This & That

I can't believe that I have let almost a week go by without blogging. We've had a few wild days but hopefully we'll be normal for awhile (whatever normal is).
Benjamin, as previously decribed, was sick at the beginning of last week. Jonathan got a yucky little cold following that. I have felt so cooped up with them getting sick right in a row! We finally "emerged" from the house on Saturday and have been hopping ever since.
Since my previous post, Jonathan has become super-mobile. He is crawling everywhere and getting into everything he can get his hands on. His favorite new place to explore is the kitchen. He pulls all of the Fridge-Phonics magnets off the fridge and puts them on the floor in the pantry, where he proceeds to pull all of his babyfood out of its basket. When I watch him do this, he looks like he is trying to decide what he'll be having at his next meal. All admist his busy-ness, he seems to be having a running conversation with himself.
Benjamin has a new BFF in Bethany Duggan. Amanda & Raymond came over to the house for supper last night and Benjamin and Bethany had a whole lot of fun together. We now have a few inside jokes over the things they said to one another last night.
We also took the plunge and bought our first ever piece of excercise equipment (besides the ball that got left somewhere in Muleshoe-- how did we miss that one?). We purchased a treadmill on Saturday. After having taken it for a few "break-ins", we realize that not only are we out of shape, we are pathetically out of shape. Hopefully, the purchase will help us improve on that.
We're still here in the blog realm. Just really out of shape!

A Place for Everything...

Fasten your seatbelts and hold onto your hats...I got organized over the weekend. I have been excited to post about this, but wanted to wait until after my parents' visit today. I wanted my mom to be completely shocked and well, she was. I can be super organized and compulsive about some things, but there are some things that I am just flat out not organized about. And my pantry was one of them.
I organized my pantry from top to bottom and I love it. I know it is a little odd to post about it. But, it's more for me and my compulsiveness to have a blog that will be fun for me and David to look back on in twenty years (I hope blogs are still around!) and say..."remember that one weekend in 2008 that we were uber- organized?"
I was completely inspired by Tommie and her pantry post. She has been posting her organizing tips and I have really been enjoying it!
So, here it is, my masterpiece....

My favorite new area is the snack food shelf, pictured below. I love that the containers are clear, it makes it easy for all of us to just glance and know what is there. Benjamin also loves this shelf-- therefore, it is now two shelves higher up than the old "snack shelf". I figured that would have been an animal cracker mess just waiting to happen.


This is our "drink central" pictured below. I was excited that these bins were clear, too. All of the containers were from DollarTree! I love that store. Almost as much as Target. Almost.


I moved my wraps and such to a basket on the floor. This is so much better than the shelf-- they were a mess constantly. I also keep the onions/potatoes and baby food in baskets down there.


I just love that my cookbooks were now able to fit into the pantry. This is so much easier than the small cabinet they were crammed in, "tandem style." Now that cabinet is full of old butter tubs and plastic containers just for Jonathan to play with while I cook! He loves it, too!


I used the clear basket containers on the rest of the shelves, grouping things like oils, vinegars, pastas, etc. This has been a breath of fresh air to our kitchen! It is also helpful when I make my grocery list because it is just a quick glance to see what staples we need.

The funniest part of this was the actual shopping trip to Dollar Tree where I mounded two buggies with containers and baskets-- hilarious to navigate, especially in the parking lot. One lady said to me, "How nice, you must be a great teacher to supply your students with all of this." She looked rather disappointed when I explained that these were indeed for kids-- mine! To keep their mom's pantry organized. I felt a little selfish after that encounter. Oh well. It was still fun.

Not Sweating That Small Stuff

(Just a warning, this post may be a little yucky for those with a weak stomach).
Yesterday I feel as though two of my New Year's Resolutions were put to the ultimate test: sweating the small stuff and the whole hand sanitizer thing.
If you know me well, you know that my biggest fear and hate are the stomach bug. Several of my girlfriends in Muleshoe sort of teased me about it, because I am EXTREMELY dramatic about it, self admitted. I am not really sure why. I can handle anything else fairly well when it comes to illness. But, if anyone near me even mentions that they may be a little quesy, I pretty much lose all control and bust out my Purell and Lysol (it now comes in a purse-size!) with no regard to their feelings.
If, heaven forbid, I myself come down with the stomach bug, Katie bar the door. I am terrified of it. I don't deal with it well. It is rather embarrasing actually the way I act about it. I once had a seven and a half year streak of not throwing up (and yes, I kept track). Once that was broken, I seem to catch it every year now. I am just waiting on my next "streak." Hopefully it will be a twenty year one. Be gone, nasty Rotovirus!! Why must you exist?
And I now realize that this fear completely falls under the category of "sweating the small stuff." And yesterday I faced it head on. About five in the morning, a little voice comes over the monitor in our bedroom..."I frow up. I frow up. Helloooo. I frow up."
Please let him have had a dream about "frowing up." Please don't let this be the real case.
David and I both jumped out of bed and ran to Benjamin's room to find the inevitable "frow up." All over his bed. And him. I totally felt myself starting to lose it and just wanting to "freak out" as David calls it. But I didn't. We pulled all the bedding off of his bed (darn that oversized comforter that just got cleaned from the last "frow up" in November, it will not fit in my machine!!!). And then we strip the kid down and proceed with the "frow up" routine. After we all settled back in, more of the same. By 11 a.m. it was all over and I realized I handled it pretty well.
You see Benjamin is somewhat of a momma's boy. And I couldn't "freak out" in front of him letting him know how much this whole ordeal upset me. The worst part of it (David actually says it was when I was at my best) was that the subsequent "frow ups" all took place right in my lap. Yes, that's right. I did have my trusty over-sized plastic bowl (which shall never be used for food again) to act as a "catch-all." Everytime he felt sick, he looked so sad and said "I want to sit in your lap, mommy." What was I going to do? There wasn't enough time to rush to the bathroom, so inevitably, the ordeal happened right in my lap, bowl and all!
In the midst of it all, my friend Deborah calls and tells me that their eight-week old has RSV. Talk about putting it all in perspective. She did, however, joke with me a bit about me and my "favorite" time when Benjamin is sick to his stomach. Thanks, Deb.
But, seriously. How could I worry about this six hour illness after hearing what she'll have to go through the next few days, giving breathing treatments to an infant and all?
I am not really sure why I am posting this. Perhaps it is a little journal for myself for when this happens again (although I truly hope it is later rather than sooner). I guess I hope I can handle it this well from here on out. Go me!
Now, are you completely disgusted and wondering why you visit our blog?
I sort of am. Now I must get back to finishing my thorough disinfecting job of every inch of my home. (I didn't say I was completely cured, did I? Besides, it's just good sense to clean after all that. Right?)

Blogging Rocks!

I had the BEST surprise in my email inbox last night. It was a note from some wonderful friends from Abilene that we had lost touch with over the past few years!
Tim and Jennifer are just the sweetest couple EVER! I had to post their pic; hope you don't mind, Jenn! They also now have the most adorable little baby, Max, who is just a few weeks younger than Jonathan.
Even crazier? They live only an hour away in Waco and we are eagerly looking forward to getting together with them soon.
One of the neatest things is that they found us through this very blog. How fun is that? Isn't technology wonderful?
One of our funniest memories with them is the day we packed up our Uhaul to move from Abilene to Muleshoe and how hectic that was. We had a few last minute details to "deal with" in our Abilene house that we promised the new buyer (also good friends of ours!) that we would do before we handed over the keys. This included replacing a faucet in the kitchen because the old sprayer had broken, so the entire thing needed to be replaced. After three (or four?) trips across town to Lowe's, we were so thankful TIm was there to get us in working order. In the meantime, Jennifer even ruined a good pair of pants to help me touch up paint in the kitchen. It was a wild one, let me tell ya! But they spent hours upon hours with us that day making sure we were able to get everything done.
Shortly after we moved to Muleshoe, they also moved and Tim was deployed (he served us ALL in the Army, what a guy!). That is when we somehow lost touch with these precious people.
So, all that to say...I am so thankful that the blogosphere has brought us back together! What a blessing.

Only Slightly Obsessive

For those of you who know us pretty well, you know about Benjamin's little obsession. The kid is infatuated with vacuum cleaners. I have no idea why. But, it is almost getting to the point of us questioning..."why on earth is he so crazy about vacuum cleaners?"
His fascination has now grown from admiration to wanting to use it all the time (should I really object to this? I mean free help is pretty hard to come by). Yesterday, I cleaned the filter and it then has to dry for twelve hours before it can be used again. Of course, during this time, the various parts and inner-workings of the vacuum were strewn about my kitchen. Benjamin would look at each part and let me know his version of what each part was for...
-"This one makes it go woooooooooooo" (referring to the on/off switch)
-"This is the tire for the vacuum. It's from Luigi's." (CARS reference, why not combine your loves?)
-"This is for the dirt, it goes in here."
-"This is the hair brush" (no, we don't use it for grooming, it is actually the brush attachment thing)
And on and on.
What used to be a "private family matter" has also been taken to a public level...
-At Christmas in Abilene, Benjamin constantly wanted to go into Sam & Arly's spare room not to see the cool computer, but rather to get a good looksie at Aunt Arly's vacuum. (Hello, she has the same one as mommy.)
-When we were at my mom and dad's one day before Christmas, Benjamin noticed they kept their Christmas wrapping paper in, of all things, their old vacuum cleaner box. He was more concerned as to where that vacuum had gone now that its box was occupied with something so mundane as gift wrap.
-Just the other night at church, he wanted to know all about the stick vacuum in the bathroom of his classroom. His teacher at first thought it scared him causing him to not want to use the facilities. I explained later that he was probably just too distracted with the very presence of a vacuum cleaner!
When the obsession first began, he loved to look at them...from a safe distance. However, as you can tell from the pics, he is a full fledge "user" now.
Is this a bit over the top or normal for a three-year-old? I am just starting to wonder that it may be getting slightly out of hand!
Either way, it is kind of fun.

Like Arrows...

"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him. LIke arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." -- Psalm 127:3-5

The one about the tag from Laney

I have been tagged by Laney! She has triplets; you should check out her blog. Supermom!

The Rules:
Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog. or

Share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list. or

Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old.

Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.

I pick: Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.

1. I don't like peanut butter very much. Unless of course, it is inside a Reece's cup. Who doesn't like that?
2. I have watched FRIENDS way too much lately, hence the title.
3. Driving is therapeutic to me. Unless there is a disgruntled child in the car. Then it is just the opposite.
4. I am a little embarassed, but, I am still working on putting away all of my Christmas decor. (I know, I know.) I tried to "create" a better organized way to store it all and bought some new boxes and stuff so it is taking a lot longer than it should.
5. I sometimes think it would have been fun to be my age in the 1950s. You know, wear cute belted dresses with chunky pearls and drive a woody-car! I would vacuum the house in my pumps and wear white gloves to church. It just seems kind of fun.

I tag: Heather, Jennifer, Shellie, Syndi and Arly. And David, too!

Conversations with a Three-Year-Old

Benjamin is a man after his Aunt Arly's own heart (the girl loves pie). A couple of days ago after his nap we went into the kitchen to rustle him up a snack. I asked him what he wanted and he said without hesistation...
"Um, I would like some pie."
"Sorry, kiddo. There is no pie. Would you like something else? Maybe an apple and whole wheat crackers some Cars snacks?"
"Mommy, I want you to cook me some pie, please."
Sorry dude. He ended up with his Cars snacks (like gummy bears shaped like Cars characters).
He also made us giggle with Daddy's favorite sock story which David mentioned on his blog a few days ago.
That little boy makes us laugh.
Now we're off to walk to the park in the wagon. (See our resolutions-- I am working on it!)

Wow, your kids look so much like you!

So I copied Wendy because I thought this was pretty fun...

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Lineage

This was interesting to me because people (even strangers) tell us that Benjamin is the spitting image of me and Jonathan is that of David. Funny. I don't know how this works, but try it! Pretty neat.

Thirty, Flirty & Thriving*

Thank you all for all of the sweet well wishes over the weekend. I had a great birthday and am embracing the thirties with open arms! I don't feel thirty. But, I never know how an age is supposed to "feel". Ten years ago, I was celebrating the big 2-0 on the ACU Ski Trip in Red River, it seems like that was just a couple of years ago. Twenty years ago, I was sitting in a Girl Scout meeting when someone else's mom said to me, "Wow, double digits! Ten is the big time, huh?" Ah, milestones.
I feel great for such an oldie and David planned a wondeful weekend to celebrate this big one. It had been many, many years since I had celebrated my actual birthday with my mom and dad (usually, my dad and I lump ours together a few days after Christmas with a trip to the Macaroni Grill). So, David set up a weekend in Marble Falls and we had a great time. We went and saw "P.S. I Love You" (cried the entire movie), ate on the lake at Chili's with a great view and perfect weather. My parents also fixed a great meal for all of us yesterday with my dad's famous ribs and my favorite layered dessert (I personally requested this in lieu of bday cake). All in all, a fabulous time!
My parents got me a beautiful new watch and David and the boys really out did themselves with an entire "birthday week" of gifts-- so fun! I personally had always strung out my bday for a week, it was about time this was made official! I even got a couple of more seasons worth of "Friends"!
After we got back to K-town we took the boys 'racing' with Benjamin's little car and the wagon and hung out at the park across the street for awhile.
After tucking the boys in, we watched seven episodes of "Friends". There's nothing like properly breaking-in a new set of DVDs.
Thanks, everyone! You all made my day so special. It was such a treat to have some fun comments to read on my special day! And David, thank you for everything. It was the perfect weekend. LLLY.

(*Taken from "Thirteen Going On Thirty")

Happy Birthday, Kristi! (Tomorrow) :)

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to make sure all Kristi's readers know that tomorrow, Jan. 6th, is her big day! We are getting ready to celebrate!

Kristi, thank you for all you do for me and the boys, and for making our home such a happy place to be.

We love you!

David, Benjamin, and Jonathan

We Resolve (& I'm not talking carpet cleaner)

My husband is a huge New Year's guy. I truly think it is his favorite holiday. He is one of those that puts his resolutions in writing and actually checks his progress as the year goes on. I have never been a huge New Year's person. Mainly, it says to me...pack up the decor, time to get back to normal. The fun is officially over. Okay. Maybe that is a little extreme and a bit pessimistic, but, after the Tournament of Roses parade, I am officially a Debbie Downer through my birthday.
But, as a tribute to my husband, I thought I would not only write down our resolutions for 2008, but I will go ahead and publish them for all the world (or all three of my blog readers) to see and hold me accountable to.

We resolve to kick our Coke habit. The cola that is. And guess what? Five cups of coffee and a few Tylenols (I get headaches without my Coke fix!) and we're doing okay. Not a single Coke/DP yet. Go us.

We resolve to take on an outdoor activity as a family at least four times a week. Even if it is as simple as walking the kids around the block in the wagon. All of us. Together.

We resolve to eat more at home. Since moving here, we have had a bit of sensory overload with the amount of restaurants within minutes of us and have perhaps gone a little (okay, a lot) overboard. We will try to limit ourselves (and waistlines and budget) to 1-2 (wince) times out a week. And this includes Bueno. Not Starbucks since it is a beverage establishment, not food. It so doesn't count.

We resolve to take control of our time and commitments. This is where it gets a little hairy. We are both people pleasers and want to say yes to everything that comes our way. We have decided that taking on new commitments, outside of church and family, is too much for us at this point in time. We want to get involved in our church and the lives of the people there. We really want to try to not let anything pull us away from getting to know this new church family and commit to them our talents and time in any way we can serve the Lord and His people.

We resolve to quit sweating the small stuff. I almost lost it the other day because I couldn't find the matching "Christmasy" socks to go with one of Jonathan's sweaters. Was this neccesary? He wore white socks and it was fine. I won't remember it in ten years anyway.

I personally resolve to keep a fresh pitcher of iced tea in the refrigerator everyday for David. He loves it and the sporadic way I keep up with this is pitiful.

I personally resolve to work towards a much healthier lifestyle, in terms of eating habits and excercise. I recently made peace with not starting a diet. That would just lead to breaking a diet and I can no longer do that in my life. I must change habits for good. Babysteps.

I personally resolve to lay off the handsanitizer-enforcing and somewhat abuse of the product. I need to just live. Not live in fear of the stomach bug. And the fact that if anyone throws up it will completely throw me into a tailspin. Babysteps.

I personally resolve to get my closet in utter and complete order. Coming from a much older home, my new closet (and yes, it is mine all mine) is vastly larger than the old and it has thrown me. What seemed like a great idea at the time now overwhelms me. I am used to having clothes in every closet of the house, not just mine. Tommie, I may need your help with this one!

I think that is all for now. It is getting late and I have to be up early. Happy New Year.