Advent

Can I tell you about a new blog that I'm totally pumped about? :) Lindsay over at Enjoy the Journey is birthing a new blog all about Advent and Christmas and all that jazz. This year, I'm going to attempt doing advent readings with my now 3 year old and, yes, I'm a little overwhelmed about where to begin. :)

She also has a special contest going on right now in conjunction with the start up of this blog ... if you post a link on your blog to Advent for Evangelicals, you will be entered to win a copy of Ann Voskamp's book The Glorious Coming, a wonderful Advent devotional. I recently purchased this in combination with The 12 Week Holiday Planner for Christian Families and it looks to be great!! I know it's going to be a huge help for me coming out of this first trimester and playing catch-up with my Christmas planning. :)

Just wanted to give a heads-up to Lindsay's new endeavor and I can't wait for the kick-off tomorrow!

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Fall Reading Challenge Update

I figure it's time to do a quick update on my Fall Reading Challenge sponsored by Katrina over at Callapidder Days. I have not, I regret to say, made much of a dent in my pile, though I have been reading.

I finished Ambassador Families and HIGHLY recommend it. I want to write more on this fantastic book, so I'll come back to this one ... hopefully sooner rather than later. :)

Thoroughly enjoyed Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place again ... it had been a long time.

Am almost done with Me? Obey Him? by Elizabeth Rice Handford. Another than I am gaining all sorts of good stuff from.

I was derailed by the Mitford books, I admit it. Of course, I have a perfectly good excuse. :) I get to hear Jan Karon speak on November 4 at a fundraiser for a local Christian arts/homeschooling co-op school. We were given tickets by a wonderful woman from church and I am beside myself excited. So, I had to review the books so that I felt up to speed to hear her speak.

John Grisham's latest, The Innocent Man, was also read. Very different as it was based on a true story. I missed his good dialogue between characters, but it was still very interesting, and more heartbreaking because it was a true story.

I also just added the latest Beverly Lewis book, The Brethren, to my pile. My Mom brought it over, it was the last in her recent Amish trilogy, and it was good!

Up next, I'm going to start Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration for my non-fiction read; for fiction, I'll probably start Summer of the Midnight Sun by Traci Peterson.

I Love Lists

It's a list. I couldn't NOT play along with this one. :)

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise Not lately and not often. :)
14. Seen the Northern Lights All I can say is wow.
15. Gone to a huge sports game Saw the Titans play a practice game way back when tickets weren't expensive, and I saw a professional baseball game in Kansas City ... sadly, I can't remember who I saw play.
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables Yum, sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes.
18. Touched an iceberg Does a glacier count?
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper Ha. Every day.
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon It was tethered to the ground when it went up, but I'm still counting it.
22. Watched a meteor shower A seriously way-cool date with Travis early on.
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope Another thing I've experienced thanks to Travis ... besides stars, I've seen Mars and Saturn really close.
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment Way too many times to count!
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can In a play once, from back stage .... it was a huge role. :)
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster Unfortunately.
35. Hit a home run I had an amazing career in t-ball in 2nd grade. Sadly, it was short-lived.
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer I do right now.
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends Hey, Gina! :)
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip Honeymoon, Yellowstone, 30 hours in the car.
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs Is there any other way to organize them?
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke At my bachelorette party ... When Will I Be Loved by Linda Rondstat!
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater How I saw Monsters, Inc. :)
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married 8.3.02
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch My first choice.
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage And scared spitless every time. :)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children A work in progress.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone Tailbone, a toe, ring finger, hairline fracture on one ankle.
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse And not well I might add.
119. Had major surgery C-sections definitely count.
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi Blech.
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read Read Pride and Prejudice this summer ... totally rocked.
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair Another mistake from the past! :)
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Round the house...

N1 and Daddy time on the 'puters.


The girls. N2 thinks she is hot stuff because she's sitting with big sissy in the chair and watching a Little Einstein video. Well, she's not really watching, but just bouncing to the theme song. Once the music is over, she's all done. Oh, and I'd like to note that N1 did N2's hair in this picture ... Mama obviously did not pick out the turquoise headband, because ANYONE can see that it does not match her outfit. :)

Five's

I'd give credit where credit is due, but I'm not sure where stole this from ... it's been sitting on my computer for a while now. :)

If I had five minutes to myself, I'd

#1 Sit outside on our patio and read.
#2 Pour a diet Coke and plan my day.
#3 Go the bathroom in peace.
#4 Work on my Bible study.
#5 Sit in silence.

If I had $5 to spend, I'd

#1 Head for the scrapbook store!
#2 Buy two large Sonic drinks and take one to my husband at work.
#3 Meet my friend Gina at Starbucks for coffee.
#4 Put together a Shoebox of Love for Operation Christmas Child with N1 this year.
#5 Stick it in my purse and save it ... yeah, right! :)

Five Items I'd love to get rid of:

#1 The boxes of clothes in my bedroom that need to go into storage in the garage ... my regular clothes that no longer fit.
#2 N1's diapers and have her be potty-trained!
#3 My cellphone.
#4 Dogs that shed.
#5 Clutter!

Five Items I wouldn't part with:

#1 Our big room that was an addition to this house that we bought (we didn't do the addition, the previous owners did). The room is 20x20 and we LIVE in this room.
#2 My scrapbooks and scrapbook paraphanalia
#3 My Bible/journals/notebooks
#4 My favorite purse ... it's huge-mongous. I can fit EVERYTHING in it.
#5 My family. :)

Five Words or Phrases I'd love to hear:

#1 Can I refresh your drink with ice cold Diet Coke?
#2 I'll watch the kids, you just run on to the scrapbook store and do some shopping ... get whatever you want, the sky's the limit!
#3 You know, pregnancy on you is so slimming.
#4 I wuv u Mama. (N1 just started saying this last week, but I can't get enough of it).
#5 We've invented self-cleaning carpet and dogs that never ever shed!

Menu Plan Monday!

This week's menu revolves around a non-working oven! :) If it can't go in the crockpot, the stovetop or in the microwave, we won't be making it this week.

Monday: Easy Beef Tips served over rice in the crockpot
Tuesday: Red Beans and Rice in the crockpot
Wednesday: Awana night so quick stuff - mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, etc.
Thursday: Mexicali Chicken Burritos from Busy People's Low Fat Cookbook
Friday: Vegetable Soup OR pizza if oven is fixed or DH brings it home!
Saturday: Southwestern Chicken in the crockpot from Fix it and Forget it Lightly
Sunday: Family lunch

List ten of life's simple pleasures.

A full, uninterrupted night of sleep.

Rereading an old favorite.

Diet Coke so cold that it has little ice crystals in it.

Afghans to curl up under.

Baby nuzzles from the littlest.

Belly laughs from the biggest.

Pens in all different colors and sizes.

Sunshine and crisp, cold weather.

A husband that provides for our family exceedingly.

A God that is so soveriegn and gives strength exceedingly and abundantly more than I could ask or imagine.

This meme courtesy of Women at Home!

Girls that won't sleep through the night ... both of them.

Makes for a very tired Mama.

Just working on getting by at this point.

Not bad, just tired and busy.

More soon.

Scrapbook Challenge for this Week...

This week's challenge is to create a layout titled This Month. Use what you and your family did last month as the content. For each person in your family (or just for yourself) make a list of all the things that were happening.

Just because...

My Dad, the photographer, took this a few weeks ago and it's so cool, I just had to share. He sent it to Noelle, but she doesn't know who Santa is so it was a little anticlimactic. I'm assuming I have a little older reader-ship so enjoy! (This is a friend of our family who plays Santa at one of the malls every year. The beard is real!)

3 Years!

Birth Day



6 Months



1 Year



18 months



2 Years



3 Years



Happy Birthday Baby! We love you!

8 months

Menu Plan Monday

This week's menu is nothing fancy. :) We're having N1's and my nephew's combined birthday lunch here on Sunday and so this week is all about power-cleaning the house and getting it ready for a family invasion. It has also needed cleaning for several weeks and I am in the mood for some serious fall cleaning and decorating. :)

Monday: fajitas (chicken)
Tuesday: Christmas Morning French Toast (new recipe, this sounds yummy!), bacon and pears
Wednesday: chicken nuggets and french fries, boca burgers for adults
Thursday: BBQ pork chops which I have been trying to make for several weeks now!
Friday: Soup of some kind
Saturday: Little Ceasars pizza! (I love to make our pizza myself, but this Saturday is our church's fall festival and I am not going to feel like cooking once we get home. Travis is working the festival so I'll have girl duty the whole time. By the time I get them home, bathed and bedded, and he rolls home, he will starving and I'll be exhausted. This works out for both of us!)