Archive for November, 2009
Thanksgiving Recap
Monday, November 30th, 2009
We had quite the Thanksgiving weekend! Not only did we eat way too much, go see a movie on Thanksgiving day and go Black Friday Shopping we also bought me my Christmas gift from Mike-EARLY!
I’ll share some of our story with pictures.
*Note*- You won’t see that many pictures of Madelyn because she seems to be allergic to the camera. Every time I tried to take her picture she would duck, turn her head, run off or get really grumpy!
The girls and papa enjoying the delicious feast
My brother in law, Bob and Mike bonding over heaping platefuls
Us minus,well, me.
Katelyn adding some decorations to Mike and Bob’s shared birthday cake (Both November babies)
Katelyn and Madelyn also get a turn blowing out the candles
Watching “Planet 51″ with nana and papa on Thanksgiving day.
It was Madelyn’s first time and Katelyn’s second to the movie theater. Katelyn doesn’t look to happy here because she was more than ready to leave and didn’t want to stay a minute longer for a picture. Movies are still a tad too long for her ability to sit still at this point. Madelyn did way better than I thought she would! She was quiet and sat in our laps for most of the movie. I was impressed!
This is Zoe and Chloe. Zoe is the yellow one and Chloe is the white one
I’ve wanted some pet birds for ages (no, really! AGES!) and Mike finally decided to surprise me by planning on taking me to the pet store to pick some birds out. This was a huge gesture on his part because he hates birds. He thinks they’re noisy and messy(which they can be) and has sworn we would never own any.We went on Black Friday to get them. I chose parakeets. I tried to convince Mike to also let me get two finches but he wouldn’t have it. Maybe next year….?
Katelyn and Madelyn love them and think Zoe and Chloe are theirs. I’m letting them think that for the next few years. These are going to be the most spoiled birds!!
This year we decided to go Black Friday shopping for the first time. Katelyn and Madelyn would sleep over at Nana and Papa’s house and we would head out to Toys R Us for their midnight opening. I was kind of dreading the trip but also kind of excited for it. I’m not a night owl so this was to be a huge event for me. We got to Toys R Us at midnight to find a huge line of people, wrapped around the building, waiting to get into Toys R Us. They were only letting twenty people in at a time. Mike estimated that there were about 2,000 people in front of us and 2,000 people behind us! I tried to get a picture of the line of people but a) it was too dark and b) I didn’t want to freak people out by taking pictures of them. We waited in line for almost three hours before it was our turn to go in. So, yes, that would mean we went into Toys R Us at 2:50 am. Waiting in that line that night is kind of a hazy blur for me right now. I swear I fell asleep standing up. It was awful!! Mike actually thought it was kind of fun. He said we were making memories. I sure will never forget that memory!! Their were groups of women in front of us laughing and having a grand ‘ol time. All I wanted was to tell them to ” shut up!!”. They thought they were soooo funny…. Many of the people in line were starting their day. They had a whole shopping agenda planned for the rest of the day. I was planning on shopping for our girls and then going home to sleep.
Thankfully Mike had solitaire on his phone and I played that until both my arms hurt. It was freezing by the time we got inside the store so I couldn’t feel my feet and I was shivering uncontrollably. A catering truck pulled up in front of our line around 2:30 am. A bunch of people converged on them and were buying hot dogs, coffee, snacks and drinks! Everyone cheered when the truck pulled up! I have never seen anything like it! By then we were almost there so Mike and I stayed in line , although I really wanted a hot dog!! I got my second wind as we walked into the store. We got the shopping for our girls done with and left the store by 4:00 am. Since the mall is right next to Toys R Us we saw that it was coming to life so we headed over there to see if we could pick up a couple of things for my inlaws. By then I was like “whatever!!” when Mike asked if I’d be willing to check out the mall. We had breakfast in the food court and then walked around the mall for a bit as the stores were all opening. It was actually the perfect time to be there on Black Friday. It was quiet and peaceful. People were already starting to form some small lines at certain stores. JC Penney’s had some great deals and we were some of the first shoppers there. Unfortunately, we were only looking for one thing there and not some of the other nicely priced things. By the time were were done at the mall and got home it was 6:00 am. We were exhausted. We fell into bed and slept until noon. Then went shopping some more! Which, is when we got my parakeets. That was certainly and experience I’ll never forget. I think we will definitely try it again next year but we’ll head out around 4:00 am instead of midnight. And I’ll have a better list of what I want and more knowledge of what’s on sale etc. We are officially done with our Christmas shopping, which has never happened this early before. I may have a couple of stocking stuffers to pick up but that’s it. That in and of itself made Black Friday shopping worth it. It will definitely help in keeping the month of December a little more calm this year.
Did anyone else do some Black Friday shopping?
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I Am Thankful
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
What kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t have a “Thanksgiving” post? What kind of Christian would I be if I didn’t tell others what God has done in my life?
So here are the things/people I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:
1. My salvation. Thank you Lord for saving my soul and that one day I’ll be in Heaven with you.
2. The fact that I was blessed to have been born in America, to a Christian family who raised me in a Christian home so I could know the Lord. Looking at a World Vision catalog recently I was just struck by how God allowed me to be born is such different conditions than that of those children in impoverished countries. I certainly didn’t deserve it.
3. My wonderful, loving, hard working, humorous, godly, great father of a husband.
4. My two, smart, adorable, funny, healthy little girls
5. My awesome parents, sister Steph, brother Bryan, brother in law Waylon and adorable niece Brooklyn
6. My awesome inlaws and brother in law
7. My loving grandparents and extended family
8. Facebook so I can keep in touch with everyone!
9. Blogging- an outlet I have in the past year discovered that I love
10. My friends
11. God’s wisdom and direction in finding a new church home
12. Mike’s good job and that God has continued to provide this job for Mike and meet all our needs
13. Our home
14. Good health for my family
15. Our troops who put their life on the line daily to keep us and our freedom safe
Tomorrow will be spent at my in laws’ house, where we’ll stuff our selves silly, play games with the girls (I’m sure a princess game is on the list), play Texas Hold ‘Em and plan our Black Friday shopping. I’m bringing the side dishes while my mother in law makes everything else!
Happy Thanksgiving to all my family, loved ones, friends and anyone else who is reading this post!
Top Ten Tuesday
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
I just discovered this fun meme through Heather and it’s from this fun blog- Oh Amanda.
Here’s my top ten for this gloomy Tuesday:
The Top Ten Most Annoying Children’s T.V Shows
This morning listening to my girls watch “Sid The Science Kid”, I thought, oh my goodness, Sid is sooooo annoying! I can’t stand his facial expressions and his mannerisms. I know, he’s just an animated character, but still. This is not to say I don’t think it’s a good show. This got me thinking that I find many of the children’s shows on t.v annoying, which led me to this top ten list. So, number one on my list today is. ….(These are randomly listed. Not in order of most annoying)
1. Sid The Science Kid
2. Jay Jay The Jet Plane ( Herky’s rolling ‘R’s”…. need I say more!) All the planes have annoying facial expressions too. This show is superrrrrrr annoying! I’d probably say this show is the most annoying!
3. Caillou- My girls LOVE Caillou. This show will not be leaving our house any time soon. But, watching a bald little kid who gets to go first for everything, who’s ideas are always the best, has an annoying voice and is whiny is not my idea of fun. I’ll settle for listening to him…in another room. Oh and I don’t get Rosie. Is she a toddler (like, two years old?) or is she older? One second she’s using baby language and the next she’s drawing perfect flowers and cutting them out. So, which is it? Or are the creators of the show not aware of developmental stages?
4. Fresh Beat Band- Ok, so the music is fun and it makes my girls dance like crazy all over the living room. I think the acting is terrible. But the show wasn’t created for me so I’ll give it a slightly annoying review.
5. Max and Ruby- It breaks my heart to put this show on my list. I actually think this show is cute! But, Ruby’s bossiness starts getting on my nerves after a while. I joined the group ” Where The H***Are Max and Ruby’s Parents” on Facebook several months ago. Seriously, where the heck are they? Why is their grandmother, Mrs. Huffington and their Bunny Scout leader the only adults in their lives? Why is Ruby putting Max to bed all the time. And dressing him?
6. Dora- Another show I think has it’s good points but I find generally annoying. Boots’ shrieking monkey sound (that sounds nothing like a real monkey) makes me want to put my fist through the t.v every time I hear it. Oddly enough, I don’t find her cousin Diego annoying.
7. Barney- I don’t think I need to explain this one…
8. Blue’s Clues- Steve’s acting grated on my nerves and I was happy to see him go. My girls never really watched this show but I caught it enough flipping through the channels to make me never want to watch it again.
9. The Wiggles- Again, kids love them. Their songs stick in my head after a while and I find that annoying! Katelyn used to love this show around two years of age. But now she hates them. I actually need to get rid of my Wiggles DVD’s now. Madelyn has never watched them.
Anyone want to buy some “Wiggles” DVDs from me? Anyone?
10. Teletubbies- Just their names are annoying!! And those giggly sounds they make the whole time are enough to make you want to stick a fork in your eye. And what’s up with the creepy baby sun? Seriously? The whole show is creepy weird if you ask me.
Do you have a Top Ten? Link up to Oh Amanda’s meme!
Giving To Others This Holiday Season
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
a) Stress. Cooking. Baking. Stress. Christmas rush. Shopping. More shopping. Bills. Spending money. Stress. Parties. Commitments. Christmas decorating. Long lines. Christmas cards. Christmas pictures. Holiday parties. STRESS! RUSH!
OR
b) Jesus. Christmas caroling. Friends. Family. Smiling. Laughing. Church family. Christmas eve service. Giving to a family in need. Tears of joy over being blessed by someone’s generosity. Unto us a Child is born! Messiah. Oh Holy night. Jesus is the reason for the season. Baking cookies with your children. Snuggles. Homemade gifts. Celebrating Jesus. Worshiping the Savior. Happy Birthday Jesus. Hugs. Joy. Peace
A or B? Which one of these word groupings sounds better to you? If I did my job well then you will feel stress just reading A and feel a lot calmer and happier in reading B. Has A ever applied to you during the holiday season?
The Lord has been dealing with my heart recently about the holiday season. I have really been thinking of ways to keep Christmas a lot simpler this year and more Christ centered. ( Remember my “Life Words” post? ) I was also being convicted of ways to give to others this Christmas in a bigger way than I have in the past and making it a family affair. Our servicemen and women have really been on my heart and I’ve been researching some ways to bless some of our troops this holiday season.
So, after all this thinking I’ve been doing these past couple of weeks, it all came together in our church service today! The youth minister of the church we’ve been attending spoke about Advent (it starts next Sunday), a little bit about it’s history, and practical ways to make this Advent season more about Christ and family than about giving and receiving gifts.
I’ll be honest with you, I had not really heard the term “Advent” until I moved to New England and my family never used that word. Of course, I’ve seen it on calendars but never knew what it really meant. Me being raised a Baptist, I always thought Advent was a tradition practiced by other religious faiths. But now I’ve come to know what the season of Advent means. Here is what About.com says about Advent:
“In Western Christianity, Advent begins on the fourth Sunday prior to Christmas Day, or the Sunday which falls closest to November 30, and lasts through Christmas Eve, or December 24. When Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, it is the last, or fourth Sunday of Advent.
Advent is a period of spiritual preparation in which many Christians make themselves ready for the coming, or birth of the Lord, Jesus Christ. During this time, Christians observe a season of prayer, fasting and repentance, followed by anticipation, hope and joy.
Many Christians celebrate advent not only by thanking God for Christ’s first coming to Earth as a baby, but also for his presence among us today through the Holy Spirit, and in preparation and anticipation of his final coming at the end of time.”
I think this is such a good definition of what the Christmas season should be about! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE CHRISTMAS. I love the sights, the hustle and bustle, the parties, the excitement, the gifts (yes, I said it! I love getting gifts!), the Christmas baking, the decorations, the music and even the shopping in crowded malls. I love it all. But, in the past, all of this has caused me great stress. I remember one Christmas a couple of years ago that was so stressful and busy for Mike and I that all we did was fight! We breathed a sigh of relief when it was over and Mike was actually looking forward to going back to work after his Christmas you- know-from-where vacation week. We said to each other that we never wanted to have a Christmas like that again. I’m sure we’re not the only ones who have had stressful Christmases in the past. Which brings me back to the point of this post.
The youth minister today spoke of the Advent Conspiracy . Ever heard of it? Here is a great video clip that describes what it’s all about. Check out their website for more wonderful information on this movement.
Isn’t this awesome? I was totally convicted by this.
Worship Fully
Spend Less
Give More
Love all
Wow. Should be simple to us Christians shouldn’t it? But it’s not. So, here are some practical ideas and ways to give more to others this season.
1) It was suggested in the sermon today to take 1/4 of the money you would usually spend at Christmas, pray over it as a family and ask God to show you where to use that money to serve others this Christmas. I really like this idea and think it’s a great tradition to start as a family. I know Katelyn is old enough to start learning about giving to others who have less than she does. And even if you can’t take 1/4 of the money you usually spend, try buying one less gift and using that money to help someone in need.
2) Give more of yourself this Christmas. Meaning, more of your time to your family and friends. Meet your neighbors. Invite people you don’t know very well over for coffee. Invite your friends who don’t know Jesus to church or to a Christmas church function.
3) Make more homemade gifts. I’m not crafty. At all. But I can bake and I can use my computer to make picture gifts for families and friends. I know homemade gifts are the ones I remember the most. Use whatever talents you have and your imagination to make something special instead of spending a lot of money on something your loved ones may not need.
4) Do more things together as a family and start some fun traditions. We started making a birthday cake for Jesus, which I know many families do. Start a Jesse Tree.
And if you’re looking for some ideas on how/where to give this Christmas consider these options:
1)Give to our troops.
Go to military.com for a list of ways to show love and thanks for our troops this Christmas. Don’t forget these men and women who are overseas putting their lives on the line for our freedom while we sit in our cozy living rooms on Christmas day. Another great way is to sponsor a care package through the USO for a soldier in need. The cost is $25 for a $75 care package. You can also donate at Give2TheTroops. 90% of donations goes to care packages for the troops and postage (which can be up to $10,000.00 a month!)
2) Give to World Vision Or Compassion International ( my cousin Phoebe works for them!) which are both wonderful Christian organizations that help families and children in third world countries.
3) Participate in Operation Christmas Child by Samaritans Purse.
4) Give anonymously to a family in need that you know personally. Leave gifts on their front door. Mail them a card with gift certificates. Have them over for Christmas dinner.
These are just a few of the many ways you can give of yourself and make Christmas more about Christ this year. I hope you’ll join me in participating in the Advent Conspiracy this year. Mike and I had already decided we were not going to buy the girls as many presents this year as we usually do and we’ve asked the grandparents to do the same. Let’s slow things down this Christmas. Let’s cherish the things that need to be cherished. Lets have a wonderful, Spirit filled Advent season. I think God will bless us, our hearts and our families more than we could ever imagine.
Who Wants A Clean House?
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
I’ve become addicted lately to the show “Clean House” on the Style network. The title of this post is their slogan. (As far as I can tell!) In case you don’t know what the show is about, a group of organizers and designers go into a family’s home (usually this family’s house is overtaken with their stuff and uber messy) get them to get rid of a ton of junk stuff (not without a fight from the homeowners), sell the junk stuff in a yard sale and use that money to organize and makeover some of the rooms in the house. The results are amazing. And seeing the way some of these people live makes me feel a whole heck of a lot better about my cluttered and messy home! The show has given me a lot of inspiration for some of the work and organizing I want to do in my home. I’m becoming more and more convinced of the need to get rid of stuff. I would like to sell it and get some money for it but if that doesn’t work I’ll just put it on freecycle. I have never had a yard sale and would be interested in having one at some point. With Christmas coming up I really want to get rid of stuff before new stuff comes in. We just repainted our living room and revamped it a bit. We’re not quite done with it but almost. The next room we’re moving on to is our bedroom.
I don’t know about you, but my bedroom is the dumping ground for laundry and sundry things that go upstairs. My room never looks clean,is way cluttered and is definitely not an oasis for me. Which, I think my bedroom should be. We’ve had the same bed spread for 8 years now, plain, off white curtains, the same off white paint on the walls that was there when we moved in and the room is just….blah. And messy. It’s not very big, our bedroom furniture is huge and we have a tiny closet. So, there’s a few things working against us. But I think with a little de-cluttering, some new paint and a new bed/comforter set things will look a lot more relaxing and peaceful in there.
After living in this house for 6 years I’m finally getting around to wanting to do some work on it. It seemed overwhelming a few months back and I just didn’t want to deal with any of it. Now I’m taking it one room at a time. And if it comes down to it, one wall at a time. I’ll be posting some before and after pictures of our bedroom. I’m embarrassed to even post the “before” pictures of our bedroom!
Here are the bed sets that I’m looking at and asking for for Christmas. They are all from Kohl’s and on sale! My room right now is in plum and off white tones. So I wanted to go with something different. My furniture is dark and I like the contrast of dark browns and other shades. I’m leaning towards dark brown/teal, dark brown/blue-ish and dark brown/lavender/lilac
#1
#2
#3
What do you think? I’m leaning towards #1 and #3 right now with #1 taking lead. I would most likely paint my walls one of the lighter shades that are on the bedspread.
Which one is your favorite?
Pet Peeve(s) Of The Day
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
I haven’t done one of these in ages! It’s high time for another Pet Peeve(s) Of The Day post, don’t ya think?
Do you have pet peeves? I certainly do! And apparently, they are many.
1)Have you ever met someone who’s circumstances/life/tragedy/situation is always worse than yours?
For example, a few years ago I had an acquaintance who had one child and I had none. We liked to hang out occasionally but she was always complaining how hard it was to do anything with a child and “I would see how hard things could really be once I had a child”. Then she got pregnant with her second child, had her second and I got pregnant with Katelyn. We lost touch for a while and then got back in touch again. I now had Katelyn and she had her two children. Well, suddenly, I had it easy because I only had one child and she had two. If I heard ” Well, I can’t do this or that or the other because I have two kids!” or ” Wait until you have two kids” I was going to scream. Then I had Madelyn, and she had her third. You can guess what her favorite phrases were then. Her life was crazy and hard because she had three kids. And I only had two. I got tired of hearing ” You trying doing this or that with three kids” or ” Try being sick with three kids!”
Sigh. Do you know anyone like that? Whatever it is you’re going through is not as bad as what they are going through. If you have a ingrown toenail, there’s is worse. If you have had a rough time during pregnancy, the other woman was bed ridden for nine months and almost died.
There’s sharing your story and just plain being annoying and trying to one up the other person.
2) Another pet peeve of mine is when people pronounce common words the wrong way and aren’t interested in saying them the correct way. Or, they don’t even have to be common words. They can be not-so-common words. This also applies to people’s names. I listened to a discussion a while back on the pronunciation of the band that Chris Daughtry leads. Girl #1 was pronouncing the band’s name as “Daw-tree” but you could tell she wasn’t real sure if that was the correct way to say it. Girl #2 went on and on about “Doh-er-tee”. So girl #1 also started saying “Doh-er-tee” . I wanted to stand up and shout ” It’s Daw-tree. DAW-TREE!!!!”
When you consistently pronounce words the wrong way you sound ignorant. Cut it out.
Same goes with spelling and grammar. Use spell check. Look it up. You look ignorant on paper when you spell every other word incorrectly. Good grammar makes you looks smart. There’s a difference between your and you’re and their/there/they’re. I’m certainly not an English major and sometimes I’ll go back and read a post and be horrified at my grammar or spelling. That usually happens when I’m blogging in a hurry or while watching t.v. Not a good combo.
3) I HATE it when people write me on Facebook or in an e-mail and use texting lingo and spelling. Its so annyg wen ppl rite me a note n don’t use prper spelln and punctuation do u see how annoying this can get when a whole note is written this way n has no commas or periods so I dont no where the sentence begins or ends or what is a quest or a statement do u get that? Save txting grammar for txting n rite properly when writn a reg email or msg.
And stop using ‘n’ for ‘and‘ and ‘ing‘. PLEASE.
This does not apply to Twitter. Twitter doesn’t allow for a lot of characters so sometimes you have to use texting grammar and spelling.
I apologize if I’ve offended any of my friends who write me this way. You don’t have to stop writing like that just for me. Just know that I’ll cringe every time I read something from you.
Wat abt u? Do u find n e of these annyg?
School Interview With Katelyn
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Now that Katelyn is an old pro at going to Pre-K three times a week I figured I’d interview her on some of her deep thoughts about school.
How do you like your new school? Good.
Who’s your favorite teacher? Ms. Tilley
What’s your favorite thing to do at school? Play with Polly Pockets during free play , do my letter work sheets and sing songs
What are some of the rules you have to follow? Like pray before lunch, no nuts, get in line and sit quietly.
What do you not like to do at school? Nothing
Have you gotten in trouble at school? No
Do any other kids get in trouble? Yes Who? Matthew and Shawn and I think that’s it. Sometimes Katherine does.
What do they do that gets them in trouble? I don’t know! Mom, you don’t have to worry about my friends. (This was said in a sassy and annoyed tone which got her a stern speaking to)
Who’s your best friend at school? Katherine and Isabell
What’s your favorite lunch for school? Yogurt, grapes, apples, turkey and cheese sandwich
Can you tell me something you’ve learned at school?To write letters and my name
Now that your four years old are there things you can do now that you couldn’t do when you were three? I can write perfect “K’s” and my name. I couldn’t do that when I was three.
So there you have it. A deep and though provoking interview with a four year old girl.
Potty Words
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Since I’m on my second round of potty training and have spoken with many moms who are potty training or have potty trained I noticed we all have different “potty” words. You know you’re in potty training mode when you find yourself asking adults if they need to use the potty or announcing that you, yourself, need to use the potty.Each family also has certain words to they use for “poop” and “pee”. Or, excuse me, if you’re more proper “bowel movements” and “urine”.
We’re not very proper in this house. We just plain pee and poop.
Having been in the childcare field before I was a mom, I’ve heard a plethora of different potty language.
Do you poo? poop? poo poo? Make a stinky? Or just plain have a BM?
Does your child tinkle? Pee? Pee Pee? Urinate? Or, a favorite of my mother in law’s, go pishkies?
Let’s not forget the other thing we do (not always in the bathroom!) that tends to be a favorite topic of young children. And grown men.
Passing gas.
Or as Madelyn says, giggling, “Pass the gas”. I hate the topic of breaking wind. Although I’m writing about it, I find it disgusting. I don’t think it’s funny. Or cute. Each household has different terminology for that gross, but necessary, bodily function.
Pass gas, fart, foat, toot, poot OR, the new one I’ve had the un-pleasure of learning recently- float an air biscuit. And if you’re in New England, which I am, you don’t fart you “faht”. Which sounds even more hideous, in my opinion. In our house we generally try to just pass gas. If I had to pick another one I’d go with “toot”. It has a less offensive ring to it than the word “fart” which hurts my ears anytime anyone says it.
And when you’re changing those cute little posteriors? Do you call them Behinds? Butts? Bottoms? Rear ends? Fanny’s? Tushies? Or, yet another favorite term my mother in law has introduced me to, little biscuits?
Don’t get me started on what to call anatomy parts that differentiate boys and girls. That’s a whole ‘nuther can of worms. Do you call their parts by their actual names or do you make up cutesy terms? I’m for calling them by their actual names although I’ve yet to actually do that. I can’t seem to get the words to roll out of my mouth quite naturally just yet. But I”m sure when the time comes that I absolutely have to, I will.
What potty words to you use in your house? Do share!!
But, keep in clean.
Please.
Share Your *TTC/Fertility/Secondary Infertility Story Blog Carnival
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
*Trying To Conceive
Whew! That title is a mouthful! This is my first ever MckLinky blog carnival and I’m excited about it. Are you having trouble conceiving for the first time? Or the fourth? Have you been told you cannot conceive? Are you having fertility issues? Are you going through the adoption process? Or, are you like me, suffering from Secondary Infertility? If any of this applies to you I would love to read your story and have you link up. There are so many wonderful women out there who are going through one or more of these issues. By sharing our stories we can meet other women who are going through some of the same issues we are. We can receive encouragement, support and possibly make a new friend! All stories are welcome-positive ones, sad ones, funny ones and the list goes on.
And if you don’t have a blog? Feel free to leave your story in the comment section! We’d still love to read it.
I shared my story a couple of posts ago but I’ll quickly summarize- I have two beautiful daughters. It took us 21 months to conceive our first. A year to conceive our second and now we’ve been trying for our third for 15 months. I received so much positive feedback through e-mails, comments and messages on Facebook that I thought “Why haven’t I done this sooner?”. I wanted to give others the chance to share and receive positive feedback too.
I am going to ask that you do one thing. Ok, maybe two. Please say a prayer and leave some words of support for the woman above your link and below your link. I think this would be a wonderful way for us to show some encouragement and solidarity. (Have I said encourage too many times?) I will be saying a prayer for each and every person who links up or leaves a comment. If you’re the first one to link up you get to say a prayer for me!:o) Also, please try to leave a comment on some of the other posts too. I will be commenting on all of them. Depending on how many women link up this may not be hard to do!
Since this is my first time doing something like this ( have I mentioned that already?) I ask that you bear with me if there any kinks that need to be ironed out.
Most of you have already done something like this but for those who have never done this before here are a few helpful hints/tips:
*Please add a link to my blog somewhere in your post.
*Once you’ve entered the MckLinky site:
1)In the “Title” box you can either a)Type your name b)The name of your blog or c) The title of your post
2) Type the URL to your post about this carnival in the second box. Please don’t link to your blog but to the post itself. For example: I wouldn’t write in the URL section www.simplymelsblog.com. Instead I would post the URL of the actual post I’m linking up which would look something like this:
http://www.simplymelsblog.com/this-is-me-being-authentic/
Hope this helped!
Did I mention that I’m excited?
Because I am.
Now link up and enjoy reading some powerful stories!
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Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…
Family Update
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
So, I haven’t blogged in a few days so I figured it was time for a little update about what we’ve been doing here lately. Turns out there’s quite a bit I needed to update on! So, I’ll try to do it chronologically.
Here goes…
*About three weeks ago we left our church of almost 4 years. It was a hard decision and one that we had been praying about for awhile. Mike had a great conversation with our old (ex?) pastor and he was very gracious and understanding. One of the reasons is that we live in Massachusetts and we were going to a church in New Hampshire. We drove a good ways each Sunday to get to church and because of this we weren’t as involved in our church as we wanted to be. We have since found a church closer to us that we have been enjoying attending. We’re still praying for the Lord to show us where He wants us permanently. It was a sad and hard decision with lots of teary good byes.
*School/Awana/Dance Update- Katelyn is enjoying all three, although the past few weeks she has balked a little at going to school and Awana. I don’t know what the deal is with that. She usually come out happy, it’s just the going in that she doesn’t want to do. She still LOVES dance. Mike swears he’s noticed a difference in her dancing and rhythm. I can’t really see it all that much and wasn’t really expecting her to come out of this class knowing all sorts of dance moves yet! I think it’s cute that he does, however…
*There were some layoffs at Mike’s company and thankfully he was not one of them. He was told his job is stable and secure for right now. Praise the Lord!
*Potty Training Update- We had been doing so good! I say “had” because for the last 4 days or so we’ve all been sick. So that has slowed down our potty training progress. Madelyn has still been asking to go potty so that’s a good sign. I think we’ll be able to catch up pretty quickly though.
*A couple of weeks ago my friend Allie and her friend Laura (Laura Wagner Photography for those who live locally) came to our house to do a photo shoot in our backyard. It was for Katelyn’s 4 year pictures and Madelyn’s 2 year pictures. The girls did great and we got some great shots. Here are just a couple of the pictures we got. You can go to my Facebook album that I uploaded to here to see the rest of them.
Aren’t they purty?
Laura and Allie did a fantastic job. Check out Laura’s photography website-www.laurawagnerphotography.com. Allie is her second shooter and just as fabulous.
*I bared my soul in this post last week and am changing the direction of my blog to reflect this “authenticity” a bit.
*As to the past few days we have all been sick. Fever, coughing fits, aches and pains. The works. It has not been fun. The only one who hasn’t gotten it yet is Mike. And I’m fully expecting him to come home sick today. Not hoping. Just expecting. I don’t think I’ve been that sick in a looong time. Sunday I stayed home from church. I was in bed most of the day. I finally dressed and dragged myself downstairs to get myself moving a big. I was almost delirious. No joke! I was able to stay awake long enough to watch “Confessions Of A Shopaholic” (cute movie!) before passing out in a feverish stupor again. Then, I had weird dreams about that movie. So, today, we seem to be back on track again. I kept Katelyn home from school and plan to not go to Awana tomorrow night. I think we just need to stay home for a few days. Since I haven’t cleaned my house since Saturday it’s looking pretty nasty. So, while the girls are recouping, I’m cleaning.
I think that pretty much sums it up. Now, I really must go clean. And I apologize if this post was a bit random or grammatically poor. I’m still in the recovery stage myself!
