I'm thinking of joining in Monica's Making Your Home a Haven, even though the week is nearly half over!, just to give myself a little additional motivation to make some improvements around here. But in the meantime I had to share these two pretty coloring books. The kids, Brenna especially, are always begging me to sit down and color with them. Not only do I never have time, I don't try real hard to make time because it's....well, it's a little boring. That's right, I said it.
But Brenna got this beautiful coloring book for Christmas. It's full of beautiful family pictures - sweet reminders for the days when I really need a sweet reminder. And I found another lovely nature coloring book at the Mennonite grocery store. So now coloring is my new destressor - I'm amazed at the zen-like state it leaves me in.
I did have to buy myself the $3 box of 64 crayons. Not a bad splurge, though, for a calorie-free afternoon pick me up!

JOY swap - show and tell

This was the first time I had taken part in one of Monica and Carrie's Sister Shoebox Swaps and it was sooo fun! My 'sister' was Peggy and it was wonderful getting to know her. She's a mom of boys, too, and we had so much in common!
I had so much fun putting a box together for her, but it was even more fun to get a box in the mail. It came on the day of Levi's birthday party so I wound up saving it to open as a little reward for myself after the craziness.
I loved absolutely everything! Homemade vanilla maple marshmallows, drinking chocolate, beautiful ornaments, tons of crafts supplies! Even whole nutmeg! I especially love the precious little notebook with both lined and graph paper. It's so handy to keep in my purse while I Christmas shopping. There was even a little tea wallet with 4 new-to-me kinds of tea - perfect for a relaxing cup...when I can tear myself away from the chocolate!
Thank you bunches, Peggy, for starting my season off on such a sweet note!

Tea Party

I was so excited when Brenna asked to have a tea party - dressing up, making little snacks together, shopping for the perfect tea, doing a craft together, decorating a hat, beautiful invitations... I had soooo may lovely ideas. This was going to be the ultimate mommy-daughter tea party. Only it was never going to happen - when would I find time? But my little girl is growing up and I was tired of saying "maybe tomorrow, baby."
So now we're committed to a tea party every Sunday. This week I made the quickie snacks...on another week Brenna can help. One week we'll make the invitations...another we'll do a craft. For this week we drank some peach/mango tea I still had samples of. Some weeks we may heat up some lipton or have lemonade. The pickiness has got to go!

The important things are the time together and the tradition. My mother made the special little tea set for me in 1983. My granny gave Brenna the pink dishes. My grandmother and I had tea parties all the time when I was little. Funny, those were a highlight of my childhood, but I don't remember them being very fussy. Just a special little bit of girl time.

New stuff at my house

It's looking like a season for new stuff at our house. The new haircolor is looking pretty good. It isn't a new color exacly, just a little more "toffee" and a lot less mousy. I liked the Perfect 10 haircolor alot (the comb thingy is great), but the scent was quite strong. The conditioner smelled great, though.
In other news...Levi is ready for first grade work. We've nearly finished everything I had planned for kindergarten because he flew through the work (and because I didn't want to overschedule him so I didn't plan enough). By the end of February he'll be done with the Starfall reading workbooks - which we have loved - and with the Saxon Math K (I should have just started with the first grade Saxon). It's also time for the third Draw Write Now book. I'm ready to start planning for the fall, but I guess I'll be planning out the rest of this year first!
We're planning our garden. I've never done a vegetable garden before. Casey tilled up some land for me at our old house when Levi was a baby because I wanted a garden, but surprise, surprise having a baby was more of an adjustment than I thought and the garden just didn't happen. This year I'm planning to start very small and put my little helpers to work!
And one final new thing...an exercise program. Now the whole weight loss thing is hardly new to me. Stop laughing, y'all. But exercise is a whole different story. My aunt has had wonderful success with Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds videos. Dawn recommended them ages ago and I even went so far to as to buy the video a couple of months ago, but I put off trying them until the other night and now I'm kicking myself for not trying it sooner. It's so quick and simple, I can do it in front of the tv without moving furniture around and it's effective - I can feel the burn:) Meredith's post about her new scale really got me thinking so I've been talking to Levi and Brenna about being good stewards of our bodies and making healthy choices...hopefully my desire to be a good example will overrule my desire for more chips.
So, all that, combined with working on the downstairs, means there's a lot going on here at Walton's Mountain:) But that means more to blog about!

It's the first ever Fight the Frump Friday!

I'm sitting here at the computer in my black yoga pants and black t-shirt with my really dark brown (when did my hair get so dark?) hair pulled back in a ponytail. Blah. No makeup, no polish, no perfume. Blah. Care to guess how I'm feeling? That's right. Blah. So I've been reading Mrs Fussypants' fabulous blog and waking up to the idea that a) I've gotten frumpy and b) there is something I can do about it. I'm just tickled with her Fight the Frump Friday idea so I'm joining right in.
Now I could use some new clothes, I need to lose weight, and I'm dying to try that new mineral makeup stuff. But yesterday I pulled 14 grey hairs out of my very dark hair so I'm starting at the top with this stuff...in butterscotch boom or full-tilt toffee (who comes up with this stuff?). I use to dye my hair all the time but I haven't done it in ages because, well, because I have four kids and I don't have time. But it only takes 10 minutes and I need to lighten up:) Also, there was a $7.00 off coupon. Just how expensive is this stuff if they're going to take seven bucks off? Whatever. I want to feel pretty:)

I don't usually look this...evil

Staring straight into the camera is a bad idea - just for future reference. I got a haircut today and I am so excited because it isn't horrible and because it's been a year since my last haircut. A year, y'all!

Now let me hurry and think of something else to post about so I don't have to stare at myself for long...

Does it matter how I look?

Let me start by saying that I hardly ever watch Oprah. I know, I know you're thinking "yeah, right - all she does is watch Oprah and eat bonbons." But, seriously, I really don't care for her so I don't watch much at all. However, I did turn her on the other day when she was doing a show with Trinny and Susanna from "What not to wear" because I think they're hysterical and I'm always trying to figure out how to look 10 (or 40) lbs lighter without actual exercise or a diet. So they're being very critical of all these poorly dressed women and giving them makeovers and I'm wishing they'd redo me because my worn out maternity pants (the baby's 8 months old now), husband's t-shirt and nursing bra that doesn't fit are looking pretty shabby. But then I excuse myself by ranting to anyone who'll listen (mostly just the baby - Levi was busy playing blocks) that it's incredibly shallow to be putting that much time, effort and money into looks. And besides, who is going to see me anyway - I wasn't going anywhere. That's when I had my lightbulb moment. My kids and MY HUSBAND see me looking like this. Aren't they worth getting dressed for? Doesn't my husband deserve to come home to a clean, good smelling wife. In other words, I shouldn't expect a homecoming kiss if I haven't brushed my teeth:)
And what about the other people who do see me - at the grocery store or in Walmart? Those places are my mission field (the only one I have time for!). If they see another frazzled, disheveled mom who clearly isn't fixing herself up for anyone, then how are they supposed to suspect that I adore my husband and my kids (almost all the time -haha)? That I think being a mom is a worthy "career" and calling. How are they going to see the joy I've found in Christ if I look like barely bothered to switch out of my jammies?
Now I know there are a lot of opinions out there about what Christian women should wear. Dresses only, headcoverings, modesty, dressy or casual at church...We have a lot to consider on all those topics. But my main thought today is that we should try to look appealing. Not sexually, not in a way that draws attention. But nice. In a way that makes other people glad to see us coming. I don't mean that we should focus on outward adornment, but I think as we represent Christ to the world we should comb our hair and put on a smile. I know that no one will reject Christianity because I didn't do my nails. But I do want to be a good ambassador. So does anyone else have any thoughts on this? How important is how we look?