Top Ten Tuesday: Counting my blessings

Just a random list of 10 things that are making me feel especially blessed today:

1. Waking up to a clean kitchen.
2. A wonderful husband who works hard to support our family - especially on the mornings he has to leave the house at 5:45 AM.
3. A beautiful baby girl who lets me get enough sleep.
4. Two wonderful kids who keep my life interesting.
5. The internet that keeps me connected to friends and family, near and far.
6. Chocolate for breakfast.
7. Empty laundry baskets.
8. Remembering that it's trash day BEFORE the truck leaves my street.
9. Reminders from the library that they are holding a book for me.
10. Time to crawl back in bed for an extra 45 minutes of sleep.

Hope you are feeling especially blessed today, too! Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Top Ten Tuesday: Mother's Bill of Rights

Now that my kids are getting a little older, and are better able to understand what I'm talking about, I've decided that I deserve a Mother's Bill of Rights, a list of rights and privileges that I think every mother deserves. You'd think some of these would be obvious, but apparently they aren't.

1. I have the right to go to the bathroom by my self. Unless you are bleeding and on fire at the same time, whatever you need can wait for two minutes.
2. I have the right to finish ONE thing without interruption every day. It might be folding a batch of laundry, writing an email, or making a phone call. One thing. Every day.
3. I have the right to be spoken to without rolling your eyes at me. Even if you want to. Do it mentally if you must, but don't do it where I have to see it.
4. I have the right to see the notes your friends pass you at school. And to read the emails you send and receive. And to listen in on your phone calls. And to limit the websites/TV shows you view and the amount of time you spend on the computer and watching TV.
5. I have the right to expect you to make your bed and put your laundry in the hamper. And to brush your teeth. It's a lot to ask, I know.
6. I have the right to send you outside to play.
7. I have the right to eat my dinner (at least the first serving) while it is still relatively warm. I will be happy to get you seconds after I have eaten my first.
8. I have the right to as many hugs and kisses and tickles as I can squeeze in to our day. 
9. I have the right to still sing to you at bed time. Even if you think you're too old.
10. I have the right to have mixed feelings about how quickly you are growing up. Part of me wants you to hurry and get big, and part of me wishes you would stay little forever.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Things That Make Me Happy This Morning

 Just a random list of 10 things that are putting a smile on my face today:

1. Kneeling and saying family prayer together.
2. www.Pandora.com
3. It's a school day. I LOVE spending time with my kids, but I love school days too.
4. The GORGEOUS weather we are having
5. My clean kitchen this morning (thanks, Flylady!)
6. A hot shower, clean towels, and comfortable yet cute maternity clothes.
7. Talking to my sisters and friends on the phone.
8. Getting emails from students at www.scrapgirls.com and knowing the answers!
9. Feeling my baby move.
10. Bagels and cream cheese and fresh strawberries.

Top Ten Things I've Learned from Fly Lady

First of all, let me preface this by saying that my house isn't always clean. It isn't usually clean. Things don't always go like clockwork. I have overdue library books and run out of milk and can't always find the phone numbers I need. My desk is buried beneath a mountain of papers.

But, my sink is shiny.

Thank you, Fly Lady! Thanks for teaching me a few things about myself, for helping me adjust how I think about cleaning and organizing and prioritizing and just living in general.

1. I am not behind. 
2. I don't have to be perfect today.
3. I'm not cleaning my house or doing the dishes. I am blessing my family.
4. Even housework (and yard work and laundry and everything else) done imperfectly blesses my family.
5. 15 minutes makes a difference. Or 5 minutes. Or 2 minutes. Work with the time you have.
6. It's easier to maintain than to catch up.
7. Stick to your routine. It's easier to function on autopilot than to have to figure it out anew every day.
8. You can't organize clutter.
9. A well thought-out plan can save your bacon. Literally. It can also save you from having to wash underwear at 5:30 in the morning.
10. Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.

10 Things I Learned From Vacation

1. There is nothing better than family.
2. 8 degrees is too cold. 10 degrees is too cold. So is 20 degrees. When you start thinking 30 degrees feels nice, you know something is wrong. Some important part of your brain has frozen solid.
3. Laundry never stops, even on vacation.
4. Flying First Class, while eating a hot breakfast and reading a book, all without kids, is worth getting flocked by a snow blower.
5. Five Guys is better than In and Out.
6. I like to sleep on rock hard, flat pillows not soft, fluffy, squishy pillows. 
7. Even though it's made for 7 year-olds, Blink is just as much fun for grownups to play as it is for kids. Maybe more so.
8. Christmas decorations wait until you put them away. They never magically disappear. The Christmas Clean-Up fairy is a myth.
9. The kids actually will sleep in...if you let them stay up late enough, for enough nights in a row.
10. There's no place like home.

Top Ten {Tuesday}: Favorite PSE Shortcuts

Find more great Top Ten lists at www.ohamanda.com


I love teaching people to use Photoshop Elements. It's not a very expensive program, and it can do so much! I use it for photo editing and digital scrapbooking. The more you use PSE, the quicker and easier it becomes. Knowing a few shortcuts can really kick things into high gear. I like to work with my right hand on my mouse, and my left hand on the keyboard, ready to use shortcuts. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. CTRL+Z (Undo) has to be the best part of PSE, hands down. It's so freeing to know that you can undo anything you want. Don't hesitate to play because you can't permanently mess anything up.

2. Knowing the keyboard shortcuts for the tools that get used the most: V=Move, B=Brush, C=Crop, W=Magic Wand, I=Eyedropper, K=Paint Bucket, S=Clone Stamp, M=Marquee, L=Lasso, U=Shape Tool. If a tool shares a spot with another tool (like the shape tool, pressing the key again will move it to the next tool. So, pressing U once gives you the Rectangle Shape tool. Press it again and you have the Rounded Rectangle tool. Again, and you get the Ellipse tool, etc.).

3. ALT+Click on the line between layers in the layers palette instead of CTRL+G for a clipping mask. I like it because you can use it to unclip as well.

4. CTRL+J to copy a layer or a selection,Shift+CTRL+J to cut a selection and paste it onto a new layer.

5. Hold the ALT key while resizing to resize from the center instead of from one side.

6. After applying a style (especially one you have customized), right click on the layer in the layers palette and choose "copy layer". Then, highlight and layers you want the style applied to, right click, and choose "paste style".

7. Hold the Space Bar down to get the "Hand" tool, especially when you are zoomed way in for fine brush work or making a detailed selection. Don't switch tools or zoom out, just hold the Space bar down, move to a new spot, and keep working.

8. Brackets [ and ] to change the size of your brush. And Right+Clicking to get the Brush Palette.

9. To quickly lighten an under exposed photo, make a copy of the photo layer (just drag the photo layer up on top of the New Layer Icon at the top of the Layers Palette and release), and change the Blending Mode to Screen. If it still isn't light enough, make a copy of the copy layer. The Blending Mode will be copied too. You can keep making copies until you get it light enough. Merge all of the layers together when you are done.

10. To quickly darken an over exposed photo, make a copy of the photo layer and change the Blending Mode to Multiply. If it still isn't dark enough, make a copy of the copy layer. You can keep making copies until you get it dark enough. If it's too dark, you can lower the opacity of the copied layer to get the look you want.

Top Ten {Tuesday}: Things I LOVE (or don't love) about living in Houston

Things I love about living in Houston:
1. Our church. I really feel apart of things, people have been so welcoming and inclusive here. I've never felt that before. It feels like we are part of a church family.
2. Making several great friends. I haven't had friends like this since high school. I think it's because before moving here, I always lived close to family, so I didn't feel the need to make friends. I miss my family, but I love having friends to do stuff with, to commiserate with, to chat on the phone about nothing in particular.
3. The summer rainstorms (unless I have to drive someplace). Rainstorms here are unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's amazing to me how quickly a storm can start, how hard it can rain, and how fast it clears up. Actually, let's just say the weather in general. I love the mild weather for three seasons out of the year. It totally makes the summer bearable. And summer can be spent in the pool, so it's pretty pleasant as well. (knowing I won't ever have to shovel snow helps too!)
4. Fresh tortillas. Yummy-yummy-yummy. Hot and soft and fabulous, made and packaged right before your eyes in the regular grocery store. I'll never go back to regular tortillas.
5. The fresh produce that you can get almost year round here.

Things I could do without:
6. Being so far from family. I miss spending time with them, going to family events, etc.
7. The bugs - especially the fire ants. And the cockroaches. Ugh.
8. The temperatures never cool down at night
9. Having to mow the lawn almost year round.
10. The humidity. Sometimes I think I'm going to melt

 
You can find lots of other fun Top Ten {Tuesday} lists at www.ohamanda.com

Top Ten {Tuesday}: Highlights (and lowlights) of the week

 
Yes, I'm doing Top Ten {Tuesday} on Wednesday afternoon. That alone should tell you how the week's going. Yes, I know it's only Wednesday, so I shouldn't call this Highlights and Lowlights of the week, but I'm hoping that the rest of the week will be even keel, uneventful, and uninteresting...A girl can hope, can't she?

Let's just jump in here...

1. Travis got home at the end of last week and got to go to church with us. Love it when that happens. Total Highlight.
2. Neighbors starting setting off fireworks at 7:30 Sunday evening. They were still at it at 1 AM. Monday morning, we found our driveway and yard littered with firework bits. As well as a few on our porch and on the roof of our house. Not so much of a highlight.
3. Travis had Monday off. We relaxed, I slept in, he cooked, we went swimming.Big highlight.
4. Tuesday I dropped the kids off at play group and they both went happily. Highlight.
5. I drove directly from dropping them off to an appointment with my new OB/GYN. Got lost, was late, ornery and flustered. Not a highlight. I got to have an internal exam at my appointment. I wasn't expecting an internal exam. I was expecting blood work....I'm going to get my legs waxed, so I've been growing my leg hair out (it has to be at least 1/4 inch long. Do you know how long 1/4 inch is in leg hair terms? Do you know how long it takes to get it that long? Do you know how difficult that is in July in Houston? I didn't. Now I do). I got to have an internal exam with my new OB with ridiculously hairy legs. Soooo not a highlight.
6. I drove straight from that appointment to pick up the kids, and take them to the dentist for check ups. No cavities, and Jared didn't bite anyone this time. Highlight.
7. Spent the afternoon visiting with a friend. Total highlight.
8. Wednesday went to the park with the kids and some friends. Got to talk to grown ups and didn't have to mediate between fighting kids. Highlight. Almost got carried away by vulture-sized mosquitoes. Not so much of a highlight, but worth it.
9. Went to the dentist for my own check up. ugh....I'd pick going back to the OB with hairy legs over this one.
10. Finally time to be home, relaxing, emailing, blogging, preparing for my Brushes class tonight. Big highlight. :D

You can find more top ten lists over at www.ohamanda.com.

Top Ten {Tuesday}: Questions I Wish I Could Ask Mom

 
Mom's 65th birthday would have been earlier this month. Have I mentioned that I really miss her? The kids and Travis and I had a little birthday party for her. How better to celebrate someone you love than by making paper hats and eating chocolate cake?

As I've been writing a new Who I Am class, I've been thinking a lot about her, wishing I had the chance to talk to her. There are so many things I'd like to ask. Here are few things I'd ask if I could interview her:

1. Let's start with something important. Mom, what were your views on chocolate? I honestly can't remember. Dark? Light? White? None (gasp!)?

2. What kind of books did you like to read? Based on my childish memories, I would have to say the "Little House on the Prairie" books, but I doubt that's right.

3. How did you feel about moving to the reservation? Was it hard to move so far from family, to leave all signs of civilization? How did you adjust to a culture that was so different?

4. Did you really like to cook or was it just something you did because you had to?

5. How did you learn to not yell at us? Or did you ever yell at us? I don't remember. How did you feel about having 7 kids? How did you deal with living with us all in such a small space?

6. Did you really like to camp? Or did you just pretend?

7. Alto or soprano? Did you love to sing?

8. You always said that when you got to heaven, you wanted to meet the prophet Isaiah, to see if he spoke like he wrote. So, does he?

9. What were your favorites? Color, fruit, house plant, composer, thing to eat, way to spend an hour of free time?

10. What advice would you give me now?

You can find lots more great Top Ten lists at OhAmanda.com.

Top Ten {Tuesday}: Dreaming of Chocolate

 

I'm running low on chocolate today, so I'm sitting here dreaming. This top ten list was difficult only because I had to stop at 10...What's your favorite? Is there anything fantastic that I'm missing out on?

1. Idle Isles Dark Chocolate English Toffee. So so so sooooo good. Sigh... How many months until my birthday? Can I reasonably expect my husband to have these shipped across the country before then? Will I eat a whole half pound box in three days again like I did at Mother's Day?
2. Godiva Belgian Dark Chocolate Ice Cream. Oh, this is heaven in a carton.
3. Sheer Bliss Chocolate Ice Cream. Ditto
4. Black Bottom Cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes filled with cream cheese. Need I say more?
5. Molten Chocolate Cake. Chocolate cake on the outside, ooey-gooey  fudge sauce on the inside.
6. Dove Dark Chocolates. These are my stand-by always keep in the house in the back of the pantry (out of Jared's reach) to get me through the day
7. Double Chocolate Milano Cookies. Ditto. I keep these on hand and hide them from my children...
8. Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. It's a good thing these aren't available all year long. I had some boxes in my freezer, but they are long gone now.
9. M&Ms Premium Triple Chocolate. Sigh. These are so good. They don't last long at my house. I eat them up like candy.
10. Lindt Lindor Milk Chocolate Truffles. If you are getting chocolates at the grocery store, these are pretty darn yummy-delicious. 

Some how, writing this list didn't help my cravings a bit. Gonna go have a dish of cottage cheese. Sigh...  Wait! I think I've got the fixings for Black Bottom Cupcakes. I'll talk to you later - I'm gonna go bake something right now (shh - don't call the fire department!).

You can find lots more cool Top Ten lists at OhAmanda.com.

Top Ten Funny Quotes from Jared

I'm gonna start doing the top ten challenge from OhAmanda.com this week. Wish me luck!

Here are 10 Funny Things Jared has said recently, in no particular order:

1. A few days ago, we watched my friend's 10 month old baby. She was adorable, but she kept us busy. She got into all kinds of things and made several messes. The next day, Jared and I had a rather interesting conversation.
Jared: Mama, babies are busy. And messy.
Anna: Yes, that's true.
Jared: Babies keep you busy.
Anna: Yep.
Jared: Jesus and Heavenly Father must be really busy.
Anna: Why?
Jared: Cuz all the babies are in heaven with Them until they are in the mama's tummys.

2. Bedtime prayer the other night: 

Jared: Please bless sissy to go to bed for mommy. And please bless mommy that she can be patient and not yell. And please bless me to be quiet.

3. Jared: Mommy, I am half of a knock-knock joke.

4. Prayer over his lunch: 

Jared: Bless the food that it can be yummy and not yucky cuz mama made it.

5. Jared: I. Am. A. Lunch. Eating. Robot. I. Will. Eat. All. My. Food. I. Will. Eat. All. Yours. Food. I. Will. Eat.... All....... Daddy's....... (he dropped his head to his chest and stopped moving)

Anna: What happened?

Jared (whispering): I runned out of batteries.

6. If given any choice, this is what Jared wants for lunch and dinner (and occasionally breakfast) every single day.
Jared: I want turkey cheese sandwich with one bread on the bottom, two turkeys in the middle, and three cheeses on top. With no more bread.

7. Jared: Mimi is in time out. (Mimi is his imaginary friend)
Anna: Why?

Jared: She being naughty.
Anna: What happened?
Jared: She colored on the walls.
Anna: WHAT!!! Where?
Jared: Here it is (pointing to a blank portion of walls). Mimi colors invisible.
Anna: Whew.

8. Jared's "fortune" (from a fortune cookie after playing with some puppies at the Tuscon Mall).
Jared: It says I will come back to the mall someday to pet one of those puppies and take one home to ours house. We will keep it and take care of it and tell them that we will take care of it too.
Anna (thinks to herself): Sorry buddy, your fortune is going to take a long, long, loooong time before it ever comes true...

9. (Said while wearing a Superman cape backwards - I wish I had gotten a picture!).
Jared: I. Am. The. Kitchen. Cooker. Robot. I. Will. Cook. All Yours. Food.

10. Jared has been singing constantly. It makes me laugh to listen to his version of songs, and when he sings in his falsetto voice (I couldn't get him to do it on the recording. Maybe next time!)