Typical

Today was typical at the BrewCrew pad:

pitter patter of feet around 7:30 (Sam of course)
I laid in bed, read my bible (Galatians 4)
made my grocery and errand lists
slooowly got out of bed only because the call of coffee had me at hello
The Man got home from work after a trip to the gym
I drank my coffee on the front porch and watched Layla and Sam color chalk
Took the big girls with me to UPS to mail a violin
to Home Depot
to G and G nursery
to the GameStop
to Target
to Walmart
back to Home Depot
to Whole Foods for a quick run through and lunch (yum)
then home.
We planted a tomato and pepper plant
colored more chalk prints
cleaned a little (a very little because that is boring)
made dinner of cold cut sandwiches with the works, a veggie tray, and chips
then we let the kids figure out how to get into the coconut I picked up at the store
we all took very small samples and decided we like the smell better than the flavor
Once the kids were in jammies, I read to them from Isabelle's book for a bit while The Man tried out his new commercial grade power pump for the weeds out front.
Prayers then tucked in the kids
As usual, I ended my day with homework and parusing the blog world with the man watching tv by my side. Goodtimes.
My favorite saying came from Addison, "Layla, I will give my cucumber if you stop being so gruuumpy. OR I will give you this Cheetoh off the ground." We were very giggly.

AH Love

It reads: 'You look like an angel.'
'You look like you want something from me.' lol

I Did It!

I am teaching a summer time bible study. Sorry boys, it's for girls only, but if you have wives that are interested, let me know. It will all take place on another blog I have set up. Each Sunday I will post some of the questions and info we would cover at a normal weekly meeting, and everyone will have a chance to leave their comments and questions. We are studying the fruits of the spirit starting with Love. You can check out the book at Christian Book. I love that the whole thing is only six weeks long. Easy to bite off for everyone involved. I also love that I can do this study now with my friends who live far away. Thanks friends. Anyhoo, any of you girls interested? Just let me know. I need your email address so I can send you an invite.

Layla's Birthday pics

I know her birthday was in March, but most of YOU don't know that lol. Anyhoo, her birthday fell on one of The Man's work days, but we celebrated anyway by singing Happy Birthday over Hostess Cupcakes. MMMMM yummo. Then over the weekend Layla got to invite a friend to go on a girl's only shopping trip. Of course we stopped by Starbucks first for a pick me up.


Then we shopped and shopped and shopped a little more stopping to try on a bazillion outfits.



These were a few of my favorites





We finished up with lunch at the favorite, Hot Dog on a Stick. It was a great day, and my little girl is six years old now. Now I need to get pictures of her unbelievably cute new Aline bob. Dang it she is cute!

The BrewCrew on Green

Red is usually my favorite color, but lately I have been challenged to go a little greener. We (as in me) have come up with a few things to make our budget a little more comfortable, our house alittle less toxic, and try being a good steward of the earth we claim to love. I have always been a tree hugging hippie at heart, but lately I have felt a little like a talker rather than a do-er.


I want to put my green where my mouth is, so this is what we (as in me) came up with:

No more disposable water bottles- we invested three bucks into reusable water bottles.

No more paper towels- except for windexing, we use cloth towels.

No more paper napkins- cloth napkins.

Keeping it Clean- we are making our own household cleaners. My kids have successfully wasted my money with store bought cleansers and I am always freaked out Sam is going to get ahold of them. So we (as in me) made everything non toxic. Even our furniture polish and airfresheners.

Easy on the air conditioner- hopefully we can afford to get fans soon, but for now, we will just pray for a breeze.

Easy on the gasoline- prompted by an article I read this week, we are following a local Rabbi's lead and not driving at least one day a week. This one is going to be a doozy to stick to, but even if we succeed one day a month, I will save about 20 bucks!

Grocery bags are a thing of the past- despite the heavy sighs I got when the Raley's lady had to ring up my unbagged fruit, I am no longer using plastic bags for my fruits and veggies OR for my groceries. We (as in me) purchased reusable bags from Costco, and I keep them in my trunk at all times. I am in the market for smaller ones for quick grocery store and farmer's market trips.

Farmer's Market, here we come- I am a proud supporter of local and nearby farmers. We will be attending more often.

Keep it cold- All of our appliances are set to smart wash and we now do all of our laundry in cold water. I am even hoping to hang a clothes line to lessen our need for using the dryer.

Plastic v Plastic- Because I am too lazy to look for the lid I am certain I won't find, I usually put many left overs into plastic ziploc bags. I am going to do a run through on our tupperware and use them more often.

For some more ideas visit my new favorite website

http://www.treehuggingfamily.com/

My Baby

When we found out we were pregnant with Layla Grace so soon after having Eli, I hate to say I was without happy words. Elijah was very sick as a peanut, and I was holding the fort as a single mom while my husband worked his tail off to provide for our family working 7 days a week and crazy hours. I struggled with God mentally the way Jacob wrestled with the angel. I couldn't understand how I was supposed to handle my husband gone so much, a newborn baby I was certain on some nights may not make it to the morning, a four year old, and now a new baby. I was angry and paranoid. I kept thinking, 'what if God is giving us this new baby because Eli is not going to make it?' After checking all of my options, I felt helpless enough to turn to God. He lead me right to the story of Hannah. It is such a short story, but one I am affected by every time I read it now. By the time I finished the story I was weeping and I knew we were supposed to name our new baby Samuel. Then we had our ultra sound and Samuel wasn't even in there! God healed my Elijah, Layla Grace was born, and we moved to Reno. Pregnant again, I was certain THIS was our Samuel. I prayed, reread the story meant just for me, and we had our ultra sound. Samuel was NOT even in there. Hmmm. Who even knew there would be one more. God HAD given us the name Samuel. I was certain of it. When we finally found our Samuel in our last ultra sound, our family seemed finished. So many times I whined and cried and yelled and mocked and was angry and hateful and disrespectful to my husband because I couldn't understand why he wouldnt go in for his vasectomy. I was mad he was not holding up what I thought should automatically be his end of the bargain. Hadn't I done enough? Instead, God allowed my husband to decide when my husband thought our family was complete. And because The Man didn't rush into something just because I thought it was best, we were finally blessed with our Samuel. Samuel Fisher was born two years ago today. We celebrated his birthday over ice cream sundaes and a movie in the back yard last night. I am so glad God knew what we wanted more than we did.

Summer Break

So far summer break has been a whirlwind of laziness. We have had some company, some good times, some bad times, but mostly just laziness. I don't get summer break from school, but not having to take Isabelle to school every morning at 7:15 is the best from of vacation I can even think of right now. Our first week of true summer laziness has included:
our homemade summer reading program (the kids are loving it and have read for 15 hours each so far!)
Watching movies
breakfast with Nanna at IHOP
playing at the park
running in our neighborhood

trying out the YMCA that just opened near my house
building a sweet ramp for bikes and scooters and a neighborhood full of kids
planting flowers
killing flowers we didn't realize were shade flowers
nursing an apple tree (not quite like the way Pastor Greg nursed his babies)
whining about not being able to put in a real garden like last year
the farmer's market
spending time with friends
spending time with family
Nanna taking my kids far far away so I can veg on the couch and do nothing
applying for scholarships
praying, dreaming, praying some more for clarity
a little crying
a lot of laughing
a trip to the library
lots of laundry
trading beds with our friends (possibly my favorite thing)
FINALLY realizing how I want to decorate my master bedroom
breaking the zzzzz key on my keyboard (you have no idea how long it took me to type those z's)
sleeping with the windows open
waking up to birds chirping
waking up to saws whirring and hammers doing what they do best
discovering nature trails at Frenchmen's
sidewalk chalk and
late night BBQs while vegging on our front porch and loving my ideal life.
Anything exciting in your first week of summer break?

Ten Things I Love

the library
wild flowers
My red cell phone (mostly because it is red)
socks
smelly good lotion that doesn't make me sneeze
watching movies in bed
music
singing musicals randomly with my kids
my husband
quoting movies and TV shows with friends