TLS, Day 1

Well, I  made it through the first day and I did really well.

Here's what I ate:

Breakfast:  1 slice whole grain bread, 1 tbsp mayo, 1 cup lettuce, 2 slices turkey bacon.  Looking back, I probably should've just skipped the mayo, but I counted it as a healthy fat.  

Snack:  Egg muffin with peppers and onions.  I think I'm going to have a problem with these.  Ha!  They're good and the texture is almost like bread.  

Lunch:  Grilled chicken salad...1 cup spring mix salad.  1/3 cup each of green peppers, onion, and cucumbers.  Grilled chicken strips, 1/4 cup feta cheese, and 2 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Snack:  1 cup carrots, Granny Smith apple.

Dinner:  Same as lunch.  I love salad!

Snack:  egg muffin and some pineapple.

And a couple spoonfuls of the kids' Sloppy Joe meat from dinner.  I'm keeping it honest!

Also, around 10 or so cups of water.

I did keep track of everything on My Fitness Pal, just because I was curious.  It came out to 1,382 calories.  

It's 10:30 at night and I'm not hungry exactly, but I wouldn't mind having some popcorn.  Or some chips.  I'm going to bed instead.  

Tomorrow concerns me, we have a birthday party and a pumpkin carving party to attend. I'll do the best I can. 

Sun's Out!

Well, for the third day in a row, there's been no rain in North Georgia.

!!!!

This is something to be excited about, since the weather was rainy for 10 days straight.  

Literally!

The rain moved in Thursday before last, right in the middle of football practice and didn't let up until  Monday of this week.  It was serious rain.  Downpours.  Roads were washed away.  Violet's rain boots had to be emptied of water before we came inside.  Just lots of rain.  

I normally love a good rainy day, but I was over it by about the 4th day.  It just becomes inconvenient after a while.  Yes, we were drowning in rain, but life went on.  We still had field trips, church, errands, piano practice, band rehearsal, and football practice.  All in the pouring rain.  Jordan's football game was even rained out on Saturday, which is pretty much unheard of.  There was just so much rain!

Once we had been drenched for about a week, all of the usual rain jokes began flooding Facebook.  I'd heard most of them before:

..."Noah called, he's picking us up in ten minutes."

...If this rain keeps up, I'm gonna grow myself some webbed feet."

And two of my personal  favorites:

..."I'm going to need some Zoloft if I don't get some Vitamin D".

..."I keep waiting for the glittery vampires to show up."

And then there was this one that I really liked:

..."What if Whip/Nae Nae was really a rain dance and we brought all of this on ourselves?"

This one made me laugh and laugh.

Finally, the sun came out on Monday and we've been dry ever since.  The kids and I are so much happier.  At least, we're less cranky.  Ha!  We've been spending lots of time outdoors.  You know, NOT taking the sun for granted anymore.  

Labor Day!

We spent Labor Day up at Vogel State Park with my parents, my sister, and all of the kids.  

It was kind of a last minute trip, but I was glad my mom invited us.  She and dad go camping to relax, and there's nothing about having us all together that's relaxing.  Ha! They enjoyed having us, I think, but I'm pretty sure that they were glad when it was time for us to go.  :)

We actually arrived right behind my parents, who were staying for the whole week.  Jordan went with them to their campsite to set up, and the rest of us went to the lake to swim.  

Violet made friends with this adorable little boy.  She even shared her watering can with him, with a little coaxing.  

My parents and Jordan came back to the lake and Jordan went fishing with  my dad while the rest of us kept swimming.  

I really like Vogel.  If I was a camping type of person, I'd spend a lot of time there.  

After a while we went back to the campsite for lunch.  The kids and Chris played in the river and I visited with my parents and sister.  Oh, and our friend Suzanne.  

It really was a good day!

Keep on Dreamin'

Last Sunday, my pastor preached about dreams.

The sermon, titled "The Value of Your Dream", came from Genesis 37 and dealt with Joseph, his dreams, and how those dreams ultimately led to his destiny.  

I was sick with a sinus infection that Sunday and almost didn't go to church at all.  Isn't that the way the enemy works?  I came to service with a cloudy "medicine head",  but as the message went on,  my spirit was stirred.  

Dreams.

I used to have them.  Big dreams for myself, and for my children, my whole family.  But my little family has had a really tough 3 and a half years.  You know most of the story... I was pregnant, my husband lost his job, he found work again- but only part time work.  Struggles with the kids.  Financial issues.  I really felt as if our lives were stuck in limbo...we knew in our hearts that we were where we were supposed to be, but we were barely scraping by.  God kept providing, most of the time in miraculous ways, but the waiting was so stressful!  Things are better now, but somewhere in the middle of the stress and anguish and tears and fear, I forgot about my dreams altogether.  

When I say dreams, I mean literally dreams and visions from the Lord.  Years ago, the Lord promised me things during a time of fasting.  I'm still waiting for these promises to come to pass, and I was reminded last Sunday that this day is indeed coming.  

I was reminded of dreams and promises from my God that I had completely forgotten about.

It was a really good message!  

But, I was sick.  Sinus drainage got the best of me and I slipped out right at the end of service to take some more medicine.  I was feeling a little sick to my stomach, too, and didn't want to take some meds on an empty stomach so I decided to buy a Coke.  I hardly ever drink Cokes or any soda anymore, but I dug some change out and went to the machine. 

The machine gave me this can:

Share a Coke with a Dreamer.  

I laughed and cried a little.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but I doubt it.  

I drank a few sips with my medicine and then, without thinking, threw the rest of the can into the trash when I sat down behind the info desk, where I was about to serve.  I wasn't thinking clearly- the medicine head, remember?  A little while later, after the crowd from the 11:00 service had died down, I told my friend Jennifer about the can.  She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "You need to save that can!  Get it out of the trash!"

I decided she was right.  I had literally thrown a prophetic word from God into the trash!  So I got it out.  

For the record, this was the trash can behind the information desk and nothing else was in it.  So the fact that I reached into a trash can to retrieve this Coke can isn't gross at all.  :)

I rinsed it out and now it's sitting on the desk in my room as a reminder to keep on dreaming and never stop believing that my dreams and prayers will be answered.  

I'm sharing this to encourage anyone who, like me, has let life overshadow anything that the Lord has promised you.  

...God gives us dreams.  When He gives a dream, it's for a purpose.  Not everyone will always support our dreams.  Some will think we're crazy, or just plain dumb.  Some of our dreams will make others uncomfortable, jealous, or even angry.  It doesn't matter.  Keep on dreaming, and believing.  God gives us these dreams, sometimes in times of adversity...  Just some more notes from the message.  

Keep on dreaming', my friends!

Violet's 3!

Violet turned 3 yesterday.  I know I say this at every kid's birthday, but I really can't believe it.  

We celebrated with our friends and family Friday night at Chick-fil-a.  It was a little crazy, but what fun party isn't a little crazy?  All of Vi's little friends and her cousins came, and we overflowed out of our designated party area.  The kids had fun, ate nuggets, cake, ice cream, and enjoyed a visit from the cow.  Well, some of them enjoyed the  cow.  Others, including the birthday girl, could have gone without him.  Ha!

I was really overwhelmed by the amount of love people showed us.  I was stressed out because lots of things about the party didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked, but Violet had a blast and that's all that mattered.  She wracked up on all things Peppa Pig, Sofia the First, and Frozen... all of which were on her list.  She also received several crafty items that she loved.  

And, just in case you're wondering, Wal-Mart is the only place in Gainesville that makes a Sofia the First cake.  

On Sunday, the actual BIRTH DAY, Violet proved that she really is a big girl by climbing out of her crib.  This was a first. I guess it had to happen sometime.  I really can't believe it took this long.  Both of the boys were out of the cribs and into  big beds by the time they were two.  Violet had just never tried to climb out, even though she constantly climbed and jumped on everything else.  She even climbed into her crib most nights.  

She was very cranky that afternoon and I decided she needed a nap.  I put her down, closed the door, and about 5 minutes later heard the door to her room creak open.  And then she waltzed into the room and said, "I got out".  Ha ha!

So, on Violet's 3rd birthday, we converted her crib into a toddler bed.  I cried a little.  She's growing up so fast.  The tears might have also been tears of dread...I was not looking forward to her first night in this new bed.  With free reign, I didn't know how bed time was going to go.  But, she surprised me.  We read our stories, and then before bed we talked about how important it is that she stay in bed until morning.  She knows that if she needs me, she can call and I'll hear her over the monitor.  She said she understood, but I had my doubts. Jordan used to take hours to fall asleep, every single night.  But Violet went right to sleep and stayed there all night.  I just put her down tonight and she didn't get up either.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  My girl does love her sleep, but I'm still in disbelief that she hasn't gotten out.  I'm knocking on wood right now.  

This was Sunday afternoon, right after we converted the crib.  She's still using her "baby bedding".  I  had planned to make a big deal and take her shopping for new bed clothes when it was time to make this transition, but it happened so suddenly!  A shopping trip has been planned for later in the week.  She wants a Sofia the First bed spread.  Of course, my feelings about character bedspreads mirror my feelings about character shoes.  I guess I'll just have to deal. 

Here we are just before bed.  She was so happy! 

I snuck in and took this shot this morning.

She amazes me.

It was an eventful day.  We're so thankful for our sweet Violet!

First Day of School

Today was one of the smoothest first days of school I've ever experienced.  

We started off with a BLT breakfast.  Violet slept late, but I managed to get a shot of the boys before they began their 9th and 4th grade years.

Not the best, but it'll do.  

Jordan left for school with Chris.  He didn't desire a parental walk-in, and we were okay with that.  

Shaun and I got started as soon as they walked out of the door.  He's in high school now.  I can't believe it.  He's such a good kid.  Much better than I was at that age.  

He finished all of the "hard stuff" before lunch and then had a break while Violet and I went to the gym and to pick Jordan up.

We also stopped by the library.

Then it was time for Jordan to get out.  He didn't have any complaints  about his first day, which was great.  He's not even fussing about going back tomorrow. 

I'm praying that this smooth day sets the tone for our entire year!

Last Day of Summer

Well.  

Our Sodapalooza cups have expired.  The YMCA is deserted during the day again.  Everyone is posting their kids' "first day of school" pictures on Facebook and Instagram.  The Tax Free Holiday has come and gone.  Back to School Prayer at church was yesterday.  

Summer's over.

My kids are all starting back to school tomorrow.  Shaun will be in 9th grade.  ?!?!!  I'm not sure how in the world I have a high schooler all of a sudden.  Jordan is going back to GHA as a 4th grader.  We struggled with going ahead with public school, but he decided to stay at least one more year.  Even little Violet is in on the action this year. I guess she'll be in "3 K" even though she doesn't turn 3 for a few more weeks.  I have a few things planned for her, but nothing major.  

Today, on the last day of summer, the family went swimming at the YMCA.  It was deserted. We had the place to ourselves, which was a welcome change after swimming with the throngs of summer camp kids all summer long.  

All of our school supplies have been purchased.  Lunches are ready to be made.  Lessons plans are in order.  Let's do this!  

Here's to a wonderful 2015-2016 school year!