10 things Tuesday

10 Things I am thankful for about living in Jonesboro:

1. I grew up near here, so every now and then I get a "blast from the past" when people come home to visit their families. That's always fun.
2. Cost of living is awesomely low. (Yet, still I fuss over finances. Don't worry, I'm turning that over to God. :) )
3. We live 5 minutes (or less) from a state park.
4. We are a part of an incredible church family.
5. Close to both sets of grandparents in case of emergencies!
6. Friends we can depend on to watch our babies in a pinch (like for haircuts, dr. appts., etc.)
7. We live less than a minute from THE SONIC, kids.
8. If we just have to have some city-life, Memphis is less than an hour away. However, the need for city-life is getting less and less each year.
9. Nobody makes fun of you for driving a minivan, because they've probably got one, too.
10. I may joke about our extra long summer, but pretty soon the leaves will be amazing, we might get some snow, and in the spring the flowers will take your breath away.

I've got some more fun blogging things to share with you, but it will have to wait until tomorrow!

A rant

We all have mottos that we live our lives by that have nothing to do with our nationality or personal faith. Some I hope to pass on to my children such as "be kind to everyone" and "ALWAYS step out of the shower to pee".

Others seem to live their lives by this creed - "always put shoes on your baby".

Then, they like to push their constant-shoe philosophy onto me. Everywhere I go.

Granted, with each child I have gotten more lax about shoe-ing them. Now, folks, I am not anti-shoe. We have 2 big reasons why Eliza doesn't wear them more often:

1. Her foot keeps growing. We received some cute pink ones at the end of August that were too small. I took her in, fit her in the shoes, and exchanged them for the new pair. One month later the new ones are too small. I can't afford to keep buying her new shoes every month.



2. And, uh, she hates shoes.

Now there are small reasons like the hot weather, but really - what's the point? Most of the time she's on my hip in public. If I know she will be getting down, I'll put some shoes on her. (of course, then she just plops down on her booty and looks at me.) I just don't believe barefoot baby = negligent parent.

Just needed to get that off my chest. Stepping down from the soap-box . . .

Aunt Dusty Rocks

My little sister, whom I have referred to on more than one occasion as my "practice baby", turned 16 today.

I love her very much and can't believe how awesome she is turning out. :)

Can't say much more than that, because I don't want my blog to cry.

10 Things Tuesday

Alright, peeps, I'm feeling wordy. . . Today I am thankful for:

1. The dress I got for Maddie came in and it is twice as cute in person! Mads hardly ever gets new clothes, because a) she has cute hand-me-downs and I am way practical and b) she doesn't really care. But the mommy in me wants to make sure she gets something new every now and then. And, let's face it, I'm a sucker for chenille.
2. Girls' Night Out. Needed it.
3. A husband who encourages me to go to girls night out, before I strangle one of our fifty kids.
4. I didn't cancel my dental appointment. I usually do (and always want to.)
5. The girls are spending the night with my parents this weekend! It's called DATE NIGHT, folks.
6. Got lots of errands run today.
7. Sophie's new friends in her class. Today they met her at the door and grabbed her little hands and said, "c'mon, Sophie!" I don't really know why that made me feel so good. A mother worries, I guess.
8. I asked Mad who she played with today and she said," I played with Paula!" It's good to know that she loves her teacher... but, um ... okay, I should be thankful that she had someone to play with and stop stressing about it.
9. Finished two different Christmas dresses.
10. All this sunshine has been beautiful. Wish it was cooler, but I live in the south. We have about 2 days of spring, 7-8 months of mosquitoes and then the bitter cold rain (otherwise known as the muddy jean-cuff season). Evidently we are still in summer, no matter what the calendar says.

Oh me.

Raise your hand if ...

You have ever washed a dirty diaper in a load of clothes and didn't realize it until you were unloading them from the dryer.

Please, please, please raise your hand so I won't feel like such a dumdum.

10 Things Tuesday

1. Perfect running weather this morning. It was 56 degrees at 5:30 a.m. Perfect.
2. Ladies class this morning!
3. Met some new people at ladies' class.
4. Eliza only cried for about 10 minutes when I dropped her off during ladies class today.
5. And, my favorite thing, the prayer swap. This week I will be praying for Brooks; Sonya will be praying for me. Love it.
6. Jeff took the girls out for a while so I could get the kitchen floor scrubbed. I would choose scrubbing the floor, you ask? As long as I can get some time alone, I don't care what I am doing. :)
7. Found out a friend is expecting!
8. Found some pants that actually fit Sophie at the Target. Bought 4 pairs.
9. Ate fast food for lunch. And the fries were HOT. yum. Sorry if that is gross to anyone.
10. I think I have made a decision who to vote for. Now I just have to register ...

Overheard from the back seat:

Eliza - "ba ba aaa dada"

Maddie - "I already know that, Eliza!"

I must confess ...

1. I still really love the song, "Hold My Hand" by Hootie and the Blowfish. Never got tired of it.



2. My handwriting is atrocious. If this was handwritten, you couldn't read it.



3. None of my tupperware lids match my tupperware containers.



4. I LOVE Christmas! Not the whole present thing, but the decorating and the songs and the movies and the food and the atmosphere ... We put up our tree before Thanksgiving last year.



5. I think Mariah Carey is over-rated.



6. I don't really have road rage, mine is more parking lot rage.



7. I honestly hated SEVENTH GRADE. Pretty much every day of SEVENTH GRADE.



8. I cannot pull off trends.



9. Some weeks, I go to the Wal-mart everyday.



10. I don't understand football at all. BUT, I like to go to games.

And now...

Scary Bow-Head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This will probably be our Halloween costume.

Whoa -oh, here she comes

she's a man-eater...

Yesterday, while picking up the girls, I stopped and talked to a friend of mine.

Sophie, my innocent angel, took this opportunity to say, "Carson, if you want to come over to my van, you can give me a kiss." I'm pretty sure her eyelashes were batting.

Obviously, I said, "atta girl!" and patted her on the back.

Are you CRAZY?! That is NOT what I did!

I hid my head in shame and vowed no more Hannah Montana.

In other news, these teething fevers have made Eliza lose her mind.

And here's a photo of her walking for out of town family. Ignore the mess. She loves pulling things off shelves these days.

That is all. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go put scarlet letters on all of Sophie's clothing.

10 Things Tuesday

What I am thankful for today:

1. Maddie's teacher told me that she has been very good at school so far (3 days). Any parent of a 2 yr old understands the significance of this.



2. After living in a college town our entire married life, Jeff and I have finally decided to embrace ASU and become loyal fans. Go Red Wolves!!!



3. Tailgating was super fun this past weekend. I think we cooked almost 100 hamburgers and hot dogs! (I say we, but I didn't do any cooking, I just chased kids.)



4. Baby ibuprofen. Eliza has run a "teething fever" off and on for 2 days.



5. I heard two good dance songs while I was driving today: "shake your groove thing" and "vogue". And yes ... I was striking a pose at every stop light. I am that cool.



6. I also heard a song by the cranberries ! I loved the cranberries back in the '90's when I was still hip and relevant. ( wait... was listening to the cranberries ever hip?)



7. Ladies Bible study began today! I didn't get to go (see #4) but plan on being there next week!



8. I was invited to join MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) today. They meet during Sophie's ballet class so I won't make it, but it always feels so good to be invited to something. :)



9. The Cubs are beating the Cardinals right now. (that's for you, B. J.)



10. The girls already picked out their clothes for tomorrow and hung them on their door knobs ready to go. They don't .... match exactly, but still - time saved.

Sophie's Theology

• Me - "what do you think you'll learn in ballet today?" Sophie - "Well, probably nothing. It's not church."
• Her cousin Abby - "Jesus lives in my heart." Sophie - " Um, I think Jesus is up there chasing cats, Abby."
• Chasing Mads all over the house brandishing her wand. She finally catches her and whacks her with the wand saying. "You are in Christ!" Ah, one of my favorite Bible characters - the Salvation Fairy.

Pimp my lunchbox

Remember when I said the girls picked out the cheapest lunch boxes at the Target?

They were also the ugliest.

Check it:

I pimped them!

Thank you Barrett for the monogramming. When did I become so cutesy-pootsy?

10 Things Tuesday

Her are 10 things I am thankful for today!!!!

1. No tears when I dropped the girls off this morning. After watching Sophie all last year, Mads knew just what to do.




2. Seeing the other moms. Sometimes I think pre-school is just as good for me as it is for my kiddos.




3. Today, I got 2 pairs of Robeez for 15 bucks!




4. I haven't broken any needles on my pleater today. (of course, I haven't pleated anything...)




5. Mad pottied 3 times yesterday, with no accidents while we were home.




6. Our morning went really smoothly. (However, I was up at 5. The girls were up at 6. We might need to work on that part.) Here they are last year:and this year:




7. Both girls made new friends at school.




8. We are tailgaiting this weekend!!!!!!!! I LOVE tailgaiting!!!!!!




9. General Foods International Coffee - Cafe Vienna




10. My visit with my niece and nephew (and Nana!). What great memories we made.