Friday Five Faves - vol. 8

I've been mentally trying to keep track all week of things for my 5 Faves post and I'm hoping, after some hot, sunny weather than my brain isn't totally fried.

Not that I don't love the sunny, warm weather, but when you can feel sweat dripping down your back after 5 minutes of being in the car, that's a bit warm for me.

Without further excuses related to my imaginary sun-stroke, here we go:

1) This week Zoe and I were going to cuddle and watch a Little Einsteins movie before bed. We had our popcorn, our blankies and were ready to go. She pulled out the movie and I asked, "this one is the one you want?"

Her response, "yeah babe!"

Apparently she's a little Emeril.

2) School programs. Last night was my nephew's spring program. They are usually some type of musical and this one was titled, "Holy Moses!" There are some speaking parts, some solos and lots of music. Last night it used a Trading Spaces theme. My oldest nephew, MJ had a roll as Ty Kwando the local handyman.

My middle nephew T-Dog had a solo. I am not too ashamed to admit, watching those boys up there, saying their lines and performing a solo made me a little teary. I couldn't be more proud of those boys.

Not to forget Con-Man. He's my youngest nephew and the preschoolers were not a part of this production. Instead he played with Zoe. I don't know what it is, but he can make her belly laugh just by saying her name. He's an excellent older cousin.

3) Children's Birthday parties. The Saturday before Father's Day we are doing a joint birthday party for D & E. They, along with 8 of their friends, will be rollerskating. All my neurotic party-planning is coming out again. I ordered a rollerskating cake, have disco-ball keychains/laces/rope licorice for the goodie bags and we are creating the invites this weekend.

My head is completely swirling with all sorts of fun to be had.

4) The little things. This week I had an employee meeting to conduct. Once a month I present the retirement benefits of our client to the new employees. It's the part of my job that I adore. This client is awesome. The people they hire are always interactive, fun and kind. I look forward to this meeting every month.

This last meeting totally took the cake. A woman, in her 50's sat at the "U" shaped table and began picking her nose. We're talking full-on digging for gold.

It did make me a little sick, but I was 100% glad that I was at the front of the room and not sitting next to her!

5) God's provisions. This one should probably be listed first, but just because it's #5 doesn't mean it's less important.

I've mentioned that our church is going through a transition. For the last several months it has felt like we were very stagnant. In the last couple weeks some decisions have been made that have set us on a course.

Like any major changes, some people agree and some people do not. For the first time in about a year I can feel God's hand guiding our church. That's not to say that there aren't still rough waters to wade through, but I'm glad we're on a course to take us through those waters, to be refined, to be shone His plan.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend full of Sonshine.

Toddler Water Aerobics

Now that we have grass, a slide and a water table, the backyard is Zoe's favorite place to be. We used to cuddle for about 15 minutes after her nap, just sitting and watching some cartoon, waking up slowly.

Now when I go in to wake her up, she says, "oh hi Mom. Outside?"

The post-nap cuddles have all but stopped. They have made way for a different kind of bonding.

Time for playing outside and in the pool.

It's nothing huge, just big enough for both Kate and I to sit in. Actually we don't sit. We stand in it, splash water outside of it and kick.

It's like toddler-water aerobics.

Here's my instructor. Isn't she precious?

Here's my view of the class? She seems less than impressed with my abilities.

I'm not entirely sure what she expects. I've got to do the aerobics and photograph the session for her scrapbook.

Our own Tooth Fairy

Two weeks ago N's Grammy (also known as G.G. to our girls) had to have two teeth pulled. Teeth issues in the family cause lots of pain and problems. N's mom had to have a root canal about a month ago. The result was a bruise the size of her cheek. It actually looked like she got hit in the face with a frying pan.

When we heard that G.G. would have to get two teeth pulled, Zoe and I decided to make her a get-well basket.

I found a tooth cookie cutter. By found I mean I went to a specialty cake store in hopes they would have one.

Then Zoe and I made teeth cookies. After all, G.G. lost a couple and we thought she could use some new ones.

Here's the little baker in action. Check out her mad Karate Kid skills with the cutting.

Then you smash down the cutter to get a good shape.

She's actually doing stars because all that force with a metal cookie cutter was a little dangerous.

When you bake with a 2 year old, be prepared for them to turn into a flour monster. I actually think she grabbed flour out of the tin and patted it on herself for effect.

Then the frosting. I'm not actually sure the cookies were dry, 4 days after we frosted them. Zoe is a very generous froster.

We really hope G.G. likes her tooth cookies. We promise they won't have to be pulled!

It's like an extra 150 square feet of awesome

This weekend N and I were determined to get the last of the BIG yardwork done. With the extra day off, we knew we would have more time to recover after all the work. I won't even comment on a 30-something needing an extra day to recover because that would make me feel old.

Here is the before picture. It was Zoe's little piece of Heaven. Lots of dirt to shovel and make mud with.

Little did she know it would be so much cooler. We laid sod, got rid of the concrete edging and left a little area for a strawberry/pumpkin patch.

And we assembled a slide. Which totally made up for all the lost dirt.

The best part...she LOVES to slide. She will play outside rather than being a drill sergeant about pulling weeds and doing actual work.

If that's not my little Heaven on earth, I'm not sure what is.

Friday Five Faves - vol. 7

It's Memorial Day weekend and I have yet to do a Five Faves post in May. Apparently I've fallen off the wagon. I wish I had some really great reason like I was helping create world peace or at the half yearly sale at Nordstrom, but I don't.

Never fear, I'm back on it and ready to roll.

1) Lilac bushes. One side of our house will never have neighbors. There is a natural drain area that is gorgeously green there. Because that is the first side of our house that you see when you enter our neighborhood, we thought we would add some color to that side of the house. I love lilac bushes. They are beautiful and smell great. They are N's favorite. We've decided to line that side of the house with lilac bushes. The first of which will be planted this weekend.

2) Sugar cookies. This week Zoe and I made some. Her favorite part was dumping, not sprinkling, the flour onto the counter. She was a floured mess by the time we were done. She LOVED it. They are delicious!

3) Zoe's new slide. We got her a small slide, with a tree house on top. Although I'm not positive it's actually a tree house because, well, it's not actually in a tree. It has a parascope that we can spy on people with. It's still in the box in the garage, but everytime she passes it she yells "SLIDE!" I hope it's as big a hit when it's assembled.

4) Bowling. Zoe and I have had the opportunity to go bowling twice in the last two weeks. On Wednesday I got my game back. Instead of getting only 2 pins per frame, I ended up over 100 for the game. I'm still better on the Wii, but I did beat my toddler. Although Zoe did beat her grandma. I still see a bowling league in Zoe's future.

5) Our troops. Having been a former Air Force wife, I know the sacrifices families of the military make. On this weekend it is a reminder to me of what the price is for our freedom. Thank you to all our troops and their families for their time and sacrifice. Because of you I can worship the God I love openly, speak what is on my mind and have a life that many people in the world will never experience.

Happy Memorial Day all!

Tinkle, Tinkle Little Star, Part Deux

For the last couple weeks or so, when I would take Zoe's diaper off before a bath, she'd pee on me. I got the genius idea before her last bath to take her diaper off and put her on her potty chair.

Don't ask why it took a couple weeks for me to get this genius idea. I'm going to chalk it up to lack of sleep and too many hours of CSI: Miami that I must catch up on.

Prior to this, she didn't like to sit on the potty chair without her diaper. We started singing Tinkle, Tinkle Little Star and she started to sway her head from side to side, totally forgetting she was sitting on the potty like a big girl.

She was sitting there, then she stood up. As she did that she gave me the look of "mom, something feels like it's coming." I told her to sit back down and we sang our song.

As she was swaying her head, she tinkled. On the potty.

She was totally confused as to why I was so excited and jumping up and down and kissing her face. All big girls use a potty, duh!

It was an exciting night in our house.

Time to make a sticker chart! :)

It's a big week for him

On this day in 1998 I was on my way home from the hospital all googly eyed. I didn't want to leave, I wanted to stay there with my sister, brother-in-law and new nephew. I had just gotten home from college two weeks prior to his birth. I like to think he waited just for me!

For the next three months, I spent an insane amount of time cuddling and loving MJ. I think I went a little overboard buying him clothes and toys and snapping his picture. My sister was totally gracious in letting me take an active part in as an aunt to her boys. Because of that, they hold a special place in my heart.

Now that he's 11, the time cuddling and loving on him have stalled. It's not cool for a hockey player have his aunt come up and love on him. I totally ruin his game.

If turning 11 wasn't the coolest part of the week, MJ made the news last night. The principal at his school bet the kids that if they raised $10,000 for the school, she would spend 24 hours on the roof. They raised $17,000 and she's spending the night on the roof.

The news interviewed MJ. He "hoped that it rained and that she didn't fall off."

Just for that, I think he needs 11 spankin's today.

Happy birthday MJ. I've loved you from the first moment I knew you'd be in our lives. My heart got a little bit bigger when you came into it. It seems like just yesterday I was holding you at church on that first Sunday, just watching you sleep. I love watching you play hockey and hit on the girls at school. You are growing up so fast. It is an honor to be in your life, to watch you grow into who God wants you to be. I am so blessed to be your aunt.

MJ's on the right.

Home

This is the first summer we've been in a house. For the better part of our marriage we haven't been settled. We started off in an apartment, then moved into our first house, only to leave it 6 months later. Then we lived with my mom, who graciously opened her house to us.

In nearly 4 years of marriage, we haven't had home. I think this is the first time that N and I realized it.

It's also the first time in nearly 4 years that we are both putting time, energy, blood, sweat and tears into our home. It's a place we can see us being in for some time.

Which is why the weekends are so crammed with to-do lists.

Last weekend we made the rookie mistake of saving all our errands and big, to-do list items until Sunday. The exhaustion haunted us all week.

We vowed that this weekend would be different. And it was. We spent our Saturday outside, working hard.

N looked like this Saturday evening.

I can assure you, it looks like a professional installed our new storm door. It is beyond beautiful. Both N and I stare at it. Zoe kisses the glass.

In addition to new doors, we also created a small BBQ area and I planted and planted and planted. Why so much planting? Because I have a little helper who likes to pull up the flowers after I've planted them. We made some memories.

Here is our backyard. Or what we like to refer to as "the sanctuary of our home."

My favorite part of my garden is the sign that Zoe and my mom made for me. Zoe did most of the painting. In each little flower is a picture of one of my girls. It makes my heart smile every time I see it.

Next weekend's to-do list includes Zoe's play area. We're going to pull up the concrete edging and lay sod down. Then we'll assemble her slide and put her water table over there. I'm really hoping the slide distracts her long enough my flowers have the opportunity to form roots.

After all the hard work, it's only natural that we have a picnic in the backyard.

I'm not sure what makes our house feel the most like a home. The fact that we have a little one running around or the fact that I regularly see my two favorite people bonding.

That DNA stuff is pretty powerful

When I was little one of the best memories I have is of watching my grandma sleep. She puffed.

She would look totally peaceful, then you would see her cheeks fill a bit, her lips lift a bit, then a small hole would form on her lip line and a puff of air would be released.

It's how you knew she was in her REM cycle.

When we talk about my grandma, it's one of the things that was uniquely her and a fond memory for all of us.

I discovered last night that the puffy has been passed down. Zoe didn't want a nap yesterday, so by her bedtime she was exhausted. I was holding her, she had just finished her bottle and then I heard it.

The distinct sound of a puff of air.

Her great-grandma would've loved to know this was one of the traits Zoe got from her.

Almost as much I love it.

She may not like pedicures, but she does have a future

My mom is the director of the third thru sixth grade girls AWANA club at our church. Last night she held a party for all the girls who finished their books this year.

It's quite the accomplishment because it's a small, spiral notebook full of verse memorization, activities and review. I'm not kidding when I say some things they have to memorize are three or four verses long.

Each year, to show them how proud she is of their accomplishment, she has a bowling party. Which, if you've ever taken 14 - nine to twelve year olds bowling, is a small accomplishment in itself.

Because I know how to work the machines, I go to help my mom set up. Zoe goes for all the candy.

Last night Zoe's friend Ben was there. He's three weeks older than her and they bond over bowling in the nursery during church. It's only natural that we would take them to the actual bowling alley for some bonding. Have I mentioned how sweet, adorable and perfect Ben is for Zoe?

I played on a team with some of the girls and let Zoe roll the ball down the lane with the help of some bumpers. She was more interested in kicking the ball. That is until she realized it was 6 pounds, solid and hurt a little when you did that. On her first shot, she knocked down 7.

A couple frames later, on Ben's turn, he got a spare.

A couple frames later, when it was my turn because Zoe had her candy and Ben had some potato chips, I got 2 pins.

TWO, whole pins.

TOTAL for the frame.

Which is the age of Ben and Zoe.

Apparently they will be giving lessons next week.

I don't see many pedicures in her future

This weekend, as a chance to spend some time with Zoe, I decided to paint our toenails. She loved the idea of paint. She's been really getting into painting, so the thought of putting some paint on her feet was totally awesome in her mind. She ran circles, saying "paint paint paint paint." She was beyond excited.

Until I actually put the paint on her toes.

The look on her face was as though I was actually swabbing swine flu on her. That is, if she actually knew what swine flu is. That's beyond the point.

She sat very still while I finished painting her toes. She got up slowly, stared at her feet and then began kicking.

Big kicks. Little kicks. Anything to shake that horrid, pink disease off her feet.

With all the kicking, her toes actually dried. She was less than thrilled.

For the last three days, every time she looks at her feet she lets out this little whiney moan.

I guess we won't be bonding over pedicures anytime soon.

Eight fourty-five

I have a favorite time of the day. It's 8:45 in the evening. It's when Zoe and I start her bedtime routine. It usually involves some tiger growls while I'm changing her diaper. Then the ever fun game of "smell my feet mommy." It's a tradition that I recommend for every family.

After all the growling and smelling, we head to the bathroom for some teeth tickling. If I call it brushing, she tends to HATE it. We make a game of tickling her teeth. Usually she'll take her second toothbrush and tickle my teeth.

Then we make a bottle and get ready to head into her room.

It's the part of my day that I will get some quiet time with my daughter. I sing to her, pray with her and tell her just how blessed I am by her. It's the same song, similar prayer and same loving bestowed on her every night.

It's also the time when I do a little praying myself and just relaxing after a busy day. Usually Zoe falls asleep rather easily and I hang out for an extra 10-45 minutes, depending on if I fall asleep too.

Last night Zoe had finished her bottle. Her eyes were shut, she was very still and then this happened:

Zoe: Think, think, think
Me: Do you have ideas?
Z: Chips!
M: You want chips?
Z: 'kay!
M: No sweetie, it's bedtime. Here's your binky. Mommy will play with your hair, you just close your eyes and think about all the things you love.
Z: POOH!
M: You love Pooh?
Z: 'kay!

I guess for her the moment is filled more with junk food and a bear stuffed with fluff.

I love being a mother

Honestly, it was like Mother's Weekend at my house. I was spoiled beyond anything I deserve.

I got some flowers and a cord that hooks my iPod into my car stereo. That's right, I was jammin' out to a little Newsboys this morning. I was secretly praying I had a job that needed me to drive all over town today just to listen to my iPod.

If that wasn't enough, N gave me some time just for me and he mowed the yard. Then he helped me haul bark out of the flowerbed. He speaks all kinds of my love language.

Zoe loved on me all weekend. I think she knew it was Mother's Day because she was all about her mamma this weekend. I got more cuddles and kisses.

N even BBQ'd some steak for my mom and I. If you've never had N's BBQ, you are missing out.

To say it was a great weekend is an under statement. I still had to work in the yard, clean the house and change diapers, but it was the best. While Mother's Day is a great way to honor your mom, it was a day for me to know just how blessed I am to be a mommy and a wife.

I am so grateful to have the family I do. They love on me, support, encourage and challenge me. I am a better mommy because of them.

I'm baaaaack!

I've spent much time in prayer and thought. I realized I'm not very good at being dependent. God always has a plan. I, however, don't always know that plan. So that tends to make me a bit like the Tazmanian Devil in the hormone department.

Never fear, God's plan is in place and He even gave me a little glimpse at it. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that. The little devil inside me stopped making all those tornadoes and let my mind rest.

Plus I got to go to the gym on Monday and run out some stress. I'm positive that's also part of God's plan for my life.

I thought I would share some of the good news. In April the state budget came out and colleges in Washington were taking a BIG hit to their funding. It put N's program in jeopardy for the summer. That caused all sorts of unknown. Because I'm not good at being dependent, that unknown meant mass hysteria in my mind. What would we do? How would N do with getting a summer off, only to go back in the fall? That would extend his schooling even longer! He would go back to graveyards at work and that isn't my favorite schedule.

For about a month it felt like our life was on hold.

The dean of his school said that if they had the students, the program would run through the summer. Every person in his class said they would go through the summer. We don't feel on hold. We know what His plan is...for now.

It was just in time too. Part of His plan was to slow me down and to have me focus on other things. Namely Zoe.

She came down with a little stomach bug yesterday. Poor thing spent most of the morning puking. Absolultely broke my heart. Especially since she has no earthly idea what was going on. I got to spend lots of time cuddling, loving and napping with my sweet girl. Even though she was feeling yucky, her company was exactly what I needed this week.