To my MOM

Dear Mom,
I wish we lived closer in miles. However, I'm very fortunate that you're only 2.5 hours away. Some of my friends live five states away from their mothers. But, this is my story and my note. We are in each other's lives, regardless of the travel distance. There is so much to thank you for. This post would be the longest post ever if I thanked you for everything you've ever done for me. So, I will narrow my thankfulness down to the most important.

Thank you for loving Jesus. It is because of your love for Jesus that makes me the most thankful. You shared Jesus with me through your actions and in your words. You were gentle and kind to me through my childhood and adolescence, even though I often treated you with little respect. And today, you are still sharing the love of Christ towards me. I see you interact with my children and it makes me happy that they know their "Gami" loves the same God they are taught about. The image that stands out most about you in my mind is that of you at the kitchen table reading your Bible, eating a crunchy peanut butter sandwich, drinking a Diet Coke. I smile thinking of it now. I love you!

My children love talking to you on the phone. They pray for you every night before bed and ask about you often throughout each week. Oh, how I wish that you could live next door so we could be a part of each other's everyday lives. I'd love to have you over for dinner often so you could taste how my cookin' has improved (Ha! Can you believe that?!). I think it's funny that you sometimes ask me for a recipe - that's hilarious! You will always make the BEST chicken and rice!

I know that I've just recently learned more about you...and I love you for sharing your heart with me. I see you no differently. You are my mom....how could I? You have always loved me unconditionally. Please know that my love for you is also unconditional (well, as best as a sinner can love another sinner).

When I think of you, Mom, various images and smells come to mind, such as....

red nail polish
dial soap
chicken and rice (Not that you smell
like that! Just that you cook a mean dish!)
piano
pantyhose
comb
Rave hairspray
zipper robe
southern gospel music
church
Mississippi
alto voice
furry Bible
fastest typer in the world
organized (files and folders everywhere!)
Thunderbird
teasing
dozing in chair
tickling my babies
laugh
Jesus

Well, I'm crying now and it's 1:45 a.m. Mom, I love you with all my heart.

You're the best mom in the world. Happy Mother's Day.

The house two doors down is for sale. Wanna come up and take a lookie?

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

As I mentioned before, we participated in the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive this past Saturday, sponsored by the United States Postal Service. The kids really enjoyed packing the bag with cans, boxes, and other goodies.


Luke got so excited about the task that he decided to build a tower with his chosen items.


We set the bag by the mailbox but kept a close watch out the window for Mr. Joe, our mail carrier. When Andrew spotted Mr. Joe's truck, he yelled, "The mailman is here! The mailman is here!". So we all ran outside to meet the mailman at the box. Mr. Joe is such a sweet man. I can tell he knows Jesus. You know....there is always that obvious hint when you meet someone that they have a certain joy about life that can only come from Christ. Mr. Joe jumped out of his seat to put the heavy bag into his truck and then gave my boys a hug. He even took the time to pose with them for this picture.

I think that I'm going to encourage the boys to begin celebrating "Mr. Joe Day" each month so Mr. Joe will know how much we appreciate him. Maybe we'll stick a treat in the box for him each week or so.

I walked away from the mailbox feeling happy that we had not only given away food to hungry families but that we had made a new friend who we can see working hard everyday in our neighborhood.

More free ice cream

TCBY will give a small cone or cup of frozen yogurt to moms on Sunday, May 11 (Mother's Day). The same freebie to fathers on Sunday, June 15 (Father's Day). Yummy!

"Stamp Out Hunger" Saturday, May 10

I'm planning to participate in Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive this Saturday, May 10. This is an annual community effort sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service in hopes of providing free food to those who struggle to purchase groceries. All YOU have to do is collect non-perishable items and place them in a bag. Set the bag outside next to your mailbox for the mail carrier to pick up when he delievers your mail. Easy as pie. So, start collecting now!

Suggested items include canned meat, canned soup, canned vegetables, juice, rice, cereal, rice and pasta. Please don't include any expired items or items in glass containers.

Will you join me in donating some of your non-perishable food items this Saturday? If so, I'd love to hear your story of how you chose what you collected, if you involved your kids, and see pictures if you took some. Check back to see the pictures I plan on uploading (if I can remember).

Click here for more detailed information regarding this event.

Lookie-Loo

Today after school, Andrew and I made his "Lookie-Loo". I got this idea from Ten Ten and thought we'd make one ourselves. Last night before bed, we colored our rice and then set it out to dry while we snoozed. Andrew and I collected random small items from around the house to drop into our the bottle with the rice. He shook it up and went on a hunt as I challenged him to find the small items inside the bottle. Andrew thinks it's so cool!


To color the rice: Pour rice into a Ziploc bag. Add two tablespoons of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring. Shake bag until all the rice is colored. Lay the rice out to dry for a few hours (or overnight, in our case).



When you pour the rice into the dry water bottle, make sure you leave plenty of room near the top so the rice can move around when searching for the hidden items.


It might be a good idea to attach a small list to the side of the bottle to remind you of what's hidden inside but I'm hoping I can remember since I'm sure the list will most likely be torn off by little hands.


Some of our items included:
blue safety pin
gem clip
silver & gold buttons
feather
golf tee
2 sequins
bean/pea
eraser top
silver twist tie
green Ninja man
2 shells
penny
screw
nail
2 beads
2 foam squares
gold brad

I think this toy will be fun to take on long road trips! And....don't worry....the cap is super-glued on.

Free photo reminder

Today, Wednesday, is the last day to get your free 8x10 at Walgreens! Just upload your picture to www.Walgreens.com and enter the code, 4MOM, upon checkout. Pick it up at the location of your choice. This would be a great mother's day gift if you can manage to wrangle all your kids together at one time and then wrestle to keep them still, facing the camera. Believe me....I tried.

Video of Abigail in tunnel

Abigail loves to play in the tunnel...especially with Mom and Dad.

Ten months old

Abigail is ten months old today!

Here are ten fun facts about Abigail:

1. She is now walking alone with her push toy.
2. Her weight is 17 lbs.

3. She can say "DA DA" on command
4. She will answer the question, "What does the puppy say?" with "Ruff-Ruff".
5. She can wave "hey" and "goodbye"
6. She loves her brothers and looks for them upon waking from her nap.
7. She squeals in delight at the sight of her daddy.
8. She loves her new frog plush.
9. She grooves to the beat of any song by shaking her head & bopping her torso.
10. Her favorite place to be is on Mom's hip.

Apple Tree Craft

It was HOT outside this past Friday afternoon! I mean, strip-down-and-get-naked kind of hot! For us, this means it's time to get outside and enjoy the sunshine! Thanks to Chrissy at ToddleBits, I decided to follow her lead and do this craft with my boys.

I made a tree trunk and then cut an apple in half so the boys could use them to paint/stamp the leaves. It was their idea to add the red spots to the tree, to represent the apple. Andrew wanted to know where Adam and Eve were. Too funny! Abigail enjoyed watching from her chair under the shade tree.

I think I made the majority of this project since both boys complained the entire way through about how hot it was. You can tell the differences between where the boys painted and where I added my touch. Note to self: Find sunglasses for each kid before positioning them in the direct line of the sun during craft or any outside activity.

Redbox code

Thank you, Kendra, for these
May RedBox codes!

HIGHLIFE
MAYDAY
DVDONME
BREAKROOM
LOUZOO
NOFOOL
ICI7PFI
R7234H
REDBOX
F7QSBTW
HYVEE

*Smile*

These pictures make me smile. I love to see my children having fun.

How do you "feed"?

Thanks to Bethany on her recent post about RSS. I've been meaning to post something about this, too, but just never got around to it....so, I'll let Bethany's words speak for me.

"For those who are wondering what in the world an RSS feed is, here's a quick explanation: If you like staying up-to-date on several blogs, but want to save time, you can subscribe to a "feed," or content subscription. Your feeds will be complied into the reader of your choice, such as Google Reader or Bloglines. The result is that you're able to check all of your feeds from one central location, rather than having to drop by each blog to check for updates. For a more technical explanation of feeds, visit What Is RSS?"

I use Bloglines as my reader and I love it! I used to spend so much time bookmarking and clicking on indivdual's blog that I would get tired and would miss updates. Bloglines has saved me so much time! If you're interested, you can click here to investigate Bloglines or click on the small icon on the right hand side of this blog.

Revolution Money Exchange

I'm sure some of you have heard of Paypal and might even use it often when purchasing items over the Internet. Paypal has been good to me except I've always hated that I had to pay a small fee to receive moneies for something I sold. Well, I just heard of another company that works the exact same way but DOESN'T charge you to receive money. It's called Revolution Money Exchange. Until May 15, you can sign up for a free account and they'll automatically credit you $25 just for registering! For every referral that I get (just click on the green RME button above) I'll get $10. I'll remind you again late next week, before the deadline. I can't wait to start using this free service!

Feet

I love it when Andrew seeks me out to sit in my lap. He said, "Mama, take a picture of our feet together!". His toes are far cuter than mine, even though he says my feet are pretty because they have paint on them.

Yeah, I blurred the picture edges on purpose....nobody likes to look at dry cracked heels! HA!

Nest investigation + new book

Every spring, we find one or two nests around our house, in the yard, in a tree, and sometimes on our front door. We've been keeping our distance from the pictured nest for the past two weeks as it sat in a large bush outside our dining room window. The boys would spot the mother bird flying back and forth with food and they thought it was neat that she got so close to us as we [only] used our eyes to investigate her babies. We have noticed that there is no more life or sounds coming from this nest and felt it had been abandoned. We removed the nest from the bush today to look at all the items the mother bird used to form this "home". Do you see the straw wrapper? We also found some strings, dryer lint, and random colored fabric pieces.

I received the book, The Creative Family, today. I ordered it on Amazon but there were a few used copies for sale on Ebay. What a book! Amazing! I have already flipped through it and fallen in love with the author's (Amanda) ideas and activities. Amanda Soule also maintains a blog that I am addicted to. She takes pictures of her kids making and enjoying her published activities and writes words that make you feel like you're in her home at the dinner table, kneading the bread with her. You can check her out here.

Free 8x10 @ Walgreens, May 5-7

Thanks to Heather at Freebies for Mom, start taking pictures NOW to get a free 8x10 photo from Walgreens anytime between Monday, May 5 - Wednesday, May 7, with coupon code 4MOM. All you have to do is go to the Walgreens website, upload your photo and place your order on any of the three days the offer is valid. Then pick up your free photo at the store whenever you get the chance. Simple as that!

School is out...for....summer!

Well, school is actually in session for three more weeks for my little chick-a-dees BUT the local university is finished with their spring semester. What does this mean for our family and church? We will be losing these college students for about three months until they return in the fall to begin another year of classes. These guys and gals are all music students at Columbus State University's Schwab School of Music. They all play the violin or viola, with the exception of the one brass player (trumpet). This also means that our music at church during the worship hour will change. We've fallen in love with the sweet sound of these stringed instruments. Hurry back, y'all!

More codes

Here are more Redbox codes. Write them down as I'm not sure of their expiration date.

MAYDAY

TAXES

In only a matter of minutes

This was Luke at 4:32 p.m.


This was Luke at 4:36 p.m.



Luke has a stubborn streak. I sometimes wonder if I contributed to it due to him being the second child and possibly not being quite as strict with him as with Andrew. Again...I wonder.

One minute Luke wants "this" shirt on so I put it on him. The next minute he's ripping it off in extreme anger because he DOESN'T want it on. Huh? He wants to do EVERYTHING himself so if I even remotely touch his shoes, the door, his clothes, the tissue roll, (etc, etc) to give him a start, he screams and demands he do it himself. This is especially draining and frustrating on Sunday mornings when I prepare the kids for church by myself and, usually running late (arrrrgh, I hate being late), he wants to buckle his own car seat straps. Luke even fights me on putting his shoes on the correct feet. When I say to him, "Sweetie, your shoes are on the wrong feet. Do you want to switch them yourself?", he shrugs and turns away, as if I never spoke. Totally ignoring me. He enjoys wearing his shoes on the opposite feet simply because (and I honestly think this) I suggested he switch them.

Now, I am ALL about letting my children be independent of my help. I love that Andrew can dress himself and that both boys can go to the bathroom without my help. I pray that I can encourage them to tackle tasks alone and be motivated to try new things without Mommy by their side. What I'm struggling with is my own frustration with my child who, sometimes, cannot be satisfied.

This all just affirms how deeply fallen my child is. A post-it note must be hanging on my heart today; a reminder that I'm a parent who is a sinner, parenting a child who is a sinner. A reminder that I'm to glorify God in my dealings with Luke. No matter how hot my blood boils regarding the tantrums from my two year old, I'm no more satisfied in my own daily wants. Don't you know that I can throw a tantrum, too?

Watch out!

Ladybug hunting

Andrew and Luke love hunting for roly polys and ladybugs. It's especially sweet to see them hunting together without arguing.