A Measure of Grace

A Giveaway!!

2009-11-28T09:44:00.000-06:00

In the spirit of Thanksgiving weekend shopping & fun, I'd like to give away something to one of you lucky ducks!

So, what's up for grabs?

A signed copy of this cookbook which was penned by yours truly. Not that my John Hancock makes it um, valuable. But you know, it's kind of a cool thing to do. =)

So, GO! Tell your friends! There are several ways to win:

1. 1 entry for leaving a comment here. Simple, huh? Leave a comment and you are entered!
2. 3 entries for linking to this contest on your blog AND leaving comment here.
3. 5 entries for promoting the cookbook on your facebook or twitter or other social media site. Be sure to send me a link! (my email is in my profile)
4. 10 entries for purchasing your own copy. (just think, then you'd have one to keep and one to give away at Christmas!)

Deadline for entry: 12:01am Wednesday, December 2nd
I will draw the winner and announce it here on Thursday morning!!

The Cookbook!

2009-11-26T12:05:00.000-06:00

You can now purchase the cookbook right here on the website (securely through paypal) by heading on over to the sidebar there and clicking on "Add to Cart". There are 2 different sizes, and it is available in both softcover and hardcover.

You don't need a paypal account to purchase, you can use any major credit card. Just select the size and finish you want from the drop down menu, click on "Add to Cart" and go from there!

Bad news: The discount for the size of book I made is only 20%. Sooooo in order to give you that awesome discount anyways, I have knocked a dollar off of the shipping cost for you!

Remember, those discounts are only good until Sunday!!

Happy Shopping!!

I have been just a tad busy...

2009-11-25T00:36:00.001-06:00

writing a cookbook! This will make a lovely addition under your tree this year, don't you think? Here's a preview:

You can contact me and buy your copies now for up to 30% off! Hurry, this sale ends novemeber 29th!
Simply email me at mama2chiklettes AT gmail DOT com and I will be happy to process your order through paypal. Quick and easy, and at your doorstep in time for Christmas!

2009-11-13T19:01:00.001-06:00

Walking 2.5 miles to bookstore with kids. And Timmy exclaims I love Mr. Nature!!! And I ask who that is, and he replies, "God, ofcourse Mama!!". Of course.

Breakfast Sandwiches & Burritos

2009-11-13T14:59:00.001-06:00

My kids love breakfast. I mean, I wake up some mornings to an island full of assorted breakfast ingredients lined up by the "breakfast sprite" aka. my little 5 year old boy who knows he is to be in bed still, but thinks if he puts out a coffee cup & mommy's creamer, maybe I won't scold him for being up.
While many mornings I do enjoy making a nice hot breakfast for everyone to enjoy, there are some mornings when that is just not feasible. So rather than have those mornings default to cold cereal, which I detest feeding them with any frequency, I try to have homemade breakfast items on hand, in the freezer. They take a little planning when you shop, and some time to assemble, but once you spend one morning a month doing this and stocking your freezer with breakfast goodness, you will be sold on this idea!

Breakfast Sandwiches (makes 1 dozen)

1 package english muffins
scrambled eggs
6 slices deli ham cut into fourths
6 slices cheddar cheese cut into fourths
cream cheese - either plain or a savory flavor. I use sundried tomato.

1. Scramble your eggs.
2. While the eggs are cooking, begin lightly toasting the muffins.
3. As the muffins come out of the toaster, stack the tops and set them aside, line up the bottoms and begin spreading a thin layer of the sun-dried tomato cream cheese on each.
4. Turn the oven on to broil.
5. Build your sandwiches assembly line style: Eggs on each, 2 pieces ham on each, 2 slices cheese on each.
6. Put them all on a cookie sheet (I do this step in batches of 6)
7. Broil for about 2 minutes until cheese is melted.
8. Immediately smush the tops of the muffins onto the melted cheese.
9. Set the muffins on a plate and put that in the freezer for about 2 hours.
10. Once all muffins are frozen, put 1 dozen into a gallon size ziploc bag & keep in freezer.

To reheat: simply wrap sandwich in microwave & heat for anywhere between 30-45 seconds, longer if necessary.
I like to make this recipe doubled or tripled so that I only have to do it once a month with no concern of running out.

Breakfast Burritos (makes 10 burritos or 20 if you cut them in half)

10 flour tortillas
1 dozen eggs, scrambled.
cream cheese, plain or savory
Jimmy Dean's maple sausage: crumbled, browned, & drained.

1. Cook sausage - reserve in fridge until ready to assemble.
2. Scramble eggs
3. Build tortillas: spread cream cheese, add sausage & eggs, roll burrito style.
4. Freeze on a plate, then put all of the burritos into a gallon-size ziploc bag.
5. Reheat for about 1:30 in the microwave.

Again, I double or triple the burrito recipe in order to stock up. My husband loves to take these in his lunch as well, so I like to have plenty on hand.

The Best Scrambled Eggs

2009-11-13T14:37:00.000-06:00

8 eggs
1/4 c. milk
lowry's seasoning salt
shredded cheese - about 1/2 cup
laughing cow swiss cheese - one wedge cut into tiny pieces

1. coat your pan with Pam cooking spray & heat on medium
2. blend the 1st 4 ingredients with hand mixer until bubbly
3. pour egg mixture into frying pan
4. cook on medium for several minutes until sides begin to look foamy
5. begin to flip & chop with your spatula
6. when almost done, sprinkle tiny pieces of the LC cheese and fold into eggs

serve and enjoy

My To-Do List

2009-11-11T14:02:00.002-06:00

School - check. Groceries - check. Soccer game in 80 degrees - check. Loving Life at home with my littles - check.

Renew-al

2009-11-11T08:28:00.000-06:00

Do not conform yourself to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2

My friend, Amanda, over at Mama Sings is hosting a bible study called RENEW. She has been listening to the Lord very intensely lately and is bringing us all into His Word, His Truth, and His Freedom through RENEW.

I have recognized that I need a transformation in so many areas. When you look at your life and you see the areas in which you want to change, it can be overwhelming. I remember that I used to look at some of my areas of sin or weakness, and say, "Yes, I know I need to change that, but HOW?"

One of the areas I struggle with is anger. The root of the anger comes from a place of deep disappointment & disillusionment, and feeling that the "blessings" of God are not meant for me. There are a lot of events & hurts in my life that have created in me this pit of anger. I won't get into them all here, but one of the significant areas has been that of my fertility. Or lack thereof, actually.

I will reflect more on this, but today, today I see the need for transformation AND I also see the HOW to do it. It's right there at the top of this post: By the RENEWING of your mind!! So I know this may not be ground-breaking for some of you, but for me, to see that if I just drench myself in His Word, my mind will be renewed and therefore, my heart will be transformed.

Mind Renewal=Heart Transformation.

Yes!!!! Sign me UP!!!!

guts for his glory

2009-11-09T13:59:00.000-06:00

i kind of dumped my guts all over the place today over at my other blog.

CLICK HERE to read what's going on.

2009-11-09T11:43:00.001-06:00

It's a beautiful monday and we are ready to jump back into our routine.
Praying in a special way for our friends, the Lichtys, whose 26 week old son, Andrew Jon, is only 12oz and may need to be delivered by c-section today. Pray with me, won't you?

It's All About a Choice....

2009-10-26T20:33:00.001-06:00

Each Day I Choose - By Max Lucado

It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The
world is still asleep. The day is coming.

In a few moments, the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with
the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for
the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the
pounding of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be
invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.

For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now I
must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so I choose.

I CHOOSE LOVE…
No occasion justifies hatred;
no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love.
Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance.
I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…
the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see
people as anything less than human beings,
created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as
anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world.
Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll
invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the
wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment
to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new
assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone.
I will be kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to
the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…
I will go without a dollar
before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked
before I will boast. I will confess before I will
accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…
Today I will keep my promises.
My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates
will not question my word. My wife will not
question my love. And my children will never fear
that their father will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle.
If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise.
If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer.
If I make a demand, may it only be of myself.
I am a spiritual being…
After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.
I refuse to let what will rot rule the
eternal.

I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL
I will be drunk only by joy.
I will be impassioned only by my faith.
I will be influenced only by God.
I will be taught only by Christ.
I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
To these I commit my day.
If I succeed, I will give thanks.
If I fail, I will seek His grace.
And then, when this day is done,
I will place my head on my pillow
and rest.

Discipline

2009-10-22T14:10:00.000-06:00

Or a lack thereof.

Am I the only homeschooling mom out there who feels like it is a constant battle to reign myself in, hunker down and get the work done?

I regularly feel overwhelmed. And heaven forbid there is something else going on that day, like oh, picking up Daddy from the airport when he has been gone all week. Well, I want the house to look nice, and I have to pack for my own trip tomorrow, so the odds are not good that we will get much school done today. Sigh.

I do NOT have this thing down, that is for sure.

Sigh.

This is a theme for me. I start things very gung-ho and my follow through SUCKS.

So I am being called to have more discipline. The question is simply: what will my response be?

I am testing the mettle of my discipline in 3 main areas of my life right now....

1. In schooling. Can I be more disciplined to having them crack their books every scheduled day? To coming up with a routine and sticking to it?
2. In waking up earlier. Seems if I start my day before they do, I am prone to have more discipline. If I pray and shower, etc. then I am more likely to succeed in these areas throughout the day.
3. In exercise. My gung-ho personality loves to exercise - but my lack of discipline lets the day get away from me more often than not and before I know it I have gone a week or two without feelin' the burn. Discipline in this area affects a lot of my life, not the least of which being my marriage - I am so much more likely to receive his love if I am feeling the positive effects of working out.

Discipline. Where do you struggle? Do you have a plan for success?

Cream of Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

2009-10-20T13:58:00.001-06:00

So I was looking for a good recipe and just couldn't find one out there that I liked. So I came up with my own.

A few friends asked for the recipe so here you are:

2 cans cream of chicken condensed soup
1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup
I can white shoepeg corn
3 cups water
2 cup milk
8 oz sour cream
6 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
1 medium onion, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1 tbsp butter
1 package long grain & wild rice, cooked according to directions
a dash of nutmeg, cumin, white pepper, and dry ranch seasoning

Saute onions in butter. Add chicken & wine cook it up real good. Combine everything ELSE in a crockpot while the chicken is cooking. Run the chicken mixture through the food processor for a pulse or two to break up the chicken. Dump it all into the crockpot.
Make the rice according to package directions and then refrigerate until about 30 minutes before serving. Add the rice just about 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy.

Since this bread was a huge bomb, we have been looking for new recipes for rolls.
We are serving this with these dinner rolls - which I am trying for the first time today. They are in the bread maker as we speak, so really, I am not sure how they are going to turn out. I will let you know.

We tiptoe...

2009-10-20T10:32:00.000-06:00

Rather than march through our days around here.

Marching is harsh and takes a loud dictator to rally the troops.Tiptoeing on the other hand is gentle, and can be directed with a whisper.

Wouldn't you rather whisper than yell?

I know what THEY would rather....

Mosaic Monday

2009-10-18T11:23:00.002-06:00

from The Heard Museum here in Phoenix. A delightful walk through history with the best children-friendly, hands-on exhibits I have ever seen in a 'regular' museum.

for more mosaic monday, go to the Little Red House.

close in heart

2009-10-15T09:44:00.000-06:00

my beloved's parents are coming to visit for a few days. i am excited. they are
such good people. holy people. encouraging people.
and one of my brothers (in law) has had a really bad week - he was robbed at gunpoint on the weekend, and really quite traumatized. pray for him, if you think about it.
so the visit, from family, the parents of said young man, is timely. as she said in email: the robbery has made her want to keep her family closer, even if it can only be close in heart due to the miles between us. close in heart.... indeed.
so this weekend will start now, and will be for enjoying the simple joys of family togetherness, games, reading aloud, family walks, and time to just be. and for keeping one another close in heart.

see you in a few days!

Daybook

2009-10-13T10:56:00.000-06:00

FOR TODAY...October 14th.
Outside my window... there is a bird singing it's song.

I am thinking...that now's a great time to have another cup of coffee.

I am thankful for... oh, so much. so, so much. starting a LIST. won't you join me?

I am wearing...grey yoga pants, a while long sleeved tee layered underneath a pink short-sleeved zip-hoodie... and crocs.

I am remembering... travelling through the Canadian Rockies with my beloved what seems like a decade ago. Oh wait, it was! My how time flies when you're having fun!

I am going... absolutely nowhere. I have made more of a commitment to guard our days at home when there isn't a scheduled outing like park days, field trip, or p.e. class. Trying to enter into Nazareth rather than running ourselves ragged away from it.

I am reading... a whole lot of this blog lately. being completely inspired and brought to a place of simple authenticity.

I am hoping...to start this recipe today - so very cool!! We are a manna loving family so any way I can make great bread, and I mean GREAT bread, cheaply & conveniently works for this mama!

On my mind... I am excited to have my in-laws come visit this week from the midwest to the southwest. Wishing it was more fall-like here. Stressed that my house is not perfect yet, but trying to remember we have only lived here 2 months. Still not sure where I am going to have them sleep. Pray for that one would ya?

From the learning rooms... laughter. which is great, but also means I should likely get up there in a minute.

Noticing that... the baseboards in this room are filthy. Ugh.

Pondering these words... from Ann (without the 'e') "There's a silence waiting with the door open, a slow place where He lingers. I'll cut a clearing through the mental clutter; I'll make a way in. Wind down the whir of the world and you hear it: the song of the Spirit."

From the kitchen... the 5 minute bread, these amazing looking bars, and a few plans for visiting the farmers market tomorrow! *I am SOOO excited to get to go to the Farmer's Market. I pretty much cannot contain myself!

Around the house... cleaning, laundry, prepping the little things for G-ma & G-pa's visit!

One of my favorite things... is NOT the new holiday creamer I bought last night. Gross. Guess I need to stick with old faithful.

From my picture journal...

this is my new journal. in it you will find many things, including The List.

Harvesting Time

2009-10-06T14:40:00.000-06:00

While it does not feel like Fall feels for most of you and there is simply no change of color in these neck of the woods, we are harvesting nonetheless.
We are busy storing up kisses & hugs.
We are feverishly stock-piling snuggles.
We are stacking rows upon rows of books to be read by dim evening light.
We are filling our days with learning & growing, the sands of time etching a routine in our days.
We are laughing and loving.
We are taking pictures and scrapbooking them. Well, that last is mostly me.

In these days of harvest, I can't help but think of how as moms we harvest time with these littles. For the days that we have with them will come to dusk all too quickly, before we even realize it. It's sneaky like that, that dusk is.
I am digital scrapbooking over at Scrapblog lately. Have you seen this site? Yeah, pretty much it's everything I ever wanted in a scrapbooking software program only it's free, and um, has like a connected interface with all the places we keep pictures: harddrive, flickr, facebook, etc. It ROCKS, basically. But anyhoo, as I am organizing pictures for this digiscrapping project I am doing, I am realizing that A) I am waaaay further behind than I would like to be scrapbooking-wise and that causes my throat to close up just a little which in turn calls for a visit from the Dr...... pepper, that is!! and B) my kids childhoods have gone by waaaay too fast for my liking.
There is the aspect of them being born so closely together (11months&26daysthankyouverymuch) and then toss in the fact that I really, honestly thought that we would have like 13 more babies, okay, maybe not 13. But 8 was not out of the question. We truly thought the babies would come fast and furious like the first two, so I can honestly, with bucketloads of regret, say that I didn't take the time to enjoy my first two babies the way I would now, if given the chance.

Oh please give me the chance!

No, looking back at those pictures that I prepare to scrapbook, I can say that much of that time was a blur with me in survival mode as I snuggled and slept with my little Irish twins, choosing whom to diaper first, and which had to cry. I did not relish the way one would relish if she knew it was her last.

And then the longing that swallowed up the next 4ish years of my life, and theirs. The trying for another babe. A sibling or two to round out the bunch. A brother for Lad, and a sissie for Lass. Was it too much to ask? Two failed adoptions and Four Sleeping Angels say yes. Yes it was. Hope and Grief were the Seasons then.

And then I opened my eyes.

How in the world are they already 5 & 6? Where has the time gone?

While the longing and trying and hoping never goes away. And the grief still rattles deep in my soul and the weeping comes in fits I can't stop...

I pray that with each day as we harvest together, I can be fully here.

Here with the Harvest.

mosaic monday

2009-09-20T21:48:00.001-06:00

For my Mosaic Monday creation, I decided to play with the pics I took at our first ever date night (since moving to Arizona, that is.) We got to spend a night of worship with Casting Crowns and Matt Redman.

While the pictures themselves are not incredible or anything, the memories are.

For more Monday Mosaics or to share your own, go to The Litte Red House.

Christ has no hands....

2009-09-17T09:28:00.000-06:00

My small successes for this week are not small in my mind.... but in the grand scheme of things, yes, they are small. But isn't that just the point? Many of the tasks we do every day are seemingly insignificant, but they do have an impact in a big way on the people that surround us, and furthermore they have an eternal weight of glory since they are the fulfillment of our vocation here on earth.
The steps I take each day, each week, to clean our home, organize our stuff, feed my family, and educate our children, are steps I take towards the Fulfillment of All Desire. It is MY path to heaven. My home is my Nazareth, and every simple, humble action I do in this home can be one of grace, surrender, and holiness.

So I celebrate these small successes with Faith & Family Live, not because I think I did something out of the ordinary, but because I celebrate that I was a good steward of my time and resources, and that I responded to the call of God in my life, to live out my vocation to the fullest.

1. Our schooling really has fallen into step... which is delightful. You do what works for your family and for our family, it works to have school in the afternoon - in the hottest part of the day, when it is still well over 100 degrees and we cannot go outside to play. This way the kids have all morning to wake up slowly with some tv while they eat a good breakfast I have prepared; then they have playtime inside; then we swim. Lunch is next, followed by school. They have played all morning so they don't have the same fidgeties that can come if they had a bunch of pent up energy. Anyways, that is what is working for us in our family right now, and I am glad to have been in-tune enough, and flexible enough, to make the appropriate changes for their success.
2. I got bangs. Long story short: rather than being drastic and chopping my hair off, which would be counter-productive since I am growing it back out long again, I decided that bangs were the answer. That's where the success lies: resisting the temptation to just chop! Just enough change to fill that need in me, and yet the length remains the same. Still getting used to them, though.

3. I thoroughly cleaned and organized Emma's room yesterday. I hung the shelves that have been waiting to be hung since we moved in, and displayed all her "treasures" on them: souveniers from trips, breakables, trophies & medals from sports, etc. I will be purchasing a few decorating items for her room in the next couple weeks, so getting this done was the first step in know what I needed to buy & what direction I wanted to go with her room. And she loves it, so that's great! Now if only she would keep it clean.....

4. I paid the bills. Exciting I know. But really, this is not a strong suit of mine, and with me staying home now, Tim has asked me to take care of these things for our family. So I needed a system... and I am still working on that. But two months in a row, I have paid all our bills on time! I am excited about that victory and I am constantly praying for the grace to grow in this area as this is stewardship at it's best. Have you ever cried when you were paying your bills, or walking out of the grocery store with a cart-full of groceries? I have. I have cried tears of sadness because I didn't know how we would make it to the next pay day. But that was a long time ago, very early on in our marriage. (A little off topic, but Tim's social security update came the other day, you know the pamphlet that shows what you have made every year since you started earning an income and paying Social Security?? Yeah, just SO not sure how we even survived those early years when he was literally making PEANUTS!!!) Anyways, I have also in the past year or two cried tears of gratitude when paying my bills, or grocery shopping. Overcome with humble gratitude that we have the money to pay our bills, to buy the food we want to buy to nourish our family, to even buy a few extras now and again, and to not worry how we will make it from one paycheck to the next. Just. So. Grateful.

What about you? Where have you been successful this week?

To read more small successes or to share your own, head on over to Faith & Family.

Crafting

2009-09-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

I don't get to do much of it lately, but I do LOVE it!!!

I have been wanting to make these chore charts for quite some time now, and have been letting the idea itself marinate for a couple weeks before I was ready to actually dig my hands in.

The curriculum we are using had these chore pictures that I had the kids color the first week of school and we have loosely interpreted the pictures to coincide with what we actually do around here.

The charts are a simple, yet elegant way to organize what needs to be done, and to allow the kids some sense of control and accomplishment.

Simple, yes?

The chore images are laminated with a velcro backing so they can be moved from the "to do" section to the "done" section by the children.

All the extra chores are stored here, on the back in a little paper pocket.

just a close-up

shhhhhh

2009-09-15T12:43:00.000-06:00

do you hear that?

that's the sound of my littles giggling & whispering beneath a cotton tent, still pudgy fingers grasping the light encased in plastic, shining on self and book alternately, letting she who is just one year older embrace her calling and read to younger one.

these days.

that for which I am grateful.

Monday Mosaic

2009-09-13T20:00:00.000-06:00

Mary over at The Little Red House hosts a little gathering each week called Monday Mosaics. Seeing as how mosaics are one of my more favorite things to do with my pictures, since they are an exceptional way to display several of your most yummy pics at once!
So this is my first week joining Mary and her friends, displaying my wares, as it were.

To see more mosaics or to share your own, stop by here.

New Digs

2009-09-13T08:38:00.002-06:00

We've had such an enjoyable weekend. The kids got to do some pretty cool things yesterday.

It was Emma's first dance class at the Community Center and I was impressed by the quality of instruction, so that's a good sign. And Timmy got to go rock-climbing with Daddy. He had an amazing time and was really pretty good at it for his first time! He has always loved to climb those little rock walls at playgrounds, but he has never had a chance to climb anything significant.
It did this mama's heart good to hear her 5 year old using the climbing commands!

Well, after an afternoon of activities, we came home and Tim swam with the kids. Meanwhile, I got to spend the afternoon working on my blog! It has been fun to dive back into blogging and "tweaking" my long-neglected little home on the web. However, it had been quite some time since my last foray into the world of HTML.... so I have forgotten most of what I knew!

I also wasted quite a bit of time playing with my photos on THIS website. Do you know this site? Wow, I LOVE it!!! It is interfaced with my flickr photos so I can store things on flickr and edit them in picnik! This could be trouble for a photo-editing addict like myself! :)

What about you, what have you been up to this weekend?

Friday's Daybook

2009-09-11T11:11:00.005-06:00

FOR TODAY
September 11, 2009...

Outside my window... a range of mountains whose name I have yet to discover and whose trails we cannot wait to explore.

I am thinking... about all I want to get done this weekend on the house and just how I can balance that some family fun and relaxation. Also thinking about my sister-in-law's mother-in-law who is in the hospital. Please pray.

I am thankful for... skype and the ability to keep up with family and friends in the past couple days through this amazing technology. it really does make the world a whole lot smaller!

From the learning rooms... we cut, paste, and create. we read, recite, and remember. we pray, laugh, and love. we sing, spell, and copy. we dance, build, and sort.
Still getting in the groove here in Nazareth Academy, getting a sense of what works for ALL of us. We are mostly evaluating our pace right now: what kinds of things can we push forward and go faster on, and what do we need to slow down with to ensure they really, really get it.

From the kitchen... baking some cookies with the kids this afternoon, in preparation for friday family fun night. It is pizza night here, so we will order in and have it delivered. Looking forward to a break from cooking.

I am wearing... grey yoga pants, green tank top, and hot pink short sleeved zip hoodie, oh and my black croc flip flops.

I am creating... chore charts for the children, and a painting for my kitchen.

I am going... to go to the library today. we have a boat load of books to return and just as many to check out so we are stocked for next week. I failed to plan ahead this past week so that we can pick up a few specific books that they get ready and waiting for you, if you order them ahead of time. which, by the way, is my FAVORITE way to get library books!

I am reading... Trading Up, the last of all the Candace Bushnell books that I have to read. She wrote S*x in the Ci-ty. FYI. It's a good summer, beach read. :) The perfect escape from my reality that I find endlessly entertaining.

I am hoping... we find a sitter for the Casting Crowns concert. And if we do, I will celebrate by purchasing a new outfit for our first Arizona date night!!!

I am hearing... the murmurs of a far off tea party, the scritch-scratchy sound of markers on paper, the hum of an attic fan, and the dancing of vertical blinds as the ceiling fan blows a cool wind their direction.

Around the house... unpack, organize, decorate, repeat. unpack, organize, decorate, repeat.

One of my favorite things... coffee. early morning phone calls with a sister-in-law, chats on skype with a bestie, and calamine lotion that helps disturbingly itchy mystery rashes to go away. okay, that's four.... don't shoot me. :)

A few plans for the rest of the week: well, the rest of the week is the weekend so hip, hip, hooray for me! Emma starts ballet tomorrow, kids have soccer tomorrow, Daddy and Timmy go rock-climbing tomorrow and then we will have a family swim when the day is done. Sunday is Church and relaxing together, maybe a family walk, if it's cool enough.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

the sight that greeted me this morning courtesy of my 5 year old.

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