7 Quick Takes Friday (#3 I think)

Since I'll be writing this around midnight I thought I'd start my 7 Quick Takes early!

~~1~~
Ellie looked utterly adorable this morning.
In her striped tights and pigtail braids.
I just wanted to eat her up!
Until she coughed so much she threw up all over her clothes
and the couch...


~~2~~
This is what my kitchen looked/looks like.
The kids are asleep but the kitchen mess remains.
I had to take a picture because it was too funny
how Ellie was climbing the counter
and Stevie the dishwasher.
The girls were actually helping unload the dishwasher :)


~~3~~
My parents gave us a Magic Bullet blender
a few years back.
Never knew what to use it for.
Steven suggested making smoothies about a week ago.
I dug it out of the garage.
This is MUCH cheaper than Jamba Juice!
And really yummy!


~~4~~
I've realized I have an obsession
with striped leggings on little girls.
Aren't they just so cute?
The more rainbow-y, the better!


~~5~~
Can you guess what I was making tonight?

need to go dig it out of the freezer.
It's Oreo balls! I'll try to take a picture
of the finished product tomorrow.
YUM.
I also baked chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies,
and dipped pretzels today.
A little New Year's bake-a-thon for our neighbors :)

~~6~~
We got this off the side of our street yesterday.
Someone was throwing it out because there was
some slight water damage on the bottom.
It's $120 at Target.
Mary Clare was thrilled!
Steven Sr...not so much.

I'm going to write a post soon about all
the things in the house that were giveaways.
We know how to dumpster dive!

~~7~~
Shameless self portrait.
To show mother how I love the sweater
and mother-in-law how I've loved the apron
I am very blessed in the mother department!

And these pictures, especially the 2nd one
with me taking a deep breath
are to remind me that I need to go tackle the sink.
ahhhhhhhh.

It's 12:09am
HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY, MARY CLARE!
although she wasn't born until the evening.
I'll have a birthday post later.

onto the kitchen....
or to bed???
kitchen....
bed????
To be continued

Where were you when 2009 began?

I'm sure you were out to dinner,
out doing fireworks,
out partying with friends,
in watching the ball in Times Square,
in having a bubbly with your loved one,
or maybe just in fast asleep.

Can you guess where I was?

?

?

?

?

?

?

(note the adorable cupcake PJ pants from NeNe!)
Yes, I was hanging up little girls' dresses
as I heard the fireworks going off.
My family is asleep
(well except the one who is coughing right now. ughh)
and I decided to tackle the laundry tonight.

Uneventful, you say?

Actually, it was quite an event
to finally have this newly termed
"Folding Room" ie guest room
not looking like this anymore...

Yes, those piles are highly organized.
But oh, when the children ruin them
while trying to find a piece of clothing!

I do understand now why that Duggar Family
has a closet-room for all the family's clothing.
It sure makes a lot more sense
to have all the clothes in one place,
at least when there are little ones who need help
choosing clothes and dressing,
Can't wait to see how it works for you, Veronica!

So it's been about a month since the clothes have been put away.
Now most of them are home in their dressers.
I am home at my blog.
and 2009 is here...

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
May 2009 be a year of hope, joy, and blessings
for all of us!

Grocery Store Play-by-Play

Today I thought I'd entertain myself by capturing all the funny moments of our grocery store adventure. This is why I don't like to grocery shop! We actually had a wonderful relaxing day today, even getting some schoolwork done. And the grocery trip wasn't too crazy, just your run-of-the-mill average adventure with 3 young children! Here goes...

Must go grocery shopping.
I'll leave this mess, and this cooking dinner

She'll finish a writing project

and I'll take note of a shopping list
right "here"
i always lose the list anyway

Now I'm ready and everyone is dressed with shoes on!
I sweep this foam out of baby's mouth:

Ellie decides she needs to bring something to write on.
Scouring the house for the "perfect" backpack
to bring to the grocery store.

Here she is! Ready with her lime green backpack.
Which I'll note DID make it into the grocery store cart
But was never opened the entire trip
and was probably left in the van.

Stevie decides he'd like to unlock
the dishwasher with my car keys

And finally everyone is making it outside.
Only to find the girls doing this!

But that's okay, because these seats are in the garage
and need to be installed back into the minivan...

...which is parked here.
and needs to be pulled back into the driveway
so I can put the carseats in.

Okay, seats are in, kids are in.
But where is my cell phone?
I run inside and call it.
Can you find it here?

Alright, now I know the girls have buckled themselves
while I ran inside...right?

Finally, we make it to the store
and they didn't fight at all
about who would sit next to SJ, right?

In we go. They are always doing great
in the produce section!
Sometimes I even get comments there
about how cute and good my kids are.

Just wait until I get to the frozen foods, people.
Paper goods, frozen foods, baby section--
that's where I just get evil eyes!

Live lobsters are sitting out today. Cool.

and free chocolate donuts are sitting out too. Yum!

Things start to get a little hairy
on the pasta and soup aisle (about halfway through)

It's getting really bad by the pet aisle
and I don't know how I'm going to get
that giant bag of dog food on my cart.
I had to get the smaller bag.

This is the point where SJ is released from his prison seat.

But after he trips and falls on his head
(see his red forehead while he's pulling down margarine tubs)
and refuses to follow us down the aisle
I decide it's time for the Moby wrap!

Ellie getting wild and crazy.
Gotta love the stripes/floral ensemble
and her jacket stuck under the wheel of the cart!

Almost done,
happy mama
heading to the checkout

Now I won't say whether or not
I bribed the girls with treats ;)

The checker just stared at me for a second
then started scanning my stuff
turns out I was in this lane:

oops
he forgave me
and a nice lady helped me bag my stuff
even though she was off duty

I definitely didn't have 10 items or less!

quiet kids on the way home
sleeping baby who even transferred to the bed at home

groceries ready to be put away

and I totally enjoyed putting them away
in our "new" fridge!

The girls may or may not
have been feasting on M&Ms and a popsicle
and "pirate booty" which they joked about all evening

So that's my grocery day!
Hope you enjoyed it,
and I'm sure many of you can relate!

and a bonus picture of SJ at dinner
His shirt says "Little Farmer" :)

crockpot roast turned out good
Steven says any questionable meat
can always be enjoyed
when you offer it with mashed potatoes :)

Christmas Home Tour

Faith and Family Live! is hosting a Christmas Home Tour. I'm so happy to participate!

Welcome to my home!

Here is the front door Christmas wreath
I had the wreath already
and bought the poinsettias, bells and ribbon
at the $1 store (so $3 total!)

Our Christmas corner!
The lovely pre-lit tree we got for free last year
from a kind craigslist lady,
garland made after reading
The Nester's garland tutorial!

Here's another view including
our little Nativity table
and all our fabulous Christmas books

Nativity table
And Christmas books lined up
(some of them are from the library)


Some of our favorites this year:
The Donkey's Dream,
The Legend of the Candy Cane,
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey,
Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury,
The Friendly Beasts,
and many more!

We continue to have so much fun
reading these beautiful books together!

Here's the Christmas corner
with dressed-up kids,
and after Santa's visit

Here's a little counter in our kitchen
with a Christmas picture of the girls,
1st birthday pictures of the baby,
a wonderful photo book made for his birthday,
a foam gingerbread house we made,
and some of our wooden Jesse Tree ornaments


The kitchen table with simple Advent wreath
(which can be put up now that Advent is over!)


a close-up of the wreath with the melted candles
from our hot Texas attic!


And our "new" (used/free) fridge,
covered with friends and family's
Christmas cards


All to remind us of this...

Christ is Born!

Merry Christmas to all!
Hope you enjoyed the tour,
and hope you'll come visit again!
Love, Blair :)