Kudos Ladies!

     I just have to say kudos to all of our teachers at work.  They have been getting their classrooms ready for kindergarten to start and they have done such a great job!  I am so proud of how much effort they have all put into making their rooms look so good.  I took a few snapshots of a few of the rooms the other day because I liked them so much.  I still need to take more pictures because some of the rooms weren't quite finished.

We have a Dr. Seuss Room

A Silly Monsters Room

A Noah's Ark Theme

And, An Animal Theme

     I still need to take pictures of our Candyland Room and our Sesame Street Room.  I just love it when fall gets here and we get to put up new stuff!

Out of Practice

     Know what stinks?  Being out of practice on something you used to be able to do well.  I sat down at the piano today and I am really really out of practice.  I used to play really well and over the years I haven't taken the time I should have to keep up with playing.  Oh, I still sit down every now and then and play around on it with all my fun songs, but I rarely pull out a book and read any music.  I must make it a goal to start sitting down and practicing more often.  I don't want to completely forget what I worked hard for 9 years to learn.  Ugh!  Sometimes my lack of discipline is so frustrating!

     So, I was kind of having a blah day today for no apparent reason really.  My morning went fine before I left the house.  As I was driving to work this song came on the radio and all of a sudden I felt really old.  I mean, I know I'm not old but I know that I'm not as young and I used to be either.  It has never really bothered me until today.  It just hit me like a ton of bricks, seriously.  I got this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as it dawned on me that I'm really getting older.  So, I've just been mopey all morning.  As I was working on the newsletter we send out every month at work I was looking for a Bible verse to use.  I came across this verse (on my calendar of all places) and it really hit home.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."  Psalm 56:10

I have heard this verse dozens of times, but it hit home today for some reason.  Apparently, God wanted me to remember that it's not my age that matters, it's the condition of my heart.  If I let my heart become discouraged by the things I'm not anymore (younger, skinny!!) then I can't see all the things I am (a wife to a great husband, a momma to an amazing little boy).  So, I'm thankful that my God takes time to show me just what I need to see when I need to see it.  I'm thankful that He isn't too big or too busy to love on us everyday, even when we are having a pity party!

100 Degree Heat + Ice Cream = Smiles

     He makes me smile! 

The best way to eat ice cream...

10 Years!

     Today is our 10th wedding anniversary!  10 years is a long time people!  I am so very blessed to have such an amazing husband.  When I look back over the past 10 years it seems like a short time, but a long time too.  So much has happened since we got married and we have both grown so much.  I am proud of the people we have become and I am looking forward to the people we will be in the future.  I'm thankful that God gave me a Christian husband who is all the things I wanted in a husband and so much more.  He is a good provider for our family, an amazing daddy to E, a smart decision maker, someone who stands up for what he feels is right, an outgoing balance to my shyness, my accomplice in lots of crazy things, my very best friend, and the person I plan on growing old with (which may come sooner rather than later if these gray hairs don't slow down!).  So, Happy 10th Anniversary to my sweetheart!  I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring!

Spider Webs

     Suppose a family sold their house and moved into a small 2 bedroom house while building a new house.  And suppose this small house didn't have a bathtub in which this family could bathe their toddler...it only had a shower.  This family would, of course, be forced to come up with an alternate bathtub solution (aka...a rubbermaid storage tub)  Of course since this "bathtub" isn't designed to hold water everyday it would eventually develop a leak.  Now let's pretend that the husband of this family fixed the leaky tub with some kind of white gooey stuff designed to stop leaks (not in rubbermaid tubs of course).  He would tell his wife to warn their son not to touch the white stuff while in the bathtub.  But, what if his wife thought it was better not to draw attention to said patch job and tempt her child.  She would decide to distract him with bath toys instead.  And, because the wife happened to have a splinter in her finger she would turn her back on the tub to look for a needle in the drawer.  While she was looking for the needle she would hear her child playing some kind of game where he kept saying "spider webs, spider webs, spider webs."  When the wife turned around to see what this spider web game was she would, I imagine, discover that her child was covered in long stringy white goo from head to toe (or hands to rear end to legs).  I can imagine that the husband would not find it funny at all when the wife called for help after she figured out that these "spider webs" don't wash off with water.  And he would probably find it even less funny when he had to get out a can of WD-40 to help get this mess off of his child.  *Disclaimer:  The child was quickly scrubbed down with soap and water after being sprayed with this concoction!*  Or so I am told....I mean, this story is definitely not about my own family....who would do such a crazy thing?  The wife would just wish there had been time to grab a camera so everyone else could see what a funny sight this was.

My resignation notice

     Wow!  I'm all of about a month into the terrible 2's and I'm ready to give my resignation notice to somebody....anybody!  I feel like a really lousy mom by the end of the day a lot of days.  I know that this is just a phase and that E is testing his boundaries to see how much he can get away with.  But, oh my gosh, this is hard!  Yesterday was such a bad day that I finally called it a day and went home at 1:00.  Thank goodness I am blessed with a job that allows me to run away sometimes!  The final straw was when E wet his pants while sitting in my lap and caused me to look like I also wet my pants.  Fun times!  (I admit, it's kind of funny now but it wasn't after the day I had yesterday).

     So, if anybody out there in blog land actually reads this please pray for me as I parent my 2 year old!  Pray for me to have wisdom to know when and how to discipline.  Pray for me to have patience to remember each day that this really is a phase that will pass and one that has to happen to help E grow up.  Also, please pray that I will remember to be thankful even on bad days.  Thankful that I have this precious little boy to love every day no matter what kind of day we end up having!