The truth and nothing but the truth

True story. Yesterday afternoon I was on the elliptical watching Oprah in our master bedroom.

I really was, I swear. But that's not what makes the story true. The truth about the story lies in the fact that while I'm exercising, I'm watching Jessica Simpson explain to Oprah that she really wears a size 4 and sometimes a 6, and she really did eat a corn dog before that infamous "fat" picture of her went circulating around of her singing at some fair. They also accused her of wearing Mom jeans. Now I have to admire Jessica for being happy and feeling beautiful no matter what size she is. She made me proud the way she handled all the "weight issue" questions. And although I feel that Jessica Simpson certainly doesn't have any "weight issues", she tells Oprah that the size of the jeans she was wearing when that picture was taken was a 4.

Jessica, if those jeans were a size 4 you were wearing that day, then there's no way I was 205 lbs when I delivered my second child and I currently weigh 125 lbs.

And listen, far be it from me to give Jessica a hard time about her jeans since I haven seen a size 4 since middle school, but let's not stress so much on the numbers here. God designed us to be size 2's, 10's, 16's and everything in between. Let's start focusing on our inner beauty before we start worrying about what size pants we wear.

*step's off soapbox now*

Now the point of all this is that while I was engrossed in listening to Jessica Simpson on Oprah, my daughter was in the room kneeling by the pile of clean laundry that I had just folded. I giggled when she turned around wearing my bra and I ran to grab my camera to sneak a few shots. What I wasn't expecting was what she was about to tell me regarding her bra wearing experience.



"It feels like I'm wearing a purse with two babies in it..."

The End.

Just keeping it real

Listen.

I probably don't need to tell you that I have a very silly family.

As a matter of fact, I probably don't even need to share any silly stories or pictures as proof that we are indeed a very silly family.


But that just wouldn't be much fun, would it?

It all started on a dark and stormy night. Except that it was sunny and still late afternoon. I was upstairs reading updates on facebook cleaning when it dawned on me that for the last 20 minutes or so I'd been hearing some sort of commotion going on downstairs. It sounded like some plastic paper being crumpled, some scratching, some clanking...maybe from furniture?

And then some really eerie silence.

Im not sure why it took me so long for my brain to process the noise? Okay that's not really true, I was VERY busy cleaning remember?

So I decide it was time to go downstairs to check things out. I get half-way down the stairs and this is what I see...

MmmmmmHmmmmm..yes it is. It's an entire roll of those small garbage bags that I just purchased the day before and the kids totally "toilet papered" my kitchen while I was upstairs.

It's okay though because I got the oldest back with a spatula full of refried beans to the face at the dinner table.

It's just another example of the classiness and grace that I convey as a mother.

The same classiness and grace can be seen by my grandmother in a recent lunch date for her birthday.

And honestly, if you cant have fun making french-fry moustache's with your family, then you're really not living. Because as far as Im concerned, these are the moments that actually keep us grounded.

Speaking of grounded, that's exactly what will become of these kids if I ever find my kitchen to be covered in trash bags and looking like a roped off crime scene again.

Sympathy is overrated anyway

Is anybody out there?

So it's no secret I don't update the blog as much as I used to. I just can't seem to find the time. I do, however, have lots of time to spend on facebook and the internet catching up on Real Housewives of Orange County recaps and watching full Modern Family episodes.

I also want to let the cat out of the bag and tell you that for a long time I referred to my husband as only "T" but his name is really Tom. Actually it's Billie with an "ie", like a girl and his middle name is Thomas. Hence Tom. So, I'm not sure if I was trying to protect his privacy, copying the reference from another blog, or if I was just tired of typing his name because its sooo long, but his name is Tom. That is how I will refer to him because he deserves to have a name instead of an initial. Plus, he never reads my blog so I'm sure privacy is not a concern. And for that matter, I'm not sure how many people do read my blog anymore.

I realized over the weekend that while I may be approaching 30 yrs old, I handle being sick as well as the kids do. Which is not good. I found myself in the mist of a stomach flu, all alone in my bedroom. I was laying on the bed dying of nausea and stomach cramps when my husband came in. Relieved, I thought he was going to come sit with me, maybe offer a cold rag or something. He literally took one glance at me and shut the door. Angry with the lack of sympathy I crawled to the bathroom floor where I decided to make my moans heard throughout the house.

I waited. I waited some more.

Nothing.

I crawled out of the bathroom and peaked out of my door and found my two children and the man who promised to take care of me through SICKNESS and in health eating chicken wings and watching the Superbowl.

Desperate for attention I do the only thing that I knew to do.

I called my Nana.

She understands me even when the world abandons me. I could just see her nodding in agreement as I'm describing all the injustice.

"I take care of EVERYONE around here when they are sick," (sob, sob, gasp) and this is the way they treat me!? They just leave me in here to DIE!?"

Well hello dramatic, it's nice to meet you.

Would you believe that I actually started to feel better after I got off the phone with her? If that wasn't bad enough it was only a few hours later that my poor son came down with the same thing. The Superbowl was still on.

My husband put our daughter to bed and nursed Kyle and I (while trying to watch the game) for the rest of the evening. He even stayed up with Kyle until the wee hours of the morning, long after I had crashed for the night. I guess he does take that whole in SICKNESS and in health thing a lot more serious than I give him credit for.

Did you know that Virginia turned into Antarctica over the last couple weeks? Uh huh..it's true.
We've had a lot of snow and we've been stuck inside for many days. Kyle hasn't been to school in two weeks and getting to work has been very tricky. But it's all good, ya know why?
I told myself at the beginning of the year that God made snow and cold weather (in case you hadn't heard) and so if He made it, I was going to make the best of it. So while I don't really enjoy it, I can certainly appreciate the beauty of it.






Amen.

Do you know what else I can appreciate?



Sigh. I certainly do.

Last but certainly not least today is my Nana's birthday! I love you so much Nan and you are such a blessing to me. Thank you for your unconditional love and support:)

2009

It's been a year already? WOW!

I thought about listing all my New Year's resolutions but I don't want to set myself up for failure, and there are some which I think should remain for me and God. I know that one of my New Year's resolutions is to update this dang blog on a frequent (meaning more than once a month) basis. Remember, it's facebooks fault. I told y'all that a month ago. You know, when I last updated.

To recap this year, I think I will start with a few of my most favorites moments.

First is the birth of my nephew Landon. He has brought us so much joy this past year and watching him grow before my eyes is just like watching one of my own children. Watching him reach all his first year milestones and, ahem, grow in size has been such a blessing for me!



Celebrating my Grandparent's 50th Wedding Anniversary was such an awesome experience. It was nice to gather with all of our extended family and friends and celebrate the inspiring love between between my Nan and Pop.

Kyle graduated preschool in June and we celebrated at Great Wolfe Lodge!





We bought a boat. We sold the boat. I may or may not have used a Luggable Lou.


We spent an incredible vacation in Myrtle Beach thanks to my hard working husband!





Kyle started Kindergarten. *Sniff* *Sniff*




The above picture still scares me.

Kyle turned 6. We celebrated with friends and family at the bowling alley.



Alyssa turned 30, I mean 3. We celebrated with a party at a gym with her friends from daycare and then back to the house to open presents.


We had a wonderful Christmas and for the first time in my life, I actually understood and reflected on the true meaning of Christmas which is the birth of Jesus, our Savior.

The best thing that has happened this year by far, is my renewed relationship with God. The church we attend has been wonderful for our family and it's been great to surround ourselves with a community of believers. Attending the women's conference left me feeling excited and yearning to learn more about the Bible and reading God's word. My husband and I have even made changes for our family by monitoring the music and t.v shows that we watch. It's amazing to see the changes that you actually want to make because of the example you wish to lead. My hope is that I can continue to follow where the Lord leads me on this walk, and that I can be a disciple of Christ's love. I mean, how awesome is it to know that He still loves me after all of the mistakes I have made!? I will never be good enough,and no matter how many "religious acts" I perform I will never earn my way into heaven. I now know that it is by God's grace alone that I get to spend eternity with Him.

Phew..that is so freeing.

I don't know what 2010 or 2050 will have in store for us but I know that He is faithful and by our side. May He receive all the glory, for it is His story to tell.

Happy New Year to all my friends and family!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so
that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit
Romans 15:13

It's all in the Genes

Oh sure, she may look like me.

LOOK! TWINS!

But... BUT... this girl has inherited many of her Daddy's genes.

Let's take this as example. This is her Daddy's toothbrush.


Now this my friends, is Alyssa's toothbrush.


I told you, it's all in the DNA. Somewhere floating around their bodies is this genetic instruction to press so hard when they brush that it mangles, separates, and spreads those perfectly innocent nylon fibers. It's like Moses himself has parted their toothbrush bristles.



I wonder if Alyssa will inherit a strand of my jiggly belly chromosome? Gosh, I hope not.

Not even Moses could help make this stomach flat again.

Three

My Lissy Mo's has turned three today. That means three years have passed since she exited the birth canal. That is hard to believe.

I wasn't so sure of her when we first brought her home. She had this really bad poltergeist throw up problem. It was so bad that one night while she was in the room with us in her bassinet, we heard her choking on her own vomit and it scared her Daddy so bad that he literally moved her to her crib and placed a kitchen chair in front of it and stared at her all night long. Whew, those were some tough times. I'm glad I wrote that down because now I can come back and read this when my ovaries start to tingle for another baby.

When I start to think about all the things I love about her and how special our relationship is I get a little teary because I think it is such a blessing to have a little girl. Don't get me wrong, it is an equal blessing to have a little boy, but the lovely, wonderful, "girly" things that come with having, well, a girl is so very sweet.

She's the only one in the house that tells me she likes my shirts, or notices when I have my toes polished. She goes where I go. If I walk to the kitchen, she's walking right behind me. If I go to the store, she's going with me. That makes me smile, because I always went where my grandmother went to. If it was a Saturday and she was in the car, you better believe I was in there with her.

I love to smell her long and full head of adult hair. I love when I wake her in the morning and she puts her hands around my neck. I love how she tells me it's just "us girls" when we ride to daycare in the morning. I love how she points out every letter "A" she sees and she tells me it's her name.

I love watching her with her Daddy. Her Daddy is her big strong protector (as he is mine) and I'm happy she has a Daddy that will always be a part of her life when there are so many of us who grow up without Dad's in our life.

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl! I wish you could stay little forever, but I look forward to our days together and I anticipate watching you grow up to be the wonderfully sweet, smart, and considerate person that I already see today!

Questions for God

I have a lot of similar questions myself...

Matthew Paul Turner-On Questions from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.