Took this quiz and....

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a
Self-Knowing Romantic Believer

You are a Self-Knowing Romantic Believer
0.63% of the 99353 people who have taken this quiz are like you.

Interesting huh??

King Equals

My sister Shawna is a whiz at crocheting. I asked her if she would make me some math gnomes in her spare time. She has two small boys so spare time is rare.

Today she brought me the first! KING EQUALS!!! I am so excited. He is about six inches tall and just fabulous. Shawna is a little proud of him too, I think. I stole this picture she took right before she brought him to me. I might sew some little jewels on his crown but I think she did a great job. Thanks so much Shawna

QOTD

Lydia walked out the front door this afternoon and said," OHHHHHH Spring!"

Lemonade Stand Award

I would like to thank the Academy (aka Tammy) for presenting me with this award. The Lemonade award goes to the blog with a great attitude and/or gratitude. Maybe it is just because I have Chris Rice's song Lemonade on the player at the side. LOL.
Thanks so much Tammy! I am going to get back with the people I'm supposed to tag later.

Our lesson on Sunday was about doing hard things. To the outside it looks like we have a lot of "hard" things here in the Callihan household. I would not wish my life on anyone but.... hard things come with many, many blessings. Gratitude is something I work hard at cultivating each and every day. Gratitude is what has gotten me through the worst. There has been days (weeks) of the worst. I get scared and discouraged and there is a deep sorrow in my heart that might never go away until the Lord removes it.

Each day though; I am so overwhelmed by how much GOODNESS and LIGHT constantly surrounds me. I learned after Lydia's birth that the line between hope and despair is very thin and most times it only takes the choice of what side to be on. I consciously choose hope every day.
I hear a voice from my past echoing,"You Need to be Realistic"
Absolutely Not!!!
Being realistic didn't procure all the miracles I have experienced.

Sometimes just take hold of the small things and express the wonder and gratefulness of it all. A clean kitchen floor, a gallon of milk in the refrigerator, the smile of your child, the blue sky etc.....
Even the tiniest key can open up the largest door if it is the right one.
I truly believe that those little expressions of thanks can lay, wide open, huge gifts from the universe.
Try it , you'll see!

Field Trip

Today we drove over to Montezuma Castle. The remains of these dwellings are less than an hour from our home. Lydia has never been to see the ruins even though the other kids have. I am not sure that she was as impressed as I would have liked her to be. Chaiya did not go with us. She is of the opinion that she has seen enough Native American shelters in her lifetime.
The Verde Valley is at a much lower elevation than we live at and it was so nice to be warm and see signs of spring everywhere! There was young dandelion greens everywhere that would have made great smoothies or a salad. The great sycamore trees did not have buds on them yet though so I think we still have a little while.

The berry (on the end of the twig) that Quayde is holding is called a Hackberry. The Sinagua used to crush it and mix it with corn to eat. The guide told us that the animals get a little loopy when they eat it and the birds just hang out on the ground after they have eaten to many. Quayde promptly popped one in his mouth and tried it. He said it tasted a little like guava. I didn't try it, Michael did; maybe it's a boy thing.

Maliea has always enjoyed going and exploring about native cultures. I think she would spend hours at the visitors center just reading about their lives.



There was an 'original' dwelling that did not stay as well preserved. There are caves all through the limestone cliffs. The first site was built a lot like Tuzigoot which we visited last Autumn. One of the most interesting things is that there was pens for macaws. Apparently they raised them for trade. The Sinagua people disappeared around the early 1400's. It is thought that they migrated south to join with native tribes by the Salt River areas. The educated guess is that there was a severe drought and their crops failed repeatedly.
Awww, we wore him out! Rarely happens, believe me.

Time to live!

I haven't felt very much like I have anything remarkable to post about. This blog , like my former one, is basically my journal. I have been journaling since I was 12. My teen journals are filled with stupid nonsense, like which boy was cutest and what song was popular. Last week I pulled down a big box full of papers, journals and misc. stuff. Carnival tickets, patches from girl scouts, notebooks etc... lots of old memories that probably only mean anything to me.
What we found was all my old thesis papers from honors and AP English classes I took with Dr. Gessner in high school.
Chaiya and I started pouring through them. One was entitled "Retaining Sanity While Watching Seven Children". Apparently I was much more comical back then at age 16. While we read through it , I was really surprised to find how much of ME was there.
I've gotten lost here and there through the years. Trying to accommodate other people, other spouses, other lifestyles. Kristi noted at our monthly lunch that I'm back. It is nice to have a friend that has known you 20 years and still loves you. Even with all my faults.
I have been thinking about what it takes to truly dance as if no-one is watching, to say the heck with convention and truly live authentically. To let loose and live your truth, being as real as you possibly can.
What are we afraid of really?
Being amazingly full of joy?

Sip it once, sip it twice

Sipping chicken soup with rice!

Our evening meal tonight is a favorite with all of us. Simple chicken soup. This is an easy, super simple recipe. Some chopped up carrots, celery, onions, garlic, chicken soup base, non-salt seasoning from Costco, canned chicken, rice, and water. Bring to boil, let simmer until rice is done. Serve with crackers or bread. That easy and perfect for a chilly evening. YUM

QOTD

Last week the kids and I were exploring and discovering the concepts of the Fibonacci sequence. I was trying to explain how amazing this all is to Michael that evening. Well, I thought he had got it until I heard him talking to Lydia last night. They were on the floor playing with some toys.
" Look Lydia, it's the Liberace Sequence!"

perfect example

These two pictures perfectly capture Maliea and Quayde's personalities! Maliea is freaking out because she thinks her cell phone is gone. Most likely she gave it to Quayde earlier in the day and forgot.

Once he fesses up, she is indignant that we have been teasing her. Awwww Maliea, we love you so!

Ren Faire

Yesterday at 6:30 am we all loaded up and headed down to the Ren Faire on the other side of Phoenix. We had a couple of stops, bathroom and medical ones before we arrived but got there at about 10:30 and were ready to play and have a blast. We know that Quayde loved his Steak on a Stake, so we are not quite sure why his tongue is out.

Michael and Thayne climbed up this huge tower to be able slide down a dragon slide. It took about 30 minutes to make it to the top. I snapped this picture of them almost there. Thayne even went down the slide by himself. Lydia doing her princess pose. She was so happy that she was able to get her face painted. The lady who did it was really nice because we only paid her for a small one.
Each year, the littles love this ride. The plus side is that it is the only free one in the place. We were thinking that Lydia will be able to ride it when she is 50 but Thayne might only get next year, if he is lucky!
Part of the problem with having older kids, is that they go off by themselves. Getting pictures of them having fun is quite the dilemma if they are not around. We had fun with these cut-outs that are right by the front gates.

Quayde had the Cast in Bronze musician sign his neck. Yes, my son is odd. Adorable but odd.
We had so much fun, I took tons more pictures . Our favorite show is always the "Hey Nunnie, Nunnie" one. Chaiya loved the bagpipes also. Next year, I think we will try and do costumes. Maybe.

The faire ends at 6:00 pm and then we head home. Stopping off to get some supper , we talked and shared all the fun we experienced. The clock said 11:00 pm when we finally arrived home. Tired and the best kind of happy.

Skin food

I am vain! Every day I spend some time (well what time I have) on my face. I am 41 and not getting much younger. I love my face! I love my skin! Probably because I love this product and other Weleda products. They also have a wonderful Almond moisturizer that is light.

The best thing is our Target here started carrying some of the Weleda products! That means I am not paying the health food store big time prices. This box was on sale this week and cost me less than $15. I love Weleda products because they are real. They have biodynamic farming ingredients and natural essential oils. Plus when I look in the mirror and don't have any permanent lines yet (I know they are coming, just trying to enjoy this as long as possible), this just makes me love their products even more.

Valentine's Day Fun

We started out our fun, fabulous Valentine's day by eating heart shaped pancakes, which got eaten up so quickly I couldn't get a picture!

Then we created cute little pockets out of paper plates. These are hanging on the doors and walls. All week long we make notes and gifts for each other and place them in each of the pockets. I made little felted pink hearts for one of their gifts. By the end of the week every one should feel lots of love don't you think?

For our afternoon meal, we had grilled cheese sandwiches made into hearts! Quayde ate four of them. He is a growing boy.

From this picture one would never guess that sugar cookies could be a disaster! Lydia had a blast rolling and shaping them. They baked up so beautifully. We just couldn't wait to frost and eat them. Lydia got some strawberry frosting and worked hard with sprinkles. They looked great!

Thayne ate one and well he just wanted to scream!

Quayde looked as if he really enjoyed it also. Then he brought his plate in with unfinished cookies on it. "Mom, there is something really wrong with these cookies. The after taste is horrible!"

How bad could they be? So bad that we threw them all away. I don't think that the egg replacer works really well in this recipe, or the baking soda is bad. Now, Lydia ate three of them and thought they were great. I am feeling a little "mommy guilt". Poor Lydia doesn't even know the difference either that or she has no taste buds!

The perfect place

One of the reason I absolutely love living here and think it is the perfect place is because of the weather! We get all four seasons but none of them to extreme. See this incredible snow will be here for just a little while. We awoke to the sparkle of Winter! It will stay just long enough for us to delight in all of the fun of a winter wonderland. Then it will melt slowly away but we don't have to suffer with the cold for too long. I know; we are so spoiled!

Yesterday afternoon when it started coming down ,the kids were working on their snow fort. Their hope is to get it large enough that most of them can fit inside. The plan is to even try a roof.

Lydia was loving it yesterday! This morning it is up to her hips and I am not sure how she even made it down to the lower yard. She came back in quite frozen but very happy.

I love Arizona!!!!!

QOTD

Looking at our weather report for this evening and we find that the snow is going to continue and we can get up to another 10 inches tonight!
Quayde: Hey are we going to be snowed in tomorrow?
Me: Yep most likely
Quayde: Sweet! I've never had this much snow in my life.

Then he paraded across the living room singing, "Walking in a Winter Wonderland"

Last week flew by!

Wow a week can fly by super fast! I barely had time to check my bank account on-line and that was about all. I know I traveled to Phoenix for a Dr. Shindell appointment with Lydia (our not so favorite doctor) and I went out to East Mesa for a wedding consultation (got the job!). For Candlemas we read a beautiful book about St. Brigid. Chaiya got to go to a Matt Dusk concert. Check out her blog to see her hugging that cutie! I am not sure I can remember quite everything that happened but I know that..........

We made fake fossils

Studied a little about sedimentary rocks and their formations

We decorated and catered a Boy Scout District Council dinner for 75+ people

Then this morning we awoke to snow! Oh glorious snow, we love you so! I know that most of the rest of the United States is probably quite sick of this fluffy, beautiful white stuff. We are so happy that they decided to share. The forecast looks very promising for snow off and on for the next week.

The boys had a lot of fun this afternoon working on the massive ball. They rolled it until it got to heavy and then started scooping up and packing it on. Right now it is about twice that size and if fortune smiles on their happy heads they will have more to pack on. Notice the pink gloves on Quayde, he was very happy about how warm his hands were and did not care one bit if they were pink.

Next week should be a little less hectic. Someday I will have a moment to sit and relax but not quite yet.

Happy Birthday Eden!

Wow isn't she beautiful! Carrie brought her whole crew and a huge triple layer chocolate cake. I found the 15 candles in my little party bin and Oo La' we had a party happening. Eden, you are turning into a wonderful young woman. I hope this year brings lots of laughter and good things into your life. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Just because

Sometimes I do things just because I want to see if I can.

Once I attended a conference talk that in, the speaker mentioned since we are all children of God the Great Creator, that we have that seed within us and we should never deny that seed of creativity. That statement spoke to my soul.

I always try to approach things in a way that I hope to be completely successful. It doesn't always work and things are definitely NOT perfect but I give it my best and try.

So yesterday my sister Carrie called and asked what I was doing. I answered that I was making mittens. Carrie thinks I am totally off. You see yesterday it was about 63 degrees outside , nice and warm. Definitely not mitten weather.

I saw a video thing on Martha's site and decided since I had found a shrunken 100% cashmere sweater at the Goodwill, I would make it into mittens.

Before

And after..... modeled by my delightful daughter Chaiya, who does not think being a hand model is in her future.

The problem with making these in warm weather is that my hands feel a bit claustrophobic and a little too warm. Just need a little cold weather here. Things I would change: I would cut it out a little higher so I had more of the ribbing as cuffs. I do have large hands so a small sweater was pushing it to the sewing limits. I now know how though!