Clueless weather man scenario...

Never listen to the Weather Channel. They get everyone all worked up for nothing. It was only a tropical depression and passed through while we were on the road this morning. The weather is fine. We drove through intermittent rain showers on the way down. The ocean is rough but the sky is blue. More importantly my toes are in the sand. Hooray!

Got ocean?

We've been counting the days, marking them off one by one, and the day has FINALLY come! VACATION!We're headed here...to do this...and this...and this...

The National Weather Service says we're headed for this...
but we're going with the "clueless weather man" scenario and hoping for the best. Don't worry, my aspiring meteorologist husband will be watching this...for frequent weather updates. (I can hear the chuckles from those of you who know that story).

It's only a Tropical Storm right? No big deal, RIGHT? Should we let a little Tropical Storm deter us from our long awaited trip? Shall I tell my 4 year old that our vacation has been delayed, or worse, CANCELED? Should we reschedule for next year? Ummmm...NO...not going to happen. The NWS says the worst should be gone by Tuesday. I hope they are right because sand is needed between my toes...ASAP!

We're leaving at 6 AM. Have a great week my friends.

Public Service Announcement...

Have you ever wondered what might happen to an aluminum foil wrapped breakfast cookie after 2.5 SECONDS in the microwave? Well, I never have but guess what...Cookie on the left is what the package looked like BEFORE. Cookie on the right is what a little microwaving will do. Heh.
You see, I was in a hurry this morning getting ready for church. We were running behind (as usual) and I pulled one of Daddy's breakfast snacks from the box, opened the end and popped it in the microwave. Literally ONE SECOND later it sounded like there was a bomb going off. Sparks were flying, I was screaming, it was like SLOW-MOTION reaching for the handle. I jerked the microwave door open and a little trail of black smoke was rising from the package. Hmmm...what in the world just happened? Well, well, well, my friends, perhaps I need to have a little chat with the marketing team at Quaker Oats. Hey, here's a suggestion from one who now has the t-shirt...could you make your packaging a little more unique to each product. Maybe you could make the boxes a different color and make the word MICROWAVABLE a little LARGER!!!!!!!!!! As you can see, I grabbed the NON-MICROWAVEABLE breakfast bar on the left instead of the Oatmeal ON-THE-GO bar on the right! Do you think if I sent them a link to our blog they might see where I'm coming from?

Silly hair...

What happens when Daddy gets me ready for bed and forgets to take my pony tail out? Don't I look silly?And I couldn't speak of hair without noting J's new haircut. Isn't he the most handsome?


Can you tell that is one of MG's favorite dresses? Thanks Molly!

Guess who's getting married?

Yep, it's ANDREA! Tonight, after I drove Courtney home from Deeper Still, I headed straight to Andrea and Neil's engagement party. Andrea is one of my best friends from my high school days. We have been hoping and praying for this day for a LONG time and we could not be happier for them. We think Neil is a really great guy. In our 14 years of friendship, I have never seen her happier. There are two penguin suits and a STRAPLESS bridesmaids dress in our near future. Three of the four Wombles are in the wedding. I have only worn one other strapless ANYTHING in public and that was in the wedding of my other high school friend April. Oh, the things we will do for our friends. :-) Oh, and just to clarify, MG was not left out. She is a guest simply because I convinced the Bride that two 18 month olds in a wagon pulled by my soon to be 5 year old might not be a great idea. Amy (fellow wedding party friend and Mommy of 18 month old #2) and I were happy about that. :-) With the engagement party behind us, let the countdown begin. December 1st marks the beginning of a lifetime of happiness for one of my most precious friends. Congratulations "Andee" and "Meester Neil". We love you!

Deeper Still...

WOW, what a blessing! There really are no adequate words to describe the past two days. Courtney and I, along with 26,000 ladies from all over the US and abroad, had the privilege of attending Deeper Still. For those who are not familiar, Deeper Still is a womens conference featuring three of the most well loved and respected female Bible teachers of our day.
From L to R: Beth Moore (my absolute FAVORITE Bible teacher of all time), 73 yr old beauty Kay Arthur (her name speaks for itself) and Priscilla Shirer (not only a woman of God but a Mommy with small children wading through every day life just like me...who also happens to be wearing a REALLY great jacket)

These three women shared their faith, their hearts and their sincere desire for every woman to go "deeper still" in God's word. We talked about who we are and Who's we are. We talked about having a relationship instead of a religion. We talked about how differently we might live life if we reminded ourselves that God is always there, always "in your face" so to speak. We talked about motherhood, marriage, everyday life and so much more. We laughed until we cried and we cried until we laughed. It was EXACTLY what I needed in so many ways. I returned home to my family 30 hours later with a renewed spirit and appreciation for the life that I have been given. This weekend was a blessing to my heart and I hope what I took away will be obvious to those of you who know and love me (and to those of you who know me and love me anyway).

Little Miss loves Italian...

Our Brave Little Man goes Back to School...

We've been counting the days for the past month, crossing them off one by one until September 5th finally arrived. Two weeks ago we met his new teacher and future classmates at St. M's Preschool Open House and he's been talking about them ever since. He was up bright and early this morning. He wanted to go back to "Ms. Kara's school" so it took a little coaxing to get him to agree to go back to St. M's.J. was gifted a beautiful book by his friends Kenzie, Braden and Kylie in honor of his first day of school. It is called The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. It is a precious book about the first day of school and the many fears Chester Raccoon is feeling. Chester's Mommy gives him a big kiss in his left hand and it serves as his reminder that no matter where he is, his Mommy loves him. When he feels scared or sad he can look at his kiss and be reminded of her love. Chester Raccoon then gives his Mommy a kiss in her left hand and tells her the same. Yes, quite the tearjerker for those of us who are Moms. So, we read the book Tuesday night and this morning before his first day. We put the sticker on his left hand and off to school we went.When we arrived at St. M's this was our conversation...

J: Mommy, I don't need my sticker anymore because I am brave
M: Yes, buddy, you are SO brave and you are going to have such a fantastic first day of school... (blah blah...insert encouraging Mommy talk here)
J: Here Mommy, you take MY sticker and wear it
M: Are you sure J.?
J: Yes, you put it right here (sticking it on my arm) and when you miss me you can remember that J. loves you
M: Thank you J. (holding back the shower of happy tears)
J: Don't lose it Mommy, OK?
M: I won't Buddy, I promise

I put on MY brave Mommy face and held back the tears as I walked our little man to his classroom. The first time he was admitted to Children's Hospital at seven weeks old, his night shift nurse told me her story of how every night before bed she told her son "you are brave and you are loved". Her words really stuck with me. From that night forward I have told him "You are strong and sweet and smart and brave and Mommy loves you!" Today he proved just how strong and brave he really is. It is moments like this that I am overwhelmed by the privilege of being his Mother.
Here is the annual first day of school photo op with his new teacher. I am happy to report he had a FANTASTIC first day. Hopefully, there are many many MANY more to come.

OAMC...

Once a Month Cooking...sounds like a great idea huh? IT IS! IT REALLY, REALLY IS! My friend Courtney and I have taken on this adventure and we couldn't be happier with the results. Many of you have asked questions so I thought I would share a little info about it. The theory in a nutshell is to cook for a day, eat for a month (or two). Think about it, how many times a month do we do the same things over and over: boil chicken for casseroles, prepare chicken for the grill, chop onions, fry ground beef for spaghetti or tacos, etc.? We all do the same things over and over and over again. Well, OAMC condenses all of your repetitive kitchen behaviors. We decide upon recipes we think both of our families will eat and then double them. One for us and one for them. Sounds like a great plan, right? OAMC helps me stay organized and prepared for that infamous question...What's for dinner?

Today was the big day! I hit the floor running at 6:45 AM (The kids slept late :-). I officially began my cooking day at...(it was J's Saturday to sleep in so I didn't get started until he got up).

I had my large list of ingredients on hand and a large bottle of...12 hours later this was my bottle...and THIS was my freezer...Finally to bed nearly 12 hours later...Once we swap on Wednesday, we each will have 20 different meals. Here is our September-October menu...

Poppyseed Chicken x 2
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole x 2
Chicken and Spinach Manicotti
Chicken Pot Pie
Creamy Chicken and Rice
Chicken and Potato Casserole
Nacho Cheese Chicken (courtesy of my good friend Paula Deen)
Lasagna x 2
Baked Spaghetti x 2
Sloppy Joes
Taco Soup
Baked Enchilada Casserole (P. Deen)
Goulash
Layered Meatball Casserole (P. Deen)
Deep Dish Pizza Casserole

We made 10 meals each. This month I was chicken and she was the beef. ha. the beef. Sorry Court. We rate the recipes from 1-5 to decide which are keepers and which are LOSERS. Over the next two months we will eat these OAMC meals along with grilling, Wednesday night church meals, a few eating out nights and simple supper nights. The good news: all of the labor intensive meals are done and I am free to spend that time with my family instead of cooking and cleaning my kitchen. The time and MONEY we are saving is well worth the 12 hours of hard work. Can't wait to start taste testing...

Attention ALL of my Scrapbooking amigas...

Farewell husband, children and crazy everyday Mommy life. I'm off for a weekend with the girls...

You are ENTHUSIASTICALLY invited to a fun filled weekend of scrappin'.
Friday October 5th at 5 PM until Sunday October 7th at 5 PM

Let's call it "Camp Womblecrop".
or "Crop til ya drop"?
Maybe "Crop-o-palooza"?
How about "The Womble Crop-a-lot-i-guess"? (no large brown elephants allowed)
I know, I know..."Scraparoo" (minus the questionable activities that go on at Manchester, TN's claim to fame).

WHATEVER you want to call it, you are invited. I have had the privilege of a scrapbook weekend twice a year for the past 4 years. It is the only time of the year I scrapbook and it is GREAT GREAT fun. Instead of going somewhere this year, we're going to attempt it at my house and see how much money we save. My wonderful, caring, loving, supportive husband has agreed to take a little road trip to visit his Father in Atlanta. Don't worry he's taking the kiddos too.

A few rules...no children...no husbands...no ax murderers...that pretty much covers it...

So, let me know if your interested. We'll work out all of the specifics once I know who is coming. If you'd like to bring a friend (AKA someone I don't know) I'll need their name and SS#. Once I complete their criminal background check I'll send out acceptance letters. :-) Just kidding...

Come on girls...you KNOW you want to come...now sign up already before you hurt my feelings...

P.S. Haybales, unidentified smiling Mommy and limousine service not included.

Did you see this?

This is absolutely the most hysterrical eBay listing I have ever seen. A friend sent me the link. If you have a few minutes, check it out. It is worth your time if you need a really good laugh (and couldn't we all use one of those every now and then). WARNING: You may not see the humor if you are not a parent yet.

Just when you think...

your decorating dilemnas are overwhelming, someone sends you this and you realize you're not doing so bad after all. Shiny metallic gold drapes anyone?

Big Scary Bug Update...

Correction...We are NOT hunting hornets. We are hunting Cicada Killer Wasps (note the plural-as in more than one-and specifically 8). Did you know cicadas come EVERY year, not just every seven? I bet you are wondering how we miss them. The answer: we do not notice them when they come in small numbers...only when thousands of them take over the backyard. I'll spare you the details of what happens to Mr. Cicada once the wasp finds him. I bet you can figure it out. However, if you are up for a little entomology lesson today, then click here.

For your viewing pleasure...a funny photo of Daddy and Uncle Andy trying once again to annihilate the big scary bugs. Mr. Bug Man advice...leave them alone. They will soon "disappear" without any help from the Wombles. Oh, and be sure to sow your lawn very well between now and next summer, or THEY'LL BE BAAAAACK! Great...something to look forward to...

Our Fearless Leader and the Hornet...

WE have officially been in our new home for about a month now. The five Wombles plus one new found outdoor "friend", Mr. Hornet. Our "friend" Mr. Hornet has been taunting our fearless Leader (AKA Daddy) for most of that time. Apparently, he likes our back yard as much as we do. He looks like this...

Scary, isn't he? I promise I am not exaggerating when I say he is as big as a hummingbird but much MUCH angrier. Apparently humans don't really bother him unless there is a lawn mower involved. Most weeks Our Fearless Leader has mowed the grass at warp speed with Mr. Hornet looming in the background. It's nerve racking for ME and I'm inside with a few layers of protection between us.

Yesterday, Daddy and Andy (Daddy's older brother) worked on the landscaping. Mr. Hornet was there overseeing the project and Andy's thoughts were the same as ours...that is one SCARY bug! After the landscaping was complete, Daddy moved on to mowing the lawn. WELL, our back yard "friend" did not think that was a great idea. The closer Daddy came to the middle of the back yard (Mr. Hornet's territory) the faster he flew. With about four strips left Mr. Hornet dove toward the mower, Daddy swerved sharply avoiding contact and that was the end of mowing for the day.


Fast forward to today...guess who's had enough of Mr. Hornet? After church, off we went to run a little errand. What did we buy you might ask? This...

So, this afternoon, in his church clothes I might add, Daddy went out to play with Mr. Hornet. It said it was guaranteed to stop on contact at 25 feet away. Look out scary bug, Our Fearless Leader is armed and dangerous...Got him!
Got him again! Hmmm...he's still flying around? It said 25 feet? Hmmm... Maybe I didn't get him?
Stay tuned for more adventures with Our Fearless Leader and Mr. Hornet. We know he's still out there. We've just gotta catch him when he's down.






"Shhhhhhhh, be vewy vewy quiet; I'm hunting [hornets], heheheheheheh"

14 months old...

Little Miss MG is becoming quite independent at 14 months old. She is off exploring her world in every way she can get away with. Up and down the stairs, standing in chairs and on beds, into cabinets, boxes and anything else in (or out) of her way. She is easygoing and sassy all at the same time. One minute laughing, the next throwing her paci in the floor and stomping her feet in frustration. Someone recently described her as "sweet and sour". I have no idea where she gets that from. :-) Her new favorite word? Boouh. Her absolute favorite things in the world right now are BOOKS! Lots and lots of books. If you aren't reading one to her, she's piling them up beside you or shoving one in your face to read. Ms. Kara, aren't you so proud? We are really enjoying this age, both the sweet AND the sour.

Ms. Courtney came for a visit yesterday and happened to have a few empty spots from a Thursday session. And guess who got to fill them? MG was not fond of her bubble bath and had the "crazy hair" as we call it, but they are still cute nonetheless. :-)

Fun at the pool...

Here are a few of us enjoying our first trip to the neighborhood pool. We didn't capture any decent pics of J. He was a little too excited for the camera.

Little Miss Mischief...

her brother is showing her the art of creating lots of messes...

Please read...

This morning I came across the following post on another blog and it really struck a nerve with me. Some of you know that back in November we had a little scare with my health. The entire right side of my face swelled up without explanation. There were several potential causes, one of which was lymphoma. It was the longest three days of my life as we contemplated what such a diagnosis would mean for our family, more importantly our children. Amazing how one big scary word can change your perspective. Praise the Lord all tests came back negative and it ended up being fine. No lymphoma! Three weeks of antibiotics and I was good as new. The results for this Mommy weren't as good. As a nurse, a wife and a mother of two, I feel like I need to share this with you. The statistic is 100,000 US women are living with this type of breast cancer. Only half will survive 5 years. 100,000 women seems like a small percentage of the US population...but what if one of those women is you?

______________________________________________________


"Because I'm not ready to move on"
by Why Mommy at Toddler Planet

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

P.S. Feel free to steal this post too. I’d be happy for anyone in the blogosphere to take it and put it on their site, no questions asked. Dress it up, dress it down, let it run around the place barefoot. I don’t care. But I want the word to get out. I don’t want another young mom — or old man — or anyone in between — to have to stare at this thing on their chest and wonder, is it mastitis? Is it a rash? Am I overreacting? This cancer moves FAST, and early detection and treatment is critical for survival.

Thank you.

signed WhyMommy at Toddler Planet

One of my faves...

The child must know that she is a miracle,
that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been,
and until the end of the world there will not be,
another child like her."
- Pablo Casals

a little blessing...

Today, sitting in my church parking lot, I casually opened the checkbook and wrote today's date on the top line. I think I gasped when I realized the significance of what I had just written. August 12th. Today was my sister Taylor's birthday. She would have been 14 years old. I will forever remember her as one of the most beautiful babies I have ever laid eyes upon. Perfectly round head, chubby baby cheeks, rosey lips, a little pug nose and the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. Her only issue: a heart that didn't form correctly. 15 years her senior, I had so much love for this little girl. By all indications, she was going to be my living breathing dress up doll and I couldn't wait to get my hands on her. That was MY plan anyway. Plans. Plans? Well, what is it they say about the best laid plans? 14 years later I can look back and clearly see how her short three months of life changed the course of mine. So, today I am celebrating the blessing Taylor L. M. was to my life. She will forever own a piece of my heart.