Red Shoes

Relocating to www.hannahsredshoes.com

2011-01-24T23:26:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, my husband as built me another website where I can blog and post my little pleasures to sell. It is now finished. So this is the last post on this blog. To continue following my and my family and our stories, please visit hannahsredshoes.com I hope to see you there!

New Year Goals

2011-01-24T12:14:00.000-06:00

I don't like the word resolution because it sounds like something that I won't do. But if it is a goal, then that sounds more positive! So my goals for this year are:
1. Finish the many books that I have started. Which are North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, To Kill a Mockingbird, Mission of Motherhood, to name a few. I have a habat of starting a book with the intention of finishing it, but since I am such a slow reader, I don't finish in in a timely fashion, and then another book comes along. I have been reading North and South since before I was pregnant! I remember trying to make headway in it in the spring of 2009 before Israel was born! I MUST finish it this year.

2. I would like to play the piano more. I teach piano, but don't play much myself. I would like Israel to grow up seeing the piano played and not just used as decoration most of the time.

3. Finish my piano certification. I have to have everything turned in By May 2nd. So this in not an option. But it is still something that I have dragged on for the past 5 going on 6 years, that I just need to get done. Then I will have the burden lifted.

4. I would like to go to Boston in the Fall. I have a friend that just moved up there, but she is only there for a year. So if we are going to go to Boston and have a place to stay, this would be the time to do it. So hopefully that will work out.

Those are all the ones I can think of right now. What are your goals this year???

Magic Mommy Kisses

2011-01-19T13:22:00.001-06:00

I absolutely love it when Izzy comes up to me with an "ouchy" and wants me to kiss it. After I do it is all-of-a-sudden all better! Magic!!! Once mommy and daddy kiss it, it no longer calls for any attention. It makes me feel like a super hero, and I am so glad that one little act can put his little mind at ease. Izzy, I will kiss your little "ouchies" as long as you want me to. Hope that you will always come to me when you are hurting, even when it turns from physical pain, to spiritual and emotional. I love you!

Growing up

2011-01-19T13:19:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon we took away Paci. The thought has been in my head for awhile now, but wasn't sure when to do it. Izzy loves his paci and it broke my heart to think of taking it away, but it was also wearing me out hearing him whine for it all the time. We have tried really hard from the very beginning to not let him have it unless it was absolutely necessary, or it was bed time. Then he got older and got sick, and then he started asking for it. Not that gave in all the time, but sometimes (I will confess) I got so tired of hearing him whine, that I gave it to him for a few min. Yesterday I let him have it for nap time, but after he got up, I told him it was time to put paci nigh-night, which he did with a very good attitude. He was great all afternoon and only asked for it a couple times. I had talked to my mom about it, and of course Joel, so all afternoon I was praying that the Lord would give me wisdom to know how and when to do this. Yes I pray about how to take pacies away! We played, ate dinner, got ready for bed...all without paci. I read to him, and then decided to see what would happen if I didn't give it to him to sleep. He of course asked for it, and started looking for it in bed. When we couldn't find it, I told him to lay down with diti, and he did. He fussed for a little bit and then was mad when I told him that they were all gone, but calmed down realy quickly and went to sleep. Today he has been so good, and excepting that they are all gone, but nap time was a little rough...for me. I hate hearing him cry. But it wasn't even five minutes and he was out. Hopefully this goes well, and we can be rid of these wonderful but addicting things.

Hide Heart

2011-01-16T18:31:00.000-06:00

I know that I have mentioned the Hide'm In Your Heart DVDs and how wonderful they are. My son, 1 1/2, LOVES them! And when I say Loves them, that is probably an understatement. This past week he has figured out how to say it. It surprised me when I heard him ask for Hide Heart. The only thing that keeps me from letting him watch it all day everyday, is because well, he needs to do something other than sit in front of the tv with his diti and paci (diti being his blanket). But other than that, I am THRILLED that he loves these because it is just scripture put to song. I he quotes the scripture and the reference before each song. Joel and I have the songs memorized and the order in which they come. But my prayer is that as he gets older, these songs will penetrate his heart. The scriptures says that God's word will NOT return void. These are great songs/verses and I am so grateful that he is going to have these hidden in his heart. Friday afternoon I realized that he had a low temperature, and Saturday in climbed to 103 degrees. We lost track of how many times he watched Hide Heart Saturday and today. It is the only movie he asks for. We have definitely gotten our moneys worth. Now...if we can just figure out how to get them on our iphones!

Winter, doggie hats, and lots of errands!

2011-01-11T22:18:00.000-06:00

It is cold out there! And...my little Izzy has lost his hat. It was a little doggie one that he looked absolutely adorable in, as you can imagine. Today I decided that I needed to just get out and start looking for another one. I thought that I would for sure find one at Target, so that is the first place I went....nothing. Then I went to Old Navy...nothing, only girl ones, and a few boy ones, but the selection was scarce and some were on sale...in January. By the end of today I had been to 4 stores with a toddler! He was so good though. He would follow me around and play right near me (which usually doesn't happen). The last store I finally found one, but had to pay an arm and a leg for it. My last resort is Gap...tomorrow, and we will see if they deliver. I thought about getting a cute one from someone on Etsy, but I don't want to spend that much. I am pretty shocked that stores are already replacing their winter garb for spring and summer. It is JANUARY PEOPLE!!!!! If you know of any good places that might still have their winter merchandise...especially hats, let me know.

Reconnecting

2011-01-10T11:33:00.000-06:00

My husband set me up to recieve stats on my blog every week, so that I can see how many times people upload my page and read about my little life. So for the past few weeks I have been pretty amazed at how many people have gotten on considering that I haven't written anything for awhile! So here I am, reconnecting.

December was a whirl wind, but a very fun one! This year, Izzy and I had company starting early in December and thouroughly enjoyed the visit from Hannah and Ava. Izzy was a little scared off by Ava's abundance of huggs and kisses, but by the end of the three days, he left her give him one. They were so cute! Ava snacks a lot much to Izzy's delight...so we had lots of new foods like dried fruit and veggies! Christmas this year was devided over two days, instead of rushing and getting it all in in one day. We LOVED it that way. We were able to spend a whole day with each side of the family, so we hope that this happens next year too.

Joel had several days off before Christmas and after Christmas so it helped soften the blow of everything being over all at once. I HATE that! I hate it that we have a whole month of preparing and parties and social stuff, and then Christmas day comes and goes and then it is all over! My family likes to get together a lot over that next week before school starts, so that always helps too, but then cold, blue January comes along and nothing exciting is going on and it is just cold!

I have decided that I really just don't like cold weather. I love what it brings....Pumkins, Thanksgiving, Christmas, blankets, fires (even though we don't have a fire place) but I really don't like being cold, and having to bundle up. But I guess I wouldn't appreciate the warmer weather as much if I didn't experience the cold.

I have been doing a lot of crafting lately and am having so much fun. I will have to upload some pics of those things later.

I have realized that I am just not good at meal planning. My creativity just shuts down and I can't think. So, I have decided to work around this weakness and try out an online meal planning service. This is the first week, and so far it hasn't lowered the stress level, considering that I had to go to 4 grocery stores to try and get what I needed at the best price. I may have to resort to the same exact thing every week...but how boring is that?

My little Izzy is growing up so fast. I can hardly keep up with him. He is not a little baby anymore. He is my buddy. We laugh, and play and run errands together and read books and take naps. He still doesn't eat very well, unless it is sweet things, so we are still battling that. He has gotten several cold this winter (just like last winter) so I really don't like that, and am not sure what to do about it. I love watching him do new things daily. It amazes me how much he picks up just watching and listening to us, and it makes me want to strive to be a better example in every way. We love having a little boy.

Joel got a raise this year and we are excited to hopefully pay off all our credit card debt by the end of the summer. Yes, we have credit card debt, and we are NOT proud of it. After that we are planning on getting me a new car!!!! I super pumped about that and am already keeping my eyes out for ones that I like. The list is LONG!!!!

Everyday I am trying to be a better wife and mom, and child of God. Right now the Lord is taking me through a testing period, where I think He just wants to be sit at his feet and learn of Him, and be content with my life as it is, no matter what is changing around me. It is REALLY hard! When everyone is getting new things, moving to new cities, starting round 2 of babies, I have to be in a constant state of resiting promises to myself that God is good, and everything he does is good, and for MY good. I am thankful though that I can have a good cry now and then, and still be trusting. I think we all need a good cry.

Anyway, that is what has been going on lately in the Kelley family. Looking forward to a full and exciting year!

"How could they?"

2010-12-16T20:57:00.001-06:00

Tonight was our "looking at lights, Utica Square" night. So we packed up dinner and headed out to Happy Land! It was beautiful! We went to all our favorite stores including our newest favorite...Anthropology...and bought this years Christmas ornament there. We made a few other stops then headed to Starbucks. We got our stuff, and I sat down to pour Izzy's chocolate milk in his sippy cup, and we left. Once across the street I realized I didn't have the Anthroplogy bag anymore, that I had left it at Starbucks. Joel went back to get it and Izzy and I went on to Pier1. Joel was taking longer than it should have taken, and so I started to worry that something was wrong. I figured someone had stolen the bag (and ornament) and that Joel was saving the day by buying another one. I called him, and that is exactly what had happened! I was (and am) furious!!!! I couldn't believe that someone would do that at Christmas time and at Utica Square. If you can't be classy, and respectable, then you shouldn't be at Utica Square! I am still trying to calm down over it all. It was an expensive ornament AND it was even on sale!

Well, I have to forgive him/her/they, because I have been forgiven much (and because Joel said I couldn't blog about it unless I publicly said I had forgiven).

Thank you Joel for making it right and getting another one. This will forever stay in our memory and someday we will laugh about it. Here is the twice paid for beautiful ornament.

Petunia perfection

2010-12-16T14:17:00.002-06:00

I love bags! They are my weakness. Bags/purses/shoes, those are the things that I could make any excuse to buy, or at least try very hard to find an excuse. I am very picky about my bags. They have to be perfect, and easy to get into, and just the right size for just the right thing, and I HATE it when the lining is not attached very well, so that it moves around and you can't find anything! Last year I got my Vera Bradely purse and I love it. No lining to deal with, lots of pockets, and it slung over my shoulder for easy carrying with a new born. Then I got my Vera Bradely "diaper bag". It wasn't the official diaper bag that Vera Bradley makes but it worked beautifully for me. Again, lots of pockets and no lining, and big enough for everything that I needed to tote around with me. Plus...it looked cute! Well, as Israel has gotten older, I have not needed as much space so the hunt for another perfect bag began. I searched for another Vera Bradley, but couldn't settle on one, and couldn't afford another one at the time. So I made one. It has worked fine, but I gained a high respect for Vera Bradley while making it, and understood why hers were so dang expensive! They are HARD to make! Well, at least for me, and hers have all the pockets, and the different fabrics and...well...wow. But I have been using this other one for a few weeks now, until I went into Gap Body yesterday. I was looking around and looked up to behold some of the most adorable diaper bag in the world. It was a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag, and the more I looked it over I saw that it was Petunia Perfect for me! It was the right size, it still had several pockets, even a mommy pocket where I could keep my cell phone and wallet, a key clip, changing mat and wipe box. AND it was 45% off!!! I called Joel and told him that I knew where we could spend our credit card reward money...to which he laughed, and told me to get it and we would talk about it later. We did talk about it, and he had different ideas of where that money could go (imagine that!) and so I was told to hang onto it until the end of this month and then we would reconsider. But I wasn't holding my breath. Then my mom was over and told me that my sister hadn't found a Christmas present for me, and that she could go in on this with me so I could keep it. My sister was a little bummed that she hadn't thought of it, and that I was telling her exactly what I wanted, and that I would know what I was getting, but she came around. Am I silly???? I don't know. I love my bags, and I use a diaper bag almost like a purse too, so why wouldn't I want something cute and adorable? I would even use this after I was done having kids just for a little bag. Anyway. I figure Christmas presents are for getting something you wouldn't get yourself...and this is a splurge for me anyway, so why not!

Wonderful, Wonderful Day!

2010-12-04T20:01:00.000-06:00

Today I felt like one of those rich spoiled Beverly Hills people that they do tv shows about. I woke up this morning to two happy babies...yes two. Joel and I got to keep Izzy's friend Melody while her mommy and daddy had a night to themselves before they move far away...away from everyone they know. We fed two happy babies and then cleaned up the house. In a few minutes I was going to leave my filthy house with dust an inch thick on my ceiling fans, and be gone all day, just to come back to a very clean house. A few days ago, a groupon came through for 82% off Mommy Maid cleaning service. For 40.00 I could get a 200.00 package! I told Joel that I was so tempted to get it since my good friend was coming to visit, and since Izzy had been sick and I hadn't had time to do anything. When I picked Joel up from work that day, he handed me the PURCHASED groupon!!! I was in for a treat! So at 9:30 this morning a sweet lady came to my house, and we left it. First stop...Starbucks. We have made it a family tradition to drink coffee there on Saturday mornings. Then Izzy and I headed out to my moms for Baking day while Joel stayed behind to put up Christmas lights!

Christmas baking day is very special. All growing up we had a special day of baking our favorite holiday cookies while listening to Captain Kangaroo. Even after all these years, and after 3 of us have gotten married, we have still managed to all get together, and all bring our ingredients and have a messy but fun filled day. Our dear friend Val has joined us for the last several years and it wouldn't be the same without her now either.

(left to right): Val, Becky, and Abbie! Wearing aprons is a must too!

Mom and Wade and Ella always make the snowman cookies

Fun times!


Israel and Michael are cooking up their own special recipe!

It was so much fun! We came home to a house so clean that the floors squeak! Thanks babe for spoiling me, and thanks mom and sisters for some wonderful memories!

Twinkle Lights

2010-12-02T10:41:00.000-06:00

I love Christmas time. I love that everyone gets in the mood. I know that one could argue it has been over commercialized, but I still love it! I love going to the mall and seeing the decoratations and knowing that all of us, or most of us are there for one purpose...gifts! I love all the festivities, and parties. I love the twinkle lights, and the house decorating and the cookie baking. And I love love LOVE, the smell of Christmas trees! We got started a little early this year because I was worried that this season would pass us by in the wink of an eye. Every other month as, so I decorated a couple days before December and we went shopping for our tree on Monday night. We waited though to put it up last night (December 1st). Oh! How wonderful my house smells! I smile every time I walk in to the living room. My house is so small that the smell fills up most of the house so I don't have to go far to get a wif of the pine. Last night it was so fun to see Izzy see a tree coming inside our house. He was so excited. He kept yelling "tree, tree"! We kept him up a little longer so that he could see the lights go on, and then help put an ornament up, but we stopped after going around the tree twice because he was getting tired. But it was already too late because he had no desire to hang something on a tree. So we settled with him sittle on my lap and ME hanging the first ornament. To bed he went and Joel and I finished the decorating. We then sat down to admire our work with some Egg Nog and an episode of The Closer. This morning Izzy woke up and when I showed him the tree, all he saw where the many 'balls' all over the tree. Hopefully he will remember that those all not balls we can play with.

I am so excited about this years Christmas and I hope you are too. Put up some lights, and turn on some music, and have a Holly Jolly time!

special Memories

2010-11-19T13:55:00.000-06:00

I love to hear my dad sing and play the guitar. Growing up he would pull it out and we had our favoirtes: Grandma's Feather Bed, You can a Line, I'll Get a Pole, Lady, etc. I always wanted to marry a guy that could play the guitar, and have my children grow up with the same memories. Well, I did, and Izzy loves to hear Joel play. We sing Suggle Puppy, Jesus loves Me, and any others. Tuesday night we were out at my parents, and we were getting ready to leave, but before we did, I asked dad to play some guitar for Izzy. It was so precious to me to see my dad playing songs that I grew up on and my son enjoying them, and dancing to them. It almost made me cry. We have a CD of my dad singing, which I try to play for Izzy so that he will grow up knowing and loving not only the voice that I love but the man behind it. I love you dad.

The Dish Ordeal

2010-11-14T20:15:00.000-06:00

And let me tell you, it was an ordeal. I didn't mean for it to be an ordeal but it turned into one. I have been wanting to sell my set of dishes for awhile now, and have tried to sell them on Craigslist for awhile with no takers. We had one bite, that just turned into a little nibble, but nothing came of it. That was really disappointing, but I am glad now that it didn't happen. I decided to keep most of my dishes and just go back to Pottery Barn and get the "salad" plate that is the size of a regular dinner plate. (That is what I didn't like about my dishes...that the dinner plate was so huge!) We had some extra money that we were using for household stuff and for any extra dishes that we might need, and so it worked out perfectly for me to be able to get the smaller plate. We are now just going to sell 11 - 4 piece place settings. But the reason why it turned into such an ordeal is because I asked Joel's opinion. Usually that helps, but this time his opinion was different than what I wanted, so after buying some different dishes...that Joel wanted, I went back and exchanged them for the ones that actually matched my set. But not without hashing it out and making sure that he wasn't going to be mad at me. Anyway, it ended last night with many tears and me balling about how I was trying to make the best decision and keep everyone happy. I flet like a fool, and was convicted about making such a big deal about earthly stuff. Anyway, the ordeal is over, I have the dishes...now I just need some red cerel bowls, and sell my other dishes!!!

Goodnight Moon

2010-11-09T20:00:00.000-06:00

I am sure that all of you have heard of the book Goodnight Moon. It is one of my favorites especially since my mom read it to us. So now I get to read it to my son. But...there is a special way to read it. There are certain voice inflections that must be followed while reading the list of things to say goodnight to. The first time Joel read it, it just didn't sound right. It almost ruined the book for me. So now I am teaching him how to read it the right way, and he is being such a good sport. I am so gald that he understand or at least humors me in this area. Tonight he was reading it to Israel, and he looked up and asked "am I doing it right?" I told him he was getting better. I know it sounds silly, but I am sure that all of you have something like this, whether it is a book that needs to be read a certain way or something else. What is one of your peculiar or special request?

Enjoying life

2010-11-06T20:42:00.000-05:00

I am enjoying my life very much right now. I tend to live my life always for the next thing. It makes for a pretty frustrating, and discontent life. I try to say I am content, but if I am truthful with myself, I am not. Recently the Lord was so sweet to me and told me that what I want is not necessarily bad, or bad for me, but that I needed to just wait and trust Him, and enjoy my life as it is right now. I have been so happy since I resigned myself to the Lord's will. I am excited to see where He leads us as I wait for Him.

2010-10-29T20:50:00.000-05:00

Nothing is as simple as it may first appear. We first learned that when we first bought our house and realized that what we thought would be an easy updating task, was quite a bit more involved than that. Two years later we decided to fix up the bathroom just a little bit more. The toilet paper roll was in a retarted place and we weren't using it anyway. There was an old gas hearter on the wall that we weren't using either and both of these things were just collecting dust and looking ugly. So I decided that they must come out and to simplify the covering up process I thought we could just put up some beadboard and...Tada!!!

It kind of went like that but then the painting started. I had some trim paint left over from when we did the rest of our trim so I pulled that out and started painting. Not soon after, I realized that this paint was turning out a lot brighter white than what was all over the house. Then I realized that this was a different brand of white paint than what we had origanally started with. And since I had all the window trim to paint all of the house and our new front door, I was going to have to paint all of the trim again. You might say "YOU ARE CRAZY!!" No one will notice and you are just being picky. Well, maybe, but this is my house, I can notice the difference. It seems like a daunting task, and I hope that I will never have to do this again, even though I know probably in 5 years I will, but we will not think about that right now. Right now, I am trying to just finish this "little" project so that I can move on!

We'll see!

2010-10-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

Today Joel and I got our Baltic Amber bead necklaces. Go here to read about them. We have seen the wonders that it has done for our son, and so now we are going to try them. We are hoping that they will help with our allergies so that we don't have to spend the big bucks every month getting suppliments. I will keep you posted!

Standing Ovation

2010-10-13T13:11:00.000-05:00

I love standing ovations. There is something about them that gives me chills. I think it is because the only reason you give a standing ovation is when someone as performed in a superb way that calls for more than just clapping. When I was performing in operas when I was younger It thrilled me to look out into the audience and see them all standing. I could barely hold it in. I am sure we all felt honored. When I stand for the Hallelujah chorus I get all choked up and can feel the excitment and joy swelling up inside of me.

Last week I was doing my bible study and this chapter was on joy. I was really enjoying it (haha) because I feel like I need a little more joy in my life especially through the trials God sends my way. I can to the second day and the passage in Philipians was being talked about and how Paul counted everything as rubbish for the joy of know Christ. Then we looked at Stephen, another man who responded to earthly circumstances with a heavenly response. in Acts 7:56 it says " I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." If you will remember, when Chirst ascended into heaven he SAT down at the right hand of God. Here Stephen was being stoned for his belief in Christ, and as he looked to heaven he saw Christ STANDING at the right hand of God. OOOH, it gave me chills! Christ was giving him a standing ovation for how Stephen was responding and the example that he was setting for the many that would follow in their footsteps.

I want to live my life in such a way that Christ is so please that he cannot but stand to his feet because he is swelling with pride! Lord may I life my life worthy of the gospel of Christ. I hope that you who read this blog know that you are precious in the sight of God and that He loved you so much as to send His son to earth to die on the cross, bearing your shame and sin so that you can have a personal relationship with Him and one day spend eternity with Him. We must deny ourselves, repent from our sins and follow Him!

"Dance"

2010-10-11T19:14:00.000-05:00

Today Izzy danced! And oh it was soooooo cute! I don't know how to do a video link on my blog so I will just have to describe it to you. We were listening to some music and I asked if you could dance like I normally do. Usually he just smiles and laughes. But today he started moving his feet really fast in place and then twirled! I quickly got the video camera to catch it for Joel and thankfully he kept doing it. Now he will do it just periodically for the fun of it. Probably because we laugh so hard and clap!

Also, I cut his hair today. He did very well. I tried this once before and had to call my mom to come fix it, then the next time I decided to pay to have it done and then this time I decided to try again. It turned out really good! We went through 1sweettarts pkg, and 2 suckers! I know, I am a horrible mom, but hey, he sat still!

And then the last Izzy tidbit, is that he can say his name! If you ask him his name he has no idea what you are talking about, but if you say "Say Izzy" he will say it! now he is on the floor putting duplo legos in his mouth and blowing them out right along with silly daddy. I love my boys!

Nice Change

2010-10-09T14:06:00.000-05:00

Tonight I dyed my hair. This is the first time I have dyed all of my hair. My dear friend did highlights on my hair (that is a story in itself) one time, but never have I dyed my entire head of hair! But I decided that I wanted to try a little darker shade. I found a hairstyle that I am trying to achieve, and the hair was a darker brown. So I decided to branch out and be adventurous and try it. I felt scandalous and wondered what my mother would say! But my husband was all for it, so I did it.

This is the before!


This is the process


At Starbucks Saturday morning with my new hair fixed!

I did have a picture in the same place right after I did it, but I can't get it to upload. If you can't tell, it is a shade or two darker than what I had. The lighting is not very good, but you can definitely notice it in person!

I love it! I think that it is a richer color and brings out my eyes more!

We are in!

2010-10-07T14:12:00.000-05:00

We are full blown cloth dipaer people...well, besides a desposable at night. But today I have ordered the rest of what we need to fully make the transition and to make it well. I am so excited but nervous too! When we were doing it month to month, I felt like I had an "out" so to speak. But now we are hooked. It really isn't that bad and we have made it this far. Besides we have only spent less than 200.00 total getting everything that we have gotten, which is a lot less than a lot of people send on cloth diapers. So now we can start saving!

Fall

2010-10-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

A new season is here, and with it new things. We got a new table!

Kendra and Shawn, my sister and her husband told us awhile back that they wanted our table and if we saw something else that we like that they would buy it from us. So we saw the table pictured above, and it was exactly what I wanted, and it was going to be the same price as what my sister was offering, so we got it!
But....the table will not be in for maybe six weeks, so right now we have a card table in our dinning room as our makeshift dinning table. We can't wait to get it!!!

Grape Thief!

2010-10-03T20:19:00.000-05:00

Israel LOVES grapes! He gets a small glimps of them and he goes crazy. Well, today after I got home from grocery shopping, I was putting away the groceries. Of course I had the fridge open and my little helper was "helping" me. At least I thought he was until he peeped around the fridge with his mouth full of grapes! He had figured out how to open the grape container and was helping himself tho them. It was so funny! Anyway, he is evidence of the grape thief!

Give me a break!

2010-10-01T15:25:00.000-05:00

I love being a mom. I really do. It was my dream as a child, and now I am living it. But some days I would rather not live again. Some weekends I am glad to say have past. Some weeks, yes a whole week, are better left not thought about or else you will get depressed and not enjoy motherhood. This week has been one of them. Yes there have been the precious moments when Izzy has cuddled up with me and fell asleep in an oh so cute position. Oh, but I failed to mention that that happened AFTER he had slept for an hour only to wake up and refuse to go back to sleep even though he was dog tired! Every afternoon this week as been a cross-your-fingers-and-hope-that-he-sleeps kind of week. And has he? NO! We are worn out. Because, not only has he not slept much, if at all in the afternoon, he has had trouble at night too. Teething? Possibly, but we haven't had this kind of behavior since we got the teething necklace. Cold? He has a sniffle, but he has had worse and has still slept. So we are puzzled parents, and tired ones at that. Today, he took a cat nap while we were walking, and after playing hard this morning, and being at the park, he lays in bed from 1:00-3:00 talking, playing, and crying, until finally he falls asleep. It is now 3:24, I just sent my husband a victory text, and now I hear him crying. A very tired cry. Lord give me strength, because I am out of it!

Little white things of deliciousness

2010-09-28T08:14:00.000-05:00

I LOVE the little white powdered donutes! They are so cute and tiny, and just melt in your mouth. I could eat hundreds of them! Every once in a while Joel will surprise me with these little things of deliciousness, and Saturday was one of those days. He actually bought them for Sunday, but that is not important. Israel has had them before but Sunday and the same today, he just went nuts over them. He gets so excited about stuff (just like his mamma) and today was no exception. He snarffed 3 of the down and wanted more. I was already feeling guilty for feeding him fake food, so I ended up fixing him some french toast instead. Now, don't get me wrong, and think that I am the kind of mom that feeds my kid junk food all the time....just when I am out of everything else. Plus I think that we need some splurges in our life now and then. Here is my son, enjoying his little white donut as much as his mommy does!

Izzy tidbits at 15 months

2010-09-27T12:22:00.000-05:00

Israel is 15 months old. He is growing up so fast, and I am enjoying every minute of it. Sometimes I stop and am in awe at how big he is getting because it seems like we get going about our lives and then all of a sudden he is bigger! He is saying so many words like "no" , "yes", Thanx", "Bible", "Bubble", "Ball", And various other words that we can't fully understand. His newest word is "Cool Dude!" and he says this when he puts on his cool sunglasses.

He loves to eat with a fork and his newest thing is popcorn! Oh does he love it. And he doesn't just put one piece in his mouth, he takes a handful, throws his head back as he puts it in his mouth like daddy does.

He loves his blanket and calls it "Diti." Every morning we walk in and he immediately holds up diti and wants out. He now finds it along with his paci when he wants to be held and cuddled. I love it! I love that he has something that comforts him.

We are in the process of transitioning away from the morning nap and that has been okay. It is a lot easier when we have errands to run or something to do to keep us busy. It is hard when we are home all day and I have to come up with things to keep him occupied and not cranky. But we will make it.

He loves to play with the pots and pans. I think that he just might grow up to be a cook of some sort. He loves to color (only for a few seconds though), loves to play ball, and LOVES the park. We go there a lot! His best buddies are Melody, and Levi and it is always a treat to see them.

We have started using cloth diapers and so far it is not that bad. If I think about it too much when I am rinsing out a diaper I think I might throw-up, but if I just do it, then I am okay. I will not be doing this for the rest of my life right?

We are loving this stage. We love to cuddle, listen to music and sing Snuggle Puppy.

Crafty

2010-09-25T21:12:00.000-05:00

I have recently started making decorative travel wipe boxes, and have them posted on my Etsy account here. If you would like to order a custom one with a special color scheme let me know and I would be happy to make one for you!

Secrets, surprises, and dates

2010-09-20T10:00:00.002-05:00

We have one special date night a month. We set aside a certain amount each month and wait for that perfect time (or make the perfect time) to go out just the two of us. Last week Joel said we should go out Friday and send Izzy to my mom and dad's for the night. So I made the arrangments and we looked forward to a fun evening together. Joel kept saying how excited he was, and I thought he was just being sweet to be so happy to spend undivided attention with me. But Friday morning when I dropped him off at work, he gets out of the car, and walks into his work but before the door closes he turns around and says "Oh, make sure you pack an overnight bag!" I was shocked! But he wouldn't tell me anything. So all day I tried to figure out where he was taking me. I was already so excited because we were going to my favorite place...Utica Square...to do some jean shopping (since I can't find jeans for my body at just a normal store) and then to dine at P.F. Chang's, and then end with some delicious coffee at Starbucks. But with this added surprise, I was so excited.

The time came, I dropped Izzy off with mom, and picked up Joel. He was waiting for me outside and once he was inside the car I asked him to please reveal the secret. At first he wouldn't, but after telling him that I wanted to be able to enjoy the evening and look forward to what was coming, he broke down. He had found this adorable little hotel at 6th and Peoira calld th Savoy. It was charming! We had such a fun time. We both found jeans that we desperately needed. Dinner was sublime, coffee was delicious, and the hotel was fabulous! We slept in till 9:00 Saturday and we felt so refreshed and our love rekindled. We should do this more often.

Summer time

2010-09-19T20:43:00.001-05:00

Growing up the icecream truck was a novelty. It was a such a treat whenever we got a chance to get one of those dripping, cold, delicious, creamy icecream cones!

So the other day when Izzy woke up from his nap we were sitting on the couch when I heard the famous icecream truck song. I couldn't resist it! I grabed Izzy, and my dollar and rushed outside to make sure I didn't miss it. Izzy wasn't so sure what to think about the popcycle, but it was sure cute to watch him!

"What is this, mom?"

"These are a few of my favorite things"

2010-09-14T13:22:00.000-05:00

Besides Sound of Music and Julie Andrews being on of my favorite things...I love rainy afternoons when the house is cleaned up, the baby is in bed, and there is nothing on my to do list but to take a nap. I was a little bummed when it stopped raining and I started to see the sun peeping through. I tried to hurry home so that I could still fall asleep to Sense and Sensibility while it was still a little overcast. You might wonder what the two have in common. Nothing really, except that Sense and Sensibility has a rainy part in it, and it such a calming movie with beautiful music. Just writing about it is making me crave it. Oh, but I have to mention one more thing about favorite things...and this has absolutely NOTHING to do with my favorite things but I thought it was clever. I just saw a commercial the other day...a hair one...with clever words put to the tune of this song ending of course with the phrase "these are a few of my favorite things". It was cute. Okay, so that was random. But I really encourage you to take off your red shoes, fix a cup of tea, and put on one of you favorite soothing movies and enjoy this cloudy day!

2010-09-02T20:50:00.000-05:00

There are millions and millions of toys out there. And the toy industry wants to make us think we need all of them to keep our kids happy. Well, sorry to bust there plan, but I am here to tell you, that no, you do not need all the toys in the world. All you need is a coffee can and a blender lid. Maybe some pots and pans, and a spoon to stir the imaginary food! For the past few days these have been Izzy's favorite toys.

He will play for HOURS! I love it! I open "his" cabinet in the kitchen and he gets out his favorite things. Actually for the past several days he just follows me around and finds interesting things around the house and plays with them. He still loves him books, and his music, but the other toys he can do without. Maybe he will be a chef!

Productivity

2010-08-31T21:47:00.000-05:00

Ask me what I did today...Okay I will tell you, because I am very proud of myself...well proud of us. Today I got up, exercised, took Izzy to play group, stopped on the way to take Joel to work and before that, ran an errand. I Stopped by Gap to see that the blazer I had my eye one was 100.00 out of my budget, and then suffered through seeing, and smelling a Starbucks right next to the play place without begin able to taste it. I managed to keep Izzy awake on the way home, and within the 30 minutes before laying him down, I got pizza dough cooking, and made chicken noodle soup. I got an hour nap, finished making the pizza for tonight's supper, got some bread baking, cleaned up the kitchen made some phone calls, all before Izzy woke up. Oh and while all this is going on, Jim is putting the finishing touches on our new front door! After we picked up Joel, we went to Lowe's came home, ate dinner, and then we FINALLY put up the valaces in Izzy's room, and put the finger pulls on the closet door! Just those two things made me so happy because for the past two year we have needed to finish the closet doors.

Izzy's room now has new windows, new blinds, and the valaces up. Now I just need to finishe painting the trip around the windows!!!

A lot was accomplished, and yes, I am very proud of myself. That is okay right?

2010-08-30T09:59:00.000-05:00

As I laid my 14th month old down for a 30 min morning snooze I was faced with two choices: 1. Make my bed and 2. Blog. As you can see I chose to blog. I have to sneak time to do this and I figured that I could make my bed when he was up and then I could see him flop down on the pillows ans squeal with delight.

Anyway...Life has thrown some curve balls our way lately and I for one and a little tired. For some reason the Lord has seen fit to take away some of my piano students...most of them...instead of answering our prayer for more. I got mad. I hate to admit it, but I did. I got mad and couldn't understand why, when we weren't asking for something bad, did He choose to do something completely opposite of what we asked. Then He surprised us by allowing Joel to recieve a big bonus!!! We were thrilled, thanked Him for His provision, and then our car broke down and the cost to fix it was 3.00 more than the bonus. Obviously the Lord has provided the money for the car, for which we were thankful, but a little bummed at the same time. We just can't seem to get ahead. There have been other puzzleing things the last few months, of which I am not free to share at this moment, but as I look back over this month and see that we have not only survived but have been able to splurge on other people, I see God's faithfullness and His provision. It wasn't easy, and Joel had to do some extra work outside of his regular job, but God doesn't promise that it will be easy. He just promises that He will provide. And He did. When I start to worry about next month, I remember this past one, and am calmed by the peace that He gives that He indeed loves me and everything He does is good. If He witholds something from me He has something even better waiting for me, even if that something better is not of this earth, but a closer relationship with Him.

This has nothing to do with what I wrote above, but it made me smile and I hope it will make you smile too. Israel is saying so many things and we are having so much fun watching and listening to him. One thing that he does that makes up beam is pray. He will bow his head, mumble some Izzy words, and then lift his head and say "Amen" then he laughs or clasps for himself. One of his new words is "Bible". So today he saw Joel's Bible on the table. I wasn't watching at this point and I heard him say "Bible". I didn't know that this is what he was saying because it sounds a lot like his other new word..."Bubble". But when I turned around and saw what he was playing with I new immidately what he had said. I walked over to him and watched him as he opened it, bowed his head, mumbled some words, and then said "Amen!" It was soooooo cute!!!! It made me so happy that he has picked this up. Yes we pray a lot because we need God's grace and guidance everyday, but to see that he had noticed this just warms my heart.

Giving in

2010-08-18T20:53:00.000-05:00

Okay, so my last post was raving about the extra time we had in the evenings since we were on a tv fast for this week. Well tonight we are giving in. We were craving some down time with each other, time where we didn't have to run down our voices reading out loud, time where we could just cuddle up and veg. I know it sounds pittiful, that we can't even make it a week, but here is the deal. Last week, I left town Monday and didn't get back till Saturday night, and during that time there was no tv, except for a little bit on Friday afternoon. So there was already a week of fasting. Joel and I have fun with our little shows and we have come away from this knowing and wanting some nights where the tv stays off. Anyway...we gave it a shot, and really this is the only night that we are cheeting. Tomorrow night we are busy, Friday night is company, and then the week will be over. We needed this, it was good, but we are looking forward to cuddling up, eating popcorn and oreos and milk, and having some laughs.

Time Mulitplied

2010-08-17T21:25:00.000-05:00

You know how you are always wanting time to be mulitplied? Well, I have found a solution. Cut out tv watching in the evenings! Joel and I are taking a tv fast for this week and it has been pretty nice. We have gotten some reading done, we have gone to bed early, we have played games, he has worked on pictures. It has been pretty peaceful. It makes the evening last longer. Try it sometime.

Perseverance

2010-08-15T22:15:00.000-05:00

My little 14 month old is now walking. At first I thought it was taking him too long to start this, seeing that all his little friends were doing it already and some of them younger than he was. Then I realized that he had his own pace and that I need to just let him develope at that God given pace. So I started enjoying the process a lot more. It was fun to see him go from being frustrated with us for asking him to walk to which his reply would be sitting down on the floor and gruntig, to initiating it on his own. It was fun to see how each day he became more confident and took more and more steps. It has been fun to see him go from crawling more, to walking and crawling the same amount, to walking most of the time. This process has been gradual and I have loved seeing the process.

I have been watching him closely and notice how many times he plops down on his cushy bottom because of a loss of balance, only to get right back up. He will do this over and over again! I am amazed at his perseverance and determination and patience to keep getting up and doing it again.

Israel, through life you will fall on your bottom, but don't stay there. Keep getting up and seeking the Lord for guidence and strength to combat the trials and setbacks that life brings so that you can have an abundant life of joy in the Lord Jesus! I love you son and thank you for the example you are to me at this young age.

2010-08-11T17:33:00.000-05:00

Weddings are exciting things. Especially when you first get ingaged. Romance is in the air. People are congratulating you, and offering to help with the wedding, you and your fiance are communicating well, and you can't imagine EVER having an arguement. The start of planning even goes well, and you enjoy picking out your flowers and finding THE dress. But then the week before the wedding arrives and everything changes. That is where we are right now with my sister-in-laws wedding. Thankfully she came to town last weekend and we found out how frazzled she was and that she could really use the extra help. Amazingly enough I was able to find a place for Izzy so that I could leave with Juls on Monday to help be her brain. We have gotten a lot done, and we just finished moving them into their new house...but it has been the last week of the wedding if you know what I mean. Emotions are hight, things are tense, and if you say "call the minister" one more time, she might bite your head off!!!

We look forward to all the hustle and bustle that starts tomorrow as guest start coming in, and flowers are picked up and the party begins!!

I thought I'd never...

2010-08-01T20:40:00.000-05:00

Have you ever done things that you said you never would? Well, I said that I would never use cloth diapers, and would never make my own bread. This week, I have looked into starting cloth diapers, and I just bought my own bread machine to be able to make my own bread! It is amazing what a little motivation to save some money will do. Cloth diapers have come a long way...I know that now, but we are still not sure. I have my name on a list to do a trial run with several different kinds of diapers to see if it is for us. As for the bread machine? I am SO EXCITED!!! I have right now as we speak a lemon poppyseed loaf cooking and it smells delicious! I did this to see if I could save some money, but also to be able to make healthier bread. We don't eat that much so making one loaf at a time is great. I can't wait to try all these yummy recipes!

Oh, and my little man is walking more and more each day. He still crawls most of the time, but he today he took the most steps that he has ever taken before. I am hoping that he is walking by August 11th because I am thinking he will be easier to handle that way while we are doing wedding stuff! But all in God's timing!

Swonderful!

2010-07-26T12:42:00.000-05:00

We are completely sold on what is called a teething necklace. It is made from Balitc Amber beads and it is wonderful! Before the necklace, we would have really bad teething days where both of us were about to pull our hair out! Well, maybe Israel was about to pull teeth out or something, but they were not good days for either of us. So we splurged on the necklace (not really a splurge though) and decided to try it out. We have been pretty impressed. Today I found out that he was cutting molers and I didn't even know it. He is perfectly fine, and I can already feel them coming through! I am so excited to be having so much success with this necklace. I recommend them to everyone.

A Scare

2010-07-25T20:23:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon naps are a must in our household. We had just gotten up from our naps today and Izzy was playing on our bed just has he always does. he was near the edge because there was something on the floor that had his attention. He was bouncing and we were telling "Be careful" But before we knew it he took a dive off the bed and landed on his head. I immediately picked him up and he was screaming at this point. You know how babies or kids will cry so hard they look like they are not going to take a breathe? Well that is what he was doing. He has done this before and we have just blown in his face and he takes a breath. We did that this time, but he wouldn't take a breath. He started turning really pale and passed out on us. We didn't know that is what happened. All I knew was that my baby had gone limp in my arms, and rigid at the same time. His eyes rolled back into his head and we both freaked out! I started blowing and pumping his chest. I also was softly slapping his cheeks trying to wake him up. He would open his eyes a little bit, but then close them again. Joel was on the phone with 911 immediately and the ambulance was on their way. Izzy came too, but was still lathargic when the fire truck arrived. By the time the ambulance got there and we had been put inside, they checked all his vitals and said that they thought everything was fine. They still took us to the hospital just to make sure, and we were told that everything was fine. We left very releaved and thankful for another day with our little boy.

Those few minutes were the worst few minutes of my life. To hold your darling baby and see them loose consciousness is one of the worst feelings in the world. We were terrified. Thankfully it is over, and he is sleeping soundly. Thank you Lord!!!

The Truth

2010-07-22T10:00:00.001-05:00

The truth is, I worry. I stress out and fret over little and big things. It is part of my personality, but it is the weekness of my personality. It is something that I have been trying to work on for awhile. I feel like I improve and am giving things over to the Lord, and then I will slack and start to try to control things on my own, and the worrying begins again.

This time of year is always stressful because I am triying to figure out my piano schedule. This year has been especially stressful because I have changed some things and I have the lowest amount of students I have had in a long time. I know I am not the only teacher experiencing this, but that hasn't made it any less stressful. I had a melt down yesterday and was all worked up that we wouldn't be able to pull in enough this fall to help supplement. Joel kept telling me that the Lord would provide and I knew that, but I wasn't feeling his provision.

Tuesday night I went running and was listening to Hillsong and the song Mighty to Save. The lyrics "My Savior, He can move the mountain, my God is mighty to save, He is mightly to save. Forevery author of Salvation, He rose and coquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave." I was so convicted when I heard those words and know that If I believed that my God could move a mountain, and that he had risen from the dead and had conquered the grave...which I do believe all of that with my whole heart...then why wasn't I believing that He could provide for me? I had the mindset that if God was providing for me, then life would be easy. I wouldn't have to work so hard. But that is not true. He promises to provide, but He doesn't say that was he provides will be easy. Life my be hard, finances might be tight, but He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. He will always provide. I have to remind myself that He is good...ALL the time, and that everything He does is good. Journey with me as I pray and lay everything at the feet of my Lord who IS mighty to save and who loves me and my family even more than I can imagine.

Daddy Date

2010-07-21T14:16:00.001-05:00

Monday night Joel got home a little late, and then it was dinner time. Izzy decided to make that time difficutl, so dinner wasn't pleasent. By the time we finished there, it was bath time, which wasn't as pleasent as it could have been, so Izzy went to bed and Joel felt like he hadn't even seen him. This made him very sad. So on Tuesday we found out that our car battery was dying and Joel was going to have to take it to Walmart after work and get a new one. So he decided to take Izzy with him and take him to McDonald's while they waited for the car. They had a blast!!! Plus I got some free time for myself! It was great! Joel decided that he wanted to try to do that once a week! I think it is great, and he feels like he gets some quality time with Israel and I get an hour to breathe by myself. I love beign a mom, but a few moments by myself feels wonderful too. A recharge!

Garage Sale Day 2

2010-07-18T19:59:00.000-05:00

Up again at 6:30 and out to set up ANOTHER set of signs since someone decided to round up all the other ones on Friday. Needless to say, I was not a very happy person. Shockinly, Saturday was NOT a productive day. I thought that that day would be the money maker, but acutally tons of people came Friday, and only a handful on Saturday. So we ended it around noon because it was not worth sitting out in super hot sun. We loaded everything up and took it Goodwill so as not to clutter the garage again. But I ended the weekend with making a wopping 177.00!! I was very pleased. But the thing that I had in my mind that I wanted to get with this money..faux wood plantation blinds for Izzy's room, has not yet been made a reality. I thought it would be a simple as going and picking it up, but not so. We still haven't found the right size and it looks like to be able to, I am going to have to spend twice as much. Bummer!

This week is over, and another is beginning. I am exhausted mentally and physically and feeling just a little blue about some things. But thankfully we had a good garage sale, and I can move on.

Garage Sale Day 1

2010-07-16T21:46:00.000-05:00

6: 15 am: Stumble out of bed

6:30 am: Baby wakes up

7:00 am: Baby and daddy go put garage sale signs around the neighborhood while mommy gets dressed and gets breakfast ready

7:30 am people are already out and stopping by just as we are pulling things out of the garage. We had a full morning, and before it was done, I had earned almost 100.00! I was so pleased. The day slowed down quite a bit after lunch, but we still managed to make some sales. I was very pleased with all that was sold, and all that was earned in the first day. We still have tons to sell, and I am hoping to sell my dishes tomorrow as well. Thank you Lord for sending so many people!!! I have earned enough to buy the blinds that I would like to buy for our rooms!

Izzy is cutting another tooth and so he was clingy and whinny. Not a good day to be like that.

Looking forward to another day in the supper hot sun!

"Whew!"

2010-07-15T21:09:00.000-05:00

The past two weeks have been SO busy! I have been helping a dear friend of mine declutter her home for the past 2 weeks, still stay on top of mine, take care of Izzy and Joel, try to get ready for a garage sale (4 families) and take care of piano business as well. Yesterday I had a melt down. Joel was so sweet, and took us out to dinner so that there was one less thing I had to worry about. Today I was so looking forward to Fifth Night at Utica Square and a relaxing dinner with our little family. We got there, found a perfect spot unloaded and I began to feed Izzy. Joel had gone to the bathroom so when he returned I left to go get something at Pottery Barn and left my half of sandwhich on a plate and next to it a couple bites let of Izzy's sandwhich. I said to Joel as I left "those are Izzy's bites." As I walked away the thought entered my mind that I should tell him that the other half was mine, but I didn't and just hoped that he would think about it. Well he didn't, because when I returned it was gone! He had fed almost the entire sandwhich...my dinner...to Israel! I couldn't believe it. Once he found out he went to Wendy's and got me a salad and chicken nuggets. He got back and exclaimed "all better!" I thought it was until I started unloading the food and realized that I was going to have to eat my salad with my fingers because he had forgotten the fork! Oh well, all silly mistakes and none that were worth ruining the evening. Plus a yummy cold Starbucks drink made it all better! Thanks Babe!

"Delightfully Delicious"

2010-07-10T09:25:00.000-05:00

Today we had our first family outing to the donut shop! One of Daylight's Donuts slogans is "Delightfully Delicious" and it was! It was fun to see all the old men coming in who come everyday. One gentleman said that he had been coming everyday for 30 years! I don't think that we will be doing that. But it was fun for a Saturday morning, and Izzy loved the blueberry donut!!!

Date night!

2010-07-08T20:35:00.000-05:00

Joel and I got a hankering to see a movie, So Tuesday morning I checked our cheapo deepo movie theater near our house and found out that Knight and Day (the movie we wanted to see) was playing and that it was 2.00 all day on Tuesdays. BINGO!!!! So we made the call to get a babysiter and we were on our way to a fun night. We went about our busy days, got home just in time to pass off Izzy to the Grandparents, say goodnight and goodbuy. Of course we had to stop and get our movie goodies at Walmart (shhhh, don't tell), before we waiting in a long line and then making ourselves comfortable right before the movie started. We laughed and talked about what was going on, and lauged some more. We really enjoyed it.

Afterwards, we ran to get gas, picked up a drink and headed to the park to sit and sip and enjoy the somewhat cool evening after the rain. Then I got a crazy streak. I asked Joel if I could ride home on top of the car holding on to the bike racks. We live like 2 blocks from the park, so it wouldn't be far. He laughed and hesitated, but I begged, and he finally gave it. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! I felt like a kid again. It was a swell time.

2010-07-01T22:32:00.002-05:00

Today was a big day. I got an i pod touch, Joel is getting an iphone, and we are going on a spontaneous road trip to Colorado July 30th to see a favorite bad of Joel's!

I have had several planners to help me stay organized. My favorite one was one I got from Franklin Covey, but it was pretty big and bulky. Once I had a baby, and I was carrying a diaper bag, my purse and...a baby, It was a little too much to carry a clunky planner. So I got creative and tired some smaller ones that could fit in my purse, but nothing as worked out. So Joel suggested an ipod touch. I was a little hesitant because I like the feel of paper and checking things off with a realy pencil, but once I saw and touch an ipod touch, I was sold. So until today it has just been a wish and a convience that I wasn't sure would ever happen. But today it became a reality. Then for Joel...his work is buying his phone!

As for the rode trip? Well, one of Joel's favorite bands are doing a reunion tour and for years Joel has been saying that if they ever got back together we were going to take a road trip to go see them. The closest place they are playing is Colorado on July 31st. So...Colorado here we come!

"Throw it away!"

2010-06-30T22:32:00.000-05:00

Normally people do a spring cleaning. I did a little bit of that too, but the cleaning bug bit me a couple weeks ago. I was sick and tired of organizing and re-organizing and saying I was going to throw things away but always coming up for some excuse to keep all of it...or most of it.

So I decided that I was going to actually throw it away, or give it to good will, or set aside for a garage sale. We have filled a lot of trash bags, and we have two huge boxes in the garage almost completely full of stuff to sell. I looked at them tonight, and couldn't believe that we had all that stuff in our house (and garage)! I am feeling lighter and lighter every day the more I get rid of stuff. This whole process is stressful for Joel, but I love it!!! Once it is finished he will love it.

Come to our garage sale...date TBD

Hummus

2010-06-24T18:17:00.000-05:00

I have descovered Hummus! I have known that it existed, but have not usually been a fan of it. But when I had some garlic hummus at a friends that was delicious, I decided to buy my own. It has opened a whole bunch of meal ideas for Izzy as well, because he loves it too. I was especially joyful today when I realized I was out of mayo and needed to make some egg salad for him to eat. No, that is not something to be joyful about, but my remedy was! Instead of mayo I decided to use hummus to mix with it. It was great! I tasted it because I felt bad making my son eat it when I didn't even know if it was good or not. But it was! The consistency was great, and for sure a lot healthier. I felt like I should teach a health class or something just for that one creative solution! Try it and if you are a hummus lover, you will not be disappointed!

Another milestone

2010-06-21T20:47:00.000-05:00

Since May, we have been slowly taking bottles away from Izzy's eating schedule. He has kind of been weening himself and I have just observed when he wasn't eating much of a certain bottle, and then I would take it away. the morning bottle was the easiest, and then three weeks later I took the afternoon bottle. That took a couple days for him to get used to. It wasn't that bad, just a few shorter naps. I would give him a snack and he would be fine. So tonight was the last night for the bottle before bed. He doesn't know what is going on, but I do, and I cried. This evening bottle has been so special to me...and to him. I love the short time of cuddling, and that quiet moment after a busy day. I love how he gets so excited when I mention it, or show it to him. The other night he couldn't get to me fast enough. He literally triped over himself trying to turn around faster that his little body would. I love that I can give him that little moment of pleasure and it is going to be a hard night tomorrow when I have to put him to bed without it. I am hoping that he won't notice, since he has accidentally gone to be bed without it before. Joel cried with me as we realized yet again that our little guy is growing up, and sometimes way to fast for our liking. I love being a mom!

#1

2010-06-17T23:23:00.000-05:00

Israel David Kelley turns 1 today! Joel is taking the day off and we are going to spend it doing fun things. I can't believe that it has already been a whole year! We have gone through so many changes, good and difficult but none of it I would change. Israel is the joy of our lives and we love watching him grow and learn new things every day. We look forward to see how God is going to use him as he grows.

Tuesday we had a party with family. So I baked a cake, we bought a present (legos) and got ready to party! It was a blast. He didn't really dive into the cake, but once we gave him his own peice, he had at it! Thursday night we celebrated with Melody who turned one on Wednesday. We gave them another piece of cake and again they devoured! Fun, Fun, Fun!

Chitown

2010-06-17T23:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, this is take two of this post, because after I had spent like 3 days writing and posting pics, I lost it all!

So here it goes. Vacation this year was a trip to Chicago! It was a vacation from our every day lives, but it wasn't that restful. We had a blast though, and boy did we fit a lot in.

We arrived in Chicago on Wednesday June 9th. We stepped off the plane and onto the train into downtown. We stepped off the train onto a platform that only had stairs. So Joel with 3 bags of luggage, and me with a stroller and a baby, we made it down the stairs....I don't know how really, but we did...Oh, I carried the stroller down WITH Izzy in it, and somehow Joel made it down with 2 roller bags and a duffle. Joel didn't know which way to go exactly, so we headed out one way, then thought we should turn around. So we did, then he dicided that we were going the right way the first time, so we turned around again, and finally made it to our hotel. That afternoon we loaded up the stroller and hit Michigan ave in awe of the tall buildings and nice fancy shops! We saw the old water tower, stopped by the Hershey's store ate some chocolate, walked some more, went in and out of stores, oohing and ahhing over the very high priced items, and of course, visited the Drake hotel.

We were taking pictures and then a bell man came up to us and in all seriousness said "we have a policy...that when we see a pretty family, we have to take a picture." The policy part scared us. We thought that we were in trouble.

After the Drake, we headed to the lake. It was a warm day, so Izzy and I waded in the water while Joel took pictures. It was gorgeous. It is a lake that looks like an ocean.We at at Uno's that night after waiting an hour for our pizza to cook, and Izzy didn't have enough patience, so he fell asleep.

Thursday we hit the road runny pretty early and headed to the train station. But not without stopping by one of the many Starbucks. We took an hour train ride into Lake Bluff where my mom grew up. It is a very quaint little town that you could walk through in 2 hours. We saw both houses that she grew up in, saw the lake again, and took lots of pictures. We had a great time!

Lake Forest was another stop, where we walked around the cute little square and had lunch in a quaint sandwich cafe. By this time the weather was moving in, so it was getting a little cool. Then we missed our train. We were actually there at the station, but on the wrong side of the tracks! So we killed another hour before we took the hour long train ride back to the city!

Once back in the city we hit the library, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography that left us completely depressed, but we were quickly cheered up by Degas, and Monet at the Art Institute. Dinner was at the Italian Village where Frank Sinatra supposedly ate. It was good, but we were all tired, and Israel wouldn't stop moving. We dropped dead that night.

Friday we woke to the whole city in front of our hotel. There was a parade for the hockey team who had just won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years. We had to walk a little farther to catch a bus to the zoo because of it! We missed our Starbucks that morning, so we were a little sluggish at the zoo, but it was still a good time. The next stop was Wrigley Field, and to get there we had to walk a little was, and then wait for a bus that wasn't already full. We found out that the Cubs and White Socks were doing an exhibition game and it was the first one. Wrigley field was alive and hoppin'. It was so much fun. We took the El back to the city to visit the man eating lions at the Field Museum. On the way back to the hotel we walked through Grant Park and then saw the Bean. We then took a sheet from the hotel, stopped and picked up some Chicago hot dogs and headed back to Grant park to enjoy some Blues with thousands of other Chicago poeple. It was so much fun!

Saturday it was raining, so in between the rain we finished up seeing the sights, and taking pictures and eating yummy burgers at the world famous Billy Goat's Tavern. Then we started the long trek home which ended at 10:00 that night!

We had a blast...came home tired, but we miss it already!

Highlights

2010-06-05T07:33:00.000-05:00

I started writing this in may with the intention of mentioning some wonderful red shoe days of May. But I am a mom and a wife, and I was unable to finish the post and now it is June 5th. But I feel like there has been so much going on that I must document, even if it is just for my sake.

May 9th Izzy started signing "more"! We have been doing it for him for months, and I was overjoyed to see him finally catch on! It has made meal time a lot better (less screaming)

Mother's Day was a special day, and Joel made it very special. He made me a nice breakfast, and gave me some 8x10 pics of Izzy, once of which Izzy had colored the matt for it! Precious

We went to the Renaissance Fair this year with some dear friends, and despite the awkwardness of it all and how it totally freaked Joel out, we were able to make some really good memories.

We had several graduations this year that made life really busy, but it also called for a lot of partying! It was fun to acknowledge Abbie's college degree, and Sam's Highschool degree!

Weddings happened and along with it car trouble. Those were not red shoe days, but they were reality, so I guess I should mention them too.

Birthdays followed and were very special as well. We had a big family party and everyone got really good gifts! I share a birthday month with Joel and two siblings, so we always have one big joint b-day party. We had the traditional strawberry shortcake for dessert and just had a all around good time.

Utica Square Summer Fifth Night started! We will enjoy every Thursday evening that we can out at our happy place listening to some cool music with a picnic and friend. Israel has started dancing and clapping when he hears music, so it is so fun to watch him.

Even though May caused us to almost pull our hair out with business. It was a good business, so we loved it. I love being busy with parties and such, so it will be kind of a let down in July when we don't have any more of those. What will I do with myself....Swim!!!!!

Have a wonderful Red Shoe day

Birthdays!

2010-05-23T20:50:00.000-05:00

This month is full of birthdays for my family. Not only my small family, but my big family. May has always been a very busy, but fun month. Joel's birthday was the 19th, and it was so fun to celebrate with Izzy this year. We made him a banner that said "Happy Birthday Daddy" and Izzy colored each letter (well, he held the crayon, and I moved his hand). Today (the 23rd) is my birthday. Birthdays are important days in our household. The birthday girl or boy gets to have a special breakfast and eat off the "you are special" plate. Mom still takes us out to lunch, and then we get the dinner of our choice. Today, Joel went and got my favorite pastries from Starbucks, and we had a lovely breakfast together. My dear friend brought me a starbucks drink (my favorite) to church which I thought was so sweet! This afternoon was nap time for Izzy and I while Joel fixed our car. Tonight though, was perfect. I decided that I wanted Panera sandwhiches and dinner at the park. The weather was perfect, the atmosphere delightful, and the company sublime. Oh, and to top it off we got a snow cone on the way home! We are now home, Izzy in bed and watching one of my faves...27 dresses!

Thanks Babe for making this day wonderful!

Ooops!

2010-05-12T14:24:00.000-05:00

We have another favorite baby book author! Her name is Sandra Boynton and her chubby books are ADORABLE! We have a few and absolutely love them. We are hoping for some more for his birthday, especially ner Doggies book. Oh and visit her website...it made us laugh!

Nap time

2010-05-07T14:25:00.000-05:00

I love nap time for several reasons, but one of my favorites is singing the nap time song and saying a short prayer (for a long nap). I always sing "You are my Sunshine" and I changed the words to the end so instead of saying "please don't take my sunshine away", I say "and forever my sunshine you'll stay." And then I pray. Without fail, Izzy snuggles his head into his blanket and my shoulder and snuggles until I am finished. Then we lay down. It always makes me smile!

My Terrible, Horrible, No good, Very bad day

2010-05-07T08:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I woke up and it all started. Actually it started the night before when I found out that my meeting over lunch actually started an hour earlier than I had told my mom, who had agreed to watch Israel. It was already complicated: I was supposed to bring Izzy to the church and leave him in the nursery for mom to pick up, she would take him to Megan's and then after I was finished meet me at this school where she was headed to watch a play! Whew! But then, when I found out that my meeting was a whole hour earlier, I tried calling her only to have the phone ring continually and no one answer. So I left that problem to deal with in the morning. Well, moring came and the problem just didn't work out like I had hoped. I still couldn't get a hold of mom, and this time it was for a different reason. Israel had a runny nose and I couldn't put him in the nursery (turns out I could have afterall). So I started to get frustrated. Joel wanted to call his mom, but his mom had babysat the day before and I felt bad having the only times we called them be for a favor so I wouldn't let him. After trying to make it work, I finally realized that it wasn't a big enough deal to go to a whole bunch of trouble and running around. Then I started snowballing and getting overwhelmed by all the responsibilities in my life and feeling like I can never get anything done around the house, or errands run, or even my hair cut, and still have Izzy home to take his naps. It just doesn't work! This morning, I decided to forgo his morning nap and take Joel to work and run to the fabric store so I could try to make his curtains. This is where the next disaster comes in. While at Walmart I saw the blinds that I wanted for his room. Well, my stupid overloaded mind didn't connect two and two and inform me that I only needed blinds OR curtains. No, it just let me look at those blinds, and say to myself "Oh good, those are cheaper here than at the other store." Then it let me continue onto the fabric store spend 15.00 only to get home and destore the curtains! Okay, maybe not destroy, but at the moment they were unsalvageable. But before that I went ahead and went to the lunch part of my meeting WITH Israel. He did great, but I guess I had talked myself into thinking I was important enough to have to be there when really I wasn't and so spending the 7.50 on chicken fingers just made me mad. Back home, and an hour later I was on the phone with Joel, telling him about the curtains and my mixed up mind, and the needless spending of 15.00. Of course he was gracious...about that. But then he dropped the next bomb. Throughout the events of this day, I was so looking forward to going over to my mother-in-law's for dinner because I had no desire to cook. But Joel told me that they actually had something going on, and so Julianne (Joel's sister) was coming over to our house! Oh boy, that started the tears flowing. I got off the phone with him, crawled into my bed and cried. Then my mom called, came over and gave words of encouragement. I got to spend some time with my family, Izzy woke up, we took a walk (which was super hard with the strong winds) and on the way back my brother-in-law pulled up with a vase of flowers..."to make my day better" he said! So little by little I picked myself up, straightened up my house, and was ready to sit down with a glass of wine with my hubby when he got home.

So even thought the day started and went not the way I wanted it to, God was still faithful and gave me little things to smile about.

2010-05-05T20:45:00.000-05:00

Today I had an hour in the car by myself (I know, amazing isn't it?). 30 min one way, and then 30 min back with 1 1/2 hours of teaching in between. But the drive there was WONDERFUL!!! I was listening to Hillsong and I had a moment with the Lord that brought me to tears. I had the music blaring and I was sing my heart out, raising my hands and praising my Lord! It was a wonderful time. If you get some time alone in the car, turn your worship music up and sing your heart out!

Book Lover

2010-05-03T20:00:00.002-05:00

Izzy loves books! He gets so excited when we say we are going to read a book, and starts kicking his legs and laughing. He will also crawl into his room and sit there for awhile just looking through all of his books. It is the most adorable thing in the world! I hope that this continues and he grows up to love reading!!

Rocket Crawler!!

2010-04-30T13:54:00.000-05:00

I have a pro rocket crawler! I went to the store today to look for some clothes for Izzy. It was lunch time, and he was tired, so I didn't feel like putting up with him stuck in a shopping cart. The floor is all carpet, and it is a consignment store, so a little more layed back, therefore I thought it was okay to just set him down on the floor and give him something to play with. but he wasn't down on the ground 5 minutes when I look away for a second, look back and he is gone! I look under the rack of clothes both ways, and see him about 10 fee away looking at a book. It was like he flew over there! So the whole rest of the time I was chasing my little crawler as he scurried here and there, crying when I had to try some shoes on him, and laughing when I had to chase him down. I was so embarrased! I probably looked like one of those mothers who I swore I would never be, and swore I would "train my child so that he would be perfect all the time!" Ha! How silly I was...when I didn't have a child. I think I will put up with the shopping cart next time so that our visit to the store isn't a show.

Air Show

2010-04-26T20:43:00.000-05:00

Joel loves airplanes. As a kid he wanted to be a pilot, and if he could, he would still get his license. That is the whole reason why we decided to decorate Izzy's room with airplanes. Joel talks about all the air shows that he went to with his dad, he runs outside everytime he hears something that sounds a little different than a normal commercial plane, and he has been wanting to go to an airshow with Izzy for awhile now. A couple months ago he found out that Tulsa was hosting an air show and we put it on the calendar. Saturday it came. We sat in traffic for over an hour until we finaly got to where we could park. We went ahead and parked, not know how far we would have to walk. I am not sure, but I believe that it was probably a 2 mile walk! At least 1.5 miles. We finally made it and it was such a joy to see Joel smiling from ear to ear all day. It was fun to see all the cool planes and Izzy was wonderful. He even took a 30 min nap in the middle of all the noise. After a long afternoon we started the long trek back to the car, praying that it wouldn't rain. Well we were hoofin it, passing everyone! But we didn't make it time. It started raining, and we started running! I don't know how far we ran, not far, but we did it, Joel pushing a big stroller and me in my chaco's! We got to the car, Izzy having no idea what we just put ourselves through just for him, exhausted and ready to go home. But a good time was had by all, and we look forward next year!

One too many times

2010-04-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

I am deathly afraid of knives. Everytime I picture or think about cutting something with a kitchen knife I shudder because I have cut myself one too many times. I have some pretty tales that will make you shiver and wish you had never heard it. Last night is one of them. I was so excited because I was making a fruit pizza for our company. I LOVE these! But I foolishly cooked it on my stone and I have never before had much success with cooking things on this thing. But I did it anyway, and I sprayed it first, like the recipe told me to. But much to my dismay, the cookie would not come off! It was really embarrasing to have my cute little darling friend (who I am sure never makes mistakes like this) watching over my shoulder as I used all of my might to try to scrape the delicious stuff off! I was using a pie server witha knife like edge on one side. But it is NOT very sharp. Well I was pushing with all my might, the server slipped and sliced my finger. I calmly dropped it, and stepped over to the sink and kept my composer as I ran my bloody finger under cold water trying to see how deep the cut really was. Once dessert was out, the husband of the couple, who is a doctor declared it would be okay and in need of only a band-aid. We got a good laugh, and a silly picture and a very sorry sore finger from all of it and even though we had a great eveing, I would not like to repeat that part of it ever again!

compromise

2010-04-16T15:28:00.000-05:00

I have a son who will not eat vegetables. It has been such a struggle until...I decided to get smart. Don't get me wrong, I still make him take one bite even if it means forcing it into his mouth, because sometimes he thinks he doesn't like it and then when he tates it, he finds out he does. But to be able to get more veggies in him I resorted to my favorite cookbook right now. It is called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. She has kid friendly recipes that have certain veggies hidden in them. She has tested, and retested these and says they are the best of the best. I have tried the chicken nuggest with brocoli, mozzarella sticks with cauliflower, pancakes with sweet potatoes, pita pizzas with spinach, applesauce muffins with carrots, and my personal favorite...Macaroni and cheese with cauliflower! It is the best homemade mac and cheese ever! I am so thrilled with this book and even excited to cook some meals for us grown-ups out of it. Everything I have cooked has been really yummy and Israel has eaten them up! He is eating veggies and he doesn't even know it!!!!

A week to remember

2010-04-15T08:17:00.000-05:00

A week ago today I headed out with my Izzy to brave highway 75 all the way to Texas! All. By. Myself. I took along with me my trusty helpers, the Hide 'm' In Your Heart Steve Green DVDs that Captures Israel's attention for the full 30 min. They were a life saver! He did a wonderful job, even though he didn't sleep as long as I would have liked at first. But it all turned out well, and we made good time.

I was going to see my friend who has a daugter 6 weeks older than Izzy. They spent Thursday afternoon getting to know each other and trying to figure out how to share their toys. We had a great time together, and even managed to get away for the evening by ourselves because Hannah's husband (yes we have the same name) offered to stay home and watch the sleeping babies. But our good times were quickly over when I woke up Saturday morning throwing up. This was not good since this was the day that I was supposed to make the treck home. Hannah and her husband were wonderful and took care of me and Israel until I could somewhat function again. Hannah's family lives in Texas too, so she took the kids over there to play for the afternoon while I rested. So instead of coming home Saturday, we left Sunday morning and made it home just in time for me to collapse in bed for a long afternoon nap. While I was gone though, Joel and his dad were hard at work here putting in new windows!

The day after we got back: Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday...Israel has been whinny and cranky and not much of an eater. I think he is teething again, but haven't seen anything yet. I am hopeful for today, even though he went to bed at 9 last night and woke up at 6:30 this morning. We will see where that leads us. But thankfully he is a strong growing boy (59th percentile in height and weight, 10th percentile in head) And we are loving him.

Goofed

2010-04-15T07:59:00.000-05:00

I goofed. I was trying to be all cool and add labels to my posts, but I must have done something wrong because when I saved it, it re-plublished the post with the date that I made the labels. So if you have read my blog and then noticed a few repeats...I am not crazy, I just didn't know exactly what I was doing. But it only happened to a few, and a couple of those I was able to change back to the original date.

Wonderful

2010-03-30T21:38:00.000-05:00

I have to say something about my mothers. Mothers are amazing, and I hope that I can be as amazing a mother as they have been. My mom is always there for me, ready to talk, encourage, give solutions, provide meals, babysit, be my transportation and much much more. I treasure the times we have together, and am amazed at all the talents she has and how they have blessed me! Sometimes I am at lost for words to express my thanks for her.

My mother-in-law, is practically perfect in every way. She is so laid pack that I think she could be friends with anyone. She babysits for me every Wednesday so I can go teach and almost every time I come back, my trash is emptied, Israel's room is picked up, sometimes my pots and pans are spotless, my clothes have been washed and folded, and my bottles washed! Oh and Joel says the coffee pot is always cleaned out! Sometimes I try to clean up before she gets here just so she won't feel obligated to do anything, but I always arrive home with some little surprise.

Of course that is not ALL they do for us, but it is what I see a lot and I am thankful! I hope they know I am thankful, and indebted to them for all that they do. My only hope is that I will be able to be this wonderful to my children, and to everyone around me!

Go hug your mother (or call them and say you love them)

Perfect timing!

2010-03-27T17:10:00.002-05:00

When we were expecting Israel, I was getting his room ready trying to find the most perfect stuff for his room including a rug. We have hardwood floors, so this was really important to me. I found one...an expensive one, but thanks to many generous people we had enough gift cards to cover it. I wondered if it would be okay for a little baby since the way it was made would make it easy for them to pull apart and put in mouth! But I got it anyway. Well yesterday Izzy found out that he could pull the pieces out and put them in his mouth. I decided that it was time to get a different rug. Yes I could say "no" and spank his little hand, and take it out of his mouth, but what if I were not in there, and he decided to disobey (not uncommon considering his age) I would not want him to choke. So...I was in Target today looking for a booster seat because I am tired of my big highchair. I was walking by the rugs and noticed a blue one that would be perfect and it was only 20 dollars! I got it, it is great, and I was just reflecting on how perfect the timing was for each rug and how God allowed us to find this one on sale, same size and everything, now, when we don't have gift cards. God is good...All the time.

Decisions

2010-03-23T16:19:00.001-05:00

Some decisions are easy to make, but some are really hard. I have come to find out that most of the decisions I make as a mom are hard ones because everything is so important. What time should I put him down for a nap might seem like a silly decision, but depending on which nap it is could determine how the rest of you day goes. What kind of food should I let enter my child's body is an EXTREMELY hard question because some foods that you would like your child to eat, he won't, so you end up settling for the not so ideal sometimes, at least right now until he is older and I can demand more of him.

Now we have entered the phase of more decisions since he is crawling and standing up and overall doing a lot more. We, Joel and I, have decided to do what is called Blanket time. Some of you might have done a version of this with a play pen where they spend a concentrated time alone in a confined area occupying themselves. Blanket time is like this except you have to train them to use self control and not leave the blanket. There are not sides keeping them in. I favor this method for a couple reason. 1. It makes them or should I say gives them the opportunity to obey at all times while they are on the blanket. 2. It is mobil! You can lay down any blanket, and boom you have your boundaries! I have seen this play out before my eyes very successfully and knew that this is what I wanted to impliment in my home. So we started this yesterday. The first time lasted probably less than a minute, before I had to bring him back to the blanket with a firm "no" and a swat on the hand 3 times! So that ended the first session. The second session lasted longer. This is going to be hard, because of course I do NOT like causing my child to cry, but if it is for his benefit, which it is, then it is all worth it.

The next decision I have had to make is what to do about nap and bed time. Nap time is worse. Since he has figured out how to stand up, this is is favorite thing to do especially at nap time. I don't know what it is, but somehow he can be falling asleep while playing, and then the minute I put him in bed...play time!!! I have spent 30 long min. going in and laying him back down just to have him pop right back up again. I have had people tell me to just leave them alone and eventually they will get tired and fall asleep. I didn't feel comfortable with this because I felt like it was giving to much freedom to such a little guy. He doesn't know what is best for him yet. That is why God gave him me! So me leaving him to decide when he will go to sleep wasn't appealing to me. So after much thought, and prayer that the Lord would soften Israel heart to instruction even at this small age, I have decided that deciplinary actions must occur. A wonderful mom whom I highly respect affirmed my decision. So today after laying him down, I went back in there to find him standing up and laughing at me, but in a way that sounded like he knew he wasn't supposed to be standing. After a firm no, I laid him down and he went to sleep. This time was easy and I know they won't all be that way, but I can still be encouraged.

This or That?

2010-03-22T11:54:00.001-05:00

I am now apart of the group with crawling toddlers! And I love it! It is so nice that Israel can get to where he wants to go...although sometimes I have to say "no" or put him somewhere else. Today before I got in the shower I hid the heater that we have in his bedroom, put the trash can on his dresser and closed the closet doors. This is new for me, but so far we are enjoying it marvel at how he moves. But my question is, and maybe some of you moms can help me out, is what do I let him play with and what is off limits? I know it is going to be somewhat different for me than for you since we have different stuff in our homes, and of course there are the no brainers: The toilet is off limits along with the outlet plugs, heaters, trash cans, drawers that smash his fingers etc. Today he was opening and closing my drawer and the tips of his fingers got caught. He wasn't pushing very hard but it still hurt him....maybe he won't do that again! So if you have been doing this longer than me and have found that some things around the house are okay, let me know!

We will be starting blanket time soon, so I will let you know how that goes.

Me time

2010-03-20T22:42:00.001-05:00

Amazing enough I got some me time tonight. Joel went to spend some time with a friend, so what did I do? I got Chinese take-out, put the baby to bed, took a shower and then gave myself a pedicure and manicure! It is 10:00 and I just finished! It was lovely. Now I am watching HGTV and wating for my honey to come home.

Happy places

2010-03-20T10:45:00.001-05:00

I have a couple places that when I am there make me very happy. Utica Square is one of them because it has so many special family memories and fun times. We have spent summers there listening to music and winters drinking coffee and looking at the lights. Starbucks is another one of my happy places. The smell is one of my favorites. I have thought it would be fun to work there, but then I think it might ruin it for me and I don't want to take that chance. I love going there with Joel or as a family or with friends, to relax and drink my coffee. My new favorite there is a tall decaf mocha coffee with a morning bun. Delicious! All my worries disappear for an hour or so when I am at these places. At Utica I feel like I am driving into a separate world where everything is classy, beautiful, comforting, and sophisticated. It is enchanted in that even when you are having a bad day, or something you don't want to remember happens there, you don't associate it with that bad thing. It can only be remembered as something good, and as bringing joy. For that I am thankful.

Of course the other happy place is my home (especially when it is clean), but right now it is not my happy place because I have no groceries and it is dirty. The floor has enough dirt on it to...be disgusting! But I am not motivated to clean right now because it is March 20th and it is snowing outside - big, giant snowflakes. It is beautiful but it still makes me want to cry because I am SO ready for spring. I really want it to be sunny and nice so I can open my windows, and finish my spring cleaning. But despite the weather I better leave you to think of your happy places, (and hopefully one of them is your home, because that is where you are on this snowing spring day) and get started on my to-do list.

Spring cleaning

2010-03-18T10:16:00.001-05:00

I decided to start some spring cleaning. But I didn't know where to start, so I printed off a check list from the internet to help me know what extra stuff to do. Yesterday I started in the kitchen. Started is the key word. But before I finish in the kitchen I have to share with you my favorite cleaning product EVER! It is called Bar Keepers Friend. And boy is it my friend. This powder will get anything up from rust on your tile, to the little black spotts that somehow get on your fridge from your magnets to the gunky stuff on your stove to the pan scratches in your sink with little to no scrubbing. It is amazying. I call it my miracle powder. Try it, it will make your life so much easier!

Oh and Izzy is doing new things everyday. Yesterday he pulled up to his feet holding onto the couch, and in his crib. Today is side steped down the couch trying to get stuff he wanted. He is amazing. His crawl is so funny kinda a mix betweek walking and crawling if that makes sense. maybe it is the hardwood floors that he feels like he has to do something to get traction. Oh boy, he keeps me laughing!

Thanks mom

2010-03-17T09:50:00.002-05:00

This weekend we went out of town to Little Rock Arkansas for a wedding shower for a cousin. All of us girls minus Molly went and of course our babies. So Izzy and I packed up our whole house (or at least it felt like it) and loaded up in the car and drove 4 hours to Bama's house. Bama's house means warmth, yummy smells, delicious coffee and lots of food! She always has mixed nuts out to tempt you and to cause you to give into temptation. Creaky doors always announce another beloved family member as they come in and we squeal, hug and begin to catch up. Upstairs is full of beds to accomodate all of us, and we usually fight over who gets the single bed all by themselves. Now, portacribs (2 this time) share the room and we stress out over whether or not the babies will sleep well together or if they will cry and wake everyone up. This time we had not just our family but some of our extended family staying at Bama's. That made things interresting and a little awkward since one of them was my Aunts boyfriend staying in the room across from ours. Things got a little worse when he spent the whole night throwing up. Needless to say, I didn't sleep at all that night between that and my baby waking up because of the noise, the heat, and no fan to subdue the inbetween silence. I was supposed to stay till Tuesday with my mom while all my other sisters were going home the very next day. I almost threw in the towel and decided to call it quits and go home as well. but I didn't. I had to prove to myself that I could do this, I didn't have Joel there to help me and that always makes it hard. But once my mom got there Sunday all was good again. She was so helpful. She noticed when things were getting hard, asked if I needed help, took him so I could have a break. Played, talked and laughed with him along with the rest of us. WONDERFUL! The next night was a lot better since I moved down to the office where it was cooler, quieter and gave us more privacy. We slept great! Eating was always an adventure since everything around him was new and he didn't really want to concentrate on his food, that he really didn't like all that much anyway. But he acted like a champ when we ate at the country club that I grew up going to. Everyone was impressed as he played on the floor. Although they did ask me over and over again if he was okay and wasn't going to get trampled. He ate mac and cheese, some veggies and some blueberry puffs! My favorite part though was when he fell asleep in my arms, exhausted from the days activities. He took wonderful naps and I really didn't have to compromise naps with our schedule, it all worked out beautifully. A rough start ended well. We are home now, and we all slept in. We didn't know it because the clock in our bedroom hadn't been set forward yet, but it is all good, and now I have the rest of the week to do some spring cleaning and enjoy some time off. Thanks mom for helping so much and for making it a good time.

New Adventure

2010-03-11T16:52:00.001-06:00

Izzy started to crawl today. He is not too good at it yet, but he keeps trying. I was really excited because he and I are leaving for Little Rock Saturday till Tuesday, and I would have been really sad if he had started crawling then when Joel wasn't with us. Joel would have missed that. But we got to see the first crawling episode together and we got it on video. I don't know how to put videos on here so you will have to use your imagination, but he was adorable. He used a crawling/scooting/standing on toes and hands combination, and we loved it. He still slips when he is on the hardwood floor so sometimes I take his pants off. It has been nice that the weather has been warmer so I can do that. Anyway...adventures to come and I am excited!

Sore

2010-03-11T10:01:00.001-06:00

About a month ago my family got on this Jilian Michael's kick and got one of her videos. It is KICK BUTT HARD! I had made it back down to my prebaby weight, but wanted to get to pre wedding weight so I decided to try it. I still can't do more than 2 rounds without collapsing. But I never really felt sore, which is an indication to me that I have worked. I felt worked, but...I don't know. I did feel my motabolism speed up (I thought I was pregnant because I was hungry more) and that was great because then I could still have my oreos!!! But just the other day I decided to do a different video because I like to switch things up, and found this one called...I can't remember, but it has 3 levels all at the same time (three different people doing a different a level of the same exercise) and it incorporated a LOT of the same things Jilian Michaels does, but at a faster pace. I felt like it worked my whole body better and....I am stinkin sore! But I feel a six pack coming on, so watch out world! Oh and I made it down to pre-wedding weight WooHoo!!!

2010-03-09T14:19:00.001-06:00

I hate being in a hurry. I feel like I don't have things under control when I am in a hurry. But lately everytime we leave the house, I feel like we are in a hurry that spills over into driving, where I am always trying to find the fastest way to wherever I am going. But today was not like that. I took Joel to TU for a class that his job is sending him to and he had to be there by 8:30. The next place I had to be was Walmart, and then Bible study at 9:30. Thankfully I only needed 2 things at Walmart, and Walmart is 5 min. or less from church. Israel had fallen asleep so I purposely took the long way to Walmart from TU. It was lovely!!! I sat at red lights, and didn't rush, and was so relaxed. I love drives like that! Israel woke up right when we got to Walmart and so it was perfect!

moment worth recording

2010-03-08T20:01:00.001-06:00

My dear husband, bless his heart, was getting breakfast this morning while I was feeding Izzy. He was making us both toast with carmel apple jam. All of a sudden I heard: "This doesn't look like the jam....it is BBQ sauce!" He had put BBQ sauce on his toast! Anyway...I thought it funny enough to share with you. Hope you got a laugh out of it!

Wedding bliss

2010-03-08T11:22:00.001-06:00

My sister-in-law is getting married in August! So last Saturday we went dress shopping! I decided to make her a wedding planner book to help her get organized (we need all the help we can get)! I even passed onto her the special pick diamond pen that I used when I went dress shopping! I almost cried (sniff, sniff). We had a blast. It reminded me of the fun times I had during my planning time. What an exciting time! Congrats Juls!

My little Flamingo

2010-03-05T14:36:00.001-06:00

Today my little goober fell asleep in the car on the way to drop daddy off at work. We left early just so I could get back in time BEFORE he did that. His nap wasn't supposed to be for another hour, and the little stinker still fell asleep. But he woke up shortly after and was fussy all the way home, so when we got home I laid him down again knowing that he needed some more sleep. But he has gotten into this thing where he will sit up in bed (now that he can get from a sitting position from his tummy) and play, or fuss. So I let him do that for awhile, and then went back in there and laid him down with his paci. I left and it was quiet. I thought that he had fallen asleep. Then I heard a little sound, peeked in the door and there he is falling asleep sitting up! I successfully laid him down and he continued his sweet sleep!

Tid Bits

2010-03-02T22:54:00.001-06:00

It is 10:30 at night, Joel is snoring beside me, and I should be asleep also, but just HAD to write before I forgot what I wanted to write about. I just had some little things that I wanted to record that I am going through at this time in my life. Really important stuff (just kidding). So here goes.

1. I am LOVIN' me some oreos!!! I am on an oreo kick. I love a double stuffed oreo and a little glass of milk at night to end my day. It is the perfect blend of sweetness and creamy smoothness. I love it! I didn't always love oreos, and infact I used to just eat the white stuff, but since I got pregnant with Izzy, I haven't liked icecream that much, and we had some oreos laying around the house, it sounded good, and I have been hooked every since! But I just been introduced to the third love of my life (first being Joel and then Izzy). It is the oreo pizza from Mazzio's. Oh. My. Goodness. Heaven in my mouth!!! Thank you Chris for bringing that to dinner tonight!

2. For some reason I love falling asleep all cuddled up with Joel on the couch while we are watching a movie, or tv. There is something so comforting about it. Of course if it is a movie that we have never seen and it is exciting enough to keep this mama awake, then I stay awake, but otherwise I love the drowsy feeling I get and the warmth of the blanket and Joel's big arms around me, and the feeling that nothing in the world could go wrong and difting off into dream land. The Olympics were on the past two weeks and we would stay up till midnight, watching...let me rephrase that...Joel would watch, I would drift in and out. But I LOVED it! I looked forward to it each night.

3. Lately I have been food processing everything I can think of that Izzy might like to eat. Last night I blended up tuna with an egg...he wasn't too fond of that. But he ate it a little better when I put some quacamoli in it :), and I even blended up some salad! He didn't like it, so I ate it. It was still crunchy because it had croutons. But tonight was a hit. I had cooked a corn beef brisquet in the crockpot all day and made some mashed pot. and some green beans. So I threw a little bit of all of that in the food processor and it came out perfectly blended and the perfect texture. HE DEVOURED IT! Just like his dad. I am playing a guessing game here trying to figure out what he will eat and trying to have them be as healthy as possible. If anyone has some good suggestions on what to feed a 9 month old who refuses to eat baby food, but is still not too crazy about some textures, tell me!

He was Faithful!

2010-03-01T12:51:00.001-06:00

The Lord worked on our behalf and the hotel was gracious and readily agreed to refund us our money. They said that there isn't a hotel in Chicago that hasn't had bedbugs, but we are willing to pay a little more for a hotel that is NOT of the list. I mean for goodness sakes, our apartment had bedbugs! So we are still going to bath our vacation in prayer and take the precautions we know to take and trust the Lord to protect us and our luggage!! Thanks for your prayers!!

Power of Prayer

2010-03-01T09:08:00.001-06:00

We like to think that the power of prayer is ONLY positive, and that we will see great and might things come to pass the way we think they should. But it is not always like that. I have been doing this study about breaking free (I mentioned it in a previous post) and a big theme is belief. Belief in who God says he is. So I have been prayin for the Lord to help my unbelief and to not be anxious for anything because as pastor Jim put it, "anxiety is a symptom of what we believe about God in our hearts." I guess I didn't really know what to expect when I prayed for the Lord to strengthen my unbelief, but I wasn't expecting this. Joel and I have been able to plan a trip to Chicago this summer because of an awesome health plan his job did. We called it "walking to Chicago" because the more he walked the more he won, so that in the end he won us 2 round trip plane tickets and money for hotel. So we have been looking for a good hotel on priceline because other people of had success. We spent hours looking and getting nothing from priceline as far as naming our own price. So we just started looking at the normal prices that hotels were and if we found one we kind of liked we would make sure that it wasn't on the bedbug registry. Yes there is a bedbug registry and I would highly recommend anyone traveling to make sure your hotel is NOT on this list. We have had bedbugs before in our appartment that we lived in when we were first married and it was a nightmare! The only way I knew to check hotels in Chicago is because I heard that cities over and near there were having troubles with bedbugs, and that if you were traveling to double check. So we did. There were about 15 hotels in the Chicago area that were on the bedbug registry. Last night we were watching the closing ceremonies of the olympics, I was dosing, and Joel was hotel shopping. He woke me up at about 10:30 to show me this hotel that he found and the price we could get it at. It looked nice and I told him that and noticed that the price was lower than other ones we had looked at. Then he suprised me by saying, "but I got if for ____!" I squealed with delight and hugged him and high-fived him and we were so happy. Then I said, "is it on the bedbug list?" So we looked sure that it wasn't, and down at the very bottom, the last hotel to be named, was ours. Our hearts sank, and our minds started wirling, and I started sweating I think remembering back to the horrible summer we had fighing those aweful creatures. There was no way we were going to risk a stay at this hotel. But it doesn't stop there. It wasn't a case were we could call up and cancel our registration. We had done the "name your price" thing on priceline which means if it goes through and a hotel accepts your offer, it is final. Joel jumped on the phone with customer service and in his authoritative voice ask/demanded that something be done about this. We are still in the process of getting this turned around but it has been a trusting issue for us. Last night I was in constant prayer that the Lord would work on our behalf and that He would help Joel to be strong and confident in His name, and in His power to be able to let this all work out. I was reminded of the verses in Luke where the man said "If you are willing you can heal..." and the Lord replied "If you believe..." What pastor Jim said about anxiety is in the forefront of my mind, and I am trying to replace worry with the excitement to see how the Lord is going to work in our behalf, or if He so chooses to not let this work out, trust that He is bigger than this and that He will show us what to do. I know that this is a minor thing compaired to alot of people's problems, but if you have ever dealt with bedbugs, it wouldn't seem so minor afterall. So could you pray with me that the hotel will have mercy and refund us our money, and that we would be able to choose another one? Thank you!

Idols

2010-02-26T09:17:00.001-06:00

I am going through this Beth Moore study called Breaking Free. At first I was a little skeptical about it all and really wondered if it was for me, because I don't have major addictions. But I have found that you don't have to have major addictions to be in bondage. Today I was doing my lessons on Idols and the Exodus 20 passage. I paused to ask the Lord if I had any idols, and if He would reveal them to me. A few came to mind: Obssesion to have a clean and picked up house, and feeling like a failure if I don't, My weight (upset if I weigh 1 or 2 pounds over what I would like to weigh and weighing myself everyday), Worrying and fearing...which would be the idol of control and trying to take care of everything on my own. I have been really trying to work on that one, because I have know my weakness to it for a long time. I hope that the Lord is growing me up in the area, and it is not just a delusion of mine. One reason why I think He is working on me in this area, is because yesterday I was praying and laying at his feet the many thinks I was feeling burdened about (i.e. summer finances since I might not have as many studnets, and other upcoming expenses) I was so excited because I felt like I was really letting go, and getting excited about seeing how the Lord was going to show Himself faithful! I still start to worry, but I am trying to turn right around and give it over to the Lord. So anyway, I want to live an abundant life full of joy, and turning things over to the Lord is a good start for me!

2010-02-25T21:05:00.001-06:00

Well, I did it again...I got my ears peirced! I first had them done when I was about 13. Everything went great, and I was enjoying feeling pretty with earings. Then I went to florida, was purchased some cheap earings (even thought I thought they were wonderful). They were wonderful since they came from my aunt, but they were not very good for my ears. Those earings, combined with salt water added up to very infected ears. I didn't know this until a week ago. I only knew that ever since that trip I had trouble with my ears, until last year when I gave up wearing earings because I couldn't stand the feeling of repeircing my ears every time I tried to put them in. So for a year I went without until I was desperate to feel fiminine again. Having short hair, and just having had a baby, I was searching for things to make me feel like a woman. So I tried out the most modern clip-ons that I could find. I enjoyed those for awhile, until I got tired of the small collection from which to choose. So last Friday, I decided to ask if there was a chance I could get my ears repeirced without there being a problem. That is when I found out that the salt water probably started to erode the cheap earing causing an infection in my ear. So with a 14 karat gold earing, it would probably work. So I decided to take the plunge. I don't think I have been that nervous since I had a baby! What was making me the most nervous was know how much I was going to spend, when it might not work. But Joel was all for it, and the odds were good, so I did it. So far so good. I am a week into it, and they are still a little sore, but I read they could be up to 2 or 3 weeks. Anyway...I feel pretty, and so I am enjoying this while it lasts (hopefully that will be a long time).

Matchy matchy

2010-02-23T20:24:00.001-06:00

I didn't think that I would be the type of mother who would match with my kids or make my kids match with each other. But I have come to find out that sometimes that happens and it is not on purpose. You know how sometimes you just "feel" like a certain color, or wearing a certain color? Well I do, and since I pick out Izzy's clothes I sometimes pick out clothes with the colors I feel like that day. Make sense? So somedays we are both wearing brown, somedays it is read, or....purple! Sunday I wanted to wear my new purple shirt that I got from the Gap with a gift card that my wonderful husband got for me! But at first I wasn't going to wear it until that night. But since I had purple on my mind, I picked out a purple shirt for Izzy to wear that morning. But then I decided to go ahead and wear my new shirt that morning, making it so that Izzy and I matched...not on purpose, I promise! But we did look pretty cute, so we took some pictures.

Enjoying the now

2010-02-22T11:01:00.001-06:00

Sometimes you learn something monumental, and you think "ah, I have it now." But the truth is, you may have learned it then, but you will need to be reminded over and over again to continue living it out. Summer of 2008 I learned that I needed to enjoy the now, and not get caught up in living for the future. Because I was continually discontent and most the time just looking forward to what was coming next. Lately, I have been looking forward to Israel crawling. Now before you start preaching to me to enjoy the time that I can leave him somewhere and when I get back he is still there...I know all that. I know that right now is very convenient in that I don't have to chase him around the house...yet. I know that there will be more discipline, and more tears, and more "Israel, where are you?" going on. But on the flip side of the coin, right now Izzy will get from a sitting position to his knees, then flop to his tummy, then he gets frustrated because he hasn't figured out the crawl yet, therefore he can't get to where he wanted to go. So I am constantly saving a crying frustrated baby from being stuck on his tummy. Sometimes he will return to a sitting position, but not always. Anyway...am sitting here on my living room floor watching him move around, and realized how he has progressed and that he is so close! But instead of rejoicing and marveling at what he CAN do, I have been wishing for something he CAN'T do yet. So I am just letting know, that I have been reminded, and I am going to enjoy watching him do what he can do but also look forward to watching the new unfold.

Valentine's Day!

2010-02-15T20:50:00.000-06:00

I really wanted to do valentine goody bags for my nieces and nephews this year and for my sisters, and mom (okay, everyone) so I was just going to go pick up some conversation hearts and tie them up all cute in a plastic bag. But then I had a better idea. I would use the sugar cookie dough that was taking up space in my fridge to make cute little heart cookies that I could ice and put sprinkles on and it would be more fun, and a lot cuter. (I know...that is not a word). Sunday morning (valentine's day) Israel had a cold, it was snowing, so we thought it was a perfect day to stay home from church, so I decided to make my cookies. I had so much fun but wished all the while that Izzy was helping me, tasting the dough, and licking the spoons full of icing! I look forward to next year when he will be able to help me cut out the cookies and put the sprinkles on and add his little touch to the whole project. They turned out great and here is a picture to prove it!

Stage 2

2010-02-11T21:32:00.000-06:00

Today, I graduated Izzy to his big boy seat. It is easier to get him in and out, but it was super sad to now be using the car seat that we brought him home in. He is getting so big!

Worth celebrating

2010-02-11T14:49:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Joel and I celebrated our 3thd wedding anniversary. It was a fun day. We met at Starbucks for a quick coffee lunch, and then He sent me flowers...in the mail!!!! I have never received flowers like that before. Then we cooked dinner together and watched a movie.

It has been a wonderful three years, and we look forward to seeing what God is going to do in the many years to come! In honor of this occasion I thought I would post some pictures ...a little trip down memory lane.

It was a wonderful day!!

Sneaky...like a fish

2010-02-08T20:26:00.001-06:00

Last Friday I sat Israel down to eat some lunch. He has been doing pretty good with eating food, but for the past few days he has acted disinterested. So I was trying to feed him some green beans and some stew. Well, he didn't want anything to do with it. The more I said to open his mouth the more he pressed his lips closed. So finally I got him out of his chair thinking that he just might not be hungry. A few min. later I decided to try again. Same thing. So instead of giving up, because he was probably hungry and just not liking the food I was feeding him. So I pulled out the yogurt. He LOVES yogurt! I put a little bit of green beans on the spoon and then a tiny bit of yogurt on the end so that would be the first thing that he tasted. It worked!!!! He ate it. I would feed it to him that way, and then try some beans by themselves and he would start to cry. Distgusting? Yes, but it got some veggies in him!

Misc. Items

2010-02-03T17:18:00.001-06:00

Don't you hate putting stuff in the misc. item category? I like it when everything has its place and is in its own special category, but the misc. items are just the odd ones out. Well, I couldn't figure out a title for this blog because it is going to about all sorts of misc. things. Things I want to remember, and things I want to share with you. First things first...Israel is eating solids now!!! I am so happy, because this little big boy was consuming lots of formula. I thank the Lord though that he doesn't need some expensive like of formula, so it could be worse. But none the less I am excited. I was driving in my care today thinking about this, and just so happy with the way the last couple of days have gone, with Israel eating, and playing, and growing so well, that I was just about to burst! But I also felt guilty for being so happy when things are going so well, like I shouldn't get my hopes up or something. I said a quick prayer asking the Lord to help me have a good attitude even when things are NOT going so well, and resolved that it was perfectly fine to be rejoicing in the present and rejoice in THIS day because the Lord had given it to me. I can take one day at a time and be thankful for the easy ones!
         Second misc item...I got a new phone! It is a hand-me-down, (I almost spelled it like "hammydown" because that is how I pronounce it) but nonetheless it is new to me, and it is a much better phone than I had before. Joel let Israel slobber on his one too many times, and so he was needing one, found a guy on Craigs list that was selling 2 for one price, so we both got one! I was completely frustrated with my other one because it kept dropping calls. It was especially embarrassing when I was on a professional call and I had to call the person back and apologize for my stupid phone, in the meanwhile they are thinking I hung up on them!
          Third....Today I was teaching my sister piano lessons and Joe my brother has taken it upon himself to watch Izzy while I do this. I look over today and see him going over his missionary story with Israel that he was going to be sharing today in Good News club! Izzy was just sitting there looking at books while Joe was sharing the gospel! Oh Lord may your truth never return void, and may your word sink into this little 7 month old head! Then I look later and Izzy is completely relaxed leaning on Joe, while they read books together! Priceless!
   Fourth...It was time for Izzy's nap. I sang to him, prayed that he would take a good nap, and put him to bed. A few min. later he decided that he didn't want to go to bed so he started crying. After a few min. I went in a gave him his paci, but the crying didn't stop. I was teaching at the time, so after I was finished I went back in and told him it was time for bed and he still didn't quiet down! This went on for 30 min.! He was screaming! Finally I went in there got him up and gave him some Ibuprofen thinking maybe his teeth were bothering him, and then I decided to pray. I prayed that the Lord would bind the evil one from causing this little one to be at unrest. I prayed that He would calm his spirit and help him to calm down, and be obedient and take his nap. By this time Israel was trying to make some cute sounds after he had screamed my head off, but I didn't let him win! I stood up and walked over to the bed calmly telling him that it was time for a nap and that he needed to calm down and go to sleep. He started crying again like he understood me perfectly! I laid him down, gave him is paci, and left the room. I didn't hear another sound! I praised the Lord for intervening and causing my little one to be at peace. It is scary to think that the evil one is out to get even our little babies, but the power of prayer and the truth that God is bigger and has the victory is such a comfort! Thank you God for revealing yourself to me today!

"Did you practice this week?"

2010-02-03T17:10:00.001-06:00

I was teaching today, and I decided to write down the phrases that I say ALL THE TIME! Here they are..."Did you practice this week?" "Let's pray." "Oops! What note is that?" "Watch your steps and skips." "Good!" "what do you think you could work on?" "Count out loud." "Where's your 2 finger?" And I am sure there are many more. I tend to get really annoied with these phrases since I hear them so often. My students shouldn't have to be told more than once to do this or that, right? Then I noticed some parallelisms. I am all the time causing God to ask me "Did you practice this week on what I convicted you about?" "Let's pray." "Oops! You sinned again!" "What note (command) is that?" "Watch your steps and your skips as you follow Me." "Good job!" "What do you think you could work on today?" "Speak My word out loud so you can hear yourself and not get ahead of what I want you to do." I am in constant need of reminders and I am sure that he tires of telling me the same thing again. Yet He does it so patiently and lovinging. This is motiviation for me to treat my students with understanding and patience and to lovingly remind them again what is so obvious to me.

2010-01-29T22:29:00.001-06:00

Today, I was looking at my counch pillows and wishing for some new ones. Then I got a clever idea! I would go get some fabric and recover the ones I had shoved in the closet because I didn't like them. That way, I would save money, and then I would be able to use my new sewing machine! But then I got even more clever (I know, amazing isn't it). I realized I could just use the fabric of my old pillows since it was still in good shape, to recover the other pillows! I was so excited that I had come up with a solution without spending any money! So out of eagerness I cut up the first pillow, but then I realized that I really should clean house first, so I got out my dusting rag and starting dusting, only to be sidetracked by hanging some pictures which took longer than I had anticipated and then that led to a creative idea for the empty wall space above my tv cabinet (I know, I was just full of them today). Then Israel woke up. Now it is 10:30 pm, and my house is still not completely clean, I have have unfinished projects, my office is more messy than it was this morning, and I am only staying up because I don't want to give up this quiet time alone with Joel WITHOUT a crying baby! Yes, Israel is teething again. I wasn't expecting it this soon, since he has already cut the too bottom teeth. I know all babies are different but I had just talked to my friend and her daughter cut her too bottom teeth and three months have passed and she hasn't gotten anymore. So that is what I was expecting. Well, yesterday he was fussy, but today has been the worst so far. I was SO glad that Joel was home today, because I don't think I could have made it through today without him! But he is now asleep, and we still love him to pieces but we are still REALLY enjoying the time of peace!

A Snowy Tradition

2010-01-29T12:28:00.001-06:00

If you know me and my family, you know that we have a lot of traditions. Mainly at Christmas time, but we also have little things all year round that are fun to do. Megan started this one way back when, and we have tried to keep the tradition going (or at least I have) even when she left and got married. Every time it snowed she would go out and get Mac and Cheese and Hot dogs! Every snowy day I remember in my childhood had mac and cheese. So today on this cold snowy day, we are fixing mac and cheese! I am so hungry so I hope this water boils quickly!

What do you do to make your snowed in days fun!

Glory in your tribulations?

2010-01-19T09:24:00.003-06:00

Does that sound right to you? Well it is! I am going through this Beth Moore Personal Reflection Series on David. I have really enjoyed it! Today we read in 1 Sam 8 about Israel asking for a king. She focused in on the lessons that we can take from Israel demanding a king before it was God's timing. Patience was the first lesson, and how Israel's lack of patience cost them greatly. She suggested that if they had waited for God's timing, how different their story might have been. The other lesson? Rejection. Samuel felt rejection since he had been their faithful judge for so long, but God told him that they were not rejecting him, but God. Then the hard part that sent me on my guilt trip. Samuel told the Israelites everything that a king would bring...and it was all bad. but the thing that gets me, is that they didn't care! They still wanted one! So I had to ask myself...Do I do that???? Do I still insist on something even though the cons are staring me in the face? But the thing that stood out to me the most was the fast that often God does not readily give us our hearts desire because He can see the big picture and can see that what we desire, at the time we desire it would not be good for us and would cost us. Beth Moore states: "Faith sometimes means forgoing our desires because we trust Christ to have a better plan for our lives." the BETTER stood out to me.

The Lord really nailed me on this one! It convicted me but also made me want to dance with joy, knowing that my Lord desires my best! And if He is not giving me what I think is the best, then instead of me moping and getting angry, I should be excited to wait and see what BETTER thing the Lord is going to bring my way! That will make for a wonderful red shoes day, won't it! So from one sinner being sanctified to another...let's trust the Lord that He has the whole world in His hands and He is going to do what is best for all of us!

Have a great day!

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed

2010-01-10T20:06:00.001-06:00

Does anyone know where that phrase came from? I don't, but I have heard it my whole life especially when I woke up cranky. Well today was one of those days...not that I was cranky, well, to start with at least, but because everything seemed go wrong. Yesterday I ventured out and tried to make my own Moby wrap. It didn't turn out like I had expected and so this morning I was trying it again, knowing that I would have to carry Izzy around church since he had ANOTHER cold! But Izzy was cranky so he was all squirmy and did not want to be wrapped up. Then everything that I put on seemed to be too big, and time was running out! Joel had to be at church at a certain time, and I wasn't ready, Izzy was still in his pajamas, and the diaper bag wasn't ready. So in tears I told Joel that he better just go and I would stay home with Izzy. So he left and I put Izzy down for a nap and we both cried ourselves to sleep.

I will not bore you with the rest of our day, but I will say that it is 8:00 pm Israel is STILL crying after being put to bed, and although I love my family and spending time with them and taking care of them...I am ready for this day to be over. Please tell me I am not the only one that has days like this.

One funny thing that did happen was that Joel wanted some tomato soup for super. So we ran to the store, I got a phone call and so he went into the store to get the soup. He came out and told me how many he got, but he kept calling it "sauce". I thought he had just gotten mixed up, but when I got home, I pulled out the bag two cans of tomato sauce...not soup! That didn't matter to him, he just added water and seasoned it like we do the soup, and he ate it anyway!!! We got a good laugh.

So if you had a day today that you are ready to be done with...find something to laugh about.

Mixed up

2010-01-08T15:08:00.001-06:00

If you are like me then sometimes you get mixed up. We try to be like everyone else (for different reasons) and we end up not being able to do what God created us to do.

I was reading an Eric Carle book to Izzy called the Mixed Up Cameleon. I love it because it shows the life of a cameleon and how it seemed somewhat boring to him. Then he saw a zoo, and all the wonderful different animals and started to wish that he could do the different things that all the other animals could do, like be big and white like a polar bear, or smart like a fox, and each time he wished it, something of that animal would be added to his body, like the tail of the fox, or fins of a fish, or antlers of a dear, or a tall neck of a giraffe. Then he saw a fly go by and because he was all the different animals he couldn't catch the fly like he was originally made to do! Then he wished to be himself and he caught the fly.

I think I should read this story everyday to remind myself that God made me just the way I am for a specific reason and if I try to be like everyone else then I will eventually be so bogged down with trying to be what I am not, that I won't be able to be and do what He created me to be and do. Great book! Get it for your kids, or for yourself, and enjoy!

Happy New Year

2010-01-05T21:00:00.001-06:00

I know I am a little late writing this considering that it is already the 5th, almost 6th of January. But better late than never...so they say.

Do you do New Year resolutions? I try to sit down and act spiritual and try to come up with a verse for the year and several things to put down on a list, but do I keep them? And do I remember the verse for the entire year? Sadly no. But this year, we did things a little different. I didn't make a list, but Joel and I resolved to make a budget and to really stick to it. We got really detailed and specific, and we are really excited! You know how kids feel secure and safe with boundaries and rules, well that is how I feel. I know...funny isn't it. Although I have a limit to what I can spend it is kind of fun to be able to have a certain $ amount that I get to spend on anything I want and to think about it and dream about that one or 2 or maybe even three things that I can get with my money!

I did make a little list of things I wanted to improve on, but it just had a couple things on it. I decided that I wanted to try to be a happier person. The Lord gave the a verse in Job and how he chose to bless the Lord despite what had happened to him. And then I really want to work on not worrying so much! It really wears me out! So if you see me, remind me to not worry, and to be happy!

What are your new year's resolutions?

Along with this new year, my little baby is growins so much! He keeps us in stitches with all his funny faces, and he keeps our eyes peeled, not wanting to miss a single new thing that he does. He is in the beginning stages of crawling, so he gets up on his knees and rocks back and forth. Tonight he was in his bed and not really wanting to go to sleep so he starts messing around and he actually got up on his hands and toes! We were rolling! Sometimes I feel like I can't squeeze him hard enough, and I can't kiss him enough times to show him how much I love him. I feel like I am going to burst! We are truly blest and can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do in this little life!

One Brave little boy

2009-12-30T12:44:00.001-06:00

Today we started immunizations. I know...we are starting late, but I have been hesitant. I grew up with a mom that rarely gave us antibiotics, had her own home remedies, and has a firm stance against immunizations. So you can imagine my agony and hesitation over this. But after prayer, and questions, and some research we decided to just do a few that our pediatrician suggested. So after putting it off we took him in today and he got his first shot. He cried a little bit but over all, he was a very brave boy. He was a again brave as we went to the chiropractor and then a charmer as we went shopping. Now he is sleeping, and mommy is stealing a few quite moments as I watch Sense and Sensibility. Have you seen it? If not then you must. It is a gloomy day outside but our hearts are all warm. I hope you are having a fabulous December 30th too.