stuff about wednesday.

i walked into the front room to find this sweet little horse kissing scene on my coffee table last night. definitely brooklyn's work. it melted my heart right onto the floor. i asked her what they were doing and she said they were doing butterfly kisses. then i asked her why the horses on the far left weren't doing the same. her reply was simple, they didn't want to. 

these cheap little horses have been her favorite gift from Christmas. her imagination runs wild when she has her hands on them. sometimes they're all lined up in a row. sometimes they're all laying down sleeping. and sometimes they are in her death grip while she's sleeping. i've loved watching her grow so attached and fall in love with these horses.

love is in the air at cream gables i guess.

i love to cook and feeling good enough to do it again has been so good for me. it's serious therapy for me, but i mostly enjoy eating it. i wish i liked to bake more. but a bread pan of rice krispie treats will have to do for now.

tonight, i made one of my all time favorites.

my favorite start to any recipe is having a pan/dish/bowl full of cut up fresh veggies. so pretty and so yummy!

i think i've posted the link for this recipe on this blog a couple times before, but i will post it a million more. i love it that much. so here it is. Black beans & rice with chicken and apple salsa. I usually don't make it with the rice and I've always made it with fish until tonight. that apple salsa with the fish is bomb!

for young women's, a super talented photographer in our ward had the girls over to her house to take their pictures. the girls were in heaven! how cool of an activity is that for them?! she had a back drop and flash set up. the whole nine yards. these pictures are high quality and totally awesome. emily bailey does amazing work. you can check out her finished products on her web site here. and believe me, you'll be wanting an appointment with her five seconds into viewing the galleries on her site. she's so good at what she does. 

and it's almost thursday and i'm seriously wondering where the heck the week went. january is flying by. i still have so much to do on my house to catch up for being off my feet for a month. but slowly and surely, it's starting to get a little more clean and a little more organized. and you know i'm loving it.

what this weekend brought.

our weekend was relaxing and exhausting all at once. friday night was quite chill. kayla came over and we went and got dinner, did a little shopping, and then made some cornbread. we relaxed the rest of the evening and then set our alarms for an early morning.

i headed out the door at 7AM. i had a youth retreat to attend. the yw/ym had gone up friday, and i was going up to help with a planning meeting. but boy, i got to be a part of so much more. the youth in our ward are amazing. they're happy/strong/fun-loving kids that really are just happy to be where they are. they played hard and were also able to focus during planning meetings and a devotional. i was so impressed. 

watching them sled for hours, walk up this huge hill, and do it all over again and again really wore me right out. i took a nap when i got home that evening. i seriously needed it. 

(the ym leaders went up earlier in the week with their snow blowers to create this awesome hockey rink. the kids had a blast on it.)

sunday was also a bright and early start. getting used to 9AM church again will take a little while. we got up, got ready, scarfed down some breakfast, and were at church by ten to. sacrament meeting was great. i taught yw's, which is always a good learning experience. i'm teaching this whole month. i guess there's a lot i need to learn. 

as soon as we got home from church, james had brooklyn in her apron and helping him make wink-eyes. in case you're not familiar, toast with an egg cooked in the middle. brooklyn was ecstatic to get to help.

and she even enjoyed eating them. 

then it was naps. kayla and judd came over a little later and we had sunday dinner. roast, potatoes, carrots, ya know... the usual. they even cooked our potatoes and carrots in their electric pressure cooker. it was super fast and super delicious. 

afterwards, we relaxed and basically watched brooklyn run a muck of the house. she loves having company and wants to show them every toy she owns. it makes for quite a mess. little stinker. she is learning how to clean it up by herself though. with james and i giving her words of encouragement and often singing the 'clean-up' song, she gets the job done. 

16 weeks today and it feels so good! a quick little pregnancy update:

the nausea is completely gone

sleeping is rough (i'm a tummy/back sleeper)

i'm getting my energy back

so anxious and excited to find out what this little peanut is

craving juicy delicious fruit (too bad it's winter), like peaches and watermelon

h a p p y  m o n d a y

p.s. can't wait to put up my valentine decor! i'll wait til tuesday so it's up for exactly a month by valentine's day.

Another first . . .

Last night marks my scariest night of being a mother so far. Brooklyn had her first fever. 101.2. Scary. Her little body was so so hot. I gave her medicine and gave her a cold wash cloth to suck on and then I periodically patted her head, neck, and feet with it. My poor baby. I wanted to just wave my magic wand and magically make her completely healthy again. I was just heart broken over it.


The next morning she just laid on the floor. When I went to take a shower really quick, she stayed in the exact spot I left her. Sucking her thumb, she sadly looked up at me as if to say, "mom, I'm sick. Please make me feel better." So I picked her up and snuggled her. We snuggled a lot of the day. She just wanted her mommy. 


I went to YW's for an hour. She wasn't too happy about my leaving. Our activity was put on by the stake YW's presidency and it was absolutely amazing. I wanted to enjoy it, really take it all in. But I was worried about my sick girl back at home without her mommy. Gosh I'm attached to her. Maybe too attached. Someday I'll be stronger. Someday. 

When I got home she was happy to see me. I rushed everyone outside to look up into the sky to see the paper lanterns the girls were launching at the church. Such a special activity for those girls. The boys went to go get some ice scream and a few random groceries. So, we got in our jammies and snuggled some more. When the boys got home, we our ice cream and then I fed Brooklyn some carrots. She loves her carrots. After she ate I could tell she was feeling better. She's been acting ALMOST like herself tonight. She still coughs and has a runny nose and I'm praying like crazy that the fever does not return tonight. I don't know if my heart can take it. 

On a positive note, we're getting our taxes done tonight. Always a happy night in our home when we go over the river and through the woods to our 'tax guy's' house. Please let us be healthy. Pretty please with ice cream on top. And oreos. And caramel. 

The 'get ready'...

for Christmas...

was Monday night at our home. There was Christmas everywhere! But luckily for only a few hours and then it was all in its' place and looking so festive.

Such a warm feeling when the tree is up and lit, and all the fun knick knacks of Christmas decor are expressing the joys and true meaning of Christmas.

Brooklyn wanted to help.

James put up the tree and I decorated it. Brooklyn was content to watch the happenings and be right in the mix with Mom and Dad.

She has loved looking at the tree every night and in the early morning hours. I think she already has a little Christmas spirit.

These two were tuckered out tonight after square dancing at young women/young men's.

No, they didn't participate. They just watched me sweat to death and try and keep up with high school kids. It really was fun though and we had a great turnout. More boys than girls even. Because our ward is so small, we invited two other wards to come. Everyone seemed to have a great time and really get into the spirit of square dancing. We called it our Fall Social, and we barely made it, it being the last day of November and all.

Welcome welcome December.

I've been anxiously waiting for you!

15 days ...

Today is my shower at work. Baby shower that is. I also start my end of year testing. I have no lesson plans, I just get to repeat a test 48 times in a week. That might not sound like a lot, but the test is 30 minutes long. By Monday afternoon, if you'd like to hear this test, call me, and I can repeat it to you word for word while I drive home.

No joke.

I can't believe I only have 15 more work days. 15. That number seems so small. But very large at the same time. Like my stomach. It feels so L A R G E. It must be, because every time I turn around I knock one of my kindergarteners to the ground(not really). But they have noticed that it's bigger because it is right in their line of sight and I do occasionally hit them in the head with it.

Plans for the weekend:

youth conference

movie

make bread

celebrate googs' birthday (buy her a delicious present)

hopefully sleep in

couch cuddle time with james

relax...


15 days.

(we should all start our days out like this/shirt compliments of one of my students)

h a p p y  w e e k e n d .

Pine Needles

Tonight (Wednesday) we are having a Midnight Madness personal progress night for YW's. From 6 - midnight.

I'm guessing I will not be updating the blog before then and HOPEFULLY be sleeping in tomorrow. So this will just be a quick little post.

My mom and sister came down and we picked out material for crib bedding. I'm SOOO excited! We copied a look I found for $289 for about $70. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Here's a little preview:

(thanks to Pine Needles @ Gardner Village)

Recap

This weekend was nice, relaxing, and productive.

 Friday = worked until 4, took a nap, James grilled hamburgers, we watched the ohio st/kentucky game (busted my bracket), and made milkshakes (with lots of reeses!).

Saturday = slept in a little, ate breakfast together, then worked our tails off cleaning the house. James made the 'office' a little more 'baby ready' and I got the other things in the house done, including every piece of laundry. He is a great organizer so this was a good job for him. We had all the windows in the house open because we were sweating from so much vigorous cleaning. We took a break for lunch, got back at it until about 2:30, and then watched the B U T L E R game. I just love those guys. Really. We both got showered and cleaned up, James headed to a guys' night out, and I to the General Young Women broadcast. Soo good. I love President Eyring. He is such an inspired leader. Got home, snuggled, and called it a night.

Sunday =  slept in a little (well I did), showered, curled my hair (for James), went to our meetings, ate dinner, made cookies, drove to Coalville, hung out with my dad and bro-in-law, watched Angels and Deamons (lots of guns and shooting), and gorged ourselves on popcorn and chocolate chip walnut cookies. It was a good relaxing night. My dad enjoyed the company, as my mom and sisters are in California until Tuesday, and we loved spending time with him. 

I've now washed my face, brushed my teeth, emailed my brother, and am now definitely ready for bed. Another week ahead. Two more until I am off track. 

I have lots of good things planned.

One of them involves this:

What's in a name...

This past Wednesday was New Beginnings/YW in Excellence.

I was in charge of making name tags for the girls to set up next to their display.

I did my best.



The program was really nice. Short and sweet. The girls did a great job with their displays and talks on the values. As a gift to the girls, we (the YW leaders) sang a song at the end. Instead of them having to practice and worry about one more thing, we thought it'd be nice for them to just enjoy. We also wanted them to see that we are also willing to participate. We sang "Walk By Faith" by Janice Kapp Perry. It's a beautiful song with meaningful lyrics, especially for the YW as it mentions each of the values.

We served brightly colored sugar cookies and an awesome slush! It all turned out so well and we had a great turn out with girls and parents.

i go off track next week...

i'm trying not to think about it...

it's kinda hard...

i try to distract myself...

with this...

and tomorrow night i'll be doing this...with my young women for our wednesday night activity.

i also use food as a distraction.

tonight it was fish tacos.

MMM...





6 more school days...

i can do it...