A little of this and a little of that.....

5am.   Can't sleep.  The last three nights I have been in bed by 9pm(ish) but then woken up by a dog and a child 1-3 times each thus negating the good sleep that could have been.  I'm exhausted needless to say.  And, my husband gets up at the 4am ish hour and I have not been able to go back to sleep like normal when his alarm goes off.  Numerous thoughts keep running through my head:  I wonder if Loren remembered his lunch, I am not going to see Loren all day I should go grab a hug & kiss, is the dog sick, I wonder how my friends who asked for prayer are doing, I should call my mom, etc. etc. etc.  Yawn.  But, Thank God It's FRIDAY!  Today will be filled with cleaning house and packing.  We leave in the morning for Wenachee.  Can't wait.  Now, I just need to figure out where I put all our summer stuff so I can find our bathing suites so we can take full advantage of the indoor swimming pool.  

Oh yes, and Grace has a Jr. Jazzercise Valentines Day Event today.  It is definitely the highlight of her day.  3:30pm can't come soon enough for her. Then we'll venture home for PJ's, Pizza and a movie.  I convinced her to pick out Nanny McPhee when we were at the library yesterday.  Hoping it's a success.

Happy Friday!

Hope you have a weekend filled with some wonderful surprises.

Veggie Pizza made with crescent rolls....ummmm, Hello!!!  

Grace put it together all by herself.

It's so yummy.  

Here is a link for the recipe if you are interested: Easy Crescent Veggie Pizza

I could have eaten it all up.
And, yes that's cream cheese/sour cream goodness on G's mouth.
You can't cook without taste testing!

A weekend of L.O.V.E & Family!
Ericka and Katie decided to come for the weekend to hang out and do Valentines Day crafts.
We were going to bake cookies too but ran out of time.
It was grand.  We did four crafts and even got to celebrate Loren's birthday together.
Their presence with us this weekend was the icing on the cake!

making the lolly pop flowers

Heart cut outs for the garland.

Ericka treated us to dinner at Roadhouse Grill for Loren's birthday

Thank you so much Ericka

And, back home for cupcakes.
Do you like Loren's birthday crown?  

Katie's final craft before they left
I think it's so beautiful

Gracie's

Gracie's creation

Our garland wouldn't hang properly so we had to improvise

Making all the crafts was so much fun.
I think we are finally ready for Valentines Day!

New Favorites:
Playing Uno
AND
Eating Garden of Eating Multi Grain chips with flax seeds and salsa.
Grace had never tried salsa until today and loves it now.

What to do on a rare rainy Ellensburg day?
Play with balloons, dance and color of course!

I love you too, Gracie boo

Coloring time
L-mans first time coloring at our house.

Ok, Grace is awake.  Must fly and get us ready for the day.
And, she'd like me to read "Horton Hatches The Egg." By Dr. Seuss right now.
A sweet find we found at the library yesterday.
More to come on her "obsession" with Seussical and Horton Hears a Who.

Things I Love:

With Valentines day approaching and hearts floating around our house it's gotten me thinking about love.

Here are somethings that I really love these days

1. Google Chat so i can talk to my very good friend Jennifer on a daily basis.  Hey, if we can't live in Puyallup we'll at least chat like we do.

2.  Our new Cuisinart Griddler

3.  When the sun comes out on a really cold day.

4. Anticipating the four trips we will be taking in the next month and a half.  Crazy how much we have going on but thankfully stress is not apart of this time so it's been grand.  We will be going to Wenachee two weekends in a row for Lorens work. They are putting us up in a hotel.   The thing I'm looking forward to most is the indoor pool.  Then we'll be heading to Bellingham with Loren's family to celebrate the one year anniversary of the death of Kevin, his brother.  We are going to go to Kev's favorite Thai restaurant, release lanterns over the water front he loved, have dinner with Harris's brothers family and stay with Bellingham friends. And, then a fourth and final family trip that's a secret, to be reveled March 17th.  I'm so giddy I almost can't stand it.  We have not been on a family trip, just the 3 of us, in many years.

5. The song, You Are My Sunshine.  Grace and I sing it to each other.  It seems to always make everything better.

6.  Working out with Loren.  It's nice to have a work out buddy now.  He's been inspiring me.  I know it's not in his nature to want to do this but he is doing it, even on the days he doesn't feel like it. So happy for him!

7.  Family game time at Starbucks.

8.  Watching Grace play Uno

9.  Seeing Gracie's face everything I pick her up from school.  Her face lights up, her smile widens and she runs with open arms to give me a big hug every single time.  It makes me feel so special.

10.   Birthdays

11.  Crafts, especially around Holidays.

12. Planning and dreaming.

13.  Waking up early and making my husbands lunch for him on the days I just can't stay asleep.

14.  Change.

15. The rare day I have off when Grace is in school.  Two hours of alone time at home is reviving.

16.  The people in Ellensburg. They are all so willing to help each other out in any way they can.  I am blown away by every ones constant generosity.

17.  The joy I feel from knowing that God is always with us and loves us unconditionally.

.........

My list goes on and on but it's 7am and I need to wake up my gorgeous vibrant kindergartner as it's a school day and she takes for ever to get ready so we must start early.

Happy February 7th!
What do you love today?

Friday!

This weekend I am looking forward to...

....getting the house ship shape (as in tonight!).

....pizza movie "night" in with my girl.

....having Ericka (sis-in-law) and Katie (niece) over tomorrow.  They are driving here from Spokane (3 hours away) to make Valentines Day crafts and bake Valentines Day cookies with Grace and I.  And, we just found out they are spending the night.  Hooray!

....church.  We found a new church. It's funny because we weren't looking for one.  Nothing bad happened at our old church.  Loren just wanted to try it out for fun since he knew the pastor.   It's perfect for us.  It's a small congregation, laid back, unique and eclectic.  Not stuffy or boring.   Personal.  Spirit led but not showy in anyway. Humble.   Biblically based. Inspiring. And, after only four weeks I've been moved to change and grow more than I have in a long time.  We are excited to see what God has in store for us through this church.

....celebrating Loren's 37 (cough, cough....I mean 25th) birthday.  Grace and I have a few little surprises up our sleeves and then we are off to a friends Super Bowl Party to round off the weekend.

Anytime you have family in town and a birthday to celebrate life is good.

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Random....

1.  I really love the first five minutes when my daughter wakes up.  It's the only time she's actually still and snugly until the next morning.  She's always been a mover and shaker.  But, this time-this precious morning time- is quiet and soft.  I breathe in her morning scent and just squeeze in next to her before our busy day of going going going starts.  

As of late when she wakes up she likes to pretend she is a baby and I have to change her pretend diaper and watch as she learns to talk and walk.  Oh my creative girl.  She's always surprising me with new and unique ways to play.

Nothing is more precious than a sleeping babe.
It never gets old.  Every single night I am amazed while watching her sleep.

This is how the rest of the day looks.
And, thus the reason I am exhausted by 7pm.

2. Tuesday morning Women's Bible Study.
One of the things I look most forward to every week.
We are doing Beth Moore's bible study: Daniel.
My most favorite bible study thus far. And, the girls in my small group are precious gems.  I look forward to their smiles, knowledge and support every week.
If you have a church near by doing the study-GO!  It will change your life and teach you incredible amounts of historical knowledge that will amaze you. God is so Good!

Join Beth Moore in a faith-building study of prophecy, and learn how to shine for Christ in our modern culture. Just as the prophet Daniel faced unbelievable pressures— to compromise his faith, to live in a hostile culture, and confront temptations and threats—today's believers face many of the same trials. Schedule one 12-week study or two six-week studies with your small group or Sunday school and examine the life of Daniel in an extremely contemporary way. Then explore the fascinating prophecies from the time of Daniel through the second coming of Christ. Five daily studies and 1 video worksheet per week show you how individuals can live with integrity in today's self-absorbed society.



3.  Resolution Update:
1 month ago we started on a healthier weekly plan.  No sugar except on Sundays.  More exercising.  More veggies and fruit. Loren has lost 2 inches around his belly already!  Way to go babe.  Plus we feel better and have more energy.  This is definitely something we are going to stick to for quite awhile.

We started doing P90X a week ago.  It's kicking our butts and is fantastic.

How we hope to look after 90 days (wink, wink).
It would be nice, but we don't have 1-2 hours free
every day for 90 days straight so we modify the time frame
and just do what we can.  BUT, if we did it for 90 days straight I
can see how people end up looking like this!  It's no joke.  EXTREME.

4. New favorite lunch.
1 serving of pasta (measured out....I have to or I'll eat the entire box) + 2-3 servings of veggies sauteed and placed on top of the pasta (broccoli, onions, peppers, carrots, bamboo, etc.).  So yummy and a whole lot of veggie goodness.  I could eat it every day (and sometimes do).

5.  Star Student
Grace was chosen as Kindergarten Star Student for the month of January.
We are so proud of her.  She works hard. Shines her light.  And, really goes above and beyond.
She's our Star Student every month.

We celebrated with balloons when we got home

6. Summer Work
Looks like I might be teaching dance again this summer.  Hooray! The great news is I already have 10 lessons planned out.  However I am going to make some changes.  Shorten the time from 1 hour to 45 minutes.  Go from 10 weeks to 8.  And, narrow my age range to 4.  Please pray as I figure out what my summer job situation will look like (I'll be out of work for 2 months due to L-man's mama having baby #2 so she'll be out on maternity leave and I'll need to look for more work for the time being) and that it pays enough to compensate my loss during those months. I will need to do more than dance so please pray that God provides and that whatever it is He blesses me with I find great joy in.

Grace loves this little guy and will surely miss him over the summer while he's home with his mama.

7.  Snow
We got it.  Lots of it.
And, we need it for the farmers.  Come spring and summer we do not get much rain so they rely on the winter snow fall to water the crops during the dry seasons.
It was beautiful watching it fall and playing with it the first few days but now it's icy, hard and yucky so I'm ready for it to go.

 8. After 5 years and 9 months the cats have finally found the beauty of Gracie's bed.  However, Gracie is not too fond of them laying in her bed and getting cat hair all over it.  One day, Grace will remember to close her door before we leave.  One day.

9.  Girlfriend likes to create. She threw together a two day wedding in our living room.  Such imagination. 

10.  Marrying her prince charming.
She married her daddy when he got home late from work.
Her real prince.  
I pray she finds someone just like her daddy.  He's the best hubby in the world.

the wedding dance

11.  Stacking.
Ever since she could play she's loved to stack.
And, she's still got it.  Although now it's much more advanced and thought out.  I sat here for over thirty minutes while she placed things in very specific spots.

Grace was asked to be in a friends short film.
Her final project before she graduates.
Grace did so well.
We can't wait to see the film in a few months.

taking direction from the director

being filmed

and her close up

So that is my random post to catch us up.

Happy Ground Hog Day!

Grace and I are praying he does not see his shadow.

Spring*Spring*Spring

Sneak Peek: Birthday Count Down

I can't believe Grace will be 6 in just over two months.

The party planner in me has been dreaming about her 6th birthday party for a few months and now that it's January I feel I can finally start making preparations.  

I was inspired by many gorgeous photos I found on Pintrist. 

Mind you, the photos are just that-inspiration as our budget it not one in which we can copy what they've done but this mama likes to dream.  After I dream for a bit and drool some,  I give my self a reality check and go with what we can afford.  And, then love it just the same.  

Theme: Candy Shoppe

Location: Jazzercise

I would love to do a party at my house, by our house is too small and the weather is too unpredictable up north to do something outback.  So Jazzercise it is.

Unlimited kids can be invited, someone does a Jr. Jazzercise session with all the kids.  All I have to do is set up the party table(s)-Voila.  

Below are some of the photos that I drooled over 

A part of me is slightly jealous and the other part of me is glad to know my girl would be happy with a few balloons, some cake and a lot of hugs and kisses.  But, alas I only have one kiddo and love to plan a party so I take a few notes, figure out our budget, visit the dollar store, get creative and see what I can do.  

But I have to give a shout out to all these incredible mamas and papas!

You are so creative and talented!

  

 AMAZING, right??!!




Now here are some things I will be incorporating into Gracie's party:

Lollipops as part of her candy bar.
The candy bar will be the "goodie bag"...but
the kids get to fill the bags themselves.
I'll just put candy in $ Store flower vases.
To make the vases look a little more fun,
i'll hot glue simple ribbon around each one and adhere a flower or something on it.

Her cup cakes are going to look like candy dots
Johnny Cakes will be making them for us.
Love being able to support a friend/local baker

I fell in love with this shirt.
Our friends, the Turners, are going to try and make one for Grace as her gift!

For Valentines Day we'll be making this.
We will just reuse it as decorations.
Simple: just a $ store picture frame, candy hearts and some hot glue.
Cost: $2

This is another item we'll be making for V-day
FREE!
Paint Color Samples (from Freddies) + a heart hold punch (borrowed)
+ needle and tread = a cute garland.
I'll reuse this at her party as well

Simple, Yummy and Fun.
To my girl who's turning 6.
You make my life sugary sweet.
Love you, Gracie Statema!