A few photos

Pickle with his new home made hat (my first one)
Love and Pickle having a moment.
Cousins meeting for the first time, how sweet.
The diaper cake for my sister's baby shower that Love made.
Notice the wet shirt of mine, all because Nuggets DR. can't put a diaper on properly! Thank you Dr. Kim. We still love her and all had a good chuckle. This was Nugget's two week check-up. 7lbs1oz! Wait to go!

Thanks giving

We have had a crazy past month...I am trying to catch up with the blogging. Nugget has been home for just over a month now. I know that Thanksgiving has gone, but we had an exciting week then. We found out that week that Pickle was cutting 4 top teeth all at once! To make the total up to 6!

That Wednesday he (Pickle) took his first steps, and they were towards his Daddy, which made it all the more sweet. We spent time with Loves family for a nice time, especially for the kids, the weekend before. And the crazy buzz of the Gracey family for Thanksgiving at my Aunt's house. Fun and loud, as usual. Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries, cheesey mashed potatoes, baked brie, beer bread and Love made and brought Scottish Eggs, yum!

Sunday night Pickle decided that he wanted to walk more, so now at almost 15 months old, he is taking more steps, getting into everything, pulling things off shelves, loves to laugh at Bug and the cats playing. Pickle, we have also found out, is a lover of all animals. We have been trying to capture a photo of how he hugs the cats, practically lays on top of them, and they let him. It is quite the sight.

So we are thankful this year for a good job for Love and that I can stay home with the boys, be a part of Bug's PTA, watch Bug attend and enjoy learning different things (math, Spanish, music, memorizing scripture, playing the Wii), not have a car payment (which will probably change as we look for a mini van), and have loving family and friends that write letters, call on the phone, and those who we get to see often. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your lives.

P.S. Bug asked me when we can visit the ocean again! And we love the candy ribbons Gma K made for us, I mean, the boys!

Third boy welcome!

Since I last blogged, we have a new addition to our family, Nugget. He is great, had no complications, both of us healthy from the get go. Even though my OB wanted me to get a flu shot, nothing bad happened during labor, except it was fast and furious, which is fine. All in all, we have our third boy! Beautiful and healthy. He came to us on Sunday November 8th at 11:22 am, during church, just like Pickle. We got to bring him home with us right away, even though he was 5 weeks early. What a blessing to us all.

Pickle's 1st Birthday!

What a blessing to have the First Birthday of my second son! We went to dinner for Italian and had a few gifts and a few family members, we didn't want such a to-do....Bug and I made cupcakes earlier when he got home from school and had a nice time doing so. I don't think the day even fazed Pickle....but we had a nice evening with family that ended with cupcakes and lots of hugs and kisses......He eats lots of foods that we give him (pnut butter and bananas seem to be the fav right now), crawls non-stop, is "cruising", and wanting to walk more and more each day, started drinking from a cup, and says lots of fun sounds, and even seems to whistle a bit when he gets really excited about things!

To my Pickle, my Bubba...I love you, my dear sweet boy!

Internet issues

I needed to post this mostly for myself so I don't forget, I haven't really kept a baby book for either one of my children, but would like to put something together in the near future with #3 on the way, no we still don't have any names picked out. Pickle got his first tooth in two days ago! What an exciting time, he started dancing and can wave "hello" and "good-bye". What a joy, I have been enjoying our time together alone, without anyone else around. It's been nice.

Yesterday a huge truck drove by our house and somehow cut our cable for t.v. cable and our internet, so I am over at my folks checking on things on facebook and email, for my sister and her family are making their way back state-side and will be coming into Chicago tonight. I have been thinking about just going out there to meet them at the airport, but we will see them next weekend and the week after. It has been just over two years since I have seen her and my brother-in-law. They celebrated thier 10th wedding anniversary this last July and had their first son in May (quite early, he was due in July). I am excited to meet Ezra Jude and hold the little guy, he weighs just over 9 lbs right now, born just under 4lbs. What a man already, he has survived heart surgery at one week old and the infection after the surgery. Can you tell I'm excited?! I don't have a clue where to go to meet them at the airport, so I'm trying to get in contact with their best friends and Pastors in Chicago. I do like the drive out there and it looks like I might make the drive by myself, if I go, with the kids! Love might like the mini break from the kids, but we still hate being away from one another. It's the way it is, we like each other. You know, some people like to have their "girl time" and "guys night out", but we would rather just have spend that time enjoying eachother, without kids maybe. We have been getting a little more of that with school nights we try to be really good about not getting Bug to bed late, actually, we have done great with that. It's nice and relaxing at about 8pm now a days!

I'm going to end for now, I seem to just be rambling...I love my family, everywhere.

Kindergarten

Bug started kindergarten last Thursday. Yep. I thought this year would be homeschooling/unschooling. This summer he asked about school, and I let him choose if he wanted to stay home or go to the school. He decided that he wanted to try out school...and with baby on the way and an almost 1 year old we thought it would be best. Bug and I are so much a like that we can jump on each other pretty easy to stir the pot more often than it should. But we also have a good time with each other, we know what makes the other laugh. But I must say that him being gone for some of the day is nice, I just have one child to look after for the time being and that will be our only "mommy and Pickle time" so I am taking advantage. I do miss Bug and try to find out what "special" classes he has for each day (art, music, p.e., you get the idea), usually he just telss me that they got tplay outside today! He talks about a few friends already and has gotten into trouble a couple of times, one for playing when he was suppose to be sitting and another for hurting a girl that was an accident.

So Bug's first day was my last day on a missions trip to Mexico with our church. I didn't really pay attention to that little detail until the day we were leaving, somehow I had it in my head that I was coming back the day before, so that bummed me out, leaving Love to send him off his first day and with G'pa to help. It was nice to know both of them wanted to be a part of Bug's first day! Very cute and my only request was pictures!

G'pa walking over the bridge with Bug for the big day!

pics

My first sewing project: diaper soaker for new baby!

Bug at V.B.S. painting the world to remind him of John 3:16!

Our first camping trip ended with the boys taking the canoe out on the lake! What fun!

Pickle and his new love, those blocks and the cube of fun!

Bug at V.B.S. again, doing the obstacle course. His favorite!

Pantry Budget week

We will be doing most of our menu this week from the fridge and pantry, and our garden...

Mon: Dinner salads! And left-over birthday cake!

Tues: Spinach quiche! (My first one!) and Fresh bread!

Wed: Asian noodles with Sunflower seeds and any other veggies we have.

Thursday: 2 day Chicken (Crock pot for 2 days, slooooow cooking) salad sandwich?

Friday: Ratatouille

Saturday: Left-overs with Cous Cous added.

Needing to catch up.

Asher in his crib, and Magnet followed. Asher loves the kitties.

Korbin took this lovely photo of John while we were out at dinner.

Asher and his new food routine! It's going well.

Korbin's new haircut. "Do you like my new haircut?" He says to all who will listen.

John's artist touch while playing cards with family and friends yesterday.

A visit

Last week we were so excited to be asked to babysit! They boys' cousins came over for bit. Bug prepared for the visit. We ate grilled bean burgers and the kids had tomatoes and carrots while Love and I had grilled asparagus, which seems to be a fav right now. Here are some pretty pics from the evening! I couldn't get Pickle's pic to turn around, so it looks like he is flying! We had a nice time. Hope we can do it again soon!

Catching up

Easter Family Pic at my Mom and Dad's house with all the fam. The egg hunt was at our house/yard! Lots of fun and lots of boys!












We went to a freind house to paint eggs and I love this picture of Willow with Pickle. She got right up there without saying a word as soon as I put him up there. Willow just kept giving me this look.










We made our tie-dye for our Easter outfits! Finally got to tye-dye! Perfect!














Bug and I playing Harry Potter wizard wars. Got to take time to play!

Love's Birthday!

I keep forgetting to post about my love's 31st birthday. Nothing too exciting this year, but we did make him a present. I'm quite proud, seeing that I'm not artistic, I am crafty however and can make that work for me. So this is what I came up with, with help from Bug.

Love points!

My Love made great points! He does like to experiment in the kitchen and makes all kinds of concoctions! It is quite fun, except when I was pregnant with my youngest. My first trimester he did not earn any points for new dishes! But now! Oh wow! We were up late the Friday before Easter having a meeting with our Pastor and after he left I had to call my sister, in the Philippines, back. Love went into the kitchen and found avocado (love them), mango and marinaded artichoke hearts, put them on nice bread and we gobbled them right up! He can make that for me any day of the week! Sweet man.

Deodorant

I have thrown out the last of my secret deodorant, love the smell, and made my own, Thank you Passionate Homemaker
I found it much easier than I anticipated and after a week and a bit of wearing it, I'm so pleasantly surprised that I don't stink! All natural and no aluminum! Plus, it took me five minutes to make!
Natural Deodorant:
Equal parts of Baking Soda and Cornstarch or Arrowroot and add enough coconut oil to make it the consistency that you want. I put mine in my old dispenser and put it in my cupboard, I might need to put it the fridge over the summer though. Coconut oil becomes liquid in warmer temps, be is solid even in our kitchen. I am so happy with this, I made some for my great bff and my Mom even requested me to make it for her! Super great!

Two weeks have passed

Wow! I haven't blogged in two weeks. We have had lots going on around this nutty house of ours. Many play dates, parks, Art class, meeting new friends. I will slowly blog about the last couple of weeks to catch you all up on us!
Pickle has become very interested in crinkling sounds, and yes, he is playing with a bag full of cotton balls, fully supervised! He is so happy, 9 days away from 7 months! 15 +lbs! He is growing and laughing, enjoys watching people and smiling, shows interest in our food, so we have tried bananas, and enjoy them! You can also see the mess in our house behind him, I'm not the best homemaker, but we are happy and I try not to stress when people come over. We are lived in, that is my excuse!

Sunday Times

Today we had a nice day after church we went to my folks and had some friends over for lunch and games (Apples to Apples). The kids played and we had a nice time with our wonderful friends, as always. This pic is Love with Pickle after our friends had gone, a nice day to stay indoors. While church was going on (Love and I were in a short "play" at church) the snow started and it didn't stop til later this afternoon. We just didn't want to go anywhere and my folks welcomed us to stay as long as we liked!

 I like this pic of them...Pickle rolled onto his back this morning before we left for church, so we need to be on extra alert! 

Menu

Mon: Spelt Pizza (adult: pesto, artichoke, eggplant and smelly cheese; kid: pepperoni)

Tue: Ratatouille

Wed: Salad

Thurs: Cous Cous Soup

Fri: Veggie curry

Sat: Tilapia!

Salad goes with most of those.

Lunches we kind of "snack": cashews or other nuts, salad, nutcrackers, fruit, veggies (carrots are Bugs and my fav) pnut butter, kefir or choc rice milk popcicles, pickles, yogurt. smoothies. Now I just need to shop!

Art into School

This was the project that we did for what ended up the theme of "long" for Unplug Your Kids

It took about 2 hours for us to complete this project, a "long time". But what started out as a fun art project, that I wasn't so sure about, ended up being many different lessons in one. These are those small plastic beads that help with small motor skills and I had Bug counting how many beads we needed and what colors, it was nice. He made it educational, I didn't push it. He has been putting numbers into anything, shows an interest in measuring this with the tape measure, which we also did for the "long" theme. He really enjoyed this project and there are many other 3-D animals in the kit we got to work on this next week! Two for the price of one! I love seeing what Bug learns with every day living!

My first knit in the round

Yesterday I finally got the nerve up to found out how to knit in the round...Youtube is great! This was my very first project and I am very pleased with the outcome. Pickle has a new hat!

Things I want to try with Bug

I am looking for new, fun, interesting and educational things to do for "homeschool" here is my list of things I would like to get into our lives in the near future: This list was created so I have all this info in one place, but you can enjoy these things as well! What fun!

Tangrams

Batik

Letterboxes

Tie Dye

Homemade Salt Paint!

The Toy Society drop

Some fun and easy art projects

Counting to 20

Writing the Alphabet upper and lower case

More Simple math adding

More phonics

Square Foot Gardening

 

More will be added here, this is just the beginning!

Feel the need

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought, why not? We had a great week and weekend. We went to the St. Patty's parade. I'm not a big fan of this holiday, how it became a drinking holiday, I don't know. They don't even celebrate it in Ireland, so it makes no difference to me. I guess we should just learn about Ireland and focus that is where my family comes from. It was still fun to find green clothes, well, orange, since we are protestant, so Bug wore green, Pickle wore orange and we got lots of beads from the parade. I guess legally they really can't throw candy, they did throw some, so we got a little of that too. Bug shared his candy with all that evening at dinner. We also got to go to a farm this last week, which was really nice. Bug got to hold a baby chick, "so soft".  We enjoyed the company, the chickens and the beautiful weather. Went to the library to pick up a few things. 

Had a Saturday of fun with our Awana kids. They had some "Olympic games" that both of our teams got 3rd, out of 4. It was our first year and it was a stressful experience for me leading up to the event, our church wasn't organized (not my fault this time!). I wasn't in charge of that, so I shouldn't have stressed. Now I know for next time.

Sunday was nice, weather was great, Pickle is teething and a little fussy, so I did break out the Tylenol, poor guy. We went to good friends house for the afternoon and had lunch and great conversation. The men played Star Wars with kids in the backyard, it was fun to watch and hear! All in all really nice week. Today is rainy and Love took my car to work, his car didn't want to start, but that is o.k. we need a day in and I thought we might try some crafts at home! I will be looking those up today and menu planning.

Zoo Times

Friday was fun! We ventured to the Omaha zoo with my cousin and his family, they have two boys as well! The boys all loved it. Pickle fell asleep in the moby while the other three boys ran ahead of everyone and tried to race to the end of the zoo! Lots of fun, lots of energy and deemed a good time for all. This photograph was taken by my four year old, Bug. He like to take pictures. The zoo has a new butterfly building, nice. I let him run loose with my camera, which he loves. He takes nice photos! He is taking after Daddy! Loves to take pics of everything and anything including his hands and feet as well as self portraits! Lots of fun living life through a four year olds eyes. I learn so much and I'm glad and blessed to have this special time to spend with my young children.

Today was beautiful, even though we spent most of the day in doors. Pickle slept more today, I think he's going through a growth spurt. We have decided to try a garden this year and this is the week to set it up. I also started a wheat bread dough and made a loaf this evening, smells great! Tomorrow will be running around day and out of the house day. Parade to see, if we get there, art supplies to locate for our block printing "class" we will be taking next Tuesday, and trying to get our things together for our Square Foot Garden. I hope all goes well, we are new to this, so if it doesn't go well, we can live with it. My love bought our tickets to visit our family in Oregon in May! We are both so excited. Bug's 5th birthday will be while we are out there and we hope to visit the ocean, this will be both of the boys' first time. How fun! I get to meet more of our family (some family of mine that Love hasn't met as well as Love's family that I still haven't met). I love traveling, so I am very excited. I have been eating pretty good the last couple of days, but I haven't worked out for a week. I did walk for five hours or so at the zoo on Friday. I hope to do something active this week, outside as well as in. My life is in a great direction and I'm so glad to have Love in my life to share it!

Night with sleep!

So the last few nights I feel like I have been getting sleep. Pickle slept through Tuesday night, all the way through! Went to bed at 10 and woke up at 7:30ish! What?! Yep, that's right. You know last night wasn't the same, but still, it was nice. He didn't get up until 4:30, which he has been doing for a while. He only gets up once a night, we are blessed! 

Pickle started rolling over, just a few times, but yesterday with Daddy he rolled over while he was getting his diaper changed, the first for Daddy's eyes. 

What a crazy night at Awana.(Love and I had a stupid fight yesterday and then I went to Awana, still a little upset.) I have come to love my kids at church, very much. We have split the boys from the girls for most of the night with the 3-5th graders. It's really been nice. But for the last month or so the girls have been giving each other bad looks, calling each other names and some small threats have been going off. I have been disturbed by this and decided to confront all of them about it. It was a good thing, after some of the girls came to me to let me know the behind the scenes at home and that spills over into live outside! Man, my problems about who cleans what at home and what chores go to who really pale in comparison to the problems I hear from our girls at church. Most come from broken homes, one lives with Grandma and recently watched her uncle (that was living with them) get taken away in handcuffs. Her parents divorce is recently been final and her mom is re-marrying some guy. Another girl just found out that her parents are getting a divorce after so 10 years of being married. It breaks my heart to see the girls go through this. Our society has just decided that when things get hard, we can just call it quits. I don't believe that. I believe that you can marry anyone, you are going to have your ups and downs, but when you are down, it's that the person you want to share your inner most thoughts to? I think that marriage is sacred and today, to most people, they think they can just split when things aren't going their way. It hurts. I have a hard time looking at these situations. I know, some may say, well, you have been married before and now you have only been married for just over a year. I do know that. My life has changed so much in the last 5 years that it makes my head spin. But I have come away with knowledge. I have always thought that God taught me so much through my experiences. I know that I could marry anyone, as long as they are willing to work on the marriage with me. That was the problem in my first marriage. I wasn't important enough to fight for, and I have accepted that (not that it was easy). But this time, God truly blessed me with my life partner, my soul mate, my best friend. How wonderful! Being obedient has really been the way to go! It is really easy being married to someone who shares the same spirit, the same goals, the same values and the same dreams. 

Back to what I was saying, some of my girls have a hard time at school and some of these girls have a little violence that has been accepted into who they are. we have been taking about when we don't like someone, what should we do? "Walk away, keep your distance and pray for them". Something that also surprises me is that most of my girls go to church, have been to church, are saved themselves. Most of them have some knowing about church, the Bible, God. But they haven't been taught the basics. We have some girls learning the books of the Bible and I have found out that they don't know how to look up verses in the Bible. So for the last three weeks we have been looking up scripture. If they don't get that at home, we have to teach them. I want to give these girls the tools they need. Reading the Bible has been on my mind for weeks now, how do I get the girls to know how important it is to read and memorize for the future. One day they will look back and now that God was guiding them into the lives He designed for them. i don't care if they remember me. I want them to have good memories of church, not being bullied while they were there. My whole thing about being in Children;s ministry (not my calling, really) is that I don't want someone telling them about God being in a box, that God has many sizes and shapes, colors, smells. I want them to know when you read and study your Bible, it's OK to highlight or underline it! Live can have so many more colors and smells for us to enjoy if we just let God work and let ourselves get out of the way.  

I know this post is long and kind of a tangent, but it has been on my heart and mind and it needed out. Maybe someone needed to read this, I don't know. Maybe I'm just needing a cleanse of my heart. Thank you for taking the time and reading this, or just skimming it. It's not for everyone, but the ones close to me know how I feel, and sometimes this is just my diary. I feel safe here and I can share my heart. Please pray for the girls that I have a influence on and I have a heavy burden for them, I have a hand in the molding and pray I can be a good guide for them to look at in my life.

Meal plan

My bff and I making Spelt Pizza Last Saturday Night! Pickle is enjoying the Moby!

Or Menu Monday, is what some people call it.

Breakfasts: Pink smoothies/frozen waffles, cereal

Monday: Dinner; Salad/pink smoothie

Tuesday:Lunch; Salad or green smoothie and grilled cheese

        Dinner; Ratatouille

Wednesday: Lunch; Mexi Egg wrap

                       Dinner; Crepes and salad

Thursday: Lunch; Salad/ green smoothie

                   Dinner; Cous Cous Soup

Friday: Lunch; left over soup

              Dinner; Going out for pizza!

Saturday: Lunch; fend for yourself

                  Dinner; Quiche

I have some bread to make, I made my first loaf yesterday and it was great! I'm so excited! Can't wait to make more! I have been convicted about eating my green smoothies, I have been craving too many sweets, kick that feeling out. And I need to workout, I have a sinus infection, the second one in a month, so I need to get my body moving to get it out, get a massage or acupuncture done and exercise, that is my solution! I downloaded more pics that I will post here. I printed some pics of the boys and sent them off to family a far. I picked up the house some, still needs more attention, but getting there. Pickle is teething, so drool has become the norm and fun gas that you would think came out of a grown person, man can he fart! 

Back to the sinus infection, I have been reading my Alternative Medicines book for school, and think that I have chronic sinusitis. We are going to see if we can have to dog out of the house for a couple weeks to see if that might be a factor in my sinus issues. 

We got together with our really good friends over this last weekend, which was great. They guys mudded the addition to their home and us ladies made spelt pizza, which i have come to love. Then we went over worship music for Sundays set that we were all a part of. It was nice and relaxing. Sunday we went back and my Mom made lunch for all of us and we played Apples to Apples. Good times! 

We also enjoyed going to our first official "Park Day" with the local unschooler/homeschoolers group that we have come to enjoy being a recent addition. We have met up with them at a couple of events this winter, so "Park Day" is other events when the weather isn't fun for the park. I'm very grateful to this group of wonderful and supportive women. I look forward to more of the weekly meet-ups! 

Tomorrow we are going over to another friends house, without the kids, to have craft night of our very own. I believe Love and I will be doing some knitting and our friends will either be knitting or doing some macrame, it will be nice. I am looking forward to having more creative thing in our house to share with out children and so that the t.v. isn't on as much. Bug did ask to learn how to knit, we have tried once and he lost interest within the first 5 minutes, we will try again later.

Early morning

It is early, thought I would blog since it has been a while again. Bug got to spend time with is biological Dad the last couple of days, very emotional for everyone. We are now recovering and going to get back to normal. 

I made a great dinner of Cous Cous Soup and apple/brie with a reduced balsamic vinegar sandwich on nice toasted bread! I really love cooking, when I have the time. I made our menu for this week, got groceries and went thrift shopping yesterday with a friend that I haven't seen for a couple months now. Nice time catching up. 

I have been back on pink smoothies, but still am trying to get back to green ones too. I haven't gotten back into working out again since I was sick over Valentine's weekend. Oh well. I have been keeping busy and reading, need to sign up with my new CSA for this year! I'm really excited and need to plan out our garden, Bug wants to help! Love has been taking a theology course at our church (I took this a year or so ago), it's good and keeps you reading the Bible and memorizing scripture, which is always a good thing. I might pick up my book and go through it again while he is taking it! 

We have also started knitting, Love has made two scarves and I have made a scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves that Bug decided were for him! I want to learn how knit socks and Love wants to learn to make a hat, which I would like as well. Oh what a fun hobby for us to do together and make stuff for each other! I guess we need to learn how to knit in the round! That will be fun. Bug has decided he wants to learn to knit as well, it's not going well for him right now with that, but I will try if he wants to keep on!

I have been reading blogs and enjoying my friends in conversation lately. I hope tomorrow is more of the same, I mean today!

Good Tuesday

We enjoyed the sunshine today. Ran a few errands and went to the park. We met up with friends at the park, nice to chat and figure out what to do about our share garden and local CPA. I am looking forward to fresh local veggies with no pesticides or hormone growth injections! I feel like I have been so blind about the foods we eat, but the light is dawning.  The boys stayed with Grandpa G this evening so that Love and I could attend a DIY/Craft group that was teaching knitting! It was great, coffee and knitting with great company. Love's best friend was their and another of my new friends was there with her daughter and sister. It was a nice get away. I am excited to say that I will finish my new scarf hopefully tomorrow if all goes well. I really enjoyed this and hope that we will continue to do fun things like this, a kind of date night. Really relaxing.

Tomorrow will be nice again, so I hope we can go by the park for a bit. Bug does have art class and we have Awana in the evening. I do like seeing my "kids" on Wednesday night. And tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. 

I have already stayed up later than I wanted. 

I have to say that Pickle has been grasping for things lately, toys, his bink, blankets. It's really fun to see the growth that you forget about. The little things...all blessings.

Short and Sweet

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, ever atom in me a magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days to prolong them. I shall use my time."  ~Jack London 

The thought of myself, but also a great descrip of a spirited child. I love my Bug.

Pickle

This is Pickle, he is now 4 months old, almost 5 months! He looks at you with those big blues! This was last week sometime driving around in between being sick, running errands and a funeral. You can't see his hair so much here. He doesn't have much, but what he does have is very light, not sure how it will turn out. Bug was just like this for a long while and now his hair is so thick, I'm not worried about Pickle's hair at all. Just fun to know if it will be curly...inquiring minds want to know.

Recovery/Catch up

Last week we went roller skating with the local Homeschooler/Unschooler group. Bug's first time at the rink and with real skates. (We went around once, yes WE. I had to get skates because he was scared, so was I!) We went around once and that was enough for him.

Recover/Catch Up
That was what today was all about. I was sick from Friday evening until Monday morning I had a fever, my body ached everywhere, my head throbbing with sinus pain and headache/migraine. Lots of fun! I had to call into work on V-day! Bad day to call in. I got a text saying that I had to show up or they would have to let me go. That wasn't too hard of a decision, I had a temperature of 100-102 that day and didn't want to get clients or coworkers sick, so I stayed home. All is good in that decision, I would have gotten complaints about how bad my massages would have been anyway. I could barely walk to the bathroom at home. Love had to bring Pickle to me to nurse and then put him back into the crib, so sad. Love started feeling yuck Saturday afternoon, but got better later in the day, just some stomach weird. So I can't remember all that happened. I do know that we got a few valentines in the mail. How sweet there were. My Mother-in-law sent cards and sweet treats for the kids! Yum! "Dairy Cream" is what Bug calls it, we only live two blocks away from our favorite and we walk there in the summer quit a bit!  And my sister-in-law also sent a homemade card with family pics all over it, very cute! We want to say "Thanks"

Bug has had a cough the last few days, so tomorrow I will give him ear drops, he seems to get ear infection after having a couch. I want that to stop. He hadn't been sleeping so great and then was sick one night last week, slept on night for 14 hours straight and then 12 the next night. It's been weird though, all of us having different symptoms. I didn't go to the Dr, but maybe I should have. I don't think they could have given me anything anyway because I'm nursing. No big deal, my immune system needed to work through it on it's own this time. My throat is still sore and I'm snoring when I sleep, I am told. And my head hurts a little off and on. I am trying to eat well and drink lots of water. Water and my honey made me milk tea, which was nice and I kind of got a secret crush on now, very soothing.

The house is coming into silence with both boys sleeping and both of us tired, trying to get more sleep. It's nice to not have to be anywhere at any certain time, i love seeing Bug learning every day, from me, the Internet, his clever numbers and letter games. We have a great time. Tuesdays usually end up being some kind of music day, we listen to, dance around and sing along with different types of music, educational, just for fun, techno and classical. Bug loves to dance to techno! He is getting quit the love for music, I'm so proud. He will be taking Hip Hop Boys dance class this summer, all boys! He says he can't break dance, but then you will see him get on the ground and try to move around like he knows what he is doing, or has a picture of it in his mind. What a cool kid.

Pickle is desperately trying to turn over, if he could just get his feet to go with his body, soon. I told him today he can wait as long as he likes, I'm in no rush for him to be mobile! 

Off to bed

Before I retire for the evening I thought I would stop by with a few thoughts. I have not been keeping up with my new workout routine, bad me. Tomorrow is a new day. Love has been offered a new work position and isn't sure he should take it, insurance might not cover the old house's water damage, I'm not happy at work. 

Bug got sick last night so we stayed home, he had a fever (can't remember the last fever...never gets them) and stayed on the couch majority of today. Watched a few movies and then by 4:30 or so he felt much better, not eating much at all today but he wanted to play the WiiFit. I told him tomorrow he could, today was kind of a rest day. We missed Art Class and he stayed home from Awana. I went, I love my kids. They are so much a part of why I even teach there. I have a great relationship with most of them. Two of my kids have my cell phone number and text me during the week, it's kind of fun. One of the girl's mom may let me color her hair pink! That will be fun! Then we will match. I love my pink hair, I'm still not sure about the blue right now with the pink. Oh well, it's still fun.

I work tomorrow and hope to work out. I made the smoothies for tomorrow, Love likes to take them to work with him and I don't get up before him much any more, I feel lazy. 

I'm off to bed and Thank God that Bug is better! And that we all are healthy other than the last night throwing up! I'm tired and want to read a bit before bed (The China Study) .

He's BACK!

My wonderful husband has made it home! Safe and sound. WE have tried talking a lot since we laid eyes on one another while he tries to stay awake. We had to be at church early this a.m. for worship practice and then had a taco dinner after for the youth fundraiser. So we got home, tried to sleep and ended up talking most of the afternoon, in bed. Trying to catch a nap. He says he will go to work in the morning, we will see.

I have been trying to figure out what I want...in church in my calling to Asia/China, in my role as a mother, as a homeschooler, as a more natural approach to health and home. It will be interesting to see where I am on all these things in six months from now. 

I haven't had a smoothie or a couple of days, did have salad today. Only worked out on e day last week, oh well. I can't beat myself up over that, I need to just move on. This week will be better. We all have to figure out our routine again. Fun times here on our home front. I am enjoying the stories and want them for myself. 

My last night alone

At least for a while. I am so excited. I don't think I will sleep well tonight. I have to go through all of tomorrow to get to see my Love around 10pm! My life is great. We had an o.k. day. Pickle had a checkup today...all is well. My chubby little guy, he has remained on the same growth curve. 13.9lbs. 24" long! 4 months old. 23% for his weight and height. His head circum is in the 3rd percentile, but continues in the same curve. All good news! He also got his lovely shot for RSV prevention. I really hate to see him go through that, but only two more of those and we are done. He didn't even cry for 5 minutes! He ate right away and that calmed him. We are now on cloth diapers full time! It's going very well. I am so surprised. Nights and everything! This makes me feel good, less to no chemicals on my son, no having to forget the diapers at the store or run out last minute! 

Alright I have a massage party to work at tomorrow. I love those, and hate them, but it's nice to make new connections and talk about holistic health at the same time. I just wish I didn't have to leave the boys with someone (tomorrow it's my mom). They have fun though and need a break from me as well. So it is nice to have that, thanks mom.

I didn't eat very well. I didn't work out like I thought today, oh well. i got some errands done, washed the car (not that that lasted) and found out that i need an eye exam, my stuff has expired. So, yeah, that's about it for today. I did do some laundry and fold diapers!

Thoughts today

So I have 48 hours until I see my Love!!!!!!! What a great time that will be! I will probably cry. I miss him, if you didn't notice.

Today was kind of boring, I worked. I don't know how I feel at work. It's almost like I don't want to be there, I'm not happy there. So there may be a change in my near future with work. We will see. I said I would try this for a month and see how it goes. I had a nice time hanging out with the girls at work. We talked about the usual. Men, shoes, pregnancy. We have one gal who is currently pregnant and one who is trying to get pregnant and me, who thinks about when we should get pregnant again. I'm always thinking about that. I think it will just happen when it is suppose to happen. 

I didn't workout today, should have, I had one client at work and could have worked out. Today was suppose to just be ab work, so it should have been easy to do at work. Oh well. I will tomorrow for sure. I didn't have a smoothie or salad, but I did eat a full container of plain organic yogurt, it is so good, all 24oz in almost one sitting! Yeah, I know, not the most wonderful thing for me to devour, that is what I did.

I am planning on waiting until midnight and then going to bed. Love left a new pic with text every day he has been gone. I think I have gone to bed once before midnight since he has been gone. Just to see what he says to me. I can't get over him, I miss hims o much. I miss talking, it's been a week since we spoke. The longest, for sure, since we met.

I enjoyed watching nothing on T.V. this evening, should have cleaned and read a book or knitted, but didn't. The end of Iron Chef America is on in the background and the judging is about to begin. I guess I will watch who wins and then venture up to the bedroom. Oh, both boys have been going to bed around the same time the last two nights now. And cloth diapers are going over very well! Thank you!

Up Late

So I talked on the phone tonight with my bff for an hour and a half! Can you believe it! we just saw each other today for a couple of hours! It was nice. I don't think there will be many more late night phone calls when Love returns, but it has been nice to connect and really enjoy ourselves. I found some fun crafty DIY groups in town that I'm looking forward to joining in the near future. It seems like something I'm looking for in my life right now. I want to connect with more people, outside of my church. I don't get the opportunity at work to just talk and become friends with most of my clients, it's a professional relationship. I need some sort of creative outlet that helps me relax. I get all tense and can't put my tension anywhere except for own body, which is just horrible. I work tomorrow. I have decided to see if I can have Reiki done tomorrow if we aren't busy. i need to replenish my chi! I am tired now and want to go to bed. Love will be home on Saturday night! I'm so excited, I need to do something during the day on Saturday to keep me busy. Maybe I will knit his scarf!

I am wanting to make crepes and I found a recipe that sounds good. Soon, I will try it. I didn't work out today, but I will tomorrow. I drank lots of water and ate pretty good, no meat, but lots of protein! I love eating like this. I had a huge salad for lunch that would knock your socks off! I love avocado, yum with salt and pepper! super yum!

Not much longer

Another night alone....

Bug slept in today, as did the rest of us. I got a load of laundry done a load of dishes and put Pickle back in cloth diapers today. It is going better today. I think the diapers were a little tight the first couple of times I put them on him. I will pick up my next purchase of cloth diapers tomorrow. I'm excited to see how tonight will go, first night with them. I was afraid of him not being able to sleep, but it has been about 2 plus hours now. I think he will transition nicely. I have been thinking a lot lately about no vaccinations and less meat in all of our diets. More fine arts in our daily lives and more exercise for me.

Today I had two pink smoothies, a large salad for lunch. Hot chocolate and ice cream. I can't remember the last time I had ice cream. It was o.k. I keep thinking that all sugary things tasted better before now. What is going on? I'm really loving that the sweets aren't what I really want anymore. I am really enjoying putting together new meals without meat. I think our life is more interesting this way, and I feel so much better in general. My head is clear, most of the time. I have lost 2.5lbs in the last week! My skin is clearer, I have more energy and don't crave the sweets as much. And when I give into the sweets, they don't taste nearly as good as I remember. 

I have 4 more days without my Love. I am really excited about seeing him. Today's present from him was a Star Wars spaceship for Bug. He loved it! Bug thought it was so cool that Dad left presents for him to play with while he was gone. He can't wait to see Daddy at the airport and tell him "thank you for Bumble Bee and the Star Wars spaceship". That is what he told me today. Bug likes to hold Pickle's hand and talk in a really high pitch voice to him. Pickle is Bug's number one fan! He can make him smile in a flash. It is so nice to see them interact already. Bug is great with diaper duty. Always helps getting diapers and trying to sing to Pickle when he cries, it's very sweet.

I am counting down the days. See you soon, my Love.

Easy

It was easy today. Boring a bit. We went to church, ate over at my aunt and uncle's house, yummy quiche! talked and went home for a nap, well, watched 4 hours of "Anne of Green Gables" on IPTV. I love that movie, series, you know. Bug took a long nap, got up ate dinner and watched "Star Wars:Clone Wars". Then took a bath and went to bed after story! I am enjoying my evening. I made chocolate mylk from Ani Phyo's book, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. I'm letting the dates soak in for sweetness overnight. It makes the mylk sweeter! I hope that Bug will try it! I work in the a.m. so I am looking forward to some sleep. Pickle was up most of today and fell asleep around 5 or so. I hope he still sleeps through the night. He usually only gets up once in the night, but he is still sleeping. Please God, help him sleep through the night still. Sometimes he just wants to see what everyone else is doing and doesn't sleep until later in the day.

I am counting down, 5 more days until Love comes back. I am so excited!!!!!!! I work only two days this week, but I am going to a friends house on Saturday for a massage party, she has invited 5 of her friends to get massages! Go me! I will bring my business cards. I love doing things like that! I used to do that for a couple of people, they would have four or five of their friends over once a month for massages and i would give a nice discount to the host on their massage! It is tiring, but lots of fun and totally worth it! I'm excited.

I didn't work out again, or have any smoothie today. I am making lentils for my lunch for tomorrow, I think lettuce wraps are in order for something different. I know, today was a boring blog. Maybe something exciting will happen tomorrow!

One week left

A week from now I will be in the arms of my Love, the one thing I need the most. I have decided, and after talking with he, he agrees, we will never spend this much time apart if at all possible. I need him and he needs me. I miss him. I think this time has been valuable in many aspects. We have gained our new perspective of looking into the mission field overseas more seriously and when Love returns we will discuss how and when we can plan out our life in another country in our not so distant future. I get excited thinking about this plan we have. I pray that God will lead us in every step, that we will hear His voice amongst the chaos of our every day lives. 

Love really is enjoying the work they are doing, building a church. He called on Thursday and it was so nice to hear his voice. I still think about the words we used and how much we are each a part of a whole.

Today was loooong. I worked 9-well, 3:15. It was suppose to be 5 but there was a cancellation, which I was happy about. I picked up the boys, dropped off Bug at a friends house to play "Star Wars" and take the baby with me to Girl's Night at a local church with my best friend. We had a cheap, not so vegetarian meal, looked a glasses frames, found a few long-lost friends, found out our personalities by our kiss marks from some Mary Kay ladies, waited in a long line for Godiva chocolate, bought 2 chocolate covered strawberries for $1 each! Nursed Pickle before leaving and enjoyed a cup of lemony tea that she got from a friend this week at her house. All in all a great day until it all hit the fan as it was after 10:30 and needed to get Bug to bed, he threw a fit! BIG time. Sorry friends. I think he didn't have enough for dinner and was tired, not having a nap today. Other than that, it was enjoyable. I love my friends, they love me and we all miss Love. They don't call him that.

No workout, no smoothies, but mostly raw today. I did get to sleep early last night! Before midnight is good at this point! I'm going to try for two nights in a row!

My First Anniversary

So one year ago today was my wonderful wedding on a very windy and bitter cold day. I remember it fondly and only regret that we didn't have more of our family and friends around us. I finally found the man of my dreams, my best friend and my life partner in crime! He makes me a better person, so needless to say that I miss him. I don't feel myself. Today was the first time I felt we got into a rhythm without Love here. It is the half way mark until he gets back! He did call from Africa today, what a nice surprise! He said that he wished we would have arranged for me to get flowers today, but he has given me the best present. I can't tell you what that is...

Enough about that. It was a boring day without the kids, I was working. I had no clients, but got to chat with my co-workers: always talking about giving birth, food, exercise, food, more food. You get the idea, we all have great ideas, but we don't all practice what we preach. I think that most of us eat right in front of one another at work, it's a kind of pressure. And we all know that we are all trying to eat better in general. That was what my day was.

Actually, it started off great. Bug was nice and Pickle let me sleep in a bit. I worked out again, three days in a row. I had half of a pink smoothie and a green smoothie. For dinner I had carrots and pnut butter, a pickle, some cheese and drank some water.

Bug stayed at gma's house this evening and Pickle fell asleep early, about 9ish. So I have been reading my new books (my order from amazon came today). I'm so excited. A raw foods book, a square foot gardening book, and i started my China Study book a few days ago. I'm not a reader, sad to say, but I like to learn and cook (or not with the raw foods). So I have some work ahead of me. I read a little of each of those books. I also got a book for my honey and a book about raising my child's i.q. before kindergarten...we will see.

I am glad to have tomorrow off and I have a full day of clients on Saturday. Next Saturday I have off! I'm wondering about working less already, I miss my boys while I am at work, especially when I'm not busy! I am going to bed. I'm not very exciting today, sorry about that.

Pleasant

I enjoyed my day, mostly. I am ready for bed. I had most of my pink smoothie, not much of anything else, oh wait. I did have a beef burger at church tonight and a few almond/caramel/chocolate treats. They were good. I worked out, not really sure how long, but I already feel it in my muscles. I decided to start this week my Yoga Booty Ballet dvds that I got three years ago. I will follow their plan for 10 weeks and maybe continue after that. It's nice to have a plan. I made a chart for myself so I can look at it and see how well I'm doing! Go me!

We were going to get haircut/color extensions in today. Bug needed a trim and so did I. We were late and rescheduled for later today... That's o.k. My girlfriend has been talking about this wonderful art class she takes her boys to on Wednesdays, so I thought we might try it out. This lady is great she teaches any age different medias for teaching art, or creating. Whatever you want to call it. I'm really excited to see how he progresses. He hasn't really been interested until recently about these things and I'm not really great at thinking about what activities would be good for him in this area, not my forte. So, that is exciting, he said he really liked it today. Meanwhile I got to hangout with my girlfriend and a very recent friend that I have met after reading her blog off and on for a while now. It was nice. Chatted about cloth diapers and tea and pastries. 

Then we got home to rest of a while before hair appointments. I wasn't going to miss this, it has been almost a year since I've had my pink hair and I have been waiting for this. So I got my pink and decided to mix it up a little and put some blue in as well, perfect! Looks great, as you can see. Bug got his haircut and found a present from Daddy,  a Bumble Bee Transformer. Which took me three tries to put back into a car form. I drank lots of water today and took a nap before church. Awana was o.k. we had 23 kids on my group, they were a little talkative, but it worked out well in the end. I was tired after and came home to find out Pickle (who was with g'ma) hadn't eaten much, was on his third diaper and was fussy most of the time. So off to bed with us all. Got Bug to bed, no bath (he was not listening to me) and fed Pickle a few times before he fell asleep and got to talk with my little sister in the Philippines, we don't get to talk often, she is really busy. I guess I am pretty busy too. It was nice, she sounds good and happy (but has a cold) and excited about her first pregnancy, I'm excited for them. It will be fun to see her and her hubby as parents after 9 years of just them. They will come to the States for a while after baby is born this summer. I'm excited and it will be nice for our children to be around each other for a while. 

I have been looking a mission stuff overseas again. I really want and fell God calling me to China still. So I looked and found a Drama Instructor in Hong Kong through the mission group my sister went through. I also looked into visiting the Jesus People in Chi-town. I would love to take Bug there and show him how to help others in different ways. The community living, the shelters and Elderly living homes they have, thrift stores and handyman things they have set up. I was excited to find out that they can house a family for up to a week! I think that when Love gets back that we should look into something like this for this year or next, even if it's just a long weekend sometime. I know we are planning to go out to OR in the spring, I believe. Loves family is there. 

O.k. so I am rambling....I need to sleep. I work tomorrow and need to take the trash out, do laundry and dishes are always there. I love my friends a family. It's nice to be loved. Pray.

Tired

I'm super tired. Yesterday was really draining for me. I did get to talk to Love last night only 5 minutes afert nursing Pickle. It was a very broken conversation that I had to use my Folks' land line to call back when it got lost. It was nice to hear his voice and to know that he didn't feel like he had to come home early. "We will deal with it when I get back" is all he said. I have been praying ever since. I've gotten lots of email, facebook messages, texts and phone calls to make sure we are doing o.k. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and support in every other way. We have the best family and friends. 

On to other things. I picked up my trial cloth diapers today, we will see. Pickle didn't seem too excited as his clothes don't fit as well now. I will have to fix that and within the first 10 minutes of wearing his first cloth diaper he pooped! Oh yeah! It was fine. I am excited to see how this goes. I only bought a few to see if it would be for us, I really hope so. It is so nice that we have a local gal that makes them from her home. I have been reading her blog for a while now and finally got to meet her. That was really nice and she offers to walk you through anything you want about the products. Great support, and there is a local cloth diaper support group that meets monthly! 

I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm going to go to bed early tonight. Not much else, but I did workout today for almost an hour. Had a pink and green smoothie! Feel good about that. Did a load of dishes and still need to look over the lesson for Awana for tomorrow. 

Just a really bad day, Please Pray

It is as simple as that. A very bad, no good day. I found out while at work that the water company was trying to get ahold of us this month, all month long. It seemed to them that a water pipe at my husbands,  year ago bacholer pad, not occupied house on the east side of town burst. I won't go into too much detail right now, I'm exhausted by all the commotion while my honey is away. Thankfully we have great friends and family that kept me sane today. I was able to get off work early and meet people at the house so we could turn the water off. That's all we can do. My name isn't on anything for the house so we kind of have to wait for Love to get back or he can call them every day to give them permission to talk to me while he is gone. Either way it's going to be a long process. I was told the water company had been trying to call since Jan. 5. I'm not sure about that and I will be calling to get to the bottom of this and if needed, I will ream someone. It will be a long few days to get things organized and trying to get ahold of love in the middle of a dead zone for sure. I guess God has some kind of plan, just not sure what it is as of yet. I did take some pictures, will share later.

I'm simply tired and ready for bed. Maybe Love will call in the night! That would be the up side, I get to talk on the phone with him!

Pray the Insurance company covers it all and the Water company is compassionate. Pray for the right turn of events in our future.

Lonely

Tonight I am lonely. I miss my Love. I want to sit down and cuddle with him... 

Next

Today was o.k. I had the boys, I slept in, well, after everyone was up I went back to sleep for a while, maybe half an hour or so. Bug has so much energy, but he was great this a.m. entertained himself quietly. One BIG thing for today. Pickle decided to laugh today! How very exciting! Bug was playing with him in his exersaucer and there you have it! I was upstairs and as I came down I heard this high pitch giggle...then realized it was Pickle laughing at his big brother...I think this is a great relationship already. It was precious. I grabbed the camera and put it on Video mode for a little bit. What a pleasant sound in this house. 

So, I admit that I don't have a clean house, hardly ever. To help myself along I invite friends over to make me clean. Well, I did some of that today. Then when only one of my girlfriends ended up making it, I asked her to help me organize the place while Love is away! She did! We got started, well, she did. 

I am tired and don't really want to work tomorrow, but I will. I will be happy when I get there, I just wish I could take the boys with.

I found out that my husband was leaving behind presents for me today. He put together on the computer an icon that changes every day while he is gone. A picture and some text, as he put it. But today I found out that in these pictures are random things that had gifts hidden in them. How sweet is that?! It made me laugh, who thinks of that! What a small thing to look forward to while he is away. I have been staying up a little later than usual because a new one appears after midnight. I'm silly, I know.

I had a pink smoothie today, didn't exercise, drank plenty of water. Made bean dip for my dinner and finished the Snobby Joe's from a different blog that I made a couple days ago. YUM! Go vegetarian! I love this no meat thing I'm trying. It feels so good.

I love my life. Tonight I seem a little random in my thoughts, but you get the idea. Night!

25 Things

So I was reading some one's blog and they put up the challenge of writing 25 things about yourself...this might get a little too revealing, so watch out!

1. I am a massage therapist that loves helping people get healthy.

2. I have two wonderful boys. Ages 4 and 3 months. 

3. I recently decided to homeschool.

4. I have been intrigued by green smoothies and eating more raw foods. So I have been embarking on a new food lifestyle.

5. Tried knitting a scarf for my husband while he is away.

6. Live in a nice house next to my parents. Which I enjoy very much.

7. Think outside the box.

8. I love tattoos and piercings, have a few of each. My back tat is my favorite, and it's almost done!

9. Love to sing, not great at it, but I do love to. 

10. Work really hard at teaching my kids at church about having a relationship with Jesus and not to judge others or shove it down people throats.

11. I strive to love people and accept them as human, not as perfect.

12. I have a passion to travel. I have been to lots of places around the world, well, a few anyway. My favorite was China for 18 months.

13. I feel I will live in China again with my wonderful family in the near future.

14. I like to drive my car. During the day is better, my night vision is getting bad.

15. I love to watch my boys watch one another, it makes me happy.

16. Hate to clean my house, it's usually a mess.

17. Enjoys my Wiifit and other Wii games.

18. Am organizationally challenged! I need help!

19. Hates to admit I need help, like most women. We can did it ourselves.

20.Am a devote Christian and tries to read my Bible everyday.

21. Loves to dance for my workout! Dancing is so much fun!

22. Orders fun things off of Amazon.

23. Doesn't like to run for a workout at all! Or really walk. I don't get it.

24. Has made my own yogurt this year.

25. Is excited to celebrate my first year of marriage in 5 days! But am sad because my honey will still be out of the country! At least we made the first year! I love being married!

Hope you enjoyed this. Challenge yourself today!