just emptying my head

i've had several random thoughts floating around in my head over the last couple of days, but none were worthy of an entire post. disciple now is looming in the near future, like tomorrow, so i must empty my brain of the randomness so i can have a clean slate for the weekend.

• i met my mother-in-law in giddings today to give her the kids for the weekend. she's in houston and giddings is about halfway. its a little farther on her end, but its really the best place to meet. before i headed home i stopped at subway for lunch, and they had spinach!! the subways in round rock haven't had spinach since the e-coli scare of '07. and thats a really weird sentence...anyway, so i got a veggie delight on wheat with spinach! it's no which wich but there's nothing better than knowing i've had my recommended daily percentage of folate.
• on the way into giddings there's a restaraunt with no name, but a sign out front that reads 'fresh donuts & seafood'. really? how are those two things even realted? so the donuts are fresh but the seafood isnt? do the donuts smell like fish? i just dont get it. i wont be eating there. ever.
• why is mcdonalds making fancy coffee drinks and then advertising them as though someone might actually pick that over, say, starbucks? i try to picture someone saying, 'hey i could really go for a latte. let's go to mcdonalds!' then i was in the drive-thru the other day and i really wanted a coffee, so i ordered one. ironically, starbucks was across the parking lot, but it wasnt a drive-thru starbucks and i didnt want to leave my kids in the car to go in and order something, plus that would have been another stop to make. i keep asking myself, how could i have ordered coffee from mcdonalds while looking at a starbucks less than 100 yards away? forgive me starbucks. my tastebuds have sinned against you. please believe me when i say, i was drinking McCafe, but i was thinking of you.
• i am loving american idol, even though i tried to convince myself i wouldn't watch it this season. yeah, right. it just makes me so happy.
• molly is officially a princess. she's been wearing her princess skirt and carrying a wand for the last 48 hours. the attitude to go with the persona is coming along nicely. case in point; yesterday colby was trying to play a game with her, but she just wasnt getting it and he was getting frusterated. i heard her tell him, "i'm just a baby colby." about an hour later she was wanting to do something (i cant remember what) and i told her she was too little. her response? "no i'm not. i'm BIG!" i wonder if we're about to have another identity crisis. she's also been putting her dolls in timeout a lot. but first she yells at them and throws them down. i would need a timeout after that, too.

i told you it was random, but now my head is empty. i thank you.

potty words

we use the correct words for all body parts. i remember reading somewhere that you should always call everything by what it is, that way if something ever gets hurt or happens and you're not with your child, there's no confusion as to what part has fallen victim. got it?
ok, so molly has a new found fascination with the word 'penis'. not an unfamiliar word. we have 2 in our house. however, colby (and daddy for the most part) know that this word is reserved for the bathroom unless theres a legitimate reason to use it otherwise. colby went through a period a while back where he would just stand in the bathroom and yell "PENIS!!" at the top of his lungs because its ok to say it in there.
moving on. i don't know if its because she doesnt have one or what, but she's really interested in this particular appendage. and because she knows shes not allowed to talk about it, she inconspicuously slides it into conversations in place of other words, i guess thinking we wont notice. like last night she was looking for her mitten. she had one mitten on, but couldn't find the other one. however instead of saying 'where's my mitten?', she was saying "where's my penis?" this has happened with her dolls as well as other various things. we re-explained that that word is reserved for the bathroom, and quite frankly, she has no reason to be saying it at all seeing as how she doesnt have one!
has anyone else experienced this with their daughter? should i be worried?

project 365, week 4

starting this week i will post my pictures from sunday to saturday. i had been posting them from monday to sunday, but then i feel like i'm behind in linking up to sara's blog and i just get thrown off and blah blah blah. so here they are from last sunday thru yesterday. enjoy!!


SUNDAY, Jan 18th
this is my new front door hanger. we've had something on the door since about september, so when we took the christmas decorations down i wanted something to replace the santa that had been hanging there. i got this at hobby lobby. love it.

MONDAY, Jan 19th

i consumed these two things in mass amounts on saturday and monday before my audition and the callback. i took this picture right before i went in for the callback audition monday night. if you have no idea what i'm talking about and are curious, you can read here.

TUESDAY, Jan 20th

my sweet husband sent me flowers tuesday after finding out that i hadn't gotten a part in the show. the card read "you're my pink lady." aren't they beautiful? it made me cry. i'm better now, by the way.

WEDNESDAY, Jan 21st
around christmas time i decided i wanted to start a mug collection. too bad its not an ugly mug collection. :) anyway, so i'm wanting red mugs. all different. i buy one if i see one, and i'll slowly replace all the mugs i have now, which are all the same and match the dishes i don't even have anymore. one of the girls in my sunday school class gave me the cocoa one for christmas and i bought the hearts one at starbucks wednesday night. aren't they great?
i just love red.

THURSDAY, Jan 22nd
we went to pei wei for dinner thursday night and i ordered some edamame. i've heard people say their kids really like it and i know its super good for you, so i thought, why not? i had 7 or 8 and colby ate the rest of the plate. scarfed 'em down! molly was not a fan. i bet if i made them at home he wouldn't touch them.

FRIDAY, Jan 23rd
i took this picture of the kids first thing friday morning. colby climbed into mollys bed when i went in to wake her up, and they sat in there for about 10 mintues (getting along!) and read books together. so sweet.SATURDAY, Jan 24th
i know many of you have already seen this picture, but i don't know what would better portray our day than this. our newest pet. one of 5. read here for details if you want them...and more pictures.

and then there were 9

we have 5 new family members. their names, oddly enough, are mommy, daddy, molly, colby, and shane. shane, because he's the guy responsible for our new pets.

ok, you wanna see them? do ya? do ya?

here they are on the ride home.

can you tell what they are? here's one close up just in case.....

AAAHHHHH!!!!! hissing cockroaches! what was i thinking?!?!? i think maybe my brain shut down or i left my body and someone else took over for an hour or so. or maybe i'm just a really cool mom. :) we'll go with that.

that is my hand in the above picture. i was the first in the fmaily to hold one. i ain't skeered.

i had to make sure i could do it before i consented to having them in the house. i needed to know i would be able to clean the cage and catch the escapees that we'll no doubt have at some point, because that would happen to me.

we also held a milk snake, a banded king snake, a ball python, and a red tail boa. a friend of ours keeps all these at his house and invited us over to "play" with them. we thought colby would love it so we jumped at the chance. i think allen and i had more fun than colby did. he wasn't to keen on holding any of them other than a baby snake, and that lasted about 10 seconds. molly almost immediately went upstairs to "play kitchen". that's my girl.

nevertheless we are the proud new owners of 5 hissing cockroaches, and one of them is named after me...kind of. who knew?

parenting is causing me, pushing me, even allowing me, to do things i never, ever thought i would do. EVER.

i think i like it.

the water bottle of mass destruction revisited

we got home from bible study this morning and the kids wanted to play outside. its a beautiful day, about 75 degrees, sunny with a breeze, awesome! we had lunch, PB&J, and the kids went out in the front yard while i sat just inside the open front door in the entryway and organized bill stubs and tax stuff. fun. almost immediately they asked for their water bottles. you know, the ones they're supposed to drink out of but prefer to dump the contents therein all over the yard, or the carpet and window sills and my bible in mollys case (you've heard this already). i filled them to the top and handed them over. filled them again. and again. and again. this went on and on about every 2 or 3 mintues for half an hour. i was feeling particularly patient i guess. then colby comes in and says, "mommy, mollys watering herself!!" i looked up and sure enough, there she stood in the corner of the yard, dumping her water right over the top of her head and down her front. she came in dripping, and i took this video. she was so proud of herself.



...i cant get the video to post, so here's the link if you really want to see it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEOI6g3GGrs




on another note, colby's been wanting to be with me all the time. his words. he's my little shadow. it has its moment of sweetness, but then there are times when i want to, oh i dont know, go to the bathroom or take a shower. then molly joins in becuase wherever he is, thats where she wants to be. i had to send molly to timeout from the toilet the other day. its not like i was camping out there or anything. it was a quick trip (this is way too much info. i'm really sorry about that), but in the few seconds i was sitting there, they got in a fight. colby irritated her and she hit him in the face, so i sent her to time out...from the toilet.

is this normal? is this what my life has come to? am i the only mother out there who can't even pee in peace? anyone? bueller?

totally bummed

i promised to keep you posted, but i come bearing sad news.

for those of you that don't know, and most of you probably don't, i do musical theatre. i love love love it and have really been looking forward to doing another show. its been a little over a year since the last one, which was CATS back in the fall of '07. having 2 preschoolers at home and a husband thats a pastor doesnt leave a lot of time to commit to things such as rehearsals for 3 hours 5 nights a week, but i have an amazing husband that supports me and i've been averaging a show a year for the past 4 years. with practices and performances its about a 3 & 1/2 month commitment.

anyway, i auditioned for Grease over the weekend. i got called back for the part of Frenchy, so i went back for round two of auditions last night. then i found out this morning that i didnt get the part. soooo, i'm sad, but i know God's in control, and for whatever reason i don't need to do a show right now. there will be others.

just for old times sake, and to relive my most recent 'glory days', i pulled out some pictures from CATS so you can see why i love it so much! :) i was Bombalurina for those of you that are familiar with the show. i can't find any of my picture cd's from Guys and Dolls or Beauty and the Beast. i also did Music Man, but those too are buried in a pile somewhere i'm sure.

project 365, jan 12-18...and colby's conversation w/God

before my pictures i have to share our lunch story. we went to which wich (of course) after church with my parents and the lamberts, 9 people total. which wich is small, the tables are bolted to the floor (i guess so people like us can't show up and take over), and the largest table seats 8 somewhat uncomfortably, so we went outside. it was a very pretty day, high 70's, but the wind was ridiculous. the paper towels and bags (this is a super fancy place, yes?) were blowing everywhere and i heard colby say, "God, can you please make the wind stop?!? i'm trying to eat my lunch!!" we laughed and kept eating. i was choking down a little bit of pride that he knew who to ask about that pesky wind. a few minutes later he said, "God said no. there's more wind coming this way." love it!

ok, on to the main event....

MONDAY, Jan 12th

for project 365 i'm trying not to take a bunch of pictures of my family (specifically my adorable kids, because lets face it, i could totally go that route and be perfectly happy). i want to broaden my horizons, of you will, and think outside the box a little bit. however, over the weekend my granparents on my dads side came into town (we only see them a few times a year) and they came over monday night along with my other grandparents and my parents as well. i can't remember the last time we were all together. allen wanted a picture of all the ladies, so this is my picture from monday. my dads mom is on the left and my moms mom is immediately to my right, with my mom next to her. molly is of course in my lap. 4 generations!

TUESDAY, Jan 13th

colby and i spent quite a bit of time working through some of his "schoolbooks" on tuesday. he's got all the short vowel sounds down and loves all the worksheets. handwriting...not so much yet.

WEDNESDAY, Jan 14th

colby decided he wanted to plant an apple tree so we can have our very own apples. after much explanation that 'just because you plant a seed doesnt mean it will grow, and even if a tree grows that doesnt mean it will grow apples', i finally let him have his fun. he's commented every day about our tree not growing yet.

THURSDAY, Jan 15th

bible study started thursday morning. we're doing the new beth moore study on esther. this one is supposed to be more young mom and working woman friendly. so theres only 3 pages of homework instead of 5 or 6. :)

FRIDAY, Jan 16th

dinner friday night was grilled chicken salad. i put the kids' salad on their plate in sections and let them eat it however they see fit. this is what colby decided to do with his.

SATURDAY, Jan 17th
i had an audition at the theatre saturday afternoon for Grease. the last show i did was CATS over a year ago, so i'm hoping this turns out well. i'm missing it. i'll keep ya'll posted.

SUNDAY, Jan 18th

yes, these are molly's feet. i don't know why i took this picture. i just thought it was cute. she was eating her cereal before church this morning. this is how she always sits when she eats.

the mating habits of seahorses, and other things a 4-year-old shouldn't know

colby has a girlfriend. they're both in agreement about it, so it's definitely official. she's precious and beautiful and has a great family. yes this is important, even at 4.
when i picked him up from school on wednesday his teacher, ms brandy, said,
ms brandy:"do you know that colbys going to marry rebecca?"
me: "oh, really? so they've progressed to marriage now?"
ms brandy: "apparently. he told the whole class today that they're getting married."
at this i walked over to rebecca, who hadn't been picked up yet and asked,
me: "rebecca are you going to marry colby?"
rebecca: "YES!! cause he's my boyfrieeend!"
however, i never see them playing together at church or at school. they might occasionally sit next to each other at snack time, but thats all i've seen. i told her mom the other day that we need to schedule a playdate becuase colby keeps asking when he can go to rebecca's house. then i commented that it might not turn out so great. if they actually get one on one time together they might figure out that he's a stinky boy and she's a girly girl and they really don't want to play together. then sara said,
sara: "this might be the real thing. i don't think i've ever seen devotion like this. look at him."
i looked at colby at he was grinning like i'd never seen, this sappy puppy love grin at rebecca.
no wedding plans are being made yet, but they'd be great in-laws.
i started asking some questions when we got in the car.
me: "colby, why do you like rebecca so much? what is it about her?"
colby: "i don't know."
me: "do you play together at church and school? or does she just play with the girls?"
colby: "she plays with me and the girls."
me: "ok, cause i've never seen ya'll play together."
colby: "well, we do. i like her because she's so silly."
me: "oh, so you like a good sense of humor in a woman?"
colby: "whats a sense of humor?"
me: "it means you can laugh and joke around at things. its good to have."
colby: "yeah, she has a good senser hooner."
me: "sense of humor."
colby: "rebeccas going to be the mommy and i'm going to be the daddy."
me: "oh?"
colby: "yeah, and i'm going to have the babies."
me: "colby, mommies have babies, not daddies."
colby: "why?"
me: "because thats how God made us."
colby: "but daddy seahorses have babies. the mommy gives the eggs to the daddy and then he gives birth to them out of his tummy."
me: "well, yes thats true (and so it is. my son knows so much more about 'sea animals' than any normal person should ever know.) but we're not seahorses.
colby: "i wish we were all like seahorses so daddies could have the babies!"
me: "you and me both, kid."

hooray for blog awards!!

i won a blog award a few days ago and haven't gotten around to paying it forward. then today i received another one, so now i have to to pass on!

luann gave me the 'lemonade award'

this award is given to blogs that show great attitude and/or gratitude in their daily postings.
i pass this award on to Brandy at "From Valleys to Rivers". her blog blesses me (when she updates it. hint, hint.) ;-) love you girl! :)

the second award i received is the 'your blog is fabulous' award

it's given to a blog that i just find to be completely fabulous and can't get enough of. thanks amy!! as part of accepting this award, i have to list 5 things i'm addicted to. in no particular order:

1) hanging out with my husband and kids

2)music/singing

3)reading

4)working out

5)which wich

this blog award goes to Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee. i can't even remember how i found her blog, but she's hilarious and i love reading what she has to say. i guess us youth ministry people have the same warped sense of humor. :)

and now i must go purchase a terribly expensive dress, get an up-do, and find a red carpet to walk on. come to think of it, i think chuck-e-cheese has red carpet. don't wait up!

mom injuries

is there such a thing as a mom injury?

there are sports injuries:
"hey why are you limping?"
"aw, it's an old sports injury. i was on the wrong end of a tackle."

there are work injuries:
"hey why are you limping?"
"it's a work injury. i got nailed in the knee with a hammer." no pun intended.

are there mom injuries?
"hey why are you limping?"
"i ran into the bathroom stepstool at a really weird angle."

seriously. that stepstool was right where it always is and i walked right into it. my ankle(ish) has been aching ever since. you know that spot that sinks in right below the ankle bone on the outside? after about 12 pictures, none of them very good (i have winter feet), i decided no one really wants to see a picture of my foot. except maybe some sicko. hey sicko, you're not invited. there's not really anything to see. no swelling or bruising. but man it hurts.
if i wasnt a mom there wouldnt be a stepstool in the bathroom. i might have been, like, 'cool aunt amy who has a stepstool' except i'm an only child so theres no hope of neices or nephews from my side. allens only brother, who does have a daughter, lives all the way up in canada (eh?), so its not like shes over here hanging out all the time, needing a stepstool.
so its definitely a mom injury. has anyone else experienced this?
is that covered by my insurance? moms comp?
what am i even talking about?
i must be delirious from the pain.

stranded at wal-mart

it's just been one of those days.
as some of you know (either by being my 'real-life' friend, or just by reading my blog regularly) the burban has been in the shop for about a week and i've been driving a pt cruiser rental. it's been fun and cute and a nice change. the kids love it because its flashy and obnoxiously blue. today, however, the honeymoon ended. i went to walmart for grocery outing numero uno. on the way there the gas light came on. 'no big deal,' i thought, 'i still have an 8th of a tank left. i'll get gas after i'm done shopping.' i came out, loaded up the car with my groceries and got molly strapped in. the car started and promptly shut down. i started it again. and again. and again. then i prayed. then i held mollys hand and we both prayed (where 2 or more are gathered, right?), "Lord, just get me to the gas station!" i mean, i could throw a rock and hit it. i was tempted to push my car to the gas station, but i wasn't in the mood to look like a moron. so i called allen
allen: "hello?"
me: "ok, i'm in trouble and we have 2 options."
allen: "o....k....?"
me: "i'm out of gas at walmart-"
allen: "aw, babe!"
me: "i thought i had enough gas! it didnt give me fair warning! you're supposed to have at least 10 or so more miles when the light comes on and i was less than a mile away from walmart when the light came on! this is ridiculous! anyway, so i can go inside, buy a gas can, walk to the gas station with molly and bring gas back to the car. OR, you can come rescue me."
allen: "well, that depends on how long you want to wait. it'll be at least 45 minutes before i can get there."
me: "ok, i'll take care of it. i just didn't know if you would want me to go buy a gas tank when we have 3 at home in the garage already. will i even be able to carry it back to the car? it'll be heavy."
allen: "just get what you can carry and make sure you drive straight over to the pump after you get it started so you can fill it up all the way."
me: "ok. love you bye."
so i get molly out and head back inside to get the gas tank. and lo and behold i run into our pastor and his wife doing their grocery shopping. they live super close and have a gas can at home, so he leaves to go get it and help me out.
turns out its not the gas. he put i dont even know how much in, and it still wouldnt start. then the unlocker button on the key stopped working. mark couldnt jump it, or i guess i should say it wouldn't jump. i'm officially stranded at walmart with melting groceries and a close to melt-down 2 year old.
i called the roadside assistance number on the keychain and after talking to about 10 people in india i got this guy who was obviously reading directions to me, maybe from "Starting a Car: For Dummies." first he asked me if i could get out of the car. then he had me get back in the car and he said, "take the car out of park." and do what? let it roll back into traffic? i'm no expert but how is this going to help? i think the goal was to 'reset' something. not happening homeslice. i finally spoke to someone locally and found out they could send another car to me (from the airport which is about half an hour away on a good day) in 1 to 2 hours.
me: "what about the place 10 minutes away where we got the car? can they not bring me one?"
AVIS lady: "oh, yes that would be much faster. try calling them."
me: "i did call them and some how routed to you (fifteen people later)."
AVIS lady: "yes, if they don't answer you call is directed to the national service desk. you can keep trying till you get them or i can send a car to you, but it will take longer."
me: "ok, thanks. i'll try again."
i called 3 times and the calls kept getting picked up by the national desk.
so i called allen again.
me: (explaining everything thats happened since him thinking i had gone in to buy a gas can). i can't get anyone to help me!! molly is so over this. walmart is not fun anymore today."
allen: "ok. i'll drive to them and then i'll drive to you. i'll have a new car to you shortly."
me: "thanks."
allen had some issues with the guy at the car place. he was not too excited about having to bring me another car, to say the very least.
mark and pam (pastor and his wife) stuck around to keep me company and even took molly in to the walmart mcdonalds for some french fries. so nice of them! i dont know what i would have done if they werent there. called allen sooner probably. i'm so bad at handling car situations. i revert back to a 16 year old girl.
so now i'm driving a black ford focus. not near as exciting...well not exciting at all. my 80 year old pawpaw drives a ford focus. but at least it works, and hopefully will continue to work until i get the burban back on wednesday. ***disclaimer: i'm not knocking anyone who drives a focus. its just quite a step down from a borderline neon blue pt cruiser. thats all i'm saying.***

adding insult to injury, when i was in the checkout line at HEB (i get most stuff at walmart, but produce and meat and HEB), i had been checked out (not literally...as far as i know) and written my check when the register/computer shuts down. seriously? so i stood there, very patiently and graciously for the record, and waited till i was eventually taken to another register to close out the sale.
for lunch (at 2 o'clock, finally) i rewarded myself with the last half of a pint of ben and jerrys that was taunting me from the freezer as i unloaded my drippy not-as-cold-as-they-should-be groceries.

if you are one of those people who uses things based on peoples recommendations, or doesn't use things as it were, we are under the rental car care (or something) of AVIS.
should have picked enterprise i guess. after all, they'll pick you up. especially when the car you rented from them doesnt start, i bet.

week in pictures jan 5-11, and a mojo story

first of all, i think i'm posting my pictures differently than the other people that are doing this. i'm posting monday to sunday instead of sunday to saturday. i dont guess it matters much.

before i post my pictures, i have to tell ya'll what molly has been doing, and saturday's picture goes along with the story. i bought 2 sport top water bottles for the kids at CVS a week or so ago. it was one of those 'i have 15 minutes to kill while my pictures are being developed' purchases. i don't know about you, but i purchase that most random stuff when i have to kill time in a drug store. i also came home with a lint roller and some head bands, both of which i've been using, thankyouverymuch. anyway, so i busted out the new water bottles on wednesday (i think) and i found molly pouring hers out all over the dining room carpet, and rubbing it in.

me: "molly! what are you doing??"

molly: "i'm waterin the flowers, mommy."

me: "baby, we don't do that in the house. flowers don't grow on the carpet."
molly: "why?"
me: "well, because they grow outside in the dirt."

molly: "i want to go outside."

so we went outside and i refilled both of their water bottles about 5 times before i got tired of it and it started to get dark.

then saturday she asked for her water bottle again. this time i told her not to water the carpet, only to drink the water out of it, and for good measure i only filled it about 1/3 full. she's a defiant little toot, and i didn't trust her.

she came into the playroom not 5 minutes later with an empty water bottle. no way she drank it that fast.

me: "molly did you water the carpet again?"

molly: [nod]

me: "show me where."

she led me to the dining room, and the water was all over the window sills and my bible and quiet time book and journal (which i keep on the window sill because i do my q.t. on the floor in the dining room), and a few of the dining chairs. apparently, water spreads.

she was sent to time out without much repentence, mind you, and her water bottle has been put away indefinately.

and so it goes that molly will be coming around to blogville a little more frequently, which may be a good thing for you , the reader, but not so much for me, the mom and housekeeper.

MONDAY, JAN 5th

my rental car. the burban has been in the shop since last saturday with a broken door (don't ask). i'm hoping to get it back this week. in the meantime i'm sportin a PT Cruiser. its actually been kinda fun, although i feel a bit flashy in a somewhat sparkly, bright blue car.


TUESDAY, JAN 6th
as a posted earlier in the week, allen was at Duke University in north carolina tuesday thru thursday, and my camera went with him. this is the sign on the wall outside cameron indoor stadium (where the blue devils play basketball).

WEDNESDAY, JAN 7th

the clock tower. great picture! good job, babe.

THURSDAY, JAN 8th
this is where students line up to get into the games, usually starting that morning. the tents, however, are people in line to get tickets for the DUKE/UNC game. some of them have been there for more than a week, and the games not even till feb 11th!! ridiculous.

FRIDAY, JAN 9th
i LOVE this place!! i ate there 4 times this week. they make the best sandwiches!! i especially love the BLT with avocado. yum!!!

SATURDAY, JAN 10th
the water bottle of mass destruction

SUNDAY, JAN 11ththis is my valentines tree. i love it!! a friend of mine did one in her house and i got her permission to copy her idea. not only did she tell me i could copy, but she gave me the rest of her ornaments for my own tree! thanks stephanie!!!

yet another gym adventure

for those of you that work out at a gym, has there ever been a piece of equipment that you wanted to try, but you weren't sure how and didn't want to look dumb trying to figure it out, so you just never did? that was my reality today--as if the giant fat picture of me on the wall isn't enough. the gym has been rearranged (which i'm not totally a fan of, but no one asked me) and some new stuff has been added, one of them being something that looks like an eliptical, but you know there's more to it than that.

this is pretty close to what it looks like, and no thats not me standing next to it. its new and shiny and unfamiliar and intimidating. i get on the eliptical a couple times a week, though, so i thought i could figure it out without too much humiliation. there are two of them side by side and there was a lady already using one. i walked up, threw my towel over the bar, put my water bottle in the designated holder, and hopped up there like i'd done it a hundred times. i started trying to move the pedal things and nothing was happening. they were swinging a little bit and although i'd never seen one in action, i didn't feel like that was the desired motion of the machine. i just kept going (again, trying to act like i knew what i was doing), marching on this thing which wasn't responding, so i marched and kind of glided my legs a little more aggressively, which i 'm sure was real cute. still nothing. there werent any lights coming on the display either so i thought to myself, 'it must not be on.' i got off and walked around to the front and bent over to turn it on (thats where to on switch is on the treadmills), except theres no switch. i bent a little lower, determined to find something to push or flip or plug in, because i know now that the lady on the machine next to me is watching to see what on earth i'm doing down there. nothing. i got back on. now its me against the machine. i will not walk away from this thing. so i tried plan A again. finally the lady next to me said, " you just have to start moving. it'll come on." so i say, "oh, ok. thanks." but i was really thinking, 'did you not just see what i was doing like 10 seconds ago?' i finally got it going, but even then i wasn't doing the right motion. that took me another 5 mintues to figure out. then it was hard and i wanted to get off, but after all that effort i wasn't about to give in and look like a weenie. it's the motion of running, but slow and with resistance. crazy, but i actually started to like it. the sore is already kicking in and i haven't even layed down yet. i'm glad allens out of town, so i can't get up and go at 530 in the morning. i can sleep in a little and nurse my sore muscles...and my ego.

speaking of allen, he's currently in north carolina peeing his pants about getting to see a duke basketball game tonight.

allen has been a fan of duke b-ball longer than i've been alive. really. he's never been to NC, let alone seen the stadium or the team play, so this is a dream come true to say the least. a friend of his has a 'connection' and got them tickets, and we had enough air miles to cover the travel.

its about time we used those things! we got this credit card to earn miles, but we never go anywhere because even if we get there for free we can't afford to get a hotel or do anything once we get there. seriously. so i'm happy that they were finally able to be put to use. i digress.

he called me at about noon today and was standing center court, giggling like a little girl. it was great. i'm so excited for him!! he swiped my camera so my tuesday thru thursday pictures for the week will have to be ones that he took. i'm sure they'll be great.

yesterday mom and i took the kids to the library and then to lunch and some shopping. after lunch i was telling mom about this place over in the shopping area we were going to called Nothing Bundt Cakes. isnt'that great?!? its not a place to sit and eat, just to go in a buy a cake for an event or whatever. anyway, so i hear colby in the backseat, "hahahaha, thats funny mommy. i want a butt cake."

they should change the name, since thats where its going. straight to my butt. and thighs.

on second thought, maybe not. they probably wouldn't sell as well.

365 project, jan 1-4

i'm attempting to commit to the 365 project, which is where you take 1 picture each day of the year. on sundays you post your pictures from the week. anything goes, from what you had to breakfast to what book you're reding to a cute picture of your kid in the bathtub. its a great idea and i hope i can keep it up. i already know i'm going to miss a few days. like wednesday when allen takes my camera with him to NC to watch Duke play (he's beside himself excited about that, by the way!!!). unless i post one of his pictures from that day....hmm......
anyway, so here are my first 4 pictures of 2009.

JAN 1, 2009
my new chronological bible. i'm ahead of schedule. i love it. sorry the pic is sideways. its late and i dont feel like changing it.




JAN 2, 2009
this is a shirt i bought on friday at a place here in town kinda like goodwill. $3.




JAN 3, 2009
colby decided we needed a centerpiece, so he put one together on the side table next to the couch. its not very aesthetic.




JAN 4, 2009
this is the game we played on NYE. we played it again tonight, but the group was too big to really enjoy it. still a fun game, though.

my son the magician

colbys resolutions

i asked colby what his resolutions were, explaining that resolutions were things you wanted to accomplish for the year.....


colby:"i want to be a diver. i'm going to cut a shark and when he smells his blood he'll try to eat his own self. that will be so amazing!!!!
i also can't wait to be a daddy so i can spank my kids; and my baby sister."

feeling guilty

i'm feeling so horrible that i haven't posted in over a week. to be honest its just typical christmas la-de-da, so i haven't felt the need to share all the ins and outs of the holiday season with my family. i read blogs about people who celebrate christmas with 4 or 5 different groups of people or who do 1 giant celebration with their whole family of 20, or some ridiculous number like that. i'm an only child and allens brother lives in canada, and although they're here more often than not at some point during the holiday season, they didn't make it down this year. so christmas was my parents and grandparents for a total of 8 people, and then we went to houston to have christmas with allens mom and stepdad for a grand total of 6 people. with such small groups compared to most everyone else, there's not a lot of craziness or anything. they're always very low key, which is nice. i'd rather have peaceful and low key than dysfunctional all for the sake of a blog. :)

the one thing colby asked for this year was given to him by his mimi. allen will love that i'm sharing this (note the sarcasm in that statement). he wanted a "go, go gotta go doll". yes its a doll, and yes it pees and poops. he didnt want cars or tools or rocks. he wanted urinating girl doll. and he got it. thanks mimi.

when she told allen she had gotten it for colby he asked her

allen: "why did you buy my son a doll?!?"

mimi: "because thats what he asked for, so i'm gonna make sure he gets it."

allen: "mom, you can't give him a doll."

mimi: "i can."

allen: "ok, but it has to be for both of them. you have to put both of their names on the tag."

done.

when 'they' opened it, colby freaked out. the peeing doll elicited the best reaction of all the presents he got this year. and he and molly fought over it. the good thing i suppose is he knows he's the daddy. the doll doesn't know that, though. she calls him mommy. of course she calls everyone mommy. she also says, "uh oh, i made a stinky." neat.

last night for new years eve we hung out with the barners and lamberts. this was the 4th year in a row we've spent NYE together. other people have joined from year to year, but always the 6 of us. its a fun tradition. this year, though we all had babysitters so we went to dinner all of us together without the kids--something we couldn't remember ever doing before.

aren't they cute?

then we went to target to kill time (we didnt want to go back to our house till we knew our kids were asleep). just for the record, target is open regular hours on NYE. so we drew names and picked out presents for the person whose name we drew. we only had 15 minutes and there was a $40 limit. it was really fun (thanks lauren for the idea!!). i picked aprils name and selected a purse, a bracelet, and an adorable bird votive holder with some pretty votive candles. i kind of want to go back and get the bird. zach picked my name and picked out a game and 3 movies that allen probably would never watch with me. come to think of it, that had to have been more than $40 dollars. zach, you're a cheater!

we didn't actually buy the gifts, just picked them out a showed them to each other. yes, we are easily entertained. zach ended up buying the game he picked out for me and we came back to our house and played it. super fun. its called The Game of Things. i still don't completely understand the scoring system, but the idea is awesome. 2 thumbs up. well, maybe 1 & 1/2 because of the scoring thing.

new years resolutions? i don't really make them anymore. i'm perfect. there's nothing to resolve.

not really. i'm just really bad at keeping them, so i've stopped trying. does that sound as pathetic as i think it does?

one of my 'goals', however, is to make it through half of the bible this year. i've tried 3 times to read through the bible in a year and get about halfway through lamentations. a friend of mine bought me the chronological bible, so i'm hoping that helps. allen said, "how about trying to get through half of it. you don't have to read it all in a year." thanks, babe.

allens 'goal' is to use all his vacation hours, so hopefully that will work out well for me. ;)

he informed me that he forfeited 100 hours of vacation this year. lets not let that happen again, i say. good plan.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!