For the love of pretzels

Elisabeth's favorite thing to do when we go to Target is get a soft pretzel and a cherry icee.  She's addicted!

It's a new year....

I'm sure the few people that actually follow my blog and check it every now and then are wondering if I fell off the face of the earth.  Sometimes I feel like I have that's for sure.  Lots and lots going on personally, with the business, with school and let's don't forget the extracurricular activities the kids are involved in.  But I think 2013 is going to be better.  I am in an organizing campaign around our house and it might take me until 2014 to get my ideas actualized but at least I'm heading in the right direction.  Organization makes me feel less stressed and happy.  I always have good intentions of doing things and goodness knows I pin tons of organizational ideas on Pinterest but it seems like life comes at you fast and I always save those ideas for another day.  No more I say!  Already this week I've cleaned out and reorganized the kids bathroom cabinet  (that kind of thing is always good to do when they aren't here because I get to throw much more away when they aren't around! :-), sorted a huge stack of paperwork so it can be filed easily and bought over the door shoe organizers to put in the playroom closet to put all our little art supplies in.  Now everyone can see them and get to them easily.  I'm on a roll people!  Next I'm going to set up a table in the playroom so I can scrapbook and finally get Elisabeth's Lifebook started. The girl is going to be 18 before I ever get it finished!




I have also been reading the book "Cleaning house" by Kay Wills Wyma.  I like it!  I am modifying the plan slightly but basically I am trying to teach my children to not feel like they are entitled.  Entitled to leave their room a complete wreck (which makes mommy go postal), entitled to leave their clothes, dishes and toys whereever they want thinking mommy or daddy will pick them up, entitled to think they can wreck the bathroom and leave it a disgusting mess and think I'll just come and clean it up OR entitled to think the laundry fairy will magically get all the clothes and bring them downstairs, wash them and ever so neatly put them back in their drawers and closets.  Yeah.  Not happening!  I think I owe it to my kids to teach them responsibility and how to do things around the house and make good decisions.  I am not perfect at this by any stretch of the imagination but I realize that one day they will move out and my hope is that we will have taught them some basic life skills on how to survive on their own, make decisions based on priority and save and tithe a portion of their money.  This is no easy task but money does motivate them a bit (most of the time) so they have to work (and have a happy heart while doing it) to keep their monthly allowance of money.  So far it's going well.  I am going to add a new skill in February.  I think it's going to be  how to properly clean a bathroom that will pass mommy's inspection.  Cleaning toilets and all.  That should go over well.  Wish me luck!

Hopefully towards the end of February and into March our skill will be gardening and how to plant and take care of one.  We don't have much space for anything big but I have a space picked out where they can plant some flowers, tomatoes and a few herbs and vegetables.  They will have to help research the plants we want to plant and if they are suited for the soil and sun we have in the garden area, help prepare the area and get it ready for planting, plant everything and keep it alive.  I think it should be fun!  And I'm sure I can find some weeds to pull and flowers to deadhead somewhere in there too.

I've got to get back to organizing......I'll write more soon.......

Fall Horse Show

Ansley participated in her 2nd horse show at the Greenway today.  For being mid-November it was a beautiful day! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and boy was it chilly in the morning but HOT in the afternoon. I am just grateful it wasn't freezing all day because I really don't like to be cold!  We arrived at 8:30 am and didn't get home until 4:30 pm.  Count 'em.  That's 8 hours people. That's a long time to watch horses go around in a circle and keep Miss Elisabeth entertained.  But all in all it wasn't too bad and Elisabeth really didn't have any meltdowns.  I thought that 8 hours in the sun and dust from the horse ring earned all of us a big fat ice cream cone from the Peach Stand on the way home.  It was yummy!  Then we came home, took showers to get the layer of red dust off of us and then we collapsed on the coach and vegged out by watching TV and I even fell asleep!  

Ansley earned 2 ribbons today and rode very well.  I am proud of her and proud that Elisabeth didn't put up too much of a fuss today in order to watch her sister do what she loves to do. :-)  

 Waiting to go in the ring

 Bundled up with a blanket to keep the chill off in the morning.  By the afternoon we were sweating!

 Ansley and Gypsy.......1st place

 Elisabeth made a fort to keep the sun off of her because it was blinding us and very hot.  All you can see is the feet of a VERY bored 7 year old.

 Ansley and Gypsy

 Ansley and Whiskey

 Waiting for the judges to give their verdict....

 Elisabeth is so bored she has resorted to plucking kernels from ears of dried corn to keep herself entertained :)

 Ended the day with a 1st and 5th place ribbon.  Their were alot of people competing in each class this time so these ribbons were well earned and we were happy and grateful to get them. 

Cantering on Gypsy

Halloween

It's always a little tricky when Halloween falls on a weeknight but we managed to trick or treat, help hand out candy, eat some candy and still get in bed by 9 pm. The weather turned out better than we thought it was going to be so all in all it was a fun evening.  It got a little bit chilly as the night went on and the girls wanted to come and help hand out candy so we didn't even trick or treat the whole neighborhood.  But they still managed to get plenty of candy and even got enough to share with their chocolate loving parents!  Yay!

 Pumpkin guts are so slimy!

 My little butterfly

 The Mad Hatter

The candy sorting has begun.....

Hummus

Ansley is studying the comparison between Islam and Christianity at school so one of their assignments last week was to either make hummus from scratch or research the food Muslims eat and write a 1 paragraph report.  I thought the report sounded easy.....I mean it's only 1 paragraph for goodness sake!  But, Ansley thought making hummus (that no one will eat but me) sounded like a much better idea. The thought of researching and writing another paper wasn't on the top of her list.   So off to the grocery store we went for the 3rd time that week :-)  .   We got all the ingredients and made it.  It was good but lacked a little something so I mixed it with the roasted red pepper hummus I already had in the fridge from Harris Teeter.  That gave it what it needed and it was very yummy.  Ansley tried it and said it was OK.  Elisabeth refused to try it.   John said it was Ok too.  At least most everyone tried it. I think next time I make it from scratch I'll find a roasted red pepper recipe on the web.  It's really delicious and addictive!  You should try it!

Our first camping trip of 2012

We finally found a free weekend and decided to go camping for the first time this year! Finally! We went to Coneross Campground outside of Greenville, SC.  It is run by the Corps of Engineers and it was a great campground.  Very quiet and the cleanest bath house I've ever seen!  We wandered around on Saturday and found this beautiful sunflower field.  It was amazing.  We took lots of pictures as you can tell!  It's not every day you see a field of sunflowers that's for sure.  We also visited a goat farm where they sold goat cheese, soap, etc.   It was fun and kids enjoyed petting the goats and the dogs and watching the chickens and the roosters.  We even found a roadside stand selling beautiful pumpkins and we stayed there for quite a while learning all about their pet pot belly pig named Samantha.  Her favorite food is Cheetos!  I think she had eaten one too many.  :-)  It was a beautiful weekend for camping and exploring!

 Samantha

 Ansley petting Samantha

Ansley and Molly.  Such a sweet dog!  I love labs!

So special

I meant to post a picture of this earlier in the year but just didn't because it was made during a hard time.  John made this for my Aunt Pat because she requested a piece of stained glass for her window in her den when she moved into her new house.  Then she got very sick and life got crazy and busy but John wanted to live up to his promise to make her a piece of stained glass. I love and respect that he did that for her. It meant alot to me for him to do that.   I think it turned out beautifully!  I know she didn't get to enjoy it as long as we wanted her to but I hope it brought a small sliver of joy to a very hard time.  I cry when I look at it because I know the cross is what we have to stand on, rely on and put our hope in.  I know that she is with Jesus and she is well and whole again and rejoicing with the Lord.  And someday I'll see her again!

A nice ending to a stressful day

Wednesday was our first day of school at home for the 2012-2013 school year.  It was a little stressful to say the least.  We were all a little grumpy by the time the afternoon rolled around. So when we went outside that evening and saw this it brought smiles to all our faces and made us remember the promise God made to us and it reminded me that God is with me.......even during the very stressful days when I feel like I might pull my hair out.  :-)

• 

First Day of School

Today was our first day back to school.  The kids were excited to go back and I think we are all ready for a little bit of a routine again.  But, I will miss not having to set the alarm!  It was hard getting up at 5:50 this morning!  I like to get up and get myself ready and get a cup of tea before the girls have to get up.  I am dragging already tonight and it's only 7 pm.  Can I go to bed this early?!  ;-)

 2nd and 6th grade

They were so excited to have new rolling book bags!