happy birthday

before and after (x 2)

yeah man that's the good stuff

When Tyler was changing Lily's diaper this evening

she told him,

"You bless my heart."

~

That girl is a treasure!

Her Papa is pretty amazing, too!!

please, Sir, may I have some more?

Lunch

- as it often is -

was a group effort.

I was scrambling the eggs

while Ton' was mayonnaising the bread

while Brandon was dealing out the strawberries.

Apparently

they didn't realize I was working on lunch, too

'cause

Lily put her two mayonnaised breads together

as Josiah asked - in all innocence,

"Is there anything we can have on our sandwich

besides

mayonnaise?"

7 quick takes in March

The Master of the house

is quite bothered by the fact that the woman

hasn't bothered to post in an entire week.

Figured I'd best remedy that;

I like to keep Master happy

~1~

Sickness in the house again.

It's become a more-than-monthly affair

and frankly - I'm tired of it.

Fortunately, nothing too serious this time around.

~2~

We've come up with a house plan that we really like;

now

we just have to shrink it a bit.

or

maybe a lot.

~3~

Lexi is now a wearer of

not only shoes

but socks, too.

but only on cold days.

Really.

She has no use for them otherwise.

And

if we ooh & ahh

she'll keep a bow in her hair for about 8 seconds.

She's also adding to her vocabulary daily

and becoming quite fun.

when she's not a crab, that is.

~4~

Speaking of '4'

this four-year old boy has turned a corner!

He is becoming such a nice, self-controlled young man.

Josiah - Momma is so proud of you!

~5~

I found a 20" x almost 5' space

to use as a 'sewing room'

so I'll be able to have my machines out

and at the ready all the time.

(never mind where I'm putting what was filling up that space)

That makes me happy.

Trying to organize my stuff

doesn't make me happy;

it makes me crazy.

When you are dealing with mere inches,

placement is very important....

~6~

We bought a new vehicle today.

A 2000 Excursion.

It's hard to part with hard-earned cash.

~7~

I'm coming up blank here

and Lex' just might be ready for bed.

Come to think of it

I just might be ready for bed, too.

but of course, I'll have to get my exercise in first...

ohhh

I thought of a #7

my fabric!

It's here!!

And I love it as much as I thought I would.

And now I'm all stressed trying to figure out

just

what to do with it.

I thought I knew;

but now I'm second-guessing myself.

and now - the girl is

most definitely

ready for bed

this just makes us smile

I always said she was a doll-baby

THAT

was some dark

jujumagumbo

~

The boys let me sleep in ridiculously late this morning

and still

I hadn't managed to wrack up even close to 5 hours of sleep.

For the first few hours of the night (morning?)

my mind wouldn't shut off;

I was designing houses and a quilt back

but beyond that

oh my goodness

the girl

just

could

not sleep

unless

sorry - my boob was in her mouth.

And frankly - I get a bit tired of that!

and it kills my shoulder.

and my back.

By 4:45

I'm pretty sure

I hadn't slept a wink

but I was so exhausted, I may be wrong...

She has been sleeping poorly for quite some time

but this was extreme.

Somewhere during the 5 o'clock hour

Tyler said

"That girl is wired!"

~

Umm

that may have been me.

It had been a long day

and in the quiet of the house

well - the relative quiet - machines were all going...

I had a half-a-cup of GFIC french vanilla cafe.

I've looked & looked for the decaf version

but can't find it anywhere.

I've tried the vanilla bean latte

and I just don't care for it as much.

If I'm gonna have the calories, by golly,

they ought to be good ones!

It wasn't an oversight;

I really gave it some thought

but figured

how much caffeine can really be in it?

I mean

it's mostly sugar

and hydrogenated oils.

Apparently,

more caffeine than one would think.

That was some dark jujumagumbo!

it's my

collection

I have wanted this fabric

ever since Ashley posted about the quilts she made with it.

When I couldn't find it online anywhere

I boldly wrote the designer

asking where I might purchase some.

I know.

I felt like a stalker.

She very kindly wrote back

and gave me a list of shops that should have the fabric.

And then

I hesitated.

Designer fabric is not cheap.

Nor is it inexpensive....

But

I have never before

laid eyes

on fabric that I liked so much.

A whole collection - just begging to made into a quilt.

Large blocks, though

because the fabric is so very lovely

~

After many hours over the course of months

of scouring the internet

and finding a piece here

and a piece there

I finally found

someone

with the entire collection.

And I bought it.

with my 'Moma' account.

~

Thanks, Hon!

play all day

That's what we did here.

play

~

Daddy surprised us

by taking a half-day off

just to play with the kiddos.

Nothing fancy

just

fixing (and eating) food together

reading

and

creating

~

It's a good life.

the last word

We were talking about

'what does 'love' look like'

during dinner.

The kids shared some good thoughts.

Then

Jeremiah wanted to share what it didn't look like

by telling about a time today when Josiah wasn't loving.

I told him that love covers a multitude of sins

blah blah blah.

Every couple of minutes, he'd try again

to tattle.

Finally, Tyler asked him

if he could share something that someone did that was loving.

I just knew he'd figure out a way to get it in there.

Sure enough, he said,

"Well, Brandon was loving today when

he helped get the swing back for me

after Josiah took it away."

the new challenge

"I never realized money would be such a motivator for you."

That's what he said last year

after issuing my post-baby fitness challenge

(which I wholeheartedly embraced)

I haven't had my own spending money since I was 18!

Sure

I've gotten a bit of birthday and Christmas money

but

quite honestly

up until a few years ago

that money just sort of got absorbed into the household.

Nearly a thousand dollars

all to myself??
Oh yeah, I was all over that!

I finished the challenge Feb 16th

- not as strong as I would have preferred -

exercising 309 out of 352 days.

And now

I have a Momma Account

(actually - the teller spelled it wrong - I have a 'Moma' acct.)

with 927 smack-a-roos.

~

While I'm developing some good habits,

I thought another challenge

this year

might help those habits

really stick.

Tyler lovingly obliged

but not before adding up how much money he might be out this time.

~

Oddly enough

the Olympics

really messed up my exercising groove.

The irony isn't lost on me.

Anyways.

My new challenge begins today

and will be

- well -

more challenging

but certainly not unattainable

which is just how challenges should be.

~*~

exercise will be a combination of cardio and strength-training

120 minutes per week = $5

Every week with 180 minutes = a bonus of $1 per day exercised

(a 'day' is a minimum of 20 minutes to qualify for bonus)

a minimum of 42 weeks with 150 minutes

(which is the real goal, here. 150 minutes, not 42 weeks...)

gets me $12 per week (instead of just the $5)

1 hour/day maximum

meaning

I can't make up the whole week

on Saturday and Sunday....

~

27 minutes down

123 to go