My View of Heaven

It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Well, let me back up a bit.

Ever since I've become a Facebook addict (hi, my name is Alyson and I'm logged in to Facebook all day long, and check it once an hour or so) I've noticed that I do a lot more reading of other people's writing. I see a lot of annoying text speak "How R U?" and "Wat's up?" and it's super annoying, but in my mind I can justify that they know how to write correctly but they choose not to for the sake of brevity. However, the true phenomenon I've come to notice is how many people misuse and misspell various phrases. It's like they've heard a phrase their whole life, but have never read it thought to spell it out, and when they do (on Facebook for the world to see) they crash and burn.

Let me also preface this post by saying that I am a terrible speller, and I am not the grammar police, and that there are several phrases that I have come to find out in adulthood were not at all what I thought they were. I also know (and you do to, if you read my blog regularly) that I start many a sentence with "And" or "But" (insert finger wag), I'm infamous for comma splices, and I completely overuse parentheses... and ellipses. There I've said it. But still, I have to bring to your attention some of the funny (and yet oh so sad) things I've read on Facebook. I also have to mention, that I did some research on commonly misused and misspelled phrases for writing this post, and even learned a few things myself.

But let me get back to the straw that broke the camel's back. I read a post this morning on Facebook that I had to read several times before I was able to figure out what the writer was trying to communicate. The post (in part) said this; "He mise well chalk it up to his luckiest day ever."

Any guesses?

Ok, I'll tell you. "Mise well" translates "might as well." Get it? Now, I know that people who are good writers (and those of us who pretend to be) often purposely misspell words to be ironic or kitschy. I know I've written "gonna" and "that's a whole nother story" and the like, knowing full well that they're not real words, but I'm trying to write in dialect... or something. The point being, I know what I'm doing. But sadly, I don't think this girl did know what she was doing. She'd heard people slur together "might as well" for her whole life and really truly deep down in her heart thought the saying was "mise well."

So this post is a tribute to some very common misspellings and misunderstandings that I'd like to clear up. Please feel free to add your own in the comments section.


"in your mist" should be "in your midst" unless you actually own the rights to the mist that someone is so rudely standing in. (Since this is kind of a grammar post, let me just make it clear that I know you're not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition. But I did. Sorry.)

"by enlarge" should be "by and large" which means "generally speaking".

"tongue and cheek" should be "tongue in cheek." (I have to tell you that "and" and "in" sound so much alike that it's tough to differentiate.)

Ok here's one who maybe not everyone has seen, but I seem to have an overabundance of friends who can't keep these two words straight. The words are "sell" and "sale." I can't tell you how many times on Facebook I've read something like, "I'm having a garage sell on Saturday" or "we're trying to sale our house." It almost makes me laugh. Ok, it does make me laugh. Here's the deal. "Sell" is a verb; it's something you're going to do. "Sale" is a noun; it's a thing. You sell things, and you have sales.

"another words" should be "in other words."

"just assume" or "justice soon" should really be "just as soon". As in, "I'd just as soon buy a new car as put another $500 into this one." The phrase actually makes sense. I would do this just as soon as I'd do the other thing.

"shoe in" should be "shoo in". Shoo, like "shoo fly" means "to drive away" so a "shoo in" is someone that you drive right into the position.

"take it for granite" should be "take it for granted." Something that is granted is something that has already been given or granted to you. So if you take something for granted, you're taking it as a given. Taking it for granite means you need to retake geology, because it's actually feldspar. (My dad will think that joke is funny. Everyone else is googling feldspar.)

"would of" and "could of" should be "would have" and "could have".

"I could care less." Ooooohhhh this phrase has bugged me since the first time I heard it, which was quite literally in elementary school. People say "I could care less" when they don't care about something. Well, if you don't care about something at all, is it actually possible for you to care less? No, it's not. Yet, they say that they can care less. Hmmmm.... The only time you can care less is when you do care some. What you should be saying is "I couldn't care less." Because if you don't care about something at all, then it is impossible for you to care any less about it. In other words, you couldn't care less.

"a pre-Madonna" is actually a "prima donna." It's Italian for "first lady" so it's another language. You're forgiven.

"not adverse to" should be "not averse to." This is a confusing one because "adverse" and "averse" are only separated by one lowly "d", but they also have somewhat similar meanings. Or at least similar enough to confuse the best of us. So let's use them both in a sentence. "I'm not averse to licking a public toilet, despite the possible adverse effects of doing so, if it means winning a million dollars."

"spitting image" should be "spit and image". This is one I didn't know. I've always thought I was hearing "spitting image" and most likely that's what people have been saying. It's one of those phrases that started out one way and is now tweaked a little. But if you're a purist, you need to start saying "spit and image." It's the original.

"doggy dog world" should be "dog eat dog world." I wouldn't mind living in a doggy dog world, though. Sounds fun.

"for all intensive purposes" should be "for all intents and purposes." I'd like to know what an "intensive purpose" is, though. Sounds heavy, Doc.

"irregardless" should be "regardless." You've already negated your regard by adding the suffix "less" to the end. It's almost like a double negative to add the "irr" suffix. So take off the "irr" because you just don't need it.

"a whole nother" should be "a whole other." I don't know what a "nother" is, but it's not a word. I'm sure people are trying to say "a whole another" but it sounds cumbersome (because it's wrong) so they just kind of shorten it. Still wrong, though. Say "whole other."

"Calvary"and "cavalry" are two very different words. Calvary is the name of the hill (also called Golgotha) where Jesus was crucified. The "cavalry" are people on horses who swoop in and save the day. Up until college, I thought the word "Calvary" was the only word, and I didn't know the word "cavalry" existed (I mean, I knew about the people on horses, but I thought they were the calvary.) Then in a very awkward Honors class moment, where one student was trying to make some connection between the cavalry and Calvary, I learned the truth. I'm glad I wasn't the only one, but I distinctly remember the two professors shooting each other the same look that said, "Sigh. Do you want to take this one, or should I?" This has to be a very Christian mistake to make, though, since I doubt any non-Christians have even heard of Calvary.

"supposably" should be "supposedly." This is another one that people just hear wrong. And in my mind's eye, I see a whole bunch of people on Facebook typing "supposably" and seeing a red
squiggly line. So they try and try to spell it correctly, and finally just give up because they have no idea that those b's they've been hearing their whole lives are actually supposed to be d's.

"upmost" should be "utmost." I know that "upmost" kind of sounds like it should be correct because when you give your utmost at something, you think of it as your highest amount, and your highest amount is UP. You know, your UPmost. Nope, it's utmost. Sorry.

"prolly" should be "probably." This is one that I think is often purposely written incorrectly to be cute or kitschy. And sometimes people have no idea of all the crazy b's in that word. Three syllables, people: Prob-ab-ly.



And now for a few common mispronunciations that I couldn't help myself but to include.

The word "library" is often pronounced "lie-berry". Please read the word and not all the R's. Lie-brary.

The words "escape" and "especially" are often pronounced as if they're spelled "excape" and "expecially." Both words start by saying the letter "S." So it's like "S-cape" and "S-specially."

So so so many people say the "T" in the world often. Did you know that it's actually incorrect to pronounce the "T"? Well, it used to be. There is no disagreement and you can find some sources that say it's ok just because everyone does it. But the word is supposed to sound like "off-in." I mean, do you pronounce the T's in whistle, listen, or soften? Yeah, didn't think so.

You know when you go to Baskin-Robbins and you feel like something fruity. Do you ask for "sherbert?" Because if you do, you're wrong. The word is "sherbet" as in "sure-bet." There is only one R, and not "bert." Got it?

That is all for today. As I said earlier, please feel free to add your own misspelled phrases that you've seen, so we can all have a good chuckle.

A few days ago, Jim and Lily were doing something and Jim told Lily to be careful. Lily said, "I'm always careful!" To which Jim responded, "Is Careful your middle name." And Lily said, "No, my middle name is Dangerous!"

Funny girl.

Well, last night Jim made a "slide" in the stairwell with the futon mattress, and the girls were having a fun time sliding down and climbing back up. I wanted to take a video, since it was pretty cute how Lily would plop on her bum and slide down. So I started video taping, and I guess Lily got the urge to show off for the camera, and she did a belly flop down the stairs. Thankfully she didn't break her neck (or anything else) and was completely unharmed, but she did prove to us that her middle name really is Dangerous.

We tried another soup from my Taste of Home magazine tonight! This was one of the soups featured on the cover, and it looked pretty yummy. It was a minestrone, but it had meat in it, which sounded interesting. I made it, as well as a yummy fruit salad for dinner tonight. To be honest, my firsts impression of the soup wasn't great; it seemed a little bland. But as I ate it, it got better and better and better, and I ended up having seconds. I realized that the reason it seemed so bland at first was that I'd gone from eating super flavorful pineapple, to eating the mild-flavored soup, and it just seemed bland by comparison. That having been said, I would make a few changes if I made it again, and I would make it again because it was good! So here is the recipe as it appears in the magazine, and below I'll mention (in italics) the changes I would make next time, so when you try it you can try a better version of it from the get-go. Happy cooking! (P.S. If your husband is one of those types who claims he doesn't like minestrone because it doesn't have meat in it, make this minestrone for him. He'll have no excuses! Also, it's a great way to get your veggies!)

Our Favorite Minestrone
1/2 cup small uncooked pasta shells
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cans beef broth
1 16oz package frozen mixed veggies
1 can kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 6oz can tomato paste
3 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. pepper

*Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.

*Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Drain pasta and add to the pan. Cook 5 minutes or until heated through.


Suggestions:
Next time I'd use Italian sausage, rather than ground beef. It would add a little more flavor.

I'd also throw in a couple of garlic cloves with the ground beef and onions. The other minestrone soup recipe I like starts by cooking garlic, and it adds a lot of flavor.

Don't use the low sodium beef broth like I did. I think you need the salt. Or just add a little extra salt. Maybe both.

Also, for a little zing, use red pepper flakes instead of black pepper.

Top with Parmesan cheese. I did it this time around because it's must for minestrone!

My birthday weekend kicked off on Thursday night when, over dinner, Jim told me that he couldn't stand it any longer, and had to tell me that he'd taken my birthday off of work and has some special things planned. We started out Friday (my birthday) by going to the Garnet Cafe for breakfast. I'm not really one for going out for breakfast, but the Garnet Cafe is super yummy and SO worth it. After that, I had a play group at the park, so Jim stayed home with Goo and let her nap while Lily and I met some friends at the park to play. Then, Jim had made an appointment for me to go to Zi Spa and have a massage that afternoon. When I returned from my pampering, we had birthday cake. Then, Katrina came over to watch the girls while Jim and I went out for dinner and a movie. We ate at the Ugly Fish, which was super yummy, then went and saw Moneyball, which maybe wouldn't have been my first choice for a birthday movie, but Cowboys and Aliens was gone so we weren't left with much of a selection. All in all, my birthday was extremely fun and relaxing. Thanks Jim!

Here I am with my birthday cake, which Jim and Lily baked themselves. Rainbow Chip, my favorite!
After we'd already eaten our cake, Lily remembered that she wanted to give me a theme birthday, so she went and got a Little People dragon and put it on top of the cake. What a cutie pie!
Saturday was also a super fun day, which I'll claim as an extension of my birthday because... might as well!

Saturday morning, Jim had an elders/deacons meeting, while Goo and I cheered on Lily at her soccer game. I'm still amazed at how much more aggressive Lily is this season! In fact, she scored another goal. AND I got it on film! (I just had a feeling she was about to score.)




After soccer, we headed to Spokane to meet the Kruegers at Manito Park. Amanda Krueger (formerly Futia) was a friend of mine in high school in Wyoming and she married a guy from Spokane, and they ended up moving to Spokane a couple of years ago. They have a 4 month old baby girl named Elise, so it's fun to get together and hang out and talk baby.


Lily with a turtle. Eric was trying to rescue this wayward turtle and return it to the pond, but the turtle would have none of it and kept crawling back out.
Duncan Gardens was very beautiful with tons of flowers, so we decided to try and get a nice picture of the girls.
Beautiful girls!
A family pic.
Once again, don't take pictures in direct sunlight! When will we learn this lesson!? :)
Lily and Grace enjoyed splashing in the fountain.

When the fountain was going full-force, the breeze would blow the spray toward the girls, which they loved.


Lily hanging out at the Japanese garden.


All in all, 29 isn't so bad so far. And I should be thankful, since most of the people who I graduated high school with are turning 30 this year (I was young in my class). So I'll enjoy this last year before the big 3-0 when I'll be an Old Lady :)

I'm one of those people who has to pay very close attention to my skin. I know some of you out there barely think about your skin. You got a couple of pimples in high school, but that's it and you may not even bother to wash your face before you go to bed (which, please don't tell me if you don't because that totally grosses me out.) But alas, my skin has hated me since the 7th grade and so I've become somewhat of an expert in skin care, having tried almost every skin care line imaginable, as well as going through every prescription acne product you can think of.

So today I have two skin care recommendations for you.

The background story of the first one goes back a few years to my early twenties when I noticed little wrinkle/fine lines under my eyes. I was too young to have wrinkles! So I immediately started using and under-eye cream and after a few months, the wrinkles went away. Now, I don't think this was some kind of miracle cream (it was Mary Kay Timewise Age-Fighting Eye Cream), though most eye creams would have you believe that their special complex ingredient is what keeps your eyes looking young. I think the key to any under-eye cream is extra moisture. Just by specifically applying moisturizer to that delicate skin under our eyes, we're able to ward off wrinkles. I mean, it's a well-known fact that dry skin gets wrinkles, and oily or well-moisturized skin does not. So the key is moisture.

So here's my TIP: Instead of paying extra for an under-eye cream, just use your regular moisturizer as an eye-makeup remover. I use Cetaphil, so it's very gentle and I just put a tiny dab on a cotton ball and rub it in a bit, and then swipe it over my eyes just like you would eye-makeup remover. It does the double duty of taking off all your mascara and eyeliner (so that you can avoid those gross black globs in the corners of your eyes) and it moisturizes under your eyes and keeps the wrinkles away!

Ok, so for my second tip, I could delve into my whole how-I-got-rid-of-acne saga, but I'll spare you the details and just give you the short version. After Lily was born, I was finally bound and determined to get rid of my acne once and for all. So I went to a dermatologist and she gave me an antibiotic (which I'd taken many times for acne), two prescription topicals (which she said were very strong and would irritate my skin too much, and to only use them every other day... but I know my skin and I used them twice daily), and then she told me to buy some night cream moisturizer with 10% glycolic acid. She said that people break out because they get dirt and dead skin in their pores, and that to prevent acne you need to exfoliate. BUT there's a huge catch-22 because people who are acne-prone can't exfoliate with abrasive means because it just irritates their skin and makes their acne flare up. So she said that I needed to chemically exfoliate, and recommended the cream with glycolic acid for that purpose.

Anyway, the combination of all these things did clear up my skin, and I tapered off the antibiotic after a couple of months. The two prescription topicals were not recommended for pregnant women, so when we decided to try for another baby, I stopped using them, and I was just sure I was going to break out all over again. But guess what? I didn't. Ok, it's not like I never break out, but my skin is by far the clearest it's been since I was a kid, and I really think that glycolic acid night cream is the trick.

So here's TIP #2: If you break out occasionally, get a night cream with 10% glycolic acid. (I buy mine at North Idaho Dermatology.) The cream I use is crazy thick, which scared me to death at first (because if you're acne-prone, you never use thick creams... ever) but this one didn't clog my pores, and the chemicals break down all the gunk while I sleep, and I wake up in the morning with silky smooth skin.

There you have it, folks! My two big beauty tips! Use a moisturizer as eye makeup remover, and use a night cream with glycolic acid if you're prone to breakouts.

Lily had her first soccer game this morning, and guess what? She scored a goal! After last season where she didn't even touch the ball until the very last game, we were so excited at how improved she was this season. Granted, she still spent the majority of the time running up and down the field with a huge grin on her face, mostly unconcerned with what the ball was doing. But, she was right in the pack, instead of lingering half a field behind the group, and she kicked the ball several times throughout the course of the game. In the second half, they were down near the goal, and the ball came to Lily, and she kicked it, and kicked it, and kicked it again, and kicked it right into the net! It was so exciting! I probably looked pretty ridiculous clapping and jumping around for her, but like I said, after last season I didn't hold out much hope for goal-scoring. She was excited too, and ran over and gave Jim and I a big hug and told us, "I kicked it right in the net!" After the game, we went and got ice cream at McDonald's to celebrate.

Here she is warming up before the game started.

She even got a chance in goal, and while in goal, she wasn't scored on! I love her "goalie ready" stance.

Enjoying her celebratory ice cream cone.



I had to go to the mall the other day and let the girls play in the little mall playground for a while. Grace took to it right away and loved going down the slide.



Grace recently learned how to pout. If you ask her to, she'll stick her lip out and pout for you. But she thinks it's pretty hilarious, so it's always followed by a huge grin and giggle.



The other day, I was doing something in my bedroom, and had the stairs baby-gated off while the girls were playing in Lily's room. After a while, I heard Lily "reading" a story to Goo. Some of it was nonsense words, and some of it was a story she was making up. It was pretty adorable. She is very imaginative.



Last but not least, we have the horse races. This morning, the girls were playing on their horses, and after humming the William Tell Overture (or as Lily calls it, the Hunky Dunk Song) about 100 times, we decided to just play it on Jim's touch and save our voices. I was having a hard time not laughing while filming. They are too cute!

Did I mention that Jim made the girls a toy box? Well, he did! For his birthday (or was it Father's Day?) he got a gift card for the Home Depot, and he used it to buy materials to make a toy box for the girls. It's been basically done for some time now, but we've had some issues with the lid support (more on that later). But this week he finally finished it up and we moved it into the living room. It turned out gorgeous, and I'm happy to have a place in the living room to keep toys out of sight.

The toy box in the living room, where it will likely stay. My only reservation about it's location is that it seems kind of like an end table, and I can just picture someone setting their glass on it, and then a kid going to get a toy out and tipping the glass right into the heating/ac vent behind the chest. Disaster! But isn't it beautiful?
From the top.
Jim made a divider that fits perfectly the large Melissa and Doug puzzles. But it's so HUGE. We need more puzzles! :)
This is the lid support that caused all the problems. Well, actually this one fixed all the problems. The one Jim originally bought from the Home Depot was just like this, but very generic with almost zero instructions or information on how much weight it could support. So he installed it as best he could, and when it didn't work at all, he bought another thinking that together they could support the heavy lid. No such luck. The lid wouldn't even close, nor was it supported. Finally, we went to the Woodcraft store in the Valley, and he found this one that came with good instructions, and a weight rating so he was able to get a more heavy-duty version of essentially the same thing. And it worked! Now the lid is supported when up, and won't slam closed on little fingers.
Speaking of little fingers, Jim also made a cut-away along most of the length of the box so that there's room for little fingers between the lid and the box. What a smart fellow, eh?
The girls digging into the toy box.
See this beautiful picture? Lily, our budding photographer, took this one.

Have I ever mentioned that we have the two cutest girls in the world?

After we went to Carver Farms a couple of weeks ago, we used our fresh strawberries to make Strawberry Shortcake that night, and I made home made whipping cream. The girls got to lick the beaters, and I'm pretty sure that I had to threaten them with death and dismemberment to get them to sit still for this picture.
Goo loving on her sister.
They really are like this most of the time. Best friends!
Best friends who like to wrestle.
Add this to the places where Goo has learned to climb/squeeze.
And yes, her belly does hang out like that 99% of the time. Reminds me of my high school Chemistry teacher.


Goo's new trick is going down the stairs by herself. I'll have to look back, but it seems like Lily was quite a bit older when she mastered this one. Grace is just an independent girl! Please pardon the filming. I wanted to be close enough to her to catch her if she fell, which meant that I was too close to get her whole body, and often you get just her head or just her bottom half. Also, I was looking at her instead of through the view finder for safety's sake, which meant that the camera roamed a bit. But either way, you get the picture. I also love that I lured her down with the promise of a drink. I mean, what a treat, right? :)

Well, I didn't wait for Soup Weather. I broke down and made a soup from my magazine on Tuesday night, and was rather pleased. I made the cryptic "Gourmet Secret Italian Soup" along with Italian Grilled Cheese sandwiches, for which I found a recipe in the back of the magazine. There's nothing Jim likes more than a grilled cheese sandwich, and I thought they'd be a perfect pairing with this soup. (BTW, this is how I wear him down; give him a favorite, and make him eat soup with it. Bwaaa ha ha ha ha ha!) Anyway, the soup turned out tasting very good. I did use 1% instead of 2% milk and I used fat free half and half instead of regular half and half. If you make it, I'd recommend using the full-fat versions. It tasted a little less creamy than I think it should have. Actually, I heated some up for lunch yesterday and I'd venture to say that it was even better the next day, which is pretty common with soups I guess. Oh, also the Italian Grilled Cheese sandwiches are just a modified caprese sandwich, but very yummy. It was essentially grilled cheese and tomato soup, but jazzed up. Try it, you'll like it!



Gourmet Secret Italian Soup
1 9oz pkg. refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 cans reduced-sodium condensed tomato soup, undiluted
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups 2% milk
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook tortellini according to package directions

Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the soup, broth, milk, cream, tomatoes, and seasonings. Heat through, stirring frequently. Drain tortellini; carefully add to soup. Stir in cheese. Sprinkle each serving with additional cheese if desired.

(I didn't have vegetable broth, so I used water and chicken soup base. I also used fresh basil, since I had some on hand for the sandwiches, and as I mentioned earlier, I didn't use the right kinds of milk and cream. Rarely do I make a recipe the way I'm supposed to. Oh well.)

Italian Grilled Cheese
8 fresh basil leaves
8 thin tomato slices
4 slices provolone cheese
4 slices Italian bread
2 Tbsp. Italian salad dressing

Layer the basil, tomato, and cheese on two slices of bread. Top with remaining bred. Brush outside of sandwich with salad dressing. Grill uncovered over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side until cheese is melted. (I didn't grill them on the grill, I just used our counter top griddle.)

When we got married, Jim claimed that he didn't like soup. What!? Who doesn't like soup? I thought maybe it was the problem of "bite size." Jim is one of those guys who takes enormous bites of whatever he's eating, and I'm sorry, but with soup you're really kind of limited to a spoonful at a time. Thus, he is a painfully slow soup-eater. So I could see his frustration. But I quickly discovered that he'd really only had a few kinds of soup in his life (beef stew, tomato, clam chowder, and chicken noodle) and that what he really didn't like were "brothy" soups (he likes clam chowder quite a lot). Ah ha! I can work with that!

So over the course of the last eight years I've made it my mission to force him to love soup. Ok, maybe that's worded a little bit strongly... but only a little. There are sooooo many good kinds of soup out there and they're sooooooo delicious that I just couldn't let him miss out on the joy of a good soup on a cold Autumn day. So I slowly and carefully integrated soup into our regular meal rotation, making sure to keep them thick and hearty.

And it's worked! I know that at first he was really only eating soups to humor me, but over the course of time he discovered that he really liked my chili (not at all brothy, and very hearty) as well as my tortilla soup (which is broth-based, but is so chocked full of other stuff that it still doesn't qualify as "brothy"). But I think the soup that broke the Jim-Klein's back was Zuppa Toscana. It's a soup that is so delicious and wonderful (personally, I could eat it every day) that Jim couldn't help but admit that he did, in fact, like soup. Huzzah!

With that door opened, I've made root vegetable soup, meatball soup, broccoli cheese soup, and various and sundry other soups, and he's eaten them all gladly. I also like to bookend soup days with hamburger and pot roast days so that his general feeling for my cooking is so high that the soup just shows up as a sunny spot in the middle of all that comfort food. Or something like that.

Anyway, all that to say this. The other day I was in line at Fred Meyer and I was so overjoyed to be mostly over my morning sickness that I couldn't stop myself from buying the Taste of Home "Heartwarming Soups" magazine right off the rack. It's a whole magazine *full* of soups. Squeeeee!!!!! I'm in heaven. I wouldn't have been daring enough to buy it eight years ago, but I think I've worn Jim down enough that he'll tolerate this one indulgence of mine. Plus I'm pregnant. I can turn on the waterworks if he complains about my soup. (he he he)

I think the first soup I'm going to make is the "Gourmet Secret Italian Soup" which is a cryptic name for a creamy tomato and tortellini soup. YUM! I'm also going to have to spend some serious time in the chowder section, as well as try my hand at dumplings. I've never made dumplings!

So if you come over for dinner this fall, be sure to bring your soup spoon. I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be making!

When Lily was born, my friend Tamara sent her a gift. The gift she sent was Lily's name spelled out in block letters that you hang on the wall, and painted to match Lily's nursery colors. I hung Lily's name above her crib, which ended up being above her changing table when we rearranged. When she got old enough to pay attention, we started pointing out the letters L-I-L-Y on her wall, and long before she could say the whole alphabet, she knew how to spell her name and recognize it when it was written. So when Grace was on the way, I wanted to do the same thing for her and paint letters to match the colors in her room. I was painting her room and had the paint ready, and went to Michael's to buy the letters, only to find out they were out of R's. (Which was a big disappointment for the pirate in me... Argh!) Anyway, I put the letters aside, and eventually did go buy the R, but by that time the paint was put away and I didn't really feel like getting it back out, so the letters sat in Baby Grace's room until she was born. And after she was born? Well, they sat there, unpainted, for another 14 months until just this weekend.

This weekend, Jim was finishing up the toy box he made for the girls, and Lily wanted to help put the stain on it. Jim didn't exactly want help, so he got some boards and some pink paint out and had her paint a box for herself. Since one of the paint colors was back out, I batted my eyelashes and asked Jim to pretty please get the other two colors out and pour some into a cup for me so that I could paint the letters today. And he did! So I spent all Saturday afternoon painting Grace's name, and it was totally fun.

You know how you do some craft projects and they turn out fine. Then you do others, and they turn out so wonderfully amazing that you can't stop staring at how perfect they are? Well this was the latter. I love love love love LOVE how they turned out. I went with the circle/dot theme that I have in her room and used the paint that I'd used on the walls many moons ago. I love how they're all perfectly unique, but they all coordinate. I also fell in love again with the colors of paint I picked in the first place. They are so perfect*!! So without further ado, I give you Grace's name:


I used my biscuit cutters to trace the circles. The largest one was the big circle, and the smallest one was the inner circle, as well as the solid spots on the G and E. The dots were done with the end of my paintbrush, and they're not exactly uniform, but I love how they look.
The wall before the letters...
...and the wall after the letters. They're kind of like camouflage and they blend right in. Now whenever we go into her room to change her diaper, Grace points at the wall and says something that kind of sounds like "Grace." I think she's trying to say her name! Yay! (I think she's tried saying "Goo" before, but it's good to know that she knows her real name.)


P.S. Did I ever mention that my awesome SIL, Anna, designed Grace's birth announcements based on my room design? They're AWESOME and you can view it HERE. It's the 4th one down.

*I do have to mention that the green in person is a little more vibrant than it looks in pictures. To me, in pictures it comes out a little more olive and drab than it is in real life.

For Labor Day weekend, our Lifegroup went on it's second (hopefully soon-to-be-annual) Campout at Camp Prince's Pine. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work when you have a very active 14 month old to chase after. The main floor of the lobby has a staircase of about 20 or so stairs, and it's too wide for a baby gate. So the only moments we got of relaxation were when Goo was napping. But luckily there were plenty of baby-lovers there who were willing to take a shift chasing after the Goo and we were able to have a fun, if not tiring, weekend. I took practically zero pictures, so when my dear friend, Katrina, delivered cd's to everyone with all the pictures she took, I was rather excited. Thank you!

Upon our arrival, we were greeted with much help unloading our van.
Lily was happy to be out of the car.
Goo checked out her new surroundings.
Lily was super excited to sleep on a bunk bed, but much to our relief, she chickened out and slept on the bottom bunk.
Katie and Michael started in on the candy puzzle.
Here Jim is setting up our camping lantern. I think Josh and Amber gave this to us for Christmas a few years ago. Thanks! It was awesome!
According to her mom, Jessica, if you feed Carol Ann even one time, she'll be your friend forever. A can confirm that this is a true statement. We're buds now.
Goo is also my bud. But I feed her a lot.
Jim was starting up a fire to warm up the lodge.
You may not be able to tell what was happening here, but it was a whole lot of sisterly love.
Jim assigned himself KP for the weekend and was the designated dish washer.
Katie, Caleb, and Curtis were the designated dish dryers.
There was a light sabre vs. gun war that was waged all weekend. Grant, Jesse, and Jacob pose for the camera.
A few of the soldiers with their weapon of choice.
Jim and Paul were up to something.
We called it "whittling" but they called it "carving". Potato, po-tah-to.
Not only did Jim "carve" some marshmallow roasters, but he also chopped some wood. I took the picture the one time he got his axe stuck.
Grace watched Daddy chop wood, and ate an unidentified object.
Spare wood is the best toy ever!
Don't let the look on her face fool you, Goo loves Katrina. Sometimes she goes to her and says, "Mama!"
Women folk and kiddos sitting around the fireplace.
Goo enjoyed playing with the big Legos.
Eating spaghetti is really an art form. One that Caleb seems to have perfected.
This reminds me of The Incredibles. "Mom, you're making weird faces again..."
Hey, lookey there, you can see a baby bump in that picture!
After spaghetti, Lily said, "Mommy, I'm sleepy. Can I be all done?" I told her she could, and she laid down on my leg and fell right asleep. Camp tuckers a girl out!
Lily enjoyed hanging out with her buddies and eating s'mores around the campfire.
Goo decided that the drink cart would be a fun place to sit, and Lily followed suit.

Carol Ann eventually joined in the action, and we had three pretty girls hanging out on the drink cart.
Down by the lake, Shannon, Brenda, and Kara basked in the sun while their kiddos swam.