The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

Today I went to pick up the babysitter and as she was walking to the car Z said "she wore that shirt last time" and he was right, but I wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't said anything. His keen clothing observation makes me think of his dad. He gets a lot of traits from his dad.

For example I think he must have a 10 gallon bladder. I think it's pretty common for most people to make a trip to the bathroom first thing in the morning, but Z can go hours before I realize he still hasn't had a potty break all day after sleeping through the night. This is definitely not from me. Sorry if that's TMI.

Also, Z is a totally cuddle bug, completely affectionate towards all of us and that has to be J too. J comes from a family of huggers, and he has a reputation of hugging. To him you hug when you say goodbye, even if you will see that person the next day.

I have also noticed that Z seems to have a profound awareness of location for a 3 year old. When we were in Kentucky we went to my brother's house and my mom (who has been there dozens of times) pulled into the wrong driveway, so Z (who has only been there once or twice) says "this isn't the right house". It was crazy. I have my mom's sense of direction Z has his dad. When he gets older he'll probably be my human GPS.

He loves to make up songs like his old man. He's a total night owl, that's J too. He also likes scary stories and he's a picky eater all stuff that comes from my husband. THE LIST GOES ON. The older Z gets the more of his dad I see in him, but that's not to say he doesn't have any of my traits. I definitely get credit for his brown eyes and love of chocolate.

Do you know of any traits from you or your kids that are directly linked with certain family members?

Deals for the Week

I should have posted this last week, but I was busy being out of town. Not much to tell for my couponing last week because I am kind of taking a break, but I did liquidate all of my extra bucks on this diaper deal were I purchase $25 worth of diapers and wipes for $6.21 using a print out coupon and my extra bucks (+ I got $5 EB back so it was almost like getting it for $1). Some people travel with cloth diapers, but I am not one of them so I figured that CVS would be the place for me to snag a super great deal on this rare purchase.

This brings my total savings for the past two months to $141.12

A Tale of Two Cities

"It was the best of times it was the worst of times" -good ol' Dickens.

In this case my two cities were Cincinnati and Dallas.

Z and my mom on the way to Cincinnati

The flight to Cinci was a cinch, it was the way back to Dallas that gave me a run for my money. Well, really it was a run for my son, but I will get to that part later.

First of all we almost didn't even go to the airport because I was flying standby and our flight was OVER SOLD. We decided to go and hope for a miracle. When we arrived we had to face the dreaded nudie x ray. I have done a lot of research on this advance security and have very strong opinions and oppositions to the new methods of screening. I have even contacted my congressman about the issue. Anyway, I was asked to step into the backscatter machine to which I protested "Well, what about the kids?" and he assumed my mother would take them since she was holding SJ, but I quickly blurted out somewhat indignantly "But they are my kids!" So he allowed the kids and I to go through the metal detector and left it at that.

Afterwards we headed toward our gate, but my mom had to stop at the bank inside the airport so I told her we would keep moving toward our destination. I insisted I would be fine by myself with 3 bags and both kids, it wasn't going to be for long. However, I quickly regretted that decision as Z began to run ahead of me. He kept going faster and before long he was well out of my reach surrounded by tons of strangers in an unknown place and I had no way of catching up with him. To make a long story short a couple of kind ladies and some airport buggy drivers picked him up and brought him back to me. It was a horrific experience, like worse than a body scanner bad.

The good news is we didn't have to go through it all for nothing because we were all cleared to get on the plane!

SJ after she finally gave in to sleep just as we landed in Dallas.

A rude flight attendant and one upset baby later we had made it home and everyone knows there is no place like home.

What I Wore In Kentucky

I first heard about What I Wore Wednesday from Amanda, and more recently I've been inspired by Maria's weekly ensembles. I thought the outfits I packed for my trip last week would be a good place to start since they represent what I wear on a regular basis, and I know that the world is just dying to see what I wear day to day.

I've included a photo of what I wore and where I wore it (kinda). They were just really quick iphone snapshots so I apologize for the photo quality. Maybe I will work on that next time.

It was cold when I flew into town wearing this comfy casual get up.

Sweater- SO. My friend sometimes gives me the clothes she doesn't wear anymore.

Scarf- Gap Clearance center

Shirt- I don't remember, I've had it for a LONG time.

Pants- Target

Shoes- Payless

On the plane with SJ

Next up, we drove from Louisville to Cincinnati and I needed to have layers because it was about to warm up.

Jacket- American Eagle (thrift store)

Hoodie- Gap (thrift store)

Tshirt- Ascend The Hill concert

Jeans- Doll House (thrift store)

Shoes- Aldo (thrift store)

Painting pottery at Color Me Mine.

I call this next one my cheap outfit, because I usually prefer maximizing my little budget by purchasing quality clothes second hand, but this outfit proves that sometimes I just buy cheap clothes first hand.

This is a sarcastic pose by the way.

Sunglasses- Dollar Tree

Shirt- Walmart

Jeans- Target

Shoes- Payless

Lunch at Abuelo's

Lastly, I wore this dress to church while I was away and I flew home in it.

The dress is from Ross.

The first thing I did when I got home was check on the chickens and the garden that's when J snapped this photo.

I don't always wear flats by the way. I love heels, boots, and sandals, but these simple shoes were the most packable and versatile for this trip. And as far as jewelry, well, I need help. I am in a complete accessory rut so if you have any suggestions let me know!

Peaking At Me Packing

I might be, just slightly, a little obsessive compulsive when it comes to packing. I am not one of those throw some clothes in suit case type, but I am also not the type to bring everything but the kitchen sink either. I actually try everything on that I want to bring and then do little scribble drawings of what makes the cut.

I am just visual like that. I have always done this for every trip as long as I can remember. Some sketches are more elaborate than others, but I was in a hurry this time.

Packing for the two kids adds a whole new dimension to my routine. Here are the top ten thoughts that ran through my head when I packed for this vacation.

1. How can the kids have so many socks that do not have a match?

2. Will butt paste get through TSA?

3. What was the high supposed to be on Thursday?

4. I can get away with only two pairs of shoes. I think.

5. Looks like I need to do some laundry.

6. What is buzz lightyear doing in the underwear drawer?

7. I had no idea this shirt was stained!

8. Man, I really need to do laundry.

9. I don't know if this suitcase is going to zip.

10. Okay, time to do laundry.

Tomorrow I am participating in "What I Wore Wednesday" showing what those drawings looked like when I wore them. Now go check out Oh Amanda for more Top Ten Tuesday.

Where I've Been

I'm actually not back home yet, but I am back on the blogosphere for the first time in a week. The trip to Kentucky/Ohio has been a success.

The kids and Crew the dog at my parents house.

J was not able to come with us for this trip, but the airport security let him go to the gate which was nice.

I can't wait to see J again. It's hard to say goodbye for a week.

Z got his first set of wings
and the kids did great on the plane thanks to some bribes snacks. One of the first things I got to do was enjoy an awesome girls night. The guys watched the kids and my mom, sisters, and I all went out and painted pottery together.

My two sister in laws and me at Color Me Mine

We also got to visit with extended family

My niece with my aunt the one that does the paintings.

and I even got to go to my sister in law's sonogram checkup where they discovered that they are having a boy! I don't think I mentioned that "the other Jeremy & Natalie" were pregnant again. So my niece and nephew will be 14 months apart and Z will have a boy cousin on my side of the family. YAY!

It's been a busy week full of good times. I will share more later.

Looking Up

This week I am feeling so much better and had a wonderful day spending time with my little family before the kids and I head out to Kentucky. Tomorrow is the big travel day. 2 1/2 hours in the air with both kids. It will be interesting to see how they do. I am not really worried about Z. SJ has flown before too, but that was when she was an infant that could take a bottle and sleep in my arms. It's a different story now, but my mom will be with us so hopefully it will all go smoothly. Z is so excited about flying! Each year holidays, conversations, and everyday discoveries become more exciting for him, which make it more exciting for me, and more fun for all of us.

I probably won't be posting too much this week since I will be away, but I am sure I will be adding pics to my Instagram. Instagram is an app that allows you to share little glimpses of your everyday life through snapshots taken on your phone. They have different filters to choose from and of course you can comment and "like" on all your friends photos too. You can also post them on Facebook or Twitter. I only have a few friends that do it, but it's been fun. My profile name is messymom you can look me up if you have an account. Here are the last 4 pictures I have on my Instagram.

Fresh cilantro from our garden, which went straight into my guacamole. YUM!


SJ at the park with for this "little" guy's first birthday.

I titled this one "Life at the zoo"

That's J on the roof of our friends soon to be loft apartment. This has been his primary building project over the past few months.


More to come

Home Improvements

In April a tornado touched down nearby and some high winds caused damage in our neighborhood. Well, a week ago we had a team of roofers come out and pound on our house for several hours and by sunset we had a whole new roof. Plus J and one of our friends built a gable. The roof over our front entrance was flat before and this addition was much needed to complete the look of this old house we have been renovating for the past 7 years. It's not done yet and I do not want to claim any projected date of completion. I have been living with Tim the Tool Man Taylor J for long enough now to know that every project takes way longer than expected. I am excited about the little makeover though. Every step closer to completing our dream is something to celebrate.

I will do some before and after pictures of the gable when we are done. J still has to add the staggered shingles. I didn't really like that idea at first, but we drove around half of the day on Monday for J to point out different homes that had this style. It's a great strategy really, if he holds me hostage long enough I will agree to anything. I kid. It does amaze me though that I never noticed any of these houses before. And that is not the first time this has happened. I never cared about fences. You could have asked me about whether fence poles should face inward or outward and I would have responded "fences have poles?" As it turns out as general rule it is considered a curtosy to have the finished side of the fence facing away from your property. Besides, fences were created in part for protecting your home. It's too easy for someone to climb or peer over when the rails are on the outside. However since we have done all the research we've noticed that a lot of people actually have the outside facing inside their yard. This makes sense to me because most of us are actually trying to keep our children or pets caged in more than anything. Then there are some people that have a bigger budget that have the picket fences finished on both side so the poles don't show at all. As you can see from this photo of SJ we did not have that luxury.

I think that's enough Better Home's and Gardens talk for one day. Regardless of what shingles or materials we end up using I am just thankful for the roof over my head AND that insurance paid for it.

Loss and Grief

Yesterday was rough. I was tending to the chickens and I didn't realize one was under the framing when I set the coop back down. You have to lift it up because there is no door, so it's best to have two people, one to hold it and one to go in. It's pretty heavy.

Yesterday I was doing this alone and when I was done I immediately noticed there were only 4 of the 5 chicks in the cage so I went to look for the escapee. When I saw her lying on the ground motionless I knew something was wrong. We had painted their toenails to tell them apart. The injured chick was named Rye. We each have a chicken that we consider our own and Rye was mine. She was the first one to have a name and it actually started as R.I. for Rhode Island which is the breed, but I spelled it Rye like the grain because I thought it was cute. She had green toes because that's my favorite color. She was the feistiest of the bunch and the hardest to catch which is probably why she was busy running off when I set the cage down. She was still alive when I found her, but it didn't look good. I absolutely lost it emotionally. I couldn't bare to see her injured because of me.

I have had a very difficult time identifying what to do with my emotions. I wanted to reprimand myself for caring about a farm animal when there is so much pain in the world, so many more important issues to worry about. But then Matthew 10:29 came into my head, the verse about how not even a sparrow falls without the Lord knowing. He does care about my chick. He cares about me, and my feelings. HE has enough love for all of it.

When I had Z I thought I could never love another child the way I love him, and I've heard this is a common feeling for some parents. Then I had SJ and my love grew and I know I could have more children and I would love them all the same. Feeling sorrow for a sick chicken does not mean that you don't feel for the people suffering in the world.

The incident took place in the afternoon. I kept checking on the chick in between desperately checking the internet for a solution. Should we separate the chick? Do we put it out of it's misery? Do I need to leave it alone? Will she recover? I knew I would not be able to sleep at night wondering if the chick was dying a slow painful death and I cried out to God to just take Rye if she wasn't going to survive. Soon after that I checked on her for the final time, she had passed. It was such a painful thing to process, but I felt peace knowing that I could have closure. I feel guilty about what happened to that chick and I will continue to ask myself questions. I know she is a chicken and I've experienced death in many ways, but never due to an accident on my part. Afterwards Z knew I was upset and asked me if he could give me a kiss to make me feel better. I said sure, and he asked me where it hurt. He always does this, and he has a look of genuine concern every time. I sniffled not sure how to respond, but he knew as he leaned forward and gently kissed the tears that rolled down my cheek. He is fine by the way, everyone in the family has handled this so much better than I have, but I will be okay. I have kisses from my little boy and a heavenly Father that cares about birds, so I am going to be okay.

This photo is 3 weeks old. The chicks are much bigger now.

A Lesson In Stealing

I'll admit this is a pretty good age combination for my two kids. Z is going to be 4 soon so we seem to have fewer irreconcilable differences and SJ is 14 months which means she isn't quite to the stage of running off faster than I can catch her. In other words neither of them are at the terrible two age where temper tantrums and defiance abound.

A year ago I was scared to death to approach a grocery store with both children.

If Z wasn't strapped in he was darting off in the opposite direction of wherever I was headed. When I went to the store last week with the kids I was taking in this little window of time where they were both cooperative. Z was walking along beside me like a precious little angel, SJ was sitting calmly in the shopping cart like his precious little angel sister. Then we went to check out and I left feeling quite smug until I looked down to see that Z had an opened Kit Kat in his hands. I immediately did a U Turn (we were still in the store) and went back through the line to purchase the overpriced candy bar. The cashier had a line full of people waiting to check out, so I found an employee that looked less busy and made Z apologize for taking something that didn't belong to him. She helped by telling him that it was okay, but that it was a bad idea and she hopes he doesn't do it again. I looked at her and mouthed "thank you" because I always feel like things stick with him more when he hears it from another adult that to him is far more intimidating than his mom.

He is three and I don't even think he understands the concept of purchasing versus stealing, but he did know that he was taking without permission and I figured we might as well address the issue early on. I do not condone his actions in anyway, but if he is going to steal at least he picked a good candy bar. Kit Kats are my favorite, and I was the one who got to eat it. Can you imagine if it was an Air Head? What a poor choice that would have been. I'm sorry, I mean, stealing is a serious crime. Bad. Very bad.

Waiting

I am not the most patient person when waiting. I'm not the worst either, I think I am just average, which in our culture means I don't tolerate much. I had to photograph a professor the other day who had a line of people outside of his office. I had an appointment, but somehow it didn't matter. Isn't that how it always goes when someone has Dr. in front of their name?

So I am sitting outside his office waiting next to this old lady and noticing my equipment she asks me about my profession. I tell her about my job and how most importantly I am a mom. She starts advising me about having a back up plan because photography is unsteady work. Then she says "but you have your kids... for now". It was so strange. I was glad when my time of waiting was over.

Then today I went to have my license renewed. You walk in and take a number (I took a number and a picture).

Then they call a number, a person walks in and out within 5 minutes, BUT they still do not call another number for another 20 minutes. In the mean time I am going a little stir crazy and dreading getting my picture taken because the idea of going to the DMV was not preplanned and I looked like crap. Finally they call my number and I have to fill out a little form which asks if I want to be an organ donor and I am not sure. I checked yes for one box, but no to another which sounded more like giving your parts to scientific research. It's not that I don't want to donate I would LOVE the opportunity, but unfortunately I have known some people that were donors and I've listened to stories from their loved ones who told me that dealing with the organ donor process immediately after the unexpected loss was a tedious intrusive and a painful thing to endure in the middle of a very difficult time. This makes me hesitant.

As I am filling out this information the employee asks me if I am still 5 '4, to which I laughed and confirmed. Then she asks my weight and I have to think about it. I know they aren't worried about the exact numbers, but I was taken off guard. I don't ever talk about my weight to anyone, it just seems personal. Not that I am worried about the DMV, I'm just saying that it feels weird to say it out loud, and on top of that I weigh less now than I ever have in my adult life, so the weight I am used to being is no longer the exact weight that I am. I never tried to loose anymore weight when I got down to my goal about 5 months after having SJ, but then I went down about 5 pounds further. At first I gave credit to breast feeding, then my excuse was that I was busy planning for my vow renewal, and now I am cutting back on sugar because of health issues. Either way I am at a healthy weight and I may or may not stay this size for long, but I am not complaining.

Anyway, I got my new license, the photo is taken, and I am not thrilled with the results, but I can live with it for 5 years or 6 if history repeats itself.

Bad Blogger Busy Liver

What this post title means is that I have been so busy living life that I have had a hard time keeping up with my blog like I would like to. Sure life is always busy, but right now it seems extra busy, like my busyness temperature reading is showing a fever of 103, and I hope to get that down to 98.6 soon. Speaking of fevers, I mentioned that we've all been some kind of sick around here. I try to fight things with natural remedies when I can because medications usually just deal with symptoms and I will spare you all my theories on that, but there comes a time when I just can't take it anymore and I reached that point on Friday. I could feel the right side of my skull throbbing with sinus pressure and it was one of the worst kinds of pain I have every experienced. So I went down to drug store to get the strongest medicine available, for which you have to show an ID. No problem, I pulled out my wallet and the pharmacist told me that my license had expired. I was shocked. REALLY!? I asked with a perplexed congested look on my face. Yes, almost a year ago, she said. She couldn't sell me the drugs with my expired license, so I just pulled the next best thing off the shelf. In the mean time I still have a sinus infection and an expired license which I have been driving around with since last JUNE! Hopefully I will have it all sorted out this week and still have enough to time to post some updates on

the kids

the chicks

and the house

because we have a lot to catch up on!

Q Week 7

I haven't been posting my deals, although I have been going to CVS every week to at least "roll over" my extra bucks before they expire. Week 5 I got some free bubbles, easter candy, and an intuition razor for under a dollar, then on week 6 I got eye drops and some dove men's deodorant (shown in the photo) all for free. This week I was able to get some household items that I really needed for just 62 cents. I had to use up some of my extra bucks, but I have $16.00 in EB left so I am doing just fine.

2 Magic erasers for $3 -$1.50

1 Cascade gel packs $4 -$.25

1 Colgate $2.77 -$.75

Total $12.77- Coupons and ECB's= $.62

Total amount saved in 7 weeks= $122.33

Poetry

Everybody is sick around here. UGH! But I had planned on posting some of my poetry. This is the last one that I performed on Saturday. When I shared it I had red, yellow, black, and white construction paper, and the final piece of paper had a heart that my son had painted.

Jesus loves all of the little children

All the children of the dark and scary world



He wants them to know that he hears them

Even all of the things they never told



Like the young girl with red curls who tries hard

But her best never seems to please them



He has spoken over her plans to prosper

And wants her to see him as a friend



Like the boy riding on the yellow school bus

Who doesn’t want the bus to take him home



Jesus said I know that you are scared son

But with me you will never be alone



And for the young child who is hiding the bruises

Because black and blue could give away the truth



He can be the one to take you out of hiding

He already knows all of the that pain you go through



For the girl whose white dress has been tainted

She feels used confused and unsure



He alone can be your restoration

And He knows that you are still pure



Jesus sees all of the little children

and they are so very precious in his sight



And not one of them goes unnoticed by Him

And all that is exposed in his light



Jesus loves all the little children

He saves them from the pain of the world



He wants them to know there is a future

And that each have a love to behold

-Natalie Busch

This poem has been passed around a little bit and I think that is great, but I went ahead and included my name on this one for just that reason. It means a lot to me. I wrote it several years ago after coming back from a mission trip to an orphanage in Acapulco, Mexico. Every child there had been abused in some way. There are so many more children out there that all have in common pain and dark secrets. I feel the father's love going out to them and how any harm to them brings Him such grief. We are to be a light, and deliver the message of the hope that is in Christ. I would like to say thank you to all of the parents, children's pastors, and teachers that extend a special kind of love and bring hope to children. I would also like recognize that we are all God's children and we experience pain in many ways. God sees all that holds you from being complete in Him. He loves you and wants you to allow him to father you.

Gil And Jil

Art seems to run in my blood. My dad side of the family are all very artistic, my mom's side has the theatrics, and I seem to carry a little bit of both.

My dad's sister has always been an exceptional painter. She recently decided to start to pick up some brushes again and has been creating some mixed media folk art. She is so talented and she is actually giving this painting, based on Proverbs 4:9, to SJ whenever we are able to get up to Cincinatti to bring it home to Dallas.

She has lots of cool stuff available on Etsy, so you should check it out, and no did not ask me to do this. Gil And Jil is the name of her shop.

I love this little diva chichuahua. I think she is saying "Happy cinco de mayo everybody!"

This post is linked up with Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries.

Spring Art Fest

On my top ten things to do this spring I listed my first poetry reading as #9. Well, I can check that off my list and follow up with a list of things that I loved about the art festival I participated in on Saturday.

1. Poetry

I did it! I actually recited 3 poems and although I was nervous (and it showed) I did all 3 by heart.

2. Family surprise

C & SJ

At the very last minute I posted something on Facebook about my upcoming performance and my sister in law and niece surprised me by driving an hour to come see me.

3. Photography

I submitted some of my biggest pieces yet at about 36 x 48 inches.

4. Art

Well duh. I loved looking at all the art work throughout the gallery. There were some absolutely incredible artists showcased.

5. Live demos

Several artist created pieces on the spot which is always a treat.

6. Painting

I am a horrible painter, but I did sit in one of the art lessons. We were supposed to be painting a lighthouse, but I call mine the emergent pencil. In my defense I only had a few minutes and one fat brush to work with.

7. Community art

In the kid zone there was a humongous canvas that the children could paint on and they called it community art . I loved this idea and Z had a great time.

8. Music

Tim Miller, Taylor Davis, Men as Trees Walking, and many other awesome local musicians played throughout the day.

9. Feather clip

With feathers being all the rage right now I took the opportunity to buy my first feather accessory while simultanously showing support to the artist who made it. I wore it yesterday.

10. Henna

So many new experiences in one day. I also got my first henna tatoo at the end of the night. It's a triangle. It represents the trinity as well as my marriage (not my love of Doritos as one of my friends suggested). It should last a couple weeks. I am having fun with it and the kids like it too.

The Spring Art festival was a complete success and I look forward to doing it again in the fall!

Be sure to check out more top ten lists on ohamanda.com