Sneak Peak

The party planning has begun. The month of November is busy in our house with Morgan and Mauryn having birthdays within three days of each other.

Last night we started working on their invitations and party details.

Morgan wanted a very hands on roll this year with her party from making the invitations to selecting her theme and decorations. She choose to have a swimming party with a luau/hang ten (since it is her 10th birthday) theme. Here are her invitations:

Last spring Mauryn got a pair of pajamas with mermaids on them and since that time she has wanted a mermaid birthday party. I wanted to stay away from The Little Mermaid theme and focus more on mermaids in general or an under the sea theme. I hit the jackpot with this website that detailed a mermaid party and I could purchase blank invitations, decorations, and thank you cards.

I made Mauryn a shirt to wear for her birthday party. I wish I would have put the circles closer together but for a first try not so bad!

Hitting My Stride

When I run it takes me about ten minutes to get into a good rhythm for my run.

I knew when we started our school year those first few weeks would be like the first ten minutes of my run - there would be no real rhythm. The kids were finishing up swimming lessons and Morgan still had morning practice for gymnastics so we were fitting in school at odd times.

Up until a few weeks ago, I thought we were getting into a good routine and then Morgan's gymnastics practice schedule changed for Mondays, we left to go out of town, and we had our fall break.

I had great intentions for fall break to get caught up on so many projects but not many of those items were marked off the list. I am thankful we had the week off to deal with the little things that came up without interrupting school but it is also a little disappointing to not get everything accomplished I had hoped to over break.

My goal is to get us back into our routine. I need to find a balance between school, errands, chores, blogging (this poor blog has been neglected for two weeks and i have a list of posts -one of these days i will get caught up), exercise, quiet time, time to read, time to sew, and the list goes on.... I have been focused on protecting our school time: no phone calls, no errands, no trips to the gym, and no appointments unless absolutely necessary. I know the kids needs to see that our school time is important and therefore protected from distractions/disruptions.

So to my dear faithful (few) readers, I am here, alive, well and trying to hit my stride and balance life. I hope to carve out some time each day to get caught up on reading and posting. I am open to any tips on balancing it all!

Getting Crafty

Almost two years ago, I saw that Lindsey was making these super cute superhero capes.  I sent her an email (this was before she had her shop) and asked if she would be willing to make one for Landon.  

Lindsey responded that saying she would love to make Landon a cape but if I wanted to make him the cape myself she would send me a tutorial.  In her words, they were easy!  First I laughed out loud.  I am not crafty and to tackle a sewing project was truly laughable.  I hadn't touched a sewing machine in years.  many, many years.  I think the last time was 8th grade home ec.

But, I became intrigued by the idea of sewing and had visions of  fun projects dancing in my head.

This past Mother's Day, Lance and the kids gave me this:

I was excited but also intimidated.  I let this little machine sit on my desk untouched for over a month.  I was so nervous about using it.  Thankfully we live in the age of technology and there was a DVD included to walk me through the steps of threading my machine and winding the bobbin.  Otherwise, I would have been lost.  

Over the past few months I have put my new machine to use making some baby gifts and I even tried making some capes.  Guess what? They were easy (after an aha! moment)!  Really, if you can follow directions, and sew in a straight line you can make them. If I can make them, anyone can because I am not crafty.

Here's a peek at what I have been making:

capes

crayon rolls

baby blocks and baby rings

a sign for a baby shower

tag blanket for my new niece... i think she liked it :o)

crinkle toys:

this was a no sew project - super easy. it took about 30 minutes including the cutting - a tutu for my baby

Wordless Wednesday: Toothless

Salsa Time!

My husband grew up eating Mexican food.  Spicy, hot Mexican food.

He has been on a quest to find a perfect salsa.  A salsa that even his mild palette, no big chunks of onions and peppers eating wife would enjoy.

A few years ago our neighbors in Minnesota brought us a jar of salsa.  A salsa that had a hint of sweet with the spice and there were no chunks!  We were both hooked.  

In order to have as much of the salsa as we wanted, we Lance started a salsa garden.  Our crop this year has been plentiful.  We Lance and Morgan have canned about 20 jars of salsa and we have a crop of tomatoes ready to be made into another batch.

As much as Lance loves this salsa, he still enjoys a hot, spicy, chunky salsa.  Anyone with an easy, yummy recipe??

tomatoes on the grill (note: do NOT use your wife's pampered chef stoneware on the grill, it will crack)

onions ready for the grill

peppers

mixing up the cooked tomatoes

salsa cooking

yumminess

Salsa Recipe:

22 large tomatoes (with or without peel)

5 large onions

9-11 jalepenos - (leave seeds in if you want it hot)

1/4 c salt

1 c vinegar

2 - 12 oz cans of tomato paste

2 large bell peppers

3/4 c sugar

Add garlic to taste

Chop all ingredients to the texture of your choice (or use food processor or blender)  Cook 30-40 minutes. Put in a jar with lids and rings. Hot water bath for 20 minutes.

* pat and lance grill the tomatoes and onions to give the salsa a more smokey taste.  

** i will admit i am pretty clueless about the salsa making process. i do 100% of the cooking/baking in our home but this is lance's project.  i am more than happy to sit back and just enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Purpose

When I started this blog in August of 2007 my original purpose was to chronicle our life in Idaho so our friends and family could keep up with our adventures.  

I never expected blogging to turn into a place where I was encouraged, inspired, and challenged to be a better wife, mother, woman, and friend.

I never expected blogging to be a place where I developed meaningful friendships - some still internet based and some where we have met in real life.

Over time I have found that I have become, with no better way to say it, insecure about my blog.  It will take me hours or even days to complete a blog post (hence not posting for days/weeks at a time).  I get "hung up" on making sure everything sounds right or is phrased appropriately.  I worry because I am not witty, I don't always see deeper meaning in the little things, and I am not an eloquent writer.  Since I was so caught up in those worries, I have lost the purpose for this blog.

I am refocused on the original purpose of this blog: to journal and record our life in Idaho.  I am no longer going to worry about trying to present the perfect post - what you see is what you get and hopefully you enjoy reading about our adventures and our life in Idaho.

Wordless Wednesday: A Little Chicky