Changes

Spring may not be quite here yet, but I have the bug. (Today it is 37 degrees and my children want to be outside in light sweatshirts, sunglasses, and sneakers.) We had a little warm-up a few weeks ago and I found myself delving into some early spring cleaning. Unfortunately, clean windows don't last long around here!

The arrival of spring means that I have home, yard, and garden projects on the brain. Of the many things on my list of to-do's comes painting. This past weekend we tackled the laundry room. I realize the laundry room may not be the obvious first choice to many people. But if you consider how much time I spend in there, you can understand why it was my priority.

Getting ready.

A little experiment I had a couple of years ago. Don't think so.

Gross bugs in the light fixture.

Keeping it real. How disgusting is it under you washer and dryer?? Don't judge me.

The foreman on the job.

The perfect shade for my room. The color is called, "Quiet Moment".

I think it is more likely, "Wishful Thinking."

The almost-finished project. I still need a new curtain and shade. Back to reality.

What a Day

Today has been a hectic, nutso day. To say the least. Crying kids, complaining kids, screaming kids, fighting kids...you get the point.

Having had enough, I sent Glory and Micah down to watch a movie while I finished up reading with Ellie and Maggie. Ahhh, finally some peace and quiet. We were all cuddled up on the couch reading sight words from a white board when, "CRASH!"

Glory had run into the door of a glass cabinet (formally for a stereo, now used to store some media junk). Let me rephrase. She had run into the cabinet door with her face. Somehow that little bump caused the glass to explode. Quite literally, it exploded. Glass was everywhere. The glass made a Rice Krispy crackling noise as it broke into more pieces in the aftermath. It took me over an hour to clean up the glass mess.

Fast forward a few hours. Carlie was being helpful and unloading the dishwasher. "Crash!" There goes a mug. All over the wood floor this time.

I must admit, I am glad that Aaron is now home and I have my back-up on duty.

*no children were harmed during the course of this day...yet!*

Thankful Thursday

I love tivo/dvr. The whole concept of recording tv programs and movies digitally is not new to me. I have wanted tivo for-EVER. But until we got the dvr system with our television service, I truly had no idea what I was missing.

What is to love? These are a few things that I appreciate:

1. I can record or delete at the touch of a button. Wonderful for me, but even better for recording movies for the kids!
2. This is a time saver if there is something we want to watch. No commercials=happy. Some of those commercial breaks are 4-5 minutes long.
3. The pause function for "live" tv is great.

I am sure there are many other positives that I have yet to discover. For now I am recording movies like crazy. I am not sure why I am recording so often. Aaron and I only watch a movie once in a while, and very rarely finish an entire movie in one sitting.

Maybe it is the novelty of new technology. Maybe I am just saving up for that rainy, lazy day sometime in the future. (Although chances are better that I will read a book than watch a movie :) Whatever the reason, technology is a-maz-ing.

Valentine's Day

It seems we have formed a tradition of just being together as a family on Valentine's Day. Aaron and I don't go out on a date. We don't do anything crazy or exciting with the kids. Instead we just try to make the day special and sweet for everybody. This year the children woke up to a special valentine from us and then we all took a trip to the public library. The kids were all happy to have time to browse and check-out some books. Caleb, Ellie, and Maggie each got their own library card. (I don't generally take all 6 kids to the library by myself. So this really was exciting!)

The remainder of the day was spent ice skating in the backyard and having a special meal and dessert. The kids were thrilled with a cake made straight from the box with store-bought frosting and lots of sprinkles.

The cake. Icky to me...but yummy to them.

Lucky girl. Leftover frosting.

The day after. Someone's had their fingers in the cake?!?!?!

Guilty.

How to Beat the Winter Blahs

Get a haircut and make weird faces.

Play-Doh craft caddy. $10.98 at Target when they were having an amazing sale. (My friend, Traci, also hit some sales. My intention was to save this for a gift, but it has been worth every penny.)

Get a haircut and play like the big kids.

Make "crystals" from a home science experiment kit.

Or read a good book.

Valentine's Celebrations

I realize that Valentine's Day is just a "made-up by the card industry" holiday. But it is still FUN!! Around here, we are all about doing things to create memories as a family. If that means doing silly holiday celebrations, so be it. Valentine's Day happens to be a particularly special day for us to show our love for other people. What a perfect opportunity to go out of our way to be more Christ-like toward one another! (Obviously, that should be our every moment's focus. Special days just help us to really put forth our best efforts.)

I would love to hear some of your Valentine's Day traditions. I am always looking for new ideas. If you have a special place you go, meal you make, treat you bake, gift you give or receive, or unique idea...please leave me a comment or message through facebook.