Ainsley is a big girl now!

I am going to work a bit backwards for this week getting some photos posted. This was our big excitement for the day. Ainsley is out of the toddler bed and into the full size. It is much higher off the ground than I anticipated so I am hoping she won't have any problems. She napped well in it this afternoon and I will say it is the first time all week that she has wanted to go up for nap. I usually have to bribe her in some way. Both kids were having fun at this moment as you can see. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Later taters!

Well, it has been a busy week of nothing...

seriously. How I do that I don't know. Okay, I do know. I have been busy reading. For the last couple of years the pile of books on the bedside table has grown to ridiculous proportions. It does not help that I have a list on Amazon and family members, especially my Dad, buy them for me for Christmas. Since this past summer I have made a concerted effort to move through nearly a dozen or so books, only to be thwarted again this holiday with more gifts of reading. Don't get me wrong I love books and love to read, I just don't always make the time. Well, I had finally read through all the Jane Austen and some similar lit. When I started upon a new series for some simple light reading. Oh my me, the books are like crack...not that I have ever done drugs, but seriously addicting. I must confess they are the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Such a fun read. Now, they are vampire books, but nothing of the dark stories that Anne Rice used to tell. Just fun light a little more romance, think Romeo and Juliet if you will. SO anyway, if you are looking for some fun reading I highly recommend them. Needless to say though, I finished those and am on to a mystery...the last one in my pile. There is no more pile which means that next week I will actually have to go to the library to check something out when I pick up books with Ainsley. Ah well.

I have some pictures that I need to download that I have been lazy about getting to but I will try to get to them later today when my kids have their afterschool gang over. Ainsley went to the art museum for a field trip and I got a cute shot of her making her creation. Also, I have Aidan with his 2nd place winning car and trophy from the Pinewood Derby for scouts. Tomorrow will also be an exciting day in our house in that we finally got Ainsley a big girl bed. No more little toddler bed. It is about time being that she will be 4 here in a few short weeks, but I have hesitated because she is so small. She is barely over 30 pounds. I am just praying that she doesn't roll out of it as she has at my in-laws house. We have learned our lesson there and the first thing we do after arriving is push the guest bed up against the wall so that she doesn't fall out. Well, kind of a silly post today, but these are the things on my mind. This and that I am tired of the cold. At least today is sunny once again though, as it seems to make a huge difference in my frame of mind these days. Later taters!

What is Truth?

That was the topic of our bible study today. Think on it. Not so easy to answer is it. The video we saw compared current definition of truth and the definition from the Websters in the 1820s. Do you know what the difference was? No mention of God in the current version. Makes you think doesn't it. What is truth? Would you know it if it was looking you in the face? What makes me concerned is that I am afraid that I wouldn't. Lies are not typically bold faced you know, they are always meshed with a bit of the truth to make them more palatable. If they were bold faced we would sure know the difference wouldn't we. Interesting things to mull over, need to re-study the book of John. Later!

Poor Aidan is...

so tired of this bitter cold. I warned him before we left school that it would probably be an inside day and we checked the computer temperature. He did not want to believe and realized that when we got to school no crossing guards were out...due to the temperature. He needs his outside time and he is missing it. Not so much bad behavior, but more he keeps saying I'm bored and all he wants to do is sit and play video games. Ainsley is all over him to play with her, but Aidan can't always be swayed. I will be so thankful for temps in the mid to upper 20s later this week. At least kiddo will be able to play in the snow outside for a change.

So I admit defeat...

well, I have given up on getting the quilt done today. Something is wrong with my machine and I think I may see if I can get it serviced/cleaned. Oh well, I will give her the gift later and take her dinner today.

MIA

Sorry I have been a bit MIA this week. I have a situation that I have done to myself so I am the only one to blame here. Last week, I got a call from one of the ladies at church asking if I would be willing to take a meal to one of the bible study girls who just had a baby. Not a problem I said. Really it is not a problem as I usually double up on whatever I am making for our family for that evening. My problem is that I had thought it would be really nice if I took her a small gift as well so I got it into my head to make her a baby quilt. Not usually a problem either but I decided that I could do it in 4 days! If I had all the time in the world or even both kids in school on a more full time basis this would not be a problem, but what was I thinking...I don't have free time like that. I am to the point that I have only the binding to attach today and I am supposed to deliver dinner tonight. Speaking of which I need to call this sweet lady to let her know I am coming. I think I can do it, but I could really use some prayer here. I know it is my own fault. Sorry to my other friends who had babies and have not received their quilts yet either as I have not done any swing since last spring because of other issues. I have all their fabric and even all their plans, but because off issues I haven't done anthing. Enough said. Well, forgive me for the rant. I need to get my children some breakfast now. No stress really not something to stress about, but why do I keep doing this to myself! Have a great weekend everyone, later taters!

I am so going to love...

my new study! Secretly I knew I would. I hope we can all stay healthy and that I won't have to miss. Anyway, just a quick blurb to update as I have a ton to do since I got so behind yesterday. I have bleached the area of the basement that was wet. I think when it dries I am going to vaccumm and bleach again. So grossing me out!

Well, my day did not go as planned...

as I was stuck here with the Roto Rooter man until about lunchtime. He was wonderful and got us all fixed up for a fraction of the price I was expecting. I still need to go bleach again down there, but I am going to wait until tomorrow I think. I just needed a break today as I am behind on laundry because I got such a late start today. I am so thankful for a basement door with a lock on it that I can just close it up and not worry about little people or dogs getting down there.



Tomorrow is bible study which I am still a little nervous, but am looking forward to it. Usually the leaders ask why we are taking the study and I am not sure really how to answer that except that I really felt like I am supposed to do that study. Not sure what yet I am to glean from that lesson, but hopefully in time that will be revealed. I will post a bit about how it goes tomorrow, but I think tomorrow will mostly be a get to know you kind of day. If anyone is interested here is the web address. http://www.thetruthproject.org/ It is by Focus on the Family. At a minimum it should be interesting.



We have a short week this week as I think Aidan has off on Friday. I need to double check since they have had so many snow days this year that I am certain that they will need to make them up somewhere. That will be a huge blessing to us. I really enjoy spending the day with them even if it is just a pajama morning watching Sesame Street. I am really grateful that my 6 year old does not feel too cool to watch that show as Ainsley loves it so much. They seem to be able to agree on the PBS programming. Well, I have more laundry to fold so I am off! Later taters.







PS Happy Birthday Miss N! Love you and have a great day!

Roto rooter, thats the name....

they're number one. Is that how the ad goes? When it rains it pours, literally. In my basement. Gross. Glad we don't have carpet. Just when I think we are getting ahead something else breaks.

We went bowling...

and what was I thinking. My hand is so sore! I am just getting old. I haven't bowled since college. I don't like all these aches and pains. At least the kids had fun.

Cold Day...

I can't believe the temperatures we have had around here the last few days. This morning I look at my computer weather and it says it is -11. Yesterday school was cancelled due to the cold because the wind chill put the temperature in the -30 to -50 range. Today public school is in session, but delayed two hours. I think we are the only district in the area in session today. I know they are trying to minimize having anymore cancelled days, but this is just ridiculous. We had fun on our day off yesterday though. I was kind of scrambling for activities because I was not prepared that they would cancel school, but I found some things to keep everyone busy none-the-less. I was tired yesterday morning so we got a bit of a late start to the day but the kiddos seem to enjoy that from time to time. Right before lunch we started on some brownies from a mix that I had forgotten that I had on hand.




My helpers enjoyed licking the spoons. I finally have a system where they can both help me and they won't be fighting over control of the step stool. Each one gets a turn adding an ingredient. If there are an odd number of ingredients, I will add the last one. Both will get a turn mixing the batter and each will get their own spoon or beater. Saves me a bunch of headaches this way.

Of course when we finished baking the brownies, we had a floor picnic. Not sure why they love to eat on the floor so much, but they do.
After the picnic and brownies for dessert. I pulled out a Christmas gift they received from a family friend. They are a crayola package of stamped pillowcase and fabric crayons. They had so much fun coloring on fabric as it is not something they are typically allowed to do. Here I have a picture of Aidan hard at work.
During Ainsley and Mommy's nap in the afternoon, Aidan was industrious as well. He got a really cool set to build cars. I think it is call Zoob. Anyway, it is awesome and has had so much fun with it. Proudly he displayed his creations.

Well, I am off as I have to get Aidan to school this morning. Still not sure what the district is thinking, but okay. Later frozen taters!

Just call me Grace...

well I have achieved new heights in the world of clutziness. In my effort to be efficient while I was waiting for our rice to steam last night I ran upstairs to file Aidan's school papers. I was running a bit behind for the evening because of his doctors appointment and in a bit of a rush to get some things done before dinner was ready. Needless to say I should have slowed down as I think I somehow stepped wrong or something. Not sure what happened really, except that I ended up falling down three or four steps and landed hard on my tush and arm. Everything hurt all over and Aidan corrected my language. How embarrassing! B came to my rescue and checked to make sure nothing was broken. He took over finishing dinner and put the kids to bed after getting me some advil. Still a bit sore this morning but not like last night. Last year the ice jumped up and bit me and this year so far it has been my steps. Just call me Grace...

No more earplugs!

Aidan went to see the nurse at the ENT office today for his quarterly check. His tubes had come out and were sitting in his ear canal. She fished them out and he is done. No more earplugs and hopefully continued wellness as the throat looks good as well. Yippee! No more worrying about if we have earplugs on visits to Texas or the local lake. What a relief!

Ladies Bible Study...

I signed up for spring bible study this morning and I am a little concerned. I am not sure what came over me to pick the study I picked. I have been compelled to do it before and didn't. Here I was presented with 2 studies that I wanted to do and I picked the one I think I should have picked last fall. Not sure what came over me today except maybe the encouragement of a friend. The lesson is timely to be sure, but I am nervous. Will I be able to make it through. For this one I feel ill-equiped and I don't usually go into these feeling so ill-equipped. Silly post, but this is on my mind today. Any thoughts? God at work on me...maybe. Hummm, I need to mull on this a bit.

Making progress...

in not caring so much what other people think. Typically when I have people come over, I jump through hoops getting the house clean and picked up. Needless to say I have a cleaning schedule, but I go a bit overboard when someone comes over. This afternoon I am having a friend stop by for a bit. I extended the invitation to her as long as she did not mind the Christmas boxes and mess of me putting things away. She accepted and is coming over and I am not going to worry about it. Other that the boxes the house is clean and vaccuumed, but I am not going to stress and kill myself to get all these boxes down to the basement myself. That is my hubby's job by the way. B is also in the middle of a music project so I have boxes of CDs in my office. Not going to worry about it. At least they are in boxes and not on the floor. Not going to worry about it. So, maybe if I tell myself that I am not going to worry about it then I am actually going to believe it and not worry about it. What is more important here is that I am opening my home to a friend to show her that I care about her and not about how perfect the state of my house is. Mary not Martha. A lesson I still need to learn.

Resolution for 2009

I am not one for resolutions as I always tend to falter at the first signs of sickness. New routines tend to fly out the window and we have had some rough winters healthwise since moving up north. One thing I need to specifically improve on this year is the dealing with paper. I typically sort the mail fairly quickly and deal with bills and the like that need to be paid. It is all the other "stuff" that I struggle with, school papers, items to be filed etc. I have homes for all of these things but for some reason they don't always make it there until I have to do a major clear off of the table. They will sit on my dining table for weeks. I have even have been so bold as to dust around them! I am resolving to improve in this area...no more dining table filing! Aidan's papers will need to get filed everyday as will, Ainsley's. Also, important mail will be filed daily. Receipts and anything else that is uneccessary will be shredded once it is recorded in our checking system. I must reign in the paper monster before I go nuts! I am saying this because in cleaning out a paper tray, I happened upon a thank you card that I never gave my friend. I am such a louse. She is going to laugh when I give it to her because heaven knows what it was for and when it was from. Well, I had to get that off my chest. Now back to putting away Christmas for a bit longer before starting dinner. Later tater tots!



By the way, Aidan had a belated Christmas party today since they had a snow day on the original day it was scheduled. Poor thing ate too much and is now laying on my couch with a tummy ache. Amazingly it was mostly healthy foods...he had an apple, 2 cookies, celery sticks, juice and a candy cane. I am thinking it was either the candy cane or cookies that sent him over the edge. Needless to say, at this moment he is not terribly excited at the prospect of having meatballs for dinner. Prayers to our dear friends the C family at the loss of a grandfather. Love you guys.

Hard at work...

B spent some of his time off last week working on some house issues that had been neglected. He also re-started his habit of changing all the batteries in the smoke detectors at the first of the year which he has not done since we moved to this house. In scouts, Aidan learned all about fire safety, making evactuation plans, and testing smoke detectors etc. B had fun sending Aidan up the ladder to get the smoke detector, B would change the battery, Aidan would test it and head back up the ladder. Aidan did not like the ladder part, but he enjoyed helping Dad.

More Christmas mayhem...

Christmas is always fun with these two little ones running around. They are very well provided for as we have many family and friends who bless us with gifts every holiday. The above picture is the one I take of these two every year before they make the mess!

Then of course there is the aftermath with all the paper and boxes. My poor Mom was getting buried in the mess while trying fruitlessly to keep things in order.

After my parents left we had a fairly quiet week with B working on many house projects that he has not had the chance to get to this fall. Needless to say though we did spend one evening with some friends of ours who have two boys. We met last year because Aidan and their oldest Mr. O were in Kindergarten together. This summer and fall we have been trying to get the families together from time to time and we made a plan to spend an evening together before the kids went back to school. Ainsley loves these two boys and I had to get this precious shot of Ainsley with O in the chair as she watched him play on Aidan's DS. I think our next plan is for the families to take the kids bowling. That should be fun! I hope we will be able to schedule a time to do that.

Well, this week everyone goes back to school. It was tough getting everyone up this morning, but I think they will get back into the swing fairly quickly. I am glad this otherwise is a fairly quiet week for us as everything seems to start gearing up a bit more next week. It is a cold and icy morning, but managing the car on icy roads is so much easier for me than snow. I just know how to handle my car on ice, to me snow is not so forgiving. I am hoping that this will be the last Christmas related post. I have a really cute picture of Aidan helping Daddy check smoke detectors this past week...something he learned is scouts. I will try to get that up here tomorrow. My little man hard at work! Later taters!

Long time no post

Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays is finished, I am hoping to get back to some semi-regular posting of pictures and commentary on our daily lives. This morning while B had decided to tackle some home improvement projects (I am so thankful he is handy!) I sat and the computer and sorted through our holiday photos. I am hoping I will make the time to share some here through the next couple of days. B has also given me the task of maintaining another blog for family to share since this site is mostly for my friends and myself. Not sure how that is going to go. Anyway, here are some of our more memorable events...

Aidan's Christmas program solo. Poor little man, he was soooooo nervous that day and he still won't sing in front of us by himself.
More crafting on yet another snow day. I accidently deleted the picture of the two kids together with their projects. I am going to have to check the dollar store and Hobby Lobby to see if they have more kits like this to keep on hand for snow days. My kids love this stuff!
Our holiday shipping. I waited a day too long this year to get everything mailed by parcel post. I had to pay the extra for priority mail. Oh well, I will try to do better next time.
My parents arrive from the Texas Gulf Coast and we kill them with a morning of sledding. We thankfully had extra pairs of boots that fit my parents so at least their feet would stay dry. I think that even though they were cold that they really had a great time.


We also made a gingerbread Christmas tree from a kit. The complete picture is at the beginning of the post. Also, here is the rare and elusive picture of me! Yes, it is from the back for good reason. I had terrible I-did-not-use-the-hairdryer-this-morning-then-we-went-sledding-hat-hair as well as no makeup on. Not that I wear that much, but typically I look better than this I like to think. Well, that is it for now as I have to get on to other things for the day. Happy New Year everyone! Later taters.