Brain Break Needed!

A lot has changed since last I blogged. I was reassigned to another school, then to another class within that school. I am the assistant to a pilot program at my school. We are a bi-literacy class, focused on teaching the kids to read and write in both English and Spanish. Some of these kids are picking up on things so quickly! It's helping my own Spanish-speaking skills! The teacher I'm assigned to is absolutely wonderful! We laugh daily, and always find lots to talk about. She is all about the kids, and comes in almost every weekend to plan for them. Because of this, and at the urging of our lead teacher, I have decided to take the exam to become certified in Elementary Education. Never in a million years did I ever think I'd go in this direction!

On the homefront, Kiersten has moved schools to be with me, and Nolan is now in an in-home daycare. We absolutely love Mrs. Sandy! She's quickly become a friend, and we could talk for hours, if we didn't have our families to feed! 

Richard is still plugging away at Givens. His residents love him to pieces, and he has a brand new boss, who is much more approachable and amenable than the last. 

Kiersten had a blast at her birthday party. Nolan seems to be growing by the day. 

I hope to get back to experimenting in the kitchen soon, and to blogging on my LusLoft blog soon. Apple season is an inspiring one! I have lots pinned, including Richard's requested dessert, so be on the lookout for that next month, for certain!

A collage of our family photo shoot back in June!

My "Why" (a Thirty-One rumination)

I do a lot of thinking late at night. It's my only truly uninterrupted quiet time. During the last few, hard, trying years, I have prayed, reflected, and struggled with my faith. There have been some truly dark nights when I just broke down and wondered where God was. I felt like a fraud going to church when my spirit had been waning. Then a miraculous thing happened. I got a job. 

How is that miraculous? Especially since it wasn't a full-blown teaching job, but an assistant job that pays a little over half of what I made as a teacher? Well, for the first time EVER in my entire career, I felt like I found a home at a school. And it gave me the courage to just consider, for the first time, becoming a Thirty-One consultant. I had thought about it so much, and came close many times. Back in February I was very seriously considering it, and even spoke with Richard about it, making sure he was on board, seeing as I would need to shell out money for the start-up kit. We were set to go when a co-worker announced she had just become a consultant. Well, since I was a newbie at the school, and she'd been there a while, I decided to wait. I was on her first order. And her second. I absolutely adore the products. I have a long wishlist of items I would like to eventually acquire. So, earlier this month, when she sent out an email about becoming a consultant under her sponsorship, I decided that it was time. I immediately signed up, THEN did my research (backward thinking, I know). Well, I was not disappointed. I learned that the company is faith-based. There are literally THOUSANDS of women who are part of this dynamic company who are fully in faith. I'm sure there are a few who aren't, but the company was actually based on, and derives its name from, Proverbs 31, about the virtuous wife (woman). This pic shows the basic gist of the scripture:

When I started Googling the origins of the company name, I thought, "Surely these women are just speculating." Nope. Cindy Monroe really did start her company with the idea of empowering women so that they could provide for their families, or at least enhance their income. This is much more than just a story of faith. It's a story of empowerment. Even non-believers can get behind this. Her story is here: http://www.capital-style.com/content/roundup-story/2013/11/virtuous-success.html.

My director is currently at the National Conference in the company's HQ town of Columbus, Ohio. While she was away, she gave us a challenge that included making a "Why" bag. This was to include items that we could take to our parties to tell why we are Thirty-One consultants. This took more soul-searching than I thought it would. I wrote so many lists, with so many lengthy descriptions. Finally, I came down to my 5. I'm going to put them here, in reverse order.

5. Yarn: I have an Etsy shop (if you follow this blog or came here from FB, you probably know about it already). Obviously I can use a Thirty-One bag to carry and organize all my yarn and finished products. However, both of my businesses can help grow the other. I can use money made from Thirty-One to buy more yarn and craft supplies, and my Etsy income can help buy more business supplies to keep myself well-stocked for parties. It's a win-win! (Check it out: www.etsy.com/shop/lusloft)

4. Whisk: I have an ultimate goal to go to pastry school. More storage needs for my Thirty-One totes! LOL Seriously, though, I'm hoping to save enough eventually to pay for pastry school at AB Tech. After taking classes at Dough, I've gotten the baking itch!

3. My first Henderson County ID badge. It was my WHHS AP who gave me my job at CCES, and it was the first school that led me to the belief that Henderson County is where I belong in my career. It also led to my becoming a consultant!

2. My Thermal Tote. My first-ever Thirty-One purchase. After many years of uses, it's what led me to truly believe in the company and its products. 

1. A picture of my family. Any income generated will directly affect them. I hope to be able to supplement our income enough to be able to just go out to dinner somewhere that doesn't include a plastic tray without breaking the bank. I'd love to take them to DisneyWorld or Busch Gardens, even some of the places around here that charge admission, like the Biltmore Estate. I'd love to be able to provide my children with all of the cultural experiences our area has to offer, then take them off to explore the country.  I want to be able to just buy them something without checking the bank account first. And I want to buy them things at times other than birthdays and holidays. I want that financial freedom. The freedom from having to depend on our parents for the basics like clothing for the kids, or even ourselves. 

So, when you see me plugging away, asking for hosts or orders for Thirty-One parties, don't be too quick to scroll  past my posts and write me off as someone else who wants your money. I'm just looking to make my corner of the world a little brighter.

If you want to check out what we have, please follow this link: https://www.mythirtyone.com/lauraprovine.

If you are interested in becoming a Thirty-One consultant yourself, please let me know!!! 

Time to decompress

I love my kids. I honestly do. But staying home 24/7 can be an energy drain, as I'm sure many stay-at-home moms know. There's no time off, and vacations mean taking your work with you. But the rewards are endless. While my kids can fight like siblings do, they also have moments of pure fun. I was fortunate enough to catch them on camera a few days ago.

Kiersten is putting a ribbon hair tie ON Nolan's head,
which he then proceeds to shake off. This results in
uproarious laughter from them both. It's a contagious
laughter. I'm still grinning thinking about it.

Kiersten was invited to spend the weekend in south Georgia to celebrate her cousin's birthday, and to continue celebrating her own. With her out of town, Richard's mom asked to keep Nolan that Friday night until the next Saturday, bringing him back after his nap. Tiwsh my arm some more, why don't you? 

Friday night we enjoyed a home-cooked dinner of the coffee-rubbed steak I'd made a couple of weeks ago, this time using ribeye steaks. We had a slow Saturday morning, and Richard made bacon & egg "artisan" sandwiches on our 3-cheese garlic bread from a local bakery. Then we headed out to Hickory Nut Gap Farm. This place sources meat to over 30 local restaurants, including Tupelo Honey, where we had brunch for Kiersten's birthday weekend. Richard drools over the sausage, so we decided to go to the source. There's now a little pouch of it in our freezer. Hubby is pleased. 

After HNGF, we headed to Biltmore Village. I was in search of a large coffee mug, and we were hoping to find one locally made. We went to the newly-opened Southern Highlands Craft Gallery and the New Morning Gallery. I found several, and got some great gift ideas, but no mug really struck me as something I absolutely had to have. So we moved on. 

By then it was nearly 2, and we realized we were getting pretty hungry, so we made the decision to go ahead and eat in the Village, at The Cantina. It was fortunate for us, because this weekend kicked off the Village's Restaurant Week. Diners get 2 meals for $30, including appetizer, entree and dessert. Most of the restaurants there are upscale, so this is a wonderful deal. Our chosen appetizer was the Ultimate Queso Dip, and for dessert we ordered the Mexican torte. Our entrees are in the pic below.

Richard enjoyed a pork carnitas burrito,
and I, for the first time ever, had a burrito,
too! Mine was the Loco Chicken.

We took our dessert home because we were pretty full by that time. We had it later with some Pumpkin Spice/Espresso roast French pressed. Once Nolan came back home, I felt so mellow I couldn't believe it. I even was able to handle his exuberant running and jumping back and forth on the porch, and was energized enough to bake! So, my mom stress meter has been reset, and I'm ready to tackle another week of mommyhood. We're waiting on Kiersten's return, when the noise level kicks into high gear until they both get to bed. Bring it on, kids!

The only time his off switch works
is when he's sleeping.

Celebrating the life I helped create.

I started to tell my road-to-motherhood story, then realized it's pretty long and a bit sad. So, I'm just going to post here about how we celebrated our first miracle baby last week. 

Kiersten is at an age where she can anticipate things more. Nolan is still a toddler, meaning his world is all about the present, with impatience being his key trait. Kiersten gets excited about what's to come. So this birthday week was all about surprises for her. She called them her little "clues." 

We began the week at Nana & Papa's house for a little break for the Labor Day weekend. They weren't there, so it was truly like a "just us" type of vacation. Even if it was just for two days and one night. When we got home on Monday, she got to put up the family balloon birthday wreath.

That's her bike helmet..she was about to ride her scooter
when we caught her to put up the wreath.

On Tuesday I hung the zebra print lanterns I purchased at Party City. Two onto the chandelier over the dining table, and one just outside the door to her room. 

Wednesday I made rolled sugar cookies that Kiersten helped cut with castle and crown cutters. I iced them rather sloppily, but no one seemed to care.

On Thursday I began my craft project. It was acrylic paints on canvas, so I knew I had to give myself time for it to dry before painting on the song lyrics. That night I made sticky buns for her to have at breakfast. Richard blew up the zebra print balloons I was going to use the next day.

Friday was her birthday. She woke up to sticky buns and a new shirt. I surprised her by going to her school to have lunch with her, loaded with Panera for her (and Nolan and me) and Hello Kitty cupcakes for the kids in her class. Still mad at myself for forgetting my phone in the car. I have no pics of her at school. 

Oops - fingers on the lens!

When she got home, she was surprised by a mylar balloon on the newspaper box, latex balloons tied to the porch rails and a birthday banner on the outside of her bedroom window. She also got to hear the happy birthday song sung over the Voxer app from both Abi and her uncle Andrew (all the way from Japan!). Later she got to go out to dinner with all of us (Abi's treat), and we came back for cake and presents.

She even got a crown at school!

On Saturday we took her to the mall, where she got to go to Build-a-Bear. She chose a koala that she named Sofia (the second). Nolan even got to kiss a heart to put in it, so Sofia has twice the love! Afterwards, we finally took her to JUMP!, something she begs to do every time she goes to the mall. 

"I'm usually afraid of heights, but I wasn't
this time. It was SO much fun!"

From there we went home so I could make her birthday dinner of bacon-wrapped chicken, corn on the cob, and sweet potato fries. She declared this to be the "best birthday ever!" Thank goodness, because I had been fretting over not being able to give her a kid-filled birthday party. It's hard when she has her birthday at the beginning of the school year, especially when it's her first year there. We're hoping we won't have to move for work next year, and she'll have made lots of friends at her school. 

Happy birthday, Princess.

For more about what I baked, and for my craft project, check out my other blog. 

"Time keeps on tickin', tickin', tickin'...."

Yes, I tend to speak in song lyrics & movie quotes. My brother and I have made it a language that drives our mom & my husband bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S (sorry)

This week I felt a little older as my firstborn began kindergarten. When I was pregnant with her, I had this vision of her daddy carrying her to her room after one of our day trips to Myrtle Beach. Fast-forward 6 years, and we've moved about 300 miles away, and our day trips are to Lake Bowen to see Nana & Papa. She's too big to need to be carried in from the car, thank you very much. She's intelligent, imaginative, creative, and fiercely independent. At the moment, she wants to be a builder of some sort. Not an architect, not a supervisor, but a hands-on builder. As the years go, it will be interesting to see how often she changes her mind.

It's Springtime! Or is it?

The weather is toying with us. We were excited when we had warm weather for Easter here in Asheville. We normally have to bundle up! The whole weekend was nice, and we were able to wear light clothing.
Here we are, taking our annual Easter pic in front of the cross at CUMC.


THEN, when the weather is normally starting to warm up, we're having freeze warnings! We had to wear layers to this year's Spring Festival. Last year Kiersten, Nolan & I were sleeveless! The wind was brutal and chilling. But Nolan found some eggs and actually put some of them in the basket without prompting. Mostly, though, I had to take them from him. He had a blast, as did Kiersten. As always, she didn't want to leave.



This weekend we're having a shindig to bid farewell to Andrew, who is going off to Navy basic training on May 1st. I have a feeling there will be lots of tears flowing within this next week! We're all very proud of this giant step he's taking, and send many prayers with him to Illinois.

And we're mobile!

Nolan has finally decided that traveling with his feet satisfies his curiosities much better than crawling on all fours! He's getting better with each day, though he still looks like he's gotten into the liquor stash. :-) He's understanding more and more, and is becoming even more vocal. He's responding to directions, which makes things so much easier!

Kiersten is also becoming quite "grown". I sometimes forget that she has the limitations of a 4-year-old, because we have some interesting conversations. She's as hyper as ever, and constantly makes up new songs, dances and games. She has imaginary "racing friends" that come over almost daily. Sometimes they have to be told to go home if they're making her too wild. We're hoping to have her in preschool next year, which we expect will get her focused and maybe will get those wiggles out!

Richard and I are still looking for teaching jobs. I can't wait till I'm not dependent on the whims of the government for assistance. They've voted to extend benefits for unemployment, but mine was coming to an end soon anyway. I cannot believe it has been nearly 2 years since I've taught. It's going to make it hard to get a job, and principals will most likely start to wonder why I've not found one. Richard is enjoying his job as a chauffeur at Givens Estates. It doesn't pay him nearly what he's worth, or the work he does. But the residents and his coworkers love him. We visit him on occasion to have a VERY brief lunch or just to say hello to him and maybe Susan, if she's on campus.

Mom is living away from us - 4 hours! - so we don't see her as often. We're going to visit this weekend. Kiersten is super excited to see her Abi. And I know she can't wait to see her grand babies.

We're so ready for Spring, or at least the warm weather, so we can venture out of the house without being weighed down by our coats! There are so many great parks in the area, and my goal is to visit each one in the county at least once! That may be a theme for the spring & summer.