focusing on the sunshine

Things have been quiet around here on the blog the past handful of days.
This morning I sat down to write and it turned into a big ol' post that kind of went along with the gray weather we have here on this Monday. A what's been on my mind with a touch of a 'trying to make my way out of a stressful year/why do I feel like we're no further in our starting over/lonely/winter depression' spin on it kind of post.
It's just been one of those gloomy introspective kind of days around here.

But I think I'll leave that post unpublished and instead talk about something a little more interesting and more enjoyable. :)

Like the weather.
Now, I know much of the country is buckling down for a doozy of a winter weather storm this week (we're just getting it all as lots of rain the next couple of days), but the weather here over the weekend was Fabulous. That's a capitol-F-fabulous.
Like 67° and not a cloud in the sky Fabulous. Both days.
Saturday the kids were playing outside in the yard before 9am. Ryan had to go in to work for a bit so we all left mid morning and the kids and I hung out at a park just a few blocks from his office. I think all of Nashville was there. It was a perfect park day.

















































































We played for a couple of hours and had lunch and then went back up to Ryan's lab to meet him, kill a little bit more time while he finished up and then all head back home.



(the kids LOVE going up to the lab, watching the cool "robots" and playing on dad's computer)








Back home the kids played outside more, rode bikes, played baseball and such. Then we headed down to Franklin and hung out at Sodium for the evening again, taking along a friend of Savannah's. (forgot the camera for that one!) The kids had a blast and we got home just in time for a late bedtime.
It was a great Saturday!

breakfast, brunch and brinner

I've been doing much better with my meal planning and such in this new year.
I'm always surprised, when I get out of the habit for awhile and then back in, at honestly how much easier it makes my life! It is so nice knowing for the whole week what we're having, what needs to be made when and all of that. Why some weeks I don't do it is beyond me.

Anyway.
I've been keeping up over here; trying some new, lighter recipes, still trying to keep it [picky]kid friendly, and cutting back a little on the whole our-meals revolve-around-meat thing all at the same time. Upping the fruits and veggies, whole grains and fish. So far so good.

But today we had brinner.
Scratch that-- we had breakfast, brunch and brinner today. Ha!
It was a snow day, the kids and I were all home lazy, and it all sounded really good and nice and cozy. :)

We started off this morning slow and lazy, watching a movie while the snow fell outside and had an easy breakfast; warm banana bread, breakfast bars, mangoes, bananas and yogurt, just kind of snacking all morning really.
Then mid morning, when the kids headed outside to play in the white stuff, I threw some oatmeal in the crockpot for a warm yummy lunch when they came in. Mmmm... creamy steamy apple cinnamon goodness. Perfect for coming in from the snow.
I did throw out some celery, cucumber and carrot sticks for munching on after our oatmeal. Gotta have square meals around here, right?
For dinner brinner we did the kids' favorite- Protein Pancakes. Yes, something with the word protein in it that my kids love. These are soooo yummy and the kids may as well swallow them whole they disappear so fast. We had fresh oranges and blueberries alongside them. I originally had planned on making green smoothies to add to our brinner (for a good dose of veggies today), but didn't realize that I was out of spinach. I had also found this idea for a "breakfast salad" that sounded yummy and thought about throwing that together, but turned out I was too lazy.
After all, that's what snow days are about, right?

it's snowing again

And school's closed. Again.

Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE the snow. I don't even mind having the kids home with me for a day here and there. The excitement of a snow day is fun.

But.
I've lived in four different states in my life, including the Midwest and the snowy state of Michigan, and I've never seen so many school snow days ever.

This makes 9 school days canceled for us because of snow and/or ice this winter... 7 of those being in just the last two and a half weeks.
They built in a cushion of 4 snow days to our school calendar.
We're now having to make up 5 more days, so they've cut out two days we had scheduled off in February (a conference day and Presidents' day) and have now tacked three days (and counting) on to the end of the year.
It's getting a little ridiculous.

You guys.
It's not like we're getting feet of snow.
We get like an inch. Maybe two.
I understand the whole "Nashville just isn't prepared for snow the way other cities are who get it more often". I'm from Portland, which is even less prepared than Nashville. I get that.

What I don't get is why the entire county has school called because of it.
We don't really have school districts here, it's just divided by counties. They're simply refered to as "Williamson County schools" or "Davidson County schools", etc. Davidson County, where Nashvillians reside, covers over 526 square miles. That includes several dozen cities and communities, just some of which are; Antioch, Belle Meade, Bellevue, Bellshire, Bordeaux, Berry Hill, Donelson, Forest Hills, Goodlettsville, Hermitage, Inglewood, Joelton, Lakewood, Madison, Oak Hill, Old Hickory, Pasquo and Whites Creek.
Where we live? Is almost an hour from some of these places. That's a lot of area.
And it's 140-some-odd schools.
That's a lot of kids. In a lot of different areas.
And we all run on the same call for weather and road conditions.

Two weeks ago, when the kids had school called for the whole entire week... our roads were clear by Tuesday-- Wednesday at the latest. Yet they called school for the whole rest of the week. Because some side streets and school parking lots clear across on the other side of town from our schools were still slick. The areas and weather conditions are so diverse here I cannot believe we are all connected to the same call. One side of town can have 4 inches of snow or one corner of the area can have ice covered everything and the another can by totally dry.

Where I come from, schools were divided into smaller districts for just this reason. My school district growing up had just three (now they have five) high schools. Portland and the surrounding suburbs are made up of 12 different school districts, each of which only have a handful of high schools.
(Nashville and Portland are actually very similar in population)
Our "district" (county) here in Nashville operates under one district and has 25 high schools spread out over many miles.

So when some roads up in Joelton, 40 miles away from us, are icy but our roads are clear; we don't have school.

Another frustrating reason they have so many snow days here is because they don't consider delayed starts which I do not understand. They say it's because there are so many Magnet schools here and many of those students use public transportation which just gets all sorts of messed up when there's snow. So because the district thinks a 2-hour-delay would possibly be too confusing and a hassle for the Magnet school students, they call a whole day if the morning roads are unsafe. What a waste. Especially when our snow can easily be gone by noon.

Our county is really easy to divide up... there are two major highways splitting it right into quarters. It's not like they need to divide up the district... just divide it into smaller mini-districts for inclimate weather days!

I really hope all these (unnecessary for most of us) snow days this year has the school district reconsidering the way they do things.


/End Rant.

sodium

Well, we didn't really get the projects done this weekend that I was hoping for. We did finish up a few little loose ends of other projects though, so that works.

Instead, we spent pretty much our whole Saturday at a brand new fabulous hang out I discovered here in town. And I am totally smitten with it.

Back home, before we moved, when I had an infant and a toddler and was in desperate need of a place to get out, hang out and enjoy time in a kid friendly yet relaxing space, our hands down favorite place to go was Tony Baloney's. LOVED that place. (I think I've heard it's since closed due to the owners being overwhelmed juggling the fabulously booming business and their own young families) The idea of such a great, clean, spacious, family friendly place has always stuck with me. It's not always relaxing or enjoyable (or very clean!) for parents to take the kids to the big playplaces or the indoor bounce places. And not every place is friendly for the babies and toddlers as well as the older elementary kids.
I've said for the past five years, if we ever won the lottery, that is my dream... to open a family friendly coffee house of our own. A place with comfy couches and coffee tables for moms to hang out, with toys and small climbers and playspaces for the babies and other toy, game and learning areas for the older kids as well. So everyone can hang out in one spot; moms can easily visit with other moms, kids have a blast with plenty of things to keep them occupied... it's not crazy and loud and overwhelming... just like a regular playdate but with a big giant living room, playroom and game room... everyone's happy!

Anyway.
This new place in Franklin. It's taken all that a step (or a hundred) further.

It's called Sodium. I don't even know how to explain this place giving it justice. You'd have to go explore their website and take it all in. Basically it's a coffee house... but it's 18,000 square feet for the family to play in. And not like Chuck E. Cheese, crazy obnoxious overstimulating, play; It's got a laid-back club/coffeehouse/warehouse feel with comfy leather couches, tables and chairs here and there. There's a soft play area for the babies, a playtown for the toddler and preschoolers, video games, a lego room and a giant tree fort with a slide for the older kids. And that's all open, yet gated in so you can see anything from basically wherever you are, yet safe for the little ones. There's a game room "library" with a couple couches and tables of family board games (Savannah and I played Life for about an hour) and puzzles and books and magazines. There's a big stage area where they have (Christian) music videos playing on a screen (and book concerts and shows for events) and big open table and couch area for hosting parties. There's a big rock climbing wall and a dozen ping pong, foosball and pool tables in a couple of different areas. It is awesome. It's got the perfect mix of club/coffeehouse feel and totally family oriented.
Then. My favorite part: There are also a few classrooms where they offer art classes, science classes, math clubs, tutoring, music lessons, sign language lessons and all sorts of things. Which are free with your daily admission. Sawyer is totally excited to take guitar lessons, and Savannah participated in an art exploration class while we were there where she learned about Pointillism and painted a few pieces herself.
They of course have a coffee bar and sell some beverages and snacks, but no real food. However, they encourage you to bring in pizza or a "picnic" or whatever you need to enjoy some great hang out time. (Chick-fil-A is basically within sight down the road, so I think that'll be our go-to when we're there!)

Their whole purpose is to be a place where families can just hang out and play together.
They host events like Superbowl parties and church activities and you can have birthday parties and such there. And I just love the fact that they offer classes and lessons... it's so genius to have a fun place where the rest of the family can hang out while one child has an art class or a drum lesson. Or it's a perfect place to meet with moms for a Bible study a couple mornings a week. Or to go with another family or two and let the kids all play while the adults sit and have a card game evening.
I think it's just such a fabulous idea.
And totally reasonably priced. It's $7 each per day you visit, but you can get a family monthly membership for $49... or buy a year membership. And with any membership that's purchased, they match that membership and give one to a needy family. Love that. And the membership covers art and music and classes and everything.
It's too bad we're all the way across town because I'd do a membership and make that our hang out spot in a heartbeat. Right now I'm thinking it's a little too far away from us to make it a regular habit. We'll see though. I mean $50 a month for our whole family for as many classes and as much playtime as we want?? We might just have to do a month here and there throughout the year.
We are, in fact, planning on going back next weekend (or even this week if we get another snow day)... and dragging some friends along with us. Since Sodium just opened, this month adults are free so our family is half price thru the end of January and I want to take advantage of that!

The overall plan of this place called Sodium is to expand to every major growing city, giving families and communities a place to unplug, slow down, really connect and be together; providing a place to -an excuse to- enjoy quality time as a family and with friends.
I can't think of anything our cities need more.
Did I mention I love this place??

this week

I feel like it's been quite the productive week.

I have...

...had three extra boys spend the night early in the week

...taken the kids in to have lunch with Ryan on MLKday

...done a combination of online super sales and second hand store shopping which has resulted in lots of clothes for the kids (mostly for next school year) for super cheap.

...cleaned and organized the master bathroom
This was no small task... it's honestly never really been unpacked since we moved in; pretty much all the contents of our previous two bathrooms and linen closet. Until now we've simply dug around to find what we need when we need it. Our bathroom cabinets were still mostly empty with stuff sitting around -in the way- in boxes and laundry baskets and we had never even used the second sink in our bathroom because it was piled high with make-up, flat irons and junk.

...purged (again) and reorganized the playroom; rearranged shelving and added shades to close in the top shelves of the built-ins and "installed" a hanging light.

...finished a canvas "art" piece for the living room

...done six loads of laundry

...had a hot dinner on the table five out of the past six nights

...made cookies and poptarts and applesauce bread


phew!
I'm ready for the weekend.

Except that over the weekend I'd really like to...
get my buffet/sewing cabinet project done and painted
get the new (free!!) entryway chair painted
possibly paint the playroom or the living room and/or the stairway/upstairs hall.


But for now we're relaxing. The kids are home (again) today with ice on the roads (making a total of only actually attending school three out of the last 10 school days!!) and we're just chillin'. Literally. It's 10 degrees outside and so we're in for the day.
I have applesauce bread in the oven, banana bread ready to go in next, and I've decided I'm going to spend most of the day curled up reading (yes, reading! I'm so excited!!) on the couch in the living room where I have a view of the kids trashing playing together in the playroom. It's been a nice morning.


And since it's been awhile...
Friday Questions for you!

1. What book are you reading right now (or would really like to be reading)?
2. What was the best thing you accomplished this past week?
and
3. Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

date night

Well it's the middle of the week already.
That means I should probably rehash some of last weekend before we're into the next one already.

Saturday Ryan and I went out. We had tickets to see Bill Cosby and had been so looking forward to getting out for a date night. We've only been out one other evening together, just the two of us, since we moved here almost five months ago. And that was for a work Christmas dinner. So we were excited about a just for fun, just for us night!

Which started off on the wrong foot.

Apparently I haven't dressed up much this winter (besides the Christmas dinner formal-- and I didn't think a cocktail dress was appropriate to wear to a comedic concert) because as I tried to pick an outfit Saturday afternoon, I realized I was sorely mistaken in my options. Everything I thought might work was, shall we say, a bit snug. Like no way could I wear this all evening and enjoy myself at all, snug. I finally settled on nice jeans and a black shirt and heels, dressed up with a silky scarf, which actually looked fine, but of course the whole process left me feeling quite frustrated and discouraged about myself. To which Ryan immensely helped matters by commenting, "You're wearing jeans to the TPAC?".

So. The evening was off to a great start.

Then. We got in the car to leave and I glance down at the tickets sitting on the center console and see that whad'ya know, the show starts at 4:00, not 4:30 which we for some reason (ahem, maybe because that's what Ryan told me when I asked?) both had in our heads and were planning for. And for which we were already running behind for. Great.

Downtown there had been some sort of governmental inauguration [much] earlier in the afternoon, which they had closed roads for. Well by the time we got down there, all of that was said and done, but some of the barricades had been left up making us loop round and about out of our way downtown for no reason at all.
Of course we were late and the closest parking we could find was four blocks away. We've never parked downtown using the electronic meters and so we spend another five minutes trying to figure that out and locate our stall number (buried in the snow on the curb). Eventually we were on our way.
Now, Ryan walks fast anyway and when he's really in a hurry, watch out! So here I am, trying to keep up, basically running four blocks. Uphill. In heels I haven't worn in probably a year. And then we walk up like four bazillion flights of stairs to get to our section. And then have to squeeze down, in the dark, past others in their seats to our seats 20 chairs down. Ugh.

So, to recap up until this point? I'm fat, we missed the first ten minutes of the show, and my feet are killing me.

The show went by super fast, and it was just... meh. Love Bill Cosby though and I'm so glad I got the chance to see him Live!

On to dinner.

At this point, realizing neither of us had really eaten much all day, we were starving. And a little grumpy.
Have I ever mentioned that one of the only things Ryan and I regularly argue about is what/where to eat? This is, of course, especially exasperated when we're hungry and grumpy.
Long story short, we settled on a new (to us) restaurant, but went in to find the wait was 45-50 min. I honestly didn't think it was that bad; the place was packed, but I didn't figure we were going to get much better at any other nice restaurant downtown at 6pm on a Saturday. We put in our names and wandered through the bar which was pretty much too crowded to even stand in. We spent about 40 minutes in the bar area, leaning on a small counter by a window, never able to get even one chair. I finally was so tired of standing there, hot (did I mention it seemed way too hot in there?) and hungry, that we moved back out to the front of the restaurant to wait for our table. I sat outside for a bit and then when we thought we had to be next, we came into the lobby area by the desk. It was still way too warm in there for me and I took my coat off almost immediately. And waited for what seemed like another eternity (otherwise known as about five minutes).
Suddenly I felt really sick to my stomach. It came on totally suddenly and I honestly thought I needed to run to the bathroom because I was going to be sick. Then, just as suddenly as it came over me, it was gone... only lasted about 30 seconds.
But as soon as that wave of nausea was gone I started feeling light headed. And slowly blackness started creeping in from the sides of my vision. I immediately turned to Ryan and told him I felt dizzy, lightheaded, just off. And then I think I grabbed him because I knew I was going to pass out. My heart was racing and I couldn't see anything, everything was going black and I was in slow motion in my head thinking, I'm going to pass out, I'm going to pass out, I'm going to fall down right here in front of a crowded restaurant and they're going to call 911. I remember thinking they were going to call our name finally but I knew I couldn't make it to our table because I was going to pass out. I remember thinking I wanted to get outside, but I knew I wouldn't make it because I was going to pass out.
I don't know what I was really doing... I know I was trying to keep my eyes open and focus on Ryan through the blackness, but I think I was a panicky combination of trying to hold onto him and brace myself on the front counter. He called for someone to get some water and somehow he got me over to a bench. I don't think I completely blacked out, but it was pretty darn close and I don't really remember getting to the bench. I do remember wondering how he found an empty bench in such a crowded lobby. Ryan said my legs did give out at one point. But anyway, we sat down and suddenly there was water there and I was drinking it and the manager and hostesses were hovering over me asking if I was okay. As I sat and drank the blackness slowly started receding just the same as it came on.
It was so weird.
We sat for just another couple of minutes and then our table was ready and I was feeling just about normal. Seriously, by the time we sat down at our table, it was like nothing had happened. My head felt normal and I was just plain old hungry again.
Ryan thinks I overheated or was too hungry or something. He asked if maybe I had my knees locked the whole time we were standing there in the lobby. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure my knees weren't locked... I spent too many years in school in choir with our director pounding into our heads "do not lock your knees or you'll pass out in front of everyone!". I had been warm, but didn't feel like I was overheated, and I know I was hungry, but I've been way hungrier. We wondered low blood sugar, but would a simple glass of water have taken care of that??
Kind of a mystery.
But it was about the scariest thing I've ever been through.
And the combination of thoughts in my head in that short amount of time was crazy; everything from how embarrassing to collapse in a crowded restaurant and who's going to call 911 to thinking I was having a stroke or something (because I really didn't feel like I was hot or hungry enough to warrant passing out). It was just so weird.

Anyway.
That was our date night.
After the before dinner excitement, our meal was just... meh. We spent less time sitting at our table eating than we did waiting beforehand. Neither of us were too impressed and no matter the raving reviews this place gets, I don't think we'll be going back. At least not unless we get sit down right when we arrive. :)

First date night of 2011...
I declare a do-over!

more refined

I have more gifts to list as well as [finally!!!] house pictures.
We even had a pretty eventful weekend; company and a date night (made especially romantic by me trying to pass out in the middle of a crowded restaurant!)(and no, it wasn't due to drinking!!) and the kids had friends spend the night.

But I'm on day 10 -yes TEN- of being home with the kids... after a whole school week canceled due to the snow and ice being sandwiched in between two lazy weekends and then with today being a holiday. And I could say I'm not blogging any of this stuff because I'm soaking up the last of our togetherness time before they both head back to school tomorrow, but honestly I'm just lazy tired.

So instead I'll fill in with these song lyrics that have been sitting in my que for a few weeks -a result of being pretty much on constant repeat in my head- as they so perfectly reinforce my "Refining" theme for the new year.

It's coincidentally (or not) titled Refine Me by Jennifer Knapp, and has been one of my favorite songs for years and years.
(oh who am I kidding, I have at least two dozen favorite songs from all her first few albums so I can't really legitimately claim a favorite)

*****
I come into this place
Yearning to receive your peace
I come with my own chains
From wars I've fought for my own selfish gain
You're my God and my Father,
I've accepted your Son
But my soul feels so empty now
What have I become?

Lord, come with your fire,
Burn my desires; refine me
Lord, my will has deceived me
Please come and free me
Refine me

My heart can't see
When I only look at me
My soul can't hear
When I only think of my own fears
They are gone in a moment
You're forever the same
Why did I look away from You
How can I speak Your name?

Lord, come with Your fire,
burn my desires; refine me
Lord, my will has deceived me
Please come and free me
Come rescue this child
For I long to be reconciled to You

It's all I can do
To give my heart and soul to You
And pray, and pray, oh I will pray

Refine me, refine me
Refine me, refine me

the new 365

This has been written here and there over the past few weeks and I'm finally publishing it now. It may also be added to as the still newish year continues to get underway. Just so you know... ;)

I mentioned earlier that my "resolutions" this year boil down to stepping back from the things that don't work for our family and moving toward the things that do; being intentional about how we're choosing to spend our time and energy.

I really love New Year's time... making goals, making plans, and most of all, making lists. :) I like to get organized and to simplify.
It feels good to have a plan and good intentions and to acknowledge them, lay them out and make them real. I love that it can be a time for a fresh start. Assessment, refining, renewal.
This year for me especially as it all fits the season of life we're in.

I love these thoughts I read earlier this year:

Perhaps January 1st comes on the scene too quickly after the rush of the holiday season, but I’ve found many of us halfheartedly repeat “popular” goals for the new year, without much time or reflection given to the process.
Winter is a season of introspection, lower energy, and reflection. I start the reflection process in January. I use January and February to dig inward, learn from the past year’s lessons, gaze ahead and consider where my energy should be directed.
When I honor myself with time and attention, I am startled at the goals I come up with.
Once I've set my goals and aspirations, I spend time to make a plan for achieving them so I can give myself the support and preparation I need to be successful. This action plan generally begins to really ramp up and pick up energy just as spring comes on the scene. The freshness and new energy of the world around me fuel my commitment.

from Lisa on Simplemom

All this to say, instead of typical "resolutions", I've learned the last couple of years more to make annual goals.
The thing that I like about using the word goal is that it is implies that there is an actual, reachable plan with logical and do-able steps. As Dave Ramsey says, “A goal without a plan is just a dream.”

And of course you can't really make a plan without first analyzing what it is exactly that you're working with.

So I've been working on answering 25 questions that hopefully help me analyze and prepare for accomplishing the goals I pin down for the new year. I'm intending for these deliberations to be an annual thing just as the reflection questions I like to go through at the end of each year. Feel free to use them for your own new year perspective if you're so inclined. (Questions loosely taken from several New Year's goal setting articles on simplemom.net)

And don't, by the way, feel obligated to read through this all (it may get lengthy); it's mostly for my own journalling and reflection, with somewhat of some sort of feeling of accountability by making it "public".

On with it:

1. What healthy character traits would you like to see developed in your life this year? What are some specific steps you can take to develop these?
~I want to be more outgoing, take more risks, not be afraid to let people know who I am as I meet new people in this new community. I need to take the first step more often.
~I want to be feeling "simpler" without the crazy million things on my plate and in my head that I've seem to had going on for the last year and a half. We're here now, we're done with the big life changes for the moment, I want to be more flexible and relaxed. Which I think means simplifying things and being more organized.

2. What are some of your learning goals for this year?
~First and foremost, we plan on completing Tennessee State Foster Care training and becoming licensed for care and adoption.
~I want to spend some serious time learning my camera and stretch my abilities (and my opportunities) in taking pictures of my kids.
~I also want to get back into piano music.
~I want to read more.
Speaking of....

3. What books would you like to read this year?
I have a couple dozen sitting by my bed waiting for me. Honestly. Some that I really want to get through are:
Crazy Love, Outlive your Life, Bringing Up Boys, Bringing Up Girls, Your Girl: Raising a Godly Daughter in an Ungodly World, Good and Angry, Parenting is Heart Work, Cure for the Common Life, Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in our Busy Lives, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Two From Galilee, The Help and a few other random fiction titles that have been getting dusty sitting next to my bed for too long.
What, that's not setting unrealistic expectations is it???

4. Do you enjoy your job or jobs? If so, what are your favorite things about your work? If not, what are some ways you can change this?
I absolutely love my job. I love that it's (for the moment) evolving and as much as I miss the work that is taking care of babies and littler ones (and hope that's still in store for us), I'm glad that instead of mourning my kids getting older and more independent, my passions at home are turning into really wanting our home to be a sanctuary -a refuge- for our family and all who spend time here. I want my kids to feel treasured and safe. I want my husband to feel adored and supported. I want things to look nice and to smell good and to feel special, not because I'm trying to uphold to some standard, but because it makes us feel comfortable, content and "home". I want my walls to be a shelter from the chaotic world, inspiring and rejuvenating. I like the challenge of creating traditions and memories for all of us, I like working hard to have organization and routine... and sure it's not always that way, but if it were then I'd be out of a job now wouldn't I?

5. What is one area of progress you’d like to see this year for maintaining or improving your family's health?
I'd like to continue to weed out highly processed foods and eat more real foods. I'd like to make more things that are probably pretty simple that we take for granted are a necessity from the store shelves; making homemade, healthier breads and things like tortillas, sauces, soups, etc.

6. What are some tangible, daily choices you can add to your life that will improve your health?
Walking, drinking more water, choosing a specific exercise routine;
these have all worked well in the past, they just haven't been made a priority.

7. In what way would you like to be physically healthier by December of this year?
I'd like to lose about 30(+) pounds. Really, this time.

8. What is your plan this month for starting this progress towards a healthier you?
Start a meal plan and walk at least 3x a week.

9. What do you want to see happen to strengthen your marriage this year?
I need to be more of a servant. My husband does so much for me with never a complaint. I need to get past my laziness and be more uplifting and serving to him, even when it's a hassle for me.
Also regular, intentional, get out of the house together "dates".

10. What are your plans for having regular date nights? How will you handle childcare?
We'd like to take advantage as much as possible... kinda tricky in a new city not knowing anyone. We do, however, have a couple of options and should be able to pull off a once a month thing. Already have a date for January lined up with a babysitting swap, so we're on the right path with that one!

11. What plans will you make to pray and/or have “family meetings” together? What books would you like to read together this year?
Same as last year (which never happened)... things should be much more stable and routine around here and we should be able to put together a plan to get through this book together, weekly.

12. What will deliberate, regular family time look like this year?
We had let our weekly family movie night and our more recent family game night slack a lot with the holidays so I definitely want to pick that back up. I would like at least a weekly time of devotion/above book study together as well. Also monthly parent/child dates are high on my priority list.

13. Do you have specific planned vacation time in mind for this year? What needs to happen to make this vacation a reality?
Um, besides winning the lottery?
We don't really have plans. We have in mind that we really want to get to the East Coast, but nothing in place to make that happen. We need to take a good hard look at our funds for this year and see if we can get a plan in the works... decide what our priorities are.

14. How is your current physical living space working for your family? Do you need to make changes to this? If so, what are they?
It's still an adjustment as we're still in a lot of ways settling into our new house. Top of the list for this year are organizing the playroom (which will involve some sort of mini-remodel with the built ins) and to finish the kids' bathroom. There are also a couple of furniture/storage pieces I'd like us to try and build. Otherwise, I think we're good to go with nothing major, set to enjoy the new year in our new home.

15. How will your children be educated this year?
Finishing out this school year should go smoothly. Sawyer will start kindergarten in the fall at the public school with Savannah, full day, five days a week, so that will be a big change. I'm already praying he'll be in a great classroom with a great, christian teacher. He's excited. I hope it goes well.

16. What are some resources you’d like to explore to help your children develop intellectually, academically, physically and spiritually?
We're anxiously waiting for the kids soccer to start in the spring. Sawyer may be interested in baseball too this year.
We're still on the hunt for a home church with a great kids program, but I'm also looking into them possibly joining Awanas during the week.
Savannah wants to get back to piano lessons and Sawyer would really like us to set him up with guitar.

17. What are some of your long-term financial goals? In what ways can you make progress on them this year?
Paying down the debt that was racked up in this year of double living expenses and selling and buying a house. Hopefully this year will stay clear of any big unforseen expenses and we can pay that down quickly.

18. What is your plan this month for starting progress towards better financial health?
Not eat out as much. That's a start, right?

19. Are you giving regularly? If not, in what way can you give financially this year?
We are not, currently. And we didn't even do much giving last year. Praying we'll settle into a church soon, where we can be giving financially regularly as well as in ministry. In the meantime, though we don't have much to give right now, it's been on my heart lately so we do plan on seeking out something intentional for our family aside from "church giving". Not sure what that looks like for us yet.

20. In what specific way would you like to grow in relating to your friends this year?
Um, make new friends is a good place to start on this one. We've been here for four months and I still am feeling pretty darn alone here. As mentioned earlier, I want to put more effort into starting and building new friendships.
Also kind of random, I'd really like some sort of girl trip somewhere, somehow... just a weekend with girlfriends. Who and where I don't really know... even just a conglomeration of whoever's up for a trip... just a fun time of connecting and refreshment and just being away from the routine. I'd love to just be with good friends for a bit. I rarely see friends without whole family gatherings or at least kids around. It's never just about us. And for now, being long distance from most friends, a weekend thing seems like a good solution.

21. What are some ways you can be of service to your immediate community?
Hopefully through foster care to start with.
Also, I want to be open to more just "pay it forward" opportunities. I was in line this week at the grocery store behind a lady and her three young kids and she didn't have much... a meager grocery cart and lots of coupons and a total of just over $15. And she was digging in her purse and couldn't find her check card, mumbling to herself saying, 'if I left it in my other purse I'm going to kick myself'. She wanted me to go ahead and get checked out while she searched some more because she couldn't comprehend leaving her groceries, bundling up her three kids to go home and back again for her stupid card.
While my groceries were being rung up and she was still rummaging through her purse, tiredly shushing her three impatient kids, I kept thinking of the $20 bill sitting in my wallet.
My order was done and bagged and I was honestly just opening my mouth to offer her the $20 when she handed the cashier $12 and change she had scrounged up from the bottom of her purse. So I left without offering. But the whole way home I was disappointed in myself. How amazingly would that have changed my day if I were in the same position and someone right away just handed me a twenty dollar bill to help out the pinch I was in. I stood there and hemmed and hawed about $20 the whole time when really, it would have so been worth it to see the relief in her eyes. I imagine it would have been a gift for me, really.
Anyway. I'd like to seize those opportunities when they arise instead of debating with myself and just go ahead and be generous. No, I'm not really comfortable with giving away money... I don't really comfortably have money to give away right now... but really? I do have it. And that's more than some people. So I should be able to take the chance and give it if it can better someone else's situation... whether it's handing lunch money to a homeless guy or just relieving a frazzled mom. Who knows what might make a difference in someone's day.

22. Who are some specific people in your life that can use some encouragement? What will you do to encourage them this year?
I have a thing for encouraging Moms. I think a lot of us are under-appreciated and often times minimize our own efforts and challenges in this biggest job of our lives. We don't feel we're good enough much of the time. I know it's a small thing, but for me at least, being complemented or encouraged in this aspect, being reminded that I am a blessing to my children, makes a HUGE difference sometimes.

23. Who are some people in your life that you admire? What are some practical ways you can positively use their influence in your life?
I admire people who are truly happy and content. I admire that they don't complain, they don't whine, they really don't have a negative thing to say about anything. They look for the blessings, they expect the best, they rejoice in the small things. And they seem so happy.
Sarah, Kasey, Christina, Annie and Patti are some women who come to mind as admiring in this way.

24. Are there any damaging relationships in your life? What will you do this year to make these relationships better?
Not really... not anything that stands out to me anyway. I guess moving away from everyone you know and love (and don't love) helps weed out the negative relationships easily! ;)

25. Pick a word or a theme for this coming year to motivate you toward the changes you want:
At first I was really thinking of this being a year of Being Intentional. But the more I thought about it, the more the word Refined stuck out to me.
I really see this year refining me. Or rather, me allowing myself to be refined. Sloughing off the things that weigh me down, the things that aren't important, the things that are just taking up space; in my home, in my life and in my heart. Refining my life to reflect what IS important... who is important. Sifting out the unnecessary and the "impurities" and standing strong in what's pure and "polishing" my life. I want to refine my relationship with God, refine my marriage, refine the way I parent, the way our home runs. Paring down and making things simpler, being intentional about how we're choosing to spend our time as a family, and letting myself be refined.

handmade gifts for kids

Well, since we're on day four of snow days here and have nothing better to do, I guess I could finally get around to posting some of the gifts we did for Christmas.

Along with quick -super quick- how-to's, I wanted to do a rundown of how much things cost, not only to give you an idea, but really to get an actual comparison on our typical gift giving "budget". I know sometimes "handmade" doesn't always equal less money. I think it worked out really well this time though.
It was coming up with all the ideas that was hard. Actually I had plenty of ideas... the catch was it needed to be smallish and shippable since we're talking long distance gifts here. So that's what made it a little hard. I could come up with plenty of gifts that were too big or awkward or impractical to mail... having to stick with the smaller, lighter gifts was the challenge.
And as usual, the guys were the hard ones to brainstorm for and while I know I had good handmade ideas for them on my old laptop, I didn't have access to that so this is mostly who we bought retail for. We tried for those gifts to be just as intentional though, being one of our favorite family games, a favorite book, another handmade gift from Etsy, and a "pay it forward" type of project you can check out all about here. The only other gift I bought this year were these gorgeous birds from this great website.

I'm going to break down all the gifts we made into two posts because it's a lot.
And we'll start with the gifts we did for kids...

[My apologies; my pictures do not do a lot of these gifts justice... most of the time they were taken seconds before wrapping them up and I just snapped them to snap them, dim wonky lighting and all. So just imagine everything just a little bit cuter if it had a legitimate photo shoot...]


tu-tu's...














SO fun and easy to do.
Making them was rather addicting, actually and I wished I had more little girls to be gifting to!! There are simple tutorials all over the internet, so I won't go into detail and trust that you can figure them out if you ever want to make your own. I think I spent a total of under $20 and made four tu-tu's... and that's having no supplies to start with.

memory games...














LOVE THESE! I do think these were my favorite. We made these for a couple of the younger cousins... a one-year-old and a two-year-old and I'm jealous I didn't think of this idea when my kids were little. I collected pictures of the recipient and surrounding family... siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. And pets. :) I printed them out on my own printer at 2.75" x 2.25"and modge podged them onto wooden blocks Ryan cut down for me. I found thin boards at Michaels: 3"wide x 36"long for less that $3 apiece... we used just over two boards for two sets of games (10 matches per game). Also, one sheet of scrapbook paper (.59 each) covered the backs of each set of games. I grabbed a couple of canvas bags from the $1 bin at Michaels and painted the kids' names on the bag to hold the blocks. Total cost: about $6 per game and a couple evenings worth of applying modge podge while watching tv.
My kids couldn't wait to 'test out the game' for me...












frames...














Made to match a bedroom, filled with pictures of cousins. $1 frames at Michaels, painted white, added scrapbook paper and silk flowers with jewels (I bought a jar of decorative flowers for $6 and didn't even make a dent in the supply with the handful I used). Total cost: $3 for all three frames, plus $6 for flowers that I will use for years.

growth charts...




































I've made these before for our first three nieces, so it was kind of a no brainer to do these for the two new baby boys on that side of the family. I love making something personalized to match their bedrooms and I love picking out a different growing "themed" bible verse for each of them.
I wasn't able to find the same thick, sturdy floor canvas I've always used in the past, so I just used part of a canvas drop cloth (for painting-- $12 for a 6'x9' at Lowes) that I actually bought to make a tree skirt and christmas pillows for our front porch. I cut to size and then fray checked the edges, hot-glued a popsicle stick (for just a little bit of weight so it'll hang nicely) and ribbon to the top and bottom and then on one I painted (stamped) and the other I cut out fabric, ironed on and stitch appliqued (don't worry, easier than it sounds!). For both I printed out a bible verse on iron-on printer paper and either ironed it right on to the canvas, or in the applique instance onto my fabric.
Total cost:
1) about .50 for the amount of canvas I used plus about $5 worth of fat quarter fabrics from JoAnns. And ribbon I already had.
2) again, about .50 for the actual amount of canvas I used from my drop cloth and $0 for paints, stamps and ribbon I already had.
This is one of my favorite gifts to make... such a nice personal gift... and so NOT much money. Love it.



























































moon pillow...




























I found this idea, complete with tutorial, here. My sister gave Sawyer this moon for his bedroom for his birthday and he LOVES it. He's pretty much obsessed with it, always talking about the phases of the moon and has to have it glowing each night when he goes to bed. When I saw the moon pillow on a blog, I knew he had to have it. I didn't put any thing inside but stuffing... no lavender or any good sleepy-time herbs, but it is definitely an idea I'm going to remember for later. I bought all the felt and thread (with tons leftover) for about $8 and had stuffing at home.

simple bedtime journal...














Savannah has, for the past year or so, taken to leaving us notes to find when we check on her before we go to bed. She always has some quip about the day or about what's coming up the next day and she usually has a question for us to answer and wants us to sign it with what time we went to bed. :)
She used random paper or notebooks or even a magnadoodle... whatever was handy. So for her gift, I grabbed a good sized notebook (maybe $3?) and personalized it for her with stickers ($2), attaching a pen (already had). Easy peasy and she loves it. And I love that we'll have a record of all these notes that make me smile in one place.

*****
So my grand total for the kiddos was roughly $40 out of pocket and that covered gifts for 8 kids. Not bad!

snowy donut day

I think a good part of why I like living in the midwest/midsouth is the weather.
I love a good hot summer (but not never ending sweltering hot like Texas or Florida or Arizona) where you want to be in the pool or the lake and then also a taste of a winter with snow.
Oregon gets not enough snow and the rare and little bits we got were usually slushy and icy, while Michigan was too much... okay, not too much because really you can't have too much in my opinion; how about too long. It's so cold for so long it never ever melts and not seeing the ground from November to April is just ridiculous. The snow gets so gross; all dirty and gray and everything's just wet and gross and salt residuey and a nuisance in the end.

But in (certain parts of) the midwest and -at least for this year- in the midsouth, it's just right... a few-to-five inches of snow a few times a year... just enough to make everything white and pretty and for the kids to play in and maybe for everyone to enjoy a day off of school and work... and then it melts and everything goes back to normal in a day or two. You don't have to spend the winter bundled up like the arctic just to go outside and in fact the kids will be playing outside in the dry backyard again by the end of the week.
I love snow.

We got about 4 inches here overnight Sunday-into Monday. School was called off, and Ryan "worked" from home. We all ventured out bright and early to a friends' house just a couple of miles away where they have a great sledding hill in their neighborhood. We did the hill a bit, stopped at a playground for a snowball fight, and then ended up back at their house for some hot chocolate which turned into a day of lunch and Wii games together.
The afternoon was spent back at home napping, watching movies and playing out in our own backyard snow.

It snowed a good amount throughout the day and a little more overnight last night, so of course our overly cautious school districts all are still closed today. Ryan went back to work and we've had a lazy morning of more video games before I finally kicked the kids outside. They spent a good amount of time out back making a family of snowmen this morning and when they came in to warm up I had a little treat for them:


We all know donuts make hot chocolate better, but did you know that building a donut snowman makes both better?!















While the kids were outside and while I was heating water for hot chocolate, I remembered I had grabbed a bag of mini powdered donuts on sale at the store this week for a snowday treat. Then I scrounged through the cupboards trying to come up with snowman supplies... the donuts of course, pretzel sticks, mini chocolate chips, bell shaped candy leftover from our stockings and the key snowman ingredient; way back in the back of the cupboard, candy corn leftover from Halloween!! :)













I also found a Twizzler Twister in the scraps at the bottom of a still-in-the-pantry halloween candy bucket. What? It's only two months old.
I thought that would make a perfect edible scarf for our snowmen. Unfortunately the Twizzlers were just old enough that I couldn't exactly peel them apart in one piece. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on that stupid candy. It wasn't pretty.


So I clipped off a couple of scraps from some felt in my sewing stash instead.







And then both kids decided they didn't want scarves on their snowman anyway. :/

But they loved the idea of Donut Snowmen!



























































































Yum!!
It was a great come in and warm up activity after the snow. :)
































Happy
Snow
Day!

on the 16th day of christmas

We got pretty much nothing accomplished this weekend.
Nada.
Had a whole list of t0-do's around the house and we ended up with nothing crossed off of it. No painting, no patching, no tile sealing, no chair recovering, no office organization.
Lots of Just Dancing, lots of napping on the couch, lots of playing, lots of relaxing.

I did manage to go out for groceries. There's a good bit of snow (for Nashville) predicted for us for the next 48 hrs, so I knew I wanted to get out before the white stuff hits and everyone panics and the city pretty much shuts down.
Oh, and I did get most of the rest of the Christmas decorations put away in between all that nothing; finally took the wreaths off the house and packed away the kid's Christmas tree and cleared my mantle. It looks sad and empty now. :(

I don't know if it's this year in general or just our area, but it seems no ones in a hurry to say goodbye to Christmas this year. There are lot of houses still with lights on and trees in the windows... and they're still on every night! Love it!!

When the holidays first started looming, I admitted that I sort of dreaded decorating this year.

Which is so not like me, considering I'm usually counting down the minutes until my husband lets me pull out the Christmas tubs from storage.

But I was not looking forward to it this year...
I felt like we were just starting to feel any semblance of normal and settled in our new house... finally not buried in boxes and finally getting furniture arranged to our liking and actual decor on the walls and such.
I was not ready to upheave all of that and essentially start over with Christmas decor. Figuring out where old holiday decorations fit in a new house just sounded like a lot of work. And we have nice vaulted ceilings in our family room... which translates to wanting a nice BIG tree in there. Which translates into rearranging the entire room. Ugh. No thanks.

We normally like things to stay decorated awhile after Christmas; at least thru New Years... I usually try to talk Ryan into leaving it thru at least the twelve days of Christmas (which are in fact the twelve days after Christmas, btw). I'm not the wham, bam, thank you ma'am sort of Christmas girl... I like to stretch it out as long as possible and am always, always sad to see it go.
But this year, to start with, I was in sort of a "if we have to do it, let's do it and get it over with" mindset... get the tree as soon as possible, enjoy it for the mandatory month, and then get it all out of here right after Christmas so we can get on with figuring out our new normal around here which was so rudely interrupted with the holiday season.

But in the end I totally fell in love with lots of little Christmas spots in this new house. Looking at all the Christmas made me happy. My disdain of the holiday decorations earlier this season was replaced slowly with an overwhelming feeling of "I'm not going to want to put this away".
And our month turned into including the twelve days of Christmas which, til just this weekend, stretched to include actually sixteen days of Christmas.
I really didn't want to put it all away.
I really didn't want to put all of this away...

blah blah blog

You guys.
I really want to be blogging.
I have 13 drafts waiting to turn into real live posts in my folder.
I was on somewhat of a roll before Christmas and now I'm... not.

I've made a couple of realizations regarding my blogging habits.

a) my best blogging time is in first thing in the morning.
As in, that's when I write the best, the easiest, and am the most motivated. Which is why I did a little bit better over the break. I didn't have kids to get ready for school, I didn't have anywhere to have to be, I could take an hour in the morning and have my computer time.
Now that school's back in session, mornings are an early shuffle of slight chaos and by the time I sit down at 8 (or 10 or noon on the mornings I have to take Sawyer to school and run errands) my blogging mojo is gone.

and b) most of what I have halfway blogged about, sitting waiting in a que, are posts full of pictures. Well, I should say empty of pictures, waiting for pictures to be added.
I still don't have either photoshop (and my blog storage is getting weighed down with all the full size images) or an easy way to upload my pictures from my camera with my little Netbook I'm on every day. I need my desktop --which is still packed and buried from the move-- or Ryan's work laptop --which is with him all day every day. Again- over the break he was home a lot so I had more access to pictures. Now that he's back at work regularly, the only time I can do any picture editing or adding is in the evenings and by the time evening rolls around and we get the kids to bed... I just don't want to be on the computer. Half the time I have a headache or else I'd just rather hang out with my husband, you know? Watch some tv, paint a room, watch a movie, play some games, fold some laundry. Oh wait, that last one shouldn't be on the list.

This week back at school/work was a little rough. After almost three weeks off, we didn't all do so well jumping back into our routines. I'm hoping next week is better.
And I'm hoping once we get into the real swing of things around here, now that life should be a little less crazy, I should be able to get back into a regular blogging routine as well.
Either that or I start setting my alarm for 5am just to blog. Yeah, right.
Now if someone would just dig out my desktop...

the first

The first day of the New Year
Which means the first dinner of the New Year.
Which means the first dinner we host each year.
And this was the first New Years dinner we hosted in our new home here in Nashville.

You may remember how down I was about the whole thing this year.
After 2007, 2008,2009 and 2010, we were starting over. Again. From scratch. This time with no one who had been a part of our New Year celebration for years.

Instead, we had two new families with us; the Daniels family that we moved down here "with" as well as a family from Sawyer's preschool that we've hung out with a few times. And dinner was fabulous, if I do say so myself. Even though it was a smaller affair, the house felt full (6 little boys running around probably didn't help that at all, right?) and the food was yummy and we so enjoyed celebrating the start of a new year with new friends.
I'm so glad we decided to go ahead and do the dinner as tradition. Even if it was only us in on the tradition.

I feel like it turned out to be especially fitting to celebrate with these families as they both are seeing the end of a long year as well... The Harkins moved here just over a year ago and are just a few steps ahead of us in the feeling at home and settled in Nashville aspects, and The Daniels, obviously, have been on pretty much the same road we have. We all had a lot to be thankful for in the past year and in our journey here, but are very much looking forward to the New Year and all it may bring.

Of course, I snapped a few pics of the table before we sat down, and only one during the actual people part of the party. Typical.
I didn't even get a group picture this year.
Oh well.

Table set (adult table anyway):











































A Lot of candles...
(all the silver and glass candle holders and mason jars I own, plus a couple more picked up at the $ store)






























The kids all got to decorate a (plastic) goblet of their own with stickers and sparklies:


































The menu:















Desserts after they've been dug into:















We made fortune cookies with resolutions inside...






























And a quick one of the group after dinner just before we broke into the Peppermint Pig:















Thanks for joining us guys. Thanks for making our first New Years in Nashville a real celebration. We truly enjoyed starting off what promises to be a great year with such a great gathering. Happy New Year!