It's a Small World Afterall

Ok... how's this for a crazy story...

I went out for sushi last night with a new friend... I've only known her for two weeks. She started attending a ladies bible study that I go to on thursday nights. Last thursday when I walked in she asked me how I was doing and I said "I'm not going to lie... it's been a horrible week" (and that was putting it mildly!!!!!!) She said that she'd had a horrible week as well and asked me if I'd want to go out the next night with her (Friday... last night) for sushi. She said that she has a 16 year old daughter that she was pretty sure could babysit my kids. I desperately needed some girl time out of the house... so I took her up on it. So she calls me yesterday morning to let me know that her daughter can watch the kids and we've got a date!!! She then goes on to tell me that she will pay her daughter so I don't have to worry about it, and also, supper is going to be on her. My week was so bad... I didn't even argue! Ha! So I took the kids over to her house where her daughter and three of her girlfriends were all there to watch my kids. We get in her truck and she drives to starbucks and also treats me to a peppermint mocha. Anyway... we are sitting there drinking our coffees and getting to know each other better. We had SOOO much in common that she starts joking about being separated by birth... except that she's older than me. she's been married for 21 years to the same man... who used to be in the Air Force. Another thing we had in common to talk about. I was asking her if she'd ever been to the air force base that butts up to Ft. Bragg in north Carolina but I couldn't remember the name of it and I said "I know it's not McChord Air Force Base... that's in Washington State." and she goes "I've lived at McChord" now... McChord Air Force Base butts up to Ft. Lewis... the army base in Tacoma Washington. I lived there for six years while my dad was stationed there. actually.... we moved to Ft. Leonard Wood from Ft. Lewis when I was in middle school. So anyway... I told her that I'd been at Ft. Lewis. So she said "how weird would that be if we were there at the same time?" and asked me what years I was there. Turns out... she was there the same years.

then she says... "yeah, Danielle (her daughter that was at home babysitting my kids) was born at Ft. Lewis at Madigan Army Medical Center. So I told her that my dad was an obstetrician at Ft. Lewis....

and when I told her his name....

HE WAS HER DOCTOR!!!!!!!!!!!

My dad delivered her baby!!! and 16 years later, I meet this woman at a bible study in Missouri, have a horrible week, go out for sushi with her, and her daughter... who my dad delivered... babysat my kids!!!!!

we were both freaking out and laughing our butts off. I called my dad right then and there and told him the story.

It truly is a small world afterall!!!!

The Guessing Game

This afternoon I was taking a bath. Yeah... sometimes I take my baths in the middle of the day while Audrey is napping. LOL. So I was taking a bath. Levi was standing outside the door, talking to me through it. He said something, I don't remember what, and I said something back, and he says to me "you're right mom!" and I said to him... I always am, Levi. (heehee)

So he says to me well, what am I holding then? And I told him that I couldn't see through walls. I mean... he knows I have eyes in the back of my head (really... he thinks I do. Rearview mirrors are great for tricking your kids into thinking you have eyes in the back of your head. Ha!) but I told him that I couldn't see through walls. So he starts playing this game where he gives me a "hint" and I have to guess what he's holding. Only his "hints" went something like this...

Levi: "Ok, mom... what am I holding?"
Me: "I don't know"
Levi: (thinking he's giving me a hint) "It's something that you walk in"
Me: "A shoe!"
Levi: "YES!!!! YOU GOT IT MOM!!!!" (with utter amazement in his voice that even though I can't see through walls I'm such an excellent guesser.)

here was another one...

Levi: "what am I holding?"
Me: "I don't know"
Levi: "It's something... a stick that you mop with"
Me: "the mop?"
Levi: "MOM!!!!! YOU GOT IT RIGHT!!!! GOOD JOB!!!!"

One of these days he will realize that I really don't have all the right answers and I don't have eyes in the back of my head and I'll be busted.

But gosh I love this mom stuff!

Love your kids today!!

A Glimpse Into The Future

Friday mornings are for me.

Levi goes to preschool and Audrey goes every Friday morning to our church for their Mother's Morning Out program.

So here's what I do on friday mornings... I drop Audrey off at her "school" around 9:00. Levi stays in the truck while I run Audrey in. Then it's back in the truck and off to Levi's school to drop him off by 9:15. In the afternoon I go to get Levi around 12:30 and we go together to Audrey's school to pick her up by 1:00. So, Levi is always with me when I pick her up. Sometimes he stays in the truck while I run in and get her... but sometimes... like today... he goes in with me to pick up sis.

Today we went into her classroom to get her and I was talking to her teacher, when I hear one of her little friends in her class say "Audrey, what's your brother's name?"

I almost died laughing (on the inside)

So, Audrey's little friends, at the age of two, are already asking her about her cute older brother.



Hahahahaha.

Ok Ok... I know today it was just a curious innocent two year old and no, I'm not REALLY reading into it. It just made me chuckle... a glimpse of the future, if you will.

I came home and stood Levi and Audrey outside with bricks on their heads to keep them from growing up. What do YOU guys do to keep YOUR kids from growing up?

Time

I was driving to bible study last night and this song came on the radio. I was hooked from the first lyrics... "It's time for healing. time to move on."

I didn't get to finish listening to the song though because we had to get out of the truck to go inside. So, when I got home last night I spent a good long while searching for the song, but I didn't have much to go by since I couldn't really remember the lyrics.

I even emailed a christian radio station to see if they could help me... and told my best friend about it who said she'd try to find what I was talking about on her Sirius radio.

So fast forward to today...

I get in my truck to pick Levi up from preschool and this song is on the radio! This time I got to listen to it long enough to hear more of the lyrics

and this afternoon I found it on iTunes.

If you are reading my blog via RSS feed, you really need to come on over this once... because I've added the song as a gadget on the bottom of my blog.

It's called Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly) by Sanctus Real

here are the lyrics (please REALLY pay attention as you are listening)...

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
And all I can do is surrender

(Chorus)
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...

(Chorus)
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com

Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly
Something Heavenly

It's time to fix up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

aren't those beautiful words??

To me they are more than just words. It is a conviction.

Am I doing everything to follow Your will, God? or am I just climbing aimlessly over these hills??

It's time for healing. It's time to move on. It's time to fix what's been broken too long. It's time to make right what has been wrong. It's time to find my way to where I belong. It's time to face up,clean this old house. It's time to breathe in and let everything out that I've wanted to say for so many years. It's time to release all my held back tears. It's time for a milestone. It's time to begin again, reevaluate who I really am

I surrender, God.

It's time.

Order!! Order!! Order in the Court!!

Today I was making peanut butter sandwiches for the kids and banged the plastic jelly bottle on the counter to make it easier to squeeze out... you know how you do. And when I banged it I said "This court is now in session." I was just being goofy and not thinking either kid was paying attention... until Levi says to me "what is court?"

*blink*

How do you explain that to a four year old??

Here is what I came up with...

"Court is where people go when they can't agree on a decision. A judge hears both sides of their story and makes the decision for them. You know how like when you and Audrey can't get along and decide on something and mommy decides for you? That's what court is."

So how did I do?

Works For Me Wednesday

When I was at my parents house for Christmas, one of my little sisters who lives in Paris was telling me that she'd been homesick lately and had been watching classic American movies (like Gone With The Wind) on YouTube.

The full movie!

I didn't know you could do that!

Of course, full videos are too long to download to YouTube, so they'll have them split up. I think Gone With The Wind is split into 11 or 12 parts. Gone With The Wind Part 1, GWTW Part 2, etc etc.

So the other day, I got to looking up kid movies on YouTube. My kids watched Charlie Brown's Valentine (split into four parts).... and Audrey was in Disney princess heaven later (we don't own any of the Disney princess movies). Levi got to watch a Thomas The Tank Engine episode that he hadn't seen.

And they're begging for more.

Ha!

I'm currently searching for the newer Veggie Tales movies that we don't yet own.

it sure beats paying full price for the movie in the store... or even shelling out cash to rent... and it WORKS FOR ME

(P.S. if it seems like I'm not on my computer as much lately... it's because it's been taken over by toddlers and YouTube.)

for more tips... head over to Rocks In My Dryer

A-maze-ing. Truly

Levi wanted me to draw some mazes for him to do on his dry erase board tonight. First I started out all easy... But by the third maze it was no mercy.

And I drew this...



(In case you are wondering... it is CLEARLY a bear that needs to get to his cave.)

Mwuhahahaha. I'm so mean

Or at least I thought so.

It took him all of 5 seconds to solve it!!!!







Smart little turd!!



Little sister?

She was busy doing headstands



I just love that little butt



Even when she's got her pants on backwards.



*slaps forehead*

After solving my maze, Levi wanted to do one for me to solve...

He was nicer to me than I was to him.

Do Ya Feel Lucky? Huh? Do Ya... Punk?

I was going through pictures yesterday looking for something when I came across these that I had forgotten about...

The day we went to Bass Pro to get the kids' pictures taken with Santa, they had all of this stuff set up for the kids. Shooting ranges with both laser rifles and crossbows that shot nerf darts. Levi was in boy heaven.

Check out the seriousness on his face. He's determined to shoot the target.



lining up with the target...



But Audrey's the one who cracks me up. Check out that first picture again...



First of all... they had hot pink cross bows for the girls. So she was in girl heaven... but don't let this girlie city girl fool ya!

Look at the way she lines up her crossbow with the target. Lookin down her barrel (is it a barrel on a crossbow??)



Even squinting to make sure she's lining it up right.



Don't get in my girls way. =)

then it was on to the rifles...



and Audrey was content to just stand there and cover her ears. They didn't have any pink rifles. Ha!

Check Yes or No [Please Check Yes. Please Check Yes]

I ran across this hilarious blog recently...

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

I check it everyday to get a good laugh.

Like this...



hahaha.

Bahahaha

hahaha.

I hope your Valentine's Day tomorrow ends better than whoever ordered/received that cookie.

What Did The Fish Do

What Did The Fish Do...

What do the words in that sentence have in common?

They are all sight words that Levi has learned this week.

Here is the list of sight words that Levi is "reading" regularly now:

(in the order that he learned them)

Can
For
But
Am
Do
What
The
And
Be
Did
Fish
Help
Go
Car
Bed

Tonight I taught him how to play hangman, and we played for a while using the sight words that he knows.

Funny story... while we were learning the new words tonight on flash cards two of the words were "go" and "fish" and he says "hey! Go Fish!" and died laughing.

Cute kid. =]

Oh Be Careful Little [Fill In The Blank] What You Do

Sign seen today on a church marquee:
"Practice Makes Perfect.
Be Careful What You Practice"

The (Dis)Advantages of Owning a Black Vehicle

Just as soon as I got my shiny new black truck home and took it down its first Missouri dirt road (under my ownership at least... it was bought used) I soon realized that black vehicles don't stay clean that easily. Or at least they don't hide the filth all that well. I've taken that truck through more car washes than I already can count. And then... I'll drive it down another dusty gravel road. Or it'll rain. Or.... as in this case... it'll snow, and salt trucks will salt the road... which is the WORST! (for my shiny black truck I mean).

And... I COULD just take it through the car wash agaaaaaain...

but then THIS would get washed off...



and I just think it's so darn cute.

One of these days when I'm "all growed up" and I don't have teens/kids/toddlers/babies in the house anymore, I'm told that I'll miss the bickering from the backseats. I'll miss the (off-tune) renditions of Mary and her lamb whose fleece was.... was... "what was the rest, mama?". And I'll definitely miss seeing these little hand prints of the ones who aren't babies anymore... but still need to push on the side of the truck to get that big heavy door open.



Don't worry mom... I'll clean it later this week. =)

I Bet You Think This Song Is About You

Audrey was sitting on my lap and saw a picture of a blond headed girl on my computer

here's what she said...

"mom! that girl has blond hair same as me have blonde hair!..... but that girl's not pretty same as me"

*hangs head*

My response: "I bet her mommy thinks she is beautiful"

Is there such a thing as telling your child too often how beautiful they are? Does it make them vain?

Land of the Free (and non lead based paint)

I've been having cravings for cupcakes lately, so the other night when we went to the grocery store to pick up stuff for supper I also decided to get stuff to make cupcakes with the kids. (we will be making them today.... and yes, I'll be documenting it with picture of course)

I have a muffin tin but it's old and rusty so while I was in the baking aisle I decided to just buy a new muffin tin. They had a non-stick one for $3.99, and then a package of muffin cups was another $1.89 on top of that. Put it in the cart and go onto the next aisle. We get to the Valentine's Day special aisle and I see these...



Three foil muffin tins. not permanent... but re-usable a few times so long as you wash them.

I turned it over and saw that the muffin cups were included... and they were fun (valentines) colors instead of the standard wilton white.



But here was the clincher for me...



I checked the non-stick one that was in my cart and sure enough it was made in China. So I put that one back and bought the handi-foil.

Made in the U.S.A. !!

as John's dad said: "The "non-stick" feature of the Chinese versions was probably due to a high mercury content in the finish. Remember how slick those pennies were that we used to shine up with mercury in high school?"

I've added a new feature over on the side of my blog. It is a list of links that you can click on of American made products. As I come across more, I'll be adding them there. If you know of any more, please leave them in a comment to me and I'll add them to my side-bar.

Thanks!

Oh.... When you click on "Little Tikes" you have to be careful... not all Little Tikes products are made in America, so they have a special link on their website dedicated to those products that ARE American made.

Happy American Made Shopping!!

Baby Feet

I love baby feet!

It's almost enough to make me forget about this funk I'm in.

almost.

Shiver Me Timbers

We are at home this morning. We stayed home from church because Audrey has been running more fevers. *sigh* She has had them off and on all weekend, and ran one all night, and woke up with one this morning. I had to go to her room to wake her up at 10:30 (this morning!) to take some Tylenol.... she was still sleeping!! Everyone who knows my girl knows that she does not ever sleep that late... unless she is sick.

So, we're at home and I thought I'd blog.

The other day we went to Staples to buy some dry erase markers for the easel that the kids got for Christmas. They had the Expo brand 12 pack of fun colors buy one get one half off. Well, I noticed that Expo brand is made in the U.S.A so I went ahead and bought both the fat ones and the skinny ones. I love supporting American made products! It's something that John and I are quite passionate about. I'll spend the extra penny to buy American made than pay less for crap made in China. but I digress...

so we bought both packs and came home with 24 dry erase markers in fun colors. Later that night, the kids asked me to draw a picture for them on the dry erase. Keep in mind that I am not very skilled when it comes to drawing. I am artistic and creative, but somehow the drawing talent just whoosh went right over me. In short... I can't draw.

Here is what I ended up with. (Don't Laugh)



For those that need explaining... It is a pirate on his ship, looking towards shore with his telescope. There's a treasure chest beneath him on the ocean's floor.





then Levi decided that the picture wasn't quite done.

and he added this...



(a sun)

He also added birds, and I took pics of those but haven't uploaded them to the computer yet.