she makes me smile...

it's been almost a year since i wrote my letter of resignation from teaching... i keep thinking how fast the last year has gone and how much i've loved every single second of being at home with K... and i look forward more years of pure joy! :)
it seems like she's growing by the minute...i saw how long her legs were today in the high chair...and how long her feet seem to be getting... and how much growing she's going to do this summer... :)
i wish there was a way to "capture" all of the things i love about her... her quirky personality and how the words she knows come out... i just can't take a picture and save these things... so, i figured i should write some of them down... :)

i smile when she jumps... in the last week, she's taken to jumping all the time... as she says, she loves to "djump." and the smile that spreads across her face when she does it... :) i love it...

i love how, after dinner, she runs for her little couch, throws herself on it, and looks at you to start her "DBD" before we start getting ready for bed. in the last few weeks, we've been going for walks before the DBD, but she's still excited when we get back to watch her Praise Baby video...

i smile when she says "no no no" when she's doing something she knows she shouldn't be doing... :) then she looks at you and grins... :)

i love how she dances... with her leg bounce at the knees and the arm movements... :)

i love her blue eyes...

i smile when i watch her play outside... she explores everything, loves dirt, and if she can find a ball, she's ready for a game... :)

she makes me smile when she calls a rainbow a "bee bow" and she calls a baseball a "bee ball"

i love how her second toe on her left foot doesn't stay down still... :) it's like her feet aren't wide enough... :)

she makes me smile when she looks for "Elmo," "Arnie," and "Burr" in her books...

i love how she points to things in her books and says, "mmmm" when she wants you to tell her what it is...

she makes me giggle when she throws it into reverse to sit on your lap when she's found a book she wants to read with you...

i love how her hair curls in the back...

i smile when she takes her plate and says, "all di" when she's finished with her meal...

i love how she runs to sit down when she knows it's time for a snack... (we've worked hard on sitting during snack time)

i laugh when she sees the open pantry and stands there and says, "trac-er, trac-er, trac-er" until she gets a cracker to satisfy her hunger... :)

i love how she finds a little stick outside and decides to use it to touch each towel that hangs on the clothes line...

i can't help but smile when she weaves in and out between the clothes on the clothesline like it's a game... :)

i love how she takes her blanket and shoves it under her nose each night to smell its sweetness and familiarity...

i smile when she throws her paci into her crib when she gets up and says "bye-bye, dii dii."

i love how she is starting to finish sentences for me when we read "Goodnight Moon." :)

i smile thinking about last night. as she fell asleep while we were rocking, that she kept pointing and sleepily saying "mooo" as the gibbous moon was shining into the window...

and there's so much more...
she makes me smile...all the time... :)

meals for 5.24.10 to 5.31.10

i can't believe the end of may is this week... absolutely amazing... June is knocking on the door...and that means SUMMER! :) yay! :) lots of fresh fruit...veggies...
cookouts with family and friends...BBQing... roasted marshmallows... mmmm! :) life is good! :)

since this weekend is the "unofficial" start of summer, i'm trying to change the fare up a bit... there are still some "regulars" that we'll enjoy, however... and yes, much to Ry's dismay, soup is still on the menu... i love soup for a few reasons... it's good for you (usually), and we always have leftovers... :) this week, i decided to try a new recipe from the "Taste of Home" cookbook that i got for xmas...we'll see how it turns out! :)

Monday: cold cuts and pasta salad with salami, pepperoni, and fresh mozzarella! (yum!)
Tuesday: Amish Chicken Corn Soup (you can find this recipe by searching for it here)
Wednesday: omelets and fried zucchini
Thursday: tacos
Friday: leftovers and corn on the cob
Saturday: cookout - taking homemade mac n cheese
Sunday: spaghetti w/ homemade bread sticks
Monday: BBQ chicken, baked sweet potatoes, corn on the cob

i hope that you have a wonderful week! enjoy your time filling your bellies!

and, more importantly, please, don't forget to take some time to remember those who have fought for us and lost their lives while defending our country... it's because of those men and women that we can especially cherish our freedom on this, and every, Memorial Day...

the man whistle...

we have two dogs who are super sensitive to outside noises... loud trucks (esp. UPS)...dogs barking... while i find their whimpers and barks to be a little annoying at times, i guess i'm happy that they are the big wimpy and wouldn't attack a fly protectors of our house...ya know, we have real guard dogs... snarling, foaming at the mouth, pointy canine teeth catching the light just right...the full Monty... :)

on Sunday morning, the most annoying person decided to whistle near our opened windows. we were all working on our yummy breakfast of french toast at the table... i have no idea where this person was (we have neighbors, but they weren't out) ...but every 30 seconds or so, we'd hear the whistle... short whistle, short whistle, and then a little longer whistle... after each man whistle, of course, the dogs would move quickly from room to room to "attack" out the windows or the sliding screen door...

Ry mumbled something about some stupid guy whistling and driving the dogs crazy...

eventually, it stopped...so i figured that the person lost interest in whistling and moved on...

on Tuesday afternoon, i opened the sliding door again because it was getting stuffy...and the whistle started again... i really thought it was a random man... i had NO idea who would be out whistling at 2 in the afternoon... our neighbors are at work then...and our houses/land butt up against a field where horses graze...and another field where cows graze...

i will admit that i was a little nervous thinking "oh man...who IS this person and are they going to try and break in?"

of course, the dogs got up and started their whining/crying, low barks... i scolded them... the whistle stopped...

my fear passed...and we enjoyed the rest of the day... :)

that very same night, we're sitting at dinner...and the whistle started again... after listening for a few seconds, i said to Ry, "is that a bird??" seriously, we sat in silence and listened... (well, almost everyone was quiet - the dogs starting their whine :))...

sure enough, it's a BIRD... and we've heard the man whistle bird several times this week...

now, can i just ask...have you ever heard a bird that whistles like a man????? :) while it's not so cool for people with dogs, it may do wonders for a woman's ego. :)

meals for 5.16.10 to 5.22.10

looking at the meals for the week, they sure don't look very well-rounded...
food is food, right? :) lots of tomato-based items... in reality, i'm trying to use up some stuff that's in the fridge/freezer...so we'll see what we can do with the boring fare... :)

Sunday: BBQ - burgers, leftover mac n cheese
Monday: leftovers - chicken chimichangas (YUM yum!), zucchini
Tuesday: macaroni soup
Wednesday: English Muffin pizzas
Thursday: spaghetti, salad, and bread
Friday: leftovers/eat out
Saturday: leftovers/eat out
(not sure which day we'll be eating out...)

hope you have a good week and that you have lots of good food with lots of good company :)

it's a girl...

i was reading this post by Jessica Gottlieb, and i was shuttled back to October 23rd, 2008 as darkness fell on that wonderful day...

i gave birth to my daughter on that day... i hadn't slept in a long time...i'd been up for probably 36-40 hours and i gave birth in that time...
i was sitting in my bed, holding her, still wrapping my mind around the idea of having a little baby... it was raining out...and i could see a few trees before the pretty brick building that hogged about 90% of my view...

now, we didn't find out the gender of this little one... i swore that not knowing would help me "push it out..." and i loved the surprise... :) i hadn't ever been pregnant before, and i had nothing to compare my feelings to, but i just kind of felt like i was going to have a boy... people told me their thoughts, and i guess i just went with the majority...

and after 23+ hours of labor, when they announced, "it's a girl" on that early Thursday morning, i cried...i was so happy "it" was a girl :)

that night, as i sat there looking at the rain drops on my huge window, i still couldn't believe i had a baby...and that sweet baby was a little girl wrapped in a soft cotton blanket...

it was probably hormones and exhaustion, but i cried... i cried because i sat there holding this little tiny baby...and suddenly, i was transported to 13 years in the future...as she stood there begging me to wear the shorts with "Juicy" across the butt...or the skin tight booty shorts that are popular... or a mid drift top...

see, i really thought it was going to skip into a sports store and choose "Nike" and "Adidas" shirts for my awkward teenage son with legs longer than an ostrich...

i know that it's going to take a lot of prayer to raise this little girl... but i pray, every night, that she is raised in such a way that she honors God and has pride in her appearance and dresses so that she doesn't advertise "things" that only her future husband should ever see when she gets married when she's 50

and i know that her dad and i are going to have very high standards for her dress...

and i know that she'll never wear outfits like we see in the video on Jessica's blog...

i'm thinking back to the days when i wanted to fit in, and i know it's so hard for a child to see other kids wearing such provocative fashion and not want to be like them... and from friends with older children, i know it's hard to find clothes for little girls that are tasteful...

i remember being a teenager and wanting a "Co-Ed Naked" t-shirt (popular in the 90s) because everyone had them... i did get one, a Co-Ed Naked Volleyball shirt, as a matter of fact... but it was behind my parents' back...and then when my mom found it... woah buddy... needless to say, i didn't ever wear it...and it still sits in my drawer at my parents' house... "on the floor is where you'll score" was printed across the back... now, if my daughter EVER wanted to wear that, i would burn it in the back yard and find a large floral moo moo for her to wear to school

i pray that my husband and i have the strength to remain strong in our convictions as we raise our sweet girl... :)

meals for 5.9.10 to 5.15.10 *update*

*a minor change to the menu... saw the recipe for chicken chimichangas on "Thy Hand's" blog today and couldn't resist... they look so good! :)*

here's what will hopefully be on the stove, filling the oven, or sizzling on the grill this week... :)

Sunday: grilled BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn
Monday: soup and sandwiches
Tuesday: stuffed shells (from whatever)
Wednesday: hot dogs and mac n cheese
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: out to dinner with The Strongs
Saturday: chicken chimichangas (from Thy Hand)

we hope you have a week of yummy foods and family time that you cherish :)

Before I Became Your Mother...

Before I Became Your Mother

I never knew...
how happy I would feel when you smile,
I never knew...
how sad I would feel when you cry,
I never knew...
how heartwarming it would be to watch you grow,
I never knew...
how much love my heart could hold,
And now...
I will always know.

4 generations ♥ 3 moms ♥ abounding blessings
♥ Happy Mother's Day to all :) ♥

(poem borrowed from incredibly talented photographer Jessica :))

flurry

do you ever feel like you have about a million little thoughts floating around in your brain...but you just can't make any of them connect to form a thoughtful post? that's me lately... :)
i don't know if i was like this pre-child, but i am now, more often than not...
maybe it's because my life is rich with various experiences...maybe it's because i don't have the "same old things" happening each day with kids running around...maybe it's because i just have too much stuff going on... :)

so, this will be a flurry post... randoms... :)

~i think K ate a rock yesterday... she's definitely my child... she loves dirt and rocks...and the dirtier she can get, the better... her favorite place right now is to sit at the end of the driveway in the rocky sand-ish pile from the street... she sits in the pile of dirt and rocks...she digs in there with her hands...she gets her little pink butted pants all dirty...and her hands touch her face that becomes stroked with grey dirt... :) she gets up, walks with a rock or two, comes back to her pile, and digs her hands in for more dirt... :) so last night, my glance wandered for a second...i looked back at her, and i saw a black something in her mouth (or i think i did)... i did the sweep i learned in CPR, but there was nothing there... :) so, i think she ate one of the rocks... we'll probably know today, if she did... :)

~i'm learning a lot about being a consistent disciplinarian with K... she is trying out her power and control... i admit that there are days when i really like when nap time comes, but that isn't often... after she naps, she's a new little woman, though... :) and if you were here during those mornings where she's trying me every 30 seconds, you'd know that that's a good thing...

~we dropped from 2 to 1 nap...and this may be on of the reasons for the above "flurry." i think we've been doing this one nap transition for about a month now... she is doing much better with the extended time that she's up... i'm hoping that the afternoon nap grows in length a bit... :)

~my sweet father-in-law & Ry built me a clothes line... :) i LOVE it... i don't know if i can emphasize that enough... seriously, i love it... i wake up and am excited to do laundry and to put it outside to dry... :) i am a bit of a slow clothes line hanger, though...i feel like it takes me forever... :) hopefully i will get a bit faster... :) i have a load of sheets and a blanket in the washer now crying to be put out on the line for fresh air and sunshine... :) it's really the simple things, isn't it? :)
i haven't had the courage to hang out underwear yet... i guess i'm afraid that the birds or cows will make fun of us...(we have no neighbors behind us, and those to the sides have views that are mostly blocked by some trees)...

~there are only 24 days left of school with the kids for Ry...so that means 26 days of work for him before summer... :) that's exciting... i can't believe it's already time for summer... :) i can't believe i haven't taught in a classroom for a year... :) it feels ironically liberating... :)

~i have been watching with sadness about poor Yeardley Love, the UVA lacrosse player who was apparently murdered by another UVA lacrosse player (Georgy Hugheley)... we live about 10 minutes away from UVa, so it's splashed all over the news here...
as the days pass since her death, new details trickle out... they dated and had a violent and aggressive relationship, physical abuse...and people knew but just didn't say anything... and George...he is a very mean and belligerent drunk and had been arrested for being drunk in public in 2008, when he also apparently assaulted a female officer... and word is that he had been drinking all day on Sunday before went and kicked down Yeardley's bedroom door and proceeded to "slam her head" against the wall... i can't even imagine the pain that Yeardley's parents, family, and friends must be feeling... it rips this mom's heart out...

~our house is turning into the Holiday Inn... :) Ry's family was here last week...my parents are arriving today... i'm not that great at making beds, but i'm glad to be surrounded by family... :)

~i'm itching to do some gardening... i want the freedom to go and buy some flowers for mother's day... :) and i want to plant a vegetable garden, too... :)

that's all for now... :) hope i haven't bored you too much... :)

meals for 5.2.10 to 5.8.10

i feel like it's going to be another one of those weeks where meal planning is kind of an organized disorganization...
the weather is sooo hot... humidity, heat...is it July???
i don't feel like going to the grocery store... (see above statement)...but maybe the husband will go instead... :)
and i kind of feel like i'm playing catch-up in a number of areas here around the house... laundry, putting stuff away, bills, Mother's Day stuff, the deck needs to be sealed...and i want to get my garden tilled and planted...
am i whining?

ok...ok...ok...
sooo, here are the meal ideas for the week... we'll be having these items in this order, sorta, maybe...or maybe not... :)

Sunday: ate out w/ the in-laws :)
Monday: grilled out - hot dogs, mac n cheese, and corn
Tuesday: spaghetti w/ salad and bread
Wednesday: blueberry pancakes or sour cream pancakes
Thursday: homemade pizza
Friday: cold cut sandwiches
Saturday: grill out?


hope you have a great week of good food and family time :)