Are you a

Magazine Junkie?

I'm really not.

I only receive a few magazines each month and I often never even get to them. It is alluring  to curl up on the couch in a quiet house with a drink and a good magazine. I  do it from time to time, but not regularly.

The few magazines that I receive are...

The Mr. gets Relevant and he loves it; that's his thing. Sometimes I sneak a peek, it's good.

Are you a magazine junkie? What magazines do you order/receive?  Are you into food, decorating, clothing, current events or Hollywood gossip? Any suggestions on good home decor magazines? 

I Spy...

a flower pot

a mailbox

a flower bed

What do you spy?

She's my darlin

My baby girl is EIGHTEEN months old today!

Happy half Birthday, love.

We had her well-child visit this morning. The girl hates going to the doctor. She was all smiles until the nurse opened the door and called her name.  It was downhill from there. 

She has always turned into a drama queen when we enter the doctor's office. 

In case you don't believe me, I have proof. And I'm not sure why she has her shoes off. The nurse took them off to weigh her and I didn't realize that she hadn't returned them. She finally did. 

The actress being consoled by Meme, the blanket and a few pre-doctor stretches.

My once skinny girl is turning into a chunky monkey. She is in the 50-75% percentile for her weight.

It is already hurting... in my arm. Get me out of here. 

She is in the 75% percentile for her height. She's always been long. 

Finally, daddy called and calmed her down. She is crazy about her daddy and that is all that it took. Noah went along as my helper.  He thinks that it is an official title.  He asked the receptionist if she needed anything from his mamma because he was the helper. Isn't he a handsome helper?

My little girl is giggly, scheduled, talkative, happy, enamored by her brother and smitten over her father, a lover of books, dolls, jewelry and her Meme and she thoroughly enjoys every meal.  She has changed from a quiet bystander to an avid adventurer that loves to run and climb and fake fall. She is never more than two steps behind her bubba and she waits for dadeeee at the door every evening, but she is a mamma's girl at her core.  She never leaves her hair pulled up, dislikes bows and clips and socks, is learning to pee pee in the potty and is afraid of elevators.  She waves to every stranger we pass and she re-captures my heart each evening when she blows kisses and says a giggly, wuv you when I put her to bed.  She is joyful, dynamic, passionate, and precious. And I love her with more love than her eighteen month old body can handle!

~I love you Kayt Emerson and it is so much fun being your mommy~

Onto blogging news....

Mr. Ingram started a blog!

It is called The Rising and that is the big news. Granted it may not be big news to you, but for the person who has spent the last eleven years writing his high school and college reports, it's huge.  He only has one post and does not have a large amount of time to update it (unlike myself who has absolutely nothing going on and the focus of everyday is this blog. oh. wait.), but it should be good reading. He is insightful and funny and wise. 

Check it out: http://bradingram.wordpress.com

Leave him a comment and tell him that is wife says hi. 

I'm like the boy who cried wolf.

I completly forgot that I wrote that I had "news" to share on my last post. In the past 24 hours, I've had several people call and wonder when I am going to post the BIG news.  In all honesty, I forgot that I had news. Yes, it's that big. 

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Okay.

The news is....

coming tomorrow.

(I have to make sure the 'news' won't let me down).

hahahahahaha.

After tomorrow, you  are sure to hate me for this built-up drama.

Random Fridays

My camera 'broke' while I was in India. I may or may not have dropped it on the tile floor. 

It only took me a month and a half to actually take it to the post office to mail it in to be repaired. Not too bad. 

I received an email yesterday saying that it had been shipped back to me. 

I'm hoping that by next week, I can show you more pictures of my mini-models. 

Until then, happy weekend-ing!

I have some very exciting blog new to post soon...

Luck of the Irish

Your Shamrock Says You Are Ambitious

You are good at making decisions and getting things done. You don't procrastinate. At times, people are put off by your ambition. You don't really take a lot of time to relax. You don't really consider yourself a lucky person. In your view, people create their own luck. You are creative, innovative, and complicated. You definitely have a unique spin on the world.

The Shamrock Personality Test

This might explain why I am up at 12:30am working and I have so many things going on that I am beginning to become scatterbrained. Just ask Sarah or Brad.  I even missed an important call tonight. Dang it. 

Code Treadmill

This white thing that looks like a shaggy, fifteen year old Maltese is Meme. 

If you know Kayt, you know Meme. 

It is never far from her side. 

She needs Meme. We ALL need Meme. 

After leaving the gym on Monday, I realized that Kayt didn't have Meme so I pulled the car up to the door to run inside and grab it. I walked into the nursery, but didn't see Meme. 

I looked all over. 

No Meme.  

The nursery workers and I began a focused search.  I found a used gym towel on the floor that resembled Meme.  That made me think... maybe someone mistook it for a sweaty, white towel and threw it in the used towel bin. Nope.  My heart began to pound and I felt a lump in my throat because Meme was nowhere in sight.

The nursery worker must have understand the urgency of finding Meme when I looked at her hopelessly and said We. Have. To. Find. Meme. It is like air to Kayt. 

Now, you know something is important to a child when every person they are ever around calls it by name. At church, the first thing they ask is did you bring Meme? At MDO they say, is Meme in the bag? Grandparents and friends always keep a close eye on Meme.  

But on Monday, we lost Meme. 

I was heartbroken at the thought of loosing my daughters favorite thing in the whole, wide world.

While the helpful worker had every child in the nursery in search of a little, white, fuzzy blanket, I silently asked Jesus to help me find Meme.  

Jesus knows Meme and He told me to search through the trash can.

The worker felt certain that it didn't get thrown away, but I had to look. 

As I rummaged through snotty Klenex' and scribbly artwork, I saw no sign of Meme.  I was just about to give up when I pulled the last colored page out of the way and there it was. 

Meme!

I think I may have cried a little. 

I always knew that I needed Meme to console my daughter, but until Monday, I never knew that I loved Meme as much as Kayt loves it. 

All is well now. 

Kayt never knew of the drama, Meme has had a nice, hot bath and they are reunited and as happy as ever. 

**Having an extra is a great idea and we do have others, but Kayt only takes this ONE. She is so funny. She will smell the blanket and then throw it on the floor if it is not the real Meme. She knows the smell of this ratty blanket. I'm afraid that if we loose it, we are s.o.l. :) **

It's a holiday,

who knew?

I don't know if St. Patrick's Day is actually a holiday, per say, but I didn't even know that it was my favorite green day until this evening. And I am wearing black.  There is always next year. Only 364 days and I will be the greenest person you know (or don't know).  The facebook updates about being "pinched" make much more sense now.  

I am a little out of touch with reality and the current news, obviously.  Mr. Ingram is M.I.A. (working) and so I have been a single parent. 

My reality consists of picnics, parks, basketball, books, chalk, making food and giving baths.  

I may be out of touch with world events, but I am brushed up on American Idol.  Any other A.I. watches out there?  Who are you voting (or just cheering) for? 

Clap, Clap

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it...

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!

I'M CLAPPING, VIGOROUSLY!

My mom has my adorable, precious, angelic children today.  We drove an hour last night to meet her and make the switch.  Brad and I have full schedules today, but we are about to go run errands. Together. Alone. 

We have been away from the kids for the weekend, but we have never dropped them off only to return home. It has always been when we go out of town.  It feels kind of weird to be at home without them. Yet, it is really freeing and REALLY quiet.

Well, I can't waste time writing. I have a long, long to-do list (fun things like work, taxes, laundry) and an evening of relaxing ahead of me.  

Thanks, mom. You make me clap my hands!

That Was Fun.

Today. 

Oh, today, today, today....

Hmmmm. 

Today.

Well, let me see. Can you tell that this tricycle has a compartment on the back? It is for wee ones to haul their goods around. It was too cold to go outside today so the kids played in the garage while I cleaned out the refrigerator. I checked on them and found Kayt playing in the back compartment. She was splashing in water.  Shocked, I asked Noah how water got in there. He said, Oh, that's not water, it's pee. 

He went on to expand his argument by saying, it's okay mom. I needed to do it. It's posed to have water in there. Are you proud of me?

That was fun.

This afternoon I was wrestling Kayt to give her a breathing treatment. Noah was quiet, problem number one. But, being the optimist that I am, I decided to practice my positive thinking in hopes that he was occupying himself with something purposeful. Shortly after, he frolicked into the living room and told me that his stomach had been hurting. Then he said, but it's better now that I pooped in the bathtub.  

You guessed it. He did. 

I'm going to Wal-Mart tomorrow to get a new bath mat.

That was fun.

While doing laundry, I raised my head up and hit it on the corner of the cabinet door above the washer.

That was fun.

I was putting toys away in Noah's closet and somehow managed to get a splinter under my fingernail. I'm still baffled by that one. 

That was fun.

To sooth my pounding headache, we headed to Sonic for caffeine. I felt I deserved a treat; Cheddar Peppers! Noah climbed over the seat and spilled the ranch dressing all over the console of my car and my cell phone.

That was fun. 

We went to church tonight and my hubby spoke on grace. He talked about just the sort of day that I had had. The one when nothing seems to go your way, you're forced to stop at every red light, your appliances break and your kids do just about everything possible to push you over the edge, yet you still love them more than your own life. And although I have the headache from below and have had a crazy, crazy day, I love my kids and their constant activity more than every good thing. I'm thankful for their healthy bodies that can terrorize the house and their booming voices and their constant speech.  It is because of grace that I love them  and grace that I am loved.

Tonight, with unwashed hair and crossed eyes, God gave me a reminder.  

That was fun.

One Hour Alone is in Thy Hands...

I am making a time chart of my week, this week. I am dividing my days into thirty minute intervals and keeping track of how I spend each one.

In a study I am apart of, we are reading through the book, Spiritual Leadership, by J. Oswald Sanders. It was first published in 1967 and is a timeless classic. It is a practical approach to leadership that God calls each of us to, as His followers. I would highly recommend it for anyone wanting to measure and challenge their place of leadership. 

One recently read chapter discusses the use of time. 

It says things such as:

"The quality of a person's leadership will be in part measured by time: it's use and it's passage."

"Leisure is a glorious opportunity and a subtle danger. A discretionary hour can be wisely invested or foolishly wasted. Each moment of the day is a gift from God that deserves care, for by any measure, our time is short and the work is great."

"Hours and days will surely pass, but we can direct them purposefully and productively."

It goes on to talk about how others my have more influence, more money or more ability, but none have more time. We are all given the same amount of time each day, and we are responsible for the strategic use of our time. 

The chapter balances out the urgency with reminding us that "our schedule is God's to arrange at his pleasure" and encouraging us to find a "balanced approach to time less it become his bondage and his downfall."

The nuggets of wisdom and the challenges from this book are impeccable. The Holy Spirit has worked through it in my heart, by calling me to a higher level of discipline and care in some areas of my life. Yet, as with any book I read, I know that what God calls me to does not have to be measured by a book, it is an individual calling that comes only through my intimacy with the Lord. This book is useful and relevant, but not my sounding board, the scriptures alone are that. 

Bringing me back to the beginning. 

I am making a time chart this week. 

I will be interested to see how my, seemingly busy, days unfold. In what areas do I spend less time than I would like to spend? What foolish areas of my life are receiving more time than they should? Am I spending my time in accordance with my priorities? 

This should be interesting.

These lines were engraved on a sundial:

The shadow of my finger cast

Divides the future from the past;

Before it stands the unborn hour

In darkness and beyond thy power;

Behind its unreturning line

The vanished hour, no longer thine;

One hour alone is in thy hands,

The now in which the shadow lands.

~author unknown~

I'M FREE!

We were at the park a few days ago. We've been to the park at least once a day all week. Most days, we've been twice. On Wednesday, we went to the big park. It's on the way home from the gym and we love it. 

There was a little boy close to Noah's size following him around. To both boys, I said, you boys look like you are about the same age, I bet you could play together. I asked the boy how old he was. 

He worked really hard to get three fingers up. It took work, people. Putting three fingers up isn't easy. But when he didn't say anything, Noah stared at him. 

I could tell Noah was getting a little perturbed with his lack of language. 

Finally, Noah said:  

 free (three)?

are you free?

say free.

if you're free, then say, I'M FREE.

can you say it?

f-r-e-e!

just say it. I'm free.

Mom, he's free. I don't know why he won't just say it.

Sometimes we are like the little boy at the park. We are free. God has redeemed it, whatever IT is. Sin, shame, failures, hurts...all of it. We are covered by our Savior's love and grace, yet we won't say it. We don't live it. We look at the world dumbfounded when, all the while, we should be yelling...

I'm Free.

If your free, then say it...I'M FREE!

Another lesson chalked up the the innocence of my almost three free year old.

The Run-Down

Before you give me un-due credit or start calling me crazy, this is how ironing goes in my house.

I take Mr. Ingram's dress shirts to the cleaners. 

My request from him: wear it two (or three) times if you can before throwing it in the floor. Throwing things in the floor means I get to choose the place I think they belong. I usually choose hanging it back up. Sometimes, it makes it to it's great reward, the cleaners. 

Before you call my husband the smelly kid, let me expand. 

1. He changes clothes often. It must be hereditary, Noah does the same thing. 

2. If he wears a shirt to church on Sunday and takes it off afterwards, is it really dirty? Not unless he spilled grape juice or slobbered Matzah bread on it or the dirty high schoolers throw a paint ball at him. 

3. He doesn't even have body odor issues. ~ I know that you are chomping at the bit to know this~ If anyone in our family has b.o. issues, it's yours truly. I require deodorant or I smell like I just left the gym an hour after a shower. ~and that is because you know you are nosey and like knowing embarrassing stuff about people~

I take a few of my items to the cleaners. I wear them a few times in between trips unless it has snot on the shoulder, which is common.

Brad does his own ironing. He's a champion ironer. I am typically asleep when he leaves the house. Sleeping is my hobby. It's one thing that I am really good at. 

When I do iron, it's usually the night before (Saturday's for church) or five minutes before. I don't have an ironing day. I tried that once. It didn't turn out so good... for anyone. 

My biggest problem is that I leave clothes in the dryer way too long. Then, I re-dry them. Then, I leave them in the dryer way too long, again. Then, I re-dry them. Then, well... you get the picture. 

I just wanted to clarify from the previous post. I did NOT mean to sound like I have it all together. 

If there is one thing I do not have, it is IT all together. 

One Thing That My Mother Never Told Me

I am a big fan of ironing. Not necessarily the actual ironing, but the results it produces. I even have this silly motto about ironing. I'm cheesy.

Did you know that there is a suggested order in which to iron a shirt? Only months ago was I enlightened on this useful tid-bit of information.

Years of ironing and I've been doing it ALL wrong. I was ironing in the opposite order of what is suggested. 

This conversation came up again recently with my brother-in-laws. I enlightened them on my newly acquired wealth of knowledge. No doubt, they appreciated my two cents. Gotta love a yappy sister-in-law. :)

Here it is, the suggested order...

Collar

Shoulders

Cuff

Sleeve

Other Cuff

Other Sleeve

Front 

Back

...or at least this is the order that I was taught.

Do you iron in this order? Is there a better way?

Maybe the real question is do you even iron? There's no shame in the wrinkled game.

A Day to Pray

Two things are pressing on my heart this morning and have been my prayer since waking. 

~Today marks the one year anniversary of the passing of sweet Lilly, Mandy's three and a half month old niece. Lilly's parents, Richard and Jennifer, are full of strength and resiliency. They are an example to me. The entire Thomas family is on a vacation this week. Please join me in praying for their family today. This is not a day that they ever thought would hold meaning for them. It is a tragic milestone and one more item to pass through on the road to healing. 

~My dear friend, Sarah, and her husband, Jody, fly out this morning for a twelve day tour of the Holy lands. There is an itinerary on Sarah's blog as well as specific ways we can be praying. 

Praise be to God who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

Fly Away With Me

I eat my words.

I actually enjoyed making an airplane for my dude to take to M.D.O. 

It's been a while since I pulled out a can of spray paint and enjoyed cutting up a card board box.

It was oddly therapeutic.

My very literal first born is too much like his mamma for his own good. He was not about wearing the airplane at the parade. He was convinced that he was going to 'take off.' 

The conversation went like this:

n: I don't want to wear it.

m: Why?

n: I will take off and start flying around and I don't know how to land the plane. I am not a pilot.

m: It's not a real plane. It doesn't really fly.

n: Is it pretend?

m: Yes, it's just pretend.

n: But I saw the puh-pell-a's spin.

m: Just because they spin doesn't mean that the plane will fly away.

n: I'll just not wear it in case it flies off. Ba-member, I told you I don't know how to land?

m: Yes, I REmemeber. But, remember that I told you it isn't real?

n: Okay. I'll not flap the wings, just in case.

And so he didn't.

Parking Enforcer, Kayt.

It didn't last long. 

This is how he spend the rest of the parade. 

They are so sweet together. 

Noah is her keeper.  

This is what you get when you have an independent seventeen month old who would rather watch the fish than take a picture and a brother who thinks she's crazy.

Once at home, he was ready to soar.

She's her daddy's daughter. 

Bad habits starting early.