Friday Randoms

Posted on May 31, 2013 | 4 comments

ememby_FridayRandoms

Happy Friday to you – aren’t the Fridays of 4-day weeks the best? Because everyone knows that it feels like a Thursday but really, it’s a Friday. And for me, because Jack is in daycare today, it feels like a Monday or a Wednesday (his normal daycare days) – imagine how happy I will be for tomorrow when it is *SURPRISE* Saturday! Plus my husband gets to come home around 7 tonight, which is just the best! It also means we will likely be asleep by 9… because we are old and pathetic (and also tired – a storm woke us up last night at 3:30).

Here’s a list of utter randomness:

  • Every weekday, multiple times a day, I drive by a house with a sign in the yard advertising “Holy Family Radio” and almost every time this makes me laugh because I picture Mary and Joseph as radio hosts on an AM station… typically along the lines of an SNL skit like the one with Alec Baldwin (YouTube it)
  • I totally missed this weekend coming up in my planning for the month of June… for some reason I didn’t count it so I thought we only had one free weekend to pack before we move, but really we have two – bonus!
  • Is it possible to be addicted to greek yogurt with honey? If so, I totally am. Sometimes I have it twice a day, which could be contributing to my intestinal issues of the gaseous variety (you know it’s bad when your 4-year-old comments on it). [Yes, I did just refer to flatulence on my blog, I’m sorry, Mom.]
  • I started working on my 40 before 40 list… I’d love your input if you’d like to share ideas of things you think I should put on my list.
  • Liam likes to tell me what he wants to be when he grows up, this changes on a weekly basis and this week’s random job is to be a storyteller, going around the country telling people stories about Jesus.
  • There is a server at a local restaurant and my friend Stef and I are convinced she hates us because we had her once and she wasn’t the nicest and we saw her again and she practically glared at us. We are nice people, she was just b!tchy.
  • We have an in-need-of-refinishing clawfoot tub in our garage which was meant to go in our master bathroom when we remodeled but we never got around to doing that. Do you think the new owner will notice if we leave it in the garage? When I bought the house, the old owner left a few pieces of furniture and I didn’t mind. I mean, who doesn’t want a random cast iron clawfoot tub?
  • Here’s a list of things I need to buy for the new house (at some point in time, perhaps not all at once):
    • a couch for the living room (for grown ups, our current couch is going in the family room for kids)
    • an oversized chair (per Simon’s request)
    • a kitchen table (our current one is too small and seen better days, but will be perfect in the laundry room as a folding station)
    • a dining room table (preferably before Thanksgiving when I will be hosting the family)
    • an entertainment console for the living room
    • Multiple area rugs
    • Something for the entryway… a bench, a chair, something
    • Deck furniture (def not right away, but maybe next summer)
  • Where would you go shopping for the above things?
  • Poor Jack got bit by another mosquito and has a swelled up ankle again but not nearly as bad as last time.
  • Liam has four more days of school next week and then summer break, I actually can’t wait because all the running around will be done and I won’t have to be in the school pick up line ever again (unless I want to be, which I don’t, ever).
  • I’m still sad to be leaving his current school but I know his new school is going to be just as awesome (I sure hope).
  • Still loving my new hair… and it still fits in a ponytail which is doubly awesome!
  • Will Smith can still be awesome:
  • If you haven’t seen it already, please take 15 minutes and watch this documentary made by Rainn Wilson’s production company, Soul Pancake, about a teenage boy who died last week from a rare type of bone cancer – he’s a pretty awesome person who leaves behind a sweet legacy (and some great music):
  • Here’s some new music I’ve been loving:

Clouds | Zach Sobiech

Brave | Sara Bareilles

Running for Cover | Ivan & Alyosha

Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song | Matt Hires

My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up) | Fall Out Boy

Enjoy your weekend!!

4 Comments

Posted in Random

Appropriate thanksgiving…

Posted on May 30, 2013 | 2 comments

ememby_rejoice_deut12_7We’re on a good streak right now and I’ve often heard that when things are going well, we often forget to give God the thanks and attention He deserves. We’re real good at complaining, asking for help or lifting up our anxiety and concerns to Him, etc… so I want to take a moment to give God His due in all this. Certainly His hand has been in all these things going on (which, I realize begs the bigger question of where His hand is in things when they are not going so great; the great problem with pain and evil. I’m not about to get in a theological debate here, but I will say, He’s there in those things, too.) and I am so thankful and full of rejoicing in knowing He has guided our path all along the way.

In the span of the last few days my dad has gone into the hospital with chest pains and returned home after having a stent put in, feeling way better than he did before he went in, we closed on our new house (quite possibly our forever home) and found out that all is good with the sale of our current home (the appraisal came back at value and with no additional repairs). Thank you, God. I feel overwhelmingly blessed and lucky. My dad reminded me that God helps those that helps themselves – not sure I wholeheartedly adhere to that thought since I believe He also helps those who cannot help themselves – but I do agree that we have to do our part in things (God wasn’t going to sell our house without our cleaning and packing – not that He couldn’t, just that He maybe wouldn’t; and if my dad hadn’t listened to his body and taken himself to the ER, things could have taken a very bad turn), but that without Him, it all would not have gone as smoothly and as low-stress as it has gone (despite my useless worrying). God’s timing is perfect, but it is not always ours (if it was, for sure Simon would be working first shift by now) but He sees the bigger picture and brings it all together so much better than we ever could have imagined. There are often lessons to be learned along the way and sometimes those lessons rather suck, but without lessons, we would never learn. So I’m thankful it’s not my problem to figure it all out, but it is my job to listen to His voice as best I can, give credit where credit’s due and enjoy the blessings He’s bestowed.

Our family is currently in the midst of a season of change and I know it will bring some growing pains, but it’s the trials in life that make us stronger and condition us to do the hard work that can lie ahead. We are also entering a season of thanksgiving and are able to give thanks and recognize that we are so very blessed. Hopefully we are doing that without it seeming like bragging because that is the furthest thing from how I feel… all this goodness was not of my own doing and I didn’t receive it because I did anything right but because I have a good Father who gives good gifts. And it’s a beautiful thing.

2 Comments

Posted in Faith, Gratitude, House, Life in general

Mark another one off the list

Posted on May 29, 2013 | 10 comments

Yesterday was finally the day… the haircut day. After nearly two years of growing out my hair, I got about 10 inches chopped off to donate (I picked Children With Hair Loss – a Michigan nonprofit). It was liberating. I loved my long hair, but was finally sick of it and ready for a change. My friend Michelle has been cutting my hair (and the little boys’ hair) for the last few years so it seemed only right that she do the honors. Three pony tails and a few cuts later and it was done. It didn’t make me at all sad, but very happy that I could do this little thing for someone else. Hopefully my hair will make someone else smile and feel a little more confident. It’s an honor to know they will go to a child in need of a little healing.

Here are a few before and after shots of the front and the back.

image

image

image

I love checking things off my list… not to mention today we closed on our new house so I can mark off another item (or just about). I’ve got quite a few things left to do in the next 5 weeks before I turn 35, but I feel good about all I’ve done so far and don’t feel at all bad if I don’t accomplish everything. The list was just a little guidance for the things I wanted my life to be about – to keep me headed in the right direction – and to that end, mission accomplished! I can’t wait to make another list: 40 before 40.

Here’s where we’re at so far:

35 before 35

  1. Go camping with the boys. [In Stef’s backyard.]
  2. Take another road trip with the family. [Texas 2013]
  3. Start a chore chart/allowance system for the kids. [Good behavior chart to earn toys – good enough for now.]
  4. Teach Liam to ride a bike.
  5. Read at least 20 books.
  6. Participate in a 5K – walking or running. [Did not participate in a race, but so far in 2013, I’ve logged over 300 miles walking, on the elliptical and on the stationary bike and that’s good enough to me – I have no idea what I did in 2012.]
  7. Sell our house and move into our “forever” home. [Coming the first week in July.]
  8. Make plans to visit Australia with the boys.
  9. Go on a girl’s weekend with my friends.
  10. Take a 2+ day trip with just Simon. [A 1-day visit to Galveston and many date nights will have to do.]
  11. See at least 5 live musical performances. [5/5; DMB Caravan, Sara Bareilles, Boyce Avenue, The Verve Pipe, Ingrid Michaelson, fun.]
  12. Teach Liam to read.
  13. Potty train Jack.
  14. Go to ArtPrize twice. [2/2]
  15. Eat at 10 new-to-me restaurants. [13/10; Marie Catribs, Electric Cheetah, Cabana Tres Amigos, Beltline Bar, Brick Road Pizza, Flat River Grill, Leo’s, Brewery Vivant, One Trick Pony, Marco’s, Ramona’s Table, Stella’s, Perrin Brewing Company]
  16. Take Jack to his first movie in a theater.
  17. Go mini-golfing with the boys.
  18. Take the boys to a hockey game.
  19. Attempt to grow out my hair for locks of love. [Done and donated to Children with Hair Loss]
  20. Send at least 8 “care” packages to out-of-town friends and family. (6/8)
  21. Meet my WW’s goal (way before 35). [First goal met, working on more.]
  22. Get Jack baptised/dedicated at church. [Sunday, January 21]
  23. Stay at the JW Marriott. [Simon booked this for us but then we cancelled it due to buying a house. In this case, it’s the thought that counts to let me mark it off the list.]
  24. Stay at a bed and breakfast.
  25. Visit Great Wolf Lodge. [Went to Avalanche Bay – close enough.]
  26. Get an hour-long massage.
  27. Plant a garden. [Planted flowers last summer and grew lettuce in a planter – good enough.]
  28. Send someone flowers.
  29. Join a bible study.
  30. Continue writing this blog.
  31. Start AND finish a quilt.
  32. Tackle the crazy basement once and for all.
  33. Re-finish a piece of furniture.
  34. Get the boys sharing a room so we can reclaim a guest room/office/craft space.
  35. Get vinyl flooring installed in our kitchen. [Instead we had the cabinets painted and bought a different house.]

10 Comments

Posted in 35 before 35

File this under random stuff I have photographed this week

Posted on May 24, 2013 | 1 comment

It’s been a busy week… things are wrapping up with lots of things (how’s that for a vague sentence?) and life is just busy, but that is May for you… less than two weeks until school is out for the summer and 5-6 weeks until we move. We close on our new house next week and provided all goes well and according to plan, we close on our current house two days before we take possession of the new house. So yes, we have sold our house, but I’m not ready to shout it to the world until all the inspections are behind us and the only thing we are waiting for is the closing. But I can tell you that God is good and He for SURE answers prayers and that is all for now. On to the real reason for this post…

My apologies in advance, but I was laughing at the series of photos on my phone for this week – none of them super pleasing to the eye or cute pics of my kids doing cute things… nope, just a real slice of life for what it is really like to be a parent.

Exhibit #1: swollen ankle/foot from a mosquito bite
Poor Jack. Daycare called me on Monday to let me know that Jack had been bitten by a mosquito and was having quite the allergic reaction. The pic below is after the Benedryl kicked it and had reduced the swelling quite a bit and yet you can still see how his ankle and foot are puffed up significantly more than the other leg, they were also hard, red and hot to the touch. [Not pictured: his other knee which was also bit up and swelled; bonus shot of his shorter toe from where the bone was removed to put in his thumb.] I called the pediatrician just to confirm that pain meds and Benedryl were the way to go and was advised to bring him in if the swelling did not improve the next day. In the morning Jack’s swelling had come back full force and he didn’t even want to walk on his foot because it hurt so Simon ended up taking him into the doctor, yes, for a mosquito bite. He learned there is a bad batch of mosquitoes that recently hatched but that should die out in the next week but the office had seen quite a few bad reactions that week, so at least we weren’t the only ones. Jack now has to take allergy meds every morning to help with potential reactions and wear long pants to daycare (where he seems to react the worst to the mosquitoes in their woods).
image

Exhibit #2: suddenly grown-in adult tooth
Liam apparently has fast-growing teeth because last week when I was doing our regular check for loose teeth (his top two have been wiggly since before spring break) the bottom ones were not lose and totally by themselves in his mouth, but on Tuesday when he got out of school he showed me that not only was the bottom one wiggly, but his adult tooth was fully grown in behind it. How does this happen? Well, I know how this happens, the same thing happened to me in kindergarten when my bottom two adult teeth came in and the baby teeth weren’t even lose so I had to have them pulled by the dentist. Thankfully Liam’s tooth is quite loose so no traumatic tooth pulling in our future (we had enough of that with Jack, thank you very much).
image

Exhibit #3: a tick
This is the picture that most squigs me out. Wednesday evening I noticed George had a bump on the underside, edge of his ear – but he’s had these before in the form of a non-problematic cyst and a skin tag. This looked like a skin tag since it was flesh-colored and mostly obscured by hair. Cut to Thursday night when I think again to check it out and note it seems bigger than the night before and when I take a closer look, I discover little black lines at the base of where it is attached to his ear. Um, those would be legs and my night suddenly got awful. I knew it was a tick but of course I Googled “ticks on dogs” and sadly confirmed my suspicion to be true (also, add that to the list of things not not look at Google images of – ick). I called Simon and told him that I’d have to wait for him to get home because I just could. not. remove. it. myself. He came home armed with tweezers and rubbing alcohol. It was a quick job and since it was moving around after we removed it, we were successful in removing all of it. Here it is after we asphyxiated it with a rubbing alcohol pad. Did you know that you shouldn’t flush a tick because that does not kill it and also you should keep it in case it needs to be tested? Now you know.
image

So that’s my week… here’s hoping those are the set of three unexpected things that happen to us and that I don’t end up with a strange picture of Simon over the weekend.

1 Comment

Posted in Life in general, Parenting

Stop the cycle

Posted on May 20, 2013 | 3 comments

A friend and I were chatting (and by chatting, I mean texting) about life and I mentioned I felt guilty about Liam not being on a sports team, despite the fact that he hasn’t expressed interest in joining a team and it’s not something I want to add to our calendar of life at this point in time. She said that she had admired how I just let my kids be and don’t go chasing after other family’s activities. She (wisely) told me to shoo away that mommy guilt and “realize that while you’re beating yourself up over something, someone else is watching your family and doing the same thing.” That’s “mommy” guilt for you – we all have it – we all fall victim to it and really it’s just a vicious, ugly circle. It’s just another form of comparison that we put on ourselves; feeling bad because we do things in a different way from another family.

And didn’t I already post something about comparison on not letting it steal our joy? Why yes, I did. And yet again, I needed a reminder to be happy with myself, who we are as a family and trust that we are making the right decisions for US, for where we are in life, despite what others do.

Life is just a constant stream of lessons to be learned… thank goodness for friends who speak (or type) truth to us when we need to hear it. May we always hear the voices telling us not to be stupid.

ememby_2Corinthians10_12

3 Comments

Posted in Faith, Friendship, Life in general, Parenting