10 Things Thursday

10 things I did today.

1. Woke up just in time to shower and dress before the roofers got here to fix our roof.
2. Listened to music while I cleaned house.
3. Made smoothies for the kids for breakfast and quesadillas for lunch.
4. Readied two special packages to mail.
5. Went to the post office to mail those packages.
6. Took the kids for haircuts...all three of them.
7. Almost cried when Julianna's haircut made her look more like a little girl and less like my baby.
8. Took the kids to my dad's work to see the new dump truck. Julianna was more than a little intimidated by the size and loud horn.
9. Washed Julianna's hands one thousand times while at my parents' house when she alternated between playing with the dog and cat and wanting to eat.
10. Had dinner with my parents and my kids and enjoyed it very much.

10 Things Thursday

10 things I've been doing instead of blogging.

1. Playing with my kids
2. Spending the day by the pool with my sister
3. Taking the kids to the free movies at Riverstone
4. Reading
5. Going to the park
6. Cleaning out closets
7. Planning healthy meals for my family
8. Playing pool and foos ball in our cool basement
9. Reflecting, renewing, reviving, recommitting
10. Laughing

Blessed Sunday

I'm not sure how many times my blessed Sunday post has been about Julianna, but I just can't help it. She is a joy. She makes me a better mom and person. If you've ever met her you know why. She is amazing and adorable and funny and smart. She is the sweetest little girl ever and I am truly blessed to say that she is my daughter. The daughter of my heart.

The last few days she has given me more than one occasion to laugh out loud. The first was Friday night. We had gone over to some friends' house for dinner and got home kind of late for her. She fell asleep in the car, which she hardly ever does anymore. When I got her inside I had to change her into jammies. In mid change she looked at me with those blue eyes of hers and said, "I love you soooooooo much." The sooooooo was complimented with closed eyes and shaking head. Oh my goodness. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen in my life. And I told her so and that I love her soooo much, too. I don't know how many times I smiled about that between then and when I went to bed. It was just precious. One of those moments I record in my mind and save for later.

Then Saturday morning we were the first ones up. Jules has taken to sleeping with books in her bed at night so usually she wants to read right away in the mornings. So we were sitting on the couch reading a book about all the things kids do during the day. Get dressed, eat breakfast, play, eat lunch, etc. When we got to the lunch page we were talking about what foods there were pictures of. Yogurt, banana, juice, sandwich, cookies. When she then said, "I love cookies soooooooo much." Turns out she loves cookies as much as she loves me! It was hilarious! I couldn't help but to laugh out loud. And I thought it was just me who merited that kind of love.

She's something else, I tell ya. And I love her all to pieces.

10 Things Thursday

My 10 favorite ways to eat peanut butter (preferably extra crunchy).

1. PB&J on whole grain white bread

2. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

3. peanut butter cookies

4. mini peanut butter cups inside peanut butter cookies

5. on a toasted English muffin

6. with banana

7. on apple slices

8. Darcy's banana and chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting

9. with honey on wheat bread

10. by the spoonful right out of the jar

Red One!

My family, mostly the boys, have started playing the slug bug game. You know, the one where if you see a Volkswagen Beetle you can say what color it is and hit somebody. (Gently, of course. I would never allow actual violence in my presence.) Well, Julianna has decided to get in on the fun. But she doesn't really get the game. Instead of following the actual rules, she's made up her own. She says, "red one," and hits. In the car. At home. At the movies. At the dinner table. Whenever she feels like playing, she does. No car. Not even anything red. And guess what. She totally gets away with it. Because, well, look at her.

*Thanks to Kathy for the great 4th of July pictures including this one.

Blessed Sunday--Anniversary Edition

As of this afternoon, I have been married to my husband for 18 years. Which seems kind of crazy since I barely feel older than my 20 year old self that got married on that Saturday in 1992. Yet here we are. 18 years later. 18 years of a lot of life. Good times and bad. Sickness and health. (Relatively) richer and poorer. And through it all we've kept those vows that we made to each other that day. We've loved each other. We've laughed together. We've enjoyed the ups and survived the downs together. We've made a home and life and family together. And that, my friends, is a blessing.

10 Things Thursday

10 things my sister is good at.

1. Being a mom. She loves her kids more than I can put into words. I grow more and more proud of her in so many ways, but especially as a mom.
2. Storytelling. Especially if it's a story about something that happened to her. And lots of things happen in her life. Always interesting and entertaining.
3. Making me laugh. Since she was born she's made me laugh. She is fuuunnny.
4. Giving gifts. She gives perfect, thoughtful, amazing gifts. Always something that lets me know that it's just for me.
5. Crafting. She makes the cutest things. And she is an expert at giving old things a beautiful new life.
6. Singing. If you've never heard her sing, you're missing out. Beautiful. Just beautiful.
7. Loving. If she loves you, you know it. She loves with her whole heart. And it's a big heart.
8. Accessorizing. She's gorgeous and always looks lovely. And when she wants to, she can accessorize better than any fashion designer. Maybe she should give a class. I need it.
9. Cooking. Who knew she'd turn out to be such a good cook? She makes so many yummy things. Oooh, I wish I had some of her jalapeno poppers right now.
10. Being a sister. Since I was five she's been my sister. Through the years we have lived a lot of life together. And I know that no matter what, I can count on her. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, like a sister. And there isn't one better in the world than mine.

Bee Girl

Julianna and I had our first argument this morning. She asked for a marshmallow and I told her I didn't have any marshmallows. She said, "Yes, you do." And I said before thinking, "No, I don't." To which she replied more adamantly, "YES, you do." Really, I don't.

And in other news, I don't know where she gets her fashion sense.

But with a face like this, who cares what she wears.

Free At Last, Free At Last

For his birthday, Adam, my bug loving child, got a butterfly kit. There was a little netted cage and a certificate for caterpillars. When the caterpillars came in the mail, we watched them for a while in their little cup. After a week or so they started to build their chrysalises one by one. After all five of them were sleeping peacefully, we transferred them to the net. Where, lo and behold, they each emerged as a beautiful painted lady butterfly. We missed the actual emergences though, since they waited until night or when we were at school. For the past few weeks we have enjoyed having five butterflies fluttering around in their little home on the end table in our living room. Until yesterday, that is. Adam knew he would have to release them outside, but wanted to wait until Josh got home from his trip to do it. So yesterday was the day. The whole family went out to my little flower garden in the front of the house and Adam gently shook the four surviving butterflies into the breeze.

Be free, little butterflies.

I said, be free.

One finally takes the plunge into the wild. I think he liked it.
Josh and Jules getting a closer look.
They all found a spot to stretch their wings before taking off.

This one wasn't quite ready to leave Adam yet.
Which was just fine with him.

At last. Right where they belong.

10 Things--Weekend Edition

So I went to see Eclipse last night. And I enjoyed it very much. Kathy and I agreed that these silly Twilight movies will never make it on any American classics list, but they are entertaining. And we had fun watching vampires and shape shifting wolves for two hours...and making fun of the cheesiness of it all. And the little girls (well, okay, teenage girls) sitting behind us when they gasped the first time they saw Jacob on the big screen. But before I begin my 10 things, I must say that I know that there are Twilight moms out there who have crushes on Edward or Jacob in some kind of reliving of their teenage selves. I, though, feel only maternal about the whole thing. Or maybe it's a teacher thing. But, I can't help but to think of these characters from a mom point of view. Hoping that Bella makes wise choices. Proud of Edward for at least attempting to do what's right. Admiration for Jacob in handling his new life as a part time wolf. That being said, I am totally a wolf girl. Team Jacob all the way. And here's 10 reasons why.

1. He's warm. I do not like to be cold. Not one little bit.
2. He's soft. Really? Who wants to hug a statue?
3. He's tan. Edward's even more pale than Bella.
4. He has nice eyes. Not weird, and kind of creepy, vegetarian vampire eyes.
5. He's funny. He makes Bella laugh. Edward? Not so much.
6. His family is more fun. They joke and wrestle and enjoy being monsters. Edward's family sulks and complains and tries not to kill humans. (Okay, Emmett and Alice are kind of fun. And Esme is sweet in a vampiry mom kind of way. But Rosalie is not any fun at all.)
7. He can fix cars and motorcycles. That comes in handy when you drive a beat up old pick up like Bella's.
8. He eats. I don't think I could spend too much time with someone who didn't eat. I'd much rather share a pizza with someone than have them sit there and stare at me while I ate it.
9. He imprints. Who wouldn't appreciate someone being so very dedicated and loyal. Werewolves are a girl's best friend, you know.
10. His heart beats. When I lay my head on a chest, I want to hear something. Preferably a heart beating in a soft, warm chest.

So there you have my case for Team Jacob. And yes, I do remember that I am, in fact, a 38 year old mother of three who has been married for longer than Jacob has been alive. But still, I just can't resist a good love story.

10 Things Thursday

10 things in my salad at dinner.

1. lettuce
2. tomato
3. carrots
4. ham
5. turkey
6. swiss cheese
7. cheddar cheese
8. sunflower seeds
9. ranch dressing
10. olives (Okay, so I forgot the olives, but I had planned for them.)