Halloween!

Oh how I LOVE Halloween. The last time we were at the library I picked out several books and a few were Halloween books. It made me so happy when her favorite book quickly became "Brooms are for Flying"!!! The girl was made for Halloween!!!

So, I was going to make Emrie 'Justin Beiber' for Halloween (her hair is the perfect length and she already had the white leggins and zip hoodie) but I couldn't bring myself to spend $40 on a pair of purple shoes that she probably wouldn't wear again. So this is what I made for her instead:

A Pretty Peacock!!!

First I started out with some SERIOUS fabric dye

It said to put the dye and water in the sink, but since I didn't want to risk staining the sink, I put everything in a ziplock bag.

The onsie, hoodie and stockings had to lay out for a couple of days to fully dry.

I used felt and tulle to make the tutu and feathers.

25 felt feathers later....

The feathers were then attached with ribbon to the tutu.

Some feathers were sewn on to the hoodie.

A headband was made, just in case...and because every outfit gets a headband:)

Now the candy bowl is sitting by the door...more is in the kitchen just in case we run out...and Emrie is in her costume ready to pass out candy and see the neighbor kids!!!

Emrie is standing at the door watching the kids go bye. The first kid to our door was our neighbor who is a boy dressed up like a girl. She started crying when she saw him because she didn't recognize him. Then she LOVED every kid after that. She even clapped when kids would take candy!
She went STRAIGHT for the candy bowl. This girl knows what Halloween is all about!!!
Pretty excited that mom would let her hold the candy!
Sitting on the front porch with our bowl of candy and our pumpkins!!!
Miss K came down to see Emrie before she went trick-or-treating with her friends...Cutest little Pippy Long Stocking with a Peacock that you will ever see:)
Daddy is home from work and ready to see his little Peacock Baby!!!
Mommy and Emrie getting ready to head to the big neighborhood party that is just down the street behind us...What a FANTASTIC first Halloween for little Em!!!

Baby Food Pancakes

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I had made a whole bunch of baby food and Emrie refused to eat it. The food was still good, so I couldn’t in good conscious throw it out.

This is the 'stash' down quite a bit since I have been trying to sneak some of it into other foods and some of it was wasted by trying too long to feed it to her...

I had to figure out a way to use it (I would have preferred a way to get her to eat it, but believe me I tried several times).

So here is one thing I came up with: Pancakes!

Make the batter like you would normally.

Add in the crushed veggies (mine were zucchini and squash).


Make it into a pancake and eat it!

They really do taste very much like a regular pancake (especially once you get the syrup and butter on there)only you get an extra serving of veggies…Tell me that isn’t just brilliant!!! I am honestly going to make pancakes this way everytime now, just because I like the idea of getting in another serving of veggies in my diet.

Other ways I plan to use the rest of the stuff I have left (eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, green, orange and red peppers): Pasta sauce, pizza, stir fry…Anyone have any other suggestions?

The Library

One of my fondest memories in elementary school was the summer reading program at the public library. My mom would take all five of us to the library once a week and we would track the books we read and we would get prizes for reading so many books.

There was a giddy feeling that came over me when I walked into that library. I couldn’t WAIT to pick out either a Box Car Children, Sweet Valley High, Baby Sitter’s Club, Goosebumps, or Nancy Drew book.

This past Tuesday I took Emrie to the Carmel Public Library for the first time and that giddy feeling came rushing over me again. There is something so exciting about walking into a HUGE beautiful building FULL of books. My dad use to always tell me that books could take you anywhere, and the excitement of knowing there are adventures waiting to be had on every page is exhilarating.

I truly hope to inspire Emrie to love books and reading and I feel SO blessed that we have such a wonderful public library where we can check out books for FREE.

On to our next adventure with the turn of each page!!!

Oh Daughter

Two weeks ago I went to the Carmel Farmer’s Market for the first time (actually, it was my first time to any Farmer’s Market) and I LOVED IT!!! I will write more about the Farmer’s Market later, but for this blog all you need to know is that I bought a whole bunch of healthy, wonderful delicious food there.

Then I came home and for LITERALLY two days cooked, cooked, cooked FOR EMRIE! I made her baby food from all these wonderful things I bought.

This was the day I only made veggies, the day before I only made fruits.

As you can imagine I was so proud of all this wonderful healthy food I had made for her. Plus, I had read that it was important to expose your child to different types and textures of food. I was going to be the best mama around!

Then I went to feed her. It was the Monday night after I spent the whole weekend slaving away in the kitchen for her and I had to rush to a board meeting for work.

Let’s just say that after 45 minutes of trying to prompt her to eat the squash I ended up holding her nose and shoving a spoonful in her mouth when she went to breathe (I am not proud of that, but that just lets you know the state I was in). She immediately spit it all over my clothes and face. She is her mother’s daughter; stubborn and hardheaded.

In my mind I was saying, “You are going to eat this, I am the mom, you are the kid. And besides, you are WAY too young to have an opinion. How do you even know you don’t like this? I know what is good for you!”

Phil came home to me covered in food, Emrie screaming and I literally had to walk out the door for work. On my drive I could not help but feel defeated. A nine month old had beat me.

But then the funniest thing happened. I began to laugh because it hit me…God is probably laughing at ME. God is probably saying, “You think it is tough being her mom, just imagine how hard my job is with you as my daughter!”

No, Emrie still won’t eat half of the veggies I made (although sometimes I am able to sneak some in with her oatmeal, but sometimes she still finds me out), but I learned a valuable lesson and was humbled.

Christ loves me even when I am unlovable, going against His will, being defiant, acting like I know what is best, and being totally flippant about how much he sacrificed for me. HE STILL LOVES ME! I AM STILL HIS DAUGHTER!!!!

Sew Many Important Lessons

A little known fact about me; I was homeschooled for a year. In 6th grade. Not a whole year, my mom sent me back after spring break. She said she wasn’t teaching me anything. But I beg to differ.

My mom taught me REAL life skills. The whole year (or part of a year) was a big home ec. class. She would take me grocery shopping with her and make me figure out which was the best deal by comparing the unit price on the tags. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have learned that in 6th grade humanities (who needs to know about Greek mythology anyway, which is a 6th grade standard…I mean you eat 7 days a week, you might think about Greek gods once a year). And not like I can cook, but I was responsible for preparing dinner once in a while.

Now, recently the most important skill I learned that year was sewing. My mom didn’t teach me how to sew (she has NO IDEA how), but she “swapped” me with a friend from church’s kids. My mom taught them P.E. and Betty Snow taught me English and sewing. We made some stellar outfits (a watermelon dress with matching headband, a sunflower dress with matching hat, and all 7 of my family members received nave, burgundy and forest green matching shirts for Christmas that year)!

I took a SEVERAL year hiatus from sewing (lacking time, money, energy, need…etc.) but it is just like riding a bike. When you need to, you jump right back on and go.
I am by NO means a technical sewer, but with a new house that requires custom curtains, I am so thankful that I was given the gift of sewing lessons back in the sixth grade.

They don’t look perfect and I had a REALLY hard time with specific parts, but I was able to make these for under $30 total and I feel pretty happy that they are done! Now for the other three rooms I need to make them for…

Here is my really messy kitchen before curtains...

Eat in area before curtains
Curtains with button hooks so they could be adjusted
Really proud of the buttons because I had to teach myself how to do them
Curtains
They are alright

They looked a little plain to me...so I put this stripe on the bottom...I just used stitch witchery (it was so much better looking than sewing because it laid flat)
Here are the finished products

For under $30 these custom curtains are good enough for me!

13.1

Today was a nice day for a run...not just any run, but 13.1 miles for the Indy 1/2 marathon...and NOT for me...for my husband that is!!!

Phil ran with a couple guys from work while Emrie and I were able to cheer him on and enjoy the early (cold, windy) fall day! It was so worth it though!!! We are REALLY proud of Phil and his accomplishment!

Phil and Dave walking up to the start line (finding a bathroom first of course)

Phil and Dave...Ready to get this thing started
Emrie was all bundled up ready to cheer on daddy, and ready for the sun to come up
Emrie with her sign for daddy
Daddy's girls waiting for him to run by
And they are off...Dave, Phil and Kyle
Looking good just after mile 5
When he turned the corner he looked up and saw us and our sign and got so happy!!! This was the highlight of my day!
Looking strong at mile 13...only .1 miles left!!!! Turn that corner and you are at the finish line!!!

Phil ran the half in 1:50:13 which is 8:25 minute miles...SUPER proud!!!

Dusty Beane

When you go off to college you know you are going to make new friends, but I could never have imagined making life long family! That is just what I found when I became friends with Dusty Beane.

We lived in the same dorm freshman year of college and I honestly don’t remember how we met, but early on we became great friends. Dusty is hilarious and was such a goofball, but can be serious and responsible at the same time.

I have so many memories with Dusty, but there are a few that stand out. One night toward the end of freshman year Lesley, my roommate, and I were cleaning out our closet and Dusty started trying on our clothes and doing a fashion show. It was hilarious since our clothes didn’t fit him! Later in college Dusty’s dad bought a restoration company. We went to a house that had a fire and spent DAYS cleaning the walls of this house. It was a great money maker and while we were so tired and dirty by the end, we had way too many laughs along the way. Another time we drove to Indianapolis to watch an arena football game with his family and we went to St. Elmo’s afterward to get shrimp cocktail. If you have never had their shrimp cocktail, it is world famous because it is SO hot. We both were gasping for air and laughing with his family while we tried to get it down.

That brings me to his family. They lived in Bloomington while we were in college and they basically adopted me since my family lived so far away. Mr. Beane had a painted ambulance that they would take to the football games to tailgate. Their motto was the more the merrier and they would host tons of kids and feed us all. I would visit with Mrs. Beane a few times a month and we would sit around and talk for hours. They invited me for Easter and Thanksgiving. It is no wonder Dusty is such a fun person, his whole family is full of love and energy.

Last week I went to Bloomington and was able to have lunch with Dusty and he was able to meet Emrie for the first time. We have both grown older and gotten married (Dusty married this great girl named Jacqueline who is beautiful and perfect for him) and even with all of the changes that we have experienced since college when we get together we are still able to pick up RIGHT where we left off. I know even if it is another three years before I see Dusty again, we will always share a special friendship!

Dusty and his mom at a tailgate!!!

Oh Nap Time...How I Love Thee!

Not until I had a baby did I realize how wonderful nap time is. I will literally do ANYTHING to keep her asleep. I have made a sign so the neighborhood kids won’t ring the doorbell. I get FURIOUS when the trash truck comes around and starts throwing the trashcans down so loudly. I even contemplate whether to flush the toilet or not for fear of waking her up! Oh how wonderful nap time is!!!

A Simple, Folded Piece of Paper!

How can a simple, folded piece of paper make your day? When it is in the form of a homemade thank you card from the 10 year old neighbor girl down the street.

I had given kids in the neighborhood candy apples (that sounds like I was a creepy old man or something, but I'm not, I promise) and the next day Miss K brought me a thank you card. She even signed her brother's name to it also (he should thank her for being so thoughtful).

When I was younger I was SO good about giving Thank You cards, and I feel that I have become lazy with age. What a great reminder from such a young girl about just how valuable a simple, folded piece of paper can be!

Fall in Love - Day 14: Field Hockey

Two weeks of fall are wrapped up today with a bit of nastalgia.

Field hockey seemed like a lifetime ago; literally a different world. It is hard for me to believe at times (when I am cleaning up throw-up or fighting with a 9 month old to eat broccoli) that I was ever physically able to run the length of a field. Just about the only thing that remains from my college hockey days is the attire (shockingly, college athletes and moms wear just about the same thing...sweatpants and tank tops with a ponytail...that is about the only about motherhood that college prepared me for!!!)

Last weekend was senior weekend at IU and alumni weekend as well. I decided to make the trek with Emrie down to Bloomington, and boy am I glad I did.

NOTHING says fall to me more than driving from Indy to Bloomington and seeing all the fall leaves and the feeling of excitement as you return to school after a flight or bus trip...NOTHING!!!

NOTHING says fall to me more than walking up to a wet turf field on a warm, sunny day with a warm-up mix playing over the loud speakers and girls laughing and hitting around...NOTHING!!!

NOTHING says fall to me more than driving down Kirkwood at 2nd street seeing college kids walking on campus REALLY excited to get the weekend started...NOTHING!!!

NOTHING says fall to me more than the feeling of adreniline coursing through your veins as the whistle blows to start the game...NOTHING!!!

And I got to experience it all from the sidelines last Friday and relive a little bit of my past!!!

Here is a flashback circa 2004-2005:

Ahhh...the defensive corner unit...I LOVE this group right here!!!!

Love these girls!!!

Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers!!!

This is what my days look like now...Emrie getting ready to recieve an arial

Checking out her first stick at the IU hockey game

Playing with Jobi

Looking good in those Ray Bands sister...now quick give them back to Jobi before you break them!!!

Hockey games are a little different now...but still such a blast!!!