Peek-a-boo

How cute is this kid? I know he's mine, but really,c'mon, he's cute, huh? I was trying to take a picture of Cora sleeping beside Craig while riding the train at DollyWood and Tate thought it was quite funny to poke his head out in front of my view. Lucky for him (and me), it turned out to be a really good shot. I know nothing about taking good pictures or editing them. But, I played around with Picasa which was already on my computer and thought this picture turned out kind of cute with all the background blurred and Tate spotlighted (is that a real word?). I'd love to really learn how to use a camera and get a really good editing program but I'm afraid my intentions of learning how to use them, using them, and actually doing it might get all mixed up and I will have wasted money on yet another good intention.

Back to the cute kid pictured above. Tate is a real joy to be around when he is in a good mood. But, sometimes he is not in a good mood and the joy disappears. Luckily, for us, we love him so much that even when the joy isn't there, we can still remember the kid in this picture, the happy, goofy one who would never talk back to us or roll his eyes at us. I think (and hope) the talking back, the rolling of the eyes, thinking he knows everything and is always right about everything is just a stage he is in that will quickly disappear. And, I'm sure will reappear again and again. But, really, though I could do without the attitude, I wouldn't have it any other way because it's just part of him growing up. And, watching him grow up is a good thing. Sometimes, it is kind of sad because my baby is now so big I can barely pick him up and when I do it is only briefly before my back and arms and legs start screaming at me "what are you thinking??? this kid is half your size???" Seeing him grow and become a big boy is really a lot of fun. His growing interest in all things sports related, his fascination with "bugs" (volkswagon variety, not insect variety), his daring bike/scooter/skateboard tricks, etc. are just a few of the things that point to the fact that he is growing up and becoming more of a "big boy" as opposed to a "little boy".

Tate had a bit of an adventure this week. He fell off of a moving golf cart (my fault, not his) and got a really nasty bump on his head, a few scrapes on his arm and his shoulder was banged up, too. It was not pretty. In fact, it was really scary for us. He's a tough kid and he is ok. We confirmed that with a cat scan that told us he is, in fact, smarter than all of us, and that there was no damage done to his brain or skull. It could have been a lot worse and we are very grateful that it was just a few bumps and scrapes. It was a lesson for us all - not to become lazy about safety, not to take our kids for granted, and most definitely do not go fast on the golf cart - no matter what!

Sleeping like a baby

Oh, to be able to sleep like this again. Some of my favorite times of the day are naptime and bedtime. Kids look so peaceful when they sleep, so quiet, so sweet, almost angelic. It makes you forget about the time you spent during the day scolding them, threatening them, sitting them in time out, prodding them to eat, begging them to pick up their toys, etc. You look at their sweet little faces and wonder if this could possibly be the same child that chunked their shoe at you while driving to Wal-Mart or demanded at the top of their not so little voice that you bring them a sippy NOW or cried uncontrollably when you said no, they could not drink a coke with dinner or have yet another pack of Scooby snacks.

Is it just me or do my kids look really worn out in these pictures? These were taken after grueling days of playing hard, swimming, camping, and going to school. I love how they can sleep just about anywhere, in any position, with any number of stuffed animals piled all around them. Don't you wish you could sleep like that again? I don't know if it is possible to sleep that soundly after having kids or after turning 30. I know it isn't for me.

Lolly

These are a few of my favorite things

I'm not sure why but all of a sudden I had this song on my mind....

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things!

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things!

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eye lashes

Silver white winters that melt into spring

These are a few of my favorite things!

When the dog bites, when the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things

and then I don't feel so bad!

(Can anyone name that movie and what scene this song was sung in???)

Before being too impressed with my ability to remember all the lyrics to this song, I must confess that prior to writing this I googled it. Which brings me to this question, what in the world did we do before we had the ability to "google it"? I know we had encyclopedias and such but we certainly could not find the lyrics to any song that we wanted in the encylopedia much less be able to find it the second we wanted it. It's quite amazing if you ask me. I'm not sure how we lived without it. Actually, I think we probably did quite well without it but "googling it" sure is convenient when you need to find an answer to some obscure question that pops into your mind, such as the lyrics to the aforementioned song. Which brings me back to the original thought I had for this post.

I was thinking about a few of my favorite things (favorites at the current time, because it does change depending on the weather or my mood). So, I thought I'd share them. In list format because I am a list person. With lots of details, because I am a detail person. (I'm going to limit this to 10 things, otherwise we might not ever see the end of this post.)

1. my new KJV, personal size Life Application Bible that I just purchased this morning at Heavenly Dove. No excuses for not being able to read and understand the bible because this pretty much explains it for you. I'm excited about this because it's small enough to put in my Vera Bradley bible cover that I got for Christmas a few years ago, it was a really great price, and I'm really, really going to try to actually read it on a regular basis. And, it's pretty, and I have to admit I like pretty things.

2. Hershey's Giant size Chocolate Bar with Almonds - This is pretty specific for very good reason. The giant bar is much, much better than the regular size bar because it is split into 4 rows and each row can be split into 4 small bars. It is also much better because the almonds are chopped up into the bar and every bite has a piece of almond in it. The regular bar has large chunks of almonds primarily just in the middle of the bar. It is sub par, in my opinion, to the giant bar. (by the way, the above picture is only HALF the bar, I won't go into the fat grams, calorie, or sugar content of the whole bar. I'm sure it is astronomical! )

www.kerusso.com

3. Kerusso T-shirts - Recently, I have seen these popping up in random stores -convenience stores, drug stores, Christian bookstores, etc. In case you don't know what I am talking about, Kerusso is a company that sells t-shirts and other stuff that has bible quotes and such on them. They typically look like conventional t-shirts but with a Christian twist. They are super cool! I only have one but plan on purchasing another one or two or....

4. Sweet potatoes with butter and salmon - I just love a good sweet potato (with butter, of course) and grilled salmon. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Plus, its actually really good for you as long as you go easy on the butter.

5. flip flops - They are just so easy - slip'em on and go. And, of course, they come in lots of pretty colors and styles. And, I do like pretty things.

6. my golf cart - It's a lifesaver when I am feeling lazy or have a load to carry. I can take the trash out with it, I can visit my neighbors (who happen to be family members), I can take all the kids to the pool on it along with all of our stuff, I can drive it around to look at rabbits and I can use it as a tool to help Cora go to sleep when she won't take a nap in the afternoon. Need I say more about why it is one of my favorite things?

7. peanut butter bars, peanut butter cupcakes, plain ol' peanut butter - yum, yum, yum. No explanation necessary.

8. yoga pants, sweat shorts, comfy elastic-band/drawstring loungwear - I love comfy stuff, it's just so, well, comfy. And less restricting, than say, shorts with a zipper and buttons. You can eat and sleep and do whatever without feeling restricted and, well, fat. I love comfy clothes. Doesn't everyone?

9. DVR - It is one of the top greatest inventions when it comes to television. I don't completely understand how it truly works but I love it! I love that I can "tape" a show without a tape. I love that I can "rewind" the "live" show when I didn't catch what they were saying and then "catch up" later. I love that you can "pause" it if you need to run to the bathroom or yell at your kids (not that I yell, of course, but when I speak very loudly in a stern like voice...).

10. Honeydew melon - This is a new favorite of mine. Just this week, in fact. Publix has had them on sale and I've bought a few and LOVED them! Cora and I ate at least half of the first one we had just when we were cutting it up. It's yummy and healthy! That's a win/win in my book.

That's it! Just a few of my favorite things. I have many more but I can't think of them all right now and I can always save the rest for another day. I like so much!

I need a little help from anyone out there who might be reading this. I need a way to sign off on each post. Something catchy, something creative, something fun, something interesting, just something, someway for me to end. It could be anything, kind of like a closing in a letter. I just can't quite figure out what I want to do. If you have an idea, post a comment or send me an email. I'd love the suggestions. I may even use one of them or all of them, I may even give a prize to the person who comes up with the one I like the most. Or, I may just say thanks and take the idea and run.

Lolly

Only in America

I saw this in a church bulletin the other day and thought it was really funny and ironic.

Only in America...

...can a pizza get to your house quicker than an ambulance.
...do drug stores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get medicine when the healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
...do banks leave the front doors open and the pens chained to the counters.
...do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars parked in the driveway and put our junk in the garage.
...do we call what our doctors do a "Practice."
...do we call a man who invests our money a "broker".
...do we call the time of day with the slowest traffic "Rush Hour"!


Hmmm, how funny is that?


Lolly

Friends, future husbands, and such

This is my friend Jill (with my middle son) who is the same age as me, born in the same month, at the same hospital. In fact, she was born a mere two days before me on my actual due date. We may have very well been nursery mates way back then. And, who knew, all those many years ago, that now we would be such good friends. The funny thing is we did not meet until we were in our early 20's. How weird is that? We lived our entire lives in neighboring towns. We both went to the same college and were education majors but we never met or had a class together or anything. We met through mutual friends either when we were about to graduate college or maybe we were out of college, I'm not exactly sure. What I am sure about is that we could have been separated at birth, we are that much alike. I would even think that it might be a possibility except the fact that I look just like my family and she looks just like hers.

Her little boy, Lane, is my Cora's future husband. He is about 7 months older than she so it should work out perfectly. We have big plans for the two of them. They will marry and our families will be united forever. They will have children and all of us will go on big family vacations together. Sounds lovely, right? I really wish it were that simple. Now that I have kids, pre-arranged marriage doesn't sound like that bad of an idea. In fact, I really, really like the idea of picking their spouses. I'm not so sure that my kids would like the idea but that is so far, far, far down the road that we won't even think of it right now.

Seriously, wouldn't this picture look cute one day on the table at their wedding reception along with all their other cute baby pictures? I mean, it's destiny, right? I'm probably wrong because they will probably grow up to be more like brother and sister and would never in a million years think of one another in that way. But, I can dream a little, right?

I have also picked out a few options for my boys as well. The selection pool mainly consists of kids from my church. Like this little lady...I figure she could be the wife of either of the boys. She smiles all the time, no kidding, so I know she'll be a wonderful daughter-in-law one day.

Of course, I am only kidding about all of this - well, sort of. I do wish I had a small hand in picking the spouses for my children. After all, I will have to be a part of their family and they will have to be a part of mine. All kidding aside, I think the best thing for me to do is start praying now for my kids (and their future spouses) that one day God would send them the right person at the right time. And, of course, that they would recognize who it is they should be with because that's not always easy. Maybe I should also pray that I won't be a meddling mother-in-law because right about now, I probably sound like I will be.

Lolly

Empty Nest (sort of)

Last Friday, all of my chicks were in the nest. A really cute nest, if you ask me.





Two short days later, two left the nest....at least for 8+ hours every day. A first grader and a Pre-K'er. Where did the time go? I'm kinda sad because I miss them when they are gone. Plus, I have to get up early to help them get ready which isn't always pretty. Cora misses them, too. She looks around the house saying "Where de boys?"

"De Boys" are at school, with their nifty new backpacks and lunchboxes and new T-shirts learning all kinds of good stuff.

At least, I hope it is the good stuff that they are learning because the bad stuff is banned from this nest.

Lolly

Furlough days, here we come!

At the last minute, we decided to have one last hoorah (?) before school started back. Since PreacherMan had gotten a day off (otherwise known as a furlough day, otherwise known as one less day of pay, but, believe me we are not complaining because we are glad he has a job), we thought why not make the most of it and take an "end of summer mini-vacation" to what my kids lovingly refer to as "The Mountain Home". First, let me explain about "The Mountain Home"....it is not really our home in the mountains. It is a time share type thing that my parents own and that we use occasionally but that my kids seem to think it is "Our mountain home". They also think we have a "Beach House" but it is really just a condo that our really good friends let us use. One day, our kids will realize we have only one home and it is the one we live in and that all of these other nice places belong to other people!

Anyway, we drove to our mountain home on Thursday night after Open House so we arrived fairly late. By this time, the kids were asleep, but now awake upon arrival and so it took awhile to settle back down to go to sleep. But, that was ok, because I knew what awaited in the morning...the highlight of our visit to the mountains....breakfast at The Pancake Pantry. I always order the same thing...these crepes with berries, ricotta cheese, and whipped cream/butter. I am telling you it is a piece of heaven on earth. We like it so much that PreacherMan and I both order the same thing because we don't want to share. Then, when we can't eat another bite and still have almost half left, we always say we should have shared. Tate had the dainty silver dollar pancakes and Ben and Cora shared M&M pancakes with peanut butter syrup. Need I say more? It was scrumptious. If I really had this blog thing down, I would have taken pictures. I wish I would have but you'll just have to use your imagination.

Our next stop was DollyWood. I do have pictures of this to share. We rode in old cars. We played all kinds of carnival games and won prizes that will be forgotten in a few short weeks and will take up valuable space in my house. But, that's okay because the kids had fun winning them. We saw old churches, and wagons, and learned about the American eagle. Cora hugged trashcans and told them she loved them. I wish I had a picture of that but I don't. I really need to get better at this capturing moments thing. We rode wet rides at the end and we were soaked. I am glad I don't have pictures of that because when I got to the car and saw what I looked like, I remembered why I don't usually do wet rides.

I almost forgot the best part...we rode a train around DollyWood. Cora didn't really like the loud noise so she put her fingers in her ears and voila! she fell asleep, with the roaring and whistling of the train and the soot falling all over us. She was oblivious to it all. Ahhh, to be a kid, with the ability to fall asleep anywhere in any position at anytime.

The next day we settled for breakfast courtesy of Krispy Kreme which was really not settling at all but a real treat. Not much can beat a Krispy Kreme donut warmed up for about 10 seconds in the microwave. I can only think of one thing that can beat it...two or three Krispy Kremes warmed up in the microwave for breakfast. And, I wonder why my shorts felt tight on the way home...

We then packed up, checked out, and took the kids to Cade's Cove to look for deer and bear and whatever wildlife we might find. It was a really nice, sunny day and we did see turkey and a few deer but no bear. Maybe next time we will see more. Maybe next time, I will actually get pictures of what we see. My little camera just didn't do the trick this time. Maybe next time, I will have convinced PreacherMan to buy a nice big camera so we can take pictures of the deer and bear and other treasures at Cade's Cove. Maybe next time, I will actually remember to take the pictures so that I can share them with you. I just hope with a few more furlough days around the corner that there is a next time.

Lolly