A Week of Fun and Weird

We found our camera.  Yea!  Or maybe not.  The memory card went corrupt, the dial to switch settings no longer works, and the battery is giving out.  You will just have to use your imagination for this blog post, and possibly for many other blog posts to come.  :)

This past week has been full of fun, busy days, and weird things. 

The fun things and busy days- We got to go to the Children's Museum for free this past Saturday, courtesy of the Smithsonian's "Free Museum Day."  I bought a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks.  It was pretty good...but I'll stick with my white chocolate mochas or peppermint mochas (my favorite!!).  We bought a Whole Foods' cake for my birthday, which was pretty tasty, and then we celebrated at TGIFridays on Saturday.  Did I mention that Saturday was my birthday?  Turning 31 isn't that great, but at least I still had some fun things to do.
My dad came to town on Sunday afternoon.  We ate at a lot of great restaurants, went on the steamboat, road a carriage, and walked, walked, walked.  The girls did great even though the days were busy and full of activities.  We had a great time though.  It's always nice when family comes to visit.

The weird-Several people, while walking in the Quarter, thought that my dad and I were married.  Yuck!  (Arnold was at work.)  Maybe my dad doesn't look that old, or maybe I'm looking old, but COME ON people!!  Next time, I'm going to get a shirt for him that says, "I love my grandkids" or something like that.  Weird.  I guess since anything goes these days, people didn't think twice about it.

Wednesday's Word

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. 

He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 

My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my might rock, my refuge. 

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." 

Psalm 62:5-8

Isn't it comforting to know that despite our circumstances, we can lean on the Lord, crying out to Him for comfort and strength?  I know during the course of this past year, I felt like letting go, but the Lord will never let His children go.  Nothing can separate us from His love.  How incredible!

Tuesday Randoms

Tuesday Randoms.......

1. I am really bummed that we can't find our camera.  We've managed to keep up with that piece of junk awesome camera now for the last four years.   Seriously though, even though it's just a a point and shoot, it's been a great one.  For now, I guess we will just have to take pictures in our minds, and I will keep dreaming for a big huge photographer's camera that I probably won't know how to operate.  *Sigh*

2. We had a fabulous weekend!  I got to watch a Clemson game on tv, and they beat Auburn!  I haven't seen a Clemson game in forever.  Louisiana doesn't really feel the need to broadcast Clemson games.  I also drank a Cheerwine while watching the game, just to experience South Carolina at its fullest.   The Saints also played and won, which was an added bonus.  We had some friends over for this game, ate way too much, and probably hurt our ear drums from yelling so loud.  It was a great time though!  

3. I am proud of myself for hauling our beast of a vacuum cleaner up to the second floor and actually vacumming yesterday.  I had to wear my ear plugs to vaccumm, that thing is so loud!  It felt good to get that terrible chore checked off the list.  Vaccumming is SO overrated.  (I hope my Mother is not reading this.)

4. My husband is loving his new job, and I think he's doing great!  I've been fixing his lunch every day so that we can save money (eating out adds up, you know!).  And he has been carrying it in his Superman lunchbox.  I wish I could post a picture of this. 

5. I am super psyched that I got a coupon in the mail from Dunkin Donuts for a FREE pumpkin latte.  I always see everyone on facebook and blogs raving about pumpkin drinks from Starbucks, etc.  I can't wait to try one.  I hope I'm not dissappointed.  Of course I always have my handy dandy espresso machine to fall back on, which by the way, I use frequently.  See Mom, this was not a wasted Christmas present!!

Hope you're enjoying your Tuesday

Worship Song

If you need a great song to worship to, this one will work...

So Big!

 My girls are getting so BIG!

Picture

A Picture of Raegan at her 2nd Birthday party back in August.

Your Comments Needed

Since I've been home with the kids, which has been two weeks now, I have started doing two new things.  One thing I've been doing is tracking our expenses, i.e., how much we spend on food every month, gas, miscellaneous items.  I'm amazed at how much we've already spent on food, even though we're only halfway through the month.  We hardly ever eat out, and I'm not buying steaks at the grocery store!  I'm trying to get an idea of how much we spend so that we can set up a realistic budget.  We may be eating saltines and potted meat for the rest of the month at the rate we're going!  I would be interested to know if you guys have a food budget and if so, how do you save money every month on food.  I know the coupon games are all the rage these days, but some of these people I see spend 20 hours a week searching for these deals.  I don't have that kind of time!  But if you know of a simple way to "coupon", please share your ideas with me! 

The second new thing I've started doing is making Peyton help out more around the house.  We, of course, want to teach our kids to be responsible, hard working individuals who take pride in keeping the household clean and running efficiently.  She puts liners in the trash cans, takes the clothes out of the dryer and folds the washcloths, empties the silverware(except for the knives) from the dishwasher, cleans up her toys several times a day, puts condiments in the fridge after we've had a meal, and cleans up the table after we eat.  Again, I would love to hear your ideas of age appropriate chores your kids do at home. And do you implement any type of reward system?  I'm just curious. 

Thanks for sharing with me!  The internet is such a great tool for new ideas...

Sugar

One thing that I am is a sugar addict.  I love sweet things....cakes, cookies, candy, drinks.  I don't feel like a meal is complete without something sweet at the end.  In fact, when I was pregnant with Raegan and Janna (my sister) came and stayed with us that summer, I wrote a post about all the sweet things I baked that summer because of my cravings.  And since Janna is a fellow sweet addict, I had someone to indulge with. 
Anyway, back to the present, I've been convicted the last week or so about all the sugar I put into my body (and my family's bodies).  I've tried to limit the sugar to one sugary treat a day, but that's kind of hard.  Even when I go grab a snack, everything seems to have a ton of sugar in it....yogurt, raisins, granola bars.  The other alternative seems to be a bunch of salt....Chex Mix, chips, nuts.  I'm kind of stuck here.  Does anyone have any ideas for healthy snacking besides peanut butter or a great website you could send me the link to?  Fruit is a great snack but it lasts about 30 minutes and then I'm hungry again.  The same goes with fresh vegetables dipped in ranch dressing.  I'm in a rut here and would like some new ideas! 

My "Where Were You..." Story

Everyone is doing the "Where were you on September 11th" stories on facebook and blogs, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. 

I remember that on August 11, 2001, I had just flown back from Taiwan.  I remember that my parents followed me all the way back to the gate to send me off, and they did the same when they picked me up.  Little did we, or anyone else, know that this would be the last time they would ever see me off at the gate.  How our lives have changed, even our travel has changed!   Exactly one month later, I went to the cafeteria to grab breakfast before my class and saw the first plane plow into the North Tower.  Initially, I thought it was a small private plane, and hoped that it was an accident.  I then went to class where the professor let us out early.  I headed right back to the cafeteria.  I didn't want to be holed up in my dorm room watching these events unfold by myself.  There was comfort in numbers and being around people to discuss the events and share the deep feelings of sadness.  It was during my second trip to the cafeteria that I discovered that it was no accident.  Honestly, I don't remember much else about the day.  When you are a young, single college student so far removed from the "real world", you don't tend to dwell on these things. 
Fast forward ten years later, and things are a bit different for me.  Now that I have two kids, and now that I am not quite as naive, I understand the gravity of this situation, and feel the deep sense of loss the whole country felt ten years ago(though I will never totally understand).  I have devoured every TV show and magazine article about 9/11 that I have come across, and have a true sense of sadness.  But Arnold posted on his facebook page a quote from a message he heard that day, and I think it's worth repeating here.   "God was not surprised by the events that took place that day, and He is still in control."  Those words still ring today!   Thank you God. 

Whew!

I finally feel like I can breath! Last week was it for me at work. I did have to end it a few days early when Peyton decided to plug the sink, turn on the water, and close the door at the babysitter's house. Yep, she flooded her bathroom and we had to pay for a new straightener and blow dryer. At that point, we collectively decided that enough was enough.
So how has our week at home been? Busy! I never thought I would be this busy, but the day goes by at warp speed. Of course, I'm having to catch up on years of de-cluttering and cleaning, but that's coming along nicely. I'm enjoying every single second with the girls. We're having a blast together.
For four years now, I've been wanting to stay home with my children, so the fact that the day has finally arrived continues to blow my mind. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not on a vacation from work and that I won't have to return at 8am Monday morning. But to my working mom friends who may read this blog, hang in there if it is your desire to be at home.
This last year especially was the hardest of my life, and I think probably the hardest of my husband's too. One reason for the absence of any blog entries was the difficulty of this journey we've been on. While I'm being honest, I'll go ahead and say that I had to stop reading other people's/friends blogs as well. I just couldn't take it anymore. But I am so thankful that the Lord never lets go of us because there were many times when I wanted to let go. Hanging in there is not easy, and there are many days of up and downs. But I can attest to the fact that the Lord is merciful and patient with us. He sees our pain and struggles and continues to love us...nothing can separate us from that...Romans 8.
So here I am now trying to figure out what to do with the time that I have with my girls before the school grind starts in a few years. We're making friends at the park, visiting the library, making memories at home, and getting more involved with our new church.
Thank you Lord for being faithful to my family.

What could be more fun than an old diaper box?