Here's Hoping for a better June!

OK. June just HAS to be a better month for our household. It started off with the kids and me having pinkeye. Then, I got a wicked sunburn on my shoulders (I remembered to put sunscreen on everywhere...but my shoulders). Emma & I worked one whole day in one of our community garden spots (YAY!). And last Friday, the 23rd, our basement flooded. Not even a tiny little bit of water. The entire basement was covered in 4 1/2" of water. It happened between 11 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday. Garry & I were lucky that we had family here in town who was able to help us. My dad came over after hearing about it, after running to the hardware store to get an additional sump pump and galoshes for us to wear. Garry's sister & brother-in-law came over and helped all day, too. And, mom came and took the kids back to their house, along with a bunch of clothes and sheets to wash that had gotten wet. Also in the mix was our builder, who spent the better part of each day Saturday, Sunday and Monday at our place working on things. In addition to having to completely empty our possessions out the basement, we had to tear out all of the carpet & padding. We were able to get a temporary storage site from our builder, and Garry & Rick (my brother-in-law) made countless trips to the storage facility (conveniently located right behind our house). then, they made a trip to the dump (we lost a bunch of stuff from the kids' toy room...books, puzzles, games, etc., plus all the padding from under the carpet). We hauled all but 1 giant piece of carpet outside and onto the driveway to dry out. We set up 9 big fans, and a dehumidifier. 8 days later, we are mostly dried out, with the exception of the family room. The giant piece of carpet that is down there has been on 2x4s to help with circulation while drying. however, it is not drying out, and in fact, seems to be as wet as ever. I am going to try to round up a few guys to help me move it outside today while Garry is at work. Also, I will try to take off all of the baseboard trim today. It is warped now, and doesn't lay flush to the wall anymore, so it will have to go. And, we've got moisture in the drywall and insulation, going up about a foot high. It's time to really get the rest of that moisture out of there! So, making my long story short, May really sucked, and I hope that june is better. I do count my blessings every day, and am thankful that it wasn't a TOTAL disaster, and really only minor things were destoyed. I can't imagine losing everything in a major fire, flood or tornado. I will post again as soon as life settles down a bit.

Pinkeye sucks

Did I happen to mention that pinkeye sucks? First, Matt had it (but, I must have been in denial about it, because I was sure it was just his allergies acting up). But, when Emma got "ooky eyes", it was a little harder to deny. Then, when I got the crud, there was NO denying it. The kids cleared up in just a few days. I, on the other hand, was blessed with scarlet red & crusty eyes for only 11 days. It was great. However, we have now determined that I am alelrgic to 3 different pinkeye medications. Lucky me.

arts cow

Funny name, I know, but I was just introduced to this cool new photo printing site. Right now, they are doing a promotion where you get 400 free prints (4x6 & 5x7s) and a free 8x8 album just for signing up. It's a free service, much like snapfish, so I thought that I would give it a try. Why don't you, too? Click on this link, then invite everyone you know!
http://www.artscow.com/default.aspx?Ref=354191

gymnastics

Emma had her gymnastics recital from her last class. I was busy taking pictures, when I remembered that I could shoot video on my camera! So, I will put a couple of short clips on for you to see. Please excuse the laughing in the background...I could hardly keep the camera still, I was laughing so hard! My sweet little gymnast!

My funny mohawk boy

We finally had to get Matt's hair cut!

More from Easter

Easter

These are just a few pictures from Easter. I think the look on Emma's face is priceless, in the picture where she's looking at her brother. I can't remember why, but she was really peeved with him at that moment. Also, Emma really wanted an Easter bonnet to wear.

Papa's birthday!

Another snow day in March

We made a monster snowman family with the snow from the last snow storm. We made huge snowmen for each of us. The snow has been so wet and heavy...everything is SUPER green now!

SNOW DAY!

Last Friday, we had a blizzard (snow day...yay!), and when we were finally able to get outside, the snow in our driveway was mid-thigh. We had the brilliant idea of making "snowball mountain" for the kids, and put all of the snow that we shovelled into a huge pile just off the driveway in our front yard, so the kids (and us) could sled down it. It actually was a pretty long little run for the kids...they ended up at the end of the driveway! The last picture is of Garry, piled high with the 2 kids, and they went down it backwards. Snowball mountain is almost just a memory now, as the temperatures ever since the blizzard have been in the 60's, and possible 72 today. It provided hours and hours of fun, though. By the way, in addition to both Garry & I going down Snowball Mountain, Emma got her grandma to go down with her, too! Fun for all!

Short & Sweet

I haven't been posting as much for a few reasons. First, I got a wicked case of the stomach flu (or something) on Easter, and pretty much camped out on the bathroom floor for about 24 hours. No fun at all. Second, I started a new job at a local health food store, Staple & Spice Market. I love it! But, I am working a lot, and when I am not working, I am spending time with the kiddos...unti lthey go to sleep...and then I am trying to catch up on the things that should have been done around here. So, needless to say, blogging isn't going to be too high on the priority list for a little bit. I'll do what I can, though!

I Love this picture

10 Things About Me Rules

Here's how you play. Once you've been tagged you have to write a blog of ten weird, random things, facts or habits about yourself. At the end, you choose five people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them to be tagged. Don't forget to leave them a comment "You're it!" and tell them to read your blog. You can't tag the person who tagged you. Since you can't tag that person back, let her know when you've posted your blog so she can read your answers.

10 Things About Me...I was tagged by Sara

1. I can do this very strange clover-leaf-thing with my tongue. Sorry for the possibly disturbing image...yikes, my nose looks enormous!

2. I have quite the knack for breaking my toes. This is especially surprising, given how graceful I am (please note that this last statement is DRIPPING with sarcasm).

3.) I really don't watch a lot of TV, but have become addicted to "Make Me A Supermodel". I can't believe that I have just admitted this.

4.) If you know me, you know that I love to bake. I make the best cookies in the world. This is not an exaggeration, or me just talking myself up. I do make the best cookies in the world. Really.

5.) I love doing anything craftsy. I adore sewing. I have fun knitting. I enjoy scrapbooking (although I rarely find the time to do it). I get a kick out of making jewelry. I LOVE to make things. I truly believe, upon seeing something in a store or craft fair, that I can do it better. I should get off my high horse.

6.) I dream of having a cute little sandwich shop/bakery.

7.) I am fairly shy, and have been in my comfortable bubble for quite a while, and so have decided within this past year, to step out of this comfort zone, and have done a few things. I have become a demonstrator for Uppercase Living (mostly to meet new people). And, I have just accepted a great opportunity and have taken a new job at Staple & Spice Market (a health food store), and will be leaving Someone's In the Kitchen, where I began working 10 years ago!

8.) I was a French major in college, and planned to minor in Russian (didn't happen). I also studied German for a year, and have learned a decent amount of Spanish on my own. I love languages, and regularly speak to my kids in French. I also read them books in French at night.

9.) My senior year in high school was bad. School wasn't bad, everything with me was bad. I was in "West Side Story" for our spring musical, which was right around prom. I was a Shark girl, and, along with the other Shark girls, thought that it would be a great idea to self-tan before the play, so we would look Puerto Rican. We looked orange. Plus, for prom, I had 2 dates. Believe it or not, that wasn't a fun time. Ugh.

10.) I find a strange satisfaction in ironing. It's very soothing and relaxing. PLUS, there really is nothing as wonderful as freshly-laundered and ironed pillowcases. I am weird.

Tag! You're it:
Amanda-my sister, the "good" sister
Amy-my sister, the "rebel" sister
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I don't know if anyone else blogs...if you do, consider yourself tagged, and let me know!

Emma...the gymnast

Have I mentioned before that Emma is taking gymnastics at the Y? Every Wednesday morning, she puts on her little leotard, and we go to her class. She does all of the events (except vault, of course!). She loves the balance beam (because she gets to twirl ribbons while she does it), and she loves crawling around on the floor over and through all of the obstacles. She is getting very strong, too, from all of her hanging on the bars and the beam. This summer, we are going to put Matt in a parent/child gymnastics class, too. Emma did that last fall, and has moved up to pre-school gymnastics. Man, do you remember playing gymnastics as little kids? Especially you, Sara Lee Pie...we ALWAYS scored 10 on every event (especially the balance beam in my basement!), and we always wanted to be Mary Lou Retton. Fun times... (oh, sorry about the crooked picture)

The dresses!

As promised, here are the pictures of the first 2 little dresses that I sewed for Emma. She is really proud of these dresses, and wants to show them to everyone! I am happy with how they turned out. Of course, as I was trying to take Emma's picture, Matty decided that he had to be in on the action! The purple dress with the appliqueed flower is actually a halter dress, and I think that I am going to do more in this style. The polka dot dress ties at each shoulder, and is also cute, but I really just love the halter! I have just pinned the pattern for the next dress...a red bandana-type print! Stay tuned!

I have become "THAT" mom...

I am hopelessly addicted to sewing! Last night, I made two, YES 2 little sundresses for Emma, and they turned out absolutely adorable! I have become the mom that makes her daughter's clothes! She had a sleepover with her grandma last night (the girl LOVES sleepovers!), and I can't wait to show them to her. I will take pictures and post them when she comes home. She knew that I was making one, and was very helpful while we worked on it together. I let her help me guide the fabric through the machine, and she helped me thread the needle, too. These dresses are going to be perfect, especially for the spring and summer, but would work with a long-sleeved t-shirt when it is cooler, or a little sweater over the top! Both dresses were ridiculously easy to make, too, so the poor girl will probably end up with a million of them! I am scheming about making one (or more) for my great-niece Brooke (who is 11 months old today), and possibly even for my other great-niece Jayla, who will be 5 years old next month. I can't wait to go find some more cute patterns and fabric for Emma. I will keep you posted!

Call me crazy, part 2...

Oh yeah, Easter is coming soon. I have not had an abundance of opportunities to sew lately, so I have decided that I want to make Emma's Easter dress! Of course, it will have to be in purple. I swear this girl is channeling my younger sister Amy! As soon as I pick a pattern and fabric, I will post some pictures, as well as when I have completed the dress.

Call me crazy...

So, call me crazy, but I have begun the ritual of spring cleaning! Today was actually a super-productive day, even though I went to work tonight for a few hours! I thoroughly cleaned my kitchen, bathroom, living room and dining room today (and just finished (most of) our bedroom as well...tricky, since Garry was sound asleep in bed! Ha! I just have to clean out underneath our bed next. I want to go through my cabinets in the kitchen soon, and purge, purge, purge! Actually, if I could just get the kitchen to "make sense" and be organized, I would be thrilled! Tomorrow morning, before I go to work, I am going to do my entryway (I sorted through everyone's basket today, so it should be a breeze). Then, my next place to tackle will be the kids' room. Their room has been a bit of a frustration for me, because, in addition to Matt's crib and Emma's bed, I also moved in Matt's toddler bed. So far, he hasn't really wanted to sleep in it, but he loves to climb on board and play! I am really stumped in here...when I figure it all out, I will post some pictures (but don't anticipate that it will be too quick...I am guessing that I might be able to do it on Friday...or Saturday). Emma has also asked me recently for a pretty purple bedroom. After I get the basement all cleaned, I will start looking at paint chips for the extra bedroom (it will probably be her room in a few years, so we'll just paint it pretty for now). Speaking of the basement, I am hoping that I can get most of it done over the course of the next week...at least, I know I can do the laundry room, family room, bathroom and playroom. After that, my next challenge will be that other bedroom, and finally the storage area under the steps. Keep your fingers crossed that I will be able to continue with my motivation! Actually, the motivation isn't so much the problem, as the little tornadoes that tend to follow me around!

Proud Obama mama & Obama babies

So, I am a very enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama. Evidently, my 2 little ones have tuned into this, as anytime we see him on TV, or on a magazine or the internet, Emma hollers out "I know that man! It's Obama!" Or, if I ask her if she'll do something (empty the silverware basket from the dishwasher, pick up her clothes, you name it), she'll chant "Yes we can". She's so silly. Matthew kind of bumbles his name a bit, but still knows who we're talking about. Be prepared, you will probably encounter more of me on my soapbox in the future! Goooooooooo Obama!

An update on the cookie madness

I just pulled the last 2 sheets of cookies from the oven about 30 minutes ago. I had a little reprieve when I ran out of flour and had to wait for mom to bring more. All-in-all, though, I would say that it wasn't bad. I have just under 180 sugar cookies and 90 chocolate chip cookies. I still have to frost these babies, but I think that I will wait until MY babies are asleep for that! Now, think happy little thoughts for my mom being able to get all of these out to school tomorrow morning in her lime green VW bug!

Cookie madness

To paraphrase a little ditty from "Alice in Wonderland":
I bake, I bake
for a very important date.
No time to say hello, goodbye,
I bake and bake and bake and bake!
So, I am helping out my mom's foreign language club at the high school where she teaches. They are doing a Valentine's cookie fundraiser, and yours truly is the cookie baker! I have completed 90 awesome chocolate chip cookies (although, while I was at work for 1 1/2 hours this morning, the cookie monster apparently attacked the stash, because there are now a few missing cookies...looks like I'll have to do another batch later!), and now the REAL fun begins. I need to make 150-180 large heart-shaped sugar cookies! Anyway, I would love to babble on and on and on, but I really need to get my rear in gear and head into the kitchen.

Emma...the newest Someone's In the Kitchen "Employee"

So, Emma has been begging for quite awhile to go to work with me at Someone's In the Kitchen. I finally decided that last night was as good a night as any for her to go with me. I am so lucky to work at such a great place that didn't really care if I brought my little girl with me for a couple of hours. I sewed this apron for her yesterday afternoon. The apron itself is really cute, but I think that the pockets look goofy. She was so excited to go to work with me. She chose a dress, tights and shoes that she wanted to wear, and looked adorable. She was the perfect little helper, too. She helped me put a shipment of dish towels away, and she arranged a display of "tickle brushes", known in the culinary world as silicone basting brushes. When it was time to close, she helped me lock the doors, sweep and vaccuum. What a good little helper! She was especially proud of her apron, and wanted to wear it to bed last night. I didn't let her do that, but she did put it on right away this morning!

Emma...the photographer

Before Christmas, Emma had been asking for a camera. Santa came through and brought her a really fun pink Fisher-Price digital camera for kids. That camera rarely leaves her side! I have been really impressed with some of the pictures that she has taken. I would like to think that she's got a really artsy side...taking pictures of her shoes, doorknobs, just really random things. AND, she has taken a few really good pictures of me.

Hooray Giants!

I just had to post that I am thrilled about the Super Bowl. This was the first really interesting game that I remember watching (at least since Troy Aikman was playing! Tee hee hee). I was rooting for the Giants, and am happy that they won! Our Super Bowl Party was loads of fun. All of the kids ransacked the house during the game, but had a blast together. The adults had a very enjoyable time, too. We are lucky to have such good friends!
Oh, an update on the crazy purple quilt. I got 2 rows of blocks completed, and really am not that thrilled with the outcome. I think that I am going to step back and rethink my process. I will keep you updated!

Happy February!

Well, we have made it to Groundhog's Day, and that silly Puxatawney (?) Phil says that we are going to have another 6 weeks of winter. Hooray! I hope that we get a humongo snow storm & are homebound for a few days! I can hear your groans now!
I found this great site through my sister Amanda for putting music on the blog. I am a die-hard Coldplay addict, and put every song on my "playlist" as I could find. There are some funny little songs in here...I just love music that makes me want to dance!
Despite everyone (except me!) being sick over the holidays, we did have a nice time. I got the BEST present that I could have ever imagined...a sewing machine!!! I am so excited about it, and have already sewn several projects, but probably the best thing that I have done is to hem all of my pants and jeans that were really getting frayed. I have almost finished Quiet Books for both Emma and Matthew, and they love them. Emma has decided that her favorite color is purple...YIKES! I think she is channeling her Aunt Amy! So, I decided to make her a pretty purple quilt, since I have a bunch of crazy striped fat quarters in fun colors. Of course, it might end up downstairs in the family room. I found some really fun fabric today, that I am almost thinking I would rather use for Emma's quilt...it's from the "Dick and Jane" books...you know, "See Dick run. See Jane run. Go, Spot, go!". There were several coordinating fabrics in that series, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it! Purple just seems so dull now... sigh.
Yesterday I was in the mood to cook dinner. I have a fantastic cookbook "Real Simple Meals", and there are a number of recipes within that I have been wanting to try. I decided on Chicken Cacciatore. YUM. I made a huge pot, and we all ate it last night, tonight, and will have it again for lunch on Monday. Try this recipe. It is DELICIOUS! http://food.realsimple.com/realsimple/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1174009 I doubled the recipe and followed it for the most part, but used boneless, skinless chicken breasts (instead of cutting up a chicken...I just can't do that), and didn't use any wine, because I didn't want to open up any of my bottles just for the recipe. It turned out great, and didn't take too long!
Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, and we are having our friends over for a Super Bowl party. We will be having a taco bar (very kid-friendly) and just a bunch of munchies. It should be a lot of fun. In total, there will be 8 adults and 7 kids (Emma & Henry are approaching 3 1/2, Brady will be 3 next month, Tanner is almost 2 1/2, Matthew is 19 months, Camden is 18 months, and Elsie is 16 months! Next year there will be another little one added into the mix ~NO, I AM NOT MAKING AN ANNOUNCEMENT HERE; WE HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE DUE IN MAY. It is always so much fun to get our families together, and we feel so lucky to have these friends with whom we have so much in common.
I have a few resolutions that I feel I should probably make public, so I have a better chance at sticking to them! They are, in no particular order:

* De-clutter the house, and get to a point where I don't have a minor panic attack if someone drops by unannounced. I should probably clarify a few things here. My house isn't entirely chaotic, basically it's just the basement, where the tornados (a.k.a. Emma and Matthew) hit on a daily basis. Also, I don't really ahve panic attacks when people come by, I would just like the house to look nicer.

*Blog on a (more) regular basis. 'Nuff said.

* Make more things! I have loads of sewing, knitting and jewelry projects that I would love to do. I also need to catch up on my scrapbooking...I'm terrribly behind, and think that I need to blame it on the digital camera, since I don't print out every picture anymore! Luckily, I have friends who are in the same scrapbooking doghouse, and we have made plans to work on ours together.

* Excercise more regularly. Last fall, I had been going to the "Early Birds Swim Aerobics" at the YMCA, but haven't been for quite awhile. I love being in the water, and really want to do this for myself.

* Grow all of my veggies this summer in the garden at home and at the community garden, too. I love to garden, and want to branch out a little more this year and try some new things, as well as bigger quantities of other things! Also, I would like to try composting...I don't know if I can convince others in my household to go for that, though.

*Get a little "greener". I have to laugh at myself, because sometimes I feel like I have become a hippy-mommy, growing my food, recycling everything, using planet-friendly cleaners in the house, and thinking of homeschooling the kids (at least for pre-school next fall). Who would have thunk?

I have been working a lot more, and am so excited that our spring cooking classes are going to be starting up again in another month! Check our website within the next month to see the great list of classes! I think that I heard today that there are 31. Yeah! www.someonesinthekitchensd.com
Well, Emma, Garry & his mom are at the Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo tonight for the PRCA Rodeo. The three of them go together every year, and have a blast. I was looking forward to an evening with Matt, but he fell asleep over an hour ago! I should take advantage of this time and get my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow (I teach preschool Sunday School at church), as well as my devotion for the high school youth group that I lead (also at my church). BUT, I think that I will start working on that purple quilt, and maybe watch a movie. Tee hee hee.