See You In A Week

This guy and I are off for a much needed vacation, alone! I am actually a little anxious to be honest. Besides going to the hospital to give birth, I have never been away from my kids longer than a few hours in a day. I think it might feel like a part of me is missing. I am leaving them in loving and capable hands. Thanks Mom and Dad, I knew I was your favorite daughter, well okay I am your only daughter but what ever....

I'll be back in a week with pictures and stories and hopefully a tan that doesn't wash off ;)

xoxox
Lisa

Excuse My Soap Box

* our idea of how a 7 year old should be dressed

Recently Avery had a growth spurt. I swear she woke up one morning and nothing that had fit her the day before fit. I had just bought shoes, no longer fit, jeans too short, shirts showing belly. So off we went to find shirts, pants and shoes. The problem was once I got to looking around all I was finding was clothes made for teenage girls that might be going to an under 21 club. Now as a hairstylist I do tend to go for trendy when it comes to clothes. I have not worked in a shop in years but you just can't get that out of your system. When it comes to my 7 year old daughter though there seems to be a jump from trendy into the trashy side of things. Once you leave the toddler department you are forced into clothes inspired by Hannah Montana and the like. To me a little girl should be just that, a little girl. They have time enough to be grown up. So off I went to find "appropriate" clothing for my girl. We ended up shopping at Carters on the clearance racks to get things for the rest of winter/early spring. Even still she will not be in Carters for much longer as they only go to a 6x. My girl is petite so we are still able to get away with some younger brands. We then went to Payless. I okayed her choice of a basket weave gold ballet slipper, but she had to go for my classic white t-strap with cut outs on the toe. I realize some think my clothing choices are babyish but to me they are what a little girl should be wearing. I love Kit Kittrege the american girl movie. They wore mary janes and t-straps and they were 9 years old. I was born in the wrong era I swear. I love the looks of the depression era, but would love nothing more than to be able to dress like a 1950's housewife. Well in my search for age appropriate clothing I was sent a catalog for Olive Juice. You must check this clothing company out. I would wear everything in that catalog on my girl. Classic, classy and totally the way little girls should still be dressing.

Love and Spring

My weekend was spent doing a lot of this with my love:

Today was spent doing a lot of this, because I have been pretty slack with school. Not totally neglecting it, just not doing as much as I could. So now the next week or so will be a lot of catch up work.

In the hopes of getting out of my February Funk I also spent time finding spring. I found this bit of spring in the front flower bed (which desperately needs mulch).

This is one of my soon to be semi-dwarf orchard trees. I am planning a postage stamp orchard in my backyard using only semi-dwarf or dwarf fruit trees. I am only planting 8 this year, 4 apple and 4 peach. I am planting in a box shape with 3 trees on the ends and 2 in the middle. I am leaving a hole in the middle with the hopes of having an intimate space to have dinner or a place to lay out a blanket and read books or do school.

And last here is a photo of some tulips I gifted myself today. It was a rough trip through WalMart with Keegan and to reward myself for not blowing my top in front of everyone and looking like that mom I got these to brighten my day. I usually would go for red or white, but am so glad I chose the yellow, they really made my kitchen cheery.

The Crud

Keegan has been getting a lot of face time here. But the poor thing is soooo sick today. Hoping it doesn't circulate around all of us, but I'm sure I won't be that lucky. In the midst of getting sick he cried and said"mommy i don't yike frowing up" Bless his heart, praying he feels like new tomorrow.

Fun with Cardboard

With some cardboard, tape, and string Keegan now has an airplane. He even has an instrument panel on the inside made out of egg carton. We are enjoying the nice weather today has brought. Dreaming of my garden that I will soon be getting ready.

I also started to prepare for my upcoming cruise. We push off in about two weeks. I am so excited. So today I went and got a spray tan. Every time I stand in that booth it evokes mental images of Ross on Friends getting sprayed only on the front because he didn't know to turn. To this day that is one of my favorite Friends episodes. So the girl tells me as she is going over the ins and outs of the machine that it might be a bit cold. What she should have said was it might feel something like ice water being sprayed on you with a fan blowing too. With my mom bladder I almost wet myself when that initial blast of cold hit me, I then stood and shivered the rest of the time. All in the name of tanning....lets face it girls everything looks better with a tan on it!!

Squeaky Clean

Before I had kids I kept a mean house. I wiped down the doors weekly and did my dishes by hand just because. I was always painting something or working on this or that, and I was always ready for company.

Then we started having kids, and with one I did okay. In fact it looked pretty much the same but with a small, I mean small, pile of toys. Along the way though more kids were acquired along with even more toys.

I find I struggle daily with just staying on top of things. As the kids get bigger so do the messes. The fact that they are home all day every day makes it even harder. Although I wouldn't give up my kids for all the clean houses in the world. I am somewhat hard on myself, and I am sure what I call a mess isn't that bad, it just isn't up to my standard.

So today after taking school on the road to Cracker Barrel for a late morning brunch, I came home and tackled the kitchen head on. In my opinion if the kitchen isn't clear and clutter free, no matter how clean the rest of the rooms are, the house just doesn't feel clean. Am I the only one that feels this way?





My floors will need mopped again, but I am done for now. It feels so nice to walk into a squeaky clean kitchen. Now for the next room.

*edited to say when my dad saw this post he told me to quickly leave the room and not to go back in it for a few weeks, you know to keep it clean...daddy have faith, i am capable of doing that while still using the kitchen, it wasn't that bad before...

A Little Painting

For fun and science we painted the solar system today

The kids had a great time. Whenever I give them a craft they are so content.

They all love to be creative, and the part they loved the most?? Wearing WalMart bags to cover their clothes.

Our morning will be assembling them and hanging them from the schoolroom ceiling.

This was part of our dinner tonight, the kids loved that I was being so slack. This is a true treat for them, I usually don't make dessert unless it is for a birthday. I could have taken more time with the decorating, (okay lets be honest it looks a bit like poo on top) but they were moist, delicious, and hit the spot. Tripp told me " i yuv chocyat"

Hearts Treasure

This morning I was having some much needed quiet time with the Lord. I was reading from my devotional Bible and the words really struck me today. It made me sit back and think and at that point another Bible verse came to mind. "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of you heart will also be." Matt.6:21 NLT. (You are now reading my stream of consciousness) This verse led me to reflect on where I store my treasures. I have been a busy bee the last week or so getting my home ready for a much anticipated arrival. I want my house not to be someplace we stay, but where we live, our home. I want my home to be a sanctuary, that reflects my desire to know the Lord and to teach my children about him. I struggle every day with the balance of storing up treasures here on earth or storing up my treasures in heaven. As a stay at home mom, wife, teacher, friend sometimes you loose focus. Gracious sometimes you forget if you brushed your teeth that day. I want to strive to store up my treasure where it counts. I also want my home to reflect a family that knows and loves the Lord. I want my kids to feel at home and comfortable and my husband to look forward to walking through my front door every evening, no matter the kind of day I have had. I want to remember to thank Him for all that He has granted in my life, and be content with what we have, not focused on what we have not. I want my hearts treasure to be the Lord first and my family second, and anything else, well it falls in where it can.


* this is just a side note, i found tripp inside the size small dog crate the other day. his own doing......