Currently…

….looking forward to spring!  Bring. it. on!!!

….loving all this girl has taught me about motherhood.  This is another favorite picture of her that reminds me of JOY unleashed!  I’m so thankful for her little life every single day.  I love my big kids too, but somehow DD3 is really helping me appreciate and love parenting and motherhood that much more.  x3 right?  I can’t explain it without sounding like I didn’t/don’t love my other kids the same. I do…but somehow parenting this time around just feels so much less intense and competitive and pressured.  Maybe because I’m older and see things with a difference perspective?  I’m not so pressured my other’s opinions.  Not so pressured by what someone else’s kid is doing/not doing.  I now know without a doubt that these years fly by…I don’t just hear it from others and say “Oh, I’m sure!”  I KNOW!  So I have less commitments for myself.  It’s just about being a momma and wife right now.  Nothing outside the walls of my home.  And that feels good and just right for me.

….love cooking/eating good food.  It’s my most used creative outlet right now. I meal plan and scheme for good, nutritious food with the lots of fresh ingredients and vegetables.  We’ve hardly eaten any frozen/canned vegetables this winter and it’s been one of our healthiest!  Coincidence?  Who knows!  We all like to claim we’ve got it figured out!  Not!!  Photograph above is Rosemary Roasted Chicken w/potatoes.  Very good!  Served with roasted cabbage steaks.  Lots of fresh garlic…fends off germs & inflammation!

….excited to have our own fresh produce again!  DH started a few seeds last night…onions, cabbage, broccoli and lettuce!  Talk about healthy eating!

….love watching Phebe absorb everything.  We are learning lots of hand rhymes right now.  This is what the mommas on the bus say…not a very good photo, but it works for me in recording the moment of fun.   Shhh, shhh, shhh!

….Love listening to Phebe play with her babies down stairs.  She LOVES being in the basement when Daddy is working down there!!

….You’ve likely all seen the poem, The Last Time.  Here’s my take on it.   I’m not a fan of the poem.  Savor the moments.  Live in each stage richly.  Then move along and the next stage will be just as filled with wonder and love.  And your heart will be full of all the “last times” without the grief of it being the. last. time.  I mourned all the “last times” with my older kids.  It’s hard on a momma’s heart!  With Phebe, it’s been different (as mostly stated above!).  I’ve really savored each stage.  For ex., nursing.  I loved it this time.  Each moment, I breathed it all in and just nursed her.  Didn’t read a book, didn’t surf the net.  etc.  I was fully present.  I did surf/read a few times and it felt like my heart was tugging at me each time to stop and be present.  Then when I nursed her for the “last time”, I wasn’t even aware of it.  We were both ready to move on and we did and I don’t think I shed a single tear this time.   But that’s just me and I’m not bashing anyone who has shared it with me or loved it themselves.  We are all different!!

….my motto lately…

….working hard at eating much less sugar and spending much less money.  Ouch, LOL!  But it’s going good and a wonderful work in self-discipline and getting/keeping busy with what I already have!

…..we’ll soon have a 16 year old in the house!  Whoot!  We’ve been busy planning her birthday meal and class treats (yes she still loves to bring in treats and you can bet her class mates and teachers still love it too!  A few of them still bring in treats too.).   We love using Pinterest for birthday planning!

….reading lots of interactive toddler board books.  I reserve a bunch from our library, and then I save them for our church meetings.  Then they are new and exciting.  Books are slowly keeping her more and more occupied during meeting!

All for now!  I have a TON of March birthday cards to be making!!  I got the Sweet 16 one made yesterday.  I’ll soon be able to share a few!

Currently…

Oh how I love to sit down and do a mental dump of all the joys that fill my mind!  The currentlys that I don’t want to forget.

Currently…patting this little head several times through out the day.  She is usually right at my side, busy in her own little world of play!  Pots and pans and whatever else I happen to loan her during the baking/cooking process!

Currently…excited to put together an order with the $200 I won during HYCCT!!!  Or more currently…ordered and have received a super fun order.  Now for a way to order more creative play time!

Currently…eating lots of fresh garlic (ex., on fresh roasted broccoli)…and we’re escaping all the germs so far!  Coincidence??

Currently…the key to keeping the joy in the whole baking/cooking process, is immediate clean-up (and clean-up along the way too).  It’s a must for me!

Currently…enjoying floor time with Phebe whenever time allows.  For the most part it does!  There is usually nothing I have to be doing and I aim to keep it that way!  It helps her find her playtime groove when she is unsettled and just simply creates a closer momma/child bond!  And right before nap time, it helps settle her down if we read a few books together.

Currently…Phebe still doesn’t like meat much.  But she loves noodles, vegetables and fruits (even pomegranates!).  She loves hummus…always startles me when I catch a whiff of wicked garlic breath on her…she eats it by the spoonful!  She loves beans of the legume sort, so that’s an easy way to sneak some protein into her.  And cheese of course.  And still squeezable food!  I figure it pumps in some extra vitamins and minerals.

Currently…looking forward to a new year with new goals and dreams.  Or more currently, thankful to be settled into 2015 and really allowing my OLW, Joy, to take me away.  It gives me brain freeze sometimes, but I’m slowly rewiring my negative thinking to more positive ways and creating JOY.  This is my new motto,

Currently…putting my new planner together…the main pages were FREE!  Yes, FREE!  Check it out over at The Confident Mom.  I will be using her blank templates and then adding a page of graph paper for each weekly spread for more bulleted task and list forming!!  A combination of ideas I’ve seen on Pinterest.  Or more currently, LOVING my new planner!  More on that soon I promise!

Currently…excited to try tracking one or maybe a few things daily for a year with this delightful tracking sheet.  It will be added in with my planner pages in my binder.  Or more currently, enjoying the process!  Surprise at a few things I didn’t think I would keep up with (like running 1 mile every day in addition to my power walks and yoga and sauna time), I am and other things I thought I would do better at(PL digi pages), I’m not!  More on that later too!

Currently…putting together my Winter Capsule Wardrobe based on the idea here. (speaking of fun inspiration from Elise!)  It worked wonderfully well for me all fall.  I’ve taken several things out for winter, a few that I didn’t wear and a few that were fall/holiday specific.  I aim to fill in the gaps with just a few things soon!  Hoping for a little time over Christmas break to myself to check out our local consignment shop.  I’ll also check out Target as I have a gift card burning a hole in my pocket (but has been kept saved for this very event…to buy a few things for my next capsule wardrobe!)  Or more currently,  enjoying my wardrobe and the few new pieces I bought!

Currently…the basement is still a work in progress and will be until the end of the year!  Spring is fast approaching (and that means more outdoor stuff and gardening), so we will at least have the basement in live-in condition and for that I will be thankful.  But details like trim and counters and storage in my craft room , etc will take their time getting done.  I’m fine with that.  Once everything gets moved OUT of my corner, I can use tables and the current storage I’ve been using.  The main contractor is done today and the drywall guy hopes to be done by week’s end.

So that’s a little update of what’s happening here!  I refused to throw out my outdated “currently” list, so I updated it as I went along!!

I’m on the GO a lot and just don’t sit down read, must less write!  But I have an ever-growing list of what I’d like to blog about so hang tight!!  Currently have a very wiggly toddler on my lap who HATES when I sit down, especially on this computer, so off I GO!

Around here…

I’m so craving some writing time, so I’m going to attempt an “around here” update.

AROUND HERE…

I’m pinning pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipes like I’m going to be on Earth for another 100 years.  Yep, way too many but oh they all look so good.  I actually ran out of pumpkin (simple because DH used my last can for his pumpkin pie baking last weekend.), so I restocked today.  Never fear dear children….(they sighed in relief last night when I told them I had wanted to bake some cookies but couldn’t because I discovered we didn’t have anymore pumpkin in the house…)  Like this recipe, and this,  and these cupcakes, and these, and this granola.  I made these and they were delicious!  And this was quite the treat.  Out of this world.  You get the point now??  🙂  It’s all about pumpkin.  Don’t mess with me!

I’ve got a long running mental list of sewing projects for November!  Thank you Pinterest, my sewing board.

I’m excited to make Phebe her own little trick or treat bag!  She is going to be a lady bug.  My own little bug will be a bug!  Her older sisters are so excited to go along and “help” her!!

I’m loving routine again.

Morning yoga sequence.  I can not stray from this one.  I’ve tried and nothing else feels quite the same.  I’ve done yoga every morning this week, and I feel a difference each morning in how deeply and effectual I am with the whole flow!

Thoroughly enjoying the Hope You Can Cling To challenges over at Splitcoast.com.  October has been all about stamping.

Homework happens a lot this year….6th and 10th grades.  From 4:00 on I’m Chief of Homework, Dinner Prep and Phebe Entertainer.  Phebe has to be kept occupied during piano practices or else she is quite adamant about offering accompaniment to the songs they play!  Snack time in her high chair usually works.

Reading just isn’t happening and it needs to.  Got a good stash of books, both fiction and non.

Flu season is upon us I hear.  So I’m ramping up our healthy eating.  Vitamins, check.  Fresh garden produce, check.  Wash hands, check.  Sleep, check.  Drink more tea, check.  Eat less sugar, check, er, maybe….

I really want a cleaner blog style and don’t know how to go about it or where to look.  I don’t like the current arrangement.  I want some clean and simple and easy to read and see the side bar things I’m participating in.

That’s enough for now!  Have a lovely weekend.  It’s all about applesauce making and pumping carving for us tomorrow.

 

Around here…

Been sooo long.  But, hey!  That’s life on the funny farm.  Life is good and I find myself enjoying each and every moment.  For the most part.  Every so often there is a day or two when I get caught in some funk of a mood that throws me for a loop.  But overall, it’s all good.

Around here…the wee one learned that crawling is SO much more. Like getting from point A to B and getting into things all along the way.  I think I finally heard DD1 tell her “Noooooooo Phebe-b!!”  Ha!  Momma has said “no-no” for awhile now!

Around here….I just warmed up a 1/2 cup of coffee left over from this morning’s coffee break.  My dad likely rolled over in his grave.  I’ve never warmed up coffee before.  Well, just because it’s not something you do!  But I’m tired of throwing half drunken cups of delicious coffee away because the wee one woke up.  It wasn’t so bad.  Of course, I had a chocolate chip cookie to go with it.

Around here…Yep, the wee one slept in until 9:40 this morning.  This hasn’t happened in a couple of weeks!!!  So I went  back to bed too.  Felt sooo wonderful.  Her naps have also been very cut short lately too.  She is growing through  a Wonder Week.  But having taken off with this crawling business for real last night may have closed the gap on some of those not quite connected hot wires in her brain and so I hope the short nap phase is over for a little while again.

Around here…LOTS of decluttering is happening.  Lots getting moved out of this house.  I don’t believe in garage sales anymore.  It’s just so easy to take it off to the thrift shop and be done with it.  I do have a few things to try selling online, but I’m dragging my feet on that.  I tried one thing and it just brings about questions that you have to answer etc and no sale yet.

Around here…not much craft time is had.  Some days I struggle with it, other days I’m ok with it.  It’s a phase in life and “this too shall pass”.  I’m trying to participate in a 100 days of creativity project.  For me I’m changing it to 100 days of joy.  Doing just one little thing that brings me joy every day.  I’ll hopefully share those things in another post.  Though this post has been about 3 weeks in coming!  But I’ve been encouraged by some friends to find creativity in other venues.  Not just card making or sewing or what I’m used to.  Be creative with how I’m creative!  🙂

Beautiful evening sunlight at 7pm!

.  

Maxi skirts are great for peek-a-boo games!

Princess!

  

 Backyard swinging,

 

Out and about over Easter break,

The power of leftovers,

Dad’s grave,

Thank yous going out and the power of a hand written note,

A misty walk/jog with mommy this morning!  She got a nice cool mist facial.

 

 

 

Around here…

This yoga practice awakes the energy within me every.time.  It really, really unlocks stalled and stagnant energy.  It helps me set intentions for the day that stick with me.  And it’s only 20 minutes.  I love longer sessions, but right now, I need something and this works!  Her bedtime yoga practice is a wonderful flow also.

I’m going to be using this tutorial soon for this awesome skirt I got from Target. Love, love, love the ruffles, but these skirts run BIG.  I’m usually small, but I’ve never found myself needing an XS!  Gasp (totally the sizing of this skirt and nothing to do with me being small…I’m still working on baby fat!)  But b/c everyone else is needing the x-small, that size is now sold out.  I have it in the grey and the wharf teal.  That’s one of my favorite colors.  I also love all their maxi skirts.  Walmart has some too that I got for the kids.  I think maxi skirts will be my new uniform!  I’m weary of my long Maurices jean skirts.  Time for a change!

It’s birthday week here and we’ve enjoyed celebrating a certain 15 year old’s special day twice!  Now on to celebrate DH’s birthday.  It’s today, but we’ll celebrate Monday.  We have some other wonderful family plans in the meantime!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Birthday Cake

This cake truly got better with age!  I hope I age as nicely!!  😉

Visiting with Poppa on the phone.  The first year we haven’t celebrated with him.  We missed him.

Birthday meal prep…Chicken Alfredo (don’t use the whole TBSP of salt…I used 2 tsp and it was just right!), roasted asparagus, Caesar salad, and garlic bread.

And on to birthday shopping for Daddy, one of our first sunny, warm spring days (I’m so jealous seeing some of the people I follow on IG that live in warmer climates posting pics of blooming forsythia and other spring things popping up out of the muddy ground).  Glorious to be out and about and Phebe’s first time out of her car seat for shopping in the cart!  I think she loved it!

I have a whole day at home today.  I hardly know what to do first.  But so far, what’s planned is mostly fun, unwinding types of things I’ve been longing to do.  With just a few “have to” things like recording receipts and catching up with some budget work.  I really wanted to go back to bed this morning (Phebe sleeps in until 8:15-8:30 lately!).  I did try, but I was so wired to get up and enjoy my home day.  I got up and did my morning yoga flow and immediately felt energized!

I’m addicted to Peanut Butter Egg M&Ms and Goldfish Pretzels…together…one of each.  Mmmmm………….

This little girl is on the move and has her first bump on her forehead.  She is so, so sweet.  I just marvel at her existence in our lives.  It’s pure bliss.  She is so, so, so loved!  Two top teeth are now in!

The snow is melting.  It’s warming my heart.  The days are longer.  These are not usually things that thrill me.  But this year they are, no getting around it.

March 6.  March 13.  Slow but sure!

     

It’s tapping time.  Phebe and I went up the road with DH to “help”, but mostly to get some fresh air.  Look at those smiling’ Irish eyes!

     

Country roads home, sleeping baby and quality time with my thoughts.  I’m so thankful for Godly guidance and inspiration that keeps my sometimes weary and sad heart afloat!  I’m also thankful for it’s effect in the lives others that are going through even tougher times.  Growing old isn’t for wimps.  And I wish I had the energy and know-how and status to do a sweeping overhaul/reform in our medical field.

And that’s all for today.  My yogi intention was to stay offline and get things DONE!  But I did want to blog a few things.  It’s a wonderful way to document life.  Along with my IG feed.

Around here…

Been awhile and I miss these “around here” posts immensely.

Around here….

It’s COLD, COLD, COLD.  And more COLD.  I, of all people, am ready for spring.  Things have been intense in our lives.  I hope we see the light at the end of the tunnel soon…and that it’s not just another train coming!!  Thank goodness so far we’ve escape most of the germs going around.  Kids have had a few standard colds, but nothing too extreme.

Phebe is a smiley, sweet baby.  Surprised?  Not!  And she LOVES to eat.  Oh. my. word.  Talk about intense.  She makes intense sounds and body movements and you can NOT multitask while feeding her.  There must be a constant bowl to mouth action going on until she is full.

March is soon to arrive, complete with most weekends already booked up.  School trip, birthday, babysitting, a weekend at a friend’s house, concerts, solo ensemble and forensics for one kiddo.  An o/n water park trip for the rest of us because DH is staying at one for a conference.  Two family birthdays in-house.  Taxes.  Dr appointments.  Major basement decluttering that I would love to happen so we’re in better shape for company coming in April.  Plus just every day life that has it’s own unknown adventures at times.  Whew!  I hope it doesn’t hold the other intense stuff that February held on top of this all.

Sweet baby feet!  I haven’t splurged on too many baby things!  But I love Robeez and these are beautiful hand-made versions of them!  And Chevron!

LittlePitterpat on Etsy

Sad, sad news.  Lots of memories tied into this beautiful store.

Gifts that arrived on the perfect day and almost brought tears to my eyes!  I had been wanting to put that very photo on a mug.  I’ve been in search of a new favorite mug and here it arrives in the mail from my SIL!  She wanted to be sure we got some February loving.  Yep, February.  And today is the last day of it, hurray!!!  I bought myself the chevron fleece blanket!  Wonderful to wrap up in during my quiet evening time.

     

Meal planning is a complete life-saver.  Loving my 2014 planner too.  Those pink stripes make me happy!

My geraniums are responding beautifully to their sunny spots in our family room.

I have new Pin board…Secret Stuff!!!  I can pin stuff I don’t want my daughter seeing…like for her upcoming birthday!  yea!

I started washing/cleaning/de-cluttering my kitchen cupboards yesterday.  To welcome spring!  It hasn’t been done in a LONG time and they are starting to gross me out.  I have tons of cupboards so it’s going to be a multi-phase project b/c I just don’t get everything done in one day anymore.  Imagine!  41 cupboard doors and 14 drawers.

Have a lovely weekend!

Time for a little update!

Baby has arrived safe and sound!  Here’s my current list of “Currentlys…”

 

Currently…starting to feel the flow of a new “normal”.  Ha!  When I wrote this down on paper (I haven’t been able to really sit down at the computer much so I’ve been making a list of my currently’s on paper!) it was before the “babymoon” was over.  Yep!  We’ve moved past the babymoon weeks and now that baby is about 2 1/2 weeks, we’re noticing the fussy spell starting up each evening.  Today, though, I’m hoping to avoid that.  I’m using my Moby for baby wearing and hoping the extra love and cuddles will help us transition into a more relaxed evening.  Finally had some time to research a bit about baby’s fussy periods and that is something they mentioned…making sure your baby gets lots of mommy time during the day.  The NEED mommy time.  We’ll see!!

Currently…feeling so good to step back into jobs/household duties that I couldn’t keep up with while pregnant and having so many yucky days.  Things like helping with the evening dinner dishes and vacuuming up the dinner crumbs etc that I would do every evening.  Making banana bread and other extras that just didn’t get done before!  Kids and DH have been very helpfully doing the dinner clean-up at least!

 

Currently…experienced a rainy day this week and LOVED it!  Whew!  While pregnant, I came to hate rainy days.  I felt my worst on grey, yucky weather days.  So nice to have that symptom or whatever GONE.

Currently…loving the nursing baby experience.  She is a good eater.  We also both love nursing in bed in the morning hours around 4 or 5 or even 6…we have no schedule yet!  She goes back to a sound sleep and I can get out of bed around 7 and she will keep sleeping.

Currently…loving the soft caress (I don’t wax poetic very often, but those were the very words that came to mind when I would land in bed!!) of our jersey knit sheets.  More so this was felt the first two weeks when I didn’t always get to sleep in bed for the night.  Sometimes baby and I slept in the lazy boy so she could get a better sleep.  I slept fine too that way, but there is NOTHING like your bed.  And after a hot plastic hospital bed, there is nothing like your OWN bed and soft sheets to cuddle in!  A nap during the day just felt like pure luxury in these sheets.

Currently…loving all the bright, bold flower blooms and evening garden walks with my husband.  His vegetable garden is looking fabulous!  We’re currently enjoying lots of fresh zucchini, green beans and beets.  We’ve already enjoyed lots of fresh spinach, salad greens and green onions.  Loved having a couple of flower arrangements to enjoy indoors too!

Currently…caught up on baby photos and enjoying them on our digital frame in the kitchen.  Announcements have been ordered and photos sent to Grandma!

Currently…holding onto these newborn moments.  They are so fleeting.  Already I can see signs of the newborn stage leaving…she’s almost out of her NB sleepers.  The NB diapers are starting leave little marks around her thighs and waist.  She’s more alert.  Happy sigh!

Currently….making use of baby wearing.  The Snugli worked while shopping yesterday and today at home the Moby has worked beautifully.  She loves it.  Snuggles right in!

Currently…not crafting much, but I did get a trip to Archiver’s in yesterday when we were up in the city.  Baby didn’t cry until I was checking out…how’s that for a good baby LOL?!

Currently….love take a bath or two a day as needed!  With epsom salts!

Currently…thankful that my kids still love her and the novelty hasn’t really worn off!

And some things I don’t want to forget…(some of these repeat some of the above!)

I want to remember…how she smacks her lips after a nursing session!  SO CUTE!

I want to remember…DH’s awesome coaching job and his brown eyes that looked at me with love and compassion when I depended on him to help me breathe through each contraction.

I want to remember…how refreshing the next morning always feels, no matter how weary/tired I was the night before.  A new day dawns beautifully!

I want to remember…how good our bed and sheets felt those first two weeks.

I want to remember…the love this little baby girl has brought into our lives from day one.  And some of DH’s first words after she born…”I’m glad she’s a girl”!!  Sweetness!

I want to remember…how good it felt to get back into helping out around the house.  Or just simply doing my own chores again!  Putting on a meal, nightly vacuuming, etc.

I want to remember…the goodness of others!  How they just did.  And did.  And did!  We felt so loved and cared for.  Secretly, I did fear the post-partum blues because of the changes of the last 10 years.  My mom and DH’s dad passed away during those years.  DH’s mom had no plans to come out b/c we are going to see her in August.  And I just felt like all that was going to make us lonely.  But our dear friends stepped up to home base and really saved the day I’m quite sure.  Yes, I was tired, but it felt good to be so loved and cared for and share our baby love with others.

And that’s all for this edition!  It’s need to be posted before it’s not current anymore LOL!

Recalculating again and HELLO!

I see it’s been awhile since I checked in here last.  So maybe I should at least duck in and say hello and likely goodbye for the good weather season.  It’s here!  And it’s been grand.  Today it’s back to gloom and rain and cold, but that’s OK.  I need a rainy day to be content to stay indoors and get a few things done.  Although I must admit, my energy dips on rainy days, so it’s not as easy to keep in gear.  And as you know, in good weather, my blogging energy dips!  🙂  I’ll try and remember to post baby news at least (if you are a close blogger friend, email me about being my friend on Facebook…the news will be there for sure LOL!  Ask to follow me on Instagram…even more pics go there than get shared on FB!).  But other than that, I’m taking the dive into enjoying the sunshine and good weather upon us now and soaking up life’s moments.  There will be lots to soak up this summer!!

Currently….

…..thrilled to have called our internet service on a whim just now about some computer issues we’ve been having.  I didn’t really think it was something they would be able to help with me, but just maybe they could.  I had googled the issue extensively over the last few days (yes days…I can’t stand just sitting here surfing/reading when I’ve got other things to be doing…) and had read enough about resetting routers and other “networky” settings, that I had an inkling our internet service just might be able to help.  And HELP they did.  They recently merged with another company and our computer needed updating with those new network codes and secrets.  The final straw came just now when I tried to load my wordpress site and that wouldn’t load fully.  Seriously???  So we’re back in business again!  JOY!

…..feeling very happy and light-hearted and thankful.  A feeling I’ve tried to describe to my husband and kids and can’t.  I just have nothing to complain about.  So very thankful.  Baby is soon to arrive and heshe is busy kicking and being active within.  I’m sure it’s a sign that heshe is excited to meet us too!!  After about 5 months of feeling gross and awful, it feels rather good to feel like my body is gearing up for labor and delivery.  I read a lot of L&D books during those months, but now that it’s down to the final 40 some odd days, I’m finding my faith deepen and strengthen.  God blessed us with this little bundle within, and I remember his very words at the beginning of this “This is of me, have no fear.”  So it’s with that, that I trust his blessing on/in my body to deliver this precious little one into our arms.  I just have to relax, breathe and TRUST!  🙂  A very dear lady said to me recently “We’ll be thinking of you!”  We had just met when she spent a night in our home during some special church meeting times.  We saw her last weekend at a funeral and I had something to give to her that she had left at our house.  That’s when she sweetly told me they would be thinking of me.  It melted my heart and gave me “warm fuzzies” b/c I clearly also remember feeling the thoughts and prayers of others when I gave birth to my older two daughters.  It was an awesome feeling!  And so it is, I find myself often welling up with tears (happy ones that is!) in a day when I ponder all these thoughts…

…..I have about 3/4 of my flower pots done!  So thrilled to be able to get this done before baby comes.  Thus the thankfulness for energy and a strong body that is feeling up to it all.

…..I have many projects to get done this month.  But I also realize they might not get done…and I’m totally A-OK with that.  I thought about even making baby thank yous, but they might not get done either.  Someone said to me recently that if I don’t get them done now, they won’t get done.  Oh well, says I.  There are very nice store-bought ones that I will have no issue buying!  Another thing I’m A-OK with.  It’s a hobby for me.  Look up the definition of hobby…something that gets done with leisure and engaged in soley for fun.  Fun!  Not stress and bondage thankyouverymuch!

…..my appetite has gone down again.  Or more so.  I just never have reached a nice hearty appetite stage with this pregnancy.  Anxious for food to be exciting for me again.  Thankful for a patient family that eats the meager offerings I put together lately.  Lots of spaghetti and basic meals.  Not my style at all!  Lots of salads though and they are tasty and healthy.

….I could easily live in an open-air house.  LOVE having windows open again.  We are not stuffy house people!!

…..I’ve got a long list of cards to be made.  Made two yesterday.  Didn’t feel the need to blog them though because they were purely CASE cards!  But they were fun to make and got done and in the mail with no photographing fuss.  I think I’m getting way too practical lately…:)

Instagram dump for some photo appeal…

A raindrop kind of day today;  Moby wearing practice with a doll; bedroom window view; May day gift; summer cheer; front door; fresh basil growing; hot day refreshing; gardening; lilacs POPPING; greenhouse visits;       DD2’s homemade Scotcheroos; spring beauty; solo picnic lunch; baby prep; pancake dinner; unnecessary packaging; cheesecake, sunsets, geranium shadows; shoe central.

LIFE IS GOOD!

And the recalculating since my last calculation post April 2nd…

February is even longer gone!  Whoot!!

10 more days to a birthday celebration in our house!

8 more days to an anniversary celebration in our house!

24 more days to Memorial Day…and a yummy potluck!

Just one more doctor appointment for my dad next week.  I think anyways…unless a new one crops up out of that one!!

34 more days until the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!  Yippeee skippeee!!

Birthing suites have been toured.  My bags and diaper bag are mostly packed!

Bassinet dolls still need to be evicted!

DD1’s ABC scrapbook is done and she got 100% on it.

3 more school functions to attend.

Happy days indeed!

Currently…

Currently…it’s another rainy, grey day!  Hurray!  (….not….but I refuse to complain so there!)

Currently…I have a plea on Facebook to PLEASE give blood if you are healthy and strong.  Please!  The request comes not only because of the #bostonmarathon, but at an even more personal level of a dear one needing transfusions/platelets as they try to diagnose her issues at hand.  It may take an hour of your time, but it’s such a worthy cause.  And you will get treats at the end….just sayin’.  It’s not my cup of tea, but I finally went.  Wasn’t a fun first experience, but I bravely went back and every other time has been just fine.  I can’t go now because of pregnancy but I’m very anxious to get out there and give when I can safely do it.

Currently…waiting to hear back from a company that wants me to return a $9 pack of cardstock when it was their mistake I didn’t get the right color.  Seriously?  They will reimburse me up to $5.15 to send it back…when the pack only costs $9 to begin with??  I’ve heard their customer service isn’t up-to-date with today’s quality standards (inconveniencing the customer to fix their mistake??  Out-of-date IMHO) and I do cringe every time I order from them.  (Papertrey Ink to release any suspense…).  But I do love their product, but….

Currently…kids have early release and we will be finishing up DD1’s ABC scrapbook.

Currently…craving cheesecake…’nuf said!

Currently…time is flying all of the sudden!  Hurray!

Currently…thankful for company in whose presence you are totally at ease.  Totally.  Lots of things in common.  No competition.  Just a super time together.

Currently…thankful for heartfelt blog posts that echo my own heart’s thoughts and joys.  I don’t always get around so much to leave comments, and I’ve noticed I get far less comments lately too.  I’m fine with that.  I don’t need the pressure anyway of feeling like I have an audience waiting with baited breath for my next post.  This is my home and I live here and I’m not worried about pleasing the masses!  🙂

Currently…thankful for no aches and pains and an easy third trimester thus far.

Currently….keeping up on Project Life.  That’s where most of my creative time goes now.  Documenting life is a high priority to me right now.

I love that Project Life allows me to scrapbook special layouts and have a home for them!  And digital is just so easy.  No waiting for photos to get developed, no huge piles of photos sitting around.  Instead, they get taken, they get edited quickly and they get popped into a digital template and way-la, I’m DONE!  No procrastination involved!  The whole scrapbook process is hugely simplified for me now.  I know, it’s been said before all over blog and internet land, but it just is that easy.  🙂

I did  a special layout about our family fun nights when it’s nice out (one evening last week is all we’ve had in the last two weeks…)  We haven’t gotten our kids involved in organized sports as of yet.  Just simply a family preference at this point and nothing to do with our religious viewpoints, etc.

I’m off to eat some lunch and get some cards made before the kiddos are home early!

Have a wonderful day!

Spring rains and gentle thoughts

We’ve had a beautiful, gentle spring rain this morning.  I don’t know when it started, but it’s has just ended. I fell back to sleep after the kids went to school and  some quiet time listening to the birds and gentle rain.  It was divine!

I also feel like my soul has been greatly affected my a gentle rain of spiritual blessings and food!  It’s aways a wonderful weekend.

I’m using today and tomorrow to get my house back in order.  Wednesday I’ll be gone from the very early wee hours of the morning getting my dad up to the city for two procedures they hope to do in one day.  A heart cath. to check for blockages (and of course, if he does need a stent, that will be o/n and the 2nd procedure will be done the next morning) and then a pacemaker swap.  His old one needs a battery change, but they don’t just replace the battery with today’s technology because, of course, there is a much improved model to install!  So we hope for the best.  Bible study here this week and company coming for lunch Sunday so today and tomorrow’s cleaning will do for both occasions!  I like multi-tasking like that.

The end of the week I hope to treat myself to getting some baby prep work done.  Emptying DD2’s closet and filling it with baby stuff and getting a little more organized.  DD2 will have the hall closet.  She seems fine with it all!   I haven’t even gotten into those bags of baby goodness I bought last week yet…so!  And I want to find the online hospital bag packing list a friend told me about so I can see how I’m set for that!  68 more days!  Not that we’re excited at all, but it just all seems SO much more closer and easier to take in and handle.  Bottom line, I’m just not a good waiter.  And I also don’t handle not feeling good very well, regardless of how special pregnancy is!!  (Can you tell I’ve been told a few times to enjoy the process???  I totally know it’s a beautiful thing to carry this blessing in my womb….but when you don’t feel good most of that time, you don’t feel good and nothing feels very special about it all…)

 

Hall closet now,

Bedroom closet now,

 

I have some maternity clothes coming this week…I couldn’t resist another good Old Navy sale…and COLOR!  I did need some short sleeve tops.  I’m warm all the time and our Sunday church meetings are VERY warm…I can hardly handle it.  I’m counting down the Sunday’s that I have to sit in a sauna type room…just 7 more hopefully.  2 of them will be here and our house is not warm and stuffy….ever!

I’m loving helping DD1 on her school ABC scrapbook project.  It’s really getting me geared up to work on her school scrapbook.  Once her project is done and this week is over.

My windows are dirty again…but not as dirty as they were from a whole winter’s worth of nasty blowingsnowingraining so it doesn’t bother me in the least that I expended energy to wash them last week.

I need to make this breakfast casserole (I think you should be able to see this link, it’s an open Facebook page I’m pretty sure; our DF’s organic CSA page!) this week.  And also her granola recipe.   I’m still craving healthy food.  Had a Culver’s salad the other day and the man that waited on me said the delicious Strawberry Fields salads and some others will be back on the menu THIS WEEK…I’m hoping that means today!  I’ve been wanting to make my own, but seriously???  The strawberries this last week or two have been looking AWFUL.  So I refuse to buy them.

My geraniums are so ready to go outside!  I can’t wait to get my pots FILLED for summer!!  I’ll have to ask for help when I go buy potting soil and all…but I’m not bashful!  And I’ll have the kids bring up all my pots.  DD2 loves to help.  And my ranunculus bulbs are really coming up nicely.  They are the cheeriest blooms ever!

Spring is a time of changes…

from one bloom to four in a matter of a week,

     

and from plenty of snow still sticking around, to almost none…and today likely NONE!

    

And indeed, yet another change…this day has changed from rainy and grey to sunny and quickly warming up.  I’m off to get a quick walk in before my chiro appointment so my bones are loose and ready for adjustment!  I’m not feeling any aches and pains, just keeping aligned and well.  After yesterday’s sitting, I figured an adjustment would do me a whirl of good.  I’m trying to go every 2 weeks.

Have a wonderful new week!  I should be back tomorrow with my Tuesday Project Life layout!  Last week’s is almost done!!