A Little Something about Everyone

I meant to just show you a picture of Drew today because he's got a big shiner on his forehead. But then Zach wanted his picture taken as long as the camera was out, and then Baylee sure wasn't going to be left out, and now I've got random pictures of all three of them.

Can you see that reddish purple bump on his forehead? That's from playing out in the backyard with Nicholas today. I guess they were hammer throwing a broom at the pine tree back there and watching the pollen come off in a big green cloud. Drew said it would swirl around like a whirlwind and then settle everywhere. Great. Anyway, Nicholas got a little overly enthusiastic with his turn and the broom flew out of his hands and into Drew's face. On a brighter note, please notice his nice, short haircut!

Here's Zach on his way to youth group.

Oh shoot, it's blurry. That's what happens when I'm in a hurry, I guess. At supper tonight Drew was worried about what people might say about his bump, so Zach told him to tell them, "It happened in a terrible broom accident. I don't want to discuss it." He makes me laugh.

And finally here's Baylee with her Sparky vest on.

Baylee failed a science test today, which actually sounds worse than it is. With the curriculum she uses, anything below an 80% is considered failing and the child is supposed to redo the chapter. Eh. I figure she's in 2nd grade and if she gets the thorax and the abdomen of a butterfly mixed up, life goes on. I have to admit, though, she's not a real scientific thinker. Things just don't seem to quite compute with her. Recently she told us her view of the universe: It's hiding behind the moon. Today she was telling a story about tornados and it went like this:

"I have a story about tornados! One time me and Grandma had to go to the bathroom and we went into a store and their girls' bathroom only had one toilet! And we both had to go! We had to take turns."

"Okay...Where does the tornado come in?"

"Oh! Well, when we got back outside there was a whirlwind of leaves! They were swirling in the air! And I said, 'Looks like tornado weather.'"

So, yeah. She's not very logical. She's our unicorns and fairies and take-the-scenic-route-when-you-tell-a-story kid. I love that about her.

One last thing as long as I'm rambling. This was the other picture I took today, also blurry:

They're flowers from my 11 year old...the best kind of bouquet.

Sue

Oh Yeah...

...I forgot the cheapest fun of all today. The part where someone made me laugh so hard during the church service that I cried. You know that terrible laughing-in-church thing where it's completely inappropriate and people are staring, which makes it even harder to stop, and pretty soon your whole body is shaking and tears are streaming, but no sound is coming out? Yeah. That might've been my favorite part of the day.

(So glad you two are here and that we've been friends for so long. Seriously. You make this whole WA experience so much greater.)

Sue

Cheap Fun

It was such a gorgeous, sunny day out today! We went to church, then afterward decided to go out for Mexican. We ordered this huge platter of an assortment of food and it was awesome.

While stuffing ourselves, Mike mentioned how cool the Seattle Public library is, so after we ate it was decided that we'd all go check it out as a family. It really is an amazing building. It's hard to describe except to say it feels like a building from the future. It's a Buck Rogers library. Here's some pictures from online:

And here's a short montage of our day in Seattle, including several taken in the library.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sue

Baylee Takes Tea

Baylee went to a tea party today. She spent the night at Lilly's and then in the morning Lilly's mom, Bethany, fixed the girls' hair and got everything all set up to host a special get-together for 9 little ladies. Baylee had a ton of fun! There was tea, of course, and juice, finger sandwiches and delicate pastries. Bethany went all out. I was only going to take a couple pictures, but Bethany asked me to come early and visit, and then when I got there I could tell she was too busy to get any pictures of her own, so I took several to share with her. Here they are.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sue

Finding the Joy

Today's not a bad day. It's just a "one of those days" day. First I overslept. Then when we started school I discovered that Baylee lost her Awana book. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but she has worked her butt off to complete 3 years of Sparks in only 2 years. (And when say she I mean me. I've worked my butt off. It's the exact same reason I ended up hating the piano lessons Zach took when he was 8 years old. It was such a pain to get him to sit there and practice that I felt like I was the one taking the lessons.) So now here she is on the cusp of finishing, with only 2 weeks of club left, and no book. We all had to pile in the car, drive to the church, and get the secretary to let us search for it. We tracked it down, came back home, and right away I got a phone call. The kids decided at that exact moment that none of them could do anything without me. They came loudly chattering at me, apparently not seeing the phone pressed to my ear, my hand shooing them away, or my dark scowls and mouthed threats. I finally hung up and got my freak on at all of them, then I went upstairs disgusted. That's when I saw this.

At some point Baylee wrote the lyrics to Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee from memory. She's learning it in children's choir. I don't know if you can read her handwriting, but she wrote:

Mortals Join the happy choiris
wich the morning stars begin
brother love is raining or us brother love
binds man to man da do da da march we
on word victors in the miss of strife

[Love the da do da da. I guess she couldn't remember the words there.]

It was the perfect reminder to do myself what I'm always telling Zach to do. (He has a tendency to be an Eeyore, just like me.) Search for the joy in life.

Sue

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...April 22, 2009

Outside my window...it's blowy, rainy and cold. We were having sunny weather in the 70s earlier in the week.

I am thinking...about how even though I'm tired and sore right now (Cleaned all 3 buildings last night. Took me about 4 hours.) and I really, really don't feel like doing school, I'm happy. I'm content.

From the learning rooms...all the kids are quietly working. Zach's doing a chapter on "geometric measurements" in math, Drew's learning about the California gold rush, and Baylee's studying Spain.

I am thankful for...this home, this neighborhood, my family and friends.

From the kitchen...I'm thinking crockpot chicken and stuffing for tonight.

I am wearing...jeans that are now a good fit everywhere but the waist. Why is it that when jeans make your butt look good and are long enough in the leg, they're too big in the waist? And then when you try to fix it with a belt things get all bunched up wrong.

I am reading...I'm not reading much right now. I'm so tired at night. I haven't been following my couple shows I try to keep up with on Hulu, either.

I am hoping...for the nice weather to come back soon. It was uplifting.

I am creating...a cute bedroom for Baylee! We hung a pretty, pastel quilt on one wall, put down a little rug, and got purple curtains (her choice).

Around the house...Mike is helping me so much to keep things running smoothly. When I go to work in the evenings he serves and cleans up from supper, makes sure the kids get showers, and does lots of laundry.

One of my favorite things...lately is the show Gilmore Girls.

A few plans for the rest of the week...kid exchange this afternoon, Awana/youth group tonight, Bible study tomorrow, and Baylee was invited to a tea party on Sunday afternoon.

Here are some picture thoughts I am sharing with you...

Dancing with the cordless vacuum.

I love that they still play with Legos.

Yay! My hips aren't giant!

To read the Daybooks of others, join Peggy here.

Sue

Drew's Birthday Celebration!

Drew celebrated his birthday today by having his friend Nicholas over for go-carts and a sleepover. Nicholas is a great kid. He and Drew get together after school every Wednesday, plus they're in children's choir together. Nicholas played young Joseph in the latest musical. Anyway, they had a great time together!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sue

I. Am. So. Excited!

I told myself when I got down to a certain weight I'd gift myself with a one of these...

They're adult footie pjs! Cute, huh? I mean, the plan was I'd only wear them around in the evening and wouldn't wear them to bed at night. I'd spare Mike that. Anyway, about 20 pounds ago I thought they were adorable (And besides, they're very popular with celebrities. The website even says so.) and so cozy and warm. But now it's spring and I'm sort of, eh. They don't look as fun anymore. So instead I ordered a new pair of Eddie Bauer jeans in a size...12! Considering that when I graduated from college I wore a size 10 dress, that's not bad!


Sue

Falling Through the Cracks

Man. Things have gotten a little on the crazy side for me with fitting this new part time job into the mix. It feels like I'm going all the time now, always trying to think just far enough ahead that I don't miss anything, but missing stuff anyway. I was out shopping tonight at 11pm, because I realized earlier in the evening that I forgot to buy (Much less send. That'll be tomorrow, next day air.) my mom a birthday card and I forgot that I told Drew I'd make his favorite birthday cake for which I had no ingredients. 11:00 was literally the earliest I could go out and get what I needed, since tonight also included Bible study (I had to bring the main dish.) and then work. Plus I'm suddenly eating more. Just snacking and binging. Ugh. It's all good, though, as my friend Jen says. I'll do what I can do and that's the most I can worry about.

In other news, I sent off a deposit today for both Drew and Baylee to go to camp this summer. They're both excited, but Baylee is bringing it to a whole new level. This is her with the camp thing:

My little baby girl, who's practically a newborn for Pete's sake (Only 93 months old!), is doing the full-week option instead of the half-week. Hopefully I'll survive.

Sue

I Love This

This is the other YouTube creation I stumbled across quite awhile ago. I think somebody linked to it on their blog. I remember at first I wondered what in the world the man in the video thinks he's doing, but as I watched I found myself more and more fascinated by the whole thing. It's a video that makes you happy and gives you hope.



Sue

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Sometimes I'm struck by how beautiful my oldest son is. Is that wrong of me to say? That a boy is beautiful? Hopefully he'll never read this. I just think he's a gorgeous child and I've always thought so. Today I took this picture of him.

Nice, right? I may very well use it as his 8x10 14th year picture, because he's so close to 14 and it might be the best picture I get.

Now, compare that to this, also taken today.

I was like, "Oh, what a great picture of all the kids with their Easter outfits. Wait, what the...? What's that on his face? Is that gum?! Hanging out of his mouth?!" Yup. It is.

Then again maybe this should be his 14th year picture. It's actually much more true to life.


Sue

Happy Easter!

We just had the nicest Easter. Patty came over in the morning and we all went to church together, then afterward we spent the afternoon at the home of our new friends, Gerry and Bethany. Like so many of our friends, we met them through Baylee. She's a social magnet, meeting and instantly befriending other little girls (or our neighbors...or our neighbors' pets...or our neighbors' grandchildren...or the check-out lady in the store...), one thing leads to another, and pretty soon we're having play dates and eating Easter dinner together. And the cool thing about Gerry and Bethany and their two daughters, Lilly and Abby, is that they just recently moved here from Michigan. We have a ton in common with them. Today we all made food and just ate and talked and laughed the day away.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sue

Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, and So On

A few days ago an old friend of mine sent me this link. We had an on-campus apartment together our...what was it? Senior year in college? Junior? It's hard to remember because we only did the apartment thing for one semester before realizing we both missed the crazier, communal living of the dorm. Well, that and the food. We hated having to cook and ended up eating macaroni and cheese and ramon noodles every day for months. Anyway, for the little while we roomed together in that tiny apartment I have the best memories. We were two crazy ( in a Bible college kind of way) girls. One of the things we would do was sing along to her Sound of Music soundtrack. My friend, Jenny, was actually a really good singer. She did all the music things on campus, toured with the college singing group, etc. I was not a good singer. I always pretended to be the lesser known VonTrapp who couldn't carry a tune. The point is, she sent me this link and it brought back lots of good memories of that time together with her, but it's also a pretty amazing video all on its own. I kinda got choked up at the end!



Sue

Thank you!!! (WAYNE, LOOK HERE)

Mike told me that the best way to reach you is through my blog, so that's what I'm doing! (Just hearing that, by the way, put a big smile on my face.) Thank you for the birthday cards and money for Drew and me! They were delivered to the wrong address several days ago and the woman who lives there decided to bring it to us late last night while she was out walking her dogs. I have to tell you, Drew was excited about the money for sure, but what really got him all lit up was that musical card. He loves it and...thank you very much...was up playing "Celebrate Good Times" very early this morning.

Speaking of Drew, I have a funny story for you that reminds me of all the things you've told us about growing up with Uncle Larry. A couple nights ago Drew got completely fed up and he started moving all his stuff out of the bedroom he shares with Zach and up into the schoolroom. He set himself all up with a sleeping bag and everything. When he was done he came back downstairs, marched up to Mike, and announced, "I've been thinking, and I figured out Zach is moody because he's going through pube!"

Mike said, "Umm. I think you mean puberty."

"Okay, yeah. That. Anyway, I'm sick of it! I'm moving out until he's done!"

He was serious! It took awhile, too, to convince him that he wasn't going to camp out on the upstairs landing for the next four years. Poor kid. LOL

Thank you again, Wayne! I love you and miss you! Plan a trip to see us again one of these days!

Sue

"Magic" Quiche

A friend asked me for my spinach and feta quiche recipe, so I'll just put it here. It's called "magic" because it's made with Bisquick and forms its own crust as it bakes. I've made real quiche before, too, many times, but this kind is really good and much easier.

Spinach and Feta Quiche

• enough drained frozen spinach to fill pie plate about 1/4 of the way full

• 1/2 cup crumbled feta

• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk

• 3/4 cup Bisquick baking mix

• 3 eggs

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease pie plate. Put spinach and feta cheese into pie plate. Combine milk, Bisquick, eggs, salt, and pepper into a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. (Or you can use a blender.) Pour mixture into pie plate on top of spinach and feta. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

If you're in Weight Watchers, cut the quiche into 6 pieces, each piece being 4 points.

Also, this exact recipe can be used for any combination you want. I've made ham&cheddar, spinach&swiss, broccoli&cheddar, bacon&cheddar, you can add onions, you could do sausage, whatever. Just eye it. You want your pie plate 1/3 to almost 1/2 full of "filling" before you pour in the egg mixture.

Sue

Two Big Events

First of all, my middle baby turned 11 today! Drew's growing up so fast. He's the age Zach was when we moved here. Wow. He's still my sweetheart -- fairly easygoing, fun loving, hard working in school, hard playing outside. We're going to have a birthday sleepover for him in a couple weeks with go-carts and a couple friends, so I'll post about that when it happens.

Secondly, Zach won Student of the Week today at the clinic! He improved on every different type of reading score (basically things having to do with fluency and word attack skills) that he and his teacher have been keeping track of. He's up in the 80 and 90 percent for everything! Plus his attitude is improving. He went through a really rough patch after the honeymoon phase was over, and now I think he's simply realizing that he controls his own destiny here.

That's all I have for today!

Sue

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today... April 6, 2009

Outside my window... it's gorgeous and sunny! The trees are budding and the flowers are blooming.

I am thinking... about how a few of us in the family are sick with colds. It's no fun.

From the learning rooms... we're getting back into the swing of things this week after spring break.

I am thankful for... naps on Sunday afternoon.

From the kitchen... comes a "Keeping It Real" photo of the day I let Baylee paint.

I am wearing... I hate to say this but I'm wearing pajamas again. I do dress sometimes! Today I'm feeling rotten, though.

I am reading... still reading The Hollow and The Time Travelers Wife.

I am hoping... that work goes well this week and I really get into the swing of it.

I am creating... a clean, cozy home.

I am hearing... It's pretty quiet around here. Zach and Drew are watching something on TV and Baylee is resting in bed. She's sick, too.

Around the house... Mike is thinking about fixing up the yard again for the year with flowers and bark.

One of my favorite things... is getting stickers at Weight Watchers. Yes, I'm in first grade.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Weight Watchers meeting tonight, clinic tomorrow, Bible study on Thursday, and Easter on Sunday! Plus work in the evenings and school during the day.

Here are two picture thoughts I am sharing with you...

I found this one by browsing through our archive of pictures. I have no idea how old it is or who took it, but it sure is cute. What a happy cat.

This is probably my favorite Washington picture. I took it from a moving car one day a couple years ago as we were passing Mount Rainier.

Sue

Random Thoughts on Weight Loss

There was a time I had a blog just to talk about weight loss as it pertains to me. It lasted about two seconds, give or take. I'm just not good at the whole specialized blog thing. I lose interest in that level of navel gazing, even when it's my own navel. What does work for me, though, is to have this blog where anything that fits under the heading of "life" goes. A couple diet related thoughts have been chasing around in my mind, and since that's a big part of my life right now I decided it's okay to blog them.

Awhile back my WW leader said something I thought was so good that I made it into a sign and put it on my fridge. She said, "It's hard to be fat, it's hard to lose weight, and it's hard to maintain the loss. Choose your hard." Man, that spoke to me. It is hard no matter where you're at! I hate being fat. It makes me feel horrible in so many different ways. In fact, I think it's the hardest of the hard. Then again, I hate losing weight. Sometimes, I won't lie, it sucks. Last night I worked hard cleaning two buildings, then came home a little physically hungry but very emotionally hungry. I wanted some leftover chocolate cake in the worst way. Incidentally, something I've noticed is I start the day with barrels and barrels of will power. In fact, I don't have any trouble sticking to the plan in the morning and almost have to force myself to eat breakfast because I'm barely hungry. As the day goes on, though, the barrels become buckets and the buckets become cups and by about 8pm I'm working with a thimbleful of will power. And it's not even that my stomach is growling; it's more in my head. Anyway, you know what I've been doing? Going to bed. That's my way to put myself out of my misery. I read in bed because I don't have food association issues there like I do watching TV or sitting at the computer. So far it's working.

The other thing that's been working for me is the concept of quality over quantity. Every other time I've tried to lose weight it's been the opposite. I've been concerned about exactly how much food I'd be getting, no matter the taste. In the long run that's so unsatisfying and boring. I need to eat things I like! Tonight Mike's taking me out and I chose Macaroni Grill. Holy shock when I went online and saw the point value of their food. My favorite thing they serve (and pretty much in the world) is the Penne Rustica at about 35 points!!! But I'm having it, half of it, for 17. I'll plan the rest of my day around it. It's good to be able to enjoy the normal things in life sometimes with just a little bit of planning and a mindset that says, "Less is enough."

Sue

Look What My Hubby Did!

He had this surprise birthday cake waiting for me at our Bible study group tonight. He even got chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate creme filling, when he doesn't even really like chocolate all that much, but he knows I adore it. I'm lucky.

(Yup. He calls me Suzy. I let him.)

Sue

Happy Birthday to Me

It's my 38th birthday and it's been wonderful! I've been so busy this last week or so that it really snuck up on me. On March 31st I looked at the calendar and realized it was two days away! I've gotten so many great, thoughtful gifts. My kids all gave me handmade cards which made me smile. This one is from Drew. Notice the pop-out people.

Baylee also gave me one of her trophies, but she crossed out her name and wrote mine on there. I was like, "Oh...honey...did you do this with permanent marker? It's....umm....thank you..." Sigh. LOL

I got a bouquet of flowers delivered to the house from my best girlfriend in the world, Melissa. Isn't it gorgeous? It was such a nice surprise!

My mom sent me something she knitted called a "prayer shawl." It's a thick, soft little blanket that's the perfect size to wrap around yourself when you watch TV or sit at the computer. I love it!

And finally, Mike's mom gave me money toward the trip Zach and I are going to take to Michigan this fall! Thank you, Patty!!!

I feel very loved.

Sue

PS: Oh, I almost forgot! Mike's taking me out this weekend for a birthday date. I can't wait!

And to think. I can't even reach the orange button.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today -- April 1, 2009

Outside my window...it's raining and snowing at the same time.

I am thinking...about my new job cleaning buildings again. This time I have 3 buildings that are my responsibility and I clean one, two, or all three of them Monday through Saturday. I went through the training this past week and tonight I start by myself.

From the learning rooms...nothing is going on today! We're taking a few days off because the school district we're in is on spring break. We've been having neighborhood kids over pretty much nonstop.

I am thankful for...our Bible study group. We've got a new family coming now which I'm really excited about. They're new Christians and just all around cool people. We've been getting to know them and Baylee and their daughter Lilly have had a playdate and a sleepover. Here they are giving themselves makeovers.

Also in Bible study we're starting a series on forgiveness called The Peacemaker. I think it'll be awesome.

From the kitchen...there's a mess of breakfast stuff all over the counters. I'll get to it later. Tonight for supper I think we'll have spaghetti.

I am wearing...pajamas still!

I am reading...two books right now: The Hollow, by Nora Roberts and The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger.

I am hoping...that I keep up the motivation I've found in putting my daily food journal on my blog. It's been working great for me to know that maybe people are checking it once in awhile. I've got about a half a pound to go before I hit 20 pounds lost.

I am creating...nothing, but Mike and Drew created a car to race in the Awana Grand Prix this year.

I am hearing...Baylee "secretly" wrapping my birthday present out in the living room. It's my birthday tomorrow and she found something from her bedroom to give me. Hmm. Hopefully it's not alive.

Around the house...it's a little messy, but relaxed.

One of my favorite things...is a new brand of cookie I discovered called Le Petite Ecolier. They're from France and they're SO GOOD.

A few plans for the rest of the week...are Awana/youth group tonight for the kids, Bible study tomorrow, my work in the evenings, and a birthday date with Mike this weekend.

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing...

Drew, when he was four, I think.

To read the Daybooks of others, join Peggy here.

Sue