A Time For Every Season....

About a month ago I tried to use my organically grown basil plant for some cooking. I had tons of extra and I didn't want to waste any. So I researched frugal and easy ways to freeze fresh basil. Here is what I did (with the help of my 4 year old) in three easy steps: Step 1 - cut the basil leaves off your basil bush (or buy some from the store, its much cheaper to grow your own 1.50 at Lowe's!) I read that for everywhere you cut, two basil leaves will grow back on the bush (we're still investigating that claim!). Leave enough extra on the bush to encourage growth, don't hack the whole thing off! It takes about a month for the growth to come back, I've added another basil plant for this reason, so I alternate cutting them back every other month. Then wash the leaves thoroughly and lay to dry on a towel. Step 2 - place basil leaves in a food processor or blender, add extra virgin olive oil (Costco has a great price 24.00 or so for almost a gallon, it will last a lon...

Since our roof is being replaced and the banging was giving me a headache, we headed out for a few hours at the pool. Gabe was suppose to be my little dare devil but disappointed my hopes and spent 90% of his time flirting with the garbage can or the life guards. He wasn't at all interested in the pool and cried most of the time I was holding him in the pool. Drew had a blast and enjoyed "swimming" in the kids section with all the spraying water and sunlight. Drew still won't put his face in the water and fights me every time I want to work on learning to swim. Good thing he has swimming lessons in a few weeks, maybe peer pressure will benefit him! I had such a bad mommy moment today, after trying to get Drew to jump to me in the water or practice his kicking, with no interest, I desperately wanted to shove my child's head under the water (he is so anal, making sure no water touches is nose or eyes) ... no worries, I controlled myself, got out of the pool and took...

Drew just celebrated his last day of being in FBC Keller's 3 year old program. He loved Tuesday and Thursday's because he was able to play with his little friends - Sky, Malone, & Natalie. Drew also loved his teachers - Mrs. Misty & Mrs. Andrea. His teachers just loved their jobs and took such great care with their children. Every day the children were greeted with hugs and smiles! Drew's favorite days were Pizza days and his teachers informed me that they had to cut Drew off after 4 slices! He was also the sweet tooth junkie of the class and would "sulk" when told he couldn't have a second cupcake. Can you tell we're working on contentment? His teachers often commented on Drew's sensitive spirit, he always wanted to make sure others weren't sad. Also despite his shy nature, he enjoyed singing "worship" songs to his classmates. Drew was their energetic and sometimes spacey little boy who was always on an adventure and off plannin...

You may think that my post title is a little weird, but I assure you that its 100% fitting! It has been a real struggle these past 5 years and I'm finally out of my funk - thank you Lord! In March I really started to pray that God would take away my weariness and allow me to regain some of my pre -children energy. You may laugh, but since pregnancy with Drew, fatigue has ruled my life. It wasn't odd for me to get 10-12 hours of sleep each night. I've had other weird quirky things going on too, but in the last 6 months it has all compounded into - complete fatigue, lack of ambition, irritability, episodes of depression, tension, and a few other symptoms I won't name. I have been trying to exercise routinely since January and end up so tired afterwords that I can't even keep my eyes open to watch the kids. My exhaustion had turned into a huge issue! The Lord was so faithful to listen and wait patiently to "heal" me at just the right time. I'm a naturali...

Interview with Drew at 4 ½ May 22, 2009 1. What is something mom always says to you? "No, yes, put your seat belt on, don’t hurt yourself" 2. What makes mom happy? Saying , “Yes Mam” 3. What makes mom sad? When I do a mean thing, not being a peacemaker. 4. How does your mom make you laugh? "When she tickles me" 5. What was your mom like as a child? "You rode a horse and played with daddy." 6. What is your mom's favorite thing to do? "Play with her coupons." 7 How tall is your mom? "Stand up mommy!" “Your this big” (holding hands out from side to side) 8. What is your favorite thing to do? Playing games, bouncing on trampoline, going to Grandma Patti’s house, going camping and playing with Josh 9. What does your mom do when you're not around? work 10.If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? being nice, fishing because you caught that fish the one time.... lets go fishing. 11. What is your mom really good at? working, hang...

We spent Saturday at the Fort Worth Zoo, it rained and drizzled and we Oregonians didn't mind a bit! It was perfect, there weren't any people but the workers and all the animals loved the rain. We saw Elephants singing, monkeys playing tag, and a cute baby giraffe playing with his parents. It was so much fun! We also saw a baby penguin, a baby owl and a baby Alligator. Also note that there aren't people in any of our photographs! My stabilizer had a hard time with all the mist and fog, but I still enjoyed all the fun pictures I took. At one point, I sat down and just captured their wild imaginations at play, they ran from the elephants to the giraffe's and then back again, all the while smiling and giggling about the rain that was getting them all wet. Drew is in love with baby alligators and has even asked if he could have one. I told him if he found a baby alligator, he could bring it home and ask his daddy if he could keep him. I think I gave him a little too much ...

Look how we initiated our first week of hot weather! The boys had so much fun swimming and getting all wet. I enjoyed watching the boys laugh and splash and flashed lots of pictures! My grass looks beautiful this year, which is making for great color in my pictures! Gabe is still teething.... 3 weeks of teething for 1 tooth, that is only 1/2 of the way in.. ugh! Gabe was horrid last night, waking twice and staying awake for over an hour. I even resorted to giving him a bottle and he threw it right out of the crib. The Advil wasn't doing the trick either and John and I were both exhausted by morning - made for a great night! Drew's latest adult conversation time in the car involves telling me, "full speed ahead Mom" in the car when he wants me to speed up. Today he told me, "Mom, full speed ahead." When I said, the light is red, he retorted, "Oh, well full speed ahead when its green, the cars in front will move out of your way!" Nothing like list...

Life seems to be running faster than I can sprint! The month of April seemed like a blink, here we are already into May! This week we spent some time playing at home. Drew and I added more things to our "Williams Grocery store" and Gabe was content to follow us around whining because his tooth hurts. Gabe is getting his top right tooth and it has been coming in for over 2 weeks now. The diaper rashes, runny nose, and whining are getting old. I can't wait for Gabe to be his happy go lucky self. One nice thing is he has been cuddly, which is always a treat! We had a wonderful time camping a few weeks ago, the weather was so beautiful and with all the children it made for a relaxing time of visiting and reading! John even took a nap! Drew enjoyed his first and second s'more and enjoyed roasting his own hot dog on the campfire. Drew was so disappointed when we left Sunday afternoon, he made friends with my M2M friend's little son Josh. Drew and Josh were inseparable...

Yes, I am a mean mother. What mother would buy little girl pull-ups for her little boy - strictly because there weren't any little boy pull ups in Drew's size - they were on sale and evidently a popular item. I could have bought him one size up, but they put in 3 less pull ups! So, I did what any mean mother would do, I bought little girl pull-up and hoped Drew wouldn't notice. He only wears them to bed, its not like anyone other than our family would see them! So, last night when Drew prepared for bed he came running in and exclaimed that there weren't any pull-ups left. I pulled out the little girl package and handed him one. He just looked at me and said, "Mom, these are for girls, see the pink and flowers. I'm not wearing those!" To which this mean mother replied, "When you can sleep all night without wetting your pull-up, then you can wear your manly underwear to bed!" Drew slumped his shoulders, hung his head and mopped into his little girl...

Drew has been wanting to get a pretend kitchen to play with, but I didn't want to spend all that money. So we created our own William's Market as a compromise - it is still a work in process, but here is what we've put together so far. :: Recycled paper and plastic containers, taped or glued shut to replicate the real product. :: a cash register from the Goodwill for 2.00 - equipped with the add and subtract buttons for mathematics. :: Expired coupons, laminated to replicate money and to teach/brainwash the kids into being thrifty themselves. It also works great for matching and identification. :: This is a great way to recycle! Now when boxes are emptied, Drew asks "can we add this to my grocery store?" :: Paper/plastic bags to imitate the real shopping experience! I'm looking for a pretend shopping cart at the Goodwill, but Drew doesn't know that yet! Drew's favorite thing to play is Grocery store, even Daddy has gotten into the act. It was so funny...

(Before) Our little man had his first haircut yesterday. When Drew was a baby I made a huge event out of his first haircut - we went to Cool Cuts. This time, as I'm taking more steps to being self sufficient and thrifty, and adding up the cost of two haircuts every 8 weeks, I decided to cut Gabe's hair myself. I bought a really nice pair of scissors from Sally's and tada - the makeover is complete. I am actually really pleased with myself, I can't believe I did it and made it look good. I have to thank the Internet for that - self teaching Youtube video's rock! I think Gabe looks younger .... and his face looks chunkier! Now instead of people questioning whether he is a boy or a girl, they can enjoy his bright blue eyes instead. (After) On a frugal note, I also learned how to hem pants this past week at Mom2Mom. I decided after finishing the first of two pairs, that I'll pay the 10.00 to have a professional do it. Hemming is a lot of work, especially if you don...