Sunday evening while Brad was working the kids and I went to the grocery store and ran a few errands. After we got home, Kayt was playing in the car. I was in there with her until I stepped out to pick up her meme and walk around to the other side of the car to get her out.
While I was out of the car, she locked the doors. The keys were inside. Dang it.
She proceeded to crawl into the back seat and buckle herself into her car seat. She is Miss Independent and LOVES to buckle her own car seat.
I had to call a locksmith to come unlock my car and get my child out.
This was not the first time I have done this. I locked Noah in the car when he was about eighteen months old. The second time around is not near as traumatic on mama. I was calm as a cucumber and Kayt was a trooper until a big burly man walked up to her window and began prying. Poor baby.
I think I have officially disqualified myself from any mother of the year awards there may be. At least for the next eighteen years.
We had our hot water heater replaced today due to a leak. I am sure you can imagine the scene with two sick children, a house that was minutes away from being shown to a prospective buyer and a garage that was a wreck with men working to replace our hot water heater and drilling holes in our brick. Don't ask. Just picture chaos.
We fumbled out the door to feed our lil' ones dinner and get to small group on time.
Hours later after small group, we pulled into our garage and were overcome by the smell of natural gas. Brad called the 24 phone number and they dispatched someone to our house.
At 11:00 pm, a man named Dennis rang the doorbell. Not once, but twice. Whattha? Then he proceeded to stomp through the house and he was not talking in his inside voice.
Now don't get me wrong, Dennis is my hero because he solved the problem so that we would not die of toxic fumes and he took care of a second problem of low water pressure that we had just discovered, but my guess is that Dennis DOES NOT have children.
What is yours?
When Dennis came I was sitting on the couch crying about India. Yes, India. Sometimes it still overwhelms me. But I will have to get to that post on another day because Dennis made me loose my train of though.
Dennis, my hero, the man without children, who interrupted my crying.
If we move, I am planning to re-do our bedroom. We have had the same comforter for three years. I'm over it.
I don't really have anything particular in mind, but I found this and I think I like it. Granted, I do NOT like the sheets it is paired with nor the shape of the bed. I would do white sheets, fold them back further and lots of big pillows. You could do so many colors; orange, white monogrammed, brown...
This is not something that I would normally pick, but that is one reason that I like it. With light walls, it could add so much color to a room.
Also, the reviews say that it washes beautifully (music to my ears). Reason for liking it number two. And it's super reasonable. Number three. Something about knowing that little feet will be jumping on it and snotty noses will be rolling around on it makes me not want to spend lots of mullah.
What are your thoughts? I am NOT sold on this. At all. I just started looking. Have you found any great bedding lately?
I wish you could have seen what I saw last night. Hundreds of women from our church and beyond gathered for an ALL women's worship night. A team of women led us in worship. A woman spoke. Women prayed. Women of all ages, shapes and sizes with one common bond were on their faces before the Lord.
The concept was great and the Spirit was heavy. God broke many women of who they have BE.en and he encouraged others to press into who they are BE.coming. He encouraged us all to BE. an image bearer.
Thank you Hillside Women and thank you to all of my friends who gathered for dinner before, hung out during, and had coffee afterwards. It was a great night!!!
Do you know this bird? Yeah, me neither until as of late.
It's a dove.
Not the sweet, white dove that you may think of or the cheery turtle dove that we sing about at Christmas time... no, not this one.
It's the annoying kind of dove.
The kind that lives in the tree just outside my bedroom window.
The kind that wakes me up each morning hooting his brains out.
That kind of dove.
I am about to find a BB gun and shoot it. You think I'm kidding? No more playing nice gal for me. If this is illegal, please tell me now. This dove hoots ALL day long and it is really getting to me. Obviously. For the last four months, I was convinced that we had an owl living in our backyard. I'm sure that shooting an owl is illegal. Owls are the mascot for the elementary school across the street. I couldn't shoot the mascot for crying out loud. But it's a dove. Not an owl.
- It has been a beautiful week here! We've spent 98% of our days outside taking in the sunshine with NO wind. Praise Jesus! I turned the air conditioner on for the first time on Monday. This is a big deal! And I don't want to hear any bragging from my friends who have had their AC running since January. Life's just not fair.
-Have you ever heard of swagbucks? It's a website that you login to and use as a search engine. Unlike Google, you earn points for using it that you redeem for items (gift cards and such). A cool concept, right? I figure that I might as well be gaining something from all of the internet searching I do. Or maybe you don't call the internet your friend and consult it for everything under the sun, like me?!?
-Happy Earth Day!
-Does anyone use Bare Minerals make up? I want to try it, but it is hard to find time to go to Ulta to let them demonstrate how to use it. What are your thoughts on it? I like light make up, but don't have the most even skin tone, would it work for me?
-I went on a shopping spree at Target yesterday. Why is that so easy to do there? I go in for one or two items and leave with bags full of randomness. It was fun though!
Noah and I were laying down together this afternoon and he wanted me to tell him stories about when I was a little girl. I had to put my thinking cap on to come up with adventurous childhood stories. I've never big a big risk taker. Cautious, controlled, wise... these words have always been more true of me.
One hot, summer day my brothers and I spent the hours riding in the back of our red mini-van running errands. I was eight years old and my mom came through with the most brilliant idea of the summer: ice cream! We rarely had treats like this when I was young; for much of my childhood money was tight. This was a welcomed, rare treat and mom was most excited. My brothers and I had our ice cream cones in hand and we headed out the door of Baskin Robbins feeling proud. As we pulled into the driveway of our home my brothers, like all brothers, began wrestling around and my middle brother dropped his ice cream cone on the pavement. It was as good as gone and he was devastated. My mom walked around the car and handed her ice cream cone to my brother. She wasn't angry or annoyed, she merely gave up her ice cream. I can remember feeling an overwhelming sadness for my mom because I knew that she wanted the ice cream. But more than anything, she wanted my brother to be happy. It was a moment that I learned about motherhood.
I have thought of this silly story several times since I've had children. Chances are that my mom does not even remember it, but I do. There are days that I want to give my kids the world. Giving them the last bite, the only drink, the ice cream cone isn't hard. Then there are other days that I really want to eat my cookie, yet I have four eyes begging for the last bites. In those times, the words give the ice cream, run through my mind. Being a mother is a selfless act. It is giving fully of yourself to the little people you love most, yet it is fully knowing who you are and not getting lost in the identity of your children. Like all of life, it's a balance.
It is finding joy in giving the ice cream.
That hot summer day, my mother taught me a lesson. She taught me that love is an action and when you love someone you give things up to see them smile and to take away the tears. When you love others, you will give the ice cream. And that will bring your more joy than eating the ice cream. Even if it is mint chocolate chip!
I am not usually one to make things known until the details are worked out and everything is finalized, but I am going to let you in on a little secret.
We are putting our house on the market Monday and if things go as planned, we are MOVING!
I'm a looker. I usually have an idea of what is on the market, but we were not planning to actually move anytime soon. I mean, come on, we are busy enough without moving and re-doing another house. But the Lord worked some things out and if He finishes what he has begun, and I'm sure He will, we will be moving soon.
It's exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. The house is great! It's in a great neighborhood, has an amazing yard and will give us much more room. But... it needs a lot of cosmetic work. The work always seems more fun in theory than when it actually comes down to doing it, ya know?
Pray our house sells fast, please.
Today I cleaned seven trash bags full of clothes out of my closet. That's pathetic. Sometimes I disgust myself with the things that I think I need.
I would rather have been searching the pages of magazines looking at home ideas. It's fun dreaming up ideas for a new house! I'm open for suggestions...
Wouldn't you like to be sitting in this field of flowers looking out over the ocean?
Maybe it's just me.
We had a great, busy Easter weekend. On Saturday we had Noah's third birthday party. I enjoy preparing for my kids birthday parties. There is just something about getting to pull off an event for the little one's you love most. And he had such a great time, that is what matters most. He will be 3 tomorrow! It is so hard for me to believe.
Our family was in town most of the weekend which is always fun, but busy. We have something planned each night this week. Tomorrow night we are taking Noah to the circus. A little mommy, daddy, Noah date. With his reservations, I'm not sure what he will think about it, but thus far, he's excited. We lay in his bed every night and talk about it. I'm sure it's more of a stall tactic for him, but ah well.
Brad was off of work on Monday, which was wonderful considering our busy weekend and he and Noah spent the entire day doing macho things. They had breakfast, golfed, shopped at the Christian bookstore and played with trains. They both walked in with their sunglasses on and their matching shoes. It was so cute to see Noah on top of the world after getting to spend an entire day with his daddy. Kayt and I cleaned. I'm sure she was elated about our day together as well. The plight of womanhood, my dear girl. :) Actually, the girl loves to clean. Give her a rag and a spray bottle of water and she will busy herself for hours.
We went to the gym this morning (body pump and cardio for me) and then to our weekly Wednesday play date. By the time we got home, the kids were not the only ones begging for a nap. I am exhausted. And on that note, I'm going to sign off and take advantage of my quiet house by closing my sleepy eyes for a bit. Happy rambling!
Last weekend while we were out of town our fence blew down. Word on the street is that the wind gusts were between 70 and 75 miles per hour. Sad I missed that one.
All week we have had our fence propped up until the Mr. could get to it this weekend. After deliberating, he decided that this job was beyond his level of expertise. We had several men coming out on Friday to look at the fence and give us estimates of the cost. In between man one and two, a friend from church called us. He lives down the street from us (in a b.e.a.u.tiful home) and flips houses for a living. He told my husband that he had a crew that he was going to send to our house to mend our fence. He would not take no for an answer, he would not let us pay him, he would not even let us pay for supplies. He wanted to do this for us.
Sometimes the Lord amazes me at the ways he blesses us through the generosity of others. Even if this thought crossed our friend's mind, he didn't have to act on it. He could have not entertained the thought and nothing would have happened. But he didn't. He chose to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and respond. Because of that, we benefited greatly. This has been the story of our lives one hundred times over. People have listened to the Lord's prompting on their hearts and given to us, done for us, encouraged us, prayed for us. It amazes me each time. It mystifies me.
Part of me doesn't get it. Why? Why does my God, my Creator, my Sustainer, my Hope and my Promise care so much about the details of my life and about reminding me that he does care and he does love me beyond measure? Alhough I know the answer in my head and even in my heart, so much of the Lord is still a mystery to me. Why would Jesus die so that I can live in freedom and with hope? Yet Jesus was subjected to a humiliating murder on a cross just so that people, measly sinners, thousands of years later can look at his act, his life and his suffering and know that he IS God. He must be. He has to be. He is. Why would anyone do that? And the answer is: they wouldn't. Unless they were God and they knew the impact, the change, the promise, the hope and every other great word that you could fill in the blank with that it would bring to the world forever. He did because he is the great I Am.
Instances like the small one on Friday remind me that God does care about the details: the fences. Bigger instances like the one that happened on a Friday thousands of years ago remind me that God cares about the bigger picture: redeeming my life. And while I am eternally grateful for Jesus act on the cross, my hope doesn't end there.
At the reception (or the reception stand as Noah would say), the d.j. announced that a special guest was making an appearance. A few seconds later, the gunshots sounded and I knew what my Oklahoma State sister-in-law's friends had arranged.
Pistol Pete walked into the room
I knew what was coming and I looked up to find my lil' man just in time to see him running as fast as his little legs would carry him through the crowd. It was as if the waters were parting to allow him through. He was crying, he was screaming and he was only focused on the end destination.
Have I ever mentioned his ill-feelings/phobia towards anything in a mask or costume? He has never liked mascots. He loves sports, but before we head out the door to any sporting event he always asks if the mascot will be there. He loves Chuck E. Cheese, but he will quickly follow his sentences of affections for the eating joint and games by saying that he does not like the real Chuck.
He ran to the table in the far corner of the room and flung himself under it. He was terrified. It took quite some time to get him out from under the table. Once out, we left the room and he didn't return for almost an hour. He wanted to go back to the hotel so badly. He was gripped on my shoulders and his little body was shaking with dread. He was begging to leave. I felt terrible. Pistol Pete wasn't such a special guest for Noah.
And then there is this girl. She carried her Dede's purse around all night and hogged the dance floor. She is phased by nothing. No fears. No reservations. No hesitations. She's an eager one, my daughter.
It amazes me how two children, from the same parents, can be so extremely different from one another. It's pretty incredible.
Clay and Lindsey were married in Oklahoma City and the wedding was such a special time. Some great minister that I may be married to performed the ceremony and it was so sentimental and sweet. Everything was absolutely beautiful. The reception was as if you were standing in the pages of bridal magazine.
We spent time with many friends that we don't see often enough.
And watched the youngens boogie the night away on the dance floor.
The master ring bearer completed his third wedding of the season. We have gotten our money's worth out of his cute suit.
And we walked the streets of Bricktown. There is so much to do in downtown OKC. The window of our hotel overlooked the baseball field and a certain little sports fanatic was captivated. Speaking of sports lover, Noah wore his jersey everyday we were there. It's just a battle that is not worth fighting.
My dear, dear mother and grandma went with us to help care for the mini-Ingrams so that we could fully enjoy the weekend. They are my heroes!
This was the most delicious wedding cake ever. Period. It was white chocolate rasperry and it melted in your mouth. Actually, it sounds like a tasty late night snack right now.
Lots of good time with one of my best friends.
My man in his tux.
The girls of the family. They are so much fun and I look forward to all of the holidays we will spend together.
The minister and the Mrs.
She was a stunning bride who is now enjoying a deserved week with her HUSBAND in Maui!
**Answers to a few questions: The tan I used is not mystic tan, but I'm not sure what it is called. I had it done at Awaken Spa, which is a fancy medical spa. It cost $45. It looked really great and very natural. I wasn't orange or splotchy. I would recommend doing it about one or two days before an even. It looked the best the day that I took a shower. Now, six days later, I still have some color, but it has faded in places. It lasts between 7 and 10 days, but I think ten days is pushing it. Hope this helps.**
No need to call the authorities and file a missing person report, I am here. Just busy.
It has been a whirlwind of a week and we have a longly anticipated, action-packed weekend ahead of us. My brother-in-law is getting married! I know that it is a very exciting time, but I am oddly excited about this weekend. We are so excited for the couple. And I like seeing my husband in a tuxedo.
This, coupled with a few other things makes for one busy week and one tired lady.
I loved all the magazine comments. It appears that Real Simple (which I do love and sometimes I take my friends old issues) is a popular one. I am going to look into some of the home decor suggestions that you left. I am on a kick to completely re-do my house. The spring does the "all things new" stuff to me. Which, the only way that I know spring is brewing is by looking at my calendar. There has been no hint of spring in our weather. Oh well. Soon enough (I hope).
Notice anything different?
...besides the fact that I have on no make-up.
I had the spray tan thing done. It's the fancy kind, the one used by all the stars. And me. So far, I am pretty impressed. I didn't tell my hubby. I wanted to see his reaction without knowing that I was doing it. I will let you know what his face looks like when he sees his white, WHITE wife with an instant tan.
He never seems to get as excited about my silly surprises. It's fun for me anyway. It's the little things that keep life exciting, right?
