ÜberJoy

2009-03-31T19:25:00.003-05:00

What year is it?

I go to my blog to read my friend's blogs. I feel guilty every time, thinking I should do a post or at least show some pics. I don't have hardly any brain energy left by the end of the evening to come up with two thoughts that make sense. (I just had to take a deep breath to figure out how to even write that) That's pretty fried!
I'm good though, thanks for asking ;) Life is good, hard but good. I never knew boys could be so loud, high energy and heavy footed. My middle child (and he is so living up to the term middle child) was running back and forth around me and my kitchen island today that I finally yelled "stop it", "stop running and get control". Very earnestly he said "I can't". It was true, he could not stop himself. So I sent him outside, where he seemed pleased to be able to go. Ahhh, some days I want to take our babe and go hide out in a dark closet and rock him for as long as I want. After having my third child, I am calm and relaxed with the whole baby thing. I am in absolute bliss with this baby, no worries just enjoying him to the fullest. The catch now is how to be good mom to all three at the same time, whew! Still trying to figure this out.
So I'm still here, alive and well. Some days hanging on by a thread and other days I wouldn't give up any of the chaos. I am learning to let go of any preconceived plans for my day. This is huge for me. If I can't fit it all in, it's okay, don't push. When I push I end up with an unhappy 5 year old, 3 year and 4 month old, no need for that!
So as I may be breaking for a bit with blogging, I will venture back in I'm sure. The next post may be about their high school graduation but I will be back.

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2009-01-09T14:51:00.002-05:00

I got the below email from a friend from which she had gotten the same email from another friend. Since, I have no time right now to come up with my own thoughts in my blog, I thought I would share this. Believe me, I went to my Aldi plastic wrap and it had it!

I had to go into the kitchen and check this out for myself. Whoever looks at the end of your aluminum foil box? You know when you try to pull some foil out and the roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. The darn roll always comes out at the wrong time.

Well, I would like to share this with you. Yesterday I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it and looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, Press here to lock end. Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I can't count the number of times the Saran wrap roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover so mething up.

I'm sharing this with my friends. I hope I'm not the only person that didn't know about this.

2008-11-30T16:19:00.002-05:00

Reality....

Sometimes, I like to choose to not live in reality. I can't remember if I ever shared my "blockbuster" story after I had Marschall. Quick version, I was home from the hospital and was itching to get out for a quick trip. I decided to go get us a movie at our local blockbuster. I felt very light skinny compared to being pregnant. (I'm the one who felt like I could be a bikini model after birth, I felt so light and limber.) Never the less, as I am checking out the cashier asked when my baby was due, I immediately got tears in my eyes and explained that he, the baby, was at home....
I was so upset, as I look back I have no idea why I thought I looked so slim. I was still wearing a maternity shirt and it had only been like 4 days since I gave birth. You see, birthing classes won't tell you that you will have your belly for a while. Not just your extra weight, your actual belly will still look about 5 months pregnant for a good couple of weeks. Maybe they should share that in sex ed, scare the girls with the thought of still looking pregnant while they are holding their baby.
Anyway, I was more than prepared this go round, I even explained to Marschall that mommy will still have her belly for a while. He seemed to understand. Now,I realize I should have set Garrett down too with Marschall. Here is my new and improved blockbuster story.
While I am still in the hospital Garrett comes over to sit on my bed. I am holding Braxton and he says with a cute little smile, "now we will have two babies". I said "what do you mean Garrett"? He points to Braxton and says "that baby and then that baby", pointing to my stomach." I begin to explain that mommy's tummy will still be big for a while, trying to rationalize with a 3 year old. Oh well, I didn't get tears in my eyes. I just keep asking him every now and again, isn't mommy's tummy getting smaller?

2008-11-30T10:36:00.002-05:00

True Thanksgiving

I wanted to post this a couple of weeks ago and couldn't find time to do so. I have written to each of our boys and placed it in their baby books. I also felt led to give them each a verse to stand on through life. Here's Braxton's letter.....

Dear Braxton Elliott,

We just finalized your name yesterday (11/9)! We always knew God knew your name, it just took us a while. Wow, this is the 3rd time I've written to a new baby boy of ours. How blessed we are that you are coming to us! We are so thankful for your health and that you are completing our family. We pray that you will be a strong man of God as you grow up- Your brothers; Marschall and Garrett have been so excited to meet you and help take care of you. They will be your true friends for life. We pray that you all will support and care for one another as you grow up. Most of all that you will point each other to life in Jesus- this is where true happiness and contentment lies, nothing else will satisfy. We pray for your protection spiritually and physically. We've loved you since we found out we were having you, our love for you is unconditional. We look forward to getting to know you and loving you the way you need to be loved. We can't wait to meet you. I love feeling your kicks inside me and look forward to holding you and seeing the baby God has been growing inside me. Just know you are special and God has purposely placed you in our family.

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:23

2008-11-24T12:03:00.003-05:00

2008-11-23T15:34:00.002-05:00

We're Home!

He's perfect. Braxton weighed 6 lbs 11oz and he is 20inches long. We're tired but happy and so thankful! I'll work on getting a picture up soon.

2008-11-21T12:34:00.003-05:00

Braxton Update!!!
This is Joy, Meredith's sister giving updates. We just left the hospital, where Meredith has been on the pitocin since about 10:00am or so. She is doing great, looks good....contractions are get a little more intense, but all is good so far.
I'll give updates as I can!

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2008-11-20T11:01:00.002-05:00

He's coming, He's coming!!

Tomorrow will be the big day! A little high blood pressure calls for an induction. Personally, I have had inductions with my other two and did great. So I am looking forward to feeling lighter and having my baby on the outside of me!
I will update as soon as I can.

2008-11-10T15:00:00.002-05:00

We have decided!!

His name is going to be Braxton Elliott. We both like Braxton and that it can be shortened to Brax.It fit all of my criteria! Elliott is my grandparents last name.
So there you have it, he can come now......

2008-11-05T13:36:00.003-05:00

Blame it on the Pregnancy, why not?

I like to think of myself as pretty intelligent, "with it", kind of gal. If that is so then I have no excuse than to blame the following on me carrying another human inside me or maybe it's just my hot husband.
I met Pete for lunch today at Chickie, we were actually talking on the phone to each other as we pulled up in our separate cars. My last words were, I'll just find you inside. I turn off my phone and look up at him approaching my car. I see him, give him a wave of excitement and we proceed inside. We were probably there over an hour or so. As we are leaving I said, "ohhh I must have left my keys in my car, make sure you don't leave me until I find them" I found them alright..... still in the ignition with the car running!!! Yes, ya'll need to be embarrased for me and that you are my friend. I even told Pete I was embarrassed, he had the perfect answer, "You can't get embarrassed in front of me, I adore you." Sweet answer, but still felt like a complete idiot!! And I know even though I am adored, I will be reminded of this from time to time by him. Geez!!!

2008-11-04T09:51:00.004-05:00

Election Daze.....

It's here, finally, I'm actually getting a little over it all. I remember thinking months ago "when election day gets here, we will almost have another tax deduction, I mean baby" (do you put your thoughts in quotes?)
I am looking onward to our new baby's birthday.
Anyhow, we do plan to ring in the night with a nice steak dinner, just the two of us. I wanted to have a big bash, it just didn't get planned and it seems everyone in our house has had some kind of sick lately.
I got my free starbucks, (free coffee all day to those who voted, you don't even have to show your sticker) also, Ben and Jerry's is giving away free scoops from 5-8pm tonight.
It's a shame voting only comes every 4 years. I love free things!

PS: In case you are interested.... the word on the street is to keep our eyes on the states of VA and PA, if they both go to Obama then it will be an early night, it will be too hard for McCain to catch up. If one of those states go to McCain then it may go into the night and it might be the morning until we find out who won.

2008-10-31T14:28:00.005-05:00

If Only I Brought My Own Chair.....

Well, It's that time of year again. Parties galore..... and not the fun adult kind, the preschool kind. My disclaimer..... So you won't think that I'm a horrible mom or just a brat in general, I blame it on the pregnancy.
Garrett had his first preschool party that the parents were invited to. Oh yah! (that is sarcastic) We were invited 1 hour and 15 minutes before preschool was over. (that is precious time to a mom of 2 and huge with child) We were asked to bring our own lunch and come to his class room. All I could imagine was sitting scrunched for 1 hour 15 minutes in their tiny tiny little chairs bringing on one contraction after another. I asked(pleaded) Pete to go, but he was out of town today, I was out of luck. I spent my preschool morning getting ready, packing my lunch and heading back over to the school I just came from almost 2 1/2 hours ago. Pete suggested that I bring one of our green fold up camping chairs. Seriously!? Men are so different. Can you imagine me, 8 months pregnant hauling in my own chair to sit in because I'm too big for theirs? I laughed right in his face and he began to say I was being vain and I said "actually, your right, in this instance, I will say that I am too vain to bring in my extra large chair for my extra large pregnant booty". I will sit and suffer and act like I am thrilled to be there. ( I know, can you say "Bitter... table for one?") Any how, I came, we ate, I was "there" for my youngest. All is well and I didn't go into labor.
I can't wait til next month... Thanksgiving pilgrim parties for two of them and then there is Christmas and then Valentines then Easter. It's never going to end... I guess it's kind of ironic, once they get older they will be invited to parties and won't want me there and I will be trying to spy and find a way to be involved and squeeze into some place to check on them.

2008-10-31T14:20:00.001-05:00

October Fun

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2008-10-23T08:21:00.002-05:00

No Picture

There will not be a picture but I do want to give you a visual of "can you imagine"...
Marschall had preschool today and I was going to come home and take it easy with Garrett. When we drop off the boys we don't have to take them inside, we just pull up and they hop out. I decided that I wouldn't have to get dressed, it would be a quick trip and I would be home before I knew it. I would only see the director and I was okay with that. So this is a little glimpse to what I looked like...
I had just rolled out of bed, I had on Pete's huge white t-shirt, velour gray workout pants, pink slippers with tacky little rhinestones and my hair pulled back into a mess. Keep in mind I am 8 months pregnant, it takes a lot for me to look pulled together when I am trying. I had spilled coffee down the front of my shirt and had no underneath support on, if you get my drift. I looked beautiful to someone that was half blind and 100 meters away.
We had plenty of time, however we got stuck behind a small wreck. I started to get a little nervous, starting to get anxious of being late. As I was pulling up to the church there was no one around in the car pool line.... no one. I started saying aloud "OH,no, Oh no, this cannot happen, what am I going to do!" Marschall started getting really concerned, I couldn't even address him at this point. I was thinking if I have to take him inside I will die.... just die.
As I peeled a wheel into the car pool line, I was frantically thinking maybe Marschall could just stand there and beat on the door until someone came out. Then my Hallelujah moment happened, the director came out of the door towards my van, (it was like slow motion) and all my fears of vanity washed away.
Whew, I still have on my lovely outfit, I have til 12:45 to make myself look presentable.

2008-10-17T13:27:00.003-05:00

Palin Rally

Pete and I dropped in on the Sarah Palin rally at Elon yesterday. We were on our way to Mebane and swung into the rally right as she was getting ready to speak. It was fun, she is quick on her feet with her jokes. It was nice to hear all the cheers and jeers when she gave her speech without having the liberal media in our ears raking her over the coals.
I felt very patriotic and am looking forward to our Election Day Bash!

EARLY VOTING SCHEDULE
OFFICE SITE
DATES, TIMES AND LOCATIONS:

Thursday & Friday October 16 - 17................................................ 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Monday – Friday October 20 - 24............................................... 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Monday – Friday October 27 - 31............................................... 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Old Courthouse - Blue Room Washington Terrace Park
1st Floor, Blue Room 101 Gordon St- High Point
301 W. Market St- Greensboro Thurs. & Fri., Oct. 16-17 ONLY
(see below for remainder of schedule)

ADDITIONAL SITES
DATES, TIMES AND LOCATIONS:
(Authorized by G.S. 227.2(g))

Sunday October 19………………...………………….12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
Monday – Friday October 20 – 24………………………………10:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
Saturday October 25....................................................... 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Monday – Friday October 27 - 31............................................... 10:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
Saturday November 1..................................................... 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Ag Center (Barn) Barber Park- Simkins Pavilion Brown Recreation Center
3309 Burlington Rd- Greensboro 1500 Dan’s Rd- Greensboro 302 E. Vandalia Rd- Greensboro

Bur-Mil Club (Clubhouse) Craft Recreation Center Jamestown Town Hall
5834 Bur-Mil Club Rd- Greensboro 3911 Yanceyville St- Greensboro 301 E. Main St- Jamestown

Leonard Recreation Center Oak Ridge Town Hall Pleasant Garden Town Hall
6324 Ballinger Rd- Greensboro 8315 Linville Rd- Oak Ridge 4920 Alliance Church Rd- Pleasant Garden

Roy Culler Senior Center Washington Terrace Park
600 N. Hamilton St- High Point 101 Gordon St- High Point

Saturday October 25....................................................... 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Monday – Friday October 27 - 31............................................... 10:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
Saturday November 1..................................................... 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Courtyard at Oak Hollow Mall Friendly Shopping Center (next to Barnes & Nobles)
1000 Mall Loop Rd- High Point 3106 Northline Ave- Greensboro

Gateway University Campus Gibsonville Fire Station Greensboro Coliseum
5900 Summit Ave- Greensboro 218 Piedmont Ave- Gibsonville 1921 W. Lee St- Greensboro

NC A&T St. University Trotter Recreation Center
202 University Circle- Greensboro 3906 Betula St- Greensboro

2008-10-09T12:14:00.002-05:00

Desperate Times call for Desperate Measures.....
I need boy name suggestions. It's that plain and simple. We have a few boy names that we like but nothing that is like "Oh my gosh, that is it!"
I will say we seem to be kind of picky. Here are the requirements.....

2 syllables
A last name that can be used as a first name
Would like for it not to start with a M or a G
Something that will go with the middle name James
Remember our last name is Uber, it's a hard one to match something with

Other than that, anything is an option :)
Even send me names that are in your own family, even if you don't like the name I want to hear it!!! either email me or post it in the comments section

Forever grateful......

2008-10-03T07:06:00.002-05:00

I hope there is room for one more!

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By the way great debate last night. I've yet to mention my love for politics especially in an election year. I've got the bumper sticker to prove it ;)

2008-09-20T15:25:00.003-05:00

It's Been a Ghost Town....

I know, how long has it been? Our September has gotten away from me. I have kept checking people's blogs but have not been too inspired lately to write. I guess you can say things have been pretty low key, no emergency trips to the doctor of any sort.
Changing subjects.....I am already eagerly awaiting to start working on my post baby figure. I guess it's because I have been around my sister who had a baby 6 weeks ago and is fitting back into all of her jeans, no mushroom cap or muffin top either. The other day she told me she was released to run (she runs marathons and triathlons and any sort of lons that include moving). She ran four miles the other day and said she wasn't quite back to her 7 minute miles yet. Sheesh! I remember I ran 1 mile in high school and it was under 8 minutes. She reads my blog and I am okay with talking about her somewhat behind her back.
It maybe think of a picture I came across not too long ago. I seriously wonder if she actually carried the child, maybe she had a velco baby bump and had a surrogate deliver for her. Leave it to me and my scenarios, but seriously, can anyone be this skinny after having a baby? I remember thinking right after I had my babies that I felt like I could be a bikini model. Yes, you read that right. You just feel so light and skinny. Now looking back I could have maybe been a bikini model for the "before shot" to some diet plan on TV. I may do that for some accountability, take a before shot before I start working out again and see how far I come over the next few months after having him. That may be a little weird but it would probably keep me moving. I don't diet and will never diet. If I think about watching what I eat I will eat more than I would have in the first place. I like to eat healthy and I don't mind working out, so that will be my plan. I just may need to spend more than 30 minutes at the gym. I will say that I did say "no" to a thickburger my husband brought home, he's evil sometimes. Not really, he always says he likes to see me eat but if I kept those in my diet I would have a mushroom cap forever.

2008-09-04T20:24:00.002-05:00

First Day of school 2008

2008-09-01T06:55:00.003-05:00

Passing On....

My dear grandmother on my mom's side passed on last week. I've grown up with 3 of my grandparents. They have all lived in Greensboro my entire life. I would spend the night on a regular basis with my mom's parents when I was little. I remember shopping trips, getting to watch Dallas and Falcon Crest on Friday nights, and yummy Saturday morning breakfasts. My grandmother hosted most of our holiday celebrations. She even helped watch our boys when I worked some in the mornings. She was a very present part of my life. I will miss her and there will be a huge absence in our future family celebrations.
Thankfully, she knew Jesus and I think she grew to depend on Him a lot in her later days. Her pastor had met with her a few weeks ago when she was declining rapidly. During her service yesterday, the pastor mentioned that she had picked out the scripture readings and the hymns that we sang. It was really comforting knowing the scripture that was read was important to her and the songs we sang she had worshiped her God to.
After my mom had told me she had died, I began wrestling with doubt. Huge questions began to overwhelm me. I began to say , "Oh Lord, may the new life in heaven be all that we think it is, may it be real and true". That Thursday morning, I asked the Lord to confirm my faith moment by moment. I asked for confirmation that He is who says He is. Big request huh?
A few moments later, I pulled Marschall aside to tell him about his Maw-Maw. I happened to sit down with him in our bedroom, on my grandmother's hope chest she had given me a few weeks ago. As I sat there, trying to explain death to a 5-year old, I was overwhelmed with God's mercy and comfort. I got this picture of hope. Our faith is based on hope in Him; in God's gift of His Son, in His death, in his resurrection and in His return to come back. God has given us His hope through His Spirit. We cannot contrive this through emotion, it is a gift through Him who lives in us that know Him. (Rom 5:5)
So whether my faith waivers or is strong as a mighty tower, He has given me an anchor to hold on to. Hebrews 6:19 says "this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil"... I am holding on tight to that anchor and thankfully when my grip begins to loosen His Spirit in me shows me the "Presence behind the veil". My God is faithful, even to let me rest in Him, on an old piece of furniture that we call a hope chest.
Marschall often asks questions about Jesus; what He looks like, what heaven will be like and when will we get to go? I can't help see the wonderment in his eyes and get excited myself. I am confident my grandmother is experiencing heaven to it's fullest. I take great comfort in knowing she is whole again and is seeing the face of God.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Excerpt from the hymn How Great Thou Art

2008-08-22T11:18:00.003-05:00

My Disdain for Wal-Mart

I know in the past I have mentioned how much I can't stand going to Wal-Mart. So I am checking out and this tiny tiny girl is ringing me up. She is probably 5'2" and weighs 90lbs and she is pregnant, I am not kidding. I though surely she is maybe 4 months. Even though she was tiny, her belly was definitely round. I was not going to even mention anything to her about her pregnancy... much less mine. Sure enough, she is like "When are you due"?, I casually let out a "whew" and say "November". Then my diarrhea mouth says "when are you due"? She says "October", I'm like
"wow you are so little!". She says "yeah... now I don't feel so bad". Geez, thanks for the compliment, just what I needed after my kid has screamed for 10 minutes not wanting to sit in his seat and the other one has hounded me during the whole shopping trip to get his UNO cards that I promised to buy him. I am done for the day. All done I say. I just want to sit in my bed and eat thickburgers for the rest of the afternoon.

2008-08-14T20:36:00.003-05:00

My Poor Baby....

I know it's a little weird to post a picture of your hurt child for everyone to see but I had to do it. Listen to this....or actually read on.
Another long story...made short. Marschall accidentally hit Garrett in the head swinging his baseball bat yesterday afternoon. Yes, he about knocked his head off. We could tell right away it needed attention, more than what I could give. We all headed to the pediatrician. Keep in mind I have a 5 year old, almost 3 year old and I am 6 months pregnant. I don't do well moving fast or being in chaos these days.
Garrett is bleeding and Marschall is crying from feeling so bad. We had our hands full. Pete was able to go with me, thankfully. When you look closely at Garrett's pitiful teary eyed picture (why Pete brought the camera? because he is a sicko.) you will see something purple. One may think it is some sort of bandage, not so much. Instead of stitching his laceration, they glued it together. This is very common with close to the eye cuts. (This is the third time we have had this done). The doctor glued her purple glove to his head over the wound! Why purple, because the doctor was allergic to latex. It couldn't have been a nice beige glove.Seriously, do these kinds of ridiculous scenarios just happen to us? Come on!
Yes, she had to cut her glove off her hand and trim it back as close as she could to his forehead. She said it would just fall off in a few days. However, today Garrett fell trying to walk up the steps and landed on his eye and popped the cut back open. We couldn't see how bad it was because the glued glove was still on his head. I headed back to another doctor recommended by our pediatrician because we expressed our concerns with the wound opening back up. We weren't too thrilled with their laceration work either, so to speak.
The piece of glove is now off and his wound is on it's way to be healed, I think. As long as he can walk erect and stay away from swinging bats.

2008-08-12T20:45:00.004-05:00

My Nieman Marcus cookies from TJ Maxx

I'll get to the meaning of my title in a bit. So here's the deal.....I don't like to bake because anytime I bake, I screw it up and it is gross. Let me share what I mean exactly.... I love cooking, with cooking you can always do some "doctoring" as I call it. Add a little more salt, pepper, butter ect to finish off a dish. However, baking you have to be precise, if it says to "sift dry ingredients" you better do some sifting. One time, I made a red velvet cake from scratch and it tasted like a huge ball of flour. I really think it was because I skipped over the sifting aspect of the recipe. With my hectic kitchen, what I mean by hectic is it is not a quite place of solitude, it is hard to concentrate. My kitchen is in middle of everything else going on in our family.
Here begins my latest disaster. On Sunday, my friend Shannon shared some of the ABSOLUTE best cookies I have ever eaten. I drilled her about how she made them and she begins to say,"It is a very simple and easy recipe". She may have even added "that you can't mess up". I'll have to ask her about that later.
She said it is the Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe. Well, that peaked my attention enough that by today I had looked up the recipe and headed to the store. I said to myself, how hard can cookies be, seriously? Every child needs to remember their mom making homemade chocolate chip cookies. See the pressure!
After the kids were fed, I thought I will go ahead and get these done so the boys can have a little treat before they go to bed. Now if I was a "good mom" I would have let them help me. But I thought, I can't risk them messing up my yummy homemade cookies. Hindsight is 20/20.
I swear I read that recipe 3 times over, used my pointer finger to go over each line of the ingredients and the measurements. To make a very long story short.... In the first batch I realized I left out 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I thought I had my 1 cup measurer out, not so much. So, I take my second dozen that I had not put in the oven yet back in my mixing bowl and throw in the sugar and "re-mix" it, this is probably considered a baking no-no, I would imagine. I am literally praying over my kitchen-aide at this point. (Yes, I have a fancy mixer that I use to screw up all my baking concoctions, I'm sure it is embarrassed to be sitting out on my counter.)The second dozen goes back in, they look better and seem to be cooking well. I glance over the recipe again and realized I left out the salt. At this point all bad words to say have even left my mind. I am dumbfounded and am laughing to myself. I pictured myself sprinkling salt over them as they came out of the oven. My sweet, Marschall, who was none the wiser as all this was going on said my cookies were good. He has a whole dozen he can eat by himself. My positive spin is that they are healthy, they have 1/2 the sugar than regular cookies and less sodium!
So back to my title, I love TJ Maxx. However, you know how you will find a great name brand dress that looks perfect on the hanger, however when you try it on you realize the belt loops are empty because the sash is no where to be found? Yeah, just like my cookies, a little something is missing.

2008-08-11T15:35:00.003-05:00

Lazy

I sure have been lazy blogging for a while. It seems I'm on a food kick. I went to the doctor today and to much my surprise my thickburger did not send me over the edge in lbs that I have gained, "whew". I'm still not going to indulge again, though.
Anyway, I am making my all time favorite dinner tonight. It seems fancy and little weird with the raw eggs yolks tossed in at the last minute but it is "super fantastic", as my good friend would say. It's even better if you have left overs the next day. I know of people that have put shrimp with this too and said it is good, I am not a huge shrimp fan. This is from my squeaky voice friend, Rachael Ray, gosh I love her, but I always have to turn down the volume when I watch her. Let me know if you try this! We like things pretty spicy so I always add more red pepper than it calls for. I don't quite use that much garlic either, 2 cloves or so.

Pasta Carbonara

Ingredients:
# Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
# 1 pound pasta, such as spaghetti or rigatoni
# 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat bottom of pan)
# 1/4 pound pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped (I use reg. bacon)
# 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
# 5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
# 1/2 cup dry white wine
# 2 large egg yolks
# Freshly grated Romano cheese
# Handful of finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. Put a large saucepot of water on to boil. Add a liberal amount of salt and the pasta. Cook to al dente, about 8 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and pancetta. Brown pancetta 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Add wine and stir up all the pan drippings.

3. In a separate bowl, beat yolks, then add 1 large ladleful (about 1/2 cup) of the pasta cooking water. This tempers the eggs and keeps them from scrambling when added to the pasta.

4. Drain pasta well and add it directly to the skillet with pancetta and oil. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta. Toss rapidly to coat the pasta without cooking the egg. Remove pan from heat and add a big handful of cheese, lots of pepper, and a little salt. Continue to toss and turn the pasta until it soaks up egg mixture and thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish with parsley and extra grated Romano.

2008-08-04T09:36:00.004-05:00

I should be ashamed....

So I don't really get too caught up in my baby weight that I gain. Yeah, sometimes I get a little disappointed when I've gained 6 lbs in a month but then other weeks/ months it evens out. My goal is to stay under a weight gain of 40lbs. Which is a pretty generous amount in most people's eyes. But hey I want to be realistic and not a fanatic. With my past pregnancies when I find out I'm pregnant, it is like an automatic 5 lbs jump on me with my positive test.
Needless to say, we found ourselves at Hardees on Saturday. Yes, Hardees. Who still eats at Hardees? We do, we both have an affection for their thickburgers. Those who know us, we always have restaurant coupons.
Of course, I ate my entire burger, I could have also eaten some fries if they had been ordered. I felt immediately guilty. In fact, I just looked up the nutritional value and here is why I should have felt guilty.

2/3lb Double Thickburger 1250 calories 90 grams of fat 2160 milligrams of sodium (were suppose to consume less than 2400mg a day)

So I know, cry me river. Never again.....I have posted about it and now this is my accountability.

PS I guess I need to quit complaining about my wedding rings not fitting because of my swollen fingers, geez!

2008-07-31T14:43:00.005-05:00

My Mom to the Rescue....

Ya'll are going to think I'm a little either OCD or maybe a little slow. But when it comes to organization "behind the scenes" I falter big time. When Pete and I got married I was a "stuffer". I would stuff my socks(not matched), my underwear, bras whatever underneath necessity I wore all together in drawers. It was such a rat's nest. Pete gave me the suggestion that he would help. All he did was cut two pieces of a box off and divided my drawers for me. 8 years later that "process" is still working. I still have my little dividers that give me a side for socks (that are still not matched up), but a lot easier to find, an underwear side etc. I say "process" because that's what it is to me. It's an extra step for me to take.
This brings me to our pantry. Oh how I wish I had a before picture. I just didn't think it was that bad and that it wasn't going to look that different. My mom has been helping me to get organized before baby #3 comes. I get overwhelmed easily especially when it gets closer to delivery time. I love things to be orderly I just have a hard time getting there and sticking to it. My mom helped me rearrange all my cabinets. Wow, I didn't realize I was such a stuffer there too. I had casserole dishes with lids that matched other pots that were across the kitchen. You can imagine underwear and socks thrown together X 10.
I explained that as far as the pantry we needed to be real elementary. I wanted bins that were labeled. We have those nice white shelving organizing things that are in every newer home that is built. However, it has been my nemesis, everything falls over and won't stand up. It was like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I kind of had a baking area and pasta area. But Pete could never find anything and so yet another source of frustration. Especially when people or I should say our family keeps the boys I want them to be able to find the snacks etc. So see below. Here it is and I LOVE it. I know it seems a little sparse because I am due to go grocery shopping. I realized this was the best time to organize when I didn't have a lot to pull out. As you can see my mom was way on board with this, her background is teaching kindergarten. Her handwriting and all. I have all of my cleaning supplies up top, along with activities for the boys to do(coloring, play dough etc) and then everything else below is our food. I think another plus to this way for categorizing, I will know what we are are in need of when I am making my list for the week to go to the store.
PS: (I spent $15.00 at the dollar store for all of my bins, I wanted white but I refused to go somewhere else and spend $3.99 each)

2008-07-25T14:12:00.004-05:00

Mother of the Year Award

Yes, I most deserve this award. However, it would not be for being the "Best Mother", it would be more of an opposite of the "best mother of the year". Here goes my story...

Marschall hurt his foot, we think on Sat. He woke up Sunday limping. I'm thinking he's being a little dramatic, we tell him it will work itself out during the day etc. Monday we go to the Dairy Farm, he's still limping and it's starting to get a little worse. He is like hanging on me and complaining. I tell him at one point to "pull it together". To my defense there were no real signs of swelling.
I was suppose to take him on a little trip with just he and I to the mountains on Wed. to visit my best friend from college and her kids. I thought I may should take him to the doctor just to clear my conscious. So Tuesday, we go to the doctor and sure enough he had sprained his foot and strained one of his growth plates (whatever that means) it just didn't sound good. I felt terrible and am usually the mother that calls the nurse line anytime there is a fever or a weird bowel movement. This time, I wait it out, tell my child to pull it together and to basically be tough. Oh well, I kept thinking I was thankful it was not broken. If that had been the case I would not have probably shared any of this.

2008-07-25T14:01:00.006-05:00

Our Trip to the Dairy Farm

My parents and I went out on Monday (when the weather was 100 degrees) and went to a local dairy farm. I love taking the boys on little mini field trips and exposing them to all sorts of things. Trees for instance, my oldest has asked me before why we only have one tree in our yard. Since then we now have four. I digress.. I thought a dairy farm would be very interesting and the best part we got to taste their homemade ice cream. Which indeed was the best part. Here are some pics. You will notice that you don't see any adult cows, they are shading themselves in the woods because it was so dang hot outside.

2008-07-20T08:18:00.009-05:00

We Made It Back!

We had an awesome time. Better than I had anticipated! The boys were such good ages this year for the beach, next year will be a different story but I relished as much as I could with our family of 4 this year. I actually got to read two books, Pete and I didn't have to share a room with a pack n play and a little one and there were no injuries. Usually, within a week's time at home we have some sort of wound to care for. My sweet husband offered me to sneak away for a prenatal massage, which I had that thing booked as soon as I could. Below are some pics of our view and our family.

2008-07-09T18:02:00.002-05:00

Beachbound

Talk about my Pocketful of Sunshine(the song that I have playing first), I know I am not 16 anymore, but if I was, I would really like to karaoke to this song. (not that I can sing, but I may have had enough gumption at 16 to pull it off)
The song seems "beachy" to me. We are headed to the beach for a week. We have gone with Pete's cousin and his wife and their 3 kids for the past 4 years. Since we are not just couples anymore and we have 5 kids between all of us, we make the most of it. We basically hole up in our beautiful rented home for the week, play hard all day, get the kids to bed and then comes the real maxin and relaxin. Which for us means, good grilled food, drinks (minus me this go round) and lots of cards and ocean watching. We use to go out to eat, but now with 5 kids, that would just not be a vacation or fun.
The kids are beside themselves, excited, which has made for a real long week. But we are getting there....I will need a vacation just from getting us all packed up and out the door. Pete and I are really going to try and not not have one packing up argument. I don't know if it's just us and our dominant personalities but when we try and load up the car for vacation and keep the kids at bay all heck seems to break loose? You can pray for Sat. am. Good times.

2008-07-02T14:27:00.002-05:00

My Three Sons

Yes, it's true another boy for us! I really am excited and a little relieved in a sense. I get to do what I know how to do, raise another boy.
72% of you should not go to Vegas and bet! (See poll ratings)
All of his measurements are good, which I am extremely thankful. I am almost to the half way point. I was trying to get the theme song to the old TV show My Three Sons, but I couldn't find it. Imagine that. Am I the only one that would watch that show on TV Land? I guess I have been destined all along to have 3 boys :)

2008-06-30T15:19:00.005-05:00

Isn't she a beaut!

We found a van, however I think it looks kind of SUVish. We looked hard for about 5 days straight and settled on this one. It is made by GM/Montana, Pontiac.
I hope American made treats us well, we were able to get a lot more bells and whistles by not going foreign and a lot less miles on it.

This other picture is our night out from our anniversary. It was kind of a low key night. I am not the most fun pregnant woman but we enjoyed ourselves. We went to Solaris, the tapas restaurant downtown and then to the movies. (It looks like a Marschall took our picture but in reality it was the best we could do with a timed photo.)

2008-06-26T06:39:00.002-05:00

SOLD!!!

I don't know how it sold,yeah I do. The car was prayed over/for. I am super excited, it was hard keeping it clean just for a week. Thankfully, it sold and the transaction has taken place. So this means we are a one car family until we find something else. Pete keeps saying, "Look now you can really be at home, barefoot and pregnant". He thinks he is hysterical, not real funny, you see what I have to put up with? Anyway, I am on a mad hunt for a new to us, used van.

2008-06-24T06:13:00.002-05:00

7 years of Bliss and 1 year of so so

It is our 8 year anniversary! Yea us!. The title is kind of an inside joke between Pete and I. When people would ask his uncle how long he and his wife had been married, he would reply "35 of years of bliss and 4 years of so so". It's the truth isn't? If your honest, every minute of marriage is not bliss, there are some days or maybe weeks that add up that aren't the best. My thought is, if you didn't have the so so times or even the dreadful times in marriage you couldn't cherish the pure moments of bliss with each other when they do occur.
So here's to many more years my love and I'll even take the so-so times with you ;)
Since it is a Tuesday, which I do not like celebrating big occasions during the week. We will be celebrating on Saturday, nothing too grandiose, I don't think, but definitely a night out. Pete is arranging the baby-sitting and if that falls through I will add that day to the so so part of our anniversary count.

2008-06-21T16:28:00.008-05:00

In honor of Joy and Baby Seth

Today, my mom and grandmothers gave Joy a family shower for her new baby that is on the way. Another quaint affair! Brunch was the theme.
Below are some pictures. Oh and the menu, how I love to talk about food. Now, my Grandmother Marschall made most of it. My contribution was the punch and cheddar cheese grits. I got Paula Deen's recipe to make the cheddar cheese grits and they were the best. My mom made a great fruit salad and the secret ingredient, is peach pie filling.

Cranberry Sausage Quiche
Cheddar Cheese Grits
Peach fruit salad
Coffee cake muffins
Pineapple white grape punch
Coffee
Cute little SJM (Seth's initials)cake squares (provided by Delicious bakery)

2008-06-20T06:37:00.003-05:00

No Day Like the Present....

I remember my first date with Pete like it was yesterday. Except now as I think back about it, we are not the same Pete and Meredith who sat in deep conversation on the sofa at Richie's. (Richie's was a restaurant/bar that use to be hip and is now no more.) I am sure most people would say the same thing about their own couple history. Marriage changes people over the years, hopefully for the better, but either way the wife becomes more like her husband and vis versa. The change can mean views on politics, raising children, food etc. Obviously, there are issues where couples will butt (?) heads till the day they die. But overall, living with someone, making decisions; you give and take and become more like the other.
I think the hardest thing though is when I see something in Pete that I wish I was more like and for some reason I can't just "change" in me.
When we were on that sofa back in 1999 and no we weren't partying like it was 1999, just talking. Background history, we were set up on a blind date, so basically we knew nothing about each other. So as we sat there talking, there was no gaps in conversation. I was basically telling him how I struggle with knowing what I am suppose to be doing in my life. At that time, some big things I was hoping to get involved in did not work out and kind of messed up my plan for the next year or so. As I look back I was basically throwing up all my junk on this innocent soul. He listened patiently and basically just said "you know the Lord says not to worry about tomorrow, set your eyes on just today". I thought well how pious of him to throw in an actual bible verse. I knew that verse, everyone knows that verse. Big deal. Well 9 years later, I am still not getting it. I am always future thinking, planning, anxiety ridden. I wish I had more of Pete's lack of care about next week or next year. It's not that he doesn't care, he knows/ believes he really can't plan for the unexpected.
Here is how my mind can race in a matter of minutes.... For instance, "we don't live in a good school district, we must think about moving, if we don't move our children will be exposed to all sorts of bad things, if that happens then they may grow up to be drug dealers and never know the Lord. Seriously.... how can I think that all of that is up to me to work out? Pete now tries to say it in different ways to me. "You can't take that all on yourself or we can make all these changes and other junk may happen that you can't prevent". I do get "it" in glimpses. But I want to live "it". I want to just think about today and the gift in just today. It is ironic to me how the Lord works in marriage. Marriage can be messy and irritating. With me, it is usually trying to plan our lives out till we are retired ( We just had an appointment, that I scheduled, to see how on track we are with our retirement).
Usually in the mess, the Lord is trying to get my attention that my spouse can sure show me the things in my own life where the Lord wants me to grow and ultimately change to be more like Him. (Jesus not Pete).
We are two extremes that bring balance to our family. Getting that balance is when we let God work it out and not ourselves. So today is what it is. I will not worry about tomorrow nor about if my boys will go to the right school and not be drug dealers. I know my God is bigger than all my worries and fears, but I have a feeling I don't live that out in my day to day life.

2008-06-19T08:54:00.001-05:00

No explanation needed... and no I did not stuff it all back in the dryer!

2008-06-18T06:26:00.004-05:00

My Favorite Car

So I had to come up with something to post about and not see that pile of laundry on my blog anymore. (It's still on the bed by the way),
We are taking the plunge and hopefully buying a minivan in the next few months. If I could jam three car seats in the back I would consider keeping it. I have had my Xterra three months before Pete and I got married. (8 years ago). Actually, we bought it together, both our names on the loan and everything. It's very sentimental to me and I'm not that sentimental. I love this car, it feels like a second home to me, literally. I put it up for sale yesterday on Craigslist, I hope Pete will be okay with it. Only kidding. I did do all the leg work to be able to put it on the market. It sure looks good. I took it to Golden touch to have their super duper clean special wash and a detail on the inside. It literally looks like it could be for sale on a real car lot. If you need a good detail and wash it only cost $54.oo and they got into every nook and cranny in that car. Places where I didn't know french fries could fall. As I love to sell stuff I was extremely excited to get it posted. I know it may take several months to get any action, I am willing to be patient, at least patient for me I should say. So we will see......

2008-06-16T15:20:00.007-05:00

Imperfectly Beautiful?!!?

Over at Nesting place, the Nester had this grandiose idea for everyone to show their imperfectly beautiful spots in their homes. It is quite fun to scroll through everyone's!
Here goes mine....

I'm not sure I would call imperfectly beautiful but I will say it is all clean laundry and there is a nice cozy guest room when everything is off the bed. That's always the case with my laundry pile of a guest room. We have clean laundry it's just not folded and put in place. Hey I'm glad I have a room where I can hide this sort of thing from most people minus the world on the web.

Now the other picture is a nice stack of clean dishes left over from a shower I did almost 2 weeks ago. I have yet to put them away. I actually decided yesterday instead of putting them away I am ahead of the game. I have another shower I am hosting, this time for my sister, this Saturday. So my dishes are ready to be set on the table. If you haven't noticed I can make an excuse for everything and be A Okay with it!

2008-06-09T20:45:00.003-05:00

My Rant.....

I love my little boys. I love to see my husband with my boys. Yes, they can make me crazy.... and insane.... and question my ability to be a good mother. However, I can't imagine our family to be any different. I am having a hard time visualizing anything else but a boy for our next baby. Everybody and their brother is asking if I am hoping for a girl. You want my real answer?
I would love to have another boy, that is the honest truth. I am scared of little girls. I am one, I have a sister, I know how "we" can be. Especially, our early years. Now, I would love to have a grown daughter because our sweet little boys will grow up and leave us and never call their mom except out of guilt.
I am real close with my mom and cherish that relationship. So if I have a choice... I guess I would choose to have a grown daughter, which sounds ridiculous I know, or another boy. The best part I keep reminding myself is that the Lord knows what our family needs. I can't plan this, however, I am very curious though. We hope to find out July 2. I am just now realizing if he/she does not show himself then we won't be getting another ultrasound, due to our insurance. I will be drinking a lot of juice or mountain dew that morning. So, I will be completely 100% pleased to have another boy-period. literally. A girl will be new and exciting and uncharted territory, if this is the case I will need help and lots of advice from all you moms with little girls. My question is will a little girl slide on a slip and slide all day and be okay with grass cuts all over her back and dirty feet and hands? I mean I am just asking because I know nothing different.
Well, I will say I do know one thing that can be easier if we have a little girl she can't get poison ivy on her penis. Yeah, I have experience with this with my 5 year old. Our new rule, "If you have been in the woods, wash your hands before you go to the bathroom".

2008-06-07T16:30:00.008-05:00

It Showered!

I just finished (a couple of hours ago) hosting a baby shower for one of my oldest friends. We've known each other since 5th grade! It was such a treat to do this for her. She had given me a wonderful shower when I had Marschall so I felt I had a lot to live up to. Not that friendship works that way, but you know what I mean, I couldn't just do nuts and mints.
I actually packed our family up and went down to Pete's parents house yesterday. Living with two boys and a husband I could not take the risk of re-cleaning our house, I didn't have it in me! After I had gotten everything ready yesterday we made like a fetus and headed out, no pun intended...well sort of.
I came back up this am at around 8:00, how nice it was to be in my quiet clean house for a few moments by myself.
My mom helped me host it and I could not have done it without her! We had 17 guests for lunch. I used real dishes, even since my dishwasher is still broken! I had place cards and even served a little white wine, it was an affair if I do say so myself. I love to hear what people serve at parties and such, so this was our menu

Greek chicken pasta
Sun-dried tomato spread
fresh vegetables
butter biscuits with strawberry jam
Grape and pecan fruit salad
And an almond raspberry cake from Delicious bakery

It went great and I will still probably be recovering tomorrow. (There is nothing special about the living room, I just wanted to take a picture of it to be able to remember it can be this clean.)

2008-06-04T16:48:00.003-05:00

Some things never change....

And it is HIM who I cannnot not change. So I have been feeling pretty proud of myself today. The last few days I have been feeling pretty good. I did 3 loads of much needed to do laundry. Pete came home and I was trying to share my productivity with him. I know he was shooting some indoor baskets with Garrett so he was somewhat distracted. ( Even though I can be cooking dinner, helping one of the boys and holding a complete conversation all at the same time, I won't mention it outside of parentheses;)
Back to my story.....

ME: "We have nice clean sheets to sleep on tonight" (which is a luxury even when I am not struggling doing the laundry)

PETE: "Oh okay"

ME: "You didn't hear me, did you"

PETE: "uh- huh"

ME: "No, you didn't"

PETE: "Yes I did"

ME: "Repeat back to me what I said"

PETE: "You got brand new dollar sheets"

Again, change is not a coming around house anytime soon. GEEZ......
(I told Pete I was going to tell on him, so I feel very validated, justified and all that and then some)

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2008-05-30T06:46:00.003-05:00

The "Look" He Gives...

After I had been woken up for the third time last night from Garrett, I got to thinking. Thinking in the middle of the night can be dangerous. Sometimes I wake up and wonder "Why did I waste so much of my brain energy in the middle of the night"? I had this whole scenario that it would be fun to install little security cameras in our house. And this would not be for an intruder. It would be for all the crazy things that my kids do through out the day that no one would completely understand unless I had the evidence.
You know how Michael Scott from the Office is a nut case and all Jim can do is give that awesome look at the camera? His look says it all..."How is it that I have a boss that gets away with this stuff?" and How is it that this is my life everyday?" and "Seriously?"..(you have to be a Grey's fan to know the inflection of that one.)
That's how I feel throughout the day when my kids are driving me bonkers about different things or when I hear "ohhhh look what happened"..... So anyway that's all, I miss the Office and wish I had a camera to look into every so often to feel justified with all the actions that take place throughout my day.....

PS I have my own little Office dance that I do every time the theme song comes on, Pete wishes he had a camera to look into every so often concerning me.

2008-05-29T07:13:00.003-05:00

And we're live.... or at least I am.

Seriously.....

It has been 2 weeks and 3 days since I have been computerless, phoneless, and dishwishareless and oh yeah ice makerless. The most random irriatating things happen to us. It's never a tragedy, thankfully, just bizarre. One Monday I was upstairs folding laundry(sounds good, huh? I think I was really watching tv for a moment or two). And the lights flickered and all my favorite electronics went kaput. Some big power surge went through our house and broke not only a few very expensive items but broke my sanity too.
Anyway, I learned I can be out of touch for a while and still make it through the day. The hardest part was not keeping up on my celebrity news, had no idea Ashlee Simpson got married except from buying the people magazine last weekend. I have my ways and I will not be stopped.
Anyway, if I email any of you regularly and you want me to be able to stay in touch... will you email me at muber@triad.rr.com. So I can create a new contact list for my new computer and I will add you to the list. We're not sure yet if we can access anything from our old hard drive.
I gotta run for now. I have both boys in a little camp this week at Marschall's preschool. So I get to play in the mornings for a few hours till Friday and then our summer sets in. Long hot days filled with a boy, a toddler and a grumpy pregnant mom. Oh yeah and I think the Lord blessed you with my blogging absence. I have been one complaining, throwing up, and irritated girl these days. Good times.
I will spare you the details.

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2008-05-13T07:10:00.006-05:00

Houston, we DON'T have a signal....
This is Meredith's sista here (*hi!*) letting the blogging world know she will be out of commission for a while. Wouldn't you know that with all the bad storms lately, their neighborhood got struck and they are down....no phone, no internet, no dishwasher (yikes). So if you see a flare thrown up from Meredith's corner of the world, it is probably just her saying hi ;)

2008-05-06T17:35:00.003-05:00

And Baby makes Five....

Yes, you read that right!
We are moving into becoming a family of five. I am almost done with my first trimester. (10 weeks and 2 days, but almost done with first trimester sounds like I am a lot further along!)
We had always talked about having a third baby and a surprise to us... baby came along sooner than expected!
Needless to say why my blogging has fallen off the face of the earth. I go through my day clearing paths just to walk in our house. Pete actually had the gall to say he realized how much I do around here.(Because our house looks like a tornado has hit since we found out about the pregnancy)I think I'll take it as a compliment though because I know someday soon I will feel better and I will pull myself together and life will get back to the way it was. Beautifully clean house with everything in order.... yeah right.
So what does having third baby mean to someone who likes life very ordered and routine? I can't imagine it is going to get easier. But I am up for the task through the help of God's good grace. Who says orderly, routine, and clean is any fun? I think I must change my expectations, to spontaneous, chaotic and messy. I bet I will meet those with flying colors.
I been thinking a lot about this new birth. I am hoping it will change me for the better or I should say that God will use this pregnancy and new life to make me more like Him. I get caught up a lot into my routine and change is very hard on me. I make it hard on myself, to be honest. I like to buck change, flee from it and ignore it. So to think that this new life was unexpected, it's bringing about a whole a lot of change and anxiety. For me, change means I will have stop my agenda and adhere to something new and unknown. I will have to work at it and adapt. A very wise friend wrote the following to me in an email... "There is a microscopic bundle of protoplasm growing inside you and right at this minute, cells are amazingly finding their correct spots to grow to become toes and lungs and hair follicles and eyes. He doesn't need your help to make this happen; He simply wants you to "be" so He can do the work." (FYI, God is the "He")
I don't have to do anything, so to speak, for this new life to grow. I can rest in Him and allow Him to create another one made in His image.
That's all, it's almost my bedtime.

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2008-05-01T06:17:00.002-05:00

An Almost Spare.....

2008-04-18T06:20:00.011-05:00

5 Years Ago Today....

A lot changes in a little one over 5 years. I am so thankful we have Marschall Thomas Uber. May God bless your next year of life!

2008-04-08T09:49:00.003-05:00

This Little Piggy Went to Market....

We are renting our house out for Market, so I have been a little out of pocket blogging. It takes a lot to get ready for this. We have family that rent their house so they gave me all the inside information on what to do. Basically, make our house look like we don't live it in. No cruddy corners, cleaned out drawers and closets. Fresh crisp towels( I had to go buy new ones, no one would want to use the ones we have), clean out refrigerator etc. etc. Can you imagine? We have two children that have dirty hands all the time! As I type, my house is as clean as it will ever be again. It almost doesn't feel like our house any more. I will admit that I have a "Monica closet". Did you ever see the friends where Monica, the clean neat freak had a dirty little secret? The closet that no one could go into, it was so stuffed with junk that it about self-imploded. Well, that closet is in Marschall's room. As I started to panic on Sunday before our people were coming, I started throwing things in his closet, dirty clothes, clean clothes, hampers, toys, towels... you name it got put it there. Surely, our people won't go snooping, if they do...a self made bomb may go off.
This is the first time we have done this. So far, it has been a good experience. Our people are only staying 4 nights, so it is not too labor intensive this week. We are all staying down at Pete's parents house, which is actually a little treat. We have a ton of help with the kids and meals!
I use to say I wanted to run a bed and breakfast, not so much anymore. I really don't like handling other people's dirty towels and making beds that other people have slept in. Don't get me wrong, they are very clean. I don't know, maybe I am a germaphobe. I just like our own germs and dirt.
Well I gotta run before the place goes to pot again.

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2008-03-31T17:11:00.005-05:00

The Shindig

We are back from our yearly couple's beach trip. We didn't go the first year it was started. I think we slid our way in because another couple couldn't go one year, we're okay with that, as long as we keep getting invited!
It was originally started for our friend Kim's 30th Birthday, her husband wanted to bless her and have others bless her with coming together for a big celebration. It was also a way for husbands to show love to their wives. They even had T-shirts with the Ephesians verse that speaks of husbands loving their wives at Christ loves the Church. I saw how the theme of love really played out this weekend. However, the couples we were around, love each other with Christ's love I think on a daily basis. There has been a lot that most of the couples that we went with have been through. I feel blessed to even see a glimpse how Christ has worked in and out of their marriage and families. God has been good to my friends and He will continue to be good. I take great peace in knowing that He is in control and is gracious with His love, His providence and His power. Here are a few pictures below before we went out to our fancy dinner.
Oh and my friend's like to eat, and I mean eat good, that is one of the reasons we keep coming back!

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2008-03-22T09:56:00.003-05:00

Sunday is coming.....

I was thinking about Easter and what I wanted to post about. I read Beth Moore's post today and thought she shared the hope I desperately believe. No matter our circumstances, our trials, our joys, our sufferings He is alive and in the midst of those who call upon His Name. The context of the below quote from Beth Moore is about some of her blog friends commenting on how they are doing, just in general. How life is going for them. Some difficult things were shared that I pray that I will never have to go through. Some great joys were shared too.... She sums all of it up with her following thoughts.....

"And Christ is watchful and active and overflowing with unabashed, unbridled affection over every single one of them. As Present in one as any other. As purposeful in the life feeling the least purpose. The most exhaustion. He still raises the dead. Saves the lost. Heals the weak. Sets prisoners free. He never misses a tear. Never let’s us go. He was lifted up so we could be drawn to Him. Killed so we could live. Beaten so we could win. No matter what stone seems to have you entombed, He can roll it away. Nothing can stay in the grave when God has resurrection on His mind. And, Sweet Thing, God has resurrection on His mind right now.

He had it on His mind with every beat of that hammer on the nails penetrating Christ’s flesh. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Death never gets the last word. Not even the death of relationship. Respect. Well-being. Health. God cannot – will not – leave well enough alone. His business is life and life at its liveliest. Loveliest. May He roll away every last thing that is stifling His effervescence in us. He never promised that life here would always be fun but He mighty well promised that life here could always be full. Every single ounce of power expended on the Cross is yours in Jesus’ Name. Ask Him what that means. How you draw from it. That’s what I’m doing today. Like you, I’ve had innumerable blessings and unforgettable moments of late. Like you, I’ve also had my own heartbreaks, disappointments, and worries. Felt weary to the bone. Frustrated to the core. I’ve cried, too. Thought I was fed-up with some things, too. Wondered if I’d ever change, too. Then comes Good Friday. The violence that says something’s about to be different. That causes our earths to quake. Then comes the Saturday wait that seems an eternity long. Then, finally, FINALLY comes Sunday morning…long before dawn. By that time the Father has waited long enough. And stones begin to roll.

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us ALL our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 3:13-15

Some of us are burdened and weary because we never have allowed ourselves to feel the full and free forgiveness of the Cross. What if today you believed it? What if today you believed Him? What if you finally let it go? What if today the deadness in us could no longer resist the sound of Christ calling us forth from the tomb? What if we decided to get up and really live?"

AMEN!! (That's my contribution)

2008-03-18T13:25:00.003-05:00

"Honey, why do you think your stomach hurts?....."

Marschall "Well I think I ate too much food"

Me "What have you eaten?"

Marschall " Hotdog, chips, cake, peanut butter & jelly sandwich, banana,
yogurt and some chocolate candy"

Me "Did they serve you lunch at school? I had feed him the peanut
& jelly, banana and yogurt once he had gotten home)

(His preschool is over at 11:50, they usually eat "snack" around 10:30")

Marschall "No, that was my snack".

Me "Marschall, a hotdog, chips, and cake is not a snack, that is a meal.
How about next time you tell me what you have had at school to eat
before I fix another lunch for you. That way your stomach won't hurt.

Marschall "Yeah.. I will". (As he sits on the toilet for the second time today)

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2008-03-08T10:18:00.003-05:00

I've been tagged

I have been tagged by Melissa. I am suppose to share 7 strange things about myself..... Here goes

* I am an impulse buyer, however, I am the queen of returning things. I almost get more joy purchasing than actually keeping.

* I hate having clutter, we have a junk draw that I clean out every so often; without hardly looking at what is in the draw I will chuck everything into the trash.

* My aim in life is to be as cozy as possible. I love big blankets, big fleece pants and tons of pillows. Sounds attractive, huh? I love making the boys cozy too, with warm drinks and a cozy sofa pallet to watch their favorite movie.

* I love checklists, I will make a "to do" list that actually has the action to make another list for something else. Like "Create beach trip list".

* As Melissa mentioned buffets, I feel I have let the system down if I don't at least go back 3 times to a buffet, hence why I hate buffets, I feel terrible for the rest of the day.

* I cannot not wear mascara.

* I like reading magazines from back to front, I will even peak at a back of a mystery book to see if I can glance what the ending is. I don't like surprises.

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2008-03-04T08:26:00.006-05:00

His Best Buddy

My 4-year old's best friend drives a car, he's married and has children. I am asked through out the day when is "he" coming home? When I tell him "he" is on his way home from work, Marschall runs to look for him out the window. He has the rest of the evening planned for what he and his best buddy, (which he refers to him often) will do together. I get to witness a very special relationship. I am so thankful Marschall has the kind of dad he does. I see Pete longing to be home with his boys too. He gives me the call, "On my way, love, tell them to get ready". Usually, get ready means, they will have "the best fight ever". They wrestle...a lot. Sometimes I think someone may fall through the floor upstairs.
I caught a glimpse yesterday into my 4 year old's mind. How much he yearns to be like his dad and just "be" with his dad. I took a double take yesterday and wanted to capture this memory. Marschall had gotten his baseball mitt, his ball, bat and most of all his dad's mitt together. That was his "plan" for the evening, an old fashioned game of baseball with his dad. Supposedly, Marschall had the best hit ever and I guess his dad threw the best pitch ever. I sure do love having boys around, all three of them.

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2008-02-29T15:21:00.002-05:00

Yum-O

For Valentine's, we had a nice quiet evening (after the kids were in bed), at home eating a huge take out dinner from our favorite Thai restaurant. I have been salivating a "do over" ever since. We went all out that night.
Tonight, I just wanted a sample of that awesome food again. So, instead of spending $38.00 on it today; I went by during lunch and got almost everything that we had for our special V-day night but at the lunch prices! I spent $15.00 and it included fresh spring rolls! I am always looking for a deal and a way to get what I want just by being smarter and getting it cheaper! I am very pleased and suspect it will be just as good as it was a few weeks ago, especially knowing the deal I got! Don't get me wrong, I really am not always the kind of gal that minds the budget. I now feel I have an extra $23.00 to spend on something else. Not really true and I am sure I would get slapped on the wrist by Dave Ramsey.

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2008-02-26T16:53:00.002-05:00

Was anyone else Dancing?

First, let me clarify, I do not watch Oprah everyday. However, I did tune it today and Rick Springfield was on. The only reason I know him is from the song "Jesse's Girl" back in the 80's. I was hoping by the end of segment he would sing the song and Oh did he! I found myself singing and dancing,(as I was holding Garrett). Marschall looked at me like I was nuts... yet he is still muttering, "how can I get a woman like that....."
If you have no idea what I am talking about please don't bother to tell me, I know I am old. I have a not so secret desire to sing and dance. I am seeing a pattern here; Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, my secret karaoke machine, just kidding about the karaoke machine... I can wish.

PS A little Rick Springfield trivia.....He said that the song is a true story about a real girl, however the guy's name was Gary not Jesse. He said Gary's girl just didn't quite make the cut.

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2008-02-22T07:19:00.006-05:00

Our Wild Nights

So it has been almost 10 nights that our two and half year old has not woken up during the night, (minus one night). I do have hope. It's been a great week and a half, energy wise. I feel like the dark circles I have had for two and half years may start to diminish. However, last night was a different story. Garrett played a trick on us....and not a very funny one. I think he knows what he did and even snickered to himself at midnight last night. As midnight rolled around, we went from being dead asleep to both of us sitting straight up in bed. We basically begin arguing over what sound it is we are hearing. It was a sound that had a certain pitch and beat. It was high pitched, it was loud and it was not going away. We figure it out it was an alarm clock. In the past, we have never really used it for it's alarm capability. You know why we have not used it for it's alarm? Because we never could remember how to set it. We would inadvertently set it for "naps" and it would go off during the day and give me a heart attack, then in the mornings we would sleep through the time we needed to get up. Since then we have just set our TV alarm and have woken up to that.
We couldn't figure out how to stop it other than hitting snooze which is what Pete did at first and then we woke up again 5 minutes later. (I am still holding on to a little anger this morning as I type this.) After 5 more minutes of arguing and both of us trying to stop the madness; I find myself under our bed trying to unplug the blasted the thing. As I am reaching for the alarm cord as Pete is wiggling it, of course, I unplug the lamp at first and not the alarm cord, so I can't see what I am doing. Finally, get back in bed, my heart is racing like none other. As I am lying in bed trying to get down from my adrenaline high I am realizing that our sweet little babe had been hanging out in our room with Pete earlier. He must have have been pushing buttons and set the alarm for us at midnight. I guess he figured I still needed to get up even though he didn't want to be my alarm anymore.

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2008-02-19T18:55:00.003-05:00

Picture it

Whenever I read peoples' blogs, I often wonder what their surroundings look like. I decided to take a picture of my blog room. It is our office. Already at first glance it looks like I have a picture that needs to be straightened. I am neurotic for having to have straight pictures. If I go to someone's house and I see a crooked hanging picture, I will straightened it right behind their backs. Anyway, that's all, a little peak into my stomping grounds. I must do something with those tangled cords underneath the desk. I decided to put a brown pillow in front of them, hope it doesn't start a fire....

2008-02-17T21:03:00.002-05:00

Wow!

Great interview, I can't figure out how to host the video from here, so a link will have to do.

2008-02-14T09:05:00.004-05:00

Road Trip

What does every good road trip need? I came across Garrett's little tricycle we keep in the house. It seems he packed all his necessities for all his trips around our kitchen island; a teddy bear, a drink, a gun and Beth Moore's, Praying God's Word Day by Day. To be honest, in our house, he probably needs all of those.

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2008-02-12T17:13:00.002-05:00

X-Men Underwear

It's rainy here and cold. We went out for a little while, to Big Lots. I love me some Big Lots. There are not too many places where you can buy both deodorant and a mattress. We headed out, after, I purchased, a lamp, deodorant, Hanes underwear for my hubby and then some X-Men underwear for my 4 year old. I got in the car, everyone buckled in and realized my 4 year old was still holding his underwear. We did not pay for it. I would never think twice about keeping it, the thing I get tempted by is the thought to have to take it back in the store with the kids in tow. I would not leave the kids in the car, especially in our Big Lots parking Lot. I already saw some creepy guy in there and my scenario of him kidnapping us in the parking lot was all too real. (I'm the queen of scenarios)I drove back up to the front of the store,decided to run in and throw the underwear down on the counter. As I am running out, I pretty much yell, "We did not pay for this, my child took it with him out of the store". The cashier is trying to act like maybe I did pay for it, and starts asking me to check my receipt. I am yelling, again, "no, we didn't". I am basically having to get stern with her to say keep your underwear! Geez
This leads me to another almost stealing scenario... but not really. A few months back I was in Wal-mart, bought a ton a of groceries, paid for them and left. I had my hot commodity of Diet Coke under the basket. I got home, realized I did not have it, doubled checked that I paid for it. I had indeed paid for it but remembered I must have left it under the basket in the parking lot. I go back to Wal-mart with my receipt to the customer service and explained what happened. The cashier told me to go get another 12 pack and bring it back up to customer service to check it out again. I had already waited in line to tell her I needed to get what I had already paid for, I was not going to do it yet again. You know me and Wal-mart, we have a love/hate relationship.
I decided it was ethically okay, just to grab my diet coke that I had really paid for and leave. I would not stand in line again. I was perfectly ready to give an answer if someone decided to question me, I had my receipt. I went to the end of the store picked up my diet coke and walked out the door, no questions asked. I know, I dare to live on the edge. I am not a rule breaker, I see it as I just have common sense without a lot time to wait in lines and I wanted my diet coke for the week.

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2008-02-11T06:50:00.000-05:00

Ebay

I have "done" ebay off and on for several years. It's so easy to find anything you want or need. I have found the most random things I couldn't find in stores and for great prices. I had been thinking of pulling a "store" together for a while. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted in it and came across this great line of accessories. I know most stay at home moms or people watching their budget do not have a lot of extra money to spend on fun little non-necessities. However, for me, I was always looking for inexpensive gifts for my family and friends. It' so hard to drag all the kids out to little speciality stores to find something unique. A couple months back I found myself in the Jewel Box looking to buy something for my sister for her Birthday. I had my youngest with me in the stroller. Trying to navigate through their little displays and having my child grab at anything and everything made sweat and feel like all eyes were on me. I grabbed some earrings for her and hurried out. I thought geez what an ordeal to buy a $10.00 gift. So that experience led me to search for several items to put in my virtual store. I am super pleased with the quality and unique look that each piece has and of course the prices I am able to offer. Please visit and I hope to add to it over the next couple of months. If you are local in Greensboro, let me know what you are interested in and you won't have to pay for shipping~ That's all- it sure is easy to be pushy when you can type it out and not have to hear any objections!
Shop Shop Shop!

2008-02-10T20:59:00.001-05:00

A Brand new me (sort of)

So, it's here! Don't you love the colors! I had Darcy do the blog design from Graphically Designing. She was super great to work with and fast! If you are even considering re-doing your own blog please contact her!
That's all, just wanted to share that it has been done!

2008-02-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

Celebrityism

Which is not a word I know. I always make up words, usually by default and not on purpose.
Anyway, those who know me well, know I love me some literature on the hottest celeb news. I am actually trying not to read up on it as much because it is ridiculous I know. ( You like how I called gossip pages, literature?).
With that being said, have you ever gone to My Heritage?
You can have your own picture uploaded to see what stars you resemble. It's fun and quite the compliment.
However, when I uploaded Pete's picture a while back his picture said he most resembled Jimi Hendrix. I can still laugh out loud, hard, about that one. Pete was not laughing, which made me laugh harder with tears. So I am not so sure how accurate it actually is. I just did Pete's again and Jack Osbourne came up. Those who don't know my husband, he is 6'4, lean and the most clean cut person. There may be a little inaccuracy in it. However, I like all the people that came up for me, so it must be pretty right!
Scroll all the way down my blog to see me....... It's fun to try several pictures of yourself to see if the same people come up for you. Please share on your own blogs if you do this. This is a great afternoon time killer while the kids are playing outside or watching a movie... like mine are right now.

2008-02-04T21:38:00.000-05:00

It's coming.........

In about a week or so I should have a new look for my blog, all

Über-fancy.

I know all 5 of my faithful blog reading friends will be waiting with baited breath!

I am hoping it will also have a cool little link to my ebay store that carries all my fun trendy accessories that I sell.

Be on the look out!

2008-02-03T08:10:00.000-05:00

Being an 8th grade girl.....

I am a co-leader for the 8th grade girls small group at my church. I'm in my third year of being involved. I wish I could be more involved. I mainly just show up for our small group on Wednesday nights. Sometimes, I do question how useful am I in being there? Can I relate to them? It takes a lot for me just to get there. I have to make sure Pete's schedule will work for our boys to be taken care of. I have been picking up some girls from my church's neighborhood, for which I am usually running late. Recently, every time I leave from our time of meeting together, I am reassured by His Spirit I am suppose to be there, even if it is just showing up. I am the oldest, so I feel like I should be sharing some "prophetic word" or in some way trying to make middle school a whole heck of a lot easier for them, than it was for me. Most weeks, I just sit and listen and pray quietly as they share.
I think we have made small group a safe haven for them to share and ask for prayer. My hope is they gain perspective from Godly women who encourage them to cling to Christ in the midst of living at the age they are. I wish I could tell them life is so much better after middle school and high school. I want to tell them if they would only do things "this way" or "don't do that", it would be so much better. In the end, they are having to decide what decisions to make or not make for themselves. Our small group is a place for them to figure it out together through God's word and our guidance. Even as I struggle to to get there and wonder if I am doing any good, I am encouraged by this verse...
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:9-10)

On a side note, I must admit I am trying to stay a little more "hip" ( is it even hip to say hip anymore??) when I am around these girls. I went to three different Targets to find a pair of shoes that one of the girls were wearing last Wed. They were so cute... on her. I've said before, I usually need to see something pulled together before I can visiualize liking it for myself.
Finally, I found the shoes in a size 10 and they were too small. In the past, if a size 10 is too small they get put right back on the shelf. However, I really wanted these. I broke my own personal moral ethical code of fashion and bought the size 11. Brought them home, put them on and showed them to my dear husband, who like me, has no filter. He said, "those are different.... they make your foot look really long".
The cute pair of gathered red flats are back in the box ready to be returned to Target. Oh well, who needs to be as hip as an 8th grade girl; she probably would have not wanted to wear her own pair anymore once she saw that I copied her.

2008-01-30T21:26:00.000-05:00

Grrrrr.....

I want a new blog template. It seems there could be more choices. I may have to have one designed for me. Just having 20 different shades of color is not enough creativity for me. I don't want to even design it anyway. I just want one done for me. A pretty one, but not too much pink froo-froo.
Moving on.... I am going to have to shut the door on Oprah's face. House is back to being a mess. We're both home tonight and it's back to business..... I shall go veg out on our big bed and love every minute of it. At least I am hearing the dishwasher run in the background. My sweet husband is good about loading the dishwasher, which I am thankful. Before I race to my bed I will set my coffee pot tonight. That is a treat in the am! I'm wrestling with putting a coffee pot in our room to wake up to hearing it turn on and smell it brewing. I like cream in my coffee so that wouldn't work. I still would have to go downstairs, unless we put a mini-fridge in our closet. We actually had a special refrigeration socket (that is not the right word, but you get my drift) put in our closet when we built our house. I had this grandiose idea that if I could store my breast milk at night in our mini dorm fridge, my dear husband would get up and feed the babe. Somehow, the fridge never made it to our closet, the sleepless nights wore on and somehow we are instead, currently storing a microwave in our closet . Now, that I think about it, we were going to have both the fridge and the microwave to store the milk and then heat the milk up. That's what happens when you have children, you have these great ideas that will make life easy and then it all goes to pot when you are up for a gazillion nights in a row. Now, that the boys sleep pretty well, I have got to get this "in room" coffee pot idea fleshed out before we have another babe.(no not any time soon, I'm just saying....)
Off to set a pot of brew!

PS: My friend Kari gave me the "in room" coffee pot idea. Ode to the Office.

2008-01-29T21:17:00.000-05:00

I open the door and it is Oprah......

Exciting huh, ? No, she really didn't come. However, if she gave me a surprise visit, I am pleased with how my house looks. Sometimes, I think about her shows where she pops in on people and that in itself gives me motivation to clean on a regular basis. 85 % of the time I would be mortified if anyone gave me a surprise visit!
Pete is at his basketball game so I gave into cleaning and organizing. (My organizing just means I actually folded all the laundry and put it away, but it counts.)
Usually, once we put the kids to bed, I don't lift another finger do to housework. I know this should be the time to get the most accomplished. But, when 7:30pm rolls around, it is my maxing and relaxing time. Believe me, I take full advantage.
However, tonight, Pete is playing in a late basketball game and he won't be home until 10:45. So, I decided to give myself over to the 4 loads of laundry that were on our guest bed, empty the dishwasher and straighten until I felt like if my friend Oprah decided to pop in to give me a room makeover,(with cutie pie Nate Burkas ), I would let them in.
All that said, please don't think I am on my high horse of feeling better than thou, having my house clean for a night, remember the mouse incident? Enough said.
I feel like I have to keep the house in tip top shape so we won't have any more uninvited visitors. As I look back, since Mickey's death, our family seems to be benefiting from that little buggard; spotless floors, laundry's put away, straightened living room. Now that I think about it, maybe, just maybe, Pete invited Mickey in for a reason....

2008-01-27T13:18:00.000-05:00

Inspired by the toile....

I love reading the blog by , The Nester.
I was very inspired by her red toile. I am not a good visionary when it comes to home design. I see something I like and copy it to by best ability. I saw her sofa in a beautiful cranberry toile. I decided I had to find that material for my dining room window treatments. I found exactly what I wanted on ebay, 7 yards of material and including shipping it was $20.00. I felt like it was a good deal. I don't have an artistic bone in my body, a glue gun scares me. I end up always gluing my fingers together when trying to work on a project. So, I had my panels sown, due to my lack of inability with a glue gun. I have no patience either. I get a rush of anxiety to make something and I usually have to start over or throw it away, whatever I am working on. I am super impressed with the Nester's way of winging her decorating and it turning out perfect.
The reason I NEEDED my cranberry toile is because of my cranberry chair you can see in our living room from our dining room. (Some background info, before I was married, I fell in love an oversized chair. It was really the only piece of "real" furniture I owned. Pete calls it the orange chair. It is not orange. It is cranberry. Who one would buy an orange chair?)
I have had a blank dining room since we moved into our house 3 years ago. I put a random valance up that I really didn't like and that was about it. I don't have any before shots but just imagine a nice table in a vacant beige room with a dark beige valance. (That would be the before shot.)
My ebay material arrived, loved it, ran to the seamstress to have the panels made. I picked a light gold paint color, it doesn't really show up in the pictures below but it is same color background as my widow treatments.
I just read the Nester's blog today and she had plaid window treatments with her toile sofa! I did not know this before I picked my toile for my window treatments! I feel like I made a good decision based on her taste that I really like. So thanks Nester for your inspiration of cranberry toile!

2008-01-22T08:15:00.001-05:00

January 22, 1999

9 years is not a huge numerical mile stone, I know. However, every year at this time, it is sentimental for me.
I had returned from a long term mission trip that previous spring. I was trying to find a job associated with my degree. I remember, I was working for my parents business, living with my parents in an apartment while they built their new house, and I was going to church with them on Sundays. I was waiting to move out until I had a good job that I knew I wanted. I had several friends in the area that I would go out with. I was determined not to go out on random dates. I hated just dating around, I never did it that much anyway. It was excruciating for me. I would get way to nervous and just did not enjoy it. I am not sure how I thought I was ever going to meet anyone!
Since, I was going to church with my parents, I also attended a weekly Bible study with my mom. As I look back, I kind of laugh that I spent that much time with my parents and enjoyed it. Sure, I would get discouraged at times. As I look back, I think the Lord was solidifying my heart's desire to be married and what kind of husband I wanted. The deeper things in a husband, not just for him to be attractive and tall. I wanted him to have a strong desire for God's will in his life, a strong leader with a gentle sensitivity. I was learning to be content and satisfied with who the Lord created in me, His daughter. I knew I had to relinquish control and quit demanding Him to bring me someone, in order for me to be "content" in the present.
(Back to the Bible study) Every week there was a women, who I had known through out the years of growing up at this church, she would say"I really think you need to meet my nephew". I would say, "I really don't do blind dates". (Little did she know I didn't even like going on actual dates period!) I thought, she is nuts if she thinks I am going to say "yes" to this. I could see it now, her nephew showing up and being 5'6". The only thing wrong with a short man, is if he shows up to the door being opened by a girl who is 5'10". Enough said.
Yes, height has always been an issue for me. I did not like Tom Cruise way before everyone else got on that band wagon of disliking him. I like heels, I like trying to stand up straight etc. Wow, I have digressed...

Phyllis Price was faithful to check in with me every so often seeing if I would be open to meeting her nephew. A few months later at church on a Sunday, someone pointed out to me way across the sanctuary that it was Phyllis Price's nephew. I thought, well I can't really see him real well but I could tell he was tall enough. I couldn't quite tell how tall but his head was a lot taller than most of the other men. At some point, I gave Phyllis the go ahead, if she wanted to introduce me to her nephew it was okay by me. A few months later, on Sunday, January 17th, 1999 I received a call from Peter Uber. He had to remind me that his aunt was Phyllis Price.
While on the phone I had all the normal butterflies, especially knowing I was going to say "yes" to go out with him. He had just called a girl that he had no clue about... that in itself intrigued me.
We chit-chatted for a while and set a date for that Friday, January 22nd. He was to pick me up and we were going to go see STOMP. (Stomp is a funky dance team that uses trash cans to make music) I thought, what an excellent idea, trash cans and music, who couldn't make conversation about that? I was so extremely nervous, I about canceled. I am not joking. I talked to one of my friends about an hour before he was to come pick me up. I had a glass of wine, careful not to have too much, because that would not be good!

I was by myself at home, so there would be no awkward introductions with the fam. That night is so fresh in my mind. I had on a burgundy cardigan set with black pants and boots. I was praying the boots would not be too tall. The knock came and I remember I was about to jump out of my skin. I still remember thinking right before I opened the door, "Am I about to meet my future husband"? (not to put any pressure on this night, huh?) I calmly opened the door, there he was.... all 6'4" of him. I let out a deep breath. Honestly, I don't remember much of the rest of the evening except knowing I had a good time and it was easy. (I liked easy and I still like easy.)

I am so thankful 9 years later. I am thankful, for my life that I get to lead with Pete and my precious boys. I am thankful that the Lord solidified both of our hearts to each other and to Him that drew us together.

January 22nd, 1999, I met my life long love. It seems every January is a new year of being able to grow deeper together as we grow as one.

2008-01-18T08:49:00.000-05:00

Birthdays

I Love Birthdays, and I am so glad today is mine!!!

2008-01-15T20:49:00.000-05:00

A filler post

I couldn't leave that mouse picture up for too much longer.
I thought I would share that my sweet husband organized with his brother to get me DANCING WITH THE STARS tickets!!! Yes, I am excited.
Pete's brother works for Harley Davidson as their IT guy and they provide coliseum event tickets for different shows. Jon got us 4 free box seat tickets. Thank you Jon!
2 months ago I almost decided that's what I wanted as my b-day present but it was going to be $150.00 or so for Pete and I to go. I figured he really didn't want to go that much and that was a lot of money. I let it go and we went to our fancy hotel night instead. (At least it lasted for 2 days instead of 3 hours.)
Anyway, I was way surprised and cannot wait until next Saturday. I love the show and actually do some of my own waltzing during the program, that's how into it I am.
Pete said if they asked me to go up there for audience participation... please say no.
Let's hope they don't ask, because I would loved to be lifted and dipped ;)

2008-01-14T09:08:00.001-05:00

A picture speaks a thousand words......

2008-01-12T07:43:00.000-05:00

Hummm, I guess I have no shame.....

Let me set the scene. My two best friends from college were over on Thursday night. Pete was out at his basketball game. All the kids were in bed. We had a great time catching up, the three of us rarely all are able get together. I had clued them in on the mouse situation, the one we still have not caught! The one that steals the cheese right off the traps we have set.
I had clued Kristen and Ashley in on the mouse situation earlier in the evening. I should be embarrassed but these are friends that you have for life and all they did was laugh. I still am not laughing.
Before Kristen left she decided to look one more time behind the sofa where we had 4 traps, (we are not messing around, we're are out for mickey's death). Here is how the conversation went....

Kristen... "Meredith, didn't you have 4 traps behind the sofa?"

Me....."I think Pete moved some around to some other places" (I go look over the sofa with her), "But we did have TWO of the gluey sticky traps there with the other two regular traps!!!! One of the traps is missing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kristen...."Oh my gosh, there he is"! (as he runs cross the floor underneath the sofa.)

NOTE: At this point, Ashley jumped up on the coffee table, Kristen is on the bar stool and I am on another bar stool across the room. We are standing 10 feet tall in our chairs and we are dying laughing and almost crying.

We stand there for probably a good 15 minutes trying to figure out what to do. Pete wasn't due home for at least another hour. They decided to help me barricade the steps. Ashley, who was spending the night, was afraid the mouse would climb the 15 stairs and go into her room. It looked like a burglar had come in and turned over chairs and a table.
Kristen leaves, Ashley and I bolt up to my bedroom to watch TV until Pete comes home. Pete arrives to find the mouse had drug the sticky trap underneath the sofa and got away!!!
We have bought 2 more kinds of traps.
There will be a post that he has been caught, I will assure you of that.
I don't know when, but it better be soon.

I'm going to celebrate my birthday tonight with Pete at the Proximity Hotel. My poor sister and brother-in-law are stuck in Mickey Mouse club house until tomorrow when we return!

2008-01-08T07:29:00.000-05:00

Do I dare share?

I saw Mickey Mouse last night.....I'm not talking about Minnie's companion.

First off, I am a very clean and somewhat organized person. We live in a house that is only 3 years old. It is on a slab foundation. My pantry is organized, there is no food on the floor. My drawers have stuff in them but are not dirty. Tell me how this happened? I don't know. This is my story and if you ask me about in public, I'll be sure to deny it.

Last night, trauma hit my world at around 9:30pm. I was coming down stairs to get some ice cream for us. I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye scatter under our sofa. Yes, our sofa in our living room. I really thought it may have been a moth or some bug!? I ran up and got Pete. Thankfully, he takes me seriously, for the most part. He lifted our sofa and moved it around. Sure enough a mouse ran under the ottoman. (Not nice words were coming from my mouth.) If we were on live TV or a reality show, there definitely needed to be a 7 second delay or some beeps. Seems like there were some crumbs of goldfish, crackers, cookies etc. that Mickey found. Next question, did we catch him? NO!!!! The only thing we can figure out; there was a hole in the underneath part of the ottoman and we think he got up in there. Needless to say the ottoman is in the garage probably with the rest of his family. I don't care if we never have another ottoman. Pete said he would take apart the ottoman to make sure it was clean and no other burrows. I thought that's fine, we now have seat for the garage and it can stay in the garage! He is coming home for lunch today with traps and to figure out where Mickey found a way into the "Promise Land". I was tempted not to post this... but this is my life, uncensored ;) Pete got a good look at him and said he was very small. Is that suppose to make me feel better?! I think not. That's it, we have a mouse, we think we got him back outside. Who knows for sure? I slept great last night wondering if even a little mouse could make it upstairs. I decided there was no way and we will leave it at that, (unless he knows we have leftover dishes of ice cream on our nightstands).

2008-01-06T07:14:00.000-05:00

Food TV

One of my favorite things to do by myself is to watch Food TV. Even if I can just sit for a partial segment. I have always enjoyed watching people make food. When I was little, I remember watching Julia Child and the New Orleans cajun guy on PBS. I would stand in our kitchen stirring canned corn and adding spices to my masterpiece. I would talk out loud and describe in detail what I was making, as if I were being taped for TV. (I'm not kidding).
Some 20 years later, I find myself actually trying to make a Barefoot Contessa dish. Her dishes seem to be elegant yet simple. When one begins the recipe, one seems to find themselves over their heads, namely "Me". I made filet of beef bourguignon. ( I'm not even sure how to pronounce that last word). It looked good and we are beef lovers at our house!
I will say it turned out perfect... at 8:45pm last night. I was hoping to have this romantic dinner for two at 7:30 or so. AGGH. Thankfully, it was just the two of us. I kept thinking if I was serving this for guests I would have died.
My carrots WOULD NOT cook, I kept having to add more of the liquids to create more sauce. I think I used almost a whole bottle of wine for my reduction sauce! To finish cooking my carrots, I did a few short cuts that I will not share because "Contessa" would not approve . The dish turned out perfect in the long run. I googled this recipe to include in this post and look what came up! Someone else having a hard time with their carrots. I wasn't loosing my mind. I thought how can you mess up carrots! I agree with all of his other suggestions too, like the bigger pan. Thankfully, that's the only size I had, so it worked out fine. By the way, I found a really good deal on the filets of beef. I spent only $10.00 for two and sliced those to have a total of 4 pieces.
By the time we sat down to eat, I was done. I was so sick of the sauce and tasting to see if my carrots were cooked. However, Pete seemed to really like it. I will try this again and will fine tune it for the future.

PS Microwaves work wonders

2008-01-02T16:29:00.000-05:00

Christmas Decorations

I absolutely hate taking them down. I wanted to throw out our tree with the lights on. I figured we have 4 strands of lights that maybe cost $3.00 each. $12.00 not to sweat, get irritated and bring down all of the dead pine needles.... sounds like a deal to me.
I should be more positive about my day. However, I can't think of anything. I could tell about Garrett's throwing up session in McDonalds.
A guy that was sitting right next to me ran and got me napkins. He has done his good deed for the year!
Pete was meeting me at McDonalds and I had gotten there a little early. I kinda had on a cute outfit and I was putting my lipstick on to see my husband mid-day.... to only end up catching mounds of throw up in my hands by my two-year old.
I think the throw-up overshadowed my outfit and my lipstick.
Gotta love it!

PS Garrett is not sick, if he coughs the wrong way he gags himself into throwing up.

2007-12-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

Peek a boo shoes

I love peek a boo shoes. I actually have a cute pair I rarely get to wear. Pete and I went to a Christmas party last night. At the last minute, I decided to go for it and wear my cute little shoes (well, little is relative, since I wear a size 10). I find nothing more fun than getting ready for a nice evening. I love the long shower, being able to put my make-up on slowly, doing my nails etc. However, things got a little rushed as they always seem to do with kids running around..... I call it my winter pedicure. Don't let your eyes deceive you, I had no time to do the other toes, just enough time to paint the first two. At the time, I thought "how efficient, I got the job done, no one is the wiser". Today, as I look down and see my three little bare piggies... how sad, I need to have a reality check!

2007-12-11T18:39:00.000-05:00

Peace be with me

I have been thinking a lot about peace and what that means in my life.
I get worked up too quickly, angry too quickly, frustrated too quickly, need I go on.....
I just finished reading Beth Moore's blog, she and her daughters blog together. Her oldest daughter recently gave great perspective on the desire for peace in her own life that I resonated with.
I personally, love simplicity. I don't like clutter. I don't like unresolved conflict. I like routine. I get anxious if we have too much going on in one week. I am the first to say no and the last to sign up. I try to control my peace and when the "unknown" circumvents my peace.... here comes my sins of many. I really am not trying to be cynical.
I have just been getting more frustrated over being frustrated in the first place. I tell Pete that I get on my own nerves sometimes! I'm not the most eloquent in explaining myself but you get the gist.
For the last few months or so I have been thinking about my lack of compassion for people in general and my anger in the little things that life arouses. However, my desire is to be content in all situations. I've realized as I been reading in the scripture that the peace of God is so easily talked about. It is usually said at the end of chapters in the New Testament. Now, I am not glossing over the words of peace so freely talked about. I yearn for it. My question is how do I find that peace? I am not able to muster it up.... And there is my problem, again trying to control my peace. I am unable to attain true peace by myself. I need God's peace, there is the true rest that I try to seek elsewhere in the routine of my days.
I'm not known for knowing a lot of scripture or where to find certain verses. But my goal since last week is to truly submerge my thoughts into the following verse..... Phil. 4:8 , this is Paul's writing.
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do and the God of peace will be with you". That's how I am going to attain peace.
I can't get all riled up in my Wal-mart excursions or angry that one of the kids spilled ice cream in the car right after I told him not to spill it, or that the kids knocked the whole 8 foot Christmas tree over or that.....I gotta stop before I go down the road I don't want to be on.
Whatever is lovely, noble, just, pure, praiseworthy... that is a pretty picture, huh?!

2007-12-10T15:27:00.000-05:00

You can't lose your salvation but.....

If you could, I would lose mine in Wal-mart. First off, I am very thankful to have money to go grocery shopping, so please don't get me wrong.
However, I do not like being a slave to the big box grocery store. I cannot not go. (is that southern or just bad grammar?)I save money, they have everything I need in one store and it is less than 1 mile from my house.

Today, I was dreading going shopping like the plague. I worked this am, rushed to get our oil changed, Garrett needed a nap, so I had to get to the store before we went home. I have been watering down the apple juice not because of the sugar, but because I was running out, if this gives you any idea how desolate our fridge was becoming.

The kids were doing great. Toward the middle of our shopping trip, Marschall tells me he needs to go to the bathroom, he ALWAYS has to go to the bathroom in Wal-mart. I have no idea what brings it on, but his bowels were in full force (too much info?).
I decide to park my cart in one of the aisles and be right back. I could get to the bathroom faster if I just scooped up Garrett and ran with Marsch. We finally return to our cart about 10 minutes later......no cart..... no groceries....nothing. I feel my blood pressure start to boil. If you know Wal-mart, it can take 30 minutes to go through the check out line. These cashiers are not known for their speed. I'm wondering how did someone realize there was an empty cart sitting alone for a few minutes. I nicely ask a lady stocking the shelves, "have you seen a cart with groceries"? She said, "Yes, a lady just took it, there she is right now!" She begins to ask the other employee where my cart is. I'm actually relieved just thinking my cart is around the corner. But no, she had put 85% of my food back! I'm thinking, I would have really liked to seen how fast this women was because she needed to take the place of my cashier who took 20 minutes to check me out. I think some little Wal-mart ferries came and all went to work to put my food back!
I had strayed from my list as usual and couldn't exactly remember what I still needed. So who knows what my recipes will consist of this week.
Again, thankful for groceries not so much for the big box grocery stores. I may have to take a break and shop somewhere else for a while to get some perspective. Oh by the way, Marschall informed me the next time we are shopping we shouldn't leave our cart, we need to take to take it with us wherever we go. Ahhh good times.......

2007-12-05T06:27:00.000-05:00

You can't make this stuff up.....

Marschall has been curious about family dynamics; whose mother is also grandmother to someone else, etc. He gets a kick out of it if he sees Pete and I kiss, and knows he is my husband and I'm his wife. We had a brief conversation about it at the dinner table the other night......

Me "Marschall do you want to have a wife someday"?

Marschall "Yes , but I want to live with you guys still."

Me "What will your wife look like?" (thinking he's going to describe a friend of his)

Marschall "She will have skin like you, green eyes like you, straight hair like you, earrings like you....(pause).... she will be a mommy robot."

I took that as the best compliment ever :)!

2007-11-26T15:33:00.000-05:00

And so it begins.....

We did something super spontaneous on Saturday. We were planning to get our Christmas tree at a nearby tree lot on Saturday. We've gone to this lot before, they have hayrides for the kids etc. It was almost lunch time. Pete was coming back from playing ball and I had come home from the gym with the boys. I called him and said "how about going to Boone to get our tree today"? It was time for Garrett's nap and I knew my other narcoleptic son would fall asleep in the car too. All I could think of was a nice quiet ride with Pete and to see my ole stomping grounds again.
We had a lot of fun. As we rolled back into our driveway that evening, Pete said " That was fun, I don't know if I would want to do that every year but it was fun". What he should have said was, "what were we thinking taking a 4 year old and a 2 year old up a mountain to cut down a tree!" But it will be a fond memory!

2007-11-20T11:06:00.000-05:00

I'm Back.....

I don't have any pictures......I don't even take pictures of my children very often, it's terrible I know. If I did scrap booking, I would have to have some pretty darn good looking stickers, because there would just be a lack of pictures on my part.
My trip was wonderful, so relaxing. I went with my best friend from college, one of my bridesmaids in my wedding and another friend from the camp I worked at back in college. (Basically, my best friend introduced me to the other girls back in college.)It was great to be around people you don't have to worry about what to say or not say. I can say things around these girls and they just roll their eyes and say, "only Meredith would say that" and I am more than okay with that!
We had a huge pasta dinner at the beach condo on Friday night, drank some wine, laughed and caught up a million miles a second. Saturday is our big day of shopping at the outlets. I got at least half of my Christmas shopping done. Saturday night we went to Bonefish Grill. We told the waitress ahead of time that we did not want to be rushed. Between 4 of us girls we have 10 children. A nice quiet meal was all we wanted. We probably stayed there for over 2 hours!
Sunday we slept in until about 7:30, that's all we could do, ridiculous I know! We headed back to our appropriate cities after lunch. It was so great, I keep thanking Pete. I came home to a house that was still standing, boys that ran to me and to a husband that looked more than grateful!

2007-11-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

Ready, Set, I'm gone

The clothes are set aside in order of days; nightime, Saturday, church

The clean sippies cups are laid out

The food has been bought

The diaper bag is full of any disaster that may occur

I'm on my way out........

My girl's beach weekend is about to start; shopping, sleeping, eating!! Who could ask for more??!

2007-11-14T10:44:00.000-05:00

Resting under his leadership

There is no dancing around the subject of submission between wives to their husbands. God calls wives to submit to their husbands and for husbands to dwell with them(their wives) with understanding, giving honor to the wife. (1 Peter 3:7) We rarely hear the later part of this verse used in our current culture.
Our culture does not promote the husband being the leader of the household. The very word "submit" in our culture gives the picture of not being heard, not being able to share in thought or to give advice within a marriage relationship. I don't believe this was God's idea for submission.
Marriage is a wonderful gift. It can be hard. I think the hard times bring you closer together for the next battle that comes.
With all this said.......I've had a hard week. We found out about some criminal activity we have had going on behind our neighborhood. My first inclination was we gotta move, flee, run and I'm done; meaning I don't want to even fight. These circumstances have brought up a lot of fear, dissatisfaction and has tainted my view of our back yard.
I am a doer, motivated, "get it done right now" type of person. I have a plan and I have a back up plan for my original plan, if this gives you any idea how I can be.
My husband is patient, slow to respond and thoughtful with his words and actions. Great combination for us, huh?!
First thing Pete said, we going to do was to trust God and His protection of us. I told him very honestly, "I can trust God; I am not sure I can trust you through this". I wasn't sure I could trust him with the decision of leading our family through these circumstances. It was out of my mouth before I realized it. At first, I wanted to apologize but then again, it was the honest truth. I have a hard time holding anything back verbally, especially with my husband and those closest around me. I know it hurt him to some degree. He asked to carry this burden with me and he would help me take it to the cross. He never said I must submit(our current cultural view of submitting) to listen to him or anything of that nature. He did honor me and say very clearly that he will lead us through this and that God has placed himself in our family to do so. He told me not to stop telling him my concerns, fears and even my own desires.
I was praying yesterday telling the Lord( I am even bossy with God sometimes) that I wanted Him to speak to my husband's heart. I wanted the Lord to tell Pete, to do what I wanted. After some prayer, I felt clearly that the Lord had already spoken to him.
I need to rest in my husband's leadership over our family. After all, who placed Pete in my life from the beginning? To finish off with the verse from 1 Peter 3:7, "Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. I am still not comfortable with my surroundings. This week, I am thankful I am in a place of surrendering this burden to the Lord. I feel like I am being honored through this time by my husband yet also being led by him. The Word promises by doing so my prayers will not be hindered. If I truly rely on God's care for me; I must trust the man that He placed in my life to care for me.

2007-11-09T14:51:00.001-05:00

This makes me smile...

I'm not sure if it's because Pete is getting ready to drop me or if it's just knowing we like laughing together~

2007-10-29T18:45:00.000-05:00

Ode to the Acorn

Ever since the beginning of this school year, Marschall recently got into a ritual of bringing home acorns from the playground. For the past two months our conversation would sound like much of the following....

Me "Marschall how was your morning?"
Marschall "I got a looooooot of acorns"
Me (sounding ever so proud) "Oh great, I can't wait to see how many!"

He would buckle up and we would be on our way home, (I love paying the preschool so he can pick up their playground). We would come in the house, he would race to his room and stock pile these acorns into another bag. For two months this has gone on. I thought, "this is so silly", but I pick my battles... who cares!
I work for four hours on Mondays and it seems everything in our life falls apart for us on Mondays. Pete calls me at work, he was watching Garrett for me while he worked from home. Our conversation went something this....

Pete "I've got to tell you something, I'm hesitant to tell you, but I know Marschall will. Well, (long drawn out pause), Garrett dumped all the acorns out of Marschall's bag and there were larva worms (70-80 maggots) that came out of this bag with the acorns on to Marschall bedroom floor. "

Me Silence ......(love all things about my boys except their love for insects)...I sit in a cubicle around 10 other people, trying to hold my composure. Thinking, I want to have his room scrubbed down... NOW.
Pete "I have vacuumed and then I vacuumed again."
Me "Then vacuum again"

I came home and found that the floor had been cleaned and all of the acorns out of his room. The vacuum bag emptied. I saw a glimpse of Marschall's insect house in the garage with acorns and about 10 of the maggots to keep for observation.

This is why we have dads.

2007-10-20T10:26:00.000-05:00

My Grandmother's perspective

I had sent my Grandma Marschall an email that included The Good Wife’s Guide , 1955 Good Housekeeping article. I take her out once a week to go to lunch and run errands. This past Friday, I asked her if that article really articulated expectations of wives during the time she was raising her three children. She said, "absolutely yes". She also felt like that is how her mother's generation was expected to act also.
She goes on to say, "Some other advice we would hear back in the day was for wives to wrap themselves naked in cellophane (saran wrap) and greet their husbands at the door when they came home from work, to add a little spice". I really wasn't shocked she said this, because my grandma is hysterical, even when she isn't trying to be. What got me laughing, I had said I would get my grandmother's perspective. I did not ask her if she actually did the cellophane thing.... I'm not sure what magazine she was reading to get that advice!
I am now imagining a little bullet point in the mix of The Good Wife’s Guide , maybe right after their advice to...

"Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it."

"Wrap yourself naked in cellophane and greet your husband at the door "

Now... I think The Good Wife's article is complete!

Thanks for the laugh grandma!

2007-10-18T12:45:00.000-05:00

The Good Wife???!!!!

Where do I begin? This was sent to me as a joke. But it is a documented, advice giving article from Good Housekeeping in the year of 1955 AD. I laughed, then my mouth dropped and then I thought I have got to pass this on. I was going to write what I thought was somewhat true of a "good wife" (which I personally dislike any term that rates our "goodness" by our actions) and then what I thought to be outlandish. I don't feel the need to explain/vouch for any of it. This is the time when my grandparents were raising kids. I need to further discuss this with my grandmother's and get their perspective.

PS. Now, remember even if he stays out all night, don't question him.
(I had to comment on that one.)

2007-10-13T14:16:00.001-05:00

To Budget=

Anxiety, not being able to get what one does not have, constraining, creates fights, time consuming, need I go on........

We actually strive very hard, or at least we attempt, to stick with a budget. We were in a 3 hour workshop this morning. My neck muscles are still tense with the anxiety it created. When I hear Pete say, "we need to take a look at the budget", all I want to do is yell expletives! I don't even know why. When the word budget was defined today, I think I had an "aha" moment.
Someone stated the meaning of budgeting is controlling where you spend your money and you might (will) have to give up something in order to get something else. I don't like doing that. It seems so easy in this day and age to achieve getting everything you want with credit cards and no interest until 2050 etc.
We work with a cash envelope system; when the money runs out then we are done spending, until the next pay check. Personally, it keeps us accountable. We usually end up pulling out the debit card at the end of the pay period, but we know that it is only eating into our savings or the next paycheck.
I want to create good spending habits for our boys, too. Just the other day, Marschall was dying for this toy that costs $10.00. He rarely specifically asks for things. I am sure, it's only going to get worse as he gets older. I told him we didn't have any money to buy "that" toy right now. I felt like I needed to explain to him, we do have money, we are choosing not to spend it that way now. It was like I had diarrhea of the mouth, rambling on and on with a 4 year old the reasons of his parent's budget. Why did I feel the need for him to know? I think, because I don't want to have to deny him of anything, especially monetary things. I feel he needs to know he will always be taken care of. I am realizing, I need to instill in him that he will be taken care, just not always buying things he wants. Open ended.
He saw some money in my purse and said "See....you do have money". I said "that is for food". I should have simply said, "that is for food and we cannot eat your toy". I think, that would have made it click for him. Maybe he would have had his "aha" moment.
I made a deal with him, when Pete got paid again we would get the toy. I felt like he was looking forward to pay day as much as I was! Marschall was showing Pete his new red ninja turtle and he said "tomorrow Daddy we are going to go to the store and get the blue one". He hasn't quite gotten the concept of not getting everything he wants... If I was to be honest, I guess I haven't either...

2007-10-08T18:47:00.000-05:00

"The Church"

We went to our friends' wedding renewal ceremony this past weekend. They have been married for 10 years. A lot has changed for them as a couple over these years. We have probably known them for 8 of the 10 years they have been married. I asked my friend, if they knew the Lord when they got married. She said we had a "God conscious" but said they had not really committed their lives to Christ until later in their marriage. I thought that was interesting, the Lord was working on both of them yet when they got married they did not have Christ at the center of their lives. Thankfully, He has taken them 180 degrees from where they were and brought them to Himself. I love to hear the testimonies of how people come to truly know Jesus as their Savior. This is what they have done. They know Him. In the ceremony the two of them testified as couple to His grace, His forgiveness, His redemption, His hope, His protection, His love for His bride and to Him that died for them. I witnessed two people that have fully committed their lives to the Lord, to drive a stake in the ground and testify what the Lord has done for them and in them. Christ is the center of their lives and their marriage.
What struck me the most were the 20 people surrounding them in a circle as the pastor spoke. Family and friends, each one of us knowing them in different ways, stood their to support them and witness a Holy moment. They specifically invited people that were intimately involved in their lives and their walk with Christ. It wasn't a Sunday message or Wednesday night program. We witnessed "The Church" in action.
We were the Bride of Christ getting a glimpse of why Jesus was sacrificed for us. He has redeemed us. He is not going to stop pursuing His Bride until ultimately we meet Him face to face. At some point, their ceremony became a picture of what my life is. Redeemed, fought for, bought with a price and for my freedom. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free....

2007-10-02T06:44:00.000-05:00

Trying to Get with the Times

I have been wanting some type of digital (is it digital?) MP3 player of sorts. IPod, MP3.... I think IPod is a type of MP3. Anyway, I got a mini 1Gigabyte MP3. It can hold 250 songs, which I can't even imagine knowing 250 songs, so I think this will do just fine. I wanted to be able to see the songs on the little LCD screen. I have two "Playlists", one I named, "Worship the King" and the other, "Dance Funk". How funny are those opposites? There is a little part of me that loves to "break it down" when no one is looking. Ironically, I listen to the worship music when I work out. As I was running around the track I lifted my arms up to adjust my headset. Yes, I said headset. However, I don't have a headset. I am with the times now, I have ear buds that are too big for my ears. The last time I listened to music when I worked out was back in college with a headset and a mix tape. Totally 80's, yet I was living in the 90's.... I was dying laughing thinking how technology is changing right before my eyes. Our children probably won't remember cassette tapes, they will think of tapes as my generation thinks of 8 tracks.
My friend's husband was running around his block with a digital FM headset on his head. Some kid at a bustop yelled to him dumbfounded, "what do you have on your head"? So every so often my friends and I ask "are we getting old?", I believe, I can say, pretty adamantly... "yes". We have kids not even recognizing our older technology. Oh well, at least I don't remember when the first TV came out.

2007-10-01T14:39:00.000-05:00

Where is the bathroom?

One of my main reasons to start blogging again were all the situations where I would say to myself, I need to write this down, I won't remember it. So, here I am, with another "gotta write this down moment". I am not a very sentimental person. I like re-living certain memories Pete and I have made; looking back at pictures, remembering trips etc. Now, I'm starting to want to remember specifics with our boys. Like Garrett, he will be labeled as our child who never slept through the night. I am praying that we can say, "Remember right after his 2nd Birthday, he did it"! He slept through the night on a consistent basis. So far, that's a no go. I peaked on him last night and he had his eyes opened and started screaming and crying....(I will not document how long it took for us to coerce to go back to sleep).
I feel purposeful in my blogging. As I did last time, I am going to print them out to remember these days of my life.
Oh yeah, what I wanted to remember.... Marschall wanted to know if heaven was going to have bathrooms and if we would have new skin ( he does not want wrinkly old skin). This said all in the same sentence. My response... "It will be something like that, I'm sure if we need a bathroom, there will be one and Yes, we will have new skin, or something like that." He seemed satisfied with my answer. That's the great thing about kids this age; they take what you say at face value and feel you have all the answers.

2007-09-26T10:03:00.001-05:00

Endless Sympathy

My patience and my sympathy only go so far. Marschall is sleeping on the top bunk these days. He hasn't fallen out when he sleeps, thankfully. However, last night, he fell down the ladder for the third time in the past week. He was trying to get down to go to the bathroom one more time before bed. I had had it! (That seems right when I say it aloud.)
I just finished telling him to be careful, so he wouldn't get hurt. I said "Remember, last night, when you fell down trying to get one last toy up to your bed?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, he fell pretty hard down ladder.... again . All I could do in the opposite of my nice soft voice.... who am I kidding? Yelling, "Marschall, I just told you to be careful and that you could get hurt, ahhhh". I don't think he benefited from being told again that he could get hurt, the cries of scraping his back down the ladder seemed to overtake my lecture. I felt really bad later, checking on him after he had fallen asleep. He's just four. To me, it seems once they reach the age of being able to communicate, they should just anticipate danger, know consequences etc. Isn't that ridiculous? Motherhood is a journey. I have never learned so much about myself in trying to raise in my little ones. It seems, four years later, all I have learned is I still don't have patience and my sympathy is not endless. I have a mature friend(she has raised two boys) that said your children will bring you to the cross. At first, when she said that, it made me think of coming to the cross when my children are in their teenage years; wondering where they are and what they are doing. I am realizing lately, I cling to the grace of the cross because of the mistakes I make with my boys already and the changes I need to happen in me. Thankfully, God is the perfect parent for my children. Confessing that I am not, enables Him to work in me. That's all I want.... for Him to do is perfect work in me and boy, do I need Him to do so daily.

2007-09-25T06:52:00.000-05:00

No one's Birthday

Sometimes, it good just to make a birthday cake to celebrate the taste of chocolate!

2007-09-22T09:19:00.000-05:00

X mark

My baby (4 year old) got his first red X mark on a worksheet he brought home from preschool. I had two overwhelming thoughts that came over me when I was looking through his work. The first, "there must be a grading mistake by his teacher" and secondly, how insensitive to start correcting him, he will be devastated! Go figure, my boy did make those mistakes and there was a right answer to each question that he didn't do correctly. Was he devastated? No, to be honest, I don't think he still gets how he was suppose to answer the question correctly.
This should not be a big deal but I always have to try to make things to be a bigger deal :). What I mean is, this is where it begins... not just in school but future participation in sports and ultimately life.
I read something recently that our society is enabling kids to be "winners" in all situations. Don't single out the kid that actually won the race, in only rewarding him, the others will feel bad about themselves. Hand out a trophy to everybody! If we don't, it might lower the others' self esteem, etc. (I'm curious what it does to the actual winner, mentally.)
I have contemplated this article that I read since the dreadful X mark. I want Marschall to always feel good about himself and the work he strives in. I mean he tried real hard, shouldn't that count? I do believe it does, to some degree.
Clearly, in my own teen and adult life I faced and continue to face, a myriad of circumstances in which I was not the winner. Others have been singled out for something they did better than me. I believe that in itself has been a motivator for me, at times. If I continue to instill in Marschall that he is good at everything how will he know his true gifts? Obviously, I will encourage him in all that he does, how can I not? Secretly, I think he is good at everything! But sometimes our mistakes/inabilities help us for future obstacles. I want to prepare him for that even starting at the age of 4. Hopefully, the next time he brings home his worksheet he will have a check mark showing that he colored the pictures that match! If so, he will know that he has truly mastered matching concepts!

2007-09-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

Where is the Mercy? (a post without much depth)

When I tell my dreams to Pete, sometimes they even don't make sense when told aloud. However, I need to document this one.
Last night, I had the most random dream. The short of the story..... some family who I did not know was walking around our neighborhood(but it wasn't our neighborhood... see what I mean, it's already starting not to make sense) anyway, they dropped off their two year old son and asked us to watch him. I said, "okay" and we ended up taking this child and our children to the mall. This child begins to have massive amounts of diarrhea, that I am having to clean up off the gross mall bathroom floor..... So in my real life, I am changing diapers and wiping bottoms and then in my dreams I am cleaning up huge amounts of excretion from a child I don't know..... Where is the Mercy? No rest for the weary......

2007-09-17T20:26:00.002-05:00

And I have two boys that came from this man......

2007-09-16T20:12:00.001-05:00

Garrett's 2nd Birthday, September 16th, 2007

2007-09-14T18:26:00.000-05:00

When did the change occur?

So no pressure... I stopped blogging for over a year and am encouraged to start again from reading my friends' posts. But I will not feel "legalistically" bound to do this on a regular basis. (I would've made a good Pharisee.)

Onto my subject line.... How was I THE messiest person known to mankind growing up and through the years of being single and now .....I can not have a good day IF my kitchen floor is not clean. I am not exaggerating. My mood revolves around the cleanliest of my house. So you would think that my house is awesomely clean all the time...... not so much. So that leaves me in a funky place...a lot.
I was reading my friend's post and found a kindred spirit.
For me, a lot of my focus and time is in the home. To be honest, I try to keep everything looking good on the outside, while my cabinet draws are stuffed with junk, my closets are packed with all kinds of stuff and my laundry is piling over behind closed doors. It's has made me start thinking introspectively. What kinds of things do I try to cover up in my heart and mind and push aside? I have been praying for the Holy Spirit to reveal my junk to me. It's not so fun but very relieving, in a sense. Admitting I cannot control and balance it all by myself. I am seeing pride, not a lot of compassion and a lot of self-seeking justice which ends up over riding mercy towards others. Yuck.
Yet, I don't feel condemned or the need to have a pity party. God's given me hope that he will continue to refine me by His grace. Lately, I have seen a change in my heart towards others. Hopefully, they may start to see in me, behind my heart's "closed drawers", nice clean closets and folded laundry.... so to speak.
So......once my heart is all cleaned up, how do I deal with the real laundry?