OK, It's Just Cold

It could be that we've been spoiled these last few years of mild winter weather but I'm cold. Even the first year we were here and it was really, really cold (highs in the 20's in the daytime) I was OK. Of course I was probably OK because we had lots of snow. But yesterday it was sunny and I have no idea what the temperature was but I was freezing. I took the girls to the park since the poor things haven't been able to go out lately and the mulch was frozen. It wasn't iced over but just frozen together so that it was hard when you walked on it. They didn't seem to mind but I only let them play for about 20 minutes- because I minded.

So what are the Buttons up to lately?

Amanda seems to be up to a lot. I have forgotten to tell pretty much everybody but she was interviewed on the radio last week. Yep. I didn't hear the phone ring when she called so I missed it- drat. But apparently Franklin has a "hometown" radio station and Amanda and an exchange student (that she says speaks 6 languages) were chosen to be interviewed and to tell what they like about their school. Amanda was *supposed* to have been interviewed about Gov. School but apparently the interviewer forgot. *And* she also has the highest GPA at her school which is pretty cool, even though her school is very small. It opens some doors for scholarships that should cover her first year at community college- if that's where she decides to go. She's also made some friends at church *gasp*! Last week Travis made her go to the college group service. She hadn't made any real connections and did not want to go but she went and made a handful of friends, stayed out late that night and went to a concert with them on Tuesday night. It's amazing how quickly things happen sometimes. I'm really glad to see it.

I met with my mentor (for the class I'm taking at church) a couple of nights ago and it was pretty cool. It turns out that she and I have similar life experiences. It's pretty cool how God puts people together. I'm really looking forward to this time of learning and growth.

And since I'm out two nights a week that means Travis is *in* two nights a week. Just he and two little girls that need baths and food and homework help. And it was stressful. He said at one point they were both crying for me and wouldn't get out of the bathtub. It's nice to be loved and it's also nice to have my husband home because I was doing everything- every night- by myself. Did I say that it's nice to be out two nights for a couple of hours all.by.myself? Well, I should have.

Pay It Forward

I read Mary's blog today and she decided to play a fun little game and I've decided to play along. So here are the rules according to Mary or according to the blog she copied it from.

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, which is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

I have a few ideas of things to make since I was so crafty over the Christmas holiday so I'm kind of excited. The catch is that you have to have a blog too in order to post it so that you can pay it forward as well.

I Wonder If...

I can complete a post in the time it takes Travis to get ready for bed? It's not likely but here goes in machine gun form.

Travis had the whole weekend off- errands, giggles from girls, sitting on the couch with my feet in his lap, church together, dinner with the Fadely's, lots of fun, I could get used to this.

Sickness relapse because I'm a dummy and worked out with a fever- much worse the second time but I survived and am fever free- yay! I wonder if I'm "allowed" to work out tomorrow?

Halle telling the Zaccheus story (again) after church on Sunday- "Zaccheus come down!"

The Fadely boys and Chloe jumping on the computer as soon as we got to their house. Chloe had to show off her Webkinz.

New and (somewhat) exciting sugar alternatives. No bake cookies sweetened with Blue Agave Nectar. Reduced the sugar content by 1 cup and they turned out very yummy. It has a glycemic index of 27 which is very low and you don't get a sugar rush. The cookies also don't get hard but stay kind of gooey as you can imagine but you can still pick it up and eat it with one hand.

And he's done, so I'm done. I'll try to post complete thoughts later.

A Moment in the Button Life

Chloe- "Hey Mom, what if Jesus called that short dude zucchini?"
Amy- (shocked in a humorous sort of way) "Did you just say, 'what if Jesus called that short dude zucchini?'
Chloe- "Yeah. Then we would laugh our heads off!"

My daughter is, of course, referring to Zaccheus as the "short dude". It really sounded like something I would say. I guess it was ridiculous to think that our sense of humor wouldn't rub off on her. I should really watch what I say in front of the little parrot.

Happy Weekend- End

Hmmm, could it be that I totally forgot to blog about taking the girls to see The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything? How could I? It is a super huge deal since Travis and I hadn't taken the girls to see a movie since Pooh's Heffalump movie came out when Halle was just a month or two old. Anyway, Travis had the day off because he was going to do an acting thing that didn't pan out so he had the whole day free. Tisra was kind enough to babysit Halle and Travis and I had a few hours to ourselves. As per usual we had too many things to do here and dropped Halle off about an hour after we planned to. And as per usual we tried to cram too many things into the day so we only had about tow hours together but hey that's two more hours than we've had in a while and we appreciated it so much.

We decided we definitely needed to see a matinee because it costs *a lot* to see a movie these days. So we checked Chloe out of school in time for the 3:15 showing. And just in case you ever want to know the matinee prices are good until 5:59 PM. The movie was very good. The animation was fantastic-amazing-wonderful. I got a little bored at times, but I got a little bored during Ratatouille. But Chloe was plastered to her seat. She declared it the bestest movie ever and was able to get a free movie poster which she personally hung on her wall as soon as we got home. It was a great family time and I was really glad to be able to support Big Idea.

And speaking of movies, Amanda went to see Cloverfield tonight with a friend. I was unsure about her seeing it since she cries like a baby anytime she gets scared- no seriously. She actually ran out of a screening of a film that was done by some of her Gov. School friends. But Travis read the review by Plugged in Mag and was OK with it and said she could go. But I told her she's not allowed to sleep in our room if she gets scared :)

And it seems that my precious Chloe has passed along her illness to me. I was on a really good streak of not getting sick too, so that's a little frustrating. I thought I'd be better by today but no dice, maybe tomorrow. *But* I think I may have ruled out wheat as an allergen or at least an aggravator to my health and well being. I haven't had any bread in at least two weeks and I'm still constantly having sinus issues so I guess I'm allergic to something else- maybe it's my house. Or my cat. I know I'm allergic to my cat. Or maybe it is wheat but I'm allergic to my cat too so I'm not noticing a difference from not eating wheat. So maybe I should go see an allergist and quit bugging you guys about it.

Oh, and another little thing that I forgot to post about is that our Life Group leader called and asked if I was ready to lead worship at Life Group yet. She'd asked me late last year and I told her that I just didn't feel released to do that yet. But the beginning of the year brought some new freedom for me and that includes leading worship. So I'll be leading worship (with Travis) the first Life Group in Feb. I'm excited but I haven't done it in such a long time that I'm not sure I remember how. But since this is a new season for us my hope is that I'll lead worship in a new way as well. I'm also considering playing the piano for one song that I want to do so I'll really need prayer for that. I can play the piano but I don't play as well as some other people *and* I get crazy, crazy nervous. When I was a minister of music I practiced all-the-time. Mostly because in a church of 250 with a choir of 13 there isn't a whole lot to do. But the pianist and organist kept encouraging me to play for a worship service, which I never did. So I think that this intimate setting might be better suited for me to see how it goes. Um, except that we have professional musicians and a manager for a huge Christian band in our group. Hmmm, maybe they won't be there that night? Or maybe I will just practice like crazy and do this for the Lord and trust him to help me.

And for huge, huge news- drum roll please- Halle went to the three year old class today! As you know, she started going to the potty just days before her third birthday. We've had our ups and downs since then; mostly ups. But she had to be completely potty trained before she went to the three's class. So she's been in the two's for at least three weeks in panties and hasn't had a single accident and Travis decided to take her to the three's class today. I was worried that she might be overwhelmed with pottying and a new class but she did completely fine. Actually, she did even better than she has done in the two's class because her new class does projects and other fun stuff. She even told me about Zaccheus climbing the tree tonight and that she had "so much fun" in her new class. With the trouble I've had getting her to go to her class and her all around clingy-ness, her newfound independence has happened pretty quickly. She's a bit mommy-clingy during the day at home but all in all she's doing so much better.

And tonight was Trav's last night at HD. I'm more excited than I though I would be and I'm not nervous- which I thought I would be. Absolutely everything is in God's hands and I am very excited about what He has for us.

And I guess that pretty much sums it up. And now I'm going to crash because I don't feel well. But at least I had a small respite from sitting on the couch watching TV.

Snippets

Every day I've thought "hmmm, anything blog worthy?". And my answer has come as "um, no". So maybe if I try to sum up the week I'll have something somewhat interesting.



Chloe is sick. Wednesday she kept saying how cold she was and I told her to put on more clothes since she was only wearing one of Trav's t-shirts. So finally she hunkered down on the couch with a blanket and I noticed that her face was really flushed so I asked Travis to take her temperature since I was about to walk out the door-102.5. Well, that explained some things.



And that night I started my very first Life School of Ministry class at church. It's a pretty exciting ministry in that they offer college level courses for anyone- I'm pretty sure you don't have to go to our church to go to them and I know you don't have to for the class I'm taking. But they offer Pentateuch, Apologetics, and Life of Christ. I had the last one in college but didn't have to take the first two. But they also offer Fiercely-Focused Parenting and Freedom in Christ (my class) along with a myriad of other classes. The exciting thing is that there is an expectation that church members will take the classes and learn and grow and be informed. To have a strong theological base is critical and I'm so happy that they offer it here. Yeah, yeah, I've been there for two years and this is the first class I've taken but it's been the first class I've been able to take because Travis has been taking a class *and* working two jobs.



But all that's about to end because his last day at HD is Sunday! I'd love to throw a party but I can't fit all of our friends in our house. So we'll celebrate and I'll make a nice dinner for him- ooh, probably Monday because Amanda is out of school *and* she doesn't have to work. I haven't blogged about it much mostly because I don't want to sound like I'm complaining but this has been an incredibly difficult season for us. I'm nervous about him quitting HD because we need for him to. But things have changed for him at work (he got a bit of a promotion) and I'm taking a class at church so it just won't work. We're at peace with everything and trust that God will lead our steps day by day.



And speaking of parties- do you realize that Amanda graduates in four months and five days?!? My AL relatives want to come and I want to throw a big bash but I know that I won't be able to fit everyone in here. I'll figure it out. But my little girl is growing up.

Now my two little girls are awake and are asking for breakfast. Actually, Chloe just yelled from her bedroom that she's much too sick to come to the kitchen for breakfast and needs breakfast in bed. I guess I'd better get crackin'.

I Forgot To Add...

to the preceding post, a funny little anecdote.

About a week and a half ago I took the girls for a walk. We don't walk in our neighborhood because, well, it's kind of scary so we walk in the very fancy neighborhood across the street. (Besides those houses are much nicer to look at *and* they have a couple "lakes".) So as we were walking Chloe said something about a boy named Kevin and that she was "definitely" marrying him. And I asked "so you've decided to not marry Grant"? To which she replied, "nuh, uh, no way! I won't even be his SECOND wife"!

Hmmm, his second wife? So I wondered if that meant his second wife, like he has two at a time or the more obvious definition of a second wife. And where in the world would she get that? But I thought I'd add a sweet photo from when she *was* going to marry Grant- at the ripe old age of 4.

Chloe and the Wedding Dress

Chloe found the necklace that I wore on our wedding day tonight. She begged to try it on which turned into "please Mommy, can I try on your wedding dress? I know where it is." So of course I took pictures. Travis thought it would be great to be able to show them on her actual wedding day. *Sigh*. Having raised one daughter (almost) to adult hood I know that time goes by so quickly and this day will probably come sooner than I'm comfortable with. But I'm just going to enjoy her being six.

Good Eats

I'm not actually talking about the show Good Eats- which is one of my favorites- but actual good eats, as in good food. I have a couple of recipes that I tried and highly recommend- and plus they're pretty healthy.

Trav's birthday was this past Saturday and he's been talking about eating better and working out and such. So when I saw Ellie Krieger's show about healthy diner style food I thought I'd give it a try. Well, I ran the idea past Travis who was all for it- until I mentioned that I'd also purchased some chicken wings. I bet you can guess what we had for his birthday dinner.

Last night I was finally able to give the recipes a try and not only were they the super-easiest thing I've made in a while they were also really yummy. So I give you stuffed turkey burgers & sweet potato fries. I don't really like sweet potatoes but I really liked these fries. There's also a sweet potato fry recipe from Giada De Laurentis & it's not supposed to be healthy but the basil salt and garlic mayonnaise sounded very intriguing. You could probably substitute reduced fat or fat free mayo though. I'm going to try it. You could also try a recipe that I haven't yet for oven baked onion rings. Yes, I know that according to Travis, onions are a scourge upon the earth. But I like onion rings and I actually bought the onions to try it out but ran out of time to make them; I was really busy yesterday. So if anybody tries them let me know how they turn out, OK?

And in the interest of posting a treat type thing that is not healthy but tastes amazing I give you no bake cookies. I call them crack because they're so addicting and I don't make them often but they're so simple and so very tasty. I've made them before with quick oats but last time I just used regular oats and I liked them better. It made them more substantial. And the really nice thing is that I usually have everything to make them on hand. Coco powder, milk, butter, peanut butter, sugar, and oats. That's it. Enjoy!

I Guess Winter Is Here

Here's proof that it does get cold in Florida- sometimes. Actually I woke up this morning with ice on the *inside* of some of my windows. Brrr...

Random Stuff and Art

This is the painting I like that I get to keep. After I got the easel I set it up and just started painting without having any idea what I was going to paint. Why a blue vase and apple, you ask? Well, because the vase is just what came out of my noggin and there was a large bowl of apples sitting on the island. Plus I love blues and greens together- it's one of my faves. I'm not completely done with it. The brown blob next to the vase is supposed to be a shadow but I'm not sure I like it since it's just brown and the rest of the background seems very fluid.

And during the Christmas season I was one crafty girl. I made several handmade things for friends children and started several handmade things for friends but it seriously took longer than I anticipated. I finished one hand towel and did 75% of another but all of that took at least 9 hours to do so I ended up buying things for them. Oh, and I originally intended to do 4- yikes! They're super cute, but I can't show them to you because they will still end up as gifts.

I had no idea what to do for our friends kids and was a bit frantic about it when I saw some chalkboards at JoAnn's and thought, "what kid doesn't like a chalkboard?" And if it's personalized all the better. So I painted all of them, put their name on them and made individual chalk holders that double as an eraser. The holder/eraser is made from felt that I just wrapped around the chalk (long way), stitched around it with embroidery floss (all 6 strands and a different color for each child so they didn't mix them up), added a snap and voila! It was more time consuming than I thought but everyone seemed to like theirs. Originally I wanted to do skateboards or something else that the kids liked but I just didn't have time.

And here's Halle's finished stocking. I actually finished it Christmas Eve night just before we opened stockings so I had to finish it on a machine. It ended up being skinnier than I wanted to I may have to re-do it. And at the very end when I was sewing the loop to hang it I broke the needle on my machine. Gaaa! I like the stocking though.

And this is Mary's painting. I've already shown it to her so I guess I can show it to you. I had to do some touch ups because I got some espresso colored paint on the front that I was using on the sides so I had to clean that up. I use the espresso color on the sides so that she doesn't have to have it framed. Now I need to touch up my signature and varnish and I'm done.

I wish I could show you the other painting but the recipient hasn't seen it yet. I had to completely re-work it but I like how it's turning out even better now.

OK, and one more thing. I have to show you the super-cutest table runner ever- that I didn't make. I guess this was my Christmas present to me because I love it! I didn't have a Christmas-ey anything to put on the table or island and I saw this at Target when I was Christmas shopping. I love cute stuff!

So Christmas Was...

Great. After all my thoughts on what Christmas should be about it was really a nice- if not incredibly emotional- holiday. But God provided and our kids got lots of great stuff. We had a nice dinner with the highlight being crab stuffed mushrooms, which only Travis and I will eat. The recipe for the mushrooms turned out a little bland and while I didn't follow the recipe exactly (I didn't have any white wine and Travis won't eat onions so I substituted fresh garlic and cooked them in mojo.) the substitutions should have been enough to flavor them nicely but wasn't. Some salt and lemon juice made them tasty enough. I think that the recipe is a good starting point though. Maybe a stronger cheese would help. Asiago perhaps? I'll work on it.

Travis was home for 3 whole days although we were so busy it didn't feel like it. The majority of Christmas Eve was spent with us trying to figure out what to get the girls. We always get them practical things with a couple of toys thrown in. But God was really putting it on my heart to get them what they wanted instead of what they needed. So we bought toys. And it was really fun because we never do that. During the year I sometimes I buy a Color Wonder book and markers for them and maybe for their birthday but not during the rest of the year. It's partly out of necessity and partly because they don't need any toys. So it was really a blessing for Travis and I to see how much enjoyment they were getting out of their new toys. And as an added bonus Target had already put a lot of their toys on clearance. I was very surprised but we got a robot dog for Chloe that was half price. And it was officially declared her favorite toy of the day! She also got an easel which is chalk board on one side and white board on the other with clips that you can attach a large piece of paper to for painting. It has survived the initial excitement (unlike the robot dog) and she and Halle play with it every day. We were planning on getting a bigger ticket item for Amanda but in talking to her she declared all of our ideas impractical (seriously) and said she just wanted clothes. And all the clothes I picked out for her were promptly taken back to the store. Just wait ladies, it's coming. I miss the days when my style was Amanda's style.

And for the first time in several years we were at home for Christmas. I have said that I don't want to travel for the holidays, that I want to establish our own traditions for our kids, that it's too stressful, etc. But I'm not completely sure about that now. Because Lakeland holds a lot of Christmas traditions and memories for Travis, Amanda and I. I know some families travel every Christmas and some rarely do and we've been the "every Christmas" family but maybe there's some happy medium there. Or maybe we should just go to FL for Christmas (especially if my parents end up moving back there because we could be with all of our family for Christmas) and that would leave the other times of the year for us to vacation somewhere else. It was nice but I did miss our families.

I have painted quite a bit lately since my present from my parents was an easel. I'll post some pictures later. This is a new computer though and I haven't taken the time to set everything up for picture posting. Two of the paintings are for people and one person hasn't seen hers yet so I can't post that one- which I hate because I'm really liking all three that I've painted lately. Thankfully one is not intended for anybody so I get to keep it! I just have a teensy bit of touch up left so I'm going to try to post that one soon.

OK, I'm done typing now.