Friday Five

1. We are headed to Emma's Meet the Teachers this morning (they won't decide her teacher until the last day of this school year) We got her K readiness test scores in the mail and she did great. She measured as Above Average -we all know she's way above average =) (sorry that's just a proud mama talking)

2. We went outside and did sidewalk chalk for awhile. It was nice to just hang out on the back porch last night.

3. We went to the library and got I few good books. I'll tell you more about the one I got when I finish it.

4. We are going to just hang out this weekend. The girls HAVE to clean up their closets- you can't even move in them.

5. I entered a Friday giveaway on my friend Bertie's Fitness Blog (check out the sidebar). It's a great site. Every Friday she has a giveaway. She posts recipes and fitness routines. I have done the Plyo one and it about killed me- I am going to make an effort to keep doing it. I also made the protein packed chili she posted and Jarrod and Jude wolfed it down. It was great. You should definitely check it out. Most of the fitness stuff does not require and weights or anything, just you and I really like that a lot. It is not in our budget right now to go pay for a gym membership or a bunch of fitness equipment so just me is a good thing.

My Garden

I realized I forgot to post pics of our garden. I planted lunchbox tomatoes, strawberries, eggplant, broccoli, green leaf lettuce, lemon thyme, pineapple mint and lavender. We planted a container garden since we are renting this house and can't dig up what small amount of yard we have. So here are our plants:

Tomatoes


Strawberries


Eggplant


Broccoli


Lettuce


Lavender


Thyme


Mint


Everything is doing really well. The strawberries and tomatoes are flowering. You can see little bits of broccoli starting to grow and the eggplant has a bud on it. We get to pick the lettuce weekly and it's yummy.

Funniest AFV video ever

Memorial Weekend Festivities

Well here is what we did this weekend.
Friday- Family Movie Night
We watched Bedtime Stories. It was great! We all loved the movie and would recommend it to anybody. It was definitely family friendly.

Saturday- Holland Lake
We went to Holland Lake and checked out the lodge, lake and waterfall.First we checked out the lodge and then we went and had a picnic lunch by the lake. All 6 of us hiked up a mountain to Holland Falls. Part of the time Jude rode on my back, then he rode on Jarrod's shoulders and sometimes he walked. It was beautiful, but a long way up. Mia got really tired of walking and on the way down cried the whole way. Then, we went back to the lodge and rented a canoe for an hour and Jarrod and I took turns with the kids. He got Mia and I got Kaitlyn and Emma. It was a really nice day and we had lots of fun.







Sunday- We went to Fort Missoula. It was pretty interesting. It started out in 1877 as an open Fort b/c the Missoulians were afraid of the Western MT Indian Tribes. Then during WWI it became in internment camp for Italians (or as the lady at the front desk called them "those eye-talians") and then during WWII it was a part-time internment camp for Japanese-Americans. When they opened it up for tours they brought in an old schoolhouse, a church and a train. They also had a sawmill that they give demonstrations on sometimes. They also had old barracks and a lookout tower (which Jarrod and the girls climbed up into -waaaay too high for me). Then we went and got drinks at the gas station (I really miss my QT drinks, but these were good).



Monday- Jarrod mowed the lawn. I changed our sheets out to regular cotton (no more flannel until winter-maybe fall) and I also swapped out the kid's winter clothes for short sleeves and shorts. Then, Jarrod and I made chili in the crockpot so it could simmer all day (got the recipe from Bertie's fitness blog-link on the right). We went to Rattlesnake and hiked a new trail. Jarrod and the girls played frisbee. Then, we went to the old trail and hung out at the spot where we like to skip rocks. The water run-off is crazy and there was no little beach area anymore, so we let them get their feet wet in the shallowest part. Since it is glacial runoff, it was freezing!! Then, we came home and boy did our house smell good from the chili!! I made some potato salad and for dinner we will have chili, potato salad and watermelon. It's been a fun weeekend.

Tagged

Ok, so Diana tagged me to do the 8 things lists. So, here goes nothing-

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:
1. Kaitlyn being out of school
2. people coming to visit
3. Jude being weaned
4. Saturday Markets (I love going to the Farmer's Market)
5. Emma learning to read
6. summer weather
7. Being able to go to a farm and pick our own fruit
8. Our trip to Glacier

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1. Woke up
2. Got a shower
3. Trip to Holland Lake
4. Hiked up a mountain to the top of a waterfall (4 miles roundtrip)
5. Canoed with Emma and Kaitlyn
6. Had a picnic lunch by the lake
7. Drove through a really pretty neighborhood
8. Hung out last night alone with my Hubby for awhile (Jude was present for some of it, but then he finally passed out)

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO
1. Sew with my sewing machine
2. find a work at home job
3. get my kids to play nicely for more than a few minutes at a time
4. finish my Bible study and start a new one
5. keep up better with my blog
6. learn to always enjoy/savor the moment
7. slow down time so we could spend more time with our kids at each stage of their lives
8. Stop worrying

8 SHOWS I WATCH
1. Chuck
2. SNL
3. NCIS
4. Monk
5. Big Brother
6. The Mentalist
7. The Office
8. Out of the Wild

8 PEOPLE I TAG
1. Kristen
2. Diana
3. Mom
4. April
5. Amber
6. Gina
7. Bertie
8. Vanessa

Friday Five

1. Monday we went to eat lunch at the park by Jarrod's office. The kids had a lot of fun playing and they got to hang out wiht their Daddy.

2. Tuesday we found out that we have no AC, so I went out and bought 2 tower fanc that work great (even thought my Husband said they wouldn't work at all)

3. Jarrod used our green leaf lettuce in a salad this week and said it was good. So, atleast one of our plants is in use right now. I am soooo ready for the other stuff to start blooming and producing. SHould be July/August

4. Tonight is movie night and we are going to watch Bedtime Stories. I'll let you know what I think about it later.

5. This weekend is Memorial weekend, so we get Jarrod for an extra day which will be nice, we've been missing him. I think we're going to some lake and I'd like to go tour the local breweries. No, I don't like beer at all, but it sounds like fun.

I'll update on the Memorial Weekend festivities and the movie later.

Etsy Shop

My friend Bertie just opened an etsy shop called a la frou frou. She has started making and selling aprons for little girls. They are sooooo cute. I will definitely be getting some for my girls. They would make great b-day gifts or if you shop early fro Xmas like me you could get them and stash them. They are very reasonably priced for being handmade. Go check them out-

http://www.alafroufrou.etsy.com

Busy Weekend

Well, we have had a busy weekend. Yesterday Jarrod went for a run and then we wetn to the Farmer's Market (by the river-not the one by the Xs) and to Localfest. I got some broccoli, eggplant and green leaf lettuce at the Farmer's Market and some to-go ware bamboo utensils at localfest. Then, we came home planted our veggies snd rested before we went over to the Krieg's. The kids played and watched movies while the adults hung out and played some Texas Hold'em. Don't ever take all your bosses wife's chips...it may not have gone over too well.We got home REALLY late and I am exhausted. But, now we are heading out to go to Pattee Canyon and to try and trade some books at the Book Exchange.

friends and fitness

Well, as most of you now from a previous post I have been doing a real good job of not keeping up with old friends. I don't want to say I didn't like high school, but I didn't. Way too much drama and girls are mean. But, you learn from past mistakes (like telling a friend you like a guy b/c sure enough the next day they'll be dating and making out in the stairwell). Thankfully I don't keep in touch with those old "friends". But, I did find a friend on facebook that I truly liked and was always a kind person. Her name is Bertie. She has 3 beautiful kids (2 boys and a girl) and she looks great! I WISH I looked as good as she does. Jarrod says I do, but I'm not feeling it yet. Still have my old jeans to get back into after Jude. But anyway, she is telling everyone her secrets on her fitness blog. I've been checking it out (You KNOW I'm a Blog Stalker) and she has some good stuff on there. Every Friday she has a prize giveaway. So, you should definitely get over to her site. I put it on my sidebar in the links. My fave ex. video she has is the Plyometric one. I don't have all the cool fitness stuff at home (no balls or bands here) and that video uses your own body to burn fat and build muscle. AWESOME! So, I'm plugging away here......GO CHECK IT OUT! and then comment back here and let me know what you think.

Thankful Thursday

Things I am Thankful for:

1. Yummy sushi. I got veggie sushi and california rolls today for my dinner. It was soooo yummy.

2. A wonderful husband who took the time to have boy time in the garage and play with all the balls we own. He is now reading the girls a bed time story while Jude runs around and pretends to listen.

3. The Saturday Farmer's Markets. We got some great plants-lunch box tomatoes, pineapple mint, lemon thyme and lavender. We also got some cool recycled mugs and a bench for our front porch made out of scraps from log cabins. Then we went to Lowes to get dirt and some strawberry plants. I can wait for the strawberries and tomatoes to bear fruit. We are going to check out the other market this weekend and see what we can find.

4. David Rios Tiger Spice Chai Tea. The best stuff ever! I haven't found it up here yet, but I will figure something out.

5. Friends. Friends that read your blog and comment just so you know they care.

6. Recipe sites. Found a great chocolate peanut butter cake I'm going to make Jarrod for Father's Day. I can't wait. It looks soooo good!

7. My kids. They can be sooo sweet and soooo rotten all at the same time. But, I love them. So far the cute sweet times outnumber the rotten ones =)

8. A loving God that loves us all no matter what!

Death

On Saturday, Emma told me she didn't want to die, ever. When I asked her why she said that she never wanted to die because she didn't know what would happen after she did. Today she even asked if she would get to meet Papa in heaven and if we would still be a family. So, this is what I told her on Sat.- nobody really knows what to expect, so it's ok for her to wonder and today I told her that we would definitely still be a family in heaven. My FIL did tell me one time that we would not know each other in heaven which I hope is not true because I want to know my kids and my husband when I see them in heaven. But, I'd never tell my kids they won't know who their Mommy is.
So, on Saturday night we talked about Hebrews 2:10-18 and the preacher covered how we should not fear death and how in verse 15 it says that Jesus died to free us from our lifetime of bondage in our fear of death. I guess I get it, but I still fear death because I don't want to leave my family and like my 5 year old, I don't know what to expect. It's the unknown that keeps me worried.
So, I guess my question is do you fear death?

Friday Five

Ok, so here's my Friday Five. Five things we've done this week or just five things in general that I feel like sharing.
1. Kaitlyn turned 10 this week. This must just be her way of making me feel old. She's getting older just to spite me =). She had a good birthday. We went to Freemo's she got a DS and some games along with money and GCs from family, so we went shopping yesterday. Se got another game, a pair of shoes, a movie some pjs and some girly stuff. Today we head to Old Navy so she can get some clothes. We still owe her a carousel ride.

2. We went to SHEC for church on Wed. night. They only meet on Wed. nights seasonally for 8 weeks at a time. That's when their adult/child classes are. We like the Sun. stuff, but the kid's stuff is seriously lacking. E&K are in class together and they can never tell me what they learned. It's always we played and watched a video. Which greatly disturbs e b/c E has always been our special child that after class will tell you for months the exact bible verse they learned, how it was taught and how it applies (thanks to Ms. Lynn and Ms. Karen). Now, she's getting nothing. I know I shouldn't rely on others to teach them, but I am a Bible dummy...I need curriculum to teach them with. So, I guess I'm going to have to get some and have a bible class at home. M is kind of similar to E in that she thrives in Bible class. She loved it and looked forward to it every week. But, here she has to stay and play in the nursery. No class or learning for her. Which I DO NOT LIKE at all. But, she does get to play with Jude which keeps them both happy for the hour and a half we are there. The kids hate it. When they figured out we were going to church Wed, they were upset and they have always LOVED church. I don't know what to do. I guess we'll have to keep visiting. The other church we were interested in had a great kid's program and the service was not something we felt like we wanted to be a part of.

3. We celebrated Cinco de Mayo yesterday with Taco Night b/c Tues. night was Jarrod's late night. He "had to" go to a Chamber meet and greet. Let's just say he really suffered through it. Since we are the only 2 (plus Jude) who will eat the tacos I had to wait for him.

4. E took her Kindergarten readiness test. She did great! The Principal gave it to her and said that had the best vocabulary. She just loved talking to her.

5. We went to Brewfest. Lots of beer and bands. I enjoyed the bands, the kid's played and Jarrod taste tested. Since I don't like beer or wine, it was a good thing they had music or I would've been BORED. There was a Espresso beer that smelled really good, just like coffee, but since it was beer I thought it tasted nasty. It did smell good though.

Well, that's my five for this past week. Other than that it's been the same old week.

10 years ago today.....

10 years ago today, I was headed to Memorial Southwest Hospital in Houston, TX. I was 2 months shy of 18 and headed to have my first baby girl. Kaitlyn Marie was born May 5, 1999 at 10:24pm weighing 7 lbs. 14 oz. and she was a chubby little monkey! Kaitlyn and I spent the next 4 years together, just the 2 of us. We lived in Houston with Nana until she was 3 and then we made the move to North Texas to our "home". We lived in Las Colinas for 2 years and then moved to Keller when Jarrod and I got married. So, we got 4 years just the 2 of us (plus Jarrod for 3 of those four years while we dated), but it was a lot of fun. She was the first of four chubby little monkeys and my precious angel. Today she turns 10, her first year in double digits. It has gone by too fast. She has gone from being the human buouy and float testing and 15 months to liking boys. It's crazy to think in 6 years she'll be driving and in 8 she'll be leaving high school to go to college. Where does the time go? Well, Happy Birthday my sweet angel! I love you!
Lord, we give thanks to you for Kaitlyn Marie who celebrates her 10th birthday today. May she ever grow in faith, hope and love. Growing in grace and loving you, Lord. We ask this in the name of your son Jesus. Amen.


Here is a pic of Kaitlyn at 3 months and one at age 10(with her siblings):