Projects

There are lots of projects going down tonight. Daddy is working on reading homework.

Then there is the matter of paint color. What color of brown do we paint the living room to match the new furniture we are expecting? Derby Brown, Puppy Paw, Welcome, and the running favorite Applesauce Cake.
If only we just picked 100 brown paint swatches for Macey's "100th Day of School" project. Instead we are working on "100 of Macey's Favorite Things."
Things like the color Pink, Daddy, American Girl Dolls and her dog Jack. Who is also at the start of training on how to be a good dog.

One of my friends shared with me her notes on puppy training 101. We are starting with a puppy clicker, which I have attached to me at this moment. I keep clicking and throwing treats. Small steps...fingers crossed, I hope at the end of seven weeks it makes even a small difference.

Then there is Gavin trying to weed through his stuff. He is getting a new bed in a couple weeks. I think back to when we bought this bunk bed for him. He was four, and so proud of himself for being able to sleep on the top bunk. Now his feet hang off the end.

So there you have it ... the busy house growing, evolving, improving. Stay tuned to see the final results.

New Train Single....

Best Gifts

I spent a lot of time over the past Christmas season racking my mind for the perfect gifts. I had to ask myself, "What was the best gift I had ever received?" Amazingly, most of my gifts were just random gifts given to me for no reason at all. Here they are...

When I was a little girl my mom use to read to me. It was something we did together. Our first big chapter book was Charlotte's Web, then we read E.B. White's Stewart Little. Even as I got older, and my sister's came along, my mom always took time out to read to me. I loved this time...even if I did fidget and dance around the room as she read to me. Then she found this book called "Pennies for the Piper." This book had nothing on Charlotte's Web. We both cried. It was a very profound book to me at the time. As I got older we would talk about this book. We couldn't find it anywhere. My mom found it on ebay and gave it to me one Christmas. I have yet to read it again, but I plan to share it with Macey, and when I do I will have a full box of tissues on hand.


In my early twenties I collected bird houses...of all things. Not the kind that real birds could actually use, but ones to decorate the inside of my house. I had all kinds of crazy bird house knick-knacks. For no reason at all my Grumps (aka, grandpa) made me this bird house himself. I personally always found the lawn mower painted on the front of the house charming. My Grumps lives 1,800 plus miles away, and he made this just for me, for no reason at all. Probably why even though I have gotten rid of most of my bird house decorations...I've always kept this one close by. I love that he thought of me, for no reason at all!


Macey's first Christmas, daycare gave us a home made magnet showcasing Macey as an angel. Paul and I laughed and laughed because at the time Macey seemed far from an angel. She cried all the time. She was very high maintenance, as both of my babies were. My mom also surprised me with a portrait of Gavin when we was just a little over a year old. I love these, and they will forever have a spot on our fridge no matter how old they are.

Another gift that I truly loved is here. However I was so afraid we would break it that I didn't pack it away with our Christmas stuff and put it on top of the microwave. Paul knocked it one day late fall and it broke into a zillion bits.


When I was six or seven years old my dad took me to the mall to pick up my mom from work. While we were walking though Sears I must have admired this. My dad bought this bracelet for me, and I have saved it all this time. He has bought me many things but for some reason I have hung on to this forever. Back then it was such a rarity to buy things for no reason at all, we just didn't have the money.


I could go on and on about some of the other awesome gifts others have given me. Signed N.A. Noel paintings, Thursday flowers, tickets to see Train back stage, my mom coming and planting flowers at our new house when I was VERY pregnant with Macey, leather jackets, cans of hair spray (long story), even rocks, weeds, and pencils from my kids.

The best gifts are the ones that show you listen. When you admire something at a friends house and months later you recieve it from them as a gift, it is not so much the item, but that they listened, and remembered. Better gifts are the ones that come just because, for no reason at all. All of my favorite things would amount to nothing of monetary value, but to me they are priceless.

Always Kiss me Goodnight

I see the sign "Always Kiss me Goodnight" for children's rooms. However, I think I need one for me. I don't want my kids to ever stop kissing me goodnight.

Kary Crocker strikes again...

My sister joked with me and said she saw this sign that said "Many people have eaten my food and gone on to live normal lives," and it made her think of me. My family is banking on the fact that this statement is true.

Welcome Winter Weather

Yesterday it was sunny and 45 (very windy). Overnight it turned into winter, twenty something and snow.



On a side note Macey got these awesome boots from Aunt Kelly for Christmas. Everywhere we go someone will stop her and compliment her on such cute boots.

Resolutions...what will you continue to do right?

So it is that day each year where all of us reflect on the past and think of what we should be doing better. This year I have a few resolutions...
I want to find a church home.
I want to print up the photos I take and organize them.
Work on home improvements.

More importantly, remember last year?? I believe that you should make a list of the things you currently are doing right and vow to continue.

For this year I would like to continue to spend more time with Taylor, I like our lunches.

Keep growing my hair...I am trying so hard not to cut it.

Keep trying my hand at cooking.

Keep snapping pictures.

What are your resolutions for this coming year? I would love to know.