Chicken Gyro Salad
Ganache-Topped Mascarpone Brownies
Outside my window... Sunny, hot, not much changes. We had a bit of rain over the weekend, but it seems to have passed. Sigh.
I am thinking... I am just NOT cut out to be a gardener. And this is the last time I assume that an employee at a garden center knows squat about flowers! Turns out half of my plants can't handle heat. The other half hate being over-watered. So I've been drenching the whole thing thinking I was protecting them from frying, little did I know, I was drowning my thyme and my roses! Sigh. I should have just asked my Mom what to buy from the beginning. Luckily, most of the plants that love Colorado's hot, dry summers are also cheap. So I can replant again! I shall prevail!! And the saga continues :)
Source: enchanted corner
In the kitchen... Ah, kitchen fantasies! It may be a bit silly, but the room I dream about most in our someday house is my kitchen. I rarely think "WOW, just look at that BATHROOM!" or "I want my living room to look just like THAT!" Just doesn't happen. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of my house, but I know exactly what I want in my kitchen. Just let me dream for a few minutes, all right? I'll be back with you shortly...I am looking forward to... Starting new habits! I've always gotten up barely before or just with the boys. This week I am waking up early, every day! Starting my day off before they wake up. I'm hoping gaining control over my day this way will help me stay more productive, accomplish more goals. It certainly worked this morning! I'm always loved the idea of silent early mornings all to myself while the boys are still asleep, but have been in the habit of holding on too tightly to every last minute of sleep. Here's hoping I learn to be a morning person!
Source: Pinterest
I am reading... "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. This is a regular re-read for me. It was only published a few years ago, but has earned itself a spot next to the Bronte's, Jane Austen, and Wilkie Collins. I know, I know, those are some awfully big claims, but truly. I don't know how someone of this era managed to capture the feelings of those venerable novels, but she did. If you like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, or The Woman in White, you must read this book. It is haunting and beautiful and you will be lost in it for days. So clear your schedule, people!Around the house... Ugh. My home is a battlefield today. The boys are on their 3rd hour of attempting to clean their room. They keep interrupting themselves by playing, wrestling, tattling... we're instigating a new schedule of tidyness as of this week. Rooms will be cleaned every day. I hope it doesn't take them long to figure out how to just get it done. Am I expecting too much, honestly? Mornings like this are rough!
I am thankful... Oh goodness, this daybook is coming off a bit grumbly, isn't it?? I didn't mean for it to. I'm not in a bad mood. I am thankful for so much!! We had a fabulous camping trip, even with all the rain, a wonderful long weekend all together as a family, I redeemed The Geologist's birthday last night with a Skype game of dominoes with my family and a fabulous dinner, I even did the dishes for him! I'm thankful for that lovely day. I'm thankful for my friends here in CO, and scattered around the world. I'm thankful for this gorgeous apartment, the fact that I live HERE and not in Houston *shudder*, that I am still healthier than I have been in 11 years, that 90% of the time my boys are the sweetest children ever, and that life is just good!
Source: Pinterest
One of my favorite things... Hayley Westenra. She's a singer from New Zealand, and I adore her voice. It's so perfect, and pure, with never too much drama, never too much vibrato. I always cry, just a little, when I listen to her. She reminds me, just a tiny bit, of how I could have sounded if I had been dedicated enough to truly work on singing, years ago. Ah, the wistful wishes of "might-have-been"! Anyway, next to Julie Andrews, she is my favorite female vocalist ever. In "Quanta Qualia", I swear she sounds just like a flute. Gorgeous!Who is your favorite singer ever, and why? Any genre!
Try your own Daybook! Get ideas here!
Great daybook April! Loved it as usual. And I just bought another book to read. Thanks! (Todd might be so thrilled though, lol) I am a kitchen fantasist as well. It must be a cooking thing. I spend most of my time in the kitchen, ergo . . . I would love it to be a beautiful place to be. I am a morning person myself. I am up in general about 3 hours before Todd every morning. It is my "me" time. Everyone needs "me" time. It's when I am at my sharpest. It's when I do my blogging, scripture reading, etc. My alone time in the mornings is really important to me. We both love Haley Westenra in this house, but my favourite all time singer is Mindy Gledhill. She just always always makes my heart sing and smile. :-) Kinda like you. xxoo
ReplyDeletePS - where did the word whifflesnap come from? I have been meaning to ask you the meaning of it for a long time!
ReplyDeleteLol, It's one of my many, many nicknames from The Geologist! He really is the king of nicknames. You should hear some of the nicknames for his family members, and the stories behind them! Wifflesnap started as Wiff (instead of wife), which became wiffle, and I have no idea why he added the snap! But there you have it :)
DeleteGreat question, Marie. I have to admit I've been curious about whifflesnap myself. :)
ReplyDeleteI had a dickens of a time with my daughter, when she was around 8 to 10, getting her to keep her room clean. She'd started using some of her toys, even books for example, as playthings and would just leave everything on the floor. Then there was getting her to put her clothes away in the hamper when they needed to be washed. you name it. I found myself sounding like a broken record. What I found that worked for her was a smaller version of a laundry basket type carry-all. A messy room can be daunting to a child, they don't know where to start. So I decided to get her to focus on one task at a time, and set a timetable for it, say 15 minutes to a half hour. Starting with say, stuffed animals, or books, whatever you think is best to start with. I think putting an order to the tasks at hand really helped her. You decide what works best for you and your little guys on whether it needs to be done in one day or over the course of a few. She'd go around her room and collect say, all the books she'd laid out on the floor like "the yellow brick road" from Oz, into the carry-all at once, and then be able to take them all at once to her book shelves. The less back and forth, the less opportunities for distractions.