I'm forever making to-do lists, a habit I think I get from my mom. But unlike mom, I'm not good at actually accomplishing what's on my list, because I put too much on there to start with. One of the better tips I've read since becoming a mom myself is to make an "I did" list and celebrate the things I DID get done. So here's my "I-did" list for the last 2 days. And it makes me feel good!
* Baked zucchini-carrot-banana bread, using up produce that was about to go bad
* Packed 3 lunches of homemade BBQ sandwiches and chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting (leftovers from a family dinner) for Ron and his co-workers, at his request; Sarge asked if there was any way he could get me to make him a whole cake - high compliments!
* Sorted, rinsed, and soaked black beans to cook tomorrow for Mexican lasagna and other recipes
* Washed dishes at least 4 times, including a backlog of dishes I had rinsed and then bagged in a garbage bag in a moment of frustration with my lack of counter space (dare I admit that online)
* Washed and dried 3 loads of laundry (not put away yet...)
* Soaked and washed a load of blood-stained items from Jackson's latest climb-on-a-chair-and-crash episode; this time he hit the corner of the coffee table full-on with his mouth; thankfully no stitches needed (the blood stains did NOT come out 1st try so we air-dried and have to try again)
* Fed and dressed myself and 2 kids, 2 days in a row, and got out of the house ON TIME for morning appointments!
* Toured 1 potential preschool
* Discussed, debated, asked Ron and a few friends for advice, and generally agonized over which preschool to choose; the main factor was distance and whether to make her the youngest in a class of 4's or the oldest in a class of older 3's; we opted for the closer program where she'll be with other 4's (I think she's ready)
* Talked to chosen pre-school's director, filled out and mailed preschool registration
* Drove by the preschool (closed for the summer) so Lainey could see the building
* Found a sitter for kids so Ron and I could spend a little quality time
* Spent said quality time with Ron (3 1/2 hours!)
* Took the kids to VBS both nights, but came home to rest myself
* Planned Kroger shopping trip, matching coupons to the Mega sale, and gathered coupons
* Made the Kroger trip with both kids, paid $21 for over $80 worth of groceries, and still came home sane and praising Lainey for her good behavior as she happily munched her skittles reward
* Ate popsicles outside with Lainey as she splashed in the pool and I enjoyed the peace of Jackson's nap
* Dumped the wading pool and turned it on its side to dry (with Ron's help, of course)
* Registered my Starbucks gift card online and then drove through Starbucks for the Vivanno Tuesday free smoothie promotion
* Sent text messages to keep my friend Elizabeth up-to-date on recently-found bargains
* Took the kids for 99c Wednesday waffle cones at TCBY
* Checked the online banking and bills, transferred money between bank accounts for preschool registration and other "extra" expenses
* Looked up motorcycle safety classes online for Ron, who has sold his bronco and is currently motorcycle-shopping
Whew, that makes me feel REALLY good! I'm going to have to blog an I-did list more often!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Funny little Lainey
(I'm cheating and borrowing this post from an email already sent to my mom, but these funny stories just have to go on the blog!)
Lainey and I are going to get our hair cut for locks of love this week, unless she changes her mind. When I was telling her about why I was going to cut my hair, she said she wanted to too, and Daddy is OK with it, but I halfway expect her to change her mind. When I was telling her about giving my hair to someone who doesn't have any, she said, "Like daddy?" (He shaves his head bald.) I laughed and explained it was for sick people who took a special medicine to make them get better but the medicine also made their hair fall out. She then wanted to know if she could give them ALL her hair and then have none like Daddy!
We were in the store the other day and there was a young black woman shopping with 2 white children. We visited with them and afterwards Lainey whispered to me, "Why is there a black mom with 2 whites?" I explained that maybe she was their babysitter not their mom, or maybe the children were adopted like Joshua and Jonas (2 mixed-race children at church whose parents are white); they have different colors of skin but they're still a family. It was a good learning experience. It's the first time she's ever mentioned race, and I have the feeling it will be the first of many conversations. Living in Memphis, I think it will be difficult to raise colorblind children, but that is our goal. God loves us all the same!!
In the post office they had a little wire grid for hanging supplies on, and Lainey went behind it and said, "Look, I'm in jail." I laughed and said what did you do, thinking she would say, "I was bad" or something like that, but she replied, "I killed someone." That got a little gasp from the other people around us. I told her to come stand with me and explained that we don't kill people, only monsters.
Lainey and I are going to get our hair cut for locks of love this week, unless she changes her mind. When I was telling her about why I was going to cut my hair, she said she wanted to too, and Daddy is OK with it, but I halfway expect her to change her mind. When I was telling her about giving my hair to someone who doesn't have any, she said, "Like daddy?" (He shaves his head bald.) I laughed and explained it was for sick people who took a special medicine to make them get better but the medicine also made their hair fall out. She then wanted to know if she could give them ALL her hair and then have none like Daddy!
We were in the store the other day and there was a young black woman shopping with 2 white children. We visited with them and afterwards Lainey whispered to me, "Why is there a black mom with 2 whites?" I explained that maybe she was their babysitter not their mom, or maybe the children were adopted like Joshua and Jonas (2 mixed-race children at church whose parents are white); they have different colors of skin but they're still a family. It was a good learning experience. It's the first time she's ever mentioned race, and I have the feeling it will be the first of many conversations. Living in Memphis, I think it will be difficult to raise colorblind children, but that is our goal. God loves us all the same!!
In the post office they had a little wire grid for hanging supplies on, and Lainey went behind it and said, "Look, I'm in jail." I laughed and said what did you do, thinking she would say, "I was bad" or something like that, but she replied, "I killed someone." That got a little gasp from the other people around us. I told her to come stand with me and explained that we don't kill people, only monsters.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Jackson the Ripper
[Note I had the description of his teeth wrong but it's now corrected.] Jackson has cut 2 new teeth on his bottom jaw, one on either side, in between those 4 middle/front teeth and the 1 back tooth on each side. He had 6 before: 1 - space - 4 - space - 1, and now he's fulled in the spaces, if that makes sense. Make sense? I must be tired because I cannot think how to explain it any better short of linking to a diagram and I'm definitely too tired for that!
Anyway, I don't know if it's the new teeth or just his general gusto for life, but he has recently been ripping into anything and everything with is teeth. A few examples:
* Several nights ago, we were snuggling in the rocking chair and he sweetly (yeah, right) buried his head on my chest. Aw, how cute... RIP! He leans his head back to look me in the eye and grins open-mouth, revealing 3 seed pearls swimming in drool! He wasn't cuddling after all, but rather ripping pearls off my lovely maternity blouse. Thankfully he left the fabric intact.
* The next day, forgetting the pearl incident, I absentmindedly let him have the calculator from my purse. It's a favorite distraction of his in the store, and usually he puts it to his ear like a make-shift cell phone. He amused himself innocently enough with it in the store, pushing buttons and such, but it wasn't until we pulled up at home that I realized he had ripped off each and every number key pad with his teeth and deposited them in his car seat! I thought I got them all picked up, but evidently not: the next day, as we arrived home from an errand, I went to unbuckle him and was greeted with a gleeful grin, a round belly protruding under his pulled-up shirt, and a calculator number key pad FIRMLY wedged in his belly button!
* He found a vanilla-scented, or should I say -flavored, tea-light candle somewhere in my living room and took 2 distinct bites out of it: about half the candle. Since I cannot find the pieces anywhere, I am assuming they were ingested!
* Dear big sister handed him 2 of her bouncy balls in the car as a sweet gesture to keep him happy on the road. (Are you picking up on this strapped-in-car-seat-and-bored so let's-see-what-I-can-rip-with-my-teeth theme?) When unloading the car later in my futile attempt to keep it clean, I noticed the bouncy balls were both missing chunks of rubber. I sure hope he didn't eat that!
Anyway, I don't know if it's the new teeth or just his general gusto for life, but he has recently been ripping into anything and everything with is teeth. A few examples:
* Several nights ago, we were snuggling in the rocking chair and he sweetly (yeah, right) buried his head on my chest. Aw, how cute... RIP! He leans his head back to look me in the eye and grins open-mouth, revealing 3 seed pearls swimming in drool! He wasn't cuddling after all, but rather ripping pearls off my lovely maternity blouse. Thankfully he left the fabric intact.
* The next day, forgetting the pearl incident, I absentmindedly let him have the calculator from my purse. It's a favorite distraction of his in the store, and usually he puts it to his ear like a make-shift cell phone. He amused himself innocently enough with it in the store, pushing buttons and such, but it wasn't until we pulled up at home that I realized he had ripped off each and every number key pad with his teeth and deposited them in his car seat! I thought I got them all picked up, but evidently not: the next day, as we arrived home from an errand, I went to unbuckle him and was greeted with a gleeful grin, a round belly protruding under his pulled-up shirt, and a calculator number key pad FIRMLY wedged in his belly button!
* He found a vanilla-scented, or should I say -flavored, tea-light candle somewhere in my living room and took 2 distinct bites out of it: about half the candle. Since I cannot find the pieces anywhere, I am assuming they were ingested!
* Dear big sister handed him 2 of her bouncy balls in the car as a sweet gesture to keep him happy on the road. (Are you picking up on this strapped-in-car-seat-and-bored so let's-see-what-I-can-rip-with-my-teeth theme?) When unloading the car later in my futile attempt to keep it clean, I noticed the bouncy balls were both missing chunks of rubber. I sure hope he didn't eat that!
Welcome
Welcome to my second blog. In my original blog, I'm attempting to save $100 a day, but I had definitely bitten off more than I could chew; no promises of anything resembling a regular post schedule on that blog until life settles down (yeah, right) after #3's birth! But this blog's a little more fun and less business, so I think I can keep it up-to-date. We'll see! (I've always been an overachiever.)
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