Chapman mornings

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who likes these cold, drafty, windy mornings.

we'd really like to bury our heads back under the covers when that dratted alarm goes off.  but there are cows to feed, corn loads to haul, farm equipment that needs fixed, nursing mothers to counsel, maple syruping events to organize...oh yeah, and a preschooler to wake up and feed!

mornings have been less than fulfilling lately. usually I.Am.A.Morning.Girl. mornings are my thing, they're what I do. they're usually my time of the greatest relevant productivity, when I can look back and say that I knocked out half my day's to-do list in a couple short hours. fueled on tea and toast, it's never been hard for me to bounce out of bed at five, ready to start my day.

until recently.

this cold weather has me feeling more lethargic. more content to stay in bed well past my normal awakening time. more content to snuggle in behind Charlie and dream away another couple of hours before we both have to be up for work. normally this is not the case--there is too much to do, and I honestly get bored lying around in bed. until now, anyway.

when we do get up, it's sluggishly and with little fanfare.  I'll get dressed and start coffee for Charlie, tea  for myself and breakfast for the both of us.  I am so proud to say that Charlie likes hot breakfast cereal the way I make it--no matter if it's steel-cut oats, Malt-o-Meal, Bob's Red Mill 7-Grain cereal, buckwheat groats, etc...somehow in my long, long love affair with hot cereal I have managed to develop an eye for it being perfectly cooked, never slimy, never gloppy.  just wholesome, chewy, and delicious. he likes his with peanut butter and our homegrown maple syrup, I prefer mine buttered with jam. we pray, we eat, we go over our daily devotion together...then he wipes his mouth, pours coffee to go, and I kiss my husband off to work.

then my morning starts. with fuel in my tank I feel more energized to tackle things that are just easier with Lydia still sleeping--shower, get dressed, paperwork for WIC, tidying, pet chores, etc.--someday she will learn that she has a role in the household stuff and I'll teach her how to do more chores than what she's already responsible for, but for now it's nice to feel productive and get them done the way I like them ;)

when Lydia gets up, it starts with her bellowing, "Mama, I all done SEEPIN'!" (sleeping).  we'll snuggle in her big girl bed for a few minutes and talk about her dreams. once she's mobile she'll go potty, after which we wash hands and face, brush and floss teeth, and go pick out an outfit. 

MOM TIP: every Sunday I match pants, shirts, socks, underwear and sweaters into seven different bundles, then rubber band them together so I can have her pick one out in the mornings for the week. it gives her power over what she wears, but I know I won't have to worry about it being warm enough or matching. and I could give a hoot if it's wrinkled from being rolled up...it matches, we didn't argue, and we're out the door that much easily! 

after getting dressed, sometimes she'll want breakfast, sometimes not.  she's not really a morning eater, usually munching on some grapes and a half piece of toast, or some hot cereal, or fruit with greek yogurt, or a scrambled egg with cheese. then we inevitably wash face again, warm up the car and clear it off, then head to daycare/work. I also keep things laid out--hat, mittens, coat, snowpants, etc. to have them ready for us taking off.

this is the first of a few morning posts--looking forward to some insight into the hidden mornings of my friends! everyone does mornings differently and for me honestly it goes by the season. during the summer it's SO much easier to get going when the sunlight's shining in, the dog doesn't scoot to the back of the kennel when I suggest a walk, and the warm breeze comes in through the screens to wake us. even autumn holds lovely mornings (I say a bit tongue in cheek because the marching band goes past our house at 7:03am practicing away for parades and whatnot). but winter mornings are slow, docile, purposeful and somewhat productive around here. what about yours?

aw :)

Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays

this Thanksgiving flew by, despite its later arrival in November.  we enjoyed a not-long-enough whirlwind trip to visit my dad and stepmom, and rounded out the weekend with the Live Nativity out at camp, the delicious Chapman Thanksgiving dinner, church, and house chores.

it was so nice to visit with my step-siblings and family up north. we had an amazing dinner prepared by Dad and Peggy...turkey, stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, salads...the list goes on, and then there were pies and homemade ice cream! the kids played well together and we did a fun winter craft project that I found on Pinterest and had to try:

it was so easy and fun! you will need:
painter's tape
watercolor paper
watercolor paints (do yourself a favor and cut out the blues and purples to give to the kids, otherwise it will come out a brown mess ;) )
salt
[hindnote: I wish I would have wet the watercolor paper first so the colors blended better, but as long as the kids got their brushes nice and wet it seemed to transfer over fine]
--rip the painter's tape into varied lengths and sizes to make the silhouette of a tree
--have the kids paint over the tree and all over the paper
--as they paint, sprinkle salt (sea salt or Morton's works fine) liberally over where they've painted.  the salt will suck up the color and create beautiful textures and white patches that look like snow crystals!
--when finished, lay paper on a smooth surface to dry, preferably overnight but a hair dryer works too ;)
--peel off the painter's tape when paintings are completely dry and voila! winter artwork!

December will be a busy, busy month. between work, marriage, starting school again (yep, announced that I was going back to grad school and found out a week later we were pregnant), Lydia's shenanigans, pets, house stuff, and family/friends, I find myself torn in so many directions! hoping to find light where it shines most--in our hearts, remembering why we're celebrating, and trying to put into perspective the purpose of our time and energy spent in the holiday season.

stay classy, sweet lydia!! :)

pheasant and farming

I made my first successful pheasant dish of the 2013 hunting season! last year my attempts at cooking that lean, bone-ridden bird were laughable. picture the Christmas turkey in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and you'll be able to understand my plight with this fowl. I had tried roasting it in the oven, which dried it to the point of no return. cue the polite chewing and copious amounts of water.

well, that bird got conquered. by a CrockPot.

I rubbed the plucked and cleaned bird (after removing all little feathers, bird shot, etc.) down with coconut oil (almost 3 Tbsp, I greased him up well), then made my normal chicken rub of thyme, smoked paprika, garlic, sea salt, white pepper and onion powder and rubbed that [dry] over the bird before putting it on a bed of carrots, potatoes, onion and turnips (cut into 1" chunks) in the CrockPot. high for two hours, low for 4, and that bird came out just perfect.  Lydia ate some of the breast and a leg, plus veggies, bread with butter, and most of an acorn squash that I baked with butter, a sprinkle of salt, and brown sugar.

in other news, harvest has been kicking our butts this year. I really feel for my husband--when he comes home sore and exhausted from being on the farm all day (5am-12am some days!) all I want is to keep him home and in bed, waited on hand and foot for working so hard for our family. the amount of work he does in a day is incredible--from chopping silage to loading hogs, feeding cattle, making bales, running semi loads of corn to the elevator, etc...he doesn't quit moving for hours on end. makes me feel so...I don't know, like I could never match the amount of energy he puts into a day with what I do on my end. from one camp I suppose balancing two jobs and taking care of the house, Lydia and pets would seem like it requires so much energy (which it does)....but it's not the same. and I certainly wouldn't expect Charlie to get home from work and do anything but take a hot shower and cuddle in with Lydia if she's still awake. but this too shall pass, the corn and beans will come in, the fields will get plowed, the animals sent away, and another season shall start at the farm once this time is over. it's just a lot of hard work and emotional sacrifice right now--hard not seeing my husband in any other mode other than exhausted and sore.

however, it has been so nice to grab up Lydia from daycare, make a quick supper, and bring it out for a ride-along in the truck or tractor with him! I am learning so much from other farm wives as to the best ways to keep in touch with husbands who seemingly marry their tractors for a month.  those ride-alongs give us a chance to talk, and it gives Lydia time with her daddy, something I have noticed to be very affective in her little life. she misses her dad, and it becomes readily apparent at times via meltdowns or her simply vocalizing, "I need Daddy." this winter we'll have to make up for lost time and spend more time together doing fun things as a family...looking forward to the Christmas season to do so! I've been Pinteresting some ideas already, but the mature adult in me is petulantly waiting until after Thanksgiving to do any serious Christmas planning. :)

one of those days

today it's chilly and breezy.  Lydia and Charlie are napping, and I've just finished charting on two new clients. supper is in the crock-pot (Greek-seasoned zucchini, onion and celery tops with chicken, which I'll serve over orzo tonight with tzatziki). maybe after everyone wakes up we'll head out to the state park to go for a walk (Lydia loves her birthday bike, and our dog could stand to be out of his kennel!).

it's been a busy September, busier than any I remember. amazing how the days literally fly by.  a couple of cool things that happened:
first, our darling daughter turned 3. THREE. we had a little party for her at our house with family and friends, her godmother Brynn came to spend the night and they had a slumber party, and her daycare buddies shared in her birthday as well.  so many fun presents that reflect what she loves most these days...a Lorax puzzle/activity book, a new bike, a salamander (from Mama!), a beautiful owl purse, dollies, a Super Soaker, play outfits, and more. I woke her up the morning of her birthday with a raspberry butterbraid pastry, and we enjoyed it together as an early-morning treat. I cannot for the life of me think back to when she was tiny. she's so capable and wise, brave, funny and sweet; in short, becoming the person I saw inside her the day she was born (aaaaauuggghhh there go the tears!).

and secondly, in the middle of the month I stayed in the Twin Cities for a week, taking the Certified Lactation Specialist course.  it was an intense range of information being presented, from counseling skills to proper identification of nursing barriers/issues.  my coworker and I worked hard throughout the week learning as much as we could, spending time networking with other state/medical staff, and enjoying some time to ourselves (I did water aerobics and swam in the early mornings, which felt amazing). we both ended up passing the course and I can now place Katie Chapman, CLS on my business cards. proud to be able to better help the moms in our area with breastfeeding!

with Lydia being so busy, and work with both camp and WIC picking up, Charlie and I have really tried to put some focus on decluttering our home and lifestyle.  it feels so good to let go of things that we felt had been holding us back...clothes that no longer, and never will again, fit, baby items that found better homes, office supplies better used in friends' classrooms, furniture we weren't using and won't need, doubles of household items, you name it. out the door it went. because somehow, we have to have enough room in our home for the master bedroom, our office, Lydia's room, and a new nursery.

that's right.

Mama's having a baby in the spring.
and we couldn't be happier!

this pregnancy is different from the one I experienced with Lydia in a few ways:

I am tired. with Lydia I had energy all day, slept well, and felt like I could run marathons.  with this pregnancy I am not sleeping as well (restless legs and some insomnia issues), and I feel as though I have already run a marathon before my feet hit the floor in the morning.

I am experiencing some food aversions. two of my staples, hummus and coffee, are making me slightly queasy. eaten or drank at the right time is fine, but my stomach turns just thinking about them now. happiness is found these days in a cup of Meyer Lemon tea (Stash brand), coconut quinoa or millet, cinnamon, squash, eggs, yogurt, and other foods/beverages that seem easier on my tummy.

I am emotional. I experienced this with Lydia a little, and perhaps I was too busy to truly feel feelings and process them.  I find myself lamenting the loss of my baby daughter quite a bit, even though she's grown into such a beautiful little girl. I find myself tearing up at the silliest things--insurance commercials, diaper ads in magazines, pictures of nursing moms, you name it.

I am confident. THIS feels so good! I am not reading about all the things that can go wrong in pregnancy like I was with Lydia. I am trusting my body to grow a healthy baby and know what things I can do for myself to facilitate that...taking good prenatals, exercising, staying busy and active, resting when I need to, and trying to limit the amount of stress in our lives. I am confident in my choice of health care providers, and am comfortable bringing up my concerns in a way that communicates our beliefs on birth and breastfeeding while being respectful. 

in short, life is about to become much, much busier...but we can't wait. :)

a photo journal of some summer love

Lydia and her little buddy Evelia

Making Mommy a beautiful painting

All done! Mother's Day surprise a success!

going fishing

Lydia and her 'best fwend' Uncle Tom

the proud gang

though we're still unsure...

this one was delicious!

Wood Duck Days

Lydia and her very special friend

cousin love! yay Baby August!

too cool for school

pretty as posies

pontoon ride!

my breastfeeding booth at the Murray County Fair!

everyone loves a parade!

excited to ride the roller coaster!

shucking corn with Grandma and Great Uncle Derald

big hugs for Rocky

an heirloom tomato for our farm girl!

this kid loves tomatoes beyond belief...

and blackberries!

she's our peanut pie! almost three!!

on the regular

written at the Wooden Diamond Bed and Breakfast in Lake Benton last weekend...
I always hate coming back to something that I've neglected. it jabs a little when I realize that I've put off doing something that makes me happy, or feel good...like a run with the dog, or blogging about things I feel strongly about, or writing letters, or reading a book for pleasure...

so here I am. ready to think again.

things have been steady at our house, which is a very good thing. without going too much into detail, the summer has been a struggle in many ways. lots of stress from many different situations. how we've chosen to deal with said negativity leaves me proud, though. prayer is huge. so is just plain breathing. taking the time to work through emotions instead of neglecting their importance. reading literature that promotes growth in heart and soul. making new friends while letting some toxicity fall to the wayside. choosing to understand and reflect, instead of letting a reaction happen.

now things have changed up a bit. this morning I'm watching the way the wind picks up the lake, creating whitecaps that roll toward the shore. I'm listening to the rhythm of Charlie's sleepy breath, and musing over how we can be so different in that I can't bear to stay in bed once I'm awake, but he's happy to stay there all day. I'm thinking about how much fun Lydia must be having with her cousins, and how proud I am of her that she was a brave, strong, happy little girl throughout a summer of some tribulation. and I'm thinking about how much power our own thoughts, prayers, behaviors and actions truly have--where a word, a movement, a look, has the power to sway feelings and actions in others. before this summer I hadn't reflected on the way all of us wear our hearts so open and vulnerable, and how surrounding ourselves with people who motivate us and encourage us is so crucial in protecting our hearts. I think maybe I've tried to understand, but when it came to reflecting on my responsibilities in maintaining the health of my heart (and my partners'), everything came to a screeching halt.

to take care of others, we must...we must, we must! take care of ourselves first. it seems so selfish. to watch someone struggle, work, their heart breaking, their mind racing, and yet try to focus inward isn't common nature. in fact, it's quite possibly the worst feeling in the world... at first. then you realize that hey...I'm only responsible for my emotions. my reactions. my actions. my behaviors. my thoughts. my feelings. there's no way for any of us to be accountable for the hearts of others. it starts in us. asking ourselves the tough questions, facing our pasts, asking forgiveness, moving forward one day at a time. the changes come slowly, we are so hell-bent on making things more of a struggle than they need to be sometimes. but bit by bit the days get a little sunnier, conversations flow more easily, things that were a challenge at first become second nature.

change is tough, even if it's for the best.

and doing this without getting distracted! the enemy uses so many things--facebook, Pinterest, other people's situations that are way more intense, work, kids, and others to get in the way of learning and loving. fortunately we're finding we have so many people on our side...people who believe in love and the power of forgiveness. I find myself motivated by sunny people for so many reasons, namely because I feel that I have a lot to learn from those who take life by stride and believe in the good. I've unfollowed, unfriended, unbookmarked, unsubscribed, and untangled myself from people/pages/blogs that brought conflict to my soul. I'm learning to let go of things that remind me of negativity or keep me from who I want to be. decluttering my thoughts and actions. trying to get our house decluttered so we have room to move and breathe without feeling stifled--reading lots on how possessions, even keepsakes and whatnot, have a way of possessing us at times.

I hope that I'll be back with more musings on kid stuff, recipes, cleaning ideas, Pinterest projects, and heartfelt rants.  feels good to write again, here's to more sunshine in the days to come. :)

awesome summer day

today was a day that reminded me just how fine summer days can be.

we woke up late (ok, 7:30am might not seem late, but 5:30 every other day of the week is the norm here).
Lydia woke up shortly after, yelling, "I all done sleeping, mama! All done seepin!"
we had cornbread with homemade blueberry/rhubarb jam, and scrambled eggs with locally made goat cheese for breakfast, with a few cups of my mom's freshly roasted coffee. mmmmmmmm.

we dropped Lydia off at Charlie's folks in Lake Wilson, and went on to the farm where Charlie is employed. today I was going to help him with the cow and pig chores for a farmer friend, and man, we had a good time together.
first was getting the tractors out and running--two tractors to get the job of feeding the cattle done.
next we mixed feed in a wagon, making sure the ratios of protein, silage, and gluten were correct.
while the feed mixed we walked through the lots, checking the cows and calves...lots of warm bodies mooing and moving around.
then came filling the troughs with the feed--I was able to drive the tractor a bit, which was fun!

an interjection--nothing, and I mean nothing, makes me love Charlie more than watching him work. I don't know what it is, but seeing him effortlessly move through his routine, watching his muscles ripple as he works, manipulating heavy machinery, listening to his knowledge of the farm when I ask questions...all these things and more make me so proud to be his wife.  observing how he works is testament to how firmly he believes in putting his family first. how hot is that? ;)

after the cattle were fed, we checked on the lambs, then made our way to another farm to do pig chores. while Charlie was attending to the hogs I played with a couple of shy baby kitties (some help I am); there were a couple of dead hogs that needed to be brought out of the barn, then we were finished with the work for the morning.

we drove through some beautiful terrain on our way back to Lake Wilson. though I've lived in places that made the tears come daily for all the beauty that surrounded me, the prairie will forever be my home of choice and understanding. I know the land-- through my eyes, my husbands', our daughter's, our friends' and families'. I know the way the storms roll across the hills and plains, how people interact, how farms are spaced across sections, how pretty a grove of cottonwoods can look in the morning dew. I know the rhythms of the seasons, and every day learn something new that makes me appreciate living here that much more. I love riding in my husband's truck, listening to Eric Church (don't judge) and smiling with him as the grasses and fields fly by.

sipping on coffee and talking about our dreams of an acreage of our very own was the perfect way to end our morning together. so many dreams, so many roadblocks. those who are close to us know the struggles we're facing right now...just trying to put everything in the right perspective and prioritize accordingly in the face of the unknown.

when we got back to Charlie's folks' home, we came in to find our daughter happier than a pig in mud, elbow deep in a sink full of cool water, rinsing the first crop of sweet strawberries. her perfect little mouth was stained red with berry juice, smile beautiful with the happiness of helping her grandma in the garden.

we quickly decided that hunting asparagus was in order, so into the truck we went in search of the elusive delicacy. having found a great patch, we picked enough for supper and then some, then came home to lounge, grill, and hang out together in the sunshine. Gaylene baked a foccacia bread, which was delicious, and we enjoyed a wonderful family meal together later in the day.

days like this remind me so much of what I have wanted Lydia to grow up with--a sense of rhythm and purpose to her days, the pretty prairie stretching for miles around us, knowing where our food comes from...hopefully we'll soon live our dream too.

those little moments.

we've had some big smiles, good laughs, and warm hugs around here lately.  my best friends in the world, Anne and Brynn, came to visit us this weekend and we spent some solid quality time together! amazing how refreshing and inspiring time with our friends can be. now that we finally have time and energy to add 'time with friends' to our list of utmost priorities, my heart has really become full with all the wonderful ways our buddies lift us up (and hopefully we lift them up too)! with conversations on love, marriage, health, fitness, Pinterest projects, pets, raising children, and more, we were completely affirmed in the ways that we're living life now, and we love how Anne and Brynn are living their lives too. proud to have such wonderful women in my life!

in other news, things are going well with our jobs and with raising little Lydia. she's such a big girl, surprising us every day with a new phrase, memory, or ability. we have our routine in the morning that we follow to a T every day: wake up, make coffee, snuggle together for the first cup, get dressed, wash face, brush teeth, brush hair, do our make up, and out the door we go for another day of work and daycare. same with evening: get home from daycare, Lydia plays while I make supper, eat, bath, books, potty, lullabye, bedtime. she's learning how to crack jokes, remembers stories (and makes them up), cooks and bakes with us, fishes like a pro, and snuggles in at the day's end to remind us she's still our baby.

too cool for school

the catfishers--Charlie, Lydia and Uncle Tom

my sweet prairie posie

4-wheeler rides around the block

throwing rocks in the lake with cousins

we told her she could have the front wheel for Christmas! haha

an Eastern Screech owl just outside our house!

kids in the kitchen

this may be a real shocker...
but I really. really. really. like to cook and bake.

it all started when I was but a wee Katie, tagging along behind my mom and dad in the kitchen. my mom with baking bread and buns, my dad with making pancakes, stuffed bell peppers, roasted chicken and potatoes...a large percentage of my upbringing was spent learning the ropes of making meals and goodies. Mom always let me stir in the yeast, and help her knead the dough (with a big spoonful of honey as a treat), and Dad taught to use my eye to watch for just enough bubbles on a pancake before flipping it. over the years, through high school and college, it became more of a hobby, then a controlled and happy obsession once we had a baby. Charlie and I both came to realize that what I was eating greatly affected her, both through breastfeeding and what kind of example we were setting for her as she grew.

baby trying celery..yum!

enter a Lydia who likes to eat good food, and we have a very fun and purposeful thing that we can do together.  cooking with a toddler in the kitchen sounds like a recipe for disaster (now there's a knee slapper!) but I actually enjoy it more than I thought possible. if you know me, you know that my patience level is somewhere between an angry velociraptor and nonexistent, so really...if it works for me, it can work for your kids too. cooking with Lydia is something I am grateful to do, namely because my capacity for putting out good meals for our family has increased tenfold with my career change. I now have time to make a menu, shop according to the ingredients needed, and cook a balanced meal for my family. plus more time for Pinterest and other sites for great recipes!

also--another post in the making because it's too incredible a subject to only give a paragraph--where our food comes from. Lydia's been such a lucky girl to tap maple trees for syrup, garden with her family, walk over in her jammies to the farmer's market across the street, eat food made with local ingredients at Grandma's cafe and our home.  teaching her that real, whole food comes from our hands and hard work instead of a Hamburger Helper box is a set of values we have always wanted to instill in her. another blogger highlighted Farmer Boy as an example of true connection to our food as both nourishment and love, and I strongly agree.

tapping trees with Mom and Dad

watering our weed patch garden

anyway.
so what does Lydia like to do when she's helping?
mostly stir and chop.
this kid know how to:
use a whisk
operate the Kitchen Aid
cut butter into flour with a fork
measure and pour liquid ingredients
measure dry ingredients (and to smooth flour over with a knife before dumping in)
scrape the extra batter out of the bowl
cut soft items with a knife--tiger claws, not duck bills, when we hold the food!

cooking holds so many lessons for children too--think of all the skills they develop while in the kitchen:
math skills--adding and subtracting, dividing batches, multiplying for bigger ones, measuring
names and shapes of ingredients
colors--we cook with a rainbow around here!
social grace--we make food for others, as a gift and offering of love
time together--because licking a beater with your mom is just awesome.

stirring the wet ingredients together

excited to get the baked deliciousness! -while eating extra chocolate chips-

nom nom noming on sweet potatoes

ice bound.

woke up this morning to quite a sight.

branches coating our front lawn. and one culprit in particular laying next to our car, a smashed windshield as a result of its fall.

poor car, and poor trees! this storm has had debilitating and destructive effects, looking forward to warmer temperatures and being able to clean up the debris.

but Lydia and I had a good day! Charlie was able to make it out to work, so Lyd and I bonked around our house, cleaning, playing PlayDoh, baking, and more. we baked a custard blueberry cake with cardamom and cinnamon, a cornbread, and some new bars from another favorite blogger. I was also able to have my stepdad run me out to camp so I could feed/water our little menagerie of animals. then a visit from my friend and her sweet sweet baby, dinner with my family, and a Twins game. strange, but cozy, snow day here!

mixing the wet ingredients for our cornbread

hard to believe this was a shot from Sunday--tapping trees!

we own the most tolerant cat on the planet. being tickled by a toddler while laying tummy-side-up between Charlie's legs...priceless! ;)

a new journey

not everyone can say they work at the place that inspired them when they were five years old...but I can.
not everyone can say their career has come full circle to include the job they've always dreamed of doing...but I can.

welcome to my new office:

just last week I accepted the position of Director of Environmental Education at Shetek Lutheran Ministries.  happy beyond words to take our lives on a direction of better hours, more time with the ones who sustain me daily, working in faith and love on a team of wonderful people, leading and learning through guided environmental activities...the ways that this new journey will create more opportunities for growth in our family are endless.

putting my two-week's notice in at Prairie View was tough.  like I told my co-workers, I wish I were leaving on bad terms so it'd be easier to let go of the memories and relationships I have had the pleasure of building over the last two years. I will miss everyone with a heavy heart. my life will be different not knowing how the consumers are doing on a daily basis.  though the hours were impossibly difficult to feel good about with a little one at home, it truly was a wonderful place to work and I enjoyed my tenure there.

for lack of a better way to put it, I am taking a substantial pay cut...this is not a choice for the money!  but with Charlie having a new position in a field [ha, punny] that he likes with way more paid hours than his previous job, we'll do alright.  the sacrifices he's made to make happiness for all of us a reality are innumerable, and appreciated beyond words...even though he comes home smelling like high heaven, the feelings of having been hard at work and productive are evident from the tired smile on his handsome face...ooh goodness, I love me some Charlie! 

with this new journey we have hope and faith in many things: maybe having another baby soon, more peace to our home with more time on meals and homekeeping, not so many irons in the fire, not so many late nights and weekends away from my home and family.  I am so grateful for the turning of our path in this direction--each day gets better, sunnier, happier!

Charlie and I spent the weekend nestled in with five other couples on a marriage retreat.  we learned about our marriage in many ways: things we're doing right, things we can work on, new ideas to be more closely connected.  with the teachings from Andy Stanley and the ensuing discussion we became excited to talk more about our relationship and especially the example we're setting for Lydia for creating her own relationships. fast learning that loving marriages require making love a verb! kind of tongue in cheek, but so true in that we choose to love our partner every day in our actions and words...respecting, believing the best, loving, and empowering are all verbs we use every day!

and I went for a nice, long ski with another couple...it felt great then, but I woke up with Jell-O legs! my skis are stashed at camp for another impromptu session when the winter weather warms up just a bit.  hard to ski out on the ice when it's so blasted cold!

the list

oh, you dratted list, you.

reminding me of all the things I want/need to do, but have no time for.

and that's just the day to day stuff.  now that spring is around the corner, I am jonesing to do some major overhaul on our house for spring cleaning.  Lydia's toys gone through and organized. closets emptied, shelves dusted, floors swept, stuff sorted. laundry area cleaned and made cute with soap jars, signs, pictures, etc. hang new curtains. clean out the magazine rack and rip out recipes we want to try. reorganize the cupboards to make them more user-friendly and less intimidating [I saw a Pinterest board where folks organized their pantry by meals, kinda clever].....

you get the picture.

right now I have so much on my plate with WIC and Prairie View, plus other organizations and family time. it seems so silly to want to get lost in a project like organizing winter gear.  why is it that we love to sink ourselves into mindless tasks? there's a certain comfort in losing time making one corner of the world clean and orderly.  my planner might be a mess, bills to pay, I might have three clients to see in between my hours at Prairie View, plus a sink of dishes to do and laundry to fold, but for goodness' sake the winter coats are sorted.

the best part of this is that I have a husband who loves my lists.  the difference between us is this: given a child-free afternoon, I could easily have at least four or five significant items on my cleaning list done, plus keep up the laundry and dishes.  Charlie, bless his pea-pickin' heart, cannot look at a room and decide, "Know what? I think I'll dust the bookshelves, organize the hall closet, and put some Christmas decorations in their appropriate tubs." it's something I have had to work really hard to understand about our relationship; it's hard not to take offense at the perceived lack of initiative in his ineptitude at finding things to do around the house.  he's just not wired for seeing what I see, which is fine.  it just means he gets lists of specific projects, projects that are A to B, a beginning and an end.  things like, "build a cookbook shelf above the sink" and "clean out the back door area--put away Christmas lights".  he likes making me happy by getting projects done, and he likes that he doesn't have to try and think of things to do.  problem solved.

what are some things on your spring cleaning list? pretty soon it'll be the season where we throw open the windows, shake out some rugs, hang the clothes on the line to dry, and sort closets like there's no tomorrow. I'd love to hear more about your house projects!