Every Sunday morning is a fiasco in our household. Todd usually rises early and eats his breakfast and reads the newspaper. One by one the kids join him at the table for breakfast. I am usually in the office making final adjustments to our Sunday School Lesson, printing it off, preparing handouts, etc. Usually, I finally get it all done and rush to take a shower and get dressed. Keep in mind, that Todd is waiting for his turn to shower and get dressed. Then I am ready and realize the kids are still in PJ's and we needed to have left ten minutes ago. I rush around getting the kids ready, and somewhere along the way turn into a drill Sargent, "Get into the car...Move it, Move it, Move it!!!" We are consistently about 10 minutes late for Sunday School...did I mention we are the teachers???? And usually about 5 minutes into the lesson my stomach growls reminding me that I forgot to eat breakfast.
I know what you are thinking...it sounds like chaos, and with a little planning it could run smoother. Did I mention that I am a major procrastinator??? Getting everything ready ahead of time really does not even cross my mind. But, this week was a little different. I decided to shower the night before. I also got the lesson printed off and everything ready. I laid out the boys clothes. This morning ran fairly smoothly. Todd took over as usual for breakfast. While everyone was eating I got myself dressed and ready. Then, I ate my breakfast and had the boys dress themselves. I dressed McKenna and did her hair. Todd was ready and we were out the door on time.
As we are unloading out of the van, I realize that McKenna had taken off her cute sandals that perfectly matched her red and white dress and was wearing hot pink Crocs instead. OK, not that big of a deal...so she clashes a little. As we were walking in I noticed that Landon's pants looked funny. There was something weird about the pockets. Then I realized he had put his pants on backwards! These were not just pull-on, elastic waist pants. They were khakis with a button and zipper and everything. I guess he just pulled them on without undoing anything. We immediately had to stop at a bathroom for him to turn his pants around. Which of course involved taking is shoes off, turning his pants around, and then putting his shoes back on and tying them. All of that preparation, and we were still 10 minutes late for Sunday School!
Showing posts with label my ramblings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label my ramblings. Show all posts
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Christmas Memories
When we were at my inlaws' house celebrating Christmas, my sister in law asked everyone what the worst Christmas present they ever got. (This was an unusual question, I thought. Normally people ask your favorite memory or present, or the most meaningful Christmas). Everyone went around the table talking about the unwanted gifts they got in years past. Landon said his was when he got underwear for Christmas (He has NEVER gotten underwear for Christmas!).
Finally it was my turn, I thought of several gifts, most of which were given to me by my grandmothers. They are both well intentioned, but seem to give unusual gifts. This year's present from my grandmother, was the most bizarre of all. A couple of weeks before Christmas I stopped by her house to visit. She was asking about our Christmas plans with my mother and said that she and her husband would be joining us for dinner at my mom's house on Christmas day. Soon after she said she got the kid's a special Christmas present, and wanted to go ahead and give it to them since she might not see them. I reminded her that we would see them Christmas day and she should wait until then. (My grandmother's memory is horrible! The doctor's told her several years ago that she is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. Frankly, I think we are beyond the beginning stages!) I stayed at my grandmother's house for about 20 minutes. During that time we had the same conversation about the gift at least 3 more times.
When Christmas day came, my grandmother and her husband came over for dinner. She had a grocery sack with the present inside (she never wraps any gifts). She explained that she had a friend that gave this to her grandchildren and she thought it was so wonderful, that she wanted to do the same for all of her great grandchildren. The kids were excited, they opened the sack and found a book. They love books! We opened the book and it was empty, a bunch of blank pages. The pages had headings, questions, and topics on them similar to a baby book, but nothing was written on them. My grandmother explained that her friend had filled in all the pages for her grandchildren, but that she just did not have the time and thought I could do it. The questions on the pages were things about our family history and special memories. "Just what I need," I thought, "One more thing to feel guilty about not doing". (I have already written about how much I hate scrapbooking!). I thanked my grandmother and tried to act sincere. I closed the book, and noticed the title on the front of the cover: A Grandmother's Gift of Memory!
Finally it was my turn, I thought of several gifts, most of which were given to me by my grandmothers. They are both well intentioned, but seem to give unusual gifts. This year's present from my grandmother, was the most bizarre of all. A couple of weeks before Christmas I stopped by her house to visit. She was asking about our Christmas plans with my mother and said that she and her husband would be joining us for dinner at my mom's house on Christmas day. Soon after she said she got the kid's a special Christmas present, and wanted to go ahead and give it to them since she might not see them. I reminded her that we would see them Christmas day and she should wait until then. (My grandmother's memory is horrible! The doctor's told her several years ago that she is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. Frankly, I think we are beyond the beginning stages!) I stayed at my grandmother's house for about 20 minutes. During that time we had the same conversation about the gift at least 3 more times.
When Christmas day came, my grandmother and her husband came over for dinner. She had a grocery sack with the present inside (she never wraps any gifts). She explained that she had a friend that gave this to her grandchildren and she thought it was so wonderful, that she wanted to do the same for all of her great grandchildren. The kids were excited, they opened the sack and found a book. They love books! We opened the book and it was empty, a bunch of blank pages. The pages had headings, questions, and topics on them similar to a baby book, but nothing was written on them. My grandmother explained that her friend had filled in all the pages for her grandchildren, but that she just did not have the time and thought I could do it. The questions on the pages were things about our family history and special memories. "Just what I need," I thought, "One more thing to feel guilty about not doing". (I have already written about how much I hate scrapbooking!). I thanked my grandmother and tried to act sincere. I closed the book, and noticed the title on the front of the cover: A Grandmother's Gift of Memory!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Injury at Cornfest
Some friends of ours have an event every year at their house: CORNFEST! Cindi's family grows corn and when it is ready, Barry drives to New Mexico to pick up the corn (by the truckload). We then recieve "the email" that cornfest is less than 48 hours away. They cookout hamburgers and the night is spent shucking and eating fresh corn.
Monday night was cornfest. We were having a nice evening with our friends (there were about 70 people there). I walked in the kitchen to check on the kids who were at a kiddie table next to the buffet line. Todd had been helping Cindi move the desserts and was standing at the kitchen sink washing his hands. I didn't think much of it, until my friend Taffy came and told me that she thought I needed to take Todd to the emergency room. She said Todd cut his hand pretty bad.
Todd was helping to move a cake and someone had left a butcher knife on the back of the cake plate. Todd didn't realize the knife was there and when he moved the plate the knife started to fall...Right towards the kids' table. So like any protective parent, he caught the knife with his hands, cutting it very badly! He actually cut in between his pinkie and ring fingers and obviously needed stitches. By the time that I arranged for Taffy to take my kids to her house and we moved around carseats, Todd was being tended to by a nurse, Linda.
Linda and her husband John just came back from the mission field about a month ago. They had been in Africa for over 10 years. She was an ER nurse before they went, and while they were there she was more like a doctor. She offered to glue his hand back together, so that we didn't have to take him to the emergency room for stitches. Which saved us a lot of time and money! I am very thankful that Linda was there and was willing and able to help us out.
Monday night was cornfest. We were having a nice evening with our friends (there were about 70 people there). I walked in the kitchen to check on the kids who were at a kiddie table next to the buffet line. Todd had been helping Cindi move the desserts and was standing at the kitchen sink washing his hands. I didn't think much of it, until my friend Taffy came and told me that she thought I needed to take Todd to the emergency room. She said Todd cut his hand pretty bad.
Todd was helping to move a cake and someone had left a butcher knife on the back of the cake plate. Todd didn't realize the knife was there and when he moved the plate the knife started to fall...Right towards the kids' table. So like any protective parent, he caught the knife with his hands, cutting it very badly! He actually cut in between his pinkie and ring fingers and obviously needed stitches. By the time that I arranged for Taffy to take my kids to her house and we moved around carseats, Todd was being tended to by a nurse, Linda.
Linda and her husband John just came back from the mission field about a month ago. They had been in Africa for over 10 years. She was an ER nurse before they went, and while they were there she was more like a doctor. She offered to glue his hand back together, so that we didn't have to take him to the emergency room for stitches. Which saved us a lot of time and money! I am very thankful that Linda was there and was willing and able to help us out.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Hair
Last spring at MOPS, a woman in my MOPS group gave a testimony. She talked about losing her hair starting about age 3, and by junior high was mostly bald due to alopecia. She then took off her hair and revealed her bald head. She talked about how kids teased her, and how once she got a wig it was so obviously a wig that boys would try to tackle her in the hall and take off her wig. Even though I have known her for several years, I had never noticed that she had a wig. She always has nice looking hair. She shared about her struggle and how the best thing that ever happened was getting a human hair wig.
After her testimony, my MOPS group decided to grow our hair to make a mass donation to Locks of Love. So for the past year, I have been growing my hair. I have also been trying to talk friends and family into making the donation with me. So on April 9, 2007, we made our donation. We all met at a local salon, and stylist donated their time and skills. We had about 19 people donate hair that night (I even managed to talk my sister in law Tawnya and my niece Tori into making a donation as well). In order to donate, you have to donate a minimum of 10 inches of hair. So, I now have a short summer do. I hope you enjoy the pic of my mini makeover.
Shortly after the donation, my friend Taffy's daughter, Lora, started losing her hair. At first, they thought she was pulling it out, because she would have a handful of hair when they got her out of bed in the morning. Soon she became more and more bald. Lora is one year old and was born about 10 days before McKenna. She has always had a ton of hair and even won best hair in a baby pageant when she was just weeks old. After several trips to the doctor, they diagnosed her with alopecia. They think the hair loss will not be permanent and some of the bald spots have started growing back. Anyway, I wrote all of this to say that I think I have decided to keep letting my hair grow and then make another donation.
After her testimony, my MOPS group decided to grow our hair to make a mass donation to Locks of Love. So for the past year, I have been growing my hair. I have also been trying to talk friends and family into making the donation with me. So on April 9, 2007, we made our donation. We all met at a local salon, and stylist donated their time and skills. We had about 19 people donate hair that night (I even managed to talk my sister in law Tawnya and my niece Tori into making a donation as well). In order to donate, you have to donate a minimum of 10 inches of hair. So, I now have a short summer do. I hope you enjoy the pic of my mini makeover.
Shortly after the donation, my friend Taffy's daughter, Lora, started losing her hair. At first, they thought she was pulling it out, because she would have a handful of hair when they got her out of bed in the morning. Soon she became more and more bald. Lora is one year old and was born about 10 days before McKenna. She has always had a ton of hair and even won best hair in a baby pageant when she was just weeks old. After several trips to the doctor, they diagnosed her with alopecia. They think the hair loss will not be permanent and some of the bald spots have started growing back. Anyway, I wrote all of this to say that I think I have decided to keep letting my hair grow and then make another donation.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
A failure already
I know, I know....You don't have to say anything...I have already slacked behind in my blogging. I am afraid that I am a failure already. I choose not to look at it that way though. Instead, I choose to look at it as a minor disruption. In fact the last month, has been one disruption after another. But after all, that is when life happens isn't it? Life happens when we deviate from our lists and schedules.
My husband called from out of town about a month ago. "How about you and the kids go with me to Houston on my business trip next week." Normally I would be hesitant, but being married to Todd has taught me to be a little more spontaneous. I immediately started packing. We made a mini vacation of it, stopping to see friends along the way. I shopped during the day while he was in meetings, and took the kids to see the play areas of all the malls. In the evening we ate out. We ate at all the places that I haven't eaten at since we moved from the big city. On the way home, we even dropped in on my college roomate Shelley, whom I had not seen in 3 years.
We no more than got home and got unpacked when my 10 month old baby McKenna got sick. She had rotavirus and ended up in the hospital. She is better from that, but is now battling ear infections. In the midst of this craziness, I started a home-based business (Southern Living at Home) and my husband finished the fort he built for the boys (this has been a 6 month long project, which deserves a whole entry of its own). So, we decided to celebrate with a fort grand opening and a Southern Living at Home business launch.
We invited about 100 of our closest friends and their families to our house. Did I mention that I am not a good housekeeper. So, having an event at my house entails a drastic amount of cleaning (and hiding). We had a good turn out and the kids had a blast! It was a good night for my new little business too. The party was this past Saturday and then Todd left town again. He returned tonight just in time for the 4-year old soccer team meeting at our house (since we are the coaches). Sometimes our lives seem so busy. So, the next time I don't have an entry for a while, you will know that Life is happening!
My husband called from out of town about a month ago. "How about you and the kids go with me to Houston on my business trip next week." Normally I would be hesitant, but being married to Todd has taught me to be a little more spontaneous. I immediately started packing. We made a mini vacation of it, stopping to see friends along the way. I shopped during the day while he was in meetings, and took the kids to see the play areas of all the malls. In the evening we ate out. We ate at all the places that I haven't eaten at since we moved from the big city. On the way home, we even dropped in on my college roomate Shelley, whom I had not seen in 3 years.
We no more than got home and got unpacked when my 10 month old baby McKenna got sick. She had rotavirus and ended up in the hospital. She is better from that, but is now battling ear infections. In the midst of this craziness, I started a home-based business (Southern Living at Home) and my husband finished the fort he built for the boys (this has been a 6 month long project, which deserves a whole entry of its own). So, we decided to celebrate with a fort grand opening and a Southern Living at Home business launch.
We invited about 100 of our closest friends and their families to our house. Did I mention that I am not a good housekeeper. So, having an event at my house entails a drastic amount of cleaning (and hiding). We had a good turn out and the kids had a blast! It was a good night for my new little business too. The party was this past Saturday and then Todd left town again. He returned tonight just in time for the 4-year old soccer team meeting at our house (since we are the coaches). Sometimes our lives seem so busy. So, the next time I don't have an entry for a while, you will know that Life is happening!
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Non-Scrapbookers Anonymous
I have a confession to make...I do not scrapbook. I know, I know...I am a failure as a mom. I have a lot of friends who scrapbook and an overzealous sister-in-law who is convinced she can convert me into being a scrapbooker. But, I have no desire. I would like the final product, but I don't enjoy the process (which is the key according to my scrapbooking sources). There is a secret society of scrapbookers. They get together religiously and have their secret parties. Some even go on scrapbooking retreats. This all sounds a bit cult-ish to me. I am even a little suspicious of this whole Blog thing because it is rather scrapbook-like. But since it takes very little time, no real commitment, does not cost a cent or make a mess, I have decided that it may be a good alternative.
I was sitting with a group of my good friends at playgroup when I first came out of the closet. "I do not scrapbook!" I waited to see the look of disgust on their faces or the sound of judgement in their voices, even perhaps a sigh of pity at the thought of my children with no scrapbook of their childhood. But instead I got an overwhelming sigh of relief..."I don't scrapbook either", one said. "Neither do I", said another. At that moment, I realized that we were kindred spirits. Oh, how I enjoyed being able to talk with other moms, great mom's whom I respected, who don't scrapbook. Until one day, we lost one of our own. My dear friend Taffy came to me with a confession..."I have started scrapbooking again" she said. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Then, she ripped out my heart by adding, "And I really like it". So, there is an opening in our non-scapbookers anonymous group...Want to join????
I was sitting with a group of my good friends at playgroup when I first came out of the closet. "I do not scrapbook!" I waited to see the look of disgust on their faces or the sound of judgement in their voices, even perhaps a sigh of pity at the thought of my children with no scrapbook of their childhood. But instead I got an overwhelming sigh of relief..."I don't scrapbook either", one said. "Neither do I", said another. At that moment, I realized that we were kindred spirits. Oh, how I enjoyed being able to talk with other moms, great mom's whom I respected, who don't scrapbook. Until one day, we lost one of our own. My dear friend Taffy came to me with a confession..."I have started scrapbooking again" she said. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Then, she ripped out my heart by adding, "And I really like it". So, there is an opening in our non-scapbookers anonymous group...Want to join????
Friday, February 2, 2007
To Blog or not to Blog...That is the question!
My Dad came to visit in September and was saying that he thought I should blog.
Blog?
Yes, Blog!
But I don't have anything to write about.
You can write about whatever you want.
Who would want to read my ramblings anyway?
With that I brushed the thought aside, until my college roommate Shelley starting blogging. I have been reading her blog for several months and get a kick out of hearing her stories. I know I don't have anything revolutionary to say, but thought this might be a good way for our friends and family out of town to keep up with the funny things that happen around here. So with that I will attempt to start my blog.
Blog?
Yes, Blog!
But I don't have anything to write about.
You can write about whatever you want.
Who would want to read my ramblings anyway?
With that I brushed the thought aside, until my college roommate Shelley starting blogging. I have been reading her blog for several months and get a kick out of hearing her stories. I know I don't have anything revolutionary to say, but thought this might be a good way for our friends and family out of town to keep up with the funny things that happen around here. So with that I will attempt to start my blog.
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