thoughts

Noel, noel!  A little sad Christmas is over, but I'm still enjoying this final week of 2010.  The hubs is home, and in good time to get all those things done that we pushed off since mid-November when company started arriving -- new car battery, cleaning!, shopping belated Christmas gifts for family (eeks), etc etc...  Should I take the white mini-tree down?  Or the red and white Christmas tree decorations?  Maybe after new year's. For now, I'm still holding on to the bright reds, golds and teal blues of yesterday...

Eliz turns 2 tomorrow.  She's talking up a storm!  She is such an adorable, chatty, goofy little girl!  I'm not looking forward to those shots, but it's great to finally be at this milestone and realize how fast those 2 years really flew by!  I only wish she ate more than 5 things, and that she would sleep through the night.  I hope by next year, these sleepless nights will have been a distant memory... We decided not to do a huge party for her, but to celebrate with just us.  It's all good.  Next year she'll get the big bash...  :)

i. saw. it.

the mouse poked its head out... from. inside.the.burner.in.my.STOVE....

ARGHHHHH!!!!   i feel soo violated.

so. grossed. out.  we set the traps, and the bait. 

hope i wake up to a dead mouse tomorrow morning.  :(

catching up on way too much stuff

the children's sing-a-long at CBS -- so cute!

my silly, goofy girl!

Celebrating my FIL's 62nd birthday and Eliz's 2nd birthday...

My SIL and her financee stayed with us as well... it was a FULL house for 2 weeks!!

Em's preschool sing-a-long, as they entered the room full of expectant parents!

More sing-a-long...

The girl will only eat icing off cupcakes - go figure!

Christmas 2010

Silent night, holy night... Eliz was obsessed with touching the ornaments!

Well, she touched them as much as she could, before this happened...

Ahh, so sad!  Uur trusty tree of 4 years finally gave way, just a few days before christmas...

Was i heartbroken?  Nah...  it was just a fake tree.  We'll go back to the real thing next year.  :)

In the meantime, the kids had NO problems enjoying all the goodies from santa, grandma, aunts, and mom & dad!  She got the entire barbie princess set from my dear friend (thanks girl!), and santa found her this wooden barbie townhouse (fully furnished) for $35 on CL - yeah!

Having fun w/grandma!  We loved having my mom here for 2 days...

And I got a little carried away with penguins this year... lol

And Daddy got a little carried away doing gymnastics with the kids (yikes!!)

It's the little things, right??  The dollar section at Tarjay is so awesome...  :)

But the biggest hit by far were these remote control control ladybugs from the Discovery Channel... they had so much fun!  And for $10 each they were such a steal... I'm so glad the kids had a great Christmas...the first one they'll probably remember, at least...

That's all for now folks!  Night night!

sky blue

i remember a long time ago, when i was a little girl, my dad made our family's christmas card one year.  he carved an intricate design out of a block of wood, inked the wood, and stamped it onto light blue card stock.  he then had the image professionally printed.  i remember that card.  it was an abstract design, with many lines and white spaces.  in the right hand lower corner, in cursive, was our last name.  at the time, my ten (or so) year old mind didn't see the purpose, the beauty, in doing such a laborious thing.  why go through so much trouble, to do this, and then and drag your whole family that one winter afternoon, walking through long hallways of that building, to to pick up the finished project?  i remember being very annoyed that day.

fast forward to tonight, about 25 years later.  and i find myself staying up late, hand assembling some christmas gift tags -- black and white polka-dots on the front (with a red, snowflake sticker in the corner) and the same, sky blue paper on the back.  staring at that paper just now reminded me of that card, and of my dad, who is now half way around the world and unable to spend christmas with us this year....

merry christmas dad, if you are reading this.  i guess i am a lot more like you than i ever really knew!

Celebrating Advent

Of all the gifts I've ever received in my life... there is only one gift that is worth mentioning.  The gift of a baby boy -- Mary's son, Jesus.  Who in their right mind would ever, ever, ever, ever let their child go, give up their precious cargo?  To anyone?  For any amount of money?  For any reason at all?  And then to let him be tortured and killed by cruel, merciless men, while I stood by and watched and got my heart ripped out from inside of me?  All for what?  To restore fallen people back to me?  I would never.  Who would ever!  No sane person would ever, ever do such a thing.  In a hundred thousand, trillion years.

But there was someone who did. God did.

There are no words to capture this phenomenon.  There is nothing else newsworthy in all of history in comparison to SUCH sacrifice... sacrifice born from Love, a divine Love I don't think I'll ever understand on this side of heaven.  I am humbled, grateful, moved to tears when I remember, remember what this season is all about.  Forget the decorating.  The cookies, the snowflakes I'm going to hang soon, the tree that will be lit for a few weeks... but oh let me just remember His goodness.  His unending goodness that has showered me with the gift of life, the gift of second chances, the gift of mercy, the gift of grace....

a new playhut

playhut fun!

and new glasses for big girl..

having a blast with her cousin ava...pics to come later!

pushing carts

we had a super fun morning hanging out a rio today... me, the huzz, and little girl (while emilie was in school).  oh the gorgeous weather!  coffee @ B&N, pier one, target, kohl's... so much fun to just stroll around and buy stuff (which RARELY happens)...  and this little pic?  on our way back to the car with a shopping cart full of stuff.  little girl just HAD to push the cart by herself.  she ALWAYS has to push it!  it is so crazy and funny that this 26 pound girl and actually push the cart down the sidewalk.  she is a beast!!  lol  

moonsand!

i picked up this moonsand set on freecycle the other day.  and i must say, it's pretty darn cool!  super messy but it kept this girl QUIET for 30 minutes straight, which almost never happens.  ;)  the top velcros over and then again in half, all nice and neat with handles, like a briefcase.  i haven't let eliz use it, though.  i know, mean mommy.  she'd be flinging handfuls all over my wooden floor.  so it only comes out when eliz is napping!  lol

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

so my sweet little neice ava is coming to town in a few weeks, all the way from tyler, texas -- a reunion that happens only once a year, unfortunately!  so this year, we're planning on taking pics with just the 3 girls.  i thought it'd be fun if they all wore the same cheesy turkey shirts! 

this is my first time working with fusible interfacing and i messed it up a whole bunch of times!  argh.  never mind that i didn't finish the edges or give the turkey feet.  but i think they turned out ok, whatdayathink?  jo, if you're reading this, the middle shirt above is ava's.  :)

(the tutorial can be found here: http://www.thecottagehome.blogspot.com/ )

anyhoo i think i'm turkey-d out this year already, lol!



cloth napkins??

toying with the idea of cloth napkins... eco-friendly for sure but... do i really want to do more laundry than i already have to do (and don't keep up with very well)???  lol

on another note, emilie missed school today because her sorry momma couldn't get up in time.  sigh.  the alarm went off at 8, and emilie and i just promptly lay back down and slept until 9:15am.  oopsies.  i guess one week of no sleep is finally catching up to me (broken heater, eliz cutting her 2 yr molars, etc etc).  it's all good though.  we had fun at home - did "school" - practiced spelling colors, did art work, and worked on her cutting skills.  she finally held scissors the right way and made some cuts in paper!  who-hoo.  it's neat to see the kids learn and grow skills they didn't have just months before.

and how amazing, little eliz actually took a nap TWO days in a row.  what a miracle!  

26.2 on hallow's eve

i'm so proud of my husband for running the marine corps marathon.  it was almost a year ago when he asked me for christmas, if he could run this race, and the day has finally come.  i went down to rosslyn to meet him and the crowds were impressive!  i knew there'd be a lot of people but i just didn't think we wouldn't be able to get back on the metro to go home because of volume of people!  we ended up taking the bus to dupont circle and then back on the red line home....

understandably, jee was too tired to join us at our church's fall festival - so we had to go alone... ah well.  i went dressed up as the huzz... bowtie, big glasses, and running bib and all - LOL.   he thought it was funny too.  :)  the girls were princesses and were just so darn cute!!  :)

 test run before the parade at school...

she was a little cold that morning!

with her preschool class!  the kids were all so cute!  and yes, that's her crazy teacher in the back (but very nice!)

pooped out at our church's fall festival!

and last but not least, my husband outfit!  never mind that i look preggers in his shirt... (which i'm NOT!)... lol

and you can't really tell in the pic either - but my hair is permed.  so sick of my flat straight hair that i got it done last sat... but it didn't take well.  :(  like, most of it is already gone... sigh.

ah well.  here's to another halloween night gone by.  and i couldn't be happier for november!

christmas, anyone?

um, i know it's not even halloween yet.  and, um, not even thanksgiving.  

but how about some...christmas tree garlands!!  :)

i guess i'm 2 months 2 early, huh.  

well i just had to try and make these anyways...so i hung them up on the kitchen window.

happy early merry christmas!!  :)

birthday wish #2

www.nationsoutfitters.com

why is a cool shirt on my birthday wish list?  because i don't buy clothes for myself.  yup.  i get them all on freecycle or via hand-me-downs.  Or sometimes if I'm lucky, at Target.  

But don't get me wrong: I don't mind this at all.  In the past 2 yrs, I've gotten (from the same girl): 

4 pairs of jeans that fit me to a TEE (3 of them LUCKY brand, 1 Michael Kors)

2 Calvin Klein shirts

shorts

dresses

knit tops

all very beautiful items.  

So I feel very blessed!

So buying clothes for me, is only reserved for a special occasion...  :)

birthday wish #1

i'm not really a bag person, but i'm a sucker for hand made bags and of course, the color yellow.
and since my husband started doing this on his blog (wish listing), i thought i'd follow suit...  lol

a hectic Monday

Got the grocery shopping done... Lunch...then doctor appt for Emilie and pharmacy trip (all under an hour!).... came home to husband working from home... and the bags picked up that needed to be gone today.... and Emilie's first dose of Zithromax and honey cough medicine in her system...

and once again, everything is right in my world again.  :)

art therapy

decoupaged shrooms on a lavender bench

i was joking with jee the other day that my latest creative craze is really just "art therapy".  

you know how in psych wards, all the crazies go to art therapy every week?  

well, i'm doing my own art therapy at home.  

it keeps me from being more crazy than i already am!  LOL

Sad to be missing CBS but after being up a lot last night, I couldn't get it together to rush around and get out of the house by 8:45am.  It doesn't help that rain makes me want to stay in my PJs all day long!  Once daylight savings rolls around, the morning rush will be easier with an extra hour to get ready....  I think I am feeling really old.  I guess turning 35 next month doesn't help, but it used to be so much easier to do a million and one things and keep going 10 years ago.  Haha.  I think it's mainly from not sleeping well for 3 years straight.  Yeah, that'll do it to you.

Anyhoo, happy rainy Thursday y'alls!

Come thou fount of every blessing, 

tune my heart to sing thy praise....

felt apples

2 apple bean bags for 2 little girls.  :)

please don't look too closely -- you'll see my oh-so-amateur-ish sewing skills!  

i was just thrilled i could still use the machine after not touching it for about 3 years - and with only one bobbin mishap - and thrilled i did my first zig-zag stitch!

i am hoping to sew a little apron for emilie sometime soon...we will see!

Ahhhhh.......

A great night out with a glass of Riesling and Thai food and great company with NO KIDS (!!!) made this truly hard, long day, all worth it....  Thanks Wendy for a truly fun night!  We must do this again sometime....  And thanks huzz for babysitting.  I'm glad nothing disastrous happened with the kids, haha.  ;)

a busy thursday

it was a crazy busy day, but a good day.  how can the day go wrong when it starts off with brunch at cbs with a bunch of way cool mammas?  :)  then home for lunch, nap for the little one, painting a wooden bench lavender with big girl (fun fun fun!), broiling korean ribs for the huzz (yum!), making my target run before picking up the huzz at the express (metro) bus stop, cleaning up dinner with the kids, then off to watch gray's... the one tv show i let myself watch each week.  did i mention, i ran a mile?  haha!  well, that was yesterday, but i'm feeling the energy from it, today... wahoo!  hoping for a great day tomorrow! off to put little girl to bed...

shoes

the huzz just ordered me some ladies' timberland shoes for $9.99.  yup.  originally priced $69.99!  i love you, dealnews.com

A Morning Psalm

Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.
Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.
They do nothing wrong (!!!); they walk in his ways. ...


Oh that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!
Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands...
-Psalm 119:1-3, 5-6, parenthesis mine

fun with felt!

we made a felt board today!  and played with letters, pictures, and corresponding words...

i think i enjoyed these more than she did.  there is something about felt that makes me feel like a kid again... :)  i'm gonna try and make some fun felt shapes and animals so we can read stories and act them out!  if i ever find time, that is.. haha!

highlights of the week

found a super cute wooden red fence at a yard sale last weekend for 25 cents!  we played farm and talked about how jesus is the good shepherd... i don't think she really got it...but she had fun with the animals anyways!

we read the Very Hungry Caterpillar and made a popsicle stick caterpillar (saw the idea in Parents Mag)... the girl LOVES making crafts and asks to make something multiple times a day!  she gets her artsy side from her daddy and grandma...

then the poor girl busted open her lip this week trying to jump from across the room onto her bed.  

she landed face first into the wooden sideboard.  ouch!!

too bad she keeps picking her scab... so the band-aid must stay on...

and we have daddy to thank for this bubble machine gun!!

as for the little girl....i cut ALL her hair off yesterday after her bath!!  it was totally on impulse...

pics coming soon.... lol

happily munching away on papa john's... oh pizza to the rescue when i'm too tired to cook!!!  :)

on another note, what is up with buses falling over overpasses on 270N???  second time in the last year, i think....  :(

and lastly -- dear hamster, i love you so much for providing hours of entertainment for the girls -- when i'm totally spent.  oh, that goes for you too, nick jr.  lol

simply amazing

alrighty i think i'm a little more sane today.  :)  yesterday was pretty bad but there's always something to be thankful for.... emilie had a great day at school (yay!) - even though a little boy named ethan keeps grabbing her.... i got to run some errands this morning while she was in class.... and elizabeth, though coughing most of the night, didn't barf on my bed.  that is ALWAYS a plus.  :)

but most importantly, something wonderful happened this morning.
emilie woke up next to me and said, "mommy, i have to ask jesus into my stomach."
me, very groggy.  "what emilie?"
"jesus has to come in my belly."
"you mean, into your heart"?
"yes. yes, mommy.  into my heart."
i was still waking up but not too out of it to realize something very important was happening.
"ok let's pray.  dear jesus, please come into my heart."  i couldn't remember what else i said, but at the end of the prayer, emilie was very quiet and said, "amen.  i love jesus so much."

if i wasn't so out of it, i think i would've cried tears of joy....

i don't know how much her 3 1/2 yr old mind understands, but i do know she gets that jesus "rescues" us when we do bad things since we've talked about it on more than one occasion in the past.  it is simply amazing.  god is amazing and able to reach even the littlest of children!

not a happy single mom

i really don't know how single moms do it!

granted, some kids are easier than others, and mine are certainly not "angel" babies who eat regular meals and sleep well and never get sick..... ha!

let's see... double nap strikes today.... elizabeth FELL out of her crib (onto wood floor) during nap time, she just didn't want to sleep that badly!... and emilie busted open her lip jumping around on her bed.... and mommy is sneezing and has a sore throat and feels like crap.  oh joy.  by the end of the day, i'm just yelling.  can't even try to be nice.  it didn't help that i had 2 sick kids in my face for 12+ hours STRAIGHT today, when i'm also sick.

tomorrow is hump day.  my husband can NOT get home soon enough!!!!!!

dear little girl,

i hate to tell you, but every time you spit out your prednisone, and amoxil, i will give you more.  you keep spitting it out, but mommy will not stop and you will keep getting more in your mouth.  please stop spitting it out.  you will lose.  i'm glad you figured that out after the fifth time.  we would have kept going 10 more times, ya hear?

please get better soon.  mommy is really tired of doing vomit-covered laundry.  especially when it's all over my bed in the middle of the night.  :(

love,
mommy

bed

we finally got our king bed, who-hoo!  although i miss having my bedroom to myself...one kid or more is usually there at all hours of the day!

so.dang.tired

struggling just to get through the day.   completely exhausted from a week of getting up every 2 hours from sick lizzy.  thank god for balloons to provide hours of entertainment for the kiddos...

bubbles

good lord, here we go again!!  (reference to our 9 pets we had pre-kids)...

yup, this is a hamster.  in a pink cage.  for a girl who loves pink!

it was free.  i couldn't say no!

her name is bubbles.  :)

this little girl loves her already.

vintage desk

somewhere along the way, i realized painting furniture makes me happy.  it's a great distraction, a creative outlet for me and something completely different from mothering to do.  i love this stratford blue on this vintage child's desk.  the desk was in terrible shape.  someone was throwing it away, so i took it, removed the drop down leaf, unhooked the metal arms and sanded the thing down and painted it.  a top coat of poly and voila.  a little desk for a little girl.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace

goodbye summer

Is anyone else ready for autumn?!!!  Went to Michael's today and all the fall decor was already up.  Reds, oranges, yellows - and the smell of cinnamon.  It made me happy.  Got me some super cute fall decor earlier this week which I'll put up soon and take pictures of.  Can't wait for cooler weather!!

where did time go?

whoa, it's already august, summer's more than half over, and i missed out on posting a gazillion little things over the last few months.  oh well!  when i remember to post, it's 11pm and i'm too tired and it's way too much effort to haul myself down to the basement computer to upload pics and write anything semi-coherent....

well, how am i doing?  not too bad, i guess.  i'm still not getting good sleep (will i ever?!) because of e + e, but i'm still trying to do fun and creative things during the day -- and doing this helps kick the blues and quickens my spirit.  lots of arts and crafts, making matching games, painting tables, laminating pre-school games (love my laminator!!), etc etc.  sometimes i feel like i'm running a preschool, haha.

emilie is now fully potty trained (who-hoo!!) after 4 days of toileting misadventure (poop in the underwear, on the floor, many pools of peepee to clean up - sorry) and she is more than ready to start preschool next month.  next month!!  where did the last 3 years go?!  the days have definitely been long, and the nights hard, but these several years have zipped on by....

eliz is growing by leaps and bounds every day....talking, making jokes, running, jumping.... now adays, she comes to me and says, "what are you doing, mamma?" it's so adorable!

emilie about to devour her cupcake after she FINALLY pooped in the toilet and filled up her potty chart!

playing a home-made matching game!

the huzz and the girls before church on sunday...

did i mention it's our 6 yr anniv on sat?  :)

out front before church.

happy day!