Hello again

I want to be blogging again! I want to write but am considering doin it anonymously... Is that weird? I may keep this as a public family blog and start something else here or switch to Wordpress. I am not sure what the difference is and I see they both have apps to help post from your phone which seems to be in y hand all the time anyway. I find myself writing a lot lately on my notepad app that is on my phone so it made me think of blogging again. More for myself his time than anything else.

Progresssssss

Hi,
Just an update to say I am making progress on my apron. I am making 2 (one for the littlest sis and one for me). I'm am using my apron as the guinea pig to see if I can make sense of it all. I have gathered the ruffle and started sewing the ties.... have to figure out how to attach them to the waist band. This is going to  be interesting without a directions, but I think I am getting a handle on how it is possible to put it together. NOW that doesn't mean that it's the way the directions would have had me do it! I will be tackling a little more tomorrow.Crossing my fingers I don't screw it up!

file this in: Want to.....but will i?

Want to make this old school apron pattern i have had laying around with the fabric leftover from the bag my mom made for Beka. The problem is I have the pattern pieces but no instructions... seems like a no brainer but i know whenever i think that its harder than it looks! haha ...i will have to find some time when the family isn't in need so my a.d.d. brain can focus on it !

Summer Vacation

Well, this is the backwards version of our summer which only makes sense since its fall and I am finally posting this. Just wanted to try out my new look my sister made on my blog.anyway we stopped at in n out on our way out of california after missing almost every exit for the place we finally found one to stop at and enjoy.
so if this was in the proper order you would know why these people(dan with his girls and brothers nevan and dillon and dan sr.) have that crazed look in their eyes.... it was one of the main reasons we went to california (besides to see all you other wonderful friends and family)......
now you know,,,it was the sugar rushin through their veins. We went to celebrate the Dan sr.'s birthday.
We packed up our mp3 players and headed down to california to enjoy some

time relaxin by the pool and enjoying the sunshine. Thanks to all our host families for the kindness and food, lots of food!!!

Have you ever tried this? Mary made it for me one day. Now I know it sounds weird but instead of a lemon or a lime in your water you put a cucumber. I have found that 1 slice is plenty and boyyyyy is it refreshing. It was one of my favorite things this summer to beat the heat.(also good for the digestion)

Tulip Festival

These pics are a little late but I lost the CD they were on. We went to the Tulip Festival this year with some homeschool friends! It was amazingly beautiful! My friend Ellen took her kids and us on this fun field trip.

Great picture captured by Beka! She loves to get interesting photos!

Here are a couple of me and the girls. Sorry they are sidways but I was taking them off the disc and can't turn them cuz they arent in my photo program yet. So get your neck stretch on for a couple minutes. You'll feel so relaxed after!!! heehee *8)

BEAUTY!!!!!! Doesn't God make good things!!!!

supercross in seattle

the girls showing their support of poulsbo,wa native ryan villopoto.... & HE WON!!yayyyyyy

waiting for our people on the steps

kelly and beka in seattle on the way to the supercross... we went with a great group of friends to the supercross to watch the motor cycle races. It was so fun and what a treat to see the guy we were cheering for win (his first big race i think).

ART SHOW

This is us at the showing that the First Class Co-Op art class had. It was a lovely affair at the Farm Kitchen in Poulsbo. Each kid had thier artwork displayed so we walked around looking at all the fine art and snacking on the yummy snacks they had set out. It was a great evening. Thanks to Dad/Poppa for coming all the way out there to support the girls.

January 2009*holding*

I am listening to the song that comes up on my blog and thinking about how it applies to my last post. That is what the Lord is trying to say. Hold on to what you have, to the moment at hand. My comfort zones are constantly being challenged so I will remember what is important. I will appreciate what I am experiencing in this moment and being thankful for who I am with. I think that this is what my word means to me this month. I need to hold on to what I have and hold on to memories I am in the process of making. I am going to be holding on tightly and enjoying(word from last year) these moments. I am grateful for this life I have and that I can take time out of my days to give and get a little extra time with those I love that I will not be able to see so much anymore. God has given me the life of my dreams.

Instead of crying,

I am analyzing and over thinking this situation. Here I am sitting at my sister-in-laws house while she is in sunny Texas looking for a place to live and getting her hubby settled into his new job and hotel. I am reading about my friends that moved to Japan( on their blog) and wondering if my other just recently moved friends have made it to their new destination yet. While also wishing I could call my cross country friends who moved a couple years ago(way too late with the time difference). Do you see a pattern here? How could I have grown up in a military family(family is different, you get to see them for holidays or when they come back to visit) that moved around constantly and still not be used to people leaving? I think I finally after all those years let myself get close to people and that must be why it seems harder to say goodbye now than it used to. Who am I kidding it never was easy. I am thankful for the people we have met and become close to but I am still learning why they always seem to be the ones leaving. Does God have other plans , other people I am going to feel as close to? It seems impossible now, but, when now is later maybe I will not be so skeptical. I am thinking about the stinkiness, the sadness, the regret I feel and asking God to show me why He keeps taking my comfort zones away. Those people who have left really were comfort zones I think, places I could feel liked for myself and grow freely in that comfort so why does that have to disappear?

OH and by the way, the BUG guy came and D says the ants are doing the death walk! He found about 20 of them slowly wandering by the front window. I guess the problem has to get worse before it gets better.

Yeah for Bug Guys

We have been having a lot of ants in the house recently. The number keeps increasing daily. A pest control guy came out and took a look. Apparently we have carpenter ants and they are getting active because of the weather change from cold to warmer(warmer than cold, not actually warm in my book). The one in this picture is an adult and is bi-hig, that is wide ruled paper in the picture by the way. I found him on my kitchen counter,standing on his hind legs, staring at me one day. So on Friday, while the girls and I are in Oregon watching my neices and nephews so their parents can go house hunting in TEXAS:( the BUG GUY will be here exterminating those nasty ants!!! yeah! Hopefully, I will come home to an ant free living enviroment! woo-hoo.!.

2009 WORD

Sooo... My word for the year will be holding. Lots of things come to mind when I hear this word and I will be exploring those ideas here and in my journal. I think I like the -ing part most because it makes it more of an action word, something I need more of in my life.
Some things for example are :
holding on-what things do I need to hold on to and what do I NOT need to.
holding out- for the things I really want, not just those impulse items.
holding down the fort- ideas that inspire me to keep my house

I really have no business being on here right now. Just needed my fix. Each time I look at my sissys blogs I want to post my own, they inspire me so much.
Well, here is the list I need to accomplish before I can come back and post what I want.
1.Take a bath cuz I already filled the tub and even though I have too much to get done and should skip it-I can't waste 45 gallons of water like that.
2. Clean up my house before people arrive
3. Balance checkbook
4.Wait for bug-guy to call or come by
5. Make hubby lunch
6. Pick apart a turkey
7.Decide on my "one little word" for the year (It's a close race between 2 or 3 of them)
8. Change my playlist-sorry about the christmas music
9.Create something(was hoping to scrap but may let my blog be the something)

Christmas present

Here is a little video with the picture frame Glory made in class at off campus for Dan. It is magnetic and looks like the picture is floating. In this video it is sitting on the desk and you can see
a little bit that it can move.

Nutcracker

nutcracker set, you may have to click on it and enlarge to see best.
gorgeous girls all dressed up and waiting for the ferry and our trip to seattle
walking to seattle center to hang out before the ballet(notice the sign waaayy above their heads)
fountain at seattle center, they played here before and after the ballet
the pile of stuff I found on the bench as I came up after they had run ahead down to the fountain

We were so excited to get to go to the Nutcracker this year! The girls and I had such a fun trip with my mom and Mariah. We walked a lot(we even have the blisters on our feet to prove it!)through Seattle, saw the gorgeous(loved the sets by maurice sendak,they were so colorful and whimsical) and even funny ballet, and had a great dinner at pf changs.

new years resolutions 2009

express gratefulness out loud more
be less contentious
document more (journal,family and personal)
EXERCISE
organize
read bible everday
create something every day

our christmas day pics

the master of ceremonies: the head chef: my dad the fritter maker extroardinaire.
Zach,Ryan,Beka And Glory playing in the snow at our house.

A bunch of cousins milling around at the singer family christmas brunch.

the adults milling around the food table.

our time at home before going to nana and papas. The girls were sweet ,they gave Dan some presents they came up with on their own. A ten dollar bill in his stocking and a cool floating spinning photo holder for his desk.

I don't have the pics from our wonderful Schultz christmas eve time. Will post them soon.

Do I believe in soul mates?

A very good question was raised at Sheila Wray Gregoire's site, To Love Honor and Vacuum.

It is Wifey Wednesday there and she was talking about wether we have soul mates or not, and how we can love anyone(especially our husbands) if we give of ourselves.

Boy did she nail it on the head and cause me to redefine something I thought I believed in.

I have been in both positions. First,the selfish one who thought that prince charming was supposed to make me happy (in my first marraige) and was disillusioned and fell into the trap of the enemy when he didn't.

Second, I have also been the one who feels like she can say she has a prince charming because of how I choose to approach my marriage this time. It is not a fairytale marraige by no means. We have our issues. But the one thing I learned from my failed first marraige is that I have to choose to love my husband.

Choosing to love him means I have had to decide that what he does is not who he is. That nagging and expecting him to be any different is a setup for failure. I am not his mother trying to teach him. I am his wife, a special friend who should support, strive to understand and think of what he may have need of in the thing he is going through. I know that the choices I make to serve him and put his needs into a place ahead of my own cause me to grow in my love for him. They even cause my own character to grow which in turn spurs him on to grow and learn and love better also.

I am comparing the things I have been learning and thinking about and seeing in all the failed marriages (even within my own christian community) with this soulmate idea that I so lovingly hold onto.(and yes, even have thought about my husband ) I am going to have to possibly give up this romantic notion that there is just this one right person out there that we find for that perfect fit. While there are good common denominators we should look for, the way to that romanitic ideal relationship has nothing to do with it already being there and you entering into it as it does with you creating it around you and your spouse.

Maybe God had it right from the beginning, that is why he called us a help mate and not a soul mate. That our love and stability in marraige will be grown out of helping and meeting our mates needs, emotionally , physically, and spiritually to name a few.

So,from now on when asked if I believe in soulmates my answer will be different.

Our crazy adventure....

forgot to post this:
last night sunday night... we being bored(previously documented below) decided to try and get to our sunday small group waaayyy out in the woods. On the way there we stopped twice to help people stuck in the snow on the side of the road. lucky D had the snow shovel in the back. we finally made it there through the snow and then we go to leave and it has snowed another 4-5 inches.(its already at least a foot out there mind you). We get stuck on one of the hills on the dirt road and instead of letting our friends pull us up we decide to give it another try. D backs way up to get a running start and just as he makes it to the top we hear a bang and a slap, out he jumps and sees our chain has broken off the tire. We flag down our friends who we are following out and they pull us the rest of the way up the hill and then go back to get another set of chains. meanwhile we make it all the rest of the way up the road and wait for them(before heading out to a main road) just to find out the chains wont fit. they follow us a ways down and we make it half way home when a tree falls across the road right in front of us. We get out to clear away some of the branches and then someone (from the lineup behind us)calls a friend who lives near there to bring a chainsaw. meanwhile a guy hooks up his truck with a chain to try and move the tree. the top half breaks off and they throw it off the road and clear it enough for one lane of traffic to get through. we finally make it home, all the way up newberry hill and then our little car cant make it up our driveway so there we ended up for the night, at least only a few steps from our front porch.phew! what a night!

Bored randomness

Here are some random pics of what the Bell family does when stuck at the house for days on end. Build forts, try and find the longest icicles possible, B let me give her bangs the 80's treatment, and D made his ultimate MAN sandwich and had a little man-time alone with the food and the tube. A picture of D's daughter that I embellished with my white pens,think I'll scrapbook this one.
baking croutons and another go round of amish friendship bread, this time with cookies and cream pudding
G made this sign in the snow, it says..our last name and 2008