Jul. 7, 2006 - Weekend Time
This weekend should prove to be fun. I am going with my two sisters and my mom to a play in downtown Chicago. We are going to see Movin' Out which is a new musical that is based around 24 of Billy Joel's greatest hits. My sister Geri, teaches in Japan during the school year on a military base on is home for the summer. She bought the tickets for all of us to go see this because she thought that it would be fun to do as a "girls" activity. I love my sister and am soooo glad that she is home to visit.
Geri also bought tickets for most of the family to go to several Chicago White Sox baseball games. My family, both sides, are big White Sox fans. We all have many different Sox clothes and love to follow the team. So on Tuesday we all went to watch the White Sox beat Baltimore in a 13 to 0 game. I have really learned a lot about the White Sox since I got married mostly because even though my dad and brothers are big fans, I didn't real watch them but Kevin and I watch the games now on Sundays as a family activity. Matt is even a White Sox fan. He loves to watch baseball and cheers for the players.
Well, its time to go switch the laundry and then go grocery shopping. I like to shop once a week because I find that I spend less money if I am not running to the store every day. There is less chance of impulse buying that way.
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Jun. 30, 2006 - Home Organization: An Update
Well this last week has been really busy. I did manage to reorganize my living room and am still working in other areas of my home. I would love to be able to post some pictures but I can't get my very inexpensive digital camera to work right now so I will try to post some pictures after everything is finished.
I started by cleaning out the bookcases in my living room. I thought that the living room would look less cluttered if I got rid of some books, I had books stacked two wide on the shelves and two high as well. By going through every one of the shelves I was able to get rid of 6 boxes of books that I took to the Salvation Army. Most of them were books that I had already read and until didn't want to part with them. I then did purchase one additional bookcase at Big Lots in order to be able to put Matt's books on shelves as well. Before them they were stacked into several carboard boxes in the living room and that really helped to clean up the room.
I also reorganized Matt's toys. His bedroom is very small and so he has very little toys in his room and the majority of them are in the living room. I was able to organize his toy chest and set up a corner of the living room for his toys only. I am also working on teaching him to put them back when he is done playing.
I can't believe how different my living room looks now. It seems to have grown in space simply by my doing these simple things. My next step is the totally reorganize my kitchen.
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Jun. 19, 2006 - Home Organization
Our visit to Bloomington to visit our friends' homes and the reading that I have been doing in the book "The Hidden Art of Homemaking" has made me realize that I need to make my home a haven for both myself and my husband. It seems like I try to organize things but it never seems to stay organized. I really want to have a home that is pretty, welcoming, relaxing and yet is still functional and is still a place that my two year old can play and have fun in. I haven't done a lot with this house since we moved in for many reasons. I am not much of a self starter and am a procrastinator. Also, the house is very small and we do not have much room for all of our things. So as well as organizing and such I will be getting rid of things in order to make the house more what I want. For a long time I didn't like living here and because of that I think that I purposely didn't take care of it the way that I should. That will change this week. We are going to be living here for another year and so we should be comfortable and happy while we are.
I will be working on that this week and I hope to be able to post both before and after pictures of it. I know that this will be a major undertaking for me and because I am not very much of a self starter I really need prayers and encouragement for me to keep on with this task.
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Jun. 19, 2006 - Our Weekend Vacation
Well, this past weekend we went to Bloomington/Normal our old home. My sister-in-law participates in Special Olympics Swimming and qualified for the State games and we went along to cheer her on!! She won two bronze medals one in 25 meter freestyle and one in 25 meter backstroke. She was so happy to have us there to cheer for her.
While we were there we also got to visit our friends that live down there. It was great to spend time with them as we haven't been to Bloomington since we moved back home. We aren't planning on taking a real vacation this year so this served as a great little get away for us even though I am very happy to be home again. 
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Jun. 13, 2006 - Breadmaking
This last winter I won a breadmaker. It is one of the few things that I have won in my life but probaly the best one. I really like having it at home. The bread tastes so much better than the store bought kind unless you have a Great Harvest Bread Company near by. I love the bread from the Great Harvest Bread Company but it is sooooo expensive!!! Five dollars for a loaf of wheat bread. I can make the same kind of bread in my breadmaker for a lot less. Here is my favorite recipe for bread. This recipe came with my breadmaker but is just great.
Honey Banana Whole Wheat Bread
For one 1 1/2 pound loaf.
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbl butter or vegtable oil
3 Tbl. Honey
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup bread flour
1 small banana, sliced
1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds (optional)
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
Put all the ingredients in the order given to the Bread pan. Set up your machine and use the whole wheat setting.
This bread is wonderful!!! It has just a little bit of a sweet taste to it and it is wonderful with peanut butter on it. My husband was never a fan of whole wheat bread until I tried to make it at home. Now he loves it!!!
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Jun. 12, 2006 - Visit from Family
Well, its been really crazy around here. My brother and sister-in-law just left after visiting with my in-laws for a week. It was really difficult having them here especially for my mother-in-law. Kevin only got to see his brother a little bit because of his work schedule. Kevin doesn't get home from work till 9:00pm every night Mon-Friday and because of that we have a very late schedule around here. Matt sleeps till at least 9:30am every morning and doesn't go to bed till 10:30 or 11pm. Kevin's neice and nephew are both very early children so by the time that Kevin would get home from work his brother was getting ready to go to bed. Oh well the time that they did spend together was fun. I took my sister-in-law and her two kids to the zoo while they were in. Matt got a membership to the zoo from my sister as his birthday present. He loves to go see the animals. We had a good time.
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May. 20, 2006 - Garage Sales!
I love garage sales and resale shops. Buying things secondhand helps to allow me to be at home instead of having to work full time. This weekend was the town wide garage sale weekend. I was able to buy Matt a Fisher Price turtle sandbox for less than five dollars. I just couldn't pass that up. At another garage sale, I found the best thing. Matt and I were just looking at various items when we walked past an almost new double stroller with a sign that said FREE on it. My mother-in-law and I were talking about taking my sister-in-law and her to kids to the zoo (we have a membership to Brookfield zoo) when they come to visit next week, put were trying to figure how to get everyone into my mini-van and still be able to fit two stollers in. I said it would be much easier if we had a double stoller as that would solve the problem. I had considered calling my brother and asking to borrow his double stoller. But now we don't have that problem. I took that free double stoller. While we don't have an everyday use for it right now, we are hoping to have a use for it in the future. FREE how could anyone ask for more. I guess God knew that we needed one and helped us as HE always does. The lady at the garage sale said that the stoller was her neighbors and she wanted to give to someone who could us it. I am very thankful that we decided to go garage saleing yesterday.
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May. 20, 2006 - Bike Riding
Well, today I finally got to use my early birthday present. (My birthday isn't till June) I wanted to be able to take a bike ride with my in-laws on Mother's Day last week as is their tradition. So I needed a bike, Kevin has one from when he still lived at home. Two weeks ago, we bought me a new bike at Walmart and a bike trailer for Matt to ride in. I just didn't fell comfortable buying the seat that attaches to the back of my bike, because Matt is a big boy for two I thought that 32 pounds on the back of my bike would make it too hard for me to keep my balance. Well, here in Illinois the weather last week was ok for biking but we had a major disaster with the plumbing in the house we are renting and dealing with that took all day so we weren't able to go for a ride then. So today while Kevin mowed the lawn, I got out my bike, well ok it was already out in the driveway so we could get to the lawn mower, hitched up the trailer and took Matt around the block. I now know just how out of shape that I am. I haven't ridden a bike for years, other then two quick trips around the block when I got my new bike, and it showed. I'm exhausted from just going a couple of blocks. Oh well in a couple of weeks, I won't have any problems if I just keep taking short rides. Maybe it was a good idea that I didn't go with my in-laws for that first trip.
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May. 18, 2006 - Just a quick picture!
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May. 18, 2006 - Hello Everyone! An Introduction
Hi! My name is Evelyn and I am a mostly stay-at-home mom to one two year old son, Matthew. My husband and I are going to homeschool him at least through 7th grade. I grew up as the youngest of eight children, in a great home. My mother was a stay-at-home mom for all of us and I truly and thankful that I was born into that family. I was homeschooled from 7th grade through my junior year in high school. We then moved from Cicero, IL to a very small town, Ottawa, IL and I went for my senior year at the local high school. I loved being homeschooled and I believe that it helped me out when I went on to Illinois State University (ISU). I graduated from ISU in May of 2002 and I was married in June of 2002. I had met my husband Kevin, in 1999 when I was a freshman at ISU we were introduced my mutal friends. We were engaged all throughout my college years and were married as soon as I finished. I have a degree in Elementary Education so homeschooling will not be a problem speaking both legally and abilty wise. Kevin also has a degree in elementary education but he substitute taught for two years and decided that he didn't like the politcs that are involved. Another reason for homeschooling. We are currently renting a very small house but are looking to buy one in the next year, hopefully one with a fenced in backyard for us to be able to get a dog. :) We live 45 minutes from my parents and 5 minutes from his. This situation is ideal because we are both very family orientated and love being able to spend so much time with both of our families. I think that I have rambled on long enough for today. I hope that everyone reading this enjoyed it.
