A scrambled post

I have so many things on my mind!

*I can hardly believe Christmas is 3 days away! Only 2 days until our first family gathering! I am so excited about the kids getting their gifts, and doing all the traditional things like reading the Christmas story by firelight (or maybe a fire on Christmas Eve would scare Santa?), going to the Christmas Eve service at church, warm cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. The anticipation is killing me!

*Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. I am so excited about her gift this year--I have bought the two of us tickets to see TransSiberian Orchestra tomorrow night!! She is excited--she cried when I first told her because she would have liked for Grandma to go. I hardly ever get to do stuff with just my mom, so I'm looking forward to this.

*The kids have yet to see Santa! I'm hoping we can make it to the Enchanted Forest tomorrow, and they can sit on Santa's lap. This is one thing that hasn't been a high priority this year.

*I was tallying the kids gifts last night, trying to figure out what will be wrapped, what will be from Santa vs. Mom/Dad, and I realized Claire's gift count is higher than Aaron's (because his gifts were more expensive). I may have to go find a $10 toy or something for Aaron to even it out a bit! (I think that sounds crazy, as he will get plenty of toys!! But I'm still thinking about it...)

*I also realized that Aaron thinks Santa is bringing him a big garbage truck for Christmas, but he is getting that gift from Chris's grandmother, and we won't do that gift exchange until Friday. I am really hoping he is not disappointed all day on Christmas when Santa doesn't deliver it!

*My dad is coming to visit Friday. I'm looking forward to it! He never stays long, but I'm hoping he'll stay through Saturday evening at least.

*One of my best friends from high school is getting married Saturday. I'm so excited for her, and can hardly wait to attend the wedding!

*I have so many things to cook this week! I'm determined to make some homemade cinnamon rolls, plus I have to make enchiladas for one gathering, veggie soup and salad for another gathering, and au gratin potatoes and strawberry salad for another gathering. It's a good thing I love cooking!!

Today has been fun!

This morning I was woken by the sounds of Aaron playing with blocks in his room. Chris had apparently gone in there with him to play for a few minutes before he got ready for work. Within a few minutes Aaron and Chris came to my bed to wake me up. Aaron started telling me, "Mommy! We were building a chameleon, and then we knocked it all down!"

I gave him a puzzed look. "Chameleon?" So he repeated himself. And I said, "Chameleon? That's a lizard, Aaron!"

Chris was laughing so hard and said, "No, Aaron, it was a pavilion. Like the one at the park."

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This morning we went to the library. I just love the library! I love the fact that I can read different blogs to get preschool book recommendations, go to our library website and find them, and if they are at a different library I can put them on hold and within a couple of days they are waiting for me at our library! So today they had about 6 books waiting that I had put on hold. Several of them were Richard Scarry books. Aaron just LOVES Richard Scarry! He always says, "Mommy! Read me a Scarry story!" The books are so detailed he loves to sit by himself and look at all the pictures to see what's going on in Busytown.

One of my favorite things about the library is seeing the kids pick up books that look familiar (favorite authors or stories like Curious George or Berenstein Bears) and latch on to them. Today Claire randomly chose 2 books from the shelf and brought them to me and said, "I want to read these again!" Sure enough, we had checked them out a long time ago, and apparently she remembers reading them! It probably helps her memory that we read the books approximately 30 times before we return them to the library. Unless it's a Dora/Diego book...then it's probably well over 100 times. We made it home today with probably 30 books...which is a light trip for us!

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After the library, we headed to Dollar Tree to buy items for our Samaritan's Purse Christmas boxes. Our church is organizing Operation Christmas Child and I picked up two boxes for the kids to fill. They had such a good time choosing items for the boxes--one for a boy and one for a girl.

By this time, I was very hungry, and Chick-fil-A was right across the street. So we splurged and decided to eat out for lunch. What a great decision! We saw several friends there and had a great time. Except that once when I was taking Claire to the potty she actually fell in (GROSS!) and got her shirt all wet, so I took her shirt off and had to carry her bare-chested to the van to get a clean shirt. The only one I had was one of Aaron's short-sleeved shirts but it worked! Thank goodness I had the foresight to put a change of clothes for each of the kids in the van. I need to change them out to winter clothes though--all Claire had in the van was a spaghetti strap tank top!!

Stay tuned...updates to come from one tired mama!

We have had a whirlwind several days and I have tons of blog material now, complete with funny stories and lots of cute pictures. We left Friday for a one-night camping trip, and I took over 200 pictures. Yikes! Today we spent the day at the pumpkin patch with family, and it was a blast!

So check back in the coming days--I suspect I'll be doing several updates between laundry loads and other much-neglected housework!

Love my Dapper Snappers!

If you're like me and have skinny-waisted children whose pants are always falling down, you should check out Dapper Snappers! I read about them back in the spring and ordered one. I have loved it! It's like a half-belt that's only in the back. So there is no unbuckling or struggling with a too-tight belt when going to the potty.

Now that Claire is in panties, her pants are not staying up at the waist! So I let her try out Aaron's navy Dapper Snapper and it worked great for her. I just ordered a pink and beige one to get me through the winter months with my skinny children. And hopefully I can avoid the pricey adjustable waist pants and can make use of the hand-me-down pants that both of the kids have gotten.

The neat thing is, the product was invented by a mom and she's started up this neat little business. I think that's just awesome! I wanted to tell my friends about it to help her out a little!

My twin hooligans

Lots of things on my mind today!

• Today we went to Walmart. The kids were holding hands in the parking lot, and Claire was such a cute sight with her Pebbles ponytail, flowery skirt, and pink Dora sunglasses. A couple of ladies were awwwwing at them, and the older one asked, "Are they twins?" No, they're two years apart. Really? Twins??
• Claire is doing AWESOME at her potty training. She loves to wear her underwear and we've started venturing out of the house with it. I went to the Dollar Tree today to stock up on little prizes for pooping in the potty, as that is our next hurtle. She has done it twice in the last 3 days, once for a chance to play a computer game, and again today for a chance at earning a new doll bottle. I think it's just a matter of finding the right reward! Score!
• Last night we invited our neighbor over at the last minute to help us eat some kabobs I had made. I told the kids before he got there that they needed to be good during dinner--don't be too loud or messy, and don't interrupt when the grownups are talking. They did amazingly well!! Toward the end they got a little loud and talkative, but it was okay. Our neighbor even gushed about how well behaved they are. I couldn't help but beam with pride--and wonder why they act like hooligans at other times.
• Speaking of hooligans, today I was on a work-related phone call and the kids got so loud with their screaming and fighting that I had to retreat to my bathroom (behind two closed doors) to finish the call. Needless to say they got a stern talking-to and spankings when I got off the phone. Why oh why do I even try to take those calls when they are awake?
• We still need to sell our car. Anyone interested? It's a 2003 Saturn L200 in great condition. Pass the word if you know of anyone looking for a car!

Oh how I love Nutella

Have you ever tried Nutella? I promise this entry is not at all sponsored by Nutella, but if someone from Nutella is reading and wants to send a lifetime supply my way, I won't object!

Nutella is a wonderful chocolate hazelnut spread. It's like peanut butter, but waaaaaaayyyyy better. Chocolate. Hazelnuts. Can you say YUM?? My kids love it too. We had some on toast today after lunch, so I felt inspired to share the Nutella love and list my top 10 ways to eat Nutella. These are really in no particular order.

10) On toasted whole wheat bread.
9) With a spoon.
8) On a toasted English muffin.
7) With sliced apples!
6) In a thin crepe with sliced bananas.
5) On a knife. Meaning, I lick it.
4) On a toasted bagel.
3) On bread with peanut butter. As in PB&N.
2) With a spoon. Did I mention that one already?
1) On strawberries.

I hope you will enjoy the Nutella goodness today!

A catch-up blog

I have so many things I've been wanting to blog about, but no time! I know all you fellow bloggers can relate!

*We are up to our ears in the fall consignment sale right now! Working on this sale is so much fun, so I don't mind being at the church until midnight! (Chris begs to differ...) We have such an amazing team of people--everyone with different talents and abilities, and it is just amazing to see it all come together. Plus, I'm about to get some really great deals on stuff for the kids!

*The sale has been a great distraction from Grandma's passing. It is still so surreal to me to think that instead of being at work right now, or running errands, or sitting in her chair at home, her body is in a grave. I cannot believe she is gone. Okay, I have to stop talking about it now or I will cry again.

*I am now a mini-van mama! This deserves a post in itself. Last night Chris and I picked up a Dodge Grand Caravan I had been eyeing on Auto Trader. I went to look at it with the kids yesterday in the RAIN and we went back last night and bought it--again--in the RAIN! I will post pics soon. The kids and I are so excited!

*Does anyone want to buy an '03 Saturn L200? My dad was going to buy it but I found out this afternoon that he can't. Bummer. I know God will provide!

*Claire saw a yellow corvette in the dealership we went to yesterday, and I eyed the price tag--what a steal at $69,999! Aaron was looking at it with a grin on his face, and I said, "Do you want Mommy to get the yellow car?" Claire said, "But it doesn't have any handles!" The door handles were built into the edge of the door and she couldn't see them! It cracked us all up! Maybe you had to be there...

Okay, that's enough of a brain dump for today!

Garage Sale Fun!

I know you're all dying to know how the garage sale went. It was fun, and quite successful!

We spent a few hours Thursday night getting it all organized. My garage was JAM PACKED with stuff. It was overwhelming and amazing to see all that stuff. And sad--whoda thunk we had so much stuff in our closets and attics?

Saturday morning we were in the garage by 5:45 getting everything out...and had customers by 6:30! The morning flew by and we had a great time, laughing at the funny things customers would buy. There was this one glass speckled-y looking fish that Christi joked she would pay someone $1 if they decided to buy it. She chickened out when someone actually wanted it pretty early in the day--but she couldn't help snickering when she took the lady's quarter! It was funny because the lady was pretty excited about it.

We had fun haggling with people--I told Christi, "Say we have it marked $5, and they offer $3. Even if $3 is okay, say -- 'How 'bout $4?' and they almost always take it!" It was fun to see that work!

Toward the end of the morning we started making sales pitches on some items we really didn't want to hang on to. One girl was buying my purple shoes that I wore in a wedding, so I pointed out the dress they matched and managed to get them to buy that one and two other dresses! One lady was looking at my Mardi Gras masks and feather boa, and I made sure she knew I bought those IN New Orleans, so they were "authentic". She just laughed! It's true though!

We finished at 11:30, just as it was starting to storm. We made over $550, divided between Christi, me, and three other family members. I came out of the deal with a whopping $65, but it's good considering I didn't really have all that much stuff in the sale (most of it was Christi's). Most of my stuff was marked $.50 or $1, with a fewer higher priced items thrown in there. I can find something fun to do with an extra $65, for sure!

A Random Brain Dump

I have been crazy busy lately and I have so many thoughts swirling in my head. I thought y'all out there in cyber-space might want to know what's going on in my life. Yeah, right...but humor me, okay?

***Aaron's been in swimming lessons this week! He's having a blast. I think he might have a small crush on his teacher, Casey. He gets so giddy when he sees her! He's learning to use his ice cream scoops (his hands), how to kick in the water, how to go under, jump off the side, front and back float, and more! I don't expect he'll be swimming on his own at the end of this class, but he's already way more comfortable with water in his face. I hope to get some pictures of him at his lessons next week.

***I am in the midst of preparing for a garage sale! My sister-in-law and I decided pretty last minute to do a garage sale at my house on Saturday. She is getting ready to list her house for sale and I just have alot of junk. I'm serious--ALOT of junk. I think I might actually sell my prom dresses in this garage sale. Seriously--from 1995-1997...I have all my dance dresses! Think I could get a quarter for them? I'm also thinking now might be a good time to throw out the shoeboxes full of notes I passed with my girlfriends in high school. Yeah...I'm a dork and somehow those have stayed with me all these years. Under an inch of dust I'm sure. I wonder if someone would pay a dime for my box of notes?

***Claire's birthday is Monday! She has decided on a Pinkalicious birthday party with family. I'm excited about her gift, because since I got the playhouse for free, I had money to spend to buy her some of her favorite books that we usually check out from the library over and over again. She's getting Pinkalicious, Rattletrap Car, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Pete's a Pizza, To Market To Market, and a couple of more I can't remember at the moment. She's going to love it!

***We are in the midst of redecorating Chris's grandmother's house. Since his grandfather passed away in November, she has been going through the grieving process. I think she is at the point of wanting everything to be new, so this house she's lived in for 50 years is getting a makeover! My sister-in-law and I are making the decorating decisions, and Mammaw is having so much fun. We picked out new colors for all the rooms (they used to all be white!), and the paint job is done. We've picked out new carpet and linoleum, the hardwood floors in one bedroom have been exposed and are being refinished, she's getting all new living room furniture, and more. It's crazy how much the house is changing and how great it looks already! We are so happy to help her out with this. It's alot of fun. But making all the decisions makes me realize how crazy hard it would be to build my own house. Picking out every little detail would drive me bonkers!


Okay, how's that for a brain dump?

In a funk...

I've been in a bit of a "funk" the last week. I can't really put my finger on what the problem has been, but I've just been in a very melancholy mood. I haven't been able to get excited about anything really, and I've just been in my own little world. I think I have mostly been overwhelmed by how behind I have felt in so many areas of my life.

First, the house feels like it is closing in on me! The latter part of the week I spent some concentrated time tackling piles. I am a piler! It drives me nuts so I can't figure out why I do it. I tackled a the microwave cart, the counter next to the garage door, the sofa table in the living room, our bedroom dresser, and my closet. Whew! I am embarassed to admit that I also just tackled a pile of the children's clothes which I had decided not to consign in the spring, either because it was too worn or stained or because I just decided I wanted to hang onto it. The pile of clothes has been on the bench in our bedroom since late February--how bad is that??? But now that I have tackled all of these piles, I have two bags of clothes to donate, and a pile of stuff to put in my "garage sale" box in the attic. I am feeling so much more put together!

I have also had trouble getting motivated to wake up earlier than the kids to spend time in the Word this week. Most days this week I just slept until they woke me up. My whole day feels behind when I do that, and I don't get any time to myself. My desire this week is to wake up before them 4 out of the 5 days this week! I'm thinking that my earlier organizing will give me a little boost so I don't feel quite so behind and I can sit with the Lord with less on my to-do list.

I also have a couple of things the Lord is telling me to do but I can't figure out exactly how to do them. One is to put together a women's Bible study for the summer. I'd like to have the group be a small group of women from all stages of life--I've come up with the name "Mixed Bag". But I can't figure out what book we should read, or who all to invite without hurting the feelings of others. I also can't figure out how to fit it into my schedule.

I am incredibly behind with work and it seems the more hours I work, the more projects I get, so the further behind I get. Not sure yet what to do about that!

So if you made it this far, thanks for reading. Just getting this off my chest feels good!

Have you heard of Google Reader?

Do you like reading blogs? I do! I'm pretty new at it, but the more I read and the more blogs I find, the more it was becoming cumbersome to check a long list of blogs in my favorites folder. Knowing there had to be something out there that could read the "feeds" coming from the blogs, I started looking around, and I found it--right on my Blogger page! It's called Google Reader. It's like an inbox for websites--not just blogs, but that's what I'm using it for right now. Most blogs give a feed (I figured out that password protected blogs do not), and all you do is "add a subscription" on your Google Reader page by putting in the web address of the blog, and bingo! All you have to do to check all your favorite blogs is go to the Google Reader page and it will show you which blogs have new posts to read.

Here is what it looks like:


And now that you have some time freed up (because you're not checking all these blogs that haven't been updated!), here are some fun new blogs I've found to subscribe to. These are just random ladies who apparently have a pretty big reader base, and they are very fun to read!

Big Mama Blog - I particularly like her Fashion Fridays posts--heaven knows I need some fashion advice!

Lifenut - I haven't read alot of her posts, but from what I've seen she's pretty funny!

Lots of Scotts - This is one of my favorites--it's the triplet mom blog I referred to last week.

Mocha with Linda - This lady is about as new to blogging as I am, so I am inspired by her good blog! The book she reviewed in today's post looks really good!

No Time for Flashcards - This mommy is a former preschool teacher who is so devoted to doing fun activities with her child, and she shares her ideas! She even videos herself singing silly songs to go along with the activity.

Rocks in my Dryer - I love this blog and can't wait to read more of it. I love her "Works for Me Wednesday" posts.

Yes, and So Is My Heart - This lady's hands are full with three small children, but her heart is full too--and she shares lots of funny and touching stories on her blog.

Okay, here's the deal--if you find more fun blogs, please post them in the comments! I don't like it when my Google Reader says "No unread items" so I think I need to subscribe to more. Also if I'm subscribed to your blog, please post often. Because all I need is more stuff to read so that my laundry and housework gets further behind.

And I'm going to do my best to be a better blogger--I was challenged this weekend through a few things I read to use my blog as a way to inspire others, so I'm praying that this can be an outlet to share things about my kids AND things the Lord is teaching me. And usually those go hand-in-hand.

Babysitting and Graduation

Today was graduation recognition day at church, and I was amazed at all the little kids I once knew who are high school seniors! Several that I used to babysit when I was in high school are actually about to go off to college and be real live adults. Last Tuesday one of them babysat for me...and it was weird when I realized that I babysat HER when she was about six. I thought--what if Claire ended up babysitting her kids in about 13 years? All of this makes me feel really old, and I'm not even 30 yet! And I am definitely not ready to have a teenager who can go babysit other kids!

Tagged!

Wow, I've never been tagged before! What an honor! Thanks, Woodman!

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm...1998....

Chris and I were in our first few months of dating. He was living at home with his parents, doing a semester of co-op work, while I was finishing my second semester of my freshman year at MSU. We were doing the long distance relationship thing, so I pretty much came home every weekend to see him!

I was also busy busy busy raising support for my upcoming summer mission trip to Panama City Beach. I had to write and send letters, organize my support, send thank you cards, etc. What a fun summer that was!

The music that was popular in 1998?
Like Woodman, I listened to alot of Christian music. I don't really remember what was popular...that was a long time ago! I do vividly remember nearly memorizing the words to "Getting' Jiggy Wit It" by Will Smith. That was our SONG at PCB that summer! I remember some Caedmon's Call songs, like "Bus Driver". Of course Titanic music was popular--I remember Chris and I went to see it in the theater at the end of 1997 so at some point that next year I remember my roommate getting the soundtrack.

Five things on my to-do list today:
Well, I'm actually pretty laid-back today. Aaron went to spend the day with Chris's grandmother, so I only have Claire. My list today has been:

1. Buy birthday gifts for upcoming birthday parties we will be attending. CHECK!
2. Sweep the floor. Not done yet.
3. Work during Claire's nap. CHECK!
4. Play with Claire. CHECK! Will do this more when she wakes up.
5. Wash everyone's sheets. I do this every Friday. I haven't started yet--need to get on that!

Five things I'd do if I were a billionaire:
Wow, I can't even imagine. Life would be so different.

1. Buy my grandma a house closer to me. I'd probably buy myself a larger house with a mother-in-law wing for Grandma to live in.
2. Buy a bigger vehicle. I'm thinking mini-van, but geez, if I had a billion dollars, maybe I'd get something nicer...I don't really know!
3. Give lots of money to missions.
4. Create savings accounts for the kids' educations.
5. Have lots of dinner parties--I love being a hostess and cooking!

Five bad habits:
Do I have to?

1. Biting the inside of my lip when I'm thinking (I'm doing this now!)
2. Procrastinating. For example, I should have swept the floor and started the laundry this morning, but I've been putting it off.
3. Yelling. Yes, from time to time I lose my patience and yell. I'm not proud of it.
4. Oversleeping. I have a HARD time waking up in the mornings.
5. Leaving piles of stuff laying around. I'm a piler. It drives Chris crazy. Sometimes I clean up my piles and it feels so good!

Places I've lived:

1. Olive Branch, MS
2. Starkville, MS
3. Memphis, TN
4. Hattiesburg, MS
5. Greenville, MS
Wow, I haven't really ventured out, have I?

Five jobs I've had:

1. Cashier at Piggly Wiggly. I did this for 3 weeks just to get enough money to buy a few outfits before I started 10th grade.
2. Data entry clerk for a returned check collection agency. I keyed in bad checks!
3. Front desk clerk at a hotel in Panama City Beach.
4. Teller at a bank, during college. I really liked this job.
5. Systems Analyst for a collection agency. The same one I worked for in high school, only by the time they hired me out of college the company had grown and was doing medical collections. I still work part-time for them.

And how could I leave off my favorite job? MOMMY!

I want to know more about (it's a nice way of saying TAG!):

1. Leigha
2. Allison
3. Samantha

Thanks for reading!

I found the missing K!

I know you've been so worried since my post about the missing K...so I thought I would let you know I found it! It was in the drawer in my bathroom. Of course it was, because that is where K magnets are supposed to be when they are not on the refrigerator or in the kitchen floor.

So glad that is settled. You can resume your normal life now.