101 Update

Seems I was able to do a bunch of these in the last 2 weeks!

1. Celebrate five strange holidays (1/5)

May 8 was apparently coconut cream pie day.  So, I made a coconut cream pie!  Yay!

2. Do the 1000 hours outside challenge (1000 Hours Outside ) (35/1000)

So, we are at 35 hours so far.  The weather is getting nicer and I expect this will make the challenge easier.  It's been 17 days, average of only 2 hours a day.  We should be averaging 3!

3. Go on a weekend trip just me and hubby (finished May 7, 2023)
We went to a somewhat local resort this last weekend!  It had a Nordic/Icelandic feel to it.  There was a spa inside with a mineral pool, hot tub, and steam room.  There was a cold dip pool as well but it wasn't operational (not sure why).  There were many beautiful walking trails in the provincial park in the area that we spent hours walking along.  Tried to get to the lighthouse, but there was snow two feet deep in some areas that I wasn't equipped to walk through, so we went as far as we could each day and watched the 'melting' as it was above 12C and the snow was definitely going down!  There wasn't much else out there... the town was tiny, only one store that isn't open except Saturday during off season.  The resort was beautiful and had a spa as well.  We booked a massage for the only opening they had... right after we arrived!

16. Make something we want out of stuff laying around/trash rather than buying. (1/5)

I saw a pretty welcome sign browsing Facebook or something yesturday, and took some old trash wood on the farm and built it myself.  I want to paint it yet, but it's built!  It's pretty, and has a hook on it for hanging a light planter, or a bird feeder or whatever I want to put on it!

42. Read entire Bible in a year (14/66 books)

Just finished reading 2 Kings 9 and Luke.  Right on track again!

46. Stay off Facebook for one month. Spend time in prayer instead (finished May 1 2023)

Done.  Finished end of April.

51. Get a massage (finished May 5, 2023)

Did this on our weekend away!  Half hour couples massage.  Was so nice!  We need to do this again!

57. Get 25000 steps in one day (finished May 6, 2023)
Funny story... May 6 was nurse's day according to my walking app.  It suggested getting 16300 steps, which is the average number a nurse gets in a day.  Since we were walking a whole lot that day, I thought it would be neat to try for this goal I set for myself.  I hit 27K!  Wow!  It is hard enough for me to hit 10K, so this was a big deal for me!  And I was walking a LOT!  My legs are still sore, haha.

66. Organize decorations and label

Since I was taking down my spring decorations anyway, I put them in a new bin and labelled it.  They sorted all in the one bin quite nicely!  Still have more to do!  Now to try to figure out how to get the bins into the area I want for them...

71. Build cute signs for the house/farmyard (1/5)
I made one!  It's a welcome sign.  I need to finish painting it today.  I want to use my cricut for that part.  So excited to finish and set it up!

77. Visit a Nordic/Icelandic area (1/2)

Not sure if I should count this one or not as the resort we were at was actually Icelandic!  But I still have an area I want to visit with the kids this summer that fits this as well.  I mean, we didn't go with the kids, but we did go together to an Icelandic area.  The building style is so interesting!  I think I'll make this a 'half' done?

85. Find/add more info onto the Family Search website (photos, certificates, sources). (5/15)

I added 2 more pictures from my grandma's album and tagged individuals.  I also put in a scan of her great grandparent's marriage certificate!  They were so pretty and fancy back then!  A far cry from the ones we get now!

5 down, 96 to go!  And only 20 days in!  Yes!

Costumes and Pizza and Sweets, Oh My!

We didn't want to 'celebrate' Halloween this year by trick or treating, decorating, or anything of that sort, but I do love costumes so very much!  My daughter had 'costume day' on the 31st at her school, and wanted so badly to be Mary Poppins... in the white dress... which she decided a week before she needed the costume.  I said there was no way I'd be able to do it if I didn't have a dress to modify... and I didn't.  So, she said she wanted to be Alice in Wonderland.  That I could do!  I was fairly certain we had a blue dress for her that she wore during the summer, and so on Saturday, I sewed the apron from some scraps of white fabric I happened to have on hand.

 

Turns out that the blue dress was FAR too small. 

 

Out came some old blue fabric that has been sitting in my fabric drawer for over 10 years, and I sewed a circle skirt on Sunday out of that.  Nice thing was that it didn't need hemming.  That fabric was perfect for the job!  And the skirt will work for so many other costumes my little girls are going to want to wear eventually (Ariel's blue dress, Belle's blue dress, Anna's blue skirt...).

 

Monday I sewed the 'shirt' portion of the dress, and found a black ribbon in my scraps which became the headpiece.  M was thrilled!  Here she is, modelling the costume with A by her side.

 

Friday morning, all ready for school, we took some 'tea party' pictures with the white rabbit she brought with her... as part of her costume of course.

I absolutely adore how it turned out!  And I was able to borrow a few petticoat type skirts for under the skirt.  I only found out later (after school) that I should have pinned the skirt to the shirt, as the fabric is so slick that it kept sliding down while she was in school (probably due to how she sits down, actually.  Been trying to teach her to sit instead of slide into her seat).  But she is so cute!

We had some grocery shopping to do, as well as hair cuts, so we grabbed some costumes for our younger two while our oldest was in school, and off we went to town.  A garnered quite the attention while running around as a little pony all over the grocery store.

Our evening consisted of watching Lady and the Tramp while noshing on homemade pizza, and other sweet treats I made myself.  No bake Snack Bars (they taste a lot like Eatmore bars... but next time I'll add more cocoa and less dates), pumpkin fudge (another one without sugar... they need to stay in the fridge/freezer), Caramel corn, and pumpkin rice krispie squares (the pumpkin in the squares makes the rice krispies a little soggy in texture, though.  The flavor was wonderful!).  The caramel corn is such a hit in our house, I may need to start making a double batch.  I think we ate half of it before the movie!  It was gone by the next day.  The other treats are still around, although the rice krispie square only has about 3 pieces left (probably gone by the end of today) and the other two are in the freezer (they needed a food processor, and while I was making the first one, the processor broke and wouldn't work anymore.  So... the texture isn't as good as it should be.  They still taste great, though, and my arms got a workout in chopping and mashing dates and nuts).

And here is our little cutie with a bag of chips she got from grandma and grandpa.  They came over earlier in their costumes.  They had quite the adventure going to their grandkids houses that weren't trick or treating and then later to the store.  Makes me want to dress up for fun again.  Not easy to do with my giant belly, haha.

We do love treats!  Especially since mommy rarely buys any of these things.  At all.

 

Hope you all had a fantastic October!  November is upon us... and with that are thoughts of CHRISTMAS!

Snow = Christmas Carols!

It's snowing today!  And yes, that means we've been singing Christmas songs around here.

I'm not sure how I feel about that, actually.  I love the snow.  I love Christmas.  I love the peaceful way it falls, drifts, and covers everything completely in a beautiful sparkly white blanket.  I love the crunch of it beneath my feet. 

What I don't love, is the intense cold that usually accompanies the snow.  The feeling that I'm not finishing things that I wanted to earlier in fall.  The stress that usually comes with Christmas... my own doing, I know... but my best laid plans are failing this year, and it is stressing me.

I hope that by next week, I can at least show progress pics of some kind on our renovations.  They just have not been happening.  It takes everything in me just to get the daily chores done around here, never mind ripping out walls, putting up drywall, paint, that sort of thing.  Not to mention that the basement is also at a standstill right now since we need to get Hydro in to look at the furnace and the walls for approval into their insulating and heating program.  So, I aim to start work on the upstairs, even though we still have all our stuff in our room and I'm not looking forward to the drywall dust.

Ah well.  I need to get things rolling, and a little start is better than none at all.  After all, a snowman starts with three small snowballs, right?  Right?

Either way, I'm excited about Christmas.  November means Christmas is right around the corner.  Many of our stores in the area are already stocking Christmas things, and I know of a few people who are just dying to set out decorations and put up a tree.  Two of those people are little, and live under my roof.  I want to get more renos done first so I have space to even put a tree (we moved everything out of our basement, so it's all being stored in other areas of the house.  No room for décor here right now).  Plus, I'm not permitted to decorate until my birthday... in about 2 weeks.

I'm already thinking about the advent period... the activities we'll do each day.  I printed up my Christmas planner for the year, and was shocked to find that the binders for 5.5x8.5 inch papers cost $7 each!  Haven't bought one yet, but I just might cave anyway.  I've got our photo cards printed, and a few gifts are done, or partially done... just not yet wrapped.  I have ideas galore for baking, and I don't know if I can make it all... but I sure do want to try.  Plus, extras in the freezer are always good!  ;)

My due date is quickly approaching.  I know, January doesn't seem all that close, but with renos, Christmas, and all that in between, it is going to come so fast that I am not sure how many meals I'll be able to get into that deep freeze!  Plus, I know of at least two other ladies due the same month, both with little girls as well.  My goodness!  This area is seeing a baby boom!

So, has anyone else started planning for Christmas?  What sorts of things are you doing?  Do you have any traditions you are looking forward to most?

News!

So... seeing as I haven't been updating as I should, I have more news! 

]

V

 

That's right!  Come January, our family is growing! 

We decided to wait to tell everyone until Father's day... when I was just over 9 weeks pregnant.  Honestly, this is the longest we've ever waited to tell close family.  We always told right away, but this time I wanted it to be a surprise.  Also, since I had virtually no symptoms (unlike with A where people were guessing already), I figured we could pull it off.  On the Saturday, we had some fun dressing up in Star Wars 'costumes' for daddy.  M was Leia, and Bram wore his Vader shirt.  We had cinnamon biscuit rolls for breakfast.

 

 Our family picture.  I'm wearing one of my husband's many SW shirts as I do not have any.  Baby A has a 'Stormpooper' onesie.  Haha... so cute.

 

We told the kids on Saturday evening, and M is very excited!  She says she hopes it is a boy.  Bram also is hoping for a boy because he 'doesn't want another girl in the house'.  I'm sure he'll love the baby regardless of if it is a boy or a girl, but I did find that kind of funny.

 

For the 'announcement' for my dad, I had a bit of fun.  Enter the paper oven.

Kind of unassuming, seeing as I like to bake with the kids often enough.  Inside, however, is the tell tale message!

 

 He picked up on it right away!  I don't know if you can see it, but the 'due date' is also on the clock on front of the oven.  1:16.

 

I did something a little different for my Father in law.  Cupcakes!  There are 4, and on the top of each one is the name of one of the kids, with #4 saying 'baby'.

Since we are on the topic of Father's day, this is the breakfast that awaited my husband for when he would get inside from the barn.  We had already left for church.  Under the 'blanket' is his present from us, and each of the cards the kids colored.

I made these and hid them from him.  I was going to actually make icing for the drawing, but decided I just wanted to use the chocolate sprinkles and chocolate chips.  The one on the left says 'You r a Trooper Dad' and the one on the right is supposed to be a trooper helmet.  He figured it out, and that is what matters.  :)

So, that was our fathers day (yeesh... two months late.  I seem to be playing bloggers catch up right now, haha).  Things have been busy here, so I'm sorry for the lack of updates.  I need to just take time off facebook and update more often, haha.

Hope you've all been having a great summer!  I can't believe it is almost over already.  :(

Fairy Day

Happy Fairy day everyone!

 

Today we had a bit of fun dressing up as fairies.  Bram wanted to wear the wings... but not for very long.  I guess they felt strange to him. 

 

We also colored pictures of fairies.  M did the one on the left, Bram did the one on the right.  M really wanted a rainbow fairy, so she made hers that way.  I think it looks beautiful!  And Bram made all the outfits one color, the faces one color, and the wings one color.  He's getting better and better at coloring!

We even got Baby A in on the fairy fun! 

For dessert, we made fairy bread using biscuits instead of bread (as I'm not buying it anymore). 

In all, a fun day!  I wish we could have spent more of it outside, but the mosquitoes were terrible.  I can't put repellant on the baby, and the bugs were eating me alive out there!  I could hardly stand it for longer than 5 minutes at a time.  :(  Instead, we watched the Fairy Olympic Games (short movie that was included on the Secret of the Wings Tinkerbell DVD).  Kids loved it!

How was your day today?

Happy Butterfly Day!

For those who may not know, today, June 19th, was butterfly day! 

 

In honor of such an occasion, I decided to make us a special breakfast of butterfly shaped biscuits.  While they baked, I used my Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die to cut butterflies out of recycled materials (the silver cardboard inserts from chocolate bars I bought, and the colored cardboard pieces from a few packs of baby cloths) for the kids to play with and color.  In the process, I ended up over baking our butterfly biscuits... ah well.  they were still edible!

 

Mmmm... butterflies! 

Tasty with jam! 

Bram believes butterfly biscuits are the bomb! 

 I had a little fun with mine... berries and bananas on butterfly biscuits (yeah yeah, enough with the 'b')

I ended up starting on a craft I've been longing to try... cut out 68 small cardstock butterflies, 62 small tissue butterflies, 18 larger cardstock butterflies, and 16 same sized tissue ones... I hope to complete the project over the next week.  I'll post it here when I do.

Today we also learned a little about butterflies.  Since we are also on Australia in our 'Around the World in 60 Days' tour, we looked at butterfly pics from that region.  We also learned that butterflies eat nectar from flowers (I called it flower juice) using their 'tongue' that acts like a really long straw which they can curl up when not in use.  Bram remembered that and was asking about it again later in the evening.  I started looking up butterfly gardens... but didn't get far on that.  I'd love to make one either way, but we'll see how much time I feel I can devote to that...

I was going to do a caterpillar craft using an egg carton... but never got to it.  :(

Well, that was our beautiful butterfly day in a nutshell!  I adore butterflies... every time I see them I am filled with awe over God and his creation... such tiny beauties (did you know that butterfly wings are covered in tiny scales that act as feathers?).  Lord, Thank you for revealing yourself in all your creation, and thank you for the butterflies.

Today's butterfly blog was brought to you by the letter 'B'... (snicker)

Happy Banana Split Day

A day late... I know.  Sigh.  I seem to be late for everything lately.  Ah well, better late than never, right?  Right?  I know, I'll just keep telling myself that.

As most of you may (or may not... probably not) know, yesterday, June 7th, was Banana Split Day.  (Link to other fun facts for June 7)  Not sure why this fantastic treat is celebrated on June 7th (correction, I know why now, haha, it's a festival in Wilmington Ohio), but it's good stuff, so I guess they figured it deserved its own holiday!

We bought ice cream just for the occasion!  I melted some chocolate and warmed up some berries and nabbed a few other toppings for our banana split 'bar' which we treated the kids to after their pizza.  Mmmmm.

What a hit!  My kids were asking for banana splits again today!  Instead, they got some PB banana ice cream treats.  Those were a hit as well!

Oh, and just so you know, Monday (the 10th) is Iced Tea Day (look it up for some fun facts about the beverage from 1904 I believe), Wednesday the 12th is Peanut Butter Cookie Day (my husband will love this one), Sunday the 16th is Fathers Day, Wednesday the 19th is Butterfly Day, and Monday the 24th is Fairy Day.  There are lots of other interesting 'holidays' this month.  A Google search will reveal loads of them (I even bookmarked a few on my Pinterest).

Have fun celebrating some strange and wacky holidays this summer!  I know the kids love it!  ;)

Any wacky fun holidays that you know of and are planning on celebrating this year?  Or maybe you have done some before that you'd like to tell me about?  Please, feel free to share in the comments!  :)  The more, the better!

7-11

Happy 7-11 day to you all... or Slurpee day!  Did you know that every year, on July 11, 7-11 gives free Slurpee's?  We got ours today!  Mmmm ... and M sure did love hers... or should I say, mine (ha ha).

I can hardly believe we are getting close to midway in July already.  Where does the time go?

Tomorrow is Bram's 2 month needles.  I dislike needles, and I really dislike watching my kids have to get them.  Poor M cried each time.  It was kinda funny, actually.  She would give the doctor this huge grin, happy as a clam, and he would warn her that it was gonna hurt, and I would have to hold her leg, and then the needle would go in, and her whole face would change... shortly after the crocodile tears would fall, and she would NOT want me to grab her other leg.  Poor girl.  And now it's Bram's turn.  I told her to be brave for her little brother.  :)  I don't think she understands.  At least she's not afraid of the doctor.  I try not to make the doctor's office out to be a 'bad' place.  Then again, I don't mind my visits at all, so if it doesn't bother me, it generally doesn't bother her.

Speaking of M... I'm thinking of attempting to potty train.  Any ideas how to go about it?

My sister-in-law basically just put panties on her daughter and she had it figured out in two days.  I'm hoping to be so lucky, but I cannot find any underwear that will fit my daughter's small stature.  I'm not sure how to go about all this anyway, and part of me is a little wary of doing so.  Is that strange?  Being 'scared' to potty train your child?  I'm hoping to just wash the underwear I DO have for her, and try her on this journey.  She already knows where the potty is, and she has been starting to grab at her diaper for awhile now, as though it is uncomfortable, whenever it is wet.  She also tells me (sometimes) when she has pooped.  I'm thinking of still using diapers for bed at least... or maybe some of those training pants I got from a friend.  Although, to me, they are too much like diapers to really have the child realize that they can't 'go' in them anymore.  I don't know.  What is your take on those things?  Any pointers on potty training from those that have already gone through the experience? 

Why am I so afraid to start this? 

My mother-in-law bought a training potty for M a few months back already... she figures I should have M trained already or something.  I don't know.  I'm ok with it, less for me to have to buy, but I kinda wanted to try to go straight to the 'big' potty if I could.  Less 'in between' stages.  Plus, easier for when we are not at home and there is no toddler potty to be seen.  You know what I mean?  She's just a bit too small to climb on the toilet herself without some help anyway, so I guess the trainer toilet is a must either way.  Or a nice step stool, which I've noticed she has actually been able to climb now.  Sort of.  She is just so small!

We'll see what the week brings.  Maybe I'll just have to start sitting her on the potty before bath time, to get her used to it.  It does feel strange if you've never sat on one before... at least I would think it would.

To train now, or to train later... that is the question.......

Camping for Father's Day

For father's day this year, we went camping.  With two little ones.  Fun!

Ok, it actually wasn't too bad.  Bram slept rather well at night, and while we did have issues with M sleeping, she LOVED being outside.  Loved it.  Really.  We've got an outdoorsy type here, folks. 

I figured I'd post a few pics of our weekend for all of you to see.  Even though the bugs were terrible (I hate being lunch), with a soak down of mosquito spray and some sunscreen, we were good to go.  And on the beach they weren't as bad.  :)

Swimming at the lake.  M didn't like the water too much.  She was gung ho for it at first, but then she tried to touch her feet or something (as my husband says) and got a face full of water.  She did NOT want in after that... as you can see by the pic on the right.  Poor hubs could not put her in.  She literally tried to climb back up his leg.  It was kinda funny...

The guys made a large sandcastle.  There looked to be a storm moving in, and since our kiddos were zonked, we left before they finished it.  I saw a picture, it looked great!  Anyway, I just have pics of the work in progress.  :)

Kiddos and sand toys mix quite well with a pail of water.  (my daughter, niece, and nephew... we were quite the blanket full of young kids... 4 of them aged 2 and under!)

There was a play structure by the beach, and some swings.  M LOVED it.  She was so excited, especially when there were other kids to play with.  And Bram... he was just chillin.

Sand is loads of fun, didn't you know?  It doesn't matter if it gets into every nook and cranny, it's a pile of fun!  Bram didn't really wish to join in any of the sandy goodness, however. He was content to snooze in the sleepy wrap.

It was a good weekend.  I have to say, part of me loves camping (the outdoors part, walking, biking, getting away), and dreads it (the packing, cleaning up, mosquitoes, and lack of sleep).  I think going for only one night, or even just for the day, is good enough for me.  More so when the mosquitoes die off a bit. 

How was your father's day?

Hormonal Tendancies - And Star Wars Day

I. Am. Hormonal.

I drive myself nuts. All day long I clean and work and work and clean, and it does me no good. The house is dirty in seconds. I'm not sure how it happens. Where did the dirt come from? My husband is good at keeping it outside, and my daughter and I were inside all day long. The clothes are all clean, the floors were all cleaned and mopped yesterday, and yet they feel grimy to my feet this morning. Why?

It is DRIVING ME INSANE!

Crumbs appear seemingly from nowhere and end up in all corners of the house in seconds. Corners that we never even went to! What... how? I sweep, do dishes, clean up toys... every single evening after M is put to bed. So, morning comes, and everything seems ok. Until breakfast. Then the crumbs arrive, and they infiltrate every nook and cranny of my formerly clean house. So I clean everything again when M goes down for a nap. Silence. Cleanliness. Finally. For 5 minutes. And then it starts all over again.

Oh, and my house smells like supper (man... is that a hormonal thing to say? I HATE the lingering meal smells... especially smoked meat smells, for some reason, blech). Sausage. That is all I smell right now. I even baked a brownie and the sausage smell is beating that one into submission. Aargh!

I think I need a vacation from this house... the drippy faucet, the crumb attracting floors, the siege the toys make moments after I've tidied them...

AARGH!

Anyway...

They say today is Star Wars day... you know... "May the 4th be with you" and all that? Yeah. So I made brownies from my husband's Star Wars Cookbook (Wookie Cookies I think it is called). Good brownies. Funny name (Bossk Brownies). Bad crumbs. I need a lightsaber wielding Jedi in here to banish the dirt for good!

Too bad I didn't buy my husband that lightsaber I was looking at years ago.

At least my daughter loves to watch Clone Wars with my husband. I don't know why... tv does NOT interest her in the least... unless it's that Clone Wars cartoon! It's quite funny actually. So, she sits with hubs in the living room watching the Clone Wars Marathon while I do dishes and sweep floors (again) and clean up toys. That is, until everything is cleaned up. I'm not sure how she knows, but in an instant she drags them all over the place again. Won't play with the ones already on the floor in the living room, she's gotta go after the ones she discarded earlier that I just put away so I could sweep.

Is it the same in your house?

I'm off track again... let's see... Star Wars...

Did you know it was Star Wars Day today? My husband found out on Facebook. He was quite enthralled with the idea. I figured it sounded fun... makes things a little more interesting in the house anyway, if I can find ways to make 'Star Wars' happen in this house.

Wait. What am I saying. I married INTO all things Star Wars. (you should see that boy's collection of books... 80+ Star Wars Novels... he has all the DVD's (many courtesy of me), shirts, toys, Lego... yeah... no difficulty making things 'Star Wars'y' around here).

All I need now is a Chewbacca ring tone and some Princess Leia and Han Solo costumes and we'd be set. Unless my husband would rather dress as Luke... or Vader... or something...

My poor daughter is upset again. We've been dealing with colds (yeah... I finally caught the one she's had since Friday), and she's got an eye tooth poking through (at least I think it is... it's hard to tell sometimes). Poor girl... coughing at night, runny nose throughout the day... the runs most mornings that end up on her sleeper (although not the last two nights, praise the Lord!), and I have no idea how to help her. All I can do is put a little Vaseline on her nose to help with the soreness (from wiping it so often), and a little Vicks on a tissue in her room to help her breathe a bit (hopefully). And not give her milk. She's eating mostly applesauce, toast, crackers, and bland foods (veggies in there too). It is so hard. I feel so... helpless. I'm trying to get her to drink more liquids, but because she has to breathe through her mouth, she's uninterested in anything else going in there. So, we've mixed her water with apple juice and try to get her to finish off at LEAST one full sippy per day (I'm lucky if I get 2... really lucky...).

Sorry... this post is all over the place. I guess that goes with the hormones I've had lately.

Anyway... all I can say is that I guess I'm feeling a little... hormonal. Crazy, even. Insane, if you will. Every braxton has me guessing (never did that with M... am I not trusting God enough with this one?), my cleaning leaves me much to be desired (because it won't stay clean... but isn't that a bit petty of me?), and I REALLY want this kid before mother's day. Because otherwise I just KNOW I'll be in the hospital on our anniversary. I don't really want BOTH our kids to be sharing their birthdays with someone/some other 'special' day. Really. Is that strange? I think it might be strange... or maybe selfish...

Perhaps I should go to bed early tonight...

Happy Earth Day

I'm gonna keep this post short and sweet, since my hubby is ready for us to start the movie yet again. We're watching Avatar tonight. So far, it's really good!

Happy Earth Day! I normally don't 'celebrate' Earth day. I try to be 'green' year round, and normally I just don't take note of the date on the calendar. However, this year I had a couple of goals (on my 101 list) that were under the 'environment' section that I wanted to try to do ON Earth day. I didn't do them both, but I did do a few things to 'be green'.

How many of you look at the ditch next to your house? I don't usually do so, but a couple of years ago (when I walked along the highway on a regular basis) I noticed the trash that littered the ditch and thought it was disgusting. Now, where I live, either YOU take care of the trash in your ditch, or nobody does. Really. I've never seen anybody pick up trash along the highway next to our mile. There's nothing but fields (and we are the only house on the entire mile stretch on that side of the highway). So, I made it one of my goals to pick up the trash over that whole mile. Well... I didn't do the entire mile. Technically it is only our responsibility next to our property. I DID do the entire half mile west of our driveway... all by myself. Burned myself a bit too (that'll teach me not to put sunscreen on... sigh). Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. And I already put stuff on it. Oh, and I decided after going all the way to the mile road the one way and filling up one bag just picking up garbage on the 'field side' of the water (there was very little water in the ditch, thankfully), that I was going to do the 'road side' using the gator as my ride so I didn't have to haul a half full garbage bag everywhere. Made the job much easier. It still took 2.5 hours, total. And I feel like I should do ditch on the east side of our driveway as well... although since my brother in law shares the driveway and lives on that side, maybe he should do it instead... (ha ha ha).

I have to wonder what people thought seeing a 9 month pregnant woman picking up garbage in the ditch...

Anyway, today I also did a little yard work (ok, mainly watering flowers) and aired out some foam for the baby's cradle, and for an old chair of mine. It's being reused! I used it as a child, and now it's been cleaned, fixed (there was a hole... I mended it today), and set up for my daughter to use! And she loves it!

And the highlight (for my husband at least)... homemade pizza (with whole wheat crust). Mmmmm mmm. (and it only cost us $2 in the end... for the meat! Crust costs pennies, the meat was in the half-off bin, and we got the cheese for free! And mushrooms and peppers need to be used up before they go bad, although I think they cost about $1... so a $3 large pizza! Woo! Money savvy or what?)

I think I deserve a break. :)

Maybe I'll be able to get a clothesline this week to put up next week! I'd like that!

So, how'd you 'celebrate' Earth day? I'd love to know!

Have a great Friday everyone (since Thursday is almost done).

Easter!

He is RISEN!

Oh, how I love Easter. No, not the chocolate and ham (although those are good too), but the meaning the season holds for us. And the nice weather this year doesn't hurt my mood much either!

And then there's kids. They have so much wonderment and excitement over the little suprises they get...


Anyway, what will follow is the fun of the last three days... in picture form! So... a bit of a warning, this may be a photo overload!

M is looking contemplative at her grandparents... hmmm... what to do first...

I love to make things for every 'holiday' or event that occurs for some reason. This year I decided to have some fun with some of the easter cookie cutters I got from LW. I made 3 large chicks...

and a bunch of eggs...


two butterflies (for the girls)...

And three bunnies. There are probably about 5 cookies worth in each of these larger ones.

On Saturday morning, while waiting for Daddy to come in for breakfast, M decided to take my 'list' and my pen (which was disabled, thankfully) and 'check' things off. I wonder who she's mimicking now?

We went on a little Easter egg hunt after breakfast. The first one she managed to find and open held some mini marshmallows. She loved those. The chopped jelly beans were a hit too. And the necklace gift was great as well (she's loves wearing things on her head and face, so a necklace seemed to be the next step).

Here is one of the 'harder' eggs to find. I made them obvious. There were 12 in all...

Here she decided that all her eggs should go into these containers instead of the basket.

Oh look! I found another!

She dropped this one on the ground and it opened, revealing its contents... cheerios!

Mmmmmm.

Later that day, after her nap, she brought me the rest of her eggs so I could open them and she could eat whatever was inside. I filled 4 with various cereals, 2 with chocolate chips (not very many), one had jelly beans, one a necklace, 2 had mini cookies (see the little tiny hearts next to the chicks in a previous pic? Yeah, those), and two had mini marshmallows. Her eyes practically popped when she saw the cookies, and she giggled like crazy over the chocolate chips.

At my parents house we had another hunt... for a basket of goodies. Here she is thrilled to pieces about her cousin finding a basket. She just wanted to laugh and giggle for her... and didn't even think to look for one herself.

Finally she spotted the one we were trying to point out to her for awhile now... and ran towards it.

Oooh.... goodies!

It seemed that one of the highlights for the girls were the bubbles in the baskets. I am looking forward to blowing bubbles with M later... once our yard dries enough that I can take her outside again. Our yard is soaked!

So, that was our weekend in a nutshell (or not so much a nutshell as a crazy long photo driven post). How was your Easter? How do you celebrate?