Little Miss Drama Queen...

Her new favorite thing to do when she's hacked off. Put her sweet little hands to her face, squinch her eyes and wail at the top of her lung. It is so cute and I can't help but laugh at her. I'm sure she appreciates that I'm laughing while she's crying.

Are you kidding me...KINGERGARTEN?

Tonight, I attended a KINDERGARTEN Open House at a school we are considering for J. Yes, you read that correctly...KINDERGARTEN! I had an "OH. MY. GOODNESS" moment as I walked into the gymnasium full of parents. Our baby is going to KINDERGARTEN? KINDERGARTEN! How in the world did this happen? JTW, you are not supposed to be old enough for KINDERGARTEN. That happens when you are a big boy and in my eyes you CAN NOT be old enough to go to big boy school. That milestone is in the future. THAT milestone has been what we have been working toward but it has always seemed light years away. THAT MILESTONE is something I am not ready for. Ready or not, it is coming and we have about 6 months until the big day. Our big boy is going to Kindergarten along with many of our friends big boys and girls. Lord, please help the Mommies find peace in the word KINDERGARTEN.

Thankful Thursday...

I am thankful the Womble 4 are germ-free this week (knock on wood)
I am thankful that my Mom turned 29+20 last week, she is healthy and she is MY Mom
I am thankful it is STINKIN' COLD outside and we have a warm place to snuggle together
I am thankful for the privilege of watching my children discover new things every single day
I am thankful for a fun playdate with friends this morning
I am thankful there was an empty childcare slot for MG so I can participate in a Ladies Bible Study at our church in Feb/Mar
I am thankful for sweet friends who participated in my challenge this week (and I'm still thankful for those who did not :-)

iiiiiiiiice...nooooos...mmmm

Do you know all of the "parts" on your face? Well, MG does. She even likes to point them out to you with objects. This time, her pointer was an ink pen. I heard her talking about her "parts" and I was praising her for it from the other room.It wasn't until I rounded the corner that I discovered THIS. Can't you hear her...iiiiiiiice...noooooos...mmmmmmm.

Post #200!

I can not believe that I have sat down 200 times over the past year to document our family life. Really, I can not believe it. I have never been good at journaling. I own several beautiful journals started with the best of intentions complete with entries on the first 3 or 4 pages. The rest of the book is empty. Sad, I know. I am so proud that I have done this. I know years from now I will be even more grateful. I'm all out of fresh and poignant things to say these days. Instead, I'll leave you with one of my current favorite songs. It speak volumes to me...



and I couldn't post this without leaving you with the part that makes me teary every single time...

So give to the needy
And pray for the grieving
Even when you don’t think that you can
‘Cause all that you do is bound to come back to you
So think of your fellow man
Make peace with God and make peace with yourself
‘Cause in the end there’s nobody else

(Chorus)

‘Cause it’s not who you knew
And it’s not what you did
It's how you live

If only the standards of the world mirrored the final words of this song.
"It's not who you knew, and it's not what you did, it's how you live."
Here's to 200 posts and many, many more to come.

Brrrrrr! Baby, it's cold outside...

What do two little Wombles do when temperates are in the teens outside and have been all week? We have exhausted all toy resources and they are pretty much bored out of their skull. Well, a little bit of Curious George never hurt anybody, right? MG loves to pile up with her brother and go "nigh nigh". Aren't they sweet?

Banana Dawgs...

We have a new addition to the J menu...

One hotdog bun, one banana, peanut butter and raisins=a Banana Dawg!! Shhhhhh, PLEASE, no one is allowed to tell our son that a hotdog bun is actually bread. That would quickly discontinue the banana dawg from the Womble menu. In J terms, hamburger buns are definitely bread but NOT hotdog buns. They are, well, they are just hotdog buns. :-)

First trip to the Movies!

In the midst of the epizooty that arrived at our house again, Daddy decided to let MG and I nap and take J to his very first movie: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. Per Daddy's report he did all of the typical movie-goer motions. He was bored with the never ending previews. He ate over half the large bag of popcorn. He chose the drink that would leave a nice ring around his mouth. And last but certainly not least, he missed the last five minutes of the movie because his super duper Hi-C caught up with him. :-)

***For those who asked why he's never been to a movie theater: because of his corn allergy. We had him retested at the allergist late 2006 and he had outgrown it. We have slowly introduced corn products into his diet over the past year. Popcorn and whole kernal corn obviously being one of the last things to introduce. Once we worked that in and all was well we felt OK about the movies. Finally, there was a kids movie worth seeing so we jumped at the chance to take him.***

Grammyday!

Happy Birthday Grammy! Today my Mom turns 29 again (plus 20 years). I'm sure she will be beyond THRILLED that I shared that with the world. Well, really, just the three people who read our blog. J called her bright and early this morning to tell her the words we all love to hear. I'm not sure that you love to hear the HB song at 29+20 but I think one would love hearing it from your grandson.

Grammy, we hope your day was perfect and you spent it doing something you enjoy. We'll get together soon to celebrate (once we can all get WELL...we didn't want to give you germs for your birthday). We love you...

WANTED: Decontamination Crew

Well, guess who has the crud...AGAIN...the Womble 4! We were all so excited last night. We were supposed to FINALLY meet Alaina Claire today. J was super excited that he was going to see Jake and Will. Then, we all went to bed. Two hours later we began the sicky dance. Up. Down. Up. Down. We were up most of the night with hacking coughs and snotty noses. It's just a cold but newborn babies do not need colds. The girl is going to be eating solid food before we can be germ free long enough to meet her. Ahhhhhhhh! I KNEW this would happen. We were going to go up on Tuesday but Rachel had stuff she had to do. I even laughed and said with our track record you KNOW we'll be sick by Saturday. Sure enough, I was correct. Maybe next weekend...maybe? We are in some serious need of decontamination crew. Any volunteers?

a CHALLENGE...

***edited to add: deadline Friday, Jan 25***

2007 was a great year and I have spent the entire year blogging about it. I accomplished exactly what I wanted: chronicling the life and times of our family one story at a time. I can not wait to turn The Womble Times into a book. It will be like a scrapbook of 2007 without all of the scrapbooking. I have spent the last week reading through 2007, double checking grammar, spelling, etc. In doing this I discovered there is something missing.

I think I have done a great job chronicling everyday life. I think I have done a great job describing Daddy, J and MG throughout the year. The one part I have left out is ME! I have discussed my life, shared my heart and much of what is inside but I have not DESCRIBED myself. If for some reason I am not here to tell them, I want my children to know who I was. Now, I'm not PLANNING on kicking the bucket anytime in the next 60 years but just in case. Who am I? Who is Mommy? I tried to come up with a little post about ME to include in the book but I don't really know where to begin.

SO, here is where you come in...

I am challenging all of my amazing friends and family to help me. Here is your assignment: if someone asked you to describe me (Mommy), what would you say? You can post it in the comments or send me an email. Whatever you prefer. I will include it in the 2007 book as a page about me. Someday I'll appreciate that I included this page as a description of who I was in 2007.

Just to entice you to participate, everyone who submits a description will be placed in a drawing for something very special. It's a surprise but I promise you will love it!

RULES:
1. If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all
2. Do not use any real names in your description
3. If you are my Husband or my Mother you must participate--no excuses :-)

Name that candidate...

I don't discuss politics. We are all too opinionated when it comes to the subject. Most of the time, it's a loser discussion all the way around. I came across this little quiz today. Answer 11 questions and it will reveal which Presidential candidate views most resemble your own. It takes about 2 minutes and then you receive the results.

For the sake of friendship, I am closing comments on this one. :-)

hope for Hope...

Here's her story. You all know I'm a sucker for these stories. I can't help it. They get me every time.

This Momma is sewing custom dresses to raise money for the adoption of her daughter who lives in China. She is a Waiting Child and her file will be returned to China at the end of January if this family can not raise the funds they need for this unexpected call to adopt. Her big sister is modeling a few samples below. Aren't they precious?




OK, so stop reading my post and go here to place your order. You can choose your color, fabric and size. You'll be dressing your favorite little girl in the cutest little dresses while helping this family bring home their daughter.

Welcome 2008!

Happy New Year friends! I hope your New Years Eve was safe and full of great memories. We had to cancel New Years festivities with our friends thanks to the epizooty. However, we have a rain check we'll be cashing in very soon. The Womble 4 hung out at home, did a little filing and organizing (how's that for excitement) and topped off our evening with game night. We weren't nearly as exciting as J's friend Elizabeth who was supposed to take part in game night, but I guess we filled the void.

I'm not one for resolutions. Let's just be real, I never keep them. Instead I've decided to make a list of things I want to accomplish in 2008.

---I want to donate my hair to Locks of Love
---I want to find an 11:00 small group at church that is a good fit for us
(and that our children can last all the way through)
---I want to complete the window treatments for my entire house
---I want to take J to buy food for our homeless shelter once a month
---I want us, as a family, to eat healthier
---I want to mail our dossier to China on my 30th birthday
(sealed with a pink ribbon, a kiss and tears of joy)
---I want to decorate every room in this house including hanging things on the walls
(I have issues with putting holes in the wall--weird, I know)
---I want to develop a OAMC plan for the year and add Meal Planning Mondays to the blog
---I want to post Thankful Thursdays every week (or at least every other)
---I want to take pictures of my children in front of Cinderella's Castle
---I want to join a ladies Bible study at church
---I want to keep my ferns alive longer than one season
---I want to clean out and donate everything we do not use or need
---I want to create at least 50 greetings and 20 blog designs for Peek-a-Boo Greetings

Hmmmm...now that I've reviewed my "want to do" list it looks like I have a busy year ahead. Hey, at least I didn't set myself up with a bunch of goals I know I can't reach. They are attainable. Well, most of them are minus the fern thing. My thumbs are as brown as they come. Happy New Year guys. May 2008 be the very best year imaginable for all of us.