The Crafts

I have a very vivid memory of me sitting in the backseat of my mom's car impatiently waiting for her and my brother to leave a swimming pool. I'm not sure why I was in the car and they were not. Maybe my brother was being difficult or he was wrapping up swimming lessons but whatever it was I remember flopping around in the backseat and thinking I'm never going to make my kids wait! Ha! Then a switch flipped and I thought, whoa, I'm going to have kids some day? And right then and there I decided I would one day play mother to two children, a boy name Daniel and a girl named Danielle. I now realize just how confusing that would have been. Although I often call my three kids by the wrong name anyway, and none of their names even sound the same. Last night I returned home from a Council meeting past bedtime. I went upstairs to find that their Dad is pretty darn fun because Kate and CJ swapped beds last night. When I was a kid I would have been as excited abou

Who is ready for summer? Holla! (I actually never use that phrase, it just felt right.) Old man winter can take his gusty cold breezes and head for the hills because I'm ready for bathing suit season. Although I'm sure in a couple of weeks that stinkin' groundhog will see it's shadow and we'll be wallowing in our winter sorrows for six more weeks. I wasn't designed for winter. I want to have a good attitude about it but I just can't. Winter stinks. These bugs (which are in no way real live bugs) cause me to a double take every time I walk into the upstairs bath. It is my own fault since I bought them for the girls. They actually came inside soap bars and I thought they were pretty cool. Now they just make my skin crawl when I accidentally step on one on my way into the shower. While we wait for the passing of old man winter the girls and I have done a whole lot of things that we're all kind of tired of. Natalie joined us the other day

Sunday was a big day for our youngest. It was her day to be blessed by the church and our day to count the many blessings this sweet baby has brought into our life. This is the same baptismal gown worn by my sister, Kate, CJ and now Natalie.   Kate was given the opportunity to pour the holy water while CJ twirled. Natalie expressed a couple of unhappy chirps but was overall a tremendous baby, as usual.     My sister, Lindsay, and Matt's brother, Mike, served as Natalie's baptismal sponsors. We took a lot of photos but I'm unsure of what happened to my photos with Matt's mom and dad. I'm so sorry Mike and LeAnn...if you have any on your camera would you please send them my way!? It was a blessed day. I love these three girls so much and I feel unbelievably fortunate that God trusted us to care for them. I'm sure I'll make plenty of mistakes along the way but I hope to continually try to do my best for them. A grateful

Well the big day finally arrived. Kate has been counting down the days until her birthday for the past 364 days...yes, that is right. She more or less began after her fifth birthday. The girl loves her birthday.  Kate continue to grow. We have not yet take her official measurement but she is somewhere around 54 inches tall. Did I mention she just turned six? I'm sure she'll level out.  Kate likes toys but what she really likes is people. She is a people person, an extrovert and an attention seeker. She would choose a person over a toy any day. I love that about her but it can sometimes be a little exhausting. This year she has grown a love for climbing trees, eating as fast as she possibly can, writing 'letters' to people and singing. She isn't shy about belting out her favorite tune accompanied with a dance that usually involves her tipping over at some point. (This is where her height is a challenge.) This year she has also begged to become a mermaid,

Our girls have not spent nearly as much time playing outside as their little, energetic bodies would like. As a result they have been fired up. And some days they kind of drive me bananas. So I started keeping a list of activities they can do. We tore through several of the suggestions yesterday alone but I'm always thinking up new things to add to the list. Some of the things include, practice tying shoes, color in activity books they don't often look at, dig out toys we haven't seen in a long time, etc. Here are just some of the things I've suggested they busy themselves with... dancing sweeping ice skating with a Clorox wipe (read mopping!) long lost games like Scooby Doo Bingo She kisses the dice for luck...she may have picked this up from me. I gave Kate a boxed brownie mix and told her to give it a shot. They actually turned out great. Don't worry, I helped with the baking part.   And last I set up an elaborate Little

Natalie is an unbelievably happy baby. Excuse me while I go knock on wood... Yesterday our little Natalie 'celebrated' turning three months old. What a fabulous three months it has been!   Her favorite activities thus far (ha, I used the word thus) includes oohing and ahhing at her family as well as light fixtures. The girl loves light fixtures. She also enjoys watching her incredibly entertaining older sisters who perform countless dance and acrobatic routines for her. Oh, and I cannot forget her interest in snuggling with mom and playing endless rounds of 'bicycle, bicycle' with her dad. Yes, we have a fabulous baby on our hands. She is a great addition to the Craft circus!

I really like the beginning of a new year. It's a clean start. I usually don't make up resolutions to lose weight or exercise more. Rather I create goals for myself. Like this year I am going to attempt to make Brioche at some point. (It's a semi-complicated breakfast bread that I hear is fabulous but it takes commitment to get it done right.) I also vowed to purge the house of excess. My dad likes to keep things, I like to throw them away...or give to Goodwill. I originally thought I'd start this over Lent but once I get an idea I usually have to jump on it. Perhaps I should make myself a goal of gaining patience?  I've kind of dubbed this week as purge week. I began Sunday with the kitchen. I sorted through spices, wiped down the inside of drawers, went through my cupboard full of cleaning supplies and even cleared out the freezer. Sadly there is still more to do in the kitchen but I rid our house of two entire garbage bags full of unneeded stuff and it fe

CJ "reading" to Natalie New toys from Christmas Original thought is not really my style. Isn't that embarrassing to admit?! So in full disclosure I have to confess that I totally ripped off the subject heading of Ordinary Days from another blog that I really enjoy. It's not that this woman owns the phrase but I still feel slightly guilty for copying. So anyway, this 'ordinary days' mom focuses on keeping life simple, playing with her kids, organizing her wild days and finding moments for herself. Around here an ordinary day is a day spent at home, typically in pajamas. We really should get dressed more often. While I don't keep a solid routine we do have a good rhythm to our day. Ordinary days help kids feel comfortable in their home. They learn boundaries and limitations and have a sense of reassurance that we are there for them. And a comfortable home is one that kids will want to invite their friends to. Kate is becoming interested in havin