4.29.2011

Insta Friday

i am linking up with jeannett over at liferearranged for insta friday.

i love love love my iphone.
one of things i love most about it is the camera.
when i don't have my little point and shoot with me i use my phone and get decent pictures. i often times use my camera over my point and shoot. it is sometimes easier.

here's a little look at life from my phone over the past week or so:

* the kids sang in church on palm sunday.  little sassy ready to go practicing her song in the car on the way to church
 * it was sunglasses and tie night at awanas.  my boy used his nerf dart tag glasses instead of sunglasses because they looked "cooler"
 * when mauryn had her tonsils and adenoids out they gave her sherbet in the hospital. since then she has been a fan.  the last time the schwan's man came i got some of the sherbet push ups. she loves them.
 * i am loving the combo of gray and purple this spring.  when i saw lindsey's plum colored ruffled scarf i knew i needed to get it.  i love it!
 * landon decided to build a ship in our entry way on the tile.  he and mauryn enjoyed taking many "trips" throughout the day
 * mauryn is itty bitty, not yet 30 pounds at 4 years old. getting her to eat is sometimes a struggle.  whatever we make for dinner is what she gets but for lunch and breakfast when we don't have a family meal and the kids have some choices mauryn gets a little freedom. one of her favorite things for breakfast is an english muffin pizza.  the other day she asked to go fishing.... pretzel sticks for the fishing pole, peanut butter to hook the fish, and gold fish as fish of course
 * i love this picture. i love how he crashed on the couch after his game.  he is busy and on the go all.the.time. this never happens. so i know he was one tired boy. 
 * i was cleaning and organizing my closet. i was hoping that by moving my short sleeved shirts would help spring to come faster.  
as i was moving clothes i found one of my boise state shirts.  i texted the picture to janelle.  janelle and her husband went to tcu.  a few years ago bsu and tcu played against each other in a bowl game and well bsu won. yes!  in november these two teams will be playing in boise. {i am trying to convince janelle and her husband to come visit for the game} after i texted her this picture, she promptly texted me a picture of her tcu frogs shirt. the friendly competition is on! 
 * my cleaned and organized closet...aah so nice!
 * when i finish the 30 day shred tomorrow this is the workout i am moving onto for the month of may... i previewed it and might be a little afraid
 * trying to look warm on easter morning... you would think that with easter being at the end of april the girls would have been fine in tank dresses but no it was a little chilly to start the day. they were troopers to let me get some pictures before church
 * one of our friends built a batting cage in their backyard.  we invited ourselves went over their on sunday afternoon so we could check out the batting cage and give landon a little hitting practice. so fun!
 * i have a pile of projects/gifts to make next to my sewing machine.  i carved out some time on tuesday afternoon to sit down and get a few things crossed off my list.  
 * we have been studying the solar system in science for school. this week we learned up uranus and neptune. one of our experiments was to create a cloud.  the kids loved it.
 * finally a day where it was warm, the sun was shining, and it wasn't horribly windy.  after taking morgan to gymnastics the kids and i took a detour on the way home to the car wash.  and then two days later it snowed.  i was in shock so i didn't get a picture. snow at the end of april is unacceptable.  spring where are you?
 * sunny day spent outside... these two were prepping for their "sword" {pool noodles} fight
 * i love this tree. i love that the branches are quirky and go in different directions and droop.  i especially love that it has come into bloom.  the purple buds are so pretty.



4.28.2011

Finding Joy - Week 16

remember last week when one of my joys was getting my computer back on track... well after that post while moving pictures i thought i lost all pictures from late 2010 to today.  yikes!  thankfully apple technical support was able to help me restore files. now my pictures are safe and happy on an external drive as well as on cd.  huge huge huge JOY!

the joys:

* a boy who played so hard in his baseball game he just crashed on the couch
 * we had a special visitor
 * landon earned another 5 stickers on his i will do my school work without complaining and in a timely manner chart.  we visited to a new play center in town

* landon and i had some tower building contests
 * while i was prepping dinner on saturday i looked out our window and saw our backyard full of kiddos running and playing.  it reminded me of how our neighborhood was in MN
* my little monkey likes climbing to the top of the swing set.  then she saw me and flashed me a look.  love this little sassy one
 * we spent saturday night at a local church presentation of the musical no greater love: the story of amazing grace. it is the 32nd year of the presentation that has over 1000 participants. they bring in live animals - lambs, chickens, donkeys, rabbits, and a camel.  a definite highlight for the kids.

* easter sunday - celebrating our savior's resurrection
 * snuggling at night for stories with my baby. i love when she takes turns and wants to read to me
 * we finally had a day of sunshine.  the little ones spent hours riding bike, riding scooters, drawing with chalk, and having "sword" fights.  

* i love how landon is in his winter pajamas and mauryn is in a summer dress
 * our tree is in bloom... yeah spring might be on its way
 * harley dog loves the kids. i loved seeing how he chose to snuggle in next to landon.
what were some of your joys this week?

4.25.2011

Finding Joy - Week 15

the joys:


* i am delayed in posting due to computer issues but when i called apple i still had apple care left for 5 days - JOY.  they saved my computer from crashing - JOY.  i think we are up and running now :o)

 * watching my sweet boy help take care of a friends baby. he was so gentle and loving.  he is going to be a great dad someday.
 * sisters
 * a beautiful day for eggstravaganza at church
* tiger face
  * loving on this newborn baby
 * celebrating mr. ryder's 2nd birthday {mauryn is trying to pick him up. even though they are about the same size she is older so she tries to mother him}
 * my kitchen helper
 * landon loves to bake/cook.  he got a new "kitchen robe" for his birthday and loves to wear it
 * warming up by the patio window in the morning - a favorite spot for breakfast on sunny days
 * creating a comfy spot for school work and working diligently
 * lance doing the dishes... if you know my husband this is HUGE he believes if it doesn't go in the dishwasher we shouldn't own it

* ducks "hanging out" in our yard, swimming in puddles from the rain

* birds feeding on landon's bird feeder... so fun watching all the different birds coming to our tree

* a new ipad case and plum scarf from the pleated poppy

4.21.2011

A Non- Candy Egg Hunt

with easter around the corner, we have baskets filled with plastic eggs sitting around the house. 

the kids love to take the eggs and hide them throughout the house.

i took their idea of an indoor egg hunt and used it for a school activity with landon.  he is a busy boy and loves anything that gets him moving.  he was over the top excited to hunt for eggs.... even if it meant he had to do school work in the process.

fill plastic easter eggs with slips of paper that have words on them {or math facts or trivia questions, etc...}

hide the eggs around the house 
send the kids looking for the eggs

 place eggs in a basket, bucket, or bag
 show off your basket of eggs

crack open the egg and find a word
read the word 
after all the words are read correctly, celebrate with a little easter treat!  
then do it all over again :o)