Grits & Sleep!

1.  HE DID IT!  My kid slept through the night!  I can't even tell you when the last time that happened was.  Thank you Lord.  (He knew I'd need to be rested for the day it looks like I'm going to have.  It's only 8:20 and we've already had a time out)  I know my son is 15 months old and most moms already have this happen nightly.  We don't.  Yes, it's probably my fault and I'm currently being judged by every Babywise mom out there.  Oh well.

2.  I'm not sure we'll do grits for breakfast again soon.  He really liked them and ate most of it all by himself with his spoon.  Then he decided to spray paint the dog, the floor, his chair, and himself with his breakfast.  Nice.

3.  We acquired our weekly black eye last night.  I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I know he fell off a step at a friend's house last night.  You can hardly tell in the picture, but it's blue and purple and already darker as I look at it now.  At least he didn't fall on a chop stick and have it stick in his eye and need stitches.  (Yes, that happened to the two year old son of a friend of mine recently.  Thank God he still has his eye!  Note:  Don't let your kids play with chop sticks.)

 It's underneath the right eye.

Happy Tuesday,

 

First Day of School Teacher Gift

So this will be my second year not teaching, staying home with Will.  I probably should have gone back this year.  It would have helped out a lot financially, but I will just have to do my part with quite a bit of subbing.  This time of year was always very exciting to me as a teacher.  The stores are putting the school supplies front and center, parents and kids are walking the aisles with their supply lists, and teachers are getting their rooms ready for another long year.  Of course it's sad too b/c summer is ending, but a fresh start is always good.

Anyway, I've caught wind of a few conversations lately of parents thinking about a teacher gift for the first day of school.  Since I'm not teaching this year, I don't feel like it would be super tacky for me to offer some suggestions... and some "don'ts" for beginning of year teacher gifts.

Here are my thoughts

Great Ideas:
-gift cards:  even just $5 to Sonic or Target is much appreciated
-gift card to a teacher supply!  I got this once & loved it!
-a sonic drink, Starbucks drink, bottled soda- so simple and inexpensive
-cheap flowers
-school supplies: fun pens or notepad
-candy:  again, much needed after a long day
-food:  I've had a mom make me a strudel once and another made me a pie.
-Donuts!  This past year a student brought me a little bag of donut holes & it totally made my week!

Thoughtful, but Please Save Your Money-Items teachers get ALL the time and don't know what to do with
 (This is actually quite a touchy subject, as I could very well end up looking like an unappreciative jerk.  Please know I appreciate all thoughtfulness from my students and parents.)
-Coffee mugs: I know it's super cute to fill it with candy and that it says "World's Best Teacher" on it, but I am being serious here- your teacher probably already has a cabinet full of mugs
-Stuffed animals:  again, it's just not very practical or useful.  Cute and the kids will like though.
-Apples, plaques, signs, calendars,... that say "World's Best Teacher"- We get so many of these

These previous items are sweet gifts, but the problem comes we get so many year after year and don't know what to do with them.  I hate the thought that someone spent money on something that is going to end up in a cabinet somewhere.  I'd really rather you just save your money and write me a note.

Anyway, I hope this will be helpful to at least one parent out there.  I also hope I didn't come across as horrible rude.  I've seen so many families on the back to school aisle discussing what to get the teacher.  Don't stress about it.  We're easy.  We like drinks, snacks, and mostly just smiles.

Good luck this year,

The End of Speidi!

So I try, though not hard enough, to stay away from entertainment tv.  I'm sure most of you know the notorious duo known as "Speidi"- separately known as Spencer and Heidi.  I think they are ridiculous and phony and obsessed with getting media attention.  That being said, when I am somewhere and see them on tv I stop to watch- it's that whole train wreck theory- it's so terrible you just can't take your eyes off it.

Anyway, I was glad to see on my Yahoo homepage this morning that Speidi will be no more.  Although I'm sure it's not the last we'll see from either of those individuals.

Sorry for such a useless post.

 

Heart Broken Neck

This title is meant to be read like one of those "before and after" phrases you see on Wheel of Fortune- Heart Broken- Broken Neck.  Strange I know, but this little story is a bit strange.

To begin, Will has been having lots of trouble again falling asleep in his crib (not to mention staying asleep).  Today he has done great, he fell asleep without crying in his crib.  Not alone though, I was sitting in the glider so he could keep an eye on me and know that I wasn't going to leave him.  Once he fell asleep, I left to shower and dry my hair and then had a thought:  Will is probably going to wake soon.  Wouldn't it be nice for him to wake up and see me there?  Still waiting, and have him think that I didn't leave him.  Wouldn't that be so comforting for him to wake up to?  

I thought so.  So I got my book that I'm reading, Eat Pray Love, and returned to the glider.  I'm reading about the author's struggle with the idea of mortality and how deeply affected she is by the idea of how fast time passes and how short our time here is.  As I read this, I begin feeling the same way.  My Grandma just passed, my Grandfather just passed (well a few months ago), and I'm looking at my beautiful sleeping son thinking, "God, please let me live in the moment today and appreciate all I have been given.  Help me to realize how precious today is and the time is that I have with my son and husband and not take a minute for granted."  

That's when "BANG!" - something nails the window hard.  Really loud too.  My first reaction was, "What the heck was that!?" followed by, "Oh please don't have ruined this nap & and have woken up my kid".  Amazingly he didn't even twitch, which is crazy considering sometimes just the pop of my ankle as I walk down the hall will wake him.  

Anyway, I look out the window to see who threw something and see a dove on the ground, struggling to move.  I run to grab some gloves and a towel, because if you know me at all, you know that I love animals so much that I would try to save a dirty pigeon on the side of the road- oh wait, I have done that.  so ANYWAY again, I go out and the poor thing is already dead.  Blood on its beak & a broken neck.  

Strange that as I'm reading about death and mortality, a bird makes a fatal error in judgement and dies in front of my eyes.  My little animal loving heart is hurt and I actually shed a tear for this thing.  I mean it's a dove- a Love Bird.  

I then thank the Lord for reminding me how short this life is and how quickly it can end.  How important it is to let others know how much you love them and show it as often as possible.  I am blessed and loved and not willing to let the opportunity pass on sharing how God opened my heart today.  

Say I love you today.  Lots.  With lots of kisses.

San Diego Trip- A Thousand Pictures!

We are finally home! We started out the busy-ness on the 16th with the Thrive Marriage Conference, made our trip to San Diego, and then had my Grandma's memorial service and lunch when we got home on Sunday. We have company staying tonight so I've got to spend my day cleaning and unpacking, but I'll take a few minutes to share about the trip. I wish I could share every great pic we took, but I promise you- there were over 5oo! (This post should be broken up into multiple posts do really do the trip justice, but I just don't have the time. Ok, I probably do, but I just got a new book & am going to retreat into a reading coma for awhile. One of my favorite things to do.)

We left the house at 4:30 am on the morning of Monday, the 19th. Will stayed asleep while we moved him to the car & all the way to the airport- Love Field- not close to us AT ALL. We had absolutely no problems getting parked, checked in, boarding, etc. It was wonderful. Speaking of wonderful... Let me just tell you that my son was the PERFECT child on the planes. ( We had layovers each way which = 4 flights) He snacked, colored, watched his video, and fell asleep. He did not whine, cry, or try to wrestle away from me once! On four flights! AMAZING! Answered prayer is what that is.


Don't worry though, he's making up for it now. Thank you very much.

We stayed with my brother and his wife, Jason and Johanna. They have a great apartment and I really like their neighborhood. Very different from where we live! (That sounds bad, we love where we live- it's just very different)

The first afternoon we went to Balboa park, which was amazing! I must have taken 12 pictures of just trees. As you can see, Will took a spill on the sidewalk the day before we left and had a scab on the side of his face. Of course. The scab was joined by a bruise on his cheekbone our first night there b/c he was spinning in the living room and knocked his face on the coffee table. Of course.

Taking the grand tour

The car seat my brother picked up for us from a rental place b/c we didn't realize until boarding the plane that we forgot the seat in the car.

There were lots of these flags. We had just missed the LBGT festival and parade. Darn!

Some time at the beach. It was just our luck that we had NO sun the whole week we were there. It came out the day we left.

Loading up on sunblock. When you're the whitest family in America you can't be too protected.

He did not want anything to do with the water this day. It was ICE!

Will's cousin Charles.

My first pinkberry. I will be doing a post on all the amazing food we had that week.

Will really warmed up to Aunt Jo once she tamed her morning hair. I'm not kidding at all when I say this- every morning when Johanna came out with crazy hair, Will would scream at the top of his lungs and try to get away!

They had a good time.

Visiting the seals.

We went to a boardwalk area where Steven and I rode this little roller coaster. I haven't rode one in a long time and laughed the whole way.

Riding some little boats.

Are these two trying to buy his affections or what?! Bubble gum ice cream and cotton candy! I was very laid back that week to say the least.

cotton candy fingers

Alcohol, Smoking, Bottles

Just taking a walk with Uncle Jason.

Hi there blue eyes!

Arggh!

A great view of downtown SD

The "holding pen" that Jason and Steven built for Will. Of course it didn't hold him for long.

Sir William having a seat customized for his little bottom.

I never thought we'd get all this sand off.

Ack! A mouthful of sand

Amazing view & a shot of the only hour of sunshine we had.

We were there during the opening day of Comic Con. We drove by and saw lots of incredible people dressed up. Here are some guys dressed like Storm Troopers or something.

Cousin Charles again.

That's my yacht in the back.

Relaxing

Right before going to the airport we stopped for lunch at the Top Gun Kansas City BBQ place. It was good good good.

Will was so exhausted he slept the whole two block walk there and until I woke him when the food came.

We got back Friday night around 11:00. It was such a great week. I loved getting to spend lots of quality time with Jason and Johanna and letting Will get to know them.

*Sidenote* I showed Will a pic of him and Jason and asked, "Will, who is that?" to which he replied, "BOBBO!" Who knows what that means

We definitely look forward to visiting again. Thanks J&J for letting us cramp your style for a week!

Happy Wednesday,