"Downshifting"

I'm sure it's no surprise to any of you that as I've been neglecting my own blog, I've been neglecting others' as well. Now that the kids can get outside and play in the sunshine, I'm taking some "playtime" of my own to get caught up on my favorite blogs, as well as some new ones. I was particularly motivated yesterday by this post on "Top 10 Ways to Downshift" from Becoming Domestic. In the process of packing up my maternity clothes and items my kids had outgrown to pass on to friends and family, I was...well, just plain downright ashamed of how many things we have accumulated over the years!

For me, I became so excited over getting a "good deal" on something that I picked it up without thinking about whether we truly needed it or not. And once I had found the places where I could pick up "good deals," I visited them regularly so that I wouldn't miss anything! But now I look at everything I'm giving away and I realize how much I've truly missed. I've missed time with my family that I've spent sorting and organizing all these items that I thought I needed. By spending this time out and about, I've missed the satisfaction of being at home, knowing that everything was running smoothly.

And, of course, I've missed the sanity that disappears whenever I begin dragging three young children in and out of the car...

So what to do? Well...for starters, you might notice the "I took the handmade pledge" button on the sidebar. I believe this will be a positive step for our family for a couple of reasons. The first is that buying homemade teaches us a new useful skill. (Or it supports someone else who can.) The other reason is that if I take the time to make something I am much more likely to need it and use it. I won't make yet another item of clothing if we aren't in need of any, I can make something we need instead!

Like a chocolate cake...

I love these moments!

Some pictures...finally!

When I decided (or rather, was pulled...kicking and screaming) to take some time off of blogging, I had no idea how much I would miss my bloggity friends! But I had gotten to a point where I really needed to take some time off and focus on some things a little closer to home.

But now, as promised and long-overdue, I wanted to share some pictures with you all of our trip down to my parent's house in Tennessee right after Christmas:

This is Bonnie, one of their Morabs. She was so gentle with all the kids. Ben took a little time to get to know her before taking a ride in the barn. Lily took the next turn, with her Pop staying close beside her just in case:



Then came Kate's turn. We were all a little worried that she would be scared, but it turned out we had the opposite problem. We couldn't get her off. She would have ridden all day if we would have let her:

For those of you familiar with Kate's "outfits," you might notice she has on a dress over jeans...that's my girl. I'm not sure who was having more fun, Kate or Pop...

When Kate finally got distracted by the barn cats, Ben and Lily got the chance to get one more ride in before heading back to Nana's house:

(Mommy managed to sneak in a quick ride too, but it was feeding time, and Bonnie let me know in no uncertain terms that she was more interested in the food than hauling me around!)

I think she just called me old!

This is such the season to be busy! I really wanted to share some recent pictures, but because of a shortage of time (and brain power) I will send another kid funny your way.

Yesterday, Kate crawled in bed with us earlier than usual. I decided to go cuddle up on the couch with her so that we could watch cartoons together until everyone else woke up. We both pulled a white blanket up to our chins, and she turned around and laughed and said, "Mommy! You look like Abraham!"

And it's a good possibility that I'll be as old as Abraham before everything is ready for Christmas here. We've had our tree up for several days, but we still haven't decorated it. I'm not finished Christmas shopping yet, although I did get quite a bit of it finished yesterday. I've got to get on the ball!

Back In the Saddle Again

The past month has been an absolute whirlwind here! I thought I'd ease back into the blogosphere with a kid funny for you.

Just before Thanksgiving, we traveled to Indianapolis to visit with Jonathan's family. Ben and Lily were killing time in the backseat and decided to entertain themselves with a game of rock, paper, scissors. Things went well for a while until they both chose scissors. Lily stared down at their hands for a second, looked up at Ben and said, "Well....mine are sharper."

Sibling rivalry at its finest.