The Strickland's

our eyes are on You

2012-02-06T14:24:00.002-05:00

I have some stuff to post this week, but I have been telling Noah "5 minutes till nap time" for at least 45 minutes...so there's no time for a full post at the moment. I'll try and get them posted later. for now though, I just wanted to share a new song with you that Randy and the band did at church yesterday. It's been a favorite of our family for a few weeks now. Can't wait to sing it with the worship team next week! It's called "Exalted One" by the Elevation Worship band in Charlotte, NC. It's like they took the words right out of my mouth. The words are so true for our little family right now.

Enjoy!

Life.

2012-01-25T18:01:00.001-05:00

My sweet girl helping me by bringing down the laundry from upstairs. She is really starting to act "old". I know this may seem kinda hilarious to those of you with older kids. That I would refer to my 4 year old as being "old". But since she's the first born, I haven't had to watch this transition before from toddler to child. She wants to know the ins and outs of everything. She has such a strong opinion of what she wants. She loves to try and get a rise out of me by saying something she knows is silly. Every once in awhile she'll look at me the right way and I'll catch a glimpse of that baby face and I'll wonder where my baby went. I wouldn't trade one second of this time with her though getting "old". ;)

As for the rest of life..

We're just going with the flow these days. We've had a ton of ups and downs. Today I just made up my mind that "ups and downs" are just going to be a way of life for us, I suppose! We have some big hopes for this year. We "hope" that this year we will make more family time away from the home. We haven't been good about taking vacations just the four of us. We usually spend our extra time visiting family. This year we "hope" to take some time just the four of us. We "hope" that this year our family will grow with another baby. We "hope" that Randy will one day get a full time job leading worship. We can go on and on with desires of our heart, but I'm thankful we have more then just "hopes and dreams".

This morning as I was working on a lesson from my ladies Bible study at church, I was reading this verse that I have probably read a gazillion times:

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

And even though I have read it often, it never gets old. We can be sad about a situation, but yet joyful because we know that in the end it is going to work out for our benefit and God's glory. My absolute favorite part of it is the end. That we will be "mature and complete, not lacking anything." I can't imagine how many trials, how many lessons-learned-the-hard-way it must take to finally be complete and lacking nothing, but I'm thankful that God is chiseling away at me little by little!

Mess

2012-01-17T10:52:00.001-05:00

Being a mom is seriously not for the weak!! Sometimes I like to describe it as being on a treadmill all day. It's like you're running and running, but some days you never actually get anywhere. I notice this the most with house cleaning. I like to have things put away where they go in the house, but in order to accomplish this, I must literally clean all. day. long. No breaks. Because one little break and it will all fall back to shambles! This can be really exhausting and especially frustrating when you have a day where you just want to take it easy. Like last Friday. I was just feeling SO tired so I decided I wasn't going to stress over the house. I had a great day, but it's now Tuesday and I am finally 90% caught back up from the mess my children made on that one day. Any other moms feel my pain???? My kids are actually pretty darn good kids. They don't even make that big of a mess and it is still really bad.

The only thing I have found to help is a corny little cleaning schedule I found online that gives you daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning tasks. It doesn't help with the preschooler induced mess everywhere, but it has helped me to accomplish some "deep cleaning" in the midst of the normal-cleanup-treadmill-run.

But anyways....now that I've had my moment to pout and vent. I was really going somewhere else with this post! In the evenings now that my kids are getting older, I typically put them in the tub at night to ~~play~~ get clean and while they are in there, I pick up around the upstairs. Multi tasking at it's finest. It's one of the luxuries I can enjoy now that they don't need constant supervision in the tub. The bathroom is upstairs so I can hear them while I clean up the miscellaneous toys and such strung around. The other night while I was doing this I had to run down stairs and grab my camera because I had one of those sweet mommy moments. I think God gives us these as a way of saying "I know it's hard, but look closer and enjoy the sweet, simple, things that only a Mama can enjoy." And so I did.

See, as a whole, the little things here and there around the room just look like a mess.

But as I started picking them up to put them away, I saw the signs of my creative, imaginative kiddos.

That love to make believe.

All of the mess, just signs of an innocent day well spent.

Playing and laughing in an imaginary world.

and I suddenly wasn't so tired of picking up their toys.

Refreshed enough to finish the bath. Put them to bed. And pray for another day spent with them.

Picking up their toys.

Get Off the Bench!

2012-01-16T12:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Randy had the opportunity to speak at our church. Our church has three core values that we try to live out. They are Deepen, Do, Develop and Randy spoke on "Do". Do something to serve others using your talents and gifts. He did such a good job. He made so many great points about how good our intentions often are to help and serve others, but most of the time we don't put any action into them. When we are just sitting on the bench watching we aren't any help, but the "game changes" when we put action into our words and go DO something. It changes when we let Christ take control and start living for Him and Do-ing for him. He challenged people to get into action and do something that matters for the Kingdom of God. It was a great message and I really think people were challenged and inspired by it. I think Randy enjoyed it, too, but I know he is so relieved that it's behind him now. There is so much preparation and stress trying to make sure you are saying the right things that God wants you to say. I have been SO nervous for him!!!!! I have so much respect for our Pastor, Jason and my sweet friend Lora, his wife. She does such a wonderful job at supporting him and after having a tiny glimpse into the pressure she experiences weekly, I am happy to hand the job back over! I'm looking forward to having Randy back behind the guitar where he is comfortable and it comes easily to him :)) Still, I am beyond proud of what an awesome job he did. If you get a chance, you should definitely stop and listen to it. This is the live recording so the video quality is pretty poor. I'll post the better one when they get done with it, but I was too anxious to wait.

His actual message starts about 18 minutes in...

It's YOU!

2012-01-13T13:47:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 2:1 (MSG)

1 Good friend, take heart what I'm telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life. 2 Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom; set your heart on a life of Understanding. 3 That's right- if you make insight your priority, and won't take no for an answer, 4 Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt, 5 Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours; you'll have come upon the Knowledge of God.

6 And here's why: God gives out Wisdom free, is plain spoken in Knowledge and Understanding. 7 He's a rich mine of Common Sense for those who live well, a personal bodyguard to the candid and sincere. 8 He keeps his eye on all who live honestly, and pays special attention to his loyally committed ones.

I was just reading this verse earlier and loved the reminder that God wants us to have His Wisdom. He's ready to hand it out to us if only we would ask for it and be willing to listen for it! So so SO often I get in the same rut of trying to handle everything myself and figure out all of the details. When I can't make it work on my own then I start asking God to help. I'm sure every time God is just shaking His head at me again. I can imagine He may be thinking "when will she finally learn?!?" I'd love to say I'm getting better, but I'm not. Surrendering is hard for me. Asking for Wisdom is hard for me. Maybe because I know God will most likely pull me out of my comfort zone once again. But it is the desire of my heart.

"All I want in this world is more of YOU and less of ME"

Jesus>Religion

2012-01-11T22:00:00.001-05:00

The Letter N Story

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is a little story that Ella's class put together about the Letter N. Each child was allowed to add to the story on their turn. The result is too cute.

The Letter N Story by Miss Angela and Miss Pat's Class

Tori: Letter N was at home and was eating breakfast. N then went to the grocery store

Ella: He bought some juice and groceries, and he bought fruit and apples. And he bought some crayons.

Kaden: Letter N went to the gas station. Then, he went back to the grocery store.

Ayden: He got bananas and apples, a pear, an orange, and glasses. He got stairs, tables, wheels for his car, and hair.

Parker: Letter N had a nose.

Mateo: Letter N lived in a nest and he lived in a nose. Eggs lived in the nest.

Dominick: Letter N is at my home. He played with me and called friends.

Jaxson: The letter N had crayons in his shirt. A baby bird put the eggs in the nest.

Adi: I love Cheetos. The letter N loved Cheetos, too. I have crazy hair in the night.

Maesie: N loves Cheetos. N loves friends. N loves his heart.

Kaylee: I like Doritos. N likes Doritos, too.

Clair Medwick: There are eggs in the nest. A bird feeds it worms. The eggs hatch. The letter N gave them food.

Clair Mallet: The letter N likes big trucks. He likes birds. He likes his friends. He likes his fire truck.

Peyton: The letter N likes his car. He goes into his fire truck, then sees a fire.

Anh: Letter N keeps cars. We wash it.

Matthew: Birds have N's on their back while they are flying in the wind.

Training Wheels

2012-01-10T18:02:00.001-05:00

My silly little Ella. She is SO my daughter. For the last month she has been asking on and off to have the training wheels taken off her bike. Before we moved, we really didn't have many opportunities for the kids to ride their bikes since our neighborhood didn't have side walks and we didn't feel safe having them on the road while they were still so unpredictable. (think car coming and oblivious preschooler riding right towards it.) Our new neighborhood has sidewalks and is really kid friendly so the kids have been riding all over the place on their outside toys. But anyways, back to my story and the reason for this post. The weekend before last, Ella was asking again about taking her training wheels off so Randy granted her wish and took them off. She was really nervous, but she was pretty determined, too. It took her a couple of wobbly tries and in no time she was riding really well on her own. Randy and I were so proud! She needed help getting started, but was riding for a pretty long distance before she would get scared and turn towards the grass to jump off. We thought training wheels were a thing of her past until completely out of nowhere....she just bursted into tears. She said it was too hard and she wasn't good at it and that she wanted her training wheels back on. She was SO upset. Randy was sort of baffled, but he put her training wheels back on and she was back on her way.

I'm sure to most guys, girls and their emotions just don't make sense. She probably doesn't make sense to some girls, too. But she makes perfect sense to me. Because she is a little mini version of me. It's the same reason I can't play guitar. Or why I had a sewing machine for almost a year before I made anything. It's this strange OCD complex where I don't want to be "bad" at anything. It keeps me from doing things that are "too hard" or that I'm "not good" at. And unfortunately it has poor Ella back to riding on training wheels. I'm proud to say that the last two years one of my "resolutions" was to not do anything I didn't want to. That may sound selfish to some, but for someone with an acts of service love language like myself, it's a big deal. See in my attempts to show love to people I care about, I tend to turn into a door mat. I love to help people out and serve, but sometimes people take advantage or other times I haven't been taken advantage of, but yet I'm stuck doing something that doesn't make me happy because I said yes to something I didn't really want to do. Saying "no" to things has given me time to work on the things I'm "not good at" that I want to be good at. I'm still a work in progress though. It's also a hard transition to go from the person who always smiles and does what people tell you to...to the person that speaks the way they really feel. It's still really hard for me, but I'm making progress. I try to take every opportunity individually to pray and think on it before I commit. Since making these changes, I can truly say I am SO happy with my life right now! I enjoy the ministries I serve in. I am enjoying being a stay at home mom to my kids and being home to support my husband. I'm constantly re-evaluating and adjusting my schedule to meet the needs of myself and my family.

Taking the training wheels off is easy for some....but a longer process for others. The key is to keep trying!!

and yes.....she is wearing knee pads. She had on tights that we didn't want to rip....and I've become one of those parents that is scared for their kid to bleed. Just my girl. Because she's breakable. ;)

Fire + Friends = FUN!

2012-01-09T13:56:00.001-05:00

Did I seriously just give this post the corniest title ever? Um. Yep. I couldn't resist.

This past Saturday we had the most amazing weather! This has been such a mild Winter so far. I'm so glad. I enjoy the change of seasons and getting to wear "Fall" clothes, but I hate when the coldest part of Winter hits. It's so hard to get motivated and it makes me want to wrap up in a blanket on the couch and drink coffee all day. SO, you can imagine how wonderful it was to have temps in the 70s in January! It was amazing. Ella and I spent the morning off together running a couple of errands and finished up with lunch together. We had the best time. I really need to be more intentional about giving her one on one time so that's why I decided to take her out by herself. Noah and I get time together every week when Ella is at school, so it's nice for her to have some time. Randy and Noah spent the day washing cars and poking around in the yard. They played some soccer and did boy stuff so by the time we got home they had decided we should cook hotdogs on the fire together for dinner. We ended up inviting our friends Chris and Jessica over and had a great night! The weather was perfect for a fire and one of the neighbors was setting off fireworks so we got to enjoy that, too! Definitely a great weekend.

Our New Year is off to a great start. I'm glad 2011 is over. I'm looking forward to lots of big changes and new blessings in 2012. Can't believe this will be the year that Ella starts Kindergarten! Wow. That's insane. And sad. And a whooooooole 'nother blog post! Oh my. But other than that...really looking forward to this year. Happy about some of the goals and challenges the hubby and I have set for ourselves and our family. Feeling optimistic and enjoying the usual "New Year High" that has my house all organized, my meals all planned, and spirits all high. I know it wears off. I know I wont keep all the "goals" I've set. But I'm going to enjoy the boost while it lasts!

Here are a few pics from the fire and there are some more posted on Chris and Jessica's blog if you want to click on their names and go check them out, too. Enjoy!

Marvelette the Elf

2011-12-20T12:02:00.000-05:00

We have been having SO much fun with our "Elf on the Shelf" this year. Thanks to many ideas on the site Pinterest, Marvelette (that's what Ella named him last year) has been having lots of fun. If you're not familiar with Elf on the Shelf, the basic concept is that the elf watches your children during the day and reports back to the North Pole each night to tell Santa if they have been good or bad. Each morning when he returns he is in a different spot and the kids have to find him. Some mornings we just move him somewhere else and other mornings we find him doing something silly like drinking syrup out of the bottle with a straw or hanging upside down from the fan. One morning the kids woke up and he had replaced their stockings with their underwear?!? Last night while they were sleeping, he and some other toys were having a little too much fun. Ella and I were just talking and saying that we hope he still went to the North Pole and didn't forget since he was playing so much! ;)

Preschool Christmas Program!

2011-12-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

Last week Ella and Noah had their Christmas program for preschool. It was so sweet getting to see Noah join Ella up on stage this year!!! Ella was quite the performer this year! Noah on the other hand was just silly and spent most of the time just licking the banister in front of him LOL! Here are a few pics and a little video to enjoy!

Christmas Carol Party!

2011-12-20T12:00:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday night, Randy and I had a party at our house with friends from our Small Group, former Small Group, and members of the Worship Team Randy leads at church. We provided different holiday drinks and asked everyone to bring a dessert to share. We had a great turn out! The house was packed and once everyone had a chance to eat and mingle, we all gathered around the living room and sang songs. We started out with Christmas songs and then took some time for people to share some of the blessings they've had this year. Then we finished with some worship songs to praise God for all he's done! It was the best night and definitely something we will do again.

My little party pooper fell asleep 10 minutes before the party started. I'm sure all of you Mommies know how fun that was!

Chocolate spoons for stirring hot chocolate and coffee

We had a little Hot Chocolate Bar that really turned out yummy!

Lots of fun "holiday" coffees!

Good food..

and lots of great friends!

Christmas Lights!

2011-12-20T10:19:00.002-05:00

Nothing better then Christmas to help me dust off the blog! It's been awhile. But we've had the most insanely busy year in awhile! Today I'm going to set up several auto posts for this week to catch you up on our Christmas happenings! So keep an eye out. I don't want to give you all a heart attack posting so many times in one week after a month of silence ;)

**Update....after "setting up" all of the posts, I just couldn't resist. So they are all here!**

Last week my mom and sister visited and we made a little trip out to see Christmas lights. We visited this place last year and it became an immediate family favorite! This guy really does his yard up!

Ella was cracking us up since she was wearing blonde extensions pretending she had hair like Rapunzel LOL

This was kinda weird and random! There was a little family plot in this guys yard :/

My little superhero was excited to see Spider Man there. Thought it was sweet since he was wearing his cape under his jacket. Always have to be prepared ;)

My sweet Family!

Party Time

2011-11-01T11:42:00.000-04:00

I am drowning in pictures that I need to upload and post so I just combined both Ella and Noah's class parties into a little video to share! :) They had a great time at their preschool parties! Since Ella and Noah's party each fell on a different day, I was able to spend some special time with each of them! I love their school so much and how much they value including the parents in everything. I know Ella will miss them so much next year when she stars Kindergarten!

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Ella's Gymnastics!

2011-10-21T11:34:00.001-04:00

Ella had her last night of gymnastics again this week. She has really been improving in her skills! For right now, she is still doing her classes at the parks and rec for now because they have been doing an awesome job at teaching her the basic skills. If she decides to stick with it, then we will move her to our local gym once she's mastered all the basic skills she needs. I think she will still benefit from the class she has been taking for awhile though. She has also been tossing around the idea of switching to dance so we will see. For now, gymnastics is done until January so we will have some time to decide! :)

Always in our Hearts

2011-10-14T11:19:00.002-04:00

For years we have taken to this blog to share all of the happy, sad, and day to day things in our lives. We have shared the kids births, first steps, and first days of school. We have shared so many random details of our life on here. This has been my hardest post to write. But this blog also acts as a scrapbook of my families memories..and it's only fitting that I put this post in with the others.

Lots of friends have questions and it's just so hard to keep answering them, so I thought I would just keep you updated here. We want you to know and be a part of this grief with us, it's just hard to keep calling and explaining over and over. We love you all so much and are so blessed to have so many people who care and love our family.

As most of you know we were expecting a new baby on April 20th. On Monday I went in for my OB checkup just thinking it would be like any other exam where I would be in and out in no time. I had brought Noah with me and everything. I went through all the normal intake procedures like weight and blood pressure. I was even informed by my nurse that they wanted to give me an early glucose test. I drank the glucose stuff, got my flu shot. Very routine. My midwife came to see me and we talked for awhile before she brought over the doppler to listen for the heartbeat. She tried for awhile and had no luck finding it. She told me not to panic yet. Said sometimes small babies are hard to find at first. She said we would just get the ultrasound technician so we could see what was going on. The ultrasound tech rolled in the ultrasound machine. She's the same ultrasound technician that has taken care of Ella and Noah's pregnancies. I think she even joked with me about "causing trouble in here" or something like that. When she got started and the baby appeared on the screen, my heart sank instantly because I noticed first that the baby was still so small and second that there was no heart beat. The ultrasound tech just looked at me and shook her head no. Randy came up to the office right away to be with me and Noah. Our midwife explained that the ultrasound showed that the baby had stopped developing in the 9th week. I should have been just days shy of completing my 12th week. My body had continued to support the pregnancy despite the baby no longer being alive. She decided that since the baby was so small, a medicine induced miscarriage was the best option to avoid surgery. That was the hardest part for us. We went home that afternoon with me feeling completely fine. Feeling completely pregnant really. It was sort of a daze, but we began the process that afternoon. It took four hours to finally kick in so most of it was completed through the night. It was by far the most horrible thing I have been through physically so far in my life. By morning I had lost so much blood, I could barely stand. I had some complications and ended up having to go to the Doctor that morning to complete the process there. From that point on things have slowly returned to "normal" physically which has been just as heartbreaking to me. It was an empty feeling I hadn't anticipated. We will never know why God decided to take this baby, but we do trust that His plans are better then our plans so we are just hanging on to that for now. We have loved this baby and prayed for this baby since before we even conceived it. The kids prayed every night that God would make our new baby big and strong so it could come out. It didn't take long for all of us to fall in love with the idea of having this baby join our family. It was a very short time, but I know the memory of this baby will never leave our hearts. Ella and Noah are coping great. Thankfully even Ella didn't quite understand everything. We have kept it as light hearted as possible for her. I don't want her to hurt the way we are. We just told her that our baby wasn't growing as strong as it needed to and that mommy's body was so smart it knew that. We told her God wanted us to have a strong, healthy, baby so we will have to wait awhile. That was good for her. She hasn't really said anything about it since then. Randy has returned back to work which has been hard for him and for me. It's good because it has forced me back into some normal routines like taking Ella to school, but it's been hard because it helps having him here. As for me, I am just taking it one day at a time. Sometimes one hour at a time. I still have a hard time letting go. My body feels like a constant reminder of what was taken from me. That's hard. But I am thankful for all the other blessings I'm surrounded by. I'm soaking up my time with Ella and Noah and am reminded of how precious life is.

Here is the only picture we have of our sweet baby at 8 weeks.

Collard Festival Parade!

2011-09-23T15:31:00.000-04:00

These pictures are at least 2 weeks old. Please forgive. I can now officially use the excuse that I'm pregnant and tired. And it takes all I have to survive most days!!! So forgive me?? I am starting to have a little more energy and I'm trying to catch up on all the things I'm behind on. Including blogging.

A couple weeks ago, Randy and I took the kiddos to the Ayden Collard Festival Parade. It may be one of my favorite things to do around here. You may remember when we went in 2009? Our new house is actually a little closer to Ayden then we were before so it was perfect. We went 5 minutes or so down the road and found a good place to park. It was a sunny day, but we found a tiny little tree that we all sat under to watch. It was not crowded at all...probably because there was a home ECU game which takes out most of the city! It was nice for us, though! We had a ton of space to ourselves which helped the kids pick up some candy without older kids grabbing it all really fast. They absolutely LOVED it! It was wonderful since Randy has been working out of town so much these days. We had a great morning out together!

My sweeties!

I love how simple "small town" parades are! There really aren't any flashy floats like I always remember as a kid.

Ella loved this! One of the little beauty pageant princess' drove in the parade in her little Barbie car! It was so cute!

Some kids get scared of clowns, but Ella and Noah like them!

Every once in awhile there would be a break in floats and all the kids could get the candy they missed!

Ella and Daddy

Noah loved seeing the firetrucks, but the drivers kept honking the horn for the kids. He didn't like that so much!! But how cute are his pudgy cheeks??

What a fun Saturday morning with my favorite people!

Special Announcement...

2011-09-11T19:00:00.002-04:00

Ella and Noah have something special to share with you! I'm going to keep it simple and leave all the talking to them!

I'll post the official due date tomorrow, but in sticking with our current trend......maybe we will end up with a May 12th baby? Then we can have May 12th, June 12th (Noah), and July 12th (Ella). Although I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing the newest addition towards the end of April..

Hurricane Irene Clean Up

2011-09-07T13:42:00.000-04:00

This post is a little late. Been hard to find time to sort through photos (or sew or scrapbook or read) or really do anything for myself. Even though school starting this year was bittersweet, I am definitely looking forward to having a lighter load some days.

But anyways, I actually DID find some time this morning (during an episode of Sid the Science Kid) to get together these pics from Irene. I have some video footage and other pictures from our own family experience, but the ones in this slideshow are just from the Sunday after Irene. Instead of having church that morning we decided to go around and help anyone we could with trees down in their yards..It was an awesome morning. Truly special! A lot of these people would have been working all day to clear their yards, but with such a large group of volunteers, we were knocking them out in 30 min or less. It was great!

You

2011-09-05T17:39:00.001-04:00

Thought I'd share a new song our worship team introduced to the church recently that I just LOVE! Enjoy!

Ella's First Day of School

2011-09-02T13:32:00.001-04:00

Take TWO for Preschool orientation today. This time it was Ella's turn to go and meet her teacher and new class. I have to admit, the whole morning was pretty uneventful since Ella already knew the drill. I still followed her around camera in hand and stayed with her a minute in her new class, but since she recognized classmates from previous years she was off playing in no time. She wont really tell me much about her day except that she really likes her new class. I'll take that though. Sounds good enough for me! After school we went to the Shoe Crate and got a new pair of school shoes for her. It's always hard to find shoes for Preschool that are a good balance between tennis shoes and dress shoes. Ella would prefer to wear high heels if she could, but since they play outside...I don't think that would work. We found a great pair though that we both agreed on and they were the first pair that caught our eyes! They're perfect for her! Girly, but practical at the same time. I'll have to post a pic of her wearing them soon.

Here are a few pics I snapped in the five minutes before she sent Noah and I on our way ;) So excited for the new changes for Ella. This will be a big year for her adjusting to attending school every morning Mon-Fri. Hopefully it will get all of us in shape for being up and ready next year for Kindergarten. *sigh* I think I just said Kindergarten. Could I really be just a year away from that?!? Let's just stick with Pre-K today.....

My big girl! 4 years old.

She was happy to spot her classmate Tori from last year right away..

Noah's First Day of School!

2011-09-01T14:37:00.000-04:00

We had such a great morning today! Today was Noah's very first day of Preschool! He has been looking forward to this all Summer. Last year about half way through the year as he was talking more and more, he started saying things like "Noah pay (play) too!" and "my school!". He was so pitiful every time we dropped Ella off. He wanted to stay and have some fun!! Since we could tell he was so interested and having some play time at school, it was a no brainer during re-enrollment that we would sign Noah up, too.

He is going to be going just two days a week from 9-12. I think this will be perfect for him to have some time out of the house to make new friends and learn. Today they had school for just an hour so that the kids could become aquatinted with their new teachers and classroom. Then on Tuesday he will start with his first full day. He is attending the same school Ella goes to and even gets to have our favorite teacher Mrs. Sharon (who was Ella's two year old teacher) this year. Ella will go tomorrow to meet her class and then she will start full time on Tuesday.

Here are some pics of Noah checking out the new classroom. As you can tell, he was a little unsure at first. He did a lot of watching, but his teacher said he just kept playing and had a great "day". When I came to get him he said "I'm not done playing yet, mama!" so I think that's a good sign he likes it!

Getting his name tag all set!

With his friend Baileigh from church..just taking it all in....

Before we went in, I grabbed a couple pics of my "big boy" all ready for his first day of school. Talk about pullin' a Mama's heartstrings!!!!!! He has been my little buddy all day- every day. Ella is so independent and likes doing things on her own, but Noah is always close by me. Not going to lie, it was hard to leave him, but I'm so happy to watch him grow and learn to be on his own some.

and he was definitely ready to go!!

Noah and his big sissy, Ella.

We are so excited to watch Noey grow and learn so much in his first year at school!!! Yay Noah!!

Finger Painting!

2011-08-24T17:04:00.000-04:00

Don't you just LOVE finger paint??? It keeps the kids busy for 10-15 minutes and then keeps Mama busy another 45 trying to clean up the mess! My kiddos LOVE finger painting...and I LOVE to see them smile so i oblige....but as for the paint itself....hmmm....not so sure!

Our new house!

2011-08-17T16:37:00.001-04:00

Wow! We've been moved into our new house now for almost 4 weeks and I am finally getting around to updating you all on our move. It's been crazy to say the least. The timing for our move worked out kinda crazy, because we moved into the house a mere week before Randy and I had a weekend trip planned. alone. like with no kids. Something we never do. So to say that this Mama was stressed? That would be an understatement! I must say though, I really came around and surprised myself. I tend to really stress out before leaving the kids. Most of the time I worry about things that are completely unlikely and out of my control! But this time, I kept my cool and really committed to myself that I was going to have a good time. We are so blessed to have some wonderful friends who kept the kids for us while we left! It's so nice to have a couple with no kids of their own who enjoy spending time with our kids! It was such a relief to go away and know that the kids were having a blast without us! Thanks so much to Chris and Jessica!! Most of the time that I called home, the kids would not even come say "hi"! They were having too much fun! What a great gift! Randy and I really enjoyed our weekend, too! It was so fun! And I'm sure by the post below you can tell we didn't hold back on adventure ;)

But anyways....all that to say our first week in our new home was BUSY! Once we got back, I dove into unpacking the next couple of day, but I also went back to work babysitting (which I do almost full time) There are really only a handful of days each month that I am off during the week so it has been a challenge. I think we've hit the point where all of the necessities have made their way out, so now it's just the boxes of "stuff" to go through. Ya know...the ones that you probably-don't-need-but-don't-want-to-throw-away-in-case-you-need-it???? Yep! Those! So I am grabbing a couple a day and pressing on. Then it will be onto decorating and updating the kids rooms. Both Ella and Noah are going to have a bed upgrade soon...Ella from her toddler bed and Noah from his crib. So there is much to do around this house.

Overall though, we are settled and feeling blessed. And really happy. Randy's been working a lot, but hopefully it will slow down soon. It definitely makes us enjoy and appreciate every day we are together as a family! Sometimes I just look around and can not even take it all in. My new home, my amazing children, and my awesome hubby with whom I share this life! I'm thankful to love and serve a God that cares about even the smallest most unimportant desires of our heart!

Moving Day Pics:

Thank goodness for technology! It sure kept the kids busy!

But of course they helped, too :)

Getting settled! Ella (don't ask about the hat?!?) organizing her shoes :)

Home Sweet Home!

Tattoo Adventure

2011-08-08T16:15:00.000-04:00

Most of you know from Facebook that while Randy and I were in Wilmington last weekend we got tattoos. We had been planning this for a long time and never really made plans to finally go. Well...while we had the weekend away, Randy suggested we go ahead and get them! Below I have a little video of our "adventure" that I thought I'd share with you. I didn't have as much footage of Randy afterwards so I don't have an after pic of his, but I am going to add that later. Still, I was anxious to go ahead and share what I did have! Enjoy!

Ella's Rainbow Party!

2011-08-08T09:51:00.000-04:00

Here are the pictures from Ella's Fourth Birthday Party! It was a "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" themed party and we had a great time! We were getting nervous as the party drew closer because it stormed all day long. Around 4:30 I went to pick up the balloons and as I was driving away the sun finally came out! We had a beautiful sunny "Rainbow" party at the end of a stormy day! In true rainbow fashion lol!

Happy.

2011-07-21T12:51:00.000-04:00

"The view I love the most, is my front porch looking in.."

Four.

2011-07-12T08:46:00.000-04:00

Ella at Four.
You are smiley and spunky. You know what you want and you work hard to figure out ways to get it. I think you will be a great leader one day! You have the most wonderful, pure, imagination. I just love it! You're often found sitting in the playroom surrounded by Barbies and playhouse toys lost amid a great adventure. Sometimes I like to just stand in the hallway and listen ;). You are so smart and you love to learn! I love to see how natural your learning process has been. First you learned the letters, then you became so curious about the sounds they make. Always trying to see what you need to learn next! Your sweet smile and "belly laugh" are hard to resist. You're are the best big Sister ever! You are a little Mommy to Noah and it shows in how much he loves you. Every morning Noah wants to see Sissy right away and you always greet him with a nice, warm, hug and kiss! You are always so concerned for him when he is hurt or has to have shots. You are such a great listener and the best helper to Mommy. You stand out in a crowd and are so secure in who you are. I hope that never changes. I'm so proud of the sweet, kind hearted, little girl you have become. I love you more then words!

Four years that passed by in an instant. I always tell Ella that she has a special place in my heart, because she made me a Mommy. I am so thankful that God saw me fit to be her Mama. What a great privilege to take care of her and watch her grow and learn! She gave me the best job in the world! I hope for many more wonderful years watching her grow!

Let Freedom Ring!

2011-07-07T12:51:00.001-04:00

Dear Ella, this story is for you. And for us grown ups to enjoy. But mainly for you so I don't forget! My sweet Ella had Randy and I cracking up the whole way to see fire works. Instead of the usual, "are we there yet??" Ella would ask us, "Are we almost to AMERICA??" Randy and I exhausted every idea we had trying to help her understand that we live in America and we were only going to drive up the road to Little Washington for fire works, but she didn't understand. She kept saying, "but you guys said I live in North Carolina?!" Randy won the "Most Creative" for his explanation......he used the analogy of a house. He said, "Well, you know how we have our house, right? And inside we have our bedrooms and the kitchen? The living room and the bathrooms? If you're in your bed, you are in your bedroom, but you're also in the "house". That's how America is. There is one big piece of land that is America and a bunch of states inside. We live in North Carolina which is in America!" I thought for sure we had a break through....but nope! Not even five minutes later a little voice from the back seat said..."okay....but when are we going to AMERICA??"

We had a great 4th though! We enjoyed watching the fireworks at the Washington waterfront. We took the wagon with us and the kids enjoyed getting to ride around while we strolled the downtown streets. It's one of our favorite places! We met up with some friends and enjoyed live music and great fireworks. It was a perfect night....except that we had to hustle pretty quickly after the show was over to get in our van and avoid some much needed rain. We made it though!

Here are some pics from the night!

My "big boy" Noah! 2 Years old sporting his red, white, and blue!

It's nearly impossible to get a good group shot with everyone smiling! We also didn't have anyone to take a family pic, so we took turns taking pics of each other with the kids and then forgot to get a group shot later that night!
My most precious gifts!

Mommy and Ella

Mommy and Noah

Miss Ella Grace...a Daddy's Girl through and through!

The soon to be Birthday Girl!

Enjoying our walk...

Lots of festivities!

Love this guy!

A good time, with good friends!

Happy Birthday America!

We like to MOVE it, move it!

2011-06-29T14:04:00.003-04:00

If I could turn back time, I would sing this song with Ella at least ten more times! Can't believe how big my girl is getting! *tear*

This video is from almost two years ago and yet my house still looks the same in the background! Boxes and boxes! We are in full packing mode this week getting ready to move into our "new" house. We haven't sold our house yet (still have an offer for bottom dollar), but we are going to hold out a bit longer and see if we have any more come in. Until then, we are going to go ahead and get ready to move out. Then we can get our house all emptied, clean it really well and see what happens. If we don't have any offers then we will sell it for what we owe to the offer we already have on the table and wash our hands of it. It's crazy right now, but very exciting, too! I'm trusting that God has all the details of the house already figured out since he has arranged everything up until this point anyways!

Oh...and did I mention tomorrow's my BIRTHDAY! Yipeeee! The Wee ones are SO excited about it being my ACTUAL Birthday!?!? That they have made me excited, too!

Diaper Doo-ty!

2011-06-27T15:36:00.002-04:00

This one's a really random post! But I have been wanting to tell you all about it, and today seemed like the perfect chance....since it was laundry day and I had my camera out...

For a few months now, I have been using cloth diapers for Noah. The cloth diapering "world" is sooooo far advanced from the kind of cloth diapers most moms and grandmas think of. There are a ton of different options, fits, colors, and styles to choose from. It's a little overwhelming at first. I first considered cloth diapers back when Ella was pretty young. I had met some other mom's who where were using them and they had just about convinced me. Still, I just wasn't sure I was up for the job! No matter how "convenient" the diapers have become....I still know how the whole process goes...and I wasn't sure I wanted to be the person left with a full diaper...that I couldn't just throw away!! So I gave up the idea and continued with disposables. Fast forward to Noah's infancy. I was still intrigued, but ultimately just grossed out with the idea, until I started babysitting for a friend who was cloth diapering. It brought the idea back into my head and I started reading articles and blogs about cloth diapering. Checking prices and styles. Long story short, I decided to give it a try and see how it went!

There were a lot of choices on which diapers to buy. When doing my research, my favorite brands were Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz. I also found lots and lots that I completely LOVE on Etsy.com. It can be a pretty large financial investment to get started, since each diaper can cost anywhere from $15-$25 each! Of course there are cheaper versions and more expensive versions as well. Most reputable brands seem to be about $20 a piece going down the more you buy together. Since I wasn't convinced I was going to stick with it, I was really hesitant to spend several hundred dollars just to get started. So I decided to go with a brand I found on Ebay. They were made in Japan and very cheap. I think shipping and all I paid $60-$70 and got 10 diapers. It really is better long term to go ahead and buy the better diapers since washing them so much really wears them out. I'm pretty impressed with mine though! They are a great deal for getting started! Also, I decided to go with a "One Size" diaper so that I can use them again if I have another baby.

See? The one on the left is adjusted to the smallest size and the one on the right is bigger for Noah.

Most of you can skip all of this, but for anyone who cares, here are some more specific pros and cons I've found...and a little bit of "How To"...although I'm still a work in progress! ;)

The Ins and Outs:

Just like there are a million different styles...there are a million different techniques, but here is how I make it work for me...

*First, things first, I am brave. Yes. But not all the way brave yet. I am only using cloth diapers when I'm at home. Poop on the go is just way too scary for me at this point! lol....baby steps! So for now, anytime we are going somewhere, I pop Noah into a disposable and we're off.

*Since I only have 10 diapers, I wash pretty often. I was tempted to buy more, but keeping the number of diapers low..keeps me washing often and the smell down. Plus Noah is older now so he doesn't go through a ton of diapers in one day like a newborn would.

*Each day I fill my washer up with water (I turn the knob forward to the last rinse) (no soap at this point) and leave the lid open. Then all day when I change Noah, I just pull out the diaper insert and throw both pieces in the washer. (Did I mention they have an insert?? Sorry...the style of diapers I use has a pocket that you put a thick terry cloth insert into.) If he has a poopy...that's a different story. I'll get there in a sec!

*When I'm getting close to running out of diapers, I close the lid and let the washer do it's thing. Remember it's only set for a rinse. Then I refill the tub with hot water and add detergent. I just use our regular detergent, but they sell some specifically for cloth diapers..I just use a little less then the normal amount. Then I let the washer run through a full cycle. After it's done, I will run just one more extra rinse to be sure there is no soap residue. Then I pop them in the dryer and voila!

*There is a little bit of work once the diapers are dry since you have to stuff each insert into the diaper casing. But it just takes a few minutes. Then I just stick them in a basket in Noah's room ready to go :))

*Okay. Warning! Graphic potty talk ahead!! Poopy Diapers. The one and only part I hate!! But I will share with you what I have been doing...

When Noah has a poopy I change him like normal, sitting the diaper aside. Then I take it into the bathroom and shake off the actual poop. Toss it in the washer and I'm good. Unless....it's a messy one. They make little sprayers that can hook onto your toilet and make this way easier....but I don't have that.. so! First, before I shake anything off I go get a rubbermaid bucket I use to soak stained clothes. I fill it with hot water and add a tiny bit of detergent to it. (I just leave this bucket of soapy water sitting in the bathtub) Then I take the diaper, pull the insert out and toss it in the bucket. Then take the yucky diaper and dip it a couple of times in the toilet. If it's really, really, bad I may flush the toilet and repeat. My hands never get yucky. They are holding onto the clean part...but I'm not going to lie...it's really gross! Then I put that diaper into the bucket along with any other stinky ones until wash time when I just dump the whole bucket into the load. I haven't had any trouble with this smelling up the bathroom, but I could see where it could if you didn't rinse it well. Or if it sat a long time. I usually only have one or two stinky ones per wash since Noah is bigger and usually only poops once and day and also sometimes I get lucky and he poops in a disposable. :) So there's the icky truth about that part.

**Disclaimer**

All of that above is on the "ideal" days....sometimes....I am using my washer and dryer to do laundry or have a load sitting in one of them that is waiting to go in the dryer...you know normal behind-on-never ending-laundry stuff. On those days I have stinky ones waiting in the bathtub and wet ones sitting on top of the washer. I'm considering getting a bucket for wet storage of the wet ones..but it's really been my goal to just have the washer ready for them. Having them sitting around gets stinky quickly!

A few CONS or lessons learned....

*Hardest one for me is that I like to use fabric softener and have a Bounce bar in my dryer. You can't use these with cloth diapers so I have to be a little strategic...I slide the Bounce bar out for diapers and usually try to dry a load in between to help rub off any residue on the dryer walls. The fabric softener creates a water barrier on the diaper that makes them not absorb well..I learned this lesson very well when I forgot once and dried a whole load with it in there. I had to go through a stripping process to wash it out of the diapers and I'm exhausted just thinking about it ;) So NO FABRIC SOFTENER!

*You have to do laundry a lot?? CON, right???

PROS and reason why I LOVE them!

*Obviously, once you've paid for your set...they quickly pay for themselves and then you have FREE diapers! Even using disposables as well, I am still saving lots of money. And that makes me happy :)

*They really cut down on diaper rash (which reminds me...you can't use rash cream for the same reason as the bounce.). I was worried about not being able to use rash cream since Noah's skin is very sensitive and he gets diaper rashes a lot. Well, he has not had one since! For reals! ;)

*You can join in with Randy and call me a "Hippie" but I don't care! They really cut down on waste! Did you know that it takes disposable diapers 500-550 years to decompose?!?!? And you can add on more if it's a stinky one wrapped in a baggie! I'm all about convenience products, but that just really surprised me!!

*They are ADORABLE! How can you resist this butt?? hahahaha

So....anyone convinced to try them, too??? LOL Or already using them?? Have any tips?? I'm still picking the brains of cloth diapering moms I meet to find out tips that may help. And I just have to say...I'm about as girly and squeamish as they come...and Randy tells me all the time I act like a snob about my random list of things I think are okay for the kids to wear or not wear...If I can do this, anyone can! I told Noah to smile and show you all how much he loves his diapers....and this is what I got:

Oink, Oink, Moo, Moo....

2011-06-22T13:37:00.001-04:00

Noah James turned TWO!

Yes..my little man is growing up. Both of the kiddos are!! I keep telling Ella that I'm not going to feed her anymore so she will stop growing. She thinks that is so funny and always tells me, "Mommm!!!! You can't do that!!!! I WANT to grow!! I want to grow into a bigger girl!!" We had a blast celebrating Mr. Noah's big day at the park with some friends. I put the pictures up on facebook and thought I would share the video here with you all. I'm workin on it, I promise. Hopefully I can finish it up and get it loaded to this post during nap time today! Until then, here's a little preview of my little guy!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T05:00:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to wish a Happy Father's Day to all of the Daddy's out there! Hope you all have a great day! I'm so thankful for my Dad as well as my step dad! I love you both very much and I'm thankful to have you in my life.

I'm especially thankful for my hubby Randy. It's such a blessing to have such a wonderful Father for my children. He's the best. More than I ever could have wanted and it's a joy raising our children together!

So this video is for the best "Daddy" (Ella) and "Dad Dad"(Noah) any kid could ever want! We love you so much and hope this silly video makes you smile. You know how hard it is to get the kids to "perform" so I know you'll appreciate the tiny clips I managed to scrape up! XOXOXOX!

Tuesday, Tuesday

2011-06-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

Things I would rather NOT be doing on this beautiful Tuesday morning:

*Washing sheets that have been thrown up on (along with my regular laundry duties)

*Watching my poor little girl mope around with a fever for the second day in a row..

*Try and remember which one it's time for..Motrin?? Tylenol?? ...yikes...

There are lots of things I wish I wasn't doing, but I love how it's all about perspective! Who doesn't hate fevers and throw up and medicine?? But do you know what I LOVE?? Laying on the couch with my (on fire with heat) little girl. Rubbing her back and stroking her hair. Laughing with her at silly parts in the movie and feeling a little bit of relief to see her actually smiling for a minute. Tucking her into bed. Singing Amazing Grace while I scratch her back until she finally falls asleep.

I am worn out. It's only 10:30am and I'm already dreaming of bed time. But, I wouldn't trade one moment! I am so thankful to be able to care for and love on and fuss over my babies when they are sick. It helps them feel better! I know cause Ella told me so :))

Throwback Thursday

2011-06-09T14:26:00.002-04:00

*This is me not mentioning the fact that I already failed the once a week challenge...ahem.......*

But anyways! I uploaded a kagillion pictures off my camera last night and I have lots of old and new memories and adventures to share with you. So this week I will take you back to Easter lunch. Every year we usually go spend Easter, Christmas, all the big holidays..with friends and other families. Since we don't have family here it helps make up for it. Well, that's all fine and dandy, but it never gives me a chance to cook some, too! I always enjoyed cooking for holidays with my mom, so this year I decided we would do our own thing. We were planning to just keep it small, but then decided to invite anyone from the Worship Team over who didn't have plans and I'm so glad we did. Our house is VERY small when it comes to entertaining!! I have a little kitchen and a table that seats four :) So we definitely made some memories I'll never forget, but I'll always treasure! It was special! We ended up gathering all around my living room to eat! I'm so excited that when we move, we will have a great setup for having people over. Lots of extra seating and kitchen space. Since cooking and having people over is one of my favorite things to do, I can not wait!

Here are the random pics from Easter 2011:

Randy carving the ham..

and Rhea helping, too!

Lindsay (one of our bands vocalist) and Allen (our drummer)

The only picture of me the whole day and it's my back :(

Poor Rhea is a nurse and had worked the night shift the night before. She came straight from work, lead worship with us, came to the party, and finally crashed!

Flowers Lindsay got for me!

It was a great day!

Easter Menu:

* Glazed Ham

*Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

*Green Bean Casserole

*Corn

*Broccoli Casserole

*Sweet Potato Casserole

*Rolls

Bless my poor-little-blog's heart!

2011-05-29T15:07:00.000-04:00

It's pathetic. Super duper pathetic. My poor little blog is so neglected right now!! I don't want it to be! I really do love it! It's just been on the back burner awhile since everyday life has been busy-busy-busy! *sigh* One of the things on my Summer to-do list is blog at least once a week. I'm optimistic that I will stick to it!! At least with Summer activities there is lots to blog about.

So since we've been MIA, I'm sure you're wondering what we've been up to! WELL! So much is going on in our lives right now! Ella finished up her second year of pre-school and is enjoying Summer break. She is getting so stinkin' big. Randy and I stare at her all the time wondering how in the world we ended up with an almost 4 year old. It's insane. But I seriously could not be more proud of her. She's everything I ever wanted in a little girl. Spunky and artistic, but sweet and sensitive, too. She loves driving down the road listening to "Rolling in the Deep" which cracks me up. By the time we hit the 3rd song on the CD she will say.."Mom...I think it's been a really long time since we listened to rolling in the deep......" When I asked her what kind of stuff she wanted to do this Summer her answers were "learn to swim underwater" and "anything fun". I think that will be the agenda for Summer! Just doing "anything fun"!!!

As for Mr. Noah, he is changing from baby to boy way to quickly. Talking lots. It would be pointless to write down all the words he can say now, because he's finally crossed the point where it isn't just words. He flat out talks about anything and everything. We bust out in laughter several times a day at some of the silly things he will say. He's becoming really independant so I'm getting lots and lots of "I can do it by-my-self" and "I do it!" Oh! and did I mention how silly he is?? So silly. If you laugh, then he is going to do it over and over collecting as many giggles as he can! He's our sweet boy and we love him so much!!

As for me?? and Randy?? We are keeping busy as usual. Randy is still doing IT and we have adapted really well now to the random late nights that come along with the job. His trips out of town have significantly slowed so that make me a happy girl. He is also still keeping busy in his spare time leading worship part time for Discovery and playing softball a night or two a week. I am sewing when I can find time, and reading, and enjoying playing outside and trips to the beach with the kiddos. I've been keeping especially busy here lately because we have put our house up for sale. It's been crazy trying to keep things extra clean in case someone wants to view the house and then trying to pack all while keeping up with the kids. Not only am I taking care of my own, but I a have a few days that I also babysit. It's been busy, but we've been so blessed!!! We have an amazing rental lined up once the house sells that is just phenomenal. God has really blown us away with the way he blesses us. We are super excited about all the changes coming this Summer. I will catch you up with pictures and more info on everything soon.

I was standing in my garden last night just staring at all the new growth. My squash, zucchini, and tomatoes are all beginning to produce veggies. There are flowers all growing. Summer is always sentimental for our family because we have had many of our life changes in the Summer. The "babies" will grow a year older, Randy and I will have Birthdays, too. Even our doggie Princess will grow this Summer as she turns 6. Now, we are packing up the house and our home is going to be growing larger as well. I'm excited. Life is good. God has been good to us. And I couldn't be happier. I just hope I can give and bless others as much as he gives and blesses me!

My three most wonderful blessings posing with me on Mother's Day...Love them!!

Mommy and Ella Grace

My sweet Noah James

and my amazing husband! He works so hard and takes such good care of us!

This was a long one. Happy to be back! The challenge is on for Summer...one blog a week! I can do this!!

Don't mind us....

2011-04-20T09:48:00.000-04:00

I'm sure all of my friends and family are confused on this poll...it's just my level of tech-savy-ness only stretches so far. And I know how to make a poll on the blog...but not on an email..

SO, just excuse this poll on which night the ladies at my church are going to have our monthly Ladies Night Out..I'll be back soon with a new post that's not so boring!

DC Ladies......Vote here!

Sorry for the lack of posts...

2011-04-13T10:45:00.001-04:00

Been just a teensy bit busy...

Yep folks...that would be diaper rash cream.....

Updates on what we've been up to coming soon, soon, soon!

April Fool's Day

2011-04-01T09:56:00.000-04:00

I'm a sucker for corny, hidden camera humor, so I thought I'd share a few with you guys to enjoy today!

Happy April Fool's Day!!!

"Mud Pie Cookies" Recipe

2011-03-26T08:25:00.013-04:00

First, take two clean and dry children....

Add water....and silly goggles..

Walk to the front yard and get the mail from your mailbox. Then come back to see what they're up to.

It takes a little bit of team work. But the clean, dry, children you left....

Might get the good idea to mix some dirt from your flower bed....into the water...

and tell you that they are making "mud pie cookies"!

This recipe is best when followed by a nice bubble bath...which is best when followed by a thorough bath- tub- scrubbing to get the black ring off your tub!

To finish the recipe, treat yourself to some cuddle time on the couch with both squeaky clean children :)

Easy Spring Craft

2011-03-25T16:05:00.000-04:00

Ella brought home the neatest little craft last week and I wanted to share it with all of you! She made this last Tuesday at Pre-School and we have been having so much fun watching it grow!

Materials Needed:

* Any color paper (but card stock would be best)

*Scissors

*Marker or crayons

*Scotch Tape

*Ziplock bag

*Cotton Balls

*Bird seed

All you need to do is cut out your paper into the shape of a little house. You'll want the house to have the center cut out so that it appears to be the clear window of a Greenhouse. (See pictures below). Ella's is plain, but I think it would have been fun to let the kids color and decorate it. Next, take two or three cotton balls dipped in water and place them in the ziplock. Pour in some birdseed and tape the ziplock to the back of your little house. Be sure to keep the back of the ziplock bag open so that air can get in. Place your bag in a sunny place and wait for your seeds to grow!

We hung ours in the kitchen window. I didn't realize that bird seeds were really well...ummm..seeds?!? I mean, I KNEW they were seeds (hence the name)..I guess I just never ever thought to plant them and see what they grew!! The thing I loved the most about using the bird seed is that they have been super quick to grow. Literally a day or two after we brought them home they were starting to sprout. This is great for little ones because they can see almost instant results. Like I said, ours have only been growing for a little over a week!

All thanks for this craft goes to Ella's sweet teacher, Mrs. Debbie. We have just borrowed her idea to share with our friends because I know alot of you have small children and I thought you would enjoy this simple idea!

We have been sprinkling in some water every day or two to keep the cotton balls nice and moist..

Happy Growing!!

Sew much FUN!

2011-03-21T22:10:00.001-04:00

The Christmas before last, Randy's mom and dad bought me a sewing machine. I was so busy keeping up with Ella and Noah who were 2 and 6 months old at the time that I got a little overwhelmed with finding time to use it. I just put it out of the way and kept telling myself I'd pull it out soon and start playing around with it. Well, fast forward to last month. I got this idea that I wanted to make Ella and Noah coordinating Easter outfits and decided to finally learn to sew. I made a trip to the fabric store, came home and read my entire manual several times, watched a couple of YouTube tutorials and got to work. I'm addicted. I'm definitely still a work in progress! Still lots of mistakes, but I am learning more and more from each thing I make. I feel like every time I screw up, I learn a better way to do it next time. I'm having so much fun having an outlet for some creativity. Only down fall is....I'm usually found at my sewing machine during nap time or after the little ones go to sleep...so I'm a bit sleepy myself ;)

Over the weekend I made Ella a little jumper type outfit that is really lightweight. It's a funky kind of design, but I've almost purchased them for her in the past off of Etsy and have been pretty pleased that I made her a couple on my own now :)

It's a little hard to tell on this picture, but it's not a long dress. The bottom part has pant legs..

I had a bunch of really small scraps and couldn't decided what I wanted to do with them. I've been saving a lot of them to make into squares for a quilt, but I knew I probably had enough of this fabric to make another outfit. I decided to make a little dress for my friends little girl Hailey. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the dress is pretty small. She's only 5 months old, so this was made to fit her. I'd say it's probably technically a size 6 months because I think it may be a teeny bit big for her still. Her measurements seemed so small to work with that I found myself adding a 1/2 inch here and there thinking it would be too tiny if not!

Here's the finished product!

The top has little straps that come together in the back almost like a little halter.

The back has a button hole for the straps to go through. You can knot them or do a big bow. I chose to knot them for now..

One of my favorite things I have learned is shirring. I used elastic thread on my bobbin so the whole back of the dress is nice and stretchy. I'm hoping since it's stretchy she can use it as a dress this Summer and then as a long shirt with leggings in the Fall.

I'm really trying to work on finishing the little details so that they will wash better, but some of it is so tedious! I've been trying to finish my seems with a zigzag stitch since I don't have a serger or anything like that to use.

The hardest thing for me right now is attaching ruffles. My sewing machine has a hard time chugging through the fabric and sometimes when I go back to top stitch I find little tiny parts that didn't get attached right. That's always nice and frustrating.....!

Had a little bit of an oops on this part where I gathered it a little too much. Thankfully, it's so ruffle-y that it's not very noticeable..

It's still overall a cute little dress!!! I am planning to make Ella a couple like it for the Summer. I already made her a shorter version of this same dress with a pair of matching ruffle pants. Since it's getting warmer, I'm going to make the rest actual dresses instead of doing the pants now..

Can you tell I'm having "SEW much fun?!?!" ;)

Spring Fever!

2011-03-09T13:16:00.002-05:00

It's official, the Strickland Family has SPRING FEVER! These beautiful, warm days smashed in between gloomy, freezing days are just a tease! Come on warm weather!! We are ready for you!

The kids have enjoyed getting to have an occasional warm day. It's also been nice that the highs have been around the 50s, too. So at least we aren't having to suffer through the really cold days in the 30s and 40s anymore. The mornings have still been in the 40s, but it usually "warms" up by lunch. The weekend before last Randy tilled some compost into my garden plot! I can't wait until the last frost so I can start planting!!

Outside FUN!

Last week while getting into jammies, Ella decided that she and Noah will need to wear hats to bed. Since it was so cold out of course...

I couldn't help but giggle at them in their Winter hats all snug in bed! Too funny!

When I went to get Noah in the morning he had put his back on and was still wearing it. He wore it around until after breakfast!

Another warm day outside..

So bright I can't look at you Mommy!!

I usually pin Ella's bangs back after the haircut incident, but she was out getting dirty anyways so I didn't bother. You can see that they are finally starting to grow out!!

Family

2011-03-02T08:52:00.001-05:00

One of the hardest parts about living 12 hours from your hometown, is missing family. Every holiday or special occasion, you always know that everyone is gathered together having a great time..and you're not able to be there. So this trip we were happy to be able to visit with a ton of our family. One night we met up with the Brown family which is my family from my step-dad's side. We had a great time and always enjoy getting to see them. I posted some pics from that on facebook. We also had a chance to visit with some of Randy's family as well. This was a particularly exciting visit because Ella was able to meet her cousin Gracie! They are only about 6 months apart or so and they had a blast playing together.

Noah and Ella with cousin Nathan!

Ella and Gracie playing together!

The little ones made the play pen into a little fort and were just sitting in there chatting away. I love it! Brings back memories of holidays with my own cousins.

Next, we were able to see some of our McCabe family. We stopped by my Uncle David's house (my dad's youngest brother out of 7!). We were able to celebrate his middle daughter Danielle's Birthday with them! She was turning 6. Danielle has an older brother James and a younger sister Kristen who is 2, so there were lots of fun friends to play with!

Ella, cousin Danielle, and one of Danielle's friends..

Here I am for a picture with my cousin Tiffany (my Dad's brother Tom's daughter) and my Uncle David.

And here again..from the left: my cousin Tiffany's boyfriend Ryan, cousin Tiffany, myself, cousin Melissa (My Aunt Patty's daughter), My Aunt Patty (my Dad's sister), and my Uncle David. Whew!

It's always great to see family. Can't wait until the next visit we have!

Florida Aquarium

2011-03-01T15:03:00.001-05:00

Another fun outing we had while in Florida, was a trip to the aquarium! My mom bought us all tickets to go sometime while we were on our trip so we decided to go one rainy morning we were there. I took the kids in the double stroller, but since we made it there nice and early, there were very few people around and the kids got to spend most of the day walking and exploring out on their own. They LOVED it there!! Both of them had a blast..and I really did, too! I'm thinking we may have to plan a trip out to the beach soon and check out the local aquarium.

One big hit with the kids was this little "touch tank" it had lots of fun stuff to touch like starfish and sea anemone! Ella was a little hesitant and just barely touched one with the tip of her finger....

but Noah was all about it and he touched everything he could get to!

Hee! This picture makes me smile. Ella wanted to get a picture with the mermaid. Love her little crossed legs...seriously!! SO precious!

We also watched a live animal show were they got to see some random animals like a baby alligator, skunk, turtle, and hawk..

They showed some of the training techniques they use with the animals..

Another great day!

Mantatees!

2011-02-28T10:29:00.001-05:00

So I finally got all of my blog "issues" squared away!! Apparently as my blog is approaching 4 years of existence...I have used up all of the available memory for pictures?! SO...I basically had to buy more space! Thankfully it was a small $5 investment and I'm sure my faithful reader(s)..Hi Mom..Will be happy I paid it!

SO..I have a couple of random posts for you from a trip the kids and I made to Florida a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time and really got to enjoy the warm weather and relaxation. It's always nice to get "home" and see family and friends. I have to admit..this last trip has left me more homesick then usual. There's been a lot of space between my visits (8 months between this visit and the last) so maybe that just makes it particularly hard. Not knowing when we will go back..

Still, like I said earlier, We had a great time! So here are some pictures from one of our little adventures. The kids and I had spent the morning just hanging out and playing outside when I decided to take them on a little outing to see the manatees. My in laws house (where we were staying) is in Riverview so it was just a quick drive over to see them.

For those of you reading that have no idea what I'm talking about, there is a great site to view Manatees. It's at one of the large power plants for the Tampa Bay area. Here is a little excerpt from the TECO Manatee Viewing Center:

Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach delivered reliable electricity to the community for 16 years before the commercial operation of Big Bend Unit 4 in 1986. That year, people started seeing manatees in large numbers in the power station’s discharge canal, where saltwater – taken from Tampa Bay to cool Unit 4 – flowed, clean and warm, back to the bay. When Tampa Bay reached 68 degrees or colder, the warm-blooded mammals would seek out this new refuge. The Manatee Viewing Center was soon born

There was quite a crowd of them gathered there that day. I'd say probably at least 15. The kids really seemed to enjoy it! I remember going here and seeing them on field trips at school, but it had been a while since I saw them for myself. They are so fascinating!! It's just sort of strange to see such a large mammal swimming around in the water. Also, we were excited to see several baby Manatees like the one pictured below..

Mama and Baby!

Here are the kiddos enjoying the view!

One of the large smokestacks you can see high above the plant..

Noah and Ella seeing Manatees for the first time! Couldn't get Noey to look at the camera though..

Some of the power plant..

What a great way to spend a warm, sunny, Florida morning!

Out Of Space!

2011-02-26T08:07:00.000-05:00

So apparently I ran out of picture storage space on my blog!!! I've been trying to post pictures from my Florida trip for weeks and it wouldn't let me so I finally explored the problem. Anyways....I had to buy some more space so hopefully I will have some more posts with our Florida pictures soon!!!! I have a lot of pictures that I didn't post to FB so that I could save them for blog posts and now I'm getting wayyy behind! Keep and eye out for them soon!

Under the weather!

2011-02-02T17:10:00.001-05:00

When Randy went to Florida a few weeks ago for work, he came back home with a yucky flu that he has been trying to shake ever since. I nicknamed it the "Florida plague" because it was such a yucky virus. Well...it was only a matter of time until it caught up with me and the little ones. Sunday evening, I started feeling yucky and feeling all those dreaded flu symptoms..body aches, chills, dizziness, and a horrible headache! Ella and Noah followed right behind me and by Monday morning we were all sick sick sick!! Since then we have been slowly recovering and I think we are just about over it. We've been fever free all day with just a little bit of a lingering cough. The kids have been going a little stir crazy since I haven't been able to take them anywhere this week.

Ella and I enjoyed the morning today while Noah napped playing together. She was quite pitiful wanting someone to play with so I joined her for a tea party! Then we played a couple rounds of "Don't Spill the Beans!" and "Ooh La La Tea Party" which is a little Fancy Nancy board game she has.

Here's a couple pics from the tea party :)

This is a "Jeffrey" who belongs to one of the babies I babysit. Hailey left her at our house so Ella has been "babysitting" him until she comes back.

and this is a Birthday cake Ella made for the party ;)

She is quite the little hostess! Here is my drink and piece of cake that she cut for me!

My poor, sick, girl!! Isn't she so sweet! Even with the highest temp, her spirits were high and she was such a good girl!

We woke up to rain this morning, but were super pleased when the wether man said it was going to turn out to be a warm day! He was right! It turned out to be a sunny 73 degree day!! It was absolutely beautiful and such a nice change to the cold, gloomy days we've had this Winter. They said it will be back to cold tomorrow, so we enjoyed playing outside and getting as much fresh air as we could!

We decided to load up and go get corn dogs from Cook Out for lunch. We brought it home and had a picnic on the back porch..

Princess was watching in case anyone accidentally dropped their corn dog!

When I told Ella that we were going to go outside, she ran and got socks and shoes on..she grabbed purple socks and pink crocs! LOL! She never ceases to make me giggle when she chooses her own clothes! Here she is swinging in the baby swing..

Hope everyone is finding ways to stay warm and sane during this long, cold, Winter! We are so thankful for a little break from the cold!! Come on Spring and hurry up!

Space Bag Amazing-ness and the playroom!

2011-01-26T10:31:00.001-05:00

I have two little posts I put together for you, but since they are both from stuff around the house..I decided to just make it one big post!

First up..Space Bag Amazing-ness!

Now that we are settled back in the house, I have been spending most of my free time during the days trying to get everything better organized! We definitely have more stuff then we have room for. I think I have been to Good Will to drop off like 5 times in the last couple weeks! I am going through everything and trying to simplify as much as possible. Still, there is so much stuff that we want to keep, too! This is hard because we have such limited storage space. The other day I was at the store grabbing more containers and I saw the little box of "space bags". I have seen these so many times and been hesitant to grab some, but this time I bought a box. They are the coolest thing ever!!! I'm silly and I seriously was way-too-excited about these bags! SO excited that I decided to take pictures and make it a blog post :) Ha!

So...beware....because I'm about to let you in to the chaos usually behind my closed closet doors...

This was the top of my linen closet pre-space bag amazing-ness. There are several sets of sheets and some blankets as well.

There was also a quilt being stored underneath the bottom shelf that we use under the comforter in our room when it's really cold. During the warmer months, there is never a good place to put it..

The box of bags I bought was a variety pack so it came with a couple really large bags and then several smaller sizes as well...

You just stuff them full and vacuum all the air out..piece of cake!

And VOILA! You are left with a flat bag..

I decided to slide the quilt and another larger comforter I bagged under the bed in our room since that is where they are used most. The rest of the sheets and blankets went back in the top of the closet. I used some of the smaller bags to bag up full sets of sheets. It worked perfect! Last week I had company, so I just grabbed out a set of sheets to make up my fancy-shmancy air mattress ;) After she left I just washed the sheets, sealed them back up, and put the back in the closet.

Here is the "after" shot of my closet. Still a lot of stuff up there, but it at least looks more organized.

And for the second part of this..my random post about the new playroom!!

I know I've mentioned it on here and some on facebook, but a couple of months ago I decided I needed to do something different with the kids bedrooms. They each had their own room, but since the rooms were small it was just so crowded and it seemed like toys were everywhere..all the time! So I decided to try something new. For right now, while they are still young enough I can get away with it, I decided to have the kids share a bedroom. I moved their beds and all of their clothes into the smaller room (noah's old room). We used the bigger room (ella's room) to make a playroom. I have wrestled the pros and cons of this over and over again. Probably the biggest regret is not being able to have Ella's "girly" space anymore. Since this is only a temporary fix, I just remind myself that we will have that again one day. The bottom line is that this has been overall the best thing ever for our house!! It has kept the toys more organized and way easier to clean up. I also just love the playful environment it gave the kids. They play together so much more now.

I realized I never shared any pics with you, so I thought I would do that today :)

I had one last project for this room once we got back in the house and that was organizing the closet. I hadn't done it yet and it was sort of just a catch all. The first thing I did was put her comforters in....can you guess....another space bag LOL! After I sealed them, I stored them under our bed in the MB.

Closet before..

I also went through a bunch of the toys and organized the ones that I wanted up out of reach.

Things like Polly Pockets that have so many tiny pieces. I babysit during the day and wanted these out of the "little babies" reach..

This box was for the randoms...hats, bags, and weather gear..

Here is a little tour of the room...

Also a view of the closet after I re-organized..

Now it's all ready to PLAY!

19 months...and 2 days!!

2011-01-14T08:23:00.002-05:00

Soooo..I've always heard that you are more slack with the second child, but it hit me this week as my little Noey turned 19 months that I have barely blogged on any of his milestones, accomplishments, ect. Poor guy! We have definitely celebrated them all along the way, it's just very few have actually made it down i writing. I'm going to try and be better about that agin for both of the kids. Showing you their big moments again on here more often.

So Noah is 19 months and so wonderful to us! He is running around and climbing on everything. His most favorite thing to do right now is pretend to play drums. He has a little music set he got for his Birthday last Sumer and I can't tell you the number fo times during the day he comes running to me and says (like he's so old) "MOM! DRUM!" meaning that he would please like me to get it off the shelf ;).

He has been having a little bit of a stubborn streak. Or maybe just an "I'm so cute that somehow I became completely spoiled rotten and now my mom is back tracking trying to fix it....." streak. Either way, right now Noah is working on not running away when I ask him to come here and we're also trying to add a "yes mommy" to that. He's doing better, but he thinks it's so funny to run away and laugh like it's a game. So I think we'll be working on this one for awhile now. Also, working on not hitting when he's mad. Yes people, he is a hitter. Not always us, but he will try to go hit a wall or the table or whatever is closest when he gets mad. He's a stinker! But on the positive side, he always uses "peassssss" when asking for a drink which is exciting. Still loves to eat anything and everything. Recently found a love for "reading" and being read to which makes me so super happy! He's just a joy. Using lots of new words just these last few weeks, but the most consistent are "momma, daddy, sissy or ella, school, car, train, truck, peassss, bye bye, eat, drink, help, no, stuck, up, hold me....wow now that I'm writing them, there are way more then I even realized. Alot of them sound similar, but he's using them in the right time. I change my mind, I'm not going to sit and list them all lol!

He LOVES to sing, so I thought in honor of his 19 month old post I would share a video of him singing, "Say Say" by Kristian Stanfill.

Here is the original in case you haven't heard the song:

And here is Noah James singing his own version. And there is a huge disclaimer....he is eating while singing..and I know that's rude and gross...but it's hard to get him to do it for the camera...so I had to. Please forgive me. The cuteness is totally worth it. Promise. Also, he only knows the chorus.

Brother and Sister Love

2011-01-03T16:43:00.002-05:00

Now that Noah is getting older, we have entered the world of sibling rivalry! It has reminded me so much of when my sister and I were little. We would fight so much and be so angry with each other..and then turn around and be best friends two minutes later! Even though Ella and Noah has their moments..and the word "mine" is a common word in our house right now..they also have sweet moments where they enjoy each other so much. The good moments always outweigh the bad and I'm thankful that for the most part, they really are best buddies.

This afternoon I could hear some loud yelling coming from the room and went to investigate...this is what I found..

New Year and a "New" Home!

2011-01-01T21:58:00.002-05:00

So, it's official! The house is finally finished!! Randy took me by last night to take a look and this morning we took the kiddos by to see! It looks GREAT! We are so ready to get home! The movers are coming by early Monday morning and they will unload the pod and get our beds and everything back up. Our contractor has truly gone above and beyond for us! What a joy they have been to work with!

Here are some pics pre-furniture.

Living Room floors and new trim..

Laundry Closet/Hallway (All of that stuff goes back on a shelf above the washer and dryer. Everything is in random spots right now around the house)

Playroom. Found the Laundry Closet doors in there :)

Some of the living room. I am *so* extremely pleased with the floors I picked out. The color looks so good with the green we already had..

*Disclaimer* Yes, the child on the right side of this picture is indeed my sweet Ella. No, I did not dress her this way. Yes, she is wearing two different kinds of p.j.'s and her black dress shoes. No, I did not make her change. She wanted to wear this outfit to see the house because she's awesome like that, and that's just how she rolls...;)

Hallway/Front Door

Some of the Master Bedroom. Hard to find a good angle to show much!

Closet in Master Bedroom

Close up of the floor colors I chose. Decided to go darker with the carpet so hopefully the wear and tear wont show as badly. The color seems to go great with the wall colors though!!

Another view of Laundry Closet.

When the plumber came in to move the hot water heater (so they could put the floors underneath) he said our water heater was super old and basically on it's last leg. He didn't want to risk moving it so they were going to just put the floors around it. Randy and I decided to just go ahead and have it replaced while they were in there and we are so thankful we did! The plumber said it should have busted a long time ago. He couldn't believe it was still working! Yikes!!! Good news is that now we have a larger, more energy efficient, new water heater.

More of the living room..

Coat Closet..the previous owners had just stopped the laminate at the door to this instead of taking it all the way in. It looks WAY better now..

And that's all for now! Sometime next week, we'll be sleeping in our own beds again! Yipeee!

a little Throwback Thursday....

2010-12-30T10:50:00.004-05:00

With all the craziness of the house issue and being in sort of a hotel mode, I have missed sharing some really fun moments and pictures! Some are kind of random and some were actually meant for blog posts that were never published! SO! Today I am going to back track and share them with you! Hope you enjoy!!

First up, are some random pictures of the kids playing outside! Some are from a sunny Fall day before we moved out of the house. The kids and I were playing outside and went for a walk/bike ride. The rest are from playing in the backyard here at the rental we are staying at.

Notice these are all pre-haircut for Noey!! A Couple more posts to come so keep scrolling!

Throwback Thursday Number 2

2010-12-30T10:50:00.003-05:00

These pics are from Ella's Thanksgiving party at St. Timothy's Pre School! All of the kids had made little vests and headbands to wear like little Indians. It was so cute! At the beginning of the year each mom signs up to host a party and this year I was able to host the Thanksgiving party. Since it's considered a bigger party (because all of the children's family including extended family like aunt and grandmas are invited to attend) I worked as a partner with another mom in the class and we divided up responsibilities. I had a great time doing this for Ella's class! I'm so thankful to be able to help out! I love how open her preschool is to having parents around any time. Noah and I look forward to joining Ella for all of her little parties and filed trips and she gets excited that we get to "come to school" with her every once in awhile!

They all got to pick a new name for their vest and Ella's was "Princess Butterfly"

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! ;)

Throwback # 3 -Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

2010-12-30T10:49:00.002-05:00

The week of Christmas, Ella and I decided to do some holiday baking! We made little boxes of treats for everyone that serves with Randy and I on the Worship Team. We made all sorts of little goodies and also did a repeat of Buckeyes like we do every year. Our family could eat peanut butter fudge everyday so I decided to do a double batch of that as well! I'm so excited that Ella is getting older and we can have so much fun in the kitchen together. She has been "helping" me since she was Noah's age, but now she really is a big help and we had a lot of fun.

Since my recipe book is at home and I didn't have it with me, I just found a recipe that was similar to the one I usually use online. I'm nearly positive it was the exact recipe I have at home...either way we couldn't tell the difference!

Here's the link if you want to check it out. We also took pictures along the way to show you the process!

Easiest Peanut Butter Fuge -Allrecipes.com

Alright, here goes!

When I make fudge and the kids are helping, I always start by measuring and sorting all of my ingredients into bowls that I can quickly and easily add when the recipe calls for them. I just find that once, say, your butter is melted and starting to bubble, that it's a pain to quickly measure out the next ingredient without making a mess. This also helps for Ella because she can just "dump" the next ingredient in when it's time.

So for this recipe, I started with butter in the saucepan, brown sugar ready to go, the peanut butter and vanilla in the measuring cup, and a large bowl with the powdered sugar where everything will end up.

The next thing you will need to do is find a seriously cute assistant chef. This one is taken :)

Start melting your butter :)

Here are some of my other ingredients on stand by. Please excuse my "large mixing bowl" aka POT! Mine are at home and this was the best I could do under the circumstances! But hey, "a girls gotta do, what a girl's gotta do" when she wants some fudge!!!

okay...back to making fudge! Start melting your butter until it's all melted...

Then add your brown sugar and milk into the butter and stir. Bring this mixture to a boil and let it go for 2 minutes while you stir, stir, stir!

Then, once the 2 minutes is up, slide your pot off the heat and add the peanut butter and vanilla.

Mix this in until it melts well and then pour the whole mixture into your powdered sugar.

Now all you have to do is mix it well! I usually let Ella mix it by hand a minute or two and then I smooth it out with the hand mixture.

Once it's creamy and smooth, pour it unto a pan. I doubled the recipe this time, so I'm using a big cake pan. At home I usually prefer to put this into a pice of pyrex. Also, I typically line with wax paper, but once again...improvising here! Also, it's best to use a rubber spatula and smooth the fudge out os it's nice and smooth on top. It will make it look prettier when you cut it. I didn't have one :( So after this picture I used a large spoon and patted it down nice and smooth. Now just pop this in the fridge and voila!

It was so yummy! We are actually still working on some at home! :)

Here are some pics of our other treats as well!

Enjoy!

There's no place like HOME!

2010-12-28T11:05:00.002-05:00

Thought I'd give a little update on the house since I found some pics on the computer this morning. It's been 38 days since we've slept in our own beds...but who's counting, right?? This whole experience has really been a great eye opener for me. It's funny how much you learn to appreciate all you have once it's taken away. For example, my little house! For awhile now we have been feeling like it was time for us to begin a plan to save and work towards getting a bigger house. We love our house, but we have really felt the growing pains since having Noah. Every room, closet, and cabinet is full to the top! I had been working really hard to become content with our house and make the best of it. I must say, I had really come to love and appreciate living there all the way up until the flood. In the first week out of the house I was definitely having a ton of frustrated thoughts about the house and how everything seems to go wrong for the house and us! I was sort of having one of those "when it rains, it pours" moments...except I felt like it had been pouring for like a year! Now looking back, I have just been so humbled. Mostly by the way God has literally blessed my socks off since this happened! Every time I turn around, its like he is providing yet something else for me. Sometimes it's just a wave a peace..and other times it's something more tangible like unexpected income. It's also been so eye opening to see how much you appreciate the small things when you are living with very little. We only brought a suitcase or so of clothes, a variety of kitchen items, and a few toys for the kids and that's it! At our home, everything we own is packed into a pod in the driveway...and you know...there are very few things that I actually miss right now! I'm SO looking forward to returning to my home (hopefully this week) and clearing out all the crud and junk in my life that I've been holding onto so tightly that I really don't need. We are still planning to put the house up for sale soon, but now we will leave this house with a bittersweet tie to it! I can truly say there is "no place like home" and I can't wait to get back to my own house that is so sweet and comforting to my family. And in the meantime..I am praising God for once again bringing me to a place where I have to completely trust his plan for me, instead of my own big plans for my future.

This is song is so true to my life right now..

Here are some pictures a day or two after while they were still drying things out:

All the hard wood was ripped up at this point, but they were trying to save the carpet..

2 days later and the machines had still pulled all of this water out of the walls and air..

And now these next ones were taken this week:
This is the bathroom where it happened and they replaced a lot of the insulation and drywall on this wall. Now it is all painted and you can't even tell anymore.

Still finishing up some painting of the closet doors and base boards, but most everything is back in place.

Can't wait to get the floors back in! They ended up pulling up all floors in the entire house (minus the kitchen and bathrooms where we have ceramic tile)

Master bedroom. Almost all walls and baseboards were repainted (minus the kitchen where there was no damage and the playroom where they did baseboards only)

Waterlines GONE now in Masterbath

Behind the laundry closet where there was a lot of water damage before. It sits across the hall from where the leak happened.

This drywall and insulation on this wall was also replaced. A pretty big part of the wall. The worst was down here in the corner though where the water had overflowed from the tub along this wall.

Had to get Noah out of there before he made any more new wholes in the walls!!!

I was so impressed with how well they matched all of the paint in the house! They did a great job on everything so far!! They have really gone above and beyond to make sure we were happy.

Last week I went and picked out the new floors and they should be installed any day now! Then we unpack and move in!! Can't wait!!

Christmas Photo Extravaganza!

2010-12-26T15:06:00.001-05:00

So this post is long and random. I just want to get the Christmas stuff posted so that I can have a fresh slate for a fresh New Year!!!

Soo....here we go! Some of these are out of order..but I'm too lazy to rearrange them so I will tell you when they are from:

These are from a last minute trip the kids and I took to the mall to visit Santa one last time. We had to wait almost 45 minutes for Santa to come back from his lunch break! The kids like to watch the singing bears they have set up..so we wasted some time doing that for awhile :)

Then, on Christmas Eve Eve, we decided to go to a place that had a TON of Christmas lights. It's literally some guys yard that is huge and filled with thousands of lights! It was great and the kids loved it despite the freezing cold..

The next few are random ones from the days leading up to Christmas, as well as Christmas morning..

Here's where the order gets funky..these are from the second week of December when the kids and I went to TN to visit my family. We had a great time and they got to experience Chuck E Cheese for the first time. That place is still as crazy and scary as I remembered! Still, my kids aren't hard to please and they had a great time LOL!!!

Here are a couple from some holiday baking and treat making that Ella and I did the week of Christmas. She was a great help and we had a lot of fun together!

And last, but not least...these were taken this morning! It has been snowing since super early this morning and we will have somewhere around 10 or more inches once it's all done. We had a great time playing and making a snowman this morning. We were going to join some friends for a post Christmas lunch today, but the snow has made it impossible to get down our street. Wish Greenville would get some snowplows already!!!!

Merry Christmas!! Hope you all had a wonderful time with your family. I know we did! So thankful to celebrate love and family with the giving and receiving of gifts..especially thankful for the most important gift of all, Jesus!

Noah's First Haircut!

2010-12-25T18:47:00.001-05:00

Okay, I am way out of order and behind...so tomorrow I will post Christmas pictures and a few random posts. Until then, I am just trying to dump some pictures I don't want forgotten in between.

While we were in TN, Noah had his very first haircut. It was bittersweet for me. Since he has such cute, curly, hair, I really want him to grow it out. The only problem, is that it wasn't cooperating. He has patches that were growing realllly long and others that weren't growing at all..SO..I made the decision to go ahead and have some of the back and sides trimmed and we would see what happens from there.

Since my sister does hair, I wanted to wait until we were in TN so that she could do his first hair cut. Makes it a little more special :)

Noah was a great trooper for the first half, but towards the end of his cut, he started getting a little squirmy and trying to get down. For the most part he was good though.

I know most of you may be thinking, "It's about time!", but I could seriously cry looking at these! I LOVE him with his big boy haircut, but it's sad to see his some of his baby look go away! He has always been known for his crazy hair LOL!!

Here are some random "before and After" pics. I didn't take any good ones at the salon..

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We still left it fairly long and it's still curling up in the back so I think he will still have curly hair. My sweet little man! Love him SO!

Hang with me!

2010-12-08T13:09:00.000-05:00

I'm still "here" it's just I haven't had much time for posting! I have been busy busy. The kids and I are leaving next Tuesday to go to my mom's house for Christmas and I want to have most of my Christmas shopping and all done before I go. Then I can come home and enjoy the last little bit of the Christmas Season! I love it!

I have had so much fun shopping for the kids this year! They are getting older and there is so much fun stuff! I'm like a kid walking through the toy store! We have also had so much fun this year now that Ella is old enough to understand stuff going on and get excited about what's to come! Time to start building those traditions!!

I keep forgetting to get my USB cord from the house so no Christmas pics for now. But I will post some from my phone soon!

**Here's a quick update on the house:

Randy just met with our insurance adjuster this morning for the first time. They had to reschedule our first appointment so today was the first day someone from SF actually came out and saw the house themselves! I's been a long wait, but I still must say that State Farm has been wonderful through all of this. They are very accommodating to us and super helpful. The adjuster looked at the house and decided that all floors and several walls must be replaced. Yikes..just the thought of someone coming into my house and knocking down walls freaks me out! But the contractor that we are using has been highly recommended and will hopefully do a great job. Everything will be done by the same group all the way down to the floors and paint. Also, their work will be guaranteed for 5 years. SO, at least we feel like the ball is rolling FINALLY!

It's been one of "those" kinda weeks...

2010-11-26T14:41:00.000-05:00

Hmmm..where to start...

I'm sure most of you heard about our house, but if you haven't..here's the shortest version I can put together. Saturday evening I was giving the kids a bath when all of a sudden the knob that turns on the cold water just shot off. Thankfully it didn't hit either of the kiddos when it did, BUT the huge spray of water behind it was shooting right at their little faces!! We all three immediately panicked!! Me, because not only are both of my babies being soaked in the face by a stream like a fire hydrant, but also because my bath tub was quickly filling with water. I'm talking filling up faster then anything I've EVER seen!!! I grabbed both kids out of the tub and took them back to the corner bedroom and left them there naked wrapped in towels. Ran for my phone and called Randy..nearly hysterical..Randy gave me instructions on how to turn the water off at the emergency shut off..which didn't work. Had to grab a wrench and head to the front yard. In the dark. Soaking Wet. While both of my kids are naked, scared, and hysterically screaming for me from the house. I tried to turn the water main off and couldn't. It was too tight for me to even budge it. Decided to run to the shed and try using the shop vac to suck up water until Randy (who was on the way at this point) got there. HA! The whole shop vac thing was a joke. The thing was full in one minute! Ran back to the yard to try and shut off the water..again..when a friend from church pulled up. Randy had called him since he lived closer and asked him to come help me. By the time we got it off, the water had leaked out of the bathroom and into every. room. of. the. house. Thankfully, this is covered by our home insurance.

We spent three nights in a hotel and then had the opportunity to move into a rental owned by the company Randy works for. So Tuesday, the kids and I came over here while Randy was in Jacksonville for work. The house we are staying at is great. Three bedrooms and a great backyard that's fenced in. The kids have been having a blast playing on the back porch and running around in a "new" backyard. I'm unbelievably thankful for the opportunity to stay here and get out of the hotel. Still, I must confess, I'm homesick. I'm not used to having this much "idle" time. I know things will be better next week when Ella has school and normal routines return.

They had a company come out to our house on Sunday afternoon to dry the place up. We were a little "unpleased" to say the least. We just really felt like they were trying to get out of there without having to do anything. They pulled up all of our wood floors in the living room and hallway, but left the carpet. They put blowers underneath it to dry it out. We talked with the insurance company and told them we didn't mind saving the carpet, but we wanted the padding underneath replaced. They agreed completely and told Randy they weren't going to allow us to save it! They wanted it gone, but the people from ServPro didn't think it needed to go and wouldn't rip it out. They kept dragging their feet and making excuses. So yesterday we thanked them for drying everything out and asked them to come get their stuff. We meet with our adjuster on Thursday and he/she will help us decide what all needs replaced and then we will hire out and get it done. The dry wall in the bathroom where it happened is warped away from the baseboards now so we will have to replace that, too. Going to be alot of work, but hopefully once we get the actual orders for it, it will go fast. Hopefully!

Until then, we are just going with the flow! Trying to begin getting ready for the holidays. Hoping I will be in my own home by then..a little bummed that I can't start decorating yet, but thankful to be sitting in a warm house with a full belly, listening to healthy children running around me. Life is still good :)

Hot, Cold, Hot, COLD!!!

2010-11-09T16:52:00.001-05:00

We have had some random weather this Fall!! It has been all over the place! Now I think we have finally entered into official "Fall" weather although some days lately, it feels more like Winter! Last year didn't go out much in the cold. We tend to become little hermits and just go where we need to and then run back to the warmth of our cozy little house. This year I am trying hard to be different! I hate the cold!! (I actually really LOVE Winter clothes though). You'll have to ask me in the middle of January when I'm really frozen if I have stuck to this, but so far I'm doing good. I've been just bundling everyone up and hitting the road. We've taken some nice walks and trips to the park. Also, the kids and I have still been going to Stroller Shape twice a week. I just dress them really warm and bring along a blanket.

These pictures below were taken a couple of weeks ago on one of our last warm days! *tear*

We were just having some random backyard fun.

Please excuse the long grass! Mower broke..again..but Randy just got a new belt for it :)

My pretty girl!

Trampoline FUN! Oh and do any of you remember my Facebook status months ago that went something like, "Please don't tell me my back door neighbors are seriously painting their house PINK!!" Well here's a picture. (No offense to anyone with a pink house..just not my personal preference!)

Ella demonstrating the "table" she learned to make in gymnastics!

Look...HAIR!! (crazy hair....but still....HAIR!)

Then Ella gave Noey a little ride in his swing!

And off for a cruise through the neighborhood! Bye Mama and Daddy!!!

October Happenings!

2010-10-31T16:05:00.001-04:00

Since it's Halloween, I want to get all of the pictures caught up and posted so I can have a fresh start for November :) Well, actually, that wont be the case because we are going to have more pictures tonight after trick or treating to share as well! At least I will have these off my camera and posted for now.

We have had a great October with lots of fun and excitement. We got to see DOLLY earlier this month which was such a great way to start the Fall season, we've had pumpkins, and parties, SO much fun!

I loved this little picture of this pumpkin below. It's kinda hard to see, but it was Ella's pumpkin from her field trip to the pumpkin patch and she decided to draw him a little face. The glare makes it hard to see, but it's super adorable!

And these next ones are from Ella's Halloween party at pre-school..

First they had a little parade and then each of the kids got to stand up and show their costumes to each other..

She decided to dress as a fairy for this party. It was a little Dora fairy outfit!

Ella and her friend Karissa!

Back to the class for snacks and a party!

My pretty fairy!

Then, on Thursday night, I took Ella and Noah to the "spooktacular stories" at the library. Randy was out of town with work again, so it was just me and the kiddos, but we had a great time!!

Ella dressed as a "Barbie Princess"

Ella volunteered to help for one of the stories!

She was the Jack-O-Lantern!

Then on the way home, we swung through Krispy Kream for a donut!! ;)

My two little cuties getting their teeth brushed and ready for bed!

Hope you are all having a great time today and lots of fun tonight!! We're off for the festival and some Trick or Treating tonight!!! :)

Busted!

2010-10-27T21:43:00.001-04:00

Fall Chocolates don't last very long....

with little people in the house!

But wait.....

how in the world...did Noah reach the chocolates sitting on the end table..out of his reach?????

Must have had some help!

Cookin' Up Collards!

2010-10-20T14:53:00.001-04:00

I don't think I've posted about it much on here, but I have been shopping our local farmers market alot lately. They have so much fresh, yummy, produce for awesome prices. I had also set a goal for our family to start buying all of our meat from local farmers only instead of local grocery stores. I'm SO excited that for last month or so we have not purchased anything besides turkey lunch meat from the store. Still haven't figured out a replacement for that yet! We are loving it. I love picking up my meat and having it handed to me by the actual farmer and his wife! They are so sweet and take such good care of their farm and animals. Their slogan is "Our cows don't do drugs!" Anyways, I'm on a huge rabbit trail. That's a whole different post...where was I?? Oh! COLLARD GREENS!

While I was at the market on Saturday, there were huge crates of beautiful, fresh collard greens. I wont even tell you about the conversation I had with the farmer, but it ended with him saying, "You aren't from North Carolina, are you?". He convinced me that I could cook up a big pot of collards and make Randy proud. And I did! Randy LOVES them so he was so excited when I came home with a shopping bag stuffed full of them.

I had some ideas about how to cook them, but I also knew that my friend Amy would be able to set me straight with this one. She was born in Mobil, Alabama and although I've never eaten at her mother's table, I know from stories that she is an amazing Southern cook. So Amy sent me a nice set of instructions and I got to work. The next day I was also able to get some more pointers from her mom through facebook. The thing I have loved about trying new recipes, is that everyone has their own version..each a little different. It's so fun to see which you like best. SO! I'm going to share with you a little mix of what I learned from both Amy and her mom Jackie..and then how I did my pot.

The first and most common tip from EVERYONE I meet is this. wash, WASH, wash!! Triple wash. So I soaked mine in the sink all morning while I was at church and then gave each one an individual rinse and look over. Can I just tell you though, that mine were sooo clean before I started. They had obviously had a really good wash at the farm.

Next, I used a tip from my receptionist at work (wish I had taken a pic of this part!). I stacked several leaves on top of each other and chopped of the thick stem at the bottom. Then I rolled them like a burrito and chopped them longways once or twice. Next time I am going to try it the way Mrs. Garvin suggested and just pull each side of the leaf right off the stem and throw all the stems out!

Here's one of the places I changed mine up. Amy's suggestion was to heat up my stock pot with a little EVOO and saute some chopped onion first. I forgot to buy an onion so I couldn't do this, but I definitely will next time. Instead, I just dumped all of my greens into the pot and filled it up with half chicken stock and half water.

I also added a little bit of fresh, chopped, garlic into the pot. This wasn't suggested to me, but since I didn't have any onion..and I really love garlic, I though it would be yummy. I left the pieces pretty big though so they wouldn't be too strong.

Also, you have to add some sort of meat for flavor. Both Amy and her mom suggested either smoked turkey wings, turkey legs, or ham hocks. This time I went with a ham hock. Also, Amy's mom suggested cooking the ham hock in covered water for an hour or so until it was nice and tender and then adding your greens. I actually just plopped mine right in there, but I knew that I was going to just let mine cook low and slow for awhile. The flavor from the ham hock was soooo yummy!

I just smushed it down under there. I also added salt, pepper, and some apple cider vinegar to the water as well. (Per Amy's suggestion) Then I let them come to a boil, reduced the heat, and let them simmer for awhile. They cooked down a ton, but still made lots! I also roasted some potatoes, and had some ribs in the oven. Loved it because I just prepped the whole thing right when we got home from church, went with a friend to speak to some college girls at ECU and then came home to a delicious dinner!

Here's the final view of the pot:

And the whole meal (but not plated fancy or anything! We were ready to dig in!)

Yum, yum! Thanks again for all of the pointers from Jackie Garvin and Amy Garvin Wren!
So tell me, how do you cook your collards?? Any thing else you like to add to the pot? I have another batch to cook up again soon!

Fall Pictures

2010-10-18T22:17:00.000-04:00

While my mom was in town, we went to visit one of our favorite photographers! Mom wanted some updated Halloween/Fall pictures so she took advantage of the chance to get some while she was here. We had a photo shoot with our good family friend, Jennifer Kent of Jennography and she did an AMAZING job (as usual). She photographed me while I was pregnant with Noah, then again for a newborn shoot, and actually once again to capture some special moments of Noah and I when he was only a few months old. She has been so good to us and we are always thrilled with the pictures she produces!

Some of the pics are on facebook, but you can also check out her blog here and see a post she did and some of the pictures as well!

HAT Hair!

2010-10-14T20:25:00.001-04:00

Silly Ella had fun trying on wigs in Target the other day..she's our little clown!