

finally on the market.  Now, it seems so final!

Tonight for dinner, we decided we needed to go out so we went to Chad's fav place- Corky's!

For anyone who has come to visit us, you know that's where Chad will take you.  :)

We have our house hunting trip scheduled.  We have appointments made to tour schools for V while

 we are there and the next thing on my list of things to do is find a dr. and make an appt!  When we move,

I will be around 30-31 weeks.  (at least for now that is what we are thinking but it depends

on when we will close on our new house).  That is certainly not something I can wait on

until I get there!  At that time I will be having dr. appt's every 2 weeks and then every week.

Then it's baby time!  Oh. My. Word. 

I'm so glad we will have family there to help us get settled because I am already

overwhelmed thinking of all that will be going on during our "short summer"

of cleaning, unpacking and then baby! Then shortly after that, V starts school.

24 weeks already!

I can't believe it!

What a day we had today.

Dr. appt at 8:50 am for my glucose testing, Chad and H stayed home, I got home a couple of hours later

and I finished up a few last minute things for the realtor to come and take pics of the house.  Then she

came, we signed papers and she took pictures, I put H down for a nap, I ran to Kohls to buy a couple pair of

maternity pants, while I was gone, the termite guy came and did our annual inspection, I picked up V from school,

someone came and picked up our patio set that we sold on Craigslist and then ran to dinner.  Whew!  What a day!

Want to know why I threw in my trip to Kohls?

I tell ya- they have the best deals!!  I got a $10

gift card for my birthday this month PLUS I

had a 30% coupon. Woo hoo!!!

So I went armed with both and picked up

2 pair of maternity pants, normally

costing $50 EACH!  Guess what I paid?!?

They were 50% off, plus I had my $10 and

30% so I paid.....  $40 total for both! 

AWESOME!!!!!!

Funny story about our craigslist posting for the patio set: 

We got 9 emails asking about this set and this was our posting:

Patio set with four chairs, includes unbrella.  $50.

A dear lady emailed us her response:

I am interested but would you take $20?  I am going to resell it.

Thanks, Dawn

Really Dawn?!?!? 

I thought that was so funny!

Anyway, hope you had a blessed thursday!

"A Day Off"

First, let me start this off by saying I am feeling some guilt.  Come on, I know some of you moms have it!  You love your kids more than life itself but sometimes when you can sneak away by yourself and you LOVE it, there is a little bit of mommy guilt hanging around.  Well, let me say that I am feeling guilty even writing about this!
Today I volunteered to help at V's school at an event called Track Attack.  It was held at the high school and I had an hour shift at the concession stand handing out sno cones, coke (the southern term for pop, haha)and popcorn.  The kids (K-6th) grade had fun activities outside where it was HOT HOT HOT!!!  At least I was in a covered building with 3 fans on us moms who were volunteering to keep us cool! 

Here is my precious V at

Track Attack getting something to drink!

I didn't think it would be a good place to have H hanging out with me so I put her in the Mothers Day Out program at our church for the day- 9am-2pm.  The only other time I brought her there for "school" was when I had my bladder surgery last Oct.  So I played it up real big all week- I told her she was going to school just like V does every day!  She was going to play, have a snack, eat her lunch and nap.  Then mommy was going to pick her up!
One of the good things was that it was at our church and her "school" was in her SS room she goes to every Sunday! And she knew most of the teachers so there wasn't too much new that she would have to get used to.  It was just that it was a different routine and she wasn't with mommy all day. 
So, when I got there to pick her up I was so excited!  I hadn't seen her since 9 this morning and the hug she gave me when I saw her was so precious. She was sitting there in a diaper, shirt and socks.  Hmmm, I thought!  Miss Shannon (her teacher) explained to me that she was dry all day (yes, she refuses to potty train, still) and she thinks she just went all at once and soaked through her shorts!   I didn't bring an extra pair of shorts because we never have that problem at home but today her day was all different! And H refused to  wear the extra pair of pants Miss Shannon gave her to wear.  Also, she refused to eat her lunch because she said "I eat lunch at home".  And she also refused to nap because she told everyone "I nap at home".  Soooo, I'm thinking a bit of a change in her routine might do her some good!  :) 
I did notice that she was a bit sillier after I picked her up and after we came home she also seemed a little bit "older" in her talking (if that makes any sense).  It seemed like she "grew up" a little bit in the day I didn't share with her!  So, all in all, I think it was a great experience for her.  I asked her if she wanted to go back tomorrow and she said NO with a wild shake of her head!   I guess one day was enough.   haha
So, here's where the guilt came in.  I actually enjoyed myself and recharged my "batteries" a bit!  I enjoyed myself!!  Am I supposed to be able to say that?  Day in and day out, it's H and me.  We have the same routine- Mickey Mouse in the morning, cleaning, playing, walks outside, lunch together and then it's her nap time, I wake her up from her nap and we pick up V from school, play with V, watch a little tv, supper and then whatever our evening brings us- soccer, fun time, whatever!  And Monday we go to Barnes and Noble storytime and Wednesday we have library storytime.  Every. Week.  The. Same.  Don't get me wrong- I love me a good routine but very rarely do I/we do anything different.  So, when she was gone from me all day and I had "Sheri time" from 11:30 until 1:45 when I picked her up- it was very very nice.  And relaxing.  Wow. Then I would look in the backseat at her empty carseat and feel a twinge of sadness.  But then I would remember I was going to pick her up shortly and I could enjoy myself.  It was ok!  So, I went to Panera, enjoyed a delicious and quiet lunch and even got to see my neighbor and her daughter there!   Then, I went to Barnes and Noble and read magazines for an hour.  Ahhh, that's a perfect relaxing 2 hours for me.  I felt so much better!  So, mommy guilt aside, it was a wonderful "day off"!

Here she is excited to eat her lunch...at home!

I bet she was one hungry girl- it was 2 hours

past her lunchtime!!

Hmmm, I wonder when I should plan

another day to myself?!?

Especially before the baby comes! 

I'm sure you are so excited to see what we've

done this week so here ya go!  Just for you.  :)

Lately, I have had H help me more in the kitchen making

dinner and she loves it!!

Here she is reading the recipe!   :)

She has turned into quite a picky eater the last

couple months so I thought that if she helped me

make dinner, she might be more interested

in eating it.  Well, not this meal.  I couldn't even

get her to eat a bite!  Oh, she put a bite in her mouth

after 30 minutes but 10 minutes later she spit it out. 

Oh my, I need some help with this one!

H is playing V's doctor- she is checking her for a fever.

Here she is putting a "stethescope" in her ears.

V and I have devotions every morning together

 during breakfast and this morning H woke up

and enjoyed it with us.  I do feel the need to

make sure you know this wasn't during our

devotions- this is snuggle time with her little

sister.  I promise she looks way more interested

when we are having our devotions!

Last night during dinner, V announced to me

that she needed to make ice cream and cookies

for school tomorrow.  Ummm, thanks V for

the heads up a few hours before bedtime!

So, she enlisted her little sister's help for the cookies!

(I ended up making the ice cream. And eating a little.  Mmmmm)

And here is the strawberry pie I made for dessert

last night.  It was so good!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

recipe from the cookbook- 'Southern Plate' by Christy Jordan  (My new favorite cookbook and she also has a blog!)

1 c. sugar

3 heaping T. cornstarch

3 T. strawberry gelatin mix

1 c. water

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half

1 pie crust, cooked and cooled (store bought or mix-in the pan crust- recipe below)

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and dry gelatin and stir well.  Add the water  and cook  over medium-high heat until thick, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.  Set aside and let cool.

Arrange the strawberries over the pie crust.  When the filling has cooled, pour it over the strawberries and chill the pie until ready to serve.  Serve with whipped cream.

Mix in the pan crust:

1-1/2 c. flour

1 t. salt

1-1/2 t. sugar

2 T. milk

1/2 c. oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a pie pan.  Slowly add the milk and oil. Mix well with a fork and pat out to fit the pan.  Bake until browned, about 10 minutes.

Yield- 1 pie crust

I made the pie crust because it seemed easy and quick.  I liked it with the pie but when I tried a piece without the strawberries on it, it was a bit too salty.  I don't know if I'd put in less salt or maybe I will look  online for  similar pie crust recipes.  Otherwise, I thought it was very good. And my family did too!

Especially H!

Well, there ya have it!

 

Go and make your family this delicious and easy pie and enjoy!

So, after two wonderful years of living down South, we are moving back up North.  Uggh, it's still hard to say that!  Yes, there are many wonderful blessings that are going to result of our move but, please let me whine here a bit... I don't want to move!!!  I am NOT ready for snow and cold.  I don't mind the HOT HOT summers.  Well, this summer I might've minded a bit more since I will be finishing out the last 3 months of my pregnancy!  And our church, oh my, we sure LOVE our church and our friends!!!  It will be so hard to leave them.  And I'm not real excited about V moving to a new school- in 7th grade.  But I know God will take care of her, just like He did when we moved down here and blessed her with many friends and an awesome youth group.  Ok, I'm done.  Now, onto the blessings we will have when we move.  My dear darling  husband will be home more often!!  That is so exciting to all of us- we sure have missed him a LOT this past 2 years with his crazy hours at work!  Especially with a new baby on the way, I would love to have him home more!  I will need HELP!  :)  Plus, we will be closer to family, mine and his.  That will be such a treat- to be able to spend holidays with family really excites me!  And it's always fun to get a "new" house.  Of course, I have my list of things that I am looking for in a house- wonder how much of that list will get checked off.  Since that is my "job"- caring for the home, that is always a really big thing to me.  God sure knocked our socks off with our house we have now- I'd have to say pretty much all of my list was checked off!
This past 2 years has had some pretty significant changes happen to us and many many new memories were made down here.  Numero uno- my dream of living down South came true!!!  What a dream it has been!  :) One of the reasons I wanted to move down here is because of the weather.  It is amazing!!  Yes, the summers are hot but the winter, spring and fall are amazing!!  And I joined my first Bunco group and I loved it!!!  I already loved playing Bunco so the added bonus was getting together with my friends once a month.  So. Much. Fun!!  Also,  I ran my first 5K!  In fact, I was able to up that to 2-5K's I ran down here!  And God brought me the best running group ever!  But I have to say, after I ran my second, I couldn't get "back into running" at 5 am and then I got pregnant!  So, maybe I will have to pick up that again after this baby!  And I started blogging- that was such a fun outlet for me because I love writing, photography and cooking.  I was able to combine all 3 with my blog and also keep our families up to date on pics of the girls. 
V had a great 2 years of 5th and 6th grade and started playing basketball, soccer and she was on the swim team for the summer!  H has become quite the little cheerleader for V in all the sports she plays!  Lets hope the next little baby Pope enjoys watching her 2 big sisters play sports as well! And she truly enjoys her friends at school and her youth group and for that, I am so thankful. She has grown up into quite the little lady the past 2 years! 
And Chad has done an awesome job at work making changes, improving things there and leaving "his mark" which he truly enjoys.  He really loves those he works with but is really ready for a change- from working 14-18 hours/day to 10-12 hours.  We are all so very proud of him though- what an example of a hard worker and a committed employee he is! 
So, that brings us to today.  This past weekend we spent the entire two days outside getting the yard ready so we can sell the house.  I wonder, why does it take us getting ready to move, to do the landscaping we have wanted to do for the past 2 years?  So, now someone else can enjoy it?!?  Oh well, that is usually how we get those certain house projects done.  We worked on the front yard and the back- we didn't finish it but we did get a lot done!

Here is one side of the back stairs.  Pretty sad mess, huh!

We bought a Greenlace Japanese maple for that spot plus

3 small shrubs.  It didn't get done this weekend though so

this is still what it looks like.

This is to the right of the stairs- I wish I remembered

to get a before shot but I didn't!  Anyway, we did get it

almost done and it looks really good!

The girls had a great time digging for worms-

actually V had a great time and H wouldn't touch

them because she didn't want to get her hands

dirty.  This girl is more like me every day!  :)

So, she just enjoyed being with her big sister

and it was so fun to watch them together!

Gross!!!  A worm!!!

She just enjoyed digging.

I love this pic of her! 

Awwww.

So, it still needs the edging but other than that, it's done!

Daddy and his little helpers.

Now we are in the front yard.  We didn't finish this side

(it's to the left of the front door) but we did get the bushes

dug out and bought a few new ones to add.  We have

bought them but ran out of weekend to finish it!

And this is to the right of the door.  The only

spot we did finish!  Cleaned out the old mulch,

put in fresh new mulch and trimmed the

bushes.  Looks waaay better!!

And to end our busy weekend and our Sunday,

God blessed us with this beautiful

sunset!!!!!!!

Thank You, Lord, for family, togetherness,

hard work, a beautiful weekend, and

a job well done!