Help (part 2)

I'm up to my eyeballs in boxes and I have paint all over me...and I am really going to need a spa weekend after this! (HINT, HINT...hubby!)

HELP!

I have so much going on that my brain feels like mush. Lesson plans, resumes, moving, taxes....I think I may explode.

Hopefully, we will be able to finish our move this weekend. I am so excited about getting into our house and getting all our stuff out of storage. I love my stuff. I am so thankful to my parents for letting us chill out in the basement for the past couple of months, but I'm sure they are ready to have their space back too. The hubby has been working every night in the new house putting down new floors in the kitchen and painting. Can you say, knight in shining armor? Drives an hour to and from work every day, works all day and then comes home to work some more! He is finishing up the floors tonight while I try to start painting the living room and attend a 31 party with some girls from work all the while trying to juggle a toddler who seems to be attached to my hip when I am home. BOY, I can't wait till Summer! (I think she stays attached to me when I'm home because she doesn't get to spend that much time with me during the week) Hopefully, this will all change next year if I get a full time teaching job! Getting home at 6:00 is for the birds.

Another question for you mommies....
What do you do when your toddler (13 month old) doesn't want to eat what you fix for dinner? I fix her things she likes. (or she liked them yesterday, but today she is throwing them on the floor or spitting them out on her bib) Do you continue to fix food until they eat enough or do you make them eat what you fix? I don't want her to be a picky eater but I DO want her to eat! HELP!

I wish I ...

would have had a video camera for this moment. We seriously could have won on America's Funniest Home Videos. We all went to dinner Sunday night for my sis-in-love's (I'm borrowing your term Linds) birthday. Of course, we went to Outback. We were all sitting there enjoying a nice dinner when....MY daughter reaches over and pinches the waiter's behind!! He whipped around only to find a 13 month old grinning from ear to ear and he just laughed! I could have died, but I just thought it was too cute. We may be in trouble in 15 years.

Check it out

We went for a little trip this past weekend and a good family friend took some pics of Em. Check them out here! Thanks so much for the fun and the great pics, Linds!

Reminders

Don't laugh, sometimes a girl just needs a little reminder.

Lent

Lent. Forty days. Today marks the beginning of the Lenton season. A time of self-denial and preparation. It is defined as "a period of time leading up to Easter where Christians prepare themselves for Jesus' homecoming." It symbolizes the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by Satan. But when you really think about it, the number 40 shows up many different times in the Bible...the number of days that it rained on Noah and the Ark, the amount of time Moses spent on Mt. Sinai, and the Hebrew people wandered for 40 years in search of the Promised Land.

Every year since high school, I have given up something for Lent. It has ranged from soft drinks to candy. I always have a hard time picking what to give up. It needs to be something I love. Something that is important to me. Something I think I can't live without. This year, I have decided to give up Facebook. When I think about it, I spend a good bit of time on the computer. Our preacher gave us a challenge. We are to read (or listen) to the entire New Testament during Lent, so I will be using my non-facebooking time to listen to the good word. Our church provided CD's of the entire New Testament for all who were up for the challenge.

If you have not ever participated in Lent, give it a try. It really helps you put the focus back on God and his excellent perfect plan.

What a difference a year makes

Last year we were just learning how to be parents. This year we're experts. (hahaha)

Last year you could barely hold your head up. This year you can run!

Last year we were drowning in bottles, blankets, and diapers. This year were are drowning in toys.

Last year you weighed 9lbs. 15 oz. This year you weigh 23 lbs.

Last year your parents looked like the walking dead. This year...they still look like the walking dead with a little more sleep.

(no pic taken to document this, thank goodness)

Last year I loved you so much. This year I love you even more.

HAPPY THIRTEEN MONTHS, SWEET GIRL!

The News

We are moving. Well, not that far, but moving none the less. The house next to my parents has been vacant for a couple of years and we contacted the family to see if they would be interested in renting. They are! We spent the weekend painting and getting things ready for the big move. Hopefully we will be in by the end of the month. I will be so happy to have my stuff out of storage. Expecially considering "smart one" me packed all my winter clothes in the back of the storage unit. Sometimes I just don't think!

In other news, a certain little girl learned how to drink out of a juice box. She is getting to be SO big! After spending a little time with me this weekend, she has turned into a serious mommy monster and walks around constantly saying "Momma, Momma, Momma." Melts me, seriously!

Don't let this sweet face fool ya, the girl does have a diva side. We have been having problems with her throwing food. What do you do when your one year old throws her food on the floor constantly? She almost always refuses to let us feed her anymore..."I can do it!" she says. (Well not really, but that's what I picture her saying.) And I won't even mention how she has been behaving in Sunday School...I will dedicate a whole post to that one!

HAPPY MONDAY YA'LL!

Happy Valentine's Day

Snow Time

Guess what we are up to today?

Five Things I miss About Teaching

1. My co-workers. There is a tight bond with teachers. NO ONE else understands what we go through put ourselves through, how much time and money we spend, and how great it feels to see those little light-bulbs click on.

2. Making bulletin boards. I LOVE being crafty. I miss all my "teacher stuff."

3. Books. I have a large collection of books for my classroom library. I love recommending good books to kids. I hope ALL the kids in my class, left with a new found joy for reading. Unrealistic, I know, but a girl can dream!

4. Seeing that list of kids for the first time at the beginning of the year. Calling their names out for the first time, I felt like I was calling out the starting line up for the All-Star team. Every year was new and exciting!

5. Just TEACHING. Lesson plans and teacher books. Collaboration with fellow teachers. When you know that "that kid" finally GOT it!

Oh, and I do love SUMMER too! :)

The Calling

Our preacher had some powerful words for us today. What would you do if God asked you to change? Not just change your shirt, change everything about your life! Who you are, what you do, where you live, what you do with your money. I hope to think that if I felt God speaking to me, I would listen and follow him with excuses.

This made me think of our reading this week on The Journey. God asked Moses to do unthinkable things. Stand up to the King. Demand that his people be set free. Moses, like any other person, asked why me? He says "I have never been eloquent...I am slow of speech and tongue." God must have thought Excuses, Excuses but replied " Who gave the human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Is it not I, the Lord? ...I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." Moses did as the Lord asked. He trusted that the Lord's plan was the right plan for him. He may have had doubts, but he trusted God.

At the end of our service today, the preacher asked the congregation to come forward to receive a small wooden cross as a symbol of obedience. The preacher gave us a blessing " Deny your self, pick up your cross, and follow me."

Right now, I am at a crossroad. As the school year draws to a close, I am faced with interview season again. Will I find a job this year? Am I doing all I can do to glorify God in my current situation? What is my plan? Or I should say, what is God's plan? Am I ready for what is to come? Will I be willing to answer the call? Are you ready to answer God's call?

Wordless Wednesday

Proof

That she does in fact have 11 baby dolls. (not 13...that was just a guess) And well, proof that she loves them.... I think this picture says it all!