Tooting my own horn

I love blogging. I don't do it enough, but when the moment strikes, to have a place to think things out, get them down for later, and be able to read again is priceless. I started this blog because I needed an outlet that involved more than just me reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar for the billionth time. I wanted a place to be me. To be silly, or crazy, or whiny, or ornery, or happy, or sad, or however the heck I was feeling. A place to just let it be loose.

So I created my own corner of the world for me. And you know what - I like it. I like me. Once and awhile, the urge comes to just read again my own words. And it's fun. I've actually made myself laugh, which is really weird. I have good ideas. I'm funny. I'm thought provoking. I like me.

So in that line of thought, here's a list of my favorite posts.
By me.
How narcissistic can you get?

• Weighty Matters
• Tender Hands of a child
  
• Going from Normal to Giddy to Bugged in 30 minutes.
• Pain
  
• Life Liberty and Learning
• Imagination, A Play
• A momentous Occasion
• My struggle with Mommy Rage
• Ugg!
• A bit of Nostalgia
• Things I've learned in the last few weeks
• Tale of three blankets
• 'cause it's really interesting
• To all Viruses, bacteria, and other nasties,
• An old Friend
• Joy
• 20 years ago
• How to turn a 2.5 hour car ride into a never ending saga
• I'd make a lousy pioneer

If you were to list your favorite posts from yourself, what would they be?

Close. SO Close.

Bunk Bed: 80% complete. Needs only last coat of paint and assembly.

2 Twin Quilts: 78% complete. Need only binding.

Walls: 93% complete. Need only a bit of tape and last stripe.

General Decor: 50% complete. What I know I want is done, what I'm debating on is still up for . . .debate.

Total Girls' Room Progress: 73%

I'm close. So close I can almost taste it. There is actually an end in sight for this room!

Digging in the dirt

One of the hardest adjustments to being a home owner has been the outside. For 28 years, someone else has been in charge of the great outdoors. While I've done lots to help - mowing lawn, pulling weeds, planting peas, picking endless buckets of berries - someone else decided what to plant, when to harvest, how much punishment, I mean weeding was needed.

But now we're all grown up and stuff, and Hubby and I have to do that.

What's up with that growing up thing anyway?

The previous owners had a service for the yard. Not something we're willing to shell out much money for. Fortunately, they also had landscaping with little maintenance.

And we've done even less.

We're great at mowing the lawn. Someday, we'll get a weed whacker and no longer be able to mimic the Asian jungles around the edges.

Regular weeding . . . let's just be happy that most of the flower beds are covered with weed barriers and lava rocks.

In all my redoing (and doing and doing and doing), we've mostly just left the outside be. The whole 2 flowerbeds that actually need cultivating . . . . Ahem. Well, some of those ground cover weeds don't look to bad.

Today Buddy and I spent 2 hours in the dirt. We pulled weeds. We broke up dirt clods.

And then we dug really big holes and planted tulips.

I love the idea of planting in the fall for beauty in the spring. My actions now will change my yard for years to come. I have always been a "preparer". I love to get things done so I don't need to worry about them later. Especially when it's small little actions that make such big changes later.

Others in my family (which shall go nameless), are much more of the "I'll take care of it later" mindset. This works for them (except for when it doesn't and they are scrambling last minute. But that's another story.)

Bulbs are a wonder. The idea that such a small, funny looking clump can produce such beauty year after year after year - that with one tiny plop in the dirt I can bring life and color into the world. My actions for this were so small - the actual time to plant measured in just minutes. But the results are so large.

What actions can you do today to bring more beauty into your life? Playing with your children, Singing a song, Dusting that really tall annoying light fixture, Building a memory. Find time to bring joy. Don't put it off. Find time today to do one small act that will bring joy later.

You can thank me later when your harvest comes back to you, even better than you thought it could.

Here's to waiting for my flowers next spring.

My Visiting Teacher Gives me Vodka and other random thoughts

My life is full.

Full of Joy. Full of Stuff. Full of laughs. Full of tears. Full of projects. Full of kids. Full of "hurry up we're late"s. Full of songs and snuggles.

Full of randomness.

Right now I'm full of writer's block. I've had that wonderful title in my mind for 3 whole weeks now. Have I done anything with it? Nope. Nothing more that write it down. Usually that is just enough to spark . . . something. Something profound, something goofy, something crafty, something lame - SOMETHING.

I got nothing. So instead, I flew standby with 3 small children. That was an adventure. I stressed out over silly, STUPID things. I cleaned my fridge. I printed two more scrapbooks. I worked on my girls' quilts.

And thought. And thought. And thought.

It's such a great title. Instead you get my writers block.

Sorry folks. Hopefully writing through it will jog my creativity. I'm in a bit of a creative funk all around.

*On a side note, my visiting teacher really did give me vodka last month. I've wanted to make my own vanilla for a while now, and she had a neighbor getting rid of a partial bottle. So I have a bottle of Vodka sitting on my counter right now, just waiting for me to get my act in gear and buy some vanilla beans. And for the about 2 of you who are not related to me or Mormon, this was silly because a Visiting Teacher is there from my church to talk about church stuff, and we don't believe in drinking alcohol. And that's all I have to say.

Winner Winner!

This must be the easiest place on the planet to win a contest. Really. With only 4 entries, you've got such a great chance!
So, number 3 - which is Sarah! Yeah girl! I'll get you your book soon!

My FAVORITE cookies . . .

I can now share with you!
Yes, it's here. In all it's delicious glory. Josi Kilpack's latest book. And it is an AMAZING read.

I love all of her books (ok, there was that one that was kind of dorky, but other than that). Her twists, her turns, her silly little side notes are just so endearing. I read this book almost as a stand alone novel. My copies have been lent out so many times, I rarely have them around, and I just couldn't remember what happened in Devil's Food. While some details help you understand some motivations and such, even if you've never read the rest of the series, you can still sink your teeth into this one. I know I did. I may have maybe sort of read all 345 pages in less than 24 hours . . . .

And the recipes are amazing too.

Specifically, Butterfinger Cookies. Just typing that name makes my mouth water. They are the. BEST. peanut butter. cookies. EVER. And you can have the recipe for yourself!

This time Josi has made the first chapter and all the recipes available HERE in pdf format. But the recipes just aren't enough! You know you need to read this book too.

And maybe for your very own!

I've got one copy to giveaway to one of my beautiful amazing readers. It's even autographed. And with 19 followers now, competition may get fierce! Or something.

To enter: leave a comment on this post with the name of your favorite recipe. Extra hugs to those that actually link to the recipe.

Entries must be in by Monday, Aug 24th at 7:00 central time (because I like to sleep.) On Tuesday I'll throw the numbers in to random.org and find the winner.

Believe me, it's worth it!

Trying to not give myself Ulcers

My oldest starts kindergarten. one week from today.

There are the obvious things about this. How on EARTH could this tiny little creature:
be old enough to go to school? (and how did I become grown up enough to be her Mom?)
Do we have everything ready? Where are we going to put all the papers? Can I actually pack a decent lunch for her? Will she have fun? Will she be ok?

And then there are some more specific worries:

• Will she stress out about riding the bus by herself (cause she stresses, A LOT, about little things, especially if she's never done it before)
• Will she be able to find her class, her supplies, her bus without stressing out?
• Will she be able to actually open her string cheese/applesauce/ziplock baggie at lunch?
• Will she make good friends, or just flaky people that I don't really want her to be around?
• Will her teacher try to teach her things that go against what her parents tell her?
• Will she be picked on because she is such a messy person - really. When she eats, when she crafts, when she plays, she makes an amazing mess. Way more than her little brother.
• Will she be completely exhausted and amazingly grouchy with a 6 1/2 hour school day?
• Will her brother cope with his full time playmate gone for most of the day?

Fear of the unknown is one of the hardest fears to overcome. And this Mom is trying SUPER hard to not let her young become aware of just how freaked out I am for her. Instead I'm trying to emphasise the positive, both to her and for me.

• She's almost reading, on her own.
• She loves to learn, about everything.
• She thrives with social contact-something we've been missing since we moved a year ago.
• She insists on a "perfect" person to the outside world, which means she's the biggest angel around with others and waits for the bad with me.
• There are dozens of people there just to help her get through her day.
• She's only a 3 minute drive away.
• Kindergarten is not college. The hardest thing she'll be doing is learning how to write something other than capital letters.
• Someone else, who is actually paid to do so, will now get to answer her hundreds of questions.
• How could I not want my child to grow, to learn, to stretch, to become what she is meant to be.

I love my Girly-Lou. I will miss her energy, her joy, her insane spaghetti faces all day long. But I want her to become an even more incredible person. So I will begin to send her out into the world.

And she will come back to me.