Kelsey Graduated!

Yesterday my baby sister Kelsey graduated from High School! Yeah Kelsey! So we spent yesterday afternoon at commencement which was well, hot. Thought I would post some pictures from the day! Enjoy!
Here are Emma and Calvin right before we left for the Joyce. Emma decided to be a bull...
Then she decided that Calvin should be a bull too!
The proud graduate with her nephew. My baby sis with our baby.

Sisters (and all my fab kids (I say ALL like I am herding them around or something!))
Me with my sis', kids, and Gram. I don't know what I was doing but doesn't it look like I should be saying "holla' back yo, yoo, yoo"?

Emma and Kelsey...so cute!
This is what Emma did during the commencement ceremony! It looks like she is reaching for the football which is just precious...high aspirations.

God's Faithfulness is Never Ending

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

5th Wedding Anniversary!

No you can't get all excited yet. We haven't made it there yet. But we are planning on making it to our fifth wedding anniversary in a few months...provided we don't kill one another (and please no one take that literally). Anywho, I thought I would post so hopefully someone could give me some nifty ideas for celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary. We could renew vows but thats out. There were no toasts to reminisc over, no people in attendance at our wedding (except for the pastor and his wife), so ideas are a little limited. I am having my fabulous cousin do a photo shoot of us, but besides that I have no ideas. Can anyone give us some advice? Much appreciated, thanks!

Memorial Day Weekend

Oh my goodness, may I just start out saying how much I love our little family and all of the time that we get to spend together. We had such a fabulous long weekend together. Saturday Jaime and I hit the Old2Gold sale at Notre Dame which was incredible! We arrived at 6:10, the gates opened at 7 and we were wrapped around so we were standing on the other side of the stadium. I had such a great time with her, she got a bike, I got clothes, and I haven't laughed that hard in I don't know how long.
When I got home we started planting. We got all of our plants in the ground and also got some seeds planted. I don't have high hopes for the seeds, but Emma loved planting them. Maybe she will finish her dinner if she knows where it all came from...um, yeah right, that's a long stretch!
That night I was singing and bouncing Cal around and he started laughing. Not just laughing but belly laughing...the cutest noise in all the land. Nick and I were just in awe! He has such a low cute voice too and he was just having the time of his life...man I love that kid!
The only truly awful part about the weekend was that I got hit with a massive cold...the same cold that Nicholas has been battling and is continuing to battle (on a sidenote, Nick is one of those weird wussy people that is always sick...for like months on end with the same cold. I guess it isn't weird as he doesn't take anything to get better, no medicine, no vitamins, just a lot of whining...just teasing about the whining...kind of). Anyway because of the illnesses inflicted upon us we skipped church Sunday but then headed out to the park. If my mom were reading this she would say if we were well enough to go to the park we were well enough to go to church...kind of but it is a lot easier to blow your nose in the park than it is in the church sanctuary. The pictures above are of the park and right as we were leaving for the park and oh my gosh how I love that picture of her. She was all dressed for tennis, which we tried but she was much too involved in the new contraption, the tire swing, to care...maybe next time.
After the park I decided it was just too beautiful out to spend the day cooped up, so we went home for clothes and diaper changes and then headed to Fernwood Botanical Gardens...what a perfect day. Emma had a blast and we all had a blast just hanging out and being together in God's beauty.
Monday we did a whole lot of nothing which was spectacular! Monday evening we had a cookout at my Gram's. Had to post this pic of Cal and Maime in the swing...you know you love me! By the way I wish mine would sometime act like a UB but the element of caring is just gone...insiders on the inside know...ha! So that's my weekend in a nutshell "help I'm a weekend stuck in here in this shell"...how was yours?

Firsts Around Here

Emma got her first tricycle for her Birthday and this past weekend she took it outside and took it for a spin...she did pretty good and was so excited and proud of herself. It was just too cute!
Another first this past week was that Calvin began eating cereal! He didn't seem to like it very much at first but has since seemed to warm up to it more as the week has progressed. He is just so cute! Emma didn't like the idea of Cal sitting in her high chair until...We introduced her to her new booster seat! Check out the pink! She is doing so good in it and really seems to enjoy eating at the actual table. Another first this past weekend was that I got my sink shiny as the flylady plan suggests. As you can see I am such a dork that my pink kitchen does in fact have pink dish soap and pink hand soap...I know, I know, I'm pathetic!

Dell Should Give Me Royalties...or something!

Whenever I see a Dell commercial I think I should be getting some type of compensation from them! Errr! My senior year of college, one of the MANY exit projects I had to do was an analysis of a top company and make recommendations. Believe it or not but this two-hour presentation was one of the easier ones considering I had to give an investment portfolio restructuring recommendation to the CFO of one of the State's largest hospitals...yikes! (Now your silly exit papers don't look so hard, do they college kids?) Anywho, this was back in the day when, if you wanted a Dell computer you called Dell or went to their website. One of the recommendations was to make Dell computers available in stores. And are they available in stores now? Why yes they are! Another recommendation? Have a Dell representative there for a more personalized buying experience. And do they have Dell reps? Why yes they do. Here's another one: Dell should start making printers as that was the only thing they were outsourcing in their bundles. And do they make printers now? Of course because I'm a genius! Normally I would think that Dell is just clairvoyant and somehow knew the ideas, except our professor mailed them the project including a tape of the presentation. Do you think they thought "geesh, these people are geniuses?" I have this idea that maybe some grunt in the mailroom at Dell stumbled upon the package, opened it and decided to make the ideas his own. He probably changed the names on the presentation and walked up to the ivory tower with all of these ideas. Maybe he is some bigwig now. But I am sure it didn't happen like that. I am just sure they came up with those ideas all by themselves...right!

Big People, Little World

I love this photograph I captured last night while Emma and Daddy played. She was making food for him; she kept giving him soup and he kept saying "soup is nice but I want some real food!" so she gave him more soup. What kind of soup you ask? "Pink soup" was Emma's answer...apparently the girl likes to serve borsht to her guests. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband to be such a terrific Daddy for our children.

Random Thoughts during my Day off...

The following are random things I have thought of during the day...geesh I am silly:

Is it pronounced Eether or IIIther?
I am wondering why we have 8 spoons for Calvin when they come in packs of 5?
Do you know the muffin man?
Will I ever stop finding shredded cheese under our kitchen table?
Do you have our two missing spoons?
Do you often times find your nose running but cannot blow anything out so only a kleenex shoved up your nose works?
Are you grossed out now?
Calvin had his first poo today!
Now you should be grossed out.
I would give $50.00 right now to just be able to go take an uninterrupted shower...$100.00 if I could shave my legs
Do you ever wonder if ants have boyfriends? Do they date? "Hey I've heard good things about this new crumb pile...wanna go check it out?"
Now you are grossed out and affirmed that I am weird.
I love Nick...I love knowing that he was the one for me.
I think Nick is the normal one of the family...his family that is
Thats some weird normal
Why don't they make the sink stoppers easier to clean out?
When you are losing weight do you go to buy clothes or do you just wait?
How long do you wait?
My pants fell off...maybe nows the time to shop.
I used to hate zucchini
Now its okay
Nick still hates zucchini
I can't frenchbraid hair
Everyone thinks I look like Kimora

First Boyfriends

My sisters (you can read it as My sista’s if you so choose) were over yesterday and little Kelsey brought her new boyfriend. This is basically the iconic first boyfriend for her and I couldn’t help but wax a little sentimental when she had left. Do you remember your first boyfriend? Remember the butterflys you got in your tummy when he was around or all of the minute details of actually asking you out that seemed so important at the time? Remember how you would talk to your little girlfriends about it and all of the questions “did he touch your hand like this or like this?” First boyfriends are instrumental in your life: they allow you to dream, and imagine, and create moments in your mind. They allow you to relish moments and feelings within yourself and keep thoughts and key events locked in your memory so you’ll never forget. First boyfriends are also a good lesson for that one day when you have a husband. You learn to understand body language and when to lay off and when to nag, when it is worth it to fight and when to just drop it, and etc. Who was your first boyfriend? What do you remember? What sticks out in your mind? My first boyfriend was a guy named Ryan. He was about 2-3 years older than me and I remember talking to him on the phone for hours at a time. Hours. And I remember the way he smelled like dryer sheets. So anyway, now you just HAVE to comment to tell me all about your first beau.

Just a little Thank you God, Thank you God!

Do you ever look at your life and think, how did I get here? That’s the way I felt this weekend. I know that I have done it before, with the forethought being, how did I get so old? Why do I live here? What was I thinking when I thought I could pull off this mom charade? But this weekend, the thought was more along the lines of “I can’t believe all of the wonderful things/animals/furniture/transportation/basic bodily functions/rooms in our home that God has blessed me with.” Do you ever have those moments? I just look around in wonderment…God has taken such good care of me, in spite of everything. In spite of my horrid, horrid, wicked sins, God has forgiven me and blessed me beyond measure. That is what Grace is all about. There’s an acronym for Grace: God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. Isn’t that just so true? The pastor preached on joy yesterday in the sermon, and oddly enough we learned about the same thing in Sunday School; we talked about how Christians shouldn’t be downer people. You know what kind of downer people I am talking about: the kind of people that complain about every thing, that always have something wrong in their lives, that bring the whole room down when they are there, and that just drain the emotional life out of people they are around. I don’t want to be one of those people. We should be so full of Joy! At everything that God has done in our lives and the forgiveness he has bestowed upon us! I want to be a joyful person!!! I am so blessed, we just can’t understand why he loves us so much! Help me to be one of those people, PLEASE! When I am whiny, or complainy that my amazing husband did one thing stupid (well, stupid to me at least) once in his life, just smack me upside the head and say something gospel-like, such as “be filled with the Lord Jesus Sista!” You have to, its required. Because like the song says I’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus, down in my heart!

I'm Pretty Fly

So I was reading blogs yesterday as I tend to do every day and I stumbled upon this one website called FlyLady. The website starts you out on Baby steps to getting your house clean and decluttered. I think that clean isn't so much my problem as cluttered. My confession is that I think I had run across this one before but thought, "who doesn't have time to clean their house?" Well the answer is now me. I really need to follow a schedule. And as much as I love my new schedule it would be nice to be told when I should be cleaning certain things in the house...like sheets. How often are you supposed to change your sheets? Anyone? So my question is, does anyone else belong to Fly Lady? Do you like it? Do you hate it? I JUST signed up so I will be shining my sink as the instructions suggest. I am hoping a shiny sink will be the start to a shiny weekend!

Family Dinners

I love the idea of having Sunday Dinner after church. You can read all about it here. The gal that wrote this blog is from South Carolina. Which is weird because when I saw Sunday dinner I immediately thought about my own family in South Carolina. When we were down visiting them I became enamored by their ritual of Sunday dinner. Everyone comes from everywhere, the church and inland from the beach mainly, and they all sit down around my Aunt Patsie's table for Supper. She always makes chicken and rice and there is always gravy on everything. There is always a cobbler on the side table. I want my family to know the stability and love wrapped up in this family tradition. Plus I love the thought that there is so much food so guests are always welcome. How homey! So go on now and plan yourself a nice supper for after church this Sunday.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Okay so this is not an attractive picture of me (hence I am the ugly one!). But I thought this was the funniest picture so I just had to post it. I guess I am humble or something. In Youth Group we used to say that you can't have fun unless you are humble; and thatis true, isn't it?

Anyway, Emma is the Good with her princessy fairy wand, granting Mommy all of her wishes. Poof, stop being ugly! And then there's Calvin. I love the Devil baby glare he's giving the camera, all swaddled in red. So uncharacteristic of him and yet it was captured at the same time as Emma looking angelic. I just HAD to share as I thought it was hilarious.

Thursday Schedule Update

So I will have to let you know how my new cool schedule works tomorrow. This morning my alarm didn't go off so I woke up 10 minutes before I was supposed to be at work...yikes! Plus we have a doctor's appointment for Calvin this afternoon and then errands to run so I won't be home this afternoon for chores during naptime. After that we are going down to the Witwer Manor for dinner and then my 7-8 cleaning time will be dispelled as well. So I will let you know how it runs tomorrow...sorry!

My Wednesday was Wonderful...kind of

So today we went to Shipshie, which for those of you who don't know is actually pretty far away from my house. We set out this morning and were supposed to meet my Gram and Aunt Jan there at 10 but ended up not leaving our house until about that time. Jaime came over to ride with me and thank the Lord that she did, she was such a big help! I think she was about to lose her mind though with all it takes to get two kids out the door with extra outfits and snacks and cups and at the last minute Calvin needed fed before we left. Exhausting. Then, probably about 3/4 of the way there, poor Emma gets car sick and pukes Oatmeal all over herself. You know who your best friend is when they are on the side of the road with you peeling puke clothes off of your kid. Thank you so much Maime! Back into the car, cleaned up and ready to go. By the way thanks to the EverGreen guy who stopped to see if he could help as he was the ONLY person to stop to see if two women with two kids needed assistance...what has our world come to? At Shipshie it was raining like none other so we only shopped the Mercantile which was so much fun! I decided to splurge and buy new sunglasses...they are more expensive than I spend on anything but Happy Mother's Day to me, right? You can see them here: I think I like them the best on Calvin but that's just because he reminds me of that old bald guy that used to dance on the Great America commercials...do you know who I am talking about?

After that we ate at Essenhaus which was fabulous as always! I got a chef salad with ham and soup, which was originally for Emma but she wouldn't eat it. Supper was followed by Peanut Butter pie and a cup of coffee...yum! Another Giada moment!

It was wonderful to spend the day with the girls! I am so happy my Aunt is back in town and it was fun with Jaime driving with me...we had such a blast!

One of the things I saw I really wanted to buy when I was out and about were candles. But I didn't buy any. I have a million and two candles at home and just about that many candle holders that makes it just seem silly to buy more. I love the way candles look and the way it changes the environment within the home. Whenever we go to Bean's house she always has tons of candles going and it always looks so nice. So I am going to try to light candles every night before dinner. Here are the candles I lit last night to disburse through the house:

I think it will create a relaxed atmosphere which I should be creating for Nick to come home to after a busy day.

SAHMs

Photo courtesy of Sarasota Memorial Hospital

Why do I get so jealous of stay at home moms? For some reason when I hear that someone is a stay at home mom, something inside of me bubbles up and I get so irritated, it is just unbelievable. I feel almost as a child when they want something that is simply unattainable, "but I want to be a Stay at Home Mom too!" And yet when I stop to think of it, I don’t want to be a stay at home mom. I tried it once and went out of my cotton-freaking mind! I am definitely not cut out to be stay at home mom. I need my day to have structure and I need to interact with other adults about things other than the number of bowel movements in a day and the latest rice cereal on the market. I also became incredibly depressed and anxious when I was at home with the kids full time. Now I only work part time and I must admit that I love what I do. I am not married to my job or anything but I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment when I leave work. I wonder if I am jealous of the stay at home mom’s financial position; that they can stay at home, because honestly we couldn’t afford for me to stay home all of the time. But on the other hand, I don’t truly know the financial position of these stay at home mom’s. Maybe no one in the house can afford to eat meat or dairy products because she stays home. Maybe they are charging everything to their credit cards so they can look affluent. I am not trying to be mean, but it does help to sometimes remind myself that things are not always as they appear on the surface.

Vacationing without Going Broke

This is a good article about going on a vacation this year and saving some money. You can read it here. I know we are looking for ways to save money on our vacation this year. One way is we buy a valued visitor card or an Entertainment book. There are coupons for free gifts, 2 for 1 meals and percentage off at certain stores and hotels. Every little bit helps I guess.

Sleep Deprived Mama

So Nick and I were talking this weekend and as we are talking he made me realize that I have been surviving the last few months on only 3 hours of sleep a night. 3 HOURS OF SLEEP A NIGHT! A light went off in my head when I realized this: this would explain why I am so grumpy, and unmotivated, and unorganized, and... Not only am I stumbling through the day but I think my brain is just shutting down at certain points of the day. So I am making a declaration and saying no more! I am going to get more sleep (I'm making the drastic change to 4 hours of sleep a night) and I am going to have a schedule for myself so that I am no longer found in the kitchen staring blankly at the counter...just standing and staring. Here is my schedule for myself:

4:30-5:00 Swiffer house and mop
5:00-5:45 Get ready for work, do devotions, pump (breast milk, not iron, teehee!)
6:00-1:00 Work, work, work!
1:00-2:00 Eat lunch and play with kids
2:00-3:00 Naps for the children, cleaning and household chores for me
3:00-3:30 If children still napping, downtime for me!
4:00-5:00 Play with kids, prepare dinner
5:00-6:00 Prepare and eat dinner
6:00-7:00 Open for playing, relaxing, whatnot
7:00-8:00 Cleaning!
8:00-8:18 Storytime with Emma before bed
8:18-9:00 Alone time with Nick
9:00-9:30 Shower or take bubble bath
9:30-10:00 Get ready for bed, get outfit ready for next day, set coffee maker, etc.
10:00 bed time!

So if I were to go to bed at 10:00 I would get 6 hours of sleep (actually 5 with 2 feedings with Calvin through the night). However I am realistically going into this knowing it is going to be more like 11:00 before I get to sleep most nights, but a girl can try! I know this is a pretty strict schedule but I don't have to follow it to a t, its just a guideline for me. There are so many things to do that I don't know WHAT to do...does that make sense? So I will let you know later on in the week how my new schedule is going.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mommy's out there! Nick brought me breakfast in bed and now I am spending some time alone, which is what I asked for. I thought I would post a picture of the kids so I can relish how lucky I really am to be a mother. There are so many hardships that come with being a mother: having absolutely no time to ones self (practically), not having any time to get ready, being puked on, being pooped on, the tantrums, the sleepless nights. But all of the good outweighs all of the bads. Not only am I lucky to be a mother, but I am a mother with Nick as my children's father. I don't think there is anything better that I could have asked for. He is such a great husband and daddy. He is my support that is always there for me and always reassures me when I am convinced that I am not good at this whole Mom thing. I am so lucky to be celebrating Mother's Day with the people I am with right this very moment!

Have You Wondered Where I've Been?

I appologize for being so aloof lately. Life has pretty taken over life if, that makes sense. But I think I now have a clear view of things again. I have been so busy and so stressed over nothing. I have been so mean to my family and husband because I have felt like the world is crashing in on me. I haven't had time to put lotion on or get dishes done. I have gotten a huge boost of confidence and energy though.

Sunday Nick left for a conference in Detroit. I missed him so much but wasn't my usual whiny selfish self that I usually am...a definite sign of maturity on my part. But while he was gone I realized just how much I love him and how much I miss him when he is away. I also realized I am to have him...I have no idea how single mom's do it!

Tuesday I left via train to meet Nick in Detroit. I felt very Anne of Green Gables as I stood on the platform of the 1892 train station, waving to Peg, Emma, and Cal. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming; it was a warm spring day with a gentle breeze in the air. I boarded the train and found I was facing backwards...instantly petrified of motion sickness I downed a couple Dramamine. And surprise, they worked beautifully! I was even able to read on the train...and dream, and sleep, and sightsee!

When I arrived in Detroit it was like living out a fairy tale with Nick waiting for me. He was so happy to see me and he scooped me up and kissed me. How romantic! A definite change from the two of us nagging one another all of the time at home.

On the way to the hotel we stopped at a gourmet market for some shopping and then onto the hotel. Once freshened up we hit the street in search of fun things. We first stopped at Hard Rock for drinks and an appetizer. Next we went to Cyprus, a greek restaurant featured in the Rachael Ray mag (thanks Aunt Jan!) for some of the best greek food. We trested ourselves to drinks and the flaming cheese. Opa! Next we went to the Greektown Casino and gambled $1.00 away on slots. I won a few times which was fun. Nick said it was cute to watch me win. Seriously though I had such sensory overload I thought I was going to start rocking myself in a corner. After that we went back to the hotel to relax. After American Idol and watching the polls we headed down to Sweet Lorraine's and got drinks and dinner...we split an entree. Afterwards we went hot tubbing and were very pleased to see that we were the only ones there. How romantic!

When we awoke the next morning it was 8:00 am, a long time after I normally wake up at 4! It was so refreshing! Nick went out for coffee and I lounged which was heavenly. When he got back with my cappuccino, he kissed me and then headed out for his conference and leaving me to my own devices. I sat there with my cup of coffee and very slowly savored a couple pastries we had purchased the night before. They were the most delicious things I have ever eaten. They were from Astoria, a bakery voted best bakery, one of the best in the nation! I closed my mouth and savored every morsel, very Giada of me!

After my breakfast I took a long bath with some bath salts I had bought myself. I worked my way through a couple of magazines I had been trying to get through. After that I slowly got ready and actually took time to go through my routine. My routine which over the last two years has slowly dwindled from an hour long pampering affair to maybe 10 minutes of doing the musts. And during this time of me getting ready it hit me: putting lotion on should not be an extravagance. I should have enough time for myself to put lotion on.

So now we are back home and I am so refreshed and relaxed! I just need to make this feeling last. I need to stay silly and still treat Nicholas like we are still in love, because we are. Madly and deeply in love. He helped me see that. I feel like my old self again, not a wash maid or a beer wench, or a mom, or a wife, or a nosy neighbor. I feel like me, and I like that.

Grandma Blue Jean's House

For Emma's Birthday my Gram bought Emma a sandbox for her to play in at her house. At first Emma was a little leary but eventually she warmed up to it and now really seems to enjoy it! Gram got it for her house because living in the city doesn't afford us the luxury of having a large yard, so her house is somewhere Emma can go to run in the grass and play. The pictures were from Emma's time at Grandma Jean's on Friday. She had so much fun! She first played on the swingset stand and when we brought her in from that she kept screaming "monkey bars, monkey bars"; it was so sad! After dinner we (by we I mean my Grandma and Jaime, heehee!)set up the sand box so Emma could dig right in (pardon the pun). While Gram and Emma played, Jaime, Calvin and I hung out on the grass. By the way, we are pretty sure Gram got the sandbox so SHE could play.

After the sandbox it was onto playing with bubbles, which does happen to be Emma's favorite past time! Aunt Jaime has a bubble machine at Gram's for Em. Emma kept running through the bubbles saying "it feels good, it feels good". So precious. I must say that watching Emma run through the bubbles and then take her wand and try to catch them is one of those moments that makes me misty eyed just thinking of. It was like time stood still and I just kept trying to take in as many details as I could so I could always remember that moment: the way the breeze was blowing Emma's curls, how her shorts were too little and her little legs just kept running, her cute little feet in her new Crocs she refuses to take off, the sound of her squeals and giggles, her smile when she would catch a bubble. I hope I can remember all of those things for the rest of my life.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you as you are probably wondering about the title of this post. Emma was feeling her pants one day and it went like this "pants, pants, jeans, jeans, Grandma Jeans". I may have already told this story but I just think it is so hilarious that she thinks Grandma Jean is Grandma Denim. When I was a little girl I had a similar word: yard. I thought a yard was where you played not a measurement. So my mom used to sell Stickers by the yard in her store and I would always call them Stickers by the Lawn...how funny kids are!

Cuppa, Cuppa

My sis-in-law bought me these pink measuring cups and spoons! Aren't they fab? They will work perfectly in my all pink kitchen! Bean and I have a sister ball that we have been doing for years. I can't believe its been years already! Anyway, the sister ball is a small silver ball with a maroon ribbon. I think it is actually for potpurri or an ornament or something but it is two halves with a hinge and a clasp so you can open it up and put small things in. Well the darn thing is so small that it is almost impossible to find anything that goes inside of it, so we've always given gift bags of things with the ball tucked inside. So this was her gift to me only it was ball-less because my gift to her was ball-less last time. And why you ask? Because silly me let Emma play with the ball and now it is gone. I cannot find the ball! How a one year old manages to lose a silver ball is beyond me but lose she did. Anyway, these are my new utensils and I love them!

MEAN MAN IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Okay so I don't think that any of you know this man but I had to post this because it irritated me so much. Yesterday we went on a walk which was absolutely wonderful. On the way home however there was a man who had his van parked in his driveway so he was completely blocking the sidewalk. Now I understand if this happens when you are having a party or something and you are out of room to park...that's cool. But this guy could have pulled up or parked in the street...the options were endless, but instead he chose to park in the middle of the sidewalk. So as we were walking we came upon the blocked sidewalk. The man was out there with his daughter who was maybe four and she was standing on the sidewalk next to the van. From the opposite side of the van a little boy, maybe about 7 years old rides his bike around the van and accidentally knocks this little girl down. The mean dad who obviously can't park yells at the boy to get out of there and then decides he wants to yell at him, so he grabs him by the arm to stop. What a jerk! Then he is yelling at the little boy that he shouldn't even be riding his bike on the sidewalk he needs to ride on the street. So I kind of butted in and yelled at him that maybe he shouldn't be parking on the sidewalk, which you aren't supposed to do anyway. I mean none of that would have happened anyway if the man knew how to obey the rules so everyone could use the sidewalk. So anyway, this man lives on the block next to ours and you'd better believe that the next time I am walking my kids around the neighborhood and see their little four year old daughter riding her tricycle around on the sidewalk, I will suggest she ride in the street. Isn't that what he said? Shouldn't the rules apply to everyone? Because yes, I know if you are an adult you are supposed to be riding your bike in the street. Everyone knows that. But do we really expect our children to do that? Do they have to keep up with the flow of traffic as well? Should they learn the correct arm movements to signal turning? Didn't we all have to do that as children playing with our friends in bike gangs? So if you see this man please tell him he's not a very nice man. I have been worried about that poor little boy all day. He was probably scared to death and is going to ride out in the street now and get killed all because this man doesn't know how to park.

What We've Been up To

I know that some of you just tune in for the pics which is a-okay. Aunt Jan misses her great niece and nephew. So I thought I would post some pictures of us from this past weekend. I must say we are enjoying the new season so much. We have our bird feeder up to watch the birdies eat their breakfast every morning and we are loving to work in the garden! Friday night we went out to eat to Culver's...we had coupons for one free sandwich and one free icecream...BOGO coupons so we had a very nice meal for a very nice price! After dinner we went to go see Aunt Kelsey perform in a children's play, Snow White. Emma loved it!

Here I am with my sisters Lacey and Kelsey. Kelsey is holding Calvin, she was the mother in Snow White that told the story.

Saturday we went to Chi-town to visit our cousins. They have four kids that Emma just adores and loves to play with. They also had some wonderful hand-me-downs to share which are always very much appreciated.

Here's Emma on the ladder climbing on the swingset. She loved playing with her cousins!

Sunday we were terrible people that stayed home from church (shhhh!). We got home really, really late from traveling and I was feeling as though I was coming down with something. So we sat around the house and leisurely made our way through the newspaper. We also got quite a bit done around the house, including cleaning, laundry, raking and gardening, Nicholas got the screen door repaired and replaced the storm door with that, trim cut and put up in Emma's room. It was just an all around nice day. We then went down to Nick's mom and dad's and had cheeseburgers which were super yummy.
This picture was from yesterday, Monday which wasn't in the weekend but thats okay. Here is Calvin ready for our walk. Isn't he the cutest little boy? We're pretty sure his eyes are going to be hazel. Nick and I have very deep brown eyes, as does Emma. But his are staying greyish green, blue, sometimes brown. I guess we will see. But both of us have mom's with blue eyes and I know Uncle Marcy has hazel eyes, so we will have to see.

Men?

Am I making any sense? Can you read this or am I typing in tongues? Just curious. I just had one of those "talks" with Nick; you know the kind I am talking about. It went something like this:

Me: I don't mind if you go to the Cubs game I just wish you made that much of an effort for us to do things together

Him: We're together all of the time and we don't have any money

Me: We don't need money and we are always with the kids

Him: We could hang out after the kids go to bed but you blog all of the time

Me: Um, hardly ever do I blog at night and what are we going to do while hanging out, watch the Cubs?

Him: What's wrong with that?

Me: Just go and have a good time

Him: Now you're giving me a guilt trip


Do you have these conversations too? The truth is that Nick is the most unromantic person I've ever met or heard of...people should write in diatribe about him. If someone does something romantic he thinks that's stupid. Name something, anything: stupid. I guess I am just going through that I wish the guy I married would be a little romantic phase again. And no I have not seen the Notebook recently. But the sad truth is that I am pretty sure Nick could make the bed and I would melt down in tears at that being the sweetest thing ever. Do you know what I mean? Are you amening me on this stuff? I know I could do stuff too but still, he is the man and darnet sometimes ladies just need actions to back up those I love yous. He says there's no one to watch the kids and not a lot of money. But there are grandmas and Aunts and putt-putting is fairly cheap. So is sitting at the grotto (again, stupid). And its not that I couldn't call for a sitter and email him telling him what we are going to do, but its that I shouldn't have to, right? Isn't it written somewhere that every once in three years or so guys should have to sweep their wives up and make them feel fluttery? I really am not guy bashing, promise. I love Nick and I love him the way he is. Just please tell me if I am the only one who feels this way sometimes.

What does dedicated mean?

I heard Nick telling Emma the other night that she "needs to form a dedicated commitment to potty training." Hilarious.

If we were sisters...

So if you and I were sisters do you think I would be the nerdy one or the cool one? Would I be the pretty one or the one wishing she were the pretty one? Would you be the one that is smart and I am to emulate or would that be me? Never thought it before did you?

A Mom's Mantra

photo courtesy of allposters.com

"We are not called by God to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things with extraordinary love."-Jean Vanier





I think I need to remember this every moment of every day!

I Heart Amy!

This article on momadvice.com got a big Thank you God! from me. As mean as it sounds, it is nice to know that I am not the only one that faces this type of jealousy. I know that us watching our spending and being trendy-thrifty is good for our family and blah, blah, blah. But sometimes what it boils down to is that it is just plain hard to walk past the Coach display at Macy's or to drive past Starbucks. Sometimes I want to be the fun girl with the neat stuff. But I know that the pretty fun girls are hollow inside and I don't want any part of them raising my children. I want to teach my children that its not about how pretty you are or how much crap you own but its about being kind and having a heart thats on fire for God.

Weekend Update

This is one of my favorite pictures ever!
Snoozing away-what he does every weekend!

So this weekend was fairly productive! Nick got all of the woodwork in our solarium primed and painted and it is done! All I had slated for him to do this weekend was the priming so I was impressed. Movies this weekend from the library were "An Affair to Remember" and "The Simpsons". I am assuming you know which movie was for which person. Saturday I managed to get all of the laundry done and put away...a first for me for a really long time. I have a notorious habit of doing the laundry and folding it and then letting it sit around getting wrinkled all week long. Or I have it all put away except for one load and then those clean clothes just sit around the house...not good. I also got our family calendar updated, meals planned, and I just got back from grocery shopping! I had on my to do list for today to dust and to rake outside, but I think I am doing pretty well with just keeping my sanity...after all today was the first day of my new job. I think it went well. I am just kind of lost being the new kid and not knowing what I will be doing. It is also definitely an adjustment to get up at 4:00 every morning that's for sure. But I know it is best for my family and that is what I am all about right? Just like the hokey pokey. Which Nick and I found ourselves doing around the house this weekend...and no that is not a code name for sex. We did the hokey pokey while Emma kind of laughed at us. Ah to be two parents in love. We are definitely having fun around here!

Pink Gloves and Blue Sponges

Mommy guilt. I feel it weighing constantly on my heart like a thick fog that clouds my judgement on everything I do. If I clean the house I feel the guilt for not playing with the children. While I play with the children I look around the house in its discombobulated state and feel guilt for not taking care of the house better for my husband and children. When I play with Emma during Calvin’s nap I feel guilt for not playing with Calvin more. When I play with Calvin during Emma’s nap I feel guilt that I don’t play with him more. I feel guilt that I do not have enough one on one time with Calvin and will never be as close to him as I am to Emma. I feel guilt that I don’t fret over him the way I did with Emma. I feel guilt that we do not buy him as many things as we did for Emma. I know that all of this is weird and crazy but it is my burden of Mommy Guilt and it is my cross to bear. However when I was folding laundry at 5:00 this morning before work, I had a thought cross my mind that almost seemed like a ray of hope in my cave of guilt: perhaps housecleaning is good for the kids. I know that sounds weird. I always feel bad when I am cleaning and letting Emma play on her own and Calvin just lays there giving me the evil eye for not holding him. After all cleaning doesn’t include me teaching them anything or loving on them or anything. But maybe it does. Maybe it teaches Emma how to care for her household when she is married with children. Maybe it teaches my children the value of taking care of their things and to take pride in their home. Maybe it teaches Calvin to seek a wife that will take care of his home and his children. Yes maybe just maybe cleaning does teach my children something (aside from teaching colors, as I found when Emma pulled a pair of my panties out of the dryer and said “orange”…yes honey those are orange). Crap, now I have to find a new reason to put off cleaning.

Water for Coupons

So last Sunday was the insert in the paper of all of the Proctor-Gamble coupons. I love the proctor-gamble coupons as there are tons of coupons in there…it is like Christmas in April. Anyway my mother in law passes on her coupons to me which is amazing, but I am always too lazy and I don’t get to clipping them until the following week. So while I was clipping them this weekend (I know this is long, I do have a point though, promise!) I saw a sheet in the coupons reading “each coupon you redeem gives a liter of clean water”. Intrigued I continued reading. And apparently for each coupon you redeem out of the April issue of the Proctor and Gamble brandSAVER coupon book, “Proctor and Gamble will supply a liter of filtered drinking water to someone in the developing world who desperately needs it.” Now my heart will feel warm and fuzzy while saving money at the grocery store!

Happy

So my cousin and I recently had a discussion of what do you do if you aren't happy with someone or something in your life. I am sure everyone has a different response to these questions and feel free to post your opinions. I thought I would give you some insight into my feelings on this topic. With Nick, I have always had the opinion that divorce is not an option. I think a lot of people get this notion in their head with marriage that they should be happy all of the time. I think that is a lot of crap. No one is ever happy in any thing they do all of the time. There have been a lot of times with Nick that I am not happy. Not with him or anything, just happy in life, which inadvertently coincides to being happy with Nick, seeing as how I am with him. I like to compare it to a paragraph. My paragraph, or life, is so completely full and happy. But sometimes you inevitably get a sentence that is an unhappy one. And that is okay. That is what makes the story so great. In our fast paced world where everything is made for self gratification, we can't fathom living with unhappiness. But I think that unhappiness is what makes the happiness that much sweeter.

Pizza Palooza

Gram with Cal

Yesterday we trekked over to Gram's where Jaime had the awesome idea for a pizza party! We had veggie pizza with the cream cheese "sauce" and cheese and all kinds of veggies, a traditional pizza with cheese and sausage, and an out of this world dessert pizza with a peanut buttery sauce, and apples drizzled with a caramel sauce. It was so much fun and Emma loved helping! Thanks Jaime for the wonderful ideas and the terrific day!

Weekend Recap on Tuesday because I am Slow

Emma is sporting her new gardening gear...she was tickled pink, just like her gloves!

Here's what Cal did while we worked...what a life!

So our weekend ended up being really nice! Friday evening we rented a couple of movies from the library: Superbad and the Jane Austen Book Club. Loved the later one! It was so unbelievably nice to be able to sleep in Saturday morning. Okay, sleeping in is now about 7:30 but still, it felt heavenly. We then went to the farmer's market which was a lot of fun with the kids. After we got home we worked out in the lawn, preparing our beds for planting. Emma seemed to really enjoy raking. Then I got the attic cleaned up...yeah for me. It was so bright up there I was getting a headache, but I persevered until I got done. Saturday evening we made French Dip sandwiches which were incredibly yummy. Sunday we went to church and then to my Aunt Marilyn's for lunch which was a lot of fun. Afterwards we came home and got a lot of cleaning around the house done. I love the weekends around here that are just normal, you know? No where to really go, no formal obligations to attend to. We just relaxed and enjoyed one another's company in the beautiful weather.

Happy 3 month Birthday to Calvin James!

Our Weekend

So this weekend I had set Saturday aside from about Mid-January for cleaning out the attic. It just needs organized and there are things up there just screaming to go to Goodwill. However, tomorrow is supposed to be the best day of the year so far with warm sunny written all over it. Do I want to spend the day in the attic on a bright sunny day? That would be a big no. So tomorrow is open for ideas on what we are going to do. I am thinking of maybe taking all of the rascals to Fernwood Botanical Garden. We have a coupon and I have never been there so it would be neat. Or we could go Farmer's Marketing. Or take a long walk and picnic at the park. Or garden. Or shop for the garden. Who knows really? Sunday we are going to visit my Aunt Marilyn and have a salad luncheon so that will be fun. She still hasn't met Cal yet because I am a loser and a hobbit that doesn't leave the house. So that is our weekend, how does yours look?

The Least Frugal Thing

So we finally bought it...Nick's new baby is our 50" plasma. Personally I think it is too big, but it is amazing. I guess we owe it to ourselves since we never buy anything for ourselves really. We are just waiting on the cords and mounting kit to arrive and then it will be above our mantle. I think we have officially lost out minds.

I Got the Job!

So I accepted the job! This morning as I was going to work I was crying because I just didn't want to be away from the kids so much. So I talked to my mom who calmed me down by telling me how normal and instinctual it is to want to be with your kids. I knew God wanted me to take the position but I was just having a hard time obeying. So I went in and told them I would accept the position. I then asked if there was anyway I could work 28 hours instead of 30...and she said sure! I know that sounds stupid, only two hours less, but that means I can work four days of seven hours rather than have two days where I am working eight hour days. Praise God!

I Go to The Rock!

I have been offered a promotion at work. It is a definite vertical jump for my resume and will help me down the road when I am ready to go full time. The problem is that it is more hours, only six, but more hours. My future boss that I talked to said I could even work only four days a week so my mother in law can still have a day open. I keep praying about it and keep saying "okay if she says I can work only four days I'll know" and then that happens but I still doubt. I've talked to Nick, my cousin Jaime, and my mom, and they all kind of gave me that look of "why wouldn't you take it?" and muttered "idiot" under their breath in a Napoleon Dynamite kind of way. I know what I am supposed to do and yet why am I still hesistant? Because I am scared to take the leap of faith and trust God will work it out. For 30 hours a week, four days a week, I will work 2 eight hour days and 2 seven hour days. Not so bad in the grand scheme of things and yet I am dreading this. I will have to be at work at 6 every day which seems awful now but I suppose when I am used to it, it won't be so bad. Does anyone have any advice? Sometimes I try to make my doubt in God out to be God not wanting me to do something. Please pray for me as I think I may be crazy!

Its like I'm a Real Life Woman

So last Friday I felt like a woman, and not just a mom. After work I went for a pedicure...can you believe it? It was amazing with a food mudd bath, massaging and a parafin dip. HEAVENLY! Then later that night my fav cousin and I went out for drinks to Trios, a new jazz club...how swanky are we? We had so much stinking fun munching our snazzy appetizers, and just getting caught up. Wow...there might be life with kids...who knew?