The simple life...

I want my kids to love the simple pleasures in life...like picking blueberries with grandpa.

Or gardening with me.

Or serving pretend coffee.

Or coloring.

Or doing things that do not require money or new things.

We don't buy our kids birthday presents or Christmas presents.  They are spoiled enough by other family members and friends.  My wish is that they recognize holidays can be special and fun without the greediness of wanting MORE gifts.  It's a difficult concept to teach, show, and learn, especially since I, myself, always seem to be wanting more!

Instilling these ideas in our kids while they are constantly submersed in a culture that tells them they need things to be happy is an ongoing process.  To do what makes you feel good, to watch things that shouldn't be seen by anyone, and eating things that are so bad for the body is what our world tells us to do to be happy.

It makes me want to take them away and seclude them from all the bad things.  It brings on fleeting thoughts of wanting to move to an Amish community where beauty is found in outdoor scenery, in sharing with others, in serving God.  That thought quickly diminishes when I realize I can't sew, I don't know the first thing about milking a cow, I would not like wearing an Amish kapp, and I definitely do not want to learn Amish deutsch.  Maybe we'll just visit? :)

I'm pretty sure life with the Amish has its flaws too.  No life on earth is perfect.  But it's fun to dream, right?

Therefore, instead of becoming Amish, I will be trying some Amish recipes.  Yummy food makes a cozy home and a happy hubby.  Cooking with the kids makes great memories.  I'll keep you updated on what's been cooking around here.  We'll see how much cooking gets done once Skyelynn arrives.  And if the weather ever gets warm, this new venture of mine will be postponed until further notice...

Here is a smattering of simple pleasures that have been keeping us busy lately..

Playing in the back of daddy's truck, making play-doh frogs, trying on daddy's shoes, playing in the kiddie pool on the back deck, sitting on daddy's motorbike.

What simple things make your life better?

Little funnies... and special moments

My kids make me laugh everyday...example:
Mel was using my big spatula spoon to slowly carry a little ball around the house to see how long she could keep the ball balanced. (No, I didn't teach her this game, although it sounds like something my dad would have had us doing at that age!) Easton, in an effort to copy his big sister, went and got this:

Mel's spoon and ball are on the left, Easton's on the right. lol

I laughed so hard. I just had to take a pic of what it was they were using when they were done playing.

On another note, being made to feel special and loved is something that brings me the utmost pleasure in life. Yesterday, my husband brought home a small bottle of Cherry Coke for me, just because he knows I have been craving it during this pregnancy. I didn't ask for it.  I didn't even hint for it.  He just did it.  I just love him.  A simple gesture on his part gave me butterflies and let me know I am loved by him.  In a world where disappointment happens from all ends, Darrell always seems to know how to keep my spirits up.

Well, that's all I have to say today.  It's baby shower day for Skyelynn.  I'm excited to see some good friends.

Babies=the good stuff in life.

Ready, set, GOAL!

I don't like laundry, but I think I've found a way to make it less daunting, less overwhelming, and even somewhat enjoyable. Doing laundry has never given me more satisfaction than it has in the past 10 days in my entire life.

I've challenged myself to do one load of laundry every day for the month of July.  How's it working out? FABULOSO! Our laundry is so under control and so not overwhelming that I'm ashamed to say that I didn't think of this idea sooner.

When I get my one load of laundry done for the day, it makes me feel like I've accomplished something and I don't have anymore laundry to do after that one load!

                                The kids were napping, and I watched TV, while a cute dog watched me fold my laundry for the day!

I began this project by taking one day and getting ALL of the piled up laundry taken care of in the entire house, besides the clothes we were wearing, of course. :) I think I did 5 or 6 loads.  Darrell came home and was impressed and mentioned something about it, so you know it must have been bad. Then, I made up my mind to do one load a day in order to keep up with it and to keep our lives a little less cluttery.  You should try it.  I make myself wash a load even if I don't feel like it because I know I'll feel better sticking to my goal.  Oh and I started making homemade laundry detergent. (Thanks Haley Johnson for the idea and recipe) It's much cheaper and all natural. A lot better for our health and babies skin. Want to know how?
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1 grated bar of ivory soap
Mix in a blender til it becomes a powder, and voila!
I love it!
Here's a couple more things that I love lately: This blog---> http://www.kellehampton.com/ and this little shopping site that I found on that blog---->http://www.darlybird.com/index.html

Next goal? Declutter our bedroom before little Skyelynn gets here.  I'm thinking I'll need a babysitter for the day, so that I can focus all of my attention on that project. Any volunteers?  :)  They're really cute and fun to hang out with!

Here's to sticking to goals and making life less cluttery!

The art of imitation...

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" -Charles Caleb Colton

If the above is true, Melanie must feel flattered ALL the time.

He wants to be just like her, he wants to make her laugh, he wants her to think he's great! Little brother loves big sister, copies so many of things she does and says...he really has perfected the art of imitation.

If Melanie asks for a pickle, Easton yells "ya pickles!!!" as loud as he can with a huge smile on his face.  If Melanie wants to watch Dora, he does too, and will let us know by yelling "Dora!" as loud as he can.  Everything Mel does or wants to do is the most exciting and fun thing he has ever heard of...he is the ultimate admirer of his big sister.

One day they had this inside joke together.  They would look at each other and say "PU!" really loud and laugh as hard as they could.  The next morning, during breakfast Easton looked and Melanie, and hoping to get a big laugh yelled "PU!" to which Melanie replied, "that's not funny."  Poor guy, just trying to impress big sis!

Everyday is a new day to try and impress her by imitating her every move.  I've tried to document it through pictures, but justice is not done. Check out what I did catch.

Daddy is another person in this house who should be feeling pretty good about himself, because, he gets flattered all the time also.

I'm sure this phase of imitating the people he loves will not last forever. Soon he will be coming home with some things he's learned from his friends at school that I will not like at all.  So, I am enjoying the good stage of imitation right now. The stage of where big sis and daddy are the coolest people alive. The good stuff in life.
P.S. I can't wait to see what little Skyelynn brings to the table by way of imitation after she gets here! She'll have more siblings to impress. :)

Runaway dogs...

About a month ago, I realized how crazy this little family circus of mine truly is, will be, and probably will stay before it calms down.  It all started with one of Guapo's famous runaway scenes.  The kind where I open the door, he slips through it, and immediately runs down the street to have a romp through the neighborhood.
This was one of the times where I didn't bother to chase him because it was raining, a friend had just pulled up for a visit, and I knew he would be back later, scratching at the door, when he was done exploring.
Keep reading, this story gets better---
My friend and her two kids (3 year old boy and 4 month old girl) come in to hang out and eat lunch with us and we catch up and talk about life.  She tells me she would really like to be a stay at home mom. This is when the true craziness begins.
My kids are screaming at each other every time one or the other tries to look at the baby because they both want to be the only one playing with her.  Melanie pees on the floor in the front hallway, and while I'm cleaning that mess up and changing her, Easton is moving the bench from his table to the back door so that he can unlock it.  After getting him off the bench and telling him no, I turn around to put the bench back to the table and he is behind me getting into the garbage.  I turn around to get him out of the garbage and pick up the mess and he is back on the bench again unlocking the door (imagine this happening about 2 more times!).  To add to this the doorbell rings.  I answer it and it is a neighbor asking if we own a little white dog.  Why yes we do I say.  He then tells me that he is running around down the street.  My friend says she'll watch the kids so I can get the dog.  It's raining, hard, and I'm 5 months pregnant, running down the street, looking for my dog, who I can catch no sight of. (I can only dream what the neighbors were thinking watching me) I immediately gave up on that and came back to the house to find Melanie standing on a kitchen table chair playing with the baby who is in a bouncy seat on the table. This is fine, because she is keeping occupied and is having fun and not yelling at Easton! Finally, my friend and I sit down to eat, when Easton decides he wants to see the baby too, so he climbs up and gets on top of the table, knocks down my glass of water and sits in the water.  So, I take him off the table, take off his wet pants and put them in the laundry room and when I come out he as taken off half his diaper and is walking around with it falling off.  At this point, I just looked at my friend and started laughing and said "um, are you SURE you want to be a stay at home mom??"  She started laughing hysterically and we went through everything that had gone wrong so far and laughed even harder.  While we were still laughing there was a scratching at the door and guess who finally came home? Guapo! And he was sopping wet. I opened the door and he came RUNNING through the house as fast as he could with all the kids chasing him around.  I mean, why wouldn't that happen? More chaos was bound to ensue.
As much as I would like to just be able to sit down to a nice lunch with and friend and do nothing but talk and catch up, I realize that will not be happening for a while now.  And now we're adding another to this family circus! It keeps life interesting and good and keeps my perspective in check.  It also keeps my patience level up and keeps me laughing.  Cheers to chaos!
OH and by the way, about 2 weeks later, my kids locked me out of the house...!

simplicity...

God made man simple. His complex problems are of his own devising. Ecclesiastes 7:29

Simplicity sounds so good to me.  Our ladies Bible study has been studying The Celebration of Discipline and the discipline of simplicity has been especially intriguing.  Maybe it's because I've realized how utterly problematic things become when we don't keep it simple.  We become like spoiled children when we begin spoiling ourselves with things.  The more I have the more selfish I become, and the more I think about the selfish ways I've acted throughout my life, it makes me want to simplify.
My grandmother was so good at being simple.  As I look back at how loving, kind, generous, soft spoken and happy she was, it becomes so clear that she had the discipline of simplicity shining through her heart and soul.  She gave away everything, she barely had anything, and she was SO happy.  She spoke of Jesus all the time without shame.  She loved everyone.  She had a great sense of humor.  She was a role model of how Jesus wants a person to act.  I miss her so much.
I want what my grandma had.
Simplicity.

A hairy first...

Waiting for the haircut was fun..but the actual cut brought on a plethora of emotions!
Nervous, scared, sad, and finally a little bit happy...:)  My baby looks more like a little boy..a hard transition for me...one more step towards letting him grow.

The final product..and a new friend!

Afterward, we went to Target and browsed the aisles together, bought a few things and had fun. Easton showed us some of his dance moves in the electronic aisle. I wanted to put the video on here but for some reason it isn't working...for now you can watch it on Facebook! 

Here's to letting babies grow up!