Holly's Hobbie

Catching up - Day's 4 & 5

2011-12-13T16:29:00.004-05:00

OK, so I'm a couple of weeks behind... but, the last two days of the fruit and veggie detox were interesting.

They didn't seem overly hard... but I'm telling you by Friday night - after that last salad, I was really looking forward to something different come Saturday morning!

It was - for the most part - a good experience. It was very helpful in resting my poor brain and my taste buds. It was really beneficial for me to really see how I had let myself slip slowly back into making some really poor choices.

I was also happy to know that I do really like salad, but I was REALLY happy to not eat another one for several days.

I did enjoy, seemingly for the first time, each and every food that wasn't a fruit or a vegetable! It was really amazing how things tasted!

The plan was to do the detox and then hit the gym back hard! That didn't happen. But that's a whole different post... I actually haven't been to the gym since doing the detox, but I do plan on getting back at it very soon!

It was a good experience, and I learned a lot. It helped me remember the importance of making good choices when it comes to my foods!

Sorry this was so long in coming!

Detox Days 2 & 3

2011-12-01T09:30:00.001-05:00

Sorry I got behind with the detox updates!

So day 2 was way easier than day one for me. I seemed to just sail through the day like nothing was different! I'm not sure what made it different, other than it was the second day and I was so happy I made it through the first day!

Then day 3. Day 3 was weird. It wasn't really hard - it was just that I seemed to hit this wall - I'm sick of this food and really, REALLY want some spaghetti - kinda day.

The whole thing is a mind over matter deal. It's not that the food is bad or weird or even hard to eat, it's just in my mind I want all the foods that are bad for me. I want to eat the foods I've been eating and have been craving but I know I shouldn't have!

It's totally weird how the mind controls so much of what I think I want to eat!

So all this has brought me to this question - one that I've pondered before - why is so much of my day, my time, and my thoughts wrapped up in food? It's a good question don't you think?

I'm not sure I have a good answer for that, I have a few thoughts, but I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have any! So please feel free to share!

Here are a few interesting things about the foods we've eatten this week - so far. This is as for the end of day 3.

I've lost 4 pounds.

We've eaten:

6 bell peppers

1 pound of mixed greens salad

3 pints of blueberries

2 pints of strawberries

2 onions

3 cucumbers

6 tomatoes

3 pounds of apples

1 pound of baby carrots

8 oz mushrooms

5 banana's

Well, that's most of the foods, not all of them, but most of them.

So I'll be trying to be on top of things and blog again tomorrow about day 4!

Detox - Day 1

2011-11-29T09:47:00.001-05:00

I'm not usually one to "buy into" the whole detox, or cleansing thing. I've looked at several of them on the internet and they just seemed, well, weird. And really not doable. I have a family I have to feed - and my kids don't really want to eat fried kale and brussel sprouts (ok, my kids don't like to eat much of anything, but that's not what were talking about here!)!

But last month when we went to the beach, I pretty much ate ALL sorts of stuff that I just don't normally eat. And haven't eaten very much of in nearly 2 years. And I ate a TON! Ate all the time actually. It was ridiculous! And I felt yucky, and I was determined that once we got back home, I'd start doing better. Except I didn't. I mean I did a smidgen better, but not a whole lot. I wasn't cooking much, and we were eating take out and fast food type foods a bunch! Yuck! That didn't make me feel any better, and I could see myself (almost litteraly) slipping back into old habits!

That my friends is bad news! I worked really hard to get off the extra weight and my lack of self control and laziness was taking my right back where I came from! Not where I want to go.

But it just keep looking worse and worse, cause there was a trip to Georgia (traveling several hours in the car makes it hard to eat well), and then of course Thanksgiving all on the horizon. So what was the use?

Then I got in contact with my cousin who runs a gym up in New Jersey and she sent me a detox that she does and one she does with her clients. It's a fruit and veggie detox. Now this looked more like something I could do. Eat all and only (ok, so it's a little scary) fruits and veggies for 7 days? Yes, I think I can do that. I also thought it would be helpful in getting me back on track with my self control and discipline, and off the path to weight gain and laziness. So I decided I was going to do it, but I was going to wait until after Thanksgiving, because it was so close and I couldn't bring myself to make food for our family gatherings and not even be able to eat it! Then I told David about it and that I was going to give it a try. And he said he'd do it with me! Yippee!! That makes things a bunch easier!

So yesterday we started (the plan was to start the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but that didn't happen, due to the stomach bug that I ended up with!) and I had several interesting observations, but first I'm gonna give some stats.

I didn't think to weigh yesterday morning, but I did this morning, and it was 130.2. Way up from my lowest - not too happy about that, but another reason to be doing this! I do hope to lose some weight and then when I'm done the detox to hit the gym hard again, and get back to where I was and where I really want to be.

OK - first - I crave salty things. And I didn't realize, really realize, until yesterday how far back to eating bad for me things I had gone. When I sat down to have my salad for lunch yesterday - which I eat a salad fairly often - I felt like something was missing - what was missing? Of course - the big pile of chips that I'd slowly added back to my daily routine. And can I tell you - the desire for some salty, crunchy chips was STRONG!! But I didn't eat any. And I felt good about that!

Second - when your starting a new way of eating - all you think about is eating. And food, and lots of it, and the fact that there's all these foods that I'd really like to eat, but CANNOT eat and that just makes me thing MORE about foods I cannot have! It was a long mental day for sure!

Third -it's not just the things I eat or don't eat that I crave, its the things I drink too. I sure could have used a grande peppermint mocha yesterday afternoon!!!!

Fourth - the "fight" with eating and my weight isn't about my stomach - it's about my brain and my self control.

Yesterday was a challenge, I'm hoping today will be a bit smoother. Join my tomorrow for an update on detox - day 2!

Long, Long weekend

2011-11-22T16:22:00.001-05:00

This week was supposed to be a short week for both of the kids at school. Avery only had school Monday, then her Thanksgiving holiday started!

Luke was supposed to go Monday and Tuesday, and on Tuesday his class was doing a Thanksgiving presentation with a huge feast following it. Luke worked hard on his lines and was all ready to go when he hit the bed Sunday night. We were looking forward to a short week and a good time. But about midnight Sunday night that all changed. My poor baby woke me up with a terrible yell! I dashed upstairs (unsure of what was even going on) to find him vomiting! Poor kid! He managed to get back to sleep and sleep most of the rest of the night. But the puking started again early in the morning (4:45AM to be exact!). He ran a fever for a few hours, but thankfully it wasn't very high, and the puking continued off and on for several more hours. It soon became apparent that he wouldn't be making it to school on Tuesday. So sad for him to miss the fun day at school! We were both bummed about it!

So our long weekend, turned into a long, long weekend!

The first two days of our long, long weekend weren't very much fun so I'm determined to make the rest more fun!

We did watch our first Christmas movie today - the Polar Express - and had popcorn! That was fun! But tomorrow the fun really begins! Tomorrow we get down the Christmas decorations and I hope to get most of them put up. Normally we need David's help in getting the tree down, so I'm not sure if we'll get to that or not, but my plan is to get the rest up!

Then tomorrow evening the eating frenzy - oh wait - the family meals - begin! So much good food, with good friends and family! I'm so excited to spend some quality time with family tomorrow evening, and then again on Thanksgiving Day! It's gonna be a good time!

Some years we travel (every other to be exact!) to my folks in Georgia for Thanksgiving. This year is a non-travel year. So we'll be spending our Thanksgiving in the area. I feel so blessed and thankful to be part of not just one wonderful family - but two! And I'm very much looking forward to some good quality hangin' out time with family! And I'm sure as with many of you, I'll be missing those family members who won't be with us this year!

There's one more thing I'm very thankful for this long, long Thanksgiving weekend, and that is that none of the Thanksgiving feasts will be at my house! Don't misunderstand me, I love (I really do love) having people at my house, but this year what I LOVE even MORE is that my wonderful bother in law and sister in law have offered to host the "main event" at their house! That allows me to not worry that our house has some sort of nasty germs hiding in it waiting for unsuspecting guests to arrive and make them sick! I've gone through an extensive decontamination (as David called it yesterday!) of the house, so if a germ did survive, it would be amazing, but I'd still worry! But since people won't be coming here, I have nothing to worry about! Thanks Rob and Amy for having us to your house!

I have much to be thankful for, but today I'm especially thankful that no one in my house is throwing up!

The re-done room

2011-11-17T09:39:00.001-05:00

I'm still calling this my new room, but it's been done since about the middle of September! But here are the long awaited pictures of the redone master bedroom. There aren't pictures of the bathroom, but it's the same color as the bedroom with all white towels and floor mats!

I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!

Here's the new bedding. With the nice dark orange pillow I spent FOREVER looking for!

A wider view

The room from the bathroom door. The flat part of the tray ceiling is a darker color gray! Pretty isn't it?

And here is a close up of the lamps!

There ya have it! My intent is to change the accent pillows with the seasons. So when I get out all my Christmas decorations, I'll be putting a red pillow on the bed! And I've got some really lovely dark red sheets! I'm in love with the room and so pleased that I actually picked out and put together the whole look. Other than the lamps and shades, David helped pick those!

The Christmas Catolog

2011-11-16T14:35:00.001-05:00

There are many things I love about the pre-Christmas season, and one of them is the huge influx of catalogs that come in the mail! I love looking through them and just flipping through the pages.

I think it must be something left over from my child hood - we used to get the JC Penny Christmas catalog each year - and that was the highlight of pre-Christmas! It was what I made my Christmas list from! I don't even remember how many of my gifts actually came from Penny's, but it was just so much fun to look through the book at all the possibilities!

Thanks to Target, my children are having the same experience. Mostly Luke, really. He discovered a catalog that came from Target last night right before bed time. He was so excited about it, it took some doing to get him in bed! I promised he could look at it on the way to school this morning. So that's what he did!

And he talked NONSTOP the whole way there (Luke talking all the time isn't that unusual, but he does tend to be more quiet on the way to school)! He was super excited about every page, and then over the moon excited when he saw the coupons in the middle of the book. He was just sure he could get everything he wanted out of that catalog since there were coupons!

He asked if he could use it to make a wish list. I told him he could, but upon further investigation he found the pages where ALL the things in the catalog are in nice neat rows and columns and all you have to do is circle the things you want! That discovery almost sent him out of his seat!!

It was so much fun just listening to him talk and explain to me the things he was seeing. It was exciting for me for him to be super excited about making a list!

I did also take some time to point out that he was welcome to make a wish list, but that it was just a wish list and he wouldn't be, and shouldn't expect to get all the things he wished for! He said he understood and then went right on to tell me about some Mario Brother's thing he saw!

I do love the holiday season, and I'm so excited that as the kids get older they are more excited about it too! It's going to be a fun Christmas this year!

Happy Birthday!

2011-11-15T14:07:00.001-05:00

OK people! I'm so sorry! It's been nearly 2 months since I posted anything! It's not that I haven't thought about it, or even sat down to do it, but for some reason or another - no new posts got posted! But I'm going to try very hard to get back on track and keep up with you all again.

Since it's been so long, there's really no use in going all the way back to the things we've missed, so we'll just have to pick up life here!

Yesterday was Avery's birthday! Hard to believe my baby girl is 4 years old already! She's growing so fast! I - until just the other day - didn't have many of those "oh, my kids are growing too fast" business. But then on our ride home from my parents place in Georgia, David and I were talking and he said something about me thinking about what I wanted to do (that's a whole other post!) when the kids didn't need me so much. He wasn't mean, he was being very helpful and kind, but for some reason the thought of them not needing me as much was heart breaking and I cried.

Then yesterday Avery woke a 4 year old and was sure to tell me how much bigger she was and how old she was now! It was all too much! But there's not a thing I can do to stop it!

I'm blessed to have 2 wonderfully, healthy, energetic, happy children! And now I'm a mom to an almost 7 year old and a 4 year old! UGH!!!

Here's my baby girl as a baby, and now!

She's a beauty isn't she!!??

In the storm

2011-09-22T11:00:00.004-04:00

Sitting in church on Sunday morning I had this picture in my head - out of no where really. It kinda went along with what the sermon was about, but kinda not. Then as the sermon (which was given by one of our church's Elders) neared the end, the man preaching/teaching hit the nail right on the head - and it totally went along with this picture in my brain.

I'm gonna try to describe it to you, and since I'm not an artist - at all - I did find a couple of pictures to help you along a bit.

In my mind it was a person - picture yourself - standing on a very tall mountain. And there was a terrible storm going on all around them! Thunder, lighting, rain, wind, dark clouds... the full blown, scary kind of storm! Enough to scar anyone.

But it's not an actual storm going on. I mean it is, but not the weather type of storm. It's the life type of storm. Things like sickness, death, guilt, money, relationships, jobs, families, kids, church, life - whatever. Sometimes it feels like so much going on it's like a raging storm! We think - I cannot handle one more thing, not one more emotion, then the one more thing happens. Then what? We stand there, arms raised, in the storm asking God any number of questions...

Why?

What?

How long will it go on?

How much more can I handle?

What do you want me to do?

HELP!!

Can you see the two pictures above together? You standing - arms wide open - yelling, crying, calling out to God - while the storm swirls around you? Do you feel like the lighting might strike? Is it too much? I've felt that way. I think many people have. But what I'm trying to learn - this week in fact - is it's all about how we handle what God sends our way.

So this is the picutre in my mind at the begining of the sercvice, and as the sermon came to an end, the Elder that was speaking said these words "We don't understand the fullness, the depth, of the freedom we have in Christ." That hit me. That's exactly why sometimes I personally feel like I'm standing - exposed in a storm - because I do not understand the freedom I have in my salvation in Christ.

Take a look at this:

Psalm 46

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.
⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.

That was the passage the sermon was based on. So here is exactly why - when I'm standing in the midts of a storm - emotional, circumstantial even spiritual - there's no need for me to stand with my arms open asking God why? His timing and His reasons are perfect - I should be standing in the storm with my arms wide open praising Him for being my refuge and strength. AND I shouldn't be afraid.

So the picture in my head didn't change, it just took on a calm - a calm around the person standing. The storm raged on, but, wrapped in the love, peace, and security of Christ - was calmness.

This is a lesson I've been thinking about and pondering all week. It's taken me all week to process and really try to learn it and make it a part of me.

One parting thought - Christ's death on the cross let's us trade in the stuff that's shaky for a firm foundation. He takes the unstable and makes it stable, so I have nothing to fear!

Stories

2011-09-17T09:37:00.001-04:00

We all have a story. Seveal months ago - our pastor at church reminded us that "every seat was a story." So not just a person at church, not just some one sitting there, but that each of us has a story.

Some stories are easy to share.

Some are not.

Some stories are funny, happy, sad, thought provoking or whatever, but they are all different.

Some stories are about a personal journey. Maybe between someone and God. Some stories involve lots of other people and lots of different circumstances.

Some stories have happy endings, some sad. Some stories are on-going. And I would venture to say, that in each of our lifetimes we each have several different stories. So maybe one has ended and another has begun.

And each time we go through a phase, or season in life we come out with something. It's something like - a good lesson learned, or baggage or some sort of issue we didn't have before, but have now, or maybe we just put down one issue and picked up another. And everyone learns differently, and learns different things from similar or even the same experience.

And here's a news flash - and one I might have mentioned before - we all have issues! I know, big surprise right?! Here's another news flash to go with it - we don't understand each others issues! The reason we don't understand them, usually, is because they aren't our issues. So we cannot understand why someone feels or acts or interprets things a certain way, because that's not a "problem" we have inside our own heads.

You have a life experience. It changes you. Maybe it changes someone else too, but in different ways. So like I said earlier one issue has been over come, but maybe a new ones developed. Either way, I don't think we learn anything from our own stories, unless we put them in the context of Christ's story. How could we ever grow, and change and become who we were meant to be if we don't understand the love that Christ has for us. For me. For you.

The Bible tells us - in a very well known verse - John 3:16 - that God loved us so much that he sent his only Son to die on the cross for our sins. That's powerful stuff. And it's the basis for living a life of forgiveness and freedom. Jesus wanted to come to earth and take away our sins. Did He want to die a horrible, humiliating, painful death on a cross? No, but he loved His Father and us so much that He was willing to do that. For me. For you. And for every single person ever to walk this planet.

So each of our stories are different. Happy, painful, sad - each story has the promise of Life and Love and eternity with our Heavenly Father and our Savior.

Life is a serious of our personal stories. It's how we grow, change and develop. It's how we learn more about ourselves and those around us and it's how we learn more about Christ.

Here's a quote I saw on a board outside a church, it's kinda what started me thinking down this trail. I like it. It's good for me to remember about myself, and it's a good reminder to have grace and mercy toward others.

"Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future."

A Birthday

2011-09-14T17:34:00.001-04:00

When you're a kid, your birthday is a big deal! It's fun, it's exciting, it's a time to be special and get presents!!! Oh, who am I kidding... birthday's are FUN all the time! But I'm one who loves a good party! So maybe not everyone loves their birthday, I don't know.

Anyway - today is my sister's birthday.

Why is that worthy of blogging about you might ask? Well, she's my sister after all - and this is my blog, so reason enough for me!

Here are some of the thoughts I've had about it.

First, my sister is thousands of miles away from me.

Literally.

She lives in a very small town in northern North Dakota. That's mighty far from the little (which doesn't seem so little in comparison) town in North Carolina where I live! So for starters I won't see my sister on her birthday. Actually, I haven't seen my sister on her birthday is many years. For a while she lived relatively close to me, but we hardly saw each other. And then she moved to the beautiful mountains of NC and I didn't see her much then, and now, ND - well, we talked about that already! The older I get the more I think it's important to make a big deal out of all birthdays, not just my children's birthdays. So I'm sad I won't be seeing her to celebrate.

Second, my sister and I haven't had a close relationship for many years. We've made decisions about our lives that have taken us on different paths. Sometimes those paths were actually the same, just we were at different places in our lives when we walked them. So although we were close as youngsters, we went through a period of time when we weren't close at all.

That's changing a bit now. We can keep in touch easier now with today's technology. We have iPhones, so that makes the calling and face-timeing and all that nice and easy! And then there's FaceBook, so we can keep up with each other there too. But it's not the same. But I think our relationship is better than it's been in several years. I wish this year we could be closer so we could celebrate together! Be sure not to take your friends and family for granted!

So today - from thousands of miles away - I wish my sister a very happy birthday, and prayers for good things for the coming year!

Happy Birthday Little Sis!

I Remember

2011-09-12T08:12:00.000-04:00

September 11, 2001.

I hadn't been married a whole year yet.

I was at the beginning of my second year teaching.

I was in a closed classroom with 21 5 year old's. All was well in my wold. Then, just after 9, there was a call for all teacher to step out into the hallway. Weird - very weird.

Out in the hall we were given very sketchy details. 2 planes crashed into the Twin Towers! There was silence, no one really even knew what to think, much less what to do. Except one of the second grade teachers, her fiance was in NY that day. On business. He was supposed to be in one of the towers. She was given a sub so she could try to contact him. The rest of us were sent back into our classrooms to keep on with the day. We were after all dealing with little children. I chose not to say anything at all to my class.

About 30 minutes later I got a call from the office that one of my student's mom's was there to pick her up. I went out into the hallway to meet her (honestly, I wanted to see if she had any more details, cause the phone lines were all tied up and I was trying to carry on with our "normal" day in the classroom), but I could tell, just by watching her come down the hallway that things were bad. She was in almost a total panic. By the looks of her, I could tell she was just going to rush past me into my classroom to get her daughter.

I stopped her. I reassured her that all in the classroom was well. That the children knew nothing of what had happened and that I would get her daughter ready and send her out. I didn't want her upsetting the rest of the class.

As the morning went on, small details came in about the other planes crashing and the Towers falling. Finally, they decided to close school early that day. The school was close to the airport and since no one knew what was going on, or what else might happen, they thought it was best to send the students home.

As soon as they were gone, I too come home and sat and watched on TV.

I remember desperately wanting David to come home from work. At the time he was working close to the oil tank farms in Greensboro and the local news was saying they were stepping up security there - just in case. David assured me he was fine, and that I was too!

I remember the whole thing being surreal feeling. It felt like this horrible thing had happened so far away from me, yet it totally changed the way everyone felt about everything. About simple travel to and from work. About the things I would say to my students the next day - or what they would say to each other depending on what they had seen at home. It brought on a renewed feeling of patriotism. At school each morning the students say the Pledge of Allegiance. I think it was a week or more before I made it through the Pledge without tears!

I also remember feeling helpless. Like there was just nothing I could do. It was so big, such a huge shock, something so far outside of what people thought was even possible in the USA.

Yesterday, as we marked 10 years later - I still remember. As do all Americans. I am also still thankful for all those then, and now, who put their lives on the line each and every day to keep us safe both here at home and over seas.

Thank you!!!!

God bless America!

The Weekend

2011-09-10T12:39:00.000-04:00

What does that word mean to you?

No work.

Yard work.

Sleeping in.

Hangin' out with friends.

Church.

Spending time with family.

Football. (Yippee for football time again!)

Date nights.

The weekend means all these things, and more to me. Of course, not all on the same weekend. But I do like to fit in as many of the above things as I can in one weekend! But this weekend is a little different for me than the last 3 months worth of weekends have been.

Mostly since Memorial Day weekend, we've spent every Saturday at the lake. And the ones we weren't at the lake, we were at the beach or enjoying some other vacation/holiday time. It's really been a great summer, and part of me is sad it's over. But today is a TOTALLY beautiful (a good one to be at the lake) day, and it's been nice and relaxed. The kids got to spend the night and some time today with their grandparents. That allowed David and I to go to dinner last night and then we grabbed breakfast this morning before running a few errands. It was weird to get up this morning and NOT get ready to go to the lake, but it's been good too!

I've been thinking a lot this week about how different weekends have been for me the last 6 years or so of my life. I guess because we're back in the full swing of school and the kids seem to be growing up so fast and it just seems like yesterday that Luke was a baby. And when Luke was born weekends took on a whole different meaning.

Actually, then meant less than they had before I had a baby. See, the only difference for me from Friday to Saturday, was that David was home from work on Saturday. Nothing else was different. Same thing on Saturday as on Tuesdays. I had a baby, he didn't know it was a different day of the week - that it was the weekend, and he was supposed to sleep in, or take it easy on the eating schedule... you know, who needs to eat every 4 hours on Saturday anyway?!?!?

Now, all of a sudden, I have a first grader and a pre-schooler and I'm up each day at 5:30AM and packing book bags and snacks and lunches. I'm making sure school uniforms are cleaned and ready to be put on, I'm making breakfast (yes, toasting a frozen waffle and putting butter and syrup on it is making breakfast!), and driving little people to and from school. I'm volunteering at school and trying to keep my house in better order. So now, the weekend has a different meaning again.

I did get to sleep in this morning - until 7:30AM (cause now I'm old and cannot sleep longer than that!), and I didn't have to pack a lunch or drive anyone anywhere, or even get out a uniform. It's back to being a day to play and rest and enjoy and make plans with friends and family. It's a day to be enjoyed and to rest and to be grilling out for dinner! Who wants to come and eat dogs and burgers with us tonight?

Enjoy your weekend!

Brain Jumble

2011-09-08T17:27:00.004-04:00

Ever have one of those days where you feel like you've done a whole bunch and gotten nothing accomplished? That's how I've felt today.

I feel like I've done a lot, but not really gotten anything done!

And also, for some reason, my brain couldn't seem to get me where I needed to go today. I made several wrong turns today, and even missed a turn. Now, keep in mind this is while I was driving to and from school and to the gym. You know, places I go every. single. day.

Weird.

Avery got a big kick out of it! But it was sorta frustrating, ya know? I mean I cannot get to the gym from my son's school? Really? I've done it a hundred times!

It's just been that sort of day. I sure hope tomorrow is better!

I guess I feel like I have several things on my mind. Friends who are struggling with their health, or the health of their families, or job issues, or children issues, or marriage issues, or whatever... so I kinda feel like I'm awake and moving, but not totally in control of my brain!

I think I need some retail therapy. Lucky for me I get to go to a consignment sale tonight! That'll help! And then I can go to bed and sleep and then maybe by tomorrow I'll be able to get where I need to go without making wrong turns and I'll be able to get some good stuff accomplished. I might even be able to write a good blog post!

Jane

2011-09-07T14:48:00.002-04:00

Jane is our dog! Our first baby! She's a full bread black lab, she came with papers and all! Over the course of her life, Jane's pushed the limits several times.

When she was just a wee pup, she got into her little doggie brain that it might be fun to chew the molding around the windows and the doorway of the dinning room. That had to ALL be replaced before we could sell that house.

Then there was the time that she ate an entire dish of Valentine's candy - most of which was chocolate. Needless to say, that was a cold, stinky mess to clean up (and David was out of town for that incident!). Poor thing was sick for like a whole 24 hours. YUCK!

Also, there was the time she chewed the top off an empty soda bottle, but I guess she didn't chew the cap small enough and it got stuck in her intestines! So after a night in the emergency animal hospital, being sent home with canned dog food and a huge bill, we thought she'd be fine. She wasn't. Off to the regular vet where he said they had to do surgery to remove whatever was stuck in there. So we did. She recovered well!

Of course there has always been the daily "regular" life stuff of having a lab. She, from the very beginning, was an active and fun filled dog! She loves people and loves to be around people. Some times too much. Jane's forms of affection can sometimes be over powering. She doesn't know when to back off, or just sit and let someone pet her. She likes to be all up on you and in your face and loving all over you. But she's always been good with the kids, and she didn't have any adjustment troubles when we brought Luke or Avery home from the hospital. She's always been very tolerant of both kids and they both love her a ton!

She likes to follow me around during the day. If I'm in the kitchen, she likes to lay where I need to walk. If I'm in the bedroom, she's laying in there. Wherever I am, she likes to be also. And it's funny when the kids and I are in different rooms, because she has a hard time deciding where she should be. Sometimes she'll move from one room to the other and back again, and then sometimes she picks a spot in between the rooms to lay, so she can see all of us! She's a good dog like that!

All this brings me to poor Jane. Something is wrong - very wrong, with her foot. It started as just a limping. She was sort of favoring her front foot. I didn't think too much of it, until it seemed to be something that bothered her all the time. So I took her to the vet. After examining her foot, the vet didn't see anything (which I hadn't seen anything either) she sent us home with some pain meds, thinking it might be that she stepped on a rock or branch or something.

Jane's foot didn't get any better. It got worse actually. So I took her back in. This time they wanted to take x-rays. So they sedated her and took them. When they sedated her the vet could see that she had a growth or something that looked to be making her toe swell up. The x-ray showed nothing on her bone - good news! But now, they weren't sure what was going on - bad news! So this time we came home with antibiotics and more pain meds.

Unfortunately, neither medication seemed to make one bit of difference in Jane's toe. And she still was favoring her foot and seemed unlike herself.

So back to the vet. This time they took 2 biopsy samples from the spot on her toe. And we're in a holding pattern to hear back from the report on that. They sedated her again, took the samples, wrapped up her foot and sent us home with more antibiotics and stronger pain medication. Now, Jane doesn't seem to want to eat very much - which isn't like her! And she's not wanting to use the bathroom very much either. Which the vet said could be due to the pain medicine making her not want to eat as much, therefor she doesn't need to use the bathroom as often.

So, we're in this holding pattern to wait and see what the outcome is. Best case, it's a really bad infection and she'll take stronger antibiotics and it'll go away. Next - it's some sort of tumor and she'll have to have her toe amputated. Worst, it's some sort of cancerous growth! From there we'll have to decide what to do. That's not a good place to be. It's a sad place actually. It's hard to think we might have to make some sort of decision about what to do if she has cancer. I'm just hoping it's something simple and we can take care of it pretty easily!

**** Since writing the beginning of this post, I spoke with the vet*****

The biopsy results came back inconclusive! Yes, inconclusive! Can you believe that?? But, they think it might just be a bad infection, or even an allergic reaction to something. So for now (rather than doing a deeper and another biopsy) we'll give her more antibiotics and some Benadryl to see if that helps. She left the bandage on until Monday evening and after she took it off, her toe seemes less swollen. It still seems to bother her some, but it doesn't look as bad as it did. So maybe it is an infection... I guess we'll keep waiting and seeing!

Something New

2011-09-02T11:21:00.000-04:00

On Monday night I tried something new for dinner. I'd been looking at them for several months in my Biggest Losser cookbook, and thought - "man, those look good!" But then when I would read the directions, they seemed really complicated. I just hadn't found a night when I had all my ducks in a row AND wanted to attempt something new.

Well, Monday night that all lined up and I spent about an hour working on some Swedish Meatballs! Following the recipe I made them from scratch! I got about half way through and started really hoping that they were gonna be good, cause they sure were a lot of work! So after making and cooking the meatballs then it was time to finish up the sauce!

It was all a totally new experience! But it all seemed to come together, and what I had tasted as I went along seemed pretty yummy.

Time for the taste test! We all sit down (did I mention that it's just David and I eating these, cause my children won't eat that sort of thing. My kids don't eat much, and I'm just one of those mom's that makes them chicken nuggets or PB&J for dinner. Think what you will of me for that!) and I'm anxiously waiting for David to take the first bite...

He loved them!! I loved them!!

YIPPEE!!

It was totally worth all that work! We really enjoyed dinner. The sauce didn't turn out the exact texture or look that I thought it should, but it was really tasty, so I was happy!

I assured David that we would have them again, but it'd be a special occasion, since they were a whole lot of work! I should have taken a picture of them also, but I didn't! I will for sure do that next time too!

Whew!

2011-09-01T10:31:00.003-04:00

I sure have missed you all! I've missed blogging! Things around here have been just crazy the last couple of weeks!

With the start of school for Luke and getting into that new routine and dealing with several family members dealing with various illnesses (bladder infection, sinus infection, swimmers ear, vomiting due to headache and a cold have been visiting our house!) our poor dog Jane dealing with a very painful "growth" or something on her toe, and of course consignment sale time (I've been sorting, organizing and tagging cloths and shoes for 2 weeks now!) I've been trying just to keep things moving along!

Then, just to add something fun to the mix of craziness, we're in the process of redoing the master bedroom and bathroom!!! Gotta have something fun, right? But that's a whole post on it's own!

I guess the biggest thing has been Luke starting first grade. Over all he's doing well, but I honestly have had a harder time with him starting first than I did when he started K. I guess because K was familiar territory for me personally, it didn't feel like a big deal. Somehow, first grade seems like a big deal. He's growing up, and I'm not ready. Of course, I don't have much choice, and really neither does Luke. But overall, dealing with the longer school day, a bit more homework, and even his first TEST (mommy's freaking out a bit about it, but Luke is fine!) tomorrow, he's doing well!

There are new routines and new rules to learn as well as new children to get to know and a new teacher! New if fun and exciting, but it can also be a learning curve! It's good so far! I'm so very glad we have the opportunity to send our children to a really great school, with really great teachers!

Next week Avery starts back to preschool! She's excited about school starting back. I think after spending all day at home alone with me, she's ready to see her brother! So I think going back to school will be a good thing! She'll go 3 days a week this year, which will be very different for me, as I'll have 3 mornings alone! Oh what to do, what to do?

We had the opportunity to meet Avery's new teachers last night, and I think she's gonna love them and I know she'll have a great year as well!

Well, I just wanted to put up a quick post letting everyone know I was still here and that I will be posting more regularly again (hopefully)!

Here are some posts to look forward to:

Master bedroom/bathroom redo
Jane's toe
Swedish Meatballs - you know that one sounds interesting! :-)
Luke starting Tae Kwon Do
Otis Spunkmeyer cookies

That's a taste - so check back soon! Thanks for visiting!

A Day at the Lake

2011-08-28T08:22:00.003-04:00

This summer our family has spend a good deal of time enjoying the fun and beauty of Badin Lake! We've spent hours swimming, boating, tubing, even fishing (Luke's the one that's done the fishing - yicky!)! It's been a great way to spend Saturday's together and this year we tried it in-lieu of a family vacation somewhere. It was great fun!

Yesterday was no exception. Except that due to Hurricane Irene hitting our coast full on, we (4 hours in-land) experienced 20-25 mile an hour winds! This made for an interesting experience on the lake. It was cloudy, and very, very windy! The water on the lake was white capping. I've never seen that before! But it was warm enough to be outside, so we made the best of it!

Both kids got to drive the boat, while their Daddy oversaw. At one point we were in a very rough area of the lake, the waves were huge, and just washing over the front of the boat! It really was kinda crazy! Honestly, I ended up telling David I was scared and could we please turn around! I hated to admit it, but he was enjoying himself and I was worried our kids would be washed out of the boat!

To help make the day more enjoyable, we were able to tie up at David's Aunt and Uncle's dock, which is in a cove, were the wind was much less noticeable. We spent several hours there playing in the water!

It was probably the most interesting weather day we've had at the lake! We had high winds, high seas, clouds, sun, and even a bit of rain! It was a fun day, despite the weather! I am glad we got to go!

Our Saturday's at the lake are quickly coming to an end, as we're back in school full force, with 7 days already under our belt. But we have one more Saturday to enjoy God's beautiful creation, and our family time, that's come to be very special to me! I am praying we'll have a prettier day next week, but I know that either way, we'll have a good time!

I'm so blessed to have had such great times on the lake with my wonderful family and good friends this summer! I intend to try to enjoy this fall and winter - they do after all offer some good holidays! But I gotta say, in my heart I'll be looking forward to next summer and some more time on the lake!

First Grade

2011-08-18T12:39:00.006-04:00

So it begins! Today started the new year of school! And somehow I have a child in the first grade! I don't get it, I cannot understand how this happened! I don't know, it's weird! I was totally OK when he started kindergarten, but this morning was a bit harder for me. I think Luke did fine, but I kinda hurried outta there - especially after he told me no kisses Mommy!!! WHAT?!?!?! Really? Well, I kissed him on the head and left!

Here's a couple of pictures from this morning. You can keep looking down, I put one from his first day of K in too! He's growing fast!

My Babies!

He's growing up so fast!

Ms. Granger and Luke

And here he is the first day of kindergarten!

Last Day of Summer

2011-08-17T07:58:00.003-04:00

How is it possible that today is the last day of this wonderful, fun summer?!?! I do not know, but honestly I'm not ready for it to end!

I don't know what it is about this year - but I'm a bit nervous for Luke. It's for sure not the school! Love, love, LOVE Greensboro Academy! It's DEFINITELY not his teacher, she's wonderful and I taught with her several years, so he'll be good there!

I guess I just know that it's an adjustment from kindergarten to first grade. It's a
longer day with more work and there's more expected! I know that Luke can do it, he's so smart, but I guess maybe Mommy's not ready! I was ready for kindergarten, but he seems so young to me for some reason, and I'm just not ready to send him to first grade! Oh my goodness!!! Oh well, right?!?! Off he goes!

But it's been a good summer! Lot's of good times at the water park and the lake, and with family and friends! It's hard to see it all end!

Today we'll be going to the water park and we'll just stay as long or as short as the kids want. I also told them they could have a treat! I guess I'll let them know they sell ice cream there (it's been a challenging summer keeping that small fact from them)!! So hopefully it'll be a good fun day!

Overall, I think we've had a good relaxing summer and made the most of the time we've had off! Part of me wishes we had done a few more fun things... like what, I'm not sure, but now that it's over, I think maybe I should have done MORE fun things! But I know that there will be time for some more fun things to come in the future. We'll have fun times during the school year, and there's always next summer! I think I'll start a list of fun things to do next summer! That way we'll get them all in!

On this last day of summer (for us anyway) - I will enjoy every ounce of time with my little ones that I can!

Tomorrow - FIRST GRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Catching up

2011-08-14T08:11:00.003-04:00

The last couple of weeks have been very fun, and very busy! Our families vacations ended up all being within the same 2 week period this year, so the last couple of weeks have been full of list making, packing, driving, unpacking, laundry, re-packing and lots of fun having!! It's been great!

But as I look at school starting this week, I seem to have about a billion things on my mind! The start of school seems to be a good time to kind of "get things back in order." I guess it's the need to get back into a routine that make me feel like I need to step back and take a look at my whole life and get ready to get it all back into the right routine!

In order to keep things shorter and not completely bore you to death, I'm gonna do the bullet point list of things that have been going on, or that are on my mind as there's a ton (seemingly) yet to do and take care of before Thursday morning!

* Jane, our dog, has been having some trouble with one of her paws. I took her to the vet last week because she wasn't wanting to put pressure on it and she was limping when she walked. They gave us some pain meds, but there's been no improvement. So tomorrow I call them back, and I fear I'll have to take another trip with the dog and both kids (although the kids did FANTASTIC last week when we went!) to the vet! Hope they can help her this time. She's just not been her usual Jane-y self!

* I need to get back into a better routine of getting up early and getting my daily personal devotions done!!!! 5:30AM - here I come!!

* In today's paper there's a flyer from Rack Room Shoes - for an extra 10% off along with the BOGO 50% off!!! OH BOY!!! This is great, since both kids need shoes for school!

* I'm a bit nervous (and trying to but that worry into praying instead of worry) about Luke starting 1st grade! He had such a great K year, and I know and love his first grade teacher, so I know he'll love her too, but I'm praying he's matured enough to not get into trouble this year!!!

* Along those same lines, we're looking at putting Luke into some Tae Kwon Do classes after school this year. Just a couple of days a week. I'm thinking it'll be a good outlet for some of his energy since he'll have to be sitting and learning for a longer time period this year.

* It'll also be interesting to see how my schedule works out with Avery in preschool 3 days a week this year and Luke in school until 3:15. She's done at 1. What to do with that time in-between?!?!?! I'm sure we'll find something. Gymnastic class for Avery? I don't know... maybe!

* I'm gonna keep my membership at my favorite current gym. Even though it means driving back to Kernersville. It works for me, and I'm for sure I can get there 2 mornings a week, so staying there and committing to those 2 days is what I'm doing.

* Along those same lines. I'm working to loss 10 pounds that I've slowly re-gained this summer, in the next 2 months. I gotta get back on the band wagon!!!

* It's super double coupon time at Harris Teeter and I haven't been yet. Bad me! It's on the schedule for things to do tomorrow.

* Today at church is family Sunday, which means there's NO child programing. So both of my kids would be in the service with us. But it's David's day back on his tech rotation, and I'm not sitting through a service with both my kids by myself. So we're home this morning. Today makes 3 weeks since I've been to church. I miss it, and look forward to going back next week!!!

* Even though we start school back this week (and I have to start getting all up, dressed, lunches packed and out the door by 7:15AM) summer's not over just yet!! We have a couple of Saturday's left on our rented pontoon boat!!! I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it and I'm gonna soak in as much vitamin D as possible cause I know soon enough it'll be cold, gray and yucky - yuck!

* I'm going to try to be more purposeful about blogging. I miss it and I hope you'll re-join me on a regular basis!

I think that's it! I'm not sure how short I keep that, but I do feel some better having gotten it all out! Thanks for reading!

Something fun!

2011-07-21T08:42:00.003-04:00

The sun is out, the coffee is good, the kids are fighting (that ones not so pleasant, but the others are good!) my breakfast smoothie was good, and in a minute I'm off to the gym!

Those all sound like the makings of a good day to me. Well, again, other than the fighting children! But still, I'm determined to make today a good day!

Luke starts back to school in less than a full month now, and time is flying by. We've had some super lazy days this summer. And a few of them this week! Poor Avery had a bad, bad cold - which thankfully didn't last too long - so we've been kinda taking it easy since the kids have a BIG couple of days coming up! This Friday night they'll be with their grandparents that live near us! Then a day at the lake on Saturday, hopefully with some friends! But then next week on Wednesday the kids and I will head up to Tennessee where we'll meet my mom, change the kids and the cars and the kids will have 5 days with their other Grandparents! So I wanted Avery to be well so she could go and have fun!

What are David and I doing while the kids are gone you might ask? Well, since you asked - we're going to the beach. Yes, just he and I at N. Myrtle Beach for 4 days. It's never happened before. Can you believe that? He and I have never been to Myrtle Beach alone together!!

We've been to the beach together - many times. I started going with he and his family before we were even married. And we go every year in October and we've taken the kids, or been with friends, but never alone.

We've been to Maui, the Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Las Vegas and several other places alone together, but never a simple 4 hour trip to Myrtle Beach. So now is the time! It's gonna be fun! I'm looking forward to some quality time with my man, and the kids are SO excited to be going to see their Nanny and Grandpoppy!

For today, I'm going to try to take advantage of the sunshine and summer time and do something fun with the kids! I'm just not 100% sure what that will be just yet... but whatever it is, it'll be FUN!

Weight

2011-07-20T09:36:00.004-04:00

If you are a long time reader of my blog, you know that last year, November of '09 to be exact, I started working hard to loss weight. And I did. I lost a good bit in a short amount of time! Nearly 30 pounds I lost in about 5 or 6 months.

I look at that now, as I'm up about 7 pounds from my lowest (and really where I want to be), and I think, "how did I do that? I only want to loss 7 pounds now and I cannot seem to get them off!" Well I have several "old" ideas on that subject as well as a few new ones.

First and foremost, I'm reminded that there are many, many, many women who struggle with their weight! I'm not alone. Also, I'm reminded that once the weight is off, I have to work to keep it off. I didn't just "get thinner" and now I get to stay thin. If it was that easy, I wouldn't have been over weight to start with. So it's not just about the initial I'm gonna loss weight and get thinner thing, it's about living a different lifestyle from.now.on!!!!

Weight loss isn't easy. It's just not. And often it's not fun. You have to exercise - which I really hated when I started, now I mostly enjoy it, but still I wouldn't call it fun! I haven't had as much trouble with the eating part, but it hasn't been a walk on the beach either. There are foods I like to eat that just aren't good for me. So I had to stop eating them.

Here's the problem - when I got to my goal weight, I slacked off. I stopped being so ridged about what I ate. I stopped working out 5 days a week for 2 hours a day. I gave myself more "room' and that "room" got me more weight back on. Not good.

So, if I know what and how to loss weight, why did I put some back on? Now, let me say here I realize that 7 pounds isn't a whole bunch of weight... but for me, if I'm not careful, it's the beginning of a downhill slide that ends in gaining back the full 30 pounds I lost. I'm just trying to keep myself in check here! Some of the reason I put weight back on is because when I started losing I had a goal - our 10 year anniversary trip! I was totally focused on getting the weight off before our cruise. And I did! Now, I have no cruise on the horizon. We have vacation planned, yes! We go to the lake a bunch and so I wear a bathing suit a lot, but there's no big exciting goal to reach. I'm just down to brass tacks. Living life every day, and learning to live a healthier lifestyle day by day and for no other reason than I don't want to go back to being overweight! That's a lot harder than working toward a fun exciting goal like a Mexican Riviera cruise!

Now, I could set some sort of goal for myself! David has always been very supportive of me and he would be totally for me setting some sort of "prize" for re-reaching my goal, and for that I'm thankful! But that doesn't help me deal with the fact that to stay at my "happy weight" I have to learn to balance all the things in my life to help me stay there. Eating, exercising, stress, holidays, ups and downs of life all contribute to getting to and staying at that happy weight! Hard, isn't it?!?! I'm working on ways to keep on the right path!

There are a few other "deep thoughts" I'd like to share, but this is getting kinda long so I'll save it for another post!

For now, be encouraged, if your trying to loss weight, or eat better, or exercise more, or all the above that your not alone and it's not easy! But it can be done! I know it can!

Defined by what we do?

2011-07-17T18:39:00.007-04:00

What do you feel like gives you worth?

Your job? Your family? Your health? Your body? Your church?

What do you see as the thing that sort of defines you? Gives you reason to be every day?

For many stay at home mom's - myself included - much of what seems to define me - are my children.

And my role as wife.

And keep up with "running a house"

And of course the laundry.

Sunday morning dawned early, and gray and after a LONG hard night. Avery started with a cold on Saturday and although acted like she felt fine all day, I just knew that Saturday night would be hard. It was just a mom feeling. And I was right. Poor thing woke up about 2:30AM very congested and running a fever of 101.3. She felt bad for sure. And then on top of it, I had an upset stomach and had been up before her and was up several times after I got her re-settled.

So Sunday morning was not our usually, eat, get ready for church, where's your Bible kind of morning. It was more like - Daddy got up with the kids and since Mommy felt like she'd been hit by a bus, she went back to bed.

Now, for me this is very unusual. Usually once I'm awake in the morning, that's it. I'm up. I cannot usually go back to sleep. But I did Sunday morning. And not just once, but 2 times! David took care of getting the kids breakfast and juice and keeping the occupied while I sleep until about 9:45. For this I was VERY grateful!

But as it was also a strange feeling for me. Normally I have much to do in the morning, and this morning not only did I not have to do it (David even made the coffee!) I didn't feel well enough to do it.

Now, I like being taken care of, don't get me wrong! And David does a wonderful job of taking care of me, and the kids! But I don't like being taken care of - or having other things that I normally take care of because I cannot do it. I know that may seem weird or stupid... but it is what it is.

I didn't like it at all. I didn't like feeling bad and then David had to do everything for the kids (which if you have or have ever had or even been around small kids, you know is a bunch!)! I honestly felt bad about that. I don't think I should have, cause I really wasn't feeling well, but I did feel bad about it. And I've been doing some thinking as to why?

I think some of it was just emotions/hormones/ lack of sleep weirdness feeling on my part. But then I think some of it was just that I'm so used to doing stuff all the time, that I start to see my self, and my worth, by what I do. You know, like - I make sure my kids have drinks and snacks and clean cloths and that makes me who I am.

Wrong.

Although I'm in a phase in my life where those are my main responsibilities. Those things - being a mom - doesn't make me who I am.

I'm still me - Holly. My identity is who I am through the saving grace of my Lord!And I'm still a person. And guess what? People get sick. And I didn't feel good and so I didn't feel like me. I didn't feel like a mom either. I just felt yucky. But I was still a child of the King. Still loved, still important, just feeling yucky while being loved.

And the good news - I am (and you are) loved the same by Christ no matter how you feel physically/mentally or whatever. He loves us the same. Everyday. All the time! For that I'm thankful!

I'm also thankful for a husband who is willing to skip church, take care of the kids, let me sleep, feed the kids, play with the kids, and watch over me - all when I don't feel well!

I'm blessed!

And today I feel lots better and back to my old self! I'm thankful for that too!

Now, if we could get Avery well, all would be good again!

Down East

2011-07-15T08:34:00.002-04:00

This week the kids and I go to go "down East" to spend some time with our good friend Andrea and her son AJ! Andi is a military wife, and her husband is deployed in some dangerous place half way across the world (so if you think of him please say a pray for safety and well being) so the kids and I went down to spend some time with good friends - who also happen to live less than 5 minutes from Emerald Isle!!

It was a double hit for us! Good times with good friends AND we got to go to the beach! It was fun! And it made me think of many, many things I have to be thankful for!

First, that there are people who are willing to make HUGE sacrifices for the safety of our country! I was reminded - again - of all those who are deployed in many different areas of the world watching out for us and our safety and I was - again - VERY thankful for them. And then there are those who are "left at home" while their loved ones are gone. It seems kinda hard. I was gone from David for 3 and a half days and I missed him a bunch - some service people are gone for months even a year or more at a time. So all the responsibility of home is left with those at home. So a BIG thank you to all you military families out there who are willing to play a part in your loved one's service to our country by staying home and keeping things together and moving forward! Extra prayers will be said for not only our friends, but for the many others who are also doing it!

Second, I love having our friends close enough to be able to drive to see them. Being in the military means moving around every couple of years or so. For now, our friends are close enough that the kids and I can get in the car and go see them. But who knows where they'll be next?!?!? It could be far, far away! That kind of makes me sad. But it would also be a great reason to travel to some far away places if they are stationed farther away. But selfishly, I'm gonna hope they stay closer to us than say somewhere in Germany!

Third, I love the beach! This is nothing new, really. Just a reminder of how much I do love the sand and the sun and the salty water! Oh yes, I love it! And the kids like it too! They had fun. Avery was done and ready to go after just about an hour or hour and a half. Luke on the other hand - he seems to have more of my love for the ocean. He played and played and played in the ocean and had a totally good time the whole time we were there. He was sad when it was time to go. Yep, he's my boy!

Lastly - I'm so blessed!! In many, many ways! It's a blessing to have friends that even though we don't get to see them all the time, that we're still close. Every time we see them, it's like we just saw them last week or yesterday. I'm so glad to have them!

I'm blessed to have time in my schedule to take 4 days and go out of town with my kids. A true blessing of being a stay at home mom!

I'm blessed to have a husband who is supportive and happy for us to be able to go and spend time with friends. Even though he has to stay at home and work! He's a great man and I'm blessed and honored to be his wife!

I'm blessed to be back at home with my wonderful husband and spending some more fun summer times with my kids! It's literally only about a month until Luke goes back to school!!!! OH MY GOODNESS! Where is summer going?!?! I'm not sure, but I'm having a great time, and I plan on enjoying the summer time we have left!

Keepin' up

2011-07-08T07:47:00.003-04:00

A few months ago we started keeping a chore chart for the kids! They each have 4 chores they have to do each day - 3 they do on their own, the 4th they do together. This allows them to learn some responsibility, plus earn a bit of money.

It's been working pretty well! Luke's totally into it! He loves to "get paid" at the end of the week and keep track of how much money he's earned! It's also been a great way for them to learn about tithing and giving! So far it's working well!

I am trying this same concept for myself. Just to be honest - keeping a neat, clean, dusted house isn't my strength. It never has been. So to that end, I'm trying something new this summer. I've added myself to the chore chart. I have my own row but instead of the same 4 (what would I do with myself if I only had 4 chores to do every day?!?!) chores each day, I'm taking a part of the house or an area or a "thing" and focusing on that area on that day!

For many, this is not a new concept, I have heard of people doing this for many years now, but it's newly implemented for me, so we'll see how it goes. Plus writing it down really helps. I'm a list maker. I love to make and work off of a list! I love to cross things out when they are done and move on to the next thing. So this is kind of like a daily small list.

Here's how it's working so far (it may change as time goes by, but for now this is what I have!) Monday, since it was a holiday we were all here in the morning before we went to the lake in the afternoon. We spend the morning cleaning. The kids did all their chores in the morning and David was a huge help with cleaning things I don't normally clean (like the mirror in our living room and the bathrooms!) as well as a bunch of other stuff. I was thankful for his help! So Monday we did a big house cleaning.

Tuesday - bathroom day. I took an hour to clean all 3 (2 and 1/2 really) bathrooms. I of course did the "usual" stuff. Tubs, toilets, sinks, but on Tuesday I did all the "extra" stuff too. I cleaned the outsides of the cabinets, the doors and all the baseboards! It didn't take me much longer than normal, and I felt like it was worth it, since those were the only rooms I was focusing on! It was good and it was nice to just be done when I was done!

Wednesday - kitchen day. Same idea as bathroom day. I did all the outsides of the cabinets and appliances (which were pretty clean, since David had just done all of them on Monday) and the baseboards. My kitchen floor is hardwood (all the flooring downstairs is hardwood) and normally I try to vacuum and mop all of it at the same time. It's a pretty big job, but instead of doing the WHOLE downstairs, I did just the kitchen floor. That's the area that gets yucky the fastest. Again, it was good to get it done and just be done for the day!

Thursday - Upstairs day. Again, just being honest, I don't spend nearly the time on the upstairs (other than the bathroom) that I should. It's just the kids rooms and the Office/bonus room. So it gets neglected worse than the rest of the house. So I just spent time vacuuming and such up stairs.

Friday - Catch up day. This is the day each week that I'll pick something particular - such as dusting the mantel and TV nook and baseboards in the living room area, or cleaning blinds and windows or cleaning/dusting the banister (you wouldn't think that was a big deal area - but the kids touch it all.the.time - and it gets GROSS!!) or something else like that.

I would like to say, that of course I am still doing all the daily things that keep the house "running"! You know, like laundry, dishes, picking up in all the rooms daily! But the "big" cleaning jobs that help keep the house looking nice, I'm trying to spread out so I can do a better job at it! And of course I look this good doing it too!

Part of the reason (and it's not a good reason, but it is one in my mind) I don't work as hard at keeping the house cleaned up and all pristine, is because I have 2 small children and it takes them about 2 seconds to successfully mess up several hours worth of cleaning that I have done. That's frustrating and so lots of times I just felt like, "what's the point?" But I think that if I try to keep the house cleaner, then the kids will (at least I'll be forced to help them) do a little better too.

Having a clean and orderly house makes me feel good at the end of the day. It's nice for David to come home too, and it's a good example for the kids. So this is a big weakness of mine - a big one! But I'm gonna try and do better! Find a plan that works for me and stick to it! Maybe one day I will have a cleaning lady to do all that for me! A girl can dream, right?!?!

Summer time

2011-07-03T12:52:00.006-04:00

I've been doing a study. Well, maybe more of a survey. OK, so maybe I've just been doing some serious people watching which has cause me to do some thinking.

For some serious summer fun the kids and I have season passes to Wet N Wild - which is basically a huge water park. They have some really fun stuff for the kids and it's been a good time for us.

However I've had an education when it comes to bathing suits for women. Here are some of the things I've observed:

* the bathing suit doesn't actually have to fit you for you to wear it!

* bikinis are the only type of bathing suit out there, no matter what age you are.

* you can wear a bikini at any age. Ranging from WAY too young to be wearing one to WAY too old

* you can be any size as well!

* Mother's don't know what their teenage daughters are wearing. The teenage daughters must be changing cloths after they leave the house. I refuse to believe that women are allowing their daughters to wear tee-tiny little pieces of bathing suits! Do they know other people can see them?

I've also come to realize that I must be old fashion. I really must be. I have a couple of what I guess would be considered bikini's (although after the suits that other people are wearing, mine have way too much material to be called a bikini) but I tend to be somewhat particular about where I wear them. So here I thought I was cool, and hip and since loosing weight last year, I thought I might be in good enough shape to where them. I didn't think I was being immodest or anything like that, but after a few weeks of observation I have found myself putting on bathing suits that cover more of me when we go.

Honestly, do we ALL have to show so much skin? Do people not look at themselves before they leave the house? Or the store where they got the bathing suit? Do they not have someone who loves them and can say to them... "I love you, but that's not the bathing suit for you."

Have we as a people lost all sense of modesty? It's there still something to the thought that it might be nice if we covered up some more and could still look "cute" and "hip" and "modern"? Don't get me wrong, I'm not all out opposed to the bikini thing. Like I said, I have a couple. But I think there's a time and a place for them. And honestly, I think you have to be the right age, size, and wearing the right kind for it to not be almost offensive.

If Luke were older - a young teenage boy - I would be worried about him spending all day at Wet N Wild. I personally have seen more boobs and rear-ends that I care to see in a lifetime. I cannot imagine if I were a teenage boy!!!!

This has also of course caused me to think about what will our rules be for Avery when she's old enough to have to make these decisions. And honestly, I feel bad because "all the girls are doing it" isn't just something she could say to try to make us change our minds... cause I've seen with my own eyes - and not ALL the girls, but really 90% of the girls are doing it! I hope that we can convey to her the importance of her body and modesty and still being cute! You can be cute and still wear appropriate cloths. That can be hard for teenage girls, especially when all those around you are doing the opposite of modest and cute!

Here's just one more parting thought on the matter:

if your going to wear a string bikini, you should be sure that after you have it on - you can still see the strings! If not, maybe you should try something different.

I'm just sayin'!

What are you craving?

2011-06-27T19:14:00.006-04:00

I'm a bit behind the times, I guess you could say. But I'm finally reading Lisa Terkeurst's new book "Made to Crave". And can I tell you, it's been awesome!

I'm only 2 chapters in - yes, only 2 - but it's been really, really eye opening for me! One thing that is making the reading go a bit slower at the questions at the end of each chapter. They of course are designed to make you think more deeply about what you've just read. And so I've been thinking. A bunch!

One of the points that the book makes is that we were actually made to crave. Not food of course, but God. But somewhere along the way (and in our daily lives) we replace that craving for God with food.

Now, I've been on this get skinny, be healthier "journey" for over a year now. And it's a long hard road, and at one point I was at my goal weight. I am up a bit from that, and really trying to get back on track to re-loss those last few pounds! And I think reading this book is helping me kinda put things into a spiritual perspective that I didn't have before.

But here's the other thing I'm finding about this book. If I step back and really look at things, things in my life, I'm seeing that it's not just food that I'm putting in place of my craving for God. Sometimes it's other things - like I've replaced the cravings for God with food, but those have also been replaced by things like - shopping. Or relationships with other people. Or even going to the gym. It's like on one level I already started trying to remove the use of food (for http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifall reasons and occasions, as Lysa Terhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifkeurst talks about in her book) but instead of satisfying that craving with more of God, I've just replaced it with other things that won't ever satisfy me.

As I said, it's been slow going through the book. I read a chapter, and read the questions then I think on them a few days, and go back and re-read the chapter and then answer the questions in my journal. But it's been a lot to think about and evaluate. It's been good. And I think and pray that I'll be doing some serious growing from this experience.

There are lots of materials and resources out there to go along with this book. Stuff you can get for group studies and that sort of thing. You can check out Lysa's blog or go to Amazon to see what's out there.

Style up-date

2011-06-27T08:23:00.005-04:00

Avery's been in fine form the last couple of days - I just had to share!

First we have the outfit she wore to breakfast (yes - out to breakfast!) on Saturday morning!

Yes, that is a purple shirt, yellow shorts, blue snowman socks and sneakers!

This is today's outfit!

Who says you cannot mix and match prints?

Saturday Monring Love

2011-06-25T08:18:00.000-04:00

Nothing like starting your Saturday morning with a little country lovin'!

Set the tone

2011-06-23T07:57:00.003-04:00

You know that saying, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"? Yeah, well I know it too, and I've been wondering, what if Mama ain't happy? How does that really affect the rest of the house? And how does Mama get happy if she ain't?

I am mostly a happy person. I usually wake up in a good mood and feel happy most of the time. But I'm human (and a women - so I've got hormones!) and so there are days when I just feel yucky! Or cranky or whatever! Just like everyone else.

So my question is - how do I handle this? I really don't like to feel like that. Who wants to wake up and spend all day being cranky? Not me, and I can tell you my family doesn't like it much either! But again, sometimes it happens. So what do I do about it?

How do I change my attitude?

When my kids have bad attitudes I send them to their rooms. Yes, that sounds like a wonderful punishment for me when I am cranky! PLEASE! Someone send me to my room!!!

As you can guess, with a 6 year old and a 3 year old, that isn't really a workable solution (at least not for more than about 5 minutes). So for me, it becomes an actual decision. I will have a better attitude!

Or sometimes I cheat and turn on the TV and let the kids watch a little so I can get a few minutes to myself. Or if it's nice (and this is just being honest here), I'll let them watch TV while I sit outside and enjoy the outside all alone!!

Some separation is a good thing!

Being a stay at home mom is totally different than any other job I've ever done. It's constant. It's 24/7. And it's "everywhere". I know that's a weird way to state that, but it's just like being a stay at home (the home part is the big part here) mom means that I'm always around my "job". The house needs cleaning, the dishes need doing, the cloths need washing, the beds need clean sheets, the grocery shopping needs to be done, the toilet paper rolls need changing... I mean it's always something.

Please don't get me wrong here, I LOVE my job! It's the hardest, but BEST job I've ever had. I'm blessed to be able to stay home with my children! And I wouldn't trade it for the world!

But I say all of the above to say - if I wake up in a bad mood... I don't get to just get dressed, leave the house, then "leave my home at the door of my work place." Like I did when I was teaching school. It's not like that. So how do I overcome a bad mood? How do I make it better for me AND for my family?

I'm not sure I have any real good answers, so if you have some I'd LOVE to hear them. But these are a few things I try...

Listening to some smooth jazz or classical music for a bit!

Taking a few minutes to read a short devotional, or write in my journal, or just read a few verses in the Word.

Going outside in the sunshine for a few minutes. This one I do more often in the winter, cause I get to be out in the sun a lot in the summer, but I always feel like MORE sun in the winter would help my mood!

Having a nice cup of coffee and sitting in my nice chair for a few minutes!(Usually in order for me to do this one, the kids "get to" watch TV!)

If there's time (like after the kids are in bed), taking a warm bath!

Going shopping. This one's not so good to do on a regular basis, but it's good every now and then!

Taking a walk outside!

Those are a few of the things that I've tried, that often help.

Please again know I'm not complaining here, I'm just trying to make my home a happy place to be, and sometimes I don't feel happy, but I would still like for my family to feel like home is a nice, comforting and happy place to be! Even if Mama ain't happy!

OK - so if any of you wonderful readers have suggestions or comments - please share!! I'm always happy to take advice!

Wild Wednesday

2011-06-22T10:18:00.006-04:00

Here's Avery's wild Wednesday outfit!

She's working it, isn't she!

This is my favorite part of the outfit!

Gotta love some green crocks with some pink socks!

One Morning

2011-06-21T11:06:00.005-04:00

I woke up thinking some weird things this morning, and since I had time at the gym to think more about it... it's turned into this totally big thing in my head. I've got a ton of "what if's?" and "If one morning's", but I'll try not to over-do it!

My thought this morning was - "Just one morning, I wish I could sleep until I wasn't tired anymore and then when I wake up I wish I wasn't sore and old feeling!" (Yesterday at the gym was rough and I'm feeling pretty sore today!)

So then as I got ready I had a few more thoughts...

If one morning I woke up and all of a sudden had the perfect body!

or

If one morning I woke up and could eat ice cream all day and STILL have the perfect body! (I know - it ain't happenin', but a girl can dream, right?)

or

One morning I woke up and was the perfect parent!

or

One morning - I could un-make all the mistakes I've made!

or

One morning - I didn't owe anyone any money!

or

I could go anywhere in the world I wanted to go.

or

I could help a whole orphanage of children.

or

I didn't have any of the "issues" I had yesterday?!?!

or

I could be the best cook in the world!

or

I could just have a few hours to get a pedicure, manicure, massage, new hair color, facial, and do a bit of shopping? (OK, so I'd need more than a few hours!)

or

If one morning I woke up and was the person that God created me to be.

I stopped here. With this one thought. It's kinda deep, I know. But it's also kind of where all the other "what if's" take you, isn't it?

Here's what I'm thinking... if I was or at least set out to be - each and every morning - the person who God created me to be, then what would that look like? To be honest, not what it looks like now!

I'm not sure I have any concrete answers here. I mean - obviously, I've been busy thinking about eating ice cream all day! But I do know that today's been a good day for thinking more about who God wants me to be!

So maybe tomorrow morning I'll wake up and think - "God, today what can I do to glorify you?" At least that's the challenge I'm giving myself!

Summer Song

2011-06-18T09:53:00.000-04:00

This song has become our family's sort of "summer anthem"! It's just a great summer, feel good song. The Zac Brown Band doesn't have the official video out yet - supposed to come out the coming week, so for today you'll have to just enjoy the picture of Zac and Jimmy Buffet!

Enjoy and think of yourself somewhere warm and sandy while you watch!

Boundless Energy

2011-06-15T16:23:00.003-04:00

My goodness, my children have boundless energy these days!

I'm doing my best to totally wear them out - which some days that does actually happen! And it's wonderful, and they go to bed so good at night, but they still wake up early in the morning and guess what?

They are all rested and rejuvenated and ready to go again!

Here's the problem - their mom is way older than them, and I'm having trouble keeping up!

Monday we went to our new summer pool place - which is actually a water park - and spent hours (seriously, like 5 or 6 hours) there! I was totally beat! And so were they and it was a good fun day!

Tuesday we hung out with Mrs. Shaw (yes, Luke's K teacher, who happens to also be my good friend!) and her daughter Mary Beth (who also babysits for the kids a bunch!) we were there like nearly 4 hours.

So needless to say, last night I was totally wiped out!

But first thing this morning, the kids started asking if we could go to the pool?!?!?!

Luckily for me, I had a dentist appointment (you will never hear those words all together coming out of my mouth again! Never do a dentist visit and lucky go together - except for this morning!) at 10 and so we didn't get heading out for the pool until later in the day. So I had some time to rest this morning!

I do like the water park, and the kids love it, but I do not know how I'm gonna keep up this pace for the whole summer! WOW!

I'm also trying to keep my morning gym workouts as part of the every day schedule! I think I'm gonna need to start drinking some of those energy drinks to keep up!

Don't get my wrong - I LOVE summer - and I love being outside and playing with the kids at the pool... but I could use a day to rest! My skin (I do so love a good summer tan!) could also use a small rest from the rays!

Maybe it'll rain tomorrow?!?!?!

If it does, I'm taking a nap!

AAAHHHH - summer time! Love it!

Avery's Style

2011-06-14T07:49:00.005-04:00

I'm going to try to start a new weekly post - which for now I'm gonna call Avery's style! And I'm doing it because if you know Avery then you know that the pictures you see below are not at all "made up" or "doctored" nor did she have any "help" getting dressed.

Avery is very much one of those types of kids that knows what she wants to wear and what she DOES NOT want to wear. Most mornings now, she's getting dressed by herself (which is totally awesome for me!) So I figuare if she is putting it on by herself, then who am I to make her change after! Most days she does pretty well with the matching of the shorts and the top - it's the foot wear that gets me the most! So here is today's outfit! The only thing I did, was put her hair up! The rest was totally on her own!

I love the rain boots with the outfit! But here's the best part...

She insisted on wearing the snowman socks under the boots! Gotta love some winter socks with rain boots and shorts! But the shirt matches pretty well, don't ya think??

Summer slow-down??

2011-05-31T18:34:00.005-04:00

Saturday - got up went to the lake (YIPPPEEEE)

Sunday - got up went to church

Monday - got up went to the gym

Tuesday - got up (not going to the gym) and will be going to Jump N Fun for kids to bounce

Does that sound like a slow down to you?

In my mind I was looking forward to some lazy, no-where-to-go kind of days this summer. But that does not seem to be the trend. Which probably, I'm really glad for because there's no telling what sort of fighting and bickering might be going on if we had to spend ALL day together in the house!??! I do know some of those days will come, and I'll be looking for something to do!

We will be spending our sunny days at the pool - starting next week - after the county schools let out - so that will be fun!

I have decided that no matter what this summer holds - some days busy, some not so busy - I'm going to make a huge effort to enjoy it! My time with my kids, time they actually want to spend with me is limited! It's going too fast! Luke will be in first grade next year, and there won't be many more years where he'll need me for rides at the pool or help with getting his breakfast. So I'm trying to take each day and enjoy them and the time I have with them.

So today I declare a good summer-fun day! Hope you enjoy your day as well!

Grilling dinner = FAIL

2011-05-27T09:51:00.004-04:00

OK - so I was so totally excited about my dinner of fish on the grill. There was no reason to be so excited!

It was a total FAIL!!!

It started off well - ended badly.

I got the grill all turned on - no problem!

Sprayed the grill - and the fish - before I put it on - no problem!

Closed the lid (like the recipe said) and set the timer for 4 minutes - no problem!

Went back out to flip the fish - first sign of a problem - the skin on the fish stuck BADLY to the grill. Here's where it just went from bad to worse! I decided to stay with the fish this time to make sure it wouldn't stick. So in an effort to make sure that didn't happen I pushed the fish around a bit - well the more done it got the flakier it became. Yes, I know fish does that, but...

And since most of the skin was off, I was afraid I would start loosing pieces of fish into the grill - PROBLEM!

I checked the fish, it looked done to me (or maybe I just hoped it was done) and brought it in - problem!

I plated everything and packed up the food for my "clients" (did I mention I was cooking for other people too - BIG problem!), we sit down to eat, and David's fish isn't done - problem!

After checking all the other fish, I turned the oven on and put it all in there. I was pretty upset! And yes, I even cried. I know, over dinner, come on?!?! I couldn't help it! David was very sweet and understanding about the tears over something so silly!

I did manage to get the fish for my clients cooked (I was using 2 different types of fish), but ours ended up dry and yucky!

David and I had egg and cheese biscuits - should have just made those to start with!

UGH!!!

I think I'll take a small break from the grill (lest I get too big for my britches again!) and take David's advice and start with something easier to cook on the grill - like hot dogs and hamburgers!

**Since dinner was such a mess - there are no pictures! Except of course for your mental picture of me trying desperately to get the fish to do right on the grill!

Pretty Food

2011-05-26T16:27:00.007-04:00

I love this time of year! For many, many reasons, but one of them is shopping at the local farmers market! I love the idea of supporting local growers and the idea of fresh, good for you food! I just love it!

I've been venturing out and trying some new recipes the last week or so, and although some of them have gotten the "what in the world is that??!?!" face, they have all turned out pretty well! Even the fish taco's that I've been "threatening" to make for over a year now were - yes - amazing! And David liked them and said he'd eat them again!!!

Here is a dish I made the other night. I was a recipe that called for turkey polska kielbasa - well I didn't have any, but I did have some ground turkey sausage, so I used that instead! I wasn't sure how this dish would be received, but I moved forward with it anyway!

Here are the other ingredients, all of which came from a local farm at the farmers market!

Corn, zucchini, and grape tomatoes...

Pretty, isn't it?!?!

The recipe didn't call for any other seasoning other than pepper, but I cannot cook a meal like that, so I added some Italian seasoning to the veggies! And this is how it turned out:

This was one dish that got "the look" but after tasting it - turns out, it was pretty good!

David then gave me permission to "try new things!" and so you can bet I will! YIPPEE!!!!

Tonight, I try my hand at grilling! I don't use the grill, that's usually David's territory, but I am gonna try it... with fish even! I'll try to take pictures and let you know how that turns out!

Just in case

2011-05-25T16:30:00.007-04:00

Just in case there were some of you that missed this in any of the number of places it ended up... like Facebook, blogs, Twitter, the news (locals and CNN) or maybe some other places, this was an idea born right here in my own living room. Well, mine and one other living room in the Greensboro area!

Check out the story behind the "That was awkward" billboard. You can get the whole story at David's Blog - just click here!

I am so impressed with my hubby! I was also proud to have one very small part. I took the picture that you see - the actual real picture of the billboard on the side of I-40!

It was fun!

I know I'm a bit behind with the whole story, that was like 3 days ago - but I'm just now getting to it (sorry!) and I didn't want to NOT post about it! So if you missed it - now you haven't!

The Giant Pacific Octopus

2011-05-23T15:41:00.005-04:00

Last week Luke got to present his very first report. He was totally excited about the whole project. He got to pick an animal - any animal - that he wanted to research and then make a visual to go along with it. He could do anything - again - that he wanted for the visual. Draw a picture, make a poster, use clay, whatever!

It took us about 2 seconds of talking before he said he wanted to do his project on the giant pacific octopus.

What?

I didn't even know that such a thing existed.

But Luke did, and this was his animal of choice. I tried to talk him into something "easier" - you know like a bunny (thinking we could use a picture of a bunny rabbit and glue cotton balls on it!), but nope... HAD to be the GPO (Giant Pacific Octopus)! As it turns out he saw something about this octopus on some PBS show - the Wild Kratts. So off we went on the thinking trail of the GPO! When it came time to talk about what he would do for the visual part, he decided he JUST HAD to use clay to make an octopus! Oh my goodness, this was getting harder by the second!!!

I pulled up a couple of web sites and Luke and I looked at pictures (if I was gonna make one, I had to know what I was dealing with!) and found the information we needed to do the report. He loved every minute of the research part and asked every day if we could make the model. We finally made the trek to Michale's to get the supplies.

Luckily for me Crayola makes this wonderful stuff that's kind of a mix between clay and play-dough. So we got a couple of bags of that stuff and we were ready to make the model.

Luke did very well with helping to make the actual octopus, and here is the final outcome.

I thought it was very cute (if I do say so myself). He also did a great job with the presentation. I was a proud Mommy!

Life is so - Daily

2011-05-22T07:54:00.004-04:00

Thank you Mary Engelbright for the title! And even though I didn't come up with that on my own, it's so very true and especially this past week - it's been TOTALLY true!

I'm not sure if it's the weather, or the end of the school year, or their age - or just what, but this past week the kids have been, shall we say, challenging?!?! My goodness! It was a LONG week full of the same challenges over and over again! The one up side seems to have been that they took turns! They each took a day, they alternated. I'm not sure if they worked that out ahead of time or just what, but all in all I was thankful we only had to deal with one kid per day!

What, might you ask was the problem? Well, lets see - it was everything from outright disobeying and bad attitudes, to not having self-control and touching others while at school. The lack of self control came with some serious consequences for my poor little guy. He had to go see the dean (she's a step between his teacher and the principal) - twice! And he had silent lunch once this week and will have it 2 days in a row next week. We of course are also handing out punishments at home. We are also offering lots of prayers.

He's not being mean - necessarily, just mostly playing at times he shouldn't be, and in general showing a lack of self control. Yes, I know he's only 6, but this is a problem and one that he seems to have at school as well as at home. So we're working hard to try to help him learn to control himself and deal with the things that upset him (like his sister irritating him) in a better way! Plus, I think he's just done going to school every day (I know I'm ready for a break!), and I keep reminding him he only has 2 weeks left and then we can spend a lot more time outside blowing off excess energy!

As for as my sweet baby girl - she's a strong willed, independent little thing! This week - her greatest offense - or work of art, if your not her parent, would be this...

Yes, that is what you think it is. Permanent marker on my dinning room wall! Grand, isn't it?!?! Well for this offense, she got sent to her room. Which turned into a HUGE ordeal, because she keep coming out of her room, and getting other things that were getting her into more and more trouble! It ended with lots of crying! Oh, yeah - Avery cried too!

Then yesterday my wonderfully insightful hubby (who notices I might need a few minutes to myself!) offered to stay with the kids if I wanted to go somewhere on my own! I immediately took him up on this offer, and headed out to get a pedicure. It was wonderful! Probably the best pedi I've ever had! The girl was wonderful and very sweet and it all felt great, but the best part was the reminder God sent me while I was there.

After the polish was all put on, I was sent to sit at the dryer. Across the table from me sat a mother and daughter - the mother being in her mid 80's and the daughter probably in her early to mid 60's. From the time I sat down the mother keep asking the daughter if she could put her socks and shoes back on. And the daughter EACH and EVERY time (and it was probably asked every 2 - 3 minutes) answered the mother in a sweet, calm voice "Sure you can Mom, if you want to, but your toe nail polish isn't dry yet, so you'll mess them up if you put your socks on now." Over and over again I watched this reversal in roles. Because anyone with small children or who remembers having small children knows that small children tend to ask the same question over and over and over again, until you just want to scream!

I was reminded again, of the blessing my children are, and how really short life is. I could have cried for this lovely mother and daughter. The daughter was so patient and sweet with her mom, and obviously doing what she could to take her mom out and do nice things for and with her, even though the mom didn't seem to really know or appreciate it! I feel (again, like EVERY OTHER MOTHER that has ever been!) overwhelmed with having to do the same things over and over again without much change in behavior and attitude. I thought of my mom and the fact that I'm SURE she went through some very unpleasant times with me when I was young (and even when I was old enough to know better!)and yet, her and my dad stuck with it, and here I am today going through the same things. And one day - my daughter may have to tell me over and over again that I just had my toes done and I'll need to wait to put my shoes back on.

It was just what I needed to put life back into perspective. I'm seriously praying this week will be better and that God will give me the wisdom I need to parent the two blessings He's given me in a way that helps them and honor's Him! And I'm also very happily going to do two more weeks of kindergarten and SO look forward to summer! And I'm not going to think one bit about my baby being a first grader!!!

They're growing

2011-05-17T11:27:00.006-04:00

Back at Easter, when we went down to visit my parents in GA, my mom was sweet and bought me some herbs - you know the kind you can grow, go outside and cut and then use them to cook with and such? Well, those are the kinds I got! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of all the plants when I first planted them, but I do have this one of the basil!

She actually got me 4 different plants, a basil, cilantro, parsley, and rosemary! This was really a huge step for me, because as a general rule, I cannot keep a living plan alive. They last about 3 weeks, then that's it, I've done it in. So agreeing to take the plants and care for them and hope they would grow was a big deal!

Well in order to help me along, David added a row - just for me - on the kids chore chart! Yes, each and every day I look at it, and think to myself "Have you taken care of your plants today?!?!" I think it's been very helpful - because as of today, this is how they look...

I've tried very hard to keep them alive this long. We've gotten a TON of rain the last several days, and I've been a bit worried that they might drown out there, but so far they seem fine!

I've used a good bit of the basil - and there's something so neat about walking outside, snipping it, adding it to the food, and then eating it! It's fun! I've enjoyed it! So hopefully I'll be able to continue to give my herbs the love and attention they need to keep growing! I guess we'll see!

Sunday Morning thoughts

2011-05-15T07:42:00.003-04:00

Some Sunday mornings I don't much like. There's lots of fussing and complaining about getting ready for church and you can bet that if nothing else is right, then when it comes time to get dressed, that's not going to go too well either!

But then there are other Sunday mornings - like this morning - that both kids slept until 7AM (Avery) and... wait for it... 7:45AM (Luke)!!! Amazing! I was begining to think we wouldn't make it to church at all, cause I sure wasn't going to wake Luke up! But he's up and now I have to go get ready!

David's already left for church as he has duties with the audio/video team this morning, so it's just the kids and I here to get ready for church. Sometimes that goes well, sometimes not so well! But today I'm confidant that things will go smoothly and we'll get to church with minimal stress (and minimal shedding of tears)!

I have other favorite things about Sundays! Of course, going to church! And I haven't been in the service in a couple of weeks - we were traveling on Easter Sunday, and then last Sunday David and I had a meeting with 2 of the church elders. They set up an "interview" for you with the elders before you can become a member. That was a cool thing, but our meeting time was during first service and I was in the nursery during second service! Today I'll get to go to most of the service, but I'm meeting with the lady in charge of one of the hospitality ministries at the church. I'm meeting with her at the very end of the service. So that'll be cool. I'll give more information as to what I'll be doing once I know exactly what it all entails!

Another favorite Sunday thing is my Sunday newspaper! Well, not the paper itself, but the coupons! I get them all out - along with some of the local fliers and then I head on over to the Grocery Game web site and look at all the deals and make my weekly grocery list and dinner menu! Oh, it's great fun - saving money and playing the coupon game! (I know, I'm weird, but that's OK with me!)

And my newest favorite thing about Sundays - now that it's getting nice outside we're doing more grilling out! I just LOVE it! And tonight we'll be grilling some dinner on the grill! I'm also hoping that the sun will stay out (we've had SEVERAL days of cloudy and rainy) and we'll be able to eat our dinner outside!

I love this time of year - and am so thankful for the things today - the Lord's Day - has to offer!

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T07:49:00.005-04:00

I am making a very serious attempt to get back to blogging more regularly. I've missed it!

How was Mother's Day? Mine was really, really wonderful! My family took amazing care of me, not just on Sunday, but all weekend!

The kids got to spend some good quality time with their grandparents Friday night and all day Saturday, so David and I got to spend some time together as well!

Friday night we went to the Greensboro Grasshoppers game. They are our local minor league ball team - lots of fun AND on Friday and Saturday nights they shoot fireworks after the game! I LOVE fireworks! Then on Saturday morning we had breakfast and drove down to IKEA in Charlotte and then visited Trader Joe's, then made a round at Concord Mills! On the way home we hit Costco and the grocery store! We decided we needed the kids to come home so we could rest! But it was a good time!

Then on Mother's Day we had lunch out and then made dinner for my Mother in law and Sister in law (but we let everyone else eat too)! Dinner was yummy and included a few new recipes like a sun-dried tomato dip appetizer and a chocolate cake for dessert, a chocolate cake that I made. You may ask what the big deal is? Well, the big deal is, that I don't think I've ever made a chocolate cake before. Nope, never - not even one from a box (which this one was). But I did on Sunday and it turned out yummy (if I do say so myself)!

It was a good time and I was showered with many lovely cards and gifts from chocolate covered strawberries and yummy peanut butter cups to a huge surprise gift - an iPhone!!! I'm still learning how to use it! It does all sorts of cool things and I'm really enjoying it!

*I tired to email myself a picture I took of the cake from my above said iPhone, but I must have done something wrong, cause I cannot seem to find it now!?!? Sorry! *

Thanks so much to my wonderful hubby who helped to make my day so special!

This was an especially special Mother's Day to me because as of late I've had some personal struggles with my role as stay at home mom verses working outside the home and that type of thing. So this Mother's Day was timely and very wonderful as I felt very special and very loved and very sure that staying at home with my kids - although sometimes very hard - is TOTALLY what I want to do and am beyond blessed to be able to do that!

I hope for all you other moms out there - whether you stay at home or work outside the home as well - that you felt loved and appreciated! Mothering is hard, HARD work, and I hope those you mother treated you with love!

MIA

2011-04-12T16:33:00.003-04:00

OK - I'm not MIA - I am however in the process of trying to move my blog from blogger over to Posterous. Really what this means is I'll need David's help to get stuff set up correctly over there and shut this site down.

I miss you all in the blogger world and will be returning very soon, I hope!

Under Construction

2011-03-17T16:46:00.002-04:00

I'm doing a bit of work on my blog!

Please excuse the "dust" for a bit!

Food & Excercise

2011-03-17T12:32:00.004-04:00

Anyone besides me SO READY for SPRING!?!?!

It's been an especially long winter around here, I'm sure it's been due to the amount of sickness the Winslow's had this year. It has been yucky. So I'm very, very ready for spring! (I'm not thinking about the allergies that will come with spring - I'll deal with that when it's time) Thankfully we've had several nice days over the last month or so!

It goes like this - one really super nice day - then 3 days of cold and rain. This type of weather is NOT good for me. I'm not one who does too well with lots of gray, cold weather. I do better with warmth and sunshine!

Long term (I know 3 days isn't all that long, but it does seem like it sometimes!) gray weather seems to affect me in may ways. My mood of course - as I said, I don't like the cold and at this point I'm done with it. My motivation also seems to be affected. I have little desire to do much of anything except curl up with a book and read and nap (and for some reason the floors don't get vacuumed, the bathrooms don't get cleaned and the laundry doesn't get done when I read!!)! Not good! It also has an impact on my physical well being.

Last year, when I decided to loss weight, I didn't think I was an emotional eater. Nor did I think I ate when I was boarded or stressed or whatever. Turns out that when I actually started writing down everything I ate, I am in fact an emotional eater. Some of that I've learned to recognize and therefore I've been able to stop eating for no real reason. I've also learned to ask myself - are you hunger or not? Other times it doesn't seem to matter. But with the cold weather we had the beginning of this week (and over the winter), eating right was harder than normal.

I've also come to the realization (which I'm sure I realized before too, but am re-realizing it!) that the amount of exercise I do impacts how much and what types of food I eat. For me, the more exercise I do, the more cautious I am about what I eat. If I have to work hard to get rid of it, I think a lot more about putting it in!!

That being said, I haven't been getting the same types of work outs I was before. We changed gyms back in the fall. It was impossible for me to get to my old gym in Kernersville once Luke started school every day in Greensboro. The Y is right around the corner from the school, so it was a good move to that gym. The problem is they seem to do their group exercise scheduling way different from the old gym, and I got a lot of benefit out of those classes. The schedule changes almost weekly (except for the yoga classes) and so for me, being a person who likes habit, have had a hard time getting into a routine.

This month my goal has been to drop off some of the pounds (about 10) that I let slip back on after school started. So I've been trying very hard to watch what I eat - again, very closely, and write it all down. As well as walk each and every day on the treadmill at the Y. OK, so I don't get there every single day, but I'm trying to get there on a more regular basis. I know that the more physical exercise I get the more mental self control I'll have!

The eating and being healthy thing is so easy for some. And then there's me (and I know I'm not alone), it's just not easy. It's a daily decision - ok sometimes minute by minute - I have to make, and sometimes I make the wrong choices, and sometimes I just don't care that I am making the wrong choices. But then there are other days when I do make the right choices, and my goal is to make those days happen more often than the bad choices days!

Plus with the on-set of spring brings thoughts of swimming pools, jet ski's, boats and sunny days on the lake - all of which means shrugging off the winter, body covering cloths -and getting out my fun summer dresses, shorts, tanks and bathing suits. That's good motivation to eat better and exercise more, isn't it?

Random and food

2011-03-15T07:12:00.004-04:00

I seem to be having trouble keeping up with my blogging! I'm not really sure why, other than general life business - which it is - busy!

I have tried several times to get a post done. Even started several and just ended up deleting them. Seem the stream of though wasn't coming together too well and so the post weren't worth publishing. This must be what it's like to have writers block!

However, I wanted to assure you that I will - eventually - have a post worth posting! Please check back soon!

And just so I don't leave you with nothing, here's this weeks menu at the Winslow house!

Monday night: turkey breast tenderloins with steamed broccoli and baked potatoes

Tuesday: chicken, spinach and garlic pasta bake with salad

Wednesday: Lemon pepper salmon with couscous and veggies.

Thursday: Tuscan chicken with spinach Parmesan fettucine and roasted carrots.

Friday: we go to my in laws for the spring birthday's celebration!

Saturday: Pancakes, eggs, bacon fruit salad

Sunday: home made pizza

Have a great week!

I'm back...

2011-03-02T16:36:00.003-05:00

I feel like I'm a member of society again! Why have I been MIA you might ask?

It's because it's one of my favorite times of the year!!!

Consignment Sale time! Yippeeeeee!

And this year, like the last several years, I'm am not just a shopper, I'm a consignor! And let me just tell you - I had a TON (404 items) of stuff this year! It took me forever to get it all tagged and hung and bagged and all that stuff!! My dinning room looked like a kids clothing store exploded!

But as of this morning everything that was to be sold got dropped off at St. Paul's and my dinning room is (mostly) free of consignment stuff again!

Now, I feel like I can be a real person again! I can get back to my daily life, you know, cleaning, laundry, dishes giving my kids a bath (well, I haven't stopped that one!) and all that stuff again, instead of just hangin', baggin' and taggin' all the time!

If you are interested in childrens consignment sales, you should check out this site. You can find sales in your area as well as get tips on shopping and selling at consignment sales! It's a great resource!

It's nice to see you all again. Please join me again soon, as I hope to be posting on a more regular basis again!

Happy shopping!

Food

2011-02-21T16:33:00.004-05:00

Ahh - one of my favorite subjects! Food!! I love food, and like most people, I love to eat!

It's been a while since I posted a food related post, and since I've already got dinner on the stove simmering away I thought now might be a good time!

Due to the recent shift in paying closer attention to where and how I spend our grocery money, I've had a bit more trouble coming up with what I thought were really great dinner ideas. Not that was actually the reality, it was more in my own brain. I was so worried about the food I was buying that I couldn't get past the whole "get what's on sale and that's all you can eat" thing that we had a pretty uneventful menu the last couple of weeks!

But NO MORE! This week, after seeing that I can save a good bit of money by using coupons and paying attention to what's on special at different grocery stores , I was able to see that we can still eat healthy and save money.

There is one fact that I did find to remain true. Boxed, pre-made, processed food is cheaper to buy than fresh veggies and meats and cheeses. But alas, this week at my favorite store - Harris Teeter - it was super double coupon week AND they had a good many of their fresh veggies on sale! I was a happy camper! I even made my poor Hubby eat grilled chicken salads for dinner one night toward the end of last week! He's not big on salads, but he was a good sport and ate it all and never complained once, but I did promise I wouldn't ask him to have salad again for a good while!

OK, so on the menu this week (all except for the meatballs are Weight Watcher's recipes):

Tonight: Southwestern Chicken Soup. (my "other" family is also eating tonight). This is a delicious soup with just the right amount of heat (turns out it's 74 here today. Not a great day for hot soup, but it'll still be good!) I'll also be making a small spinach salad to eat along with it (I won't make David eat any of it!)

Tuesday: Mediteranian Red Snapper (or halibut or grouper or mahi mahi - depending on what I can find). This we'll be having with brown rice and fresh steamed broccoli.

Wednesday: Mexican Skillet Supper (this is a one dish meal - love that - so all veggies, proteins and carbs will all cook in the same pan. DONE!)

Thursday: Lemon-Rosemary Chicken served with Fresh Spinach Rice. This is one of my favorites! It's easy and delicious and pretty simple to make!

Friday: Meatball Sandwiches with fruit salad. A family staple. I do not (as of now) make the meatballs, but one day I would like to make a huge batch and freeze them. I realize this is not a hard thing to do, it's just something I haven't done yet.

Saturday: DATE NIGHT!!!!!

Sunday: Homemade pizza. This has also become a staple here on a Sunday night. The kids aren't big on pizza, so usually they have sandwiches or cereal or whatever, and David and I enjoy a homemade pizza. I'm still working on trying to get the crust right. It's not coming out soft and squishy enough... but I'm working on it!

So there you have it. All the yummy-ness that we'll be eating this week! If you see one of the above that you feel like you HAVE to have - one, you can let me know and I'll send you the recipe - or two, if your close enough to me you can "order" it and I'll happily make enough to feed you and your family as well! Just let me know.

Sunday Sunrise

2011-02-20T07:04:00.003-05:00

This is the sunrise from my front porch at 7 this morning.

Beautiful!

Psalm 65:8

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.

Whatever It Is Lyrics By Zac Brown Band

2011-02-19T08:27:00.000-05:00

Here's one more country song/video for ya.

Yes, I've turned into a true Southerner... I love country music! I promise I won't keep torturing you with more. This song is by the Zac Brown Band (they are my favorite!!!!!)I for one think ALL women want their man to feel this way about them!

Great Music

2011-02-18T16:47:00.001-05:00

Heard this song on the radio today. I forgot how much I liked it until I heard it again. Gotta love some Rascal Flatts!!!! Enjoy!

Valentines Day Together

2011-02-17T16:04:00.005-05:00

Each year - we talk about what we're going to do for Valentine's Day. We do this because way back in our second year of marriage we went to Maui over Valentine's Day and we said since we were taking this wonderful trip there was no need for gifts. Well, I didn't know that no gifts also meant no cards. So I got a card to give to my Love, but he didn't have one to give. Which was no big deal to me, but really upset him. So each year we lay out the "ground" rules.

Dinner, cards, but no gifts.

A trip, cards, but no gifts.

Cards, and gifts.

Whatever it may be.

So this year we said dinner and cards. No gifts. So we had the privilege of going to dinner at Ruth's Chris. If you've never been to a Ruth's Chris, let me just tell you - your missing out. It is THE BEST steak I've EVER eaten. There is none better. They have a wide variety of other lovely things on the menu, besides filet, but I wouldn't know if they were any good or not, cause I ALWAYS get a steak when we go there! I'm sure they are, but I've never had anything other than steak.

So we got to go for a wonderful, romantic dinner (here's the best part) all using a gift card! Some friends gave it to us as a thank you for keeping their son back in January! So it was the perfect time to use it. Cause going to Ruth's Chris is only for special occasions. Birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines Day - that kinda thing. It was really a special evening!

It was more special because we went on Sunday evening and David had been gone all weekend for business. So he arrived home, unpacked, changed his cloths and off we went! It was a really wonderful way to spend the evening.

We decided to wait until the actual day to exchange cards and do that as a family! So before dinner we all presented our cards to each other. It was so fun! Each year when David gets the kids card for me, he traces their hands in it. I love that!! He said this year, that next year he'll have to get 2 different cards as both their hands probably won't fit on one card next year! That's a very special thing he does for me, and I just love it!

Also this year, for the very first time in all the years we've been together, David (actually he got them for Luke to give me, cause Luke went to David before he left for the weekend concerned that he had nothing to give me (TOO SWEET!).) got me chocolates!

Surprised? I mean that's a pretty commen gift to give at Valentines, right? Yes, normally it is!
But if you know me well, you know that chocolate really isn't my favorite, but what I do LOVE is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. And that's what he got me! A heart shaped box of the mini ones, and my goodness are they good! Not too good for the waist, but yummy for sure! Since he'd never given me chocolate before, I asked about it. I said, "you know in all the years we've been together, you've never gotten me chocolate before!" to which he replied... "I never found the good ones to give you before!" I chuckled and I loved the candy even more!

This was a really great Valentine's Day (or 2 days really) for me this year. It was simple, and special and it had all the things I really love. A nice quiet dinner with my man, with coffee and dessert after, sweet cards from my kids, complete with traced hands, a card of love from the Love of my life, and time together!

We ended the day with our second annual Valentines Dinner. Pink pancakes and fruit salad. I even let the kids have some Sprite colored with red food coloring. It was fun! They love pancakes and it's fun to do something different!

I hope that on Valentine's Day you felt loved. For me this year, it wasn't about getting a piece of jewelry or going on a trip, it was about simply being with the ones I love the most. And all day on Monday - and actaully each morning since then I've read and repeated the verse below. Let it warm your heart.

Psalm 143:8

⁸ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.

Special Day

2011-02-14T15:13:00.004-05:00

On this very wonderful day we set aside as a reminder to tell those in our lives we love them, let me just say how many of you - my friends and family - that I love so much!

Thank you each for the very special part you play in my life. The older I get the more I realize that those who touch my life in so many different ways and area's, make it is richer, fuller and more special than it was without you! So thank you, and please know I love you!

Take the time today to tell those you love that you love them. We shouldn't do this just one day a year, but sometimes we get bogged down in daily life and don't say or express our love to those we love the most. So take time today to send a note, hug, kiss, card or whatever to someone you love!

I was reminded this year of how different and really how much more special Valentine's Day is to me now than it was when I was younger. One of my former students (who is now a Sophomore in high school) made a comment on her facebook something to the effect of "Valentine's Day should be renamed the reminder that your single day." I remember feeling like that when I was in high school, and at times, even in college, but here's how I see it now - I have a whole sphere of people in my life - from my amazing husband to my wonderful children to a great family and really good friends. I have a while lot to be thankful for and I have a whole lot of reasons to feel loved. And that makes not just Valentine's Day, but every day more special and gives me more reason's to be thankful!

The biggest reason to feel loved and one that anyone can have, is the love of Jesus! He loved so much that He came to earth and died a horrible death on the cross for me. Just for me. But just for you too! Isn't that cool?

John 3:16 - 17
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

So today I thank my Savior for all the many blessings He's given me on this earth (of which I could not be MORE GRATEFUL) - but also for His great unfailing love in dying for me on the cross and offering me eternal life with Him in Paradise.

Now, that's a lot of love!

The Day of Love

2011-02-12T16:36:00.002-05:00

I love love!

I'm a romantic at heart. I love for there to be lots of love in the world. I love for people to go on dates, and spend time together and call each other during the day and give cards to each other. I also love the "big" romantic things like surprise trips, and flowers, and gifts and unexpected gestures! I love all that stuff!

Is that what Valentines Day is all about? Heart, chocolates, flowers and warm fuzzes? I mean, sure it's really nice to feel loved and appreciated, and it's so much fun to make others feel loved, but is dinner what it's all about? A date night? A card? I think those things help to keep love alive. They make it fun and exciting! And they are visible acts of love, which are very important! And let's face it, who doesn't love a fun, romantic, yummy dinner and some pink roses to go with it?!?!

But lets just say your looking for a reminder of your Heavenly Fathers love - here are a few verses that will help you remember His love for you.

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” - 1 Corinthians 13: 6-7

Hosea 14:4
“I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.

Lamentations 3:22-24
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

Psalm 119:76
May your unfailing love be my comfort,
according to your promise to your servant.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 15:9
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

It's new Coupon Day!

2011-01-30T08:29:00.007-05:00

As you know, I'm working on getting into the coupon-ing thing, and today is Sunday and so today's paper will have new coupons for this week!

I'm still pretty new at this, and I'm using this great web site - the Grocery Game. com to help me out. It's neat. You put in your area code and then choose the stores that you shop in, and it puts together a list of the deals for that week.

I have also discovered that each week I get an email from Harris Teeter - which I gave them when I signed up for my VIC card. For a while I never even looked at those emails - but as it turns out they are emailing me an electronic version of their weekly sales flier! How neat is that? And guess what, I also get certain special deals each week that they call e-VIC deals. These I can use without an actual coupon. It's just "on my VIC card" and if I purchase whatever the special is, I get the discount when they swipe my VIC card. Pretty neat hu? I think so.

So what I've been doing, since I only half way payed attention in the past, is making a list of items that one store has "on sale" and what the price is. That way I have some something to compare it to when I see it at another store for a different price. Again, since I've never really payed attention before, I don't know what I could get - say - ground beef for? Sad, I know. I'm sorry, but I'm doing better now.

I'm also keeping a list of the frozen foods I've gotten. I bought several different meat specials last week and they got put in the freezer, so I made a list of the meats and veggies I've got in there!

I'm making a lot of lists.

I'm of course keeping up with the things my family needs on a weekly basis, and I'm trying to look for the best place and the best price to get all that stuff too! It's fun, exciting, challenging, and a bit daunting at the same time.

Hopefully, with all this time I'm spending I'll save a good bit of money for my family! Also, I'm hoping the more I do it, the less time it'll take. Although I do really enjoy it!

Happy coupon-ing!

A Bright Morning

2011-01-29T07:27:00.004-05:00

Have you ever awakened early on a Saturday morning (so everyone with kids is like, duh, yes! And those of you without kids are thinking, people get up early on Saturday morning?) with high hopes? Not for any particular reason, just that's how you woke up that morning?

Well, I didn't especially wake up feeling that way (since honestly it's hard to feel like that at 4:30AM when I'm up with my little one), but when I opened the back door to let Jane out the sun was just starting to cast it's first light on the trees out back.

It did something good to my soul. It was like the first faint smile from someone you love. I felt like God was saying, "Good Morning my child! I hope you have a good day!"

I was thankful for that this morning!

I don't like winter. I've never been shy about saying that I don't like winter. So the bright beautiful sunshine was a warming gesture for me.

In those few moments before I closed the door on the cold, I was filled with the hope of a new, bright day!

I know this is a beach picture, but I didn't have any from my back yard!

This has been an interesting week for us (and every other person in the world, right?! There's been a few low moments this week - one week ago this morning there was puking at our house, which was followed by several days with a fever and missed school (thankfully all are well now, and Luke was the only one who seemed to suffer!), as well as some other "daily" life things - but there have been some very high points as well! It looks like we'll be able to make some really wonderful adjustments in our monthly budget by refinancing, that was an answer to prayer!

So as we start our first "do no work day" (that's what Luke calls the weekend!), I'm so thankful for all the blessings I have been given. I'm looking forward to spending the day with my wonderful husband and kids (even if they don't sleep past 4:30AM!) and the time I'll have with family at a baby shower today.

It's gonna be a good day! And there might even be some naps thrown in there today!

Learnin'

2011-01-28T14:45:00.003-05:00

* It's a long post!!! Consider yourself warned.

I am sure I have blogged about this topic before (and if I labeled my blogs like it allows you to do, I could probably find it, but since I don't label them, I'm kinda outta luck looking for it!) but I am learning a few new things. Some about myself, some about those around me and most importantly about God and His Word.

See some days I wake up and I feel overwhelmed. Like I'm SO FAR from where God wants me to be that how am I ever gonna get to that place? How do I, all at one time, change all these different things about me? I know we're nearing the end of January and so most people are done thinking about their new years resolutions, but I've been pondering these few things for several weeks now, and I think the Holy Spirit has finally gotten to some parts of my heart!

See, when I look at all the things I should be doing. Praying for my kids - each one of them - every day - for ALL the things in their lives, praying for my husband and ALL the things in his life, and the business and our relationship and our finances and all our other decisions, and praying for my friends and their burdens, and praying for our country, and for our church and for family members and on and on....

That seems like a lot, doesn't it?

And I haven't even mentioned the personal changes God wants me to make.

There's a whole list of those too!!!

HOLY COW!

I cannot do this! There's no possible way I can do and be and act and become all that God wants me to be! It just cannot be done. It's too much. I'm already getting up at 5:30AM (when one or both of my children don't have be up before then!) and then I try on most afternoons to spend some time doing my homework for the Bible study I'm doing. How much more time can I set aside?

How much time am I watching TV? Or goofing off here on the computer? Or whatever? More than I should be is the answer to that.

But here are 2 of the big things I've learned since the beginning of the new year...

1) It's wise to ask God to help you work on just one thing at a time. I actually read this on Beth Moore's Living Proof Ministries blog. She suggested in a post back at the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011, that when we look at our lives and hearts that we ask God to help us deal with one issue at a time. And then not worry about how long it seems to take in dealing with said "issue". That was great advice, and I've worked very hard to take that to heart.

I chose one thing that I felt like I really needed to change in my daily life - and that was how I spoke to my children.

If your a long time reader, you know that I've mentioned before that my mouth got me into trouble often when I was growing up. It still does. Sometimes my mouth opens and words come out before I even know it. Stupid. People get hurt or I regret what I've said or whatever when that happens. Honestly I've come a ways with that, but not far enough.

I realized that often my kids talked in tones to each other that I just didn't like. Then one day - guess where I heard that same tone of voice? Yep, coming from my own mouth! No wonder they talk to each other like that. I wanted to make that a priority to change. So God has been working on my each day to help me remember that you get more with honey! Some days are harder than others. But God's been faithful in helping me remember and really control myself when I get upset with and need to deal with the kids.

Please don't misunderstand me, this isn't something I think I've gotten down pat. I'm just working on it, and I'm trying really hard, and God's been great to stay with me each step of the way, and I know He won't leave me alone to finish the rest!!!!

OK point #2...

2) When you ask for something from God like help, wisdom, guidance, anything really - we're expected to believe that what we asked for will happen. I discovered these verses in James the other morning. I've read them before, as I'm sure many of us have. But read past the first 2 verses and see what it has to say about asking for things from the Lord.

James 1:2 - 8
² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Do you see that is says right there that when you ask you must believe and not doubt? How many times have I asked God for something and then thought - "Oh, well, I don't think He'll do what I wanted him to do, but I asked anyway." ? More than I care to admit. It's embarrassing really after reading these few verses in James. Of course, not ever time I pray do I think that, but honestly there have been times...

I'm working on that part of my faith as well. When I ask, believe! And do you know what? In just 3 days since reading that, I've gotten several very clear answers to prayer. God is just so cool and loving like that. He said "See, I'm here, I'm listening, and here's your answer!" He knew I needed a bit of reminding.

So I've been working to merge these 2 things together. My overwhelmed feelings and the truth of the Word that says simply - Ask, believe, receive. So no more stressing over "all the stuff I have to do or change or make better," just done day, one thing, one prayer at a time!

The Bible also says:

Philippians 4:19 (NLT)
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

There's no need to worry. God's got glorious riches and He wants to share them with me! Awesome, isn't it?

Love notes

2011-01-27T14:34:00.004-05:00

I found this wonderful note on the door this morning when I came out to make Luke's lunch.

I could start each morning like this!

Thank you David! I love you too!!!

Princess

2011-01-27T07:32:00.004-05:00

I love books. Lots of books. But honestly, I mostly love kids books! Don't tell anyone, OK? I know I'm kinda old for kids books, but what can I say? I love them!

Avery has a book written by one of my favorite adult book authors - Shelia Walsh. She has a series of books out for little girls. Actually she has some for boys now too, but I believe it all started as books for girls. It's a great series. Avery and Luke both have books as well as devotionals that she has written.

Gigi is the little girl in the girl books, but it could be your name!

Avery has 2 of the books in the collection, but my favorite, and the one this post is about is called "There's a Princess In Me." It's a really cute book with a funny story, but the truths in this book apply to all ages from 3 year old girls to their 35 year old moms.

We read this book most every night, and for that I'm thankful. It turns out that I daily need the reminder that God loves me and see through the "yucky-ness" of me each day! It does me good to end the day with a reminder of God's love.

Here's just a glimpse into the book - actually it's some of the stuff from the back cover of the book:

"It doesn't matter how she looks, feels, or acts, Gigi knows there is more to being royal than just what the mirror shows. For God looks inside, and the girl He sees is precious... a royal princess of the heavenly King."

What does that mean to you?

Doesn't that just cut some of the yuck aside and hit the nail on the head?

It does for me. It reminds me that it just doesn't matter how I feel about myself or what I did (like yell at my kids when I shouldn't have or honked my horn at some poor driver on the road on the way to school) or didn't (like give more words of praise to the kids, or lend an extra helping hand to someone at the store) do, that God sees all that - knows it all - and STILL loves me. Thinks I'm a princess even! Wow!

This simple - yet important truth for my little girl to learn now and carry through her life - is just as important for me and every other woman to know also!

"God has chosen you and made you his holy people. He loves you. So always do these things: Show mercy to others; be kind, humble, gentle and patient." Colossians 3:12

I love that, don't you? God has chosen me, AND He loves me! Don't you just need that kinda word hug some days?

So if you are in need today of a little pick me up, write down Colossians 3:12 on a card or paper or sticky note or whatever then keep it somewhere where you can see it through the day. Then bask in the love your Heavenly Father has for you.

I'm gonna end this post with the dedication at the beginning of the book:

"This book is dedicated to every girl, big or little, who sometimes forgets that she is always a Princess in God's eyes!"

Try to remember today how much God loves you!

* "There's A Princess In Me" was published by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Aprons

2011-01-25T15:25:00.008-05:00

I've sat down like 4 different times today to blog. I've got a couple of things I want to blog about, and cannot seem to get my brain in the right order to get the thoughts all together and get a blog out. So maybe I'm just gonna go with the easy post.

My cousin, Jessi over at Crocuses in March posted a few days ago about an apron she got from her Mom for Christmas and where she's hung it in her house and the good memories that apron's bring her. I have many of the same or at least similar memories as she does - of my Mom and Aunts all wearing their aprons and making fantastic food and then spending the day - or multiple days together to celebrate holidays. Since we grew up together we would have been at the same dinner perp sessions (at least on the Dalling side!) and I have really wonderful memories from those times.

I say all that to say, I too got an apron for Christmas from my Mom. It's very cute, and I just love it.

Although, unlike Jessi I don't have anywhere cute or warm to hang it so it can be seen my all. But it does hang right in my laundry room (with my 3 other aprons) where I have fast access to it when I need it!

Do you have anything like an apron that brings back special memories?

It's never too early

2011-01-23T08:17:00.004-05:00

Yes, today is January 23rd, but I'm already thinking ahead to March 2!

Why you ask?

Well because March 2, 2011 will be my wonderful hubbies 33rd birthday!

I love birthdays! I love celebrations! I love a party of any kind really! Or really just any reason to get people together and hang out and have fun!

So I've been thinking a lot about what to do for David this year for his birthday! David usually reads my blog, so I'm not gonna go into too much detail about my thoughts on the matter, cause the only think I love more than birthdays and friends and family gathering is a SURPRISE!!!!

What I will say is - I'm looking into some different things. I'm trying to find something that we haven't done before - or haven't done very often. I like to be creative. On the flip side of that, being creative (now, I'm not talking about being creative in the crafty scene of the word, but rather trying to think up something fun) sometimes has its challenges!

In our house David is the primary money guy. He makes sure all the bills are paid and he does all the balancing of the accounts and all that type of stuff. Why does that matter? Do you have any idea how hard it is to pay for something without him knowing about it ahead of time? It's hard!

For Christmas my parents were good enough to purchase David's gift on their credit card, since I ordered him a Panthers jersey (I know, I know - terrible year to do that, but they'll come back!!!!) on-line. I had the actual cash to pay for it, but you cannot send actual cash to NFL.com. So they used their card and I gave my parents the cash. Secret keep!

There have been other birthdays - like the year David went to Las Vegas with his brother and cousin and I sent him on a helicopter ride (it was a surprise!) and my wonderful brother in law was wonderful enough to pay for the rides and I paid him in cash. It's nice to have family, but boy it makes it hard to serve up a surprise!

So this year, I'm thinking and looking for something new, fun and different! I'll let you know what I come up with. Probably after the fact, if I can manage to keep it a surprise!

Sleep?

2011-01-22T07:25:00.004-05:00

When my children were small - infants - they didn't sleep much. OK, wait, that's not true. When Luke was a newborn, into infancy onto the toddler ages actually until he was 4 years old - he didn't sleep much. He was awake most every night. Anyway, he finally sleeps now. Avery did better as a baby, she slept more regularly and in general sleeps better now.

But what I'm coming to realize is that there'll always be something. Something that might keep me up at night (besides getting older and having to go pee several times a night!).

And by something I mean of course my kids and their somethings...

For example:

A 3 year old who's fully potty trained, but doesn't quite get that if you have to wake up to go to the bathroom in the night, it's not morning time! It's still the middle of the night and what you need to do is go pee, and go back to bed. Instead, what said 3 year old does is: gets up, comes to my room, asks to get in bed with me, whines when I take her to the bathroom, and the whines when I put her back in bed. Then comes the hour long (or more) being awake time. This time includes repeated visits to my bedside, strange itchy places, or mysterious hurts that didn't exist until now all seem to show their ugly heads during this time.

Eventually Mr. Sandman pays the 3 year old a visit and off to sleep mommy goes too!

The 6 year old who goes to school each and every day and is exposed to all sorts of yucky germs who has decided that sleeping in regular PJ's (you know the cute matching ones they make for kids) is no longer for him, and he only wears pants or sometimes shorts to bed (when did he grow up?), which just might make it harder for his body to stay warm which then all leads to waking up to shrill yelling at 5:30AM.

That yell (and my sometimes dangerous trip up the steps to his bedroom) is then followed by a series of questions, What's wrong? You're warm! Are you gonna throw up? (which the answer to that is ALWAYS no) What else hurts? Then more crying and then guess what?!?!?

Yup, you guessed it.

Puking. (Even though 30 seconds ago I asked if you thought you might?!?!)

Then the stripping of the sheets, the re-making up of the bed, the dolling out of meds to help with the hurts, getting the sheets into the washer. And oh then the second puke while I'm still putting the sheets in the washing machine from the first puke! Repeat above process!

Oh, did I mention that the hollering, whaling 6 year old's cries woke the 3 year old? You do remember it's 5:30AM?!?!

Good morning Saturday! *smile*

How I hate for my kiddo's to be sick! It's sad for them, and when one someone is sick it's hard cause there's only so much I can do for them!!

I guess the saying "you can sleep when your dead" is no more true than when you have children.

On the up side, as of right now (7:55AM) Luke seems to be feeling better and hasn't thrown up in about an hour!

God is good and always gives us just what we need (He and I just seem to have different views on how much sleep I would like to get! :-))!!!

Pampered Chef

2011-01-21T12:42:00.003-05:00

As some of you know, I hosted a Pampered Chef show here at my house on Tuesday evening. Oh what fun it was! Why do I so love Pampered Chef? I honestly don't know! But I do, and I've gotten myself quite a collection of PC items! Not as many as my Mom, but still, I'm doing pretty good I think! And the best part is, I'll get to get more once all the orders from my show are in!!

That's the best part about hosting a show. You get products at a reduced - greatly reduced price!

If you've never been to or hosted a PC show, I would encourage you to do both. Yeah, it's like any of those other things where you have a "party" and have to invite people on a week night when people are with their famlies and then some of those people think your nuts for inviting them, or they get mad cause you didn't invite them or you get this type of response "they have so much to do, how could they possibly have time for your thing too!?!?" And that's all OK cause it doesn't matter how many come, it's just fun with whoever comes! And in my experience, people who come to the parties have a good time and go to more of them!

Now, I have to say that I'm a bit partial to my PC consultant. She's a friend. We went to church together for many years and she's a great lady. She loves the Lord and her family and is a really excellent consultant! She's been in the business something like 14 1/2 years and if you could meet her (or have met her) you too would love her! The other cool thing about Deb (that's her name!) is that her 14 (or is she 15 now?!?!) year old daughter comes with her to each and every show and helps with the prep and clean up and such. She earns some money and then puts that money aside for something she is saving for (which I believe is a horse!). So it's really neat to see mother and daughter working together and selling such a useful product! And it's neat that Allie is learning at a young age she can earn money for the things she wants by working! And she's a great cook!

Now that I've given a great plug to PC and Deb - oh by the way - if you'd like to place an order before Monday - click here - and that'll take you to Deb's site and the purchase will count towards my show (be sure to enter my name as the hostess).

OK - NOW I'm done the plug!

So why a whole post on PC? I'm not in the business (although it's one of the ideas I've considered when it comes time to go back to work) so it doesn't really do my any good... but really I'm posting about it beacuse I really do love the products. I am slowly stocking my kitchen with products that make cooking easier. Since I do a good deal of cooking I use the stuff in my kitchen all the time!!! And I use mostly PC things!

My biggest problem - space. Each time I get something new I basiclly have to get rid of something old. I just don't have the space to add new without making room for it! This I've come to discover isn't such a bad thing.

The need to move out the old before bringing in the new has done a couple of things for me:

1) it keeps me from just running out and buying new stuff. This is true for all spaces in my house, not just my kitchen.

2) it keeps me from having too much stuff. I am a firm believer that you fill the space in whatever house you live in. When we moved to Colfax from Kernersville - basically we got a smaller house. So we got rid of a TON of stuff when we moved here 3 and a half years ago. And if your a regular reader you know we did a big clean out before Christmas as well. Stuff just gets all piled up and we don't need it or even use it - so out it goes.

3) it allows me to be really thankful for the things I do have. I love them, use them and in this case am happy to be out with the old so I can be in with the new PC stuff!!

OK, so maybe this wasn't the most relevant post, but I hope you enjoyed it. And for the sake of making it fun (and wouldn't Deb be proud) if you use PC products in your kitchen, what is your favorite? Leave a comment and we'll all share in your joy!

My favorite PC product would be (and this is a hard choice to make, I might do better to divide it up into categories such as small items, cookware, bake ware, things for entertaining etc.) the deep covered baker. It's a really great item - and since I'm limiting myself to one, that's the one! (I tried to post a picture of it, and couldn't for some reason. Sorry! Just take a look at it on Deb's web site!)

Couponing

2011-01-20T15:17:00.004-05:00

OK, so I seem to have gotten taken up in this whole new year, new budget, save money, spend less, get more food for less money thing. Well, I've gotten caught up in the idea anyway.

It's just overwhelming. I cannot seem to get my mind in line with the coupons and how to make all that work together with the foods that we eat here.

For maybe 6 months or so last year - or maybe the year before - we got the Sunday paper so I could get the coupons. I did use some of them, but overall I either needed things that there was no coupon for, or if I did get the items, I was prone to forget to actually give the coupons to the check out person! DUH! So after our Sunday subscription was up, we just didn't renew it.

Well now there's all kinds of stuff you can do on-line with coupons. There's a site I've spent a little bit of time on, it's called Southern Savers and it looks pretty helpful from what I've been able to decipher so far. The site provides listings of local grocery store deals as well as coupons. I need to spend a good bit more time on the site and see what else I can learn. Again, it's a little overwhelming I guess because it's something I'm new at and just don't know that much about!

I have discovered that I need to download some thing onto my computer called the coupon printer. All the coupon sites I've looked at require it in order to print the coupons you want. So at some point (after I clear it with my computer guy :-)) I'll have to download that so I can actually use the coupons.

I think the thing that really sent me down this road was watching 30 minutes (yup, just one half hour) of that Extreme Couponing show on TLC. I've never seen anything like it!!! These people have ALL these coupons, they gather them, they do all this math stuff about getting the right deal, they go to the grocery store on double and triple coupon day and they have $600+ grocery bills that after their coupons they pay like $2 for. It's totally amazing.

Again, my problem seems to be that there's lots of coupons for things like cereal and hand soup - which are great - but overall my kids don't eat that much cereal and I only have so much space to store extra bottles of hand soap. This still doesn't help me with things like fresh fruits and veggies, which we eat a TON of here.

I say all that to say, I'm caught in the "couponing craze" that seems to be all around me. Maybe it's always been around me, and I never noticed before, but I'm noticing now - and I really would like to save some money on our grocery budget each month!!! So I will pursue trying to figure out how to use coupons to do that and which stores to shop at to get the best deals on meats and other items we eat a lot of! It sure would be nice if I could have someone who knows how would just come to my house - with the coupons I need and go grocery shopping with me!

Now, wouldn't that be nice?

Pizza Party

2011-01-19T14:45:00.012-05:00

This year for Luke's birthday he got to choose what he wanted to do. His choices were to have a big, invite all his friends, party at a place like Jump N Fun OR have a "smaller" family party and get a bigger present from Mommy and Daddy.

Let me just say here, that he's totally into Lego's right now and if you haven't bought Lego's in a while - they cost a small fortune!

So he chose a family party! So family party it was! The neat thing is that he has a cousin (she's David's cousins wife) who's birthday is 3 days before Luke's. To make it a true family party we asked Heather if we could celebrate her birthday along with Luke's! She was nice enough to agree, so we planned a fun filled family time!

This was a pizza party! Every kid loves to have a pizza party, right? Well since there were only 3 children in attendance, I thought we'd try things a little differently this time. This wasn't your average Domino's delivery pizza party - NOPE - this was a make your own pizza party! And boy was it fun!

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but I did get a few.

I also want to say that I made the dough for the pizza crusts from scratch. Yes, me - the non-baker person, who runs from anything that looks like baking - made pizza dough! It turned out pretty good too (if I do say so myself)!

The recipe was pretty simple, I got it from Giada and the dough turned out pretty nice. Here's a few pictures of the process - and of course my little helper (she calls herself a "cooker")

Then I put out a full array of toppings. From grilled chicken to spinach we had a wide variety! So each person got to roll out their dough, choose their toppings, top their pizza and bake away in the oven!

It was a blast!

The cake came from a Greensboro bakery called Delicious and it lived up to it's name! They make a large assortment of different cakes with different flavored icings and fillings and all this type of thing, but when I asked Luke what he wanted - white cake with chocolate icing. Simple enough! It was really yummy! And it looked pretty too!

Overall it was a successful, fun night! Food was good, cake was good, presents were good and the time celebrating and being with family was priceless!

Yet to come

2011-01-18T08:09:00.007-05:00

It's been a while since my last post. This is not due to lack of things to blog about, but rather and over abundance of things to talk about, but I didn't want to boar you all with every little thought I had, so I refrained!

But here is just a brief thought I have to share with you, or I'll try to keep it brief anyway.

I've been doing a lot of thinking - again - about what I want to do when I grow up. The nice thing is I'm not in desperate need of a job RIGHT THIS MINUTE - or even for a year or so, but I think it's good to spend some time thinking and praying about it now. Because when the time comes and both kids are in "big kid school," I'll want to do something, I just don't know exactly what yet.

I do know what I don't want to do. I don't want to go back to teaching. I don't really want to work a regular 9 - 5 job either. I would like to do something that continues to allow me to have some flexibility and yet lets me make some "extra" money. I don't want too much do I?!?!

So I say all that to say, I've had several ideas - some in the health/exercise area (although I've been kinda off track with my daily gym workouts - not proud of that, but trying to get back into a good routine), other ideas are a lot in the food industry. From opening a restaurant (I'm not sure I'd really LIKE to do this, it's just the idea of doing it seems romantic to me) to catering to increasing my "personal chef business", to product sales, to something totally different like, I don't know, going back to culinary school!

See, it's a lot to think about. Sometimes it's fun, other times it's a bit overwhelming. But I think at some point - I'm just gonna have to form a do-able idea and start doing it.

Until then - I'll be praying about it and I'd appreciate your prayers as well. Also, I'm open to ideas. So if you have any great ideas you'd like to share, share away!

6 years already

2011-01-12T08:22:00.005-05:00

My baby is growing up! It's hard to believe that 6 years ago today, I woke up and thought, "Hum, I think I'm in labor." And I was, but Luke didn't join us until just after 10PM - via c-section - that night!

What a wonderful day that was! And I've been blessed by his little life each day since then! I pray the Lord gets a hold of Luke's heart and life and that he'll grow to be a great warrior for the Kingdom!

Who couldn't love this face?

His Mommy and Daddy sure do! We're so proud of you Luke!!

Havin' an extra...

2011-01-05T15:44:00.005-05:00

This week I'm trying my hand at having 3 children. How you ask, can you "try" to have more children than you actually do? Well, the answer is to keep your friends children!

So that's just what we're doing this week! We have the honor of keeping the son of some of our good friends. They are at a conference in FL this week and their 2 year old son is hangin' out with the Winslow's! This allows them to have some good, quality alone time before the husband, who is a Chaplin in the Navy, deploys for 7 or 8 months.

So far it's been great! The kids all get along very well, and the additional playmate for Avery while Luke is at school has been great!

I gotta say, there are things that having a younger child around again helps me remember that I seem to have already forgotten, like:

How very quickly I forgot what it's like to have a child in diapers! My goodness, it hasn't been that long ago that I had one in diapers, but once they are done with diapers, it's like your brain stops using all the things you did every day. Pack a diaper bag, make sure to change them before getting in the car... and on and on, but it sure comes back FAST!

Then there's the napping. Avery hasn't taken a nap in probably a year or more. It's almost crazy to have quiet time during the day, with a child in the house. I didn't know what to do with myself while he napped today!!?!?!?!

Also, both my kids can pretty much get themselves dressed. Avery dresses herself because her brother dresses himself. But regardless of why, both Luke and Avery can get themselves dressed. Most 2 year old's cannot. I forgot that.

We seem to have lots of things with small parts. How did that happen? I don't know, but Lego's are NOT good for little ones under about 5!

Having all those reminders helps me to remember what it was like, and how much fun my own kids were at that age. It's been great having him and I have LOVED having a playmate for Avery when Luke is at school! It's been fun! I'm looking forward to the rest of the week together!

And just to be clear, so no one makes any mistake - I will not be having a third child of my own. I think God gave me 2 wonderful children and I'm really happy with that!

For 2011

2010-12-31T15:08:00.002-05:00

Isaiah 43:18-19

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

This is going to be "my verse" to live by in 2011. I am waiting and watching for what the Lord is doing! I know He has good things for me and for you!

Good by 2010, welcome 2011!

God Bless you in the new year!

The New Chair

2010-12-29T10:24:00.005-05:00

The new chair has finally arrived!!!

I'm pretty excited about the whole thing! The master bedroom is now "complete"! What more can I say, I'm stoked about it! I'm looking forward to lots of good reading in that chair!

2010-12-28T08:05:00.003-05:00

This year is almost done and it’s time to recap the fun.

It’s been a long and interesting year –

from mold in the basement to things that brought tears,

to visiting new place, trying new things, and having a renewed love for each other and our King.

There have been sicknesses, some big some small.

Some more scary and tall.

Some just run of the mill colds.

There are friends fighting cancer and friends with sick kids.

Friends who’ve been injured and friends who’ve lost jobs

Friends who’ve had babies and friends who’ve found jobs!

And friends praying for each other until things are well!

We took a trip to the Rivera to celebrate 10 years!

That offered some rest, relaxation and time to talk off each others ears!

There were business ideas we approached with no fears,

Some panned out well and others that just didn’t – oh well!

We had weddings and vacations and day trips spent on the lake in the sun.

Enjoying our friends and family as one.

And through each day, the ups and downs

Jesus has been there – He’s been all around!

In times when things seems dark and the answers weren’t too clear

all we had to do was take our knees to the ground!

He’s faithful and loving and His mercy and grace flow fast,

And this year I’m being purposeful to know Him more than I have in the past.

I pray you were blessed this year too,with the love of family and friends

And great joy too!

In the year to come I encourage you to find Jesus in your heart and life

seek Him and His promises will remain true - He’ll be there for you.

May God bless you in 2011.

Great Christmas

2010-12-27T07:56:00.003-05:00

It's a white beautiful morning here in NC!

We has SNOW ON CHRISTMAS DAY this year! How cool is that? It started snowing mid-morning on Christmas Day and snowed all the way through about mid-morning the day after Christmas! We ended up with maybe about 6 inches or so! It was so very cool! David read somewhere that in our area of NC there hasn't been a white Christmas since 1969. So that's totally cool to have had one this year!! It was a neat gift for sure!

There were many, many other wonderful things about Christmas this year! There was lots of family - which is always great! And actually in our house we had 2 different Christmas Eve's and 2 Christmas mornings! Since my sister works on the weekends, and Christmas was on Saturday this year, her and her family came down on Tuesday and we started the festivities on Wednesday night! And then moved onto Christmas morning on Thursday morning! We had lots of good food and good time together!

Then we moved onto Friday morning with the Winslow side and had breakfast and Christmas with them! And for the first time in many years, we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church! It was wonderful! The kids did pretty well overall with sitting in "big church" (Avery slept through the second half of the service!) and it was great to be part of Christmas Eve church service!

Of course after church it was time for more food and fellowship! It was a great Christmas Eve!

Christmas morning was just as much fun as it could have been!!! The older the kids get, the more fun it is to open gifts with them! I just love it! And I think, to the best I can tell - everyone got most of what they wanted! Santa left Luke a basketball goal, and Avery got a Hello Kitty umbrella! David got a Panthers jersey (we're SURE they'll have a better season next year!!!!) as well as a new toaster (yup, he asked for that!)! And I got a wonderful surprise from my hubby - I got a new diamond and emerald necklace! It was a big surprise and a very lovely one at that!! I also got a really nice food processor (Yes, I asked for that too)!

Of course there were many, many other wonderful gifts received and given, but the best part was really being together and just remembering the reason that Christmas is so special.

Without the greatest gift of all from our Lord and Savior we would have nothing. I made it a point this season to spend each day being thankful for and grateful to a loving heavenly Father for His many gifts to me. I have so very much to be thankful for and I feel like I was blessed beyond measure this holiday season!

I hope your Christmas was full of Jesus!

The New Room

2010-12-15T10:51:00.007-05:00

Avery's room "before":

And "After"...
New curtains:

The Sheets!

Avery checking out the pillow shams!

All the pillows on the bed.

All new bedding and window treatments done!

Now, we just need some new wall decor of some sort and we'll be all done with Avery's new big girl bedroom! I'm very pleased with how it all turned out!

Kids, Chick-fil-A, Santa

2010-12-12T07:01:00.002-05:00

I really need to possibly switch how I blog. I'm gonna send you to David's blog to see pictures of the kids sitting on Santa's lap. He uses this neat format that let's him post pictures to his blog right from his phone!

Very convenient!

I need that ability too!

You can click on the link above or go to http://david.winslows.org

Things I've been thinkin' on

2010-12-10T17:06:00.007-05:00

Yes, I know the term "thinkin' on" is a bit Southern, but I've lived here a long time now, what can I say?!?!

These few quotes come from Beth Moore's study "Breaking Free". The study's been out a long time, and I believe she's even redone it since it's original production. I don't know for sure, and that's not really the point, the point is, these are some interesting ideas that I've been ponderin' as of late.

Read, take them for whatever you think they are worth, think on 'em...

"Christ sets us free by the power of His Spirit; then He maintains our freedom as we learn to live from day to day in the power of His free Spirit."

"Yet when his (King Uzziah) life was over and his body rested in the grave, all people could say was, "He had leprosy." How like our human natures - both in our tendency toward pride when we are blessed with success and in our tendency to judge someone's entire life by a brief season of failure." (See 2 Chronicles 26 for the full story of King Uzziah)

"A reminder of our own guilt should have a tremendous impact on how we treat others who are also "guilty"." (2 Chronicles 28 gives the story for the basis of this statement)

"We can hardly comprehend how our God could be so merciful and kind!"

"He (God) cannot love us any more or any less than He does this moment."

"Each of us has a crippling tendency to forget what God has done for us. For a while we're humbled. Then if we do not guard our hearts and minds, we begin to think we must have done something right for God to be so good to us."

And one of my favorites to leave you with:

"As long as the sun comes up in the morning, God will keep offering to deliver His children."

Big Girl room

2010-12-07T08:05:00.007-05:00

The time finally came. My baby isn't really a baby anymore!!!!

On Sunday we moved all of Avery's "baby" furniture out of her room and moved in some "big girl" furniture!

She's been ready for a while for the whole big girl thing. She has been in a converted crib for nearly 2 years. Ever since she started climbing out of her crib at about 12 months! So she was ready to make the move!

As I'm sure you know - furniture is kinda costly, so instead of going out and buying all brand new furniture, we were lucky enough to have a queen bed and a dresser that were in our guest room/office. So we moved that into Avery's room! The plan is then when we have guest, they can sleep in Avery's room and she can sleep on the floor in our room, or as she gets a bit older, in Luke's room. (His bed has a trundle underneath, so we'll just have to get a mattress to put under there!)

And then just for the times when my folks and my sis and bro in law are here, we got a really nice blow up mattress! So everyone will have somewhere comfy to sleep!

I wasn't so excited at first about moving our existing furniture into Avery's room. I wanted new, white, pretty, girl-y stuff to put in there! But after thinking about it and really looking at it, it seemed really silly to spend money on furniture when we already HAVE really good furniture! So we moved it and then I went on line to JC Penny and ordered a pretty pink comforter set and some curtains and I cannot wait for them to arrive!

You should click here to see a cute picture of Avery and her bed now, it's on David's blog. I didn't take the before pictures (I'm really bad about that I guess), but here's what it looks like now, and at the bottom is a picture of the stuff I ordered from the web. I'll post pictures of it all in here room when it all arrives and I have it up!

I'm beginning to feel like my house is in the order we hoped it would be in when we moved in! I'm so excited about the whole thing!

Movin' out

2010-11-30T18:21:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again!

Christmas time!

It's the high spot of winter for me. I dislike winter overall. I love one or two good snows, but the many days of gray cold weather get to me after a while.

But Christmas offers a very bright spot in the cold grayness!

I don't know about you, but at the Winslow house we have a lot of stuff. We like to say it's a lot of kid stuff. You know, toys, puzzles, books and in general "things to do", but this simply isn't true. And I would venture to say it's also true for most young families.

This point was made VERY obvious to me on Sunday afternoon. I went in Luke's room to gather up some toys that we're happily passing on, and from there I moved to Avery's room. The intent was to move out the old in order to make room for the new that will come this Christmas.

I guess the "get rid of it" bug was catchy and David and I ended up going through the attic. This was a feat for sure! Honestly, I'd gone thru some stuff when we moved from our old house to this house 3 and a half years ago, but most of it just got moved from there to here and then not touched again. And do you know what most of the stuff was that I "sent on" was?

Yup - Christmas decorations!

Holy Cow!

How in the world did I get so much stuff?!?!? I mean really? There was a ton of stuff that I haven't used to decorate with in many, many years - like seriously, 9 years or so. I used them at the condo the first year we were married, and not since then. I felt like it was safe to pass that stuff on to families who needed it.

I of course keep things with sentimental value, and things from both mine and David's childhood, but other things that I haven't used in 9 years got donated.

From the kids rooms and the attic David took a huge stuffed car load of stuff to be donated! It's honestly nice to have some of it gone. The house feels bigger (weird I know, since most of the stuff came from the attic) and cleaner and now I have only the downstairs to do in order to feel like I'm really ready for the incoming things of Christmas!

I do love Christmas. Being with family, and sharing memories from the past and making new ones! But I also like feeling like I have room in the house God blessed us with and I don't feel like we have more than we need or not enough space for the things we have!

It also looks like we'll be redoing another room, maybe too in the house... stay tuned for more info on that!

Tea Party

2010-11-21T08:31:00.004-05:00

I went looking on the internet to learn a bit about a "traditional English tea." And I found that the drinking of tea actually started in France back in the early 1600's and made it's way quickly to England. It's come a long, long way since then. It wasn't actually until mid 1600's to early 1700's that it became a breakfast drink; not until Queen Anne made tea her choice of breakfast drink over the more traditional and popular breakfast drink of ale. Now, I like a good cold brew every now and then too, but I think I'm with Queen Anne here, tea seems like a much better choice of drink first thing in the morning!

Now a days and in many places "a tea" varies in time of day, who and why you have a tea and types of food you eat with tea. Here are a few things I came across about more traditional teas.

Afternoon tea (because it was usually taken in the late afternoon) is also called "low tea" because it was usually taken in a sitting room or withdrawing room where low tables (like a coffee table) were placed near sofas or chairs generally in a large withdrawing room. There are three basic types of Afternoon, or Low Tea:

Cream Tea - Tea, scones, jam and cream

Light Tea - Tea, scones and sweets

Full Tea - Tea, savories, scones, sweets and dessert
In England, the traditional time for tea was four or five o'clock and no one stayed after seven o'clock. Most tea rooms today serve tea from three to five o'clock. The menu has also changed from tea, bread, butter and cakes, to include three particular courses served specifically in this order:

Savories - Tiny sandwiches or appetizers

Scones - Served with jam and Devonshire or clotted cream

Pastries - Cakes, cookies, shortbread and sweets

And just to be sure we're all on the same page (and for those of you in the South that aren't as familiar) we're talking about hot tea, not the Southern tradition of cold sweet tea (which is also very good!).

Yesterday morning I had the privilege of attending a lovely tea. The tea was hosted by my dear friend Leslie and another wonderful lady, Suzanne. We had tea in the morning with the foods that you would expect to accompany a full tea (see above) . We all felt like we should be sitting around with our pinky fingers up and using a British accent!

We had a great time as well as some excellent tea, yummy goodies, delicious finger sandwiches, and a great time of chatting and fellowship! I got to see and spend time with some ladies I don't get to see very often! It was a very nice way to start the morning!

I have to say this is the first tea I've been too. I have many family members that have been to tea rooms and gone to and hosted teas, but this is the first I've been able to attend. It was lovely and I'm looking forward to the next time I can attend one (even if they don't serve coffee!)

Avery's birthday party

2010-11-18T15:13:00.012-05:00

I love a good party! I love any party pretty much! I just love to get all the stuff, have people over, make food (some food!) and decorate!

Well, we did all that for Avery's birthday this year! Since both the kids birthday's are relatively close to the holidays, sometimes it's hard to know if we should go big or keep it simple! This year for Avery we went simple!

Pretty In Pink was kinda of our theme. Since she's all about things that are pink and princesses and all that kind of 3 year old girl stuff, we went with the idea of pink. I got a bunch of pink stuff, and we invited family and close friends and we keep the food simple. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

The princesses hats and boys crowns

the birthday girl!

Reagan the princess

The Girls!

Aunt Amy doing the face painting for Cameron

Avery's butterfly - by Aunt Amy

Luke gets his face done

This isn't the best picture, but it's the best one of all of them! I tried!

Avery playing "pin the jewel on the necklace"

Julianna's turn

Luke's turn

Oh Boy! Chocolate cupcake!!

Yummy!

Opening gifts!

Hello Kitty rain boots from Nanny and Grandpoppy

I think she likes them!

Avery's loot from Meme and Papa!

Reagan checking out a book!

Opening the card from Aunt Amy, Uncle Robert and Reagan! What a fun night! Thanks everyone!

Room Redo

2010-11-17T14:52:00.009-05:00

It's been a while I know, I'm sorry!

But I'm back - and have some exciting news to share!

We are in the process of redoing - or rearranging I should say - our bedroom!

When we moved in we had a handmade, special to order, made just for me, buy a fine, fine craftsman, that we didn't know where to put. So it got put in the master bedroom and just kinda left there.

Well the other week David woke earlier than normal, and when he discovered I wasn't in bed, and there were no lights on in the living room or dinning room, he went looking for me. Where did he find me you may ask, since it was like just before 6AM?!?! I was in the master closet!

Yes, in the closet!

Sounds ridiculous? Not really, the closet is really pretty big!

Why was I in the closet?

Well, I was doing my devotions. I hate to come out to the living room and turn on the light. It seems like a small thing, but often times that's enough to bring attention to the kids that I'm up, and they think it's time for them to get up. So, I started going in the closet, and there I can turn on the light and it doesn't bother anyone!

Except David!

So we started talking about what we could do to make a place for me to do my devotions. Well, we decided to rearrange a bit. We moved the above mentioned cedar chest out into the living room (which is good for now, we'll have to see how it looks after we take the Christmas tree down - yes the tree is up already - click here to see it). Then we moved one of those fake ficus trees that we've had in there for forever out and moved our dresser around a bit, then... we went out and ordered a nice chair!

Yepper, a chair of my very own! It's this cute "Ladies" recliner, so basically it's a bit smaller than your average recliner, but it's really cute and comfy and I think it'll be perfect! We picked fabric and it's been ordered, so hopefully it'll be here before Christmas! This is the style, of course the fabric will be different, but it's cute, don't you think?

I didn't think to take "before" pictures - when all the furniture was in there, but I've got some since we moved stuff around, and I will of course take some when the chair comes!

This isn't great picture, but that's the room from the doorway!
This is the corner where the new chair will go!
Isn't that the best spot? Right there in front of the window! It's perfect for a reading chair!

I'm pretty excited! We'll see how David feels about it when I start turning a light on at 5:30 in the morning so I can read! Maybe I'll be moving the chair into the closet!?!?!? *smile*

Some of God's amazing work

2010-10-15T11:52:00.012-04:00

The beautiful Southern California coast

A baby lizard also on our hike in Mazatlan

And this VERY large spider... we saw several of these... eeewwww!

The beautiful coast line from about half way up!

A gorgeous sunset behind the same mountain we hiked up earlier in the day!

Beautiful sunset while leaving Mazatlan

Cabo San Lucas

Sunset in Cabo

What a beautiful evening!

The world is such a huge place. I love the area where I live! It's so very pretty here, but I'm telling ya, I do SO LOVE to visit places I've never been and see things I've never seen! The world is a big, big place and it's so very pretty!

Where I come from...

2010-10-13T16:21:00.005-04:00

Our trip to LA and then the cruise was a great reminder of just how big the world is! And how in some ways we're all just people and in other ways there are some big differences.

Let me explain a bit before I go further! Then I'll share a few things I was either reminded about or that I learned brand new!

Here in the South - as a general rule - people tend to be more friendly. By this I mean that lots of times when your out, shopping or walking or whatever, people will say "Hey!" (that's how we say hello here!) to you. Often times these are people who you don't know and they don't know you either. And I'm not just talking about the clerk at the store (cause I think more and more they are being trained to say hello, or welcome or whatever!), I'm talking about other shoppers... complete strangers... these people are likely to strike up a conversation or a general hello or whatever. That happens very often around here. And let me tell you, it took a lot of getting used to when I first moved here... but now it's the norm, and I wouldn't expect anything different at most places around here.

(Please note - I'm aware that there are rude people who live in the South as well! Not EVERYONE around here is friendly. I'm just saying most - not all!)

So the first thing I was reminded of - not all people in all places are like that. It's are rare thing around here to be driving down the road - even a very busy one at a busy time of day - and get the finger from another driver! It just doesn't happen that often! You might get a raised hand, or an ugly look or even a horn honk, but that would be about it. Every now and then you might get the finger, but again, rare. In LA - we dove there a total of maybe 12 hours... we got the finger twice. Yup - 2 TIMES! And both times it was for doing something NICE! Like slowing down to let someone change lanes and the second time was from some guy on a bike who was changing lanes, and when David slowed down to let him over, the guy just went off... yelling and giving us the finger! My goodness! So people in LA - at least on the road - aren't as friendly!

Second - you can take your small child out to breakfast in their PJ's and with no shoes on! Yup, it's true. Must be cause we saw like 3 little kids at breakfast at the bagel place we ate in their PJ's and no shoes. It was so strange to see that! We're pretty relaxed here in this area, but I've never seen children older than the age of say - car seat size - wearing their PJ's to breakfast. Fascinating!

Third - I have never see so many people outside exercising. There were people everywhere... on their bikes, or walking or running, or in-line skating... whatever, but there were tons of people outside! It was really interesting. I see people out in our neighborhood now and then, and there's even a guy who rides his bike some, but as a general rule, I don't often see folks outside getting their exercise. Some of it might have to do with the weather here, I'm not sure, but I'm telling ya, I'm just now used to seeing so many people outside to get exercise! It was kinda neat!

Next, most people on vacation are in a good mood! Lots of the rushing, and pushing and being un-kind to your fellow citizens goes away when you go on vacation! Most people are happy and in good moods.

That being said - body language is a powerful thing... observing a disagreement between and husband and wife - even if you don't speak the same language as them - it's pretty easy to get the gist of what's going on! No need to speak the language, I was able to get most of the issue just by watching!

Lastly, our world is VERY big! People from all over the world - from many different walks of life and in many different stages in their lives were on board the same ship as we were. It was neat to see and meet people from all around the globe!

I love traveling! This was a really, really wonderful trip and I was reminded of many important things, but I gotta tell ya, I was glad to be back home "where I come from!"

10 Years

2010-10-04T15:50:00.012-04:00

It's totally amazing to me that I'm old enough to have been married for 10 years. And the truth of the matter is that I'm actually kinda old to only have been married for 10 years. Either way, I have been married 10 years...

September 23rd marked a mile stone for David and I! What a wonderful day my wedding day was! From the flowers, to the music - and those who sang, to the bridal party, to the reception and all the amazing friends and family who were there to celebrate with us - it was a perfect day!

This year to celebrate out 10 years together we were able to plan a trip - a BIG trip! Thanks to the willingness of Nanny and Grandpoppy and Meme and Papa - we were able to leave on Friday the 24th and head out to LA. Neither David nor I had ever spent any time in LA so we left 2 days early and spent some time in Southern California!

We were able to get a good deal on a hotel in Beverly Hills - which was an "older" hotel that's been upgraded, but still very quaint - it was different than anywhere else we've stayed before, but it was comfortable and in a great location. We were about 2 blocks from Rodeo Drive. We spent some time driving around the touristy areas and then on the advice of some friends and family we hit the PCH or the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a beautiful ride! The pictures in this post will all be from just our time in LA BEFORE we left on our cruise to the Mexican Rivera. There are like 600+ pictures, so I'll spare you every picture and every detail...

but in short...

this was a really, really great trip and it was really, really great for David and I to get away for a while and really focus on just us.

I did have several ideas for blog posts while we were away, so I'll be trying to incorporate those in amongst the pictures and posts of our trip!

One last word before pictures...

If you are thinking of, or have ever thought of, or have even already been and want to go again, on a cruise - DO IT! It's truly a great way to vacation!

We rented a convertible in LA - a really pretty blue Mustang... and then we didn't take one single picture of it! But here we are IN it!

We had 2 favorite stops along the PCH - first Huntington Beach

And Laguna Beach...
We ate lunch at this really great place with an amazing view!

I'll save the rest of the Hollywood tourist pictures for another post. For now, enjoy the view!

Under pressure

2010-09-21T15:13:00.004-04:00

Aren't you amazed sometimes about other people and what they are going through in their lives? The hurt, pain, suffering and "issues" that people have seem to be endless sometimes, don't they? And doesn't it seem like sometimes is all bad stuff happening to the same people?

David and I had the privilege of an unexpected date on Sunday evening (thanks to my mother in law!)and while we were out, we of course talked about our upcoming trip, but we also got to talking about some friends of ours and their personal situations as well as some other peoples work related situations.

We easily went from one person to the next saying things like "How about so and so? Can you believe they are dealing with that?" And "Boy, isn't that a hard place to be in life?" And,"that's gonna be a long road." It just went from thing to thing to thing, and situation to situation.

I've been thinking a lot about that since then, and I find it amazing at the amount of stress and pressure that people have in their lives, yet they continue on. Cause there are some situations that I'm aware of that, that if it were me in that same situation, I fear I might curl up and die!

Then, ironically today - before starting this post, I checked things out over at Crocuses In March - and my dear cousin has a post that goes along so nicely with this one. Take the time to check it out, since she's already written hers, I'm going to keep mine short! She shares many of the same ideas and even scriptures that I was going to share!

I will add this one thought... I have friends who are not believers going through really hard times. I don't know how they are doing it. I don't know at all what hope they have that gets them out of bed in the morning and carries them through the day. But I do know this - one of those friends is trying to find their way back to the Lord. This friend was raised in a Christian home and over the years has chosen a different path, but now I'm seeing Proverbs 22:6 and rejoicing in God's promises!

Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Many of these situations have also brought me to my knees many times for these friends!

I'm thankful for my relationship with the Lord, and I know that it needs to be stronger, and sometimes when the daily-ness of life seems to gets to be too much for me, I remember first, there are others that have it a LOT worse than me. Second - my life is SO VERY WONDERFUL, and third - I know where to go when I cannot do it alone - to my Savior! And I'm so thankful for that!

In good times and bad

2010-09-17T15:21:00.008-04:00

As you already know (or at least have ready my opinion) - marriage is hard. But marriage can also be totally wonderful!

Think about some of the wonderful sides of marriage. You get to spend time with someone who knows you, like really knows you (some times even better than we know ourselves!) and loves you anyway!

Being married means you don't have to date anymore! And let me tell you, with the way things are these days, I'm really glad to be not dating! We have a friend who is still dating, and he - get this - uses Craig's list to get dates. Yes, I'm totally serious! I'm glad I'm not dating these days!

There are also many wonderful things about being married, and good times are good for sure. And I think bad times are really hard. This is true of every relationship we have in life I think. Good times are good, and we need those (I think) to help get us through the harder times!

I've read several books about being a good wife, and mother. Some were really good, some not so much, but here are a few I've read that I've really really enjoyed and have made a positive impact on my and my marriage.

Becoming the Woman of His Dreams: Seven Qualities Every Man Longs For by Sharon Jaynes. This is a fantastic book! I loved it, and highly recommend it to every wife!

Boundaries: When to Say Yes, When to Say No-To Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. This is also really excellent for many relationships in life!

The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. This book has great scriptures to go with it! I love this book when I really feel the need to be praying the Bible.

This next book isn't about marriage or even relationships, but more about yourself... and those of you who know me, know I gotta recommend a Beth Moore book!
Get Out of That Pit: Straight Talk about God's Deliverance. Really, there are several books by Beth that I would recommend, but this is a really good one and it's an easy read!

OK - again, there are several more that are really great, but these are good ones to start with! Feel free to click on any title, it'll take you to Amazon.com and you can preview the books.

Also, if your reading this post and have books you love, please feel free to share! I'm always on the lookout for good books!

Marriage

2010-09-11T08:13:00.006-04:00

I'm once again at a place in my life where I have a couple of friends going through really hard times in their marriages. With these around me struggling, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about and pondering marriage. And David and I have talked a lot about our marriage and how to keep it safe and protected.

So I've been thinking about what happens in a marriage? What makes things even start down the wrong path? Here are a few thoughts I've had...

I think sometimes at the beginning of a marriage there are several misconceptions. These are misconceptions that any good premarital counselor goes over with a couple before they get married, but they are also things I don't think the average person thinks will happen to them. So either they don't pay that close of attention or they totally dismiss what is being said during counseling. So we enter a marriage all happy and hopeful and in love. Which is great, until "real life" sets in!

I think most people go into marriage wanting the same things: a life partner, a friend, someone to help make decisions with, someone to support us in life and work. Seems pretty simple, hu? Then why is marriage so hard? Why are there marriages falling apart all around?

It's because marriages don't just happen. A marriage and a wedding are 2 different things! A wedding is the easy part (which is a laugh if you've ever planned a wedding!) and the daily-ness of marriage is the hard part.

We love the person we're married to, so why is it hard? Because we're all human that's why. We make mistakes. We say things, do things, and act in ways that hurt the person we're married to. Often these things start out innocent enough. I think very few people wake up one morning and think "today, I'm going to say something hurtful to my spouse!" But sometimes that happens. Then you add in the "normal"(children, school, jobs, money, cars, house)stresses of daily life and eventually - if not handled correctly - these "little things" turn into big things and then they get bigger and bigger and before we know it things "just aren't good anymore."

Then for some reason (I guess mostly cause it's kinda hard) people don't talk about it. They just keep on in their unhappy state, fuming and holding grudges and before we know it there's a huge wall and neither person knows how it got so big or how to deal with it's size now.

I don't have the answers here, these are just my thoughts... but men and women are so very different and it's a process learning how to talk to each other - and talking to each other is key. It's hard, I know. I'm not the best communicator, and often I handle things in the wrong way, or at the wrong time, but thankfully David is patient and understanding and we usually get around to the issue. Of course this process in itself can sometimes be painful!

I think the other thing that married couples forget to do or don't do - is spend time alone with each other. This is especially true if there are children in the home. We get to busy doing "stuff" and taking care of the house, laundry, etc... that we forget how important it is to spend time alone together! As a very wise friend pointed out the other day - in not that many years, the kids will be gone but my husband will not. So that relationship is so important to foster! Taking time for each other is key!

I have a bunch more to say on this topic. But I've been writing and rewriting this post for nearly a week now, so I'm gonna post this and then just add another post at another time!

On a last note... if you and your spouse are having trouble - seek help. Call a friend (preferably of the same gender!), a pastor, a counselor... someone who can listen to you and pray with you and support you! Satan wants nothing more than to take down as many marriages as he can. Let's not let that happen!

First hints...

2010-09-05T08:19:00.004-04:00

The weather in NC is normally hot and humid in the summer time. And you can expect those types of temperatures until at least mid to late September, and often into early October.

Which I really don't mind usually! I like summer. I like summer activities, playing in the pool, going to the lake, going to the beach. I like being outside in the sun! And we've had a great summer doing all those things! It's really been all I could have hoped for!

But this past weekend was unseasonably cool and it was really nice! We had a really good weekend, it was nothing unusually special. Breakfast with the in laws and then home to do some cleaning of the stuff that was living in our crawl space due to mold (that's a whole different post!), and in general just hangin' out and getting stuff done. It was nice to be able to be outside and work and not completely sweat to death! It was nice to have all the window's open!

I might have to say, even a bit hesitantly, that I might be looking forward to fall. There are things I am growing to love about fall weather such as the aforementioned open windows, and doing stuff outside, but also it brings the need for routine since we're on a school schedule, which I like.

Fall also brings football! This is a newer thing here at the Winslow house... we're developing a new appreciation for football and I think it's a great reason to have friends over and hang out! I love a reason to have friends together!

So I think I'm looking forward to fall this year!

Busy, busy, busy!

2010-08-31T07:09:00.004-04:00

Let me just tell ya - life around here has changed! I thought we were busy before! My goodness!! Are we ever busy now!

It's all good stuff that is keeping us busy! I like busy, but I also like some time to just be at home and be with my family and be still!

In addition to Luke starting school, Avery will start next week on the 8th, (both kids at new schools), I've also added another "client" to my personal chef "business". It's all very exciting!

As for school - big kid school - this is the biggest change in our lives! The hardest adjustment has been the schedule. Since Luke attends a wonderful charter school, there are no buses (which I wouldn't put my 5 year old on a bus now-a-days anyway) I have to take him and pick him up. Well, we're a good 12 - 15 miles and with traffic, it's about a 20 minute drive. So we get going pretty early in the morning.

Early in the morning isn't usually a problem for Luke. He's an early riser, but to get up, get dressed, get teeth brushed, eat and get out the door with all our stuff... that's taking some getting used to! Overall, he's doing really, really well and I think (after a full week and a half) that I'm finally getting into the swing of things myself.

Then I get him in the afternoon. He's usually in a great mood and has only had homework one time, but he really enjoyed doing that. I know there will be more after Labor day, and I think that will be good for him. Something to help him transition from school to home! I love that he loves school and homework and all that! I hope it lasts a long time!

Bed time is another adjustment. We're trying to get him in bed at an early hour since he's totally exhausted after school. And no matter how tired he is or how late he stays up, he's still awake about 6:15 - 6:30 every morning. So going to bed early is important! We're aiming for about 7:30, but some nights it's still 8PM. He defiantly does better if he has more sleep! He's much less weepy and happier in general when he's in bed and asleep earlier!

The early bed time does really cut back on our ability to go out in the evenings! We weren't really going out that much before, but since every week night is a school night now, we don't have the flexibility we used to have! But that's OK, cause I want him to wake up each morning feeling rested and ready for a good day!

And then - as some of you know - it's consignment sale time around here! I've been to two so far, and I'm consigning at one of them coming up in 2 weeks! So I've been busy tagging and sorting and organizing stuff for that! I love getting a good deal on cloths and stuff for the kids!

Then there's the upcoming 10 year anniversary trip! I'm slowly getting everything in order for that! It'll be here before I know it, and I'm afraid I won't be ready!!! But no matter what I don't have ready - I have formal dresses and shoes for our formal dinner nights and I couldn't be more excited about that if I tried! There will be more posts on the upcoming trip soon!

And like I said before I also took on another family to cook for, but I'll tell you all about that in another post also!

Let's just sum it up like this. I am busy, busy, busy - but really enjoying the different stage of life we're in now. I don't want it to go by too fast and me miss it!

Cookin' Eggs

2010-08-23T16:40:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted about weight loss, food, cooking, exercising or any of that! But rest asured I'm still on the plan.

Currently I'm not actively loosing any more weight, just working on toneing and keeping in shape! I'm also not keeping a daily log of my calorie intake - which proves to me that writing down EVERY SINGLE thing you eat in a day has a TON to do with how much weight a person losses. It makes a huge difference! Right now, I'm happy to maintain my weight and continue to eat (mostly) healthy.

I am still doing the cooking thing. I am actively cooking at home most nights during the week, and some still on the weekends. Although this seems to be changing very slowly as the kids are doing better and better at eating out. Of course our favorite meal to eat out is breakfast, since the kids are at their best then!

So yesterday was one of those days I just didn't feel like cooking dinner! AND normally I would just call David and say I didn't want to cook, so let's go out (which would most likely mean Chick-fil-A, again, cause the kids do well there!) and he would be OK with that. Then we would both eat more calories than either of us needed for the day. BUT luckily for me I was cooking for another family! So I'm forced to stay on track - which is a really, really good thing! I'm really glad I have this accountability!!!

What was for dinner you may ask? I used a Biggest Looser recipe... it's called Wild West Frittata and some breakfast sweet potatoes. They were so very yummy and pretty easy! This is a good kinda thing to make on a night I don't feel much like cooking. It's easy, and healthy and it tastes good! It's a good thing all around!

Gotta keep it simple when I'm not in the mood to cook. It's nice to have the simple yet yummy and easy egg dishes to fall back on!

First Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-19T15:20:00.014-04:00

Today opened a new chapter at the Winslow household!

Today one of the Winslow's returned to Greensboro Academy! The school where I spent 6 great years teaching!!

And this morning I took my first born child there. Walked him in, unpacked his stuff, helped him get settled and LEFT him there! All alone!!

Well, OK - he wasn't alone, Mrs. Anne Shaw was there - as were the rest of his classmates!

But for me, it seemed like it was all alone!

Did I cry - nope, actually I didn't! I surprised even myself with no tears!

Luke was so excited about being there and all the new stuff, that I couldn't cry. I didn't need to. He was comfortable and happy, and that made me feel happy as well!

I wanna give a big thanks to Mrs. Shaw (her and I were - are - good friends from my years teaching, so I wanna call her Anne all the time, but since Luke has to call her Mrs. Shaw - I'll try to also!) for making his first day - the first day in a long, LONG school life - really great!

Here is my favorite little conversation for this afternoon...

Me: Did you have a good day?

Luke: Yup! And do you know what? I was at school for like 6 and 1/2 hours?!!

Me: Did Mrs. Shaw tell you that?

Luke: yup! And GUESS WHAT????

Me: What?

Luke: (in a super excited voice!) I GET TO GO BACK TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No sweeter words were spoken today!!!!

Thank you all for your prayers and thank the Good Lord Jesus for caring about every detail of our lives!

A few pictures of my little man!

She's Amazing

2010-08-11T08:15:00.002-04:00

If you've been reading with me for the last few weeks, you know that I've been working on potty training Avery. And I gotta say, she's amazing! She's had very few accidents, some were simply my fault, others where when she was so sleepy she didn't know what she was doing!

Overall, I would say, she's got it. She's telling me when she has to go, or just going all on her own. The only trouble she's having seems to be getting her bottoms put back on... one thing at a time right?!?!

But here is the really amazing thing...

She's been dry every morning - EVERY MORNING - for like 4 or 5 nights! I cannot believe it! And the other night when she was awake (that's a whole different post, she's taking steroids, so she wasn't sleeping well!) she told me she had to go peep peep (that's what she calls it!)!

I'm so proud of her, I could turn inside out!

I'm still carrying around all the extra things you do when they are potty training - extra cloths, wipes, diapers in case it gets really bad, M&M;s,and a small potty in the back of the car! Mostly I haven't needed the extra stuff, and it's bad when I forget the M&M's, but she's doing great!

The potty in the car has been great too! I got that idea from a friend who's daughter was potty training the same time as Luke. It's a great idea, and it was wonderful to have it when we were at WalMart the other day! It's so much nicer to do all that in the back of the car, rather than the nasty WM bathroom!

and who wouldn't want to peep on a princess potty?!?!

So, if I could be so bold as to say - Avery is potty trained!!!!!

I"m a proud Mommy for sure!

And glad to be seeing the last of diapers in my life!

Fall Consignment Sales

2010-08-10T13:51:00.005-04:00

Again, it's the wonderful time of the year! I'm working personally here at home to get stuff all together and tagged and ready to consign! Yippee!! But listed below are some of the sales in this area. So for those of you who are far away - this won't do you any good. Sorry!

Greensboro Mothers of Multiples Children's Consignment Sale
C3 Church Greensboro
300 NC Hwy 68 South
Greensboro, NC 27409

Thurs, Aug 26 from 7pm-9pm
Fri, Aug 27 from 9am-7pm
Sat, Aug 28 from 8am-12pm (most items 1/2 price)

Main Street United Methodist Church
306 South Main Street
Kernersville, NC 27284

Friday, Sept 24th 9am - 2pm; 5-7pm
Saturday, Sept 25th 9am - noon

Fountain of Life Preschool Consignment Sale
323 Hopkins Rd
Kernersville, NC 27284

Thurs. Sept 16, 5pm-8pm
Fri. Sept 17, 9am-2pm
Sat. Sept 18, 7am-1pm

Christ United Methodist Church - Greensboro
410 North Holden Road
Greensboro, NC 27410

Friday, October 1 from 9:30am-8pm
Saturday, October 2 from 8am-1pm (Half-Price Sale)

Friendly Avenue Christian Preschool
4800 W. Friendly Avenue
Greensboro, NC 27410

Friday, August 13, 2010, 9:00am to 6:00pm
* Saturday, August 14, 2010,
8:00am to 12:00pm * Half Price Day

St. Paul's Catholic Church Sale
2715 Horsepen Creek Rd
Greensboro, NC 27410

Friday, Sept 10th 9 am - 8 pm
Saturday, Sept 11th 8 am - 1 pm Half price sale

Guilford College UMC Children's & Maternity Consignment Sale
1205 Fleming Road
Greensboro, NC 27410

August 27 from 9am-7pm
August 28 from 9am-1pm 50% Off Selected Items

Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church
2600 Pisgah Church Rd
Greensboro, NC 27455

Friday, Sept 24 from 9:00am - 7:00pm
Saturday, Sept 25 from 8:00am - 1:00pm

Christ Community Church Consignment Sale
369 Air Harbor Road
Greensboro, NC 27455

Sat Sept 11th 8am-12 pm
CLOSED Sat Sept 11th 12pm-1pm
Sat Sept 11th 1pm-4pm 1/2 price sale

First Presbyterian Church - Greensboro
MULLEN LIFE CENTER (Corner's of Fisher and Greene Avenues)
617 N Elm St
Greensboro, NC 27401

Friday, Sept 17 from 9:15 am - 7 pm
Saturday, Sept 18 from 8 am until Noon

There are SEVERAL more, I don't have them all listed. And some there aren't dates for - or I don't have those dates for yet. You can see a list at this site.

Using the potty

2010-08-05T16:52:00.003-04:00

It's amazing what life is like when you have small children. It's just so very different from life "before kids"! Nothing is the same, the things that are important are different, the way you spend your time, how much you sleep, how you feel about sickness... and about a zillion other things are just different!

Sometimes that difference is hard. When you don't get enough sleep, or you cannot get the simplest things done around the house, it's totally irritating. But overall, the differences are totally worth it.

The big thing at our house is potty training the littlest one. She's doing very well with the whole thing, but it's funny cause it's not just her! Luke is involved too. Shee when I trained him, Avery was only like 5 or 6 months old. So she had no idea what was going on. He on the other hand totally gets it and is involved in the process.

How is he involved you might ask? Well he too wants M&M's for going pee on the potty! Yup! My 5 year old is asking for M&M's when he goes pee. Now, I used M&M's with him when he was training, but of course he doesn't remember that. And sometimes he'll ask for some M&M's when Avery goes pee!!!! It's funny!

My goodness, he's a mess.

But since we are potty training, there's much talk about the potty, and lots of time spent in the bathroom.

I don't think anyone thinks about that kinda thing you think about becoming a parent. Who knew how wonderful and exciting it would be to see pee and poop in the potty?!?!?

I have to say, when I look back on my newly married self, living on my own with my love, purchasing our first home and our first dog and feeling all grown up and important, I didn't think I would in a few short years be jumping up and down and yelling yippee when one of my children went stinky in the potty!

But alas, this is my life and I gotta say, I'm a proud of how great Avery is doing with using the potty!

Free Will

2010-08-02T14:47:00.006-04:00

I heard this story last week, and it's one of those that sticks with you! I'm sure you know someone, or have heard a similar story, but hang with me if you would please, because I had a revelation.

Scenario (this is real, I'm not making it up!):

Single mom - not working (so living off the state!), has 5 children (by several different fathers) in her home. One of whom requires CONSTANT care due to the fact that he was shaken by his father as an infant (that's a whole different story). He's 14 now, in a wheel chair and cannot do even the most basic things for himself. So the children in the home range from age 14 to about 9 months.

The grandparents (who by the way have permanent custody of an addition child) take turns keeping the kids at their house for a few days at a time during the summer, just for fun and to spend time with their grand-babies. But after having one of the children with them they start to hear stories about lots of adult arguing and yelling and even some chair throwing at their house.

Next it's brought to light that the conditions in which the children are living are less than ideal (to put it mildly). The house is disgusting. It's dirty, there are dirty dishes everywhere, bugs all over the place, mold and mildew in the home.

Some of the children don't even have proper beds. They are sleeping on just box-springs. To make matters worse (can you imagine?), the mom who gets a boat load of food stamps - which is good cause she needs them since she has all those kids to feed, right?!?! Well, turns out she's selling them for cigarettes and or gas or whatever else she wants. What does that mean? You got it, the kids aren't eating all/what they should.

Can you even imagine that? I mean that's the kinda thing that makes me wanna pick up the phone and call social services. And cry the whole time I'm doing it.

These kids didn't ask for this. They didn't ask to be born. They didn't ask for this lady to be their mom. They are innocent in the whole situation.

While talking to David about it, through tears of course... David says, the only way I can make that make sense in my mind, why God would allow that to happen is - free will. Yup, I said, your right.

I hadn't thought of it like that.

But he's right. God made us with free will, so this mother is exercising her free will. As despicable as it is, that's what she's doing. I think about that for a bit (and here's my revelation), and (with more tears) I say - and that right there is what makes Christ's sacrifice on the cross so very special.

He died - carried all that pain and suffering and all our sins - KNOWING that there would those who didn't accept His love, forgiveness and salvation. OH MY GOODNESS - ya'll - do you get it?!?! Do you see how much He loves us? Loves you?

Cause the Bible says He would have done it for just YOU!

WOW!

That's some serious love right there.

So although my heart is still breaking for those children. And I'm praying a TON for them, and I have no idea what will happen in that situation, I know that God loves those kids - and that single mother - and that no matter what happens He is in control and He loves them beyond measure!

I'm soaking in that love today - and I hope you will as well!

Do you feel the love?

2010-08-01T08:39:00.004-04:00

A funny thing happened on the way to the pool on Friday!

Luke and I were talking about going to school (a topic which we talk a lot about these days!) and somehow - do not ask me how, because I do not know, Luke got to talking about being buried alive.

I know, weird right?!?!?

Anyway, he says it's bad to be buried alive. I agreed. Then he says...

"Mom, if you were buried alive, Daddy would come get you. IF you had your cell phone with you and he could find you."

Me: "Oh, that's nice! Why do you think Dad would come get me?"

I'm thinking he's gonna say because he loves you, cause your the mommy, something along those lines... but this was the answer...

"Because after a couple of days Daddy might get hungry, because you do all the cooking and stuff and Daddy doesn't know how to do that stuff."

What more is there to say?

I wouldn't want my family to go hungry while I am buried alive! Here's to hoping that never happens to me!

I feel the love, don't you?

Avery's S

2010-07-30T09:15:00.005-04:00

Today I have so much on my mind, I cannot seem to even get it down. I've been sitting here thinking about which post to post, and it's all a big jumble!

I guess I'll go with the easiest, happiest - and that's about my baby girl - Avery!

She's just such a mess and she's growing like a weed and it's getting harder to keep up with her! She was hard to keep up with before, but this is different. She learns something new - like smart stuff new - each day! (I know I'm her mom and I'm supposed to think that, but seriously, she's too smart!)

Her first new thing..

Saying the sound "s". When she first started making things plural she would say "is" at the end of the word. For example... shoes would be shoe-is, or cups would be cup-is, or balls = ball-is. So one day she said something and I corrected her and said the word right - one time, just once... and since then she says all the words correctly! And she over does the "s" sound. It's really cute. She's very aware of it - doesn't get it wrong - ever and even when she says words like "yes" the "s" is VERY pronounced! It's too cute!

Another new thing... (this ones actually been going on a couple of months)

"I not wear dat!"

Yup!

She's telling me she doesn't want to wear some of the cloths she has.

"I not yike (like) it."

OH MY GOODNESS - she's only 2 1/2 and already she's refusing to wear certain things.

I'm afraid we have a long road ahead of us! I'm worried that this will be the last year I can go consignment shopping without her for fear she won't wear the things I pick out!

Next...

If Luke can do it, I can too (even if she cannot!)!

But mostly she keeps up pretty well with him - in most areas! She's no slacker!

Next...

She leans back in her chair at the table. Yeah, she gets that from her Daddy (who reportedly did the same thing as a kid)! And yes, she has turned the chair over.

Twice to be exact.

Does she keep doing it?

Yes!

When you ask her - "Is that dangerious? Could you fall over?"

"Yes!"

But does she keep on...

Yes!

She's one who's gonna have to learn things the hard way, and I'm afraid she won't learn the first time!

She's also going through a loving phase. She in general doesn't want to be held or rocked or anything like that anymore! Sad for Mommy! But lately - mostly in the morning when I go to get her, she's all about hugging me and letting me get some snuggles in! She's also started saying things like "I missed you when you were gone." and I think that's really sweet!

I just love that little girl and cannot believe how fast she's growing!

Some days I just wish she and Luke would both stay the age's they are right now! I love it (most of the time!) and am trying to enjoy each day with these fast growing kids!

What to do?

2010-07-28T08:30:00.004-04:00

I don't know about you, but ever time I think things with the economy are getting better, I hear about or see some one else who lost a job, or is still looking for a job or who had some sort of big health issue and their medical benefits at their job have been chopped or cut completely off! What is going on?

It's sad, really.

In talking with David last evening about it, we said that having an education helps offer some security, but how can you anticipate "this type of economy," I asked?! I mean back when I started college - teaching was a very secure field. Yup, you wanna always have a job - become a teacher. Teachers are ALWAYS needed. And right now - all over the country - teachers are loosing their jobs just like everyone else! David pointed out that overall it's still a pretty secure field to be in, and he's right, but really... it's pretty scary for teachers (as well as everyone else out there) right now.

You may ask why this even matters to me, since I stay at home, but aside from the obvious - that my hubby runs his own business, a service based business, providing for other businesses (and Winslow System's success depends somewhat on the success of those other businesses!), and that many family and friends are "out there" in the work force and each day brings uncertainty for the future for all. It's concerning for all.

So along those lines... and combine with the fact that my oldest is starting school this year, there's been much thought and some talk about what I will do when both kids are in school?!?!!

I am not sure... but we've talked about several things from opening some sort of smoothie place to a whole range of things having to do with my "personal chef" stuff, weight loss stuff, and having a healthier family.

Who knows what it'll end up being... but it's been interesting to think about and talk about. As David says - right now we're just throwing ideas at the wall! We'll see what sticks!

Home

2010-07-27T17:05:00.009-04:00

Well we've been home since Friday afternoon, and can I tell ya - we had a great time at the lake!

It was a different kinda trip than it's been in the past. First, David was able to stay ALL WEEK LONG!!! In the past (and on most week long vacations) he comes home and works 2 or so days. Which in the past has worked fine, since Badin Lake is only about an hour or so from our house. But this year, he was able to work extra in advance and didn't have anything major break, so he stayed the whole week! It was great having him there!

Second, this year we got a good taste of what it's really like to own a place at the lake! Let me explain...

Upon arrival on Friday evening at about 6:30pm, we unloaded all our stuff (which is a ton, since I take all the food for the week) and got our butts down to the boat for a ride! The boat wouldn't crank. Sounded like a battery. So David quickly took it out and drove back into Denton (which is the closest thing resembling a town near the house) where they have put in an Advanced Auto. As we suspected - dead battery, so David got a new one, put it in and we went for a ride! Joy and bliss it was!

Saturday morning the kids were up by like 6:30AM and believe it or not, we were out on the boat at like 7:30AM. Again - joy and bliss. We played around most of the morning and came in at lunch time for grub and rest. At about 3 or so it started storming... this lasted until about 7:30 or 8 PM. After the rain, we took our friends the Bartlett's out for a boat ride. They arrived just as the rain started so this was their only chance to be on the lake. Boat worked great!

Our early morning Saturday boat ride

Sunday morning... we go out for our morning boat ride... and the boat won't start again. Except this time it doesn't sound like a dead battery, it sounds more like a starter. But since it's Sunday - nothing to be done about that. No big deal. We get out the Sea Doo and have a great day on the lake anyway!

Monday - we wait for someone to come and look at the boat. But the place - as it turns out isn't open on Mondays! But that's OK, because that morning as the boat was being lowered a bit - the cable that holds the boat - snapped the back of the boat dropped into the lake. So to fix that David drove into High Point, got more cable and spent the afternoon fixing the boat lift. Fun, but not really joy and bliss. My goodness!!! Did we enjoy the lake on Monday anyway?? You bet we did!!

After the lift broke we tied the boat up next to the dock.

So Tuesday dawns with the hope of the mechanic getting there to fix the boat first thing in the morning. Well, by noon - nothing. Finally at about 4 on Tuesday afternoon the wonderful boat repair man came - said yup, it's the started. He happened to have one at his shop and we were good as gold to ride the boat again! Joy and bliss!

The rest of the week went great! Oh - except for when Avery pulled the plastic handle off the jet ski lift and dropped it into the lake while David was adjusting the boat lift and I was giving Luke a jet ski ride. All we heard was Avery saying "uh-oh!"

It was still fun, and I loved it and I love the lake and being together with friends and family! Here are just a few pictures!