Delicious, but Sad

Some of our dearest and closest friends are moving to Michigan this week.  Boo.  Why do so many people we love live in Michigan?  That's the bad news.  Let's look on the bright side, shall we?  They will at least be living close to where our family lives so we can visit when we travel to the Big Mitten.  In other "let's focus on the positive, lest I break out in tears" news... we had a fun BBQ to say goodbye and I got to try out a few recipes I've had bookmarked for months.

Seriously delicious, and super easy Cookies and Cream cupcakes

So cute, and easier than plain old cupcakes... Cupcakes in a mason jar

It is so stinking hot outside (113 yesterday!!), I'm on the lookout for some cold treats, preferable healthy-ish.  Happy Weekend!

6.5

Buddy Boy is six and a half today.  He is precocious and insightful and curious and loving and generous and wild.  He plays strange games... like the one I'm overhearing right now:  he's checking Sweetpea's credit score before giving her a sticker.  He writes me like a bazillion love notes every day.  He loves adult food, but doesn't care for kid food very much.  He loves antique books, like his Pappy's old McGuffy Reader and Gentle Ben.  He gives open mouth kisses, not on purpose, they're just really wet.  I love this silly boy so much, I cannot imagine our family without him.  We love you Goof.

From The Crazies

Dear Daddy,

We wouldn't be the people we are 

today without you.

No really.  Thanks for impregnating Mom.

Happy Father's Day!

Mammaw's Postcards

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with my Mammaw (grandma) so she could go through all of her photo albums with me and tell me her stories.  She had some great ones.  I took my favorites from each album and put together one scrapbook of her "Life Story".  It was really fun to see her look at it, and more so... to see her whole family looking through it and sharing her stories.   It is so important to learn people's stories, and it is important for us to share our own with others.  I loved it.  

While going through her keepsakes, she gave me a huge stack of old postcards, most from the 1930's and 40's, that she and my Pappaw had sent each other.  They are amazing!  Those postcards sat in a closet for about a year before I thought of how I'd like to display them.  I wanted to be able to see their handwriting and messages on some, and on other's, I wanted to see the amazing nostalgia on the front.  The picture quality isn't great, as there is some serious glare, but you can get the idea at least.

I bough a huge frame for only about $10 from Ikea that came with a matte.  I just put them in a collage, with some facing up so I could see the picture, while others with sweet messages, I placed so I could read them.

My Pappaw was in the Navy, and was stationed in San Diego for a while before they were married.  Many of the postcards were sent while he was in basic training.

Other's were sent from New York City during the World's Fair in the 1930's from my Mammaw who was on a trip with her sorority sisters.

I love all of the colors, postmarks, and vintage feel of them all.  But mostly, I love having a keepsake of my grandparents to look at every day.  

How do you display family heirlooms and collectibles in a modern way?  I'd love for you to share an idea!

M.A.S.H.

I'm just going to go ahead and call you out, oh you 1980's girls who based their entire futures on a game of M.A.S.H.  Or... played until you got the outcome your heart so desired.

I was cleaning and purging this week, and found a whole stack of old journals.  I sat for a good two hours reading, laughing, wincing at my young dramatic inner dialogue.  Then I tossed them out.  Let the garbage man, or freak who may go through our recycling bin, have a good ol' laugh at my expense.  I found a little gem among the dribble... this long lost game of M.A.S.H. that really isn't that old at all.  The above games are from a plane ride with my friend Kellie on our way to Hawaii, circa June 2000.  I'll save you the trouble of doing the math:  we were way too old to play this game.  We'll just blame it on the boredom of the flight m'kay?

I would like to point out that for both of us... our M.A.S.H. fortunes came true, almost perfectly.  Funny thing?  I pretty much had just met Gary, but already had our entire futures planned out.  Thanks M.A.S.H!

Goofy Girl, Mean Mom

Sweetpea spent a good hour yesterday in nothing but her skivvies and her t-shirt, worn like this.  The funny part was that she acted as if it were totally normal, like nothing was amiss, and carried on playing.  I really couldn't help but laugh, and I asked her if I could take a picture.  She said no.  I did it anyway, which set the course for the following events...  she ran to hide in brother's room, I snapped away, she melted down.  Mean mom?  Probably.  But so funny.

Love for Haiti

Our family has a burden for Haiti.  Did you know Haiti, pre-earthquate Haiti, was the poorest country in the western hemisphere?  Post-earthquake, it is a mess.  At this time, I really have no words to express to you the ache in my heart for the people of Haiti, only the the compulsion to do something, anything, that would help the immediate physical needs of its people.  

Gary, at The Good Neighbor Orphanage in Port au Prince, March 2011

Lespinasse

Lespinasse

A group that I trust is raising funds to support The Harbor House, a ministry of Heartline Ministries.  The Harbor House is a place of love where teenage mothers come to live with their babies to learn how to love, to be patient and loving parents, to get an education, to get a job, and most importantly, experience the love of Christ on earth.  They are raising $15,000 that a gracious donor has agreed to match.  Please visit this blog post to learn more and to donate.  Even if you can only donate $1, or $5, or $10... it really adds up.  Please go read about it here, and I dare you not to care... not to be kept up at night.

Family Road Map

Have I mentioned my kids are quite crazy, hence the nickname "The Crazies"?  Well, they are.  Not so much the littlest Babycakes, but I'm sure she'll catch up.  Buddy Boy and Sweetpea, on the other hand, are really giving us a run for our money.  I'll admit that some nights I go to bed feeling like a pretty sucky mom.

As a teacher, I always planned my lessons with the end goal in mind.  That is, what I wanted my students to learn, so that each lesson got them closer and closer to the final skill to master.  Shouldn't parenting be just like that?  There are tons of characteristics we desperately want our children to possess... or NOT to possess!  So how do we get them there?  Gary and I have started working on our Family Road Map.  This tool has been wonderful for us in shaping and planning our family dynamics, to be more intentional about how we raise our children.  Sure, most families want their kids to be kind, generous, loving, patient, trustworthy... I guess I could go on, but what do we need to do each day as parents to instill these values?

I don't think I naturally possess wisdom in this area... the ability to think critically about just how to be intentional with my actions and daily interactions with my kids.  Sometimes it seems simple, but I don't want to just throw a bunch of good stuff out there and hope that it sticks, I want us to create a home culture that promotes these things.

This little workbook packs a BIG punch, in a little package.  It works like this:  the parents get to go on dates (!!!) to complete each section.  That way, the mom and dad get to be focused on the conversation and not distracted by the little ones or other household duties.  The conversations not only help you and your spouse shape how you want your family to be, we found that they also helped us draw closer to one another, which isn't that the point of spending quality time together on dates with your spouse all about?

I encourage you to get this book and start living in a way that will teach your kids what you want them to learn.  And although it would be totally cool if my opinion meant so much that I had been paid to do this endorsement, it isn't... and I didn't.  Gary and I just really appreciate this tool and know that other families will benefit as well.

Spring Into Summer Giveaway!

I like free stuff, and I really like winning awesome blog giveaways full of beautiful handmade goods.  Do you?  My friend Kari over at Adam's Blankie is hosting a huge Spring Into Summer giveaway with over $1000 worth of beauties are going to ONE lucky winner.  L'alfabeto is one of the sponsors, as well as The TomKat Studio (!!!), Purposed Life, and Christina Hendrick Photography, so go check it out now... and good luck!!!

{{{GO NOW...SERIOUSLY!}}}

Nine Years

I have absolutely no delusions about just how blessed I am to be married to this gem.  Last week we celebrated nine years of marriage.  In true Krull Romantic Style, we ate at our favorite place in downtown Tempe, purused the local bookstore, dessert, and then capped off the night by strolling the aisles of Target together to pick up diapers.  To be fair, it was a Target Greatland, which made it extra special.  Seriously, I could shop for diapers and still have fun with Gary.  For our tenth, we'll be somewhere really really special, I know it.

2012 is going to be a big year for us as a family, and I am so excited to share it with my favorite person on earth.  

World Record, maybe

The success of Krulls' Organic Farm was mediocre at best.  We had some modest success with carrots and broccoli, but that is about it.  I wish we could grow a whole field full of broccoli.  The family actually fought over it.  Fresh broccoli is probably my most favorite healthy food ever.  It was totally dee-lish.  

Yesterday, our friend brought us this record setter from their garden.  This freak of nature is a zucchini, and the biggest one I've seen, ever.  This city girl is totally impressed.  I remember as a kid seeing those strangely shaped pumpkins, as big as a small car, with the proud farmer posing next to it at some midwestern county fair on the news.  It just seemed absurd, like they were using some sort of magic vegetable steroid growth serum.  I didn't know it could actually happen in nature.  I can't wait to eat this baby tonight.

My favorite way to prepare zucchini is to chop it up into bite sized pieces, toss with olive oil, thyme, and a little sea salt and pepper, and some thin slices of a Vidalia onion, then bake at 425 for about 12-15 minutes.  So so tasty.  I've been known to make a meal of it.  Happy harvesting :)

Someday I'll Get it Together

So you may instantly realize this post is void of pictures.  There's a logical, if not good, reason for that.  I can't find the cord to the camera.  If I could post a picture, it would be one of my totally chaotic house... we're talking crumbs on the kitchen counter from two days ago, kids' dirty clothes strewn about as they undressed on their way to their rooms, the stroller completely open from our indoors walk during grouchy hour yesterday, and a whirlwind of toys in every. single. room.  Bathrooms and all.  It seems that I never fully recovered from our vacation two weeks ago and I'm still totally lazy.  So, in honor of a new week, today I commit to cleaning the kitchen and putting my sewing machine away.  Baby steps, people.  Plus, I'll get a whole mess of snuggle time with the babe while the big kids are at church every morning this week.  Yahoo!