Slowing down

Well, this has been a whirlwind of a summer!

Last week, we had VBS. I got the coolest job ever - I was the assistant in the science lab! Monica is a member of our church, and since we were doing Group Publishing's "Power Lab", there couldn't have been a better fit! Monday she did experiments with dry ice, Tuesday was the Tesla coil, and Wednesday was the Van de Graaff generator.  Oh my, we had such a great time!!!  The kids had a ball, *I* had a ball, and was very sad that Monica's schedule didn't permit her to be there the rest of the week.  I wound up hanging out with the incredibly cool Sarah, who is the youth pastor's wife.  Lemme tell ya - that woman is AMAZING!  She has 3 boys, the youngest is about 6 weeks older than Noah, then one that is 3, and the oldest is 5 or 6 (sheesh!  I feel bad for not knowing that!).  She homeschools them, and when I met her, the boys were little bitty babies, and we were both nursing them and their next older sibling at the same time.  Ha - I thought I was the only "freak" around LOL!  Anyway, she also leads Weight Watchers meetings.  Her meeting on Wednesday is the "Mommy and Me" meeting, so when I don't have someone to watch the littles on Tuesdays, I think I'm going to be attending her meeting.  Oh - sorry, I forgot why I was talking about Sarah!  Well, she led the kids through the stations of the Cross, as well as a little time in Mary's grotto, and I got to tag along.  It was really neat to hear her teaching the kids about the power of prayer, as well as WHY we should pray.

As if that wasn't enough for one week, I spent my weekend in San Diego at the National PTA Convention!  We flew out Friday morning, and arrived in San Diego at 10:30 their time.  We tried to check into our hotel, but the room wasn't available until 3.  Not cool.  So, we checked our luggage, walked across the street to the trolley line, and took the trolley to Old Town.  We were SO hungry!  We ate lunch at a very mediocre Mexican restaurant, but we were so starving that it didn't matter lol!  We got back on the trolley - going the wrong way, per my misguided map skills, and got off *before* we wound up at the Mexican border...!  The rest of the weekend was full of workshops and meetings, which were great!  I met some amazing people there, and am totally hyped about my position as the VP of Membership at Madeline's school!  I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm hoping that at the July board meeting, it'll all be made clear.  Anyway, while we were there, we walked around Fashion Valley, which is a beautiful mall, wandered around Seaport Village, ate some fabulous seafood, and thoroughly enjoyed San Diego's great public transportation system and beautiful weather.  Of course, they were having a heat wave while we were there, but that was still not nearly as hot as I am used to!  Monday, we got to the airport 4 hours before our flight, assuming it was like the Memphis airport.  You know, check in, get through security, find some breakfast, and do a little shopping while we waited.  Yeah, no.  It seems that in San Diego, there are about 2 restaurans, and just a couple of shops in the secure area...  Ah well, I was able to get breakfast, lunch, and gifties for my kiddos while we waited.  Funny thing is that I looked at t-shirts all over the place, and they were all really high.  The ones I got at the airport were about half the price of everywhere else!  I still spent way too much money, but the kids really seem to like their shirts :)  I also came home with a boatload of stuf from the vendors at the conference.  Wendy, our PTA president told me to pack an extra bag, and it's a good thing I did!  We totally needed it!  A lot of the stuff is just brochures and other reading materials, but there were quite a few goodies there, too.  Since Audrey is at her dad's this week, I figured I would wait to give out that stuff until she gets home.  The other three have no idea what I brought home for them hee hee hee!!!

Well, I need to finish cooking lunch - cheese grits, Weight Watcher's Core plan style!  I'm having a bit of a time knowing what to eat, but I think once I get the hang of it, it's going to be fabulous!  Since only fat-free dairy is permitted, I made some more yogurt this morning.  I bought a gallon of skim milk, which I really don't like, and used half of it for yogurt, which I really DO like.  I was going to buy a half-gallon, but realized that it was only about 45 cents more to buy a gallon.  Hmmmmmm....  If I make yogurt with half of it, then I still come out waaaay ahead!  Plain, fat-free yogurt is around $2.50 for a quart, 1/2 gallon skim milk is $2.19.  I got a gallon of skim milk at Costco for around $2.65, so I guess I saved almost $4 doing it that way!

I'll be back in the next day or so with some pictures from my trip =D

How 'bout a little Noahawk?

Poor Noah has the thickest, most fabulous hair ever! But the poor little guy gets so hot, and those sweaty curls sticking to his head make me hot just looking at them! SO I determined that he really needed a haircut. I love the long, shaggy look in the cooler months, but I knew that it had to be short for this summer. Adron really seems to prefer that Noah's hair isn't terribly short, but I like him to look like a little boy, not some street urchin! At any rate, I took him to Dabbles in midtown for his new 'do, and I couldn't be more pleased! Those girls there are AMAZING! The last time I had Noah's hair cut there, Kayla did it, and I was totally amazed at how fast she managed to get him done. He didn't like it, but she was so quick, he hardly had time to complain. Yesterday, Mandy was his stylist, and I love her, too! I told her what I wanted, and was planning to take picutres while she worked, but Noah was totally freaking out. I wound up holding him while she cut, and another wonderful gal came over and talked to Noah in a Donald Duck voice, played games with him, and kept him not screaming while Mandy worked. There were several other people that came by and talked to Noah, too, and he seemed to be having a great time - other than the actual cutting part lol! Well, here is how he looked when she got done - I LOVE IT!!!

My incredibly gorgeous baby sister with her new haircut, too:






The duck is being held by the lady that played with Noah - I somehow managed to NOT catch her name! Ack!


I have been doing a few LOs, some of which I like, some I am just okay with. Here's one I did for the scraplift challenge at Snap & Scrap. The credits are HERE. I'm really happy with how this one turned out.



I guess that is about it for now - I'llbe back later with the recipe cards I have been working on :)

Noah is so stinkin' CUTE!

Well, I still haven't made a new LO for Max - I am really leaning towards a bright colored LO with lots of sunny energy, but haven't gotten the right groove yet... I do have a couple of new kits I have acquired recently that may fit the bill though!

In other news, Noah is rapidly approaching 2. Grrrr. That means lots of screaming fits, and let me tell you - he is LOUD!!!! He also is refusing to take much needed naps ever since he learned how to climb out of his crib. That is the beginning of the latest cute story ;o) You've heard the expression that is something to the effect of "I've forgotten more in my lifetime than you have learned in yours"? That is starting to really hit me because I know there is so much I have forgotten about the kids growing up. They have done so many cute and sweet things, and I don't remember most of them. Well, here's to hoping I remember this one!

So, I put Noah to bed the other night, and within a few minutes he was out of his crib, standing at his door crying. No, make that screaming. I have been letting him cry for a little while every time I put him to bed in the hopes that he will fall asleep. However, after 10 minutes of fussing off and on, I give up and retrieve him. This is so hard for me, as I HATE the idea of making a baby "cry it out". Anyway, I went up to get him the other night, and when I opened the door, he was so happy to see me. He looked up at me with tear-stained cheeks and a sweet little smile, and said "Mommy!" Of course, that melted my heart, but I had to be strong. {Yeah. Gotta show those babies tough love lol!} So I kinda looked at him funny, tried to be stern with him, but couldn't say anything with him looking so pitiful. I looked at him for a few seconds, he looked down, shifted his weight from foot to foot a couple of times, paused, then looked up at me, and with a sheepish smile, arms down by his sides, he turned his palms out and sweetly said "Tadah!" OMGoodness! I fell out laughing, scooped him up, gave him the biggest hug ever, and brought him back downstairs! I am so in love with that boy!

In other cute Noah news, Adron has been trying to get him to say "I love you". However, when he would ask him to say it, Noah would make kissy sounds. Sweet, right? Well, now, he still won't say "I love you", but he has started trying to sign it! Yummy cute, huh!

Ellie is rapidly approaching 4, thank goodness, and has become a much happier, less screamy little girl than I have seen for the past year or so. I love, love, LOVE 4!!! She is so smart and funny and full of herself right now! Madeline is dealing with 10, which is such an awkward, in-between age, but is just the sweetest kid ever. Audrey is certainly a teenager, and is full of all the appropriate attitude and angst, and it's hillarious. I keep thinking that some day all the kids will get along beautifully, and then I wake up lol! They really do get along great, and the amount of bickering and fighting I have to deal with is much less than I remember when I was growing up and fighting with my brothers and sisters. I feel so blessed to have the wonderful family God has deemed me worthy of, and I think Him for the gift of these precious little souls! I am totally humbled that He saw fit to allow me to have four amazing children, and I pray that I am able to be a good mother to them.

Ooooooh! I lost 2.2 lbs this week!!! WOOOHOOO!!! I haven't lost in about a month, and with as stressful as June is for me, I was just hoping to have gained no more than 1 lb. this week. Not only did I not gain, I lost a significant amount!!! This week, I am going to try to get back on track and journal my eating. Heck, I suppose I could do that here, huh? Ok, so that is my goal for this week. I'm also planning to try the Wendie plan. That should be interesting - it makes perfect sense to me, and I should see results next week if it works right. The next plan would be to switch over to the Core plan, which has worked incredibly well for my baby sister. But I'm not sure how well it would work using it to feed the family. We'll just have to wait and see what happens... I suppose I should also refigure my daily Points allowance, since being a nursing mom gives me a whole lot more points than I would otherwise have. I am still breastfeeding Noah, of course, but now that he is down to a couple times a day, I have a suspicion that my nutritional needs aren't quite as great. Then again, I did lose this week eating ay my nursing level of Points. I think I'll try the Wendie plan, and if it doesn't give the desired results, I can try dropping my Points and see how it goes. But that is a problem for a different day ;o)

In Memory of Max

This is one of the 2 hardest days of the year for me. Today, my sweet baby boy would have been 5. I can't believe how fast the years are going by, and I feel slightly guilty for letting myself move on most of the year. However, the entire month of June is a huge struggle for me. I forget things. Little things, big things, important things, not so important things. I am a total ditz the whole month - I never can seem to get it together.

Five years ago today, I gave birth to the most beautiful little redheaded baby boy. He was so gorgeous and so sweet. And I had no idea that anything was wrong with him. I am actually grateful for that, as I spent the few short days we had with him as a normal mom, not the mother of a child with problems. I thank God for blessing me with that amazingly precious gift, and for allowing me to have those 8 1/2 beautiful days with him. I was tired, stressed, and struggling with post partum depression, but it was all *normal*. No trips to the doctor, no tubes, no tests, just me and my baby, struggling to get a grasp on how things were going to work. I tried so hard to get him to nurse, but he never really did. It was cute seeing him drink out of little bitty juice glasses and 10cc syringes. When he cried, he sounded like a little tea kettle and that made me giggle. His hair was so soft and silky, and he smelled so good. His little cheeks were so round and squishable! His mouth was like a little rosebud, and I remember kissing him over and over. Oh, I am glad I got to hold him and look into those deep blue eyes and wonder about the gorgeous little soul I saw in them. I hoped that he would have brown eyes, that he would play baseball with his daddy. I had to get my drivers license renewed because we moved shortly before he was born, and he sat in my lap when they took the picture. I had a ball making little bitty diapers for him, and loved that he got to wear them a few times. I made a cover for his moses basket that had little cars and trucks all over it - a nice change from all the girly stuff I had been looking at for the previous 8 years.

I don't know. My head is just a whirl of thoughts, and the saddest part to me today is that I feel like no one remembers. Madeline didn't even know until I said something on the way to cheer practice tonight. Adron knows, and I know other people do, too, but I feel like he has been forgotten. I knew it would happen, and last year was the same way, but it still sucks. He is still such a major part of my life, and I hate feeling like there is something wrong with that.

I made this LO of him last year on his birthday, but haven't been able to put together one that I like today. Maybe I'll get it done tomorrow, but I'm not really sure I even care at this point.

It's been quite a busy few days here.  It seems like that is the norm, but I suppose that is a good thing.  Madeline's team won 2nd place at state, sending us to nationals in July, Audrey came home with us, and we are enjoying her being here, and I've just been playing catch up on the laundry, cooking, and cleaning.

It seems that there is a PTA meeting tonight, but not only do I have no idea what time it is, I'm not too sure where it is LOLOLOL!  Thankfully, one of the girls on the board also goes to the same Weight Watchers meeting I attend.  She told me about the meeting and emailed me what little she knows about where it is - I just hope I can get ahold of her in time to find out when I am supposed to be there!  Ah well, nothing like going into this with no clue about what is going on, right?  I mean, my term starts next month and I am totally lost on what I am supposed to be doing... EEEKKKK!!!!

As for Weight Watchers, I did a good job of eating right last week, but I didn't lose anything.  At least I didn't gain, like MY scales said I did!  It's frustrating to do the right thing and get nowhere.  I really want to try the Core plan, but just can't afford to modify my grocery list to fit.  Not that Core has to be expensive, just that lean meats are twice the cost of fattier cuts, and we don't eat a whole lot of veggies right now.  I dunno.  Something has to give 'cause I am not going to keep paying good money to gain weight or stay the same!!!

Bootz (who I think is the only person reading my ramblings lol!)  came over last night to do some laundry, and she was asking for some of my dinner recipes.  I haven't put many of those on cards yet, but I'm working on it.  It was so awesome spending time with her!  She has been dating my brother for about a year and a half now, and I just love her to pieces!  She would make a great sister in law - she's fun, spunky, gorgeous, sassy, smart, and, most importantly, a devout Christian.  She is so young and full of a passion for life!  It is downright contagious, and she inspires me to try to be a better person!!!  Steph - I LOVE YOU!!!!  Thank you so much for being such a special part of my life, for being best friends with my sister, for loving my obnoxious sweet brother, for spoiling my kids, and for providing a great home for "the cat"! Just thinking about you makes me smile!

I've done a few LOs in the past couple of days, but haven't had time to upload them to photobucket yet.  I'll try to get that done when I get home tonight.  I was working on a LO for a challenge over at Snap & Scrap, but PSP decided to lock up on me. I'm really liking how this one is turning out though. I haven't been terribly pleased with my LOs recently. I feel like I have lost my scrappin' mojo LOL! Nothing seems to flow, even though I love the kits and pictures I've been working with. Must be a case of the Junes hitting me...

Off to the meeting!

TAG! I'm it!

Leave your name in the comments and...

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
4. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
5. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
6. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
7. If you play, you MUST post this on your blog.

Well, okay, I might not be able to come up with all of that, but, hey, Bootz said to do it, so I'm doing it!

Unfortunately, I have nobody to tag... LOL!