Labels: Chronicles of a boy mama
Calm, quiet, no where to go, nothing that absolutely has to be done right now!! I love it! I slowly drank 2.5 cups of my morning coffee, and mid-morning JCT and I made banana bread muffins and eggs for brunch! Slow and easy ~ just the way I like it!
Oh, but did I mention that I decided to potty train my little middle (Elijah) this morning! And, ya'll he is almost there! He has gone tee tee over and over in the little potty and even went number two in the little potty once! Yay!!!! He has wanted to be potty trained for a while now. I just wasn't ready, but this morning I decided to give it a try. And, I am so glad that I did!
A little bit ago I took the boys down to the swing set to play. Most of the leaves have fallen, so the yard is nearly covered in crunchy brown leaves. We raced down to the swing set, and the sound of all the leaves rustling made my heart sing!!!! JCT and Elijah got their play rakes and attempted to help Daddy with the leaf raking!!! :-) Oh, and, JCT gave a demonstration of how to tinkle in the woods to Elijah, and Elijah very proudly pulled his pants down and successfully watered the woods just like his big brother! Cute!
And, now I have two babes asleep and one immersed in a TV show. I'm about to make a cup of Chai and smile over its warmth! I'm going to make Chili for dinner ~ a comfort food to me! And, I hate to break it to my sweet Joshua-boy, but we are not going to the high school football game tonight! I have a nice evening planned with games and a movie! We are all fighting a little cold, and there is no reason to drag everybody out in the cold weather tonight! It is a cuddle up inside kind of night to me! I can't wait!!
Labels: A Day in the Life. . .
And, then this morning it was back to business as usual! Get up, get ready, pack a lunch, comb hair, check and double check backpacks, and kiss goodbye! I was left standing at the backdoor with two small children at my feet and literally 6 baskets full of dirty laundry to clean!!!!!! And, it is now after lunch and my beloved, ever-faithful dryer, is still going and going and going, accompanied by his friend the washing machine! Will I ever get caught up on things around here??? I am praying that one day this week I will have time to change out the boys' winter and summer clothes, so we can stop living out of bins! My home feels a bit more chaotic than I like right now, but my hands are tied. One day. . . one day. . . that is what I keep telling myself!!
As for meals this week. . .
Today: Since we didn't get to have a big breakfast together this weekend, I thought we'd have breakfast for dinner tonight! Pancakes, eggs, and fruit!
Tuesday: Chicken Enchilada, corn, and green beans
Wednesday: Church night ~ leftovers
Thursday: I have a late afternoon appointment in the medium sized town near us, so I will probably bring dinner home from one of our favorite restaurants!
Friday: Fall football game night ~ sounds like a good night for chili over yellow rice to me!!
Saturday: I bet we go out to dinner as a family this evening!
Sunday: I'll probably make salsa chicken over yellow rice to use up the rest of the yellow rice from Friday night!
I'm hoping this will be a peaceful, restful, catch-up kind of week for us. Let's see how it goes!
Labels: Weekly Menu
I guess it is true what they say. . .
The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. . .
Happy as a clam.
And, now after a night of trick or treating with his little brothers, my sweet JCT is snug as a bug in my bed. Before I began this post, I went in to check on him and kiss his sweet sleeping face. And, now I sit with a glass of milk and a small stack of Halloween cookies a neighbor brought over earlier today. What a day! I hate it for JCT that he didn't get to go, but he will get his turn and so will Lijah and Erik Daniel. It is good for Daddy to get some alone time with Joshua, and for Joshua to get to hang out with his cousin. And, I'll tell you just like I whispered to JCT as we sat at Pizza Hut (JCT's choice) and ate our dinner tonight. . .
"I know you were sad not to go with Daddy today. But, I sure am glad you are here with me right now."
And, in response I got the sweetest silliest little sideways grin you ever did see!!!!!
Oh, he has my heart!!! He so completely has. my. heart!!!!!!
Labels: My JCT
That is the way this week started out for me. Too much to do in too little time. And, to be quite honest with you, I really do not like to be busy. I like to sip my coffee and smell the roses. I am not content in the rush, rush, hurry, hurry of life. I much prefer boring. Thus, I began this week stressed, frazzled, and downright unhappy. But, with a view like this out my living room window. .
combined with several rainy days, how could I not find peace amongst the chaotic.
I don't have to look much farther than the eyes of my sweet children to see peace in the midst of craziness.
There is something about this time of year that is so peaceful, so good. Our backyard is not at all fancy. We rarely, if ever, weed our flower beds, and there is a lot of landscaping yet to be done. But, our land is "natural" pretty, to me, anyway, especially this time of year. And, I find myself wandering the yard while the boys play ~ listening to the crunching of leaves beneath my feet and looking at all the brightly colored trees. My backyard is my favorite retreat. It is peaceful country, my sweet home where my children laugh and run and play, and I love it.
I love the swing set in the fall. . .
We have almost enough leaves to rake into piles and play in, but not quite! There are still a few trees that have yet to turn. Won't be long. I love to watch them fall when the wind blows, but I mourn the day when they have all fallen. It always comes much too quickly.
Anyway, I digress. . . Amidst the craziness of our busy week, we had a lot of fun, too. Joshua learned to climb a new tree, and he was so proud of himself! Most of the trees in our yard either have branches too high to climb or the trees, themselves, are too small to climb. He took out several small limbs on his way up this one, so I fear Daddy may put an end to his tree climbing days! That is why I made sure to get a few good pictures!
We discovered that we could make a broom stand up on its own and an egg. I'm not sure why? Maybe it has something to do with the time change? Is it the Equinox? I am not sure, but it was fun!
In other news. . .
I scream! You scream! We all scream for ICING!!!!
The week is winding down now. Only one party left! Hooray! I told Erik that I missed the quiet days of old when we didn't have to get up and go, go, go all day ~ when I sat and held Joshua and watched Veggie-tales or played with blocks for hours. He wasn't very sympathetic. He said, "Well, you better get used to it. It won't be that calm and quiet again until they are all in college." And, I am certainly not ready for that! But, seriously where has time gone?
This last picture is for Deana B. She knows why.
Labels: Chronicles of a boy mama
Oh, yes, I should!
The Good! This past Saturday night Erik and I left the littles (Lija and Eriky D.) with a babysitter, and we took the big boys and drove to Starkville, MS to watch the MSU/FL game!! I was thrilled because I. LOVE. TIM. TEBOW!!! A friend of Erik's gave us wonderful seats, and we had an awesome view of the game!! :-) I was in heaven with my little boys around me! Experiencing the excitement of a college football game with them for the first time was soooo fun!! All was well and good and wonderful until the game started and something that I had not anticipated happened. . .
Cowbells.
Oh, my goodness, gracious COWBELLS!!
Are you serious, people???!!!
Like I knew MSU fans rang cowbells. I knew it, but I had never experienced it. Not until Saturday night, that is. Now, I know.
Yes, now, I know.
I swear Mississippi State grads are certain to lose their hearing by age 30!!
One word came to mind as those around us continued to ring their beloved (and, might I add, illegal in the SEC, but obviously not in our section! :-)) cowbells throughout the game, and that word is. . .
Deafening.
I asked Erik midway through the game if they would be handing out hearing aids at the exits!! :-) I'm sure we yelled at each other the entire way home, but none of us would have known the difference!!! :-)
It was an absolute blast!! We got home very late, but it was completely worth it! A happy memory it was! And, I have a new respect for the cowbell. I can't wait to do it again!!
The Bad. When it rains it pours, right? Well last week was one of those weeks. In a matter of days, I received all of this news. . . A close friend's grandmother passed away, a good friend had to be hospitalized for something I had not seen coming, a friend in our church was diagnosed with uterine cancer, a friend's marriage is in turmoil, but there is one that hurts my heart the most. And, that is a little girl (4th grade) at Joshua's school has been diagnosed with cancer for the second time. Just over a week ago she was a hometown celebrity with Erik at the benefit for the Make a Wish Foundation, and now she will face the whole cancer thing again. Please say a prayer for her and her family as they walk this road once again. She is having surgery at St. Jude on Thursday. They have to go in through her cheek bone (the cancer is between her brain and her skull). There will be a plastic surgeon working with the neurosurgeon during the surgery attempting to reconstruct her face as very best they can. Then, she will undergo very intense chemo. So, please say a prayer for them. Her name is Amber. Thanks.
I receive emails for Amber's Care pages. And, I'd like to end this post with a quote from Amber's mom. This is how she ended the post where she announced that her daughter's cancer was back. It hit me hard, made me think. Joshua was sitting on the couch and with alligator tears running down my face, I held him tight. Here goes. . .
Amen.
Go, do it!!!
Labels: Weekly Menu
32 degrees!
I met Erik at the door begging him to let me turn! on! the! heat!!! I am cold natured, and he is hot natured, so we always have to find some sort of middle ground. He was reluctant at first, but in the end I won out, and the heat was turned on for the very first time this year!!!!
I cannot tell you what it does to me!!!!
The smell!!
The feel of warm air!!!
I love the heat!!
Nothing beats a warm home on a cold night!!!! :-)
After Erik turned the heat on upstairs, two curious little boys came tippy toeing down the stairs. . .
They wanted to know what the smell was. . .
Joshua thought it smelled like something spilled over in the oven and was burning (I simply cannot figure out how he knows that smell ~ certainly not from my kitchen!) :-). JCT thought it smelled like "a candle on a birthday cake with FIRE on it!" We explained that it was simply the heat and tucked them back snug and warm in their beds.
And, so it is the beginning of my favorite time of year ~ fall leading up to Christmas!!!! October, November, and December ~ I LOVE them all for reasons unique to each!!!!
I am so thankful for changing seasons ~ even if it seems that this year winter is jumping in a bit early!!!!!! Time to turn on the fireplace and cuddle up with a blanket, a good book, and a cup of Bifferdoodle decaf with french vanilla creamer!!
Anyway, I took a few minutes on the way home from Nashville yesterday to jot down a few meals for this week. My goal in choosing meals was to not have to go to Wal-Mart!! I'd like to eat up our pantry if that is possible! Actually I think that we could live off our pantry alone for a week or two! Here goes. . .
Monday ~ Peanut Butter Broccoli and Chicken Stir fry ~ I never got around to this one last week, so tonight is finally the night to try it!!!!!
Tuesday ~ Spaghetti with whole grain pasta, Zucchini sauteed in olive oil and seasoning, and green beans.
Wednesday ~ Church nights so quick and easy ~ Cheese pizza with Whole Wheat Crust
Thursday ~ Italian Chicken over Brown Rice and English peas
Friday ~ Chicken Enchilada, corn, and green beans
Saturday ~ Eat Out!!
Sunday ~ Black beans over yellow rice with salsa for Erik :-)
I'm off to change out another load of laundry! Makes me feel fresh and clean! I actually enjoy laundry if I can just keep myself from feeling completely and helplessly overwhelmed by it!!!!! And colder weather + heavier, longer, layered clothes = more and more loads of laundry!!!!!!! :-)
Labels: Weekly Menu
Labels: My Erik Daniel








