just now

As I was cooking dinner, I heard Makinley call from upstairs...
Mak: Guess what, Momma?
Me: What, love?
Mak: I missed you today.
Me: Oh, I missed you too, baby.
Mak: Because you're my bestest mommy.
Me: And you're my bestest girl.

Conversations like that make me forget about all the other times I want to string her up by her toes! She made my Monday...well, that and the fact that when I weighed in today for Weight Watchers, I was down 6.2 pounds! :-)

that blogger

I'm still here, y'all. I'm turning into "that blogger". You know, the one that never keeps her blog up-to-date. I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted. But, we've gotten back into the swing of things around here, and it's taking everything out of me! Adjusting to being back at work and back in grad school has been tough! I do have some things to document though, so a post with pictures is coming soon. Until then....
1. We're back in the routine of work, school, and grad school.
2. Grad school is going to be TOUGH this semester. Lots and lots of work. And I have "senioritis" bad!! I just want to be d.o.n.e. May 13th can't get here fast enough.
3. They took away our March break to make up the snow days. :-( That means I don't have another real break until the last full week of April. That's a long time from now, folks. I'm just sayin'.
4. I've done REALLY well with my 90 day Bible challenge. I've fully read the first 9 books of the Bible and I'm now on II Samuel. However, I'm about to have to cut myself some slack. I'm still going to read every day, but I'm going to have to start cutting the readings in half. Some days, I might be able to read more, but on most days, it's just getting to be really hard. My two grad school classes are both on children's literature which means I have a TON of reading to do for each class. It's really cutting into my other reading time. But, I vow not to miss a day in the Bible....not one.
5. I started Weight Watchers yesterday. So did Joey (unwillingly, I might add). I joined for 12 weeks...which means I will culminate both grad school and Weight Watchers at about the same time. Maybe that means I will get to go shopping for new clothes!!!
6. The kids are doing great. Makinley is as sassy as ever. If I told y'all some of the stuff that has come out of her mouth lately, you would die. The problem is that even when I punish her (aka spank her), she shrugs her shoulders at me. Do you think we have a long road ahead of us with her? I do. But, she is still my baby and she's the best cuddle bug around. Tripp is doing great....hard for me to believe that in less than two months he will be five years old. My stomach drops just a little bit even thinking about it.
7. I keep dreaming about the summer. I am so looking forward to the time I will have with my kids with NOTHING else to do but just be their mommy.
8. I'm getting a NOOK Color for my birthday and I can't wait. However, I'm making Joey put the money aside for it until May although my birthday is next month. I don't have time at all right now to read for pleasure, and if I have my NOOK then I won't be able to resist all the books I want. So, therefore something will suffer. Either grad school or my Bible study. I can't let either suffer, so I have to wait until grad school is over. BUT, as soon as I turn in my very last assignment, I'll be a NOOK owner!
  Guess that's it for now. Ramblings, mainly, but makes me feel better for at least posting something!

struggling

For the last 10 years or so, I have attended a very contemporary church. Praise and worship time is really important to me and I really enjoy attending a church that puts a big emphasis on that time of their worship. When we found out we were moving to Madison, one of my biggest concerns was being able to find a church home. Don't get me wrong, the churches in Madison are wonderful and filled with wonderful, Godly people. It's not that. It's just that the churches here are either very traditional or so new that they don't really have anything for kids at this point. About two years ago, we found an awesome church about 30 minutes away. We absolutely love the service time and there are wonderful people there. However, without really knowing it, Joey and I have both been struggling lately internally with not feeling like it's where we're supposed to be. As great as the church is, we haven't developed any relationships and we haven't gotten our kids involved. It's a combination of things and distance is most definitely one of them. Along with the fact that I've been in grad school the entire time and it's hard to do other things during the week. Joey and I had a really long talk about it over the weekend, and we've continued to talk about it throughout the week. We attended a local church this past Sunday. We absolutely love the Sunday School class. It's a group of couples that are in the exact same stage of life as us, their kids go to school, play sports, etc with our kids, and they all live right here in Madison. Needless to say, it's a group of people that Joey and I could really get plugged into. Our kids would also be able to get involved and go to church with the same kids they see all week long. Now....service. Again, it is extremely traditional. In fact, I haven't been to a church this traditional since I was very young. The church is in a period of transition right now because the pastor recently retired and they are looking for a new pastor. Herein lies my struggle. Do we go to a church where we can build strong relationships and have our children really involved? Or do we go to a church where I love the service, but the relationships are missing and the kids are not involved? I think my answer is obvious. I think this is a time in my life in which sacrifice is very important. I want my children to be involved. I want my children to attend a church in which the people there know who they are and rally around us to help support them. I can always listen to Chris Tomlin and David Crowder while I'm washing dishes and riding in my car! Plus, the Sunday School class is definitely a place where Joey and I will be fed spiritually. We had a great conversation and time of study this past Sunday. Something else about this Sunday School class struck a chord with me. They have a big scroll like paper where they write down their praises each week as a class. One of the praises from a few weeks back said, "Bear Sheneman- Stacey Lancaster's nephew- is here! Please pray for him concerning some health issues he is having." Reading that meant so much to me! This class has been praying for Bear even without Joey and I attending the church and it's because the people there know us and love us. That just says a lot to me. I think I just need to set aside my preconceived notions about traditional churches and open my heart to the fact that God can speak to me in a traditional setting just as easily as He can speak to me in a contemporary setting. It's all about the condition of my heart and how open I am to hearing Him.

ice, ice, baby

Yesterday, like most of Georgia, we were covered in ice. Actually, I have no idea if most of Georgia is covered in ice, but it sure feels like it. From the inside looking out, it is beautiful and you would think you could build some awesome snowmen. However, it's all a big fluke. It is a ton of ice. The kids had a blast in it yesterday though. We spent a few hours outside playing and sledding down the big hill of our neighborhood and the kids had a blast.

As much fun as we had yesterday, I don't think we'll be going back out today. Joey has to go to work (because of all the 100's of people that need financial planning on a day like today) and I honestly don't feel like dealing with all the layers again today. Then again, we may have to. I don't know if we can handle being stuck in doors all day long. I live in the south for a reason...and I'm ready for this ice to go away!

resolutions

I really wasn't going to make any New Year's resolutions this year. I never stick to them anyway, so what's the point? However, I did decide to make two. One, I'm not going to share on my blog. :-) The other is to read the Bible in 90 days. I've always wanted to read the Bible entirely from beginning to end, but I've never actually done it. After seeing this challenge on another blog I read, I decided to do it too. Joey is doing it with me, but he's spreading his out over a longer period of time. He tends to get ADD when he reads. Like reads anything longer than about five words. Unless it's on ESPN.com. Then, all of a sudden his attention span grows. Imagine that. Anyway. So far, I've completely read Genesis and today I will start Exodus. I'm really, really enjoying it. Of course, I've heard lots of these stories countless numbers of times; however, there is something to be said for reading in chronological order. Things are making more sense to me. Plus, there are plenty of books in the Bible that I've never really looked through, so I'm anxious to see what God will show me there.

regression

For awhile now, I've been saying that I want a third baby. However, I didn't realize that that baby was going to weigh 40 pounds. By this, I mean my daughter. Ever since Bear was born, Makinley has decided that she is a baby again. I don't know if she is feeling slightly threatened because she is no longer the "baby" of our entire family or what. I would expect it if WE had a new baby in our house, but it's surprised me because he doesn't live with us. However, Makinley now likes to crawl all over the house, sit in her doll's high chair (don't ask me how she hasn't broken it yet, but she hasn't), drink from her cup while I'M holding it and have me BURP her afterwards! Are you kidding me?!? In lots of ways, I humor her right now. I think it's a stage that she's going through and she will outgrow it. I fluctuate between laughing at her and getting frustrated. But, even with all of her craziness, she's still mine and I love her to pieces.

Oh, and P.S.....I'm thinking my desires for a third baby are fading. Things with mine are just really starting to get easy and I don't think I want to start all over again. I have two beautiful children and I am so incredibly thankful for them. Maybe our little family is complete......reading this should make my husband happy.

gap

Each day, it has gotten looser and looser. Today, I noticed that it was really loose. After some serious discussion (and a few tears on Tripp's part), I was finally able to convince him to allow his daddy to just TRY to get his tooth out. I told him that if it hurt, his daddy would stop. Well, one tiny tug, and Tripp was one tooth short in his mouth. He was so incredibly proud and I started squealing like a little girl. I really couldn't believe how easy it was to get it out. The fear for Tripp was WAY, WAY worse than the actual pulling of the tooth. Here's my gap-toothed boy:

 It's crazy to me that the very first tooth he ever got is now no longer there. I can remember when he cut that tooth....

 There it is....a little piece of his "babyhood".....(is that gross that I'm showing this? Oh well, my blog!)

 He is ready for the tooth fairy! His tooth is tucked snug under his pillow pet!