what i call unappropriate

last week, i went to old navy to shop for me and my girls. they had rows and rows of these, which i thought were skirts. after several minutes of feeling like an idiot and being shocked, i realized they were shirts. for kids. sizes 5-16. are they kidding me? she is in a small, 6-7, in a strapless shirt? ummm...no. i feel like writing them a letter. i did march straight to the toddler side to make sure there were none in claire's size. there were not.

i did comment on the receipt survey when i got my code for my next 10% off. i am not spending my 10% off on a tube top for my 6 year old! i am sure they are considering my feelings.

jamie and i should really begin a campaign.

i am a sucker for a good chic flick

loved this movie. i sat down at 8:30 p.m. alone, by myself you see and watched it for for 2 hours! i didn't fold clothes or pay bills or enter receipts or "blawwg", just watched.

Jane - "I feel like I just found out my favorite love song was written about a sandwich."

Big Boy

he is getting so big - makes me a bit sappy. he is watching tv with his daddy. they love anything outdoorsy so it is a toss-up between man vs. wild, fishing, motorcycles or the history channel.
i think i need to cry, good excuse for a diet coke...and ice cream. :)

Quicksand

I woke up this morning thinking about quicksand and I can not get it off my mind. So, I did some research. By former knowledge, I thought quicksand would drown you immediately if you stepped in enough to suck you down. However, this article states the facts. Most of it is not more than a few feet. "The more you struggle in it the faster you will sink. If you just relax, your body will float in it because your body is less dense than the quicksand." If you relax. If you relax. If you relax. That is the key, with me anyway. I feel like I am in quicksand, daily. However, I do not relax in my quicksand. I either want to bury myself and forget it all or I struggle to catch my breath and only do more damage. Neither of those things will help me as a child of God, a wife, a mother or a bookkeeper. So, what will? Grace - undeserved and God given. If I choose to access God, move in His grace and keep my eyes on Him, He will not ever fail me. Will I be the perfect child of God? No, never but if I relax with Christ, I will keep my head up and not sink. Will I still find frustration and hurt? Of course, but I have the Word to hold on to so that I will not remain in the clutches of the enemy. Like that quicksand, the enemy wants to suck back into that miry pit. But, I will not let him. I hope you will not either.

Eph 3:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.

Eph 1 :18-20 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. . .

1 Peter 1:1-5

Psalm 30: 1-5

Landscaping project

These were the beginning source of our landscaping project. I never liked these things, pink bricky pavers or something...no offense if you have them in your yard!

"Drainage" came in the middle of the stone work. Craig built french drains and a gutter drain to prevent the house from flooding when a SE Texas monsoon decides to pass by.These are our new stone pieces that my VERY patient and pleasant (most of the time) hubby placed securely with a chisel, shovel and hammer, it took 7 weeks. The ones on each side of the sidewalk are fit into the dirt in order to hold soil.
The stones (and I quote, over and over) were like putting a giant puzzle together made by mother nature.
We also had new sidewalks made. One of my fave plants are geraniums, mine usually rock, as far as plants are concerned .
He also made the flower beds longer and wider. Yes, we could use sod but we used the sand from the sidewalk construction. He is too tired to lay it and too broke to buy it. Do not mention to him the people down the street who had a new driveway and sidewalks and brand new sod laid the next day by men with names on their shirts. (quote again). I think it almost caused him to cuss, but he did not, he doesn't do that. Btw, normally he plants everything but actually I bought and planted flowers b/c his energy ran low and I was told to begin planting. :)This is just a backyard shot of my impatiens, I love them. Their name kinda sticks with me and I bought a bunch. Ever heard the phrase " your money is down the drain?" Ours really is: french drains, back-breaking man made drains, plumbing drains, sewer drains, you get the picture. :)

Steven Curtis Chapman

Most of you have probably heard by now, but his little 5 year old girl was killed. So often, we hear about situations like this and it is just so hard to understand. I cannot imagine the pain of this family. Just this week, my girls have loved hearing his new song, Cinderella, which he wrote for his daughters. Please pray for this family as well as many others who suffer such loss. You can read the full story here.

Will blog 4 shoes

This post was actually Craig's idea. I quote him, "You should blog about allllll the shoes we have around this house. I picked up all of the shoes in this box just in the yard!"
Point taken. Does he want me to teach his children to pick them alllll up each evening or does he want me to buy more...with my blogging skills or throw some away?
Actually, he must have forgotten that I have done all 3 of those thing. This basket of shoes stays outside by the back door. I also have a shelf in the garage of boots for outside wear as well as a container in between the dryer and washer that contains shoes. I am organized, it just gets out of kink...every so often. And, I am constantly telling the girls to pick up their shoes!

So, what does one do with this command? SHOE SHOP!

These are Will's new shoes - S & M Bargain City - Jumpin' Jacks for under $15, normally over $30.
Claire's new Stride Rite clogs - 14.99 She also got a darlin' pair of Stride Rite white sandals for less than that. She was too fast to get a pic in them.My new crocs are about a month old but I decided I needed a dressy pair of sandals so I got these Kenneth Cole's for $20. You cannot tell but they "sparkle."
Faith could not find any "cheap shoes" as she called them, because I kept telling her ones she chose were too expensive. So, she opted for 3 pairs of shorts for $4 each at Old Navy. And, best of all, I cleaned out a bunch of shoes today, some put away to save, some trash and some giveaways. All in all, I think it was a great idea for my sweet husband to tell me to blog about shoes, it led to shopping. :)

Show me Your glory

(You can press pause on my annoying player, bottom right of blog if you choose to listen to God tube.)
This song has ministered to me lately. I posted previously about my friend, Crystal. During her trial (not that it is over), every time I called Tim's cell phone to get an update , that song was his ring. It kinda drove me nuts b/c considering the situation, it always made me cry. Sometimes I could not leave a message. Anyway, one morning I was praying and searching for scriptures, one in particular concerning healing that Crystal & I had prayed years ago, in Exodus. While reading in that book, I came across Exodus 33. This passage interested me as it discusses Moses & God's glory.

Moses states that he cannot go without God (to lead his people) and God replies that He will send His presence. Moses says he cannot go without God's presence. God says He will do as Moses asks because he has found grace in His sight and He knows him by name. Moses reply? Show me your glory. Interesting, since he had spent more time in God's presence than anyone and He still wanted more. more and more.

Exodus 33: 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

God showed me on that Tuesday morning that He would be glorified through Crystal's situation. I am sorry to say that I forgot it, by Wednesday night. . .brain swelling, slurred speech, 31 week baby, I just forgot. But, God showed His mercy on them and I am so thankful God did not forget. I do not think Tim forgot either, he remained faithful and believed God. She is healing, Zach is healing, His glory is shining through big as day now, but it was 3 weeks ago too.

He is so faithful.

James 1:25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

This is me...

according to Claire. The class chose pictures of their "mothers" out of magazines. I am quite a hottie, maybe even a superstar besides the fact that "I" am preggo in this pic. I laughed and laughed. I do not think she even knew it she just loved the dress, her teacher told me she would not let her cut it off to fit the page b/c she loved the dress. (Or, she notices my tummy sticks out, not due to pregnancy.) Poor child, she can count the times she has seen me dressed up. And, have I ever looked like that?!?!
My mom's favorite color is pink.
Her favorite thing to eat is spaghetti and pizza. (I think that is actually her fave.)
The best thing she cooks me is magic beans. (?)
For fun she like to play with me and that's it.
The prettiest thing she wears is a pink tank top.
My fave thing to do with my Mommy is to go to the beach with her, Daddy and Chloe.

maybe not a good thing

but a fun, creative thing: Etsy. My sister and several bloggers I stalk have got me hooked...so fun to browse! I think it is good I never found this place when I was pregnant.

ped egg

i got this for mother's day and honestly it works! i am such a pedi fan and this is the niftiest gizmo, just had to share. i think it came from walgreens. :)

Since it is your day,
I have something to say:

Don't lift your head.
Have breakfast in bed!

Just take a look . . .
You don't have to cook!

I don't like to brag
But it's breakfast in a bag!

Happy Mother's Day 2008


** Faith brought my Mother's Day present home from school yesterday and she just could not wait to give it to me so she chose this morning! It contained a clementine orange, a bag of tea, granola bar, Hershey kiss and a sweet napkin. She helped me make the tea and then decided she might want the chocolate. Of course, I gave it to her. As I drove her to school, she was so excited that I was drinking my tea. (I did not tell her that I switched the tea bag to decaf when she was not looking, she would have been devastated but the caffeine would have put me in the ER.) Then, Will and Claire split my orange. I saved the bag and laughed as I ate my granola bar. I keep smiling, precious (and typical) memories.

what a mess

but guess what? the washer & the sink work and, we can flush the toilet! Hallelujah!

LiL' SaiLor

did not feel like cooperating for a pic, he would rather eat.

dirty clothes & french fries

pretty much sums up my day. my feet and my head ache. the HUGE plumbing/broken pipe/rerouting/tear up yard-concrete-wall process begins thursday. but until then, i have a lot of dirty clothes. i started washing across the street at donna's this morning and i dry at my house. thank God they love us so much to share the washer since my line is b-u-s-t-e-d. then, i worked at church, got my haircut, worked out, ran an errand or 7 and then picked up kids, played polly pockets, met at school for an art contest, went to outreach and then...worked the concession stand at the ball field for 2 hours & 50 minutes. i am not bitter, just beat. or maybe i am both? however, it does not matter b/c the french fries were great!

oh and also, we switched plumbing companies = better deal, less hype.

Cinderella 2008

Faith & Zoe - Holly (Zoe's mom) and I call them Mutt & Jeff, one short and one tall. :) Posing for the group picture. The fireflies were on the front row.

Claire insisted on dressing up for Saturday's performance. I learned a lesson: take small children to the school performance, it is much better suited for them. (Must be why they call it a SCHOOL performance.) She loved watching the ballet but could not understand why she was not on the stage.
We had meltdown by this point, 5th performance & all. The only people smiling were my parents, they were laughing b/c my girls were out of control. I also think they were glad they were grandparents, not the parents!

Where was will? I left him out of the pics...he stayed home. Maybe next year? However, if you ask Faith, she is taking a break in 2009. :)

This cannot be good...

he has been here for hours. the line is stuck behind the washer, possible broken pipe. tunneling, re-routing = $. that is all i hear. not to mention, they may have to dig up around our new sidewalks, that are not even 2 weeks old! headache. 41 year old pipes. bitterness .creeping. in. i must post cinderella pics next, much better choice.