Thankful Thursdays Top Ten #75

I am so behind.  In life.  Really.  So blogging is important to me because it is a story of my journey and where I am and where I was.  But at the end of the day, it is usually last.  Generally because I feel guilty stealing away a few minutes to pour out my thoughts here when there are piles of projects sitting in my office around me.  I need to get over that.

This week I am thankful for...

1. A new Georgi baby that is coming soon!!

2. Friends who gently remind me to post. :)

3. A HUGE project that is almost "complete".  (It's an ongoing thing but the initial set up is almost done)

4. A new group of Princess Girls.  CANNOT wait to get to know these ladies better!

5. Chocolate yogurt.  Seriously?  Genius.

6. My amazing friend Christine who has watched my kids as much as I have these past few weeks.  She is great and it is awesome to have someone close by to watch my kiddos.

7. My beautiful little girls.  I feel like lately I've been tired, mean mom and I need to quit that.  They are seriously the best kids ever and deserve the best I can give them.

8. Chinese food...homemade by my husband.  He cleaned the kitchen too.  Seriously.  It was awesome.

9. Sleep.  Seriously, sleep is my friend these days.  I don't see enough of it.

10. Moments to stop and be thankful.

Of tomatoes and escape artists

My darling daughter has figured out how to get out of her room at night. 

Night 1: She won't leave her room, it'll be fine!
...until she woke up Hubs who startled her which startled me and ended up with her wide awake in bed with us for an hour till I kicked her out.

Night 2: Child safety lock, we got this!
...until she promptly announced, look mommy, I broke it and opened the door!

Night 3: Unscrew doorknob, child safety lock, heavy kitchen chair in front of it with bells on it.
...I woke up before she did...go figure.

Ah well, we will see.  I need to figure out how to safely keep her contained until I'm ready for her to grace us with her presence :)



Hubs took out the tomato plants the other day. It was a hard fought battle but he prevailed. These things had taken over and were growing up and through our porch slats. There were tomatoes growing inside the railing that couldn't even be removed, carefully as we may have tried.

So now we have three buckets of green tomatoes slowly ripening one at a time. It has been amazing.

Five Minute Friday: Focus

Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking

Five Minute Friday: Focus

Go.

i love fridays. i love that for five minutes i can tune out the world around me and write and think and process.  for five minutes the to do list on my wall doesn't matter and the incessent tuggings for my attention fade quietly into the background.

for five minutes through laughter or tears i can quietly sit and type and think.  five minutes when i can be creative without strings attatched or judgements made.  five minutes when i know i'll get a beautiful comment from someone else offering their encouragement.  five minutes to connect with the world but more importantly to connect with myself.

stop. take a breath. take a moment. think the thoughts. write the words. focus.

Stop.

Thankful Thursdays Top Ten #74

Yes...that is birthday ice cream.  The cake I was going
to give her went bad and I wasn't about to make ANOTHER
cake to sit around our house after that one and before her
official birthday cake.

What a crazy busy week.  I seriously feel like I have been running all week - starting with a 7:30am text message Monday morning scheduling a meeting.  All good though - busy is better than bored!  I have four big projects I'm in the middle of so four different to do lists taped to my wall, all while planning my girls' birthday party this Sunday.  Fortunately we keep things pretty low key so making a cake and blowing up some balloons should pretty much have me covered at this point.

So hubs makes fun of me because we tend to have rather drawn out birthday celebrations in my family.  So we did Grace's birthday with just our family on Wednesday, will do a mini-party on Saturday with my parents and grandparents (Great Grandma and Big Poppa - where did she get that??) and then their party on Sunday.  It's nuts.

Thankfuls...

1. Still thankful I'm not famous.
2. I'm thankful for Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst. Oh how this book speaks to me.
3. I'm thankful for Princess Program starting up again!
4. I am thankful for the Newsboys and songs like "God's Not Dead" and "Revelation Song".
5. I am thankful that two weeks into my three month Sunday School commitment it is going well :)
6. I am thankful for friends that I'm reconnecting with.
7. I am thankful for my Hello Mornings group that encourages me to get up and get my quiet time done!
8. I am thankful for Hershey's Simple Pleasures chocolate - they are tasty good.
9. I am thankful for simple and fun birthday celebrations.
10. I am thankful my kid is still young enough to think getting underpants and tights for her birthday is fun.
11. I am thankful that she LOVED the game I got her...and that apparently she can play it without me ;)
12. I am thankful I live within walking distance (on a good day!) to the library.
13. I am thankful for encouragers.

Glad I'm Not "Famous"

I was looking for a blog I used to read online today and in the search it came up with "Blog Name" then underneath "Blog Name Haters".  Then I got looking into a few things and realized that yep, they were right - pretty much every famous blog/person/tv show has a "haters" group too.

I realize there are people in my life who don't like me or might chat about me behind my back - it's a part of being out there but sheesh, to have someone dislike me or my family or something SO much that they feel compelled to not only talk about it but also to post about it on a regular basis.  Breaks my heart.

I'm guilty, I know.  There are people, things, etc that I don't like and while I try to be reasonable about it I do get caught up in the moment sometimes.  (For example, a frustrating experience at Walmart/Target/Meijer/etc - is it the store's fault? corporate's fault? or the cashier's fault? and does it really need to be shared everywhere??)

I don't know - it just makes me sad to think that there are people out there scamming other people, that there are people who's single comment gets taken the wrong way, but mostly that we are such a train wreck society (again guilty myself, not pointing any fingers that don't point right back at me) that there is a platform for this sort of thing.  Makes me want to really think about what I'm watching, reading etc, especially when it comes to the "reality" type shows and blogs in general. 

</end rant> 

Five Minute Friday: Graceful

Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking

Five Minute Friday: Graceful

Go.

this is kind of making me want to cry.  graceful?  i'm not.  i mean, i have moments where the words come out eloquently or the movement looks smooth...but not usually.  i feel like graceful people are the ones that are comfortable in their own skin and with their own thoughts.  i feel like i'm too often at a comparison point...

...i wish my house was decorated like hers...

...i wish my meals were as healthy and good as she can make...

...i wish i knew how to get my kids to listen like hers do...

...and on and on it goes until i have so devalued what i can do, what i am doing, to the point of insignificance.  i wish my confident self would tap me on the shoulder and remind me that i have a three year old who needs trained - just like her kids did when they were three.  and she cooks those meals because it is fun for her and relaxing, just like saving money with coupons is for you.  and well, we have friends that can decorate. 

i wish my confident self would remind my un-graceful self that blogs are the pretty picture and the people who know me and are friends with me aren't going anywhere.  that i may not have it all under control but the important things, yeah, i've got those.

grace: characterized by elegance or beauty of from, manner, movement or speech; elegant

Stop.

Thankful Thursdays Top Ten #73

So thankful today!

1. I am thankful for family pictures!
2. I am thankful for better sleep.
3. I am thankful for great Bible study Monday night.
4. I am thankful for friends' weddings coming up!
5. I am thankful for sermons online.
6. I am thankful for Sunday School planning fun!
7. I am thankful for my husband being on my team parenting.
8. I am thankful for lots of work to be done!
    (But Morgan, I need you to come help me get my office under control)
9. I am thankful for chats with my friends, Chick Fil A, phone dates, park dates and more.  I need them.
10. Princesses.  Big ones, small ones, all my girlie princesses.  I love them.

Photo Day 6: Everyday

Today was family picture days!  We did Grace's 3 year old pictures, Abi's 1 year old pictures, family pictures, me and Aaron pictures, girls together pictures, ALL KINDS OF FUN STUFF! I can't wait to see them all!

We may have bribed Grace to be on her best behavior by promising ice cream.  So that is the picture above...our post picture session treat.  She earned it - she did great!

She has been cracking me up lately.  She remembers so much and shocks me with the things she comes up with sometimes.  She was trying to tell me a show she wanted to watch that we happened to turn to the other night.  I had asked her if the people on it were big or small and a couple other questions (gotta keep it educational!).  So she told me the answers to the questions I had asked.  It was crazy.  I hope these things shock me with Abi too - it is just so fun.

Mornings

 

i don't like mornings.

i wake up slow - and usually cranky

i like my coffee...with a lot of sugar and an excessive amount of milk

and then i like to sit. quietly. for awhile. to think.

 

 

these faces are what i usually wake up to.

(although I'm supposed to be waking up for quiet time with God)

i love their silliness.

grace tends to wake up pretty slow...sometimes.

 

abi is off and running from the second her eyes open.

there is no slowing her down.

she needs to explore her world.

and play music.

and laugh.

and hug.

 

they delight me.  even on days that have to start with "grace, mommy hasn't been using her nice words and I'm sorry"...she is very forgiving.  i hope i extend that same forgiveness.

 

my beautiful girls - both getting so big and so wise.  i adore them.



Photo Day 2: Father

 

Day 2: Father

Father seems so formal.  That's my Dad - Grace's Poppa.  I'm so blessed that my parents live nearby and LOVE LOVE LOVE my kids!

Twelve For '12 Update

I've been thinking today about priorities and the things that have been slipping.  I realized that I haven't been doing a great job keeping up to date pictures of my kids when I couldn't take more pictures the other day because the camera was full from not being deleted for months.  I do take a lot of pictures on my phone but my camera takes better pictures (but a new digital camera is HIGH on my wishlist...if anyone wants to donate one I'll tell you where to find me ;)

Here are my Twelve for '12 goals revisited. 

1. Frugality
I am doing pretty well!  I got caught up in the "I CAN GET IT CHEAP SO I HAVE TO HAVE IT" mindset at first and picked up some things that we didn't need and thus didn't save money.  I have found most make up, paper products and bathroom products do NOT have to be expensive and toothpaste/toothbrushes do not have to be bought.  My next "big" goal is to make my own laundry soap and get serious about meal planning.

2. Schedule
Fail.  I feel like every time I try to schedule I get frustrated quickly.  My new goals include breakfast at the table every morning with a devotional for Grace, some "alone" play time for the girls each day and QUALITY time with mom in the mornings.

3. Prioritize
I have found I like to do the easy things first which usually aren't the important things.  I need to work on this still.

4. Repurpose before Purchase
I have been doing better!  I am trying to get back in the mindset of not wanting to part with my money just for the sake of buying things.  Retail therapy might work for some people but spending a ton of money (even on worthy stuff) will make me a headcase.  I have been doing some serious decluttering and still have a lot to go.  Once I get down to bare bones it'll probably be more of a challenge to figure things out!

5. Hospitality
Eh.  We don't have people over often but I have tried to say "yes" more often than not when it comes to hosting or joining in fellowship (I think the two go very much hand in hand).  I put down the excuses of babies and messes to allow myself the freedom to enjoy people.

6. Fellowship
I love the women in my life.  I love my 'support' and I love knowing that they can call on me as well.

7. Memorization
Um...

8. Don't lose me.
Um...not that I've lost me, I just haven't spent a lot of time on me.  And you know what, I think that might be because "me" right now is a mom and a wife and I'm good with that!

9. Journal
I need to write more.  Its in my bones.  I feel like it is a craft that is easily lost and I want it back.

10. Disciple
I love my big kids - so proud of them!

11. Treat My Body Well
I am down 10-ish pounds!  Would like to lose about 20 more (which would be more than pre-Grace but two babies later I'm ok with my new "adult" weight - just not quite there yet!)

12. Be Purposeful
I am considering some radical things: no tv, limited computers (other than work), stop reading blogs on phones, etc etc.  But I have a bent toward legalism that I'm aware of so I think before I make any crazy resolutions I need to figure out the WHY before I figure out the "rule".

September Photo Challenge Day 1: You, Now

It's here!  The September Photo Challenge!  I'm going to try to make it past day 2 this month :)    If you don't have a blog you can do it on Facebook!  Here is the original website with the list!

Day 1: You, Now

My baby has NOT been wanting to go to sleep - so we've been spending some extra time together before naps and bed time.  She's a great snuggler!

I still can't believe she is one and Grace is almost three!  It goes so fast!  I love my family and am excited to see what God has in store for us down the road!