It's a Good Thing

The girls and I went to the grocery store this weekend while the boys went ice fishing (how fair is that?) I absolutely hate going to the grocery store. Katelyn and I had this conversation on the way there and she was saying how she thought it would be so cool when she was in college to be able to go to the grocery store and pick out all the food she wanted. To which I replied, yah it sounds like fun until you have to spend your hard earned money on overpriced items (cereal is nearly $5.00 a box!), load everything in your car, unload it from your car and schlep it into the house and put it all away. And then hear your family whine..."there's nothing to eat!"

Okay well the point of my little rant is that I discovered something really cool at Hornbacher's .... did you know that you could buy gift cards to restuarants like Olive Garden and Red Lobster or to stores like Gap and Old Navy at the grocery store? Maybe I've been living under a rock since I didn't know about this, but I think that is such a time saver...to not have to go all the way out to the particular business to get the gift card but be able to get it at a place you have to go anyway. It may sound a little "Martha"...but it's a good thing!

Oh the Milk

I think maybe a dairy cow would be a good investment for our family. We go through about eight gallons a week!

The Real Me

Here is a song by Natalie Grant, one of my favorite christian artists, that really resonated with me last week. I had heard it before, but it seemed like God purposefully laid it on my heart and allowed me listen to it with a new perspective. Click on the link below to listen.

Foolish heart looks like we're here again
Same old plastic smile
Don't let anybody in
Hiding my heartache, will this glass house break
How much will it take before I'm empty
Do I let it show, does anybody know?

But You see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me, completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see, the real me

Painted on, life is behind a mask
Self-inflicted circus clown
I'm tired of the song and dance
Living a charade, always on parade
What a mess I've made of my existence
But You love me even now
And still I see somehow

Wonderful beautiful is what You see
When You look at me
You're turning the tattered fabric of my life into
A perfect tapestry
I just wanna be me

You see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me, completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see, the real me

And You love me just as I am
Wonderful beautiful is what You see
When You look at me

My Rhapsody Playlist

Love Notes

I forgot to post photos of Kennedy's valentine from Matthew. A little young for "I Love You's"...do you think?

For Tim & Todd...He's Cominnn

...cheap shades and a tatoo and a YOOHOO...

Good Times

 

Hiding Out

Sometimes in our busy house it can be a challenge to find a spot all to yourself.

spudfever

The Other Child

In case you forgot, we do have another child...she hasn't gotten much press lately. So here's a picture of her in her cute new winter wear (clearance of course!)

On Being Sick

Since I had the pleasure of being visited by the same barf fairy that struck Kennedy this week, here are a few observations I thought I'd share.
Only a mother, the minute she knows the puking is done, would drag herself out of bed in search of the toilet bowl cleaner and clorox scrubber and in a cold sweat with her head pounding scrub every inch of that toilet until it was sparkling. Only a mother would fight the dizziness and blacking out to strip the sheets off her bed and throw them in the washer with hot water and bleach so that she could have fresh germ free sheets that night.
Also...I knew I had reached a new blogging realm when, hunched over the toilet and heaving the contents of my stomach into it (sorry for the mental image that you may now have), I was seriously brainstorming possible blog titles for the next day's post. "This Sucks" seemed to come to mind quite often..."Who needs a colonic?" was also in the running.
No one else in the house has gotten it...yet. My fingers are crossed...and the toilets and sheets are clean!

New Coats

The coats we ordered back in November that were suppose to be here in time for Christmas gifts for the boys finally came in. All I can say is they better fit into them next winter!

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a busy night for Valentine's Day this year and Tim and I weren't going to get to see each other until about 9pm. So after all the kids were picked up from their various activities, he was going to pick up dinner for him and I. I had the table set and the candles lit and Cooper came down from his shower and said, "Oh yeah, a romantic dinner with candles for me and Carter!" He was a little disappointed when I told him it was for daddy and mommy, but said he would like to have a candle at his dinner too, so he went to get one off the dining room table, to which Carter screamed...."No Cooper, that is so gay!" Poor Cooper, he can't help it if he is a romantic at heart....or gay.

We Love Sean

The Spuds have their last regular season home game tonight at the Sports Center. Before the game the boys' buddy and favorite Spuds player Sean Ambrosie stopped over with sweatshirts he had made for them. They even have his name and number on the back. So cool. We think he is a great hockey player and an even greater guy.

The Weekend

Dad went ice fishing with the guys for the weekend so the kids and I headed down to the cities did fun stuff with grandma at the MOA. All is fun and games until someone starts puking in the middle of the night. It was a long ride home with that bucket in Kennedy's lap.

Notice the boys' short hair? When we got home on Sunday afternoon dad said "What happened to your hair?" Carter replied..."don't worry dad, I don't like it." When dad told him he thought it looked pretty nice Carter said "I was just kidding dad, feel the back, isn't it cool?"

Princess K

Kennedy got a tiara last night and thought she better wear it to kindergarten today! Matthew left her a crystal in her cubby this week....ahhh true love!

Perfection

Something I have come to realize over the past few years is that we, as women, are way too hard on ourselves. We have this unrealistic expectation of who we should be, or who we want others to see us as. Isn't it all really just about perception... How we view ourselves, how others view us, and then how we THINK others view us? I have a feeling that these three distinct perceptions never match. There is so much hype about living an authentic life, and I guess maybe the answer to being authentic (if there is one) is striving to weave all of these together so that they are one. People say they don't care about what others think of them, but I think those people are liars.
There is so much pressure in today's society to be perfect, the perfect wife, mom, employee, friend etc. Just the other day I received a trial offer in the mail from Martha Stewart's New Magazine "Blueprint". It boasted that it would teach me how to buy better groceries, host a perfect dinner party, find the best dress, and get the prettiest face. Those words: perfect, best, prettiest; society would have us believe that is what we are suppose to acheive.
I'm not even sure what my point with this rambling post is, but Bonnie's post from today "Not Enough Time" got me thinking about all these expectations we have of ourselves, or think others have of us and how unfortunate it is that we can never seem to be satisfied with good enough.

Long or Short?

It is getting to that time where I just can't stand the "hockey hair" any longer and need to take them in for a buzz. Daddy says "no way"...along with all the hockey buds. What do you think?

Typical

Carter and Cooper have a birthday party to go to on Friday, so I went to Target this weekend and got a gift and was feeling all "on the ball" and everything having the gift bought a whole week ahead of time. Last night I unpacked the bags and left the gift on the desk. So I got home from the gym this morning and Carter has already cut open both packages of hockey cards and is busy tearing into the Dart Tag box with a scissors. "I thought they were for us!" AAGGHH!

-17

It's just a little bit cold outside today...so maybe the new colors will warm you up and get you in the romantic Valentine's spirit!

An article in the Forum had me crying on my muffin this morning...it was about a mother of three who is dying of ALS and handling the tough questions from her kids. You can learn more about her by clicking here. And while your at it, be thankful for your health and all those things that we so often take for granted!

One more thing...My sister-in-law Ann (mother of Delaney, Jillian, and Elliott) started a blog... Yeah! Click on her name to the right to check it out!

January's Over...Hooray!

This is my least favorite time of year...January through March seem to drag on forever. I am going to blame my crabiness on the weather; it can't be my fault right? For those of us who don't have spring break trips to somewhere tropical to look forward to, we will just have to delight in the smaller pleasures of life. Here are three things I couldn't get through these dreary winter months without.

Diet Coke...gets me through the day. I am scolded and lectured quite often on the amount I drink, but somehow I think this vice is here to stay.

Smith's Rosebud Salve...needed daily! My friend Melissa told me about this miracle cream and it works wonders on the kids chapped lips, cheeks and chins.


TIVO...oh my beloved Tivo. We have become so close. Tim's not so happy about that. Tivo and I might have to slow things down a bit and spend some time apart.