Back in the saddle again......(finally)

Yesterday was a bad day. Yesterday I accomplished nothing. I have been sick for two days w/ yucky tummy stuff. Before this I have been sick w/ an ear infection, sinus infection, and so much fluid behind my ear that I can hardly hear in my right ear. The sinus infection symptoms began about Aug. 8th. So honestly I feel like I haven't accomplished much in the last month b/w my illnesses & my kids (all 3 have had the same big D word) My husband is so great though...yesterday after I apologized for doing absolutely nothing, he asked me "Did you have to deal w/ a bunch of clean-up/dirty diapers?" I said "Yeah" and he lovingly said, "Then you've done something and I wouldn't have wanted to do that, and your sick." I felt so relieved to hear him say that. I feel so guilty at times when I don't have the energy to get all I want accomplished, or even meet some of my goals. For instance, I haven't wanted to run for this entire month as well, with the clogged ear & the heat. Last time I ran was beginning of July and then before then it had been a couple of months.

Then to add to the yuckiness, we had our fuel pump go out on Chris' car yesterday as well. So after feeling pretty discouraged, stressed, depressed, etc. for several weeks, today was a refreshing change. Today I was productive. Even in the midst of figuring out car issues, friends (church community) reached out and loaned us their vehicle for a bit. Such a blessing!

Other things I accomplished today:
*I was able to enjoy encouraging conversation w/ two friends in depth.
*I read several books w/ Tobe while holding him (haven't got to read w/ him for a while).
*I decluttered 2 cabinets & 1 closet!!!
*I shined my sink. :)
*I treated my kids to half-price slushies at Sonic during happy hour.
*I had to drop off hubby at work/pick up daughter from school/pick up hubby from work due to the fact we have one car until tomorrow.
*I ran 2 miles after having about a 2 month hiatus!(hence the 'Back in the saddle'---I pray I can be consitent w/ my training for a 10K in the fall.)
*Enjoyed dinner at the dinner table w/ my family.
*Prayed w/ my children.

*I even updated facebook off and on throughout the day and currently am posting to my blog. :) And all of this before 10 pm. I am still going to be in bed at a decent hour (Side Note: First day of my temporary job cleaning the post office starts bright and early at 5:30 am. I am never up that early!) So I would say overall, I really enjoyed today. I usually might accomplish maybe two of the above bullets and more often than not they are facebook and talking to friends. It feels good to be productive. I absolutely LOVE this motto of the Flylady (I read the Flight Plan's daily, but don't always follow them) but this motto is so encourging to me:

You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.?--Flylady www.flylady.net

Oh and the most encouraging Word is God's: Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Sympathetic or Pathetic? (plus an August recap)

August has been a long month! If we count July 31st, we (mainly Chris---but if daddy is busy, we all are busy)have had a wedding, a race, a fair parade w/ worship team float, a funeral, a day at six flags on the HOTTEST day of the year,a root canal, a fair contest, fair entertainment, back to school shopping, kept two wonderful kiddos while their parents "resorted" in Mexico, a Warren Barfield/Newfire concert hosted by FCC, a sick kid, a birthday party,first days of school, an ear infection, a Selena Gomez concert, and finishing it off w/ a revival at FCC. Whew! I'm tired just typing it all and I'm sure I missed something. First off, to start the month off, we all participated in the fair race. Chris ran 5 miles! Eden & Eli (w/ the help of mom) ran the Kids 1 Mile Fun Run, & Tobe made a dash to the finsih line at the last minute to gain a medal--just b/c he is cute! It was the first race for Eden and I am very proud of her. Also proud of Eli for completing it even though he couldn't breath due to a cold. My boy Eli also turned 5 on Aug. 16th & we had a Build-A-Bear party for him & 6 of his friends. He had a blast. He made "Bat Bear" which went really well w/ his batman cake & everything else batman we got him. He said he had a great birthday. It is so fun to see your kids get SOOO excited about things like that (& show their gratefulness).


At the beginning of the month, Eden & I participated in a Mother-Daughter Look Alike Contest held at our Town & Country Fair. We WON!!!! We were 1st in our age division of younger daughters (under 10). We were voted on appearance (yes, matching outfits), our walk, our voice, & our mannerisms. As well as playing some sort of Newlywed-like game to see how well we knew each other. This is such a joyful occassion for me, being that most everyone lets me know how much she looks like Chris. But hey at least I had my one day of dressing alike. We do act more like each other more each day. Chris is the one who can attest to this fact. :) It was lots of fun & we won $50+ in gift certificates to go on a Mommy-Daughter date to the movies & dinner. Can't wait to cash in on this! I truly cherish the day. It was fun for me (& I think Eden too!).




But another fun day Eden & I got to share in this month---was this afternoon. I took her & two of her besties to the Selena Gomez concert at our Six Flags. I knew she wanted this pretty badly. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't going to pay for tickets. Why would I? They came free w/ our season passes. However, you had to get them the day of the concert, first come, first serve. So I, being the great mom that I am, actually skipped church to meet a friend & go stand in line to get the beloved tickets. The park was set to open at 10:30 am. We were set to be there about 9:30. Woohoo, I would be one of the first in line to get tickets. We would have the best "Free" tickets we could get. Wait? What is this? The park was open at 9:00 for those wanting concert tickets? Huh? Where was this publicized? I even called the Box Office & so did a friend & we were never told this---I was a bit frustrated. None the less, she was going to get to go to the concert, for free. She should be happy about this. Normally there isn't a bad seat in the amphitheater. Of course, this has been w/ our experience with contemporary christian concerts---not necessarily tweeny bopper-Disney concerts. The whole place was packed shoulder to shoulder. Selena makes her grand entrance. Eden can't see a thing. Granted, I know my daughter can be a spoiled brat. Trust me, I know. But she started crying. And I differentiated this cry from the spoiled brat cry. It was simply an 'I'm disappointed, upset, & sad' cry. She cried, "I can hear her, but I can't see her." I melted. I really wanted her to get to enjoy this concert. It might be one of the few cool ones she sees, being that I won't pay $$$ tons of money to watch the concerts that she likes. So, I did what any sympathetic mom would do. I went and bought something at the "Concert Stand". I had asked how much the tour book was. $20???? No thank you. Eden even said, "that's too much for a book like that." She had settled for a teen magazine at a department store. Should have been the end of the story. But no, I thought to myself she really would love a little headshot signed poster or something for the wall. I figure $5 or so. The cheapest thing is $10. I buy 2 of the $10 items. Thinking her friend (who has $10 to spend) would want the other one---b/c I sure am not going to wait in this crazy line twice. (Mind you---there were some dear friends of mine w/ the girls while I did this shopping adventure). The friend didn't want either one. So now I have spent $20 on a concert that was suppose to be "Free"....b/c I was so sad for my little disappointed girl. And these "souvenirs" aren't much. All the while to find out if I would have paid $12 for reserved seats, I would have got the same "Souvenir", plus star bursts candy, plus a better view of Selena and a happier daughter (I'm telling you, it is worth it to buy the tickets). Now don't get me wrong, she did enjoy the conert eventually. People finally either left or sat so she got to enjoy the last few songs actually seeing the artist sing. I had to lift her a couple times, which isn't easy b/c she is growing too big. She also thanked me several times for the opportunity to go to see Selena after it was all said and done. I was pleased w/ Eden's attitude. I guess just not pleased w/ my instincts. So....weigh in....Am I just being a sympathetic mom or a pathetic one?

So Spongebob isn't ALL bad......

So I don't necessarily want to start a debate about the evils or values that come from Spongebob Squarepants. But I do want to share a lovely story that warmed my heart all day and Spongebob is somewhat involved. There is a song that Spongebob & Patrick sing together on a particular episode---the lyrics are "Best Friends For--ev-----er" (Can you hear my best Spongebob voice?) Well, on Friday I took the kids to Tot Time at the City Pool. It is super cheap swimming in our town, and usually pretty crowded. It has a lazy river and a small water slide. Last time we went Eden met up with a classmate and was attached at the hip with her the entire time. Well this time it was less crowded and neither Eden or Eli had a playmate that they knew at the pool. The entire way to the pool they were singing Spongebob's song and excitedly sharing what they were going to do together at the pool as "Best Friends Forever". And this time....they did it. It was SO fun to watch the two of them play together. They come up to me together, hand in hand, laughing and Eden even said, "We are having the best time." Side note: I asked Eli if they were doing the river, slide, river, slide? And he quickly responded, "No mom, we are doing river, river, slide, slide." lol.
The kids usually get along pretty well. And of course they have played together before, but as their interests have gone different directions due to being boy/girl, and Eden already being in elementary school I wasn't so sure how many days like this I would get to see. It was such a joy to watch them thoroughly enjoy hanging out together. If I ever figure out how to get pics from my phone to my computer, I'll post one. :)

Captured Moments at GWC National Monument

The fam outside the visitor center/museum...

One of GW Carver's Prayers

Eli running towards us on the trail.

One of Chris' nature pics.

Eden taking her oath to protect our national parks.

One of my nature pics. :)

Posing by the statue of GWC as a boy.


Family pic by the coolest tree ever outside the home of Moses & Sarah Carter. Wish my kids could have climbed it.

My New Favorite Person in History

Our family recently enjoyed a "mini" vacation. Really we spent the 4th of July Holiday with my parents where we watched some home fireworks (the kids enjoyed doing some of their own firecrackers), rested & roasted marshmallows, & attempted to fish (again the kids enjoyed playing w/ the minnow bait more than the actual fishing), and on Wednesday we decided to be tourists. We headed a few miles west of Carthage to George Washington Carver National Park & Monument. Besides the fact that Tobe was not quite old enough to enjoy it, it seems that the rest of us thoroghly enjoyed it. Eli loved the nature trail and Eden became a Junior Park Ranger (which was hard work) & even had to take an oath to protect our national parks. There was also a lot of other interactive things to do in the museum. I had been to this park when I was maybe in the 5th grade. But it was nothing that I remember. It has been so well preserved. Chris also enjoyed the trail walk & took some "nature" photos. I loved reading the quotes from GWC that they had all over the museum and some carved in marble along the trail. It is amazing how humble of a man GWC really was. What he could have gotten for his talent & skills and what he got are on opposite sides of the spectrum. This man leaned on his faith at all times. GWC is a prime example that science & faith can mesh together and proves that they are intertwined quite nicely, I am sure as God intended for them to be.