Blessings and Woes

Destin 2009

2009-10-07T13:04:00.001-07:00

I took Jack and Jace to Destin, FL this summer with my friend Kristin and her daughter Lexie. Her in-laws own a condo so we stayed for free! Thanks Kristin's in-laws!! Anyways, here are a few pics of our trip!

House

2009-10-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

Cody and I moved to Little Rock in the summer of 2002 after I graduated from OBU. We lived in an apartment for less than a year, all the while trying to figure out where we wanted to live. We bought a house in Bryant in May of 2003. We loved it in Bryant, but the house was older and needed some work. We considered it our starter/fixer-upper house. We thought we would be there about 3 years and sell it for a profit since it would be much nicer than the house we originally bought and moved into! Ha! Six years later, we sold the house. Not much had changed except for the kitchen flooring, some paint, and an eight foot privacy fence (we had a neighbor issue).

So, with a closing date in sight and nowhere to go we frantically looked at every house in our county within our budget. We couldn't find the house that fit our needs and budget at the same time. In calling around asking about houses I came into contact with a lady that was a builder and she told me I should look into building. I was nice and tried to appease her by talking with her about it, but on the inside I was thinking, "This lady doesn't know us! We can not afford to build on Cody's income and my babysitting money!".

Anyways, ended up moving into an apartment because we had to be out of our house and "the lady" put some figures on paper and here we are! We, well I should say the workers, began September 22nd. The first pic is on September 29th and the second is October 6th.

We are excited and nervous! We are thanking God for all He has done for us and all He has given us, and asking Him to make it all work!

Random

2009-10-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

Just to post some updated pics of what's going on in our life....

Jack lying on the drawing of his body that his Mother's Day Out teacher made the first day of school this year

Jack's painting from Mother's Day Out, I think it's awesome!!

Jace's policeman helmet that he loves playing with

Did I mention Jack LOVES cowboy boots??!!

Jack "reading" to Jace and our friend, Ella Grace

Cowboy Night!

2009-10-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

At AWANAs a couple weeks ago we had "cowboy night". We borrowed some cowboy boots and a western shirt from my sisters kids and bought some bandanas! Voila! I had to get in on the dressing up too since I am a leader for the Kindergarten class. Here are some pics, it was so much fun!

Jace turns two!!!

2009-10-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

My BABY turned two a few weeks back. We had a bubble party at Mills Park. I filled a small kiddie pool with bubble solution and we used lots of bubble wands and fly swatters to blow bubbles!

At Jace's two year check-up we found out that his height has SHOT up! So much the nurse didn't believe she had wrote down the right numbers and she asked us to come back out and measure it again! So, he is 80-90% for height and 90% for weight now! He weighs 34 lbs! He is heavier than most 4 year olds! Ha! He definitely is my child.

Jace's favorite thing to do right now is to play with toy food and cooking stuff. So, for his birthday his "sugar" got him lots of play food and a shelf with baskets to store it all for his room. She also got him a toddler-sized inflatable trampoline! From his friends Jack Landon and Logan he got a Razorback apron with his name embroidered on it. He loves wearing it around and bringing me things to "eat".

He got lots of stuff and likes it all! He is really into jumping (anywhere, anytime, out of the car, off of ottomans, down the stairs, etc.) and loves to wear these camo rain boots that we have. He wore them to story time at the library on his birthday with shorts! He also loves story time. He sings along and likes to do the motions with the songs. He loves to pet the stuffed animals that Mrs. Debbie brings to go along with the songs and LOVES craft time at the end!

Jace memorizes the verses that Jack has for AWANAs right along with Jack. He always says, "Momma I say my verse and get a prize?". EVERYTHING in his world revolves around food! He is constantly asking for something to eat or drink. I spoke with the doctor about it and he said that Jace is a little heavier than he is tall so he is getting plenty and that it is ok to make him wait. Whick I knew but wanted confirmed!

Cody and I have absolutely so much fun with Jace. My dad, jace's "big daddy" says that he doesn't have a serious thought and that Jack doesn't have a thought that is not serious! They are opposites but still so much alike. Jace imitates everything jack does but is starting to get out of that and do more on his own. They are best friends and love playing together. Their mother's day out teachers say that when they are both at "gym time" together that they play together the whole time and that Jack takes care of Jace and makes sure he is ok! So precious! I am absolutely loving that we had them close together!

We love you Jace! We are proud of you and all that you can do but would be fine if you decided to stop growing up so quickly!!

Jace opening his presents with helper, big brother Jack

Loving the cake!

"Cheese!"

Story time crafts on jace's birthday

This was Jace's birthday breakfast!

Night Night

2009-09-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

Since Cody has been out of town we have established a new bedtime routine. We used to put the boys down separately because if one of them was not asleep before the other came in they would laugh and play for a long time. With Cody gone it's hard to tell one or the other to wait in the other room while you put brother in bed. Anyways, we get all ready for bed and I tell them to each pick out a book for me to read. They go get the book and lie down in their spots in bed. I read each book, we laugh and have a good time. Then I put the books away, give Jace his paci (yep i do) and give them both kisses and hugs. I tell them that it is time to go to sleep and that they should close their eyes, be still, and quiet. I laughed when closing the door the first night because I thought it would never work with a 3 year old and a (soon to be) 2 year old. They never made a peep! Haven't yet and we've been doing this for 5 nights now!

I'm just really feeling blessed these days. I know it has to do with the Bible Study I am in right now, One in a Million by Priscilla Shirer. But really. My kids are the best. Now I know every mom on the planet (well not that any of them are going to read this) is thinking that I'm wrong and that's perfect! All moms deserve to feel this way about their own!

Memory Verse

2009-09-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

Jace is officially saying the three year old AWANAS memory verse now, even the scripture reference. Just reaffirms the affinity children have for learning. I don't think many people realize just how much they are able to learn and do. Jace must be at one of those stages right now where you can tell they are really developing, both physically and mentally. He amazes me every day by something he says or does.

Physically I noticed something pretty funny today. A few months back, probably around 18 months or so, Jace started asking to go pee pee on the potty. I knew that this was because he had an older sibling that was potty training and going to the potty. I would occasionally let him "try" but is was not productive. He wanted to stand just like Jack, and he would strain so I could tell he was trying but he didn't get it yet.

One day as the boys were getting out of the bath Jace asked daddy if he could go pee pee. Cody scooped him up and stood him up on the stool in front of the potty. Out it came!! He was around 21 or 22 months I guess. Since that time I have been occasionally taking him to the potty. He always tries and most of the time he goes. When he doesn't need to he stands there and "strains" but then quickly says, "I can't".

Anyways, that was a long story to get to the fact that today I decided to put some big boy underwear on him and take him to the potty more often to see how that went. He's been asking lately to put on "under pants", I really don't know where that term came from but it is funny anyhow. So, I told him he could go get a pair out of the drawer and he could wear them today. I was in the kitchen doing something and when I turned around he had a pair and they were on! He had them on the right way and he had pulled them up but couldn't quite get them over his booty! That's when I noticed he grabbed one of Jack's size 4T underwear. I recently bought the bigger size because the 3T's are getting snug on him but the 4T's are still a little saggy. But, Jace filled out those 4T's like no other! He's got his momma's curse! I had a funny thought about having to buy him 5T underwear to potty train him! Oh my!

Sweet Sayings

2009-09-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

My youngest, Jace, will be two this month. He is the sweetest little thing a mom could ask for. One night this past week I was putting him to bed, usually daddy does this, and he said, "Mommy lay by me". Cody normally tucks them in, says prayers, gives kisses, and he's outta there!! But, this was such a sweet request and I will never have these times back that I quickly agreed. He snuggled up really close. He told me, "Mommy I love you" then he said some other words that I couldn't understand with the paci in his mouth. Usually I tell him to take out the paci (which he only gets at bedtime now) when he talks so that he will correctly learn how to speak but this time I had to ask him to take it out so that I could understand him! Anyways, he repeated what he had said, "Mommy I love you, you are my best friend". My heart melted! It reminded me that I am the one they spend most of their time with and the person that has the most influence over them. It re-inspired me to "train them in the way they should go so that when they are old they will not depart from it" as paraphrased by me, I'm sure it's not an exact quote.

Jack started AWANA's this year and when he came home with his first memory verse I was doubtful that I would do as the program intended and spend time on it each day and engrain it in him. I want to be that mom who spends that entire week with lesson plans revolving around that verse. I'm not. But, I did have an idea that has ended up being wonderful for us! I wrote his verse on a neon green index card and taped it to the dash of my car. We spend a good amount of time driving here and there during the week so I thought that if we said it each time we were in the car he would have no problem with it. Well, he memorized it the first day and every day since has said it to people that we come in contact with. He even memorized the scripture reference, which isn't required until they are four!

The verse is "God loved us and sent His son" 1 John 4:10. An added benefit is Jace is saying memory verses too! Jace hears us say it so much that he 'memorizes' it and now he is going around saying, "God loves Jace, God loves mommy, God loves daddy, God loves Jacky" you get the picture. And, yes, Jace calls Jack by 'Jacky'. He's always put the y (or ey) ending on everything. I think it's pretty cute.

God's here...

2009-08-28T13:03:00.001-07:00

During the gravside burial for my Nana this past Monday, my 23-month-old son, Jace, said the most amazing thing. It was toward the conclusion of the service and one of my family members was saying the prayer. We were standing at the edge of the tent the funeral home sets up at the burial site. Jace is my loud child and says everything in Jace volume. But, he looked up at me and whispered, "God is here" and he pointed to the top of the tent where the four corners come to a point! Wow! I was jealous that my eyes didn't see, but my heart was full of faith.

Nana

2009-08-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been distracted lately due to the sudden illness and death of my grandmother, whom I call Nana. She has been battling ovarian cancer over the past year, but the chemo was stopped a few months back and she was told her "levels" were low enough that she no longer needed the chemotherapy. In May at a regular check-up she was told that there might be a mass on her kidney. She was scheduled for a procedure to put in stints to clear a blockage that might have been causing her to have kindey infections. Two days before the procedure was scheduled she ended up in the hospital. She threw up all night long the previous night and ran a temperature of up to 105 degrees. My Pop had to carry her to the car to get her to the hospital because she had become so lethargic and weak. They said she had pneumonia and she was admitted. They transferred her to Baptist so that she would be there if they decided to go ahead with the kidney procedure.

They did put the stints in her kidneys. But, then her stomach began swelling up like it would look if a person was pregnant. They ran some scans (which they didn't read for two days!) and she was scheduled for an abdominal surgery so that they could find the blockage. They took out a good portion of her intestines and said that there were spots of cancer in her abdomen (which we later found out was extremely bad, they said it would have taken them two weeks to cut out all the cancer they saw). After the abdominal surgery she never felt any better. She was diagnosed with congestive heart failure because of the fluids building up on her heart and lungs. She was transferred to the PC ICU (which is Pulmonary Care ICU) I believe on a Sunday or Monday. I was out of town that weekend and went in on Tuesday evening, which was my first chance to get to the hospital.

I visited with my Pop in the waiting room and ate dinner with him while were were waiting on visiting hours to begin. A doctor came and found him in the waiting room and told him that he wanted to look him in they eyes and say that her condition is very serious and that she is very sick. He said that there was a strong possibility that she would not make it through this. Ten minutes later I was able to go back and visit my Nana. A family friend was also there to play her instrument for her. My nana had requested that she bring it on her next visit so that she could play it for her. So, she went back to visit my Nana as well. My pop went back out to the waiting room because there are only supposed to be two visitors at a time and my aunt and uncle had showed up in the waiting room right when visitation had started, he was going to visit with them.

Our friend quitely and sweetly played her dulcimer while I gently held and rubbed my Nana's hand. She was on an oxygen mask and every now and then would get agitated with the fit or begin breathing heavy. She did this several times while I was in there. She was "in and out of it" probably due to her medication and weak state. She began another episode of breathing heavy but this time it came on rapidly and progressed further. She looked panicky, her body stiffened, she started pulling her mask out and struggling. All of the monitors began beeping and blinking. Nurses began running in yelling to get her doctor on the line. They rushed us out and asked us to wait in the waiting room.

My friend and I had to go to the waiting room and tell my Pop that something happened. He took it in and then stood up and said he was going to go back to try to get some information. He and my aunt, who is a nurse, walked back to the unit. Soon after we heard the "code blue" for her unit. When my aunt returned she was crying and said that Nana had coded and that we should begin calling everyone and tell them that they should probably come right away. We were given a small room them soon after moved to a larger family waiting room. Family began trickling in. We were not updated much on her condition except that they shocked her and got her back and that they were working on stabilizing her. They allowed visitors after what seemed like forever, but she was sedated and was intubated. This was a Tuesday night.

Over the next couple of days she made some improvements, her oxygen levels went up enough that they were forced to turn off the ventilator and extubate her. She was never the same person. They had her on very small amounts of morphine at times, but she was not strong enough to stay awake for more than a minute or less at a time and she could not speak. She was acknowledging us speaking to her and would smile or grimace depending on the conversation and the question asked. But, her body was dying. We were waiting on my uncle to get there so that all six of her children could be by her side. After his 27 hour drive (straight through from Canada) he arrived 12 hours before she passed. He and his family got to see her and talk to her for a few hours before the night arrived. They all either slept at the hospital or in a hotel across the street. Around 4:30 am the nurses called my family and told them that she was not going to make it much longer. My Pop and her six children gathered by her side and were with her when she died peacefully and without pain. Her breathing slowed to a stop.

My Nana has always been my role model in Christianity, motherhood, marriage, and many other things. She and my Pop had an extremely close relationship. They laid side by side every night and prayed, and woke the next morning to get dressed, drink coffee, then hold hands and begin their day by praying again. She knew how to love, always put others first, and saw the positive in EVERYBODY. She never dwelt on the negative in people no matter their situation. My goal is to be more like her. She influenced many people through being "the coach's wife". She was a team mom to the Ouachita Baptist University basketball team most of her life and would have been married to my Pop for 60 years this Christmas Eve.

I love you Nana

Rock-a-bye Baby

2009-08-16T17:04:00.001-07:00

So this weekend Jack and Jace have been sleeping in the same room as Cody and I while we have been away from home. They had a blow-up mattress close to our bed and did really well sleeping on it. Our alarm clock at home is typically set for around 6:00 am so that Cody can get up and begin getting ready for work. Cody prefers the beeping noise over the radio. But, this weekend, we got to wake up to music! Jace.....laying in bed.....on his pillow.....singing "Rock-a-bye Baby"! Except his song comes out more like, "rock...baby...treetop...rock...baby...treetop". Either way it was a welcome change to the 6:00 am beeping!!! Just one of those things I wanted to share and never forget!

Gift Idea

2009-08-14T14:52:00.001-07:00

As I am typing we are pulling into the great town of Lubbock, TX!! Cody's grandmother is turning 80 years old and the family is having a surprise party for her! I just had to share our cool gift that we made/bought for her.

On a list of things Cody's aunt said she needed or would like was a bird bath. I thought it would be neat to get one and have the kids put their footprints on it and turn them into little birdies! I got crafty and did it, I'm pretty proud of myself! Gotta show a pic of course! I haven't added the wings yet because I wanted it to dry a little first. Then, I will also have to spray it with a sealer. But, here it is!! Sorry they are sideways, don't know how that happened??

Hawaii 09

2009-08-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

Obviously I can't load the hundreds of pics we took while in Hawaii, and loading five took long enough, so here are a few pics of us on our vacation. We went in early May with our friends, Justin and Jennifer. We rented a jeep for the week and never put the top on! We drove the famous "North Shore", went to the Dole Plantation, went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, spent much time on the beach reading a book (mine was Twilight), and ate a lot of good food!

Photo 1: Our first steps on Hawaiian sand
2: A cool tree we found on the beach
3: Standing amoungst the red pineapples at the Dole Plantation! I was on my way to get pineapple ice cream with pineapple tidbits, yummy!
4: Live parrots in my hand, freaked out!!
5: At Moose McGillicuddy's having a great meal

I'm alive!!

2009-08-11T21:42:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's been a while! Thanks Allyson for encouraging me/us to keep up our blogs! I feel really bad for my blog, like it knew I was giving preferential treatment to Facebook or something?

So, just to catch you up: Jack is now 3 years old, we had an AWESOME Monster Truck Birthday party for him and I will have to post on that later with pics. He is incredibly loving and smart. He plays well with others, takes good care of the little ones (including his little bro), and is an all-around joy to be around. Jace, will be two in September. He is speaking full sentences, pee-peeing in the potty, and loves to Jump. Kinda random, but when thinking about him, I think Jump. But, he does pronounce it "gump". Only makes it cuter to me!

Cody and I visited the island of Oahu in early May. Hawaii was wonderful, but think I will go to Maui next time to get out of the big city and see more 'Hawaii'. I also took a trip to Destin with a friend. So, two adults, one five year old, one three year old, and one one-year old! One car, 11 hour drive, lots of movies! It was wonderful though! The boys and my friends daughter laughed and giggled the whole way! (Lexie, the five year old handed Jack a pretzel to put on his finger. She said, "With this ring I thee wed." Jack said, "With this ring, I be wetter." Hilarious!!)

Hopefully I'll get my pic of the boys changed to an updated one! It's a year old!

Zoo Day!

2009-03-07T12:09:00.000-08:00

Today was a free day at the Zoo kicking off this season. You know what free means, anyone and everyone is gonna come! And Little Rock didn't let me down! We got up this morning and hurriedly got ready so that we could be there as close to 9:00 am (opening time) as possible. We pulled up at about 8:52 and there was a long line to get in so Cody dropped off Jace and I to get in line and he and Jack went to park. As soon as Cody walked up to us in line they had opened the gates and we were close to the front. It went quickly!

We saw all the animals, got a snack, played at the playground, rode the train, saw some more animals, and then had to get out of there before we got hurt!!! By 11:00 am the crowds had turned and it was everyone for themselves! Somehow, we got out the gates but then realized it was going to be just as hard to get out of the parking lot! And, if we hadn't punished ourselves enough already, we decided to eat at Chick-fil-A down the road so that the boys could have some lunch before they fell asleep in the car. We had to park in front of the dumpster!

Oh, what we will do for our kids...........

Random

2009-02-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, so my fifth post of the night. Just catching up on some of the pics I wanted to post. The first two below are of the boys playing Ring Around the Rosie and just goofing off together. The third is Jace sitting on the potty. He starts pointing at his diaper and trying to pull off his clothes anytime the other little boys sit on the potty, so I've been letting him sit on it to get used to the potty, how cute! The fourth pic is of Jace going for a ride on daddy's back.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

The boys had a Valentine's Day party at their Mother's Day Out the week of Valentine's Day. I put pics below showing them the morning of their party. The last one is with them sitting at their table with their Valentine's for their friends as well as their candy bars for their teachers! I have so much fun with that stuff!

Happy Birthday Holly!

2009-02-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

My best friend from High School, Holly, had her 29th birthday the weekend of Valentine's Day. We graduated from Alma High, go Airedales!! Anyways, a group went to eat at Doe's in Fort Smith. Talk about a real steak, can't beat it! The pic below is: Holly, Belinda, Me, and April

Jack opening one of his Potty Presents

2009-02-23T19:22:00.000-08:00

Potty Celebration!

2009-02-23T19:06:00.000-08:00

Well, Jack is officially potty-trained! We started about a month ago and Jack got the concept of pee-peeing in the potty on the first day. Of course, he had some accidents (sorry about your floor Ashley), but he really did great. Poo-poo on the other hand took a while. But, after we caught him in the act one day and got him to do it on the potty, one week later and only 2 accidents later (both in the first two days) we think he's got it down!

We went to Chuck-E-Cheese last night to celebrate because he had opened all of his potty presents! Hooray for no more diapers! He's wearing big boy underwear all of the time. We are still putting a pull-up on him at night time and nap time, but he is waking up dry at both times.

Mommy and Jack celebrating at Chuck-E-Cheese!

Jack riding his favorite ride, the horse one of course!

Daddy and Jace enjoying the festivities as well!

Jack and his friend Lucas showing off what they got with their tickets.

HOORAY!!!!

2009-02-15T20:46:00.000-08:00

So, Jack just hit a milestone tonight, and if you don't want to hear about his first poopoo in the potty you should just stop reading now because the proud mom in me is going to tell all about it! Well, we can always tell when he's 'going' because he hides in the playroom (formally known as the dining room, who needs a family table anyways?). Well, I should say, we can always tell when he has JUST GONE. We always seem to catch him on the tail end of that act! Tonight we could tell he was about to go and we kept a close eye. He went to hide in the playroom, we caught him and took him straight to the potty, he sat there for about 5 minutes, couldn't go, got down and then the process repeated about three times! Finally I kept his pull-up off and just told him that he WILL tell mommy when he needs to go potty. You know I was watching him like a hawk then! So, sure enough I caught 'the look' and took him straight to the potty for the fourth time and he went right away!!! We had a celebration of opening a present (one out of his four poopoo presents that have been wrapped and waiting on him to go potty, getting two potty treats, and many many praises from mom and dad! He opened up a set of four play-dough tubs. He wanted to play with it right away and made a lobster out of his 'cookie cutters'. We talked all about how lobsters have claws and will pinch you. Then I could tell he was half afraid to touch the lobster again so I had to explain that it was a pretend lobster and that the real lobsters in the water are the ones that pinch! How cute! Thanks for indulging and reading this far, you are a true friend!

Have you thought of your future daughter-in-law??

2009-02-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

Thought that title would catch your attention! Most of my close friends know that I'm a proponent of the book, Preparing Him for the Other Woman by Sheri Rose Sheperd. Don't know why I thought of it today necessarily, but for some reason it was on my mind tonight during my blogging time. I am passionate about raising my boys in a way that will teach them to love God, love others, and effectively love their wives!

This book walks you through how to raise boys to be Godly men, husbands, and fathers. She gives you practical tips, by age, in each chapter. She also has a chapter about praying for your future daughter-in-law. The author began writing letters to her future daughter-in-law when her son was very young. She also began collecting things from his boyhood and saved them all in a hope chest that she presented to her on her wedding day. What an awesome way to start a good relationship!

For anyone interested here's a link to her website, www.hisprincess.com

Guns 'N Things

2009-02-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

Anyone with young boys in their home knows that little boys like to fight, kill, and defeat! An issue in our home right now (with a 2 yr old and a 1 yr old, both boys) is guns (I am speaking of play guns in this post). I don't know what the right way to handle the inevitable fact that boys like to pretend to shoot anything and everything. People have said, "Don't have guns in the house". This comment must have originated from mothers of little girls, because you don't have to have guns in the house for any little boy to shoot things. They use their hands, blocks, cars, or anything else for that matter. They have an imagination and the imagine they have a gun.

My boys have water guns in the bath tub to play with during their baths. Jack has been running around the house lately pointing it at me and saying, "Momma I'm shooting you". One reaction I have is to tell him that we do not shoot people, but that he can pretend to shoot his toys. Another reaction I have had is to tell him not to shoot mommy and ask him to find the monster and shoot it so that he can save mommy. I really don't know the answer to this one, morally or for safety purposes!

Any ideas are welcome!

At The Well - Motives

2009-02-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

Today on At The Well (www.titus2atthewell.com) we were asked to examine our motives for doing the things we do, even the good things. At first glance I thought that this was not necessarily something I struggled with. What I was thinking at the time was that I do the things I do (speaking of the good things here, not the bad) because I really do want to, not because I want to be noticed, praised, or glorified. But, even that is a selfish motive. I SHOULD be doing things for God to be noticed, praised, and glorified. I SHOULD be doing things out of the conviction of my heart which is put there by God. I have to say that I do have pure motives some of the time, but there are certainly plenty of times when I need to stop and refocus.

I would include the link, but cannot figure it out this time! I'll get it! You can find the link on the right hand side of my blog page.

At The Well

2009-02-04T20:44:00.001-08:00

I've started a new internet group called At The Well. It is a program that links women together for the purpose of being a Titus 2 woman. They post devotions 3-5 times per week with each day of the week having certain topics. Mondays are discussion days in which they have a topic and ask questions. Each subscriber posts on their blog for that day about it. I believe that Tuesdays are home-making days (some days are not devotions per say, some just have tips or whatever), Wednesdays are for raising kids, Thursdays are for marriage relationships, and Fridays I believe are for reflection and getting through the weekend (can't exactly remember). I have a link at the right of my blog if you want to check it out. It just started this Monday, so we're getting in on it in the beginning! I dare you to do it!

"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Titus 2:3-5

Valentine's Day gift for teachers/moms or whomever

2009-02-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

Many of you might have seen this in Parent's Magazine, but I am going to post this anyways. I saw an inexpensive way to give a gift to the mother of a child you keep, teacher/worker at your child's school (preschool or mother's day out as well). Anyways, you buy a regular or oversized chocolate bar and take the wrapper off. You can cut a new wrapper using printed valentine's paper or use a plain color. Before you glue it on, let your child personalize it by drawing or writing on it. Ex: "Jack is nuts over Mrs. Melanie" or something like that.

Also, I'm making rice krispie treats using the pink marshmallows and shaping them in hearts to give to the kids in Jack's MDO class. I bought red sprinkles to put on top. The Rice Krispies at Wal-Mart right now have a coupon on top for $1.00 off of any package of marshmallows which means they are about $0.30 for the entire bag! Can you see how thrifty I'm becoming???

Now Go

2009-02-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know I've been posting a lot of things that my boys say/do lately, but this one is just too precious to leave out. Side note, I am truly blessed to have a husband that bathes the boys, brushes their teeth, and puts them to bed! I use that time to pick up the house, get out pj's, make lunches for MDO the next day, etc. Anyways, Cody said that lately when he has been putting Jack in bed and saying his prayers with him that he has been asking daddy to stay with him. Cody says that he says he will stay for a minute but asks Jack to close his eyes. Jack closes his eyes and either right away, or sometimes he waits a little bit and says, "Now go." (with his eyes closed the entire time). What more could I ask for in life?

Big Boy Potty

2009-01-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

So, I started potty-training with Jack on Friday morning. I quickly realized that the potty needed to be in the living room so that I wasn't camping out in the bathroom all day long. Also, it helps Jack not to dread going to the potty and sitting there a while if he knows he's not going to miss out on anything. So, by noon He was telling Me when he needed to potty and doing it! We had a pretty good weekend with it. He's only had 2 accidents since we started and neither of them were at home, so I think he got distracted or excited and just forgot.

On the other hand, if anyone has ANY advice on getting him to actually go #2 in the potty I would definitely appreciate it! Today I went to Wal-Mart and bought four prizes for him. I brought them home and wrapped them and put them where he sees them all day. I told him that they were his prizes for when he poopoo's in the potty. So far he's pretty excited about it, but we haven't had a chance to test the theory yet. Yesterday I asked him every 15 minutes if he needed to poopoo. Every time he said no. Not two minutes after me asking him he told me that I needed to change him and he had gone in his pull-up (can't remember why I had a pull-up on him, he's been wearing his big boy underwear which is too cute).

Jack-isms

2009-01-29T19:37:00.000-08:00

Wish I could remember more, I've been cracking up lately!

We were naming shapes and I pointed to the rectangle and asked what it is. I usually says it has four corners like a square but it's really long. He excitedly exclaimed, "It's a longtangle!"
We were eating at KFC and Cody put his vegetables in his mashed potatoes to eat all together. Jack, of course, had to do it as well. He said, "I want my VeggieTales in there."
After going potty on the big boy potty he usually says, "My bobo is cold, wanna feel?"
His favorite toy lately is the screwdriver. One time I asked what he wanted to do and all I got was, "SCREW!!!!". He then proceeded to put the screwdriver up to my arm and said, "Momma I'm screwing you!".

I've got a pretty cool kid.

Can I sign you a song?

2009-01-22T18:26:00.000-08:00

During our morning routine, somewhere inbetween breakfast and me actually getting into the shower, Jace took a major spill. I didn't actually see what happened but he cried harder and longer than usual. I knelt down to hold him and console him. He wasn't settling down right away. Jack was watching what was going on and came up to Jace (while Jace was lying on my chest) and put his cheek next to Jace's cheek and said, "I will sing you a song, Jace." He then began singing...... the ABC's!! It was so precious, yet so funny! I couldn't stop laughing! Jack is so sweet to Jace most of the time!!!

Sad Day....

2009-01-21T18:59:00.001-08:00

I'm a very conservative person, politically. So, needless to say I was not in favor of Obama winning the Presidency. That doesn't mean that I was gung-ho McCain either. I just viewed him as the best candidate of the two. I really can't understand how a Christian person can vote for a Democrat, simply based upon the issues the party as a whole stands for. The major one, for me, is the pretty obvious abortion. It is just not within me to understand how anyone, much less a Christian person, can say that abortion should be legal (or a woman's right to choose should be legal, which is just a 'better' way to say they think it's ok to kill a baby). I know that not all Democrats vote pro-choice, but most do in the end.

I'm just depressed about the direction of our nation as a whole. Ok to kill a baby, but you can't lay a hand on an animal or tree! Can't pray in school when our nation was built by those who wanted a place without oppression of their religious beliefs. And now, persecuting Christian beliefs is accepted and encouraged, but you have to respect the beliefs/customs of ANY other religion. We elect a President, to make decisons for the good of our country, that thinks we should do away with the Pledge of Allegiance because it is not good for foreign relations (did not confirm this, only heard it). I really could go on for a while, but it really does depress me.

All this being said, now that Obama is the President it is my duty to quit my whining about him being elected and begin supporting the good he will do. I do believe that he can do (some) good things for our nation, just scared about the other things he can/will do.

Sleeping Safely?

2009-01-19T20:58:00.000-08:00

So, this is how I found my two year old sleeping at nap-time this afternoon. To prove he was actually sleeping, and snoring I might add, I uncovered his face and took another pic of him STILL sleeping. He was taking a nap in mommy and daddy's bed because he and his brother could not keep from talking and laughing at nap-time. I separated them into separate rooms.

New Blog Title

2009-01-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

So, the new blog title came to me today in church. The preacher was preaching from Luke chapter 5. I glanced over to the next page in my Bible to Luke 6:17 and the paragraph title was, "Blessings and Woes". I immediately thought of my blog. The verses read..."Blessed are you who....." and "Woe to you who...". I think that it's a pretty good reminder for me to not only be reminded of my blessings each time I log onto my blog, but also be reminded of those things which God blesses. And, to be reminded of the things that God warns us about because (like we spoke about in Sunday School today), "...if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Genesis 4:7(b)

I want to remember...

2009-01-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

Jack's phase of saying, "Momma, I wanna tell you a question". I ask, "You need to ASK me a question?". Jack says, "I need to ask you a question". I reply with, "What do you need to ask me?". Jack says, "................I don't know?". This happens numerous times a day!!
Jace's outrageously loud voice! Especially when he wants my attention. He yells "Momma!!"
Jack and Jace running through the house for hours at a time pushing their trucks. They're just truck kinda boys. Balls are for the birds!
Jack wanting me to watch him run fast. He asks a million times per day if I want to watch him go fast. I ALWAYS say yes and off he goes! Sometimes it's just running, sometimes it's pushing his truck...... never know what you're gonna get!
Jace trying to jump like Jack can and he always just ends up stomping one foot on the ground and grinning from ear to ear thinking that he just jumped 10 feet off the ground!
How happy Jack and Jace are when they are naked. Don't know why I don't just strip them down when we're having a rough day!
How precious Jack is with Jace. He asks him what is wrong when he is crying, gives him kisses night-night every night, gives him random hugs, tolerates him helping Jack put together a puzzle, and many more...
Jack's prayers.... When we lay Jack down at night, Jace is already in bed asleep in the same room. Never fails that if I get above a slight whisper, Jack stops his prayer and shush's me/Cody!
My boys' precious bobo's (our endearing term for bottoms)! Don't know why, but a naked little bottom gets me every time.
Could go on and on.......... Thankful to be a mom.

Cold Winter Day

2009-01-17T11:50:00.000-08:00

I love letting the boys go outside with Daddy on cold winter days! This morning they played and played outside, noses running down their faces and chins! The pic makes Jace look a little strange for some reason!

Also, I was inspired by a recent post of one of my friend's about using her dinner bell to get her kids to be excited about coming to sit down at the table for lunch and/or dinner (check out her blog by clicking on Franz Mania under the list of my friends' blogs). So, I decided to try that theory out for myself, since I had a dinner bell being stored in my closet! I hung it from my iron pot rack. The pic is below.....

Pictures!

2009-01-17T09:48:00.001-08:00

Finally I sat down and transferred my pics to the computer! Here are a few of my favorites from the past couple of months. Not too good at it yet, they ended up in reverse order!

Jace with his favorite Christmas morning treat!

All the grandkids listening to Big Daddy read the story of Jesus' birth on Christmas Eve

My favorite Christmas present!

Couldn't quite fit this one in the bag, never have been a good wrapper!

The toolbench my brother made for the boys (without all the gadgets)

The boys and I with my Nana and Pop. Nana's hair was growing back after chemo

Opening the CARS racetrack, which is the favorite toy

Jack putting the star on the top of the tree, with Daddy's help

Jack driving Jace around in "his fourwheeler" at grandpa's house in Texas

All of us at a museum in Texas

Jack and cousin Madison at the Dinosaur Exhibit of a museum in McKinney, TX over Thanksgiving

Jace wasn't afraid of them, even though they moved and made noises! One even spit at us!

The boys in their wagon at the snake exhibit! It was a big one!

The boys with daddy on grandpa's four-wheeler!

Jack would ride it all day if we would let him

2009-01-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

Today started out SLOW!! I was texting Cody by 9:45 am asking what was on the agenda for this evening. I was bored and hungry, well mostly hungry because I was bored! Anyways, I made a decision to get up and DO something! I got up and asked the kids (my two plus the other two I had today) if they wanted to color. OF COURSE they did. I got out the Aqua Doodle and also the crayons and paper. We went to town coloring! Then we got out the "dot markers", for lack of a better term, and polka-dotted away too. As if I weren't the best mom ever by that point (I'm laughing out loud!) I then decided to really get wild and crazy and get out the play dough. Our little buddy, Lucas, could not get past the fact that he thought it really was food. So, after the second red play dough between the teeth I decided that really was a little too wild and crazy for today. But, before that happened we rolled at least 15 snakes. They were mean ones too.....kept hissing and striking at me. I was lucky to survive! We had a lot of laughs and I had a lot of fun too. Funny how that works huh??

Safe to say that I didn't get anything done today around the house....but we did have a good day. Preston is really getting used to staying with me during the day and he didn't cry when his mom dropped him off, just walked right in ready to play! I finally figured out how to get him to actually eat his lunch as well. I let them watch a little bit of Cars right after lunch so he doesn't associate lunch with going straight to bed afterwards. Also, I never use the L word, I have to call it a snack so that he is excited about going to sit down at their little table! Don't know why that makes a difference, but he is ready and willing to sit at the table for a snack, but doesn't want anything to do with lunch!

Time Out

2009-01-14T18:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I just had to share the cutest thing about my little man, Jace. He's almost 16 months old now, getting so big! Anyways, when he gets in trouble I usually send him to time out now. He's been going to time out for about two months now. Before then he would go sit with Jack whenever he had to go to time out so I knew he was probably ready for his own time out spot! Ok, back to the story... So, today I got onto him for getting into an arrangement that he knows he should not get into. So, I swatted him and told him that he knows he should not do that. He started crying and sent himself to time out! He's done that a few times whenever I have gotten onto him but not told him to go to time out. It's so funny. He sits there until I tell him to get up too. It made me laugh out loud today.

Also, I get my own time out again. We started back our Wednesday morning Bibly study with other moms of preschoolers this morning. We are doing "Victoriously Frazzled" by Cindi Wood. Thought I would share today's verse, "The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still." Exodus 14:14 The lesson for today really showed me this verse in a very day-to-day helpful way. The Lord told me that when I get stressed or overwhelmed that if I would just pause to say a quick prayer that He will fight that battle right then, even if it only meant that he would give me patience, compassion, or understanding to get through that moment with peace.

I had a hot date today!

2009-01-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, maybe not so much of a date as it was a "let's meet for lunch". But, whatever it was called, it was a lunch with my husband without any kids! I had a day off today because the boys and Preston (the little boy I keep) were in Mother's Day Out and the house I was supposed to clean today got cancelled at the last minute. So, instead I cleaned out my car, got my oil changed, HAD LUNCH WITH MY HUSBAND, cleaned out a few drawers and random spots at the house, and even went to get the cute little boogers early because I found myself missing them! What a few hours alone will do!!

Christmas Blur

2009-01-05T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well, first of all forgive me that my blog template still says "Happy Thanksgiving". Not that I don't want you to continually give thanks all year round, but it's not my intent to leave it up that long!! I KNOW how to change it but can't seem to get this lovely computer to make my wishes come true. Anyways...

Christmas this year was a blur. Seems to go by faster and faster each year. I remember hearing my parents say things such as that, but didn't understand what they meant by that until I had kids. Jack (just have to know him) was not too terribly excited about Christmas this year. He is two and a half and doesn't get too terribly excited about many things. He's my laid back child. Jace, at 15 months, was still too young to understand. So, hopefully next year they will both be able to really get it and get excited about it.

We went to Cody's dad's in Dallas a couple weekends before Christmas and had their annual extended family gathering. Crazy Uncle Pat is always the entertainment for the evening. This year we added our family to the entertainment list. Somehow in trying to be a good mom I sat both of my children down in the only fireant hill on the property in an effort to try to get their hats and gloves on. Jack began riding around on a little truck of some sort and mentioned in passing that his neck hurt. He's at the age that you know he knows what he is saying but you still can't trust that he means it so Cody and I didn't think much of it. After he said it about 5 times and I actually HEARD it then I took him in the ManCave where there was light and saw that he had 3 fireant bites on his neck! I stripped him down to his diaper (mancave is a barn that is barely heated) slapping at the ants all the while. I think that Cody and I must have began to think about 'the other child' all at the same time because we grabbed Jace and began stripping him as well at the same time. Of course Jace had them in his hair, neck, arms, legs, you name it! We took them both inside, naked (or nakey as Jack says) only to find there really wasn't any medicine or cream for them. They both did amazingly well not scratching at them or crying. They got distracted by playing with the toys and were fine. I did have some spray lanacaine or something and Jace giggled every time I would spray him! That's my Jace!

On Christmas Eve the boys and I did last minute packing and baking that morning (it was a lot more frantic than that just sounded) while Cody was at work. He got off a little before noon. He came home, we did last minute things, packed up, and made FOUR stops before we could get out of town! Who can't leave town without stopping at Target, Bryant Water Dept, Gas Station, and Chick-Fil-A right? We pulled onto Gravel Ridge where my parents live in the big city of Alma around 3:30 that afternoon. We stretched, changed, then had to leave for my grandparents house there in town. We ate dinner and opened presents that evening. The boys got a home made two-sided tool bench that weighs about 100 pounds made by my brother! It sounds kinda scary, but it is really neat. My brother is a welder, so it's all steel! It is really big so they can grow into it. Jace has to stand on a stool to reach the work table. I had the idea to paint on one side "Jack & Decker" and on the other "JAce Hardware". I think it's pretty funny!

We left there around 7:00 or so to go home and get Santa's cookies and milk ready. My dad also reads the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible every Christmas Eve to the grandkids. It's pretty precious. He asks questions to make sure that they are retaining everything and is really serious about it! The kids went to bed and, as always, the adults hung a blanket on the ironing board in the hallway to deter any wandering kids during the evening! The rest of us "helped Santa" for a couple hours, took pictures of the final products, and got in bed before midnight! We had to wake up some of the kids around 7:00 am in order for them to line up in the hallway from youngest to oldest then run in and see what they got!

After breakfast we all got ready then the adults exchanged gifts. Then it was already time to prepare for Christmas lunch. After lunch we packed up the car and drove 3.5 hours to my Nana and Pop's house where we had dinner and exchanged gifts with my extended family of around 40 people! Kids draw names and adults play dirty santa. People always get upset because they're gift is not popular or someone makes fun of it or something! Traditions.....beautiful!

That night we drove home and put the kids in bed. My parents stayed with us as well as one of my sisters kids. Mom and I got up the next morning and went to clean an office building that my friend, Ashley, and I clean each weekend. Ashley met us there. Nothing like working the morning after Christmas! When we got done there we went back to my house and we all put up all of my Christmas in about an hour! It didn't get packed up as well as it came out, but it was gone! I am blessed to have such giving parents. They give me their time, money, food, blessings, legacy, etc. I can honestly say that my parents would do anything for me.

Then we waited on my sister to pass through town and we met her for lunch then all caravanned back to Alma to my parents house. Cody and I decided to go back there for the weekend. He was going to hunt (rain spoiled that plan, darn!) and mom and I were going to work on some grant-writing. We have started a 'company' for grant writing and fundraising services.

Whew! I'm tired just writing all that. I was exhausted when we came home on Sunday night. Then, we had company come on Wednesday to stay through Saturday, January 3rd! We love our friends Zack and Crystal and their precious girls Rylee, Avery, and baby-to-be!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everybody! I pray that I will be a more disciplined person, more loving wife, and more Christ-like teacher for my boys! I also pray that you and your family will be blessed so that your cup runneth over!

Catch up!

2008-12-30T22:16:00.000-08:00

Wow! I'm way behind in the blogging world! Oh, wait..... I'm way behind in the real world too! Seems to be a prevailing theme in my life! Behind in laundry, cleaning in general, fashion (what's that again?), cooking (ha!), getting to bed (it's after midnight right now), and pretty much everything else I could think of! I think I've decided that I can continue blogging, but that I cannot ready others blogs. It only serves the purpose of reminding me how good other mothers are at things and how ill-prepared I am to be a Godly teacher to my children. I'm just not a teacher at heart and those things do not come to me naturally. I don't naturally make teaching moments out of everyday tasks, situations, etc. I don't know all the catchy songs for clean-up time, being patient (thanks Ash!), and learning the days of the week (Nat).

I don't have the cutest clothes for my kids, I don't get the cutest pics taken of my kids, I don't make gingerbread houses with them (seen two blogs in the last 10 minutes with pics of theirs), I don't even get pics of my kids in the blogs! Maybe these are things that will begin to come more naturally to me as the boys get older (have to keep reminding myself they are only 1 and 2). I want to be an example to them and not just someone who tells them what they should be doing. This means I need to have my life in order. I don't have the answers, except that I need to be spending more time with God. He has the answers and He's not hiding them from me....if I spent time looking for them I know He would reveal them to me.

Illnesses

2008-11-24T19:16:00.000-08:00

Seems like it's that time of year for EVERYTHING to be passed around from snotty nose to snotty nose! Today is day 3 for Jace to have a temperature averaging 103 degrees. Doc says it's a fever virus and there's nothing to be done for it, go figure! That poor guy has been coughing and having a snotty nose for over a month now. He has been on an allergy medication which didn't help, Amoxicillin which didn't help, and today we're trying Omnicef to see if we can get rid of his upper respiratory infection. He's so pitiful laying in our laps ALL day long. I don't blame him, when I have a temperature at all I want to be in my pajamas and lay in bed all day too!

Also, my Nana is having surgery tomorrow to try to remove as much of her cancer as possible. She was initially diagnosed with ovarian cancer about 4 months ago. She has been receiving chemo treatments and has had a really tough time with them. They have decided that it's time to go in and remove as much cancer as they can. We now know that she has cancer not only in her ovaries, but also in her abdominal wall and in her lungs. Her husband, my Pop, has been sick off and on for the past couple of weeks with a fever and such. He is in the emergency room tonight (in the same hospital where my Nana is) with fever, chills, chest pain and some other scary symptoms. My family is not telling my Nana that he is in the E.R. She just thinks he's with family at a house in Little Rock and that he can't be with her because of his fever. It's so sad to watch them get old and have so much trouble. Please pray for them.

ABC's and 123's

2008-11-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

Last night Jack, unprovoked, finally put all the letters together and said his ABC's to the very end. Neither Cody nor I asked him to do it but we both noticed it was happening about half way through it. Normally I say a letter or two and he says about 5 or so and then I add a letter and he continues and so on. But, this time he did it all! The only letter he missed was 'E' but he misses that one every time. Also, the L M N O P was more like "eliminopeee", but what two year old gets it all right, right? Anyways, it was fun and we got out the video camera and did an 'update' as I call them. My updates are where I realize one day that it has been a while since we videoed the boys. So, I get out the camera and press record. I announce the date and how old each of them are and just interact with the boys. Jack did say his ABC's for the camera with a little bribery!

Quote of the Day.....

2008-11-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

I was just looking at my friends' blogs and linked off of one of theirs to another one and found this quote. Thought it was worthy to pass on, so here goes...

"Woman was created by the rib of man: Not from his head, to be thought of only, nor from his hand to be owned, nor from his foot to be beneath, but from under his arm to be protected, from his side to be equal and from his heart to be loved."

Perfect!

2008-11-09T12:44:00.001-08:00

Just some pics of the summer and Jack's first day of Mother's Day Out in September! I just got my camara fixed, so I'll actually be putting pics in my blogs now! We went to my Aunt Amanda's in Hot Springs one day this summer and had the pool to ourselves! So, the only way I could take pics was to put them in a float or on the side of the pool!

My Kids

2008-11-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I am now realizing the benefits of having my children so close together. Jack is now 28 months old and Jace is 13 months old. As I am typing, Jace is hiding in the corner and Jack keeps running up to him and saying, "Pee Pie" and Jace just laughs hysterically! They really are starting to play well together and love on each other. It's pretty fun to see one of them lay down in the floor and the other one come over to lay their head on top. They typically do not take toys from each other (but they have NO problem taking toys from other children) and they are pretty loving towards each other. Jace is extremely mobile now that he learned to walk about 3 or 4 weeks ago.

Jack is in a big learning phase right now. He recognizes letters on road signs, tells me, "Momma don't run over that tree" or car, or person, or whatever he happens to see in or next to the road. The other day Jack and I had a day alone together and we went shopping! While we were in Linens 'N Things (which the Little Rock store is going out of business) he was in the cart. I was backing up out of an aisle and he said, "Momma watch out for that lady!". There was an older lady in the main aisle behind us. She laughed and said something about how cute kids are.

Jace has an attraction to the TV remote and can always find it no matter where we have put it. I just laugh when I look down to see him "running" as best he can off to a corner or another room once he finds it and snatches it! He has started stomping his feet when he wants something. Not in a throwing a fit kind of a way, but in a getting my attention and letting me know he wants something kind of a way. It's pretty cute, I think! He's my baby and I hope to keep him that way for a while! I still rock him to sleep and as soon as I lay him on my chest to start rocking I always ask if he wants momma to sing to him. He always grunts and shakes his head 'yes'. I love it.

Halloween

2008-11-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share about the fun the boys had this Halloween. The boys are in Mother's Day Out at our church on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This past Thursday was October 30th, so they all got to dress up in their costumes and "trick or treat" around the church offices and the staff all gave them something in their bags that the teachers made for them. One of the teachers and a friend of mine, Kristen, took pics of them all and had them developed in a one hour lab so all of them had a frame with their pic in it from that day! They were adorable!

Friday Jack and I were talking about how it was Halloween and that we were going to be trick-or-treating that evening. He asked if "miss mewanie" (Mrs. Melanie) was going to be going with us. I told him that she was not, but that daddy was coming home and was going with us. He started crying and said he wanted Mrs. Melanie to go and that he did not like daddy! He's started saying that he doesn't like people lately???

Guess I should say that the boys both went as Cowboys this year. Jack wanted to keep his hat and all his gear (chaps, hankerchief, etc.) on because he was a "real cowboy". Jace threw things off faster than we could get them on him. He was supposed to be a horse, but an ebay mishap made me redirect and just do both of them as cowboys.

We went to our church Fall Fest on Friday night just in time to miss the costume contests with all his friends in it. We let Jack play for a little bit in the bounce-arounds and that sort of thing, then we left to actually go trick-or-treating. Jack enjoyed going up to all of the houses and getting candy but he wasn't actually that interested in talking to them. He just wanted to hold his bag open and have them drop in the candy, then turn and do it again at the next house! It was pretty funny. We didn't really get Jace out of the stroller to go up to the houses much. He didn't have a clue what was going on.

Hope you all had a great Halloween. It's much more fun for me now with kids!

Pigtails and Crewcuts

2008-10-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

After the boys went to mother's day out today and I was finished working, Cody and I took Jace for his first haircut! I'm pretty sure that when your little boy's hair goes halfway down his back when it's wet in the bathtub that it's time! Jace turned 13 months old today, just had that revelation as I was typing! Anyways, so we took him to a new Kid's Salon in West Little Rock called Pigtails and Crewcuts. It's the cutest little salon. They sit the kids in cars that are barber seats to cut their hair. We paid for the first haircut package and therefore got a photo of him after his cut in a really cute card that also included his first lock! We took pics and again....wish you could see them!

Sales and Slaughters!

2008-10-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

Cody is taking off of work all this week and he began his vacation early by hunting all this past weekend. So, that means that I have the boys by myself all weekend. Normally, it would have been fine.... not ideal.... but fine. But, this weekend was the Inviting Company semi-annual clearance sale!! I can't AFFORD to miss a sale! So, Natalie and I decided to hit the sale at the last minute. It opened at 9 am Saturday morning and by the time we got all four kids (yes we took all four kids to the warehouse sale) ready we made it to North Little Rock by 10:00 am. When we drove up there was no place to park in the parking lot or in front of the warehouse or up and down the street! We circled and hovered and found a front row spot! Good thing because I didn't want to haul the kids in a mile or two!

We piled out of the car and put the kids in two double strollers and headed inside. The aisles were packed with vultures! There was no room to maneuver the strollers because of the LINE of women waiting to check out! Natalie is a fierce shopper and I was not about to lose that challenge so off I went! First stop: Christmas cards to put pics of the boys in and send to friends and family this Christmas. Check! I found them within the first 10 minutes!

Second stop: Invitations for the boys' birthday parties for the next four years! Check! They had the cutest invitations that I actually planned out a few years worth of parties in my head and found corresponding themed invites! And, just so you know you don't have time to count out exactly how many you need, you just grab a stack and keep going! I could continue on with everything I got, but lets just list them instead: Valentine's for the boys to hand out for a couple of years, "We've Moved" cards for just in case, "J" stickers for envelopes of the boys' thank you notes, Christmas "to" and "from" labels, a t-shirt that actually has jace's name on it, a tu-tu for my niece for Christmas, 3 cases of Christmas paper plates and 2 cases of matching napkins, and I think that's it! And, the kicker is that I left without even handing over $25!

Oh, and I skipped over the part where we realized that the line was a 2 hour wait so Natalie took her kids and Jack to McDonald's playland for an hour while I stood in line with Jace! Wow, what an experience! Then we went to the park and let the kids play before heading home for naptime!

Saturday evening I hit Kohl's and got the boys' Christmas p.j.'s a fall shirt for Jack and three shirts for myself all under $60! 2 sales in one weekend!

On to the Slaughter portion... Cody came home late Saturday night and was upset because he had seen 3 deer on Saturday morning but did not have a necessary part of his gun (he assumes he lost it walking out to the stand). So, he WATCHED the deer on Saturday. Sunday morning we all got up and went to church, as usual. Most of the men were in the deer woods, but Cody made the decision to go to church and then go hunting that evening! I think that it paid off for him because he shot a buck Sunday evening! He called to say that he was going to be a while because he had shot one and was going to have to do whatever you do to the deer to get it ready. I decided to take the boys out to him and take some pics of them with Cody and the deer. The pics turned out great, wish you could see them! haha I'll get some up later, we're having camera difficulties right now!

Time for change... just something I want to share

2008-10-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I went to a ladies retreat tonight at my church. I got in at the last minute, but I really was excited to go. During Praise and Worship I was singing but also praying, "Lord change me.". It's a theme I've had on my mind a lot lately. I really am hungry for God's word and longing to do His work and just become deeper in my Christianity. I have been complacent for many years. I grew up in church, was "saved" at an early age, and faith comes easily for me. I don't blame God when bad things happen, I don't doubt God's plan when things happen. But, for that reason it's hard for me to be passionate in my Christianity and my walk with Christ. It's not that I don't think that dying for ME is awesome, I just have a hard time getting really pumped about it like so many others seem to do easily.

So..... anyways back to the retreat..... after Praise and Worship the speaker (whom I have heard before and really loved) began and I pulled out my outline to follow. I am one of those who is anal about filling in blanks which she spoke and laughed about! The title for our study, I noticed, was "Change...nothing catches God by surprise". It sure caught me by surprise. I thought, "thank you Lord for providing exactly what I need". I was amazed to find out that the woman in our church who orchestrated this retreat had asked our speaker to talk about Change way back in the summer! I guess I can look at it one of two ways, either it's taken me a long time to hear God telling me I need to change or He's just been planning to let me know I need to change for a long time!

I'm not great with words and I know this is a seemingly small thing, but I was moved. I'm learning that I can become passionate for Him (and therefore change) but only if I want to and also if I pay attention to the avenues He puts in my life for me to learn.

Just something I wanted to share.

I'm new at this..... as you can tell

2008-10-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the blogging desire has finally overcome me and here I am. I can't continue to just read my friends blogs and wish I had one.

Guess I should start out with a little bit of background info. My husband, Cody, and I met in college. We married before my senior year and have now been married for 7 years! We waited a while to have children, but now have a 2 year old and a 1 year old, both boys!! Jack was born June 23, 2006 and Jace came along 15 months later on September 21, 2007. Jack is the compliant and mostly laid back easy child. Jace, on the other hand, started out in this world as quite the tornado! Now that he is mobile (and may I add learning to walk this week!) he is playing better on his own and becoming as easier child.

We made the decision for me to stay at home with the boys when Jace was born. So, I have now been "at home" for a year now. They just started going to Mother's Day Out at our church on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a few hours while I earn a little money! But, no matter how much money I earn we continue to stay broke! My biggest struggle is to be content and not worry about keeping up with the Jones'. Cody is in Construction and has a degree in Construction Management. I'm not giving you a job title because I'm not quite sure what it is to be honest! He does a little Project Managing, a little Estimating, and a little bit over probably pretty much everything else. He is good at what he does and I am proud of how hard he works for our family.

I imagine that I will figure out how to make my blog look pretty and actually add pics and those sorts of things at a later date. For now this will have to do! I hope to reconnect with old friends and learn about their families and meet some interesting new people as well!