Random Picture Challenge

11th folder

or

September 2007

11th picture

Rolando had his 4th birthday at Chick-Fil-A in September 2007. Heidy invited a bunch of kids from the Day School. Heather brought Madison and this was the picture I snapped. I haven't seen Madison in a while, but she sure is a cutie!! Heather works at a different center now and I talk to her on the phone once in a while, but don't see her often either. Actually, Heidy and her family moved to North Carolina and then Miami some time ago, so haven't seen them either. This certainly was a walk down memory lane!!

Click on the picture all the way at the top if you would like to play along!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. I'm working out, I'm getting in shape, I feel much better.
2. Why do I have so much laundry and not a chance to do it.
3. How does this economy work, anyway?
4. Every morning, I put lotion on my dry skin.
5. I consider myself lucky because I am a child of God.
6. One day we’ll see the results of all our decisions.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to being home, tomorrow my plans include making chili and going to the Lenten program at church and Sunday, I want to relax with my family!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Give me a laptop and I'll waste lots of time.
2. Whenever I am tired, I am a real *****.
3. I wish I didn't procrastinate so much.
4. Graciela's guacamole was the last thing I ate that was utterly delicious.
5. To live in this world is a privalege.
6. Other than this one, Cake Wrecks is the last blog I commented on.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to the Youth Council meeting, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with the teens and Sunday, I want to come home to my family again!

Frances-isms

We went out to Golden Corral last night with Stacey and her crew. Ryan's school has a fundraiser night there about once a month. As we were paying the teenage boy for our food, Frances loudly whispers, "Momma, that boy is so handsome!" Um...ok, but be a little bit more discreet Frances!! Frances and Ryan ended up sitting next to each other and as Stacey went to get food for the girls, Frances announced that "Ryan is my boyfriend!" Well she has said this before and when I ask her, she says he is her friend and he's a boy...Very logical to me!
So later, Stacey and I are talking and Frances keeps trying to interrupt. I was ignoring her well enough that finally she turned to Ryan and said, "Ryan, do you want to have a kid conversation?" HA HA Poor girl. As I continue to talk, I notice that Ryan has not actually answered Frances-despite the fact that she keeps asking him and calling his name. So now they have moved on in their relationship. I mean, they must be married now if he is ignoring her so completely while she yaks at him. Then they shared an apple at dinner. How cute!
To be comepltely honest, I took a few pictures at dinner, but I am too lazy to get up and post them now. Maybe I will come back later and update.

10 on Tuesday

10 Favorite Places to Shop

1. Food Lion
2. Target
3. woot.com
4. B.Moss (even though they are out of business now)
5. The Dollar Store
6. Family Christian Stores
7. amazon.com
8. CVS
9. ummm..... this list is really sad.....

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


This week I definitely did not freak out my co-workers by referring to Henry as a "middle child." No! I am not pregnant (OK, I can see how that might be confusing, but I'm really not!) I know how many children I have and I would never make such a mistake! (It is also not the second time that I have done such a thing!)

I did not drink two glasses of wine at dinner on Valentine's Day and then proceed to giggle uncontrollably through the rest of the meal.

I did not see Henry find a Cheerio on the floor as I was cleaning and then encourage him to eat it.

I did not lose all the credit I gained from buying my Valentine's Day cards early by then proceeding to forget about them and having the kids sign them in front of their father right before they gave them to him.

I did not fall asleep while playing the Wii last night. (That's my super power: being able to fall asleep anywhere at anytime...except for in bed at bedtime)

Random Picture Challenge

This week's challenge:

January 2007

or 13th picture folder

3rd picture

I can't seem to find any pictures from January 2007. I didn't have a very good camera at the time, so I probably didn't take a lot of pictures. So I had to go with the 3rd picture from my 13th folder. This actually turns out to be from Dec. 2007. This was Henry's first Christmas. I was trying to get a good picture for our Christmas card. Um....This wasn't one of them.

I remember packing away that outfit not too long ago. In fact, it seems just like yesterday. It was so tiny...and my little baby isn't so tiny anymore. Especially with the way he packs in the food . Two fists at a time!!! He has grown so much since then!!!

Head on over to Four Little Men & Girly Twins to play along.

Thankful Thursdays

It's that time again! Time for me to sit back and reflect on my week and pick three things that I am especially thankful for. Some weeks this is easy because things stick out as wonderful. Sometimes I have to think harder, but I know how important it is to exhibit an attitude of thankfulness and gratefulness in all that we do. It's like putting on your nice clothes when you don't feel well. If you look nice, chances are that you will feel nice. In the same vein, if you look for things to be thankful for, it will be easier to see the wonderful things in your life.

• I am thankful for my trials. Fr. Tom had a wonderful and timely homily at Mass last weekend. He spoke about suffering and God's purpose. After Mass I had a friend come up to me and give me some bad news about her job. It brought up some raw emotions for me because it is the same sort of thing that I went through about 4 years ago. On this side of the mess I can clearly see how that problem led me to where I am now in life. And since I LOVE where my life has taken me, I feel like I should be thankful for the trials. My friend also says she feels strengthened by knowing that I went through something very similar and came out better for it. I am thankful that God holds me in the palm of his hand and that he has a plan for my life that is infinitely better than anything I could ever attempt to map out.
• I am thankful for my husband. He puts up with me on a regular basis. He loves me no matter what. He is an awesome father! He is just a great friend-to me as well as to his other friends. He would do anything for anyone (unless you call our house looking for the Post Office, and then...well watch out!) He had a birthday last week, and now is a good time to be thankful that he was created, born and placed into my life.
• My class. They were so sweet this morning at our Valentine's Day party. They went through their bags and kept saying "Who is this from?" "Thank you!" and getting up and hugging each other. They are full of love for me and for each other. Sometimes I have to remind myself that they are only four and five (especially on days when we have spaghetti for lunch) but when all is said and done, they are a great group of kids and I am proud to be their teacher!

Henry's 50 words

I keep hearing this statistic that all kids should know 50 words by the time they are 2. Henry is getting close to that age and I am starting to worry that he is drastically behind! Granted he is a boy and the second child, both of which do not bode well for his language development, but still...I am a mother. I worry.
Here is the list so far:
mama
dada
NO
MINE
no (as is "nose")
more
ni-ni (as in "night night")
bye-bye
not nice (accompanied by a good finger shake)
OW! (quite useful for an active toddler)
ball
kee-ka (for kitty)
oogy (for doggy)
*He says something for sissy/Frances but I can't really tell what it is or how to spell it



OK, I know I am forgetting some, so I will comeback to edit when I remember them. So far, this is a really sad list!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

• This week, I did not procrastinate on all the laundry until the whole bathtub is full. I also did not dump it out on the bed twice in the hopes that I would get to it before bedtime and then just put it all back in the baskets.
• Since I did not do the above, I most certainly didn't use the same towel on myself and both of my children just because I am tired of washing so many towels. That would be a little bit gross.
• One thing I did do is completely scrub out the bathtub after Henry pooped in it. I did not just rinse him off and call it done. That would be really gross.
• I did not stay really grumpy most of the week from sleep deprivation. I did not yell at my kids because everyone was cranky.
• I did not disappoint Stacey when I picked up the kids at 8:00 on Ken's birthday. She did not yell at me for not spending more time with my husband for his birthday. I did not call it a night that early just because I was tired.
• I did not take my daughter shopping dressed as a pirate after Ian's birthday party. Said outfit did not include a hat, eye patch, sword, and glowing skull necklace. That would be silly. And if someone made a comment about my daughter's attire, I most certainly did not tell her (with a straight face) that our town gets dangerous after dark and you never know when you might want a pirate around.
• I did not abuse my power at work and make the schedule so I could come in 15 minutes later and not be "late" every day.
• I did not forget to have faith in God's ability to take care of things. I did not stress out over things I have no control over and get mad when things didn't go as planned. I did not hear a really good homily on Sunday that was written specifically for me. And I did not cry at the end of it all because I forget so easily that God takes care of me all the time.

Random Picture Challenge 5.0

This week's challenge:

March

2008

5th picture from the end

This is Frances and Lauren at the DeSmit's Easter egg hunt last year. This was an awesome event!! The teens all went out to the park and hid the eggs for the kids. Then they helped them find them. The adults hid eggs for the teens in another yard. There were eggs with numbers inside that corresponded to other prizes. Frances won a candy necklace kit. The teens won prizes like iTunes gift cards, a date with one of the dads (very coveted), and a car wash from another parent. The whole neighborhood was involved. Kids and adults were just roaming in and out of each other's houses. It was the most incredible example of "neighbors" that I have ever been privileged to see. We all had an incredible time. Even Henry, except he took a nap upstairs almost the whole time!!

Head on over to Four Little Men & Girly Twins to play along.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Please don't tell me that I am awake at 4:30 again!
2. Can you sleep past 4:30 in the morning? Because I can't!!
3. The color green makes me want to see Spring!
4. I have a craving for sleep.
5. If my life had a pause button, I'd pause it all the time.
6. Eyes are the supposed to be closed right now.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner with Ken for his birthday, tomorrow my plans include Ian's 3rd birthday party and Sunday, I want to get some cleaning done!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am feeling tired again, but I also want to push myself to be thankful even on days when it doesn't come easily. Henry has a strange fever, that turns out not to be the flu. I'm not sure what that actually means and if it makes me feel better or not. Frances had to miss ballet to take him to the doctor and she was a really big trooper about it.

This week I am thankful for:

• My co-workers at both jobs. I know I can count on the people I work with at any time for anything. We have been going through some "things" at the day care and I am really impressed with how well everyone is working together. We have a really awesome staff right now and I am proud to be a part of it. At the church, I am again awed by how the conversations at lunch can go from serious to silly, from theological to flip, and all in a supportive way. Today we had a discussion about our favorite candy bars and it was funny to listen to the memories these guys have of eating candy bars together!
• My resilient daughter. Sweetheart, I know how much you hate missing ballet class. And today was especially hard because you looked so cute in your leotard, but when I said we had to take Henry to the doctor instead all you said was "OK!" I love that you are usually so easy about last minute changes in plans; that you are able to handle disappointment without flipping out. I hope this trait will serve you well in the future.
• My wii! Doggone that thing is fun! I have been bowling and playing Super Mario Brothers this week. It's funny how quickly that game comes back! I almost feel like I am on auto pilot even though it has been YEARS since I last played it. This was a big purchase for us and I was really worried about it, but I am, really enjoying it so far, and hope to get a wii fit soon so I can actually get some exercise.

10 on Tuesday

10 Favorite Children's Movies

1. Mary Poppins is pretty supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
2. Monsters Inc.
3. The Wizard of Oz
4. Toy Story and Toy Story 2
5. Harry Potter
6. Shrek 1-3
7. 101 Dalmatians
8. The Sound of Music
9. The Princess Bride
10. The Jungle Book

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I am getting back into the groove of blogging and amazingly enough I am still getting things done around the house!! So I did a lot of things this week, like clean my house, shower regularly, write my February plans for the preschool, but you don't want to know about those things..

Here are all the things I did not do:

• I did not write this post ahead of time and then accidentally post it early. I am way to organized for that to happen!
• I did not let my son run around the house in a wife-beater t-shirt and sleeveless vest, black athletic socks with brown shoes and no pants. I also did not let him do this running with a purple plastic knife in his hand. Because that would be dangerous...and unfashionable!
• I did not wait until 5pm on Saturday to take a shower. And if I did do something like that it would be because I had planned it that way, not just because I felt like wearing my pajamas all day and forgot to take a shower.
• I did not let my daughter wear ripped blue capris and a short-sleeved yellow shirt with red crocs to school this week. That would certainly not be warm enough for January while there is still snow on the ground. It would also be UNFASHIONABLE!
• I did not drive very slowly through my neighborhood more than once searching for sled thieves. That would be sad...and silly..and unfashiona (never mind).
• And I most certainly did not LOVE the mandatory day off I had from work because of the snow. Snow days are for kids. Adults are supposed to grumble about things like shoveling the walk, digging out the car, losing money from not working. And I am most certainly an adult...and a fashionable one at that!
• I did not get excited instead of mad when Frances dropped six eggs on the floor while getting ready to make cupcakes just because I thought it had value as a funny blog post.

How to make Super Bowl cupcakes: A Tutorial

Step One: Get out your dry ingredients (i.e. box of cake mix)
Step Two: Carefully get the eggs out of the frig.

Step Three: I SAID CAREFULLY!!
Step Four: Wait for Daddy to go to the store and get more eggs.

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Step Five: Put all the ingredients into a bowl.

Step Six: Stir. Impress your cheerleaders!
Step Seven: Put batter into pretty sports themed cupcake liners.
Step Eight: Bake in oven.
Step Nine: Take a nap while you wait like your mommy said so, so that you aren't cranky this evening when you get to stay up late. (Okay this step didn't really happen, but she faked it so well, that I am pretending to believe her).
Step Ten: Frost the cupcakes (We thought that pink would be appropriate for the Super Bowl, don't you agree?)
Step Eleven: Don't forget the sprinkles!!
Step Twelve: Clean up after yourself.