Perfect Timing

After the morning I had yesterday, I was ready for some play time with Maddie in the afternoon.  

At preschool they are learning about the letter B and talking about bears all week.  

So I stopped by the library and picked up the book Blueberries for Sal, one of my favorite children's books!

We read it and then set out with our pail to see if we could find berries in the back yard.  

And when you have a pail and a sandbox, you can't pass up the opportunity to fill it.

So first we filled the pail with sand...

and then set out on our adventure!

We searched...

 and searched...

and searched.

Maddie navigated the terrain very well!

 When there were no berries to be found, we resorted to filling the pail with other great treasures.

like leaves...

and sticks, and rocks.  

We talked about what kind of sound each of them would make in the pail.  

"Would it go "kurplunk" like the berries?"

I thought we would have a lot of contrast with the leaves and the sticks, but you might be surprised  how loud a crinkly leaf can be!!

There was lot of time for running and playing and being silly too!

And at bedtime, it only took 10 minutes for her to crash into a deep sleep!

So, my morning wasn't perfect.
But the time spent with Maddie was!

 

The Yin Yang of Work Life Balance

If this blog were a real person, it would have totally unfriended me by now.  

 I ignore its requests to hang out, and it's been a long time since I've returned its calls.  

I haven't been very loyal to it lately.  

But there's a reason!  

I refuse to use the excuse that my life is "crazy busy."

It's kind of a pet peeve of mine.  We're all busy.  

I will say instead that as more and more things are added to our calendar, there's a lot of work that needs to be done with time management and balancing it all.  

I used to love to be busy.  BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!  I felt alive and important.  

I loved the challenge of keeping all of the plates spinning. 

Not anymore.  

I hate busy.  

But sometimes life gives us busy and I'm navigating the rocky waters to try to make it work.

Here's a glimpse in my crazy mismanaged life.  

On one side of my master bath you see a newly re-organized linen closet

Ah!  Feels good.

But a quick glance to the right and you'll see the laundry I've neglected all week

Here's a view of my recent check outs at the library

Ah!  Feels good to constantly be working on photography skills.  

I set a goal last year to read through the Bible.  A look into my bookmark and you'll see that I'm still in Exodus!!  Got a long way to go...

Although I will point out that I have been reading some other books of the Bible...not very good at sticking with plans!! 

And to top it all off, as I was typing this blog post a hear a knock at the door.  

Who could that be?  

Oh, it's just a client showing up for a photo shoot!!  

Yep...totally forgot.  

Luckily, Melinda was patient with me and waited while I set the backdrop up and she graciously overlooked the clutter! (Thanks girl, you're awesome like that!)

But the morning gets even better.  

As I head off to pick up Maddie from preschool I hear stuff rolling around in the back.  

What could that be?

Oh, it's just the groceries (including milk) I bought two hours ago after dropping Maddie off.  

Yep...totally forgot. 

So, there may be a few things I'm doing well but balancing it all...no way.  

Not. even. close.

It's definitely a work in progress and I'll close with saying that I have not worn make-up in two days because I have inconveniently temporarily misplaced my make-up bag!

A VERY Close Call

Last night my Dad was on his way to work when he was hit by a drunk driver.  He miraculously has no broken bones and sustained no major injuries aside from a concussion. 

Psalm 139:5 says, "You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head."
Psalm 34: 19-20 "The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.  For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken!"

We are incredibly thankful and praise God for his protection. 
Dad never drives this truck to work. 
He probably would not have fared as well in the Camrey he usually drives. 

I'm personally reminded of the frailty of life. 
This is the second close call for Dad in the last year. 
Almost a year ago, he broke his leg when a tractor slipped out of gear and ran over him. 

There's got to be a joke in there somewhere...part cat with nine lives? 
The-Man-With-Two-Second-Chances? 

(We tend to use humor to deal with things in my family.) 

But in all seriousness, I don't want to imagine life without Dad. 
I still consider him larger than life, there's nothing he can't do, hero to me kind of Dad. 

I love you, Dad!
Get well soon and make the most of your two second chances. : )   

AHH! Creeper Alert!

A lot of people may be surprised to know that I was SUPER shy when I was little.  

I was scared of everybody!  

Kindergarten teacher?  Scared!  Moms of friends? Scared!  Dads of friends?  REALLY scared!

Strangers?  Off the charts scared!

I've come a LONG way with trust issues.  

It wasn't until I was in college that I realized by keeping strangers at a distance I was probably missing out on some great friendships.  

I worked really hard to put my fears aside and open up and trust strangers more.  

I can say my life has been much fuller since then.  

So, you can imagine when that scared feeling bubbles up I have difficulty discerning if it's my issues or theirs!

I got the major creeper alert this morning while picking a few things up for Maddie's birthday party.  

It didn't take me long to trust my gut instinct and feel the fear.   

I was at the dollar store and I grabbed a couple of hula hoops, a tablecloth, and was looking around for anything else I might need.  

Then I saw the creeper looking at me.  

He seemed a little too interested.  

He said hi.

I said hi and quickly moved on the next aisle.  

He moved too.  

Creeper:  "You going to be doing some hula hooping?"

I wanted to make sure he knew I had a family... Me "No this is for my little one."

Creeper: "I've heard hula hooping is good exercise.  Really works to slim your waist."

The conversation seems innocent enough, but it was more the way he was looking at me that gave me the creeps.  

yuck.

I quickly make my final selections and headed to the front to check out.  

He follows.  

I couldn't get out of there fast enough!!

I wasn't brave enough to make any more eye contact and I just wanted to run away really, really fast like in my dreams (on a side note...no one can ever out run me in my dreams. I'm always lightening fast for some reason!)

Maybe it's coincidence, but last weekend I lost one of the diamonds in my wedding ring and the prong pokes out now and stabs my middle finger so I had to quit wearing it until I get it fixed.  

It wasn't high on my priority list but it is now!

  I need all the creeper- repellent- powers at my disposal!

Have you guys ever had that creeper alert go off in your head?  

How did you handle it?

Maddie Goes Bowling!

Last month Maddie went bowling for the first time.

She discovered amazing things at the bowling alley like...

French Fries!!

She was so big carrying her 6lb bowling ball...all by herself!!

Ready, Set, 

Go!

Fun times had by all!  : ) 

Maddie Sees the Dentist!

Maddie had her first dental appointment Friday!  

She did great.  

They gave her a giant toothbrush and a stuffed dinosaur with giant teeth and her first reaction was to comb the top of his head.  : )  

But then we told her it was for his teeth and she did a great job brushing them!

She even brushed his tongue!! (while sticking hers out : ) 


She wasn't too sure about letting the dentist see her teeth...

but he was quick!

They called this first visit a "happy visit" and she was definitely happy!

By the way, if you are in the area and are looking for a dentist, we love ours! 
We see Dr. Spiva in Moore.

The Climb

Nearly every day after school Maddie paints.  

She loves it.  

This was her masterpiece from Wednesday.  

 As you can see, things get pretty messy.  

After we paint, she loves to play in the water while "washing her hands."

Yesterday, she was "washing her hands" and I went to switch the clothes from washer to dryer.  

I came back and found this...

She climbed up off her learning tower right into the sink!