Going Green.... Sort of

I bought a reusable grocery bag! It is mustard green and holds up to 40 lbs. Between my nose ring and my bag I almost fit in!

Shhh... Don't tell them that my baby has on a disposable diaper (gasp)... and I still don't recycle if I can help it...

YAY me! :)

A Sweet Little Sinner

I just don't know how anyone can say that we are born without a sin nature. Maybe they don't remember what it is like to have a one-year-old! In the last few weeks Benjamin has turned from a baby into a toddler. Complete with tantrums! Not just the basic back arching (there is plenty of that too) but he gets down on his hands and knees and bangs on the floor all while fake cry/yelling and face scrunched up in an angry scowl. This child is always with me, and he hasn't seen a fit like that, it all came from his little sinful heart! It is just a great reminder that we are all fallen and we need to cling to Jesus for our salvation!

His little fits have also coincided with giving kisses, which is the sweetest thing ever... and perhaps one of the wettest as well. This child goes all the way! When you ask for a kiss he comes at your face mouth WIDE open and tongue out! :) So wet, but SOO sweet!

BABY TRICKS

WHERE IS IT??

PASSIE FUN

LEARNING SIGNS

Snip Snip... Sniff Sniff

Well, I finally cut the cord and removed the last bit of baby... Here are some of the "before pictures!
Note how long it was over his ears... I guess I waited a little longer than I probably should have. :)
The mullet. Mom! No! His Auntie Kristin and a sucker helped to make the process bearable.

When the sucker was gone and I was only half done we resorted to chocolate chips... I am such a bad mother! Ben LOVED them. :)

Half done...

All done!
Bye-bye mullet!

Chocolate baby. :)

Pap-Paw Sitting

As most of you know my husband hasn't been able to find a job for a little over a year now. So when I was offered a job that was two days a week and I could keep Ben with me AND the pay was decent I couldn't refuse... But now blogging, and a host of other things, have been moved from the back burned to off the stove completely. :-P

But I am enjoying my new job greatly! I am Pap-Paw Sitting. :) (For all you non-southerners... pap-paw is grandpa.) A family we know from Church just brought their father to live with them. He is a sweet old man, he just has dementia and can't be alone. So I just hang out with him all day. We go to Chic-Fil-A for milk shakes, take walks, sit in rocking chairs on the front porch and enjoy the view and have the same three conversations over and over and over and over and over. :) (1. How long have you lived here/Where did you move from/did you like it? 2. How many children do you have/do you want/does your husband want that many??? 3. It looks like its getting windy/cold/warm etc...)

As far as jobs go it is pretty much perfect, it is just amazing how much less laundry/dishes/phone calls etc gets done when you are away from home two days a week!

25 Random Things

It took me over 2 weeks to come up with these, so I figure I would post if for all my non-facebook friends as well. :)

L

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25 RANDOM THINGS

1. I don’t put ketchup on anything, I have to dip it. Hamburgers etc. (Yes, I do put mustard on my sandwich though).
2. I get depressed when I go to concerts because I always wish I had the guts to do it. It sometimes takes me days to shake off the funk… therefore, I really don’t like going to concerts.
3. That said, the voice placement for a college choir was one of the scariest moments of my life, and I never volunteer to sing a solo. :-P
4. I used to collect the state quarters… I cashed them in when I got married and started our first savings account with over $400! I didn’t even keep one set.
5. I constantly waver between just enjoying the moment, and photographing the moment. (I want the picture to remember, but I don’t want to be bogged down with the camera!)
6. I don’t get (most) art. I find art galleries boring. I want to like them, but I just don’t.
7. When I was in middle school my hair band, shirt and socks all had to match.
8. Both my husband and I are one of five, four boys and one girl… and we are both the oldest.
9. I hate folding cold and wrinkled cloths, so I always turn on the dryer before I pull them out to fold them… but sometimes I forget, so they get dried 4-5 times before I remember to fold them while they are warm.
10. I write, cut, throw, eat and everything else… with my left hand.
11. I played piano for over 10 years, and then had a performance where I forgot the song completely… and I haven’t played since then.
12. Unloading the dishwasher is probably my least favorite “kitchen” task.
13. I don’t like to bake BECAUSE I don’t like to measure.
14. I do love making bread from scratch and kneading it by hand (although if someone gave me a mixer I’d take it) because the measurements don’t have to be perfect. Just add more flour or water.
15. I don’t like dark chocolate.
16. I don’t care if you spoil the plot of a movie… because I get so scared/sucked in sometimes that I sit on the edge of my seat, and sometimes shake or even have to leave the room. That said I really like LOST and HEROES.
17. I think that butter is much better for you than margarine or anything like it.
18. I don’t like carbonated beverages (except Root Beer) or sweet tea.
19. I love having people over, but I am a very informal person, so we usually eat around the bar (not the table) and it is almost always serve yourself.
20. I loved growing up in a place (Utah) where it snowed 10-15 feet each winter… but now that I live in a place where I doesn’t really snow (NC) I don’t miss it.
21. I HATE shopping. My wardrobe is basically the same as it was 10 years ago, the only new additions are things my mom gave me. (But I love grocery shopping).
22. I think expensive shoes are worth every penny you pay for them.
23. I have read all the Harry Potter books and none of the Chronicles of Narnia.
24. I would be ok if there were no cats on the earth.
25. I hate dressing up, and I don’t like that about myself.

HAIR

My one-year-old has a mullet. He has had one since he was 6 months old but I still can't get up the nerve to cut it. :-P Here is some of the fun we have been having lately. :) It is SOO long!

Talk To Me BABY!!

What a difference a few words make!!

In the past week Benjamin now says YES, ALL DONE, MORE, UP & DOWN. (He also says Ha (hot), Ba (ball, book, block, and about 25 other things) and da (dog)) It is SOO great! It is truly amazing how much frustration comes with not being able to communicate these simple things!

This has also brought on some serious temper tantrums and the first serious burst of discipline. He knows how to push mom's buttons! I knew parenting was constant... but every 20 seconds??? Let's just say what was supposed to be training in Charleston this weekend turned into a day-long-scream-fest.

OK... I am off to bed!