Wordless Wednesday ~ Through the Years!

I can't believe my baby is almost 3!!!

New born

6ish months
1 year 1.5 years
2 years 2.5 years
3 years

Laughter and Tears

I was looking for a song on Godtube that our music director wants us to do. It is What a Friend We Have in Jesus to the music of The Rose. Anyway, I didn't find it but I found this amazingly funny and touching video that I thought I would share with you. It is long but totally worth watching. It is just what I needed today!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The end of last week we finished Anna's swimming lessons, picked up a guy coming home from Iraq, spent time with friends, cleaned house and stayed extremely busy. I have posted here and there but let me recap for you guys.

Swimming lessons ~ Yay we are done lol. Anna did great throughout the process. I am not sure how much more she learned going there but hey she can swim underwater even better (although she still can't pop up to breathe) and she is more comfortable trying to float even though she can't do it just yet. She enjoyed her teacher and her classmates and even asked if we were going to see Megan today.

Picking up Jason ~ It has been great having Jason home again. We went to dinner with him Thursday night and he came and hung out with us Saturday afternoon. He is trying to win Anna's affections again. She is holding out although she is doing better. She didn't hide from him Sunday at church.

Hanging out with friends ~ That is one of my favorite things to do. We had a "party" with Allie after swimming lessons ended. It was fun we had tacos and cupcakes and the girls played hard! They have so much fun together! It is great talking to Shanda too. If I had looked around the church I would have really thought we would be least likely to be friends. She is just so quiet and well I am not lol. I love hanging out and talking with her though. She is quickly turning into a very dear friend. We also had another dear friend over to go swimming. Denise and her two boys. We always enjoy having them over because Anna thinks her youngest (a 10 year old) is the bees knees. You know the equivalent of Patrick Swayze or Tom Cruise in my younger years.

Cleaning house ~ Yuck, I hate this lol. We are preparing for Anna's party and I have a lot left to do. However, I did declutter my living room and put most of Anna's toys in her room. My living room looks so much better for it! I also cleaned behind tables and chairs etc. You know the deep kind of cleaning. I also started on the kitchen although there is more to do in there. I plan to do a little in the house and the yard daily so that everything will be as close to perfect for Anna's party as I can get it.

So this week is going to be a lot of prep work for her party and not as much fun as usual. Although ya'll know that I will squeeze it in there somewhere! So what are ya'll doing this week? I am still looking for great birthday ideas if anyone would like to share!!!

Anna's Birthday Party

Her party is going to be next weekend and I have so much left to do. I haven't really done anything for it. I guess you could call me a slacker or procrastinator. Anyway, I am looking for inexpensive ideas. It is going to be a water party so I don't think I need to much in the way of entertainment besides the pools and sprinklers. I am trying to decide about goody bags though. I could just do a beach ball or bubbles tied to a balloon (we all know how they love balloons!) or small ice cream bowls with $1 coupon to a local ice cream parlor (covers the cost of a kids cone) wrapped in tulle with a spoon attached to the ribbon. A cute saying attached "I think it's 'cool' that you came to my party...have some ice cream on me!" Anyway, what are you thoughts? What kind of cool inexpensive things have you guys tried or thought about trying? Thanks for any help you can offer up. I really just can't believe Anna is going to be 3. I think I have just been putting it out of my mind lol.

Tribute to soldiers and their families!

I had the privilege of experiencing the most amazing moment yesterday! A friend of ours from church was returning from his tour overseas. His family couldn't be here to greet him so his church family went in their place. It really was a privilege to be around these men and women that give up so very much for our freedom. I never realized or wanted to see how much these people sacrifice for the rest of us. Yesterday, I could not NOT see it. All around me were family members waiting with baited breathe for their soldiers. Including small infants that had probably never met their Daddy's. Toddlers that didn't really remember their Daddy's. Small children that were unsure of what to say or do with their Mom or Dad that had been away for over a year. Spouse's that were almost in tears because they were so excited to have their other half brought back home to them safe and sound. Parents that couldn't believe their baby was finally coming home. They probably saw a little kid standing in front of them wearing dress up clothes. There were also grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, siblings and friends that were so excited to welcome home someone that was so important in their lives but had been missing for over a year. The moment they released the guys from formation I was almost in tears watching everyone swarm to that one person. The hugs and kisses and gentle touches. Making sure they were indeed in one piece. They were definitely real and actually HERE.

We found our friend Jason looking around. He didn't know who would be there for him. He knew his wife had tried to set up someone coming to get him. She told him to look for me that I would definitely be there. I know that he was disappointed not to have his family there to greet him, even though he knows that it wasn't possible. I also know he was relieved to have people there excited about seeing him. People that think he is important and are glad he made it home.

My brother was a marine. He was in Dessert Storm. I can't help but feel terrible now that there was no one there to meet him when he came home. I was so young. I was in my late teens or early twenty's and I didn't think anything of it at the time. Now I realize what a let down it must have been for him. Did it run through his head that he wasn't important enough for us to be there? Did he realize that it was probably a money thing as to why we didn't go. If he were alive I would ask him these questions. I would really give almost anything to be able to do that. Instead I will have to wait until I meet him again in Heaven. I didn't appreciate his sacrifices and his feelings when he was alive.

Now I hope that I can at least make that up by realizing and appreciating what these people do for us. What they give up so that we can have all of the freedoms we have. We take so many things for granted these days. Or at least I should say I do. For our rights they give up the right to be a part of the daily moments with their children, spouses and other family. They give up a lot of Christmas's, birthdays and other holidays and special occasions. As if that isn't enough they give up moments like the birth of a child, first steps and words and other moments that can never come back. Spouse's sacrifice a lot too. They kind of get neglected sometimes because they look just like you and me. They are the ones that are raising their children alone because their spouse is over seas for us. They are the ones that have to go through labor either alone or with a family member if they are lucky. They are the ones that have to hold their child's hand and tell them that their Mommy or Daddy will be coming home, all the while they are wondering if they really will. They are the ones that feel lost sometimes, overwhelmed and alone others. If anyone in the military or a military spouse is reading this THANK YOU for all you have given up!

Wordless Wednesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Anna is a chatter box these days! She will be turning 3 in a few weeks and she is so much like me it cracks me up. I started talking about her birthday a few weeks ago and since then she is always asking when her party is. I start talking about my birthday a few weeks before it gets here. Which it is just a few weeks after Anna's coincidentally.

The other day we went to wally world to look around at toys. I have no clue what to get her for her birthday! Anyway, when we left this was our conversation.

me: thank you for being so good.
Anna: your welcome.
me: Aww thank you for being such a good kid!
Anna: I am not a kid. I a girl!
me: Well, thank you for being such a good girl!
Anna: You are welcome!

Today after swimming lessons we went to the play ground. She forgot to tell me she had to potty. In the car on the way home I was telling her she wasn't going to wet her panty's again that she HAD to tell me when she wanted to go potty. (she hasn't had an accident since Christmas.)

Anna replied: No not do that
Me: Yes you will. If you are not we will put a diaper on you and you can be a baby again.
Anna: Mommy, I not talking to you I was talking to that truck!

For more cute Tiny Talk go to NB7!

My heartfelt thanks!!!

Thank you so much for all of the words of wisdom and encouragement you all shared with me. I don't know what I am going to do at this point other than continue to pray about it. I am not ready to make that first move yet lol.

Anonymous - Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Everything you said rings true. I think in the past it never worked because we both weren't ready. The next time I try it will be the final straw at least for a long time. Hopefully it will work out.

I am not doing it just for Anna. I am doing it for me. For at least being at peace with whatever happens. There is so much in my life right now in limbo that I need some action! I need to feel like I am actively trying to change things, ya know.

Lori - I feel sometimes that we are better off being seperate lol. I wonder if it really will be the best thing for Anna to bring them into her life. I want to start small and move from there.

Cheryl - My dear friend Cheryl, sometimes our lives seem to run so parrellel to each other it is scary. We share so many life experiences. I am glad you are around to offer up words of wisdom. When you said "I hope you find some peace in your heart if a reconciliation isn't possible. " That is what I truly want. Whatever happens I want peace. You are also right that I miss an ideal situation that never really existed. I am fortunate enough to be very close with my in-laws. I imagine having a good relationship with parents to be what I have with them except they would share the history of your childhood. Yes, I dream a lot lol. I shouldn't stress so much I am so fortunate to have the family that I have created. I just feel like I am missing something.

Reynie - What your sister says is true. You want to know without a shadow of a doubt that you have tried everything you could to mend those fences. Up until recently I felt that I had done that. I pretty much stopped talking to them unless they called me or occassionally we would run into each other at my Grandma's house. Now, like I said, God is just working on me. I feel like it is time to try again to work it out or just totally let it go. This halfway stuff just isn't getting it anymore.

Thanks again and thanks for adding me to your prayers! This is why I love blogging. I love being able to bring my heartaches here and get love back. You guys are the BEST!!!

Help me!

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. I have been struggling through issues. I haven't wanted to blog I have just wanted to BE, ya know. Here it goes I am going to bare some of my issues.

My relationship with my parents suck! Big time!!! I haven't talked to my mother in I don't know how long. My Dad is always pulled in between us so he only calls sporadically mainly when he is at work. We have a long history of issues that I don't even want to talk about. Lets just say it started about 14 years ago and it has slowly progressed into this mess. God has been working on my heart lately. Between my Bible study, Sunday School and the preachers sermon I have been bombarded with the need to let bygones be bygones and either move forward or let go. This is hard for me because for years I tried to be the bigger person and make nice just to get smacked down. You know the saying "once bitten, twice shy" well, I am beyond that. I am afraid of the result if I try to move forward. I miss having parents. I miss talking about my childhood. I miss not being able to share my daughter with them. I often wonder what it must feel like to have a great relationship with your parents. Where you can laugh about silly things and cry on their shoulder when you are hurting. I am not sure how to start mending the fence with my parents. How to move forward so that Anna can have 2 sets of grandparents. I don't want to rehash the past, I just want to move forward. I just want to pretend that the past 14 years weren't so miserable for us lol. So do you guys have any words of wisdom? I am thinking I will start with an email just to test the waters. Tell me what you think?

Just so you don't leave my blog all bummed and depressed look at my beautiful girl swimming. She is doing great. I was worried about how she would do this morning with a long weekend between seeing Megan but she did great. She wanted to participate and made sure she wasn't skipped over. Thank you for the words of encouragement offered up last week!!!

A Major Break Through

Today has been a beautiful day!!! Anna had a major break through with her swimming lessons. As funny as it sounds because of that I felt for a moment like a wonderful mom lol. I mean obviously I am doing something right if she warmed up to it lol. Ugh I know I can't claim any part of her getting through this at least for a day but boy was it a wonderful morning. We got there early and we took her baby doll. She wanted to get in the water almost right away so I told her that she and the baby could swim on the steps. I sat right there prepared to get totally wet if I had too. She stayed on the steps. She only went off once and that was to grab the side wall. When the teacher got there I decided that I wasn't going to go on the stairs unless I had too because quite frankly it was hot up there lol. We started with it not going in the right direction so I told her that I was going to sit on the stairs she told me no. She got back in the water. She got out again when they wanted her to swim. I told her if she didn't get in and participate we weren't going to play on the playground. She got in the water faster than I have ever seen her. After that she did great. She even went off on her knee board a few times without Megan. I just can't even tell you all how proud I am of my baby girl!!! Hopefully tomorrow will be just as successful! Of course the weather man is calling for rain so the class might be rescheduled for Friday.

Wordless Tuesday and Wednesday

Vacation Bible School and Swimming Lessons!

What a morning!

Swimming lessons, ugh, what can I say. They were better than I thought they would be but worse than I hoped lol. That is about it. Anna cried and wouldn't get in the water without me. The only thing I could do was leave her there to do it without me to distract her. After I walked off she wasn't happy but she started to cooperate. She did what she was asked to do and she almost had fun lol. She hopefully bonded with her teacher Megan and tomorrow will be a better day. Tomorrow I am going to pretend to forget something in the car and leave her with Allie's Mommy before the teacher gets there. Maybe if I am not around when it starts it will be easier for her. I am her crutch and there are so many reasons that I like that but then so many reasons that I hate that.

After we left swimming lessons we went to Flying Frogs. My poor baby got stuck, well in her mind she was stuck. She was in one section of it where the piece of maze moves every time you step and I think she thought she was going to fall. I talked her through it and Allie was so sweet to come through and hug her and show her the way out. After that she stayed in the ball pit or the bouncy thing. Poor girl has been traumatized today. She is napping now and we will head off to church around 5 for VBS. Hopefully that will be relatively uneventful for her lol.

Chatter!

I have a jumble of thoughts tonight so I thought I would just put them out here for you all to share in my jumbliness lol!

I finally got a few tomatoes out of my garden this past week. They were so yummy. I have several green ones now so it is only a matter of time before we have lots of tomatoes! You see my picture? Aren't they pretty? They are cherry tomatoes. I planted those for Anna because she likes to be able to bite into them and have the juice shoot out!

We started VBS tonight. We didn't have a lot of children but I am holding out hope for tomorrow. I am on snack duty and I picked out an easy one for the first night. It was an eruptive volcano! Which consists of 1/3 cup of milk, a shot of canned cool whip and coke on top of that. It was in a 9 oz cup. Chris and the kids enjoyed it. Me, well I thought it was kinda yucky lol. Oh well I like to please the little ones so I go with the flow. Tomorrow we are making a spider out of moon pies! That is more up my alley lol.

Tomorrow Anna starts swimming lessons! She is going with a friend so I am hoping it isn't to stressful for her. We have to be there at 8:30 am. It will be exciting!!! She is doing well already so I can't wait to see how much she will learn with real lessons!

Reality

I have had a crazy week! We have been busy swimming and playing and cleaning. Obviously you can tell where my priorities are lol. It has been sort of a rough week on me. Doing my First Place Bible Study is slapping my face making me wake up to a few truths. These truths are hard to face but I hope will help me overcome my self.

Things I am facing:

• You can't move forward until you let go of the past.
• Forgiveness is key!
• Hope without action is fairly pointless. That includes prayer! God will help those that help themselves! So all of these years hoping and praying for a bikini body has been a waste of energy since I haven't done anything to achieve it!

It is tough remembering that I have control over my destiny. If I want something I have to go for it. I can't sit and wait for it to come to me. That goes for everything in my life not just my weight. I also don't think about the fact that God can be pleased or displeased by all of our actions or lack thereof. He says in one verse we studied I think in Mathew "Well done, my good and faithful servant...!" I want him to praise me and yet a lot of time I don't really go that extra mile so that he will. That is evident in most things I do, I am afraid. I tend to just do enough or sometimes even fail at doing that much. Or so it seems to me.

I know that the only way to change my life is to just DO IT! I am committing to do just that. It may not be an easy task to take on but "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!"

I think that I need to purge myself so to speak to get on with it. I will have more on this later!

Works for me Wednesday

I had a hard time trying to decide what to do this week.

1. How I marinade my meat before cooking.
2. How I grilled my potatoes that were so yummy last night.
3. How I got Anna to drink a LOT of water by using gum lol.

I decided instead I would tell you about how I manage to get to the pool without going nuts every morning. I keep our bag packed with the essentials. You know sunscreen, water wings, bug bite medicine and neosporine. I add every morning a juice, a pack of crackers (which I just ran out of so I will start putting a zip lock with crackers in it), a fruit roll up or two and towels. Now mind you the amount I pack will change depending on if we have friends coming. I always take extra if we have friends coming because you can't have one for Anna and not the others. I usually only take one towel. I am all about less laundry! Oh, I also take my phone and my camera in a zip lock (that way if water gets in the bag they won't get messed up).

When we get there we put our dry clothes across the back of the lounge chair. I put our towel on the little table they have there or either in the chair. I put some crackers in the towel and cover them up. I open Anna's juice and have it right there. She wants a snack almost as soon as she gets in the water. We spend the first 10 minutes or so practicing her swimming and then we put on her wings and swim all around. She gets out and gets her snack when she is ready and I don't have to get in and out. When we leave we take her top off and pull on her cover up and slip her bottoms off. She doesn't want to ride in the car wet! Me on the other hand I slip on a shirt and sit on the towel lol.

Totally off topic my daughter just saw a picture of me in my wedding dress and she said it was an angel! Awwwww!!!

Anyway, that is how I stay sane going to the pool almost every day. If you need more great ideas go to Rocks in my Dryer!

Wordless Wednesday

We had such a great weekend. My new hubby is a ton of fun ;) Just kidding lol. Chris just has a new lease on life that I am loving! We headed out Thursday night to go to the in-laws. We took a detour cause we were trying to find a place to eat. Before this would have never happened because it added a good 1.5 hours to our trip. That is by the time we found a place, ate and got back on track. Anna stayed up until 11 that night. She had had a 3 hour nap earlier in the day so she was a bit hyper.

Friday, was fabulous. We spent the morning and afternoon with my in-laws. Around 6 we (Chris, Anna and I) headed to Augusta to the festival they have and later the fireworks. It started raining right after we got there lol. At one point it was raining so hard we had to hide in the parking garage with a few 100 people. It cleared up so that we could have a hot dog and go down to where the fireworks were going to be. We spread out our blanket and enjoyed our time together before the show started. It was a spectacular fireworks show. Probably one of the best I have ever seen. Anna loved the fireworks. At one point she got a little antsy cause they were booming fast and furious. She settled down though and started pointing out all of her favorites.

Saturday we went shopping and to visit Aunt Cinny (Cindy). We cooked out that night. That night Chris decided to take us to the Pink Dipper. They have the most amazing chocolate and peanut butter ice cream called charlie brown. It was a great detour. That was another late night for Anna with her sugar high lol.

Sunday we went to my in-laws church. It felt weird not being at our church. Anna was confused she kept asking for Brookes one of the boys at our church. We at dinner and Chris and I went to take some pictures of a cabin that a friend of the family built.

All in all it was just a great relaxing weekend. Hope you all had as much fun as we did!

Happy Independence Day

Hope you enjoy a day with your family and friends!!!

This picture is from last year! My how time flies!!!

Works for me Wednesday

This weeks topic is simple recipes 5 ingredients or less. I decided that I would contribute one of my favorite summer desserts. It is so simple to make and a huge hit with everyone.

I call it Ice Cream Delight!

Ingredients:
ice cream sandwiches
hot fudge or caramel
cool whip

layer a pan with ice cream sandwiches
pour a layer of hot fudge or caramel over them
spread a layer of cool whip over them
put in freezer until ready to serve

So simple it practically makes itself!!! Perfect for a hot afternoon!

For more simple 5 or less ingredient recipes go to Rocks in my Dryer!

Wordless Tuesday and Wednesday

Wordless Tuesday and Wednesday

Little bit o' this and a little bit o that!

I should be doing housework right now but I just am not feeling it lol. I have peace in the house and I am savoring it.

I have some things in my life and in a few lives around me that I need prayer for. I can't go into details at this time but there are 2 young ladies that need some extra prayer for 2 totally different reasons. I know it would be easier for you to pray for them if you knew what was going on but I really can't share. That is all I can say about that.

Anna and I went swimming alone this morning. This doesn't happen often because I try to share the joy of the pool with our friends. I thought we would go see a movie today so I didn't invite anyone over. Anna had other ideas. She wanted to go swimming and pretty much started talking about it right after we got up. She is doing such a great job in the pool. I really hope she does as well when we start the lessons. I just had to share one of the games we play in the pool with ya'll. We go out towards the deep end sometimes in it and sometimes right before the drop. She will say "Mommy, don't get me" translation being: Mommy come get me lol. So I will say "Oh yes I am going to get you" She will squeal and start swimming as hard as her little legs and arms will go. I will go under the water and she will pull her feet and butt up out of the water as high as she can get them (basically going into a floating position). I will swim under her and past her and come up. I will look all around the pool and start to "panic" calling her name and looking right and left. She will then either laugh or scream behind me and I will act all surprised and shocked that she was behind me. She absolutely loves it lol. I guess she thinks she got one over on me ;)

On to brighter things. Anna learned how to spit out watermelon seeds yesterday lol. She was very excited about her new skill. She ate a whole slice of watermelon absolutely thrilled every time she came across a seed lol. As a side note I will probably have watermelons coming up all over my back yard at some point lol.