Monthly Archives: May 2013

1.  Feeling a little sad and low-key today.

Had one of those parenting moments last night that takes the wind out of your sails when we discovered, quite by accident, that one of the kids had violated our trust and the family rules about access to social media.  We had a long talk last night about the big things: honesty, reputation, integrity, honor. We listened to a lot of wailing and pronouncements that life would now cease to exist because apparently a kid without an iPod is a nobody.

*sigh*

2.  On the other hand, feeling peppy.

I discovered a new use for the leftover Via packets from our two hospital stays in the last ten months.  Someone posted a breakfast frappucino recipe that blends almond milk, a coffee packet, protein powder, and ice cubes and it is delicious and makes you perky.  I have a feeling that this will be my go-to drink this summer.

3.  Feeling like I need to retake biology.

Turns out Max? Might be Maxine.  We’d requested a male and didn’t think to verify when he arrived three weeks ago.  Last night, my friend Amy emailed to say we might need to take a peek because another male kitten from the litter who’d gone to another family turned out to be female.  So, we did and it turns out that there were a few parts missing (unless they appear later and aren’t you glad you showed up today for a little sex ed lesson at Carpool Queen) so until we can get to the vet next week for the new kitten exam, we’re just calling him Pat.

4.  Feeling ready for school to be over.

Every morning this week, we’ve barely made it out to the curb on time for the bus.  Two mornings, in fact, T’s bus was waiting for us.  The end of the year drudgery is in full bloom and we have bouquets all over the house.  I’m sure you’ve already seen the post from Jen Hatmaker on the subject – it was popping up on my Facebook and Twitter feed yesterday – but in case you haven’t, she captured the sentiments of every single mom in America with this blog post.

5.  Feeling sporty.  And sore.

I started P90X last week BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW WHY.  It’s an hour commitment, six days a week, and no one in the history of the world has ever wept so loudly with rejoicing as I did over the one measly rest day given to me on Tuesday.

Oh. My. Stars.

Which I see, by the way as I’m hanging my head between my knees to keep from passing out.

Have a nice day.

I dropped by Heather’s earlier this week while she was in the middle of making a Memorial Day/summer banner to hang in her kitchen and it was so stinkin’ cute that I spent the rest of the week chasing down the supplies to make one of my own and texted her a thousand times to ask questions because, of course, she winged it and didn’t really have a pattern that I could follow.

I tried not to be bitter to be happy that the Lord blessed her with natural talent.

Using this picture I took at Heather’s as a guide, I sorta’ winged my own project this afternoon and was generally pleased with how it turned out so today’s Five is Five Easy Steps You Can Take To Make Your Own Cheerful Banner.

Disclaimer:  I am a sloppy and impatient crafter.  I rarely measure accurately, I never wait for anything to dry, and I’m never really sure of what I’m doing. Take all these instructions with a grain of salt and feel free to improve upon them.

1.  Buy burlap (yard and half?) at the fabric store and cut 5 triangles (two for the stars and three for the stripes).  Mine are roughly 9 inches wide at the base and measure 12 inches at the end of the point.

2.  Cut out five or six stars (however many float your boat- the number isn’t important) using an online template, Cricut machine, or plain ole freehand and affix the stars to the burlap in preparation for painting.  For the striped triangles, cut 3 2″ wide strips of paper.

I used a little piece of two-sided tape to hold the paper cutouts in place.  Heather used freezer paper to make her cutouts and then she ironed them onto the burlap so they’d be more secure.

See above re: I am impatient.

3.  Using acrylic craft paint (I used Navy for the stars and Holiday Red for the stripes) paint the entire triangle and then remove the cutouts.

4.  After the triangles have dried enough to where you can handle them without dripping paint everywhere, measure out a length of jute and run a bead of hot glue along it and affix the stars and stripes (in that order) to the rope being very careful to not touch the fleshy part of your hand to the scalding hot tip of the glue gun.

Because it hurts like a *%*#!*&%*@#%*&(@&%&*!%*.

5.  Stand back and feel pretty sporty until you realize you’re going to have to put nails in the fireplace mantle to hold it up and  the husband probably isn’t going to like that idea.

Have a nice day.

Grateful.

And grieving.

I was so happy to look at the calendar this morning and see “No events scheduled” because we crammed a lot into the last three days and I’d like to use today as a do-over.

JJ was home “sick” Friday morning and it was the kind of sick where he probably could have gone to school but he was hacking up a lung and the nurse probably would have called me to take him home for fear he spreading SARS, MERS, or whatever we’re calling the latest contagion. So I hauled him all over Wake County because if he was sick he wasn’t going to stay home and play Minecraft so we went to church to pick up VBS material, to SportsClips for a trim (I told him it would  make him feel better to have a new haircut – somehow that didn’t work for him as much as it does for me), and then to Crazy Fire for lunch because he and I are the only ones that like it so we have to sneak in those moments when we can.

While we were eating, Heather texted to say her kids wanted to go to AgFest and did I want to come along and JJ was sufficiently perked up by his third helping of beef noodles to agree that it sounded like a wonderful idea.  So we went and walked around in the blazing hot sun and looked at some tractors, wandered the petting zoo, picked through the flea market junk, and giggled a little in the exhibitor’s hall.

I have no words.

Saturday was a blur of birthday parties, shopping for birthday parties fifteen minutes before they started, dropping off and picking up from birthday parties, and cleaning house to prepare for overnight guests.  We’d volunteered to be an overnight host home for two members of Azusa Pacific University’s choir and orchestra who were in town to perform at our church’s Sunday morning services.  The two girls who stayed with us were just adorable.  They were incredibly polite, engaging, gracious, and stellar representatives of their university and I wished I had half their poise and confidence at that age.

And their junior-sized jeans.

I went into “mom mode” when I found out they’d already been on the road for two weeks and told them to bring their laundry downstairs for washing.  I didn’t know they made clothes that tiny.

Also? Didn’t know that you can do three loads of laundry in two hours.   

Don’t tell my husband.  He thinks it takes a week.

They had to be at church at the crack of dawn Sunday morning for sound check and you might think we would have taken advantage of getting up so early and attended the early service but, no, even with the extra hour and a half, we still arrived late.  The concert was beautiful and their rendition of Unto the Lamb is still ringing in my heart a day later and since I couldn’t find a video of an APU performance with good sound quality, I’ve had this version from Prestonwood on repeat for the last twenty-four hours. Take five minutes and have your devotions done for the day.

And try not be alarmed at the, um, colorful clothing, big Texas hair, and Baptists raising their hands in church.

Have a nice day.

It has been a quiet week around the house.  I spent some time poking around the library, the grocery store, the pharmacy, and also poking pills down the gullets of Travis and JJ who caught Tommy’s cold. In between deciding dinner, who was sick enough to stay home from school, and if tan flip-flops matched a gray maxi skirt, I also settled on these five items:

1.  Decided to eat a salad every day this week.  And by Thursday also decided  the carne asada tacos at Los Cuates qualify as a salad because they have onions and cilantro.

To be on the safe side, I added jalapenos and ate the salsa with corn chips because corn is a vegetable ish starch.

2.  Decided it was time to get out of the house and had a BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch) at Heather’s house.  We were joined by Squishy Baby who is now neither squishy nor a baby but she’s still adorable.  She entertained us by running around with her frying pan, doing her best Rapunzel impression.

Decidedly jealous of all friends with daughters.

3.  Decided there’s no way to make a scratching post match the living room décor.

4.  Decided the reason Max is getting bigger is probably because Craig introduced him to Blue Bell.

Clearly, I don’t have a lock on spoiling.

5.  Decided that Travis doesn’t like school but really, really, really likes spaghetti.

Have a nice day, cha cha cha!

What a nice Mother’s Day weekend.  Usually the kids or Craig have Saturday plans lined up but, for once, the social plans belonged to me.  I attended a baby shower for one of Craig’s co-workers and it was a beautiful affair, even nicer than my own wedding reception.

I got married before Pinterest.

Thank the Lord.

The mom-to-be is known for her fashion sense and the party reflected it.  The details were incredible – an artfully arranged buffet, a fabulous mimosa bar, hydrangeas gathered in mason jars gracing the dessert table, and color-coordinated everything.

I left with tons of decorating ideas and a to-do list that including plans for throwing a party just so I could have an excuse to buy a tiered cupcake stand like this one.

And make a kiwi and blackberry salad.

Sunday we went to church and afterward, at my request, went downtown for the Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo street festival for lunch.

The kids were a little miffed that I didn’t choose IHOP but after seeing five blocks of food trucks from which to choose, they changed their mind.  Making a decision was oh, so hard. Pizza? Korean? Low-country?  After wandering for half an hour, Tommy, Travis and I decided that Only Burger was a good place to start.  Craig headed over to sample Stoke and Smoke, a frequent competitor on the BBQ circuit, and JJ thought the bratwurst from Baguetteaboutit was too good to pass.

We saved room for dessert and hit up LocoPops for a chocolate brownie popsicle and then the kettle corn place for what we thought was a bag to share but Travis had other ideas.

And then Craig mentioned that Krispy Kreme was conveniently on the way home.

And the box was conveniently in my lap.

I’ll never tell how many went missing before we pulled into the driveway because every woman has her secrets but I will say this:  All’s fair in love and doughnuts.

Have a nice day. 

He’s here.

And I’m over the moon.

He has the most beautiful blue eyes you’ve ever seen and the squeakiest tiny meow and he’s wrapped all of us around his pinky pad paws.  Today’s Five is All About Max.

1.  He hails from the mountains of Western North Carolina and is just over 5 weeks old.  My friend Amy brought him to me (he was born to her grandmother’s cat) Wednesday afternoon and I had a few hours to play with him before the boys came home.

I introduced him to his food and his litter box and was not at all obsessed with making sure he could chew and swallow the kitten chow.

2.  The boys were excited to meet him.  They’ve been begging for a replacement pet since the day Cosmo met his untimely end the fox and the second they walked through the door we made introductions.

The kids aren’t too keen about holding him yet since his claws are razor sharp but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been loving on him.  They’re all constantly taking pictures of him and Tommy has decided Max needs to learn to play DS.

Please excuse the assault rifle on the chair.

I have squirrel issues.

3.  Since he’s a little young, we’re having to teach him a few things.  He doesn’t know that he can eat by himself so, for now, I’m having to accompany him into the laundry room for feeding time and I’m also having to teach him that kitty litter is meant for disposal, not consumption.

4.  He loves to climb (mainly my leg) and explore and pounce and skitter across the floor, but mainly, he enjoys sleeping.  A boy after his mama’s heart.

5.  No, I haven’t done a single thing since he got here other than this.

Welcome to the family, Max. We’re all a little crazy about you.

Have a nice day.