treasury!

i'm featured in a treasury on etsy! (click here to see the whole thing.) toward the bottom of this screen capture you'll see a photo of toms and cowboy boots. that's mine! i took this photo one day, and i decided to list it in my shop since all of my paper goods listings had expired. i don't expect anyone to buy it (what do you do with a photo of shoes?), but it looks pretty cool within this curation of grey and orange!

yum.

(not sure why i thought my ugly sink would be a good background for this shot.
i would have taken another one, but i ate it before i thought to!)

simple, fresh, healthy, yummy (was that enough adjectives for you?) lunch: whole wheat pita pocket spread with red pepper hummus and stuffed with green pepper, a half of a slice of provolone cheese and chicken breast. oh, and topped with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. perfecto.

color scheme.

blue dress: actually a bathing suit cover up, a gift purchased in jamaica
red cinch belt: vintage 80's, etsy
gold owl ring: wet seal, a gift
scalloped blue paper circle: craft stash
personalized owl stamp (inked in red): from ellie's christmas stocking, etsy

in an otherwise chaotic day of snotting, snorting, whining, sneezing babies, i got my inspiration for ellie's birthday party color scheme: bright blue and red with touches of brown (think burlap & kraft) to tone down the vibrancy. the theme isn't going to be owls, but i'm trying to, big surprise!, do the party on a shoe string budget, hoping to use mostly stuff i already own. the owl is too cute not to use. i ordered printable invitations on etsy today, and the order came with printable favor tags, favor cones and a centerpiece box template. all for $5! the theme isn't going to be straight valentine's day as it has been in the past, but i'm going to have to infuse hearts somehow, however subtle. it's tradition. there is also a possibility that i will be throwing another party ON THE SAME DAY, and i am brainstorming ways to use the same general color scheme and decorations for two very different events. i'm hoping to come up with a couple things i can easily switch out to to make the decor suitable for both events.

i'm so happy it's the weekend.

even if he's not. :)

babies. (and mothers.)

i'm not sure how to express how excited i am to see this. i've been having baby fever lately, and this did not help. (no, we're not gonna have another...yet.) i love every single scene in this trailer. the babies in the beginning remind me of ellie and gray, down to the littler one dramatically dropping his head onto his arm on top of his "toy" while his mother chides somewhere off-camera and the bigger one goes calmly back to playing.

more importantly, though, this is going to reinforce my tendency to contemplate, "what did mothers do before...{fill in the blank}?"

they relied on what they had, creatively using and reusing things while caring for and providing for their babies in all the right ways, realizing strength and ingenuity they never knew they had before they were mamas.

not only is "babies" going to be awesome because there are children in this documentary that are beautifully content playing with rocks and bathing in metal bowls visited by goats, but because, ultimately, despite fascinating culture differences, every mother shares the emotions and instincts that make up God's beautiful design of mother and child.

to say that i am pumped up is an understatement.

eat from the pantry: more than halfway.

nineteen days into the "eat from the pantry" challenge, and the reserves are thinning out. don't get me wrong, there's still plenty to eat. it's just not the kind of grab-it-quick snack type food or the signature staple dinners (we're out of ground beef, only two chicken breasts left) we're used to. landon and i overcame an intense urge to give in and have rosa's for dinner tonight. we had grilled cheese and carrot sticks with ranch instead. carrot sticks as in peel-and-cut-a-large-carrot-into-sticks.

i am proud.

we're boiling eggs and eating sandwiches (sliced sausage my dad brought or peanut butter and honey, for example) on rolls instead of going to buy another loaf of bread. i have plans to make some chicken noodle soup i discovered i have all the ingredients for, and tilapia with brown rice is on the menu for this week. i am also mixing together raisins and chocolate chips and kettle corn in cute jars for satiating snacking urges.

i have gone to the store a couple times for mostly basics, and we are at a third of our typical grocery budget on the 19th of the month.

it's gonna be tough to finish this out for another 12 days, but we're gonna do our best.

how are your cupboards? bare? what out-of-your-box meals or snacks are you coming up with as a result of staying out of the store and within the pantry?

happy week.

crayons in yellow cups on the window sill of my classroom.

it's official.

ellie is potty trained.

after months of quasi-trying, ellie decided it was high time to do this thing. at the tender, potty-training age of 35 months. ahem.

last sunday, i put a pair of panties on her after her nap. she told me she had to peepee a couple times before she had a no. 2 accident in her panties. on the advice of several other people who've done this once or twice, ellie was required to clean herself up with no help from mommy. i wasn't mad or shaming. i just calmly watched and handed out wipees as she did her best to clean a messy mess. she was getting it on her socks and her arms and her hands and... yeah. not pretty.

since then, she has not had an accident in eight days.

she has worn her panties to restaurants and to church and shopping. all day long except for naps and nighttime. she gets irritated when i make her change into a pull up when she goes to sleep. more often than not, she's waking up dry; calling me from her bed to take her to the potty, even though she's in a pull up.

i watch her dance around, shaking her tiny pantie-clad booty, and i imagine ballet rehearsal, tights baggy at the ankles, and preschool with a tiny backpack and lunch sack. and then i cry. a lot.

she's so big. my sugar-plum-big-girl-baby* is so big.

i am so proud of her.

*ellie combines all the things i call her, saying, "i'm your sugar-plum-big-girl-baby, right, mommy?" right, baby. right. even when you won't dance around in the living room with me in just your panties anymore, you'll always be my sugar-plum-big-girl-baby.

ugly doll love.

my dad, who came for a lovely (despite the cowboys loss...) visit this weekend, got the kids a visa gift card for christmas so they (or i...) could pick something out. ellie got a sweet red and yellow birdhouse that she adores. i was perusing a local toy shop when i spotted the perfect thing for gray. i've been coveting an ugly doll for one of my kids for awhile now. it's true: they're so ugly they're cute. they're also super soft and great for squeezing. grayson loves his. he calls it his "bebe." i have a feeling the ugly doll collection at our house is just beginning.

gray is big.

next to what he wore the day he was born.

playing.

big belly.

talking.

e is for ellie.

i think i'm going to love the 3's. ellie's imagination is beautiful to behold and growing all the time. she wants to dress up, dance ballet, cook with mommy and has been practicing her writing. she really wants a backpack, and i think she's going to love preschool in the fall. my favorite thing she says these days is, "mommy, i love your heart."

e's.

i love your heart, too, ellie belle.

goodbye. hello.

goodbye, week...

...hello, weekend!

new beginnings.

in honor of new beginnings, we over at our henry home have taken on a couple of challenges to start the new year.

first, the "eat from the pantry challenge." very simply, we are to create january's menu from food already in the pantry, freezer, fridge, etc. no buying food for a whole month. before we started, i bought a few staples, but i am not going to the grocery store for anything except milk and possible fresh fruits and vegetables before february 1. we were still holidaying with family on the 1st and 2nd so our challenge started on the 3rd.

in google calendar, i created a dinner menu for the whole month (a trick i learned from simple mom) with quick and easy-to-make meals that repeat every two weeks. breakfast for dinner on sunday nights repeats weekly (with some variation) because we love it so. snack dinner on wednesday repeats weekly because i have to be at church by 5:30 for worship practice.

this week is as follows:

sunday, jan. 3 -- breakfast for dinner
monday, jan. 4 -- bacon-wrapped chicken, broccoli & breadsticks
tuesday, jan. 5 -- pasta with meat sauce, salad & french bread
wednesday, jan. 6 -- snack dinner (sandwiches, hot dogs, quesadillas, soup, etc.)
thursday, jan. 7 -- tilapia with balsamic browned butter over brown rice with green beans
friday, jan. 8 -- tacos
saturday, jan. 9 -- beef tips over white rice and corn

breakfasts are cereal, waffles, yogurt with fruit, various sweet breads with cream cheese, peanut butter or cinnamon toast, etc. lunches are leftovers or something similar to snack dinner.

part of this challenge is that we are venturing to only eat at home. not out. at all. all.month.long.

i was pretty impressed with how easily i made a month-long menu using food i already have. it's amazing how much food sits in the pantry, listening to the "we have nothing to eat; let's go out" line over and over.

the other challenge we've taken on is a shopping fast. no, i'm not talking about speed shopping. i'm talking about abstaining. completely.

i had the idea as i was praying during the last days of 2009 and the first days of 2010. i have been in the rhythm of shopping because of the holidays, and, really, it's ridiculous how often i find myself going to target or hobby lobby or wal-mart or heb because i "need something."

people, I DON'T NEED ANYTHING.

i can eat from my pantry for a month, for heaven sake. the laundry pile in my garage would make you hide your face in shame (it does me). the kids' toys are plentiful. our decor is fine the way it is for the time being.

i will not step foot in any kind of store for the whole month with the exception of the grocery store for milk and other necessary parishables.

i bought diapers and wipes and toiletries and laundry detergent before my fast began so i would be out of reasons to "run in" somewhere "real quick."

i expect it to be a cleansing experience with positive impacts on my quiet time, productivity and checking account balance.

one challenge that i am actually looking forward to is decorating ellie's big-girl room. i am pretty pumped about what things will be repurposed or found or created for her room using what we already own as a result of this fast.

over the past year or so, i have been going through the slow process of developing new ideals and thoughts on what is important in life, what is beautiful to me. though i am far from perfectly consistent, i keep finding words like reused, repurposed, handmade, simple and minimal replayed in the things that most capture my attention and desire.

it is ongoing and sometimes the growth is slower than i'd like. i mean, i clearly do not have my housekeeping or laundry methods down to anything "simple" or "minimal." but i'm getting closer, closer to weeding out the unnecessary, streamlining the necessary and tearing away all that hinders those things i am truly called to in life.

because i would hate to miss my destiny because i wasted too much time in target aisles and drive-thru lines.

so hello, beautiful new beginning. come into my kitchen for a warm cup of coffee. it's been sitting on the shelf, waiting for you to stop by.

homemade glittery play dough goodness.

thank you for the awesome play dough, jo jo! it's a great pre-dinner activity!
love, ellie

vacation wrap up.

"what do you mean do i have a drool problem?"

one of many, many visits to mamo's.

mamo's kitchen. (see those cute grey toms?? one of my christmas gifts from landon.)

from the nye wedding dress party. much fun.

on the way to odessa on new year's day.

he can't escape my picture-taking efforts while buckled in the car.

she's even better at avoiding.


the scenery between garden city and midland.

making cornbread at nanny's for new year's day dinner.

caught red-handed: eating mashed potatoes right out of the serving dish.

on the way out to door to see her first movie in the theater (well, since she was a newborn), "the princess & the frog," with mama. she did fairly well. a bit wiggly, but not too bad.

i can't believe it's over. my first christmas vacation has been fabulous. with this much fun over two weeks, i can't image what a blast SUMMER vacation will be.

in-service tomorrow, and then the kids return. wish me luck.

happy second semester.

overdue christmas photos.

happy new year!!

here's to 2010!