And When I Finally Have Time

So I've finally found about 30 seconds to post something on here, and wouldn't you know that I can't find the cord to connect my camera to the computer!

I've got some pictures of sweet Jake eating, our kitchen as it appears now compared to when we started, a few of Abby being Abby, and you're going to miss out on them because I can't find the stinkin' cord!

I'm sure it will show up somewhere, but then the question will be will there be another 30 seconds when Abby is engrossed in Sesame Street and Jake is sleeping soundly in his pack-n-play?

On another note, my online class is going very well! My students seem to be engaged in the discussion boards; they've completed their tests and are emailing me all the time. I'm excited to see how they finish.

My traditional class this summer is AWESOME! I've got some fantastic students who really seem to enjoy being there; although I'm completely aware that no one really likes being at school during the summer.

Anyway, as soon as I locate the disappearing cord, I'll share some pictures with you. Until then, you'll just have to wonder about how cute they are!

What I've Been Doing Lately

A few of you (those who actually keep up with this blog) may have been wondering what I've been up to. If you know anything about North Greenville's schedule, you know that classes finished up a few weeks ago (Whew!) and that I've not been in the classroom until this Monday when summer school started.

Well, while it's true that technically I've been out of the classroom, I can't say that I've been free from working on my classes.

You see, I have the privelege (I say that seriously and not facitiously) of creating one of the first online classes for the English Department, and let me just insert here that it is quite a task!

I've been immersed in the world of BlackBoard, creating notes, PowerPoints, discussion boards, assignments, uploading tests, you get the picture.

Well, it's finally all (well, almost all) there and the class has begun. Now I'm fielding emails and questions about how the thing is supposed to work. It's a learning curve, but we're going to make it.

I've got one traditional class this summer session too, but that's pretty easy, something I do all the time anyway.

After last semester, this is a breeze!

So, you may not see me for a while. If you get concerned about me, come look for me in the world of online classes.

Look what I found in the laundry!

Messes

When I had kids people tried to warn me. I guess I was so focused on little tiny socks and soft blankets, chubby cheeks and pretty blue eyes that I didn't hear them. Experience truly is the best teacher, and unfortunately sometimes I'm a slow learner.

I say that as a preface to the story that I'm about to tell.

Abby LOVES cheese: cheese slices, shredded cheese, cheddar cheese, white cheese; it doesn't matter.

This morning I was in the kitchen trying to get things back in order after three weeks of renovating. The kitchen was a mess and Jungle Book 2 was on The Disney Channel, so I worked while Abby watched the movie. I filled her little orange bowl with shredded cheese, sent her into the living room, and I continued what I was doing.

I refilled the bowl several times (and let me insert here that vacuuming the living room rug was on the list, so I wasn't very concerned with her spilling the cheese), and on the last refill I said, "No more cheese; this is it."

After a few minutes, Abby said, "Mommy, can you help me. My cheese spilled."

Oh..my..word

Did her cheese spill. It was everywhere! The rug was orange from all the cheese she had dumped out.

I sighed, went to the closet, lugged out the vacuum cleaner and proceeded to suck up the mess.

Meanwhile, Abby ran into her room and stayed while I cleaned. When I turned the vacuum off, she ran into the living room shouting, "MOMMY, did you clean up my mess?"

That made me think. Sometimes I do that to God.

I make a huge mess and then run away while he cleans it up and then trot back in the room after a while and say, "God, did you clean up my mess?"

I didn't mind vacuuming the rug. It was on my list anyway, and I know that Abby is much too small to handle it by herself and clean up her own mess, but there was no remorse; there was no "I'm sorry for making that mess, Mommy." There was just the assumption that I would clean it up.

Do you and I make messes and then just assume that God will clean them up? He loves us, certainly, and he does clean up behind us many times, but don't we have a responsibility to repent, say we're sorry and not just presume on God's grace?

That's my thought for the day.

How'd That Happen?

This, my friends, is what you would call a culprit. A culprit of what crime, you might ask. Well, the crime of causing mass chaos in the Looper house.

We knew we were going to have to get a new refrigerator when we found this:

Yes, that's the seal around the door of said refrigerator. We noticed a while back that the door wasn't closing very well, and as the weeks wore on, the gap got worse and worse until we were faced with the sad reality that we were going to have to replace the fridge.

That's not the big deal because we were planning to use some of our tax refund to replace the fridge and South Caroline just initiated the Cash for Appliances program, so this was really not a bad time to have to do this. The real problem is that when we looked at the old refrigerator we realized that it was T-I-N-Y. I mean, it was really, really small. I guess I never noticed because this is my first house, and I didn't know what I was missing.


We started looking at replacements, and we were going to have to special order a small refrigerator for the hole, so of course instead of settling for a small fridge, we just moved it from one wall to the other, which meant my dad had to come over and help us move electrical and water to the other side of the kitchen.

You can probably see now that this was a bigger project that we had originally thought. Now, since we moved the fridge from one side to the other, we had to put down new floors, right?


And if you put in new floors, you need new countertops, and then of course the paint doesn't match either the floors or the new countertops, so you have to paint. And since you're going to have the countertops out anyway, you should probably get a better sink, and you've never really like the light fixture, so that should go too. Oh, and there's a big hole where the old fridge was so that's a perfect place for a new pantry.

Sheesh!

So, here we are.

The new floors are in and the fridge is moved. Jason's working on countertops this weekend (he's attempting to tile them - I'll let you know how it goes), and next weekend we're painting. It's a real project for sure.

Nothing's been done in this kitchen since the house was built in 1994, so it is high time something changed.

And it all happened in the name of ice in the door.

Easter!

Easter was extremely fun this year. Before now, Abby hasn't really gotten the concept of (or cared for that matter about) hunting eggs. So this year when she really engaged with the activity, we were in for a treat.

You may remember I told you that she WAS NOT wearing the dress we got her for Easter, so Jason and I started playing mind games with her several weeks ago to get her excited about her new dress. We told her how pretty she would look and that her friend Katie ALWAYS wears pretty dresses and that she would get to show Katie her pretty dress on Sunday.

All went well unti bathtime Sunday morning. I probably should have given her a bath Saturday night, but as you can see from my other posts, we were a little distracted Saturday. When she had to endure the trauma of a bath, she changed her tune from excited about the dress back to "I NOT WEAR THAT!"

Being the good mom that I am, I of course threatened saying, "Either you wear the dress or you go to church in your diaper." Some of you out there may think that this is silly - wouldn't all children prefer to run around in their diapers. Well, most children probably would, but not my daughter. She's modest with a capital M, and we're so very proud of her for that. Let's just hope it lasts to her teenage years, but I digress.

I knew that she would rather wear the dress than go in only her diaper, and I was right. She wore the dress, and then we couldn't get it off her. We put her in shorts and a t-shirt to take a nap in because it's been 500 degrees here in SC the past few days, but when she got up she insisted we put the dress back on to go to dinner at Aunt Debbie's.

I guess you could call that a success.

Jake just enjoyed the day sleeping and eating as usual. But let me just say, he was awfully cute while he did it.

Abby's Adventure

Abby went on an adventure on Saturday with Nana and Heidi.

As with any great adventure, a backpack was necessary. My mom and sister decided they would take Abby to the annual Cat in the Hat event at McAlister Square in Greenville. For those of you unfamiliar with local, children's events, let me explain. The organization Ready 4 Reading hosts the event once a year to promote readiness for reading - thus their name. Their mission is to prepare children to read. Take a look at the statistics on their website - simply astounding.

The Cat in the Hat is an event where children can come and get 2 slightly used books and one new book and participate in fun activities that promote readiness to read.

With Jake, I didn't think it would be feasible for me to go, so I told my mom to go ahead and take Abby.

And the adventure was born.

Because we are really into Dora the Explorer right now at my house, Abby had to pack a backpack (which I found out later her Aunt Heidi hauled all over the place). All great adventurers have backpacks. And M&Ms. Did I mention that she had to have M&Ms before she would go? She is my daughter - books and chocolate - who could ask for more than that?

When they got there, Abby immediately picked out a Dora book - see what I mean, completely obsessed.

She put an alphabet puzzle together, dug in paper grass for prizes and brought home a board book and another book called The Kissing Hand.

After they finished at The Cat in the Hat, Nana and Heidi took Abby for Chick-fil-A. By the time she got home, she was completely spent. It was some outing for sure.

I wanted to share this organization and event with my friends in Bloggerville because it is important that we parents read to our children and expose them to books.

What book was your favorite as a child?