Archives for 2009

Yesterday was my day on the set of the movie filming in St. Louis. I had to sign a confidentiality agreement so I can’t discuss anything about the movie or what we did, but I will let you all know that George Clooney is indeed as handsome in real life as he is on screen. He looked just like himself, only thinner which proves the myth that the camera really does add ten pounds.

For a short period of time yesterday, I was placed directly in front of George (I call him George now because we’re tight). I wasn’t ten feet from him so I got a great view of his hotness. He was rehearsing his lines and he looked up. Our eyes met and he nodded with a slight grin. I nodded and smiled back, then I slow motion flipped my hair. Naturally his jaw dropped and he rushed to me and dropped to one knee, gazing adoringly into my eyes.

Okay that last part didn’t really happen – well, it happened in my mind but not in real life. We did smile at one another though. We shared a special moment, folks, and I’m quite certain I made a lasting impression. Then the director started shuffling people around and I got shifted farther back, but the connection was still there – I’m sure of it.

At lunch George ate with the crew and his table was just a few feet from mine, so I consider that close enough to be able to say we had lunch together. He was a charming lunch date…

I sat with a really fun group of people while we waited to go on set. We called ourselves the table of random connections because three of us graduated from Lafayette within three years of one another and we all three grew up in the same subdivision (it was a big neighborhood so we never actually met, though I knew one of the guy’s sister and he knew my brother). There were other random connections between some of the other people and we had a great time getting to know one another.

In all I would say it was a very fun experience. I’m not sure if I’ll make it into the movie or not given where I was seated. You may catch a quick glimpse of the back of my head, which would be fine by me since I was having the worst hair day ever. It was rainy and humid yesterday and my hair frizzed out making me look a little bit like Simba. Even the hair ladies had a hard time trying to get my hair to cooperate. Oh well, at least I won George’s heart.

This weekend was amazing. It was unseasonably warm – as in 84 degrees on Friday – and all around perfect. We took full advantage of the lovely weather and soaked in as much Vitamin D as our bodies would allow.

I took the kids to the Zoo on Friday and we just had a blast. They were as angelic as they could have possibly been, which made the trip fun for me too! Landon is at that delightful age where everything is new and exciting. It was magical watching his face light up as he pointed at all the animals in wonder. I loved it. He really enjoyed petting the goats in the Children’s Zoo –Until one of the big ones got up and started walking toward him… This was my favorite. He was so fascinated by the animals that he would stand as high on his chubby little toes as he could, craning his neck to catch a glimpse. This is pure sweetness.

We all got a kick out of this guy.Sloan and Tia were respectful and obedient and even nice to one another. It was almost a little disconcerting…
Now – on to the giveaway. If you go to Five Minute for Mom today, you can enter to win four 1 day park hoppers for Disney World! It’s easy to enter – just leave them a comment. And you can receive multiple entries if you twitter, facebook or blog about the giveaway. I thought this was a really cool giveaway so I wanted to pass the opportunity along to the rest of you.

Hello and welcome to my new site! I’m so glad you all have followed me here.  Please bear with me the next few months as I get the site designed and I figure out the bells and whistles.  In the meantime, I will continue to update posts and will hopefully get things going by the end of the month!

Yesterday, Lee came home in a somewhat ominous mood. I could tell he’d been listening to too much talk radio. He told me we needed to sit down this weekend and go through our budget so we could make the “radical” changes necessary to be prepared for the potential crash of our financial system.

I am in agreement that we need to make some decisions regarding how we spend our money. We’ve already decided that eating out is going to be drastically reduced in our family. When we went through our bank records for the last three months we were ashamed to see how much we had spent on fast food and other frivolous purchases. I’ve also been trying hard to watch how I spend our money at the grocery store. I still need to get in the habit of making up a weekly menu, but otherwise, I’m doing alright.

But this was something more for Lee. He was fearful. We talked briefly for a few minutes about what exactly he had in mind. First on his list was to cut out cable. I told him I’m fine with that as long as we get ABC because I need to be able to watch LOST. Everything else can go. But what else? We don’t have a lot of needless expenses. Gym memberships are perhaps the next thing to go, but I’m not silling to give up on those just yet, especially because we have as inexpensive of a gym plan as possible.

I had really been holding out for a new, fancy cell phone, but told him I’m willing to give that up so there goes that expense. But what else? After our brief conversation, I could tell that Lee felt a little better. I think just knowing that we’re both aware of the danger and willing to do what it takes to prepare helps. But I told him, I will not be operating out of fear. I’m not going to slash out every expense because we’re afraid of what might happen. I want to be wise, but not fearful. And listening too much to the news or radio can make a person fearful.

It’s frustrating to sit back and feel so powerless as the people who are in charge of our country seem to be making poor decision after poor decision. I believe wholeheartedly that being prepared and in control of as much of our income as possible is the best thing we can do. We have to protect ourselves right now. And we have to be prepared for the worst.

But I will not live fearing or expecting the worst. That’s no way to live. I will not be confined to my home because I don’t want to use gas. I won’t live in worry daily over that which I cannot control. And in the moments when fear starts to creep in, I will remind myself that there is One who is Higher and in perfect control of everything in our lives. In Him I take my rest and I find my hope – not in a government who is making poor decisions.

What about you guys? What are you doing to cut back during these days when the financial market teeters on the verge of breakdown? Are you feeling fearful and how do you combat that feeling?

Hey everyone.

To: Lee
From: Your Wife
Re: Two Liter soda bottles and other containers with lids.

My dear, sweet husband. You are a picture of strength. Seriously, you’ve been working out and it shows – you look fantastic. You look every bit the Greek god. You are chisled from stone. Your strength knows no bounds and I am proud to be your wife.

I love that you are there for me when I need you. I know that at any moment, should I be overwhelmed by, say, a pickle jar, you will swoop to my side, your hair windblown, your muscles flexed and glistening and you will remove the lid with nothing but your thumb and pointer finger because you are just. so. strong. I am the damsel in distress and you, my dear man, are my superhero.

I have but one request, O Ye picture of strength. When you put the tops back on the two liter bottles of Sprite or when you tighten the lids of the kids sippy cups, please remember that us mortals do not possess your strength and try not to tighten them with the force of ten thousand warriors. Thanks so much.

In closing, when you come home today, I will need you to open the bottle of Sprite that you so deftly closed last night. I love you!

My three year old is fiercly independent. And when I say fiercly, I mean she just may take you out at the knees should you try to help her in any way, shape or form. In some ways, this is awesome. I lay her clothes out and she puts them on (I have not even allowed her to think that she will ever have a chance to pick out her own clothes. Once she decides that she wants that freedom, the battlefield will become much more delicate.)

In general, she does not want you to do anything for her. If you try to carry something, she snatches it. If you try to pick her up, she turns into gumby and slides out of your arms into a puddle on the floor. If you help her without her asking you, well – all I can say is look out.

But being that she’s three, there are times when it’s clear she needs help. This is where things get touchy. Take this morning, for example. I gave her a shirt with a rather tight collar and she was struggling to get it on. I could hear her screeching in frustration but she absolutely refused help. At times like this, I treat the moment like a hostage situation. Here’s how it works:

First, I stand several feet away, speaking in a soothing voice and telling her I’m more than willing to help if she needs it. I’m usually met with a resounding “NO!”

Second, I slowly inch toward her, still speaking softly. Sometimes this works out well and I’m able to help her out before she even knows what’s happened. But, other times – like today – this only escalates her frustration and she moves to the hopping and crying phase (I do it myhels! she cries)

Step three is to reach my hands out and, while keeping my voice soft, use firmer words. “Tia, let me help you. It’s going to be okay. We’ll get this done a lot faster if you just let me help.” I have to act fast when it gets to this point otherwise she spooks and runs. I grab her hands and finish the action quickly and smoothly. She usually cries, sometimes screams, which then requires some jail time (i.e. time out in her room).

When she’s finally allowed to return to the company of others, she’s as pleasant as can be and back to her bouncy self. Until, of course, the next time that help is required, at which point I jump back into the negotiations. I should be getting paid for this.

I would like to take a moment to highlight my favorite blogs. So here they are, in no particular order:

The newest blog on my sidebar belongs to dear college friends, Jeff and Wendy Elkins. We were all in a touring choir together and they got married just a couple of months after Lee and I. They now also have three kids (boy, girl, boy) who are almost the same ages as our kids. Even though we live many miles apart, it’s fun to still feel connected with this sweet, and hilarious, couple. Check them out at The Elkins Family.

Also new to my sidebar are the blogs of a sweet family that we go to church with who are preparing to move to Costa Rica as full time missionaries. I would encourage you to head over to their sites, Ticos Times Tres and The Jenkins Journal to keep updated on how the Lord is using them to reach the people of Latin America.

Kelly from About the Harps is another college friend whose blog I love to read. Kelly and I have laughed a little about the fact that while we were in college we did not know one another well. She married Clint, one of mine and Lee’s best friends, but we didn’t really have the chance to hang out much with Kelly – but now, she and I are seriously internet BFF’s. And I’m sad that we didn’t hang out more back in the day. Kelly is funny and sweet and they have the most adorable little boy named Hudson.

Kelly’s also enormously talented (and I’m only slightly envious of her gift) and has an etsy shop that you should all check out where she sells handmade kids clothes and they are just beyond adorable. Stay tuned because soon we’re going to do a giveaway of some of her stuff and you won’t want to miss it!

Finally, one of the blogs that makes me laugh on a daily basis is Anna’s from Bugs and Sunshine. Anna is hilarious and literally has me laughing out loud almost every time I read her stuff. Anna is an old friend of Lee’s from college and though I’ve only met her face to face a couple of times, I feel like we’re old pals. I highly recommend her blog if you’re in need of a good laugh.

There you have it. Of course, all of the blogs in my sidebar are fun and I love reading every one of them. But those are a few that I wanted to highlight for today. Enjoy your weekend.

It’s time to fling, folks. Dana, my blogging guru, calls this a trebuchet after the medievil whatchamagadget that was used to smash walls and fling crazy war stuff over them. Okay, that’s my definition of a trebuchet. In any case, the idea here is to verbally fling those things that make you crazy, then list the happy things in life that make the flings bearable. So, here you have it – my spring fling:

– First, I fling the process of teething. You can’t fling the process of something! Oh yes I can – my blog. I cannot fling Landon because that would be considered abuse and because, well, I really kinda like him a lot, but I do fling teething and the slobbering, crying, whining mess it turns him into. There – consider teething flung.

– Shop ‘N’ Save – I fling you – Fliggity Fling! I waited all week so that I could shop today when they have their $10 off day, only to get there and find out that they don’t actually do that every Thursday. You mean we’ve been subsisting on Mac N Cheese and ham for nothing? And then, when I asked the lady at the information counter how often they have coupon Thursday, she shrugged, rolled her eyes, and said they never know when it’s gonna be. So, I fling her twice. And I feel better.

– I fling the stomach flu, influenza and any other germy bug that dares to break through the protective barrier of Lysol that now layers my home. Fa-LING!

– St. Louis weather. Is it warm? Is it cold? Will it rain? Will it snow? Fling. I’m all for having four seasons. I like it very much, in fact, but flip-flopping back and forth – that’s not cool and it makes me crazy. So, consider it flung.

– Landon’s finicky eating habits. Do you know how hard it is to feed a child who subsists entirely on milk, yogurt and cheese – especially when he has a stomach bug that causes him to explode nastiness of the worst kind when he does consume dairy? So I fling pickiness and I fling it far.

– The current administration’s proposed spending plan that suggests raising taxes during a recession so that we can pay for universal healthcare and other controversial issues. I don’t like it, I don’t agree with it, I feel powerless to stop it because it appears that no one wants to really take into account how those of us who are negatively affected by this ridiculous plan really feel (and believe me, more people are negatively affected than are positively affected). So, this is me, symbolically placing the 3.55 trillion dollar spending plan in my rickety wooden trebuchet. I’m pulling the handle. Fling, fling, fling, fling.

– I fling my desktop computer for no other reason than that I just really want a laptop and can’t afford one so out of frustration I fling the desktop. Hahaha! This is fun.

On to the good now. These are the things I keep and these are the things that make me smile despite all the flinginess of the world around me.

– The prayers that Sloan says before we eat. They are precious, hysterical, deeply theological and sometimes just plain bizarre, but it’s fun to see him beginning to grasp more and more who God is and what He’s done for us. Today’s prayer before lunch went something like this: