Me & my super handsome guys on Mother's Day!

After quite a long bloggy break, I must admit that I miss blogging.  Not because I am such an excellent blogger and have so much wisdom to share, but I miss having documented the mundane, day-to-day stuff that is my life. I like flipping through blogs that are more like an account of what's happening in a life plus pictures than any other kind of blog.  I like flipping through mine to remember the fun things I've done with my chidren, husband, and friends!  I do think the break I took was necessary because there was just too much going on to take time for blogging, but now that we are done with school for the summer, I think I'll go back and fill in the gaps and add things as they are happening!  I am not sure I am going to be able to reconstruct the books I've read, though...there must be about 20 I've read without updating the side blog, so that might be a hopeless cause!

So, even if my Aunt Robin is the only reader I have left, let the blogging begin!

I guess we are slackers...

I was looking through the pictures still on my camera yesterday, and noticed I still had some from Christmas morning that I haven't even downloaded yet! Really??? I am officially a slacker.  I'd love to get caught up, though.  I miss this whole bloggy thing. And I'd love to start off by including an awesome Christmas morning picture here, but, um...they're still on the camera.

Howdy Stranger

I didn't just have a baby, or go through a major illness, or go through a major life change.  I wish I could say I had a really good excuse for not posting in a coon's age, but alas, there is no good reason.  I did continue to add books to my finished reading list though...does that count for anything?

We recently got back from a glorious 2 week vacation to Oregon.  I just love the Pacific Northwest.  I really hope it is in God's plan for me to one day live there, because really?  I don't think I could ever get tired of views like this:

Or of having sights like these on my morning walks:

Isn't God's creation marvelous?  Normally all I see is suburban sprawl and green/brown shrub growth, so this trip was a real treat!

Less than a week after returning home, we started another school year.  I was excited, Ethan was excited, Aaron was not so much.  We are less than a week into the school year and there have already been tears, pouting, whining, complaining, and melting into blobby heaps on the floor at the mere mention of writing.  I was still thrilled about school in the 2nd grade, so I really don't understand all of this drama.  It could be a very long year if we don't find some way to motivate my oldest child.

Also adding to the commotion is my youngest, who does NOT appreciate having mommy's attention pulled away from him and suddenly showered on his brothers for hours at a time.  He is more than a bit jealous of me normally, but this week his jealousy has been off the charts.  We have done some lessons over the loud screams coming from Andrew.  Usually he is screaming the word, "ME! ME! ME!" over and over again.  I don't know where he gets that from...

Regardless of these issues, we are getting into a routine and personally I am glad to be back to some normalicy in my days.  Hopefully I'll be able to share more about my vacation and the goings on around the house with kids, school, and home improvement, too!

If Anyone Still Bothers To Check Here...

(In order to alleviate the boredom you are sure to feel when reading this post, I've included some "oldie but goodie" pictures (circa 2004) as a feast for your eyes.  Totally free, folks.)

So I've been silent for a while.  There are a few reasons why:

• My kids have been sick.
• I got 4 embroidery orders all at once. (Woo-Hoo!)
• I went to JoAnn's.  Three times.
• I've been trying to finish planning our school year.
• I've been on strike.

Doesn't Aaron look so cute?  He enjoyed playing at the park in the suburbs of Vancouver, BC, Canada.
• I've been contemplating the effects of global warming.
• I've had a headache.
• I've been reading.
• I wrote a commentary on the book of Lamentations.
• I've had nothing to write about.

Here we are visiting Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska.  We actually got to walk on part of the glacier!
• I've been reading the healthcare bill.
• I've been watching movies.
• I've been selling jewelry.
• I've slept.
• I've been going to the gym again.

In all seriousness, I am still trying to figure out my schedule now that I am working part time.  The days just seem to fly by.  I do have some things I've wanted to post about, though.  Does that count for anything?

Aaron felt it was his duty to make sure we were all safe in the airplane on the flight home!

This Is Why

I sat down to write a post in which I reveal my awesome new kitchen backsplash and how it all looks together.  But after getting a total of four sentences written in a whole hour (don't ask), I realized that I don't even have a picture of it completely finished, AND blogger isn't letting me put the text left justified - it is stuck in "center"!  So now, an hour after I started this journey, I am frustrated, tired, and still have no post.

And this is why this blog has such a lack of new postings.  I just thought you'd want to know.

Random Thoughts

I won another contest this last week! This one was a bracelet giveaway by Brenda for the Fitness Friday Time Capsule post! This handmade beaded bracelet is really lovely and I've already worn it several times since I got it in the mail last Saturday. Posting about it today, I've learned something: it is very hard to photograph your own wrist and not have the picture be blurry. I took thirteen photos trying to get a perfect one, then gave up and used the first one I took after all!

In other news, Andrew now scoots and spins on his back! I think he can only do it when he is under his play gym and can hold onto a handing toy, but now that he has had a taste of moving around it won't be long before he realizes he can roll and scoot on his own!

Speaking of Andrew, I have started to let him cry it out more at night. Last night, he woke up to eat at 4:00 AM, and after I fed him, he was having none of this whole "going-back-to-bed" thing. He has also been fighting me on his morning nap and at bedtime. He went from a baby who went down for 2-3 naps and bedtime with relatively no problems, to this super fussy baby after these ear infections. He is no longer having ear pain, and I am sick of constantly getting a crying baby who should be sleeping and rocking and rocking and rocking, so at 4:30 this morning, with the crying keeping us from sleep, I asked Jerry, "Should I let him work it out?" When his response was, "You're going to have to eventually." I knew it was the time. ::sigh:: I know it won't take long because he was putting himself to sleep before all the illness, and I know that he has to learn to sooth himself, but this is hard on a mama's heart!

Finally, I had written that I was wanting to add more coconut to my diet. I have been doing that mostly with coconut oil so far and have really seen my appetite regulate with this and my poor, abused metabolism start to come to life. I decided it was time to add a new thing, so I made Coconut Corn Soup for lunch yesterday! It was so yummy! I was talking with my mom before I made it and described it to her. She thought it sounded yummy, and I knew I would have enough, so I invited her to come have lunch with us. So imagine my horror as I served up my soup and my husband reveals through a look of horror on his face with his first bite that he doesn't like coconut!! What? Who knew? We have been married for 11 years and I had no idea he didn't like coconut. Unfortunately for him, he was at a table with my mom and kids in addition to me, and Aaron was balking at the soup too, so he had to eat it! I felt bad for him because it was obvious that he really didn't like it. However, now I have a dilemma - I am wanting to add more coconut, and my husband doesn't like coconut. This could be problematic! Anyway, try the soup - it's really great!

Coconut Corn Soup

• 1 can whole coconut milk (not lite)
• 4 cups chicken stock (I used homemade - yum!)
• 28 oz. fire-roasted chopped tomatoes
• kernels from 4 ears of corn (I used 2 c. frozen)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (I used marjoram because I was out of thyme!)
• sea salt and ground pepper to taste (I used about a teaspoon of salt and no pepper)
• I added about 1 c. shredded chicken leftover from making the chicken stock

Place all ingredients in a large pot over medium heat, bring to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.