Morgan (& James') Baby Shower

Baby Brooks #9 is going to be making his debut 8/8/15-tentatively. So we threw a baby shower for Morgan at my home this Sunday. My sisters and I make a great team. Good food & games. That little boy is going to be so loved by these last 4 girl cousins - smothered is probably more like it (Bry knows not to smother anymore! Hehe). 

James and Morgan are selling their home and renovating a new one. Hope they have a place for all the nice stuff they got!

Wine Glass Holder

Still needs to be cleaned up a bit, but our cabinet finally has a (redneck) wine and martini glass holder. 👍🍸🍷

Cliffs laying off 100 Salaried workers at United Taconite, Northshore, Hibbing Taconite add to Iron Range mining woes

CLEVELAND — The mining layoffs this time around are salaried workers.

Cliffs Natural Resources will eliminate about 100 white collar employees spread out at its Hibbing Taconite, Northhsore Mining and United Taconite Iron Range operations.

Union officials say these cuts do not involve any union workers.

The news was the latest jolt to mining on the Range. It follows announcements of about 1,150 layoffs by U.S. Steel at its Minntac plant in Mountain Iron and the Keetac facility in Keewatin, and more than 40 pink slips given out at Magnetation on the east Range.

Cliffs officials have made it clear recently that they intend to continue reducing costs, including staffing.

Rumors of the layoffs began circulating in the area late Monday morning. Cliffs was contacted at its home office in Cleveland for comment at that time but did not

respond to requests for confirmation and comment.

DFL Reps. Jason Metsa of Virginia and Carly Melin of Hibbing said the layoffs by Cliffs is following a “familiar” trend in the region.

“Once again, family and friends on the Range are facing economic hardship and an uncertain future,” Melin said.

“Unfortunately, this is becoming familiar news. We will do everything we can to make sure the state of Minnesota is supportive of our families on the Range and that they get the benefits they have earned and deserve,” Metsa said.

The two lawmakers urged workers being laid off to contact them directly with any questions.

Yea! Child Labor ... Just kidding!!

My Silly Momma

Mom and I were talking sometime back about how to make your coffee taste of chocolate and mint. Later she sends me these in the mail from Texas. Forgetting our conversation I laughed at the .99cent candy and the $2.50 postage and gobbled them up. 

They're home now and she asked how I liked them in my coffee. Realizing what thy were then for, I told her I ate them and we'll just have to buy another pack to try!!! Lol

Daddy's Girl is 22 mo. Old

This little ham turns 22 months old today. She surely loves her family, but is definitely daddy's little shadow. God bless you my little free spirit. 

Family Easter Picture

(New L&M Swing)

Our family Easter picture, taken a week late and posted 3 weeks late. 

Thankfully I'm Catholic and since we have 50 days of Easter, I'm still within that window!!  :)

He has risen, halleluiah, halleluiah!

Words of Wisdom from the Golden Years

I'll miss my patients at the nursing home so much in 3 weeks when my time there goes from full-time to on-call.  I didn't know my grandparents very well so I guess I have a special admiration for this generation.  They have lived it all, seen it all.  Many times I'll ask the ones who have been married 40,50,60 years, "what is the secret to a good marriage."  Often times: Women answer, "good communication." Men answer, "shut up and listen to your wife."  This always give me the giggles. Many other answers include: spend time together, respect, love, appreciate your spouse, the little things in life that seem so simple and take little time to do, yet we don't take the time to do it. 

One of my favorite, outspoken patients, who still wears fancy large sunglasses and painted red lipstick on her beautiful toothless smile advises me, "if you want to make your man happy, you give him two things: good food and all the sex he wants."  Here my co-workers and I are trying to hold back from losing it. "If you give him that, he'll never want for anything," she tells me with her pink-painted pointer finger in my face.  I remind her that's how she also got her 6 kids.

Another woman I was working with was there with her husband before he passed away last year.  Now at the nursing home everyone has twin-sized beds, even the married couples.  If they want something different, they can bunk together or push them together, but I have only seen this once.  She tells me one night her husband calls her over from across the room and asks her to snuggle in with him for a little while.  She waves her hand in the air and tells me, "I told him, no way, we'd never fit. But I held his hand. That next night, he died."  She wipes away a tear of regret.  "That night he died, I crawled in next to him and held his body.  I never knew I could hold a dead body, but he was my husband for 64 years. We had seven children together. He was there with me when no one else was, and he left."  She pats my hand. "Hug your husband when he asks you to. Respond to his touch.  That's my advice to you because it goes by so fast."

So hard to say good bye to that.

Fried Cabbage Recipe

Cook bacon. Save the grease & add a whole chopped onion and a whole head of chopped or shredded cabbage. E chose a red cabbage. Cut up bacon and add to veg. Serve warm. 

I didn't have the bacon but I did have saved bacon grease in my fridge. Or coconut oil would be tasty too! Yum! Salt & pepper to taste. Recipe from Susie!💗

First Cherry Berry Experience

Towel Rack for Under the Sink Organization

I try to limit the amount of chemicals I use in my home, for health, space, and organizational purposes. However you need what you need, even if you only use it 1x/yr (ie: oven cleaner). So my Hubie put up a towel rack for me under the sink to get my cleaners off of the floor of the cupboard and give me more room. Love it!

Happy Easter 2015

We celebrated Easter at Grandma & Grandpa's yesterday with the usual too-much-food meal, 180 egg hunt, & played w/ family, including picking up great grandma Peterson. Today was church, leftovers, and a swing on the new swing. David was cutting up fallen trees and working in the woods while the girls shared an easter bunny. Elizabeth broke it in 1/2 and Felicity gets the first pick, so she points to the bottom 1/2 and says "butt". 😄 Elizabeth gives her the top 1/2 anyways. What happened to fighting over the ears? Lol. It's a beautiful sun shiney day,~40*. A good day to celebrate our risen Lord. 

It's Beginning to Look a lot like ... Easter?

Breakfast with the Brooks Sisters

Felicity is really doing well with proper handling of her fork. So I go to take a picture and Doc photobombs the picture. My sweeties. 😄

NOT an April Fool's Day Joke

I was told I could go to part-time, 3x/wk, at work. The offer was later removed. I was then told full time or on-call. So April 1st I put in my 7 wks notice, putting my last day May 15th. I will stay oncall and maybe go back full time in the next few years, but this is what changed my mind:

Smart Martha's

Catholic Guide for Busy Moms.

Overall this book is about Mary's & Martha's approaches to running a household (Luke 10:38-42). Jesus is visiting and Martha is running ragged playing hostess and Mary is at

awe at the foot of Christ. This book is how to balance the Mary&Martha in all of us. We must busily do out household tasks yet stop and enjoy our loved ones and find Christ in them.

We are reading this book for Moms' Group. Chapter 1 is about TOYS. Too many toys and kids don't play w/ them anyhow. Author Tami encourages us to askourselves: do these toys engage the imagination/mind? Can they be stored easily? Less is more. Does it teach values? 

Then she speaks of organizing toys and rotating. She has 9 children so this is very important in her household. Limit toys to a specific area of the house, limit the amount of toys (who needs 10 baby dolls?). And best of all: play w/ your kids!

Chapter 2 is on Media: TV, movies, video games, etc. Limit time, content, keep in a common location, check the lyrics, and lol up movie reviews on "plugged in" for appropriateness of movies. 

Grandma's Garage Sale Stuff. Lovin' Spring Cleaning

Whoop whoop. Spring cleaning is my favorite season. Throw, throw, throw. All my stuff (and what I can throw when my kids aren't looking) go to Grandma's garage sale.  Bye bye boxes, bags, toys, and stuff. 

Record breaking temps for St Patrick's Week

Poor Baby Illnesses

This poor little girl. I think the most illnesses for kiddos is from age 1-2. Everything goes on the mouth and they are so mobile, and spring brings out new adventures and new colds. 

This kiddo had the flu Feb 20th. An ear infection Feb 27th. An odd fever March 6th. Now either roseola or 5th disease (or slapped cheek syndrome-see pic) this week. It's an all over body rash following a fever. 

Dave and I have been taking so many days off. He's been so good. And with the new daycare, we're probably not scoring many points. 😜 poor baby. When it rains it pours. 

Before kids I had never heard of 5th disease, RSV, hand foot mouth, etc. and the answer to it all is to "wait it out". The good thing is many of these illnesses are a one-time-only sickness. Poor 20 mo baby!

Jobs of Essential Oils

Essential oils

Frankincense and sandalwood increase the amount of oxygen in the lymbic system of the brain particularly around the pituitary gland.

To relieve STRESS: lavender, ylang ylang, frankincense, pine, grapefruit, chamomile, thyme.

ACNE: melaleuca (tea tree), eucalyptus, chamomile, lavender, lemon, rosewood, thyme, juniper, lemongrass, sandalwood.

ALLERGIES: eucalyptus, lavender, patchouli, spikenard.

ANTIBACTERIAL: cedar, citronella, cinnamon bark, lavender, thyme, oregano

ADRENALS: nutmeg, peppermint.

INFLAMMATION: frankincense, helichrysum, lavender, myrrh, wintergreen

LIVER: myrrh, carrot seed, sage lavender.

METALS/chelation: helichrysum, cardamom, drink lots of distilled water.

SCARS: rosehip, 6 lavender & 3 patchouli & 4 rosewood & vitamin E oil.

SORE THROAT: thieves, melaleuca, oregano, ginger, lavender, eucalyptus, thyme, sandlewood, myrrh, bergamot.

SPLEEN: laurel, marjoram.

Big Changes: no daycare, illness, New daycare, less work.

Big changes this week in our household. My daycare spontaneously closed on Monday d/t the state and false accusations of a parent. Breaks my heart b/c these wonderful people have been in our lives everyday since E was 3 months old. 

Felicity got over the flu, then an ear infection, then popped out w/ a new tooth. Now she's feeling good and talking up a storm.

Mama took three days off from work to spend with the girls. Loved every moment. Interviewed six potential day cares/nannies. Landed an awesome daycare. Tough in a small town to find good help especially when there's 6 other families looking on the same week. 

Being home with the girls made me realize how much I'm missing them. So the hubby and I came to a conclusion: work part time or not at all. So I called my boss at work and asked if I could go down to three days a week. I was reluctant and doubting that he would agree.  He came back with a resounding, "sure. We can make that work. Let's talk next week. " my eyes open. This was not the answer I expected. I was more so expecting to have to put in my resignation, but was pleasantly surprised.

Thank you to all my prayer warriors who helped me out.  I didn't know which direction the Lord is going to lead me, but it's been a whirlwind of a week. The optimist in me is giddy with joy. The pessimist in me is waiting for it all to backfire.  

It also made me feel good that my new daycare told me she was praying for my old daycare. Now I know that I made the right decision.

All I can pray for is "that thy will be done".

Nighttime Talks

I recently read an article on when kids ask you to stay a little longer to talk with them when giving goodnight kisses, to stay because "that's when the good stuff comes out." Before reading this I stayed about 40% of the time, David the other 40% and the last 20% the answer was "no its too late."

Now I stay almost all the time. Tonight Elizabeth was talking about Jesus, heaven, souls, and clothes. Why didn't he have any clothes on the cross? Do we rise like Jesus when we die? Did Mary 

make Jesus' clothes. What are casting lots? Then she tells me "mom, I don't want to go to heaven." I tell her of course she does ... eventually. She just still had a lot to do on earth before she goes. Heaven is where we get to worship God and Jesus and meet all of our ancestors. "But we two won't be together." "Yes we will." I tell her boldly. "You're going to grow up and get married and have babies and when the two of us are old and grey we'll go meet Jesus."  Ok so maybe I'm wrong in telling her that because I'll be 100 and she'll be 81, but my little worrier is afraid to be w/o her mommy at 4 years old. And she loves earth she's afraid of what's to come. 

Either that or she's afraid I'm not taking the elevator up!! Lol. 

Either way, it's still when the good stuff comes out. 

Tunes to Shop to

Pushing the (humiliating) car-cart around super 1 today, Elizabeth is singing " Go Tell it on the Mountain" while Felicity echos "Jesus". 💕

Kitchen/Dining Room Remodel 2015

Tearing down to build up

Goodbye white

Daddy taught me to use many guns. Got SO tired of mudding, taping, sanding. Now onto painting.

Edging is done. Now the rolling.

How do you keep a 4 yo busy? Answer: give her a paintbrush and a white wall. She did this ALL by herself. I had to back roll it to smooth out but she did very well. 

F: 19 month old's tea party

I come out of the laundry room to F setting up her own tea party. Invisible tea and fruit snacks are my favorite! E is alongside me saranading us. 

Sunday Nights are Prep Nights

One of most dreaded chores are meals. To take the sting off of my jobs I make my breakfasts and lunches for the week on Sunday night. 5 PB&J sandwiches I freeze, 10 smoothies I keep in the freezer for the Hubie and me, 5 pre-shelled eggs, 5 pre-peeled & separated oranges and 5 oatmeal breakfasts. Since I work in the health field and despise germs I rarely ever eat w/ my hands so I prepeel everything I can! (Here's s pic for myself as I tend to forget what habits work well for me...and this works super).

Gas: $1.99

When I started driving gas was 0.99. Haven't seen it this low in a while!

Last Christmas of the year on New Years

These kiddos play so well together!

Being the youngest, Catriana goes first.

Waiting patiently. 

Catriana's puzzle. 

Aunties "helpers" scoping out her gift. 🎁

Unfortunately Troy got called into work and couldn't take part in the huge feast 🍗Heather provided, but fun was had by all! It was a great way to start 2015! 🎉