Normally I would be tempted to go over the whole year with pictures and descriptions...but I think my Facebook page does a pretty good job of that, and there are so many pictures that would take awhile. So I will do a grown up thing and put my goals for the year on this public blog, so that I can reference them and be more accountable.
1. Eat healthier
How you may ask? Eliminate fast food and foo foo coffee. And chocolate. Pack my lunches and snacks for work.
2. Meal plan
On the weekends I plan to plan ahead for the week ahead meals. My goal is to stick to at least 5 planned dinners a week...the other two can be more spontaneous or leftovers. I will try and plan for 7 though. I need to plan some freezer meals and some crock pot meals and I am hoping to get a little of this out of the way this week before I go back to work on the 6th.
3. Read more. The last 2 years or so I haven't been reading as much. I've been stressed and exhausted. I'm not sure why...but I think reading helps my stress level so I am going to try and read more and Facebook less.
4. Plan real adult interaction
How you may ask? Call and/or email friends and set up more time with them, movie dates, coffee dates, play dates, whatever. I miss talking to my friends
5. Get back into Bible study.
How: I hope to go to one that I have been invited to but haven't made it to yet. Hopefully my kids' schedules this winter and Spring will allow it.
6. "File it, don't pile it" my grandma always said this and even gave me a boook with handwritten tips and poems when I got married. I need to follow this advice more and teach it to my kids. It is tempting to throw the mail down on the desk as well as my purse and my jacket. I would like it to be autom atic that we all hang up and put away our things when coming home without having to be reminded.
I hope everyone has a blessed year!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Painting the interior of our new home
I started painting the downstairs during Christmas break last year and finished up over the summer. It took many hours especially with all of the different colors that we used. I am happy with the results! I do still have some minor touch up's to do on the ceilings.
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| We bought most of the paint at Home Depot |
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| Allie chose the colors and the color the chalk board paint for her room |
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| here I was testing the red in the kitchen |
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| The breakfast nook was almost done here |
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| Here the breakfast nook is completed |
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| Kitchen cabinet area completed. The beams were the hardest part and keeping the three colors separate, yikes |
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| view of the kitchen from the front entryway hallway |
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| Kaylee chose BRIGHT colors for her Tween room |
Bye, bye summer 2013
We had a great summer. But it is over, and now we are back to school, rain, back to work, and back to busy schedules.
Here I will highlight some of the things we did this summer. We took a couple of trips to the beach, played in the sand and ate at Mo's. We camped at the beach and near lakes in our new tent trailer. For Sports, Allie tried out swim team and loved it! Kaylee will join her next year, she was hesitant this year and by the middle of the summer she wanted to join. The girls did gymnastics in June and July and we took August off from All sports. We did go to Family camp at Triangle Lake in August and Kaylee went to Tadmor with her friend Sam. I spent most of the summer organizing, cleaning, canning and preparing and cleaning up after the camping trips and summer fun. OH and most importantly, Allie accepted Jesus at church soccer camp in August, and was baptized a couple weeks later at the park when we had "church at the park."
Here I will highlight some of the things we did this summer. We took a couple of trips to the beach, played in the sand and ate at Mo's. We camped at the beach and near lakes in our new tent trailer. For Sports, Allie tried out swim team and loved it! Kaylee will join her next year, she was hesitant this year and by the middle of the summer she wanted to join. The girls did gymnastics in June and July and we took August off from All sports. We did go to Family camp at Triangle Lake in August and Kaylee went to Tadmor with her friend Sam. I spent most of the summer organizing, cleaning, canning and preparing and cleaning up after the camping trips and summer fun. OH and most importantly, Allie accepted Jesus at church soccer camp in August, and was baptized a couple weeks later at the park when we had "church at the park."
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Christmas 2012
We had another busy Christmas this year. A couple weeks before Christmas we hosted a ornament extange for my dad's side of the family. My grandma, uncle Doug, cousin Mandy, and her family came over. We had a good time chatting and playing games.
On Christmas eve, eve we went to Dan's folks, the kids were SO EXCITED! They got lots of good presents like an Ariel Vanity for Allie and a Swan and Barbie Bath toy that she was obsessed with. Kaylee got a jelly roll to sew, and an MP3 player. They both got GIANT teddy bears from their aunt Sarah. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. Dan and I got a food dehydrator and I can't wait to make beef jerky.
On Christmas eve I had my side of the family over. We had ham and potatoes. My mom and Nehemiah came over early so that we could visit a bit. Kaylee had a great time playing with her uncle Nehemiah. The two of them created a scavenger hunt for one of my other brother's (Nate). The kids got spoiled once again with disney pins, Friends legos, Hunger games blanket and Tim Burton items for Kaylee. My mom made everyone bracelets. The girls got another giant stuffed animal as well. We also did stockings. So much stuff..yikes. Nate's friend Emily also came over and brought blankets she made for the girls. I LOVE handmade gifts because it shows that thought and time were put into the gift. My dog cinnamon started to appear very ill and I was worried about her all evening. Next year I really want to go to Christmas eve service at church and make that a new tradition. Too many presents is not a great tradition for raising kids.
On Christmas morning Kaylee woke me up at 6am. I was sick but finally gave in and got up. The girls got spoiled by both Santa and us with mats for gymnastics, pogo sticks, kindle fire hds, a little bit of clothes, a bed tent for Allie and so on. I really must cut down on my kiddo shopping. It's hard when there are so many great deals out there. Dan got me a shower head and fuzzy slippers plus CHOCOLATE. YUMMY.
The last couple of days we have been putting items away, enjoying them and designing an obstacle course down in the basement. One of the reasons I bought the girls so much stuff was so that they had large motor toys to tumble and jump on on cold or rainy days to get some wiggles out. Allie especially. She has so much Energy!!!
I hope everyone else had a great Christmas. I also want to start a tradition of reading the Christmas story at some point on Christmas eve or Christmas morning. We do the nativities, watch movies about it and discuss it but it seems that Christmas has became too much about getting the latest toys and gadgets...when it is Jesus' birthday we are celebrating...and giving,, not getting, which reminds me...
I thought since we were blessed this year we should help out others in need. I heard about a family in need at work and decided we should help them. So a couple of days before Christmas we delivered a bunch of books and other presents for the family. I think that was my favorite part of the season this year.
On Christmas eve, eve we went to Dan's folks, the kids were SO EXCITED! They got lots of good presents like an Ariel Vanity for Allie and a Swan and Barbie Bath toy that she was obsessed with. Kaylee got a jelly roll to sew, and an MP3 player. They both got GIANT teddy bears from their aunt Sarah. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. Dan and I got a food dehydrator and I can't wait to make beef jerky.
On Christmas eve I had my side of the family over. We had ham and potatoes. My mom and Nehemiah came over early so that we could visit a bit. Kaylee had a great time playing with her uncle Nehemiah. The two of them created a scavenger hunt for one of my other brother's (Nate). The kids got spoiled once again with disney pins, Friends legos, Hunger games blanket and Tim Burton items for Kaylee. My mom made everyone bracelets. The girls got another giant stuffed animal as well. We also did stockings. So much stuff..yikes. Nate's friend Emily also came over and brought blankets she made for the girls. I LOVE handmade gifts because it shows that thought and time were put into the gift. My dog cinnamon started to appear very ill and I was worried about her all evening. Next year I really want to go to Christmas eve service at church and make that a new tradition. Too many presents is not a great tradition for raising kids.
On Christmas morning Kaylee woke me up at 6am. I was sick but finally gave in and got up. The girls got spoiled by both Santa and us with mats for gymnastics, pogo sticks, kindle fire hds, a little bit of clothes, a bed tent for Allie and so on. I really must cut down on my kiddo shopping. It's hard when there are so many great deals out there. Dan got me a shower head and fuzzy slippers plus CHOCOLATE. YUMMY.
The last couple of days we have been putting items away, enjoying them and designing an obstacle course down in the basement. One of the reasons I bought the girls so much stuff was so that they had large motor toys to tumble and jump on on cold or rainy days to get some wiggles out. Allie especially. She has so much Energy!!!
I hope everyone else had a great Christmas. I also want to start a tradition of reading the Christmas story at some point on Christmas eve or Christmas morning. We do the nativities, watch movies about it and discuss it but it seems that Christmas has became too much about getting the latest toys and gadgets...when it is Jesus' birthday we are celebrating...and giving,, not getting, which reminds me...
I thought since we were blessed this year we should help out others in need. I heard about a family in need at work and decided we should help them. So a couple of days before Christmas we delivered a bunch of books and other presents for the family. I think that was my favorite part of the season this year.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Allie and Kaylee wrote a story
Yesterday Kaylee asked Allie if she had ever written a story and she said no. Kaylee then said if she told her the story, she would write it down. So, they wrote for a good 30 minutes without fighting...which was so nice. Below is the story. She has quite the imagination. She would have gone on for longer if Kaylee wanted to write more but she was tired of writing after over 2 pages.
Once upon a time there was a princess and she had a friend at her house. When the princess and her friend went to swing they saw a big, terrifying dragon. They ran inside the castle, they ran up the stairs to her room and the big dragon was peeking it's head through the window. Once the dragon saw them the dragon blew fire through the window. Then the dragon stomped on the castle. Then the dragon flew away. Then they saw the biggest spider in the world. It was bigger than the 14 story castle! There was a cute big turtle and they hopped on the turtles back and ran to the zoo. When they got to the zoo the princesses saw someone familiar They said, "hi" and the man asked prince charming if he wanted to take a break and go to the castle. The prince said, "no I will get fired so I have to keep working!" The princesses went back to the castle and they forgot all about the dragon and the spider. When they opened the door there was snow. They made snow angles and snow princesses then they went up to their room and they painted the snow angles and snow princesses beautiful colors. They made hearts and made a castle out of them and painted them. Then the dragon went into the snow and it said, "do you want to go over the moon on my back? Do you want to play in the snow." They asked the dragon if he could fly to Oaks Park then they could play. The dragon said , "yes" and they went on the roller coaster and screamed. The dragon said it was a Baby ride. The went one more rides. The princess married the prince and they had; a pet turtle, a dragon and a spider. They lived happily ever after. The end.
Once upon a time there was a princess and she had a friend at her house. When the princess and her friend went to swing they saw a big, terrifying dragon. They ran inside the castle, they ran up the stairs to her room and the big dragon was peeking it's head through the window. Once the dragon saw them the dragon blew fire through the window. Then the dragon stomped on the castle. Then the dragon flew away. Then they saw the biggest spider in the world. It was bigger than the 14 story castle! There was a cute big turtle and they hopped on the turtles back and ran to the zoo. When they got to the zoo the princesses saw someone familiar They said, "hi" and the man asked prince charming if he wanted to take a break and go to the castle. The prince said, "no I will get fired so I have to keep working!" The princesses went back to the castle and they forgot all about the dragon and the spider. When they opened the door there was snow. They made snow angles and snow princesses then they went up to their room and they painted the snow angles and snow princesses beautiful colors. They made hearts and made a castle out of them and painted them. Then the dragon went into the snow and it said, "do you want to go over the moon on my back? Do you want to play in the snow." They asked the dragon if he could fly to Oaks Park then they could play. The dragon said , "yes" and they went on the roller coaster and screamed. The dragon said it was a Baby ride. The went one more rides. The princess married the prince and they had; a pet turtle, a dragon and a spider. They lived happily ever after. The end.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
ADHD, Allie, and me
Allie and I have both been diagnosed with ADHD for about 2 years now. Living with ADHD is like living with fireworks and landminds. WE constantly have ideas and energya nd often start projects and leave messes as we go. I am learning to manage ADHD and am doing my best to help Allie who is
WE have both been diagnosed by multiple doctors, psychiatrists ect. I have gone to counseling, parenting classes and am have tried different medications. Now that we finally have insurance, I was able to get on a controlled release medicine which works a lot better. Allie is on one also. Getting her to take medicine has been a challenge. She does not like the gel capsules. We have learned its ok to take them apart and put them in food, like pudding.
Like any parent, I did my research and tried other options before resulting to medicine. I did not want to put my preschooler on it if it was unnecessary. The end of last year, we decided we would try a low does of a stimulant to see if it helped. It was like night and day. She was happy, still creative and still active on the medicine
Dan thought that we should see how Allie did at school without medication. She did well at school, but had a ton of meltdowns after school. She was extremely aggressive, argumentative and just plain deffiant which is really challenging to deal with. So after talking to another dr, I decided we should try having her go back on the medication and see if it improved behaviors. When Alli arrived home from school she was happy, and not bouncing off the walls. I was able to play with her without her yelling and arguing with everything I said! So far, there has been no time outs or little girls sent to their rooms today...so I call that a success.
The afternoons and evenings are the hardest. My medicine and energy wear off, and I often get tired and sometimes have headaches. Alli often gets really rough with her sister and then they both end up fighting and unhappy. I hope that putting her back on the medicine will help make afternoons calmer. When they start fighting, I have a hard time getting things done and thinking clearly. Afternoons here seem like walking around in an area filled with land minds or booby traps, you never know what and when it will set off, but it will happen and someone will blow up.
Which reminds me, I better end this blog before we have any blow ups or melt downs.
WE have both been diagnosed by multiple doctors, psychiatrists ect. I have gone to counseling, parenting classes and am have tried different medications. Now that we finally have insurance, I was able to get on a controlled release medicine which works a lot better. Allie is on one also. Getting her to take medicine has been a challenge. She does not like the gel capsules. We have learned its ok to take them apart and put them in food, like pudding.
Like any parent, I did my research and tried other options before resulting to medicine. I did not want to put my preschooler on it if it was unnecessary. The end of last year, we decided we would try a low does of a stimulant to see if it helped. It was like night and day. She was happy, still creative and still active on the medicine
Dan thought that we should see how Allie did at school without medication. She did well at school, but had a ton of meltdowns after school. She was extremely aggressive, argumentative and just plain deffiant which is really challenging to deal with. So after talking to another dr, I decided we should try having her go back on the medication and see if it improved behaviors. When Alli arrived home from school she was happy, and not bouncing off the walls. I was able to play with her without her yelling and arguing with everything I said! So far, there has been no time outs or little girls sent to their rooms today...so I call that a success.
The afternoons and evenings are the hardest. My medicine and energy wear off, and I often get tired and sometimes have headaches. Alli often gets really rough with her sister and then they both end up fighting and unhappy. I hope that putting her back on the medicine will help make afternoons calmer. When they start fighting, I have a hard time getting things done and thinking clearly. Afternoons here seem like walking around in an area filled with land minds or booby traps, you never know what and when it will set off, but it will happen and someone will blow up.
Which reminds me, I better end this blog before we have any blow ups or melt downs.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Allie, the next women's world cup soccer champ
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| Allie and her friend Bre warming up before the game |
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| One of Allie's almost goals |
Kinder usually plays 5 minute quarters but the other coach wanted to play 8 minute quarters. I wasn't thrilled with this because Kaylee had a game at the same time in Stayton I was going to run to. However once Allie got warmed up on the field I was glad the game was longer, I was just sad the rest of the family didn't get to see her play her best game yet, and score her first goal. At least there are more games :)
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