Spring Break 2013

We've been on Spring Break this week. John took the week off to hang with all of us and it's been a really nice week--a good mix of rest, fun, and productivity!

Here's some of what we've been doing this week...

Celebrating TWO birthdays. John and Abbey both had a birthday last week and we kicked off our spring break with a birthday dinner for them.

Bought a new oven. We were down to 2.5 working burners on our old one.

Christened the new oven with Easter dinner cooking and birthday cake!

WAY too much eating out.

A shopping trip to Denver. Everyone needed shorts and tees and sneakers and one girl in particular had some birthday money burning a hole in her pocket.

Movies. We saw The Croods last weekend--I thought it was cute. We've stayed up late watching a few others. My "7" group has been fasting from media for this two-week period. I gave up Facebook and Pinterest but couldn't give up movies or television. Just couldn't do it. 

Fro-yo! A new place opened in town and we really like it. I will not tell you how many times we've been there in the past two weeks but it's pretty obscene.

Sleepovers--I think each of our kids has had one this week. And surprisingly they weren't too crabby the next day.

Science fair project. Abbey and friends got their project mostly completed.

Playing football with friends. That was Will, not me, but I love when my kids love things I love. Surely I don't need to remind you I'm a football fanatic. 

Painting projects--we only got one-third of them completed, but I'm good with that. We just simply ran out of time.

Work. John and I both had some to knock out, but we paced ourselves. And I'll admit my pace was pretty slow.

Hiking. I did the Incline with two friends. Two weeks in a row--yay! I've been trying to get back in my once a week groove.

Survived another spring snowstorm. Yeah, our spring break started off SNOWY and freezing cold with  temps BELOW zero, but thankfully it's warmed up nicely.

Dying eggs. We skipped this last year and honestly, no one was super excited about it doing it yesterday. I think we might be ready to let that tradition die.

Sleeping in! I think I've gotten up to walk ONCE this week. That's not normal for me, and I'm pretty sure my early wake up time on Monday is going to be brutal.

Went for my  annual mammogram. Hopefully they won't call me back again this year for additional views. That would be a first though...so we shall see.

We're having Abbey's birthday party this afternoon--a swim party! She's excited and I need to go finish up her cake.


Happy Easter everyone!

SMP 3.19.13

I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I'm a bit of a grammar geek. This afternoon I had a proud mom moment. I was driving my youngest child home from school and as usual she was chatting away about her day. She began telling me about her lunch antics and said: "So mom, today me and my friends...wait...(brief pause)...my friends and I were..." Ya'll! The girl stopped and corrected her own grammar. Like I said, proud geeky-grammar-mom moment.

I just put this artichoke chicken in the oven for dinner. I found it on Pinterest and I hope it will taste as delicious as it looks and smells. I'll let you know. In the interest of full disclosure, I told my kids what I was making and they all rolled their eyes, which means I'll probably open a box of macaroni and cheese for them ensuring lunch leftovers for the grown-ups tomorrow. I also threw all of the ingredients for dinner into a disposable foil roasting pan because hey, baking dishes don't wash themselves and scrubbing baking pans is not a job I enjoy at the end of a long day. Just keeping things real. 
Recipe verdict: We liked it. I'll make it again. My kids wouldn't touch the artichoke, onion, mushroom mixture but they ended up eating some of the chicken. :)

Speaking of jobs I don't enjoy...
On one of our recent snow days, I called an emergency meeting in the kids' bathroom and gave them all a thorough lesson on how to clean their bathroom to my standard. After their lesson, I made them go practice what they'd learned in my bathroom. Brilliant, eh? I'm happy to report that I am no longer responsible for cleaning their disgusting bathroom. My hope is that they'll dislike bathroom duty so much that they'll be better about keeping it clean. Right now that's still a dream, but I'm thankful that I get to cross that one dreaded chore off of my to-do list.

I made a major eBay blunder last week. I can't wait for the item I bought to arrive so I can post a picture and you can all laugh with (and possibly AT) me. It was a stupid mistake, but thankfully not too costly. I'm totally leaving y'all hanging on that one. Stay tuned...

Monday randomness

I don't always like Mondays, but I've decided I like this particular one. Mainly because I'm getting away by myself to do something I love. I betcha I'll like next Monday too because next week is spring break! I cannot wait.

The weather we've had lately has certainly made it feel spring-like around here. Just last Monday we had mounds and mounds of snow on the ground from another spring blizzard and I was certain I was going to be looking at dirty snow for a long, long time. Wrong! Thanks to some beautiful, sunny days, it's completely melted save one small patch in our backyard! I'm usually over snow by now but you will not hear one single word of complaint out of my mouth this spring because we need every drop of moisture we can get in order to decrease the fire danger this summer. 

John and I did a little summer vacation planning/dreaming yesterday afternoon. Looks like the winning destination will be CALIFORNIA! I've been lobbying hard for sunny CA for months while the rest of my family has been indifferent or indecisive. But I think John is finally on board and plans can begin to take shape. Sun, sand and surf? I'm in!

Remember how I told you a few posts back that Saturday morning was social hour at the grocery store? I was wrong. It's Sunday afternoon at 4:30pm. John and I made a quick trip to grab a few things we needed for dinner and ran into SO many people. It's fun to live in a small town. 

So, did I mention that next week is our spring break? We're not traveling anywhere, at least not anywhere far. We're going to try to ski for a day, do some shopping in Denver, and we're having Abbey's birthday party next week too. Other than that, I'm hoping it's a low-key week to catch our breath at bit before the final push to May. Is it just me or has this school year flown by?

Alrighty. Must get off of the computer and get this day started!!!

Happy Monday everyone!

SMP 3.14.13

SMP = Seven Minute Post

In case you haven't realized this, there is a direct correlation between my lack of posting on this blog and and the pace of my life. Needless to say I've had a lot on my plate lately. I found myself with a couple of unexpected days at home this week and now I am finally feel like I'm on top of things again. And that is one of my favorite feelings in the world! Yay!

Will tested positive for the flu on Tuesday. YUCK! He came home early from lacrosse Monday evening with fever, chills, body aches and a sore throat and I just  knew that's what it was. A mother's intuition is rarely wrong. He's missed three days of school this week...and two days of TCAP testing...and he'll likely be home again tomorrow. Not fun, but definitely necessary. Poor guy.

I really really really want to share some stuff about the Life and Justice conference I went to last week at New Life Church. It was soooooooo good. But it will take more than seven minutes and I'm actually still processing a lot of it. It's been cool to see God align my heart and mind with a desire to ACT...and hopefully make a difference in some areas that I feel called to involve myself in.

I am so glad it's almost the weekend, aren't you?

March currents

Current Book: Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. I've had this book beside my bed for a long time but am just now getting around to reading it and it is SO good.

Current Playlist: Sovereign by Chris Tomlin has been on repeat for almost a week. I do that with songs I love. I just play them over and over and over and over ad nauseum. Honestly, I never tire of Chris Tomlin. Never. Ever.

Current Color: It seems like black has been front and center in my wardrobe lately but I am ready for spring colors!!!

Current Drink: Peach tea, blueberry tea, water. I'm so boring.

Current Food: The food chapter in "7" really did a number on me and I've found myself re-evaluating many of my food choices and buying patterns of late. I hope to share more about this soon.

Current Favorite Favorite: I have two. A new pair of earrings from Francesca's (I love this store and was so happy to realize that our Francesca's finally opened!) And Hail Merry Meyer Lemon Tarts (I buy them at my health food store--soooooooo delicious!)

Current Wish List: Nothing comes to mind at the moment (that's good, right?) so how about I list some things I'm currently praying for? A friend who needs a miracle in her marriage. Another friend who is wading through some difficult and painful life circumstances. And for wisdom and clarity about some decisions I need to make. 

Current Needs: You know, I really don't need anything right now. Except maybe a few more hours in my day. Or a maid. 

Current Triumph: Realizing what I'm called to do and just doing it. In the past I've tended to over think things or obsess that what I'm called to do isn't important enough or big enough to make a difference. The truth I'm realizing is that even small things matter greatly and obedience to your calling is huge. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Doesn't even really sound like a triumph. But trust me, it is for this girl!

Current Annoyance: Ummmmm, my list is a bit on the lengthy side right now and my gut tells me I should probably refrain from sharing it. 

Current Indulgence: I was talking to a friend last week about all the trash there is on television. After talking to her I realized that I was such a hypocrite because I'm sorta kinda hooked on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. That show is a train wreck, y'all. It's definitely an indulgence. And not a healthy one. But I own my addiciton. :)

Current Mood: Pretty chill right now. 

Current Blessing: Our district called a two-hour delay this morning because of road conditions. It's a blessing because I have three children who did not get enough rest over the weekend and this allows them to sleep late and catch up a bit.

Current oufit: Oh, that's easy. I have so few to choose from these days. I'm almost finished with my clothes fast that's part of my "7" study. I chose 7 things to wear for two weeks: one pair of jeans, one pair of black shoes, long sleeved black t-shirt, long sleeved gray t-shirt, black/gray vest, red down vest, and a purple zip-up sweater. Truth be told, I'm tired of wearing the same thing over and over but it hasn't been nearly as hard as my food fast. And again, God seems to be using this study to create space in my heart and mind for things that are much more important than what's hanging in my closet.

Current Excitement: I'm going to a conference this weekend that I'm excited about. I'm also excited about my upcoming snow-shoeing trip. AND I'm excited to have coffee with a friend today. 

Current Project: 40 bags in 40 days.  This ties in nicely with the next chapter we're tackling in "7"--Possessions. 

Current Link: My husband wrote this post a week or so ago. It's really, really good. Do you believe that any one and any story can be redeemed? I sure do.

Confessions

I'm feeling confessional today...

1. I am a BIG FAT BABY when my husband is out of town. He's been gone for a few days and I thought this particular trip was going to be a breeze because the kids had a long weekend and we could just stay home and relax. Wrong. My kids had SO much going on and my days (and nights) were spent shuttling them hither and yon. It's been nuts and I've complained more than a time or two. John gets home later today and all will be right in my world again. We are just better together.

2. I had to give myself some grace on my "7" clothes fast the other day. I threw most of my seven things into the washer the night before and completely forgot about them until the next morning when it was time to get dressed. It's not really possible to wear wet clothes so I had to don some non-sanctioned items for a day. Good thing I gave up on legalism a long time ago. 

3. I sometimes avoid people in the grocery store. Yesterday I was in a huge hurry to finish shopping before picking up one of my children and in case you didn't know, Saturday morning is pretty much social hour at the grocery store. I love my small town and I'm definitely a social person but after stopping to chat with a friend in the produce section and again by the deli, I knew I couldn't spare the time to stop again. So I did something contrary to my nature and avoided the aisle where I saw a friend. Gosh. I feel guilty all over again now.

4. I talk way too much. A friend came by to drop something off yesterday and I talked her head off and kept her WAY too long. She will likely now be the one avoiding ME at the grocery store. Ha!

5. I slept in my workout clothes so I could stay in bed until the last possible moment before getting up to walk this morning. The irony is that my body clock and my alarm don't always work in sync and I woke up an hour before my alarm and couldn't fall back asleep. The joke was on me.

Happy Sunday, y'all.