Amelia's Catch Phrases

Amelia has a few new catch phrases that just crack me up when she uses them.

1 - I don't think so
When she uses this one she usually asks a question first and then answers with this phrase.
ex: Josh is awake? - I don't think so.
or - Wash my hands? I don't think so.

2 - Let's make a plan

3 - Count me in

4 - Sure

5 - But Mom, I am a happy girl
This is usually said when she is having a fit or crying or yelling - and placed in time out to calm down.

And a new comment today:
"I spilled milk on my pretty dress - oh my gracious"

Hello Sun!

I think I forgot what state I lived in...

For our last hurrah of spring break we took the kids to Canyon Lake Dam for a picnic and "hike". I say "hike" because Oliver repeatedly mentioned that he thought we were going on a REAL hike - according to Oliver that means a hike with trees.

(The girls were not with us as they were still at YW camp.)



As is evident from the photos it was a bright, sunny day with scattered clouds. I remembered to bring a hat for Joshua and keep him pretty well covered....but, sadly, I forgot the sunscreen. Haven't I lived here for 10 years? Do I not remember that sun = sunburn? So while my girls spent 4 days in nature at camp it is the rest of us sporting sunburns.

It really is a beautiful area. Next time we need to stay longer so we can hike some of the trails with trees - and swim in the lake.

Racing on the dam. I love the background photo - Gabriel is running on air.


Gabriel popping out from the trail for a hello.

My Boys Rock!

This week is spring break. Perhaps the boys thought it would be a week to play, sleep in, watch T.V., play computer games, etc. Boy...were they wrong.

While Katrina and Abagail have been enjoying a week of YW camp, the three boys have been working - working - working!

Ok - so Monday was a "free" day without much to do. Gabriel had an eye appt. followed by grocery shopping with mom. The rest of the day was mostly dedicated to getting the girls packed for camp.

Tuesday was our compost day - see previous post. We spent the morning getting the compost and all afternoon working very hard.

Wednesday was compost day #2. We had an invitation to join our cousins in S.A. for dinner that night so we had to haul getting our chores done. We were able to finish composting all the trees, weed and prune the front flower beds/trees, clean the trailer, clean the house, get everyone bathed and off to S.A. by 3:30. I'm telling you - those boys worked hard. They were so tired by the time we got home and off to bed - course it didn't help that it was 11:00 p.m.

Thursday morning Gabriel joined me for a day at the LDS cannery. We helped dry pack a huge order for our ward before heading off to another appointment in S.A. It was another long, busy day. We got home right in time to make dinner; then Gabriel headed out for some b-ball with dad. Simon even made the dinner for his tired mom - mac & cheese - such a sweet heart!

I am amazed at the amount of work we accomplished in those 3 days. I am amazed at the lack of whining or arguing that took place. I am very grateful for 3 boys who know how to work and work hard to help out their family. It may not sound like much but it was a lot and they were awesome!

(Even with all that they managed to squeeze in plenty of b-ball, computer games and T.V. - so they weren't too deprived.)

I am now totally exhausted and ready to hit the pillow...if Joshua will cooperate. Tomorrow is another busy day.

Compost Day!

It's Compost Day at the Coleman house. Every few years we hitch up the trailer and drive over to Gonzales, Texas to pick up a load of mushroom compost. The stuff is hot and very stinky but it is absolute gold to my garden.

I have a love-hate relationship with compost day. I LOVE the way this stinky stuff transforms my dry, nutrient drained dirt into the most rich, healthy soil that grows super veggies. I hate the way my poor, pitiful body aches after hours of shoveling, raking, hauling, tilling, etc. It really is a full day of hard work - and that is when dad and the girls are there to help out, which this year they weren't. So yesterday Gabriel, Simon, Oliver and I tackled the project alone. We did pretty well. We got the garden and all the fruit trees/vines composted yesterday. Today's project: tackle those terrible front beds finish the front yard.

A side note: I walked outside this morning and caught a whiff of the stuff. Pe-ew! My poor neighbors are probably wondering what ill wind blew that stink in. Hahaha...


Oliver spreading out the compost.


So much to do... My poor beds in the background of the photos...they look so dry and empty since the dirt level is so low. Contrast that to the next set of photos.


Beautiful! This year I wasn't going to get compost so I planted some of my beds already. Since I couldn't till the compost in I decided to put it down the rows beside the veggies. It filled in the beds nicely, will feed as it is watered in, and when I clear the beds I can finally till it in the rest of the way. Hopefully it works the way I imagine it should. The far right photo is my herb/strawberry garden. I love using fresh herbs - can't figure out why it took me this many years to discover that...

Now it's off to work - gotta finish that front yard.

Joshua's Blessing Day - Dec 10

Uncle Kevin and Uncle Bruce were able to help Allen bless Joshua. We love that they live close enough to share these special days with us! Their families came and spent the Sunday at our house after church too - so fun for all of us.


Sweet baby Joshua on his blessing day - December 5, 2010.


Surrounded by lots of admirers.


Coleman kiddos. Josh wasn't too happy during these photos. Poor baby.


The whole crew.

Backpacking Trip with Dad - Nov 10

During Thanksgiving break Dad took Katrina and Abagail for a backpacking camp trip. This time they went to Lake Somerville. It was the first real cold snap we had. Night temps got into the 20's...brrrrrr. It made me a little nervous having my girls camp in such cold weather - at least the days were nice and warm-ish. The trip was a good experience on planning for cold weather backpacking.

I LOVE this photo.

Hiking down the trail.

Lake Somerville. I guess the hike to the lake has two trails. One is really plain with lots of dead, barren land in the winter. The other way is through a beautiful forest. Abagail brought back some videos of the leaf-cutter ant colony - seen in the middle-lower photo with the girls. It was a huge colony. I was glad they weren't fire ants! She also brought back a lovely video documenting that Lake Somerville has lots of horse activity...that they tried to avoid while hiking.

Some of the trees were HUGE! The blurry photo, bottom-middle, was showing how big the trees were. In the original photo the whole tree was shown and you couldn't even see there were people in it...the people were too small.

The girls had a great time! They really look forward to these adventures with dad.

Highlights from Nov...

Time has certainly gotten away from me with my blog. Since I am sitting home from church with sick kids - again - I decided to spend a bit of "me" time trying to catch up. Of course since Joshua has been born I have probably been home more than 50% of the Sundays with sick kids. Guess that's how it goes with a big family and winter months. Honestly, I'd rather be at church.


Sweet little Joshua at 1 month old. He was still so tiny.

On a beautiful November day Amelia, Joshua and I ran errands in S.A. We were in the area of the temple so I decided to swing by. One of Amelia's favorite songs to sing for devotional is her "for the temple is a house of God" song. She requests it every night. Each child has a temple picture in their room. Amelia was so excited to have her very own special temple picture. Of course now every time she sees a church with a steeple she gets excited and says, "Mom, for the temple is a house of God!,", pointing it out to me.



For Thanksgiving Katrina and Abagail asked to make homemade pies. They made the crust - a really good recipe too. Then Katrina chose to make a cherry pie and Abagail asked to make an apple pie. We found recipes for the filling - it was to all be from scratch. Abagail's turned out scrumptious. Katrina's was good - but the recipe wasn't exactly what we were looking for. Luckily Katrina wasn't too disappointed. She later said that she wasn't going to eat it anyway since eating cherry pie filling usually made her feel sick to her stomach. (So why did she choose to make a cherry pie?) We also made the most delicious pumpkin cheesecake - that was my contribution. That was everyone's favorite. Too bad it was sooooo bad for us or I would make it more often.



This is just a fun picture of Amelia. She is such a happy girl. Always laughing, and singing, and dancing. Makes me happy too.

Joshua hanging out with the big guys. I think they were watching a football game.

Amelia's Quick Quip

I was out weeding the garden today, enjoying a beautiful spring morning. Amelia came out with me and helped fling dirt around for a bit. Then she got bored and went back inside.

She wanted me to come in too but I told her that it was a beautiful day to be outside.

A few minutes later she comes back out and asks me to come in again. I said I was going to stay out for a bit longer.

Amelia says, "But Mom, it's a beautiful day to be inside".

New Blog: weelicious

I have another blog to recommend. Spent WAY too much time on it today. Has great healthy ideas for feeding kids.

I've added it to my new list of blogs I follow: Nutrition Blogs

Sleep - Friend or Foe?

If I love sleep sooooo much why do I avoid going to bed at night???

Probably has something to do with dreading being awakened seriously EVERY hour by various children. Really, I only get to sleep between 11:30-5:30. Is it so hard for others to stay asleep during those hours too?

I can't wait until:
- Amelia sleeps through the night again. (Transitioning her to a big bed from the crib has been oh so fun - she wins the award for waking me up the most during the night.)
- Everyone is done being sick for the season.
- Joshua sleeps better - to be honest he only wakes me up one time, but he also is the one keeping me up until after 11:00 most nights.
- I can sleep through all the mid-night bathroom trips from the kids. They go like this: Creak (door open)....shuffle shuffle.....creak...flick (light on)...slam (door shut)....creak....flick....shuffle shuffle.....creak.....slam. Guess I could oil the doors so they would quit creaking too.


Note to kids: I will be a much less cranky, more energetic, more involved mom during the day if you let me get at least a few CONSECUTIVE hours of sleep at night. I promise.

New Blog - Word of Wisdom Living

I really shouldn't be taking time to do this...I have WAAAAAAY too much to do today. But...

I saw this blog on my sister Stacey's blog and checked it out. Very common sense info and it totally appealed to the budding nutritionist in me.

If you are looking for ways to eat and be healthier this is some good info. Well written too. Now to just live a more disciplined life and incorporate these wonderful ideas...that I already know...but can't seem to follow. :)