Taa Daa: Paint Chip Art

I got totally jazzed about a paint chip home decor project I saw done on a number of blogs.  So I jumped in at full throttle and made one of my own.  In total, this home decor piece cost me nothing.  Gotta love that. 

Supplies needed were:  paint chips (free), spray adhesive (already had), mod podge (already had), stain (already had), plywood or other base (already had), husband with a jigsaw to cut my board to the right size (already had).  You just lay out your design, spray adhesive the back of the chips to the plywood, mod podge 3 coats on top, and stain to desired tinting. 

It's actually taking me longer to figure out where I want to put it.  On the mantle?  In Noah's room?  On a wall?  Frame it?  For now, it will sit here so I can admire it. I AM starting to think I should have made it a little bigger though....

Noah: Curls and Commentary

Oh, be still my heart!  As if he wasn't cute enough already, look at these cherubic curls!  {Love}

Josh, for some crazy reason, wants to cut his hair so badly, but I am BEYOND in love with this luscious head of hair and will NOT allow it.  You hear me?  Not. A. Chance!  This little 'fro has been a huge success if you ask me, and I was the first and antsiest critic.  Now I just melt and grin and coo.  And I can't help lightly patting the top of his head and saying, "Boingy, Boingy, Boingy."  These curls are so thick, so sweet, so ... curly!  {Oh, Love.}

Speaking of love, here are some quotes from my curly love bug at 4 1/2. Lately, my favorite thing about him, besides the curls, is his eager and positive spirit.  {Love}

• While playing in their new kitchen set, he explained to me, "I da Dad and Anna's da Mom cuz she's at da buggy."
• Contemplating the gifting protocol once Mimmie and Papa brought the Batman Cave he'd already told SANTA about:  "Maybe Santa gonna bwing me TWO Batman Caves?" I said he'll probably bring some other surprises now.  "I know! Maybe Santa bwing me a tennis ball now!"  I melted at his excitement about a tennis ball of all things.
• While he waited for me to get off the iPad so he could play on it, he hinted, "{loud, exaggerated sigh} I finkin my brain wants to pway iPad.  I finkin."
• We've been reminding Noah to ask the Lord for help in making right choices - usually regarding how he gets along with Anna.  One day, he literally stopped mid-outcry when Anna started touching the toys he was using and his flesh wanted to yell "Mine."  He looked at me all excited and said,  "God said me, [in] my brain, share wif Anna!"
• When I told him that when he is praying is not the time to be silly, he reasoned, "God wikes siwwy words."
• When he counts, I hear some of the sweetest numbers out there:  Awevven (11), Firty Free (33),  Firty Seden (37)
• He still uses a number of precious preschool grammar and pronunciation:  Him's a nice guy.   Dank you taking us dare (thank you for taking us there).  Gumote (remote), Shellfish (selfish), Portend (pretend), Dizzyward (Disneyworld), I not notice dat! (I didn't know that).
• It KILLS me when he retells things by explaining they happened back when he was a kid.
• "Daddy, when I gwow up, on next Friday, you teach me how to make this lego?"
• I don't know where he learned to ask this, but a lot lately he will offer to help us do one one thing or another by asking, "Do you need a wittle boy to help you?"
• He pointed to my loose cover-up type jacket and said, "Hey! You dwessed wike a Jedi!"
• "Mommy - I finkin Chewie wuvs me.  He wants to keep me cuz he wuvs me."
• After he sang long and strong to a song on the radio, he said, "You wike my boice(voice), Mommy? "  I said, I did.  I always do.  He said,  "I finking I awmost weddy for singin on dat {stammer, studder, hem and haw} on dat, on dat ... speaker."  You mean, radio?  "Yeah, on dat wadio."  And I assured him I would be so proud to hear him on the radio one day.
• When I got grumpy on Saturday and he heard me snap at Josh, he said with frank sincerity, "I finkin' you need a time out."  I couldn't have agreed with him more.
• As I worked in the kitchen trying a new recipe for dinner, Noah ran by on his way out the door and called back over his shoulder, "It gonna taste gooooood!"  {Love}
• Josh predicts it will only be a matter of days or months before Noah comes home from school with a note about his language learned from me:  "Oh. My. Freakin'. Gosh!"  He's never copied this phrase before, but I know Josh is right.  Duly noted, I say.

Recipe: Breakfast Sandwich

*** small addendum - this recipe only made it a week before it started just grossing me out altogether.  Me and eggs just have a love/hate relationship no matter how hard I try to ignore it.  Sorry, morning muffin! ***

I really need breakfast each day.  I suspect I get many of my morning migraines because I am hungry. But I am one PICKY breakfast eater.  If I don't like what we have, I just plain don't eat - even if I'm starving.  I also won't put much time into making breakfast, so that really limits my choices again.  For the past 6 months, I have found a quick little mini chicken biscuit brand that heats up in 27 seconds.  That works for me because it's meat, it's quick, it's tasty.  What doesn't work for me, now that I am trying to follow some of Food Rules' food rules, is that it's probably not real healthy and it has so many preservatives and engineered chemicals, I bet.  And they aren't cheap. 

So when I ran across this duh! recipe this week, I was interested.  I made it this morning on our way out the door for church and have since dubbed it my new breakfast normal.  Still quick, still tasty, but now healthier ... and cheaper, too!

Breakfast Sandwich (aka Homemade Egg McMuffin)

• One whole wheat english muffin, toasted
• One slice of cheese
• One egg

Spray a coffee mug with cooking spray.  Crack the egg in the mug and scramble with a fork.  Cover with a wet paper towel and microwave for 40 seconds.  Place the cheese slice on one side of the muffin, top with egg, and the other muffin half, and enjoy.

Add other ingredients to taste:  hot sauce, canadian bacon, sausage, etc....

Miscellaneous Moments

I was not willing that my girl should fall so far to the floor anymore, so we switched out our taller table for this smaller one we have been using as a changing table in the play room for the past two years.  We can all relax now that we don't have to worry about dramatic tumbles from bar-height chairs onto stone floors.  It looks so much roomier in this eating nook, too, which I love.  I think I am gonna paint the table black.  This shorter table has presented one unforeseen problem, though; now Chewie can almost reach it with his nose.  So it's only a matter of time before I find he has jumped to the chair and to the tabletop to help himself.  Groan. 

The action on my end table after Noah has been there.  This dragon does a few cool things and is the prized possession Noah is taking to school tomorrow for Show-n-Tell.

Noah 4-wheelin' it in the snow.  Schools have been closed again - two days this week so far.  Noah's school has been open, however, which is all well and good.  But we let him stay home the first day anyway, just because snow is novel and fun and Daddy was home to enjoy it with them.  And for crying out loud, it's only preschool. 

Love.

Love.

Goodwill Goodies Cont.

My latest $1 faves from Gallatin's Goodwill - Spent $8 on this set; will consign for $41.  I love this game.

Junior sized Gap jean jacket.

Carter's fleece jacket.

Lined Osh Kosh overalls.  Adorable.

Osh Kosh cord skirt.

Thick, thick, front-pocketed, Gap sweater.

Land's End sweater.

Children's Place cord dress.

Gymboree sweater.

Belly Buttons

I hadn't really planned to post this all by itself, but right now before I go to bed I just wanted to anyway.  It was a simple and sweet moment with my baby girl and hours later it still makes me grin... 

We left her precious lovey, Piggie, in GA after Christmas and Anna has had to be without it for a month.  Today we finally got it in the mail and Anna just hugged and hugged him and repeated, "Piggie, Piggie, Piggie."  She carried him around til naptime, at one point climbing in my lap with him.  I held her.  She held him.

She started stroking Piggie and starting talking about how soft he was.  "Ears, soft.  Arms, soft." Conversation turned to naming all Piggie's parts - ears, eyes, legs, toes.  She would touch the soft part and then name that part on her.  "Piggie's toes.  Anna's toes."  I taught her the name of piggie's toes - hooves.  "Piggie's nose.  Anna's nose."  I taught her the name of piggie's nose - snout.  She continued, "Piggie's tail.  Anna's tail."  To which I answered her giggly reaching behind herself with a correction, "No, Anna doesn't have a tail.  Anna has a bootie."  And we giggled some more over that one.

Then came the puzzler.  "Piggie's tag."  She didn't have a part to compare to a tag so she just kept touching it without finishing her thought.  And then it hit me - a tag shows the toy's brand or the location where the toy was made.  People have that, too, in a way. I said to her,  "Piggie has a tag and Anna has a special tag - her belly button!"  She liked this match and repeated, "Piggie's tag.  Anna's belly button."  Giggles and tickles ensued.

We dig belly buttons in this house.  They have long been a point of much silliness and giggling for Noah.  Just last night he and Anna got to baring their midriffs together and laughing and laughing at their display and the way Mommy and Daddy would shake their heads and grin.  Belly buttons are just fun and funny.  I'll give them that.  But now that I think of how they stand in for a tag - they remind you where you came from and how you were made -  now that I think about how Anna and I arrived at that realization together in a silly and quiet moment, well... it's just one more reason to love belly buttons I guess.

Recipe: Chicken a la Slow Cooker

This basic recipe a la my MOPS cookbook gets a thumbs up from me because A.) it does not use cream of mushroom - I hate cream of mushroom, B.) you don't have to defrost the chicken, C.) it's slow cooker (aka- easy), and D.) it was good.  We served it over rice and the extra gravy it made was just right.

Chicken a la Slow Cooker

• 4-6 chicken breasts
• 1 pkg. onion soup mix
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of celery or 1 can cream of broccoli (depending on your taste)

Put chicken in slow cooker.  Pour package of onion soup mix in, followed by both cans of soup.  Cook until well done - 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low.  (I used 3 large frozen chicken breasts and cooked 5 hours on high.) Stir occasionally.

A Couple 2, 3 Things

I saw a hilarious YouTube video this week and somehow, someway the phrase "couple 2, 3 things" was my favorite part.  I might make it a recurring post here in Kimberlyland.  :)

So, a couple 2, 3 things from our snowday and Saturday...
 
Josh was home for this snow!  Called off a dinner meeting Thursday night to be home for the snow and school closings on Friday.  I love that man.  Better still, he came through the door with a tube of cookie dough. 

First thing Friday morning, Josh bundled both our babies up and took them outside.  The snow was too powdery for snowballs and snowmen, so he did the sled-dog thing and let them offroad it on the powerwheels instead.  That was a good idea, too, because it was too icy to let them walk or run around anyway.

Back inside, we watched two movies and built a fort/bear cave.

We cooked chili in the slow cooker all day for dinner with some friends and their kids whom we haven't gotten to see since soccer season.  That was such a refreshing visit.  They also brought a ton of hand-me-down Duplos for Anna and some Thomas stuff for Noah.  Poor things, all we gave them was slow cooker chili and cornbread!  I think we owe them another dinner!

Chewie is one chilly dog these days, so I put him back in his sweater to curb all his shivering.  He makes doggie apparel look good, I think.  He thinks Josh's chair is his and he sits perched there looking out the window and barking at anything that moves or flies.

After the first postage scale I bought on eBay was dead-on-arrival Thursday, I quickly got it refunded and then ordered another on Amazon with free two-day shipping.  I was beyond tickled when it arrived in one day and worked great from the get go.  I even sent my sister something I had to weigh just to break it in.  I like this feeling - being a post office unto myself! 

I lost my patience with handing off our fish to a friend who can't seem to get back in touch with us, so I went ahead and put the tank, accessories, fish and all on Craig's List for $25 and it sold within 3 hours.

Now we are selling two rocking chairs and I'm crossing my fingers they are gone before Monday.

Speaking of selling, I also got my first disbursement from Amazon for the books I sold a couple weeks ago.  $45 was never so sweet.  And Josh has begun hunting Lego sets on deep discounts and selling them on eBay.  Between Amazon, eBay, Craig's List, and consignment sales, our inner salesmen are having a hay day around here.  ;)

Anna is trying really hard to get herself in the ER.  This week alone, she has fallen off her bar-height chair at the table onto our stone floor TWICE!  There is no sound so sickening as that of your baby's head hitting the ground. Then yesterday she cut her toes - I know not how.  Carpet burn? And then while playing with Play-Doh, Noah cut her finger with the scissors.  There have been many red, watery eyes from Anna this week, to say the least.  And a number of band-aids.  Small detail - Anna will claw at her gaping mouth after a fall and you think she is suffocating or bleeding from the mouth somewhere.  She is not.  That is just how she panics apparently.  And accordingly, at the sight of it, I do, too.

They did have a Play-Doh Potato Head creation to show for the scissor episode, though.  Those Shrek ears were given to Noah by his teacher on Thursday's green and gold school spirit day.  Pretty cute.

I just got home from a morning at Panera with a handful of girls from my mom's meetup group and from MOPS.  I am in such a good mood and I think the girl time has everything to do with it.  And it doesn't hurt that Josh had both kids down for naps by the time I got home and as I type he is installing a shelf in my wildly crowded downstairs closet and another in our pantry.  I ♥ home improvements almost as much as I ♥ my handy and helpful husband.  And girl time.

Noah: Progress Reports

Noah is such a good boy at school and I prize that for him more than academic success. 

Sampling of Noah's letter writing at 4 1/2.  He can trace really well by now.  He struggles with writing letters independently, which is fine with me.  We never intended for him to master this stuff in pre-K.  We knew he'd need the practice before Kindergarten though and that is just what he's getting ... but without the pressure and grading and such.  I am in love with seeing him write his own name at the top of his papers.  In love.

Noah's hair is on project status these days.  We haven't let it get this long since he was a baby.  We'll go with it for awhile and see what it does.  I am in love with his curls. 

Some More Kimmie Quirks

• I cannot bring myself to type LOL, even though that is exactly what I mean to say.
• I have a thing for topiaries.  I have not one, but I think I might change that.  Make some, maybe.
• I save napkins we have leftover when we're out now.  They go a long way actually.
• My hot glue gun is my new best friend.
• I have my heart set on a Silhouette SD machine for my birthday.
• This is the first year in 6 years that we will not have adoption on the brain or the calendar.
• I'm pretty sure it's nearly impossible for me to type much without an exclamation mark.
• Strategical and Irregardless are NOT words!
• I love rainy days.
• During the holiday season, I got so over hearing everywhere that Christmas is all about giving and family.  It's not.  Those are great and honorable byproducts that testify to the truth - Jesus.  Christmas is all about Jesus's birth! The end.  Or should I say, the beginning ... of all that other good and fun stuff we think of during this season.  
• I appreciate hearing someone still say how good God is at a time when they didn't just get their way. 
• I do my best thinking in the shower, or when I'm driving alone, or when I'm listening to music.  Apparently, whenever I shut up. 
• A typical breakfast for me is a couple Excedrin Migraine pills. 
• I am starting to wish I could sew - I think I'll add that to my 2011 To-Do List.  
• I have also added "Take the kids to the ocean" to our 2011 To-Do List.
• I'm reading 3 books right now:  Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney, The Book Thief by Markus Zusack, and Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler.
• Most recent downloads:  Several songs from the movie Coming Home, This is the Stuff by Francesca Battistelli, and Stay by Lisa Loeb

WPTM #25: Selfish Praise

What Parenting Teaches Me #25: Selfish Praise

Noah has begun to sincerely experience and communicate gratitude lately.  When I allow something that he is excited about, when I relent and do not insist on something that he does not want, when I surprise him with fun and good things, he bubbles over with joy, gives me spontaneous hugs, and says, "I wuv you, Mommy!"  Other times he says, "You nice mommy!"  And I sure do grin to hear his sweet words, to see his excitement.  But I also know his gratitude is temporary and is more about his selfishness than it is about me.  Later on in the same day when I make him spend some quiet time in his room or scold him for something, I hear him mutter to himself, "Mommy mean!" or "I no wike Mommy!"

Hmmmmmm. Kids ...they sure do paint a clear picture of us grownups before the Lord, don't they?

Embarrassingly, I recognize myself and most Christians doing the same thing.  On a day that something goes right - when a loved one is healed, when a dramatic situation is resolved, when we are excited about some happy thing - it is easy to hear God's praise fly - "God is so mighty!"  "Our God is great!"  When I hear these true things lately, I sort of cringe because all I notice is the absence of such praise every other day of the week when it is no less true.  It makes the testimony seem like nothing more than fair-weather praise.  That is a shame to me because our God is mighty and our God is great even when a loved one dies, even when we are cheated, even when our hearts are broken, and even when we just plain don't get our way.  Ick - I hate to think of how I have approached the Lord and his praise in such a self-seeking way before.

Father, let your Spirit guide me in your praise even when the circumstances do not.  I don't want to approach you with a childish heart that is only gladdened in you when it gets its own way.  Your goodness is so much bigger and more perfect than that. 

Hide-n-Seek/Peek

Snapshots of Happy

Anna's happy about her new magnetic dress up doll.  I'm happy that she enjoys it so much. 

We were happy to eat (drink) some homemade snow cream - fresh from our front yard yesterday.

We were happy to play with friends at a playgroup today.

And we're even happier to have Josh back home today with sunlight to spare upon his arrival.  Josh had time to set his bags down and beeline it for the backyard with Noah to play in what was left of our quickly melting snow.

Noah was so happy to throw snowballs around for real.

I was just happy to see how happy Josh and Noah were to see each other.  Josh kept holding Noah.  Noah kept saying "I missed you, Daddy." Anna would have gotten in on the action as well if she weren't napping at the time.

I was happy to see Noah's beautiful snow angel. I know it's a stretch, but it IS there.  Look hard. :)

We're happy to be able to say we checked a snowman off our snow days activity list (sledding, snowballs, snow cream, snow angels, and now, snowman).  He's not much to look at, but he makes us smile still.

Goodwill Hunting Goodies

So awhile back I told you about our idea to buy great clothes at killer prices at Goodwill and then turn around and consign them for a profit. Our Gallatin Goodwill makes this so easy - they have such great stuff! We've continued to go since then, and I went again this past weekend on the 50% off day. I got almost 70 items for a little over $70. Here's some examples of what I'm talking about. These are my favorites from my most recent trip, all for $1 each. This sample set ended up being mostly Baby Gap stuff, although there is a beautiful E Land sweater and a Children's Place cord jacket. My favorite favorite is the Osh Kosh sweater with the bear on it. I just wish I had an 18 month old boy to put it on! (One buying tidbit - what we're finding is that we'll make a better profit off of fall/winter clothes than we would spring/summer.)

Dry Night Theology

Noah's head appears at the side of my bed promptly at 6:34 in the morning.

Noah:  Guess what.
Me: You're dry!
Noah:  No,  Mommy.  I want to say it!
Me: Ok, what?
Noah:  I dwwwwwyyyyyyyy!
Me:  Oh yay!  I know, I helped you.
Noah: No, God help me.  Not you. GOD.

(I think we're both right, but I let him win for the sake of the lesson.  I did get him up to go potty when I went to bed because we are still home from school on snow day 3 while Josh is still out of town and I reaaaaaaallly wanted us to have some time away from each other while he plays video games - which he can only do if he stays dry at night.  BUT, I also encourage him to pray and ask God to help him wake up in the night to go potty, too.  He says he did get up with God's help, but I suspect he just doesn't remember that that was actually me.  Then again, God does bless us through our parents, so like I said, we are actually both right. I didn't have the heart to burst his bubble.)

More than a Little Frustrating

The last time we saw/spoke with Tania was in October 2009 when we were in FL for a Disney trip.  She came and saw Noah twice that trip.  Since then we have sent her many pictures as we have done since he was born.  I went a step further this last year and wrote her some things from my heart to show her love and show her we are considering her.  I spent much time deciding what blog posts and what pieces of Noah's art/schoolwork to send to her and just really kept extending a welcome to her as far as Noah was concerned.  We never heard a response, but that wasn't strange really.  She has never really responded to our packages and notes except for thanks in person during a visit.  But this Christmas was the first time we have been to FL since Noah has been born that she did not come see him.  Wondering afterward if this was an intentional move on her part, we texted her and said we missed her at Christmas and we hoped she had gotten all the things we had sent her.  A week or so went by with no answer.

And then this week we finally heard from her.  Turns out she'd lost our number and apparently moved across the country about a year ago! 

Ouch.

When I flesh that little tidbit out, it goes a lot of places and makes me feel a lot of things, not the least of which is how stupid I feel for all the time, thought, and sincerity I put into the Noah things I collected, notated, wrote, and sent to her over the last year and few months - so much.  And she never got them ... because she doesn't live there anymore and has. not. for. a. while!

So, what? I can't help but wonder if she just didn't care if Noah and we knew where to contact her?  Was she not concerned that she would miss any of the things about Noah we send her?  Why didn't she try to get our number again from the people we mutually know?  So frustrating.  I just don't know how to read this situation ... to know if we should try to keep in touch or let this relationship fall away?  I can't help panicking that what some of our caseworkers said is coming true now.  Has she lost interest in knowing Noah?  I feel so many conflicting emotions about it all!


At least, it's enough for me now to just know that if we ever need to find her because Noah wants to contact her then we still can because we have certain extended family members in common. 


I'm not angry.  Well, maybe I am a little.  But mostly I think I am just hurt.  And then I feel guilty and selfish for feeling hurt.  Because really this whole thing is not about me. It's about Noah and HIS birth mother.

I don't even know what my point is right now.  I am just more than a little frustrated.

And I don't know why I keep crying about it.  I just keep crying is all.  I think I am just making my way around to being ok with this new perspective and with it still not making her wrong or uncaring.  None of that has to be the case for this adoption story to be working out as it seems to be working out.  I'm just learning as we go and picking up a few bruises that I have probably set myself up for.  No one else.

There.  I feel better already.

Snowballs and a Snowman

It is far too cold to play outside like we did yesterday.  And it's also still spurting snowy mess.  But I had mercy on Noah and let him go out for about 10 minutes while Anna napped today.

He was pleased about that.

He was not pleased that I would not come outside with him.

He was pleased, however, when I told him he could throw snow at me instead.

He was not pleased that his snowman was not coming together like he thought it would.  He just did not understand it when I said he needed to pack the snow in tighter.

He was pleased when I had mercy AGAIN and came out to wad up a few snowballs for him.  Apparently I lost him on the snowball making terminology.  He says I should have said "Squish it all up." He has a point.

 

And once we'd sufficiently adorned our weenie snowman, he was pleased to use said snowballs to pelt the house.  He's hopeful the snow will last til Friday when Josh gets home so he can have a real snowball fight.

Tomorrow is another no-school snow day, so I imagine we'll move on to snow angels and snowcream.  

Break out the Sled

We got some decent usage out of our new sled today.  We bundled up and headed over to a friend's house in the neighborhood and had a sleddin' good time.  Anna, not surprisingly, was not so keen on the snow getting all over her shoes and pants, but she was open to scooping, stirring, and sampling the snow up on the porch. (Memo to me: Invest in some snowboots.)

Noah, an endless source of energy lately, was all go, go, go and go again! He loved it and he was so good at sharing his sled with his friends. I headed inside way before he did (someone's got to keep the girl company in the nice warm house!) and Vivian said he was such fun to watch going at it.  She said he would've stayed out all by himself if we'd have let him.  Instead, we rounded up all the pink, chapped faces to come inside to play a bit and then we sipped hot chocolate and gobbled pigs-in-a-blanket fresh out of the oven.

There was no snowman making - but I'm guessing we'll fit that in tomorrow and the next day.  It's looking like school will be closed again.  Josh is gone to AZ this week and he is missing all the fun.  Poor Daddy.

Snowed In

We're snowed in today and school has been cancelled of course.  Sadly, Josh's flight was not cancelled.  The other sad news is that now I will have to be the one to go out and play in the cold and snow with the kids.  That's usually his job. 

Anyway, it's a pretty snow and it makes a great crunch under your feet.  I'm sure there'll be a bunch of littler footprints out there in no time.  Sigh.

Who doesn't love a snow-covered house shot?  It's so homey!

And speaking of love and pictures, I adore this silhouette we had made of the kids at Downtown Disney at Christmas.  It's so precious to me. 

It's possible I'll be back with other random pictures and posts later today and tomorrow.  Cabin fever will do that to ya!  And we're told there's more snow on the way.  It's a good thing I like being home.  :)