What's Up?

Our chives of all things!  My tulips gave up many years ago and the lawn is just starting to turn green, but the chives are getting a head start on the summer.  Nathan and Teresa--my picky eaters--love to go out to the herb garden and snack on them.  Add these oniony straws to their favorite foods which include tomato soup and deviled eggs. 

Weird.  I know. 

I noticed Nathan was out in the garden before we left for "church school" (religious ed) tonight, but I didn't smell him until we were done at church and heading home.  When I told him he smelled like onions, he said his teacher had told him that, too, and then he showed her the chives he had brought in his pocket!

Everyone's favorite kid--the one who makes the entire room smell like onions!  Nice.

Even after a shower, he still smelled like onions.

He probably will for most of the summer.

The chives have only just begun.

Big Brother Love

Today the older kids' treat from my shopping trip was different colored Post-Its.  They couldn't wait to start making signs and reminders for themselves. 

Shortly after choosing green, Nathan dictated this sign to me--his words, my writing. :o) 

Rachel is the best cutest baby on earth.

Then he stuck it to her swing. 

Ahh . . . isn't that just the sweetest?

Seven Little Words

Have you discovered the fun word game Seven Little Words yet?

I heard about it when I was driving to Sioux Falls a few weeks ago blissfully listening to whatever I wanted to on the radio.  A couple of talk show hosts were discussing this new iPad app called Seven Little Words and callers were trying to help figure out the last few words for that day's puzzle. 
I told my sister-in-law Jodi about it when we got to our destination.  After the first puzzle, I was ready to buy an iPad just to play that game every day!  The puzzles provide just the right amount of challenge in order to be fun, but are still not too time consuming to complete.

I don't have an iPad and my cell phone is so far behind it's embarrassing, so I kind of forgot about it until today.  In a moment of much needed sanity this afternoon, I searched for it online and found it! 
I have never done a Sudoku puzzle.  Even though there is no math involved, the numbers completely turned me off.  (On a side note, there was a recent study done linking numbers to anxiety . . . yeah--I have that!) 
But, words. 
I do words. 
I love words. 
Especially fun ones and Seven Little Words has a steady supply of those--seven every day!

A Walk on the Wild Side

 Hey, baby sister.  Want to go on a walk?  Big sister is ready to help you out!

 You look a little apprehensive, but you don't have to be scared!

 Here we go!

 We're just going to the corner and back in case you don't like your first walk very much.

After just a few steps, we already had to change drivers.  We're so happy you liked your first crazy walk with us.  Let's do it again tomorrow!

WalkMS 2012

It's that time again!
Time to prepare for WalkMS 2012!!
Last year our team was HUGE and we walked for two team members with MS--my mom and Susan, who had been diagnosed a short time before.  We walked in snow, but it doesn't look like that will be the case again this year!  With the walk scheduled for May 19, we may even get to wear shorts this year.
We would love for you to visit www.mymswalk.org to join our team Many Steps to Fight MS or to donate.  We always love to add new members to our team and all ages are welcome.  You may also mail any donations to me and I will be happy to forward them to the MS Society.  Make any checks payable to NMSS (National Multiple Sclerosis Society). 
Thank you all for your past and continued support of this very important cause for our family!
We walk for Grandma Shirley, Susan, and ALL with Multiple Sclerosis.
Who will you walk for?

No Such Luck

Nathan came home from school for the weekend determined to catch a leprechaun.  He had already built a trap in school, but he wanted to make one with a trapdoor on the top at home.

We researched leprechaun traps on familyfun.com and found a few designs to choose from.  The boys decided on this one with a rock climbing wall on the side and trap door on the top.  Nathan decided that the gold egg would be the perfect bait.

We set our trap for St. Patrick's Day yesterday, but we didn't catch a leprechaun.  Was it the lack of rainbows on the trap?  Was it because we aren't Irish?

We hope for better luck next year! :o)

A Little Faith for Little Ones

As I've mentioned before, we have quite a collection of children's Bibles and Bible stories in our family's bookcase.  Our kids like to read them and I often use them in my Lent and Easter decorations.  Usually I have them open to their Easter pages, but this year Landen has been reminding us that we don't use the "A" word during Lent.  He is correct.  (Landen says I'm not allowed to say it, but I can tell you that it starts with "Alle" and ends with "luia.")  :o)  So, we will save the pictures of the Easter story until it is time to celebrate and proclaim that wonderful word again! 
I added a couple of new books to our collection this year.
The book pictured above is My First Pictures of Easter, a board book that illustrates from Palm Sunday until the Easter celebration. All of the pages follow this same format, with a large picture on the left and several smaller pictures illustrating that scene on the right, with each picture briefly described or including a quote from the Bible. 

The My First Catechism is another wonderful little board book that illustrates sacraments, Christmas, Easter, and prayers of the church.  This little Catechism would make a great gift for a baptism or an Easter basket surprise, which is where our girls will be finding theirs.  If there was something else out there like this in print before, I hadn't found it.  I was so excited when I found this one!  Finally, a Catholic catechism for young children that wasn't published in the 1970's.  Thank you, author Christine Pedotti and Ignatius Press! 

This probably sounds like an ad, but I assure you it is not.  No one gets paid at this blog!  I just wanted to share these great little finds with you today.

May the rest of your Lent be blessed and may you never find bacon bits in your Friday clam chowder! 

Just a little Catholic humor . . . couldn't resist. :o)

Long Way Home

This week has had some tougher days.  I had been spending more time than necessary mourning the loss of what was and wondering what is to come.  Sometimes I felt angry, sometimes impatient, and sometimes just plain scared.
But, when I think of how proud I am of our nephew Luke, how many lives he touched on earth and how many he continues to change now, I feel so very grateful to have known him and that God shared him with us. 
I have faith in God's plan, even if I don't understand it at all.
I heard this song by Steven Curtis Chapman and instantly loved it.  He and his wife lost their young daughter Maria in an accident a few years ago.  Many of his songs since then have been beautiful songs of healing and hope. 
I can really appreciate these words right now.
I know we're gonna make it . . . it's just a long way home.

A Little Part of Me

Sometimes Landen will say or do something and David will say, "He's so YOU." 
It's true.  Landen may look like his dad's mini-me, but we share some of the same characteristics in behavior.  They're not always good things to share (like our tendency to forget or leave things behind), but sometimes they make me smile.
On Saturday night, Landen was lamenting the time change and how much he dislikes losing an hour of sleep. 
--That is SO me.  It's Tuesday and I am still trying to recover.  Someday I want to live in a state or country that doesn't believe in such nonsense!--

Then, last night I put the boys to bed and Nathan put on his baseball cap. 
Nathan said, "I put on my thinking cap, Mom."
Landen looked over from his bed and said, "It's a METAPHOR, Nathan."

I love that kid.  He speaks my language.

The Chair Project

We inherited these dining room chairs from David's grandparents.  I am not sure how old these wooden chairs are, but I know they are old enough that Grandma recovered them with this burnt orange fabric at some point.  We used these chairs for six years until they got to the point of being pretty disgusting with food, paint, and all sorts of assorted stains.

Our kids had been using our card table and chairs for their craft table, so (inspired by Nate Berkus), I decided to get them a real craft table and recover these chairs for them to use.

On a side note . . .

I miraculously did find a table just by casually mentioning it one day.  It turns out a friend of a friend had a round dining room table in her garage that she had been wanting to get rid of.  I actually started this project with the table, painting the surface with chalkboard paint.  After the chalk came out, however, David and I realized that it wasn't the smartest, although one of the messiest, ideas I have ever had.  So, it's back to the drawing board, or drawing table if you will for the table project, but it is functional for now.

So, I got to work on the chairs!

I popped the seats off and recovered them with quilt batting and this laminated cotton fabric.  Don't you just love the gears?  These chairs are now able to be wiped clean!  Wohoo!

I spray painted the chairs orange and then covered them with a walnut gel stain, which was similar to what I did to our office walls last year.  Finally, I sprayed them with a clear satin finish to seal them. 

I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but I am very happy with the result!

I'll keep you posted on that table project . . . .

Licorice

This little calf is named Licorice.  She is our first bottle calf for the year.  The kids are all excited and go to the barn to visit her several times a day. 
Landen sets his alarm for 6am to feed her before school--and we think he probably wakes up before it even goes off.  As soon as they get home, they are out giving her the afternoon bottle.
Welcome to the family, Licorice!

Camping Revisited

Remember how I feel about camping? 
Well, I haven't changed my mind.
But, I did go to an RV show with a friend on Friday and had my eyes opened a bit.

When she first invited me, I jumped at the chance (after securing a babysitter for the girls, of course).  My main goal was to take a little road trip, spend some quality time with my friend, and have a nice quiet meal in a restaurant!
It turned out the RV show was a lot of fun, too, and much more interesting than I had anticipated.
We had a great time touring all of the campers--from the pop-up tent type to top of the line motor homes. 
I decided that if I absolutely had to camp, maybe camping in one of those wouldn't be SO bad.  (Air conditioning and a shower are still mandatory.) 
I can see us maybe owning some sort of camper someday in the future, especially if we are able to take a multi-day vacation every summer.  Eating out every meal with four kids for several days in a row will get quite expensive.  A hotel room filled with our family doesn't leave much breathing room. 
BUT, the restaurants come with a cook and the hotel rooms come with a maid which are HUGE pluses in my world.
We shall see.  I have one stipulation before we even get to the point of thinking about such a purchase.
The camper's kitchen cannot be nicer than my house's kitchen.

Stay tuned for what comes first--the kitchen remodel or 1970's camper with a really bad kitchen!