I'm Back!!

Wow...my poor little blog has taken a backseat lately!! We have been so busy wrapping up the school year and with the kids extra-curricular activites and visiting with family over the holiday that I have totally neglected updates here. Plus I will admit that I have a teeny tiny little addiction to Farmtown and I have been spending lots of time there:)

I have spent the last few weeks getting our house organized and put together as well. We still have a long way to go but there are some rooms that I'm pretty happy with:
Our Bedroom. Remember I don't have a lot of money to work with here. So I had to "shop" my house! See that cute little square table by my side of the bed? I have been wanting a table there since we moved in last year. But I can't afford to be going and buying a bunch of furniture. I had to put my thinking cap on for this problem. I remembered that we had a metal filing cabinet in the basement and the wheels started turning! It was exactly what I needed! Add a little fabric and voila...a bedside table. The upside is all my important papers are within easy reach now:) Since this picture was taken I also added a comfy rocking chair that I stole from my front room to the left of my new "table". Perfect spot for reading a good book!!I did spend 32.50 on the sweet little lamps. This house has no overhead lighting and we were in desperate need of some. I love the lamps and Big Lots...they were well worth the price.


I made this wreath for our front door but inspiration struck and it worked out perfect in the bedroom. I had an unused frame laying around that I stuck some unused fabric in and added the letter C for an accent. LOVE IT :)

The swag was snatched from above our fireplace.

Asher keeps filling the birdhouse with pine cones from the yard. Can you see them in there?My Bathroom: Notice how I said my bathroom and not our bathroom?

I desperately need color in this bland house. I am renting and can't paint. And we all know I like to paint. Well maybe not the act of painting itself but more the end result! I remembered that I had made the frame above the towels quite awhile ago and it was just laying around somewhere. That frame gave me my starting point. I also had cheap dollar store picture frames and some leftover black spray paint...add some scrapbook paper and you have instant style. Isn't the butterfly cute? By the way-I meant to hang them uneven like that! Really I did.Like the old Avon candlesticks? My great grandma used to sell Avon and these candlesticks came from her. They matched the butterfly that I cut out from my Cricut perfectly. Still need to get some candles. And if I ever need some old perfume all I need to do is unscrew the tops of the candlesticks. Yep they are candlesticks/perfume bottles. Dual purpose I guess? Not sure you should be lighting up flames near a flammable based perfume but whatever. Like my yellow towel up there with the green ones? It's a napkin! Some of you may recognize it from our old dining room:) Hey whatever works right?Here is a closer picture of the original frame.

I have a couple of other cute pieces in here as well but I figure ya'll don't wanna spend all day looking at my bathroom!!

We have beautiful weather here today. Mr. Sun is shining and there is a healthy breeze. It's one of those days where if you're standing in the sunshine it's perfect but if you're in the shade you're gonna need a jacket. It is the perfect weather for our very first baseball game, on our brand new team in our first year of kid pitch!!!!! I just might be more excited than Isaac. We are admittedly not really sports people in this house. We don't watch very many games or keep up with stats or anything important like that. Now that Isaac is getting more into it we do watch a few games each year. That's where it ends though. However, I love love love watching my boy play ball!!! He loves it! And I love watching him do the things he loves. The things that make him proud of himself and put a great big smile on his face. I also love watching him in total concentration mode.

It seems we've landed ourselves on a good team this year. Our coach is very kid centered. He wants them to be proud of themselves and do the best job they can do. He wants to build their skills, their confidence and their character. He also wants to be "that" coach. You know the one who impacts a kid for life. He keeps telling the boys that we are in this for fun but secretly.....he wants to win!!! We are practicing more than any other team in our league. By DOUBLE. And practices are intense. Our coach has a job (read makes enough money) that allows him to not work at all during the Spring and Summer months. Which means this team and these 14 boys are his full time job at the moment and you can tell he wouldn't have it any other way. In fact we get about 5 e-mails from him daily. Here are a few excerpts:

Fields are in excellent condition. It looks like the whether is going let us play tonight. Should be 65 degrees at game time dropping to the low 50's by 9PM and windy. Please dress the player's accordingly. Long sleeve shirt under uniform should work along with a windbreaker. Please have player's arrive with water bottles. Hydration is key in any sport. Drinking water before coming to the field doesn't work. They need to drink water before,during, and after the game. This will enhance performance and prevent injuries as well.

Coach Peter

Hello Bronx Bomber's,

I would like to thank the asst coaches, parents and especially the players for there hard work and participation. The player's have worked harder than any other team in Ohio and for that they will get a return on there investment and hard work in more than one way. These kids are awesome win or lose.

Coach Peter


I Yanks,

When our kids are pitching it can be a habit for mom or dad to go behind the back stop and give them some pointers. Please don't do it. Trust me in this one. It's the most psychological position on the field and there will be pressure on a lot of the players especially not having ever pitched. We've had good success with this last year. There were some instances that I nicely asked the parent to please go back where they were originally sitting. It's also a great way to foul a player up in more than one way. No exceptions on this one. I care about these player's and will do what I can so they don't get hurt mentally or physically. Plus the league frowns on it as well. Pitcher's will usually throw two innings or approx. fifty pitches. There are rare exceptions that they will throw a third inning or few more pitches than usual. The pitcher usually hits the shower if they walk three batters in a row. Some days we just don't have it and that's okay.

Coach Peter

Seriously...five 0f these a day!!! Some people may find it annoying but honestly-We love it!!! It means Isaac is part of a team again. And that his coach cares about him and his best interest. And Andy said that this year Isaac has some mad skillz!! That the coach has noticed. We may even WIN a game or two this year. So I'm off to pack up snacks, chairs and any and all activities that may keep Maia and Asher from getting BORED so I can enjoy watching my son and his mad skillz!! Wish us luck.

Go Yanks or Bronx Bombers or whatever it is that Coach is calling us on this particular day!!!

My Son is British

That's right I said British. Asher has always had his own unique way of pronouncing certain words. Specifically words that end in -er. If you were to ask him his name he would tell you it was Ash-ay. Paper is pay-pay. You get the picture. He can pronounce the "er" sound just fine. It shows up in words where the "er" isn't at the end and also when he's revvin up like a racecar.



Also sometimes his "L's" Come out sounding a bit different. Again it's not because his mouth can't make the sound. We've all heard him running around the house singing lalalalalalala plain as day. And the "L" sound does come out perfectly clear in some of his words...just not all of them.



This has perplexed us for the past 2 years. Honestly though you CAN understand everything he says. And he sounds oh so cute that we just thought it was something he would outgrow.



Our Dr. back home was never concerned about his speech. But our new Dr. in our new city brought it up right away. Seems she didn't think it was quite as cute as we always have. She basically told us that if his speech didn't "improve" by the middle of Summer that we were to contact a speech therapist right away. We are supposed to be gently correcting him...which we have been doing. But seriously his speech is not impaired he just has a bit of an accent.



We didn't know where this accent came from until this afternoon. Andy figured it out. That husband of mine is one smart cookie!! Asher was watching his very favorite cartoon. The one he's been watching since BEFORE he started talking. It's not any old cartoon that you can watch on any old channel. We get it on our "ON DEMAND" menu. You see Fireman Sam isn't American!!! Nope Fireman Sam fights fires and saves the day in Britian!! As Andy was watching WITH Asher today it finally clicked. Seriously peeps....Asher sounds JUST LIKE his hero Fireman Sam!!

Here is a recent picture of my very own little Brit. He had played hard all day on Sunday and this is how I found him late afternoon.

Finally Wrapping up my Birthday Week

Okay so I know I'm really late with this post. I really had planned to post each day I opened something new but....well you know how it goes!! I always have the best intentions:)

Check out this fabulous necklace and earrings!! This was day 4 of my birthday week. (yes I realize that this is a nasty picture of me...try to get past that and just check out the jewelry) I love this set. First of all I love anything RED!! Secondly I love that the necklace is shorter than what I normally wear. This set is heavy and chunky and gorgeous!!!!!!

Day 5 was a sweet soy candle in a really cute swiss dot crock. It will be really cute on my dresser. The scent is raspeberry creme. Definitely more Summery than my current candles. I tend to buy Fall scents most of the time. I think this one will smell fantastic with all the windows open after a Spring or Summer thunderstorm. I'll let you know in a couple of days...we're expecting some thunderstoms around these parts real soon.

Day 6 was a charm for my charm bracelet. When I opened it up I wasn't sure who it was supposed to represent.

Maia immediately thought it was for Andy since it was a guitar but I already have a guitar for him. I thought maybe it was for Maia since it had purple gems. Turns out this isn't a guitar at all!! Nope it's a bass. I can totally see it now. Look it only has four strings. How did I miss that in the first place? Anyways my dad plays bass and his birthstone is PURPLE. Duh!! This represents my dad :) Up until now all of my charms have represented Andy, the kids and my faith. I love that I am branching out and representing other people that I love as well.

Day 7 was another charm. A teeny tiny itty bitty prayer box!! Which I love. I'll be jingling and jangling all over the place as soon as I get my new charms in place:) Everytime I wear my bracelet I have at least one person comment on it. Everyone loves it when I go through each charm and share what they mean to me. It is a super neat way to share my little family's history and unique quirkiness!!

Last but not least-I took myself on a shopping spree. I desperately needed some Spring/Summer clothes. The need took on more urgency when I started trying to piece together 2 Summer outfits for the Women of Faith conference. I had NOTHING that would work. So Ash and I promptly took off to Kohl's for 1 or 2 things and ended up leaving with 2 bags full of clothes. And I don't even feel guilty. In fact...I can think of a few more things I need :)

Until next year...my birthday is officially over. Thank you everybody for the well wishes, cards and gifts!! It's nice to be loved.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

I'm going to get back to my birthday week and also my experiences at the Women of Faith conference later this week but first I wanted to make sure I did this:

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/
Outside my window... Trees turning green!! Lilac bushes and new flowers to be discovered in our new backyard. My teenage neighbor making out with his girlfriend. My kids playing in the sunshine.


From the kitchen... Pork Chops, applesauce, green beans and apple barley salad. My family wouldn't touch the salad so they ate mac-n-cheese instead. Which is fine with me because I loved the barley. It was sorta like oatmeal with apple peices and cinnamon. I'll be eating it for breakfast the rest of the week:) Yummo!!

I am wearing... jean shorts and a retro floral t-shirt. fresh nail polish and a pony tail :)

I am reading... A Mother After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George.

I am hoping... for inspiration.

I am creating... a scrapbook page for Asher's book

I am praying... for a renewed spirit

Around the house... getting things ready for the end of the school year. Making chore charts and flexible schedules. Deciding what we will learn about this Summer. Also getting ready for some Summer fun!! Shhhh don't tell but I'm gonna buy all of us Animal Crossing City Folk for the Wii. We all like to play it and it tickles the kids pink that I will sit and play it with them :) Can you tall that I'm really excited for the kids to be back at home with me all day!! I am so sick of sending them off to school everyday!!

A few plans for the rest of the week... baseball practice....visit a preschool I hope to enroll Asher in for next year....clean...bake some bread and cinnamon rolls...scrapbook...read...redeem my Kohl's cash...smile...laugh...enjoy some spring thunderstorms:)

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
So I'm cheating here a little and offering a video instead:) Steven shared this song with us at the women's conference. Hope it speaks to you like it did me!!

Birthday day 2&3

More birthday goodies!! In case you aren't in the know....I have a birthday WEEK!! One full week to be treated like a queen and pampered beyond reason. Okay so I'm not really being pampered and no one in this house is treating me like a queen at the moment. But my mom does do something extra special for her kids on their birthdays. She wraps up 7 gifts for 7 days. Hence the birthday WEEK!! I usually pick my gift out when the chores are done and the house is quiet. Then I lock myself in a room, alone, to savor my special treat. I LOVE this tradition and when my kids are old enough to appreciate it I will carry it on for them.


Yesterday I opened a beautiful soup tureen

I just love everything about this. The colors and the fruit...all of it. And it will definitely we used as we eat A LOT of soup in this house. Isaac pointed out this morning that it looks like a frog! After he said that I could totally see it. Can you see Mr. Froggy?

Today I opened my gift a little early. I had a sneaking suspicion of what it was and knew I would want to wear it grocery shopping tonight. Lucky for me...I was RIGHT!!

A few weeks ago my mom and I went shopping and I tried this little Liz jacket on. I loved it. Somewhere between dressing rooms it disappeared. I didn't notice until I got home that I hadn't actually purchased it!! I was a little sad, but like I said, had a sneaking suspicion that it was gonna end up in my closet soon enough:) It's not exactly the right color for me, but when I put a color that pops on underneath it, well it's gonna be fantastic!! This jacket will get a lot of wear and last forever!!

The birthday well wishes are still coming in as well. Yesterday I received a card in the mail from Grandma Moesta. The money she sent will be used towards my Summer shopping spree!! Fun right? I'm just waiting for some nice weather and of course fantastic sales!! Thank you Grandma!!!

Plus today I got a card in the mail from my secret sister with a gift card to itunes!!! This is a perfect gift for me!!! You have no idea how much I use my ipod:) I love scrappin and cleanin to some rockin music!!!! Thank you so much. The card was beautiful as well:)

It never ceases to amaze me how many people love and care for me. From gifts to wonderful well wishes...thank you everybody!!

Growing Up

I have faced an awful lot of my giants this past year. Which is unusual for me because I like my safe cozy spot centered smack dab in the middle of predictability. But this year I went out on a limb and let God turn my entire life upside down.

The past couple of weeks I have come even farther out of my comfort zone. I have forced myself to do the hard stuff. Maia and I took an all day roadtrip...by ourselves!! We traveled on the highway...to a city we've never been to...an hour and a half away...totally by ourselves!!!! This may not be a big deal to most people but it most certainly was to me. First of all- I DO NOT EVER drive on the highway here. And I really do mean NEVER. Secondly, I very rarely ever do things by myself. At the end of the day I was exhausted but totally proud of myself.

I have also went to a Sunday School class where I knew NO ONE at all. I drug myself out of bed super duper early, pushed through my fears, and went to class. Maia's Sunday School teacher invited us by e-mail and I knew it was the perfect opportunity for me to meet some like minded ladies. I was scared outta my mind but pushed myself to go and it turned out good in the end. We will be going back next week.

This past Saturday we went on a loooooong hike. Like a 2&1/2 hour hike. Have I mentioned that we have FANTASTIC metroparks here? Anyways, at the end of the hike the kids wanted to play on the very packed with kids and adults alike playground. The playground was the opposite way of our car. Andy asked me to take the kids to the playground while he went to get the car. I'm gonna be honest here and tell you that on a different day I would have given him puppy dog eyes and begged him not to make me go hang out with all those scary strangers all by myself. Maybe my mom taught me to fear strangers a little too much:) I don't know what happened to me but-I just smiled at him and the kids and I went on our merry little way. To the playground with all the scary strangers!!

As the kids played I sat on the bench and people watched. It struck me how many different cultures were gathered in one area. There was a pavilion full of people of Middle Eastern descent. There were 2 European (French I believe) families. There was a very large group of Asian Pacific Islanders playing duck duck goose!! Adults no less :) And last but not least a Mexican grandma with her grandbabies. I'll bet there were over 100 people in all on this little playground. All different. All special. All with something amazing to offer the World. And it struck me...I'm one of them. I have no reason to be afraid of these people because I. Am. One. Of. Them.

At the end of day...random strangers are probably NOT judging me. And if they are? It doesn't matter what they think of me. What matters is that I am being my best self. That I am serving God and my family to the best of MY abilities. It's time to stop trying to measure up to everybody else and instead just BE myself.

I think at 35 I'm FINALLY growing up ya'll.

Bet ya'll wanna know what I've gotten for my birthday huh? Here it is:

Andy and the kids--2 stacks of paper (whimsy and all about boys) and my Storybook cartridge for my Cricut. Plus the promise of a shopping trip for clothes in the near future.

Gpa Bud and Gma Ruth- the sweetest softest pair of Summer jammies. Love them!!

Aunt Jackie--A 22in electric griddle. So excited to finally be able to make more than 2 pancakes at a time!!

My Mom and Dad--White Tea and Ginger body wash and lotion. One of my very favorite scents. I'll keep you updated on the rest of the weeks gifts.

Asher--he actually told Andy that he was giving me his old junky toys he didn't want anymore!! He was so proud to wrap up a motorcycle and a miniature plastic construction sign. I love that he knows I'll love his junk just as much as I would love his treasures.