Nominated

This tag, uh ... nomination, is from Deborah who nominated me among others for the I *heart* your blog award. Thanks!

To accept this nomination, I must answer the following questions with one word answers and nominate 10 other blogs for the "I heart your blog" award.

1. Where is your cell phone? unsure
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? strong
5. Your father? generous
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? intense
8. Your dream/goal? faithful
9. The room you're in? bedroom
10. Your hobby? scrapping
11. Your fear? snakes
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Tyler
13. Where were you last night? rehearsal
14. What you're not? stacker
15. One of your wish-list items? sweater
16. Where you grew up? Searcy
17. The last thing you did? Facebooked
18. What are you wearing? short-sleeves
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? pugs
21. Your computer? laptop
22. Your mood? content
23. Missing someone? Mom
24. Your car? mini-van
25. Something you're not wearing? socks
26. Favorite store? Kohl's
27. Your summer? pregnant
28. Love someone? John
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? August (?)

Okay, here are my 10 nominees:

Amanda R.
Amanda M.
Britney
Chelsea
Daisha
Heather
Kira
Kisti
Reagan
Sandi

Feelin' Groovy

I take no credit for this whatsoever. Kristi did it first on Facebook, and I totally copied her. But if you have a couple of extra minutes to put off whatever else you need to be doing, you should check out yearbookyourself.com. It's just pretty fun. Here's me from 1960:

Tagged ...

... by Chelsea, so here goes.

1. Where was I ten years ago?
In October, 1998 I was a sophomore at Harding singing with Good News, planning the Shantih Spring Sing show, changing my major from biology to accounting, living on the third floor of Harding Place, making frequent runs to the Fina for chili-cheese fries, driving my first car, and terribly missing my boyfriend of six months, John, who was working on his masters at ACU.

2. What was on my to-do list today?
Tanna's voice lesson at 2:30. Check.
Download two Point of Grace songs. Check.
Continue catching up on life at home. Check.

3. What would I do if I were a billionaire?
Pay off all our debt, fully fund the kid's college accounts, pour money into cancer research, give generously at church, build a house on a working ranch with a massive scrap room so I could have scrap retreats at my house and ride good horses.

4. Five places I have lived:
Ft. Worth, Texas
Memphis, TN
Searcy, AR
Colorado Springs, CO
Tyler, TX

5. Bad habits:
procrastinating
over-committing
late-night snacking
yelling at the kids
being too critical

Feel free to consider yourself tagged, even if you've done this one before!

So typical

I just thought I'd give you a glimpse into our lives on the rare occasion that we have the day at home. These are the most common sights these days:

Johnathan, in underwear, jumping around playing the Wii; Jonas's containment gear scattered around.

Kalleigh, in diaper, throwing a fit on the floor. This one happened to be as a result of me telling her not to touch the camera lens, resulting in this blurry picture.

And poor Jonas is STILL in the swing ... not buckled up.

I suppose I could've taken a picture of myself at the computer with no makeup and a bed-head, but who wants to see that? Please don't answer.

All that being said, I LOVE staying at home when I can. It would totally drive me nuts to do it for more than a couple days in a row, but when it's about once a week, it's perfect!

I'm alive.

Don't worry faithful readers, I'm alive and well. We went out of town that first weekend in October and only just today do I feel caught up. It was just a weekend, but man! We pretty much all felt like this:


Finally today I feel caught up ... mostly. It just took us a while to get back into our life groove!

I'll try to go over the highlights of the past few weeks.

While John was in Nashville at the ZOE Conference that weekend, the kids and I stayed in Searcy. Thursday was Kalleigh's birthday, so Mom had made her a princess cake. I'm hoping Mom will send a picture to me since I didn't get any of the cake! We spent some good time with Momo Friday morning before heading out to the farm to see Mamaw and Papaw. Rachel also came over with Abby, so that was fun! On Saturday, Mom and I (and Jonas) got a lot of important shopping in while Kreg and Keleigh did a marvelous job on "kid-duty" keeping Johnathan and Kalleigh. If you're "friends" with Keleigh on Facebook, you should look at her pics from the day. We celebrated Kreg's birthday after church at IHOP and then we headed home.

Jonas & Abby -- just one day apart!

Namesake

Kalleigh started "Little People's School" the Monday after we got home. She goes Monday and Wednesday mornings while Johnathan is also in school. Those are fabulous mornings for Jonas and me!

Kalleigh and Ms. Carys on the first day.

"The Blessing," our five-voice ladies group from church, was invited to and sang at the Hawkins Oil Festival last weekend. We were one of five groups/bands/dance teams (!) to perform! (Hawkins is a little town just north of Tyler.) We even got a thank-you letter from the city of Hawkins!

The five of us ... at least this time. We've never sung with the same five ladies twice!

Clearly Vocal is performing twice over the next two weeks, and anyone can come hear us at these! Friday the 16th we're singing at the Azalea Trails assisted living center at 5 pm. Then Next Thursday the 22nd we'll sing at KE Cellars at 7pm. Again, anyone can come to either one of these.

And for those who have asked, and you're so kind, the rest of Johnathan's soccer schedule:

10/18 -- 10 am
10/25 -- 8 am
11/1 -- 10 am

All games are played at the Colonial Hills Baptist Church on S Broadway across from Target.

And here's what today is like:


And now you're caught up. There you have it. :)

Happy Birthday, John!

The man I love is 34 today! It's a special number to us. Kind of one of those silly dating "things." While we were dating it just seemed like we saw the number 34 everywhere. If a book fell open, it would be to page 34. If we looked at the clock it would be Whatever:34. The inspection number on a new shirt ... you got it. So, it's kind of a silly thing, but it does remind us of those fun dating times when we got all excited when we saw "our number."

Love you, Honey!

Normal

I loved Kristi's post about her normal, and I thought I'd give it a try. I'll opt for the list version. Left-brained, perhaps? Uh, yeah.

Changing diapers
Being in a hurry
Church
Ladies' Bible Class
Rehearsals galore
Finding childcare
Changing diapers
Nursing
Waking up at 4, then 7
Soccer practice
Blogging
Facebooking
Stepping on toys
Picking up toys
Changing diapers (did I say that already?)
Laundry
Running, when convenient
Singing gigs
Driving
Scrapping
Cooking (occasionally)
Laughing at funny kids sayings

I guess that's it in a nutshell. I'd love to see your normal, too!

Oh, here's the funny kid saying of the day:
Johnathan, playing the Wii game, Batman: "Mom! I need to buy this character, Bunny Girl!"
Me, half listening: "Uh-huh."
Johnathan: "Do you see her, Mom? It's Bunny Girl."
Me, still not even realizing he's talking: "Uh-huh."
Johnathan: "Mom! You gotta come see Bunny Girl. I need to buy her!"
Me, realizing that he's talking to me, and finally looking at the screen: "Ha, ha, ha! Oh, Johnathan, that's Catwoman!"
Johnathan: "Yeah, Catwoman!"

Vocabulary Explosion

Kalleigh's vocabulary is going through another growth spurt, which can be really funny, of course. The problem is, as all parents know, when they start saying the phrases that you say all the time ... the ones you don't realize you say all the time! Then there are the words that you have no idea what they mean, so you ask the four-year-old to interpret for you. Here are just a few examples that I can remember from the past two days:

In the van, Kalleigh: "Mommy, ahnna hear own-choo, own-choo nake."
Me: "You want to hear what?"
Kalleigh: "Ahnna hear own-choo, own-choo nake."
Me: "Johnathan, do you know what she's saying?"
Johnathan, in an exasperated voice: "She wants to listen to Don't you, don't you step on a snake."
Which is the first line in the Real Group's Big Bad World. Of course.

At McDonald's. Kalleigh is playing and John and I are talking about something very important that was demanding all of our attention. (I have no idea what it was now!) We hear Kalleigh say, "Hee I am! I kymed!" And she was up in the high chair how? She climbed! Oh, she's my child.

Then this morning I noticed that any time Kalleigh needed to get past someone who was in her way, she would say, "Watch out!" "Where'd she get that?" I wondered, and I told her that she needed to say, "Excuse me, please." A little later, Kalleigh was playing with the magnets on the front of the refrigerator. I needed to put the juice away, and as I reached for the handle, I said, "Watch out!" Good grief. "I mean, excuse me please!"

A new life stage

We've entered into a new life stage in our family. Soccer. Today was Johnathan's first soccer game. Ever. We're in a Christian league organized by one of the big Baptist churches here in town. I had heard so many positive comments about this program versus the Tyler city league, so we decided to give it a try. The teams say a prayer together after the game, and there is a lot of emphasis on being Christ-like out on the field. Then, of course, there's the additional bonus of learning the game of soccer and what it means to be a part of a team!

Johnathan had a blast out there and earned the "best defense" award for this game! That's my boy!

Ready to play!

Pep talk from Daddy.

He started and got to kick off!

Seeing some action.

Best Defense sticker!

One of the little girls on his team scored two goals during the game. At one of his breaks, I said, "McKinsey is doing really good, too, isn't she?" (J)"Yeah! She got to score!" (Me)"You should tell her good job!" He did his little grin-with-an-eyebrow-raise and turned to go tell her 'good job.' Then he stopped, turned around and said, "I'll probably just give her a high-five." Oh yeah; much cooler. :)

Sick baby girl

Kalleigh has her two-year molars coming in. New teeth are always accompanied by a runny nose, a yucky cough due to the drainage from said runny nose, and a low fever. It's sad when she doesn't feel very well, but ........


..... it sure makes for one very sweet little girl! So calm and cuddly!

I out-shuffled my dog.

No, really.

When I run (and I use that word in the loosest way possible) in the mornings, I always take my dog, Bison off-leash. He always stays right with me, with the exception of an occasional pee here and there. Bison, not me. Belle stays at home because she does not stay with me at all and I don't want to take her on a leash. Besides, she has hip dysplasia and can't go that far anyway.

This morning, Bison and I started out on our regular route. Our neighborhood has three parallel streets and two that connect them on each end. A figure eight plus one big loop is 2.1 miles. Well, less that a quarter of a mile into our route, we saw some friends. I guess Bison decided that he didn't feel like running this morning, because he went right over to them and sat down. I figured that he would catch up when he felt like it, but I kept getting further away and Bison wasn't going anywhere!

I finished the figure eight I had started and went back by our friend's house on the last big loop, and there was Bison. Our friends had left, but Bison was just sitting in their driveway. I guess he figured I'd be passing by again and he just thought he'd sit out for that figure eight. He rejoined me and we finished the big loop.

Crazy dog? Smart dog? You make the call!

Poor tired dog!

Pictures from yesterday

Jonas started grinning a couple of weeks ago, and this was my first successful capture! Who's he smiling at? Daddy, of course. :)

Sweet brothers!

Similarities

Keleigh took these while she, Kreg, Tami and Taylor were here. They swung through on their way to Harding to meet Jonas and be there for Johnathan's soccer try-outs back in August. See any similarities?!


Kalleigh and Mommy


Johnathan and Daddy

We did not pose for these pictures.

And a side note: Jonas slept from 11 until 5:30 last night. I hadn't gotten that much sleep in over a month! I felt fully rested! So I went jogging! I went two miles, though I had to walk about a half a mile of it. Whew, I have a long way to go to get back into shape. But, hey, it was the first step, right? I'm going to be so sore tomorrow (and the next day, and the next ...)! While I was pregnant, I had no way of telling the "Wii Fit" that my incredible obesity was due to the pregnancy. It kept asking me if I knew the causes of my weight gain, and pregnancy was not one of the options to choose! Now it is a little concerned that I've lost "so much" weight in such a short time!

Jonas photo shoot -- 5 weeks

Here's a shout out to my good friend Chelsea for taking these pictures this morning! Isn't she amazing? And these were just my favorites!

Enjoy!

15 minutes

I've never had professional lawn guys do our lawn before. Until today. A friend from church set it up for us as a baby gift! I was such a nerd. I was so geeked out about their heavy duty lawn equipment that I took pictures! I don't think they knew, because I just cracked the blinds open just far enough to snap the pictures!

The front yard. That thing is like a mini bush-hog!

The back yard. Here, they guy is moving the swing set. I guess there was some good that came from not bolting that down! And look at that mower! Way cool.

It had been SO long since the back yard had been mowed that the guys had to ask if these were weeds or bushes and what to do with them! No, they're not bushes.

It takes me about three solid hours to mow and edge the front and back yards. The four of them did it in 15 MINUTES. No joke. Like magic!

One month, really? (well yesterday, anyway)

Jonas, has it really been a whole month? (A whole month without a good night's sleep?!) I wouldn't trade it for the world! I love you my sweet baby boy!

Okay, maybe he's not quite ready for the Bumbo ...

Three more ...

1. Kalleigh has started answering my rhetorical questions in her own little way. For example, "Kalleigh, why are you yelling?" "'Cause! Fun!" Touche'.

2. Conversation between John and Johnathan at lunch today:
John: "Oh! Did you see that? I think Mr. Potato Head took a step!"
Johnathan: "No, he didn't. He's not real."
John: "Right. Maybe I was using my imagination."
Johnathan: "Yeah. If you see real potatoes climbing in our house, I'd say, 'Get out!'"

3. Seems like Elizabeth had a post entitled, "Oh, Ashlyn!" a while back. Well, I am so there with Kalleigh. Thursday, I was supposed to drop the kids off at the Deans before I picked up John to go sing with Danny that evening. I got Jonas in the van and as I went back in the house, Johnathan comes running up to me saying, "Mom! Kalleigh has poop all over her!" Sure enough, from the time I left to put Jonas in the car until the time I returned, Kalleigh had pooped in her diaper and managed to smear it all over herself. I was livid, as you could imagine. "Oh, Kalleigh!" I yelled and snatched her up and put her in the tub. I ran back out and retrieved Jonas and put him in his bouncy chair. I marched back into the bathroom, camera in hand, and barked at Kalleigh to face me and back up, and "STOP PUTTING YOUR HANDS IN YOUR MOUTH." Her bottom lip was quivering, as she knew she was in trouble. I sternly said, "Now be still while I take a picture. She looked up, and whimpered, "Cheese?" It was exactly what I needed to calm down. :)


The rest of the story is that I showered her off and redressed her, and we were a mere 12 minutes late. Not bad, I thought!

Writing it down so I don't foget ...

1. Johnathan went to the refrigerator to get some strawberries. We had had them about a week--yeah, you know where this is going. Johnathan said, "Mommy, some of these have mulch on them." I was a little confused until I turned around and saw the lovely mold starting to form on the bottom ones. :)

2. Last night we grilled some steaks. A little tough, but Mamaw's marinade is unbeatable. Kalleigh asked, "Whassat?" and pointed to the meat. "Yummy steak!" I said. She made her best scrunched up worried face and said, " 'Nake? Shew-wee!" It took her a while to accept that we were eating cow meat instead of snake.

Three years of preschool

My big boy on the first days of school!

Two years old,

Three years old,

Four years old!

P. S. This is the longest we've ever lived in the same house!

Last night and this morning

Last night the band performed at KE Cellars. Did I mention that the name of the band is "Group Therapy"? Pretty funny since John has a masters in MFT. Danny's band has always had that name even before we joined him.

Anyway, the Deans kept our kiddos again--even Jonas, making them Jonas's first babysitters. We dropped all three off before heading over to sing, and then they brought Jonas back when it was time to eat! Plus they got to stay and hear us sing a bit, too, which was fun.

Last night was the first time to set up the timbales, cymbal and cowbell. Last Thursday, we only had the congas. Whether or not we did well is totally beside the point. The point was to look impressive, and we succeeded at that! :) No, really, John did an excellent job, especially for his first time with the extra percussion. I filled in on the songs where he had the big solo, like "Mack the Knife," and "Love Me."

One of the deejays in town came and recorded a few of our songs last week and put them up on his website! He took pictures last night and said he would have them up soon to go along with the music. They weren't up when I checked today, but maybe he'll have them up in the next couple of days.

This morning was Jonas's dedication at church. This is when the congregation pledges to help us raise and nurture our child in Christian love. It is so special to us since we don't have our blood family living here. Our church family becomes that in their absence! We certainly do rely on our church family for their help!

Here's Jonas in his cute little outfit for this morning. What makes it so special is that the shirt belonged to my dad when he was a baby! And it's a good thing Jonas wore it today, because I don't think he'll fit in it next week!