Just waiting for summer...

Very little of this post will be about today, but one note I must make...
This evening I sent the following text to my friend, Malinda:

"More of my house is 'mostly clean' than is 'mostly dirty.' I...don't remember the last time that happened..."

Yes, today was kind to me in that department. I was able to get things done. And I managed to do it without neglecting my children. I think.
Alert the authorities.
We're in the twilight zone or something...

So anyway, I just wanted to document that occurrence today...in case I ever look back and wonder if my house was ever 'mostly clean.'

The last week has been good. We're just doing our thing, waiting for school to end! James' preschool graduation is tomorrow and that's it for him! Wow! Just three more days for Bethany and she will be officially done with kindergarten.
And they will be mine for the summer.
Mwahahaha...

But, let's not get ahead of ourselves . . .

This picture was taken a few nights ago when it was just me and the two boys for dinnertime.
We ate leftovers with the back door open.
It was a freakishly cold day.
As in, within two days, we went from ninety-something to sixty-something.
Funny how sixty-something is cold to us.
Anyway, can somebody tell me when my baby boys turned into human beings? Look at them! They are practically TEENAGERS in this picture!!!!
(You must forgive me, my youngest sister is graduating highschool in a couple of days and it has me all out of whack and uber-conscious of time passing way too quickly...)

As we head into summer, I have this half-set, sort-of-determined goal to start making more of our food from scratch. I love the idea and would love to embrace it whole-heartedly. I think I am always a little afraid to fully commit to anything because it never feels like I am quite in charge of how my time is spent from day to day. So...I half-set goals! :)
I pine and pine and pine after an electric wheat grinder. Then, one day, I realized that I have a perfectly good hand-grinder sitting in my pantry completely unused after two years of ownership. I bought it as part of building home storage stuff 'just in case.' As in, I would have it 'just in case' we didn't have power and I needed to grind something.
I figure it is time it got used so I can stop pining. Or...pine less.
I have way too much wheat sitting in my pantry to justify continuously buying flour to make bread. And...especially way too much to justify buying bread already made. At least not every week. Because I get excited about self-reliance.
SO...we ground some wheat.
Yes, we.
You must know by now that that's how we roll.
(You know, child labor)

After I tested it out, Bethany went first.

And she was...excited? Or...scheming in a villainous way...?

It was lookin good!

James took a turn. He was not messing around. That kid has some power in him.

Ben took a small turn.
He wasn't especially interested.
No picture.

But I did get this picture.
Action shot.
Look at all the goodness.
That is, if you don't have a problem with gluten. :)
I actually used a recipe that was part wheat and part oats and it was pretty darn good.

The kids helped measure, pour, and mix. Their favorite part.

And it all turned out beautifully!
I will probably use this bread recipe through the summer, experimenting with different grains as well. Ooh, and I found a recipe for Ezekiel bread that looks fairly straightforward. I always thought the stuff was complicated. So, I am excited to try that as well!

Something I made today that I have been meaning to do for a while - - homemade salad dressing. I would love to get good at this so we never have to buy it from the store.
I started with Italian dressing because it sounded gooood.
I used my new Ninja blender which I LOVE thus far.

It all turned out nice and pretty! I am going to try it tomorrow...I was nervous to try it without it chilling for a good while first...I don't know, I'm weird about food temperatures...
But I was happy with how it turned out aesthetically! Haha

Some scenes from after school today...
The kids were gathered in my bedroom. Probably because it was clean with the bed made for the first time in a looong time. They love to get on the bed when it's made and throw the pillows all over.

So, that's really all there is to that! Man, are we boring lately or what? Actually, it feels pretty fantastic to be able to just sit down and narrate some highlights of the last week! It means I'm caught up! :) And it means that nothing too crazy is going on around here! I will take my fair share of crazy. But, it is lovely to have some tame times as well.
Well, you know, as tame as it gets with 3, 5, and 6-year-olds!
It's probably the calm before the storm. All the year-end festivities start happening tomorrow! In fact, I've got cookies going for some teachers' baskets right now. Got roped into it by a PTSO friend. It's best they rope me in...because I forget to do things like that on my own!
Someday I'll remember.

And anyway...time to go sort through old baby clothes. Time to get 'em out of the house before I get any crazy ideas... :)
No, no, just kidding. I don't really ever get the itch to add another little one to the bunch. But I DO get the overwhelming desire to scream at the heavens "SLOW THINGS DOWN, WILL YA???"
Sorry.
There's that out of whack, uber-conscious about time passing quickly thing again...

Madness, Mess, and Merriment in The Month of May.

Wow, forgive me for that post title.
I think it came out a lot more obnoxious than I thought it would...and yet I am too lazy to think of another title. Or even stop typing long enough to delete it and try again.
Anyway...it's been a happening couple of weeks around here.

Side note - - I just got up and walked out of the office to get a drink of water. I ran right into the door frame.

Back on track - - we're going to take a tour of the goings-on of the last fourteen or so days.
Keep your arms and legs inside the tour vehicle at all times.

First stop - Mothers' Day.
For the first time since I became a mother, I did not take a picture with my kids on Mothers' Day! It just went right on past without me remembering to do so in a moment that worked. I am actually a little sad about this. So...I may or may not take a picture like, next Sunday, and sneak it back into this post and forever pretend I took it on the real Mothers' Day.
Anyway, it was a wonderful day. I woke up with a grateful heart (at six a.m. to "Mama, can I have a SNAAAACK?") and I just felt peaceful throughout the day. I even found the missing church sock I needed for one of the boys. Every day is hit or miss with small children and a household to attempt to run, but Mothers' Day or not, it is always nice to be surprised by a day with many wonderful moments and not too many horrifying ones. :)
The kids were so so sweet, they knew it was a special day for their Mama and they kept reminding me. My favorite part of the day was when they sang in Sacrament Meeting. It was the first time all three of the kids have been involved in something like that together. And they all were brave enough to go up to the stand without much coaxing! Bethany really watched out for her brothers. Ben would occasionally look over his shoulder at her for reassurance and she would smile and gently turn his head back to the front. I love watching them together. Even with my intriguing new book and fantastic new blender (Ninja! Yessss.), I think getting sung to by my kids was the best part of my Mothers' Day.
It's also fun that now Ben walks around the house singing, "Mother, I WUV you, Mother, I DO..."
Now if I could just train him to start the day with that instead of "Mama, can I have a SNAAACK?"
Eh. Oh well.

So, we have been working toward a summertime of training these little ones to become contributing members of this household. :) I am starting to make plans for little jobs the kids can own this summer.
We had a Family Home Evening lesson about working together and being a team.
THEN, we put it into action.
Together, as a team, we made ice cream.
Sweet is the work, right?

We got it all mixed up.
(And yes, this was real ice cream...cream and all. Special occasion.)

Then, to get it nice and shook up and ready freddy to go, we utilized a #10 can (learned this trick from JC's mom) and kept it a-rollin for fifteen minutes.

It was pretty fun!
I think it actually did help internalize the concept of working together.

We got it to a pretty good milkshake consistency so we stuck with that!

Now we will see how the teamwork goes once there isn't a delicious dairy treat involved!!

Moving on...
Just thought it worth noting that James insisted he needed his face painted as Ironman one day last week.
I think the jury is still out as to my success with this one...
But he sure is cute.

Okay, so here's the really fun part of the last week . . .
I had decided a couple of weeks ago that I was going to be cleaning out every room in the house, including a couple of highly neglected closets. Every day, no matter what else the day threw at me, I tried to get through one room and maintain the rooms I had thus far completed.
I know, life at this stage is a bit too unpredictable for projects like that, but it was certainly worth a shot. And it was going well!
I was working my way toward having certain rooms done and then I was going to allow myself to detour into the room that needed the most work - - my "office" downstairs. It will someday function as my blogging, planning, crafting, writing, organizing, making, doing, sitting, etc. room. For now, it has been a complete catch-all for all the things that may or may not someday pertain to any kind of daydream I have had, organization I will have, or project I might have. Piled high and deep. Pictures, journals, manuals, craft supplies, vacuum attachments, sharpies, notes scrawled out about this idea or that...just thrown in there.
It was time to do something about it. Or, at least about organizing it. So it can all wait happily for me.
Well, it was almost time. It was all planned for Monday. Which, as it turns out, would be today.
But then Wednesday came.
And, suddenly, it was no longer Monday's job.

My stuff was all over the playroom like this:

And all over the hallway like this:

Why? you might ask? Why couldn't I wait just a few more days?
Because of this:

Which turned into this:

Because of this:

Following?
Okay, here's the rundown...James earned a dollar for drinking his super-powered smoothie back when he was super-sick. With that dollar, he made a purchase at the dollar store. (New favorite place. The kids call it 'the toy store.') He bought a little snake which, upon being soaked in water for four days, would grow to be several times its original size.
So, of course, we set it to soaking. And, of course, we used the bathtub that we never ever use! Which, as you may have guessed, just so happens to be right above the room I have been telling you oh-so-fervently about.
The one I was five days away from cleaning out.
But no.
The leak, and therefore, flood of sorts, had to happen in the days just before my appointment with the-room-which-shall-not-be-named.
And I had to discover it after it had already been going for a few days.
Awesome.
But really...it did end up being pretty awesome. I mean, not the flood part and not the stuff everywhere part. But, the fact that there were so many important things in that room and not-a-one got ruined...that is pretty amazing.
I was also sort of amazed that, even though JC was working when I discovered it, I still had help. Who knew children could be so useful? :) Bethany worked right alongside me, getting everything out of that room. It was really great to rely on her for the help I needed. It is nice to feel like we actually are a family team!
Anyway, so that was our latest unexpected adventure.
It kind of offset life and order (or whatever resemblance of order we ever have around here...) for a few days but I am feeling a bit back to normal now.
And if anyone ever needs a fantastic job done, water restoration-wise, we have a great referral to make. We had some great help from a great guy in our great ward.

Can you tell I'm feeling a bit perky tonight? Maybe it's because it's no longer Monday, I am actually finishing this post on Tuesday night and I just got my hair did.
Always helps.
I have a great referral to make for that too if you ever need a fantastic job done, hair-wise.
I get some great help from a great girl in my great ward.

Alright, enough.
I will end this story with...

...a shot of James oh-so-happy with his friend snake.
Who caused us turmoil.
(Like stuff from downstairs all over the kitchen floor, as you can see. Oh wait...that's actually kind of normal...)
Because friends forgive things like that.
So, yeah. That dollar store snake ended up costing a whole lot more than a dollar.
And he's already broken. Haha, ripped in half in fact. And I promise I didn't do it.

What I DID do was get pictures of our first non-lettuce harvest from our garden.
It's tomato time!
And...pepper time!

Bethany pointed out the ripest tomatoes. Luckily, there were three, so all three kids got to pick one. Crises averted. Though two were big and one was kind of little. So...there was still crises. But it's not about that right now.

Ben got the first pick.

And boy is he excited!

Bethany, and her baby, were next.

Cute girl with a cute tomato!

James was next and a bit distraught that the only tomato left was the smaller one.
But he went for it anyway.

And was happy...even though it was the small one.
Yes, as you can see, he had been quite upset that he had to pick the small one.
But at least he could still smile about it!

Daddy gathered the tomatoes to take inside for taco salad.



I let him have first pick at the peppers!
He went for the biggest green one!

Bethany picked one too.

And Ben acted as the transporter.
(Watching him take this pepper into the house was way better than the entirety of the movie titled as such.)

Delivered!

Everything got a good wash and here we are!

Three tomatoes, a green bell pepper, and a red one.
This is so exciting for us...and yet I know it is hardly the harvest most gardeners experience! Haha, it is a start!

Ben was literally rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
The kids love tomatoes.

Mmmm...juicy!

It is fun to get stuff from the garden. This year is definitely a starting out year for us but it has been really fun to get a taste (haha) for it all!


The kids had a lot of fun at FHE this week...we have been talking about prayer in the last few months. We have had little lessons on the different parts of a prayer...one week talking about who we pray to and why...then we had a week talking about what kinds of things we are thankful for, who we are thankful to and why...then the kinds of things we ask for from Heavenly Father...then about Jesus and His role as our advocate. I wanted to do a lesson to kind of sum that all up and talk about the parts of the prayer together and the order and stuff.
I found this online...
The Prayer Train
I loved it, thought it was so cute and simple! I usually just kind of fly by the seat of my pants with a lesson but it was fun to try this out. The kids loved it!

Here's our train!
We sat in our train to listen to the story about the little engine that could when she asked for Heavenly Father's help. :)
And each seat of the train represented a part of a prayer.
(First one, "Dear Heavenly Father," second one, "We thank thee," third one, "We ask thee, " fourth one, "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
JC ended up having to work late last minute so I got to fill in his spot!

After we finished our story, we each colored our own prayer train with cars reminding us of the parts of prayer to cut out and hang by our beds!

This was the first time I had ever seen Ben so focused on trying to color in the lines.
Bethany and I got a giggle out of it!

It was a really fun little activity. I need to start doing more planned lessons and activities like this...it seemed to help keep their attention...somewhat. :)
I love that they are getting older and can participate in Family Home Evening and they can understand what we are teaching. And, most of the time, with some of the comments they share, they are teaching me as much as I am teaching them! Sounds cliche, but it's true.

I am just so thrilled to have our little family.
That's all.

So, yes...the month has gone by quickly. It has been the same uneventful eventful that seems to be the theme of our life in general!
Speaking of going quickly, James is in the middle of his last week of preschool. Ever. It is wigging me out. And Bethany just has one more week after this one of kindergarten. Ever.
I think I need to lay down.

But just for a minute because it's not even eight o'clock.
Though perhaps I should start going to bed that early. Because so far this week, a child has gotten me out of bed before five thirty every morning.
That'll show me to pray for Heavenly Father's help in getting out of bed in the mornings to go walking. Huh.
That prayer train. It works.

Family Pictures!

If you will notice, we have new pictures! Up in the header and over on the side bar! I love having new family pictures. It's always the best!
I will be using them on the header over the next few months, so you will get to see them there. But if you are interested in seeing a whole bunch of them, plus some other really great pictures, head over to Bonnie's photography blog...
http://bonniejeanphotos.blogspot.com/
If I am not mistaken (Bonnie, correct me if I'm mistaken), she is on leave from photography for the time being but once she's back in the game, you all would be doing yourselves a lovely favor to snag her for a photo shoot of any kind. We had the best time with her and she got amazing pictures of our family!!!
And that is all. :)