"So what?"

Why is it so easy to let things make you grumpy?

"So what" if Casey is sick and sleeping in bed from 3:00 pm until tomorrow.

"So what" if Christopher is fussing for attention I can't give him immediately.

"So what" if I have to take the kids with me to orchestra practice (nursery) so that Casey can rest.

"So what" if I have to unload 2 kids to run into Staples, then Kroger, then church all within 1 hr.

"So what" if I'm late and frazzled to orchestra.

"So what" if Michael throws a fit when it's time for him to go into his class (and I'm running late).

"So what" if I have to do housework until late in the night.

Counteract those things with :

3 year old and 1 year old hugs, kisses, and smiles

Enjoying orchestra rehearsal

A much cleaner house

Instrumental hymns with a warm cat snuggled up in your lap

And * hopefully * a well rested hubby

and you begin to realize that you only thought you were having a rough evening.

Savoring the good moments!

Stacy { <>< }

What life is made of...

When I got to school to pick the kids up, Michael was singing "Skidamarinky Dinky Dink" at the top of his lungs. The teachers were very impressed he even knew the words to the verse!

Michael insisted on helping me carry in 2 lunch boxes and 2 bowls because my hands were very full. I, of course, was smitten and promised him a treat for willingly being a good helper!

Michael played outside while I cooked dinner. I can't believe he is big enough to play outside by himself! He found lots of big sticks of course. (Don't worry, the yard is fenced in)

We haven't bought groceries in 6 or 7 weeks so it is slim pickings for dinner... but BOTH kids ate orange/ginger Tilapia!?!

Michael is loving his Halloween candy. Treats everyday! Christopher also had his 1st sucker last week. Then, he ate an entire tootsie roll sucker at a fall festival Sunday (we were holding him and needed him to behave). He is so cute sucking on a little sucker. Tonight, he smiled and giggled every time I looked at him sucking it! Of course, sucker = big mess = bath immediately after dinner!!!!

Christopher now knows where I store my slips. He'll go in my room, get a slip out, hold it to his cheek, and suck his thumb. I don't encourage this, but I do find it quite adorable. Especially when I turn around, he has slip, and he smiles a very big and cute smile. :) I think the only way to break this habit will be to move my slips to a different drawer.

The boys are so cute in the bathtub. Christopher, however, had an 'underwater' moment tonight. No tears, but Mommy was NOT happy! I used it as a teachable moment for Michael. I also got in some reading time while they played.

2 clean boys makes for a great cuddle time!

The boys and I cuddled up together to sing prayers before bed. Christopher clutched his lovey and sucked his thumb while Michael put his arm around me and sang with me. At the end, BOTH kids sang "amen". Melts my HEART every time! Christopher knows just when to say 'amen'. :)

Michael is singing "Skidamarinky Dinky Dink" as I write this. Playing with alphabet magnets and a hot wheels car. Talking to himself. Being adorable.

These are the moments I love. This is what life is made of!

Stacy { <>< }

Random updates

Well, I looked back over the "to-do" list I posted a week or so ago and am quite pleased. Our Halloween cards were sent this week (WITH pictures enclosed), we have pumpkins at the end of the driveway on top of the pillars, and we bought our boo at the zoo tickets! Now, to put out the decorations...

We had a blast with Gena Murphy Photography last Sunday. The weather at the horseshoe was PERFECT. Casey got permission for us to use a special garden, then we took some pictures with our 2 radio flyer wagons (I'll post them once we get them of course...). The kids were pretty much GONE by the time I changed them into some cute gangster outfits, but I'm sure she got enough cute shots. Not bad considering Michael had a pretty rough week (behavior) and Christopher did NOT nap nearly as long as usual. After our shoot, we ate "treats" for being good and played around at the USC Horseshoe a little. Our sneak peak included these cute pictures (facebook quality):

I also played outside with the kids tonight. I can't believe how big Christopher is getting! I was able to pick up sticks in the front yard and just let them play around on toys, a slide, and with buckets and shovels. They were so cute! I love having relaxing family time and the weather is PERFECT for outside time right now. The only thing that could have been more perfect would have been having Casey home from work...

Next weekend is the big yearly apple picking trip! We go to skytop orchard every year. Of course, now we have to take 2 vehicles and lots of kid gear, but it is SO worth it. The orchard is in the mountains so it is beautiful! Hopefully the apples won't be GONE now that it is so highly popular.

I made a new Conder Strings website and am very excited about it! Weebly gives you just enough options without making you do a lot of work in design. Check it out! conderstrings.weebly.com I especially love the 'Box Tops' and 'Photos' pages.

Speaking of Box Tops, send them my way! I am the Box Tops coordinator for our school this year and we have done VERY well! So far, we have raised $200 a month which is way better than years past! I am so proud of the students and teachers (especially the teachers... for pushing it so hard!). I pretty much come up with a new competition each month (think up a prize that is FREE such as making a JAM video with the Dance teacher for our morning news show), design a cool poster to hang around the school, post the flyer to our school webpage, make announcements on the morning news show, publish the winning classes and updated info on the newsletter, collect, sort, and count the Box Tops. It's one hefty job (when it's done right)! Box Tops are on my mind because today was the end of our 2nd competition... I have 20o papers to inspect for expired Box Tops, logos that don't count as Box Tops, bonus Box Tops that have to be glued separately, and pages that are incomplete. Needless to say I am WAY behind on this. I will be using our half day on Wednesday to get this done! It will take HOURS!!!!!

Anyway, I haven't been posting any awesome couponing deals because we haven't been shopping! Casey andI looked around our kitchen and decided, "Hey, we have enough food to last for a while. Let's just skip grocery shopping a few weeks." Well, it's been 4 weeks now! We buy milk and bread, of course, but otherwise, we haven't been grocery shopping or even clipping our coupons! We needed a break, too. The down side: it will take us a while to get all caught up with clipping and sorting.............


(Now don't get me wrong, I have still been signing up for freebies and getting 1 cent photos and free halloween cards and free photo brag books, so I've still been keeping in touch with my frugal self!)

October is a busy month for us this year. Next week, Casey is taking Michael on a field trip to a pumpkin patch with his daycare. I can't go. Needless to say, this is one of those, "I SO, SO wish I was a stay-at-home mom" moments. Of course, I will see him at the apple orchard next weekend too. Christopher has a 15 month check-up coming up (even though he is 16 months and counting). Casey is traveling a couple of days for work and then going on a fun Thursday-Sunday trip with his best friend from high school. I am playing at a Belk bridal event (another one). We are going to Boo at the Zoo with Steph and Kyle, trick-or-treating and other Fall festivities. All of this in addition to the 'regular' routine! Tons of fun, fun, fun!

Now this is kind of random, but if you have 5 minutes, go to this site and enter to win $1,000 cash and 100,000 Box Tops for LW CONDER ELEMENTARY. In 100 words or LESS, explain how winning 100,000 Box Tops ($10,000) and an appearance of Steve Harvey as principal for a day would feed the dreams of our school and community. Anyone can enter! Winner gets $1,000 cash!


http://steveharvey.com/principal_for_a_day/

Well, I could post on and on forever, but I'm not even sure if anyone will read down this far on the blog. I'll try to keep it to the kids and their cute traits next time :)





I'll leave you with Christopher's 1st full sentence (from this week): "I wanna get down".





Stacy { <>< }

Is this normal?

Is it normal for rocks to fall out of the dryer every time you open it?
Is it normal for your household to be full of sweeties one day and monsters the next?
Is it normal for your house to seem covered in dirt?

If you have boys, I believe it is :)

At least I hope so, because this has been happening a lot lately!!!

Stacy { <>< }

October is here!

My "October is here" to do list:
Decorations out!
Pumpkins at the end of the driveway!
Halloween cards mailed!
Costumes planned!
Boo at the Zoo tickets purchased!

We are SO on top of everything this year! I can't wait to get these things done and enjoy the holiday spirit all month.

I am also excited because we are having our 3rd photo shoot with Gena Murphy Photography this Sunday. She decided to come to Columbia, so our photo shoot will be at the Horseshoe. I don't have all of our outifts picked out yet, but I'm trying not to stress over it. I hope we have tons of fun even though I know the boys are at really hard ages to photograph. I KNOW Gena can do it. :) I'm so glad we found a photographer we can afford that is of her quality. I especially love having copyrights and printing my own pictures. You know me.... I can always find free or cheap picture deals!

Speaking of pictures ------- I finally got our pictures organized and filed in albums from the last 1.5 years! YAY! and I even took down all of the collages around the house and updated them! Now, when you walk into my house, you can see pictures of BOTH of the kids, not just Michael. :)

Happy weekend!

Stayc { <>< }

Back in the swing of things...

Well, I know we are officially back in the swing of things when my schedule and Casey's schedule don't line up for any quality time together. Seriously! 2 nights he works his 2nd job, 1 night I work, then 2 more nights HE works! We'll be spending Friday evening together at least! I guess I have more time to cuddle up with the boys. Now if only they would cooperate so I could get something ELSE done! :) Luckily, this should only happen through football season.

I'll try to post something more interesting this weekend.

Stacy { <>< }

Wow!

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted to my blog! Well, I guess I CAN. Once our 4 jobs get going, I have trouble finding time to blog. And when I DO have time, I spend it with the family. :)

This week is a hard week for me. I am doing final tests to determine which students will be accepted into the Strings program at Conder. Friday, letters will go home and some students will be ecstatic while others will be very, very sad. Next week, some will ask me, "why didn't you pick me?". Ugh. I hate that. It doesn't help that I have around 80 students signed up for 40 spots. That's a 50% cut! Grrrr..... The good news is, I have been able to test much more accurately this year. My schedule allows for smaller groups of students. So far, I love it! I hope it will work out well once I am trying to schedule small group lessons for 125 students! What a blessed elementary Strings program! We're setting records for sign-ups AND retention!

As for the family:
I am having a great school year. I love teaching violin. I am getting small projects done around the house like ordering pictures to fill in Christopher's baby book and to switch out the pictures in the collage frames in our house. I would like for people to know Christopher exists when they enter our home. Right now, the pictures are WAY out of date! I had a teary moment when choosing a picture from February for Christopher's baby book. That was one of the hardest months of my life. I selected a 'happy' hospital picture. I am building up the courage to face "the list" of people I need to write thank you notes to. I have so many things in my heart that I want to share with those who helped us in any way. I am terrified of opening up the list I created day by day while we were in the hospital. I will re-live every moment. So for now, I am pondering all of these things in my heart as Mary did when the wise men brought gifts for her baby boy, Jesus.

Casey is working at a little slower pace now that USC classes are started. No more busy season! A little catering side job here and there and hoping to work at all of the football games. He reads books a lot and still loves to cook. He helps me coupon A LOT. He helps me with the kids A LOT. He treats me well.

Michael is SO cute. He says the funniest things too. He is starting to do "dress-up" more. We have dress up stuff for a knight, handy man, and gamecock football player. He also loves lightsabers and magnets. He recognizes a lot of the alphabet magnets and is always curious about letters and numbers. He loves to do homework for school when they assign it. He is helpful around the house. He likes to play outside. Just a typical sweet little boy! I love him!

Christopher is walking, talking, and teething! He has 16 teeth and his last 4 (canines) coming in. (Needless to say, he has his grumpy moments.) He is moving up to the toddler class at daycare this week. I know he will love the music and the lessons. He also loves big boy toys. Oh the wonders of having a big brother. Some of his words are, "baby, bye bye, here you go, cheese, thank you, woof woof," and others we can't make out yet. He talks all the time. I love his curls although Casey jokes about cutting them. I know they won't grow back. I have convinced Casey to keep them until we have our family photo shoot in October.

That's about it! A pretty long update for me!

Hope to check-in more often. Happy Tuesday!

{<><} Stacy