Babies

Usually on Wednesdays I participate in Wifey Wednesday. I'm not going to today. It's a good one and you should check it out... I just don't really have anything to add. Instead I am going to do Wordful Wednesday for the first time.

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them)

My friends moved over the weekend and they have a daughter Liza's age and a three month old baby. I told them to drop their kids off for a few hours last night so that they could get some unpacking done.

It's been a looong time since I have fed a baby. Jason is almost two and has been feeding himself for quite a while now. It was a strange thing. I have no desire to have another baby and while I did enjoy feeding this little one I still have no desire to have another one myself.




This is what my life would look like if I had had twins (Liza and Ava are three and only a month apart in age), then 17 months later had baby Jason and then 19 months after that had another baby. Some people do things like this. I think they are crazy. :)





The girls had a blast playing together. I think they missed each other. I always love when they get together because they play really even. There is no leader. There is no follower. There is only friends.

They decided they needed the play dresses because they are princesses.





Typical Liza... ending up naked by the end of the day.








Anyways... my friends have beautiful children!





And look at Ryder! Getting so big. He's awesome.





I love baby faces!!














It was definitely a full house but nothing I couldn't handle. That said... I don't want to do it every day and I still don't want another baby. :)

No Sew Blanket

I needed something else for the kids for Christmas and decided a blanket would be great. It's cold here and the kids are ALWAYS playing with their blankets. I decided to go with a fleece no sew blanket. Most of you have probably seen these but just in case you didn't know how to make one I am going to tell you. They are super easy and any one can make one.

What you need:
*Two pieces of fleece
*a rotary cutter (you can use scissors but you will hate yourself for that decision by the time you are halfway done.)
*a cutting board




Get the two pieces of fleece lined up on top of each other, wrong sides together. (Is there a wrong side to fleece? Maybe some of them.)

Cut a three inch square out of each corner.




Cut one inch strips, three inches deep the entire way around the blanket.




Tie the top strip to the bottom strip all the way around.




That's all it takes. It took me about an hour to do the whole blanket. This one is Jason's. I will work on Liza's tonight.




I know that it looks not so childish but when I make blankets for the kids I like to pick something that they can grow with. Who knows how long it will last and if it does last a long time I would hate for the kids to hate it just because it is too baby-ish.

I think after Christmas I just might have to make a nice big one for myself! They are so soft and warm and cozy!

Bah hum bug!

I think I have figured out the reason that I don't enjoy Christmas as much as I could.

Don't get me wrong... I DO enjoy Christmas. I DO appreciate my Savior and what He has done for me. I enjoy the time with family.

The problem... by the time I am finally ready to get around to "celebrating" Christmas everyone else has already been celebrating for a few weeks... and all anyone has been able to talk about lately is Christmas.

I saw stores decorated for Christmas at Halloween! No joke.

Lots of people say that they want to celebrate Jesus during the Christmas season but the only things I hear people talk about are the gifts, the baking, the gazillion parties they have to go to that are keeping them so busy, the shopping, and whether or not the cards in the mail yet. No one seems to be talking about Jesus.

And I probably don't talk about it as much as I should either. But I am trying. I am trying so hard to get Liza to understand that Christmas is NOT about the presents but instead about celebrating Jesus and his birthday. I am having a hard time with this because for weeks now every one else has been asking Liza about Christmas and Christmas trees and presents.

So maybe it is time that we all did a little reality check (including myself) and figure out if we are truly celebrating the real meaning of Christmas.

Matthew 12:34 says "...for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."

What you are talking about most these days is probably a good indicator of where your heart is. I know I need a new perspective.

Good times.

I spent the summers from 1999-2002 working at Akron Rotary Camp in Ohio. I loved this camp! It's for kids with special needs and I have loved so many kids that have come through that camp. It was such an amazing experience. One I will never forget. I often wonder about some of those kids... what are they like all grown up now? Who have they become? I missed camp.

So I went back! During the winter they have respite weekends... one weekend every month the kids can come to camp. I decided to join them this past weekend.

It was strange because I didn't know 99% of the staff... actually I only knew one of them. And 99% of the campers were kids I have never met before. It's a different place from when I worked there yet it is still so much the same.

I wish that I could post pictures of the kids from my cabin and tell you all about them and how awesome they are but I am sure there would be parents that wouldn't appreciate that at all. So instead I will just have to tell you all about the fun we had together.

I will start by saying that it was FREEZING! Friday the high was somewhere around 25 degrees and on Saturday about 35 degrees. Freezing! But we did play outside some anyways. Would have been more fun with snow but we made the best of it. The kids didn't seem to mind the cold nearly as much as the staff. So cold!

The kids got to make lots of Christmas crafts... stockings, a Santa card, reindeer. Almost everything we did had some kind of Christmas theme twisted in to it. The kids also enjoyed a nature scavenger hunt and igloo building (with icing, sugar cubes and marshmallows.)

Each of the kids participates at whatever level they are able to. It's fun and challenging to think of ways to get each one involved in each activity... all the while keeping your eye on those who tend to roam away.

Saturday after dinner we did some fort building in the cabins and then played capture the flag... through the cabins. It was... interesting haha. But the kids seemed to really enjoy it and that is what matters.

I had to leave Saturday night because I had obligations at home on Sunday but as I was leaving the kids were heading to the Christmas party. They were crazy excited about getting to see Santa Clause. Lots of squealing from the girls.

I had a really great time and met some really awesome kids. Even before it was time to leave I was thinking that I just might have to go back in January... and February and March. :) I just can't stay away from that place. Plus it's a great way to be able to do something for myself that doesn't involve being mom. I know... I'm still taking care of kids when I go... but it's not the same. They aren't MY kids and I know that I am helping some other mom and dad get a much needed break. And hey... I believe that we reap what we sow and that means I should be getting a nice break sometime in my future. :)

Sunday Stealing

Who...

Is easy to love?
Liza and Jason. It's hard to understand how someone could NOT love their own children.

Do you just wanna smack?
Lots of people. Especially stupid people.

Do you trust?
Michael

Do you talk to when you're alone?
God

What...

Dangerous things do you do while driving?
Nothing really. I don't even talk on the cell phone... but that's because I don't really have one that I use.

Are you allergic to?
Nothing. Lucky me!

Is Satan's last name?
What?

Is the freakiest thing in your house?...
I don't have anything freaky in the house. Although I think spiders and bugs are freaky and we find those from time to time. They are especially freaky when they are on the ceiling and Mike isn't home to get them for me because I HATE that they could fall on me while I am attacking.

When...

Is it time to turn over a new leaf?
Whenever you think it is time. Don't wait for Mondays.

Will you be all that you can be?
Trying to be in the here and now.

Is enough enough?
When someone continuously hurts you... then it is time to say enough is enough and end the relationship.

Do you go to the dark side?
Oooh... when people make me ANGRY! I can think some mean things when I get mad. Good thing I can practice a little self control.

Where...

Are your pants?
On my body.

Is your last will and testament?
In the file cabinet.

Is your junk food stash?
In the laundry room.

Is Carmen Sandiego?
Visiting with your mom. (See... I did it again. Your mom. It's a bad habit with these surveys. Don't have an answer? Just say "your mom".)

Why...

Was the Lone Ranger alone?
I have no idea.

Was The Scarlet Letter scarlet?
Who wrote these questions?

Are musicians sexy and plumbers not?
hahahaha! Maybe it's because musicians cover their butt cracks!

Are there no seat belts on school buses?
I was just wondering this the other day... especially with all the car seat laws. Kids in car seats till they are eight but send your five year old to school on the school bus without even a seat belt.

Would you...

Swim the English Channel for a doughnut and coffee? If not that, what?
No but I would for that new camera lens that I want.

Forgive someone who deliberately hurt you?
Do it all the time. Forgiving others is something you do for yourself.

Rather believe a lie if it hurt you less than the truth?
No. Tell me the truth please. Just hurt me so I can get over it. I don't want to live my life to find out it was all a lie in the end.

You still be alive if you were sucked out of an airplane window?
Well if the airplane was on the ground... then maybe.


Head on over to Sunday Stealing to play along.

Of course it would happen that way.

I was so excited to be done with the Twilight series and all the teenage stuff and super pumped about getting the new Nicholas Sparks book from the library...

...but wouldn't you know... The Last Song is also about teenagers.

Go figure.

I finished the book last night. I really enjoyed it. It wasn't so bad reading about the teenagers because their lives were realistic and super believable. And it wasn't just about the teens in it but also a dad and a little brother. It is a story of forgiveness and healing and love... and not just the falling in love kind of love.

There is also quite a bit about God in it which I found to be a pleasant surprise.

I definitely recommend The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks!

Christmas Cards

I gave my friend my address the other day because there was a possibility she would need to stop by to pick something up. Today when I saw her at the gym she said something about me getting a Christmas card from her now that she has my address. Lovely! It's fun to get cards in the mail. But I let her know not to expect one from me because I do not do Christmas cards. She said maybe next year. I told her it wouldn't happen.

I have never sent out Christmas cards and I will not start. It's just not going to happen and I have my reasons.

How many of you have your list that you keep from year to year so you know who to send your cards to? And how many of you, if you haven't received a card from someone in a year or two, will cross that name off your list? And what about the people that send you a card that weren't on your list? Do you hurry up and fill one out for them and put it in the mail and hope they think they were originally on your list?

I think it happens like that a lot. :)

The funny thing is that I only get about five Christmas cards a year. I don't mind. But we got the most the first year after we were married and then we just got less and less every year... because no one was getting one from us.

That's how it works. I know that if I sent out cards to every one I know this year that I would probably get a ton next year. I would be on their Christmas card list.

The cards that I do get are from people that will love me regardless of whether or not they get a card from me... parents, grandparents, a few of my siblings that do cards, an aunt or two and maybe a friend or two.

I don't mind that I don't get the cards. But you should know that you won't get one from me even you do send one to my family. It's not because I don't like you or you haven't made my list... it's just because I do not have a list. I simply do not do Christmas cards.

A few things you should check out...

Sometimes I enjoy responding to the comments that people leave on my blog. Not every comment needs a reply but when one deserves one I like to do it. (Did that make sense!?) Anyways... the easiest way to do this is through email but I can't do it through email if you don't have an email address on your profile. It's a very simple thing to change and when I get an email with your comment all I have to do is hit reply and type you up a message. :) I was going to write up a blog about how to do this but my wonderful blog friend Nicolasa beat me to it.

Just CLICK HERE to read her tutorial on how to do that.


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My friend Melissa recently posted a blog about someone she knows that was in a terrible accident.

The girl's name is Kelsey and she is in high school. She has some broken stuff and brain trauma. She's been through surgery and they are hoping and praying that she will recover. Please say a prayer for her and if you want more info just CLICK HERE.


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I recently found a blog that I think I will really enjoy. The woman just started it as a way to journal her thoughts and actions during her journey to turn her marriage around. She is doing The Love Dare which came out of the movie Fireproof. She is only two days in so it would be a good time to start following her. Maybe you can even work on your marriage right along with her. Or you could leave some encouragement because I am sure that she will be needing lots of it.

Check our her blog... My Personal Dare

I pray with my eyes open...

...because if I prayed with them closed I would miss this!

Before every meal we say a prayer. Just a quick one thanking God for our food and a few other sentences. Nothing deep or intense. Just taking some time to talk to God.

It's become one of my favorite things during our days and I look forward to it. The kids are just too cute.

Lately, Liza has been wanting to pray before Mike or I do. She folds her hands, closes her eyes and mumbles a bunch of sounds that I don't think are words. Then she finishes strong by saying "In Jesus name. AMEN!" Jason usually repeats the Amen.

I've noticed lately that Jason is watching the rest of us and then he tries to copy. He folds his little hands (which he has been doing for a long time) and then he tries to close his eyes. It's quite humorous.

Watching my two kiddos praying before meals fills my heart with so much joy!

Easy Italian Vegetable Soup

If you haven't noticed I LOVE cooking in the crock pot. And in the winter I LOVE cooking SOUP in the crock pot. I have it at least once a week. Yesterday we made Easy Italian Vegetable Soup and I could smell it cooking all. day. long. Soooo goooood!

It's super easy and super yummy.

(I need to work on my skills when it comes to taking pictures of food. This does not do it justice at all.)

EASY ITALIAN VEGETABLE SOUP

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (10 1/2 ounces) condensed beef broth, undiluted
1 package (8 ounces) sliced mushrooms
1 medium yellow onion, chipped
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup dry red wine or beef broth
1 1/2 tablespoons dried basil leaves
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

Combine tomatoes with juice, broth, mushrooms, onion, zucchini, bell pepper, wine, basil and sugar in slow cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 8 hours or on HIGH 4 hours.

Stir oil and salt into soup. Serve; garnish with cheese, if desired.
Makes 5 to 6 servings.



Enjoy!