one of the best ever...

"i love your honesty and candor."

that's what a touching note said that i received in the mail today. that's the kind of compliment that i can really appreciate, like it touches more on something that's on the inside. i am most grateful when i feel as if someone is looking in. thanks, jane.

out of the mouth of babes

i love how little children's minds work, and i'm so happy that i have 2 clever little minds living here. here are some conversations that happened over the weekend that i found to be hilarious.

will

he has been showing an early interest in using the potty, so i've decided to roll with it hoping he can be an early potty trained child. (wouldn't that be nice!) i help him sit on the potty a couple of times a day, and sometimes he wants to wear underwear. on this particular day, i took his wet diaper off and asked him if he wanted big boys on, and this was his response...
"noooo, i, baby!"

well, that settled that. babies don't wear big boys.

sam
on sunday he was at his grandma jane's with his cousins. sam had taken his 6-year old cousin's dinosaur. upon returning back his cousin noticed it had a bite bark. he asked sam why he bit it and he said he was trying to clean it. his cousins response was this...
"sam, if you're trying to clean something you don't bite it, you lick it!"

i'll try to remember that, lick to clean!

in need of some new material

case in point, how much longer can i really keep practicing my bow & arrow skills & allowing sam to take pics like this!?
ok, i had to face it, i can only play so much batman/superman/spiderman, make so many batches of cookies, go on so many walks to the park, take so many baths in the sink, read so many stories, change so many dirty clothes, scrub so many floors and erase so many handprints and art projects off the walls, watch so much bob the builder, go to so much story time at the library, jump on the trampoline, make pillow castles, teach so many home-school lessons, cook so many creative meals and snacks, make so many spontaneous dress up costumes like Indian headbands. are you getting the point? while i love doing all of these things (most of the time, except for when i really want/need a sewing break, alone time, or a chance to sit in peace and quiet.), i'm ready for some new material and ideas. i think maybe the boys need it, too. based on their whiny behavior the last few days, i'm quite certain they need something new. PLEASE leave me a comment and let me know what all of you other mothers out there are doing to teach, feed, and entertain your kiddos. i think i will reward you all, myself majorly included, with a regular list of children's activities. perhaps it will help us all, children included.

"egg"cellent!

i'm happy to announce that sam is now allergy free! no more monitoring milk or eggs. thanks for all of you who have helped monitor it so closely, and shame on those who never gave it a thought what they were putting in his mouth. and thank you sam for always asking people if it "had eggs in it" and being so willing to refuse the snacks containing eggs. the good news, it's over and no more monitoring for food allergies. how did we celebrate? sam wanted to make brownies with real eggs, and i wanted to make my favorite chicken noodle soup with frozen egg noodles that i don't think i have made in 2 years. sam even added an egg to that (he was unsupervised); thankfully it was just added to water that i could pour it out and start again. he's very excited he tells everyone he's not allergic to real eggs anymore, and i'm so excited i'll share the family recipe of the best chicken noodle soup EVER. i'm considering making it again tomorrow and again on sunday. :)



go with me on this recipe; it's one of those "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" kind of family recipe

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP RECIPE:

2 chicken breasts (more if you desire)
1 yellow onion, diced
3 carrots (or lots of baby carrots), sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can chicken broth
1 bag frozen egg noodles (this is found in the freezer section with frozen rolls)
lots of salt & pepper & garlic powder
a little cayenne pepper (WARNING: a little goes a long way, so if you don't like spice then don't use)
milk
2-4 tbsp. cornstarch

1. fill soup pot almost 1/2 full of water; i use an average to small size. if you have a giant one, then adjust the amount of water. add chicken broth, raw chicken breast, carrots, onion, and spices. bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30-40 minutes until chicken is done. trust me, it does take that long when you turn down the heat.
2. remove chicken from pot and shred. add thawed egg noodles and cook according to package directions.
3. once noodles are done, then add mushroom soup mixed with 1/2 can of milk. mix cornstarch with a little bit of milk and add. cook for a few minutes on med. to med. high until soup starts to thicken.
4. add shredded chicken and cook a few minutes longer.

this is one recipe you MUST try. you won't be disappointed with this thick, creamy, delicious soup. enjoy! i know we will be enjoying it all through the summer to make up for the missed years!

good times

wondering what to do when you get a snow storm at the end of march and your stuck inside with the kids all day? this is what we did today... and it was much to the boy's liking.

if that wasn't convincing enough, you must watch the video...

why did i wait so long????

i have had the fabric for these curtains for quite some time. i don't know why it took me almost a year to make these curtains for our dining room. it has made a huge difference in cozying up the place. i really do love them.

i could've waited longer to hang sam's new curtains. as soon as i got them up he asked "how i will i see the clouds now?" i make it a point to open them everyday.

relaxing weekend

this picture looks like our weekend felt. simply relaxing.
it was nice to have a break from the normal weekend grind. for the last 5 years i swear we have used every saturday to work on some remodeling project on our abode. we keep thinking the projects will end once the house is finished. yesterday we decided to live as if they were; that equalled NO WORKING ON THE HOUSE, and it was nice. do you guys spend every saturday working or do you eventually get done? just wondering what we have to look forward to. 

today was a great break, too. we only had 2 hours of church. i really think i could get used to a schedule like that. 

i loved sitting around, going to the fabric store alone, playing outside with the kiddos, going out with pete in the middle of the day with no kiddos, inventing some new things behind the sewing machine, walks around the block with all of us, and reading a great book (little pink house). a well needed break; the grind will be hard to start again tomorrow. farewell, fabulous weekend!

remember...

how sam remembers everything? the kid has a remarkable memory; he doesn't forget a thing. it's the oddest things that sometimes happened over a year ago, but he often recalls them. tonight as i was putting him to bed he recalled a strange event that happened before christmas. pete's grandpa was in the hospital and we had gone to see him. this is how sam remembered it...

"mom, remember when we were at the hospital visiting grandpa? i saw a man with a really big tummy that was so big full of goodies of treats. i wanted to talk about it, but you told me to wait until we got in the car."

yes, that happened exactly how he remembered. why did he remember that? i don't know, and i don't know how. this is such a small example of how he remembers everything big and small. 

where have i been?

not blogging. working on this blanket for my sister's new baby instead. i'm getting pretty close to being finished, and i love it. 

thankful thursday

wow! i am so thankful the stars aligned for me today.

i'm thankful pete forgot to take out the garbage cans this morning.

i'm thankful the recycle can didn't get dumped.

i'm thankful sam's friend harrison came over to play.

i'm thankful his mom came in for awhile so the boys could keep playing outside.

i'm thankful harrison loves garbage so much.

i'm thankful that sam and harrison decided to empty the recycle can on the ground and play "dump".

i'm thankful we are the kind of moms who let them empty the recycle can on the yard. 

i'm thankful that when the can was empty sam ran in the house carrying my car keys that have been lost for over a week.

returning

that's what i did today; i had a good, healthy return to my past, to my roots. it was a simple thing, really, but MONUMENTAL. today was that day that i'm certain (or hopeful) that we all have at some point. it was the day where i looked at my mother and thought "i understand you." i'm not sure why it is this way, or why it was this way for me, not exactly sure why i spent so much of my life resisting my mother. you look like her, and you resist it. your cleaning habits are like her, you resist it. your insecurities are like her, and you deny it. your strengths are like her, and you won't believe it came from her. you like the same things as her, and you resist it. you want the same core things, and you would never believe it. until a day like today, when you see it. 

i think i always expected a perfect mom without ever considering her circumstances. she made a lot of choices i would never have made, but she also made a lot choices i hope i will make. i hope i will sew my babies clothes. i hope i will always make their halloween costumes. i hope i will always love the earth like she does. i hope i will be as resourceful as she has been. i hope i will keep as many school papers from my kids as she did. i hope i will never miss a sporting event that my children are participating in. i hope i will take as many simple pictures of my kids that capture them exactly the way they were in that moment. i hope i will let my kids have a cat. i hope i will have a few simple recipes that my kids will always remember eating and want to eat with their own families. i hope i will give my kids freedom. i hope i will love my grandkids as much as she loves her. i hope i will always keep going and overcoming just like she has done. i hope i will always be real.

i took my own meaning from this scripture today..."turning the hearts of the fathers (mothers)  to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers (mothers)." because i have my own children, i now understand how my mother's heart was always turned to me. and after today i understand what it means to turn my heart to my mother. i can finally empathize with her. i feel like i finally see how we fit in our little circle of life, mother included.

daylight savings time....BOO!

i'm not a fan.

at least not right now.

maybe i'll like it in july when there's oodles to do outside.

but i don't love it when it's still snowing and stays daylight until 8:00.

maybe i'll love it more when i find the hour that i've lost.

i also don't love it when i have babies ready for bed at 7:00 but who won't sleep 

when it's light outside.

i don't love it when i need the 7:00 break.

my grandpa didn't love it either.

he refused to ever change his watch.

maybe that's what i will start doing.

too bad that won't make it dark for a 7:00 bedtime.

sam's 1st talk

sam gave his 1st primary talk today. he's getting so big we can't believe it! the topic was "every family has different responsibilities." he basically came up with the idea himself and i put it into action for him. he didn't have a bit of stage fright; he had more of the case of "spotlight"- he loved all the attention on him.  hearing his perceptions of what we do in our family warmed my heart; i hope being his mother always feels so wonderful. we are so proud of you, sam! here's his final practice before church... (the script posted below the video is mostly just for us to remember his words) oh, don't forget to pause the music on the sidebar so you can hear the talk.

"my name is sam.

every family has jobs.

everyone in my family has different jobs.

my dad's jobs are... to go to work at school, teach me to build and work, teach me to be happy.

my mom's jobs are... to cook dinner, go to the grocery store, give the kids a bath, and teach the kids to make good choices (that idea was prompted)

my jobs are... to pick up my toys, put my trash in the garbage can, make my bed, and play with my brother

my brother's jobs are... to play nicely with me, throw his trash in the garbage

jesus teaches all families to love one another and be nice to everyone."

i choose this

i remember the sundays pre-children. pete and i would lay in bed, read the paper, watch movies, putter around the house with nothing to do. there was togetherness and moments of needed solitude. there was silence. since we've had kids we have had moments of longing for those sundays back. after this morning though, we choose this...

snuggling in bed with the kids

tickling each other

watching bob the builder

laughing at will trying to get his shirt off

listening to sam's "made-up" stories about how 

too many people throw their garbage in the ocean

and hurt the animals so they have to go to the animal

doctor until the worker tells all the people to not throw

their garbage in the ocean anymore. (WOW! all on his own)

i don't remember anything i ever read in the paper way back when, but i will always remember the moments like this.

My House

my house and i have an interesting relationship. i know we were put here for a reason, and pete & i are certain what that reason is, but we don't love this house. why am i writing this post? i just feel like complaining a little about things that bother me too much sometimes, especially today. don't get me wrong, i'm grateful i have a house and pay so little for it, and i know it would be a mansion in comparison to the majority of the world. occassionally i just get too caught up in the things i hate instead of being grateful and making the best of what i have. today was one of those days. so here's my list....

i love...

*my purple walls, white chair-rail, and black front door.

*my black hutch

*my salon room

*the red couch

*sam's room; it's always so bright with all the natural light, and i love that his door is set in at an angle

*the bead-board in will's room

*our lovely flower beds that we enjoy all seasons but winter

i hate...

*our flat roof

(thank goodness the yard looks nothing like 

this anymore! the bushes are gone and been 

replaced with beautiful flower beds.)

*our pink oven and stove; no matter how much i scrub, it's still 53 years old and you can tell 

*our old windows that look horrible from the outside, collect bugs and cobwebs in between the panels on the inside, and let in a draft all winter

*all of our new white doors that we still haven't painted

*no pantry

*the 53 year old dust that seems to be permanently plastered in every corner

*how dark and undecorated our bedroom is; oh, and did i mention the closet doors?

*pete hates the 1 car garage and the sloped lot, so i guess i hate that, too

*the old rock mantle on our fireplace

*everything that is gross old, not restored vintage old

*the smell; i wish it smelled like tide laundry soap and downy fabric softner, but it doesn't

i mostly hate how it feels when other people are here. don't get me wrong, i LOVE when people come over, but i especially hate how much house feels dirtier when someone else is here. the floors, the fridge, the walls, the closets, the high chair (heck, all the chairs!), the baseboards, the blinds, the laundry piles, the light switch plates, everything just feels dirtier when someone new is here to see the mess we have grown accustomed to. i just wish my house felt cozier, more inviting, more comfortable. the kind of house where people come in, get cozy, kick their feet up, and never want to leave. that's my dream house, and i'm still trying with all my might to turn this house into that as long as we are here. 

oh, and it's all so much worse on the weekend for some reason....

skating lessons...check

sam is 1 step closer to having a hockey stick in hand.

he finished his ice skating lessons yesterday.

he loved them.

and actually learned to skate.

well, he loved his last class differently than the rest.

he mostly loved laying on the ice.

and eating it. 

oh, and he spent a big part of the class

skating to the wall to wave at mom.

he's still talking about playing hockey

and reading hockey books daily.

he's one step closer

and i'm ok with that.

i just wish it wasn't so rough.

he loves it though.

this just feels right...

sun shining onto the table

clean kitchen

cute table runner with a basket of fresh fruit

two adorable, happy little boys

eating tuna fish sandwiches with spinach on homemade whole wheat bread

and enjoying it

a happy heart swollen with tons of love for these kiddos

i loved this combination today; 

it gave me that feeling like

i was trying my hardest, 

and it was actually good enough

One more thing for the night...

pete made this post tonight, and i LOVE it! head over and read it. he sang my song better than i could have!

Poor Will!

will got to experience his father's parenting philosophy at its best tonight. pete gave him a 2 liter bottle of orange pop that still had about 3 inches left in the bottom. i was unaware this was happening until i turned just in time to see will trying to guzzle it. can you guess what happened next? it spilled all over him and what did make it in was coming out of his nose. instant tears as you can imagine. i asked pete why he gave him the whole bottle, and he responded that... 

"it was a valuable life lesson for scooter, kind of  like if your teenager wants to smoke then give them a pack of cigarettes and make them smoke the whole pack. that should make them not want to smoke anymore."

well, i'm not sure about that, and i'm not sure the connection was made. i think i prefer the good ole' philosophy of just not giving a 19-month old a 2-liter bottle of soda to guzzle. i guess we all bring something to the table though. :)

I Think it Must be True

for all of my family who have had suspicions that sam is actually in love with me, i think you may be right. today we were sitting on the couch together he leaned over and said...

"mom, be quiet. we are in the temple right now getting married."

then he yelled over to pete,

 "dad, will you come marry me and mommy, please!?"

i guess that settles that! :)

still dreaming...

sisters, check this out...

KETTLE FALLS WASHINGTON HOME & BUILDINGS FOR SALE
CERTIFIED ORGANIC ORCHARD 13 TOTAL ACRES

i'm probably crazy for thinking this could actually happen, but after a sleepless night last night i've convinced myself that it actually can. if one of us lived in a place like this, please tell me why the others wouldn't follow. we all followed each other here, and mel, it's only 8 hours from boise. :) oh, and don't forget to check the measly little price.

Dreaming...

Once upon a time I had a dream about raising my family on a farm.

This dream included:

"a little old farm house or cottage with wood floors and a fireplace
pine trees
chickens laying fresh eggs
a stream
fields of grass for the cows (including a sweet milk cow with big brown eyes and long lashes)
a huge garden filled with heirloom tomatoes, purple potatoes, beans and squashes of every variety
fruit trees to climb in and eat from
beehives and honeycomb dripping with honey
open spaces and fresh air

me - knitting, baking, sewing, canning, kissing chubby baby cheeks, walking through the pastures with the kids, packing lunches with thick slices of homemade bread and cheese for the boys in the fields, and curling up in front of the fireplace with mark at night to read books or trade foot rubs

pete - putting in the hay, feeding the cows, fixing fences, surveying the land, and returning in the evenings to a home filled with children, a stunningly beautiful wife (that's me), the spicy, sweet smell of hot apple cider, and a huge mug of chicken noodle soup.
the kids - spend most of the day outside climbing trees, helping dad, gathering eggs, picking and eating fruit with juice dribbling down their chins, building castles or kitchens or forts in the trees, tracking mud into the kitchen over and over again, baking or cooking with me, painting pictures of cows, and chattering to each other as they fall into bed at night"

she and i have the EXACT same dream; she just happened to write about it and execute it before me. this is my 5 year plan. :)