My Hero

This little guy makes my heart soar!

Busy, Busy, Busy

This week we are all out of school for the Thanksgiving holidays. We have been keeping busy, and being productive. I have started on my homemade Christmas gifts and that is taking a lot of time. I can't wait to show pictures, but I'll wait just in case the recipients read this.

We are looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home this year. My family all went to Disney World. Yeah, I skipped out on that trip this year with all my little ones. So we were supposed to have dinner at Cecil's sister's house with his family, but her husband came down with the flu. So we will have our nice family dinner here at the house. Although, I don't know if that pumpkin pie on my counter will last until Thurs. now that I know I don't have to bring it anywhere. Speaking of pumpkin pie, I was dead set on making a homemade pie this year. So I ventured to the store with my list of pie ingredients, among those were nutmeg and ground cloves. Well, maybe I am just cheap, I prefer the term frugal, or wise steward, but I was not paying $5.00 for nutmeg and $8.00 for cloves. Especially when I will use it ONLY this one time all year. So I gave in and bought a pie for 3 bucks.

Have a wonderful, safe, Happy Thanksgiving all my friends!!

Closets

I have this thing about closets. I secretly like to see other people's closets. Especially people who are organized and have it all together (like I wish I did). No, I don't go to anyone's home and snoop through their closets but I do enjoy the (invited) opportunity to peek in one's closet. I really like it if their closet turns out not to be as organized as the rest of their house, as justification for my unorganized closet.

The closet is where seemingly perfectly organized people put things that just don't belong anywhere else. It's the last place that those people who have it all together get to when they are cleaning and making their homes look perfectly in order. I enjoy that glimpse into a less than sparkling closet that says that they are just a tiny bit like me, that everything, every corner, every shelf in their home is not impeccable.

It's funny how our lives are like our closets. Most of us can manage to appear to have our act together. But everyone has a "closet" of life. It's where we store those hurtful words that we carelessly flung at our husband. It's where we stash the moments of insensitivity and impatience that we've shown only to our children. Those actions and reactions that would embarass us if others saw them. In our "closets" you will find the harsh temperament that we would never share with outsiders; only those closest to us, the ones we expect to be forgiving, and accept us for who we are.

I have a huge bedroom closet, it's one of the reasons we bought our house. It is a constant struggle to keep it neat, orderly and free from unnecessary junk. Similarly, my "closet" of life is also very large and I have to try really, really hard to keep it free from negativity, frustration and hurtful words and attitudes. I am working toward filling my "closet" with kindness, thoughtfulness, and gentleness. I'm throwing out all the other "junk". I'm sure it will sometimes creep back in, as junk often does. But I vow to have a more pleasant "closet" to share with my family.

I'm so Excited....

I received my very first blogger award this morning from my blogger friend, Julia over at Sweet As Punkin Pie. She is another working mommy, so hop on over and tell her "hello" Thanks Julia for putting a smile on my face early this morning.

So, I am totally new to this and will do my best. Here are the rules for the award.


1. Thank whoever gave this to you.....Check
2. Copy award.....Check
3. Post it in your blog.....Check
4. Tell us 7 things that your readers don’t know about you....Check

5. Link 7 new bloggers....Ionly have 4, I'll do better next time :)
6. Notify winners of the award with a comment on their blog...Check
7. Keep being awesome!....uh, I'll keep working on this one.

Seven things about myself...hmmmm

1. We are in the process of getting our three-year old son out of our bed and into his own bed. But I secretly...okay, not so secretly am going to miss him sleeping next to me. My husband will too.
2. I worry way to much about the way people think about me.
3. On more than one occasion, I have put baby powder in my hair to keep it from looking oily, because I didn't have time to wash my hair.
4. I love getting up before anyone else in the house just to soak in a little "quiet". Man, this is harder, than it looks!
5. I love being pregnant and I wonder if I will ever stop yearning for a newborn.
6. Being late drives me absolutely crazy. What am I saying being only 10 minutes early drives me crazy.
7. I am a huge procrastinator, but I am working on it. So would that make me a recovering procrastinator?

I don't know if I know of 7 new bloggers. Like I said I am new to blogging. I'll give it a try.

Scrapbook Blessings-because her blog is great and I long to scrapbook again.
Our Enchanting Life because I loved her heartfelt post on Veteran's Day
Scrappin 2009-because I love the layouts that she has shared on her blog

The (Un) Experienced Mom-because even after 4 kids I am still "making it up as I go along"

I Danced Alone

Weekday mornings can be a bit hectic in the morning with 4 kids to dress, breakfast and lunch to prepare for everyone and then leaving early enough to get all of them where they need to be. Cecil and I have a perfectly choreographed routine that we go through each morning, almost like a dance routine. I get up, exercise, wash a load of laundry, take my shower, try to unload the dishwasher. Then he gets up and gets lunches started while I get the older girls up and dressed. He feed them breakfast while I fold a load of laundry and finish getting myself dressed. He then wakes up David, all the while crossing his fingers that David wakes up in a good mood. David and Ava eat breakfast, then Cecil gets David dressed. Once all the hair and teeth are brushed, and after a quick kiss from Daddy and Ava, we finally make it out the door.

Well, this morning Cecil had to leave for work at 4:45 and I danced alone. Not perfectly, not without a few missed steps--I didn't do any laundry or unload the dishwasher, or exercise. But hey, I did shower and we all brushed our teeth and made it ,very calmly, out the door earlier than our usual time, since I also had to bring Ava to her sitter this morning.

I hopped in the van, texted Cecil to tell him that all is well, then I said a prayer of Thanks to God for a wonderfully calm, smooth, enjoyable morning, taking joy in the little moments in my life when things are just going right.

Spinning my Wheels

Ahhhh, it's Monday! This weekend was a blur of non-stop activity, which messes with my entire week. There are certain things at our house that just have to be done on the weekend for our week to run smoothly. We had so much going on this weekend that I just didn't have time to do the normal weekend routine. So, for the better half of this week I will feel like I am just trying to keep my head above water. My only saving grace is that next week is Thanksgiving holidays and we are out for the week. But I really didn't want to spend it trying to catch up with chores. Maybe I will try to pull a couple of late nights and catch up on some things. Otherwise I will be spinning my wheels each day just barely getting by in the chaos that is my life.

Spiderman Celebration!

I know I haven't posted in a while, so I will start catching up with David's 3rd birthday party.

It was a Chick-fil-a, and had to be the easiest party I have ever planned. It was relatively affordable, short, and the kids had fun. Oh, and I didn't have to clean up before or after the party. Can't get any better than that. Here are a couple of pictures from the big day.

I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he said, "Spiderman's hand doin like dis". And did his hand the way Spiderman does to make his web. So I asked a few days later, thinking he would change his mind, but he stated the exact same thing. So I, by all means, had to at least give it a try. The hand was formed from Rice Krispie treats and covered in fondant. I was pretty pleased...other that how the hand was put on the cake. Although I think it was the best tasting cake I have ever made. Chocolate Cake with peanut butter filling..mmmm. But most importantly, David thought the cake was, "Awesome!"

Lion Slayer

So, David has been learning the Bible story of David and Goliath, and apparently how David also killed a lion.





Daddy: David, we have to put change your pants, those don't fit you.



David: No...



Daddy: Yes, you are not wearing those pants.



David: You not boss o me!



Mommy: David, look at Mommy (in a serious, no games voice). Daddy is the boss and you have to do what he tells you to do. You must be obedient.



David: (with a matter-of-fact tone and expression) I killed a lion...I killed a lion with a rock.



Mommy: (looks at Daddy, holds back laughter) You may have, but Daddy is still your boss.



It's so reassuring that he is retaining the information he learns at school.

My Life!

Today, on my birthday, at 28 years of age, this is what I have to show for my short time here on earth .

I couldn't be happier or more grateful. My life is full.....my heart is full!!

I'm Shredding

Note: The below entry was actually written a couple months ago. I found it when cleaning out some unpublished drafts. And realized that I still haven't fully committed to doing anything about it. So this is my commitment. I am going to complete the 30-day Shred, and watch what I eat. I will be posting updates here about my workouts and diet for accountability. It's now or never.



Everyone has a weight or size that they feel their best at. And that is not the same for everyone. So when I got on the scale and saw a number that I hadn't seen since one week postpartum for my last baby (8 1/2 months with the first baby), I knew that I had to do something. It's not about the "number" on the scale really. It's more about what the number represents, as it is not a huge number. But over the months, past couple of years, I have stopped working out, stopped trying to eat right, except for a few ill-timed attempts...ahem, the raw food diet that I started on the first day of school that just left me completely exhausted. I have really stopped taking care of myself. So it's not really about weight, its about health, about my health now and my health when I am 50.
Bob Barker, when he found out that he had skin cancer, said that it was a result of "misspent youth". I don't want to have to claim that when I am his age.

So this weekend when I got off the scale, I had a moment and I cried and I beat myself up and I moaned and groaned about how I don't have enough time to exercise. Then my loving husband came to my rescue. And told me in that encouraging way of his, to make a list of the things that I feel will not get done if I take 30 min-an hour out of my day to exercise, and he will do them for me.

The past two days, I have come home from work and exercised. I jogged a mile and walked a mile on Monday, then I jogged/walked again on Tuesday. Today is also day three with no Dr. Pepper. I am determined to make myself healthier.
Cecil says that everytime I do this, it is all or nothing for me. And he is right. For instance, the raw food diet. I spent oodles of money getting all the right foods to eat then it only lasted one day because it was just too drastic for me.
This time I am just going to try to be sensible about my eating habits. Usually when I start out doing The Firm, I jump in with the 10-pound weights right away and its makes me want to quit. I am not going to deny myself chocolate, I just won't eat it every day, or every break I have at work. I will even allow myself to have a Dr. Pepper every now and then.