February 7, 2010

Today I'm thankful for my kids.  Although they cause me much angst, frustration and gritting of teeth, it's easily balanced out by joy.

Today it was my turn to do the "Call to Worship" at church again.  Have I mentioned how much I abhor speaking in front of crowds (even if it's only a handful of friends)?  I stumbled through Matthew 5:3-16 this morning and I hope I didn't butcher it too badly. 

My mom rides to church with me, the kids and my niece each week, and on the way back home she had to make a stop at the grocery store.  So while she was shopping, I sat in the car and listened to the kids fight, whine and be difficult.  As I was searching in my purse for my cell phone, I noticed my reflection in a pair of Dave's sunglasses that had fallen onto the trashed floor of the Jeep.  I'm thinking I need to clean out the Jeep.  What do you think?  Can you "spy" me in amongst the rubbish?

As I was unloading the kids from the car, after we got home, the sun came out for ONE split second.  Luckily, my camera was in my hands at the time.  This was all I got.  We're expecting a really bad storm to move through late tonight/early tomorrow.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. 

After church, my cousins Erin (left) and Sharon (right) stopped by to visit and go through some of my purged scrapbooking stash.

Erin brought her little boy Jase, and Sharon brought her hubby Ryan (below) and her little girl, Ashton.

I ALMOST gave them a kitten while they were visiting.  Maybe they'll pick this one up on their next visit. 

I had a SCREAMING headache this afternoon, but I knew I had to finish my layout for the day, and take a few more photos for fun.  It was all I could manage to get the next few shots, before I headed downstairs for the Ibuprofen.

My choice of precision cutting instruments . . .

and a little inspiration.

Thankfully the Ibuprofen kicked in pretty quickly.

At least long enough for me to get my blogs caught up and my photos downloaded.

(And yes . . . this is how I edit photos.  Feet propped up on the desk, a glass of ice cold sweet tea nearby, and a multitude of paperwork to be completed, covering my desk.  I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have "paperwork".)

February 6, 2010

Today I'm grateful for the chance to sleep in until 7:00.  Bayleigh woke up at 4:00, in the midst of a bad dream *sigh* and I finally got her calmed down and back to sleep around 4:30.

Bayleigh is usually my child that likes to sleep in, but not this morning.  She was up checking on her kittens first thing this morning.  Eli on the other hand, wakes up going full speed.  He immediately wakes up wanting breakfast.  I can't wait until he's big enough to just get up and fix his own.  ;)

I woke up to a slushy/snowy world.

So of course, I had to go out and play for a few moments, while the kids were wrapped up in their breakfast.

Although I'm finding a lot of beauty in amongst the snow;  I'll be so very glad  . . .

to see some bright spots of color.

All this white is like a blank canvas just waiting to be painted upon!

I caught Eli playing around with a pair of daddy's jeans this morning.

I think he's got a long way to go, before he fills these out!  It was rather comical watching him try to walk in them.

And before Dave left for work, his birthday present arrived.  A Kitchen Aid Professional 600 mixer.  Although his birthday is a few days away, we went ahead and let him open it.  He's been wanting a good mixer for a LONG time, so I let him pick one out and order it.  I think we'll get lots of good eats out of this one.

Butterball got to spend a good portion of the day inside with Bayleigh.  If daddy knew I'd let her do this, he'd probably spank both of us!

When I went out to do chores this afternoon, my faithful companion, Fuzz Face followed me out through the snow.

Eli finally laid down for a nap around 5:00 p.m.  So Bayleigh kept an eye on him, while I took a bath.  It was SO nice to be able to shave my legs without one (or both) kids in the tub with me.  It's so seldom that I get this opportunity and it was a nice treat. 

I worked on tagging some of my layouts for the Library of Memories class.  I'm finding that my layouts are mostly of "Us" (my immediate family), and "Things".  I have very few layouts of "Places" or "People".  I think I need to start recording more of my surroundings. I'll be adding that to my never ending list of "things to do".

**My favorite photo of the day would be #8.  The second shot of Eli wearing Dave's jeans.  I like the angle of the little dimpled elbow, along with the light and the shadow.  What do you think?** 

February 5, 2010

Today I'm grateful for routines.  The weather was a mix between snow, sleet and rain . . .

and it continued throughout the day.

Since it's Friday, my day to maintain the house, I asked Eli if he'd like to help.

He loves this little vacuum and I'm glad he doesn't mind vacuuming the rugs.  I plan on taking advantage of all the help I can get, while the kids are still eager to do it.  I know before very long, they won't want to help out at all!

Dave had a rare Friday at home.  He took off work to try and finish up his research paper. 

As soon as Bayleigh got home from school, she took everything out of her book bag, grabbed her library books and read both of them in the first five minutes after she got home.  I'm SO very glad she loves to read.  Dave and I both love to read, even though it's become harder for me to get immersed in a good book since having children.  I'm hoping as the kids get older, and learn to read on their own, that maybe we can all spend afternoons lounging around together reading our books.  (I can dream, can't I?)

Practise pays off!  After all the practise we've done on spelling words this week, Bayleigh got a perfect score, plus three points for her bonus words!  I'm so proud of her!

On my way back from feeding and watering the dogs, I paused on the path to pet one of the outside cats.  As I was petting her, I looked over and saw the water droplets hanging from this plant.  It just struck me a bright spot in this cold dreary day.  Something beautiful to rest my eyes on.

When I came back in, Bayleigh had roped Dave into playing a game of Parcheesi.

And a short while later, Eli decided to play hide and seek from mommy.  He hid under the covers of the bed, and when I "found" him giggling under the covers, I carried him back to the living room for some snuggle time. 

Leftovers for supper;  Bayleigh completed her homework for the weekend; and then she and I played a game of Chutes and Ladders (which I ALWAYS lose).

I had planned on going to a card-making party, but since Dave was home and the weather was icky, I decided to stay in for the evening.  Maybe NEXT month I can venture out.

February 4, 2010

Today I am grateful for a sleeping boy . . .

He woke me up early once again, and I ended up shuffling my daily routine around, so I could get a little rest in too.

We got a little snow/sleet mixture this afternoon, and I spent a good part of Eli's nap time studying up for my first assignment in the Library of Memories class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking.

I've already learned a few new tricks in PSE and can't wait to get all my digital photos in order!

I finished up my layout for the day and then Dave and I both worked on supper.  He fixed Salmon, broccoli and corn and I put the finishing touches on Pizza #2.  Sausage and mushroom this time.  We had devil's food pudding for dessert, and the kids licked off the utensils.  It's good to be a kid.

February 3, 2010

Today I grateful for the simple things.  Like another gorgeous sunrise . . .

the antics of my 6 year old . . . who, although she's a big girl, held on to these little stuffed puppies until the bus came, and then kissed them goodbye . . .

my keys . . . which my youngest had "put away" for me; it took me over two hours to find them this afternoon . . .

a game of chess with my oldest . . .

the beauty and grace of the world around me . . .

my oldest losing a tooth that's been loose WAY too long, but not wanting anyone but herself to pull it . . .

and homemade pizza.  I tried my OWN take of the spinach and portabella mushroom.

It turned out surprisingly good!  I may have to experiment with another pizza tomorrow!

When I have days as hectic and crazy as today, sometimes it's nice to dwell on the simple things.  In amongst my crazy day, I managed to cram in a layout for the Layout a Day Challenge, catch up my blogs and emails, drive down to my sister-in-law's to take pictures of her kennel, make a trip to the grocery store, and still had time to maintain the house and fix a new recipe for supper.  Today is one of those days where my mind was going into warp speed, trying to stay one step ahead, and now I'm wired for sound and it's bedtime.  Hope I can wind down and get some sleep tonight.

February 2, 2010

Today I am grateful for diligence.  Eli woke me up at 4:00 a.m. yet again, and when it came around to doing my morning chores, I was really lacking motivation and energy.  But I MADE myself follow through.  I have realized in life that it's easy to talk yourself out of doing some things, "just because you're tired", or any other numerous excuses, but in the end . . . when you put one foot in front of the other and press onward, you will feel better about yourself and your accomplishment(s), if you "JUST DO IT".  (Gotta love Nike ads.)

Getting up at 4:00, didn't seem to faze Mr. Attitude.

He stayed busy right up until 4:30 p.m.

Saving the world with his Super Eli cape.  But even super heroes get sleepy (THANK GOODNESS!).  It gave me enough time to catch up on things and get my layout for the day done.  I believe we'll be heading to bed a little earlier tonight and hopefully the little stinker will sleep a little longer in the morning.

February 1, 2010

Today I am thankful for a new perspective; for art; and for another creative outlet in my daily routine.  Today is the first day of the L.ayO.ut A Day Challenge.  I've been looking forward to this for MONTHS.  (If you'd like to see my floudering efforts at scrapbooking, you can see the finished projects over at my "real" blog.)

Speaking of projects . . . back in September, I took a picture of the sunrise every morning.  It seems like the sun shines it's best and brightest in the fall, and no two sunrises are the same.

But in the winter time . . . seeing the sun rising at all is a wonderful gift.

I made several trips outside this morning to capture it as it made it's way through the sky.  It was phenominal this morning.

I love Monday mornings . . . (and yes!  I know that's probably a sign of some form of mental disorder . . .).  Back in the swing of routines.  Still learning to maintain, and balance it all out with a little fun.  While I cleaned the bedrooms, Eli brought out his toys, and I ended up getting side-tracked playing with the pigs, sheep, horses and cows.  We had quite a time.

After I finished my morning maintaining, I brought out some scrapbooking supplies and got busy.  (I really liked this overexposed shot of my supplies.  It has a soft surreal look about it.)

As I was gluing my fingers together, and cutting up paper, I looked back to find that Eli had fallen asleep on the couch. 

When Bayleigh got home from school, we played a game of checkers, and then I jumped into the meal preparations for the evening.  I fixed meatloaf, deer steak, broccoli and egg noodles with veggies for supper.  We're having leftovers for lunch tomorrow, although the family doesn't know it yet!