Deep Thoughts

This weekend has been pretty laid back. No major commitments, which is nice. The kidlets are enjoying the time and being at home. I've been ALL about the coziness of home lately. I'm not sure if it's the winter months or if I've just changed my mindset...but I truly love being home. And just for the record- I am SOOOO ready for Spring! Today was sunny and crisp and I just instantly wished for more of the same for a while. We had our snow fun- but I'm over it already! lol. But our little home- in Winter or Spring- I just love...

This is our piece of cozy security. Where we share the details of our day at the dinner table. Where we snuggle with our children. Where we laugh and cry over movies together. Where it's OK to be in baggy sweatpants, old Tee shirt, hair tied in a knot and a slight schmear of mascara under the eye from yesterday. Where we find comfort, peace, happiness and joy. I love my home and what it means to my family.

I've been reflective the last few days. Lots of ideas. Thoughts. Reminding myself of the many things I have in my life to be thankful for. Trying to be better about praying throughout the day. Thinking about the kind of life I want for my kids..and how it's our responsibility as their parents to make appropriate decisions to ensure that they become Godly and strong in character. Raising them up to become individuals with a strong sense of self and security. I think we are doing a good job so far but I know there are things we could improve on. There always will be- but I love what we've done lately to improve our home life. We already see the benefits. It's amazing how slight changes can drastically alter one's day!

I guess to sum things up- I like where I'm at in my life. I feel blessed. Sure, I HATE my job. Sure, there are always bumps in the road. But how boring would life be without that?? I'm content with who I am. I'm blessed to have the husband God gave me. And our children?! Words cannot express the joy they bring to me each and everyday. God is good and He's in control.

~S

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Coolness, LEGO Style...

This little ditty was created by my step-father-in-laws grandkids (whew!)! I was more than a little impressed!!!

Just Stuff

Just posting random whatevers today.
Working from home again. WOOT! Lots to do but at least I'm HOME.

Got the kidlets to school, got the dishes done, straightened the living, dining rooms and kitchen. Just popping in here to say "Hey" before I get going on my workday.

Had to share THESE... So flippin' CUTE!!!

See the little gnome scene on the sole?!? How brilliantly adorable is THAT?! They're ONLY $110...sheesh.
How about these??

They're from Urban Outfitters. Super Cuteness...

Listening to KPDQ FM right now-- have been missing it the last few days since I haven't been commuting to work! Feels good to be spiritually fed while I work! My favorites are Bill Ritchie's BRAND NEW, Alistair Begg's TRUTH FOR LIFE (love his accent!), and James MacDonald's Walk In The Word . All three are SO right on! Lessons for daily life that are Biblically based and always speak to my heart. Take a listen sometime and see which you enjoy!

Ok- hiho,hiho- it's off to work I go!

Blessings to you!

~S

Muwwwaaahaahaaahaaa

So after all that whining last night, I wake up this morning to the hubster saying "There's fresh snow and now there's freezing rain falling!"...

....WOOHOOOOO!!!! insert giddy, slightly cynical laugh here...

Ahem. Ok. I'm fine now.
It was indeed very nasty weather today. FUHREEEZING cold and a slushy mess. The kidlets had a two hour delay so we all slept in a bit (sort of- the phone kept ringing) and then meandered to school. Afterward, I came home and got to work on a long list phoned in from my place of employment. LOVEly...but hey- I got to work from home so I cannot complain TOO much at all. I would be THRILLED to work from home EVERYday but that's not going to happen so...I'll take this whenever I can!!!

It's supposed to freeze again overnight and then thaw a little tomorrow. Is it wrong to hope the weather worsens a bit??

I'm buried in work stuff, Ebay stuff and school volunteer/art things but it's good busy-work. Consistent and fruitful. I decided to re-open my Ebay store and had to revise my name a little because someone took my original apparently. So I just call it JOSIE'S BOWTIQUE vs. the typical Boutique spelling. Not too bad. I changed my user name to that as well to tie in a little better. I've got a lot of stuff to unload and I'm aiming at a few listings minimum a night until it's all listed. I see these people..people I *know* that have Power Seller status and it just KILLS me!!! I want to be able to do that and STAY HOME! What could be better?! Shop*Sell*SAHM. Talk about a dream. And there are people doing it. Stay at home moms in my little ol' town are making $1000 a month selling stuff. I just wonder HOW. How much time must they devote to the process? How often do they shop? Do they have some secret to success? As you can tell, this is something I ponder and muse over often lately! lol. I have fun with Ebay and would TOTALLY love being able to succeed in a consistent income doing it.

I'm DYING to scrapbook. So much going on- but I really want to just sit and dabble. I have all these wonderful things in my art area and no time to sit and play. Sad. Something I need to change. Whenever I spend some time delving into creative things, I find I'm happier all around- I can take the rest of the punches life deals day-to-day a little better somehow.

Finished watching last season's 24 last night. Oh my. I thoroughly DESPISE that nasty ol' President Logan. For those of you who know wno I'm talking about: isn't he truly GROSS?!

His face- it seems all rubbery. He looks like someone who picks his nose and has to trim nose hair and ear hair on a regular basis to appear normal. Just NASTY. And that's just his appearance, we won't even go there about his character flaws. Oy.

Aaron Pierce=hero. Totally.

Mike Novick--that little man is growing on me. I really loathed him for a while.

It ended cliff-hanger style so we closed it with our typical "that's it?! *pause* I HATE THIS SHOW!!!" lol. But of course, we love it. I need to learn how to embroider or crochet though because I pick at my cuticles/nails until they're ugly little nubs. Well- they already ARE ugly little nubs so you can only imagine their current state. ick. Some say dishwater is bad for their nails. I say action movies.


Ok- enough already. Are you bored to tears yet? How about somthing I'm loving right now???

Well- if I had it in my hot little hands I'm SURE I'd love it anyway. This book looks REALLY fun! Going to see if my library can get ahold of it for me...

More tomorrow.

~S

I don't wanna, I don't wanna

I've become spoiled! *5* days off and look what happens.
I need an attitude adjustment!
I don't WANT to go to work tomorrow.but i will.
I don't WANT to get up and go to the gym. but i will.
I don't WANT to get the kidlets up and ready for school. but i will.
I don't WANT to. I don't WANT to. I don't WANT to!!!!

I WANT to sleep in until I decide wake up. but i won't.
I WANT to stay in my pj's and robe all day. but i won't.
I WANT to be a cozy, content homebody for 5 more days. but i won't.

GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
Hopefully I'll stop this whining and just suck it up and deal.
I think I'll just go to bed now.
Yeppers- off to my cozy, pre-warmed bed to sulk, watch the last disc of last season's 24 (dude, it's GOOOOD!) and then pass out.

~S

"Have a 'tude, Weiner Dude!" ~Reality Bites

Fun Stuff

Ok...
ONE Birthday party down!
We went to Caleb's party at Pizza King and got to hang out, let the kids play, eat pizza and it was pretty kicked back. Nice! The kids had fun- Caleb really liked his dino-themed gift and I got to hang out with Joc, so it was a nice beginning to our day!

NOW we have to go get dinner stuff for Josie's PreSchool teacher. She's had a knee replacement and our church is taking dinners out to her. It's her birthday as well this weekend, so I decided to take pizza, ice cream, brownies and balloons out to her for dinner tonite. Need to go get all that stuff and then get a gift for a birthday party we have TONITE.

On more of a FUN note for ME... got a swell package of goodies from my sweet girl Court whom I *may* get to see in March at CKC!!!!! I am BEYOND excited at the very idea of relinquishing my dorkdom from LAST years CKC...when I was too shy to march up to her and say "I know YOU!" lol. This year will be VERY different!! lol. I hope it pans out!

ALSO got my first SCRAPOLOGIE kit!!! Such great stuff!! Take a peek for yourself below! There are a couple kits I've been watching to see what they provide vs. what they charge,etc. and this kit club consistently gives fabulous product and ideas for a decent price. Plus the add on kits are AMAZING. They sell out fast but you can see why!

Can't wait to sit down and DO something with all the scrap-goodness I got in the post yesterday...Cannot WAIT.

The snow has partially melted off around here-- what's left has turned into ice. It's REALLy cold. As in permanent nose-dripping, teeth chattering cold. Granted, I'm a big WUSS when it comes to being cold but still. Snow was fun- now I'm ready for tank top/flip flop weather, thankyouverymuch.

Hope YOU are having a great weekend!

Toodles,

~S

SnoW DaY!

I ♥ Snow Days!!!
They are few and far between for us here in the Pacific Northwest Valley, so todays Snow Day status has been savored ALL the live long day!!!

I know, I know-- you Mid-West/Easterners are either shaking your head or dying LAUGHING at the amount of snow you see on the ground above and the fact they've closed our schools because of it! lol. It *DOES* seem silly but I'm not complaining one little bit! It's been such a fun, relaxed day~ and perhaps if we had snow more frequently the days wouldn't feel so special.

Something about a Snow Day is so magical! Waking up to a dusting of white all over everything, the stillness and quiet in the air, being all cozy in a warm house~ watching as the snow falls outside. It's pure loveliness! Early this morning it was snowing when I took the puggy out and so I tuned the radio in to listen for school closures later on (it was 3am, I knew I had to wait a few hours for news!). Went back to bed and then got up around 7am to discover our school was indeed close. After a very quiet arm-pump "yesssss!", I snuck into the kids' rooms to be sure they were all snuggly in their beds and went BACK to bed myself! Ahhh....

Woke up very leisurely sometime later to the smell of the kidlets laughing and eggs and fried potatoes and onions cooking. YUM! The hubster stayed home from work today too- so we all enjoyed a great breakfast together, giant cups of coffee and cocoa...and stayed in our pj's until the kids couldn't stand it any longer and HAD to play outside! We layered and bundled and ventured out to have some fun. Threw snowballs * made a petite little snowman* marveled at footprints in fresh snow...and I'm just now realizing we didn't even attempt snow*angels. Granted, there wasn't much on the ground, but STILL!

Isn't it cute?? We made a little "scarf" out of foliage and the buttons are frozen mushrooms we found growing in the flower bed. lol. Little pebbles for eyes, and the classic (baby)carrot for a nose. I think it's the cutest thing ever!!

The rest of the day has been very relaxed and quiet. The sun has come out and is melting all the snow, so Robert will most likely go to work tomorrow. But the kids and I have a LONG weekend ahead of us!! The kidlets don't have school on Fridays, and with Monday being a holiday- we're settling in for a while! SOOOO nice!

I've been quite busy this week with work related junk. Eloquent, yes?? lol. And since Christmas I haven't felt like things in my life were "on track"...instead, feeling as though I have been grasping at everything but unable to connect and accomplish much. VERY frustrating to the control-freak in me. Luckily, I have a fantastic hubby who did a bit of housecleaning for me this week so that I'd have one less thing to contend with. So sweet and thoughful! I've been diligent this week in getting things DONE, start to finish, whenever possible. Dishes, laundry,etc. I've started back in on my Flylady Missions (http://www.flylady.net) and I also started creating a "Control" binder for us. Something to keep the family on track, a reference tool of sorts- for chores, bills, misc. stuff. It will be all in one binder. LOVE the idea of it- we'll see if I can make it work! I bought a cheapy binder for now- but if it proves effective, I'd like to put it in a nicer binder like this Russell+Hazel style!

I'll keep you posted on how things go with it!

Right now my mind is swirling with things that need to be done. Things I want to learn. try. to cross off my "TO DO" list. to cross off my ever-growing " I want to do/try/make ____" list. Oodles of stuff. Lots of creative stuff, but lots of house chores, decorating/revamp ideas. I need to sit down and just get it all on paper so I don't forget things. I hate when I have this GREAT idea and then I forget it for months (or forever.).

WEll--- I hope you've had a wonderful day yourself. I'm off to get the makings for homemade Nachos and a new scrap mag. Tonite we're going to watch another disc of "24" (the amount of gov't moles is SO annoying to me!!!!) after the kidlets go to bed. Before that- some Jenga or Cranium Conga with the kids, read some Charlottes Web.... good, yummy family stuff!!!

eh.

I *want* to post something witty, visually stimulating and fun to read.
I do.
But I can't.
Zzzzzzz......
Try me out again tomorrow?
Hey...thanks for that.
~S

Off and Running...

Determined.
Ready to roll.
Striving for change.
Encouraged.
Feeling Bold.
TO DO list made.

....it's Monday and I'm ready to rumble.
LOOK OUT!

More Later....

I'm AIRBOURNE!!!!!!!!!

Two kids bogged down by nasty colds, sore throats and a husband who is starting to falter as well.... I'm popping AIRBOURNE every 3 hours as precaution...CANNOT. WILL NOT. Get. Sick. oy....
Hope YOU and your loved ones are healthy!!!
~S

Ready For A Challenge?!

First off... HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my family and friends!!

I pray this year brings you blessings and newfound appreciation for your life & who you are, what you have and WHO you have. We truly all are blessed beyond measure, we just often overlook it and don't take the time to realize and appreciate it all. So in 2007, take the time to do so!

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions. It's rare that I declare them and then follow through. But I *DO* have intentions! And good ones at that! Above all, I just want to remind myself to continually be in the moment. To absorb my surroundings and keep my eyes open to what God has given to me each and every day. To remind myself that despite the chaos in this world, He gives me what I need, when I need it and it's up to me to recognize that. So that's the biggie. I already do this, I just need to be BETTER about it!

Second, I want to be more aware of the quality vs. quantity in my life. This goes for time spent with family and friends, activities that my children, husband and I all participate in seperately and together and how important they are for us as a family and as individuals, and just the in's and out's of everyday. This also applies to how I spend my money and what it goes for. Do I really NEED ____ just because it's the "IN" thing right now? Because of the label? Because I need to keep up with the Joneses type thing?? Am I spending to make myself temporarily happy or because it's something I've planned for, saved for, need?? Again, this is something I've already begun to work on and will continue to do so.

I love shopping- I do. I love the thrill of a good bargain. I'm a magazine FREAK and love seeing the latest/greatest in fashion and home design. Always have, probably always will. But I'm rethinking it's importance in who I am, what impact it has on me and my life and it's overall value. It definitely boosts my creative thinking process. So that's one automatic positive, but beyond that-- ???? I'm working on this! ;)

The third BIG thing I intend to change (or continue to work on) is becoming more physically fit. To be happy with my lifestyle choices and the role model I am for my children. Of course I'd be thrilled to continue toning up and losing more weight... definitely need to continue that. But it's not something I'm going to obsess about.

What are YOUR 2007 Resolutions/Intentions??

Here is just one reason my year of 2006 ended on such a happy note!!

LOVED having Christy and her fam up for Christmas break. LOVED it. We're doing some HEAVY pushing for them to move up here, but I've said all I'm gonna say. ok...one more time. MOVE UP HERE, C. NOW. Ok. I'm done. We were able to hang out, talk, laugh A LOT, go on a scenic driving excursion IN THE DARK (had to be there) and just an overall GREAT time. Can't wait to see her again this Summer!!! Love ya,C!

I'll post again this week to share more about the holiday, some photos, and just randomness!

~S