Favorite Things!

I love reading other blogs where the writer recommends their favorite things. Helps give me new ideas or encourages me to try things I may not have thought of. Here are some of our favorite things at the moment:
This place is too much fun! We spend many afternoons here.

My new favorite exercise: x-bike. Some of the most difficult exercise I have ever done!



This is our favorite fruit at the moment. So sweet and makes the perfect dessert.

Last year I gave in to the spray on sunscreen and face stick fad. They are more expensive, but the convenience is worth the cost!

   

Saw my friend recommend these on her blog. I was somewhat skeptical, but I trusted Stef’s judgment. We bought some and they were AWESOME! We were so sick this past Winter/Spring. They really help get the goop off the kids noses without the extreme rubbing that it takes with a Kleenex or plain old wipe.

Summer Wreath

Crafting has been put on hold lately. My efforts have been focused on getting a regular workout routine down. I was very tired at first, and only had energy to focus on that. The routine has been established, and I began to get the itch to finish up some projects that I had started.

It was time for a Summer wreath. I had some burlap leftover from a wreath fail. I saw a wreath on Pinterest that gave me some inspiration and decided to go for it.

My inspiration:

I loved the stripes, but I didn’t have the yarn in the colors I wanted. I decided to wrap my pool noodle wreath with the leftover burlap, and then I painted the stripes. I added some felt flowers and a ribbon hanger. It took me a little bit of time, but I am pleased with the results.

 

Sports

While browsing Pinterest I found this:

It should also say “and DVR games for their husbands.”  When the SF Giants are out of town the games are often played earlier in the day/evening, so they need to be recorded before my hubby gets home. I try to  remember to record the games for my husband. It is a small thing, but he really appreciates it.

My hubby and I have very different hobbies, but this is one common hobby we share. We love sports! My husband loves sports-playing and watching. He loved to play in his younger years, and he would still love to play. However, 3 kids puts a real damper on that hobby. I loved playing sports growing up and watched a lot of them as well.

When we were dating, we played tennis together. It was a simple, free date. We have lots of good memories. We were able to revisit this hobby on Saturday. Abe’s mom watched all 3 of our kids, so we could go play tennis together. We were quite rusty and really pretty pathetic. However, we had a blast. We got some good exercise and some good laughs. So fun!

As we have become more housebound with our kiddos, we have enjoyed watching sports together after they go to bed. We love to watch baseball, tennis, and football together. We record the games and we try to avoid seeing the score to keep the ending a surprise. I don’t always stay awake, but we really enjoy this time together and it is a great way unwind.

We are looking forward to going to an SF Giants game on Friday with our siblings. They are playing the Cubs, so Abe’s brother Johnny will be rooting for them while we cheer for the Giants. Abe bought us tickets to the Giants/Braves game in August. I grew up loving the Braves, so that will be a fun game to watch.

Go Giants!

Star of the Week

Chase is the Star of the Week at school this week. They get to bring home the class’ Corduroy bear and some books. They get to be the line leader and be Miss H’s helper. Chase has waited so patiently for it to be his turn. He would tell me every Monday, “I hope I am Star of the Week!” The great thing is that he never let is disappointment override his happiness for the person who was chosen. He was sincerely happy for them and just looked forward to the next week when he had a chance to be chosen. So sweet!
They ask the parents to write a letter to the child to be read in front of the class. He is a letter to my sweet boy:
May 9, 2012
Dear Chase and Chase’s Classmates,
I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. You were so tiny and cute. You hardly cried for the first couple days of your life even when you were in some pain. The nurse took you way for some testing and procedures some of which didn’t feel good, and when she brought you back to us she said, “he is the tiniest baby in the nursery but the bravest baby!” She said you were the only baby not crying. You started tiny, but you grew very fast. You waited to walk a little longer than some babies, but once you started to walk you quickly began running. We have been “chasing” after you ever since.
You are a strong-willed and very determined kid. You have more energy than we know what do with. It hasn’t been easy for you to learn how to control you words and your body. However, we have seen so much growth and maturity this past year. We are grateful that the Lord is helping you learn self-control and discipline.
You are such a kind and loving big brother. You are always excited to see your brother and sister in the morning. You play with them and try to help them learn new things. They love you so much, and they get so excited when we pick you up from school.
Your love of learning is so wonderful. It is so fun to watch you get excited about homework packets and learning new concepts. We love when you tell us about all the fun things you are learning. We love your desire to do your best work and how careful you are when you do your work. Your ability to focus has amazed us. We thank Miss H. for helping you learn to focus for long periods of time. J
We love that you are an encourager and love to help people. You are a friendly guy and so careful to greet your friends or say goodbye. Your ability to make friends with new people anywhere we go is also so fun to watch. Hope you never lose that!
Daddy and I are so proud to call you our son. We love you sooooo much!!
Love,
Mommy

Naptime!

Some days I live for naptime. I so look forward to the peace and calm. No one is moving, or talking, asking for something. It is a much needed break in my day. It is also a time I use to get some things done like cleaning, emailing, crafting, blogging, exercising, browsing Pinterest, and sometimes rest. Chase goes to school at noon, so I usually come home and put the other 2 down soon after we get home. Maggie just lays down in her crib with a blanket and I shut the door. I usually read books to Parker and lay him down and leave. This was our routine since Chase started school. Then things changed about 2 months ago.
He started to fight naptime. He would get up and open the door. He would bang on the wall. He would take clothes out of the dresser. He would throw stuffed animals around. Get up to use the bathroom multiple times. This would go on for about an hour. Finally I would just give up. I feared he was trying to give up naps altogether. It was so discouraging and not restful at all for me. This started when he was about 2.5. I think that is too young to give up naps, and his attitude and behavior proved I was correct. He was tired and needed a nap.
We all got very sick about a month ago. Chase was home for a week with the flu, and then he had 2 weeks off for Spring Break. The kids napped every single day. They were tired! I would read some books, and then Chase would lay down and fall right asleep. I laid down with Parker and we both would fall asleep. I learned that if I laid with him for about 5 minutes he would fall right asleep. He loves to lay on my arm, prop his little “feets” on my legs, and snuggle down into the covers. He would smack his little lips, and his eyes got very drowsy. He would fall into a deep sleep.
I learned to slow down, enjoy my kid, and take a break from my to-do list. He needs me to snuggle him to sleep, and I am ok with it! I don’t think I will ever regret my naptime snuggles.

An Affordable and Memorable Gift Idea

Years ago I remember helping my Grandpa get ready for the 4th of July. He was getting his American Flag out of the garage, and I commented on the great quality of his flag. He mentioned that the flag was flown over the US Capitol on his and my grandma’s 40th wedding anniversary.

Well, fast forward about 7 or 8 years and Abe and I were getting ready to get married. I remembered my grandpa’s flag and thought it would be neat to have a flag flown on our wedding day. I placed my order, and our flag came about 6 weeks later. It sat in a box for a long time, but I found a way to display it our home. Our flag plus a window from my parents’ house equals and extremely special wall hanging in our home!

 

The great thing about these flags is that they are extremely affordable to order. It is only $17.30 for a 3’x5’ cotton flag or $28.05 for a 5’x8’ flag. We have the smaller one, and it is plenty big. They are GREAT quality flags. We have 2 couples in our church getting married in the next 2 months. I am going to order them a flag for their gifts. My friend who used to work at the US Capitol mentioned that they order them for each of their children for the date of their birth. I think it could be an awesome shower gift. Just fill out the form, attach a check, and put the form in a card for the parents to mail in once the baby is born and the birthday is known. It could also be good for a special anniversary, milestone birthday, graduation, etc.

Here is how you go about ordering your flag:

1. Find your US Senator or Representative here or here. We live in California, and I just chose a Senator (these women are not my choice for Senators, but I have not control over that…blech!)

2. Go to their website.

3. Find the order form. Now this part might vary by the member. You might have to do some searching around. You can always send them an e-mail or give them a call if you can’t find the form. I went to “Constituent Services” and the link to the form was found there.

I scrolled down to find and clicked “read more”:

4. Complete the instructions to order the flag. One thing to mention is that the orders can only be placed 6 weeks in advance. Make sure you don’t send in the forms too early.

The order form:

I am going to complete the forms and send them off. Their flags will come in the mail to them a few weeks after the wedding. I hope the new couples will enjoy their flags as much as I enjoy ours. If anything they will be ready for the 4th of July

Long time no blog…

We were sick for about 3 weeks. We had the flu, colds, injured neck/back and all sort of fun things. It was no fun, and I hope sickness stays far from us for a while.

Chase is on Spring Break right now for two weeks. We have had a blast! It will be sad to see him go back to school. We enjoy having an open schedule and him home with us. I have some blogging to do about Maggie’s 1st birthday, her 12 months update, updates about the boys, and some crafting stuff.

For now I will leave you with a new recipe (found on Pinterest) I tried tonight. It was super easy and turned out great!

Here is the blog where the recipe is found. I altered the recipe and substituted non-fat Greek yogurt for the mayo. I added a little lemon juice, garlic powder, and a little salt. After baking for 20 minutes, I broiled the dish for 2 minutes to brown the bread crumbs.