Honey Do....

Hahaha, this is a funny one!

Jay really has one consistent chore (that doesn't mean he only does one thing!), and that is to take the garbage to the curb on garbage day. Jay consistently forgets to do this chore. Inevitably one of two things happens come Wednesday morning, depending on my schedule: either I take the garbage down myself or I yell for him to ruuuuuun to get the garbage out as I hear the garbage truck passing by our house. It's usually the latter....

So today, I heard the familiar rumble of the garbage truck passing our house and I yelled out for Jay. He jumped up, and I went to check out the front window to see if it really was the garbage truck. And lo and behold, our garbage can is already on the curb! I ran to Jay and told him how sweet he was for remembering to put the can out last night. Awwwww, he remembered! But then he looked confused when I thanked him. He didn't remember putting out the can.... But he has a bad memory, so it's entirely possible that he just plain forgot he did it. I decided to go outside and make sure it was our can and not somehow a neighbor's misplaced (on purpose) can.

And I saw our neighbors dragging our can back up the cliff we call a driveway. They started laughing and saying they hoped we didn't mind. I said, "No, thank you for taking out our garbage!" And they said, "No, thank you for letting us use your garbage can!" Haha, they're in the process of moving and had too much garbage, so they needed another can. We keep ours out on the driveway, and they tried knocking to ask permission. I didn't hear the knock, so they used it anyway (which we, of course, don't mind). We had a good laugh over the mistaken garbage-taker-outer identity!


Things to be thankful for:

1. Small universities. I've experienced both small and large, and while small does have it's cons, the pros outweigh the cons by a mile. The personal atmosphere...nothing compares to it.

2. An unexpected hour to finish my homework sans kids. Now I have the afternoon and evening to spend with my family.

3. Homemade bread...soooo good! I don't really have anything to add to this =).

Sunday Morning

It's a beautiful day, and we need to fill it with something beautiful. We should be at church, but we're not because we're lazy and we're trying to spend as much time together as a family before we're split up in August. But I think we'll head to the craft store so I can get supplies to get started on a beautiful knitted afghan for sweet Mae. I have a gorgeous quilt in progress for Zee, but I'm having a hard time pulling out the sewing machine. It's too tempting, and I really don't have the spare time to work on crafts until school is over. Which is why knitting is the perfect craft...it's so portable! I have a quilt idea in mind for Mae too, but quilts take a long time. Well, they don't have to, but I like them to. I like to mull over it for a good long time before I even make the first fabric purchase. It's like growing a baby...the idea starts as a small seed then grows and grows. It takes time to come into itself. And that's all before buying even square of fabric. Only when the idea is born is it ready to dive into the actual making of the quilt. And it's a whirlwind of fabric choices, patterns, just getting to know the actual being of the quilt. And the actual construction is much like the toddler years...fast and frustrating. But when it's done, it's lovely. Perhaps that's why Zee's quilt is still in progress...because she is still in progress. It seems to be growing with her.

As for Mae's afghan...I'm excited to get started on it. It's a beautiful lacy pattern with a medium-weight yarn (hopefully I'll find some nice bamboo yarn so it will be so soft and silky...perfect for a soft and silky baby). I've never done lace-work, but I think I can handle it. I pray I can, anyway!

Anyway, I'm off to spend these precious few minutes with my family.

Thankful for Sunday mornings full of sun and warmth. They fill me with ideas and love and hope and pure joy.

More blessings....

1. Graduation. It's going to happen in just 7.5 short weeks! But it's so much more than just graduation...it's the support of those who love me and who have encouraged me, who have nourished my dreams from start to finish. I couldn't do this without every single one of them.

2. A little more time with J before he leaves. It might not be a lot, but I'm thankful for the little bits here and there. We will make the most of it. It's just now hitting me that he's leaving and that deployment is a very real possibility.

3. A beautiful home. To raise my girls in. To grow in, as a woman, a wife, a mother. To wrap its arms around my family and hold us together.

4. Moose. Who reminds me to let go and not worry about the mess, the fur, the accidents, but just to love freely, all-forgiving, over and over.

5. A milk-drunk baby with little cream droplets sliding down her chubby cheeks while she falls asleep at my breast. Because really, what on this earth is more perfect?

Thankful

It's been a long time again. I started back at school in January, so that has kept me busy. I had planned on going part-time, taking two classes, but God really guided me to take a full load. At first I thought I was crazy for doing it, but my French professor has been more than accommodating of my crazy family life. Besides dealing with various sickies with the girlies, which prevented me from making it to class several times, we had some major car problems. Our beloved 2007 Honda Civic died a horrible death (the engine block cracked), just a few thousand miles past its warranty. We had to buy a new vehicle, so we went all out and bought a minivan! I think it was God watching out for us yet again because the minivan has been an unexpected blessing. A few more bumps along the way, but halfway through the semester and I'm finally feeling closer to getting on top of things.

The big news, and the reason why I KNOW God was guiding me when it came to school, is that J is on assignment to go to Fort Hood in August. We gambled that the Army would forget about him during his last year in, but it didn't work that way. He is now contemplating reenlisting and going the whole 20 years, but we're not even close to finalizing that decision. I'm actually leaving it in J's (and God's!) hands because I'm open to whatever happens. So what does that have to do with school you say? I am going to finally graduate in December!!! If I hadn't taken a full load this semester (before we had any idea about J's orders), I wouldn't have been able to graduate until May 2010. The girls and I will have to stay in Georgia until I graduate because I've put in too much time and effort into my degree to just give it up. So graduating in December rather than May is a huge HUGE difference! I thank God that it has worked out the way it has!

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Anyway, I've been in a really negative funk lately, so I'm trying out something new. I'm going try again to keep up this blog (have I ever said that before?!), but I'm also going to try to end it with five things that I am thankful for. So here I go:


1. For the floor people who came unexpectedly to finish the floors yesterday, and for J getting to work on the quarter round. If the floor people hadn't come, I doubt we would have finished the floors anytime soon. This will definitely help the house sell should we put it on the market!

2. For being able to spend time with the girlies and to enjoy their company. There is nothing like watching my two babies playing...with me, with each other, with the dog. Just being little girls. It makes my heart full.

3. For Zee knowing how to blow her nose. Okay, I know that sounds gross and...maybe a little trivial, but she has had a runny nose lately, and it really does make it a lot easier. Trust me when I say that the bulb syringe is equal to a chain saw in her three year old mind.

4. For sweet, simple craft projects that keep my mind open and my heart happy. The thoughtfulness that goes into each project is really humbling, and I love the thought that those sentiments are going to my girls when I finish a project for them.

5. For school. As hard as it has been, and as stressful, I am truly thankful to have the opportunity to learn. And to finish my degree has been a lifelong goal, and there is nothing as rewarding as achieving that goal. The fact that the road to this goal has been riddled with difficulties and rough spots makes it even sweeter to get to the end. I did it, and now I know that I can do something, even if it isn't easy.

Uh oh!

It's the day we have dreaded since August 20, 2005. In case you didn't know (and I'm sure you didn't), that is the day we had our big ultrasound to find out whether Zee was a boy or a girl. She's obviously a girl, and J's first reaction was along the lines of "I guess I'll need to buy a shot gun."

The day has come. J might need to get that shot gun.

Okay, not really, but close enough! Zee has a boyfriend. That's right. A boyfriend! His name is Cooper, and he hangs the sun, and his word is God's honest truth. According to Zee, at least. Whenever I ask her about her day at school, she always always talks about Cooper. I finally asked Zee's teacher, Ms. Jay Jay, who Zee normally plays with. Before I finished the question, Ms. Jay Jay answered, "Cooper!"

Apparently they're two peas in a pod. Whenever the kids have to partner up, they're right there for each other. And last week, while telling me about her day, Zee informed me that she saw a spider (or, as she puts it, a 'pider) at school and that it was yucky. After I informed her that spiders are not yucky, she said, "Yes they are! Cooper said so!" Well then. Mommy obviously has no clue. If Cooper says they're yucky, then they're yucky.

I am actually very happy for Zee. It really warms my heart to see her making friends. It is the sweetest thing to know that she has a buddy, and it really gives me the encouragement I've needed to keep her in MDO.

On a completely different topic, I haven't written much about sweet Mae. She is growing, and she's just so darn sweet! Every time I see her, I'm just so amazed that my body created and grew such a sweet being. She is so perfectly cute, but the best of all? She is a happy baby. She always wakes up with a smile on her face, and that makes my heart melt. And bathtime? All three of us girls (Zee, Mae and me) take our bath together, and we get to play, and it just puts the biggest smile on Mae's face. Zee loves to pretend to be a shark, and she insists that Mae is a baby mermaid. We make Mae feed Zee the Mean Shark "fishies" (make-believe fish), and they both just love it. Mae also loves to dance in the water. She stands up (with me holding her, obviously) and moves her feet all over the place. It's perfect. I love our bathtime!

And also so wonderful? Mae's first laugh. It was really an attempt more than an actual laugh, but that counts, right? She was just so happy to be awake from her nap, and she laughed at me. It was like a fluttering in my heart.

I am blessed.

Playing Cinderella

Zee has this great imagination on her! She dearly loves to pretend to be a princess and dance around. Did you know that princesses MUST dance with their eyes closed?! Me neither.

Yesterday Zee decided that she was "Cinner-enna" as she calls her favorite princess. I got the dubious honor of being the evil step-mother. I guess there really weren't any other female roles for a mommy, but I wasn't exactly honored that the step-mother was the role Zee immediately thought of when she assigned my role. Well, as we played, I learned that apparently Zee never realized that the step-mother was evil. Thank goodness she doesn't automatically associate me with evil!

Pretend play isn't easy for me unfortunately. I remember being a kid and thinking that I'd never stop playing pretend, and here I am...just where I said I wouldn't be. I think the very fact that I have a hard time doing it now means that I NEED to do it more. I know Zee would appreciate that for sure. Practice makes perfect, right? I just need to open my heart and brain to my inner child and remember how to let go.

So I guess I'm off to play princesses!

Compassion...you're doing it right

A few days ago, Zee and I were on our way home from a quick trip to Target and a car pulled out in front of me. A very slooooow and stinky car emitting a ton of exhaust. Zee asked me what was wrong with the car, so I told her that it was broken. She sat thinking for a moment, then...


"Oh, I know! Maybe we can get him a new car!"

"That's really nice of you, Zee, but I don't think we can get him a new car. You are such a kind girl who really thinks about others!"

Another moment passes by then, "Oh I know! Maybe we can give him our car!"


Obviously we're doing well in teaching her compassion. Now how to start teaching her about finances. Philanthropy is great and all, but first we need money.

P.S. - After praising her compassion, I tried to help her come up with feasible ways to help someone with a broken car...like offering to give him a ride...as opposed to giving him a (or OUR) car. I love this girl!