self challenge

Feeling slow lately. This stupid tooth ordeal has taken up too much of my life. I'm ready for something new. I need to get up tomorrow morning and get on my bike for some time with God. Doesn't that sound fantastic?? So, I'm challenging myself. Someone hold me accountable, will ya??

Big weeks coming up. Heading out to Springfield, MO again this weekend for Kimmie's bridal shower (awwww) and really looking forward to spending time with her. Hoping to catch Elsie's new line at my favorite scrapbook store too. We shall see. :) Then I come to Sunday (which is always a challenge) and The Fam is coming on Monday night sometime. Looking forward to chilling with them (and shopping with Mom) but the Mother Daughter Banquet will probably be looming over my head a bit. Honestly, I think it will be a blast, just a lot of responsibility on my little shoulders. :) Oh, and I almost forgot, next week is our 9th anniversary. Yay us! The week after that I turn (gasp) 28 and the week beyond that is District Council, where Rob will officially be recognized as a Reverend. Pretty cool. Attendence is mandatory. hee hee. Like we'd miss that! :) So the next few weeks will be busy but fun and I'm all for fun!

Oh, and I'm still in love with the grocery game. I could never go back. I shopped three stores tonight, spent $14. I bought 2 standard pillows, 2 bottles OPI nail polish, 2 cans Planters Cashews (Eli's fave), 3 boxes of Nabisco cookies, 3 packages of Energizer 8-pack batteries, 1 Mega bag Huggies diapers, 2 childrens toothbrushes, a bag of Gardettos and a chocolate bar. Yep, it was fun! :)

Well, I need to get to bed if I'm going to make my date in the morning. Toodles.

eye candy

two fun new things for you. The purse I got for $20 at Value City of all places. It's Liz Claiborne and it's leather AND it's GREEN!!! So no, green is still green in my book. And the other photo is today's page. Been a super productive day

waking up

Do you ever wake up on the right side of the bed? Typically we talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed, feeling grumpy and spreading it around all day. But what if you wake up in an unusually good mood, with a spring in your step and your eyes lifted upward? Do you share it? Well, today I am.

Just kind of been in love with my family lately. We had a really great day homeschooling yesterday and then we ran errands, but it was just really fun. The kids were pretty good overall (Sarah had a moment midafternoon, but we survived it). We just all enjoyed each others company. Then I had a solo trip to Walmart (a total rarity) and topped it off with snuggle time on the couch and a mini cake. Don't ask, it's just a weird once-in-awhile fun tradition of ours. :)

I almost forgot. The ice cream truck (!!!) passed our house just as we had finished dinner last night, so the kids grabbed their fake crocs and hurried out with me and dad and camera in tow. What excitement for them. Then we sat on the porch while the kids ate their treats, it was so fun!

And then this morning I just woke up on the right note. The kids got up at 7am and I wandered around sleepily getting them breakfast, but then they settled in for some Saturday am cartoons and I went back to bed for some zzzzs. Wow, I love that they are old enough to handle that!! They were both really good. I think Saturday just became my new favorite day of the week!

I'm not sure if I've just finally gotten through the fog of pain and worry I've struggled with this week and that is making the world brighter, or if I'm really just in an amazing mood. Either way I'm good.

Really hoping to scrapbook today. Feeling very creative. I'm reading this book, about having amazing conversations with your kids. I'm definitely inspired. This book seems so cutting edge in it's thinking but it was reprinted in 1994. Unfortunately, I don't think enough teachers have read it and I'm considering it a God thing that I found it by accident. It talks a lot about problem solving and abstract thinking. Problem solving has always been dear to my heart, all the way back from the days of ELP (Extended Learning Program). I can see now (decades later) how much ELP effected my personality and shaped my thought patterns today and I am determined to help my children think that way too. Every day I am more excited and more firm in our decision to homeschool. I see hundreds of benefits and only a few (selfish) negatives. :) I feel like we've started an incredible journey and I'm blessed to be a part of it. Anyway, back to the book. It's very exciting, saying that we need to help our children understand the availability of information, but more importantly the ability to organize information mentally and see the big picture. I think this is something I am very good at (with the exception of math, I have a real lack of confidence when it comes to math). The book focuses on learning to 'talk' with your child about real and deep things, rather than just the simple daily things, encouraging them to express themselves and critically think. The most exciting part is realizing that there may not be one finite 'right answer' but rather many possibilities. Sounds like my entire experience at Morningside College, doesn't it? Not sure I learned anything that year, just asked a lot of questions. But imagine how far ahead a child could be if they learn to think this way at a young age?? You suddenly have a creative thinker on your hands. Maybe the next Einstein or Benjamin Frankln. Yes, very exciting.

One of the key points in the chapters I read last night was to never stop learning yourself. This has always been my philosophy of life. It was good to get this pat on the back. I am constantly reading new material, absorbing new things, creating and discussing new things. I will most definitely continue this lifestyle with this new undertaking of homeschooling. I'm just excited! So if you have small kids, or you homeschool, or stink, if you just want to have better conversations with your husband, check out this book. There are tons of creative thinking questions in the back and I am raring to go with it. :)

That's it for now, have a happy Saturday! I know I will.

Big Day here on the old Blog.

Had a couple pages to share from this afternoon's haze of creativity. Amazing how your brain starts working again when you stop popping ibuprofen like they are tic tacs!

Oh My Goodness!!!

It's up!!! I am so excited. The super secret project I worked on for Expotv.com is up. They just relaunched their website and it's amazing. Run, don't walk to it now!! Here's a sample of one of my videos. Enjoy!!

Is Pink the new Green??

Completely random question, I know. I am in my studio (yay!) playing with some new supplies and am slowly realizing my plethora of pink as of late. What is my deal? Did I suddenly decide to go all out girly? Or maybe Sarah is wearing off on me, with her permanent addiction to pink and (gasp) purple. No, purple is still on my 'do not associate with' list. I just don't think purple, it's never been my thing. But pink is in in my book, I guess. Let's take a quick inventory... New cell phone. Pink. It's SOOO girly, but I love it. But to be fair, if they had a lime or grass green razor, I would have been sold in an instant. New bike. Pink. Again, no green to be found, but I might have still swayed toward pink. It's just so cute. I cannot wait to get out and ride it. My common sense is barely winning that argument. But I'm sure that exercise is not what my healing gums need.
Ok, and back to pink, I have been using it a lot in the studio lately, not sure what that is about. I really am just amidst a love affair with color lately. I look at some of my old supplies and I'm like - "No way, just too bland, not enough color for me!". Guess it would be a good time to purge and bless some of my scrapbooking buddies, right?? Finding time and energy to purge, that's another story. Sarah happens to be taking the nap of the century. (woohoo) So I've been playing for an hour and a half already, almost finished with my page, it's pretty adorable in my humble opinion. Well, back to work. I'll post later.

sore.

Yeah, so oral surgery, not so much.

Feeling pretty horrible today. Obviously, my mouth hurts. But I'm hungry and it hurts to eat. And why is it when you can't eat, everything sounds so good? I could so go for homemade chocolate chip cookies right now. mmmmm.

Made it through yesterday alright. The procedure took about an hour and a half, it was pretty extensive. I've been pretty lightheaded since then, but I'm starting to feel better now. Something about that magic 24 hour mark.

So ask me how the United concert was.

Yeah, I don't know. I'm sure it was amazing, but we never made it there. We got as far as Marshfield, MO and our van broke down. The adventure began there. Through an amazing turn of events, our old church came and bailed us out well Pastor Ed figured out what to do next. We wound up spending the night at the Days Inn in Springfield and Pastor and David drove out for us this morning. We had a great time though, lots of time to talk and laugh and mess around. Eli and Sarah were with us and they did pretty well, too. Kim and Ricky spent some time with us too, and that was a real treat. So here are some fun highlights in photos for you. enjoy!

new dress

This is a funny photo of me modeling my new dress... well sort of. Let me know what you think Kimmie!

Surveys are dumb.

Full Name: Anna Elizabeth
Birthday: May 17th. (it's almost here!!)
Birthplace: North Dakota
Eye Color: hazel
Hair Color: brown with cute highlights
Height: 5'4
Right handed or Left handed? right
Your Heritage: mutt
My Worst Habit: doing things out of guilt.
Zodiac Sign: I refuse to put any merit in garbage like this.
Shoe Size: 8
Innie or Outie? in (it popped out when I was preggo, but now it's back in)
Parents Still Together? yes
The Shoes You Wore Today: cute brown flats
Your Weakness: patterned paper
Your Fears: pain definitely bothers me.
Your Perfect Pizza: Casey's or Papa Murphy's.
Your Most Overused Phrase On An Instant Messenger : brb.
Thoughts First Waking Up: thankful for another day, then thinking about what I need to do that day.
Your Best Physical Feature: great fingernails. :)
Your Bedtime: when I'm too tired to stay up anymore. usually pretty late.
Your Most Missed Memory: dating Rob. It was awesome.

MY FAVORITES
Favorite color? lime green. (in case you didn't notice)
Food? food someone else made.
Sport? bike riding right now.
Animal? not much of an animal person anymore. but I have kids. :)
Ice Cream? Cold Stone. yum.
Store? favorite? Nah, I pretty much love to shop most anywhere.
Salad Dressing? ranch
Actor? ewan mcgregor
Song? Must Have Done by Relient K (this changes often)
Letter? @ (it's my initials in one neat place on everybody's keyboard)
Number? 42
Gum? sugarfree extra. the flavor lasts 4ever.
Holiday? my birthday. tehee.
Season? love em all, and always ready for the next one.
Radio Station? Air1
Scent besides perfume? my hubby.
Body part on the opposite sex? can I say buns? naw, probably not. Ok, nice hands. Rob has great hands.

FINISH EACH SENTENCE
Let's walk on the . . beach. I so want to live closer to the beach.
Let's look at the . . website.
What a nice . . day.
Where did all the . . wrinkles come from?
Why can't we . . out to eat? I'm too tired to cook.
Silly, little . . princess.
Isn't it weird that . . our kids don't look like us?
Never under any circumstance . .use this phrase. God has a way of making those things happen.
Everyone has a . . issues.
I am . . getting a little more secure in myself every day.

DO YOU
Swear? nope. it's not becoming.
Sing Well? moderately not terrible.
Shower Daily? every ohter. yeah, I'm gross.
Want To Get Married? not again. Pretty happy with my first choice.
Believe In Yourself? for sure, cause God believes in me. :)
Get Motion Sickness? nope.
Like Thunderstorms? Love em. We sit on the porch and watch. We are wierd.
Play An Instrument? flute, years ago.
Own An IPOD? nope, and iRiver.
Pray? all the time.
Go To Church? ah, yes.
Sleep With Stuffed Animals? does Rob count?
Keep A Journal/Diary? you're reading it.
Dance In The Rain? I did this once and got pnuemonia. I don't recommend it.
Sing In The Shower? no, I use the quiet time to pray.

THIS OR THAT
Pepsi or Coke? Dr Pepper when I'm off the waqon.
McDonald's or Burger King? McDonald's.
Single or Group Dates? single. love alone time with Rob.
Chocolate or Vanilla? vanilla.
Strawberries or Blueberries? stawberries.
Meat or Veggies? both.
TV or Movie? movie! both.
Guitar or Drums? both are needed. :)
Adidas or Nike? doesn't matter.
Chinese or Mexican? chinese
Cheerios or Corn Flakes? cheerios.
Cake or Pie? depends on the type.
MTV or VH1? don't watch either. too trashy.
Blind or Deaf? Both sound terrible.
Boxers or Briefs? boxers.

CAN YOU
Do The Splits? um.. no.
Write With Both Hands? no.
Whistle? barely.
Blow A Bubble? YES.. and I can snap my gum.
Roll Your Tongue In A Circle? yep.
Cross Your Eyes? yes.
Walk With Your Toes Curled? why would you do that?
Touch Your Tongue to Your Nose? not a chance.
Dance? definitely. ask my kids, we have dance parties in the living room all the time.
Eat Whatever You Want And Not Worry? I'm blessed with pretty high metabolism, but with 30 looming on the horizon I know I need to be careful.

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON
You Touched: Rob. Said good morning.
You Talked To On The Phone: Brandi.
You Instant Messaged: Lori
You Hugged: Sarah. good morning.
You Yelled At: my kids. I'm about to do it again.
You Played A Sport With: rode bikes with the kids and rob.

WHAT'S THE LAST
Time You Laughed? yesterday, but I haven't been up that long yet.
Time You Cried? MOPs, when I was praying for some new pregnant momma'
Movie You Watched? pursuit of happyness
Flavor Of Gum You Chewed? eclipse. not my favorite.
Joke You Told? it's a good one...
"why do ducks have flat feet? --- to put out fires... Why do elephants have flat feet? -- to put out flaming ducks."" ha ha!!!

RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT
Where Are You? hanging out with Mac.
What Can You See Out Your Window? nope, my blinds are still shut.
Are You Listening To Music? no, the sound of my kids playing and laughing.
What Are You Wearing? a MOPs shirt and pink pajama pants.
What's On Your Mousepad? it's sad, it's just a red folder because the imouse won't work right on our desk.

BELIEFS
Do you believe there is life on other planets? nope.
Do you believe in miracles? definitely. Eli and Sarah are proof.
Magic? nope.
Love at first sight? I'm a dork, but yes. Doesn't mean you get to stop trying down the road when things get rough.
God? Of course.
Satan? yes. he's a dork.
Ghosts? nope.
Santa? I think it takes less faith to believe in God than it does to believe in santa.

IN A GIRL/GUY...
Fav Eye Color: hazel.
Fav Hair Color: brown.
Short or Long Hair: shortish. I'd like to see Rob with punk hair though.
Height: taller than me.
Weight: thin. Rob weighs the same now as he did when we met.
Clothing Style: punkish alternative. can't get Rob to do it. (sad, I know)

RANDOM
What Country Would You Most Like To Visit? Africa now that I've been to France.
Number Of CD's I Own: a bunch of old stuff, and a ton of MP3's.
Your Good Luck Charm: not my thing.
How many pillows do you sleep with? 3. I'm a baby.
Do you drink milk? only with poptarts.
Do you think God has a gender? I think he's above genders.
Where do you think we go when we die? one of two places. that choice is up to you by your decisions while you are here.
How many rings until you answer the phone? two or three.
What is something scientists need to invent? isn't that their job to figure out??
Are you a health freak? not at all.
Are you a virgin? no
If you could travel into space, where would YOU GO? I wouldn't.
What is the worst weather? tornadoes.
Did you play with Barbies as a child? of course.
How many grades have you failed? none



Well, that was kind of an abrubt ending, but it was still fun.

shopping

Brandi and I hit the mall tonight and I shopped myself silly. Between Rob's ordination service, the Mother Daughter Banquet and Kimmie's wedding, I was in dire need of some new dressy threads. I found this sweet little number at Rue21. I know, it's green, but it's so stinking cute on. I figured it would be perfect for the banquet. I'm so excited!! And then we went to Kohl's and I found a super adorable black and white floral number that will be great for ordination. Couldn't find a picture of it for you, but they are pretty fun. I'll probably let Kimmie pick which one to wear to her wedding. It's been so long since I really shopped, and Brandi was so much fun to shop with! I also picked up two new tops from Delia's, which may very well be my new favorite place to shop. :) I'm having trouble deciding which shirt to wear to the concert tomorrow night. What a problem to have! Yee!

new page

I did this page a couple days ago and just hadn't gotten it up yet. I love it, the colors are so fun. It was heavily inspired by a Jenni Bowlin page - no shocker there. I asked Rob what he thougth and after a long pause he said "well, I like the picture!". silly boy.
Well, I'm trying to gather some stuff for the all-day MOPs crop on Saturday, back to the grindstone for me.

random thoughts

I don't really have anything important to say, I just have a few free moments while I'm waiting for Rob to come stay with the kids. Other than Eli's video game, it's pretty quiet right now, and I relish that. :) I'm in a good place today. (it's a nice change) We had another mom and son over for lunch from MOPs this morning and it was a lot of fun. I finally feel like I'm starting to really connect with some people here, and that is really nice. I thrive so much on relationships.
I got an email from Expo last night about some more work they want me to do and it's just so exciting to me to be a part of something bigger than me! For so many years I've been home now, I love having something that is all mine and that is influential and that stays done once it's finished. Expo has been such a huge part of my life this past year and I am so grateful to it, for it. One of those things where you can just see God's hand tap you on the head with blessing, know what I mean? Anyway, my brain is percolating with ideas for these next projects. Love that.
When Rob gets home I'm heading out to do some serious shopping for the mother daughter banquet. This project is finding a lot of my energy, but I think it's going to be a huge success and I'm really looking forward to it! We are going with a southern theme, think magnolias and sweet tea... I want it to be super girly and fru-fru and fun. Even just getting to go to Hobby Lobby by myself this afternoon, I'm pretty psyched for that. A couple hours alone time. wow.

be proud

I scrapbooked today. Long story short, I show up for my dreaded oral surgery and they've misplaced my appointment so I had to reschedule for next week. Grrr. But it turned out to be a wonderful thing, because I gained an entire extra day. Now how often can a person say that?? I decided that God must have really wanted me to have a day off (or at least an afternoon) so I holed up in my studio and played. It was soooo fun!! I did this page from Refresh, which I love, and I'm finishing up a second fun page as soon as I'm done here. It feels good to get back in touch with me. :)

early birthday

Rob and I were discussing my birthday this afternoon and I decided I really wanted a new bike for it. So this afternoon, we went to Target and picked up this sweet ride. I'm pretty much totally psyched about it. Rob thinks it's pretty old lady but I love the classic cruiser style. I have a bad back, so it's awesome to be upright on a bike, hurts a lot less. Plus Sarah can jump on and enjoy the thrills. And then there's the obvious bonus... IT'S PINK!!! come on, that is so sweet!!

The bummer is, the first time we take it out, we get about six blocks from home and I blow out the back tire. I'm guessing it was a bad tube to begin with, but it really made me sad. Rob's getting ready to take it in for an exchange as I type. Love that man!

new stuff

don't you love it when you go to check my blog and there is new stuff posted on it! :) Check out this video from 30 Hour Famine.
30-Hour Famine

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Can't Sleep.

Something about knowing I will have one less permanent tooth by lunchtime tomorrow. I don't know. Just can't seem to settle down. I'm exhausted from the day, but my mind starts to race when I think about tomorrow. I know, just don't think about. That's my husband's mantra, but it has never worked for me. I just start thinking about it harder. I think I'm going to need some drugs tomorrow. :)
I'm kidding. I'm being such a baby. I've had two c-sections, what's a little oral surgery? I'm WAY tougher than I look. (I know I look like a wuss) I just don't like the anticipation. Man, you should have seen me the day we went in to have Sarah, I was a wreck!!!
It's just been a rough few weeks. Heck, a rough month or two. But that's ok. Things are looking up. I'm going to get this rotten tooth out of my mouth (that in itself is something to praise God for!) and then I'm going to see UNITED in concert on Friday night. I can't wait!!! Then it's almost May, which is my all-time favorite month of the year. I'm selfish, I know. But really, it's our anniversary (the big NINE) and Mother's Day and my birthday all in the space of about ten days. It pretty much rocks. Plus, my folks are coming and I'm pulling together this giant shindig for church. And I don't even care if anyone forgets my birthday this year, cause Me and Expo are going to celebrate together!! I really want a party, but I don't know if it's just completely vain to throw yourself a party. I just really like to party and for some silly reason, 28 is a big deal to me. My barbies were always 28, it's just my ideal age or something. :)
I kind of like being up late. The house is so quiet. Wish I had enough energy to go clean the place, it sure needs it!! But I don't. I got up to organize some bills, get this weeks finances thought through. But now that's done, so maybe I can sleep a little better with that off my brain.

new pages

I finally found some time to scrapbook. It's actually sad that my priorities today are that out of whack. My house is a mess and I messed around in my studio instead, which is also a mess now. :) I just decided I needed some down time today. Rob let me sleep in until 10:30am. It was amazing, the rain was pouring down and the train went by every once in a while, just perfect sleeping weather. Rob kept the kids occupied too - Sat. am cartoons makes the whole family happy. So then when I finally got up I lost my 12 hour long struggle with the flu that Sarah has. Not too bad, just a real churny stomach and I never want to be too far from the bathroom. :) Speaking of bathroom, Sarah has been doing really well with her potty training - except for number 2. I think that's hard when your sick though, you don't have as much er, uh, control as when you aren't sick. So maybe we'll really work on that next week.
So I'm ignoring my house today and hoping that I feel better tomorrow and can deal with cleaning up the house then. I kind of have too because we have company coming on Tuesday and I have a molar being removed on Monday. grrr. If you think of me Monday at noon, please pray for me because I am a giant coward when it comes to high powered drills and dentists!!1 :
Well, we are off to fight the crowds at Walmart for a few early Sunday edition papers. And yes, it's totally worth it!

where I'm at today...

Still trying to resume my better blogging. But life is getting in the way of that. So in an effort to take charge, I'm just going to give you a briefing on where I'm at today...

1) starting to get serious about planning the Mother Daughter Banquet. I've been mulling this even over in my mind for several months now, but today I started scribbling things down on paper and I'm getting excited!! :) It's going to be a lot of fun. I think we are going to go with a southern theme. Kind of ironic for me, but whatever.

2) just finished homeschooling for the morning. I'm still struggling with balance. I always feel like I could be doing more with him, and hopefully I'll have my head more together next year and we will do more, but for now I'm just trying to juggle all that I currently have on my plate. Plus, I keep telling myself, it's only kindergarten, I'm probably overthinking this!! Looking forward to the homeschool PE group next week. The kids had such a great time at the easter egg hunt.

3) Trying to juggle our finances effectively, making sure everything goes where it should and making good decisions with the leftovers BUT still having enough to do the things we need to do.

4) LOVING the grocery game. Probably need to attribute all the leftovers to that. We so spend hardly anything on househhold 'stuff' any more and it's amazing. I need to go downstairs and take photos of my stockpile, because it's the only way anyone would ever believe me! :) But the basement is a disaster. Actually, my whole house is basically a disaster, but I just can't keep up, no matter how hard I try. And I do try. Rob told me yesterday that "laundry is the silent killer" when it comes to my time. I couldn't agree more.

5) Sad that we cancelled Cribs tonight. Rob is sick. Sarah is sick. Everyone is kind of grumpy here.

6) Ready to go 'do' something. I'm in the mood to shop or go to the zoo, or something. Kind of tired of housework. grr. Maybe I'll scrapbook this afternoon, if my daughter chooses to take a nap. Your guess is as good as mine - she's been kind of a pain lately.

So that's a snapshot of today. Wanna trade?? ;)

trying not to list my kids on ebay

I don't know if it's just cause we went back to school today, or if they are all hopped up on Easter candy, not sure. I'm just ready to smack my kids. I won't do it, but they are driving me nuts. Sarah REFUSES to take a nap, despite the fact they were both up until 9:45 last night and up at 7:30am. Grrr. I was hoping to squeeze in a nap today, but I can see that won't be happening. I'm just tired from the past two weeks, and it's making me cranky! :)
We have had a pretty good day over all, did school all morning, tryin gto make up for ten days off with Easter break and all. Eli did great. Then we had lunch and headed out to the library. I was sure I had thoroughly worn Sarah out, but I guess I was wrong. Too bad. Maybe we'll go do our errands now, but that doesn't sound like too much fun to me! :)

Vista ripping off Mac??

Rob pointed out this video for me. Ha ha. We both noticed how much smoother the operating program is in Mac. (we love our mac)

tooth fairy visits tonight....

Yep. It happened. My baby lost his first tooth. And the irony is, we are pretty sure it is his 'oldest' tooth. I know Eli got his bottom two front teeth in first, and the bottom front are the ones that came loose first, and now he lost one. It's so crazy to me that I'm old enough to have a kid with a gap in his teeth!!
So anyway, the tooth fairy has been to our house. We had him put his tooth in a glass of water on the dining room table. He went to bed, the tooth fairy replaces the tooth with cash (four shiney quarters) and when she touches the water - it magically turns blue!! Cool, huh??

don't be impressed.

I didn't really scrapbook today. These are pages from a while ago. I did play in my room for a tiny bit, just messing around with some new fontwerks stamps, but I didn't accomplish anything.

Happy Easter!

Easter has long been one of my favorite holiday. I'm always in awe of what my savior did for me, and countless others too. I'm continually amazed when I take the time to focus on His sacrifice. wow.

Great day here in our household. We had a good turn out for Sunday School (which always tickles me) and then service was wonderful too. We enjoyed having Rob's mom + here and also my cousin Sara and her family too. I'm so thankful for Sara and her friendship over the past twenty some years. There is (and always has been) a five year age gap and you would just never know it because it's never made any difference to her. I love that about her. Plus we just have a blast together. :) The kids played like crazy and they loved the easter egg hunt after church. It was a bit nippy, but these things don't last very long, so it was ok. I snapped a bunch of pictures, it was pretty fun.

But now I am ready to die on my couch and pretend that I don't have a dentist appt. in the am. (grrrr.)

poo

I HATE that my blog has fallen to the bottom on my priority list lately.

It's too important to me to let it slip out of my life. I promise.

I almost posted a picture of a piece of poop floating in the toilet today. Seriously. You would be looking at it now if my daughter hadn't flushed it down the drain before I could grab my camera. It was a picture worthy moment. Sarah poo-ed on the potty for the very first time. I nearly danced - I was so excited. The end is near - soon and very soon I will have bought my last diaper. ever. wow. I was uber-proud. Sarah got ice cream AND sherbet. (at two different points in the day)
It's been a pretty good day. A very busy couple of weeks. I am exhausted. I can't wait until after my dental apt. on Monday and after we do school to just collapse and do nothing!! Unfortunately, I have to wait until then. Rob's mom and new husband, Charlie and Rob's step-brother, Josh, decided to join us for Easter weekend, which is awesome and we are having a great time, but am really looking forward to some down time with Rob, we've been so insanely busy lately. I've been really thankful that we went go-carting last Monday, cause otherwise we wouldn't have spent any time together all week. and that would have stunk, cause I love Rob! Anyhoo, I've got a phone call to make and a sunday school lesson to plan. Catch you later! No poo photos today, but maybe you'll luck out tomorrow!! :)

date night

We owe Brittany a big thanks tonight. She took our kids last minute while we escaped for a date. It was incredible. We ran over to the Mills and hopped on some go-carts for a great race. Super fun. Then we enjoyed a quiet dinner at Tony Roma's (kudos to me for trying something new!). After that we hit the Gap for new jeans and headed home. It was just good to spend some quality time together.
I had a rough dentist appointment this morning. Turns out that they hadn't seen everything the first time they did a treatment plan and I have some big obstacles ahead of me. The old genes aren't helping me out this time. Sometimes I wonder if it would just be easier to pull 'em all and get dentures. grrr. Anyhoo, I kept repeating last weeks verse in my head over and over during the drilling (my least favorite part)
"Call on me in times of trouble, I will deliver you and you will glorify me!" Psalm 50:15

That verse set me free today. Dentist appointments are times of trouble for me. Anyhoo, I'm hoping this is all worth it, I can totally tell a difference in the color of my teeth in the past week. cool.

Refresh

It's surprising to me that a youth group could be refreshing, but it totally was. Sometimes it's just really good to set yourself set apart for a while. The retreat center was so peaceful. We had a such a great time really connecting with our kids, it was nice not to be mom for 25 hours, know what I mean? I got to stay up late and play sports and sit and have long conversations. It was amazing.
It was so good to sit and spend time catching up with LeAnn. I have always been so appreciative of our friendship. Any time we can spend together is always a treat. Plus their talks were very helpful and I felt like our students were very challenged.