Saturday, November 15, 2008

First Snow!

Today is our first snow! It was a hectic morning of cranky kids. Nothing I did seemed to pacify them. But now... all is quiet. I'm curled up on my bed drinking hot cocoa. My thoughts are lost among the mesmerizing snowflakes. I'm so grateful for a few minutes to unwind!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Adorable and Affordable


Yes, this is a shameless plug for Sycamore Lane, the Etsy site that my sister and I created. Unfortunately, my sister is doing all the work listing her adorable creations. One of these days I vow to list some of my own. In the meantime, check out the adorable barrette Lydia is modeling. Very cute! And I must say I have always loved the crocheted hats she has made for each of my kids when they were born. They are so soft and different from what you can find in the store. Go check out her listings!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Birthday Girl!


Yesterday was Lydia's birthday. It was a beautiful sunny day! Probably the last of it's kind for this year. We were really busy finishing up yard work so we wouldn't have to worry about the rain that was forcasted today. But she and daddy sneaked away for a little one-on-one time at a local park.

I made her homemade pizza and we gave her a few small gifts- one of which was a little stuffed kitty she spotted in Jo-Ann Fabrics. She cried so hard when I told her we weren't going to buy it that I had to sneak back a few days later to give that little kitty a home.

We officially celebrated her big day this evening. We had a fun gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free menu planned for tonight. On the menu:

Roasted Tomato Soup
Sweet Potato Cornbread
Potato Wedges
Maple Frosted Pumpkin Cupcakes
(all recipes or adaptations from The Gluten Free Goddess!)


Here is her cake combining two of her favorite things: dogs and jelly beans!


And here is the birthday girl: (a few pics to reminisce her 1st year since I didn't have a blog at the time...)

Our little sis at 3 weeks...

...and 2 years later!
Little Lyds,

Oh how we love you! You have brought so much joy to our hearts. Your smile and laughter are contagious and even your temper tantrums have a strange way of making me laugh to myself. I'm so thankful to God for the 2 years we have been given to cuddle you, play with you and watch you grow. Your love for animals is precious and I love to see your face light up when you see something furry pass by. You are such a blessing to our family and we look forward to the days ahead! We love you, sweetie!

Monday, November 3, 2008

That's Very Bad!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day! Spectacular! It was warm and sunny and the smell of autumn was in the air. Brian was scheduled to be gone all day so the kids and I went to a local nature reserve to go hiking. They did really well, but after 45 minutes they decided they'd rather watch "Monster, Inc". Not me! I wanted to keep going! It really brought out my crazed desire to go trail running like I use to a few years ago! I do miss it so much this time of year!

After lunch I laid Lydia down for a nap and Lucas and I went to our house to finish up some yard work. I began trimming an overgrown climbing rose bush. All was going well until I tried to break off a large dead branch about 2 inches in diameter. I figured if I pushed it down far enough it would just snap off. Not so! The other part of the branch I was holding onto snapped off and the remaining portion came flying up from 4 feet down and blasted me in the eye. It almost knocked me out! I'm sure to an observer it might have been slightly comical. I was stumbling all over the side yard convincing myself I was going to be alright. I was afraid to move my hands for what I might find... would my eye be intact? Thank goodness... no blood. Just one big bruise to the outer side of my eyebrow and a very sore eyeball. Thank goodness it wasn't worse, but I should've stopped and gone home... but NO... Marisa must press on.

Oh, how I wish I had called to quits! The next hour and a half was uneventful and I had great hopes of finishing up all my yard work. Lucas and I were pushing along at a great pace. I was clipping away at a withered peony and he was cheering me on. Then he reached down to help just as I was clipping some stems... and yup, his thumb was in there too! I was horrified! I praise God because although he didn't cry out something (well, the Lord) told me to stop immediately and let go of the handles. It is a miracle I did not cut his little thumb off. He was bleeding quite badly (I'm talking a steady trickle!), so I whipped off his sweatshirt and held pressure. Brian's dad drove us to Children's Urgent Care so I could continue holding pressure and by then Lucas was crying great big sobs! I felt SOOOOO bad! Luckily, if we keep his thumb splinted straight for a week the skin should heal together without any stitches. Thank goodness!

Throughout the evening Lucas reminded me very sternly, "Mommy, you cut my thumb. That's very bad! Don't do it again!" In fact those were his last words to me as I tucked him into bed. Ouch! I had just stopped getting teary eyed over the whole thing! I guess I have a lot of making up to do!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

All Dressed Up

Well, below are the kids in their costumes. We didn't go trick-or-treating because of the kids food allergies. I felt like it was pointless and cruel for them to collect candy (for me) when I would have to take a majority of it away (for me). We did do an outreach activity with our house church so we dressed them up for that and they had a good time.

They have had these adorable masks since last year, but they developed a nasty bout of croup, so we didn't get to use them. This year we were able to put them to good use (at least with Lucas anyway). This is the costume I quickly threw together the day before his party. Inexpensive brown sweats and long sleeve t-shirt from WalMart and a little left over fleece from last year's costume/pajamas made for an easy outfit.


Meow!


Lydia didn't really care for her headband at all. She looks thrilled! On the other hand, she loved Lucas' mask and had a ball pretending to be a crazed horseman! Notice the mask is on upside down!

They were so cute! Now on to thinking about a new Halloween tradition that doesn't include chocolate, peanuts and red dye!