I’m back and here to stay this time. I’ve decided that I need to get back to the basics of this life and back to my first loves. My life has become so busy that I have neglected some of the most important things in this life. All the things that I have been doing are  good things, but they have robbed me of precious time to devote to the things that really matter and have kept me at arms distance from my purpose in this life.

For several weeks now we have been so busy that I we wake up and start rushing through breakfast and hurry to get ready so we can get out of the door. Me and the kids have a great group of friends and everyday we are away from home and attending play dates. Each day we are with a different group of moms and tots, but I have got to find the balance. I know that it is healthy for me and the kiddos to get together with other families, but my first proirity has to be my home and my family. Afterall I want to be a stay at HOME mom, not a drag-my-kids-all-over-town-every-day-and-never-take-care-of -the-home-front-mom. I need to find a way to have the best of both worlds. Basically I am back at the same challenge I’m always at…finding a balance. We dearly love all our friends, but too much of a good thing always means that other areas are not getting the time and devotion needed.

We are still going to get out and play a few times a week, but my new goal for us is to stay home together at least two days a week. With each day being so jam packed, we can’t possibly fit every thing in and I see myself moving slowly away from the kind of mom that I once was, the kind of mom that I loved being. The past month has been a whirlwind, but I’m getting control of our schedule before our schedule gets control of us.

This past month I have missed just playing in the floor with the kids. I have missed all those sweet slow days where we stay in our pjs and cuddle and read books all day. (We discontinued our TV service several months ago and it has been the best thing ever, but now I have managed to find a way to fill our days up even more.) I miss doing crafts with the kids (if you know me at all you are shocked that I ever do crafts as I am not naturally crafty.)

Part of me just wants to start living a minimalistic lifestyle, but then I realize that that is just another example of how hard of a time I have finding a balance. I’ve always been an all or nothing sort of gal. I want to get back to more alone time with the kids. Maybe I am selfish, but they are only little for a fleeting season of life and I want to have as much face to face time with them as I can. I’ve been sharing them, and myself, too much for the past several weeks.

And last, but not at all least. I have been so busy that I have slowly but progressivly spent less time with the Lord. This changed today. I never have a day without Him, but my time with Him has been getting shorter and shorter as I have tried to fit too much into one day.  If a quieter life is pleasing to the Lord, then that is our goal. We used to have time to turn worship music on and me and the kids would sing and dance for an entire CD. I miss that. Just know that tomorrow after breakfast I will not be answering my phone because I will be in my pjs singing and dancing with my kids. Can’t wait.

Oh, and one last thing. I have missed blogging. I love to blog and to read other blogs. I just literally have not had the time. I’m looking forward to catching back up on all the blogs of my cyber friends.

It is so good to be back.

Poor Noah seems to be like his mommy in that he seems to learn his lessons the hard way. Last week Noah learned about light bulbs and why I always tell him not to touch. We were at play group and he found a lamp that he could reach, so he decided to grab it by the bulb. Of course he got a pretty bad burn and I felt like a pretty bad mom for having taken my eyes off him, but accidents do happen in th blink of an eye and I was just around the corner trying to get the kids’ kunch mess cleaned up. Poor Noah.

The picture is not great but if you look close you will see the blister on his ring finger. This was actually taken several days later and it was starting to look better.

It’s been a week now and the blisters started to pop today and he doesn’t even notice it. I felt so bad for him because I know how bad burns are. I wish I could protect my kids from all the little booboos along the way, but I don’t think living like that would be good for me or them.

I mentioned before that I got a sewing machine for Christmas, so I thought I would post a pic of what I’v been doing with it. Last weekend I made a roman shade for one of our bathroom windows. I’m really excited to make drapes for the dining room, but upholstry fabric is expensive so I’m going to wait a while and safe a little money before I get started.

Not too bad for a novice!

Olivia had her first dental appointment today. She did great. I was thinking that I would get to go back with her because my friend uses the same pediatric dentist and they let her go back with her son. But when we got there Olivia was so happy and at ease, they said that I could wait for her and the dentist would call me when he was ready so we could talk. When we walked in the waiting area was well stocked with toy stations for kids. Both of mine were totally thrilled with all the things to do. They did walk me back so I could see the teeth cleaning area. They had TVs on the ceiling playing Noggin and there were three chairs sitting side by side in a big open room. To one side of this room there was a video game area and next to it was a coloring area. Off to the sides of this big open space there were a few private procedure rooms. I watched Olivia climb up into that big chair and she turned to me and smiled. That was my cue. I picked Noah up and left my baby girl to head back to the waiting area.

I needed to go to the bathroom so I decided to take the opportunity. On my way down the hall I noticed a room just for teens. Pretty cool. After waiting a short while the dentist called me back and while Olivia was playing he let me know that everything looked great and answered any questions I had. Olivia got to help them clean her teeth with the tools and she even had the time to color a picture. When it was time to leave they let her pick out a prize and then gave her a bag with a T-shirt, tooth brush, toothpaste, floss and a chart about teeth.

I was really impressed with our experience and best of all…….no cavities.

While we are on the subject of Olivia I want to share what she has been up to. I think I mentioned in a previous post that she got several games for Christmas. Her favorites are the Disney DVD Bingo and Candy Land. All is well now, but lets just say that she is just like her mom as far as hating to lose. I know how to win and lose with grace, but I have to tell you that it does not come naturally for me. I am just very competitive by nature. I can remember my dad teaching me about winning and losing by playing the game Candy Land. I mean, if you are totally honest, don’t you hate to lose too? Who really likes it? The key is to know how to be a good winner AND loser. Now Olivia has learned that we all want to win, but we don’t always get to. Of course she would prefer to win, but she is at the place where she can clap for whoever wins. That’s tough for a three year old. It’s tough for an adult. Just look at all the adults that never learned that. I can think of athletes, a female country singer, movie stars and politicians that are in some serious need of some good ole Candy Land life lessons.

Noah is also starting to show more and more of his personality too. He is talking so much that if I’m in the other room, sometimes I have a hard time telling which kid is talking. I have a friend that taught school for many years and she is very impressed with how well he expresses himself. He is also so affectionate. At random times throughout the day he will  come to me and tell me that he loves me so much or he will just walk up to me and tell me that he wants to give me a hug or a kiss. I love it. Also the other day I was rolling around the floor with him and he accidentally elbowed me in the face. As soon as he did it he got this concerned look on his face and said, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” And then he gave me a big long hug.

My two kids are such a blessing to me. I have been playing praise and worship music in the house since we don’t have TV and you should see the kids singing and dancing to the music. Maybe I will post a video of it sometime.

But right now I am fighting a losing battle with a cold so I think I’m going to turn in early and try to sleep it off. We have play group tomorrow and I don’t want to miss out

Ok. If you know me, you know that this is so not like me to not be on time. I’ve really wanted to put these Christmas pics up for so long, but I have not had much free time lately. This week should be when things get back to normal around here..what ever that is.

So here we go. The Reader’s Digest version of our Christmas 2008.

Our poor tree. Not much to look at. If you can allow yourself to imagine, it has gotten better every year. No matter how much fluffing I do, you can always see straight through the back to the wall, even when decorated. This weekend Hobby Lobby was having an 80% off all Christmas stuff sale and my MIL bought me a really nice tree. I paid about $70 at Wal-Mart retail for the ugly tree and the nice one still cost a little more than that after the discount, but it is beautiful. I guess you get what you pay for.

Here we are all dressed and ready to head to the Gray’s on Christmas Eve.

And here is the result of our attempt at a pic with all the cousins. At least everyone is there and no one is crying.

We had a great time with the Grays. After a great meal we let the kids open their gifts free for all style. It was so fun to watch the chaos with six of them all old enough to understand what was going on. After all that excitement the adults moved into the living room to open gifts while the kids played with their new toys.

My favorite gift of the night was a new sewing machine. I have been very busy with it and have already completed a project and bought facbric for the next one. I love it. The only bad thing is that I seem to do all my sewing during my blogging time, hence the late Christas post. Oh well.

On Christmas morning we woke up at our house and let the kids do the present and stocking thing. This Christmas has been the best so far because their ages have been so fun. I bet it only gets better from here….well until they are teens and some of the excitement wears off. After breakfast if was off to Eufaula to spend time with the Savages.

Here is a picture of the whole group.

By the time that picture was taken Olivia had already taken off her Christmas clothes and tutu, but again, at least we got a picture.  Again the kids got to do the present and stocking thing.

We had a lot of fun, but after two days of partying, the guys were worn out.

I mentioned that I have been sewing during nap time and night time, but I have also been pretty busy during the day. I do this every year, and this year was no different. As soon as Christmas is over I get all the decorations down asap and put back in the attic. Next I start tackling the kids rooms. I clean out all the old to make room for the new. By the time I’m done with that I’m on a roll and just can’t stop. I have cleaned this house every inch from top to bottom. That is the way I like to start a new year.

But have no fear. The kids have gotten plenty of play time with me. Each day we pick out a new Christmas toy to explore. Here are a few of our favorites.

Please excuse Olivia’s wardrobe choices in the next picture. She was wearing her “favorite” old clothes.

These little Play-Doh pals have been lots of fun.

Cleaning play-doh out of the carpet…not so much.

I hope you enjoyed that little recap. Stay tuned for a New Year blog post……..hopefully sometime before…say…..March. haha. I have lots to talk about concerning the new year, but it will have to wait. Laundry is calling.

P

Praise the Lord, for it is good to sing praises to our God.

Psalm 147:1

O

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

Psalm 118:1

N

No man can serve two masters.

Matthew 6:24

I will be posting pics from Christmas soon. Just waiting for pics rom my Dad’s camera. I was so busy being mommy that I just let Dad take most of the pics. I do have a few and will try to go through them tonight.

I did want to share a few of the funny things that the kids have said over the past few days. Olivia has started saying,”Awww. He is so handsome.” Talking about Noah when he has just gotten a bath and his hair is combed. She also has been learning about the true meaning of Christmas both at home and at church and she is quite concerned with knowing if we are talking about baby Jesus or big boy Jesus every time we mention His name. I made a pretend mad face the other day and she said, “Are you a grinch.” Haha. Love that one. Yesterday at Kroger she was sitting in the cart with Noah and she gave him a big hug and said, “Noah is my best, best boyfriend.” I did my best to explain that Noah is her best best brother friend. When I was tucking her in the other night she said,” You’re the best little mommy.” I asked her why and she said, “Cause you spend time with me.” My heart melted right then and there.

Noah has become quite the talker himself so I wanted to share some of his words as well. We have a fan that we turn on in his room for the noise and when he is ready to go to sleep we will go over to the fan and say, “Night, night time.” During the same trip to Kroger that I mentioned earlier Michael was pushing the cart and just for fun he started pushing it really fast. Noah yells, “Mas rapido!”  That’s when you know there is just a little too much Dora on TV. The funny thing is that we don’t even have TV, but we do have one Dora DVD. We only watch DVDs a few times a week and it is only for short periods of time while I am cleaning the floors. That just shows how much little ones absorb.

Hope you guys all had a great Christmas and most of all, I hope you took some time to remember the greatest gift of all time. Jesus Christ. By next year we will only remember a few, if any, of the gifts we received this year. Jesus is the only gift that really matters.

Stay tuned for Christmas pics in the next few days.

This time of year is so busy. So much is going on that I’m always thinking about blogging, but never able to get around to it. So, here I am again. Monday night. Catching up on blogging from the weekend.

Thursday I had playgroup over at my house and we had a wonderful time together. It was so LOUD in my little house, but it was the good kind of loud. Kiddos playing and mommies talking. I really enjoy getting together with this group every week. We all go to the same church and we are even going to start sharing prayer requests with eachother. It’s so nice to feel like someone out there  is going through life with us and sharing similar experiences.

On Friday I took the kids for their 18 month and 3yr check ups. Nothing much to report. Noah weighed about 23.5 pounds which put him in the 20th percentile for weight. Not at all shocking. He was also in about the 25th percentile for height. A little guy, but a healthy guy. Couldn’t ask for more. Olivia was a little over 36 pounds and that put her in the 75th for weight and she was 38.5 inches tall which put her in the 90th for height. Both kids did well and at the end of the visit Noah got his last three shots for a while and he took them like a champ.

Friday night was Girls’ Night Out. Me and Olivia and three other ladies and their little girls all met up at the Olive Garden to eat dinner. The girls had a great time and so did the moms. We had one minor bump in the road with our first server. He asked Olivia what she wanted to drink and she said. “Ummmmmmmmm.” He then said,” I don’t have time for this. I’m busy.” And then he walked away. We quickly requested a server that did have time for my little girl and the manager was happy to accomodate.

After we ate we went to watch a dance recital. The “big girls” that take dance at Olivia’s dance studio had their recital on Friday night and the little girls went on Saturday morning. It was so much fun to watch the older girls and they are really talented. I’m glad Olivia got to go and I also think it is good to support the dance studio. Although, the place was packed, so they weren’t lacking in support.

Saturday morning was Olivia’s turn to dance. I was so proud of her. She did great. I was told that there were some girls back stage that were crying and Olivia was trying to calm them down. She is such a little mother. I was able to get a seat right up front and Olivia was able to pick me out of the crowd. We are both really excited about the big recital in May where they get to wear real costumes. How fun.

Olivia got lots of flowers.

And of course, a few of us moms took advantage of a photo opportunity after the show. Here you will see the same group of us that went to Olive Garden the night before.