Remains from Herod the Great’s palace at Caesarea MaritimaOriginal floor from Herod the Great’s palace at Caesarea Maritima
Today was a happy day. Honestly, just the prospect of having the car and being able to go out and buy Christmas decorations temporarily erased the thought that my husband was gone. I had this funny mental image of myself holding a cardboard sign that said in sloppy black marker, “Will trade husband for car.” (I’ll never understand my mind) Apparently I chose flippancy as my way of dealing with Paul’s departure on day one.
I did realize how important it would be to not lose my car key. Going to try very hard to give extra attention to putting it where it belongs.
While the little girls slept, Hope and Sophia and I cut little triangles of scrapbook paper to make Christmas banners. Then we made banana bread, which is always a hoot.
At bedtime the girls went to sleep fine. We’d been able to maintain a happy, upbeat tone all day.
I wanted to go to sleep and probably could have except that I had to prepare a craft for the next night at AWANA. When that was complete, I began trying to go to bed.
It’s hard to turn out that last light. After everything was ready and I couldn’t bring myself to do anymore, I realized…this is going to be hard. Thirteen nights like this. And this is only the first.
Thanks for reading my first series: Taking care of four little girls alone (while my husband is on an amazing study trip to Israel). Here are links to the other related posts.
Hello dear friends, family, and readers! I hope that you all are doing well on this lovely day.
Unfortunately, my computer screen is not behaving; fortunately, I’ve been wanting to rerun the Israel series (since it occurred before I had told most of you that I was doing this).
Starting today, I’m going to rerun all of the posts. And hopefully by then I’ll have my computer working again. If you want to see a few other related posts to the Israel trip, you may check them out here and here.
This series begins on the day that he left, after working until six o’clock the previous night, spending the evening with the girls, deciding to start packing at 11:22 pm, running to Walmart at midnight, and finally going to bed… oh, about two.
I possess a strange set of emotions; most of the time they kick in way after the fact. I’m saying this because I really had no idea how I was going to react to him leaving. Would I cry? Be scared? Try to remember every detail of his face in case it was the last time I saw him? Not feel anything at all? Act tough? Act wimpy? What would the girls do?
Two weeks before he left, I went through several days of wondering if I was going to survive. Like literally, survive. He’s gonna die; or I’m not going to make it; or something… I’m pretty sure life as I know it is over.
Thankfully, with the next week came some hormonal straightening out and I began feeling nothing. This is cool. We’re going to be fine. It’ll be so fun to have the car (for the first time in months).
I began to wonder if something was wrong with me for not feeling more sober or anxious about it.
Planning my grocery list and menu for the week he would be gone gave me the first feeling of true nervousness in my stomach. All right; so I am normal. And yeah, this is going to be okay, but it’s also going to be hard and sad and lonely.
When Paul got home from work the night before he left, the sadness hit hard. That’s it. There’s nothing between him and this trip now.
The theatre at Caesarea Maritima
I loved the girls reactions to him when saying good-bye on the morning he left.
Hope began truly crying, “You’re going to be gone for such a long time!”
Sophia smiled at him excitedly, “Are you coming home for lunch?”
And what did I feel? Excitement for him. I’m sure some mental compartment noted that him going down the stairs that last time meant I would be on my own for two weeks, but all I could think about was how much he was anticipating this incredible opportunity.
So there you have it. The next post will start with our first day on our own (while Paul got stuck in airports for hours, had flights canceled, gates changed, and ate a lot of Five Guys.)
I love a good challenge and had been so excited about this particular one… but gold?
Even though it took about forty-seven ideas and nineteen redirections, I’m really happy with what this project has added to my kitchen.
DIY Gilded Canisters (made out of plastic Folgers coffee cans).
I’ve been saving our Folgers coffee containers for months now and turning them into canisters for flour, sugar, etc. They’re perfect! They hold much more than regular canisters and easily fit any measuring cup.
My original idea sounded easy enough: paint three of the cans a vanilla color with gold lids, and make the flour can all gold. Then I wanted to stencil the words on because I love that look.
If only it had been that easy.
The cans covered fairly easy with regular paint, but the lids did not. (I used Martha Stewart’s all-purpose craft paint in gold for those and was not impressed! Smells terrible, high price, took six or seven coats and still doesn’t look covered to me.)
I could not get the stencil to work on the rounded cans and ended up free-handing with a q-tip and the wooden end of a very small paint brush.
Be warned: I am not a skilled DIY-er. And I also cannot handle being detailed and perfectionistic with crafts. They’re supposed to be fun and creative! Hey, using Scotch Blue to help my words be straight was about my limit.
Speaking of Scotch Blue, it began to peel the paint off… grrr. A young man at Michael’s assured me that any craft paint would work on the plastic. He said that if I spray paint it with high gloss afterwards that they would even go through the dishwasher. I seriously doubt this because, as already said, the Scotch Blue peeled some of the paint even after it was glossed. And no, I did not put these through the dishwasher yet because I didn’t want my whole project to wash away!
Honestly, don’t do these the way I did it!
It would have been much better to spray paint. I think.
And while I’m confessing… this project was way more for me than just “gilding something.” It involved semi-making and putting up a shelf; creating a background; stenciling; accessorizing… hopefully, I’ll post more on that next week.
However, I am so happy that I took this challenge.
A huge thank-you to Darlene from Fieldstone Hill Design for coming up with this awesome series.
Have you heard of it? You should check it out here. So fun!
Thanks so much for visiting! Here are some other fun diy’s I’ve been working on:
I started about two hours and fifteen minutes before I wanted to eat dinner. Everyone says it’s really hard to peel and chop. The girls sat across from me coloring on the small counter where they could still see what was happening. Thankfully, the ordeal kept them entertained the whole time.
Peeling wasn’t actually so hard; it took me twelve minutes. And I’m sure I didn’t use the right kind of knife.
Chopping? Took forty-five minutes. Again, not with a good knife or skilled knife-user. I could never get a big enough chunk off to really chop, so it was just a glorified peeling of the whole thing. I would see a little piece sticking out and cut that off. Turn it and find another place sticking out. It got faster as I went, but my first finger was completely numb by the time I was finished. (not recommended for pianists)
But the good news was, it cooked just fine in all of it’s odd shapes and non-chunkiness.
I added three chopped potatoes to the pot and covered it all in water.
After salting it generously, I let it boil for around thirty minutes. It was definitely tender.
So I drained it and threw a stick of butter in to let it melt. (When I say butter, I actually mean Blue Bonnet. Whatever kind of imitation butter that is.)
I warmed up a cup of half-and-half for a minute on 50% power in the microwave. Added that, more salt, pepper, and a little bacon grease.
Then I ate all the bacon that I had cooked as a reward for all my hard work.
After that, you know the drill… mash it, or beat it until it’s nice and fluffy.
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Sophia and Paul loved it.
Hope, Gracie, Mckayla and I tolerated it.
Rutabaga tastes a little bit like turnips to me. (Bleck: turnips are definitely the least favorite properly prepared thing I’ve ever put in my mouth!) However, these really weren’t bad! I passed them up for leftovers this afternoon, but had no problem eating them when they were fresh.
Hope’s reaction cracked me up. (Since it was her idea to buy a rutabaga anyway.) Trying to be polite, when I asked her if she liked it she said, “Well, not nes-arily. I mean it’s not like as bad as asparagus, but it’s not as good as peas and chicken. You know, I mean, like it’s okay. I can eat it.”
If I make it again, I’ll probably add more potatoes. A lot of recipes I looked at said to make the potato/rutabaga ratio equal.
The two recipes I referenced can be found here and here.
This tour especially caught my eye because of all the colors! I had never seen so many shades used so successfully. Here are a few pictures to show you what I mean.
Ever been taken back to a room at the doctor’s office, have a nurse weigh your child, ask if you have any questions, and then say the Doctor will be right in?
Sleepy
Ever found yourself wondering if that nurse remembered to tell that Doctor that you were even there?
Here are ten ways to be proactive at entertaining your children while waiting in the doctor’s office. (Please note: these would not really be appropriate for the waiting area, but are fair game once in the room.)
1. Play I-Spy. The rooms at our pediatrician’s office are very colorful, so this is always something the girls want to do.
2. Play Simon Says. My girls are a little too young for this, so it’s really just a glorified version of “Do what Mommy says.” Hey, why not throw in having them respond with, “Yes, Mommy!” and make it a training exercise as well?
3. Play Ring-Around-The-Rosie. It’s okay, I promise.
4. Give bumpy horsey rides with the kids on your knees.
5. Explain the different “doctor” equipment in the room.
6. Play Peek-a-Boo.
7. Sing songs softly. Especially ones with fun action or hand motions.
8. Play copycat. Do something and have the children imitate you. (Jumping jacks, standing on one foot, turning around, making a silly face… they love this one; especially once they get to be “the cat.”)
9. Play thunderstorm. Pretend it’s raining and everyone has to huddle under an umbrella to stay dry. (The girls actually made this one up; they love to make rain noises by slapping their laps.)
10. And if the doctor is still not there, Repeat.
Stick out your tongues!
The point is to be creative and be happy. If you are impatient, your children probably will be, too.
Sad faces
Really the sky is the limit.
Laugh!
Last time we went, I happened to have a brush in my purse because we rushed out so early and I hadn’t had time to really get them ready. So we played beauty shop; I fixed their hair while talking to them in my awful imitation Brooklyn accent. They thought it was hilarious. (If they only knew it was helping me stay sane as well… )
Silly faces!
What do you do to occupy your children while waiting?
Oh yeah, and if all else fails, tell them to make faces and take pictures. = )
Every joy or trial falleth from above, Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love; We may trust Him fully all for us to do; They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.
Here are a few funny things that were heard around here this week ~ hope you enjoy!
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This morning, Gracie got out of bed a little earlier than I wanted to. So after taking her to the restroom, I brought her in bed with me. One of my favorite things to do with the girls is to ask, “What is your favorite…?”
“Gracie, what is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?”
“Strawberries and eggs.” No surprise there; she’s said that before.
“What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?”
“Macawoni and cheese.” Again, completely normal two-year old answer.
“What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner?”
“Pizza.” I quite agree.
“Gracie, what is your favorite thing to eat for a snack?”
“Spinash.”
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We were driving home from eating dinner out this week when Gracie interrupted the conversation to complain…
“Mommy, I’m hungry!”
I reasoned with her, “You can’t be hungry, Gracie. We just ate.”
“I’m hungry from the talking!”
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And the grand finale (in my mind). = )
Hope and Sophia were cleaning up their papers and crayons after coloring one afternoon. Sophia held up two cut-out figures that closely resembled a man and woman for me to see.
“Wow, Sophia, those are great. Who are they?” I asked.
Her voice became very excited as she held up the woman who I could now see had a beautifully colored dress, “This is Aunt Laurie at her wedding!!!”
“Oh wow!” I said.
She held up the rather long, skinny figure of a man, “And this is Uncle Aaron. He was so excited he turned into a microphone!!!”
I had thought about sharing a fun home tour from a blogger I admire today, but what I wanted to do yesterday didn’t happen, so I’m going to put that off for later. (i.e. what I wanted to do for yesterday, I’m attempting to do today… or rather last night)
Most of my posts are pre-written (obviously, I don’t have time during the day to just sit down, pound out something worth reading, and then hit “publish”). So I thought it’d be fun to hammer out something personal and unplanned just to see how it goes.
Ready? I’m glad you are, because I’m not!
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I was going to cook a rutabaga tonight for dinner, but was spared by my father-in-law coming to town. Don’t worry, I’m still excited to cook it; today just wasn’t the day, I was trying to accomplish too much and it would have been a disaster.
Why a rutabaga? Well, if you follow me on pinterest, you might have seen that I pinned a rutabaga recipe with a caption something like this, “When your children start reading Winnie the Pooh on their own, you will find yourself buying a rutabaga while you’re at the store (thank you, Rabbit).”
Okay, you know me, my sense of adventure; I’m all for trying a rutabaga. Kind of always wanted to.
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Mckayla was quite difficult to feed today. It seems to me that parenting is not about the one and done’s as it is the consistent exercises. We have worked with her so much and seen a lot of progress, but every now and then she’ll throw something out like she did today, and it feels like the whole day is rearranged to deal with it.
While I was content, but not super happy with where we ended this afternoon, she behaved and ate really well while we were out with Pop tonight, so I was thankful for that.
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I want to do a giveaway here on the blog, but have no idea where to start. Actually, I don’t know what to give. I’m sort of one of those gift-givers that actually ends up giving things that I want (oops!), so I’m trying to decide if my ideas are good ones or just a weird sense of revenge on all those giveaways that I never won.
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Actually, I don’t really enter many giveaways, do you? I’d say I’ve entered way less than ten in my whole “blogging” history. And of course, never won. But that’s okay. Something about seeing 400 comments on a post that normally has 20 just makes me not want to enter. Weird.
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Paul bought me flowers on Mother’s Day. Not like florist flowers, but like plant flowers that you could keep in your house or your yard to be beautiful forever (if you knew which they belonged in). It’s sort of a yearly tradition. He buys me those kinds of flowers, and I kill them. The ones from this year are already looking quite sad. I had put them outside for several days before realizing that they were supposed to be indoors. But I can’t figure out if they need to be repotted or just cared for? There wasn’t any information with them and the website suggested was super unhelpful.
I really want to put them in the car and drive to Lowe’s and say, “Hey, what can I do to make these live?”
But is that worth it? What if I do everything I’m supposed to and they still die? What if they die because I never tried?
There they sit, up on the fridge, hating their life.
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I enjoy blogging. I have about ten ideas every day for new posts. Lately, I’ve been trying to just buckle down and finish some that have been hanging around forever. It’s so hard to push through when you’re writing and a new idea comes or you think, “I wonder if so and so posted anything today? Maybe I should check.” Anyways, some ideas that are in my head right now are either titled or generally about, “The file marked ‘Gospel’,” “Personal Style-Words,” “When choosing between brown and black…” “Mckayla’s vocabulary,” “Ways to entertain your children at doctor’s appointments,” “Pre-potty training Mckayla,” “Potty training: What not to do,” “Chasing Triumph,” “An Older, Wiser Couponer,” and “Make your own jello playdough.”
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I need to go to bed. Maybe next time, I’ll ask you what’s on your mind. Actually that’s another idea I have; a fun, “Ask the Audience” day. Well, I do hope you have a good night, or day, or whatever you’re having while you’re reading this.
It’s time for the next installment of Gracie’s stages!! And it is a good one!
This stage was definitely my sister’s favorite ever. It got to the point where she would text me every morning saying, “Did she say it?” But I give too much away.
We love two-year old’s around here!! I think it’s my favorite age.You can read about why here. After that post, I started writing down all of Gracie’s fun two-year old stages. You can read about some of those here and here.
A little background before I dive in to the story of this stage. Gracie lost weight from the age of six to nine months (I really took that hard) and it was a while before she got back to where she needed to be.
But now?
She’s definitely making up for lost time.
Plainly stated… the child LOVES to eat. And I’m so thankful every time I look at her chubby little body.
At some point this fall, she realized that I pretty much knew what I was going to make for dinner that night; and that if she asked me I would share that information with her. (The other girls will frequently ask about the dinner plan at some point during the day)
Gracie began to ask me, “Mommy, whasfodinnuh?”
And I would reply with whatever the choice was for that night.
To which she would reply, “Oooo!!!!” with a very excited, happy look on her face.
It was great. But it got even greater.
That question became literally the first thing she said to me every morning! For at least a month, probably longer!
I’d walk into her room in the morning, “Good morning, Gracie! How are you?”
She’d stand up (always with the most hideous case of bedhead you’ve ever seen), rub her sleepy eyes and say in a soft, morning voice, “Mommy, whasfodinnuh?”
And I would reply, and she would say, “Oooo!!!!” with a very excited, happy look on her face.
Every. single. morning.
(See how I just. did. that.? It’s a very bloggy thing to do.)
Even though she had already asked first thing in the morning, she would still ask six or seven times during the day. Just randomly walk up to me and say, “Mommy, whasfodinnuh?”
And I would reply and she would say, “Oooo!!!!” with a very excited, happy look on her face.
Didn’t matter what it was. Spaghetti? Tilapia? Chicken and dumplins? Breakfast?
“Oooo!!!!” with a very excited, happy look on her face.
Of course, I would tell Laurie about this during our daily phone conversations; so she began texting me in the morning, “Did she say it?”
It was her idea for me to ask Gracie, “What do you want for dinner?” Awesome idea. “I’ll try it tomorrow!”
So the next morning after “Mommy, whasfodinnuh?” and my reply and “Oooo!!!!” with a very excited, happy look on her face; I asked:
“What do you want for dinner, Gracie”
“Chicken and dumplins!”
She said that for at least a week; but after she said it, I would tell her what we were actually having and she would say…
“Oooo!!!!” with a very excited, happy look on her face.
small steps, big picture 