Friday, September 24, 2010

things to do...

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I am very excited to go out and do things this fall.  There is a lot I want to make sure I don't miss out on!  Here is a peek at what I'll be up to (scroll over them for links):
* apple picking
* corn maze
* fear fest
* pumpkin fest
* octoberfest
* hiking
* necropolis
  What will you be doing this fall?

more fall journal pages....







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Friday, September 17, 2010

Hallelujah we have a working oven!

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Thanks to my grandma getting a new oven, we finally now have a working one.  I am beyond grateful. Since Tuesday night we've had these dinners:

-chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, green beans, walnut chocolate chip cookies
-DiGiornio pizza & bread sticks (supreme), broccoli, peaches
-pork loins, roasted carrots & potatoes, cinnamon apples

Yum.
Having all your kitchen appliances in working order makes it so easy to get dinner on the table.  Yes, I could have (and did) prepared meals without an oven, but it's nice to not have to stress over weather you can prepare the diner or not.  I mean, it's hard enough deciding what to eat in the first place!  Trying to eat healthfully, affordably, and excitingly (eventually Subway gets very very old) is extremely difficult to accomplish every night.  There is peace of mind that you are doing the right thing when you cook meals for your family and eat with them.  The kids can feel special when they help prep food (and the teaching opportunities are endless), you know exactly what is in your food (it is so hard to have an actual balanced healthy meal when you get take-out all the time).  Even at sandwich joints, which is where we ate from most of the time (enter kid meals that come with a choice of chips or a cookie.  I'm talking about you Quiznos).  It's also great to teach manners.....like cleaning off a dish and thanking the person who cooked you food instead of just throwing trash away.  Veggies becoming a dinner staple again (not just a random pickle in a sandwich), have become a great bargaining chip too.  Yeah you can have a peach.  After you eat all your broccoli.  Breakfast was pretty simple to do without an oven.  We did have a range top that worked.  :)  But it is fun to know that we can now have things like quiche, and muffins.  So yes, I am beyond thrilled.  And just in time for my favorite season!  What are you all cooking up?

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

i heart fall

The paint is dry on my first few i heart fall journal pages!  So here they are!!  (I used a regular sized binder for this, because I wanted to have enough room to record my favorite season in.  Plus I hear we will be sharing recipes in this class and from my personal experience, it is nice to have a lot of room for recipe writing.  I am especially proud of the deer I painted....so cute!)  I have some really pretty fall papers (already 3 hole punched) that I can't wait to show off....there will be much more of this project to come!

journal journal journal

This fall has been full of journaling.  Here is a peek at what I've been up to....
These are from Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day class.  I was falling behind (really behind) on these pages, but I am caught up. :)  The cupcake page is my favorite.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

more Learn Something New Every Day journal entries...


 * I've been neglecting posting about my Learn Something New Every Day journal.  Mostly because I do my pages late at night and they have to dry before I can photograph them.  I really like this class because it forces you to look back on your day and say, "what did I learn today?".....and then you get to journal it up all pretty.  These small journals are great because they take a lot less time to work in, and when you are committed to journaling every single day, sometimes time is an issue.



Tuesday, September 7, 2010

peace & quiet.

 
Sometimes I just need peace and quiet.  Sometimes the only way to get it is to go outside.  See, I don't mind white noise at all.  It's actually quite soothing.  It's music I can't stand.  And voices.  Just stop talking.  Just stop.  Noise just drives me crazy sometimes!  I like when things are quiet and still.  Quiet enough to hear yourself think.  To concentrate on breathing.  Sometimes you have to remove yourself from the situation.  Nature has a way of calming me down.  Especially the peace of night.  I like to lay on the driveway and look up at the stars.  To feel the comforting September air wash over me like a soft blanket.  To watch the trees sway in the breeze.  I can't stand all this mess of movement and light.  I just want a still and quiet moment.

Friday, September 3, 2010

lesson 2

Learn something new every day.
Day 2.
"inspiration is everywhere"
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....look a little further.  It's fun.


i'm falling for...

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* rain

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* yummy candles



* everyday learning

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* journaling

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* coffee with fat free french vanilla coffee mate coffee creamer



* new leather boots 



* fall colored tights 
skunkboy creatures
 * making my own fall decorations

    Thursday, September 2, 2010

    procrastination is poision

    It is September 1st, and day 1 of Shimelles Learn Something New Every Day journaling class.  I learned my lesson before 9.  It is a lesson I kind of knew already, but it bared it's ugly teeth at us this morning and made me cry.  The first week of school was going great, with a hot healthy home cooked breakfast and fresh new clothes.  As the days went by, we slipped into our old routine of me holding every cute article of clothing up for Daisy to shoot down (while trying to wear the same clothes she did yesterday.), while Lilly is calling from the shower for me to get her her toothbrush, and then a towel, while the eggs are burning and then Daisy can't find her tennis shoes.  I try to not wake my sleeping boyfriend up while I rummage around in the clean clothes basket for matching kid socks, then bring them out and ask for the 3rd time if the girls had brushed their teeth.....noticing Daisy is still in yesterdays clothes.  I pack the girls lunches while they eat and ask me to pack this or that or take out this from their lunch.  Always, when we are all set and good to go, something is forgotten.  A lunch box or a library book or socks, " I'll just run in and get it really quick."....it's never really quick.  Then we are late and I have to debate weather I want to have a tardy on their attendance records (for fear of awesome ex-husbands using them in court) or be the descent good mother I want to be and take responsibility for being late.  We go in and sign the book, get passes from the office, and I write notes to teachers.  One of those mornings.  I knew this was the lesson that was going in my journal.  To be fair, I observed opportunities for learning throughout the day, but none were as good a lesson.  So there you have it.
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    After work and school, we went through clothes, did unexpected math homework, organized dressers, and picked out clothes (complete with underwear and socks!) for the rest of the week.  We packed up library books and important folders, and gave tennis shoes a proper home in their closet.  I thought about procrastination this tonight while in the shower, and decided to pay some bills online before creating a journal page.  This all makes for a long night, but if the next day is stress free, I'll be as happy as a clam.