This Week

Has been chaos. Lot's of running around and not a lot of time to relax. Which is okay, and I typically prefer to be doing something, but still...it's nice to have a little time to yourself.

We are doing some serious potty-training-bootcamp around these parts and Curly has been doing pretty good. I'm seriously impressed. Nothing that bribery and stickers can't solve. We did two days without any accidents {insert me jumping up and down celebrating here}. I didn't even try today. We went to the Museum of Transportation with the Blond, Chunk and their mom, J and without bathrooms being right around the corner, I didn't want to risk it. The five of us had fun though, despite the sweltering heat. It's so good for the Blond and Curly to get together to play during the summer since they don't see each other every day. After that we went to Jeremiah's and got ice-cream for the boys hoping to see a train go by, but apparently they stopped working {seriously, I have never been down there without at least one train}.

So now I am basking in the glory of sitting down and relaxing while Curly enjoys a little siesta. Simple pleasures.


This morning I started Tracy Anderson's 30-Day Method. I liked the strength training. The cardio/aerobics part wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but that's alright. It was a little more dance than I was expecting, and being as I have no rhythm and failed miserably in my 8 week stint of dance classes you can imagine how absurd I looked. But hey, I figure I'm trying, it has to get easier, and at the very least I'm jumping around, flailing my limbs like a lunatic for 45 minutes, it's got to be doing something!

I'll leave you with a picture of my pride and joy right now. I don't have much of a green thumb, so the fact that any of my wildflower seeds made it to bloom is shocking, and I was very happy to see that the first little sunflower popped yesterday.

It's only about 2 inches across! So cute!

Sunflowers make me miss our Lawrence home a bit.

keep it simple.

Home Sweet Home

 I got a lot of looks with all 3 of them in the car.

After a long crazy week at the homestead, we are back in our sweet little house. It's funny how much you can miss little things when they aren't around. Case in point, our gloriously comfortable bed. Not to say we slept uncomfortably at my families, but there is something about being back at your house, in your bed that can make everything seem better. 

The Mr. had some friends in town over the weekend. Our friends band, Quiet Corral was playing here in StL and a handful of guys came in to see the show. It was a great show, and it was nice to see everyone. I was a little thankful that I could get away from the madness. Well sort of. It was sort of a take your pick kind of situation.

In other news, my baby brother turned 19 this week. NINETEEN.

Look at how cute he was, rocking that red fubu jersey. Sometimes I forget that he's grown up now and I still imagine he must look like this, right? He's not old enough to be going to college in the fall, right?

There you have it, he's a grown up. Sort of.
Dinner should be fun tonight. Typically is when the whole crew gets together, we are blessed.

keep it simple.

Puppies can be Punks

We are house sitting for my family while they are in Wisconsin, I'd be jealous that they are away from the heat if they weren't having their own heat wave up there...with no air conditioning. Okay, I'm still jealous, just trying to convince myself I'm not.

So we are back at the homestead with three dogs and two cats, we debated having all them to our house, but quickly realized it is not big enough. Norman has officially become the medium puppy in the trio and has been having some issues adjusting to Miss Raina not only being bigger than him, but taking all of his old spots in the house and her general puppy tomfoolery.

Raina doesn't quite get that we don't like sharing the bathroom.

The eight months of puppy, coming in around 97 pounds means that most of the time we hug the wall when she starts going a little batty. Getting home from work means that there is about 250 pounds of dog running straight for your knees. It's a not an ideal situation for those of you with weak knees.

the pup standing on the bed. she can't figure out those back legs to jump up yet.

We have been getting a laugh at all three of the  pups though. Tucker has basically been keeping to himself, unless Raina is driving him nuts, then he promptly goes and steals the bone she likes more. Which results in her barking at him. A lot.

poor old man, just trying to stay out of the way

Norman is constantly giving us looks of, "Can you believe that punk just stole my spot?" because she will lay on top of him in the bathroom, or directly in front of him in the kitchen (blocking all air from the fan). It's really humorous. In regards to the photo above of Raina's sad attempt to get on the bed, it's obvious she is used to getting up earlier in the morning (thanks Dad) and every morning this week has made a running start to jump onto the bed. Since she doesn't know how to jump, I end up with about 70 pounds of force from her front paws on top of me. Not the most calming wake-up call. Once I get her pushed off the bed, Norman (who was previously sleeping) decides that it is time to jump on the bed. He has no reason to, it's hot, he doesn't like to be too close when it's hot. He just wants to be a punk, and it's so obvious that he is mocking Raina's inability to get onto the bed. I'd say it's coincidence, but since it's happened every morning thus far, I'm going with our puppy is a punk.

all three punks gathered in the hall. 

big house and they all lay together in a skinny hallway.

keep it simple. 

Kids and Food

Have you tried these?

They are delicious. They are a nice little pick-me-up sugar rush to keep in your bag. The trick is trying to keep them away from certain little hands.

Easier said than done. 

We've been having a fun week around here. We made it out to the zoo to see the sharks and stingrays. FUN! If you go to the zoo in the first hour that it's open, all the extra exhibits are free (sharks, carousel, children's zoo) so that's a big plus. Nothings like a fun free day at the zoo. I am glad that we didn't pay for it, Curly wasn't too sure about sticking his hand in the tank to touch the stingrays and sharks, but he did enjoy looking at them, so it wasn't a total bust.

We split a pretzel and cheese. Curly didn't like the pretzel dipped in cheese so much so he took a different, more unconventional approach...

yep that's a raisin.

The blond might quite possibly be the messiest eater I have ever had the pleasure to know. It has gotten to the point of being comedic really. He can eat a granola bar and have it spread around the entire room, while he stays in one place...really it's just impressive. Here's the aftermath from eating two, yep only two raspberries yesterday. 

Like I said, it's a gift.


I'm making a  balsamic roast chicken tonight for dinner. I'll keep you posted on the progress of that =)


keep it simple.

Full Moons

I'm so happy it's Friday. Mainly because that means that Thursday is over, and Thursday was rough. Did you know it was a full moon yesterday? It was (no not because I'm a werewolf), and I am a firm believer in odd things happening when it's a full moon or other weather changes. You might think I'm crazy and that's alright, I've just had enough experience with full moon oddities to look completely past it.

I had all three boys yesterday, which is fun. I'm enjoying the break I have for the summer just hanging out with Curly, but it's fun when all four of us are together. The big boys get to play and the Chunk and I get some good play time in too, because man that baby is growing fast. They were nutty, really nutty. It might have been because they haven't been together for two weeks, it might have been the full moon.

It was $10 Thursday at the local grocery store, so I had to go. Spend $50 get $10 off your total? Yes please! Unfortunately it tends to be a mad house there on these days and yesterday was no different. It was outrageous. I somehow got out of there quickly, but I didn't know if I would make it out alive for a while.

Once I got home, I thought to myself, "self, be productive and make some food to freeze so you can be lazy with dinners and breakfast a few times." So I did, and things were going well. I made two lasagnas, that are sitting in the freezer waiting to be enjoyed. I made six (yes six) pans of cinnamon rolls. PW's recipe. Delicious. We have company coming in town next weekend and I thought I would be so nice and make everyone the best cinnamon rolls ever. The dough seemed a little gooey but I figured, eh it's alright. Baked them, they smelled so good. Open the oven door and they are goo. Not beautifully golden brown how they should be, just goo. I couldn't figure it out. I checked over everything again and again and realized I overlooked a very important step...that little part where you put in the last cup of flour, baking soda AND baking powder. Things don't cook up so nice when you leave that out. Fail.

However, I did get the first coat of paint on one of the dressers, so that made me a little happier. Stress relief if nothing else.

And now it's Friday.

keep it simple.

DIY-ing

I'm a big fan of doing things myself, the poor mister always has to deal with me looking up how to make the homemade version of something before we buy it (I find it necessary to know if we have to buy it). I've also taken a liking to crafting, which I never really fancied myself to be a big crafter or even super artistic for that matter, but it's been fun. It all started when the CPA studying was in full swing (not my studying, let's be clear) and as it was summer I was only working part time, so the afternoons were a bit slow. I needed something to pass the time, and my crocheting skills from maybe elementary school came out. I guess I made it further than I expected, but it still isn't finished...more than a year later. One of these days I suppose.

A few examples of crafting endeavors that have gone better than the blanket:

refurbished dresser.

before.

 after.

 (actually the blue is being changed to gray, I'll post an update later)

                      

modge-podged wreath.

painted and monogrammed knife block.

refurbished desk.

Looking at these things reminds me that I can in fact have a successful crafting experience when something like this happens:

 

 See all that red goo? It's hot wax that apparently didn't want to stay in the tin. I had sealed the entire tin but learned that hot wax seems to make super glue warm back up and the seal didn't hold, leading to the mess at hand. Actually the mess got much worse once I started cleaning it up, wax on the floor, stove, counter, deck, my leg and foot. 

 

Hopefully my current project will go smoother. I'm in the process of refurbishing these two dressers: 

 

I picked up these beauties last week, can you believe someone didn't want them? In need of a good scrub and a new paint job (I've decided on paint for the big one) and handles but I think they will be nice by the time I finish. If you or anyone you know is in need of a dresser, let me know! 

keep it simple.

Beating the Heat

It's hot.

I'm talking didn't drop below 85 degrees last night. Our poor air conditioner is really getting a work out. I don't know which picture from yesterday is more upsetting...

 That's 7:55 AM...

yuck.

So needless to say, playing outside while at work is a little difficult right now. You can't touch the concrete without it burning your skin. The playgrounds at the park are too hot to play on, poor little backs of legs get fried when they try to go down the slide. The only thing that makes it the slightest bit bearable is the water. Pool, fountains, sprinklers, hose, really even a cup of water that you can just dump on your head makes it a little better. So we have been doing our best to turn lemons to lemonade and are having LOTS of water play (and some movie times, because let's be real, even if you are completely submerged in a pool, you sweat when it's 107).

Since the summer means I only have 1/3 of the boy trio, it's a little easier to get out and do things, but Curly wanted to stay home today and play so we decided to fill up the trusty blue plastic pool and cool off in the backyard.

  

Pool time along with the sprinkler running simultaneously in the yard made the morning go by quickly. We had an awesome time, until that dreaded lunch hour came along and I picked up Curly to go inside and realized that someone had more than filled his water-diaper...and it was leaking out of the sides, and onto me, in all it's stinky glory. Nothing like running through the house, hoping that poo-water doesn't get everywhere while you are trying to get a 2 year old to the nearest bathtub. This is why I always keep at least one spare change of clothes in the car. It's a necessity at this point.

 

keep it simple.

Not what I expected

I have found that things rarely go according to how I plan. That's not to say this is a bad thing. Far from it really, just not quite what I planned on. A few examples...

-After graduation, instead of getting a "real, grown-up" job, I have continued to be a nanny. Four years of college education and here I am doing the same thing I did every summer between those four years. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job, and in a time where many people can't afford to love their jobs when people love that they have a job, it just isn't what I planned on when I was leaving for college all those years ago. Not what I expected.

 Four of my favorite kids in the world.

 -When I first heard about blogs, I thought they were silly. Why people felt the need to have some sort of online diary of their thoughts and actions was beyond me. I didn't pay much attention to them at all. That all changed as a relationship with my dear friend Whitney blossomed (you should check out her blog Oh, I love that.). She introduced me to The Pioneer Woman and Ashley Ann at Under the Sycamore and my world was rocked. I suddenly loved reading about these women; what was going on in their lives, delicious food they made, thrifty crafts they created. And wouldn't you know, here I am, starting my own blog. Not what I expected.

-I never thought I would turn into my mom. This is NOT a negative thing!! I love my mom dearly, we have a great relationship that I am constantly thankful for. I just didn't think that I would become the only look at the sale and clearance items first, garage sale bargain, go to the restaurant where we have a coupon, pick up furniture off the side of the street because it's perfectly good sort of gal that I am today. But I am, and while I was embarrassed when I was in middle school and high school when we would pull over to the side of the road to check out things that other people threw out, I am thankful that my mom taught me the value of a dollar and that just because someone else doesn't want it, doesn't mean it's not good. After all, she scored me a great table for our house that way, and I did make her leave the pool with me yesterday to help me load up two great dressers into my car (that are being refinished if anyone is interested!)

-I didn't expect to fall in love with my best friend. From high school. Who I've known since I was 5. But again, it happened. Was it at the most inconvenient time?  Yes, we had lived a mile apart for 12 years and it happened after we were at different schools...in different states...for the next 4 years. Did I try to fight it? Yes, I turned the poor guy down not once, but twice. Thankfully for me, he was crazy enough to wait (and when he told me he was going to wait, because eventually I would realize that it was him I was supposed to be with, I did think he was a little bit crazy). And what do you know, he was right (don't tell him I said that) and here we are, a couple weeks shy of our second WEDDING anniversary (it still feels like it was last week). Not what I expected.

Us and our "lap dog"

So I have found that making plans is tricky and in the end, if you don't end up where you thought you might, it's ok. It turns out to be a lot better when you let loose and trust that everything is going to be alright. Ultimately, it isn't your path anyway, it's God's and He isn't going to mess it up, so why worry? 

I hope you will continue to come back and check out this blog. There will be stories from working with children, living with a 90 pound lap dog, the delicious food we eat, the crafts we make (not always gracefully), and other everyday joys of life.

keep it simple.