Happy New Year!

Only a few more hours until 2009! I’ll be honest that New Year’s Eve has never been one of my favorite holidays, but I love the promise of a new year and a fresh start. I know, you can start fresh any day of the year, but a new year makes it very inspiring.

I wanted to do a “year in review,” but I just don’t have that much time right now. Maybe on Friday. I’ll also be doing a “year in preview” post.

I hope everyone has a truly wonderful 2009! It's been an amazing 2008, that's for sure. We have many hopes and dreams for our year ahead and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us.

See you Friday!

Note to Self

When DH and Brady are away for the evening, eating large amounts of chips and salsa for dinner while watching "West Wing" should be avoided. At least the large amounts of chips and salsa part.

Ugh............

Is it Monday already?

Good morning and happy Monday! I’m back at work and trying to get back to my regular routine. Getting up at 6am today was hard! Brady let me sleep until 8am most days last week, so today was a rude awakening. Literally!

We had a wonderful Christmas. Everyone got everything they wanted, but more so, we had a great time together as a family (for the most part!). Here’s a quick rundown of the week:

Monday – Brady went to school until 2pm. I had my work Christmas lunch and I ran a few errands before picking him up to officially start his vacation.

Tuesday – I don’t remember us doing too much that day. Brady was wound up for the first part of the week, trying my patience greatly! J We had the Christmas Eve Eve service at church, which I’m sure was beautiful if I could have actually stayed in and seen it (See above!)>

Wednesday – We exchanged gifts with Vivian that morning. Brady gave her a this huge Cars racetrack and she gave him a Red Sox lamp and a gift certificate to Build-A-Bear. The morning ended with them fighting over a car, Brady smacking her, and us leaving early. Thankfully, Vivian is going through the same 3 year old adventures as Brady, so everything was alright. More patience being tried, though. That night my mother-in-law and her husband came over for Christmas Eve. Even more patience being tried. Hahaha!

Thursday – The big day! Brady got up about 7:40am. He knew Christmas was coming, but it didn’t occur to him that this was the day and he should get up early. Thank goodness! But once we got him into the living room, it was every man for himself! Brady loved everything, but his Incredible Hulk figure and his GeoTrax train set were the favorites. We all got many lovely things, including lots of gift cards, which were my favorites. We had lunch around 3pm and my in-laws stopped by briefly in the evening to check out Brady’s haul. A quiet day with no running from one place to another and that’s exactly how I like it.

Friday – DH had to work. Brady and I slept in, then headed out to run some errands and check out the after-Christmas sales at Target and Hobby Lobby. I found a few things, including the Merry Christmas sign I had been eyeing at Target for a while. We then went to Chuckie Cheese for lunch. Brady had a ball. He’s been to Gattitown, but this was our first trip to CC. I forgot that they had pretty good pizza. The rest of the day was pretty quiet. DH got off work early and we just hung out around the house.

Saturday – Cleaning day! To be honest, my housework has really suffered since, oh, November. Thankfully the health department hasn’t made any surprise visits. So Saturday we cleaned the house from top to bottom. Seriously, we cleaned out under the beds, in the closets, organized toys and had numerous bags of trash and junk to get rid of. But everything looked so nice and shiny afterwards!

Sunday – Sunday School and church and then a relaxing day to get ready for a new week. I even took a nap!

Have a great week!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family!

Bye for Now

I'm leaving today at 2pm for Brady's school Christmas party and won't be back at work until Monday, December 29th. Since I'll be enjoying my week off with Brady, I doubt I'll be online much next week. So I am finally taking that bloggy break I talked about!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Joseph's Lullaby

I swear, I really am taking a bloggy break. I promise! But I had to share this song with you guys. It's "Joseph's Lullaby" by MercyMe. As a parent, it really touched my heart and made me think about what went through Mary and Joseph's minds those days.

Go to sleep my Son
This manger for your bed
You have a long road before You
Rest Your little head

Can You feel the weight of Your glory?
Do You understand the price?
Does the Father guard Your heart for now
So You can sleep tonight?

Go to sleep my Son
Go and chase Your dreams
This world can wait for one more moment
Go and sleep in peace

I believe the glory of Heaven
Is lying in my arms tonight
Lord, I ask that He for just this moment
Simply be my child

Go to sleep my Son
Baby, close Your eyes
Soon enough You'll save the day
But for now, dear Child of mine
Oh my Jesus, Sleep tight

What I had for lunch today

This is what I had for lunch today:

You can use that to judge my stress level these days............

Taking a Bloggy Break

I'm sorry, y'all, but I am overloaded right now between EVERYTHING, so I'm taking a bloggy break. I'll pop in here and there to give brief updates, but I'll be gone for the most part until after the holidays.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Friday!

Good morning and Happy Friday!

First off, I hope my post yesterday didn’t offend anyone. Most of the blogs I was talking about don’t try intentionally to make work-outside-the-home moms feel badly. It’s more the whole “Mommy Guilt” that creeps in. I’m so inspired and motivated by a lot of those blogs and I can’t wait to try out some of their recipes, organizational techniques and many other things!

To happier things, it’s Friday! We have a busy weekend ahead with lots of Christmas activities. Thankfully, tonight should be pretty quiet. We’ll just see if Brady goes to bed at a reasonable time tonight or stays up past 10pm like last night.

Tomorrow DH and Brady are going out early to do some Christmas shopping for me (or so they say!). I’ll do the grocery shopping while they’re gone, then we’ll meet up to finish the rest of our Christmas shopping together. I’d love for this to become a tradition for them – each year going out for breakfast, Christmas shopping and some special Daddy/Son bonding time. We’ll do some more baking in the afternoon (orange blossoms, my favorite!) and then tomorrow night we have company coming by for dinner. A dear friend of mine from high school, his wife and daughter are coming from Mississippi to visit some friends near Charlotte and we’re on the way. We’re all anxious to see each other and meet the new additions to our families.

Sunday we’ve got church and the preschool Christmas party during Sunday School. In the afternoon Frances and I are going to the Southern Living Holiday Show House (Melissa, remember when we went to the SL House in Collierville?). That night we have church and then we’re babysitting for the Deacon’s Dinner afterwards. Then it’s home and time to get ready for another busy week.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and gets everything done! Keep smiling!

I am Mommy

Well, the black rain cloud is still out there weather-wise, but it has lifted some in my spirit. Now if we can just wade home tonight at 5pm, I’ll be very happy! It’s been pouring the rain on and off since yesterday morning.

I’ve been reading a lot of homemaker/stay at home mom blogs lately and I’ve got mixed feelings. They inspire me and at the same time make me feel like a horrible wife and mother.

Most of you know that I work full-time and have since Brady was 4 months old. It’s not by choice, it’s by necessity. Not only is my income essential, I also carry our health insurance, which is also essential. DH’s company is small and family coverage for us would be over $600 a PAY PERIOD. When I add it all up on paper, it just doesn’t work.

Now I love being a wife and a mother and running my home. Growing up, my favorite books were “Little House on the Prairie” and others that talked about the traditions of home and family. I love the feeling of having a clean, neat home and a homemade meal on the table and spending time with our family and friends.

Unfortunately, I have to squeeze all of that into nights and weekends. Housework usually waits until after Brady goes to bed so I can spend time with him. Yes, he goes to daycare, which apparently is going to cause him to enter prison at a young age if you believe some studies. There is almost always a home cooked meal on the table each night, either by my husband or myself. Brady gets lots of stories and hugs each evening and lots of fun times on the weekends. I stay up late and bake the cupcakes for his class parties and I take off work when he’s sick. We’re not a family that never sees each other or eats McDonald’s in the car every night.

I hate that I’m not there with him everyday and if I could change that, I would. And I know that if it’s God’s will that I were to stay home, He would provide everything we need and everything would be fine, but I don’t know if that’s where He’s leading right now. We would be talking about a huge change in income, even with not having to pay for daycare.

All this is to say, please don’t think that I love my child any less because I have to work and he has to go to daycare or that I love my husband any less or that I take my job as a wife and mother any less seriously.

I'm just a little black rain cloud

That little black rain cloud not only describes the weather we’re having, it describes how I’m feeling this morning. Tired, stressed out and generally irritable.

For starters, Brady has refused to go to bed the last three evenings. It will be after 10pm and he’s still running around, giggling. Nothing we do works. Last night I was so frustrated that I was in tears. He goes running to DH “Daddy, Mommy’s crying!” I wonder why????

Plus I’ve been working on our budget and it’s a little tighter these next two weeks than I thought and I’m having to cut back on some of the remaining Christmas presents we need to get. I’ve already cut back a lot, so this really sucks. Every year I think things will be different and I won’t face problems like this, then it happens again. Won’t it ever change?

I know I shouldn’t be so negative. Things could be a lot worse. A whole lot worse.

We’re doing Scripture cards for MOPS this year. Each meeting we get two new cards. I pulled this card out of my purse this morning:

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

So if you see someone walking around, muttering to themselves “be joyful always, give thanks in all circumstances,” it might just be me.

Weekend in Review

Happy Tuesday!
Well, I don’t have our pictures downloaded yet, but Frances emailed me some from Breakfast with Santa, so I’ll just use those. That was the highlight of our crazy weekend.

Saturday started out with breakfast. It was at the new city hall, which is gorgeous. It’s nice to know our tax dollars are being used for flat screen TVs all throughout the building. The breakfast was really nice – buffet with eggs, bacon, ham, biscuits and gravy, donuts, cereal, fruit, etc. We were expecting a Chick-Fil-A breakfast and were pleasantly surprised! The kids ate, got to play “Pin the Nose on Rudolph,” color pictures and then visited the Big Man himself. Vivian talked big and brave until she got up there and backed out. Brady was a little skeptical and wouldn’t sit on his lap, but did talk to him and pose for a picture. Lennon got a really good one of that. It was a great morning and we definitely plan on doing it again next year.

Then we headed on to a birthday party for 4-year-old twins. They were adopted from China two years ago and it’s been amazing to watch their progression since then. They’re adorable!

We were back home for a few hours, during which DH put up our Christmas lights. Then we took Brady to Karlie and Brina’s house for Date Night. DH and I went to Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. It was so good! We wanted to see a movie, but didn’t have time (and we were too tired), so we just browsed around Target and Barnes & Noble. We all slept good that night!Sunday was church and then we spent the rest of the day at home. Brady and I made snowmen cookies and gingersnaps and we all played puzzles and watching Christmas movies. It was a really nice day.

Tomorrow I’ll have a review (and pictures!) of Brady’s preschool Christmas cantata!

Monday again?

Here's a little teaser from our busy weekend.........

DH got a much better picture of Brady with Santa that we'll get downloaded soon, along with all of the other pictures and a full review of our weekend. Happy Monday!

Pass the lettuce

Happy Friday Everyone!

We have a crazy busy weekend ahead of us. Breakfast with Santa, a birthday party, date night, church, the list goes on and on. But thankfully tonight we have NOTHING to do, so I plan on snuggling up on the sofa with some popcorn, hot chocolate, my two boys (DH and Brady, of course!) and watching some Christmas movies. I can’t wait!

Remember how I did so well on weight watchers a while back? Well, the past few weeks I’ve not only fallen off the wagon, but the wagon turned around and ran over me. It’s been ugly. So now I have to get things together and enjoy the holiday season sparingly, not eating every piece of cheesecake that comes in sight. I’ll be eating lots of these


And less of these

I want to be a dentist

Brady got to watch “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” last night for the first time. Well, we missed the first ten minutes, but we taped it so he’ll get to catch the whole thing soon. He loved it! Rudolph was always my favorite of the “Big Three” – Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman.

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” always freaked me out a little bit. I don’t know why, but it did. But it’s a rite of passage, so I’m sure Brady will see it sometime, too.


“Frosty the Snowman” was just depressing. Poor guy melts in the greenhouse. I'm sure there's an environmental message in there somewhere.



Now for a new holiday favorite, “Shrek the Halls.” We saw this last year and it’s hilarious. I think it was on tv last week, but we’ve got it taped on DVR, too. If you liked the Shrek movies, you’ll love this one.


Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, Wednesday

It’s Wednesday and you know what that means – the grocery ads come out today! I’ve really gotten into matching coupons with sales and all that good stuff ( see Money Saving Mom for details) and I actually look forward to when the ads come out so I can see what deals I can get that week. I know, I’m well on my way to becoming my mother!

Bloom is doing triple coupons again this week, so I’m excited about that. I have a good stockpile of coupons and should be able to stock up on a few things. They also have their chicken breast 50% off, so that’s a great deal.

Publix, oh how I love Publix and their Buy-One-Get-One-Frees, but this week and last they’ve failed me. Just nothing to write home about. Oh well, I’m sure things will look up soon.

So I’ll hit Bloom on Friday to grab some deals and that will be it for this week. I can’t wait to see what next week brings!

After Thanksgiving

Good morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend and didn’t eat too much turkey. Sorry I didn't get a post out yesterday. I had a lot to catch up on at work.

We had a great holiday. Thanksgiving itself was a beautiful day. My inlaws came over and I had my annual screaming fit where I kick everyone out of the kitchen. I’m sorry, but my kitchen is not big enough for people to be wandering around in when I’m trying to put THANKSGIVING DINNER ON THE TABLE. People, please! That night we headed up to Garden Ridge and got a few Christmas decorations. Mostly garland and a basketball ornament that Brady picked out for the tree. If he wasn’t so cute, there would be no way that basketball would be on my tree, but oh well!

Friday morning I was out at Target at 5:50am. I know, what was I thinking? Usually I go out around 8am or so to get the deals, but this year I had so much to do on Friday that shopping at 6am was the only option. People are crazy! But I did save $80 at Target and got everything I was looking for. Then I headed over to Old Navy where I got some jeans for Lennon. Then it was back home to pick up Brady and drive him down to my parents house, where he was going to spend the night. Three hours later (they live an hour away), I was back in town and made a few more stops before heading home to get ready for our Sunday School Christmas party that night. We all met up at a Japanese steakhouse, then to a friend’s house for dessert and gag gifts. Trust me, for a Sunday School Christmas party, we brought new meaning to “Dirty Santa!” My word. I’m just glad I didn’t get the pregnancy test as my gag gift to take home with me. J

After a restful night’s sleep, DH and I got up and made a trip to the grocery store before heading south to spend the day at my parent’s and collect Brady. I had images of Brady racing to the door when we arrived, but it was more like Brady racing away from the door and saying “go home, Mommy and Daddy, go home!” Apparently he was having a really good time and we were wrecking his fun. The day was long and draining and we were in the car, driving home by 7:30pm.

Sunday was yucky and cold and rainy, so we just went to church and stayed in the rest of the day. Well, I had to go back up at 4:30pm to decorate the kid’s Sunday School room for Christmas, but that was it.

So that was our holiday weekend. I hope everyone is getting in the festive spirit!
PS - "Christmas Shoes" just came on the radio. I have to change the channel! This song throws me into hysterics every time I hear it! Anyone else?