1st MOPS Meeting in Frederick

I thought you would enjoy seeing our awesome decorations from our first MOPS meeting. The theme this year is Adventures in Mothering. I have a terrific team who loves God and loves the moms He sends our way. This is our first year at our location in Frederick. We consistently have about 40ish moms and tons of kids. Our speakers have been fabulous. We have 3 meetings left this semester. I can't believe how fast it has gone. This next week one of my families good friends who is an awesome photographer is coming to give us Photo tips: Capturing the "mom"ents in life. Our second November meeting will have a party planner come to give us tips on having parties. And our last meeting in December will be a Candy Cane Brunch with lots of red and white decorations and ornaments for our moms to take home with the the story of the candy cane. Our wonderful Mentors will have a panel who will give us their Christmas traditions. Although leadership has not been without its challenges, seeing the fruits of His kingdom make it all worth it.

Monthly Highlights

Ok, lots have happened in the past month. I will give you the bullet points and maybe someday post pictures and more details.

* spent approximately 10 hours in conflict management for MOPS leadership (Looooong story, but please pray for me as being a coordinator is much HARDER than I thought)
*Through it all I learned I have a wonderful family and terrific friends who love and support me and an awesome God who does not leave me
* had first MOPS meeting with 38 moms and 51 kids. It was a terrific meeting and I am blessed with a wonderful team (leadership is also very rewarding, thank God)
* I leave for Dallas, TX next Thursday-Sunday for the MOPS convention (I will also hit Sam Moon, Ikea, Half Price Bookstore etc.)
* had a root canal on a dead tooth (it was the highlight of my week that week), the front tooth that began turning dark 10 years ago, is finally white again
*Last Friday, I put my faithful companion, Angel (blonde cocker spaniel) to rest. It was one of the most horrible things I have ever had to do. I miss her terribly. She was 15 years old. Chris got her for me 13 years ago a few months into our marriage. She has been my shadow ever since.

I am looking forward to a better October.

*not to just focus on the difficult, I know I am a very blessed woman with many things to be thankful for.

Newfound Freedom

Ever wait for something for what seems like forever with complete excitement and when it finally gets here, it is more bittersweet than you expected? I am sitting in Chick-fil-A enjoying my sweet tea and #3 Combo with bacon all by myself. I am enjoying my first 3 hours of kid free freedom for the first time in ten years. Noah and Leah started 5th and 2nd grade on Monday and today, Jonah started 3 year old preschool. I have truly dreamed of this day and all the awesome things I could accomplish in my treasured 3 hours, but now that I am there, I am kind of sad. It is VERY quiet. I am sitting in a new spot (opposite of the play area) and I am overwhelmed with my new found freedom. Is this what it is going to be like next year when Jonah is in 4 year old preschool 4 mornings a week, and then the next year when he goes off to Kindergarten? I know this is where we want our kids to be, gaining their independence from us, but what do we as moms do now? I guess I will start by praising God that I am a mom and that I have 3 beautiful, healthy children who love Him and life. I pray they continue on this cycle of gaining their independence and that God would bless me with the gift of letting them go and grow. I pray He would fill me with His presence as together, we begin this journey together.
*Chick-fil-A is a great hang out. They play the best praise music ever. I am already enjoying my time in His presense.

Long Time, No Type

Ok, I am feeling the peer pressure to post. I do appreciate the urging and encouraging to get something out there. Thank you to my 6 devoted fans. I keep waiting for summer to slow down, but we are almost halfway through our summer and I still can't find time to do much besides cart kids her there and everywhere, work and play with kids. My projects list is still growing and so are my posts. So, for those of you who have asked, I will post a few pictures now and let you know I am alive. I will continue to keep my list of "things to post" handy and add to it daily and suprise you occasionally with words and pics. Here is a quick summary of what our summer has consisted of: the zoo(twice), Noah's camp at the Longmont Humane Society, Leah participating in the Miss CO pageant, movies, games, karate (even Jonah), working two days and watching 6 two other days, baseball 3 evenings a week (Noah), a day trip to Estes Park, a closet redo (great story) and various other activities. I currently have all 6 kids sleeping so that is why I am able to post. I am looking forward to a nice relaxing day at work tomorrow. And I am very excitied about my trip to Silverthorne this weekend for our MOPS steering retreat to plan the coming 2008-2009 year. I will post lots more on that someday. Enjoy the pics and know even if I am not typing or reading your blogs, you are in my thoughts and prayers. I love you!!! The pictures: Leah dressed up to go to a birthday tea party, Jonah at Karate, Noah playing catcher at baseball, and our trip to the zoo.

Blogemic

I was told today by a good friend that I was a "blogemic- one who goes forever without doing blogs and then throws up tons of words and pictures at once". I can not argue with that and would say I very much resemble that quote. Therefore, I will be purging very soon our latest activities for the past 6 weeks. Stay tuned...

Consignment Sale Total

I got my Consignment Sale check today. I am thrilled to report I brought in over $770. 25% will go towards MOPS and my check was for a whopping $550. I think that will buy at least 2 Disneyworld tickets. With your check, you also get back the bottoms of the tags. I originally took over 600 items (tags) and I got back 225 tag bottoms (so I really only sold 1/3 of my stuff). The second day of the sale, items with pink tags go half price and then after the sale they get donated. As best I can estimate, I sold about equal both days and best of all, my garage is cleared.

Chick-Fil-A

This is the very sweet colt we see on our drive to our church. We love this colt and named it Chick-Fil-A since it looks like the Chick-Fil-A cow. It is very fun to watch him grow a little more every day. I had been trying to take a picture of him for a few days and then, one day on my way home from work, he was sitting right by the fence. What a good boy!

Winter

March 17, 2008- Sunday night it started snowing and Monday morning we awoke to a beautiful Winter Wonderland. This kind of snow is my favorite. The trees look so gorgeous, but the roads are completely clear. It reminds me of the movie Narnia, very magical, but no inconvenience for getting to work/school etc. We need the moisture, so this is one way to get it.

Boys will be Boys

Noah is going through an Army phase (at least I hope it is a phase). He loves army/war anything. I know it is partly because Chris's brother (Uncle Scott) just returned safely (thank God) from his tour in Iraq. We had an Army b-day party last year, Noah plays for hours in his room with those $.99 cent plastic army men, and plays war games on his PS2. So for his b-day, Chris picked up an official Iraq uniform (like Uncle Scott wore) in a kid size. He even had his brother get patches. It was wonderful to see his face when he opened his gift. To say he was thrilled is an understatement. It is his new favorite outfit and wants to wear it everyday. Uncle Scott even sent Noah his own 1st Cav patch. Noah wouldn't smile when I took the pics, he was in full army mode.

In addition to everything army, for Boy Scouts, we had to make a vehicle cake. Noah decided he wanted a tank cake. So, after looking online, I got a general idea of what to do and we went to work. Noah and I had a blast making it and it ended up looking way cool. We ended up winning first prize and brought $16.00 to Boy Scouts of America.

My Little Princesses

Jonah loves to play dress up. He has gone through a Spiderman phase, a Thomas the Tank Engine phase, a Darth Vader phase and his latest phase is princesses. He alternates between Snow White and Cinderella. The Snow White costume is really long, I think he looks more like one of the 7 dwarfs. It is hilarious. I found him a Cinderella costume that is much shorter and he can actually walk in it. He always makes sure his costume is complete with dress up shoes and crown. He also likes to include others in his dress up endevours. He loves for Leah to dress up with him and will always bring her the Sleeping Beauty dress, shoes and crown. I had to capture this on camera. He and Leah were more than happy to pose for pictures. Jonah kept looking over at Leah to see how she was standing so he could be just like her. It was precious. I got these costumes after Halloween for 90% off. Chris is so proud.

Quirks

I was tagged by Jenn for my first MEME.

Here are the rules:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. (I tag Lisa, Amy #2, Beth, Kerri, & Brian.)
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

I think I have way too many quirks to limit it to 6, but I will try to do a top 6.

1. When I eat candy, I have to eat them in even increments, which can cause more problems than not.

2. Everything has to be done the night before for the next day, ie. lay kids/my clothes out, lunches made, back packs ready etc. Also, everything has to be picked up and put away before I go to sleep. Before we leave to go anywhere in the morning, all beds have to be made (and if we don't get to it before we leave for whatever reason, before I get into my bed at night, the bed must be made).

3. I am a sucker for a coupon or a sale. My kids know they have a better chance of getting something if mommy has a coupon or it is on clearance.

4. After I fold the laundry, I have to put it away. I have tried not doing it immediately, but I just can't do it.

5. I can't sit still, I usually have at least 3 projects going on at any given time. If I am watching a movie, I am cutting paper, writing cards and/or checking email etc. I am a multi-tasker to the extreme.

6. My kids (all three) are all born on the 1st of a month. They are dressed matching for all major holidays and most minor ones. For Halloween, their costumes are in the same category, ie. last year they were chick-fil-a cows and this year we are all ready for the Wizard of Oz. And I take tons of pictures to scrapbook someday. (I have even bought stickers and then taken the picture to match the stickers)

Presentation is Everything

Although I feel I am a very detailed person, there are a few things I do not feel detail is important. This Christmas I am working on changing my views on gift wrap, lingerie, and cakes. These are the three areas I struggle with getting fancy and creative. My philosophy has always been it is going to be ripped apart, taken off, and eaten; so why go the extra mile. I was at Hobby Lobby today and found some really pretty and coordinating wrapping paper and it got me thinking, maybe presentation is everything. My goal this season and into the coming year will be to create beautiful packages to give to those I love, put on lingerie for my husband to enjoy, and decorate gorgeous cakes that everyone will want to devour. If you are like me, I offer this challenge to you as well.

From one blogger to another

Ok, I finally did it. I am a blogger. Thanks to Lisa, Jenn and Amy for all your encouragement in getting me here.