Thursday, January 28, 2010

Delirium

It is 12:41 a.m. and I am still writing about these . . .


Please let it end soon!  The word "forklift" has lost all meaning to me.  I feel like I will probably dream about these puppies . . . if I ever get to sleep!  21 articles due in 12 hours.  Yawn.

**I promise that I'll be back soon with a fun, upbeat, picture-packed post.  Thanks for bearing with me through my utter delirium!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Adventures in Parenting

Wow, this is completely unrelated to parenting but I thought you should know that I am a crane expert.  I just turned in 20 SEO articles on cranes (the machines, not the birds) and I don't ever want to talk about those things again.  SO, we shall never mention cranes as long as we live, ok?

Anyhow, it seems that things have been pretty wild around here lately.  Chad and I have both alluded to things on our blogs, so I thought I should fill you in.  The first instance happened last week with our sweet Reesey.  I was driving to a birthday party for a YL leader with all 3 kiddos in their appropriate seat.  As I was about to turn onto the street where the party was, a car in front of me ABRUPTLY slammed on their brakes.  Obviously, with no warning, I had to do the same thing.  I came to a screeching halt and then heard Reese cry out.  I looked over my shoulder and saw a pretty traumatic sight.  Reese's entire car seat had dislodged from its intended location.  How, you ask?  I don't have a clue.  Maybe it wasn't strapped in?  Maybe Harper accidentally unbuckled it when she got in her seat?  Maybe the junky seat belt plastic just decided it couldn't hold our chunky monkey's seat in place?  Who knows.  I do know that because Reese and Harper sit in the third row of the car, and because the seat in front of Reeese was folded up, and because there is a large metal hook sticking out of the back of the seat-  Ewww, brace yourselves . . .  Reese had some MAJOR mouth trauma.  Her poor little mouth made direct contact with that pesky metal hook.  Ugh.  I get chills just thinking about it.  As I glanced over my shoulder, there was a major bloody situation.  I immediately pulled the car into a driveway and jumped out (slipping and sliding on the snowy sidewalk, mind you).  I pulled Reese out of her seat and tried to comfort her.  I called Chad (who was less than 100 yards away at the party) and he ran out.  Reese was SUCH a trooper.  Very few tears were shed and after cleaning up the exorbitant amounts of blood, she seemed OK.  We knew she was ok when she downed a piece of cake at the birthday party.  Her lip was busted, the inside of her mouth was cut in several places, and after a visit to the pediatric dentist, we found that three of her teeth were loose.  Thank goodness little ones are resilient.  As of Tuesday, two of the three teeth had tightened back into place.  If the mouth trauma was severe enough to kill the third tooth, it'll have to come out.  She will be our toothless little monkey for about 4 years- if that is necessary.  We are PRAYING that it's not!


This is the day of the accident.  Notice the scratched chin, and remnants of blood around her mouth.  Her face had a different "puffy" look for a few days as well.  Poor little girl!


Anyhow, after that long diatribe I'll keep the next story short.  Yesterday, while the girls were having their traditional room time, Harper decided that she needed a little snack . . . Reese's pony-tail holder was the particular snack of choice.  Now, Harper is 3 and she DEFINITELY knows better than to put tiny things into her mouth.  She asked me if I knew where Reese's pony-tail holder was and I said no.  She said, "Oh, I know.  It's in my belly!"  Hmmmm.  Interesting.  We are still awaiting the reappearance of the little green pony-tail holder.  I'm not too worried about it.



So, all of that is to say that we have had some interesting days around here.  I'm tired and ready for the weekend.  Hopefully you are not experiencing anything of the sort around your house!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Rocky Mountain High

Can you believe that we only live about 8 hours from skiable terrain?!  I mean, nothing beats the beautiful Rockies and all of their little ski resort towns.  I have spent several summers at YL camps in Colorado and winters on ski trips.  One of my favorite memories of college was spending Jan Term of my freshman year living in Silverthorne and working in Breckenridge for a month.  It was a totally random experience with a few of my sister's friends.  We worked in lift ticket sales in the morning and skied all afternoon.  It was probably my favorite job EVER.  Kim Baugh Lee, I sure hope you read this!


Anyhow, we took 20 of our amazing leaders to the Rockies this past weekend for our spring leader retreat.  Chad's AMAZING parents watched our kiddos and nursed Reese through a double ear infection- they are saints.  All the while, we were able to spend time with the Lord, grow stronger as a community, and really cast vision and plan for the upcoming semester.  I. Loved. Every. Minute.  I think that I could easily live in Colorado.  It just feels like home.    



Our Fabulous YL Leaders

Greetings from Breckenridge!
   

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Writer's Block

I apologize for my brief blogging hiatus. It's not that I don't have plenty that I want to share- believe me- I can't wait to tell you all about Christmas, my birthday, and Reese's latest injury. It is simply that my writing skills are being put to use elsewhere. I have recently started doing a tiny bit of freelance writing. Most of it is ghostwriting or SEO writing, which is totally fine. They are easy assignments that don't take long, and I get to contribute to our household budget! The mental stimulation also makes me feel useful. I simply can't bring myself to spend every free waking hour writing- whether that be blogging or not!  All of that is to say, I will be back to my bloggy self soon. I'll leave you with a lovely Christmas photo teaser- enjoy!


A Christmas Miracle- all grandkids together for a picture

PS- know anyone who needs a freelance writer?  Send them my way!  Feel free to peruse my make-shift freelance writing blog- it's still a work in progress.



Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Happy Birthday Nan!


Sarah Ann, Nan, and Harper
September 2008

Today is my fabulous mother's birthday.  In all of the chaos that is our life (have I mentioned that my Christmas decor is still up?), I neglected to send her a birthday card.  SO, what's the next best thing?  Well a blog tribute, of course!  Doesn't everyone think that THEY have the best mom in the world?  Well, unfortunately that's not true.  My mom is LITERALLY the BEST in the entire world.  I only hope that I can be 1/2 as good of a mom!  Anyhow, here are my thoughts on Nan.


December 2009


Nan/Moom/Nancy is pure joy and fun.  Anyone who has encountered Nancy B. knows what I'm talking about here.  She is FULL of life and loves to share her excitement with everyone she meets- even strangers.  If you have sat next to her on an airplane, you know this first-hand.  In all honesty, the woman makes a new BFF wherever she goes.  She has that genuine kindness that puts people at ease, thus making it easy for them to talk/listen to my mom.  I LOVE that about her.


September 2009

She is also the consummate hostess and has taught me EVERYTHING I know about throwing parties or having guests over.  Where most people stress out, Nan thrives in these situations.  Over Christmas I told her that I wanted to have a few of my friends over for a little get together.  The next thing I knew, Nan had whipped up a full-out party spread (mini ham sandwiches, chips and dip, veggie tray, home-made chocolate candies, snickerdoodles, chex mix, and more) and made it look effortless.  She knows how to put together a soiree, and I LOVE that about her.


April 2009

One more thing that my mom does best is give of herself.  She WILL in fact give you the shirt off of her back.  She grew up with little, has been blessed with much, and now gives generously!  Liz and I never wanted for much (and still don't) thanks to my dear mom (and dad, of course).  She also gives her time, which is SO valuable.  She is constantly organizing a baby shower, co-ordianating a wedding, taking photos for someone, baking a dessert for an event, or making a meal for something.  She never complains, which is the sure sign of a true giver.  I really LOVE that about her.


December 2009

Ok, so now that I've reduced myself to tears (Liz, get ahold of yourself too), I will say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAN!

We love you to the moon and can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with YOU!  You bless us beyond belief!


December 2009

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Now and Then

As I was sitting inside our house today wearing flannel PJs, a sweatshirt, a hat, and a blanket, I came to the realization that our life is WAY different than it was one year ago.  I decided to document the major difference.  Let's all take a look . . .

NOW- those little dots on Saturday and Wednesday are the icon for SNOW, people.  Whoa.  That big 0 on Thursday is also really staring me in the face.


THEN-The crazy part is that I would have (along with most South Alabamians) considered THIS to be a pretty cold week in Atmore.  Little did I know we were moving to the arctic tundra!

SO, as I type this, snow is steadily falling outside.  It's beautiful.  Did I mention that there is still snow on the ground from LAST week?  I LOVE IT!  I am so thrilled that the Lord blessed us with SO many things over the past year.  We added a boy to our brood, we moved across the country, we have met a SLEW of amazing people, and we have all been healthy.  What more could I want?  Do I miss our friends (YL, church, work, etc.) in Atmore?  Of course!  Will I be BEGGING for Atmore temps come March?  Probably.  Am I thrilled beyond belief that God put us here in Manhattan?  ABSOLUTELY!  What a difference a year makes.

**Thank you, iphone, for providing these visual images.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Lots of News!

No, I don't mean news as in "Extra!  Extra!  Read all about it!"  I mean news like, there are several NEW things happening in the Green House.  As we begin a NEW year, here are a few of our "news".

First off, my dear husband has started a NEW blog!  He caught the fever folks.  After "fellowshipping" with a few of my wonderful high school friends, Chad was inspired to become an avid blogger.  He had a brief blogging stint a year ago, and now he is back people.  Check out Chad's blog, "It's Green Here".  I have a feeling you'll love it.

Another major event happened two nights ago when Harper and Reese slept in their NEW beds!  Chad's parents came to visit for a couple of days and they delivered some oh-so-cute beds that they found at an auction.  It was time for Reese to bite the bullet and sleep in a big girl bed.  She transitioned like a CHAMP!  Other than a minor incident where she fell off of the bookshelf in between the beds, she has really surprised us with her big girl-ness.  Of course, I have photos to document the event!


MAJOR thanks to the Laughlins for the CUTE bedding!


She wakes up happy in her big-girl bed!


A little groggy, but happy nonetheless!


She just does whatever her big sister does

One more thing that the girls are excited about is their NEW dress-up drawer!  Thanks to Aunt Liz for some super fun dress-up jewels and Santa for some cute little tutus.  The dress-up drawer has provided tons of fun already!


LOTS of pink and purple!


Reesey LOVES her new jewels!


Oh la la!  Look at those amazing rings!

Well, that's just a peek at a few NEW things around here.  There will be a MAJOR Christmas update with LOADS of pictures coming soon, so stay tuned.  Until then, Happy News Year!