August update

Hello, all! We've had an incredibly busy month and it's not slowing down! Hence, my recent blogging break during the month of August.

We're still coming down from the emotional high of Chloe's 4th birthday and the recent visit from my mom and gramma. See a zillion pictures of her genteel tea party birthday here.

Matt and I also celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary this week. Since my mom and gramma were in town we got to go out on a date. Woo-hoo! We crammed a movie, dinner, and putt-putt golf into our date night. And if you're wondering, Matt creamed me at golf. He's so cute when he plays putt-putt. He acts just like a pga pro lining up his putts and reading the greens. I prefer to use the whack-the-ball-without-thinking method. :) Which explains why I lost miserably.

Matt got me a super fabulous anniversary gift -- a car radio that works! Yay! We've been 3 years without a radio in the car. And let me tell you that music in the car seriously helps the kids when traveling. We're all enjoying the gift even though Clive was a bit confused at first (he kept looking around to see where it was coming from).

We're gearing up for the fall semester and getting excited (and a little scared) about the new schedule ahead.

How was your August?

FOUR

My sweet baby girl is no longer a baby! (Though in a very real sense she will ALWAYS be a baby in my eyes.)

I am in a slight sense of shock to think that my Chloe is breaching the 4 year milestone today. Obviously I admit that time marches at a constant rate but it doesn't seem so from my mommy perspective.

Watching this child grow from a screaming needy newborn into a functioning reasoning little person has been a true privilege and joy. I treasure my dear Chloe and I fully enjoy spending time with her, observing her personality blossom, and watching her develop.

I'm also super proud of my girl. She's helpful and obedient (most of the time). She can read simple words and she is an expert at imagination play. Chloe draws and sings and makes up her own poems. She's also very sweet with her little brother (again, most of the time) especially now that they're roomies. Clive waits up for her and then they "talk" until one of two things happen 1) they crash on their own or 2) Matt has to go up and give them an ultimatum. (I'm not a good bed-time ultimatum-giver so it's become Matt's job. I walk in the room and can NOT keep from smiling and giggling with them!)

Chloe is in an interesting stage right now because she's articulating her own thoughts and ideas more and more. Just tonight she said, "Tomorrow when I turn 4, will I be a mommy?" And then immediately after that she told me something unintelligible about God's rules for life. And then she started doing demi-plies while giggling. The workings of a 4 year old mind certainly are curious.

Happy 4th birthday, my snuggle bunny. I love you dearly and I am thrilled with how God has grown you thus far!

Summer treats

One of our favorite summer treats is watermelon ice. I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy popsicles plus I hate the fact that they're just sugar and water.

SO, our summer alternative is watermelon ice. It's super easy to whip up and a great way to use up every last bit of a monster watermelon. Our small family usually can only eat 1/2 a ripe watermelon in a few days. Instead of throwing away the 1/2 that gets overripe and mushy, I chop it into chunks and throw it in the freezer on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. After the chunks have frozen (1-2 days), I transfer them to a gallon sized freezer bag.

As you can see, Clive heartily enjoys watermelon ice. :)

Check out the recipe below and make your own batch for instant summer refreshment!

What special summer time treats do you make to beat the heat?

:: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Fruit Ices

1/2 cup each, sugar and water
2 Tbs. lemon juice
Fruit of your choice (see options below)

1. If you're not using bagged frozen fruit, freeze chopped fresh fruit on a plastic cutting board or a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
2. In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil, then boil until sugar is dissolved. Let cool; stir in lemon juice. Place frozen fruit in food processor and puree while slowly adding sugar syrup.
3. Transfer to container or ice-pop molds and freeze or eat soft.

Fruit:
5 cups strawberries (or 20 oz. frozen bag)
3 cups sliced peaches (or 10 oz. frozen bag)
2 cups blueberries (or 16 oz. frozen bag) plus 1 banana
4 cups diced watermelon
1 cored fresh pineapple
4 cups seedless green grapes
4 cups diced cantaloupe
4 cups diced honeydew

A smile for your Friday

What a ham my little boy is! He'll stop anything to say "Cheese" and give me a big grin.

In this instance Clive was "fixing" my bike. Please ignore the unidentified substance around his mouth. I'm fairly certain that's not dirt. :)

A very happy Friday to you all!

Scavengers, we

Ever since my mom shared the thrill of thrifting and clearance shopping with me as a girl, I've had the insatiable desire to seek out cheap items and to reconfigure old items for new purposes. There is a beauty and an inherent problem-solving nature in repurposing. Like a calculus problem with complicated variables and imposed limits.

During these warm summer months, I've found that I'm not just a cheap-skate. I'm also a scavenger. And my extended family is just as vulture-like as I am!

Since my in-laws and tia have been here visiting we've scored a table, an attachable child bike seat, and a plastic toy lawn mower all for free! Someone's trash has become our treasure. :) Our best find was a few years back when we scored a little tykes desk for free. And then this summer we sold it for $7. Score!

Of course, it's awesome to get stuff gratis but there are a few drawbacks to our scavenging tendencies.

For one, it's hard for me to say no to "free". My mom-in-law and tia have the repurposing vision and see a use for EVERY piece of junk lying on the roadside. I'm a bit more discriminating and I have a difficult time turning them down. They grew up in poverty in Mexico so I feel like a spoiled gringa when I say no to their finds.

Alas, there is the problem of space. We have a small old home and storage space is extremely limited. I really dislike clutter but I find it super hard to pass up good/free deals so we keep accumulating. Argh!

Do you scavenge? If so, what was your best snag?

Life in fast forward

August? How CAN it be August already? This weekend when we started Chloe's calendar afresh for the new month it struck me that our remaining summer weeks are waning.

As I get older it seems that time goes by more quickly than ever before. Do you find that true?

Our summer has been packed full of activities. For the last 2+ weeks we've had my in-laws here visiting. Tia Becky joined the crowded house this past Friday. We are thoroughly enjoying living, cooking, and laughing together in our small home. It feels like we're a multigenerational family from years past as we function cooperatively to keep the household running. I'm certainly going to miss their help around here!

For us the month of August holds a smattering of playdates, visits, and activities including Chloe's momentous 4th birthday. Agh! How can my baby be turning FOUR? Again, I note the passage of time in fast forward mode.

How is August shaping up for you and your family? During our unscheduled August days I hope to squeeze out as much summer as possible! Wading pools, bike rides, and grilling galore!

Smoothie recipes

I'm discovering that when cooking, some items require me to use a recipe. Take smoothies for instance. I can make the standard yogurt-strawberry- banana-orange juice smoothie without fail but as I venture into different fruit combinations it's not as easy as it seems.

Today I tried doing a peach blueberry smoothie using plain yogurt as the base. I added a dash of oj, some honey to sweeten and some ground flax seeds for extra nutritional oomph. Clive drank it down excitedly but Chloe was less than enthusiastic about my impromptu concoction and only drank 1/3 of her glass.

I'm convinced now that I must stick to a recipe when it comes to smoothie blending. Some fruits go nicely together while others aren't sweet enough or don't compliment each other well. I made a yucky pineapple kiwi coconut smoothie once that was awful!

The key might be in the ratios . . . I tend to overdo it on the plain yogurt and then I end up dumping in way too much honey to offset the yogurty taste.

I love the ease and accessibility of summer fruits for smoothie making. Help! Any smoothie tips or winning recipes for me?

Sunday night traditions

The quietness of a Sunday afternoon is waning. The clock reminds me that naptime is ending and soon clamoring hungry children will be underfoot.

Thankfully, our little family has continued my in-laws' Sunday night meal tradition of eggs and potatoes. Delicious and easy to prepare.

We don't regularly attend our church's Sunday evening service so there's no rush. Still it's stress-relieving to realize I've got a simple supper prep ahead. Ah.

Do you and your family practice any regular Sunday night traditions?

Picking up a Mexican accent

My dear mother-in-law is a native of Mexico. She's fluent in both Spanish and English. And she makes the absolute tastiest and roundest tortillas I've ever seen! By contrast, my tortillas usually end up looking like amoebas or the outlines of third-world countries.

Since I know Spanish (I should say I knew Spanish -- I've not used it much in the last 5 years and my knowledge is quickly vanishing), the more I'm around my mother-in-law, the more I find myself easily picking up her accent and expressions.

Last night while competing in our annual tourney of Eurorails I heard myself using my mom-in-law's signature phrases and even copying her exact tone of voice!

I'm certain the explanation for my parroting is due to our proximity this last week. My mom-in-law has been my companion in the car, on walks, and in the kitchen as we prepare meals.

Have you ever fallen prey to this speech-copying phenomenon?

Enjoying my in-laws

Matt's folks arrived Saturday afternoon and we are having a ball! I'm not saying that tongue in cheek either. We all look forward to their annual visit each summer. It's especially fun for them to see the immense developmental, physical, and verbal changes in our kids since the previous summer.

Chloe bounces around the house excitedly and snuggles up to Buelita (my mom-in-law's nickname) any chance she can. And my little Clive has taken an immediate liking to Gramps, his namesake.

We usually fill our time with games, walks, puzzles, trips to the park, thrift store shopping, house projects, and short movies in the evening.

My in-laws are incredibly sweet, gracious, and helpful people. I hope the days go by slowly so we can soak their presence up fully!

How often do you get to see your parents and in-laws?

Chloe's first ballet lesson

Today as I sat on the sidelines and watched Chloe plie, point her toes, and attempt an arabesque in her first ballet lesson, I was slapped in the face with how quickly her little life is progressing. Something about observing her out there by herself, functioning independently, and thriving in the midst of the class made me see her in a new light.

How could the baby that I held in my arms so recently now be this darling girl prancing around in pink ballet slippers?

I am unspeakably proud of her. I was radiating joy as I watched, a perpetual smile spread on my happy face.

Aside from my inherent mommy bias, Chloe truly did a fabulous job. She listened well and followed the teacher's instructions carefully. The other moms even asked me if Chloe had been in dance class before. Nope! She's just an obedient and respectful little girl (most of the time). And we've worked (and continue working) VERY hard at cultivating those traits in her.



The trite saying is true. These babies really do grow up too fast.

In need of physical "white space"

Recently I spent an evening in a friend's home. Her home was peaceful, calm and inviting. The house was clean, thoughtfully decorated, and uncluttered.

In stark contrast my home is filled to the hilt with stuff. Because we have a small home with little built in storage (i.e. no first floor closets) we often use that as an excuse to put things everywhere and anywhere. In reality, we have lots of space; it's just poorly used.

In seeing my friend's living area, I've finally pinpointed what our home needs - white space. You know what I mean, like the border of white margin around a typed sheet of paper. As white space is easy on the eyes, so I think strategic empty spaces in a home are soothing and calm-inducing.

Granted I have not forgotten that we have two small children who are experts at creating messes. I'm not referring to their playspace here. Obviously many areas of our home will be unavoidably messy throughout the day as the kids use their creative energies in play.

This afternoon I'm attempting to look at my home with a new reorganizing perspective in mind. Trying to rethink our current systems and come up with some better more efficient ones.

My initial thought is that we own way too much stuff! Several items we keep in drawers or cupboards have gone unused for months or even years. Why am I holding on to this stuff? So that I can have an actual gravy boat for the theoretical Thanksgiving I might host 5 years from now? (Sorry gravy boat, your days are numbered.)

Picture frames are also getting the axe. While I love being surrounded by photos of family and loved ones, we just do not have the shelf space to house them.

I'm sure this is the beginning of a lengthy process. How do you fight the clutter in your home? Any unique ideas you can give me would be much appreciated!

Sharing a room experiment

Tonight our family embarks upon a big transition. Tonight Chloe and Clive are sharing a room for the first time.

Though our small home does indeed have three bedrooms making it possible for Chloe and Clive to have separate rooms, things get shuffled around when overnight guests arrive. And guests will be arriving shortly! My in-laws are coming this Saturday for their annual 2-3 week stay.

Usually Clive gets moved to our room or vice versa but that does NOT go well for anyone. Clive's old enough now to know we're present in the room and that disrupts both his sleep and ours. And this mama needs her sleep!

So, the siblings are in the same room tonight. The new roomies talked, laughed, and sang until 10 p.m. tonight (WAY past their bedtimes). Other than that all has gone smoothly.

Any tips for us as we continue on this new room-sharing venture?

The lengths I will go to for free food

Oh yes, I will most definitely dress myself and my children up like cows in order to get free food.

To show appreciation to their loyal customers, on Friday Chick Fil-A offered free meals to patrons dressed like their cow mascot. I hastily cut up an old white sheet Thursday night, glued on black fabric spots, affixed makeshift cowtails with safety pins, cut out construction paper cow ears and voila! The kids looked adorable and had an absolute ball dressing up like bovines.

Did I mention we got free food? Score!

We dragged some friends into this year's festivities. They were great sports and jumped right into the craziness. :) Chloe and her friend Grace kept saying, "Happy chicken nugget day!" My darling calf Clive mooed cutely for the onlookers.

Did any of you participate in Chick Fil-A's annual dress-like-a-cow event on Friday? Or am I the only crazy one?

Boys and toys

My husband Matt is a treasure. He's dear to me for lots of reasons but especially because of his lovable quirks.

Matt is a genius in several ways (thinking, writing, inventing, and creative problem solving to name a few) but he's also a fun-spirited little boy at heart. It's been incredibly rich to watch Matt so fully enjoying the kids and our family life together. He is a perfect blend of silliness, sweetness, and seriousness. (And no, I did not plan to alliterate that last sentence.)

Now, I grew up in a female-only home so as Clive grows into boyness it's a completely foreign world for me. Trucks, balls, and dirt were not high on my play list growing up. That said, I don't get the fascination with motor vehicles. Matt obviously does though . . .

Matt's latest much-needed distraction from writing his dissertation has been the electric race track. It all began a few weekends ago when we happened upon a humongous yard sale during an after-supper walk. It was as though Matt was magnetically drawn to the box of miscellaneous track pieces and wiring. Matt snatched up the track pieces for $2 with ambition and schemes for the race course already speeding in his mind.

Long story short the yard sale race track was not ideal. Even after Matt's expert tinkering it didn't work properly. So, he scraped it and bought a $10 race track set from the drug store.

The look of happiness on Clive's face when he got to race was priceless! In all the pictures I snapped Clive has his mouth completely agape with joy as the cars whiz by on the race track.

That's $10 very well spent.

What toys are your boys infatuated with right now?

The mom bob

For ages I've had the same long mangy hair style. My hair USED to be shiny, healthy, and thick. Thanks to hormone changes from two pregnancies and thyroiditis my once lovely hair is frizzy and tangled looking.

Adding to the problem is the fact that I never take the time to actually style my hair. Sundays I aim to blow-dry and curl my hair. But even then it doesn't often happen.

My usual look is to throw up my hair in a ponytail or twist it around and put in a 90's style claw clip thingy. I'm afraid my hair style screams "harried-barely-holding-it-together-enough-to-shower mom".

While I LOVE the look of neatly styled long hair, my hair did not fit that description. Desperate for a drastic change, I got six inches chopped off at a local beauty school. I liked it for all of one day and then it was back to sloppy ponytails. The beauty school student merely chopped -- she offered no style or suggestions. Even after getting that much length cut off my hair shape looked the same! Arrggh. Even my friends didn't notice that I'd gotten my hair cut. That's bad. When my perceptive detail-oriented mom pals didn't see a difference then I knew my hair cut had gone wrong.

Tonight I impulsively jumped into the car after supper and stopped at Great Clips. And voila! Dawn, the fabulous Great Clips stylist, cut off four more inches of hair and gave me a subtly angled bob. That Dawn did a fantastic job!

So, I've joined ranks of American moms everywhere and succumbed to the mom bob. I don't care if I'm a conformist, I love this hair cut! Already the cut is proving to be easy, healthy-looking, and fun. I feel younger already. :)

What mommy hair style do you prefer?
















(Chloe insisted on tagging along and taking photos of the hair cut. Not bad for an almost-4 year old. Of course Chloe took about 10 pictures of the floor and the hairspray bottles before she snapped these keepers.)

How do you bring a little one to the fireworks?

Last year we took both kiddos to see a local fireworks display. Of course Chloe was buoyed through the lateness of the night by the promised excitement of seeing fireworks. Clive was only 6 months old last summer and was a veritable wreck by the time the fireworks began. And the loud banging and popping of the display didn't help his mood!

This year, Clive is 18 mos. old and would probably be able to handle the super late bedtime. BUT he's also sick and has been struggling through a runny nose and cough. Plus he's been extra snuggly.

Hence, we decided that this year Clive needs to stay home and forgo the fourth of July light-show. And Matt gladly volunteered to stay home too. (Matt can't stand the crowds and traffic jams that accompany big community events.)

This whole process got me wondering . . . how do you survive special late-night activities with little bambinos? Do you schedule naps differently or just go with the flow and recover the next day?

Whatever you and your family end up doing, hope you enjoy a super spectacular fourth of July weekend!

Summer Reading Program

I have fond memories of participating in and volunteering for my library's annual summer reading program. What a blast! As a kid I loved reading and it was especially thrilling for me to chart my progress and earn prizes. Since I never succeeded at sports, it was neat for me to excel in my own area.

Now both Chloe and Clive are enrolled in our library's reading programs even though neither of them can actually read. :) Funny, eh? They should title it a "Summer Listening Program" for preschool aged kiddos.

It's been especially fun to see Clive's interest in books grow. He's always been more into busy active playing but now that I've gotten books that pique his interest (i.e. trucks, machines, baby faces, farm animals, touch and feel books) he's constantly bringing me books and signing "please" for me to read to him.

And Chloe's filling in her reading chart fast! Since we were away on vacation we had to do some extra reading this week to catch up. We read for an hour and a half the other day! Not all in one sitting thankfully. I think I deserve a prize for all that reading out loud.

My only complaint with the summer program is regarding the prizes. I know our library works hard to get local businesses to donate free stuff and coupons but I'm slightly disappointed. I had hoped the prizes would be focused on books and reading. Instead Chloe's netted coupons for several free ice cream cones and McD's happy meals. Yuck. While I'm all for an occassional ice cream cone I don't like the message sent about rewards and motivation. How hard would it be to give away books, kids' magazines, school supplies, learning-related toys or activity books?

Do you and your kiddos participate in any summer reading programs? What are your library's prizes like?

Chloe's Violin and Vocal Stylings

Last night after supper Chloe held a concert for us. She "played" her toy violin and sang for our listening pleasure. :) Clive obviously enjoyed the music too as evidenced by his head-bopping and applause.

Ah, these are the days, my friend. Too soon these sweet memories will seem distant.

Hello out there!

Well, we are finally back from our lengthy visit to Wisconsin. Whew! We had an extremely fun time but we're glad to be home.

We've been home now almost a week and we're finally unpacked and back to mostly normal routines and sleep habits.

Check out pictures of part of our trip here. I'm ashamed to admit that 5 days into the trip I stopped taking photos. It was too hard to remember to snap pictures amidst the whirlwind of activity!

How about you? Any summer trips or special activities lined up?

On the road again

Later this evening we'll be transferring two sleeping children to the fire-engine-red Chevy HHR we rented for our big road trip to Wisconsin.

We're all packed and ready to go! Just have some peripheral stuff to throw into bags and load into the car.

We decided a while ago that driving through the night was our only option to maintain sanity while traveling with two kids. Chloe would be fine but it's the over-active Clive that would cause problems for a daytime journey. Goodness, he can't even last for a 45 minutes home from church much less for the 9-10 hour drive from Ohio to Wisconsin.

So, if you're up to read this -- pray for our safe travels as we drive through the night. I'll do my best to blog a bit while we're away. Later, alligators!

A teaser for the grammas

Grammas (and Shauna), this video clip is for you. This happy smiley boy is coming out to see you VERY soon!

In frantic preparation mode

Our little family is about to embark on a 9 hour road trip. Eek!

We're headed to my homeland, Wisconsin, to visit my mom, grandma and old pals in the Milwaukee area. I'm unspeakably excited!!!!

Needless to say, I'm in crazy preparation mode. I have several to-do lists and I keep jotting down more thoughts as they pop into my head. I wish I could be more systematic in my prepping and packing. Instead I'm running frenetically from one task to another and talking to myself lest I forget what I'm doing.

I know I don't have to remember every possible thing; it's not like we'll be stranded in a desert wasteland. I can always run out and purchase something we need. But I ABHOR wasting money in that fashion. When I am forced to purchase an item on the spot I get stuck with a horribly high price for said necessity. I cringe just thinking about the pain of overpaying!

Help me out. What items are usually overlooked and forgotten in your vacation planning?

Unlikely car blasting music

On our way home from a fabulous Target shopping trip tonight, Chloe and I waited at a crowded intersection for the light to turn green.

As is usually the case during the warm summer months, we often hear neighboring car radios blaring their chosen music. Typically I ignore the noise but tonight I erupted in smiles as I started singing along to the very loud music coming from the black sedan next to us in the roadway.

The driver of the car was singing along happily as he blasted the surrounding airwaves with "Do a Deer" from the beloved musical, The Sound of Music.

How refreshing, fun-spirited and joy-inducing! Here's hoping others follow in his musical-blaring footsteps. :)

Our car radio doesn't even work but if it did my number one blasting music of choice is the oldie, "Buttercup". Can't you just hear the lyrics, "Why do you build me up? Buttercup baby just to let me down? And mess me around . . . "

What music do you choose when the car windows are rolled down on a summer evening?

A stand-off with a 17 mos. old?

For awhile now we've noticed that Clive is a much fiestier toddler than Chloe ever was. Fiestier meaning he's super stubborn and vocal about it. He's done his share of whining and has already earned himself heinie-discipline.

Last night Clive made his stand at the dinner table. I usually serve a main dish along with some kind of bread, fruit and veggies. Clive is most assuredly a fruit and bread man. Last night he saw the muffins and the fruit on the table and he REFUSED to eat his main dish (a yummy bowl of turkey tetrazzini).

We tried spoonful after spoonful and he obstinately kept his mouth shut and vehemently shook his head "no". We explained that he couldn't have a muffin until he ate some of his food. He cried and cried and cried and still would not open his mouth for a spoonful of tetrazzini.

For what seemed like ages, Matt and I repeated our instructions to Clive that he needed to eat one spoonful before getting to partake in muffin bliss. The rest of us finished our dinner while Clive cried intermittently before finally calming down.

We regathered at the table to read a devotional story and Clive decided to try a bite of the turkey tetrazzini. We applauded him loudly and praised him profusely for eating his dinner. By the time the story was over, he had cleaned his bowl.

Matt stood firm and was not about to lose the dinner-fight with Clive. I was so surprised that such a young kiddo would exhibit such a strong will over a spoonful of food! And I'm so glad we won round one. Parents 1, Clive 0.

Have you all experienced this same kind of dinner-table-stubbornness? How do you handle it? Any tips are welcome! Is it just my imagination, or is this rather young for a kiddo to show such overt stubbornness?

Catching up

We've had a series of busy days in our little family! Here's a quick catch-up as to our doings the past few weeks . . .

Clive received yet another hair cut
Matt is an officer of the hair-cut police apparently. Clive's hair was getting squirrelly around the ears so Matt whipped out the clippers. He did a great job on the cut but Clive is looking too much like a big boy and not enough like a baby these days.























Yard sale success!
Though we didn't rake in mountains of profits, we DID succeed in getting rid of loads of stuff. Even after selling our unwanted possessions, our car was full of discarded items to donate to our local thrift store. Feels so good to have fewer stuff-filled-bins in our basement.

Chloe made about $10 in lemonade and cookie sales. She was SO ADORABLE that not many yard sale patrons could resist her. She even had a little friend over on Friday and they BOTH sold lemonade in their princess garb!!! Too cute!

And big thanks to all of you for the great yard sale tips!

My general observation is that I'm way too cheap a person to hold a yard sale. It was a nice way to purge our household of stuff but I am a horribly low-pricer. I firmly believe that yard sales should be cheap and hence most of our items were priced under $1. (Check out the cool display contraption Matt built!)

That being said, we still think it was a very positive experience. It was a beautiful weekend weather-wise and I got to chat with several neighbors both days. That in itself was a huge bonus! I don't know about your schedule, but ours seems rather hectic during the school year. We seem to flit here and there without spending much time invested in the lives of our neighbors and community.

Also interesting to see the various characters that attended our small sale. The funniest was a lady who haggled with me over every single item she bought. C'mon, as if my stuff wasn't cheap enough already! Of course I gave in. I'm no tough salesperson.














Pittsburgh zoo trip
In a word, the Pittsburgh zoo is AWESOME! I highly recommend it as a family and kid-friendly zoo. We did the zoo in two days and saw it all. They have your traditional zoo-ey animals including all the cool African ones but they also boast some unique zoo sights. The onsite aquarium was a definite highlight for us all. It's small enough to hold the attention of little ones and yet big enough to showcase a variety of sea creatures. Faves were the stingray pool with tunnel, the 2 story high fish tank with sharks, and the rockfish (ok, that was mainly just my fave).

The kids kingdom was fantastic! Well-planned with unique playground stops throughout it was like a mini-zoo in itself. Wide variety of animals too. We saw sea lions swimming, deer, owls, an alligator, kangaroos, a skunk, sheep, and a camel.

By far the best element of the zoo trip was the fact that we were all together and AWAY from home. Without the distractions of computer and work we were all fully engaged in the time together. We're already planning our next mini-family-getaway!

Check out all the pictures of our trip here.

























Website project completion
Not much to report here but after hours upon hours upon hours of work I finally completed and successfully published a website for a small church in Wisconsin. Whew! It was a frustrating and rewarding journey. I love the design process of website production but I'm such a hacker that it's always a long series of trial-and-error before I have a finished product.

With that disclaimer firmly in mind, check out the website for tree of life ministries here. I'd love your feedback and helpful comments!

Flowers and garden in bloom
No photos of the garden yet as it's really just unexciting seedlings right now. My ingenious hubby built me a unique raised garden bed that's perfecto for planting shallow-rooted veggies. So, we're doing cabbage, romaine and two other types of leaf lettuce. Also tomatoes, basil and mint in pots. All thanks to my wonderful master gardener friend! She provided me with the seeds and seedlings and is constantly available to answer my lame-o questions. :)

This year we have irises for the first time ever. What gorgeous blooms! The first batch is a deep purple; I can't get over how symmetrical and intricate the flower head is! As Chloe gets older we'll definitely do some informal study on flower anatomy and pollination as the iris is such a large visual for such things.

And our peonies are blooming! I can't tell you how much we love the ease of perennial flowers. It's especially exciting to anticipate how many more flowers we get each summer. This year we got 10-12!



What flowers are you growing this year?

I'm not supermom

Somedays I feel like I must be supermom. Today was not one of those days.

After a morning outing with the kids to the gym for a workout, I fell asleep on the couch while Chloe watched 2 episodes of Wonder Pets (gotta love those cute singing animals). I took a nap this afternoon and Matt gave me the night off from dinner-cooking. Dinner consisted of microwaved lean pockets accompanied by carrot sticks and orange slices. :)

We've had a series of busy days and today it all caught up with me. I'm so thankful that I don't HAVE to be supermom to be loved or accepted by my family (or by God for that matter).

I wonder . . . do you all feel the supermom pressure too? I think stay-at-home mamas might feel that pressure more than others. Since we're at home all the time we think we should be doing lots of extra work. I reason that I should prove that I'm working just as hard as all those moms who "go to work". Do you agree or disagree?

Hello, caring for, feeding, clothing, and cleaning two children while maintaining a basic level of tidiness in my home is plenty of work for me! Why do I also endeavor to sew my own clothes, make homemade-everything from bread to yogurt to laundry detergent, and grow my own organically fertilized lettuce?

I'm sure a big part of this do more pressure is a part of my latent human nature. It's totally contrary to my nature to stop and rest. BUT I'm reminded on a slow-paced day like today that I can do NOTHING good in my own strength. Anything good that comes from me is straight from Jesus.

Today felt good. Slowing down and enjoying the kids and my hubby without worrying about all that I've accomplished or not accomplished was intoxicating. Ahhhh. I pray God gives me more non-supermom days like today!

Freedom

As Memorial Day weekend is upon is, tonight I find myself meditating on the idea of freedom. Admittedly I'm not much of an American patriot. Granted, like most folks I tear up when I sing God Bless America (which we did at church this morning) and I am deeply thankful for the incredible sacrifices our soldiers are making overseas. But I certainly don't think there is anything inherently special or magical out the U.S.A.

I'm pondering freedom. Not just the freedom to live in safety, speak without fear, and worship openly (though I am VERY thankful for those freedoms and the American lives cost in defense of those rights). But I'm thinking more tonight of the spiritual freedom I have in Jesus.

In our church the last two Sundays the pastors have hammered on this essential nature of the gospel of Jesus. That we can do NOTHING good enough to earn a place in heaven. Nothing. And though I'm certain most Christians would ardently agree with that simple truth, I'm not sure we live that way. I know I don't! I often trust in and even boast in the outward good works I do to serve and invest in my family. And then I find myself running fruitlessly like a hamster in a wheel thinking I must do more, be better, try harder. In the midst of those pressures I hear Jesus beckoning, "Rest, my child. Sit at my feet, stop your busy-ness and be here with me."

The gospel says I'm free -- not just from the penalty of sin (which I honestly don't think about most days) but also from the pressure of trying to be good enough. What a heavy burden it is to try and try all your life to be good enough when good enough can never be attained. For what is "enough" good to satisfy a totally perfect and holy God?

Pastor Begg this morning shared this paragraph written by Charles Spurgeon who sums up this idea powerfully:

The Psalmist was wise, he rested upon nothing short of the Lord's work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is he who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never will be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do. [Morning and Evening, May 23]

I'm so thankful that Jesus has freed me from the pressure of being good enough for heaven. Of course that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to do good (hello, Ephesians 2:10) and to make an impact on my family, my community and my world for Jesus' sake. BUT I can rest knowing that at the end of my life my eternity doesn't depend on whether the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff. Jesus died so that I get a free ticket in (and you KNOW how I like all-things-free).

And that freedom gets me excited!

In need of yard sale tips

For some strange reason the people of Ohio say "Yard Sale" and not "Rummage Sale". They also call "string cheese" cheese sticks and a "grilled cheese sandwich" here in Ohio is more commonly known as a toasted cheese sandwich. Weird.

Regardless of what it's called we're holding a get-rid-of-stuff sale in our front yard this Friday and Saturday.

We're all getting pumped about the experience but now that it's looming closer I'm slightly nervous. I've never held a yard sale before. Hence I call on you for . . .

HELP!

Chloe is primed to sell lemonade and cookies during the sale. And I'm sure Clive will try to wreak havoc wherever possible. Which might mean he'll have to be removed from the premises.

What vitally important tips would you share with me for my upcoming yard sale experience?

And we're off!

Matt is now officially done with his semester of teaching at Kent State University! Woo-hoo! I love being married to a teacher.

And tomorrow we're off on a much-needed mini-vacation to Pittsburgh to visit their highly-acclaimed zoo. Well, I don't know how highly-acclaimed it is but it was featured as one of the top ten zoos in the country in my last Parents mag. Supposedly they have an extraordinary kids area and an incredible aquarium.

The Pittsburgh zoo website gave some terrific tips for planning a visit. Lesson plans and activities are linked and broken down by age bracket. The teacher in me got vvvvvvvvvery excited. I highly recommend their resources for summer zoo trips with your kiddos. Also check out enchanted learning's website for a huge assortment of printable worksheets. I've got several coloring pages attached to a clipboard for Chloe to use as we walk through the zoo tomorrow.

We're pumped! And exhausted from the packing and planning. Can it be that we have a trunk full of stuff to take for just ONE night away from home?!? It's slightly ridiculous. But I don't think we've packed anything superfluous.

I'm ansy to see the polar bear exhibit tomorrow. According to the website, there's an underwater tunnel visitors walk through and you see the bears swimming above you. Now that's something you don't see every day!

What animals do you and your kids enjoy seeing at the zoo?

Blackberry smoothies

Today started out slowly for me. I was weary and unmotivated. (I'd blame my thyroiditis but it could very well have just been that I'm weary from chasing after two kids. I don't know HOW moms of more than two do it!)

After coloring with the kids awhile this morning, I loaded Clive up in the stroller and we all took a walk. The Vitamin-D filled sunshine always helps lift my mood. We had a nice walk to the drug store and then we stopped at Dairy Queen to share an ice cream cone between the three of us. On the way home we even snagged a kid-sized plastic table someone had left curb-side. I'm sure we were quite a sight to see. Me struggling to carry the table while pushing Clive's stroller and Chloe walking beside us with a new-found walking stick about 5 feet tall. :)

We then had a simple lunch and I tried out a new blackberry smoothie recipe. Clive went crazy on his smoothie and resorted to chugging it instead of using his spoon. He's such a cute and messy eater! Chloe ate her smoothie a bit more slowly and I warned her sternly NOT to let Clive get a hold of her cup. He's snatchy and quick when it comes to grabbing what he wants. I'm not usually a huge stickler about keeping clean at the lunch table but this particular smoothie was blackberry heavy and a VERY dark purple.

While they finished up their lunches, I ran upstairs to use the bathroom (am I the only mom who completely neglects her own bladder until it's an emergency?) and was gone for a few minutes. Suddenly I heard Chloe's panic-filled voice calling for me as she raced up the steps.

When I came down I discovered the reason for her panic. Chloe had left the table to play and Clive reached her smoothie cup and DUMPED it all over the carpet below. I sat down on the floor and cried. It was one of those moments that struck a raw nerve. I cried for awhile and scolded Chloe angrily. Poor girl. I apologized to her later and spent some extra-snuggly time with her tonight. I'm so thankful little kids are such quick-forgivers!

Clive didn't know how to handle my crying. He stared for a few moments and then when he saw Chloe jump in my lap to hug me he came racing over too. That was an incredibly sweet moment. His darling little smile and whole-bodied hug melted my heart immediately.

Anyways, I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed some more using first water and then two different carpet cleaners. And surprisingly the dark purple blotch is almost completely gone!

After some much-needed naps for everyone the day got much better. Now I'm looking forward to a bath, Bible reading, and an early bedtime. Whew. This is one day I'm glad is almost over.

What's your worst stain story?

Is googling considered cheating?

Hope you all had a swell mother's day!

We celebrated as we usually do on holidays -- with special food. Somehow food is always the centerpiece of our family traditions. :)

After a tiring but fun morning serving in the church nursery (sixteen 13-18 month olds sure kept me busy!), we all napped and then Matt grilled some t-bone steaks for dinner. I told myself I wasn't going to cook but I did. I made homemade bread, diced buttery potatoes, spinach/blue cheese salad, and peach cobbler to round out the special meal. Chloe and Clive DEVOURED the steak and Chloe declared, "this is the best supper I've ever had, mama!" Can you tell we don't eat steak much?

The kids both were in bed by 7 and I enjoyed another kind of treat while they rested and Matt worked. I sat on the porch and worked the Sunday crossword puzzle all by myself! What joy and bliss! And thankfully the puzzle wasn't that hard this week (did you try it yet, ma?) so I nearly finished it on my own. Finally, I had to google 4 or 5 clues in desperation to complete the puzzle.

C'mon, I had to use google! There's no way I would have learned that Perth is a city located on the Swan River or that asahi is a Japanese brew without my faithful friend, google! And it isn't truly cheating because I didn't look up the answers in the newspaper. Right?

What did we do before google?!?

Today Chloe drew me a sweet card, Clive was his usual darling snuggly self, and Matt bought me a lovely lilac bush in lieu of the traditional mother's-day-flowers. Yay!

Wish I could have delivered hugs and kisses to my mom, grandma, and mother-in-law today! Oh well, good thing I have 364 more days in the year to demonstrate my love and appreciation of these amazing ladies.

How did you celebrate the ocassion and honor the mothers in your life?

Stupid choices

Since becoming a mom I've become much less impulsive in my decision-making. I usually consider the options and try to make the wisest, safest, cheapest choice possible.

Not so in the past few days. I abhor the word stupid. It's so harsh-sounding and mean. Lately I've earned the stupid label for my rash choices.

On our way to Bible study Thursday morning we were running a little late (we're almost always running late) and I sighed when I saw the last light in our journey turn red just as I reached it. I stopped and waited. I finished applying my lipstick and we waited some more. It felt like ages for the light to turn and since the road is under construction I reasoned that maybe the traffic light was broken. I inched forward and once the traffic cleared I proceeded through the intersection. As I coasted across the street out of the corner of my eye I saw the light change to green. No biggie I thought, I drove the last block to church and then I saw a very different set of lights. And they were flashing. Arrggh! Yup, I earned myself a traffic citation for running a red light. Even though I cried (the tears were very sincere, believe me!) the kind officer still issued me a ticket. That was stupid choice #1. And of course then I was upset and blubbery all through Bible study. The worst part though was explaining to Chloe that I broke the law. Talk about feeling like a rotten mama! In the moment it was trying but of course I realize now the value in it. I got to modeling in front of Chloe how to apologize and take consequences when I made a bad choice.

Stupid choice #2 came yesterday afternoon when I hastily searched priceline for a cheap hotel rate for our upcoming family mini-vacation to Pittsburgh. After seeing some higher-than-desirable prices I decided to go the "name my own price" route. I should have listened to my inner warnings as I read the non-refundable no cancellations policy but instead I dashed ahead. I was pumped to see the results come back - a classy downtown hotel room for only 50 bucks! My heart sank however when I realized that parking isn't included. And there's no complimentary breakfast or swimming pool. Arrggh again! Thankfully, Pittsburgh is not Chicago and overnight parking will only cost $10. And there's a McD's nearby so we can score a cheap kid-friendly breakfast there.

I'm thankful God shows me my stupidity and reminds me of His unfailing love and waiting forgiveness. I'm still His child and He'll always gather me into His arms with comfort even when I fail. I certainly need to be humbled before realizing the depth of my need for Jesus!

What foolish decisions/choices have you made of late? Have any of you been pulled over with your kiddos?

Online travel tips

My dear wise blogging friends, do you have suggestions for me on booking hotels online? We're trying to plan a short mother's day family rendezvous in Pittsburgh and I'm not having much success. As usual, we're doing it all on the cheap. We're planning to visit the amazing-sounding Pittsburgh zoo (we can get in for free with our Cleveland zoo membership card) and we hope to score a cheap hotel room for the night. With free breakfast and indoor pool of course. :)

Specifically . . .
1. What website/s do you use most often for travel planning?
2. Are there particular days of the week to search online for the best deals?

Thanks for your help!

Picking kay-boos

Since today was a lovely spring day, I packed up the kids in the sit-n-stand stroller and we embarked on a monster walk. We went to the drug store, library, post office, and park before heading home. Quite the outing.

Several times I asked myself, "Why did I do this again?" Like when Clive stunk up the children's dept. at the library (which has NO changing table or baby-friendly changing area) and I decided to change him on the floor amidst the nonfiction stacks. That was fun. Especially when I went to wrap up the diaper and in that millisecond he found the dvds and proceeded to knock 10 of them down in one blow. And while I cleaned that up he went like a homing pigeon for the junior mints in my purse and dumped them all out. Really fun.

On the way home from the park I enjoyed the breeze and as is our usual habit Chloe and I admired and talked about flowers. As we strolled past a vacant office building and noticed several lilac bushes in bloom. We snagged a few to take home and Chloe said to me, "Mommy, are we making a kay boo?" After questioning her repeatedly I finally realized she was trying to say bouquet. Some words must sound so strange to a three year-old brain!

Hope you're enjoying the springy flowers and making your own kay-boos! What flowers are blooming where you live?