Patience and the Monster

Yesterday, we were finally ALL ready to go to the grocery store. It took forever to wake up, eat breakfast, stop playing "monster fingers" (see Exhibit A here) get dressed, find Snoopy, get our coats on, let the dog out, get Josie's blankie out of the dryer, get Josie in the car, get Sadie in the car... oh, wait. While I was securing Josie into her carseat, Sadie took it upon herself to do a little of what I like to call "snow-wading." When I called for her to climb into her seat, she appeared with sopping wet shoes, socks, jeans, shirt, and a dogged look on her face. I was NOT happy. I had to take them BACK inside, strip Sadie's wet clothes off, completely change her outfit, try to ignore Josie's repeated pleas to me to "Hode me! Hode me!", put Sadie's shoes BACK on, put her coat BACK on, and try to explain that there is a time for everything. She knows this, because we have a kids' book about Ecclesiastes that tells us how there is a time for hellos, goodbyes, being clean and soapy, being dirty and muddy, being loud, being quiet, etc. I told her (not in my nice patient Mommy voice, I must admit, unfortunately) that when Mommy is trying really hard to get us all ready and out the door so we can make it to the grocery store before nightfall, it is NOT the time to play in the snow and get all yucky. She looks up at me and says, "Mommy... there is also a time to love. AND a time to be patient."

Needless to say, I felt very guilty for letting this little irritation...well, IRRITATE me so much. Then I realized, I am being totally manipulated by someone who is not even three years old! Good grief.

Josiebean

No matter what I do, I somehow seem to feel guilty. If I spend time with Josie, I feel like I'm neglecting Sadie. If I spend time with Sadie, I feel like I'm neglecting Josie. I try to do it 50/50, but somebody always ends up getting the short end of the stick. Alas, usually it's Jesse.

Back to my point, though. Josie is talking a lot more these days (ie: Dog! Dog barking! Dirty... eww! Love you! Hug! Nice! Snack! Cold! Sleepy! Mousie! Sockies! Sockies on feet! Sadie! Where Sadie?! Blankie! Bath! Diaper! FUN!) although with her, everything is in exclamations... the child is so loud when she talks! I was thinking about it earlier today, and I wonder if it's because she thinks no one listens to her, because we're always listening to Sadie (who is much easier to understand at this point). Of course, that thought makes me feel guilty. I know that she feels loved... I know that she's smart and she's learning and growing and getting cuter every day, but just because she was born second I don't ever want her to feel second best, you know? Every now and then, I tell her a secret...I lean over and whisper in her ear that she is the very best Josie in the whole wide world and I love her SO much. She always leans back, looks at me with this funny little "I knew it!" look, and says, "Heh heh," then gives me eleven Eskimo kisses on the nose.

Anyone who does not know this child or who doesn't spend any quality time with her is certainly missing out... she's a hoot. Her personality, while so different from her sister's, is so unique and just... well... funny! She's an odd little thing, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all... she's just, well, different. For example, she sits in her bed and pinches her nose together over and over. Through the monitor in my room, it goes a little something like this: "Nub-nubbuah-Nubb-nuubb-nubaaa." She loves to flirt with the waiters at Mexican restaurants. I mean, she stares them down, grins at them, and actually winks her little eyes. She waves, smiles, says, "Hey-do!" It's hilarious. She loves to get in things: boxes, the laundry basket, the bathtub, the toybox, the closet, anything she can contort herself enough to squeeze into. This includes the tiny space behind the rocking chair in her room, leading to tiny (yet loud) shouts of "Stuck! Stuck! Help! He-alp!"

Today she put on Sadie's fuzzy pink bedroom shoes (slippers, as they say around here) and wore them around the house. 3 sizes too big, they flap-flap-flapped with every step she took, and she looked a little bit like Big Bird with his giant feet. But she said, "Pretty!" and shot me one of her impish little smiles when I asked her what she was doing as she tried to stuff babywipes in the toes so they would fit better. She seems to find humor in everything... she'll scream with fury one minute, crack up the next. Bi-polar or just easily entertained? I don't know, but I wouldn't change her one bit.

It's so weird... I asked all of my friends/cousins with more than one child how it was possible to love subsequent children as much as the first one. My cousin Heather put it best when she said, "You don't love one more than the other. You love them all the same... but different."

Let it Snow

Last night on the way to the library for Story Time, I was trying to teach the kids their address. I would repeat it to them, over and over, and then Sadie would say, "What's that?" and I would tell them, "Your address." Turning this over in her mind for a while, she finally shouted, "I'm NOT a dress! I'm a little girl!"

At the library, we made little heart "mousies" with lollipop tails for our Valentine's Day craft. Josie loves her little "Moutie." Needless to say, neither of the little critters made it home with their tails intact.

Today, Jesse asked Sadie if she knew where I was (I was, of course, in the laundry room, where I always am) and Sadie said, "She's over yonder." Hehehe!!!

As I type, they are sitting at the kitchen table with towels, big bowls of snow, spoons, cups, and other "snow tools." I don't know why I haven't thought of this before... they've been seriously (and quietly) concentrating for almost half an hour!

Eat, Drink, and Be... Mary?

Yesterday at lunch we were preparing to feast on cauliflower (Josie loves it), spinach (Sadie loves it) and chicken. The girls were promised one of those squeezy yogurt things for dessert if they ate their lunch. After we said our prayer, I said, "Now we can eat, drink, and be merry!" Sadie replied, "We can't be Mary! You're Mommy, I'm Sadie, and that's Josie!"

Josie now wraps her beloved blankie around her shoulders and walks around like she's a superhero... the basket she likes to put on her head is an optional accessory. The kid cracks. me. up.

Sweet Girls

Last night as I was rocking Josie in the rocking chair before I put her to bed. I was singing her the "Goodnight Sun" song I made up for her, and suddenly, she reached up and put both her chubby little hands on both my cheeks and stared right into my eyes. Then she started patting my face and saying, "Gentle, gentle." THEN, she used her little finger to brush the hair out of my eyes. AND THEN, she put her little arms around my neck and kissed me on the mouth, saying "m-wah!" I cried.

So, probably about a month ago, I read Sadie the Bible story about Jesus healing the blind man. We talked about blindness, and she was very worried about the blind man and about how some people aren't able to see. I told her that some people are born that way, and some people might have an accident that caused them to be blind, etc. Tonight, weeks and weeks later, she was eating baby carrots (with dip) and I told her that I was glad that she likes carrots because carrots are good for your eyes. She immediately said, "Then those blind people need to eat some carrots! Let's get some carrots for those blind people so they can see!"

Don't Ask

Well, ask Sadie if she likes ice cream these days and you may get the following response:
"Does a BEAR poop in the WOODS?" Don't ask. Just don't ask.


Ask Josie if she would like a juice box and you will probably hear a little squeal followed by a maniacal little laugh... "Ha hahaha... at last the juice box is mine. Today, the juice box; tomorrow, the world!"

I'm Back!

This morning, Sadie asked me if I would help her learn her letters. A mother's delight! Then both girls ate ALL of their spinach for lunch!

Tonight, Sadie asked me if I would take a bath with her and Josie. I asked her why, and she said, "Because I love you!" Of course, I ended up in the tub after that :)

Josie threw her arms around me today and gave me a big fat slobbery kiss right on the mouth. She then grabbed her favorite book (Good Night Moon) and dragged me over to her "Cheer" to sit down and read all about the "Mou-tie! Mou-tie!" The "young mouse" is definitely her favorite part. I must've read that book 30 times in the past 4 days. But that's okay, because I'm feeling like a good mom again! Yay!

Ode to a Spa

*Warning - Content may be offensive to some readers!*

Today was the day that I went to the spa
Closed my eyes, relaxed, and said, "Ahhh!"
As the masseuse smeared both mud and seaweed
All over me - felt so good I almost peed!
I sighed as the Vichy shower rained down to the floor,
Exfoliated as I never have been before
My friends - behind my back - will probably mutter
Because my skin's now so soft that I feel like butter!
Still not done; Now onto the facial I go!
I still can't say "aromatherapy," though....
No more dark circles, no blackheads, no bags
No longer do I look like an ugly old hag!
The only thing better that could have possibly been
Would be that all of YOU had been with me, my friends!

(Except for when I was totally naked barring the tiny paper towel they gave me held together by two rubber bands and laughably called, "disposable one-size-fits-all panties." Let me stress to you that no... one size does NOT fit all).

I Hear a Peep

Sadie's version of a classic... no matter how many times we told her, "It's Little BO Peep!" she just couldn't bring herself to change it:

"Little Boy Peep has lost her sheep
And can't know where to find them...
Leave her alone and we'll go home
Dragging their tails behind them."

Today, I was asked if I would like some "tornado" on my sandwich along with my lettuce.

After Sunday School this week (Josie went in for the first time by herself - she did great, although we were told that she wasn't the most vocal student, her answers consisting of "No, No, No, No, and Taint Tu."), there was much discussion of how Jesus healed the Ten Leopards.

Josie was crying because she couldn't reach her crayons, then someone said the word "snack." She jerked her head around, hightailed it out of the room to find the source of the snack, and tottered across the floor saying, "Nack, nack, nack, nack, nack," with every step.

*Josie, Sadie, and their cousin James watching Daddy cut wood.

Blood is Thicker than Popsicles

I know it's been a while since my last post, but honestly, I've needed time to recover. We had an accident. I should say, JOSIE had an accident, and I've been suffering from "Mommy-guilt." We have had our first incident involving blood. I wouldn't mind a bit if it were the last. The other day, Josie wandered into my bathroom with Sadie close behind her. By the time I got there, I heard Sadie saying, "Danger! Danger, Little Stranger!" followed by wailing. Josie had climbed INTO the bathtub and found my razor (which, by the way, I have never - to my recollection - left out before. I'm very paranoid about things like that, you know. Of course, the ONE time I forget, she scales the wall and finds it). Sadie, being the good big sister she is, was trying to warn Josie about the razor's many dangers, but in her zealous attempt to shield her from said dangers... she YANKED the razor from Josie's chubby little hand, slicing off a good chunk from the pad on the end of Josie's left index finger. There was blood EVERYWHERE. I am not exaggerating. I took the razor, washed off her finger, grabbed a towel, and tried to stop the blood. By the time we made it into the kitchen, it looked like there had been an axe murder in our house. How the heck does one tiny finger bleed so much!? There was a trail all over the house, plus all over the bathtub, the sink, all our clothes, hands, faces... All the while, Josie is screaming like a wounded jackal, and Sadie is racing around bringing me bandaids and Josie's blankie, and the boo-boo bear from the freezer, and whatever else she can find to try and help. Finally, shirt soaked with blood (mine) and face drenched with tears (Josie's) and ears hurt from screaming (both of us), I broke down and called Aunt Cindy, who is a nurse. Might I just say that I LOVE HER. She noticed from my tone (apparently I am not that great at remaining calm during a crisis) that I was ready to freak completely out, and I asked her if there is a main artery in the tip of your finger.... she rushed right over and got here in less than 10 minutes. WITH her doctor kit. Josie immediately calmed down and let Cindy "doctor" her, and then we all had popsicles, crisis averted. Whew.

Now, for about 3 days, Josie has been walking around with her "boo-boo bandaid" finger pointed up in the air, making sure that everyone knows that she is injured. This girl knows how to milk something for all its worth, let me tell you. I was hosting a Bible Study in the living room afterward, and I hear screaming all of a sudden - Josie had been in bed for at least an hour - so I run to her room. She looks straight at me, points her "boo-boo finger" at me, moans a little, then rolls over and goes back to sleep.

Don't you forget this, Mom. Don't you forget it.

Table Licker!

Sadie has started getting out of bed 2 or 3 times a night. She comes into my room and says, "Can I come up and snuggle with you for a minute?" How am I supposed to say no to that? She looks so cute in her little footie pj's. Josie actually sat still and listened to 3 books in a row tonight... I was so excited! She's finally getting interested in reading... we read Noah's Ark, Ten Little Ladybugs, and Goodnight Moon. She says, "Moon! Moon!" She's also very fond of the "young mouse" and the "toy house" in the book. I love reading to her... you can almost see the little wheels turning in her head.

Yesterday we played in the snow! The kids just wanted to sit at their little table and eat it. It wasn't very good snowman-making snow, so I just let them sit there and lick the table. What a great mom I am! :)

Might I Have a Word?

Today at lunch, Josie said, "Oh boy!" when I told her she could have a cupcake. Then she said, "I'm a big girl!" when I tried to help her eat it without making a huge mess. Then, "Oh, Man! Ewww... dir-tee, Mommy!" AFTER she finished eating the said cupcake.

Sadie informed me that she wanted to play the xylophone after lunch, and then she proceeded to hand out "instramants" to everyone, along with a "mikerphone" for me. We then sang a rollicking version of "Yankee Dood-nell."

Time is on my side

Oh, gone are the good old days when I could just sit around and blog to my heart's content. I used to write every day... now it seems like I'm lucky to get to it once a week! I guess a lack of time comes with the territory when you have small children. The kids are being better today - after a few days of badness. I shouldn't say that. BUT, I really have had a rough few days recently. Normally, I feel like I have this really high calling... like being a Mommy is the most important, most wonderful, rewarding thing in the world. The past 3 days I've kind of wanted to run and hide. Yesterday I burst into tears and Jesse came home from work early to help me get the kids to bed. He also brought me a card and dinner (*sniff), since I didn't have time to eat anything between the whining, yelling, and pooping. It was very sweet, and now today is shaping up into a good day. I know I just have to remember that they can't be good all the time. It's tough being a kid, I know. Sadie and I have discussed how hard it is to obey, and she reminds me from time to time, "But Mommy, I don't WANT to obey. It's too hard to obey!" Boy, do I know it. Not only do I remember how hard it was sometimes to obey my own parents, but even now it's difficult (sometimes impossible) for me to obey God. So while I can share in Sadie's growing pains, I seriously need to keep working on my patience.

In good news, Jesse and I are both losing weight. Little by little. But we ARE eating much healthier now, and I have banned junk food from our house. (And he has promised not to eat it in the car when I am not supervising :) Also, Josie has learned to sing "Down By the Bay," which is completely entertaining. Sadie even tries to get her to sing it, which is unusual, since Sadie is usally the one who wants the limelight all to herself.

Other good news? (well, maybe... I'll keep you posted.) I'm doing a bridal fair in March to try and get some business going for the wedding shop, which I have pretty much decided that I'm going to do on the side again. We'll see how it goes, but hopefully I haven't lost my touch. See www.dctweddings.com if you want to see some samples and send some business my way :)

Calgon, take me away

Oh my gosh. Am I glad this day is over. Just when I think I've got the parenting thing down okay, a day like this comes along.

The good news is, Sadie is feeling better. And Josie is still fine, as of press time :) The bad news is, I feel like today was a complete and total failure on my part, as a mommy.

Let's just say there was much pushing down of a younger sibling by an older sibling, several refusals to eat, there were numerous "time outs," willful and premeditated disobedience by a 2 year old, whiny screaming tantrums by a one year old, unprecedented crying fits by 2 children (and one mommy), mean yelling (again, the mommy), and finally, bedtime prayers which consisted of, "please God, help us have a better day tomorrow. And help me stop being mean to my sister. Amen."

I thought it only fitting to display Sadie's "mean cowgirl face" at this point:

In A Pinch

Yesterday, we let the crabs, George and Sherry, out for an afternoon romp on the coffee table in the family room. Sadie and Josie were very entertained by their "crabby" antics: climbing on their little ladder, almost falling off the table, creeping around on top of their shell.... Josie was especially interested, and she was brave enough to hold them in her little chubby hand. Well, Sherry is not known for her friendliness - she's more of a hermit than most hermit crabs I know - but Josie picked her up and was being very gentle and careful. As I sat next to her in the floor, she held Sherry up to get a closer look at her beady little eyes. Then, quick as a flash, BAM! A little purple crab claw shot out of Sherry's shell and grabbed Josie's upper lip and hung on! You should've seen the look on Josie's face! She was so startled she just stood there, with this crab pincher attached to her little lip, dangling there from her face. I grabbed Sherry and somehow got her to let go, putting her back in her cage, and then I took the now-wailing Josie into the bathroom to wash her little pinched lip off. It took a while to calm her down, let me tell you. It was post-traumatic, apparently. Anyway, as I sat there snuggling her, I heard Sadie from the other room saying, "Bad, mean old crab! You pinched my sister! You are going in time out!" Then she dumped Sherry into her water bowl and came stomping into the bathroom to give Josie a kiss and a hug. Here are the girls modeling some "crab-proof" goggles :)

Clean up, Clean up

We were saying the Lord's prayer, and we got to the part where it says, "He anoints my head with oil, my cup runneth over." Sadie interrupts and says, "But it will drip all over my hair and that will be a BIG mess!"

Josie has been amazing me the past couple of days. While her fever seems to be subsiding, her "word fever" is making an explosion around here! She's picked up so many new words this week! Today, she took her "Big Bear" her daddy got her for Christmas, and "tickle, tickle, tickle"d his feet. Then, she informed me that she would like a "juice box, please" and a "snack." She also pointed out a duck, a "tweet tweet," a deer, a car, and lots of other things. She's also been a big helper... she's been helping to put toys away, "clean up, clean up" and she even helped me clean out the dishwasher!

All Done With Christmas

After a long trip, a lot of Christmas-ing, cleaning up, and unpacking, we are all settled in back at home.

Where to begin? The girls had a really good time playing with their cousins, aunts, and uncles, and Great Grandma Genevieve loved having them there to hold and stuff with food (all kinds, especially livermush and cookies). They also both got to ride the tractor with Papaw (several times, and Sadie decided that that was her all-time favorite thing to do... Josie also said, "Trat-tor! Yay!"). Mamaw Sylvia kept them entertained with the antics of the "creepy mousie" and Sadie said that she wanted to take the creepy mousie home with her in her new toybox that Papaw built her and Josie for Christmas.

Jesse and I had a good time too, and we got to see almost everyone we wanted to... it's always hard to pack everything in in just a week, but it was a nice vacation. By the time we were done, Sadie said, "Mommy, I'm all done with Christmas." The girls must've watched Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer 30 times in the past month, and last night, Sadie said, "Quick! Douse the light!" Just like Hermie the elf! I laughed so hard. They both like singing the song now, and while Josie hums along and bops back and forth, Sadie says, "Then one soggy Christmas Eve..."

I would like to write more and tell all about all the neat stuff they got for Christmas, along with funny stories that happened while we were there, but alas, I have come down with a cold... and I can hardly remember - much less type!

X-nay on the onkey-may

I forgot to mention some of the other cool stuff the kids got from their Ohio family the other day... they got My Little Pony stuff, new PJ's, real kid-sized spoons and forks, cool socks, a great 2 seater wagon, a Christmas CD, some $ for savings, a real china teaset... the list goes on and on. However, one of the most interesting toys came from Aunt Sarah... an animatronic baby chimp that responds to touch and he laughs, "talks" to you, giggles, squeals, and shakes when he gets all excited. Sadie thought this was pretty cool at first. She played with him for a few days, and then the other night after she went to bed, she got up, came across the house in the dark, came into my room, and said, "Mommy. Will you please take that monkey out of my room?" Hehehe... Now the monkey has to live in the toy closet at night - he can only come out during the day. And here I thought monkeys were nocturnal....

Ding-A-Ling

We opened our "family presents" at home on Friday morning. Jesse, who knows how to pull strings, talked to Santa and convinced him to come early so we wouldn't have to bring a huge haul of stuff back with us from NC. So, last night, Sadie put out cookies, milk, and some water for Rudolph. Rudolph has been a BIG hit this year, with both Sadie and Josie. They must've watched that old classic one (my favorite one, too, with Hermie the elf) 25 times over the past month. Anyway, we did that, then read "The Night Before Christmas" and then the real Christmas Story. I tried to explain how Jesus being born coincides with the whole Santa thing, but let me tell you, I couldn't do a very good job of it. But we prayed to God and thanked him for His gift of Jesus, and also for toys and for Santa. Then Sadie asked me if she could pray whenever she wanted to, and I said, "Of course you can! God likes it when we pray to Him. It makes Him happy." She said, "Can I even tell Him about when I fell off the sidewalk and got a boo boo on my knee, and I had to get a bandaid?" I said, "Yep." So she proceeded to tell God this sad story, and when she finished, she said, "Well, I told Him, but He isn't there. Oh, but He is there!" This was a little strange, coming from a 2 1/2 year old. She showed a little doubt, then totally turned around and figured it out for herself. I think, anyway. Maybe I'm giving her too much credit, but the faith of little kids is amazing to me. You tell them, and they'll believe. It's scary, but humbling at the same time. When it comes to God and Jesus, that faith is certainly something to aspire to.

When we finished, she tried to go to sleep. Josie had no trouble, and she passed out and started snoring before all of this even happened. :) She had way too much fun the night before with Lydia and Darryl. So, Sadie TRIED. She really did, but she was so excited she kept squirming around, popping back up and saying, "Did you hear that? I think I hear Santa! Is that him? I heard Jingle Bells! I hear Rudolph! Do you hear him?" It was so funny... She must've stayed up half the night because this morning it was all we could do to get her out of bed to actually go check and see if Santa DID come.

Presents that were a hit:
Sadie: A Doctor Kit! She immediately went to work on Snoopy, and gave Jesse a blood pressure reading. Then I got a shot. She also got a baby doll, some sewing cards, and a My Little Pony umbrella, along with lots of other things that I can't think of at the moment.
Josie: Her daddy gave her a huge, cuddly, supersoft teddy bear that she LOVES. She also got new fuzzy slippers, a funny hat that just has "Josiebean" written all over it, a cool shapesorter thing, and again, lots of things that I can't remember and I'm too lazy to go into the living room and look at them.
Jesse: His big present was a pair of tickets to a Monster Truck Show... I finally surprised him! He had no idea, and I think I actually did well this year!
Me: A big gift card to a wonderful, fabulous, marvelous, stupendous spa, along with a menu of services that I can choose from. Aromatherapy facial and massage, here I come!!!!

We're leaving tonight for NC, so I won't be posting for at least a week. We'll be having fun in the sun! Seriously. It's supposed to be like 70 degrees down there. Merry Christmas, everybody!

Clippety Clop

Today, we broke out the Eazy-Bake oven that Sadie got from her Aunt Cindy for Christmas. (We opened presents here early since we're going home on Friday... yay!) We wanted to wait until Cindy could come over and help, but Sadie just couldn't restrain herself. Grammie ended up helping her bake a little cake and some cookies. Sadie was so excited to be able to do it "all by myself!" Unfortunately, she got her hand stuck IN the oven and Grammie had to turn and twist and yank it out. Ouch! Josie, on the other hand, helped with some sprinkles and proceeded to smear chocolate frosting all over her head. She also had a hey day riding her new little rocking horse from Grandma and Grandpa... it whinnies and sings, "I'm a little pony, clippety-clop, clippety-clop," which is a very annoying song, but somehow I cannot stop singing it.

What? That's MADNESS, I tell you!

Tonight, Josie helpfully rubbed baby oil all over my face and into my hair... and laughed. She's becoming more and more "helpful" as the days go by. It's so cute to watch her try to help, and to see her try to outdo her big sister.

Then, I sang "Away in a Manger" to Sadie as her lullaby. Well, I should say that I TRIED to sing it. I kept getting rudely interrupted after the first line. Our bedtime ritual went something like this:
Mommy: "Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus... "
Sadie: "WHAT?! NO CRIB FOR HIS BED??!! God needs to GO to the STORE and get Baby JESUS a BED! He will BE COLD!! Maybe He should come and sleep in MY bed."

Ho, Ho, Ho

Sorry... I'm not doing very well at keeping up this month! But I'm guessing that no one has much time to read, either, so I don't feel "too awful bad," as we put it at home. Yesterday, we took the kids to see Santa at the mall... Sadie was so excited that she couldn't think of anything that she wanted for Christmas except "a new pair of Jingley Socks because I pulled all the bells off of mine." Then she asked Santa if he would say "Ho, Ho, Ho" (currently Josie's favorite words) and he did... then she and Josie simultaneously cracked up, and Sadie said, "You're silly, Santa Claus!" Then we rode the Christmas Train (by we, meaning ME, Sadie, and Josie). Jesse ran around and around the outside of the train corral snapping pictures. Josie thought this was a hoot, and kept trying to climb out of the caboose. Sadie waved to the crowd and yelled, "Merry Chwistmas, ev-body!" As we were leaving, we stopped by the Salvation Army bell-ringer and he let Sadie ring his jingle bells. She got some donations! It was so cute... I was so proud! My little charity case! hehee just kidding. I'm hoping to instill how important it is to give to those less fortunate than we are. This year, Sadie helped me with the gifts we picked out for these two "angel tree" kids names we got from church. I explained how some kids don't have enough to eat, or don't have Mommies or Daddies to take care of them, or toys to play with. She mulled this over and then decided that we should pray for them. Then we sent a care package to a lady and her little girl in Jamaica, and Sadie drew the little girl a picture and sent her some of her very own pencils "so she can draw pictures, too!"

Sermon on the Run

Tonight, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for supper. Sadie informed her Grandma, "Your house looks festive. I use that word now."

Aunt Lydia gave the kids a bath while I practiced a song to sing at church for Christmas. As I was standing there singing, what to my wondering eyes did appear? A little naked Josie-bean, freshly escaped from the bathtub, with Aunt Lydia in hot pursuit. Josie ran across the room laughing this maniacal little Woody Woodpecker-sounding laugh and proceeded to bang on the piano keys. Needless to say, practice was halted. :)

On the way home, Sadie yanked on Josie's coat sleeve until Josie got ticked off and started to cry. I asked Sadie why she was making her sister cry, and she said, "Because I like to." I said, "But God doesn't like it when we try to make people cry. He likes it when we're nice to people and when we love them." Sadie took this into consideration, and then said, "But WHY? I like to!" I said,

"Well, sometimes we just can't do things that we like doing - simply because it's wrong."

"Sometimes, God doesn't want us to do certain things just because those things can hurt other people."

"Even though we like doing something and it feels right and good to us, it doesn't always mean that it's the best thing for us."

Then, lo and behold, I listened to what I was saying and I realized that I had preached myself a sermon.

Um, Excuse Me

Tonight we went to a Holiday Sing-a-Long with Deanna. Sadie went right up to the front with a bunch of kids and with the singers and danced along to "Rudolph" and "Frosty the Snowman." She's a natural. Josie is too... she escaped me a couple of times and toddled down the aisle toward the front... she looked so cute in her fuzzy reindeer shirt that I wanted to leave her up there, but I was afraid a big kid might step on her and squash her. When we got home, we came inside and Deanna had the diaper bag, which had Josie's pink blanket hanging out of it. Deanna put Josie down in the family room, then walked out of the room into the kitchen to hang up coats, put stuff away, etc. All the while, Josie is standing there, right where Deanna left her, with her pudgy little finger pointing up in the air, saying, "My blankie. Um. My blankie. Um. My blankie!"

Good news: We are all well for the moment!
Bad news: They cut down the weeping willow in the yard next door. Bah!

Christmastime's a comin'

Christmas festivities are in full swing around here... we've got Elvis music playing, lights in the tree outside (just one, though - I have no patience for things that tangle easily!), trees inside (Sadie has her own in her room) and greenery everywhere. The kids are wearing red (and their jingley-socks), and I'm almost completely done with shopping AND wrapping (Yes, I am one of THOSE people!). Last night, we made cookies, and Josie helped. Let's just say that once Josie learned that she could help, Josie did not want to STOP helping. We ended up with flour all over the floor, sprinkles in every nook and cranny, green icing on her nose, and a really good holiday memory. She also proved to me that her little brain is working overtime these days, even if she's still not talking very much. She dumped out the bin filled with gloves, mittens, scarves, etc. and pulled out one little mitten. She then proceeded to take it over to the drawer next to the stove where I keep the oven mitts and potholders; she pulled open the drawer and put the mitten in with the oven mitts! It was so cute, since she obviously thought that the mitten was just a mini oven-mitt!

Sadie wore her reindeer antlers around the house today and we read Christmas stories. She is very impressed that Baby Jesus actually was born in a barn. "With all the animals! Mooing, and quacking, and neighing. It was kinda loud in there." She now can quote, "To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall, now dash away, dash away, dash away all!" Every Christmas light we see is still, "OH! How Be-yoo-ti-FULL!" Josie likes the lights too, but she seems to be a more reflective sort. She likes to sit and look and take it all in, but Sadie likes to keep a running commentary. :)

Jingle Socks, Jingle Socks

Today, Sadie made a big mess in Josie's room... she dumped a whole basketful of toys out in the floor. I told her she had to pick them up and put them away, so we started singing the "Cleanup Song," which goes a little something like this:
"Clean up, Clean up, everybody clean up!" Well, Sadie, not WANTING to clean up her mess, changed all the words and sang this song to me: "OH, I don't have to clean up, but YOU do!"

The girls have been wearing their "jingle socks" for two days straight... these are little green and red striped elfy-looking socks with little bells sewn on them. They love them because they're fun and noisy - I love them because I can hear the kids coming! Today, on the way to Grandma's house to help decorate her tree, we sang "Jingle Bells." Josie immediately started kicking her feet up in the air and wiggling them in time to the song :) We may have a little virtuoso on our hands!

After Thanksgiving

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone... we had everyone over at our house, and we had a really good time. This house is great for gatherings... but not so much fun to clean up! Luckily, my mom and my mother-in-law pitched in since I had to go to bed at the same time the kids did (I worked retail on "Black Friday!"). We had a relatively good holiday weekend... we got almost all of our shopping for Christmas done, and industrious little ole' me wrapped it all, so now maybe we can enjoy the month of December!

Josie is walking faster and faster every day. Jesse calls her his little Frankenstein (or "Franken-bean," as I prefer) because she stomps her feet so hard and she still walks pretty stiffly... she's still not that sure of herself. I know how she feels! Walking is hard. When I get to the kingdom, I'm definitely going to ask God why He chose bi-pedal locamotion for us. Sometimes I stop and think, we must all look so funny to the rest of the planet - walking around on two legs and everything. Anyway, I digress.

Sadie is SO excited over Christmas... every time we pass Christmas lights or decorations in someone's yard she yells, "Did you see THAT, DADDY??" And then she'll say, "Oh, that is so BEAUTIFUL!" Everything is beautiful these days. That's a nice change! :)

We started getting out Christmas stuff last night... the kids only broke 3 or 4 things... I miraculously didn't even care. The longer I have kids, the less material things seem to matter to me. Throw up on my clothes? Who cares? Broken china? Big deal. Purple marker on my cheek? Fashion statement. Sheesh. I have changed! I have somehow become a totally different person in a 2 year time frame.

I am now going to work on our yearly newsletter... by some stretch of the imagination, I think that I'm going to be sending it out in December. Hah. That's my joke for the day! :)

Thankful

Last night, the girls and I were looking at pictures on the laptop (they love doing that). When we finished, Sadie said, "Mommy, I want to look at the pictures that talk. You know, the pictures that talk and move!" Meaning, of course, the home videos of her and Josie. So, I played one for them of when Josie was about 7 or 8 months old. They both sat here, enthralled, for about 30 minutes. They love watching themselves! When I came back to check on them, they were watching a video of Josie in her "Johnny Jump Up" bouncing in the door frame at Jesse's parents' house. In the video, Sadie was pushing Josie, talking to her, making her laugh, and just generally entertaining her. They were having such a good time in the video... Sadie turned to me and asked, "Mommy, can we go back there?" I said, "Sure, we can go back to Grandma and Grandpa's house... we'll go back next week." She said, "No, Mommy. Can we go back there? Back when Josie was a little baby and I was there in my PJ's and we were laughing?" I said, "No, we can't go back in time, Sadie. I wish we could."

And then I left the room and cried.

Thank You, God... for my girls, who are growing up so fast.

Made Me Laugh

Last night, Deanna (aka "Dee-tah" to Josie) came over. She asked Sadie if she was feeling better and Sadie said, "Yeah, but I have a dinosaur in my throat." I guess it wasn't just any old frog!

My father-in-law sent these to me today... they made me laugh out loud:

> Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its butt."
>Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
> There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.
> Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"
And my personal favorite:
> If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

Eww

Yesterday, I took the kids to the doctor while Jesse went to his own doctor appointment. Let me reiterate that it has not been a fun time around this house lately! So, the girls were both sitting up on the exam room table, shirts off, ready to roll. The doctor comes in and Sadie says, "Hello, Doctor. Are you going to check my ears?" The doctor looks at me, somewhat surprised, and says, "She's two? She speaks awfully well for two." Sadie goes on to say, "Now you need to check for my heartbeat with your steth-o-scope." Now, THAT one even surprised me! Apparently, she picked up that word from Papaw reading "Fozzie Bear Goes to the Doctor." The bad news... they both have double ear infections. The good news... they are on antibiotics now and have stopped screaming non-stop.

Grammie put Josie's hair up in a little palm tree/Alfalfa-looking do today, and when I took it down, she looked just like that little kid on the ice cream cone boxes at the grocery store. She's now walking more than crawling, and it's so funny to see her little chubby self toddling along, reaching out for the wall, the couch, the dog, whatever, to steady herself once in a while. She has also become obsessed with my old Cabbage Patch Kid. She hugs her up tight, right up to her chin, and says, "Oh, Baby! Mm-wah!" and plants kisses right on the doll's cheek. It is too cute. The only thing funnier was when she decided to change the doll's diaper... she took off the doll's pants, held up the doll's legs, and turned her own head with this awful look on her face, then she said, "EWW!" Hmm. I wonder where she observed this behavior.

On another note, not child related, I have decided not to keep the job that I previously accepted. It's just too much for me to work full time. I have apparently over-estimated myself. Or I did the math wrong when I was calculating the number of hours in the day (I was an English major, after all :). So, over the next few weeks, I will be phasing back to part time. Whew. I'm glad that's over with!

Another thing... (I hate to admit this one, but the blog is cathartic, you know) tonight, I backed out of the garage - please note that it was dark, raining, and the reverse lights are not the best on the car - and rammed right into the front fender of my mom's car. Crunch. Yes, I'm a moron. Yes, I feel bad. Yes, I'm going to try to make Jesse suck the dent out with a plunger.

Sick, sick, sick

Hope all of you are well... here, we are all sick, sick, sick. Sadie is walking around with little circles under her eyes, saying, "I don't feel good. I need to go to the doctor. My head hurts. My nose hurts. My tummy hurts. My shoulder hurts. My back hurts." Apparently, everything hurts. I know how she feels! So does Jesse... he hasn't been to work in two days. Josie, also afflicted, gives new meaning to the old southern term "she has a bee in her bonnet." She's like bi-polar baby, bless her little heart. As for me, I almost passed out in the grocery store tonight... and I have a fever! Oh, the joy!

Well, I started a new job this week. This was by choice, but now I'm beginning to wonder what the heck I was thinking. So far, it's super hectic and challenging. I think I could use a challenge since life has been so easy lately. HA! I hope you all detected the sarcasm with which that little statement was intended. Anyway, I am trying to remain calm. I do have to get up at 4:45am EVERY DAY, which is a big adjustment, especially since my wacko friends talked me into watching LOST and I have to stay up until midnight every night because I am now hooked on it.

On Sunday, we had our "Thank you" party for everyone who helped with the new house. We ended up with 33 people! It was a great turnout and a fun party. Mama and I fed them all kinds of southern food, which turned out to be a smashing success! Look out... I think some Ohioans may be headed your way to raid your kitchens.

Josie fell down the stairs today (just the bottom 3, thank goodness) and whacked her little cheek on the baby gate. Yes, I said baby gate. Apparently, we have another smart one on our hands. I guess I should just be glad that the gate was there to break her fall. Good grief.

Funny things: Josie says no all the time now, and shakes her head back and forth while she squinches her eyes shut. The funny thing about it is that when she says "no," she pronounces it, "Doh!" It's like a tiny Homer Simpson is mouthing off to me all the time. :)

We started taking the girls to Story Time at the library, which they both love. Josie likes the "Tick Tock Song," in which you put her on your knee, rock her back and forth and throw her UP in the air and yell "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" when the "clock" strikes. She does it at home now anytime she sits on my lap. Sadie is more partial to the "Dinosaur Song." I must admit that it's a catchy tune... I find myself humming it all the time.

"We are the Dinosaurs marching, marching... We are the dinosaurs. Whaddaya think of that? We are the dinosaurs marching, marching. We are the dinosaurs. We make the earth flat. We make the earth flat. We stop and eat our food when we’re in the mood. Stop and eat our food on the ground. We stop and eat our food when we’re in the mood. Stop and eat our food and then we march around And then we ROAR!!!Because we are the dinosaurs."

Last time we went, Sadie ran over to the Story Lady when we were done and informed her, "I have to give you a hug right now." :)

And, last but not least, some of my friends who haven't seen me lately (like a year or more) wanted me to post a picture. The only one I have that's recent is from a wedding that I sang at a couple of weeks ago... here I am! With bangs, no less!

The "Halloween Bean" and "Sader-Boo!"

Need I say more? :)

The Lost Book of ... Jack?

I've been teaching Sadie the 23rd Psalm. Tonight, when I was putting her to bed, we said it again. I would start it and she would fill in the words that I left out, ie: "The Lord is my ____" and she'd say "shepherd." This went on until we got to the part where David writes, "he restoreth my_____." Sadie said "soul," but then went on to add, "and he JUMPS over the candlestick! Hallelujah!"

Oh, Nuts.

Josie is a nut. I think she must take after her Great Grandpa Ralph. Or someone on Jesse's side that I don't know... she's so silly. I mean, she'll find something (pants, bucket, shoe, cone, etc.) and she immediately puts it on her head and tries to find somebody to laugh at her. Last night she was snuggling against my chest before bed, and then turns around, grins up at me, and "zoop!" shoves her finger up my nose. Then she laughs... hard. Next, "wham!" she headbutts me right in the forehead. Conk. It hurt! And she just laughed! It's going to be fun watching her and Sadie grow up together. We've already determined that Sadie is a nut too! I guess 2 nuts were bound to come from the family tree, since they have 2 squirrely parents. :)

What's That Smell?

The other night we sat down for supper and Sadie stops, looks around, wrinkles her nose and says, "Hmm. I smell Pepsi."

Today, Josie singlehandedly opened the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs and proceeded to climb up to the top at fast as she could, while looking over her shoulder and laughing. This is not good!

Last night, nobody got ANY sleep. First, Sadie woke up crying around 1:00am and ended up in bed with us. Next, Josie started screaming intermittently, and I was up and down, up and down, going into her room to rock her. This went on for hours. Around 4am, I put her back down and went to bed again. I was almost asleep when I heard this horrible, awful, scary weeping, wailing, and howling from upstairs. I cannot tell you exactly how erie and creepy it was, but it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Jesse and Sadie both woke up and heard it, too.... I was frozen for a minute, just listening... it was like a banshee! I'm ashamed to say that I was scared to go upstairs. I'm such a weenie. I finally picked up the phone and called Mama's cell phone - it took a long time for her to answer, and I was almost ready to go upstairs to make sure she wasn't dying, even though I was creeped out. Finally, she picked up and she was all out of breath. She said she'd had a nightmare and her heart was pounding... I guess she'd woken herself up screaming. Anyway, she wouldn't tell me what the dream was - she said she didn't want to talk about it. THEN, she asked me to make sure that all the doors were locked. So I was totally freaked out. I was sure she dreamed that someone was trying to axe murder all of us, so of course I couldn't go back to sleep. I was up all night. I think I slept two hours last night. Good grief. I'm going to bed now - after I check all the doors. :)

We're Ba-ack

Where to begin? We just got back from NC, and we have begun to move Mama's stuff in upstairs. I am pooped. We left there at 9 this morning (or I should say, we TRIED to leave). People kept coming by to say goodbye, give us groceries, money, well wishes, toys for the kids, etc., etc. The generosity of my southern roots never ceases to amaze me. :) We finally got on the road around 10:15. Sheesh.

The trip down was fine, even though I went about 50 mph the whole way. My car was making this weird roaring noise - wheel bearings, I was told - Jesse shipped the parts to Daddy and he fixed it for me while I was home, but I was ultra-paranoid on the way down. The kids were great, all the way there, and we only had to stop once. Sadie nearly jumped out of her skin when we got there, she was so stinking excited to see her beloved Grammy. Josie, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to be spoiled, spoiled, and double-spoiled by Great Grandma Genevieve. I tell you, it gets worse every time.

Good things that happened:
1. Josie started walking!!! I knew it. I KNEW she would start walking while we were there. Her very first, tentative little steps were at Grandma's house, toward Uncle Thomas, of all people, hehee. This was on Saturday the 7th. After that, she kept getting a little braver, and she walked toward Papaw, me, WITH Sadie (although Sadie went a little too fast and yanked her down), and toward Grammie, Mamaw, Josh, and Elizabeth. And maybe Nettie, too. I can't remember everyone. The fact is, she did it, and you should see the proud little look on her face when everyone claps and yells, "Yay for Josie-Bean!" It is so cute.
2. Sadie got to ride the tractor again... and THIS time, she got to steer. This was the time of her life. She also informed me that "Papaw held me on his lap up there on the BIG tractor to keep me safe because that can be DANGEROUS." I was happy to hear this.
3. Melanie was home for a visit, and I got to go to not one, but count 'em, TWO of her baby showers. This was a big deal, since she lives even farther away from home than I do.
4. We went to the greatest place on earth to eat (again). We go with Papaw and Mamaw almost every time we go home. I had turnip greens, pinto beans, stewed tomatoes, fried chicken, cathead biscuits, and numerous other artery-hardening delicacies. Yum. Sadie and Josie preferred the homemade applesauce and the dumplings.
5. We got Mama all packed (for the most part) and up here. I can't believe she's actually here... but there she is, sitting in the living room, watching NASCAR. Ahhh. It feels more like home already.

Bad things that happened:
1. We all got sick. I have horrible head congestion and a cough. Sadie got sick on the way to church Sunday and Daddy and I ended up taking her to the emergency room. Ear infection. Blah!!! When we got home from the hospital, Josie had a fever of 102. For pete's sake. There was mucho crying, fussing, yelling, medicine-taking, and whining (mainly from me).
2. We missed our family reunion because we were all sick. I was so mad. I actually stopped by for about 20 minutes just to say hey to my cousins as I was going to Walmart for more children's Tylenol. I also grabbed some banana pudding and potato salad for the road. Hey, sick people still have to eat.
3. My cousin-in-law got shot through the foot with a nail gun.
4. I almost caught Grandma's house on fire when I left her heating pad in the microwave too long. The good news: we caught it in time. The bad news: The house smells like charcoaled rice, and may continue to smell that way indefinitely.

Oh, another good thing? I'm actually glad to be back in my own house! (I kind of missed Jesse a little bit, too, but don't tell him :)

My Wild Life

Well, we spent the night for the first time last Sunday, and the girls did great. I thought they would freak out a little bit, being in a new place with new stuff... but they snuggled right in - Josie into her new crib (Sadie's old crib) and Sadie into her freshly painted, new white "big girl bed" (a toddler bed from Aunt Becky and Uncle James). They also helped unpack their clothes, books, and toys. By "helping," of course, I mean that I unpacked and put away while they pulled off shelves, out of drawers, and generally wreaked havoc. :)

In the week since we've been here, life has been pretty good, if a little chaotic. Sadie likes her new room so much that she ASKS to go take a nap in her big girl bed. Josie is having a great time crawling around and exploring everything... her favorite part seems to be the tall, low windows - she can stand up and look right out of them.

There is a plethera of wildlife around this place, which is weird, since it's smack in the middle of suburbia. There are 6 deer that LIVE right here. Two mommies, and 4 little ones. They eat in the backyard and sleep in the flower garden in front of the house. It's kind of weird to look out the window and see them just sitting around like they own the place :) There are also 3 raccoons that live in the giant oak tree out front... along with a bajillion mean little gray squirrels. Mean, you ask? YES! As soon as you go outside, the little boogers start chattering, squealing, and chucking acorns at your head. They got me twice already. The first morning we woke up and right outside the french doors in our bedroom, we could see 2 mallard ducks - a male and a female - swimming in the "pond" right behind the deck. Surprisingly enough, our enormous dog hasn't scared everything away yet. I hope they all stay (with the possible exception of the mean acorn-chuckers).

Wonder of Wonders

Well, I'm utterly and completely exhausted, but I AM TYPING THIS FROM MY OWN HOUSE.

Still moving... (barely)

So.... tired... can... hardly... type.... Worked on house 14 hours today. Had to write down that Josie escaped from her room when I wasn't looking and when I found her, all I could see was the back/top of her little head going "boink, boink, boink," down the stairs ALL BY HERSELF. Petrified at first, I then realized she was scooching down on her butt and doing perfectly fine (until I startled her and she jumped forward and almost did a face plant). :) Must report that when I finally got home tonight after a full day of loading/unloading/unpacking, Sadie grabbed the back massager, rubbed it on my back, leaned around to look at me, and said, "Now does that feel good, Mommy?"

We Are Moving! We Are Moving!

We started moving in on Saturday! The house looks great... they finished painting yesterday, and the carpet went in on Saturday. We've been moving, cleaning, sorting, and (my personal favorite) PURGING stuff since then. I've already made two trips to Goodwill, and I'm planning several more... what better time to get rid of a bunch of stuff we don't need?

Josie is ALMOST walking. She's getting so close, but she still just won't try it. She'll stand up for a while by herself, but she just doesn't want to try that first step. I guess she's heard that the first step is doozy :) She's still having a language explosion... "Apple, Josie, Ball, Buddy, Cookie," etc. She now waves her hands in the air when she's "all done" eating, and today she STOOD UP in her high chair when I wasn't looking.

Sadie has two enormous mosquito bites on her cheek... I think bugs are drawn to her! She's acting a little strange and clingy... I think the fact that almost everything is GONE from her room and ours is kind of freaking her out a little bit. I hope she'll adjust quickly when we finally get in the house.

Only 14 more days until we go home! Yay! Sadie is as excited as I am (maybe more) and Josie always has a great time, but Jesse.... he's dreading it. He can't live without us, he says. :)

Peace, Yo!

So, I'm packing boxes and taking them to the house 4 or 5 at a time now. Sadie is trying to "help" me pack... this means that she dumps all her books, recently folded clothes, toys, my purse, etc. into any random box and says, "I'm helping you, Mommy! Take this to my new house!"

They saw their new rooms today... Josie's is a pale, pale, green color that will be SO cute with the "bug" theme that I'm planning on doing. Sadie's is periwinkle beadboard... she's all excited about it, because we're going to put stars on her ceiling. She's all about the stars.

Did I mention that Deanna taught her to hold up her hand, point three fingers downward and say, "Peace, yo!" Yeah. That's what my two year old is running around saying these days, along with, "I'm growing up so fast, Mommy! I'm growing up every day!" Don't remind me, kid... don't remind me.

Josie has started a virtual language explosion. In the past few days, she has said: cookie, blankie, bird, cracker, thank you, cheese, more, Sadie, foot, Papaw, Banana, okay, and mine! She was a little slow on the uptake, but now she's making up for lost time. She's still not walking... but she's burning rubber with the crawling. Mama got them a one of those little plastic egg cars, and Josie's obsessed with it. I think she's thinking, "Why walk, when I can drive?"

I just finished "Seabiscuit," by Laura Hillenbrand. It's got to be the best nonfiction book I have ever read. I think they should teach it in high school. Loved it, loved it!

These Are Days

My friend Melanie sent these lyrics to me right after I had Sadie, and I just haven't been able to stop thinking about them lately. I know that my babies won't be babies forever... they won't even be babies for very long. I'm trying so hard to "seize the day," I guess you could say. I feel like I'm living on borrowed time... like they're going to be taken from me or something, even if it's only because they're growing up. Sigh. I love being a mommy. Loving these girls is like nothing I've ever done before... I think that being a parent is a great illustration that God has given us so that we can see just how much He loves us. I never knew how much He loved me until I had a child of my own. Thinking about the fact that He loves ME even more than I love Sadie and Josie? It's incomprehensible. But it's awesome. (And I don't mean that in the "Ninja Turtle" awesome way). Read these words, and see what you think!

Natalie Merchant/ Christian Burial Music © 1992
these are days you'll remember
never before and never since, I promise
will the whole world be warm as this
and as you feel it, you'll know it's true
that you are blessed and lucky
it's true, that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you
these are days you'll remember
when May is rushing over you with desire
to be part of the miracles you see in every hour
you'll know it's true, that you are blessed and lucky
it's true, that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you
these are the days
that you might fill with laughter
until you break
these days you might feel a shaft of light
make its way across your face
and when you do
you'll know how it was meant to be
see the signs and know their meaning
you'll know how it was meant to be
hear the signs and know they're speaking to you....to you

Day 2 - And Beginning of 3

So, surprisingly, Day 2 was easier than Day 1. I've been reading up on this fasting thing, and I guess the longer you go, the easier it gets. You get all of the toxins and sugar and everything out of your system, so you no longer crave the food. It's really weird. I drank only water for 60 hours. I'm pretty proud of myself, and I must admit, I do feel somewhat cleansed and healthier! All in 2 days!

At lunch today (Day 3), I broke down and ate 9 blueberries and a slice of cucumber.

I was so close! But at least I didn't go out and gorge myself on a whole pizza or anything. I think I'll try to keep this going for another day and see how I feel. I actually have MORE energy than usual. You should read some on this website - it's very interesting:

http://www.quickfasting.com/fasting___weight_loss.html

Day 1

Today, the girls went to the fair (without me - I had to work) and had a great time eating "fair food," sticking their fingers up goats' noses (Josie), and looking out for cowgirls! (Sadie). Then, this evening, we made a paper chain with 30 links - 1 for each day until we go home to NC. Sadie is going to take one off each day until it's time to go for our visit! The chain will help her visualize how long it will be, since she doesn't really have much of a concept of time yet.

Tonight, Josie picked up my camera, whacked herself in the head with it as she held it up to her eye, and said, "Cheese!" (pronounced "chez"). There was a scary 'crunching' underfoot (of Sadie) incident with Sherry the crab... but I think she's okay.

My news? We got our new furniture on Saturday... it's really pretty - I think we're going to like it, and it will look great with my birthday chaise. I'm fasting for 3 days. A nutrionist that I know told me that the best way to cleanse your body from all toxins is to drink/eat nothing but water for 3 days. I started this morning. I am starving. By Wednesday, I think I will have to eat my shoe.

My BIG news? I'm afraid to type it, since I might jinx it, but my Mama interviewed for a job here, and if she gets it, she's moving here! That's all I can say... I'm scared to talk about it.

Park It

So, today we went to the park with Grammie, Becky, James, and Tea. We had a picnic, and the kids had a great time scavenging Sunchips from all adults present. Josie practiced standing up by herself and stuffing her face full of food at the same time. Sadie, James, and Tea ran around like crazy people with sticks... poking trash cans, hunting bees, feeding ducks, and going "clippety-clop" over the bridge.

My favorite part was when we moved over to the playground. Josie had a good old time swinging in the baby swing, and Sadie decided to climb the little round stairs up to the slide platform. These stairs are kind of scary looking - not very sturdy. She didn't know I was behind her, but as she climbed up, very slowly, I heard her talking to herself... "PULL! myself up." (Next step) "PULL! myself up." (Next step) "PULL! myself up." When she got to the top, she stopped, surveyed her situation, and muttered, "Hmm. This is very scary for me."

This is the elusive "Fairy Dogmother."

And this is the new and improved "Corn Queen Josephine."

The Big One

Well, today was the big day. I am - gasp - now Thirty. The big 3-0. Funny, I don't feel any older....

It was relatively painless. Actually, it was somewhat enjoyable! Jesse let me sleep in, I got $ for a de-stressing massage from my mama, beautiful flowers from Melanie, $ from my Daddy so I can afford to come home!, a great card from Melissa along with an offer of babysitting :), a Lowe's gift card, hot fudge cake, great jeans, a fabulos-o red silk diaper bag, a card organizer, and (YAY!) a gift certificate to a real, live, SPA for whatever I want! I have been browsing my Menu of Services for the past two hours. Finally, I can get a haircut somewhere other than Great Clips. LOL

Today, Jesse and I went to work on the house after church while the grandparents took the kids home with them (another birthday present). When I walked in, lo and behold, what did I see before me but my VERY OWN CHAISE LOUNGE! The very one I have always wanted! Jesse totally surprised me with it. I can't remember the last time I was that suprised... it was great.

All in all, a good time was had by all (but mainly by ME).

Sweet Dreams

Today, I decided to stop being such a stickler for naptime and bedtime. They are growing up so fast, and I just want to hold on to them the way they are right now. I've decided to cherish it... for the moment, anyway. So, instead of putting Josie down for her nap this afternoon, I rocked and snuggled her for an hour. She put her blanket on her head, snuggled down into my chest, and kept popping back up to look at me and grin every five minutes. She also whispered, "Da, da, duh, duh, duh," and "Ma-mah!" Not much sleeping was done, but it certainly was some great quality time. Especially when she reached up, gently touched my cheek, looked into my eyes, and then stuck her finger right up my nose. :)

In keeping with my new persona, I let Sadie stay up until 9, and she snuggled with me in MY bed and we read books and talked. She also said her prayers with me... she's so funny - after she thanked God for Papaw and Mamaw, she thanked Him again for Rudy the dog, and also for "Little Rudy." I can only hope that she's always as sweet as she is right now. She just comes out with these SWEET things, like, "I'm so glad you're here, Mommy," or "I love you so much!" or "I'm so happy to see you!" We also sang Josie's bedtime song. Sadie (totally surprising me) added her own little echo to the song... I sang a line, then she repeated it after me, for the whole song. It was so cute, but I guess you had to be there. I'm glad I was.

"Who is Coming to the Zoo?"

Josie kissed me last night, for the first time!!! She's been blowing kisses for a while, but last night while I was rocking her, she leaned in, put her little lips right on mine, and said, "M-wah!" It was the best! Coincidentally, last night was also the first night she's ever gone to bed without her "bedtime bottle." Sigh. My little baby is growing up.

Speaking of babies growing up, Sadie has been quoting every book she has ever read. Yesterday, she said, "Spin new webs! said Spider... I will line the crib with eider," which is a line from "Who is Coming to Our House?" a book about Jesus being born in the manger. Jesse laughed and said, "Guess when I learned that word (eider)? About 2 hours ago when I read that book to her!" It's funny that she already knows it.

Today, we went to the zoo with Aunt Becky, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Darryl, James, and Teagan. Favorites were the seals, the elephants, the camels, and of course, the monkeys. It was lots of fun... the kids had a great time, up until naptime. Then, it was not so much fun! For me, anyway :)

It's only 9:30 and I'm going to bed. As you can see, the march continues onward toward the big 3-0.

Heads Up

Today, I told the girls they could get as dirty as they wanted. They headed to the sandbox. Josie dove in headfirst, and sat down inside it. Sadie dumped sand on her head. Again. They had a good old time, and then we went in to have a bath. As we were getting undressed for baths, Sadie's shirt got stuck on top of her head, so it looked like she had a little shepherd's robe/headwrap on. She said, "Hey! I look like Jesus!" Speaking of hats, we went to supper at a little fast food place that gives out those old fashioned paper sailor hats to kids. I put one on Josie's head, and I'm telling you... she looked like a poster child for a 1930's ad campaign. The child is so stinkin' cute. She got 2 molars... did I already write that? I'm losing it, you know. I really can't remember what I write and what I THINK half the time. It's getting scary! Especially since I found my first gray hair this week.... Aack!

Heehee

One of my new favorite jokes...

Her wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her excitement -- not even her parents' nasty divorce. Her mother had found the PERFECT dress to wear and would be the best dressed mother-of-the-bride ever!

A week later, she was horrified to learn that her father's new young wife had bought the exact same dress! She asked the new wife to exchange it, but she refused. "Absolutely not. I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm wearing it," she replied.

The bride-to-be told her mother who graciously said, "Never mind sweetheart, I'll get another dress. After all, it's your special day."

A few days later, they went shopping and did find another gorgeous dress. When they stopped for lunch, she asked her mother, "Aren't you going to return the other dress? You really don't have another occasion where you could wear it."

Her mother just smiled and replied, "Of course I do, dear. I'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. "

Turkey in the Sand

Josie has started wagging her head back and forth, just to be cute. It's not exactly nodding, not exactly shaking. I guess it's kind of a miniature "Stevie Wonder" move. Whatever it is, she knows it's funny, so she's doing it all the time now.

Today when I told Sadie it was time for lunch, she yelled, "But I already just ate!" When I insisted that it was lunchtime, she finally gave in and said, "Okay, Mommy. Well, I guess I can eat just a little bit of food." Then her grandpa asked if she wanted to go to Walmart with him and she said no. A little while later, when we were playing outside, he came out to leave. She said, "Bye, Grandpa!" Then, as he pulled out the driveway, she put her hands on her hips and said, "But I want to go to Walmart with Grandpa! Come back, Grandpa! Come back!" So, I called him and told him... and of course, he came back to get her.

While I was putting her shoes on, she said, "I love Grandpa. I love Papaw and Mamaw and Rudy (their dog) too. But they're at their house." It makes me sad and happy at the same time, just to know that she thinks about them.

When I strapped her into her carseat, we found out that she had ulterior motives... she informed us that she expected an Icee while she was at Walmart.

Now, I must go and undo the damage that Sadie wreaked on Josie in the sandbox. She poured a whole bucket on Josie's head while I wasn't looking! Josie thought it was funny... but I didn't!

Just thinkin'

This morning when we were getting ready for church, Sadie looked at me and said, "You're so pretty, Mommy!" This brought tears to my eyes and also made me think. The responsibility thing again. It's an unbelievable responsibility I have... to live up to anything remotely resembling what these girls deserve as a role model. I'm trying hard, but today after church, Sadie said, "Oh, crap." Sheesh. I wonder who she got that from. It could be worse, I guess, but still. That's not something you want your 2 year old spouting off.

Josie is currently upstairs attempting to take a nap. Well, actually, she is yelling something that sounds like high-pitched barking. And bouncing up and down in her crib. And throwing stuffed animals (I can hear all this through the monitor). I just put her down for a 2nd nap because they've both been fighting a cold, and there is some measure of crankiness in the house (as opposed to the normal Large measure that I myself bring). I was rocking her a little while ago, and she decided that her new favorite thing to do is grab the lace curtains and look at me through them. She smushes her little face right up against them, leans in close to my face, and then laughs her head off. She is so stinking cute that it's scary.

I miss home. It's been 2 months now since I've been there, and I'm beginning to learn that that's my limit. I miss my daddy. I miss my mama and my grandma. And my cousins. And my friends. Apparently, I can't stay away longer than a couple of months or I start metamorphosizing into a "Northerner." Eeek! I must (this is one of my Daddy's favorite sayings) "make like horse hockey and hit the trail!"

The house is coming along. Still working on it whenever we have a spare minute. I got new cabinet hardware... brushed nickel. This house has so many cabinets... I had to buy 56 drawer pulls - do you believe that?! There are 5 deer that live IN our backyard next to the "pond." Three babies, and 2 mamas. We also have raccoons. I have a feeling the raccoons are not going to be quite as nice to have around as the deer!

Well, my birthday is looming before me. Only 14 more days to go. I have not yet begun to panic, but the only thing I can think of that I want are "tummy tuck" jeans and a makeover. I must be panicking subconsciously.

Thingama-crab

My own little hermit crabs....
Sadie has made up her very first word. I think it means "thingamajig" or "whatchamacallit." Her word is... "Podie-Odie." As in, "Where's my podie-odie?" "I can't find my podie-odie." "Mommy, what did you do with my podie-odie?" "Hey! Look at that podie-odie!" It's pretty amusing, I must say.

Another amusing thing that's going on is Josie's new word(s). I tickle her all the time because her little belly laugh is the cutest thing in the world. So now she mimics me and says, "Tick-a-tick-a-tick-a-tick-a!" She also learned to blow her nose, which is pretty impressive for a one year old, I think.

Yesterday, their Grandma brought them each a hermit crab home from the beach. After a trip to the pet store, the crabs now live in virtual crab-luxury. They have a 4 star crab-condo. They have been christened "Sherrie" and "George." Sadie took George out today and held him in her hand, but when George peeked out to say hello, Sadie screamed and flung him up in the air. No wonder they're hermits.

Short and Sweet

Sadie: "Come on, people now, smile on your brudder, everybo-ey get togever, try and love one anudder right now. Right now!"

I taught Sadie this song Saturday, and she's got an amazing vocal range for a two year old... I wonder where she gets that from... heehee

Josie stood up on her own for the very first time yesterday! We were playing in the baby pool, and I looked away for a second. When I glanced back, there was Josie, wobbling upright on her chunky little legs and looking all proud of herself!

Just so you know, I am NOT giving up blogging... my time allotment is just very limited at the moment. We closed on the house, and now we're working working working on trying to get it repaired, cleaned, and in move-in condition. I promise I'll be back in full force in a month or so. I should have a lot to report by then :)

The Tale of the Three Trees

This is my new favorite story... every single time I read it, I dissolve into tears at the end. I bought it for Sadie and Josie, but now I'm thinking it's really for me. You should've seen me crying in the bookstore! This is a traditional folktale, retold by Angela Hunt. Read it and weep.

Once upon a mountaintop, three trees dreamed of what they wanted to be when they grew up.

"I want to hold treasure," the first tree said. "I will be the most beautiful treasure chest in the whole world!"

"I want to be a strong sailing ship," the second tree said. "I will be the strongest ship in the world."

"I don't want to leave this mountaintop at all," the third tree said. "I want to grow so tall that when people look at me they will raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world!"

One day, three woodcutters climbed the mountain. With a swoop of the first man's axe, the first tree fell. With a swish of the second man's axe, the second tree fell. With a slash of the third man's axe, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought him to a carpenter's shop, but the busy carpenter was not thinking about treasure chests. Instead, his work-worn hands fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took him to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ships were built that day. Instead, the once-strong tree was made into a simple fishing boat.

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" the once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted to do was point to God."

Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveller and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. When a storm arose, the second tree shuddered. But when the traveller stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace," the storm stopped. And suddenly, the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the woodpile. She shivered when she was dragged through an angry crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.

But on Sunday morning when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew God's love had changed everything. It had made the first tree beautiful. It had made the second tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.

That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

The Incredible Bulk

Funny things: Sadie said, "Mommy, give me my book. Oh, Mommy, I can't see without my glasses!" Hmm. I wonder which grandparent she's been listening to! Also, this afternoon, Josie had a little meltdown, and Sadie actually grabbed her own chest and said, "Oh, Josie, you're breakin' my heart!"

Josie's First Birthday party was yesterday. It was a big event! We had lots of people over, and she had cupcake balloons, her very own "smash cake," and lots of fun presents! Of course, she really couldn't care less about opening the presents. I had to keep grabbing her by the legs and dragging her back to my lap so I could force her to open them. She wanted to eat paper. Period. It was fun, though, and the highlight was definitely the cake! The smash cake was a yellow smiley face with a big green icing nose... she went for the nose first. She smushed it into her mouth and then proceeded to smear it ALL over her face, up her nose, in her ears, and then I guess her head started itching because it wound up there, too. Her Aunt Cindy and I ended up taking her straight to the bathtub. Apparently, icing is made of pure lard, because she was as slick as a greased pig (as we say in the South) when I tried to pick her up. Also, the water had a definite greenish tint when we were done. It was a good day :)

The good news is, I'm feeling better. The bad news is, Jesse is sick now. We just keep on passing it around and around. We're beginning work on the house now, so we have to get up to speed healthwise, for Pete's sake.

These are pictures from Aunt Lyd's wedding... Sadie was one of the flower girls, and Josie was just cute :) Last of all, I can't remember if I ever wrote this down or not, so here is the song that Sadie's grandpa made up to sing to her:

"Rock-a-bye, baby, in the treetops...
Hiding in the limbs, away from the cops...
I never should have taken that candy from the store...
If they'll forgive me, I'll steal no more!"

This is a source of constant entertainment for him, and for others! (I had to teach Sadie the real words, but now she thinks the other ones are the real ones :)

The Birthday Girl, Among Other Things

Well, it's finally over. My summer of "events." We finished up our Bible School today, and it was a smashing success, overall. Some of the kids even said it was the best one ever! So, we were very pleased (and even more relieved that it's all over with). Looking back on it, it was a great week. During the midst of it, I wouldn't have said that! :)

Today was Josie's birthday! We sang to her at church today, and she had her favorite food for supper - meatballs and watermelon. I told her I thought she was going to turn into a meatball if she didn't stop eating so many of them. She's so funny. She has new teeth, too! Now she has a total of 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom.

Sadie had to go to the doctor this afternoon... she's on the verge of bronchitis, and the doctor said that it sounds like I am, too! I guess it's coming from being so tired and run-down. She keeps saying she doesn't feel good, but now she also says, "Whatcha got there?" and, "Oh, yes I do," or "Oh, yes I am." Today she dumped sand on her head. Let me tell you, SAND is not easy to get out hair.

That's it. As my grandpa once said, "I'm just about done for." I think I could sleep for 4 days straight.

My Girls... Talkin' 'Bout My Girls

This is us at my cousin's wedding... finally, a cute picture of the three of us! Nobody's crying! Oh wait... I was crying right before this because I was watching a slide show about my little cousin growing up (*sniff) and now she's old and married! Oh, well, who cares? With 3 females, someone is always bound to be crying over something.

Funny things that happened:
Today, in the bathtub, Sadie put her foot into her toy boat and said, "Look at me! I have a boatshoe!" I found this to be hilarious, and so did Josie. Josie also figured out that bathwater (we call it "bootywater") is yummy to drink. She scoops it up in her little yellow cup, chugs it, snorts and chokes, and then goes, "Heh-heh-heh!"

She has also figured out that screaming is the way to get what she wants... this is a problem, since I cannot stand the screaming. Don't get me wrong... usually, she's a very sweet, cuddly, fun-loving little chunky baby. But, man! When she gets mad, it's just a disaster. It really reminds me of myself. It's scary. Also, Sadie is becoming a bonafied hypochondriac. For a week now, she's been saying, "Me don't feel good. My head hurts. My tummy hurts. Me need go to the doctor. Me need a vitamin. I need medicine. Me need to take my temperature. I just need to hold you, 'cause me don't feel good, Mommy." Sheesh. Also, reminding me of myself. I certainly hope they get some of my good qualities, too! (Although I can't think of any at the moment....)

So, I'm right in the middle of our Bible School... today was the first day, and it wasn't nearly as much of a disaster as we anticipated. It was actually somewhat fun. Sadie and Josie had a good time, although by the end, they were definitely past due for naps. So was I, for that matter.

Then, I had to run home, change clothes, scarf down lunch, and head to work. Same thing the rest of the week, except for Wednesday. Wednesday, I have to fit our house closing (gasp!) in between Bible School and work. You may ask, "How does she do it?" The answer is, "Heck if I know." :)

Awww

I don't have time to write much... it is the weekend of the wedding and Bible School prep, but I had to record this for posterity:

On the way home from the rehearsal tonight (Sadie is going to be one of the flower girls, along with her cousin Teagan), Sadie and Josie finally stopped crying. They were both more than pooped from a week of crazy preparation, all kinds of company, and bad colds/no appetite/fitful sleeping. They were sitting quietly in the backseat for a minute, and then Sadie sighs and says, "I'm happy, Mommy." Surprised, I said, "I'm glad... but why are you happy?" She said, "Because I love you." As if that weren't enough to stir my heart, Josie pipes up and says, "Ohhhh, Mama," like she was agreeing. It was the sweetest thing.

In other news, I finally got the MRI done yesterday - the right way this time - and I had my follow-up visit this morning. No surgery, which is good, but apparently I just have "loose joints." No, I'm not talking about illegal substances rolling around in my purse... :) He said that all of my joints are loose. I'm in for a lifetime of physical therapy and pain medicine that they give to arthritis patients. I must say, it's somewhat discouraging. I was hoping for a shot or a quick fix of some sort... not something like PT that will take up even more time that I don't have. Sigh.

Is everyone watching the war in Israel as closely as I am? I am glued to the TV. This can only mean one thing! To be continued....

No Time Like the Present

Well, I'm back from yet another vacation. This time to Wisconsin. Wisconsin: The vacation capital of North America :) Just kidding. We went to a week-long, family-oriented Bible school/conference thing, and I ended up having a really good time. At first, I thought, "Oh no. What was I thinking?!" But then, as the week went on, I had somewhat of a spiritual renewal. This is a really good thing, considering what a slump I have been in for the past few months.

When we got home, Josie came down with a fever, and she's had it for almost 3 days now. I think I'm going to take her to the doctor tomorrow. She's SO pitiful when she's sick. She's not super-fussy or cranky or anything... she's just lethargic and mopey. She wants to snuggle all the time, and she wants to put her little head on your chest and just stay there. I like the snuggling, but I hate that she has to be sick to want to do it!

BUT, the reason I am writing this right now is to VENT. I needed something cathartic, and this won out over 1) eating a whole bag of Oreos and 2) throwing myself off a cliff.

I have way too many things going on this summer. On top of all the travel, I've had one wedding and I have one more to go. I'm also coordinating our church's bible school. As most of you know, I've had chronic shoulder pain for about ten years now.... it just so happens that the best shoulder specialist in the Northeast had only one opening in months... and that's for this Friday. He ordered an MRI Arthrogram for me... that's where they stick this big needle into your joint and inject you with dye so they can see what's going on with your muscles/tendons/joint/etc. I went for that today (so he can give me the results when I see him on Friday). Well, in addition to taking THREE hours that I can't afford to lose this week, I went through x-ray, through this painful dye-shooting procedure, and through another hour in the scary MRI machine. For those of you who have never had one, it's very disconcerting. It sounds like a variation between a very loud jackhammer and a hundred little trolls banging on pipes with tiny little hammers. Plus, you can't move AT ALL, so of course you start itching all over. And you can't fall asleep, because you might jerk awake suddenly and move. So, the only thing to do is sit there and wait. Of course, I start thinking that the building might catch on fire, or aliens might attack, or terrorists might take over the hospitial... any number of crazy things... and I'd never know it, because I'm stuck in this TUBE o' DEATH with jackhammers and trolls beating a silly song all around my head!!!

Gasp. I seriously did almost panic. Finally, when it was over, lo and behold - the doctor who did the arthrogram was standing there waiting for me. "I put the dye in the wrong area," he said. "It went into the soft tissue and it needs to go into the fluid around the joint," or something stupid like that. "Sorry!" And he walked out. AARRGH! I was - am - so mad. I now have to take ANOTHER three hours that I don't have (the 2nd wedding is on Friday/Saturday, and bible school starts Sunday, plus Josie is sick and I'll probably have to take her to the doctor, not to mention that I'm working at WORK three days this week, not to mention that I'm still not all the way unpacked from my FIRST trip which was three WEEKS ago, not to mention that we might be closing on a house on Monday and I have to start worrying about moving!) and go BACK to the dumb hospital, get my shoulder poked and injected and sore all over again (it hurts, buddy) and sit in that troll tube for another 3 stinking hours.

There. I've said it. I feel somewhat better, but now I've wasted another 20 minutes just trying to de-stress. Calgon, take me away....