Stars in heaven

EDIT: I found this image and think it perfectly describes what I'm talking about in this post...




I've been thinking a lot about people who have passed away lately.

Some courageously battled diseases or cancer or surgery and fought until the end. And some lived a good life and were ready. And some were such a surprise to us, completely out of the blue. And for all of us left behind, we are shocked and sad. We don't know what to say. And our hearts have a hole. And we cry as we remember their lives. And we know that they are in a better place. It's us, those who are left behind, not them, who feel the pain.

A quote I heard lately and liked is from C.S. Lewis. What saves a man, is to take a step, and then another step. These friends lost their mother, sister, grandpa, father, childhood friend. And everyday, other things happen- aneurism, illnesses, divorce, sadness. There can be so much to feel sad about. But life keeps moving.

At night, when I look in the sky, I am always reminded of these people who are no longer with us. They are the stars that are so lovely here in the country. Some are brighter than others. Some are bigger. I think every star is someone who has left us and is shining up in heaven. Watching us keep moving.

I pray for comfort for those friends who have a hole in their heart. They always will. My hope is they can find joy and happiness in this world of ours. And live in expectation of what's to come.

chickie pics

Just wanted to put up a couple cute iphone pics....
One is what I love about Henley- totally girly, wanting to wear a tutu and a teeny blonde (??? where in the world did that girl get blonde hair??) ponytail digging in the dirt and putting rocks and sticks in her pocket. And by pocket, I mean the gap at the top of her diaper.

My chubby Mia- goodness, I always wanted a chubby baby and she is one. Her little thighs are my fave. She's actually over 100% in height so she's not little. She's such a sweet one- rolling around on the bed and singing.

Me and the Meems. I wish she would cuddle up and sleep with me like this but she is a roller when she's sleepy, just like Hen. And that is NOT fun to be in the bed with.

And my faves are these of two girls having fun together. I love that Henley likes to make Mia laugh and wakes up asking "Mia, up?" And Mia ADORES Henley, like even more than she likes her mother. She watches her every move. I love that they'll always have each other to play with, and share clothes with... and fight with. ;)



He=

counting my blessings

I think I figured out a few reasons why I feel like writing on my blog.

1. This whole staying at home and talking just to my kids 95% of the time leaves me having LOTS of little conversations in my head. Or I go to Wal-mart or the playground and talk a little tooo much (aka, I'm the psycho-starved-for-conversation mom) to complete strangers. Better to type them to no one than have them with random people.

2. My poor sister has to remind me to send a text with pics of the chickies- she's dying to see what's up with them and what kind of crazy notions they get into.

3. I like to document my little projects I work on at naptime or after bedtime.

There. And if no one is reading, it's ok. Just for me. And my sanity.

Here's a little naptime project from yesterday. I needed a little visual reminder right in front of my sink. Sometimes, I'm washing bottles and cleaning up from dinner and I get to staring out the window, having a huge grouch-fest in my brain.
"Why am I the only one around here who washes the bottles?"
"If I load the dishwasher, couldn't someone else unload it?"
"Why can't Mia drink 3 10 ounce bottles instead of 6 5 ounce bottles?"

And on and on. Some days I'm in a good mood- husband brought me gorgeous pink roses, potty training went great all day, scored some cool finds for 10 bucks-and the grouching isn't so bad.

AND come on- I'm a stay at home mom! I live in a comfy house near family and friends! I had a delish dinner! My babies are in their beds, safe and happy and healthy with full bellies to sleep a good night's sleep. My life is so wonderful. But those dishes just get me.

This is what I made to help me remember. I finally bought some vinyl to play with on my Silhouette. Oh, how much fun it is! Basically, I'm just learning the ropes right now. This was going to be on a plate but I messed up the actual vinyl letters and decided to use the surrounding vinyl as a stencil.

Basically, 3 steps.
1. Stuck the vinyl to the window. Smoothed out as much air as possible. [NOTE: I am in no way a perfectionist. I am a get-it-done kind of girl. My projects do reflect this quality of myself. I realize this and move on. Hope you can, too.] I also had to stick on the circles and ovals in the O, B, E and G.


















2. Painted with yellow acrylic paint over the stencil. I did two layers.


















3. Peeled off the vinyl. I freaked a little because paint seeped under the vinyl and it looked a mess, but by using a toothpick, I was able to scape it off really easily. I cleaned it up and was left with this.



















I like it because it will remind me how blessed I am and to quit griping in my head about the stinkin' (literally) bottles. And when I get sick of it, it will easily scrape off. Love. I plan to put one on the bathroom mirrors too. And yes, it is backward when you look at the window from outside. I don't care. I'm such a rebel. ;)

chickie update

Lately, I can just sit and watch Mia in amazement. All of a sudden, she's cruising around the room- crawling like an expert. She gets wherever she wants so fast and is getting into everything Henley leaves laying around. Goldfish, sippy cups, toys. I have to watch her super close!

She wakes up every morning so early (now that I get to sleep late- I do!!!- we don't roll out of bed until 7:30 or 8) and just plays around in her bed, laughing and talking it up. Not sure where she got her "early bird" tendencies but I love looking over to her crib from my pillow and seeing this sweet baby peeking over the edge with a huge grin first thing in the morning.

In the last week, she went from one tooth to two, from scooting around but not quite crawling to a full out crawl, and is able to push into a sitting position and is so strong and sturdy. She takes baths without her Bumbo and is just otherwise, growing up waaaay too fast!! I love that little sunshine girl. So happy and curious.

And Henley is doing wonderful too- such a sweet girl. Last night, she and I ate some M&Ms for a snack before bed. David asked her for one and she gave him one after another until she only had one left for herself. She then gave him that one too, and our hearts just melted with the sweet sharing. (By the way, he gave them all back and she gobbled them up so fast, probably so her parents wouldn't do any more experiments on her with her candy!!)

She is just totally into Dora and Kailan right now- she thinks Kailan's "cute little monkey, HoHo" is just the most adorable. She crinkles up her eyes when you ask her about him. And as we drive around town, she sings the ABC song, Jingle Bells and the Down, Down song. She'll look at Mia and say "Silly Mia" or "Mia nap" or "Mia awake" which is helpful since I can't see her.



She loves having something to look forward to so every night, I'll tell her something we'll do the next day. And wouldn't you know, I'll walk in, and "feed ducks?" or "PawPaw's ranch" or "blue slide". What a smart girl she is.

I am just blessed beyond words to be getting to stay home with them this year. We take it so easy, enjoying waffles for breakfast and playing at the playground in the middle of the morning and going to the library for a big outing. It's wonderful and I love watching them grow up.

9/11/11

Well, another weekend is almost over. On everyone's mind right now is the remembrance of what happened 10 years ago today. and i want to share where I was that day. (for my sake- my memory is just so terrible that I don't trust it at all.)
I was a jr at ACU and walked into Mrs. Holman's (??) class about elementary reading methods and rumors were going around that America had been attacked. And since no one could even imagine the depth of the horror that was to come in the next half hour, she said a comforting prayer and had a quick class that released much earlier than normal. We all left and headed to the student center where we were met with crowds gathered around TV stations set to CNN and Fox News with images of planes crashing, smoke billowing, people in a panic, and a general disbelief about it all. it was so huge that you couldn't even really comprehend what was going on. We went to chapel at 11 and just prayed for anyone involved. Details were so sketchy for all of us at this little college in West Texas and we didn't get it or rather, couldn't get it. I went to our apartment and Lauren and I wept as we watched the news nonstop. I was so anxious and upset. The devastation was just gigantic and I was unsure of how our country would react, or what was next. As the country shut down air space and the stock market stopped and America came to a halt for safety reasons, I saw firemen and policemen and everyday heroes helping little old ladies and kids and grown men. It was terrible and amazing at the same time. People holding on to strangers. It was so beautiful, the huge, open, helping hearts of strangers. Many more details came. The Pentagon and PA flight information, the new security measures, the sad news of missing people who never were found. America changed 10 years ago today. Our nation stands tall, blessed immeasureably, in spite of the actions of a few, remembering those lost and cherishing those we have with us. Thank you Lord for what I have and what you have given me.

coast trip 2011

Well- since it seems I only update the ole blog after the annual trip to the coast, I'll continue with tradition.

This time our party of 3 had a new member: Miss Mia Ruth, who was the best 6 month old you could ask for at the beach. She did a lot of sleeping and got a peek of sunburn on her baby cheeks (I did my very best!!!) and seemed to enjoy the beach. And Henley LOVED the sand and playing in the water and chasing seagulls. She would have burned up because she wanted to be in the sun sooo much. At least we had plenty of food to keep her under the canopy.

Right as we were packing up, a gust of wind lifted the huge canopy up, and hooked under Hen's chair and picked her and the chair up. David ran to grab them before they were airborne and the canopy unhooked from them and whopped him in the ear as it made it's mad dash toward the truck. Luckily I grabbed a pole as it flew by and it stopped 3 inches from the truck. Unfortunately, it ripped half of David's earlobe off. What a lot of blood. No, that's not true. Not even a scratch. Would have been quite a story though, huh?


Highlights of the trip:
*whenever we saw a mermaid in shops or signs, Hen would point to it and call it a Naked Susan * we ate delicious meals at Beach and Station Street, again. Mine: crab stuffed shrimp (twice), David: Grouper Pontchartrain and Stuffed Flounder
*forgot a pack-n-play so Henley slept in a big bed for the first time!
*Sleeping choices were (1) sleep with Mia and wake up at 3 for a bottle, at 6 for a bottle and then up for good at 7 or (2) sleep with Henley and get kicked in the head and calves and knees all night, have her feet in your face as she sleeps perpendicular to you and save her from sliding out of bed but not actually "waking up". David and I traded off.
*Mamie and Pop were a huge help- Pop took Henley swimming at the local pool in regular clothes and Mamie was the only one who could get Mia to sleep sometimes. We got to go on 2 dates sans kiddos- breakfast and dinner!!
*All at once: watching my husband fish, a girl chasing shadows with her grandma, my dad reading a magazine, and me holding a sleeping girl soaking in the blue sky and aqua waves. God is good.

It was a wonderful trip. Usually, I'm worrying and soaking in every second since August at the coast signifies the end of summer and back to school. I'm so excited to begin this year of being with the girls. Routines will help; with sleep schedules, WEIGHT LOSS and happy girls (yours truly included). Excited. Grateful. Blessed.

Whoa. Almost a year since my last post. I had kinda suspected I wouldn't be a very good during-the-school-year blogger and I was right. But good news- I'm going to stay home next year, wooooohoooo!! and so my blog might see a little more action than it has lately.

Major change since last summer, the addition of one totally precious little lady, miss Mia, to our family. She is now 5 months old and while it was a bit rocky at first (including a hospital stay complete with spinal taps and catheters at the teeny age of 5 weeks!!) we are adjusting quite well and feeling pretty darn happy as a family of 4.

Actually, as I look at the last post about the coast, I remember I was pregnant and feeling it! My posting about chocolate, turkey and sweet tea should have had kettle chips, doritos, grapes, m&ms, doughnuts, breakfast tacos and french fries added to the list. That was during the day. Then it would wind down into the evening and nothing could make it to my stomach. David would get Grouper Pontchartrain (oh, we love you Beach and Station Street) and I would get noodles with butter sauce. Or chicken strip salad and just eat the lettuce. Poor Mia enjoyed deliciousness for the first 6 months and the last 3 were diabetic torture.Nothing yummy (tortillas, cereal, milk, bread, chocolate, candy, soda) was allowed. Blood checked 4 times a day and dr visits weekly. Bah. Went quickly. And you know- I felt better. But no wonder she was such a grouch for the first few months!

Anyway, going to try to get a bit better at updating my blog. I said TRY, dang it. Don't hold me to it. Two little chickies make it easier said than done.