Daddy-Daughter Dance

Our church does a fabulous thing each year.

They provide an opportunity for the daddies to take their daughters on a date.  To model for their little girls just how a guy is supposed to treat them.

And my man did it up this year.

He asked Tatum to go on a special date with him.  Then he arranged to get dressed, snuck out of the house, and knocked on the door to 'ask if she was ready' for their date on Friday night. 

He brought flowers (by way of a wrist corsage) for her as well. 

And jewelry.  That he put on her himself.  {If I wasn't already in love with that man I would have been after seeing the effort he went through to make that precious 5 year old feel oh-so-special!!}

And he took her out to eat to the restaurant of her choosing.  I think it ended up being Chick-fil-A.  And she couldn't play on the playground because 'fancy girls all dressed up can't play on the playground and get all messy'.

At the dance, a friend of ours took some wonderful pictures of them dancing...

The church family life center was decorated beautifully (so I'm told) and there were craft activities for the girls to do and lots of candy and an ice cream bar.  I was also told that Tatum went for four bowls of ice cream...or rather bowls of toppings with a smattering of ice cream at the bottom.  Take a look at the picture below and you be the judge??

They had a remarkable time.  I'm not sure how Daddy managed to make it through dancing with his princess after some of the daddy-daughter songs he told me they played, but he did.

I had a work banquet to attend this same night as well, and when I got home Tatum wasn't asleep yet, so she gave me the quick highlights of her night.  I could tell by those highlights that this will be one of those nights that just sticks with her. 

Watch out, boys.  We're going to teach this little girl just how a princess is supposed to be treated!

Happy Easter!

From our family to yours!

How much activity can you cram into one day?

And still have some semblance of relaxation?  Because today consisted of an Easter egg hunt at Kroger,

then playing on the playground while Daddy did the lawn,

then a quick trip to finalize a birthday present for the birthday party we attended, the birthday party itself at Spoons (where I - not sure about the kids - had never been before),

then home for (some) naps while Matt continued to work in the yard and I did (some) house work and (some) outside work and (lots of) some solar therapy while the kids napped.  Matt even made a garden area for Tatum because she's been asking about planting things...she was SO EXCITED about this later in the day when she woke up from her nap!! 

We had LOTS of outside playing time, we experimented with dyeing Easter eggs with Kool-aid (making over 2 dozen eggs!!),

ate a scrumptious dinner (courtesy of the meal swap), went outside and played a little more.  Kellen was really sweet to help Tatum with her soccer practice.

Then the kids got baths/showers and we then made Resurrection cookies (pardon the mess in the background...we actually live in our kitchen and hadn't finished picking up from dinner yet and were still dyeing some eggs as well).

It was another FABULOUS family fun day!


And while the only things originally on the agenda where the Easter egg hunt and the birthday party, it felt like we didn't stop moving all day.  But it was LOADS of fun.

Fun Family Day

It was a fun family day...and we totally needed it!  It was a nice and relaxing day...one without much of a schedule.  We don't get those that often!

So we headed to Independence in search of bluebonnets, then headed to Brenham to the park for a late lunch/early dinner and to play at the park.  We headed back to town a different path, stopping along the way  back for a nice milkshake treat (which was interestingly the only out-of-pocket expense of the day).

We had a blast.  And we have the pictures to prove it (some are better than others, but hey...the memories are priceless!).  Here are some of the better ones from today.

I'm glad I took the day off today.  Happy Good Friday. 

Remember...the cross is for you. No matter who you are!  Thank God that the cross was for me!

Ladies Craft Night

So our Sunday school ladies got together last week to make wreaths. The pictures of the wreaths they sent to get our creative juices flowing were way cute....

So with these ideas, I went in search of my perfect wreath to begin my backdrop.  Then I carefully selected my colors.  I then spent entirely too long trying to find just the right sprig to make it all come together. Then I did the same thing for the materials for the spring wreath I was making for my mother in law.

I was overjoyed to realized that my procrastination had payed off when I found out the wreaths were 50% off on the day I purchased them. SCORE one for procrastination!

Craft night came. I fiddled around with making the flowers, tossing aside the template because it seemed too complicated (and I'm a simple girl and like easy things).

And my flowers turned out something like this.

I only got through with a few of them and it seemed like I looked up and it was time for me to leave.  I was in no way, shape or form ready to be finished with the night.

But I went back home and let my fabulous in-laws go home (thank you!).  Then I proceeded to continue with my crafty streak.

And I finished with a wreath that looked like this.

So there you have it....my spring wreath for my door.  The very next night, I made another one for my mother in law....and although in this picture it appears crooked, imagine it hanging correctly...and her spring wreath turned out like this.

It has felt very good to be crafty!  I have realized how much I miss that aspect of my life.  I do have creative juices and apparently they do sometimes like to flow.  And I guess it's good to sometimes remember that!

My front door is thanking me.

Happy birthday, Matt!!

Happy birthday, Honey!! 

We didn't put the appropriate number of candles on your cake,

but you still manage to light up a room!

We love you!!

Godsend

Let me go on the record and say it. My in-laws are a Godsend. Completely and totally.

They totally saved me this weekend.

I am sick. With what, I'm not sure, but I'm sick.  I am congested, have a runny nose, am sneezing, and am coughing. A lot. And it hurts. (I'm guessing bronchitis and a sinus infection, but haven't gotten that confirmed).

But my ailments didn't stop the weekend from coming.

For some, the weekend might be a good thing.  For me, for this particular weekend, it wasn't a nice and relaxing weekend.  Matt was at an event I place a high priority on him attending - a men's retreat with our Sunday school guys. Tatum had her first soccer game scheduled. It was Parents Weekend in Aggieland and consequently, I had a work luncheon, and Kellen had his opening ceremonies for Little League.

It was gearing up to be a FULL weekend.  Even more so than usual for us.

Matt was going to come back and forth so he wouldn't miss Tatum's first soccer game, but the recent rain caused the opening weekend games to be canceled.  She was devastated.  Mommy and daddy were less than devastated.

Maw Maw and Paw Paw managed to make it over so that I could get to my luncheon, and played with the kids and did spring-time activities all day so that even when I got home, I was able to take a much-needed nap.  I say much-needed because unfortunately by that point in time, I had also managed to acquire a migraine on top of everything else.

After my nap was over, my migraine had, despite my 'good' medicine, taken full root.  So we took the kids to the new Chick-fil-A to get a quick dinner and some caffeine in me to help kick the meds in even more (one can dream) before the opening ceremonies.

While we were there, we realized that Jacey really likes ice cream.  Even asked for it after she saw the other two kids turn in their kids meal treat for it.

With me not being completely (or at all) on my game, we managed to leave the house without her lovey or a sippy cup.  These were not good things for us to be without.

We managed.  And the caffeine helped the medicine to kick in some and I was able to tolerate the opening ceremonies.

I liked the way they did them this year....we were able to actually see the teams since they came around the front of the stadium. 

And afterwards, Maw Maw and Paw Paw assisted with the bedtime routine put the kids to bed so that I didn't have to do it all myself.

Godsend.

I would not have made it through the weekend without them.  Well, I might have, but I wouldn't have included such fond memories as ice cream pictures and sweet boys enjoying their opening ceremonies. 

Absolute Godsend.

March Running Review

15 - 3 miles, 47:15 min (first walk/jog since hurting my back/shoulder doing who knows what and getting back into the chiropractor with Jacey in a non jogging stroller for some of the laps)
16 - 3.2 miles, 58:57 min (walk/jog with Jacey in a non jogging stroller for some of the laps)
25 - 2.1 miles, 19:39 min (8:33 mile; 10:06 mile)
26 - 2.1 miles, 19:31 min (9:15 mile; 9:13 mile)
27 - 2 miles, 20:47 min (10:16 mile; 10:13 mile)

March mileage total = 12.4 miles (0.4 miles/day)
Yearly mileage total = 52.9 miles (0.58 miles/day)

Ug. March was not a good month overall. My back has been giving me fits and I have seen quite a bit of my chiropractor this month....self-care has been more of a theme this month than consistent running. So I guess I'll take that.

When I *did* run, I was amazed to see that I am actually running faster than ever. I don't seem to be able to keep the pace up for very long, but my mile paces are amazing (to me, anyway). So I will continue to celebrate the small victory of speed, while lamenting the continued need for continuity and consistency. But I'm working on it.

And I will say that I'm craving my runs. I want to be out there running.  Period.  I can't say that has always been the case...and I have been frustrated on the days that I have really wanted (even woke up to my alarm!) to get up and run but have been stopped by the rain (that we need!).  So my motivation and drive are there, I just need to allow my body to heal and recover so I can work on the consistency aspect.

2012 Recap:
January total = 31.24 (31 days) [MET GOAL]
February total = 9.26 (29 days)
March total = 12.4 (31 days)

Clutter control (March 25 - 31)

25 - We reorganized the clothes in Kellen's room and got rid of a few items in there (outgrown sleep outfits that he's held on to for way too long), t-shirts he's outgrown, etc) - 12
30 - After Jacey wore one of her pair of jeans-turned-into-almost-capris, I realized they were, in fact, too short for her. *sigh* - 1
31 - Hubby had warned me that the toaster was broken, but we hadn't gotten around to throwing it away. It is now in the trash (shhh...I did it before he got home and I wonder how long it will take before he notices). - 1

Weekly total - 14 items
March total - 67 items

Is that comfortable?

After transitioning Jacey to a 'big girl' bed this past weekend, we weren't all too surprised to see this when we went into the girls room this morning.

Hopefully it won't take too terribly long before her transition is complete...and she makes it all night in HER bed.

Clutter control (March 18 - 24)

20 - 1 shirt that we realized Jacey has outgrown (I could have sworn I just went through that girls clothes!!)
21 - 3 items (including a random, non-insulated drink container that sweats horribly that I've had sitting on the kitchen counter for some unknown number of weeks....have I just been oblivious to this??? cleaning around it???  who knows, but it's gone now.)
24 - 2 pairs of shoes (1 each from Kellen & Jacey)

Weekly total = 6 items
March total = 53 items

Not my smartest Mommy moment

Last night I hosted my Meal Swap I mentioned earlier this week.  In preparation for this, I got the house picked up, had Tatum help me prep brownies, and while my pizza pasta was cooking, I gave the girls a bath.

You know, to get a jump start on bedtimes.

I never thought that dinner would result in something that looked like this.

And Jacey got not one, but TWO baths last night. (After she ate THREE bowls of this pasta...and Mommy did an extra HAPPY DANCE for her eating!!)

So much for my attempt at being organized and efficient.  I would call that a big fat Mommy fail.  Or....perhaps if I spin it another way, we just practiced her sensory input as it related to baths and bathing.

Yeah...I can spin that.

Perspective when your kiddos are strong-willed

I have spoken a lot about my strong willed children. Those children who just so happen to come from two strong willed parents.

They never stood a chance.

I have to remind myself that their strong wills will come in handy some day when they are faced with peer pressure and all sorts of other 'things' and I hope and pray that the messages they are learning now will stick.

So it was refreshing to read this devotional about that very same thing.  I absolutely love the mothering perspectives she lists...

1. Don't take too much credit for their good.
2. Don't take too much credit for their bad.
3. Don't try to raise a good child. Raise a God-following adult.

Oh thank you Lord for that sweet reminder! It's not my purpose in life to raise 'good' kids...it's my purpose in life to raise kids who know and love the Lord.

Batch cooking

I'm hosting a meal swap for some of my fabulous co-workers this week, so in preparation for that event, I did some batch cooking last night.

Pizza pasta is my 'go-to' dish for meal swaps. It just is. It's easy to make, most people love it, and I always end up making extra because my family seems to love it (especially Jacey, which is a real treat).

I got the ingredients (buying in bulk for a recipe is way easier than getting a bunch of different ingredients for different recipes!)

Then turn all of those things into a LOAD of food!!

Boil the pasta and separate it into the lasagna pans.

While the water for the pasta is boiling and the pasta is cooking, brown the meat and heat the sauce.  Then mix the meat and sauce with the pasta in the pan (I use 1 lb of hamburger meat and 1 can of spaghetti sauce per pan, along with 1 bag of tri-colored twirly pasta or 1 12 oz box of pasta).  Then layer with approximately 2 cups of mozarella cheese.

Take your pepperoni and layer over the shredded cheese for the final topping.

If you have an assembly line going while you're making quite a few of these, it can look something like this on your table.....

And you end up with something that looks like this....

I made seven of these last night while we simultaneously made dinner to eat, the kids ate, my hubby ate, then I took a quick break to bathe and put to bed the littlest.  And I was completely finished (as in wrapped with saran swap and aluminum foil, labeled and in the freezer) by 9 PM or so. I started with all of this at about 6:30....so not too bad!!

I kept one out for us to eat later this week and also browned some of the 'extra' hamburger meat that I had bought as a started for another dinner for this week.  When you actually cook it, do so on 350 for 25-35 minutes, or until all of your cheese is melted (I leave on the foil until the last 10 or so minutes).

I felt very productive. *grin* The added bonus is that my dear sweet hubby cleaned up the kitchen afterwards. Love that man!!

Spring break preview.....

Yes...our spring break was that much fun....more to come.

Clutter control (March 11-17)

12 - T-shirt purge (got rid of 3 shirts...1 just moved from the 'wear' pile to the 'sleep shirt' pile)
13 - Random clean-up around the house -4

Considering it was spring break, one might have thought I would have been slightly more productive...It seemed as though I was, but apparently it was in purging items from my home. I did trash-to-treasure things like turning lonely socks into bunnies for Easter instead.

Weekly total = 7 items
Monthly total = 47 items

Easter bunny...Craft time!

So I stumbled across this post where a tutorial is shown about making Easter bunnies from lonely socks. (The tutorial is fabulous...If I can make it from the tutorial, you know you're in good shape. Elsie Marley's bunny also looks way better than mine. That being said, I'll include some rudimentary instructions below with my pictures as well).

As I have already mentioned, I just purged socks and have more lonely socks that I know what to do with around here right now.

This is what the basket of lonely socks looks like...normally it is sitting on top of my dryer, waiting to try and find their partners as loads (and loads, and loads, and loads) of laundry come out of the dryer and get folded and put away (hahaha...so funny...like that happens immediately...but I digress). I took it and since I was home yesterday with both girls, I decided to make the 'pin' a reality.

Tatum picked out her color for her bunny, and while the girls were eating dinner and watching a movie, I tried to get all crafty.

Here goes:

Put your stuffing in the bottom of the sock, which will end up being the body of the bunny. I realized when I was finished that I probably didn't use enough stuffing...but you don't want to use too much...so just take your best guess. Slip stitch around where you want the body to end and draw it tight.

Around the toe of your body (what will be the tail) do another slip stitch in a circular pattern, and tie it off...this will be the tail.

Stuff the head (which is really the heel area of the sock) and perform the same slip stitch technique you have no doubt mastered by now (hopefully better than I seem to have done).

Then take the top of the sock and cut a V into it (you'll have just made the sections for the two ears). Then cut those 'ears' so that they have a point in the middle (so each ear is another V). Fold the edges of each ear in toward the center and stitch them.

Tatum decided that her bunny needed eyes, so I played with the thread and added eyes to her bunny. I also added a few quick stitches in various places to hold it together in something that resembled the shape of a bunny (and realized again that I didn't stuff the body with enough stuffing).

But there you have it!  A purple bunny...

I think it's time for another t-shirt purge...

3/13 Update: after doing some additional laundry, I came across a few more t-shirts...so I've adjusted the numbers accordingly below.

Remember my old post about purging t-shirts to a more manageable number?  Well, I think it's time again.

My t-shirt count is 21 23 shirts (at least that are currently clean, folded and in my drawer - and I'm pretty caught up on my laundry as of *right.now*), and this is true t-shirts, not the girl-cut t-shirts (I know, I know...I actually differentiate between the two).

They actually (mostly) fit when they're all clean and folded in my drawer, but still....how many t-shirts do I need? I wear them on the weekends and occasionally on a Friday to work...occasionally.

In going through them, it's obvious I end up still wearing the same ones over and over again....maybe it's the way they feel?  Maybe the way I feel like I look in them?

I honestly have no idea. But I'm thinking it's too many t-shirts. Especially when I'm not wearing them all.

So, there seems to be some that I have a twinge about getting rid of....race shirts, etc.  Apparently I need to make some sort of keepsake item with those (a shadow box for my race shirts and medals? suggestions from other runners would be greatly appreciated!!). Others I will officially move to the 'sleep shirt' ranks. Yeah, they're that bad. Still others I'll move to the 'craft' pile for wreaths and possibly some flip flops for the girls and I.

So, the end count is....17 19 t-shirts.