Tiptoe through the Tulips

Our yard is abloom with glorious color and it makes me SO happy!

I just love tulips! They have to be the perfect flower. You plant the bulbs once, and then they come up every year. Now that is my kind of yard work!




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What's Wrong with this Picture?

When Jonah walked into the kitchen the other day, it seemed like there was something not quite right. I was puzzled for a moment, and then I figured out what it was and I burst out laughing.

Can you spot what's wrong with this photo?

Nope. Not the moose antlers. Are you sure you can't tell what's wrong? Does this photo help?

If you haven't gotten it by now, this picture should get your rear in gear.

Yep. Jonah went to the bathroom and came back with his pants on backwards. He and I both thought it was pretty funny because he hasn't ever done that before! What a silly boy!

Don't Weight: Cycle the Summer Away!

Hooray! Cycling season is starting!

You may recall that last year my husband and I got into cycling, and I rode 67 miles on my second bike tour (which happened to be on my birthday). Over the winter I put in quite a few miles on my trainer indoors, and as the weather has warmed up I have been out on my bike as much as possible. I have been doing several 20-mile rides each week, and I am loving it! I have improved quite a bit from last year (speed and stamina), and thanks to my sweet Honey Daddy I have significantly more gear and accessories.

Cycling has been really great for me physically. I now weight 10 pounds less than I did when I got pregnant with my first son. This weekend we went shopping because none of my pants fit, and I was ecstatic to find that I could fit into size 14's. Considering the fact that in high school I wore size 22/24 jeans, that is really an accomplishment!

I now have a new goal. It is a reasonable, healthy, attainable weight loss goal. I am going to lose 20 pounds in 20 weeks. That is only one pound a week, which is totally doable. Then by my birthday this year I should be down to at least size 12 jeans, which would be awesome!

I think sometimes we tend to focus too much on losing large amounts of weight, then give up when it doesn't happen. This way I can feel successful if I lose just one pound per week. Every little bit adds up, you know?!

So I weighed myself this morning, and each week I am going to let you know how I did. I am going to have to start keeping a food journal and work on exercising more consistently and drinking more water. I am enlisting my mom, my friends, and my sisters to do this with me, so we'll see how we do.

I think that cycling will help me keep up with my weight loss this summer. As a matter of fact, coming up this weekend my husband and I have signed up for our first bike tour of the season. My husband is doing the 65 mile ride, and I am debating between the 50 mile or just doing the 65 with Honey Daddy.

What a way to jump-start my summer weight loss, huh?!

Sunny Day, Sweeping the Clouds Away

One week ago we had five inches of snow, which wasn't exactly my idea of fun weather for April. This week it has been sunny, we have had temperatures in the 70s, and the trees are in bloom and starting to leaf out. I am in heaven!

Pretty in Pink

The boys have been loving the weather this week too. We have been playing outside constantly, making sure we get nice and dirty in the process.

Hooray for warmer weather!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Hard Hat Area

So what do you do for fun with your kids? I am pretty sure that boys enjoy some things that might not interest little girls. Since I live in a house of boys, here at the Honey House we often take walks to the construction site near our home where they are building a church. Jonah and Eli love to watch all the construction equipment and the men working.

Even more than than watching the equipment, Jonah loves the times that we visit the construction site after hours to let him check out all the equipment up close. It must be something like little boy heaven.


Even if your silly parents make you stand in places for pictures that you might not necessarily want to be.

Check out who else is feeling Wordful.

Or if you'd rather, you can go Wordless (always tough for me!)

AWOL: Absent Working On-Line

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't been posting a whole lot lately. Sure, I have put up pictures and a couple of sentences, but not too much more than that. The truth is that I have been incredibly busy this past month.

You may remember that a few months ago I posted about the fact that I am losing my part-time librarian job at the end of this month. Ever since that post I have been looking for other ways to help out with the family finances. I was really sad lose my job, and afraid I wouldn't be able to find anything else to make money. Thankfully it turns out I was wrong!

I found a temporary way to earn a bit of extra cash by watching a neighbor's nine-year-old son in the mornings and taking him to school. My neighbor offered me the job because she heard about me losing my job, and her son wasn't really enjoying going to daycare in the morning before school. Of course this job ends when school lets out, but it has helped out and my boys have been enjoying having someone come over and play in the mornings.

I also managed to land a part-time, work at home job that is completely online. I don't have to answer calls, I get paid for the time I put in, and I didn't have to pay anything to get the job! It was a bit of a miracle that I found this job. The only downside is that I only have a contract for six months, but hopefully they will renew my contract then.

So what is this job, you ask?! Basically I evaluate the results of search engine queries. There are some similar job ad postings of what I do posted at Lionbridge and Leapforce in case you are interested. I believe both of these companies are still hiring. The only downside is that you have submit your resume/job history and pass the initial screening, and then they invite you to take a two part test. The test is pretty long and intense, but if you pass then you get the job and get reimbursed for taking the test.

So not only have I been finishing up my job at the library this month, I have also been watching my neighbor's son in the morning and putting in as much time into my online job as I can. I want to get familiar with my online job and get good at it, so they want to keep me when my six months is up.

So there you have it... no I'm not pregnant, we're not moving, and no one is dreadfully sick. I have just been very busy taking care of my little boys and working as much as I can while I have the chance.

April Snow Angel

It snowed yesterday. The weather has been so strange this year that I can't say I was particularly amazed to see snow in April. Instead I grabbed my camera and took a picture of my tulips in the snow.


I was pretty sure that the snow would all melt away soon enough anyway. Then I woke up this morning to a veritable winter wonderland! We had accumulated 5-6 inches of snow overnight.

Instead of letting it ruin my day, I grabbed my camera and ran out before the sun started burning all the snow off the trees. I got some pretty cool shots.

Here Comes the Sun.

Frosted Pines.

Tweet with Cold Feet.

When I went back in the house I was greeted by Jonah who said to me, "Mommy, I was thinking about making a snow angel."

Why not?! I thought. How often do you get to make a snow angel in April?

Jonah had a great time playing outside in the snow the snow this morning. He made two snow angels and went "dashing through the snow".

This evening the snow is almost gone, and they are predicting temperatures in the 70s by Monday. So maybe next week I will post pictures of the boys in shorts! Crazy, huh?


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Easter Activities

Last week and over the weekend we were busy with Easter and preparations for the holiday. Of course we had to dye Easter eggs, which Jonah loved! I was nervous to let him work on the eggs while I took pictures, but he did a great job!

We also had an Easter egg hunt (pic in post below), which was tons of fun. I even managed to get a decent picture of my two boys in their cute Easter outfits. Aren't they adorable?!


I know I haven't been too Wordful on my blog lately. I've been super-busy with other happenings, and I'll explain what's been going on in a post soon. In the meantime, check out these other Wordful peeps.

What's in Your Easter Egg?

My little guy LOVED the Easter Egg hunt this weekend. He even found the egg that I hid IN the tree.

I had a great time running around trying to snap pictures of him. I guess we were both on an Easter hunt.

How was your Easter?

Butterfly Beauty

This week we have finally had some beautiful weather! Sunshine and temperatures above sixty degrees... hallelujah!

Tuesday evening while I was laying outside on a blanket watching clouds with Jonah, I noticed a little visitor to our yard. Our first butterfly of the year! I was so excited to see this little guy, so I ran into the house to get my Canon XSi and my zoom lens.

I was sure that he would be gone by the time I got back, or that he would be too far away on the top of the tree to get a photo. Can I just say how amazing my camera is?

Spring must really be here to stay.
Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Children's Books on Steals and Deals!

This week I am a featured contributor on Steals and Deals. If you need some suggestions (from a librarian!) for great books to buy or check out from your local library, then be sure to check it out!

Splish Splash!

Eli just loves taking baths! He actually manages to climb into the bath tub fully clothed sometimes, in hopes that someone will give him a bath.

The only problem is that he is a bit rambunctious in the tub. He loves to spash and crawl around, which isn't necessarily the safest thing to do. So I have to keep a close eye on him, which inevitably means that I get wet too.

Ah well, at least he sure is cute!

Oh Snap!

My two little boys wake up fairly early in the morning. For some reason their internal clocks seem to be set at sometime around 7 a.m., if not earlier! Unfortunately I am not really much of a morning person. If I had the choice I would probably sleep until around 8 a.m. or so.

Needless to say, sometimes in the morning it takes me a while to become fully awake.

A few days ago Eli woke up particularly early. I could hear him making noise and moving around at approximately 6 a.m. I did my best to ignore him and hope he would go back to sleep. Finally just before 7 a.m. I gave up and got out of my warm, cozy bed.

While I was getting dressed, Jonah popped out of his bedroom. Apparently Eli woke him up too. Jonah asked me if he could go in and see his brother, and I said "Sure".

Next thing I know Jonah calls out, "Mommy, Eli is naked!"

What?!

That woke me up in a hurry! I walked into Eli's room, and sure enough... there he was in his crib, wearing only his diaper and a big grin. He was running back and forth from one end of the crib to the other, laughing all the while.

It seems Eli has figured out how to undo the snaps on his pajamas while he was waiting for me to come and get him. I'm just glad he didn't figure out how to get his diaper off too!

I guess from now on Eli will be wearing pajamas with zippers instead of snaps!

What do April Snow Showers Bring?

I am assuming that when they say "April showers", they are not referring to snow! Not only did we get snow on Monday, we also got another lovely snowstorm on April Fool's Day with more snow expected over the weekend. Needless to say all the wind, snow, and cold has not necessarily been good for my poor apricot tree.

The blossoms were so pretty when they popped out on the apricot tree. Now unfortunately they are withering and turning brown. I just hope there are enough that haven't bloomed yet to produce some fruit this summer!

At least I have my flowers to look forward to, right? I have to remind myself that the sun will shine, and my tulips will bloom soon (when the weather improves!).

This little guy huddled next to the house has survived all the wicked weather we have been having lately. Isn't pink a happy, hopeful color?!

I am still hoping for Spring.




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