Yesterday Morning

Here's how yesterday morning went.


6:45-get up, make AJ's lunch, go back to bed, note to self MOPS today

7:20-Nathan wakes me up to say goodbye, doorbell rings, me-in jammies, Nathan tells me Grasshopper is in need of a change

7:21-neighbor missed the bus and needs a ride to school.

7:22-throw on clothes and ask what time she has to be there, thinking I'll throw clothes on the kids and take them with us and get ready for MOPS when we get back, reminder from Nathan about poopy diaper on Grasshopper

7:23- neighbor informs me she has to be there at 7:35, I realize there is NO way we'll make it in time, mind scrambles, I hand her the keys to the van and say, "Have your mom bring the baby over, and I'll watch him while she runs you to school."

7:24- start changing diaper, poop was an understatement, massive overflow disaster would have been more accurate, move Grasshopper to the bathroom

7:25-neighbor baby (boy 18 months, almost size of JM) shows up, crying cause he's never been over here, I turn Clifford on for him, run between mess in bathroom and hysterical baby in living room

7:26 start rinsing Grasshopper off, wash his hair, remember today is Mops mom's birthday and I was supposed to make warm nutty caramel brownies, remember that we have no rollos, no chocolate chips, and no brownie mix. Mild panic

7:28 dry and dress Grasshopper, dress Peanut, make JM get dressed, hope and pray neighbor will watch kids while I run to the store

7:40 neighbor returns, girls to school on time (YAY!) agrees to watch kids while I run to wal-mart

7:50 arrive at Walmart, grab 3 items, get in checkout lane behind person with birthday party supplies.....t a k e s f o r e v e r.

8:15 arrive home, grab kids from next door, note to self fix hair before leaving house again, throw brownies together and double and triple check recipe to be sure I'm not forgetting something, continue feeling like I forgot something.

8:20 put brownies in oven

8:25 fix hair, check brownies, pack diaper bag, do makeup, grab necklace and watch, throw cute scarf on

8:40 take out brownies, put rollos in, realize I forgot to put the nuts and brown sugar on top before baking, top with chocolate, herd kids to the van

8:50 buckle seat belts, prep front seat for hot stoneware

8:55 check with neighbor about going, she's waiting for a phone call and can't go

9:10 pull out of driveway with everything

9:30 arrive at MOPS and ask other moms who forgot to remind me about making snack.....

can I have a nap now?

Wordless Wednesday

Because mommy said you may not get up at 6 am.

Toile Tuesday

Pretty Organizer over at Pretty Organized Palace is hosting the TOILE PARTY!!!! Yea!!! As I posted earlier this month I was pretty ambitious with my projects. I will say that my procrastination has been in full swing. Peanut's curtain has been done for over a week now but I loved my other fabric so much I was quite nervous to cut into it. Here are my first tentative cuts. It's just so pretty.Here are my curtains waiting to get hung.
However, after working hard all day today here are some pictures of my living room. I think it's progressing nicely. To the left of the loveseat is our front door. Here's a lovely little addition to the loveseat. Hi Miracle.Here is Peanut's curtain. It didn't turn out quite like I wanted but she loves it.
Now on to some pretty pictures I found on the internet. I love these curtains and bedset from Pottery Barn. But the prettiest, sweetest bit of toile I found was this gorgeous bassinet. What baby wouldn't sleep peacefully all night long in this sweetness. I'm in. love. sigh. Want to know the catch? This lovely little bed is $800. Can you believe it?

Friday Night Fun

Friday evening Nathan met us in town to do some serious grocery shopping. We haven't done major shopping for awhile now. Since we were getting a late start we met at the one. the only. Triple A. Actually it was Chick-fil-A, AJ is teaching them to say it correctly and that makes me a little sad.
I was surprised that it wasn't really busy so I relented and let them play in the play place for awhile. I figured it would wear them out and they would be more patient with our shopping. It worked for the most part. Here are a few pictures that I took with my cell phone.AJ was to busy for me to get a picture of him. They had fun, which was the point.

Hard at Work

We are loving the sunshine and warm breezes today. A trip to the beach is once again creeping into my thoughts. Sadly it will be awhile before we can go. This weekend we have friend commitments, next Pampered Chef commitments, the week after that Ohio commitments (including birthday fun). After that is Easter. Hopefully by the weekend after Easter we will be once again on our way to the beach.
Here's how the kids have been enjoying today.
My pretty feet.

Wordless Wednesday

Here's my front door. I think it turned out great. What do you think??

Stylin

I took a quiz the other day at Sproost.com. It was a little decorating style quiz. You rate 16 rooms at one of 5 choices from "love it" to "hate it" with "just ok" being in the middle. At the end it will tell you what decorating style you like.
Here is what style I am according to the quiz. I'd say it's right on for me. 60% Nantucket Style. And 40% Cottage Chic Style.
Here's an example of the Nantucket Style.
This is how that style is described. Oh how you love the beach! Who doesn't, right? And so your dream home is either perched in your favorite beach town, or you've brought that favorite beach town into your house.

And since your true inspiration is the sea, the colors and textures in your home are the same that you would find at your favorite beach: white, light beiges and grays of the sand and driftwood, a variety of blues for the ocean and sky, and greens and vibrant blues of the sea glass� but the key is white! Your space should feel light and airy and give off the mood one has when at the beach: laid back!

Your furniture is comfortable and the layout is cozy. The more it reminds you of actually sitting on the warm sand, the better! And what do you do at the beach? Hang out with family and friends - and your home is just an extension of this play place. And though the space is filled with large white furniture, it somehow manages to feel both durable and casual.

Here is an example of Cottage Chic Style.

And here is how it is described. Who says that cottages can't be modern and chic? Who says that they have to be floral and cheesy? Not you!

You love the carefree spirit that the cottage interior inspires, but you are also serious about your appreciation for modern art and hip treasures. You love old and new alike, and love to highlight them all to expose the uniqueness of each. What better way to show off these treasures than with a light background?

Go take the quiz and tell me how you rated. :) And thanks in advance for sharing.

Fun With Camera

We got a new digital camera at Christmas and I've been playing with some of the settings. Here are some fun'ness'.

This is Awesome

Isn't insurance great?? This is Grasshopper's prescription that we got yesterday after a little trip to the ER. Thank God for Nathan's awesome insurance.

Lunch

A couple of Sundays ago we went out to lunch with our new friends Jessica and Aryeh. They were interested in trying a little burger joint that they had heard good things about. Jessica is a teacher and her students love the food so off we went to Andy's.
We got a booth for all 8 of us. No small trick. Jessica and Grasshopper shared the end of the table. I wrangled Little Peanut and JM. AJ sat between Nathan and Aryeh.
It really was good food. We had fun talking and playing with the kids toys that came in their meals. Here are a few pictures from out little outing.

Which is It Really?

*UPDATED!! You have to watch the video at the end.

Something that I missed about being in the South was the absence of one of my favorite fast food places. My children had never tasted its goodness. My husband had never even been to one. When we moved to NC I was so excited to find one in our town, right down the street from Target. (that's a whole other post)
On the first available day we had JM, Little Peanut, and Grasshopper made their first trek with Mommy to this great establishment. There was some discussion over whether or not they were going to have cheeseburgers and they couldn't understand why that wasn't an option. :)
After their first bite they were sold. Now everytime we drive by it they ask if that's where we're going.
It was several weeks before AJ and Nathan could go with us. Nathan of course was skeptical. I mean really, how good can it be? Boy was he impressed. And that's saying something. He let me know that we would definitely be going back as a family.
According to my children, AAA (pronounced by them Triple A) is their favorite place to eat. Some how I think they mean this.

The First Post

from my new laptop. Pictures, details, and more posts to follow. :)

Ears, Hats, and Jammies

This week AJ's school is featuring one of his favorite authors. The one. The only. Dr Suess. AJ's favorite book by him is Horton Hears A Who. Yea for AJ it was one of the books featured this week. We do like the movie but we were reading the book awhile before the movie came out.
Here are a few pictures of AJ this week as he came home from school.
This Dr. Suess hat is awesome. Here are his Horton ears.
Jammies was the last day this week. Tomorrow is yet another Teacher Work Day....hokey pete.

Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday in the car after Little Peanut fell asleep Grasshopper was holding her hand. If she was awake she wouldn't let him do this.

Toile Tuesday

Here I am finally posting. (computer struggles....don't ask....laptop coming soon) I took the children with me today shopping for very specific material for curtains. Success!

To tell you about my lovely purchases I'm joining Toile Tuesday over at Pretty Organized Palace.
Here is what is going to become the curtain for Little Peanut's room. The pink and white toile is actually a remnant that I bought at W*lm*rt a couple of years ago. I knew I would use it but wasn't sure when. I picked out the striped ticking today. I'm excited to see it all finished.
Our living/dining/kitchen are all open and connected. We have a cathedral ceiling as well. The two windows, one in the living room and one in the dining area, let it lots of light and I don't want to cover them up so I'm only planning a valance for the two rooms. Our entire home is white walls with white windows and white cabinets. I have some touches of light purple in the kitchen and dining area with some pictures that used to be in our old house. Here is what is going over the windows. I'm very excited about the material. Now I just have to work up the courage to actually cut the material. Sewing should be no problem because it's just straight seams. It should look similar to this valance but I'm going to add the black ribbon for some punch. Wish me luck. I hope to have this done before the last Tuesday in March so I can add it to the last Toile Tuesday.

News Flash...

I'm home. The encounter was really great. It was nice to visit with ladies from church and get to know them better. For those of you who have been to Cleansing Stream Retreat it was very much like that. The differences were not big. With regard to hitting the major issues it was not as thorough as CS. We did have small group time though, that I really enjoyed. We were able to pray for specific things with the different members of our group and in that way I enjoyed it more than CS. This coming weekend Nathan is going to the same thing only for the men. He's really looking forward to it.
As to the hint I gave on Friday. We adopted a cat. :) Her name is Miracle. She's 3 years old and all black. She's fixed and update on her shots. She's very affectionate with us if we're actively paying attention to her. If we wander off she hides until we're ready to love on her more. It's kind of weird. Nathan is happy to have a black cat again and I'm just waiting for her to adjust to us. I still very much miss Dirk, Al, and Scrappy.
Without giving details, God seems to be bringing about a very specific opportunity for me to serve. Right now Nathan and I are being patient and waiting for the door to be fully open and clearly marked. We don't want to rush. I am spending my time researching and asking lots of questions of those who have gone before me. We would appreciate your prays for wisdom and God's guidance. Is that vague enough for you?
Tomorrow I will be joining in Toile Tuesdays at Pretty Organized Palace. I'm looking forward to lots of toile. I've got very specific plans for our little house.