Fall at heart

 Home Made Simple

     So many fantastically simple ideas to liven up the holidays!  I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and can't wait to try out some of these recipes and decorating ideas.  I get to bring dessert for Thanksgiving dinner and I'm still mulling over my options.  I know pumpkin pie is essential and I've had a request for my apple-cider pie.  I'm sure Raymond would love a chocolate cream pie (and I'm planning on that, too), but I'm still looking for that one, something-extra-special kind of dessert!  Any suggestions?  I spend a little bit of time each day bouncing around various cooking and recipe websites and have recently subscribed to daily emails from Home Made Simple as well as Better Homes and Gardens (more on that later!)  In fact, I'm gonna try out some of those recipes on some friends this weekend!  Wish me luck :) 

The Swing of things

Coming up on the end of our 5th week of school and I finally feel like I've gotten my "school life" organized and under control...grade book partitioned, lesson plans done and classroom sufficiently decorated.  Unfortunately, I can not say the same for my "home life"!  The start of school is busy, in and of itself, but it seems that the past few weeks have had a variety of additional activities that have all but consumed my evenings and weekends!  You know, fun opportunities like the FAIR that I just can't pass up!  Laundry alone accounts for half of my "to do" list...I have a pile of laundry that is washed and folded, but needs to be put away, another pile that still needs to be folded, a pile of uniforms to iron and then there are those piles that still need to be washed.  Thankfully, I have a husband that is willing to put up with a bit of a mess and equally willing to help when I do finally decide to tackle it. 

I have taken an "it can wait" attitude, if in fact, it CAN wait.  Life is comprised of many choices and recently I have opted to spend time with my family and friends and do the "fun stuff" and let some of the work wait.  My husband and children are clean, well fed and hopefully happy so the fact that I have piles of laundry in various stages is not going to cause me more anxiety.  Look at the bright side...I have a washer and a dryer; I don't have to hand wash or wring out my clothes and I don't have to line dry them (if I don't want to!)   I know it's there and needs to be done, but why fret about it until I have time to take care of it? 

A verse keeps rattling around in my head:

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

                                                                          Matthew 6:34

God may not have intended the "evil" to be a housework, but the bottom line is... it will all get done and if I can't do it today, there is no point in mounding it all up until my "tomorrow" seems futile. Carpe Diem, right?

Fair Day!

If there is one thing I REALLY look forward to in the Fall, it's "Doin the Puyallup".  I absolutely love the fair and although my husband is a transplant here, he loves it too. (Just not as much as I do :)  We have begun the indocrination process of molding our children into fair-lovers, as well.  If you know me, you know I have a calendar and love to make plans.  The fair runs 17 days each year; opening on a Friday and running three full weekends with the two weeks in between.  So, each year we block out a few days because we know we are going to go to the fair more than once!

Our first trip was last Monday...I like to think of this as our "family barn time" because we have a "NO RIDES" rule when we go for this purpose.  We go to eat and looked through animal barns, nothing more, nothing less.  This year, there was a liter of piglets that had just been born that morning, which is a first for me at the fair!  It was amazing to look a few feet over at the 10-day-old piglets and see what a difference in size a little over a week could make. I love all the questions that kids can come up with when they are looking at animals.  Raymond's comment/question about the mother pig only being 2 years old was tabled for later discussion. And of course we ATE: corn dogs, curly fries, cotton candy, an elephant ear and more.

Our school always takes a fair day on a day that the Dizzy Pass (unlimited ride bracelet) is available and yesterday was that day.  We typically open and close the fair on Fair Day so last year I proposed that we give the students (and their families!) a break and have an hour late-start at school the morning after.  What do you know...my wish was granted!  We were running a little late yesterday and didn't get to the fair until about 10:30 (it opens at 10am) so we only had a short wait before the kids could start their rides.  And RIDE THEY DID!  We bought them each a ride bracelet and they were off!  For almost 12 hours, our kids rode the rides...they met up with various friends to go on rides and Kevin and I tag-teamed between Raymond (who goes on the really big, midway rides) and Zachary and Addison (who still prefer the tameness of Sillyville).  My legs and back can attest to the near-constant standing and walking.

Raymond on the Skydiver with his friend Jeremy...I wish you could see their expressions better!



Addison and Zachary have fun on the Sillyville Rides

I'm REALLY looknig forward to our next trip to the fair because it'll be my BIRTHDAY!  I'm planning to take the day off of work so  Kevin adn I can spend the WHOLE day at the fair...no kids :)



Accident Prone

"FOUR THINGS, Mom...can you believe it?  Four things this week" was the comment Zachary made to me yesterday.  What four things, you might ask?  I know I did...to which he replied with a little hand outstretched to count

1. I got bit a bunch of times by hornets

2. I got stung by two bees at school

3. Then there was my elbow and knee that I scraped when I fell down

4. and now THIS (and he holds up his emergency room, bandaged, hand that had been slammed in the door the night before by his little sister.  Luckily, it probably isn't broken (whole other story!)

"Four things happened to me mom...I must be getting tough!"

Awwww...my sweet, little Zach Attack... always finding some kind of mischief!   "Buddy," I said with a smile, "You forgot that you lost your tooth this week, too!"

So, I guess that makes 5 things, Zachary!

Counted blessings

"In every thing, give thanks"
1 Thessalonians  5:18

It's been a rough week and today is the last day of my summer vacation.  I was feeling a bit bummed, so I decided to head outside with a cup of coffee and my laptop and enjoy the quiet of the morning on the patio swing while I try and get things into perspective.  As I closed my eyes to the sun shining in my face, I could hear the goats head butting each other as they play, a cow mooing for grain, a variety of birds chirping and the rooster crowing from the front yard.  Mixed in was an occasional tingle of wind chimes as the breeze picks up...I absolutely love these sounds!  Each one reminds me that I am HOME.  It's still quiet in the house and I know my three precious children are still asleep, snuggled together in the living room after a night of movies and popcorn.  The house is a wreck after many busy days and little motivation to clean, but we are blessed to have it, mess and all.  There is laundry to be done and dishes to wash, but that means we have clothes to wear and food to eat.  Tomorrow I go back to work. I will miss all the free time with my kids that I enjoy over the summer, but at least I'm going back to a job I love...one where I get to see my kids throughout the day while I am doing God's work.  My life IS good...God is good.  When things seem a bit dismal and I feel myself struggling hard to gain positive ground, it really does help to stop and count my blessings.  There are, after all, so many!

So long, Max

Max died today and I cried.  Seems as if I've been doing a lot of crying over animals of late. The price of living on a farm, I guess. I looked for quite awhile to find pictures of him and much to my dismay, I didn't have many. Why do we take so many pictures of pets when they are small and cute and not so many as they get older? I do have some "puppy" pictures of Max, but it was so long ago that they aren't digital! He would have been 14 years old in October...a long life for a lab-mix. Kevin got max from the Clarksville, TN Humane Society when he was just 6 weeks old. He was part of our lives before we got married, before we had children...he has been our sole obsession as well as one pet among dozens. We have had many, many pets over the years but Max has always been a constant. An obedient companion and a fierce protector. The UPS guy has been known to just drop the package over the gate because Max looked so ferocious. We never believed he could be so intimidating until we pulled up one day in a car he didn't recognize...WOW!

At any rate, Kevin and Raymond dug a hole tonight after church and we unceremoniously buried him. It's the first pet I can remember burying. Our kids took it pretty hard, especially Zachary...lots of tears. Funny how attached we can become to an animal, especially one that has truly become part of our family. We have promised them new animals, perhaps someday in the future; but for now, I'm not really up for it. Max was such a good dog, there will not be another like him and he will be mourned and missed.

22/365 Good friend Joy

I was scheduled to help with concessions today and some good friends, Dave and Liz, were going to watch our kids so both Kevin and I could go.  But, with a sick girl (see yesterday's post), I thought I had better stay home.  It's always such a hassle to get enough people to help with these Husky games and as someone primarily responsible for this particular fundraiser, I felt like I needed to find a replacement for myself.  After all, I expect others to do the same, right?  Dave volunteered to go in my place...now those are good friends!  First, they were willing to watch my kids for the entire day and when that fell through on our end, he was equally willing to spend his day selling hot dogs; neither option I'd imagine were on the top of his "things I REALLY want to do list"!  The fact that I have a few of these kind of "good" friends truly brings me joy...I'd be lost without them!  Thanks Dave and Liz!

21/365 Sick Joy?

No pictures to show, but we had quite an afternoon today!  It was a home-game day and Volleyball started, so Kevin had the kids while I helped with the coaching.  I noticed Addison wasn't running around as she normally does and when I got a chance, I asked Kevin...she was in my classroom sleeping...odd...she never sleeps during games.  After volleyball, we all settled onto the bleachers to watch the boys play basketball.  Addison was especially whiny and wanted to sit on my lap, so I let her.  Shortly into the first quarter of play, she vomited all over me and almost hit a friend of ours that we were sitting next to.  Ugh, what a mess!  I tried to "catch" it in my hand, but what was I thinking?  This is the joy part, if you can call it that...several ladies jumped up to help.  As I tried to clean up the mess, they promptly ushered me and the girl to the bathroom and said they'd worry about the mess.  What a huge blessing!  My baby was sick and apparently getting sicker, so I got her home, gave her a bath and we cuddled while she alternately ate and threw it back up into a bowl for the remainder of the night.  No joy in being sick...

20/365 Hillbilly Joy

Today is Backward-Hillbilly-Flannel day...many ideas combined to give students more options!?! 

 It worked out, as there was quite a variety.  Raymond's favorite purchase for this costume was the fake teeth.  We all had a lot of fun with those! 

Here is Raymond and one of his classmates...both sporting those silly teeth!

19/365 Ninja Joy

I forgot to take my camera to school today for Ninja day! So disappointing, there were some great costumes... oh well.  Everyone had a good time and all continue to enjoy the Bake Sale we are having.  Who doesn't love to get out of class to buy baked goods AND get to eat those purchases in class!

18/365 Mustache and Crazy Sock joy!

First day of Spirt week is Mustache and Crazy Sock Day... we found several mustache types (including a pink one for Addison!) on Amazon and ordered some extras  for anyone at school who hadn't planned ahead.  My kids LOVED the idea...

until the mustache started to irritate their skin!  Zachary didn't last long, barely to school before his came off!  SO I ended up just drawing him a mustache with an eyebrow pencil!

 Our lunch lady, Denise, got in on the fun as well!  Can you see the mustache on the pizza?!  The kids loved it!

And Mrs. Minge's history class was in good form with their variety...including Mrs. Minge's "Moo-stache"!

17/365 Holiday Joy

While I  love my job and love my students, it is refreshing to have an extra long weekend, so today I am experiencing holiday joy!  A quick respite from the usual Monday morning routine.  Nothing at all planned for the day.  We are just going to hang out and enjoy some down time...maybe color and play and watch a movie?  Kids choice today!

16/365 Coupon Joy

I have tried to set aside time on Sunday afternoons to sort through and organize my coupons, check out the weekly ads and come up with various shopping lists.  I get many of my coupon shopping hints from a few different websites; 

http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com/ and http://www.thriftynorthwestmom.com/ are a couple of my favorites and most frequented.  The Krazy Coupon Lady even has a book available!  Today was a very productive time, as I had let my coupons go for several weeks and really needed to get that binder under control!  It is time well spent...I have saved hundreds of dollars and have a nice "stockpile" to show for my efforts.  Joyfully, my coupon binder is now neatly organized and updated!

15/365 Costume Joy

We spent several hours today frequenting thrift stores and looking for costumes for Spirit Week at our school next week!  Raymond is more excited than the other two, but they are catching on to the idea and looking forward to trying out all of our great finds!  More next week!

14/365 Five on Friday

I've decided to steal borrow another blogger's idea to list 5 blessings each Friday...certainly things that bring me daily joy!  So here goes-
1.  My family is all (relatively!) happy and healthy...we know several people that are dealing with life-long health issues and scary stuff like cancer and I am so very thankful that that is not a daily concern for my immediate family
2.  I love my job...although there are days when I wonder what I am doing, I am blessed to work in a place where I see my children through out the day and I know that they are learning under a Godly influence.  I am so thankful to be part of our school.
3.  Raymond is improving in his school work and I have realized (hopefully not too late!) that I need to have a vested interested in my children's education.  Although it is time consuming, I appreciate knowing what Raymond is doing in each of his subjects, every day. It keeps us both accountable!
4.  It's my baby brother's birthday today and although we aren't as close as I'd like us to be, I am thankful to have siblings that are only a phone call away and blessed that this one has become such an amazing photographer!  He has given us some images of our children that I absolutely LOVE!  Perhaps that will be a post one of these days!
5.  My laundry is all caught up :)

13/365 Laundry Joy

I've been overwhelmed, at times, with the amount of laundry my family manages to generate. 

 It seems endless and although that can be discouraging, it also seems to be a fact of life.  So...my philosophy two weeks into this new year?  Accept it and get it done!  I used to think I'd just do laundry a couple of times a week and even tried to schedule it, to no avail. I was always behind, or would get it all washed and it would remain piled on my table for days on end.  So, following the Fly Lady's  philosophy, I have been doing a little bit each day and getting it all put away!  That makes me very happy :)

12/365 2nd Quarter

It's hard to believe it's already the end of the 2nd quarter of school...I feel like I'm just now getting my bearing and heading in the right direction!  So many things I still haven't gotten a chance to do and I'm already starting that summer list :)

11/365 Snow Joy!

The excitement and anticipation of snow is something I will never outgrow... maybe it's because we don't get a whole lot of it here, but I always look forward to snowfall.  They have been forecasting snow for today and it was torture to be at school all day!  The kids (and I!) kept gazing out the window, waiting...

 Got home, ate dinner and did homework and still NO SNOW!  I was beginning to doubt our weatherman.

Then at about 7pm, we saw the first flakes.  It wasn't long before the ground was covered and the kids were anxious to get outside.  I was torn, because it was a school night and the forecast had also predicted that it would warm and melt all the snow sometime after midnight.  So, do I let the kids stay up, play in the snow while it's here or bring them in and get them to bed on time?

Of course sent them out to play in the snow to their little hearts' content.  They had so much fun in such a short amount of time, I was happy that I had not begrudged them the opportunity.  Now, they are all tucked safe, sound and warm in beds (only an hour past bedtime) and mom has fingers crossed that the weatherman will be wrong and the snow will stick around long enough for a school delay!

10/365 Extra time Joy

Short day at school...only 2 hours to cover material in all 7 periods!  Definitely made the day fly by!  We dismissed early to allow teachers and students to attend the funeral of a long-time member of our church.  My family only knew him by name and I didn't want to take my children to the funeral and answer all those inevitable questions, so we took a pass.  What to do with a sudden and oh so unexpected gift of extra time?  While laundry and dishes no doubt awaited at home, we drove right past our road and decided to have a little "adventure"!  I had some errands I had been meaning to run, so we made a game of it and the kids helped find each destination...we agreed on an extra treat at each stop and ended our trip at the library, which my kids love!  Even after all our errands, we made it home before we would have on a normal day.  Loved spending "stolen" time with my kids today!

9/365 Sunday Joy

I am already falling behind due to lack of photos, so I'll have to stick with the original disclaimer... photos will not always be added to my daily posts... Bummer, I know but reality speaks and if I really want to do this 365 days of joy, I'm gonna have to do what I can!  My joy today and every Sunday is my church.  I love Bethel Baptist Church and look forward to hearing from our pastor each week!

8/365 Saturday Joy

Staying up late on Friday night watching movies is sort of a Rau family tradition...Saturday is the only day we usually get to sleep in.  Sometimes we add to the excitement and let the kids sleep out in the living room.

 This is usually when they are plum sacked out at the end of the movie and we don't feel like lugging them off to their beds.  I'm always a wee bit apprehensive come Saturday morning to find where they eventually ended up (i.e. if they got up and moved during the night...) but this morning I was thrilled to see the two little ones snuggled up together, already awake and happy!

Sometimes they are just so sweet and kind to one another, it fills my heart with love and joy!

7/365 Sleep Joy

Kevin drives the bus for the sports team at our school and occasionally, those trips are overnight.  We have apparently established a new ritual in our house, during those trips...I let the kids all sleep in our bed, even if it's a school night.  It's a king-size bed, so you'd think we'd all have enough room.  This is how I found them This morning...

gotta love that they can sleep in any position!

6/365 Good Grade Joy

Raymond is not as academically inclined as we'd like him to be.  He loves science and history, but doesn't do well on tests and quizzes.  Don't even ask about the subjects he doesn't like.  Needless to say, I was overjoyed when he brought these tests home.

Way to go, Raymond!  You made my day.

5/365 Belated Joy

Some good friends and I had the opportunity to do some Christmas shopping in Seattle a few weeks ago (hence the "belated" title!).  We had so much fun!  We walked through the city, enjoying the lights and all the people, as we did some shopping.  We stopped at Pacific Place and had some yummy Thai food, then stuck around to watch the indoor snow fall, complete with carolers.  We found our way to Macy's and decided to have this picture taken with Santa.

It was really quite comical creepy that Santa wouldn't release his grip on me our my friend Rath until we finally told him what we wanted for Christmas. But we had a good laugh, nonetheless.  In fact, we laughed all night...it really was a great way to start our Christmas break and I'm glad I came across this picture as I sorted through what I'd taken over the holidays...what a great reminder of a lovely day with some lovely ladies.  Thanks to you, my friends, for the belated joy I had today, recounting our afternoon together!

4/365 Reading Joy

My family loves reading...I have been a book-lover all my life. In grade school, the highlight of my week was always library day and by the time I got into 5th grade, I had a school library shelf of my own to keep straight and organized.  I loved the feel of the books, the coolness of the shelved bindings, the colors on the cover and the variety of words within the pages...I can spend hours in a bookstore (preferably used) or library, just mulling through the stacks.  As I've gotten older and more of my time is consumed by other tasks, I've learned to enjoy books on tape, then books on CD (currently listening to The #1 Ladies Detective Agency when I do my ironing) and most recently, I've discovered play-aways (which are wonderfully portable and come with a lanyard for easy transport while moving from room to room when cleaning, etc.) but my favorite is still the bound book.  My husband also likes to read and does so every night before turning out the light.  He reads a variety of genres.  While the majority is sports related, in the past few years, he has started checking classics off of his list.  And especially pleasing to my soul is the love each of my children have developed for all things book.

3/365 Apple Pie Joy

I need to loose a few of those pounds that I put on over the holidays and in order to do so, I need to get rid of all these goodies that are cluttering my counter tops.  Among them, a few slices of homemade apple pie remain.  Can I just say, "I love pie" and my apple pie (if I do say so myself) in particular.  Do I unceremoniously throw it out?  Can't... so I've decided to have one more slice for ole times sake :)  My taste buds will thank me for this one last hurrah before relegating them to a palate of chicken, celery and water!

Here's to you, taste buds... oh, the joy of pie :)

2/365 Barter Joy

My husband is an avid Craigslister...his favorite section is "Barter" because he loves to make good trades.  In the past, he has traded his way up to a boat.  It's amazing what people will part with because they'd rather have something else...something he happens to have :)

 New Years day, he exchanged a gun (which I'm sure he would have enjoyed keeping) for an off-road Go-Kart (pictured) and a very cute, pink camouflaged quad (which I'm sure we will ALL enjoy!)

 At first I was hesitant to venture outside into the cold...it was only 19 degrees last night!! But the kids' enthusiasm and my husband's request drew me outdoors.  So bundled up I went, freezing cold as it was, outside to check out my husband's newest acquisition.  As usual, he got a great deal and what a blast we had!  The Go-kart goes really fast and we took turns racing it up and down our very bumpy, dirt road.  There is work that needs to be done to get the quad running, but it's in great condition.

Raymond is old enough to drive it, so he took each of the younger kids for a spin, as well.

I wasn't sure what our little girl would make of it...I was a little worried that a 3-year-old would be understandably scared.  Not this one!  As you can see from the shear delight on her face,

she had a wonderful time! 

 It is such a joy to watch my kids (Kevin included) when they are thoroughly enjoying something.  So today, as the younger ones nap and Dad & Raymond are spending some precious father-son time outside, trying to get that new quad running...I am absolutely experiencing Barter Joy!

1/365 Flower Joy

Here we go!  365 daily posts, hopefully each one with a photo.  I'm not satisfied with my blog, but today is no day to make big changes...I'm just going to START and it'll have to be a work in progress.  Yesterday, I mentioned Shannon Joy's blog and I hope you were able to check it out.  Today I want to share an article she wrote about this very thing.  Hope you can check it out, as well and perhaps consider joining me!

I love flowers...they bring me joy. I recently read in a magazine that something you should always have is a bouquet of fresh flowers. It brightens the room and brightens your mood. I don't know if I'll always have fresh flowers, but I'd sure like to. This particular bouquet was given to me by a friend, so while they grace my table, I will have a constant reminder of what a blessing it is to have friends!