A Texan in Illinois

The Glee of Three

2010-06-21T08:52:00.015-05:00

The last few months have flown by and before I knew it, I ran out of time to make Lubbock's birthday party invitations.

Pick your jaw up off the floor!

The invitations for birthdays one and two were extremely intricate, but I had lots of fun making them. The idea I had for the third party invitation never looked as good in life as it did in my head.

After a few attempts, I gave up and turned to my favorite card website, Tiny Prints, to do the work for me. Once I admitted that I ran out of time, there was a sense of relief that took over me and planning the rest of the party was a breeze.

The plan was to load the kids up with sugar and send them home for lunch. So, I needed some fun ways of incorporating music and mayhem (or sugar).

With my dad's help, I was able to assemble a Sound Garden out of dowel rods, cowbells, and a variety of metal bake ware from Goodwill. This idea worked out even better in real life than in my head, so I was happy about that. I set out some shorter dowel rods (or drumsticks) and the kids went crazy.

I've left it up and my backyard neighbor even commented about how cheerful it looks and hasn't minded the noise a bit. You really can't make much noise with dowel rods, anyway, so I'm sure that helps! And now that the orange flowers in the bush have bloomed, it looks like it's meant to be there all along.

I set up an assortment of candy, cleverly disguised as an egg shaker making station. And I asked a friend of mine to make some beautifully decorated cookies that matched the party's colors perfectly.

I made his cake this year ... well, assembled his cake. I bought an already frosted cake from the grocery store and covered ... no ... really covered it with Mike & Ikes. It was another way to raise the sugar to minute ratio of the party.

The yellow gift baskets were a big hit. They included a few musical instruments, an egg shaker filled with chocolate, a big three-shaped cookie, and two CDs: one with Lubbock's favorite dance music and another with his favorite lullabies.

Lubbock was so excited to have all of his friends over and was the perfect party host. As his guests arrived, he ran over to the juice box station and handed them out. He also made sure all the kids knew the egg shakers had candy in them.

He's so lucky to have so many friends. It's been great for me to see how his relationships have bloomed as he's known some of these kids since he was six weeks old. I can't help but wonder what the future holds for them all: school, sports, driving, college, weddings ... and then I remember, he's only three!

My dad and Colleen (or, Papa and Mama Teen) were able to make it out to Illinois again for Lubbock's party. I know he enjoys seeing Lubbock play with all his friends and loves seeing how much Lubbock has grown up. Lubbock's birthday party is the "holiday" my dad has claimed as his. So, he's been here each year!

Here's some of my favorite photos from this year:

Thanks, again, to Monica Bornhoff Photography!

The Hot Mess Girl

2010-02-07T11:06:00.007-06:00

I once listened to a speaker that had everyone look at their neighbor and say "I'm a mess."

We all laughed, but I thought. "Damn! I really am a mess."

What have I done lately? Tons ... especially considering my lack of concentration lately. Mostly because Kevin has made concerted efforts on the weekends to help me complete small projects.

We've finished cleaning out the basement. We've created a pantry area since we don't have one upstairs.

We sold our bedroom furniture on craigslist and purchased (with cash!) a new dresser, TV, and chair. We're still sleeping on the old box spring and mattress on the floor, ala college ... wait ... I actually can't remember the last time I slept like that. But, we aren't buying a bed frame until we find one we can agree on and pay cash for it. We'll see how long that will take.

My super awesome friend, Brandy, and her husband even came over to paint the room. Apparently, some people actually *enjoy* painting! Who knew?

I've gotten a really good grasp on my food budget and have become a (self-proclaimed) coupon expert. Promising not to turn this into a coupon blog, I will spare you the details. That's my coupon binder. Just one more bit of evidence that I am extremely OCD.

Along with reining in the food budget, we've got a household budget in play that seems to be reasonable. We've had budgets before and were somewhat good at sticking to them, but they always seemed to be unrealistic and we'd eventually give up. I'm looking at this like a diet. If you go off the deep end and go on some crazy water and grapefruit diet, you'll quit quickly. If you start with reasonable expectations, not expecting to lose the weight in two weeks, you may just get where you want. Perhaps that's only logical to me. But, we've got to start somewhere and the deep end hasn't worked well in the past.

We used Kevin's bonus to pay off his car and now have two paid-for cars in our driveway. We've got lots of little bills we've been scratching at for a year or so and they will be gone in the next month or so. Then ... we've got the biggies. The credit cards we used to make up the difference when my income disappeared (or ... looking on the bright side ... decided to stay home with Lubbock) and my student loans.

We'll get there. I have no doubt. We've stopped the bleeding by paying cash for things. I realize a wiser person would probably have kept the old bedroom furniture until the bills were paid, but ... no excuses ... I'm just not wise 100% of the time. After all ... I'm a mess.

I'm seeing a few signs of spring and that makes me optimistic. There are little green shoots of daffodils appearing on the side of my house, I can see the grass in my backyard, and I went out without a coat on the other day. I know we've still got another two or three months of snow, but little things like that keep me hopeful.

The Awesome Husband

2009-11-08T20:41:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that my husband is so awesome.

On Friday, we had some friends over and the next morning ... well, I was not ready to face the day. So, he let me sleep in.

Until 11 am.

Then, because of this, I was completely unable to go to sleep Saturday night until 3 am.

So, Sunday ... he let me sleep in again! Until 10 am.

Who gets to do that twice in one weekend when they have a two year old???

Me!

And did I mention that he cleaned up my mess from making chili on Saturday? And he swept the house? And he made dinner tonight?

I think the older I get, the more my language of love is acts of service.

What's yours?

The Trade-Off

2009-11-03T12:57:00.011-06:00

Progress, right?

That's not what today is about, though.

I spent the morning looking at our budget. (I said the B word.) Budgets aren't fun. Budgets for the holidays are especially not fun. But, the budget must balance and the holiday money has to come from somewhere.

So, we're going drastic here, people! We're slashing the grocery and household budget down to $50/week. Maybe that still sounds like a lot, but it includes diapers, wipes, food, milk, and any thing needed to run our house in general.

The remainder of the amount that I normally use for this category is going toward Christmas. So, Merry Cash Christmas to us!

I've spent the last few months stocking up on good deals and have totally gotten the hang of this couponing business (it feels like a part time job sometimes). But, it's allowed us to have times where I meal plan around the pantry. Perhaps, not fresh, organic meals, but believe me ... we won't starve!

The big present that I'm excited about is what Santa's doing! (You're alone, right?) We've had this on-going play room project downstairs and Santa is sending his elves to help finish it up! I've just about got it decluttered, so I've done that part for the elves already.

They've got lots of work ahead of them: finish the mural, find a small bookcase (plea posted on freecycle ... check), install a floating floor (we've got some half-baked plan involving pallets, plywood, and outdoor carpeting ... we'll see how that goes), and a few other things.

Anyway, I'm sure it will be a present well worth the budget slashing and I can't wait to see the look on his face when we let him down there ... since it will be off limits starting December 11th ... in case any other elves want to come lend a "paint brush" hand!

The Worm and the Why

2009-10-31T13:01:00.010-05:00

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

Due to all the rain we've had since the leaves fell off our two huge trees, we were unable to rake a single leaf until Halloween morning.

Lubbock and I kept Kevin company while he, literally, shoveled leaves. The rake just wasn't strong enough to move the piles.

I put up our Halloween decorations and Lubbock jumped in the leaves ... yes ... those are pajama bottoms on my child.

He had taken his cute little toy pig (thanks, Gretchen) out there with him, but lost it in all the foliage. I started pushing small portions of the pile aside when I realized I had a worm stuck to my hand.

EEEwwwwWWWW.

I am *not* a fan of insects, bugs, grubs, or ... in general ... anything with more or less than two legs. But, I am also not a fan of pushing my dislikes onto my kid, so I 'manned up' and said, "Lubbock ... look ... a worm! Wow!"

I picked it up ... *gulp* ... and handed it to him. "Go show Daddy!"

Lubbock was so excited, "Worm! Daddy! Daddy! Worm!"

He played with that poor thing for a very long time. He carried the worm to one part of the yard, set him down very carefully, looked at a few leaves, picked him back up, showed him to Kevin again, and made a best friend.

I'm happy for him. Gross!
And, in case you're worried about the pig ... he was found.

Later that day, we teamed up with two very scary dragons to visit our neighbors and collect some yummy candy.

It didn't take too many houses for Lubbock to get the hang of Trick or Treating. Ring doorbell ... grab a handful of candy ... turn around and run back to Daddy ... yell "thank you." We couldn't get him to say "thank you" while still facing the homeowners, but at least it was said. And he really had no interest in saying "Trick or Treat!" ... I guess he figured that he got the candy either way, so there wasn't much point in wasting his breath.

As you can see, Lubbock was Super Why! He loves that show. I asked Beth if she'd be interested in helping carrying out the vision and she happily agreed. She had the great idea of using Velcro to attach the cape to his shirt. He loved wearing his costume and we're keeping the shirt in his regular wardrobe rotation because it's too dang cute!

On the list of other things that are too dang cute: Beth's own kiddos. They were a firefighter and a dalmatian.

Now that we're into November, I can start talking about Christmas, right? Yup, I'm one of those people! Thanksgiving and Christmas are one big holiday to me with no line drawn in the sand to divide the two.

I'm really excited about this Christmas since it will be our first one at "home." I'm excited to start new traditions with our little family.

What traditions does your family have?

The Fine Line

2009-10-28T08:25:00.010-05:00

Dear Friends,

You know me. You know my struggles. You know my successes.

You know they often co-exist.

After reading and re-reading several of the organizing, decluttering, cleaning books, the biggest thing I've taken away is that things always get worse before they get better.

And that often it's a very fine line between what you see on my desk and what you see in my bathroom.

A very fine line between what's going on in my front room ... what is going on in there? And what's going on in the living room (well, except for the "line up the books" game that is a constant favorite around here).

One of the books pointed out an extremely amusing similarity amongst clutterbugs ... they collect storage containers. Very interesting. It's always with the hopes of finally figuring out how to organize all that "stuff."

Yup ... that was my hope. But, the more stuff I get rid of ... the less stuff I have to organize. And the more the containers have become the clutter. Hmmm.

As I write this, I see a similarity to weight loss. You lose weight and you've got all your "fat clothes" and you keep them ... just in case. Just in case you're fat again. Wow! How unhelpful is that!!?!!

I've even said that about the containers. I'm keeping them in case I need them. A thought process I've just about eliminated when it comes to clutter, but for some reason allowed myself to apply to the containers.

In case ... what? In case I go back to my old ways and am swamped with so much stuff, I can't see straight?

I'm over you, containers. You're outta here!

Does anyone need a container or two? (Or twenty?)

The Sweater Hats

2009-10-16T13:56:00.003-05:00

They're here! They're here!

I'm so excited. I wanted a unique hat for this winter. One that would keep my ears warm while running and one that would enable me to be visible to approaching traffic (why are all winter hats black?).

I found what I was looking for at That Funky Boutique on etsy. And, of course, Lubbock needed one, too. I guarantee nobody else will have our hats.

They are made out of old wool sweaters, so they are good for the environment and the Buy Handmade movement.

The 63% Juice

2009-10-11T13:03:00.003-05:00

Do you coupon?

I sometimes do. Sometimes not.

One of the first arguments Kevin and I ever had centered around couponing.

Within weeks of moving in with each other, I was laid off from my job as a Document Control Coordinator (yes, as boring as it sounds). I determined that while looking for a new job, I'd try to save us as much money as I could.

This included couponing.

Kevin joined me on one of my couponing outings and as I reached for a container of juice (free with a great coupon), he said he wanted a different kind. I told him this one was free, so he should just suck it up and drink it. I really don't remember what else was said, but I remember standing in the middle of the juice aisle ... crying.

This time around with coupons, I'm trying to have more fun with it. I have a group of friends that get together about once a month to swap coupons (mostly it's an excuse to have an evening out). We meet at a coffee shop and spend two hours clipping coupons and talking about good deals that are out there.

I spend about 30 minutes every Sunday morning going through the ads and blogs, and clipping coupons out of the papers (I get three Sunday papers to be able to take full advantage of the coupons). This morning, as I reviewed the grocery ads and coupons, I discovered I had a great combination of coupons to redeem. I do most of my couponing alone, but Kevin wanted to come this morning.

This trip to the store reminded me a bit of the "juice trip" ... but, it also didn't.

Before leaving, I pulled out all the coupons I knew I would use and reviewed the ad one last time. We entered the store and Kevin followed my lead. I was able to get everything on my list and more. Kevin noticed a few deals in the store that weren't in the ad ... go, him!

So, here's the breakdown: (Q = coupon)

Oh, I have some friends who will be completely unimpressed (like Kris) ... and I have some friends taking notes (like Jen). Click on the names to see some of the good deals they've been able to pull off.

3 Red Baron pizza ... sale 3/$10 and I had 3 $1 Qs
3 12pack Coke ... sale 3 12packs/$11 ... in store deal for 3 FREE PowerAdes and I had a FREE 2 pack of 50 oz. bottles Q

For the rest of the products, for every $10 you spent, you automatically got $3 off

6 Cheezits ... sale 4/$10 ... and 3 x $1.50/2 Qs
6 Duncan Hines ... sale 10/$10 ... and 3 x $.55/2 Qs
5 Welch's ... sale 4/$10 ... and 5 x $.75 Qs
3 Pepperidge Farm toast... sale 4/$10 ... and 3 x .50 Qs
3 Nestle cookies ... sale 4/$10 ... and 3 x $1 Qs
2 Barber chicken ... sale 2/$10 ... and 2 x $1 Qs

So, there was an instant $12 savings for the $40+ worth of product I bought.

Then, I had a $3 off $30 purchase Q for Jewel and a $2 savings Q for taking a survey (look at the bottom of your receipts, ya'll)!!!

Transaction began at $122.21
- Preferred Card savings - $48.85
- Manufacturers Qs - $22.59
- Jewel Qs - $5.00

Total $45.77 (a 63% savings)

One more thing ... the pizza deal included 3 FREE RedBox rental codes (a $3 value) ... Wow! And I got a Q that printed out to save $3 on 4 Welchs ... so, tomorrow, I can go back and get 4 more for $4! (I hope Kevin doesn't get sick of all this juice ;) And, one more bonus ... I don't have to go junk food shopping for a long, long, time!

Couponing Rocks ... GO, ME!!!!

The Milk Carton 5k

2009-09-03T08:01:00.005-05:00

The most recent issue of Family Fun magazine had a great green project that I just had to do. They turned milk cartons into lunch and snack boxes!

It was very easy to do and the only thing I had to buy was Velcro since I buy milk in cartons anyway. It's a great size for Lubbock to carry his gold fish in (or any other snack) and fits perfectly on that little shelf in the grocery cart.

Click here for instructions!

On a different subject ... I've signed up for my first 5k! I'm doing the "couch potato to 5k" training program and it's going really well. I'm not a super fast runner ... but, I'm not at all trying to push myself for fear of hurting my knees again.

My first goal is to just be able to get the 5k under my belt without walking ... I don't really care what my time is ... I'm not trying to set any world records. Just personal ones.

So, if you're local ... and you want to be in my cheering section ... let me know and I'll get the info to you!

The Fridge Raider

2009-08-26T13:31:00.003-05:00

Lubbock has a mind of his own sometimes. I have no idea where he gets that from!

A typical breakfast for him is a waffle and an apple. But, not this morning. He wanted something else.

He pushed his chair to the fridge; opened it; then climbed into it. He looked around and then got back down. I suppose he was just making sure there wasn't anything better.

I've been trying to empty the freezer and pantry lately, so there really weren't too many options.

I guess what he really wanted was in the pantry.

So, what did Lubbock have for breakfast?

Chocolate milk and cookies.

Don't you judge me!

The Old Gray Mare

2009-08-24T14:17:00.005-05:00

... just ain't what she used to be.

This morning, the light must have been extra harsh in the bathroom because I felt my gray hairs were screaming at me from the vanity mirror.

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of your own head? I also feel like I may be thinning up there! I don't recommend taking a picture of this angle of yourself ... yikes!

I determined a few years ago that I would grow 'old' gracefully. I suppose I also thought this amount of gray would be further down the road.

Perhaps I should reconsider my determination!

The Alter Ego

2009-08-22T08:06:00.004-05:00

Have I mentioned I have a two year old lately?

And that he's discovered his alter ego "Mr. Make a Mess."

I know this is a stage that's going to end any day, right?

Anyway, on the list of my favorite messes:

The Elmo coloring book that was in his bedroom ... I put him in his bed for a nap. I heard "ere u o" (here you go) and then saw a piece of paper slide under the door. This went on for a while ending with "ank u" (thank you). Then he went to bed.

The coozie I placed on his sippy cup ... His new stainless steel sippy cups get really cold when I put milk in them, so I put a coozie on it to keep his hands safe. He bit off tiny pieces and placed it in a pile on the loveseat. I was so confused when I found the pile because I couldn't figure out what it was for a few minutes. He was really mad when I threw it all away. I guess it was fun.

And my least favorite mess was the paint on the face ... I decided to try painting ceramic with him knowing this was going to be a test of my patience. I was determined to get a cute piece of artwork to give Kevin for his birthday. Lubbock's sole interest was eating the paint. I asked the gals at the store if it was non-toxic to only hear "Dunno." I'm assuming it is. If you know otherwise, since it's too late ... don't tell me. I don't wanna know.

The Orange Chili Surprise

2009-07-30T12:54:00.009-05:00

Do you have a favorite time of the day?

I've long had a fascination with the time of day the mail arrives. Even if it's junk mail, bills, or a shrinking investment statement. Somehow, it's just fun. It's probably because you don't know what is going to be there. A little like opening a present each day.

But, then there's the days that you actually do get something you want! A great note from a friend far away.

I'm still smiling.

In addition to the great card, my dear friend included two little glass chili magnets (that are now on my cookie sheet/message boards in my desk area) and a magnetic recipe card holder with a yummy sounding meat loaf recipe already loaded! It's especially great that the card holder is magnetic because I have metal cabinets and am always searching for cool magnetic kitchen gadgets.

Here's a picture of where it will be when I make the meat loaf.

And to send a smile back to Melisa ... the picture includes one of my messy corners! Yes, that's a dead battery, slightly rotten bananas, a grocery bag filled with clean dishtowels (I didn't have a basket that was empty), the groceries that were at one time in that bag, a pair of Lubbock's underwear (it was washed with the dishtowels, so it is clean), and a few other things that don't belong in this corner of the kitchen.

But ... this isn't the only surprise this week! My thrifty friend, Kris, found a purse that had my name written all over it. She didn't say it, but I think she did a star dance when she found it for me. An orange, patent leather shoulder bag! I'm in love with it.

I truly believe I have the best friends on earth.

So ... since you've read this post ... you have a challenge. Send a kind note to a friend the old fashioned way ... through the real mail! Stamps have gone up, if you haven't heard ... forty-four cents. But, it'll be worth it.

As for me ... I am finally going to complete the thank you notes from Lubbock's birthday party and then get straight to work on sending out a kind note to a few of my special friends!

The County Fair

2009-07-24T09:36:00.003-05:00

We took Lubbock to the Kane County Fair over the weekend and all had a blast. I think, for Kevin, it was one of the first times he got to do things that were fun for him and Lubbock. I could truly see the joy in their faces. Not that this picture captures joy, but still a pretty funny face!

We got to the fair just as Lubbock took his nap, so we were able to just wander around and take our time looking at all the 4H displays and awards given to vegetables and flowers. You know ... all the things that would have bored Lubbock to tears.

Once he woke up, we took him to the petting zoo where he got to feed all sorts of animals and chase a chicken. He rode a pony and took a tractor-inspired tricycle for a spin.

The ferris wheel was a great time and I was only slightly nervous about Lubbock not being securely fastened while we were that high. We took a spinning pumpkin ride (as pictured above) and then finished it off with a funnel cake (he wasn't a fan) and a cherry limeade ... which he loved.

Lubbock loved the whole adventure and said "yay!" several times. Kevin couldn't keep a smile off his face. I enjoyed watching the two of them bond and kept thinking about how special the relationship is between these two. Kevin was happy just because Lubbock was happy. Ah! Bliss.

The Great Road Trip of 2009

2009-07-14T07:51:00.006-05:00

Yawn!

Here it is ... my first posting since arriving home from The Great Road Trip of 2009.

For the first leg, Lubbock and I spent three and a half days in St. Paul, Minnesota ... we went to spend time with the Irwin family. They were up from Oklahoma so that one of their girls could have surgery. While Dad was working, Mom was at the hospital and I (attempted) to be a mom to the other kiddos. The whole family was so brave!

And I'm giving a major shout-out to all my mommy friends of more than one child. I was exhausted after the first day!

So drove back home on Wednesday and then on Thursday ... set off for Texas!

We tag-teamed the drive and made it straight through with no problem. Lubbock was a trooper and with the help of a borrowed travel DVD player, we had no major breakdowns.

The highlights of the lakehouse visit included a golfcart parade (our entry shown), sparklers, a ride on the boat, a swim in the lake (not for me, though ... no, thanks!), lots of great food, lots of fun with family, and a cute kitten.

We drove back to Illinois and spent the next two days recovering from vacation. I know. It doesn't sound like much. But, we hit all the important things for vacation.

I spent time with Kevin, Kevin spent time with Lubbock, and we all spent time together!

For the last 'home' part of Kevin's vacation, we worked hard on decluttering the basement some more. We got rid of another car load of crap. And I posted some more things on freecycle yesterday. My next area of focus really needs to be my crafting area.

Since most of my friends also seemed to be on vacation at the same time ... what were your highlights???

The Top of the Cupcake

2009-06-25T12:43:00.000-05:00

Lubbock's friend, Joey, from down the street turned two this week and we went to his early birthday party over the weekend. There was lots of bubble-play, swinging, running, and sugar!

When it was time to sing "Happy Birthday," the kids were so excited. Having been to a few parties lately, I think Lubbock was starting to get the hang of this birthday party thing.

Singing = cupcakes. Some pretty good math!

Except that Lubbock's mom takes the fun out of cupcakes. I am not crazy about messes, so I always wipe the frosting off the cupcakes before giving it to him. Can you tell by the look on his face that he is quite aware that he's missing something?

Joey had so much fun that I was told he went inside after his party and sprawled out on the couch ... worn out from too much fun.

His big sister, Eleanor, was so gracious about letting it be Joey's day. She really seemed to get it, which is really amazing for kids at this age ... must be great parenting!

The Star Dance

2009-06-24T23:15:00.005-05:00

Do you have a "star dance?"

Oh, sorry ... you don't speak Natalese. Let me explain.

If you are so excited about something you literally cannot stay still ... you do a little dance ... maybe just in your head, maybe you pump your fist. Or, if you're me ... you actually dance. It's a star dance.

What brought on my star dance today? A trip to JoAnns to pick up some glue. I have to walk up and down the clearance section when I visit any and all craft stores. You know ... just in case there's some fabulous deal that I just cannot live without.

Or ... in this case ... a free very sturdy Sharpie display! Can you believe it? Free! Yes, free. All I had to do was:

notice said empty display sitting in the clearance section
find employee and play dumb about seeing if something is for sale (of course it's not, it's just a display case that ran out of 50 cent Sharpies)
wait while employee tracks down manager
ask manager what they plan on doing with it (while thinking "please let me have it, please let me have it")
smile and do your star dance when the manager helps load it into your cart

I suppose you're wondering why I'm so giddy about this Sharpie display, huh? Well, I was just saying the other day that I needed some sort of organization tool to help control small die-cut paper. If I cut too many trains or ladybugs or circles, I need a great way to store them. This will be great! I should be able to start a small inventory of commonly used shapes. Yay!

One other free thing to mention ... my friend, Melisa, is having a giveaway relating to a website called Handipoints. This website helps parents with getting kids involved in doing chores around the house. Kids love it ... from what I hear. It's geared toward kids of at least 'computer-using' age. So, if that sounds like something you could use ... get on over there and check it out. It's free!

So, if you win, do me one favor ... do a star dance!

What makes you do a star dance?

The Half Birthday Wish List

2009-06-15T06:18:00.001-05:00

I'm writing this entry to celebrate my half birthday. To know me is to know that I love birthdays of every shape and size! Especially half birthdays.

I told someone that the theme color this summer is orange. And since I'm trying to focus on buying green and/or handmade products ... I've discovered the perfect combination:

An ornj tote sit double and a wrightsan recycled plastic wallet to go with it. Do you have to ask what's on my wish list?

The bag is made from used construction fencing by artist, David Shock of Detroit. "Creating boldness out of blight" says his website. Agreed!

The base of the tote is reused corrugated plastic and the handles are bamboo.

If you're worried about items falling out ... add the recycled sweatshirt liner.

And this wallet would just send me over the moon!

The Blue Want

2009-06-11T23:59:00.004-05:00

It's almost midnight and I can't sleep ... so ... what do I do?

Cruise Etsy, of course!!!

In recent facebook discussions, I have come to realize that some people actually don't know about Etsy ... *gasp* ... so, if you know about Etsy, great. But, have you heard about Artfire?

Back to Etsy ... I ran across this really cute pendant. I can already say that I love these since I have the brown and green ones. I love wearing them. And when people notice what they are ... they are a little tickled. The tops of bottles! How green ... and blue.

The Butterfly House

2009-06-10T15:06:00.009-05:00

Since I learned about it over almost a year ago, I've wanted to visit the Butterfly House at Peck Farm. When I finally got around to going ... it was closed for the season. I was so sad. I suppose that is a huge difference between Texas and Illinois ... seasons. While I enjoy most things about them ... things being closed for months at a time is certainly not one of them.

So, when I read it was opening on May 23rd, I did not wait long to visit. My Wednesday playgroup rounded up the kids and went on a butterfly watching adventure. We let the kids play outside of the tent for a while to let them burn off some energy. The tent is somewhat small and we didn't want them to bring harm to any of the fragile little beauties!

There is a small room where they let you in (and keep butterflies from getting out) and then the kind workers explained the rules. I'm sure this was intended for the moms as seven toddlers can't follow the simple rules of: don't climb on the rocks, don't touch the butterflies, and ... oh, I forgot the rest. But, I think they were very well-behaved and (that I know of) no butterfly wings are missing.

A few funny stories ... well, not funny ... but stories:

- When the lady explained the rules ... she mentioned something about butterflies eating when they sit on the flowers. Two of the kids piped up that they eat, too! They were pretty excited to have something in common with butterflies, I suppose.

- One butterfly was sitting on the walking path and just about everyone tried stepping on it (not on purpose, of course). The kids would get very close and were very observant. Then, it would move a few inches quickly and all the kids would jump back ... Joey saying "ow!"

- Hailey is fascinated with all things moving ... she kept getting really close to each butterfly and would say "hi!" It amazed me that these butterflies were so calm and just sat around enjoying the flowers and bright sunlight.

In other news ... Kevin and I joined a softball team. We're not great. We ended our first two games thanks to the 'slaughter' rule ... you know ... where one team scores so many points, they just put you out of your misery. We scored two runs in our third game. Go us! Last night ... we topped it all! We were actually leading at the end of the first inning ... and scored three runs! The other team scored nine ... semantics.

We celebrated adult-style and are very fortunate for a college-aged babysitter who's allowed to stay out after midnight. Yes, on a work night!

My friend, Kris, gave me a present last night ... a recycled wool business card holder! She hearts wool and I think I'm becoming a bit obsessed, too. I'm also very impressed with her ability to sew! It's got a cool balloon and stitched string on it ... so cute for my shindigs for kids business cards! She made this from bits of wool sweaters that have been 'felted' ... or ... accidentally washed and shrunk. I didn't know people did that on purpose! Either way ... there's so much you can do with that sweater. And Kris will tell you all about it at Resweater.

And now ... speaking of handmade and butterflies ... way to combine two topics, Nata-Leigh!

Why, thank you!

I found the cutest little upcycled crayons for a certain someone's ladybug themed party and they arrived in the mail today ... along with a butterfly one. I'll build the suspense for the ladybug ones ... but here's a look at the butterfly. Just about the cutest thing ever! I heart drawing with it because no two lines are the same color. Fun for all ages! And a great use of old, broken crayons. You can make them yourself ... or if you lack the patience ...

Scrappers by Design is having a moving sale if you want a few for yourself. But, act quickly ... I think today is the last day!

The Training Train

2009-06-09T16:40:00.004-05:00

I have completed the fronts of Joey's 2nd birthday party invitations. I can't really take full responsibility for the whole "two toot" idea ... even though Heather told me I could. But for some reason, I feel that wouldn't be completely honest to post it without saying so.

On the inside ... "we're on track for a toot-in' good time." So cute!

The one great thing about doing these cards for friends is that it is providing me with an excellent training opportunity. It's helping me determine pricing structures and get better at determining how long it takes for each element in a card.

I've got lots more to learn, I'm sure. But, for right now ... I'm having so much fun starting this new adventure.

The Un-Gardener

2009-06-05T08:37:00.004-05:00

I potted some flowers for the front porch and had enough left over for one pot in back ... yes, orange flowers.

This is the theme color for this summer. All orange, all the time.

I did buy a big yellow watering can and Lubbock likes to help me water so much, I decided he needed his own little can. So, he enjoys helping me water with his own can.

Apparently, he also loves unplanting the flowers. Not that they were really planted to begin with. I kinda sorta just pulled each plant out of the little square and placed it on top of the soil in the pot. I was in a hurry and meant to get back later and fix them. But, alas ... I haven't gotten back to them.

I'm so envious of people who have the patience to grow flowers and vegetables and spend hours a day weeding and pruning. I'm not sure it's in my blood. I do love looking at them, though.

In fact, I think I need to get to Morton Arboretum soon to have a nice long walk through all the pretty flowers and gardens. That sounds so relaxing! Anyone wanna join me?

The Review of the Zoo

2009-06-04T09:20:00.008-05:00

When I was in 5th or 6th grade, our family visited a zoo. I was bit on the back of my leg by some kind of bird. I remember it as a duck for some reason. It left a little blood blister, but I was fine. The only lasting consequence was my disdain for zoos. Ever since then, I can't stand the thought of going. The smell of animals, the sight of the little plastic melty waxy toys you can buy in the vending machines, and the feel of the feed you buy in the gumball-like dispensers all take me back to "the attack." Yes ... that traumatic!

My Wednesday playgroup has scheduled Phillips Park Zoo a few times in the past, but the weather never seemed to work out. Darnit. They have attempted to convince me that it doesn't smell, there aren't animals loose, and it's free ... attempting to appeal to my cheap-ness. Most of them had already been and promised me it was a great place to go.

Last Wednesday, it was on the calendar again. And so was rain. It looked like I dodged the bullet again, except it was only occasionally sprinkling. So, everyone decided to chance it and go. Sigh.

I'm so happy we went and now it's one of my new favorite places. I'm sorry it took me so long to get there, but I promise not to drag my feet next time. The animals don't smell and the only thing loose was a snake for the kids to touch. It was securely held by a zookeeper.

They have a large playground area with plenty of covered picnic tables. I wouldn't suggest going there unless the ground is dry (it was really muddy on Wednesday). But, it was still fun.

A side note to the playgroup ... don't think this makes me want to jump into a big zoo like Brookfield. I wouldn't call myself a zoo-fan yet ... just a person that tolerates this zoo!

The Burn and the Fire

2009-06-03T08:38:00.006-05:00

I've never been known to take a fall gracefully. This was no exception.

My friend, Rutu, was up from Texas with his fiancee (of about one week ... congrats, man). I was really excited to head over to Chicago for dinner and drinks and to see other friends like Nadine, Cormac and Deven. I even convinced my sister to tag along. I had on a super cute jean skirt and my new yellow shirt (from Lubbock's party).

We walked out the front door, made it down the porch stairs and as I was doing my last minute "make-sure-I-have-my-cell-phone-and-wallet" check ... bam!

I forgot I have another set of steps at the end of the sidewalk. It wasn't a very graceful fall. I landed with my skirt hiked up and everything! Oy!

So, I went in and washed off my knee and put some ointment on and thought ... I'm a tough girl ... I should still go. But, then I looked down and the blood was dripping down my knee. Hmmm. Maybe I should stay home.

I texted my apologies (along with a picture as proof) and tried to figure out what to do with my night.

Of course! Build a fire!

We bought a fire pit last week in hopes of using it while our friends were over for an evening grillout, but we never got around to it. If there's one thing I learned from growing up around two Eagle Scouts and a Queen Scout (the Canadian equivalent ... yes ... Queen Scout) ... it's how to build a fire. Well, there's other things ... but I'm talking about fires right now.

So, I got some dryer lint and dried up clumps of grass and small, medium, and large twigs and built myself a tee pee. Kevin tried helping, but all he was doing was putting logs on before it was ready. He almost killed my fire three of four times. But, I triumphed and had a roarin' fire shortly! Go, me!

My sister got her tent out and set it up (to make sure she had all the parts for her trip to Wakarusa this weekend). Lubbock loved going in and out and in and out. I think he needs a tent, too. How fun would that be?

I'm not a big fan of camping. I hate being dirty, I hate bugs, I hate peeing in the woods. In fact, I think the last time I went camping ... a tornado warning was so close to where we were that we decided to pack up and leave. (You can imagine my disappointment.)

In shindigs for kids news ... I have my first two 'gigs' booked! Thanks, Audrey and Heather. They're friends, but I think they count. Audrey is doing a ladybug themed second birthday party and Heather is doing a train party for Joey's second birthday. Both are going to be super cute. In fact ... I have the outside of the ladybug cards complete ... what do you think?

They're very three-dimensional ... the ribbon going from the '2' to the ladybug making it look like the ladybug is flying. I couldn't decide if I liked the loop or the lazy 'S' better, so I did some of both. I hope Audrey likes them!

The Second Party Review

2009-05-23T12:34:00.006-05:00

Phew! I can't believe it's already Saturday and that my little man has been two for almost a whole week. Where has the time gone?

I wanted to hop on here and give a quick pictorial review of his hippie birthday party. I hope everyone had as great a time as I did ...

I hired Bornhoff Photography to come to the party, allowing me to socialize and not have to worry about catching the perfect party images. Well worth the money! I'll have the disk soon with all the pictures to share, but the above were just a few of the favorites.

Pastry Girls made the tie dyed cupcakes. There were rave reviews of the chocolate cupcakes and the design fit in perfectly!

The giveaway was a balloon ball from Kerry Crafts. It's a fabric ball that you insert a balloon into and blow it up! The tie dyed fabric pouches with orange ribbon drawstrings just sent me over the moon.

I had be the thread iron on some orange twos in case anyone forgot that Lubbock was two. And these twos matched the large two she put on the back of Lubbock's tie dyed shirt.

If you want Lubbock's shirt, though ... too bad! It's a one-of-a-kind find courtesy of Aunt Lo. She picked it up in San Fran from a for-real hippie. Pretty cool, huh?

The Launch

2009-05-13T22:20:00.002-05:00

I've been super busy thinking lately. If you've followed me for a while, you notice I 'disappear' from the blogosphere whenever I start doing that ... thinking. It takes more effort for me to think than most people, I think. Or maybe I'm just not the kind of person that's very good at multi-tasking.

Anyway, the official launch of my business is May 27th!!!

For those that live in the area, the ever-awesome Gretchen is hosting a "Spring Market" on Wednesday, May 27th from 4p to 8p. You can come and go as you please. (You can email me if you'd like the address ... natadash (at) hotmail.com)

Other businesses include:

Bottle Cap Necklaces
The Blackberry Briar (soy candles and room sprays)
be the thread (custom embroidery and children's apparel)
M.A.Gs & Me (unique & quirky creations)
Pastry Girls (cakes & pastries)
Bornhoff Photography

and ...

shindigs for kids (children's party planning and hand made cards for all occasions)

Ya ... that's me! shindigs for kids. You can hire me, too! I'm already 'thinking' about my first project.

Just an FYI, too ... I may not be on here much in the next little bit ... my dad arrives tomorrow night to help celebrate Lubbock's birthday. He leaves on Tuesday, so I'll likely be busy partying and hosting ... unless I take advantage of free babysitting. In which case, I'll likely be busy thinking.

The Mom and the Potty

2009-05-10T07:13:00.005-05:00

I wouldn't say that I'm working on potty training, but we did have a slight success this week. Our first pee-pee in the potty!

I bought a chair a while ago and sat Lubbock on it, but wasn't thrilled at the low-ness of the guard in the front. The little frog one seemed to have more of what I was looking for.

Lubbock likes it, too. He likes carrying it from room to room, putting it in the bathtub, and standing in it. I try to sit him on it and he thinks it's all pretty hilarious.

One of the things he also thinks is pretty funny is to take his diaper off and pee wherever he may be. I've been paying attention to this, though and trying to run him into the potty chair when he does this. I successfully sat him on the chair earlier this week. I made a really big deal and clapped and hugged him and kissed him. He then wanted to stand in it. I guess I'll take what I can get.

This whole exercise reminded me of the qualities that make many of the moms I admire so great. Patience, persistance, and positive attitudes. (Yes, they start with P ... pee ... get it!?!? I crack myself up.)

I've been a mom for almost two years now and these three qualities are the ones that I seem to work on the most. Perhaps being a mom is more about making changes in me than about making changes in the little people that make it all possible. On that note ...

I'd like to thank all the little people that make it possible to be a mom. Especially, my little guy! I love you.

And just a quick side note: if you're looking for free stuff ... check out Savvy Cyber Mama (my friend Jen ... Hailey's mom).

The Birthday Card Reveal

2009-05-05T08:34:00.005-05:00

Okay ... it seems most people have their cards ... so, to everyone I didn't send one to (mostly because I figured you weren't making the trip anyway) ... here you go!

The front sets the tie dyed theme with peace, love, and happiness symbols on top and a big craft paper two in the bottom corner. Orange craft paper is used for the paper ... allowing me to use orange as the party's theme color instead of going completely over the top with tie dyed (a very fine line to walk)!

The greeting inside states that "Lubbock is turning ..." and then uses a die cut I found with the hand peace sign. It was just what I needed to bring the whole party together!

Each guest was invited using their own hippie name. Grandma Funky Foulkes, Lauren Love Child Foulkes, Gigi Groovy Potts, The Flower Power Foulkes Family, and The Right On Round Family were a few of my favorites. The return address label stated the invites were from Lubbock "Peace."

And now for the only part of the invitation that seemed to cause me pause.

Last year, we determined that Lubbock was probably the most loved boy on Earth and that gifts for his birthday were not needed to prove this, so we held a fundraiser where we asked guests to bring camp supplies for a local program for troubled/disadvantaged teens. It was so great to see how all of Lubbock's friends helped out and the camp really appreciated Lubbock's support.

We wanted to continue this tradition for his second birthday and determined that Red Oak Nature Center was in need of a new puppet theater. So, I included the above note requesting no gifts and to consider making a donation toward the puppet theater. While I am aware this is against proper etiquette, I feel there are always exceptions to any rule.

What are your thoughts about this?

The Sock and the Shock

2009-05-03T14:23:00.006-05:00

Sometimes ... and by that, I mean ... very infrequently ... Lubbock wakes up in a good mood. I'll hear him talking or singing in his room and I'll open the door to his big ol' smilin' face.

Last week, we had one of those mornings. I heard him singing (what, I don't know) and he sounded so happy. He then said, "Mom!" and I opened the door promptly as I had been standing outside his room listening to all of this. He saw me and started jumping up and down and screaming at the top of his lungs. Happy screams.

And I then noticed that he had a sock on his hand. He's been doing that lately. There was one morning when I tried to put socks on his feet and he just wouldn't have it. Apparently socks go on hands. I tried to put a different pair on his hands, but he wanted the pair that matched his shirt. What a silly kid!

I know the second picture is blurry ... but, have you tried taking a picture of your silly monkey jumping in his bed? I kind of like it that way. You can still tell he's smiling. I think some of my favorite pictures of Lubbock are blurry ones. It reminds me when I look at them that one day, my memories, too, will be fuzzy, but I think I'll always remember how I felt at the moment the picture was taken.

So, we had a happy morning and then I got to wrap up work on his invitations ... or so I thought! I was placing the hand made beauties in envelopes and only needed to print labels and place the hand made stickers on the outside ... then off they were to go. I had paused to look at my handy-work and started to feel like something was wrong.

Gasp! I didn't put the date on the invitations. I couldn't believe it. How could I (the person who just declared her intention to start a party planning business) forget something like that? I suppose it taught me a lesson. I have every intention of making a checklist for clients ... to include simple things like ... is there a date on the invitation?

Thankfully, I was able to carefully remove the portion of the invitation that contained the information, re-print that portion and reapply, but I did have to make all new 'peace hands' to go on the inside. I'm an official pro on that, now. I won't release the images of the invitation yet since I just placed them in the mailbox on Saturday. You will get to see, however, the aftermath of my creativity. I really don't think I can be creative without making a mess. I can see how Kevin gets nervous anytime I begin a 'project.'

Hopefully, I'll have lots of projects soon! I've come up with a company name. That, too, is a guarded secret for now ... don't worry ... it's really cute!

The Birthday Season Continues

2009-04-29T15:56:00.026-05:00

In my Wednesday playgroup, we face a three week 'birthday season' in which all our little guys (and gal) get to add a year. I think it will turn into a really special time of year for them as they are more able to understand the joy that is a birthday.

Today was the first fete. Austin turned two! But let me take you back a month or so ...

The moms in the playgroup were sitting in my living room discussing birthday planning, themes, and cake designs when Austin's mom, Rachel, shocked the rest of us with the confession that she hadn't started the planning ... hadn't even thought of a theme. (I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this.)

You could have picked my jaw up off the ground! It's no secret in our group that I have career aspirations of being a children's party planner.

So, we reviewed theme ideas and she said that Austin liked construction trucks, so I threw out a few ideas and kindly offered to "hijack" her party ... with her permission, of course.

She agreed and I promised to put together a complete party plan after I had a few hours to think about it.

Later that day, I put together the following:

Theme: ABC Construction (Austin's Birthday Crew) with yellow and black as the colors

Dessert: Construction Cupcakes

Favor: personalized hard hats

Decorations: caution tapes, cones, and toy dump trucks

Invitations: a sort of 'help wanted' ad giving a work site and shift

Rachel came up with several ideas on her own ... so nobody should read this and think she's not the creative type, too! She made the invitations, made the cake, thought of the cute idea of sack lunches for the kids (big hit!), and even found a little truck and digger to park in her driveway. Rachel, you did an awesome job of putting it all together!

We all had tons of fun and Austin got some great gifts from his friends, including a cute black t-shirt with a dump truck on it from Lubbock. Of course, courtesy of be the thread.

So, next month (after birthday season) ... I plan to open my children's party planning business! I guess I can say this was a trial run at using my creative forces. I'm fairly nervous ... no ... very nervous. But, it's nothing that "blogging it out" can't help!

The Proof I am a Mom

2009-04-28T14:44:00.007-05:00

As Mother's Day is approaching, I've been paying close attention to the things that make me a Mom. Not the qualities ... but the actually things. I'll talk about all those 'intangibles' on Sunday!

I mentioned my favorite shorts ... by Dockers. I also think the capris are fabulous ... both versions they made this season. They stretch. And they cover my underwear when I bend down. What Mom doesn't bend down? What Mom likes her undies handing out? What Mom has been embarrassed when a three-year old points to your "rat-too" on your hiney? (Maybe that's just me.)

And shoes ... comfort. Moms need comfortable shoes. They must be cute, slip resistant, and match your favorite shorts, jeans, and skirt, right? Who cares about the brand ... right? Well ... here's my last Mom confession ... I bought my first pair of Easy Spirit shoes. Wow! Did I just admit this? Yup! Maybe I'm turning into a Grandma before my time ... but, for now ... I'm only admitting to being a Mom!

What makes you a Mom?

The Bubbles and the Sticks

2009-04-26T16:56:00.007-05:00

As Kevin is out of town this weekend, I had to keep Lubbock busy all by myself. Well, a few good friends helped out and, of course, Aunt Lo came to the rescue, too.

Our friends, Julia and Madeline, invited us to a second birthday party. We had so much fun catching up since we hadn't seen each other in almost a year! It was great to see how much the kids have changed and how much their personalities remain the same. She was able to blow out her candle all by herself!

The highlight of the weekend was likely the Baby Loves Disco party we attended today. It's basically a daytime nightclub experience for your little one. They play adult music (sorry, no Barney) that has been pre-screened for bad lyrics. You won't be able to keep your hips from movin'!

If you'd like, they do serve adult beverages, but mostly it's just adults not caring that they look silly because the kids are having so much fun. The DJ (yes, a DJ) announces when the bubble machine will be turning on and all the kids rush over to the dance floor for a ''bubble popping contest" ... everyone's a winner in this contest. They gave away egg shakers that were a hit with the kids and there was face painting and spray hair coloring (orange all the way)!

He made friends with lots of little girls with pink tutus. And when he got tired of dancing, he hung out in the hallway ... next to the mop bucket. Whatever. As we left, he was handed a pink star wand that lit up. I was given a gift bag that included a blow up globe (with animals for each region) ... and loads of advertisements. I guess they've got to get their money somehow!

We had lunch at the Mongolian barbecue place down the street where Lubbock thrilled an audience of diners with his ability to allow Aunt Lo to feed him brown rice with chopsticks. Okay, maybe it didn't take much talent ... but, it was pretty cute. I am incredibly impressed, however, because from about seven-months of age, Lubbock has not allowed anyone to feed him anything. That is, until Aunt Lo fed him chocolate cake from a fork. So, that used to be the only thing he'd let us feed him. Now, we can feed him brown rice. It wasn't just the chopsticks, either ... we tried chicken and broccoli and he had no interest in that.

We stopped at a few of the local shops to look at some toys, but Lubbock had a full day and was ready to get in his car seat for a long nap. A very long nap, indeed.

Tomorrow, Kevin gets back in town, but he's going straight to work from the airport, so I likely won't see him until he gets home from work. Lubbock will probably do the chicken dance until he flies off the ground.

The Greetings and the Card

2009-04-23T12:23:00.004-05:00

Earlier this week, I decided to run lots of 'long distance' errands. I visited with my friend, Beth of be the thread. She is making some of the items for Lubbock's birthday party (less than a month away *yikes*) and some other important things for me ... to be discussed next month!

As Lubbock and I approached her front door, I couldn't help but smile and the signs posted for all her visitors. "Hello! Hello!" One written in perfect block letter handwriting and the other in 'I'm a big boy and can write now' handwriting. I had flash forwards to the day when Lubbock will want to sit down and begin to learn the benefits of letters, letters making words, and words making thoughts and stories. The signs made me feel so welcomed . Thank you, Beth!

After that, Lubbock and I took off for the mall. Not any of the three closer malls, but to one pretty far away. All in search of the towels and shorts that eluded me on Friday. I wasn't able to use my 20% discount, but was still able to find what I was looking for. Lubbock played in the kid's play area with Hailey and Sergio while Jen and I talked about our weekends. We had lunch and a few meltdowns ... complete with a nasty bite to my arm which is still bruised! Ouch!

I guess I didn't take Lubbock seriously when he told me he was done (via the bite) and decided to visit one more store while I was on that side of town. One of my favorite, overpriced, scrapbooking stores. I don't think I've ever bought more than some glue and paper from them, but I love to look around. Lubbock doesn't. He screamed the whole time, every set of eyes on us. We left and he fell asleep about ten seconds later.

The rest of my week has pretty much been consumed with the completion of his invitations. I've been working on the wording (always important) and gluing bits and pieces together. One day, Lubbock will be impressed ... or not. Who knows.

Kevin will be leaving early tomorrow morning to fly to Texas to play a round at the MJ Golf Classic. The tournament helps raise money for the American Cancer Society. He has a lot of fun, too ... so, I don't mind him going. He's been just about every year it's happened (except 2007 when I was a very pregnant lady).

We'll see what a weekend alone with my little guy brings! I really can't wait to see his face on Monday evening when Kevin comes home. He'll be so excited ... a chicken dance won't be able to express the excitement.

The Egg and the Towel

2009-04-20T06:36:00.014-05:00

Kevin's parents came in town on Friday and it has been a whirlwind of food and fun ever since. Being the weekend after Easter, they made sure to bring some good Tex-Mex fun with them in the way of cascarones.

I probably can't count how many times I've heard Kevin and his mom talk about how much fun it was to do these when he was younger (and maybe older). Making them is a tradition I plan on starting next year as Lubbock just isn't old enough to handle raw eggs yet. As welcoming as I am, salmonella is just one of the things on my 'no thanks' list.

So, the basic idea is that it's an emptied out eggshell filled with confetti and you bust it over someone's head (ideally when they're not expecting it). We started by having Lubbock break one over Kevin's head ... with Grandma's help.

Kevin then broke one on Lubbock's head. He was completely unimpressed with the whole thing and spent the next little while picking the confetti off himself and Kevin. I'm glad I didn't go through the effort of making them this year, but I know next year will be a different story. He'll be old enough to understand how much fun breaking something on someone's head is ... especially when it makes such a big, colorful mess.

In the food department, we dined on fajitas one night, pizza another, and homemade corn dogs & corn fritters last night. (Mary was nice enough to make some with veggie dogs for my sister and me. Lauren being a vegetarian and me just not being a hot dog fan.) We went to The Turf Room for a late lunch on Saturday and to this place that I can never remember the name of yesterday. I always call it "the restaurant on a hill that makes the really good soup on Friday, but we always forget to go on Friday, so we're always mad about it on Sunday." They all know which one I mean.

I meant to get a lot of work done on Lubbock's birthday invitations, but that did not happen. Instead, I tried to shop. It made me appreciate the 'fishing' phraseology that was always explained to me when I lived in Oklahoma.

Any random man in Oklahoma: I went fishing yesterday.

Me: What did you catch?

Man: Nothing, I went fishing, not catching.

I'm not sure why I thought of that. Back to shopping ... I have needed new towels for a while as Kevin has long complained about the lack of softness of our current ones. Like most things, I had a list of qualifications our new towels must meet. First, they had to be white. Second, they must not have a stripe (you know, that hard, decorative area that always shrinks after it is dried, making the last two inches or so look funny when the towel is folded). And third, they had to be soft. I researched long and hard and settled on the Linden Street Quick Dry towels.

Knowing they would go on sale one day, I waited. Then, yesterday, I got an email from JCPenney's offering a 20% discount off my whole purchase and I saw on the website, that they were on sale, too! Score! I had hit the jackpot. I knew my patience would be rewarded. While I was there, I'll pick up some pajamas for Lubbock (again, I have a qualification ... must be 100% cotton). And I noticed that my favorite shorts were on sale for nearly half price. What a great day!

So, coupon in hand, I visited our local store and found that they only had three. I wanted ten. No luck with checking in the back either. They had no more. No biggie, I thought. I'd just order them online and the discount would likely take care of the shipping.

I visited the kid's department to look at pajamas. Polyester, polyester, polyester. Ick, ick, ick. Poor Lubbock has my sensitive skin and polyester always feels scratchy to me and causes too much static, making my hair go crazy. Lubbock has the same hair problem. Not a single pair of cotton pajamas in the whole store. No biggie, I thought. I'll just try somewhere else.

Off to my section, thinking about how fun it will be to get a new color short. "Maybe I'll be brave and get a bright turquoise." Hmmm. Where are they? I asked if they had them. No, we only have the capris. "But they're in the ad. Do you know if you'll get them this week?" (While they're on sale, I thought.) "No." Not very helpful.

Still, I won't let this break my excitement of finding the perfect sale/coupon combination. I'll get the shorts online, too.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

Did you know that they don't have the same prices online as they do in the stores on all items? The towels were on backorder, so the website said it couldn't tell me how much shipping was or if it would then honor the discount code. And the shorts were so much more expensive online, that once you added shipping, they were practically full price.

So, I went shopping, not buying!

Not complaining. Just saying.

The Box and the Wait

2009-04-17T16:01:00.013-05:00

The day finally arrived. My chairs were delivered yesterday morning. The driver told me the boxes were so big, he had to drop them off first so that they wouldn't be in his way the whole morning! Big, yes. Heavy, no. They weigh about 7 pounds each and made of aluminum.

I emailed Kevin to let him know they arrived. I told him that I was going to mop the floor because I didn't want the chairs to make their first appearance on a dirty floor. He asked if I would wait until he got home to open the boxes.

Reluctantly, I agreed ... cursing him under my breath. He then said he was just checking to see what I would say ... knowing my eagerness to tear into the boxes as soon as I could. But, I got the point and told him that I would, indeed, wait until he got home for the grand unveiling.

Last night, I had a Girl's Night Out Game Night. We were all going to meet at Brandy's house for a fun night of Scrabble, sangria, hummus, Nutella, and Brie. But, Kevin was running late.

By the time he got home, I was very tired and not really looking forward to unpacking the boxes anyway. It was almost time for me to be at Brandy's, so I determined that Kevin's "punishment" for being so late was that he needed to get the chairs set up for my return.

Game Night was a blast! We were able to relax and concentrate on the game (instead of the tots). We gabbed about our college days and how our lives have calmed down so much since then. And, of course, we talked about the kids ... and the husbands.

It was so nice to come home that night and walk (with my eyes closed) into the dining room all set up and looking so pretty.

I really, really, really heart my new dining room. I feel so relaxed in there. It feels so open. With the table top being white (with a two year old ... really?), it makes the room seem so much bigger than it was. The drawers on the side are charming. And the chairs add such a retro, industrial touch.

I can't say that they have completed my life, but they have completed the dining room/kitchen part of our house.

I can't wait to host the next Game Night. For now ... I'll have to settle for showing it off online.

The Face Parts

2009-04-14T20:19:00.003-05:00

Nothing super exciting happened today. Took my sister and Lubbock to Jason's Deli for lunch. Mmmmmm.

I've been trying to teach Lubbock about what his face parts are called. "Nose" and he sticks his finger up his nose. "Eye" and he places his finger very carefully on his eyelid. "Ear" and he just says 'ear' back to me. That's about it.

I got an email about the chairs I ordered and they will be here on Thursday (fingers crossed). I met with a great couple from Lisle about buying our dining room set and another email from a lady about my extra table for sale on Craigslist.

My hope is that they are G-O-N-E by Friday since Kevin's parents will be here by then. I have other things I'd like to list, but I'm tired of dealing with there Craigslist people. So much drama with them!

The Free Gum

2009-04-13T13:17:00.002-05:00

I feel like I'm about to announce the birth of a child. In a way, it does feel like I've added to our family, though.

On Friday ... just before all my scrapbooking friends arrived, I received a phone call. "Is this Nata-Leigh?" "Yes, this is she." "I'm calling about a table at Anthropologie that you want. It's on sale." "Oh." ...

I'm not sure it was the wisest purchase, but I got it! And since it was the floor sample, I even got a free piece of gum that someone left behind! I'm really finding this piece of gum hilarious.

This is as much as I'm going to show you for now, though. I figured since I already got the table ... I should go ahead and get the chairs. (Similar logic works with ... I already ate one piece of cake ... I might as well eat the whole thing.)

They should be here Friday.

Now, I am attempting to rid my house of the old dining table and chairs. I've listed them on craigslist, but so far have only had scammers ("I'll send you a check for $5,000 ... you keep the change and ship it to me."), people who don't know where I live even though it says "Batavia" in the title (one lady lives in Lansing, MI and I had to tell her it wasn't worth her drive), and people who want me to sell it to them for super cheap because they have some sort of sob story (I believe they simply copied the lyrics to a country song and then added, "so please consider this when giving me a new, more affordable price"). It'll sell ... I have no doubt.

The Egg Drop Flop

2009-04-11T15:56:00.005-05:00

Do you see that little speck in the middle of this picture? That's the helicopter that dropped thousands of eggs for an Easter Egg hunt. It sounded like such a fun idea ... Brandy's church puts it on each year and it looked like a fun time. So, Jen & Hailey, Brandy & Evan (and Matt, the hubby), and my family were going to go have a blast.

Well, you remember that picture of the helicopter ... that's about as close as we got. We missed the whole thing because I believe about 2% of the entire population of Illinois decided to go. We made it to the entrance of the parking lot just as the helicopter dropped the eggs, so we determined it was best just to drive on.

It's times like this that I'm actually happy Lubbock doesn't understand most of what's going on. I'm sure if he were a year older and I had hyped up a helicopter and Easter egg hunt ... he would have been angry we hadn't made it in time (and rightfully so).

Instead of being angry, though, he took an early nap. That'll show, Mom ... put me in a car in stand still traffic for over an hour! Ha! I'll just take my nap now so that she won't get her break later this afternoon.

For information on how the egg drop went for those that made it on time ... you can see Jen's blog.

What we have decided, however, is that for next year ... we'll locate a CD of helicopter noises, send one of our dear hubbies onto the roof and just launch the eggs from there. No traffic to fight. No kids stealing your eggs. No early naps to deal with.

Just the possibility of a husband rolling off a roof. Maybe throwing them out a second story window would be a better idea!

The Green Party

2009-04-10T22:40:00.005-05:00

Last month, I missed the first Scrapbooking Night put together by my friend, Beth. But, I volunteered to host this month's get-together. Not knowing what happened last time, I was concerned about how much or how little to put into it. I've never been known to go over the top with anything. (I can't believe I typed that without spitting my wine on the laptop screen.)

One thing I learned ... you can never have enough table! I don't scrapbook (probably a shocking statement to those who know how I enjoy expressing my creative side). I tried it my freshman year of college. I started to scrapbook all my pictures from high school. I got two pages done. That was the end of that.

But, since I don't scrapbook, I didn't realize just how much space this can take up. The pages are 12" x 12" and there's typically two of them out at any one time. Plus the "stuff." But, it was still a total blast.

We got to see all the cool tools we all had and tried each other's glues and cutting machines. I find card makers and scrapbookers have much to learn from each other. They are two totally different art forms!

What was the theme, Nata-Leigh? I'm glad you asked. It was "Cuttlebug Green." I had a green bucket with Izze soda, some green cups with Nutella scooped in the bottom and pretzels for dipping, and some handmade wine charms to write your name on (yes, all in "Cuttlebug Green").

So, I've cleaned up enough to feel okay about going to bed and I really should since tomorrow, we're going to Brandy's church's Easter Egg Drop (out of a helicopter!) and then a Dinosaur Jr. concert with Lauren and Kevin. Both events should be a blast.

The Quick Plan

2009-04-09T20:30:00.004-05:00

I really didn't intend on doing much today because this weekend is promising to be super busy.

But, it cracks me up how easily plans can be created. I emailed Hailey's mom to see what color Crocs she intended on purchasing this summer. Just to make sure we didn't get the same pair at the outlet store.

Jen (Hailey's mom) said they got orange and blue thongs. (Yah! since I plan on getting the orange original pair.) But she also planned on going to the outlet mall this morning anyway. Do I want to go?

Um ... go window shopping? Sure! I was so proud of myself ... I spent fifty cents! For the fire truck ride for Hailey and Lubbock (a.k.a. photo op). Of course ... I accepted the coffee Jen picked up on the way there. Thank you so much!

And can they be any cuter?

The Note, the Water, and the Boys

2009-04-08T20:55:00.005-05:00

This morning, I received a special delivery package in my mailbox from Meredith. She had a recent birthday party and invited Lubbock and I to "chaperon." I couldn't believe it. I'm old enough for that? For someone to entrust me with the lives of five tweenagers? Surely she must have meant to ask someone else. But, it was true. All went well. I started and ended with the same number of girls and we won the scavenger hunt contest!

Meredith, being the most graciously raised child I know, wrote a thank you note and included a few pictures from the scavenger hunt and some perfectly coordinating bottle cap magnets for my desk (all pictured on my cookie sheet message boards). In case you can't read the note, she calls me "helpful," "smart," "responsible," and "gorgeous." (Okay, I made up the last one.)

This helped start my day in such a special way. Prior to getting the package, I had forced myself out of bed by way of singing C&C Music Factory's "Here We Go" ... you know ... "You all want this party started? Right? You all want this party started ... quickly! Right?" Admit it ... you liked them, too. Anyway, I started bopping (in my head) and took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast, and had coffee all before Lubbock woke up.

When he woke up, he ate breakfast, took a bath, and got dressed with enough time for me to do a quick wipe down of the bathroom (with his towel, thanks for the suggestion FlyLady), and made my bed before the water guy came to complete the installation. Verdict on the morning: success! I received a thoughtful note and had a smooth running morning.

Verdict on the water: pending. He said you have to run some water through the filters before you can drink it. I've run it through twice ... Kevin drank it and said it was fine. I'll wait for one more flush before trying it. Fingers still crossed.

I can't think of a good transition ... so ...

There is a family that lives two houses down. They have three teenage boys (poor Mom). These boys have so much energy that I believe the parents must send them outside to burn it off five times a day. They have a trampoline that has been the recent tool of choice. It is also a complete fascination of Lubbock's. He loves to watch the boys and when he notices them jumping, he climbs up on our dining room table and just points and yells at them (can you see the boys in the photo? Not close enough for them to hear Lubbock, for sure!).

I've spoken with the oldest boy and he promised when the weather got warmer that they'd invite Lubbock over. Oh, boy! I'm not sure I'm ready for another trip to the emergency room just yet!

The Vote and the Sink

2009-04-07T21:05:00.009-05:00

Today was one of the few days I brought home the bacon. Kevin indulges me in my "career" as an Election Judge. What a career this is. I've worked two whole days. And by whole ... I do mean whole. I worked from 5a to 7:30p. And by worked ... I do mean ... sat on my butt.

Of course, I couldn't have expected as great a turnout as the Presidential Election produced, but the turnout wasn't enough to keep everyone busy. We rotated all duties and even had a "break" position. We just sat between two people who worked and if they ran out of stickers, we replaced them.

I was able to read a huge portion of my latest self-help book, Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley. The basics of her system is that you come up with a routine, you spend a short amount of time everyday cleaning, and you de-clutter, de-clutter, de-clutter (you can't organize or clean clutter). I've mentioned this in passing before ... Marla is FlyLady. As I researched her system online, I found it to be a really complex website to navigate. Sure, you get the gist, but in order for me to map it out on my own, I found the book to be a more concise version of her plan. Perhaps this is on purpose ... I did buy the book, after all!

Tomorrow, I am welcoming a handyman into my home to finish the reverse osmosis water treatment system. We've made this investment based on the hope for drinkable well water. We spend about $50 a month for water delivery. At that rate, the water system will pay for itself in just about a year. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the water is drinkable.

I am hosting a playgroup and serving lunch to my lovely friends. I don't know what I'll cook, but I've got plenty in the freezer ... I really should pull it out before I to bed to start thawing in the fridge.

I have a dentist appointment to determine if there is a non-surgical way to fix my bite ... I don't have one and this has caused some jaw pain. I used to sleep with a night guard, but when I was pregnant, my teeth got so loose, the night guard no longer fits. So, the result may just be a new guard.

Then, we are going to Brandy's for dinner. I still feel horrible for missing New Year's Eve at her place (even though I had the "death," as Kevin calls it). We're going to look at her dining room chairs to see if I would like them in my dining room as a temporary substitute for what I really want. Of course, there's what I would really get, too. My kitchen is so bright and colorful and I'm tired of the dark wood furniture. It's really lovely, but just doesn't flow with the rest of the house. Not like my favorite table would!

Oh, table ... how do I live without you?

The Office and the Dining Room

2009-04-06T15:09:00.007-05:00

I've moved! Not really, but kind of. We purchased a brand, new shiny laptop and I promptly closed down the "study" in the front room. This left me with a challenge, though. I could be extremely mobile with the laptop, but I still needed a "home." I think that's why I've been so bad at sending pictures to grandparents and updating my blog. It's easy to do something quick (like update your facebook status to say "we're gonna make like bears and hibernate"), but much more difficult to stand and expound on the daily grind of the life of me.

So, I've set up shop in the dining room. Due to my successful decluttering, we were able to get rid of a large piece of furniture in the dining room (it didn't really match anyway and mostly housed large machines and liquor). I purchased a bar height table (two feet by four feet) and a stool. I love having my office located in the dining room!

The kitchen and dining room area of our home is always the busiest. Both Kevin and I love to cook and what better place to be than within feet of each other.

As I'm sure you're aware ... everything in my life has a theme ... so, the theme for the desk is "kitchy kitchen." I found a pretty pink colander to use as a junk drawer, a super cool measuring cup to house my pens and pencils, two baking sheets to put my notices on, and I'm on the hunt for a napkin holder to use as my mail sorter.

I do have a small open filing system to keep medical, tax, and course catalogs. It took a while to decide what to do with my paper shredder. I'm not very good at shredding things if the shredder isn't close at hand. I finally determined that it had to go downstairs. But, I have one file folder specifically for things to be shredded. I haven't used the shredder since it went downstairs, but my folder isn't over-flowing yet!

My household notebook is also taking up residence on my desk. Easy access will hopefully make for a more smooth operation around here.

I do have some really super cute pictures of Lubbock that need to be loaded, but as he just awoke from his nap ... I'm going to go pay attention to him. I love being able to do that. And I find as I am keeping up with the housework, there is more time for me to enjoy him.

I love my job (and my new desk).

The Month My Brain Quit

2009-03-08T09:19:00.004-05:00

I believe last month was a busy month for my brain. Have you ever had a list of to do's and they were mostly brain-heavy activities? Last month was full of those.

Research the possibility of refinancing the house ... our house is worth what!?!?!?

Restructure the monthly budget so that the 1st and 15th of the month expenditures aren't so lop-sided. This is, of course, because I don't have the self-control to not spend the 'extra' money we have on the 15th.

Research ways to reduce costs around here. I hear about people finding ways to reduce their electricity bills to $25 a month and then see my $125 bill come in and think ... how is that done?

All money issues. It makes me tired thinking about it. Why does the brain working on overtime wear me out?

Anyway, I think I'm going to try to get away from thinking as much as possible this month! More blogging, less stressing.

So, what else have I been up to?

I went to a card making party last night at Jen's. I took my camera, but failed to take pictures ... that would have required brain function. We did have a total blast, though. We made 8 cards and spent about 4 hours away from kids and husbands. Cell phones rang left and right and husbands seemed to be completely incapable of remembering what to do when kids awoke from naps (change the diaper, give them a snack), but they survived.

We visited the SciTech Kid's Museum in Aurora last week. I did take a few pictures there. I can't decide if I would recommend going there. For children above age 3, I think it would be more enjoyable, but then you have to pay for them, making the trip more expensive. Overall, I think the kids had fun running around and we almost had the whole place to ourselves. They do have a lunch room that you are allowed to bring your own food into, so that helps reduce costs.

And I let Lubbock play in the kitchen sink. I pulled a chair up to the sink, and let him go crazy. He was so wet and so sad when I decided we had had enough fun for the afternoon. It kept him busy while I made dinner and overall ... it wasn't messy fun ... just wet. Very wet. And now, he keeps pushing the chair from the dining room to the sink. We've done it a few more times. I'm happy when I find things he enjoys doing. I find it hard at this age to do activities with him. He enjoys eating crayons and putting playdough up his nose. I don't. So, we can both enjoy playing with the water in the sink and there's not much of a mess to clean up. Bonus!

The Day Kevin Gets Off

2009-02-24T19:41:00.004-06:00

Monday, March 2, marks the seven year anniversary of Kevin and I meeting. I only know that date because it's my brothers' birthday. I love telling people about how we met. So, you, too, will hear this story.

I was attending a birthday party for a girl I didn't know. I had been invited by an old college friend I had run into a few weekends prior. It was at a bar. I invited my roommate. We arrived and were standing around. This guy came up to the two of us and asked if he could buy us a drink. Of course you can.

He came back with the drinks and we started with the small talk necessary to thank a young man for a free drink ... I was very kind, right?

He mentioned something about having moved up to Oklahoma from Texas. "What part of Texas?" "Dallas." "I grew up around Dallas ... what part?" "Plano." "Oh."

Here's where I have to tell a side story ... if you're not from the Dallas in the mid-90s, you won't understand. Plano in the mid-90s was full of snobby little 'rich kids' ... kids left to their own devices on weekends with mommy and daddy's credit card and driving a better than I could imagine. I had dated "Plano boys" before and had no interest in trying another one out.

But, man ... he just wouldn't leave me alone. He kept buying me drinks and asked if we could play pool. He got really cocky and when there was this impossible shot left on the table ... he asked if I would kiss him if he made it. Sure ... he'll never make it. And, of course, he did.

I thought at the time that I had just been had and he was some professional pool player, but I've since learned that he's a really lousy pool player.

We exchanged numbers and parted ways. I went home and went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up ... and I was hungry. And worse, I was broke. I decided to call this Kevin I had met the previous morning to see if he wanted to grab lunch. (His treat.) He agreed, but not until Trading Spaces was over.

Really ... he admitted watching that?

Anyway, we ate lunch and saw a movie ... perhaps one of only two or three we've ever seen together!

That was pretty much the end of that.

Hmmmm ... I really am out of practice in my blogging ... rambling on without getting to a quick point. My point in all this is that on Monday, March 2nd ... Kevin will not be at work. He's taking a personal day to ... do nothing. It's "Kevin Day" ... in celebration of ... Kevin.

I don't have any real plans ... I plan to leave him alone and let him rest. I know he could use some time to himself, so I'm sure I'll take Lubbock out for a little that afternoon.

Do I get a day, too, though? I should choose that date soon so I can mark it in the calendar!

The Deep Topics

2009-02-20T12:39:00.006-06:00

This blog isn't just about fun and games, right?

So, I mentioned hiring a home organizational consultant/life coach for housewives/therapist (although she mentioned several times that she's not a therapist ... as I'm sure she's required by law to do ... as in Dr. Laura isn't a doctor). Anyway ...

She came, we talked, and we organized. I think I was a little further along in my emotional organizing process than she's used to working with. I have already made many tough decisions about what I'm keeping and what's going. I was able to talk through a few things that I was having a hard time deciding about. So, that was helpful.

There were a few things I took away from it, though ... and I will share that with you.

*I set personal goals (to go along with the family goals). I'll talk about those later. But, the importance of this is not losing myself in the process of making a better home for my family.

*I need to use the tasks I enjoy doing throughout the day (blogging) as a reward for doing things I don't enjoy doing (everything else ... I'm kidding ... only kind of).

*I am not as bad as I think I am. I know lots of you have told me this, but it's always nice to have an outsiders perspective.

*I needed to flip the organizing process around (which is actually contradictory to the second item). Meaning ... we organized my craft area while she was here. I had been putting it off to do after everything else was done. But, by having it done first, it made me more excited to tackle the remaining areas.

So, she left and that weekend (the one we finished ... I'm almost caught up in blogging, making day references easier) ... Kevin and I tackled a few last areas of note.

Picture gallery!!!

Everthing that we pulled out of our bedroom ... donate (some trash ... like the bra I just now noticed is in the pile).

The basement currently ... Kevin spent the weekend tearing down a big shelving unit that was built around the pole. It made the basement seem really small. And he had fun using power tools. There's still a few things to go through down there.

My crafting area ...

Wrapping paper supplies ...

Card making supplies ...

The drawer inside my table ... Have I mentioned how much I heart this table?

My lazy susan ... lots of cubbies and drawers ... at Michaels for $39.99 ... use your 40% off coupon, though! Steal!

The beginnings of the organizational OCD-ness showing through once again!

My current project is what really took me out of the blog-o-sphere ... I'm working on a household binder. I'm trying to make lists of chores and divide them into daily, weekly, monthly lists. I am tired of typing, however, so this will be for another day! (Lucky you!)

The Valentine Party

2009-02-20T12:27:00.004-06:00

We hosted the Valentine Party for our playgroup and decided the kids should do an art project. Brandy, Jen, and Rachel are very patient mothers and allow their children to use things like markers, crayons, and paint. My idea of an art project is stickers. No mess to clean up.

Lubbock has, however, discovered that stickers are delicious. (You can see him trying to sneak one into his mouth in this picture.)

The kids exchanged Valentine cards and Lubbock tried eating his. I'm seeing a pattern with him ... I promise I feed my child!

The Valentines were really cute, but Lubbock ate the one Hailey gave him. I was able to save the one our resident artist made. Brandy placed letter stickers on a card and let Evan paint his wonderful masterpiece. She then pulled the stickers off and there you have it ... personalized Valentines! She's so creative (and don't say you aren't, Brandy)!

The First Ice Cream Cone

2009-02-20T12:13:00.003-06:00

It really was such nice weather for one or two days. We met Kevin for lunch and Lubbock got to have his first ice cream cone. I put just enough in the cone to stick out. He couldn't decide if he liked it.

He watched Kevin and just imitated what he was doing. Kevin got down to actually eating the cone part of it and Lubbock couldn't get to the cone through the ice cream. What do you do in a situation like this? Well, Lubbock just turned the cone upside down and ate the cone from the bottom. I probably should have just given him the cone ... he like it much better than the ice cream.

Above his right eye, you can see the result of his independence. He wants to be a big boy so badly and he tries to do everything on his own. He was going up and down the cement stairs in the basement and fell down the last few ... nasty road rash. It's all healed now, but looked pretty gruesome for a few days.

With all the nice weather we had this day, he took a short nap, and we walked to our park. In keeping with his big boy attitude ... he decided to try the tall slide. I was so nervous because the slide is taller than I can reach. He is so brave. He climbed up the stairs, sat down, and pushed off ... laughing the entire way!

I just know he'll be the kind of kid that jumps off the high dive on the first day of swim classes. I was never that brave. I always stayed by the edge and held onto the wall. He must get this from Kevin.

The Familiar Walk

2009-02-20T11:56:00.004-06:00

With all the warm weather we had a week or two ago, Lubbock and I were able to get out for a bit. I allowed him to lead me on a walk. I just let him walk and I followed. I made sure he stayed on the sidewalk, but that was really my only rule. He walked south and kept going until we were across the street from his buddies', Eleanor and Joey's, house. (Was that apostrophized correctly?) He stood there starely at their house for a long time and then practically ran across the street, up to their porch, and then knocked on the door. Not loud enough for Heather to hear, though. I called her and she invited us in for a minute, but Eleanor and Joey were at their grandma's house. We talked and then I decided to let her get back to work. As we were walking back to the sidewalk, I looked toward my house and saw a fire engine parked in front of my house!

I really panicked because (foolishly, I admit) ... I hadn't locked my house or even bothered shutting the door. I had no intention of straying so far from home, but I guess Lubbock had other ideas. So, on the quick walk home ... carrying Lubbock ... all possibilities of bad thoughts were racing through my head.

I noticed the truck was running as I got closer, but the lights weren't flashing ... odd. I went inside and yelled, "hello?" No answer. Hmmm. I found Kat and she was fine. I then went to the front door and stared at the truck, thinking about calling the fire station to ask if they were missing a truck. I took a picture (as any good blogger does) and just then saw two fire fighters approaching their truck with drink cups in hand.

Ah! They were simply eating lunch at one of our local restaurants. Can I get an ambulance with those fries?

The Boy That Doesn't Want to Share

2009-02-20T11:30:00.005-06:00

One of the things we've noticed in playgroups is that the kids are really starting to have a heightened sense of what's theirs. Lots of "mine" and "my" and crying and pushing and shoving. I think it's a good argument for having a second child. (No offense to all my only child friends out there ... Kevin included!)

Lubbock's face is the reaction to his friend, Evan, wearing "his" cool orange hard hat. Evan kept putting it on and would walk around saying "Bob" ... as in 'the builder.' It was all pretty funny ... unless you were Lubbock.

I guess I can take the opportunity to annouce that we are officially trying for a second child. I think Kevin would say were in the 'not avoiding' category, but I'm keeping track of things and hoping that this time around, it doesn't take almost two years. It does, however, make for very anxious times around here for me. Any slight nausea or bad mood and I'm convinced I'm pregnant. I really should start buying pregnancy tests at Costco (I don't even know if they sell them there, but they do sell them at the dollar store ... how effective a $1 test is ... I dunno).

The Third Goal

2009-02-09T20:45:00.003-06:00

I've been super busy working toward the third goal on my list for 2009 ... declutter by 50%. I'm sorry to say this has led me away from my blogging responsibilities and toward my basement.

I am, however, happy to report that I now have internet access in the playroom and may soon be able to write the occasional blog entry while watching Lubbock play with Lego. But ... not until I've completed the last few areas. Currently, the guest room is filled with donations. Perhaps two more trips to Goodwill are in order ... but, not without documenting everything for tax write-offs.

I have also hired a 'home management consultant' ... very weird ... I know. But, I just really feel as if I'm failing in the area of 'housewife' and this causes more stress in the area of 'mom.' And I don't feel like I am able to give my all to Lubbock when I'm consistently stressed about my surroundings. Perhaps a consultant is going overboard and maybe it's something a few more books and television specials could fix, but I'd rather get an outside opinion specifically directed toward me and my situation.

Most websites that I've reviewed offer advice, but don't take into account a 21-month-old or the possibility of a second child in the next year or so. I'm really excited about her first visit on Thursday. I'll try to post on Friday, but I'm getting so much done around here that blogging has taken a back seat for a short time.

Hopefully, I'll be back on the blog-wagon soon ... did I just make up a word? But, dear readers, I'm asking you this ... do you have a weekly routine that you stick to? Is there a daily routine that makes things run smoothly?

The Super Sweep

2009-02-01T20:06:00.006-06:00

It's 8p on Super Bowl Sunday and we're watching the Super Bowl in fast forward because we spent the whole day downstairs 'clean sweeping.' Sigh! Siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh!

I'm typing this on my new laptop! I can't express how nice it is to be able to sit in the same room as Kevin, talk to Kevin, and still be able to type this out. It's really making me feel like I'm being a better wife. And friend.

I really didn't accomplish much last week, so I won't bore you with any detail-filled sagas.

But ... Kevin and I got into a really productive argument on Friday night. I know it's probably not very popular to say this ... but, I actually like it when Kevin and I argue. Because we always reach a resolution. We may have a brief silent-treatment spell, but it eventually reaches a nice end.

I've talked about how I've been sorting through our belongings, purging what I can, but I always got to a point in the pile or box or bag when I thought, "Hmmm ... Kevin might want to look at this" or "Kevin may like to keep this." But, when I approach him about looking at something, it has been a battle.

Last week, I looked through all my picture albums, pulling out pictures I thought were worthy of keeping. I had my sister reviewing them as well to make sure she didn't want some of them. I kept the albums that had pictures from after I met Kevin for him to review. He glanced through them quickly and said to keep all of them.

Did I hear him correctly? Keep all of them. Why? I put so much effort into determining that I didn't need a picture of the two of us with his mom in New Orleans because I had a picture of us with both of his parents. I made sure I had a picture of the front of our first home, but deemed the picture of the living room un-necessary because I had a picture of us sitting on the couch in our living room. His response was that he'd rather see me keep pictures "because they're memories" than two boxes of scrap booking paper.

Oh, no he didn't!

I had organized my paper (in ROY G. BIV-form to be specific) for the purpose of being able to better utilize it in a hobby that I enjoyed, but was never able to do because it took too long to gather all the needed tools! And he had the nerve to say that I should get rid of the paper in order to store pictures? But, I want to make cards, not sit in the past!

We had quite the discussion about how we needed to continue to purge our basement in order to have room (physically and emotionally) to move into the future. Upstairs, we physically don't have an extra room for a nursery when #2 blesses us with his/her presence. Downstairs, we physically don't have room to do our hobbies like card making and carpentry. In our entire house, we don't have emotional room to embrace our current life and enjoy every day with Lubbock because we're battling 'stuff' ... and everything that goes along with 'stuff'.

My feelings were hurt because I felt Kevin wanted to hold onto the past and didn't acknowledge the benefits of me being able to enjoy my present. Kevin's feelings were hurt because he felt like I was trying to discredit the past in an effort to make today more important than it is. We both realized the truths in each other's stances and were able to work together on Sunday in order to make our house a better reflection of our family.

We threw away several contractor bags full of trash, donated one entire Pathfinder-full of stuff, and deemed a couple of items worthy of passing along to friends/family. It was an extremely rewarding weekend and I feel closer to Kevin for it ... even though it started with an argument.

The Anticipated Album

2009-01-27T14:40:00.003-06:00

I really heart 'Ruby' by Apples in Stereo. The song truly puts me in a good mood. No matter what, I always sing at the top of my lungs and have an extra skip in my step when I listen to that song.

Now, Lubbock, can enjoy their stuff, too ... Robert Schneider of Apples in Stereo is releasing a kid's album on February 17, 2009! I am so excited. I can't wait. It's called Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine. What a great title!

They've also got two tour dates listed, but it's no where near us ... so I'll just have to keep my eyes open. The count down begins!

I suppose I should add this ... the lyrics to 'Ruby' aren't exactly uplifting ... it's just the sound of the song and the 'ba ba ba' part in the middle that put me in such a good mood!

The Tagged Photo

2009-01-27T14:14:00.002-06:00

Jen had a photo tag and since I've run out of material to ramble about, here's mine. 4th photo in the 4th folder. Proof that I am in desperate need of a better camera ... mine takes too long to focus and so I either wind up with a photo of something one or two seconds after what I really wanted or a blurry photo. I've learned to embrace the blurry photo, however.

This photo is from about a month ago ... Lubbock eating yogurt with a spoon. Me being very brave since I really hate messes. Really hate messes.

We've not had yogurt again.

Not that this is really on topic (I do realize I wasn't really on an interesting topic anyway), but tomorrow is the five year anniversary of when Kevin proposed. It's really insane to think that five years ago, we lived in Oklahoma City and couldn't even imagine what a kid in our life would mean. Now, here we are. It's been a really great last five years.

The Almost One Week Break

2009-01-25T13:32:00.003-06:00

I'm sorry it has taken so long to get back here, but I've been crazy busy with all sorts of social activities and as Lubbock isn't napping as long as he used to, something had to give.

Right now, Kevin is getting his oil changed, Lubbock is taking a nap, my mom (who is in town for the weekend again) is taking a nap, and I just completed the tedious task of calculating how much we donated to Goodwill last year ... almost $3200. Wow! That's a lot of clutter. More on clutter clearing later.

Let's go back to the beginning of the week.

The Frozen Back Seat

We found out just before Christmas that Kat had a cracked tooth. They were unable to do anything at the time because she had just had all her shots, so they said to wait until January and bring her in then. Our choices were to do a root canal (I think they said $5000, but I could be wrong) or extract it (a mere $250). I believe you know what I did. Anyway, she was beyond upset at having to go into her cage and peed all over the place, but I didn't notice the smell until we were already on our way to the vet. When I noticed that pee had leaked out of the cage, I was happy (yes, happy) that the weather was so frigid that day. The pee had simply frozen into little pee balls and were sitting on the seat. I simply wiped them up with a Kleenex! I've never been so happy for cold weather.

We were supposed to go to a play group that morning, too, but Lubbock was being B-A-D and I did not have the energy to try to take him out in public.

The Extreme Close Up

We went to the Red Oak Nature Center again, but this time with Jen, Lori, Hailey, and Sergio. We let them go crazy for about two hours and they loved every minute of it. I can't tell you how much I enjoy going there.

I was taking pictures of the kiddos running around looking at snakes and walking sticks and everything else and was zooming in and out. I took a picture of Lubbock and I, forgetting I was zoomed in. I like the picture anyway.

The Angry Volcano

Then Thursday morning came and my once monthly Mom's Together meeting. We're supposed to be there at 9:15a so there is time to drop off kids at the Kid's Together program and be back for a little chatting and breakfast prior to the speaker. Lubbock (aka my little alarm clock) decided to sleep in this particular morning. So, at 8a, I threw him in his seat for his breakfast, hopped in the shower, got out, put him in the tub, put the egg casserole in the oven to heat up, got ready, pulled Lubbock out of the tub, got him ready, put on makeup, pulled casserole out of over, placed in car, started car to warm up, put Lubbock in car, saw that it was 9:04a, thought ... "I can't believe I'll make it."

Famous last words.

I forgot that I told Heather I'd bring her grapes for her. So, take Lubbock back out of car, run into house, rinse and pluck grapes into a Ziploc bag, all the time, fighting with Lubbock that he need not be between me and the sink, anger building in me like a volcano (it's exactly what I was thinking right at that moment). But, we got back in the car, made it to the meeting and I was very thankful that anything involving moms and kids will never start on time.

Our speaker this month was Julie Barnhill. She was talking about mothers and anger and about her book, She's Gonna Blow. I thought it was quite spectacular when she likened anger to volcanoes, giving examples of explosions and lava and words spewing out of a mothers mouth. I knew exactly what she meant. They then reminded us that in two weeks, they were starting a book study class on Julie's book. A six week course with free child care. So, I signed up. I need it. It doesn't hurt that they're providing child care, but that wasn't exactly the top reason.

The Gas Can in My House

I think I've mentioned this, but the vehicle I bought just before having Lubbock had been sitting around for a year or two prior. I drove it around for a while, never paying attention to the gas gauge (or how far I had been driving) as it was sitting above 3/4 of a tank. While driving around when I was 10 months pregnant, the car broke down. Fortunately, I was right in front of a mechanic. They looked the car over and after about 15 minutes, informed me I had run out of gas.

"But, I had 3/4 a tank ... how is that possible?"

They shrugged and told me where the nearest gas station was. They donated a gallon to the cause to get me there and refused payment, possibly thinking the longer they kept me on their property, the more likely the possibility of me having my baby right there!

A few weeks later, I was driving with Lubbock to show him off at my old office, when I ran out of gas again. I was tracking my miles, thinking that surely I could go 300 miles on a tank of gas (since that's what my last car got). Wrong. Again, fortunately, my good friend, Bill, was able to bring me a gallon of gas and we were on our way ... vowing that from then on, I would never go past 200 miles without filling up.

That was over a year and a half ago.

Thursday afternoon, I was running late for my doctor's appointment and thought, I'll fill up afterward. I made it to the appointment and as I was just thinking about filling up, I noticed that my needle was down at 1/4 of a tank. Is it possible that it fixed itself (something my mechanic told me was possible, but I had given up hope of)? I called Kevin and told him of the amazing event of the day. I then called my sister and started planning our afternoon together.

Sputter, sputter. Heart dropping.

I ran out of gas. I was able to pull off the busy road, but not able to make it to the gas station (about another 1/2 mile up the road). I had not worn my coat on this balmy 30 degree day and was wearing my cute loafers with no socks. I had also cleaned out my car, leaving my gas can at home. Could this have happened at a worse time?

I called Kevin and he informed me that he was too busy to help ... hmph. Called my sister, but she is extremely nervous about driving outside of her comfort zone and this was way outside. Heather couldn't help because she had Lubbock, so one more kid than car seat. Who else? All my friends with school aged children were likely picking them up or waiting for them to come home. I called Kevin again. He finally agreed that he could come get me, swearing that I could not have possible run out of gas if I only drove 240 miles. But, that's exactly what happened. I love my car, but not it's quirky habit of running out of gas.

The Scrapbooking Forest

Yesterday, I was determined to get my side of the playroom in order. I organized (and yes, purged) all my paper, envelopes, magazines, and stamps. I believe after going through all this, I am responsible for a small forest. I'll make up for it on Arbor Day.

I organized it in two separate file containers. I used ROY G. BIV! With additional folders for white, pink, brown, black, metallic, and patterned. I put paper in one and envelopes in another. Please ... all my local friends ... should you need white envelopes, take mine! I'm overloaded.

The good news is that the room is almost ready for the computer to go down there and I can walk into my area. I still need to pare down my magazines and pictures, but that's a project for another week. I'm proud of the progress I've made so far.

I hope to not have another one week break, but I've also got lots going on around here. I'm considering my Great Aunt Jan's advice to join Fly Lady. It looks like a great step-by-step plan to get control of your home life, but I've been making such great strides that I think I might wait until all the big projects are completed around here.

The City Folk

2009-01-19T12:57:00.002-06:00

Are you sick of me yet? I have a lot to catch up on ... so here we go ...

Nadine and Cormac visited us this weekend. It was really nice of them to drive out from the city since we're not very good at getting down there ourselves.

My sister graciously offered to babysit (or did I practically force her?). We went to our favorite restaurant, The Turf Room. I don't think they have a website, so the link is for a review that I absolutely agree with.

Kevin and I both ordered a glass of wine and while we were looking through the menu, we were brought a Chef's Tasting of chicken confit. I can't remember what sauce was served with it, but it was pretty yummy. (And impressive since I had never been served a Chef's Tasting before ... I felt very fancy!)

I ordered tortellini (chicken with spinach and cheese tortellini, pesto sauce, pine nuts, and goat cheese), Nadine ordered a coconut curry chicken pizza (it was the perfect amount of sweetness), Kevin ordered a New York strip steak served with a fried onion stack, and roasted fingerling potatoes (they tasted like at the last minute they were deep fried ... and you can't go wrong with that), and Cormac got the Turducken (I think mainly because he didn't know it really existed).

Everyone offered their dishes up for tasting and I tried it all except the Turducken. I'm just not that adventurous. He said it was good, though, and I'll take his word for it.

Then, for dessert (I've already had a creamy pasta dish ... what's a few more calories, right?) I shared a delicious bread pudding based on s'mores. It had a chocolate sauce and marshmallow on top. I'm regretting that I left some of it there because I would eat it right now.

Give me a moment.

Okay, I'm done. Oh, it really was heavenly.

So, if you're looking for a great place to go ... give it a try. My favorite part of the meal, of course, was the absolutely perfect company. I have so much fun when I'm with Nadine and Cormac. The conversation never dulled and I can't wait to hang out with them again. We'll have to get up our nerves for a trip downtown soon so we can check out their side of town.

The Incomplete Playroom

2009-01-19T12:46:00.002-06:00

I don't know when I'm ever going to get back to working on the basement mural, so I'm posting a picture of it as it stands ... incomplete.

Lubbock doesn't care, so I'm in no hurry. I think his favorite part of the playroom is the teepee. He, Eleanor and Joey love to all get in and close it up and giggle. I don't know what they're up to, but I'm fairly certain they're plotting something!

Heather was brave last week, too, and bundled up her munchkins to come over and spend some time in the playroom. I took advantage of this and started to go through the boxes of previously mentioned cards and letters. It was nice to have Heather there to have a sounding board.

"Oh, who was this guy? I remember ... He was really nice ... I should keep this card."

Heather gives a disapproving look.

"Yes, a card from a guy I didn't instantly remember is obviously worth keeping. You're right, Heather. Off it goes."

All in all, I only kept about 10 things. So, I'm really proud of myself. I think my next big 'emotional' clutter purge will be my boxes and boxes of pictures. I need to get them all scanned and loaded onto a disk, but that takes time ... lots of it, so it's probably a project I'll save for when the desktop gets moved downstairs.

Anyway, I know I've been promising pictures of the playroom and kept thinking I'd wait until it's done ... but, realistically, I have no clue when that's going to be, so there it is. It's missing anything that's dark purple and the bridge section in the middle. Once all the color is up, I'm debating tracing everything in black. I haven't decided yet, though.

The Coldest Day

2009-01-19T12:35:00.002-06:00

To all my friends in Texas who have been complaining lately about the cold weather ... Puuuleeez!

This first picture is the inside of our front door. Frost. Ice. I'm aware that's a pretty hefty gap below the front door. We used to have weather stripping there, but I would find Lubbock face to the ground eating it. I figured it was probably better to have a gap there than allow my son to ingest ... whatever weather stripping is made of.

The second picture is the inside of a window. Again. Frost. Ice. Dang it's cold. I believe on this specific day, it was -32 (with a -50 wind chill) in Aurora. That's a few miles away and usually the closest city on the weather report, so I go with it.

Where the heck is the global warming everyone keeps complaining about?

We were very brave, though, and got out a few times last week. We went to a story time at Barnes & Noble and had lunch that day with my friend Meredith and her two kiddos. And we went to Target one day. (Is any week really complete without a trip to Target?) I went grocery shopping and worried about my groceries freezing if I stopped anywhere on the way home!

I'm not sure how much snow we've had, but it's plenty. I'll have to measure it later on today, but I'm guessing we've got about a foot of snow at least. I'm tired of it already!

The Fun Mirrors

2009-01-19T11:25:00.005-06:00

Last week, Lubbock, my mom, and I went to Red Oak Nature Center. I absolutely recommend this to anyone around here looking for a free (yes, free) place to take your kids.

They have so much to do. There's a room with mirrors that make you look short (or fat) ... fun for kids, not so much for moms. There's a room with live bugs, snakes, and turtles. Puzzles, puppets, and more education opportunities than you can cover in one day. Lubbock's favorite was the bees-in-a-box. They're dead, but he liked carrying them around and handing them to people. One room is decorated to look like the inside of a leaf and the next room is the inside of a tree. We spent almost three hours there and he never got tired. He was so sad to leave, in fact.

Another nice thing about it (did I mention it's free) is that hardly anyone knows about this place! So, when our play group was there, we were the only people there and that's super nice because you don't feel like you have to keep your kids out of the other kid's way as much if they're 'stranger' kids.

I can't wait for the weather to get a bit nicer because they have trails and a picnic area, so we could probably spend an entire day there and not get bored. I hear that it does get a little busy on the weekends, though, because they offer opportunities for boy scouts to earn badges. So, I recommend the weekdays; although, I haven't been there on a weekend, so I can't say for sure they're busy.

We liked this place so much, we're going there again this week. Oh, and it's free!

The Plan for the Year 2009

2009-01-14T20:54:00.002-06:00

With my mom in town for the last few days, I've been able to get a ton of paperwork done. Mostly just having a moment to sit down, rework the last year's budget, and have a clear enough mind to think about what our family should accomplish this year.

I don't necessarily consider this planning to be resolution-ary in nature, but maybe it is. Is planning and resolving much different?

Kevin and I were able to sneak out for dinner tonight at Front Street Cantina in downtown Geneva. They just opened and as far as Mexican food goes around here ... it's aw-ight.

It was not a very romantic dinner since we decided to go ahead and have our planning meeting.

Mostly we talked about money. We ironed out our 2009 budget. Our expenses are pretty stable, but the discretionary categories we discussed at great length. Kevin is paid twice monthly, so we try to work on a 'per payday' system. Per payday, there will be $350 available for all things necessary for the house (food, toiletries, eating out, diapers, Lubbock's clothes, etc.). Per payday, Kevin will receive $200 for his gas, clothes, lunches out, and haircuts. I will receive $150 for gas, clothes, lunches out, day time activities, and haircuts.

Certain concessions were made. Namely, I agreed that since Kevin has fill his tank once a week, I agreed to allow for a trigger for a raise in allowance if gas prices hit more than $2.50/gallon. Hopefully, we won't have to get to that point.

We discussed larger financial decisions and made a prioritized list of what to do. This list includes (in order) paying off Kevin's car, saving for property taxes so these can be paid once the bill is received, beefing up the emergency savings account, paying off the laptop we bought last weekend (did I mention that?), and starting a travel fund.

Our 2009 goals are: (in no particular order)

1. Pay off 75% of debt relating to car and credit cards
2. Research the benefits of refinancing the house
3. Declutter house by 50%
4. Expand family
5. Take two trips downtown with Lubbock
6. Take a vacation just Kevin, Lubbock, and I (not to visit family)
7. Clean up front yard (trims trees, plant grass, move bushes)
8. For Kevin to be 'overweight' (instead of obese ... see the BMI charts) and for me to be 'normal' (instead of overweight) ... assuming I'm not pregnant
9. Have a party for our friends
10. Have a date night once a month

The family mission statement is still a work in progress, but the draft is this ...

AS A FAMILY:
We love each other.
We practice patience.

AS SPOUSES:
We encourage daily.
We appreciate each other.

AS PARENTS:
We provide learning opportunities.
We set clear boundaries.

AS A CHILD:
I excel in using my imagination.

I dunno, maybe it's a bit wordy. It's not visually balanced which totally messes with my OCD side.

I have a ton to write about pertaining to our social life this last week, a trip to the nature center, a playgroup, story time tomorrow, lunch with friends from the city this Saturday ... I'll find time to write soon, but for now ... I'm going to spend a little time with my mom.

The Declutter Anxiety

2009-01-12T21:13:00.003-06:00

I don't really have much to say ... just busy decluttering the house. It will never end. I think I have a hard time with some categories of clutter because I was raised to be very emotionally attached to things. Not that the actual memory doesn't matter, but that you need the thing to remind you of the memory. I'm not sure that makes sense.

Anyway, I've kept EVERY card and letter I've ever received. I even have love letters from my first boyfriend, Travis. I asked Kevin once if that bothered him and he said it didn't. I haven't read 99% of what I've kept, but I have about 5 large shoe boxes full of stuff like this. It takes up a ton of space.

I'm considering getting rid of ALL of it. I think I might even do it without looking through the boxes. I can't decide, though. If I start going through it piece by piece, I feel like it will be some huge emotional roller coaster ... all sorts of memories.

I have gotten over most of the fears I've had about decluttering ... the 'what if I need it later' kinds of feelings, for example. This one was easy. If I could look it up online, replace it fairly easily, or if it was cheap to begin with ... out it went. But, it's the emotional attachment to things I'm having a hard time with.

So, letters ... pictures ... trinkets ... very hard time. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it?

Another thing I'm working on is family goals. I told Kevin to think of six things he wanted to do in 2009 and I'd think of six things. Then, we'd try to accomplish them this year. I have five on my list so far. We're gearing up for our financial meeting soon and this is something we'll discuss then. I'm also drafting a Family Mission Statement. Basically, I'm attempting to run the house more like a business with schedules and goals instead of just floating through the day with no direction. So, I'll write more about this after our meeting takes place.

All in all, I'm pretty excited about this year. I just feel like I have to get the house in order physically so that I can get a better mental grasp on what's going on. It also just feels like a never ending project. I really need to practice positive thinking more ... think happy thoughts, Nata-Leigh!

The Great Team

2009-01-10T15:44:00.004-06:00

Last night was Kevin's office party. I don't know if they consider it to be the 'holiday' party or not, but I like that it's after all the craziness of the holidays has settled and you can relax and have a good time.

To get in the mood, I got a snazzy haircut. Paul, my friendly hair guy, flat ironed my hair. I got lots of complements. It did look awesome last night, but since I am completely incompetent when it comes to using hair tools, it will never look quite that spectacular again. I washed and styled on my own today and it still looks pretty good, though.

So, Gretchen picked me up so I didn't have to drive home alone and as soon as we got on the highway, it started sleeting. Luckily, Gretchen's new-Christmas-present-car-with-a-big-red-bow has four-wheel drive, so we were fine. And Gretchen, you're a fine driver!

We arrived at Maggiano's just as they were having everyone sit down for dinner. They had delicious gnocchi with a tomato vodka sauce and wonderful tiramisu (although I took a picture of the cheesecake). We sat with Jim & Gretchen, Kevin (O.) & Maureen, and a few other peeps.

Prior to dessert, they presented awards and Kevin's team won best team for the year. He was so proud. And I'm proud for him. I know he works hard to do a good job and to be recognized in such a big way had to have been a great thing for him ... and his guys and gals.

We made it home by 11p, so it wasn't that late of a night. And I'm glad. Lubbock woke up a few times last night screaming. I think he's having growing pains. So, I gave him some ibuprofen and put him in bed with us while he calmed down. I was rubbing his legs (I remember that when I had growing pains, it was always my legs that hurt the worst) and hummed for him. Unfortunately for me, the only song I could think of last night was Silent Night. Why when you're tired, can you brain not even function well enough to think of one other song?

The Letter J

2009-01-10T15:43:00.001-06:00

Posted.

The Scarf Monster

2009-01-09T10:02:00.003-06:00

As I continue my decluttering conquest of the whole house, I have tried to have fun with the process.

Yesterday, I had pulled all my scarves out to determine which 3 were staying and which 15 were going. Lubbock had an instant attraction to the ones that were going. He dragged them around, wrapped them around himself and rolled around on them.

Being the silly mom that I can be, I decided to tie them around him ... all of them. We had so much fun. He spent about 30 minutes getting them all off and then brought them back to me to put them back on him. Oh, it was so much fun. I love those snowy day activities that come about from boredom. And no toys required.

An update on my party outfit ... I called Gretchen and asked what she was wearing. She said that she was wearing jeans. Really! I was so excited. I love my dressy/sexy jeans. So, I went to Kohls (since by this time I didn't have the energy to dig through racks of thrift store clothing with Lubbock) and found a cute one in the clearance rack. I'm pretty excited and hope that with my new haircut I'm getting this afternoon, I won't feel so drab. I'll have pictures later.

The Tin Man

2009-01-07T13:26:00.003-06:00

Dear Friends ... I may have unknowingly exposed myself to a deadly situation. Perhaps, a little dramatic, but hear me out. Didn't the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz die from being painted silver?

I chose silver envelopes for my New Years cards and upon pressing them closed, the silver rubbed off on my finger. *Gasp* I immediately felt the familiar sound of angels calling me toward them, but warded off their efforts by using soap and cold water (our water heater is killing me, too, and Kevin doesn't want to look at it until this weekend ... I might try to fix it myself since our dear friend, RJ, showed me how).

Other things that are killing me include my inability to consume enough liquid (as shown by the deep crevices in the finger above). Since my week long bought with all things icky (I'll spare you), I have been super thirsty. The good side effect is the jump start to a more healthy year. I'm drinking tons of water and am less hungry.

And the thought that Friday is Kevin's office party. I can't help fight off the feeling that I'm frumpy when I go to one of these. I've always felt like that ... even back in the day. I think I have a hard time being social when there's more people in an area. I am better in small groups. I've always told Kevin that I consider myself more of an acquired taste (like beer). At first, people don't know quite what to make of me ... I'm an over-sharer, am really lame most of the time, have a third grader's sense of humor, and on occasion, I talk with my mouth full. I think most people like me once they give me a chance, but I also think most people don't stick around long enough to see past my quirks. Anyway, I'm choosing instead to dwell on what to wear to not feel frumpy. I do not own anything in my current size fancy enough to attend a steakhouse dinner party and am not wanting to invest an a nice outfit for the event either.

Brandy and I went to Target this morning and I tried this dress on. It was okay, but since I'm so short, I felt like it was a few inches too long on me. So, instead of spending the money on a dress that is just okay, I think I may try my luck at a thrift store this afternoon. I haven't gone to one of these for myself in ages. I'll keep you updated on my shopping safari.

I haven't blogged (I mean a proper blog) in so long, I seem a little out of practice with thoughts even more scattered around than usual, so I appreciate you reading through this entire entry (if you haven't given up on me yet). I promise to get back in proper blogging form soon.

I've missed you.

The Shortest Posting

2009-01-05T07:22:00.002-06:00

12/31 ... got sick (again, and again, and again) ... canceled New Year's Eve plans with Brandy. Felt even worse because everyone else has canceled, too. (Felt even worser because I forgot her birthday.)

1/1 ... still sick with back aches, headache, and stomach ache. Go the ER. Have viral infection.

1/2 ... still feeling dizzy.

1/3 ... take a pregnancy test (just in case) and it's negative.

1/4 ... take it easy ... still having dizzy spells ... still can't eat much without getting queasy.

1/5 ... first have to finish New Years cards to send out and then will get back to the blog-o-sphere.

The Letter E

2008-12-28T21:34:00.003-06:00

I did find the letter E on my vacation ... it's posted. I should really get the other letters up that I have found, but haven't photographed.

(If you don't know what I'm talking about ... see this and this.)

The Next Life

2008-12-28T20:43:00.002-06:00

What do you want to be next time around?

I don't care if you believe in re-incarnation or not ... I'm sure you've thought about it. And no sappy answers like, 'I would be me again.'

Me? I want to be a storm chaser. I secretly love hearing that the conditions are right for tornadoes. I've always wanted to see one, but ... surprisingly ... I never have. All those years in Oklahoma and Texas and not a single tornado sighting. Having worked in grocery stores for a huge chunk of my working days, I was always ushering customers into the dairy coolers or freezers whenever the tornadoes were close. Yes, that's where you go. I've done it three times. I've always been in the general area, but at work ... therefore, unable to "enjoy" a tornado.

Please, spare me the stories of your grandmother losing her house ... you've got to admit ... a tornado is a pretty awesome power ... to be completely amazed by ... not to be taken lightly.

I know, I know ... where's the Christmas summary ... I'm getting there.

So, we stayed in Oklahoma with some friends, had breakfast with Gigi and Aunt Pam, drove to Texas, finished Christmas shopping, spent the morning with my brothers, Steven and Erik, Lex, and my mom, enjoyed all of Kevin's relatives at the annual Christmas Eve party, wore matching pajamas, opened presents with his parents, ate prime rib, packed up the car, and drove back home.

It was all pretty Christmasy.

To tell the truth, I can't wait to be here next year. Not that I don't miss being back in Texas with all of our family, but it just doesn't seem like Christmas unless you're home. And, as much as I hate to say it sometimes, Illinois is home. I can't wait to see Lubbock's face when he runs out of his room to see what Santa brought him. I can't wait to start our own traditions, too.

Back to this year ... On the drive home, we thought we might be able to drive it all in one shot, but Lubbock had other plans. He slept most of the afternoon leg (since we left after lunch) and woke up around 9p in a bad mood. We decided to stop in Springfield, Missouri, since we kept hearing radio reports of severe weather past St. Louis. Our thought was, if we're going to deal with bad weather, we should do it during the day. It was another 3 hours until St. Louis, but it would be midnight, we'd be exhausted and have less of an opportunity to sleep than if we stopped then. Or so we thought. We failed to take into consideration the fact that Lubbock had slept all day. He was ready to party by the time we got settled in. He was up until midnight anyway! Then he woke up around 5a. We didn't get much sleep, but some was better than none.

We packed up the car and got on the road. It was very windy and this was the only part of the trip that Kevin had me drive since I just followed all signs to St. Louis. I was only too happy to let Kevin take over driving just before St. Louis ... but just after a diaper change.

Lubbock was cranky and I thought ... we haven't changed his diaper in about three hours, so we should stop. I got his diaper off and almost immediately, he opened the floodgates. There was a lady that was in there and she opened the stall door, having a direct visual of what my son was doing. Fortunately for her, she was on the safe side of all this. Unfortunately, she had to walk through the puddle to get out. I tried to clean it up with paper towels, but they were such crappy quality, I was just making things worse. So, I cleaned Lubbock up as well as I could and told the lady at the register what happened. I offered to clean it up if she would tell me where the mop was, but she said they'd get it. (I always offer to clean things up, but have only been taken up on it once ... I feel better offering, though.)

We thought we'd keep going and stop in Springfield, Illinois, for lunch. We were listening to sports talk on the radio when some weather information started coming in. Talks of tornadoes being spotted and severe thunderstorms. We are complete idiots when it comes to Illinois geography, county names, and anything else like that, but I do carry a map with me. So, I found where we were and found where the tornado was spotted.

"Uh, Kevin. I think we should go ahead and stop here. The tornado is about two miles north of us. Right in our path." So, we stopped at Dairy Queen. We let Lubbock play in the indoor playground ... all the while, I'm looking out the window at the clouds roll by, not looking at all like tornado-producing skies. The watch (or warning ... I can never remember which is which) expired at 12:15p, but we waited until 12:30p just to be safe. We got back on the road, but as soon as we did, the weather started getting miserable. Heavy rain that you couldn't see through and high winds. Again, more warnings ... this time for the mile markers we were driving in, but they weren't for tornadoes this time. It was only a four mile area of bad storms, so Kevin kept driving and we made it through. Safe, but still never having witnessed a tornado.

I've looked at tornado chasing tours, but they're like $5000 for a couple for a week and (of course) there's no guarantee you'll actually see one. I think I'll just see what happens in my next 18 years of life and if I haven't seen one, I'll request that for my 50th birthday. Really? I've already got my present for my 50th birthday picked out? Sigh!

So, Christmas was Christmas. Lubbock got a ton of cute clothes, some Christmas books, a magnetic toy for his surf board in his room, a musical instrument set, a stick horse, a stuffed monkey, a backpack, a basketball hoop, and a motorized 4x4. I think next year, we're setting better limits. I recognize a grandparents' need to spoil their grandchildren ... but ... we live in a 1000 square foot house. Where do they think all this stuff fits? (Love you guys!)

And ... Lubbock's favorite thing from all of this was the old keyboard Kevin's dad gave him. So, when Lubbock goes to type on it, I always tell him that he's blogging. I'm trying to break him in early!

The Vacation in Pictures

2008-12-28T10:46:00.005-06:00

The Unimpressive Santa Picture

2008-12-23T20:31:00.003-06:00

Last year, Lubbock was about seven months old when we visited Santa. I was very worried about what his reaction would be. He spent a while looking at Santa and it was very hard to get him to look at the camera. The photo we wound up with looked much like a mug shot ... for both of them. I don't think Santa was ready and Lubbock was just confused about the whole situation.

This year, I thought we may have a meltdown. We arrived at the mall with the plan that he had just had his nap, we'd have lunch, then get in line while he played for a while. Hoping he'd have the perfect balance of food and energy-excertion. Well, this is what we got this year. Much the same. Santa looks more like he was expecting the picture, though.

I'm sorry if you're expecting more of a post, but we've been super busy here. The drive was exhausting ... we left home at 7:30p-ish and arrived in Oklahoma City at 9a on Saturday. We hung out with Kara & Bryan and their three kids on Saturday, woke up Sunday morning, had breakfast with Gigi (my grandmother, Lubbock's great-grandmother ... g g ... Gigi ... her real name is Joyce) and my Aunt Pam ... drove to Texas. Lubbock still wasn't feeling well. His ears were obviously still bothering him since he has been rubbing them even more. Sunday night we put Lubbock to bed thinking we'd get a nice night's sleep. Lubbock woke up "losing his lunch" ... so to speak. So, we were up the rest of the night. Sigh! He's feeling better now. We've finally started our Christmas shopping ... still not done. But, tomorrow being Christmas Eve, I think tomorrow will be an even more crazy day.

I promise a really long, picture-full blog when we arrive back in cold, cold, cold, cold, cold Batavia.

The 2009 Budget

2008-12-19T09:32:00.002-06:00

Anyone that I talk money to (which I realize is a dangerous subject) knows that I drank from the Dave Ramsey punch and am loving it. Our goal is to be out of debt (except the house) in the next two years. No car payment, no credit cards, no student loan ... just a mortgage.

I'm not brave enough to lay out our entire financial system ... unlike this sweet girl I found, but I will give you the general idea of what we do.

We developed a spreadsheet and entered all our monthly 'fixed' expenses ...

mortgage
property taxes
home insurance
auto insurance
life insurance
phone
cable
gas
electric
sewage
trash
cell phone
bottled water (I consider this essential since we're on well water ... yuck!)

Then I list our debts ...

Kevin's car (we bought mine with cash)
my student loans
credit cards

Now comes the part I'd like to discuss with all my friends out there ... the discretionary spending. Three categories:

food (which includes food, toiletries, diapers, wipes, household items, and eating out)
Kevin's allowance (which he uses for eating out at lunch time, haircuts, and gas to get to and from work, and clothes)
my allowance (which I use for eating out at lunch time, haircuts for Lubbock and I, gas, toys, clothes for me)

Any amount of money left over at the end of the month goes toward our debt. This means, no extra money each month ... Dave calls this a zero-balance budget.

We've tried so many different amounts in the discretionary areas and really haven't come up with a good number. I tried making more categories ... separating out the food from toiletries from diapers & wipes, from household items ... you get the idea ... but it just got too confusing and I spent more time shifting money from category to category because sometimes we didn't need toiletries and sometimes we did. I digress ...

The question I pose to you, my dear readers, is ... do you budget? How much do you allocate to the discretionary areas? What do you find most difficult to budget? What tricks have you learned along the way?

The Calendar and Cookie Swap Documentation

2008-12-18T16:05:00.004-06:00

Just photos today ... Lubbock's got a cold and a slight ear infection ... and I've got to get packed for our drive south (again, am I crazy to drive cross country with a 19 month old?) ...

The calendar is awesome (I love the Museum of Modern Art's web based gift shop) ... each day you get to punch out the number and reveal a bold circle of color. And, as I told my calendar swapmate ... who doesn't what to punch something out once a day!?!

The plate is Santa's cookie plate. Of course, it's Fiesta ... I can't live without it in my life. Almost all my Fiesta pieces are purchases made at the Dish Barn in Canton, Texas. Great prices on slightly imperfect dishes. It's a gold mine if you don't mind digging!

I "need" the recipe for this one ... it's got a secret inside ... yummy!

The Trash Can Breakfast

2008-12-17T08:48:00.003-06:00

I did mention that Kevin took Lubbock out without socks, right? Well, I'm not blaming him ... but, Lubbock seems to have come down with a horrible cough, crackly breathing, snot rockets upon sneezing, and he's a little warm. Poor little guy.

I refuse to take him to the playgroup this week since I don't believe in sharing misery (unless it's chicken pox ... which I am desperate to expose him to ... anyone? Anyone?). I thought this meant that I'd be stuck with all 120 oatmeal raisin cookies, but Brandy offered (or at least said 'yes' when I asked her) to come get my cookies and bring the others back to my side of town. What a sweetheart!

Back to this morning ... I've run out of fresh fruit and waffles and haven't made it to the grocery store in a few days, so for breakfast I had to be a little creative. Cheerios and raisins is what I offered. Not accepted. I let him down while I searched for something else he might enjoy. As I turn around, I see my son digging in the trashcan and eating freeze dried bananas (something I gave him at dinner and he threw on the floor). At first, I was thinking, no wonder he's ill ... eating food out of the trashcan. But then I thought ... he's already sick and the vitamins in the bananas may do him some good.

Am I crazy? Does anyone else let their kid eat breakfast out of the trashcan?

The Christmas Decision

2008-12-16T09:31:00.002-06:00

There has been a ton of talk this year about not letting Christmas manage you. Or maybe I'm just actually paying attention to it this year. I acknowledge that I do allow the true meaning of Christmas to be over-shadowed by my need to be the perfect gift-giver and treat-maker.

So, as I sat with Kevin last night eating my birthday dinner (portobello ravioli from California Pizza Kitchen), I really started thinking about how I used to not be so stressed out during this time of year. I thought back to how I'd go Christmas shopping with the masses on Black Friday and really didn't worry about much of anything.

How was that?

I was a full time college student, working full time, participating in every activity known to man, living on next to nothing ... and I wasn't stressed out?

Then it came to me ... I took care of my own needs during that time of year. If it was a pretty necklace that I just 'needed' or locking myself in my room for an evening of nothingness ... I did it.

Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that this year, I would give myself a present, too.

Drum roll, please.

I am not making 5 chocolate covered pretzels for 75 of Kevin's coworkers (meaning 375 total pretzels).

Instead, I will spend more time with Lubbock and Kevin.

Merry Christmas to me.

(And don't worry, Jen. I'm still making cookies for the cookie exchange ... I haven't gone off the deep end that badly!)

The Silly Monkey Birthday

2008-12-15T13:22:00.005-06:00

I knew Kevin and Lubbock were up to something yesterday. They got dressed in some very warm clothing (except Kevin wore flip flops and he didn't put socks on Lubbock ... just shoes) and left to "run errands." I just sighed and possibly even rolled my eyes.

Having complete control of the household, I knew there were very few errands that Kevin could know about and even fewer that he would offer to run! But I also knew that for the next few hours, there would be random women entering our house, dropping off their donations ... I can see how he'd rather leave then listen to the endless chatter of wives nearing Christmas.

They came home just in time to send off the stragglers and he said he couldn't find what he knows I want. How is it that he can know what I want, but I don't? He's so wise.

He made hamburgers for us (mine was blue cheese and grilled onions ... yum) and we settled in to watch the Dallas Cowboys game. He and Lubbock disappeared again toward the back of the house. "What are you two up to?" "None of your business."

So, I decided to see if I couldn't get an early night's sleep and snuggled into the couch at about 8p! I think I was asleep around 8:01p. I heard some clanking dishes occasionally and then my husband re-appeared with Lubbock. He put Lubbock to bed and sat down in his chair. No mention of the time spent on the other side of the house. Hmmm. Suspicious. I decided not to concern myself with it too much and went back to sleep.

A little later, Kevin woke me up and asked if I wanted to go to bed. As I walked by the kitchen, I saw all the dishes were done and the counter tops wiped down ... I thought to myself that that alone was a great birthday present.

He said "I'm not leaving you with the button hook tomorrow." I don't know where we got that term from ... button hook. But, it's basically when someone does something that makes your life harder. For instance, Kevin gives me the button hook when uses all the hot water and doesn't tell me. So, a morning without dishes ... the opposite of the button hook. Anyway ...

I woke up in the morning and as I approached the coffee pot (usually my first stop of the morning), I saw a card. It's from Kevin. A very wordy, appropriate card for the two of us. I love him.

I turned around and poking out of Lubbock's drawer was another card. "Monkeys are silly." That put such a smile on my face. I imagine that it's exactly what Lubbock would say when he learns about how silly monkeys are.

So, that was my birthday morning. What a great way to start it. What a great present.

Brandy sent me a text yesterday inviting Lubbock and I to a birthday lunch. So, we accepted. We hung out at Target and then parted ways so that the boys could take their naps. They're too cute together. If the carts got too far away, they immediately let us know this so we could correct the problem. Those monkeys are silly.

Now, here I am ... writing my blog. I've had 15 people say Happy Birthday via Facebook (and one attempted sent card ... it just won't pull up). I've received a birthday card from our financial advisor, my husband, and Lubbock. One email. And four phone calls. Not bad. I love this one day of the holiday season where I can selfishly do what I want to do ... and calories don't count.

The Best Christmas Ever

2008-12-15T08:12:00.007-06:00

Yesterday, I hosted the Open House Drop Off for everyone who participated with me in sponsoring a family through TriCity Family Services. What a complete success!

I really appreciate all my friends who bought gifts for this local family. It warms my heart to know that as I sit around the tree with my family on Christmas morning, opening presents, that there will be another family able to do the same thing.

At the open house, I supplied everything you would need to wrap the presents ... wrapping paper, scissors, tape, bows, ribbon, cheese, crackers, and wine. I bought the cinnamon almonds from Trader Joe's and they were yummy. High on my holiday list. And if you haven't tried the cracked pepper and olive oil Triscuits yet ... you don't know what you're missing. Enough about food!

Let's talk about the wine. I've found my new favorite ... Well Read. It's an organic red wine that's made without sulfates. If drinking wine gives you a headache, it could be that you're allergic to sulfates. This is the only brand I've found so far made without sulfates, and I found that I have less sinus pressure with this wine. And it's a bonus that it's organic. For all my non-drinking friends out there ... you should try 7-up's new pomegranate flavor ... it is really refreshing. And I think it would be good mixed with orange juice.

One more product ... the heavenly soy candles I bought from The Blackberry Briar were burning and everyone that walked in said they could smell them from outside. They loved them. So, I know you won't be disappointed in them either.

Back to the open house ... Heather was the only guest for a while, so I sent her back home to get her own families presents that she hadn't yet wrapped! I haven't wrapped any of the presents I have yet, either. Not that this is a big deal since I think I've only purchased three gifts so far this year. I've been so lazy this year. In fact, I have a wedding gift that I purchased over the summer and haven't wrapped and haven't given yet. The wedding was in Texas, so we weren't able to go, but I just haven't gotten around to giving the gift yet. What are the time constraints on wedding gift giving?

Not to keep harping on things I haven't done ... but, I haven't started on the pretzels yet. I did, however, do a test batch to see if my peanut butter chocolate ones were going to work ... I think they are going to work. They'll be a little tedious, but ... isn't that what Christmas is all about?

No?

Well, let's face it ... there's only 10 days left. But, around here ... this is the one day of the season that I decide not to focus on Christmas. Instead, I focus on me. It's my birthday! Yah! It's been great so far. I'll do a separate posting later to tell you all about my day!

The Summary of the Cookie Exchange

2008-12-12T09:27:00.004-06:00

First, let me say that I feel an extraordinary amount of pressure to post only great pictures from now on. That said, these aren't great ... but you can't always control the lighting in every situation! Moving on ...

Lubbock and I attended our first cookie exchange. We brought my favorite ... oatmeal raisin (and since I didn't have enough raisins, I used cranberries as well ... mmm).

Linda, of Tri City Tots, hosted the cookie exchange. She had the house set up perfectly. The cookies were laid on her kitchen island. She had hot cocoa with spoons dipped in chocolate for stirring! (I'm stealing this idea one day.)

She had a craft project set up in the dining room for the older kids. They made miniature gingerbread houses (graham cracker houses if you want to be technical). This kept some of the children busy for well over an hour!

She already had the milk cartons taped down, the pieces of graham cracker cut to size, and all the candies laid out for decorating, including coconut flakes for snow! Another idea I'll steal at some point.

The little kids played upstairs for a while, but once Lubbock discovered there were older kids, he wanted to be where they were. I really don't think he considers himself a baby anymore. He'll stand by the older kids as they talk to each other and say 'ya' and if they laugh, he laughs. He cracks me up sometimes. Linda has a small ball pit that Lubbock played in for a majority of the time. He would hand me a ball and I threw it back in from the other side of the pit. He thought this was hilarious. At least someone thinks I have a good sense of humor.

As for the cookies, we got a great variety. Lots of sugar cookies, a few green corn flake wreaths, some yummy peanut butter kisses, some chocolate and peanut butter bars (those were my favorite), and on and on. There were 14 people in attendance, so it made for a nice mixture of cookies. We came with 2 dozen of one kind and left with a mixture of 2 dozen. It's a nice amount to tide me over for the next cookie exchange. The big one!

Our playgroup is doing a 10 dozen one so that we won't have to bake so many different ones for the holiday parties. Just a lot of one kind. I'll take our spoils down to Texas to share.

I do need to get crackin' on the gifts for Kevin's office, though. I set such a high standard the first year I did anything. I was pregnant, so I had all the time in the world and made an assorted box for all 50 people in the office. It wound up being about 2 dozen per person. The next year, I had some help, but there were about 60 people. I still did boxes, but took a slightly easier approach. I did mostly cookies, but also did dipped pretzels and a small bag of Chex Mix to fill most of the space. Each person got about 12 cookies last year. Kevin said most people liked the pretzels best of all, though. (This slightly bothered me since that was the least difficult thing in the whole box. Oh, well!)

It's saving me from putting forth too much effort this year. They now have over 70 people. I'm just going to make pretzels for them, I think. I'm trying to decide what kinds, though. I'm thinking ... regular chocolate dipped, peppermint white chocolate dipped, nuts and dark chocolate dipped, and I don't know if it will work, but a peanut butter chocolate dipped one. I'll probably work on these this weekend, so I'll take pictures and let you know how they turn out.

The First Cookie Exchange

2008-12-10T13:17:00.004-06:00

When I was in college, for the last two years, I lived with my friend, Kara. Her mom makes the best oatmeal raisin cookies. The secret is the spice cake mix! (But you didn't hear that from me.) I've made several variations of this recipe. Last year, I used Craisins, dark chocolate, and walnuts. This year I used one cup raisins and one cup cranberries! No chocolate or nuts in this batch.

I have two cookie exchanges this year. We only need two dozen for the one today, but I need 10 dozen for the one next week ... not to mention I still need to come up with a finalized plan for the gifts for Kevin's office (I think chocolate dipped pretzels since they're quick and easy).

Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Preheat oven to 350

1 package spice cake mix
2 c. rolled oats
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. milk
2 c. raisins
1 c. nuts
1/4 c. dark brown sugar

Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet (I use parchment paper, though). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet about 1 minute, then remove to a rack to finish cooling. They will seem uncooked at first, but once they cool ... they're fine. And delicious!

The New Years Card

2008-12-09T20:28:00.004-06:00

Have I mentioned that I'm not doing Christmas cards this year? Ya, how unlike me ... but, I am sending out New Years cards. I just couldn't get my act together in time to devote enough time to the Christmas card thing. I didn't get the photo shoot set up for family photos and didn't get around to even getting a good photo of Lubbock until Saturday.

I'm not using these photos, but thought they were great in all their own ways. The first one because it cracks me up that he still comes at me when I'm taking his picture. You can see the beginnings of dimples and I love the way his eyes turn up when he smiles.

This one is great because it's just the typical Lubbock look. He's oh, so serious. Most of the time.

And I really like this one because of the lighting and his little red nose and cheeks. I really am lucky, aren't I?

The Tree Is Up

2008-12-09T14:50:00.004-06:00

Aunt Lo came by and placed ornaments on the tree as I tied elastic ribbon to each ball. They are non-breakable, but I did not want to use metal hooks, so I opted for the extremely tedious task of affixing the ribbon to each. Knowing how OCD I am, Lauren agreed to help with the condition I didn't critique her work. Not only did I not say anything, I didn't move anything! (Big step, I know!) Mostly, by the time it was all said and done, I was too tired ... but ... she did a great job, too!

We've gone with a deep red, brown, bronze, and gold theme. I found some fabric that I will have made into a tree skirt and stockings. I just need to find some brown faux fur for the top!

I plan on using the leftover fabric to make some small bird ornaments. I think that if I spray it with fabric stiffener ... I should be able to make it work ... but basically it will look like this. (It's the 7th picture down.) But the fabric will look help bring the colors on the tree and the orange in the living room together. Orange is a Christmas color, right? Well, in my house it is.

Other decorations around the house include: an undecorated wreath on the front door, a small pre-lit tree in the master bedroom, and a metal Santa statue in the living room. It's too dark and gloomy outside for me to get great pictures of anything, so those will have to wait for another day.

Speaking of gloomy ... It appears that I have been selected for jury duty in January. I got the letter today. I don't think they'll choose me since I have so much experience as an injury adjuster ... that pretty much precludes you because they assume you start off agreeing with the prosecutor. Whatever ... It's $10/day! Even less than working the polls!

And speaking of polls ... with the Governor's charges today, there is talk of a special election in relation to filling Obama's seat. I may be able to work another 15 hour day for $145! Woo hoo! The economy's lookin' better and better!

And speaking of ... well, there's not a great transition for this one ... my big time sorority White Elephant party was canceled for tonight. It's getting icy out there and they don't want to drive on it. I can't blame them, but ... man, I cleaned the house for nothing! Okay, I never got around to mopping the floors ... but, maybe I'll do that when Lubbock goes to bed since Kevin will be at a work thingy. The one nice thing about work thingys is that I get to eat at Taco Bell. Mmmm.

The Bottle Cap Business

2008-12-08T18:59:00.006-06:00

Gretchen was kind enough to host a Holiday Market for all of her entrepreneurial friends to show off their goods this afternoon.

The youngest of the business-minded gals included her daughter, Meredith, and Meredith's friend, Mollie. They are super crafty ... they make fleece pillows, decorated purses and bags, picture frames and fashion necklaces out of bottle caps! The back of the bottle cap has a magnet affixed to it and you can interchange the bottle caps to match whatever your mood is for that day. What a clever idea ... and cute, too!

I bought a few because the designs matched my kitchen and I can use the bottle caps as magnets. Who couldn't use more kitchen magnets?

If you're looking to purchase these little pieces of handmade perfection ... visit It's a Girl Thing in downtown Geneva. If I had a girl, I'm sure it would be a place we would spend many an afternoon.

I thought the picture with the tree in the middle was quite representative of the two of them. They were moving around so much all afternoon that I couldn't get a picture of them standing still. They're such smart business women already. If they didn't have a specific product, they had an order sheet for special requests ... promising to get back to them as soon as possible. And of course, the best business decision was the offer to hold Lubbock while I looked at all the goodies. Such a promising future, those two!

There was a Stampin' Up rep and Tastefully Simple rep, too. They had beautiful and delicious holiday ideas. At this point, however, Lubbock was infinitely more interested in trying to destroy said displays than allowing me to look at them for any amount of time.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Michelle of The Blackberry Briar. She makes hand poured soy candles (and is a doll maker and artist as well). Even before speaking to her, I was a fan of soy candles for several reasons. They don't produce a sooty smoke and they burn more slowly than your traditional candle will. So, I couldn't resist buying a small candle for the bathroom (in the Apple Tango scent) and a large candle (Bittersweet Berry) for the living room ... I can't wait to burn these. Instead, right now, I'm sitting here just smelling it. And smelling it. And smelling it. The berry candle just smells of winter warm pie (it's a good thing, I promise!).

So, after all that excitement ... Lubbock and I went home to work on putting our tree together with the help of Aunt Lo. I still think the tree is crooked and is lacking a little something on the top, so I'm not fully prepared to post pictures (lest you think there's something in my house that's less than perfect). Such high standards.

The Well Traveled Frosting

2008-12-08T10:43:00.002-06:00

I've grounded myself from the computer until the house is ready for the holidays, but I couldn't resist ...

I'm cleaning out my food pantry looking for things to donate and checking expiration dates. I found lots of expired things, but a can of frosting that expired in 2003 took the cake (get it!?!).

It got me thinking about how well-traveled this can of frosting is. First, it was manufactured in Minneapolis, made its way to a grocery store in Oklahoma City (or Ardmore or Duncan ... depending on where I lived when I bought it). Lived with me for a while in Oklahoma, moved with us to Texas, moved with us to Illinois where it lived in a rental for six months and now is in our present home.

I should really clean out the pantry more often.

The 100th Post

2008-12-05T10:04:00.002-06:00

100 things to do in your lifetime ...

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland ... been to Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea ... watched one on a lake
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (well, walked one when I was in elementary school ... I'm counting it)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (I think I have anyway)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (learned sign language when I was young ... forgotten it by now)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (when I was a little kid ... sigh)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business ... I want to start a party planning business ... one day
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy ... wow! I can't believe I did do this.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (I was going to quit the day they fired me)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

The Winter Blues

2008-12-05T09:00:00.002-06:00

Sigh. I finished entering the month's activities into my planner (why I don't enter things as they pop up, I'll never know). We have several overlapping events, but nothing major. Basically, Lubbock can't be in the house on Tuesday because I'm hosting the December sorority alumni event and Kevin has a business dinner that night, so he can't be here to take Lubbock out ... but, no big deal ... I am so happy I have friends who will let Lubbock hang out with them (even if it's until ... I don't even know how late!). I realized last night that I am way behind on everything. I haven't done anything to the tree that Kevin set up and put lights on. I haven't gone through the box of Christmas gifts I've purchased throughout the year to make the final list of gifts I still have to purchase. I haven't made a menu for the sorority event or the open house next weekend. This time of year always frustrates me. But, I'm probably being too hard on myself. What have I done?

Hmmm ... What have I done?

Over the last few months, I've written 99 posts on a blog that has hundreds of readers ... and by hundreds ... I mean a few. (I heart my readers.) So, to honor the upcoming 100th post ... I'm stealing a list from Melisa's blog. I'm guessing it's meant to be the ultimate 'bucket list' of things to do in a life time ... stay tuned ...

The First Sled Ride and an Already Failed Tradition

2008-12-01T19:44:00.010-06:00

I told Heather today that I wouldn't be half the parent I am without the ideas in Family Fun magazine. Have I mentioned I heart that magazine yet?

I steal ideas from articles and other moms and am totally impressed with myself. Last year, I read an idea a mom did where she bought her kids new craves, hats, and mittens every year, but didn't give them to her children until the first big snow fall. She even wrapped them and presented them as presents celebrating the arrival of winter. I realize this wouldn't work in Texas, but since I'm in Illinois ... I'm embracing one advantage of living here!

Yesterday and today constituted the first big snow fall. But (even though I bought the hat and mittens a month ago), I haven't wrapped them yet. And, I know Kevin would appreciate seeing how Lubbock reacts to opening a present since he hasn't opened one since his birthday in May. So, I promise to wrap it tonight and let Lubbock show off his unwrapping skills tomorrow night. Maybe next year I'll be more on top of things.

Aunt Lauren came over after work and took Lubbock out for his first official sled ride (Aunt Lo's early Christmas gift to Lubbock). We didn't go down a hill, she just dragged him around the backyard. He still had fun. This is definitely one of the times I love living in Illinois. But, with the sun going down so early, the pictures weren't that great ... it wasn't even 5 yet!

I know I'm jumping around, but on Saturday ... Kevin went to get his hair cut at our favorite local salon, Sue's Family Hair Co. He texted (what is the proper form of that verb?) me saying that all cuts and manicures were half price for the rest of the afternoon! Score! So, I got there as quick as I could ... sat in the chair and said ... "Do whatever you want." Pause. "Well, don't cut more than three inches." Pause. "Oh, and I don't want anything a-symmetrical." Pause. "Yep ... do whatever you want." So ... that's the result. I wasn't sure I liked it at first ... but, I certainly wasn't going to complain. I told the guy my only two restrictions and he followed them. But, for some reason, this morning, it seemed to look better. I take horrible pictures of myself ... but there it is. (I took about 50 and that was the one where my face looked the least round.) Oh, and I took one like all the teenagers you see ... I know ... I'm a dork. I just wanted to see what I'd look like doing it. Not attractive. Whatever.

Go Pokes! Beat OU!

2008-11-29T09:19:00.000-06:00

The Thanksgiving Recap

2008-11-28T14:21:00.003-06:00

Some of you have witnessed the person battle I've had trying to plan a Thanksgiving meal. We had several friends invite us over and we were very grateful for the invitations. However, Kevin wanted to stay at home. I had come up with a menu and posted it on the fridge. I was very proud of the balance I found between pleasing Kevin and Lauren. But, Kevin came home and decided to essentially 'cancel' Thanksgiving. He declared he wanted pizza for Thanksgiving. I was a little sad, but thought ... who am I to argue ... less cooking, less mess!

I was completely set on this idea, but then Kevin changed his mind again saying he wanted to make a classic dish in his family of dressing and chicken. In my opinion, if we're making dressing ... why not make mashed potatoes and gravy? If we've gone that far ... what's a little green bean casserole and cranberries? Rolls? Basically, we made the entire Thanksgiving feast with the exception of a turkey. Oh, well.

It wasn't too tiring between Kevin, Lauren, and myself. We all took turns in the kitchen and we all have similar styles when it comes to cooking. When preparing to mash the potatoes, I was standing there with a stick of butter in my hand. I contemplated out loud how much to put in ... the whole thing? Yes! Everyone agreed. All said, we used three sticks of butter! We would have used a fourth, but we didn't have it. I must have been channeling Paula Dean.

We decided to make green bean casserole with fresh green beans. It was fine, but next time, I will cook the beans for a few minutes before putting it in the dish. They were a little crunchy, so we had to add more liquid and cook on the stove to soften them.

All said, it was a pretty relaxing day ... I looked through the ads in the morning and couldn't see a single thing that would drag my sorry butt out of bed at 4a. Jen ... you're much braver than I.

Kevin had to work today, so Lubbock and I stayed inside and stared at the Christmas tree that Kevin put together yesterday. No decorations yet, but Kevin still has to put the lights on. That's his job ... tree and lights. Everything else is mine.

Thanks to my readers who have already volunteered to help with Family #25 ... Gretchen and my Dad & Colleen. I heart you guys!

The Thankful Texan

2008-11-27T08:22:00.002-06:00

I am thankful for ...

Kevin
Lubbock
the rest of my family
having family here
having family there
having friends here
having friends there
my family's health
my health

This is just a short list, but on this day I do try to remember how many things I have to be thankful for. There is a song I used to love singing in church ... "Count Your Many Blessings." I still love that song.

Count you many blessings,
Count them one by one.
Count your many blessings,
See what God has done.

Family #25

2008-11-26T18:40:00.003-06:00

I have the best friends ever! You guys are beautiful and smart, funny and caring. You love your families. You love your friends. You love your friends' families. You always do what you can to help when called upon.

Have I buttered you up enough?

Good.

We adopted a family from TriCity Family Services. Our family is a mother and 8 year-old daughter. This is the same local charity we held the fundraiser for at Lubbock's birthday party. I think the number one thing I heart about TCFS is that they are devoted to helping my community. I know that any donations I give are being put to use here, in my surrounding neighborhoods.

I've already rounded up several kind-hearted ladies from the Tri City Tots group. And I thought it would be worth a shot to see if any of my blog-o-sphere readers were feeling extra generous this season.

If so, either email me or leave a comment, and I'll let you know what's still on the wish list. They haven't asked for anything extravagant ... mostly clothes and household items for the mom and games, dolls, and clothes for the daughter. If you don't feel like shopping (in which case ... remind me why we're friends?), you could supply a gift card and I'm sure I can find time in my schedule to get some shopping done!

If you're a local friend, I'm hosting a drop-off open house on December 14th from 1p-3p. They'd like all donations to be wrapped. I'll supply everything you need to wrap your donation ... wrapping paper, scissors, tape, cheese, crackers, and wine!

You guys are the best!

The Quick Visit

2008-11-25T17:32:00.004-06:00

Aunt Moshmee was in town! Lubbock took a while to remember her, but once he did ... they had tons of fun. She pushed him around in a laundry basket and was able to see him try asparagus and clementines.

We had deep dish pizza and finally went to the Irish restaurant that she's wanted to try since we moved here. My sister was able to join us (she even missed Hereos ... thank you Tivo!) for a while. It's a definite sign that we've grown up ... my little sister and my best friend able to hang out and have things to talk about.

I was able to cook a few meals, though. I like that Moshmee and my sister are vegetarians because it gives me an excuse to make some super healthy dishes. I made my world famous roasted red bell pepper and asparagus pasta dish. And veggie breakfast burritos (which Heather joined us for). A big salad for lunch ... and yet still I feel like I've gained weight.

She went with Lubbock and me as we ran errands at all the stores that makes our area so unique ... Target, Kohls, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. We did shop local by going to Four Beans for an afternoon pick-me-up of coffee for me and spiced apple cider for Moshmee ... it was really good and really sweet. I think they used honey, though, not sugar. But, mostly, we had fun hanging out with Lubbock and letting him entertain us.

Before Moshmee arrived, Kevin taught Lubbock how to do the chicken dance. Well, kind off. He makes wings and flaps them. The bottom half of his body doesn't participate. I've really got to figure out how to use our video camera so I can post a video. Maybe that can be my weekend goal. Sigh. Technology.

A final picture ... a reminder that I shouldn't leave Lubbock alone for even a second ... he pulled my necklaces out of my drawer and busted my fake pearls all over the place. Yup, those are the little beads all over the floor. Thankfully, he didn't get to any of the real jewelry and it was a good reminder that I should move everything out of that drawer and out of reach. Sigh. Boys.

The Lovely Bathroom

2008-11-25T14:30:00.007-06:00

The Top Ten Mistakes

2008-11-21T07:23:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was Mom's Together. Gretchen invited me, I invited Heather, Heather invited Margaret (another neighbor who actually knew about it, but started coming again). So, we're getting quite the crowd!

The topic was Top Ten Mistakes Even Good Parents Make. I won't give you the whole list, but I did kind of choke up at the reminder of thinking about how I feel when treated in a way I may treat Lubbock. It's a commonly heard refrain "do unto others as you would have done unto you." But, you can never be reminded enough.

My promise to myself for yesterday was to remember this before reacting. So, I laughed more and yelled less. And even remembered this when Kevin asked for cornbread ten minutes before dinner was ready. Yes, I can make that.

Today will be a good day, too (positive thinking).

I probably won't get to write much since I'm headed downtown later to a piano bar with Heather, some of her friends, and maybe even Moshmee and Nadine will come by since Moshmee gets in town tonight! She's staying in the city until Sunday evening and will then grace the suburbs with her presence!

One more thing, for lots of pictures of pretty things ... check out Knack.

Calendar Swap

2008-11-20T14:08:00.004-06:00

Check out this calendar swap as spotted on Design Mom, but originally on Greedy Girl's blog! What a clever idea ... and who doesn't love shopping for a calendar?!?!?!

I already have my 2009 calendar, but it's my functional one ... not my pretty one! But, it is orange! Can you tell I'm excited about calendars?!?!?!

Seriously, I love calendars. It's one of the things I love most about the end of the year. And I love entering my first event in the new year. I love writing down everyone's birthday. I love putting that a friend is going to be in town. I love being able to put that family is coming. I really love putting that I'm going to see family at their home ... especially when Lubbock gets to go, too! The only thing I don't like about calendars is that I can't have more than one main calendar!

The Lunch on My Doorstep

2008-11-19T16:34:00.011-06:00

We have our pumpkins on our steps leading up to the house and since putting them there, the squirrels in our neighborhood have been well fed. It's been fun waking up to see how much they ate. Today, I decided to take some pictures and when I came back in, I actually saw one perched on the pumpkin eating his little heart out. (So Texan.)

Anyway, here's some pictures of pumpkins. And, I don't think Lubbock has any sense at all. He walked outside in the 30 degree temperature ... no pants. Maybe I should have put pants on him, but I didn't think he'd walk outside! And of course, being the horrible mom I am ... I take a picture rather than immediately taking him back inside.

We hosted the play date today and served a baked potato bar. It was a nice way to warm up on such a cold day. We had broccoli and cheese, butter, sour cream, and cheese. I was going to serve bacon, but the slices in the fridge were really old. I thought they were from Kevin's sandwich a few days ago ... guess not ... yuck. And I was going to cut up some green onions, but I just now remembered that ... sorry guys! It was going to be the premiere grand opening of the basement play room, but since I'm not done, I decided to consider this the sneak preview instead.

I know I forgot to post pictures of the centerpiece I made with fall veggies, but they rotted a while ago and I threw them into my neighbor's composter. So, I decided to replace my centerpiece with scented pine cones. Every time I walk into Jewel-Osco (in Texas ... that's Albertson's), they are right in the entrance and it smells so good. I couldn't resist. And they're pretty. I love the dish they're in, too. It's a yard sale find by my mother. It's white enamel cast iron and fits in perf-ectly with my kitchen.

I know I'm jumping subjects with little to no transition, but ... Lubbock did some cute things yesterday and today. Yesterday, he was being a holy terror and making messes quicker than I could clean them. At one point, he went to his room, pulled the container where I keep his diapers down and then pulled a bag of diapers out. He proceeded to fill the container with diapers! He's so smart. Then, this morning ... he was being a holy terror (are you seeing a pattern) and wouldn't stop screaming. This went on for over an hour before I decided ... Tylenol. He calmed down after a while and by then, I was sitting on the couch, rubbing my face. I see Lubbock go into his room and he comes back out a few seconds later with his little bottle of Tylenol and hands it to me. Sigh. Yes, Lubbock ... you're right ... I could use that, too.

The Vegetarian at Thanksgiving

2008-11-18T12:48:00.003-06:00

Many of you know that I have spent most of my adult years as a vegetarian. It's not necessarily for any stance on animal rights or anything ... I just never really liked the taste of most meats. Kevin can cook a great steak, but I only like filet mignon, so it's rare that I allow that much of the grocery budget to go for one steak. I'll occasionally eat lean ground beef, pork chops, and chicken breasts. After reading the first few sections of Skinny Bitch, I dabbled in being a vegan ... that didn't last too long!

By the way, this is NOT a book I recommend. It messed with my head something awful! Imagine The Jungle times five. Ugh!

Back to today's topic. Since we aren't having any parents up for Thanksgiving, it will be Kevin, Lubbock, my sister, and I. Lubbock doesn't like turkey yet, I only eat about two ounces once a year, and my sister is a die-hard vegetarian (eeking closer to being a vegan everyday). So, I've got the dilemma of trying to figure out what to cook. What's the point of cooking an entire turkey for one person? I can't make the stuffing that Kevin likes because he likes chicken stock in it. He isn't a fan of mashed potatoes unless they have milk in them. He prefers his green beans with bacon. I'm kind of at a loss.

Today's big challenge is to put together a Thanksgiving feast that will please the meatatarian, vegetarian, and meat agnostic in all of us. Suggestions are appreciated!

On another subject ... I found a photo essay on some other blog (I can't remember, but if I do ... I'll share) where she took pictures from her perspective on what her day is all about ... here was my morning ...

Lubbock loves playing his xylophone and he really loves it if I put it on my lap and play along with him. Yup, that's my leg in the picture ... cute pink pajama bottoms and all!

A Really Long Post

2008-11-17T08:29:00.006-06:00

Wow, I haven't posted in so long, I don't know where to begin!

First, Thursday morning was fun ... we took the kids for pajama breakfast to celebrate Heather's birthday. I think by the end, Eleanor thought it was her birthday! As a testament to Heather's friendship capacity, she even came by afterward to help sweep and mop my kitchen before Kevin's parents got here. What a woman! What a friend! (By the way, she agrees that my current mop rocks. I will post my product recommendation soon.)

Lubbock and I dropped off the boxes for Goodwill and went to O'Hare to pick up the grandparents. Lubbock fell asleep on the way there and when he woke up, they were in the car. He was a little confused, so this meant about 20 minutes of crying. He got over it.

The weekend mostly consisted of Lubbock entertaining Buddy and Mary with his 'tricks.' He saw Mary blow drying her hair with her head upside down, so he bent over imitating her. She loved that. He showed them his sign language signs that he knows by telling us when he needed a diaper changed, when he was thirsty, and when he was done eating. They agree that he's the smartest kid ever. He and Kevin were spoiled with new clothes and I got exactly what I wanted ... time. There's no greater gift as far as I'm concerned. Mary worked really hard with me on the mural and it's almost done! I can't wait to spend some time this afternoon on it again. I don't want to post pictures until it's done ... so keep posted. (Which reminds me that I haven't posted pictures of the bathroom yet ... so I'll try to get that done today.) Second on my list of things I wanted was food. Mary made home made corn dogs (some made with the veggie dogs ... YUM!), corn fritters, fried pickles, and cheese and onion enchiladas with beans and rice. All delicious food and all made with love. She's such a great cook.

Sunday morning, I pulled out the Thanksgiving tablecloth. I don't remember if I thought of this idea on my own, or read it in Family Fun (GREAT magazine) ... but either way ... it's a great idea. Every year, I'm having Lubbock put a hand print on a cotton tablecloth. Last year, I used a polyester one and when I labeled it, the ink spread horribly and you couldn't tell what I wrote. So, I bought a cotton one and re-did the '07 hand print ... admittedly, the hand print is from February '08, not November '07. As our family grows, the next child will be able to add their hand prints. Each year, I use a different color so that as the years go by, it will be really colorful. The other bonus to this is that I don't really need to decorate the table since the tablecloth provides so much decoration on it's own and is a definite conversation piece. "Oh, look at how small his hand was last year!"

We then went to JoAnns to pick out fabric for our matching Christmas pajama bottoms. Yes, we're that family. My friend, Beth, at Sew Personalized makes just about anything you can think of. She's great. I won't ruin the excitement of the Christmas morning pictures by showing the fabric now, but it's super cute. I have to go find matching t-shirts today so we can have them embroidered.

We dropped them off at the airport and came home for a relaxing evening at home. Well, Kevin wasn't that relaxed because the Dallas Cowboys looked horrible. At least his Red Raiders are doing well. There's a big game on Saturday, so he's already planning the whole day. What he wants to wear on Friday, Saturday, what Lubbock will wear. Men!

By the way ... can you believe we have snow? YAH!

The First Snowfall

2008-11-17T08:19:00.006-06:00

The 'Rents and the Wall

2008-11-14T09:29:00.002-06:00

I'll be checked out for the rest of the week and weekend since our computer room is also our guest room. Kevin's parents are in town. We've already completed three colors and started another on the mural downstairs. I'll have a full report on Sunday evening!

By Popular Demand

2008-11-12T08:25:00.002-06:00

No music. You're welcome, Melisa and Dad.

The Sisters and the Wonderful Husband

2008-11-11T21:43:00.004-06:00

Today was my monthly visit with the alumni association for my sorority. If you haven't read before, I decided to go to this in hopes of becoming more active within my community. When I was in college, it was joining a sorority that helped me find opportunities to serve. That's not really happening, but I do get to hear lots of good stories. Tonight, we made gifts in a jar (barley and wild rice soup). Not for those less fortunate, but for ourselves!

I'm trying to change this. Next month, I'm hosting the meeting and have encouraged everyone to bring a Christmas gift for my favorite local charity. I hope it works.

It's almost 10p now and it occurs to me that I have a pretty wonderful husband. I know he's wonderful (it didn't just occur to me for the first time) and I think about that a lot, but tonight he's especially great! He put away all the laundry that I've not been able to get to. Granted, I told him if he was bored that it would be nice, but he did it! I tell him often that I appreciate him and I feel that this is a completely separate feeling than loving him. I attempt not to take my life for granted. I am able to stay at home and watch my son figure out how to do everything. And get to teach him everything. I am the one instilling values and morals in him. I am able to do this because of Kevin. What a wonderful gift that is to both me and Lubbock. I know he doesn't read this too often, but I do appreciate you and I do love you.