February!

February - didn't it just get here? And now it's gone - really? really? I don't believe it - so stinkin fast!!! For the shortest month of the year I never realized how two days can affect the feel of an entire month. It's crazy!!!


This month I did not accomplish as much as I had hoped - but looking back on it I realize that it is what it is and that's o.k. I'm really not one to stay down in the dumps over things - that's just not me!


Here is what I did manage to accomplish this month:


Books read:

This book is truly amazing for any wife!! I have read it twice and this is my third time and my relationship with my husband is already getting better. (not that it was really bad but there is always room for improvement right?) I love the insight and the truth from God's word that has allowed me to truly pray for my husband in all life's difficult areas and in the meantime I find myself changing as well. I couldn't put a bigger stamp of approval on any other "marriage"/"wife" book I've ever read. No one's household should be without it if you are married.

A modern-day slavery situation and his difficult past come face to face with a compassionate, Godly woman who seeks to help the homeless. Through her this man finds God and goes a step further to carry her torch and God's word to the homeless. It's a great "true" story!

While waiting for "Handle With Care" from the library I picked up this book that a friend lent me. It's about four women during WWII who are resigned to do what they can for the war effort at home. They defy the "norm" for woman and take up an important roll in their cities industrial need for the war effort and they do it with many obstacles and difficulties facing them. It's a great story!! I LOVE it - very easy read!

Have begun reading "Handle With Care" and am into chaper 4 - I don't think I'm going to read it anymore. It sounds like a really great story but just not my thing. I would be wasting my time reading something I wasn't too interested in when I have a ton of books on my shelf that I KNOW I will love. Just can't waste my time on books that don't interest me. So - after waiting for 3 weeks for this book it will make it's way back into the hands of the library Thursday.

Recipes tried:

Chicken Spaghetti

This was very yummy - I think it will become a staple in our household.

Almond Coconut Brownies:

I dont' know if I will make these again. They were extremely rich and pretty good but there didn't seem to be that much of a fuss about them. Personally I though they were a bit too much!

Home Items purchased:

* more frames for movie poster wall

* picture for bathroom

Family activity:
* still got nothin!! Did a lot of staying home with the kids and playing games in the evenings which has turned out to be a highlight to our busy days.
These pictures are from a day at home with the kids, doing whatever comes to mind - THEY:

made a bed in the living room and read books on the floor

built a fort:

Excitedly looking at rides at Disneyland on the computer with daddy when he was home for lunch

Watched a movie and had a snack

and they also played outside, took baths and helped pick up the house - it was a great day!

Crafts:

LOVE banner for Vday

vday shirts for kids

crochet hats and flowers

Other:

*Jeremy at men's retreat while I spent a lovely weekend with my mom and kids

* Valentine's day (see previous blog)

* Making laundry detergent and realizing that it's a lot cheaper and the clothes still come out looking and smelling clean - whoot! whoot!

* Date with Jeremy to see "True Grit", visit some antique stores and then out to eat at Red Robin

* Upwards Cheerleading (of course)

* Addie's first science fair

* very sunny and warm weather and then very snowy cold weather

* a much needed lunch with one of my bests ( a occurance that does not happen enough)
* sickness for all of us (stomach yuckies as well as respiratory junk)

Valentine's

I remember when Valentines was a day that I could not wait for and giddy little questions would run through my mind like, "does he like me?", "I wonder if he will give me a valentine?" and then as the day came and went and the valentines were handed out I remember thinking, "I wonder what this valentine meant?", "I wish HE would NOT have given me a valentine", "why didn't HE give me one with a little more 'meaning'". - I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. From the age of 6 until 18 Valentines day holds a special "Cinderella, Prince Charming and Happily Ever After" tag attached to it. We want someone to like us, we analyze it when they do and we analyze it when they don't, we fret, we worry, we swoon and we get little butterflies concerning a certain someone who happened to make us feel special. I remember those days with fondness but since my 18th year seems SO far in the past I can still recollect those feelings and say honestly that I'm glad that chapter of my life is through.

I grew up, I married, I had children and now Valentine's day is lived out through the eyes of my children and classroom students and I prefer it that way. Don't get me wrong - Valentine's day is a special day to connect with my man and show him how much I love him (which I do tremendously) and to have an excuse to get out together without kids. It just seems like the day no longer holds a "special, butterfly, anticipatory" feeling as it once did.  And I'm o.k. with that - BECAUSE!!! I know that I am loved, not just on this day but every day, not only by my husband but more importantly by my lovingly heavenly father who has given me so many blessings. I feel loved - always!!

Hear are a few things that made this Valentine's day special:

helping Addison make her very first Valentine's for her class

making valentine cookies

getting a caramel machiatto for breakfast on my way to school

making my children some special valentine shirts for them to wear

my sister coming out to Melba to surprise Addie and go to lunch with us during our lunch break.

watching my kindergarteners celebrate their first valentine's day at school - loud, noisy and fun

witnessing the effects of sugar on my upwards cheerleaders during practice (now I know what parents see when they are sent home from school after parties - sorry!)

coming home to kentucky fried chicken, sparkling cider, Valentine's gifts and a normal evening at home (it was great!)

January!!

January actually flew by pretty surprisingly quickly -  because it's usually the slowest month of the year for me. As to some of my January goals I can say that I accomplished a lot of them but some of them didn't happen due to certain reasons. We planned on going tubing up at Bogus Basin but I got dragged (literally) into coaching Upward cheerleading and so every Saturday until mid-March has been taken up with a basketball game to cheer for. Yes - it only takes about 45 min. of your Saturday morning but the prep work and getting actually out the door of the church takes about 1 hour and by then it's lunchtime and Rhett is ready for his nap. Needless to say our family activity didn't happen. And - our hardwood floors have been postponed as well - my husband can't make up his mind if he wants to have the store's people do them or do them himself. - So they are not done yet!


So - with that said here is the results of what I did accomplish:

Books Read

Her Daughter's Dream - Francine Rivers (good easy read)

Dare to Discipline - James Dobson (learned more about the older years in parenting and found a few teaching tips as well)

Urchin and the Heartstone - M.I. McAllister (children's book about a squirrel named Urchin and his many adventures on the island of Mismantle - very cute stories)

The Heir of Mismantle (the third book in the mismantle series)

No Wonder they call Him the Savior (chronicles of the cross) - Max Lucado (awesome!!!)

Crafts completed

January snowflakes (nothing original about this but once Addie learned it she wanted to make many - and she did - and they adorn our back sliding glass door)

crochet washcloth (I know not original either) - not complete yet because I'm still learning but am surprised at how much I enjoy doing it and am looking forward to making more than just a few lines.
felt play board for addie - as I was unpacking a calendar I found that lovely square cardboard piece that comes with it that I usually just throw out - then it occured to me that I could use it for something. I remembered that I needed to do a craft this month that was original so I decided I would use materials that I have and create something for Addie to play with. (She was being extremely "needy" on this day). So - I got out my felt, the scissors and glue and we made a felt board. She played with it for a long time and enjoyed telling stories with the characters. She made a few of the pieces herself and we look forward to adding to her felt collection whenever the crafty bug hits us again. It was a fun project!

No - I did not help her but to make one middle cut on each snowflake - pretty impressive for a 6 year old!

New Recipes

Candybar Pie - I made this when we had a group of family over to watch the Seahawks lose to the Bears. I was unable to try it due to my diet but the general concensus seemed to be one of "it's really good but extremely rich". If you make is then you will need to slice into very thin pieces because it is just too much!

Recipe:
5 Snickers bars, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 pastry shell (9 inches) baked
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. whipping cream

Place candy bar pieces in the pastry shell; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, sour cream and peanut butter; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 325 degrees for 35-40 min. or until set. Cool on wire rack. In a small saucepan, melt chocolate chips with cream over low heat until smooth. Spread over filling. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Cut with warm knife. Makes 8-10 servings.

Speedy Burritos - I made these when I had my parents over for dinner one night. I forgot to take a picture of them but they looked like you would expect burritos in enchilada sauce and topped with cheese might look. It was a very quick meal (just like I like it!) My family really enjoyed them and they will probably join the rotation of dinners in our house.

Recipe:

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion, chopped (I only used half an onion)

10 3/4 can cream of mushroom soup

10 3/4 can tomato soup

10 oz. can enchilada sauce

1 1/4 oz. pkg. taco seasoning mix

12 10-inch flour tortillas

2 cups cheddar cheese

Brown beef and onion- set aside. Combine soups and enchilada sauce and taco seasoning - mix in a mixing bowl - set aside. Spoon beef evenly into tortilla centers; role up. Place seam-side down in an ungreased 13x9 baking pan; top w/ soup mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 min. sprinkle with cheese and bake until melted. Yields 12 servings.

New movie:

The "A" Team - my husband grew up watching the "A" team on TV so when he knew there was a movie coming out we attempted to see it in the theatre a few times but it never quite worked out. So, the first week that it was available at the redbox I went and picked it up. We both really enjoyed it - there were a few less then friendly words exchanged in the midst of gunfire but other than that it was pretty clean and very funny. It may be one that will have to grace our movie shelves in the near future.

Update on "other" goals
Budget - we started off great but then came along a lot of unexpected expenses and the budget went out the window. I'm supposed to finally be getting Microsoft Office 2010 in the mail any day now and I can't wait to put our budget on a spreadsheet. I plan on doing a budget for February and doing better at sticking with it.
Handwritten letter - whoops! Needless to say I have two letters to write this month for catch-up purposes
diet - I survived an entire 9 days on the HCG diet before my body began to feel the effects of starvation. I had done this diet previously in 2010 and lost 19 pounds so I know it works and works well. I just did not have the patience this time to see it through. I lost 8 pounds on it and then my body began doing weird things and I decided that I needed more than 500 calories a day to be a good mother, wife, teacher, etc . . . So - I decided to give it a week, try and maintain my weightloss which I did and then I subscribed to the weight watchers online program a week ago. I LOVE it!!! I feel like I can eat throughout the day and not feel hungry and in the beginning I gained three pounds back ( I think my body was storing up in case I decided to starve myself again) but those three pounds came off last week and now I am looking forward to more weight loss in the next few months. I know if won't come off as fast but at least I'm happy and can eat.
Bible Study - I just finished the third week of the new Beth Moore bible study at our church on Tuesday mornings. It's great! It is about the inheritance that we have in Christ and that we need to live out our inheritance right now and not wait until we receive it from Christ in heaven. It's been eye opening and I'm so glad that I decided to do it - I look forward to claiming my "land" and rejoicing in the harvest with those that will be by my side.
Something new for our house - I had planned to be reporting on a new hardwood floor but as I mentioned before that project remains unfinished at the moment. However, we were lucky enough to score a new light for our guest bathroom. Ever since we moved into this house we have wanted to replace the light fixtures, hardware and other "brassy" things that have glammed up our home. It's been slow going but this month Jeremy found some lights in his store that were not going to be used and so he brought one home and we put it up in our bathroom. It looks great and we paid nothing for it. Thanks Nampa Floors!! We also printed off a few pictures from the internet and purchased a calendar of old vintage movie posters that we plan to put up in our family room. It's just getting started but this is what we have so far.

Other:

 I DID make my own dish soap!! Can you believe it? And I like it ten times better than the store boughten stuff. It leaves no streaks or water marks and the dishes always come out looking and smelling clean. It's great!! I'm excited about making my own laundry detergent this month once our store stuff runs out. I hope it works as good as the dish soap does.

Addison began her journey as a cheerleader for Upwards basketball. She was unable to play basketball due to not very many girls registered so she chose to do cheerleading instead. I think she enjoys it but tires easily - I don't think she REALLY wants to pursue a career as a cheerleader. She would probably do better playing basketball because it has a little more action involved. Maybe next year. AND I am her cheerleading coach which is a laugh in and of itself. I have never coached cheerleading, or had a remote interest in cheerleading except in junior high when I cheered for a few months but it was mostly for the dance routines. I was completely out of my element when I got roped into it!! I have to say however that it has actually been kind of fun - the girls on our squad are super fun and super cute and I feel so blessed to be able to get to know them. I think it will be o.k.!

We have enjoyed getting to know the ins and outs of a new game called "Settlers of Catan" that we absolutely LOVE!!! We play it any chance we get. Unfortunately Jeremy and I can't play just the two of us so we have people over all the time who like to play. I would rather sit down with family or friends and play games then watch TV or a movie. So - Jeremy and I have expanded our game cupboard by leaps and bounds in the past few months to get as many fun games as we can. It's kind of what we're into right now!! And Addison has been right on top of the game thing as well - she is always wanting to play a game!! Her favorites right now are "Life" and "Go Fish". It won't be long before she is going to be asking to play the "big" people games. She LOVES them!!

Settler's of Catan - Cities and Knights played often with my parents and our friends Nate and Becky!

Our favs - we are still trying to figure out Pirate's Cove but it looks fun!

Addison LOVES playing LIFE but ONLY if she lands on spaces where she gets kids :)

Other events that deserve at least a mention:
Uncle Derek's birthday celebration
Jumpin Jungle with friends for a birthday party (Rhett asks to go EVERY day since then)
Telling our kids that this summer we are going to Disneyland - They were SO excited!!
finally finding new jeans (I've been looking for 9 months now)
cousin sleepovers - always fun!!
fashion show starring Addison and Rhett

Fancy Nancy and a Dragon

The Little Mermaid and Woody

A Fairy Princess and Lucky the Dalmation

Of course no fashion show would be complete without a song so we were serenaded with songs that went along with each outfit - too funny!!