hiking trip with Jill and Mark

Jason loves to be outdoors.

He enjoys being in God's creation---hiking, biking, running, swimming, or just taking walks through the woods. He has always been a naturalist at heart, whether or not our yard speaks to that. :)

We bought the season pass for the Indiana state parks to enjoy many more hiking trips and camping trips this summer and fall.

I grew up hiking as a family. It's a great way to shut down the noise of the world and spend time talking together and enjoying each other's comany.

Noah enjoys the company of his cousins on this muddy hiking trip.

But he did not enjoy the company of this snake we found on our path!

The boys!

Mark and Jill with not-so-little Joshua

Jason is the responsible one for letting the boys in closed areas....

a few snapshots of our day

Isaac loves to crawl into anything small enough he can barely fit inside. :) Love this little cutie!

During morning playtime, Noah dragged his blankey and pillow downstairs to the couch for some reading time. He loves these Look-and-Find books we get at the library.

Noah, hard at work, making the letter S.

Isaac, coloring as usual.

One of two pans of homemade granola. I made it one other time and loved it. This time I added flaxseed and sunflower seeds in addition to the almonds (and eventually, craisins). So tasty!

Isaac loves to help out around the kitchen. He is vacuuming up a small pile of crumbs or cheerios almost daily! He also has a fascination with rags and wiping up things. I have no idea why.

Growing green beans on the kitchen window ledge.

This is Noah's little experiment. One bean plant has taken off out of our half dozen pots. A few more are sprouting, but not as quickly!

How I organize my grocery list and meals.

The meal list is just a list, and we don't stick to it perfectly. I just pick whichever meal works best as we go through the week.

For grocery list, I have a printed sheet with items we typically use. When we run out of something, I just mark it on the list. When making the next menu, I can quickly mark which items we will need.

Chocolate chip banana muffins are some of the boys' favorites.

I had to take a picture before they vanished! They were made from the discounted bananas I bought at the grocery store a few days ago.

spring cleaning - master bath, entry/hall, 2 closets

Spring cleaning has taken a back seat to life the past several days, but yesterday and today I did manage to knock out a few zones of the house.

Today I worked on the entry, two entry/coat closets, and downstairs bathroom.

I straightened up, decluttered, wiped down baseboards/doors/walls, vacuumed and mopped. I scrubbed bathroom cabinet and fixtures and wiped down the sink and mirror. Took me about an hour and a half total for these areas. I didn't get pictures of all of them either. Oh well. At least they are clean!

Coat closet tidied :)

This was a huge mess before.... I got rid of several pairs of hats and gloves that we didn't need and also isolated the single gloves to look for their match.

Entry area cleaned. The spiders were starting to overtake the corners. :(

Last night I cleaned our Master bathroom. It took me just under two hours. Yes, I know. That sounds ridiculous. But it is a big job to really deep clean it well. I wiped down the walls/baseboards/doors/outlets, scrubbed shower/tub/toilet/sinks, wiped down fixtures, cleaned window and mirror, dusted and cleaned cabinet, and scrubbed the floor.

The boys were in the bathtub (unpictured on the right) for at least 30 minutes of this. It kept them occupied and out of the way!!

Noah's News & Swimming in March

Noah has big news, and we are so excited for him....

This is Noah at age 4 years old, taken yesterday 3/21/12 on the day he prayed to ask Jesus to come live in his heart! He asked to pray with mommy and is very excited about his growing faith. He loves going to Bible study and learning verses and true stories about Jesus. He knows that one day he will be in heaven with Jesus.

Mommy and Daddy are very happy to see him follow on this faith journey and begin to make it his own. Hurrah Noah!

Who needs a pool anyway?

Yesterday we spent the day outside playing in the back yard. I tried to blow up our baby pool but all the air leaked back out. So, rather than waste a good 86-degree day (yes, in March!), I filled up a storage tote with water in the back yard and let them have at it.

The boys ate their dinner outside. Meatballs, mashed potatoes, corn and edamame! A very unusual meal for us, actually! But it felt like a summer day, so we acted like it was a summer day and ate some summer foods outside!

spring cleaning - linen, hall, guest room, kid 1, master bedroom

The past few days I have been hard at work in the upstairs of our house. Despite the heat in the house, I got through the linen closet, hallway, guest room and closet, kid bedroom and closet, and master bedroom. (Master closet needs its own day!) Still remaining upstairs: master bathroom and closet, kid room 2 and multipurpose room.

Spring cleaning can be exhausting, but it is underway little by little.

It is also fun to think of new decor or organizational ideas as I work through each room. We are pretty simple and don't use a lot of decor, but I'm usually open to try new things.

BEFORE: Linen Closet

AFTER: Linen Closet

Washed walls and baseboards, vacuumed, dusted, straightened up. Then I set to work on the hallway (mostly just decluttering and vacuuming).

BEFORE: Hallway

AFTER: Hallway

BEFORE: Hallway

AFTER: Hallway

AFTER: Guest Room.

There was no "before" picture because it looked like this before. =)

However, I spent about an hour cleaning it anyway. Noah helped a little with wall and baseboard washing, window cleaning, vacuuming corners and under bed, and we are good to go!

BEFORE: Kid Room 1

AFTER: Kid Room 1

A semi-helpful child posed in one of these pictures. He did help a little!

Washed walls, doors/knobs and baseboards.

Dusted furniture and washed windows. Vacuumed under bed! Check!

BEFORE: Master Bedroom

Yes, I know, it's pretty pathetic! Not all my fault though...Noah did destroy this room yesterday while I was cleaning other rooms.

AFTER: Master Bedroom

Declutter. Vacuum under bed, dusting, wash windows. Check! I did not go through dressers today. That is a good project for sometime soon though. I also did not wash the walls. I've realized that takes WAY too long especially when they "look" fine. I'll stick with wall washing in bathrooms, boy bedrooms, and spot-cleaning other areas.

happy 4th birthday!

Noah is four years old. He was very excited to celebrate his birthday this year and talked for weeks about what kind of cake he wanted and who should be at his little party. Here are some pictures from his little birthday party.