ethiHOPEia

my love affair with whoopie pies

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:28:43 +0000

So, today I got in the mail a free pedometer. I figure I will be shocked with the lack of exercise I get these days or I may be surprised with how many steps I do take in a day with three little ones. I am guessing it will be the previous. Yesterday we had the chance to stop at Trader Joes since we were in Charlotte and when I spotted the whoopie pies I just couldn’t pass them up. YUM. So, today I put my pedometer on and promptly walked through the kitchen and spotted the three remaining whoopie pies. It would be such a shame to let those little pies of yumminess go bad…so, I took a walk AND ate a whoopie pie. 1038 steps and a long ways to 10,000. The end.

Mothers Day

Mon, 10 May 2010 02:38:40 +0000

j made mother’s day quite delightful as he literally slaved away in the kitchen for most of it. He made a spectacular dinner of london broil, smoothered in rosemary and some of the best mashed potatoes ever. I seriously could have eaten a plate of the potatoes and been 100% satisfied! He is big on the avocado right now, and so we had some in a nice salad with homemade dressing. To top it off, he made an amazing cake, yes, from scratch! This little number was on the cover of the December issue of Southern Living and he has drooled over it since. I looked at how long it would take to make and saw the 6-7 hour time-frame and decided that I’d let better women than I tackle that one. I must say, he was busy for most of the night and day today making it. I think he deserves a huge blue ribbon for what he pulled off! Thanks Babe!

It’s been pure joy having these three children all together this past year. The ups and downs have come and continue yet…and I pray my Maker is making me into a better Mom for it. It was a sweet day indeed.

Soccer

Thu, 06 May 2010 03:17:02 +0000

C has recently started playing a 5-year+ soccer league. One could hardly call it a league, I suppose, but it’s great for us. There are 2 games a week for one month. So far, he has had a lot of fun, and it will be great for him to learn team work and following the directions of the coach/refs.

The first game was rainy, which made it all the more fun. And an extremely abnormal trip to DQ (we’re not health nuts, but DQ is definitely not on our radar) sealed the deal. I told him I’d get him whatever he wanted, and just like his old man, he got a full-blown banana split. Good work, son.

Here are a few photos (look for #1 – he was given that number, seriously)

c sheds the wheels

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:53:15 +0000

April 3, 2010. The day c decided to ditch the training wheels. He just hopped on, and rode off. He’s hardly stopped since. Take a look. This video is of the day he took them off. Quite a lot happened in this one day.

P.S. A cookie for whoever identifies the artist/track in the video.

One Year Video

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:28:48 +0000

OK, so we’re a few days late. And the video ended up being almost 20 minutes long. And it’s over 100 Mb.

So, if you don’t make it through, we understand. And if you’re on a slow connection, all apologies. But here it is. The past year in a nutshell. And, at the beginning and end, some back-story, making it 3+ years in 18+ minutes. Not bad.

Hope you enjoy.

P.S. It’s Canaan, I know. It’s 2:26 AM, and I do not want to export this thing yet again. Maybe tomorrow.

UPDATE: A few subtitles added to explain a few photos. Canaan now spelled properly.

Thanks to all our viewers out there. Your kind words are much appreciated.

The Cat in the Hat

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:47:35 +0000

Storytime! A dear friend of ours – one of the best storytellers of all time, mind you – has a yearly time when she dresses up as the Cat in the Hat for children to adore. Well, today was the day, and c, e and little h went to see. They also had their faces painted while they were there. We have several cats running around the house this afternoon.

Click on the thumbnails below to see the full shot.

Ways To Save…

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:46:10 +0000

Around the beginning of the new year I wanted to work on saving money in the area of groceries. I was launched into a world of frugal mamma blogs and lost in the various drug store reward lingo; just generally amazed at the wealth of information out there. I started printing coupons off the internet and often felt like I was spreading information all over the web in an effort to save some money.

I am quite sure I STILL have much to learn. Just yesterday another Mom told me about a great website to look up. Our family tends to not eat a lot of processed foods or sugary cereals so sometimes I feel like most of the coupons out there don’t help us out much. I don’t have time to go to three or four different grocery stores to get the best deals and it really does take a lot of hours to look up coupons and plan out shopping trips. Now of course, I am just starting and I am sure as time goes on, I’ll get the hang of it!

I’d like to share with you some things that I have particularly found helpful so far in my search. The first is a great new book by a blogger, Mary Ostyn. It is called Family Feasts for $75 a Week and I love it! She starts the book with tips on how she feeds her family of 12 with an exceptionally small amount of money. Throughout the book, which includes 200 recipes, she has ideas on keeping kids happy while out shopping, the most cost effective way to feed breakfast to a large family, shopping tips for navigating grocery stores and places like Costco and other helpful ideas. She has homemade recipes for things like cream of mushroom/chicken soups which I use as a base for crock pot recipes. One thing she is big on is making a price list of all the groceries you purchase. I’ve been documenting the normal price of my groceries at various area stores so I know when a sale is really a good sale. I’ve tried out several of her recipes and my family will heartily agree that they are good.

Another blog I find helpful is done by an old college friend. She collects great deals from various websites so you don’t have to spend a lot of time going to numerous places (of which there are many!). I am sure there are many other people who do the same as Spend Freely, but I am loyal to her blog. In fact, I recently got a coupon book of nice coupons here that Spend Freely posted. If I can get on the ball, I’ll try to let you know about opportunities like this.

The last thing I’ve been doing is called Swagbucks. It is a way to earn prizes such as gift cards to amazon, simply by searching the internet through their search engine. I’ve only been doing it for a month or so and I have a lot of points racked up. I am not going to cash in for a while, but it seems to be worth it. We’ll see how it goes!

So that is the start to my journey of being more careful with grocery spending. If you have any helpful tips feel free to leave a comment, I love hearing from you!

Valentines

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:32:36 +0000

This week we’ve had fun making some valentines. Actually, we started last week because I thought Valentine’s Day was just this past Sunday! j was joking with me because we usually are late for birthday cards and anniversary cards, but I sure got those Valentine’s sent out on time!

I wanted to share with you two links that I look to for ideas for kids and crafts. The first one is the Crafty Crow and the second one I just found is called Skip To My Lou. I have come across several ideas for this Valentine’s Day from these two blogs, including the “stained glass hearts” we made for our school room window!

Enjoy all the cutting, gluing and glitter!

The Greatness of God

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:26:16 +0000

Last night I was lying in bed after reading this blog from some missionaries living in Haiti and my mind began to wander. I was reflecting on some of the images and stories this family has shared with us and the dreadful turmoil this little country is currently in. Then I began thinking of other little countries around the globe that have their own drama going on. From terrorism to wars and famine, the list continues. Yet, God above is intimately aware of each person’s suffering on this planet of ours and He has NO BREAK from the constant pain.

How Great is our God! I live my own life, safe in my warm home and my current drama is three fighting kids or a certain little one who randomly wets his pants, or keeping a five year old focused enough to teach him to read. I get breaks…nap time or bed time and I still get so frustrated. I am awed by my Savior who doesn’t throw in the towel and let the world spin completely out of control as He deals with all the hurt, angry, sinful, pain-filled human race.

Some of you know the blog, A Holy Experience, which I like to follow. Recently she did a post about snowflakes and the wonder of the greatness of God…I think I had an “Ann moment” last night , only I can’t articulate it like she can!

May we each be awed by our God and all the tiny details He is sovereign over.

She Didn’t Like It

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:31:12 +0000

Here is little h’s first experience with snow. She was finally consoled by an icicle…afterall, what kid doesn’t like one?