Top 12 realizations of last week

**Apparently I couldn't count and numbered these wrong, so now it is fixed. :)


1. Brian traveling is no fun for anyone.

2. The hope of a vacation is enough to get me through the week, month, and year.

3. I do some crazy things when I'm feeling lonely.

4. Getting our first pet is a big deal (see #3). More exciting than I had anticipated.

5. Losing 2 fish in one week had a much larger emotional impact on me than I would have ever guessed. (see #4)

6. Seeing parts of my garden die had a much larger emotional impact on me than I would have ever guessed.

7. Knowing a marriage close to us is dying has got my brain fried and my heart deflated. Between #5, #6, #7, I really wrestle with things I cannot understand and can't control.

8. Time with a good friend is like a balm on cracked feet. (don't you love that I used such a gross example??? Ewwww, I can't believe I just typed that)

9. Forced independence is a scary thing in marriage. It's very difficult to go back to being partially dependent, but extremely necessary.

10. I am a much nicer mommy when the house is clean.

11. I am completely head over heels for Wesley. I feel like every minute I'm wishing I was videotaping him. (and before you think too much about this, I gave Noah his proper adoration when he was this age too. :)

12. The hope of a vacation is enough to get me through the week, month, and year.

5 things that made me smile today

1. The artwork the kids and I came up with for Earth day. I didn't take a picture but I really should. It's beautiful.

2. Playing catch with Noah gearing up for Saturday's first day of baseball. After throwing Noah some balls to hit and him smacking one very far, he said, "See, why do I need to catch? What difference does it make?" I think he honestly thinks hitting is really the only part to baseball.

3. Matt not being in the bottom 3 on American Idol. Brian and I have loved him from the start.

4. Noah saying, "I just love that God made me a brother exactly how I want." And I probed a little further and he said, "Wesley is just so cute and I'm so glad God made him that way. I love him so much."

5. Doing an exercise video that my neighbor gave me. Noah was so excited to try it out. He was no joke---intensely focused for 15 minutes doing all the moves (boxing, kicking, dancing). We had to turn it off cuz Wesley was very needy. Noah said he was tired. I said, "I'm sure you are. You didn't take a nap today and it's already after 7." He said, "No, Mom. It was all those moves on the video. I worked hard."

6. And to be fair to Wesley, I have to throw in a 6th:
Kissing Wesley's lips and smelling his still sweet breath. He hasn't gotten "real breath" yet and I'm sooooo thankful. His lips and cheeks are the softest ever and I'm serious ya'll, I cannot stop kissing them. Even when he's being a super bad boy and crying in my face. I have to kiss him.

It's Earth Month!!

In honor of Earth Month and Day (April 22), I will provide you with 2 things:

-practices I've adopted within the last year that help our environment

-considerably MORE practices that a woman in NY has adopted to help her family and the environment. She writes a blog I've read for a long time and while she may seem a bit out there, a lot of what she says is definitely worth pondering.

So first off, Frugal Upstate's list of things she's turned from trash into treasure:

1) I have a milk jug in my pantry filled up with red lentils I bought in bulk. (much easier to use than a bag-I can just pour them into a measuring cup) I also have mung beans in a cleaned glass pickle jar, and cornstarch, cornmeal baking soda and salt in old washed out Parmesan cheese containers (the plastic kind).

2) I use one of those nice plastic Folgers cans with the hand grip to scatter rock salt on the walkway and stairs in the winter (I cut a half moon out of the lid).

3) I have a stack of yogurt lids that I use for coffee spoon rests in the morning near the coffee pot, and 2 larger lids I've kept as additional spoon rests when needed.

4) I use a pretty round tin that had sugar cookies in it as my cookie jar on the counter.

5) I cut cereal bag liners (the thick wax paper) into circles that fit my cookie jar tin to separate layers of cookies.

6) I use a yogurt cup in my sugar jar, whole wheat flour jar and rice bag as a scoop (that way I can just leave it there).

7) I keep a few bread bags and shredded cheese bags (w/zipper) to use for breading things (just throw the breading and meat etc in and shake, then throw out when done) also save them to use for nasty stuff going in the garbage so it doesn't smell as much. I try to be careful and just keep 2 or 3 of each so they don’t take over my kitchen.

8) I have coffee can on the counter for compost scraps.

9) I have a clean, empty ketchup bottle that I use to squirt pancake batter onto the griddle when I make mini pancakes for the kids.

10) I use a cottage cheese or yogurt container (large size) in the freezer to keep my leftover bits and pieces for "stone soup"

11) I have started cutting squares for a jean quilt from old jeans. I am saving back pockets to make purses, and keeping the zippers and the "name brand tags" for future projects. I made a cardboard template for the square made from an old box, and have all the squares in a shoe box (will probably take a couple of boxes before I have enough to make “buddy”’s quilt).

12) I always keep scrap paper w/ one good side for printing on (also have dh get extra from the office) and smaller paper is cut into squares for phone messages etc.

13) I have been saving vinegar jugs and milk jugs for winter sowing containers.

14) Of course I keep plastic grocery bags for trashcan liners, transporting stuff in the car, and using at Aldi’s/Save-a-Lot etc.

15) I some-what embarrass my husband by washing and reusing ziplock bags.

16) I have been keeping glass jars with lids to use for canning jelly in the fall. They are non standard sizes and canning lids & rings won't fit-I will use paraffin wax to seal instead. This keeps the jars out of the recycle bin and saves the “good” jars for things that cannot be sealed with paraffin.

17) We recycle-so I have separate bins for cans, glass, plastic and paper. So if I'm not using it at least it gets recycled. I can always grab a container out of their to pour grease in etc if something needs to get thrown out. The kids also love to grab out plastic cans and tubs to use when playing in the dirt pile.

Now my list --considerably shorter, but heartfelt nonetheless! :)

1. Stopped using paper plates and paper napkins (GASP!). I cannot tell you how much this affected our trash can, in a good way, and we love the fact that cloth napkins (the bazillion we registered for for our wedding) work worlds better than paper napkins. (please note: after 9 months this transition has not been easy so no heads held high over here. Especially when we have families visit, it gets even more inconvenient. But I'm really glad we are doing it and over time I think it will be completely normal.)

2. Started a compost bin. Bought it from Sam's Club for $39. It's called the Soilsaver 2000 or something funny like that. Now we have even less trash in our trash can since all fruit, veggie and coffee scraps get thrown in the black beast out back. I'm eager to see later in the summer the succulent compost soil that the beast is supposedly going to produce. :)

3. Planting a garden. I know, I know. I keep promising pictures and this weekend I will indeed have them. But just about everyone here in Bloomington has their own garden of differing size and you can't help get the itch to produce some of your own fruits and veggies for your family. Eat better, eat cleaner, eat locally. Kinda the theme I keep hearing in the media. We'll see if the good Lord blesses my garden enough to actually survive---I am a total newbie to gardening and have never had success growing anything. Status updates soon!

Happy Earth Day friends! I'd love to hear what you might be doing also. Especially any easy, non intimidating tips. :)

Top 10 things I may or may not be embarrassed about.

So I guess based on how well you know me you can guess whether I am embarrassed or not. :) Some of these go against natural inclination, so just ask. I'll be honest. Ha!

1. I do not follow fashion rules. 75% of my closet is 10 years old. Unlike some things, this is not an exaggeration.

2. Noah talking about his male anatomy---especially when we discuss growth spurts. Ummmmm, ya.

3. The fact that I know very little about The economic stimulus package.

4. My own children crying in public and having to spank them.

5. Getting up to the checkout with a full cart of groceries that have already been scanned and bagged and realizing I didn't have my wallet. On top of that, I realized I was in a 15 items or less lane....with many people waiting. Can anyone say, "You've Got Mail"???? "Happy Thanksgibbing back".

6. After hearing a short preview of our lesson on Esther this past Sunday in class, asking publicly which book we needed to turn to. Maybe extremely red face would give a clue here. And I promise I'm never this retarded.

7. I do not know where all the states are located if you asked me. I'm getting better though.

8. I will lie awake at night and think about how the drive-thru lady at Steak and Shake (for lunch) charged me incorrectly and how in the world did she come up with that $ figure? We're talking pennies, folks. But my mind. will. not. rest.

9. If a friend got a new haircut, dye job, or something drastic, and I don't think it looks right, I probably will pretend I don't notice. This entire situation makes me feel extremely awkward. But lying to someone about how I feel makes me even more uncomfortable. The torture....

10. I do not like talking on the phone, really. Calling someone I don't know, or know very little, or haven't talked to in a long time is pretty much up there with walking naked in public. So if you happen to be in my select group that I enjoy talking to on the phone, please feel special. :) I'm a work in progress.

Top 10 favorite snacks

I'm going to start a top 10 series. They will cover all different things, but if you know me well, it is fitting I should start with favorite snacks. So here it goes.....

1. Tortilla Chips With an Identity Crisis from Trader Joes (and yes, I drive an hour and 15 min to obtain these jewels). They are part brown rice, part potato, and part corn. Utter deliciousness.

2. Soy and Flaxseed Tortilla chips from Trader Joes. Don't even try to knock em' till you've tried them. They are soooooooooo yummy (you would never know they are semi-healthy).

3. Would it surprise anyone that after the previous two, I would say guacamole for #3? And to be more specific, my husband's special guacamole. I will also stick salsa in here because truthfully, we don't have guac that often. But I do eat chips and salsa just about every single day.

4. Fruit leathers. Archer Farms fruit leathers from Target are fabulous, and they are even organic. Added bonus. The Pomegranate-Cranberry ones are my favorite.

5. Cashews. This is a new one--I mean in the last year. I have NEVER eaten cashews in my life. Mostly just almonds, but man, I'm really diggin' on these things lately. And my whole family digs them too!

6. Apples, preferably Gala apples. I went through a phase before children when I ate an apple every single day at work. They were a staple. I left that phase for many years and find myself now almost there again. The boys cannot get enough apples so it keeps me buying them and hence makes me realize how much I love them.

7. FiberOne bars. I can't even believe they give you 1/3 of your daily fiber and still taste so fabulous. I've now tried the peanut butter, caramel, chocolate and the new strawberry. I think the caramel and chocolate are my faves. They really do taste like a candy bar.

8. String cheese. I know, it's completely a juvenile thing to love. In fact, this is another "new" fave and probably the only time in my entire life I've bought them. But peeling them never gets old and it totally makes it last longer (even if I do eat 2 at a time). LOL I really do love cheese.

9. Here's where it gets a little general. Anything salty. No lie, salt is my weakness. Chips, popcorn, crackers, bring it. I'll devour 10 handfuls of different things before I acknowledge that I've had enough to qualify as a "snack".

10. Diet Coke. Ok, to be fair to myself, I drink less DC now than I have ever in my life. I mostly only drink it at fast food restaurants and occasionally at sitdowns. I don't even regularly keep it in my fridge. HOWEVER, it is definitely a snack in my book because it makes me feel all giddy and excited once I know I'm going to have some and I trick myself into believing it'll give me an added energy boost during crunch time. I don't know why it makes me feel special but if you are a DC junkie, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Zero calories but pure bliss.

Alright, well, thanks for humoring me and making me think you actually care about my favorite snacks. Stop by any afternoon and I promise to share atleast one of these with you. :)