THREE TEETH

Check out this little collection. It's the three teeth that Devon's lost in the last couple weeks.



Why haven't they been put under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy? Because he's saving them up in order to get more money at one time. Nice strategy, don't you think? I won't reveal where his stash of teeth is being kept.

DATE NIGHT - BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH ON THE 29TH

Ok, so we decided on our anniversary in June to get back in the routine of monthly dates. July? Success. August? Failure. September? Success. October. Success, but barely. I just realized the other day that the month is about over and we haven't had a date yet. So, I posted a request on Facebook for someone to hang with the offspring tonight and we were able to go out for a couple hours.

Tim walked the kids over to Neil and Jasmine's, friends who happen to live a stone's throw away, then we took off. Dinner at Moe's (first time for both of us) with a BOGO burrito coupon and their evening burrito prices meant dinner for two for less than $6.00. I left with a content stomach.

Then we went to Target and wandered aimlessly. It was nice to just browse without the kiddos, though they're good in the store. We even got to check out some Christmas ornaments they had out. Love Christmas stuff! Scoped out some options for the kids' annual ornaments. We ended up leaving with a new pair of slippers for each of us, navy for Tim and turquoise for me, paid for with a gift card. Random, but fun.

Next was a quick stop at Divine (Tim's first time, my second) for some frozen yogurt. I've been craving their pumpkin yogurt since I took Granny there a few weeks ago, but I also loved the sample of caramel green apple (friendly sidenote to Divine - it's caramel, not carmel) I tried tonight. So, I did half pumpkin and half caramel green apple. Glorious fall flavors!! So good! Bonus that Rachel was working. I left with an overly full stomach.

And that was that.

For the record, November's date is already on the calendar. I'm really glad we're getting back in the habit of monthly dates. They're simple and inexpensive, but still fun and a nice chance to hang out together as something other than parents.

10/28/10 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for books on CD that make homeschooling a little easier.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

UPSWING

Saturday night I slept about eight hours. Sunday I napped for over two hours. Sunday night, after tossing and turning for a while, I drugged myself and slept over nine hours. Getting more than five or six hours of sleep at night has made a huge difference in my emotions, as I expected it would. As I told someone else, I still need to deal with some head and heart stuff, but at least my body is getting back to where it needs to be. Being well-rested will definitely help me fight the funk!

Yesterday was great for my mental health. I only had two kids at home and the noise level in our home dropped by at least half. Three guesses which kid was gone. I'll give you a hint. If another kid had been gone, then the drama level would have dropped and if a different kid was gone, then the energy level would have dropped. So, do you know who was gone? The chatterbox. Silas.

So, we just had a totally relaxed day. I washed dishes and did a load of laundry while Devon and Naomi played castle. Naomi put on the princess costume she got from Papa and Nana, while Devon created a prince costume out of a vest, a coordinating shirt, matching shorts, crown, and a weapon.

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Naomi acting tough and posing with a fake gun, while Devon gives a big smile as he packs a Nerf weapon.

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Lord Devon

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Lady Naomi

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Naomi and I played together while Devon listened to a school book on CD. The kids napped in the afternoon and I curled up on the couch with a blanket. I spent a chunk of time reading my Bible and praying, then broke my new computer rule and just played online for a while. It was a super relaxing afternoon.

The blue-eyed kids and I enjoyed Taco Tuesday for dinner, then they plugged in a library movie. I'd just sat down to do some work online when there was a knock at the door. Tammy was there, so I invited her in. Good thing, because she came bearing a bag of some of my favorite things (Strawberry Milkshake Whoppers, black licorice, and a pineapple smoothie from Mike's Drive-In), a sweet card, and a verbal reminder that she likes me. I love her! She wins the "best friend for the day" award, but I'm letting her keep the title for a week, at least.

The chatterbox came home shortly after Tammy left and he came bearing gifts too! He'd taken some of his giving money (that's part of the kids' budgets) and bought me a Jr. Whopper and a chocolate shake, just for kicks. I, being very stuffed with a pineapple shake, started laughing and told him what Tammy had just brought. So, that shake got put in the freezer and I ate the burger later in the evening. Love my thoughtful kids!

Next up was a trip to the library. I always take all three kiddos, but was recently talking with Tim about needing some one-on-one time with each of them. So, I left the boys at home with Tim and took Naomi with me. We returned some things, picked up holds, chose new books, picked a few videos, played with the puppets, then headed out. Without my wallet or the videos. Oops. Came back a few minutes later, just after they'd locked up, and was able to get them from someone who met me at the back door. Three cheers for the librarians. A quick stop at Wendy's for $.99 cent fries, one of Naomi's favorite foods, and then we went back home.

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The evening was quiet. Boys were in bed when Naomi and I got home, so she spent some time chatting and snuggling with Tim. She hit the sack and I visited with Tim for a while. He went to bed and I typed up this post-dated blog post. Then I went to bed, thankful for a really good day.

A SALE & A GIVEAWAY & A DOUBLE CONTEST

Ok, folks, I've got three friends with great things happening in their businesses. Think of yourself, Christmas, or whatever gift-giving occasion is coming up in your little world as you enter these contests and take advantage of the sales.

Jewelry Sale - Linda, the one whose jewelry I've been sporting and blogging about lately, is having a "sale of the day" every day between now and Thanksgiving for fans of her Facebook page. I love the items I own (she's even done some custom stuff for me) and those that I've bought as gifts have been hits with the recipients. She has two sites - her main site and one that's primarily sterling silver. Today's sale is one free pair of earrings after the purchase of three at regular price and you can find out how to get your free pair on her FB page.

Apron Giveaway - Robin, who is quite handy with a sewing machine, is giving away a half-apron on her blog. I'm not an apron-wearer, but I've bought two aprons from Robin as gifts. This is the first one, purchased straight from her etsy site, for someone with African-themed decor in their home.
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This is the second one I bought, a custom order. I showed Robin a picture of the style I wanted and told her the recipient is anti-girly stuff. She came up with this reversible apron that is so fun and non-girly that it almost makes me wish I wore aprons. Almost, but not quite.

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Go check out Robin's etsy site and see all the fun stuff she has available. You can also check out her past sales to get a feel for the variety of stuff she can make. To enter the contest, she's actually asking you to go check out Linda's jewelry site, then come back and leave a comment telling which item you like most. The drawing is happening 11/4/10, so I'm assuming the deadline is 11/3/10. Love it when friends use their businesses to support each other!!

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Monogrammed Bag & Gift Certificate Contest - Heidi, the one who made the framed "W" and monogrammed backpack I've blogged about, has two fun things going on at her blog. First up is a monogrammed cosmetic bag, with colors chosen by the winner. Second is a $15.00 gift certificate to put toward a custom item. She does all sorts of amazing embroidery, but if that's not your cup of tea (it's not mine either, so it's all good), then check out her woven monograms. You can see what's in her etsy site, but be sure to also scan her blog, as many of her items are custom and never make it to the etsy site. The deadline is 11/3/10 and the winner will be announced 11/6/10.

IN A FUNK

Emotionally - frustrated, bitter, discouraged, angry, irritated

Mentally - doubting, replaying past drama in my head, over-analyzing

Physically - battling insomnia, totally exhausted

Spiritually - apathetic

Hormonally - think my insomnia and emotional stuff may be connected to my cycle, first PMS symptoms in my life


All these things just feed off each other. It's a vicious circle and I hate it. I spend too much time crying, yelling, and dwelling on things I shouldn't. Please pray for me.

10/21/10 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for the beautiful colors of autumn.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

CHANGING MY COMPUTER TIME

For the last couple weeks or so I've been monitoring my computer time more closely. I used to just leave it on all day, popping in and out as it struck my fancy. I didn't usually spend large chunks of time at the computer, but all the little visits were adding up. Plus, I could tell that some of the time I was spending online was my way of avoiding other things I needed to deal with.

My new routine is that the computer stays off until lunch or naps, then I turn it on for no more than 30 minutes. That's basically time for me to take care of Trading Post updates, check messages on Facebook, the Sonlight forums, and e-mail, and take care of any online stuff I need to do. Then it gets turned back off. Occasionally I'll turn it on around 3:00 or 4:00 for the same reasons I turn it on midday. Otherwise it stays off until evening, usually around the kids' bedtime.

Additionally, I've been purging my Facebook friend list. I could count on one hand, maybe two, the number of friend requests I've sent out there, but I accept all the ones that come my way. That's all fine, except that I've found myself scrolling through pages and pages of status updates from people who I never actually correspond directly with on Facebook. Since I'm limiting my time online, I'd rather keep my time there focused on the people I actually dialogue with. I'd never noticed how many Facebook friends I had until this change in computer time and was shocked that it was a hair under 500 people. I'm now down to the low 300s and am still purging. Of course, I've accidentally deleted some people, but they can always come back and I'll still accept friend requests. I am, however, going to be paying more attention to which friends I actually talk with on Facebook. I need my online time to be more efficient, so it was just time to scale down the list.

Anyway, my days are more productive, which means I don't feel guilty about wasting time online in the evenings. It's working out really well!

RULES FOR MARRIAGE

I recently read Sheldon Vanauken's A Severe Mercy. I'll post it in my book list, along with my thoughts about it, at the end of the month, but wanted to chat about some things he said about marriage. The following are some rules or principles that he and his wife set when they first started dating, realizing nearly immediately that they would marry each other.


Total trust - There was only one answer; total trust. And, we said, if that trust were ever violated, even the least bit, then a quick end; for trust could never be restored. But until then, however risky, the trust had to be total.

United front - About in-laws, we said, the only possible thing was a completely united front, politely and firmly rejecting any sort of interference. (p.32)

Possessions can't be burdens - Now we considered possessions as divisive. / Over-valued possessions, we decided, were a burden, possessing their owners. We decided to own nothing that we couldn't be comfortable with - reproductions not originals, cheap bindings not rare editions. This idea of the burden of possessions we held to - and years later when we got our first glossy new car, we hit it severely with a hammer to make it comfortably dented. (p.33)

Sharing - 'Look,' we said, 'what is it that draws two people into closeness and love? Of course there's the mystery of physical attraction, but beyond that it's the things they share. ... If one of us likes anything, there must be something to like in it - and the other one must find it. Every single things that either of us likes. That way we shall create a thousand strands, great and small, that will link us together. Then we shall be so close that it would be impossible - unthinkable - for either of us to suppose that we could recreate such closeness with anyone else. (p.35)

Preventing creeping separateness - The killer of love is creeping separateness. / Taking love for granted, especially after marriage. Ceasing to do things together. Finding separate interests. 'We' turning into 'I". Self. Self-regard: what I want to do. / This was the way of creeping separateness. / The failure of love might seem to be caused by hate or boredom or unfaithfulness with a lover; but those were the results. First came creeping separateness; the failure behind the failure. (p.37)

Spontaneity - If one of us had an impulse - to stop and listen to a bird, to go for a walk in the night, to cut classes, to do anything - we both followed it always. (p.39)

Affirmative - If one of us arrived at a belief, we both accepted it unless it could be disproved; we considered that any affirmative was more to be trusted than the negative. (p.39)

Courtesy - Whatever one us us asked the other to d0 - it was assumed the asker would weigh all consequences - the other would do. Thus one might wake the other in the night and ask for a cup of water; and the other would peacefully (and sleepily) fetch it. We, in fact, defined courtesy as 'a cup of water in the night'. (p.39)

Appeal to love - What it meant was simply this question: what will be best for our love? Should one of us change a pattern of behaviour that bothered the other, or should the other learn to accept? Well, which would be better for our love? Which way would be better, in any choice or decision, in the light of our single goal: to be in love as long as life might last? No argument could prevail against it. The Appeal to Love was like a trumpet call from the battlements of the Shining Barrier, causing us to lift our eyes from immediate desires to what was truly important. (p.41)


I love that they made their relationship a top priority from the start, that they assumed the best and put each other first, and that they proactively guarded against anything that could tear them apart. Their marriage was a team effort with both players giving it their all.

So, what do you think of the list? The one I question is about broken trust being impossible to restore. I know of couples who have worked through broken trust and have happy marriages, but I don't know if they'd say they have total trust or almost total trust. Maybe there's always a little lingering doubt. I'm not sure. Otherwise, I think the list is really good. I know we do well in some areas, lousy in others, and haven't really considered at least one of them.

MY DAD'S OCTOBER VISIT

My dad showed up yesterday for the annual pumpkin patch outing. We learned to play Pictureka! in the afternoon, went to Bullwinkle's for dinner and arcade games, then hung out and Skyped with my sister in the evening.

This morning, with sunshine and 39 degree temps, we headed out to Baggenstos Farm, arriving about the time they opened. The kids ran around in the hay maze and goofed off on the playground, then we all did the corn maze and a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Thanks to our current lack of a garden, my dad let the boys each pick out a pumpkin to bring home. His rule was that they could choose any pumpkin they could carry out, so you'll have to see the pictures of them holding their pumpkins in his post.

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We ran into James & Vinae, Jason & Tami, and Danny (a guy who I went to church with as a kid) & his wife, whose name I can't remember, and the six kids from those couples. Fun times. Next on the agenda was 7-11 for some Slurpees, lunch at home, naps (I konked out, which is rare) & downtime, then dinner & silly faces, which Granny joined us for.

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We wrapped up the day with more games, chatting, & reading, then sent the kids to bed. The quietest part of the day involved three adults lounging around watching a movie, chatting, and eating ice cream. My dad will head out in the morning, spending his afternoon recuperating from a fun, but very busy, weekend and we'll return to life as usual.

MENU - SECOND HALF OF OCTOBER 2010

You'll notice some themes in this menu - sour cream, garlic bread, and pancakes. Yum!

BREAKFASTS
oatmeal
7-grain
lemony sour cream muffins (freezer)
blueberry sour cream pancakes
pumpkin pancakes
Tam's granola (crockpot)
leftover oatmeal pancakes
banana bread (freezer)
scrambled eggs
nutty fruity granola

SNACKS
veggies & rosemary white bean dip (freezer)
chewy granola bars

DINNERS
leftovers x3
tacos x2
chunky potato soup (crockpot)/garlic bread
bbq pie/salad
six layer casserole/frozen veggies
tomato & navy bean soup/garlic bread
chicken enchiladas/salad
chicken broccoli quiche/frozen veggies
upside-down pizza/salad
fabulous zucchini grinders/fries
simmered Italian rice/broccoli
chicken salad with grapes & pecans/garlic bread
Jamie's cranberry spinach salad/garlic bread

DESSERTS
banana spice cookies
peanut butter cookies
ice cream (our contribution to dinner with friends, along with some of the cookies)

SHAPES - THE HUMAN AND MATH VARIETIES

Human - I just have to say that I'm so impressed with some ladies I know. Over the last year-ish (closer to two for some of them) I've seen these folks go from round to narrow ... or at least less round. They've lost 40 to 100 pounds. Amazing! I'm happy they finally like how they feel and am so impressed with their self-discipline and perseverance.

How did they do it? Oh, it varies. Some basic "eat less, move more", Weight Watchers (one of the 100 lb. losses & she continues to go to meetings to encourage everyone else), Take Shape For Life/MediFast (another 100 lb. loss and she's now working as a health coach for the company), C25K, and other things. They've all just figured out what works for them and stuck with it.

So, Laura, Tammy, Pam, Kristen, Susan, Tiffany, Kelly, and anyone I'm forgetting at the moment ... good job!!

Math - Check out these poems that Beep and Daisy wrote during school the other day. They crack me up! Feel free to use them to lighten up math time at your house.

Rectangle got butted by a ram
And now he's a parallelogram

Headless triangle gets annoyed
When everyone calls him trapezoid

A square that gets caught in a wind gust
Directly turns into a rhombus

Rectangular prism gets the blues
When people use him as a box for shoes

10/14/10 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that 33 Chilean men survived over two months trapped underground, that the technology to keep them in good health and spirits was available during their time underground, that the rescue happened two months ahead of schedule and without any problems, that they were relatively healthy when they came out, and that we were able to watch the whole rescue live on our computer. Amazing.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

MAIZE CRAZE 2010

The boys went on a grade school trip to the Maize last Friday and the pictures just got posted. I'll link you up to the ones with our boys in them. I'll just do the ones where they're fairly close to the camera. Ready?

Devon (1) - blurry pic that makes me laugh, Mr. Christmas colors and his wild hair
Devon (1) & Silas (2) - playing on the pyramid
Devon (3) - hiding in the pyramid
Devon & Silas (3) - looking perplexed
Silas (1) - just smiling

This was Devon's first trip and he had a good time. As you can see from the pictures, he enjoyed hiding in the pyramid. It was Silas' third trip and he's waited all year for their tomato basil soup. He was also excited to finally be able to eat a caramel apple. Loose teeth have prevented that from happening in previous years.

VARIOUS FORMS OF SELF

* Selfishness is caring only or primarily for myself.

* Self-discipline is doing the wise or right thing when I don't feel like it.

* Self-control is choosing not to do the foolish or wrong thing when I want to do it.

I'm pretty sure the things that frustrate, discourage, overwhelm, or upset me at any given point in time can always be traced back to an excess of the first and/or a lack of the next two. Is that true for you?


Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others.

* A good reminder to think past myself. Easy to say, but often hard to do.

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. Run in such a way as to get the prize.

* Written concerning our spiritual life, but applicable to any area of life that requires us to be self-disciplined when things are hard or we're unmotivated. A reminder to keep on keepin' on.

2 Peter 1:5-7 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

* Self-control takes effort. How hard am I working at it?

QUESTIONS, MONEY, SMILES

Questions - I've got a few.

* Is there any reason not to give regular, non-chewable, multi-vitamin to a child who is at least four years old? The bottles for kid vitamins have the same dosing for adults and kids four plus and they match up in daily value percentages with non-chewable ones, so it seems pretty silly to pay significantly more for a chewable vitamin. What am I missing here?

* How long do you keep your check registers? Just until all the entries have been reconciled?

* How long do you keep EOBs from medical appointments? Just until the bill has been paid?

Money - We moved into an apartment for the sole purpose of paying off Tim's school debt more quickly. We've lived here five months. Our normal payments for that length of time are $1,926. Guess how much we've paid? A whopping $5,470. That's three times our normal amount!!! That also dropped us past the halfway point in paying off the original debt. I'm so encouraged! I really, truly, massively hate debt. It's so ... well, I'll save my tangent for another day and just say I'm really happy to see it getting paid off more quickly.

Smiles - Just goofing off with the kids yesterday. We did silly faces too, but you'll have to check out yesterday's Picasa page for those.

LOVELY

That's the kind of day I had.

8:00 am - Tim, who had the day off, took the boys to the church for a grade school event.
8:30 am - Picked up Granny and we delivered a Moffit Box to LBC. Ended up getting a reduced shipping price, which I appreciated, and a certificate for a free money transfer, which I gave to the other customer who was there.
10:30 am - Headed to Northwest College for a five dollar haircut and had fun chatting with the lady who cut my hair.
12:30 pm - Tim and I took Naomi to Cold Stone and spent some gift card money on ice cream. 1:30 pm - Crawled into bed with a book.
2:00 pm - I fell into a light sleep, the kind where you still hear what's going on outside, but you're not fully awake.
3:00 pm - Woke up to the sound of an ice cream truck and did a few things around the house.
4:00 pm - Tim left and I picked up the boys at church.
5:00 pm - Scrambled eggs for dinner. A little spontaneous and random, but it's what we all wanted.
6:00 pm - Baked a double batch of banana bread, one for tomorrow's breakfast and one for the freezer. House smells great!
6:30 pm - Put away the dishes Tim had washed earlier and cleaned the ones from this evening.
7:00 pm - Early bedtimes for the totally exhausted offspring and I'm enjoying a silent evening - in jammies, getting online every few minutes, reading a book, and eating a bunch of popcorn.


Tomorrow's agenda? Stay in jammies, don't leave the house, watch movies with the kids, tackle a little craft project (shocking, huh?), build forts out of boxes and blankets, read books, and have Asian lettuce wraps (salad style) for dinner. I think it will be two good days in a row!

10/6/10 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that Devon sets the table and gets breakfast out about four days a week.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

SWEETNESS

Pam came over last week to drop some things off and it took Naomi about 30 seconds to rope her into reading a Curious George book.

I met Pam when I was eight and grew up with her boys, so it's a little weird that my oldest is now eight. We've known each other for an entire generation. Time flies!

REALITY CHECK

I think I'm pretty real on here about things like various kinds of relationship frustrations, my emotional ups and downs, discouragement, etc. Today I'm going to be real about the very practical matter of my home.

I love efficiency, cleanliness, and organization, three things which can generally be used to describe by little world. Somedays, however, my home is in shambles. Let me take you on a tour of a few rooms I snapped pictures of after breakfast this morning.

Welcome. Step inside and see the magazines between the wall and blanket bin. They need to go in the library's free box, but I keep forgetting to take them, despite the fact we're there at least twice a week. Notice the jars next to the bin. They've been there for a week, waiting to be taken to the recycling bin across the parking lot. The movies actually belong there, as that's the normal "return to library" spot. Maybe I should move the magazines next to them. The shoes? Tim's. No further comment.

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Look in front of you and see the pile of school stuff by the TV. It got moved there from the table at dinner last night, but never put away. The white board has a chapter from the Bible we're memorizing. In theory, anyway. Naomi got Operation out when she woke up, dumped Sweetie (that's the bear) on the floor to play, then left it all there when she ate breakfast. The comb? I forgot to put it away last night after doing Naomi's hair. In the background you can see that some people left the table after breakfast without clearing their spots. Punks. Oh wait, my glass is there too. Evidently I didn't clear it when I went to get the camera.

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Now move your gaze a little to the left. Notice my sweatshirt that I left on the chair last night and the bag of rubberbands that got abandoned after doing Naomi's hair. The chess game? The boys started playing when they got up and left it out during breakfast.

Stroll on forward and gaze to your right. The kitchen. I spy an open cupboard, dirty dishes, a vitamin box, a rag on the floor, a cookbook holder, and the Gatorade bottle that won't go away. For the record, the plate of muffins was cooling to go in the freezer and the two racks of food by the fridge had just been pulled out of the freezer to thaw for dinner. I'm off the hook for those things.

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Turn around and head back toward the living room. Oh look. Here's the view you missed on your way to the kitchen. Those are the blankets I used while sleeping on the couch last night. I had insomnia and didn't want to wake Tim by crawling into bed once I was finally able to go to sleep. Guess I forgot to put them back in the blanket bin before starting breakfast. Oops.

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Feel free to head down the hallway, but watch your step. It seems the pantry has exploded.

Yep, that's a mess. Notice the neatly labeled bins? It's unfortunate that they're not big enough to hold everything. I had to dig through the rubble to find something for this morning's muffins.

Honestly, this is totally embarrassing for me to show you and stressful for me to look at. Ugh. Tim's been given the task of helping me figure out some sort of shelving system for this closet that will help utilize the space in a better way. Let's move on, shall we?

Ok, now we're in the bedroom. My nightstand, which is usually orderly, is piled with stuff and the top drawer isn't even shut. Tim's is cluttered, as usual. I will point out, however, that the bed is made. Come hell or high water, I always make the bed. Even if I didn't sleep in it the night before. The missing pillow? A kid borrowed it.

Isn't this corner inviting? We've got Moffit Box stuff coming out our ears for a package we're shipping on Friday, a couple towels on the chair that I'm saving for my dad, a printer I forgot to put away yesterday and Tim put on the floor last night in order to go to sleep (I'd left it on the bed), and a puzzle on the table that's been abandoned by the offspring.

And the dresser with piles of bargain shopping stuff, a stack of boxes being saved for the kids to play with later this week, more Moffit Box stuff, and a blue bin I can't decide whether to keep or get rid of. Did you see the pictures under the dresser? Those are from a picture project I started in early June. The goal was to finish it over the summer. The reality is I haven't touched it since early June.

And that concludes your tour. Feel better about how your home looks right now? You should!

A GOOD MAIL DAY

Remember the necklace that Linda made out of a cross pendant I had? Well, today I got two more things she created. I had been given a gift certificate to her shop, so I used that and some of my birthday money that was still sitting around to order a necklace and pair of earrings. Both items are from the "tide pool" series.

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The pictures don't really do them justice. They're beautiful! Linda actually did a little customizing for me. I'd seen the earrings on her etsy site, but wanted a darker metal. So, she swapped the brighter silver stuff for this darker one. Gunmetal, maybe? I don't remember what it's called. Time out. I just went back to the site and it is gunmetal and she has another pair up. So, here's a better picture than mine.

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She also had the necklace on her site, but it was slightly different than I wanted it. She changed the metal for me and swapped a few beads out to make it coordinate a little better. Actually, here it is, in case you want to see the before and after. She's a champ!

I'm a happy customer!!

TWO GUYS & A GIRL

Guy #1 - Silas went on his first fishing trip with Tim on Saturday. He got a few bites, but no fish. He did, however, catch a piece of wood.




Guy #2 - Devon attended his first play, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day at Northwest Children's Theatre, with Tim this afternoon. Gotta love free tickets!




Girl #1 - Excuse the sulking face she sported all morning, but I love this headband. One of her friends from church brought it last Sunday for Naomi to borrow. Today Naomi wore it and took one of her own hair accessories for her friend to borrow. How cute are three year olds swapping hair stuff?!

BOOKS I FINISHED - SEPTEMBER 2010

Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks

I'd already seen the movie, but wanted to read the book. It's quite possibly my favorite Sparks story. Love it.




The Corn Grows Ripe, by Dorothy Rhoads

A story about a Mayan boy who has to take over the job of planting and harvesting the corn, a job his father can no longer do because of an injury. The boys and I read it and all enjoyed it. Really easy read.
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p. 58, Tigre worked on his rope. Several times he had to unravel it and start again, but each time it was a little easier. A few months ago, he thought, he would have given it up as not worth the trouble. But his persistence in keeping on with the bushing had done something more for him besides getting down bush. As using his muscles constantly had strengthened his arms, so doing the hard thing had exercised and strengthened his will. It was easier now for him to stick to unpleasant things.

 

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, by Michael Lewis

Another book that I'd already seen the movie for. I was hoping for extras that the movie didn't get to, but that turned out to be a lot of football talk. Needless to say, I skimmed those chapters. Otherwise, the movie stayed pretty true to the book.

Walk the World's Rim, by Betty Baker

I read this to the boys and we all liked it, though they sometimes had a hard time keeping the characters straight. Too bad I'm not good at doing different voices. Oh well. Anyway, this is a great story of friendship and other relationships, dreams and expectations, conflict and it's resolution. Lots of good lessons. Also a lot of sarcasm, which the boys loved.

p. 119, His promises are like rainbows, formed in bad weather and vanishing in a clear sky.

Why I Jumped: A Dramatic Story of Finding Hope Beyond Depression, by Tina Zahn

Maryanne had recommended this book ages and ages ago on her blog, which she has since bailed on. So, I've had it on my "to read" list for a long time! Tina's life had included some really hard things, including abuse, and then she found herself in the depths of post-partum depression as an adult. This is her story of her life, the jump off a bridge in an attempt to kill herself, the miraculous rescue that foiled her suicidal plan, and how she's gotten to a place of mental and emotional stability.

I know people who have battled PPD to various degrees, so I don't doubt it's seriousness in the least. However, as I was reading this book I kept thinking of a comment Josh, my brother-in-law, made a while back about how they don't see PPD in the Philippines. Don't you think it's interesting that it's a cultural illness?

As a sidenote, Zahn's suicidal jump was caught on the dashboard camera of the first officer at the scene. This clip starts with a re-enactment of her driving to the bridge, then cuts to actual footage of her jump.
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Staying Home Instead: How to Balance Your Family Life (and Your Checkbook), by Christine Davidson

I picked this up from the library's free book bin. Forced myself to finish it and skimmed several chapters. My thoughts were "duh" and "I don't care" as I read through it. I'm sure it's helpful to someone, but I thought it was a waste of time.

 

The Power of Half: One Family's Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back, by Kevin Salwen & Hannah Salwen

The main point is that you can take half of something you have an excess of (time, tangible items, etc) and use it to make someone else's life better. For example, if you spend $40 a month getting your hair cut, you could drop it to $20 and use the other half to make life better for others. Or you could take the ten hours a week you spend watching TV, drop it to five and use the other five to volunteer somewhere.

While this family's experience was done on a large scale, simply because that's the opportunity they had, anyone can apply the concept to their own life. In a "more, bigger, faster, cooler" society, I love to see people putting a little thought into what they're doing with their money and why they're doing it. I also found it interesting to see how the family went about all the decision making for their project. Good read!

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MENU - FIRST HALF OF OCTOBER 2010

We generally snack on fruit or popcorn, but I'm going to try making a different snack once a week. It will probably be some sort of bar or a dip for veggies and crackers.

BREAKFAST
oatmeal
7-grain
Tam's granola (crockpot)
lemony sour cream muffins
cherry oatmeal muffins (freezer)
banana bread (double batch, freeze one)
morning glory muffins (freeze half)
wheat germ whole wheat buttermilk pancakes (freezer)

SNACKS
fruit & nut energy bars
veggies & black bean dip

DINNERS
leftovers x2
tacos x2
dinner at friends x2 (one may be a potluck)
sweet & sour chicken (double, freeze half)/quinoa salad with apples & almonds
Asian lettuce wraps/frozen veggies
Hawaiian chicken (grill)/tropical salad
new bean recipe (crockpot) (not a flop, but not worth sharing)/green salad
Mexican casserole (freezer)/cornbread (freezer)/frozen veggies
Italian sausage & bowties/green salad/rosemary potatoes
fusilli & feta with lemon & tomato sauce/broccoli
salmon (grill)/cracked wheat & rice pilaf/green salad
lentils & rice/frozen veggies

DESSERTS
cake (recipe from childhood that wasn't nearly as good as I remembered)
rice krispy treats