Mom Com

New Site

2009-03-24T23:41:00.002-05:00

Drum Roll Please...

My announcement to the blogosphere promised in my last post is as follows:

This blog was in need of it's first hair-cut for a few reasons, so to see it's new-do please check out -

http://momcom.squarespace.com

Bookmark it,
Share it with your friends, and
Head over there from now on!

Spring Break Visitors

2009-03-18T15:31:00.002-05:00

This past weekend/week we've had two different rounds of back to back visitors at our house - Kate's had so much fun! The Melnicks came in from Massachusetts for a few nights followed by the Dabberts from Lubbock. Kate's definitely out of her routine, but staying up late or taking a later nap than normal so we can have fun with friends for a couple days is definitely worth it. Our last guests left this afternoon, so we're headed out of town tomorrow for several days, so I'll be taking a tiny blogging break - but I'll be back next week with BIG BLOG NEWS so stay tuned!!

The Girl in the Mirror

2009-03-16T22:23:00.003-05:00

The many sides of Kate continue to emerge as we get deeper into her Terrific Threes. She can be so incredibly sweet and loving, funny or sarcastic, happy or sad, creative yet destructive, curious and stubborn, and so many other things these days. Her emotions are intense experiences for her these last couple weeks - both the good and the bad ones - so we're spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to identify how we feel, talk about those feeling, and make good choices despite how we may FEEL like acting. I have a FEELING we'll be going through this cycle very frequently over the course of her childhood :). Every day I learn more about her and find that I have more questions concerning how to parent than I have answers - but this is definitely an incredible journey that I wouldn't trade for anything!

Daddy's Jeans

2009-03-14T19:56:00.003-05:00

Cody doesn't like to go shopping very often, but we convinced him to go to the mall with us this weekend. He got a new pair of jeans a year or two ago - that doesn't sound too bad until you see a picture of Kate from the last time we went jean shopping for him! To commemorate the occasion we took a pic of her this time too. You'll be glad to know Cody found a perfect new pair of jeans in his size - they should last him a while, so who knows what Kate will look like next time around :).

Imaginary Friend Photo Frustration

2009-03-13T16:15:00.001-05:00

Kate's imaginary friends seem to be appearing more and more frequently lately. I'm not exactly sure how to respond to these "friends" that join us at random moments, but I usually just play along. I think those are great opportunities to play pretend and help develop her little imagination - so unless these little friends of her start encouraging her to disobey or misbehave, they're welcome in my house.

This morning Kate ate her oatmeal and blueberries at the table next to an imaginary turtle. She insisted on wearing her party hat left over from a birthday party she went to last weekend because she told me that Turtle was wearing its party hat and wanted her to have one too. And then she begged and begged me to take a picture of her eating breakfast with Turtle. So - being that my camera is always handy - I took the desired picture.

None of these activities were that unusual for our mornings around the Bettis house. But then the girl wanted to see the picture on the screen on the back of the digital camera. It was at that point things got tricky for me...

Kate couldn't understand why she couldn't see Turtle in her hat in the picture. She was pretty sure it was my fault - I simply wasn't showing her the right picture. She eventually started crying because she wanted me to show her the one with Turtle in it. She thought I didn't understand her or that I was being mean for some unexplained reason, but I couldn't get her to understand that Turtle can't be in a picture because she's not like Kate or that I did understand what she was asking even though I couldn't make it happen. I was at a complete loss.

What was this momma to say?

Advice from the older, wiser mommas out there is needed :).

Princess Movie Day

2009-03-12T23:01:00.002-05:00

Kate's friend Alden's mom read in the paper last weekend about a special Disney princess movie matinee this week at a theater near us and invited us to go. The girls were all supposed to dress up in their princess dresses, have a special "curtsy school" before the movie, and watch MULAN. Could there be an event better suited to my girl?!?

So Kate chose to wear her Cinderella dress with princess slippers and joined friends Alden and Avery at the theater. For once she wasn't the only one in public wearing dress up clothes! The girls munched popcorn and did really well together during the movie.

The Disney matinees are going on every two weeks with different movies and in all different areas of the country. They will be showing Cars, Tarzan, and a Winnie and the Pooh throughout the next several weeks. If you're interested in going to a matinee, check out this link to get specifics on the movies, dates, times, and locations.

The Gray 30

2009-03-11T22:07:00.006-05:00

I'm exactly a week away from being the big 3-0.

It's definitely a milestone worth taking note of, but I'm not losing any sleep over getting older.

While we were sitting on the couch this weekend, Cody spotted a gray hair amidst my brown locks - and I'm pretty sure it has at least a few friends up there sprouting out of my head along with it. Let's face it, there's safety in numbers... So chances are great that several gray strands are headed my way.

In an effort to help me, Cody put his hand on my head so he could isolate my evidently misfit hair and pluck it from my tender scalp. But I was APPALLED at his behavior and sharply leaned away from him when I realized what he was doing. He proceeded to tease me about needing to start dying my hair since I'm "going gray". In the most offended tone I could muster, I told him ABSOLUTELY NOT. We laughed, but I was completely serious.

I've lived a lot of life in these short 30 years - and thus I feel like I have EARNED every gray hair that may or may not be growing on my head. Funky, off color hairs represent seasons of countless joys and sorrows - and all the continual struggles/successes of life in between. To cover them up with dye would feel like I was somehow invalidating my journey.

I wholeheartedly support every member of the actively hair dying community that may be reading this humble blog. Everyone should be 100% free to make their own choices in the "To Dye or Not To Dye" decision according to what is best for their individual preferences - but as for me, I feel a certain level of inexplicable pride in the endurance of life demonstrated by my crazy textured gray hairs and have absolutely no desire to hide them.

Stay tuned to see if I'm singing the same tune when the big 4-0 is just around the bend...

Sweet Friends

2009-03-10T14:40:00.000-05:00

Kate has been blessed with several very good friends in her young life - and among her most special friends are Avery and Luke. Yesterday she was lucky enough to have BOTH friends over to play. They played inside and out - picked lots of "flowers" together - and did so many other fun things together. Kate and I are undoubtedly lucky for all the caring, fun friends we have in our lives!

Spring Fun

2009-03-09T14:28:00.003-05:00

The weather here has been so nice and warm this last week that we've been able to get back outside and have some fun. Cody bought Kate some fresh sand for her sand and water table and we broke out the chalk from last summer. Since the outside toys have been in retirement these past few months it's like they're new all over again to the girl. And looking at the toys with three year old eyes is definitely exciting because she can do so many different things with them this year than she did last year. She's been having SO MUCH fun outside, but the highs in a couple days are supposed to be about 30 degrees cooler so we're trying our best to enjoy this breath of spring before winter returns!

Kate's Adoptiversary Date

2009-03-08T14:58:00.006-05:00

This weekend Kate and I went on a special date to celebrate her adoptiversary (adoptiversary is the word I created for the anniversary of her being 100% legally ours... it's an important date for us despite the fact she's been with us since she quite literally took her first breath!).

Our first stop was James Avery. I've been thinking for the past couple years about buying Kate a charm bracelet for an adoptiversary keepsake of sorts. My plan is to add a charm of her choice to the bracelet each year on her special day - so with a portion of my lovely recent Google Adsense check I decided to take the plunge. She loved looking at all the charms and getting to choose all by herself which one to take home. Can you guess what she chose? She found a turtle charm - I couldn't believe they even made one - but when I saw what huge smile spread across her face after she saw it, I knew we were going to be leaving with a turtle charm!

After that I took my sweet blue eyed girl to lunch. The lighting in the restaurant made her eyes sparkle so much I had to take a few pictures! Then we did a little window shopping, headed back to pick up her bracelet, and went home to enjoy a great night of grilling in the backyard and playing games with Daddy.

I'm blown away on a daily basis by what an amazing gift God gave us in our sweet Kate, but there's still something that makes me feel uniquely nostalgic whenever her adoptiverary rolls around. Right now she merely looks at the day with delight since she has another special birthday type of day (in fact, she called it her "adoptabirthday" a couple times this weekend!), but as she gets older I hope her adoptiversary will be a time when she can look back with us and see what an incredible testimony of God's faithfulness and His sovereign plan her story truly is.

Though I'm utterly undeserving, I'm so incredibly thankful for all the blessings in my life - especially the blessing of my precious girl!

Free Item at Victoria's Secret

2009-03-07T19:43:00.007-06:00

If you're interested, you can visit Victoria’s Secret PINK Nation and register to be a member. After you do that, it will open a screen to allow you to print a coupon for a free item as well as a coupon for $10 off a $35 purchase. I'd read on the internet that the free item was a choice from four different styles of tote bags - and that was enough to get me to try it, but when I took my coupon in and asked what my choice of a free item was, the sales girl asked her manager and they said it was a free panty of my choice! I was already excited at the possibility of a free tote bag, but the reality of free underwear was even better!! Angie came along and enjoyed some free underwear too - and Kate LOVED looking at all the different designs as we hunted for our pairs. Go forth and enjoy the free-ness!

Google Adsense Pays

2009-03-06T09:42:00.002-06:00

Are you a fellow blogger? If so, you should definitely check into Google's Adsense program here. Today I want to testify that Google Adsense definitely pays - this week they sent me a $100 check in the mail!! When I started blogging this past fall we checked the program out and decided to take a chance on it - because what did we have to lose? Cody helped me figure out what needed to be done to add one ad bar on the right side of my blog and we were done. There are lots of other options on how to arrange their advertisements on your site, but we decided to keep it simple.

Google's program does some sort of magic to "read" my blog and try to display relevant ads to what I'm posting about (sometimes this works and sometimes not). When people click on the ads as they read through my blog a few cents goes into my Google Adsense account. And as soon as the account totals $100, they send you a check (your choice of direct deposit or snail mail).

For the last few months I've been eagerly watching and waiting as my account slowly but steadily climbed closer to that $100 mark so we could see what would happen. And I'm THRILLED to report that as promised, Google came through for me by faithfully mailing my check! I understand $100 isn't much considering it's taken a few months to accumulate it, but for my little family $100 is absolutely FANTASTIC!! You know with my bargain shopping and coupon clipping I can make $100 go pretty far...

And here's a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has clicked on those links in the past - we so appreciate you and your time spent clicking... and please keep it up! If you want to know anything else about making the process work for you, I'd be glad to help because my bank account is now living proof that Google Adsense really works!!

Winter or Spring?

2009-03-04T21:34:00.002-06:00

Saturday morning it was in the 20s in Lubbock. Someone across the street from Cody's grandparents' house left a sprinkler going overnight and had some MAJOR icicles hanging in their yard. Kate was SO EXCITED to see all those "popsicles" hanging from the trees. She's really enjoyed watching icicles form this winter (and since we live in DFW ice is just about the fullest extent of the season). And then yesterday - a mere three days later - while we were at the zoo we saw the first signs of spring coming! There were a few trees with blooms and buds starting to emerge. It's hard to believe the difference a few days and a few miles can make...

My Pony Tailed Girl

2009-03-03T15:05:00.002-06:00

This morning we decided on the fly to go to the zoo. In efforts to get out the door a little more quickly so we could meet our friends on time, I grabbed a hat from my closet to wear. Just as I was finishing up brushing my teeth Kate came running into my bathroom with her beloved Boston hat and announced she wanted to wear it just like I was. How do you argue with that?

Normally when she wears her hat we just brush her hair out and pop on the cap, but today when I tried to do that she started to cry, shriek, and perform various other sad girl activities. When we were finally able to return to some semblance of sanity, I was able to understand that she was upset because she wanted a "pony-tail-hat-like-momma."

A few months ago this would have been an impossible feat, but today my girl had enough hair to sweep back into a single pony tail - thus making her wish come true as well as ushering in one of those new chapters of toddler life I blogged about yesterday. Sitting on her stool in front of the mirror she grinned from ear to ear as her hat went on and her pony tail was pulled through the hole in the back! And such grins definitely necessitate pictures to share :).

Another Toddler Transition

2009-03-02T17:03:00.007-06:00

From the time her entire body could fit in the crook of an arm, Kate has enjoyed napping in the peaceful arms of her BeeBee. As her healthy little girl body grows, it looks like the space for that favorite pastime is unfortunately diminishing rather quickly! Last Friday afternoon she was so tired she got to enjoy about an hour nap in BeeBee's arms - and as you can tell from the picture, it was very likely her last...

So many baby type things seem to drawing to a close in Kate's life these last few months. In some ways that fact brings a degree of sadness to my heart, but in so many more ways I'm excited about all the new little girl doors that are springing open as those baby doors shut! Every day I stand amazed at what she is big enough to do - she says and does so many grown up things now. Even though two and three years old isn't usually the stage that most people enjoy being around children, there are so many exciting things happening in those little hearts and minds! No matter what her age may be, I will always be so blessed to have this precious girl in my life!!

Flip Side: Part 2

2009-03-01T13:00:00.002-06:00

To follow suit, here's part 2 of our trip down memory lane. One thing is for sure in Kate's life: if you're naked, you're definitely going to get to do something fun! And unfortunately for Cody, Kate likes to enjoy making messes as much as I do :). And again I stand amazed at how much hair she's grown over the past year. But I imagine this will be the final chapter of Kate's birthday suit pictures... naked babies in diapers are cute, but little girls definitely need their privacy at some point - from now on we're going to have to find ways to have fun with clothes on. All hail the new era of fun IN our clothes (at least for pictures anyway)!!

Flip Side

2009-02-27T14:47:00.000-06:00

Since I reminisced earlier this week about some of my favorite outfits Kate has worn, I thought it would only be fair to examine the flip side too... so here are some of my favorite pics of Kate having fun in her birthday suit from the first half of her life :).

Literature Lovers

2009-02-26T16:39:00.000-06:00

Watching this amazing experience unfold before my eyes truly warms my book loving heart!

Not to mention the fact that it's Kate's recently repaired picture Bible (the one I posted about last November)...

Obama vs. Alabama

2009-02-25T12:26:00.002-06:00

Kate's getting ready for bed routine includes some cuddle on the couch time. So we were laying in our usual spot last night doing our nightly cuddling when the Presidential Address started. After they announced Obama and he started walking down the aisle to the podium, Kate spontaneously transitioned from her calm, relaxed state to a highly excited one and started clapping like crazy.

"Look, Momma! Momma - LOOK!! Here comes Sweet Home Alabama!!" she said over and over.

Cody heard her from the other room and stuck his head in the living room to ask me what she was saying since she'd gotten so unusually animated. When I told him, he just smiled and shook his head... he does that a lot around us :).

I thought we had her straightened out concerning OBAMA and ALABAMA after last month when she started interchanging the names (see that post), but apparently I was wrong. We'll have to get back to work on that. But for now, she's thrilled that her current favorite song was written about the man she saw talking on tv before bed - oh the joys of being three years old!

Favorite Outfits Part 2

2009-02-24T15:22:00.003-06:00

Here are a few of the outfits from this past year or so that I LOVE - and looking back over this past year really helps me see how much hair Kate really has grown!! Today I even picked out our very first bottle of DETANGLING SPRAY at the store - I didn't think that would be necessary for another six years :).

Favorite Outfits...

2009-02-23T11:22:00.006-06:00

These are some of my favorite outfits of Kate's first year and a half of life. The top pic is probably my favorite of all time - the pants and the heart on the shirt are soft brown velvet, the AWESOME "My mom rocks" words on the heart are written in sparkly rhinestones, and it was just 100% precious! We've been doing some major spring cleaning around our house lately, so I've gotten an up close and personal look at how many tubs of clothing I've got in the attic that no longer fit the girl but that I'm still hanging onto. I had a friend recently tell me that the best way to preserve your memories is to take a picture of a beloved object, project, or whatever it is and keep the picture instead of keeping the object. I think that's great advice and would definitely lead to a significantly reduced clutter home and attic for the Bettis family, but I'm just not quite ready to part with some of these outfits yet... so I thought perhaps posting pictures about them would be a step toward the necessary letting go process!

Kate's Prayer

2009-02-20T21:03:00.003-06:00

Kate wanted to say her own prayer before bed tonight.
Here's how it went:

"Thank you, Jesus, for my momma and my daddy.
Thank you for my Halloween costume.
Thanks for all you do for me.
Amen."

My little girl never ceases to make me smile!

In case her Halloween costume isn't as memorable to you as it apparently still is to Kate, here's a quick pic:

Turtle Surgery

2009-02-19T09:04:00.003-06:00

At the aquarium earlier this week, I found Kate this cute little pink and green stuffed turtle. She absolutely loves her turtle - and I love the fact that I'm not constantly accidentally sitting on all her invisible turtles around the house anymore since she has a real turtle to love! Last night when I went to her bedroom to check on her, I found Kate and dear turtle sleeping peacefully together. She had tucked her little turtle in under the covers right next to her - and instead of her special blanket being draped over her shoulders as usual, she had covered its back with it!

By Monday afternoon (a mere few hours after getting the turtle), she'd already loved on it so much that it's little black string smile was already half broken. It had a half a smile and half a loose thread hanging off its mouth. She didn't really say much about it, but I could tell it was bothering her the last couple days.

Yesterday we went over to a friend's house and took the precious broken-smiled turtle with us. This dear friend knows how to sew so I asked her if she could fix the smile for us. She was going to work on it at Kate's nap time, but when it came time for her to lay down without the turtle she refused. She wouldn't let go of it (even when I explained how it was going to get a new smile) and because I could totally empathize with her pain, I didn't have the heart to force her into it.

So she went to sleep with the turtle tightly clutched to her chest. After she'd been asleep a while I snuck in to get the turtle for its little "surgery" and hopefully have it back before she could notice. Probably not the best parenting strategy in retrospect, but sometimes trying to spare our kids pain makes us do crazy things. The good news is that the turtle pulled through its lip repair surgery with flying colors and when Kate saw it after she woke up from her nap, her grin was wider than the grand canyon! She was so proud of it she talked about it non-stop the rest of the day - and even this morning when she woke up her little girl mouth was still whirling with the story of how her turtle can smile again.

I've been thinking over Kate's reaction to her beloved turtle and my empathy for her situation. How many broken things or situations in my life do I hold onto as tightly as she did that little turtle when I asked to take it to fix it? How willing am I to turn those things over in trust to Someone who can heal them or make them better? And if I did find the strength or bravery to turn them over, how thrilled would I be when they were returned to me in better condition than before? There are several broken things in my life that I need to loosen my grip on - and today I'm going to start trying my best to do that.

Who knew I could gain wisdom from watching a three year old's adventures with a stuffed turtle?

Dallas World Aquarium

2009-02-17T15:53:00.005-06:00

Since yesterday was a bank holiday, we got to enjoy a special day with Nana Kay! She took us to the Dallas World Aquarium, lunch at her favorite pizza joint downtown, and to the park to play. We were very impressed with all the different kinds of animals and fish at the aquarium - Kate had so much fun exploring and was thrilled to see many different types of turtles throughout the exhibits. We even hung upside down for a picture as we walked through one of the aquarium arches (thus my crazy hair!). Here's a short video of our aquarium adventures:

Kate's Juilliard Application

2009-02-16T19:22:00.003-06:00

These days Kate always has dress-up clothes on as well as a song in her heart. Since she received her beloved keyboard and guitar for her birthday, she's started incorporating her instruments with her random bouts of singing. She sat by the fireplace for quite a while the other day singing some tunes so I had a chance to record a few moments of the magnificence to share with the blogosphere:

Four Generation Pictures

2009-02-15T16:55:00.002-06:00

As you can see from the pics above, Kate is a very lucky little girl! All four of my grandparents passed away before Kate was born, but all four of Cody's grandparents are still living and Kate is able to enjoy knowing them. Great grandparents are without question a special treat in a girl's life.

Kate has so many people in her life that love her and care about her!!

Animal Lover

2009-02-13T12:26:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Kate and I packed a picnic and headed out to the Fort Worth Zoo to enjoy the beautiful day. With our zoo membership we're lucky enough to get to go often, but it always surprises me how we seem to see new things each time and how each trip to the zoo is unique. Kate has gotten in the habit of yelling, "Hey (insert name of animal), wake up and see me!" whenever we pass an exhibit where an animal is asleep. Most of the animals definitely shrug that crazy toddler off without any sort of recognition of her words, but there are a few each time that will open their eyes and look over at her before they yawn as they roll back over to get back to sleeping. She LOVES that!

There are couple statues of animals throughout the zoo and I think because she can't get close to the live ones she particularly enjoys hugging on the statues - yesterday she just sat and hugged them for so long it was easy for me to get my camera out to capture some three year old sweetness.

She enjoys every animal at the zoo (with the exception of the gorillas for some reason), but turtles are still Kate's all time favorite animal to see... or even to not see: we've just entered the make believe friend stage and her invisible friend is a baby turtle who sometimes shows up with his momma :). Fun times!

The Girl Who Will Eat Anything...

2009-02-10T10:20:00.002-06:00

Who knew dry spaghetti makes a great snack for a toddler? Kate (after dressing up as a Tech cheerleader) was in the kitchen with me the other night "helping" me make some dinner. I had water boiling on the stove and started to lower the dry pasta into it. She asked me if she could have one and - thinking she'd give it right back after looking at it more closely - I handed her one. After biting a piece off she looked up at me and said, "It's yummy, Momma. Good job!" She's definitely easy to please in the kitchen.

Home Depot Apron

2009-02-10T09:59:00.003-06:00

Since my post a few days ago about how Kate helped us work on her day bed, I've had several questions about where we found the Home Depot apron for her to wear. We got it from one of Home Depot's Kids Workshop mornings.

On the first Saturday of each month from 9 to noon Home Depot hosts a FREE clinic for kids to come make something. The target ages for the workshop are 5 to 12, but in addition to not turning us away when we showed up, I saw a couple other toddlers working on their projects too. In addition to getting to spend quality time with your child as you do a project for free, you also receive the project materials, a sticker, a pin for project completion, and an apron at no cost. Of everything she got that day, Kate was MOST proud of her apron - as we walked around the store picking up a few things we needed after project time was over, she tugged at my hand every time we saw a Home Depot employee wearing their orange apron too... and now nothing messy can be done at home without her running to her dress-up corner to put on her apron first!

Click here for more information on the Home Depot kids workshops.

Tom Thumb Redemption

2009-02-09T19:02:00.000-06:00

This afternoon Kate and I made a trip up to Tom Thumb in search of some good deals (after a heads up from my pragmatic friend Jewelsie). We purchased eight boxes of Pop-Tarts, two boxes of Rice-a-Roni, two bags of Cheetos, and a bag of Fritos all for the bargain price of a mere $13.00. Can you believe it?!? Each item we bought was priced at only ONE DOLLAR! My total would have been lower if I didn't spend my Pop-Tart coupons last week on the sale Kroger was running, but nevertheless, I was thrilled with my $13.00 total. I left Tom Thumb with a smile on my face and felt that Mr. Thumb had sufficiently redeemed himself from all the ridiculousness I posted about last week.

This deal will run through tomorrow, so if you're lucky enough to live near a Tom Thumb and your family loves Pop-Tarts or rice as much as we do, be sure to take advantage of the sale!

Family Project

2009-02-07T21:08:00.000-06:00

Kate has been in a big girl bed since last summer, but her mattress has just been sitting on the floor waiting for a frame. I saw a friend put on her Facebook status a couple weeks ago that she was looking to get rid of a daybed with a trundle and thought it would be perfect for Kate!

It was a cream color originally, so this morning we sanded it down and spray painted it a glossy white to match Kate's bedroom furniture. Kate LOVED getting to help - especially once she strapped on her Home Depot apron so she could look the part. Cody, Kate, and I all took turns sanding it down, I did the painting, we all carried the pieces to her room, and Cody assembled it (with Kate's help). After it was all said and done, it really turned out wonderful!

Here's a few pics and a 45 sec video of our first family fun project:

Google is awesome...

2009-02-05T14:37:00.000-06:00

Cody's been saying Google is awesome for as long as I can remember, and today I'm inclined to agree with him. During a little internet jaunt this afternoon I found this website:

http://www.google.com/goog411/about.html

According to that website, if you dial 1-800-GOOG-411 you can place a call for information for FREE. Yep, I said FREE. None of the typical ridiculous information charges applied!

While we lived in Lubbock it was easy to carry an extra FEIST phone book in the back of my car so I'd have all the numbers in the city in one place if I needed something, but around the DFW area there are so many cities so close together there is no way to be able to carry around all those phone books (I'm not a proud owner of an IPHONE). But now my problems are solved - I'll just pick up my cell and dial Google to ask for the number without having to worry about what sort of insane charge will be popping up on my phone bill.

Google is awesome.

The Power to be Brave

2009-02-04T22:44:00.000-06:00

Last night around 9:45 Cody and I heard the dogs in the yards behind and beside us engaged in some sort of very heated dispute. I hardly had the words out of my mouth to tell Cody that if those dogs don't stop barking like that they're going to wake Kate up before we heard a little three year old voice from down the hall say, "Momma? Momma? MOMMA?"

Here's a brief run-down of our conversation:
M: "What's the matter, baby?"
K: "Those dogs are ruffing too loud - they woke me up."
M: "I'm sorry..."
K: "They make me scared. I want to be brave. Momma, can you make me brave?"

My mommy mind went into immediate overdrive as I scrambled to try to figure out how to answer this question truthfully and yet in a way that could help her go back to sleep.

Kate participated in POWER WEEK last summer at our church's Power Lab VBS. For all five weekdays she learned about the power to do something, but as a two year old she was only able to retain the one of those truths on a long-term basis: Jesus gives us the POWER to be brave. But because she was able to latch onto that one truth, we've been able to talk about being brave many times when she's scared or when she sees someone else who is afraid, so last night during my frantic mind scramble the familiar "Jesus gives us the power to be brave" phrase seemed to resonate as the most appropriate way to answer her.

M: "Momma would make you be brave if I could, but who gives us the power to be brave?"
K: "Jesus!" (she's always so proud to know that answer)
M: "I think you should ask Jesus to help you be brave so you aren't scared of the dogs."

She accepted my answer without question - probably because that VBS truth has taken root in her. I was so tempted to selfishly step in as a momma hero and try to save the day by granting her request to make her brave on my own somehow, when the answer she needed wasn't for me to try to manufacture some sort of temporary human fix for her problem... the answer she needed was my honest admission of powerlessness to help while pointing her to the One who could.

And then she prayed a very short and simple, yet more self-directed prayer than she ever has before asking Jesus to help her be brave and sleep. It was one of my proudest parenting moments so far - some nights I go to bed so disappointed with myself and frustrated over things like missing/possibly eaten earrings, but other nights I go to bed with a smile in my heart because I'm so proud of the little girl my baby is growing into!

Free Denny's Breakfast

2009-02-03T15:07:00.001-06:00

Did you see the Denny's Superbowl commercial announcing they would be offering a FREE grand slam breakfast platter today from 8 to 2? I did... so guess where Kate and I went this morning?!?

I've never stepped foot into a Denny's before, but the invitation for free breakfast was enough to convince me to give them a try. I decided to try to avoid the crowds by taking Kate to brunch around 10:15, but as you can see from the pic above - the crowd was still lined up around the building. I debated whether to stay or go, but since I'd already gotten Kate excited about our free eggs, pancakes, bacon, and sausage and I didn't have any where else I needed to be this morning, we found a parking spot and hopped in line.

The line was long, but we only had to wait about 30 minutes before it was our turn. We talked with several interesting people while we stood in line - it was the same sort of bond of excitement that I share every year with the people standing around me in line at 4am on Black Friday waiting to get into Best Buy or Toys R Us to purchase Christmas presents at great prices. Bargain lines are happy places and everyone seems to be in a great, chatty mood - it's a polar opposite experience from the grumpy, trudging line of silence while you wait to pay a bill or do anything else unpleasant where it feels like you're getting the short end of the stick.

I gave Kate some breakfast early this morning when she woke up to tide her over until our Momma/Daughter brunch date, but the waitress barely had our food on the table before Kate was scarfing it down. And since she obeyed so well and stood patiently next to me while we stood in line, I thought I'd splurge a little and let her pick whatever she wanted to drink. Luckily she chose orange juice, but I was prepared for her to use this as a prime opportunity to order her first coke!

When they brought the bill to the table I just sat there and smiled at it while I finished chewing my bacon. It felt so good to have had a nice breakfast with Kate for only $1.29!! I know we had to wait a little while for it - but quite honestly, I don't remember the last time we went to IHOP and didn't have to wait several minutes for a table (and we had to PAY for our food!).

We wholeheartedly enjoyed our food (Kate even gave it a thumbs up when she was finished), the workers were all very kind even though they were under definite stress from being so extremely busy, the table was clean, and the price was definitely nice - so Denny's efforts with the Bettis family definitely paid off this morning because we're much more likely to visit Denny's in the future after this good experience.

Sweet Home Alabama - Kate Style

2009-02-02T21:04:00.000-06:00

Hope this two and a half minute dose of goodness brightens your day:

Tom Thumb Ridiculousness

2009-02-01T18:05:00.000-06:00

I'm a girl who loves finding creative ways to save my family money. In order to get a good deal, I'm willing to sacrifice a good amount of time clipping & organizing coupons, scouring store ads, and driving around town to shop at more than one store to save a buck or two. Today when I was looking through the newspaper inserts I found one of the most confusing ads I've ever seen: the Tom Thumb ad.

There was a great coupon on the front page that caught my eye immediately - about $8 for 4 12-packs of coke (limit one with reward card, only good today). $2 a 12-pack is a good price so I decided to take a trip to Tom Thumb this afternoon - but since I was making a special trip I looked for any other good deals I should pick up while I was in there. It took me longer than I care to admit to work my way through the ad, read all the fine print on the various deals, and realize how ridiculous it truly was...

There was what appeared to be an awesome coupon on the back of the flyer for $10 off a $50 purchase. But when I read the fine print I saw that you had to have $50 after store coupons and manufacturer's coupons, it is only good through Tuesday, there are a ton of exceptions of things that you can't use to add up to the $50 total, and I can't use it with the coke deal (or any other special deal in the paper)... all of which made it not a very good deal at all. The next thing I was excited about was a coupon on the front page of the flyer for a free pizza (normally $5.99) from the deli with a $25 purchase. This $25 needed to be after store coupons, but not manufacturer's coupons (YAY!)... but it was only good for today (OK) and at the very end of the fine print it says that you can't use this coupon in conjunction with ANY other special store offer (like the coke coupon or the $10 off $50 - BOO). Also through the paper there were specials only good from 8am to 8pm today, deals for all day today, deals for the week, deals for 8 days, and a variety of deals only effective until Tuesday night. There were coupons to cut out to get some deals, they showed coupons you could only get online and add to your shoppers card to get a deal, and a few deals you could get by simply using your Reward Card. OH MY GOODNESS HOW RIDICULOUS!

After trying for too long to find a way to do my weekly shopping at Tom Thumb with what initially appeared to be some great deals, I finally just gave up and decided to just run in for the Cokes - I'll stick with the good ole Kroger for groceries this week... a place where there isn't so much fine print and restrictions to save money.

While I was standing in line at Tom Thumb waiting for my turn to check out (holding my Reward Card and my special coupon I clipped out of the paper) I felt validated when I saw evidence of OTHER people being confused too - even a SERVICE MANAGER of the Tom Thumb...

The man in front of me had a total of $32 of groceries (including the awesome Coke deal). The Service Manager checking him out very kindly asked him if he wanted a free pizza because he qualified for it since he spent more than $25 today. My brain shouted "WHAT?!? You CAN do the pizza deal and the coke deal together? How did I miss that since I read the fine print 85 times trying to understand it?!?" in my head, but I restrained myself to calmly stand and wait patiently to see how it would play out.

He answered her question with, "Sure." She said, "Pepperoni or cheese?" He said, "Pepperoni." She ran over to grab him a pizza and rang it up along with a "free pizza with a $25 purchase" coupon. The computer took the $.99 deduction off because he is a Reward Card holder, but it left $5 for the pizza on his total despite the coupon - but I was the only one to notice the problem. The manager was smiling because she thought she helped him and he was smiling because he thought he'd just gotten a free deli pizza when she said, "Okay, that brings your total to $37." They were still smiling at each other as he reached in his wallet to pay her.

WHAT?!? A free pizza shouldn't add $5 to your total! But they were STILL too busy smiling at each other thinking about what a great deal they accomplished together to notice. I thought about saying something because it wasn't right, but I faltered because I didn't want to spoil all their smiles. In retrospect I probably should have said something to help clear up the confusion and save the guy his $5 for a pizza he didn't even want originally... but I was too stunned at the fact no one noticed the total was $5 higher to speak.

So I walked out the door with my 4 12-packs and clear validation that the Tom Thumb circular really was WAY too complicated this week since at least one other customer - as well as an intelligent member of the management team of Tom Thumb - were also clearly confused by all that fine print. Good deals are awesome and can definitely get me in your store - but a deal shouldn't be so confusing that no one (even people who work for your company) can't figure them out easily. Hopefully next week we'll have better luck with the Tom Thumb circular... otherwise I may have to send an email to Mr. Thumb on behalf of confused consumers in DFW.

Affection on Kate's Terms...

2009-01-31T16:13:00.000-06:00

Kate's dear friend Luke LOVES to give her hugs and hold her hand - as you can see from the pics, he has been like that since they were babies. I know something inside Kate loves to hug Luke and hold his hand too, but at least 98% of the time it has to be on her terms - not his.

Luke chooses to express his affection physically more often than Kate, so he's usually the one who reaching out for the hug or to hold hands... thus resulting in their #1 relational conflict because she won't stand for ANY of it (poor Luke often has the sad look of the pic from the Arboretum where he was trying to hold hands and she's pulling away). She will fall to the floor crying, run away from him, tattle on him for "touching" her, or do other similar things to resist him - until about two minutes later when he's given up and she decides to reach her little hand out to hold his or give him a hug.

Nothing makes Luke's day more than when she reaches out her arms to hug him or hold his hand! But even in those moments, she'll only extend the invitation for an amount of time she determines (which usually isn't as long as he would like!). She's such a silly girl sometimes - but incredibly, Luke still loves her unconditionally enough that each time we're together he still reaches out that sweet hand for her even though he has to know what the outcome will likely be!

On one hand I wish she would be sweeter to her friend by easily returning his affection - but on the other hand I definitely don't want to force her to hug someone or hold hands if she doesn't want to because in ten years or so I'll be trying as hard as possible to get her to resist those adolescent boys! And - though it's hard for me to even think about right now - a godly man who is able to overlook her faults, love her when she's unlovable, pursue her affection relentlessly, and give her unconditional love just like Luke does right now is the sort of man I pray she someday chooses to spend the rest of her life with.

Oral Surgery

2009-01-30T14:34:00.000-06:00

Cody went to the oral surgeon this morning to get five teeth pulled - one molar and four wisdom teeth. His dentist looked slightly more gentle and his tools looked a little more professional than the guy in the pic above, but I'm pretty sure this is how Cody viewed the doc and his tools.

All is going well so far - changing out the gauze, taking meds, ice packs on, staying elevated - just the regular stuff. But for Cody this is a very big deal since he's never even had an IV before this morning. He HATES needles... and even gets a little whoozie if he has to watch me or Kate get poked.

Over the course of the nine years we've been married, Cody has taken care of me through 8 or 9 different surgeries - but this has been my first opportunity in our marriage to be on the nurse side rather than the patient side post-op.

I think I like the patient side better. It was very hard to just hold his hand this morning and have to stand there unable to help him as they got his IV started and strapped on all the monitors. I wished over and over that I could just trade places with him for a few minutes so he wouldn't have to go through the hardest part of his day: the needle. I'd have let them poke me 18 times if they could have found a way for him to not have to hurt.

I guess we have to allow the ones we love the most to hurt sometimes so they will be better off in the long run... but even though I understand that, it's still definitely not easy to stand by and watch them hurt.

So today I'm perfecting the art of being a good nurse as Cody starts the healing process. I know the next few days won't be a whole lot of fun around our house, but we're both going to be learning how to fulfill our new roles and appreciate each other in different ways than before.

Toddler Earring Advice

2009-01-29T16:19:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer before you read further: Kate is absolutely fine and healthy...

Last night while I was cooking dinner, I gave Kate a kiss on her cheek and realized her earrings were missing - both earring posts, both earring backs. We pierced them last summer because she'd been asking about having them done for a while and we decided to use the piercing as a reward for her good potty training performance. We've lost a back to an earring once - and we nearly lost the front to one while at a Christmas party - but those were both just inevitable accidents. With all four pieces of the earrings missing, we knew this was undoubtedly something intentional.

I turned our house upside down looking for where she might have stashed the earrings. She told me all sorts of things ranging from them being in her tummy to she shot them through the basketball goal outside (even though she hasn't been outside in days because of the cold, wet weather) - three year olds are definitely not reliable when it comes to this sort of thing. Since Kate has a rich history of putting things in her mouth and I couldn't find the earrings after an extensive search, I started leaning towards the possibility she may have swallowed them.

So here's what I learned last night... it makes me feel quite ignorant to admit I didn't know these things before last night, but in case it might save someone reading this blog time, money, stress, and safety, I thought it was post worthy:

1. They sell earrings that have backs that screw on which are very difficult to take off - these earrings cost more because they are "real", but purchasing them is cheaper than taking your child to the urgent care clinic because they may have swallowed a less expensive pair.
2. Pediatricians do not recommend that small children have anything but screw back earrings in their ears at all times because every child is unpredictable.
3. If your child can swallow a drink of water and eat a bite of bread without difficulty after a suspected accidental object swallowing, there is no immediate danger (if they cannot, you need to call 911).
4. If you suspect your child swallowed anything sharp: nail, straight pin, tack, earring post that she got her ears pierced in with the very sharp back, etc - the pediatric on-call nurse's advice is to take them in to be seen immediately even if they can swallow just fine.
5. Cook Children's Urgent Care facility will not discuss insurance information or fees for service over the phone or in person until AFTER the child has been seen - CareNow will tell you exactly how much things will cost over the phone with your insurance and can x-ray your child to see if they swallowed something, but if any intervention is needed they cannot do it.
6. If your child did swallow an earring and they see it on an x-ray, Cook Children's doesn't recommend any immediate treatment - they will wait to see if it passes on it's own before intervening.
7. After scouring 2 malls and a few outside places, I found Sears at the NE Mall to be the most economical choice in our area to purchase quality screw back earrings. Wal-mart has some very cheap ones to offer ($10), but if you pull with reasonable force you can easily pull the backs off them without unscrewing anything. The major jewelry stores have them priced as much as $500 down to as little as $50 (the cheaper $50 options were at JC Penneys in NE Mall and at the Zales Outlet in Grapevine Mills). But Sears got my money this afternoon for some 14 ct. gold ball screw back earrings for $25. So if you need to get some screw back earrings for a toddler in your life, I recommend looking at their selection.

Kate is doing quite well, I'm a much smarter momma today than I was yesterday when it comes to earring safety and swallowed item protocol, we're still hunting her earrings, and as you can see from the pic above, she's enjoying her new gold screw back earrings!

Today's Adventures

2009-01-28T16:34:00.000-06:00

#1 - While coloring with markers at her picnic table when I was in the shower this morning, Kate decided to color her belly button purple. We're still in the color with markers in just underwear stage because she "accidentally" marks all over everything, but she's never PURPOSELY put it in her belly button before - a little while later she asked me if I wanted a purple belly button too... and acted quite offended when I said no.

#2 - While singing her current favorite song ("Sweet Home Alabama" - I know it's odd, but it is what it is) this morning, Kate switched the words out and sang: "Sweet Home OBAMA" over and over. When I shot her a questionable look, she looked back proudly and sang even louder: "Sweet home O-BAMA!"

#3 - Last night it was sleeting and freezing cold outside, so Cody had a fire blazing in the fireplace and I decided s'mores would be a great dessert. Kate was very excited and wanted to help me get it all together so I asked her what we needed for our s'mores... she said, "Marshmallows, chocolate bars, and nut-crackers!" I tried explaining that they are graham crackers, but she would hear NONE of it. After we roasted her marshmallow to make her s'more sandwich, she took a small bite of her s'more, looked over at me, and said very seriously: "I love NUT-crackers."

So Long Birthday...

2009-01-27T10:38:00.000-06:00

The birthday rush is now officially over. Kate and I just finished licking icing from our lips after eating the last two birthday cupcakes as our healthy mid-morning snack. When the cake's gone, the party is definitely over. Three years old has already brought new challenges our way even though we've only enjoyed the age for three days. Here are a few examples:

On Saturday night I was carrying the girl on my back through the mall and she said "STUPID" in my ear. I asked her what was stupid... she paused for a minute and said, "ALL these people."

On Sunday she informed me all the way to church that she didn't want to go. I asked her why not and she said with as much authority as she could muster into her voice, "Because-I-said-so."

Yesterday we were at Target waiting for our turn to check out - you know the place where marketers have strategized to best locate flashy, sugary items that will entice children to beg, prompt mothers (who are already barely able to hold onto their sanity after shopping with a toddler for an hour) to refuse giving their precious child the item because the cart is already full of as many snacks and food for the child as is affordable, and thus produce massive amounts of tears, fits, and general unpleasantness from all involved. Anyway, there we were ready to check out when I hear candy clattering to the floor. I turned around and saw angelic newly three year old eyes looking back at me with her little girl hand frozen in the mid-air. She immediately stammered, "I didn't do it. My brother-sister turtle Tim did it." Then she turned her head toward the invisible being on the ground and started explaining to this "brother-sister turtle Tim" why he/she/it shouldn't have done that and to pick it up RIGHT NOW.

So in three days I've had to find ways to deal with disrespect of others through insult, definite independent ideas and a desire to be autonomous, lying, blaming, and deceit... or I imagine another way of looking at it would be that I've gotten to deal with the ability to imitate others, the ability to identify her wants and share them with me, and a newfound capacity for imaginative creativity.

The adventure of three years old is in full swing around here!

Party Video as Promised...

2009-01-25T21:38:00.000-06:00

She had so much fun - thanks to everyone for making her birthday so special!

Three Years Old

2009-01-24T21:43:00.000-06:00

My baby girl is three years old today.

Her eyes were barely open this morning when she shouted: "It's my BIRTHDAY!!"

We celebrated with a breakfast of oatmeal with blueberries (and pink sprinkles), a wonderful jump party with 7 little friends and several big friends, the long awaited strawberry cake, some Guitar Hero followed by a nap, her favorite "chicken and rice" dinner with Angie at Pei Wei,
a short trip to the mall, and then probably the last of the "I'm __ today" baths.

A WAY fun jump party video will follow later this weekend...

One Day

2009-01-23T11:41:00.000-06:00

One more day until these pictures will be one year old.

Time really does fly when you're having fun.

Two Days

2009-01-22T16:35:00.000-06:00

Two days until these pictures are exactly two years old.

Amazing.

Three Days

2009-01-21T22:46:00.000-06:00

Three days until this picture is exactly three years old.

Unbelievable.

I'm three days away from being the momma of a three year old.

Home again, Home again

2009-01-20T23:05:00.000-06:00

I've been out of town for the last several days - sorry for the lack of posting. I went to take care of some people I love in Lubbock who needed a little taking care of... not to mention a good dose of that cure-all medicine called time with Kate.

Life is a steep uphill climb sometimes - and when my life gets tough, I so appreciate those people who come alongside me to sympathetically listen, to encourage or advise, and sometimes to physically help me keep moving forward until the going gets easier and I can do it on my own again. I don't know how I would have survived some of my life's toughest rough patches without the Lord sending people like that my way.

Both of the people I went to Lubbock to love on have been those special type of encouragers countless times for me over the past several years. The cookies I baked, miles I drove, and hugs I gave this past week were merely tiny drops in the bucket compared to all that these special women have invested in my life. It was a privilege to get to give a little back to them out of all that they've so freely given to me. I came home with a tired body, but with a very full heart.

I'm so thankful to be in a season of my life where I'm able to give - it truly is better to give than receive!!

Making Smores

2009-01-13T21:28:00.000-06:00

We made Smores in the fireplace this weekend while Angie was staying with us. After yesterday's all too serious post, I thought it was time for another fun video - so enjoy!

Parenting is My Marathon

2009-01-12T23:57:00.001-06:00

This weekend Kate and I went to the park near our house with our friend Angie. She ran a marathon a few weeks ago and is already preparing for another one in a few weeks so she needed to run a few miles while she was staying with us. Even though it was pretty cold, Kate and I bundled up and decided to walk at the track while she ran around it.

I've never known anyone who has run a marathon before, so Angie has been educating me in the ways of the marathon running world. From what she's told me about all it takes to run marathons, I've decided parenting is very similar to running a marathon.

Here's a basic rundown of my thoughts (M - Marathon; P - Parenting):
M - Angie needs the right sort of gear to run: clothes, wristwatch that keeps track of miles, shoes that properly fit her feet
P - I need to be armed with momma gear every time I'm out of the house with Kate: extra clothes, wipes, snacks, and toys as well as dressing myself in shirts that can get smeared with snot and shoes that can keep up with fast toddler feet

M - Runners need to eat well (Angie even has special running snacks like electrolyte gel and jelly beans packed with carbs), drink lots, and take care of their bodies to survive the strain
P - When I became a parent, taking care of myself took on a new meaning - I need to be as fit physically, emotionally, and spiritually as I can be so that I can actively lead and teach this little girl who watches everything I do. I have remind myself frequently that I have to be nourished before I can nourish her (sort of like the oxygen masks on an airplane...)

M - Runners have to be dedicated in order to be successful - they train when it's hot or freezing cold outside (see picture above!), they train when they feel like it and when they don't - because training through the hard stuff teaches them to overcome and be able to endure the marathon
P - It doesn't matter if Kate is in a good mood or not, if she's being obedient or not, if she's well or sick (or if I'm in a good mood or feeling sick) - I must be dedicated enough to my job of being a momma that I keep making the most of opportunities to "train" Kate because sometimes the most teachable moments are when things aren't going well and life's not easy

M - Runners need people cheering them on at their difficult mile markers during the marathon because it helps them pull through those tough stretches when the body wants to stop going
P - I love Kate with as unconditional of a love as humans are capable of and I'm incredibly privileged to have been chosen to be her momma, yet at times I feel so discouraged and overwhelmed in this 24/7 job of trying to be a godly parent that I desperately need those key encouragers in my life to be there cheering me on with sincerity (telling me what I'm doing right as well as teaching me how I can be better) - and when they do I find myself stretching a little further, growing more, and able to do things I never thought I was capable of

M - Sometimes during a marathon you have to slow yourself down - to take a drink, eat something, or even just to go to the bathroom so you can focus better on your goal and be able to sustain yourself in order to reach that goal
P - After three years of parenting I'm just now learning the value of allowing myself to take a break every once in a while without feeling guilty so I can recharge, renew, and be able to get back in the swing with a fresh appreciation for my sweet girl. Before just recently, any time we needed to have someone else watch Kate for a little while I felt selfish and guilty - but now I see that although the marathon of parenting is definitely rewarding, I'll be doing it the rest of my life so I need to start focusing on pacing myself more! I've been in sprint mode rather than marathon mode for these first few years of Kate's life, so I've raced right past opportunities for refreshment because I wasn't taking the time to acknowledge how long this marathon will be and to realize how much better I'll be able to run if I slow down for a minute or two so I can recharge.

Looking at parenting as a marathon has given me the perspective I needed at this point in my stage of learning to be a better momma for Kate. Without question I'm very far from perfect, so I know it will be impossible for me not to scar my child in one way or another because of those imperfections - but I'm trying my best to do all I can and praying the Lord's grace will cover the rest as I run one of the most important marathons in my life!

"Let us run the race that is set before us with endurance..." Hebrews 12:1

How Do You Hang Your Towel?

2009-01-11T19:26:00.001-06:00

This is a common sight in my bathroom - the towel rack. For those of you who may not know us very well, Cody's perfectly folded and hung towel is on the right... and my towel that barely made it to the rack is on the left. It's odd how much your towel rack can say about you!

I wish I could be more neat and organized like Cody - and I imagine he wishes that too - but I'm just not built that way. There are hundreds of other examples around our house of his orderliness and my lack of order: our desks, our cars, etc. I make efforts several times a year to get organized and stay that way, but throw a trip out of town or a very busy week into my schedule and I totally fall off the wagon.

Unfortunately for Cody, at this point in her life Kate seems to be following my patterns more than his when it comes to organization - but every once in a while she'll totally flip and start lining up her toys in rows or become obsessed with her books being put away the "right" way. While the differences in momma and daddy's ways of doing things might be a bit confusing for her at times, I imagine it's probably better that Kate has both of our personalities around her so she'll be more well rounded - ideally she'll end up being a mix of the best of both of us.

I can't help but wonder what her towel rack will look like in a few years...

Soap Doesn't Taste as Good as Strawberry Cake

2009-01-08T19:14:00.001-06:00

Kate ate dirt today.

Yep, dirt.

And I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it.

Yep, she enjoyed it.

Since she was old enough to grab things and put them in her mouth, regardless of my efforts to prevent it she's found ways to put all sorts of insane things in her mouth (rocks, sticks, crayons, playdoh, stickers, bugs, jewelry, etc), but until today I've always been able to swish out the non-food item before it was ingested.

She was playing outside at a friend's house this afternoon. I noticed her chewing. I walked over to see what she was chewing on and there was a brown, earthy-like residue on her lips and covering one of her front teeth in a classically hillbilly-esk fashion. I tried as calmly as possible to ask her to let me see inside her mouth. When she opened it up, I could see the dirt down in the crevices of all her bottom teeth, smeared across her tongue, and her spit was tinted a nice beige hue.

Good times.

Once I figured out it was ONLY DIRT (by making her open her mouth and smelling the "dirt" repeatedly), I got over the need to call her pediatrician. But what was more strange than catching her with dirt in her mouth, was the fact that after she knew I was distressed about it she still happily chomped away on her dirt chunk as I stood there with my mouth hanging open trying to recover from my shock so I could figure out what to do with her.

I took her over to the shrubs and asked her to spit - which was totally ineffectual since she's fortunately not perfected the craft of spitting like a ballplayer yet.

To figure out what happened so I could find the way to how best handle the situation, I asked her how she got dirt in her mouth. She looked me directly in the eyes and said with complete seriousness: "It's not dirt, Momma. It's strawberry birthday cake forever."

Definite points given for an active imagination, but then those points must be deducted for the insanity of lacking the common sense to know that no matter how much you want dirt to taste like strawberry cake you shouldn't put it in your mouth because your imagination didn't really make the dirt turn into cake.

Then I decided to take her inside to the bathroom. No spankings necessary because I really didn't think she was trying to act poorly - she just got carried away with her imagination. But what should I do with this crazy girl who is constantly eating things she shouldn't and literally LICKS random nasty public surfaces daily?!? I thought I might be able to teach her a lesson about how she shouldn't put germy things in her mouth if I tried to "clean" the dirt out.

I reached for the liquid handsoap on the bathroom sink. Gross I know, but I really need to find a way to teach her to stop doing things like this before she eats something really dangerous. I asked her to stick her tongue out. I squirted a generous portion onto her dirt stained tongue and asked her to keep her mouth open so I could clean the dirt out with the soap.

Are you cringing yet? I was. I couldn't believe I was actually about to wash my baby's mouth out with soap - but desperate times call for desperate measures. I thought there would be the inevitable tears, gnashing of teeth, and/or some sort of struggle so she would remember this experience and learn her lesson so neither of us had to go through this again.

No such luck.

She just sat there patiently waiting for me to finish. WHAT?!? I scrubbed on her tongue. I got the remaining dirt particles out of the spaces under her tongue and between her gums and cheeks. I even spent a little time trying to get some of the dirt off her teeth. She looked rabid because of the soapy lather I'd worked up coming out of the corners of her mouth. All this with absolutely no negative reaction from the girl. She actually laughed after she sneezed and a huge soap bubble sprang out of her mouth.

So I finished up, wiped the outside of her mouth, and she asked if we could go back outside. I was still dumbfounded by the girl who had no reaction to dirt or liquid handsoap in her mouth, so I agreed. On our way back outside to rejoin our friends she looked up at me and said: "Soap doesn't taste as good as strawberry cake. I want strawberry cake for my birthday."

In Case You're Wondering...

2009-01-07T22:42:00.000-06:00

This week I:

made Cody proud when I cleaned chicken and disinfected my sink/counter area without getting bleach on my pants and having to color them with a Sharpie marker... which is good since I was wearing plaid pajama pants this time. (explanation)

encouraged Kate to color with her orange crayon as much as she wanted. (explanation)

heard Kate pray the sweetest prayer for her BeeBee. (explanation)

allowed Kate to go to Target dressed as Minnie Mouse (with gloves) and to sleep in a tu-tu. (explanation)

already broke and recommitted myself to my New Year's resolution. (explanation)

listened to Kate tell me about her BSF lesson - and this time it made sense and was accurate info on how Moses went up on a mountain and came down with a shiny face. (explanation)

finished off another box of yummy garlic club crackers. (explanation)

saw Claire spill, Luke wiggled Kate, and ordered Kate an orange juice smush - but at least I wasn't told I smelled like an animal. (explanation)

finalized the details for Kate's birthday party on January 24th. (explanation)

burned a kids cd for Kate because listening to her sing her current favorite songs (Joy To The World, Rise Up Shepherd and Follow, and other Christmas songs) over the non-Christmas songs in the car is starting to wear me down. (explanation)

Icicle Appreciation

2009-01-06T18:43:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that the day after the 84 degree weather we enjoyed at Six Flags our high temperature was 40 degrees lower, but it's true! And the day after that we had icicles hanging from everything. This is the first cold precipitation Kate has seen this season so she stared at it in incredible wonder through the window all morning.

After lunch I let her bundle up and go outside to look at the icicles up close. The spikey chunks of crystal looking ice seemed to totally mystify her up close. When I stepped away from her to grab a pic of her, she instantly pulled one off and stuck it in her mouth before I had a chance to stop her. And then the icicles became "popsicles" to her!

It was very difficult to convince her to turn loose of her precious popsicles so we could get in the car to run a few errands, but as we were driving she continued to enjoy them because she was able to see them all over town. She kept shouting - "Look, Momma, there are popsicles on the stop sign! Look, Momma, there are popsicles on the library! Look, Momma, there are popsicles on..." And last night when we were praying she thanked God for the popsicles He'd put on everything for her.

I confessed in my last post that I'm an excitable sort of person, but I wish that there were more moments in my day that are filled with the sort of childlike wonder I saw in Kate's eyes yesterday each time she saw an icicle. I imagine it's inevitable that as you get older and see more of the world there will be less and less to be in awe of - but there's something to be said for being able to better appreciate the miracles all around us on a daily basis and for the ability to be thankful for the little things in life that are so easily ignored.

I'm going to start intentionally hunting for ways to turn the icicles in my life into popsicles - I guess my first step is just to simply follow Kate's lead! A lot can be learned from a two year old...

Holiday in the Park in January

2009-01-05T20:32:00.000-06:00

I'm easily excited... or at least that's what Cody says. I've been fortunate enough to go to Six Flags many times over the course of my life, but when the first peak of a roller coaster peeks over the horizon as we're driving towards the park, an uncontrollably childish excitement overwhelms my system. I have major opportunities to practice the skill of self control because in my excitement I become extremely impatient with traffic and red lights and everything else that prevents us from getting on that first ride!

Holiday in the Park is definitely my favorite time of year at Six Flags. There's just something magical about all the lights twinkling around the park, the Christmas music playing over the speakers, and not having to sweat to death waiting in line to ride. Our December was packed with events and so much sickness we didn't have a chance to get to Holiday in the Park before Christmas and I sadly thought we'd missed it for the year.

But this weekend the weather was so nice we were looking for something fun to do outside and I found out that Six Flags still hadn't shut their doors for the season yet! So we put on our t-shirts and headed out there to enjoy the 84 degree day in January. I was THRILLED when we saw the park from the freeway and Kate started shrieking SIX FLAGS - I SEE SIX FLAGS! In addition to my normal level of excitement, I was struck with an awesome amount of pride as we sat at a red light and she said, "Let's go - hurry up light - I want Six Flags!" I definitely want Kate to get most of Cody's personality traits rather than mine, but a zest for life and an excitement for the exciting are traits of mine that I'm so glad to see developing in her!!

Kate LOVED riding some rides, sharing a funnel cake with her Daddy, driving a car all by herself, singing with the Christmas music that was still playing over the speakers, and everything else Six Flags had to offer a girl of two years old and a mere 37 inches in height. Here's about a minute of a video of her fun:

Turtles for Toddlers

2009-01-04T21:04:00.000-06:00

For the last several months Kate has been obsessed with singing a song about a turtle named Tiny Tim that she learned at church. She sings it every time she sees a turtle or any sort of shape that might look a little like a turtle. We made a trip to the zoo this weekend and Kate got the chance to see two tiny turtles swimming in the water, one big turtle in another area, and several huge turtles walking around in a grassy area. Here's a 30 sec video of her with the precious tiny swimming turtles followed by her singing her little turtle song:

While we were there we also saw a white tiger who was very attracted to Kate and her friend Avery. I'm not sure if he thought they'd be fun to play with or if he was hoped he was looking at his dinner - but regardless he was cute in a oddly gentle yet dangerous beast sort of way with them. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I imagine a video is worth at least a million or two, so here's another 30 second video of the "playful" white tiger who was trying to lick their hands as well as a couple other highlights of our trip:

Self Portrait: Video Edition

2009-01-02T15:17:00.000-06:00

We thought we'd give this a shot - and it seemed to work pretty well. Kate has some definite ideas on what kind of birthday party she wants to have... so all you princesses and super heroes out there better get ready for some fun on January 24th!

The New Year's Resolutions of a Toddler

2009-01-01T13:50:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year! Have you made your resolution list yet? I'm not a huge fan of such things, but I thought it would be interesting to talk with Kate about it this morning while we were eating breakfast - meal time is about the only time I can convince her to stay still long enough to talk these days.

So here's a short vlog of Kate talking about the things she wants to do this year...

My personal favorite resolution she made was about telling me when she needs to go potty! She independently decided last spring she was done with diapers, so whether we were ready or whether we thought she was ready or not was a moot point. She does so well going potty for a while, but we still don't seem over the proverbial hump where we have those inevitable phases of backsliding.

Listening to Kate share what she wants to do this year and seeing how good it felt when she listed things like improving her potty skills made me wonder if that's how God feels when He listens to my resolutions. Do His eyes perk when he sees I want to read my Bible everyday or improve my prayer life? If they do, then how should that affect what I put on my list?

And when I have seasons of backsliding in an area of my life I'm trying to improve how does He respond to my inevitable shortcomings? Which brings me to a very self convicting last question: does my response to Kate's backsliding look anything like the Lord's response to mine? I'm still growing and learning and messing up continually just like she does - it's just in different areas.

I guess I just found my resolution for this year. I want to try my best to reflect the Lord's character in my interactions with Kate as we go about our daily life - both in the fun times of play and in the less than fun times of potty accidents or disobedience. I want to be unwavering in what is right and wrong; reward the right and allow fair consequences for the wrong; and freely give grace, love, and encouragement regardless of the circumstances.

There's a big difference in making a resolution and keeping it. I'm going to try my best, but I already know there will be moments of backsliding. But I guess when you backslide and re-climb up the hill you're burning calories, so I'll lose some weight in the process and kill two birds with one resolution!

Hair Cut

2008-12-30T21:34:00.000-06:00

Today I took the girl to get her second hair cut. It's hard to believe that she'll be three in a month and this is only the second time she's needed a trim - and when I say trim I mean trim! She was understandably skittish about it at first so she sat cautiously still and very serious for the first part, but she eventually loosened up a bit - especially when the lady cutting her hair reminded her about the glitter stars she was going to get on her cheeks at the end and the free lollipop for good girls. In addition to those treats, after her hair cut we met up with Aunt Caitlin for some lunch. When a girl has only had two hair cuts in her entire life she deserves a little excitement!!

My special Christmas present was a FLIP video camera and Cody says I should use it to give my blog "vlog" segments. Thus under his advisement, I thought we'd give it a shot this week to see what all three of my readers out there in cyberspace think... so here's a compilation video of our haircut adventure (about a minute). Enjoy!

Polar Express at the IMAX

2008-12-29T14:21:00.000-06:00

Before Christmas we decided to take Kate to go see The Polar Express at the IMAX in downtown Fort Worth. Kate hadn't ever been IMAXing before and we were a little concerned about what she was going to think of the huge screen and loud speakers, but we thought she was old enough to take the chance this year. The preview time before our movie started when they were displaying all the speakers and all the IMAX screen can do was a little stressful for her, but once the movie started she settled in and everything was fine. After Polar Express was over we went to one of Cody's very favorite places: Dairy Queen (Kate lovingly calls it the Dairy KING) which was a special treat since there aren't very many in this area. It was a great time out together and just might become one of our holiday traditions! And since I'm video-happy this week, here's a 20 sec video of Kate before we went into the theater:

A Day in the Life of Snow White

2008-12-27T22:00:00.000-06:00

Kate's Granmomma sewed her a Snow White costume for Christmas - and to put it mildly, she loves it! For the past few months she's been in a daily dress up mode, but so far we haven't felt the extreme need to wear a costume all day long... until today. This morning she had Snow White on before breakfast and when I asked her to take it off so we could eat she informed me she was wearing it FOREVER. I relented for breakfast, thinking the desire would fade when it was time to get dressed and run errands, but she continued to be calmly steadfast as she told me again she would wear this dress FOREVER. We fight enough two year old battles for independence these days - so in the spirit of trying to carefully choose my battles, I decided to wait her out and see how long she'd last in the dress. And while we were at it I thought we should have a little fun... so here's a 2 minute video summary of our Snow White adventures today:

A Very Blessed Christmas (In Picture Review)

2008-12-27T21:49:00.000-06:00

Christmas Carolling in the Blogosphere

2008-12-23T11:10:00.000-06:00

Strep throat hasn't slowed Kate down too much - she still loves to sing.
Hope you enjoy these carols straight from the mouth of a sweet two year old...
Merry Christmas to all!

Rise Up Shepherd And Follow

Joy To The World

The Strep Has Struck

2008-12-22T19:48:00.000-06:00

After a weekend of full of fever, coughing, runny nose, very little sleep or eating, and crying, we decided I should take Kate to the doctor today. After sitting as patiently as possible in the big waiting room for 45 minutes we finally made it to a little waiting room in the back and all my girl wanted to do was lay on the table. That's when you know your typically curious and often precocious two year old is definitely sick. About 45 more minutes, an exam, a throat culture, a popsicle, a prescription, and a few stickers later, we left the office with the diagnosis of strep throat and a possible ear infection.

There are definitely many things that are much worse than strep throat and we are so thankful to be able to go to the doctor to get help for our girl - yet this is still a tough time in Kate's little girl world. Please pray for us as we try to keep her hydrated, happy, and healed!

The T Rex vs The Polar Bear

2008-12-21T21:27:00.000-06:00

We took Kate on a little family adventure last Friday. While on our said outing, we saw a polar bear and a dinosaur among other things. The dinosaur was probably 4 times as tall as Kate, had many tall teeth, she'd never seen anything like it, and it would stand to reason that a tiny two year old should be intimidated by him since he stood outside the building thus making her think he was free to "get" her (her words). By contrast, the polar bear she saw after that didn't stand nearly as tall, didn't have nearly as many teeth, she's seen at least one of these stuffed life sized ones before and has a large stuffed animal one at home, and he was inside the building within a fence and clearly not living. You would think the dramatic opposition of the two situations would clearly leave her inclined to prefer the polar bear, but that thought would be 100% incorrect.

She didn't want to get near the polar bear or talk about him in the slightest - all she could talk about was the dinosaur and getting to go back outside to see him again. She wouldn't smile, acted fearful, and started to cry when I tried to get her picture by the bear, but couldn't take her eyes off the dinosaur long enough to stay turned towards the camera while I was taking her picture outside because she was so excited to look at him. Even when we left the building in the dark as the floodlights shown up at the T-Rex (in my opinion making him seem even more scary and dangerous), she asked to go right up and touch it. What's wrong with this girl?!?

So where Coca-cola go wrong in their polar bear campaign? Didn't their focus groups tell the advertisers that dinosaurs are much more attractive and approachable to children than polar bears? Can't you just see the ad: a cute baby T Rex trying to figure out how to get a coke bottle to reach its mouth with its too short front arms while its momma stands behind it?!? Coke's decision to go with the polar bear as a mascot instead of the dinosaur to me confirms that my opinion sides with the majority of the WORLD... but right now Kate would undoubtedly be thrilled and want to start drinking coke if dinosaurs were on the ads instead.

Just like dipping her watermelon in mustard or choosing stale Halloween candy over fresh Christmas cookies for dessert, choosing the dinosaur over the polar bear is probably only the beginning of Kate's choices seeming irrational and/or illogical to me. But even though her preferences sometimes confuse me, it's fun to watch her become her own person - and at this stage in her life it's even more interesting to see her preferences because they are totally independent of societal pressures or norms.

For instance, I LOVE that right now she's in love with the color orange without the slightest concern over the fact girls "should" like pink or purple. I don't know if it's possible to accomplish this, but I'm going to try to find a way to show her how to keep loving orange even when she's old enough to know girls are supposed to like pink and most people in general don't enjoy that good ole orange hue. I've spent too much of my life worried about what I'm supposed to do and what I'm supposed to think - I don't want that sort of life for my girl. I want to strive to lay a solid enough overall foundation within her that she has the confidence, desire, and freedom to make her own successful choices even when those choices don't make sense to others... or even her mother. Thankfully I don't need to understand her to be proud of her, and I'm already so proud of Kate just for being who she is - she's compassionate, giving, funny, energetic, and so much more. I'm a lucky momma!

A Secret Love

2008-12-18T22:51:00.000-06:00

In the same vein as my Buttery Garlic Club Cracker addiction confession in my last post, I feel the need to confess one more thing to the blogosphere... I have a secret love of the Orange County Choppers show on the Discovery Channel. I understand that my particular personality slant probably shouldn't jive with that sort of show, but I love it nonetheless.

We stumbled across the OCC when we lived in Lubbock during a phase when we had cable instead of Kate. I would never trade our lives now for our lives then, but in our pre-parenting days we had ample free opportunities to drink in the wonders of cable television without regard to time or money or too much attention to language used. Those men on the show don't exactly exhibit massive amounts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self control - but they sure are creative when it comes to designing and shaping metal into the form of a motorcycle! I've never riden a motorcycle (and I'm not sure I have the desire ever to get on one), but I love watching those guys do seemingly impossible things as they skillfully design a bike for someone under a deadline.

I haven't gotten to watch an episode in a very long time, but all that is about to change: While we were in San Antonio this past week, Cody found the first two seasons of the show on sale for only $5 at the Rivercenter Mall! I imagine if you can find full seasons of a show for only $5, it calls into question its quality - but I choose not to look at it that way... I merely see it as an awesome deal for all. We love spending time with Kate while she's awake, but her bedtime is about to get a little more exciting around our house because Senior and Junior Paulies will be waiting for us in our DVD player!

Garlic is Grand

2008-12-17T22:37:00.000-06:00

These tiny little Buttery Garlic Club Crackers being crafted in the trees of those genius Keebler Elves are my latest addiction. Cody's mom brought a box out to Smyer while we were visiting over Thanksgiving. After my first bite, I was hooked. It didn't take me long after we got back home to find a coupon, find a sale at the grocery store, and go buy me a couple packages of these delicious tiny bites of heaven. I'm not typically a huge cracker eater, but over the last couple weeks I've found several occasions to make a meal of these special crackers with just a glass of water (as not to taint the magnificence of the cracker's flavor). So the moral today is this: if you have an opportunity to buy a cracker any time in the near future, go for the Buttery Garlic Club Crackers... but be prepared to be dazzled by their addictively tasty deliciousness.

Daddy's Lights

2008-12-14T21:15:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon when Kate and I pulled into the driveway after going to a birthday party for one of her friends, my mouth fell open: THERE WERE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ON MY HOUSE!! I couldn't believe my eyes - I was as excited about those lights as a Who in Who-ville!

For you to fully appreciate what a true jaw-dropping miracle these lights are, you need to understand the following:

a) we do not own a ladder tall enough to reach the roof... actually we own nothing in the way of a ladder that is any taller than the little 2 step ladder I use to reach the top shelf of the pantry
b) it was extremely windy yesterday in DFW during mid-day (we're talking West Texas sized gusts!)
c) Cody is not a fan of heights or extreme danger
d) of the past eight Christmases we've spent as a married couple if we've had outdoor lighting it has been very largely due to my solo or nearly solo labor on the roof
e) our little family has been so crazy busy and pathetically unhealthy since we got home from Thanksgiving I'd given up on putting lights on the roof this year
f) our church Christmas program was this weekend - the day Cody hung the lights he'd already been to work that morning, came home early to hang the lights, then he stayed home with Kate while she napped after the birthday party so I could get to church on time, he packed her dinner to eat at church, and brought her to me so he could get back to work on the Christmas program

So last night when we got home from church - even though it was late and we had to be back at church for a long day early this morning - Kate and I stood out in the front of the house under a nearly full moon while Cody plugged in the lights so we could be dramatically dazzled with the display. I'm thrilled to report that Kate was just as impressed as I was when those lights flashed on for the first time of the year. It was awesome to watch her little eyes brighten in the glow and to see that big smile on her face last night - and those eyes and smile haven't faded today every time she's had a chance to talk about "Daddy's lights" on top of the house!

There's no doubt the Lord richly blessed Kate and me with Cody - I'm so thankful he is in our lives as a husband and a daddy! He is a blessing to us for many more reasons than just the Christmas light surprise yesterday afternoon - he's the patient and calming Godly leader we need, his love for us is constant, he encourages us to achieve our potential, he provides for our family financially, and there are so many other examples of how his personality traits are perfectly matched to the known and unknown needs Kate and I have. Even though it's hard to think of my baby girl all grown up, I'm already praying that she'll find a man to marry that will love her and take care of her as well as her daddy does.

What lucky girls we are to have him in our lives!

How much longer?

2008-12-14T20:11:00.000-06:00

Kate and her friend Luke have enjoyed baths together at odd times here and there for most of their lives. This past week Luke came to spend the night with us and without a thought I plopped them in the tub together - both for their fun times as well as for my own time efficiency. As they were splashing and laughing together I sat there amazed at how much you can tell they've grown up these past few months just by watching how they interact and play.

My next thought was to go get the camera because if they've grown up this much lately, then who knows how much they'll grow up in the next few months? And it won't take much more growing up before these sweet days of being free to take a bath with one of your friends who just happens to be a boy will be a thing of the past for my precious girl. Kate's so thankful for her dear friend Luke - and even if they get too old to bathe together sometime soon, there's no doubt they'll be good friends for a very, very long time!

Expiration Excitement

2008-12-11T15:19:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week I went to Kroger to pick up some essentials for our week - milk, bread, yogurt, and such. Guess what my milk's expiration date is? CHRISTMAS EVE.

Though expiration dates probably aren't exciting to an average person, I must admit that certain times of the year they're ridiculously thrilling to me. Every time this week that I get Kate a cup of milk from the fridge I see "DEC 24, 2008" stamped on the top of the gallon, instantly smile, and skip a step as I go give her the milk because I'm reminded Christmas Eve is within milk expiration range!

I do the same thing with Kate's birthday, Cody's birthday, my birthday, our wedding anniversary, days we're going to take a trip out of town, and all other fun days on my calendar every year. In addition to expiration dates on milk or bread, coupon expiration dates are equally as exciting. And I imagine sharing this detail will only make me appear even more eccentric, but there's something particularly special if the printed date is the actual date of the event not just close to it :).

What do you look forward to and/or how do you measure the progress of time? Maybe knowing other people out there mark the march of time by expiration dates would help me feel a little less odd - or I imagine there are lots of more fun ways to watch time pass that I should look into.

And, for the record: Christmas is only 2 weeks away!

Meaty, Meaty Power

2008-12-10T22:57:00.000-06:00

I've blogged before about the study of Moses Kate and I are going through at our Wednesday morning Bible study, but here's a new story on the subject... Every day when we're driving to lunch after the study I ask Kate about what she learned in her class. I never know what she'll say, but listening to her never fails to put a smile on my face!

Here are a few of the answers she's offered me over the last few weeks:
Moses had meaty, meaty power (I think she meant MIGHTY).
Moses did not obey God. He had to get spankings and sit in time out.
Moses was very, very, very thirsty.
Moses lived with Pocahontas in a tent.
Moses likes to eat pizza with Jesus. Flat cheese pizza with birds.

I don't know where she's getting her creative flourish on these ideas, but the basic concept of most of the things she says is rooted in truth. Today when we were driving out of the church parking lot I listened to her latest Moses story and decided that at least pieces of the truth are getting in her head and heart. And then I felt convicted that I sometimes let myself walk away from the study just like Kate: I listen to the truth presented while I'm there, take parts of it, leave parts of it, and add embellishment as I fill in gaps of misunderstanding when I share it with someone else.

I don't want to be that sort of student. I want to be better than that so I can learn and grow into the person I need to become. So next time I'm in a Bible study or similar place, I'm going to try as hard as possible to consciously absorb the easy truths as well as the convicting, harder truths. I know I allow pieces of truth into my head and heart like Kate does, but I want to take it a step further than a toddler - both for my personal understanding as well as so I don't misrepresent truths to others. I don't want to think in my head that Moses camped with Pocahontas or to walk around telling people a 29 year old's equivalent of how Moses had "meaty, meaty" power!

Tale of the Christmas Tree Midriff

2008-12-09T17:04:00.000-06:00

Can you tell that my Christmas tree is sporting a bare midriff? I can. The un-twinkling light section in the middle of my tree is almost as offensive to me as seeing the belly button and mid-section of someone while shopping in the good ole Super Target. In Kate's favorite slang: "Eww, gross."

Last year when I was setting up, fluffing out, and preparing our pre-lit Christmas Tree so we could decorate it, I noticed that there was a strand of lights that wouldn't light. We've had our tree for several years, but I still was disappointed. My sweet husband spent literally hours last year trying to fix the problem for me. He changed out every single bulb on the strand, tried new fuses, and did a variety of other smart electrical engineering tasks that are beyond my limited English degree understanding of electronics - but nothing he did made the strand function again. Because I was determined not to buy another tree over a silly light strand, we got another set of white lights to put over the area on the tree where the lights weren't lighting, went ahead with adding the ornaments, and just left it at that.

This year when I was getting the tree ready for decorating I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged all the sections together and found that all the strands of lights were twinkling just as they should!

With excitement I called for Cody to come see what I confidently pronounced a Christmas MIR-acle (or as the less excited say, "miracle"):

Cody rolled his eyes at my adolescent excitement...
which is typical when I'm melodramatic -
and honestly, that's usually pretty often.
But nevertheless, it was a CHRISTMAS MIR-ACLE to me.
And MIR-acles are worth emotion!

We've turned the tree on and off countless times since we set it up - especially since Kate is old enough to understand how to stand on the foot button to do it herself - and every time all the lights sprung back into action... (insert ominous music here) until last night.

Kate was in her bed, Cody and I were sitting on the couch watching TV, and there was a storm full of lightening and thunder rolling in outside. Following an amazing flash and a big boom our electricity went off for a few seconds. The television, our computers, the lamps, and everything else in the house sprung back to life without hesitation - but when I glanced over at our tree I saw that the MIR-acle light strand hadn't been resurrected from the electric hiccup.

My. Mouth. Hung. Open.
I just gasped and pointed at the tree.
Cody looked over, saw what I was gesturing about, and laughed.
Typical boy reaction to minor girl horror.

I acknowledge I'm hopelessly melodramatic at times, but I was very sad my Christmas MIR-acle was now past tense. Since I've been able to recover from my dramatic shock, I've definitely come to the realization that a silly string of lights not lighting up is without question no big deal in comparison to all that's going on in the world right now - yet the sequence of events still left me feeling reflective.

Some miracles we're blessed with for eternity, some for a little while, and some just for a moment. I want to not take any gift in my life for granted - especially not when those gifts are relationships! While I'm 100% thankful for the blessings in my life no matter how long they're intended to last, the challenge of a blessing for me is the fact I usually don't know its exact duration.

When I first started turning the tree on after we set it up, I took time to look and see if all the lights came back on. After they did several times, I stopped looking and just assumed it would always be that way. And when the circumstances changed last night I realized there were things I should have done when all the lights were on (like taking Kate's Christmas picture in front of it and such) - and I would have done that if I realized this particular small Christmas MIRacle wasn't going to last through Christmas.

I know that sounds trivial - AND IT IS - but there are many other situations in my life where that truth isn't trivial. I don't want to take people or blessings in my life for granted! Just because someone is there 99 times in a row I don't want to put off doing or saying things I should because I assume there will be a 100th time. And when a miracle is fresh in my life I look at it often and give thanks for it like I did those first few times the lights came back on, but after a while I stopped looking for the miracle lights just as after almost three years with Kate I'm no longer as conscious of and overwhelmingly in awe of the gift she is in our lives. I never want to stop taking the time to see and be thankful for the miracles in my life!

Maybe that lesson is one of the reasons my MIR-acle Christmas light strand didn't spring back to life last night. I think instead of getting that spare set of lights out of the garage so my tree can be fully dressed like I'd planned on doing later tonight, I'll let it keep its bare midriff this year so when I see that chunk of un-lit lights I'll remember to not take for granted the small or the big miracles in my daily life - not to mention the Christmas miracles all around.

Cheers for Christmas tree midriffs!

A Simple Christmas

2008-12-08T17:16:00.000-06:00

This morning we loaded up Kate's "back-a-pack-a" (backpack), stopped by the "Chick-n-Lay" (Chick-Fil-A) for a quick breakfast, and headed to NorthPark Mall to see the train exhibit with friend Luke. As you can see, the kids had a great time wearing their conductor hats and looking at the trains together. After we finished at the exhibit we checked out one of the puppet shows in the mall and since NorthPark doesn't have a kids play area we burned some energy on some impromptu "slides" we found. In the pictures you can see the extreme concentration on Kate & Luke's faces as they climbed up and then the joy that came from sliding down... here's a 6 second video of the fun process:

It's amazing how the simplest things are usually the most fun things for kids - like a cardboard box or the wrapping of a gift instead of the gift itself. Who needs a big fancy mall playground when you can crawl up the side of a planter?!? We definitely enjoyed getting to spend time with friend Luke and see the trains together, but I think that Kate loved sliding on that planter as much as she liked the trains - and the sliding was free! As I try to make this Christmas meaningful for Kate and to go out of my way to make things special for our family, I need to keep in mind that usually the best things in life are the simple things. A simple Christmas sure sounds great to me!

The Mickey Henderson Song

2008-12-07T13:43:00.000-06:00

As usual this morning when we woke up Kate immediately asked me for a "diamond", but for the first time EVER she corrected herself after she said it by clearly asking again but saying the word "vitamin" very clearly. When I was dressing her, she wanted to wear her "sprinkley" shoes (glitter) to church. After we got there and she was playing with her friends, she asked me where her friend Dylan was because she wanted to "wiggle" (tickle) him in the bounce house. And when we were sitting at the table eating lunch after church, Cody handed me an envelope and Kate was very excited about seeing a "little clipper" (paper clip) attached to it.

There's no doubt Kate always knows exactly what she's saying, but sometimes I have to be her interpreter in public. The problem isn't her enunciation, her communication problem with other people is her odd choice of words - even when I know she knows exactly what the right word to use! I can usually make sense of it eventually, but sometimes she even throws me for a loop.

One of her funniest word substitutions that I'm hearing daily is for a Christmas song. I know this is going to sound pathetic, but I confess: I have a CD from the 2003 Singing Christmas Tree show our church back in Lubbock performed and there are a few songs on that CD I still love listening to during the Christmas season. My favorite song on the CD is "The End of the Beginning" sang by Mickey Henderson (the minister of music at the church in 2003) - and Kate has learned to love it as much or more than I do.

Here comes the particularly pathetic part of my story: we listen to it at least twice every time we're in the car during the holidays. We've made up hand motions to some of the words and belt it out horridly off-key at the top of our lungs as we cruise down the road in the Civic. We also have several other fun Christmas CDs - and this year I even bought Kate the Cedermont Kids Christmas CD set so she'll have kid Christmas music to enjoy - but that old recording of the Singing Christmas Tree track 9 is still Kate's favorite song. Last year I broke down and let her listen to it a few times in January, but by February whenever I finally decided we had to let the Christmas music go Kate literally cried and cried when I told her we couldn't listen to it until next Christmas.

When Cody and I listen to the song those first few times each season, we frequently talk about what a great singer Mickey is - we've never heard anyone else able to sing that song like he can. Kate must have overheard us talking because last year because she started requesting the song by begging for "The Mickey Mouse Song" (the only Mickey in her two year old world!). That title was cute last year and made us smile every time she said it, but this year since she's older I decided to teach her how to ask for her beloved song correctly. I told her over and over the actual title of the song and tried my best to get her to call it "The End of the Beginning" - words that she sings in the song and definitely can understand as well as say. But she kept calling it "The Mickey Mouse Song" by default. My last effort to amend the title in her mind was to tell her Mickey Mouse did NOT sing the song. With a very concerned and confused look on her face, she immediately wanted to know was who sang the song. So I told her Mickey HENDERSON sang "The End of the Beginning". She repeated "Mickey Henderson" methodically to be sure she was saying each syllable correctly. I saw the light breaking through in her mind and got so excited for fleeting moment until she so sweetly said: "Okay, Momma - can we listen to the Mickey Hen-der-son song?"

So this year, without any more attention paid to the fact that she definitely knows the correct name of the song she loves to sing, the moment we get in the car she starts begging to hear "The Mickey HENDERSON Song". I've finally relented to that being the song's title to Kate from now on - but I'll keep working on the sprinkles, wiggles, little clippers, and all the other word switching as she gets older. They're definitely a precious part of being two - and it always keeps us laughing hearing which words she'll switch - but I don't want her to be 42 and still talking about swallowing diamonds every morning!!

And Mickey, if by any chance you're out there in cyberspace reading this, I want you to know my little girl's favorite Christmas song for two of her three Christmases is sung by you - and if there are any 2003 Singing Christmas Tree of FBC Lubbock choir members out there reading this, thanks for all your hard work on that CD! Who knew that 5 years later a tiny two year old little girl would be requesting that song over and over and over again?!?

Swagbucks?

2008-12-05T13:57:00.000-06:00

I read about a program today on the internet called Swagbucks. It seems like a cool program - and I got Cody to look at it to see what "the catch" is since usually with stuff like this there's always a catch, but he said it looked like a fair deal to him.

The nuts and bolts of the program to me was that if I set up an account then they will give me "bucks" in their program whenever I run internet searches for things. I do a lot of searching on the internet - yesterday I searched for a few different movie theaters to see their show times, I searched for hotels in San Antonio, I searched for info on a Christmas present for Cody, and more - and that's just one day. So if I can get some sort of reward for doing what I already do, why not give it a try?

The program also gives you bucks whenever you shop online or recycle your cell phone or lots of things other than just internet searching - that's just the main feature that caught my eye. It took me a second to set up the account and install their search tool bar, but I'm already on my way to earning a Starbucks gift card so Kate and I can go get some more hot chocolate - or maybe a Barnes & Noble gift card for a new book - or maybe a new gadget for Cody... you know how I LOVE a deal!

So when you have a minute, go check out Swagbucks here and let me know how it works for you!

Target Pepsi Deal

2008-12-04T09:02:00.000-06:00

This week Target has their Pepsi products on sale - when you buy five 12 packs of Pepsi products for $15 and they'll give you a $5 Target gift card to use on your next transaction. Taking the gift card into account, you'll be getting the five 12 packs for $10 which makes each 12 pack only $2 each - and that's about as good as it typically gets on coke prices. You can buy any of the 12 pack flavors Pepsi makes: all the colors of Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, Root Beer, and a few versions of pepsi cola.

The only limit to how many you can buy is how much energy you have to lug around all those 12 packs, the patience of your child, how much room you have to stockpile 12 packs at your house and/or how much space you have in your car! Go forth and save.

Nativity Set Toddler Wisdom

2008-12-04T08:18:00.000-06:00

Kate has really enjoyed playing with her nativity set this week. I've walked her through the Christmas story several times with the little people and she's starting to understand it better than ever before. Typically when she's cleaning up her toys she lines up every animal and person at the very front of the manger so they can all "look at Jesus". But yesterday when I came back into the room I saw the people and animals in the second picture's configuration.

M: (Trying not to laugh) What are the little people doing that aren't by the manger?
K: They're looking at the tree.
M: Why are they looking at the tree?
K: They can't see Jesus - they're tired of looking for him. They want to see the tree.
M: Why did you put the shepherd boy on top of the tree?
K: The people put him there.
M: Why?
K: They want to look at him, not the angel.

Kate was undoubtedly just playing with toys, but the wisdom in her small statements resonated in my heart. I love my Christmas tree, the lights, the music, the movies, and all the other fun that comes with the Christmas season, but in the midst of enjoying the red and green glitter and glam, I want to try extra hard this year to find ways to keep my eyes (as well as the eyes of my child) focused on the true reason for the season.

Unselfish Love

2008-12-02T14:39:00.000-06:00

I love how much Kate loves life. Her feet (and mouth!) only have two speed settings: fast and faster. Unlike her more cautious friends, Kate seems to leap first and think later. In many ways, zest for life and thirst for adventure are great personality traits, but they're also a bit risky when you're too young to understand concepts like gravity, danger, and pain causing potential. The pictures above are samples of just a few of the results of Kate's adventurous lifestyle combined with her lack of coordination in these first two years. After multiple fingers were slammed in doors, run-ins with the fireplace, nightstand injuries, and so many other things, you would think a girl would learn not to rush into precarious situations, but my girl will not be deterred from her life of fun by a few mere trips to the emergency room or doctor visits.

Whenever Kate started moving and it became evident she was a very accident prone child, I became her shadow at every turn to catch her before she jumped. I can't even count the number of times I've been in the right place at just the right time to rescue her from an almost certain impending ER visit. Until just recently, I thought doing this was good parenting - that I was protecting her, saving money on co-pays and insurance deductibles, and most importantly helping guard her against pain.

But as Kate approaches her third birthday, I'm starting to look at my response to her behavior differently. I'm beginning to realize I can't follow her around forever. She needs to be given freedom to do more without me as she gets older - and for that to be a possibility I need to find ways to teach this impulsive toddler how to navigate her world more wisely. So I've decided to try to afford her more freedom by backing off when she's doing semi-unsafe things (semi-unsafe = you will probably fall, get a bump or bruise, and need a mommy hug, but not break a bone or need stitches, facial super-glue, or staples). The mommy in me will never back off when it looks like she's going to really get hurt, but in the little things I can step back and give her a chance to learn to make better choices in order to build her self confidence - and my confidence - in her balance, brains, and coordination to accomplish the task at hand.

Today in the bookstore such an opportunity presented itself. Rather than asking for help, Kate decided she needed to move one of the step stools over to one of the circular rotating book shelves because she wanted a book on a shelf she couldn't reach. But I didn't get up to stop her or solve the situation for her by just getting the book down myself like I normally would have - I just tried to calmly advise her with words that I didn't think what she was doing was safe. As has often happened lately, she chose to go ahead with her plan to get the book on her own.

I looked on the scene holding my breath: she somehow managed to pick up the stool that probably weighed as much as she does, staggered it over near the shelf, climbed on top of it, and stretched on her tippy toes to reach a book on the very top shelf with the tips of her fingers while holding onto the unsteadily tilting wire book rack with her other hand. When she pulled the book out and climbed off the stool she proudly ran over to show it to me. When I saw the title she'd been straining to get her hands on I couldn't help but laugh out loud:

I know it was the wings and wand - not to mention the pink and purple colors - that drew her to this book rather than the title, but what an ironic choice for her current "terrific two" state... especially since her momma had just asked her not to do what she was doing! But the way she was able to safely get the book made me see that some of what I've been looking at as naughtiness is really just her becoming more and more of her own independent and self sufficient little person.

It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact Kate is already old enough for me to need to learn how to let her occasionally experience pain that can result from the privilege of independence so she can learn, grow, and be able to more confidently handle bigger hurdles that will come later in her life. I want to protect her from every kind of pain and to do everything possible to shelter her innocence and keep her safe. Yet I think me being her protective shadow is inadvertantly hurting her because I'm not affording her opportunities to learn how to be as independent as she can be (for her age) which in turn would give her the self confidence she needs to hopefully grow up and make those wise choices I want her to make in life!

But where does a momma draw the line around what is a safe parameter for independence and where dependence is still required? It didn't look like she could break her arm falling off a step stool, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. There are definitely lots of black (sticking metal in electrical outlets) and white areas (being allowed to walk on her own while staying close to me in public rather than strapped in the stroller) where the choice is very clear, but there are also a lot of gray areas in our day to day life where it's hard for me to discern whether I need to step back to foster independence & confidence or jump in to rescue from frustration or a struggle.

Stepping back at age appropriate moments and letting her make her own mistakes has been very hard for me these last few days, but I know I need to try my best to figure the balance out because I think that's big part of me becoming a successful parent for Kate. But why is it so difficult for me to do that when I understand it's what is best for her? I think part of my desire for her to not experience the pain that comes with independent choices is due to the fact it deeply hurts my heart to see her struggle (especially when I can fix it) - I can't express how desperately I want to rush in, save her, and ease her pain as quickly as possible. But I must choose to love her more unselfishly and understand it's not about me - so she can be free to learn to live a stronger, more self confident, and wiser life even if some of those lessons need to be learned through unavoidable struggles, pain, or frustration.

Understanding this concept from a parenting viewpoint gives me a fresh perspective on the struggles God allows in my life. He loves me so wisely and unselfishly that He gives me bite size opportunities at just the right time so I can grow in confidence, strength, and wisdom to be better able to tackle the bigger things coming in my life. Giving me chances to grow and learn new things when it's uncomfortable and hard isn't the mean or uncaring punishment I've often seen it as when I've been looking from the vantage point of a low valley of struggling. It really is yet another example of the sort of love that's patient and kind, not self seeking or easily angered, that keeps no record of wrongs, and the kind that always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres (1 Cor 13). I want to make every effort possible to love Kate and others with an unselfish love that puts their needs above my wants.

I'll be sure to keep you updated on Kate's more independent new life adventures. I have a feeling it's going to be an interesting ride for all of us!

Thankful Living

2008-12-01T14:20:00.000-06:00

We had another great Thanksgiving this year! Kate has loved helping Mamaw in the kitchen since she was a baby - and Mamaw is always kind enough to let her "help" while she's trying to get dinner ready. Each year she's enjoyed whatever part of Thanksgiving dinner that she was developmentally able to eat, but this year she seemed to really enjoy her feast!

The art of being continually thankful is something I'm trying to achieve this year and the Thanksgiving holiday really renewed that desire in my heart. The four or five years before the joyful ones pictured above were extremely difficult for me. Everyone goes through the hill and valley rhythms of life. I've been extremely blessed these several years since Kate's was born to have so many more hills than valleys - but the season of life just before Kate's arrival was unfortunately an opposite type of blessing.

Looking back I can see that time of testing, frustration, and soul weariness as a "blessing" because of all I learned, how my relationship with the Lord deepened, and how those valleys shaped who I am today - as well as how they undoubtedly affected my ability to more fully appreciate my current "hillier" days. But, to be honest, while I was going through what seemed to be an endless stretch of valley after valley I felt discouraged, abandoned, depressed, alone, helpless, and so many other overpoweringly devastating emotions.

In hindsight I can clearly see how much life I missed because I allowed myself to be debilitated by painful emotions. I missed the chance to share in the joys happening in so many lives around me. I missed opportunities to develop relationships and/or maintain several of them. I missed all the little blessings in our lives that are there if we take time to look around us and thank God for them (like waking up in the morning, the weather, that perfectly timed traffic light that kept us safe from an accident, a genuinely caring friend, etc).

Without any hint of pessimism, I feel that it is fair to predict that this current season in my life of abundant hills with few valleys will not last forever. So I need to find ways to learn from the mistakes I made in my last season of many valleys so I won't be tempted to repeat them.

The most profound idea I've stumbled across to remedy my problem is found here: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:6). What specifically blew me away about this much quoted passage was when I heard someone say that scientists have proven it is literally physiologically impossible for our brains to be thankful and anxious or stressed at the same time - we were given a key piece of information on how our bodies were designed to be at peace in that verse. (Because I just heard this fact in passing, you'll be glad to know I googled it and one of the sources backing the reliability of the idea is here.)

Based on that fresh understanding, if I can find a way to fill my days - whether they be spent on the hill or in the valley - with thankfulness, then there won't be any room in my heart or mind for anything but peace... and who doesn't want more peace and less stress? To take it one step further, if I'm living in peace I'll be able to be more mindful of the needs of those around me, to be a better wife/mother, and to not risk a repeat of the sad existence I let myself sink into during my last valley season of life. A dear friend of mine who is currently enduring her own set of valleys reminded me tonight that the birds don't worry about tomorrow so why should we? There's no reason for my stress and anxiousness, I just need to cling to the truth and be thankful!

So now that I can clearly see my goal, I need to find concrete ways to achieve it - because what good is a new understanding if I don't put it into practice? I want to actively take steps toward more continually thankful (i.e. rarely anxious) living. I want to someday see annual pictures of me like the ones of Kate's past Thanksgivings above where you can see an obvious forward progression of growth and maturity as the time passes. So I commit to giving thankful living my best shot each day. And next time I'm going through one of those inevitable valleys, I give anyone reading this permission to ask me what I'm taking time to be thankful for and to hold me accountable to grow and not regress!

There was a lot written and said this past Thanksgiving week about what we're all thankful for, but my question for the blogosphere tonight is this: how do you express your thankfulness for those things?

The Sharpie Triumph

2008-11-30T09:41:00.000-06:00

I love Sharpie markers about as much as I detest raw chicken. Sharpies are good for SO MANY things: writing, decorating, labeling, and more - while raw chicken is dreadful for SO MANY reasons: germs, slimy-ness, constant need of fat trimming, and more. And today both my love for the Sharpie and my hate for the raw chicken grew...

Kate was sick this morning, so instead of going to church as planned we dressed in our sweats and headed to the good ole Care Now to see if they could help the girl. I knew we would probably be there a while (even with the Web Check In feature), so I decided to get our lunch together and throw it in our trusty crock-pot before we left for Kate's appointment so we could have it ready when we got home.

Cody loves chicken and rice of any kind - and since I stockpiled chicken, broths, and soups last week because of all the pre-Thanksgiving food sales it was simple for me to throw together ingredients... except the perpetually formidable chicken. After struggling to slice off the slimy fat and cut the boneless skinless breasts into smaller portions I slid the chicken into the crock pot, turned it on, and started to clean up the germy chicken slime residue.

As is my custom after wrestling the fat off my chicken, I got out my bleach spray and started squirting it all over the counter, sink, sink knobs, etc trying to wipe away all traces of the poison from my kitchen. I must have gotten a little overzealous with the need to cleanse the counters because I few minutes later when I sat down on the couch I noticed my new black sweat pants were starting to turn a light shade of orange in a line and a few spots across the thigh.

It only took me a minute to realize what had happened and curse that stinkin' chicken. But, a little bleach stain wasn't going to get in my way of leaving ASAP to get Kate to her doctor... cue the superhero music: and my trusty black Sharpie jumped to the rescue!!

At each stoplight on the way to the doctor I carefully colored those pesky bleach stains black with my Sharpie. By the time we made it to the office, my pants were practically as good as new. The black Sharpie colored spots weren't an exact match to the black pants, but they looked so much better than they would have if I'd left them their light peach hue.

So I found yet another use for my trusty Sharpie markers today. And, the good news is that I have about 15 shades of Sharpie, so if this happens again there's a good chance I'll be prepared! But if anyone reading this post should choose to remedy a stain with a Sharpie rather than a Tide Pen or some other more conventional method, I recommend the removal of the clothing item before coloring commences... but under extreme circumstances when one is forced to color clothing directly on the body, try your best not to be shocked when you experience some permanent marker bleed through on your skin!

(Side note: Kate was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection as well as pharyngitis at the doc. They gave her an antibiotic and told me to keep advil and cold medicine in her system for the next few days to help ease her fever, pain, and other symptoms. She'll be all better soon!)

Out like a Trout

2008-11-25T12:19:00.000-06:00

Okay folks, I'm out like a trout for Thanksgiving.
Hope everyone has a great holiday, enjoys lots of turkey and dressing, and I'll be back at my computer sometime Sunday armed with ever so precious Thanksgiving pictures, memories, and perhaps even a unique thought or two about our holiday!

What Have I Created?

2008-11-25T08:39:00.000-06:00

What have I created?!? This girl absolutely, totally, and completely loves her hot chocolate. Each time we drive by Starbucks she asks about it -- and "the coffee store" is gradually turning into "the hot chocolate store". Her greatest disappointment is that the Starbucks around here don't have little drive thru tunnels like the one in Lubbock had -- but bottomline, as long as a kid sized hot chocolate comes out of the window she's up for any sort of non-tunnel or tunnel adventure!

Christmas Tree Decorating and Traditions

2008-11-23T20:07:00.001-06:00

We decided to set up the Christmas Tree a little early this year since the next three weekends are pretty much booked solid for us and I believe in getting the most out of Christmas decorating! Since Kate's birthday is in January, she's gotten to enjoy helping us decorate the tree every Christmas since she was born. The pics above are a brief snapshot of my favorite two special tree decorating moments: Kate putting the angel on top of the tree with Cody and her hanging her special baby's first Christmas ornament.

One of the funniest things Kate's been doing all weekend is mispronouncing the word Christmas Tree. For some reason she's been saying "Christmas Tree-t" with unbelievably hilarious consistency. I've tried several times to slowly and carefully enunciate "Christmas Treeeee", and each time she says back to me with equal emphasis "Christmas Treeeeee...t"! She puts so many Eees in there that each time I think she's got it and then, just as she's about to run out of breath, she puts that last little t on the end. So after trying to direct her to say it correctly unsuccessfully, I've decided to just let her say it however she wants - it will be a sweet memory for momma!

We've noticed Kate's memory has gotten quite a bit sharper lately - she clearly remembers things from last spring/summer and shocks us frequently with what she'll say about something that happened several months back - but we discovered this weekend that it's likely her earliest real memories right now start around Easter this past year. She knew the Christmas tree was a big deal when we got it out and started setting it all up, but she started looking for her "basket" and kept asking where her eggs were. I told her Christmas wasn't about eggs and tried to explain that Easter will come later, but she insisted that she still needed a basket with some eggs!

Kate definitely enjoyed Christmas last year more than her first, but I think this will be her first Christmas that will make a lasting impression on her and that's so exciting!! And because of that fact I want to try hard to create moments to consciously build memories with her and establish more family Christmas traditions than just putting the angel on top of the tree with Daddy and helping hang ornaments. But what sorts of activities can you do with a toddler that will still be meaningful and significant when that toddler is a school age child or even a teenager? I going to really have to think about that over the next couple weeks.

What are some of Christmas season traditions at your house?

Aunt Kiersten

2008-11-23T17:49:00.001-06:00

Kate's Aunt Kiersten has been a very special person in her life since she was a baby. Kate had the chance to spend two days a week with Kiersten last year since she was her one year old preschool teacher - and all that quality time definitely resulted in a very close bond. Whenever they're together, Kiersten always lets Kate play with her cell phone, remotes, her jewelry, and pretty much whatever else she wants. And Kate's still talking about getting to dress up and be Kiersten's flower girl in her wedding this summer!

Wednesday night after church we went to Kiersten's moving party. We're so excited for her as she relocates to Virginia to be with her husband, but it was definitely difficult to say goodbye. While Kiersten was packing her stuff she found an old cell phone and decided to give it to Kate (as well as other various things she knew Kate would consider treasures!). Of course the phone doesn't have service, but it still is functional when its charged as far as the screen working, buttons lighting up, pictures, and ring tones working. As you can see from the picture above, Kate LOVED her special present!! The cell phone will live at Granmomma's house, but I'm sure every time she's there she'll be playing with it and thinking about Kiersten!

We already are missing Kiersten and we can't wait to see her at Christmas!

Another Kind of Self Portrait

2008-11-21T15:04:00.000-06:00

Though Cody isn't usually as excited or cooperative about letting me take our picture as Kate is, he does still participate on occasion! I wish I had more pictures of the two of us just like I do with Kate, but until I can figure out the camera's good ole timer switch, here are the sort of pics we have for now -- and something is definitely better than nothing :).

The Art of a Self Portrait

2008-11-19T21:58:00.000-06:00

The art of a self portrait shouldn't be taken lightly. It takes quite a bit of skill to hold your digital camera out far enough to get your face in the frame and snap a picture while trying to coax your daughter into smiling at nothing more than your hand pressing the picture button.

I want to make memories with Kate as she grows and to help her look back on those memories later in her life by documenting them with pictures. But, as the one who is 99% of the time behind the lens, I'm not usually actually a part of her memory making pictures - so I decided on a solution long ago: the self portrait!

As you can tell, over her short life Kate has learned to love the self portraits and become an expert self portrait picture subject. The only downside to my self portraits is that I usually can't get my arm far enough back to get much more in the picture other than us -- I need to find a way to get more background in order to better preserve these memories for Kate. Maybe sometime soon I'll take the leap and try to figure out how to set my camera's timer mode so I can get some longer than arm length distance between us and the lens... stay tuned to see how it goes!

Lubbock Pics + Blog Lurking

2008-11-17T21:06:00.000-06:00

During our trip to Lubbock this past weekend we had so much fun! Kate absolutely LOVED the hotel - especially the indoor swimming pool. We also went to a Lady Raider game, Chuck E Cheese, a variety of our favorite places to eat in Lubbock, the mall, Smyer to see Mamaw & Papaw, and more.

While we were in the mall I saw a set of familiar faces. Normally when I see someone I know I would wave or acknowledge them somehow, but this time was different because I knew them without having ever met them: I "know" them because I read their blog. We definitely live in a technological age that brings us closer in many ways, but it also turns our normal methods of relating into something different than ever before.

This is sad to admit, but I'm a recovering blog lurker. Only in the past few months have I felt brave enough to start leaving comments on blogs to let the writers know I'm reading - and I'm still working hard on being comfortable commenting on a blog when I don't actually personally know the person whose blog I'm commenting on! I love to check out the links to other blogs people list in their margins. If the blog they've linked to is interesting, I subscribe to it - and after a bit of time I forget how I even stumbled upon those blogs. This is the case with the couple I saw in the mall. Someone I know has to know them and have their blog linked off theirs in order for me to have found it, but I have NO IDEA who that person is.

What is appropriate blogger etiquette in those sorts of situations? Because I'm a recovering lurker I felt the urge to identify myself in the mall, but because I'm embarrassed to know so much about their lives without ever meeting them or knowing how I found them I chose to step back into the shrouds of my blog lurker attire for that moment. And even if I wasn't embarrassed to identify myself as one of their long, lost blog readers, how would they have responded to having some strange person come up to them in the mall, call them by name, and ask them how one of their personal life situations was going?!?

This exact scenario is why I was hesitant to start blogging myself. The idea that there are people reading my blog that I'm unaware of is a little unnerving yet exciting to me! Especially when I think about the fact that I could be walking with Kate in the mall and someone see us and realize they know us from my blog!! I'm typically a very private person - as my friend Carrie likes to say: I'm content to introduce myself as Amy from DFW and leave it at that. So blogging is a major step out of my comfort zone, but it's something I'm glad Cody kept encouraging me to do until I took the plunge and started doing it!

So my basic communication today is this: if you ever see me in the mall and you only know me from my blog, please feel free to approach me and say hello. It may catch me off-guard, but in order to make this technology a bit more personable I'll swallow my uncertainty and marvel at how we can build relationships with people we wouldn't have otherwise had an opportunity to meet!

Or if you aren't ready for that type of face to face interaction, take a smaller step: emerge from your blog lurking shadows, click the comment button below this post, and leave me a little note so I'll know you're there.

BeeBee

2008-11-16T21:35:00.000-06:00

There's absolutely no question about it: Kate's BeeBee loves her and Kate loves her BeeBee. BeeBee means so much to both me and Kate. Her constant love, listening ear, soft shoulder to lean on, compassion, ability to make awesome sour cream and chicken enchiladas, quiet strength, and so many other traits make us infinitely blessed to have her in our lives! Yesterday afternoon I said something to BeeBee and I made the mistake of calling her by her real name. I didn't even know Kate was paying any attention to our conversation until she said with conviction: "Brenda?!? No, mom, her name is BEE-BEE."

Poor choices...

2008-11-15T21:11:00.000-06:00

Kate has loved her picture Bible since she received it on her first Christmas. When I'm working on my Bible study at the kitchen table, she finds her Bible, climbs up in the chair across from me, and "reads" her Bible too - it's a really sweet time for us.

Yesterday afternoon I was writing an email to a friend and I heard her singing across the room from me. She was singing "Jesus loves me" better than I'd ever heard her sing it before while she turned the pages of her Bible. Since we're studying Moses at BSF, in September I helped her learn how to find his story in her Bible. So between renditions of "Jesus loves me" she would turn the pages of the Moses story and tell a two year old version of events - the story usually includes Moses not obeying God, having to sit in the hall, and then having to say he was sorry somewhere in there!

So as I was typing I thought in the back of my mind about how lucky I am to be Kate's mom, about how she's already learning to love God as well as understand that He loves her, and just marveling at my precious girl. Warm, fuzzy feelings were hovering thickly all around me... and then it happened.

I heard a deliberately slow: RRRRrrrriiiippppp...
the fuzzy feelings fell like bricks.

I looked over to see my "precious" girl holding the first page of Genesis all alone in her hand. I don't know why she thought that would be a good idea or what compelled her about the story of the heavens and the earth that made it such an attractive page to take out, but there was absolutely no doubt Kate chose to tear that page out on purpose. She accidentally ripped part of a Bible page last summer when turning too fast and we've talked with her on multiple occasions about how we treat all kinds of books with care (especially library books!) - so there's no question in my mind she knew it was wrong.

But she offered no explanations during my interrogation.
She was incredibly reluctant to apologize.
She glared defiantly at me from her time out spot.

No matter how many Sunday school songs she can belt out and no matter how deep or shallow her understanding of God's love, she's still a sinner - just like me. I still don't know why she chose to tear out a page of her Bible, but the more I tried to search for the reasoning behind her little act, I realized that there are plenty of tearing-a-page-out-of-my-Bible sort of choices I make each day too. I need to more consciously choose not to do those things - both for my own benefit as well as so I can be a better example for Kate. We both have so far to go, but we're both trying hard to get there one day at a time!

There's a time for everything...

2008-11-14T21:13:00.000-06:00

Tonight was a night to be commemorated: Kate enjoyed her first beverage from Starbucks! Starbucks is one of the two places she always comments on when she sees the signs out the car window. She usually shouts, "Momma, there's the coffee store! Do we need coffee today?" (In case you're wondering, the other place Kate can't resist shouting about is CVS... I know that's odd, but she's already a budding bargain shopper like her momma - and she has GREAT eyes for spotting CVSes that I don't even know exist!) She's never had the joy of tasting anything from Starbucks other than water in a regular cup with a straw or a cookie here and there, so to be able to have her own drink in a special coffee-type cup with a cool lid like Momma's was sure to be a treat for her.

Tonight is going to be the coldest night of the season so far for us. When we walked outside to head to dinner, the north wind was so strong and cold Kate pulled her own hood up and said her ears were cold. So after dinner I decided it was time to indoctrinate my sweet two year old daughter into one of America's finest and most costly past times - the Starbuckles warm and tasty beverage selection.

I'd been eying those kid sized hot chocolates on their menu for quite a while, and because I wanted to find a way to make tonight special for all of us I decided her first hot chocolate would be a great way to make a special memory with her BeeBee. It's hard to beat the satisfaction that comes from combining the warmth of a tasty beverage with the special warmth of being with people you love! So as we pulled through the drive thru, I ordered each of us a kid's menu hot chocolate to try. They came in the sweetest little cups and were a perfect after dinner treat for only about a dollar a piece.

As you can see from the pictures, Kate thoroughly enjoyed her new treat. If Starbucks ever needed to advertise, I know a little girl who could make people stand in line based on how good she made that hot chocolate look like it tasted to her! I wish I'd taken video of her giggling, laughing, and dancing as she drank - she was as impressed with the warm, liquidy chocolate as I'd hoped she would be.

Though Starbucks can be as expensive as CVS can be bargain filled, I think teaching my daughter to find ways to incorporate both joys into her life helps her to strike a good balance. There are definitely lots of opportunities when it is wise to be frugal, but every once in a while there come times when a girl needs to be able to feel free to bask in the glory of a breathtaking cup of hot chocolate!

Miss Manners' Latest Decree

2008-11-13T21:45:00.000-06:00

When Cody and I bought our house in DFW a couple years ago, we tried our best to make the process of fixing it up and moving in as efficient as possible by making well thought out plans. After the stress of painting practically every room in the house, installing new lights and ceiling fans, painting the kitchen cabinets, cleaning blinds, and all the rest of the remodeling process was complete, we thought moving day would be smooth sailing in comparison.

We were so blessed to have so many people willing to come help us move! Because we knew so many were coming we made an effort for everyone to help us stay organized by having all the boxes labeled for which room they should go in - and I taped to the door of each room little drawn out mini-maps of where the furniture in each room should be placed (so after the guys left Cody and I didn't have to struggle to rearrange everything around the boxes). All in all the move went great - no life-threatening injuries, no broken furniture, very quick to get everything out of our apartment and out of our storage facility into the house... until Cody decided to get the guys to help him set up the refrigerator and washer/dryer.

Our "smooth move" was totally obliterated the moment the guys started backing the refrigerator into its spot. It went just fine until about the last foot or so. This would be unfortunate in any spot of a kitchen, but was particularly inconvenient for us because the refrigerator shares a wall with the garage, so if it stuck out just an inch more than it should, the door from the kitchen to the garage would be unopenable.

While I started unpacking our the bathrooms and bedroom boxes I observed the following events take place over the next six or seven hours: removing a pipe that was sticking out from the kitchen cabinets a few inches along the floor and re-plumbing the area, hack-sawing (no other saw available) off a few inches of my FRESHLY painted kitchen cabinets at the top since the cabinets were hanging down too low, removing a light switch panel, rewiring that outlet to work on the other side of the wall (in the garage), spackling the hole where the outlet was, and then the frige was able to be scooted back into its place just far enough that the door to the garage can open and shut as needed. HOWEVER, because of the refrigerator's awkward positioning, the freezer door cannot be opened more than about 45-50 degrees because of its close interaction with our garage door knob. But, that was a compromise I was more than willing to make in order not to have to buy a new refrigerator - especially considering all the work Cody and the other guys had put into getting our proverbially square peg to fit into its a round hole!

So, understandably, space between the refrigerator and the door to the garage is a bit tight. Since Kate has been tall enough to open doors, her favorite thing to do to help me in the mornings is to be my door to the garage operator. She loves to open the door, hold it open for me, and then close it behind us as we go get in the car - and I love her skill because my hands are usually full of my bag, her bag, my coffee, my breakfast, sometimes her breakfast, and any other random thing we might be needing as we head out the door so having a free hand to open and close the door is a welcome luxury.

Yesterday I was running a little late in trying to get us out the door for Bible study. I had Kate corralled in the kitchen and ready to go. As I was picking everything up off the counter I realized that in my morning insanity I'd forgotten to put creamer in my coffee (YUCK), so I rushed to the refrigerator, swung open the door, and stood there for a second to unscrew my coffee holder and pour some creamer in. Meanwhile, Kate took her cue from the various things in my hands that it was time for her most cherished opening the door job, but her precious garage door knob was being held hostage from her by the open refrigerator door and me. I think she may have thought I wasn't going to let her open the door since she could we were in an unusual hurry and I was closer to the door than she was, and those thoughts are most likely what provoked her to try her best to shove her way past my legs and curtly command, "Get out of my way."

WHAT?!? My head started whirling: did she actually say that, that's funny to hear coming out of the mouth of a two year old, no it's not funny, well it's a little funny, have I ever said that to her without realizing it, have I said it to her in my actions even if I haven't said it in so many words, where has she heard that, what time is it, do I have time to deal with this right now, I have to make time whether or not I have time or else this will get worse, let me sit all the stuff I have in my hands back on the counter so I can talk to her, please let her apologize and understand without me having to spank her, okay here goes:

M: Kate, has someone told you to get out of their way like that?
K: (mumbling nonsense words or at least what sounded like no words I know)
M: It isn't kind to say, "Get out of my way" to Momma or to anyone.
K: Why?
M: Because it isn't good manners. You should say, "Excuse me please."
K: That's not what you say.
M: Why not?
K: That's what I say when I burp.
M: (Suppressing a smile) You should say it whether you burp or if someone is in your way.
K: But I didn't burp.
M: I know you didn't burp, but you wanted me to move and so you should say, "Excuse me."
K: (louder this time with more emphasis) But I DIDN'T burp.
M: (Again making great attempts to hold a straight face and trying to figure out how to find an agreeable solution so we could get out the door) Then try saying, "Will you please move?"
K: (Without hesitation) Will you please move?

So I moved out of her way, picked everything back up, juggled it on my way to the car much more easily because of my little door helper, and we made it to Bible study in record time.

Morals of this story: a) though it isn't typically a top 10 home buying detail to consider, always make sure your refrigerator will fit in your new home before moving day by actual measuring rather than just eyeballing it, b) if your refrigerator prevents having much room in your doorway, please find a way not to stand in that crucial space between it and someone who has a tremendous need to open that door, and c) in toddler world, only one phrase of politeness can be tolerated per category of incident so sometimes mommies have to get creative.

Veteran's Day

2008-11-12T23:35:00.000-06:00

Kate and I got to spend Veteran's Day with Cody's mom since she had the day off. She took us to Chuck E Cheese and then we went to the mall for more fun. We LOVE Veteran's Day and our special time with Nana Kay!!

Nana Kay and Kate playing games to earn tickets for some fun prizes

Enjoying some YUMMY pizza together :)

Putting all 278 of my tickets into the Ticket Muncher

Claiming our special prizes: bracelets, suckers, a fun straw, lip gloss, a ring, a comb, and more!

Over at the mall looking at the Rainforest Cafe's fish aquariums

Enjoying a pretzel and some dip as a special treat after Kate's nap -- Kate LOVES dip!!

When we dropped Nana Kay off at her car Kate cried and cried when we said goodbye. There's something so special about the relationship between a Nana and her Kate! I love watching Kate develop relationships with other children as well as other adults - just like different people bring out different sides of my personality when I'm with them, it's interesting to see the different sides of Kate's personality blossom when she's around different people.

Toddler Vitamins

2008-11-11T09:51:00.000-06:00

This girl LOVES the vitamins... can you tell?!? A few weeks ago I found a bargain on these vitamins at CVS, so I picked up a bottle for Kate. Lately she's getting a little more finicky about what she's willing to eat (started boycotting vegetables unfortunately). But now that I'm a mommy armed with vitamins, I've started only strongly encouraging her to eat her veggies instead of forcing her - thus eliminating another unnecessary battleground in our lives. Since we transitioned from baby formula I've been concerned about her nutrition and trying to get enough servings of all the food groups into her body each day, but now that she's a vitamin girl I don't feel all that pressure. I still try to feed her healthy meals, but without the stress of if she doesn't get it at this meal she's going to miss it.

The upside of the vitamins is the fact that she LOVES them, but the downside of the vitamins is also that she LOVES them! One of the very first things out of Kate's mouth in the morning is, "Can I please have my diamond?" (She can say vitamin, but most times it comes out sounding just like diamond.) I know that eating a massive amount of vitamins isn't nearly as dangerous as Tylenol or Triaminic, but it still isn't a great idea for her. I'm not worried (right now) about her climbing up on my cabinets and opening the bottle herself, my concern is that she asks about the vitamins so much that Cody and I might BOTH give her one.

We learned a valuable lesson about that this past summer. We had a little tree someone from my BSF group last year had given to us. We planted it and were so glad to have it! This summer seemed particularly hot and dry, so we had to water our tiny tree often to keep it alive. The only problem was we didn't necessarily designate a watering time or a watering person. So, as was bound to happen, one day I gave our little tree a good little drink during the day and when Cody came home from work he gave the tree a nice BIG drink... and the next day our poor little tree's leaves fell off and it died. We talked about it later because we were both so surprised it had died since we had been watering it, we realized that we were both so worried about it getting what it needed there were days we'd BOTH been watering it. Too much of anything isn't good - if it's water in a hot, dry summer or vitamins in a toddler's tummy.

So with this experience tucked under our belt, we made a pact that I will be the only one to give the girl her vitamins and vitamin time is always in the morning with breakfast. We were sad to lose our little tree this summer, but it was a great way for us to learn this lesson when it was just the life of a tree rather than that of our sweet girl being affected! I know I have so much more to learn, but I hope that the bulk of the lessons I need to learn can be at the expense of other free little tree type things rather than Kate or Cody or any other person in my life.

Fall Fun

2008-11-10T14:05:00.000-06:00

This is Kate's third fall. She's really in between stages right now... she's still my baby in so many ways, but she's also such a big girl compared to where she started! I love looking back at her pictures from the past few years and seeing how she's grown (especially her hair!).

Fall is probably my favorite seasons -- I absolutely love hot chocolate, fires in the fireplace, jackets, the sound of leaves crunching under my feet, and the excitement of all the holidays buzzing in the air! Fall in the DFW area doesn't seem to last long, but today with the temps in the 60s, wind blowing yellow leaves off the trees, and a peaceful gray sky is a perfect fall day to enjoy. Hope you're able to find a part of the fall season to enjoy today!

After my grocery receipt post, Singingmommy commented and asked for info on how I turn those sorts of transactions into a menu for the week. I've also been asked that question via email, so I thought it warranted a post on the subject! If you aren't into bargain shopping, please stay tuned for a post with a different topic tomorrow!!

As you saw yesterday, this week I mostly took advantage of the buy 10 get $5 off order deals at Kroger. So my menu mostly reflects items from my stockpiles or that I purchased last week week because a) lack of great food staple deals for our family this week at the store and b) I wanted to use most of my budgeted money this week on things like SHOUT for Kate's clothing stains, health & beauty products at great prices, baggies we needed to help with my stockpiling, and to start compiling things for my holiday treat cooking!

And now, here's what we'll be enjoying this week...

Breakfast:
Weekdays - Poptarts that I stockpiled from Target for FREE in September (deal expired, but explanation), Breakfast bars I stockpiled from Kroger for nearly free in late September, fresh fruit, and English muffins bought this week
Weekend - Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls from Kroger a few weeks ago for about .25 a tube with fruit and the next day we'll have Grand's biscuits from Kroger for same price, bacon, scrambled eggs, and cream gravy

Lunch:
Cody - here's the plan, but may change throughout week if necessary with work needs: 3 days hot dogs from this week's purchase, $1 bag of Cheetos from Target a few weeks ago, 1 day dinner left overs sack lunch from home, off on Fridays
Kate & Amy - Sandwiches when at home or when we go somewhere we can pack a lunch like zoo or picnic at park - lunch meat from Kroger special last week at about $1.50 a pound, cheese slices from this week's deal, PB&J from deals this summer, and Kroger brand wheat bread with $1 Cheeto bag from same Target deal as listed above; quesadillas from cheese and flour tortillas from last week's purchases; leftovers from dinners this weekend; and for lunch time desserts - dried & fresh fruit, granola bars, chex mix bars, instant pudding, or Rice Krispy Treats (all these items from previous deal shopping except fresh fruit from this week); and to be honest, we usually take a break from our bargain shopping and check out ChickFilA or Corner Bakery or something similar one day a week for a treat!

Dinner:
There weren't any spectacular deals on meat this week, so we'll be depending on our freezer stockpile for meat selection. Thankfully it's about to start feeling like fall in Texas this week so we're going to celebrate the colder weather with:
Chicken & Dumplings - Boneless, skinless chicken breasts were on sale last week at Kroger for $1.99lb, so I got a few packages; chicken broth was on sale a couple weeks ago and I had coupons; and I'm going to use the rest of the flour tortillas I have left over from last week's burritos before they go bad; green beans; crescent rolls purchased on same Pillsbury deal previously mentioned; and salad from a head of iceberg lettuce that's usually about $1.29 or so at Kroger
Potato Soup - Last week I bought several pounds of Russet potatoes that were on sale for around .30lb (we made baked potatoes for dinner last week for the cheapest dinner EVER) so we'll use another few of those for this; milk bought this week; butter bought for free at Kroger in September; fry up some fresh bacon from the package I got for our weekend breakfasts; and cheese from last week's Kroger special of 3/$5 on Kroger brand already shredded cheeses left over from our burritos as well as our baked potatoes last week

I'll make enough of both of these dinners to have for at least 2 nights, Wednesday night we usually eat light because of church (sandwiches, hot dogs, mac & cheese, etc), we usually eat out one weekend night, and Sunday night is typically popcorn dinner for us (I keep my eyes open each week for good popcorn sales to combine with coupons... there are always popcorn coupons out there!) with a grilled cheese or PB&J with fruit for Kate.

One of the greatest money saving strategies I've found is to be more mindful of my weekly menu so I can fully use what I buy. Before I started bargain shopping, I'd buy a pack of flour tortillas to make my burritos with and after we were finished with our burritos the rest of the pack would just ruin until I threw it away. But now I buy the big pack of tortillas so each one is cheaper, learned that I can keep them in the frige to last longer, use them for the burritos as originally intended, and then make Kate quesadillas (one of her favorite foods), use them to make dumplings, use instead of a hot dog bun around sausage or hot dogs (Raider Wraps!), and anything else a girl might could think of to use a tortilla.

Also, when I'm thinking of what to cook for the next week I try hard to think about what ingredients I have left over from last week that I can just buy a couple things to go with for this week instead of buying everything each time. Stockpiling things I cook with frequently that are at great prices is also key for reducing my overall grocery bill - especially broths, cream of mushroom or chicken soups, meat, canned or frozen vegetables, pasta, tomato sauce, cheese, rice, etc. If I find a good deal I'll pick two or three up even if it isn't on my menu that week and then be sure it's on the menu for the next week.

Desserts: Cody has a definite sweet tooth so I always need to work in desserts into the menu!
Cherry upside down cake is one of this week's treats -- bought cherry pie filling (part of this week's buy 10 & earn $5 sale) and cake mix both on sale this week, butter from previous deal
Brownies -- Duncan Hines & Betty Crocker always have good mixes available on sale + coupons

Snacks: Goldfish, popcorn, raisins, Chex Mix packs, Rice Krispy treats - or whatever else is in the good ole stockpile

Drinks: Cody loves cokes which can get expensive even when you feel like you're getting it on sale, but I struck gold with this sweet deal at Target back in August (thanks to Amanda E!):
Dr. Pepper, A&W, Sunkist, Canada Dry, Big Red 12-packs are on sale 5 for $15
Buy 5 and use 5 $1/1 Target online printable coupons
Spend $10 out of pocket
Get $5 Target gift card back
$1 per 12-pack after coupons and gift card!!
And I repeated this deal as many times as possible that week, so Cody still has several 12 packs in the garage to work through before we start working coke deals back into our grocery list. In addition to the cokes, I also can at least once a month find great deals on Powerade or Gatorade at CVS or Kroger for him. Kate drinks mostly milk and water, but when I find Juicy Juice on sale I stockpile that with coupons. My main personal splurge is coffee and creamer for the mornings. It's much cheaper than Starbucks, but even with a good sale + coupons it isn't as cheap as water :).

Hope this answers some questions and gives life to how I'm making the $35 to $40 dollar a week grocery budget work for our family. But every family is different and everyone has those special things that are important to them (like coffee and creamer or prepacked hot dogs are to us!) - being frugal definitely doesn't mean being miserable or suffering through beans and rice every night. To us it just means taking more effort to think through purchases, clip coupons, search out good deals, and try to get the most for our money!

Any additional questions or comments are always welcome as always.

Weekly Groceries

2008-11-08T13:43:00.000-06:00

Today I went to Kroger to do our weekly grocery shopping. My goal lately has been to spend only about $35-$40 a week in groceries for our family of three. This week I only spent $26.11 so I thought it was a blog-worthy moment!

As you can see from my receipt, I bought 47 items with that $26 after these discounts:

$30.62 in my manufacturer's coupons -- I get most of those in the Sunday paper as well as a few that I find and print off the internet. I buy the two paper bundle each week to maximize the deals I find by being able to get two of each, and I'm also always on the hunt for anyone who's willing to give me their left over coupon inserts so I'll have even more options.

$4.50 was bonus savings -- this category includes several things. First of all, Kroger offers e-coupons. You go to this site, click on the Shortcuts link, enter your Kroger card number, and then load up clipless coupons you can use while you're in the store (and once you get done with the Shortcut site, go back to the Kroger site and enter the P & G Brandsaver site to do the same). I love taking advantage of this -- no coupons to clip or keep up with, just add to the card, wait one hour for them to get loaded by the site, and then you're ready to save! Also included in the bonus saving total is any doubling or tripling coupons you may have. The first scan is included in the manufacturer's coupon category, but any day Kroger will triple coupons up to .39 and double coupons up to .50. This is a GREAT way to find some free or nearly free deals -- for example, the worcester sauce I got today was on sale for $1 a bottle, but since I had a .35 coupon for it and the store triples that coupon, I actually got the bottle for -.05 (which means I got a nickel off something else in my cart... unfortunately they won't give me any money back!).

39.35 in Kroger Plus Savings -- This is how much I saved by purchasing items Kroger was offering on sale this week when I used my Kroger card. Grapes were on sale for .97 a pound when you use your Kroger card, so I bought 2 1/2 pounds and saved $3.94 off the regular price of the grapes and Kate gets to enjoy fresh grapes this week! Also, Kroger occasionally has great deals to save extra money by purchasing a certain total number of a certain group of items. This week their deal was to purchase 10 items (that were already on sale) and receive $5 off the total of your purchase -- and you could do that up to three times in one order! So I stockpiled some of the items that were especially good deals when I combined the sale prices with my coupons in order to collect 30 of the designated items so I could save $15 off my order. WOW! I LOVE IT when Kroger has deals like this!

So I saved a total of $74.47, which was 73% total savings. This is my absolute favorite part of my entire Kroger receipt!! Each week I rush home and I can hardly get in the door before I'm trying to tell Cody how much I saved and what percentage that was. I'm thrilled anytime it's over 50%, pleased if it's somewhere in the 40% range, and disappointed in myself if it's any lower than that (but if that's the case I try to make it up the next week!).

I do try to buy as many items as possible on sale and stockpile things I know we use every week when I find great deals (chicken, beef, canned soups, etc) to help me make dinner, but as you can see from my pictures I still buy things that aren't on a great sale and that I don't have a coupon for as needed. For example, the 3 ready to heat and eat hot dogs from Oscar Meyer are for Cody's lunches at work. They cost $3.99, I saved .40 by using my Kroger card for a grand total of $3.59 for 3 hot dogs. Not an excellent deal, but Cody loves them, they are easy for him to pop in the microwave at work, and I rationalize the purchase by thinking how much cheaper those hot dogs are than him running down the street to Wendy's or Whataburger to grab lunch. So because we're able to save a good amount of money on groceries doesn't mean we are restricted to only items on sale or only items that we have coupons for - I just don't get too many of those special items in one week of shopping.

It definitely takes time to clip and organize the coupons, research the internet coupons to print, select the e-coupons to add to my card, look through the paper to make my list, and brain-power in the store to be sure I keep it all together, but right now the money I'm able to save my family is more than worth that effort! If you'd like any more info on how you can start saving, I'd be GLAD to help however I can!

Toddler Gymnastics

2008-11-07T13:19:00.000-06:00

Kate got invited to go to a gymnastics class Dylan's mom was teaching one day this week. She had SO MUCH fun! She jumped on the trampoline, did her first cartwheels (with assistance of course), flipped over the uneven bars, did an obstacle course, played in the chalk for her hands, hung on the rings, jumped into the pit filled with foam cubes, danced to a song, and did so many other fun things. She was so happy! She's had a real passion for gymnastics since this summer when she saw the Olympics. When she finished flipping on the uneven bars she ran back to her spot to sit with the other kids and looked over at me to say, "Momma, I was SO BRAVE!" We had a great time, but it completely wore her out - she took almost a three hour nap when we got home. Yea for gymnastics!!

The Waiting Room

2008-11-05T22:01:00.000-06:00

In my Bible study last week we studied the details that went into the orchestration of the Israelites escaping from their slavery in Egypt. This statement was made: We need to be mindful of what we can't see God doing and confident that His deliverance will come in His perfect timing. Then followed the questions of: a) how willing am I to wait on that perfect timing? and b) how am I being encouraged in God's waiting room?

Waiting rooms aren't fun places to hang out... not even if they give you a free coke and have a television. I wait for my oil to get changed, I wait for doctor's appointments, and I seem to stumble into so many other places to sit and wait. Waiting rooms aren't fun or glamorous, but they unfortunately seem to be a necessary part of life. The best part of the waiting room drama is hearing your name, standing up, and walking out of the whatever sort of waiting room you're caged in!

I feel like I'm stuck in a proverbial waiting room in a few different areas of my life right now. I'm trying to wait as patiently as possible for my name to be called so I can leave this spot to go receive some direction and/or answers. But sometimes I just feel impatient, disappointed, and stuck in a "life's not fair" mentality. I need to find a way to take time to make myself more consciously aware that though I don't see what's happening on the other side of the waiting room's door, God is working on more than I'll ever understand to get things ready for me to walk out of here. When the time is right, my name will be called, and out I'll march... though it probably won't be too long after I strut out of here until I find myself crawling into yet another waiting room. But that's just life, isn't it?!?

One thing that makes all the waiting better for me is the fact that I'm not sitting in my waiting room alone. I'm not a natural loner -- too much time alone tends to send me into a bit of a downward spiral. So thankfully there are a couple people sitting right here with me - tangibly encouraging me with their kind words, hugs, notes, and compassion. Somehow I've peripherally seen these people next to me without truly seeing, hearing, or appreciating them until recently. I've had such a total and complete focus on looking for the slightest crack in the exit door that I've skimmed past the people and mistakenly felt all alone. Despite my selfish, temporary tunnel vision, my eyes are now more fully open and here those encouragers are -- still with me, still encouraging me, and still loving me. This waiting room isn't nearly as frustrating or difficult when I'm able to shift my focus and see them here with me.

If I can learn to appreciate my time in this waiting room by finding a way to be content through the season of waiting, I think this waiting room (as well as the inevitable ones in my future) will be so much more meaningful rather than painful. When it's painful there's complaining, sadness, and isolation - but if I'm able to make this time meaningful I'm free to feel grateful, encouraged, and able to persevere. I'd take more meaning over more pain any day, wouldn't you?

I'm not sure if you're stuck in one of life's waiting rooms, but because I think maybe someone out there can identify with this I thought it was blog-post-worthy tonight. If you're not currently in your own waiting room, maybe you're one of the seen or unseen encouragers busy at work in someone else's. To those amazing encouragers out there - and most especially to mine - please know you are seen, appreciated, and that the waiting couldn't be as meaningful without you!

2008 Election

2008-11-04T21:03:00.001-06:00

In honor of the first presidential election in Kate's life, we decided to let her stay up a little later than her usual bedtime tonight. I get all nostalgic during times like this remembering how four years ago we had no idea how we'd be blessed with our precious girl, or that we'd be living back in DFW, and so many other things... and eight years ago Cody and I were watching the election results in our apartment while munching on some fresh homemade snow ice cream after braving the weather to go vote - and who knows where we'll be in four more years!

Kate enjoyed watching the red and blue colors pop up on the tv screen and finding lots of Rs and Ds. She also was very excited when she saw John McCain's face on the screen since she met him at the mall a month or so ago and has been talking about him ever since (click here to see a picture as definitive proof!). Eventually our girl got tired of waiting on all the votes to come in to see who will make it to the 270 mark first, so we let her go on to bed instead of waiting with us on the couch. But it's starting to look like this may be the first year since Cody and I have been old enough to vote that we have a good chance of going to bed knowing who the next president will be.

Have any election night memories to share?

The Conversations of a Two Year Old...

2008-11-03T09:37:00.000-06:00

On our way home from church last night Kate asked with incredible politeness to hold my hand so I did what any momma would do, I wrenched my shoulder practically out of socket so I could hold her hand from the driver's seat. As my arm started going to sleep Kate said, "Momma, I need to ask you a question." She's been saying that a lot lately, but usually after she says that it's clear that she's just wanting my attention for a minute because she 95% of the time doesn't ask any questions. I thought last night would be no different, so I just asked her what she wanted to know. But she DID have a few questions, here's a run-down on our conversation:

K: Momma, where does Moses live?
M: He lived in Egypt for a while and then in the desert.
K: Oh, where does Jesus live?
M: In heaven and in our hearts.
K: Okay, where does God live?
M: He lives in heaven too.
K: He lives with Jesus?
M: Yes.
K: Can we go to heaven and see them?
M: We can.
K: On the freeway?
M: Not really...

My mind was spinning out of control at this point because I was wondering how I was going to answer her if she asked if we could go now (like she does about Mamaw's house) or how you get there. I know how I'd answer an older child or adult, but how to do it on a two year old level isn't something I know the best way to do! But, as often happens in two year old world, her mind was done with that line of questioning and she was on to another topic...
K: Can we play games when we get home?

I can't believe how much she seems to be growing up these past few weeks. Her thoughts and questions are getting more complex. I'm so excited to watch her grow and learn, but I'm also thrilled when she still wants to snuggle with me before bed or wants me to just hold her for a while like she's done since she was a baby!

FBC Euless Trunkfest 2008

2008-11-01T12:58:00.001-05:00

Kate had so much fun last night at our church's Trunkfest! She wore a "pretty, pretty princess fairy" outfit (Kate's words) and loved every second of it. Here is a quick run-down on the pictures which pretty much sums up our evening:
1) We saw Avery dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz - when Avery walked up to say hi, Kate just stared at her for a few seconds... she didn't recognize her sweet friend under that wig! Even once she knew it was her she still stared at her with curiosity.
2) Seeing Granmomma: We picked out Kate's fabric and costume pattern, but Granmomma did the real magic of sewing my costume together for us. All night long people kept saying how pretty Kate's costume was - an older lady even asked Cody if she could take a picture of Kate since she was so cute!
3) We found Hudson's parent's trunk and hung out with them for a bit. Hudson was dressed as a boxer and Kate stared him down just like she did Avery! She loves to dress up these days, but she wasn't sure why everyone else was dressed up too!!
4) Cody let Kate sit on his shoulders to watch the children's choir perform. I was having a hard time getting her up high enough to see the children sing over the people in front of us, but when Daddy came around the corner at the perfect moment our temporary problem was solved!
5) Even though this was our third year to attend Trunkfest, this was the first year we let Kate go around to get candy. She's been talking about getting candy in her pumpkin for WEEKS and she was SO EXCITED! We took her by a few trunks and when she was done I let her pick a piece to eat. She stared into her pumpkin for the longest time and finally picked a Twizzler. She savored each bite!
6) Kate posing for her annual picture with Aunt Cassandra - we have a picture of Kate in her chicken suit from the first year, in last year's Texas Tech cheerleading uniform, and now as a "pretty, pretty princess fairy"!
7) We took a turn in the preschool trunk near the end of the night and helped Granmomma pass out candy and information on the preschool program - this may have been her favorite thing of the night (next to enjoying a bite of candy!).

Now the countdown to Christmas really begins!!