Yes, this is totally random but I love this album cover. Brad really enjoys Chris Thile (Punch Brothers)and I am trying hard to like him but I just really think that he belongs with Nickel Creek and I miss them but we all have to grow a little, don’t we. Anyways, this is actually the cover that came on the CD case and I instantly fell in love with it. I think that the progression is just for some reason really funny to me from the bare foot to the sock and even the cane that Chris is finally holding at the end. Not sure why I get a kick out of this but hey, I do! Real posts to come soon I promise! I am working on sisters birthday quilt (I know I have started early,impressive isn’t it).

Those are precious words to me right now that truly mean so much more than I can express. For the last few weeks we have really been trying to observe the Sabbath and figure out just what that might look like for our family. It is one of the ten commandments that often gets skipped or over looked pretty often but if you look it is there…the command to rest! Ahhhhh! We are not legalistic about it we are just trying to set it apart and truly rest a little. Two books that have been so helpful in figuring out what this might look like are The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan and Keeping the Sabbath Wholly by Marva Dawn (we by no means do everything that these books say but it is a starting point). I am also looking forward to reading Karen Mains Making Sunday Special. Saturdays have become a little busier as I try to prepare for Sabbath and so far this has just kind of looked like cleaning the house, making sure that everything is ready for church (diaper bags etc) and I am really enjoying preparing a little nicer of a meal that evening. After dinner and after the kiddos have gone to bed I have been spending time reading the Bible and books just resting and preparing my heart for worship the next morning. Sundays are busy with church in the morning but I have really been trying to rest in the afternoon when the kids are down for nap. I am not sure what this looks like exactly but sometimes a nap, sometimes reading and I am learning to incorporate play as well. I see play as maybe the things that I really enjoy doing that I do not get to do all the time or things that just bring me joy, be it sewing or crafting in some way or another. I am really looking forward to getting out in the backyard with the kiddos when it gets a little warmer and just playing as a family which is something that I really enjoy as well. We end our Sabbath at dinner time Sunday. We have been trying to think through a meal that would be fun to have together that is different from the rest of the week. We have heard of people having popcorn and ice cream (crazy I know…what kid would not love that), pizza and other simple things. Tonight we had breakfast for dinner. This was Brad’s suggestion and I think that it is a great one that we will probably stick with. Sister was quite excited to have breakfast for dinner! This is definitely something that is evolving in our home and it is exciting to just rest so I wanted to share. There is a lot more that goes along with the rhythm and rest of the Sabbath that is exciting so if you are interested do check out the books. Happy Sabbath!

We tend to pack up Christmas pretty quickly around here. It makes me a little sad to pack away so quickly after Christmas but with little ones and all of the little ones items I find myself longing for a little less stuff around. We do leave up our outside wreaths which we have on all the windows until sometime around Epiphany. While packing away the Christmas items this year I realized that I had forgotten to share the Wise Men. The Wise Men were made by my Grandmother and are priceless to me. I remember them always sitting on her fireplace as I was a little girl and they have always intrigued me. I love the way that they were painted and have stood through time.
Coming soon I promise pictures of the crafty Christmas that we had. We have one more Christmas celebration to go on Tuesday.

Sometimes it feels as though I am always the last one to get into the holidays, by the time the holiday comes and goes I am just about ready to celebrate! Someday I will get the swing of things…maybe! At any rate I made some Pumpkin bread this week and I must admit that it was quite tasty so I wanted to share the recipe with you. I also need to confess that by the time I finally finished making the bread (it took awhile because in the middle of making it I realized that I had no flour, dinner needed to be finished and the kiddos were getting restless) I was having a sinking spell and felt like I needed something more along the lines of chocolate rather than pumpkin bread. Alas, the Pumpkin Bread was ready for the oven so I did what any other non rational person would do and I just threw in some chocolate chips. Brad looked at me as though I was off my rocker asking if the recipe called for that. I assured him that it did not call for chocolate chips but I needed their to be chocolate chips in the bread. It actually turned out quite well if I do say so myself (a few other have said so as well, you don’t have to take my need for chocolate as thinking it taste good). Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Bread (with optional chocolate chips thrown in for sinking spells)

2 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cups shortening
4 eggs
1lb. can of pumpkin
2/3 cup water or milk
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cloves
1tsp. cinnamon
3 1/3 cups flour

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs, pumpkin and water. Sift dry ingredients (of course I did not sift…another confession) and add to the pumpkin mixture. Pour into two 2 quart greased loaf pans.
Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Fall has arrived for the most part here and I got to welcome back some old friends namely my beloved Boston Birks! I have owned two pairs in the last 10 years and that is saying a lot for a pair of shoes! I could of probably kept the old ones but their rubber soles were becoming worn and pretty much missing in some places so my latest Birks are brand new from the end of last season. We have a lot of miles to walk yet together! Nothing says fall quite like these old cozy friends! Welcome!

What a morning! I knew that we would have to hit the ground running this morning but I ended up amazing myself with all that could be accomplished in a morning with a few surprises thrown in. We had to drop Brad’s car off last night to have it serviced as the air conditioner has been on the blitz. Yes, it is fall in some parts but not in this part with temperatures still in the 80’s it can be very hot in a car that has cooked in the sun all day (or so I hear). The kiddos and I had the great pleasure of taking Daddy to work this morning. Normal mornings that is no problem but I walk with a friend regularly and knew that I needed to meet her at 8:15. I prepared last night and had a breakfast bagged up for Charis and ready to go. I got Cai up fed and dressed then it was Charis’s turn. We were all in the car and backing out of the driveway by 7:45 which I thought was pretty amazing for getting up at 7:00! Let me tell you that I had forgotten all about morning traffic! Wow, I am not really sure how I had forgotten about it as it is awful but I did! I usually use back roads a lot but to get Brad to work there are no back roads there is just traffic! It doesn’t help that they are tearing up a perfectly good road to relay the road that does not need to be relayed down the street from our house. Anyways, there are a lot of people out there who just do not care to abide by the traffic laws (or what I consider traffic laws that boil down to just using common since). Lots of traffic and a school zone later we delivered Daddy to work and although it is just about 15 minutes away I was so stressed and I still needed to make it to walk (good thing to have a stress reliever lined up after morning traffic). We made it to walk a little late but that was okay as my friend was running behind as well. We had our walk which was wonderful and then the kiddos and I headed home to feed Cai. I have to pause in the morning story here because if I left this part out Charis would be devastated…We got to drive side by side with a digger and the digger driver waved at us! That is right, he waved at us and he had a scoop and he was yellow! Way to cool!!!…back to the story now. We made it home Charis had a snack and watched a part of Sesame Street while I fed Cai and caught up with a friend that I had been playing phone tag with (multitasking is the way to go). I then proceeded to pack everyone back up and head to Sam’s Club because we were out of many things that we use very regularly. Why you ask did I not go while I was out? Well, they were not open yet of course. We made it to Sam’s and got our essentials there…another side note…Sam’s had up there Halloween stuff (lots of huge blow up things etc.) and it just made me so sad that Charis had to see that yucky scary stuff. I don’t mind them dressing up etc. but I just so want to protect her heart and eyes from the really dark and scary stuff that is out there. She would ask me what a lot of things were and just look at them with a fear in her eyes and it broke my heart for her. It brings me to my knees to continually pray for her and her heart that she would know light and the Give of Life…back to the morning. We finished up at Sam’s and headed home again. We had just gotten all the items in when I noticed the next door neighbors dog across the street. Charlie is a great dog who is spoken about a lot at our house. He is quite the barker and Charis LOVES every minute of it. Charlie though is not supposed to be outside of the fence but sometimes escapes. Charis would be devastated if something happened to him so I donned my dog catcher cape that looks remarkable like a super mom cape (so many capes to wear) and Charis and I called lovingly to Charlie. He is known for not coming when called so I was so thankful that he came to check Charis out. After a little enticing we had him and delivered him back to his rightful owner. I got the kiddos in the house and we all just crashed! Ahhhh! All in a mornings work!

Being a Mommy of two little ones makes for some pretty interesting days. There is really never a moment that is to dull as when the dull moments come you are ready for a little dull in the day but I must say that they are pretty rare! I was reflecting on my day so far a little earlier and just loving what I have been given the opportunity to do (now every day I am not sure that I feel this way but it is truly a gift when I sit to reflect). I got us all up a little early this morning and we headed off to the mall for a good morning walk with a wonderful friend and her little kiddo. Since we got up early Charis had the opportunity to see Daddy-o before he headed off to work which just totally made her day…I got to see her complete joy when Daddy popped by her room to surprise her with a “Good Morning”! On the way to and from the mall I got to have great discussions about trains and where they live, helicopters, diggers and many other various things. Oh and at the mall I got to watch Charis as she discovered her echo for the first time (absolutely hilarious). We spent the rest of the morning just being together! I got to read a book about 22 times in a row, I got to be silly and sing silly little diddys, I got to feed my baby and coo and smile with him awhile, I got to watch Bert and Ernie talk on their banana phone and heard the most excited squeals when Elmo appeared on the screen and last but not least I got to have lunch date with Miss Charis where we chatted about food, baby Cai and all things in the life of a two year old. Not many get to do what I do and some days I do miss being in a business setting but look at all that I would miss. It is not glamorous and it is definitely hard, dirty at times and sometimes a few tears (me and the kiddos) but there is nothing that I would rather do than what I am doing! Thanks to my hubby dearest for working so hard so that I can do what I love doing! Next week…the sprinkler park (ya can’t do that at work)!

Charis and I sat down to color for a bit this morning and I came across this page as I was looking for something to color. It made me think of my wonderful fabulous husband! So Hubby, I thought I would color a picture for you (Charis helped a little as well)! Charis kept saying, “Mama coloring a picture for Dada”! You’ve got to be creative to keep the spunk in your marriage with little ones! I am not sure how spunky a colored picture is (especially with Grover sprinkling hearts on our heads) but I was thinking about you Dada! We love you!

I think that having kiddos makes you live life in the most real sort of way! When you invite people into your home and the kiddos are roaming around you never know what might come out of their mouths and people get to see who you really are and how you live your life. Maybe I have not mastered the art of hiding all when people come over but to be truthful I hope that I never do master that. When people come over I just want them to see me…I don’t have it all together and with two little ones I do not have time to even pretend like I have it all together (this is hard for me). I think that is a sweet blessing though of having little ones…no hiding it is just out there for all to see. Before the kids I would of spent all morning cleaning the house and preparing a most incredible lunch etc. This morning though Charis needed attention as well as Cai and we had some sweet mommy kiddo time together that if I was pretending to be who I am not I would of missed out on. Instead I made Chicken Salad last night in between the temper tantrums (night time will do that) and the wanting to read stories (thank you Daddy for some quality kiddo/story time). This morning it was kiddo time and however the house looked when our guest arrived well that is how it was…we were living our day and our guest stepped into our day. Yes, it was crazy and no it was not gourmet (it can’t be when your two year old is talking about poop during lunch) but hey that is where I am in life…welcome to my real life! Oh, lunch was still wonderful and my guest got to see just where I am in life and what it looks like…what it really for real looks like and I even think that she enjoyed herself! I like learning to be me! It is hard sometimes to let little and big things go but the kiddos are helping me to see who I really am without all the fake stuff that the world teaches.

Thanks to our Moms I have been making it out of the house with the kiddos which has been wonderful!!! Friday we made the big trip to the grocery store which even though it is Wal-mart it was still fabulous to be out! We made it through the whole store and we were waiting in line to “pay” as Charis says. It always bothers me that all the junky magazines are right there when you are checking out but I never pay to much attention to them. I was busy staring off into space enjoying the new scenery when I heard little Charis’s voice saying, “Mama, he needs to get dressed!” When I looked Charis was pointing at a magazine cover with Matthew McConaughey on the beach with no shirt on. I chuckled at her and agreed that he did need to get dressed then I was sad in my heart for all that I cannot protect her eyes from. There is so much in this world that can influence out little ones but we can take a proactive roll in praying for their little hearts and trying our best to watch through their eyes for things that can be harmful. I know that there is a lot worse that Charis could see but it definitely got me thinking especially having a boy now as well. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see!