Recycling Reformation

Check out Sydney's site. There is a new post.

It has been far too long.

I took an un-intentional

 fast from blogging, but now have found my self back here. So much to catch up on and write about I don't know where to begin. For now I will post some cute happenings around here then catch up on other stuff later.

The kids and dogs often congregate under the school room table. They pile in together for a sort of "nap time". Of course no kids actually sleep. But, surprisingly the dogs do!

Our sweet little guy is trying his first veggies and cereal! It is fun and the kids love to help! Now, clean up after two very eager little girls and an unexperienced 5 month old eater is another story!

Finishing touches.

We moved seven months ago. The time has flown by. I can't believe it has been that long. When we first moved in I was two and a half months away from having Gregory and knew I had to work quickly to get things set up before he was born. Especially because I was having a home birth I knew it was going to drive me nuts to be in the midst of unpacked boxes and chaos! For the most part I was able to set the majority of the house up. The bedrooms were another story though. After moving things around many times trying to find the best way to fit in furniture and give the kids the most play room, I think I am finally done. I wish I would have taken before photos but oh well. I still have a few ideas for decorations in the girls room but that will have to come from future garage sale finds. Calvin's room has a couple of sports pictures that need to be hung and Gregory's crib still needs to make it in there. All in all, the rooms look done. They have been organized and decorated and it feels good to be done! Next I need to start in on our bedroom. I have grand plans to paint all of the furniture and teach myself to reupholster! Hopefully that doesn't take me another seven months!

 

Almost everything in both the boys room and girls room was free stuff passed a long or found. I purchased a couple little things from Target for a few bucks each like the shelf, trash can and sports pictures for the boys room. All of the girls room furniture was free too, by way of hand me downs or pulling over on the side of the road when I saw a free sign and what not. It was fun to pull it all together. I am excited to go out and see what else I can find to pull of the finishing touches in the girls room. It is very feminine and soft so I hope to find other things that compliment that. Which leads me to garage sales. I love them! I figure I will be able to find what I need to finish all of the bedrooms if I am patient enough.  

 While out at garage sales recently, I found something that I have been waiting almost SEVEN years for! And, I actually found two of them! I love how adorable and functional the Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags are. I have admired them from afar for so long. I could never bring my self to buy one as they are priced at upwards of $160.00!!! But, I happened upon one for $25.00 in excellent condition! I couldn't pass it up! Then, a couple of weeks later much to my total shock, I found another one in excellent condition for only $10.00!!! My friend Jess had asked me to keep my eyes out for one for her on the off chance that I would spot one again. I couldn't believe that I did! My point in telling you all of this is simply that you should check garage sales for everything! I bet you would be shocked at what you could find. I love going to the neighborhoods where houses are a bit pricier than usual. It seems you tend to find really great stuff at a cheap price when the houses are in the over a million range. Seems silly I know, but it's true!

Tuesdays

Every Tuesday begins with recovery from the weekend. Steven's weekend from work is Sunday and Monday, and it is always jam-packed. I go back and forth about whether or not this is a good thing. I always end up on the side of it being good. We fill the weekend with family events and meals shared with others. Monday night always ends with a great night at home group and dear friends staying late for conversation, dessert, prayer, encouragement and fun! Anyway, as a result of our weekend I always wake up on Tuesdays extra sleepy. I have come to love our Tuesdays (sort of). I have low expectations and yet we still accomplish a ton. Typically one would find us still in our pajamas in the afternoon. We start in on the gigantic pile of laundry that has piled up over the week. School work starts up again. Tuesdays mornings are often accompanied by a kid movie. Things are mellow. It seems as though even the dogs know it's a laid back day as they lounge around the house frequently napping. I begin to de-clutter some of the paper pile up from the previous week and attempt to finish the dishes from the night before. I realized that if I don't get a handle on the dishes by Tuesday morning there is no hope for catch up the rest of the week. Some weeks I win, some weeks the dishes do.
Another typical Tuesday ritual is my unfortunate inability to resist the amazing left over dessert from home group. Angela spoils us each week with a new delicious dessert and I typically cant resist! I always beg her to take the leftovers home knowing that I will not be able to fight the temptation. She never does though and so I enjoy them with a cup of coffee or two.
I have been learning a lot about expectations, and Tuesdays seem to foster more growth their. Difficult things or circumstances can do that to you. I realized that when one fights against the difficulties, one usually doesn't grow much. In fact, I believe ones growth may be stunted. So this "one" has been learning to, for lack of a better cliche, "go with the flow". I think it is hilarious that all those times my parents were telling me that they are older and wiser and some day I will see things differently, they were right! That lesson has been learned so frequently as the years have gone by now. It has me often pondering what opinions that I hold so dear to now, I will actually be laughing at ten years from now. I am at least glad I realize that I am not too wise yet and I will always have more to learn.
So, here's to Tuesdays! Dreaded and desired all in one. Is that even possible? It seems to be.

Sydney's site is up again!

Sydney's recycling site, Recycling Reformation is up again! It is actually a whole new site and address because I could not get the old one to work. Anyway, for those of you who didn't get to view the original site and purpose I will give a brief summary.
Sydney has been concerned for the homeless for years. Yes, I know she is six and when I say years that seems like a stretch. But, it's true. This little girl amazes me with her enormous capacity for compassion. She got the idea to collect recyclables and donate all of its proceeds to the needy.  I told her if she really was serious about this and was willing to work hard I believed she could make a huge impact. So began our Recycling Reformation.
We all know how hip it is to be green. We all know the hype behind recycling for a better planet. Now, while those intentions are admirable, they don't dig deep enough. Keeping our planet clean and healthy for future generations is a great idea, there is no knocking that. But, our main concern as believers is not first how "green" our planet can be, but how christ-like we can live. God calls us to "Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and love your neighbor as yourself." Now I know that I certainly love myself enough to give my self lots of nice things. Our homeless "neighbors" and other needy people around us can certainly use some love by way of food or clothing or other basic needs. At this point, this is our humble attempt to "love our neighbors".  We have reformed our reason for recycling and have stretched far beyond the cause of a greener planet. We hope to send the message of Christ's love by helping others. We encourage you to do the same. One way is to help our cause by simply saving your recyclables. We would be happy to schedule a pick up. Or, next time you see us bring your bag of recyclables! Thanks for being interested! We would appreciate you all joining us in prayer too for the impact we can have in sharing Christ's love through our recycling project. Thanks all! Now, go check out her site and come back often as I hope to post frequent updates!

Family Picture day

Here are a few shots from the recent family photo shoot. It was a fun, loooong day. Lots of bribing with marshmallows so we could get in a ton of shots!

A conversation with Superman

A couple of nights ago I was talking with Calvin and he asked me a funny question;
"Mom, why did you call me Calvin when I was a little, tiny baby?"
"Because that is what we named you." I said
"Why didn't you call me some thing else?"
"Like what?"
And, with all seriousness and a very deep look of intent in his eyes he whispered,
"Superman."
I smiled an enormous smile, attempting to hold back laughter and responded with something like sorry I didn't consider that!
He went on, still very serious, and listed many other options. He said names like, spiderman, storm man, batman, arrow man (I think a preview of Avatar was the inspiration or this one!), and various others. Then he asked another question, or more like a very bold, totally covinced this is what he wanted to do, statement;
"Mom, I'd like to change my name."
"Oh, really?" I said. "To what Calvin?"
"Storm Trooper."
"I will think about it." I replied, with equal seriousness.
He responded with," Or maybe Yoda."