My Perfectly Imperfect Life

A Little Video from Our Backseat

2012-01-27T21:29:00.000-06:00

The other night, I finally remembered to dig out my flip camera to record one of our fun moments in the car. Isabella was randomly singing, "Jingle Bells". (I know, Bella, I can hardly believe Christmas is over, too.) She was doing fine by herself but once the camera came out, you will see who tried to steal the show...

A Little Catch Up

2012-01-25T00:04:00.002-06:00

I have been a lazy blogger.

I attribute a few things to my lazy blogging attitude toward writing lately.

1. Pinterest. I think I now officially have a relationship with this site. Yes, I just used the word "relationship" about a website. I sit and pin about this idea and that recipe. Yet, I have only done a few recipes from it. All those projects that I have pinned are just dreams for now. I seriously do not have time to do all those projects because I am too busy finding more projects to pin. Ha!

2.Organizing. Jeremy and I usually do our spring cleaning during the first of the year. There is no yard work to be done and our work load at the office is not too bad so we try to use this time to start cleaning out and reorganizing for the new year. Since we have two little ones and both of us work outside the home, it takes me forever to get a task done. I try to do it when they are asleep which is usually my blogging time.

Okay, enough of this jibber jabber. Here is a little of what this month has looked like for us...

Chase has decide that he must drink hot chocolate (yes, out of a straw) when Jeremy and I have our morning coffee except he looks cooler than us with his Starbucks cup.

Speaking of cool....

there is nothing cooler than this look Isabella has perfected.

We can't help but...

smile when my niece Avonlea is around.

She smiles all the time which makes all of us smile right back.

My other smiling niece, AK, celebrated...

her 2nd Birthday. Here she is with my sister, Lisa.

Isabella's 2nd birthday is coming up in a few weeks and...

we realized that she just might want a kitchen. My two could barely party with the rest of us because they were too busy "cooking" in the kitchen.

Another reason, we were excited to drive three hours to this party was....

that we got to meet our newest family member.

I just wish I had gotten a picture of me holding him!

Here are the girls....

taking a juice break.

They play so well together already.

Looking forward to a lot of this for all of our future get togethers.

I had to throw this picture in because...

I thought it was neat how this is a dress in a much smaller size which Isabella wore last year. I found the shirt and pants that match at a consignment sale and made the dress a tunic. I love reworking an outfit!

After Isabella was done showing off her old/new outfit at church,

we crashed hard in nap mode that afternoon. I must say that it is a good Sunday afternoon if ALL four of us fall asleep. Chase does not take naps anymore so it is a miracle if this happens.

I am glad he rested up the day before because on Monday...

he had to get a cavity filled. I was a bit worried how he would do. Once they put "Mr. Nose" on him and filled him up with laughing gas, all was well.

The only problem was...

he kept biting the side of his mouth while he had no feeling in it. So they put these cotton rolls in his mouth to make him stop.

After the dentist, we took off to do a little shopping for Isabella's birthday.

She was beginning to get a little fussy and in need of a good nap. She insisted on Abby and Grover sitting beside her in the cart which kept her sweet, quiet, and still for a bit longer.

We were inspired by the kitchen she played with at AK's party and we found one for 1/2 price while Bella was visiting with her two HUGE friends. It was exactly like the one I had in mind so I am quite pleased and am looking forward to giving it to her on her birthday.

I do believe I am caught up on my blog.

Are you still with me?

Or do you have picture overload?

Now, please excuse me because I am sure I need to find something on Pinterest for whatever I was hankering for dinner.

The Bowl

2012-01-02T23:41:00.000-06:00

The first day of my year did not get off to a resounding start full of fun, watching football, and eating black eyed peas. Instead, I had a horrible night's sleep because Jeremy was up a lot sick. I ended up having both kids at church by myself and there was no relaxing Sunday afternoon nap in my future.

My energy level stayed up pretty well until about 6:00 pm which is when I could tell I was getting a little grumpy with my family and their bedtime could not come soon enough. I was sensing that I was going to need to pull some grace and energy that I felt was not there at all from some unknown source just to physically make it.

Any moms out there remember some tired days like this?

{I realize how whiny I sound right now but hang in here with me. I have a point.}

I made a quick dinner for the kids. I did something I never do. I put Isabella's in one of my favorite pasta bowls. My sister called and I got distracted while talking to her. I left the kids eating in the kitchen so I could hear my sister better.

Then, this huge crash came from the kitchen.

I knew immediately what had happened and my heart sank a little.

My favorite discontinued, really expensive to replace pasta bowl was in pieces all over the floor!

The little girl in the high chair seemed to have no idea of the sadness she created.

I tried to tell her how wrong her actions were. I tried to explain to Jeremy how hard/expensive it would be to replace. I tried to share all my frustrations for the moment but Isabella just sat there in her "I have no worries"state and was ready for me to let her get out of her chair.

While Jeremy sweetly cleaned up the disaster, I just had to walk away for a moment. That just seemed like the cherry on top to a tiring day.

I heard Chase say something while I walked past his room that slapped me out of my selfish moment so fast.

Chase has conversations with himself and he mumbles to himself a lot. Usually, it is about a concert or a band so I do not always listen to him.

This time, I did.

Chase said, "You know if she were not here then she would have never broken Mama's bowl and Mama would not be upset. If she had not been born, then Mama's bowl would have never been broken."

WHAT????

I jumped back into his room and asked him to repeat what he just said. He did and I felt such remorse.

A bowl. A dumb old bowl made my son think that because of my reaction.

I got on my knees and grabbed his hands. I told him about forgiveness. How Isabella is way more important than any bowl. She is just a baby and she does not understand completely that her actions were wrong so we need to just give her grace and forgive.I told him that it was all my fault really because I should not have given her the bowl to begin with. Then, I asked him to forgive me for overreacting and being grumpy.

He said, "Mama, I love you. I forgive Bella. I forgive you. Let's play."

{Sidenote: Don't you wish everyone could forgive and get over something that quickly?}

I could not play at the time. I had to thank Jeremy for cleaning up the mess and help him finish the cleaning job then I had to pick my baby up.

I just held her and feeling ridiculous how I reacted to a bowl breaking.

Yeah, I was exhausted from the day and the bowl was a special wedding gift to me but it was my fault for giving it to a baby in the first place.

I looked at this....

which is one of the three I have left.

Then, I looked at this...

My Gift from God sporting her new plastic high heels.

Yep, I just need a quick reality check on priorities, invest in some plastic bowls, and get a good night's sleep.

i Intend

2011-12-31T05:00:00.000-06:00

Leslie over at A Blonde Ambition did her yearly "I Intend" list that she does every new year.

She inspired me to do my own.

I quit doing New Year's Resolutions when I started having kids. I think my main resolution for each year was to not do too many dumb parenting mistakes and to sneak in a nap when I could.

Pitiful, I know.

I have really been just all about surviving the last few years.

I am happy to say that I am finally feeling ready to attack a new year with gusto and get a good list of good "intentions" ready for the next 12 months.

Wendy's 2012 Intentions:

1. Get myself on a sleep schedule.

I have always had problems with this one since I am a night owl who is married to a night owl. Once I get the kids in bed, that is the time I get all the things done that needed to be done for the day. I pick up toys, clean the kitchen, do laundry, blog, facebook, have uninterrupted talk time with Jeremy, catch up on our recorded shows....whew, it is amazing that I get in bed at all.

Well, no matter what, I gotta get more sleep.

2. Smell good....all the time.

I have wanted this perfume since I found it two years ago at Anthropologie. It is not expensive but Jeremy had just bought me some perfume and it takes me forever to use up a bottle.

I do not use perfume for a year after having a baby then I get out of the habit once I start wearing it again.

Jeremy gave this to me for Christmas this year and he thinks I smell soooo good.

I love it when he thinks I smell good.

3. Continually clear clutter and bring order to my home.

This one is so hard with little ones but I have found a lady with a book who has helped me.

A friend told me to go to her website and my house no longer overwhelms me.

With two little ones, clearing clutter is a work in progress and there is always room for more improvement.

4. Read more books.

I used to devour books before I got married. My reading habits became almost non-existent when I had kids. I want to change that this year. I have a stack of books crying out for my attention. I have been told that I will read again. Maybe this will be the year I begin...again.

5. Get more "girl time" in my life.

I fear that I have neglected this area in my life and all the friends God has given me. I will not be able to spend as much time with my friends like I used to but a little time is better than no time at all. I feel great after a little coffee meeting or a quick lunch with a friend especially if my kids are not with me. It rejuvenates me.

6. Put those running shoes on and get moving.

I bought some running shoes last year and have yet to put them on. I have not figured out how to add exercise to my schedule with the kids plus I was so tired for most of the year that I just did not have it in me. Hooray for babies sleeping soundly through the night now!!

7. Have a family picture made.

This was our last formal family picture in May 2007.

I think it is time, don't you?

This was one of our last informal family pictures.

This "intention" may be the hardest one on the list.

8. Keep up my visits to Target and Sam's.

I had to add this one because I am already doing these two and it helps me feel better that I know for sure that I can attain this one with no problems.

By the way, I don't even have to buy anything at either store. I just like the experience of going.

Where else can I get snacks for my kids while I look around? My kids are great shoppers if I can keep them busy eating.

9. Go on more dates with my husband.

I waited and prayed for this guy to come into my life for years. I need to make it a priority to keep up my relationship with him. These dates do not have to cost a lot just time together away from the kids i.e. talking on a bench at the park or a walk on the nature trail near our house.

10. Get this blog spruced up.

Sorry that I have not changed up the look of my blog in awhile. I have been tossing around the idea of a name change and giving the whole blog a makeover. Hopefully, it will happen this year.

Alright, I got a lot to do this year and I am ready for the task.

Do you have any intentions for this year?

December Keeps One Busy

2011-12-29T23:25:00.000-06:00

You may not have noticed but I have been gone a bit the last two months. Here is a little of what I have been doing in December...

We started out the month with Chase & Isabella joining several kids on the stage at our church dinner. They sang Bella's favorite Christmas song of "Jingle Bells."

Yes, I was a total stage mom by holding onto Isabella's shirt the whole time. I don't trust her for a minute. She could take off to who knows where if I let go.

We had some fun times shopping while enjoying everything we could about the season.

Chase was also Joseph in the kids musical at our church. I was thrilled that the only thing he did out of the ordinary was that he bowed to the crowd a little too much when everyone clapped for the manger scene gang. I think he was the only who did bow.

Jeremy has a birthday in December and he was a happy guy with his piece of birthday cheesecake.

Ummmm, no, that is not his sippy cup.

I braved taking these two to see Santa by myself. They were so excited. Well, Chase was which was a HUGE improvement from his feelings on Santa last year. He was a bit scared of him last year but this year, he decided that he was a good guy.

One October night when I was having dinner with just the kids and the conversation was lagging a bit, I had an idea. I asked Chase what he was going to do when he saw Santa this year. I told him that Bella would be afraid of Santa if he acted like he was. Chase did not want his sister to be afraid of Santa so he decided that he would not be. We also worked on what he was going to say to Santa which he did perfectly about a month and a half later when he finally saw him.

He said to the big guy, "Hi Santa. My name is Chase and I would like a blue Paper Jams Pro Guitar that I can download all my favorite Aquabat songs on."

That speech was met with a blank look from Santa like, "What did he just say?"

It was a little long but Chase had a little more to say...

"This is my little sister Isabella and she wants a 'Let's Rock Elmo' for Christmas."

Santa looked relieved, "Oh, Elmo! Do you like Elmo, Isabella?

Blank wide eyed stare from Bella. Chase said, "Yes, she does and I like the band 'The Aquabats.'"

Thanks Chase. No one knew that.

Our tree was a little bare this year. I left off most of our ornaments that normally go on the bottom due to little almost two year old hands who likes anything that favors a ball. I did not even put any presents under it until a few days before Christmas.

I am happy to report that only one ornament was touched and only one gift had to be rewrapped.

Bella did way better than I thought she would. Hopefully, next year, I can put all the ornaments back on.

I am relieved that she did so well because I was having visions of what I saw years ago on "Jon & Kate Plus 8" of when Kate put a huge baby gate around their tree and gifts. Of course, if I had EIGHT little Isabellas running around, I would probably have a gate around more than my tree.

The Lord knew I could only handle one baby at a time.

This is what the kids woke up to on Christmas morning. Everyone had their own little pile/area.

He got what he asked for!

Isabella did too but she was more in love with these two pillows from Yo Gabba Gabba.

Chase helped me unwrap a few of my gifts. Jeremy said that this gift was for him too because he can't wait to have a meal from it. I also got the Pioneer Woman cookbook so I would be inspired to use my new pot.

A few years ago, my brother-in-law (Uncle Wendell) started a tradition of giving my 91 year old grandmother gag gifts by giving her a home pregnancy kit.

Here is Big Mama with one of her many funny gifts from Wendell. It is a picture of her with two guys from the show Swamp People. It looked like she was in the back of the boat with them on a gator hunt.

Don't worry. Big Mama got lots of good gifts too. Plus, she gets Wendell back now with crazy gifts to him too. I laughed til I cried on a few of the gifts.

We also had a great Christmas time with Jeremy's family. Isabella is trying on her first pair of heels.

Isabella loves her cousin, Avonlea. I can't wait to see them together next year.

I am sad that I missed getting pictures of the three times that we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blew out the candle on His Birthday cake. We made sure the kids understood what this special season is really all about.

I had so many favorite moments of this month but one that I was not expecting was Chase's fashion choices. Usually, he wears on three or four mostly blue shirts and dark pants. He is not fun to dress at all anymore except at Christmas.

He got all into the spirit of things with lots of red and green in all his clothes.
My eyes were blessed by the change. I still have hope that he might expand his wardrobe a little in January.

Whew! Did I lose anyone out there with this month long post?

I hope each of you had a great time celebrating Jesus' birth!

Now, really looking forward to a fresh new year.

A Visit to Santa's Village

2011-12-14T01:05:00.000-06:00

I have the hardest time blogging during the holidays. I even have a hard time reading other blogs during this season. My to-do list just gets even longer the last two months of the year and I feel like I will never catch up.

Anyone else out there want to join me in feeling this way?

I have missed in sharing of some great things we have enjoyed doing this month already but the event we did tonight just could not be missed.

Jeremy and I took the kids for our annual visit to Santa's Village.

Chase LOVES going to Santa's Village. I heard him say to himself in the backseat on the way there, "This is the real deal. We are totally going."

Chase looks forward to going to Mrs. Claus' kitchen to decorate a cookie and then he gobbles it down.

We saw Santa's cozy dining room.

We checked out Santa's bedroom. Chase told me that Santa must eat his breakfast at the table in his room.

We visited with Santa's daughter, Missy, who read a story for us.

We even sat in his sleigh. A few reindeer were in a little fenced in area off to the side.

Chase introduced his sister to one of his favorite things to do there: getting on the stage when no groups were performing. Those two sang and danced up a storm. I always get a little concerned when they get on a stage because I wonder what it is going to take to get them off the stage. We were blessed that there was a lot going on so it was pretty easy this time.

Chase was a bit apprehensive of this bear last year. You would have thought they were old friends the way they were hugging.

Isabella has a thing for stuffed animals but I don't think she has ever encountered one quite like this.

Chase enjoys putting his head in these cut-outs.

Isabella cracked me up with this face.

I would show you a picture of the kids with Santa but those pictures are from a professional photographer and I need to pay for those. I can share that neither kid got scared of jolly old St. Nick and Chase had a great conversation with him. Total 180 from last year.

Santa's Village has snow machines which come on every 20 minutes and all the kids there had the best time playing in the snow. Isabella went absolutely nuts when those machines would come on. My normally soft voiced girl would scream "SNOOOOWWW!!!" and jump around like she has never seen anything fall out of the sky.

Jeremy and I had so much fun taking our kids to this neat place. They are at great ages where everything is new and exciting. Their excitement is quite contagious.

I can not wait for Christmas!

A Good Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

I LOVE Thanksgiving!

How great that we live in a country which sets aside a day to celebrate all we have to be thankful for.

To be able to celebrate our God, our freedoms, our family, and our lives while eating some of my favorite foods is something to look forward to each year.

This was our year to be with Jeremy's side of the family which meant several things to me besides hanging with some of my favorite people.

It meant that we barely had to travel to see them, I would get to hold my three month old niece quite a bit, and the kids could spend the night with their grandparents so we could do some serious Black Friday shopping.

Yes, I could tell that our Thanksgiving was going to be a good one before it had even begun.

I never had the opportunity to dress Chase in anything involving a turkey but Isabella has provided me with such an opportunity. Isn't this cute? The pants have a turkey in the pattern too which Isabella found on the way to her grandparents' house. I think she might have had a conversation with the turkey on her left knee.

Loving the turkey made out of ribbons.

This is Jeremy's dad (PawPaw) with his three grandchildren. Avonlea had a great first Thanksgiving. She is in that fun smiling stage though I failed to get it in this picture. Poor baby looks like she is holding on for dear life while in between my two.

I am extremely thankful for this guy. He is so good to me!

Blessed with so much to enjoy (for several meals).

I would like to point out Chase's non blue or green shirt. He decided to branch out for the holiday.

My eyes were thankful for the change.

Uncle Evan got crafty and made something he remembered making when he was a kid. I thought he got it off Pinterest. Since he had never heard of Pinterest, that would be a big No.

Chase ate this turkey a lot faster than the real turkey on his first plate.

I meant to do a post about all I am thankful for in my life but I blinked and Thanksgiving was over. I am thankful for the obvious blessings in my life like my God, my family, my friends, my country, and my home.

I wanted to take a moment to be thankful for the little things in life. Things I should remember that not everyone is blessed with many of the things I take for granted.

I am thankful for...

hot showers, heat/air in my house and anywhere I go, all my appliances, the ability to give to others, good health, my bed, the experiences I have learned from...just to name a few.

I could take a paragraph to expound on each of these but I will save you some of your precious time during this holiday season.

I hope each of you reading this had a great Thanksgiving and had a moment to reflect on all the blessings you have in your life.

Getting Ready for the Season

2011-11-17T23:30:00.000-06:00

Whoa, Mama! Where did this week go?

I have not been blogging. Not sure what I have been doing. I did get a cold from my kids so I have been wiping and blowing noses. That can take up a lot of time, you know.

Finally, seeing an end in sight for the mountains of tissues that have passed by me lately.

A couple of happenings got me out of my nose blowing/wiping habit long enough to take a few pictures of some things.

Yesterday, Chase asked me if he could use the play dough. The rule is that he can use it but only when little sister is napping. I can only imagine the tiny bits of play dough I would find ground in my carpet throughout the house if it got into those precious little hands.

Once Isabella was asleep. the play dough kept Chase quiet and busy for quite awhile. When I went to check on him, I saw this:

It is Chase's play dough interpretation of Ricky Fitness from the Aquabats. The white part is his belt with the symbol on it. Chase's own Aquabat costume is missing a belt so that is on his mind quite a bit. I have many paper belt designs around the house.

It does make me wonder what he will ever work on once his costume is completely done. He used to be all about the helmet and the mask. His grandmother made those last month. Now, he is in the belt stage.

The other thing that I took a few pictures of this week was the "Lighting of the Tree" celebration at our big outdoor shopping mall in town. I was so into getting over our sickness that I did not know it was happening. We went a couple of years ago and it was packed out with people and a lot of fun.

I had one of my roommates from college let me know that her cousin was going to be singing right after the tree lighting.

We found out how cold it was going to be so we were a little late getting there with all the extra clothing I put on the kids and all the searching I had to do to find all of our coats, hats, and gloves.

It was extremely cold but so worth going.

The singer was Fecilia Barton and she has an amazing voice. I highly recommend checking her music out. I had a musician friend from Nashville who was set to go on an hour later. When he came by, he was very impressed by Felicia's voice. She was a finalist for American Idol a few years ago.

I had to be an obnoxious fan and get a picture with her. I wanted to show my roomie who lives across the country that I did come out to support her cousin.

My kids got to meet Santa. It was so cold that I am not sure if Isabella even noticed. What she did notice was that I had her so bundled that she could barely move. Both kids had a lot of fun and kept great attitudes through the whole adventure.

We stopped by to eat at our favorite pizza place and thaw out. There is a carousel next to the restaurant and Isabella did her best to convince us that we needed to take her to the "horse-ies." She was so precious in her fervent asking that I dare say that any one of her four grandparents would have braved the cold to take her.

Her parents had no problem telling her "no" on this night. Next time, Sweetie.

We wrapped up our time out by stopping by the stage our friend was playing on. We only stayed for a short time because it was getting late and the weather was just getting worse.

I feel like my holiday season just got officially kicked off since I saw Santa, heard live Christmas music, had to wear gloves, and saw the biggest Christmas tree in north Alabama.

Time to get Thankful and celebrate my Savior's birth!

Elmo & Pilgrim Hats

2011-11-10T23:57:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago, I heard that Sesame Street Live was coming to town. I checked out the ticket prices and realized that tickets for a family of four was a bit out of our budget especially this close to Christmas.

There were a few giveaways for tickets to the show and I entered all of them but never won.

I really wanted to take the kids to this show. They love all the characters. I actually found myself saying a little prayer to God about how neat it would be if there was some way that we could take the kids to the show.

Then, I tried to forget about it and go on my merry way.

A few days later, a wonderful family member came up to me and asked if I had ever heard of the show "Sesame Street Live" and was I interested in taking the kids.

Uh, yes!

They had a set of tickets from work and wanted to bless us with them. I began to blink the tears away. Not just because I was going to be able to bless my kids with this show but because God made this happen.

It was definitely a "God Hug" that I needed.

This was the view from our seats. We were in the first row of the balcony with no one behind us. It could not have been more perfect.

We had some friends win tickets with backstage passes to meet the characters. This picture on the side of a truck was as close as we got but we were so thankful to even be there and very happy our friends had that experience.

I kept watching the kids during the show. It was such fun to watch their faces when a favorite character would come out.

By the way, Jeremy was not happily asleep. I just caught him in mid blink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have finally hopped on the Pinterest train. I resisted for awhile because I just knew that I did not have time for one more thing to take my time. After some urging from a dear friend, I finally asked to join.

Very glad I did.

The amount of ideas for just about anything I am interested in has blown me away.

I can look up anything from fashion ideas, decorating ideas, any kind of recipe, something new to do with my class at church or kids at home, or diy gift ideas....just to name a few of my categories I have gleaned from.

I went to a ladies meeting at church and made these cookies that are supposed to look like pilgrim hats.

It was something fun and easy to do with Chase.

After four attempts to take a good picture of Chase, this is what I ended up with. He loved making these cookies with me. I look forward to making more fun little projects with him especially with Christmas coming up.

I had several ladies ask me about the cookies. When I told them about Pinterest, I got many blank looks. I urge anyone reading this to join because it has really expanded and fed my creativity.

Can't wait to try out a few more ideas I have found during the upcoming holiday season.

Three Scares are Enough

2011-11-08T23:30:00.000-06:00

See this little girl?

I love her to pieces but she has caused my heart to stop a few times this week.

It all started on Sunday after church.

Jeremy was watching her while I was still at work.

It hit Jeremy after he was done reading something on his iPad that Isabella was not sitting in the room where she had been just a few minutes before.

Jeremy asked Chase where his sister was.

Chase did not know.

Jeremy jumped up and started looking around. Our house is not that big so after Jeremy quickly looked in each room with no luck, he yelled, "Bella!"

He heard a faint, "Da-Da!"

Since Jeremy has only one good ear, he has directional trouble with sound. He asked Chase to tell him where the sound was coming from and Chase told it was coming from the laundry room.

When they opened up the door, Isabella came out with both hands up in the air while yelling, "YAY!!!!!!"

A least, she wasn't traumatized or even upset.

The next day, I woke up with a bit of a head cold. Call me silly but I seem to not be the best mom when I am not feeling well. I was very thankful that Jeremy was off and could help watch the kids.

Chase and Isabella were watching a video in Chase's room while I dozed on the couch.

All was quiet and peaceful.

A little too peaceful.

I mentioned this peace to Jeremy and we instantly got off the couch to make sure everything was fine.

Once again, Isabella was gone and Chase was clueless as to where she was.

We went straight to our bathroom where she seems to like going in and closing the door.

We opened the door and she was happily playing on the floor with some bath toys that had been left in there.

Oh my goodness! I have not quit thanking God for keeping Bella safe while she was back there because she is known for getting into things. There was plenty of trouble in that room for her to get into but she just plopped on the floor and played with a couple of toys that are not usually in our bathroom.

Now, moving on to the story that tops all of these and almost made my heart stop.

I was in the office with the kids. When I take the kids to work, they keep busy visiting everyone in their offices, playing in the nursery near my office, running the hallway, and playing in my office. I can hear them wherever they are and immediately check on them when things get quiet.

That is what happened today.

I was talking to Mom and we realized that both kids were quiet.

Very rare.

Given the two scares I had been given the last two days, I took off running around while screaming their names.

Neither kid answered and I felt immediate panic.

The only place they could possibly be was outside.

No, no, NO! Not there!!!

I ran outside and saw Chase by himself then I think I screamed again.

He was by himself.

I said, "Where is Bella?"

He said that Mimi (my mom) had her up between the buildings.

What happened was Chase helped Isabella get outside because he said she wanted to go and she kept messing up what he was building with some blocks in the nursery.

Okay, not his best big brother moment. Maybe his worst but he honestly did not understand the danger his sister could have been in while outside.

Anyway, while Mom and I were looking for the kids, Mom found Chase first who told her where Isabella was. Meanwhile, Isabella stayed on all the sidewalks and just enjoyed the weather.

I have been a little weepy tonight while breathing many prayers of thankfulness to God. This has also caused me to raise my level of prayers for my kids, their safety, and their health.

When life is going well, human nature tends to get a bit lax in praying, being cautious, and not being as thankful for the blessings that come our way each day.

These last three days have jolted me to a new level of awareness of life and how quickly it can all change. I am more thankful than ever for God's protection even when we don't know possible danger is right upon us.

A Little of This 'n That

2011-11-03T09:47:00.000-05:00

We went to a wedding in the beautiful city of Nashville. Now, if you want to see some cool people in the south, go to Nashville. It is always fun for me to sit back and look at the fashions & hairstyles of some of the most artistic people on this side of the Mississippi.

I did not pull out my camera for the ceremony but I was surprised when I turned around to see the bride enter of how many people had their phones up in the air recording the whole thing. I was not taking pictures so I would not upset the photographer. I guess I am old school.

It was a sweet ceremony and they added something to the reception that I have never seen.

It had a coffee bar! Look at what Jeremy brought to me with a heart on top.

It was a bit strong for this coffee newbie. The coffee baristas were extremely serious about their art and Jeremy said that I could not ask for sweetener because they would have been so offended. I really don't like offending people especially after they just put a pretty heart on my drink so I enjoyed dipping my chocolate sticks in the coffee in hopes of making it a little sweeter in a discreet non-offensive way.

I aim to please.

Uncle Evan showed our family a bit of his talent that most of us do not have.

It might be a little hard to see but Evan made an Aquabat pumpkin for Chase.

I think I am safe to say that we might have the only pumpkin with the Aquabat symbol in our area. Chase was thrilled. I just stood in a bit of awe. I can only draw stick figures.

I went to the grocery store today and realized that my love of all things pumpkin might be a little out of control.

(Not pictured is the pumpkin pie creamer and pumpkin spice eggo's)

I felt the need to grab up all the pumpkin items I could because they are all about to go "bye bye" as Isabella would say. Why, oh why, can't we just have pumpkin flavors year around?

(No, the Muddy Buddy Chex Mix is not pumpkin flavored but it is out for the holidays and is crazy addicting. Between my new coffee love and all this processed food, I may be needing a serious detox after the holidays)

I think others are feeling the stress of the disappearing pumpkin snacks.

Look at how the very last box of PopTarts looked from Target.

It looks like a dog got hold of it. It also kinda makes me imagine a scene from a movie where two women fighting over the last Turkey at the grocery store the night before Thanksgiving.

Poor box. The PopTarts still taste good.

If you are a pumpkin fan like me, I encourage you to get out to the store today because it is almost all gone. So sorry to bring you such sad news.

Now, please excuse me as I get my pumpkin fix for breakfast.

Hope you have a blessed day!

Shocked Myself

2011-11-02T00:08:00.000-05:00

There is something that has always kinda bothered me... about me.
It has plagued me more than you know.
I mean everyone did it. At least, it seemed like everyone. I have even heard of young children doing it.

I felt so alone. So uncool. So ungrown-up.

The only thing I could do was marry someone who felt a bit like me.
(Okay, I really did fall in love with my man for who he is, not what he does.)

I tried to join the ranks of the cool and grown up but just couldn't get past the taste of liquid dirt.

What could I possibly be describing?

You guessed it. COFFEE.

It was what my English 102 teacher called the "Elixir of Life" as she swirled it then chugged it from a clear plastic jug during our 8 AM class. None of the class was completely sure what she was drinking and one of us finally got the guts to ask on the last day. She was like, "Hello? It's Coffee. What else could make me feel this great?" She was an interesting type of gal plus she never acted like she felt great so we just decided to not answer that.

It is what my parents love to have with many meals and always want it at the right temperature.

It is the subject of about 20 facebook posts I see each morning that people love to share what they are drinking, how they will not make it through the day without it, or even what country it originated from.

It is what this suave guy I knew in college who made me realize that coffee was cool to drink when he would never answer a question without first sipping from his ever present silver travel mug. Now, that I am older, I see what wisdom that move was on his part. That quick drink of coffee gave him a moment to think out his answer.

Meanwhile, I thought he was extra cool and I was not anything close to that because I just could not get past the bitter taste.

Until about two weeks ago.

Jeremy read an article about the benefits of coffee to your body (in moderation, of course!) and how coffee also helps produce an endorphin like feeling to help you feel great.

Neither of us are exercising much these days and we could use some endorphins so we decided to give coffee another chance. Jeremy majorly doctored it up.

I have been hooked ever since.

We both have been amazed at how good coffee does make you feel in the morning.
I know everyone reading this who are coffee drinkers is thinking, "well duh?!"

I drank it for several mornings before telling my mom who I knew would be shocked to no end. She has tried to get me to drink coffee, to at least keep warm in the winter time, for years.

My mom was practically in shock & awe after I told her because I got a text from her hours later that said, "Did I imagine that? You really do like coffee?"

Poor woman. She thought I was a complete lost cause in that area.
I did too.
Glad I got past my old thought processes and just went for it.

I have always wanted to do this while shopping at Target.

I know. I aim pretty low in my desires.

Look at that coolness in action even with that outfit on.
{I had just finished a practice with the kids}

Totally poking fun at myself. I also made my friend laugh so hard when I had her take these. Yes, there were people wondering what in the world we were doing and I really don't care because caring about being cool is just not a big deal to me anymore. A freeing way to live life but that is for another day, another post.

Jeremy and I were surprised at how quickly we began to crave coffee. Just the smell of it makes us want some but we only drink one cup a day. Our cups are still doctored up and no telling how much sugar/calories are in it.

See how doctored it looks?

Jeremy has been able to get (a very tired) me out of bed twice this week by putting this by my bedside table which works a lot better than him nudging me awake.

I kinda feel like the two of us have a new little habit that we enjoy sharing with each other.

I can not even begin to describe to you how I never dreamed I would write such a post because I was so anti-coffee.

In the last two weeks, I have realized:

1. If I drink one cup of coffee in the morning, I feel great all day.

2. Jeremy might have missed his calling to be a barrista.

3. I do look cooler when drinking coffee
(but remember that I do not really care about my new cool factor. Ha!)

4. When I meet friends for "coffee" that I can actually order something besides chai tea or hot chocolate.

5. More than anything, I am glad that I decided to give something another try that I was convinced I would never like. I do believe in second chances.

I am beyond thankful I serve a God who gives second chances when I mess up.
His love and grace is a HUGE comfort to me when I feel like I have.

I wonder what else I might give a second chance to...
Running?
Sewing?
That ride at Six Flags that beat my head so much that I said, "Never again!"?

I am not sure but this whole changing into a semi-coffee drinker has been fun.
Looking forward to giving a few more things a second chance.

A Different Kind of Lunch Out

2011-10-26T01:50:00.001-05:00

Jeremy treated the kids and I to lunch out.
You are going to be soooo jealous (or "jel" as some cool people say) when you find out where he took us. None of us had been there or been anywhere like it.

He took us to eat in a bus.

Yep, you read that right. A bus, as in, let's go for a quick ride while you cook my food bus.

It was authentic mexican food that is cooked in the back of the bus. There are seats facing out toward the windows on each side where you can eat.

Here we are waiting for our food and excited to eat some yummy goodness in our unique atmosphere.
This was not the most baby friendly place to take my messy rice eating Bella.
After her first bite of rice, we picked up everything and went outside on the one picnic table by the bus.

We hardly ever use this seat but I am quite thankful for it in moments like this. Just hooked it up to the table and the rice eating fest began.

She is a pretty intense rice eater. I was glad we made the decision to take the kids to that picnic table. Chase was disappointed that he could not eat on the bus but the vision I had of me on my hands & knees picking up mexican rice all over that floor made that plain old brown picnic table look great to me.

This was Jeremy's plate of chicken tacos.

This was my steak quesadilla. I squirted the lime over it and devoured it. I have not had a quesadilla that good in a long time.

Jeremy had gone to this bus just last week with his dad who is a regular customer there.
Most people would have seen this bus and would have turned their nose up at it while thinking it must be a dirty place to get food.

The only dirty area I saw was under Isabella's seat after her rice fest.
No surprise there.

I was glad that I had the experience of going to the old bus. I have not had mexican food that good since my last visit to Mexico.

It reminded me a little of how we teach our kids to not judge people by the outside appearance. Get to know the person and you might be surprised by the good you find. I can not count how many times I have taught that through the years in my class.

May you find the good in situations that are not appealing to you today and be blessed (& surprised) by how much you like it instead.

How Much for Them Apples?

2011-10-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

The kids and I were invited to go to our local apple orchard with Jeremy's mom, aunt, sister, and baby Avonlea.

It was a first time visit for Isabella, Avonlea, and I.

Chase has been before but...

he looked like this and has absolutely no memory of it.

I was ready to do some serious apple buying because Bella does this almost every morning to an apple.

Sometimes it looks even worse than this.

Our whole family is an apple eating family. One of my favorite things about fall is all the varieties of apple that are available.

We were pumped to be there.

I would like to add that I was pumped to see Chase in something other than his usual ensemble.

Now, if we are talking fashion, Isabella was the one to really see.

Her GiGi made her two granddaughters these cute apple outfits. It is a little hard to tell but the pants had these adorable ruffles around the ankles.

Chase loves to hold Isabella's hand. Sometimes, she enjoys it but usually she is trying her best to wiggle it away from him. This is one of those moments.

Avonlea was the picture of peace until she was put in Chase's arms for the family photo shoot.

Avonlea had her team of people to get her happy and all prettied up for the camera.

Peace was restored.

I missed getting a picture of Chase having to put the pacifer back in after it was spit out once.

Chase was cracking us up with his professionalism of smiling during the whole incident and making sure the paci stayed in.

Ashley was our main photographer that day. She has an amazing camera and a great eye for pictures.

These were just a few shots from my view of staying out of sight.

The whole ordeal just wore that sweet baby out plus there is nothing like getting back into the comfort of your mother's arms. Chase's little skinny arms were probably shocking to her system.

My kids kept picking up apples and taking bites out of them. I had to buy a few half eaten apples.

I ended up with two bags full of apples and two apple slushies for our snack that day plus many pictures of the cousins to remember our sweet time together.

Moses and Friendgirl

2011-10-24T18:08:00.001-05:00

I have already shared in this post about Chase having a "friendgirl."

Things have apparently gotten more serious than anyone knew.

PawPaw (Jeremy's Dad) took Chase to the park the other day and PawPaw watched Chase follow this blonde girl around. She was a few years older than Chase and did not pay him much attention.

When the two guys got back in the car, PawPaw teased Chase by saying, "Chase, I forgive you for following that little girl around and not playing with me."

Chase's response any time you say the words "I forgive you" is "I forgive you too." Usually, the person Chase says that to has done nothing wrong.

Once Chase said that he forgave PawPaw too then PawPaw said, "Why are you forgiving me? I did not follow a girl around. I am a married man. I have a wife."

Chase surprised his PawPaw by saying, "I have a wife too."

PawPaw was not caught up on my blog and did not know about Friendgirl.
He said to his grandson, "What? You are not married."

Chase calmly replied, "Yes, I am married but I don't want to talk about it right now but I will tell you that she is part of the Jones family."

{Her last name is not really Jones but I am careful about Friendgirl's identity}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I direct a children's musical every Christmas at our church. Several times, in the past, there was a need for a manger scene in the musical and I always used the preschool class in our church. I have not needed a manger scene since Chase has been in that class.....until this year.

I told Chase that possibly he and possibly friendgirl or one of his other gal pals might be Joseph and Mary in the Nativity Scene.

Chase's response: "Well, I am just not feeling Joseph right now. I am thinking that maybe I should be Moses. I really just need to yell, 'Let My People Go!'"

I was concerned, amused, and confused all at the same time.
Then, I found out that his class is doing an in depth study on the life of Moses.

Did that last sentence make Chase sound like he was part of a Beth Moore Bible Study or what?

Moses is like a rock star in Chase's eye right now. I had a hard time explaining to Chase that Moses has been long gone by the time Jesus was born.

I am sure that I will have more to share in the future about the upcoming Nativity scene.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chase's teacher at church told me about an incident concerning Chase and friendgirl recently.

Chase tried to ride on the spinning ride with friendgirl except the f.g. wanted to ride it by herself. I can't blame her a bit. Chase can really get up all in your personal space. We have been working with him on that but have not been very successful.

Once friendgirl made it known to Chase that she wanted to ride the toy by herself.

Chase dejectedly walked across the room and sat down.

His teacher asked him if he was okay.

Chase just shook his head and answered, "My heart is broken."

Sigh.

I had no idea that I would be dealing with broken hearts this soon.

I also simply have no idea where Chase gets his dramatic flair.

I have decided to blame it on Uncle Wendell for now since he does not read my blog and can not defend himself. (Plus, I miss him dearly and Chase misses him even more)

Meanwhile, I need to teach Chase to "let it go" just like Moses was always telling Pharoah to do.

Hot for Pumpkins

2011-10-19T02:03:00.000-05:00

It's time for our annual family trip to the Pumpkin Patch or as Chase likes to say "Punkin Patch."

The weather was unusually warm this year. I have never worn capri pants and flip flops to the pumpkin patch. I was sad that I could not dress Bella up in her pumpkin long sleeve shirt but that would have been brutal for her.

Here we are in our summer attire ready for a fall experience.

Chase started out on the swings with my dad pushing him.

Isabella was just....everywhere! The wide open spaces of the farm caused her main interest to be in just walking all over the place.

She loved the pumpkins. She thought they looked like fun orange balls.

It is hard to tell in this picture but Jeremy is holding a bunny for the kids to pet.

Isabella has a thing for animals. She is visiting with the pigs here.

She petted every animal that she could. I was a little nervous about it but she knew no fear.

Chase and I rode this slide together. I was missing my jeans and tennis shoes on this one.

This is Chase's new pose for pictures which is way better than the previous pose he did with Captain America.

This pose from Chase could use some work but I was keeping him from playing in the corn crib so I can't really blame him.

This was my first time in the corn and I can't believe I have been missing out all these years.

Isabella wore Jeremy and I out as we took turns letting her walk everywhere. Yet, she seemed to wear herself out even more. By the time, we gave her a cookie, this is how she looked...

Poor girl was saying "cheese" and trying to smile while eating her mouthful of cookie.

It was nap time, after all.

The cookie must have rejuvenated her because she was up and ready to join Chase on this big bouncy thing except she could not bounce with the big kids.

Jeremy and I joined both kids on this. Neither of us jumped but with all these other kids jumping around us, we bounced quite a bit.

It was only a matter of time before Chase found a few of these to drum on.

I don't get out much these days but I have seen many blogs and magazines about spray painting pumpkins white. I will be honest and very uncool by sharing that I thought spray painting a pumpkin white was unnatural.

Well, look what my children found for me to see.
The sign behind Bella says that they are called Polar Bear pumpkins. Interesting.

This is my baby after a day of sweating, running, falling face first into mud, a messy cookie, and playing in the corn. Bella and her shirt have seen better days but I doubt she has ever had so much fun.

Our Pumpkin Patch time for the last few years can be viewed by clicking these links...

2010, 2009, & 2008.

A Hero, Some Royalty, and a Monster

2011-10-18T02:16:00.000-05:00

I am lovin' fall.

The weather at the beginning of this month made me think that October would be nippy.

I could not have been more wrong. I am still in my flip flops which is unusual for me to go this long in my summer clothes in northern Alabama.

Even though it has been warm outside, I have not let that dampen my excitement for the season.

Just going to the store to buy these two items has put me in the fall mood.

When I need a quick pumpkin fix, these treats have been my go-to snacks.

Jeremy is not a pop-tart fan but loves the pumpkin flavored ones.

After I probably had one of my pumpkin treats, Jeremy and I took off to the grand opening of our new Toys r Us/Babies r Us. We typically avoid any grand opening of stores and restaurants due to the huge crowds and line waiting that comes with it.

This grand opening was different. Look who was there.

The place was crawling with people. We just knew the line would be long to see Captain America but he was standing right by the door with no one around him at the time. Chase walked in awe toward him and Captain America looked at Chase with that A on his very loved blue shirt then asked "What does your A stand for?"

This is an often asked question. Usually people think it is the first letter in his name but no. (I have often thought that I must have missed it on not naming him Adam, Aiden, Alan, or Andrew because I would never really have explain to everyone what that A is all about)

Chase was so in shock of what his eyes were seeing that he just mumbled, "Aquabats."

Captain A was immediately perplexed and rightly so. I had to explain that The Aquabats are a band and Chase was a superfan.

I could tell that Captain A thought Chase was an interesting type of fellow especially when he posed for the picture with his hand on his neck.

I never know about that boy.

Jeremy was thrilled to have his picture taken with two princesses.

Okay, I might have used the word thrilled a bit too strongly here. We were really looking for Brobee and these two women kinda grabbed Jeremy then asked me to take their picture. Ha! Now, there were some women who knew how to take control of the situation. I just obeyed and snapped the shot.

I think the one of the left was supposed to be Barbie. The one on the right is from a recent Disney movie that I missed so I am not sure what her name is.

This was the guy Isabella wanted to see.

She loves Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba. He is probably up there with Elmo for her.

{Total side note but notice the Elmo pinata. Who would hit Elmo? My kids would flip out if someone took a stick to beat Elmo at a party. Even if candy was involved.}

I was grateful that Isabella was not like one of the kids who saw Brobee before us. That poor child had to leave quickly due to screaming in fear. We don't hang out with huge furry creatures much so I was not sure what either of their reactions would be. Whew!

Chase was obviously working on a new pose for all of his pictures that day that involved grabbing his neck. I know I have never seen any of his heroes with this look nor did he have something wrong with his neck. There is just no telling.

We tried to look around the store for a few minutes to get some ideas from the kids for Christmas but it was hard to see anything due to all the people. We gave up and left with promises to return on a much slower paced day.

Little Changes Help Me Look Better

2011-10-12T13:20:00.001-05:00

Jeremy thinks I am a hard one to buy for when my birthday rolls around. I don't go around like Chase and think that every nifty item I see on TV or in a magazine is meant for me to have. I usually keep myself in a continual state of denial. I don't even allow my mind to go to my wants. All my needs are met so I find myself blessed and satisfied. I think most moms do who are on a limited budget.

When it comes time for me to be able to get a gift for my birthday, I am never really sure what I do want. I will think to myself, "What have been wanting?" I usually just prefer to get a gift card or money because I don't get to buy things just for me and I can make that gift card last a long time.

I hope I am not sounding all pitiful because I am ever so blessed.

Honestly, if I had an unlimited budget for myself, I doubt I would even have time to shop.

Jeremy decided that I needed a new purse.

Seriously, people, if your husband thinks you need a new anything then you probably do need it.

My old one {which I have loved for about three years and looked forever for the perfect purple purse} was getting a bit worn.

This bag had me with all those pockets and zippers. You would not believe all that I had in those pockets.

I took a picture of several of the items I found because I was amazed at all that was in there. Some of the things, I had forgotten about. I probably would have turned red if someone had gone through all those pockets.

Very thankful that my kids do not go through my purse yet.

Not sure how I will like it if they do start going through it.

I find it highly personal. Highly, I say.

Okay, I think I am done saying highly.

Jeremy began a quest to find me a cotton coated canvas bag. Fossil had some really cute ones but they were just out of our birthday budget. The man searched high and low for one but it was looking doubtful.

I was cool no matter what since I was still quite attached to all my pockets of my purple purse. I had bought a new purse (with a gift card, of course) awhile back but had never taken it out of the bag. Apparently, I was more attached to that bag than I realized.

Change is hard.

Even when it concerns a purse.

Then, the week before my birthday, our little family was walking through the mall. Much to our surprise, we found this little number made by "The Sak" on serious clearance.

Isn't it cute?

I was a bit apprehensive of the lack of pockets but I am trying to stretch myself in the area of change and told Jeremy that I would be just fine with it.

My kind and thoughtful husband knew that I loved all those pockets so he bought one of those purse pockets. It holds all my belongings and everything has a compartment.

I absolutely love it.

The bag itself is so much lighter than my old one. My shoulder thanks me for the change too.

The other change in my life that came from my birthday was the gift my parents gave me.

My mom had already asked me if it was okay to not buy me clothes or give me money for shopping because she had something else in mind for me. Since my mom usually is really good at buying gifts for me, I said to go for it.

Then, I opened it.

It was something that several of my family members had tried to give me but I was never interested in it.

It was a Chi flat iron.

Here I am after opening it. I kept thinking, "Is this flat iron really all that?" I mean how could it make that much of a difference for that price. I was perfectly happy with my little cheap flat iron that sort of did a good job on straightening my wavy hair.

I found out after my first use of it. My never perfectly straight hair looked so much better after my first use that several people could tell. I was amazed at how well it worked.

If I recall correctly, I found myself just staring into the mirror in disbelief.

What have I learned from this rambling post about purses and hair?

That change can be a good thing and the people who love you the most can help you in that change.

Ready to be more Courageous

2011-10-10T01:55:00.000-05:00

Jeremy was away the last few days on a youth retreat. He took the youth camping on a mountain not too far away and the plan was for me to visit them each night. Since becoming a parent, I have learned that the best well made plans take a backseat to the needs of my children. Without going into boring details, just know that I sadly never made it up there.

When I realized that I was going to be too late to make to the youth outing for Friday night, I decided to utilize the fabulous & free childcare (my folks) that was already planned and take myself out on a date.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I really wanted to see the movie "Courageous" that had just come out last week. My parents and several friends had already seen it. Every one of them gave the movie rave reviews. I knew Jeremy was scheduled to see it after the retreat with his dad and brother-in-law.

This was my chance.

I am SO glad I went.

Just check out the trailer...

In the first minute of the movie, the action started. Throughout the movie, I cried, I laughed, and then I cried some more.

The movie looks like it is geared toward fathers but I left the movie wanting to be better at everything God has given me in my life. I was ready to tackle motherhood, marriage, and life with renewed enthusiasm.

I sure hope you can see this movie soon.

You will not be disappointed.

Getting Ready for a New Year

2011-10-04T23:30:00.000-05:00

I have started several posts in the last few weeks but, if you are a regular reader, you know that I have not finished them because my blog has been on the quiet side.

I tend to blog at night once I have put the kids in bed, picked up most of the mess they have made that day, a load of laundry in the wash, and the kitchen cleaned. Sometimes, I am just devoid of anything witty or interesting to write. I also get concerned that I am so tired that whatever I am sharing might not make sense.

Maybe it is just my age.

I did have a birthday yesterday.

It was our day off so we had a relaxing day with family.

I began my day with my annual birthday breakfast with my mom and dad at IHOP.

After breakfast, I got to run several errands by myself. YES! I never knew that I would get excited about buying diapers at Target and going to the bank on my birthday by myself.

I could make a joke about sounding old but I think I really sound more like a mom.

Jeremy did his annual shopping for my birthday with Chase and 1st timer Isabella. I don't think she was invited to go with them last year. I also don't think she was overly excited about being invited this year. Maybe, next year, the excitement will catch on.

I know I enjoyed everyone going to the store with Daddy.

Later on, we met up with all of our family in town for dinner at the Mellow Mushroom.

I am showing off some lovely earrings. Jeremy tells everyone to just get me some big earrings when they have no clue what to get me. The man knows me well.

Don't you just love the way the staff covered the windows behind me with cardboard boxes?

My brother Scott. He loves to share the story of the first time he saw me. My sister does the same thing. I never tire of it. Makes me feel loved.

Here is GiGi with her oldest and youngest grandchild.

My 7 week old niece Avonlea who is known as Superbaby to Chase and Baby Avie to Bella.

Once again, the quest for a decent family picture has not happened. At least, Jeremy and I were doing our part.

I am sad that I somehow missed getting pictures of several family members especially my mom who was a key figure in making sure I had a birthday.

Today, my birthday bunch friends got together to have a good time. We do not usually have the kids join us but with one husband out of the country and another husband needing to work, we gladly brought the kids along. I can not complain. The four that we had with us were so good.

This is the best picture we could get out of the nice lady who stopped working to take this for us.

As you can see, I had a sweet birthday.

I look forward to this year. I have no idea what it holds but so thankful to have such precious family and friends to walk through it with me with an awesome God leading the way.

The FriendGirl

2011-09-27T23:30:00.000-05:00

I have a little story to tell you.

One that I knew I would tell one day....like years from now.

I had no idea it would happen so soon.

For several months, Chase has had a few little girls in his class think he was a pretty good catch. I had several mamas and even grandmamas tell me that their little girl thought Chase was either their boyfriend or he was their new bff.

I thought we were pretty safe with all of this "young infatuation" stuff because Chase would always tell me that no one was his girlfriend except maybe Bella (his baby sister).

He was a bit confused about what a boyfriend/girlfriend was but I figured it would be awhile until it really mattered.

Chase also had this weird idea that people who are paired up should have the same color hair because his parents have matching hair.

Chase's other weird idea was that he had blond hair.....really blond hair. It has been hard to convince him otherwise.

Then, in walked a new pretty little blonde into Chase's class this past summer.

The first day she was in his class, I went in to pick him up and saw him kneel down beside her and say, "That sure is a pretty dress you are wearing."

Whoa. Whoa WHOA!

Moving a little fast there, Mister!

You just met the girl. How about a "nice to meet you?" Or "welcome to the class?"
Even a "see you next time" would have been great.

It is extremely rare for a compliment to come out of my son's mouth. So, I knew this little girl had caught his eye and she "matched" him by having the same color hair (at least, in his mind).

A couple of months later, our church people met for a picnic. Chase and his new friendgirl (Sorry, I just can't write girlfriend for my four year old. I am a bit quirky, I know.) had the time of their lives.

They played together all day.He let her play his guitar. She let him play with this huge stick she found.
Situations that Chase would usually be hesitant about were not scary at all if friendgirl was around. He got super dirty, climbed high on the playground, went down the tallest slide, got on the seesaw, and barely even looked the way of his other guy friends. One of the older boys who Chase just loves came up to me to complain about Chase not playing with the boys.

Oh dear, he is already putting the friendgirl before his buds.

Everyone was getting a kick out of watching this little friendship bloom that day.

Someone even caught this moment and sent it to me:

Do you see how the new friendgirl is wiping my son's face?

She likes to boss Chase and he obeys.

Whoa again.

He usually ignores his peers bossing him.

When we left the picnic, Jeremy and I got an earful all about friendgirl. Chase asked if she could come spend the night and was puzzled that we said "NO WAY!"

He talked about her the rest of the night and for several days after.

Jeremy even had Chase wake him up early one morning and whispered this: "Daddy, I need you to call friendgirl's mama and set up a time so I can do a concert for her."

I tested him by stating, "She seems to boss you around."

Chase quickly replied, "Yes, she does. It is okay because I love her."

I thought I would see how far Chase would go with friendgirl's bossing by asking her to tell Chase what color his hair really was. I just knew he was going to argue with her like he does with everyone.

She went up to him and said, "You have brown hair."

Chase replied with an "Okay" and would you believe he is now proclaiming he has brown hair?

Gracious! I had no idea that young love would begin at my house....well....when my son was this young.

Chase really just thinks friendgirl is pure fun which I agree. The party seems to start when she walks into the room. She is quite a cutie, too.

I know this is just the beginning of friendgirls in his life but I am totally okay if Chase wants to go through an extremely long phase of thinking girls are icky.

All girls except me, of course.

Dancing in the Rain

2011-09-17T23:25:00.000-05:00

After I shared about how I was too busy and too distracted with my messy life in my last post, I had a wonderful day at home. Just me and the kids.

What a difference a day can make.

I woke the morning after I wrote that post and was ready to do something about all the things I had let slide in the last couple of weeks. I tackled my house with a fervor that is usually only seen if we have an important dinner guest coming.

I was determined to get my house back and bring some clarity back into my life.

I did it in a few short hours and my mom came over to watch the kids for about an hour so I could get my haircut.

I meant business, people.

When Jeremy came home that night from work, he could tell that I had gotten a lot done (even noticed my trimmed up hair). He also could tell that my day had been great.

I love at home days when I can check off my list and get to spend some sweet time with my kids.

I love moments like this:

It has rained quite a bit around here lately which means Chase has been putting his new raincoat and boots to good use.

Here we find the (Aqua)Batman watching out for any bad guys who come our way.

I never fear because Jesus and this guy scares them all away.

He was probably singing to me. He breaks into song about every five minutes or so.

Our house is only quiet if he is asleep.

He began to dance and then sing in the rain.

Yes, it did remind me of the movie "Singing in the Rain" except Chase does not have all the smooth moves down like Gene Kelly just yet.

May we all be able to just enjoy life {like a child can} in the messy times, the rainy times, and even the busy times.

Confessions of Messy Blessings

2011-09-15T23:30:00.000-05:00

Hello.

My name is Wendy and I am in a little blogging funk.

I tend to analyze why I do the things I do.

Here are a few reasons I have come up with:

~Life has gotten even busier lately since I have added a bit more responsibility on my plate at the church. I have added working with the youth and leading a new small group of young adults in my week. I am loving it but learning to delegate more and to multi-task in a whole new way.

~I was getting a TON of clothes and such ready to turn in for the twice a year kids consignment sale all last week. I went three times to drop off items in the hopes that I sell enough to not only pay for all my purchases in a few weeks plus make a little extra.

That is such a blessing. To be able to clothe my kids and make a little money too.

Win-Win.

~Due to all the work I did on the consignment sale, my house is messier and more disorganized than usual. I find this makes me even more tired than I usually am and uncreative. When I am like this, I have the hardest time writing. Some people would tell me just to clean it up. Sounds so easy until Hurricane #1 & Hurricane #2 (Chase & Isabella) show up to undo any progress I made in the cleaning/organizing process.

~I feel a little overwhelmed in just trying to keep up with the normal kitchen cleaning, laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, couponing, and last but not least...blogging.

~I also was disturbed this week by the state of my hair. Who can do anything when you look this unkept? I have been so busy that I have neglected my locks. I think my last hair cut was right before summer.

Is this turning into a complaining session?

Yes, I do believe it is.

So sorry. Just being real.

Totally not Super Mom or Super Wife or Super Anything.

I just needed to get this off my chest tonight.

I see so many blogs about the lives of what seems like a perfect life but I know most of those lovely ladies have moments like this too. They just might not share about it.

Maybe this was a little like therapy for me except way cheaper and faster.

Cheaper and faster is a good motto for me right now and since I am not dating then I should be able to use that phrase without any eyebrows being raised.

Jeremy was in a meeting tonight so it was just the kids and I having an old standby dinner:

Spagetti Casserole.

Once again, cheap and fast....

and VERY messy!

Gracious me! Talk about cleaning up messes. It took me forever to get that sauce off her nose.

Chase decided that he wanted to get a kiss from this messy girl which I found odd because he does not like getting things on his face.

Bella was having a hard time concentrating on giving him a kiss because she was super busy eating the rest of Chase's dinner and mine. This girl loves her noodles.

Okay, it is about to happen as sister comes up for air.

It did not really happen but Chase was showing me what he would do if Bella had really kissed him. He also would have been yelling at me to "Get it OFF!"

Well, my life is overwhelming at times but moments like these (which made me laugh) are worth it all and help me to happily keep moving forward.

Where Were You?

2011-09-10T23:59:00.000-05:00

I wanted to repost what I wrote last year about 9/11. That horrible day changed everything and everyone in our country. I have been glued to every news story this week with all the follow up stories about the people 9/11 directly effected the most. So many lives lost that day. So many lives changed by the loss of spouses, parents, children, family, and friends.

I would like to encourage everyone to pray for each of these families who are still dealing with huge holes in their lives from what they lost that day.

May we never forget.

I remember as I was growing up that my mom would say that everyone from her generation could tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when JFK was assassinated. Most people from my generation could tell you where they were when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up.

Now, there is a new day that everyone all around the world remembers but especially Americans which is September 11, 2001.

What a horrible day that was.

I was at the gym on the Elliptical watching the morning talk shows. I write the word shows because I could watch 10 televisions at a time. I had my sound tuned to the Today Show where Matt Lauer cut in to the regular fluff stuff with a shot of all this smoke billowing out of one of the Twin Towers in NYC. He was puzzled by it and not sure what had happened. He was saying that it was possible that a plane had crashed into it but it was not confirmed. Matt got a lady on the phone who was a bystander telling him what she saw.

While she was talking, I watched in shock, dismay, and horror as a plane just crashed into the other tower.

The lady Matt was talking to saw it as well and began to scream. I turned to the almost empty room I was in to the other two people on the treadmills to see if they saw what I saw because I just could not believe it. Neither one of them were even looking. I looked into the weights area to see if anyone saw it on the tv in there but no one was paying attention. I wanted to scream at them to look at the tv because I still could not believe what I just witnessed.

Someone noticed in the weights area what was being reported on the tv and I noticed everyone flood to the small television that hung on the wall. I don't think I have ever stayed on a cardio machine that long but I didn't even notice. Everything I saw was mind-boggling and heart-rendering. People came on our soil to kill innocent Americans just going about their everyday lives in the name of their god. It could have been any of us that day.

It was hard to get anything done that day as all we wanted to do was stay glued to the tv screen to see what else would happen.We watched so many scenes of people fleeing down the soot and paper covered streets while wearing business suits covered in blood and ash.We saw one tower fall then the next one go a little later. We watched people wondering the streets of New York with pictures of loved ones and begging everyone to look to see if they might have seen them. The scenes of the crashes in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon were shown often. We heard the stories of the people on the plane that crashed in PA calling their family members for one last goodbye and telling them that they were going to overtake the terrorists. Heroes were born that day as they died to protect other Americans. Churches filled with people for prayer meetings.

Yes, that is a day that I will never forget as long as I live.

Labor can be Tiring

2011-09-06T01:12:00.000-05:00

Apparently, we are just all worn out at our house.

Bella was so tired that she fell asleep with food in her mouth and her hand.

Chase just stood in front of her waving and trying to wake her but was unsuccessful.

When Daddy is in charge, there is no telling what I might find when I come home.

Was not expecting this either.

I asked Chase why he was wearing underwear on his head. He explained he was pretending that it was the silver cap the Aquabats use for part of their costume. Chase's quest in perfecting his own version on his favorite band's costume is a daily thing.

Why do I even ask? I totally should have known that.

All that creativity must have put him in the same condition like his sister.

I was not sure what to do with both kids asleep in the middle of the day.
Oh, the possiblities!

I hope your Labor Day weekend was full of fun but also full of rest in order to be ready for the week ahead...
Mine sure was.

Some of my Favorite Blogs

2011-09-02T13:42:00.000-05:00

I am a blogger but more importantly I am a blog stalker.

I LOVE reading blogs.

I tried to analyze awhile back.....was it just part of me being nosy? Was my real life so boring that I needed to read about the lives of other people I will probably never meet?

Hmmm.....maybe yes to both. I do get really good ideas from other blogs. I have used blogs for recipes, crafts with my class, how to write better, and been inspired spiritually.

I have found myself crying after reading a tragic story of a family that really needed prayer. In those times, I am beyond thankful for life itself. Then, I check on that family through their blog for signs of progress and hope.Sometimes, I see great progress and there is much rejoicing. Other times, I see extremely sad outcomes and I grieve with the rest of the bloggy world.

Kelly's Korner is hosting a Share Your Favorite Blogs today and thought I would share a few of the ones I enjoy reading. I do have several on my side bar that are fun to read, as well.

These blogs are in no particular order with the links:

Bring the Rain

First Blog I ever read. Always get encouraged when reading anything from Angie Smith

The Nie Nie Dialogues

Second Blog I ever read. This was one of those tragic ones that has turned triumphant. Stephanie is a mother of four and has survived being burned from a plane crash.

BooMama

This woman never fails to make me laugh. Everyone needs to laugh more.

The Mom

Ruth is a mom of four who shares her struggles and successes while dealing with her youngest child's medical needs. Also, husband is co-creator of Yo Gabba Gabba which my kids love.

Big Mama

Another mama who makes me laugh and is friends with Boo Mama. I can only imagine what life is like when they are together.

Money Saving Mom

This Mom gives so many great tips and inspires me in my savings habits.

Reagan's Blob

It is fun to see what Reagan's life in NYC is like plus she has a precious special needs child that you will fall in love with.

Krazy Koupon Klippin' Kick

Helps me every week find the right weekly deals in my area. Plus, she has coupons at the bottom of her blog. Lots of coupons!

The Pioneer Woman

Most bloggers know who Ree is. You will either get extremely hunger or really inspired to cook when you read this blog....maybe both.

Hope you enjoy reading these as much as I do!

Turkey & Spinach Lasagna

2011-09-01T23:53:00.004-05:00

I posted a picture of my dinner on my facebook page and I promised that I would share tonight the details of how to make it.

First of all, I have shared in the past about my great LOVE for my Crock Pot. I declare that my life is better because of it. I tend to have more energy in the morning and it helps me to get dinner ready before lunch and before I leave for an afternoon at work. Usually, I am worn out by the time I get home and making a big dinner is not what my body wants to do.

I am on a new kick of not making the same thing twice so I attempted for the first time to make lasagna in my Crock Pot and the outcome was super yummy.

Turkey & Spinach Lasagna:

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey

1 tsp dried oregano

15 oz container ricotta cheese

8 oz pkg shredded mozzarella cheese

10 oz pkg frozen spinach, cooked & drained

9 oz pkg no boil noodles, uncooked & broken to fit

26 oz jar spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup hot water

In a skillet over medium heat, brown turkey with seasonings; drain. Mix together cheeses and spinach. Layer as follows in a slow cooker: dry noodles, turkey, sauce, and cheese mixture. Repeat layers in same order, ending with cheese. (I did three layers) Pour hot water over all. Cover and cook on low setting for 4 1/2 hours. Let it stand for a few minutes before serving. Serves 6 to 8.

I came home to dinner looking like this...

I cut it in squares and scooped this huge piece out.

Oh my! It was so good. Both my kids loved it.

Looking forward to trying more recipes. Some are good and then some are excellent. The lasagna from tonight was definitely the latter.

Happy Crock Pot Cooking!

Hallmark Cards, A Cape, and Grace

2011-08-27T00:38:00.000-05:00

I had today off so the kids and I were able to go to the mall in hopes of finding a gift for my mom for her birthday.

I used to have it more together than this. I would get a card and gift all nicely wrapped for the birthday recipient back in the old days.

You know the days before I became a mom. I guess I could call it BK which means Before Kids.

Gracious, I have such a hard time keeping up now. Thankfully, my family is full of grace if I show up to a family dinner gift-less because I do get a gift to them within a week.

It was a little hard to get Mom a gift today because she was with us and Isabella was not a good shopper. She was great as long as I kept the stroller moving. Kinda hard to shop if I can't stop.

I did sneak off while we were at the mall to get a couple of cards from Hallmark. My dad has this thing about giving and getting cards from Hallmark. He painstakingly reads all the cards in the section that belongs to the recipient of the card. His love language is "words of affirmation" so giving a card with the right words is a big deal to him. Most people could care less about a card. At least, most of the people I am friends with except for my parents so my siblings and I know that part of our parents' birthday gifts is the card from Hallmark.

After all, Hallmark's logo is "when you care enough to send the very best."

Mom and Dad, we do care enough!

For dinner, my family joined up to celebrate mom.

Uh, no one, please tell my brother Scott about my blog. I don't think he reads it at all. Let's not start now with this great picture I have of him being surprised at something Jeremy probably said. Can't blame Scott for looking this way. Jeremy does say a lot of amazing things.

Dad and Mom posing with their yummy Tex-Mex.

Jeremy and I about to dig in.

Chase is digging in.

Here is Mom with four Hallmark cards.

Part of our time at the mall was Mom taking Isabella to Stride Rite to get her some good shoes since she is finally not taking off her shoes and chewing on them. This was Isabella's first time to go shoe shopping for herself. She did not see how fun it could be. Oh, she has so much to still learn.

Mom and I had our hands full with our little girl who wanted to put on the shoes them run out of the store with them on. Needless to say, no pictures were taken of this great event.

During all of the fun with Isabella, I kept checking on Chase. He kept himself busy over in the corner of the store trying on rain boots and rain coats. I had no idea this would interest him.

He tried on several different blue raincoats.

I knew the one that he would want over the others as soon as he pulled it out.

It was a Batman rain coat....with a cape.

Chase is not really a fan of Batman but that cape was like a dream come true.

He has been asking for a cape to help complete his Aquabats costume for quite a while.

Chase's dream came even more to life when the salespeople showed him how the cape detached.

Since Chase never wants clothes of any kind except the three outfits and one pair of shoes he insists on wearing, Mom could not resist buying him something that he actually wanted.

This truly was a rare moment.

This is how Chase looked when he entered the restaurant tonight.

I walked behind him and there was no lack for attention wherever he passed by.

He is ready for any bad guy to come his way.

I am just praying that he does not start trying to "fly" with this on if he climbs up on something.

This restaurant offers free ice cream which everyone enjoyed.

Bella has gotten really serious about this ice cream and wants no help in getting it in her mouth.

She missed a few times.

After dinner, Chase begged to go with my parents. Jeremy and I took the opportunity to shop with just one child which seemed extremely easy. In a few short minutes, I was able to get Mom a gift and take it to her before the night was over.

Whew! So glad for family time and grace that is given to a haphazard mama from her mama.

Happy to Celebrate

2011-08-25T23:54:00.000-05:00

I must apologize for my lack of blogging lately. For anyone who has a blog, I know you understand when I say that I have been experiencing a bit of a blogging block.

I will get back to posting either something cute or share something serious very soon but I can not let today go by without sharing a HUGE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to the woman who gave birth to me.

Mom's motto for this birthday is that she is just so thankful that we are all healthy and blessed.

Her appreciation for LIFE itself is immense and then to heap the blessings from God onto this life...

well....it just makes Mom FULL of gratitude.

The kids and I were excited to have lunch with the Birthday Girl today,

Isabella loved having her picture taken with her MiMi.

Now for Chase....

he was not so cooperative to have his picture taken.

He was, however, excited to celebrate his MiMi's birthday today.

Our big family dinner for Mom will be tomorrow night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM.....

and may your year be full of answered prayers and blessings that you never dreamed you would see. I also pray that the good health you have had lately will continue this year, as well.

I love you!!!

Fighting Crime and Gettin' Wet

2011-08-20T00:31:00.000-05:00

We had a much needed stay at home day.

I let my hair dry naturally which means it looked extremely unkept. I barely had any makeup on and wore clothes that made me look like I had just worked out which was just an illusion. I haven't worked out in forever but I love to dress like I have. So comfy but it might inspire me to get moving one day.

Crazier things have happened.

The kids stayed in their pajamas all day.

We ventured out to the front yard a couple of times this afternoon.

My parents live down the street from us and my mom told me tonight on the phone that she saw Chase running through the sprinkler in the front yard in his pajamas as she was going home.

I should have thrown a little soap on him and gotten him clean while he was having fun.

I so enjoyed my day with the kids.

Whenever I am on my laptop, Chase likes to sit right beside me.

Then, Chase likes to grab my hand and tell me we are best friends.

Our sweet moment is turned into a slight arm wrestling match. I was not ready to compete against Captain America. After all, I just confessed all about the lack of exercise in my life.

Here are a few more silly shots of the two bff's.

I look a little smug because I have Captain America beside me.

Evil will not prevail.

We were both supposed to be smiling for this one but fighting crime is serious business.

We will not be scared of evil but evil will be scared of us when we yell at it to go {in Jesus' Name}.

Hooray! Chase is back.

Now, let's go run in the sprinklers again.

The First Meeting

2011-08-19T00:18:00.002-05:00

Today was a very special day for my little family.

We officially met our week old niece, Avonlea Grace.
Chase was confused while Superbaby (his name for his new cousin) was in the NICU. We would show him pictures of her but then Superbaby's mom did not have her tummy back to it's original flatness quite yet so, in his mind, maybe the baby went back in her belly. He did not understand that it takes more than a day to get your body back to normal after birthing a baby.
Ahhh, if it could only be that easy, right Ladies?
By the way, Ashley looks amazing and is recovering way faster than I ever did.

Avonlea came home two days ago. We knew that she and her tired parents needed a few days to be with her so we waited until today. I was going to wait until Friday but since we got a special invite from Auntie Ashley, we gladly went this afternoon.

I WISH I had taken my flip camera to record this moment. Chase and Avonlea had the sweetest meeting. She opened her eyes only for Chase. She was fast asleep for the rest of us. We are pretty boring compared to him.

Chase told her that he was her new best friend. He also told her that she needed to get a superhero outfit with a cape so they can fight crime together.

Once I got to hold her, Isabella took an interest in her cousin. Bella was excited and scared of Avonlea. I was glad she did not get upset that I was holding another baby.

Jeremy met us over at his sister's home and was happy to hold his niece. He used to be uncomfortable holding newborns until he had his own. Such a pro now.

Avonlea, we have a lot of memories to make and life to live. We are beyond thrilled that God has put you in our family!

A Fast Year and a Half

2011-08-17T01:21:00.000-05:00

Monday was Isabella's 18 Month Check-Up.

I try to schedule most of our appointments for anything on Mondays since that is our day off.

Right before I fell into bed on Sunday night, I decided to not set my alarm since Chase is always up before 8:30 and I did not need to be at the doctor until 10:30.

Saturday night, Bella kept me up from 2 AM to 7 AM for most of the night. She was not crying. Just talking and kicking the wall between her room and Chase's. Ugh. I had to wake her up at 8 AM for church. So, when I write that I fell into bed on Sunday night....I fell hard.

Next thing I know, I have Chase beside me waking me up at NINE FORTY FIVE AM!

I am not the fastest mover but I could have won an award for being in the car thirty minutes later completely showered, make-up on, and well-rested baby in tow (though she still had her pj's on).

Here we are waiting for our Doctor to come examine Bella. I still can not believe we ALL slept that long the night before = AWESOME. Isabella totally redeemed herself from her kicking/talking marathon from the previous night.

Here are a few stats from the 18 month visit:

My hefty child weighed in at an even 21 pounds. She gained a whole pound in the last six months.

She has been more interested in food and has enjoyed eating more. I promise! We seem to have lean babies in our families.

See? This is Bella enjoying an apple which she does almost every morning. Just peel the skin off and watch her gobble it up.

Here is Isabella showing off her collection of teeth. I knew she might have a molar or two coming in soon. Much to the doctor's amazement, he told me that she has eleven teeth coming in right now.

ELEVEN?

Ahhh, this might explain the being up all night, putting both fingers in her mouth often to chew on them, and some fun diapers.

I was happy to tell the doctor about Isabella's language skills. She talks quite a bit. Here she is working on her flash cards of the alphabet. Trying to get ahead of her big brother since all he wants to do is talk about the letter "A" because of his favorite band, The Aquabats.

There were a few things that were not discussed during our doctor's visit.

She is the sweetest girl. Her brother will take away whatever she is playing with (working on Chase about that) and she just moves on to a new toy.

She loves anything to do with music. I have passed by Chase's room and found Isabella in there holding one of his mics just singing away without anyone in there.

Bella seems to melt everyone's heart by waving & saying, "Bye-Bye" plus she throws in a few kisses for good measure when we leave wherever we happen to be. I have experienced many complete strangers of all ages blowing kisses our way almost every time we go out.

One of my favorite things about having Isabella in my life is watching Jeremy have a daughter. I could tell he was a bit worried about how he would handle having a girl. I know just how he felt because that is what I thought when I found out Chase was a boy. Isabella totally has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. I love it.....now. May have to keep an eye on that when she becomes teen.

Isabella, you are such a dear blessing from God. The first words I said to you, when you were laid in my arms, was "I can not wait to raise you!"

The last 18 months have been a whirlwind for me learning to balance life with two little ones. I have been exhausted, a mess, and on my knees in prayer a lot. Yet, during all the added chaos, I have found a joy in being a mama to these two kids that I barely can find the proper words to share my feelings. Just know that I could not imagine life any other way. I thank God every day for it.

Happy 18 Months, Isabella!

P.S. ~Our Avonlea came home from the NICU today! So much to celebrate and gave thanks to God for.

A Change and Unexpected Happenings

2011-08-13T01:20:00.001-05:00

I have not been able to blog much this week because I had to say goodbye to my extremely old laptop and say hello to my husband's rarely used (since he got his iPad) netbook. My laptop was huge so I was not sure I could handle such a little keyboard/screen but it is much faster than what I have been used to that I could care less what size it is. Matter of fact, I like that I can easily pick it up with one hand plus it did not burn my legs after a few minutes of being in my lap.

Hooray, for a nice change that did not cost me a dime.

Also, hooray for having a husband who is a techie/computer lover.

Something else that kept me from blogging was an unexpected happening.

My sister-in-law's water broke at 36 weeks on Wednesday. The same thing happened to me with Chase.

None of us were ready for it to happen on that day.

Jeremy's parents were on an anniversary trip that took a plane ride to get back home.

My parents were out of town too which meant I was out a babysitter so I could stay at the hospital.

Jeremy and I had some fun "Back to School" Fun Night activities planned for the kids at church that night.

I was also busy planning a baby shower luncheon for Ashley for this weekend.

Babies just don't wait for our schedule, do they?

I took the kids that afternoon to see Ashley before the heavy contractions began.

I tried to discreetly take this to document the moment. I was so excited. There is always so much waiting around when your water breaks.

It just gets easier to take Chase just about anywhere. I brought him some paper and crayons. He parked himself here and could have stayed for a long time.

Except...

this chick was with us and was into everything.

Hospitals are not a good place for a healthy, walking baby. This picture shows that I let her get into her wipes. I find that pretty wasteful since she wants to take all of the wipes out but I let her take out a few since I was using anything to keep her out of stuff.

We did not last long on our visit so I made a quick exit and came back that night while a friend of mine watched them for me. I also got some trusted people to take care of my kids at church.

Plus, I postponed the shower.

By the time I made it back to Ashley's room, her room was full of family. Ashley was there so long that all the grandparents had come by planes, ~~trains,~~ and automobiles to get there.

She got to the hospital around 10 AM on Wednesday and had this precious pumpkin by 2:30 AM on Thursday.

Here is our Avonlea weighing in at 7 lbs 1 oz.

I am in love! Look at that hair.

Check out those lips!

Jeremy finally made it to bed around 4:30 AM when he returned from the hospital. We went to sleep with praise on our lips and thanksgiving in our hearts to God for our healthy niece.

The kids and I got ready to meet her before I had to go to work the next day. Jeremy told me I needed to call ahead to make sure it was okay. I could not find anyone except my mother-in-law who told me that Avonlea had been moved to the NICU.

What???

Her breathing was labored and her lungs were not developed as much as they needed to be.

We waited on going to visit and began to pray instead. I did get to go in to see baby girl that night.

I have never been in a NICU. I think my heart broke with every baby and parent I saw in there.

Let me just stop here to say:

All of us who have had basically easy deliveries with healthy babies need to thank God more for that HUGE gift we were given during that time in each of our lives.

Baby Girl was struggling to breathe some but she really did look good. Ashley just wanted to hold her but was allowed to hold her only when baby was awake.

Friday was a much better day. Baby Girl was moved to the area of the NICU where Ashley & Evan could feed her for the first time and hold her even when she was asleep.

Avonlea is not out of the NICU yet but we feel that her time there is very limited.

We really would appreciate your prayers for Baby Girl.

Please pray that her lungs will develop quickly and her breathing will come easily for her so she can go home where she belongs.

Getting Checked

2011-08-08T00:47:00.000-05:00

I have debated for the last few days on writing this post because it is extremely personal but since my thoughts about it will not go away, I decided to finally share.

A month or so ago, I went to my yearly check-up with my ob-gyn. I would be completely stretching it to say that it is just a blast to go there. Don't get me wrong. I love my doctor. I will be forever indebted to her for delivering my babies into the world. That is a bond that just can not be explained but I dread seeing her for this one visit.

Yet, it is just something that must be done. It boggles my mind that I have many friends, in their thirties, who have never been checked for cervical cancer.

While I was at this visit, my doc said that I needed to go have a mammogram.

Oh boy, another fun test that I have heard really hurts.

Well, I seem to be into taking tests that hurt so let's go.

The results from the mammogram were not exactly what I wanted to hear. They thought they saw something that might be just a lymph node but they were not sure. They needed more pictures so I had to come back in. Due to having kids camp, I could not go in until after camp was over. I just pushed the whole thing out of my mind and focused on camp which was pretty easy since the camp consumes me.

Last Thursday rolled around and I had to face reality. It was time to go back and see what was really going on with my body. I had the kids still with grandparents because of camp and Jeremy was out of town at a conference. I woke up to an empty house that morning and just began to pray. I felt at peace.

I was okay until I went to change back into my clothes after the test. I felt a new fear well up in me. My mom had breast cancer a few years ago. I had all kinds of fearful thoughts run through my head at lightening speed. I grabbed my phone to text Jeremy who I knew was in a meeting. It read, "I am about to go in to talk to them about what they saw. Trying not to have fear. Please pray for me to be strong."

Before Jeremy could even respond (which he did with a great loving encouraging text), I felt God remind me of what I had taught the kids just 24 hours before.
I taught them about fear.
I was reminded about the scripture we memorized during that lesson which was, "God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." {2 Timothy 1:7}

Before I left the dressing room and into the meeting with the doctor, I had that peace again and I told God that no matter what they told me, I would remember that HE would give me the power to overcome it, HE would love me through it, and HE would help my thought life to not go in the wrong direction.

The results were GOOD! Thank You, Jesus!!!
I did have a lymph node that is abnormally shaped and it is just fine. The doctor said it has probably been like that my whole life and they did not want to see me again for five years.
Whew! What a relief.

I shared all of this for two reasons:
1) If you need to get checked for anything concerning your health, do it.
and
2) Don't let fear rob you of your peace, your joy, and your health.

It just ain't worth it but you are!

A Fall Tree

2011-08-03T23:55:00.000-05:00

I have been completely immersed in my last camp of the summer for the past few days. I had to take an emergency trip to Hobby Lobby after Day 1`of camp when I found myself quite low on some much needed craft supplies.

I went in and saw this:

Man, oh man....where did this summer go? I made myself go past all the decorations for my favorite season because of my lack of time.

Then, I saw this:

A Fall Tree.

I honestly just don't get out as much as I used to so forgive me if all of you have seen this before but I thought it was really cute. So much so that I found myself just staring at it like I have not left my house in years. I started having visions of orange trees, football, and pumpkin pie.

I finally turned away from the tree and laughed at what Jeremy's reaction would be if I walked into the house and said, "Okay, let's get a fall tree this season and put it in the family room!"

I can not begin to tell you how ridiculous he would think that idea was. It would almost be fun to do that to him but he reads my blog so no little joke on him. I don't want a fall tree for my house but Jeremy and I like to mess with each other sometimes just for reaction's sake.

Anyway, the whole idea of fall (and Christmas because I saw lots of that season's decorations too!) just seemed crazy when I walked out to this:

Whew! Fall seems far away but, hopefully, not too far.

Captain America and Other Such Stuff

2011-08-01T00:37:00.006-05:00

I had quite the scare the other morning when I woke up to this in my face.

Yes, he is really cute in this get up but I did not like waking up to him standing by my bed and holding my hand while this masked little man was staring at me.

He could tell I was startled and just rubbed my arm saying, "Shhh, no worries, my Lady, no worries."

It took me a moment to process that my child was wearing mask but it took me even longer wondering where did he hear someone say, "My Lady?"

He was really pumped about his daddy taking him to see the new "Captain America" movie. He has never seen a superhero movie because there is always a scary villian and possible killings. We went to preview the movie a few days before. Jeremy made sure Chase had his shield so he could put it up to his eyes when something scary would come on the screen.

Chase loved the movie and almost lasted through it without complaining. Jeremy said that about three minutes before it was over, Chase asked for them to go. Jeremy made him hang in there just a little longer to the end.

It might be my new favorite superhero movie.

It has been a few weeks since I have told any stories on Chase and I have a few that have happened in the last few days that need to be recorded. I have also decided that I must love to use the word few quite a bit.

~I am putting on a Kid's Camp this week for the church. Chase began to ask me the other day if he could go to camp. I told him that he was only four and he had to be six in order to go.

Chase answered back to me with, "My contract states that I can do what all the other kids get to do. So, I need to go to camp!!"

Contract states??? Where does he get this stuff?

~Jeremy's neck was hurting the other day so the kids and I prayed for him to get better. After the "Amen" was spoken, Chase said "Daddy, you are healed. You need to get up and shout as loud as you can so that dumb devil can hear you say I'M DEBT FREE!"

Yes, we do sometimes listen to Dave Ramsey. Chase shouts with the excited people on the radio who call in about being debt free.

~While we were at the pastors conference last week, Jeremy & I took the kids into a lunch with all the ministers in our district. When our district leader began to speak, I took Isabella out for a nap and Chase stayed with Jeremy. One of the men got up to speak about these cabins he is building for people to use on his property. Chase apparently was listening to what was being said and what all was needed to have these cabins built to help other people.

At the end of the meeting, our leader asked if there were any questions and I was told that Chase put his finger up in the air.

The leader said, "Yes, Mr. Chase. What is it?"

Chase put his hands out in front of him and with a quizzical look on his face said, "But how are we going to get those cabins built?"

I think the leader told Chase something about how they need to work together to get it done.

Chase just leaned over to Jeremy and said, "Daddy, I got a hammer and a piggy bank to help them."

I don't know how long Chase's plastic hammer would last or how far his pennies would stretch but I am glad that he is beginning to think of helping others.

So, this weekend, my son turned into a masked contract-wielding debt-free screaming superhero who wants to help house others with his plastic hammer and $11 from his piggy bank.

I guess crazier things have happened.

My Week Out Making Memories

2011-07-30T00:14:00.000-05:00

First of all, I must share that I just realized how much our summer is flying by. Our schedule is extra busy during the summer. We are involved in several camps and a conference. The sad thing about it all is our kids are not with us during the weeks we are doing camps but they are very welcome to the family conference. This week was the week of the family conference so we packed up my parents' minivan and off we went.

As you can see, the kids are thrilled out of their minds for this road trip to the mountains.
We went to this gorgeous place.
Truly breathtaking.

When we are not busy in meetings, Mom & I always sneak off to a little town near the conference center which has a quaint little downtown area. It is tradition for us to have a piece of cake at this shop that sells furniture, cake, ice cream, and coffee. Go figure at that combo but check out what keeps us going there every time we are in town...

Chase LOVES cake especially birthday cake. You can imagine how big his eyes got when he saw this case.

We all got a piece of cake except Jeremy who had to be different with a cone of ice cream. My choice of cake (toasted coconut) won the taste test from everyone at the table. Isabella refused to try any of it. So, does not know what she was missing.

Chase picked out the rainbow cake because it was the closest thing to birthday cake that was in the case.

Check this out. Everyone who passed by our table would stop to talk about it. Every layer tasted the same so quite a bit of food coloring is used for this cake.

Isabella had enough of watching us eat cake and decided to walk around the store with her hands behind her head. She sometimes walks around with her hands on her hips. This is her new walk for the week.

We found some statues near our cake/furniture store which looked like they were playing instruments. Chase is always about hanging with musicians even if they do not breathe.

Isabella must be rubbing her tired feet from all her riding. I know some have asked why she is usually shoe-less. I have two problems concerning this: 1. Her foot is so skinny that I am having a hard time finding anything that will stay on her foot after one little kick from Bella and 2. Isabella's most favorite thing to hold in her hand is a shoe that was previously on her foot. I am hoping that I can find a shoe to fit her soon and that she will keep them on before the fall weather comes.

Chase was beyond good on this trip. Just a pure joy to the extent that I wondered why I even need to discipline this guy ever. His reward was this...

a Captain America helmet!

In Chase's mind, this also can be an Aquabat helmet. He was beyond thrilled when we pulled it out on the way home.

Bella would rather just put this old pacifier in her mouth that she only plays around with while on trips. She has never really taken one but for some reason loves to chew/suck on one while traveling. Go figure.

This is what I saw on the way home. Isabella sort of looks like she is giving me the "crazy sign" with her figure circling around her ear about how her brother looks.

Chase's best bud is Winnie who was his first stuffed animal given to him by his Aunt LisLis years ago. Winnie also got to wear the mask. Winnie has got to feel ever so cool. (I mean if he really had feelings but shhhh, don't tell Chase this.) He went to the movies to see the new "Winnie the Pooh" movie with Chase and MiMi (my mom). Mom said all the way to the movies Chase gave Winnie a good talking to about how Winnie was not allowed to have honey on his popcorn while there.

We stopped at a local southern catfish/barbeque restaurant on our way home. My picky eater has decided that she LOVES hushpuppies!

MMmmm Good!
Can you tell that she likes to brace herself for the flash?
She really does have pretty eyes.

Now, you know where I have been this week.
Enjoying the beautiful mountains, good food, great teaching, and making some good memories with the ones I love.

A Few Thoughts on Parenting

2011-07-29T11:17:00.001-05:00

Kelly's Korner is asking the question "What is your best parenting advice?"

I think I need to read every single post that is given for this one. I love to hear from other parents on how they view situations or they handle issues that come their way. I may not always agree or see things things their way but I am fascinated with how we all stumble along in this huge mission God has given each of us called parenting.

It might be one of the scariest yet rewarding experiences that have come my way.

I am no parenting expert especially since I have only been a parent for a little over four years. I have worked with youth and children for over 11 years. During that time, I have learned quite a bit from other parents.

I will share just a little of what I have learned to help answer Kelly's question for this week:

1. PRAY! I can not stress this one enough. I go to God for everything because I need so much help & wisdom in this parenting journey. I pray over my children every day. I pray for them to have favor in life, to be blessed in all they do, to have love for God at an early age, to be in good health, to have safety surround them, that "no weapon against them shall prosper," and I pray for whatever specific thing they might be dealing with at the time. (i.e. Pray for Bella's teeth to finally come through so she can have some relief)

2. Keep telling yourself that "this is just a season in your life" then embrace that season. I used to get discouraged and even frustrated that I could not be with that friend, I could not shop like I used to, I could not have a good conversation with an adult without interruption, long showers were a thing of the past, and my house is way messier than I prefer.

Then, I had a few talks with women who would give anything to have cheerios in their carpet, no privacy in the bathroom, and a baby to hold during a sleepless night.

They told me to cherish every moment. The good and the not so good because there will be a day when I will long for it and my babies will be grown & gone. This makes me teary just writing!

I still miss a lot of things that are going on around me because I have to be home for nap time but I am okay with it because this is a short and sweet time with my babies.

I want to embrace and enjoy every season with them.

3. Do not compare yourself to other parents. Also, do not compare your child to other kids! This one can be hard when you have people in your family or friends comparing you or your child to others who are in the same season in life but just close your ears and do your thang! I had to really put this one into practice because my kids are the LAST ones to begin walking in their age groups. It never bothered either one of them that every baby younger than them were just running circles around them as they crawled on the floor. I noticed how each kid developed at their own pace and I needed to just release my kids to do the same. I had some great parenting advice come my way when I was potty training Chase. I was reminded that when he gets to kindergarten that he will be potty trained so I just needed to chill. It would happen.

She was right. It did happen. Maybe sooner than some kids his age and maybe way later than other kids his age but it did eventually happen.

Cheer other parents and kids on if you hear a little bragging coming from them. Be happy for them and their accomplishments and know that your's will come sooner or later.

Okay, that is my top three parenting tips besides love your kids like crazy, kiss them bunches while they still let you, and don't hate that little extra roll you might have around your middle. (Girl, you earned that one!)

Letting the Drum Creativity Flow

2011-07-22T23:12:00.000-05:00

The other day while I was in the office, I noticed Chase had gotten really quiet. As most mothers of young children do, I got up to quickly see what trouble my child was in when silence was surrounding me.

I found Chase in my mom's office about to play this:

Since he was around two, Chase finds whatever he can to make a decent drum set. I have seen him use everything from a package of 12 rolls of toilet paper to water bottles to books to any kind of box to make a drum set complete.

This day he added a new feature to his creation....

A three-hole paper puncher as his pedal for his kick drum. He borrowed it from my mom's desk. (Thanks Mom!) This idea never would have crossed my mind but I am just a mere non-drumming mortal.

Go on, Chase, let the good times roll!

Using Up Our Deals

2011-07-20T00:00:00.002-05:00

Not long ago, I wrote this post about how we went to a restaurant to use one of our Living Social deals before it expired later in that week. I shared how disappointed we were when we got to the restaurant and it was closed for the week and how our deal would expire during this week.

Apparently, that caused some concern. I love how you guys care.

Well, they did honor our deal the other night! I am so glad and to say that we ate healthy would be a complete lie.

Example:

Only in the south do we fry everything. This is a plate of fried pickles, fried tomatoes, and fried green beans. Yes, you read that correctly...fried green beans!

It was a cajun restaurant and one of my favorites in town. Though I do believe I drank a few gallons of water after this meal to wash all the sodium down. Definitely can not eat like this all the time but it sure was a fun little treat.

Isabella joined Jeremy and I on our date while Chase was being spoiled by some grandparents. She brought great entertainment during the meal.

Check out a few of the pictures I took once she brought out her sunglasses for entertainment.

Her personality just comes out a little more each day. She is so much fun!

It seems like all of our Living Social or Groupon deals are expiring this month. We are going to need a deal show up for us to get a gym membership after this month! Tonight, we went to Bruster's Ice Cream to use our Living Social deal from a few months ago. I have not been there this summer. It was such a treat for the four of us.

I do believe that Chase enjoyed every drop!

Every picture I take of Isabella show up like this. Oh well, thought I would share it anyway. She is saying "Cheese" again while squinting at the flash.

Our deal gave us so much that we were able to take two pints home!

Yes, I may be out joining all my jogging friends soon and very soon.....if I keep buying deals like these last two!

A Nice Little Saturday

2011-07-16T22:43:00.001-05:00

Today was just a good old Saturday. We enjoyed being back in our own beds and in our own rooms. I love to share but I get almost giddy to have each kid in their own room once a trip is over.

Ya know what I mean?

I thought this was a good morning to try out our spanky new cereal bowls. Well, I guess it is hard to describe a blue plastic anything as spanky but it is the function of this bowl that deserves such a name. This is one of those bowls with a built-in straw to suck that yummy cereal flavored milk up. I searched the world over last year looking for this bowl but could not find it anywhere. I gave up and just happened upon it at Wal-Mart last night for a whooping 96 cents. (Uh, where did my cent sign go on my computer? Probably been gone since the 90's. I am a little behind.) I got a little crazy and splurged by buying a green one too. I know just go ahead and call me "spend-happy."

*I would like to note that Chase is watching the Aquabats on the iTouch during breakfast. What a fan.

Chase is also now a fan of this bowl. He thought it was sooo cool. He blew me away by putting it by the sink without prompting. Yay for any sign of cleaning!

Later for lunch, we met up with a friend at one of my favorite local Tex-Mex places. My friend started gently rubbing Bella's arm which made her get really still. Isabella started to have this trance-like look on her face. I saw goose bumps begin to form on her arm. It was quite entertaining. I tried to nonchalantly get my camera out but as soon as I held it up, I got this:

"CHEESE!"
The second she saw the camera, she came alive again.
Hmmm, where does she get that from?

On the way home from lunch, the kids were enjoying the dvd player that we still have hooked up from the trip. I only let them use it during trips....usually. I could hear the episode of "Little Bill" that they were watching. It was about getting a letter in the mail. Chase was just sighing while saying, "I sure wish I could get a letter in the mail."
Would you believe that I was opening our mailbox when I heard him say this and there was a package with his name on it? A little God Hug, right there for Chase.

In the package was a gift for Chase and one for Isabella from Aunt LisLis who is already missing them very much. Chase loves anything that has to do with art. He proudly displays his gift for me.

Isabella is too busy eating her gift which is a "My Little Pony" but she later discovered that it was more fun to play with the gift than eat it. (Come on, teeth, just come already!)

After naps, we met up with Jeremy at Sam's. Since we had been on a trip, we really needed some time with our favorite family store. We needed to make sure all the tv's still worked, the couch cushions were still comfy, check to see if their magazines were still up to date, and to stock up on a few things for our kitchen. I am happy to report that Sam's passed our test once again.

Nothing outstanding happened today but I wanted to blog about it so I can look back and enjoy it one day when the kids are older. I hope your Saturday was nice, as well.

A Little Family Trip

2011-07-15T23:58:00.001-05:00

I did not mean to just quit blogging this week but we went on vacation a day earlier than we had planned which meant I had to kick getting us ready in overdrive last weekend. We made it to the beach late Sunday night after having a full day of church. We were so tired but really excited. This vacation was our first official family vacation with both kids.

We made the trek down with all our gear to the beach. It still amazes me how much stuff is added to my load when I have both kids with me.

This was Isabella's first beach experience. It was also her first time playing with such a huge amount of sand. I thought she might put some in her mouth like she does everything else but she did not. Instead, she just played and played in it. I wish I had gotten some pictures of her in the water but we were too busy holding a kid each. They both LOVED jumping the waves with us.

Chase loved having this shovel. We brought along a whole bag of filled with buckets, shovels, and sand castle molds. It started raining so our beach time was cut short that day. If you noticed, our beach pictures look like they are taken at night but it was about lunchtime and extremely cloudy.

My sister Lisa and brother-in-law Wendell live in Destin and we stayed with them some of our time there. We always have fun with them. We went out to several great restaurants while there.

Here is Chase with his beloved Aunt LisLis.

One of my favorite things to do when not at the beach is to go shopping. I may not buy a thing but I enjoy looking around which I don't always get to do when I have both kids with me and Jeremy is working.

Jeremy does not mind shopping with me as long as we make a stop at the Bass Pro Shop. There is so much to see there. The kids love the HUGE fish there. I tried to take pictures of the fish but my flash kept messing up the picture.

Isabella loves animals and so enjoyed the fish. She kept trying to talk to them

Jeremy tried to help Isabella to go "side surfing" but she was just not feeling it.

We had so much fun the first few days. We met Lisa and Wendell to have lunch at a cafe when is in their church. I was about to order when Chase threw up right beside me. I am very thankful that all he had drank that day was some Capri Sun. I heard the teenage boy behind me talk to his friend by saying, "Uh, did he like just throw up?" Everyone was so nice which is good because we were at a church and they all came to help us. For the rest of the day, we took care of Chase and prayed for a quick healing.

Being sick is no fun but being sick away from home is really not fun.

We cut our vacation a day early and sadly came on home. It is just one of those things that happens when kids are involved. I am happy to report that Chase got much better as our trip home progressed. We really watched what he ate and hoped he would not get sick in the car.

I think about every hour of our trip home Chase thought of a new food he should eat. I kept hearing, "Please, Mom, let me have some mac 'n cheese. Please! I really need some. I will just sit here and watch my video while eating it in my lap. I will so love it and it will be so good. I would be so happy for some mac 'n cheese."

I heard that all the way home. I felt like a horrible mother by keeping food from him but the great outcome was that when we got home, we were able to make him a few things and he kept it down.

No telling what happened to him but just glad he is back to his normal self. We are so thankful that we got to experience our little trip together. It did not turn out exactly as we had planned but we still had fun and made some great memories.

My Two Favorite Secrets that I Shared

2011-07-08T01:07:00.001-05:00

Kelly's Korner is hosting her weekly: Show Us Your Life. This week the subject is: "How I told my husband and family that I was pregnant?"

{Let me break in here for an announcement that has me laughing at myself. I am apparently a week ahead in my mind and wrote this a week too soon. Ha! Gotta just laugh and move on. Oh well! }

I have been pregnant twice so obviously I have two stories to share.

Story #1
Jeremy and I had been married about two years. We were entering our thirties and casually thought maybe parenthood should come within the next year or two. I had no idea how long it would take for me to get pregnant but I put it in God's hands and just went on with life.
Jeremy and I had spent a week in Mexico with friends and we came home pretty sick. One of those "just shoot me now" sicknesses. We could not eat anything for several days then we got better. A few weeks went by and we went going on a beach trip with my family. I got sick with the same sickness again. I was miserable. I went one night to the store with my sister and mom in Destin. It hit me while I was in there that I just might need to grab a pregnancy test while I was there so I casually put one in my basket. Those two just kept talking and never noticed. I did not want to say anything because they would get too excited at just the possibility. I thought I would just take it and if it was negative then no big deal plus no one would be sad for me.
I went straight to the bathroom at my sister's house and took the test.
Whoa! Those two lines showed up!!! I think I read the instructions about 20 times before I stepped out of the bathroom. I just stood in the bathroom and looked at myself thinking, "You are finally going to be a Mama!" I was just stunned.
I called for Jeremy to come to the bathroom because I needed to show him something. I could tell that he thought it was weird I was calling him into the bathroom but he came anyway.
I shoved the instructions in his face and told him what I had just done. Then, I showed him the stick and said, "Am I reading this right? Is it really saying I am pregnant?"
Jeremy is not usually speechless but he was this time. He was trying to process what I had just told him and read the instructions to make sure. He said, "I think you are pregnant if this stick is right." I squealed, grabbed him, and did a little dance in that tiny bathroom. Jeremy was still in shock.
I came out of the bathroom to my sister, brother-in-law, and parents. They were laughing about something. I ran in there while dragging my shocked husband and blurted out, "I'm Pregnant!!"
Shocked silence.
My sister screamed and hugged me then the party began.

Telling Jeremy's parents was really fun too. We asked them to meet us for dinner when we got home from our trip. We had told no one else since they did not know yet. It was about a day before their anniversary so we handed them a gift which were bibs with some phrase about grandparents.
Jeremy's mom was just looking at the bibs and saying, "well, how cute." Jeremy's dad got it but kept quiet until it hit his wife. She still was "Ooohhing" over the bib. We knew she was not getting it. I said, "Mrs. Theresa, it says that because you are about to be a grandma this coming April."
Her reaction was priceless.
She covered her face and just cried & cried. The rest of us started crying too. She kept her face covered as she grabbed every napkin in the dispenser that was next to her. My writing about it does not do justice to that moment. Really wished we had recorded that one.

We waited four more days to tell our Church Family. I got up right before I was supposed to lead worship that morning while everyone was doing "Meet 'n Greet." It was still a little rowdy in there. We usually begin the music to get them back to their seats but this time I yelled out, "Hey Everyone! Can I have your attention?" Jeremy bounded up to the stage at that point and came beside me. I asked again, "Hey, I have something to tell you. Are you listening?" I heard back from the crowd, "YES!"
I said, "Jeremy and I wanted to tell you that we are going to have a baby in April!"
That was fun because the place went wild.

Story #2
Don't worry this one is much shorter. Almost three years after the long story I just shared took place, I got pregnant again. I had just started a music camp for a week with the kids in our church when I realized I was pregnant and took the test to confirm it. Jeremy and I were extremely busy that week balancing life with a toddler while I was doing so much extra work with the camp. So, I thought it would be fun to tell him when I told the church that next Sunday.
I know, I know. Some women are either amazed or horrified that I did not immediately tell my husband but he is a really easy going guy and I knew he would not be mad at me so I was safe. It was kinda fun to keep my little secret for almost a week plus I took about three tests to make sure during that time.
By that Sunday, I was almost ready to explode. I went through the musical with the kids then I usually have a moment after the musical to get up to thank everyone for coming. After I did that, I looked over at Jeremy who had Chase (Baby #1) sitting in his lap and said, "Oh, and Jeremy, I just wanted to let you know that Chase is going to have a baby brother or sister come around February."
There was a lot of gasping through the crowd and once again, my man was in shock. Then, the celebrating began! I liked doing it that way even more. I was able to tell most of our family, my best friends, and our whole church family all at the same time. Saved me lots of phone calls! It also saved me from several people getting mad at me that I did not tell them sooner.

Those are my two stories of two HUGE blessings from God. Every pregnancy is a miracle whether you birthed the baby or adopted the baby. Getting to share that miracle with your loved ones is such an honor.
Looking forward to reading some other stories from Kelly's blog.

Handling a Plan B

2011-07-07T00:55:00.000-05:00

The other night, we went to use one of our Living Social deals because it will expire in a week. Jeremy and I could hardly wait all day for this dinner. We made it to the restaurant and there were no cars in the parking lot. A sign on the door said that it is closed all this week. Noooooooo!!!! Our deal will be expired by the time they come back from vacation. Hopefully, they will work with us.
We took our disappointed selves to Chick-Fil-A to drown our sorrows in some chicken and ice cream. Chase was probably more pumped about going to Chick-Fil-A than our original destination because not only does it have ice cream but a playground! C-F-A is one of the few fast food playgrounds I will let my kids go on mainly because it is one of the cleanest.

I think I blinded Isabella with the flash as she is saying, "Cheeseeeee."

Check out this new skill of going up the slide like a two year old.

I think she was pretty proud of herself and decided to stay up there for a bit while other children passed by her on their way down the slide.

I zoomed in and took this one of my brown eyed boy way up high.

The glare beside Chase looks like it should be a caption balloon with him saying something brilliant like, "Aha, I caught you taking my picture."

I love meeting people in the most unexpected places. I saw an old friend from my early college days with his precious wife and girls. What made it such a surprise was that they live in New Mexico! They made the trek over here for a family wedding. It was a delight to see our kids playing together and catching up some with each other.

Our night reminded me a bit of how life can be. You can make your schedule out and really look forward to your plan then stuff just happens.

Plan B has to come into place.

How you handle Plan B is what will make or break the situation.

I have handled many Plan Bs well. I have also failed in my handling of a Plan B situation so many times that I lost count years ago. I have worked hard in coping better when my carefully laid out and anticipated plans just fall through. Having children join me in my life's journey has taught me even more about being flexible with my plans. Sickness, temper tantrums, potty accidents, diaper accidents, and wardrobe malfunctions are just a few of the things that can stop a good plan right in it's tracks.
It has been hard but made me a better person. I am sure Jeremy would say that it has made me be a better person to live with too. Ha! I wish I could say that I was completely perfect in my handling of all the Plan Bs that come my way but I am getting there.
The main thing I have learned in handling the Plan Bs that happen is a Plan B is not always a bad thing. When my attitude is right, I have found that it can actually be a blessing in disguise.

Getting Better While Celebrating

2011-07-06T00:50:00.000-05:00

My last blog was almost a week ago because Chase came down with a Staph infection and Isabella has been battling those pesky molars which are giving both of us lots of grief in the form of many nasty diapers, some lost sleep, and a runny nose.

Fun times that I look forward to moving on from.

Jeremy did not want to be left out so he went to an emergency care on the 4th to find out he had strep throat and a severe sinus infection.

Wow, I just sound like one big pitiful giver of uplifting news....this post gets better, I promise.

Medical update is that everyone is getting much better and I am looking forward to this week being much happier for my clan.

So, with that info, I look forward to sharing my last few days with you.

I was thrilled to meet up some old friends I used to work with who now live in Texas. Chris and Heather happened to be in town for the holiday and to visit with family. I was so glad they included my parents and I in their visit. They have four kids but only their youngest made it to lunch which worked out perfectly since he was Chase's age.

{Don't you just love the man's face behind me?}

Our 4th of July was so full of activity. It was almost as exhausting as Christmas. I thought Jeremy would not make any of it but after two shots in both hips and one in the shoulder, my tough guy joined us in everything.

We started our day at my in-law's house with tons of family there. My parents and brother even came. I had so much fun that I forgot to pull my camera out. Totally lame blogger, I know.

After a huge rain storm (which I prayed would move on and it did!), we took a few of our family members back into town to join everyone who did not go to the beach for fireworks. Whoa, a lot more people stayed home and did not go on vacation than I realized. Our biggest fireworks display in town happened to be our fanciest outdoor shopping mall. I can not believe how many people were there. Whoa, mama!

We had our friend, Autumn, find us in that huge crowd and play with our kids while we waited for the show to begin. Autumn also reads this blog every time I post. {HEY Autumn!!!}

I believe I mentioned earlier about the teething and diaper situation. This was not the first outfit she had on. I loved her original outfit. Oh well, gotta be flexible with kids.

I know you are blown away with Chase's choice in shirt. It was definitely appropriate for the day even though he wears it about three times a week. My son loves America, I guess. Or maybe, just blue. Maybe, he is really trying to drive his mother crazy by wearing the same thing all the time while having a ton of cute shirts left untouched in his drawer.

I am not sure if I am excited about the fireworks or just trying to scare you with this face.

I had some other pictures of the family that I took while they were waiting for the fireworks but since they were completely candid, I was afraid they would beat me with wet noodles if I posted them. I do like to keep the peace around here.

Look at that sky after the storm.

Just hanging with a few thousand as far as my eye could see.

Seriously, the fireworks were some of the best I have ever seen. We were so close to them that I kept thinking they would fall into my lap. The kids loved them too. I thought Isabella would be scared but she just kept saying, "Whoa!"

I love celebrating my country's birthday with my family and even my whole town. We did it up right. The U.S.A. is not perfect but I feel so honored and blessed to be able to call this country my home.

Grandparents Can Make Everything Better

2011-06-29T14:16:00.000-05:00

When I go to the mall with the kids, it is a bit of a boring affair but when the grandparents show up, great things happen.

I did not even take a picture of the big ice cream cone Pops bought him.

Now, all other trips to the mall will be hard to compete with this.

The Biggest Ministry You Will Ever Have

2011-06-28T05:00:00.001-05:00

Chase told me the other day, "Mom, I need more fans so I need you to make a video of me falling down. People just love that. I need you to put it on you tube and everyone will love it. Then, you can put it on facebook. Oh, can I have a facebook, Mom? Pleaseeeee."

Me: "Chase, you are four and four year olds can not have a facebook. Besides, you need to learn to read first."

Chase: "I can totally read already." Then, he counted to 15 to prove to me that he could read. Oh, boy! Looks like I need to get back to the books with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got a call from my mom who had Chase with her at the time. She told me that she was going to treat Chase to a Krispy Kreme which is one of his favorite sweets but he told her that he could not eat it. My mom was baffled and asked why. His response was that it was his PawPaw's birthday and he was going to eat birthday cake later after dinner. A doughnut would just be too much sugar.
My mom ended the call with, "Wendy, what are you teaching this child?"
Ha! More than I realized that is for sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I never get a Sunday afternoon nap anymore since Chase quit taking naps. Normally, I am okay with this but I did not get much sleep the night before so Jeremy was going to attempt to give me a break by getting Chase to watch something on the iPad with him in our room.
I believe Chase sensed what Jeremy's intentions were and suddenly took a great interest in building a tower in his room. Jeremy stuck his head in Chase's room and told him to join him in our room when he was done so they could watch a video together.
I heard Chase respond with: "I would rather snuggle with Mama. It's not all about you, Daddy."

I can't help but chuckle on this one because we are always reminding him that the world does not revolve around him by saying, "It's not all about you, Chase." His horrible answer is usually, "It is about me."

Gracious, we have our work cut out for ourselves. This kid is a mess and keeps us on our toes. He is precious but very strong. Jeremy and I pray often for wisdom with our kids. I have been in ministry for years but being a parent has been the biggest job & ministry to have ever come my way. So, for any parents out there thinking that they are not able to really do anything for God while being a parent, just look right in front of you for the biggest ministry opportunity to ever come your way.

Another Use for a Skirt

2011-06-27T10:02:00.002-05:00

I love finding good deals. Who doesn't? I especially LOVE to find good deals on clothes for my kids. I basically shop twice a year for them at the Fall and Spring area-wide consignment children's sale. I have also been blessed with quite a few clothes for Isabella from a sweet mother of one of the kids I teach. I LOVE hand-me-downs even more.

I put Isabella in this pretty number for church. I bought it for $5 at the consignment sale. I thought it was used but the bloomers were still attached so it had never been worn. Bonus!

We met some friends for lunch after church and I realized that I did not have a bib. I don't always use one on Bella but since she was about to dive into a bowl of buttered noodles while wearing such a pretty dress, I knew I had to do something. Several options went through my mind. I knew creativity would be needed.

Voila! I found a little skirt she had worn with an outfit earlier in the day and put it around her neck. I tucked a napkin in the area the skirt did not cover. That dress never had a chance to get dirty. Hooray! Check out that cute greasy face.

Isabella's bow came undone once we got home and Chase took the opportunity to make his little sis a pony.

Giddy-up!

She is a good sport about pretty much everything that comes her way except when her brother gets overly loving. I think it is because she can't tell if he is going to hug her or tackle her. Can't blame her a bit.

Hugs & Kisses Back Home

2011-06-25T17:47:00.000-05:00

I am so happy to report that my little family is finally Home Sweet Home and enjoying dancing around in our pajamas to the tunes of some of our favorite kids shows. Yo Gabba Gabba and The Fresh Beat Band always can get both kids to shake a leg. I am getting more hugs and kisses than I usually get from my favorite two. Totally not complaining on that one. I really can't complain about anything right now. My heart is so full of gratitude.

Everything I prayed to happen this past week happened. I did not pray for anything mountain moving but just little things. Well, big/important things to me.

I prayed for great weather at the beach during camp. The weather was horrible last year. Great weather where I was and it stormed every day at home. Happy about that because we desperately needed the rain.

I prayed that my own kids would be safe, healthy, behave, and have an awesome time with all the family that took turns keeping them. I told Chase that he was the one going on vacation while Jeremy & I were on a work trip. He seemed to like that quite a lot. Glad he bought that.

I prayed that our group at camp would get along, have fun, and get some amazing time with God that would change each of their lives forever. It was pretty neat this year. Everyone in our group seemed to have a personal resolve to meet with God at camp. We all needed to just get away from life and focus on God. I can't remember ever having taken a group to camp that was this focused on being with God. I might have one or two tag along in the past who are just not into the God part and just all about the fun part. Not this time. It was so cool to be completely in one accord and purpose for the week.

LOVED this more than I can express.

The trip was not completely perfect. Our van got a flat tire right on the edge of town as we were leaving. I was kinda concerned that if our trip was starting out this way then what did the rest of the week look like. The tire situation put us about two hours behind in getting there but we left so early that it did not really matter. After that glitch, all seemed to go pretty smooth for the rest of the trip.

Part of my time away this week was to completely chill out on writing and taking pictures. I just let everyone else document the week for me.

So, for now I leave you with a couple of the faces I really missed while I was gone...

I love going away for a few days and I love coming back from a little break. It just makes me so appreciative of what I have and very ready to be their mom again....even if I seem to take pictures of them with their eyes closed.

Today, my eyes are wide open and loving what I am seeing today as I look at my life. I am also extra thankful to God for all I saw this week with every answered prayer.

Reminds me of the worship song, "Lord, I'm Amazed by You" because I so am.

Missing Them Already

2011-06-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

See these two?

This is the last picture I took of them before they went to their grandparents' for a week of fun.

They look real sad about it, don't they?

I am at youth camp this week with Jeremy and a bunch of youth. I am so excited about getting away from life for a few days and focusing on God. Also, pretty pumped about not changing any diapers, wiping bottoms, cutting up food in small pieces, filling up sippy cups, picking up toys that multiply, and laundry.

I know I am going to miss those two sweet faces so much that I will gladly do each of those things just mentioned with a new fervor when I return.

I already can't wait to see them at the end of the week and I have not really left yet!

I keep telling myself that I need this time and I will be a better mom for it.

A break is good for everyone.....even a break from God-given blessings in life.

See you after my little break!

Grace in the Parenting Journey

2011-06-20T01:36:00.000-05:00

The kids and I celebrated Father's Day with Jeremy on Saturday night for dinner since our lunch and dinner on Sunday is taken for our dads/grandpas. Chase thought we needed to go to IHOP since that is where they took me for my Mother's Day breakfast. Jeremy thought that sounded good so off we went.

One of Isabella's favorite things to have in her hand or mouth is a spoon. She thinks she is big stuff. I have noticed that she is getting better at using a spoon while eating since this habit has been developed.

Chase lounged across Jeremy to get in this picture. Unfortunately for Isabella, his new favorite thing is to irritate his sister. He calls it "loving her" but her reaction back is anything but loving.

Oh, the fun I have ahead of me.

Still loving on that spoon. I do believe that some new teeth will be coming soon and very soon.

I know that Father's Day is a good time to celebrate the great men in your life whether still here on earth or already waiting for you in heaven. I also know that it is a day which remind others of the lack of a dad in their lives. I came into contact with at least a few people in each of these categories this past weekend.

My heart went out to those who miss their dads so much because they have passed away. I also just ached for those who never had a loving dad in their lives as they grew up.

I was at a youth camp a few years ago and the whole teaching one night was about how you need to let go of things in your life like unforgiveness. The lady who was sharing the message that night asked all the kids to close their eyes and to raise their hands if they had a problem/unforgiveness toward their father. Almost every hand was up in that room full of 1,000 teens and college students. I heard sniffling and soft sobbing through the room.

I was completely heartbroken and shocked.

I knew the kids around me and many of the ones who raised their hands came from good Christian homes with Dads who loved them.

There was a lot of healing in that room that night.

I felt a new fear come upon me as I sat there. I had just become a new parent. I kept thinking: Jeremy and I are going to screw up. We are totally human with too many flaws to count. How will I stand a chance if my kids have a moment like this one day and they are just sobbing from such pain of something I (unknowingly) did to them?

Oh, Jesus help!

I remember when I pleaded for God's help in that moment.

I just knew.

God would be with me every step in this parenting journey if I continued to realize how messed up I can make things when I do things in my power without asking for His wisdom, strength, and guidance from the smallest matter to something that will boggle my mind with no end in sight.

Now, back to that moment of seeing each of those precious hands lift in pain. I held so many girls that night as they sobbed in despair. I had no idea what had happened in each situation and I had a feeling that most of the parents out there had no idea that a harsh word or action that was long forgotten had caused this. I knew each of their fathers would be devastated to see their child in this shape. I prayed for each of them to forgive their parents and for the kids to realize that some grace would be good to give to the parents.

I have learned that giving grace to my own parents and others in my family goes a long way to having peace around you and in you. Life is just much better that way.

I want to wish all the great dads out there a Happy Father's Day with a huge helping of grace for each one of them.

By the way, the Moms would not mind some of that grace too!

The Not So Ho-Hum

2011-06-17T00:43:00.001-05:00

I shared in my last post that my week really had started off with a lot of activity. It seemed pretty boring and downhill after that. So, I sat down tonight to write about a topic and not about my day. I began to recall what I thought was a pretty ho-hum day then I began to smile and even giggle at some of the things that have happened. I might as well share.

My day started off the right way with the kids letting me sleep an extra hour.

Is that the "Hallelujah Chorus" being sung somewhere for me?

Seriously, a miraculous event that I desperately needed.

Isabella slept so hard that this happened to her sometime in the night....

OH MY! This is a first for me. I was just shocked that she had both big toes busting out of her pajamas.

I thought it was funny but this is what she thought of me taking her picture first thing in the morning....

She is like, "Mom, please no pictures this early. It was bad enough that I had my irritating toe situation to deal with through the night. Please, Woman!"

Needless to say, those "holy" pajamas will not be making it to the consignment sale at the end of the season.

A couple of months ago, Jeremy and I both bought a deal off of Groupon for a wonderful Thai restaurant in town. This restaurant is a favorite with Jeremy's sister and mom. We met Jeremy's sister (plus baby girl bump), brother-in-law, and mom for lunch. Chase was loving being with some of his favorite people.

As you can see, he was the center of attention for some of our time together. He has a lemon in his hand which he kept putting in his pocket. Yuck. Chase had found an old cell phone at home and pulled that out of the same pocket during lunch much to my surprise. He pretended to talk on it. Not sure to who but I guess it made him feel grown up.

We moved on to the office after lunch and enjoyed several surprise visits from some wonderful people while we were there.

Isabella passed out in exhaustion on the way home so Chase and I tried to keep things quiet for the rest of the afternoon by cooling off with popsicles and a stimulating conversation about wearing blue shirts. If you haven't noticed, that is ALL Chase wears. He has a dresser full of clothes and all he wants to wear is something that looks like this:

Yes, this is the band I mention from time to time that Chase is all about. He is a bit obsessed with having his daily outfit look as close to this costume as he can get.

Chase knows all their names, what each guy plays, what brand each of their instruments are, what their "superhero" abilities are, the words to most of their songs, and what their favorite snacks are. Okay, he does not know the last one but I am sure that somehow he will find this out soon.

After dinner, I wanted to give Chase some bike time around the block plus the weather was finally awesome again tonight. I put Isabella in a push along car while Chase pedaled away. We had barely gone a block when Chase started acting tired because we were going up a slight incline. I was getting frustrated with him because he kept stopping and just sitting. I finally called his daddy at work because nothing can motivate like a pep talk from Dad.

Jeremy made an ingenius parenting move.

I heard him say to his son, "Chase, Ricky Fitness {the drummer of the Aquabats and Chase's favorite}would not stop or give up. He would keep going. You don't want me to get Mama to take a picture of you {right here is when Chase gasped, sat up really straight, and started yelling, "NOOOO!!"} and send it to Ricky so he can see how you are giving up, do you?"

Oh. My. Word.

The speed, my formerly slow son, began to pedal made me almost need to run to catch up!

I had not played the "Ricky" card in awhile. It usually works amazingly well. We have gotten him to even try food he just knew that he would dislike but then liked once he tried it.

Before bed tonight, I noticed Chase was super busy on the floor drawing on many pieces of paper all over the place. He kept telling me that he was working on his outfit for tomorrow. I noticed all the papers had an "A" on each one of them. Oh gracious....here we go again. I told him that it was getting late, to clean up, and get in bed.

Chase cleaned up and told me on the way to the bathroom that he and I needed to have a meeting on the couch. I told him that we could have it on his bed before prayers. I was thinking this was a delay tactic. Once we got settled in bed, Chase told me that he needed to make an Aqaubat shirt to wear tomorrow. I told him that the paper would not stay all day on his shirt. I explained how we would have to go to the store to get the materials to get an "A" on a blue shirt. We needed a blue shirt too. I told him how all that cost money and we don't just buy him whatever he wants all the time so maybe we could do that for a special day.

His line of thinking in response to what I shared with him went like this:

"You see, God has all the money way up in the sky. He sends it through the air into my closet then I put it in my pocket. See, we are good. I got the money so let's go to the store tomorrow."

Uh, yeah. I think I might need to invest in this pretty soon. It seems that Chase has A LOT to learn about money and how we can not buy him all the "A" shirts, instruments, or popsicles this world has to offer.

So, while nothing mind blowing or really cool happened to me today, I began to think about how wrong I was. I realized that "ho-hum" is not really all that boring when kids are involved. They make life better in so many ways. While raising kids is a ton of work and so much is given up to make it happen, they make even what might look like a boring day bring many smiles throughout that day.

When I began to write tonight, my attitude was not that great. I was looking at the mess that had been made today and thought about how uneventful this day was. I just needed to stop, realize the little nuggets of fun that came my way, and thank God for the day He just let me live.

A Nice Start to This Week

2011-06-15T00:08:00.002-05:00

Our week started out nicely. First off was the kids musical which is always a blast. The name of this musical was "The Amazing Grace Race" and I liked that it was about the race of life that we have in Christ plus I think the word grace needs to be incorporated when children & music are together.

Chase almost drove me crazy the whole week of music camp with pleas to be in the musical. I kept telling him that I did not have a part for a four year old boy. He would always respond, "Well, get back to me when you find one, okay?"

Chase was so pumped for the musical on Sunday. He did not go to his regular class so he could see everything. He was clapping and jumping around on the first worship song. It was pretty peppy. Anyway, I was on the platform leading and I saw in the corner of my eye something going on off to the side by the front pew. I realized it was my son on the floor trying to "break dance." Oh dear. This was probably a first in the history of the church. Jeremy moved pretty fast to get him. I can't help but shake my head and chuckle to myself as I write this.

I made a deal with Chase before church that he could sit with me and his reward would be a shirt just like the one all the kids had on for the musical. He was really good except on the first song, he jumped up when the kids started singing and dancing. He did everything they did. He almost ran up to the stage but one of my helpers grabbed him before he got far. He settled down after that and loved it.

After church and for the rest of the day, Jeremy helped move his sister and husband into their home here in town. So exciting to have them near us now and they are expecting a little girl in the fall!

We attempted to make another family picture while out yesterday. I must declare now that it is looking close to impossible to get a good one of the four of us. Something is always off with at least one person. Can you believe that this was the best one we took the other day? I will not give up. If we keep trying, just maybe, we can get a good one. If we do, you may have to forgive me because I might put it in several posts to show that miracles do happen.

This little cutie came with us to take Chase to his first visit to the dentist. I know, I know. We are way behind. I had no idea that the dentist wants to see you after your first birthday. I was just hoping that Chase was not full of cavities.

The pediatric dentist is a magical place! I seriously would have begged my mom to take me to this place when I was little. It had this cool car toy that Bella loved playing on while Chase played in this huge indoor jungle gym. There was a video game area too.

They took a picture of Chase for his first visit. He surprised me with how well he did. He only had two almost cavities which we are going to work on with more flossing and brushing. Chase is all about flossing now. I have tried for awhile to get him to floss. Glad his attitude has changed.

They had this wall of prizes for Chase to choose from. He first wanted the tambourine but he wisely went for the play dough. I wanted him to get that one because it would keep him the busiest.
I would also like to add that a trip to the barber should be soon and very soon. Check out Chase's awesome do. Sad to share that I even wet this gorgeousness before we left the house. Gracious.

We later went to the office for a little while this afternoon. Jeremy came into my office and asked did I know where Isabella was. I told him that I knew she was in the nursery playing. He told me to go look at her.

This is what I saw.

Someone left a roll of toilet paper on the floor and guess who had a blast with it?

A room full of toys and this is what delights her. Reminds me how you can buy a baby an expensive toy but they would rather play with the box it came in.

Sorry for the long post but a lot has happened in the last couple of days.

Hope your week is off to a great start too.

Another Little Hug from God

2011-06-11T17:13:00.001-05:00

Well, she did it again. Chase has been so good about keeping his markers away from his sister. I have not been around as much this week to remind him about keeping the markers in his box. Isabella saw the opportunity to get her sweet little hands on those markers and she took it.

To say that she was proud of herself would be an understatement.

Check out how happy she was as she viewed her handiwork in the mirror.

I think she realized that she did not blend that touch of pink in very well with the blue.

When she sees the camera, she immediately says "Cheese!!!"

Peace!

Gotta throw in a "Zoolander" pose which is hard to pull off after the week I just had.

Actually, this week has been a lot of work but I have felt such grace that I feel like I breezed through it all. I am sitting back reviewing the week I just lived and saying, "Wow, God, You did it again." Right before this camp started, I found myself on my knees crying out in prayer for some specific things to happen during this week. Some things looked bleak and I really needed a few little miracles to happen that were out of my control.

I just prayed and trusted God. It was all I could do.

Life Happened and.....

He met every need I had and then some.

Why, oh why, do I get so shocked when God does that for me while I am believing that He will do it already?

It was really just little things but it meant something to me. God is wonderful like that. It reminded me of a post I wrote about God Hugs.

I love it when I feel a hug from God.
Hope you can feel one soon and when you least expect it.

Eating Okra and Riding Rides

2011-06-10T00:00:00.002-05:00

As I shared in my previous post, this week is music camp week for me. Whenever I have a camp with the kids, this is basically my look for the week. I have to wear the t-shirts because they cover everything that needs to be covered while I teach choreography.

Notice the hairband around my wrist which I always have when I work with the kids in the summer. My hair goes up and down about 10 times a day. I am not sure why I have this strange habit. The minute I start getting hot, hair goes up. If I have somewhere remotely nice to go while dressed like this, hair goes down. I also got my bangs back because I knew I would breaking the hairband out for camp week.

This information is riveting, I know. I think I fell asleep just writing that boring paragraph.

I do camp every morning and come home in time for lunch with the kids. Jeremy has arranged his schedule to be able to keep the kids each morning. I am so grateful that he has been able to do this. They sure love being with him and they miss me less because he is with them.

The kids have not been out much this week because I stay with them at home once I get there. Jeremy has to work late because of his weird schedule this week so I thought it would be fun to go out for dinner. We ended up meeting my parents at the mall for a bite. I have been so busy that it has been awhile since I have had a meal with them. Chase wanted to go to a place with good southern meat and veggies. Isabella tried fried orka for the first time and liked it. Hooray! She also loves catfish which is amazing because she is still extremely picky.

After dinner, the grandparents took my kids on a few of those riding machines while I went to check on a shirt for Chase that he says he might wear. I gotta do a post on his choice clothing soon because if you read more than three posts of mine, he is usually wearing the same thing.

Isabella LOVED this ride. This same ride made Chase very uneasy when he was Bella's age but not my daring little girl.

Chase climbed in this school bus ride and pretended that he was taking all the kids to school or a concert. Not sure but he was definitely glad to be taking people somewhere. He even happily let me take his picture while he waved.

It was nice to get out of the house and spend a little time with family.
Oh, and sad news, the shirt was gone so you are stuck still seeing the same blue shirts for awhile.

A Stage and a Store

2011-06-09T00:38:00.000-05:00

This week is one of my busiest and most stressful weeks of my year. I have a music camp that I am in charge of at our church where the kids learn a whole musical in five days then we put that musical on the following Sunday for the church. It is always a fun week but I sure do miss being with my kids in the mornings.

I got home from my first day of camp and Chase said, "Mama, were you doing the musical? Without me?"

He has a hard time grasping that he is too young to come to camp even though he is quite the lover of music.

Later that day, Jeremy needed something at our Apple Store so we loaded up near dinner time and went to our outdoor mall. We were hoping that the weather would be a little cooler later in the day but it was still soooo HOT!

{Just an FYI, I may just melt this summer. I am pitiful.}

Chase could not wait to get to the outdoor mall. He took his guitar to get on the stage that usually has someone playing on it. He lucked out this time. He got on the stage and played a HUGE concert....in his mind.

I should have gotten a hat out for him to get some money for a new blue shirt or something because several people were amused enough to stop and watch. A few clapped. One man stopped and talked to Jeremy a long time about Chase and his love for music.

Oops! He spotted me taking his picture which he is very against right now. Something about his fans seeing his picture on facebook and he does not want them to see just any picture of him.

*Rolling eyes at interesting kid God gave me*

While Chase was still enjoying his concert, I looked up and saw a new store that truly called me to come for a visit. It was called Altar'd State and I am so glad I went in there.

The store was full of cute things for the body, home, and inner self.

I did a horrible job taking pictures but I would LOVE this art in my house. It says "Seek Wisdom" at the top of three stacked owls. Too cute!

Too many things caught my eye. I have a lot of savin' that I need to do before I go back in.

Then, I saw it and got a bit excited. There amongst a whole bunch of cute stationary, mugs with scripture on it, and trendy accessories was a The Message//REMIX 2.0 Hypercolor Pink. I love reading my Message along with my other Bible so I thought I would share a link to it in case you are interested in one.

I also saw a book called Sexy Girls: How Hot Is Too Hot?. I did a bit of a double take when I walked by it then I realized the book is about how sexy should Christian young women should take their appearance. Very good subject to write about in this day and time. I have not read this book yet but I probably should considering I have a daughter and work with many young ladies.

The store owner was so nice in letting me take a few pictures and I get nothing for this post but just like to share about something new I found. I really liked how they integrated the clothing with the books, shoes, and home accessories.

After my nice time but brief time in the store, I rejoined my family and miraculously got Chase off the stage so we could go home. I always have lots of work to do every night before bed so I can be ready for a new day of camp. So, I better get off here and get to work.

Hair Raising

2011-06-03T23:58:00.000-05:00

I am worn out from a week of being....well.... me. How weird and self centered does that sound? Our busiest season is summer. Everyone else enjoys the lazy days of summer but not most youth pastors or children's ministers. We enjoy all the extra fun but it has become harder for me each year because my work load at home has increased...aka....being a mom of two little ones.

They are definitely worth all the extra planning around their schedules that I have to do. My brain is just tired so to keep me from writing something that doesn't make sense, I thought I would share a picture that brings a smile to my face no matter how I am feeling.

May you have a fun but not so hair-raising summer.

My Relationship List

2011-06-01T00:11:00.000-05:00

Our Memorial Day was spent celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary. I was almost giddy about spending the entire day with my favorite guy. We had a delightful time just being together. Nothing fancy or expensive. Just me and my man.

We had saved up some gift cards and had a blast using them for this special day.

I will not get all mushy about how much I love him or how great a husband Jeremy has been to me.

If you want to know how we met then go here.

What I do want to share is a little of what happened at dinner.

Jeremy told me that he can always tell me what I had each year at our anniversary dinner. I told him that I was sorry for being such a bore. Steak is my favorite treat for special occasions. A vegetarian, I am not.

When we ordered our steaks, we explained our splurge to our friendly server who was blown away that we had been married 7 years. Seven years does not sound that long to me but our server just thought it was almost miraculous. He said, "How in the world did you guys make it 7 years? I can hardly make it 7 months."

Jeremy and I were not planning on it but we began to give him some advice which I enjoyed going over. It is good for everyone in a relationship to hear all of these every now and then.

Here are a few of the things that we shared with him:

~ Don't allow yourself to be bothered by the little stuff. Give lots of Grace to your mate...just like you would like to be given.

~Bring laughter into your relationship. I seriously have a hard time being upset with Jeremy. He somehow knows how to make me laugh even when I am mad.

~Parenting has brought us closer. We had always heard that parenting is extremely tough on relationships which I can understand because time alone is harder to come by. Yet, Jeremy and I feel like we are on a team together. Our waiter thought this one was funny when he said, "Oh, kinda like an 'us against them' type of thing." While we don't want to think that we are against our kids, we want to be the ones in charge of guiding them in life and in charge of our home. We don't want them in charge of our home.

~Communication is HUGE in a good relationship. Your mate can not read your mind though that would be nice sometimes and other times.....well, let's just say that I am glad only God can do that!

~Be kind. I fail at this especially when it is past my bedtime. Jeremy will just smile, look at the clock, and say, "Sweetheart, I realize that you are grouchy due to your exhaustion." He shows me kindness every time I am not. Makes me realize that I need to work on that.

~Make time for each other. Many people tell us to go on date nights often which sounds wonderful but not always do-able for us. We make sure that after the kids are in bed that we spend time together watching a movie, tv, or just talking about our day.

I could probably go on and on with this. Plus, I am sure I could learn so much from all of you. If you have anything to add to my little list, please do so! I am all about learning more to make my relationship better.
Every relationship needs improvement because we are imperfect, selfish people who are trying to live life together the way God wants us.

Thank you, Jeremy, for putting up with this very imperfect person the last seven years. I sure do love you!

A Long Trip Out of the House

2011-05-28T23:50:00.002-05:00

I left my house this week and went on a trip. I used to travel a lot then I had two kids. My youngest barely can take an hour in the car so imagine my concern about the 7 hour trip (one way) my mom suggested we make together. I really needed to make this trip with the kids.

The main reason for the trip was to see my brother Ben. He has extreme special needs and he has to be cared for in a facility in the state I grew up in. I was pregnant with Isabella the last time I saw Ben. I couldn't remember the last time Chase saw him so I knew it was time. Past time, really.

Mom and I went together to buy a dvd player for the van.

MY LIFE IS FOREVER CHANGED!

Miles just clicked by easily with happy children watching Dora and anything that blessed them from Nick Jr.

We got a great deal on it but I sent Jeremy a text stating that I would have paid $1000 for it if need be though glad that was not the case.

The first part of our trip was a three hour drive to have lunch with Big Mama.

See how happy this child is after three hours in the car? Yippee!

Chase is also happy but he has gotten a bit weird about having his picture taken. Something about not wanting his "fans" to see it on facebook. I have no idea but just know that getting a good picture of my little guy is nothing short of a miracle. I snapped this great picture while he is trying to cover up his face and Big Mama must be trying to fix his "car seat" hair.

Four hours more in the car helped us get to the small town I grew up in. This town is very close to Ben's town so we usually stay here. I want to preface all the sharing I am about to do about our time there by saying that we wish we could stay there a week. There are so many old friends that we would love to visit. Our time was really short and thrown together while we were there plus we had no idea how the kids were going to do with no schedule and away from home. So, I really hope everyone can forgive us for not calling them to visit.

Here are a few pictures from our adventure...

We started our day by visiting a little pizza place that my cousin who lives nearby told us about. See how thrilled Chase is to be there. The moment we got there, he was being a bit difficult. I was so glad that we had not met anyone there for lunch.

Not long after this picture was taken, this child had a complete meltdown. She had a tiny nap the day before and she was done. I had to get the kids to the van and leave mom to box up my lunch that I did not get to eat. I sure was hoping that our one day in town was going to get better.

A nap in the van made a world of difference!

Isabella woke up in time for us to meet up with a precious blog friend and someone I used to teach. Jennifer has been so blessed with two gorgeous children, great husband, and loves the Lord with all her heart. Something I hope to see for all my students one day.

Even though Chase is not pictured, he really liked Jen's Addison. He got in her face every time he asked her a question while she was trying to enjoy her ice cream. Addison was such a lady. She never got mad or irritated with him. She would just stop eating to answer then go back to her dessert.

For dinner, we met my youth pastor and his gorgeous family. I believe the last time I saw them, I was pregnant with Chase. We had a lot of catching up to do.

The kids getting to know each other.

Charlie kissing on my little girl.

Isabella blended in so well with this blond family that I teased them about how they must have added another little girl to their family.

I love these people so much. It does not matter if we have been apart for years. We just pick up where we left off. Bless them. They had to put up with me during my teen years.

Time to meet Uncle Ben the next day. Chase was sooooo excited. I was pleasantly surprised that he was pumped about it. I was really hoping that Chase would not be scared of Ben because he was different.

I went into Ben's facility to get him while Mom stayed with the kids. It is a little treat for me to get him. There is a long hall that Ben has to walk down to get to me. He usually gets himself worked up into an excited state by the time he reaches me. Occasionally, people come out of their offices to see what Ben is going to do.

When Ben and I came out of the facility, Chase and Mom were standing by the van. Chase had a plastic guitar strapped around him. He was ready to sing for his Uncle Ben. I could have hugged him to pieces!

I have never shared any pictures of Ben with anyone but this was a precious moment for me.

Lunch is never grand with Ben. He expects us to take him to Dairy Queen for the same meal every time. We don't care. We just want to be with him for the little time we get. In this picture, Chase is busy trying to make conversation with his Uncle. Even though Ben did not give him much encouragement, Chase was happy to be with him through the whole visit.

We spent the night on the way back with Big Mama. My niece April and her little family came by. April and I had our girls just two and a half weeks apart. We love to get together with our girls.

Here Mom is trying to take pictures of both girls. Isabella kept saying "Cheese" even when the camera was not pointed at her.

Lots of love and kisses were given.

No space is too personal with these two.

They both love Big Mama. AK is especially good about going to her. Bella has not learned about pointing being impolite.

Still pointing. Probably wanting to tell me to quit taking her picture.

Now, we are home and beyond thankful for a safe trip. May this be the first of many trips while making great memories along the way.
Getting out of the house can be a very good thing!

Ice Cream Pie

2011-05-27T23:58:00.001-05:00

Sorry for my complete lack of blogging this week but I just returned from a trip tonight and I will be sharing about that for my next post.

Kelly's Korner is doing a "Show Us Your Life" with Desserts as the topic for this week. Thought I would share one of my easiest and tastiest desserts that I like to make in the summer. It never fails that when I make this for a party, I always get bombarded for the recipe.

Ice Cream Pie:

All You Need are Three Items from the Store...

1 (8 Pkg) of Butterfinger Mini Candy Bars

{You can us any of your favorite chocolate candy but Butterfinger is my fave}

Put all the Candy Bars in a plastic bag and break them with your fingers. If they are too hard to break, get all your frustrations out from the day and beat those babies up.

Combine in a bowl 1 regular container of whipped topping (Cool Whip) and almost all of the crushed candy bars. Leave out a small handful for the topping later.

Get a 9x13 dish and line it with 8 ice cream bars.

Put the whip cream mixture on top of the bars then add the left over topping to make it all pretty.

Put the dish in the freezer until it is hard and serve.

It is so good, cheap, and easy!

Busy and Amused

2011-05-23T23:39:00.001-05:00

I hope your weekend was great. Mine was pretty uneventful. Except the kids did keep me busy or entertained most of the time.

One of the things that kept me busy was...

Isabella's newest obsession is to find any marker that her brother may have accidentally left out. Once she finds it, can you guess what she will do with it?

Oh, yes! In the mouth, it goes but just about everything goes in there except for most of the food I try to feed her. I thought that this picture would be one of the best I would get of her love for eating markers but I was so wrong...

Gracious! She is such a mess.

I do try not to talk about gross things on my blog but just know that I gasped this morning when I changed Isabella's diaper. Her poop was BLUE. I forgot about the marker eating and had not thought about it ending up in her b.m. so I yelled for Jeremy to come see this scary/weird happening.

Then, it hit me.

Gah-ross!

I just thank God that it was not a red marker that she got.

Moving on to something much nicer and one of the things that entertained me.

Chase wanted to watch "God Made Me Special" by Veggie Tales. Right before the video began, he jumped up and yelled, "Wait, Mama! I gotta go get all my friends" then ran to his room.

He came back with all the stuffed animals from his bed and placed them on the couch. I thought we had plenty of toys out already so I told him to take them back. He said, "Oh Mama, I want all my friends to know that God made them all special too. Just like He did me. So, they have to stay and watch this with me."

I think I was speechless at that point.

This was the scene on our couch. The rest of us had to find other places to sit.
You know you have to sacrifice sometimes to share about God.

May he always want to share God like this with his friends....hopefully, the living and breathing ones though.

So that is how we rolled at our house the last couple of days. Being all messy, gross, and sweet.

I gotta pack for a little trip for the next few days.

Hopefully, I will have something more exciting to share in my coming posts.