breaking the silence

I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief now. A few weeks ago a posted about some pending changes, but did not have the freedom to share with the public. Well, I can now speak a little more freely, and I figure those who know me best or want to know me best read my blog in addition to my facebook status, so I'm posting here first. Many of you know this already.

Hubby has a pending job offer in another city, about 4 hours away from our current home. The process has begun moving, and we expect to hear his start date soon. So, while anticipating this info, we put our house on the market almost 3 weeks ago. It was a bit of a step of faith, but in this market we felt it would be the wise choice. So far we've had 4 showings, by different realtors and 1 set of offers/counter offers which we are praying will become a sale.

The process has been arduous. If you have followed my wandering thoughts for any length of time, or know me somewhat well, I am slightly organizationally challenged in some ways and VERY organizationally challenged, or undisciplined, in others... especially housekeeping. Hubby has been a HUGE help in motivating me, my sister kept the kids for a couple of days, and voila! we got the house into a showable state.

I don't have cable, therefore I don't watch those staging shows. Let me tell you, I think it's a load of manure. Yes, that's harsh. I think a reasonable person will be able to look past a little bit of personalization and perhaps some clutter. To expect people to "stage" their home like a TV set is ridiculous.

HOWEVER, the normal state of my home involves toys and laundry scattered or piled about, mail all over the kitchen clounter, dishes may or may not be caught up, floor might or might not be swept, bathrooms may or may not be clean, and nothing is ever spotless unless I find a place to stash things in a hurry. I inherited a pack rat gene. Given the choice, I would rather play with my flowers than tend my home. (Unless it's 100+degrees, as it is now with the heat index). Eden might have been a good home for me, but then I would have been Eve... I hope I'm not too much like her. Anyway, I've been finding that state of balance, and although it may not be perfect, my house is a home, and that is clear to potential buyers... minus some of the habitual messes of the past.

I have a range of emotions going through my heart and mind. Relief and joy because we have prayed for God to open a door, and there's finally now a good bit more than a crack after many slammed shut. A bit of fear of the unknown combined with anticipation of a great adventure. Sadness in thinking of family and friends from whom we'll be further separated. God-given faith knowing that He has provided for us in so many ways and is our Jehovah Jireh.

And then there's the idea of finding a new church home... again. How hard will it be to find another place where the Gospel is preached and it's okay to struggle to live it out in our lives? Where it's okay that His sanctification feels like a mystery at times in our lives, that we may change but God Himself does not... His Word does not, His grace is far more than that silly acronym "God's Riches At Christ's Expense" that I've heard in sermons far too many times.... why I roll my eyes at that acronym is a whole post in itself.

Some of my walls have just begun coming down with some of these friends, and now to start the process of finding a church family over. I hate the process of "life goes on", the one in which miles separate you and the walls come back up as the distance divides. If it seems like I've pushed people away or just not let them see my heart during this process, I probably have. I am thankful for those who have tried not to let those walls grow again... you know who you are.

I am comforted by the facts that our destination will bring me closer to a cousin who I've come to know over the past few years, some friends I've met online who have become an extended part of my family in Christ, and that new seasons bring new fruit.

I may come and go on here for a while... my absence should mean I am busy with life, my family, and hopefully not too busy on Facebook and Farm Town, though I do enjoy them. The process of preparing my home for change has also included a bit of refocusing of my own, something the never ends.

almost home

the kids, tech mom and i finally pulled in from our long drive home from wisconsin. it turns out that hubby has some work assignments here in the "town" where we first met, so we'll be here for a couple of days at the least, perhaps until friday.

my head is spinning. i keep telling myself that i will stop typing without caps, but today is not the day. yes, i have a college degree. i know how to use punctuation, but for some reason i prefer the stream-of-consciousness-take-it-or-leave-it method of posting.

we had a good trip. parts were hard. it's never easy to watch a grandparent's age begin to catch up with her, but in the midst of her pain i was still amazed by how much better she is doing than some of her friends. having just a few of us there instead of the whole family was a change. we missed everyone who normally treks up there with us, yet it was the right arrangement to keep gramma from being so overwhelmed. of course, we didn't see everyone we would have liked to, but the connections made were wonderful. we even spent some time with one of hubby and caslon's friends from years back, who is also one of my newer blogging friends. it was so nice of her and her mom to host us for lunch on friday, and our kids also had fun getting to know eachother... except for some sharing issues. ;)

after 15 hours in the car/on the road, i'm not thinking very clearly. the kids are ecstatic to be reunited with their daddy, tackling him in the big red armchair and giggling with glee.

oh, and while some of our friends and relatives in the great cheese state have modern conveniences, gramma's valley does not have much tv, cell phone, or any internet access. she still thinks her original model electric wringer in the cellar is sufficient for doing the wash, and that shower head in the bathroom still doesn't work, so tub baths were had by all.

but, in spite of the inconveniences the week at gramma's was filled with love and that's what matters.

to post or not to post?

I think I've posted pictures of my glads, asiatic lilies, and callas for the past 2 years. Well, they are back, taller than ever, or in the case of the callas, thicker than ever. My stargazers that I bought really cheap at wal-mart last year are also on their way.

I love bulbs and all plants similar. Especially summer-blooming ones so far, because just when it's getting hot enough that I don't really feel like planting new things to withstand the heat, they come back and tell me that past years' efforts were worth the investment of time. One of my asiatic lily stalks has over TEN buds on it!!!!! I have a feeling I'll be staking that one back!

My camera is downstairs, so I'm not posting the pics right now, but I am wide awake after falling asleep with my little girl at bedtime... and waking up right at 11:30.

Should I post pics of the same types of flowers you've seen on here in years past?

a different kind of censorship

I don't work in the music industry, but I know a few people who do. There's a fairly well known artist who I got on e-mail list for a while back. Since going solo, his work has become more original and thought-provoking and less like the typical Top 20 CCM countdown material. Apparently, his record label doesn't like a song he wants to put on his album and is delaying the release.

I don't know the content of the song, but the e-mail I received got me thinking. Do record-label contracts really give them the right to completely deny an artist's choice of sharing his work with his listeners? Do they care about artistic integrity and spreading worthwhile messages from the hearts of the people they have selected to represent them, or do they manipulate those artists into fitting into a mold of some type, eventually destroying their unique identity and work, or at least damaging it?

Then again, for all I know maybe the content is shocking enough that I would think twice about buying the album... I am only speculating and don't know both sides of the story. But how much sugar-coating of the gospel do we really need in our music/art? When the message becomes a little messy or controversial, do we hide it in order to protect the sterile holiness that forgets what we are saved from by Christ's blood and resurrection? Is the motive behind the labels' discretion that of maintaining their own sense of "integrity" or the bottom line in the account?

Christians are quick to condemn the mainstream media for censoring viewpoints, but it also seems that censorship is present if not prevalent among the "Christian" media industry.
So much for authenticity....

in a funk

I'm thinking of turning off the comments on this post so I can just whine, but I don't really want to just whine some more on my blog right now. However, I can't think of anything to post, either. Well, I can, but I can't post everything publicly and am not good at disguising the real plot in a made up plot.

Mother's Day was nice. Hubby and the kids got me a sweet gift and card. And now he's out of town for work and I am in a funk. Again. Come to think of it, meds only work if you take them. When's the last time I took mine? hmmm....

Tackle It Tuesday


I took a break yesterday. I did deliver a couple of orders from the bag show I had a while back, and the kids and I hit Publix to get food for supper. I made hubby broiled shrimp in lemon-butter, rice, and sauteed peppers, onion, and mushrooms with a bit of Worcestshire in them for his belated birthday homemade dinner. His parents treated us to Famous Dave's on his actual birthday.
Anyway, since it IS Tuesday, and since I happen to have things I need to do around here, I decided to make a list of things I need to do this week and share it.

To do this week:
Purple=Done
Yellow= In progress


(My list was interrupted by a tickle-tackle from my kids. Buddy conveniently fell while trying to stand up. When I went to help him, he and Bear tackled me.)

• schedule appts.
• clean bathrooms
• laundry- wash/dry/put away
• clean off top of dresser
• plant acidanthera bulbs
• wash floors
• clean out fridge
• change sheets
• wash doors
• wash windows
• sort/purge toys- give some away, decide which ones the kids actually use and organize them
• clean off desk
• organize inside and around desk
• empty/reload dishwasher
  

to be continued.....

What rose are you today?

a sunny, yellow gold glow with a double bloom

a romantic, mysterious lavender hued "blue girl" with a sweet fragrance

bouquet of gold glows who had a little too much drink

My favorite of the 3 is the blue girl today.
But I feel more like the last pic, though I am probably closer to dehydration than water-log.
What color rose are you today? One of these or a different variety?

change

Change is often good, but rarely easy. I suppose there are people whose temperament requires them to live in a constant state of change. I'm not one of those. While I do enjoy experiencing new places, cultures, meeting new people, etc.... in spite all my talk on the blog, old habits are hard to break.

But sometimes life necessitates change. Life would, in fact, be boring without it. That still doesn't make it easy.

This weekend, we have had lots of help preparing for some potentially big changes in our lives. That's not easy for this procrastinaholic.

I have a lazy streak. I'm not sure where it came from, as both of my parents work hard. Not always efficiently, but steadily. Several years ago, while my Dad was on sick leave and on IV antibiotics with a nurse coming in to check on him, he built a hutch for the top of a chest of drawers. Dad attempted to build a boat... it got damaged in our move halfway across the country, and never floated, but we built it. Well, he built it. Mom calls herself a one-at-atime person, but she does her best, and tried to teach me to do my best.

After a week of Spring Cleaning, I am exhausted. My kids are relatively "easy" kids... they are sweet, fun, and often as patient as one could expect a 3 1/2 year old and 8 month old to be. I am SOOO thankful for the help we had this weekend, because one of us was always able to continue tackling a project or sit down with a little.

So what am I doing as hubby is quickly filling up the storage closet and going through piles of stuff? Procrastinating, I guess is the politically correct term. He could at least take a break on his birthday!!!

Tackle It Tuesday, weekend edition

It's been a while since I posted anything substantial for Tackle It Tuesday. Well, I'm so excited about the progress we made this weekend, that I cannot wait until Tuesday to post.

First, hubby posted some pics of some things we needed to sell on Craigslist:

SOLD!!!!

STILL AVAILABLE
I think a scammer tried to bait me with this post but I did not respond. This couch has a slipcover on it and a chair that matches what's underneath. I like to refer to THAT pattern is psychedelic candy-cane striped.

SOLD!!
(I TOLD hubby we should have posted it for more. Tech Mom made the slipcover and Dad made the frame. It has been through the entire family....
Alas, it has a new home because we are trying to make space.)

There are a couple of boy things, too...
a sub woofer and something I forgot the name of but goes with stereo stuff. Capacitor, maybe?

Next, we began the arduous process of going through our dressers and closets. It hasn't been done to this extent since, well, I'm almost too ashamed to say, but my pride at our progress overshadows the shame: since we moved in almost 6 years ago.

My side, the miracle. Hubby's is normally fairly neat, except for shoes sprawled all over

the floor- haven't seen that in a while

the donation pile and trash box

Hubby also took a few boxes of junk to some open dumpsters in the area.

I HAVE to thank our friends Ruth and Paul and their brother who works at chick-fil-a for the boxes! They collected them for my parents, but Dad made me take some, too.
They are coming in handy.

So the tackling has begun. And I can actually check a couple of things off the list!

Making a list, checking it thrice...

Not the Christmas list, but the "get house in order for the first time since we moved in" list. Ugh.
But my little Sis is right, checklists are good. And there is so much to do, I don't know how my friends with many kids do it. Part of me wants more kids someday, but I can't keep up with just 2. That's my rationale for not getting a pet yet, too.

So I listed 3 rooms and still have a TON left to jot down.

****
I LOVE my mystery irises. They are purple and periwinkley/lavenderish.

sigh

I'm resigning myself to the fact that the lower half of my body may never be in the single digit sizes again. I just tried on my size 8 shorts, and there is no way they are going to fit this year. Anyone want them? So to goodwill or somewhere else they go. After being stretched by two babies, my hips/thighs say, "you've got to be dreaming."

Hubby's trying to get me motivated to purge/really tackle the house. I know I would feel good about accomplishing something... but I would rather play. Oh, wait, I'm supposed to be an adult here. ok, going to help hub...

Praying for Stellan...

Good morning!

I'm up early, no particular reason. Buddy has been asleep since 11:30 or so, and other than a few squeaks and rolls, no noise comes through his monitor. Hubby is home, so I can't blame insomnia on missing him for once.

I'm excited about my irises. They're going to be purple! :) A friend gave them to me last Spring, but it was too late for them to take root and bloom, so I've anticipated seeing which shade of our state's flower would turn up around our mailbox. I also can't wait to see my roses in bloom again. Each bush has at last 7 buds on it already! After all, it's the simple things in life.... (Just for kicks, you can fill in the blank in the comments to complete this thought for me.)

I think I'll be digging out my (failed) Finding Focus Project from a couple of years ago and modify it to get myself into organizational gear. I don't have a choice. I must.

A couple of people have wondered how the babywearing's gone. I have to confess, not as well as I'd like, but it's not a disaster, either. I've started slinging Buddy into Bear's gymnastics class... that infant carrier is too darn heavy with his 17-ish pounds, and I can't take the stroller up the steps to the observation area. I don't wear him many places, but the slings have come in handy. I keep one in the car at all times "just in case."

The Wii said I was 46 last night, after 3 days off. Oops. Weight-wise, I have about 7 more pounds to go to get to my "ideal" weight. The whole 5K thing hasn't happened yet... nor has the training. But I refuse to say it won't ever.

Playing in the dirt.....


I might make a flower bed around the whole bay window before summer comes.
"blue girl" rose bush and spot where I planted an echinacea root.

same bush, last year:

.... and then there's the begininning of my butterfly slope... look carefully to find the butterfly bush in the distance.

gold-glow rose bush surrounded by glads and daffodils
same bush, last year:

mystery irises from Katrin, planted last Spring, waiting on first blooms

pink columbine & irises

GARDENING LINKS TO PERUSE
(reposted from last year...in case anyone is interested!)

General Gardening Tips:

• Univ. of Arkansas: Planning, Preparing & Planting a Vegetable Garden
• The Helpful Gardener
• Doug Green's Beginner Gardening
• USA Gardener
  

Coffee Grounds as natural fertilizer (add nitrogen to the soil)
Coffee Grounds as a planting medium


Non-Toxic Weed Killers:

• 7 Deadly homemade weed killers
• Weed killer recipes from a country life
  I was toying with the idea of using vinegar to kill the grass and weeds in my garden patch... but another sources says it will sterilize the soil... so that doesn't sound like a great plan...

Veggies & Fruits:

• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Green Beans
• Cucumbers
• Squash
• Cantaloupe

Flowers:

• Roses: what to plant near them
• Roses: how to care for them
• Roses: how to prune
• Maiden Pink (dianthus)
• Bulbs
• Calla Lilies
• Calla Lilies-link
  
• Columbine
• Clematis
• Acidanthera
  
• Gladiola
• Lilies
• Mums
• Stargazer lilies
  

Pest Control:

• Insect-Deterrent Herbs
• Garden Pest Management Info from Garden-guides
• Moles & Birds
• Deer & Rabbits

Raised-Bed Gardens
(disclaimer: I am not sure we're motivated enough to build one of these, but I'm including the links because the idea fascinates me.)

• OK State Article
• HGTV info (thanks to Sara W. for this link!)

Butterfly & Hummingbird Gardening

• New Jersey Audobon Society
  

• Birds-n-garden

Original post 3/22/08

sleepless in Nashville

Yep, that's me. I slept a good solid 3-4 hours before Buddy awoke from his sleep for a 3 a.m. diaper change and bottle. I'm glad I appreciated his big sister's sleeping through the night when I had the chance, because he is not so consistent so far. After 30 minutes of tossing and turning, I came upstairs. I turned the monitor on only to hear him crying in stereo... so now he isrocking in his swing, finally asleep, while I am still sleepless. I love the swing that was a hand-me-down from his older cousins. It reclines, so his neck does not roll forward. He seems to like it, too.

Yesterday was warm enough to go outside and enjoy the beautiful sunshine. Bear helped me plant echinacea roots, shasta daisy seeds, and my butterfly bush. And some cherry tomato plants. The last 2 were gifts from Tech Mom and Dad. Thankfully, they did not die in the last week. Now to keep them alive outside.

My hill is still a far cry away from being my butterfly garden, but it's nice to have things growing on it. The forsythia and creeping phlox are doing well, and the butterfly bush is about 15 feet back, 3 feet up from the wall... just down the hill from the water spicket. It's by itself right now, but I figure since its from a fast-growing family in full sun, it won't be long before it expands. I planted some of the echinacea (coneflowers- pinkish purple-daisies) between the forsythia and the phlox, so that when the phlox blossoms fade, there might be some color popping out of the slope. 4 roots were $5 at the superstore, so I planted one up next to the patio and bay window, one by the mailbox, and two above the phlox (aka thrift, here in the South). I also planted a couple of gladiola bulbs that I had pulled up last fall and did not give away... this should extend the bloom time of my firecracker red glads a bit.

Oh, when I dropped my hostess packet/order back off at gina's, I was pleased to see that contrary to her belief that she has a brown thumb, she has not killed her day lillies, hosta, OR her calla lillies which I transplanted from my flowerbed last May. My callas are not directly under the gutter spout like hers are, so they are not poking through quite as tall yet. Anyway, it's always nice when perennials are in fact perennials.

If you have ever wondered if you should by the $20 rose bushes from the catalogs or fancy nursery, my answer is "no." Wal-mart has them for $6. They might not be as big, but give them a year or so of TLC, and nobody will know the difference. By TLC I mean pruning them back every so often to encourage bushing versus growing a few long straggly stems with leaves just at the top. If you cut some to enjoy inside during the summer, you save your hubby money at the florist or wherever he gets flowers for you (or you get them for yourself), and you naturally tend your rose bushes a bit better. I plan to swing by my local coffee shop for a fresh batch of grounds for gardeners (free used coffee grounds) soon. Last year I put the bag in the basket of our stroller and pushed it uphill... that's not gonna happen this year with both kiddos on the stroller. Buddy weighs a lot more now than he did last April in my belly.

Hubby is off today, and I am trying to convince him that it's worth attempting to take the whole family to the free Sara Groves concert at our church tonight. Well, he's sleeping at the moment. Our church has monitors in the hallway, so even if we have to leave the auditorium, we might still be able to enjoy the show. I suppose I should find a babysitter. But I don't want anyone to see my house in it's normal state, and that would mean I have to clean up for the babysitter. What a travesty. anyway, if you live near Franklin, TN and need something to do, tonight is a great chance to get out for some inspiring and worshipful music!

life is a roller coaster

I don't have time to full elaborate, but yesterday was perhaps my worst shopping experience ever. The worst part is that I should have known better, but I was determined to go find something for Buddy to wear on Easter. (As if the clothes are what it's about anyway?!? He's 9 months old. I have had a dress for Bear for a while.)

Last night was mostly sleepless, because Bear is sick with a tummy bug that won't let go, to the point that my husband took a sick day today because she is so needy. If he is also concerned about my mental well being, he hasn't indicated, but I am thankful to have him home, it has been a sanity saver... and he is taking Bear back to the doc for the 2nd time in as many days, thankfully I won't have to hold my screaming daughter for another blood draw.


We're supposed to go away for the weekend, and it all hinges on one thing... will our little Bear get better?

Whoever initially said that having a child is like having your heart walk around outside your body was pretty accurate.

I haven't exercised in 2 days... my body misses it. But there are still hills of laundry to wash and fold...

:)

Have you ever scheduled a home show or party for a home-based business and wondered if it would be worth it? I have. As a former consultant in direct sales, I have had hostesses with shows ranging from $0-$1000+ in retail value. My Mom NEVER has home shows, but she did for me and hers was one of my best.

The purpose of home shows is two-fold:
1) obviously- to show/sell a product
2) fellowship- the most important!

So often, we rush from here to there, and we don't get a chance to get together with the girls. When they go well, home shows allow the opportunity to hang out and shop from your feet in a relaxed environment, but if they don't go well, sometimes the hostess is left feeling, "what did I do that for?"

I had a few neighbors and a few friends from church and one long-time friend come tonight, and had a nice time. I always get a bit nervous when I have people over; overwhelmed. I manage to hide it fairly well, thanks to my teaching experience, but sometimes the uncertain girl from middle school and high school comes out and I want to crawl back into my shell. I often do better in one-on-one settings, where I feel like I can really focus on another person and not divide my time/attention. And sometimes part of me feels bad for asking my friends to buy something to help me get my hostess benefits, no matter how much I like the product.

In tonight's case, thanks to my friends showing up and knowing my consultant really well after living a block away for 6 years, hubby mopping the kitchen/dining room floor, and me actually cleaning the living room so it is temporarily not a tornado zone, and products that literally sold themself, it was a success. (Sorry, grammar-geeks.)

Thanks to Gina, my fabulous Thirty-One consultant, and all my friends who came and missed their favorite TV show (or DVR'd it for later). :)

a wii/fitness update

I hit the 20 hour mark on my Wii fit yesterday. That means I'm not using it to procrastinate TOO much, but I am using it. And my last few Wii Age Test Results have been under 40, today I actually hit my real age. I am .7 lb away from my first major weight goal. WOO HOO!!!

All this in spite of an allergy attack and bronchitis which have limited my activity level. I have not run outside in a while... allergies don't like it, but I plan to resume my Couch to 5K variation soon.

I'm cutting back on sodas, because they make the eczema patches on my hands worse when I drink them. I have replaced sodas with VitaRain flavored water, from Costco. It's half the cost of vitamin water at wal-mart and other grocery stores, and significantly less than the VitaminWater brand at Costco... and we like all the flavors in the multipack. I can only drink so much plain water at a time.

*******
I'm having a purse/tote/bag/accessory party tonight... One of my friends just became a consultant for Thirty-One Gifts <---(CLICK), and I love the tote I bought at the party she hosted last month, so I figured I'd host a show and help her get her business started. They offer embroidery personalization at the most affordable price I've seen anywhere... $6! And this months special is only $1 on the new kids' line.

So if you live in the Nashville area, have not already been invited and happen to be free, come join us around 7:00!!!

Check her out!

Allow me to tell you little bit about our friend, Southern Barbie. We met in college, then she went away. She is partially responsible for me and my husband getting together. I think I still have the slip of paper she handed me with his phone # on it the night we met. Somewhere. I vowed not to use it unless he called me first, and the rest is history. I'm pretty sure she got to be there when he picked out my engagement ring, too. Who knows, maybe she picked it out. Her smile is contagious, and next time she is in this part of the country, we will have to meet up. She's fun-loving, her smile is contagious, and I think the Northwest is starting to rub off on her in some ways. ;-)

We lost touch over the years, but have recently reconnected. As with many other long-lost-but-rediscovered friends, online. She's blogging now, so check out her blogs...

Go introduce yourself and welcome her to the blogosphere!

Southern Barbie
Fabulosew!

tag...

Sara tagged me a week or so ago, and I just realized it! Unless she was tagging another Lauren...

THE RULES:
1. Take a picture of yourself right now. No primping or preparing. Just snap a picture.
2. Load it onto your blog.
3. Tag three people to play.

this is me, unedited. 8:41 am, in all my morning glory,
you can almost smell my breath through the screen.
and would somebody please straighten my glasses?
or wax my face and then give me lasik? at least my hair is shiny....

and here are my kids, undedited, just because. (This wasn't part of the original meme.)

buddy, 8:42 a.m.
whispering sweet nothings to his paci

bear, 8:42 a.m.... note the baggie of cereal and milk for breakfast.
my mother tried to teach me better, but i am NOT a morning person.

*****
TGIF!!!!!

Ok, I tag the following:
1. steph- all of you, since there are a few, ha!
2. crt
3. Heather- all of you, since there are a few, too!

my "vision"

I'm not talking about some kind of mystical, philosophical goal. OR my eyesight. This is, or should be, much simpler and attainable than that. After almost 6 years in this house, 3 since we finally got the wall up, give or take a year (I've lost track), I think I know what I want to do with the cliff. I want a butterfly garden. Now, the plants I put in today are not really butterfly friendly. But we have all this slope, it's a pain and an eyesore because we can't get the grass to grow nicely on it. And while I am pleased with what I did today, in my mind it says, "just the beginning."

If I were to admit that aloud to hubby, it would translate something like "be afraid, be very afraid." (I could go crazy buying plants.) Although I think it SHOULD mean, "less to mow."

See how the grass STILL hasn't filled in very well along the retaining wall? Hubby has worked very hard to make the grass grow every year. It already looks better this weekend than it has since last July or so. But I can't help but want to try to grow something else there. I planted what I bought yesterday in the worst patch; lots of slumping going on there. My hope is that the roots from the plants will help reduce the slumping. Eventually, the phlox should grow closer together, ast the instructions said to plant them 15-18 inches apart. The forsythia should grow to be 6-8 ft. Eventually.

My vision is still a bit cloudy, but it includes a big butterfly bush placed down the hill from the patio. And butterfly-attracting flowers, grasses, and/or ground cover of some type in between. Perhaps some cascading petunias or ivy hanging over the wall.

I haven't told hubby about my vision yet. I think I'll just suggest that he read the blog.

Spring shopping

Last week, Bear and I visited a nursery down the road. Fortunately for our bank account, they only take cash and checks, and I only had my cards on me. I loved some of their flowers, but decided it's a bit early to plant annuals. We could still have a frost.

I had some time to kill while waiting for our prescription to be filled at the grocery store's pharmacy. They had some pretty spring plants out front. I bought a forsythia bush and 3 lavender carpet phlox, much to hubby's chagrin. The forsythia was at least 30% less expensive than at the nursery. The phlox were reasonable, too... 3 for $10. I tried planting seeds last year, they never took. Hopefully we won't kill these.

in case you wondered...

the 5k training is not going so well... it seems the only time i have to run is before dark. i may have to start getting up and running before hubby goes to work...

one day the wii said i was 28, the next it said 40... i think my score depends on which balance tests they randomly select for me. i have lost about 25 pounds in the last 7 months (since buddy was born), and seem to be holding steady where i'm at.

my new year's "resolution" of trying a new recipe per week has not gone so well overall. however, last week I did make a new soup, and today i roasted a whole chicken in the oven for the first time. it was on sale for 79 cents per pound at publix last week, and i could not resist. i was not a big fan of fishing the bag of innerds out of the cavity. both my cook book and the bird specifically reminded me to do so, so i figured it must be somewhat important. i did not make gravy, just poured the juices back over the meat after it was cut. here's how i seasoned it... it was really good, IMNSHO (in my not-so-humble-opinion).

1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 c finely chopped red onion
3 small garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Penzey's tuscan sunset italian style seasoning
1 tbsp kosher salt
several grinds of pepper

mix all seasonings in bowl. after basting/rubbing melted butter into the bird's skin, rub the seasonings all over the bird outside and inside. bake uncovered. after dinner, i boiled the carcass in water to make soup stock, which i will freeze for future use.

Training has begun!

I've been doing my Wii Fit somewhat consistently since I got it, but my weight loss has plateaued. With the arrival of Spring-like weather, I have decided to get out as much as possible. So far, that means I've gone for 2 strolls with the kiddos, 1-2 miles each, in the past 3 days. Tonight, I jogged/walked about a mile in 15 minutes. Not impressive, but progress. Two neighbors asked where the kids were as we passed eachother. :)

During college, I would take breaks from studying by jogging on the fitness trail or the Quad. Sometimes, it was simply a means of procrastination. When I came home for the summer, I sometimes ran down my parents driveway and winding street, or went over to the local fitness trail. I've never been a distance runner, but I have always found jogging and walking to bring a sense of accomplishment to my weak body. And I used my inhaler before I left as a preventative measure. I think it helped. A lot.

So now there is a goal in place. Do a 5k within the next 6 months. Try to run/walk 2-3 times per week and do Wii fit, a video, etc... at home in between every day for at least 15 minutes.
Running a 5k will be tough, but I don't mind starting slowly and doing a combo of walking/jogging if I must.

In case you missed it on Facebook's heinously confusing "improvements"... here's my attempt at being a "domestic diva" as a very dear friend who sang at our wedding dubbed me on my wall. I wish! ;P

Click HERE to see the play-by-play of my soup experiment.

A while back, I posted that my friend Don Hoesel's first book, Elisha's Bones, was being published in March. Well, it's March, it's been published, and I highly recommend it if you like reading something that could be made into an Indian Jones or National Treasure type movie someday. Excellent characterization, and I'm assuming a lot of research went into it, because the details sound believable. Great job, Don!

Are you looking for tips on cutting your food budget?

Faithful Provisions is a blog dedicated to just that! Kelly spoke at our A Mom's HEART meeting today, and I thought my blogging buddies would like to peruse her site.

Have you run a 5K? Would you?

So, a few weeks ago I told hubby we should try to run a 5K together. This was before he pulled a muscle and also before I had actually gone for a jog without kids this season. I have at least 3 good friends that I know of who have run 5K's... 2 in the past couple of years.

I'm borderline asthmatic, and have used that as an excuse not to run for years. I LOVE walking, but running and I, well... have never seemed like a good fit.

Now that the weather is getting nicer, I want to add some outdoor "me" time.

I went on our church's women's retreat and found out that a woman I barely know but became a little better acquainted with is a runner. She mentioned starting slowly but consistently, but unfortunately that's all I remember from our conversation.

Anyway, I googled 5K for beginners and found this link:

Couch to 5K

Anyone want to join me in the elusive quest to get fit, or offer feedback? Have you attempted to run a 5K? Would you? Why or why not?

I haven't convinced myself that I will do this yet, but it's a possibility...

Wouldn't you like to meet... my neighbor?

http://sarcasmasawayoflife.blogspot.com/

back to life...

so, i made it 12 days on the wii before going away for a retreat this past weekend. i've exercised about 30 minutes since i returned. the jeans are feeling a tad tighter already. :(

i'm anxious for Spring to arrive. Flower catalogs which I ordered have come from Breck's and Spring Hill Nursery, and I am trying to decide what to order so I can get my 50% off or $25 off. I figure if we can't get the grass looking decent, I might as well strive to have pretty flowers all Spring and summer. The hyacinths are peeking up in front of the mailbox, but we are still waiting for something to bloom other than the crocus. Some of the daffodils were frost bitten and never bloomed, and the tulips are a bit behind the daffs (aka "buttercups" here in the South). I'm wondering if I transplanted some of the daffs in my friend's flowerbed along with a calla lily last year, because one area which normally has several daffodils has one lone plant sticking out, and it's very close to my calla lily patch. Or maybe I just killed them.

day 9...

so I have exercised at least 20 minutes or more for the past 9 days.
weight seems to be basically holding steady. that must mean the fat i am losing is turning into muscle. 20 wii minutes is really like 30-40 real time minutes, but as i am opening up more reps and don't have to watch the demos, etc., the time estimate will be closer to reality. i hope.

hubby and i are toying with the idea of trying to run a 5k together. i have no doubt that he could do it... that would take a ton more discipline on my part than i have every had.

still a wii bit unfit, but getting better

We've had our Wii Fit for about a month now, and I am getting the hang of it. Overall, it was a good purchase. Now that I have had more reps open up on many of the exercises, I don't feel like I am wasting as much time clicking between activities. So for those of you who have not yet jumped on the Wii Fit bandwagon, here are some of my thoughts...

Pros:
-Yoga and Strength Training form is taught better than many of the exercise videos I have done, because the balance board enables it to give you feedback on your position.
-Balance games are fun.
-Aerobic exercises start slow for novices like myself who have never had much coordination.
-No need to leave the house.
-No embarassment about lack of coordination while others in a class are stable and I'm wobbling on one limb.
-Tracks your time, suggests excercise sets (strength and yoga)
-When the kids need you, you can stop and resume later.
-Lets you document exercises and household activities for "credits", tracks progress, to a limited extent.
-Lets you figure in your clothes' weight.

Cons:
-Initial time "wasted" clicking between screens etc. may just be more than the time it would take me to drive to the gym.
-The BMI calculator is not accurate. It has no way of figuring in muscle mass. This is important for people like my hubby, who actually have muscles.
-Not only is the BMI innacurate for children, it may call healthy kids who it inaccurately thinks are overweight obese.... the machines sense of humor could hurt some young ones' feelings. Maybe they should just skip the body test and do the fun stuff. (Bear hasn't seemed to notice, but apparently Elizabeth Hasselback has spoken out against it on The View.) Or maybe they'll just talk back to it like I do.
-Some of the tips and hints are repetitive and get annoying.
-The Fit suggests you get together and play with friends, but the Wii is not configured to recognize more than one balance board at a time.

Am I glad we have it? Yes. Am I getting overwhelmingly great results? No, but I am not consistent, so that's not entirely the Wii's fault. I am noticing an increase in endurance, balance, and coordination on certain exercises. But I wish the weather would get warmer so I could supplement my Wii Activity and videos with a low tech-jog with my new running shoes. (First new pair in 7 years.)

Oh, and just to track progress.... my size 12's are getting loose. I weighed about 170 lbs. with Buddy inside me, and I am now around 145, depending on the normal variables.

Tackle It Tuesday

It's been a while since I posted a tackle. Today, I am returning to my old habit of posting my mundane list and changing the colors after they are completed.

Dishes- empty dishwasher, refill, wash pans
Laundry- wash, fold, put away--- it's accumulating on the guest bed, as usual.
Research area "learning" activities at symphony, museums, library, zoo, etc....
Post office trip
play with kids


For more Tackles, go to www.5minutesformom.com.

good morning!

ok, i want sleep. the kids are asleep. why am i awake? i should be productive and fold laundry....
this post is beginning to sound like my facebook profile status update.

a couple of days ago, i asked Bear if she wants to go to school or stay home and have mommy be her teacher. this was after a visit to a mom's day out where a couple of my friends send their kids in which she really seemed to want to stay and play on the playground. anyway, her birthday is a month past the state's kindergarten entry deadline. this means that the state says she can't go to kindergarten until she is almost 6. in my opinion, she will be ready before then. the child is identifying beginning consonant sounds, she is a "mother hen" in her sunday school class, and she loves to learn. she soaks up names of plants and birds. she loves older kids.

one of my reasons in adding education to my major in college was that i thought i might want to homeschool my kids some day. then i taught public high school for 2 years. while most of you might think that would be incentive to keep my kids at home, it actually had the opposite effect on me. i realized the serious responsibility that home-schooling parents face, and questioned whether i am up to that challenge. i had a few "students" (kids who were on my class roll but rarely showed up and when they did were not exactly eager to participate) who withdrew from school in order to "home-school". God help them. if they could not get motivated to work under the instruction of caring teachers like myself, and if their parents did not care enough to return my phone calls, how were they possibly going to truly learn at home? i envisioned them sleeping in and taking only open-book tests.

after my brief stint as a teacher in a public school, i had the opportunity to tutor home schoolers through a private tutorial at a local church. MOST of those kids reminded my why i had initially considered home-schooling. their faith and work-ethics were phenomenal. yes, i had at last one student who was ineligible to return to that tutorial program, and she reminded me of some of the students who had dropped out.

anyway, the core of my internal debate is not so much my daughter's capability or even my past experiences in the field of education. it's the knowledge that i am lazy and unmotivated by nature and can't even get myself into a system to keep up with, well, anything. so how on earth can i teach my child effectively? that whole "socialization" debate that often accompanies objections to home schooling does not apply, in my opinion. there are plenty of social opportunities for home schoolers. there are multiple resources for parents, and many kids thrive because they are not limited by the budget restraints or distractions of conventional classrooms. however, being a product of a combination of christian and public education, and having been a teacher, i don't buy into the fear-based theory that christian kids will definitely be corrupted in public schools any more than i buy into the theory that they will be sheltered in private christian schools. kids are kids, and peer pressure exists everywhere. as parents, it is our responsibility to teach our kids values. my parents weren't perfect, but the foundation God gave us through them was not broken when we went to public schools.

it's 4 a.m. my improper punctuation and grammar may demonstrate to some that i should not home school my kids. i'm tempted to close the comments on this post, but this blog has been dead for a while, and as i have nothing else to discuss at the moment, feel free to post your thoughts. i'm not looking for debate, just thinking out loud here. God knows my mind is enough of a forum for debates. feel free to think along with me, if you like. at the very least, pray that i will not let my indecisive nature hinder my daughter's intellectual development. (i don't see that happening, she seems to be doing just fine. but the decision is what will be "just fine" and what will help her truly thrive? i know, only hubby and i can make that decision.)

happy and tired

we visited our good friend jo-jo and her family today. my college roommate also spent the night here at hubby's last night and we went to see jo and meet her 2 month old baby. well, anna had met him a couple of weeks ago, but couldn't resist the chance to see him again.

it's amazing to see how much difference about 3 months makes. jo's little boy is definitely waking up, babbling, becoming more alert. my little buddy is sitting up for longer stretches, holding himself up better on his tummy, etc... i can't believe how quickly the time is passing! one might think i would not be surprised, especially since this is baby #2. big sis is really growing into a big girl, and tonight she matter-of-factly told gramma that she is not a baby anymore.

pardon my lazy typing, i'm sleepy. pics will come on one of the blogs or FB within the next few days.

"home" again

I'm feeling very blessed that my in-laws' house feels like home. Except it's much neater and I don't have the nagging feeling that I should be cleaning something. It's hard to believe we lived here for the first 3 years of our married life, which sounds crazy now.

Anyway, Princess (the cat) is not sure what to think about either kid... she sniffed the infant carrier as soon as hubby set it down. Bear (my daughter) proceeded to try to get the cat to chase her little jingle ball with yarn attached.

The hard part about coming back is that there is no way we can see everyone we would like to in one visit. Tomorrow, we'll meet our friend's sweet 2-month old baby boy for the first time. It will be fun to get pics of Buddy and his new friend. Although I think I'll probably cry when I realize how much my little boy has grown.

a Wii bit unfit....

So, I'm like 43 Wii years. Bear is 33... but I'm sure it's because she is a normal wiggly 3 year old AND has her mommy's lack of coordination.

I stopped by our local game store on Monday, and they actually had just gotten more Fits in stock! I was going to do a free trial week at the gym where hubby goes, but the idea of going out in the cold at night to work out is just not appealing to me.... yes, I realize it would be warm there. It's just not the same as when hubby and I could go work out together.

So, yesterday I did about 15 minutes of yoga, and today I did about 25 min of yoga and strength exercises. Bear thinks we're doing gymnastics, because the stretches must remind her of the warm ups they do at her class. :)

We have a beach trip coming up next fall and although my swimsuit from 2 years ago does fit, a little bit of toning would do me some good.

Oh, I'm also trying to drink more water.

Southern winter

Feel free to throw a snowball at me if you are in a part of the world that has snow! I mean REAL snow.the cute black-capped chickadees flew away. of course.

i wonder if we'll have more crocuses than this, or the rodents ate the rest? i knew i should have bought the ginormous bag of bulbs at costco...

my poor, confused daffodils think it's spring.
so far i have counted 16 of them peeking through the mulch.
(most without buds, yet)

Thy mercy my God is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue.
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy, I could not live here.
Sin would reduce me to utter despair,
But through Thy free goodness, my spirit's revived
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart.
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground
And weep for the praise of the mercy I've found.

(Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah)
Hallelujah
(Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah)

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own
In the covenant love of Thy crucified Son.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine.

Well, Hallelujah
Hallelujah (Hallelujah)
Well, Hallelujah

Wow.

In spite of my differences of opinion regarding certain key issues, I do have to say President Obama's "exercise in psychotherapy" (speech, as referred to by one of the commentators) was well-written and well-presented. Whether or not he can put aside political games and bring his ideals to reality has yet to be seen. (Or compromise to find a common ground between his ideals and those who differ.) Can one man truly inspire our Nation to unite and collaborate beyond the symbolic and into the practical realms of daily life? Rhetoric sounds good, lipservice to faith and unity has been paid.... time will tell.

my obligatory inauguration day post

As I listen to ABC news coverage of President-Elect Barack Obama's inauguration, I find myself somewhat detached. I've observed the media shift from 99% negativity toward his predecessor to 120% optimism and hope.

It's not that I don't recognize the historical significance of this occasion. I am very aware and appreciative that we live in a country where someone from any race can become our nation's President.

But to hinge our nation's hopes and expectations on one man is as insane as it is to blame the other for every problem we are currently facing as a nation.

schools closed tomorrow due to cold temps

and it's only half as bad here as other parts of the country. Currently 20', forecast to drop to the single digits (3-ish). What temp does it take to close schools in your area for cold weather?

Caslon should be flying home from Canada tonight- pray for a safe flight, especially that the geese stay out of the way!!!

Resolutions....
something I ponder but don't ever completely commit to. Next to being a procrastinaholic, indecision is my strongest trait.

My mom is officially a senior citizen starting today. That sounds old. That makes me feel old.
We had her and Dad over for dinner, a last minute idea, and in the like-mother-like-daughter-fashion, a small part of my bundt cake stuck to the pan. So in spite of my best intentions, it did not look perect. But that did not matter, it tasted yummy, especiallytopped with vanilla-sugared strawberries and whipped cream.

We had a nice visit, and while I know at least one of them really thinks moving to a warmer climate will be best for their health, I can't really hide my relief that their house has not sold yet. That means they can travel to warmer places, but they still have to come home every so often.

In spite of our quirks and differences, it's nice to live fairly near them. After all, aren't the quirks and differences what make family.... family?

If my mom read this blog, I would say happy birthday to her on here. But she doesn't, so I told her in person.

oh, crap.....

I just clicked over to a friend's blog and learned that she has lost another baby. Her son would have been a couple of weeks older than my baby. Our kids were supposed to grow up online together (we've never actually met in real life, but if I ever make it to her part of the country, you can bet I want to try to meet her!!!).

I just don't get it. Why, God? Why dangle the hope and then snatch it away like Lucy taking the football from Charlie Brown. But a million times more cruel. Why do I get to post about how big my little one is, when my friend has lost three babies since this time last year?

I know the theology. God is Sovreign, blah, blah, blah. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Sometimes we don't want perfection, we just want to hold the little one that we think is ours.

Things like this make me understand how people can become Atheists. I'm not saying I am going there, but I can definitely see how others get there. I pray that the Holy Spirit provides the hope that only He can give when it's needed.

Please pray for my friend Kristi and her husband. Pray for her son and daughter, as they mourn the loss of another sibling they did not get to know.

Thanks.

It's hard to believe that this time last year I was 7 weeks pregnant. Little man's come a long way!

I've been thinking about New Year's Resolutions.... I don't usually commit to them, hence I never fulfill them. But I might actually make a couple this year. If I do, the couple that I make will be hard enough to tackle for me, since I am the queen of procrastination and inconsistency. In fact, the only thing you can count on from me is inconsistency in some ways.... anyway, I'm going to ponder some more, and maybe I'll set some achievable goals for myself.

before rumors start...

i am removing the pregnancy ticker from the bottom of my profile. it's from last year. i forgot to take it off, and now it thinks i am 7 weeks pregnant. i may look 7 weeks pregnant to some idiots, but that's just because i had a baby 4 months ago. no baby in this belly... i'll leave that to my sisters in law for now. thanks for pointing it out, laurie! (the ticker, not my belly...)

bear and i just had an argument over the season. she says it can't be winter because the grass is still showing. she may have been born in the south, but i think the midwest is in her blood.

Happy New Year!

I am very thankful for my husband who loves me exactly as I am, and the role model who he learned from, who I have never heard belittle his wife or his children, even under the "just joking" excuse.

update on the exercise "plan"....

Do Wii bowling, tennis, etc. count? Some very generous relatives got us a Wii for Christmas. Looks like we'll be getting a Wii fit shortly. But in the meantime, the Wii sports make for decent virtual exercise!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, however it was spent. Hubby's side came here, and everyone except Great Grandma left today. Bear cried when her cousins left. We had a great time with everyone. Ate too much, but enjoyed it. :) And we got some good news. Two of my sisters-in-laws are expecting! We already knew about my brother's wife, but just found out the baby's gender. And hubby's sister is due at the end of July!!!! Congratulations, Caslon & Camera Guy!

I still haven't mailed out all our thank you notes for baby gifts, so I could not bring myself to get Christmas cards out. So, if you are waiting on a thank you note, please forgive me. :) And here's your Christmas card!

the bribe "drawing"

Rather than do an actual drawing, I asked hubby to choose a number between 1 and 17. He chose 12. The 12th commenter in my post for the Christmas bribe/giveaway was.....


Jacinda!


E-mail me your address and I'll mail you your prize! Congrats and Merry Christmas!!!

go away, murphy....

The drive to gymnastics should take about 25 minutes from my house, no more than that. 20 on a good day. We left the house right around 10 am, and arrived at 10:50. Traffic was horrible!!!!!!! EVERYTHING was backed up. Side roads, interstate, you name it.... all of us were moving at a snail's pace. One might think we had snow or ice on the roads... nope. Just rain. Then, of course Bear had to use the potty before joining her class in session.
Of course she had refused to go potty before we left (and it had not been that long since she last went, so I didn't force the issue.)

Ok, I've got piles of laundry to put away. Sorry I'm not posting much that is thought-provoking or remotely deep these days. Right now I feel like I'm treading water, and I have phone calls to catch up on...

Will you de-lurk if I bribe you?

I have some faithful followers of this blog, for which I am grateful. I mean, it's not like I pay to have a hosting site or anything, and the fact that anybody cares to read my mind's wanderings is good for my ego. But since this thing isn't private, I have no way of knowing who's reading. SOOO... in the holiday Spirit, I am going to do a little giveaway here. Leave a comment with your first name, how long you've been lurking or enabling my internet addiction by commenting once in a while, a random fact about yourself and/or your favorite thing about the holidays, and I will do a drawing for a $10 Starbucks gift card. If you don't like coffee, they have other fabulous drinks. And Starbucks is just more convenient for me than anything else. Trust me, I'm not going out of my way for this one. Well, unless I decided to stroll with the kids there. But in December, that could be grounds for being charged with insanity, even in the South.

I will do the drawing in a week or so....

vanity

Anyone who has given birth to a child will most likely express dissatisfaction with her post-pregnancy body. Oh, we might sugar-coat things by saying we earned our stretch marks, and we are not in a rush to lose too much weight. At some point, at least for me, I begin to feel dissatisfied with my body and the need to take some sort of action.

Well, this morning I decided to see if my size 10 jeans from Bass fit.... and they did! Snugly, but without impeding my breathing! AND this is that bloated time of the month, and they still fit. Woo hoo! So after we returned from Buddy's 3 month check-up, I called the hair salon I have been using... and they were able to get me right in. I got a trim and had my unibrow and moustache taken care of. Okay, so they weren't QUITE that bad. Anyway, I may be vain, but I feel MUCH better about my appearance.

As for taking action... I am pricing out options for gyms (can we afford the Y, or should we just add me on where hubby exercises), but also going to look into some dvd's on amazon. Any dvd recommendations? Anyone? I have yoga, I'm thinking lower impact cardio or pilates or something similar. I have an exercise ball, yoga mat, brick and strap, dumbells and a tower thingy which Bear uses as monkey bars... so I'm leaning toward using what I have and then maybe if I establish a routine at home, rewarding myself with a membership somewhere. In any case, I think this will help improve my physical and mental conditions... they say 30 minutes of exercise a day has the same effect as some anti-depressant meds. (Once you get past the initial soreness from doing things your body has not done in ages.)

baby steps...

no, not my kids'. I am surprised hubby has not password protected the computer to encourage me to get more done, but I think he knows that's probably a dangerous idea. You know you need to clean more when your 3 year old thanks you for cleaning the bathroom and voluntarily scrapes scraps from her plate into the trash... or tries to. Then she started apologizing for missing, scattering mixed veggies across the dining room. Seriously, who is this child? One minute we can be begging her to clean up a mess, the next she is taking initiative to help with something I would not expect a 3 year old to want to help with. Not that I'm complaining; maybe I should expect more from her, since she is so obviously capable. But I don't want to be a nag, either, so I'll just continue to encourage the steps she does take and focus on the aspects that we deem appropriate for a 3 yer old.

Anyway, there's a quote from somewhere... some flair, most likely, that basically says, "Be the type of person you want your kids to become."

Ouch. With that in mind, I am taking baby steps to try to set an example for my kids. Keep in mind that my baby steps are everyday habits or routine for some people, that's how lazy I am. Undisciplined. Lazy. Crap, they both mean the same thing. Today's accomplishments, not even worthy of being called tackles: empty the science projects out of the fridge. Continue working on laundry. Make dinner for the 3rd day in a row (veggie beef soup, using yesterday's pasa sauce as the base.... throw everything in the crock pot, and voila!) After dinner, I had a nice tea party with my little girl while daddy and baby brother napped on the couch. Our daughter offered Daddy some coffee, he requested hot chocolate, so she suggested cream and sugar. Hubby and I were cracking up. Gramma and Papa are training her young. Of course, when it's imaginary, you can pretend it tastes different than the giver intends, so the fact that hubby doesn't drink coffee did not really matter.

And we ventured out. After reading Amy's adventures up in hubby's home state, I am glad to be down here in the winter with a newborn. I mean, what kind of stroller is adequate in a heavy snowfall? Ugh.... And corralling the 3 year old in the chik-fil-a parking lot (or any parking lot) is hard when it's NOT slippery. So, even though it's not as monumental of a task as it would be in other regions of the country, venturing out with a newborn and a toddler is still an accomplishment for me. By the end of the excursion, my intentions of finishing thank-you notes were pushed aside in favor of a nap time, as said newborn actually stayed asleep in his carrier and the 3 year old fell back asleep in her bed upon our return home!

So if you have given us a gift, please accept this apology for our way past-due thank you notes.... and the fact that we will only be sending Christmas cards via e-mail, facebook, or blog this year. Sometimes even the baby steps get interrupted...

Tackle It Tuesday


Ok, it's time to get out of my laziness slump.....

.... to be continued
*******
I would love to report that I tackled a plethora of projects and still had time to read with my kids. No such luck... there is a newborn in this house, remember? And he is fighting a llittle cold, so he's extra clingy. Plus, he's jus spoiled. However, I did accomplish my manageable goal... I cleaned both bathrooms. And did 2 loads of laundry (one is even put away, the other is still in the drier, and I've got one more in the washer. I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher, and made dinner. And swept the floor, with Bear's help (and that of her trusty sidekick, sweeping Sam).

And now for the "fun tackle" ... I went into the attic and pulled the box holding Mr. Snowman downstairs. "Mommy, be careful!" Bear exclaimed as I carried the box. She didn't even try to hang onto my legs as I went down the steps. I assembled our festive friend, Bear and I retrieved the decorative candy canes which she picked out at the superstore a couple of weeks ago, and we headed outside while Buddy napped. In addition to putting out our token decorations, we pruned dead leaves off the day lillies.

Thanksgiving came and went without a post.

Facebook has taken over my internet communication I guess.

I'm thankful for a lot.

Today, a friend who I would like to get to know better shared her testimony of dealing with loss... specifically, miscarriage, as part of the "Our Messes, God's Mercies" series at church. Her baby would have been about a month younger than my son, and I was so looking forward to getting to know her better by having one of our kids in the same class or hanging out in the nursing (or bottle feeding) moms' room during the service. But in spite of my disappointment, I was so happy to hear that she is healing, over a year later now. And I don't know if there are hopes for another child, but I pray that if that's part of God's plan for their family, the baby will be healthy. I wish everyone could experience the joy of having a child after losing one, though I know that it's not always practical (i..e. if the child lost is older), or possible, for whatever reason. I am so thankful that I had another chance and now have a precious 3 month old son!

I never really intended this blog to be just about pregnancy, but there's something in the water these days. My brother's wife is expecting, several friends are due before Christmas, and our good friend who hooked us up had her baby boy on Thanksgiving.

Baby's mad... gotta go rescue hubby.

TAGGED!

Kristi tagged me, and since the blog-kitty has my tongue, the timing is perfect!

7 weird things about me (just how weird do you want?):

1) I am not an organized person. But if my silverware drawer or towel closet (now that I've learned how to fold them so they stack well) gets too out of hand, I get extremely annoyed.

2) I will find something to do outside in the flowerbeds rather than tackle what should be high-priority projects inside.

3) I have a harmonica collection. I guess you could call it that. My parents bought me my first one in 5th grade. I don't play any of them well, though.

4) I voluntarily delivered my son without an epidural. (Though I DID change my mind, but it was too late by then!) ;)

5) I once qualified for a national piano competition by placing in the top 3 at the regional competition. There were only 3 of us who competed, and guess which place was mine.... (3)

6) I spent 5 weeks in Sinaloa, Mexico as a Summer Missionary. (Not weird per se, but interesting).

7) I have 2 big scars within 2 inches of each other. One happened when I was in 2nd grade. the other was from a biopsy. They freaked my students out when I tutored.

The 7 people I'm tagging are: Steph, Becky, Jenn, Becca, Samantha, Tech Mom and Grace.

So, I did a search for "Halloween" on my other blog, the one dedicated to my kiddos...

Bear was a year old when she wore the costume I put our 2 month old in today. (It's a size 6 mo, but stretched a lot.) She has changed so much in the past year, not to mention the past three years, and it's documented online.

I really, really need to get back to scrapbooking. To capture these moments in a "craft book", as Bear calls it (when I corrected her, she insisted, "No, Mommy, it's a craft book.") I am terrible at printing out the pics I take, and I fear that if I don't change that, they will be lost someday. Perhaps my blog will help me with my journaling if I ever to get on the ball....

vote early!

Seriously, folks, unless you get some kind of rush from standing in line in the damp, chilly fall air, early voting is THE way to go! We were in and out in 5 minutes. 4 years ago, I waited at least a couple of hours to vote,

happy birthday to... hubby?

Bear's 3rd birthday is tomorrow. I sent hubby out to pick up her gift from us. While he was at it, he found a new car for himself.

My mazda 626 which we bought right after we got married is going bye-bye. It's been an idiot magnet, plus I had one accident that was my fault, so I am only slightly sorry to see it go.... just over 9 years later.

Not looking forward to having a car payment again, but I don't want the transmission to leave either of us stranded, and we were offered a decent trade in value.

He owes me. A new bike and new car all in one year. Yes, he really owes me. ;)

I am not a politician.

The closest I've come to that is raising my concerns over some of our HOA's practices. As I mentioned in a previous post, Senator Obama's extreme anti-child position concerns me. Click HERE to read more if you are so inclined.

I've also posted the link to a Pro-Life blog in my sidebar.

mommy etiquette?

Bear and I went to the playground yesterday. She made a beeline for the toddler swing, barely arriving before a mom and her young toddler who wanted to ride it. The Mom said to go ahead, so I pushed her a few times, then told her that since she is big enough to ride a regular swing, she needed to share and give the little boy a turn. She willingly agreed to get down and chose to head to the twisty slide. When she got to the top, another girl was climbing up the slide. I asked Bear to wait to go down until the other girl finished. The girl stayed put. I told her that other kids wanted to use the slide, too, and she needed to slide down. She climbed up. "Get out of my way!" she said to my daughter. She slid down again, and her friend also tried to cut in front of Bear. Meanwhile, Bear was astonished and frightened, near tears. The other girl was STILL on the slide. "You need to learn to share. Get down and give the other kids a turn." I told her in my "playground monitor" voice. Of course, it was too late for Bear. She had already turned around and ran to the steps. "Mommy, she scared me!" We proceeded to the big kid swings for a few minutes.

Normally, the other parents are around prompting their kids to use good manners. Apparently this 5-ish year old's Mom was too busy socializing to realize her daughter was a bully and slide hog. I half expected her, whoever she was, to come up and address me for scolding her child, but nope, no sign of any intervention of any type.

Later on, Bear decided to try again. The bully's friend was up there around the same time, and let my daughter go first. Bear looked at her as though she expected to be bullied again, but the girl insisted she have a turn. (Apparently her manners returned when the other girl was not around.) She managed to go down the slide successfully.

A few minutes earlier, I had just taught my almost 3 year old daughter to share her beloved swing with a younger child. Then, she waited her turn patiently at the slide, only to be scared by a slightly older kid who apparently didn't listen to the times her parents had tried to teach her playground etiquette.

So, when do you let kids work things out on their own, and when do you step in and "parent" other people's kids?