Archives for February 2012

The Magic Machine

February 10, 2012 by Amy 11 Comments

I have to tell you about this thing I’ve dubbed The Magic Machine.

Two days ago my friend Dani and I were talking on the phone. Yes, the phone! She briefly mentioned that her girls were now waking up on their own to the alarm and getting dressed all on their own. Well, as you can imagine, we raced right over to the WalMarts Wednesday night and bought, not 1, but 2 alarms. The alarms were cute little $5 alarms that resembled a cell phone so of course each of the girls wanted their own. Fair enough. Scott and I have our own alarms.

So Wednesday night they were really into setting the time just right and wanted to get up 15 minutes earlier than I normally wake them, even on an early day. I was pretty skeptical. Are they really going to get up? And even if they do aren’t they just going to race to the computer and play?

Thursday morning rolled around and my alarm is set to 15 minutes before theirs. I half-sleep after I hit the snooze button and wait and listen for their alarm to go off. Seven minutes after theirs was set to go off, I walk in their room and Lexi pops up and says, “I’M UP!” Emma rolls over and says I was too tired to get up. We were still 7 minutes out from when I normally would wake them up so I just went back to bed. As I got back in bed, I saw their bedroom light turn on and then heard the chatter start. Then I heard their drawers. They were going to get dressed! So I just laid there listening to see what they would do. Out to the kitchen they went. I thought they might get themselves something to eat. I gave them a few more minutes but it was time to get serious about getting ready. I went out and they had packed their lunch. Their lunch! They also informed me they had not only gotten dressed but brushed their teeth and their hair. They even had shoes on! They pushed me back to bed. Like literally pushed me out of the kitchen telling me they wanted to do it by themselves. I disappeared for a few more minutes, came back out to start the car and then just had to give their hair some touch up and help them find their coats.

I was so excited about this yesterday I was going to tell you but then I thought, no, that’s just a fluke and when tomorrow rolls around and they don’t do this then it’s just silly I blogged about it.

But then they did it again today. All of it. Got dressed, got breakfast (a banana and grapes!), brushed each other’s hair, and packed their lunch.

The Magic Machine, indeed.

Adoption Update and On Parenting a Son

February 9, 2012 by Amy 22 Comments

The title is a little misleading because I don’t have much of an update. What should have taken 2 weeks tops has taken nearly 3 months. Our home study was completed in mid-November and we had hoped that by the end of December (2011) it would have been written up, sent it for revisions and then approved by the State. As of now, the home study hasn’t even been written. The latest I heard is it might get written and turned in this week but I haven’t heard confirmation.

Now, one part of me wants to rage against the machine. I mean, that’s just a really long time when it shouldn’t be a really long time. But the other part of me knows it is divine intervention and this is going just how it ought.

I think about the adoption often but if I think too much, I get really nervous. As in, terrified. What if he hurts my girls? What if we can’t control him? How will I handle 3 kids? Will we be able to bond? The list goes on. So I try not to think too deeply. Honestly, I just turn my attention to the fact that God has led us to it and then a peace comes over me. Simple as that. He’s got it.

Today was one of those days though that I started down that rabbit hole.

On Pinterest, I ran into this list of Mommy/Daughter rules. As I read through the list, I knew I could have written it. Painting nails, putting on makeup, dressing in my clothes, dancing. We’ve got this down. I know how to parent a girl. Well, in general. We’re actually going through a rough season so I don’t have this down. But I understand females in the way I know how to paint toenails and put on lip gloss.

But then I read this list of rules about parenting sons. And ya’ll. I’m clueless. Some of them made sense, of course. There’s not much more I love than watching a mom teach their son how to hold the door open for someone. But many others I had this quizzical look on my face.

Teach him words for how he feels? Do you know how many different words my girls have for how they feel? Lots!

Be a cheerleader for his life? My girls ARE cheerleaders.

Learn how to throw a football? We are in trouble, people.

The thing I know though is this: I didn’t read a manual on how to be a mother of girls. I know I’ll learn. And don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to have a son. A son! But I’m not going to lie. I feel like Jasmine on her carpet flying into a whole. new. world.

Works for Me Wednesday: Dishwashing Tip

February 8, 2012 by Amy 12 Comments

Why is it so many times I think of a great tip, it’s something Scott came up with? Hmm. In any case, he doesn’t have a blog (and barely reads mine, for the record) so I get to post all his great ideas.

Like many of you, I’m sure, I keep a hand towel by the sink. In the case where I have to hand wash dishes, I always spread the hand towel out on the counter, wash, rinse and then like a game of Jenga, place all the dishes on the little hand towel. For years. And I mean YEARS, if I was losing at my game of Jenga and really needed more drying space, I’d just get another hand towel out and lay it beside the other and keep going. This was fine and all but Scott made it a little better.

See, about a year or two ago when I finally figured out how to cook something besides spaghetti (thank you, Ree), we figured out that the best way our house worked (ie, not have dirty dishes lying around for a week) is if I started and emptied the dishwasher, he reloaded it and he washed any of the larger dishes/pots left. I take out the trash normally so don’t feel too bad for him. This is the part where I don’t mind feminism so much. In any case, because he normally was left with several pots to clean, rarely was the one hand towel enough.

So.

He started keeping a large beach towel in the adjacent laundry room. When it was time to do dishes, he folded it in half and used that as the drying towel. It’s GREAT.

It’s super absorbent, unlike many of my hand towels
It expands to take up the entire countertop if we need it
We can use it forever because it’s never getting dirty, just wet. I do wash it occasionally just to calm my germ fears.
I only have one hand towel out at a time.

Ya’ll. It works for me! Or him. Whatever.

This post is linked up to WeAreThatFamily.com

Top Ten Tuesday: Jesus Lays the Smack Down

February 7, 2012 by Amy 8 Comments

Fig Tree (credit)

I haven’t done much updating this time around, but I have stuck with the Bible in 90 Days reading schedule since November. We just crossed (ha) from the Old Testament to the New Testament over the weekend. And can I just say that Jesus is CRACKING. ME. UP. I know! It sounds so strange on the surface but seriously, Jesus told ’em like it was and boy howdy, sometimes I think he got pretty frustrated and it’s hilarious to read. Or maybe I’m just an overly sarcastic person and reading it that way. I don’t know, a few ladies in my reading group found one of them funny too so maybe you’ll agree. Read this and you decide.

I’ll say by introduction that in Matthew, we go through Jesus’ lineage, John the Baptist, Jesus’ birth, and His first teachings but it gets really interesting about Chapter 7 when we start seeing Him interact with the Pharisees and Sadducees, as well as his disciples. He doesn’t mince words.

1. He starts out easy on them in Matthew 7:5 "How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." I read that "You hypocrite" more like "You HYPOCRITE!" Can’t you feel his frustration at their hypocrisy? It’s a wonder He didn’t turn them into a pillar of salt that instant.

2. He does something similar in Matthew 22:29 when he says "You are in error because you do not know the Scripture or power of God." I find this funny because the Sadducees He was talking to certainly should have known the Scriptures but were incorrect in many of their beliefs. You know how when someone is lying and is getting everyone to believe them but then the one that knows the truth come in and says so and everyone’s like, "Oh". That’s what this is for me. Total smack-down.

3. Matthew 8:26 This is when Jesus and his disciples are on a boat and it’s about to capsize and Jesus is asleep downstairs. They go get him and his response? "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Basically I read that as "You guys are a bunch of scaredy cats!"

4. In Matthew 12:5 the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus about doing good on the Sabbath. In the middle of his response, Jesus says, "Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?" I love that "or haven’t you read…" I just imagine a teacher saying, "You would know that if you’d done your homework!"

5. In Mark 7:9 the Pharisees ask why his disciples didn’t wash their hands since it broke tradition of the elders and Jesus response? "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions." Bam! I feel some neck rolling with that "fine way".

6. In Matthew 16, Jesus was trying to talk in code about the Pharisees being like yeast. The disciples do not get it in the least and start discussing how they didn’t have any bread so Jesus responds, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?…How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread?" I can just imagine some eye rolling about here. FUNNY.

7. Matthew 16:23 "Get behind me Satan" Mm-mm. Power!

8. In Matthew 17:17 a demon-possessed boy is brought to Jesus that the disciples could not heal. His response? "You unbelieving and perverse generation…How long shall I put up with you?" I imagine a great big sigh right here.

9. In Matthew 21:19 Jesus is walking by a fig tree and gets aggravated because there is no fruit on it "May you never bear fruit again!" Hmph! Take that, tree! The best part is the tree really does shrivel up and die.

10. This has to be my favorite. In Matthew 15:15 Peter asks Jesus to explain a parable and Jesus’ response is simply, "Are you still so dull?"

OK, maybe it’s my sarcastic sense of humor but, if you read those passages in context I find Jesus to be quite entertaining. You can’t get past "are you still so dull?" without a giggle. If nothing else, I love how he exerts so much truth and power to put them in their place. Then again, that probably means he has to be asking why I’m so dull on the regular.

So what’s your conclusion? Does Jesus hit your funny bone?

Read more Top Ten Tuesday posts at ohAmanda.com

Weekend Recap

February 6, 2012 by Amy 5 Comments

I would tell you about my weekend in succession but I’m afraid it would be dreadfully boring to read. Scott worked nights all weekend so that means we basically stayed in all weekend other than a few trips to the grocery store, a quick drive-by of the library to return books (before the due date, even), church and Sunday dinner. I didn’t even make my weekly trip out to CVS. At home, the highlight was reorganizing the tupperware. I only needed to do one load of laundry. I never painted the hallway that desperately needs it. We just didn’t do much at all.

And yet.

I layed around the girls’ room while Emma gave me fake tests. I scored a 100 on my spelling test. I wrote an entire essay on an article she made me read. Seriously. Three paragraphs. I turned it in and she didn’t even read it. Hmph! We ate all our meals together. I made all their snacks. We watched part of the Super Bowl together until they got bored. They watched the same movie at least twice. They danced with the music on loud. They played with their cousin. I introduced them to Little House on the Prairie. I referreed arguments. I pushed them on the swings.

It was nothing and everything.

A perfect weekend.

Another Reminder to Eat a Healthy Diet

February 4, 2012 by Amy 6 Comments

Do you need some reading for the weekend? Perhaps something else to mull over while you do laundry? Over the past few days I’ve gotten completely lost in cancertutor.com. I found it on a Google search after our friend Joy, who is battling breast cancer now, was talking the other night about how much diet affects/causes cancer.

The site’s purpose seems to claim many alternative cures to cancer, AIDS and other diseases for which I can make no claims. They seem legit but it’s a tough call to make a leap of faith on the kind of processes they are suggesting. Many are quick to label it quackery. On the other hand, I think all of us could agree there are natural solutions for our bodies’ health issues.

A small part of the site which I’ve been fascinated with though are the articles on how to Prevent Cancer and The Cancer Diet, which isn’t required for me but I think includes some interesting facts about how food and cancer are related. Most of the the stuff we know…lots of fruits, veggies (heavy on the green ones, including grass), nuts, beans and little to no meat are best. But there are many other nuggets (no McDonald’s pun intended) that I’ve found like how bad peanuts are for you. As I’ve heard before, sugar feeds cancer cells. Food like margarine, french fries and aspartame cause cancer.

I don’t know what to think of the site but I do know at minimum it was a good reminder to eat a healthy diet which I have STUNK at the last few months. Ugh! Why is it so hard? Why can’t blackberries taste like a banana split?? And many apologies for posting this on Super Bowl weekend! How about a side of guilt with those wings?

I’m very curious if anyone is familiar with any of these treatments or is pretty smart about a cancer prevention diet. Would love any information, stories and particularly any healthy recipes you have!

Emma The Painter

February 3, 2012 by Amy 7 Comments

Over the years, Emma has tried a few activities. We stuck with gymnastics for about a year until we took a break during the summer and never went back. Neither of them disliked it but neither of them were bent on going back so we didn’t.

Then came guitar lessons. She was sure she wanted to play guitar like Taylor Swift. And I really think she still wants to. However, she realized it takes a whole lot of practice and dedication. She quit lessons a few months in and then went back a few months later for another few weeks all to find out she still didn’t find enough interest in it to really practice like it required.

Well, for months as Lexi has continued with Taekwondo, Emma hasn’t been doing anything. I’ve agreed to let her do nearly anything she wanted. She just wasn’t interested. In fact, one time the only thing she could come up with was giving ME painting lessons. Finally, a place called the Painted Parrot opened in town. On their site it seemed like they were more geared towards parties. It’s actually pretty cool. You get a group of people, show up and you all paint the same picture. She supplies everything. But I wasn’t sure if she did private lessons. It was never opened when we went by but after a few weeks I finally made the call. Sure enough, she does individual or small group lessons. She supplies everything, the kids pick out what they want to paint and she helps them with their technique.

Emma went yesterday for her first lesson. I actually had to talk her into going because her friend at school started gymnastics yesterday and she was sure she wanted to go with her. I insisted she go to the lesson we had agreed to and then she could decide.

When I went to pick her up, Emma was busy helping clean up. She seemed assertive yet comfortable, responding to questions with confidence and clearly in a happy disposition.

Walking out, she declared she was definitely going back and said, “You know how sometimes when I go new places I’m shy and don’t talk much? Well, it wasn’t the same today. I answered her questions and talked a lot. It was so much fun.” I said, “So you’re comfortable there?” She said, “Yes!” And there was something about her that seemed very mature. There was no shy little girl walking out of that studio. She talked the whole way home about how she had painted and the ways she had shaded the tree and what stars she had picked and on and on.

2012-02-02

She was already picking out her painting for the next week over dinner, really mulling over what she wanted it to look like. She had picked a palmetto tree this week since it’s our state tree but thinks she wants to do some mountains next week. I was a little concerned Lexi was going to be upset she didn’t get a picture but she was super supportive of her, telling her what a great job she had done.

I’m not sure where this will go, but for now I think Emma’s place is in front of an easel, paintbrush in hand.