Another Beautiful Day in Florida...

Nick had to have his yearly physical today. After the check-up, we got a snack and some bread and headed to Zephyrhills City Park. We fed the ducks, squirrels, and curlews. We walked all of the way around the lake (it's rather dried up right now due to lack of rain lately--check out the picture of it below...), and then played on the playground. Toward the end of the time there the SnowMan (snow cone guy) showed up, so we got a large one and split it before coming home.

I didn't have my regular camera with me, but here are some pictures I took while we were at the park today...

Take Time to Smell the Flowers...

Elisabeth's wearing the new outfit I made for her. I finished LATE last night, but had started LAST Spring, just before "the move".

Today I took her for her yearly check-up. Her vision is 20/20 (thank goodness she has my eyes), hearing is fine, she's 57 pounds and 50 inches tall.

After that, I wanted to go to our local quilt shop because they have really pretty fabric, beautiful vintage prints. I haven't been to that shop since my step-mom visited Christmas '04. Anyway, down the little strip mall from the quilt shop was a rug hooking shop so we stopped there first. I'm going to take a class on that in the Fall, it looks so easy and BEAUTIFUL!!! (She said I could come during the summer and she'd help me get started, but the teacher for the class goes on vacation up North during the summer.) She said it's so easy that Elisabeth could learn along with me! (I used to do latch hook rugs, and it's as easy as that!) We stayed there and talked to her for awhile, then headed to the quilt shop. Too bad I don't have any money, because I would've bought several fat quarters for projects for E's room. I'm also inspired to make a quilt now, and it was a really easy one too....simple, but VERY elegant looking and PERFECT for Elisabeth's room!!! After that we went next door to the scrapbook store. I don't SB really (just do digital scrapping), but I "had" to get this BG paper that has a vintage look and a story "The Runaway Doll". I'm going to figure out a way to display that paper as a wall picture, not sure if I'll frame and embellish it or decoupage it to some wood or something. (Which also gave me an awesome idea for ANOTHER project where I want to decoupage SB paper on these tin hanging vases for her room---so I'm on the lookout for the paper I want for that! LOL)

So now we're home and I need to get the electric piano set up so I can practice it. We have Worship Team practice this evening, and I'm supposed to play Sunday...Yikes!

I took a bunch of pics of Elisabeth this morning, here are a few more...

Balance...

(aka: "Everything in Moderation") that's pretty much my viewpoint on most things in life. I'm not prone to being too fanatically bent on any particular subject. But some of my viewpoints are changing, evolving, or maybe just metamorphosing (as in maturing from one stage of life into another). I've had some thoughts and ideas, mostly ingrained from my childhood, about being "earth friendly". "Don't waste water (even though we had a well, and it was free)." "Turn the lights out when you leave the room." "Separate the paper from the plastic and metal items." "Eat your veggies (thanks to growing up on a farm, we had plenty...especially since my grandpa had a garden and we did too)." Etc. etc. etc... Add to the influence of my farming/self-employed/church-going parents, my Depression-era grandparents, Girl Scouts, and 4-H, and I think that explains a lot in how my childhood background has influenced my point of view.

Anyway, as I stated earlier, I'm really starting to want to think more along the lines of being "ecologically correct" in my thinking and living. Not to the point of being a fanatic and trying to change the whole world (or other people's ways), but to take care of my little corner of the earth, and to have a healthy and happy family. I just read an article in this month's SELF magazine about actress Amber Valletta, and it reaffirmed my viewpoint pretty well.

I want my family to be healthy above all, but I want the earth to be a decent place for my kids and their children too. God put us here to take care of the earth, and I have to say I don't think a lot of Christians have done a great job at being very earth friendly. Recently a friend sent me an article called 50 Ways to Save the Planet. I am going down that list, and am planning to implement as many of those things as possible in our home. The first one that comes to mind, though we don't consume "that much" of it, is to recycle aluminum cans...Habitat for Humanity takes aluminum can donations and uses the proceeds from recycling them to help raise funds for building their houses. Not only would we be helping the environment, we'd be helping people who need it.

I've also found my Dream Home, check out the picture. It's too cool! It's made from "green materials" and has "healthy products" used throughout. Not only is it earth friendly, it's family health friendly too! (Especially with one child having severe allergies!!!) One model even has a "Green Roof" over the garage with a door leading to it...a terrace garden just outside my 2nd floor, wouldn't that be neat? If only I could also have my Dream Vehicle too!

Anyway, my thoughts have really been focused on this way of thinking and living, and I believe that God is bringing me to the realization that He wants us to live more healthful lives, and to take care of the planet He's given us to call "home" for the time we are here.

Tomatoes Anyone?

Well, it's been 8 1/2 weeks since Nick's been on his 15-item-free diet, so I decided that we'd reintroduce tomatoes this weekend. (Technically a week early, but it's basically been 2 months.) Last night we had Mexican food, tonight we had Sonny's BBQ and he had baked beans and ketchup with his french fries. He was in tomato heaven! (Except for last night when I made him eat his tomato wedge! ROFL, that was fun to watch! hehe He doesn't like tomatoes, just tomato products!) So now we're on a 30 week adventure of adding back food items...this should be fun! (Oatmeal is next--13 days and counting!)

Spring Break has begun. I'm going to dig out the Resurrection Eggs from my "school" stuff (from when I taught K4 at Heritage), we're going to make some "Spring" cookies, Jell-o jigglers Easter eggs, and who knows what else. I'm going to make Elisabeth's Easter dress this week. It's going to be made from some cotton chintz fabric with peach roses on it....fabric our bridemaids' dresses were made from. I have an outfit that I started for her that I will also finish up this week, along with a couple of aprons and maybe a purse that I wanted to do. Also, I have a few other projects I need to do this week (along the lines of decorating/organizing), along with completing my spring cleaning. It will be nice to get "almost" caught up on everything (I know I can't get everything done that I want to). Then of course, there's always yard work to be done. So yeah, it's going to be a busy week! My plans also include kick-starting my exercise regimen and eating more healthy, as I've really slacked off on that too. Spring Break....a break in the routine, so I can get myself back in order. Good plan, dontcha think?

One last positive thing..."tut, tut, it looks like rain"!!! We've had no rain in over 40 days, and the grass looks like it does in Kansas in late-August...dry and brown and parched. (Though it sure does smell good when it's like that, reminds me of a wheat field ready for harvest!) A line of showers is supposed to be coming through during the night, so hopefully we'll get something here.

Well, off to bed...another exciting week at church awaits in the morning! That will be followed by "A Taste of New Tampa" for Jerry and Nick, and an afternoon at home for Elisabeth and me. Maybe I'll pull out the sewing machine...

A Good Day...

Today was the first "regular" service for our new church, our "grand opening". It went really well, and I think we had about 80 people total for both services. (The count was over 100, but some of us were there for both.) A new boy came, close to Nick's age, so that was encouraging. Elisabeth went up to the front during the early service (our "family" service) to help sing/do motions for a song and didn't get stage fright or start crying...so much different than ANY time of doing that kind of thing in the past! (Except for her part in the Winter program at school.) Jerry got host homes for youth group meetings set up too. The ball is in motion, such a great feeling to be part of something new to see the potential of reaching our community and connecting with new people. I'm so excited to be a part of something like this from the beginning and watch it come to life!

We left church a little early (before "tear-down" was complete) to meet our friend Rod for dinner. He comes to Florida every year about this time and he was on his way out of Tampa this evening. It was nice visiting with him and reconnecting with an old friend, even if it was at Perkins instead of Hops or Carrabba's...Hops was closed at the location we were supposed to meet, and Carrabba's was closed for a private party. Good friends, good food....as Martha Stewart says..."It's a good thing"! LOL

The only negative of the day was a "Sunday afternoon nap"....and no it wasn't bad. It's just that when we got home around 5, Elisabeth was asleep in the car and stayed asleep since. I'm just hoping she'll not wake up for the rest of the night, as she's already been sleeping for 7 hours now! I got a good nap too, but now I'm wide awake...that's not a good thing! Guess I'll go run a load of laundry and get things ready for school/work tomorrow before I turn in.

One more week until Spring Break....can't wait!!!

Allergies, Spring Cleaning, and Healthiness in General...

have gotten me thinking...

Due to lack of funds, lately I've been buying "cheap" cleaning stuff to clean my home. I'm thinking that I need to make it a priority to buy more environmentally friendly stuff, not only for the earth's health, but for my family's health too. Nick's allergies seem to be much better since he's on a full arsenal of meds and now taking allergy shots, but I am sure I can do more. I have determined to get my house as allergen and toxin free as possible, and that will take some time as I'm not independently wealthy. But I'll be working toward that with future purchases as I run out of this or that around the house. Also, I'm going to start saving up for an air cleaner. The one I want is almost $600, but I may get the smaller one of that version for about $200 first so the air can start getting cleaner sooner than later. A GOOD vacuum cleaner is on my list too (even though I just bought a "cheap" one out of necessity).

I'm also thinking about the fact that our family really needs to be more healthy in the nutrition area. As soon as it's financially possible, we will start stocking up on good (organic, earth-friendly) vitamins and supplements. Sooner than that, we'll be eating MUCH healthier (as soon as I can get to the grocery store to get the proper items). The whole family has been down with one virus or another since January (or maybe even earlier than that), and I've had no energy either. Exercise and eating well, along with proper nutritional supplements will be good for our family.

Unfortunately, being healthy is not cheap, but it's a necessary goal. So yeah, that's what I've been thinking about since I woke up at 4 a.m. (wide-awake) to Nick coughing for an hour or so. Gotta work on having a healthy home and a healthy family. (Once we buy our own place, things will be better b/c I can rip out carpet or whatever needs done to make it less allergenic too....someday!)