Sunday's Seven Thoughts

• After parking downtown yesterday, my girls and I realized how much we appreciate our smaller city than the big one.  I can even say that one day I'd even like to live on an acreage.  Not too far from civilization but perhaps a little further away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
• I go to bed each night looking forward to my first cup of coffee when I get up.

• We are planning a trip to the US to visit good friends of ours.  All the way down in Alabama.  I'm starting to get more and more excited about this!

• This week is my birthday week.  Yes.  I need a week to celebrate it.  I received my present from Doug early, Andrea is taking me out the day before my birthday, I'll do some fun things ON my actual birthday and I'm sure the festivities will continue later into the week.
• I have one rule for my birthday.  I don't cook and I don't clean.  Andrea has even asked to bake me a birthday cake for it.  
• I am so thankful for my two homeschooling friends who I visit with on a nearly weekly basis.  I love being able to share my educating joys and frustrations with people who really understand.
• I may not have the world's cleanest house, but my husband and kids love me, we are all healthy and fed and we have a roof over our heads. I will strive to do my best but I am far from perfect. And one day, they'll all be gone and I will miss the craziness of these days. The days may seem to last forever but the years go by so fast.

Have a great Sunday.

The House

I've always thought the people who lived in this house before us did the colors wrong.  Not that there's anything really the matter other than it's mixed up.  The baseboards, window trim and doors are all in a taupe-like color while the walls are white.  I love color and I love to paint but I worry that too much color against the trim and doors will look odd.  It really doesn't leave much for my imagination.  And I really don't feel up to the task of painting endless feet of baseboards and doors.  So for now, it stays that way.  When we first moved in, I was on a black and white kick and bought a lot of prints (from Ikea) that went well together.  Well, I've been hanging out on Pinterest a lot lately and seemed to have found some ideas in color that I really like.

 Before...

After!

(The bathroom isn't really yellow, it's the lighting)

I got the free printables online and the frames at Wal Mart!

 Cheap canvases covered in coordinating scrapbook paper. 

 A piece that was on clearance at Wal Mart

 My vision for the bonus room wall

I'd like to do this on the wall going up the stairs.

Anyhow, these are just some of the little things I've done.  I've tried to keep it financially friendly and even though it's far from perfect, I like how some of it is coming together.  

Oh, this is one more thing that I've printed and will frame.  Then to find the perfect home to put it on...

I really like it.  

I hope you have a fantastic Sunday.

Wordless Wednesday

 Cousins.  Friends.

My youngest blessing.

Catching Up

For my faithful blog followers, I apologize for the long break between posts.  It's been a long and busy few weeks.

I've kept my hands busy by making a few quilts.  I loved how all of these minky/cuddle fabric quilts turned out.  They are so heavy and warm, making them perfect for this super cold snap we are in!

 Sarah's Quilt

Andrea's Quilt

Joshua's Quilt

So yes, I know, I have one more to to make for Arianna.  I plan to take her to the quilting store so she can pick out her print.  

I've also been spending {way too much} time at the dentist.  In December, Arianna began to complain of a sore tooth.  Lo and behold, the x-rays showed quite a few (seven actually) cavities in her poor little mouth.  Trip after trip was made to the dentist and in a matter of 5 weeks, her mouth was taken care of.  She. Was. So. Brave.  She never flinched with the freezing needles and barely complained.  The pride I have for her nearly brings me to tears. 

 Very proud of her silver tooth!

Once she was done that, the older two kids had routine check ups, each to be told they have great teeth and don't have to come back.  Now, after watching my brave little seven year old, I knew it was time to toughen up and go myself.  Knowing I had a few that for sure needed work, I grudgingly went.   Last week was one major filling for a broken tooth and I'm so thankful he was able to save it and not need a root canal.  Today I spent three, yes THREE hours in the dentist's chair getting four teeth fixed.  I have to say, after the freezing wore off, I was in some pretty serious pain.  I'm hoping that the Tylenol 3's and a good night's sleep will help me stay on top of it.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking about Sarah again.  We attended a playgroup session last week and I'm not 100% sure what I expected from it.  It appeared to be just a large room of toys with nothing too scheduled other than a few minutes with a story, song and snack.  I'm not really convinced that it was (or is) going to do her a whole lot of good.  It also made me really sad that she was "grouped" with other children of much more serious needs.  I was really hit hard by that reality.

Last week, my sister posted on FB that her little daughter {who will be 3 in March} went skiing.  Skiing.  Wow.  There is no way that my 3.5 year old could do that... she can't even walk confidently in shoes, never mind skis.  I love my beautiful little niece.  She's my only one and has a very special place in this auntie's heart but admittedly, hearing that she was skiing was also hard on me.  

It took me a while but I did get out of my sad time because Sarah is mine and she is perfect for who she is.  I don't need her to count to 20, say her alphabet or... even ski.  She loves beading with her beads from Grandma, can spend HOURS sitting at the counter with play-doh and will stack her blocks countless times and each time they are knocked down, it's funnier than the time before that.  She is sweet, loving and will give endless hugs.  She may not be ready to ski but watching her learning to run more confidently is encouraging to me.  I continue to see more and more improvements in her abilities each day and I am so proud.  

My heart bursts when she comes toddling towards me in her fuzzy, footed sleeper each morning.  "I need Mom" is my favorite and her most common little phrase.  I mean, what mom doesn't love to be needed.  :)

Loving to bead... on just about anything.

The older kids and I also re-started school.  It took a few days but I think we are finally back into the swing of things.  Each of them is halfway done their math and LA curriculum and if we keep it up, we should be done our year by the end of May.  

The other night I made a lasagna for our weekly supper with Doug's family. This lasagna was big.  I used 2.5 pounds of ground beef, 22 lasagna noodles, 3 jars of pasta sauce, 2 cans of tomato paste, 1.4 Kg of cottage cheese, and 0.5 Kg of mozzarella cheese.  It easily fed all of us to being full plus I was able to individually freeze the leftovers for lunches for Doug.   What a wonderful tradition this has been.  I love getting together with them, sharing a meal and totally enjoying each others' company. 

Well, I think that about wraps the catching up for now.  Hopefully things will settle down (a bit) and I'll be able to keep up with the blogging!  

Back to Routine

If I were to say that our first day back at the books was pleasant, successful or even tolerable, I'd be lying.  After a very long break (we didn't do much in November due to Sarah's appointments and essentially took three weeks off in December), getting into the routine of school was like nailing bubbles to the wall.  The older two weren't too keen on getting out of bed in the first place and it really didn't get a whole lot better from there.  I had a visit with a friend which was a wonderful break in my day but I felt like I nagged at the kids most of the day and to what benefit?  In the end, I released them to the beckoning sunshine, made a cup of coffee and snuggled down to watch a movie with my runny nosed three year old. 
I made a delicious supper, we watched Mr. Popper's Penguins (cute movie) and spent the evening just being together.
I tucked all three of my kids into bed with a hug, kiss, an apology and a promise that tomorrow will be better. 
As Miss. Stacy, from Anne of Green Gables said while walking home with Anne, "Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it."

Seven on Saturday

• I love it when my nephew comes over for the day.  He's kind of like a little brother to Joshua.
• I'd like to start reading and eventually completing the BBC's Top 100 Books. 
• I'm in an organizing/purging phase.  Children beware!
• I have a soft spot for sleepy toddlers in fuzzy sleepers.
• Coffee is my weakness.  Especially with my creamer.  One of my daily treats.
• I am completely in love with my family.
• I am weirdly particular about grammar and spelling. 

And that's all for now.  I hope you all have a blessed weekend.

Sarah's Quilt

So I stumbled upon a beautiful quilt kit which was full of ultra soft Minky material.  The backing to this quilt had the cutest monkey print... who better for than Sarah!  I couldn't resist and in a matter of 8 hours, I had made this super plush, ultra soft quilt for my monkey loving girl!

 Here's the happy owner snuggling in!

Doug figures I should make one like this (different prints of course) for our KING sized bed.  I'm not so sure about that.

Bloodwork

When Sarah saw the genetics doctor in November, we were given a requisition for blood work.  We knew the results would take 9-12 months anyhow so I didn't feel any urgency to get it done.  December flew by in a flurry of activities and suddenly January was upon us.  Rather than stalling, I finally just made an appointment for Sarah at the lab so I wouldn't have any more excuses. 

I went today and was happy to see my preferred lab tech working and requested that she did the blood draw.  The moment I sat down in the waiting area, Sarah began to cry, asking to go home.  Poor darling didn't know what was going to happen but she was sure she wouldn't like it.

It was determined that Sarah has small veins (no kidding) and it would be a tough deal.  In addition to the tech doing the poke, we had an additional tech hold her arm so I could hold her furiously fighting little body.  The initial poke went in, the vein was cooperative and it seemed like we were fine, until something moved and they *lost* the vein.  So, we flipped sides and began to look at the other arm.  Once again, the first poke was successful but this time, they had a third tech switch the vials so that there would be no chance of moving the needle.  So it took three lab techs plus myself to get the required amount of blood.  Poor thing was SO upset by this point. 

As we headed out, I stopped at the pharmacy for a treat of her choice.  Sarah picked a King sized Kit Kat bar and enjoyed most of it on her own. 

This afternoon has been spent cuddling with me or any one of her siblings watching movies. 

Something new... and fun

I didn't get this idea on my own, but rather from a fellow blogger.  It's called blog-jogging, a fun way to meet other bloggers and maybe even make a few friends. 

The idea is to visit bloggers I know and comment on their blogs then visit the blogger that commented before me on their posts.

I figured this would work out pretty well since we were reading the same blogs we must be destined to be blogging friends.

I started just this morning and it's been quite fun to find new blogs!  There are some WONDERFUL writers out there, many of whom share my love for kids, homeschooling and even coffee.

So, let's try this!  Start on my post, make a comment and then go visit the person who posted before you.  If you're the first, just scroll down to where someone has made a comment on a previous post and start there.  If you feel like making a comment there, just link back to me so they know where you *came from*. 

And, have fun.  :)

Blog Train

I would like to first thank Lisa at An Ordinary Life for this blogger award.  It's exciting for me to know other people are reading my blog!

I have only just discovered her blog myself today.  However, after perusing it this evening it's one I will often visit I am sure.

The rules of this award are:

• Thank the person that nominated you with a link back to them.
• Tell everyone seven things about yourself.
• Pass this award on to 15 newly discovered blogs and let them know that they’ve received an award!

Seven things about myself:

1. I have been homeschooling my four kids for 7 years now.
2. I married my high school sweetheart in 1997.
3. I have lived in the same city for my entire life.
4. My youngest daughter has a {new} diagnosis of Cerebral Palsey
5. I love coffee.
6. I am a morning person.
7. I am a photographer... loving newborns, children and families!

My 15 (er... 13) personal choice award-winners (though they may not be newly-discovered):

1. Virtual Cup of Tea
2. Sojourner
3. Living in a House of All Boys
4. Sprouts and Wings
5. Stars Hollow
6. The Goertzen Girls... and Art
7. The Ford Five
8. The Olsen Chronicles
9. A Big Girl and a Baby Girl Too
10. Chickadee Lane
11. Visit the Porch 
12. Mamazee's Homeschool Gym
13. An Examined Life

Happy New Year to all my readers.  I hope this blog post leads you to new places that you'll visit.
Stephanie