Blogging Block

Over the past few weeks, I've had quite the time coming up with the desire to blog. Not that I don't have ample subject matter, just not so much the "want-to" to write about it.

Most of my friends and family are now on Facebook, which somewhat eliminates part of the original purpose of this blog. Namely, to share pictures and updates with friends and family.

So, while I am a bit slow on posting, I just wanted to explain myself for anyone who is not on said-facebook ;) I'm still here, and will post as I have the time, desire, and sufficient interesting subject matter LOL!

I also have come to a humble conclusion about my own opinion. I've often been tempted to use my blog to share my political, spiritual, parenting or marriage or birthing or ___________ opinion......but frankly, I don't see the value in shouting from my little soap box when there are so many others who share their opinions quite better than I probably could. It is not either my mission or my purpose in life to convince the general "you" out there on the internet about things that are near and dear to my heart. It *is* my mission and purpose to love my husband, teach my sweet babies, care for our home, minister to my family, neighbors, friends, draw near to God....

As a wonderful prayer on the wall in my Mother's guest bathroom states:

Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs...With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all, but Thou knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end.
17th Century Nun's Prayer

so blogging is taking a bit of a back-seat for me at this season of life. I'll be sure to post as I have time and energy towards it. Just be patient as I am slow these days :-) Blessings to you and yours.

Summer Album 09

Click here to view this photo book larger

a visual aid for my toddler

I am a visual learner. I'm wondering if my son is, as well.

Graeme is a helpful boy - I'm convinced it's in a child's makeup to enjoy helping. There's nothing like being productive while spending time with someone you love to make one just feel good, right?

Since laundry is a daily task around here, I've been brainstorming to find ways to let Graeme help. Tried letting him "help" sort and fold. That didn't go over extremely well, though we will continue to work on it :-) He much preferred jumping on top of the pile of laundry, and climbing the "mountain, Mama!"

So then I thought of this:



Each drawer is assigned a picture of what goes in it. As we (ahem...I) fold the laundry, we pile Graeme's clothes into these categories. Then I ask him to take ______ to the drawer it goes in.

And it's working wonderfully! Graeme finds delight in locating the correct picture, opening the drawer, throwing (I mean, setting) his clothes in and running back to report the job accomplished.

It does help me, as it's one less pile to put away.

But it helps him a great deal more. It's giving him a sense of ownership, pride in accomplishment, and teaching him the pleasure of each thing being in its own home.

Delicious, Real Food!

Snapped a picture of all the food I bought Thursday on our trip to the Farmer's Market and Publix to re-fill our refrigerator. I felt so...GOOD, knowing that our family will be eating all this nourishing food. I'm really working to fill our pantry and fridge with whole foods as much as possible - though, certainly, we buy our fair share of ketchup, the occasional bag of chips or cookies, and canned or staple items. I try to get those at the Commissary once a month, as it's a good hour trip there.

This just looks good, doesn't it? :) I think we'll have a bowl of peaches for breakfast...Happy weekend-ing!

Cole at 9 months

Ah, how the time flies! I conceived Cole around the time that Graeme was 9 months (random fact, I know) - why that stands out, for me, is how fast pregnancy goes, and infancy...before I know it, Cole will be Graeme's age! I can't even remember Graeme being as small as Cole is now.


Four words to describe Cole at 9 months: sweet, snuggly, busy, and determined.

Truly, Cole is the sweetest little baby I've ever known. I realize I'm quite prejudiced, but I think I can say that neutrally, because it's true!

While I look forward to seeing Cole's personality develop (talk, walk, all that fun stuff), I will miss Cole as a baby. He is just such an enjoyable baby to be around.



Snuggly! Oh my, Cole is affectionate! Lately, when Mark gets home, Cole will crawl as fast as his little legs will carry him to pull himself up on Mark's boots to get a welcome snuggle. :-)



Busy. Cole is usually on to the next thing before I can keep track of where he's been.


Determined. This boy gets his sights set on something and there is no stopping him or dissuading him from his purpose. He is Mr. Destructo - he likes to dump everything, destroy it, conquer it, throw it over, and move on LOL!

However, once he's ready to sleep, he'll snuggle up (no going to sleep without rocking for this boy!) and be gone in a few minutes.


Favorite vocalizations: tongue roll, "da-da", na-na
Favorite place to be: with Momma, but Daddy takes a close second :)
What makes you laugh: Graeme's antics (especially when he chases you or makes funny noises with you), tickles in your neck, arms and tummy, Daddy playing "boy play" with you
Favorite food: Momma milk, avocado, oatmeal, banana (just started solids a month or so ago)

We love you, Cole!

Home Management Notebook, Part 1

Yesterday, I decided it was time to create my own Home Management Notebook. A fancy term for a notebook full of lists, charts, paper, and graphs to assist me in managing my home. This is not a task that comes naturally to me. I am the "free spirit", not the "nerd" of the house (aka Dave Ramsey)....If I were completely on my own, I'd be perfectly happy with clutter, piles, stacks, a full sink, etc. I count it progress that I'm willing to make such a dreadful confession ;-)

So here's my notebook:


I found a picture on Flickr's "Creative Commons" that I liked, printed it out, then put my text in.

Resources I used were:
1. SimpleMom.net
2. ListPlanIt.com (you can sign up for a free week-long trial!)
3. Flickr's Creative Commons

The idea for the "Home Management Notebook" came from SimpleMom. She describes her notebook here, and you can download (for free) all of the sheets used here.

In my notebook:
1. The Daily Docket - simple a daily planner. I may not use it everyday, honestly, but for busier days/weeks, it would sure be helpful - at the least, I love SimpleMom's idea of making 3 "Most Important Things" on your list of 10 to-dos for the day. In other words, if *only* those three things happen, you'll consider the day a success. What a relief for a perfectionist like me!

2. Master Chore Chart - can't decide whether to use SimpleMoms, or the one I downloaded from ListPlanIt's Home Management section.

3. Grocery List and Monthly Meal Plan, as well as several menu charts from ListPlanIt. I chose one that lists menus by day of the week (which I'll use for breakfast), and another that is a "master list" of meals in different categories (meat, vegetarian, pasta, soups, etc)...Once I fill that up, I can easily scan it for menu ideas, pick a few new recipes that I want to try, and have my menu for 2 weeks done in a snap.

4. Financial Worksheets (budget for each half of the month, Christmas gift planning chart, Home Improvement Savings List to save for all the things we'd eventually like to have in the house) - all of these were from ListPLanIt.

5. Growth Charts and Notes about activities/memories I want to keep for the children. Since I'm terrible at scrapbooking, I figure at least if I have a place to jot down little things that they do or how big they are, maybe I'll have them all in one place for someday when I have nothing to do and want to create a little memory book (ha ha).


I call it "Part 1" because I'll have to update how it works. Or, to be honest, whether I end up using all of the stuff inside, and what I add to it over time. What I like about this is that it is a visual, tangible thing that I can carry around with me. I'm very tactile, so having something to look at, thumb through, write in, and create is rewarding in itself. .

Finally, a video of Graeme from this morning. We were working in the garage during Cole's naptime, and Graeme was "helping" Mark fix the Volvo (nope, still not working!).

Video of Cole at the beach

We had a marvelous visit with my sister this past week. On Saturday, we spent the whole afternoon at the beach! I'll post some more pictures later today, but for now, here's a video of Cole. He's got a great pincer grasp and is loving his new discovery of Toasty-Os :-) He'll be nine months in a few days, so I'll have a little post about him up.

(Forgive me for forgetting - again- to turn the camera horizontal...I'll try to remember next time!)