Good times...

This morning I dropped the kiddos at a friend's house, and ran errands. Oh, how I love my precious alone time! I managed to return a pile of stuff to Wal-Mart in record time (most of it was craft stuff that I no longer had the receipt for - thank goodness for a lenient return policy!), and managed to avoid the "clearance" sign siren song and buy only the things on my sizable list. Paid about $15 out of pocket.

Next stop: Walgreen's to pick up a prescription. No line, and I'm outta there in less than five minutes.

Final stop: Salvation Army. I didn't make the big dropoff that I'd planned, but I did have a few things I was looking for: a purse and a pair of capris. I've had my current purse less than a year, and it still looks great except for the fact that one strap is dangling by threads (And I thought I was making a good investment by spending 20 bucks on a real brand during a fantastic sale). And well, I have 2 pairs of capris but one is no longer allowed to leave the house. So I started browsing and came across a pair of very nice pants. J Jill. With the inspector stickers still on the tag. I seriously don't think these were ever worn. They're simple yet sophisticated - dark, lightweight denim. The stuff every mom dreams of. Four bucks! I'm on a roll, so head on over to the handbag area. I scan the wall, looking for something in a light neutral. I grab one that looks promising, and I happen to notice it's "Gucci." I immediately laugh, as it's stamped into vinyl and the inside construction feels suspiciously cardboard-ish. But it's only three dollars and in pristine condition (not a single scuff!) so I figure it's worthwhile. There is a "Made in China" tag inside and I briefly wonder whether hubby has driven by its place of origin this week :) I browse a bit more, and find a couple things for the kiddos at half off, including a very cool wipe-off alphabet practice book (getting ready for kindergarten!) and a little fold-up Fisher Price girly castle that will go perfectly with the pocket-sized Disney princesses I scored at the consignment sale a couple weeks ago. (daughter will probably be receiving all this as a Christmas gift). I generally complain that our particular store is pretty lousy, but I can't complain about today's finds!

So I picked the kids back up, came home, and we immediately headed into the backyard to soak up the glorious spring day. Not a cloud in the sky, and 70-something degrees. Oh, and too early in the year for bugs :) This is my ideal weather. Kids ran around like loonies, and we eventually stopped to eat. Played a bit more, then bedtime. Oh, and have I mentioned that hubby will be home in less than a week?!?!? OK, so it's still six more days but I'm excited :)

Bringing the outside beauty in

Now presenting today's attempt at living beautifully.

Martha Stewart, eat your heart out. (I think she'd be most impressed with the wood paneling :)

Heeeeeeere's Monday!

Well, we kicked off our weekend by getting up at 4:30 Saturday morning to take hubby to the airport. I don't recommend that particular activity - it leaves you alone with cranky children.

So moving on to Sunday... I'm teaching the 2-3 YOs this month. I really do enjoy it, but it's pretty challenging keeping them interested when their attention spans are approx 23.7 seconds. Oh, and there were 18 of them. Yikes! Even with two helpers we had our hands full. We did have a good time learning about the Good Samaritan, and even made paper plate donkeys. Good times!

Today is pretty low key. I'm doing normal catch-up (laundry, dishes, etc.) and also trying to do some in-depth cleaning (the kitchen floor reallllly needs more than a 6 minute mop job). I have a huge pile of outgrowns/no-longer-neededs in the garage, and am hoping it gets even bigger in the next two days as I do more de-cluttering. Salvation Army drop-off is scheduled for Thursday.

This weekend definitely felt spring-like, but today is much cooler. I'm so happy to see things leafing out and blooming! This shot is from the cherry bushes alongside our house. A friend posted earlier today about the phrase "Bloom Where You're Planted" and it really got me thinking. It's so easy to make excuses about why I'm not doing something, but God has given me all that I need for where I am right now. I read II Cor 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. I'd say that's pretty clear. And then I continued reading: "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ... " (vs 12-13a) Wow. Time to stop yapping and start doing. Bloom.

And finally, another kid story to share. Evidently we are raising a pantheist, as our son has been singing, "God is the world" ("God is so good" morphed with "God made the world") all weekend. Ever tried to convince a 5 YO that his doctrine is faulty, and that words really do matter?! I think we have it all straightened out now, and I think he even got what I was trying to tell him. He'd made this "vention" last week by pulling a few things from the recycling bin. I was able to use that as an example - he'd made it, but that wasn't him (he got a laugh out of me calling the contraption by his name, though!) Definitely a God-thing that I was able to come up with that example, as my mind doesn't normally work that fast. So cool to see him growing in understanding... (Prov 3:13)

Random Reading

Just browsing around the blogosphere this past week, and came across some articles.

• Are we inadvertently changing the Word of God by making Bible stories "age appropriate"? I've thought of this as I'm reading to the kids from their Kiddie Bible (which REALLY condenses things) and also as I prepare lessons to teach at church. Read a bit more about that here (and there are some good comments, too).
• We aren't raising children - we're raising ADULTS. We want the darling little people to grow into functioning members of society right? Well here's a handy resource that lists out age appropriate chores.

(both of these sites were found through "Fun Finds for April" over at Making Home. There's plenty more to explore over there if you have some time)

We're all still looking for ways to stretch a buck, right? Some good tips here. Or take it to another level, and think about this.

Working on becoming a Titus 2 woman? Thoughts on what it means to love our husbands here.

Read this quite awhile ago, but don't think I ever shared the link: "Forty Things I've Learned in Life"

And finally, just for laughs, dive into some vintage cookbooks here.

Friday Funny

I personally am in the mood for spring and flowers. Did a quick search, and came across these:

See more here. Have a great weekend!

Catching Up

Can't believe it's Thursday already - this week has really flown by. The highlight so far has to be MOPS on Tuesday. April 1. When we realized that we had a meeting scheduled for April Fool's Day, the entire steering team agreed that we had to do something. Well, it was also a craft day, and a devious plan was formed. See, one of the crafts I wanted to do this year was beaded bookmarks, which are sometimes referred to as book thongs. Well, why not take the thong idea one step further? :) I got up and started talking about how we are not just moms, but also wives (and we truly have been addressing that very issue in other meetings). So to give everyone a little help in the "married fun" area, we'd be making thongs. Oh, and not just any kind - they're edible! I even had a sample made with fruit roll-ups (did you know that you can get ones with patterns printed on them?!) and red lace licorice. Hee Hee. Mixed reactions - some of the ladies were quite enthusiastic and others, well, not so much. But then our leader jumped in and yelled, "April Fool's!" and we got back to the real meeting. It was really fun to have a part in that little production (although it was really hard to keep a straight face during my intro).

In other news, we're actually staying healthy! That's a MAJOR praise, particularly as hubby will be heading off to China on Saturday. Our son is officially enrolled in kindergarten, and will be assessed in June. I made it through another dentist appointment, and we're heading to the pediatrician's office tomorrow for D's 5 yr check-up. Pretty thrilling stuff, eh?

Oh, and can I just say that I've now gotten three emails about "The Church of Oprah" exposed? Funny timing considering my post earlier this week - yes, there are a LOT of Christians that are now speaking out against her. Frankly, I haven't watched her show in years but have found her recent outspokenness to be alarming. I feel like our nation is headed into some turbulent times, and am praying for politicians and other public figures more than ever.

I want to end on a lighter note and share this pic of our daughter. She'd gotten a lot of dress-up items for Christmas/birthday and she's had fun playing with them, but these past couple weeks she's gotten REALLY into it. Well, yesterday morning she was "painting" her toenails with her play eyeshadow and brush. Too cute! I have a "girly girl" on my hands, and am not quite sure what to do with her :) Yet another matter for prayer...

Monday, Monday

(mmm mmmm, mmm mmmm...) So now that I have you all humming the Mamas and Papas, I guess I'll get to the real post!

Life continues to be a bit crazy here. Our little boy was running a fever, plus started complaining that his eye was "sticky" (yes, the beginnings of pink eye, but thankfully we already had medicine in the house :) So while we had our little family party on Friday (complete with strawberry shortcake and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), the gathering we had planned for Sunday has been postponed. I stayed home with the kiddos yesterday (hubby had to be at church to help with technical stuff for the Answers in Genesis conference), and we baked chocolate cake. No cupcakes - D specifically requested a BIG cake. With orange sprinkles (like Tony). So while we didn't have the actual party, we still had the party cake! (Although I should mention that for the jungle themed party the sprinkles will be masked off to make tiger stripes!)

I did head out on Saturday morning to the biannual consignment sale. The kids are now all set for the summer, plus I picked up some games. Operation Brain Surgery gets a thumbs up! I also did a quick grocery store run yesterday afternoon, and was quizzed by the lady in front of me as to how exactly I was going to use the 3 packages of tortillas I was purchasing. Kind of a strange conversation. (And for the record, we are big fans of quesadillas, enchiladas, and wraps. They're a great way to recycle leftovers!)

It's going to be a busy week - hubby will be at church tonight for the end of the conference, then has a meeting tomorrow night. Will be in NY on Wed and not back until late Thursday. And he flies out ridiculously early on Saturday for China. I have a number of things planned, too (including MOPS, dentist, kindergarten registration, and play dates) so I'm praying that we can all stay healthy. The past few days were quite nice weather-wise (and yes, the flowers I posted last week are actually from our yard) but today is rather cold and dreary, so it's a good day to stay inside and hopefully get some things crossed off the "to do" list.

One last funny story - I think our little boy is about to do some growing again as he's been ravenous lately. This morning after breakfast (2 pieces of toast, an apple and a piece of cheese) he asked if he could have chocolate cake. Um, don't think so! His follow up request? Leftover mixed veggies from last night's dinner. Yes, he was allowed a little bowl of those :) Have I mentioned that we have some wacky kids?!