What's in a Name?

Yep.
I changed my blog name again.
I know it has become ridiculous.
But, I plan to keep this name.
Alrighty?
Everyday Carnival.

I am planning a carnival fundraiser for this summer.
The plan is for it to be a community outreach,
as well as raise funds for World Orphans.

I am also hoping to get together some crafty stuff for sale,
to make money for our adoption fund.
Some Bow Ties.
Maybe some of these bean bags.
Maybe some of these cutie horsies.
And this? What a fish pond!
Some stuffie elephants.

Stuff like that. Stuff to bring the carnival home, to your everyday.

And, the name was inspired by that.
Everyday Carnival

It is not because I am such a crazy fun mom everyday.
I ain't. I try to be fun every once in a while.
Things are pretty much plain crazy around here, though.

p.s. Look on the sidebar. I have a button now!
Courtesy of Heather @ Life Made Lovely

The End of an Era

I no longer have all kids taking a nap every afternoon.
Those days are over forever.
Gillian no longer takes an afternoon rest.
This has been consistent for over a week.
I am finally accepting this as reality.
I denied it for a few days.
I was extremely annoyed by it for a while.
I know.
I know I had a sweet deal, that she napped for as long as she did.
I know not all 4 year olds are still napping every afternoon.
I knew it wouldn't last forever.

Now I have to move forward in what is.
I may not have quiet time everyday all by myself.
But, now I have time with just Gillian & me, everyday.
And, that's pretty sweet!

Yesterday we sat outside & made jewelry.

The elegant bracelet on her left arm is the one she made.
I made the sloppier trio on her right.

She didn't think I should be in a picture unless I made myself some jewelry.
I was inspired by her bracelet & made my necklace in the same style.

I got into the shot, trying to Embrace the Camera -

Home Study Paranoia

Or is it Spring Cleaning? Or Nesting?
I dropped off tons more stuff at Good Will today.
I've been going through everything.
But, most especially, the kid room.
Must make more room.

We have our home visit coming up,
for the final chapter of our adoption home study.
SO exciting.
And a little scary.
I do have a bit of home study visit paranoia, I think.
Even though the social worker has told us multiple times
that this is not a white glove test.
She said all she is doing is seeing our place of residence.
She just needs to see with her own eyes that this child whom
we bring into our home will have a safe place to sleep.

Okay. But, what is safe?
What if the mold on the baseboard gets me red taped?
I can't have anything fall out of the closet,
if the social worker opens the it.
That wouldn't be seen as safe, surely.

And what about the grease in the kitchen?
Violating Health & Safety codes?
We'd better take care of that...

I'm sure it will be no big deal.
But still.
We're working on sprucing things up a bit...

A Wipe Out

Last week we had some incredible sunshine.
And, we had Nana & Papa here
We headed to the beach one warm morning.

It was lovely.
Peyton was nicely holding Papa's hand for a while.
But, after a while, he wanted the freedom to run.

He raced through the on coming waves.
He was laughing.
I shouted "be careful!"
And, he tripped.
Waves swept over him.
And he did not scream.
I did.

But, he was quickly lifted to safety.
Check out the sandy wave hair do.

He was brave enough to go back in,
even after the trip & fall.

On our walk back to the car,
he did quietly confide in me that he was a little afraid.
I said that's good, because the ocean is strong & dangerous.

Daisy Chains

Enjoy the Spring!

The Plans She Has

Gillian came out of her room in this outfit.
She told me she dressed like this because her job
was to pick apples in an orchard.
She does that for work.
Oh, and lemons. She has to pick those for her job, too.

She has farmer girl aspirations.
She also plans to milk cows when she grows up.
Last year at the county fair, she learned that she was a natural.
She still talks about it often.
How she really wants to be a milker girl,
because she is very good at it.
(And she is. She picked up the milking squeeze skill right away.)

My daughter, at age 4, is already talking about when I will be a grandma.
When she is a mom, I will be a grandma, she tells me.
That's true.
But, she also tells me that when she is a mom,
I will be her friend, and come to visit her house often.
I pray that will be true for us.

I made my own mother a grandmother.
And she is very much my friend.
I love for her to come visit, very often.

Gillian has a few dream houses.
The thing they all have in common is they are to be very near to my house.
She will possibly live in her "baby house".
(The house where we lived when she was a baby.)

(Daddy & Gillian at baby house 4 years ago.)




Or, she may live in this pink princess house.

But, she also describes to me her dream house
as a yellow house sitting on a hill.
There is a white fence & a gate.
There is lots of green grass.
There is a pond.
She has chickens & goats & cows.

She's my farmer girl.

Pretty Up The Kitchen Counter

Today I am linking up at Life Made Lovely.
Here's a way we are trying to add a little bit of loveliness to our life-

I gave this as a gift to my husband.
It seems like a funny man gift.
But, my husband likes to do dishes for me.
And, he likes a nice looking, non-cluttered kitchen counter.
We decided to get rid of our dish drainer.
Less stuff & a cleaner look.

I used a clearance towel from Kmart for the bottom side.
I picked some sturdy & pretty fabrics from my way front.
I cut them into different sized blocks & sewed 'em together.
Then sewed the front & back, wrong sides together.
Flipped it & top stitched the edge & the center.
Done. Fast.
I'm gonna make another one soon,
with a cool dish towel that I have & use for the top.

When the dishes are dry, the towel can be put away
much easier than the old dish drainer.
It is also much easier to keep it clean.
Just throw it in the washing machine.
No need to scrub grossness off of the dish drainer all the time.

Simpler & lovelier.

Crazy Outing turned Inspiring

The first time to Costco with 4 kids.
I was dreading it.
But, baby was now 2 months old.
That meant I hadn't been to Costco in over 2 months.
We were out of paper towels.
Husband has a hard time going on with life when there are no paper towels.
He sees them as an absolute necessity.
He is a fairly "green" "earth-friendly" fellow.
But, he loves his paper towels.

I had to go.
I had bought over priced cheese twice at the regular grocery store.
I was out of chicken breasts.
The ones I got from Trader Joe's to hold us over were not good enough.
I couldn't wait until we were out of Toilet Paper & Laundry detergent.
The trip had to be made.

I planned it for a week that ended up being more than a little rainy.
It has been a lot rainy.

So, it turned out to be a doubly crazy outing.
4 little ones & pouring down rain.
And we got a late start,
so our trip would not be entirely complete before the normal nap time.
Things were not looking good for us.

Despite the rain storm, folks were still shopping.
There were no close parking spaces.
I sat inside the car while I tied my Mei Tai carrier around my waist.
A little difficult.
Then I had to tie Kendall in while still in the car.
A little more difficult.
Once she was cozy & calm, I grabbed two umbrellas
& went out into the storm.
I ran to each door to unbuckle all the other kids
& let them pile out.
The three of them held hands in a line.
I held the umbrellas over everyone.
We made it safely across the parking lot.
(With only 1 car rudely splashing right in front of us.
Gillian was sure he deserved a bad ticket.)

Shopping went so smoothly. I was amazed.
It was great.

And on this day, we met a few people who encouraged us.
They were people who loved children.
I am guessing they were all over the age of 80.
They were totally thrilled with the kids.
And my kids loved their sweet attention.

They talked to the kids like they were their friends.
You know, they didn't "talk down" to them.
They encouraged me.
When they made the comment I often I hear,
"You have your hands full!",
they didn't roll their eyes.
Their eyes sparkled with excitement.

I went away inspired.
The cart was so full, I could barely push it;
tons of stuff, plus a nearly 2 year old.
A four year old & three year old held onto the sides of the cart.
They "helped" me push.
I wore a two month old
& held two umbrellas above, trying to keep all 5 heads dry.

After we all got into the car I felt inspired to make something happen.
Something that has been on my mind.
A plan that I have had, but haven't acted on.
I want to visit our elderly neighbor more often.
I want to take the kids to a near by senior home on a regular visits.
Let the kids be adopted great grandkids to some lonely people.
Let myself learn from people who have lived through much.
I want to bless & be blessed by the greatest generation, before it is too late.