A place for everything, and …

Author: donna  //  Category: Home  //  Comments (2)  //  Add Comment

I’ve got the “hey, it’s after Christmas, time to re-organize everything in the house” bug.

Which is also beginning to turn into “hey, while we’re at it, let’s change up a few things around here” bug, as well.

It’s that second one that makes my husband hide downstairs in his office.

Although I’ve got all kinds of things swimming around in my head, I’m starting small.  Even though it technically took me all day to complete.

Why all day?  I had to fit it in between…doing school with the littles, eating lunch, going to the warehouse store, dropping off the dog at the vet, and picking up the dog from the vet.

I’ve been eyeing my pantry lately.  I truly love my pantry…it’s the largest one I’ve ever had, and I’m grateful.

But, even though I had it all organized not too long ago, it’s since gone a bit awry.

And, since I do absolutely love organizing things, I decided to tackle it today.

So, do you see any organization here?  These are the shelves straight into the pantry.

Shorter shelves to the left.

I took EVERYTHING out.  Shelf by shelf.  Then decided what categories I wanted.  And, where they’d fit best.  Breakfast items, cereals (which had to go on a taller shelf), snacks (chips, nuts, granola bars, candy, crackers, etc.), veggies (cans), sauces, pasta, rice, ingredients, bread, drink mixes, etc.

After I tossed a fair amount of trash (why don’t kids EVER throw away wrappers?), old food (how long had that candied pineapple been in there?), and re-located a few things…here’s the end result.

Bottom shelf:  breakfast items, bread, potatoes/onions, and drink mixes – next two shelves are snacks of all descriptions – then, ingredients in bins – then, cake mixes and cereal boxes (which, we’re very low on which is why that area  is bare).  On the floor are vinegar, distilled water, large jars and a stool.

Hey, what can I say, I’m short.

Bottom shelf: pastas – next, veggies and soups – then, sauces – and, last where I put the “extras” (if I’ve bought items in bulk, I put the extas there).

On the very top shelves are extra containers, my canning pot and seals/rings, bag sealer machine, and 4 large flashlights.

I’m pretty happy about how it all looks, and I love that I now KNOW what’s in my pantry.

Everything’s in it’s place.

Until the kids put away the groceries next time.

Next up?  I’m not gonna say, on the grounds that – if I do – I’ll be held accountable to get it done.

But, I’ll let ya know.

Christmas 2013

Author: donna  //  Category: Holidays  //  Comments (2)  //  Add Comment

Christmas 2013 was a lot of things.  It flew by so quickly, really.  I realize now things that we “missed”…the Christmas earrings I forgot to wear, the movies we never watched, books we never read, treats we never made.

But, I refuse to live in regret for what wasn’t done.  Instead, I’ll remember this Christmas for what it was…a wonderful time with family, enjoying each other and remembering the reason for it all.

I’m playing around with how I post pics to the blog, trying to find a more efficient (quicker) way to do it.  So, the pics below tell the story of our Christmas starting at Christmas eve, when my parents spent the day with us.  Later that night, we were all dressed up for our Christmas eve service at church.  Of course, Christmas morning, our standard breakfast of canned cinnamon rolls (they won’t let me try homemade!), and the rest of our day spent together.

Enjoy our pictures :)

 

Merry (day after) Christmas…

Author: donna  //  Category: Holidays  //  Comment (1)  //  Add Comment

I may be a day late, but…

We hope that your Christmas was all you hoped it would be.  We pray that you acknowledged Christ as the true reason for this busy season.  And, we look forward with you now to 2014, and all the possibilities it holds.

Merry Christmas

 

Testify Christmas season

Author: donna  //  Category: Testify  //  Comment (1)  //  Add Comment

“The Least of These”, Testify Youth Choir Christmas musical drama…

They performed for 5 local churches this month, and it was awesome.

Marley is 3rd row from the front, 2nd person from the left.

Abbey played Kris, and Payton was Marshall in the drama.

Kris and Jason arguing…

Ethan had a solo, he sang “Celebrate the Day”.  Randy wrote the drama again, and I had a tiny part in one scene.  It was a family affair!

As usual, the end-of-season celebration happened at the bowling alley…

Randy is already busy writing the drama for the spring/summer season.

Which begins in January.  Not much rest for these guys, but they don’t mind one bit.

Testify has been a huge blessing for our family, in so many ways.  And, knowing that it blesses others, and brings the message of Christ to those who need it most?  That makes it just perfect.

Merry Christmas…

Oh, Christmas tree…

Author: donna  //  Category: Family, Holidays, Uncategorized  //  Comments (3)  //  Add Comment

It’s Saturday evening around here, and I’ve gotta get the littles showered, Dylan’s hair cut, we’ve got 2 chapters to read in our Advent book (missed last night!), and we want to watch a Christmas movie before it gets too late.

So.

Rather than do a lengthy post, describing every detail of every picture – ya’ll just enjoy the shots.

We sure did enjoy the time…

 

 

Dylan – 3 Years

Author: donna  //  Category: Dylan, Gotcha anniversary  //  Comments (4)  //  Add Comment

Three years?  Since this frightened boy was told that we were his Mama and Baba…since his nanny told him to give me a kiss on my cheek, and he obeyed….since our world was changed for the better, forever.

If you want to read about his Gotcha Day, go here

As is our Gotcha Day custom with both Lainey and Dylan, we let them choose where to go out to eat.  Dylan’s been telling us for a long time that he wanted to go back to the same place he had his first gotcha day, so that’s where we headed!

He enjoyed his meal of shrimp, fried clams, fish, hushpuppies, and fries.  And, raw oysters (yuck).

After dinner, we gave him his gotcha day present.  Each year, we give a book that fits for that year…maybe it’s about adoption, maybe it’s just something he/she is really into that year.

Last year, his book was a pop-up book about all the DC characters.  This year, he’s become a HUGE Batman fan (I give credit to his big bro, Payton, for that), so I found an early reader with 5 short stories, all about the Dark Knight.

I expect Payton will be reading some of these to Dylan :)

We lost him for the rest of the night.

In fact, he didn’t even notice we were leaving…

On the way to the van, he told me “Mom, I love, love, love, love my new book”…and, then he proceeded to kiss the front cover, over and over.

I think we nailed it on the book.

Happy 3 Year Forever Family Day, sweet boy!  We love you to the moon…

 

 

Thankful…

Author: donna  //  Category: Holidays  //  Comments (3)  //  Add Comment

Gathered around our table, with more food than we truly need, enjoying a day together.  It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The bird, before…

And, during.

My girls.  I would have a “my boys” pic too, but one of them was extremely uncooperative.  I gave up.  I’ll keep the identity of the trouble maker a secret.  (Ethan)

After lunch, we rolled ourselves away from the table and headed downtown for what is becoming a tradition (as of last year, when we did it for the first time)…family pictures!

My parents with their grands…

“Squeeze in tight, kids, act like ya like each other!”

Photo credit, Daniel Kepple

Abbey and Daniel :)

Oh, Dylan…

Pretty girls

hoodlum boys

the parents

Remind you of a certain album cover?

Randy and I are thankful for many things in our lives….like those guys and gals above.