Year in Review 2015

It’s New Year’s Eve already? I swear it was just Christmas. I am one of those people that loses that last week of the year ... Every. Time. It doesn’t help that I am also one of those people that gets seriously stressed out when the daylight is almost nonexistent, and that I’m one of those people (read: mom) that does EVERYTHING for the holidays. But I digress ...

This year has been one heck of a chapter in the book that is the Schueder life. Let’s see, what happened??? (Cue the Wayne and Garth flashback fingers.)

1.) Moving to Tennessee is still the best move that we’ve consciously made (meaning there were no orders to move, we weren’t helping family with payments, nor did The Hubbs find a house to flip). That being said, knowing we’d found our permanent settling place, we got itchy to be homeowners again. What started out as casual browsing in January became pretty intense searching come February. But we did find a place. An awesome place. It’s just over 5 acres of awesome.

2.) Less than a week after closing on our forever home, we suffered a terrible loss. My father-in-law, the girls’ Papa, passed away. He was in a word--formidable. The man had a presence like none other. And, boy, was he stubborn! I know where the Hubbs got it from! But, he loved us, and we love him. He and I may not have always seen eye to eye, but he was one of my strongest supporters. I hope he knew how much I appreciated that. I think one of the things I’ll miss most about him will be The Hubbs and him working together and yelling. I always said, it was okay for them to holler at each other like that, because it meant less yelling from both of them at home afterwards.

3.) We started Rocky Pond Orchard. Well, technically, we’re not an orchard yet (you have to have at least 5 fruit trees, I think, to be considered an orchard), but we will be in the spring. The farm has been started and keeps growing by leaps and bounds (literally, you should see the goats!). We have animals I’ve always wanted (chickens), animals I never thought I wanted (meat rabbits), and animals that were NEVER near my radar (hogs--I mean, we’re from Iowa. I was all hogged-out after that!). We’ve hatched eggs in an incubator, which was something I hadn’t even dreamed of doing but was so cool to watch! And one of our rabbits just had kits a couple weeks ago. I will admit, eating those fuzzies is going to be a stretch for me. Also, I’m STILL getting used to saying I live on a farm.

4.) This is the first full year of homeschooling for the girls and me. It was a bit harrowing trying to find curriculum for the girls, but I think it’s working out. They’re excited to get started every morning (except for language arts, lol), and of course they’re EXTRA excited when we have field trips! Keeping them home, was also a great decision for our family. 😁

5.) Other little goings on:

•  We had our first visitors to the farm! A girlfriend of mine and her little family visited over 4th of July, and my mom came for Christmas.
•  I’m leading Small’s Daisy Girl Scout troop and helping with our multi-level troop overall. It’s a lot of work, but tons of fun and so rewarding to be able to share with my daughters.
•  The girls participated in Upward Soccer again.
•  The Hubbs finally got his Lifetime Hunting license and went hunting for the first time in, basically, eons. Unfortunately, he didn’t get anything. 😒
•  I read over 100 books this year, and I’m pretty sure Medium isn’t too far behind me. I love that all my girls are readers, too!
• Small has already finished her 1st grade math book. I’m so proud of her! I guess I should order her next book soon, huh?
•  On top of the livestock, we added 3 dogs to our family this year. A pit mix, Trixie, and 2 heeler/Pyrenees/Labradors, Zeus and Tasha. 

So that’s our year in a nutshell. It was both exhausting and exhilarating. And, I can’t wait to see the kind of growth 2016 has in store for us. (Get it? Growth? We live on a farm. I know, it’s even funnier after I explain it.)

Much Love and Best Wishes for the New Year,

Back to School

Back to school season is here, and for the first time all our girls will be going. It's a major deal around here, it means there are no more babies in the house. It's amazing how much the kids grew over the summer! Something else happened this summer, the girls reached the age when they've really started fighting.

Since the arguing started, I've been counting down to the start of school (so, since about the second week in June). Of course, I adore my children, but I'm finally understanding how my mother felt when she threatened to ship my brothers and me to our grandmother in Laos. (So not cool, even if I do feel her pain.)

Who are these mothers getting teary-eyed every fall? If I could, I'd have a party. I am the parent in the Staples commercial happily riding a shopping cart through the aisles, singing about the most wonderful time of the year. (It doesn't hurt that I have a "thing" for office supplies--who am I kidding? It's an addiction.)

I've been a stay-at-home mom for ten years. That's a decade of little ones drooling, pooping, spilling, crying, and crawling all over me all day, every day. Should I be judged for wanting a little peace and quiet? Should I be looked down upon for being excited about about having some alone time? (And maybe a little quality time with The Hubbs?)

I say judge me all you want. Everyone's situation is different. It doesn't mean I love my kids any less if I'm not sniffling at the bus stop. Besides, I'm going to be too busy enjoying my clean house and peeing alone to care.

Much Love,

Bringing Memories to Life

Today is our anniversary. The Hubbs and I have been married for seven years. We just finished brunch, and funny enough, he asked me if I have the ability to make memories come alive. The short answer is yes, I can.

Little does he know how often I relive the moment that we met. I can smell the smoke in the air of the bar, the cold chill and sweet smell of smoke machines. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, and not knowing if it’s from the bass in the music, or from the rush of adrenaline as I tried to work up the nerve to walk over and say hi. I knew the second that I laid eyes on him, that he would be significant in my life. I can’t say I knew we’d be where we are today, but I remember thinking

“He is going to mean a lot to me.” And he does. He has given me my world.

I remember the look in his eyes the first time he told me that he loves me, and asked me to move in with him. It’s the same depth I saw when he was down on bended knee asking me to marry him. When he proposed, my breath caught in my chest. I had tears threatening at the corners of my eyes. Today, I feel the same shortness, the same tears threatening. I’m smiling.

The day we were married, everything was a frenzy. My family arrived early, my mother brought food (as always). My best friend was a witness. I remember how honored I was that she would take the time on her birthday, her own special day, to be a part of my happiest day. I was so emotional, so harried, that I know I didn’t even convey half of my gratitude for her.

When Medium was born, the Hubbs tried to stay with me as much as possible. I was so scared when he couldn’t stand to be in the room for my epidural. I was so disappointed in myself for not being able to withstand the pain. It broke what was left of my resolve that he left me with the anesthesiologist and nurses. It meant the world to me when, after he came back into the room, he told me how proud of me he was.

He is my strength, my rock. He’s the one that keeps me grounded. I’m a kite constantly reaching for the heavens, always dreaming, sometimes going off half-cocked. The Hubbs is the one that keeps a steady grip on my string, making sure that I don’t fly too high. Making sure that I will always find my way back down to him, and make my way back home.

I see our daughters in his chair with him, snuggled under pink and purple blankets. Everyone snoring, in what look to be the most uncomfortable positions possible.

I smell cupcakes, cookies, and cakes fresh out of our oven. With little hands reaching for icing and sprinkles decorating treats just so for Daddy. “For me?” he asks. “Yes Daddy!” they cry excitedly. “Oh thank you. They look yummy!” he answers.

The girls are running across our yard, hair catching the sun, to ride on the mower with him. “Daddy! Daddy! I wanna ride!”

We are all on a blanket, shaded under a tall tree in the backyard, enjoying a picnic of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheese curls, Kool-Aid and popsicles. The girls make sure everyone has napkins, even Daddy (although he protests that he has pants for napkins), they giggle at his silliness. After lunch, there is a large tickle fight until the girls run off to play on their play set. The Hubbs and I watch them, in their youthful enthusiasm, grins on our faces. I find myself wondering if they’ll feel the same butterflies, pounding heart, and breathlessness I did when I first met their father.

So yes, Papi, I can make memories come alive. Happy Anniversary my Love.

Photo courtesy of Mary Decrescenzio Photography.

30DPC Day 26

Day 26: A picture of something that means a lot to you.

My life pretty much revolves around these little ladies....

Medium, Large, & Small--princesses one and all.

Happy Snapping!

30DPC Day 21

Day 21: A picture of something you wish you could forget

I'm one of those people that believes we are shaped by our past experiences. I wouldn't be who I am today, if not for all the choices I've made leading up to now. So, since there isn't anything I'd like to forget, here's a picture of our family.

photo courtesy of Mary Decrescenzio Photography

Happy Snapping!

You can find a list of all 30 photo challenges here.

30DPC Day 10

Day 10: A photo of the person you do the most fucked up things with

How awesome that today's challenge falls on National Sibling Day! The people that I do some of the stupidest crap with are my brothers. We've done some crap, been through some crap, and we usually laugh our asses off while we're at it. I love you little bros!!!

the bro-skis and me, back in our 3rd St. days

Happy Snapping!

30DPC Day 7

Day 7: A photo of your most treasured item

Yes, it's totally cheesy. Yes, I'm taking the mommy's way out. Yes, my most treasured items are my children. These little buggers ladies make me laugh every single day. They are the reason that I get up everyday. (Seriously, before kids I used to sleep for an entire day at least once a month--now I'm lucky to get 4 1/2hrs a night.)

This is what most days at our house look like.
If you've ever visited, you know this is true ...

Happy Snapping!

10 Things to Accomplish in 2013

Goals for Me in 2013

1. Learn how to make more Laotian food. (My poor Hubbs--married an Asian girl, eats lots of hot dogs, lol!)
2. Set up (and stick to) a workable writing schedule.
3. Craft more -- especially painting & jewelry making.
4. Be mindful of the words that come out of my mouth (and my keyboard).
5. Lose the weight. (Yes, it’s there every year. One of these times it’s going to happen, I swear!)
6. Learn to: mud drywall, lay tile & carpet, install trim/moulding, and use a lot of the Hubbs’s power tools.
7. Read to the kids every possible night.
8. Make time for my friends. (Including have an actual conversation with at least one person a day.)
9. Make time for Date Night.
10. Make time for myself. (Including attending at least ONE writer’s conference!)

A lot of these are things that I try to do every year (like lose the dang weight--ugh.) But, I’d like to think I’m older, more mature, and just in a better place to reach my goals this year. Wish me luck!

What have you got planned for this year?

2012 Year in Review

2012 the Year in Review

It’s been a big year. It seems like they all are, anymore. One thing that doesn’t change is how quickly the time seems to fly by. If anything, time seems to keep moving faster. It doesn’t feel like we’ve been home for almost 2 years. It seems like we just left Camp Lejeune.

But I will say this, after being home this long, I think we’re finally falling into our places here. Finally figuring out where we belong in the civilian world. Some days it’s easier to see than others. We’re getting there.

2012 is the year that:

**We moved from Cherokee to Calumet. Now, the Hubbs is where he wants to be--as for the rest of us, that is yet to be decided.

**Medium started Kindergarten. Large is in sixth grade. Two down, only one to go! What does it say about us as parents when we admit to being excited that all the girls will be in school next fall?

**The Hubbs sold one house, then bought another.

**The Hubbs also bought and sold a few vehicles. My favorite is my van--yes, I’m perpetuating the Soccer Mom stereotype. But, my van is fully loaded, so I don’t care. Ha!

**ML came to visit in the Spring. Yay! We hadn’t seen her since we left North Carolina. We (especially me) miss her so much! I’ll see you soon!

**I got a job outside the house for the first time in, oh, about six years. It didn’t last long though, once our babysitter went back to high school, it was cheaper for me to just stay home.

**Medium became a Daisy Scout. This was a little self-serving since last year we were totally passed over at Girl Scout cookie time. We have gone a whole year without Thin Mints or Samoas. This will not happen again!

**The Hubbs retired. Technically, he retired a couple times. I think. I can’t keep up with him.

**Our house is slowly turning into a zoo. We added a new kitten and rabbit to the mix. I think next I’ll try to talk the Hubbs into things that live in aquariums. :)

Merry Christmas (a week or so later)

We've had one heck of a sickness come through our house in the past couple weeks, so now that I'm finally well enough to post:

Merry Christmas

from the Schueders!

The holidays are almost over, and I’m finally starting to see the school day at the end of the tunnel. It seems that once Thanksgiving hits the next six weeks are a whirlwind of shopping, eating, celebrating, wrapping & unwrapping, decorating & undecorating.

Here is some of what’s been happening during the month of December:

Medium had her first Christmas Concert.

We drove to West Point, NE for Large’s Christmas program.

“Christmas in the Country” --how appropriate. 

My nephew, Bubba, had his first birthday!

There was Christmas Eve with the Schueder Grandparents.

Christmas Morning at our house. 

Christmas Meal at the Rodgers house.

Getting Small’s new bunny, Julie. (That’s what happens when you let the kids name the animals.)

Picking up Large and opening presents with her.

A proper(ish) tea party!

Then we got sick. That was not cool.

Now we’re getting ready for the New Year, wondering what great things it will bring.

I hope y’all had a very Merry Christmas,

and were able to spend it with the ones you hold dear.

DIMyself: Ice Cream Cone Christmas Trees

Sunday the kiddos and I decorated “Christmas Tree” Ice Cream Cones. I’ve seen them all over the internet and being repinned like crazy on Pinterest. Every year, we try decorating a gingerbread house, and every year it looks like crap. I’ve never made gingerbread, so I always buy a kit, thinking it’s going to be easier.

Who am I kidding?

I have tiny kids, they can’t construct something with “icing” glue. They can barely construct something with actual glue.

I figured ice cream cones would be doable, since the project was basically like decorating a 3D cookie. (Decorating sugar cookies is something we do often in our house.) All in all, I would say the project was a success. Of course, Small’s tree looked like all the bottles of sprinkles exploded on it, but she was happy with it, and that’s all that matters.

ICE CREAM CONE CHRISTMAS TREES

This was my tree. I'm very proud of it. :)

Ingredients:

Icing--I used a basic sugar cookie icing recipe:

4 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsps butter, softened

1 tsp Vanilla

Milk

Green Food Coloring.

*Cream together the powdered sugar and butter, stir in the Vanilla and then add enough milk to make the consistency you want. For this project, I left it a little thicker so that the candies would stick & the icing would harden a little when done.

*Then stir in the food coloring. I used about 20 drops (I wanted very green trees.)

*Note: Since we only did 3 trees, there was lots of icing left over for cookies. :)

Sugar Cones

Assorted Candies for decorating--

We used Mini M&Ms

Twizzler Pull & Peel licorice

Girl Scouts Gummi Berries

& some random Christmas themed sprinkles & sugars I always have on hand.

First: We slathered icing all over the sugar cones.

Second: We added sprinkles and candies to our hearts’ delight.

Third: We ate.

The decorating only took about 30 min after the frosting and other ingredients were assembled. Which is great for short attention spans. This is definitely a project we’ll be doing until the girls are old enough (read: coordinated enough) to attempt gingerbread houses again. Heck, we might even do it again yet this Christmas!

Have a Merry (and tasty) Christmas!

30 Days of Thanks: Day 30

I know that this is very late for 30 Days of Thanks, but it's for good (read: embarrassing) reason. It took me forever to hunt down the "appropriate" pictures to go with this post. (I still couldn't find the exact one that I was searching for.) And then, it took me another whole day to remember how to scan pictures on my printer. But, anywho, without further ado ... Day 30:

30 Days of Thanks

Day Thirty: The Thing You Are Most Thankful For

Without a doubt, I am most thankful for my mother.

And for her to feel the need to follow her dream and come to the

United States.

Some of you know that my mother was pregnant with me when she left her small village in Laos, and that I was born in a refugee camp.

(She was only 18 when she left home!)

I was 14 months old when we arrived in the US. This is the only home I’ve ever known.

I did some research when I grew a little older, and learned what my life would be like if my mother had stayed “in the old country.”

I am so thankful to have all the opportunities being in America has afforded me.

The chance to marry for love.

For a great education.

For modern conveniences.

For my children to know what a great country they were born in.

See that little boy there? Yeah, that's me at 14 mos.

They even gave me a bunch of boys' toys? WTH, guys?!

NOTE: The picture I was searching for was of my mom and me during/right after immigration. If I ever find it, I will definitely post it.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 29

30 Days of Thanks

Day Twenty-nine: Something in Your Home

It may seem a little odd, but today I am thankful for blankets. I love a good blanket

or quilt. They provide warmth, and are great for snuggling.

I am the mom that tells my kids to make blanket tents out of the furniture.

When I was younger, my brothers, some family friends, and I made a 

virtual Tent City in our basement.

It was awesome! 

I swear we slept in there for a week.

Blankets are the best. ☺

Now that I’m a parent, not only do I help my kids make the most

epic blanket forts ever; I love to get wrapped up

with the girls in about 10 blankets/quilts, grab some

kettlecorn, and watch a Disney movie.

Blankets.

They keep me warm when it’s too warm for the fireplace.

They provide (kiddie) shelter.

They’re great for movie night.