Killin’ Time

We, all of us, were busy with an appointment this morning and now I’m freshly showered, I’m killing time until the boys wake up . . . then we’re off to keep J company whilst he volunteers his time for Relay for Life . . . I use the word ‘volunteer’ very very loosely.  He doesn’t get paid but his whole shift is required to be there . . .

I joke about eating a lot of cookies . . . but I ain’t kiddin’ today.  Justin brought home huge quantities of Safeway’s fresh cookies . . . um, they’re good, real good . . . and I keep on eatin’em!

I dislike my hair right now . . . kinda frizzy and in need of a professional cut . . . I don’t think my self-cuts are cutting it.  Get it . . . cutting it! hee hee I crack myself up!

I should be doing the dishes and being productive in other ways right now . . . but I’m not and I probably won’t.  The kiddos will be up here, in the less than an hour and then we’re off and runnin’ again.

I was so excited about having a sunny day yesterday we ended up going on two walks . . . I found a playground, no more than, a mile from my house and so we made a morning of it . . . and then an afternoon of it.  The sun felt good . . . the heat felt good and we thrived in it yesterday!

I think we’re staying and having dinner with J’s shift as well . . . we’ll see how the boys hold up.

Well, God keeps on being faithful to us and we’re going to make our bills, yet again, this month.  On paper it doesn’t work . . . but its getting done anyway . . . so honor to God, as usual!!

I’m going for now . . . just wanted to pop in and say hello . . . and, of course, kill some time.

God Bless!!

Good Times

I’m a bit of house-hermit but this weekend some good friends of ours invited us over . . . an overnighter, folks. I don’t think I’ve done that since I was in my early 20’s and definitely before chitlins. That doesn’t include my Momma’s house. I was a tad nervous of how the kids would do . . . Sam hadn’t traveled for an overnight trip since he was 3 or 4 months old. But, as usual, things went better than I expected . . . actually they went really really well. And, on top of that, we spent some well-needed and overdue time with some very good friends! I enjoyed myself immensely and found myself even more grateful and blessed (and humbled) to have such people as these on my short list of friends.

Then last night we went to church.  I cried (literally) for the time lost at my “home” . . . where I feel most at home . . . and I cried cuz the presence of God was so thick in the place.  The message edifying and convicting all at once. And I can’t wait to get back.  It was excellent to see all of my friends as well! If you didn’t know, my church (Life Bible), is over an hours drive right now; living in Salem while J does his school thing.  And with finances being so slim, getting down there but once every couple of months is a miracle the last 6 months or so.  But I just choose to trust God, even though I don’t completely understand why He has us in this season.

Here’s some pics, hopefully its cool with my friends if they are posted on me blog.

Mixture of families, since there was a birthday party going on for Chad and Ezra.  My hubby is on your far right. hot!

At the table after some awesome burritos, courtesy of Sarah and Linda. Again, mixture of families and my hubby is on your far right.

Playing with our dog, Byron.  It was still relatively warm out at 8pm. My husband is on your far right . . . I’m seeing a pattern forming.

Enjoying cake and ice cream.  Ezra wanted a pink cake . . . so the frosting was, indeed, pink. Very cute! He turned 3 years old.

b-day

Tobias might be slightly confused.  He received a birthday card, in the mail, from grandma (my mom) last Sunday and toted it around for 3 or 4 days. The card was a bit larger than a regular birthday card and Thomas the Train graced the front and interior of it. The center, sort of kind of, popped up when you opened the card. I explained that his birthday was this week and so on.  So its been Tobias’ birthday for nearly a week, in his mind I’m sure.

To add to the confusion, I bake a cake . . . a nice cake, mind you . . . and Justin, myself, Tobias and Sam all celebrated together last night, after our trip to Toys’R'Us for him to spend the gift card that had been enclosed in the card Grandma M. sent.

Tobias on our way to Toys’R'Us . . . mmm juice

Tobias admiring some of his gifts . . . ones he picked out Very concentrated!

Pics of the cake . . . nothing spectacular but it turned out to be a good carrot cake w/cream cheese frosting . . . and, of course, candy ocean decs.

Tobias blowing the candles out . . . he was so proud of himself! So cute!

Tobias, thoroughly enjoying his gigantic piece of cake . . . not sure what I was thinking.

Samuel, enjoying a generous helping of T’s bday cake.

So we had much fun with Tobias yesterday afternoon/evening and then I went to the party warehouse place up here in Keizer and bought a few things to decorate for today’s extravaganza.  My sisters and their offspring came up today to celebrate, yet again, the 3 years Tobias has graced us with his personality and presence . . . 3 years that I am beyond grateful for.

In the midst of decorating for today (late last night) . . . remember we are in an apartment . . . at least until J is out of school . . . excuse the ugly pantry doors. hee hee

We had a great time hanging out and reconnecting (its been awhile since I had seen them all)  . . . we also utilized the playground. What else are you going to do with 3 toddlers and a 10 month old baby?

My sister, Amy, and her gargantuan camera . . . she is always the designated photographer . . . her own fault for buying such a load of camera!   Nah, she loves it!

My sista, Tiff, feeding Aidrik . . . he’s 10 months old! Holy mackerel, where has time flown to?

My eldest sister, Kelli, um . . . she’s concentrating real hard on that bag of chips . . . I think . . . Look at Toby, I think he’s frightened a little bit.

All the tots at play . . . thank goodness for playgrounds!

Samuel is covering his legs in bark-a-mulch . . . Braxton is digging in the potted flowers, aka throwing dirt with glee . . . and Tobias is happily playing with a few of his new cars and trucks.  I believe we called it quits outside seconds after this shot . . . the boys were getting very tired and it was warm . . . almost hot today, so we had had our fill.

The cupcakes created just for today’s fiesta.  Easy peasy and fun . . . nothing worth writing home about, but it cured the sugar craving of one 3 year old and 6 other hungry patrons. . .with the help a little banana cream pie icecream on the side.

Tobias water-painting for the first time, thanks to Aunt Kelli for the gift of the paints and book! Check out the cupcake in his right hand . . . hee hee

He got so much from his Toys R Us run we picked these hideous monster trucks out for him (he loves them!!) and waited until to today to give them to him.  He went to bed tonight . . . his monster trucks resting by his pillow.

Samuel managed to finagle two monster trucks from Tobias’ hot hand . . . no idea how!

So, there’s the picture show.  Hope it wasn’t too dull. I decided I didn’t want to be up until 3am editing pictures and such . . . so I just put them on here as is.  I tend to do this blog thing more for me and my fam than anything else, so there it is.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Tobias . . . many many many more to come!! God willing.

God Bless!

sunny

It looks beautiful outside . . . from the view through my windows, contained in the warmth of my home.  But we ventured out this morning to be reminded that, yes, winter coats are still needed. And I find myself turning heaters on . . . hmm

I made the best bread ever . . .   A friend of ours . . . or of Justin’s, from school gave him a ‘friendship bread’ starter thingy. I’ve never been aware of these baggies of goodness in my whole existence on Earth, but we received one from R, oh geez, 3 weeks ago. I don’t know, about a month ago.  Anyway I made the one she gave me . . . but 4 starters were spawned from that one start.  You’re suppose to give them away . . . not horde them as I have done.  I tried, mind you . . . I tried to give them away, I did!  But to no avail . . . they remained on my counter and baking day was last Sunday.  If you aren’t aware of this phenomenon . . . you get the start and you mush the bag and add some minor ingredients for 10 days and on the 10th day you add some more stuff and bake it . . .

Ok, so I made one baggy of the mix and decided in my pea-brain that putting instant coffee in it would create a nice flavor. So, I proceed to boil 6 oz of water, dissolve the instant coffee (I do this with cookies, mmm)  and pour the boiling contents directly into my prepared mix.  Ok . . . somewhere along the line I forgot you HAVE to cool the instant coffee water to add it . . . so, as some reading this have already determined, it came out like rubber.  It didn’t rise like it was suppose to.  So I wasted that baggy.

I had to buy more flour so they other 2 baggies remained distilling on my counter (the fourth baggy had busted, yay me).

You can flavor this mix pretty much anyway you want. So Justin buys apple pie filling.  That doesn’t interest me greatly, so I go to the store and pick up chocolate chips and cream cheese.  Yeah, can we spell h.e.a.l.t.h.y.  Apparently I can’t cook healthy.  Anyhoo . . . that was the first baggy . . . turned out too good, cuz I ate the first loaf (it creates 2 loaves per baggy).  I sent the 2nd one to school with Justin today.

The second, ok . . . ok, I’ll use the apples, geez.  I did and I added a lot more cinnamon and then did an oatmeal and brown sugar topping. It turned out nice too . . . but the chocolate is what called my name. That second loaf went to school today too . . . something tells me I’m going to be pretty popular with the fireman/woman in hubby’s world. Maybe . . .

Do you like all the positive and arrogant speech I’ve written so far about my spectacular bread.   It did turn out nice but then if dog crap had chocolate pieces in it . . . I’d be tempted to eat it . . . so that ain’t sayin’ much.

Yay for good bread . . . actually it reminds me more of Costco muffins . . . you know, the gigantic oily lumps of goodness? Mmm!

Ok, I will end this rambling post for your sakes.

God Bless and happy bread making . . . if you want a friendship bread starter baggy thingy . . . let me know . . . right now I’ve got 12 or so distilling on my counter.   I can’t seem to get anyone to take them. Or maybe I haven’t tried hard enough.

on a lighter note . . .

I did not leave the apartment property allllll day long today. Its been so nice and warm outside that we’ve gone on good walks everyday and I went grocery shopping and walked down the business district close by and . . .

Well, today was cold, cloudy . . . and cold. I believe the clouds managed to dump rain on us as well around 6pm. We played on the playground for approximately 20 minutes and the kids . . . yeah, you heard right . . . the kids wanted to come inside. Bleary, that sums up the day’s weather and therefor my existence in my apartment . . . nicknamed the human crate.

Byron, our darling pooch, sleeps in a crate at night. He prefers his crate since thats what we had to do when he was pup due to T being a baby (and Mother Tucker’s stress level). So I refer to our lovely (which I’m grateful for, mind you) apt. as the human crate . . . especially being car-less and such, I feel boxed up sometimes . . . a bit of crate fever (cabin fever, but I don’t live in a cozy little cabin with a wood-burning fireplace).

Byron was so bored he managed to squeeze out underneath the railing (a Houdini move) of our patio and ran off. He just did circles for about 20 minutes and then finally relented to coming inside. I’m glad nobody hit him driving through the parking lot! He also missed our routine walk, like the rest of us, apparently.

So, if anything I’ve become more excited for the warmth that promises to be shortly!

Alright thats all the nonsense I can muster for the evening.

God bless! . . . and have a great weekend!!

Um, its Byron’s nose . . . if you couldn’t tell.

Sunrays

Warmth, that sums up the last few days around these here parts. I live in the northern Willamette Valley of Oregon . . . warm enough through the winter we don’t get snow (rarely) but we deal with cold (15-35 degrees) and rainy days. The much needed break has come . . . signs spring is slowly taking over winter’s position as weather-master. Winter is stubborn and will speak up a few more times before moving on, I’m sure; but the break of sun and warm temperatures has been altogether refreshing. I look forward to fresh growth on trees and in flower beds and long stints outside, hiking, walking, jogging, playground shenanigans and more! Maybe I’ll finally drop that last 25 lbs or so. Oh yeah and to shed the thick winter coat for good! . . . well, until next year anyway.

I hear my boys waking from nap time slumber so I’m going for now.

God Bless!

And Happy Spring Moments!

Well, this is more of summertime moment . . . but you get my general drift. Byron and Tobias . . . Best friends.

holy crap, a whole day!

It’s been over 24 hours since I’ve written . . . what is the meaning of this madness?

You know, when I write this stuff I imagine no one is reading it. I’m just writing cuz I like it and I know my momma reads it. So, not no one, but only one, me momma. So I apologize if stuff gets too wordy or personal, that’s something I might need to see a doctor about. I’m always surprised when people mention my blog. ‘huh, you read that junk?’ is my thought.

Well, let’s see Tobias’ potty training is going fine. Still haven’t pooped in the toilet. You know, small confession, I was reading a blog post by someone just recently that had a picture of their kid’s first poo in the toilet. I was like ‘Why would you do that, yuck?’ And ‘I’ll never do that . . . what’s the big deal?’ Ok, I’m gonna post Toby’s first poo (I’m warning you in advance) cuz the excitement over that, I can tell you now, will be astronomical!! I will make up a new dance and dance it all day. And, of course, show all of you (hi, momma) the pic of the poo!! But he has, maybe, one wet accident every 3-5 days . . . usually my error . . . I tend to drift off into my own world and forget minor things like having T potty in the toilet . . .and he doesn’t tell me yet that he has to go. He does hold it pretty well though.

Ok, I’m really over and done with the discussion of potty training.

I understand Eugene, where all of my friends and family live, got several inches of snow. We’re at the same elevation (if not higher) and we are only 50 miles away and, yeah, NO SNOW here!! Ice but no snow. Grrble! Would of made the cold almost worth it to see my boys play in the snow. I’m sure T doesn’t remember last year’s snow, so it would of been like the first time . . . Sam’s as well. Would’ve been fun. Maybe later in the week.

But on that note I had to get out into the cold weather today. The boys had been holed up in the house for 2 days and I would rather brave the cold than remain in the nice warm house with two rampant toddlers. So we trudged out to the playground. Everything was wet and the wind was blowing a cold wind. I don’t know what temperature it was but with the wind I bet it went below freezing. It only hardened my heart that much more for the cold of winter. I gotta find some cheap indoor playgrounds!

If you weren’t aware our van doesn’t work right now, that’s why I’m home so much. If it were warmer than 40 degrees during the day (and not raining) I would load them up in my trusty double stroller and walk many miles, but until it warms up without the rain involved, I’m home. Yay for me!

Wow, day of the babbling Stacy. I think I’ll let you all go. I’m done for now. Love ya momma!

God Bless!

positive

I’m positive, at times.  I feel the need to balance the natural, born with it, negativity with a little forced positive attitude.

It’s been sunny, for 3 days! Wowy zowy! And I have to admit, as much as me dislike the cold, me like the sun.  And I found, even if its approximately 20 degrees, if you stand in the sun you warm to about 25 degrees.  I thank God for the North Face coat my husband bought me 4 years ago . . . it’s getting more use this year than any other year!  It’s full of body-warming down, it is! Doesn’t matter that I resemble the Michellen Man . . . I’m warm, dangit.  This coat is coupled with a long sleeve shirt and a fleece sweatshirt . . . oh yeah, and my wooly boots (wool on the inside, go half-way up my calf).  Yep, I still get cold but it’s bearable.

I read a blog the other day that went on and on about how much she loved the snow and the cold and how she loved to curl up in her down comforter and read a good book and . . . apparently never move from the down comforter . . . ever! Cuz once you do, you get cold.  And when ya got 2 toddlers running around and errands that have to be done and the crazy energizer dog that has to have at least a walk a day . . . you have to get out from under the down comforter.  Ope, and the hate of cold fills one’s soul yet again.

Boy, the positive didn’t last long, did it? Oops. I will end with this gorgeous shot of Tob after spending about 30 minutes outside.  Rosy cheeked.