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I would like to wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day! I got the best Mother’s Day present from Gavin. He made me a jewelry box at school, painted it red (because he thought that was my favorite color) and decorated it with colorful spongy things. It about made me cry. It’s the first handmade present my baby has given to me, for Mother’s Day. Inside, there was a beaded leather string. It’s so precious. I think I’m going to hang it from the van mirror.

I hope all you mothers out there have a great Mother’s Day!!!

I absolutely love the rain. So the past two days have been wonderful! Thunder and lightning, very very frightening….We even got some hail and, luckily, it was pea size, so no damage. It’s been drizzling all day and we have been in a “winter” storm warning since yesterday. Lovely. I really like walking in the rain and it soaking my hair. I don’t know why, maybe it makes me feel like a kid. 😀 The only difference between storms now and storms when I was a kid, is that you were guaranteed the power would go out when we were kids. No chance of that happening, since the city just finished burying the last of the power lines. Kids these days are missing out! When we knew there was a storm coming, my mom would pop up a bowl of popcorn, slice cheese and apples and we’d have a picnic by lightning and candlelight after the power went out. Sometimes we have special nights like this, where we turn off the tv and the lights, set out a picnic on food trays and eat popcorn, cheese and apples in the living room. It makes for special, memorable times for our kids.

Today is 4/20/07. It’s the anniversary of the Columbine shootings, Hitler’s Birthday and it’s the day of too many threats on schools across the country. What the heck is wrong with people? Why do they feel the need to try to copycat a horrible thing? Are they really in that much need of attention that they are willing to destroy countless lives to get that attention? Jerks. Selfish little jerks. That’s what they are. Nothing more. I am sick of the horrific images blasting out on the tv screen, showing that gun-wielding maniac pointing his weapons at the camera. If the media would just quit ‘exhaulting’ the murderer and put more of their focus on the victims and the heros, I think things would be different. (more…)

Easter came and was good. Pretty much. The sort of normal family stuff one does to get them to the next holiday. Well, that evening, I started to get a scratchy throat and then it started to feel like it was swelling inside. That’s a pretty scary experience, to have your throat feel like it’s closing. That night, Gavin started to have a horrible night terror, which he has had a lot in the past, but this was the worst one he’s had in months. Maybe even close to a year. After we were able to settle him down, I went to check in on Ian. The moment I opened his door, the smell of vomit and diarrhea hit me in the face. So gross. He had thrown up in his sleep and had diarrhea, so I had to change his bedding and Brian and I gave him a bath, before putting him back down. Well, he wouldn’t go back to sleep. He just kept crying, so I brought him into our bed to see if I could coax him into sleeping with us. That was at 1:30 AM. Well, he finally fell asleep around 3:30 AM. (more…)

I’ve decided to learn how to roll my own beeswax candles. I’ve been getting catalogs from a great company called Glory Bee. They have everything to do with bees, including making your own candles, beekeeping, making lotions and soaps…pretty much everything. This week I am ordering beeswax sheets, wicks, and supplies for dipped candles.

I’ve also decided to start a small garden, this year. (more…)

Ian learned a new trick today. Peek-a-boo. He covers his eyes, and waits for you to say, “Where’s Ian?” a couple times and then moves his hand from his eyes and laughs really hard. So cute.

Gavin and Ripley were in the bathroom washing their hands after dinner. Gavin turns to Ripley and says, “You have beautiful hair, Ripley”. She says, “Thank you, Gavin, so do you!” It’s so funny. And so super cute! They love each other so much! (more…)

So, I’ve tried a couple of recipes now from The Family Homestead website, and I must say that they have been winners, so far. A couple nights ago, I made the Red Beans and Rice and tonight it was the Saulsbury Steak. I do have to say that the Saulsbury Steak was a tad bit different than I am used to, but it turned out quite well and was a big hit at the table, even with my (almost) 3 and 4 year old. We served it with toasted bread, topped with gravy and a ‘super’ salad made with just about every kind of veggie you can think of.

Wednesday I’m going to try the Crock Pot Spaghetti sauce. It looks yummy.

Yesterday we decided that it would be fun to pick Gavin up from school on our bikes. I never realized before that there was a slight hill on the way there. Hmm. Anyway, it didn’t take long to get there, so we’ve decided to do it as often as possible. We hadn’t had lunch yet, so we rode to the Noodles and Co. by our house to eat something light. You know, it’s been next to our house for a few years, but we’ve only eaten there 2 times! Surprising, because it was so good and not expensive at all. I think our tastes have changed, because we found ourselves ordering more of the healthier foods, instead of cream and meat pastas. Ok, the one thing that wasn’t oh-so-healthy was the Rice Krispy bars…by super yummy!! Anita was taking her lunch break and just happened to stop by while we were there. It was good to see her.

We went on our first official bike ride yesterday. We couldn’t have picked a harder route!! We rode to a park, which is probably only 3-4 miles away. The only problem is that it is one of the ONLY places we could have rode that has that steep of hills! Try lugging 50 pounds of kids, plus the weight of a trailer up a steep hill that is probably a full 2 blocks long! You may be able to do it, but for someone who hasn’t been on a bicycle in years, it was pure torture. Surprisingly, I’m not nearly as sore today as I thought I would be. (more…)

Brian and I both (finally) got bikes! Yea! It’s been many years since either of us had bikes and I am looking forward to riding all over town this summer. We got a trailer for Ripley and Ian and an attachment for Gavin that goes on the back of Brian’s bike and makes it have a third wheel. It turns it into a tandem bike, with the seat lower so that Gavin can get on and off by himself. I’ll post pictures when I take them. Before we were married, Brian and I rode our bikes everywhere, sometimes as much as 20 miles a day. We were in great shape and hardly ever drove our car. That is my goal for this summer.
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