Break's Over!

Well, it's 6:59 monday morning...back to school, back to reality, yuck!  Or is it just 1 step closer to the next thing on God's list of things for me to do?  I think I'll take the ladder of the 2.  I just finished reading Vicki's blog.  Of course I read hers after I put my mascara on...Why?  One day, I'll figure it out.  I'm looking forward to the week ahead.  It will be crazy w/ testing on the rise, but like I said, one step closer.  The boys and I enjoyed our break.  We saw Alice in Wonderland, went to Chuck-E-Cheese, did some shopping, went to the park...etc.  We went in for some allergies JP has been battling and shots for Nolan.  They both came out w/ strep?  So we tried to pin them down...didn't work.  You can't even tell they are/were sick.  Josh got to spend some good quality time over break.  He let me venture off several times for several hours.  I almost didn't know what to do w/ myself and found myself a bit lonely at times.  (Not in the dressing room though...so nice to try on 20 pair of pants and 15 shirts w/o listening to my wonderfully charged boys)  I celebrated my "30th" b-day.  That's crazy to think my 20's are behind me.  Hopefully I will be in better shape in my 30's than my 20's.  The 20's were rockin years for me, got married, graduated from college, had 2 boys, started teaching, coached a bit of softball, t-ball, and started selling Scentsy.  I've done a lot and not in the best of shape thru it all. That will change.  It has to, but the most important transformation for me was getting saved...December 14, 2004---Amen!  I hope my spiritual life takes a turn for the better so I can check off God's list of things to do w/ confidence.  Well....time to go!  "Boys, get in the car!!!"

Sassy Meal Swap

So I'm in the works of forming a meal swap!  I started a group on facebook.  We are up to 5 women.  I think we might just start w/ 5 and go from there.  The idea is that I make the same dish 5 times, and other other women make 5 dishes that are the same but different then mine and the others...etc...Then we all meet up and give each other 1 of our dishes, and we arrive to our homes w/ 5 different meals that we put into the freezer and cook at any time.  How awesome is that?  So a couple hours on the weekend turns into free time during these busy baseball seasons....:)  My friend Jenny is genius for mentioning this to me.  I think I have heard of this before, but hearing it again made it different.  My friend Lanelle knew about it and was all about it so.  Nothing like friends being excited about the same things.  Jenny also mentioned being laundry friends.  That's where you let the kids play, send them outside w/ a bag lunch and the girls sit together and fold laundry.  I'm not scared for my friends to see my laundry...maybe i'll hold the under-roos to the side.  I HATE laundry, why not sit and chat w/ a friend while doing it?  I don't mind helping others w/ their stuff...Loving these ideas!  Another is getting together and prepping food after shopping.  I guess we are just dorky like that.  Any takers?  

Yuck!

Today, I have just about disliked everything around me.  For NO reason!!!  Heads up Josh.  :)  I have had some killer allergies, I only get in the fall, that are kicking my butt.  My eyes are so swollen they hurt (plus that throbbing itch sensation that will make you go insane), and my nose is so stuffy it's making my eyes water...I'm not a happy girl.  So I guess I do have a reason to be soooo ugly today. I have accomplished some things around the house during my fit throwing afternoon.  I went thru the bathroom and packed it all up, leaving the lid off, I put it back under the sink.  Then I tackled some stuff in the kitchen, serving dishes, portable appliances, etc...So I feel pretty good about getting some things done.  Josh helped w/ the laundry.  He has felt my irritability before it even hit...so he's either outside w/ the boys or helping me inside.  He even made sandwiches for he and the boys when he realized I wasn't hungry...haha.  I'm a bear.  It happens. I hate that it does, but today is a day to steer clear.

My boys...I love how Nolan is holding his daddy's arm

Luckily, these boys love this 

game as much as we do!

Fabulous Saturday

Today has been a wonderful day.  I had a Scentsy show at an awesome friend's house.  Great people were invited along w/ great food and coffee punch!  The show was successful and it seems the guests left happy.  That's always nice.  I went to the restaurant and had lunch w/ mom.  I love to spend time w/ my mom.!!!  I came home to find Nolan sleeping and Josh and JP playing wii.  I sat down w/ the boys, we made out a list for the week and I headed back to town.  $40 and 30 minutes later, I was home for groceries for the week!  Nice.  I am now chilling out, I just placed an order online from a friend who called, and here I am on my blog.  The boys are outside on the 4-da-wheel-ah (4wheeler) as Nolan calls it.  It's so quiet and peaceful in this house right now. Do I stay on the computer and play?  Do I read a book?  Do I take a nap?  hmmm...All great questions.  I'm in awe that those questions are even out there at this point...life is good, my kids are great, and my husband is incredible.

Back On!

So after breezing thru my past posts...I've decided to never go off on a rant about laundry again.  How boring!!  My post title is "BACK ON!"  The reason is b/c of our house situation.  We filed for an extension w/ the hopes that the bank would agree to fix the foundation.  We didn't think they would, but they said YES!  The are really wanting to selling this. Amen for us.  We heard from their selling agent yesterday that they want it fixed and ready to move forward w/in 10 days!  We are super pumped about this.  So the house, as of now, is back on! Last night was a great night, the boys went to mom and dads for a couple hours while Josh and I enjoyed a nice dinner and a study session w/ some great friends.  They come over every Thursday night and we LOVE it.  We are reading Love and Respect and it's such an awesome book about understanding your spouse.  It's been a great book for the journey Josh and I have been on.  Speaking of journeys...Josh has been on an amazing journey w/ the Lord lately.  He stays in the word and I can see him transforming right in front of me.  I love it.  He is more patient, at ease, and he has peace.  I love it.  He deserves it.  God is good, that's for sure.  That's all I have this morning...heading to the dryer...I'm not saying another word about it!

What a beautiful morning!

Well, the boys and I are ready this morning w/ time to kill.  Wow!  That doesn't happen on a normal basis.  I love it when I actually get my booty out of bed a bit early so I can get some things accomplished.  I am learning that anything that needs to get done after school, won't.  The only time I can do anything is in the morning.  Ahhh!!  Once I'm up, it's great, but those mornings that I hit snooze 10 times...not so great.
This morning, I sorted all the laundry...looks like 5 loads coming our way (4 b/c I put one in this am).  I like to sort the piles by likeness...Colors go into 2 piles, tops and bottoms, then whites, and towels.  It makes me smile b/c I know the load I'm pulling out is all pants....or all shirts...I can't stand mixed clothes...??? whatever.  I really can't stand doing laundry!  I've decided that in our new house, we are going to try to store all our clothes in the utility room...I think w/ careful planning there will be sufficient room for it all too!  So no more "putting clothes away" across the house or up the stairs.  Back to accomplishments this morning, I cleaned the kitty litter up, swept his messes in the upstairs bathroom, put some bleach water in our nasty tub upstairs that we don't use, so I can soon clean that out too...I did "organize some clothes that were clean and in a basket into piles...JP's t-shirts, Nolan's t-shirts, JP's pants, Nolan's pants, JP' shorts, Nolan's shorts, etc... I can't stand one big pile of mixed clothes, like, Nolans jeans, shrits, undies !!!  Sort them!!!  Ok, I'm realizing this morning, I am psycho about laundry...
Yesterday's blog I didn't finish...Sunday was spent w/ family.  The boys played outside, worked on their baseball skills and Josh realized...he HAS to coach JP.  After 2 years of saying he will NEVER coach again (until he's older) he caved.  And what do you know?  They needed 1 more coach!  Hahah!  Luckily this season, I am not going to help.  A friend of ours Don is the assistant coach which I think will be great for Josh.  We are super excited now.  I will stay free so I can help get Nolan where he needs to get for his t-ball action.  :)  Ok, time to get on facebook for 5 minutes and get caught up.

Big Weekend

Friday night I had a Scentsy party at my friend Jenny's house.  It was fun, but she was sicker than a dog!  She stayed in her room and her sister came over and took her place, cooking, cleaning, hostessing, etc..  Though not many people showed up, we received many orders.  Several on line orders, a phone order, and orders through out the weekend from people that wanted to come but just couldn't get there.  When I got home, my in laws were here playing w/ the boys and celebrating Nolan's 3rd birthday from this past week.  How nice it was to visit again.  It has been since January that we last saw them.  It's way too long!  Saturday Josh and I went to a conference in Fayetteville, I still choose us.  It was ok, the conference wasn't bible based or even Christian based, so we were both disappointed.  Josh wasn't feeling well and it just wasn't the best over all day, but we grinned and went on with it.  The rest of the day went well, Josh was in bed by 7:30 and I hung out w/ Lee and Vi until after eleven.  We watched Grand Torino, I enjoyed it!  I need to get kids in the car, off to school.  Will finish Sunday later. 

Vincent Van Gogh

Is that even how you spell his name?
The other day, JP, Nolan, and I were at the drs office.  We were in the lab area and JP said to me "Hey mom, that's the vase of 12 sunflowers".  I said what?  as we looked up at the painting on the wall, I wondered what this little man was talking about.  I looked around the room at the smiles and smirks on everyone else's faces.  I repeated what he said, "the vase of 12 sunflowers" and w/ a duh look on his face, shaking his head he said "mom, Vincent Van Gogh".  Everyone's face dropped...wide open, as did mine!  I asked him where he learned that and he said, art class mom.  ---The story doesn't end there.  Tonight, I was sharing the vase of 12 sunflower story w/ mom and dad.  They cracked up and like me, and everyone else in the waiting area, they were in shock.  Mom then helped JP put his sweat shirt on and she called him Vincent Van Gogh and he looked up at her and said, "how did he even lose his ear?" I looked at mom and said, "He doesn't have an ear?" Sure enough...Vincent is 1 ear short and my son, needless to say, isn't short of anything.  My little genius!
Our other precious joy will be 4 tomorrow!  I am in shock...my baby...who is one of the funniest beings alive, will be 4.  I'm sad but super excited, and I'm crying just thinking about how fast time has flown.
Time flies when you are having fun, it even flies when you aren't.  Time just flies regardless of what is going on around you.  It reminds me that I need to cherish and capture as many moments and memories as possible.  I am so grateful that the Lord gave me my babies...smart, funny, beautiful.  They are little mini versions of Josh and I and they have brought us such great joy.  I love my boys!  Their daddy too!  :)