Weekend Update

What's wrong with a mid-week weekend update? Nothing, I say!

Friday night was pretty typical as of late. I ran the clock for the varsity soccer games (I'm still trying to get used to being in the press box and not on the field. It's hard not really being a part of the team.) and when I got home at 10, I even got to see Avery before she went to sleep (she's been taking late naps lately that have thrown off her bed time). Allison and her Matt came in town, so they came over along with Nick to hang out with us play Super Mario Brothers on our Wii. We only have three controllers, so Allison and I hung out while the boys played. Note to self: don't try on your wedding dress until you are back to the stick you apparently were when you got married. It's depressing.

Saturday morning Matt had to leave early for UIL Solo and Ensemble, so I thought I might sleep in with Avery. Avery didn't agree though, so we had an early morning. We played and played and played, and then went to lunch at Petaluma with Nick, Allison, and Al's boyfriend, Matt. We headed over to Bakery on the Hill for cupcakes, and then Avery, Nick and I wandered through the Old Navy baby sale. The new Old Navy is weird! It totally threw me off, so I didn't even buy anything. The colors overwhelmed me. So home we went for Avery's afternoon nap since she had been such a trooper while we were out.

Saturday night we were adventurous! We went to this little rinky dink hibachi in Arlington and it. was. yummy. We went with my family (minus Aaron and Chelsea) and had a blast watching our dinner cooked right at our table. Our cook (or is it chef? or hibachi man?) even flipped eggs on his spatula without breaking them and then when he was ready to crack it, he made it land on the spatula sideways with a clean break. It was too cool.
Sunday made me a little nervous because it was my first Sunday in the children's wing without my trusty assistant (she was out of town but graciously got the rooms ready before she left-- thanks Kendall!). Plus it was the first Sunday of the month when all of our teachers rotate and we usually have one logistical nightmare after another. It actually went more smoothly than I could've ever anticipated; in fact, I just kept waiting for some crisis to arise because I was so sure that the smooth ride was a fluke. Honestly, God has been teaching me so much through this new ministry. Things like how to work with volunteers (vs. paid workers; it's a different beast!), dependence on Him (this is a regular in His lesson plans), and countless other lessons that would take a whole blog to explain. I am not there yet. At all. And I have a feeling there's much more to come in this adventure called children's ministry.

We went to lunch with my friend Kendra, where we got to discuss a couple of upcoming events! Eek-- I can't wait to share what they are because I am just so stinking excited, but alas I must wait until things are official.

After lunch we had praise team practice up at the church, and then we didn't do anything exciting for the Super Bowl because 1) we had been gone all day and just wanted to be home, and 2) I just didn't really care about the game. There, I said it. (Although I was rooting for the Colts.) I actually spent the evening, not in front of the TV, but in front of my stove, blender, and sink as I made a couple batches of food for Avery (butternut squash and green beans). I'll be blogging soon about my attempts at making homemade baby food. Here's a preview.
I had to include this picture. Avery's such a poser. She hasn't quite figured out how to drink from the sippy cup, but she sure loves to hold it and chew the spout.

And then Monday was back to the grind, but you know, it wasn't all that bad.

Tuesday's List

Typical Grocery List

Okay, so my grocery list is usually dependent on that week's menu, but here are the items we buy on a regular basis:

Costco:

• Bananas
• Frozen vegetables (spinach, green beans, corn, peas [for Avery and Matt only. eww.], broccoli)
• Baby carrots
• Salad (you know that huge box of organic salad? Yeah, we buy that)
• Salad dressing (you need a lot of this when you buy that much salad...)
• Tortilla chips/salsa
• Milk
• Cheese (we go through shredded cheese like nobody's business)
• Eggs
• Bread
• Ground turkey
• Frozen chicken breasts
• Diapers
• Wipes
• Formula
• Dog food (two 50-lb dogs eat a lot)

Kroger/HEB/Sprouts:

• Crescent rolls/biscuits 
• Cereal
  
• Ground beef
• Produce (cilantro, tomatoes, onions, apples, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes)
• Crackers (oh my goodness, those new Special K ones are amazing and I'm a sucker for Wheat Thins)
• Pasta/sauce (yeah, I should make my own sauce, but I don't. sorry.)
• Rice
• Whatever else we need for specific recipes and whatever I have good coupons for that match up with store specials. 

What's your typical grocery list? Join the list of list-makers here.

too much excitement for a saturday morning

Avery stayed up too late last night as a result of a late nap. I stayed up too late last night as a result of hanging out with my siblings.

Avery woke up too early this morning, and Matt had to leave early for solo and ensemble.

Therefore, I woke up too early this morning.

Avery didn't want to snuggle, so she was happy in her exersaucer. I was happy going back to sleep on the couch.

Apparently the exersaucer was a little too much excitement for her because now I have baby throw up all over me.

So Avery gets jumpy time while Mommy gets some cleany time.

She doesn't seem to mind.

Happy Saturday.

Don't bother reading. Seriously.

My favorite blogs to read are those that come with pictures on a regular basis. Sorry to break it to you, but today includes no pictures.

In fact, I can't even remember what I was getting on to blog about at all.

I shouldn't even post this now that there's nocontentwhatsoever, but...

... tomorrow is my Friday because I'm taking a mental health day on the real Friday
... my sweet friend Brooke is subbing for me while I'm out (yippee!)
... Avery is SEVEN months old today! (update post to come soon. or late.)
... my superamazingsister comes home on Friday!

That's enough excitement for a Wednesday night. I'm out.

So much for sportsmanship.

Today was a milestone. Not for Avery. For me.

Okay, maybe milestone is a little too strong a word, but it was the first time I got punched slapped in a soccer game.

I'm not even sure I fouled this chick in the first place, but all I know is that after we made contact, I had a hand coming straight toward my forehead/cheek. Um, hello, this is recreational women's soccer, not the World Cup, lady. After she immediately received a straight red, she had the gall to complain that the ref didn't call the first "foul." So me and my smart mouth politely told her as she walked by, "He can't call the first when you create the second."

To which she promptly responded, "F@#$ you!"

Classy.

Okay, so in hindsight maybe I shouldn't have said anything, but if the t-shirt that we're playing for is really that important, I'll just give her mine when we win the division.

Oh, and I scored the tying goal.

Too bad tying (is that word even spelled correctly?!?) is just as bad as losing. Have I mentioned I'm competitive?

Friday Five: Birthday Edition

1. Rainy day=brilliant. I love the rain. A rainy birthday is even better.

2. My husband rocks my face off. He cracks me up because he's had my presents wrapped and waiting for me for the past two weeks, and every day he's tried to get me to open at least one of them. So go figure that this morning he couldn't even wait for me to get out of bed, and I opened my gifts with eyes still half-shut with sleep.

3. Presents!

I'm going to give him the benefit of a doubt on this one and assume he's not

saying I need to work out. I was pretty excited about this though:

I've been wanting one of these apple peeler/corer/slicers so bad ever since I borrowed my mom's to make some apple pies:

Eek! I'd been wanting one of these, too! I'm completely inept at

chopping vegetables. Problem solved! And it's pink:

4. Surprise birthday lunch! I love love love the sophomore English team. They set up a surprise birthday lunch for me today, complete with decorated desk, a sign on the board and a full lunch spread! It was so yummy and a much better alternative to my sandwich and chips. I'm going to miss these girls so much next year! They seriously are the best coworkers I could ever ask for-- and I don't even have a picture to post of all of us! I need to work on that.

5. And there's still more to come. Tonight we're going to my parent's house because my awesome mommy always takes requests for our birthday dinners. My choices for the evening: oven fried chicken, her garlic/brown sugar green beans, homemade mac and cheese, and chocolate chip cake. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. And tomorrow Matt and I are going on a real live date. Chuy's for dinner and When in Rome afterwards because it is still my birthday celebration and I request a chick flick. I win!

So I'm not technically 26 until 9:00 pm, but happy birthday to me anyway!

You CAN teach an old dog new tricks.

Is it self-absorbed that I love my new layout so I keep going to my blog just to look at it? I mean, check out that header! Granted, I used a pre-made background on it, but I discovered that photo editing software is way out of my league. It wasn't even Photoshop; instead I tried my hand at the poor man's version, aka paint.net. I gained a new appreciation for my ridiculously talented sister (who can maneuver Photoshop like nobody's business), and, in turn, got a lesson in humility. I pride myself on my document-formatting and spreadsheet-creating skills, so it was much to my dismay that all those crazy layers and backgrounds and lighting options were beyond my capabilities. This simple header took me like TWO hours to make! And it's barely anything! I really need to figure out how to become more efficient in header-creation. 

Last night I tried another new thing. My talented friend Kendra is directing Thoroughly Modern Millie at the small Christian school where she teaches, so she asked Matt and me to come to her final dress rehearsal to take notes for the kids. I've been in my fair share of musicals and revues, but more than that, I am obsessed with everything musical theater and like to pretend I actually know what I'm talking about. (Matt actually has had more "directing" experience as of late, but he's not such a know-it-all.) So naturally we said we'd do it and made the trek up there to help out (and see the show for free-- score!). As the show began and I was sitting there with my rockin' glow stick (to write notes in the dark, of course-- how cool!), notebook, and paper, I suddenly felt like such a poser. What in the world was I supposed to even watch for?!? Fortunately, being opinionated and critical has its upsides. I filled up four whole pages of comments, questions, and critiques. They weren't even all negative! And it was surprisingly fun. It didn't hurt that the show was fabulous. Just call me Heather Ebert. Two thumbs up! 

Tomorrow's my birthday, and although I don't get quite as excited as this, I'm actually looking forward to it. I haven't had a good birthday in like four years, mostly because I'm always coaching on my birthday, which translates to spending the evening outside in the cold, wind, and rain. But 26 just sounds old to me. I know it's not, but I can't help but to be aware of the fact that I'm officially in my "upper twenties," I'm officially out of the under-25 category, and I'm officially four years away from thirty. Yikes! 

But then maybe I'll be thirty, flirty, and thriving. 

And still learning new tricks.