Category: Family (Page 18 of 26)

Lots to do, but little motivation left tonight

February 28, 2013 / Erica / 2 Comments

I have gobs and gobs of things I need to be doing right now but my motivation (and thus my self-control to stop snacking!) is waning greatly. Maybe I should just go to bed and hope to wake up more motivated in the morning… 🙂

So instead I’ll tell you some random tidbits of information again:

We have a professional stager coming to look at our house next week to give us a list of things to do. That makes me feel good knowing someone is going to help… our realtor is actually paying for it. I think that’s really smart. Staged houses sell so much faster. And in our case, we’re just hoping it sells period!
This might be the first week since I started this my weight loss endeavor on January 1st that I won’t lose any weight. That bums me out. But it also makes me recheck my eating choices and recommit to why I’m doing this. I always knew this would be a really tough time of year for me, so I just want to keep hanging on…
My goal is to pack a box a day. So far so good. Well, it actually more like, 2 boxes every other day, but still the ratio is the same. 🙂
Chloe is super bummed that Kailynn gets to turn 5 before her. Then I pointed out that Chloe would be 4 AND A HALF and Kailynn wouldn’t, and that seemed to make her happy. Hehe!
Did I mention that we enrolled Chloe in preschool for this Fall? Yup. She’s going to Mount Olive Lutheran Preschool here in Shakopee. We have a few church friends who have kids currently enrolled and they had rave reviews. That will be the compromise of keeping Chloe back until next fall to enter Kindergarten… she just misses the cut off to go into Kindergarten this year and we’re fine with her waiting and then being the oldest in her class. But we really wanted to get her in some type of classroom setting this next year. We visited last week to drop off our application and she was having so much fun I practically had to pick her up and carry her out in order to get her to leave! 🙂

Wordless Wednesday: Cousin Fun!

February 27, 2013 / Erica / 1 Comment

Logan and Allison came to visit a couple of weekends ago–the kids all had so much fun! I just how both Logan and Allison are smiling in this picture! 🙂

Wordless Wednesday: Birthday Wishes

February 20, 2013 / Erica / 0 Comments

Happy Birthday Kylene!

Our first attempt was in pencil… we had trouble with fitting all the letters….

Happy Valentine’s Day! Our day in pictures…

February 14, 2013 / Erica / 1 Comment

The Sign says it all! 🙂

Chloe’s new Valentine’s Shirt!

Josiah’s new Valentine’s Shirt!

I even added sprinkles to my Green Smoothie to make it festive!

Tim’s awesome gift to me! (I already started eating some before I took a picture… hehe!) He hand-dipped them. He even filled some with a special cream cheese mixture and then dipped them. So awesome! And not crazy high in calories… Well, unless I eat ALL of them in one sitting I suppose…

And a homemade heart shaped pizza for supper! Perfect!

I love those little faces!

Dreaming of cabins?

January 29, 2013 / Erica / 2 Comments

I’ve been researching cabins in the Pigeon Forge, TN area for my family’s get-together this summer. I might have looked at too many cabins… because I ended up dreaming about cabins. 🙂 Haha! But it wasn’t any cabin in particular–rather a combination of all of them, which is extra weird. It’s not all bad, however, because I’ve discovered (through pictures) what a beautiful area Pigeon Forge really is. We haven’t nailed down a cabin in particular just yet, but I’m excited that we’re getting closer!

In other news, my brother Nathan has been diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. I don’t know a lot about it, but apparently he has face/jaw pain and the left side of his face is numb and droopy. It came about from a bad ear infection that he didn’t know he had (if I understand it correctly). It sounds like everything is “under control” now and he’s on medication to help get rid of the infection but it will take time for his face to regain movement. I’ve been thinking a lot about him today–so if you think of it, say a prayer for him (and Amy and the kids).

Wordess Wednesday: Matching Hair

January 9, 2013 / Erica / 3 Comments

She wanted to have crazy hair and then have her Barbies match!

Wild times around here... 😉

My 1st visit from a previous student.

January 8, 2013 / Erica / 0 Comments

Well, it’s official. I’m old. No wait, scratch that. I’m old enough to have had students who have now graduated from H.S. There that makes me feel better. 😉 Anyway, I had my first visit from a graduate piano/voice student of mine, back on Christmas break from college. She came to see me and chat. Isn’t that cute!? And, even though Tim thinks I’m a fool to not see it coming, I seriously didn’t expect to see her ever again. She’s attending a theater/dance college so we had a lot to talk about–and it was amusing to recall those first days of college… I remember having an odd roommate my first year of college and she does as well. It also brought back memories of how fun college was–being surrounded by people with a similar passion for music so much fun! I’m just so excited that she thought to come and see me… it makes me smile.

🙂

Before I go, how about a random picture? This was Chloe’s big empty box that she got from Auntie Jen–mostly as a joke. But wouldn’t you know it? She LOVED the box. It was probably her favorite Christmas gift until it broke apart from playing in it too much. Haha! She and Josiah had a blast playing in that big box!

Chloe's "Big Empty Box" that she got from Auntie Jen.

Taco salad & meeting Adeline

January 4, 2013 / Erica / 2 Comments

We finally got around to trying Luke & Krista’s Taco Salad recipe and it was delicious! Tim said it was pretty easy to make even with 2 kids running around creating chaos. I’m excited because it looks like a meal that I will be able to assemble separately before I start teaching and then we can just slap it together. I’m always looking for easy to assemble meals for our very short dinner time. Although we also discovered that it does NOT make good leftovers. Imagine soggy chips and limp lettuce and you get the picture. But does any salad (once combined) really make for tasty leftovers? I think not!

A church friend of ours just had her very first baby, Adeline yesterday so we went to visit her. I always forget how tiny and fragile-seeming newborns are. Chloe was very excited to meet the baby and was quite bummed when I said she couldn’t hold her. There will be other times, I’m sure, but I could sense the first-time parents weren’t ready for a 4 year old to hold their fresh new baby. 🙂 Josiah was enamored with the baby as well. Although his attention was quickly diverted to the English Bulldog named “Porkchop.” It’s fun to celebrate welcoming a new baby with parents who have been trying to have a baby for years. Such love and joy in that house right now!

Hello 2013: A new beginning!

January 1, 2013 / Erica / 2 Comments

January 1st. A new year. I admit we missed ringing in 2013 and were in bed long before midnight–the joys of having little kids who don’t understand the concept of sleeping in. Tim was a gem and ventured out into the bitter cold this morning to let me start off the new year with a delicious cup of coffee from Caribou. It was wonderful. 🙂

So, here’s to a new year full of endless possibilities. I’ve been thinking of new year’s resolutions and my vision for the next year. I’ve decided that I really have goals than resolutions. Sure maybe they are synonymous but I’m learning as I get older that my will-power to hold to something is waning. So, I’ve decided I favor the word goal over resolution. That way I can set a goal to accomplish “X” number of things this year and if I have a really bad month, no big deal, because I still have more months to catch back up again. Some of my goals are very broad, but some are specific. Of course, another thing I’ve also discovered about myself as I get older, is that (how does that saying go again?) “my mouth is much bigger than my stomach.” I make extensive lists and plans and then am only able to accomplish a tiny portion of what I want. Maybe that should be a goal–that I actually try and do what I set my mind up to do! 🙂

I’m still working on figuring out what exactly I want on my goals list for this year, but here are a couple think I know I’m adding:

* Finish Chloe’s First Year Scrapbook

* Finish Josiah’s First Year Scrapbook

* Read “The Blessed Woman”

* Lose weight

* Fill the remaining open lesson slots

* Practice piano more