Adventuring.....

I love how a seemingly typical Wednesday for us can feel like an adventure.
Nothing magical happened but it felt good and wonderful and I smile knowing that Grace thinks today rocked.

Loren and I both had off today.
Something that's very unusual for us on a week day.
While Grace went to school Loren worked on his scooter and I tidied up the house and worked on plans for Gracie's birthday party (only 38 days away!).

When she came home we ate lunch together (hooray!  We never get to eat any meals with Loren during the week typically so breakfast + lunch = happiness).

This, however, is when the fun began....

After lunch we met up with our friends at Starbucks to enjoy some game time.
We had fun playing Curious George, Hi Ho Cherry-O and Yahtzee.
Then the girls colored while us mama's chatted.
I know it sounds simple but it was needed.  It brought us gobs of joy. We laughed and watched the girls eat goodies.  The girls laughed so loud multiple times that we had to constantly remind them to laugh quieter--a good thing to have to tell a kid.  This was one of my favorite moments of the day!

E& G
The only photo I got from today!  

When we got home, as a family, we went out back and got some good old deck cleaning and poop pick up done.  I know it might seem odd that I enjoyed that but it felt great to be out side, in the sun (even though it was windy and cold) doing some "spring cleaning." It made me excited for what's to come. Warm weather can't come soon enough.  We will flip our routine and spend most of our day outside and very little indoors.

After our outdoor chores were done, we took a family walk with Bailey.  Everyone came home refreshed (& a bit frozen).  Grace collected random things here and there along the way.  Bailey frolicked when we made it to the park.  Poor girl kept looking for her pale Perry but he was no where to be found.  Trying to set up a doggy play date for them for tomorrow as it's looking like it's going to be a super awesome winter weather day: High 40's and sunny!

When we got home, we washed up and ran back out.  Fred Meyer was having a massive 70% off sale prices CLEARANCE.  We found a $150 winter coat for Grace (that will surely fit her for two winters, just like her current one did) for $37!  And, we got her two pairs of shorts and a Oshkosh zip up sweater and two pairs of tights for pennies.  By the end of our shopping trip we ran to our favorite place to eat in town: The Pita Pit. Healthy and yummy.
There's something so nice about eating out when you don't get to do it often.

When we got home Grace was exhausted so we did bedtime immediately and she was in bed by 6:45.  She asked if she could read quietly in her room.  She ended up reading for an hour, then lights out and peace and quiet.  That except for sounds of a trimmer as it was Loren hair cut night and I'm the barber.
It's now 8:23pm and we are done for the day, minus a few things to tidy up before bed.

I really loved today.  Grace said "yes mom" a lot!  Didn't argue with me that much. Grumbled a bit but some is to be expected during the day.  She was kind and loving.  It was pure joy to be around her today. I needed today!  Thank you God for answered prayers.

Honestly we've been struggling lately with Gracie's obedience and respect towards us. The last week was especially hard.  And, it didn't help that for some reason her body was fighting sleep at night.  My poor kiddo who's normally asleep by 7:30/8 was up until 9:30/10:30 each night tossing and turning (I'm guessing her body is going through some grand and beautiful change) & she had an icky belly for a few days in a row.  All that combined with some stressful days at school (Mean Girls.  Who knew in Kindergarten my sensitive five year old would have to emotionally deal with that.  It's awful & heart breaking.  I cried hard Tuesday after dropping her off from school due to witnessing it first hand and not for the first time.   Thankfully the teacher is aware of what's going on and steps are being taking to change certain behavior!) made for some aggravating days and made for a mommy who was quite stressed out and found it hard to be slow to anger at times.  Thankfully, Grace is gracious and forgave me and in turn showed me again just how special she is.  Her heart is beyond description.  She's so willing to quickly forgive and love more deeply.

Again, thank you God for teaching me more about you through my child.
I see you in her eyes and in the way she responds to others.
Thank you for your forgiveness and for never loving me any less.

Happy Wednesday night.
Hope your Thursday is an adventurous one.

Just curious...

Back To Life....

.....Back To Reality.


I'm done.  Done being sick.  Praise Jesus.  It was a 24 hour Stomach Flu.  Nasty and over.

Thankfully Valentines Day was not ruined for Grace.
She had a party at school and came home with a Clifford "mailbox" filled with 20+ cards and tons of candy. Did you know it was Clifford's Birthday?  He's 40 something years old. Who knew?!  Got to love that big red dog.  So, their Valentines Day was Clifford Themed and oh so cute.

I found someone to take Grace to school and back and while she was there I rested away.  Even slept a little.  Then she did crafts and had her own rest time when we got home.  Later in the day, I scrounged up enough energy to bring her to Book Worms club at the Library where I hid out in a corner of the library and read books while I waited.  Then I whisked her away to Dance and pretty much ran away so not to infect any kiddos. After that it was home for dinner and bed.  I felt a little bad that I couldn't shower her with hugs and kisses this day and that Loren was gone for 14 hours and missed the entire day.  However, I was reminded that we don't do loving-type stuff only on Valentines Day.  Our lives are one big "Valentines Day" (not the Hallmarkish jewelry, flowers and chocolates kind of Valentines Day, but the hearts, kisses, hugs and love love love kind of Valentines Day).  We try to shower each other with kind words and actions on a regular basis. So, all is well and even though it's fun to participate in these traditional holidays, I know that we will make up for it in the days to come-a new Statema Family Adventure is always just around the corner.   And, Loren and I both have off on Friday so we'll do "Valentines Day" then.  We'll spend quality time together taking a walk or hanging out at home while Grace is in school.  Sounds like the perfect belated Valentines Day gift to me.

On the topic of gifts....
Grace loves to receive gifts.
She also loves to give gifts.
She is all for Flowers, Jewelry and Chocolates along with hearts, kisses, hugs and love, love love.
Holidays are her favorite as it's one ginormous excuse to do things on a grander scale.

Grace making V-day cards for her classmates

Loren and I made this for Grace.

Dollar Tree finds for Grace

A box filled with hearts

Mom sent Grace a package (the lady bug one).
It was filled with all kinds of sweetness.
Photos below...

***please excuse my poor photos below.  I was feeling so icky that I didn't have it in me to take more than one photo.  Eyes are closed, photos are blurry, weird faces are made....sigh.  Sorry.

Shirt from Grandma

Sleeping Beauty

Book

Stickers

V-day breakfast. The best I could do when the thought or sight of food made me even sicker.

There you have it.
Our Valentines Day wrap up.
Grace got goodies.
Mommy got better.
And, daddy is off for two days after a crazy week of pretty much not being home.
Happy after Valentines Day.  Hope your year is filled with all sorts of love.




And more random......

Grace thinks she's a fairy princess and can fly.
I think she IS. And, I think she CAN.

Grace tried Star Fruit for the first time today.
Verdict: "Yum. It's so sweet."
Ok, good to know!
Star Fruit will be making semi-regular appearances in the Statema Household.

She also tried Lemon-Lime Gatorade for the first time this week and loved it as well!
Sadly, that will not be making a semi-regular appearance in the Statema household.



The 100th Day of School was on February 15th!  They did all kinds of counting activities and even brought home 100 treats (10 of each treat). I think snack time this was Gracie's favorite snack time ever as she got to eat things she's normally not allowed to (on no-treat days).  This day rocked.  I was still getting over being sick, yet the sun was out and the skies were blue so we walked to the playground and hung out amongst the melting snow for a good hour before heading back.  Friends even joined us....the dogs ran around, the kids played and my mommy friend and I caught up.  It was exactly what the Dr. ordered.  Vit. D is the best kind of medicine.  That and laughter which we did a lot of.


I had dream we wanted to move back to Florida last night....weird.
I love Florida because my family is there and the beach is there but I can not imagine the constant heat, bugs and massive population.  I love seasons, hiking, no traffic so not sure what that dream meant.  Maybe just missing some of the stuff I grew up loving.  However, it would be pretty cool to live with a kid near central FL.  So many fun touristy things to do.  But, there's way more exciting in finding your own adventure when there seemingly isn't anything to do.

Ok-distractable me was suppose to post this last night.
It's now Friday morning.  A school morning.  We have to leave in just a few minutes.
Hubby and I are going to drop off Grace at school, then walk downtown and treat ourselves to The Palace Cafe for breakfast ($4.99 breakfast special: pancakes, eggs and bacon-score).  Then walk back and pick up Grace from school, then home for a family day.  We'll clean house, pack for our weekend away and have movie "night" in (watching Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur).

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Happy Valentines Day, Sickie

It happened.

I am sick.

Not just sick but stomach bug sick.

Been up since 1am, kind of sick.

This is -wanting to crawl in a hole- kind of sick.

I am sick of the bathroom, kind of sick.

It's Valentines Day and the thought of food makes me want to hide, kind of sick.

And, yet, I promised pink pancakes to Grace.  Sigh.

And, hubby has two major meetings he can't cancel at work as 20 employees are on there way in now for it.  Thankfully at 5am he ran to the store and got me some Gatorade and crackers. 

Oh a way to spend Valentines Day.

Mom's should not be allowed to get sick.

We don't have time.

We still have to do all our mommy stuff.

And, our sweet hubbies who want to take care of us normally can't because they are working their butts off working so we can be home with our kiddos.  

What to do when sick?

Thankfully Grace is in school for 2.5 hours today.

Praying my body will let me shower and sleep while she's gone.

Makes me wish my mom lived near by.

I actually called her at 5am (8am her time) and told her I need her to come by and take care of me.

If only tele-porting was around and not just on  Star Trek because I know she'd do it in a heart beat.

I have found that even as a grown up, when I am sick, I still want my mom.

There is something extra special about a mama taking care of you when you aren't well.

I love you mom!  

In my lack of sleep or able to leave the bathroom(ish) area I found myself on line.

And, found this funny photo that most moms will be able to appreciate.

Although I don't think my mom thinks I do that all day.  

Happy Valentines Day one and all!
Hoping Gods abounding love fills your heart with great joy and hope.
I know I am loved.  He is so good.

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times,

Matthew 22:37–39
Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

1 Corinthians 13:4–8a
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails

Photo Shoot

I was asked by a mom friend if I could take some photos for her daughter.

She is entering a contest in a magazine and needed a head shot, mid shot, full body shots and some fun shots.  I jumped at the opportunity.  It was a blast.  Here are some of the photos she'll be submitting along with her question and answer.  

I hope she wins!

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?