Things have been a bit busy here with unpacking (almost done!!), organizing (never done!) and tax season (April 15th can't come soon enough!)

Here's a little of what's been going on around here.

Emma knows all of her upper case letters. Except that pesky "I" and "L" when they

make the capital "I" look like a lower case "l." See what I mean? It can be confusing for the poor kids. There are about ten lower case that she doesn't know yet, so we've been working on them. This easel has been wonderful to have in the kitchen! While I'm working in the kitchen, she'll draw or work on "homework." When Ryan's home, I'll write multiplication facts on the chalkboard and he'll work on these. Best Christmas present ever!

And they thought it was fun!! :)

The flower beds that run along this fence have about 5" of dead leaves. We've started cleaning them out. It's a lot of work, but it looks so much nicer once it's done. So glad for my little helpers!

Ryan has become interested in carving and wittling. He got a whittling knife and a practice block of cedar with part of his birthday money. He's really enjoyed working on it. There have been a few knicks on the fingers, but (thankfully) nothing serious. Since he's using cedar...it smells so good!

Always...coloring.

This girl loves to color!

Rolling out the sugar cookies.

Emma loves those times in the kitchen when I don't care if she makes a mess.

She loved rolling out the dough and then making volcanoes with the left overs until I needed them for the next batch.

Hard at work

Bob took a few minutes out of working from home one evening to throw

the football with Ryan.

I'm so thankful that he does this. Ryan LOVES to spend time with Bob, and there's just not a lot of extra time in the middle of tax season. Those few minutes while I'm finishing up dinner have become Bob's time with the kids...either outside in the backyard or inside wrestling.

He wants to play football in a bad way.

His mother wants him not to play football in a bad way!

But he's got such a good arm.

Hmmm.....

While the boys were out playing, the girls were in the house slaving away.

(Smile)

I discovered that my red food coloring was all dried up, so

we had light blue Valentine's Day cookies.

A few mornings ago, as Ryan was waiting of the bus to come,

I caught Ryan teaching Emma how to read the first book in

the "Bob Books" series. So sweet! She was

so excited when she did it! She just might be reading before she starts school.

And this one will read anywhere!

This is his favorite place at our new house...up in the cherry tree.

Time in the Kitchen

Yesterday morning was spent in the kitchen.

One of my favorite places to be.

I love to cook, as long as I can give most of the goodies away.

Chicken Alfredo in the crockpot,

banana pinaeapple bread,

and white chocolate/dried cranberry cookies.

Some prefer to just eat the dough.

I've been making banana bread since I was very young. My dad, who drove truck for Fred Meyer, would call from work and tell me that he was coming home with a 40 pound (yep, there's a "0" in there!) box of past-their-prime bananas. I'd make batch after batch of banana bread to stick in the freezer. I came across this recipe last year. You add a can of crushed pineapple to the batter...it is delicious! Very moist.
Perfect warm with honey or with homemade strawberry freezer jam.

Can't you just smell them?

Our weekend

My poor husband! I told him this past week that, as soon as the house was

put together enough, we were going to start having people over for games, dinner, whatever.

I may have neglected to mention that I had scheduled three things this weekend. Oops!

During tax season, he goes to bed early as he's up quite early and works long days. I was so pleased when, even after staying up later than normal all weekend, he mentioned how much

he enjoyed himself each evening!

~~

Friday night, we had friends over for dinner and games. With five kids in the house all playing

together nicely (and one a baby), I didn't take a single photo! I can't believe it! I wish I had because we had a wonderful time. Next time I'll make up for it.

~~

Sunday evening, Preethie, Nelson, Max and Amanda came over for dinner.

Preethie was sweet to let Emma help.

(My Roul Pat used to be while until Bob baked on it...note for future in case it happens to someone else...you can still use it!)

Nelson, Max and Ryan playing football on the PS2.

How come my face never looks that happy when football is involved?

Please play tea party with me!
(How could you say no?)

Preethie, Me and Amanda

Bob.

Love that smiling face!

This is what Emma looks like when she jumps on the bed with her hair down.

Scary!!

Cookies!

Learning how to measure

Note: I'm well aware that there are very few photos of Ryan. We have all of the fun while he's at school!

We got our hopes up when this parked across the street last night.

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I had a Tupperware party last night. Yep, those still happen!

We had a great turnout, had fun, but no photos.

We did discover that roughly 12 cars can park in or around our driveway and I can fit 14 women (and one baby) in my living room!!

My craft room

Now, be honest.

Doesn't this little concrete 5'x18' room inspire you to create?

Really? Cause when I first saw it, I thought "Craftroom!"

Okay...maybe with a little work and a few improvements.

This room was labeled on the floorplan as a laundry room. We couldn't figure out

why they didn't use it as such. The prior owners have the washer and dryer in the garage. Then we discovered that the dryer is gas, so now it all makes sense. Since I wasn't able

to claim the cute little cottage out back as a craft retreat, this was my only other option.

The only thing in the room when we moved in was a set of homemade shelves.

I can work with that!

I painted one wall dark blue and the other three pale yellow.

SO glad the painting is done!

It took one coat of primer, two coats of yellow and three of blue.

Emma's a painter. She LOVES to paint.
Both of the kids helped a bit with the walls, and Emma helped with the shelves.
Those we painted a lighter blue.

This became a family affair! Ryan experienced a miter box for the first time as they
cut some moulding for me. They all agree...next time, we borrow the electric one from Max, who in turned borrowed it from Dad!

I knew that I wanted a place for me to sew, another for scrapping/card making and a spot for Emma. When I'm crafting, she loves to join in. I looked at counter tops. The narrowest I could find were four feet, and the room is only five feet wide. Wasn't gonna work! Then the kids and I took a trip to our neighborhood Habitat for Humanity. We found doors that were between 2' and 2.5' feet deep. For the cost of one too-wide counter top, I was able to get three doors, 4"x4"s for the legs, 2"x4"s to run along the wall for the back edge to rest on and all of the fasterners and screws needed. And it worked!

We put it to use before the room was even done! Homework!

Being that it's mostly concrete, it's a bit chilly in here. I got a carpet at Freddies, and I'm on the lookout for another matching carpet. That'll cover the whole floor. A small space heater might be on the list, too.

After I chose the paint colors, my friend AmyB handed down some IKEA fabric that she wasn't going to use. The blues and yellows matched perfectly for curtains. I love the sunshine that comes in, but I can't stand working in the dark with an open window! Too much imagination!

And I should have enough left to cover a bulletin board for me and one for Emma.

My handman putting the shelves back up.

Thanks, Bob!

Shelves are up (and a few things moved in).

My little corner.

Once I finish Emma's corner, I'll post some pics of it.

Off to fill it up!

In between the tax returns

i came home from running errands this afternoon and found...

...this!

i love that he was thinking of me today, even though he's

knee deep in the middle of tax season.

~~~

thanks, honey.

i love you!

So, just as I get ready to start my post tonight, I discover that my dear friend had the same

kind of day I did. We share so much already (including Em's) ... it's nice to share this too!

~~

Today was a wonderful day. First, the kids did not wake up at 6:30, but rather let me sleep in until 8:00. We had two wonderful meetings, with a short 20 minute nap for me squeezed in between while they did this...

(these photos by Ryan)

It snowed today...my favorite kind of snow. The kind that sticks to the grass and melts off of the roads. The kind that the kids can enjoy, yet I can still drive! :)

I TRIED to get a nice photo of the two monkeys before Gospel Meeting this afternoon,

but they were in such a mood! (And then Ryan knocked over my plant for the second time today). So, this is it...all I got!

~~

After meeting this afternoon, Bob, the kids and I ran home. We changed our clothes, picked our crockpot off of the counter, grabbed a bag of rice and went to Max and Amanda's.

They are in the process of putting in a fireplace, so the kids got to help with the light holding and some of the hammering. They had a great time! We enjoyed a fabulous new recipe that we all decided was a keeper. Then, while Max and Emma continued working, me, Bob, Ryan, Amanda played Sequence....a new game for us and one we'll be looking to buy!

We played it while we ate delicious popped-in-a-very old-popper-with-oil-and-everything popcorn!!

What a wonderful way to start the week.

~~~

Here's the recipe from "Crockpot: Weekend Favorites"

I doubled everything but the meat.

Chinese Pork Tenderloins

2 pork tenderloins (about 2 pounds total)

1 each red and green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 jar (15 oz) sweet and sour sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp red pepper sauce

Hot cooked rice

Chopped fresh cilatro or parsley (optional)

1. Cut pork into 1-inch cubes and place in slow cooker.

2. Add diced peppers, onion, carrots, sweet and sour sauce, soy sauce, and red pepper sauce. Stir just to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or on high 4 to 5 hours. Serve over hot rice and sprinkle with chopped cilantro, if desired.

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Delicious!