And that's the night that the lights went out in Jonesboro...

I've been reading all these "what an adventure we had!" blogs tonight and I am so greatful that all my buddies have had a wonderful week.

But...

Since this is like my on-line journal, I need to write down how I have felt this week.
In one word - emotional.

After an hour or so of off and on black-outs, we lost power for good around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan 27.
We have water and we have a gas fireplace, so my mom and sister came to stay with us. My dad stayed back at the farm, to watch the pipes and to keep the fire in their furnace going (because if it goes out...something bad happens, I don't know.)

Being cold and in the dark for a couple of days does weird things to a person. When our power finally came back on... I cried a little. I only admit that because there were witnesses.

So, we've had our power back on today, and I don't take it for granted. Tonight my dad came over, ate supper, watched a movie, and then headed back out to the farm with no water and very little heat to spend the night by himself in complete darkness. The whole idea of this makes me want to cry some more.

Sorry if this is a downer, but these are my thoughts right now.

The big one

Mads turned three, today.

Three is a big deal in our family. It's the first actual birthday party with friends. Which, in turn, has made it a magical age.

Maddie had been planning her party for a long time. She knew exactly what she wanted: pancakes and pajamas.

So........ here I go, wracking my brain trying to come up with the perfect "First Party". I had a theme, "Not Quite Spend the Night". I had decoration ideas using sheets for the tablecloths and cute little happy birthdays spelled out on pillowcases. I had games. I had crafts, people!!!!

And I scrapped it all.

Because remember what Maddie said she wanted? Pancakes and pajamas. She couldn't give two hoots about crafts or decorations. And really, did I honestly think I was capable of organizing 10 or so little ones for a game? I can barely get through one round of Candy Land with my girls.

Therefore, we went up to church, ate pancakes, and played in the gym in our jammies. No meltdowns, no mess, ....... pure bliss. :)

And Maddie was happy.

The crew at the end of the night. Notice the smiley faces! (except for Eliza...)

2 1/2 hours is a LONG time ...

So, yesterday morning we wake up to two sick girls.

Well, one sick girl and one tired,cranky girl.

I decide to take Sophie (the sick one) to urgent care. The cranky one starts coming down with all kinds of symptoms, so I agree to take her, too. She had been coughing the last two nights (see:tired,cranky).

It is literally standing room only at the Urgent Care.

Two and a half hours later ... we are finally called back.

Scenes from a waiting room...

• Maddie is coloring. She asks me, "what does this crayon say?" "Fuschia", I say. "POO-SHA? I'm coloring POO-SHA?!?!?!?!"
• Maddie, to the elderly lady sitting next to us, "Why are you sticking your tongue out at me? I'm Maddie Claire."
• After about an hour and a half plus two potty breaks, Maddie announces, "Mommy! I just pee-peed on my leg!" Mommy is horrified. Then she says, "Just kidding." Now, Mommy is even more horrified - she realizes Maddie has inherited her daddy's sense of humor.

All of this with a shaking, whimpering, feverish 4 year old in my lap.

Long day.

Quick question:

If, hypothetically, your mommy caught you with a few (open) bottles of nail polish, what would you do?

If you answered "immediately wipe your hands on the carpet", you and my dear Maddie think alike.

It's Monday...

Even the Barbies are feeling it.

I want to thank everyone for the kind words and clear up some misconceptions.

I am not grappling with my self-worth. My husband thinks I am cute. My family and my in-laws think I am cute. My three little girls think I look like a princess. (well, at least right now they do...) Personally, that's all I care about. The rest of the world can think I'm a Plain Jane. It really doesn't matter, it's not like I'm trying to make a living as a super model. :)

Still, the sweet words of my girlfriends out there were so awesome! I wanted to print them out and put them in a little file (decorated with glittery stickers).

Then I got tickled thinking about Jeff having a little file with notes saying "Jeff, I think you are as handsome inside as you are outside. XOXO, Jason"

*Sigh* It's good to be a girl.

Body Issues

So, this morning we were getting ready for church in our usual calm manner. (cough)





As in most households, mommy still does the majority of the work when getting the girls ready.





(Jeff has learned a lot during the last few years, though. He will say things like, " where's your bow?" and "no, let's not wear the black sparkly tights with our sundress". God bless him.)





Oh, and does anyone else get dressed and put their shoes on before anything else? It's a habit for me. See, if we were in a hurry warm feet are more important than dry hair and a made up face.





I'm speaking from experience on that one.





Like my feet are really the first thing people notice. *sigh*



Now where was I?


Ah, here's what I am getting to in this ramble ... when I finally start to get ready (in the remaining five minutes before we leave), instead of multi-tasking and beautifying I start homing in on the flaws. Today's winner? My top lip is smaller than my bottom lip. I feel like they are out of proportion. Seriously.





Last week these gems popped into my head at various times: my eyes are tiny... my forehead is huge... my hair isn't straight enough ... my fingers are too bony ...and so on and so forth.





Honestly! Why do we do this?!?! We are created in God's image. And think about it, we all think our children are so adorable. Just imagine how cute God thinks we all are! He looks at us and sees beauty, we look at ourselves and see double chins.








And then today, I was all set to blog about my visit with an old friend last week. And I can't bring myself to post a picture of us. Sorry, Bill! They just don't look good.





Here is a lovely picture of our children, though! (for those HU grads, these are Aaron Brister's daughters. For all the rest, they belong to Billie Jean)


Now, 90% of the time I don't give it much thought, so don't go thinking I am all depressed or something. I just don't look in mirrors unless I have to get ready. And I don't have my picture taken, either.

Irrelevant

Hmmm... I'm sitting here completely full of hash brown casserole and thinking, "that's weird. I'm never completely full. Especially off hash brown casserole."

Sophie came up with an awesome game during worship this morning. She called it Money Chin. It's so cool, get this, you take your offering money... and wait! You put it on your chin! She sure thought it was fun. I'm sure the people around us thought she was a fruit loop.

Am I the only one who (inadvertently) color-codes their children? I usually get Sophie pink stuff, Maddie purple stuff, and Eliza green or blue or greenish-blue. This is ponderous ...

New resolution (do-better) : Stop referring to my husband as "Jeffreen".

Ah resolution time. I love it.

You know why?

I like examining my life and seeing what is going well and what is just not working.

Also, and maybe more importantly, it gives me a chance to make lists.

So, lets not call these resolutions. Let's call these do-betters.

This year I'd like to do a better job of:

• letting my kids get messy


• reading the Bible, not just "Bible studies"


• maintaining a hair-cut. Any hair-cut.


• changing out of my pajamas to take the girls to school.


• drinking water (I wish water tasted like coffee...)


• being as enthusiastic about my faith as I am about Facebook


• buying good shoes (except Old Navy flip-flops because I love them)

Alright, surely at least a couple of these I can accomplish. Sigh... we'll see!