I love fall!

here i am

Hi Blog.

I'm alive, and I didn't forget about you. But- I AM POOPED. So here is an update in pictures because, guess what... Got my camera!! Yay!

Hubs trying out the camera on his favorite subject

(after the dog... yeah we got a dog GASP)

Cousins dancing/fighting/playing at the district last night

Bust a move

Elephant Karate?

In love with my little guy

And also my big guy

And the peanut too (she's saying "teeeeese")

Behold... The animal that lives in my house.

He is also called brown dog. We have no name for him yet.

"Pregnant at Sixteen"

My new guilty pleasure is MTV's "Sixteen and Pregnant" show. I have now seen two episodes.... each episode is a day-by-day of a high school girl who happens to be pregnant. When I decided to tune my DVR in I expected to see a few responsible moms and then a lot of whiney girls. So far I have been incredibly impressed and moved to tears by these girls.

The situations they are in are HUGE and overwhelming and scary and exciting. I am just blown away by the manor in which these girls... these high school girls have just picked up and became mom. Both episodes were about girls who were star students and devout cheerleaders to boot. They both finished school and immediately started college.... and took labor by storm.

The episode tonight- Farrah.... while getting a tour of the hospital a few weeks before her due date the camera pans to her face and she looks terrifed. The look on her face resinated with me- deep. Hesitating to ask "gross" (her mom's word) questions she looks at her mom for reassurance and her mom rushes her along telling her not to worry about these "gross" questions right now. My heart just sank for her. I wanted to hug her and tell her all about episitomys, mucus plugs, and breast feeding (which she opted not to do because her mom told her it would make her boobs sag).

Farrah's mom made me feel even more grateful for the support of my family- my mom especially. How would things have turned out if my mom had shunned my questions and hesitated to help me labor? I feel like she was this minature (no, seriously like 5'0'') cheerleader clapping and clapping and clapping and cheering her loudest for me (she still does). And Jessica... my backbone! Jessica who didn't give me any dissapointed-in-you looks and was always there for anything my pregnant appetite could have dreamed up. Oh Applebee's Blondies you will forever reside in me... in the form of enourmouse love handles.

Back to Farrah- she's awesome and I feel led to pray and support all of these young moms. Maybe God has something in store for me...

Pregnant at 19.

My room turned nursery. SO TIRED lol.

I still wake up this way. Best way to wake up- EVER.

Recent Girl's Gone Child post.

"Annie, Drop Your Gun "
posted by Girl's Gone Child on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 12:33 AM

The other day, while walking the dogs, a little boy extended his hand out a window.

"BANG BANG BANG!" he said. "You're all dead."

I was walking the dogs, Fable in her stroller, Archer on his scooter. I turned to him and then looked away. Pretended not to hear him, let it bother me. We kept walking.

Archer didn't respond and I got to wondering how he would have had he known and understood what the little boy was doing. Had he known and understood what a gun was, how it was meant to be used.Violence in any form churns my stomach. Always has. I turn away from violence in movies, forbid my children to watch movies where characters "good" OR "bad" kill one another. (That's why I like CARS. The only "bad" guys in CARS are the character's egos. No one dies or tries to kill anyone. The conflict is on the interior. Much more kid-friendly.) But I digress. I've been thinking quite a bit lately about weapons and violence, specifically the way violence is depicted on television - comic book superheroes saving the world by killing "bad guys"... "bad guys" that lurk in shadows and under beds and behind the mirror glass.

Many of Archer's friends at school carry X-Men lunchboxes, wear Spiderman shoes, Batman T-shirts. Archer doesn't know who Spiderman is. Or Superman. Or Wolverine. Or any comic book superheroes. The only television he sees is peaceful. I turn the television off when there's a preview for a show that involves violence of any kind.

Recently I've been wondering if this constitutes as sheltering.Oh my God, am I sheltering him? Am I?I've written at length about empowerment, about truth and telling it with eyes open, the heart exposed. I believe that fear comes from our inability to see, to trust and understand, educate and yet when it comes to guns, to violence, I can't do it. I can't talk about guns or weapons without feeling sick and sad, even fearful.

So goes my paradox: I'm afraid that by educating my child I will scare him. I will scare myself.We live in one of the largest cities in the world. Where drive-bys occur blocks from us. Where break-ins happen regularly. Where our own things have been stolen, our cars broken into, our things swiped from our porch. Three years ago, a man carjacked my husband at gun-point, stole his car and left him on the side of the road. He had just left the set of his job for his lunch break. There were dozens of witnesses. Everyone watched in shock.Many pro-gun advocates argue that carrying a weapon can ensure ones safety. I disagree. Had my husband been armed with a weapon and used it to defend himself someone could have easily been killed. Instead? Hal lost his car for two days until the cops recovered it in South Central where they arrested and jailed the criminal.

Using gun as defense seldom works to defend. Guns used as offensive weapons? Different story.I lost three friends in gun-related accidents in High School and since graduation. Two were accidental. One was suicide. I grew up in upper middle class suburbia where everyone lived gated existences. There was NO REASON for them to have handguns in the house. None. If gun control existed, I would have three friends alive. PERIOD.

Do I carry a gun in my house? Never. Do I believe in the right to bear arms? Yes. But I believe there should be stricter regulations. I believe that fear is the worst possible reason to carry a weapon and therefor will never understand why so many feel the need to "protect their families," especially when housed in gated communities in middle-class suburbs, alarms activated.

What are you afraid of? Guns are far more likely to kill innocent people than criminals when kept inside the home. Period.That being said, am I being naive to think I can shelter my son from fear by keeping violence away from his eyes? Perhaps. Is it important to teach gun safety to people of all ages? Yes. Will I be teaching my child how to properly use a weapon? No. Because I don't believe he should know how to kill.

To keep a handgun in one's house insinuates, in my opinion, a certain amount of fear, which is why guns are so scary.There will never be a happily ever after story involving guns because guns were invented with the sole intent to take life.For me, it all comes down to fear and teaching our children to resist it as much as they possibly can. I will be educating my children to live peaceful lives. To love and respect and stand up for themselves in ways that are empowering.And in my household? Guns will not be factoring into that equation.

GGC

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My husband's response soon to follow (and also mine)... Until then, you can read the comments on Rebecca's post HERE.

________________________________________________________________

Also, a preview of my husband's response:

now, to figure out how to get the rest of it off.

update on the wallpaper (addison's).... she took off most of the wall she hadn't touched yet- pretty much one big swipe and half the border is gone. she's like a cat. wish my camera worked because then i'd post a picture of her beautiful wallpaper artwork. since i can't post a picture, just imagine her beautiful little pink and dainty room with TRASHED WALLS.
bless her heart. dsgfhjdskfhdgfjbvh,h

ZZZZzzzZZZzzz

poor kids are sick. tate gasps for air and then coughs- we will be going to the doctor tomorrow.

i'm exhausted and its only sunday.

sigh.

just because this picture makes me smile.

oh look, it was before addison ripped the wallpaper off of her wall...

Ran across this article on AOL news...

"Saturday's D-Day anniversary ceremony in France was meant to be a somber event, memorializing the men who died at Omaha Beach 65 years ago. Dignitaries from France, Great Britain and Canada were in attendance. But as is usually the case when the Obamas are around, all eyes were on the American first couple. Specifically, Michelle Obama. Michelle's outfit, that is. But she wasn't the only one creating style buzz -- the fashion world was all atwitter when both Michelle and the French first lady, former model Carla Bruni, both showed up to the event in white. A coincidence? Most definitely. Still, Bruni's cream Dior dress and Obama's white Narcisco Rodriguez coat, which she wore over a Michael Kors sheath dress and cinched with a Givenchy belt, paired well. Fabulous first ladies think alike -- but did they dress for the occasion?

According to the Telegraph, a UK newspaper, "there will be some questions asked over whether a light, summery colour is disrespectful on a sombre day of remembrance. [British first lady] Sarah Brown stayed with the tradition of sober attire, safely putting her out of the way of fashion attention."

Never one to shy away from bright colors and eye-catching outfits, Obama probably will catch flack for wearing white. By this time, she's used to catching as much criticism as she does praise for her often daring fashion choices. It doesn't stop her from thinking outside of the box when it comes to first lady style.""

By Lauren Williams

You can see the picture HERE


-My opinion? She may not have been trying to offend or disrespect anyone but she wasn't thinking about the possibility, or she did and thought "Who cares?", that says more to me than the white.

warning: sister-in-law... i have sex with your brother and document the fact here. just the fact, not details- don't freak out. read if you please.

oh dear blog, its been so long.

two exciting suprises this week... the hubs came home for lunch not one, but two times in his -gasp- uniform. i confess, i really married him for the uniform. i don't know if you understand, but he doesn't come home for lunch and i never see his uniform. not even to take it to the dry cleaners (but that's another story).

for the past few weeks i have felt confidence in praying that hubs would have this unquenchable thirst and longing for closeness with me even more than ever. and God sent him home for lunch, and then he got to sleep before 5 am and we got to sleep together. and we did it... you know- it, more than never so that was good. great. awesome. and whenever we do it we have jokes for days. i always feel like we have this little inside joke or secret we get to giggle about to eachother from across the room.

the uniform, and also, hubs in it.

hubs. daddy. joshua has also uncovered a whole new relationship with tate. they now have a weekly "daddy and tate day"- no girls allowed (which i am TOTALLY fine with) where they go do some activity just the two of them. it has seemed to just work this incredible morphing miracle on their relationship. josh seems to have miles more patience and encouragement for tate, and tate has these sparkly eyes when he looks at daddy. they have stories to tell mom and addy all about when they get home and souveniers too! this week was their third date and they went to the 51's game with matching mohawks and came home with the worst hot dog breath in the history of hot dog breath. the week before they went to the park and then to papa's house to be men and work on the boat. tate is still talking about the noise the boat made. the week before that was their first date and they went to the shark reef in the mandalay bay- tate came home with a shark t-shirt that he is so proud to wear. so proud. i wish i had pictures to share but they dont take pictures- they are men. or whatever.


in other amazing news my new car is the bees knees to go grocery shopping in.


AND in three weeks we are taking our first... by ourselves... planned by us... funded by us... family VACATION! we will be enjoying sea world as a family, and joining us will be my oldest friend, ashlee bonafede (if she isn't "home" i dont know what is). i cannot wait to see my kids gasp at all of the animals, and touching starfish, and petting dolphins, and getting splashed by shamu (or whatever his name is these days), and eating ice cream while watching shamu.

oh camera, why are you broken?

A girl should be two things...

Just had to share these decals because... well, you have to see them. If only my husband would agree to putting one of these in our house...

Etsy.com, We are best friends.

I think I have finally found what I want on that retarded wall in my living room.

If you have ever been to my house... you know the one I'm talking about. It always has a total of three awkward pictures hanging up over my couch to the right of my verticly-hung framed mirror (asked hubs to hang over the couch.. came home... mirror "over" the end of the couch and verticle. But hung very well and does not move or fall off.)- I often switch these pictures out and stand in front of this wall scratching my head and sighing. This wall is the most awkward of walls.

I have been searching for something affordable (and by affordable I mean really super duper cheap... like so cheap it makes hubs smile) to help this space and by george I think I have found it....

Decals! Love this tree decal. But do I want a horizontal or something like a birch tree growing out of my floor (you'll only be able to see the top half)?

Here's the part Josh will like... This is only about $34.00... YAY!

I like this one too. All of the colors are customizable. I think the kids need wall decals in their rooms too... What did the world do without Etsy.com? God only knows.

Life is Good

My prayers have been answered!

God seems to be showing himself very clearly to my family... especially about this car thing.

Josh and I prayed and prayed at car dealerships, on the way to car dealerships, before we called the dealerships, when we left the dealerships, during bedtime prayers with the kids, while scrolling through craigs list and then some.

We found the perfect SUV a couple of times! But, when we sat down to talk money no one could meet us at our budget. I was ready to pinch a few salesmen and Josh shot one. just kidding. I couldn't believe how difficult these guys were to deal with- impossible! Ford Country held us hostage while they continued to show us the same piece of paper with the same numbers on it 1,789,234,667,773,045.45 times. In order to get out Josh had to hulk up. He turned green and ripped his clothes apart and said something like "give me my car keys...RAWR" (they had our keys so they could look at our car as a trade in).

After three days of dealerships, and salesmen with transition sunglasses, and highlights we retreated to craigslist at home. just incase, you know? Lo and behold Josh finds the exact car we looked at at all of the dealrships for $8000 less than we had seen anywhere. Sent the guy an email and the rest history... or actually the rest is sitting in my driveway. If that isn't God at work right there I don't know what is.

Yesterday while the guy (aka the seller) was signing over his car he says to Josh, "I must have been drunk when I listed this... you guys are getting a REALLY good deal."

We Know. :o)

Would God get some guy liquored up so we could have the perfect car?

God works in mysterious ways!!

I do not purposely space out paragraphs with triple spaces... it just does that and is so annoying.

I'm back.

Holy Moly- I worked four whole days in a row. Can't remeber the last time I did that. It was fun, but I missed my babies... and Josh too.

So I think my husband is damaged. Well, more like a faucet with the hot and cold labels mixed up. I'll elaborate...

Wednesday I go to work and leave a very small list of "please please pretty please attempt to do this while I'm at work" which included things like "bathe the children", "clean up the dishes when you are done" and the doozy... "wipe down the bathroom because we have a 3 year old little boy with terrible aim and this must be done in order to keep a bathroom smelling like soap and perfume and nice things and not PEE"- so I get home from work and husband has shampooed the carpet.

"YAY!! it looks beautiful!! but tomorrow please be sure to wipe down the bathroom."

"oh yeah, I will."

Thursday I come home.

"I bathed the children! AND wiped down the table."

"YAY! they smell delicious! but tomorrow please remember to clean the bathroom? Please Please pretty please?"

"Yeah, sure."

Friday I walk in the door dreaming of sparkling toilets.

"I'm running the cleaning cycle on the oven... that's why its so hot in here. - and I cleaned the microwav"

"Best husband award. I love you! Tomorrow... bathrooms?"

"YES geez!"

Saturday I came home to a beautiful house freshly vacuumed, not a toy in sight, even all the pillows arranged nicely on the couch.

I love my husband and all of his crossed wires. Guess what? I totally got over the bathrooms and cleaned them on Sunday. All glory to God that I let that one go and even got away with only a pinch of frustration and plenty to laugh about.

I probably would have never run the cleaning cycle on the oven or shampooed the carpets (chemdry!) but I would have of course cleaned the bathrooms. So by asking hubs to do something he never did I got twice as much done. BORDERLINE AMAZING.

I wonder what would happen if I asked him to make the bed....? Maybe he'd paint my living room! A girl can dream...

all in all I love the hubs and he can shampoo a mean carpet.

took this on thursday. she loves her daddy.

So, I totally did not expect that story to take five pages to write but it did and anything else that happened in my life will have to wait, with the exception of one update.







CAR SHOPPING.... TOMORROW.





a few more...




cousins

being sick totally sucks. especially since i am nose-blowing challenged and my nose is dripping to my knees. my left nostril is completely nonfunctioning. relief will come tomorrow when i can sit at work and not refill babas, and wait for puppies to potty, and chase my 3 yr old up the stairs 17 times until he goes to sleep, and hold both of my children at the same time because one of them is afraid the other will take me away for ever- thats what it means when brother sits on mommy's lap right?



why am i not in bed.



i need to go get into bed and finish Rockabye (by rebecca woolf, author of Girls Gone Child) which is getting entirely too dramatic for me. every chapter is turning into how she doesn't fit in with the "average" mom. and how she desperately never ever ever wants to be like the other mothers with the kids in the matching gap sweaters. listen here, rebecca... THEY WERE ON SALE.



i may be getting irritated because i have this peeve about people who try constantly to be unlike everyone else so bad that they turn self centered and judgemental and just plain annoying about it.



in this one chapter she talks about freaking out at a mommy and me play group while they are all sitting around singing songs like row your boat and the itsy bitsy spider. all the mothers were all the same and their kids were dressed all the same and she just couldnt take it. what? the itsy bitsy spider is an okay song... it never bothered me that its not indie. so she makes up her own words to these songs. whatever lady.



although this being indie and different and not fitting in part is annoying i really do love the rest of the book and her honesty about motherhood and unplanned parenting and brand new marriage. and she really is a great writer. and i love relating to her obsession with her son. but seriously, get over being unlike everyone else and just be comfortable in your own skin. i promise... no one cares.



maybe i'm just grumpy because my nose doesn't work.



boho chic baby clothes are pretty cute though, in all their not-a -gap-sweater glory.

check out rebecca's daughter Fable's darling outfits here if only i had the time to put this much thought into my kids' outfits. sweaters and tights and shoes and layers and oh my. my kids are lucky they have clean clothes. even if i did pull them out of the pile of clean laundry in the basket in the hall needing to be folded. which reminds me...

...Joshua?

Prospect flowergirl dresses

These are all custom-made dresses from Etsy.com stores.
Kim's colors are teal and black with hot pink flowers.
All of the bridesmaids will be wearing black, but she suggested Addison wear white with a teal ribbon or something similar. I'm not sure miss Kim is aware of the Etsy wonder world so I plan to introduce her to these DARLING dresses and see if she likes.... 'cause I likes.

Because these are all customizable she can pick and choose elements from all of them... eventhough she suggested white for Addy I think in this day and age 1.5 yr olds can totally pull off black just like the bridesmaids (no matter what her daddy says... he says she shouldnt get her ears pierced at this age either- what does he know). SO, what do you think of black tulle, pink flower, teal ribbon? teal tulle and ribbon with pink flower? white tulle and ribbon with pink flower plus teal ribbon design?

I have to say I was not into the black tulle until I saw the picture below.

My favorite dress deisgn so far is the one with two ribbons over each arm that tie into two bows in the back (picture below- baby with headband).

But then, the teal damask dress is so classy and just darling. Love that too. replace brown ribbon with black- voila!

Your input is valued. :o)

Double ribbons pictured here.

so you have to picture this one without the weird bun things in her hair...

black?

my fam dam

so listen to this...

watching the duggars on TLC and they go to the christian film festival and see Fireproof, starring Kirk Cameron (what a cutie... and he has 6 kids- holy crap), and then later get to meet him. I have yet to see the movie but apparently there's a scene at the end of the movie where the couple share a passionate kiss. one of the little duggar boys askes mom if the couple is married... and she says yes. so when they meet Kirk they ask him about that scene, and he says that in order to honor the marriage in the film and also his own marriage they had his wife come to the set and dress as the actress to share the kiss with her hubby.

i just thought that was the sweetest thing.

speaking of sweet things, tomorrow is wednesday and that means joshua is off! yay!

i'd also like to report that he hasn't smoked in almost three weeks. i am so relieved and so proud of him. i've also noticed that he's one million trillion times more attractive and cuddly when he doesn't smell like 7eleven. i never would have guessed i'd marry a smoker. well, he didn't smoke when i married him... then he did. gross. i never would have guessed i'd be a mother of two at 23 years old either.

i have to say that i am more relieved about my life since becoming a mom than i ever was. being pregnant with tate really put the fact that God is in control in capital letters. Jesus has called me to be a mom- and i love it.

but.

there are days when i sit back and say what happened? i'm not going to school, i can't support myself and my kids if something were to ever happen to josh, i don't really have a job, and right now my future is kindergarden and potty training yet another child. i think i've started the motherly battle all of us moms will fight the rest of our lives... if my mom is any example. i want to be in school- excerising my brain! i want to be working and contributing to my household... but that means my kids miss out on their mom and thats not fair.

when i talk to my friends who are in school or who have graduated or are graduating... or i just see a picture of someone in my class graduating college i feel so small. and i get this feeling in my stomache, like i feel sick with guilt or jealousy. my whole life i dreamed of graduating college and then i dreamed of my wedding. i dreamt of being this woman with a career and brains... brains for miles... brains coming out my ears! and then...

i hear God.

and he says "your children are a gift", "i'm in control", "its my plan", "take care of my children", "continue to listen to me", "love and respect your husband" and then i exhale and remember that my life is full of God, and love, and my very own warm household, and my very own little family, and hugs from little hands, and slobber kisses, and my josh who loves me and protects me.

college will come in God's time. but for now i have important business; bedtime stories, potty training and the like.

for your viewing pleasure

and my boys.

its my life.

Thanks God :o)

that boy...

dog comes home this week. oh me oh my.





and i'm working 2 whole days this week. holy moly what will i do!?





and tate's first t-ball game is saturday... yay! details to come after practice on wednesday.





i think tate broke a record for how many times a kid has been on timeout. ugh. i'm exhausted.
PEACE OUT

an oldie but a goodiereason for the oldies? my camera is broken.

good news: june (new camera $$) is closer.

easter and the princess

so i'm watching bridezilla's right now. these women are ridiculous.


anyway. easter was so nice and relaxed... although, we were missing a few family members. the easter bunny came last night and hid 11 eggs (would have been tweleve but i have a 3 year old) and the kids quickly found them. tate was so suprised at "that silly easter bunny!"

daddy spent the morning trying to convince him that easter eggs are infact easter bunny poop. this kid went from annoyed that daddy could be so ignorant to very upset at how disrepectful he was being to the easter bunny... insisting he had pooped in THE LIVING ROOM.


church service was nice, but lonely sitting there in my sunday "best" all by myself. rick cassels gave the sermon... which i love. he's hilarious and loves his family and also has four small children(!) so he is often on my page. i sat in the same pew as terri cassels and her kids all dressed in matching orange easter outfits. her girls complete with white flip flops topped with orange gerberas. adorable.


at the end of the service, during the alter call everyone bowed to pray, and i usually use that time to pray and reflect on my own walk. ok not usually- always. but today i just felt moved to pray for all of the fathers and husbands in the room. i prayed for leadership in their households inspired by God's direction and word. and as we ended the prayer i looked up to see men leading their wives and a few leading their sons down to the front of the stage to be led in prayer and prayed over! God bless their hopefully renewed families!


so i am so excited to announce that my little girl will be walking down the aisle soon... as a flower girl! the bride, Kim (Josh's co-worker and bromance Josh Irwin's fiance) will be picking out her dress soon, but i am secretly hoping to find out her colors and then find some one of a kind on etsy or some masterpiece of a dress at one of my favorite little boutiques and then suggest it to her :o) -we will see. i'm just excited because weddings are so stinkin fun and romantic! i hope kim and josh realize that addison is 17 months old and may wonder off the aisle or lick some petals or not throw petals at all... or cry and run to mom, or need chocolate to coax her. or completely steal the show and make everyone forget about the bride because she's so sweet it hurts.


tate is now peeking down the stairs for like the one hundredth time tonight so i had better go beat him a little. with love of course.

so naughty!

peeps n puppies

sara said i have to blog or else we won't be friends anymore.

in those exact words.

first: let me ask everyone to please not tell my husband that i spent forty-seven dollars on crap for two easter baskets. he'll find out in a day or two when he looks at his bank account... or tomorrow morning when the children awake to find bulging baskets filled by the magical easter mommy.

also, will someone please tell me why when you buy peeps it's impossible to find a package without like FIFTY little chickens made of sugar? who on earth really needs 24 of those things? i have like a lick and feel a little diabetic. i'm not really sure i want to see my kids on easter basket crack... 24 pieces of easter basket crack.

last easter

although, not thrilled for the candy free-for-all it is exciting to see Tate begining to comprehend things like easter. we read the story of easter in his beginers bible tonight and when he saw the picture of the cross he asked if Jesus was "in there, mom?"- how do you explain He was on it not in it... uhhh? i said "kind of", which he accepted. when things got confusing we went back to Jesus loves you, and mommy, and daddy, and grandpa, and grammy... and that's why the easter bunny comes. and he was like lets throw the eggs now. bless his heart.

in recent family news... i told josh we could get a dog. making a long story short about finding a bulldog puppy-the right bulldog puppy- for under $2500, we are picking up our new puppy next week when she will have reached 6 weeks old. i am petrified that i will be stuck potty training, and cleaning stains, and bathing, and grooming not only my children and husband but also a small puppy on my own. however, if it so happens that hubs takes care of the puppy as planned i will love him forever and celebrate with lots of relations... as long as the dog is not watching.

(look at our puppy's brother here. the breeder took down the picture of our girl because she's not for sale anymore but... she looks pretty much like her brother.)

so now that puppy is coming hubs almost has our backyard enjoyable, which is so nice. i can sit out there and let the kids go crazy, running into walls, eating dirt, and burying toys. oh and we chose a name; moose/moosey. dont judge us. considering josh's previous pets were... are you ready for this? spooky, stormy, sandy, cloudy, and i don't remember the rest. my family's last pets are buddy, sam, and peter- dumb. now what do you think of moose? by the way... who do you think added the "y" to moose...?

this guy.

example of a strong-willed child.

kaleb michael. whose name my son says more than any other 3 yr old to ever live.

(just found this sara and had to share :o)

so i've just finished reading the calvary chapel christian school aplicant forms and info. it seems like it would be so good for tate to be with other kids and learning, and singing, and coloring, and painting, and making turkeys with his hand print. its only 2 days a week 8-11 and its close by... i would love to be able to send him there. its only $180 a month too!

i love that he goes to robin's class but its just such a drive and once im on that side of town i cant just turn around and get stuff done at home- i have to wait around until hes done.

i'd like to really seek God's opinion on sending tate to preschool. oh yes, and josh. i've recently had a freak out about him being the kid who is behind in school. autumns entire 1st grade class is reading way ahead of her, not because shes lacking anything but because they all went to FULL DAY kindergarden. i cannot imagine sending my 4 or 5 yr old to school (especially public... not that i have anything against public school but for my little little ones i prefer those with jesus in their hearts teaching them!) from aprox 8 am to 3 pm? thats nuts. they seem so little. i'd die.

-sidenote: i totally just remembered that 5 yr old little girl on the tyra show who was still being breastfed... yeah she wouldnt make it full day kindergarden.-

how can i judge anyone else though and what they do with their kids. each of our kids needs and is ready for different levels of school. maybe tate will need and be ready for a full day at kindergarden. gulp.

...........................................................................................................................................................

so carol, at church won a car on the ellen show. i choose to believe that miracle is God telling me new cars do happen. i don't care what you think... I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE. hear that, God? i believe.

- update on the honey do list...

we folded and put away laundry and i purged all of our drawers, and all of the unwanted clothes are on the floor under the excuse that josh needs to look through his pile and confirm the purge. why is my pile still on the floor you ask? simple; balance. i'm a little worried about josh looking through his pile. he once looked at me with crazy eyes when i asked him if i could toss his old, holey, recently replaced wallet. the old wallet sits in the desk in our room untouched. bless his heart, he might need it one day. hopefully its the day we have bags and bags of things to get rid of and we need one more thing to fill a bag. its perfect for that.

on the subject of my dear husband... lately when i talk to him while he's at work i get to hear him doing his police work. listening to the "pr" and being all helpful and " give us a call if he bothers you again"-ish. i'm so proud of him and that he takes such pride in his career. coming into adulthood and y'know... real life i'm learning that a blessing like that is hard to come by.

oh yeah, and he's hot when he talks in numbers and letters and confirms and disregards.
love him.

this week has been so beautiful. i wish the temperature would stay at 85 all year round.





on wednesday the kiddies and i went to the park with all of the wsbc mommas and kiddos. nothing more relaxing these days than sitting at the park while watching little addy-lou perplexed by her pink otterpop. tastes so good... wont stay in my mouth. but so good. and...its gone. i got a burn/tan on my back, tate got pink arms, ears, and neck, and dear addison got a farmers tan.





way to go mom... lets go to the park at noon and SUNBLOCK FOR NO ONE! addison and i were fine but my poor little freckle-face tate. i just cant seem to get it through my head that everyone else in our family tans and tate just BURNS. no inbetween nice color- always pink. incidently we bought SPF 50 today. i asked josh if he thought i should get spf 70 and he says, "i think after 30 its just getting a bit ridiculous dont you think?" i dont really know what that means, but his next piece of advice was to get "whatevers on sale" -sigh- of course. spf 50 is what we have.





did i ever say that he is the most fun to shop with? because i would have been LYING. when we go into a store he gets this look on his face like the place is on fire and its about to come crumbling down on our family and when we all die (from shopping) it will be ALL MY FAULT. he projects this "youre killing our family, and i'm dying first" look the entire time. then as soon as we return home his hot flashes calm down and the scowl starts to unscrew on his face he's back. his hell could quite possibly be shopping with me using his money for the rest of his entire life. i wouldnt rule homicide out.





speaking of homicide... no just kidding. but really, how do you transition from that?





tate will be debuting in his very first sunday school class performance next sunday evening. i could not be more excited. theyll be singing "Jesus Loves Me" which he practices the first verse of quite often- and thats it. it sounds like this: Jesus lubs me dis i know. for da biBOL TELLS MAY SO!! (he screams that last part... everytime). i'm just curious to see if thats how he'll be singing during his performance or if thats just a special version for mom. or will he be the kid on the end picking his nose... or the kid tapping his friend next to him, or the one waving wildly to him mom, or the one who just peed his pants... at any rate, Jesus loves him.

and i love him too :o)photo courtesy of stephen salazar

honey do

i feel like i really will never be able to describe the tuesday night excitment i get every week.

josh is off tomorrow.

its relief.

its giddy.

its FINALLY, my friend is home.

every tuesday i get these mental lists of the things i will put my husband to "work" doing within his next 3 days off.

this week it is:

-clean out the garage

-finish sanding + and stain tate's old/new dresser. a month ago i threatened him with BUYING -gasp- a NEW one if he didnt do as he promised and got that thing up in his room in a week.

-make my front yard look like some of the plants growing amongst the rocks might be deliberate.

-laundry. boy do i hate folding laundry and it takes seriously 10 to 15 minutes to get everything folded and put away when both of us do it. i will seriously leave the basket of clothes on the dryer for the four days he's working so he can help me on my beloved wednesday. one day i'll be sara and dry, fold, iron, hang, iron again, spray with a wonderful fragrance, and gently and with love place each article in its designated place. i'm lying. i will never be able to do that- i just have this uncontrollable urge to not care. to not care and to forevermore shove folded clothes into already packed drawers... or on my hanging days ( i have those) i just hang um... everything. which brings me to my next item...

-clean out the closet and dressers. holy moley.

-speak with someone about a car loan. pause for a prayer:

please Jesus may i have a new car? i'm so grateful that i have A car that runs (usually), that "fits" my family, that was free- and still is free... but Lord you know what we need and if that is a new car... (pleasepleasepleaseplease) give us wisdom about buying one. if its not your will that we buy a new car... please just give me peace with what we have.

but God... please?

amen.

-play. play play play together.

20 minutes have passed. i was watching the news. taser cameras- cool. just dont take tasers away.

i've now lost momentum on this post.

goodnight.

because i love the hubs. and wednesdays.