A Note About Usborne

I love Usborne books!  In fact, I love them so much that a year ago I became a consultant for them.  100% of my profit goes into a separate checking account and I use it to pay for piano lessons for my girls.

It just occurred to me that I should put a link on my blog to my Usborne site in case anyone wants to take a look.  So right over there on the right is a link that you can click on and browse the store if you want.

At the risk of being obnoxious, let me point out some of my favorite things:

The thing that first attracted me to Usborne was its huge variety of art books.  They range in level from kindergarten on up and they are set up in a step-by-step way for kids to easily follow.  I recommend this one for really little kids.  This one and this one are some of the favorites in our household.

This one is new and I think it’s adorable!  Kinda like paper dolls only the clothes are magnetic!  What little girl wouldn’t go crazy over it?

How smart is this? Dry-erase flash cards full of fun activities for a trip (or a long wait in a restaurant, or to keep them entertained in a waiting room, etc.).  I think this is my all-time favorite Usborne product for the shear genius of it!

I could go on and on and on. . .Usborne’s current catalog has 1400 titles in it and I have yet to find one that I don’t love!!  Some of them are just plain fun, and others are very educational.  Lots of homeschooling families use them as part of their curriculum.

Okay.  I think maybe I’ve crossed the line into obnoxious salesmanship!  I can’t help myself!!  But here’s the real clincher:  if you are interested in ordering you can do so by clicking onto any of the links on this page or the link that is now permanent on my sidebar under “Friends and Family”.  Feel free to just browse the site and if you have any questions, you can leave a comment and I’ll get back to you!

Thoughts on Christmas

I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas.  Not a love/hate relationship with it’s meaning, just the holiday itself.

I love Christmas music, gingerbread houses, molasses cookies, wrapping gifts after the kids are in bed, getting out my favorite decorations, shopping with my husband for just the right thing for each of the girls, and the general anticipation of it all.

I hate the stress that accompanies it, and the way I feel rushed from one thing to the next.  I hate how I am forever checking off a mental list of things to get done before that next Christmas party or family gathering.  I hate how every year, I find myself asking, “Jesus, are you really being honored in all of this?  Are you being recognized in this hustle and bustle? or is worshiping you just one more thing on my never-ending ‘to-do’ list?”

The last several years have been completely overwhelming and I definitely find that the hate side far outweighs the love side in my attitude toward Christmas.  So I’ve been evaluating all of this and I’ve decided that several things need to change:

1.  I am taking a different approach to gift-giving.  I am not going to ask for a list from anyone (with possibly one exception, but that’s too complicated to address here).  I have been irritated the last several years with the idea of exchanging lists (we do it with both sides of our family plus our own children). How impersonal to look at someone’s list, click a few buttons on the computer, and then scratch that name off and declare, “Finished with that one!”!!  AHHH!  What about that is gift giving??  We might as well be transferring money from our bank account to the accounts of the people on our lists and call it good.  This year I am going with my heart.  If I come across something that makes me stop and say, “ooooh, wouldn’t Candace (or Kim, or Tera, or Chad, or Cara, etc.) love that?” then that’s what I’m buying!  Don’t care if it’s on someone’s list or not!!  It just feels like a more personal approach to giving.

2.  I am shopping early.  And I mean E.A.R.L.Y.  I’ve already begun, and I am hoping to have every single item done by the first week of November.  Yup.  The closer we get to Christmas, the crazier shopping is and I’m trying to steer clear of crazy!

3.  I will listen to more Christmas music.  I love music.  Always have, always will.   It soothes my soul.  Christmas music does that and it puts a little extra bounce in my step.

4.  I will focus more on Jesus.  It’s so cliche’, but He is the reason for the season!  Without Jesus, there would be no reason to celebrate at all!  I hope to honor him more, worship him more, thank him more, and recognize him more amidst the chaos that is sure to accompany the next several months, no matter how much I plan ahead.

It’s only September and the first snow flake is yet to fall.  But I deeply desire to have a different experience with Christmas this year, and I hope that these changes will help me accomplish that.  I would love to hear from any of you reading this, what you do to keep Christmas special.  Not just family traditions, and special memory-making times.  But how do you prepare your heart for the celebration of Jesus?

The New Workout

I am not an athlete.  Never have been.  I carry around a few extra pounds on me (mostly due to Dove Dark Chocolate, chocolate chips cookies, brownies, my sister’s creme brulee, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, Schuller’s donuts, and an occasional margarita).  All things in moderation, you know.

We’ve been members of the local gym almost as long as we’ve lived here.  We aren’t the kind of people that just pay our dues every month either.  We actually go to the gym.  We take advantage of the swimming pool, the weight room, the numerous cardio options, etc.  But despite all of those options, I felt myself getting into a rut and needing a new challenge.

When my friend, Kelly, asked me if I was interested in taking a new class with her, I turned her down.  No thanks.  I have no desire to be anywhere other than my comfy bed at 5:30 in the morning.  Thank you anyway.  Appreciate the offer.

A few days went by.  And I started thinking about it again.  Maybe I should step it up a bit and take on the challenge.  So I emailed her again and said, “Sure.  Count me in.”

They say hindsight is 20/20.  Looking back on it, I should have weighed this decision a bit more carefully.  Some really obvious things were staring me in the face, and I didn’t recognize them.  For example: people who are at the gym by 5:30 in the morning are not just casual meet-you-at-the-gym-we’ll-walk-the-treadmills-for-a-while-and-go-out-for-lattes-afterward kind of people.  Nope.  These people are hard-core.  That should have been my first clue.

If that wasn’t obvious enough, I found out who was teaching the class and I still didn’t get scared.  Don’t know how I missed that one.  Here’s a picture of my instructor:

No. Not really.

Actually, the instructor is a woman and she has dark curly hair, but other than that, the resemblance is remarkable.

The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-6:15 a.m.  I have officially survived my first week.  I am proud of myself for getting there on time and for the most part I am even keeping up with the class.

But here’s the catch:  I can’t walk.  Every muscle in my body is screaming in agony over what I have just put myself through.  Twice. And the crazy thing?  I plan to go back for more!!  What??  Yes, that’s right.  My stubborn streak is coming out and I am going to finish this class even if it kills me.

Considering the way I feel right now, that’s a very real possibility.

My Newest Addiction

Etsy.  Yes, Etsy.  I love that website!  I have wasted an enormous amount of time sitting at my computer and browsing away.  I’ve never actually bought anything, although I’m thinking about doing a lot of my Christmas shopping on there this year.

Here’s a few of my favorites (Warning:  If you haven’t already spent time on this site, you are about to plunge into a new form of shopping which may lead to your own addictions, for which I will not be held responsible.  I thought it was only fair to give you the heads up on this.):

Cool Belt Buckles:

Fun Paper Projects:

Glass Jewelry:

Handbags:

And don’t even get me started on the kid’s clothes!!  So many cute things and way too many links. . .I couldn’t begin to narrow it down!  You’ll just have to go and see for yourself!!

The Day of the Turtle

Bryn and Lydia have been on this kick lately where they want to hear stories about when they were little.  This is a story I have recorded in their scrapbook that is one of my favorites:

One day when Bryn and Lydia were 2 1/2 years old I found them playing in Hazel’s flower bed (our next door neighbor at the time).  I yelled out the kitchen window and told them to come back into our yard.  When they started walking back to our yard I could see that Lydia had something tucked under her arm.  When I asked her what it was, she very nonchalantly replied, “A turtle.”  I thought she must have picked up a ceramic turtle from Hazel’s flower bed.  She wandered into the house to watch me make cookers and then back outside to play in the play house and the whole time she had this ceramic turtle tucked under her arm.

About an hour later, Hazel came knocking on my door asking me if I could help her with something in her yard.  We were chatting and I said, “By the way, Hazel, the girls were playing with that ceramic turtle from your flower bed.  I’ll put it back as soon as I find it.”  She looked very puzzled and said, “Honey, I don’t have a ceramic turtle.”  My heart skipped a beat and I thought, “Surely Lydia hasn’t been walking around with a real turtle this whole time. . .nah, not possible.”  But what other explanation was there?

So I went on a mad hunt all through our back yard until finally, on a hunch, I got down on my hands and knees and looked under the playhouse.  There, as content as could be, sat a real live turtle.

Haha!  I still chuckle when I think about Lydia walking around with a real turtle tucked under her arm. . .they played with that crazy thing all afternoon and I thought it was fake the whole time!  Poor turtle had to crawl under the playhouse to escape the grip of a two year old.  Ah, yes, just another day in the life of a mom!

Here’s What’s Baking!

I’ve been on a baking kick lately and today’s menu includes the best chocolate chip cookies I know how to make!

My little side-kick and I have been busy little chefs this morning:

Ellie in her new apron.  She was so proud!

My go-to recipe for choc. chip cookies, only I change it a little bit:

The end result: about 8 dozen of the yummiest chocolate chip cookies to ever grace my kitchen.  I bet you wish you were at my house right now, don’t you? I’ll get out the milk and we’ll just sit and have us a little chat.  In fact, why don’t you just drop what you’re doing right now and come on over. . .

THE Recipe:

Mom’s Chocolate Chip Cookies (Taste of Home)

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 package instant vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Cream butter, and sugars.  Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla.  Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture and mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

My notes:  This recipe makes about 4 dozen so I always double it so I have plenty for the freezer.  I only bake them for 9 minutes because I like them slightly gooey.  My secret weapon is to use butterscotch pudding instead of vanilla pudding.  Even if you’re not a butterscotch fan, I recommend you try it.  You don’t really taste the butterscotch, but the cookies have a richer flavor.  YUM!

For Memory’s Sake

Before I get started on this entry, Conrad and I just had a little discussion about whether the title is grammatically correct.  I think it is. . .right?  I don’t think it should be “For Memories Sake” because that would be plural.  David??  Are you out there??

ANYWAY.  I ran into several people throughout the summer who hadn’t seen my children in a while.  Inevitably, their first question was, “How old are your girls by now?”  My standard answer is to say that the twins are seven and my baby is three.  And then I say, “And I want her to be three forever!”  I remember when my twins turned 3 I felt like I was finally enjoying them!  They were potty-trained, they ate normal food, they didn’t need sippy cups, and we could all survive if they missed their nap every now and then.  I love 3 year olds!!

I feel the same way about Ellie.  She is the most charming 3 year old I’ve ever had!   Everything she says strikes me as hilarious and my favorite thing right now is how she makes up songs.  So for the sake of my memory, which is sure to fail me, I am writing down a few of my favorite things about my favorite 3 year old:

She likes having her hair in 2 braids.  A.DOR.A.BLE.  The other day she started pulling the rubber bands out of her hair and I said, “No way Jose!”  and she said, “Uh Huh Jose!”

A few nights ago, I told her to sing me a song about Promise (Brandon and Carla’s dog).  In a very random melody, this is what she came up with:  Promise is Carla’s dog.   I like Carla.  But I don’t like Brandon.  I like Carla better, I like Carla better, I like Carla better. . .

While she was in the songwriting zone, I told her to sing me a song about her new lunchbox.  Also in a very random melody:  I love my new lunchbox.  I like to put peanut butter and jelly in my new lunchbox.  But I also like ham and cheese so sometimes I do both.  I also like bananas in my new lunchbox.

We were playing “Operation” last week and when we put the game away we couldn’t find the rubber band that goes with it.  So she looks at me and starts singing, “I lost the rubber band, I lost the rubber band, I can’t find the rubber band. . .” and after that went on for a while she looks at me and says, “Mommy, did you like that song?  It’s new.”

She came up to me with a kitchen towel and a clothespin and asked me to pin the towel to her “becauth I’m a thuper-hewo.”

I could go on and on. . .all of the stuff I just wrote about happened within the last week!  Needless to say she keeps me laughing and I am enjoying her so very much.

I am always amused at how she tries to keep up with her big sisters and how she rides her tricycle through our house like a woman on a mission.  Her tricycle has a little trunk on it, in which I have found rotten sippy cups, the remote, the phone, and other important household items.

That’s all for now.  If you’re still reading this, you are a friend indeed.  Thanks for letting me record some very sweet memories of my very sweet three year old!

Summer Pictures

It’s Labor Day Weekend which is the official end of summer.  Can’t believe it’s here already!  There’s a few pics I’ve been wanting to post of some fun things we’ve done this summer that didn’t make it into any other post.

Playing softball!  This was a first for us, and although I got tired of the running around, we all really enjoyed our first season!

Our 4th of July campout in the sunroom.  This is as close to camping as I like to get:

Canoeing on the Mad River with our friends who were visiting this area.  They are missionaries in Hong Kong. . .we would love to visit them someday!

Out trip to Indiana~we spent a few days with my mom.  We took our 2nd annual trip to the blueberry farm with all the kids.  They loved it!

Lydia showing off her blueberries:

My Mom and all the grandkids (my brother has 1 girl and 2 boys and my sister has 1 boy):

The older girls got their ears pierced this summer and they were anxiously awaiting the time for them to change their earrings.  When it finally rolled around, we decorated jewelry boxes for them to keep all their new earrings in.  They loved it!

That’s all for now!  Labor Day Weekend is usually a big family reunion for me, but since we’re just a few weeks past Brandon’s and Carla’s wedding, there aren’t as many people coming this year.  We’ll still have a good time, I’m sure!

Off To Morocco!

Now that school has started we are settling back into a good routine.  That routine includes our Family International Night and this week we headed to Morocco!  It also happened to be the night we were celebrating my birthday so we were joined by my sister and bro-in-law and their son, Conner, and my cousin Carla (her husband Brandon had other plans and couldn’t make it).  We had a great time learning about Morocco, thanks to the Showalter family for sharing some interesting cultural tid-bits with us!  We prayed for that family as they minister to the people of Morocco.

Here’s the delicious recipe I used, I think it was my favorite meal so far!

Beef Tagine and Cauliflower

3 pounds beef, cubed

1/4 tsp. turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

3 Tbsp. Olive oil

Saute beef in turmeric, salt and pepper in oil for 15 minutes.  Add 2 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. ginger, 1 tsp. cumin, pinch cayenne, 1 medium onion (chopped), 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped).  Cover and simmer for 1 hour, add water as necessary.  Add 1 head of cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces. Simmer for 20 minutes then add the juice of 1 lemon.  Serve over rice.  YUM!

The New Look

In case you haven’t noticed, I have updated my links over there on the left.  Hope you’ll enjoy clicking on some of my favorite blogs and websites.  I highly recommend spending some time on “Cake Wrecks.”  Funny stuff!