things you can do when you have a backyard:

You can cut some flowers to give your pastor's wife.

You can paint on the picnic table outside and get it everywhere if you want because...well, because it's outside.

You can twirl...

..and you can climb.

And you can hang your clothes to dry after you get in the kiddie pool fully dressed.

You can play in the tent Mommy made on the clothes line out of a sheet.

And you can ride bikes on the deck.  The first time they did this, Natalie said, "look Mom, I turned!" Because on the little patio we had before, there was no turning going on :)

And you can have a picnic lunch under the big tree in your front yard.  We tried to name our tree.  We determined it's a girl tree (because Natalie said so,) but her name is yet undecided. We are open to suggestions.

From our yard to yours, have a Happy Monday :)

sweat equity and lots of family

We closed on our house yesterday and we're moving tomorrow, yayayayayay!!!!!  I cannot wait to show you the transformation over the next several months.  First up, we had to remove alllll the carpet in the living and dining rooms, the stairs and the entire upstairs.  It's a big job.  Thankfully, we know plenty of capable men that can help :)  I was prepared for anything, but these floors look gorgeous.  Tip-top shape.

I'll keep you posted as much as possible, although the next few days will probably be as crazy as the last few.  Before it goes too long, though, here are a few pics from when my sister's family visited.  It was truly an amazing time for us all to be together, I really, really loved it.

Oh, my goodness, that will have to do for now.  I tried to pick the best ones to post, but there's so many!!  As you can see, there were an abundance of shoes and Macs that week. (We are Apple people.)  I'll have to share more as time goes on, but for now, I better get packing!!

food for thought...

Here at our house, we're awash in wonderful family activity.  My sister and her family are visiting for the week (my 3 plus her 5 equals 8 kiddos in the house!) and we are having too much fun together for me to spend much time going through the bazillion pictures I've taken.  So, here's something for your reading pleasure while you wait for me to get on the stick. I read Elisabeth Elliot's daily devotional online as often as I can.  Here's the site if you're interested.  This one is called Safeguard for the Soul and I was particularly blessed by it this past week:

Souls are vulnerable things. They need safeguards. It was when Paul was in prison that this idea came to him. He had just been writing to the Philippians about the benefits that accrued because of his own sufferings and the possible death he might die. He told them of Epaphroditus' illness and anxiety, and finished with "In conclusion, my brothers, delight yourselves in the Lord!...You will find it a great safeguard to your souls" (Phil 3:1 JBP).

It would be very easy to allow depression and anxiety to overcome us when we look at the dismal circumstances in which we sometimes find ourselves. Who had better reason than Paul for depression? ("Oh well, but he was Saint Paul!" we counter.) He had learned by practice how to apply the soul's safeguard, which is not mere enjoyment. It is delight. This is a command and therefore an act of will, and it is done in the Lord. No circumstance is so dismal as to prevent obedience to the command. No trouble can blast that safeguard. Do it. Do it by faith. Delight yourself in the Lord. Maybe you will have to get out of bed, get up from your chair, go outdoors and walk, sing a song out loud, bake a pie for somebody, or mow the lawn as an offering of praise. You can do something which will help you to obey that command. It is amazing how strongly what we do affects how we feel.

on stage

Natalie had her very first ballet recital over the weekend.  The pics I got at the dress rehearsal weren't great, so I took her outside before we left for the recital and took these pictures of her in her costume.  She did so good. And not an ounce of stage fright.  All she kept saying was, "I love being on stage, I wanna keep doing ballet so I can go on stage again!"  I'm so proud of her :)

moving right along

I have Natalie's quilt top pretty much finished!! It's so beautiful! I say almost because there will be a border of strawberry fabric on the top and bottom.  I was going to piece these borders together out of scraps I had left, but Natalie really wants strawberries on the quilt, so I'm going to order this one:

...although, now that I'm looking, this one is nice too:

hmmmmm. Now I'm not really sure what to do.  I like the fun factor in the first one, but the second one may be more in keeping with the quilt's style.  Opinions??  I wish I would have taken a pic of the entire thing, but I packed it in a big box with the rest of my sewing stuff to be moved to our new house.  Sorry.  This means I will be doing no sewing for a few weeks, but don't worry, I have plenty to write about.  Always an adventure around here!

Which brings me to my next question:  I need moving tips!!!! I do not like packing. I've always known that.  I don't mind the unpacking (although I've never done that with three littles under my feet, so we'll see if I still like it after this ;)  What makes moving go smoothly for you???

The Pursuit of Healthyness

I've been wanting to incorporate some health and fitness into my blog for several months now, but I wasn't really sure how to start, since health and fitness is a veeeeeeeeeerrrry multifaceted subject and optimum health is different for everyone. So, I'm just going to share some of my own experiences with you and pray that it inspires or encourages in some way!

First, some background: Last year, six months after having my third baby, I bought a new scale. I weighed more than my husband. He's 6' 2" and a strong dude, so it was horrifying for me. I immediately determined to get busy, stop lying to myself, and get my body back! I think the number one tip I would give anyone, is to start a food journal. My journal began with a prayer (because I know the Lord desires good health for me and I knew I couldn't do it without Him!) and continued to be a prayer journal as well as a place to record what I was eating. Make your journal super honest! Before that wake-up call, I was eating M&M's like they were going out of style and guzzling Dr. Pepper like nobody's business. The M&M's were the first thing to go. I haven't had one since. The soda came later, but I'm going to talk about the sugar habit in another post. I immediately began noticing things I could change, like ordering "skinny" at Starbucks, leaving the mayo off of sandwiches, and looking up fat and calorie counts before going to restaurants, so I would know what I was going to have. I lost 50 pounds between March and October of last year, simply by making small changes to my diet, particularly portion sizes (one BLT instead of two, for example.)

Sooooo, this is not the whole story, (obviously, there is more to weight loss than this) but I really wanted to share this brief history so I can keep telling my story later on. However, I do want to share some progress on my New Year's Resolution to become a runner! Living in Colorado, I quickly realized that running was not practical until Spring :) so last week (after some encouragement from my mom to find some method of stress release) I laced up my running shoes and started out. I fell in l-o-v-e. I don't know if it was being outside, or being able to leave the kids at home, or just utilizing my body in that way, but I really liked it. I downloaded the couch to 5K running program, printed it out and started crossing of the days. I also got a free running app for my iPhone that keeps track of the time and distance for me. I'm lovin' it. Casey said he'd run a 5k with me sometime this fall, so I'll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, I would LOVE some of you to do this with me!!! If you want to be my virtual running partner, please email me!

On an unrelated note, look how well my herbs are doing! I've already used them all in recipes and they just grow right back so beautifully :)