Life Lesson?

Have you ever been in a public place and had a conversation in your head with yourself that goes something like this:

"Hmmm... should I pick up that National Enquirer? Maybe they have some celebrity cellulite pictures in there that will make me feel better... Ugh, why do the kids always have to grab everything off of these-"

"ACH-OOO!!"

"That lady behind me just sneezed. I should say, 'Bless you'... but what if she is satanic and doesn't appreciate being blessed?... Is it normal to bless strangers? I would appreciate it if a stranger said 'bless you' to me, but I'm not satanic.... Maybe if she is satanic and I say 'bless you', she would cry and fall down, like on those shows where the preacher walks around hitting people in the head, and they collapse on the ground. That might be kind of weird, though, in the grocery store... I guess I could just say it and hope it all goes well. She really doesn't look satanic anyway. Satanists don't generally wear flowery shirts and pretty earrings. At least not the satanists that I've seen.... I guess maybe I should just take the chance and say it, and maybe.... well darn, it's been 2 minutes since she sneezed. It wouldn't really be appropriate to say, 'Bless you!' to someone 2 minutes after they sneeze. I don't think the "better late than never" rule would apply to this situation. Oh well... next time."

Either you have this happen in your head, too, or you think I'm insane.

And for the record, because people on the net are sometimes overly sensitive, I do know the difference between Atheists and Satanists, and I'm not implying that un-religious people are evil. This was an officially recorded conversation in my head, and as much as I'd like to, I cannot control what runs through it most of the time.

So anyway... on to my point...

The previous situation happens all too often to me, and I assume to others as well. We over-think, we assume, and we don't follow our instincts. I am a polite person, so what the heck is my problem? Obviously the sneezing example could be applied elsewhere... such as when someone drops something and you pretend you don't notice because you can't decide whether to help them or not.

Like I said... WHAT IS MY PROBLEM?

I am here to say that I am on the road to recovery for my lack of decisive politeness.

Last night while we were checking out at the grocery store, there was an older lady standing behind us.

She sneezed.

I hesitated. Then I mentally smacked myself in the face, and said,

"Bless you!"

She did not cry, fall over, or throw food at me.

She smiled, and said, "Thank you!"

Whew. Lesson learned.

And this doesn't include the things we caught before they went all the way in...

Things that we have found in Camryn's nose since her birth:

carpet fibers

sweater fuzz

beans

beads

dryer lint

Play-Dough

toilet paper

rubber hair band

Surprise!

Last night, I plugged my camera into the computer to upload the pictures I had taken over the last few days. The first pictures that popped up were some that I had never seen before.

*Sigh* What would I do without them?

p.s. - Those words on the pictures are watermarks, for those of you that asked. I have a list of the people who want them, but haven't gotten started yet. I will e-mail you all some choices soon! If you want one but haven't let me know, feel free to request one!

p.p.s. - See that graphic on my sidebar? The one with the homeless Haitians? It's the one thing I have the power to do as a broke American who feels helpless about a tragic situation. PLEASE take the code and share it!

More of our potty-training adventures.

Twice in the last week, I have woken up with a wet leg and a naked child sleeping on top of me.

Today, I walked over to the trash can to throw something away and almost did the splits when my foot landed in a puddle. When I asked what the heck was on the floor, the response was, "pee".

They were supposed to be potty trained already. They go days at a time without an accident. Yet, I still feel like my life is being run by bodily fluids.

When will this madness end?!

So Simple a Busy Mommy Can Do It

Here is another lesson in a healthy diet brought to you by moi.

A normal adult requires 500 mg of sodium per day. Sodium, in small amounts, regulates our blood pressure, helps our muscles contract, and helps balance our bodily fluids and pH levels.

You can get 500mg of sodium in 1/4 teaspoon of table salt!

Most people do not realize how much salt they consume on a daily basis. It is reported that the average American eats 4000-6000 mg of sodium per day.

Too much sodium leads to high blood pressure, which can cause heart attack, stroke, and heart failure, among other things.

In my family...

We read labels.

We try to stay away from pre-packaged foods. (You would be amazed and disgusted at how much sodium is in some of those frozen meals you are buying!)

We use sea salt instead of table salt.

We always buy the "no salt added" choice. Most canned goods have a no salt added option, as do a lot of other things these days.

Last week I accidentally bought a regular carton of chicken broth instead of the sodium-free broth. When I compared the two, I was amazed at the difference:

Making conscious choices about what foods you choose to purchase is the simplest way to a healthy diet. Anyone can easily make these choices and your body will thank you for years!

Remembering a Great Man

Haiti, Watermarks, Designs, Wine, & Basketball

I made a graphic for my sidebar that links to the Red Cross donation page. You can donate there, or if you want to designate your donation specifically to the Haiti earthquake, you can mail it to the address provided. Whether you donate or not, please feel free to use the code below the graphic on my sidebar to add the graphic to your blog. I just wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to make a difference, and to show their support.

I was thinking earlier about internet safety and my concerns for putting my life out there for the world. As a proud mom, it's so hard not to share my precious girls with you all. I want to continue to do so, but there's always that voice in the back of my head that wonders if it is a good idea.

One thing I have considered is watermarking all of my photos that I post. My biggest concern is that my images will be stolen and used for purposes that I do not want to think about. With a watermark or logo over part of them, it would be a lot harder for that to happen.

Because I want all of you to feel safe sharing your kids' pictures, I want to offer to do free watermarks for anyone who requests them, between now and next weekend. Use it on every picture, or only use it for certain ones. At least you will have it! Just comment here or send me an e-mail via that contact link up there if you want one.

Dirt and Lace Designs got a makeover for the new year last week. I can't decide if I like it or not... but the set-up with the drop-down menu I am liking quite a bit! I am taking orders for next week, so if you are wanting a makeover for your blog, or just a new header, e-mail me! I do quality work. And I'm nice. And I don't charge a ridiculous amount. Here are a few blogs I did recently... and I'm not sharing them to show off, I actually want you guys to go visit them because the bloggers are awesome:

I suppose while I'm here I may as well update you on my little life. I feel like I've been kind of MIA this week.

Today Joe got off work early and we went to the grocery store. Then we came home and I made black bean soup, which was delicious. Girls got baths. I drank a glass of wine.

I had to add that. I hate wine. But this wine... it was good. It made me feel like a real woman when I drank it. Because all women drink wine. Or at least all the women I know. Haha.

Tomorrow at 4pm, my Kentucky Wildcats are playing a basketball game against Auburn. My UNDEFEATED Kentucky Wildcats. Oh, how they bring me joy. You have no idea how big of a deal this is to us UK fans. We breathe college basketball here in Kentucky. Hopefully tomorrow we will continue our winning streak! Joe and I and the girls will be watching the game at my parents' house, amongst lots of good food!

Our other weekend plans consist of getting receipts together from all the improvements we have made on our house this past year, because we are going to be doing our taxes on Monday. I can't wait.... something about knowing we are going to be getting a bunch of money soon makes me really happy.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Why?

As I watch the news coverage of the horrible earthquake in Haiti, "Why?" is all that I can say.

I think Haiti is the last place on earth that was prepared for this type of disaster.

The people, unsure of their future, sit among bodies and those that are severely injured and waiting on medical help that may never come.

It really makes you feel helpless, doesn't it?

I was sitting here watching the news and saw this story about a family who has an adopted daughter waiting for them in Haiti. They don't have the video up on ABC's website yet, but please read it here.

I'd like to spread the word on how to help. This is from the Red Cross website:

"Countless requests have come from people wanting to help. The best way to do that is to make a donation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund at redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. Donors can designate their gifts to Haiti relief. Donations to the International Response Fund allows the American Red Cross to respond to global emergencies and disasters.

In addition, several hundred thousand people have chosen to make a mobile donation. Donors can text "Haiti" to 90999 on their cell phone to send a $10 donation to support Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. The mobile giving effort raised more than $3 million by Thursday morning, and all money raised goes to support Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti."

I think every little bit helps in these situations. We all have to come together to help those in need. I would hope that everyone around the world would do that for me if something similar happened here.

I just texted a donation. Still feeling helpless, though.

We Have A Winner

Last Monday, I did a review of a children's backpack for AllChildrensFurniture.com. Read it here.

The rep that I spoke to graciously allowed me to give away one backpack similar to the one I had received for Summer and Camryn.

I am a day late in announcing the winner, but really, with my scattered brain these days, that's not bad, right?

I had 8 entries. (8? Come on people. Do you not like free stuff?)

I listed everyone's name in the order that they commented, and got a random number from random.org.

And the winner is...

Amanda from "Popp"ing Out One Letter at a Time! Congratulations!

Thanks to all who participated :)

Supernanny, Come Visit Me!

I had just turned off my light and fallen asleep when I was awakened by a thump on my bed. I put my hand down to see if it was the dog, the cat, or a child. Sure enough... I felt a human head. With soft, straight hair.

Camryn.

This was the third night in a row she had gotten up as soon as my light had gone off. And, just like the other two nights, when I carried her back to her room and put her in bed, she did a half whine, half cry type thing, saying she didn't want to go to sleep or stay in her room.

I told her it was bedtime, it was late and everyone else was sleeping, and that she needed to try to fall back asleep. I told her not to get up again unless she had to pee.

I go back in my room, half-asleep, and she starts to cry. Whine. Yell. Joe woke up. We had a very sluggish conversation about what we should do.

"I don't know how to handle this situation. It's not a good idea to let her get in our bed. It's not a good idea to get in her bed with her. It's not a good idea to ignore her cries either."

"Mhhhmmm."

"You know, Supernanny would just keep putting her back in bed. That's what we need to do."

"Yeahmmmm."

Meanwhile, Camryn is still whining and crying.

"Joe, You should go in there and tell her to go to sleep."

*Grumble*Yawn*

Joe got up, went in to their room for 30 seconds, and when he came out there was silence.

He got back in bed, and we both laid down and turned the light off.

Not so bad, I told myself. We can deal with whatever phase she is going through, and it won't last long if we handle it this way every time.

I fall asleep.

Joe woke me up this morning around 7am when he got up to go to work, to ask me why this was next to me:

I don't know when she got in our bed, or how she got in our bed without waking us up, but she did.

While I LOVE cuddling with my little girls and it is a wonderful feeling to have them asleep next to me, I do not want to start a habit of her sleeping in our bed every night, because that is so hard to break. A queen size bed is not big enough for two tall adults and a child.

You know those parents who you are really jealous of because their kids have slept through the night without hardly a fuss between the hours of 8pm and 8am every night since they were 7 weeks old?

That was us.

Advice?

And now, for your viewing pleasure...

I was only going to post one video, but they are each so cute I couldn't choose which one, so here are three videos I took last night before bedtime. Enjoy.



I'm sure you've noticed, "butthead" is their new favorite word. Ugh.


My camera died at the end of that one, sorry to leave you in suspense.

My Hairiest Child

Harley joined our family at 10 months old in October 2008.

I don't remember life without her.

I know my kids don't.


In our family, pets are loved and cherished.

She is always by our sides. Literally.


I forget she's around sometimes, because she is always there. Like right now... two feet away, beside my bed, snoring.

I feel lucky to have gotten such an extraordinary animal as part of our family.

Joe and I both grew up with wonderful dogs as our families' pets. We wanted that for our kids, and I think we've gotten it.

Playing in a Winter Wonderland

It finally really snowed this past week. I think we got 3 inches or so. The girls wanted to go out to play in it so badly, so my mom came over and we took them outside.

We had a lot of fun, despite the wind blowing snow in our faces. We threw snowballs, and the girls made snow angels.

Harley LOVED it. She ran around as fast as she could, playing with her ball and shoving her face into the snow.

Fun With Daddy

Make sure you have the volume turned up so you can hear her laughing!

Starting Fresh

Last year was.... stressful.

Starting off the year, we had no idea where we were going to live. We were renting my Grandmother's house, but were told we needed to move out by May because they were wanting to sell it. At that point, we assumed that we would have to rent a different house or move into an apartment, because we didn't think we were ready to buy a house.

A few months later, I was on the computer looking at apartments and rentals. Our of curiosity, I looked up houses for sale. The first one I came across was fairly affordable and in the perfect area, but it needed a lot of work. We contacted the listing agent and went to see the house.

The next few months were a whirlwind of meeting our real estate agents, looking at other houses, decided we really just loved that very first house we came across, filling out 800 papers, meeting with countless people, doing lots of waiting, getting very frustrated, and finally... we closed on our first home.

After closing, we immediately went to work on the house. See the before pictures here. It was bad.

We worked and worked and got it livable. We moved in and continued to work. In fact, we are still working on this place.

In the midst of all our our home buying and fixing, the economy was in the crapper, everyone was afraid they were going to lose their jobs, no one could afford gas or groceries, and we wondered if we had made the right decision in buying a house at such a difficult time in history.

I can't forget the good things in 2009, though.

My brother graduated high school and started college, (and just got a 3.2 GPA on his first semester!!).

Summer and Camryn turned 2 and 3, and had a great birthday party with family and friends.

My friend Audrey had her beautiful baby girl, Olivia.

I started my blog design business, Dirt and Lace Designs, and to my surprise, I actually got customers.

Joe and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary, and are still happy and like each other most of the time.

We got a new president, one who I respect and feel will lead our country in a better direction. I felt proud to exercise my right to vote.

In 2010, I am hoping things get better and better for myself and for those I love.

I want us to become as financially healthy as possible. We plan on paying off any debt we have in the next couple months with our tax return.

I want to continue to grow my business. It is something I have come to love doing, and people tell me I'm good at it. I want to learn new things and offer more to my customers. I want to be successful, and I want to be able to contribute to our bank account.

I want us to continue on our new, healthier path. I want to be consistent and stay motivated.

I want us to continue to make our house a home, and to finally get all the things done that we have planned on.

I want to be an even better mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, granddaughter, niece, cousin, neighbor, and human being.

I want to make sure that my kids know how much I love them every second of every day.

I want to figure out who I am, and make decisions according to what I truly feel in my heart will make me the happiest and most fulfilled.

I want to continue to blog and make new friends here. I want to become a better blogger and share more of my heart and soul with you all.

I want to make sure that I am living in every moment, and focusing on what is important at all times. I want to keep my priorities straight, and enjoy all the small things in life.

Those are just a few things that I feel are important for me to focus on as we start a new year.

New year, new attitude, new goals, more improved me.

Making Changes

My family is trying to make some changes to our diet. We want to live a healthy lifestyle to give ourselves and our kids the greatest chance at good health that we can.

Once a week or so, I'd love to share with you all some of the things we are learning. Don't ever feel like I'm preaching or judging those who do things differently, though. My only intention is to educate and inspire :)

One thing we have done is to make some changes to what we eat for breakfast.

Before, my kids ate a rotation of Cheerios, instant oatmeal, yogurt, and whatever hot meal I decided to cook that morning.

When I found out what was in some of those foods, I decided we needed to make a few simple changes.

Because of the unnecessary sugar, calories, and artificial flavoring in the yogurt and oatmeal that we had been buying, we bought plain oatmeal and plain yogurt instead.

Plain oatmeal and plain yogurt aren't the tastiest by themselves. So, we also bought some frozen, unsweetened fruit to mix in with it, some honey to add some sweetness, and some nuts to mix in.

To prepare, you just mix the yogurt or cooked oatmeal, thawed fruit (I thaw it in the microwave for about 30 seconds before I add the other ingredients), honey, and nuts all together, and enjoy. Same with the yogurt.

I was afraid the girls wouldn't like these things because they were so used to the flavored instant oatmeal and sugary yogurts, but they surprised me by loving it.

Make sure to check labels! You want to make sure you get the "real" stuff. For example, the oatmeal's only ingredient should be whole grain oats.

If you try this or have any questions or suggestions, please leave me a comment!

Grandpa

My kids are so lucky

to have a Grandpa

that will wrestle with them on the kitchen floor.

Kicking the year off with a great giveaway!

Remember way back in October when I said I was going to be hosting a giveaway? The one where I posted a tiny teaser pic of what the prize would be and then left you all hanging for months? Well, the giveaway is starting today!

I was contacted by a lovely lady at CSNstores.com and asked if I would be interested in doing a review/giveaway for one of their children's items from their website, All Childrens Furniture .com I took a look around their site and said YES!

Everything that you can imagine, they have. Toys? Check. Furniture? Check. Nursery Bedding? Check. All at great prices from your favorite brands. You could do all of your Christmas shopping for your kids in one online shopping spree at this store.

They sell one of my favorite kid's brands, KidKraft, as well. KidKraft is the maker of Summer and Camryn's play kitchen, which is just adorable and still in great condition a year after we bought it. (Click here to read the post I wrote in January 2009, the day they got their kitchen!)

I chose to review a backpack made by Wildkin.

Isn't it adorable?! As soon as we received it, Summer and Camryn excitedly stuffed it with their toys and took turns wearing it around the house. They also use it to transport their things to their grandparents house.
It is the perfect size for a preschooler, and would be even better for kids in early grades of elementary school. Not huge, but big enough to hold folders and a few books, and those pencil pouches.

What I like best about the backpack is the unique design. The colors and the princess theme are just perfect for my two girls, who think they ARE princesses. Fairies, astronauts, construction, butterflies, and dinosaurs are just a few of many themes you can choose from.

This particular backpack is currently priced at $29.99. For something that seems to be very well-made, is unique, and can be chosen to fit your child's personality so closely, I think that is a great price! There are many other backpacks on the site, prices less and more than this particular one, so take a look around here.

Here's the best part: I am giving away a Wildkin backpack with the design of your choice!

The giveaway will run from tonight until next Sunday night at midnight.

Even if you don't have a young child, these backpacks would make a great gift for a niece, nephew, cousin, friend's child, etc.

How to get entries:

*You must be a follower to enter.

*Every follower who leaves a comment telling me their favorite backpack design, by Wildkin, will get one entry. Find them here.

*Every follower who posts about the giveaway on their blog gets one extra entry.

*Every follower who tweets about the giveaway gets one extra entry.


Rules for entering:

*Maximum of 3 entries per person.

*You must link to this entry in your posts and tweets for the entry to count.

*You must leave me a comment with a link to your blog post/Tweet about the giveaway so I can make sure to count the extra entry.

*If you are a person who enters 25 giveaways a day and only has a blog or Twitter to gain more entries by posting about the giveaways... your entries won't count. Sorry.

That's all! Good luck! I will announce the winner next Monday :)

Our New Year's Eve

We spent this past New Year's Eve at my aunt Angie and uncle Mike's house. We all had a great time.

Summer and Camryn loved how nobody minded when they made a lot of noise.

Summer was putting "hair" on my aunt's dolls (she's half Japanese).

Camryn loves her cousin Sarah



Camryn wearing my mom's mask

Right after the ball dropped.





So sleepy :) They did great though.