This is probably how Calvin & Hobbes started...

A comic that was given to me by N1's former Sunday school teacher so this is a few months old. So glad he gave this to me because it is hilarious.

Girl 1: My catopillar dident turn into a butterfly.



Girl 2: That's a cheto. (cheeto)



Girl 1: Oh.

The weekend that was...

Just a few pictures from our weekend.

We celebrated N1's completion of two years as a Girl Scout Daisy with a cookout and bridging ceremony. She and her troop are now officially Brownies! She has enjoyed her girl scout troop and we have enjoyed the time getting to know the other girls and their mamas over the past two years.



Fruit salsa. I forgot all about this recipe and made it for the aforementioned Girl Scout shindig. Yum, yum, yum.



A gratuitously cute picture of the boy just because. He thinks he is big stuff because we pull up to stand on EVERYTHING. Oh, and he can now climb our stairs. Excellent. : )



We had a nice and easy Father's Day yesterday celebrating Grandpa (my Dad) and T. I meant to take a picture of T with the kids for our Project Life album and everyone was scattered around the house and then I forgot. I blame it on the fact that our upstairs a/c was out over the weekend and some of us (the boy and myself specifically) didn't get much sleep. The others were more fortunate and slept like rocks - probably also due to busy days and late nights from last week's VBS. I'm looking forward to a very quiet week this week - with working a/c! - and hope to sneak in a nap or two if the girls will let me. We'll see. : )

Hope you all had a great weekend - happy Monday!

Project life ::: Weeks 23-24

Some quick shots of the last two weeks worth of pictures. Today is the first day that we've been home all day, just us. (No cousins or friends). It's been very nice and quiet for the most part and I was able to scrap some this afternoon while the girls watched a movie.

The overview shot:



Left side: a couple pictures of our first trips to the neighborhood pool and one that my niece took of N2. The 4th journaling slot is cut from the side of a Happy Meal box. The Kung Fu Happy Meal was a big hit with little people that week. : )



Right side: pics of the girls with library books and reading w/ cousin J. The top right photo is one of those flip-up ones, but the picture I took was really blurry - oops. Bottom picture is of N1 with her new smash journal - I've signed her up for a creative kids scrapbook class that starts next week. The journal is part of her supplies and I've had to hide it to keep her from messing with it. : ) Also a pic of E in our front carrier. It won't be long before he's too big for it.



Week 24 overview:



The left side: a pair of shoes that N2 hardly takes off, a couple pics and notes about dance camp, and the card that says "details" is a fold-out one with extra journaling all about sick boy this week. Last journal slot is a tag from the girls' dance leotards I bought with a picture glued to it.



There is a 5 x 7 insert this week - the pages in there are a little long, but they would have been way too small for an 8 1/2 x 11 page protector. One side is a note that N1 received from her 1st grade teacher and the other side is some current B artwork.



Right side: just random shots from the week - being waved off as we drove to dance camp, a pool pic, more dance camp, and lastly a subtle shot I took at a church staff meeting we attend once a month. : ) The princess shot of the girls is another fold-up page with pics of my niece's ball game underneath.



Summer life is full right now! I have lots more summer stories that I want to tell on other scrapbook layouts; however, I'm so thankful that I have this system to get the main ones down while they are fresh. : )

For more information about Project Life, visit Becky Higgins' blog.

Read Aloud Thursday ::: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Fun, fun, fun!!! That's what I have to say about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl! This was one of the books that I selected for N1's summer reading list and it didn't take much arm-twisting for it to become our current read-aloud. In record time, we devoured this book ... only ending our reading time for such inconveniences such as food and sleep. : )

My copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from childhood. It has seen better days. : )

I'm sure almost everyone is familiar with the story. Charlie Bucket is a poor boy who lives with his parents in a very run-down house with his two sets of grandparents. They live in the same town as the world's most famous chocolate factory run by a mysterious man named Mr. Willy Wonka. No one goes in to the factory and no one goes out, and Mr. Wonka hasn't been seen by anyone for years. Then suddenly, an announcement comes from the factory announcing five golden tickets that have been randomly hidden inside Wonka bars. The lucky ones that find these golden tickets are invited to attend a private tour of the chocolate factory with Mr. Wonka! 

If you haven't read the book, I won't say much more other than Charlie does managed to get a hold of a golden ticket and many adventures are in store for him! The fast-paced dialogue and story made this a fantastic read-aloud - and also made us very hungry for chocolate! (Consider yourself warned!) : ) The imagination of Roald Dahl is something to marvel at. His creativity in describing the many features of this magical chocolate factory, the personality of the children in the story, and the zany-ness of Willy Wonka make this story a true delight to read. True God-given creativeness put to very good use, in my opinion, although I don't know where Mr. Dahl stood on such issues.

We highly recommend this book for a fun family read-aloud! 

For more great read-aloud suggestions, visit Hope is the Word!

Related links:

Our read-aloud review of another Dahl book: Fantastic Mr. Fox

VBS Week

This week is VBS week for us. My girls LOVE this week - ours runs every evening so it makes for some crazy late nights and wacky dinner times. (Bonus: my early-bird girls usually sleep in this week which I love). : )



This summer I am planning dinners about a week out (instead of my normal monthly plan) and inwardly groaned at the challenges of this week:

• having to have all 4 children out the door at 6:15 or so (when that's normally our dinner time)
• have the 3 girls + baby fed by that time
• having a plan for dinner for T - he doesn't get home from work in time to eat with us pre-VBS. Also, since he's helping to lead the Bible study for the older kids there, he doesn't eat until after VBS. By then I don't want to make a 2nd dinner.
• making a dinner that isn't too heavy for the girls to eat before they are outside in 90+ degree weather at church and not too heavy for us to eat later in the evening.
• Coming up with something healthy for me to eat with Weight Watchers that is still quick and easy.

Here's what I came up with this week:

Monday: taco salad for the grown ups, nachos and fruit for the kids (two of my girls will eat salad, one will not, but they will eat the taco meat on their chips and cheese for a bit a protein)

Tuesday: my one night that we'll do fast food. McDonald's has Happy Meals on sale for $1.99 on M/T/W this summer so I can feed the girls for $6. Can't beat that. : ) T & I will eat leftovers.

Wednesday: cheese quesadillas and fruit or raw veggies for the girls, I'll add grilled chicken and veggies to the adult versions.

Thursday: monte cristos + veggies/fruit

Friday: scrambled eggs and (are you sensing a theme?) fruit. We are eating a lot of fruit while it's in season right now. : ) Typically Friday is out family movie and pizza night, but I'm saving the pizza for a night that I we can collapse at home. I may pan fry some chicken apple sausage (below) that T LOVES on Friday and stir it into some pasta and veggies (and these sausages are great for Weight Watchers).

What do you do for quick dinners on nights where you have to be out the door? When it's our regular school-year routine, every Wednesday night is quesadilla night which works beautifully. Five nights in a row is a little trickier, but I think I've managed it ... this year. : )

More Weekend Fun

A few more highlights from our weekend...

Sunday was a very special day in our family. We celebrated T's birthday - and if you have little kids you know that Daddy's birthday is a BIG DEAL. : ) We also dedicated the boy at church on Sunday morning, on T's birthday, so that made the day even more special.

The dedication at church. My Dad is the teaching elder at our church so it was extra special having him do E's dedication (he's done all the kids). As as side note, I always worry about getting extra emotional on stage during these kinds of events, however, do you see little Miss B up there? Not sure what she was doing, but I don't think she was real still. : ) My attention was divided between paying attention to the dedication and making sure that she didn't do a flying leap off the stage if she saw one of her friends from the front. It could have happened - I wouldn't put it past her. : )



The boy being cute. About this time he decided the he wanted the microphone that Grandpa had and was most intent on reaching to grab it.



T's birthday lunch was after church. My brother-in-law took over grilling duties for the day (and he rocks the grill). We had steak and chicken, corn, a huge salad, and tons of fresh berries all mixed together. Yum.

One of our standard gifts for T every year is a "gift certificate" for the girls to take him to the new Pixar movie that comes out right around his birthday. This year was no exception and we're going to take him to see Cars 2 in just a few weeks. We can't wait!



Lots of little assistants to help blow out Daddy's candles - my Mom made the cake. It was a Texas cookie sheet cake - a family recipe my Mom has made for years - and is on my list of things to learn how to make.



Our other super fun gift for T. We love the show Mythbusters - lots of science, explosions, and fun experiments. The girls picked out this t-shirt for him and N1 is already lobbying for her own Mythbusters t-shirt when her birthday rolls around in October.



And just a couple fun random shots that my Dad took. The boy, who is feeling MUCH better. So thankful for that!



Little Miss N2. She was looking seriously adorable on Sunday.



Whew. A busy and wonderful weekend! This week is VBS so no rest for the weary here. : )

I love ball games

I love going to my niece and nephew's ball games. There is just something very fun about being at the ball park. Warm summer evening. Cheering for their teams, Little girls playing with cousins. Coming home very filthy.

It's all good.

My neice ... she would intimidate me with that stare.



My nephew. He's a little bit cute.



The uncle. The little girls think he pretty much rocks.



The food stand at the ballpark. Shamed is the Mama who does not bring a few quarters so that they can get a popsicle. (Luckily between me, my sister and my Mom we were able to pool enough change so the kids could survive the game).



Healthy snacks. Water cancels out Doritos, right?



The boy. He makes the rounds with everyone. The uncle is instructing him in the ways of the force sport and getting a little guy time.



Time to sit with Grandma for a bit.
















Oooh, Grandma has a drink for me! Actually, it's just a straw I chewed on for a while, but I thought I was pretty cool.



The uncle and the boy again. A mid-air shot.



No pictures of the game. : ) I was too busy cheering my niece and make sure the girls didn't fall of the bleachers by that point. Wish we could make it to more games each season - it's definitely a highlight of our spring/summer evenings.

Happy Monday!

Inspired By ::: 10 Things

For Friday ... a listy. Ten things that have caught my eye online over the past few weeks taken straight from my boards at Pinterest. (Pinterest is like a visual bulletin board online to store and catalog things you find on various websites. Genius. Totally helping me keep on track of all those links or ideas I want to save but never keep up with).

1. This idea for a Favorite Things Party. I can see me putting this together for a girls' night out someday.

2. A chalkboard sign for the kitchen with the day's menu.

3. A postcard birthday tutorial for some serious great happy mail. My oldest would LOVE getting something like this in the days leading up to her birthday.

4. Fruit served in a waffle cone. How pretty for a summer picnic.

5. Taco pizza from Pioneer Woman. I will be making this soon.

6. Library cards and pockets in the front of our own books. 

7. Star Wars poster ... for the boy of course. :)

8. I need something like this in the bathroom for bathing suits.  So smart.

9. This little craft project just makes me happy with all the rainbow of colors.

10. An indoor A-frame tent for the little girls' room. They would love it.

Linking up with 10 Things on Shimelle's blog to round out this week. Happy Friday!

Not a Diet, But a Journey with Jesus

I recently finished Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa TerKeurst
and was absolutely blown away by it. I wasn't sure what to expect which I was sent this copy to review ... I figured it was a book I needed to read, but wasn't sure if it was one that I wanted to read. It looked like it had "conviction" written all over the cover. : )

Made to Crave is not a diet book. She isn't sponsored by Weight Watchers or South Beach and says several times in the book that what worked for her isn't necessarily going to be what works for others. That said, it "is" a diet book, but in a very unconventional fashion. The battle over food, she says, starts in your heart, when you realize that the craving for food has replaced the craving for God that every one of us has. God created us to desire Him - instead of turning to Him when we are hurt, lonely, anxious, etc., we choose other mediums to fill us up. Food isn't the only one, but it is the one she focuses on in this book (and it's the one that hit close to home for me). : ) When the kids are wearing me out, a little snack might perk me up to get through the rest of the afternoon. When I'm anxious about something, a little snack might distract me. There are many situations and many excuses I can mention, but the bottom line is that I am turning to my pantry instead of God.

Lysa shares in this book how you can train your mind to take your thoughts and redirect them to go to God first and not your stomach. For example, my little guy has been sick this week. An ear infection has been wearing. him. down. and on Tuesday morning his temperature was getting dangerously high. As I got off the phone with the pediatrician, spent a couple minutes on the phone updating my husband, I realized that I was going to need to take N1 and my very sick baby by Walmart to get some Tylenol for him. (I had Motrin which I had been giving him steadily but it wasn't cutting it). Anyway, the short version is that as I was gathering our gear and loading us quickly in the car, I started thinking,

• "maybe I could just grab me a snack while we're at Walmart."
• "if I had something to munch on that would make me not worry so much."
• "I should get a candy bar. Chocolate would really calm me down."

.... and many other statements. Having just finished this book, I was amazed to catch myself justifying why I needed something to eat right then when I wasn't hungry and was just worried about my guy. Instead, I turned those worried into a prayer to God to calm me and help E's fever to come down. 

This book is extremely encouraging if you are wanting to change how you look at food and get yourself on path to better spiritual and physical health. I hope this brief review conveys some of that because I cannot begin to explain how much I enjoyed this book. It was one sister alongside another - someone who has been there in the battle with food and has learned some great truths from God. Highest of the high recommendations from me.

As I conclude this review, I thought I would mention that I have recently rejoined Weight Watchers in an attempted to say goodbye to several years and several babies worth of extra pounds. : ) The first few weeks on have been a weight-loss high - the pounds are coming off (slowly) and I'm working a few mainstay meals into the routine that I can eat for breakfast and lunch so that the whole family doesn't dine on steamed broccoli for dinner just for me. (Not that there is anything wrong with steamed broccoli.) : ) This review was so timely and encouraging as I am learning this isn't a one time diet - this is relearning from years of bad habits and "eating for two" whether pregnant or nursing or just because. : ) I don't know how often I'll blog about it, but it's not something that is a huge secret either. Just thought I would throw out that disclaimer as to why I really, REALLY loved and was blessed by this book.

8 Months

Eight months. How HAS the time gone by so quickly?

I know this isn't a great picture of you, buddy. You were being such a trooper with Noelle and Mama at the library this week and you did NOT feel good. You have been battling this same ear infection for a month now and we are ready for you to get to feeling better.




You are such a happy, happy boy. You are so easy to take places, although the ability to nap in your car seat is becoming less frequent. You just roll right along with whatever Mama has planned and I love taking my big boy with me. You are definitely a mama's boy - you will have nothing whatsoever to do with a bottle, no thank you. This is the longest that I have nursed any of my babies and I am so thankful, especially since you are my last one. I would appreciate it, however, if you would kindly start sleeping a bit more at night. That would really, really make Mama happy. : )



I caught this picture of you sneaking into your sisters' room. They have some really cool stuff in there - some of which is off limits. You found a little ball though and claimed it as your own. You are such a BOY.



Some of your favorites right now include:

• blueberry yogurt - your eyes light up when I get out the container!
• carrots (actually, you will pick an orange veggie over green any day)
• pulling up to stand on everything!
• your Daddy - you always reach for him the moment you see him.
• cousin JoJo
• waving bye-bye
• taking a bath
• sitting in your big boy carseat (it's easier to see the sissies in the backseat)
• going to the pool (we were amazed at how fearless you were in the water compared to the girls. Amazed.)

These eight months with you have been fabulous big guy. Even though I am a little sad at how fast it is all going by, I'm starting to get excited about a first birthday party for you and how to make it super-duper-special.

Love you, Ethan-boy.