need your opinion

I have been doing a lot of sewing lately and this is my next project. This is going to be for my husbands aunt. I have a dilemma. Here are my two fabric pallets.

I could go all black and white.

Or I could throw in a bit of color. 

I can't decide what will look better. 

If I throw in the color what do I do with the band around the top of the bag and the straps? If I stick with all black and white that's a no brainer. 

So I can't decide. What do you think?

Found this picture of my daughter. Didn't even know it was still on my computer. Thought I had transfered all of my photos off the harddrive.

It's amazing how small she was. I'd say this was around 1 year old. Not too sure. I know it was before Stephen because when he was born he moved in the the crib and she in a twin size bed.

july garden.

Remember when I was talking albout gardening. I put up a few pics of my piles of dirt. Well here we are. It's July. The soil I ordered was horrible. It's the weediest soil I've ever worked with. Two layers of weed block and I've been weeding since day one. It's also very clay like and clumpy. Not smooth at all. But my plants are still thriving. I had some issues with starting from seeds but that was due to weather not the soil. The seeds would spring up and and die in the heat of June. It was a hot hot month.

Above is the long box filled with celery, watermellon, peppers and tomatoes.

Above is a tomato plant growing taller than the cages. This might be the tallest I have ever seen them grow.

Tomatoes ripening up only a few more days. These plum tomatoes are wonderful. They are coming off the plant crisp and tasty. Soon I will be canning like a mad women. I'd say right after vacation it will be canning time.

Watermellon, a week ago this was the size of a grape today it's the size of a baseball. I didn't know they grew so fast.

This last photo is my small box. We had lettuce but it tasted horrible so I ripped it out. Strawberries are growing nicely though they haven't sent out too many suckers yet. In the back is the cucumber. I have two picklers and one slicer. I'm not sure how I will keep them apart now that they are climbing all over each other. Oh and in the middle there is a sprig of basil. Yummy Yummy

vacation week 3

Today begins week 3 of Summer Vacation. The first two weeks have been packed. This week will test my skills as a mom.

Week 1 was filled with drs appointments, baseball games, and a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo.

Weekend 1 was also busy with t-ball, road runners race, father's day and the twins birthday celebration.

Week 2 was Vacation Bible School week, also crazy busy. Getting up and out the door every morning coming up for lunch and then errands in the afternoon. We also went to another baseball game and had a dentist appointment where we were told it's time to take Catherine to an Orthodontist.

This past weekend, Catherine and I went to yet another baseball game, and slept on the field with her girl scout troop after the game. Lots of fun very little sleep. We also had a birthday party to go to on Saturday, and a graduation party on Sunday.

This week the calendar is empty. Today I'm planning a quick trip to the gym and then maybe the mall to get our free birthday cookies from Barnes and Noble. Then it's home to do some cleaning and crafting. Last week was rainy so very little laundry was done. It's time to catch up on that.

So far I have completed 2 water bottle holders. They came out fairly well. I'll try to get pictures up soon. I've also decided on the pattern for the Summer Quilt I want to make for our room (now it's time to start collecting fabrics).

I'm curious to see how everything works out this week now that we are not over scheduled. This is the week that will test the kids. How are they going to handle their freedom? Stay tuned for updates... 

babies on my mind.

It seems to me that a lot of my friends are getting ready to have their first babies. I remember early on in my first pregnancy reading a commentary that spoke of what you go through during a pregnancy. Not the physical stuff but the emotional stuff. One thing that it touched on was how it often feels like every women who has had a baby feels the need to share their own stories with you while you are pregnant.
I found this to be so true. Fortunately for me most of the stories were good stories. I try very hard to suppress the urge to always comment on a pregnant moms thoughts but it's not easy. I think it's the bond of women that makes us share our experiences. It's our way of saying you are not alone.
Because of all of these pregnant people in the facebook world I have been thinking a lot of my own experience. I want to share two things. 1. The best advice I ever got. 2. The thing I wish someone would have told me.

1. The best advice came from a co-worker at the High School I was at. She told me to obey my child's schedule. How true this turned out to be. As long as I fed baby when baby was hungry and let baby nap when baby was tired, we were all happy campers. I learned to plan outings around feeding and napping schedules. I can safely say that this strategy has paid off for me in huge ways. I don't take my kids out when they're tired, even now I won't do it. I know that disobeying my children's need for schedules is a recipe of disaster. It's not always possible to obey the schedule, but the more you do the happier you all will be. And for the record, I don't believe people when they say their child doesn't have a schedule. Every baby has a schedule. Every person has a schedule.

2. The thing I wish I knew before we brought Catherine home. Now this is a biggie. I think the reason no one told me was because it's not a pretty moment. Here's my story. Catherine was born around 3:30 in the morning, after 12 hours in the hospital and another 12 hours or so before we left for the hospital. To say we were exhausted when we finally met her was an understatement. I remember the day we came home, it was the middle of the week and so we didn't have any visitors. My mom was there she got us settled in and then went on her way. Catherine slept a lot that first day home. Paul and I were in a daze of emotion. We had no idea what was coming.
That night could have been one of the most difficult and scariest moments of my life. Nothing serious happened. Catherine just cried. and cried, and cried some more. We fed her, burpped her, rocked her... We did everything we thought we were supposed to do but she wouldn't sleep. Not for anything. I remember sitting at the foot of the bed the next morning panic stricken thinking "is this my new life?".
Turns out it wasn't. We just needed to help Catherine learn the difference between night and day. It turns out that we had a lot to learn. Thankfully it didn't take us more than a few days to get into a wake/sleep pattern that worked.
What no one told me is just how hard the first few nights are. No one told me that the first night home is often the hardest. When Stephen came home we were more or less ready for a few long nights. Knowing what was coming made it all a bit easier.
No one wants to tell you that you have no idea how hard parenting is going to be. We don't want to scare new parents. Being scared isn't going to get you anywhere. The other thing is that you really can't prepare for the experience either.

My honest and humble opinions on what you need in order to make it:

• flexibility - you might have a plan before your child comes a long, but in actuality your child will let you know if your plan was the right one - it's okay to change from your plan. I planned to breastfeed, and found it nearly impossible, once I accepted that it was okay to bottle-feed life got a bit easier
• a sense of humor - sometimes you just have to laugh
• courage - a wimpy parent is not going to get it done. Don't be afraid to tell people that you don't want visitors when the baby first comes home. If you have a rough labor and delivery you may just want to sleep and not worry about guests. Anyone who has had a child will understand this, those who have not will have to trust you. Honestly, the first 24 hours are hard enough without having to worry about visitors. People try to kid themselves saying no one cares what the house looks like, or what I look like, they  just want to see the baby. BUT we all know this isn't true. It's ingrained in us to clean up if someone is coming over. You don't need this kind of pressure. 
• acceptance - having a baby is a traumatizing experience. Both physically and mentally. Accept that you could never have been prepared for such a moment and all will be fine. Accept that you don't have all the answers or even all the control. Becoming a parent is a learning experience. We learn as we go, it's the only way. No baby book could ever get you 100% prepared. The thing about babies is they don't follow rules. 

I love being a mom. I pray that all future moms experience the same joy and love that I have. Motherhood isn't always pretty, but it's always rewarding. 

quick tip.

If you have children that leave the house with lots of stuff I have the perfect product for you. When we enrolled Catherine in kindergarten I knew we would have our hands full trying to keep track of all the stuff that leaves the house.
I found the perfect labeling system from this company. The vinyl labels go on anything and they don't come off easily, but when they do they don't leave a mark. Also, the are dish-washerable. Every thermos, bottle, cup that leaves our house leaves with a label. And the second part of the tip: Order them with only your last name. That way there is no sibling sharing issue.
We ordered the vinyl labels and the iron on labels filled with Anderson on them. And we use them for everything. The iron-ons are really easy to put in and they have staying power. I still have a bunch from my order three years ago, but if I ever run out I'm going back to get more because I have been so happy with their product.

Trust me, if you are sending your kids out of the house for anything school, day-care, sports, park-meets, etc these labels will come in handy.

Happy weekend. 

summer vacation.

This week was our first week of summer vacation. And I am loving the break. We haven't been out of bed before 7:30 all week (sorry this doesn't include Paul).
Most mornings haven't even started until 8:00am I know for those of you who don't have kids that's not late, but early. But most parents know that is a small miracle.
My four kids are an independent breed. They do not require my immediate attention. What does this mean? It means I can get up when I am ready to and take my shower and come down when I am ready. Regardless of what time my kids get up (within reason that is). My children will get up on their own, get dressed on their own and go to the play room to watch tv (locked on PBS for now), or play until I am ready. This makes mornings awesome. I can come down without feeling rushed and get breakfast going with little chaos.
Since vacation has started I have worked on a few routines with the kids. They are now more helpful then ever getting things out for breakfast. Putting out the juice and cups, and clearing their dishes properly when done. I also now have all four of them emptying the clean dishes from the dishwasher. (I have them work in pairs, everything they can't reach gets neatly stacked on the counter for me to take care of)
This week was a packed week of excitement. Monday was Catherine's yearly check-up (okay that wasn't exciting). Tuesday we took the kids to a baseball game. Wednesday we watched Stephen's t-ball game. Thursday we went to the Philadelphia zoo. Today is Friday, we wen't to the fabric store to pick up supplies for my next sewing adventure.
In between all that I am getting more time in at the gym. I swear if I would stop snacking I would lose the weight that I need to. I seem to keep the same weight all the time and I know it's because I work-out that I don't gain weight, but I don't lose any because I haven't changed my eating habits enough.
This weekend should be fun, we have so much cleaning up in the yard to do in time for Father's Day and the twins 5th birthday celebration. Next week will be filled with VBS activities as well as another baseball game, a dentist appointment, and a girlscout camping event.
It feels like it's a lot of running but it really isn't. In order to stave the boredom I try to fill my days with activities, but never more than one thing at a time.
For example.
Monday - gym and any needed errands. We are usually home by noon and tend not to go back out. After lunch I kick them out to play and then they come in and if all chores are done then they can have computer/wii/movie time. After dinner it's outside to play until bed-time.
Tuesdays - gym then library visit.
Wednesdays will most likely become the days we go to the free movies at the Rave.

My favorite thing about summer is that there is no real schedule. We can always change plans and do whatever we feel like doing. My kids are becoming more and more flexible as they get older. I am truly enjoying the season of life.