peace out God

This afternoon I gave William a card I was given~ to write on. He loves to write & he loves to spell. His teacher at school told me that his class mates often ask him how to spell things. :) Which is pretty ironic since I can't spell any better than a 2nd grader.

I love this stage with my 5 year old!

This is what I saw after he went to bed tonight....

In case you can't read it very well...it says, "Yes I love you vaery (very) much Jesus. Peace out dude."
Can you see how he traced over the cursive on the right side of the card?? :)

I love the stuff he comes up with.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

Here is the recipe some of you have been asking for...
And if you haven't asked for it~go ahead and make it, you'll be glad you did.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage-crumbled
1/2 lb. smoked bacon-chopped
1 qt. water
2- 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth
2 large potatoes-cubed
2 garlic cloves- crushed
1 med. onion-chopped
2 cups chopped kale or Swiss chard (I use spinach)
2 Tbs. dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt & pepper to taste

In skillet over medium heat brown sausage, drain, set aside.

Brown bacon, drain, set aside.

Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.

Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 minutes.

Add kale, cream and dressing mix to pot; season with salt and pepper and heat through.

Enjoy!

1 down.....3 to go.

Don't know if you remember...but back in December of 2008...but this little lady got braces on. I wrote about it here.

So one year and 3 months made a big difference on her little mouth.

The expander that she started with, we used to expand her upper palate...turning a key to widen it every night for about a month. Then when there was enough room her teeth started coming down & growing in. Then we had some straightening to do. I take that back...the ortho did. He put braces on...and wah la.......

Here she is today. The last day with braces. Waiting in the waiting room for them to come off. Lookin' pretty happy isn't she??

Now please...if you need a closer look at those pretty teeth...click on the picture~it will enlarge it for you. LOVE the new set of whites. Love that her bite lines up and her teeth are straight allowing her to chew off things now.

Here she is with the retainer in on the top....that will only have to be worn at night to make sure it's a good fit. She also has a retainer that is cemented in the bottom. 4 little brackets had to stay on some of the back teeth~Because the Dr. said...if he takes those brackets off-for sure those teeth would come out too. She has some very very loose teeth, ready to grow in her permanent teeth.

Here she is...braces free. SO awesome for her!!! We celebrated by letting her pick somewhere to go out to eat. She picked Wendy's! So we went in....and sat down for an extra bonus! It's so seldom that we go into a fast food restaurant. Even less that we eat out. (well except for Suzy-I guess...Shhhh...Don't tell the other kids) So they were very excited. William said as we were picking a seat. "WOW! Dad thank you so much for letting us come in to eat in here."

Sure! We like to spoil you - that meaning - we want the mess in the restaurant....not in the van.

And now get this....Jack starts his expander in JUNE! Yes that's right....1 down....3 to go.

how's come.....

How's come you are so sweet? How's come you can be so sour in the same minute? How's come you look so cute when you stomp off mad at me...and I try not to smile, but you catch me sometimes? How's come you get so embarrassed when we laugh at funny things you get mixed up on? How's come you ask for a snack about 15 minutes after we eat? How's come you act so mad when I don't let you get a happy meal~instead I get you a cheeseburger~and you should just be THANKFUL we stopped out to eat at all!

What made you love strawberries so much~even though you're mama really can't stand fruit? How's come you turn on the charm so quickly when daddy comes home? How's come you are growing up so fast!!!????

And I realize the answer to most of my questions is because you are three.

I love you Suzanna Faye....you make my days full and sweet!

I would blog but......

..........I've got my work cut out for me today.

So thankful hubby put a clothesline in last week for me.

Grandma Lydia

First of all...let me thank you for your sweet birthday wishes. I randomly picked a winner for the bread & jelly. Anna. Congrats. Your sweet words warm my heart.

Sunday night we got a call that Donovan's grandma had died. She was 86. It was such a shock to us. Her and Grandpa spend winters in Florida. This is where she was when she went home to Jesus. This sweet woman was a special part of our lives.

Often when we went to Florida we stayed with Grandma & Grandpa. This was a neat time that we got to know them better.

And most years when we went down, Grandma would invite family that lived in Florida over for a meal. Grandma liked to make excuses to celebrate, and have all of us together.

And she sure loved the babies. The last few years she would be pretty unstable to carry them around but would sit and ask that we bring the baby to her. Here she is loving on Karis & Suzy. Loved how much she loved my kids.

And for sure when we had a new baby to meet, she was often our first company to come to our house when we got home from the hospital.

I remember how she loved Suzanna's name. Commenting that she loved her middle name "Faye" given to her for my mom's name. She had a way of making a person feel very special & smart.

I also loved how she was quick to greet us with hugs.

Grandma also loved helping with canning our applesauce EVERY year. She was eager to come, and would often ask when we were getting together for our annual event. This picture was taken back when we lived in Millersburg. About 6 years ago. I think that year we did about 5 bushel. How sad it will be not to have her a part of that this fall.

Another year of helping.

And this was this past fall. Since we were in the middle of building~we had apple day at Donovan's mom's house. It was pretty cool to see how Suzy warmed up to Grandpa and Grandma had fun just talking to her and making her feel special and loved. Loved the connection she had with my kids. I love how much she worked at getting to know them better.

This was a reunion that was about 6 years ago. Not quite all of the family....some live down south. Some were not able to be there. But wow, what a crew!

What a legacy she left for us. What a peace of mind to know she's sitting at the feet of Jesus. To know that she is pain free & with a new body.

Quote of the day:
Yesterday.
Suzy: "I wish Grandma could come down here and see me. I miss her."
Me: "Do you know where she is?"
Suzy: "She's with Jesus and God in Heaven."
Me: "right."
Suzy: "MOM! YOU know who else is in heaven with Grandma, and Jesus, and God? Baby Olive is there too! But Olives mom & dad are not there. And grandpa is not there in Heaven, Grandpa is still in Florida. "

35

How I spent the day a couple of weeks ago.......

the day I turned 35! :) Along with some shopping with a friend.

That night was dinner at Carrabbas....and here are kids who did almost no fighting all the way there. I had to take a picture because they were getting along so well.

My sister, her boyfriend, and daughter met us at Carrabbas.

The day after....lunch with my sister in law and nephew.

And as if I hadn't celebrated enough....we went to Olive Garden to celebrate my niece's birthday that was 2 days after mine.

Two days after my birthday I was still getting asked to go to lunch....now why didn't I take my camera along??? Thank you Rosetta for a delightful lunch!!

Then the next week after this little snow bird came back from down south~ she blessed me with lunch.

Also got tons of sweet pick me ups during the WHOLE week. My favorite magazine, cute note paper for grocery lists, yummy treats!, a book by my favorite author, bath & body works delights, an hour massage!!, ONE dozen roses, gift cards to Target (count them4!), gift card for a favorite scrap booking store of mine, gift card to a chocolate/coffee house, my favorite lip gloss X 2 , my favorite chocolate~, a facial, bath towels, & a sundae ice cream set. How do I rate?? Much better than deserved. Amazing. Thank you sweet friends for the sweet sweet love. You make turning one year older a joy.

And rather than a quote of the day...
It's give back bloggy day.

To you my sweet sweet friends.
For those who comment and those who want to but forget to. tee hee. Now here's your chance.

I made homemade grape jelly today and bread is rising for baking tomorrow. Sour dough that is. So leave a comment and I will pick a random winner to win one of each.

bonus

Don't know if you knew....we had a room we finished after we moved in. But really?? We moved Dec. 4th. SO that didn't leave a lot of "time" for Donovan to be doing construction. That is after he finished his 9-5. But after the eggnog, family feuds, and mistletoe....He began the framing, wiring, & hanging the drywall. Next came painting, trimming, putting in closets & shelving... Yeah, it was kind of a process. But the day came and we were ready to move the girls up to the bonus room above the garage, opening up a room for an office for Donovan.

My girls have a little issue with keeping. OR maybe it's mama not keeping on top of it. Let's say it's the option #1. So...before we moved up I worked with Isabella on weeding through her "treasures". I gave her instructions to count her stuffed animals and divide that by 1/2 and that is what she can keep. So really? She had 18. I don't think I bought ANY of these. But someone who was special bought them. She could remember who got them, when and why. But agreed that she had "outgrown" some of them and it actually was a very pain-free process.

Working on Suzy's things...well that's another story. It's a process people.

The carpet install guy came....

And there was joy throughout the house.

That first night we had a little overnight guest.

As you walk in the bathroom is on the right. A little trim work there needs to be done.

Looking into the bathroom just to the right.

Making use of every little space in that little bathroom.

The closets are across from the bathroom on the left as you walk in.

Some beds Donovan made a couple of years ago. Pretty handy to have a personal handy man. I'm just sayin'.

Room for Isabella's desk now.

What fun...to make use out of the space. So very much appreciating it. And what a bonus to have the work behind us.