The Lundy 5

my favorite vacation memory is SO hard to choose. after spending a month last year in australia , new zealand , and the cook islands , how can i choose ONE?! i mean there were breath-taking mountains , beaches, volcanoes , rain forests, narnia , middle earth , rafting waterfalls, bungy jumping, jet boating, the great barrier reef, kangaroos, koalas, scrapbooking (totally had to work!), meeting online friends, and just so much more. i'd love to simply choose may of 2009! :) OKAY, CHOOSE ALREADY! to pick one, i think it would be sitting on the beach in rarotonga , cook islands. probably because i was exhausted from that vacation!!! :) this was the amazing view from our bungalow. check out the crystal clear water under the kayak! the island is surrounded by a reef creating a beautiful, calm, and safe lagoon all around the island. you don't even need to snorkel because it's so shallow and clear. the reason i liked it so much (besides the beach, i love the beach!) was it was

SPRING BREAK! the local schools are on spring break, so we decided we are too! how it's different than any other day is hard to tell, but the kids are happy. it's warming up, so we're spending a little time customizing and packing the RV, and a lot of time just taking a break. fortunately (?? thinking positively!) i have a huge work project to finish up, so i'm working on that as well. plus it's birthday week , so it's pretty insane anyway. but a good insane! :) today allen installed security features (i can't tell you or i'd have to kill you!) and some tool organizational features. lizzy went a a friend's house and got to play with GIRLS for a change. the boys helped me measure and cut their mattresses to size. then it took quite a geometry class to figure out how to position them so all three could see the stars under the skylight. (always learning, even on break.) now the loft at least is customized and ready for the road! we tried making

mon, march 22: aunt katie and uncle jim came for a visit so we got to show them the new home and spend time catching up. it was so nice to get to sit and talk with them! the kids even played them a song with lizzy singing, matt on drums, and josh on guitar. i was quite impressed myself as i usually don't listen very closely to their practicing. (okay, okay, i try to avoid it) but they did well! tues, mar 23: appt day, so lizzy and i headed to dayton, then did some shopping. not sure what the boys did, but probably bounced. that's what they all do night and day. anytime they have more than 3 minutes to kill we hear, "hey wanna bounce?" they love that trampoline! wed-fri, march 24-26: here's where it gets fuzzy for me! i started preparing for birthday week and the 24 hour chat at DSP so i worked nights and slept in the mornings. i'm not really sure what all the kids did with allen, but i'm grateful that they did whatever it was they did! i tell ya,

Here are the three winners from my post: DSP Pre-Birthday Giveaways - WIN FREE digital scrapbooking kits! Vintage Vicki, Antoinette, and Kathy Thompson Congrats ladies! I will email you shortly with your free digital scrapbooking page kit prize info! Thanks so much to all of you for the sweet comments and for helping us get the word out about the big week! Hope you enjoy it! This is one of the biggest events Digital Scrapbook Place hosts each year. The week long event is filled with games, chats, prizes, freebies, sales, challenges, and lots of F-U-N! The party starts TONIGHT, March 27th with a 24-hour chat and the partying continues throughout the week! HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE !

i'm not sure if i can choose just one favorite thing about women of faith. maybe the best thing is that it comes back every year! WOF is coming up in columbus in a month and i have a ticket! i had such an incredible time last year (and blogged about it here ), and can't wait for this year! of course i can't wait to spend time with my girlfriends. they're my support system and i love and need them dearly. WOF is very energizing and refreshing too. the speakers are relevant and real. the musicians make you want to sing and dance, even if you can't. singing with 17,000 other women is just amazing! and it was very fun to post and read on twitter and facebook about the happenings on the porch and behind the scenes, while it was all happening. i didn't find it distracting, but rather very immersing. i was fully involved with the speakers, singing, friends, strangers, it was just a rich experience. this year's theme is "over the top" and i'm qui

josh and allen are enjoying a very stress-and-fun-filled fantasy baseball draft tonight. it's weird enough to me when allen plays, but having my 10 year old drinking coffee and fretting over his fantasy picks is just strange. allen, a grown up playing a fantasy game is one thing, but josh, who lives in a fantasy world, pretending to be a grown up playing a fantasy game, i just can't compute. :) ah, but they're having a ball!

i'm sharing the recipe as requested of the white chicken chili. (we must now call it award-winning chili thanks to the oac cup! tho i think it was rigged, the other ones were great!) i first had this at erin thomas ' house and WOW! i believe i could drink this every night with dinner. :) the recipe is posted here if you want all the nutrition info. but really, i say ignore that and have a few bowls! i don't know if it's like regular chili, better the next day, cause we've never had leftovers. :) White Chicken Chili Ingredients (with my notes because i'm a lazy cook!) * 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (i used canned, easy) * 1 medium onion, chopped (i use frozen chopped, easy, no crying, always on hand) * 1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder * 1 tablespoon canola oil (i just use spray because the chicken's cooked) * 2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained (i never rinse) * 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chic

yes, we totally did weeks 27 & 28, i just didn't blog it. it was amazing. i think. or maybe it was spring break! yeah, that's it! mon, march 15 - thurs, march 18 : · all the usual. i didn't slack a bit. well, maybe a little. the kids have been spending a lot of time studying physics, specifically the law of inertia, and a bit of first aid. okay, yes, on the trampoline! · today it was so nice we did our work out there on the trampoline, yes, the dog too. · allen of course stuck to the spreadsheet . that never changes. that will never change. the drill sergeant's voice in his head won't let it. · we got back to the prairie primer, and i *love* to hear the kids begging for just one more chapter. they love little house! from the primer: reading, history, health, science, bible, character, obeying your parents (my favorite subject), authority, citizenship. . thanks to an unfair teacher (almanzo's sister), we've had some great lessons about obeying those

the kids asked for dessert tonight, and i'm pretty easily persuaded these days, so i whipped up some homemade donuts! i've gotten more lazy on these, even though they're *so* easy. i've gone from poking holes to make donuts, to rolling them into donut holes, to tearing the biscuits in half and throwing them, to just throwing them in. :) today i tore them in half so there would be more. :) donut recipe: - can of biscuits - oil - sugar fry biscuits in an inch of oil for a few minutes on each side then place on paper towel. dip in sugar. yeah, that easy!

we LOVE this apple crisp recipe i found on a fulltime RVer's blog. i'll summarize here, but he does share funny sleep-talking stories that i SO relate to. we have a sleep talker, a sleep walker, and a sleep yeller. good times. so far i've used butterscotch and custard pudding mixes, and they were great! vanilla is next. kinda wish i hadn't sold my apple-peeler-corer-slicer just yet! :) Butterscotch Apple Crisp Prep: 10 min. Cook: 5 hours Sliced apples are sprinkled with topping made with Oats, Brown Sugar, and Butterscotch Pudding mix, then cooked in a Crock Pot. 6 Cups sliced peeled tart apples (about 5 large) 3/4 Cup packed Brown Sugar 1/2 Cup All-Pupose Flour 1/2 Cup Quick-Cooking Oats 1 Package (3-1/2 ounces) cook-and-serve Butterscotch Pudding Mix (i used instant) 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon 1/2 Cup Butter Place apples in a 3-qt crock pot. In a large bowl, combine the Brown Sugar, Flour, Oats, Pudding Mix and Cinnamon. Cut in Butter until mixture resembles cours

thanks to allen, we're now ready to hang all 5 of our bikes (or matt!) on the back of the RV. :) next we'll hang one of the kayaks off the ladder, while the other goes in the basement in the front. this was much more fun for the kids than installing spice racks... scrapthemap

i love my family! yes, i'm 28, again. hey, it's a great age, why shouldn't i have chosen there to stop?! :) i love that even the kids humor me in my quest to stay young, although you'll notice the quotes on the cake. they're trying to do the math, but they haven't quite figured it out yet. for now, as always, i'm 28. and i have the cake to prove it! :) then allen took me on a date to the japanese steakhouse, yum! uncle ryan watched the kids and made french toasted peanut butter and jelly. yeah, dunno, but they loved it!

i can't stop baking bread! :) i love my bread maker, but since i got this book (a tip from a friend, thanks amie!) from the library about artisan bread in 5 minutes , i've been making it at least once a day (twice today!) it's so easy it's just amazing that it tastes good too. here's the recipe if you want to try it now! just mix (no kneading, no nothing) and leave (for hours, days, or weeks - we've only gotten as far as days), then pull some out, plop on a stone, and bake. really. i know! my bread never looks the same, which makes it kinda fun for us. twice i've forgotten to slash the top, which made for interesting results. yesterday's looked like a rock. if it didn't taste good, i was thinking it would be a good door stop (oh, but it was so good!). this morning instead of plopping it on a stone, i cut it in half and made two thin rolls - french baguettes. not quite like the ones i had in paris, but good. :) tonight, i tried using it as piz

this is one of my favorite wordart titles from a old scrapbook page (below). allen loves (and lives) the saying, so it fits. dunno, still pondering! :) scrapthemap

our blog got a much-needed update, although it's far from finished. i wanted something a bit easier to tweak and personalize. (hopefully i'll actually do that tweaking and personalizing one of these days). plus i wanted some brighter colors. i'm ready for spring! i've probably broken a few things, so let me know and i'll get to them. eventually. :)

we are grateful for our adventurous kids! when they're happy with one 11x11 INCH toy box each to take on the road, i know they know what's important! they have more fun climbing trees and playing with sticks anyway. :) but dolls, hotwheels, stuffed animals, littlest petshop, and of course a variety of guns & bows in case of war or indians... scrapthemap

PIMP MY RIDE! yeah, i said it. this white space is begging for wordart , and seeing how that's part of my job, it just needs it don't you think? i have some travel quote suggestions (below), but nothing's jumping out at me. i'd love suggestions and am still pondering the theme, whether it's life on the road full time, roadschooling, the DSP tour , or just travel in general. i think i'd like a quote (or design?), and a link at the bottom (whether it's DSP.me , digitalscrapbookplace.com , or unlocating.com , we'll see). soooo, how about you photoshoppers have at it? i'd love to see your suggestions! grab the image and customize my ride. maybe post in the DSP gallery and let me know in the forum ? pretty please?! :) A good traveler has no set plans and is not intent on arriving- Lao Tzu Find joy in your journey. -unknown To look, really look out upon the world as it is framed in the window of a moving vehicle is to become a child again. -Unknown