Word (Or Three) Depending On Your Intrepretation

Okay, I know that in this picture Abby totally looks like Sean Combs (aka P Diddy) or at least her interpretation of P Diddy.



But what she's actually saying here with all this attitude is that she really wants to be four.

Her BFF at church, Mia, turns four on Thursday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIA!) and Abby informed Jason last week that she needed to be four because being three hurt her pinky finger. If she were four, she could hold up all four fingers instead of having to hold down the one.

Makes perfect sense, right?

I'm just wondering what does that mean for me when I turn the big 3-0 in August.

Ctrl + Alt + Del

If weeks like this one had a reset button, I would have pushed it way before now.

Here's a rundown of the week that the Loopers have had since my last update.

*My dad had a massive heart attack on Friday morning. He was driving to a cabinet job when he had his heart attack, passed out and totaled his van. God certainly knows what He's doing because had my dad been in his shop working, he could have fallen on a piece of equipment or lay in the floor for who-knows-how-long before someone found him. The way it happened, a lady called 911 immediately and he got attention. St. Francis is a fantastic hospital. Unfortunately they couldn't get in touch with my mom so they called me - talk about scary! - and as God would have it, Jason was off because it was my spring break and we rushed to Greenville, kids in tow, and talked to the doctor who said Daddy was lucky to be alive. He stayed in CCU overnight and then went to a regular room until Monday morning. He goes back April 18 for bypass surgery because he has some major issues going on in his heart. I'm so very thankful for a God whose thoughts are higher than mine and whose ways are better than mine.

*I went back to school on Monday to collect two sets of papers - not a big deal but one more thing to be done.

*Abby started running a very, very high fever on Wednesday afternoon (104.8) and we took her to the doctor only to be told she has the flu. We immediately sent her to quarantine and Jake to my sister-in-law's. I've been out of school and just now washed my hair for the first time since Tuesday. Jason and I are both on Tamiflu, Jake's coming home tonight, and Abby seems on the mend.

And although it's not my issue, Heidi's dissertation was due on Tuesday, which was immensely stressful for her, but she got it done, so way to go, baby sister!

The picture above is Abby this morning when she was feeling okay.

This picture is Abby about 30 minutes later after a few minutes of sitting still and some Disney Pocahontas. Okay, I know it's not exactly true to history, but a flu-ridden baby gets to watch what she wants.

Chuck E Cheese - Say Cheese!

My sweet Jason decided to take today and tomorrow off to by with me and the kids for the last two days of my spring break. We had grand plans to go to Charleston to eat seafood and celebrate our anniversary which is coming up next weekend. But alas, the best laid plans - well you know the rest - succumb to poverty. :-)

Instead we opted to head to Chuck E Cheese since it is too cold and wet to go the zoo and the children's museum is too expensive and Jake can't really enjoy it anyway. And, I had a coupon for Chuck E Cheese.

Let me say, Chuck E Cheese smells like the skating rink and definitely isn't known for it's pizza. That being said, Abby had a grand time collecting tickets, which she traded in for four - yes you read that right - four rings and a bracelet.

Mommy and Daddy played skee ball and rode a questionable motion ride. Let me say something about that experience: while Abby and I were at the water shooter game, a little boy came up and asked if he could play. I of course said yes, and he then thought that we were his family. He played that game with us, and when we went to get on the questionable motion ride, he followed, climbed into my lap and rode the ride with me. Jason and I kept looking around for his mom or dad because if that were my kid and I saw him in the lap of another mom, especially one I didn't know, I would be a little upset. We never saw her, and when the ride was over, he hopped down and went on his way. I guess that's one way to not have to use your tokens for a ride.

The photo booth was a hit - even though Jake didn't know what in the world was going on.

Spring Break Means What?

Yes, it is finally spring break here, but today it is pouring cats and dogs. That didn't stop me and Abby and Jake from venturing out to the library for what they call Wiggles and Giggles. My friend Kelly told us about it, so off we went.

Did I mention that both my children were up by 6:30 this morning. Yes, you read that right - 6:30. Usually they take naps about 1:30 but today when we got home at 12:30 they both went down.

So, I caught this picture of my tired little man.
Normally he looks like this in his playpen.

But I guess 6:30 in the morning will do this to a little guy.

Bandaids, Anyone?

When you're three and a half, you get bandaids on your knees just because you're three and a half.

It's a good thing I get these things cheap with coupons.

My Life in a Picture

Please don't misunderstand. I LOVE this crazy, wonderful life. But this is where I am right now - the struggle between work and home. Oh my!

What You'll Find on my Nook

Here's the list of what I've been reading the past few months and what I hope to be reading in the very near future. (Things which don't include student writing or anything truly literary.)

This series by Joel Rosenberg:

Absolutely fantastic and thought-provoking. I burned out on the Left Behind series when it was the hottest thing several years ago, but I found that I couldn't put these books down. Well, that's not completely true. When I got to the last one - Dead Heat - I had to stop reading for a while because it was just a little too real. I highly recommend these.

When I Lay My Isaac Down by Carol Kent

I picked this up because it was mentioned by our interim pastor at church. It is insightful and moving. It helps me think about how to handle life in general.

Okay, technically this isn't on my Nook, but it's what I'm listening to:

How I've missed Phil Wickham all these years is beyond me. I actually downloaded his song You are Beautiful when I meant to download Cannons and when I realized the mistake, I had to go back and get the whole album. That's totally logical, right?

Here's what I have on my Nook and hope to read soon:

I need the crash course on parenting, I think. Since God is so gracious to me, I think that I should extend that grace to my kids.

I'm also torn between


and



What do you think?

Daddy, can you please wash my cups?

Just Because He's Too Cute

This guy has stolen my heart.

Can't you see why?

It's Way Past Time for a Haircut!

I had finally had enough with the hair and the tangles and the crying and the tears and the food gunked up in the hair. Jason and I talked it over, and then we began to work on Abby, convincing her that a haircut would be a great thing.

So, we went from this:


To this:



Much better, huh?

A Report of the Weekly Savings

As you have probably already figured out, I endeavor to save my family as much money as possible when it comes to grocery shopping and truly any other kind of shopping.

So, today, in the nasty, misty rain, I journeyed to Publix and CVS. I had gone to Ingles yesterday, and since it was naptime when we got home from Ingles, there are no pictures from that trip.

Jason says that I have to stop with the Coke. We now have about ten 2 liters and ten 12 packs of Cokes in our house. The sad thing? We'll drink them.


Here's how it all broke down:

CVS - spent $22.94, saved $39.82
Publix - spent $57.37, saved $68.94
Ingles - spent $$29.05, saved $27.34

Total spent $109.36, saved 136.10 or 55%

You'll notice there are two greeting cards in that pile. They're for my Nannie who will be 81 tomorrow. She doesn't look at this blog; heck, she's never even had her driving license, but I love her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANNIE!

The Things I Learn from Chocolate

For Christmas, Jason gave me a bag of Dove Dark Chocolates. I'm amazed that we waited over a month before opening them, but today we opened them for dessert after lunch. They're the promises. You know, the ones that have pithy saying written in the wrapper. I think the first one I opened said something like, "Your smile could light up a room." Well, thanks. That makes me feel great.

The second one I opened, however, made me think. It said, "Love rules without rules."

Now, that's simply not true. Genuine love loves with rules and parameters. What kind of mom would I be if I never set any guidelines for Abby and Jake? I'd be a pretty lousy one. Jason and I institute rules because we love our children.

For example, I tell Abby she can't run in a parking lot (a rule) because I don't want her to get hurt, not because I hate her.

Somewhere along the line, our culture has bought into the lie that true love allows us to do whatever we want whenever we want. That's simply not true.

What kind of God would we serve who never told us no? If I never tell Abby no I create a brat, and the same goes for God. I'm afraid we have lots of spiritual brats running around because they refuse to believe in a God who would tell them no. Instead they create their own god who never tells them no, and thus act like spoiled brats. My God disciplines me and puts limits in my life for my good, whether I see and understand that or not.

It's kind of amazing how something as simple as a piece of chocolate can make you think.

I love orchids.
I distinctly remember buying a beautiful orchid when I was in high school. I was certain i could keep the thing alive because I'm pretty good with plants, but orchids are like cats: they want to be left alone, and I've never really been a cat person. All that to say, when I bought my first orchid, I promptly killed it because I overwatered it and then underwatered it and it eventually died because of my misunderstanding of how it wanted to be handled.

Now, when Jake was born one of my best friends brought an orchid to the hospital because she, like me, loves them. She gave me instructions and told me not to kill her. I told her I would try my best.

One of the things I had to learn was that orchids will bloom forever, but when they drop their flowers, you must prune them. The flowerless stems have to be cut back in order for new flowers to come. It usually takes about a year for a new shoot to form, but when it does, it is so satisfying.

Here's the hard part. I am now nurturing 6 orchids. My second one just started blooming with new flowers about a week ago. She's lovely. In the meantime, one of my newer ones dropped her last flower, and I hesitated to cut her stem because I thought, maybe, just maybe, she'll put out a new bud. So I waited. No new stem. This morning I cut her. Down to nothing.
Why do I write this. Well, I think there's a spiritual lesson here. So many times, God prunes me: he cuts back the things in my life that he knows are dead and lifeless. And it hurts. It's never fun to have something that is a part of you taken away, but ultimately those times are for my good. God wants me to bear good fruit and to produce something beautiful. Those flowers may not come overnight. As a matter of fact hey most certainly will not. It will probably take time for God to cultivate the things in me that he wants there, but the result is more beautiful than before and much more satisfying.

What is God doing in you?

It's time for a savings post

Okay, I haven't put one of these up for a while, so I thought you might like to see my haul today. I hit 3 grocery stores (which I normally don't do, but we needed milk, and when I can get Pet milk for $2.98 a gallon, I'l go wherever I need to).

Included in all of this are two large packs of chicken breasts, a Boston Butt, asparagus, lots of oatmeal and cocoa (for chocolate oatmeal cookies), cheese, frozen pizza, 3 gallons of milk and a half gallon of chocolate milk along with several other items.

I would call this a success in shopping. I have to admit, Publix is my very favorite place to shop, but today I had a wonderful little girl in Bilo who made that experience delightful.

Here are the totals:

Ingles - spent $6.95, saved $11.97 and got $5 in Catalinas
Bilo - spent $27.08, saved $17.09 and got $2 in Catalinas
Publix - spent $47.07, saved $60.41

That breaks down to a savings of 52%. Now, some of you may say, "Come on, Alicia, you brag that you can save 60% when you shop," and normally that's true but when we became a 3 gallon a week family, I'm happy to save half. All in all, I'm thrilled that I can buy the things my family needs without breaking the bank. Ultimately, that's my goal.

What I'm praying for Abby

My mom gave me James Dobson's book The New Strong Willed Child , and it is a book that we desperately needed in my house.

You see, that little rocker girl has an iron will. Dobson would call her a revolutionary, and I've no doubt that she has the potential to be just that.

I started reading the book, and of course, when I read anything I have to talk it over with folks, so several weeks ago, I was talking to a wonderful friend and colleague of mine who also happens to have a strong willed child.

She gave me a wonderful prayer to pray for my Abby. You see, the strong will isn't a bad thing - it is something that God gave Abby because he knew she would need it. After all, you don't start life at 2lbs 15oz and only stay in the NICU 10 days, coming home weighing a whopping 3lbs 6oz and no be strong willed.
It was something that served her well in those early days, but left unguided and if not taught to control that will and reign it in, the results could and most certainly would be disastrous.

So, what am I praying? I'm praying that Abby will be strong willed for her Savior, that she will cling to him with an overwhelming passion. After all, aren't our children arrows in our hands, not to be broken, but to be aimed and shot into this world?

What do you pray for your children?

About Daddies

Since my sister doesn't have a blog - I know, all science and no fun - I thought I would share this story with you, which turned out to be quite a lesson in the care that daddies take of their daughters.

About a year or so ago my baby sister moved into an apartment. It was her first time being truly alone and on her own, and my dad, knowing my sister, put a chain lock on her front door. Several months after she moved in, she went to visit a friend in the same complex and noticed that her door didn't have a chain on it, so she said, "You know, Katie, you really should call maintenance and tell them that you're missing the chain on your front door." To which Katie replied, "No, Heidi, your dad installed that chain on your door when you moved in. Didn't you know that?"

Well, obviously, my dad put the lock on without my sister ever knowing it - for her safety - and my sister credited it with just being a part of the apartment.

Do you see where this is going? My Daddy took care of my baby sister and she never even knew it - and wouldn't have known it had her friend not told her the truth.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was out of school on break and Jason had taken the week off after Christmas to be home with us. Jason left to go play disc golf, and I stayed at home to wash clothes. Now, we have dryer issues. Those of you have been to my house while I dry clothes will recall the horrible sound our dryer made. It was something akin to a pig being slaughtered and I couldn't dry clothes during naptime because no one could sleep through that racket. We assumed it was a felt pad that had decided to go MIA, but I realized later that it was something worse.

While Jason was gone that morning, I put a load of clothes in the dyer, turned it on and noticed that it didn't sound like it was moving. It was running, but the barrel wasn't turning. I turned it off and called Jason. By the time he got home, and I went back in the laundry room, the top of the dyer was hot to the touch and when we looked in the barrel we could see the back glowing red. Jason and my nephew pulled the dryer away from the wall and we could see burn marks on the dyer and the wall and soot was coming from the back.

Now, I tell you, we were so very close to a major catastrophe, but God - my heavenly Daddy - was taking care of me without my even knowing it. Kind of like my earthly Daddy did for my baby sister.

Scripture tells us in Matthew 7:11 -If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

That's the thing about Daddies, they take care of their children, even when they don't know it.

The Fear of the Lord

I was reading this morning in Job 28, and something jumped off the page at me. It's not something that I've never heard before; in fact, it's something that I say to my students and something that I've often reminded myself over the years. I'm not sure why it had the impact that it did this morning, but it did.

Want to know what it was?

Here you go: "And he [God] said to man, 'The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.'" (Job 28:28).

As I read this, I began to think - what do I fear? That something bad will happen to my family, that my husband will lose his job and we won't be able to make it financially, that I'll be diagnosed with some kind of horrible disease, that a natural disaster will destroy our home and way of life.

Most folks would look at this list and say that it is a reasonable list, things that most people fear. None of them are too far-fetched, okay, sometimes they're far-fetched if you lived in my brain, but they are all things that could happen.

So why then does God tell us that the fear of him is wisdom?

I think it's because it is much wiser to fear the one who ultimately controls the things we fear than to fear the things themselves.

For instance, I can't control whether or not I contract an incurable illness. God can control that.
I can't control whether my home is wiped out by a natural disaster: God controls the wind and the waves and orchestrates them just as He sees fit.

When I fear the one in control, knowing that He loves me with a steadfast love and always has my best interest at heart (Jeremiah 29:11), I find incredible peace (Philippians 4:6-7).

So, perhaps when I'm afraid and worried about things that are obviously beyond my control, I should remember the one who never loses control.

We did it

Well, we had to bite the bullet and get a new computer, so now we're those people - Mac people.

Last week our power went out because someone hit a transformer. The next day I went to turn our computer on and got an error message. I called Jason frantic because I was sure that the machine was dead. By some small miracle, after 10 minutes of coaxing it decided to come back on. At that point we knew we had to get a new computer. We wanted something that was easy to use and durable, so we chose the basic MacBook. We've never had an Apple computer before, so we'll see how this goes, but the reality is that after we lost most of the pictures of Abby's first and second year when the old computer crashed before, we didn't want to chance it.

So, maybe the easier and faster access to pictures like the ones above will make blogging easier.

We'll see.