Quick Projects

Jared is spending some time out of town in the next few months.  It isn't much, a few days here and there.  I'd like to have a few ideas for projects lined up so that this time can be productive.

Of course during the next out of town trip, I need to plan Miles' birthday party!

• I need to go through my fabric and sewing accessories.
• I need to go through my clothes in my closet and drawers.  I mean to be vicious about it too!
• I'd like to re-do the pantry doors.
  I want to put some board on one door painted with chalkboard paint.
  I think I want some baskets on the other door for seasonings.
• I think Miles and I can rewire the pachinco machine by ourselves.  I'm not sure though.
• I'm going to sew a holder for the remote controls.  This will also protect the side of the sofa that the cats like to scratch.
• I need to finish the trim in my bathroom.
• I'm going to sew curtains for Nicholas' room and the back for his quilt.
• This one I'm not as committed to, but I have a nativity set that I'd like to paint this year.
• I just saw an organization system for under the bathroom counter that I'd like to implement.

Just a few ideas currently on my mind to accomplish soon.

For the Year

Each year for the last several years I have made a few goals for the year.  They have been remarkably similar.  I think I'm finally accomplishing some of those things.  Some of the others are things I master at times and need to remind myself of at other times (I'm looking at you meal planning!). 

Jared is ready to begin spending more time in the Word, and I am too.  I'm going to goal myself with reading a chapter a day.  More would be great, but I'm setting a goal for one chapter.  I know it won't happen every day, but hopefully most of them!

Last year I decided Miles and I would have an adventure every month.  I think I completed that one, but I didn't track them as well as I had planned.  I'd like another try at that one.  Now I have to think of 12 adventures to have!

2012 Goals Check In

Goal Check In

Here is a review of this year's goals and where I am...

*Weight Loss:
~I will lose 10lbs in the first 3 months of 2012
I'm not sure exactly where I was at the beginning of last year, but right now I'm about 2lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight.  I'm not unhappy at all!
* Cleaning Goal~I will keep a cleaner home
NOPE!
I do usually have Miles pick up his room daily, and he has a few chores, but not too consistent.  He almost always empties the silverware, but we don't run the dishwasher daily, so it seems inconstant and he is still complaining about it each time.
How nice to have a home where you are never worried about opening the door.
* Picture Goal
~I will take more photos this year
I didn't find a 52 of 52 this year. Sad! I also lost my camera at some point this year.  I did buy another, but it was a bit later so it has been hard to get back into the habit of taking photos.
* Bible Study Goal
~I will have a daily Bible study and I will read the Bible in a year.
I did not accomplish this.  Try try again.
*Christmas Goals
~I will have a low stress Christmas this year.
I didn't get may gifts purchased before hand, but it wasn't a very stressful Christmas.  I also didn't do the advent activities I wanted to. 
*Family Goal~I will go on a field trip with Nicholas each month this year (and take plenty of pictures helping my photo goal).
I'm not sure if I accomplished this one or not.  I'm sure I could come up with something that qualifies though!

Over the next day or two I'm going to consider the Christmas season we had this year and what I want to do differently.  I have a notebook where I can keep these thoughts and still find them next year! :)  I'll also consider goals for 2013 and write something about those.

What I'm readong in June

Right now I'm a little swamped in books...and I love it! I haven't really been into a book since I read "Devil in the White City," in January of last year. Yeah, I know. I've read a couple of books since then, but not many. I just ordered several books from Amazon.com.

I just finished reading aloud "Homer Price" by Robert McCloskey. It was so cute. I ordered "Centerburg Tales" at the same time and that is more stories of Homer Price. Homer is an average boy in the 1940's. The book "Homer Price" is 6 stories from his life.

Miles is reading aloud to me "Dick and Jane and Friends."  That is still going very well.  Of course some days are better than others, but he is still reading!









Personally, I just finished reading "The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure," by William Goldman.  It was excellent!  I really enjoyed the book, but I LOVE the movie!








Currently I'm reading "In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin" by Erik Larson. So far (page 160 out of 480) it is excellent! I'm really enjoying the story. It is about the American ambassador to Germany appointed about 6 months after Hitler is appointed as chancellor. He brought his family with him to Germany, and his daughter was an aspiring writer so there are many documents from their stay.






I'm also slowly making my way through "Praying the Scripture for Your Children" by Jodie Berndt.  It is very good, and I'm enjoying the new aspect of scripture.








 I also have another Erik Larson book, "Naked Consumer: How Our Private Lives Become Public Commodities," and  "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand just waiting on my nightstand!  I'm so happy to have found a couple of books to really enjoy!

Reading Breakthrough

I know I just posted yesterday about the reading, but I just have to tell you! I think we are having a breakthrough.

I wrote yesterday that we had borrowed some easier readers; they are totally working! Miles had so much more confidence, and he didn't fight reading at all today. Not to mention he hardly made any mistakes. I would think I was a good reader if I could do it well too.
Here is what we borrowed
The pictures are so cute, and while there isn't much of a story, Miles really likes it. He can make it through a page before he forgets what he is reading!

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

New Camera and other stuff

Yesterday we got up early to get haircuts, then we had breakfast at a great little cafe.  Then we went over to a camera shop and I got a new camera!  I picked it out myself, and I'm a little proud.  Even though until now we have been a cannon family, I picked a Sony NEX 5N.  I have a few good photos, but nothing great yet.  Soon I promise!  This really looks like a great camera, I'm so excited!

Today we went to mom and dad's house.  They asked for help moving their good mattress into the new trailer; which we got accomplished.  They take off on Friday for the summer.  They had wanted to leave on Wednesday, but dad didn't think they would have it together until Thursday.  They wanted to take Anita & I out to dinner for our birthdays.  We chose La Hacienda Ranch on my birthday.

So far reading is going great this summer (keeping in mind that the summer is only 2 weeks old at this point).  We are reading for 20 minutes almost every day except Sundays.  Of course I'm still reading to Miles every day at least 20 minutes at bed time too.  I'm loving it.  I can really see progress in his abilities.  He's doing great, and we just borrowed some readers from Doris.  I'm hopeful that those will give him more confidence too (mine are a little too hard).  Math and writing are not going quite as well, but we will work on it.

Update

I guess I could have called this Whole No More.  I got to 15 days on Whole 30, then I slowly started adding in other stuff.  As of late, I've added in junk too.  I'm starting working out again (yesterday).

Miles and I made a list of stuff to do this summer.  Want to come along on our journey?
Well, I lost my camera, so you can't!  Just kidding, I'll have a new one soon.  Here is our list for the summer. 

Summer Wish List

A: Art Project, Ants, Adventure Journal B: Botanical Garden, Build a Fort, Biography, Bubbles! C: Cook Brownies, Camping, Color Hunt D: Diet Coke & Mentos, Dining Room Airplane E: Eat from the Garden, Engraving – Bureau of F: Fire Museum, Fly Kite, Float or Sink Game G: Geocaching, Garden Stepping Stones H: Hunt Bugs, Hopscotch I: Ice Cream Making, Ice Cube Boats J: Journey by Train K: Kayak, Kickball L: Library, Lowes Project, Laundry Basket Toss M: Movie with Mom, Magazine Mosaics N: Nature Rubbing, Nature Museum O: Obstacle Course Olympics P: Pet Rocks, Pajama Day, Poem Time, Paper Doll String Q: Quest Scavenger Hunt R: Roller Skate, Reading Program S: Swimming, Sprinkler Play, Scoot around the Block T: Target Practice With Water Balloons, Toy Car Wash, Trains (Children’s Med Center) U: Under the Table Fort V: Volunteer @ Missions Car Wash, Vacation W: Wind Chime, Water Balloon Catch x: Xperiments Science, X Marks the Spot Y: Yard Popcorn Fight Z: Zoo

Miles insisted that I add Legos to the list.  We have our list in a pretty frame on the kitchen counter that my sister gave us.  We are just crossing things out on the glass.  So far we have crossed off Botanic Garden, but just today we built a pretty rocking fort.  Miles wants to do it again tomorrow, so we will cross it off then.

Here is a review of this year's goals and where I am...

*Weight Loss:
~I will lose 10lbs in the first 3 months of 2012
This is proving to be as hard as everyone says it is.  Bah.  For now I'm just eating right (mostly) and working out again.

 * Cleaning Goal~I will keep a cleaner home
My house looks great today!  It needs to be moped so badly, but other than that, I'm happy.  We finally have an organization strategy going for the Legos, and even the game room is picked up.

 * Picture Goal
~I will take more photos this year
I will do this by
Complete 52 of 52 challenge.
Try to take pictures of Miles at least three times a week.
Take Mother's & Father's day pictures this year!
I am doing a terrible job of this! Only part of the reason for this is losing my camera.  I'm so sad about this, but it is what it is.  Totally forgot to take Mother's Day photo.  I'll get it on Father's day though. 
* Bible Study Goal
~I will have a daily Bible study and I will read the Bible in a year.
Nope.  I'm getting better at daily prayer time though.

 *Christmas Goals
~I will have a low stress Christmas this year.
I will accomplish this by:
Hand making at least 5 Christmas gifts this year. I will work on one every other month.
Trying to have complete list by early/mid October.
Buying 3 stocking stuffers a month (15 stockings to stuff).
Completing Advent activities.
I'm going to have to look at what I have going on here.  I've gotten a few things. 
*Family Goal~I will go on a field trip with Miles each month this year (and take plenty of pictures helping my photo goal).  April was Spring Break and we went camping.  I'd call that a field trip.  May was the end of school.  We went to the big school play "Once Upon A Mattress," and somewhere else...it is slipping my mind just now. 

Whole again

Whole30 that is. Had a great day and worked out too!

This morning at church we found a tick on Miles' ear. Behind his right ear, there it was. It had bit in and everything. Right in the middle of church. Jared and I grabbed him and dashed into the kitchen. Jared went for the tick nippers, and I grabbed Doris to help me find a zip lock bag. We go it out no problem and popped it in the bag still alive. It looks like it is an American Dog Tick. We can't figure out if they carry Lyme Disease. For now we are just watching.

Thursday we went to the aquarium store after school and bought 2 ghost shrimp and 2 platys. I love them and the aquarium looks so much nicer now! Friday night we saw a little tiny baby fish! Jared and I were watching it and debating about if we should take it out of the tank. All of the sudden our beta swam by and...no more baby fish. :( I went to bed feeling terrible. Saturday night, another baby! First thing we did was take the beta out of the tank, then get the little guy out into his own area. We stopped by the fish store today after church and chatted about the little guy. As it turns out, both of the platys we bought were female. We bought a nursery holder thing and put him in it. We also added the one that we thought was having the babies (although neither looks pregnant) just in case. If she has no more babies by tomorrow morning we'll get her out of there. Baby seems to be doing great!

Shortly before dinner, Jared asked if I wanted to go look at doors for the bathroom at Lowes. I didn't but agreed. We found a beautiful 5 panel door and bought it. There is also a bifold, so we are thinking about replacing that one as well!

Day 6

So far the Whole30 has been going great. I've really been doing well and making really good food decisions. Yesterday I was chatting with a more experienced friend and she suggested I might not be getting enough fat. In an effort to work on this I added some butter while cooking my eggs this morning. While eating them I was meal planning and looking at food sites focused on Whole30. One of the sites mentioned using ghee. That was when it hit me. I'm not supposed to have dairy! I'd basically finished the eggs already. Doh! So, then after a very long day, Jared came home and said he wanted to go out to dinner. We were splitting a burger salad (which was fantastic!) and my favorite slaw. Oh yeah! The slaw has blue cheese! Darn. I did it again. Twice in one day. Bah. I'll try again tomorrow.

Spring Break 2012

Miles was a little unsure what Spring Break was before it came, but I think he's a big fan now! The week started slowly because, being tax season, I still had to work. On Monday I worked most of my hours and Jared had Miles. On Tuesday I had him so that Jared could run out to the airport to work on a project there. It also happens that Tuesday while I was at work a huge storm hit. We had several tornadoes here in the area, huge hail, and a general mess of a storm. Although I'd fit in all the hours I needed for the week, I stayed to finish up some projects because I didn't want to get us out in the storm even for the short trip back home. Wednesday we packed up the car and headed out about 1:00 for Glen Rose!

We found an interesting little place to camp. While we had a nice trip, we will NEVER camp at that location again! The first night we learned that there are 7 flood lights that shine into the area. ALL NIGHT LONG! Yeah, that didn't help in a tent. Also, there was some problem with their septic tank overnight, and an alarm went off. Continuously. For over 5 minutes. Yeah. Anyway, sleeping problems aside, we had a great trip! The day we arrived, we set up camp, went to the grocery store, and just relaxed. The next morning, we packed up and went to Dinosaur Valley National Park. Miles loved it! He got to see real dinosaur foot prints. In order to see the foot prints, you have to cross a river. It was fairly fast flowing, but not too deep. We opted to carry Miles across, then let him play in the water after a little hike in an area that was not so fast flowing. Above is the picture of the river where we crossed, and below is one of Miles playing in the water. He ended up soaked! We were trying to get him to keep his clothes relatively dry. That didn't work at all! He ended up in the back of the car wearing just one of his dad's shirts! He had tons of fun. After that and a picnic lunch we met up with my parents and explored the area. Yes, in part we were looking for better camping options for the future! The area was simply beautiful! We've had quite a rainy season and that has led to one of the best blue bonnet seasons. They are incredible this year. Simply huge fields full of them.


The next day we went to a drive through animal park. Unfortunantly my camera battery died about half way through. Mom's camera battery was also low (and died right at the end) so we were a bit selective about taking pictures and she has the pics from the last half of the trip. :( It was super fun and a nice long tour around beautiful winding roads. The animals were able to come right up to the car, and could even eat right from your hand if they wanted! It was really cool and Miles loved it! The longest line was to view the giraffes. People loved trying to feed them. They were very selective in who they allowed to feed them, and how much they would eat. We had lots of fun, and I'll try to post more pictures and some stories probably next week... Right now, I feel a little like this...

Beginning today...

Beginning today I'm doing The Whole 30 by The Whole 9. I'm excited (and a little scared). It is strict. No legumes, no potatoes, no processed foods, no dairy, no grains, no sugar, oh yeah, and absolutly no alcohol for 30 days. Hmm. But, it isn't about what you can't eat. It is about what you CAN eat. You can eat all the whole "clean" foods you want. Particularly vegetables. Vegetables are good and filling and healthy.

My husband and I have eaten well for a good while, although we've been very lax of late. We are mostly doing this to support my sister. She has never really eaten well, and she is out of shape. She's tired of it, and I love supporting her! I'm excited for her. I'm going to use the next 3o days as a chance to get "back to basics" with food, but mostly a time to start working out.

Jared and I took a kettlebell class recently. We've tried it a few times since then, and are ready to get on a regular routine. I'm thinking every other day. I'm most excited about that. I guess I missed my goal of losing 10 pounds in the first 3 months of the year, but I'm hoping to drop some in the next 30 days.

March Goals Checkin

Goal Check In

Here is a review of this year's goals and where I am...

*Weight Loss:
~I will lose 10lbs in the first 3 months of 2012
See next post
* Cleaning Goal
~I will keep a cleaner home
I'm slowly getting better at this. I need to work out a schedule I want to keep.
* Picture Goal
~I will take more photos this year
I will do this by
Complete 52 of 52 challenge.
Try to take pictures of Miles at least three times a week.
Take Mother's & Father's day pictures this year!
I am doing a terrible job of this!
* Bible Study Goal
~I will have a daily Bible study and I will read the Bible in a year.
I'm working on this. Just picking it back up though.
*Christmas Goals
~I will have a low stress Christmas this year.
I have 3 stocking stuffers! Yay!
I will accomplish this by:
Hand making at least 5 Christmas gifts this year. I will work on one every other month.
Trying to have complete list by early/mid October.
Buying 3 stocking stuffers a month (15 stockings to stuff).
Completing Advent activities.
*Family Goal
~I will go on a field trip with Miles each month this year (and take plenty of pictures helping my photo goal).
The school had a talent show and auction in March. At the auction I let him bid on a stuffed animal that came with a book and he won it! That is the only field trip I can think of that I took with him. We had a family over for dinner that he loves, and he had a play date at the house with a school friend. Jared's parent's took him to the circus at the end of the month. We had a "day off" and went to a kettlebell class, out to lunch, and ran some errands. He loved the circus and the talent show.

Rough couple of weeks

Just as a place to record memories...

We have had a rough couple of weeks. When we were in California we only had one set of friends that had a child and he was only a few months older than Miles. We loved spending time with them, they were good friends. In mid February they had a child pass away. Audrey Seri R. died on February 20th, one day after her mother's birthday, and about 2 months after her own first birthday. It was completely unexpected. She'd had a fever for a couple of days, but other than that she was a healthy baby.

This Sunday, March 4th, a friend's father died of Parkinson's disease. John V. had been sick for a good while and his health had really declined. It is terribly sad and he leaves behind a wife, and 2 daughters.

Today another friend's baby died. Lucy Katherine J. was about a week short of her 3rd birthday. Her family has known she was sick for a good while. Her heart was too big, and therefor weak. This also is terribly sad.

My heart is breaking for these families. There are no words to convey my feelings to any of them, not that they would do any good. We are praying for each of these families.

Bathroom - long & full of pics

Honey... this doesn't look good.



Nope that would be termites.
After carefully examing our options we could A drill the floor B get rid of the shower.

Before pictures




Oh yes you see that towel?? That's where the light switches are.


SWEET a pedestal sink in 5x8 bathroom? idiots.



Thankfully tear out was a breeze thanks to the extra help.





Yum termite lunch

Why yes your drop box has got to go.



I know what this bathroom needs.. A pocket door!




Pocket door installed:



I moved the shower wall out 8 inchs and relocated the plumbing for a bigger shower. The builder used a pre-fab pan and a false wall.



Tile up and waiting on the shower valve cause Delta packaged the wrong one in the box fail :(
Did you notice the popcorn ceiling in the first 2 photos? That is gone too. All new ceiling, with orange peel texture and 4 4" can lights.





Shower door was installed today.


oooh look storage. Something a small bathroom desperately needs. I also added an eletrical outlet to the medicine cabinet to keep stuff of the counter.





All told we did the following:
Remove old shower
Remove sheetrock
Remove door and install pocket door
Relocate electrical to the wall on the right as you enter the bathroom
Install cans
Remove floor
Install vanity
Install medicine cabinet
Expand shower and relocate plumbing

Goal Check In

Here is a review of this year's goals and where I am...

*Weight Loss:
~I will lose 10lbs in the first 3 months of 2012
I haven't lost any weight really, but haven't gained any either. I'll call it even!
I will do this by:
Eating strictly Plaeo for the month of January
Planning paleo snacks
Completing the 100 pushup program
Working out at least 3x a week after the program
We haven't been strict paleo, but better than the last few months. I did a couple of days of the pushups, but stopped. I need to get back to it. I have played around with workouts, but no program yet.
* Cleaning Goal
~I will keep a cleaner home
NOPE!
I will do this by:
Helping Miles pick up toys every night before bath/bed.
Giving Miles chores and stick to them
Sticking to a cleaning schedule
Keeping floors clean (swept & mopped) - I've done really well with this in the past, but not so much recently
We are getting pretty good at having Miles pick up, but I am not on a cleaning schedule.
How nice to have a home where you are never worried about opening the door.
* Picture Goal
~I will take more photos this year
I will do this by
Complete 52 of 52 challenge.
Try to take pictures of Miles at least three times a week.
Take Mother's & Father's day pictures this year!
I didn't find a 52 of 52 this year. Sad! I am taking more pictures though. Also, Miles is asking me to take pictures of him too. That is fun!
* Bible Study Goal
~I will have a daily Bible study and I will read the Bible in a year.
I have a Bible in a year program set up, but I'm behind. I'll catch up though.
*Christmas Goals
~I will have a low stress Christmas this year.
I have 3 stocking stuffers! Yay!
I will accomplish this by:
Hand making at least 5 Christmas gifts this year. I will work on one every other month.
Trying to have complete list by early/mid October.
Buying 3 stocking stuffers a month (15 stockings to stuff).
Completing Advent activities.
*Family Goal
~I will go on a field trip with Nicholas each month this year (and take plenty of pictures helping my photo goal).
We have gone to the zoo, the Kimbell (a bit of a trip), the airplane museum, and his first Dallas Stars game. I think at least one of those qualifies!

Progress Report

We have been having a bit of a tough time lately. Miles received his mid year review (progress report) on Friday. It wasn't great. He happens to be in a very advanced class, but he is behind where he should be. We have decided to redouble our efforts. This is nothing we can't overcome. His teacher mentioned possibly holding him back to K4 again net year. He is in a class where all the boys are much older than him, and they would be with him every year. He is beginning to read, which is exciting! I think we are going to be just fine. It has been emotionally exhausting though. Most everything else is on hold. There are some really big gaps in his knowledge.

As a break we are looking forward to Miles' birthday party. It is monster themed. We sent out regular fill in the blank invites, and it is going to be really small. We are only inviting the 3 other k4 boys, one k5 (good friend), and the neighbor girl. 5 guests total if all show up, but we did include their siblings because the party will be at noon on a Tuesday (right after school). I can't wait to post some pictures!

My weekend is going to be busy. My mom and sister are "hosting" a table at a women's luncheon on Saturday and I'm attending. Then on Sunday I'm going with my MIL to my husband's cousin's baby shower. She is having her 4th! The first girl! I'm sure it will be fun.

How we have been spending time...

We have done a few things recently where we haven't taken photos. I wanted to jot down a few thoughts about them quickly so they aren't forgotten.

On Saturday we went to an afternoon Dallas Stars game. It was great. We got the opportunity to take Miles to his first game, and sit in box seats and have platinum parking all for free (thanks Randy)! It was so great! We all really enjoyed it, especially Miles. He loved every moment of it, and started asking about 5 minutes in if we were going to win and what was the name of the bad guys again? At the beginning of the third period the score was tied 1-1. By the end of the game the Stars had won 4-1. It was great, and Miles was so glad they had won.

On Sunday it looked like we were going to be very busy. It was going to be church, then quick lunch and off to Jared's parents to help them install a water heater which everyone assumed would take all afternoon until Miles' bed time. Instead the in-laws decided to do something else and put off the water heater install. At the last moment we decided to run out to view the last day of the Caravaggio exhibit at the Kimbell Art Museum. It was incredible! They only had 10 Caravaggio pieces there, however, with only 75 remaining that is a pretty good ratio. They also had about 40 pieces by followers of his in Rome. The art was great, and it was laid out really well. You didn't have to stick with the same crowd and file through. They also had several pieces which were inspired by another piece there, or two pieces echoing another piece by Caravaggio. These would all be hung in the same area where you could see them at the same time. It was so cool to compare how different artists view/think about things.

Today I took Miles to gymnastics, then we picked up his Uncle Erich and took him to a dental surgery center. Aren't you glad I didn't post a picture. He was having all 4 of his wisdom teeth removed. Ouch! They asked that a family member wait during the surgery. It didn't go too well, and ended up taking 2x their time estimate. Then he was a mess after. They said that he wouldn't go under, and gave him way more meds than they usually do. More than enough for 4 guys, and he fought them in the surgery. Gah! I took him back to his place to get his dog (in case he needed to stay the night somewhere) and took him to his parents. We were supposed to work on the water heater, but didn't. Doris & I spent all of our time taking care of Erich and getting his prescriptions filled. She and I did share a really good bottle of wine and a bit of brie cheese. That was nice. It was a long day though!


Dallas Stars logo curtsey of stars.nhl.com &
picture of painting curtsey of www.canvasreplicas.com

Spring Cleaning

Are you going to do it?

Have you started?

I have not. My Christmas decorations are boxed up, but the boxes are not put away. Yours?

January 2nd

I've been having some technical difficulties downloading the pictures from my camera onto my laptop. After some work and diagnosing by Jared, I think we are back on track!


Here is a photo of the New Years bunting I mentioned before. Sadly, it only stayed up a couple of days. Now that it is made I can put it up just after Christmas and still have it up a while before I pack it away with the Christmas decorations! This year I plan to use those beautiful arches much more often. I'm hoping to have something up for at least part of every month. I just love them!


Here is one of my silly little boy. I can't believe how he is growing! He was wearing 2 of his dad's hats. I didn't get a very good pic of the other one, but it is a big floppy sun hat which in this photo is hanging behind his back.





My fantastic in-laws gave us a year membership to the flight museum not too far from the house. We have had a membership there before, but we were not planning to renew. I'm so glad they did this for us. The museum has made many great improvements since we were there last (almost a year ago), and Miles is older and interested in many other things now!