My One thing for 2011: Good bye perfectionism

That seems to be the theme of my week. I recently selected the photos for our Christmas cards. I really struggled. Dustin switched our family over from PC's to Mac (I don't even know if it is the right terminology) and I am struggling to adapt. Our whole photo organization is out the window (he says its better) and my laptop doesn't have a slot for an SD card. Mostly out of convenience and partly for being stubborn and not wanting to learn, I just take photos on my phone and throw them up on facebook. its a great solution for in the now but it makes it hard to upload photos from a cell phone to snapfish and have a high resolution. After spending an hour, scanning through hundreds and hundreds of photos realizing we didn't have a good shot of the 4 of us, I let go of the idea in my head that it needs to be perfect and settled for a photo where AB was holding a long piece of grass and successfully dividing Dustin's face in half and Lyds was on a baby carrier on my back and just as the photo was taken she arched her back and her face can barely be seen!

My day was too busy to worry about a snap shot and make the perfect Christmas card. Heck, I had to get the girls ready to get their photo taken with Santa that night.

AB took a bath. Lydia took a bath. AB's clothes were on. Lydia's clothes were on. Their clothes complimented each others so nicely. We were all ready to go when Poppy came home and then the unthinkable happened. Lydia scratched her face. It was bright red and was going to look awful on the photos. I called Dustin and told him that we had to go tomorrow instead of that evening. He laughed and dismissed my outrageous request. That night was the only night we had open and gosh golly we were going. I swallowed my anxiety and figured I would have the angle of the camera opposite from where this red mark on her face was.

Dustin came home. Dinner was on the table. AB was shadowing me in the kitchen. I kept tripping on her and asked her to please leave the kitchen. I was speeding around. We had to eat so that we could get out the door and see Santa before he had to feed his reindeer. I was not a very pleasant person (as I look back, I can easily see it). All I had to do was get AB's milk. I asked her one more time to leave the kitchen and swung the refrigerator door wide open to grab the milk and my poor 3 year old was in its path. She was leaving the kitchen but not fast enough. My hand and the fridge handle and the fridge door clocked her face so hard it pushed her into the dining room door frame. She got a goose egg on her cheek and the back of her head.

All I could do is stop and hold her and tell her I was so sorry. What a wake up call. I couldn't find a card good enough for our Christmas card. Lyds scratched her face and it was going to show up on the Santa picture. I threw together a nasty quick meal so we could rush out the door. In my haste, I clocked my 3 year old who wouldn't move fast enough and we rode to the mall in an awkward silence. It was my fault. I cared too much to make everything perfect and didn't take time to just enjoy being with my family. Do I really want them to remember that? No way. I had to change! And I was going to do it right now.

Isn't God so funny. You know he tested me right off the bat. We get to the mall and what do you know...it was take your pet to see Santa day. AB in her black velvet pants was bound to get dog hair all over it. Lydia had fallen asleep and as soon as I pulled her out to take her hat off, she had a red line across her forehead. The line moved ever so slow. AB's hair was flying like the wind with all the static electricity. Lord, I give up. I cannot be gripped by the care and anxiety I was having. My chest was starting to hurt.

The photographer took like 10 shots and only 1 looked good. I didn't care anymore. AB got to see Santa. She screamed/whispered his name in such belief when she saw him. It was magical. We redeemed the evening when we went to the food court and turned in 3 coupons for a free chickfila kids meal. It was so great to have a late night snack together. 2 dinners in one night! I felt good to break the rules.

On the way home, you will not guess what I saw...a shooting star; just for me! I know God arranged it special. He was telling me I was right on track!

Here is to a 2011 filled with carefree living! My husband and kids deserve it!

(P.S. Do you notice? You can't even see their owies)

Things heard while playing and using imaginations

AB and a friend were playing with dolls and being the voices.

AB's doll: Hi, what is your name?

Her friend's doll: My name is Canisa

AB's doll: Hi Canisa

Her friend's doll: What is your name?

AB's doll: My name is Mommy. Mommy Lori Hedrick!

That did my heart so good!

Things Heard

Anna Beth was hiding and playing behind the Christmas tree with a friend. I asked them both to leave the sunroom and move into the living room because they broke the rule. AB was pouting and asking for her Poppy. I told her she could not be upset with me, I didn't break any rules. If she wanted to be upset, she should be upset with herself. She didn't agree. I started my conversation again. When we got to the rule breaking part, I said, "Did Mommy break any rules?" She nodded her little head yes. I asked with a surprise in my voice, "What rule did Mommy break?" She replied, "You broke my heart."

Where have I been and what is next?

I am here. I completed my scheduled round of blogging for the fall: Monday's making it a home, Tuesday Taco Salad Family Night, Wednesday's Something Never done before, Thursday's things heard and Friday's thankful treasures. I will not start a new round until 2011 but until then, please just enjoy the bits and pieces I put up. Any suggestions for the next round?

Friday's Thankful Treasures

Lydia: Her new skill of rolling over!

Me: Fall, Family, Dustin's birthday and all of our friends

Dustin: his birthday was this past Wednesday. click on this link to see what he is most thankful for: http://holyworldwide.com/dustinhedrick/?p=1531

AB: Her Poppy's coat. Last night cold water was poured on hers and she got to wear his to the car and of course he offered for her to wear it all the way home. The look on her face shows her thankfulness and her love for her Poppy

(sorry it is so dark, her car seat is navy blue, the coat is black and it was dark outside)

Thursday's things Heard...when talking about Jesus

AB: Mommy look (a Christmas decoration), I remember that from last year. Its for Christmas.

Me: Yes, I see that. Do you remember what Christmas is all about?

AB: Santa Clause and presents!!!

Me: Do you remember what else Christmas is about?

AB: Nope

Me: Remember it is about Jesus and him being born and God sending him to earth to be with us?

AB: Oh, yes, I remember that! That is so special. This year at Christmas, I want Jesus to be with Christmas and presents and be in my heart.

Although I know we have been talking a lot about what it means to have Jesus in our hearts, I knew she was not really getting it, we arrived at our location shortly after that and I let the conversation rest. Later that evening we were on the road again, this time Poppy was in the car. We dove past another Christmas decoration.

AB: Poppy, do you remember that (a Christmas decoration)?

Poppy: I do

AB: Its for Christmas

Me: Do you remember what Christmas is all about?

Yes, Santa, presents and Jesus

Me: Hey Poppy, did you know what AB said? She said this Christmas she wants Jesus to be in her heart!

Poppy: (hopeful but still sensing it was too early, heck it was just the other month she said she didn't want Jesus in her heart even though he was in poppy's and mommy's) Really? Wow, that's great? Why do you want Jesus in your heart?

AB: cause he is very nice

Poppy: well thats not the reason we ask Jesus to be in our heart. We ask him to be in our heart because he loves us and we love him and he is our friend and we can talk to him and he died on the cross for us and...

Me: and he keeps us safe

AB: just like the firetrucks keep us safe

Me: yes, firetrucks keep us safe. Who is better than fire trucks?

AB: Jesus

Me: who is better than ambulances?

AB: Jesus

Me: who is better than police officers?

AB: Jesus

Me: who is better than mommy?

AB: Jesus

Me: who is better than poppy?

AB: Jesus

Me: who is better than moose?

AB: Jesus

Me: who is the best in the whole world?

AB: (with much thought and consideration she was quiet for a second and then shouted) .... Anna!!!

Wednesday's Something I have never done before...pumpkins and wine

I made an incredible Pumpkin Sausage Pasta dish. It has been a long time since I followed a recipe and created a nice meal. Encouraged and inspired by my Uncle David, I finally agreed to do it. I printed the recipe, read it over and over and over. Made a shopping list and went to the store. $26 dollars later I had all the ingredients for the pasta dish and the accompanying spinach salad. I had hoped to spend a little less but if you think about it, the cost of going to a nice restaurant and getting 2 entrees, 2 salads, a kids meal, a drink (i usually get water but Dustin always gets a diet coke) and a milk for AB plus tax, plus tip - I think $26 was a good deal!

Dustin had to work late which was great, there wasn't a lot of pressure for me to get it done quickly. I read the recipe over and over again. Had it really been that long since I followed a recipe; shamefully I think it has. 1 cup of dry white wine. Ok so how in the heck am I to know if the wine I got was dry? I don't drink, everyone knows that. I bought a cheap bottle for $7. Looks like I can make this recipe many more times seeing that I only used a cup. How long does wine last in the fridge after it has been opened? Speaking of opening, how in the heck am I supposed to open it? I have never opened wine. I called my dad, he walked me through it. It was kinda cool. AB was upset that I made her leave the room while I did it. (I didn't know if it was going to fly off and hit her in the eye or something.)

The pasta dish came together very nicely and the spinach salad was perfect; even the dressing was homemade!

Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/pasta-with-pumpkin-and-sausage-recipe/index.html

Tuesday's Taco Salad Family Night...Dustin's birthday eve

No Taco Salad again...but it was a special occasion. Poppy's birthday was tomorrow and we had to go shopping without him. In our house we celebrate birthdays for a week and today was day 3 of the birthday week. I made a quick mashed potatoes and a steak cooked inside. The rain would not let up long enough for me to grill.

We scarfed our dinner down, AB wore her rain boots and off to the store we went. AB was on a mission. She wanted to buy Poppy a dog. Lord help us, its all about dogs. I was going to try to steer her in a different direction but then AB announced to Poppy that she was going to buy him a birthday present and it would be a surprise, a dog! He looked at me as I shook my head no and said, at least make it a good one...not some cheap something other, make it something she will like.

My intentions were to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to get him a facial hair trimmer...well let's face it, he's getting old :) and then we would go to the dollar store and let her go wild and pick out whatever she wanted. I didn't think the dollar store would have an appropriate dog we could get plus the rain was a lot and it was late AND it was me vs. 2 girls! Once in BBB I tried to make it a one stop shop. We were on a hunt for a dog. We went straight to the check out isle. I found one for $2.99...you know those family stickers on the back of minivans? You know, the mom, the dad, the princess daughter, the skateboarder son...they have dogs too. We got a dog and it can go on his car and not clutter my house! SCORE!

The evening ended with a stop at AB's favorite place, Old McDonalds. Cheeseburger for her, and ice creams for Poppy and Mommy!

Monday's Making it a Home...10 minutes the night before

So the daycare, LMNOP opens every morning at 7am. This particular weekend, my house looks very "lived in". (i can't be perfect all the time) and I had planned on waking up early to tidy up a bit before my client arrived instead of doing it on Sunday night. All I can assume is that my last thought before bed was of my intentions and last night my only dream was that I was cleaning all night. So my sleep wasn't restful and I woke up only to still have to scramble to clean up before 7am! The best part is is that it only took me 10 minutes to pick up the whole house.

How restful would my sleep have been last night if I had taken 10 minutes and knocked it out then? Its a goal I can strive for.

Friday's Thankful Treasures

AB: Green, Poppy, Cheetos, Moose and Crackers (maybe one day I will make it to her list)

Lydia: learning how to sleep longer

Dustin: a break in the clouds (nothing to do on Saturday)

Lori: my husband and his upcoming birthday week

11.12.10

Thursday's things Heard...What do you want for dinner?

Things heard in response to the daily question...what do you want for dinner?

Me: Ab what do u want for dinner?
AB: Mayonnaise and blueberries!
Me: No way!

Things heard while trying to get a boogie from AB's nose

Very mature and mater-of-factly AB said to me: "Mommy my boogie is way far away and you just cannot reach it"

Wednesday's Something I have never done before...chicken wings

So I have only been using chopsticks for a little over 8 years. I got embarrassed continually going out to restaurants with friends and them having to ask the waitress for a fork for me and me being the only one at the table using one. I picked up the skill pretty quickly, although it isn't always pretty.

This Tuesday, I ate a chicken wing with a very messy, very yummy spicy glaze with chopsticks. Not a huge deal to you I am sure, but I am actually impressed with myself.

So there, that is something I have never done before.

Tuesday's Taco Salad Family Night...cheese and crackers in bed

Dustin had the day off today because we have a special guest with us. Noah Gitau is the National Director of Vineyard Churches in Kenya. We have had a great time with him being here. We are getting ready to walk out the door for our last meal with him. A bunch of us from the Tapesty are getting together.

BUT none of the above changes the fact that it is FAMILY NIGHT. We just improvised and made it FAMILY LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. Lydia got a bath first, then AB. She shocked us all with laying down in the tub and letting me support her neck! Praise the Lord, she finally trusts me. We have been doing the cup over the head thing and it was getting really old. This was so much easier. I gave her one green spree as a reward! It was so nice to have Dustin home so early in the day (5pm) haha. We usually do not see him till 6:30. Dinner isn't till 7:30 which means we won't eat till 8:00 so we had cheese and crackers in bed. The cheese was some that we bought from Butler's orchard's Market the day we went to the pumpkin festival. It was fancy cheese and we saved it for a special occasion. I think that Tuesday Family Night was special enough!

Now on to dinner and saying goodbye to a new friend!

Monday's Making it a Home...every room in my house has a kitchen sink.

So, I have read a book, visited a website, subscribed to a newsletter and received daily emails. Have you every heard of the Fly Lady? I heard of her a few years ago. I have been very busy with 2 kiddos, church stuff, a full time job and LIFE...but I never fully abandon her principles. You can do anything in 15 minutes. Your house didn't get this way overnight and it won't be fixed overnight either. Its ok to vacuum just the middle of the floor sometimes and not all the way to the corners. House work not done perfectly still blesses your family. Shine your sink everyday.

What? Shine your sink everyday? The creator of flylady.net started it all with the principle of shining her kitchen sink every day. If she could at least do that, her kitchen looked cleaner and felt cleaner and it inspired her not to leave dirty dishes in it and then it inspired her not to leave clutter on the counter, etc. Her theory does work.

This week, I decided to jump back in on the flylady bandwagon. But I need to do it at a different pace this time. I think I can fully do it, but I need to start at a very do-able pace. Once she got the kitchen sink down she moved into this master plan for the whole house. Its amazing and Lord bless me, I will be there soon. But I have decided that every room in my house has a kitchen sink. Do you see where I am going? If I can keep the kitchen sink clean in each room then at least my house will "feel" clean. You know that I am talking about...why do you think your mom always said MAKE YOUR BED. Your bed was the kitchen sink of your bedroom. If your bed was made, the rest of the room didn't seem so bad.

So, my goal is to clean the "kitchen sink" of every room before I go to bed. Here is my list of kitchen sinks. What are yours?

Kitchen = obviously the sink

Sunroom = everything off the rug

Dining room = nothing left on the table, not even the salt shaker (not that it is wrong to leave a salt shaker on it, but in my mind, that is how it looks clean to me)

Living room = nothing on the sofa or chairs and the pillows nicely placed

Front entry way = nothing left on the sofa table

Family Room = everything off the carpet

Laundry Room = everything off the top of the washer and dryer

Bathroom = counters cleared off

My room = the bed made

Lyd's Room = nothing in her yellow chair

AB's room = everything off the floor

How long does each sink take...my goodness, it shouldn't take more than 90 seconds per "sink". Does it really take more that 90 seconds to empty the kitchen sink or put away a blanket left on Lydia's yellow chair? So with that time estimate, that means it should take me no longer than 16.5 minutes and I think I could shave that down some. It takes 21 days to form a habit! Here is to making my house a home, one "kitchen sink" at a time!

The name of the book this concept came from is Sink Reflections and the website is www.flylady.net. Enjoy! (and tell me if after checking any of this out you are inspired. I would love a FlyLady buddy)

Friday's Thankful Treasures

Lydia: The Tablespoon of rice cereal in her bottle each night starting on Halloween

Dustin: "my friends and family that are working so hard to help complete my vision"

Me: I am so thankful for my life, just as it is, good and bad, highs and lows. Today I am just very thankful and I do not want to miss out on now because I am looking so far ahead.

AB: Anna, what are you most thankful for today. "Hmmm, lets see....my bicycle, my jump rope, my scooter and skateboard." Anna, you do not have a scooter or skateboard (she asks for those daily). Can you just be thankful for your bicycle and jump rope? "Yes, I am."

Thursday's things Heard..."both team"

Last Wednesday around 5:30pm we had a couple things going on at once:

a friend stopped by to pick up VeggieTales Sing Yourself Silly tickets for this weekend (and brought me Dunkin Donuts Coffee), we were walking out the door to go to the store to get snacks for small group, the FedEx Truck blocked us both in as he delivered my *Diapers.Com order, I had to get Lydia in her side of the car, I had to get AB in her carseat, I had to remember to get my coffee off the top of the car, AND I brought my neighbors trash cans in from the curb (because her husband is out of town)

As we were pulling out of the driveway and onto the street, AB said, "Mommy, you didn't buckle this one! Mommy, you didn't buckle this one!" I looked back and sure enough, I had only buckled half of the buckle. I quickly stopped my car, in mid-reverse, leaned back and buckled the other half. "Anna Beth, thank you SO much for letting Mommy know. Please always let me know if that happens." To which she replied, "It's ok mommy, we are on the both team, the both team." I asked, "Do you mean the same team?" "Yes, the same team Mommy."

That did my heart so good. Our little family has been through a lot recently, a new baby, a job change, a business starting, a loan refinanced, just to name a few. One thing I said to my family over and over was guys, lets remember we are all on the same team. We have the same heart, the same goal and we are on each other's side. If I said it once in a day, I said it 30 times...we are on the same team! We are a family! To hear AB say, Mommy, its ok, we are on the both team...was just a huge WOW moment for me. She listens to me and she gets it. She really gets it!

*Diapers.Com is AMAZING! - Diapers to your door, the next day with free shipping! When we get down to the last 2 or 3 diapers I place the order and its like magic, it shows up the next day. It beats having to sit in traffic. It beats having to go to more than one store looking for size 5 pull-ups. It is always having sales. It beats having bulk diaper and wipes take up the whole cart leaving little room for other groceries and hello, have you been shopping with a 3 year old and a 3 month old by yourself! Man!

Anyways, they have a referral program. 15% off your first order, that is of course if you put my code in. Here are the details below:

Thought you might be interested in this website I discovered, www.diapers.com. They deliver diapers, wipes, formula and other baby necessities at really low prices with fast free shipping. They carry all the big brands and hard-to-find products too.

If you enter my email address or Share the Savings Code on the shopping cart screen, you'll get 15% off your first order!* It's their best offer for new customers.

My Email Address: lorihedrick@tapestrychurch.org
Savings Code: 123LMNOP

Check it out at www.diapers.com.

* Please note: $100 max discount. Other restrictions may apply.

Wednesday's Something I have never done before...leaving her alone!

I think I hit a milestone. I did one of the hardest things I have ever done as a mom. I left Anna Beth alone at a birthday party all by herself. The birthday girl lived on our street, just 2 doors down. I went with Lydia and Anna and I stayed for about 15 minutes to make sure she was going to be ok. I helped her find her nameplate "Princess Anna Beth" and put the straw in her juice box. This was the first time she had been in their home. I don't know that much about the family, but we see them at every outreach that our church does in this community and they are super friendly. Their daughter is just 9 months older than AB.

Once they were eating, the mom started telling all the girls what they were going to be doing. She said, "When you finish eating, we will go downstairs and play a game with a donkey and tails." Anna Beth, excitedly yelled into the living room where I was, "Mommy, we get to play a game with donkey and tails!!!." Then the birthday girl's mom said, and then we have a donut game we will play." Anna Beth, more excited then she was about the donkey, yelled into the living room again, "Mommy we get donuts!!"

The other girls were not yelling back into the room at their moms. The party was from 12:00-3:00. I could not let her do this for 3 hours. She needed to experience this on her own, share her excitement with the little girls her age, not just me. I needed her to be independent. This was her first party without her church friends or her LMNOP friends. This was her big moment and I couldn't have her not experience it fully. So, I told the mom I was going to go home and would be back later to pick her up. I am not sure what the etiquette is, I am not sure she knew either. I told AB I would be right back and she could have cared less.

I went home, set Lydia down and sat on the couch and teared up. Should I have stayed? I did see a crucifix in their living room. They are good people. She is only 3. What if she has to go potty? She can do it all by herself, but she still relies on me to wipe. Who would wipe her? Oh, goodness, I should go back. But I can't go back, I told them I had to go home. Dustin, working from home that day, assured me she would be fine and I could go back early and he even said he would watch Lydia for me so I could have both hands.

I went back around 2:00. The party officially had another hour. She was fine. When I walked in the door, she was helping the birthday girl open her presents. I looked in the pile of opened gifts. Ours was there. Did they like it? Was the birthday girl gracious and make AB feel good for giving it to her or was it dismissed and set down quickly? Did AB notice either way? I realized there, I cannot project my insecurities of what people think onto my innocent 3 year old. She was so happy to be there. I caught myself telling her to back up a little and let the other girls help open the presents but then I realized, I can't be so hard on her. SHE IS 3!!! I had a cup of tea and cupcakes with the other moms and finally felt myself relax!

I am learning. Learning to let go. Wow this is so hard! God please give me wisdom. I don't want to screw this all up. Man, it is hard!

Tuesday's Taco Salad Family Night ... invaded by Pirates

So, my client picked their kiddo up early for a Dr. Appt. We had a couple hours till Poppy was due home...we sure did take advantage of that time. First we went to vote. It was fun explaining voting on a 3 year old level. Then it was to the cleaners to pick up Poppy's shirts. Then, the day was too nice to just go home. We met a friend at Yogiberry. The fall air is still so crisp. I am wanting the leaves to stay in the trees just a bit longer.

Once home, I started to make dinner. Yep you guessed it, Taco Salad. Dustin came home from work late. He declared we were going out! We have a lot going on in the month of November and tonight was one of the last nights (this month) that we would get to have time, just the 4 of us!

Chuck E Cheese, here we come! What a blast. We played games, saw Chuck, AB got the jackpot 3 times on one machine, and we ended the night with mommy chasing her up the slide as she was coming down. I know, you aren't supposed to go up the down part, but man I had fun meeting her 1/2 way, tickling her and sliding down together as our hair stood straight up due to static.

We got home again and it was bed time. I got her ready and it was Poppy't turn to read books. As we were using the "spicy" toothpaste and learning to spit properly, a big ugly pirate climbed up the stairs and gave AB a huge fright! Oh she shrieked like a little girl so loud! He whisked her away to her bedroom and read books, sang songs, read the Bible and prayed over her. She loved it. What an awesome way to end the day (for both of them). Dustin had a really stressful day and its so cool how a $5 pirate hat can make a lot of that go away. I don't think either of them will ever forget this night. I know I won't!

Monday's Making it a Home...her own space

One way to make a house a home is to give each member of the family their own space so they can feel like they are a part. How many times do we tell our little ones to put their toys away. Get your toys off the living room floor. Please put your legos away. You have to put that away if you want to play with the other toy.

My poor child has to clean all the time since we have meetings, dinner appts, etc. weekly. I didn't realize how much it would mean for AB to have her own space but a long time ago, I taped some of her art masterpieces to our kitchen cabinets. (Our cabinets were the nastiest thing about our house and will be replaced in the next year or so, unless they all fall off sooner!). The sun faded them and I pulled them all down. That was like a year ago. This past weekend, AB came to me and asked me why there were not any more up there.

So the tape runner came out and the art went up! Her toys might be put away, but AB has a spot...its right in the heart of my kitchen, above the coffee maker, above the microwave and right next to the fridge. You can't miss it.

Friday's Thankful Treasures

AB: "Just my Poppy and Moose"

Lydia: Her new toy. (AB's old activity center with buttons, rattles, mirrors, lights and music!!!)

Dustin: New iPads for all of the employees at his company

Me: Getting my church email inbox below 100. It has been a long time! Actually, I am not sure if it ever has been that low. Excited nonetheless and hope to get it even lower.

Thursday's things Heard...pockets

Things heard while playing...

Each week I wonder if I will have something worthy of posting and then she does it, she goes and says something so precious as if she is right on queue.

Coming down the stairs with her most favorite treasured toys. It is fall now and she is wearing clothes for the first time since she is a size bigger than last fall. She had on a pair of black leggings and as she came down the last stair with both hands overflowing with her little treasures, she asked, "Mommy, do my pants have pockets?"

I replied, "Nope, babe. Not those."

To which she replied quietly to herself as she set down her toys so she could go back for more, "Jesus, please let my pants have pockets. In Jesus name, AMEN!"

Wednesday's Something I have never done before

My poor husband. He deserves so much better than me. This Wednesday's post is not one I am proud of but it is in fact something I have never done before. I have been married for over 10 years. This past Tuesday, mark it as a first. It is the first time in 10 and a half years of marriage I sent my husband to work with dirty sock. Not only were they dirty, they were handed to him nicely folded together as if they were clean. I just couldn't admit defeat to him. I had fallen behind on the laundry and had completely forgotten to do a load of darks. He asked me at the last minute as he was walking out the door and I panicked. I am sorry, Dustin. I vow to always have clean socks for you.

Tuesday's Taco Salad Family Night

We had TACO SALAD again tonight on a TUESDAY! Life is as it should be! It really is like an automatic reset button for our family.

What did we do for family night tonight? It was simple...I loaded her up with lots of sugar and sent her straight to bed! Isn't that what every mom does? Actually I gave her a lolly pop that someone gave her over 3 weeks ago. We just don't do sugar in our house so this was a REAL treat.

She will be going to bed VERY soon. It was a long day for her with a shorter nap. She has been having to adjust to having another kiddo in the house because of our daycare. The weather has been changing and today was a little gloomy...perfectly matching her mood. Bless her heart, she needs sleep. 2 nights ago it was 8:30, last night it was 9:30...tonight our goal is 7:45.

It is just a reset kinda night for our family. We have been through a lot and life is starting to settle. I can't wait to do a little resetting myself tonight at 7:46!

Monday's Making it a Home...smells

Did you ever come home from school to the smell of fresh baked chocolate cookies? What about the smell of fresh clean sheets on your bed? I am convinced part of what will make my house more of a home is if I can create a "smell memory".

I have one friend that gives AB hand-me-down clothes and I keep thinking to ask her each time what laundry detergent she uses and then the last batch she gave me had fresh, unused dryer sheets in each bag hidden nicely between layers of perfectly folded clothes. That was it. That was the smell. It was just what I was looking for.

They can only be purchased at Costco. Another friend I have just did a Costco run and she picked some up for me. Now, in my house, there are fresh unused dryer sheets, in my closet, Lydia's closet, AB's closet, the shoe closet, all of our dressers and a place that you wouldn't think to put one, my car. I will replace them every few weeks, maybe the car every week. I also plan to put one in each bin of clothes we have stored in the shed.

Seems silly, but I think that if years down the road my girls get a quick whiff of that smell, it will take their minds back to home immediately and my hope is that they will want to sit there a moment and treasure all their home memories. If it doesn't work and my theory is all wrong, at least we will smell nice. Its a win win.

Friday's Thankful Treasures

Dustin: "the loan being finished"

AB: "my Poppy"

Me: Uploading hundreds and hundreds of photos to Flickr

Lydia: She is thankful for her fist, she discovered it and can practically cram the whole thing in her mouth

Thursday's Things Heard...keeping Lydia

As we were getting ready for bowling, I was changing Lydia's diaper and started to put her in her car seat, AB asked: Mommy, are we going to keep her for never?

Instead of answering her question, I did what any good mom would do, I asked her a question: Do you want to keep her or do you want me to send her back?

Frightened and upset at the very thought of my question, she quickly replied: No mommy, don't send her back, I want to keep her forever!

Wednesday's Something I have never done before

So this week it was store bought sugar cookies rolled out and cookie cutters and sprinkles and the whole nine yards!

Last Wednesday was my first attempt at it. Here are my thoughts on it.

It was super easy.

It tasted nasty.

I rolled it too thin.

I cooked it too long.

It was just gross.

I was gonna serve them at small group that night but I just couldn't bring myself to put them on the table.

Anna and our LMNOP friend really enjoyed making them, so I guess over all it was a success but man they were gross.

I think in the future, I will use my own dough that I pre-make and freeze.

Catch Up - Sorry

I am a few post behind but I will catch up now!

Tuesday's Taco Salad Family Night - I married an amazing man!

Tonight was not a taco salad night again BUT I have a very good reason! Dustin has done so much for our family lately! He made so many things happen and fall into place so that we can start our daycare that we took the chance to celebrate him last night. He wanted to go out, so out we went. At dinner, we listed all the many things he did for us so that the daycare could start. I wanted to share the list with you, but first I must say, I do not deserve the wonderful man that I am married to. I have never seen someone so determined and someone so in love with their family. Dustin Hedrick, you are amazing. Now please take a break and rest, PLEASE!

had the back yard fenced in

painted every room in our house

had new windows put in the sunroom

put a fence around the HVAC unit

made a little fenced area for moose's potty area

put railing up on the deck

had an electrician come out and instal smoke detectors

did a lot of electrical work himself

installed a latch on the front door so kiddos cannot escape

hooked up the alarm system when we first moved in

made a "pirate ship" for AB (also known as a swing set)

helped me pick out and install baby gates

ordered car magnets for his car

reordered them when one flew off

got business card printed

got me listed with vista print listings

google local

yahoo local

all search engines

built a KICK BU*T website

logo and image graphic design

listed in all child care registries, directories, and associations for the county, city and state

listed in the Gazette

registered my company as an LLC

Got an EIN number

registered LMNOP with the state

opened a checking account

opened a paypal account

linked my checking and paypal account together

got a Twitter account (which I do not know how to use)

got a Flicker account

got a Facebook account

Thank you Dustin! I honestly could not have done this without you! Thank you for letting me stay home with our girls!

Monday's Making it a Home...LIFE CHANGING DECISION

I have put this announcement off for about 13 weeks but I needed to make sure that I ended things well and had loose ends all taken care of. Here is one of the major things I have done to make my house a home:

I am a stay at home mom! I went through hours of training and certifications and Dustin helped me get a daycare started in our home. I am a licensed daycare provider! I currently just have one kiddo and am looking for a couple more, but I get to stay home with Lydia and Anna!!!

I am looking forward to investing my life into children!

Check out our website: www.lmnopdaycare.com

Here is a little from the site. Enjoy!

Have you ever wished you what you did during your ‘nine to five’ part of the day made more of a difference or had a lasting effect on others? That exact thought has been my driving force for the last three years. I have a long resume listing various administrative jobs with my last job being an Office Manager for a commercial real estate company. I did a great job making sure that the office set others up for success so that they could in turn be successful and bring more money into our company. I don’t want to do that for the rest of my life. Who am I having a lasting impression on?

I want to make a difference. I want to impact lives and what better way than to spend my ‘nine to five’ hours with kiddos. I can teach them, love on them, care for them and in turn be a resource for parents and families. It might not bring world peace or stop hunger but it sure has great potential.

Thank you to all of our friends who prayed for this to happen!

Friday's Thankful Treasures

Me: Hands down UNCLE DAVID being in town! It is always so great to have family visit!

Lydia: Uncle david would have to be at the top of her list to. He did a lot of holding!

AB: The usual (the color green, Poppy, dogs, and the special crackers we share with our friends AKA Matzo bread for communion)

Dustin: Things continuing to fall in place

Thursday's Things Heard...

Things heard when talking about Jesus...

AB: Mommy does Jesus have wings?

Me: No baby, Jesus does not have wings.

AB: But angels have wings and I love you, Mommy.

Me: I love you too.

AB: And Mommy, I love all kinds of dogs.

The other day we were listening to a worship video on YouTube and I told her they were singing to Jesus and with as much excitement as her little body could contain she asked, "Our Jesus?!?!?!"

Wednesday's Something I have never done before

Many of my friends have tried my Monkey Bread but this time I took it a step up and made Gorilla Bread. Same concept as the Monkey Bread but the balls were bigger and filled with cream cheese. Yum! I will say this Paula Deen is a very clever lady. I will also say this, this recipe is ONLY good fresh out of the oven. If you wait too late to serve it, it is just ok, not GREAT!

10/13/10

Tuesday's Taco Salad Family Night...minus the taco salad AGAIN

SHOCKING! (huge gasp of air) Two Tuesdays in a row without Taco Salad! My Uncle David is in town and we decided to go out for a nice dinner. He wanted seafood. We went to Black's Bar and Kitchen. It is some of the fanciest food around. I got to get my absolute favorite dish in the world, Addie's Mussels. I do not know of anyone else in the world that can have their favorite dish at 4 restaurants (soon to be 6 restaurants). Addies, Black Market Bistro, Black's bar and Kitchen, Black Salt. Found out last night it is the Addie's Mussels is his grandmother's recipe and he has it at all of his restaurants. They are opening 2 more soon! I can't wait. Any ways, it was so good to have my favorite dish AND have dinner with Uncle David. Our evening was cut short by a diaper situation with Lydia.

When we got home it was bath time for both the girls. Lydia's was first of course due to our little situation and AB's followed shortly after. After bath time both were placed in their new PJ's that Auntie Vienna, Uncle Joseph and Rhiannon sent up. Fall is here and Halloween is soon! My girls are ready!

Monday's Making it a Home...refinance

Praise the Lord we were able to refinance our mortgage. The rates are at a historic low and we were able to drop our PMI insurance and our monthly mortgage payment is a couple hundred less a month and since we have been a one income family for the duration of my maternity leave it will help tremendously.

I need to take a moment to brag on my husband! He did it all. All the paper work, the research, the applications! No thanks to Bank of America though. They had issue after issue after issue including losing our house note and not having my SSN on file!

Monday the 11th of October was the finish of months of working on this! It will be nice to take a deep breath! Aaahhhhh!

Friday's Thankful Treasures

Here is what the Hedrick Family Treasures this week

AB: a visit from Uncle David (starting tomorrow) She has asked everyday if it is today. It has actually been a great tool for teaching days of the week and length of time and patience! Thanks Uncle David!

Lydia: I am sure you guys loved AB's version of what Lydia treasured last week. I will give it a go this week. I would have to say it is her lady bug night light. There was a night last week, she struggled with falling asleep. She was warm, fed, diapered and clothed so I wasn't in my jurisdiction! Dustin gave it a try and realized her room was too light. He put a bulb in the old nightlight and ba-da-bing she was a sleep in no time!

Me: Dustin's ripped pants last night while bowling! We really needed a good laugh and boy did we ever get one! Laughter does your soul so good and it has been a long time since we laughed.

Dustin: "finishing business stuff"

Thursday's Things Heard...

So if you read my Monday's post you will know that I have this question I am struggling with. How do you teach your child about strangers, yet at the same time, reach out to your community and share the love of Jesus with complete strangers?!?!?!

For those of you who have met my 3 year old, you know she is fearless and very well could be our church greeter if her attention span was long enough. As our church was growing, she was helping me learn everyone's name. She has a great memory and LOVES people!

I am not sure if it was too many episodes of 20/20 or Dateline that did it, but I started feeling like she needed to learn about strangers and how to react, etc.

Here is what one of our beginning conversations looked like:

Mommy: AB, what do you do if a stranger asks you to come in his car for a ride?

AB: I say no!

Mommy: that is right, say no but then say MOMMY!!!! and run away!

Mommy: What do you do if a stranger says do you want to see my puppy?

AB: I say no!

Mommy: that is right, say no but then say MOMMY!!!! and run away!

Mommy: What do you do if a stranger gives you a piece of yummy candy, what do you say?

AB: I say thank you!

Mommy: NO! You say stranger danger! and say MOMMY!!!! and run away!

She sure did make me smile. She is a little polite, miss manners fearless child! I really am working on her!

We tried different combinations and at the end she had the right answer to each scenario!

Pheww!

Now I am just dealing with her pointing to random people and hearing her say "Mommy, she is a stranger I DO NOT LIKE HER" Man that was embarrassing when she said it to the little girl a the library. I am now telling her that if Mommy is there and Mommy talks to the stranger it is ok and she can too, it is when she is alone that she needs to watch out"

URGH!!! Why is this world so messed up that I need to teach my child about all this!!!!!!!

Wednesday's Something I have never done before

I did it. I signed up to receive a kit to be tested to be part of the National Marrow Donor Program. The test is easy. They will send me a kit, I will swab the inside of my cheek, secure it in its container and send it back. It took 5 minutes to register online and will take less than that to use the kit when I get it next week.

This is something Dustin and I debated for a while (him more than me, I was already convinced it was something I was going to do). If someone's life could be SAVED because we donated bone marrow, isn't it silly not to give. When Dustin and I are talking about evangelism and the lost, he often asks me, 'what is the cost of one man's soul? Where do you draw the line?' My thoughts are exactly the same when it comes to donating bone marrow. 'What is the cost of one man's life? Are you going to be selfish?' ( I am not asking you if you are being selfish, it is the question I ask myself...but now that I went there, I think I will ask you....are YOU going to be selfish?)

Got 5 minutes? Go to www.bethematch.org

Bone marrow transplant is a life-saving treatment for people with leukemia, lymphoma and many other diseases. First, patients undergo chemotherapy and sometimes radiation to destroy their diseased marrow. Then a donor's healthy blood-forming cells are given directly into the patient's bloodstream, where they can begin to function and multiply.

For a patient's body to accept these healthy cells, the patient needs a donor who is a close match. Seventy percent of patients do not have a donor in their family and depend on the Be The Match Registry to find an unrelated bone marrow donor or umbilical cord blood.

Tuesday's Taco Salad Family Night...minus the taco salad!

Tonight we did not have taco salad! (Big Gasp of AIR)!!!

I spent a good part of the afternoon at a friends house watching her kiddos and Dustin was in DC for most of the day! Our Family night started off differently and we just decided to "go with it". Chicka told us that Ledo's Pizza was celebrating its 55th anniversary with $.55 personal cheese pizzas. Lydia had been fed and put down for a nap. Dustin was chillin on the couch! It looked like a perfect time for AB and I to hit the road.

We have been pinching pennies the past few weeks. I have been without income during my maternity leave and we are in the process of refinancing our home because we cannot refuse the amazing low interest rate. I think we can splurge $1.10 for dinner for the 2 of us. Once in the car, I started chatting it up to AB and building it up and making her really excited. Its a date!!! Almost there, we got a text from Dustin. Chicka just let him know that its not worth it. The line is OUT THE DOOR! Of course everyone is there. With Dustin's urging we quickly came up with a Plan B.

Chipoltle! We split a steak burrito bowl and each got a water with lemon and salsa on the side. AB mostly ate the salsa. We sat at a bar stool. I had a blast! It was soo good to reconnect with her! I ran into a co-worker and said hello. Then 2 grandpa type dudes had to mention to me that she was gorgeous and that they loved her shoes. Then, because she was such a good eater, I treated her to a muchkin from Dunkin Donuts. While standing in line, one person asked if we were just next door and after saying yes, they said that it really blessed them when AB and I prayed for our meal. Then AB started singing Take me out to the ball game and got another customer to chime in with her. After we each got a muchkin and headed back to our car, another lady asked how old she was, said she was precious and said she reminded her of her daughter when she was that age.

Dinner was not $1.10 for sure but we did manage to keep it under $8. We had a blast!!! I didn't realize how much we both needed that. No Poppy, No Moose, No Lydia Grace! Just Mommy and Anna!

And a side note...how do you teach a fearless child how to reach out to a community and share the love of Jesus but at the same time teach them about strangers and "Stranger Danger!! Stranger Danger!!" ?

Monday's Making it a home

This time I put 1/2 her toys away! I did it for 2 reasons...partly because I am so stinking tired of picking up toys that have a million pieces and partly so she doesn't have to share her special toys (i.e. scooby, her 23 year old barbie toys and stuff like that).

Our house is full of kiddos all the time. Friends from church and soon to be daycare kiddos. This child has to share all the time, day and night 24/7 bless her heart. She needs a break.

So here is what I did. All those broken, cheap happy meal toys, broken and/or missing parts toys were trashed!!! Her "special toys" went up to her room and are not to leave there and we just dont have kiddos upstairs to play. The family room has our "core toys", toys that are easy to clean up when the time comes. (ABC Blocks, doll house, Lincoln Logs, Play food, legos and blocks for towers). The rest of the toys (batteries required, exciting toys, dress up, baby toys, million pieces toys, flash cards, puzzles and games) are in the daycare closet. Those will be rotated in a week at a time and made more special because she doesn't see them all the time.

We have had it this way for a week and let me tell you...it ROCKS! Clean up is super easy. No sharing wars with friends. And it sure does make the one toy at a time rule a lot easier. I have seen her play longer and more independently because the area is organized and spacious and she can really focus on her task at hand! It might not work for everyone but our life is just a bit more crazy and we had to find something that works!

Happy toy playing!

Happy Birthday to a very special friend

Happy Birthday to my Mom, Barbara Chapman!

I love you and hope you have a wonderful weekend and a blessed new year!

Enjoy the video AB made for you.

Friday's Thankful Treasures

Dustin treasures very much his 171 bowling score from last night.

Anna, what do you treasure? "my dad, Cheetos and crackers." Did you say dad or dog? "Dad, I mean my Poppy. Not my puppy, but my Poppy"

Anna, what do you think Lydia treasures? "She is thankful for treasures and the picture of the ladybug on top of the ice cream on the computer and toilet paper and tomatoes and mickey mouse with potatoes and a hat with the leaves and a hat on a flower with a baby and it was on top of the ice cream plate with a blankie and it was all wet and then it falled down and the baby cries. Was that a great story about Lydia mommy?" Maybe next week we will go back to my speculations for what Lydia treasures.

And what do I treasure? Puzzle pieces falling into place.

Thursday's Things Heard...

Things heard while watching Finding Nemo...

Yesterday was a rainy snuggle up under a fuzzy blanket kinda day. We started the day watching Finding Nemo in Mommy’s bed. Isn’t that the best part of anything as a little kiddo when you do it in mommy’s bed. I thought of adding popcorn but we hadn’t had breakfast yet.

Dustin always fast forwards through the part where Nemo loses his mom and siblings but when we got to the part where Nemo gets taken from his dad, I mentioned to Dustin I thought it might be too intense. He said she was fine so I used it as a learning point.

You know the part at the beginning when they are going off to the drop off and

Nemo says: What's that?

Tad: I know what that is. Sandy Plankton saw one. He called it... uh... he said it was called a "butt".

Pearl: That's a pretty big butt.

And Sheldon says: Oh, look at me. I'm gonna touch the butt.

And then Nemo swims all the way out, touches the “butt” and gets captured by a diver on his way back. His dad screams and cries out for Nemo but is unable to save him?!?!

I looked at Anna Beth as serious as I could be and says that is why it is so very important to listen to your Mommy and Poppy. If Nemo listened to his Daddy, he would be safe right now but now he is in danger.

To which she replied...I will always listen to Poppy. I will never touch the butt.

I love this little girl!

Wednesday's Something I have never done before

So what did I do this time, that I have never done before? Glad you asked...

I spoke "southern" on the phone with the bank to be more endearing to the representative at the same time being conferenced in on the phone with someone from the church who was helping with account information I didn't know and had never heard me speak that way.

Recently the discussion has been brought up as to why I do not have a southern accent and am from the south. I told my friends that I dropped it but could pull it out whenever it is needed or if I hang around my family for any length of time. Then of course they asked why I dropped it and here is my story....

I told them about the time I heard my dad's voice on a recorded tape. I questioned him and said it sounded nothing like him and how did he change his voice. He said that he had a business trip to take up in NY and he knew he would not be taken as serious of his accent was as strong as it was. I liked the way he sounded then and much preferred it over the recorded voice from years earlier. If he could drop it so could I. It wasn't then that I decided to drop it. That decision came a few years later.

As I was exiting high school, there were some close friends of mine that picked on certain words I said. Certain words sounded very 'southern'. I lived in Georgia, hello!?!?! After meeting Dustin and knowing deep down we would be married one day, I decided I didn't want my children to have a super thick southern accent. Lord help them if we both sounded like Dustin! So somewhere as we were courting, I slowly dropped it.

This last Friday, Dustin had pulled out our wedding video from over 10 years ago. When I heard my voice, it took my breath away. Look what I had done! My heart sank a little. Why was I so set on dropping it? There was one clip from when I was saying my vows that we played over and over..."to be my husband" Dustin said then that he wished I never dropped it. Man!

So, this morning someone from the church needed me to call BB&T and get our login reset. (for those of you who do not know, BB&T is based in North Carolina) For some reason we had been locked out. I was one of the original people on the account 6 years ago but of course, I haven't had anything to do with the finances once the church grew long enough to have volunteers do it. It doesn't look great to see the pastor's wife in the corner counting money and preparing deposit slips. For some reason the person who called this morning wasn't able to get past all of the automated steps to reset the password and was on the phone for 20 minutes with a rep and still wasn't able to make progress. I called and turned my accent on in a jiffy. The lady was very nice and I talked very slow and sweet. She needed to know some account info that I hadn't messed with in over 4 years so I conferenced in my friend who had asked me to call them in the first place. I talked as southern as I could get. Turns out, my friend had just as many rights with that account as I do but when he called they didn't give him any info. I called, answered the same questions and our account was unlocked AND we didn't even need the password reset.

I attribute it to my southern accent. Maybe she would have given it to me if I talked as a Marylander, maybe not BUT boy did I have fun chatting with her today and now my friend can tell my other friends that I do speak Southern.

Tuesday's Taco Salad Family Night

Family night tonight started the moment Dustin walked in the door with "just because" flowers. I have a very supportive, giving and encouraging husband. After our taco salad and recap of the day, we went downstairs and watched some DVDs we got from the library earlier that day.

Richard Scarry's Best Learning Songs Video Ever

Science Clips for Children Characteristics of Animals

and

Berenstain Bears Mind their Manners

I am using AB as a guinea pig and testing out things for the daycare. I don't think she minds the DVDs so much! She really like the Science one. I had no idea that the library had SO much to offer.

After videos we pottied, got pjs on, brushed teeth, and read some of our new library books. After I tucked her in and sang our songs. Next was Lydia's turn and she was diapered, placed in pjs and kissed on, I looked at the clock! WooHoo it was only 8:45! What a blessing! She had a very full day and by no means felt cheated! This is the first time since Lydia was born that Dustin and I got so much time alone in the evening.

Tonight might be a very boring night to read about but man it was just what I needed! Good night!

Monday's Making it a Home...lovings with lotion

Ok, so this blog is coming a day late. PEPCO left us without power yesterday for over 11 hours! NO power means no internet and no laptop. But here is my Monday's post of how I am trying to make my house more of a home.

I could share with you how I organized the office nook in the corner of my sunroom all day yesterday (the only room with sufficient light since we didn't have power). That definitely made our house more homey but I really feel that God is showing me the importance of making my daughters feel "at home" instead of just running through a daily routine or having orders barked at them. Put your shoes on, stand here, drink your milk, go potty, pick up your toys, do not hug Moose, come here!

Sunday night's bedtime routine was no exception. God really put it on my heart to take a few moments to bless her instead of picking the short books for her bedtime story and rushing though her bedtime songs. We had a craZy weekend!!! It started with a 7AM prayer meeting Saturday AM, out of town guests, community block party, a shortened nap time, dinner with friends, a craZy Sunday AM with me pawning her off someone in the church so I can set up Sunday School, a lunch with 30+ friends, no nap, ice cream with our friends before they headed home and then her Poppy leaving her to go to a Sunday Night small group. Poor thing was spent. I was spent. She was spent. We all were spent. All I wanted to do was rush through her bedtime routine so I could take a HOT bubble bath. But I heard God whisper to me to spend extra time with her.

I put Lydia to bed and grabbed the baby lotion. I went into AB's room, read a new book I had never read her, then I read a classic 'Mommy-Anna Book'. As we put on PJs we said her prayers. She sat in my lap as I read her her bible story. And then I put lotion on her legs and arms. She was very unsure of it and thought it tickled. But then she loved the way it felt on her skin. I continued to lather it on her and silently pray over her. She continued to giggle. Then, I picked her up and put her into bed and rubbed the lotion on her feet. She loved it. We sang her 2 songs and then I turned off her lights.

All I could think is I myself would love for someone to pick me up, rub lotion on my feet and tuck me in. If I felt as spent as I did, surely she picked up on my stress and had stress of her own. What an honor it was to love on her with lotion and lather her in silent prayers.

Thank you Jesus. Please keep teaching me.

Friday's Thankful Treasures

Here is what we treasure this week...

Dustin said "My workout time in the morning along with learning to live in the moments I have with my family."

As for myself, this week I treasure Dustin's surprising me with finding our wedding video and making a digital copy of it. We will be watching it tonight. We have one photo from our wedding on a shelf and every time AB sees it she says, 'That is when Mommy was a princess and Poppy got her. It was before I was born.' This morning I told her that when Poppy comes home she gets to watch a special Princess movie with us. I hope she isn't disappointed that Disney didn't make the movie.

Anna Beth is asleep right now but I can tell you without a doubt what she treasures today! Ice Cream. She has been looking forward to it for 3 days now. She is getting a flu shot at the Dr. today. She knows that she is going to get a "little owwie, a big sticker, and some ice cream with sprinkles and a cone!!!" She has been begging to go to the doctor's office all day!

And again, since Lydia cannot talk, I would have to say that she treasured the moment that I finally quit messing with her this morning and just let her be. She has a 2 month check up today and we had to take a bath and get all nice and dressed up of course and I had to clean behind her ears and extra stuff we do not do everyday! Lotion and the whole nine yards; doesn't every

mom do that? Needless to say, she treasured the moment I was able to mark her off my to do list and move on to breakfast, dishes and laundry.

Thursday's Things Heard...

Things Heard at the dinner table...

Last night as AB sat down for dinner she sang a line from a song and then continued to repeat it: "Twink, twink, twinkle, twinkle lovely little star...Twink, twink, twinkle, twinkle stupid little star."

It stopped me right in my tracks. Did my precious little three year old just say stupid? I got Dustin's attention and said, "I think she just said twink twink S-T-U-P-I-D little star!!!" Before he could even respond she said, "no mommy, I said twink twink STUPID little star!" To which Dustin replied, "well there ya go!"

Of course we had a little chat about why stupid is not the best choice of words and we don't say it in our house! BUT then the search for where in the world she heard it from started. We purposefully do not have TV and we are very selective as to which DVDs she watches. Well, remember my post from last Tuesday...the part where I let her watch the Dr. Seuss movie Green Eggs and ham? There were 2 other short cartoons on the DVD...The Sneetches and The Zax! And apparently there is a song on The Sneetches that has a duck singing a song and in that song they sing Twink, twink, twinkle, twinkle stupid little star.

Dr. Seuss was the last one I thought I would have to preview before I showed it to her. Oh well, now she knows what a bad word is and that we don't say bad words in our house. I was hoping we could have waited a while before we got to this point!

Wednesday's Something I have never done before

This week I got to attach flyers to telephone poles with a strong staple gun. Our church is doing a Community Block Party at the local Elementary School. We went door to door passing out flyers to all of the neighbors and putting the flyers on the telephone poles too!

It is exciting to be able to do this each year for our neighbors and our community. I have always been working full time and not able to help with the prep work. I took the girls with me and we went with some other ladies from the church. As we were going from house to house, I got to pray with one elderly lady and get the mail for another one. AB got some ice cream from the "broccoli truck" and we even gave a lot of flyers to the ice cream man and he will do some advertising for us too. It was nice to get out of the house. It was nice to get some exercise. And it was fun using the staple gun. Now I get to retrace all of our steps next week and take them down.

Tuesday's Taco Salad Family Night

Taco Salad is something we get to depend on each week. Everything else might be crazy or different each week but Tuesday night is something that just brings peace and wholeness to our family. Maybe wholeness is not the right word but I can't think of a better one. It just sets us in the right mood, the right frame of mind, and just does the soul good!

Tonight our family night has an unexpected guest. Anna's friend had to come over because his mommy is at the hospital! We are happy to have him and he is fitting right into our fun night. We had Taco Salad (of course) and they both got clean plate high fives!!!

Then we opened a goodie bag from AB's birthday party. Yes her birthday was at the beginning of July, but in my defense, someone gave me the advice to hold some presents back. A lot of attention would be give to Lydia once she arrived and if we staggered AB's gifts, then she would feel special and important too and an unintended benefit was that she would appreciate each toy more than normal because she could get to choose one at a time. We let her choose one a week. I think I might do it every year, new baby on the way or not because it really helped her to be thankful. Well, to get you back to tonight where we currently are, she was digging in my closet and found the goodie bag that had fallen out of the large bag of all of her gifts. It was from chuck e cheese. Her and her friend got to dig through it, split one piece of candy (come on, i don't like giving plain sugar to children). They then played with some spinning top like toy and split a deck of mini cards.

Because they did so well at dinner they are watching a movie. What movie? Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham.

What is better than Taco Salad, one half a piece of candy, a goodie bag and a classic Dr. Seuss cartoon? I don't think there is anything better than that!

Monday's Making it a Home...37 minutes

What does making it a home look like? Today it looked like waking up at 6:09am. Today is the first day of a routine that Dustin and I started. Hoping it turns into a lifestyle for the 2 of us. We both set our alarm for 6:09 (we carefully calculated how much time we would need and went backwards and landed at that odd time. If we had calculated we needed one more minute we would have set the alarm for 6:08 but no point in doing it if we didn't need that time, huh?

We woke up and each had a few minutes of prayer time by ourselves. We then joined together for a time of prayer together, out loud, pouring our hearts to God for us, our marriage, our family, our church and our jobs. Then it was on to the family room. We did a 20 minute work out! Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred. We both need to get fit and this is the first time we did something like this together. Then it was on to showering, getting ready for the day and feeding a little baby.

After Dustin left, I was able to make some coffee and sit down and go over the bible study for this Wednesday's night small group. By the time Anna Beth was up and about, I was in a great place mentally to bring on the day. I felt confident that I could take today on and all that it brought. I think a huge part of that came from my prayers this morning asking God to order my steps and to PLEASE PLEASE guide me. Give me wisdom ad show me how to be the mom Anna Beth needs!

Its only 10:30 right now and we have had a wonderful morning. I made us banana waffles and we did an arts and crafts project she has been begging me to do. Its an annoying little craft that has 5,000,000 pieces and is for ages 5 and up. It is the kind where you put beads on a peg board and iron it so they fuse together. Her YaYa bought it for her and I was going to save it for a later day but she found it and has been begging to do it ever since. Today I surprised her with it. Poor thing probably thought she would never be able to do it based on the number of times I told her no last week. She was so very excited. Even though she wasn't able to do the craft all on her own because of the difficulty level, we used it as a chance to learn to sort colors and to count by actually touching objects instead of just pointing to pictures in a book.

I timed our bead project. Start to finish was 37 minutes. I probably spent 37 minutes last week saying no. Now we have an owl made of beads on our fridge. When she sees it she will probably remember being so excited to make it and remember how fun it was to sort all the beads. When I see it, I will be reminded not to say no all the time and that 37 minutes spent with my daughter making memories is priceless and when she is grown up and married I would give anything to have just another 37 minutes with her.

Friday's Thankful Treasures

What do we treasure?

I asked Dustin what he treasured today via text and here was his reply: "Seriously, you and my girls. I really do. The busier I am the more I love you guys. Strange isn't it?" I asked him if he was sure he wanted to use this one so early in the game and I would be posting it each Friday. He stuck with his answer.

My treasure this week is a bible verse I read again. It's so cool to re-read one and it speaks to you differently. Lamentations 3:22-24 ²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. ²³ Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. ²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

Anna Beth, what are you most thankful for this week? "My green blankie!" (thanks Aunt Donna...3 years and counting! Still the most favorite thing)

Lydia, since she can't speak, I am just going to speculate. I will have to say she treasured me this morning at 6am when I went into her room. She smiled so big at me and I got a coo!

Thursday's Something I have never done before

Call me crazy, but I have never used those recyclable grocery bags. I don't know what they are really called but I thought they were silly. Just another save-the-world-and-make-the-store-a-lot-of-money kinda things. I took 6 with me that I had collected over the year. I didn't buy them, they were either left at my house after a church pot luck, a meal was brought in them when Lydia was born, or a freebie from a vendor at work. I take that back, I did buy one, well it came with a meal. I ordered a LOT of food from Crisp and Juicy one time and that is what they put my food in.

Anyways, the lady kindly took my bags. I still couldn't figure out her thoughts on them. I am not sure if she is annoyed by having to use the customers own bags. Isn't it easier to just use the plastic bags that are right in front of her.

I must tell you my motivation for bringing my own bags was two fold. First, I knew I would be needing to write something I have never done before. Secondly, I got so stinkin tired of the million plastic bags that would collect in my kitchen. I tried all the special holders that you can get for them. I even made one of my own; a empty kleenex box is perfect. You can cram about 15 or so bags in there and it doesn't take up that much space. Our problem was that we had like 1,500 bags. I tried the paper bag route as well until I saw a tiny baby roach in the last paper bag I brought home. I had my breaking point and I do not think I will ever turn back.

I think the thing I enjoyed most was how easy it was to carry the heaver items such as 2 liter bottles. I like they way it fits back into the cart. You can see what is in each bag. As you put them into your car you can see which bag has your bread and eggs and be sure not to crush them.

I did buy a reusable bag that day, but not for myself. As I had all the groceries on the belt, I had a little separate pile. I had dinner for a friend that just had a baby. Yes, I just had a baby myself, I know that. Hence me buying the refrigerated pasta, sauce, a bagged salad, and a fresh pie from the bakery. The could make it that night in like 4 minutes or they could throw it in the fridge and eat it later after they ate all the yummy leftovers from people that brought them real food. Anyways, I asked the cashier to put theirs in a separate bag. It felt nice to put their meal in one of those bags. It was nice than putting it in a plastic bag or worse a paper bag with a baby roach!!!