My Beautiful Days

This past weekend, I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend the Women of Faith Imagine Tour with friends and family, and it truly was a transforming weekend!  We were awesomely blessed to have great seats on the floor, which was a surprise that came only a week before the conference when someone from WOF called to tell me that they had changed my seats from the second deck (can anybody say "nosebleeds"?!) to floor seating.  Thank You God! :) This is their jumbo-tron that hung directly above the stage. The best thing about this Women of Faith conference is that I had the privilege of sharing it with people that I love!  I was joined by my mom (Sharon), my step-sister (Angela), my sister (Tanya), my friend (Trish) and my sweet blogging friend (Kristin) and her mom (Kathy) who I was able to meet for the very first time in real life this weekend! From left to right: Angela, mom (Sharon), Tanya, me, Trish, Kristin and Kathy. The event started out with Sheila Walsh, ...

Consider my title a forewarning - this post is filled with grossness! :) For as long as I can remember I have had a problem with vomit.   Problem  is putting it lightly.  If I hear it, smell it, see it .. well, that usually results in me producing it.  I've dealt with it from my kids and gotten myself elbow deep to clean it up - not because I wanted to, but because I was the only adult available to clean it.  Regardless, I don't like it!!! So today, I was getting Ethan dressed and ready for the day.  Immediately afterward, I picked him up and held him over my head and was giggling with him when it happened.  As he was looking downward at me and I was looking upward at him he puked.   Not only did he puke, but because I was talking to him, the puke landed in my mouth!!!   I promptly set him on the floor, grabbed a baby wipe (or ten!) and proceeded to try to clean my mouth.  Thankfully, the mama in me kicked in and I took the time t...

Imagine, if you will, a peaceful retreat.  One place that you can go to get away from the insanity of life.  One stop for silence.  I have this peaceful retreat inside my home, only it's not somewhere you would normally think of to fulfill this description; you see, my peaceful hide-away is my baby's bedroom!  I can't deny, though, that looking into the room from the doorway tempts me to sit and let the cares of this life fly away as I rock back and forth in this most comfortable chair: As I sit in this chair, I smile as I think of all the times that I have played with Ethan in here!  Looking to my left, I see his dresser and changing table and just have to giggle when I think of how frequently he tries to pull down the wall hanging every single time that I am changing his diaper! As I look to my right, I see his beautiful crib - his place of rest.  I love the blue and brown combination in this room, and his crib and wall hangings tie it together perfe...

This summer we've been ... Drawing on the sidewalks ... Chasing snapping turtles out of our garage ... Giving Colin the freedom to dress himself ... Giggling as we catch our babysitter (Claire) asleep with Ethan ... Changed lots and lots of diapers ... Gone shopping (yes, that sign behind me actually IS accurate!) ... Played with Ethan in a box ... Dressed up for church ... Snuggled with our brothers ... Hosted dinner parties galore ... Participated in lots and lots of goofyness ... And got caught loving on my honey! It's certainly been a busy summer in our house!  How is your summer going?

I'm starting a new feature on my blog which I'm titling "A Peek Into My Home".  You see, there are so many aspects about my home that I just love and I want to be able to share these places with you.  So, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy some time with me as we begin a tour of my home, starting with our balcony. Right off of our master bedroom are these beautiful french doors that lead out to a private retreat where Ethan is happily playing! Ethan also enjoys seeing his reflection in the glass of the french doors! :) There are two chairs and a table out there, as to sit and enjoy the view of the lake and the sounds of the woods while sipping on a beverage of choice. One side of our balcony is empty, holding limitless possibilities as to what to put there (perhaps a comfortable chaise lounge?!). The balcony is a haven, a place to relax with friends or family ... or (for our boys) to be shirtless, just like dad! The reason that my first home feature is my balcony...

I often wonder what goes through people's minds in relation to the shopping carts that they use.  Yesterday was a prime example of why I am so curious.  Claire, Ethan and I went to Costco to pick up some much needed groceries.  Upon arriving, we parked at the end of the parking lot - entirely because someone had abandoned their cart there and I decided we were going to use it. I got out of the truck and grabbed the cart, only to realize that whomever had previously used it decided that it was a good trash can and left behind muffin wrappers, a plastic spoon and a leaf of some sort (which I'm guessing is from some produce that was purchased).  Ew.  So, I picked it all up and handed it to Claire to hold for a minute while I loaded Ethan and all of his gear into the cart.  I took the trash back from her and we proceeded into the store (where I stopped at the trash can right outside of the store and deposited said trash). We did our shopping and all went we...

To say that this has been an eventful beginning to our vacation is COMPLETELY an understatement.  It has been crazy!  This past Friday, we packed up our stuff in the Suburban, gave our garage door opener to our house-sitter and headed down the road toward our vacation destination: Dent, MN (in case you weren't aware, Dent is a truly podink little town not far from the podink little town where I grew up). Actually, that isn't completely true.  On Friday, we headed to my mom's house in Ottertail, then on Sunday we came to our vacation destination in Dent.  I stand self-corrected. Regardless, between Friday and now things have been crazy.  We have gone to my grandma's 89th birthday party, done a lot of fishing and swimming in the lake, I went to Detroit Lakes and had my hair done by a long time friend (and I really love it!), we've prepared, eaten and cleaned up from meals, spent time talking and playing cards, and took one very scary trip to the Emergency Room...

Hurry hurry hurry!  Today is the last day to enter to win the $100 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods (giveaway sponsored by BlogHer and Dick's Sporting Goods).  Go to my review blog to enter before it's too late!!

I just finished my book review of Terry McMillian's "Getting to Happy".  Make sure to visit my review here and tell me what you think!

It feels like it has been a very long journey, but in reality it lasted only a mere month before we received our answer.  My darling baby boy is now fever free, and I'm still having a hard time believing the cause.  According to blood tests that were done, Ethan has a "very severe peanut allergy" (those words being a direct quote from his doctor).  I couldn't fathom how a peanut allergy could be causing his fevers, especially considering the fact that he isn't old enough to eat anything but baby food! Once we took extreme steps to contain the peanuts in our home (those steps being making sure that the counter is wiped down each and every time my kids make a peanut butter sandwich on them, making sure that the kids wash their hands and brush their teeth any time they eat peanut butter, making sure we only wipe Ethan with clean paper towels instead of a wash rag, etc), his fevers have gone away completely!  I found it really hard to believe, and really hard to gra...