Pink toes

Did I ever think I would paint my daughter toes? Did I ever think I would be a Mom of two little girls? WOW! Does this ever happen to you? Something so simple just hits you in the face, like pink painted toenails? In my mind I am in awe of the wonder of them. So much of what I do as a Mom they watch and copy. Kind of scary, aww heck, who am I kidding it's very scary! Grace has come into a fascination with toenail polish and since the temps are warmer, she's been noticing her Mom trying some on. She has her own but have you ever noticed that the kids polish chips off easily and so quickly. Of course it could be all the running, sliding, jumping and scooting they have to endure.

She begged me today for this. I obliged. Honestly I have to say it was fun. It wasn't long before Sarah asked too. Grace says she loves the pink and Sarah thinks they are "bootiful." She even said it tickled when I put it on.

This is just one of the ways they copy me, but it is a reminder that they are watching and listening closely. Sometimes I need that reminder. God gave it to me in the form of nail polish today.

4.30.09

Teach your kids about food - dont' just feed them.

- Cindy Yergler

Grace moment

After dinner I usually make Grace's lunch for the next day. We have this game we play, we put it together and usually put in a treat. It could be a cookie, a piece of candy, something special and sweet for her to enjoy at school. In doing that we always keep it a secret. Tonight we played it up, taking from the sugar cookies we made the other day. She knew she was getting a cookie, but didn't know which shape it would be. I snuck it into her lunch bag making this big production of it all, Daddy helped of course. She was hooked, asking over and over what it was. We told her it was surprise and she would have to wait until tomorrow at school. We thought we had heard the end of it. Not so. Tonight as we both tucked her in, she reached for her Dad and whispered, "Can you tell me what cookie Mommy gave me?" His reply, "I can't tell you that, Mommy might get me if I do." Little stinker. She is more and more like her Mom, lacking in patience.

Oh and btw.... it was the ice cream cone shaped cookie. Shhhh, don't tell :-)...

Guilty to clean, to survive, to be a Mom.

Okay so I'm caught! You got me. Actually Grace did. I let her loose with the camera and found these taken of me, without my crutches. At this point in my recovery I should still be using at least one of them to get around. I have found however that I like not being restricted by them, especially around my house when things need to get done.

I admit it, I am guilty...

Guilty of wanting to clean. Here I am, picking up the play room. No crutch.

Guilty of surviving. Diaper changes have been on the floor since the accident by necessity. See a crutch?

Guilty of being a Mom, on my knees, tucking Sarah into her nap. Again, not a crutch in sight.

I'm being careful, still taking it slow. I have to say it feels good, not the cheating part but the indpendence I'm slowly getting back too.

Shhhh.... don't tell my doctor. He wouldn't understand :-).

PoTD 4.29.09

This morning after dropping off Grace at school we headed to our usual tire store. The Quest needed the tires to be rotated and an oil/lube job. We made this a semi family affair with Daddy tagging along to take care of the needs of the car while Sarah and I went to a local consignment shop to get some summer clothes, primarily for Grace. This is our stash. 24 articles of clothing for $80.00. Everything from pajamas to Sunday dresses, we got what we needed and all at a much better price than I could have found in any other store. I am very happy with the choices and the price tag! Now I can't wait to share with Grace, she loves new clothes ;-).

4.29.09 MTD

Maturity is a process and part of the process involves your willingness to gradually and continually enlarge the territory of your child's choices.

- Kendra Smiley

4.28.09 MTD

It seems to me I've spent my life in carpools, but that's how I kept track of what was going on.

- Barbara Bush

4.27.09 MTD

Consider owning a "Celebrate!" or "You're Special!" plate for those meals when you want to honor a family member or guest.

- Emily Hernandez

Not your ordinary Easter cookies

This morning we made cookies. I purchased the already rolled out sugar cookie dough from Pillsbury, it is a mother's dream come true! Anyway, I purchased it to make bunny cookies for Easter. Well that didn't get done like I had hoped. So instead we made them today, almost 2 weeks later! Good grief Charlie Brown!

I gave the girls their instructions. Pick 3 cookie cutters each from our bin, whichever ones they wanted, no theme here.

They chose: acorn, tulip, mermaid, easter egg, butterfly and ice cream cone.

Then I collected all of the sprinkles we've accumulated over the holidays. We had Valentines, Christmas, Halloween and Easter sprinkles. They excitedly went to work decorating them.

Needless to say, we had alot of fun making Halloween tulips and Christmas butterflies. We had a few good giggles over our crazy creations. The possibilities were endless and it was a great way to clean out my cabinet. They love how they turned out, very creative.

February's 365

Here's February's 365. Enjoy.

MTD 4.26.09

Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted... Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 The Message

Things of the day

We were at the table eating lunch and Art asked me to put bug spray on our Wal-Mart list when Sarah says very matter of factly, "Bugs don't pray Daddy!" We all laughed at that one. So of course she kept saying it the rest of the day to get us to laugh again and again.
Today I've been walking with only one crutch most of the day! I have found some freedom in it. I got so much done but I'm sure I'll pay for it tonight. I think I'll be taking a Motrin before bed. I got so ambitious I even picked up Sarah while standing and held her. She had a boo-boo that needed consoling. Felt good.
Tonight I went to open the vent in her room around 9:25 p.m. She was still awake. She turned over and made her pouting sound and I caved. She wanted to rock. So we rocked in our chair for a little while and before I knew it, she was out. It has been a long time since that has happened. I guess I had the touch tonight. I even walked her to her bed and laid her down, didn't really have a choice. It felt really good.

MTD 4.25.09

Enjoy the little things with your children. One day you'll look back and realize they were the big things. - Jan Kwaisgroh

Kinder prep

Today was all about preparing for Kindergarten.

First we went to have Grace's Kindergarten screening with the school district. She went into the other room as I watched through a window. I sat and watched and it hit me, I will soon have a kindergartner! I sat there looking at her, thinking "how did this happen?" And truthfully tears came to my eyes. My little baby was no more, in front of me was a big girl, growing up too quickly. WOW! I wiped the tears away and went in when I was called to find out she had done really well in the screening. I was a little worried Grace would clam up for the screener but she did great, surprising her mom once again. So proud of my girl.

Our second stop was at our optometrist. We had her eyes checked. Her favorite part was wearing these glasses, that was pretty cool she said. As you can see she had fun with them. Again, she passed.

Overall, busy day. Good day. Healthy day for my girl. She is ready for her first day.

Third and final stop was our pediatricians office for a sound check. Her ears were good, yeah!

Uggghhh! I wish I was.

I let her loose with my camera as I finished things up with the doctor and this is what I found on my camera. Of course BARBIE! She thought it was cool they had Barbie glasses. I was glad she didn't need them :-)

75% when I should be 50%

My doctor told me that at this point with wearing the boot I should be putting 50% pressure on my foot. Okay, got it!

Last night before bed I noticed one of my crutches was off balance from the other. In taking a closer look I found that the center of the rubber foot was wearing off. Art took a look at it and said he would run to Walgreens early in the morning and pick up a replacement. I woke up, started getting ready to get Grace to her kindergarten screening at 10:00 a.m. Art got back from the store but realized the sales clerk had given him the wrong rubber feet. Ugghhh. There was not time to go back to the store and make it to our appointment. My only choice was to go with one crutch. So I practiced at home for a very short period. It was slow going but I knew I had to do it, I couldn't cancel this appointment a second time, we had to be there. My biggest challenge was any stairs, I had to stop and think it through and make my feet work. If I keep most of my body weight on the back of my foot it is doable, but slow. So I went from 50 to 75% overnight! All I can say is that I am a Mom and I had to adapt to the situation to be that Mom. It also forced me to do it which is probably good since I am a little chicken to the pain :-).

We got there, early and without any issues getting in and out. I actually enjoyed having one hand free. Wow this is great. Now, hopefully my foot will cooperate and not keep me up tonight throbbing.

MTD 4.24.09

Children may close their ears to advice, but they keep their eyes open to example!

-Edwina Patterson

Day in the Life 4.23.09

I took a challenge I recently read about in a magazine and documented a day in my life.

This is how the story goes...Typical morning, dashing out the door to get Grace to school.

Going to Target, had to get a picture of the "big red circle" my girls love to climb onto.

One goal here, to buy summer clothing for Grace, they were calling for a high

of 83 degrees today.Came home and watched Sarah play in the sunshine. She decided to pick grass and collect it in her bucket. Simple but so much fun for my toddler.Letting my foot out of the boot, getting some sunshine and much needed Vitamin D for those broken bones :-)Girls lunch out. Sarah and I went to McD's. A special treat since Daddy was having lunch with a recruiter. Proof of lunch. Sarah was so excited to get her own happy meal.We took the long way home after enjoying the outdoors and our lunch. We drove some of the curvy back roads and took in the beautiful dogwoods that are blooming right now. You could see the white in the midst of the woods. Awesome. I had to stop and enjoy this. Beautiful day, beautiful sky. Everything green around me. Old country road. How can you not believe in God after seeing something like this?Racing to pick up Grace from pre-school. Windows down, breathing it in.Got the happy girl from her fun day. I love to see that smile after a day of missing it.The toy my girls fought over today. It's usually something new each day. Today it was chicken. A start to summer clothes for Grace. She was so excited to try things on. Our night was spent getting Art to church to attend the Town Hall Meeting for Hope with Dave Ramsey. The girls and I went to a friends house and hung out while our hubbies were there. I didn't get any pics of my time at Jonica's house but that's okay, it was relaxing and fun to just sit and talk with her. Thanks Jonica. Girls to bed. Ate a bowl of my favorite cereal while checking on FB and blogging.

This was fun. It helped that the day was glorious weather wise.

It was a good project to get my mind off of "life things."

So farewell April 23rd. Goodnight John boy.

4.23.09 MTD

The average toddler laughs 400 times per day - the average adult, 16. Laugh like a toddler!

- Mary Byers

Project 365 January

I thought I would share my Project 365, starting off with January. Project 365 is... I take a picture each day, for a full year and journal about it. It's a creative way to remember 2009. My hope is that when my girls look back at their younger years, they will get a glimpse of themselves, their Dad, their Mom and what shaped them at that point in their lives. I hope they enjoy this time capsule.

Let's start at the very beginning...

Sarah's house

Sarah brought her babies to me today saying that they weren't sharing. We both talked to the babies and explained how important it was to share. We carried on a conversation with them for quite awhile and when I thought she was done, she proceeded to put her babies in our time out corner. The whole time she was doing this she kept saying, "You go to time out babies, 'cause you not share." I had to snicker (and get a picture of course). Out of the mouth of babes. The babies were in time out for a short period and now they have moved onto a tea party. Never a dull moment in Sarah's house :-).

PoTD 4.22.09

I like to think of myself as a fairly organized person. I think we all are to a point. There are certain areas in my house that would tell another story. Such is our junk drawer. Hopefully I'm not the only one who has one of these.

This is located in our kitchen, next to the desk and it is a catch all of sorts. It has the fundamental things in it like scissors, tape, rubber bands, stapler etc... It also has princess tatoos, spare luggage tags, velcro strips, measuring tape, outlet and door covers. Right now it is a mess. I clean this out every 3 months or so, or when I get tired of moving things around in it to get it closed.

This is my picture of the day (PoTD). It's not perfect, just a mess. A little bit how my life feels right now. But with my help, I can clean it out, organize and put back what is needed. Much like my heavenly father will do with me. He will take away the worry, the fear, things I don't need and in return clean me up, give me peace and send me on my way. What a blessing it is to be cleansed, everyday is a new beginning in him.

4.22.09 MTD

I remember when my own mother taught us how to greet guests. Before opening the door to greet a guest, she shut off the television. - Pam Farrel

Fell asleep with my makeup on...

Have you ever done that? Been so tired that you didn't care. That was me last night.

Life hit us hard yesterday, seems to be doing that alot lately. With each new hit I have been able to find some peace in knowing we are not alone in these hardships. God is so good, I know this. I also know that no matter what, this family I have will go on no matter the circumstances. My love and devotion to Art is forever, never changing, I would follow him anywhere. My love for my girls is one of those gut wrenching, deep in my soul loves that I would give up my life for theirs.

Yesterday could have easily been one of those "I want to crawl into my hole" days. Instead I pulled myself together, did alot of laundry, made lunch and got the girls ready for dance class. On the way home from dance I was listening to a random cd in the car. God speaks to us in different ways, one big way for me is through Christian music. One of the old hymns I grew up knowing came on, 'Anywhere with Jesus'. They lyrics are -

Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go

Anywhere he leads me in this world below

Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade

Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid

Anywhere, anywhere ...any little fear I'll never Know

Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go

Anwhere with Jesus, I am not alone

Other friends may fail me, he is still my own

Tho' His hand may lead me over dearest ways

Anywhere with Jesus is a house of praise

Anywhere with Jesus can go to sleep

When the darkest shadows round about me creep

Knowing I shall waken nevermore to roam

Anywhere with Jesus will be home, sweet home

Any little fear I'll ever know, Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go!

Wow! It was just what I needed to hear to encourage me to move forward. My hope is in you Oh Lord.

4.21.09 MTD

God wouldn't have given you the children you have if He didn't think you could do the job.

- Rick Hardison

4.20.09 MTD

Your kids don't need a perfect parent, they need an authentic one.

- Todd Cartmell

4.19.09

Far too often we spend most of our time pulling weeds in the garden of our children's lives instead of fertilizing the flowers.

- Ken Davis

Purging

Well it's late here, almost 11:00 and I'm still up. Doing what you might wonder? Dinner meal planning. I know sounds crazy but I've found that over the last month our grocery budget has gone up beyond the usual. This disturbed me but I know the culprit. ME! Me going down and breaking my foot has put us into survival mode and with that comes the lack of meal preparation and winging it. This led to impulsive buys or eating out to make things easier on us. I'm not blaming Art on this either, he's done a superb job for what he's been thrown.

So with that said I am taking over the meal planning hoping to purge the pantry and the freezer. My plan is to finish out the rest of April and into May using up my pantry and freezer foods and only purchasing the essentials like milk, eggs, fresh produce etc...

I had thought I would start using my slow cooker again and preparing those fun recipes from my post on 4.13.09. But after looking at what I had and my budget, it was clear I needed to follow through with what I had first.

I'm a big fan of making big portions the first time and then freezing. We love leftovers (LO) at our house, it makes things super simple on busy nights. I'm using up those LO's in this meal plan.

After taking inventory of everything, here are our meals, minus Monday meals since we are gone those nights to dance, it's always a rushed simple meal, pb no j is a favorite at our house ;-). Anyway here it is.

4.19.09 Spinach pesto ravioli with chicken
4.20.09 Monday night mayhem!
4.21.09 Hamburgers
4.22.09 Powered up Pizza
4.23.09 LO baked Ziti
4.24.09 Chicken Tacos
4.25.09 LO Lasagna
4.26.09 Spedini
4.27.09 Mayhem!
4.28.09 LO Spanish Rice
4.29.09 BBQ Chicken Wings
4.30.09 Turkey breast
5.01.09 Mahi Mahi
5.02.09 LO Chili
5.30.09 Lasagna

My hope is to get back some of the money we over spent on last months grocery bill. I'm going to try my best and follow through, keeping track of my savings. It's what we have to do these days, biggest bang for our bucks!

Look in your pantry and fridge and take the challenge, see how you can save your family money.

Perfect princess afternoon

Today Grace and I went to a Cinderella Tea with some friends of ours. This is our second time at this particular tea and it was so much fun sharing it with friends this time. Grace and her classmate will be talking about this for days. She made her own crown, completed with a purple marker and many jewels.

We had yummy treats with our tea, Grace's favorite was the cake. I loved the strawberry.

Here she is with Cinderella. We also met Prince Charming and the Fairy God Mother who all autographed her dance card.

Everything was princessy and perfect.

4.18.09 MTD

Raise children who do the right things for the right reasons. - Lisa Whelchel