Momma's Day Out!

My friend Sarah has a super sweet husband!  About a month ago he asked for my help in surprising his wife. He arranged an entire day off for her... she's a stay at home mom, so days off are few and far between. I was so happy to be able to "help" him and surprise her, but honestly I was pretty psyched to get my own day off, too. It's not that I really need time away, it's just that Sarah had mentioned a day of shopping and a nice dinner, which is something I haven't done in a long, long time. Like 4 years or more... the shopping part, I mean. 

So Saturday was the day!  Sarah picked me up around 10 and we shopped all day!  We started at Nordstrom Rack and worked our way through Oak Park Mall. The we ended at Seasons 52 on the Plaza. It was a perfect day!  Plenty of girl time. The clothes were fitting pretty well. And no little munchkins to drag along. It was nice. 

Now I will be honest, I'm not sure if it was the 4 year shopping hiatus, or my seriously thrifty nature, but holy heck!  Clothes/shoes are expensive!  Nordstrom Rack is a discount version of Nordstom stores. Their website says 50-60% off department store prices. So I'm thinking cheap, like really cheap. Ha!  For the experienced shopper, I'm sure $95 booties (I only know that word because I follow a blogger with fashion sense, ordinarily I'd be clueless) is a heck-of-a-deal. But for the thrift store shopping, part-time working, fashionista wannabe - that's me - $95 is unfathomable.  Like seriously off-your-rocker-insanity!  But aside from the sticker shock, the day was perfect!  

Oh yeah, I need to share one funny moment from the day. We had to wait for a table at the restaurant, so while we waited, Sarah and I drank a martini at the bar. When our table became available, I went ahead and got seated, while Sarah closed out our tab with the bartender. All was good until our waiter, a bit of a cheeseball flake, asked if he could start us off with something to drink. I explained that my friend would be here in just a second, but water would be good for now. He said, "I'll bring 2 tap waters."  To which I replied, "That would be perfect!"  So we were both speaking English at that point, but then the waiter says like 3 words that I do not understand. I'm pretty sure they were French or something. I kind of stared at him for a second and he just stared at me. It was awesome and awkward all at the same time. Since this guy clearly didn't catch the fact that I'm a  regular-old, turn on the faucet kind of girl, I simply said, "Um?  Say again."  To which he threw me a bone and said, "Would you like a fancier water. Like seltzer or bottled?"  I explained that tap would be sufficient.  It was like a scene from Pretty Woman.  When Sarah finally made it to our table, I told her that this is why you can't leave me alone at a fancy restaurant. I'm just too regular!  

We returned to our families around 11 that night with bags full of clothes and worn out bodies (well, I was worn out, not sure about Sarah).  We both agree that we need to make sure this happens again! 

Here are a few pictures from our day!  

Apparently the adult onesie is a thing now?  What are people thinking?  

Martini for Momma!

I wasn't too worn out to start a load of laundry before going to bed so that I could wear something new to church on Sunday. Me and two of my favorite people enjoying some breakfast at Kate's Kitchen. The new paisley top was only $24.95 at H&M. Score for thrifty Momma!

Spring Break 2014

Last week was my Spring Break from school.  Now that I'm working part-time, Spring Break has taken on a different meaning.  I used to count down the days after Christmas Break so that I could have a week to spend time with Gracie, or clean, finish projects, take a vacation, or just plain rest from the busy of the work week.  But now that I have almost enough time to keep up with the cleaning, projects, and resting, Spring Break is just about having fun!  And what makes it even more special is that it's a week of fun with me and my sister together!  While our job share gig is the coolest opportunity of our lives, it doesn't allow us as much time to play together with our kids.  It's always me and the kids, or her and the kids.  But Spring Break and Summer are such a fun change of pace for us!  We play and have picnics, watch movies and skip naps!  It really is a blast!

This year for Spring Break, we had very few plans and just sort of took the days as they came.  Most of it was spent with Steph and her kids, although Ryan took off work on Friday so we could have a family day, just the three of us.  Again... so fun to be able to just have fun together!

Thursday was the first day of spring and it happened to feel very springy that day.  Steph and I met up with some friends, Tricia, Makaela, and Drew at the park for a picnic lunch and a day to play.  While we were there, I discovered that Gracie is a swinging monkey!  She likes to swing really insanely high and, because she hasn't learned to pump her lets yet, constantly yells, "Higher!  Higher!"  Literally, I give her real, true underdogs!  You know, when you grab the seat of the swing and run under it as you push them to the sky?  She likes to swing higher than my head!  We also do "reverse underdogs" which are the same thing, only I push her from the front.  She's fearless when it comes to swinging.  But every time I give her an underdog, I say the same words, "Don't let go!"  So far this year, she hasn't fallen... knock on wood!

Gracie also quite enjoys playing in the dirt.  She hasn't had many opportunities to play in dirt before, but the freshly dragged baseball field at the park was a perfect place to try it out.  All the kids had fun making a mess of themselves on the field.  And if Gracie's bath water was any indication of the fun she had in the dirt, let me tell you, it was a lot of fun!  The grit in her hair and between her toes reminded me of my own messy self back in the day!  Gotta love a princess who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty!  A modern Belle, I suppose!

The big boys were pushing Gracie from behind and I was pushing from the front!

Natalie... who also happens to love swinging!

Kyle!

Kia climbing the slide... uh oh!

The whole crew!
Notice the squished girlies!

Heading home to rest after several hours of play.

Our trip to the zoo on Friday was extra fun because Daddy got to come with us!  The day was a tiny bit chilly, but perfect for the zoo.  We began by renting a stroller near the front gate... the only way to do the zoo if you have a little one who likes to be independent at all.  It only costs $6, which is well worth it to keep the peace in the family.  She can get in or out at her leisure, without assistance.  Score!

Gracie's absolute favorite part of the trip was the African Hunting Dogs.  We see them every time we go to the zoo, but this time one was awake and moving around.  Gracie kept hollering at the other two to "Wake up, puppies!" but they just looked at her and then snuggled in again.  We decided that the two sleeping "puppies" were the Mommy and Daddy and the awake "puppy" was the kid because he kept crying at the other two to wake up.  Sounds about right!  She named the kid puppy Gracie, because she's a kid, too.  Genius!

Trying to get a closer look at the dogs.

Yelling to the dogs!

Gracie the African Hunting Dog

We have a Gold Friends of the Zoo pass, which means we ride the train, tram, and carousel as often as we want to, with no charge.  Gracie and I have taken advantage of those rides several times, but never with Daddy.  It was extra fun taking Daddy through the tunnel and on the carousel.  We also decided to try out the African Sky Safari for the first time.  It's a ski lift that carries you all the way across the African Plains.  We rode directly over the giraffes... like our toes were just a few feet above their heads!  That was pretty fun!

Our day at the zoo was the perfect end to my Spring Break!  I cherish all the fun times I get to share with my family.  We're a super fun group!

Riding the Ladybug! 

Hollywood noticing the giraffes and zebras!

Riding over the giraffes!

We were taller than they were!

Riding the train.

Taking a much needed nap when we got home.

Bountiful Baskets

I learned about an amazing deal on this blog that I follow. She posted a couple of weeks ago about Bountiful Baskets and how it's revolutionized the way her family eats. Bountiful Baskets is basically a nationwide food co-op, meaning a very large group of regular people across the US go in together to buy produce at discounted prices. I researched a little bit and found that the closest site to me is in Smithville, so I signed up right away. 

Here are the details... You register online the week you want to participate - $15 (plus a $5.50 transportation/gasoline fee) and you get 2 baskets full of produce. One veggie and one fruit. Literally, these people fill up 2 laundry baskets of food for you!  Like most co-ops, you get what you get... no substitutions. You bring your own bag to carry your stuff home. And that's about it.  It's offered in KC every other week, but you are not required to participate every time. Only when you choose to. Let me tell you, Bountiful Baskets is worth every penny you pay for it. You get at least $35 worth of produce for the price you pay.  And that's comparing Aldi's prices. 

Here's what I got this week. 

1 heart of romaine lettuce (big!)

1 bunch of kale

2 stalks of celery

5 lbs of russet potatoes (+2 extras)

1 box of mushrooms

8 chili peppers (I think?!)

2 butternut squash

7 tomatoes

8 apples

7 pears

1 pineapple

10 bananas

I'm pretty sure that's everything. I don't know about every week, but my family will eat everything we got, except I'm not sure what I'll do with the peppers just yet. Either way, when I do my grocery shopping at Aldi tomorrow, I'm pretty certain I'll spend around $30 for our family of 3 to eat for 7 days. Not too shabby!

The volunteers fill your baskets before pick-up time.  Each basket is numbered and assigned to each order. Some people even order 2 or 3 baskets. It's really cool how they do it. Each volunteer was in charge of a specific item. So she would distribute that item to each basket. Then afterward, whatever was left over was split between everyone's basket. So I got extra bananas, butternut squash, and potatoes, but someone else may have gotten extra apples, lettuce, and pineapple. 

I was pretty excited to show Ryan my purchase!  Not too bad for $20.50!  Next time my mom and my sister want to participate, so the extra $5.50 charge will be split 3 ways, making it less than $17 per household. A steal! 

Let me know if anyone local decides to order. There are a few other tips I learned in my experience that I could share. Ordering is open on the Monday and Tuesday before pickup. So the next order will open on March 24 at noon. 

Tough question...

Gracie and I have some of our best conversations before she goes to bed. While we rock, Gracie tries to stall to stay up later (and I let her because I love that time with my girl). So tonight she brought up dying and going to heaven. Between losing Uncle David, Baby Eli, and puppy dog Marley, heaven has been on her mind for a while. We've also talked quite a bit about baptism, which leads to a discussion of living with Jesus forever in heaven. At first it was pretty casual... What is heaven like?  What color is God's house?  But then she started to cry and could barely get out her words. I asked her to repeat herself and she said, "Who takes care of kids when their mommy and daddy dies?"  Her question took me off guard and made my stomach sink at the very same time. I was/am not prepared to answer her question, or even think about that scenario. Worse yet, it's the first time I've ever seen Gracie get so emotional over a fear or feeling. It was an extremely honest an sad moment. I did my best to answer her honestly and to reassure her that Mommy and Daddy will be with her for a very long time. I explained that Grandmas Grandpas takes of kids, along with Aunts and Uncles and cousins and close friends. The conversation moved onto something else relatively quickly, but I still can't shake that feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

That feeling is less about me and more about Gracie. I don't like that she worries about things she can't understand. She is such a smart and analytical child. She is so wise and perceptive. Which generally serves her well, but in this situation, I just want her to be blissfully unaware. I don't want her to fret or fear the loss of her parents. In fact tonight Ryan called me "old lady" and Gracie crawled up in my lap and said, "I don't want you to be old, Momma."  I think that comment was rooted in her fears of losing me.  

But here's what I do want Gracie to know about what happens when Mommy dies... which is hopefully a very, very long time from now.  First of all, Mommy loves you and always loved you more than life itself. You are the most special girl to me and I believe you are proof of God's love. A blessing that I always dreamed of. Even if I die, nothing can change the fact that your Momma loved you deeper than the ocean. Second of all, have no fear, sweet my girl.  I am happy, so happy in heaven!  Do not worry about me. My faith is strong and I will spend forever with our Savior. And do not be sad that we are apart from each other right now. I know it seems like you won't see me again, but we will see each other again.  Be strong in your faith and trust that Jesus has covered all your sins, too. There will be a day, many many days, when we will be together again!  Enjoy your time without me here on earth, and I promise we will pick up where we left off in a while.  And lastly, do not worry about who will care for you when I'm gone. There are countless people who have loved you just as long as I have loved you.  God has loved you even longer and will always provide for you and protect you. Take confidence in His plan for your life and simply know, without a doubt, that He will not fail you. 

So as morbid and sad as these words sound, if Gracie should ever have to go through something as painful and challenging as losing her Momma, please do me 3 favors. Love and care for her like I would. Continue to feed her Christian faith. And remind her of my intense love for her and that I'll be waiting, with a smooch and squeeze for her, up there at the end of her long, long life!

Beautiful Girl on a Beautiful Day!

A Day at the Zoo

This morning Gracie and Kia were both pretty cranky.  Both a little emotional and quick to cry.  So I decided to do what any good mother/aunt would do... I took them to the zoo!  Well. actually, at first I decided I wasn't going to take them "someplace fun" as Gracie calls our adventures, but then I realized that a morning of fighting over dress up clothes and baby dolls was probably worse than a couple of crankies at the zoo.  So after Natalie awoke from her morning nap, we took our picnic lunch and headed for the zoo.  It was a beautiful day and both big girls were super excited!

Because I don't have a double stroller and because the strollers at the zoo are so ideal for little ones who like to get in and out, in and out, in and out, I decided to rent a double stroller for the big girls.  I used the Moby to wear Natalie and packed a backpack of all the necessities.  I definitely got my workout in between a 20 lb baby strapped to my front and a 10 lb backpack strapped to my back, not to mention pushing the 2 toddlers in the stroller.  But honestly, it was the most fun morning!  Everyone was very content and almost no tears.  All the animals were out enjoying the lovely weather, like we were.  We enjoyed the train and carousel rides, a picnic lunch, and exploring Africa.  It was a fantastic morning for me and all three of my ladies!  We're going to head back again sometime soon to see Australia!  Here are few pictures from our day.

Ridin' the train!

Natalie and me on the train

Penguins!

The best picture I could get of all three... pitiful, I know!
It's harder than it looks!

Kia and the elephant

Graham Cracker!
Oops, I mean a chimpanzee!

Yard work... in style!

Today we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and clean up the leaves that fell in our yard throughout the winter.  We're surrounded by oak and walnut trees, which don't lose their leaves in a timely manner like maples and ashes (which we have 4 of those, too).  Needless to say, our yard was full of leaves.

After church and lunch, we headed home to tackle the backyard.  Gracie wanted to play on the swing set for the first time in forever.  She couldn't contain her excitement, so as Ryan and I debriefed about our Sunday School class. Gracie got herself dressed to go outside.  She started with flip-flops and capri pants, but I told her she needed sweats or jeans, 2 long sleeved shirts, tall socks, and shoes that tie or velcro.  Here's what she came up with!

This kid kills me... and reminds me of myself at that age!  I felt like I was doing yard work on Gilligan's Island or something.  So funny!

While Ryan and I raked, mowed, bagged, burned (yeah, more on that later) the leaves, Gracie played in her playhouse and on her swing set.  Between pushing the baby doll in the baby swing and playing with her play dough, she easily stayed entertained for about 3 hours.  I had decided to forego the nap today in an effort to make sure the time change didn't mess up her/our sleep schedule.  But when she asked me to snuggle her in the hammock for a minute, I could tell that she was pretty exhausted.  I welcomed the break and began swinging with her in the hammock and before I knew it, she was totally conked out!  Tysie and the neighbor's dog barking at each other, Daddy running the mower, and birds chirping couldn't wake this tired girl.  A Sunday afternoon nap in the hammock is the best!

So for the leaf burning.  Yes, I know it's illegal to burn leaves in the city.  Yes, I know it can be dangerous.  And yes, I know it makes us seem like rednecks.  But you haven't seen the sheer volume of leaves that fall into our yard.  It's re-donk-u-lous!  I'm serious!  In the corners of our yard, where the fence traps all the wind-blown leaves, the before-raking leaf pile is up to mid-calf.  It's impossible to catch them in the mower bag, too.  Well, not impossible.  But a 10 second pass across 3 feet of yard fills the bagger.  So I was raking and Ryan was mowing/bagging, and we were getting no where, fast.  I was ranting about how insane this is and how you should only be held responsible for raking the leaves of the trees that are planted in your own yard (3 of our neighbors' trees drop 80% of their leaves into our yard, yet we have no choice to cut them down, therefore we must rake them --- yes, I know we also benefit from their shade, but that wasn't my point today).  So anyway, I was ranting and Ryan casually brought up that they solve a similar problem down at the mobile home in Bennett Springs by burning them.  They rake them into a pile a set fire to the pile.  Genius!  I said, "Don't tempt me, Ryan."  I guess he didn't think I was serious because he actually agreed with me.  So I marched my worn-out self inside and grabbed a lighter.  About 5 minutes after the smoke was rolling out of the leaf pile, Ryan said, "Maybe this wasn't the best idea?"  He was legitimately worried about getting a ticket.  Not me, I thought the fine we'd pay would be worth the work we'd save.  Which actually wasn't true.  Burning damp leaves isn't a quick process.  While the small leaf pile burned, we continued to work our way through the rest of the yard and ended up bagging the rest before the leaf pile was completely burned.  Admittedly, it probably wasn't the best idea, although the pyromaniac inside me had a good time with it.  Gracie also enjoyed the "campfire"... so no regrets here!

Psalm 119:11

One of my favorite things about Christmas 2013 was Gracie's interest in reading the Bible each day.  Several years ago, Ryan and I made a Christmas countdown.  We painted clear ball ornaments and I took the Nativity story from each of the gospels, arranged it chronologically, and divided it across 25 days.  The story begins on December 1 with the angel appearing to Zachariah to tell him about his soon-to-be son, John the Baptist.  It ends on Christmas Day with shepherds visiting baby Jesus.

Before bed each night, we always read the Bible passages as a family.  Over the past couple of years, Ryan and I would sometimes forget to read and then we'd double or triple up on other days.  But not in 2013.  Gracie reminded us every night to read "Daddy's Bible story".  Daddy always reads aloud from his Bible, that's why she thinks it's "Daddy's".  There were even a couple of times that we were tucking her into bed that she'd realize we hadn't read the story yet.  And we always got back out of bed to make sure we stayed on track.  

The sweetest moment of the season was on Christmas Eve and all the kids were at our house for Christmas cookie decorating and egg nog.  When we read the Bible passage that night, all the kids clapped and cheered when baby Jesus was born.  I was so happy that our kids were just as excited about Jesus as they were about gifts and cookies and Santa.  We must have done something right!

So after the Christmas season was over, I wanted to make sure we stayed in the habit of reading the Bible to Gracie often.  We always say prayers at night, but I want Gracie to know the Bible.  I want her to learn who God is from His book.  I want her to understand why we believe in and worship God.  I want her to learn from the people in the Bible.   I want her to hide God's word in her heart.  I expressed these desires to Ryan and he shared the same feelings.  I started googling ideas to make reading the Bible more engaging for little ones and found several great ideas!

I ran across a series of children's Bibles that include a DVD with them called Read and Share.    The books are perfect for all the kids in our family.  Gracie and Kia love them just as much as Kyle does.  It's also great because each story is featured on a DVD, so we can even watch the "movie" of the stories, too!  My mom purchased volume one and volume two for my family and Stephanie's.  We've used these over and over again for Bible story time in our house.  

The other item I found was a set of Bible felts.  I don't know if you ever experienced flannel/felt boards when you were a kid.  But I remember going to Sunday School as a preschooler/kindergartener and I loved it when my teachers used a felt board to tell the story!  Sometimes my teachers would even let us put the felts on the board, which was my favorite!  So I ran across this set from Betty Lukens and it's amazing!  There are over 600 figures and pieces to help you share 182 Bible stories with your children.  It took a bit of convincing for Ryan to give the okay for me to spend around $150 on the set.  He really couldn't argue when I said we were "investing in our daughters eternal future."  I was being silly when I said it, but it's pretty much the truth.  It's the most important thing we can do as parents here on earth.  Not purchase Bible felts, but invest in our children's eternal future.  

I received the set about 3 weeks ago and I'm still in the process of cutting out all 600 pieces.  It's a chore for sure, but Gracie has enjoyed the first (and only) story we've read together.  The first night I read the story to her and I did all the work with the felts.  The second night, I read the story again, but this time she really wanted to help me with the felts.  And she did a great job!  The third night I read the story again, but she did all the work with the felts.  I was surprised watching her because she knew which pieces came next and was grabbing for them before I had even read the part.  Each night after that, she told us the story and she did the felts.  Ryan and I would jump in and add details that she forgot, but for the most part, Gracie knew the details.  

Included with each story is a memory verse, which I plan to memorize as a family (once we really get started -- after I have the pieces cut out).  Graham Cracker and Ryan think that I'll be finished with the cutting out process by the time Gracie has kids!  It's no joke, there are 10 blankets of felt, about the size of a baby blanket.  And each blanket is covered from corner to corner with pieces to cut.  It's insane!  My goal is to be done in 2 weeks!  We shall see!

I feel really good about where Gracie is with her faith.  She is excited and interested in the Bible and often asks questions about God and church.  I pray that her attitude toward God and His word continues to remain positive.  I pray this for Gracie and for her future husband.  

Gymnastics

We enrolled Gracie in her first 'organized' sport just a few weeks ago.  She started a parent & tot gymnastics class at Edge Gymnastics.  And Gracie loves it!  So far she has learned several new words... straddle, pike, tuck, and releve (tippie-toes).  She has been working on forward rolls (which she's mastered), handstands, and cartwheels, too!  She loves her teacher and asks almost every day if it's a gymnastics day!  Such fun!

I have only been able to take a few pictures so far... the time goes by so quickly during our class.  I promise to get more later, but for now, here's my little gymnast in her purple unitard... so cute!

Fingerpainting

Curly Sue!

A few weeks back, I introduced Gracie 'sleeping in curlers'!  We cut one of Daddy's old t-shirts into rags and wrapped hair on a Saturday night.  On Sunday morning, she woke up looking awfully cute!  She and I took out her curlers in the hallway bathroom while Daddy finished getting ready in the master bathroom.  As soon as we got her hair finished, she hopped down off the sink and ran to show her Daddy.  Daddy (and Mommy) thought she looked so pretty!  We will definitely be doing it again sometime!

Ready for bed!
And yes, she did sleep in that princess dress!