hothouse

i have been told that the dutch translation of heethuis is hothouse. something about a green house? i don't know, there is not a bit of me that is dutch so i can not attest to the validity of that translation. i can however, give proof that we are literally living in a hothouse. the current temperature at 9:54 pm is 81 degrees Fahrenheit, and that's an improvement.

spot on

to celebrate the last day of school we ordered in chinese food. we enjoyed sweet and salty cashew chicken and spicy moo goo guy pan. the boys also enjoyed their first fortune cookie. elliotts fortune was as most fortunes are, vague and way off. but gibson's read, life to you is a dashing and bold adventure. as a mother this is not the fortune i was hoping for. but as a father, steve was more than pleased. and although fortunes are supposed to tell the future, this one is spot on for how gibson approaches each day. i only wish i could keep up. and secretly i do pray that both of my boys will lead a bold and courageous life... after they are out of the house.

the truth

steve and i have been trying to lead a more transparent life. we enjoy it when we find people who are comfortable with who they are and not ashamed of their imperfections. in attempt to hold us accountable with our family and friends, we wanted to come clean on a few items to get the ball rolling.

first things first. we fight. not loudly. not often. but most often on sunday mornings when we are trying to get out the door for church. not many words are exchanged, but you can cut the tension with a knife. and now that that is out in the open, we are terrible at putting our laundry away. getting it done is not a problem, or even getting it folded. it's the putting it in the drawers that gets us every time. now we know there is much more, but we thought we would let the truth be told in pictures...

we want you to think that our kitchen is as beautiful as this cupboard but...


the truth is that immediately next to this cupboard lie old, mismatching appliances. yes. that is an almond color refrigerator next to the an ancient black stove.



we want you to think that our house is as put together as this pottery barn light, but...

the truth is that not even four feet below that beautiful light lies a hole in our wall, with a cabinet that doesn't fit quite right.

we want you to think that we are organized and on top of things, but....

the truth is the april calendar was up until just a couple of hours ago.

so there you have it, and truth be told, this is only a small snippet of our imperfections. thank you loving us despite these truths.

shopping for a good cause

one of the things i love most about my job is connecting with families. i have been very fortunate in the past six years to have met many wonderful people. and now i get to share with you an opportunity to help one of these families out while stocking up your kitchen at the same time.

i first met the hunter family five years ago when i had their son in class. since that time i also had their daughter in class and was thrilled to find out that they are adopting siblings from ethiopia. they have three children already and are now lovingly opening up their hearts and home to welcome two more.

this saturday a friend of theirs is hosting a pampered chef fundraiser to help with the cost of bringing their newest children home. 15% of every order will go to the hunter's adoption fund. so if you are looking for some cool gadgets for you kitchen leave a comment. anyone is welcome to ride along with me or i can place an order for you. head over to this site to view the catalogue.