"My Purple Book"

For Christmas this year, I got Makinley a book from our school's book fair. It's 5 princess stories in one book and the child is absolutely OBSESSED with the book. We have read it no less than 1,000 times since Christmas, I'm sure. She lovingly calls it her "purple book". She has slept with it most nights and back when I was still rocking her to sleep at night, she would carefully place the book between our bellies where it was safe. This child L.O.V.E.S. this book. I'm honestly quite tired of reading it, but I continue to do so. The other day, I figured out that Makinley has pretty much mastered every page of the first two stories....Cinderella and Snow White. I just had to get it on video of her reading Cinderella. Don't get me wrong, I realize that it mostly sounds like gibberish on this video. Part of that is because she was trying to "read yowd"! So, I try to decipher what she is saying after every page. Trust me when I say that she is dead on. It is the sweetest thing to hear her read it and I've caught her reading it to her babies on numerous occassions. Anyway, enjoy the gibberish. It brings a smile to my face every time I watch it.



Edited to add: I realize that my daughter looks like a pure ragamuffin in this video. We did absolutely nothing on Saturday but hang out at home. I find myself constantly trying to keep her hair our of her face and grab whatever clips and pony tail holders I can find. So, yes, she's in just her diaper and a shirt...and yes, her hair is in need of a brushing. But, she's still pretty darn cute!

A $5,000 Lottery

Tomorrow is the big day. Joey will go to register Tripp for the PreK lottery drawing between 1-4. They are doing the actual drawing at 5. Now, I don't know when we will find out if his name is actually drawn. Will you PLEASE join me in praying that he gets in? I've already posted about the huge financial blessing it would be to our family. I'm finding myself quite anxious today and I'm trying so hard not to worry. I know that God has already ordained who Tripp's teacher will be, who his classmates will be and whether or not that teacher and those classmates will be located at MCPS or at the Methodist Church in town. I'm so thankful for a God that knows exactly what is best for my family, even when my human nature wants to take control. As soon as I know the outcome, I will post!

KRGR- Kroger Radio!!!

I spent about 2 hours of this rainy Saturday morning doing some grocery shopping. I've been so excited all week long to go to Kroger and see what all I could get. Here is a picture of my successful trip:

You can't see at least half of what all I got because I've got everything so stacked on top of each other. Let's just say that I did really, really well. Total, I spent about $86. I saved a total of $116. That means I saved well over 100%. Crazy, huh? You don't see any meat because I didn't buy any. I already have a ton of meat in our freezer, so I didn't need any. I took advantage of the sales today to stock up on some side items and snack food. I really don't think I'll have to buy snacks for AT LEAST two weeks (yes, I bought 6 bags of goldfish. They are my kids snack of choice), hopefully longer. Really, for the next two weeks, I should only have to go get milk and bread. I was also super excited about the giant thing of paper towels and giant thing of toilet paper. I won't have to buy those things again for at least a month. I'm aiming to cut my grocery bill by $100 this month. I'm praying today got me off to a great start. I guess we'll see as the month goes on!

Thankful Thursday

Today, I am thankful for God's provision in the month of January. We'll continue trucking through Dave Ramsey's system in the month of February, and I'm sure I'll be thankful for God's provision then too. He's pretty amazing like that (God, not Dave Ramsey).

When?

Do you ever have moments (as a parent), in which you look at your child and wonder, "When did that happen?" It's happening to me more and more often, especially with Tripp.

He'll walk up to my bed and I'll wonder, "When did my bed come up to your shoulders, instead of to your neck?"

I'll look at him in his car seat and think, "When did the car seat stop swallowing you whole?"

I'll go to hold him in my arms and wonder, "When did your feet start dangling down WAY past my knees?"

Am I the only momma in the world that has an extremely hard time letting my children grow up?! I know that we have SO many exciting and wonderful things to look forward to as Tripp and Makinley get older. However, for this momma, who has always LOVED babies, it is EXTREMELY hard to let my personal ones grow up. There is NOTHING baby left about Tripp (obviously). In fact, there is extremely little toddler left about Tripp (I like to pretend that there might be one or two things still lingering). He is an all out preschooler. It's crazy.

I am so thankful that Makinley still has at least a little baby left in her. Don't get me wrong, I still have plenty of those, "When did that happen?" moment with her as well. But, she also still does a few things that allow me a glimpse into the baby she used to be. I really think that if there were a time in my life that I could go back to, it would be when Makinley was a baby and Tripp was heading his way towards the age of 2. Oh, how I didn't value that time like I should have. It's all such a blur. I L.O.V.E. to look at old videos just so that I can relive those days for just a moment or two. Like I said, I know that in some ways, the best is still yet to come. However, it makes me sad when I think of all of the "lasts" that we've already experienced!

Gator Fun!

Santa brought the kids a Gator for Christmas. The Gator is actually a big lemon that Santa bought at a yard sale. It doesn't work the way it's supposed to, but we took the kids to the culdesac last Monday to try it out. The Gator hung tough for about an hour and the kids were able to get some ride time in. They love it. They would love it better if we didn't have to constantly come give them a push to get them to go. We'll be looking into another Power Wheels option for Tripp's birthday. One that actually works right.

Don't you just love how she has her arm thrown across the back of the Gator, just hanging out?!

Unfortunately, this is how she actually DROVE the Gator. There were lots of momma screams going on....and lots of crashing!

A Bouncing Birthday!

Some friends of ours had their son's birthday party last Sunday at a Bounce House nearby. Like all kids, mine LOVE going there. Once we walk in the doors, it's all Joey and I can do to know where they are at any given moment. They take off and don't look back. Luckily, this one is not that big so I don't worry about them too much. Anyway, they had a blast!
Being silly! The picture is a little blurry- I'm trying out different settings on my camera!

She was so big and did everything all by herself!

There she goes!

I should have posted the picture of him diving in...considering the sign and all!

Just a Few!!!

I changed my mind! Just a couple because I loved seeing their names on the screen!

Bowling

I took a ton of pictures, but thought the video captured it best of all!! Enjoy!

Mother of the Year

Yeah, that won't be me. Here is how my conversation with Tripp went today in the car:

Me: Boo, did you have a good day at school today?
Tripp: Yep
Me: Did you get to go to the treat box?
Tripp: No, today was our bear tea party. Everybody had a bear. I didn't have one.
Me: You had a bear tea party at school today?!
Tripp: Yep
Me: You were supposed to bring a bear from home?
Tripp: Yep, but I didn't bring one. (starting to get tears in his eyes)
Me: Were you the ONLY one without a bear?
Tripp: Yep. Mrs. Heather let me borrow one.
(By this point, I had tears in MY eyes).
Me: I'm so sorry, baby!

I didn't just forget about his bear tea party today...I forgot about it YESTERDAY too. Nice job, mom, nice job.

SwagBucks

You may have noticed a new little gadget on my sidebar. Something about Save and Win or something like that. All it is is a new search engine called SwagBucks. All you do is register, download the toolbar to your computer and use it as your new search engine. You earn bucks for doing searches online. You don't earn one every single time, it seems kind of random, but you still earn them enough to make it worth it. You also earn one when a friend signs up through your site. You get to redeem your bucks for giftcards and such. I'm HOPING to earn enough SwagBucks this year to pay for Christmas. I've earned 12 bucks this week. I'm not real sure how many you have to earn to be able to cash in, but I'm just going to let them accumulate all year long. So, if your interested, click on that little gadget and sign up!

My Little Superstar!

Finally got my girl on camera!!!

Another Test

Of course, when you claim you want to do something to deepen your relationship with Jesus..Satan is going to immediately attack you. I've already been tested in the form of TRUST a couple of different times, and it's only January 14th. There is no telling how many tests I will go through in 2010. Today came another one. Tripp is eligible to go to the public school Pre-K next year. However, it's a lottery system. So, his name will go in a pot and potentially get picked. There are 4 classes at the primary school PreK...so 80 children will get to go. I want him to get in SO BAD. It will make our lives so much easier. For one, it will save us $560/month in childcare. Second, he can ride the bus the 2 blocks to me every afternoon. Third, it will make his transition to kindergarten that much smoother. If he doesn't get in the Primary School PreK then we will continue sending him to the Methodist church. However, we won't be saving that $560. I'm doing all I can not to worry. I know that Jesus has the perfect class for Tripp...with the perfect teacher and the perfect classmates. I just don't know if it will be in a public or private setting. We register him on February 1st between 1 pm- 5 pm. They are going to do the lottery drawing right at 5:00, but I don't know when I will know if he was chosen. I would think within a few days afterwards. Will you please pray for us? Pray that God's will be done and that I be at peace no matter what that is. Also, pray that I don't spend the next 3 weeks worrying about it. I have no control over it...and worrying isn't going to add an hour to my day! Oh, and can I also just add that it totally BLOWS MY MIND that my son is even at the age that he can go to PreK in the first place?!?!?! It is absolutely crazy to me.

We tried...We failed!

For the past 3 weeks, we have tried to be the owner of a puppy and the parents of two children...while working full time and going to grad school. It hasn't worked. At all. Simba is the sweetest, cutest puppy. However, my children drive him absolutely insane. He put up with it the first week. Began to get a little frustrated the second week. And by the third week basically bites them every time they come near him. Makinley is just way too rough on him. Joey has basically done everything for Simba. I literally forget we have him sometimes because I get so caught up in taking care of the kids, or doing things around the house. It's no life for a puppy. So, one of the teachers I work with bought him from us. He will be the king of the castle at their house. They will absolutely adore him and already call him "our boy". He will be loved. Now...dealing with my children's sadness is going to be a whole different situation.

Worthwhile Change

Without going into details, Joey and I have been dealing with some convictions this week within our marriage and family. It's been a hard week, but also a week in which God has spoken to me in a lot of different ways. In some ways, I felt like the rug was ripped out from under me. However, it was a rug that needed ripping!

Sometimes (or a lot of times) God just makes me smile. Throughout this week of praying, soul searching, conversations, closeness, distance, and everything in between, I've just been asking God to show me exactly what we are supposed to do. He has shown me little by little as the week has gone on. However, this morning in church, He spoke loud and clear. Our pastor is starting a new "series". The funniest thing is that the series is about EXACTLY what Joey and I have been struggling with this week. The whole time he was preaching this morning, I was just smiling. I really wanted to say out loud, "I hear YOU!"

Being a christian is definitely not always easy. Especially when we let sin get in the way of our relationship with God. That sin can come in 1,000's of different ways. And sometimes, you don't even realize you are sinning. It's also not fun when God has to reign us back in. It sometimes means giving up some things that we really want to hold onto. However, I have been steadily reminded that God's provision is more than enough for me. He is walking right along with us and He will guide our every step....IF we ask Him and IF we seek Him. So, although there are going to be some changes around the Lancaster household, it's okay. I believe that through these changes, Joey and I will both learn to lean and TRUST in God more...and that makes any change worth it.

Ice, Ice Baby

Well, school was closed today due to snow/ice. Definitely more of an ice day than a snow day. We don't really have anything on our front yard, but we do have some ice on the backyard. Tripp was convinced that the ice on our patio table was really snow that he could form into a snowman. The only way to convince him was to let him find out himself. So, I bundled them up in their pj's and 3 jackets/3 hats a piece and let them walk out onto the back porch. They were out there all of about 5 seconds before they decided that it was way too cold and no fun to play in. But, the 5 seconds couldn't go without pictures.
Figuring out that it's not soft, fun snow.

My little snow bunny!

Counting how many fingers HE has vs. how many fingers his GLOVES have

Makinley preferred to watch from the doorway. She hates being cold!

P.S. I'm sure it's apparent that I have been a blogging machine lately. Don't worry; that's about to change. Grad school starts back on Monday. This semester I am going to campus two nights/week. So, my life is about to get extremely busy and overwhelming. I'm sure blogging will take a back burner for awhile. Sniff, sniff! :-(

Bath Time Fun

Don't worry! These pictures are PG. The kids have had a blast taking baths this week. They have stayed in there most nights for at least 45 minutes and one night they stayed in for 1.5 hours! Just playing and playing. So, last night, I snapped a couple of pictures.

I wonder at what age they should stop bathing together? Hopefully not anytime in the near future because they have so much fun and we kill two birds with one stone!

Thankful Thursday

Yes, they were both in my bed. No, I did not care. They were sound asleep and it was heavenly.

Just for Documentation's Sake

Considering I am hoping for a blog book every Christmas from here on out, I'm making sure I document every major event (like I didn't before?!)

Tonight, while brushing Mak's teeth, I realized that both of her bottom two year molars have broken the skin. Her top right has broken through on two corners and her top left is extremely swollen. I'm wondering if this explains being awake with her for the past two nights for HOURS?

Oh, and my next few posts will be about my son. I do still have one. For some reason, my daughter has gotten a lot more play by play action lately on my blog. So, Tripp is next!

No More Shortage...

of hair accessories around our house. You probably remember a recent post about bows for Makinley. WELL, one of my moms reads my blog and she has two daughters. Apparently, these are the bows, ribbons, and headbands that her girls no longer wear:

I mean, wow. When my student walked in my room this morning with a bag full of hair things, at first I was like, "What in the world?" Then I realized that her mom must have read my post! This is one grateful momma right now! It will be a little while before Mak can wear some of them, but the ribbons to tie around her pigtails and ponytails and the cute barretts and cute ponytail holders are ADORABLE and Makinley can definitely wear those now. The headbands will come in handy as she gets older! Thank you, Wendy!

It might be in the teens outside!

But this girl loves her some popsicles. And we have to strip down to eat them because she gets them EVERYWHERE!

Bath Time!

Just a few pictures to document Simba's first bath.

Can I just say that Simba is a lot more work than I remember Bailey being? I'm sure the difference is that Bailey was "before kids" and Simba is after kids. A lot more work.

$12.63

Not bad for $12.63, huh? Rite Aid was having a really good deal on B1G1 items this week and there were coupons in the paper that corresponded with it that were ALSO B1G1...so it got you both items for free! I got all 4 packs of Stayfree for free (ironic, huh?). I got both of the Nivea lip care for free. I got the diapers for free. Everything else was discounted big time through rebates and coupons. If I hadn't had coupons and rebates, and if everything had been full price, it was a little over $75 worth of stuff. If you check out Jenn's blog you'll see that she got about $199.00 worth of stuff for $17. Actually she calculated wrong. She got it all for about $8 after rebates. Let's just say, I won't run out of pads any time soon! It might seem crazy to buy that many of one item, but with coupons that is kinda the whole point. The point is that they mark things down to their lowest prices about every 6-8 weeks. So, you use your coupons and buy as many of the item as you can to last you until the next time they go super cheap again. And, when something is free, why not get as many as you can?! In fact, if I can get my hands on some more of the coupons, I might go back and get more. I might come out of this not having to buy pads again for the rest of the year!! :-) My goal is to cut our grocery budget by $100 month....and things like this help me to do it. The things that I get for super cheap at Rite Aid are the types of things that used to drive my grocery budget way up when I would run out. You know how expensive cleaning products and over the counter medicines can be. We'll see how I do for the rest of the month.

This is the theme around the Lancaster household. If I remember my own blog correctly, I think I blogged about this same thing a few months back. However, it never came to fruition. In fact, my son vomitted all over the book before we could read it. Nice, huh? Guess that's how he felt about it. So, we are going to try again. I'm trying to find the book at the library because I don't want to buy it, but I do want to read it. Overall, Joey and I are probably better off than a lot of couples our age. We both make good money and we try to be wise in how we spend it. BUT, like a lot of other people, we sometimes splurge and do things that cause us to "live above our means". So, for me, this year is about tackling some things that need to be tackled and not biting off more than we can chew. I've taken all "swipeable" cards out of my wallet, so I am living on cash ONLY (and I have my checkbook). Obviously, it's a lot harder to hand over cash than it is to swipe my debit card, so this change alone will go a long way. I have to admit that I am struggling with some frustrations. Not necessarily with the sacrifices that are going to be made in the days/weeks/months ahead, but in the fact that the sacrifices have to be made in the first place. It's more just frustration with past choices and decisions. However, can't live in the past. All we can do is take care of what we need to take care of and not make the same mistakes again.

Another Milestone

Most nights Tripp sleeps on the couch in our bedroom. It's an improvement over our bed! He has just made himself right at home over there and sleeps solidly through the night. For me, that makes it well worth it.
Anyway, on days when Tripp doesn't nap (which is every day that he is home with us all day. He only naps when he goes to Mrs. Barbara's), he usually falls asleep in his room watching T.V. Some nights he stays in there all night, others he shows up in our room at some point during the night. Last night, he fell asleep in his bed around 7:30 or so. At about 2:30, I heard his little feet running across the house (this is also a new thing. He used to scream for me, but lately he has just come looking for me. Shows how much he is growing up because it is evidence that he's not scared anymore). He told me he needed to go potty, so I got up and helped him. When I went to go pull his pants back up, I realized that he DID NOT have on a pull-up. Tripp has been potty trained for a really long time (a year actually), but he has always slept in a pull-up. Most mornings, he still wakes up wet. There are also other times when he still completely wets through his pull-up. So, I have never even thought about letting him sleep in his underwear. I did mention to him one time that when he turned 4, he needed to start sleeping in his big boy underwear. Anyway, I was shocked when I realized we had forgotten to put his pull up on before he fell asleep. He was completely dry! I was so proud of him and we did a mini celebration in the middle of the night. He went back to sleep (after going potty a couple more times; I think he was scared he might have an accident). So, he slept all night long in his underwear and DID NOT have an accident. He's in his underwear again tonight, so we'll see how he does. The cutest thing about it? When he was getting back in bed last night, he said, "Mommy, an I 4 now?". I said, "No baby, you are just a really big 3 year old!". He said, "But you said when I was 4 I would sleep in my big boy underwear!". :-) Oh, I love this kid!

A One Word Resolution

A new decade has begun. Kind of crazy to think about, huh? 2009 was a great year for our family, with the exception of a few hardships and obstacles. I'm curious to see what will happen in 2010. I know God has big plans for us, as He always does. I follow one blogger that I really love. I was looking at her blog tonight and saw that she has chosen a word for the year. As I read through her blog, and a few others, I decided to give it a try myself and pick a word for this year.

TRUST

For 2010 my word is going to be TRUST. It's not trust in the people around me. That's not what I have trouble with. The trouble I have is putting my entire TRUST in the One that matters most. In the One that holds my life and the lives of the people I love in the palm of His hand. There are some certain areas that I want to learn to TRUST more.

One: our finances. Joey and I have set some pretty major financial goals for our family this year. However, to meet those goals, I am going to have to TRUST that God is going to provide.

Two: my children's safety and wellfare. I readily admit that I am a worrier by nature. I worry all the time about everything. However, the thing I worry about the most is my kids. I am so bad about worrying about them getting sick, or something else bad happening to them. I have to TRUST that God loves them even more than I do and that He holds them in the palm of His hand. I refuse to continue living my life in fear.

Three: me. This year, I want to take the time that I need to take to focus on myself. However, to do this, I have to TRUST that God is going to honor this and multiply my time so that I can still focus on my kids, husband, house, job and school. I believe that God wants me to take care of myself spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Scripture does say that our bodies are God's temple and I need to take better care of mine.

So, this is my new year's "resolutions" so to speak. This year, I am going to TRUST.

New Year, New Do

Got my hair cut again. Told the lady to angle it towards my face and she went a little scissor happy. I walked out of there with bangs. Not really what I wanted and not real sure if I like it. Haven't even had the resemblance of bangs since I was in elementary school. So, it's definitely different. Oh well, it will grow out. Until then, there are always barretts to hold them back.

We went to the movies today. This was my attempt to get a picture with Makinley because it was her first time every going to a theatre. We went to see the Chipmunks movie. It was really cute and Mak did a really good job. She danced her heart out to all of the songs. It was super cute.

Ok, now I'm off to do another first for the new year. Give our dog a bath!

Low Key New Year's

We had a very low key New Year's Eve. We just went to McDonough to my brother and Jenn's house. Hung out and ate finger foods. Both kids almost saw the new year come in. They napped on the way to McDonough and were raring to go when we got there! Made for two very tired kids yesterday, but they had a good time.

Can't forget both of our newest additions!