the girl with the heart of gold

After two years, my sweet Madison cut her lovely long hair and donated it to charity! This was all her idea. I am so proud of her for following through with her decision.

What a beautiful girl.

Inside and out.

glamorous, I know

Oh how I have missed blogging! I actually just got back in town from traveling to Costa Rica where I layed in the sun and surfed with the sunrise. No, wait, that doesn't sound very believable. I was actually hiking in Western Europe. No, that doesn't sound like me either. What about eating beignets in Paris? Nope. I didn't think so. I wish I could tell you I've been living a glamorous life with no time to take a breath and sit down to write. Glamour is not the case. But a lack of time and energy is. Here is a tiny glimpse of what I have been doing. These snapshots are in no particular order.

"Mom, I'm doooone!" "I'll be right there"! (This is Brady calling for me to, ahem, wipe his bottom. Glamour, no doubt.)

Attempted to make dried strawberries and utterly failed.

I made frozen yogurt bites that are very tasty and refreshing though.

Celebrated a very special 5th birthday with Brady! He got many wonderful gifts including more angry birds and a Mississippi State Pillow Pet.

We are spending every Saturday across the bay cheering on our three basketball players. One more game to go, thank goodness. Oops, was that out loud?

After two years and I don't know how many months, sweet Madison cut her long locks and donated them to Pantene's Beautiful Hair Foundation. What a precious gesture from a tender hearted 10 year old.

Micah, our 8 year old, has a hard time, how should I say, taming his tongue, and therefore has gotten into trouble many times because of it. He recognizes, though, his struggle with this bad habit. That is a huge defeat on his part. He is trying to think before he speaks, as much as an eight year old boy can.

Luke's most prized possession, his ipod, was washed and dried by yours truly. I always check the pockets but neglected to check his cargo pockets that day. We both learned our lesson!

We started our new geography curriculum, Road Trip USA. We are only on Lesson 5 but I think we are all really going to enjoy it!

Micah is following in the footsteps of his older brother and taking guitar lessons.

My husband and I are in a very good season in our marriage.

Good times. Lots and lots of good times.

I gotta run now. Brady is having a pretend birthday party for Bully, his Pillow Pet. I am in charge of, well, everything.

Happy Wednesday!

(It is Wednesday right?)

one more

I have been thinking about my brother a lot lately. More than usual. I think about him everyday since he died April 9, 2010. But the past weeks have been, just, different. My memories are more vivid. My pain has resurfaced itself. The longing to see his smile, hear his laugh, and hug his neck is unbearable at times. I hate to think about all the talks we won't be having about stuff like friends, girls and where he would be going to college. It's just not fair!

What would have been? How would our lives be different with him still here?

Luke has been sharing memories about what he and Martin did together. I know Luke misses him very much.

One more day. One more 'I love you'. One more game of Apples to Apples. Just a moment. To see his face. To know. To not hurt anymore. These are the things I truly want for Christmas.  

our thankful tree

I wanted to do art projects with the kids that were fun for them but also some that had meaning. Activities that made them think and open their hearts a bit. This is what we made first.

This is our family's thankful tree and my new centerpiece for the dinner table.

I rallied the kids one afternoon and we scoured the empty lot next to my parent's house for appropriate sticks. I put the sticks in a vase I already had and filled the vase with black rocks.

I found some leaf templates and cut out different shapes and colors from construction paper. Punched a hole in one end and used yarn to tie to said sticks.

Each member of our family chose three leaves and wrote what they were thankful for on them.

My plan is to keep this centerpiece all year long and change the template to whatever the holiday or season is. We will be making our Christmas templates very soon!

handcrafted laundry detergent

I made my own laundry detergent a few days ago.

I. Love. It.

The smell is so pure.

The cost is so low.

As a family of six we do a LOT of laundry.

Especially because Brady changes his clothes nineteen times a day.

What gives, Braids?

Now I give to you the recipe to go make your own detergent.

With photographs.

I found this recipe at MckMama's blog.

You will need the following:

8 cups of washing soda

8 cups of Borax

1 bar of unscented goat's milk soap, grated

1 Fels Naptha bar, grated (found at WalMart for 98 cents)

A few drops of essential oil for added aroma.

Lemon is what I had on hand so lemon it was.

Now marvel at your handcrafted laundry detergent!

Use about 2 tablespoons per load.

I am currently storing mine in a big purple container from WalMart.



fingerprint art

Did you think you guessed correctly about what madison was making in this post?

Here is her finished product.

Isn't it the cutest turkey you have ever seen?!

our day at Seward Farm through photographs