For the love of orange

My husband loves orange with a childlike passion. Like a second-grader clings to his favorite color and always chooses it over other less superior colors. I don't mean that in a demeaning way; unlike the second-grader who will have a new favorite next year, his love has stood the test of time. And while he prefers orange, I don't think he insisted we register for anything that hue and has always been extremely patient with my decorating color schemes, despite the fact that they have never included anything resembling citrus.

Until now. I found this hot pot for $2 at a garage sale last week, and I have decorated my entire guest bedroom around it. (Edited to add: My husband did point out the irony of trying to rid our home of unnecessary plastics only to buy something plastic for our guests to boil water in! Good thinking, Brite. )


Orange has been winning me over slowly. When I first met WH and learned of this color preference I really hated orange. Then as I fell in love with him my hatred dissolved and everywhere I turned I saw "his" color. I really loved autumn tones for the first time (although in FL we saw the leaves turn mid-February) and created this collage and entitled it "The World Through WH's Eyes." Now I can hang it in the guest bedroom. :)

The guest room, or "Spare 'Oom" as we like to call it is now a cozy place to hang out. We are expecting a guest in a few minutes, so I'd better run and put the candy bowl out. I have to do that at the last minute to avoid tempting the tiny candy thieves (okay, and also so I don't eat all of it).

Faithful man

My husband has been working hard lately to establish a morning routine for us. Partly to help with consistency in our private worship, and also to wake the kids up at an earlier time so they will go to bed at a decent time. (This isn't working out perfectly since they always wake up at a good time but bedtimes still require a fair amount of discipline to actually keep the kids IN their beds, but that's another story.) So WH wakes the children up and keeps them away from me for about 30 minutes so I can read my Bible and drink my coffee in solitude. I think he knows that most days it's the only quiet I have. We stayed up late last night doing a puzzle for our date night (also another story) so I was still in bed and got to watch their morning ritual.

He wakes the kids up after he gets out of the shower, and then he lets them cozy down in our bed and one of them chooses his shirt, and the other picks out his tie. They were surprisingly decisive, as if they do this every day. Sweet A has fairly definitive tastes in fashion. Most days, after he is dressed and ready to go he pours them their juice (a kid's coffee equivalent) so that he can leave me with the kids sitting at the table. All these little things seem to improve the moods of the entire household. When all goes as planned, the children aren't ravenously waiting for me to make their breakfast and I have had a chance to pray through the day and greet them with a genuine smile.

And just so you know that it does not always work out this way, on Tuesday- when the kids woke up just after 6:30am and I was having a particularly grumpy day- I almost started crying when I saw them. Bad mommy. No one wants to start their day looking at a hormonal and sour mother. Although, they aren't supposed to come out until WH comes. Bad children.




Today, WH (who used to manage- and occasionally bake for- a coffee shop) greeted us with these. He made them for his co-workers:


I would ask "what other man makes scones for his wife and children before they wake up"? but I'm sure there are others. My dad would do something like that...maybe biscuits, not scones. But he is a great cook (and an early riser). And other husbands minister in wonderful ways that don't involve scones but are just as appreciated.

So, this is just a little tribute to my husband, who not only makes me do the things I want to do (get out of bed early, spend time alone in the Word), but facilitates it and makes it easy(er).

Proverbs 20:6 "Who can find a faithful man?"

Dairy Fest 2009 (aka 5th Anniversary Trip)

We had a lovely anniversary retreat, and besides all the rest, relaxation, and hot tubbing there were dairy products a plenty (no baby with milk sensitivities to nurse= lots of ice cream). We left our kids Friday morning and went straight to Starbucks for the creamiest drink I could find. I made a fool of myself getting every last drop of whipped cream out of the cup.


After that we set out for our cabin, stopping for an hour or so at a winery and then again at a grocery store to stock up on food for the weekend. We are food people and any good celebration has lots of the best food around. WH cooked for me on our honeymoon, and he did most of the cooking on this trip. The first night he made grilled chicken stuffed with basil and havarti and wrapped it all in bacon. Ahh...it was wonderful. We had filet mignon the next night, along with every kind of dairy I could fit in. Yogurt. Chocolate. Icecream. Milk. Cheese. Cinnamon rolls. I read no labels, I just ate.

We were trying not to smile too big. Unfortunately, we look a little melancholy. Really, we had a great time!

We thought the weather was abnormally cool over our honeymoon because it stayed in the 60's (remember, this is mid-June), but even with the lack of rain this time around it was pleasant enough to keep the windows open all day. The cabin was situated by a creek and we have great memories of listening to the water rush by. I loved revisiting this favorite vacation spot, just so we could reminisce about all that has happened since we were last here, and how we never would have imagined we'd have three children or be living near WH's family, at a new church, in a new town. I'm sure if we go back to that cabin we'll have just as much to say in the next five years. (Well, maybe not three more kids. But then again, who knows?)


We were ready to see the children when it was time to go home, but the weekend away was just what we needed. We finished conversations! We ate whole meals without getting up from the table! We didn't have to cut up food that wasn't our own! We slept through the night, and past 7am! Oh, and we vacuumed out the entire car while the three car seats were gone! Thrilling. (Just kidding...okay, no I'm not. We really did clean the car on our anniversary trip.)

We hit the ground running when we got home. My very kind sister-in-law, who had 9 children (my 3 and her 6) all weekend, washed all the kids' clothes and that was a huge help. We are getting ready to spend a week in Florida with my parents and family, and also hope to bring my little sister back to stay with us for a while, so there are lots of preparations to be made. I'm off to get some last-minute sewing done.

Pre-Father's Day party

This has been sick week at our house, and I seem to be deteriorating instead of getting better. Not sure what I have, but there are several nasty viruses going around and my brother-in-law has been sick with some unknown virus for over 3 weeks. Hoping I don't have what he has. WH has insisted I stay in bed as much as possible, so he's been doing double duty with the kids. Poor guy. He has a great attitude about it, but I know it's a lot of work. He took them to the park today, and then took all three to the health food store and the fire station (trying to kill time and give me some quiet since my main symptom is a massive head/neck/earache). He also did several loads of laundry and put them out on the line.

Yesterday, when I was still in denial about being sick all week, and operating under the thought that if I act well, then I will get well, we planned a little pre-Father's Day celebration. Next Sunday we will be away for our anniversary so I thought an early special day was in order. WH worked second shift and was home all morning, so it was a great time (except that afterward I fell into bed and slept for several hours). Not exactly the day I was planning, but it was a good breakfast. The kids helped me make Moriah's famous 10-minute donuts, bacon, and a quick egg dish. WH had been asking for donuts for a long time, and since I am usually against anything fried before 5pm, it was a rare treat.

A while ago I ordered a tie from Land's End for $4.99 (now you know how cheap it was, honey), and we picked up some gum and M&M's, just so that each child could have something to give him. When I asked the kids if they wanted to wrap the presents, Coop said, "This is how you do it, Mom. You wrap it in a bag, like one of those bags under the sink from the grocery store. And then you hide it under your shirt and bring it out and say, 'Happy Father's Day.'" I died laughing, since that was, indeed, how they presented their Mother's Day gifts to me. Daddy wrapping, we call it. :)

This was an early-morning pj shot. I used to scoff at people who let their girls have "Pretty Princess" polyester nightgowns. Look how low I've sunk. Look at that lapful of children! (Cock your head...not sure why this picture is this way- weird Blogger thing.)