Certifiable Sunday

Sunday was all around crazy. Seriously, I'm surprised Jason and I, along with the kids, made it through that day alive. Jack put on his rotten attitude as soon as he got up that morning. Lots of yelling and ugly noises meant quite a few time-outs before church. After church, the attitude continued and the volatile atmosphere in the house was exacerbated by the facts that my back was killing me (grrr) and Caroline was not at all in a mood to take a nap. Top that off with the insurance company deciding to deduct an extra chunk of money from our account for a premium (which was unexpected and NOT at all planned for - double grr) and we were all on edge.

I had to get out.

So, I turned on the TV in the bedroom so Jack and Caroline could watch a movie and Jason could decompress with a little football in the living room. I had to head to the store since we needed, you know, food. And I needed, you know, peace. That's not how it turned out. I was nearly to the store and Jason calls me.

"Caroline's dislocated her elbow again. How do I fix it?"

Fantastic. I tell him what to do while I hear Caroline and her blood-curdling scream and Jack crying in the background. NOT peaceful. At. All.

Aparrently, Jack was trying to help his sister back up on the bed and pulled her arm a little to hard. He felt awful. Poor guy.

Well, I headed back home to make sure all was okay. It was, of course. Jason fixed the elbow like SuperDad and I swooped in with hugs and kisses and cuddles and everything was all right. And then Caroline came with me to the store. So much for alone time.

Really, that was the bulk of the craziness of that day. The afternoon was much better and we all slept well that night. The end.

Finally. Peace.

Wanna bite?

Sharing their gelato after a delicious lunch.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Location:The Italian Market

A Boy's Life

I'm trying to figure out how not to be a photographic ignoramus. I have a fantastic camera that I take mediocre photos with, probably because I keep it on the automatic setting. Which any photographer worth their salt will tell you is just a bad idea. So, I'm learning. Which means I'm practicing. I spent much of the morning playing with the aperture and shutter speed on my camera, working with the different settings, trying to get some good shots. Here are some of the better ones.

Colors

An artist at workA hand, trying to catch a roly polysaid roly poly, not interestedAbandoned. Time for a break.Telling a story.Dirty toes!

Grateful

Well, Pioneer Woman wrote a great blog for bloggers yesterday. You know what she said?

Blog often.

Okaaaay. Fine. I needed a kick in the pants to get me back on the blogging track. I'm not saying I'll write every day but I might. I just don't want to disappoint myself it I don't.

Here goes...

Yesterday, amidst all the weather craziness, it seemed all the news stations were covering the rescue of tenants in the Willow II apartments in Arlington. Well, that just happens to be right down the road from me. Not 3 minutes away. After dropping off the kiddos at school this morning I decided to head over to that neighborhood and see the damage for myself. I was amazed. I saw huge trees knocked down, brick mailboxes toppled, front yards filled with all the earthly possessions the families in the neighborhood own - completely ruined. The neighborhood was a mess. It made me sad. But then it made me glad.

Know why?

Sure, I can say, I'm grateful that I live at the top of the hill instead of at the bottom. I could say I'm grateful that all my stuff is okay. I would definitely say I'm grateful that my family is safe and that everyone in the affected neighborhood made it out safely. And I am. I am grateful for all of those things. But, you know what else?

I'm grateful that the Lord has a plan for our lives. Even in scary, uncertain situations. He was and is with those who were so terribly affected by the storm. I'm also grateful that if I HAD lost all my stuff, if my world had been turned upside down because of that storm that I would have assurance that all would be okay. That stuff is just stuff. My treasure is in heaven.

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." Matthew 6:19-21

EDIT: Moments after I posted THIS song played on Pandora. Brought me to tears and so perfectly says what I attempted to get across in the post.

Hello Hermine

Well, Tropical Storm Hermine made her entrance yesterday afternoon and hasn't completely made her exit yet. We've gotten, oh, I don't know, one thousand inches of rain in the past 24 hours. Seriously, this morning I remember thinking to myself, so THIS is what Noah saw just before the ark floated away. The rain. It. Was. Crazy. Sheets and sheets and sheets of it. Our enormous elm tree in the back yard nearly had it's boughs touching the ground. If I would've let Jack outside in the downpour he'd have been able to grab hold of the lowest branch and swing from it with very little effort.

I probably should've let him do it.

When I woke up today and realized it was still raining, and had been all night, I decided staying home all day would be in our best interests. And I suppose, in regards to safety, it was. However, in regards to sanity... not so much. The kids are stir crazy and there's only so much coloring and watching Nick Jr. shows on Netflix a child can do before they decide that the best way to expend their excess energy is to use their mother as a jungle gym. Fun... for them.

Anyway, I decided that with all the grayness and wetness outside that I needed to do a little crafting to lift my spirits. I made some really cute throw pillows ifIdosaysomyself. After adding Caroline's new bed and bedding I really didn't want to have to replace her window treatment. I decided that pillows would be my answer... a tie-in, if you will. They turned out great and I'm sure I've just created a new craft obsession. I'm the kind of gal that gets hooked on doing one thing and it's all I can do for a matter of weeks or months until I move on to something else. Case in point... first it was tutus, then pillowcases, then applique, then hair bows, etc. But, I digress. How about some photos?

The pillows. I love them.How we keep ourselves entertained during a tropical storm.He's trying to squeeze her guts out. At least they love each other!

And if you care to see what havoc Hermine has wrecked here in the area, check THIS out.

*EDIT: A couple hours after this post there were tornadoes in DALLAS! Scary stuff. There were a couple just a hop, skip and jump from Jason's office. Praise the Lord he's okay.

Little Girl, Big Bed!

While Caroline and Jack were away at school on Thursday, my mom and I spent the morning dismantling Caroline's crib/toddler bed and putting together her big girl bed! When I was designing her nursery I intentionally made it so that it would convert to a "big girl" room easily. All I had to do was insert a big bed and new bedding and, voila, a room fit for a princess. Caroline is in LOVE with her new pink bed. It's funny how tiny she looks in it. If I dare, I'll try to get a picture of her sleeping in it tonight after she's conked out.

Another first day...

For several weeks now (all summer long) Caroline's been gearing up for the first day of school. At the end of this past school year she'd ask on a regular basis when it would be time for her to school. Needless to say, when Thursday rolled around the kids first day back went off without a hitch. Caroline was SO excited to meet her teachers, Mrs. Erica and Mrs. Nelda. Actually, she already knew them as they were Jack's teachers two years ago and she had Mrs. Erica as her Sunday school teacher last year, but still. Jack was super excited to see his friends from his class last year. At the kids school they tend to keep the kids in the same class for the most part as they move up each year so there were lots of reunions on the first day back. They both didn't have much to say after school about how their day went. I think they were just so exhausted after all the excitement that they wanted to keep quiet about it. I have two full days each week to myself which is GLORIOUS and I cannot wait to see what this year has in store. I cannot believe this time next year my little Jack will be in KINDERGARTEN! Time flies!

Back to the world of backpacks and napmats!

On her way in!

Waiting in line to go into Jack's room.

What a whirlwind!

That summer was sure fast and furious. We had lots going on and I don't feel like I documented much of it via camera but it was fun, nonetheless. What happened?

I turned the BIG 3-0 in June. We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! The kids and I spent a lot of time at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. We played at the pool and in the sprinkler quite a bit. We had lots of playdates with sweet friends.

We watched fireworks on the Fourth of July with family.

We played lots of dress up.Jack had a great time at Preschool Music Camp at our church.And we watched.
Spent a weekend at Yaya's and visited Lake Ray Roberts.
We had lots of fun at birthday parties...
Selah turned FOUR! She had a Ni-Hao Kai Lan party.And Allison turned THREE! She had a Hello Kitty pajama party.

Ok, there's lots lots more that happened but I can't even begin to post about every little thing after not blogging for so long. Fall is quickly coming upon us and I've got some fun firsts to blog about with the kiddos! Stay tuned!