Little Bits of Randomness

I'm absolutely loving this weather. I love the cooler days which means open windows which means lower electricity bill!

I cooked enough potatoes today to feed a small army and only two of us were eating potatoes and one of the two was a one year old whose helping is small. Before I started cutting, I thought that I should go ahead and finish up the bag since there wouldn't be enough left to make an adequate dish. Boy was I wrong. I should have thought about how cutting potatoes multiplies the amount like Jesus taking the 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed the 5000. I guess we will be eating potatoes the rest of this week.

Speaking of multiplying, I think the Dum Dum suckers are multiplying in the candy bucket. I let Parker have a piece of candy after lunch and dinner if he eats a good amount. He really likes Dum Dums, and most of the time that's what he picks. There shouldn't be any left by now, but somehow he keeps pulling one out.

I really like cooking with cast iron. The clean up is the easiest. No washing! Just wipe out with a paper towel until all is clean. If there's a tough spot, just put in a little salt and wipe and it's done! Back in the cabinet it goes. Maybe I should only cook with cast iron.

A lot of times I have thoughts that I run through my head like a Facebook status. I know that's sad, but 9 times out of 10 they never make it on Facebook. I don't want to be one of those people who just put way too much information and blow up everybody's news feed with their every thought or action.

Time is flying by too quickly. In my mind I keep thinking that we have 6 months before we move to New Orleans but it's really more like 3. There is just so much to do. So many things we want to do, people to visit, etc before we move so far away, but time is just ticking away.

Speaking of New Orleans, Paul got his acceptance letter from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary yesterday. So, it's official! I'm so proud of him. This has been something he has wanted to do for a long time and now it's finally happening. I know it's going to be tough, but I'm excited because I know this is what God wants for us. Living for Jesus is sooo not safe or boring!

Well that's enough random thoughts for the moment. I've got to go get busy doing my afternoon chores. Oh what fun! No, really I'm kinda excited about doing them but the reasoning is a whole other post.

 

Confessional

I have to confess...confess that I'm a lousy housekeeper. Most days if you would drop by my house unexpectedly, you would find remnants of about 3 meals hanging around on my kitchen floor, pots and pans sitting on the counter waiting to be washed, and a sea of toys to dodge on the living room floor.  I like things to be clean and organized, and I can get my house that way, but the problem is I'm lazy. There are so many other things I would rather do than to clean up. The ironic thing is that while I'm ignoring the everyday house cleaning, I've been working on getting things ready for our big move to New Orleans which is a little less than four months away. I've been getting rid of clutter at least and packing up a few boxes. I would much rather do those things than clean up a kitchen. I know that sounds weird.

I've been on a mission for some time now to be more disciplined with my time. I can do good for a few days. Then things get crazy and I'm back to square one. But I'm not giving up. I'm not striving for perfection. I'm just striving for better. Thank God He is so gracious to me. He can help me overcome my laziness that is preventing me from being the best that I can be. I've been learning how to give myself some grace. I know that the reality of having littles running around means that keeping a house pristine clean is out the window. Like a friend of mine said cleaning up after children is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing. That being said though I still know that I can do better.

I'm putting this all out there because it feels good to get my dirty little secret (pun intended) out there, and hopefully help encourage someone else who is struggling like me. So there you go. 

Parker at 3 years

There is just know way I should be writing about my 3 year old boy. He just can't be 3 already! He has done so much growing up over the past year.

• Stats: 35.6 lbs  40 inches tall. Yep, he's a biggun. I'm going to be looking up to him one of these days.
• His interests: trains, cars, planes, generally just things that move, riding bikes, puzzles, books, hide and seek, jumping, tumbling, water, music
• Favorite shows/movies: Word World, Caillou, Curious George, Wild Krats, Cars, Thomas the Tank Engine, Toy Story
• Favorite color: green
• Favorite foods: spaghetti, broccoli, cheese, raisans, rice, salsa, tacos, black beans, corn, bananas, pretty much any fruit
• Foods he doesn't like: mashed potatoes, any potato unless its french fries or sliced thin and crispy, tomatoes (unless it's salsa)
• He loves the water! He took some swimming lessons this summer and was quite the water bug. He would jump in without holding anyone's hands. He wouldn't hesitate to put his head under water. He would have been content to stay in the pool all day.
• His speech has improved greatly especially in the past few months although people who aren't around him much might disagree. He's talking a lot more and it is becoming easier to understand what he is saying.
• He's very social. He will make friends with other children when we are out and about in places where there are other children.
• He loves music and dancing. He has some interesting dance moves. Sometimes he will even "break dance." He just roll all around on the floor and hold one leg in the air while he's in the bear crawl stance.
• He's still a daddy's boy. He tries to be just like Paul.
• That being said. I'm his comforter. I'm the one he goes to when he's upset or hurt.
• He's such a loving, snuggly little boy. He loves to snuggle up with us on the couch and wrap up in a blanket. He gives some good hugs and kisses. He makes sure you get kisses right on the lips. He doesn't settle for a cheek.
• He likes to be a helper. He does a good job helping me around the house and taking care of Ellis.
• He is such a good big brother. He looks after Ellis and plays with her. Of course like every brother and sister, they have their squabbles, but for the most part they are great companions.
• He has yet to have his first hair cut, but soon it's gonna have to happen. He doesn't have a lot of hair, but it just needs some trimming and shaping in some places.
• He's convinced that he is a six year old boy.
• Most days his attire consist of only underware. Some days I can manage to convince him to put on some clothes.
• He has a pair of green crocs that he wears a lot. I don't know what we are going to do when he grows out of them.
• He can dress himself. I just love to see what outfit he's going to put together.
• He thinks band-aids and kisses make any boo boo better. However, lately he also thinks any boo boo should warrant a trip to the doctor. His reasoning is that "doctor's fix."
• Doctors may fix boo boos. But Parker thinks Paul can fix anything that's broken. I mean anything.
• I love his little toddler sense of humor. He will just laugh and laugh at some of the silliest things. Sometimes I'm not even sure what makes him laugh.
• He loves to put together puzzles. A new puzzle can keep his attention for a loooong time. Even an old puzzle can keep him busy for a while. At church on Sundays, he will spend most of the worship hour time in the nursery putting together every single puzzle in there.
• He has pretty much given up his nap. Every once in a while he will take a nap in the afternoon, but if he does, I limit the amount of time he sleeps or he would be up waaaay late at night.
• He loves to color and is very good at it. He actually colors objects on the coloring page. He doesn't just scribble all over everything.
• He is potty trained except for at night. It may be a while before he's in underware at night.
• He just absolutely melts my heart. I could just bunch him up and squeeze him and kiss him all day long.