A Year's Worth of Projects

My husband hates this about me, but I am one of those people who has to have AT LEAST one project going at all times.  Usually, I have three or four.  And my list of projects to do never seems to get shorter no matter how many I finish and get crossed off the list.  I am always finding new things I want to make or do that get added as soon, or sometimes before, I get one project finished.

Since my New Year's Resolution was to be more organized and get our house more organized I thought a good way to get a handle on my projects list would be to assign each month one major project.  These aren't my little projects like clean the house, rake the yard...those are chores...not projects.  These are things like make curtains for the living room windows or repaint the master bedroom. 

So here is my list of proposed 2013 projects.

January:  Ava's first birthday party.  Sounds like no big deal but first birthdays are a big deal around here and do almost all of the "work" myself.  I don't want my children to not feel special or celebrated because I chose to have so many children.  My motto is if I would do something if I only had one child, I can do it for all four.  So...big first birthday bash is project one.  Party prep is in full swing since the party is this weekend.  I will post photos of the little "projects" that went into the party next week.

February:  Repurpose a huge, oak armoire have and aren't using into toy storage for the den.  This project goes hand in hand with rearranging the family room furniture and organizing all the toys around here, and with four children, there are a lot of toys.

March:  I have two this month.  The first, make Easter outfits for all four children.  The second, make a Happy Easter pennant banner to decorate the house for the Easter holiday.

April:  Birthday bash for the three 'big kids."  Since John David and the twins' birthdays are only 2 weeks apart, we usually do one, big birthday party for all three of them.  So far they haven't come to a decision about a theme.  They are still narrowing it down.

May:  Make curtains for the living room windows.  The tree that shaded the front of the house and provided some privacy to the living room windows took a major hit in the Christmas snow storm so some curtains for a little privacy are a must have.

June:  Repaint ceilings in the guest bathroom, front and upstairs hallways.

July:  Repaint downstairs half bathroom.  This was the first room we repainted after we moved into our house.  In our plumbing troubles over the last year or so this bathroom has taken a major hit so it's time for a little TLC. 

August:    Paint built-in bookcases and mantle in the family room.

September:  Make curtains for the guest bedroom windows.

October:  Halloween costumes for the children.  We haven't even started thinking about next Halloween yet but I figured I better put it on here to save some time for it.

November:  Catch up month.  I'm going to leave this month open for now because I know I will come up with a million more things I need or want to do between now and then.  I also know that in the chaos of our day to day life it is very possible that some of the other projects won't get completed timely and I will need a month set aside to finish all previously started projects.  

December:  Make Christmas Eve outfits and Christmas pajamas for all the children.

I will post details and pictures as I go.  In fact I have pictures of some of my pre-Christmas projects I need to post as well.  That is for another day I guess.   I hope all of you will hold my feet to the fire so I get these things accomplished.  

Are any of you like me with a projects list a mile long?  I would love to hear what you hope to accomplish this year.

What's Missing

Can you tell what's missing from this picture?

That's right.  He lost his first tooth today at lunch.  I didn't even know it was loose.  He is extremely proud and has been showing off his "gap" to everyone we've seen since it fell out.  I am still in shock.  I can't believe my baby has lost his first tooth.  He is so grown up.  In fact, not 10 minutes before he lost the tooth he corrected me when I called him a "little boy."  He told me he wasn't a "little boy" he was big and a man.  Tugs at my heart strings.  Thankfully my big man isn't too big to cuddle with his mommy yet.

Unfortunately since we didn't know it was loose, we weren't watching for it to fall out and as a result we lost it at lunch.  I think he swallowed it without knowing it.  Sad and gross, but I have it on good authority that the Tooth Fairy accepts notes regarding lost of swallowed teeth.  We will be putting the replacement note under his pillow Friday night (his choice because it gives him time more time to write his letter) to see what the Tooth Fairy brings.

One Year Stats

Last week, in the midst of another small round of snow and ice, I took Ava for her one year check-up with the pediatrician.  Poor baby had to get three shots and she was not happy about it.  Other than that, she did great and is perfectly healthy.

Here are her official one year stats.

Weight  19 pounds 5 ounces  21st percentile
Length  28 3/4 inches  38th percentile
Head  17 3/4 centimeters  50th percentile

She is growing up so fast and getting into more and more "stuff."  One of her favorite activities is to pull all the tupperware containers out of the cabinet and toss them all over the kitchen floor.  She thinks this is great fun to do this while I am cooking dinner or washing dishes so I probably pick up and put away all that stuff at least 2 to 3 times a day.   One of her other favorite games is the "I throw it down, you pick it up" game.  She loves this.  Over and over again she will throw down something, a doll, a book, a plastic car or cup, anything really, she's not picky, and then look at me or her daddy and want us to pick it up and give it back to her.  Then she smiles and throws it down again.  This is her favorite church time game.  She plays with some good friends who sit behind us in church.  She will stand on our pew and throw the bulletin or a small board book or her stuff doll baby over the back of the pew, smile sweetly at Shannon and Dewayne, and then they will pick it up and give it back to her.  It keeps her entertained and as long as she isn't throwing something that makes a loud bang when it hits the floor, doesn't disturb too many people sitting around us.  Of course, she is still a Mommy's girl.  She loves to play games with Shannon and Dewayne, but she still won't let Dewayne hold her.  As a newborn she loved being held by Dewayne.  She is getting a little better in that she lets my parents hold her quite a bit now so I'm sure Dewayne will be back on the acceptable list before too long.

Our birthday tradition is to take the kids to have a donut on their first birthday.  It is their first "sweet."  We have done this with each of the older three so last Saturday it was Ava's turn.  We went to Krispy Kreme, which is not our usual donut place but is our traditional spot for the first birthday donut, and were not disappointed with fresh hot glazed when we walked in the door.  Ava loved her first donut.  We stuck with plain glazed for her.  I think that is plenty of sugar for a 1 year old or any of us for that matter.

Her first donut.  Yummy!  She is very focused on getting some more.

In her birthday hat saying Yay! for donuts.  

We delayed her birthday party until February.  The delay is partly because I am in denial about her already being a year old, partly because her birthday is so close to the holidays it caused me trouble, and partly because of the snow storm on Christmas that left me without power for 5 days.  Better late than never though.  I'll post photos of the fun times soon.

A Picky Eater

Who out there has a picky eater at their house?  Everyone right.  My house is no exception, although you might be surprised at who my picky eater is.

John David...nope.
 Ella...not her either.  Those two eat virtually everything.
Harrison?  Although pickier than either John David or Ella, he still isn't that picky.  He just really doesn't like mashed potatoes.  Oh well.
Then it must be Ava.  Wrong again.  So far the only thing she hasn't liked is bananas.
That leaves husband right because it couldn't be ME.

I have to admit, I am, by far, the pickiest eater in our household.  Husband would say I don't like anything green.  And while there are quite a lot of green vegetables I don't like, there are a number that I do.  Like peas....I love green peas.  There are also a number that I will tolerate and eat small amounts of in order to set a good example for my children.  Asparagus, zucchini, and brussell sprouts all fall in this category.  Broccoli on the other hand....is my most hated of all vegetables.  Ironically, it is my children's FAVORITE vegetable of all time.  They eat it like candy.  I usually have to cut them off after their third helping to make sure and save a few pieces for husband.

Anyway, this post isn't about which vegetables I will or will not eat.  It is, sort of, about picky eating.  You see, I'm not just picky about vegetables.  I am picky about all sorts of food products, including Potato Soup, the reason for this post.  I love potato soup.  It is warm and comforting, filling, but not too heavy.  I love it.  My favorite potato soup is from, or all places, a barbecue place here in town called Chips.  I don't know that I have ever actually eaten the barbecue there but they make awesome potato soup and pies.  Really yummy cream pies.  But back on topic, they make delicious potato soup.   It has thin slices of potatoes in it, and is broth based so it isn't too thick and heavy, and they grate a little cheese on the top.  I'm making myself hungry.

My all time worst experience with potato soup took place in Enid, Oklahoma.  Years ago, back in my former life as an auditor with a public accounting firm, I travelled quite a bit.  Not to really exciting places but mostly to small towns all over Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma.  My first year with the firm, I was sent to Enid, Oklahoma, town of less than 50,000, in north central Oklahoma, to audit a small oil & gas company.  One night for dinner, I ordered potato soup.  It was the worst, most disappointing bowl of "soup" I've ever had.  My bowl of soup was a greasy and very salty baked potato, cut into chunks, covered in butter, cheese, bacon, and a smidgen of milk, sitting in the bottom of a bowl.  It wasn't soup at all and it was horrible.  I ate virtually none of it.  I learned my lesson though and did not order potato soup in Enid again.

As a result of my love of potato soup, I am always on the lookout for a good recipe.  I've tried numerous ones over the years and haven't been satisfied with any of them.  They are always too heavy. I don't want to feel like I just ate a bowling ball after having a bowl of soup.  So the search has continued until the other night when I was reading The Pioneer Woman's blog about the perfect potato soup.  What caught my attention was that she talked about how she was picky about her potato soup.  I continued reading and her recipe sounded good.  I figured I would try it.  And you know what, I liked it.  I have finally found a potato soup recipe I like.  In fact, I have made it twice since reading her blog post.  Here is the link to her original post.  I've also copied her recipe and repeated it below for your convenience.

The Pioneer Woman's Perfect Potato Soup

Ingredients
6 slices Thin Bacon, Cut Into 1-inch Pieces
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
3 whole Carrots, Scrubbed Clean and Diced
3 stalks Celery, Diced
6 whole Small Russet Potatoes, Peeled and Diced
8 cups Low Sodium Chicken Or Vegetable Broth
3 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
1/2 teaspoons Cajun Spice Mix
1 teaspoon Minced Fresh Parsley
1 cup Grated Cheese Of Your Choice

Instructions
Add bacon pieces to a soup pot over medium heat and cook bacon until crisp and fat is rendered.  Remove the bacon from the pot and set it aside.  Pour off most of the grease, but do not clean the pot.
Return the pot to medium-high heat and add the onions, carrots, and celery.  Stir and cook for 2 minutes or so, then add the diced potatoes.  Cook for 5 minutes, seasoning with salt, pepper, and Cajun spice.
Pour in the broth and bring it to a gentle boil.  Cook for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are starting to get tender.  Whisk together the flour and the milk, then pour into the soup and allow the soup to cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove half to 2/3 the soup and blend in a blender/food processor until completely smooth.  Pour it back into the soup pot and stir to combine.  Let it heat back up as you taste for seasonings, adding more of what it needs.  Stir in cream then stir in parsley, reserving a little for garnish.
Service in bowls garnished with parsley, grated cheese, and crisp bacon pieces.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  It's what we are having for dinner tonight.  I can't wait.

Boys will be Boys

One morning recently, a morning the twins didn't have school, I walked into my bathroom and found this....

Really!  He's three and he is already taking his version of reading materials to the bathroom.

At least he was kind enough to take a moment and let me snap this picture.

Look Who's 1

One year ago today......

We were here

I looked like this (not my best look by far)

But I received this beautiful, wonderful gift.

From the moment she entered our lives, she has brought so much fun, love and joy into our family.

Happy Birthday Ava Katherine

We love you to the moon and back little one.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

A white Christmas is always on my Christmas wish list.  Here in Arkansas we don't get many white Christmases.  The ones I remember from my childhood were the ones we spent in Massachusetts with my mom's family.  Just because it doesn't happen often here in the south doesn't mean a girl can't dream.  Husband on the other hand hates white Christmases.  They were the equivalent of a four letter word in his house because his father worked for the highway department and if it snowed or iced, which down here is more likely, he was called out to help clear roads. As a result, they never wanted a white Christmas or snow any other day of the year for that matter.

But this year, I got my wish....in a big way.

Christmas morning we woke up to....no snow on the ground but a forecast calling for a massive winter storm.  In fact there were blizzard warnings (I know, a blizzard warning in Arkansas, unheard of) for parts of Eastern Arkansas.  By noon there was some freezing rain mixed with a little sleet.  The radar looked ominous.  My in-laws, who arrived around 11:15 am, were in the car headed home by 1:00 pm due to the falling temperatures, ominous radar, and forecasted 8+ inches of snow.  By 2:00 pm when my father arrived for Christmas dinner, it was sleeting and starting to stick.  By 2:05 pm my mother, sick at home in bed, had called to tell my father the transformer behind their house was sparking and popping and the lights were going on and off.  She was sure they would lose power soon.  Back home went my father to be there if and when the power went out.  By 6:00 pm the snow was falling and my parents were without electricity.  By 8:00 pm my four children were nestled snuggly in their warm beds and husband and I were settling down for some nice television watching.  Alas it was not to be.  By 8:30 pm we too were without power.  We spent the evening snuggled in bed, candles lit, watching a not so bright man in his rear wheel drive truck try again and again to make it up the hill in front of our house and our of the neighborhood.  He gave it more than the good college try.  He made attempt after attempt, making it to our neighbors house 2 doors up before sliding back down the hill.  It was quite entertaining.  After about an hour, he finally gave up and left his truck in the middle of the intersection.  Not the smartest place to leave the truck but it wasn't my decision.

By morning, we had more than 10 inches of snow over a layer of ice, downed trees, no electricity and this directly outside our front door.

Our front door and front steps were completely blocked by tree limbs that had broken under the weight.  The only way out the front of the house was through the garage, manually opening and closing the door, since we had no electricity.

And here is a view of our backyard.

More trees down.  More landscaping lost.

Since we also had an electric stove and oven which obviously were not working, husband went outside and cleaned off the gas grill so we could use it for cooking.  Doesn't he look happy about this task?

We spent the day delivering Christmas goodies to our neighbors, playing with our new board games, and having some fun in sledding in the snow.  Unfortunately, when your house is cold and you have no dryer to dry your clothes, playing outside in the cold wet snow looses it's appeal pretty quickly.

It wasn't just our neighborhood without power.  Almost the entire city was without power.  By mid afternoon on December 26th, we "evacuated" down to husband's office.  Of course all the downtown office buildings had power.  I was tempted to sleep there.  A number of the attorneys, including my dad but not my husband, have small couches or love seats in their offices.  I figured we could fan out and each take a couch for the night.  At least we would be warm.  Thankfully we didn't have to resort to sleeping at the office.  The mother of one of our good friends took us in.  Our friends, her son, daughter in law, and grandson were also without power and staying with her.  When she heard we and my parents were without power, she graciously opened her home and took all 8 of us in for the night.  By the next afternoon, the power at my grandmother's condo (thankfully she was traveling for the holidays and not home during all this mess) had been restored and the eight of us moved to her house for the next two nights.  

By Saturday night our power was back on and we got to sleep in our own beds.  Hurray!  Of course, that long without power meant everything in both our main refrigerator and everything in the "beer" fridge in the garage was ruined and had to be thrown out.  But at least we were home.  We, along with the rest of the city, are still cleaning up the mess from the storm.  The snow and ice are gone, but the tree damage remains.  Husband and his dad spent last weekend cutting up the broken trees and fallen limbs in our yard.  There is still more to clean up and I can see our weekends filled with repairs for a little while.  We were lucky though.  We had no major damage to the house or back deck.   We lost some landscaping but that can be replaced.  We were all safe and together and that is what is most important.  

As for dreaming of a white Christmas again, I know I will want one again, but not for a few years, and I definitely WON'T wish out loud for husband to hear.  He's had enough snow to last him a while.

Santa Claus Came to Town

It was a very different Christmas this year around our house.  My sister was travelling with her boyfriend on Christmas (first Christmas ever she wasn't home...sad), my brother and Jessica were with Jessica's family (also sad), my mom was dreadfully sick and didn't get out of bed for 3 days (YUCK!), and due to weather issues, husband's family was only here for 2 hours Christmas day (and it takes 2 hours to get here from their house).  So for the most part, it was just our immediate family on Christmas day.  That made for a slightly disjointed "Christmas" as we had several "Christmases" with various parts of the family when they got home from their travels.

That being said, the children had a great Christmas.  I think all the disjointedness (is that even a word) is harder on me, the traditions person, than it is on them.  For them the important parts of Christmas, church on Christmas Eve, Santa's visit, opening stockings and presents, and lots of food, staying up late, extra television, were still there, just more spread out this year than in previous years.  

So here is a brief photo tour of Christmas Day 2012

Traditional Christmas morning photo on the stairs.  

This is a family tradition that was passed down from my Mom's family and is something she did as a child.  There are decades worth of Christmas morning photographs of all the family gathered on the stairs, usually in pajamas, while first my grandfather, then my father, and now my husband took the traditional photo.

Santa Claus came and brought scooters, a bike, and helmets of course.  Safety first!

A princess scooter...she's in heaven.

A cars scooter....Santa knows Harrison so well.

A big boy bike....and it's red too.  Just what he wanted.

Board games....yeah!

 A new charm for her charm bracelet.  It's a lady bug just in case you couldn't tell from the fabulous photo.

 

A new lunch box.  Now he's ready for kindergarten.

I have to tell you that this and the bike were the only things he wanted for Christmas.  He was so excited over the lunch box he immediately packed it with crackers and some dried citron fruit I had in the kitchen for cookies and ritz crackers and put it in his backpack ready to go.

Woody, Buzz, and Jessie...with Ava photo bombing in the back.

Ava getting in on the action.  You have to have at least one "bow on the head" photo don't you.

It was a very Merry Christmas all around, and although I missed our extended families, it was kind of nice just getting to be with my children and see the joy on their faces.

O Holy Night

I know I am woefully behind in my blogging.  There has just been so much going on with the holidays that blogging became the thing that I had to let slide in order to get everything else done.  I am now more determined than ever to get back on track and remedy my lack of timely blogging state.  

So here goes.

Christmas Eve is a magical time for everyone, children and adults alike.  In our family, we spend Christmas Eve at church celebrating Jesus's birth.  Our church does a small children's pageant and we participated with gusto.  All three of the "big kids" were in the pageant and Ava helped with the photography.

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." (Luke 2:10)

Our angel

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. (Luke 2:15-16)

Our littlest shepherd

My two shepherds and angel and our good angel friend Susanna




It was a beautiful pageant.  The children did such a wonderful job telling the story of Jesus' birth.  It wasn't fancy or extravagant, but then again, neither is the story of Jesus.  I am so glad my children get to participate in and learn the true meaning of Christmas.  Don't get me wrong, I love Santa and all the fun and magic that goes along with him, but for me, what i love most is the story of Jesus and welcoming him into our lives hearts again every year.