Gotta love a sweet little helper who enjoys licking a good brownie spoon. :) We can’t keep clothes on the little thing, which we hope is not a preview of life to come. On the plus side, she is saving us lots of money not having to wash so many clothes. I appreciate her help and thoughtfulness.
A week ago, yesterday, my baby boy turned 10. It is so hard to imagine that 10 years ago our family would be blessed in such a big way. We were so excited when we found out I was pregnant with Cole. I had miscarried the previous year and we had kind of given up on getting pregnant. When we had our first doctor’s visit, my due date for Cole was the same day as the baby I miscarried. That was such a neat feeling.
I loved being pregnant with Cole. Other than not sleeping and having pregnancy induced carpal tunnel, I had a great pregnancy. Since I lived over an hour from the hospital and Cole was due during an unpredictable weather time of year, my OB suggested being induced. (Plus, he was expected to be a big boy!) The induction ended up in a c-section and the rest is history.
Cole is such a handsome and smart young man. I love listening to him tell stories. He always asks such inquisitive questions and he is so curious about how and why everything works the way it does. He’s tall for his age. He likes Transformers and his little sister. He enjoys playing outside and being alongside anyone of us. He is very family oriented and he’s a momma’s boy. He enjoys playing the wii and he likes to write stories. He is an excellent artist and he cracks us up with his inventions. He’s a homebody. He loves Chick-Fil-A and Incredible Pizza. He plays the piano by ear and is extremely creative. He’s a lefty and he keeps a messy room. He’s sassy and opinionated. He can get mean, but he’s always sorry. He has always been big for his age and people have always expected more from him because they think he is so much older than what he is.
I love that he is growing up and I get to see some amazing changes in his personality and temperament. However, I’m very sad that everything happens so fast. I wish time would slow down and allow him to be a kid a lot longer.
Cole dreams of big things, but is incredibly happy with the most simple moments. The best gift that I can give him right now is time. Time to become the person he wants to be and to pursue the desires of his heart. He’s at the age now where I can’t always make everything better and sometimes things hurt.
I want the best for Cole. I want him to care about others and put God first in his life. I want him to love someone deeply someday and hopefully have a sweet family of his own one day. As of right now though, he says he won’t get married and he won’t have me any grandbabies.
For Cole’s birthday this year, he wrote down places he wanted to go on brightly colored index cards. He handed me the stack and allowed me to choose which place he would get to go. We ended up eating at Pizza Hut (his choice) and going to Buffalo Wal-Mart. He always wants to go there because it’s so small and he “doesn’t have to wait as long because I don’t like as much stuff.” He’s wise beyond his years. :)
The day after his birthday, we had another bonfire birthday party at the house. He has had a bonfire party for more years than I can remember now. What’s funny is he does it for everyone else. He knows they enjoy it and I think he knows they will come if there is food. He barely eats a hot dog on the fire and rarely roasts marshmallows. He is always so busy playing inside that he doesn’t get out much. This year, he had a friend from his class, Cooper, spend the night. They played his new wii game until about midnight and then they went to bed. He got lots of birthday money at his party and some great gifts. Believe it or not, he hasn’t even spent all the money yet. I’m hoping he will save some of it.
Here’s to hoping this year will go by a little more slowly than last year did.
On the way to his favorite Wal-Mart
Sitting with Daddy at Pizza Hut
Being silly with his straw
Sissy enjoying the cheesy crust Cole chose
Yes, we take pictures at Wal-Mart next to anything with LOST on it!
John and Cole burning brush piles before the party
Cole decided he wanted Neopolitan ice cream, cookies, brownies, Rice Krispie treats, and fondue with strawberries, bananas, graham crackers and marshmallows instead of the traditional birthday cake. We had to put his candles in his brownies.
Since the last time I posted, I have survived Parent-Teacher conferences, turning 35, Space Night, Halloween Class Parties, Halloween Pictures and Halloween itself, two nephews birthdays, Christmas Open House at Rosewood and countless other things.
For my birthday, John and the kiddos bought me season 8 of Little House on the Prairie on DVD. (They bought me season one last year and I spent an entire weekend watching all of it!). Yes, I realize they are out of order, but he got it in trade, so I’m happy with that! After watching several episodes this weekend, I have decided that my heart is completely 98% in tune with Little House on the Prairie. I love the simplicity, the overall life lessons, the morals and values, the hard work, the trust, the warm welcoming of people into your house and life, the frugality, the yearning and everything that encompasses the value of family, friendship and religion.
Now, I know for a fact that life was probably only partially portrayed correctly in the show, but in my heart, I can always find a way to relate to something on the show. However, when I begin to think of the inconveniences (running water & electricity—mainly), the feeling that we have to keep up with the Joneses and the guilt that comes with not doing everything I feel like someone else expects me to do makes me fall right back into thinking that we HAVE to live in the now.
I truly feel sorry for us. My wish for my family is to live more simply. I know that is not cool or exciting to other people, but one thing I’ve learned in the last few years is how truly meaningful life can be when we stop trying to live up to what others expect and start living the lives we want to live.
I took this picture on Halloween. We were waiting on a train to by while the sun was setting. I feel like it completely depicts my life right now. Everything is going by in such a blur even when I’m sitting still. Looking at it in real life, things were so clear, but looking at it in a photo showed the actual motion. That’s me. I sort of have the appearance of having it all together and am able to keep my wheels on the track, but when you take a closer look, things seem so out of focus and it’s hard to keep up.
If I had my way right now,
And the list goes on and on…..
I have to learn to do more with the time that God has given me. I am not feeling balanced right now . I owe it to myself, my family and friends to make more of an effort to do the things that I think I am missing out on. I think I am queen of mommy guilt and it’s creeping up on me right now something fierce. Does anyone else ever feel like this?
Mmmmm, my house smelled soooo good while all of this was baking!
Last Saturday, I had lots of motivation to bake. I’m not really sure why, but I am attributing it trying to get warm. I also like the thought of Once a Month Cooking and the fact that Crystal at Money Saving Mom had multiple posts about what she does on her baking day. Also, I’m trying to be extremely frugal and enjoy more time at home rather than running around. Of course, that time seems few and far between. :)
My baking day would have actually only been considered baking hours though. It took me two hours and 15 minutes to bake 2 loaves of poppy seed bread, 2 loaves of banana bread, lemon cheesecake bars, 24 pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and a pan of 9 pumpkin chocolate chip squares. I have frozen almost all of it and we’re eating little bits of it at a time. It’s so nice to have it done and to be able to pull some out of the freezer and enjoy a little treat.
What is your favorite thing to bake?
I can hardly contain my enthusiasm this weekend! Tonight is the night that my brother and his family will be featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC. KSPR 33 will be airing a pre-show with interviews with the family and I’m not sure what else at 6 PM. The actual show begins at 7 PM CST. Ashley Tisdale and Shawn Johnson made celebrity appearances. I’m including a few of my favorite pictures. You’ll have to tune in tonight to see the inside. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside until after the show airs.
Feel free to come out to the watch party at Remington’s on Republic Road around 5:30 if you want to take part in the festivities.
Chris & Niki’s house was exploded
Michael & Paige getting out the last few things before the explosion
Christine Daues, KSPR news anchor, was so sweet to my family
Shelly & me at the pep rally
Joe Daues, Cole, Christine Daues & Audrey
Dad, Audrey, Cole & Me in the VIP tent
Walls are going up
I took a picture of Chris & Niki & their family on TV. I know that makes me weird. :)
Mom & Dad at the faux rodeo
Ty filming a video for Chris & Niki
Ashley Tisdale and Ty taping Mom & Dad
Ummmm, more Ty!
Chris & Niki and their family with the builder, Sam Clifton, of Millstone Homes, and his wife, along with the sitter they had on the trip
I can’t wait to see what all actually makes it into the show tonight!!!
I try not to brag on my kiddos too terribly much, but I’m super proud of Cole. He placed in the advanced category in Math on his MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) test last year. The results came out at the beginning of this school year. The school decided to reward the students who placed in the advanced category and they were recognized at the monthly school board meeting this evening. The kids’ names were individually read and they each shook hands with our School Board President. Then, they got their picture taken with their families and with their grade level groups. The students individual pictures and names were placed on stars in the lobby for everyone to see.
It was so nice to see our school do so much to recognize the efforts of these kiddos. I’m so very proud of my former students and especially my very own MAP Star Tester. :)
Cole with our School Board President, Mr. Cunningham
Our little family with happy school board members in the background. ;) Who knows what Audrey and I were doing?
Cole standing by his star photo in the lobby
As if it isn’t sweet enough that my daughter points to words in a book and ‘reads’ them to me, yesterday she pointed out the ugly truth. As she grabbed John’s current read, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, she pointed to each letter as she so sweetly read to me what it said, “This says, you need to stop talking on the phone.” Seriously, where does she get this?
Earlier in the day, I was actually talking on my cell phone while Audrey was playing outside. She yelled to me, “Mommy, I need a phone in my car.” I jokingly told her that she would be okay and I proceeded with my phone conversation. She was very persistent and kept yelling, “Mommy, I need a phone in my car to drive.” Remind me never to buy her a cell phone.
Audrey yelling at me to give her the phone.
Preview of life at age 16—notice there are no hands on the wheel
I am definitely someone that finds myself emotionally torn between the things I’m interested in and the things that I truly value. I find that I like to dive into everything wholeheartedly, but end up giving up on things because I feel like it takes away from my family. I enjoy teaching, couponing, frugality, decorating, reading blogs, scrapbooking, making bows, etc., etc. However, I seem to have to give up on things or put too many things on the back burner because I try to do too much at once and end up spending more time doing things that aren’t as important to my family.
As fall approaches, I have made myself spend less time on the computer, less time on Facebook, less time at school, not making as many bows and practically not couponing at all. Part of me feels a loss for not doing things I enjoy, but the guilt of spending time doing things that my family and friends do not feel they benefit directly from makes me put things into perspective. Yes, my family benefits from my couponing, frugality and bow-making, but not in the sense that I get the satisfaction of doing it.
I don’t want to look back on my children’s early years thinking that I was ever not interested enough in what they were doing or that I spent more time doing things I wanted to than spending quality time with them. The same goes for my family. I never use to be the one that people had to call and check on because I was the one trying to stay on top of things. Not so much anymore.
So, if I’m not commenting on your blog posts immediately or not commenting on your FB status often enough, please don’t be offended. I know that I have to balance my time and other things more evenly. For me, part of balancing means knowing which things weigh more heavily on my heart than on my mind. For now, I choose to devote myself to my family first. I also know that I need to spend more time checking in on my friends and feeling more connected to them. Technology is great in the sense that it gives us the ability to be instantly connected with people, but face-to-face interaction is by far more valuable.
There are so many things in life that come and go easily. I cannot let time slip by that is meant to spent on those who are precious to me.
These two are a huge source of why God put me here and I need to feel like I am serving Him by bringing them up in a way that his pleasing to Him. This is definitely not something I am torn about.
I finally get to meet up with my friend, Wynne, tonight after school gets out. Cole and I are heading to her house and then to our favorite store, Rosewood Farms. Wynne retired from teaching Kindergarten last year and I’ve really missed her this year.
I always have fun when I’m with Wynne. When we get together, we laugh, sometimes cry, but always know the value of a true friend. Have I mentioned that I’m excited???
Posts
All Comments
