Thursday, August 27, 2009

Snuggle Puppy


{Gracie B. loves to snuggle with her babies lately.}
:)

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

overwhelmed

right now i am overwhelmed. with finances, with my home, my garage, my van. with case management work. with my fatigue. i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. i know that is such a cliche, but it is honestly how i feel at the moment. sometimes i wonder if i will ever have energy again. sometimes i have energy spurts, but they usually don't last very long. it makes me feel like such a stinky wife and mother.

i know that His grace is sufficient for me and that His power is made perfect in my weakness. sometimes I just don't tap into that.

we have a full week ahead including hours of meetings for me tonight and tomorrow. blah.

the other night i was at my little brother's house in fayetteville. him and some friends were having an impromptu concert. there were several college students there. kids that love God and have their whole lives ahead of them. we were all sitting on the floor in the dark room and as one of my friends was singing, tears unexpectedly pricked my eyes. i was thinking about missions and dreams and being young. not necessarily being a stay at home mom of two little ones with colored walls, a swollen belly, stacks of bills and extreme fatigue. (not that i would trade my husband or kids for the whole world.) i don't know, i just felt sad for a moment and the Lord gently reminded me that this is just a season. as all the different times of life are. the happy ones and the tough ones. even though the first few months after having sophie were so incredibly hard in so many ways, they were also some of the sweetest. i miss those times. maybe at some point i will look back at this season with fond memories. i know i will miss the stage that grace is at now. she is so precious and is learning new words and things every day. i will miss sophie's quirky little faces and funny expressions too.

i probably won't miss the heaving and the exhaustion and the early mornings and the colored walls.

it's all just a season.

now, back to work...

Thursday, August 20, 2009

MDO Quotes, Rescue Mission, and Blackberries

The girls did enjoy their first day at Mother's Day Out. I didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked to, but I did get some rest. That's ok, because SLEEP is a very important commodity in my world lately. :)


Apparently the boys greatly out-numbered the girls at MDO today. Grace was the only girl in her one year old class and Sophie mentioned all the boys a few times. She said "she likes boys!" :)

When I got them in the van to run errands I started asking Sophie all about it....Did you have fun? "Yes." Did you eat your lunch? "Yes?" Did you make a craft? "Yes." Did you learn anything? Pause for her to think about it... "Probably. " Smile from momma. :) Then I asked her about the potty. Did you use the potty? "Yep, I even poopied once." Really? Who wiped you? "Some grandma." :)

After a few errands and Grace had fallen asleep, Sophie begged to "watch a movie" on the couch. I finally consented and suggested one of Mommy's movies...The A & E version of "Pride and Prejudice." I lured her in with talk of pretty dresses, balls and horseback, but I really figured that it would put her right to sleep. Sure enough it did. It put us both to sleep! :)

I think their day was a success!

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Tomorrow I am joining my Mom, Sister (and my sweet nephew Ike), and Grandma on a "Rescue Mission" to help my sister Britt finish getting settled into her now home. She bought the cutest house and she needs a little help with finishing her un-packing and decorating. She also needs some hugs and laughs and prayers from her fam. I am looking forward to our time together...and of course I am looking forward to eating out in Rogers. YUM!

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Last, but certainly not least...I am happy to report that I am the proud owner of my second Blackberry Curve. My dear sweet original phone died a slow death drowning in a mug of coffee earlier this summer. I've been surviving on a little flip phone for the last month. My sweet, sweet friend, Alicia upgraded to an i-phone and gave me a great deal on her Blackberry and a few accessories. I am so very thankful! I can text again! The stinky part is that I lost all my numbers, so I will slowly get those added back in, but I am a happy camper!

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Well, Dan is out doing his nightly archery practice in the garage. I better finish packing for tomorrow and hit the sack!

'Night!

Mother's Day Out!

The girls started Mother's Day Out today at a local church. This is our first time ever to leave them somewhere other than with family or friends or our church nursery. I think it went well. They looked so cute with their bags/backpacks and lunch boxes. Sophie helped Grace and was very mature about the whole thing. My only concern today is the dreary/stormy weather and that a few of the kiddos were sad and crying when their mama's left. I think Grace will be ok if the crying doesn't scare her. Hopefully they will both make friends and be a blessing to their teachers.
{Sophie, Age 3 and 11/12ths}

{ Grace, Age 19 months}


{Sweet Sisters.}
I'm pleased with the $4 each outfits that we put together yesterday. I bought two gently used Children's Place skirts from a friend and I scored the tops at Wal-Mart for $2 each last night. The bows that I made for their Christmas outfits matched perfectly. Yay! I love cute and inexpensive, coordinating outfits! :)



{Come On, Sis! Let's Go!}

This mother won't be out too much today even though I am really craving Papa's! I have some cleaning to do today and I have some good Poppyseed Chicken leftovers. So today we are having Mother's Day Home Alone!


I have lots to do to get ready to be out of town for the next couple of days, but first I think I might close my eyes for a few minutes. :)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Ten on Tuesday: The Numbers of Summer Edition


(1) 16 - 17. As in weeks pregnant. It is going pretty well. Last week was pretty rough and I keep thinking that I will be over the yucky sick stage s-o-o-n...but the breakthrough has yet to come. Extreme exhaustion is probably my number one issue. Sometimes I feel like I need to prop my eyes open with matches like Mr. Bean in Mr. Bean's Holiday. :) The little kicks I get from time to time make it all worth it!


(2) 14- The number of books I have read this summer. I just finished number eight of the Love Comes Softly Series today and I'm a little bit sad. What a great series...it almost makes me wish we lived back in the olden days.


(3) 7 - The number of years I have been blessed to be married to Daniel. We celebrated our anniversary this month and took a few days off from life here and rested, relaxed, laughed, ATE, shopped, read, vegged, ATE and laughed some more. We had a great time together and we really appreciate all those who pitched in an helped with the girlies. :)

{Dan & I before dinner one night.}

(4) 3- The number of nights away from momma that it took Gracie to wean from nursing. She did great!! And I am happy to report that that she now sleeps all night long and takes one morning nap and sometimes a late afternoon nap too. YAY! She still wakes up at the crack of dawn, but at least we are sleeping all night.



(5) 2- The approximate number of un-soiled (by markers, crayons or pen) surfaces in our home! Ok, this is an exaggeration, but it is out of control! All markers have been confiscated!!



(6) 7- The approximate number of times I could eat Mexican food every week! Especially Papa P's! My cravings are INTENSE! (My friend Alicia and I have been ate the the last two Wednesdays and how I wish that could go on and on!)



(7) 27- The number of days until Sophie's FOURTH birthday! I can't believe she is going to be four. She has been looking forward to this since the day she turned three. :) Four is by far her fav number and right now PINK is by far her fav color. She reminds me every day that she wants the pink plate, the pink bowl and the pink cup! (I think Grace is more partial to purple like her mama!)



(8) 6- The number of mice we have caught in the in our home in the last week and a half. Is that not crazy, gross, disgusting, scary, etc, etc!! Sophie likes the hunt and has inspected some caught by her daddy. She thinks it would be fun to squish their eyeballs out!



(9) 3- The number of yummy snack foods that Dan and I made tonight. Spinach dip, Zesty Cucumbers and Toffee Crack. I guess we were hungry when we made the wal-mart list. Yum! Like I said, my cravings are pretty intense! :)



(10) 100's - The number of times I am overwhelmed, over-joyed, full of thanksgiving, full of love, frustrated, broken and out of control and then back again each day. Life is sometimes pretty crazy and if I have learned anything during this season it has been that we don't have it all together. Nobody does. And I've learned how valuable each and every person and part of the Body of Christ is. We are all on the road of life seeking the Lord and how to please Him and relating to one another. Sometimes we grind against one another and sometimes we walk side by side in harmony, but either way we are helping one another become the people we are to be. My life is crazy sometimes, but I am thankful for it and for those the Lord has put in it every day!



I've missed blogging. I'm hoping to be back in the saddle again soon!