Lifesong

Favorite Things

These are just a few things that I've really been loving lately. Or, some of them, for quite a long time now. But either way, I thought I'd share.

And I really want us all to have "....when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling saaaadddd...." in our heads the rest of today. Maybe tomorrow, too.

This little tube is probably up there with my tea in terms of how many I think I must have in order to maintain my obsession. I LOVE CO Bigelow's Mentha Lip Shine. And this stash? It's just what's in my bathroom. I also have one in my purse, by my cell phone, in a drawer downstairs, in my nightstand and in my diaper bag, just in case I may need one. I do use it all the time, because I can't stand chapped lips. They drive me crazy. My lips are probably addicted to this stuff, but it's totally worth it. (And at Christmas they come out with all kinds of fun holiday scents. Bonus!)

Feet are another of my weird obsessions. I can't stand to have dirty feet before going to bed. And I also like to maintain that oh-so-smooth feeling right after you have a pedicure. This stuff does the trick. I use it before I go to bed and it keeps my feet so soft. It's important to have soft feet, you know.

A Rubbermaid container that I got on sale at Target. I've always put my tea in a pitcher, but then, THEN one day! True story: I was canning tomatoes, and I put a pot of them in the fridge because I ran out of time. The next morning I pull out my tea pitcher to start my day, like always, and my tea tasted like tomatoes. It was the GROSSEST THING EVER. I literally spit it out in the sink and my kids laughed like maniacs. Now? I don't have that problem. Granted I haven't ever put a whole pot of tomatoes in my fridge since then, but the whole infusing tea with the scents in my fridge never did appeal to me after that.

I've taken a likin' to Greek yogurt. It definitely has a different flavor, but it is yummy. And specifically Chobani lemon yogurt is SO yum. Yogurt is a super food you know. Pinterest told me so. So blueberry yogurt must be like an over the top, super-super food. But it's not as good as the lemon. And all Greek yogurt is not created equal. It must be Chobani. Anything else is just Chob. I don't really know what that means, but I'm leaving it.

I feel like I might be the last person on Earth to get this book, but it's really so good. I'm in a season that is short on time, and this is a great way to start my morning. They are short devotions, with a few verses to go along with it. Sometimes I have time to look up those verses and read them, and sometimes I don't. But in this season it's working for me.

So those are my favorite things right now. What are yours?

Before and After

Everyone loves a before and after picture, right?

Ansley requested pot roast, and since we like to have birthday celebrations that never end around here (cue: this is the birthday that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends.....), I obliged. She also loves mashed potatoes, so I made these to go with it.

Yum.

A Walk to Remember

The weather here is so beautiful lately that I decided today would be a great day to surprise the kids by announcing that we are going on a Nature Walk. If you are my kids, you totally love this kind of stuff. I liken it to Donut Day in my world.

They're all "Yay, no more trapped inside, learning boring old stuff, we're free, we're FREEEEEEEEEE!"

Or maybe that was the teacher that said that? I can't recall.

Either way, we loaded up and headed to a beautiful park by our library. This park is not a playset and swing park, but a nature park, where you can walk on trails and explore nature, Greiner-kid-style.

It started off with such promise. They were off and running, looking around and exploring every little tree and acorn and insect.

I even came equipped. (I was so proud I managed to bring all this and remember it all, even with a baby. I know she's seven months old now, but my brain is not the same.) They each had their magnifying glasses, plus a nature bracelet (packing tape wrapped around their wrist so they could stick their "finds" to it), a sketch journal and a baggie for collecting leaves (that we would later use to identify). That way, we can easily be identified as homeschoolers so no one questions why my children aren't in school.

The only thing I forgot was Avery's jacket. It was pleasant out, but some might call it chilly. Look at that cute baby! Oh my. Avery was so cute, fascinated by every little thing, and especially enjoyed watching what the kids were doing. She was really enjoying our nature walk.

It's funny how things can turn so fast. Not funny haha, funny scary.

Ansley climbed a tree to get a leaf, but she needed a little help getting down. She asked me for help. So, I pushed one of the brakes on the stroller, and stepped over to help her. I've replayed this in my mind a thousand times, and I have no idea why I just pushed one of the brakes. NO IDEA. It was idiotic. Foolish. And, did I also mention, Avery wasn't strapped in the stroller because we were just going for a little walk and I was right there?

I help Ansley down and we laugh and then Christian says uh-oh. Huh?

I turn around, and Avery has rolled backwards in her stroller about fifteen feet away from us and is heading off the paved walkway and down a rather large hill.

And she's not buckled in.

I think I screamed and ran and things were blurry. All I could do was run after this stroller that was careening down the hill, and no matter how hard I ran I couldn't catch it. It was like a cartoon, where my feet just would not move fast enough but all these horrible images were going through my head. It seemed like forever, but it couldn't have been because the hill wasn't that long, and then finally the stroller hit the bottom and tipped over on its side and Avery was thrown out.

And she was crying.

I scooped her up and all I could do was say I'm sorry, over and over. Stupid Mama.

The kids were upset and then Ansley said "Mama, she's bleeding!"

I was sure I had scarred my baby forever.

Fortunately, after the bleeding stopped, it was just some scrapes and a dirty onesie, and a Mama who had just lost several good years in her life. She calmed down pretty quickly after I picked her up, and was even fine to sit in the stroller again while we continued our walk.

It was just one of those moments when you feel God's grace on you, because you know it could have gone differently.

As we walked, Ansley pointed out a HUGE hill with rocks all at the bottom, right across from where Avery fell, and we thanked God right there that it had been a smaller hill, with no rocks. And no water.

The kids wanted to leave, but we discussed it, and decided to stay.

We talked about it a lot, and it was a good lesson for all of us that day. We are thankful that it wasn't worse, and you can bet Avery will always be buckled in but that doesn't really matter because I doubt I'll ever let go of the handle.

Fortunately, kids get over things pretty quickly and move on.

But this Mama's heart still remembers the helpless feeling of seeing my baby rolling down a hill, oblivious to the danger.

I wonder how often this depicts my own life? Does God know that feeling?

Thankful for Him.

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer...." 1 Peter 3:12

Freshly Eight

My girl, all freshly eight, up before anyone else this morning (well, except me).Which is unusual for my sleeper, but it wasn't super early, just 7:45.

And normally this is a pj shot, but she was up AND dressed this morning. Which is also unusual. This girl could lounge in her pj's all day. And I honestly don't know where this comes from, because neither me or John are pj-loungers. But this super cute shirt was a birthday present from sweet friends, so she was excited to put it on this morning.

One year, mark my word, ONE YEAR I will get a non-blurry photo of one of my children running through streamers. Last year I had a Canon, this year a Nikon, so you may be tempted to think it's a user error, but you'd be wrong. I focus that red dot right on her, and still, STILL Nikon! The blurry shot. Very few things make me more irritable than a blurry photo. Well I might can possibly think of more than a few things that might make me more irritable - extreme heat, for example. A day of non-stop tapping on me, that'd send me straight to the irritable bin. Irritable bin? I don't know, it just came out, but if there's a looney bin, there should be an irritable bin, right?

But this is about Ansley's birthday. And blurry photos.

Birthday donuts! It just isn't a birthday around here without the Traditional Birthday Donuts. One year, perhaps many, many years from now, but one year, my goal is to have homemade birthday donuts. But this wasn't that year. Christian was still sleeping, but Ansley wanted him up, so I told her she could go wake him for Birthday Donuts. So we sang, and she blew out the candle, and hey the photo isn't blurry! And yummy donuts were eaten by all.

I would like to point out that Ansley brushed her hair, er, "brushed" her hair in her getting ready process, but I imagine it's a process, this learning hygiene stuff. I don't know, since an 8 year old is all I've experienced, but I'm guessing it takes a little while to learn how to fix your hair. She still has a little ways to go. But she tries, and that's what counts.

Have I told you Christian is one of the, if not THE, most thoughtful little boys I know? Everywhere we go he is pointing out stuff that other people would like. "Mom, that shirt is green, Mimi would love that." "Oooh, there's a train, we should get that for Hamilton." And on and on. So we were walking by these Pillow Pets (that I hadn't noticed) and Christian said "MOM! We have to get one for Ansley!" And it's true, she had been talking about one for several months. So Christian gave Ansley the Pillow Pet he had picked out for her, and she loved it. So sweet!

After John got home this evening, she opened the gift from us. (To re-cap, she has received a slumber party, a new sleeping bag that she requested, a Pillow Pet that she had been wanting). And, she had been talking about a new camera. So that was her final birthday gift, a brand new spiffy camera.

Christian came down the steps a little while ago and announced "I can't get to sleep because Ansley keeps taking pictures and the flash is hurting my eyes."

It's so hard to be a little brother.

And I love how Avery's little striped legs are helping in this photo.

At Ansley's request, we headed to Bonefish Grill this evening for her birthday dinner. It was yummy, and everyone had a fun time. Avery made us all laugh.

We gave her a green bean for the first time, and she was hilarious looking at it and trying to figure out what it was. It was very cute!

Then we returned home and sang happy birthday while Ansley blew out eight candles.

A fun day for our super sweet eight year old!

The Eight Year Old Interview

As is tradition, I interview my kids every year on their birthday, asking the same questions (and adding a few each year to keep it lively) and recording their responses. I started this when Ansley was four (I think) and it's been a fun tradition ever since. I love going back and seeing the previous year's responses, and Ansley even asks "What did I say last year?" after answering something.

My Baby Girl will be EIGHT years old tomorrow. CRAZY. I know, each year will be crazy. What, a ten year old? NO WAY. Now she's thirteen. Holy cow! How did she become seventeen? She was just born yesterday.

So now I'm happy that she's just eight.

Eight is soooo on the verge. She's not this little girl anymore, but she's not a grown girl either. She has opinions of her own, and fears and thoughts and loves to express them. But when she's hurt or upset, she still wants Mom or Dad.

(photo by Lillian Prince Photography)

This is the perfect photo for eight: all wanting to be older, have independence, but loves her Swoopee Lu's and sleeps with stuffed animals every night.

On with the interview!

M(ama): What do you want to be when you grow up?

C(hristian): I know the answer to that!

A(nsley): You do? What? A painter. An artist. Is that what you were going to say?

C: Yes.

M: What is your favorite thing God made?

A: Cats. Horses. Cheetahs. (She has a recent fascination with cheetahs, but she has ALWAYS been our animal lover!)

M: What is your favorite activity?

A: Painting. And riding horses. (Which she wants to do, really bad. But has only done twice in her life. The horse part. She has painted more than twice in her life.)

M: What is your favorite animal?

C: I know THAT one too!

A: Cats.

C: Yep, that's what I would have tolded you.

A: I'm not done. Cats. Horses. Cheetahs. (I guess we'll go with her favorite as the one she said first?)

M: What is your favorite bug?

C: Mom, these are easy questions.

A: Butterfly. Ladybug. And katydid.

M: What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?

A: Go build something!

M: What is your favorite thing to do with Mama?

A: Go shopping! (Yes!)

M: Do you want to be a Mom when you are older?

A: Yes. (Yay! A change from previous years. She has been very anti-Mom.)

M: How many kids do you think you will have?

A: Two. No, wait, probably three.

M: Will you get married?

A: Yes. (Don't worry, we've discussed the God-ordained order of these things.)

(photo by Lillian Prince Photography)

M: Who is your favorite friend?

A: Kennedy. Rylee. Karis. That's why I invited them to, you know, my party. (Makes sense.)

M: What do you dislike?

A: (with a sideways glance to Christian and a slightly lowered voice) Christian talks A LOT. I mean, A LOT. And sometimes I don't like that. Like, all day, Mom! He talks all day. And when he screams, I don't like when he screams.

C: Mom, did Ansley just say she didn't like when I talk?

M: No, buddy, that's not what she said at all. She just said sometimes you talk a lot, which is true. But I (mostly) always love to hear what you have to say.

C: Ok.

M: What is your favorite song?

A: The Conga.

(I know. An explanation is needed, right? It's because she can't control herself any longer. She just feels the rhythm of the music getting stronger. Oh, wrong explanation. We were waiting for John to come out of Home Depot in the pouring rain. The fact that it was pouring rain is not really important to the story, I can just picture it so clearly. The kids were getting restless, so I switched my XM radio to the 80's and turn it up. And, you guessed it, this song was on. Ansley immediately loved it and was dancing all over the car. Then proceeded to ask 5,467 times after we got home to please find that song. So we've played it once or twice or several dozen times since then. And now? Now she's gotta do that conga, beat!)

M: How old is Dad?

A: 44 (Yikes!)

M: How old is Mom?

A: 33 (Yes, always.)

M: What is your favorite day?

A: (thinking) I'd have to say Christmas. Christmas is the best day.

M: What is your favorite snack?

A: Cookies. And chocolate covered strawberries. (That last one is not a snack we have often, or ever, but she requested them for her slumber party and helped make them, so they were on her mind.)

M: What is your favorite place to go?

A: The cupcake place.

M: What is your favorite thing about Christian?

A: He always plays with me and he shares his cupcake or cookie or whatever he has, he will always share with me. (This is very true.)

M: What is your favorite thing about Avery?

A: She's SO CUTE!! And when she goes bababababababa. That's hilarious.

M: What is your favorite thing about Daddy?

A: That he goes places with me.

M: What is your favorite thing about Mommy?

A: That you almost let me do whatever I want. (Really? Seriously? Wow. Cuz, to me, it feels like I'm always on her about getting her schoolwork done and picking up her clothes and doing this and that and.....seriously? Hmmmmmmmm.)

(photo by Lillian Prince Photography)

M: What is your favorite memory from this past year?

A: Christmas! Wait - what happened at Christmas? I can't remember. I guess that's not a good one then. Oh, I know, getting the trampoline.

M: What is the best thing about being eight?

A: I'm older. What'd I say last year?

M: Which would you rather be, a carrot or a fish?

A: Fish.

M: Why?

A: Because I would be in the water all day. I love the water! (Yes, she does. She's already part fish.)

M: What does Dad do all day?

A: Work, work, and work!

M: What does Mom do all day?

A: Clean, clean and cook! And go grocery shopping. And teach us and spend lots of time with us. (Like.)

(photo by Lillian Prince Photography)

M: What is your favorite thing in the whole wide world?

A: My family.

M: What is your favorite subject?

A: Reading.

M: What is your least favorite subject?

A: MATH! (grumpy face) (Boo! I was so hoping she wouldn't inherit my math-hating genes.)

M: What are you most looking forward to in your 8th year?

A: Presents!

M: What is your favorite restaurant?

A: Red Lobster and Bonefish Grill.

(photo by Lillian Prince Photography)

How we love our sweet Ansley Girl!

Seven has been a wonderful journey, and we look forward to all that Eight has in store for us!

1:07 pm

{A sweet, simple treat for The Boy while The Girl is at her co-op.}

The (Anti)Slumber Party

Not meaning that I'm against slumber parties, just meaning that no slumbering is actually taking place, so a Slumber Party would be inaccurate. And I strive to create a real blog, with actual documented memories.

Since Ansley was five, she has been asking for a slumber party. We told her when she was eight she could have one, thinking that sounded very grown up and, most importantly, far off. But now (sniff), here we are at EIGHT. Well, technically she will be eight on Thursday, so almost-eight. But still, wow. Crazy fast. And don't even get me started on in eight more years she will be driving, and then eight more years and she could be married with kids of her own......

Okay, gotta stop with this nonsense. Being a mom for eight years will obviously do strange things to you.

Ansley has been SO excited about her (Anti)Slumber Party, and has been very into helping plan and of course talking about it nonstop. She came up with her invite list and we sent out invitations a month or so ago. Christian is staying with Mimi, so the giggly, silly girls can practically have the whole place to themselves. Thankfully, Avery sleeps well, despite loud girl-like screams and giggles.

I thought that a Photo Booth with fun props might be a fun idea, and it turned out to be a big hit. Ansley and I went shopping and stocked up on glitter glasses, bracelets, silly gloves, microphones and feather boas. For the record, I believe that we will be finding pink feathers in this house for the next year. But it doesn't really matter, because they were HUGE, and I thought the photos turned out super cute.

The party girls: Kennedy, Ansley, Karis and Rylee.

And in groups of two.

Karis and Rylee.

Ansley and Kennedy.

Oops. Actually that wasn't first, I just thought the pictures were so cute I had to start out with them. On the invitations, we asked the girls to wear their pj's, so everyone was all ready to be cozy and have some pajama glam fun!

We started out with dinner, which Ansley chose. Okay, if I'm being honest, she chose pot roast. But then she said my chicken tenders were a close second. Sooo, figuring that chicken tenders are a more kid-friendly food, I talked her into going with chicken tenders at ther party, promising the pot roast for her actual birthday. She agreed, so on the menu: chicken tenders, homemade mashed potatoes, and fruit.

The conversation was hilarious, but these girls are so sweet, polite, and funny. Ansley is blessed with very sweet friends!

Each girl had her name in rhinestones at her place setting. They found this delightful.

Again, Ansley's request: chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting. The toppers say Sweet Dreams because, remember? It was SUPPOSED to be a Slumber Party. Full of sweet dreaming. Turns out, that was just a dream of mine.

Then we all sang happy birthday while Ansley cowered in fright of her candle. That'll teach me not to run things past her. I thought this sparkler "8" candle was super cute, but Ansley was afraid of it. Oops.

And pink milk to drink. When you are eight, pink milk is FABULOUS. Even Rylee, who doesn't like milk, had to try it because it was pink.

Then it was Photo Booth time, but you already saw those pictures.

After dinner, the other girls begged me to let Ansley open her gifts. It's so funny when you get to the age where you can pick out a gift and are excited for the recipient to open it. Each one of these girls was very excited for Ansley to open her gift!

I love her face in this one!

All watching to see what it is.

She received fun gifts that she loved! Books, lip glosses, a fun watch, and a ring.

Everyone had to look at all the gifts, flip through the books and pass everything around.

Then there was lots of silliness.

Good thing my camera never strays too far from me.

Then they all decided that they wanted an almost-dark trampoline jump. Why not?

While they were jumping, I hid jewels all around the playroom. When they came back in, we had a Flashlight Jewel Find. I gave them each a small flashlight and a bag, and they had to find all the jewels using only the flashlights. They thought this was so much fun, we had to do it several times.

Then they had a great time sorting all their jewels, and trading for different colors or shapes, if needed.

Finally, they all got settled in for the night, even though it would be a long time before they would fall asleep. Don't let Kennedy fool you, she is not asleep. They finally drifted off close to midnight, and woke up at 5:30 this morning.

Some sleepy girls for sure, but it was a great night. I love creating sweet memories for my kids, and I know this will be one that Ansley will remember.

She did ask us if she could go to bed tonight. And I'm thinking our house is very quiet right now!

 

Family Fun

We headed to the mountains today for some family fun time. You know how sometimes certain smells or phrases or food can make memories come back to you? That happens to me a lot, and it always makes me wonder what those triggers will be for my kids. Today in the mountains the scent of leaves reminded me of camping trips when I was little.

Which then made me think that my kids won't remember camping trips, since I don't camp.

But I do think that the Smoky Mountains will always remind my kids of their childhood. We LOVE going here and hanging out together.

We set Avery up in here while we unloaded our stuff and set up the picnic. She watched what we were doing for a little bit, but then got distracted by the kids playing. Maybe I'm imagining it, but sometimes I swear I see this look on her face that says "I wanna go too!"

It won't be long.

The kids have a great time just playing in the water. They built a dam, pretend they are digging for fossils, act like they are dinosaurs, rock hop, wade across the stream.

Possibly my favorite part of the whole day is the fact that, for many hours, not a single person says "Can I play on your iPad?" or "Can I play a game on your phone"? and since there is no cell service, even the adults are technology-free.

Don't get me wrong, I love technology, but sometimes I think we are a little techno-overloaded. We, as a culture, and we, as a family.

My other favorite part was that it was seventy six degrees here. Yep. Seventy six. Amazing.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking the beautiful stream while Avery took her daily catnap.

She is getting better about taking naps at home (in her crib) but she is seriously a catnapper. It's crazy. She will sleep for around thirty minutes and then all of a sudden, her eyes just pop open and she's good to go. It's like she's worried that she's going to miss out on something.

Then Mama screamed.

Oh I should back up a little. I'm sure I've mentioned before that Ansley LOVES bugs. And animals. All living things. She is not afraid of them, will pick them up, and oftentimes wants to bring them home as her pet. It really amazes me, because I am NOTHING LIKE THIS. Cannot imagine bringing a creepy insect home as a pet.

So we were standing by a tree when Ansley notices something move. How wrong of a bug to appear to blend in with the tree so you don't even know to be scared.

And that's when I screamed.

Because of this walking stick.

Freaky, right? It totally freaked me out.

THEN Ansley discovered a bee that was "drowning in the river" according to her. So, of course, he had to be saved. Bees that are half dead don't bother me quite as much, I must admit.

But we weren't done there. The mountains have so many opportunities to explore bug life. As I was screaming from the stick bug, I jumped up from my chair, and this was crawling across the back of it.

And I know, there are far worse bugs that catepillars, but seriously? A yellow one with a red face and creepy red antlers sticking out the top? No thanks. It put me over the edge.

So we packed up and headed home.

Nah, I kid.

But this does remind me that both my older kids say "callepittar" and I don't even correct them because they have been saying it so long and I think it's so cute and I'm holding on to those cute little ways of saying things for as long as I can.

Anyway, before heading home, thanks to Freaky Bugs, Christian had to pee.

I debated the appropriateness of this photo, and if it offends you I apologize. But in the end my love for memories won out, and I had to post it. Because he's cute and four and when he has to pee and we are in the mountains with no one around, he just goes. And I so love this boy and his cute little shoulder blades and white hiney. And it won't be too much longer before photos like this really will be inappropriate, so I have to take advantage of them while I can.

And Avery needed a root beer for the road.

No matter where we go, Christian has to collect things. He is a hoarder. Loves little trinkets and bottle caps and rocks and leaves and pinecones.

So he had to bring his collection home.

All in all, it was a perfect day.

If it hadn't been for the bugs.

Twenty Eight Weeks

 
I love all comparison photos, can you tell?

It's just amazing what changes take place in 28 weeks.

Love having this sweet girl on the other side of my belly.

She's discovered her feet. She grabs everything. She makes lots of noises. She laughs and smiles A LOT. She's starting to not like it when I disappear for short moments in the day. (as in, around a corner to go to the kitchen.) She LOVES her siblings, and watches them wherever they go. She sleeps well at night. Catnaps during the day. Loves food, and puffies.

We love her!

Bug Love

Ansley has always had a love for bugs that can't be explained. It certainly doesn't come from me, because I had to have the super zoom lens just to capture this photo. She actually picked it up and touched it and put it in a little bug house and wanted to keep it. I prefer to stick with mammals for pets.

Nevertheless, I do love that she loves these things. She has always been so interested in all types of insects and animals, and it's been fun to watch over the years.

From a distance.