Who I am!

So, I got "tagged" by a friend who is a seasoned blogger, but I have no idea what it means... the blog that she'd written was a response to the following "I" statements, so I figured I would just respond to them myself. So here goes a little reflection and insight into me.



I am thankful for the life God has given me.

I want to be more self-disciplined in my life right now.

I have a long day ahead of me because Andy won't be home until about 10 pm.

I wish that I were lying on a sunny beach somewhere today with my family.

I hate injustice.

I miss my family... especially my mom and grandma who just left.

I fear something happening to my husband and being left alone.

I feel tired today because I stayed up reading too late.

I hear G crying because E is annoying her by trying to laso her with a hula hoop (oh my!)

I smell very keenly which is great for good scents, but horrible for nasty ones.

I crave way too much soda and caffeine, but try not to give into the craving all the time.

I search for unique and interesting gifts on the internet or in stores.

I wonder sometimes if I am being the best mom and wife that I am able to be.

I regret arguing with Andy last night, but mostly holding onto my anger today.

I love my Lord, my husband, my children, and my life!

I ache on my whole left side- shoulder, elbow, leg, knee... since G was born.

I care about others' struggles but I don't always tell them so or do something to help.

I always go to bed too late and wake up tired in the mornings.

I am not the housekeeper that I would like to be.

I believe that I have a Savior who adores me and has a perfect plan for me.

I sing from my heart and wish that in reality my voice sounded as great as it does in my mind.

I dance in my heart and mind when I hear a song I love... even if I can't really dance at that time

I cry when I see or hear of children suffering or being abused/neglected.

I don't always do the "good" things that I think of doing for other people.

I fight far too often using my words as a sword, but then I always regret it.

I write a lot and I enjoy writing, especially the lessons I've learned in life.

I never want to repeat mistakes that I've made in the past or those that I've seen others make.

I listen less than I could and talk more than I should.

I need to connect with my husband everyday, to know that we are in this thing totally together.
I am happy when I'm laughing with my kids and husband.

Good Bye Baby!

Our baby girl turned ONE on Saturday! I truly can't believe it- where did the time go? Between a very difficult recovery time after her birth, adjusting to life with 2 girls, post-partum brain fog and funk, and then her being very clingy to Mama and not eating solid food until 9 months old.... I really didn't feel like I settled down to just ENJOY her until about 3 months ago. Of course there were lots of good times before that, but they were sometimes overshadowed by the challenges. For the past few months she has just blossomed! She is scooting around all of our furniture, so she'll be walking before we know it. She also crawls all over this place, sometimes with a toy in each hand. She is trying to say a few words (in order of appearance): Dada, Snack, Mama, Night Night.... snack is the funniest one because for a kid who wouldn't eat until 9 months she surely loves her food and snacks now. She has such a fun personality, smiling and laughing much of the time. Her big sissy makes her laugh the most and she always has. Big sissy also aggravates her quite regularly too, but G will not be pushed around and often squeals when she's being bothered.

We had a great birthday party on Saturday! We had mostly family and a few friends join us. The highlight for me was having my mom and grandma here for the week. It's very rare for someone in our home to celebrate a birthday with any of my family here. The weather was gorgeous and the kids played outside most of the day. We had a nice BBQ, complete w/ chicken, sausage, baked beans, potato salad, bread, iced tea, and lemonade... If you can't be in the south you might as well pretend that you are, right??

We had some fun games for the party: Guess the number of star snacks in the baby jar- a nod to G's favorite snacks. G can and can't game- a list of items that people had to guess whether she could or couldn't do yet. The older kids enjoyed a cupcake shaped pinata and pin the cherry on the cupcake games, too.

We had a giant cupcake shaped cake that I made. I enjoy making cakes since I took a few Wilton classes when we were first married. I'm no professional, but the ones I make for our family usually come out pretty cute. PARTY TIP: I always hate serving ice cream at parties b/c it's messy and time consuming. This time I bought little cups of ice cream, but I recently read a cute idea. Take muffin tins, line with muffin cups, put a scoop of ice cream in each cup and place back in the freezer. When it's time to serve remove from the freezer and voila!

Soooo....that's the run down on the birthday bash. One day I will figure out how to get some pictures on this blog and share some of the big day with you all.

Way too Late

So, I'm sitting here at my computer and it's 1:09 am and my family has been in bed for a while now. I have really enjoyed keeping up with a few friends' blogs and reading about their lives. Since I solved the mystery and found out that Cajun Girl is my oldest friend from childhood, I'm not as leary of this blogging thing. Anyway, I couldn't be more joyful. My mom and grandma arrived last night for a week long visit to be here for little G's first birthday. My grandma hasn't been here since we were married and has never been to our home. It's a blessing to have them here. It's a blessing to still have a healthy, active grandmother when you are 35. I had great grandmothers until I was in my late 20's and it was always so cool to be with them... I pray that my kids have the same opportunity w/ Maw Maw... she's there only one left. So far we are just hanging out together, doing the daily routines. E loves having her Momou here and wants to eat what she eats, be where she is, read with her, play games with her, you name it: if Momou is game, E will be stuck to her like glue. A precious moment happened tonight though... my cousin and his family were here visiting. Maw Maw tried to hug one of his girls, but she declined and then E jumped up in her lap and gave her the best, long cuddle I've seen her give anyone other than us. Of course I started snapping photos left and right w/o interrupting the moment. Of course, I laughed to Andy the other night and asked him, " Are you sure that you are prepared for 4 generations of hormones and attitudes in one house for a week?" So far there's been a lot of good times and not too much attitude.... but tomorrow is another day, ripe w/ possibilities for attitude eruptions at any moment.... I'm laughing, but also praying that we keep the 'tudes under wraps enough not to ruin the visit- it's a precious gift and I don't want to waste it.

Long Time No Post

It's been a long time since I posted... I have to say I'm still a little leary of the whole blog thing. Not too sure that I like the fact that just anyone can "evesdrop" on our life without me knowing. I like the idea, but not the seeming lack of security. Like on my second blog someone responded to it that I didn't know and they didn't tell me who they were... kinda freaky... b/c they knew me and where I grew up... Who are you Cajun Girl?? I'm still deciding if blogging is for me.... anyone know of a way to make it more secure and "by invitation only"??

One thing I'm not deciding on anymore is how we are going to educate our daughter. We are choosing to homeschool her. We are excited about the possibilities and freedom we have to customize an education program that fits her and allows her to excell where she is strong- at her own pace. But the thing I am most happy about is the lack of hurriedness that I think homeschooling will provide for our family. When I sat down to think it through I was shocked.

In a traditional school setting a child's day looks something like this:

morning routine/breakfast/etc. 1 hour
on the bus at on the bus 30 min.- 1 hour
school from 8am-2pm (6 hours)
on the bus 30 min.- 1 hour
homework for 1-4 hours (that's an average I read about recently)
practices/activities/sports (let's say just one hour plus drive time)
bedtime routine/shower/etc. 1 hour
sleep time 10-12 hours

I'm not a math whiz, but even taking only an hour for homework and sleeping 10 hours... that's still 21 hours a day that revolve around sleeping and schooling type stuff.

That leaves a mere 3 hours a day for our families to be together doing anything that we enjoy, including having dinner together. That's not much. When I realized this fact, I became more joyful about our choice to homeschool because my prayer is that it leads to a less hurried family.

I want my children to enjoy their lives and for our family to have time together to create memories and traditions. For me less hurried sounds great and I am looking forward to it.

Here's a shout out to being less hurried in all areas of our lives... to stop and smell the roses... to be still and know that He is God...to hug a kid... to read a book...to fingerpaint...to sit on the living room floor and laugh together...to just be...