Words and Wheelers

Here's a little of what Colter's been up to lately. Above is a great and fun way to study spelling words. We try and fit in a few words every evening. Now Maya is doing it too with her words. Who said homework can't be fun?!

And Tuesday evening Colter did his first 4-H presentation on the parts of a 4 wheeler...
Colter drew the picture for his poster and Randy helped him put his poster together on Saturday. Then he practiced his presentations Saturday, Sunday, Monday and lastly on Tuesday evening before supper with his final critic Kyla.
We got to host the 4-H meeting on Tuesday evening at our house. Here he is in the living room giving his little presentation to a packed room.

These technic lego's are a big favorite of his!

And who knew what a piston was, or sprockets, or what the chain is for anyway? I certainly didn't! Thank Colter!!!

Alison (the Mom)

Lessons Learned From My Children #9654

I love our afternoons. Usually Lita has had a good long morning nap, we've had a good lunch together... toasted cheese, banana and milk (today), and then it's time to get busy exploring, playing, and exploring and playing some more. After a good rest and a good meal, I've noticed her happiness and contentment. It really would be better described as pure joy! She is so much more responsive and open to correction during these times. When I tell her "no" because she shouldn't be playing with something, she just holds it out to me, smiles, and moves on to doing what she's meant to do... explore and play and learn some more.

When I thought about his today, I realized that I can apply this to myself... spiritually. When I'm near the Shepard, well rested and fed and nourished with all the good things he has for me, I too know this happiness and contentment. Pure joy in fact. And it's much easier to take the correction he offers which is always for my good. And, what a glorious feeling to give up the things I hold on to so tightly and just move on! One thing is clear... I must continue to "rest in his care" and "feed upon the bread of heaven."

Have a great week everyone!
Hugs, Alison

Jamberry

...one berry, two berry, pick me a blueberry...

Here is another picture from the past. This was sometime in 2005. It make me smile and turn a little weepy eyed. In 2005 I see picture after picture like this. The love and tenderness between these two. The admiration in little brothers eyes, watching his sister. Her love and patients for him.

Now-a-days... they have a few differences and they do get on each others nerves once and a while. Sometimes they have to be reminded to get along. Sometimes they need to be reminded how lucky they are to have each other. But for the most part they are very close, just not "laying on the couch and looking at a book together" close.

After Kyla learned to read she would read stories to Colter and then Maya too. I can't believe that all three of them are reading now, all by themselves. How fast time goes by and things change... mostly for the good. But I miss these days a lot.

Happy Saturday,
Alison

Explanation

In my post yesterday I asked a couple of questions.

In the first question, I asked if anyone knew of any great blogs that they enjoy and would like to share with me. The reason I asked this odd question is this... I have had a small handful of blogs that I follow regularly over the years. These are random blogs, separate from my other list of favorite blogs of my friends, family, various acquaintances and otherwise interesting people. These blogs have been fun and inspiring and mostly share interesting ideas, beautiful pictures and entertaining descriptions of life in other neighborhoods. Same small world but oh so beautifully different!

Lately however, I think every one of these blogs (or bloggers) has written books and their goal has become to sell their books to their large blog audiences. Many have also become wrapped up in a cause. This is great! I have nothing wrong with writing a book (I'm writing my own book of life, every day) or having a cause (I have several of my own) but these blogs have become much less enjoyable to me when I hop on there to read a new post. There is always a blaring message in every post to buy a book, or give to a worthy cause, etc. It's over, I'm done... remove, remove, remove...

Regarding my question yesterday... I love blogs and people who share their lives with me. I love to see the seashores of Florida, the cities of New York, the rolling hills of Wisconsin and the farm land of North Dakota and Wyoming, and the desert sands of California. I love to travel to Ireland and Australia, and China. I love to see it all, to enter into life all over this world. More than anything, I love to see the the faces behind the lives and to know you, just a little, through the outpouring of your heart on your blog. Life is short, and someday, none of this earth will matter. But for now, I intend to enjoy this awesome life I've been given. Thanks for sharing it with me.

The second thing I asked yesterday was for comments. I know... that was kind of strange and weird! Most of the time I don't think much about whether a viewer leaves a comment or not. Asking for comments seems a little bit like asking for compliments, or pats on the back or something like that. Plus, if I'm mostly bad about leaving comments myself, why would I expect others to leave comments for me.

But every once and awhile, I'm just plain curious and I want to know WHO you are. And WHY. And WHERE. Stuff like that. For example... Who are you?(in all due respect) Can I come and visit you someday? That would be awesome! Why do you come to my blog? Where do you live? Do you have a blog? Do you have a dog and a cat? Do you enjoy Coffee or Tea? What's your favorite hobby? Can you do a handstand? Do you keep Ramen noodles in the cupboard for sick kiddos or do you eat Ramen Noodles for lunch? Do you do laundry every day or all in one day? Or do you try and do it in one day but it doesn't happen and ends up stretching out over 4 days, like me? Do you have light carpets and a muddy driveway? Do you live on the 17th floor? Can you play the harp? Does your address end with St., Rd., Dr., Way, or Ln.? Or none of these? Does your baby eat everything off the floor? Or do you actually vacuum on a regular basis? Are you happy when you finally get the last kid out the door for school and then can't wait all day to go and pick them up? Do you refuse to think about the day your kids will leave home for good? Or have your kids left home for good? Are you coping well?

Explanation over. I'm done.

Most Sincerely,
Alison

Oh, Nothing...

"How do you do Nothing?" asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long time.

"Well, it's when people call out at you just as you're going off to do it. 'What are you going to do, Christopher Robin?', and you say; 'Oh, nothing', and then you go and do it."

~A.A. Milne

The House At Pooh Corner

Last week my computer was sitting on the floor and Melita went over and started playing on the keys. She nearly erased my entire picture memory from 2011. It was the only place I had any of 2011 pictures saved. Can you imagine? The year of the new baby in our house? The year of so many things to remember? Gone at the click on a single button, leaving us with nothing from 2011. NOTHING!!! Eeeek! It was totally my fault and I was very upset with myself. Luckily that one button didn't get pushed but that very evening I backed up all my picture files from as far back as 2004! Now we have them in 3 places! Whew!!! That was to close!

Needless to say, I've been enjoying all of these sweet pictures of the kids from past eight years. The above pictures of Kyla and Colter were taken in March of 2006, shortly after we moved into our new house out in the country. The feelings of anticipation, eagerness, and freedom come flooding over me as I look at them and remember our excitement to have a new place to call home and... we were all sharing in it together. I'm so thankful, so VERY thankful!

I am not so thankful that Picnik will no longer be available to edit my pictures in the near future. Very, very sad in fact. Picnik has been like a good friend to me and I don't see how I can go on without it! Does anyone know of any other great, easy, free (or inexpensive), fast editing software that has, like, SO MANY wonderful editing options?!?! Do tell!

Uhhmmm, do you have a blog you'd like to share with me? Your blog or a friends blog or just a blog that inspires you with creativity or inspiration? I would like to know about it because sometimes I go on blog journeys and it would would be fun to look into some new ones that I don't already know about. Thanks so much! And... I am trying to be better about leaving comments. Please leave me one today and make me smile... :)

Happy "nothing" day,

Alison

Bread and Cream

This posts sounds like it's going to be about the two yummiest things (besides chocolate) that get in the way of my efforts to lose weight. But it's not about that. It's actually about Kyla and her latest projects... a project about bread and a project about cream!
These pictures are from her Science Fair Project this year. Her purpose was to find out which of 4 different breads molded fastest. She found out that the her samples without preservatives molded much faster than her samples with preservatives. One brand of bread never molded in the entire 18 days of her experiment. That's some preservative in that bread! It turned out to be a fun, interesting experiment and project. She presented it to her class, at the school science fair and at the county science fair last week...

***

Then for her 4H meeting last week, she did a demonstration on how to whip cream. Ahead of time, we made 4 graham cracker crust, chocolate pudding pies (the easy way). Then she whipped the cream at the meeting, giving details of the best method to use and tips for the best whipping success. Then she served the pies with her freshly whipped cream on top. Very Fun! We even had an extra pie to bring home and share with our company at home. Here is a picture of Kyla doing her presentation with our wonderful 4H leader Suzanne, holding her poster...

That night at 4H, we also watched a demonstration on 'tips for using a sewing machine', 'how to sharpen a knife', and 'a history report on Abraham Lincoln'. I've said it before and I'll say it again... I love 4H! Where else can you find such a practical, useful, and fun way to engage your kids in real life learning in such a non demanding way? It's just that!

As a side note... We finished Little Britches by Ralph Moody the other night with wet eyes. Thank goodness we could pick up the next book and continue reading... Man of the Family. I've never read this continuation of the series and am enjoying it along with the rest of the family. It is very refreshing to read true, life stories of people that lived in difficult times and situations and came out better for it. The back of the book says...

An affectionate portrait of ranch-town folk who knew how to help without humiliating, and a warm but ungushing tribute to a remarkable woman who deplored her inability to give her children everything, yet gave them much. Man of the family is everything that Little Britches was, a heart-warming, frank, completely delightful narrative. Some readers may even like it better. etc, etc...

If you are interested in knowing all the other books in the series, you can find out about them here or here.

A One-derful Birthday!

We couldn't get her to smile for the camera. This was all very serious business!

Here is a slide show of Melita's party...

And a couple of cake-eating videos. That brought a smile...



The presents were also a lot of fun! Thanks everyone!
Can't believe our smiling baby is one now!

Here's to another wonderful year with all the love our hearts can hold,
Alison

Ahhhhhhh.....

Last week I put pigtails in Lita's hair for the first time. I'll try not to go on and on about how cute she looked in pigtails...
But they were pretty cute and we just kept looking at her and exclaiming how cute she was and how we couldn't stop looking at her. But I'll try not to go on and on about it...
But they were so cute that we put her hair in pigtails again on Sunday and enjoyed another day of looking at her and saying how cute she looked.

And I realized they can be kind of distracting when I'm trying to tell her "no". I'm sure the pigtails already have me wrapped around their little finger.

I think we should refrain from doing pigtails every day. They are so very cute. So, anyway, I'll try not to go on and on about the cute pigtails...

Wearing pigtails is like having a party on your head!

Yes, they were cute and I'm thinking we'll have to tone down the excitement over the pigtails before she gets too much older and knows were talking about her and her cute pigtails.

But we are enjoying them for now.

Okay, I'll really stop going on and on about it now.

Happy Wonderful Wednesday,
Alison

A Happy Valentines Day 2012

♥♥♥Party♥♥♥

Thank You Auntie MaryAnn for the party and the bag of cute Valentines stuff! Thanks Caitlyn for helping with the party and the sweet gifts for the kids. Thanks everyone else for the neat cards and gifts. We♥you!

Valentines celebrations started early here and I think it's going to go late too. That's okay with us...

♥♥♥Alison♥♥♥

Mod Podge Coasters and Pinterest

I had seen this idea one time on a blog somewhere and filed it mentally in my brain so someday I could make them. But my brain doesn't always remember things very well, so in December, I was ready to make some of these for gifts, and I began my search for them and couldn't find the post or the blog anywhere! I did a quick google search and luckily there were many places that had tutorials on how to do these. Now I want to share them with you...

These would be great gifts for anytime. Here is what you will need...

tiles(Lowes for around .17), felt, foam brush, mod podge, tacky glue, gloss sealer(optional) and pretty cardstock

Begin by cutting cardstock squares that fit the top of the tiles, leaving a small edge around the perimeter...

With the mod podge and your foam brush, glue each piece of cardstock to the top of each tile...

Glue down(with the mod podge) any edges and corners and then let dry...

With the foam brush, apply mod podge to the surface of the tile and around edges. Smooth and let dry. After each layer is dry, apply another layer until you have six layers...

Now, cut the felt into square pieces to glue to the bottom of each tile coaster. Glue down with tacky glue and let dry. Make sure to glue down any loose edges and corners...

This makes a nice finished, no scratch back to your coaster...

In the end I decided not to use the glossy sealer on these. I tried it on one of the coasters and I just didn't like how it turned out. But FYI... If you don't use the sealer, it's important to let the mod podge cure for 17 days before using it for hot stuff.

These turned out to be great teachers gifts too. I really liked using mod podge. Hmmm, what can I do next?

So I was invited to join Pinterest a long time ago and really wanted to use it. I knew it would help me keep and organize all these fun ideas and yummy looking recipes that I see and want to try. My brain isn't very dependable at times. Anyway, I finally figured out how to get signed up without having a facebook account. So, I'm "pinning away"! So many fun ideas, so little time, eh?

Happy crafting,
Alison

Table Food for Baby

This little food grinder has been with me for all 4 of my kids. Before I had Lita, I looked into getting and electric Magic Bullet grinder or something similar. Then I realized I would have to find a place for it on the counter or in a cupboard. I would also have more little pieces to wash and find a place for all of them. It was also more money than I wanted to spend when I already had a blender. I quickly decided to use my little Happy Baby Food Grinder again. It's easy to use, easy to wash (in the dishwasher), easy to store and easy to bring with me when we go to eat out. The best part is that she can eat whatever we're eating and I know that she's getting good nutritious food. Yes, I do break open a jar of food every now and then when were having hamburgers or something like that. I'm pretty sure she already knows the difference. ;)

The little munchkin turns ONE in a few days and she's WALKING! More to come... someday...

Happy Weekend everyone,
Alison

Colter Toast

It's his favorite breakfast. One morning he made it all by himself and surprised me. Now we call it "Colter Toast". The recipe is well known but his is special for other reasons. Here's the recipe...
Here's the reasons this recipe is special. The heart cookie cutter shape is for Valentines day coming up. And this toast is extra yummy when made with homemade bread. And we use coconut oil! If you don't know about coconut oil... take 5 minutes and google it. It's worth the time and I think you'll understand why we are using it in all our cooking these days.

Oh, and I love our little chef's 'almost laugh' in this picture. He really didn't want to smile but I got it outta him in the form of making him laugh! :)

Hope you'll try this easy, quick, nutritiously loaded breakfast soon,
Alison

Rickrack in a Row

Here are 4 steps to create a cute, homemade gift...

Modge podge coaster tutorial next!

Alison

For Those Who Need an Update...

Our camera has plenty of pictures documenting this first year of Lita-Girl's life. Lots of firsts, lots of happy moments to remember. Here's a few from this last month...

how many babies can YOU hold at one time?

and if you have to drop one, which one should you drop?
maybe the one who's got it's fist up your nose...

this works great when Mom asks you to take care of the baby
so she can PLEASE GET SUPPER MADE...

this little girl loves to play with her toys!
as long as she's not hungry or tired...

she's happy in her highchair for a while but when you put her down it's go, go, go...

last Saturday was the very first day that Melita went out to play with the kids in the snow...
maybe mostly because we haven't had much snow this winter!

she loved it (contrary to what the picture says)!
it was a good twenty minutes before Kyla brought her back in the house...

Here are some more things I want to remember...

-She has had more ear pain this last week but I have been making my own olive oil/pressed garlic ear drops and putting them in her ears. They work great!!! She doesn't smell so well but hey... it's better than the sleepless nights and doctor visits. ;)

-The other day I was putting foam curlers in Maya's hair. I was sitting on the couch with Maya in front of me and Melita was in her little walker. I was trying to keep the comb and curlers out of her reach but forgot once and set the comb down right on the edge of the couch. She grabbed it and made a mad dash down the hall in her walker. We all just couldn't help laughing and laughing. :D

-She loves her little walker and knows how to stay right in my way with it and she thinks its funny to run into my feet. Hilarious in fact, because of my anticipated "OUCH". It started out as a little game between the two of us but now it's not so funny! This is always interesting when I'm trying to make breakfast and lunches for the kids so I can get them out the door to school. Oh yes, she has a way of starting out my day just right. ;)

-She is now doing the sign language for "food or hungry" and she says "num-num". She tries to say the kids names now but doesn't do the consonants very well yet. Today she said "Amma" for Grandma. She knows the works "no-no", "please", and "thank-you" very well. In fact when I walk toward her saying "NO NO" she holds out what ever she's holding that she shouldn't be and says, "tant-oo, tant-oo". Too cute! Whenever it gets really quiet in the house, I know she's into something. I just have resorted to keeping most doors closed!

-She's standing up and walking along the furniture. She got her first bruised cheek the other day when she tumbled against one of the kitchen chairs. :(

-She's still a squealer and a giggler.

I know there is probably more that I'm forgetting. I really need to write these things down. Wait... I am writing them down (pat pat on the back).

Have a great week everyone!
Alison

Snowboarders Among Us

Kyla tried snowboarding the other day for the first time. Randy went along for some good old fashioned downhill skiing, and took this video so we could all see the fun they had. Just slightly jealous here! ;) So, wanted to share this video with Auntie Melinda and Cousin Laura, her fellow snowboarding rebels! SEE what you've done to our daughter!

Lovin' it,

Alison

Chocolate Update and Loaded Fruit Smoothies

I'm still here and I do have some posts coming up but they will have to wait for another day. Since I spent all my "blogging time" this morning on the post below which I posted over at the exercise blog, I just thought I would post it on my blog too. Sorry it's a little wordy...

I don't know how to put my feelings into this post this morning. But, I will do my best. When Sarah posted her new years resolutions (about eating no chocolate for the year) I immediately thought, "ridiculous". But almost as fast as I thought that, I thought. "YOU NEED TO DO THIS!" I very quickly decided to do it and I haven't looked back. It has been one of the best health decisions I have made.

When I was in college, I used to drink a daily dose of diet coke and when I got married I continued my habit. One day, my husband and I just decided to quit pop and we did. That's been nearly 14 years ago and we haven't touched pop since. In fact, when I think of drinking it, it makes me ill, just to think of it. Later we cut out all juices, opting instead for the real thing... fruit! So, I haven't had juice in the house for years other than for special occasions or an occasional package of juice boxes to send with the kids for lunch. I do let my kids have pop and juice occasionally at restaurants or at friends houses because I do want them to be able to start making their own decisions. Hopefully they will see the value of make wise decisions for their health. But I won't be surprised if they turn out just like me when they hit college and independent life ;) Everyone has to live and learn.

I don't know if it's a character flaw or benefit, but when I make a decision to do something it's all or nothing for me. It seems like if I allow myself some allowances and say... "I will just have one piece of chocolate a day", I will fail miserably. But if I say... "I will have NO chocolate", that is something I can stick too. It's a no tolerance policy! And it's working again. Thanks Sarah for putting the idea in my head.

During the holidays, when I loading up on sweets, I just felt sick. This scares me because there is Diabetes in my family and some autoimmune diseases. I was not feeling so well when I woke up in the mornings. Brain fog, lack of motivation, back pain. I'm feeling great now and it's all because I just decided to cut out chocolate. When I crave a treat or some munchies or something to drink I go through a decision process. In the past I would always choose chocolate if it was in the house. If I was in town I was always talking myself into grabbing a candy bar at the check stand or stopping to get a mocha. Now since I can't have chocolate I can much more easily talk myself out of these moments of pointless indulgence. If I can't have chocolate, what's the point of eating something that will just make me regret it later! I think cutting out chocolate is more than half the battle for me on my journey to eating healthier. I have no doubt I will be able to keep this resolution!

I haven't been exercising much lately. I hope to get back at it soon. Even without exercise I have dropped over 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. My weight has been steadily decreasing since the first of the year and I know this will continue with my changed eating habits alone. Adding my exercising back in can only benefit me more.

I wanted to share this with you...



3/4 to 1 cup of Almond Milk
Handful of spinach
1/4 to 1/2 lemon with yellow skin cut off
2 different fruits (one frozen or both)
-banana
-apple
-orange
-berries
-plums
-cherries
-pineapple
-etc...
15 to 20 drops of stevia
1 teas flax seed oil
1 teas olive oil
1 teas flax seed
1 teas chia seed
Add ice if you don't have frozen fruit.

Combine all in a high powered blender and liquify. Enjoy!

My mom passed this along to me. Actually when she makes it, she uses 1 tablespoon of both oils and of the chia seeds and 2 tablespoons of the flax seed. I usually make if for a mid morning "snack". If you don't know about flax seed and chia seeds, click here... FLAX SEEDS/OIL or here... CHIA SEEDS

Have a great weekend everyone! Keep up the good work.
Alison

Simplify: Week 7

I have been wanting to do this time consuming project, that would hugely simplify my life, for a long time! I should have taken a picture of the pile of old address books, envelopes, sticky notes, ripped off corners of papers and outdated lists with addresses and phone numbers that used to reside in my secretary. Sometimes the pile wasn't so much a pile, but instead a cascading mass that would fall all over the place when I would open my desk. So frustrating! Finally, finally, I sat down with a spreadsheet at the computer and entered all the information into one long spreadsheet. I even added email addresses. So it's ALL there, at my fingertips. The minute I was done, I threw my pile into the fire and burned it. It felt good! Really, really good. You should see my desk now...Ahhhh.

My goal was to get this done before I sent out my New Year's cards. I'm not quite through my mailing yet but maybe after the kids go to bed tonight I will finish. Instead of a letter, I just included the address of our blog on the photo card. I didn't want to bore everyone who reads this blog with all the details of our life when you already know them. And anyone who doesn't read our blog probably doesn't care to read a letter either. lol!

And if you don't get a card from me it either means that I lost your address one day when I opened my desk and it didn't make it onto my spreadsheet, or I have an old address from 15 years ago, or I don't have your address at all. I have plenty of cards so drop me your address at hugsfromus(at)yahoo(dot)com.

I wanted to do a quick update on all my other Simplify posts (click on the blue links below to read the posts)...

Simplify: Week 1 - Sandwich and snack organizing containers. This still works great! I'm pretty sure I'll keep doing this as long as I'm making lunches.

Simplify: Week 2 - The ten cents pick-up bin. This is amazing! It works! At first I used the big rubbermaid with the big sign on it saying "Ten Cents per Item Please, Thank you" to keep the kids aware of it. Now they have the idea, so I use a decorative basket that slides away in the bookshelf. I seriously don't have a pick-up problem anymore in the main area of the house.

Simplify: Week 3 - Workout routine. Well, with a teething and sick baby at the end of the year and the holiday happenings, this workout routine mostly fell by the way. I have, however, severely changed my diet since the new year and I am working back into my workouts.

Simplify: Week 4 - Organization boards, chore charts, and daily household routine. Some days work and some days don't work. It's been great to have the boards and to check the charts and lists. Definitely a good step in simplifying my life.

Simplify: Week 5 - Getting rid of stuff. You know what? I don't miss any of it.

Simplify: Week 6 - Bookshelves and organizing playroom. On Saturday, Randy and Colter ripped apart another room downstairs so they could make it into a bedroom for Colter. Guess where all the stuff in that room had to go... into the playroom. So now I need to go through all that stuff. Ah life, it's an ongoing project...

So this will be my last "Simplify" post for now. That doesn't mean I'm done off line... only just beginning. Some of my future projects include my sewing/craft/guest room, my laundry area, meal planning and getting my digital pictures organized. From now on, every month, I'm going to go through my picture file for the month and erase bad pictures and then save them onto our remote drive.

With just one project at a time, I will conquer my world!

All for now,
Alison

Playing

She kind of enjoys playing babies with her sisters already. :) She's going to be 11 months old in a couple of days so, I'll post more about what she's up to later.
♥♥♥
Alison