gratitude

I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about being grateful. My friend, Mindy, let me borrow this book and I just finished reading it.  It's a good reminder of how we should be living our lives.

A few weeks ago our pastor preached about the same topic: being thankful in all things.   Then, last night in the devotional book that Ryan and I are reading the author spoke about giving thanks and how the opposite of giving thanks is grumbling and complaining.  It's been good to pause and think about all the good gifts I've been given.  And by giving thanks in all things, I hope to begin to train myself to be thankful for even the things that don't seem good at the time.  And to give back in response to all I have been given.  Gratitude. 










Emma's messy face.


 Making our own noodles.

 Small successes with potty training and little undies!

 Small fingers planting seeds. 

Pretty brown eyes.

A new bread recipe, rising in the greenhouse.

We've been enjoying spring break around here!

We're heading in to town in a bit to mail my National Boards portfolio.  All 134 pages of it.  I'm thankful to have finished that up too.  We have a lot more planned for the rest of the week and I'm hoping to just soak it all up. 

january

I sort of unintentionally took a little break from the ol' blog. I didn't really mean to, I just found myself spending my time doing other things rather than being on the computer. It was actually kind of nice. But, I do miss documenting the little things that make up our life. So how have we been spending the last few weeks (besides fighting some serious sickness and lack of sleep)?

We've taken a few small road trips and spent a great deal of time with family and friends.

Emma girl has been devouring food. She hasn't met something yet that she doesn't like but she is certainly taking a preference to feeding herself rather than being fed. She loves finger foods and does surprisingly well with only two teeth. We've been making homemade coffee creamer (and consuming lots of caffiene, thanks to the sleepless nights).

I'm in the middle of way too many projects at school and am very grateful for my wonderful parent volunteers.

Mason has been busy pulling trucks out ditches and taking them to the carwash to clean all the mud off.

We've been enjoying lots of eggs from our chickens. Lots of greens from the greenhouse too.

Mason's been busy fingerpainting and covering every piece of paper he can find with stickers.

We've been trying several homemade cracker recipes.

We've been reading lots of books. Sitting by the fire. Just hanging out and enjoying January (especially now that the ear infections and flu are a thing of the past.) What have you been up to?

right now

Just a few things I'm loving right now:

~chai
~knitting and sewing
~making plans for scrapbooking
~trying new recipes
~cleaning out the ol' google reader
~mini book club with my bff, Mindy (can't believe I've never read Wind in the Willows)
~visiting the library
~skirts and scarves
~planting lots of greens in the greenhouse...looking forward to more salad
~researching how to make our own yogurt
~Mason making me pumpkins out of paper with Marylin
~laughing with cousins over dinner
~Emma sleeping through the night this weekend, finally!
~Mason bringing cow everywhere, putting him down for naps, and feeding him with a spoon
~being almost done with 1/4 of my portfolio for National Boards
~reading until I fall asleep
~fires in the woodstove
~overalls!

Not so much:
~all the Halloween hoopla
~checking to see if a certain poor little hen is egg bound
~hearing that friends are moving
~snow in the forecast
~wearing skirts on windy recess duty days

the cleanest baseboards

I went to sleep last night thinking about the major cleaning party that would be happening in my kitchen today.

After two weeks of canning 150 pounds of tomatoes and a full day of all things chicken (I cooked four whole chickens, canned 20 jars of chicken broth, and have 30 cups of cubed/shredded chicken in my freezer) you could say that my kitchen needed a little love.

Well, after the worst night of sleep ever (thank you emma and mason) I jumped right in ...after baked oatmeal and coffee of course. I cleaned everything from top to bottom. And then it happened...

right after I washed all the baseboards and door and window trim...

I came up with the brilliant idea to give all that clean wood a fresh coat of paint. You know because it might be years before I got around to cleaning them again. Ha! It was like "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" on crack. I blame the lack of sleep.

In other news:

a) I found my camera
b) Mason told me this morning to "use my words"
c)we dug up pounds and pounds of potatoes
and
d) Emma girl has started sitting up. It's a much better view all the way up there.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Did anyone else's to-do list get a little out of hand?

little bits

Little bits of life from this week:

My mom, sister and nephew came to visit last weekend. We had a blast together.

My sister and I passed each other in the darkness of the living room and kitchen during the wee hours of the morning taking care of babies who don't sleep through the night. They made up for it with smiles and giggles. And Jackson is quite the snuggler. My kids should take lessons. Mason was a complete goofball showing off for Aunt Kates and Nana.

We wanted tiramisu. We thought the extra coffee would help balance out the sleepless nights. The sugar too. Our super gourmet local grocery store (ha!) didn't have lady fingers. Don't worry, we made our own:) It turned out great. I may have had leftovers for breakfast the day after they left.

I tore the house apart looking for our other camera that has pictures of all three kiddos together on our little trip down to the family property (hello fall...the leaves are starting to change) and the football game. I have no idea where it is.

We attended a chicken plucking party and butchered 12 of our roosters (along with about 50 more that weren't ours). A friend and I ended up with 5 gallons of fresh milk that we gladly turned into fresh mozzarella.

Also, I signed my life away this week at school when I applied to the National Board Certification program. As if I don't have enough on my plate right now. It's a wonderful professional development program and our district offers many benefits for getting certified. It's also an insane amount of work (portfolio, video taping my teaching, taking a bunch of tests). It doesn't sound too overwhelming until I talk to other teachers who have gone through the process and hear that no one in our district (that I know of) has passed the test the first time around.

We are working our way through 150 pounds of tomatoes. Crazytown.

Emma is chowing down on the rice cereal.

And Mason has a new bedtime routine that involves reading stories to Emma. Love it!

back to school...

It's that time of year again. School starts tomorrow. I love this time of year. I've been busy working in my classroom and planning lessons. I always have so many new ideas and plans for each school year. I met most of my second graders at our "Meet Your Teacher" night and I can just tell it's going to be a fun year. So many little personalities and so much potential.

Of course it means spending four days a week away from my own little ones. This year has been harder than last year for some reason. I think it's because my emma girl has been really fussy and just wants her momma. She's been arching her back, crying, taking short naps and having tummy problems. The doctor gave us some medicine for reflux, which is helping a bit, but she is still really gassy and having an upset tummy. I'm cutting out all dairy to see if we can make her a little more comfortable.

I've been really blessed to have spent so much time at home after emma was born. We had an amazing summer playing together, and Ryan's schedule allowed him to be home a lot too. So much family time...I was spoiled. But now it's time to switch gears. I told Ryan the other day that this was as clean as our house was going to be for the next 9 months. We just laughed and chatted about balancing family, work, finishing house projects, playing with the kids, etc. I love that we can make it work (most days!).

I have the best husband ever. He is so understanding and encouraging. I can share with him my struggles with balancing teacher and mommy. He reminds me that I'm good at both and that means the world to me.

In other random notes, a few things that Mason has said that make us laugh:

~Mason and I were walking out to feed the chickens. I was carrying him since he was barefoot. On the way he said, "Mommy has shoes on, I have my feet on."

~Mason is really into BIG things (a BIG scoop of yogurt, the BIG grilled cheese sandwich...ok I guess it's mostly BIG food. haha.) So we were singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star one night with the cousins and he stopped and said, "No....BIG star!"

~A few nights ago we asked Mason to pick up his blocks for bed. He did and then we brushed his teeth and read a book. Ryan told him to go give me a hug because now it was time for bed. He replied, "how about I pick up ALL my toys." Such a smart little procrastinator. I mean really, how do you say no to that?

~Mason and Ryan went camping with some friends over the weekend. Mason was playing with his friend (who's two also). The little boy took Mason's water bottle and ran away with it. Mason said "water bottle please" a couple of times, but he just kept running. Then he turned to Ryan and said, "daddy, please not working."

~Just last night Emma was "talking," more like squaking actually. Mason turned to her and said, "Emma, what you squeaking about?"

Love my little kiddos!

right now

A few things I'm loving right now:

~mason singing songs

~new friends

~fresh basil from the greenhouse (I'm putting it in everything!)

~afternoon rain showers and rainbows out our window

~emma snuggles

~playdates at the park

~buttermilk vanilla bean cake

~emma giggles

~making cards

~new library books

~trying new recipes

~chasing mason around

~watching mason help stack firewood

~ryan's sourdough bread

~family walks in the evening

~planning vacations for next summer

~working in my classroom a little here and there

~handwritten notes from my best friend

~ice water...the colder the better these days

~lazy summer days

Not so much:

~sunburns

~laundry...it's never ending

~critters nibbling on our plants in the garden

~lonely doggie howls from Daisy...missing her pal, Java I suppose

right now

Just a few things I'm loving right now:

~ice water...I can't seem to get enough

~doing puzzles with mason

~dark chocolate

~squeezing in time for knitting and sewing

~browsing the seed catalogs and planning our garden

~lots of time with friends and family last weekend and much more this weekend!
~oranges, or anything citrus really

~mason patting my belly and saying "nice baby"

~watching mason learn to count (1 to 10, yeah!)

~little baby girl keeping me company all night with her kicks and punches

~ryan taking over all of mason's bath time duties

~our cozy, warm house (that still needs some pictures or something on the walls)

~antique shopping

~getting letters in the mail

~5 more weeks until my due date:)

cold

It's been cold and snowy around here. I think I've had my fair share of driving in it. I headed out on Wednesday afternoon to a reading conference in Denver. This is by far the best reading conference available and I try to go every year, plus I get to see my mom. I was not disappointed. I came back with several new ideas for my classroom and renewed energy for the rest of the year (ok, the rest of my time until baby girl is here!) Mason got to spend some time with Nana and he had a blast painting, reading, coloring, and playing with all the toys at Nana's house. We didn't head home until Saturday. Let me just mention that with all this driving (and the slower pace due to the weather...) I am in love with books on tape. I "read" one and a half books during this trip and am almost done with the second one just driving around town back at home.

Besides the conference, the highlight of the trip was a scrapbooking night with my bf, mindy. We met at Archiver's for one of their crops. I haven't stayed up until 11:00 scrapbooking in a long time, but with mindy the time just flew by. Just another reason I wish we lived closer...so thankful for her friendship.

Mason loves this weather. Everytime he looks outside he says "brrrrr" and shakes his body. I don't know how many times he repeats the word "snow" in one day. He is so good about bundling up and heading out. Plus, he's just too cute in that hat (thanks mindy!)

early mornings

After the craziness of the week leading up to Christmas I was really looking forward to this week where I didn't really have anywhere to be or anything to do. I was also looking forward to sleeping in a bit. Let's just say that hasn't happened. Mason has woken up every morning somewhere between 4:45 and 6:15. I blame the wind. It's been howling like crazy and he doesn't like it. Even though I am very tired I've been enjoying our mornings together. Ryan has the fire going before he heads off to work. I get to watch the sun come up with my favorite little guy. One of the first things he has to do is go to the tree so I can plug in the lights. Yes our tree is still up and it still has a few presents under it for our last little get together.

Then I make mason breakfast, we snuggle on the couch, read some books and eventually make our way back to his bedroom after he's a little more awake. Then we pull out every single toy that we spent so long putting away the night before. We play trucks, trains, blocks, and fix lots of things with our tools. Then before I know it he's ready for a nap. It is only about 8 by now.

But it's lovely. I have time to make myself some breakfast (or like today...make breakfast for my cousins who will be arriving shortly), read my bible, take a shower, and maybe get a little knitting in. These mornings have been wonderful. And just this morning, as I held little mason in my lap and read another book, I realized when I go back to work on monday, we won't have very many more of these (early) lazy mornings before little baby sister is here. So, I'm soaking up every moment, tired or not.

right now...

a few things I'm loving right now:

~chilly mornings
~making soup and homemade bread
~sliced cucumbers drenched with vinegar and a pinch of sugar (maybe the weirdest craving yet)
~chatting with my sister and sharing pregnancy stories
~my walking buddy
~bible study
~getting our furniture back and moving it into the addition (it's only been 3 years since we had a real couch:)
~pumpkin candles
~playing with mason
~unpacking boxes that have been in storage for years
~acorn squash from our garden
~feeling the baby move
~texting my cousins
~making our own mustard
~grilled cheese sandwiches with that mustard
~hanging out with friends
~starting skien 2 of a 10-skien project
~new magazines in the mail

family and friends

The last few weekends have been full of good times with family and friends. It started 3 weekends ago when my sister and her husband surprised us with a visit. We went to the football game, I fed them BLT's and we stayed up way too late playing games.

Then last weekend my best friend mindy and her sweet family (and dog:) came for a visit. The little ones napped and we ate egg salad sandwiches. Then we went to the park. So much fun! I wish I had remembered my camera. Olivia was army crawling all over the grass. Java was chasing the frisbee. Mason was chasing the frisbee (after he pulled his usual stunt of screaming in the swing...I don't know why he doesn't like it). Then we all went and got ice cream. We had green chili and sopapillas for dinner and a mad game of pictionary. Did I mention that Ryan and I made a huge comeback and won the game? I see a rematch in the near future though.

That brings us to this weekend. Homecoming weekend in our little town. On Friday our friends Tim and Megan stopped by with little Brenden. It was fun watching him and Mason play. They are two months apart. Oh, and I fed them BLT's.

Is he playing with MY toys?

Isn't he a cutie?

I'm not sure what's going on here, but I'm glad he never dropped that truck:)

Then on Saturday Lacy came over for breakfast, which was a real treat since she's in college now. We had some really great conversations. I love that girl. It was just what I needed.

Next stop: the football game. Go Bobcats! They pulled off a great win. The weather was beautiful. I enjoyed hanging with Mason and my cousins at the game. Then we headed into the gym to watch Karly's volleyball game. Another win.

Today started off with a beautiful morning and a long walk. Just me and Java. It was a great time to slow down and think. I realized (again) how thankful I am for each of these relationships.

On another note: I can't stop eating BLT's or egg salad. We've been making bread like crazy.

things I'm loving...

• a vase full of flowers from our garden
• surprise weekend visits from my sister and her husband
• the way mason raises his arms and makes a little puff sound when he tries to say "up"
• canning (so far peaches, pears, and beets. And green chilis tomorrow.)
• chilly mornings
• picking tomatoes from the greenhouse
• my job
• arby's
• all the progress on our addition (two weeks until carpet!)
• good friends
• watching mason play with ruby
• bagels for breakfast with freshly ground almond butter
• watching Friends with ryan in the evening
• chasing mason around the house and hearing him giggle
• 3 day weekends

a few things I'm not loving so much:

• car shopping...I hit a deer on the highway and had to say goodbye to our little red subaru
• the never-ending stickyness in the kitchen from all the canning of fruit
• liars
• mason waking up early in the morning, standing up in his crib and turning on the light (did I mention that his bedroom will have carpet in two weeks...almost time for him to move in!)
• second graders who insist on tasting our science experiments

weeks gone by

It's been a few weeks since I've been around the blog-o. Life has been a little crazy.

Ryan and I took a week long camping trip full of canoeing, waterfalls, and plenty of exploring some of the most beautiful parts of Colorado. It was a great way to wrap up the summer. Then it was time to gear up for school, which started this week. I have a great class full of little second graders. They have been so much fun this week, with so much energy for learning. I am so looking forward to this year for many reasons and it's off to a great start.

Mason has kept us on our toes this month as he has transitioned from a crawler to a walker. He pretty much walks everywhere now and the knees of his clothes are staying in much better shape!

He has also become such an independent eater. He prefers to feed himself these days. And he doesn't want his food cut up, but wants to take bites out of the whole piece. He's getting pretty good with a spoon too. His feet still fit under his tray and that's where they stay for most of his meal. I think it's pretty adorable and I will be a little sad when he grows out of this one.

Some of his latest food experiments include:

~sucking the sauce off his pasta and spitting the noodles back out

~figuring out how to use a straw

~using spaghetti noodles to pick up his cheerios (this one takes a lot of concentration!)

~stacking his cheerios inside the middle of sliced olives

~trying any kind of fruit we give him

All this independent eating and playing with food has led to my new full-time job of trying to keep both the boy and the kitchen clean. It's pretty impossible. Mason has turned into a bath-every-night kind of guy.

My favorite part of the day is coming home from work and getting a hug and kiss from my little guy. Oh, and Ryan having dinner ready. I feel so blessed.

whirlwind

The past few days have been full of family, friends, and to-do lists:) It's been pretty much a constant whirlwind going from one activity to the next. Thus far, I've:

• cleaned my classroom, finished report cards, and checked out for the summer
• said goodbye to my partner teacher
• come home to a house more than double in size since Ryan took down the wall that separated the {old} house from the new addition

part of the wall, coming down

cleaning up after the wall is down!



• put up our garden fence



• planted our garden




Karly was a huge help! She played with Mason while we worked in the garden

and then came over and baked his birthday cake and watched

him again while Ryan took down the wall.




• finished up some birthday presents (sewing/knitting)
• watched my cousin, Lacy, graduate from high school



• spent a lot of time with my extended family
• celebrated Mason's first birthday
• cooked a whole bunch of food (50 cinnamon rolls anyone?)
• cleaned layers and layers of drywall dust off just about everything
• went to a graduation party and laughed with my family



• made it through uncle Lee's birthday (we miss you!)
• did countless loads of laundry
• packed (a little last minute) for my girl's trip to NYC
• packed for Mason's stay with Grammie and Grandpa

See what I mean? It was a busy weekend, but fulfilling. I love my family so much.

In a couple hours I will be onto the next whirlwind adventure. Navigating the Big Apple (did I mention I can barely navigate my hometown?) with my friend Hillary. Getting to as much must-see/must-do/must-eat-here places as possible. And catching up with more friends and family.

Be back soon:)

numbers

4 days until school's out
6 days until my cousin graduates from high school and a ton of family will be in town
7 days until all the drywall must be hung and we tear down the wall into our addition
7 days until we celebrate Mason's first birthday (a week early)
8 days until we need to finish the garden fence
9 days until we hope to plant the garden
10 days until I leave for NYC with Hillary!!

Things are a little busy around here:)

priorities

Ryan and I have been doing a lot of talking, thinking, and reflecting lately. I wasn't joking when I said our to-do list was 8 miles long (well, maybe that was a slight exaggeration:) But we really do have so many projects going on and are feeling a little like there is not enough time in the day (or days in the weekend) to accomplish everything we set out to do. The tough part is that all of our obligations are not even in the same town....so add a little driving time to the list. Oh, and a ten month old. But, how can you not stop in the middle of it all to enjoy his giggles and chase him around the house??

Needless to say, we've been prioritizing. And making lists. It's not always fun (well the lists are:), but sometimes the things that you need to do are not the things that you want to do. Sometimes the right thing is the hardest thing. When I see people around me struggling with the same things I try to learn from them. I think I've learned more about what not to do though, which can be just as valuable. We are called to do the jobs the Lord has given us, and to do them well. I'm trying to remember that as I balance all the important things in my life. If I let myself get stretched too thin, I won't be able to do any of it well.

It's a tough thing to decide how to spend our time. It feels good to know that Ryan and I are on the same page. We know that these projects do have an end in sight. We will cross things off the list. And we know that God is good, even when things are overwhelming. We've seen that time and time again.

something new

Hi friends. I have something new to share with you. I have created a new blog just for papercrafting. From now on I will be sharing all my cards and scrapbooking pages at stamps and such. Don't worry, I will still be around here on this blog, as a place to focus on everything else I love. So, of course if you're interested in my yarn projects, garden, baking, and of course Mason, then feel free to stay. I just wanted a separate place to focus on stamping. Please join me over there too!

randomness

First, I wanted to show off this cute card that I got from my bf mindy. I just love the layout and I plan on casing my own very soon! I have a lot of ribbon to use up, and I love how she looped it around the two layers! Today is her birthday, so be sure to head over and wish her a happy one!Thanks for the happy mail friend!











Next, I just had to show you this cute scrap bag that my good friend Sarah gave me. Her grandmother made it. Isn't it the best? I love those bright colors and it is way more fun than hauling a trashcan around. It has sand (or something like it) in the top part and it just hangs on the table. The hearts sort of remind me of the care bears and that just makes me smile:)















































Lastly, we inherited a little puppy (he's about a year old) from some friends who had to get rid of him. We are keeping him until we can find another home. His name is Lucky and he looks like a miniture Java (our other dog) but he is quickly becoming buddies with Daisy. Isn't this the cutest picture?! He is so sweet and cuddly...I don't know if I want to pass him on! But, seriously, what would we do with three dogs?



Ok, you really can't go wrong with cards from your best friend, functional and cute trash cans, or adorable puppies. I hope something from this post made you smile! Have a happy day.