Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who commented an idea for my MOPS devotion. Ugh... here's where I write... "But I'm not really equipped to talk about any of these things in a large group of women". It's one thing to write my own words in a blog post on my own piece of real estate... it's quite another to talk to a group of women who know nothing about you. Honestly, I'm looking forward to the devotional, I just hope I can convey what the Lord wants me to talk about in a clear, concise way... whatever IT is.

In other news... Randy got a new job! And let me say, it's been a stressful several weeks around here. Not to go into all of the details, but things had gotten so bad at his current job that he felt he had no other option but to find other employment.

So, I got busy searching the job listings and culling out the jobs he was qualified for. He ended up submitting a resume to a company headquartered in Minnesota that was in need of a "field" engineer in Austin. Funny stuff, since we once lived in Minnesota. I told Randy that if this job will eventually land us BACK in Minnesota then to not even apply for it! But, he reassured me that he had no intention of leaving Texas again... (God willing!)

Randy was flown out to Minnesota and had an excruciating day of interviews and presentations. And 10 days later... YES... 10 days of waiting... he was offered the job! More money, better company and better benefits.

The best thing about it was... God's timing was perfect. I wish I could go into all of the background details about what led to Randy finally deciding it was time to make a job change, but he'd rather I not. Just know that God's timing was PERFECT!

I'm stumped! Help a girl out...

I'm scheduled to give a "mentor mom" devotional next week for MOPS and I'm stumped as to what to talk about. I've been praying that God give me some kind of nugget that I can talk about for 10 minutes, but I don't want to be too preachy. I'd like to stay on the practical side of things, but of course, tie it all up with a biblical truth. I want to appeal to the masses, but wonder what I could talk about that would do just that?

So, my question is this... if you were sitting in MOPS and were about to hear a devotional from a mentor mom, what would you rather hear something about:

• an anecdote on raising kids
• healthy marriages
• friendships with other women
• living contented
• practical knowledge on spending money

Your comments are appreciated!

Blog Brain Dump

Another busy weekend is down in the books for our household. There are days when I wonder, 'could we possibly fit another thing or event in our lives?', and sure enough, we do!

I also think if we had temperatures that were in the 60's-70's consistently (at least in October) it would be very nice around here. I'm needing for it to cool off so I can break out the fall clothes on a daily basis. My summer wardrobe is wearing thin... literally.

Speaking of clothing, I bought Elisan a very cute pair of "super skinny" jeans from Old Navy last week for $12.00. She was rockin' the skinny jeans this weekend at church. I wish I had taken a picture of her. She was cute with her skinny jeans and newsboy cap. I also found a cute gray cardi-sweater (with cute multi-colored heart buttons on the front) for Kyla at Gymboree outlet for $10.00. Cute, cute!

If you haven't tried Yoplait's Greek Honey Vanilla yogurt run out right now and buy you some. Oh my...! It is really good! Slightly tart, not very sweet and the texture is incredible. The best part is that it has 130 calories, 0 fat and 12 grams protein! 12 grams of protein! That's better than cottage cheese, which is usually my "go-to" food when I'm lifting weights. Now, I can go to this yummy yogurt as well!

Speaking of lifting weights... I have NOT been lifting (anything!) for the last 8 days. I literally woke up last Monday not hardly able to get out of bed because of my back. I am not sure what I did, but whatever IT was, it left me pretty much in a pinch all week. I'm still feeling residual pain from the strained muscles, but I'm on the downhill slide of it now! Luckily, I've still been able to the stairmaster machine at the gym. It's the only machine that didn't aggravate my pulled back muscles.

I'm not ready to share any details about what "dropped in my lap" on Friday. But, it's not THAT big of a deal to anyone other than me. It's just awesome to see God give you confirmation when you need it. That's really all that it was. Don't worry... I'm not going to be doing anything drastic anytime soon!

So, I guess that's it. I wish I had more to add that was worthy of my blog brain dump. I need another blog installment perhaps called "pointless blog fodder" on days when I don't really have anything worthwhile to say. Of course, I could probably rename my blog to "pointless blog fodder" and no one would be the wiser!

Dropped in your lap

Have you ever said to God, "God, you're just going to have to make this happen for me." or "God, you're just going to have to drop this in my lap" and He did?

He did that for me on Friday. I'm still contemplating what it all means, but here's a word to the wise... Never underestimate the power of an off-the-cuff prayer.

Valuable Information

I recently had an eye exam because I needed a new pair of glasses. But, before I made my appointment I called two locations and asked if I could get a new set of glasses with my year old glasses prescription and both times I was told no. I was told that if the prescription was over a year old, then I needed to have my eyes checked again to get a new prescription in order to get new glasses.

Last week I picked up my new set of glasses, but unfortunately, the new prescription was not working for me. So, I brought the new glasses back to the store to find out what my options were about returning them, etc.

While I was there, I learned some very interesting facts about eye glasses prescriptions. The technician told me three valuable pieces of information.

1.) Unless your written glasses prescription states "expires after one year" or "expires on (actual date), then your prescription is valid for 2 years in the state of Texas.

2.) You can have a new glasses made from the measurements of a current set of glasses lenses. So, say for example you do not have your actual paper prescription, all you need to do is bring in your current pair of glasses. They will get a the measurements from the current set and make you a new set based on that information. (Make sense?)

3.) If your eye doctor insists on placing an expiration date, insist upon a 2 year expiration limit.

Unfortunately, these rules only apply to glasses prescriptions and not for contact lens prescriptions, but I thought the information was valuable enough to pass along!

Sidenote: I have previously used Zenni Optical for all of my glasses and I still like Zenni, but felt like I needed to get a high quality pair of glasses as my main set. Zenni is great for funky and hip styles, but I needed an everyday "mom" pair!

My husband knows me

I'm so thankful for my husband. He truly knows me and understands me. He knows my heart and is my constant source of earthly support.

You know what else I love about my husband? Is that he remembers stuff that I don't remember... like how I felt/reacted when I've been overwhelmed. Or, when I've been stressed out... Or when I've been over-committed. And he's not harsh about it. He gently points out that his concern for me outweighs the temporal satisfaction I (we) may achieve by something that is not a good fit for me (us).

Because honestly... I'd take on the world. I'd sign up here, sign up there, volunteer here, volunteer there, over-achieve here, over-achieve there... you get the point. But, right now, I'm at a place where there is balance and because of it, everyone is balanced. My kids are full of joy. I've got the smartest kids on the block, bringing home straight A's. My husband is cared for. Our home is a welcoming safe haven. And I'm happy.

I'm so grateful for a husband who knows me and knows what I need when I can't see the forest for the trees.

Thank you Randy for letting me be me and not feel guilty for "just being a stay at home mom/wife." This is my season now and it's good.

Four Across

Four Across.
Nope, it's not a cross-word puzzle clue... it's Kyla's missing teeth.
She's missing four teeth on top! I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before!

(This makes 8 lost teeth for her. She's now caught up with Elisan!)

THE busiest weekend ever

We had the busiest weekend on record, but I have to say, the highlight of it all, was celebrating our sweet girl's birthday.

Here's a closeup of the cake that my dear friend Rachel created for us. It was so very cute and yummy! Thanks so much Rachel! Check out Rachel's website for more creative cake creations. (Pssst... she's taking orders!)

Freaked out!

So, I'm at home by myself, minding my own business... and as I'm about to go upstairs, I turn the corner and see this... It freaked me out! I almost wet my pants.


In related news... sort've... this is KM opening her presents from us.

Happy Birthday Kyla Mae!

My sweet baby girl is turning seven today! I cannot hardly believe it.

She's such a spirited, fun-loving, silly girl, full of laughter and joy. Randy and I are truly blessed by her every day.

We often joke that we aren't sure where Kyla came from... because she's not like either one of us! She's definitely her own person and I couldn't imagine our family without her spunk!

Whoooot am I?

I'm not sure whoooo I think I am, but cookie decorator... I AM NOT!

Tomorrow is Kyla's birthday and she wanted cookies to share with her classmates. I thought, sure, that's easy, why not?! Glad I'm not an over-achiever or anything insane like that.

Ya like that big "chicklet" looking glop of icing on top? That was supposed to be a heart. Since that didn't work, I opted for a triangle. Oh, and that is not chocolate. That's brown icing. At least I can totally rock the color mixing. Score one for me!

That owl on the right looks mighty fearful don't ya think?

Worth mentioning

One of my favorite cartoon programs for my girls is "Peep and the Big Wide World" on Discovery Kids. This show is semi-educational, but that's aside the point.

The point is, this show is HILARIOUS! Namely, the duck, who is named "Quack". Quack is sarcastic, has perfect comedic delivery and thinks he's the brains behind the operation, when really, he's not very smart at all.

"Peep and the Big Wide World" is truly a show I can watch with the girls and thoroughly enjoy. I even find myself laughing out loud alongside them.

Check it out! You won't be disappointed.

Mini-Me

Elle & Mom

I {heart} Picnik

Have you tried PICNIK lately? It's a free internet based photo editing website.

Because there's really not much to say...

I wish... I wish I had something worthwhile to contribute here, but the truth is, I got nuthin'.

Oh, you know what I mean... I don't have anything that is contributable, really. (I think I just made up the word contributable.)

So, Randy signed up for the Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon in November. I'm proud of him. He's been doing all of this "faux" marathon training just to say, "I can run 26.1 miles" and never had any intention of actually entering a race, but after he got an email from some running acquaintances from church who are also entering the race, he decided he'd go for it. I think his competitive nature will compel him to enter more races and eventually enter to run a full marathon. More power to him, that's what I say!

Speaking of training, or rather working out... I can't seem to shed these lasts five pounds that I've slowly put back on over the last year. Short of starving myself, I'm not sure what else to do. I s'pose I'll keep on keeping on and see if my body finally kicks in. I am resisting the idea that my age has anything to do with it. I resist you, 37 years and 10 months.

Oh my word... I bought Kyla a pair of leopard print flats at Target several weeks ago. They were $2.50 for the pair. I would have never bought them, but for $2.50... well, you know me... can't pass up a deal. Let me just say for the record, I WISH I had never bought those silly shoes. How do you rationalize with a 6 year old that, "No, you cannot wear your 'tiger-print' flats with ________." I mean, really just fill in the blank here with athletic shorts, shorts with floral prints and shorts in a multitude of colors. Ahhhhh... let this be a word of warning to all you moms out there toying with the idea of leopard print shoes. Avoid it like the plague. Unless your kid has better fashion sense than mine, then hey, why not?

Edited to add: I did not make up contributable. The Internets told me so!