Filed under: Family
Debuting the newest banner. I think I might like this one better.
Thoughts?
PS. As I look at it more, I realize this template is blue…not black. Not sure I like it as much now. If anyone creative out there wants to send me a banner for the blog…feel free! AH!
Filed under: Quotes
So the quote of the week came about this weekend as I was standing at the stove preparing a meal. I hear Peyton run into the other room and say, “Daddy, can you help me get this girl naked”?
Yeah, that’s right. I’m pretty sure that’s something you should never say to your dad. Luckily, Peyton was playing Barbie’s with Abbie (hey, my brother played Barbies with me and turned out just fine!). But I think Jason
will be just fine never hearing those words again! 
Filed under: Family
I’m playing with a new look. Not sure what to think yet…so you may some changes over the next week or so. Feel free to let me know what you think, good or bad!
I enjoy reading Anne’s blog on a regular basis. She has such a huge heart and a passion for kids in Uganda. Tomorrow is World Malaria Day. I wanted to share this from Anne’s blog.
what if everyone in the city of detriot died?
that’s the impact malaria has on the world EVERY YEAR. around one million people, including 750,000 children, die from malaria. and what sucks is that it’s completely preventable!! because of poverty, families can’t afford to buy nets or pay for treatment.
today, 3,000 children died from malaria…while we were all talking about what we’d do with an extra ten bucks.
but with ten bucks, you can make a change. you can bite back.
ten dollars provides a mosquito net that will protect a child from mosquitoes for THREE YEARS. it also provides education and treatment for those who have malaria.
i’d like to present a challenge to you. april 25 is world malaria day. and i want to see at least 50 people from this blog community donate at least $10 to buy a child a net in the next 50 hours (by 7 pm CST on Friday).
Jason and I have joined in by purchasing 3 nets. I urge you to join Anne and her blog community in making a difference with just $10 extra dollars. Follow this link to find out how.
Filed under: Family
Abbie is our firstborn. She will be 6 in less than 2 weeks. Sometimes it feels like she’s 6 going on 13. She is an extremely emotional being…she hurts easily, she loves easily, she angers easily, she worries easily. She is very concerned with others around her, if they are upset or hurting. She has a big heart.
Over the last several days, I have been witness to the extreme sides of this emotional being. On Friday, Abbie and I were having a conversation about her day at school. She told me that several of the girls that she runs around with were being mean to her. Then, at lunch they were being mean to another one of her friends, Chasity. Abbie ran to Chasity’s defense and offered to play with her, instead of the ones putting Chasity down. I had a wonderful opportunity to let Abbie know how proud of her I was because she cares about people, and how God is proud of her too. That Jesus himself hung out with people that others made fun of and looked down upon. Her eyes lit up…”He did???”. A big smile came across her face with an understanding that her actions that day were like the actions of Christ.
Now, the other extreme. Jason writes about it a little bit in his blog. But, we’ve been dealing with a lot of outbursts of frustration and anger like, “You don’t even love me.” “Peyton is your special boy”. “I don’t even have parents”. “You’ve been mean to me since I’ve been a baby”. These are usually followed by an action of discipline or just not getting her way. Last night the family went to Target to get some spring play clothes and groceries, and we planned to stop at Cold Stone Creamery to get ice cream for the kids on the way home. Unfortunately, the kids were not listening well or following directions, and after two warnings…they lost the trip to Cold Stone.
On the way home, she started again. “You don’t even love me”. I turned to her and said, “Abbie…I love you so much that I won’t let you have ice cream.” She replayed my words in her head, looked at me strangely and said, “You love me so much you WON’T let me have ice cream???”. Yes, I said. I love you so much, that I want you to grow into the little girl that God wants you to be. That means learning the lesson of listening and obeying before you get any older. If that means that you miss out on ice cream today to learn that lesson, then I’m okay with that because I love you so much.
She kind of smiled, grabbed my hand, and had the look of, “Ok…I kind of get it. I guess you DO love me after all.”
Filed under: Family
I really do apologize for the few and far between blog posts. It seems like I have so much to say, but little to write. I’m so glad the weekend is here, and the weather is nice…although the rain is coming! I’m grateful that Jason is feeling good, and that our brief health scare was just that–brief.
This weekend we are heading back to IL. Jason is catching a Cardinals game with a friend, and I’m going “home” to do some visiting of my own. I’m excited to get to stop by Daisy Lane tomorrow and do some scrapbooking shopping. Plus get together with some friends. It will be a quick trip, but a fun one.
Although it is rainy and cold today, we’ve had wonderful spring temperatures this week. While autumn still holds my “favorite season”, and always will…spring comes in a close second. After being cooped up inside all winter, I always welcome the fresh air and warmer temperatures that spring brings.
I don’t particularly enjoy cleaning. I like my house to BE clean, but the process is not something I particularly like to dedicate large amounts of time to. But spring cleaning seems to be another story for me. There is something about cleaning all the places that get neglected and re-organizing that just sets the tone for a great season!
This year, I am trying to take the “Spring Cleaning” concept throughout many areas of my life…kind of cleaning the crevaces and decluttering my daily routine, our finances, etc.
For the most part, I try to stick to a meal plan, whether it is weekly or monthly. This helps out not only with our budget, but knowing that I’m going to have everything I need each night. This week is going to be pantry/freezer clean-out week. I try to do this every once in a while so that I’m not just throwing out expired food items I bought thinking “yeah, I’ll use this”. So this week I will be using up most of what is in the pantry and freezer. It may be a little challenging, but I’m up to it (I think).
I have run across a couple of online tools that I thought I’d share. If you’re anything like me, I seem to get into a rut when trying to plan meals for the month (or week). I love this website…www.menus4moms.com. They have a free weekly menu (Mon-Fri), which includes recipes AND grocery lists. There are also breakfast and lunch ideas if you’re interested too!
Another nice tool is their daily organization reminder. You can sign up for this daily reminder which by spending 15 minutes each day (morning or night) you can keep your entire house organized or clean!
I figure since I’ve been in a pretty creative rut (hence the lack of blog posts) I might as well be a little practical!!!
Happy Spring Cleaning!!!
Filed under: Quotes
My kids continue to amaze me by what comes out of their mouths at times. Here are a few tidbits from the weekend.
Peyton and I were driving out of the circle drive at daycare and he says, “Hey, there’s Katherine’s mom. She has a mustache”.
Friday night, Abbie and I are sitting (read-slouching) on the couch watching something on TV. She starts patting my stomach and lifts my shirt up to look at my belly button (she has this facination with belly buttons). She grabs my stomach and pretending my belly button is a mouth she says, “Hello…my name is Mr. Fatty”. Yeah…real nice! Back to the gym I go!
Last night we were heading out to pick up Peyton’s new bike (he’s super excited). As we drove over the railroad tracks, Peyton exclaims, “Woah. The tracks tickled my boy parts!”.
Oh, the observations.
