the start of something new

We are once again forcing spring--indoors, at least--with our seedlings.  

Landen did most of the planting last Monday and we have been watching them grow from morning until night.  This year's planting included Bachelors Buttons, white marigolds, poppies, pink and green zinnias, and cucumbers.  That's right--I'm going to try a little vegetable garden again this year.  The kids are very excited about it and they DO eat garden vegetables, so we will see how it goes.  I'm not going too crazy, though.  About as big as my dining room table is all that I want to tackle right now. 

A friend told me about these cute little grass planters at Walmart, so I bought some for the kids.  Nathan's is a bit behind (due to a little over watering), but it is coming around and we won't have a bald chicken for much longer.

The wind is howling today, making me want to bake cookies and eat all of our meals out of a bowl.  We already ate our breakfast out of a bowl with Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats.   That recipe is still a keeper.  It is also on my Pinterest Recipes board if you want to pin it for yourself!

Have a blessed day!

Mouse House

It appears we have mice again.  Ugh.

Landen said he saw one a few weeks ago, so we set a trap.  We hadn't caught anything, so I had forgotten about it.  Well, on Tuesday, I spotted some mouse droppings and a torn up Reese's wrapper beside the garbage.  Not good news.

A few minutes later as I was playing with Rachel in the living room, a mouse ran along the wall behind the TV.  I ran downstairs to get the mouse trap, but as I was coming back up the stairs, the mouse was trying to come back down!  It reversed its course and hid behind a pillow.  I trapped him on both sides and caught him in the live trap just a few minutes later.  The boys got to feed him to the dog when they got home.  Nathan thought he was cute and decided to name him Steve.

I know that mice like to travel with friends and family, but I was REALLY hoping Steve was a little loner.  Not so.

Last night, a mouse ran across our dining room floor and under our dishwasher while we were eating supper!  We put the live trap beside it and by this morning had caught that one, too.

That relief only lasted--literally--seconds as Teresa popped into our bedroom and said they had just seen a mouse downstairs!

That one is still on the loose.

More traps are on the list for today!

Potty Time

It's strange how having Rachel has made me more protective in some areas and more laid back in others.
Thankfully, one of the things I have relaxed on is my attitude toward potty training.
I used to throw potty training into the MOM Competition.  "What," I would say to my toddler, "You're not getting this in one day like ____'s kid? How can you do this to ME?  What will the other MOMS say???"  Potty training seemed like a mark to reach as a mother.  If my child wasn't getting it, put a big ol' mark on the failure side of the MOM wall.
Well, I'm over that now.
I am no longer succumbing to the temptation of making this some sort of personal achievement as a mother.  Your 9 month old is potty training genius?  Good for you!  Post your method on Pinterest, but I won't repin it anyway.  Potty training is like giving birth in its unpredictability.  You could do it 10 times and the 11th time will be different from the others.  I'm sure some children can train in a day, but I can't handle that kind of pressure, so how can my 2 year old?
All of my children have approached potty training differently.  Landen was a couple weeks past his third birthday, and it wasn't from lack of trying, bribing, scolding, and naked running around the yard. I was coming to accept that he would just ride out life in diapers until he became a senior citizen and it was once again acceptable.  Finally, with a little help from drops of food coloring in the toilet water (we had tried everything else), he decided that, yes, if he could change the water different colors, he would conform to this practice of using the toilet.
Nathan potty trained in one day with hardly any help from me at all.  His brother taught him how to pee on a tree.  Is there anything more fun than THAT?  Poop took a few more months, but wet pants were no longer a problem for the most part.
Teresa potty trained for almost a year, as I've documented on this blog, staying dry when she had to away from home and wetting when she knew a clean set of clothes was close by.  Often, she would pee while sitting on my lap in public just because.  (UGH!)
Now it's our Rachel's turn, and really, I'm not sure how it's going yet.  I started her in padded underwear on Friday and then our weekend and Monday morning were out of our normal routine.  She has gone in the potty chair and toilet, she likes getting an M&M, but she doesn't always make it in time.  OK, she hardly ever makes it in time.  She does NOT like feeling wet, though, so that is a small step in the right direction.
Yesterday, as I was reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear for the millionth time on the blue footstool next to her froggy potty, I had a little flash of appreciation.
I never thought I would appreciate the potty training process, but I did in that moment.
She WILL get it, even if it takes longer than I think it should.
And then she'll be on to the next thing.
What she will take from it is being an acceptable member of society.
What I will take from it is memories of time spent sitting beside my little girl reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Olivia, and Big Tractor.

Just like anything in life, the poopy pants won't last forever.

I might as well appreciate them while they're here.

Season Complete

The 2nd graders finished their season on Saturday.  After splitting the last two games with Faulkton, Northwestern lost this one in OT, 36-32.  It was a fun and close game and we are looking forward to next year!

Winter Vacation

David and I managed to get away to Florida for a few days last week.  First, we all celebrated our nephew Isaiah's 1st birthday!  He was very polite and methodical with his little cake. :)

Grandma and Grandpa were kind enough to take our kiddos back home so we could fly out from Sioux Falls the next day for St. Augustine.  

We took a very similar trip about 4 years ago, only in January and in reverse order.  This one was much better, even with pouring rain on Monday.  (St. Augustine Premium Outlets saved that day!)  

St. Augustine was established in 1565 and holds the title for our country's oldest city.  We only spent an afternoon there four years ago, so this time I knew what I wanted to do with the extra time.  I remembered seeing an old brick wall and I wanted to see what was inside!  So, we toured Castillo de San Marcos (The Castle of St. Mark), a Spanish fort built in 1672.  We didn't expect to find all that was inside those walls.  It was used many times throughout the history of the city to keep the British from taking Florida from Spain,  able to sustain 1500 people for up to two months at a time.  Our tour guide was excellent.  An interesting item is that under Spanish rule, all of the land and wealth were handed down through the women in the family.  The men were soldiers or had a trade and did as they were told. :)

The great feature of St. Augustine is that probably 95% of what you want to do is within walking distance of St. George Street.  We never ate at the same restaurant twice and still left many for next time.  

The sun finally came out on Wednesday when we arrived in Daytona Beach, just in time apparently for Spring Break.  It wasn't bikini weather for me, but it was warm enough for a walk along the beach in the sun.  I was afraid Florida would cheat me out of sun and warmth for the third time in a row (our trip to the Keys 5 years ago was FREEZING as was our previous trip to Daytona), but we were happy to each catch a bit of sunburn on our faces and actually feel warm.  Mission accomplished. :)  

The Kitchen

I'm a bit behind after vacation . . . here is my kitchen post that I wrote last week . . . .

I can finally publicly share some photos of our kitchen remodel.  It took the required blood, sweat and tears, but it was most worth it.  I LOVE being in my kitchen now and there is satisfaction in doing most of it ourselves.  

The brick wall was Pinterest-inspired.  I have my brother-in-law Rick to thank for envisioning the ceiling and beams and putting them up with David.  

Aunt-in-law Darla and mom-in-law Denise also helped us with painting and cleaning.  

We actually had quite a few visitors in the early demo stages who thought we were CRAZY.  

Maybe we were (I thought so, too), but I like where it led. 

With a little bit of luck . . .

Did you know leprechauns are real, they are 6 inches tall, and they very SNEAKY?  It's true.
It's time to try our hand at making a leprechaun trap again.  We weren't successful in catching one two years ago . . . maybe this year will be the year!  Teresa's design includes a straw ladder, small pine cones, and a soft place to land inside.
With a little bit of luck, we just might catch one this year!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Schedule it.

I spent a most awesome day with my dear friend Dianne today.  It was Rachel's first time meeting her, but she immediately knew she was in a good place.  Usually cautious in unfamiliar situations, Rachel walked right into the house and followed her to the toys, puzzles and coloring books.  When we pulled out of her driveway this evening, Rachel was sad that her new "Grandma" couldn't come with us.  Yes, even my 2 year old knows a great friend when she sees one.
It's been nearly 10 years since Dianne, my former fellow English teacher at Cresbard School, moved away.  There were sometimes that years passed before we saw each other again.  I had small children and she was busy with her work and family.
What changed not ever seeing each other?
Scheduling it.  Now we know we will see each other at least once a year, and we both look forward to it.

Another former co-worker and and her family have joined us for Super Bowl for many years.  We only live 30 miles apart, but we our lives go in different directions.  Again, we have our annual appointment.

My high school friends have started to do this, too.  It took us quite a few years to get to the place in our families where we could get away, but now we have this summer's weekend together already on the calendar.

Another friend and I only seem to catch up at funeral lunches.  We really must find a new place to meet. :)

I have two more friends with whom I'm working on scheduling dates.  Sure, we may have to cancel sometimes, but then we just re-schedule!  Eventually it works out.

If we schedule our annual physicals with our doctors, why not schedule annual visits with our friends?  It is arguably just as important to one's health.

I am, by nature, not much of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of person.  Add in a husband and four children who depend on stability and routine, and it makes it nearly impossible for me to pick up and leave at a moment's notice.  But--if I can schedule it, and especially if it happens during school hours, I can make pretty much anything work.

It makes me sad when I see or hear of people using Facebook as their only means of "talking to" their friends.  I like Facebook and believe it has saved my sanity over the years for giving me a portal to the outside world, but it isn't REAL friend time.  It was begun as a means for people to plan their social lives, not BE their social lives.

So, as the snow begins to melt, temperatures return to tolerable digits, and we venture outside our homes once again, think of someone you haven't seen in awhile and SCHEDULE IT.

You'll be glad you did. :)

Got a Minute?

Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks for a reason for your hope.

1 Peter 3:15

I was excited to receive these little books in the mail last week.  Recent morning drives had given me more opportunities to listen to Seize the Day with Gus Lloyd on the Catholic Channel (the only place I have Sirius Radio), and as a result, an opportunity to learn about these booklets he has written.  They are filled with 60-second lessons on Catholic Church teachings, with references to the Bible and Catechism.  The first is primarily apologetics, answering questions and explaining objections non-Catholics may have about the Church.  The second is a continuation of that, and also including answers to questions Catholics have about the church.  

At $7.50 for both, I couldn't afford NOT to order a set . . . or 5.  

(www.guslloyd.com)

I recommend these to EVERYONE, Catholic or not.  It's a great and easy way to learn more about the Church sixty seconds at a time.  If you're not Catholic, chances are you know someone who is.  :)  

"There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.” 

- Fulton Sheen

*The writer of this blog has not been compensated by Gus Lloyd or guslloyd.com.

Dry Onion Soup Mix

Even with the frigid temperatures this winter, I have weathered it much better than last.  I really don't feel "slumpy" at all!  I don't know why, but I'm just going to go with it.  David thinks it may be because of our new kitchen (I promise pictures when the trim is up!), and that very well could have a lot to do with it.  

Whatever it is, mama is happy and everyone is happy because of that!

Because I really like being in my kitchen now, I've been looking for and trying new recipes lately.  I mixed this up the other day as an experiment and it was a success.  I accidentally bought sodium-free beef bouillon, so it became even healthier.  I do have to warn you--a box that size in the picture was only about half enough.  I used some other bouillon I had on hand to finish out the recipe.  

Onion Soup Mix

3/4 cup dried minced or chopped onion

1/3 cup beef bouillon granules

1/4 cup onion powder

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon celery salt

Mix and store in a cool dry place for up to a year.

5 Tablespoons equals a pack of store-bought mix

My favorite hamburger recipe is 1 lb. hamburger, 2 1/2 T dry onion soup mix (or 1/2 packet) and a little water.  Mix, form into 4 hamburgers and grill for about 6 minutes on each side.  

Mmmm. . . .I'm looking forward to grilling season!

All the People Said Amen

I've been a Matt Maher fan for a few years now--ever since I heard Christ is Risen on the radio.



For some reason, I don't really remember why, I decided to give his latest CD, All the People Said Amen, to my sister for Christmas.  As it turned out, Amazon has this great feature that gave me the mp3 version free with my purchase.



I started listening to my bonus album and was immediately in love with these songs.  Then a funny thing happened as I was driving one day.  I heard "Here I Am, Lord" on the song list and thought, "Wow.  This seems suspiciously Catholic."  After that, I heard "Adoration" and knew something was definitely up.  It turns out Matt Maher IS a Catholic artist and also performed for Adoration at World Youth Day in Rio last summer.  (His "Lord, I Need You" is another favorite of mine.  There is an awesome video of that on YouTube, too.)







Unfortunately, he performed in Sioux Falls in February, but I was unable to go, due to the fact that my life is 4 hours away from there.  Maybe some day I will catch him again.

I think this song is a great, upbeat way to enter into Lent tomorrow.



We're all the same, in need of mercy, to be forgiven and be free.

It's all you got to lean on, but thank God it's all you need.


AMEN!

Honesty

Our elementary school participates in the Character Counts program.  Two years ago, Nathan won an award for Responsibility.  On Friday, I found a key chain that said "Fairness" in his backpack.

"That's good," I thought and put it on the island with his papers.  I forgot to ask him about it.

Yesterday afternoon, Nathan saw it and asked, "Where is this from?"
I told him it was in his backpack.
"I don't deserve this!"  he answered.
He walked away and then came back to say, "I didn't do anything fair!"

Obviously this prize was meant for another student, but I think Nathan has earned one for Honesty. :)

MS Awareness Week is March 3-9

MS Awareness Week is March 3-9.  Wear your orange to support those and their families who live with MS everyday!

This year's WalkMS:  Aberdeen will be May 3.  Team Many Steps to Fight MS will once again be walking to show their support.

We will thankfully accept online donations through www.mymswalk.org.  (Search for Aberdeen and then Many Steps to Fight MS.)  Or, checks or cash may also be mailed to my address.

We are always welcoming new team members, too.  The walk is painless--I promise.  You determine the distance and are rewarded with pizza afterward!  Wheelchairs and strollers are welcome.  :)