Pickin Strawberries!

We did this today too! I love my friend Reese and we love our mommies too! And go figure, they love eachother! So thanks for the idea Ms. Brooke...and for less than $2. That's our kinda fun!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Big Day for the Grocery Game

This is not the "Grocery Game" as you would find it online. This is the one I get to play in my neck of the woods. Every other week or so is the Box Sale. I think technically it is called the Sidewalk Sale and it takes place at Sav-More across from K-mart.

I enjoy this type of shopping because it's like the thrill of the chase! BUT...I'm pregnant...very...and so carrying a box of any weight and bulk is impossible at this point. I finally was able to recruit my hubs to come with my brother and I. SIL came over and kept the kids and off we went. Getting J out of bed that early on Saturday might have been a feat, but he agreed and willingly rolled out of bed a hair before 8am.

We almost turned back and gave up though cause we got stuck in very slow traffic trying to get there because of a house being moved. See, there is no point in getting there late. In fact, we were aiming to be early to get a good jockeying position, but turns out we walked up just in time to get our boxes as the guy is saying "Go!"

And off the crowd goes! Down the aisle in a major hurry. Well, as soon as I prompted him that "Go means Go!" He was off! I tried to stay near and around him to help him get the good stuff, but truth is...he didn't need my help. He Did Awesome! He filled a box faster than I've ever seen! So I told him to leave it with me on the side lines (I'm wearing a bright pink shirt mind you) and I quickly shoved another box into his hands! And off he goes some more!

While he is filling another box, I sort and repack the initial box, getting rid of anything I have too much of already or things that are grossly expired. Then he comes with another full box and I send him away with another empty box. In the meantime, I spot bro cause he's wearing a purple LSU shirt and holler his nickname "K". That works. His box is overflowing so I offer to keep his box and send him out again with another box.

Finally we meet back together and sort through and pack all the boxes. Some things are pointless to keep, but mostly it was one of the best box sales I've ever been to. Wait till you see the pics and the list! K got 1 1/2 boxes and J and I got 2 1/2 boxes! All in all, j and I spent $15.00 That's all!

Here are the Pics:
Here's the List!:

2--Quaker Toasted Oatmeal Cereals
1 box Sesame Breadsticks
1 box generic Apple Jacks
1 canister swiss mocha mix
2 bags of Aunt Jemima buttermilk Cornmeal mixes
3 glass bottles of Iced Leaf Tea
4 snack packs of sugar free vanilla pudding
3 32oz organic juices (2 grape, 1 cherry)
1 package of Rice Crackers
1 package of Quaker rice cakes
1 large bag of confectioner's sugar
1 large bag of light brown sugar (Crystal)
1 box of Domino brand dark brown sugar
1 package of Chocolate Chunck Cookies (not pictured cause we were eating them with lunch)
2 bags of Bud's Best Butter Cookies (J's fave!)
1 big bag of flour
1 box of Krusteaz lemon bars (not pictured cause I sent them w/SIL for shower next weekend)
1 Family Size Grits individual packets
4 boxes of generic Ritz
1 box Royal brand No bake cheesecake mix
1 box Kashi Organic Apple Harvest Cereal
2 boxes of Zatarans version of Shake and Bake
1 big box of mini fruit roll ups
2 boxes of Martha White Corn Muffin Mixes
2 HUGE bags of Planters Peanuts in Shell
1 Santa Fe bowl from Taco Bell
2 dip bowls from Taco Bell
2 BBQ seasonings
3 Kakame lunch cups
1 box of Quaker Oatmeal Apples and Cinnamon
1 box of Quaker Oatmeal Strawberries and Cream
1 canister of Almond Butter (yum)
1 big can of Dole Pineapple chunks
1 can of Chili beans
1 big bag of Super Bubble--gum
3 jello mixes
1 jello pudding mixes
1 box Alpen cereal
3 boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes (scalloped, roasted...)
2 boxes of Kraft white cheddar shells macaroni
4 boxes of various types of rice
3 cans of Chef Boyardee
2 boxes of Orville Reddenbacker Butter Microwave Popcorn
2 boxes of Pringles brand Wheat stix
1 huge can of Del Monte whole tomatoes
1 canister of Sponge Bob Peanut Butter?
1 can of syrup
1 thing of McCormick roasting rub
1 packet of Zatarains red beans and rice
2-2 packs of Ready Serve Rice
1 packet of Egg Drop Soup
1 bag of Gluten Free Pancake mix
AND a very nice wine cork remover

ALL FOR $15!!!

More "Isms"

Today M's teacher gave me another story that she thought I ought to know and most likely post about my Oh So Precious almost 3 yr old. Apparently a few weeks ago she (M) was telling a story about getting in trouble. "Mommy was really angry!" Ms. Julie says, "Did you get a spankin?" "Yep," says M. "Did you cry?" "Nope. I remained strong!" (truth be told it is rare that she cries when I get onto her). But who taught her "remain strong?" I mean really! Ha!

Also today, we are in the library. This particular library has a good number of kid computers and games. M finds an empty one that is already going (cause she really doesn't know quite how to do all this yet). She's got the hang of the head phones though, cause she immediately discovers those and puts them on. She is so cute sitting there in a row with several other little girls at computers. I feel comfortable enough to scope out some books while she explores this when I hear very loudly, "Huh? What did you say Pooh?!" She is talking very loudly back at the computer and those around her especially the adults are tickled and snickering. So cute moment. Not as funny sounding as I retype it, so it may have been one of those you had to be there moments.

Later today I can hear her playing make believe princess school in her room. This is new. Never heard this one today. She says the only ones there with her at school are her friend Reese and her Cuz S. At least she's excited that he is a prince. She says that Reese is her sister princess and Cuz is her brother the prince! She continues to address them as if they are there (in imagination). In fact, she drags me to the room to "see" Cuz. She even tells me and points to where he is sitting. I was impressed. Imaginary friends are supposed to be a higher level of learning!

Then, I just over hear her telling her daddy during post dinner "Daddy will you play in my room"--time, she says, "Daddy, I'm gonna be a snowman. Can you build me?" This is so cute. For one, where did this come from? What a fun idea. And funny the way she put it all together and verbalized. She always keeps us laughing.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Care Fair

Seriously, this name sounds like something out of a Care Bears show that M would watch. Infact, I think we did or still do have an episode on VHS about the Care Fair Scare! Ha! But I'm sure that wasn't the intent of our most recent adventure.

So here's the scoop. A Shout Out to my SIL for reminding us about it and encouraging me and M to still go regardless of the fact that it was hot, on a Saturday, I'm hugely preggers, and hubs was home sick. We all went and it was worth our while.

The Brushy Creek Assembly of God (I think this is right) is a church directly across the street from Century Park. Those of you that read this and visit Century Park have most likely seen the big sign out front about free groceries on Wednesdays 5:30-6:30pm. Well, they put out fliers about the Care Fair that they were to have on Saturday May 3rd from 10am till about noon. It advertised that the first 500 families represented would receive a box of free groceries. Well, seeing as our cupboard was almost to empty this month and there was a major freeze on any spending period, this was appealing to me...AND since my brother recently lost his job, this was equally appealing to my SIL. We decided we'd go and see.

On top of the free grocery perk, there were advertised free haircuts, free face painting, free hotdogs, free inflatable games...and the list went on with the very active word being free of course.

On Saturday, M and I headed that direction about 9:15am. not knowing what to expect as far as the number of people that would be there. She wanted Mickey Mouse Pancakes for b'fast, but as hubs was still sleeping, and the cupboard was just about bare, we took our $3 and some change. I ate cereal at the house and she got a donut and brought her own juice. I got some coffee. We headed through the drive through at DD and then on to century park. When we parked, there was already quite a line. we ate, made potty, played a little and then headed to claim our place in line.

Now when you have a 2 yr. old you know that waiting in line is not the easiest thing to do, but God and M gave me a bit of a break that day cause she did really well almost all day...and there were several lines!

They allowed people in in groupings. Mainly cause they forced you to hear a gospel presentation before you could wander around to all the free stuff. Now, I'm not sure how I feel about all that, because I certainly can't complain! Everything was free...AND they didn't ask for all my contact info so they could come knocking on my door, calling, or sending unbelievable amounts of mail.

The presentation lacked quality and theology that I prefer, but my background is such that most of such things would. Seminary degree, varying larger church atmospheres...And you know I appreciated it all the same. The theological things were more blaring to me, but those actually came more in the music and lyrics. "There's a blessing in the room tonight...is it yours?" "there's a place were RELIGION never dies!" Still M loved the Sisters in Motion and enjoyed dancing with her momma to the music (ah the freedom that children find in that--no inhibitions).

Then we're off! On to the ticket for groceries! On to booths about Free Medical Care, some things that didn't really apply to me, AND a free diapers booth! M doesn't need them, but they gave me some for baby boy! Hallelujah! Then we checked out the fire truck, ambulance, motorcycles, and the police men. M really liked the police badge sticker! Off to the free hot dogs! Free chips and bag of cookies! Free beverage! And M spots the face painting. Now this is VERY high on her priority list! So she gets 2 hearts on one cheek and a free balloon that has to be blue please. It has a big star on it that says Jesus' light shines on me!



She decides she absolutely does want a hair cut, so we wait in line for this. The gals were from the Greenville Tech and the teacher was there. Talk about meeting a demand! Wow! so we wait! And this is where her naptime starts to catch up with us, but she managed to remain distracted with lunch. She gets a hair cut that is shorter than i'd like, but a VERY GOOD CUT actually. I was pleasantly surprised considering how little she cooperated AND the wind that had picked up. Yes...this was all in a row outside!

Now for our box of food. When I say they had plenty, they must have cause we basically were at the end of the line when all was said and done and they carried a box to my car AND I was able to get a free loaf of bread. I nice loaf, not some mediocre hand me down left over loaf. All FREE!
AND on top of it all, they told me to please come back, that on Wednesdays they do the free groceries and diapers, and the family is allowed to do that once a month! They didn't care who I was or my socio-economic status. They didn't care that I don't really qualify for lower income but I'm barely making it in middle class. All they cared about was that I cared enough for my family to be there, and get help.

This is something you don't see alot. I dare go into pointing fingers cause we are all guilty I assure you! They gave because they loved. They did this most likely because they felt led by God to act out in social justice in much the same way that Jesus did. I was blessed to be a recipient, and I hope to be reminded and blessed to be a giver in the future. It's not always easy. The people all around me were all soooo different! Older feeble people who probably had trouble with the month to month, lots of young families with strollers full! And all in between. I was blessed to be amongst them. I feel like Jesus was probably there in the midst as well. How much the forced presentation did or did not reach would be hard to say and I could really break it down and do free consulting, but what does speak is that they are reaching out to the community. Not just once for this fair, but consistently on a weekly and monthly basis.

Captian Poo's

Seriously, very close to our condo was this sign and restaurant/bar "Captain Poo's". Uh...what do you do with that?! I wish I had a pic. I wanted to get one of hubs by the sign but he chickened out at the last minute!

Our mini-vacation was nice. We have our word of mouth ways of finding very inexpensive if not free ways of taking regular getaways with eachother. God has always provided us these small luxuries so that J and I can keep up our relationship.

M is with her Nani and Pop and is having such a good time that she doesn't want to speak with me on the phone for fear that she will have to come home! Ha! Fun to see vacation through your childs eyes even when you aren't with them. We saw things that we new she would have loved! We saw an alligator the one night we went out to eat. We saw numerous rather large jelly fish on the beach! We picked up sea shells and some sand for her (she's never even been to the beach!). One night there was a green tree frog hangin out at our front door! We knew she'd love that too! J even found a shark tooth in our scavenging for sea shells!

Mostly we just relaxed! I made J wait on me more than usual. Though I cooked a bit, I didn't do dishes. He made us a candlelight dessert on the screened in porch on night. We took naps everyday--long ones! we tried to sleep later than usual and had some success with that the second day. We day dreamed about the fantastic beach houses! Ones you only see in movies and such!

It was relaxing. J even did all the driving which is good with me being oh so pregnant. I know that was hard on him, so I'm extra appreciative. We are still enjoying a bit of vacation even though we're back in town and he's at work during the day. M is still with her Nani and Pop in North Carolina, so it is much quieter around here and there are no demands as far as schedule and time. I've done a whole lot of reading and not much else today. I'm bout to finish getting ready for the day (note that it is already 3pm) and then run to the bank and pick up a very few groceries to get us by till the end of the month!

Tomorrow is J's b-day but we have birthing class so our celebration will likely be Thursday or thereafter. Can't wait to tell you about all those surprises!

Make Ready the Way!

Well the "nursery" is coming along. I'm sure many of you that have been to my house are very curious about this since we live in a 2 bed/1 bath Mill House. We actually quite enjoy our house and though we seriously entertained the idea of moving, we found that staying put was our best option for now and I'm o.k. with that. I hate moving anyway! I mean seriously...I've done it all my life!

So, baby boy's room will now be in what used to be the dining room. We are working on the stackable washer and dryer swap so that we can make room for a small eat in kitchen space. Not my most favorite cause It may cramp the kitchen just a bit, but I'm going to do my best to keep the space very clutter free and simplistic (not to mention clean). That will make me feel a bit more relaxed about it all.

I love baby boy's room! We have arranged the furniture and mom is well on her way to finishing the bedding. I wish I could say that I helped, and I did, but my help has been minimal. I am so grateful to have family that can help out in such big ways. I know I am blessed!

We did really well on rearrangements and getting things that we needed to really make the room and rearrangement of the rest of the house a success. In fact, even though I consider my mom quite young, she managed to qualify for the senior citizen tuesday Goodwill 20% off! I'd call it a coincidence, but I don't really believe in those. We arranged and rearranged and decided that we needed a bookshelf for the den so that we could use the big cubed bookcase for babe's room with colored cubes for storage. What did we find at Goodwill? A bookcase at $15 (plus 20% off). We knew that we would need a twin size bed frame for the mattress and box spring that we will be "storing" for mom and dad (and using for when they stay) and we found one for $8. Then mom says check the back aisle, you never know what you'll find as the guy from the stock room is bringing out new stuff that is dented special from wal-mart. Sure enough he had just placed on the shelf the very thing that I said I wanted to get M for her b-day! What?!

You know the fisher price Easy Link system that hooks into your computer and allows the child to place the character in its spot and it takes them to that secure web page! Well it's for 3 and up and this would be a good bonding thing for her and her daddy since he's the computer guy! It was still in the package and every piece was there but the mouse pad (and who cares about that!) $6.40! That's all. So I have gotten M's present. Awesome!

I will post pics when we are finished or at least almost finished with baby boy's room. I love how itsamomthing posted pics and a run down on cost. I may try that as well. It may be a little while as I do have to figure out how to do a slip cover for the rocker I got for his room. never done it before, but can't be too hard.

The Stuff of Today

I've gotten back into the Tightwad Gazette. There are a hundred and one things in there and with my limited memory I have to revisit it. We are in a crunch this month simply cause too many expensive things fell in one month. A little more planning certainly would have helped but some of it just couldn't be avoided. So, we absent--mindedly closed our eyes and prayed that we'd make it to the end of the month so that we could revisit our budget for the next month. Now we are rolling on fumes for the remainder of the month and even have a beach trip planned.

Lucky for us vacation to me and hubs means sleeping alot and taking baths and enjoying the silence that is typically hard to come by. We'll enjoy God's creation as well since we'll be at the beach and all. I suppose we'll bring our own food since we are on budget restriction. That'll take annoying extra planning but will certainly be worth it in the end.

Today I'm excited to announce that I got a lot of things done on my to do list! I did feel a little frustrated that many of the chores left me stuck in the house when it was quite a nice day outside. Thankfully, my parents came in town and felt like taking M outside to play. I managed to actually do every dish in the house (mind you I have no dishwasher). I did a good deal of laundry, unfortunately it has to be put up now! I'm quite certain I would have finished the laundry entirely except to find out that something is up with the washer--boo--and it is leaking a bit of water (nothing huge--yet).

I made dinner...tacos, refried beans, spanish rice, tea, and made from scratch chocolate chip cookies! AND almost all of the ingredients minus the tea, splenda, meat, cheese, and sugar came from the box sale. I got the taco shells, refried beans, spanish rice, chocolate chips, flour...at the $6 box sale! So lets just say that the entire dinner was CHEAP! And there are tons of cookies leftover and tortillas for chicken enchiladas another day! Hallelujah!

I collected the things of M's that were scattered around the house and was amazed at how many things there actually were, and dumped them in her room intending to tackle that cleaning project another day, but hey, why not now. So her room is almost clean except for hanging up a few things.

Tomorrow I'm excited to say that hopefully baby boy will have some semblance of a room. Mom says she's at my disposal for getting that ready and you know I'm anxious! Ready to get my nest in order. So, hopefully I actually have something to report tomorrow!

Still amazed at ALDI prices on milk and other things. Because money is tight right this minute I opted for the frozen juice instead of in the plastic containers. I found 100% apple juice that reconstitutes to 64 oz (the normal size of the plastic containers) for a mere 89 cents. yahoo! so we got two and one milk at $2.85 Love ALDI...or should I saw I re-love it! ha!

Not According to Plan

This is going to be one of those posts that I am sure I will hate tomorrow, but here is the deal...things did not go according to my plan today! I laugh at myself even as I type that cause Who's plan is it really anyway.

Yeah I know. But here goes. The one day M is sound asleep and not waking up early, I have to wake her up early to get her ready for school quickly so that we can have b'fast with daddy before he goes out of town. We still run late, so she is at school late. I'm way behind on getting ready for the amazingly overscheduled day ahead. I finally shower but don't really get to fix my hair. ugh. I'm thinking I'll get the chance later but never really do.

I rush out the door to get J to work to meet his ride to the airport, something I hadn't planned on doing which threw kind of a wrench in one of my later plans (a birthday surprise for him). Then realized I would need some kind of lunch snack to get me through my facial that was scheduled at noon till about 1:30. Then I'm in a mad rush to get home, pack up a bunch of things for the surprise--my hair is a mess now cause of the way she did the facial. The facial was nice, but not very relaxing really cause the gal talked the entire time, left the light on bright, no music...It was her first day back after like 4 weeks. At least it was good conversation, but I think I could really have used relaxation more at this point.

So I'm packing up stuff to go to the surprise and can't find much of what I need (never can when you are in a hurry). My mom came to help and thank goodness she did cause M was in a bit of a wild mood and was pretty hard to keep up with. In the end, I was a bit disappointed with both the decision that I had to make ALONE (not good at this anyway), I wasn't as thrilled with some of the product or the price. I may just be being hard on the whole thing cause I'm pregnant.

Then off to dinner where in my bro reports that he's been laid off! what! geez! AND my mom is obviously equally tired and none to thrilled about watching M any longer. I scarf down dinner in the midst of trying to maintain some semblance of order with my 2 year old. Mom and dad SURPRISE head back out of town cause they have to be back...wasn't expecting that.

At this point I am physically and emotionally worn out and have no relief cause I know that I'm am going it alone cause J is out of town for the next 4 days AGAIN. I'm on the verge of tears due to exhaustion, fatigue, pregnancy, loneliness, you name it. Get M to cooperate long enough to head for the shower/bath together, and do the bed time routine. Put her to bed (taking me far too long really), and realizing that one blankie may have been left at the mall and that I forgot to brush her teeth. Now it is 9pm and I'm too tired to dry my own hair before I go to bed.

That is just too much for a gal this pregnant! Thankfully I had the help that I did. Anticipation does sometimes let you down though. Things can't always be as we would like. Hopefully in the end it'll all work out perfectly!

I need a break. So, night night.

$40 + haircut!

Yikes! Ya'll know how "frugal" I am. I was in desperate need of a haircut, but could go a bit longer without a color job. So I thought I'd just go to the gal I usually get my hair done with and just do a cut. That shouldn't be too bad. Now, bear in mind that I dont usually pay to have my hair done, cause I find it hard to spend 100 dollars on myself. But my mom gets fed up with my hair before I do (which is nice to have someone looking out for me! ha!). And often she foots the bill.

I know...I'm a grown woman and I should absolutely be paying for my own hair. I'm aware. Anywho, so I go in for the haircut. I have cash in hand thinking I have plenty to pay for hair and tip and have some leftover for my eyebrows. Ha! I paid for my hair and tip and had $5 leftover. Not enough for a splurge on eyebrows!

So what do we think? To get a really good haircut, is this a good price?! I did the shampoo, cut, and style--LOVE IT BTW! Just curious if I was on another planet thinking it'd be about $25.

Check out my new digs!

Seriously, I made these pant on a whim. didn't have much to lose as I wouldn't have worn them as is, so I tried to alter them. They would have looked different in my mind (the opening will be on the outsides of the legs next time), but they still turned out really cute! I'm offering to do something similar on TeederToddlers if you wanna check it out. Otherwise, I just wanted to show my readers the fun maternity pants I get to wear for a little while longer. Thanks to MIL for buying me the pants at her local yard sale! A little ingenuity gave me another pair of maternity pants...and very posh too I might add. M calls them fancy pants!

New Orleans Box Sale Meal

Couldn't think of anything to make for dinner. Had to be chicken cause that was the only thawed meat in the house. Nothing sounded spectacular to me, AND I had a time crunch cause we had a long morning which led to a late nap, which led to a late wake up time, so dinner preparation was crunched.

I look in the pantry, see the box of Tony's Cacheres Red Beans and Rice so that sounds pretty good. And us being from New Orleans, I knew that J would like that. Wish I had some sausage to put in it, but had to make due with chicken.

Boil the one large chicken breast for about 20 min. whilst preparing the red beans and rice. Get that going and decide to add more rice cause I like it thick, not soupy. When the chicken is ready I cut it up and put it in to simmer with the rest of the seasonings for the remainder of its cook time.

Then...what goes with red beans and rice. Well, greens, of which I have none. AND corn bread. Now this I can do! I've never made cornbread in the iron skillet before but it is my favorite way, so I decide to give it a try. I pull out the package of Martha White Corn Meal that I also got at the box sale. I follow the recipe and voila! It comes out perfectly!

M helped the whole time which I enjoy but find somewhat frustrating when I'm in a bit of a hurry. Still I know she loves to cook with her mom so I really can't complain.

Then I had to make tea, cause you can't have that kind of cooking without tea! wish I'd had something green, but oh well. Good thing we do vitamins! Ha!

Seriously, when all is said and done I swear the entire meal cost less that $2 total AND we had left overs! alot! So hey I fed my family for about a dollar tonight! That's what I'm saying. Course you'll have to add in the hot dog that M opted for after trying the red beans and rice. I was proud cause at least she tried it...and several bites too.

Saving Money

It's stocking up time again for us. We aren't picky about shampoo around here...I mean not too picky. We don't use prell cause I've felt softer brooms than my hair after using it. We don't use Pantene cause my hair looks and feels fantastic after the first use and then proceeds to looking like a wet noodle. But besides those two, we aren't picky. BUT what I have found is that VO5 tends to be the best bang for the buck. Even if we have to buy some in a pinch cause we forgot, it tends to run around a buck!

RIGHT NOW IT IS ON SALE AT CVS FOR 65 CENTS! This is as cheap as I've ever seen it! I usually buy it when it hits what I consider rock bottom at 77 cents! Ha! I will be stocking up ASAP.

I hit the box sale again on Saturday--thank you bro for going with me. K and I went together since I am nearly 30wks pregnant and shouldn't be lifting. J stayed and watched M and my SIL stayed and watched their son, whom we call on this blog "Cuz".

It was a little crazier than I remember even the last time I went! I swear, when they reminded us of the rules and then said go, people actually ran down the aisle! What?! Still, K and I got a box each. Not as many canned veggies as I needed and not too much cereal, but some. I always look for certain things...juice, fruity snacks, diapers, cereal, canned veggies. That's really about it. then everything else is extra. If we have room in our pantry, I will likely go back in about a month. It's every two weeks provided the weather holds since it is outside. I'll be out of town 2 weekends from now (yahoo!), but that's alright. Take advantage of this! There is usually a lot of baking type things like flour, cornmeal, baking soda, chocolate chips.......the list goes on.

I went to ALDI tonight to get the bare minimum to get through till payday Monday night. It was awesome. I've been on a Bloom kick cause I like doing the scanner myself as I go. That keeps my tally running with tax and all, but the prices are significantly more than ALDI and/or Walmart. Still I use the $10 off coupons and that has helped. I bought a gallon of milk for $2.85! That is amazing! seriously! it's $4 and something at bloom! What?! O.K. so I may have to make my switch back. I mean, everyone would like their money to buy them more things.

My friend over at itsamomthing reminded me of a very awesome site to check out if you haven't already www.moneysavingmom.com She mostly deals with CVS deals, which is great for me since I can walk across the street to do this shopping! check this out if you haven't already.

Mercy's Mouth

I'm well aware that my little one's mouth is going to get her into trouble in the growing up years. Mine always got me into trouble. Now for those of you who don't know mean I do not mean in any way that she uses foul language, I mean that her mouth is never closed unless she is sleeping! Ha!

Today as we are walking to our car after PDO, we are passing the playground. M tells me that that is where she was supposed to be playing today, but she was hitting the boys. Now this takes me back to the 4th grade when the minute the recess bell rang, me and my gal pals hit the door running after the boys to kick them in the bottom. Apparently some "game" we created. I don't know. Don't remember. Don't ask. Not real proud of this memory.

Now my little girl is not a bully. She is bossy, but she is rarely out and out mean. So ask her why she was hitting the boys. Were they being mean? She said yes. So I say, "what were they doing? were they hitting you?" Then she says, "No. They were spitting in my hair." PAUSE... "They were spitting in your hair?!"
"Yes"
"Well, I can see why you hit them."

I put her in her seat and proceed to tell her that it's not o.k. to hit, that this does not please God. I did say that I understood and I told her to make sure that she told the teacher. She said she did tell the teacher and they got mad at the boys, "not at me cause I wasn't spitting in anyone's hair." Later her daddy asked her if the boys got punished for their unacceptable behavior? and she said, "punished, yeah, reprimanded, they got consequences." I thought that was soooooo funny coming from my precious little 2 1/2 yr. olds mouth! What?! punished, reprimanded, consequences?! and all used correctly?! I have got to be on guard what I say cause she is a sponge!

Her daddy and I felt the same way. and told her that next time try to tell the teacher right away, but if she can't, at least give the perpetrator a warning and the chance to make the right choice, but if they reoffend then you might just have to hit them. We said that it is generally not acceptable to hit, but sometimes it is necessary.

What a story! seriously makes me laugh just rehashing it now! What do you think about our response?! I'm not sure myself. Turn the other cheek and all, but really, if something inappropriate is happening or someone has my kid trapped, I want her to not be afraid to fight for herself if she needs to.

So many things...

There are so many things to blog about today so I will hit them all. In a weird way they don't any of them go together, but yet they are all part of my random day, so here goes...

Love having deep meaningful conversations. they are much harder to come by in these days of stay-at-homeness. But my SIL is good at continuing to engage me in adult conversation. We talked of healing and prayer and whether or not our earnestness, relationship, prayer, etc actually plays in the effects of prayer or God's decisions. Of course, we aren't pretending to know the answers to these questions, but it was sort of a tennis game of questions and possibilities backed with scriptures. See our friend Monica is in the hospital. We don't like to talk about the end result of this battle she is having with stage 4 lung cancer, because we dont' want to go there and because we don't want to put limitations on God's awesome power. But it does leave us with lots of questions.

On another notewe saw a fashion show this a.m. Haha. it was cute and slightly amusing as I am pregnant and I will be nursing for a good year more post birth. But I was also reminded by another pregnant friend not to succomb to the nursing frump. No need for all that nursing wear if you can call it that. too many layers, too much bulk, not attractive unless you buy the really expensive brands and immediately fit back into you pre-pregnancy sizes (which they seem to assume were rather small and sexy to begin with). I had a good laugh with that. Nursing is not the most attractive time in a womans life especially if she was already bigger to begin with (interpret that as ye may!).

I recieved a baby gift today! Diapers and wipes. I'm 10 weeks from my due date and this is the very first of any diapers that I have for baby boy. I'm so far behind what I was this time into M's pregnancy! Still I found the coordinating fabric to the already picked out theme fabric for his bedding, so I'm about ready to cut out and get busy sewing. I'm a little nervous about making my own piping but my mom swears she's got it down pat now...so I suppose I'll learn something new.

We picked up the $25 rocker that I got on craigslist. It's not exactly as it seemed in the pic, but it was a small pic, so its sometimes hard to tell. It is in really good condition and is very clean, but the fabric is old and dated, so it will have to be recovered! another project. oh well, I intend to tackle it quickly so as not to frustrate my nesting instincts or my hubs preferences for things of particular beauty.

I worked sub childcare at my SIL's church and they didn't actually need me so I got paid to sit around and jabber with her for a while and had a break from general responsibility (including Mercy). I am very thankful to have her friendship even though we are family. So many different points in our lives so far have intertwined and we have benefited from eachother. I don't have that one special friend that we've been praying for and she too prays for that same type of thing, but we do have eachother and for that I think we are both thankful.

Lastly, these Wednesday nights subbing in childcare have left Daddy and Daughter Date nights fantastically available. These are turning out to be such a joy for everyone. There date food is usually Moes which is very near our house. She loves it and so does he so it works out. Then this night, he decided to treat her to an actual manicure at a nail salon in the same shopping center. She wowed everyone in there with her wit and charm (and verbal skills cause boy is she a talker) and daddy was overjoyed with her excitement about her $5 pink manicure with designs and sparkles! Good idea dad. And I told him that next week he could take her for her toes! haha. seriously good way to spend $5 on a little girl!

Can't have our yard sale again as we had hoped cause the weather is very uncooperative, but mom took all the yard sale stuff to her house to put in the garage till weather and travel permit an actual sale (gotta go before the babe comes!). Hallelujah! It feels like we might be getting our house back. We have NO storage (this is not an exaggeration), so it was all just hanging out in ugly piles here there and everywhere. Literally 3 closets in the entire house. Each are small, one is in our room and is only mine (and the vaccuum, gift things, some storage, guitar...) one in the "hall" which is J's and all his sporting good storage, and one in M's room (normal closet with a bit of her extra storage things). No linen closet, no laundry closet, no pantry, no broom closet. There is an attic, it's huge if you can fit anything into my closet and through the opening. Which we have not had any success with thus far. Ha ha. so we are reclaiming our house from the clutter.

Every step is a step closer to a more contented relaxed environment! That is my so many random things. Theological discussions, rocking chairs, fighting the nursing frump, daddy daughter nights...It's whats going on!

The Day's Happenings

Well, it was a weird day for M. I mean, did I not post last night that she hasn't had an accident in like 2 weeks! Sure enough today, just about everytime she needed to go, she had a little bit in her panties! Gee Wiz! We had a play date today and I hadn't even brought her a bag, cause it's been so long since she had an accident. In fact, tonight, she was obviously frustrated about it all and just asked for a diaper! hahahahaha! seriously?! when is the last time she had a diaper?! But who knows. they say this happens. I just wish it didn't.

I'm feeling a little better about baby preparation. I'm fighting the urge to be discontented with our housing situation. It's a moment by moment thing as I am pregnant and these mood type things seem to be fluctuating a good bit! A friend gave (let me borrow I'm sure) her carrier/base car seat which I'm thrilled about cause though I had the one M used, it was bought used and apparently as of today is no longer up to standards (3 point harness instead of a 5 point harness). I was a little annoyed at that, but now I don't have to worry about it! AND me and M did go pick up the sit and stand stroller from the craiglister fro $30! seriously! I registered for one at target that was a good price but was still a good $100 more! I'm thrilled! Thank you Lord! We scored a really cute, unisex portable swing at a yard sale this weekend for $10 which I thought was a decent price seeing how on craigslist they are going for $15 or more even the ugly, dirty ones. We can only do a small portable one because of the space issue.

My next project is making the kitchen livable after the hopeful yard sale this weekend (though I'm not sure the weather is in my favor). AND making baby boy's space situated (Not to mention the lack of bedding as of yet). I've had trouble finding something to match the fabric I've chosen for a portion of his bedding. I'm bout to give up and go the alternate route and remake my fave quilt that never gets used into his new bedding motif! Seriously! just ready to have it done!

Rocking chair situation! Found the one I like on craigslist a while back but wasn't sure if I was ready. it reappeared this weekend at $25! for an upholstered swivel, gliding rocker that doesn't smell or squeak and that quite possible already matches my existing decorations! OK. that could only be God or too good to be true. We'll see bout it all on Wednesday evening.

My hubs is finally home. Yippee! no more out of towns for another almost 2 weeks. Hallelujah! Had a neat conversation with sis today about needy people and Jesus and our responsibility and how hard it must've been for Him and how hard it is to be like Him. Also about how to live on one salary...that is a fave topic of mine and you know it's not all peaches and cream either, but I still love the choice I/or rather God made for me. Making it work is tough sometimes, but always in the end is worth it. Always. Oh so many good things. Only one slight let down...my hopeful friend, though still a friend and to be determined just how great a friend did turn out to be needy. My radar has been up since I met her and I was beginning to think I was just untrusting or cynical about the idea of having true friends cause we could sit and talk for hours, but I was right. The "needs" came out today and they are not small! They are heavy. So heavy that I have prayed for her and her fam several times since we were together. I even had trouble napping. But it isn't my need and I can not do much about it but pray, so I do that. Knowing that God is over it all.

Where is MY responsibility in it all I don't know. I wanna fight but I also wanna flee, so we shall see what God's plans are in all this. Still I pray for that like minded, safe friend that God has for me in His time.

Relationally Inept!

Seriously...I don't wanna sound like a school girl, but as out going as I am...as social as I am and extroverted, I still find it hard to make friends. I'm not talking about the kind of friends that you see once a week and like and find things in common. I can claim many of those. I'm talking about the kind where you actually wanna play catch up on the history and past of the person to see how they came to be as they are today. I'm talking about the kind of friend that laughs and cries in the same conversation. The one that can talk about important things, vulnerable things, and then nothing all at the same time. The one that you have a hard time hanging up on the phone with.

No I'm not trying to date this person...but I suppose all relationships do have similarities. We all have our trials and tests that we put people through to see where they fall in our little world. I'm not saying you don't befriend someone cause they don't meet your standards, but the counselor in me knows a good bit about safe people and healthy relationships and there are different levels of intimacy for different kinds of friends.

I am, I'll admit, giddy at even the idea or possibility that I might have a new friend. Now things are still new and I'm sure that the friendship will evolve as time is spent together, but I spent over an hour on the phone with my new gal pal and could have kept talking. AND we are supposed to get together tomorrow as well for a play date.

We aren't the same, though things in our life make us laugh at similarities. But I find her easy to be with and talk to. She is new and therefore safer considering all the harmful relational things I've been through in the past 3 yrs with Katrina, moving, moving again and again, trying to rebuild, my fathers forced termination and various levels of rejections surrounding that. It is nice to have freshness. I need a friend. A good one that I can call in a pinch. One that would do the same. Who doesn't need one really...but with all the life change that seems to never end in my life, it seems I've been unable to secure one of those kind of friends for years.

God has his ways...I will continue to pray. In a funny way I'm very cautious. I don't want to be too excited by the mirage in the desert, but I also don't want to be a cynic! May God help me balance emotional things in my life as I am well aware that I'm pregnant and will have a hard enough time doing that.

just us girls

Feel like its been just us girls and the boy in my womb for way too long. Let me tell you, preggo women in their third trimester need others! Well, I mean I am talking about a grown woman and a little girl who are both extremely extroverted and social! Me and M have really been having a great deal of bonding time which I will treasure my whole life most likely (and I'm glad to be getting it as baby boy is coming close to being a huge new part of life). However, it's sure been a while since I even had the mental break that hubs was coming home at some point to help out. We chose to go on our last hoorah, so I certainly can't complain. But I will say that eating, sleeping, and breathing with M, though delightful, is quite tiring! Luckily, with the whole visit to Minnah I know I always have a helping hand cause she is soooo great with kids!

Now, J is out of town for a little boy fun and "class" (gun play as he says). It's sort of his last manley hoorah before baby boy gets his name! ha! I'm thrilled that he gets to go and I know he's having a ball, in fact tonight it a night shooting course, so he is still going. However, M and I got home late Monday night, Tuesday night was birthing class, so no real quality family time, Wednesday nite I worked childcare at SIL's church, Thursday night J got stuck at work till 10pm and Friday morn he was gone on his trip and won't be back till monday midday or so. ugh.

I can't really complain. I do have it good. THank goodness I have the love of my life to miss you know...Thank goodness we have family to take trips to go visit. Thank goodness I have little miss M to spoil. And excess money to spend in said situations. I suppose I'm just feeling pregnant, bored, lonely, whatever...pregnant! ha!

It's not like I don't have an atrocious mess here at my house from leaving my hubs alone here from 5 days to having a 2 yr old all by myself for several more days! I've got massive cleaning to do, and no motivation, and no help. Fun times. Tomorrow will be devoted to cleaning, and hopefully picking up a sit and stand stroller from craigslister! I really hope this works out. it'd be perfect and inexpensive! Getting ready for final yard sale which I hope to hold next weekend if all gets pulled together and weather permits. I'm ready to get this junk out of my house!

On an amusing note, M asked me if my belly was getting bigger tonight! I said probably, what did she think? She said, Yeah, I think so! Ha ha. She also told someone a few days ago that her baby brother was running out of room! I couldn't agree more!

Pregnant Brain

Here are some things that I have noticed this time around that I didn't notice, or maybe didn't experience, the first time around.

1. The many, many weird dreams! I had one last time that was so intense I woke up sobbing (hubs didn't even wake up!) This time I have 3-4 in a night (or nap) and they too are intense and slightly realistic--meaning they always involve real people, but the scenarios are less realistic

2. I feel huge like I'm carrying a large rock in my womb (especially by the end of the day)...AND I have almost 3 months left!

3. I have far less patience than usual, or maybe my threshold is lesser of something.

4. Once I reach the threshold I have a difficult time containing my true feelings.

5. I have a good bit of nesting instinct but not enough energy to make it happen

6. Apparently, laughter and tears seem to go hand in hand. It seems I get teary at random times...if I'm talking about anything personal at all.

7. I'm back to having no idea what to eat!

8. Love to feel the boy wiggling in there, but even though he feels huge to me they say i'm measuring under! How?!

9. I want a house to fit my family in (which isn't going to happen now at least), and Jason wants an excursion to fit our family (which isn't going to happen ever! ha!)

10. My hubs thinks I'm a hot pregnant woman and sometimes, I think so too!

Last Hoorah

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