I am like THE worst mother ever. Not really but I feel like it. Today is the girls’ first day of preschool this year. I signed Lexi up for Mon and Wed and Emma for Mon, Wed and Thurs. I’ve always dropped Emma off in the car drop-off line instead of walking her in. It was necessary because I always had Lexi with me last year and she wasn’t going but it also was by choice because I thought it better that I didn’t go in. Well today I had the doors open for the lady to get the girls out and the instant she touched Lexi’s car seat to get her out, Lexi was wailing. Poor thing, I’m sure she was scared to death with some stranger taking her out of her own car seat. And then to go into a room full of people she doesn’t know. Well, my heart just breaks for her. I’m praying she sees the fun they will have and get over it real quick instead of me getting a phone call saying I need to come pick her up. Emma on the other hand was fine and dandy. She carried her bookbag on herself all weekend at the house. She was ready. My little girl is getting so big.
Archives for 2006
My aunt and uncle and cousins have been in town since Tuesday. We have spent most of the week over at Mom’s with them. Yesterday we went to Carowind’s for most of the day. We saw the Dora show which Lexi LOVED. She blew Dora a kiss when we were leaving. Emma was so excited but was trying to hold back her smiles the whole time. I don’t know why she gets so embarrassed. Emma got scared on the swings but rode everything else she could. I had to leave for a little bit in the afternoon to finish up some work. Mom and Dad said Lexi was like a little swimmer in the little tiny pool. She swam longer than anyone. She took a nap after that in the stroller. I came back about 5 and we rode some more rides until about 7:30. We ate dinner at Mom’s last night and didn’t get home until about 9. We all slept until 10 this morning! Whoa! I think that’s a first.
FIL just came and got the girls. I guess I’m supposed to clean up at this point although I feel like I could crawl back in bed with this rainy weather.
Yes, I’m still out here. I did not leave town with the American Idols although wouldn’t THAT make for a summer to remember??
I don’t recall much of last week. Let’s see what I can remember…Wednesday I went over to the church and talked about the youth group’s web site which basically turned out to be an overhaul of it. Which I worked on every night until last night. I now have v2 out there. Part of me likes it and part of me feels like it looks a little amateurish. My forte of computer programming is the programming part, not the design part so I’m actually not that great at web design. So Wednesday night was youth group. I honestly can’t remember what we did Thursday night. Friday Scott worked on the sound system wall thingy at the church. Me and the girls went out to lunch with Mom and Dad. Emma stayed home Friday night and I got their pictures made Saturday morning. Lexi was REALLY whiny at first because she wanted to play with a box of treats they had. She finally warmed up to everything but then was EVERYWHERE. I’m surprised she got the pictures she did. I was really happy with what we got. The girls spent the rest of the day with MIL. I slept for FOUR hours on Saturday. I was supposed to clean but I was just so tired. Obviously. Saturday evening we met up with C&D for dinner at Chili’s.
Sunday was pretty normal except me and Emma went to D’s twins birthday party. It was at a local neighborhood’s swimming pool. The pool had one end that you could walk in the pool like a lake/beach. The girls loved that. D’s youngest daughter gave us a big scare. She walked off one of the pool steps to where she couldn’t reach. She apparently started trying to tread water and she didn’t sink but the water still went up to her eyes by the time D’s dad noticed her. D’s brother grabbed her and she was fine. D wasn’t so fine and it gave us all a good scare. The trouble is that there were probably 6 adults within 4 feet of her and didn’t see her. I’m just glad everything was ok.
Last night after church we went to the youth council meeting so I could show what I had done so far on the web site. Somewhere in the beginning of the conversation, it came out about having a women’s bible study. I got chills up and down and almost came to tears. I have been thinking about doing that all summer. I’ve actually been struggling whether to do that or teach Sunday School or what. So we’ll see what works out.
From mj’s big blog I posted on:
Just back from the Charlotte concert. IT WAS SO GOOD! One of the Idols said it was the best city yet!! Go Charlotte! I have lots more to post and pictures to upload. Here’s a few highlights though.
Mandisa gave her Rueben shoutout again.
Lisa was impressive on the piano.
Paris is what I call the “booty show”. She had a not so impressive outfit on which did not help matters and she sounded fabulous singing and running at one point but she couldn’t do much but shake her hiney.
Ace was a little cheesy with this chest palpitating thing he did but sounded better than he did on the show.
Bucky was aight. Not bad but not overly impressive. I was on my feet singing to Drift Away though.
Pickler apparently didn’t plan out what she was going to talk about tonight because she kind of floundered and ended up saying she just loved everybody like 3 times. I loved her and Bucky’s duet though. She pointed out all her family from Albermarle.
The crowd went absolutely insane with Chris. Every single person was on their feet the entire time he was out and the screaming was deafening. I did catch him smiling once. And he threw out his guitar picks again.
Elliott and Chris’s duet rawked. I think one of my favorites.
McPhee was absolutely gorgeous in a white dress. She pointed out Kellie who was in the front row with a black hoodie which is apparently is a “secret” thing they do. She brought her up on stage and sang Over the Rainbow to her since it was “her stage” that night.
Taylor came out from the audience. He was crazy as usual. He was absolutely amazing when he played his harmonica and danced at the same time. One of the best moments.
Group songs were good albeit a little cheesy.
One thing we did notice was Katherine’s foot was definitely hurt. She was holding it up the entire encore.
Chris was definitely the favorite for the night.
Oh! And we sat beside two girls who had signs for Bucky. Apparently this girl was one of his middle school girlfriends and had backstage passes. But she did say that the Idols were outside the arena before the show. Bucky recognized her and called her over and gave her an autograph and introduced her to Ace and his brother. Lucky girls.
OK, well, that was basically it I guess. Except for the pictures. I’ll post a link tomorrow. I didn’t end up at Coyote Joe’s tonight although we called up there and his band was already there and he was definitely supposed to show up after meet and greet.
All in all, the concert was AMAZING. I can not wait until Chris comes out with his own stuff and has his own sold out concerts. It was really a lot of fun. The only thing I regret is not taking posters. Ace pointed out one he saw way in the back and Kellie mentioned some too.
OK, so I guess my post streak didn’t last too long. Let’s see…Saturday we stayed home most of the day. Jaynee and family came over for a little bit around lunch. The kids seemed to have a nice time playing and I think they’ll get along quite well.
MIL came to pick Emma up in the afternoon and actually took Lexi too. Scott went to work and Heather and I took the opportunity to go to Longhorn. Man, was it yummy and even relaxing without kids there.
Sunday morning was craziness. I had to be at the church at 9 for a short choir practice. I had to take Lexi with me. It was a disaster. As soon as I got in the choir loft, she tried to go out the swinging doors and slammed her finger in the door. I got her settled down and everyone started singing and she immediately started crying. So I had to sit on the front pew and sing while she ran around. Which I guess was better than nothing. Church was great. We had a ton of people in Sunday School. Prob twice as many as we normally do. Church was not as full as I had expected but it was still good. We didn’t have church Sunday night so after an afternoon nap, we went to Mom’s for swimming.
Yesterday was nothing exciting. I worked. Scott slept then went to the church to help build a wall. We ate here (yay for us). Scott went to the church leadership team to pitch us getting back AWANA. Which they agreed to do. So yay! I went to the gym for a little while. I wanted to go to cycling but couldn’t because of Scott’s meeting. At least I got to do something. Cause I can’t go tonight!!
Because tonight is AMERICAN IDOL concert!!! I am SO excited. We’re meeting here at 5:15, picking Heather up at 5:30 from work, grabbing something quick to eat on the way and then should be there for the 7:00 show. Whoo Hoo!
Fruit tree
OK, so I know I’m kind of on a post streak here, but I have one more thing I need to get out.
Last night as I was trying to go to sleep, I had another one of those “ideas”. I don’t know really what to call them except that they are usually religious based ideas that may be used later (with a lot of help) as a bible study or illustration. Not all the details are clear to me still about why I was even thinking about this and I haven’t even organized my thoughts but here’s what I remember…
In the bible, the idea of a tree bearing fruit is used to illustrate spiritual fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control). In my head I asked myself, when someone plants a fruit tree, what do you get? A tree that bears fruit of course. So you know it’s a fruit tree because it has fruit on it. Hence, we can recognize if we are growing as Christians if we are “bearing fruit”. It is of course possible that someone who is not a Christian to see the “fruit” listed above in their life. And it is not only probable but a fact that you will see a Christian with actions and attitudes in their life that are not identifiable with any spiritual fruit.
So in my head I picture two trees. One is a big, luscious, green tree with lots of fruit on it. The other I picture a dark, skinny, almost dead looking tree. And taped on the tree are things that look like fruit. It is possible for the dead tree to appear as though it is bearing fruit but the truth is their is no life in the tree and it is unable to bear fruit on its own. It can tape it up there, staple it on there and make itself look awful pretty, but deep down in its root, the tree will be dead and not be able to bear fruit.
On the other hand, the fruit bearing tree is bearing its fruit from the inside. The source of its fruit comes from the very root of the tree. It is natural for that fruit tree to bear fruit. It is what it is meant to do and it is a gorgeous tree and people feed off of that tree. People are attracted to that fruit, want some of it for their own and if eaten, can literally sustain their life. This of course illustrates the Holy Spirit in us, giving us spiritual life and helping us bear spiritual fruit. And if someone chooses to also believe in Christ and receives the Holy Spirit, they can also begin bearing fruit. The dead tree is taken out of the ground and a new, fruit-bearing tree is planted! (whew, makes me want to shout!)
But that’s not it…in my head, I’m picturing that luscious, green tree taping on weeds and broken branches and just dark pieces of stuff all over the tree. And I can’t help but think WHY is that tree doing that? It is a gorgeous tree that has all this fruit and yet it still wants that dirty stuff all over it. How does that translate? It translates of course to us Christians who continue to desire things of the world and continue to sin when our purpose is to be bearing fruit. We are the temple of God and we do have the Holy Spirit living in us. I just can’t help but think how much fruit we could bear, what kind of people we could be and do if we could just let God do His thing. Quit grasping for stuff that doesn’t belong in us or on us and be who we’re supposed to be. I would like to think I could start bearing enough fruit that it just fell off of me. That it would overflow and people would just be lapping it off the ground. They’d have their baskets in hand, and taking what they could. And it wouldn’t just be one kind of fruit, it’d be all kinds. Apples, oranges, pears, whatever, something for everyone. Anything to make them hungry for what I had. I think God could do it. I think He wants to do it. In fact, I think He’s waiting to do it. I just have to get all the dirty stuff out, quit reaching for it and just be who I’m supposed to be.
Today is Dad’s birthday. Mom came by and got me this afternoon and we took the girls for a last minute shopping trip then headed to her house for dinner, cake and swimming. Man, that’s starting to sound repetitive. And my sister’s birthday is next week, so still another round to go.
Tomorrow Jaynee and family may come over. MIL didn’t get Emma tonight because she’s keeping her tomorrow to go to Skyler’s pageant Sunday morning. So I’m not really sure if she’s getting the girls tomorrow or not. I’m guessing she’ll wait until the afternoon and just keep her all afternoon/evening/night.
Speaking of which, I had struggled about whether to go to Skyler’s pageant or not. I didn’t really think Lexi would do well there but Scott is working and Mom and Dad will of course be at church, which Lexi doesn’t sit through well either. And Sunday is homecoming and the choir is supposed to meet early to practice and we’re singing 3 songs. And S and his mom are going to do a special. And I just didn’t want to miss it. So Wed night MIL says she’s going to keep Emma on Sat night instead of Fri. I told her that’s fine and I was going to go to church with Lexi. She seemed fine with it (which sometimes you get the vibe she’s not fine with stuff!). So I emailed Scott’s sister and told her that I was going to church with Lexi and Emma was going with them and to take lots of pictures so I could see how they did (her son is walking Skyler down the runway). So that is all taken care of without hurt feelings I think.
Tuesday is the American Idol concert!! Whoo Hooo!! I’m so excited!! Of course, my only dilemma at this point is what to wear. I heard somewhere the average age is 15 at this concert! So I will be in sea of teenyboppers. I can’t go dressed like a surbuban mom of 2 but I really don’t want to dress like I’m trying to be 15. And then there’s the whole issue of having the right kind of shoes to walk blocks to the arena. My, my, the turmoil I go through. Yes, I know I’m pathetic sometimes. Seriously though, I’m really excited to see everyone and feel a little like we get a special treat since Katharine McPhee has just joined the tour.
Have I mentioned what an absolutely crazy woman Lexi is in the pool? She literally jumps off the steps to go get stuff she wants. She lays her head back and sticks almost her whole head in the pool. She’ll stick her mouth down in the water, get a gulp of water and spit it out. She’ll jump right off the side of the pool to you. And I don’t mean like lean down into your arms like Emma tries to do. Like 1,2,3 jump! I finally got on a floatie-bathing suit which made it a little easier to keep up with her. But you can not leave her for an instant. Twice tonight I was half under the water keeping her from getting a huge gulp of water after she slung herself off the steps.
$459
So yesterday my jaw dropped at the pharmacy checkout line. Your total is $459. I hope your jaw is dropping too. Two months ago I had to start on two different acne creams. I’ve been needing to get on some for years but couldn’t ever do anything until I was “done with having babies and breastfeeding”. So I’ve been living off the samples they gave me since then knowing in the back of my head they must be expensive because the dermatologist actually gave me a rebate for one of the creams. Well, in the meantime, –ok, this is the gross part, so bear with me– my foot has been cracking a lot lately and I appeared to have some type of athlete’s foot althought it’s on the bottom and side of my foot and didn’t itch as much as when it has been between my toes. Anyway, I think I got bit by a mosquito on top of it the other night and then it just got really messy and hurting and OTC creams weren’t helping and I finally went to the dr yesterday. The dr says it does appear to be “consistent with fungus” and prescribes me some heavy duty cream and an oral med to take. I called in my prescription for my acne creams that morning so I could just get all my meds together. Well, when she rang those four meds up and said $459, I was like OMG! The oral med he gave me was $145. One acne cream was $184 and the other was $111! The only consolation I got was that the acne creams which I have to use for like the rest of my life were pretty big tubes of it so hopefully it will last a long time.
And just FYI, I didn’t have to pay that out of pocket. We have a type of flexible health savings account that we can use. We were doing good with our medical expenses this year but that flew out the window real quick.