Memories

Yesterday at MOPS a lady spoke who has a high schooler, a middle schooler, and an elementary schooler. She didn't have any great new revelations about motherhood, but she did do a great job at reminding us why we do what we do, and encouraged us (me)in our (my) ventures. We have been so busy lately and I'm tired. I'm tired of being gone so much, I'm tired of running around, I'm tired of trying to meet everyone's expectations. So, this talk was good for me. I am inspired to get back down to the basics of why I am a stay at home mom. I'm not a stay at home mom to constantly be gone and hang out with other people. I am a stay at home mom to be with, raise, train, and teach my darling little girls. I want to have tea parties more often, play in their house, play in the pool, read more books, take more walks, and chase (Nicole for now) around the house. My absolute favorite days are the days when we are home with very little on the agenda. Both girls (ha, I should say all three...me too) respond better on days like that.

Well, after MOPS, Hannah fell asleep on the way home, so Nicole and I went inside, made lunch, and had a picnic outside...like we used to do ALL the time! It was fun, and she was super duper excited. Then, it was nap time so she slept (and so did Hannah!!!!!) and I got down to business picking up the house. After naps though, we went outside again and both girls got to play in the kiddie pool and swing for a while. It was fun. Hannah wasn't sure what to do about the pool. She just crawled in and out of it for most of the time. But, she definitely had fun.

After Jeremy came home, we had a yummy dinner and went for a walk to get ice cream. In my opinion, a perfect evening.

I love my life. I love my family. I want to treasure my moments with my girls because I do realize that all to quickly they will grow up. I don't want my memories of their preschool years to be me stressed because of demands others, or I, place on myself. I don't want to look back and wish I had slowed down a bit and just been there with my girls. I don't want to look back and only remember them sitting in their car seats as I gallivant around town running errands (which of course, must happen, often even...but not every wakeful moment they have). I want to remember having picnics, playing at the park, chasing, playing catch, eating crackers and drinking kool-aid at tea parties, stopping to smell flower (even if they are weeds), being silly and laughing. And, that's what I want them to remember too.

CVS....yep, I still go there

Last night, my friend Teri, picked me up at 8:30 and we went on a littler excursion. First, we drove to an undisclosed location and she went dumpster diving! hahaha. Sort of. She needed a couple large cardboard boxes for her son's birthday party this week. It's nice that businesses have to recycle because the dumpster she look (and got into) I believe just had paper goods. It felt rebellious though even for me to sit and watch in the truck! hahaha.

Then, we hit CVS. The deals weren't spectacular, but they weren't to bad either. I had 4 ecb and walked out with 0, but I paid very little for my paper towels. Let me explain.

Trans. 1

Irish Spring soap $4.99 with $4.99 ecb back

$.50 Coupon

Total $4.49 used $4 ecb, paid $.55 oop

Trans 2.

4 Glade Candles 4/$10

3 (small)boxes wheat things 5/$5

1 (small) box Ritz Crackers

2 $1.50 Glade Q

2 $2.00 buy 2 wheat thins or ritz crackers

Total $7

Used $5 ecb

Paid $2 (plus tax) for my order oop

Received 3 ecb

Trans 3.

Bounty paper towels sale $5.99

$1 off Q

Total was $4.99

Paid with 3 ecb

and $2.00 oop.

So, I paid just under $5 for all that stuff. Not to bad. I walked out with zero ecbs which really stinks, so...I'll have to cash it up next time, but I only paid 2 bucks for paper towels. Yay!

We went on a wagon ride yesterday. Hannah LOVES the wagon (although she doesn't look like it in this picture).

Some time with Grandma

My grandma and Aunt Susan are down visiting. We try to spend as much time with grandma as we can. Aunt Susan is also visiting with her dad and his wife, so we only see her when she's at my parents house. Here are some photos of grandma with the girls.














One last picture. If you've ever eaten with Hannah around, you know she is CRAZY about food. She pretty much yells all throughout dinner begging for more food. She shoves it in her mouth with little effort made to chew. She also loves snacks. Crackers, milk, water, fruit...whatever! If she sees you eating or hears a wrapper, she's on her way to find what you've got and beg you for some herself.





So, here is a funny picture from dinner last night. We had chicken, rice, carrots, and Hannah also got sweet potatoes. She didn't enjoy this one bit...nope...not at all!


Oh, just one more thing...a snippet of a conversation with Nicole last week.

Jeremy: What's wrong with Job?
Nicole: He's sad.
Jeremy: (turns the page). Look at Job here
Nicole: HAPPY JOB!!!!
Jeremy: Why is Job happy now?
Nicole: Because he's not sad anymore.
(duh daddy!)

The Zoo

Two Saturdays ago we took the girls to our little zoo for our friend's birthday party. It's a nice little zoo, but of course, we spent most of the time on the playground. We shot some cute pictures I wanted to share.

This picture is funny. Peyton was looking at the map and spent several minutes trying to decide where we were, and how to get to the "big bird" Amazingly, he did it! The kids were so cute watching Peyton and looking at the map. It was adorable.

Also, there was a fun toy on the playground I want to try to explain. There is a small bar that children hang on to, and then the bar glides across a straight track. OK, it looks dumb, but the kids had fun on it. Jeremy and Bryan pushed the kids back and forth on the track, and prepared to stop them at the end. Even Hannah got on. Here is a video with Nicole and Hannah (twice) hanging from this toy.

Nothing new

I feel like I need to post something to this blog, or else some of you may stop looking:-) I don't feel like I have much to talk about. Well...that's a lie I guess. There are some things. Here we go.

1 My grandma and Aunt Susan are down. This is my dad's mom and his sister. I had fun spending yesterday morning with them while my mom hung out with the girls. Hannah just adores Grandma. She loves to smile at her and gets very excited when grandma looks at her.

2. Speaking of Hannah, we had a bit of an accident this weekend. My hair flat iron fell (well, she pulled it down) and burned her little cheeck and upper lip. It's not to severe. I took her to the Dr. on Monday and she gets a burn cream put on it 3x a day. We went back to the Dr. today and it is soooo much better. I don't think she'll have scar!

3. Hannah has been a little sick lately, and I haven't felt 100% either. My throat hurts and my head is messed up. Could be allergies....right?

4. We made our garden bigger. 13' x 13'. We have corn, beans, peas, cucumbers, sweet peppers, radishes, zucchini, and a few types of lettuce. The radishes have already sprouted (they will be ready to pick in just a few weeks, which honestly, is the reason I planted them!)

5. I think that's all. Here's a cute picture of Yaya and the girls.

In Christ Alone

I first heard this song about a year ago. It has since captivated me. I LOVE it. It is one of the few contemporary songs that I will sing at the top of my lungs. The words are so true. It is one song that is difficult for me to sing without much emotion. It tells the story of Christ, why He came, why He died, why He rose, and why I Live. I have been thinking about the words and meditating on them for a while now and I wanted to share. I wanted to go through and italize the verses I liked the most, but the whole song would be that way! I put a video on here (I hope) so you can listen to it be sung. It's by Travis Cottrell.



In Christ Alone
by: Keith Getty & Stuart Townsend

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

A real blog post

I have been posting a lot of photos recently without much in the way of detail about your lives recently. Jeremy's sister, Tiffany, and her family (Chris...husband, Seth...2 year old, and Susannah....2 month old). We spent many evenings with them and enjoyed their company. Jeremy went to Cape Cod a few weeks ago for training on a very large job that God has provided for AVI. It's a blessing that they have work right now and we are thankful for His provision.

As for the girls and I, life has been pretty normal, trips to the park, making spaghetti with play doh, and water our plants in the garden. Until today....Hannah threw her first major heavy duty tantrum. Oh my word!!!! I made it happen though because just a few minutes before the tantrum, I was thinking how good Hannah has been because I have had to "discipline" her very little. At this point, Nicole was constantly getting her hands flicked for touching or trying to stick things into electrical outlets, knocking over decorations, and throwing food on the floors. Hannah on the other hand almost looks as though she will cry if I catch her crawling in the general direction of an outlet and I say, "Hannah...NO". So, I was getting all worked up in my head about how "good" she is and that she'll be so "easy". 10 minutes later she is throwing play-doh, hitting me, throwing her head back in a full body tantrum because I won't let her eat the play doh. I must have selective memory, because I do Not remember Nicole having a tantrum like this (although I'm certain she did). But, boy oh boy, did it catch me off guard. Actually, I think she was exhausted because she didn't get a good morning nap.

About that....Hannah will not stay in the nursery. Every once in a while, she makes it through, but more often than not, I am paged within 20 minutes to pick her up. She screams and cries the entire time. I'm not sure what to do. Nicole has never had a problem in the nursery. As early as her first weekend walking, she would walk right through the door and not look back. In fact, I felt a little sad and hurt because she would walk in so easily (haha). Hannah however Hates it. I feel so bad for the poor workers, and it is hard for me. So...what do I do??? Do I keep putting her in the nursery and picking her up a little while later, or should I hold her out for a few months and see if she grows out of this? Generally, she is only in the nursery for an hour at a time. Today was MOPS, so it would have been closer to 2 hours. Advice is needed.....(this is not knew, she has NEVER liked the nursery)

I haven't really said anything about Nicole. She has been really good (I hate to say that, will I have a terror on my hands when she wakes up because I was "bragging" about her?) She is very excited about her seeds that are growing. She just seems to be really happy and settled. She is growing up into such a little girl. There is NO baby left in her. She won't be 3 for 3 more months, and she's already growing out of 3T clothes and wearing (or should be wearing) 4T!! She is very tall for her age. She loves to carry around baby dolls and rock them. She also likes to play with her daddy and swing, of course. I am LOVING this age. Oh, she's just great.

Hannah is great too by the way. She is growing and learning knew things. She is now 10 months old and wearing 12 month clothes (although because of the cloth diapers, she still sometimes needs bigger pants). She easily stands, and is finally taking steps when holding on to someone. She falls a lot, which is often worrisome. She is a cuddle bug. She loves, loves, loves to snuggle against you. She gives hugs and kisses (sometimes on demand, sometimes not). She is saying "dada", "doggie", and "duckie". I think she says a lot more, it's just not understandable. I think that she thinks she is Nicole's age, because she is always trying to do the same thing Nicole does.

Pray for them still. Nicole is getting better at being loving and kind, but, whew, does that girl have a selfish streak in her (don't we all?). We are working hard on this. I thought that as Hannah got bigger and started getting into "Nicole's" toys, that Nicole would have a hard time with this. But, not so (at least so far). It seems that the older Hannah gets, the better Nicole gets with her. Maybe Nicole is like me and just not a "baby" person.

Well...there ya go. That's the fam for ya!

A poem

I was reading a blog written by a mother with 4 children under 4 who seems to be amazing. Her blogs are always fun and interesting reads. Anyway, she quoted a poem that I thought was really sweet. It was first published in the Ladies Home Journal in 1958. It's entitled "Song for a Fifth Child" and written by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton.

Enjoy.

Song for a Fifth Child.
Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past dueP
at-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Family and fun

Jeremy's sister and her family have been down visiting this week. We finally got to meet Susannah, their 2 month old baby.

Grammy and the girls.

HELP Hannah is being eaten by an alligator!!

Me holding baby Susannah.

Nicole and her cousin Seth going for a wagon ride

Awe...I LOVE to see these two playing together.

We also have sprouts growing from our seeds! A tomato plant sprouted Saturday I believe. Now we have 3 more tomato sprouts, 4 pea sprouts, and 2 green bean sprouts. It's pretty exciting! We have a composter now (thanks dad!) and we really want to make the garden bigger already. Oh boy....we have got the bug, well...hopefully not bugs...

The park and other fun photos

I am going crazy with my camera the past couple of days. I met some friends at the park today (a new one to us, we had never been there before). It was fun, and they had some cool equipment, so I got to take some fun photos. I also snapped a few at home. Enjoy:-)

I walked out of the bedroom the other morning and this is what I saw! I can't believe Hannah is big enough to pull herself up and play at the kitchen!