Sweet boys....

After church today we were driving home to get Brody and go on their promised picnic while we had a house showing today (YEAH!! cross your fingers!). Here's the conversation Aiden and I had in the short drive home...

Aiden: How does God make the road and cars?


me: well...He shows us what we need and how to make the roads for Him (we're His hands and feet).


Aiden: oh. I think I will pray for God and thank Him.


me: that's a great idea!.


Aiden: Thank you God for all the things You make and the things people make. Thank you God for all the roads and cars we use. Thank you God for the people that make quilts and cakes. Thank you God. Amen.


Max: Amen God!


So cute! I think the quilts and cake comment was from the conversation we had yesterday how we all do different things and make different things. But in the midst of the conversation today it was so random :) And Max yelling Amen God at the end made me literally laugh out loud.

Oh...and apparently Aiden learned about Adam and Eve today. When I had him tell me the story...he told me that the reason God didn't want Adam and Eve to eat the apple was because he didn't want them to be smart. hahaha!! We had to review the story and point out that the 'snake in the tree' was not being nice and telling them lies :) But at least I know Aiden is listening in Sunday school...he had the rest of the story right :)

Have a great Sunday!
rachel

Communication is Key!!

So here we are...our fourth full day without daddy at home and so far so good! The hardest part is not being able to just pick up the phone and call and say 'Hey'. After a few days the cadets were able to 'earn' phone privileges and it appears he will have time to call at 8 p.m. every night. AWESOME! A little communication each night will go SUCH a long way! I just talked to Justin an hour or so ago and he mentioned that today was the hardest yet in regards to homesickness. Everything else is to be expected, but the homesickness is really bad at the moment. Apparently he has trouble talking about the boys and me without tearing up...so please keep him in your prayers that he can get through this initial stage of adjustment. I realize that I have the easy part in all of this. I get to hug and kiss my boys each and every day! Yes...they are busy and trying at times but after talking to him I would gladly take this part of the deal any day of the week. 2 weeks in Europe was tough...but to be away from them while being yelled at, sleep deprived and sensory overload (as he put it)...I can't even imagine. So first off...please keep him in your prayers.

Second...here are a few comments about his first few days that I have gathered in our short and rushed phone conversations:

1) LOTS of push ups :) He said he was doing push ups in his dress suit within 5 minutes of arriving!

2) The class started with 175 (give or take a few that probably didn't show up). The class reported on Sept. 19th and as of Sept. 21st they were down to 149. Today another quit for medical reasons so that makes 148. However, 0 have quit from his platoon (there are 3 platoons). Funniest thing...he said a few people quit in the parking lot when they reported!

3) In his words...it is an OCD paradise! He couldn't go into huge detail about how they must keep all their belongings, but right now he is overwhelmed with all the details of how to fold, iron, hang, walk, eat, speak, etc. I do know they must measure where they put their shoes under their bed and it took him over 30 minutes to make his bed the other day. Hmmm...I don't know about you, but if I spent more than 3 minutes on my bed I would be crazy!

4) Good news! He got a great roommate. That was a big relief! The funny part is that his roommate's name is Derrick! That must be a lucky name for him since Derrick was his zone partner for years at HPPD :)

5) They have been doing A LOT of cleaning! Apparently the facilities haven't been cleaned since the last class over a year ago...so they are the lucky cadets that get to scrub everything. So he went from helping me scrub baseboards here to scrubbing baseboards there. Hmmm...I wonder if they can teach him how to load the dishwasher while he's there?? I wonder if they take suggestion cards? No...that would be too obvious...he would know that came from me :)

6) Running started today and it went well. Ironically...running was probably the hardest part for him when he went through the academy for HPPD and could very possibly be the easiest part for him in PA!

well....I'm sure he's told me more and I will think of other things along the way, but today has been very long! I'm off to bed so I can be ready for my little rug rats tomorrow :)

Last but not least...I want to thank everyone for checking in on my this week :) It really has helped me not feel so lonely. Thank you all very much!! Have a wonderful week!

rachel

Labor Day Weekend Fun!!

YEAH!!! Four day weekend...woo hoo!!! A long weekend came just in time for us to have some time to finish some projects and play outside with the boys in the AWESOME weather!!! While Brody did this...


We did a little 'pre' labor day painting. Aiden helped Daddy out with painting the mailbox post...


He's a pretty good painter!!! The mailbox looked great!


And I painted the master bathroom....
Here's the 'BEFORE'. Sorry...I forgot to take a picture of it before they took the fixtures down. It has been this red shade since we bought the house. It's not a true representation of the color...but good enough. I loved the color, but it did make it look a little small.

And here's the 'AFTER' :) Since we're selling, I picked a nice neutral shade of light sage green. I hope the buyers like it! I have painted with about every type of paint...this time I picked Martha Stewart because I liked the color. I wasn't all too happy with it. It had globs of paint all through it! Sorry Martha...I normally like you, but I'll have to pass on your paint in the future.

Don't mind the messy sink...I still have to finish my cleaning :)


And I worked on Aiden's quilt!! I had 8 rows all laid out in this pic...but now I have 10....I hope to finish laying out all the pieces tonight. The quilt will have 12 rows when its all said and done. I am LOVING it!!

On top of all this I baked 5 cakes and made 9 batches of icing. I have a wedding cake coming up this weekend and it will serve 250 people. Lots of cake and icing!!

And let's not forget about little Max! We all had such a great time enjoying the awesome weather. I can tell fall is right around the corner...my favorite season!!!

This used to be Justin's shirt when he was little. It really is the perfect shirt for Max. He's becoming so stubborn...it's funny at times and sooo frustrating at others. But I wouldn't change him one bit...it's his personality and I love him for it! I'm so thankful for both my boys and lucky that God chose me to be their mommy :)

I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend!!

Progress on Aiden's Quilt

I'm making progress! Slowly but surely I'm actually beginning to believe Aiden will have a quilt made by me some day. I got all the 'split squares' sewed together (square made from two triangles) and ironed flat. Now is the tough part...laying out all the fabric in order so I can start sewing it together. It has to look random, but sometimes random is harder than having a strict pattern to go by.

For lack of floor space to use, I bought a piece of felt and tacked it to the wall. Fabric will stick to the felt, so I can arrange all my fabric pieces and keep it off the floor so it won't get ruined by the dog or little boys running around :) The best place I have to tack the felt is above our spare bed, so I was jumping up and down off the bed. That got old real fast. So...now I have my card table on top my bed with all my fabric in reach! My spare room is a mess...but at least I'm making progress on this project :)



Here's my design wall with my work station near by. When my eyes get crossed I just lay down and take a nap. This set up is pretty convenient!!

Happy Birthday Kylie!!

I had so much fun making this cake. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the color of pink I got after lots of kneading and coloring of fondant. Cute flowers, butterflies and lovely colors...what else is there to say? Normally there's something I don't like about my cakes...but this one I was really pleased with. And it was yummy...top tier was chocolate cake with raspberry filling and the bottom tier was white cake with chocolate chip cream cheese filling. Yummo!!! With a house full of boys (including our dog)...it's nice to do something girly once and a while!

Happy Birthday Kylie!! I hope you enjoyed your cake!

Beach Bums

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, unpacked and headed to the beach. We didn't want to waste a minute and with four kids yelling "to the beach!!!" we did have much choice either! As you can see, Max means all business and he was determined to get to the big sandbox at the end of the walkway! Ahhhh...vacation is here and we're loving it!

We have two sand babies....

and two water babies :)

But regardless of whether they are in the water or sand, all the kids are having a blast and have gone non-stop since we got here. We also have two nappers and two non-nappers...and I bet you can figure out the two groups. Seems as though our oldest are growing up on us and must not need the naps anymore (sigh...) or so they say...

One last pic from today's beach outing. Mommy started reading a magazine while Max was playing in the sand. That didn't last long because he wanted me to spread out his towel...he went to get another magazine and laid down beside me to "read" his magazine! Too cute! oh...and he enjoyed his crackers filled with sand...didn't stop him from eating. Not much does!!

Take care!! We're headed back to the beach after naps and soak up some more sun :) Then having a shrimp dinner...YUMMY!! And of course make peanut butter fudge that Aiden has been requesting all week :)

FINALLY!!!

Where to start...I'm partially embarrassed about my procrastination...but on the other hand I'm not. We all have unfinished projects around the house, but this one has really bothered me because it's a project for my adorable little Aiden. I have made 3 quilts to date...all for my sister's little ones. The last quilt I finished was for my nephew, Kyle, and he is now 3 years old.

So....around 3 or so years ago I picked out Aiden's quilt pattern, bought all the fabric, washed the fabric and started to cut the fabric for Aiden's quilt. I planned to make him a throw that he could use all throughout his life...not just as a little boy. After I quickly got bored with cutting (cutting isn't much fun)...the fabric and pattern went back into the bag. And there it sat...and sat....and sat. NO...that's not all it did...it DID stare at me from time to time when I would move it here or there out of my way. It was taunting me! Don't get me wrong...I haven't just been sitting on my tooshie the last 3 years. I did have cute little Max in the mean time and we've been busy with the boys and everything else...but still it's a project I have been putting off for one reason or another. And it's probably one of the more important projects that I have on my list. I've really wanted to work on it...it's just the CUTTING that was standing in my way. As you can see...there are a lot of pieces to the quilt I picked out...what was I thinking??

So this year when I was asked to join a Block of the Month club (we complete one quilt square a month), I jumped at the chance. I thought this would be my motivation to learn how to sew on the sewing machine (versus by hand) to make it go faster...and now I can use the sewing machine. After that, I thought this would be my motivation to get started on Aiden's quilt. Well...the class has inspired me. It has inspired me to buy various quilt and project patterns...buy tools and fabric and also pick out a pattern and buy all the fabric for Max's quilt. Yep...the class has added projects to my list...but not taken any off!!

So...last week I realized it was almost August and I hadn't made any progress on Aiden's quilt. I took the fabric out of the closet, out of the bag and swore it wasn't going away until all the pieces were cut. Tonight I finished!!! Yeah!! I now have 1108 pieces of fabric to sew back together! Seems kind of crazy to cut fabric in pieces JUST to sew it back together...but I love it. Here's a picture of all my fabrics together (before I was done cutting of course)....
And here is the finished product. All my pieces labeled and in their bags...waiting for me to sew them together. I'm sure a lot of you can't appreciate my excitement...but I thought I would share it anyways. It's not that I didn't want to work on this quilt....more of me just not wanting to cut all these pieces out. Now that I did the tidious work...I can ACTUALLY start making Aiden a quilt of his very own that he can bundle up in for years to come.

I will definitely share pics as I make progress and if you don't see them...make sure you give me a hard time about it. I really don't want all these pieces finding their way bag into the closet again :)