Fave Five and Coffee 4.1.11

Happy Friday! It's time to look back at the week and pick some favorite things. Visit Susanne at Living To Tell The Story for the details. I'm also joining the Company Girls Coffee blog hop hosted by Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary.

Here are the highlights from my week.

Time to read. I finished lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner. She is a new to me author, I heard good reviews about this book and I wasn't disappointed. It was really good!

Girl talk! My

friend Michelle from The Writtings on the Wallflowers came over for a visit. She brought this to show me. Michelle hand painted it! She also had a bird's nest and a flower! Amazing!

My furry friend. Max has me well trained. I was putting on my shoes to walk on the treadmill yesterday and he started whining at me. I asked him if he wanted to go outside and went to the back door.

He stopped at his toy box, where we keep his leash. I asked again, he didn't move. I told him I wasn't walking outside but he started prancing around and went to the front door. We walked outside. After one lap around the block I brought him back to the drive way to take him in the house. He wouldn't walk up to the house. At the end of the second lap he planted his feet and pulled backward as we turned up our street. We finally made it to the drive way, got half way to the house before he used all 20 pounds of his little body to delay going into the house. Yep, Max has me trained well.

Crossing things off the to do list. I didn't finish the projects, I just decided they didn't need to be done. The first was knitted net scrubbies. I used to find them at craft fairs and loved them. I thought I can make those, yes I can, but I don't want to any more. The other was re-hemming the living room shears. They don't hang perfectly in the window. By the time the kids and the dog push them aside to look out they aren't ever going to hang "perfectly" anyway, so I'm moving on.

Journals. I have had a journal sporadically for as long as I can remember. Sometimes more sporadically than others, but I made time this week to do some writing. Nothing important really, kind of like my blog. I enjoy physically writing in the journal, it's calming for me, helps me think through whatever is going on and I have a record of progress I've made with struggles.

Those are my favorite things from the past week! What were your highlights from the past week?

Thanks to Rachel and Susanne for hosting the fun!

Fave Five and Coffee 3.25

It's Friday, time for Fave Five and Company Girl Coffee! (I missed all of last week due to the flu, we were all sick.) Time to list some favorite things from the past week and catch up with the Company Girls. Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for the Fave Five details.

Here are my favorite things from the past two week. The snow falling outside my window is not one of my favorite things.

• We got a surprise package in the mail! My sister made us St. Patrick's Day goodie bags! The kids were excited about their stickers and gold coins. I got coffee!
• Warm sunny days! We've had a taste of what is to come and I can't wait! I love sunshine!
  
• Everyone is healthy again! It was a very long week with everyone sick, but we are better now, the house has been aired out and disinfected. This is also the reason for my very short SRT list. My TBR list is growing daily!
  
• Coffee! I was coffee free for seven days! Only partly by choice, I just couldn't stomach it with the flu. Coffee is back, happy dance!
• A trip to the craft store! I found some clearance yarn for a scarf. It's a very easy scarf that spirals; I started a purple one and thought it would be pretty in this yarn too. I may even have them done by the time it's cold enough to wear them.
• Baskets. I replaced basket A with B it was hidden in the closet. Basket A is now a collection point for things that need to be carried to the basement. It looks so much better than a pile of stuff sitting by the steps. The best part…$0!

Please visit Rachel at Home Sanctuary and check out what other Company Girls are up to!

Fave Five and Company Girl Coffee

It's finally Friday! The sun is shining and the temp is suppose to go up a little today! Woo hoo!

It's time to link with Suzanne at Living to Tell the Story and have coffee with the Company Girls.

My favorite things this week were...

Today's sunshine! It does this body good!

I got 2 hand lotions and a can of ravioli free with coupons this week! Completely free, no additional purchase required!

Katrina at Callapidder Days is planing to host Spring Reading Thing 2011!

Time to be creative. I finished two shopping bags and have a third cut and ready to sew.

Quilt night. We did a little quilting, a little knitting and had brownies!

What were your favorite things this week?

Stop and have coffee with some other Company Girls! Hosted by Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary!

Fave Five

Happy Friday! That means it's time for Friday Fave Five! I really enjoy this blog post because it makes me see the good things that happened this week. Not the cold, gray, rainy days or the list of things that hasn't been done. Hop over to Living to Tell the Story for all the details. I'm also joining the Blog Hop at Home Sanctuary for Company Girl Coffee. So grab a cup of (insert favorite beverage here) and let's visit! Don't forget to leave a comment so I can come visit you too!

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#1 Semi-Homemade Chicken and Dumplings. Yesterday was cold and rainy (yuck!). It was a perfect night for comfort food. The chicken simmered most of the afternoon making the house smell wonderful. Bean even helped me with the dumplings!

#2 Quilting. On Thursday nights a few ladies get together to quilt. Some nights we even get some quilting done between the stories, laughing, and encouraging each other.

#3, 4 and 5 Color. The walls are (mostly) painted! The living room finally feels like we live here!

Yikes! It’s Friday

I've had a very busy week; volunteering at school, orthodontist, basketball practice, haircuts, karate, pep band. Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it! That's a mom's life; I wouldn't trade it for anything! Now it's Friday and that means Fave Five hosted by Suzanne at Living to Tell the Story and Company Girl Coffee hosted by Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary. This week it's a Blog Hop! Hope I get the hop part to work.

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Without further rambling here are my favorite things for the past week.

#1 My kids are involved in the same activity! Punkin is the assistant coach for Bean's basketball team, with an eight year age difference, opportunities for them to be in the same activity is limited. Go Cheetahs!

#2 Punkin defended Bean when someone was picking on him. Apparently she is allowed to pick on him but anyone else that picks on Baby Brother BEWARE! Be still my Mommy heart!

#3 Bean was awarded a certificate at school for modeling good listening skills and participating in class. I got to be there when he got his certificate.

#4 Sunshine!

#5 We have finally picked a paint color for our living room!

Friday's Fave Five/ Company Girl Coffee

Happy Friday! Today I am participating in two Friday blogs. The first is Friday Fave Five hosted by Suzanne at Living to Tell the Story. The idea is to look back over the past week and pick your five favorite things. The second is Company Girl Coffee hosted by Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary. It is an opportunity to meet with other Company Girls and catch up. This is my first coffee so it's a bit more of an introduction for me. For more details just click on the blog titles and visit Suzanne and Rachel Anne. Thank you both for hosting!

This week has just flown by! I'm having a hard time believing it's actually Friday! The weather has been better this week. (#1) The kids went to school 5 days in a row this week. It was pretty quiet here.

(#2) I had 2 "coffee calls" with friends this week. The first was with a friend who used to live a mile away so we would get together for coffee often. Even when we couldn't get together we'd call each other and ask "got time for coffee?" It stuck! Now that she lives a little further away we still have our coffee calls. The next was with a friend I have known since kindergarten or maybe even longer. She provided the winter scene photo for yesterday's post.

The "Project" (#3) is going very well! I haven't been to Stuff Mart since mid-January! Pretty amazing! What am I doing with all the time I'm not at Stuff Mart? (#4) Couponing! I've taken up serious couponing. My previous attempts at using coupons consisted of cutting them out, leaving them at home and finding them under a pile of other papers after they have expired. However, with coupons in hand I cut 12% off my grocery trip this week.

Today is date day! (#5) Honey is off work and we are going to go do something without having to pay a sitter or having Sweet Pea call every 5 minutes asking when we are coming home!

Don't forget to visit Suzanne and Rachel Anne! Have a wonder weekend!

Friday's Fave 5

Happy Friday! And only a week until Chistmas. Thank you to Susanne who is hosting the last Fave 5 of 2008 this week!Wow! Where has this year gone? So, I'm going to stop looking at the "to do'" list and think about the good things from the past week. So here are my favorite things in no particular order.

1. Christmas cookies! Did I mention I love Christmas cookies? These are special...they help create Christmas memories. They end up pretty tasty too!

2. Papa's visit. The weather co-operated with his travels! He made it safely to our house and back home. In between we had a lot of fun.

3. Done Christmas shopping! It was my fave thing for the 2 days I was done. Until... the last minute gift issue came up, but Honey is out taking care of that for me so I can get on with...

4. Wrapping packages! I do like to wrap gifts, I like bows, I like the look of the tree with packages wrapped in pretty paper under it.

5. No ice! We dodged 2 ice storms this week.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you again in 2009!

Friday Fave Five

Happy Friday! Susanne is hosting this wonderful meme this week. I really enjoy taking these few minutes to slow down and focus on the good things of the past week, so here they are...

Christmas cookies! I love cookies and the baking is finished, tomorrow we will ice the sugar cookies with Papa. Then we get to plate them on my favorite red platter and eat them!

Papa coming to visit. My Dad is coming for a visit this weekend. He's going to get to see the kids belt ceremony, ice cookies, and watch kid movies. It's always fun to have Papa come and we have the guest room finished!

Christmas trees. Both our Christmas trees are up and decorated! The "big" tree has the traditional ornaments - baby's first Christmas, our first Christmas together - the other tree is just for fun it's all red and white. I didn't think I could get away with pink and white but it was tempting.

My "new to me" gadget. I got Honey's old blackberry to use, I don't have the phone or internet on it I'm just using the PDA features and I love it! I have my eye on my next phone the Blackberry Curve and only 18 months to wait to get new phones.

Christmas program. Caleb had his kindergarten program this week. It was so cute! The pictures are still on Phil's camera.

$1.56 a gallon! That is what I paid for gas this week. Phil paid $1.49 last night. I don't know how long it will last but I sure am enjoying it.

Don't forget to drop by Susanne's place to see other peoples favorite things or join in. Have a great week!

Friday Fave Five

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! I missed last week, I was away from my computer for 3 1/2 days. I survived but I was about 24 hours from going into withdrawal.

This is the time to slow down and look back over the past week and pick my favorite things.

1. Safe travels. We traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday and didn't have any problems on the roads. We did have a little snow on the return trip, I think the kids liked seeing the snow. Caleb played in it when we stopped for lunch and let Max out of his box for a few minutes.

2. Twilight. Lauren and her friends loved the movie! We pre-ordered the tickets for the 1:00 matinee but the theater wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be that was also a good thing. It was a good movie, there were a few changes from the book but it was a fun movie to go see. I didn't have to share my overly salted and buttered popcorn.

3. Doctor's appointment. Philip had his 2 month post-op check- up this week. The doctor was pleased with his progress and said no more brace and he can start exercising! By next month he should be able to start light jogging, there are physical requirements for his job so being able to get back to his workouts is a good thing.

4. Baby talk. I had a good meeting with Caleb's speech teacher this week. She said he is doing very well on his individual words but, we are still going to work on his connected speech. This wasn't a surprise sometimes he is hard to understand. Along with his teacher we came up with a technique to slow him down (talking too fast is one of his biggest issues) and we will both be using it. I'm trilled with the progress he has made and the help he is getting.

5. Christmas season is officially here. I can now watch Christmas movies out in the open. I have been known to watch holiday movies early, like July. Yes, that is my little holiday addiction, I like to watch the old movies. Especially It's a Wonderful Life, I know it by heart and still never tire of it.

Thanks to Susanne for hosting this wonderful meme. You can visit her blog to see other participants lists or join in! Have a great week!

Fave Five Friday #13

Happy Friday! It's that time again, too look back over the week and focus on the good things that happened. So here we go...

Today is my pretty little baby girl's 14th birthday! Her party is tomorrow, I'm taking her and a couple of friends to see Twilight! I pre-ordered tickets (love that) then back here for pizza, cake and a sleep over.

Phil's brother and sister-in-law came to visit over the weekend. They brought their Wii video game system and we played with the kids, watching Caleb bowl was hilarious. I know why those controllers have straps. The kids had fun with their Aunt and Uncle and we got treated to a impromptu rock concert. The "band" members range in age from 14 to 39. Loads of fun!

We had 2 night with no activities this week! It was nice to just be able to relax after dinner and not have to rush out or be rushed to get lessons in before dinner. Ahh!

I have made progress on re-organizing/streamlining of our calendars and how I keep track of information. Honey helped me get all my address loaded on my ipod! That's a handy little feature.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas... there is a chill in the air, itunes is loaded up with Christmas music ready to sync with the ipod, I have even bought a few gifts. But best of all I have a plan! Having a plan for the holidays is helping my OMS, so is the streamlining.

If you would like to participate in fave 5 or just see other peoples lists jump over to Living to Tell the Story to get all the details. Thank you to Susanne for hosting!

Have a great weekend!

Friday's Fave 5

Wow! I can't believe it is the middle of November already! Christmas is only 40 days away. But it's also Friday so...Happy Weekend! I missed Friday last week, Honey and I went shopping and then I did a little scrapbooking and some how...well, I just didn't get to the blog thing. This week I decided I wasn't going to be last on Mr. Linky over at Susanne's blog Living to Tell the Story and I was going to get my blog up on Friday.

I'll start with Halloween. The cutest little evil villain ever...
and he was a very tired trick-or-treater. He almost smiled for me.
The kid's pumpkins all ready for their big night!



I did a little scrapbooking. I got 7 pages done (sides for those of you who do Creative Memories). I also learned how to upload my pictures to get them printed, and it only took 5 hours.


Cute new multi seasonal decoration. Now pumpkins, Christmas time gifts, January I'm thinking Teddy with his hat and mittens.


I learned all kinds of new things I can do with my google calendar to help get me organized. I had 5 different calendar for a family of 4. No wonder I have OMS!

Philip is off his crutches!!! Around the house he isn't even using a cane!!! He also had a new set of x-rays done and the doctor said everything in his knee looks good, just have to get the flexibility and strength back.

Oh, I almost forgot! No more political campaign ads! 'Nuff said.

If you've gotten this far thanks for sticking with me on this really long post! Have a great week!

Friday Fave Five #11

Happy Halloween! I can't believe this is the last day of October already! It is also Friday and time for Fave 5...

1. Phil went back to work full time this week.

2. I found a pumpkin spice creamer at the store I like.

3. A friend got very good news concerning an ongoing illness.

4. I finished reading 16 Lighthouse Rd, Charlotte was my favorite character.

5. Carving pumpkins with the kids.

They tooks some of the "guts" out of their own pumplins this year!

Friday Fave Five

Happy Friday! I'm working on the better late than never plan again this week. I have a good reason, but you'll have to wait for it. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is hosting Fave 5, go here to see what it's all about. Here we go...

1. Phil when back to work part time this week. He is going to aim for full time next week.

2. Coffee with the girls. Tuesday the "preschool mom's" invaded the local coffee shop. Always fun!

3. I took the day off! Ok, it's an odd idea for a sahm, but I did it anyway. I went to the mall - all by myself.

4. While at the mall, I tried on some clothes - all by myself. Even found one new top for fall. Yes it's pink... and gray.

5. Starbucks pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin loaf. I got Starbucks while I was out - all by myself.

I also took lunch to honey at work, that's what I did today and why my Friday post is almost a Saturday post. If I had my act together I would do this on Thursday night... maybe next week. I finished Twilight this week and started reading 16 Lighthouse Road by Debbie Macomber. I think that's 7 and 8, oh well. Have a Happy Weekend!

Fave Five Friday #9

Happy Friday! Here has this week gone? If you want to know more about Fave Five you can go to Susanne's blog and get the details here.

1. Phil's post op doctor's appointment yesterday went very well! He got all the wraps off his leg and his staples taken out. So now he can work on getting the knee to bend better. Then he can drive!

2. I finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle this week! It was my first reading challenge book! It was a good book! I also started Twilight. I am surprised how many adults love this book. I 'm not far enough into to have an opinion yet but, I was reading it at Caleb's karate class on Wednesday and the lady sitting next to me just started talking to me about it. Amazing how easy it is to make friends over a good book.

3. Speaking of books, I won this week's book giveaway, A Promise to Believe In, at Callapidder Days yesterday! I don't have very good luck with drawings and giveaways, even my daring Lauren asked me why I enter drawings. Mainly I enter to improve other people's odds of winning. I was thrilled to see I won. I'll get it in the mail! I love mail!

4. Julia's post about dogs and cats. It explains beautifully why I'm a dog person, I have a teenager, I don't need an other living thing that I have to feed and clean up after plotting against me. (Meet Max my 3rd child.)

5. I got to hold a week old baby today. He was very tiny and all cuddled up and just as cute as could be. So sweet!

Have a wonderful week!

Fave Five for Friday #8

Happy Friday! This week really has flown by I can't believe it is Friday again. Thank you to Susanne is hosting Fave 5 at Living to Tell the Story, check out her blog and see what others have listed as their faves this week. This is a wonderful opportunity to look back over the week and see the good things when sometimes is easier to focus on the bad things. Here are my favorite things from this week.

1. Phil did great with his surgery on Monday!!! He has never had surgery or even a major illness beyond the flu, so we were a bit concerned at how he would do. He did great! He is still in some pain but that is to be expected, we did know it would be a slow recovery.

2. Phil is being an excellent patient. The weather is beautiful and he would rather be anywhere other than sitting with his leg propped up.

3. Block Party. Our neighborhood had a block party on Saturday evening. About 30 families came out for the chili cookoff, bonfire and pumpkin carving. It was a fun evening watching the kids play and getting to visit with neighbors we don't get a chance to see often.

4. Grandma visited. Phil's mom came to watch the kids while we were at the hospital. The kids had a great time visiting with Grandma.

5. Christmas Gifts. I ordered my first Christmas gifts today.

Have a great weekend!

Fave Five Friday #7

Here it is the end of another week and I'm working on the better late than never plan. I tend to work on that plan a lot. At least it's still Friday. Thanks to Susanne for hosting Fave 5! I better get this show on the road before I fall asleep on my keyboard. So here are my favorite things from this past week.

Movie theater popcorn! We took the kids to see a movie on Sunday afternoon I got popcorn! Lauren drew the short straw and had to share with me, let just say they think I put way to much salt and butter on my popcorn, but I love it.

Perfect weather! Not too hot, not too wet, just right. Sunny and 70 degrees for the high cooler in the morning - perfect!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Made from scratch. I'm not a very good cook but I do like to bake, because I like to eat cake and cookies and pie...well you get the idea.

Our round-about is open! For the last 4 months the main north/south road in town has been closed. It is the main road that leads to karate, the bank, the stuff mart, church and the only direct link between Caleb and Lauren's schools. To get around the construction means taking smaller side streets that were not designed for such traffic. It was taking me almost 15 minutes to get from one school to the other, now (drum roll please) down to 4 minutes!!! Yeah! Happy dance!!

Due to our medical issues lately, many friends have been calling and e-mailing this week. Letting me know they are thinking of us and offering their prayers for Phil's knee surgery. I am not looking forward to Monday but I am grateful for all the support from friends near and not so near.

Have a happy weekend I'm going to get some sleep - I hear it's a good thing!

Friday Fave 5

I can't believe it's Friday again! Also, hard to believe I have done something consistently for six weeks, in a row! It's time for this weeks fave 5. For more information and to see other participants fave 5 check out Susanne's blog Living to Tell the Story.

Here we go...

Number 5 Upcycling (aka cheap creative outlet). I took 2 necklaces I don't wear, put them together to make bling for the mommy van, now looking at them together I may bring it back in and wear it.

Number 4 Fall. The first week of fall has been sunny, dry and 80 degrees! Love it! It has been beautiful this week.

Number 3 Fall into Reading. I got my list up on time, then spent the next two days reading other people's lists, so many great books...so little time. I did get started on my first book too.

Number 2 No new injuries, illness or dental emergencies!

Number 1 I saved the best for last. I got flowers. Caleb picked me these beautiful "undomesticated flowers" from the empty lot next to us.


Happy Friday! Have a great week!

Fave Five Friday 5

Happy Friday! It is time for Fave Five again. Susanne has provided a button for Fridays. It's adorable - Thank you! I'll just get right to it here are my 5 for this week...

1. Lauren is part of the karate leadership (this is an extra class she takes to learn leadership skills) and had to help at the Belt Ceremony on Sunday. They had planned some activities for the kids to do before the program started and it was wonderful to see her helping the younger kids. I don't always get to see that responsible side of her or how good she works with younger kids. It was a real treat to see a glimpse of the wonderful young lady she is growing into.

2. At Belt Ceremony on Sunday Lauren got her black belt. The students receiving their black belts were awarded them on stage. She did a great job with her demonstrations - she was able to break both of her boards in front of a large crowd - and with her leadership duties and I am very proud of her. I'm waiting for Philip to put the pictures on the computer from his camera. I was too busy cheering and forgot to take pictures.

3. At Belt Ceremony on Sunday Caleb received his orange dragon belt. The the activities the kids participated in before the ceremony began were karate olympics, they competed for medals in the long jump and the ninja throw. Caleb got a silver medal for the ninja throw. His ninja traveled 10 feet.

4. No broken child! Lauren started complaining of arm pain on Sunday, so we went to the doctor and got x-rays, after a very long wait for a call with the results, she is bruised but not broken. And already feeling better.

5. My fave fun thing for this week in blogging. I'm having so much fun finding new blogs to read. I got 2 buttons for my sidebar, the one for fave five and one for the 2008 Fall Reading Challenge at Callapidder Days. I can't wait for the reading challenge to start (yeah, another resource to find interesting books) I have my stack of books ready for Monday!

Have a great week! Don't forget to leave me a comment, I love to read them!