Self-Control at Kohls

Kohls was having a huge sale today. Like 60% off sale if you went to the early bird part.

I love Kohls. I love the clothes, the housewares, the purses, the shoes. I love most of Kohls and usually have a hard time leaving without something cute.

Today, I went in to buy a comforter and sheet set for the vicar's apartment and I was so proud of myself. I went straight into the store, headed to the bedding department, picked out my comforter, and proceeded right to the checkout.

I passed the cute kids clothes, the shoes, the cute new purses, the new capris that I really thought might look cute on me, and I went and paid. I didn't stop once to look and be tempted. Sure, I saw lots of stuff that I could certainly use, but I didn't stop. Nope--just kept going.

I got a steal on the comforter too.

Now that's what I call self-control at Kohls. A first for me.

I'm in love with the steam mop

I guess you know you are old when you get excited about corded appliances . . . I was super excited about the new toaster oven that Nate gave me for my birthday, but I have a new love. The Shark Steam Mop.

I hate mopping the floor. I hate the mess on the floor. Those two things don't go together, so I decided to try the Steam Mop.

It's awesome! You just fill it with water, wait 30 seconds, and mop the floor! It's as clean as regular mopping with no sticky nastiness on the floor, and it dries in minutes so the kids don't have to be herded out of the kitchen for a long time while the floor dries.

So there it is . . . my commercial. But I love the Steam Mop and if you hate mopping and are looking for an easy solution--check it out!

I am.

I am a mommy, but my girls are not babies anymore. My mommy role is the same, but always changing.

I am a teacher, but not to kids, but to adults who are getting their lives together.

I am a wife, with a wonderfully forgiving, understanding, and one heck of a cleaner husband.

I am a pastor's wife, sometimes uncomfortable with life in that bubble.

I am a daughter, too far away from my parents.

I am a graddaughter, too far away from my grandma.

I am a friend, always learning and growing, trying to figure it out.

But most of all I am here. I am in this spot for a reason. I have the life that I have, the job that I have, the friends that I have, the house that I have--all for a reason. And it is all so very good. Ashamedly, I've been too much of a complainer to myself and others around me. (I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I've had a bad attitude for a while now.) But God gave me all of these good things, and I don't want life to pass me by while I dwell on the hard and difficult things.

I have quit lots of things I'm involved in--which is not a bad thing. I am no longer teaching the women's Bible study. I am no longer working as an administrative assistant from home. I am no longer volunteering for any big projects at church. I am taking a step back to let all the good in my life happen and focus on that. (Not to say that volunteering at church isn't good--the time committment isn't good at this point). I have a new job that allows me to work for three hours a day and devote the rest of my time to my family. I want to do just that. I want to play Barbies with my girls without worrying about what project I have to work on next. I want to paint Abby's room and fill photo albums (and yes, I have finally accepted that scrapbooking is never in my future because I detest crafts), and take baby dolls for a walk with my girls.

I've realized that complaining about the things that I wish were different gets me nowhere. I have a beautiful family and precious time with them that won't be here forever. Pretty soon they'll be on their cell phones talking to boys and wearing makeup. And before that happens, I want to take the time to just "be" their mommy and all that goes with that.

Life is good, my family is good, and I look forward to focusing on that goodness.

I might need a margarita before noon

I am not a huge drinker. Red wine gives me headaches, beer makes me tipsy too fast, and alcohol in general makes me sleepy. I cannot afford to be sleepy these days with two little girls demanding my attention all day.

But sometimes, a raspberry swirl margarita from On The Border sounds so very good.

Now would be one of those times. It's 7:50am. Some mornings the girls aren't even out of bed at this time, but they've been up testing my patience for about an hour now.

I got on the exercise bike this morning (this is the first time I've consistently exercised since my Penn State days) and rode for about 25 minutes. During the last half of the ride, Abby sat next to the bike, whining about wanting to go downstairs. I knew she just wanted a yogurt (the drinking kind) and I asked Nate if he would get one for her so she could fill her tummy and I could ride in peace for the last 10 minutes. He refused because he was sure that she would spill it all over the floor--which she never does with drinking yogurt. And while I understood Nate's point, it is such a mental struggle to even get myself on the exercise bike and I just wanted to finish my time whine free. That didn't happen, and I listened to "ounstairs mommy, ounstairs" for the next ten minutes.

Jenna gets up and immediately starts crying because she didn't get to give Nate a hug before he left. He left about 2 minutes before she got out of her bed.

Next, Jenna refused to take her Pull-Up off and laid on the ground for a good 5 minutes whining about how she didn't want to do it.

As Jenna is getting changed, Abby tried to tell Jenna something and Jenna ignored her. Abby came running out of her room crying her head off because her big sister was ignoring her. After I cleared that up, we headed downstairs.

After getting downstairs and agreeing that the girls would have waffles and strawberries for breakfast, I started making breakfast. Jenna whined because it was taking too long, and then after I put her plate in front of her, she whined some more about the fact that the pieces I cut (which is the way I cut them all the time, per her request) were too big.

While I've been typing this post, there's been no more crying or whining--so the day is looking much better! Don't get me wrong--I know that kids cry and whine, but we had an awful lot of it in such a short period of time first thing this morning, and I seriously thought about getting the blender out:)

Why not wear snow boots in 95 degree weather?

Abby chose her own shoes this morning, and insisted on these pink snow boots. I didn't argue, because it's not worth trying to rationalize with a 2 year old. I am a firm believer in picking my battles, and this is not one worth picking.

So what if we got snickers in Target and the grocery store as we went about our shopping? Abby knows what she wants and I was not about to get in the way of this one:)

Such High Hopes

I've been having a hard time finding a dinner that everyone likes. Abby is the biggest issue. Some days she likes ham, some days she doesn't. Some days she likes mac and cheese, some days she doesn't. Some days she likes hot dogs, some days, she doesn't. I hate to make multiple meals for dinner--I'm into everyone eating the same thing each night. But as Abby began crossing things off her list of food items that she liked, I was forced to try to come up with new meal ideas.

So, I dug back to my childhood and pulled out the old pot roast. My mom made pot roast a lot. It was good, but I have never, ever made it in our 8 1/2 years of marriage. Not because I don't like it, but mostly because I had no idea how to make it (okay, I'm a bit embarrassed about that) and never looked up the recipe. So, I looked it up, got out my slow cooker, and made this fabulous pot roast that every single person in our family devoured. I really mean devoured. Nate, Jenna, and Abby all ate their first helping, and asked for more. This does not happen often.

I had high hopes for tonight. I planned to make the pot roast again, sure that it would be a hit and a hassle free dinner.

I was wrong.

I prepared the pot roast just like before (at least I think I did) and was excited about our family meal tonight. Keep in mind that Nate isn't home every night and I am not the best meal planner. I often pull something together at the last minute. But tonight, I had a plan, and a good one.

After the side dishes were done, I went to cut the pot roast and realized that I had to really work at cutting the meat. Pot roast is not supposed to be like this. The pot roast was as hard as a rock and not edible. So everything else is ready and I have no meat to serve. The kids have been scavengering for an hour-which, in our house, means that they are sneaking into the pantry and climbing counters to get food because they are so hungry. I am desperate to feed them a good meal. So, what did I pull out?

Hot dogs. Seriously . . . . I am so disappointed that the meal that everyone will eat is not going to happen and I had to resort to hot dogs.

On top of that, Nate ended up not being home for dinner and, you guessed it. Abby says, "Mommy, I no like gahgogs."

At least I tried.

Such high hopes.

More on our Disneyland Adventure

As I was reading my blog post from yesterday on our trip to Disneyland, I was a tiny bit embarrassed. I am not the best writer in the world, but that last post was pathetic, and I apologize to you all. I really wanted to get a few pictures up and tell about our trip, but I ended up writing a fragmented account of our trip. If that were an English essay and I was grading it, I would have given myself a failing grade.

So here's, hopefully, a better account of our wonderful trip last week.

My parents came down before our trip and spent the weekend with us, which was so wonderful! We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and got ready for our travels. We left Monday and gave ourselves the whole day to travel. #1 We had a 6-7 hour car ride. #2 We have two children who can barely make it to Target without complaining and #3 All the adults in the car would definitely need a break from those who were 4 or under in the car. We were right. We left at 10 and got in at 7:30pm. We were smart to leave a whole day.

We have portable DVD players, but haven't used them in a long time--for several reasons. #1 We don't take long car trips anymore since we have to fly to see everyone we know. I don't let the kids watch tv in the car to go 20 minutes away. I had to entertain myself, so do they. #2, Jenna used to get car sick.

I can't say used to anymore, because by the time we got to Gilroy (20 minutes away), she was looking green after watching the DVD players in the car. No throwing up, but my hope of having the girls zoned out by the DVD player was dashed and I had to deal with their every need, complaint, and issue.

We stayed in the Residence Inn, which I am now in love with, but is still 2nd to the Hampton Inn. We booked a suite with two bedrooms and a living room and kitchen for the kids. My parents had one bedroom and we had another with the girls. It was perfect for Disneyland and our sanity. They put on a killer breakfast with kids' tables and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on flat screen tvs all over the room. It was perfect.

Disneyland itself is definitely a magical place and we were so very happy to experience it with my parents. The girls were in awe every time they saw a character walk down the street, and even more so when we got to meet the princesses. They have these autograph books, where you can put a picture next to the page that the character signs. My mom got one for Jenna and her first signature was Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. After she finished signing her book, Jenna walked up to me, almost in tears, wondering why the Fairy Godmother had scribbled in her book:) I had to explain that she signed it. How cute. She soon got over it and understood the process.

We spent most of our time on the Merry Go Round and the Tea Cups. We also liked the little princess area, that I can't remember the name of right now. One time, we caught a story told by Sleeping Beauty and another time we caught a lesson by several of the princesses on how to dance like one. I do have some advice for anyone considering this as a vacation. Do not take your children on "Snow White's Scary Adventures" because you think the "Snow White" part will erase the "scary" part. Not true. Jenna refused to go on any more rides that were inside buildings like the Snow White ride was.

Jenna was also afraid of the pirates from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride. She was convinced that they were roaming the park after her. Luckily, they didn't find her:)

Abby had just as much fun as Jenna did! Here are her names for the princesses. I have to write this down so I remember it:

Snow White (her favorite)= Oh White
Cinderella = Cindayahyah
Sleeping Beauty = Seeping Booty (kind of funny!)
Jasmine = Gamine
Ariel = Yoyo

The ride home was torturous. I really was counting on the DVD players and that was out of the picture given the large possibility of Jenna puking. The girls were exhausted, as was I. They were never satisfied with any snack, activity, or answer when they asked every five minutes, "When are we going to be there?" At one point, Nate told me that I was being awful, so I had to straighten up a bit, but I strongly contend that driving the car is a way easier job than sitting in the back with children. Next time, I am going to stake my claim on driving if I can.

So, two days was enough for me, but a magical and wonderful experience that I'm so happy to have shared with my parents and our friends, the Gibsons. I'm also happy that we live close enough to visit again someday.

Our Disneyland Adventure

Last week, we took the girls to Disneyland and it was such a wonderful, awesome experience. We only went for two days, and I'm glad that's all we did. We were all worn out and ready to go home! My parents came with us and got to witness, first hand, the absolute joy on the girls' faces when they met the princesses face to face. The former senior pastor at Mt. Olive, lives close to Disney, so he and his family met us there for one day and had a blast as well.

The princess breakfast really was the highlight for the girls. We ate breakfast at a place called Ariel's Grotto--which is way expensive--and the princesses came around to each table and talked to the girls before they took their picture with them. It really was priceless and I think Abby just stood in amazement the whole time.

Here are a few pictures from our time at Disney.