Friday Five

1. One of my favorite childhood memories was "playing" guitar and singing with my dad. He would change chords and we would strum while we sang our Wee Sing song of choice. I may have teared up a little the other night when I found Matt and Avery doing the same thing.

2. I started planning our back-to-school children's ministry event today, and I'm so excited about it! We're doing a family night at the Mercy Me concert/Ranger game; what a great way to end the summer! (Even if it is with every other church group in North Texas. Seriously, it'll be packed.)

3. I read the first Harry Potter book for my adolescent lit class in college, and I enjoyed it, really I did. However, I've never been a fan of anything of the sci-fi or fantasy genre, so I had no desire to read the rest of the series. I tried to watch the movies (less time commitment and all), but I fell asleep during the first one and gave up. So I cannot for the life of me understand the big deal about seeing HP7.2 (or whatever it's called) at midnight and spending so much emotional energy obsessing over it. I mean, I get the attachment to an extent, but it seems to me that some people need to engage more real life rather than living their lives through a fictional character. Call me crazy or flame me all you want, but I just don't. get it.

4. I know it's a little early to be looking forward to it, but Matt and I are getting a much-needed date night on Monday (yay for summer break)! Avery's getting a sleepover at Grandma and Granddaddy's, so we're going to the drive in! My mom is taking Avery to the new Winnie the Pooh movie on Tuesday (while we take a carload of preteens to camp!), so the timing works out pretty perfectly. Now we just have to decide on which two movies to see (guess which one we won't be seeing, haha)...

Photo courtesy of Ask Miss A

5. I've thought it was Saturday all day, so now I feel like I have a bonus weekend! Tomorrow I'm going to my friend Kati's Shaklee party and then we have a Sunday School pool party that evening, and on Sunday we're having a little get together with our small group. Who knows what we'll do tonight, but happy weekend everybody!

Friday Five

1. Aunt Carrie came up to meet Landon! She brought her new fiance, Bubba, his daughter, Ava, and NeNe, so we had a great time hanging out. We feasted at Bamboo Palace, watched the girls play at the fountains, and scarfed down some Oreo treats.  Ava and Avery (confusing?) had a blast playing together; I'm excited for Avery to have a cousin close to her age! We don't get to see Carrie all that often, so we were thankful to spend some time with her!

2. I enjoyed my first snow cone of the season today! I've been whining that our town doesn't have a snow cone stand, so since I had a couple hours by myself and needed to do some work at church, I decided to check out the stand between our house and the church. 1) It had a drive-thru. Score. 2) My wedding cake with cream snow cone was delicious. I'll definitely be back (especially since we can satisfy snow cone cravings without getting the baby out in the heat)!

3. I've got nothing for number 3. I have a lot I need to be doing instead of writing this blog, but I've been so stinking consistent this week that I hated to let it go today.

4. My parents were supposed to come home from Europe today. They've been gone for over two weeks, but their flight from NYC got cancelled, so now they're on a super early flight to try to get back in time for...

5. ...Avery's birthday party tomorrow! We're doing a very small family party at our house and then going to Avery's favorite place, The Ballpark in Arlington. Yes, we're having a Rangers themed birthday party for our little girl. What can I say, she loves her Rangers. I'll post a party update later!

Friday Five: It's Back!

Well, we're getting into more of a groove these days, so I've finally had a chance to catch up on some computer stuff (ahem, blog included). Hence the return of the Friday Five! This next picture doesn't have anything to do with the post, but I'm including it because it makes me happy. 

1. My baby boy is one month old today! If you missed the post last night, you can find it here.

2. I am so addicted to Pinterest lately. I signed up awhile ago but it took awhile for me to spend any time with it and figure it out. Remember when you were in middle and high school and you cut out all your favorite pictures and ideas from magazines (oh, that was just me)? Well that's Pinterest but online. It's awesome. I've gotten SO many ideas from looking at other peoples' boards. I think you have to have an invite to join, so let me know if you want one.

3. Grocery shopping with Matt is almost worse than grocery shopping with Avery. We went to Kroger yesterday, and he made me look at the bakery selection. Who knew Kroger had such an awesome bakery?!? Let's just say we left with two of these.

Now that is a cookie sandwich. And for $1.50, the only thing it hurt was my waistline. I have got to start working out soon. I'm just waiting for the go-ahead when I go to my follow-up appointment with Dr. D. Yep, that's my excuse.

4. Sheesh, forget Christmas. 'Tis the season of gift giving. I have SO many friends getting married and having babies this summer, and now that Avery's getting birthday invites, too, it's enough to make us go broke. Don't get me wrong, I do love giving gifts, it's just an overwhelming amount in a short amount of time right now!

5. Every day feels like the weekend during the summer because I'm lucky enough to have my husband home every day, but I'm especially excited about this weekend because 1) I love the 4th of July, and 2) we're celebrating Avery's second birthday (although her party will be next weekend)! A preview of what's to come: swimming, watching the Women's World Cup, playing at the fountains, going to fireworks shows, going to a birthday party, cooking out, and finding even more spontaneous fun wherever we can. I can't wait!

Hope you have a great (safe) 4th of July weekend!

Friday Five

1. I'm so incredibly tired. This will be short. I'm going to make myself take a nap once I stop hearing giggling from Avery's bed.

2. This made me laugh today.

3. I made some serious progress on my to-do list this week. Now if only I could get motivated to

• make the last of my sewing projects
• make and write thank you notes
• pack a hospital bag (or at least start)
• cut some fabric

then I'd be good to go.

4. Matt and I are playing each other's teams in fantasy baseball this week, and he's only beating me by less than two points.  I'm a little competitive. I really want to beat him. And my brother when it's my week to play his team.

5. Avery and I went to Chick-fil-a again for lunch today. I think that might be our third time this week. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that. Anyway, we went with Kari and Emma, and a good time was had by all. :) Love those girls. And we're SO excited that Matt's brother and sister-in-law are coming to see us on Sunday! It'll be a short visit, but we can't wait to meet baby Josie!

Friday Five

1. I haven't had too many cravings this pregnancy, but the ones I've had all seem to revolve around cereal. The past couple of months, I've been wanting Rice Krispie Treats pretty much all the time. So what did Matt make for me while I was out with my mom and sister last weekend? A whole pan of them, plus he got extra marshmallows so we could make more. Let's just say that they don't last very long when I know they're in the kitchen.

2. I finally got a Kindle! When they first came out I seriously couldn't see myself switching over from real live books, but I finally caved (plus, since Matt got some extra cash by working at a choir competition and we made a nice little chunk of change via garage sale, Matt finally convinced me to buy something for myself). I'm SO excited to start using it! Any recommendations on good downloads (preferably free ones until they start library loan, lol)?

3. Teacher Appreciation Week at Avery's Mother's Day Out was this last week, and since I'm terrible at coming up with gifts (especially for people I don't really know), I just went on the assumption that everybody loves coffee (right?) and made reusable coffee sleeves to accompany Starbucks gift cards. I used the Cottage Home tutorial, and I love the way they turned out! They were super easy to make (okay, minus sewing the stupid button) and were a great use of some fabric scraps that I had and couldn't bring myself to throw away. I'm pretty sure I'll be making more of these.

4. Matt left yesterday for the annual choir trip (this year to San Antonio), so Avery and I are on our own until Sunday night. Boo. I'm so spoiled; I hate it when he's gone. (I have no idea how military wives do it!) And while I'm trying to mentally prepare myself to go past my due date again, I'm secretly hoping I go into labor this weekend so he has to come home early. There, I said it.

5. We do have pretty fun weekend plans though! Avery and I spent this morning running errands (okay, not so fun but totally necessary!) and then met up with Whitney and Pearson for lunch at Chick-fil-a (shocker!). After Sleeping Beauty wakes up from her nap, we'll head up to my cousin Amy's house for pizza and Canasta (and Avery will get to watch her new Tangled DVD) for the evening. Then tomorrow we're going to Kendra and Carlos' apartment to celebrate Carlos' birthday, and on Sunday one of my best friends, Candie, and her little boy are stopping in town on their way back to Austin, so they'll go to church and lunch with us! And then Matt will rejoin us that evening, woohoo!

Friday Five

1. I celebrated Cinco de Mayo yesterday by meeting my cousin Amy for dinner at Chuy's for my favorite Mexican food in the entire world. Seriously y'all, Tex-Mex beats "authentic" Mex any day in my book. And no matter how hard I try, I just can't bring myself to order anything but the Chuychanga (with deluxe tomatillo sauce!) because it is just that good.

After that I had a whole evening to myself to just run errands, which, for the record, is much easier to do without lugging a toddler in and out of a car seat, knowing where a bathroom is at all times, and coming up with silly songs to keep said toddler entertained.

Thanks, Matt, for letting me have a much needed night away. :)

2. On Wednesday night, Matt painted our guest/kids bathroom, so he put everything back together last night while I was gone. I am so in love with how the color turned out! We picked a Tiffany-blue, and it's amazing how much of a difference it made in that tiny room (I really hate the layout of that bathroom)! We're using the same color in our bathroom (once I get it all taped and ready) because 1) I still love the color, and 2) we only had to buy one gallon of paint that way (we're cheap). So here's the finished product (although the blue turned out much paler in the pictures):

3. Today Avery and I are going to go through the house and get rid of stuff! Woohoo! We're putting some stuff in a garage sale this weekend, so I really need to get it all sorted and priced and out of here. I love getting rid of clutter.

4. Also on the agenda for today is for me to start (and maybe finish?) Mother's Day presents. You might say I've procrastinated a little bit. :)

5. Matt's mom and sister are coming to hang out with us this weekend! I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to post on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Friday Five

I've neglected the blog this week, mainly because it's just been a rough few days. Nothing major, just some frustrations piled on top of crazy end-of-pregnancy hormones, so I just haven't really felt like writing much. There have been some noteworthy happenings around here this week though, so here's the Five!

1. Potty training is still going really well, except we've had a dramatic snafu at Mother's Day Out. Long story short, too many of the kids in A's class are being potty trained right now, and their classroom isn't equipped with a bathroom, so now they're telling us that the kids can't go potty at school anymore. Now I get that Avery is younger than the typical potty training age, but she actually gets it and tells us (and her teachers) when she needs to go to the bathroom and she goes (I don't think the other kids do though). So now I'm worried about what it'll do to her progress if we tell her that she has to pee in a Pull Up at school. Sigh. Anyway, one of her teachers has been super supportive, and I know it's not the end of the world or anything, but it is frustrating since A has picked up the whole potty thing pretty quickly and now we could backtrack. I guess we'll see what happens this week.

2. We got to go to the Ranger game on Tuesday night with our sweet neighbors! They were great seats (and great parking, which I appreciate even more these days!), and Avery did great again. She loves cheering on her Rangers, and she talked about the game the whole day before we went and the whole day afterward. I might be sensing a party theme for her 2nd birthday...

The Rangers lost got killed, but we had a good time anyway. Thanks again for the invite, Brooke and Dave!

3. While she's been in her "big bed" for a couple of months now, Avery just figured out this week that she can test Mommy and Daddy by getting out of it after we put her down for naps or bedtime. Consistent discipline has helped really quickly to keep her in bed, but she's also started waking up super early in the morning and coming into our room. I guess we were spoiled that before she would just stay in her bed, but I need my sleep!  Or maybe God is just using her to get us ready for the interrupted sleep that awaits us in just a few short weeks, haha! Hopefully it's just a short phase while she gets used to waking up when she needs to use the bathroom or something. We'll work on it. :) And these next pictures have nothing to do with her getting out of bed, but they're really cute and since I didn't post them earlier this week, I'm posting them now.

4. My sister, Allison, got home yesterday!! She's been studying abroad in Costa Rica since January, so we're so glad she's finally home again! (And just in time to take maternity pictures before Landon is born, lol.) Avery and I went with my parents and Allison's boyfriend, Isaac, to the airport yesterday, and then Matt met us at Red Robin for dinner on our way home.

Welcome home, Allison!

5. Matt has to work a ton this weekend (concerts tonight and tomorrow night as well as a competition he's working at in the morning), so Avery and I are on our own for most of the next couple of days. And on Sunday some sweet friends are throwing us a baby shower for Landon! (Speaking of that, I need to finish my hostess gifts! Eek-- I'm running out of time!)

Have a great weekend!

Friday Five

1. Well potty training has officially gotten underway at our house. Yikes! Minus a few tears (both from Avery and Mommy), things have gone really well so far. I'll write a separate post about it later, but highlights so far include pee and poop and her first use of a public restroom (thank you, Costco, for keeping your bathrooms clean!). Is it sad that those things have really been the highlight of my week?!?

2. I think the nesting thing has finally set in for me. I stayed up until 1:00 in the morning last night cleaning out the closet in what's becoming Landon's room. I even sorted through my massive box of cards and notes that I've collected since I was a little kid. I only kept about half of them, but it was a nice little walk down memory lane. And now I'm on a mission to get the rest of the house in order. If only Avery would cooperate with that plan. :) She's just so darn cute when she wants to play! That definitely takes priority.

3. The closer I get to my due date also means the closer I get to VBS. While I'm SO excited about it, there is still a lot to do to get ready. I'm so thankful that we've already had so many volunteers sign up to help, including an awesome assistant coordinator, who's keeping me sane when I remember that VBS is only two weeks after my due date. Eek! I truly believe that God is going to use the week to bring glory to Himself by giving our kids (and hopefully the kids in our surrounding communities) a picture of who Jesus is.

4. I've never posted a video to my blog before, but on this Good Friday I want to share one of my favorite songs with you. It's called "Why" by Nichole Nordeman, and it gives me chills every time I hear it. The video isn't the greatest, but I'd encourage you to at least click play so you can hear the song if you've never heard it.

5. I'm excited about spending time with friends and family as we celebrate Christ's resurrection this weekend. I hope your weekend is filled with the same.

Friday Five

1. Avery has been in rare form today. I take most of the blame since we kept her out until 10 last night while Matt helped me work at the church, but the whining has got to stop. Ah! I can't tell you how many times I repeat the following phrase in a day: "I do not hear whining, so if you'd like some help, you'll need to use words." I'm not sure how much of that sentence she actually comprehends, but it usually works.

2. So I had originally intended on just staying home today, but then I remembered a kazillion errands that we needed to run. We ended up heading into town to return some books and DVDs to the library, and since we were running so late, Matt was on his lunch break, so he came and hung out with us for a little bit (the public library is at the high school where he teaches). Then we had to go to Walmart to pick up Avery's new Elmo Potty DVD I ordered online (with a $10 credit, so it was essentially free-- score!), and since it was imperative to our bank account that I deposit a check today, we had to drive another 15 minutes to the bank. Poor girl was exhausted and starving by that point, so we drove through McD's so I could get her a hamburger and some french fries, and (no lie) she fell asleep in the middle of eating. I think she finished her (half) hamburger, but she was out. She is currently fast asleep in her super-dark room, and I'm just praying she takes a ridiculously long nap so I can shower, tackle some of my to-do list, and maybe nap myself. Maybe.

3. Okay, Operation Potty begins Monday. We're going hard core. I want Avery fully potty trained by May. Eek, I might be setting myself up for disappointment, but I have to give myself a goal, right? Anyway, any helpful tips you might have are greatly welcomed!

4. I'm so tired of hearing about the potential government shutdown. First of all, I'd rather the government get out of my life for the most part, so that side of me doesn't mind them just going away for a little bit. However, this not paying the military business and all the bickering that's going on for the purposes of political gain is just ridiculous. So get it together, people! Continue to pay the people who are putting their lives on the line for us, and come to an agreement that will get your outrageous spending under control. I'd rather my kids not have to pay for all of your stupid decisions.

5. Our last two weekends have been so chill. This weekend? Not so much. Tonight we have Dinner and a Movie night for the kiddos at church, so I've been trying to get ready for that all week. We'll probably head up there after Avery wakes up, and then we'll be there until 9ish (or whenever we finish cleaning up). Avery's spending the night at my parents' because my mom is keeping her on Saturday morning while I go to a VBS training event and Matt helps at the church workday. Saturday night we should actually be home, but Sunday is Missions Sunday at church, so there's a potluck after the service, and then after choir practice we're heading to Denton to hear my brother sing in a concert. I'm crossing my fingers that Avery will sit through the concert; she's a pro at the Ranger games, but I'm just not so sure how she'll do at a classical choral event. :)

I'm off to start that to-do list while Sleeping Beauty is still out. Hope you have a great weekend!

Friday Five

1. Today is OPENING DAY!! Well, technically yesterday was Opening Day for MLB, but today is the big day for the Texas Rangers! The only way I would be more excited is if we actually got to go to the Ballpark like we did last year, but that is unfortunately not the case. We'll just have to experience the magic from home. Or someone else's home since we have stupid regular TV and can hardly get any games anymore.

2. I don't even know when we'll be able to make it out to the Ballpark for our first game this year. Before Avery was born we went at least once a week. We even made it out to quite a few games the season she was born. It was harder to go last year because she requires a little more entertainment, but we're hoping that this year she'll enjoy watching the game (haha, maybe?) or at least enjoy the atmosphere. Our half-price ticket connection (hehe) comes back from Costa Rica at the end of April, so hopefully we can go to a game in May before Landon gets here (and he'll get his first taste of the Rangers as soon as possible; Avery's first game was when she was 5 weeks old!).

3. Since I'm on a baseball kick in this post, I would also like to inform you that I have been suckered into recruited to play Fantasy Baseball this year. I may be the only girl in the league, and I may be clueless as to how the league actually works (I've only played Fantasy Football, which so far seems way easier), but I refuse to lose. I probably won't win, but I will not come in last. Especially since my brother is convinced that I will. :)

4. And now to switch gears completely. Budget cuts in education. That was a fragment (don't worry, I don't teach English anymore).

I get that the state (well, really the whole country) is out of money. I get that that means that budgets have to be cut. I get that that means that even the most worthwhile things like education will suffer. I actually don't have a problem with cutting education budgets in general because honestly I saw so much excessive, unnecessary spending in our district when I was teaching. (Keep in mind, I was in a great district, and I'm almost positive that kind of spending went on in most, if not all, Texas districts, simply because the money was there.)

What I do have a problem with is how districts (at least ours) are choosing to cut budgets, and that is in the way of teachers. I'm sure that because of the sheer amount of money that needed to be saved, the problem could only be solved by eliminating some positions. What makes me crazy is that seniority seems to be playing the biggest role in these cuts. There are positions in the administration building that seem absolutely worthless, and the teachers that they're cutting are overwhelmingly first-year or new-to-district teachers.

Whatever happened to rewarding actual job performance? In my observations, many first-year teachers, while completely clueless in that first year, figure it out (i.e. classroom management) and become fantastic educators by their second year (think tons of energy, passion for the profession, and a willingness to try new teaching techniques). Whereas many of the teachers who have been in the school system longer than I've been alive are completely burned out, negative, and doing just enough to get by.

I know it's just wishful thinking, but in a perfect world, the decision-makers would use this time to get rid of the teachers who have no business being in a classroom in order to keep the ones who actually care about their students and work their butts off to see them succeed. Actually, if we're talking perfect world here, we wouldn't be in this economic situation, but that's a story for another day.

**Please know that I do not think that all "seasoned" teachers are terrible. Nor do I think that all new teachers are good. I just wish that there could be a more fair way of making these decision, rather than just who's been at the school the longest.**

Okay, that topic really should've been its own post. I got a little carried away.

5. This weekend is another free one for us (two in a row?!?), so we're hoping to get some more stuff done around the house. Try not to get too envious of our super-exciting lives.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Five

1. I have been totally slacking on the 52 Week Organizing Challenge. While I like to think that I'm Superwoman and can accomplish my entire to-do list in a day, I'm beginning to realize that I just can't do everything. I know, it's taken me awhile to come to this conclusion, but these days I'm working my big ol' booty off just to keep our house in functioning order, take care of a very active toddler, keep up with all the children's ministry stuff I'm responsible for, and not lose my mind over all the things I still need to get done before Landon gets here. That said, big organizing projects have fallen by the wayside. I'll still post updates when I get to them, but don't hold your breath too long in the waiting.

2. Avery got her very first Sonic slush yesterday! Keep in mind that this is the girl who only drinks milk and water. (We don't give her juice because 1) we're cheap, 2) I'm paranoid about her teeth getting too coated with sugar, and 3) we figure if she doesn't know what she's missing, she won't be begging for it all the time, haha.)

Anyway, she had a great day yesterday, and I had a $1.17 in change just calling Sonic's name after I picked up the munchkin from Mother's Day Out. Plus it was Happy Hour. Score! So I got a small Coke and Avery got a blue coconut slush, and we enjoyed our treats on the back porch when we got home.

What mom in her right mind gives her not-yet-two-year-old a dark blue beverage?!? Seeing as how my financial limitations required colored slushes (as opposed to the real fruit lime ones that are clear) and she was wearing a blue shirt, I just went with it.

Let's just say that Avery likes "slushy!!"

3. I had my first big sewing fail this week. It was bound to happen, especially since I was moving on from burp cloths and straight lines. My mom already had the cute pattern and fabric for it, so I decided to make some adorable Bermuda shorts for Avery. Fail #1: I started these shorts a few weeks ago but stopped in the middle of making them because I needed to make Matt's Batman birthday pajama pants (post on those coming soon, btw). Well, when I returned to the project this week, I completely forgot that I was using white thread and inadvertently switched to chocolate brown. By the time I realized my error, I was way too far into it to bring myself to take it all apart and switch back to white. Argh. Fail #2: The second fail was actually not really my fail per se. I blame the stupid pattern. Because when I went to try the (still uncompleted but close) shorts on my little model, they didn't even cover half of her bottom. I'm not a huge fan of toddler super-low rise pants. So now it's back to the drawing board sewing machine. I refuse to throw the shorts away because I did a stinking good job on the pockets and the bottom, non-waist section, so I will find a solution.

4. We are LOVING this weather! It's been in the 70s and 80s all week, and we've been spending tons of time outside. We went to the park with friends on Wednesday, have been going on exploratory walks in the yard (and playing in the sand) at home, and today we're going to meet Kari and Emma for a picnic at an outside shopping center that has a good play area.

5. This weekend is another free one (this is so unusual for us, but we'll take it!), so we're probably gonna spend it just working (and playing) around the house. We're such homebodies these days. :)

Happy Friday!