My Life in Pictures - January

There is this thing going around the blogosphere called Project 365.  Have you heard of it?  If you want to read up, here is a great description.
Basically, you take a picture a day for a year.  It can be of anything, but I think when you look at it, it should remind you of the day.  This goes along with my desire to be more intentional with life.  It is amazing how fast my kids are growing and sometimes I feel like we just "get by and make do" with our hectic schedules.

There are lots of ways to do this project.  I have decided to post a month's worth at a time - kind of like "a month in review."  I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoy living them!

Putting away Christmas is always bitter-sweet...

The Great State of Oklahoma was represented nicely in the Fiesta Bowl with a win against Stanford...even though I traditionally cheer for the other team (as posted about here), I was a Cowboy today!

It was the hubster's birthday today, so we celebrated with some yummy cupcakes!

Bleh!  Got my eyes dilated today...

Basketball tourney with friends...

Princess painting Grammy's house.  She's a great worker, but it took forever to get the paint out of her hair!!

Aaaarrrrgggghhh!!!  Trying to update my iPhone.  My internet connection kept going down.  (To date I still haven't gotten it done!)

The Tween Monkey woke up pleasant and decided to make breakfast for everyone.  Cinnamon crescent rolls...yummy!

Forts are FUN! (see here)

My journey to become a Titus 2 woman is on-going...

I get to eat chocolate for breakfast?  Yes, please!  (Nutella is one of the four major food groups around here!)

Thanks, Grammy & Papa, for the new tea party set!

Oil - the new clean!

Some days are just exhausting...don't you wish you could sleep like that?  And just look at those eyelashes!!

Monkey Boy is strategizing...I can tell he's going to figure it out soon!

Celebrating the Princess' birthday a bit early at our favorite Chinese place.

Cold front came through last night, it's a little bit "breezy" here today!

Freelance meetings begin...ouch!

7 AM Orthodontist means powdered sugar face for breakfast...do you see anything wrong with that?

Worked on this wreath all afternoon...so close to finishing and  ran out of circles. Story of life!

Wanted some chocolate chips cookies, got sidetracked by Valentine's Day cookie cutter...equals yummy!

Surprising Nanny at the Twins party...what is up with my settings?!

Sick (but still beautiful and funny) Princess

I learned two things today...(1) when a cleaner says "with bleach", believe it and (2) quit trying to clean the house in my good clothes!  (I had to change 10 minutes before I left the house!!!!)

I saw this on Pinterest and immediately thought "Why didn't I think of this?!?!"  Asked the drive-thru for an extra drink tray and the different compartments held all of Princess' lunch safe and secure!

Tissue poufs for Princess' tea party.  We are decorating for her birthday today and tomorrow.  The house is looking very festive and she is sooooo excited!

Princess got new furniture!  Daddy made it especially for her ballet stuff.

Today is birthday tea party day...and I thought this picture captured the mood perfectly!  (She's not throwing a fit, I promise!)  This is her excited face :-)   I promise to post more about the party and decorations later this week!!!

Whew!  After a full day of partying yesterday, we are exhausted...this about sums it up!  And now Princess wants to play "Balloon Catch" all the time.  In case you are unfamiliar with this completely made up game, the object is to throw the balloon in the air and then catch it!  Sounds hard, I know, but it's not!!!  And since balloons don't fly at high speed or are hard, they are safe to play with in the house!

Today is Princess' "official" birthday so we went for a birthday girl pedi.  Don't you love the flowers?!

The last day of January...Our house has been on the market for a full 6 months.  Today is the last day for our listing agreement with our Realtor, so we are going to try a different agent.  We are really bummed at this point.  Been driving about 150 miles a day between the two of us taking the boys to school and back and to the farm and back...we are sooooo ready for a change.  But we are keeping the faith - we know that God's timing is perfect (I just wish it coincided with my timing!)

And that is it for January!  I have to say that I am so excited that I completed the first month of this project - only 11 more to go!!  I hope you enjoy my month as much as I did!

Love you all,

Rulissa

You make me smile...

I think I told you that Princess has been sick.  She ran a fever Sunday, Monday & Tuesday so I took her in to check for the usual suspects (ear infection, strep, etc.)  We were waiting with the nurse... (isn't she a big girl?!)... checking her blood pressure and pulse,

when the nurse says, "Has she ever had her throat swabbed?"  UH, OH!

I explained to Princess that it was just a giant q-tip and the nurse was going to "tickle" the back of her throat with it.  Princess looked at us like we were a little nuts, but said, "oooooo-kayyyyyy."  She was so good.  The nurse did it really fast and was done and the only thing Princess said was...

"That did NOT tickle!"


Love you all!

Rulissa


PS - strep was negative...it's just a cold and she's already feeling "much better".

Party Preparations

The Princess is turning 4!  We are having a tea party at the house so I am busy putting stuff together...

I'll post pictures of the whole thing next week.  But, this week, Princess is sick...and I have a meeting.  Doesn't it always happen that way?!

I have taken on a couple of freelance training jobs this year and I am really looking forward to them, but the whole reason I quit work in the first place was so I could be there when my kids needed me!  Bleh!  It's always something, isn't it?

We attend my twinkie niece and nephew's 2nd birthday party yesterday.  

(Drove 2 hours there and 2 hours back, but it was worth it to spend time with them - I mean, Hey!  They only turn 2 once, right?!)



Aren't they cute!!!!


Love you all!

Rulissa

Word of the Week - Grace

And the word of the week is...

Grace is a disposition of kindness and compassion.  It is the free and unmerited favor of another.  Unmerited...  That means you can't earn it.  It is a gift.

I watched the movie "The Grace Card" this week.  I cried.  People do such horrible things to one another.  And we have a choice.  We can let it eat at us and become bitter or we can forgive...

"I promise to pray for you everyday, ask your forgiveness, grant you the same, 

and be your friend always."             

  ~The Grace Card

James 4:6 ~ "...God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

Ephesians 4:7 ~ "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."

Is there someone in your life that needs grace?  Is it you?

Love you all,

Rulissa

Boy Talk

I don't know if you knew this or not, but boys are different.  Different from what?, you ask.  Different from everything...different from girls, different from other boys, just different.  And just because you have two boys in the same family, from the same parents, in the same house, occupying the same room, doesn't mean they are the same.  If fact, what works for one is almost guaranteed not to work for the other!

I want to tell my boys about life, God and girls (not necessarily in that order).  So here I am again, writing it down.  Hopefully they will read it someday and hopefully it will help me remember what I want them to learn.

To my Tween Monkey:
Life is coming at you fast right now.  It seems like only yesterday I held you in my arms and thought, "What the heck am I supposed to do now?!"  You will always be our guinea pig - sorry about that.  I know we make mistakes and sometimes expect too much, but I want you to know we are so proud of you.  All you have accomplished, all you will accomplish.

God has great plans for you, plans to give you hope and a future if you search Him out, call on His name and follow His will for your life (Jeremiah 29:11-13).  You are a son of the King - act like it.  Hold yourself to higher standards than the world.  Right now, you know sin when you see it.  Don't become blind to it or overcome by it (Romans 12:1-2). You are a great example to your brother and sister and to the world.  Continue to search after God, obey His Word and I couldn't be prouder of you.

I love you, Son,

Mom (Rulissa)

You Want Me To Do WHAT?!?!

The hubster gets a kick out of me sometimes because I am always trying things I've found on the Internet.  Well...that's what it's for, right?  To share information and make life easier/better/funnier?  So here is my latest trial.  Brace yourself...

I've started washing my face with oil.  (Go ahead and laugh, I'll wait.)
You done?  OK.  Let me tell you why... I was reading here (which is a wonderful blog full of household tips and I highly recommend you hop on over later) and she had some really good arguments about washing your face with oil.

I have extremely dry skin (which gets even worse in the winter).  So I used the "dry skin" mixture.  My eldest (who is traveling at warp speed toward puberty) has very oily skin, so I made him some of the "oily skin" mixture.  This is how it works...

Take your Sunflower Oil and Castor Oil and mix it together according to one of the following recipes.

Dry Skin - 90% Sunflower Oil, 10% Castor Oil
Balanced Skin - 80% Sunflower Oil, 20% Castor Oil
Oily Skin - 70% Sunflower Oil, 30% Castor Oil

Once you get yours mixed up, this is how you use it:

• Massage into skin for about 1 minute.  (It is a great makeup remover - even for your eyes!)
• Wet your wash cloth with very warm water and lay it on your face to "steam" the oil.  
• Once it cools, use it to gently wipe off any excess.

Now, for those of you who still get a blemish every once in a while...I suggest dabbing it with a little Tea Tree Oil.  This is very potent stuff, so a little dab will do ya!

You will see a difference in your skin the very next day - It is that amazing!  (The tween monkey has had a pimple on his forehead for 2 weeks and after two days of this, it is GONE!!!)

Since I had this all mixed up, I needed a way to dispense it that wouldn't cause a mess.  I purchased some plastic pump bottles in the lotion section of Hobby Lobby and used my 40% off coupon so it only cost a little over $3 for both bottles.  I then needed labels, so I headed over to ishareprintables.com which is a wonderful site to get some free stuff.  Check it out - you won't be disappointed!  Once I printed the labels, I used clear packing tape to stick them to the bottles.

If you decide to try out my little miracle cleanser, let me know!

Happy cleaning!  Love you all,

Rulissa

Word of the Week - Teach

And the Word of the Week is...

Titus 2:3-4 ~ "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,"

I have come to realize that we are always teaching...

• We are teaching our children how to handle frustration when we gripe about the "Sunday driver" in our way.  
• We are teaching our spouses about priorities when we pay more attention to the TV instead of what they are saying.  
• But when we take a meal to a sick friend, we are teaching them about love.  
• When we pray as a family, we are teaching them about faith. 

We are teaching the world about Christians every time we walk out the door - the question is...What are we teaching them?

We teach by example, whether we want to or not.  So be careful what you are teaching those around you.

John 13:15 ~ "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you."

1 Timothy 4:12 ~ "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

1 Peter 2:21 ~ "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps;"

Happy teaching!  Love you all,

Rulissa

Forts are FUN

When was the last time you made a fort?  You know, dragged out all the blankets, pulled the cushions off the couch and crawled under?

Well, with the weather shift we've had this week, making forts has been our favorite past time.  And we've made some doozies!  (When I say we, I really mean the monkeys.  I'm just responsible for the heavy lifting and figuring out ways to make the blanket stay!  The creations are all theirs!!)

This is what happens when the Monkey Boy is left to his own devices!  (He was grounded to his room and after the initial crankiness, decided to make the best of it!)  Notice the mattress?  He wanted to sleep like this, but got vetoed.

Then Princess wanted in on the action and Monkey Boy helped her make her own (I think it was his cunning way of getting out of his room for a little bit!)

I think her's ended up more like a jail, but do you notice a theme?  Once they figured out they could move the mattress, it had to come off!

The next day, while the boys were at school, Princess needed a fort for her stuffed animals.

She played and read in here for about an hour, BY HERSELF!  Why didn't I think of this sooner?!

I think I may have taken one too many pictures...

Happy fort building!  Love you all,

Rulissa