Monday, August 26, 2013

Another Fun One

We've been having a lot of fun weekends recently and this last one was no exception. Friday my MIL came to town to watch the boys while I ran tedious, non-kid friendly errands and then went to a choir dinner that night. It was nice going to the dinner and talking to various people that are in our SS class. Saturday we were out and about in between naps. Then Saturday night Rob and I took P to watch the Chris Shivers Invitational, a bull riding event. We had a lot of fun despite it being such a late night for P. The highlights of the event for me were the mutton bustin', the jr bull riding and an impromptu dance off with 3 different people in the audience. I laughed so hard watching the 3 guys dance! Yesterday morning we went to church then grabbed a bite to eat on the way home. After changing clothes we went to Lowes, where they were having a "Build and Grow" workshop. Rob helped P make El Chupacabra, one of the airplanes from the movie "Planes". P had a blast and was so proud of their hard work (Easton and I were the cheerleaders.). All the hard work made us all tired so we came home for naps but Easton decided he wasn't so tired after all, leaving Rob to hang out with him while I tried to get a little shut eye. We ended the weekend with playing outside with the neighbors and some ice cream from the Ice Cream Man. All in all, it was another fun weekend in the books!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

On My Toes

Rob's call out nights are one of the things I don't like about his new job. It's usually those days that the boys (mainly the older one) test me. Tonight it was the little guy that kept me on my toes. I had to wake him up from his nap because of a prior obligation so I figured he'd take a nap on our way to pick up dinner (a perk when Rob works late....I don't cook.). I was wrong. When he's overly tired the only 2 places he's happy is in his walker or in the bath tub. So I figured I'd put him in his walker while P and I ate our sushi. First he tried to pull P's art off the art table, which of course got P riled up. As I was cleaning that up the lil guy took off the other direction. Before I knew it he was pulling things off the fridge and trying to get a magnet in his mouth. While I rushed over there to avoid a dangerous situation he back tracked to the garbage can, where he managed to lift the lid and try to grab the chop sticks I had just thrown away from dinner. When he headed for the electric outlet I pulled the plug (get it??) on letting him stay in his walker. I figured I'd rather avoid a trip to the ER and just listen to him fuss instead. I dread the day that he becomes more mobile because I have a feeling that we'll be on our toes 24/7 with him!

Monday, August 19, 2013

Weekend Getaway

Friday, when Rob got off work, we loaded up and headed to the coast. We stayed in a beautiful condo on the beach, where we played in the Gulf of Mexico, floated on the lazy river, walked the beach, looked for seashells, watched a pod of dolphins swim by and spent hours in the pool. Although we endured a tropical drepression while there and it rained the entire time, we still enjoyed time together. I didn't take a many pictures with my nice camera because I didn't want it to get wet from all the rain but here are just a few shots from our weekend.....





Friday, August 16, 2013

Dumb Criminals

There's a lot of crime in BR. In fact, I was told by someone that works at the local police dept that it ranks the 4th highest in the nation for crime. So with all these criminals surrounding us there's bound to be a few dumb ones. Here are a few stories that I've read just this week. To assure you that I did not make any of these stories up I copied them from local resources so you can read them for yourself. It's a toss up as to my favorite....the bank marijuana one or the horse in the bar. There sure are some dumb people in this world!

********************************************** 
************************************************* 
********************************************* 

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Preach it Pastor!

I really enjoy our new church. It's the first church that I've attended since I left home at 17 yrs old where I feel like I truly belong. Although we've only gone there for a couple months, I feel like it's home. People are always so friendly and I'm getting to know different ones at the church. One thing I like about each Sunday is the pastor's sermons. He preaches straight from the Bible. He peppers his sermons with a few stories or jokes but for the most part he preaches from the scripture. He said today that he could tell more jokes and stories in each message but that it'd mean less Bible and he's not okay with that, something I respect. One analogy that he gave today is one that I haven't heard but really liked. He talked about excuses that people use for church that they don't use while attending a ball game. I can't remember all of them but here are a few:
* I don't like the band's songs so I won't go back to that game.
* I sure hope we don't go into overtime so I can get home soon.
* I don't agree with the ref's calls so I won't be back.
* I can't come to the game anymore because not everyone agrees with me/my team.
* They sure ask for a lot of money here and I don't like giving this stadium/arena/? my hard earned money.

It really struck a chord with me because those excuses are thrown out so much for church but you never hear anyone say those words when at a game, cheering for their own sports team more than they cheer for God (Who created them by the way). Your team's final score has no outcome on where you spend eternity but your walk with God does.
Do I think you're going to Hell if you're not in church every Sunday? No! But I think it becomes too easy to make excuses not to go, not to spend time in the Word, not to fellowship with other believers which in turn makes it harder to strengthen your walk with God. And, that my friend, won't earn you any bonus points for spending eternity in Heaven. So, if you haven't been to church today there's the sermon in a nutshell. I pray that it strikes a chord with you the way it did with me.

(PS Read the next blog for a recap on yesterday.)

Saturday

Yesterday was a fun- and interesting- day. I got to have a few hours to myself to do what I wanted for the first time since June. I cashed in on a Groupon deal and got my hair done. I'm frugal and try to cut corners with costs wherever I can but I kept hearing Rob's words, "You get what you pay for" while getting my hair done. The hair stylist was late to my appt. Then she gave me the wrong hair color, despite me asking her for a natural color that matched my true color. She topped it off by only washing my scalp instead of all my hair and sending me out the door with an 80's hair style. When I got home and styled it myself I realized the cut was decent and the color will grow out soon enough. But the experience showed me what salon I WON'T be using in the future.
The day ended in a super fun way! Rob and I got a babysitter for Easton and treated P to his first movie theater experience. We saw Planes and, although I'm partial to the "Cars" characters, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I think what made it fun for me was watching it through P's eyes. He was so excited about every little detail and when it was over he asked when we could go back to watch it again. On the way home I asked him what his favorite part was and he said, "I liked EVERYTHING!". I love living life through the eyes of a child....so much excitement. It was a fun and much needed day of relaxation and fun memories.

Friday, August 9, 2013

I Hate.....

* Be forewarned that this is a rant so if you're not in the mood to hear me complain it's probably best to stop reading right about now.*

For the past couple weeks I have sang "This is the Day That the Lord Hath Made" while showering. Most days it works to get me in the right frame of mind. Some days, like today, Satan attacks and it's all downhill. It started with only getting 3 hours of sleep last night and playing "Musical Beds" all night. Then to add to it, P clogged the toilet with a roll of toilet paper and dropped a big glob of toothpaste on the carpet. The icing on the cake was when I got called that my debit card had been fraudulently used and I would be without one for about 10 days. (Although I am SUPER thankful that the bank is on top of it and called immediately!) From there I had my own internal rant that went something like this.......
I hate the miserably hot weather that makes me sweat all day and keeps us cooped up inside. I hate that it doesn't even cool off at night so I can go sit outside or go for a run in the neighborhood. I hate that groceries cost twice as much here, despite shopping with coupons, because produce and dairy products are so expensive. I hate that it takes forever to get somewhere. (Although to make that a fair statement, if we had moved to Gardnerville as planned, it would've taken 45 mins to get to the mall or to visit Reno friends.) I hate that everything is sticky and it's not because of having 2 young kids. I hate that crackers go stale quickly for the same reason I sweat all day and things are sticky. I hate that I am no longer a couple hours away from my parents and can't just call them up when I need a break from the boys, knowing that they'll drop everything to come help. I hate that I've become paranoid of ants and bugs in general. I've always prided myself in not being "that" girl when it came to bugs. I hate that I refuse to watch the news because, instead of the weather being the top headline like in NV, it's the murders and drug arrests that is not only depressing but not suitable for a 4 yr old to watch.
And you know what I hate the most?? Using the word HATE and knowing that I've gotten increasingly grumpy the past year. I prayed that we'd get pregnant with Easton. I did and then I spent most of the pregnancy complaining about how miserable I felt and how huge I was. I prayed that I'd stay part time at my teaching position and then complained when I got to (and in the process hurt a woman's feelings that was an innocent bystander). I hate that we prayed for our house to sell so we could move to the valley and when that happened I complained about the rental house incessantly. (OK, I'm not truly sorry about that one because the house really was a dump!) I don't know why I can't just be content. The Lord has blessed me/us with so much and I need to spend more time recognizing those blessings instead of "hating" everything and being miserable. People all around me have it WAY worse than me, yet I've become a negative person. It makes me sad to think of myself that way because I've never been like that. If you're a praying person, please pray that, as I draw closer to the Lord, my heart will soften and my eyes will be more open to the blessings that surround me on a daily basis because I want to be content in life and thankful for the goodness that is a part of my daily life.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

To Do or Not to Do?

Growing up, I remember seeing my mom's continuous "To Do" list by the phone and I'd think, "Why does she write a list every day?" Well, now as an adult and as a mom I get it. For me I don't know if I write one because it gives me a sense of accomplishment when I cross things off or because I'm too scattered some days to remember important things that have to get done or because it just makes my day flow better. Whatever the reason is, I have my own continuous "To Do" list these days and it gives me great satisfaction when I can delete things from it each day.
That being said.....Last week it felt like life in NV with a busy schedule and trying to cram everything in between swim lessons and play dates. I was thankful for my list as it kept me focused on things that had to get done. This week we're back to "normal" with me trying to find stuff for us to do. When the boys went down for their naps today I started looking at my never ending "To Do" list that I keep on my phone and I got frustrated that I hadn't been able to delete anything from it today, despite having so much time on my hands. There were still dirty dishes in the sink, dust on the mantel, weeds in the flower bed, dog hair on the ground. And then I realized what I HAD accomplished the past few days that hadn't been on my "To Do" list: snuggles with both boys, teaching P another letter in the alphabet and prepping an art project to help him learn the letter, playing make believe games with him, getting Easton to laugh, reading Bible stories to the boys, having races with toy cars, having P help me make brownies, taking video clips and pictures of priceless moments, helping P memorize Joshua 1:9, teaching him how to play Dominoes (and then using it afterwards as a train track), taking him to help Daddy at work, working out, helping P make his own "Cars" lunch (which he was very proud of making), spending time in the Word, trying to get Easton to say "mama", and everything else in between. So just because, at the end of today, I could only delete 2 things off my "To Do" list doesn't mean I didn't do anything important. It means that I'll take time to appreciate all the things I do on a daily basis that don't need to be on a "To Do" list to make them important.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Our Lil Athlete

I've wanted to blog all week but it seems that I never have time and if I do then I get distracted with something else. But I wanted to let you  know that we may have a little Ironman in the making. Our oldest son just finished 2 weeks of swim lessons, where he was encouraged to advance to the next level. He was able to master all of the beginning lessons and was even put in the "big kid" class a few times. I was impressed with his skill and dedication every day! Although he is not a master swimmer just yet, he is a lot further along than he was a couple weeks ago.
This morning, to add to his repertoire, he competed in his first bike race. It was a 1,000 degrees outside and he biked so much before the race that he wore himself out. But that didn't stop him from competing against other kids in his age bracket and finishing within the Top 10. He was excited about winning a medal and earning a bike shirt. (He also loved that he got a plastic fireman's hat, a smoothie and a banana from local sponsors.)
I'm proud of him for branching out and trying new things. He gives everything he does 110% and who knows? Maybe someday we'll be booking a trip to Hawaii to watch him compete to be the next Ironman!