Five Things

Five Things that make ME feel nurtured (inspired by Heather):

* time before bed that Tyler and I talk (and sometimes it is for hours!)
* crafting uninterrupted (sewing or knitting)
* looking through old pictures and memories (we are DEEP cleaning around here)
* my once a week bath as of late
* going on a walk (without kids and without feeling guilty)

What are yours?
This was much harder for me than I thought. I really need to start nurturing myself more. I tend to feel guilty when I leave Tyler with the kids, but maybe I will start getting over that! I will need even more ME time when that third one arrives!


Also, check out Soulemama today.... great giveaway for Lisa Leonard Designs (Love them!)

One Small Change's progress

Our One Small Change for the month of January was to eat more meatless meals; and that we have! Every week, I have been making a menu, and we have been sticking to them more or less (with a few oatmeal days here and there!). So I call this a huge success, and one that I will be continuing.
It is kind of funny because this also coincides with our decision to stick to a food budget. And this was also a success. We set a certain amount and kept a log on an envelope. We did actually go over it by about $50, but considering before this we were spending about $6-700 a month on food (yeah, I don't know how that happened!) I thought that $460 was a great amount. We are going to probably keep it at around $450 because we are including going out in this amount too. And sometimes it is worth that extra money to NOT have to clean up your kitchen, or prepare a yummy meal. At least at 9 months pregnant!
I also have been setting goals in my crafting and things, and this month, so far I have come so close. Good thing I have a couple more days- Ayla's quilt isn't going to get done on it's own. And the second bootie is coming along... probably about 1 more hour on it? I am going knitting tonight at the coffee house, so maybe I will be able to get it finished!

I would have put new pictures on here, but I can't seem to find the camera. We have some cute ones of the kids playing outside. Ayla has been wearing a purple snowsuit pretty much all day long. Then Colton will decide to get his on, and they get their gloves and snowboots and head out the back door. They cannot wait until Spring and Summer. Neither can I.

11-20

Our weekend has been full of packing up parts of the house. From every book we have read, or show we have seen, it is best to declutter your house from top to bottom when you are trying to sell it, so that is what we are trying to do before the baby comes! Everything is going to storage that is not needed... I think I am going to love it and not want the stuff back! Even though our house is in disarray, it is coming around. We have so far packed up 6 or 7 boxes and put a couple items on Craigslist that are not needed in our house (a toddler bed with crib mattress and a Babee Tenda Feeding Table).
Can't believe that we only have about 5 more weeks until baby is here. I am so excited and anxious! I finished one little slipper for the babe (so cute!!) and am getting started on the second. They are time consuming because they are so tiny, but so worth it... absolutely adorable. They will undoubtedly end up as one of the pictures on here.. guaranteed!

More pictures for my picture a day goal... some are from the same days, but I am playing catch up right now!

(11:365)

(12:365)

(13:365)

(14:365)

(15:365)

(16:365)

(17:365)

(18:365)

(19:365)

(20:365)

Picture a Day

this is inspired by Jessie, at Inside the Paper Box. I recently came across her blog, and entered a contest for this wonderful box.... and I WON!!! She recently blogged about having a picture a day for the year... narrowing it down to one picture! So i am backtracking and filling in some blanks, but i am going to start ... today!
i love browsing the blog world and often get sucked in for a ... very... long... time!

Here is 1-10
(1:365)

(2:365)

(3:365)

(4:365)

(5:365)

(6:365)

(7:365)

(8:365)

(9:365)

(10:365)

In a nutshell

Our one small change project is going well. I think last week we ate 3, maybe even 4 meatless dinners! Tyler was gone one night, and I didn't want to make what was on the menu, so we had oatmeal and bananas. It was awesome!

I tried my hand at making the 5 minute bread, and it turned out pretty good. I am such a bread lover, and this is right up my alley. Easy and tasty. The first loaf was undercooked, but I ate it anyways... this picture is of the second loaf, and it was still a little undercooked. We are getting there. I am a huge fan of fresh bread with spaghetti, or soup, or well, .... pretty much anything!Train tracks are huge in our house, and pretty much a daily thing. We have an open floor plan, which is very conducive to train building. Plus, Tyler is a master builder from years of practice.
Ayla has discovered what she likes to watch on Youtube... piggies and bunnies! Such a girl!

In other news, we are thinking of putting our house on the market in the very near future. We are pretty excited and very nervous about this, but it is what must be done! Anyone have any suggestions for "For Sale by Owner"? Any books or what not we should read?

and... we only have about 5-6 weeks left! Can you believe that!

The Boy's half birthday

,


We celebrated Colton's half birthday this last weekend... just a reason to make a cake and sing Happy Birthday, really. The kids thought it was fun. We made a coconut cake with chocolate frosting.... yumm! And the kids got to put sprinkles all over it, their favorite part.
My back has been hurting the last week, so I have trying to take it easy on myself. I can't believe that we are at almost 33 weeks! It is moving along so fast! I made a list of projects I would like to finish before the little one is here, but right now, I can't sit at the sewing machine for too long, so I might have to just knit my projects. We will see. I am knitting a scarf for Colton, that is coming along. But I would like to knit some booties and a hat for the little one. I have been having girl feelings the last couple of days, but who knows. I have a 50/50 chance, right?
I found out yesterday that we are going on vacation in October to Mazatlan, Mexico! We are so excited. The kids have to get passports, so we have to get on that. My parents are going and some of my brothers/sisters/spouses. Lots of fun (and babysitters!) Just kidding! Hope your week is going well, and have a happy Tuesday!

50 things to do in 485 days

I know, interesting (and weird) title. Well, Tyler and I were inspired by 1001 Day Project, and decided to come up with one similar that fit into our time here in left in Montana. We have had a list of things we would like to do while we live in this beautiful corner of Northwest Montana. Unfortunately, we have not accomplished everything. So we are ready for a little challenge. We hope we can accomplish all of our goals (we have until May 2011), but we know that life sometimes life gets busy and complicated. Here they are:

1. Visit Yellowstone
2. Visit Grand Teton National Park
3. Backpack camping to Link Lake
4. Camping at most of the different campgrounds in Glacier
5. snowboard (Brooke and Tyler) at Big Mountain
6. snowboard (Brooke and Tyler) at Blacktail
7. Pay off car
8. sell house
9. shoot a big buck (Tyler)
10. get rid of things we don't need
11. go sledding at Heron Park
12. snowshoe Lonepine
13. go to final Mariner's game 2010 season
14. have a healthy baby (This should be number 1, but they really aren't in order)
15. make Tech-Sergeant
16. stick to our budget
17. take kids skiing (at a local park)
18. go ice fishing
19. take a cooking class at college
20. take 2 classes each at college for credit
21. run a 10k race
22. take a romantic getaway for 2 nights
23. hike 5 new hikes
24. pick huckleberries (yumm!)
25. go rafting
26. golf Eagle Bend (Bigfork) (Tyler)
27. go out to eat to 3 new and different restaurants
28. join an organized team
29. research trip to Mexico... pick top 10 things to do
30. research trip to Seattle... pick top 5 things to do
31. kayak on a beautiful lake
32. make a cleaning schedule and stick to it
33. become comfortable with only having three kids
34. get professional pictures done next fall
35. put things on Craigslist by end of March
36. write in the kids journals every month (check at end of month)
37. keep inside of car clean (check every Sunday)
38. Tyler read War & Peace
39. Brooke read Anna Karinina
40. teach Colton to read
41. start teaching Colton and Ayla at home a couple times a week
42. have $2500 in savings by the time we leave
43. going out to 3 new restraunts here locally
44. go to HOA meeting and speak our mind (!)
45. have something fun planned when we have visitors
46. get our tattoos
47. donate blood
48. volunteer
49. go apple picking/cherry picking next year
50. go to the pottery place in whitefish and make something

What do you think? I am also participating in the 1001 Day Challenge, which is 101 things list in 1001 days. I haven't yet completed my list, but it is getting there!

I re-injured my back yesterday, rushing down to pick up the baby that I watch (Ayla was about to push him over!), but I think it is on the mend! The kids have been wonderful and very helpful, and Tyler has been the BEST HUSBAND EVER!!! We went to my 32 week OB appointment this morning and the baby is measuring right on, with a heartbeat of 140(ish). I had another dream last night that it was a perfect baby girl (that was brought to us out of a tent!) but when I am awake, I still feel like it is a boy. Only time will tell, right?

Long weekend

This holiday season has been filled with a lot of things: relaxing, playing, being outside in the snow, being with friends, crafting. Such a great time for all of us.For the One Small Change project with our choice to have a couple meatless meals each week, we have been doing really well! We had peanut butter sandwiches on the 1st (I know, it isn't really a dinner, but none of us were really all that hungry due to waking up so late), and then spaghetti the next night with no meat in it. We had quiche last night with no meat, but Tyler really wanted some of the turkey sausage that we had... and it was good. But 2 out of 3 nights is not bad!

One Small Change

Today is the beginning of the New Year: 2010. Wow. There were so many great and wonderful things that occurred in 2009, but we are ready to meet 2010 with open arms and hearts ready to be filled.
I decided for the family that we would participate in the One Small Change challenge, brought by the smart people at Hip Mountain Mama. What it entails is making one tiny (or huge) "green" change a month leading up to Earth Day in April; and blog about it.

The January change I chose for us was making more meatless meals. For one thing, meat is expensive. Granted, Tyler is a hunter, and has gotten a deer the last two years, so we do have a good amount of organic grass fed yummy meat in the freezer. Another thing about meat is that it is expensive to raise. I don't know the exact numbers, maybe I will get around to getting that in a blog here soon, but raising an animal to maturity (cow, pig, sheep) costs an insane amount of money per pound of actual edible meat. And the cost isn't just calculated in a monetary form either. There is a big tax on the environment as well. With huge operations (which is where most of us get our meat from) the waste created by these animals is exponentially greater than what it is really worth.(not a new deer, just a reminder!)

I like eating meat, and I don't intend to become a vegetarian (again), but I figured if we could commit to 2-3 meatless meals a week, we could benefit in many ways. By switching the menu around, we will be open to different recipes (Yummy!); our deer meat supply might last us till next hunting season; and we will save money. All while creating our One Small Change.
Join me (or us) and think about what you could change.