Eva

I love that you giggle in your sleep.

I love that when you are in a really good mood you hum.

I love that you love your Bible...to the point of crying when you had to go to bed without it one night because we loaned it to a neighbor.

I love that you are a natural "teacher"....always explaining things.

I love your eagerness to discover the wonders of the world around you.

I love that when you sleep next to me and kick me all night you tell me in the morning that you were "hugging me with your feet!"

I love that your brother is one of your favorite playmates.

I love that you have a passion for art.

I love that you could listen to Taylor Swift's "Love Story" and "Tim McGraw" 50 times a day and never tire of it.

I love that you are extremely responsible...I've NEVER had to remind you to wear your earplugs in water...normally YOU remind ME!

I love that you never tire of playing games, doing puzzles, and coloring.

I love that you've started asking questions that I don't always know the answer to.

I love discovering those answers together.

I love that you love sports.

I love the conversations we have when I tuck you into bed at night...I cherish those conversations. If I lay there with you I love that you play with my hair and really open up about what is on your heart. I also love that when I am laying there you always ask me if I've washed my face for the night.

I love to receive one of your Zer-berts!!!

I love that you enjoy practicing your letters and numbers...you will write them on anything you can find.

I love that when you want a sweet you always blame it on Daddy..."You know Daddy would looooove some ice cream tonight!!!"

I love that you like our toenail polish to match.

I love that when I tell you we need to do laundry, organize, or clean you actually get excited!

I love that you are extremely trustworthy.

I love that you have a very special - and unique - relationship with every member of our family.

I love YOU Eva with all of my heart and soul!

Jaden

Parenting is a journey...each stage our children enter has it's own challenges and joys. Since this blog is my journal, I wanted to remember a few things that I love about the stage my children are in at this time. Jaden's turn is today....Eva will be next! Enjoy....

I love that when we work on counting you completely boycott the number 3....you won't even utter it. It's always 1...2...4...5...

I love that you've learned to pout. I know I shouldn't love this, but it seriously is just too darn cute when you fold your hands across your body and bury your head in them...

I love that you talk to animals, cars, trucks, barns, etc. as we are driving down the road. I believe this is a phase that every child has at one point or another, as I remember vividly when your sister did the same thing. I love talking to the cows together and waving at the pretty red barns. I love saying "HI!" to Daddy's work and waving at it as we pass it while driving.

I love that you sleep with a bazillion binkies.

I love that when I pick you up to comfort you for something you always snuggle up to me and pat my back to comfort me.

I love that pink was one of the first colors you learned.....quickly followed by blue.

I love that you say, "OK" as "O-Tay!"

I love that you love to be chased around and jumped out at....as long as Mommy doesn't do it. Once in awhile you will let me...but often you will say, "No Mommy" and then run up and snuggle me. If someone else does it you LOVE it.

I love that you will come into my room between 6:00 and 7:00 in the morning, crawl in bed, and just snuggle and snuggle until it's time to wake up.

I love that sometimes when you snuggle you simply can't get close enough and you end up laying on top of me.

I love that you have a great sense of humor...some of the things that you say have me rolling with laughter.

I love the way you talk in a soft voice to little babies and small animals.

I love that you love the "hot dog dance" on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I love that you ask "why" so many times in a day that I lose track. I also love that sometimes my attempts at answering all of your "why" questions sound like the 3 Stooges doing their "Who's on first" skit...we just go around in circles.

I love that sometimes when you come in my room in the morning you simply say, "EAT!!!"

I love that you have a serious addiction to Life cereal...and cry when we run out.

I love that you love your sister with all of your heart and soul...and want to be just like her.

I love YOU Little Man....more than you can ever imagine.

Taylor-Mania

This little cutie is currently obsessed with Taylor Swift...
She loves to turn on a Taylor video, grab her guitar and her microphone, and sing along with her favorite singer...

She uses a guitar pic (just like Taylor) and even rocks her little guitar the same way Taylor does...

"My idea is that there is music in the air; music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require."

--Edward Elgar

Simple Joy #21

Today is my birthday, and while it has been full of so many simple joys, one of my favorite has been this....

It is the middle of January and it was warm enough

to drive with the sunroof open.

That was enough to put a smile on my face from ear to ear. On top of that when the kiddies saw me open the sunroof they asked if they could roll down their windows.

Now, the sunroof is one thing - it doesn't let in much air. The windows are entirely different.

Was it warm enough for windows down? Probably not.

Did that stop me (or them)? If you think the answer is yes then you do not know me that well.

Sooooo....in the middle of January the kids and I enjoyed a drive on a winding county road with the sunroof open and the windows down.

Happy Birthday to me.

Life Changing Reading...

Have you ever read something that was literally life changing? I read a book about 5 years ago called Fast Food Nation. The book literally changed my life. I was never a big fast food eater anyway....but after reading that book I severely changed whatever fast food eating I did do. Because of that book I can literally count on one hand the number of times my children have ate at McDonalds...it wasn't until this year that Eva even knew what McDonalds was! We just don't eat fast food (except Taco Bell...where we usually order meatless items). The book opened my eyes and changed the way I did things.....for good.

Well, it's happened again.

While I was in Florida on vacation I read the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman - I saw it mentioned on MTV of all places and decided it looked like a good read. If you could see my copy of the book right now you would laugh....it's completely highlighted and full of post-it notes.

The book is literally chock full of information that will change your life.

Without getting into all of the specifics of the book Dr. Fuhrman basically lays out just how the typical American diet is killing us. It not only outlines exactly how this is happening, but what changes we can make in our diet and life style to change it.

Here are a few quotes from the book that moved (motivated) me...

"The American diet is one of the most dangerous foods in the world to consume."

"Most Americans are not aware that the diet they feed their children guarantees a high cancer probability down the road. They don't even contemplate that eating fast food meals may be just as risky (or more so) than letting their children smoke cigarettes."

"Do not underestimate the effect of a powerful diet on gradually removing and repairing damage caused by years of self-abuse...you can not buy your health; you must earn it through healthy living."

These are just a few....seriously, I could quote the whole book!!! Ha! My lifestyle (as well as the lifestyle of my children) I felt was pretty good before....but I've made some changes after reading this book that I feel are not "short term" changes....they will become a new lifestyle.

One of the major changes I have made is severely limiting dairy intake (I've limited it for the children, and at this point completely cut it out for myself...I may completely take Jaden off dairy soon due to his eczema). Think about it...we are the only species that spends out lives drinking another animals milk. Our bodies are just not designed for it....yet we consume it (and make our children consume it) at an alarming rate. The question I'm most often asked (usually in a voice that is full of panic) is, "How are you getting your calcium?!!!!!" The answer is that you receive a LOT of calcium (as much as your body needs) through foods like green veggies, beans (loooove my black beans), seeds, and fruit....and you get all this calcium without the problems associated with dairy.

The crazy thing is....it has NOT been hard and I feel GREAT - (I can even continue my love affair with Starbucks because they have SOY chai lattes!!!)!

I've made other changes....and I'm excited about them too....but I don't want to write a book here! The advice Dr. Fuhrman gives is life changing....you may not follow ALL of it, but I can guarantee you will at least make some changes that could make a HUGE impact on your life and health.

Sooooooo.....to sum it up.....this Happy Housewife highly recommends it and thinks you should run to your local library or bookstore and snatch up a copy for yourself!

On a personal note....thanks to my Mom who has suggested I read this book for quite awhile and has actually met Dr. Fuhrman. I've learned that one of my bad traits is that sometimes I just have to figure out things for myself!!! I appreciate your patience with me....love you!

Craft Time

Eva and Jaden have started to really enjoy a daily "craft time".

It's been a nice addition to our day since it's still snowy and cold in our neck of the woods.

Every day we do something a little different.

I love how Jaden's tongue sticks out when he is concentrating (picture above) and I love how Eva made the person in the picture below have blue toes because her toenails are blue.

One day we made snowmen out of cotton balls....One day we made cards....and sometimes we simply color and draw. One day we made snowflakes and they are now decorating our windows....this Mama loves it!!

I love to watch the creativity that shines through in Eva and Jaden when they are creating their little masterpieces. Their thought process, their choice of colors, etc. is all so fun for me to see. Although I usually sit and create with them, it's important to me not to "show" them how to make their creations. I want them to always know that art is beautiful however you make it....there is no right or wrong way.

"Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons."

--Al Hirschfeld

Binkies

To say that our little man loves his binkies is an understatement. He looooooves his binkies.

He is only allowed to have them at bedtime or naptime....but when those times roll around he stocks up.
He doesn't sleep with one binki....more like SIX binkies (or as many as he can find). He hoards them and carries them all with him.

Jaden is super easy going and more than willing to share....except the binkies. Those are his and his alone.

The time will be here soon when we will have to give the binkies up....but for right now I love seeing my little guy all snuggled up in his bed with all of his binkies sitting right beside him.

Wellll.....kind of.

Eva is currently in the process of memorizing Psalm 23 for school. She has done a great job and Matt and I are so proud of her. Last night we were practicing and instead of saying,

"He leads me beside still waters,

He restores my soul."

Eva said....

"He leads me beside still waters,

He restores my brain."

Matt and I got a good chuckle out of it and said, "Well sweetie...sometimes He does that too!" I love it.

A Meaningful Way to Display Artwork

Eva made this Christmas tree at school and I instantly fell in love with it. I love the buttons...I love the glue sticking out of the sides...I love everything about it.

I didn't want to just file it away with her other artwork that I keep so I decided to buy background paper for it and an 8 x 10 frame to display it in...


At the bottom of the piece of artwork I wrote her name and age...


Now I have a beautiful (and meaningful) decoration to set out during the Christmas season!


On that same note, those of you that know me know that I looooove children's artwork....love it. There is something so beautiful and innocent about it. I am currently working on a plan to display quite a bit more of my children's artwork in my home so that it looks more like professional pieces of art. More to come later!!

Confession.

I've always looked forward to baking treats for my children's classrooms. Even before I had children I was buying books on classroom treats and filing away cute ideas in my memory. There are just soooo many cute things out there and I was so excited to create such special things for my children!

Well, today was my first chance. I was PUMPED. Today Eva celebrated her birthday at school (yes, I counted and this was her fourth birthday celebration....ha!) We looked through books together to find something special to make and take into her classroom and she decided on Ice cream cake cups....which are ice cream cones with cake baked into them and frosted to look like an ice cream cone.

In the past I've always made these little treats with cake in them....but the recipe Eva happened to point to was made with brownies. I consider myself to be a pretty decent cook. I enjoy spending time in the kitchen and making various things. There is rarely a recipe that I feel intimidated by.

Except brownies.

Now I know that sounds ridiculous.....seriously, brownies of all things?! It doesn't matter if they are homemade or box mix they end up rock hard. Now in all honesty Eva picked out this treat by looking at the picture and she probably assumed they were made with cake the way I've always made them.....but the anal side of me decided the recipe said brownies and I was gonna make it with brownies.

Not a good idea.

I was up until 10:00 last night making these little treasures and they ended up being about as appetizing as biting into a piece of extremely stale bread. They were rock hard to the point that all I could picture was one of Eva's little friends chipping a tooth on her birthday treat. They were horrible...and I was at crunch time as the party was the next morning. I wanted to take my hand and smash them...only I probably would have broke my hand. I went to bed a bit crushed.

This morning I decided I was NOT going to defeated!!! I got up bright and early, got ready, and rushed to the store before the sun was even up to buy all new ingredients. After I dropped Eva off at school I rushed home and made the whole recipe all over again before her birthday party....I got them done just in the nick of time. We took Eva's treats into school and they were a hit.

And since this time I made them with cake we did not run the risk of any little 5 year olds chipping a tooth - yea!!!!!! Ahhhh....the things we do for love.

Eva enjoying her ice cream cake cup!
Eva and her teacher as her class was singing Happy Birthday to her!

Note: Another reason the treat she picked out was so special was that it is the exact same treat I picked out for my birthday at preschool when I was Eva's age! I didn't tell her that until after she picked them out...but we both thought that was pretty neat!

Her First Pedicure...

She had her own pedicure chair right next to Mommy...

She picked out the color...

And together we got the works...

The end result...

Looooove our toes Eva!!!

Blog Book Update

Many of you had questions regarding the blog book. I decided the easiest way to answer them was to answer them under the comments section of the previous post (the post about the book). Just keep checking back and I'll try to answer all of your questions as they come in. You are also welcome to e-mail me if you are more comfortable with that. I may continue putting blog posts up (I'm a bit behind)...but since my comments are moderated I will still get your questions and be answering them!

Happy Blog-Booking everyone!! Ha!

J

Blog Book

Quite a few of you have commented or sent me e-mails regarding my blog book. Let me start off by saying (AGAIN) that if you blog and you do not print it off into a book I would HIGHLY recommend you start doing that.

That being said, a lot of you had questions about what site I use, how I do it, etc. I use the site Blurb (www.blurb.com). I have looked at other sites (and my sister actually ordered from another site) and I wasn't impressed with the results. Blurb prints off a fantastic quality of book and has a lot of options for you as far as size, color, and covers. Here is the front of my book from last year (cover picture credit goes to our family's photographer)...

This is a sample of one of the pages...

Now, all of that being said Blurb definitely has some pros and cons. On the positive side the end result is a high quality book at a REALLY great price (compared to other photobooks I've made using other sites). The cons are that it is NOT the easiest thing to put together. You slurp your blog into the website (that part is easy) but from there you have a lot of cutting, pasting, rearranging, etc. Last year I figured it took me about 9 hours to do the whole book...which sounds bad, but it really wasn't. I just sat down and worked on it a few nights after I got the munchkins in bed. Have a glass of wine while you are doing it and you may just consider it FUN! Ha! For some of you the other con is that Blurb does not print off the comments you receive on your posts. This does not bother me because as much as I looooooooove hearing from all of you I see my end result (my book) as my personal journal and I'm content with it just being what I have written.

Soooo....that is it in a nutshell!! If you have ANY other questions please feel free to contact me!

A New Year....

Ahhhh....a new year. It just seems crazy to me that it is 2010!!! Seriously. When I was little I thought that by the year 2010 we would be living on the moon, wearing spacesuits, and zipping around in little rocketships like the Jetsons. Ha!

Matt and I were talking with our good friends Jim and Katie about how the past decade has changed our life. Think back to the year 2000....and to the current year. What has changed for you? The crazy thing about it is that to me 10 years ago doesn't seem that long ago. We giggled because 10 years ago Jim and Katie didn't even know eachother...fast forward 10 years and they are married with 3 children!!!! Crazy what can happen in 10 years. We talked about the fact that 10 years from now Eva will be on the verge of driving and Jaden will be headed into his teen years. It just kinda made me realize the importance of making each year....each day....count.

Hmmmm....deep.

On a lighter note, as normal this Mama is on an organization mission. I tend to get this way a few times a year and after Christmas seems to be one of those times. I've done the ever-so-popular "plastic tub shopping"....we've allllll done it at some point haven't' we??!! I just chuckled when I walked into Target because they put the tubs close to the door - front and center - for the those crazy moms' like me that are on a mission to get organized! Ha! My mom bought me an electronic labeler a few years ago (loooove it) and I'm feeling the need to pull that out of storage too!! I swear I could label my whole house....I kinda go nuts with it. I just love how pretty things look when they are all neat, tidy, and labeled!

I also purchased a swimsuit while I was at Target....is that wishful thinking?

Have I mentioned that Target is a black hole for me? I swear I go in there planning on spending $10 and leave spending much more than that!!! It's ridiculous.

Going along with all of the New Year stuff, it is now time for me to print my blog off into a book. I do this every year at the end of December. If you have a blog and you don't do this I would highly recommend it. I don't journal, I don't really scrapbook, but I create this book each year that is chock full of stories, recipes, thoughts, pictures, etc. that details my life for the year. It's so special to me.

The New Year has also given me a great starting point on some advice I read in a fantastic book recently....more on that later.

Well my friends....let's lift our glasses to a New Year. A positive year. A healthy year. Let us start now to make it the best year ever.

Cheers!

Hugs,
Jamie