sweet memories

Before the girls were born I started writing in a notebook (I guess u could call it a journal) about their impending birth and how excited we were to become parents. After they were born I, of course, continued with the entries, mainly documenting how they were growing and new things they were saying or doing, or anything funny or sweet. I also documented unique things they did that I never wanted to forget, such as T always holding my ear as she nursed, it was so sweet and still brings a smile to my face when I think about it. I wrote these books fully intending to give them to them at some point. I thought about their wedding days, but figured they'd be too engulfed in THEIR day for them to really want to look at a book, and with a new husband around they probably wouldn't even get a chance to read it for many months and it may become forgotten before ever being read. I thought about giving it to them when THEY became pregnant themselves, but again, I figured that will be THEIR time, so they will want to relish in their experiences instead of reliving mine. Then I thought maybe when they turned 18 and went to college would be a good time. But if these books made them melancholy while they were away from home, it might actually make them miss home more and then not enjoy their new experiences of college. So... I wasn't really sure when to give them to them, but my friend Jen posted recently that she also wrote journals for her kids and that she was already reading them to them. That gave me an idea...
NOW is the time to share these thoughts and memories.
NOW is when they will most appreciate them, and the books will make them feel even more loved if they read them NOW while they still feel completely loved by us (not as a teenager that may have some separation issues with their parents-of course I pray this never happens, but still, now appears to be the best time to share them).
So last night T asked me to read her a bedtime story (usually she reads her own, while I read to W), so I told her I would and that I had just the story to read. That peaked both their interest and they couldn't wait to see what I had planned. When I showed them what I was going to read (excerpts from both their books) they were both so excited! They LOVED them! T had the biggest smile on her face the whole time I was reading hers, and W couldn't stop laughing during hers because she was so excited this book was all about her and her cuteness  :)
In fact, T took hers to bed last night and I have no idea how late she stayed up reading it, but this morning I found her up an hour earlier than normal, again reading through the book, devouring every entry.
I'm really glad I decided to share these books now instead of waiting till they were older. They both love them and are getting so much out of them. Plus, I get to read them again and be reminded of a few things I had forgotten (which is why I wrote them in the first place so that those precious memories would never be lost forever-glad its working).

The Mudroom remodel has begun

Do you know what a 'mudroom' is? I grew up in a house with one. But I guess not all houses have them and therefore not everyone knows what one is. It is a room near an entry door that holds all your coats and most importantly all your winter clothes that are dripping wet from snow. In the one we had when I was growing up, my dad had even installed wire shelves just a few inches off the floor for us to put our wet boots on and the water and ice would drip off through the wire shelf and land on old cookie sheets that my mom kept under the shelves. Thereby avoiding wet carpet or floors from wet boots! What a great idea, eh?! I guess the reason not everyone knows what a mudroom is, is because they are most useful in snowy climates. I currently don't live in a state that gets snow 7 months a year anymore, but when we do get snow this mudroom sure will make it better!

We didn't have a mudroom in our house in Vegas, but we didn't have kids yet so it wasn't a big deal. When we built our house here, we built a pretty big house so there should be enough storage... but I'm one who feels you can never have enough storage... and as it turns out the closet area near the entry way is wwaaaaayyyy to small for a family of four. I guess I should point out that the original house plan called for a bigger closet/laundry area that could have served as a mudroom. But we had made some modifications to our plan and one of those was to add a second staircase. This staircase wound up taking up a lot of the space that was in that laundry/mudroom area, thus leaving us with no mudroom, and a really hard to use closet area. The closet has a rod in it that is 4 feet long but it runs front to back in the closet instead of left to right. Therefore, when I stand in there and try to get jackets in or out, I literally have to lean backwards against the wall balancing as I hang coats. Not to mention there is NO space for gloves/hats/scarves, so I have them in plastic bins on a shelf above that when not in use are very neat and tidy. But when its snow time and we have to access those bins, they are a pain in the rear and a real mess! So as you can see, it has been my wish for quite some time to have a real mudroom. This dream became a real option when we did our add-on several years ago, because when we added on, we added several new garage bays for my husband, which then gave us the option that we COULD convert half of our old single bay into a mudroom. Yippee... that time has come! In the picture above you see T standing in that single bay garage that will be converted into the mudroom.  We don't want to change the actual garage door on the front of the house because it seems whenever someone removes a garage door on a house you can always tell it used to be there and it just doesn't look good. So we are keeping the garage door and using that space (about half the original space) to house all the bikes and kids outdoor toys. We are then taking the other half, which is right next to the door that leads from the garages into the house as our mudroom. It will be the perfect place for it and I am so excited as work has begun this week! Following are some pictures detailing the plans and the bit of work that has already occurred. Now I will preface this with... this type of post might not interest everyone, but I love buildings and remodels and I completely enjoyed reading step by step status updates from my friend Min when they did some major renovations on their house. So for those of you, who like me, enjoy this stuff... enjoy reading. For those who don't enjoy it, you don't have to feel obligated to read it :)  P.S. if you do read it I hope u enjoy the comments I was able to put directly on the photos to try to explain them better.

My daughter, the homemaker!

T making dinner and dessert. She is holding the "Meals of many lands" cookbook that was mine as a child. Since I need simple recipes when I cook, I STILL use this cookbook today!

My 9year old daughter informed me last night that she wanted to cook dinner for  the family tonight. We had already planned tonight as an 'eating out' night so when I chose to let her do it, it really was a choice for my family and not a choice of convenience of me. I was proud of my decision (I tend to like to eat out if you hadn't heard). I put an opportunity to work with my daughter in the kitchen and teach her some cooking skills above my desire for convenience. That may seem like a no-brainer to most of you, but it had to be a conscious decision for me. I'm glad I made the right decision.
She picked out a recipe from a children's cookbook that was MINE from when I was a kid (however, the only thing I ever made out of it was apple crisp--also on tonight's menu). I'd always avoided the American fried chicken recipe because I thought it was too hard (plus it involved raw meat which I hate). She wasn't deterred (as I had been). She did an excellent job! She did all the chicken and seasoning and breading herself. I did wind up making the mashed potatoes, carrots, and mashed potat-ots (leftover potatoes and carrots that we had made with a porkloin roast last night that I decided to mash together and see how they turned out---ok, by the way, but sort of reminded me of babyfood). After getting the chicken ready she then made most of the apple crisp with only a little help from me.  She did  a really good job and dinner was delicious. I'm really proud of her and excited that she is interested and wants to learn to cook (she has been baking cupcakes and cakes on her own for about a month now too). I'm glad that instead of walking out of the kitchen and letting her fend for herself (and possibly fail and get deflated) and thus giving myself a night off from the kitchen (which is what going to the restaurant would have done), I stayed in the kitchen and helped her, and explained tips and details of cooking, cutting, mixing, greasing the pan, etc. So by staying in the kitchen WITH her I was able to help turn this into a really great experience for both of us. She learned, and felt exhilaration from doing a good job, and I got quality time with my daughter. Plus, if this continues, I MAY get a night off each week from cooking because my budding chef may take over one meal a week :)   How great would that be?
The other great thing is that if she is enjoying her cooking experiences ,she will continue to want to cook, and become a good cook as she grows up so she will know how to provide for herself and her family.
I was never that interested in cooking so I never stayed in the kitchen when my mom was preparing meals. Consequently, I came into my marriage as a wife that could only cook mac-n-cheese, hamburger helper,  and spaghetti from a jar (still my favorite kind of spaghetti by the way). It would be great for her if she became an adult with more homemaking skills than I had.
And she certainly is interested in homemaking skills. She LOVES to knit and  sew. She got a huge sewing kit from her grandma for Christmas that she has been using practically every day since! She makes all kinds of things for her barbies, and even made me a neck pillow (with grandma's help) for Christmas!
I'm really glad my daughter is really interested in these wholesome activities, that will also help her as she grows up. Thank you Lord, for blessing me with such a blessing of a daughter!  (ps, my youngest daughter is pretty :) cool too )

Blizzard of 2011

I live in an area that doesn't get much snow normally. We get lots of ice storms, but are lucky if we get one light snow of an inch or two a year that is usually gone the next day. Yes, we have had some occassions where we've gotten more, but its never a guarantee. Sometimes it arrives in December, sometimes it arrives in March. Very unpredicable snow here when it comes. Well, we received our biggest snow yet. Fourteen inches at my house, but up to 22 inches in nearby towns. The whole country, almost, has been hit by this storm, but its especially hard to deal with when u live in an area that isn't accustomed to getting much snow and therefore does not have enough snow removal equipment or qualified personnel to drive the few plows they do have. That said, we are experiencing a big snow storm and really bad outdoor conditions. Virtually all flights have been cancelled, lots of businesses are closed or operating on small staffs (because not many people can get out). If you don't drive a 4WD vehicle you might as well stay home because you aren't getting far. Even with a 4wheel drive vehicle, its pretty dicey out there because the roads are so bad since we don't have the equipment or qualified drivers to clear them properly.
We live in a small town on the outskirts of a city. The storm dropped the snow Monday night. Its now Thursday and we have only ventured out twice. Last night to eat at a local restaurant that is only about 3 miles from our house, and tonight to go to another restaurant that is a little farther away. Yikes the highway was a mess (slid around on the 'plowed' area and got my teeth jiggled out of my head on the bumpy non-plowed area). Unfortunately tonight this restaurant was closed so we headed to Walmart to return some Redboxes and grab some milk.
Wow.
I have never seen a Walmart with so many empty shelves. Evidently this storm is preventing delivery trucks from making it to the store. There was not a single egg in the case. Only a few cartons of butter. A few tubes of refrigerated breads/rolls. Fortunately for me, not many people in my town buy the organic milk I buy, so I was able to buy lots, but all the non-organic milk was virtually gone. Only a few gallons of juice left. No bakery breads. No bananas. Most of the bread was gone. Lots of empty chip shelves. The freezers seemed about half full.



no chips left on this aisle stand




no bread here




the only bananas available are those mini ones in the bag

Besides the food not being delivered, gas is also not making it here. No delivery trucks, means no gas at several of our local gas stations! This is really crazy, hopefully it won't last too long.

The day after the snow came Dan spend 5 hours clearing our driveway with our tractor. Now remember this tractor is really intended for moving dirt, not snow! Here is a bird's eye view of him working on it. We told our kids to enjoy these snowbanks because this may be the only time in their childhood that we ever have true snowbanks along our drive!

 The kids, especially W have LOVED going out in the snow. Here she is running out into the yard dragging our dog Lucy on a leash behind her. Lucy has had lots of fun too, racing around the yard (or rather, hopping through the snow like a rabbit  ha ha) with the girls chasing her.



Snow angel time




The first day of snow. Its virtually a white out with the  wind and snow still coming down. Those are the trees in our front yard about 250 feet from my front door.

  While being housebound (obviously school has been cancelled since Tuesday) we have had lots of things to keep us busy besides playing in the snow. One of which is shown here in this picture... Science Experiments! T received a science experiment kit as a gift from her aunt and uncle and she has had a ball creating crystals, exploding volcanoes, liquids that change color, and all kinds of fun stuff. W has been her 'assistant' and 'student' during this activity. In fact, T made a quiz for W regarding acids and bases after one of the experiments, and W actually got all the questions right!  A+ for her!

Besides science fun, we have also been baking and playing games like memory, bingo, and candyland. Tomorrow more games will be added to our list I'm sure. We've also watched a few movies and gotten some house cleaning done. I even did some touch up painting in our add-on. The best part though has been watching the girls play together. I laid on T's bed for about 30 minutes last night just watching the two of them play Barbies and horses and listening to them in their make-believe conversations and story-lines. So creative and so cute. I love watching them being kids and using their minds for free play instead of being locked into the confines of a computer game. I did let them play some Webkinz and funbrain.com on the computer, but only for about 30minutes :)  When I was on the treadmill (my workout room has a huge 'window' into the kids' playroom so I can see them playing when I'm working out) I was watching W playing school with her stuffed animals. It was so cute. She had them all lined up in chairs and she sat at a desk facing them with her little chalkboard set up right next to her. It was so adorable. I love watching them play!
So that's what we've been doing. We have several more days of this I'm sure. Tomorrow (Friday) school is also cancelled and based on the weather report it will be cold here for another week, so not much melting will occur. Therefore, the roads may not get cleared any time soon. If they don't I'm sure we'll have some snow days off school next week as well. Thankfully our power has remained on and I do have a full pantry and freezer, so about the only thing we may run out of is fresh veggies, but I could always use frozen or canned ones if need be. Therefore, even though this storm has virtually halted our small town (and the neighboring city), we will be fine and all is well. Lots of fun is still to come :)