Funny Friday

I know I haven't been here much this week. I have felt BLAH!! Lack of sleep for sure.....both kids have been climbing in my bed EVERY NIGHT this week?? B has been gone ALL week at night too!!

So, to finish off this week- thought I would give you a laugh to last all weekend long!!

The weather has been sooooo nice this week so we have played outside a lot. And thanks to my trusty new fence.....I can actually walk back in and check on laundry or supper....etc....the never ending mom jobs!!

On Tuesday I got supper going- then off to the back yard to play. I checked the mail first with the help of my two always present & willing to help, helpers who if it was not for JUNK mail some days they would have nothing to argue & fight about all the way to the mailbox!!! "I get the Mail..." I make them split holding a letter a piece always making sure they get JUNK....not to accidentally loose important bills!!

We walked back to the house, I then unlocked the back gate, laid the mail DOWN on the table on the back porch. I usually look through the mail on the way back but for some reason I just handed them their "MAIL" and walked along. They placed theirs on the table to and off to play!!

I sat and enjoyed the presence of Maizie and her puppy breath....then I told the boys "I am going to go inside and check on supper." I walked out of the gate- locked it behind me. So glad there is a LOCK they cannot reach....it would be awful if I had to worry about them getting OUT and into trouble OUTSIDE of the fence!!

I then proceeded in the house, leaving the back door open so I could hear them and half way see them through the fence. As I was mixing up cornbread they interrupted me 100 times as usual. I walked to the fence talked to them and then came back.

T then told me "Mama, some one sent you money in the mail today!" I didn't think much of it- seeing how I didn't see the GOLDEN envelope we have been looking forward to receiving from Uncle Sam....you know the one with Lady Liberty on it.....TAX RETURN!!!

So, I figured it was some stupid "fake check" he was talking about that you get from a car dealer that says some stupid gimmick on it!! Honestly, the child has NEVER opened the mail EVER?!?! I really didn't think much of the comment. I just responded "Oh good- be there in a minute to look at it."

I slid the cast iron skillet full of cornbread in the oven, washed my hands and headed out the door. As I approached the gate- My eyes got bigger and bigger I know, because I almost TRIPPED on my own JAW!!

There was T standing with a CHECK out of the envelope......covered in DIRT from the IRS!!! Oh My!!! He was so proud.... "Look mama I helped you open the mail, and I found a check for you- someone sent you some money for your missions trip!!" As I quickly removed the check from his hands and thought, the bank is NEVER gonna take this?? I looked at the table, there on the table was a WHITE envelope that was torn beyond recognition!!

I have NO IDEA how that check made it out alive......and then to get a tour of the backyard- dip in the mud hole. Oh, to be a fly in the backyard. I told him how important it is to not open any one's mail......and then was still shaking my head in disbelief......WHEN DID THE IRS CHANGE THERE ENVELOPES???? Has it not always been in a GOLDEN ENVELOPE!!! I WOULD HAVE NEVER LEFT LADY LIBERTY IN THE BACKYARD.....EVER!!!

Luckily, the bank took our dirty laundered money......but they had NO CLUE where that check had ever been!! Have a Good Weekend....Keep it CLEAN!!!

Mollie

Gymnastics Watch Day.....

Here are some of the highlights of "watch day" from T's gymnastics class today. He had a class with Mrs. T last summer for a week. We decided it helped him so much that we enrolled him in a class for the school year. He goes once a week for an hour. The class is small with about 6-8 boys and is at Mrs. T's house in her garage....pretty cool!!!

We can tell a HUGE difference in his running, jumping and even his "braveness" as in more courageous to jump off things. It has helped his motor skills a lot.

Most of ALL......HE LOVES IT!! Check out those LONG LEGS.....Don't think I could do this even if I tried my hardest!!
Back Handspring on the tramp-o-line.....he weighs 50+ pounds......Strong lady!!!

Hand stands....or Cart wheel.....they both look a little the same.....from this advantage.....

Here are some of the other boys in his class.....

Push ups.......

Jumping Jacks......

Boys listening to instructions on a backwards roll....

The SEAL crawl....
Round off.....off the mats......FUN!!!

BOMB!!!

Smart teacher gives the kids a freeze pop....makes them do a one handed cart-wheel....then she cuts it open!! HA! Gotta Love it!!

He has done so well, we are so glad Mrs. T has taught him so much- Thanks!!
Mollie

Finger Painting FUN!!!

Yesterday we did a little painting project.....started out with paint brush.....ended up FINGER PAINTING!!! WHOO HOO!!! PARTAY!!!!

I forget where I saw the idea but I thought it would be cool if they painted a canvas in the colors of my living and dining room, then I could hang it up in my house- and cherish it forever!! Well, I found a great deal on some canvas at Hobby Lobby- so I then thought we could make some to share with others too!! SO......we did.....here it is.......so much fun!!!

C is so funny here.....hhhmmmmm....do I paint my hand?? the canvas?? my hair?? He did end up with a streak of BLUE in the front.


When they were just using their brushes- it was showing a lot of WHITE....so that is when I said- "hey just use your hands and rub it in." It was as if you could have heard a pen drop- they were like....mama- you want us to make a mess?? COOL!!!
C was like this is too cool- He kept looking at his hands saying "I make mess....I make mess!!" Seeing how that is his FAVORITE pass time!! He was in Heaven!! T was okay with it- he wanted to wash his hands asap!!

Check out those grins!!! PRICELESS!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

Well, I took C to the other room to wash his hands- and came back T had taken the brush and started to write all different letters in the paint. Gave it a really "different" look!! That is what he thought looked good- So I know the people who receive them will also think that is cool!

I just set them up on some boxes to dry in the shop. I am going to write

a little note or poem on the back.

The FINISHED Project......Saving them for some special people......for a special day????

Mollie

Puzzle Time

Well, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth- I am BAAAACK!!! Just really really busy catching up on things around the house last week- after being gone so many weeks prior!!



Last week the weather was just too nice to stay inside.....so we didn't we stayed outside almost all day every day!! Boys just LOVE to be outside. T already has a BUG collection!! Hopefully I will get to sit down a post a story on it this week.



And I reeeeaaaaallly need to catch up on my recipe blog....been taking lots of pictures just need to add them and the recipes!! Have you ever bought some thing.....put it back for birthday or Christmas.....then pulled it out on a rainy day!! Yep...that's exactly what I did today.



I bought this book of tangram puzzles for T & this Melissa & Doug (YES my favorite) one for C. They LOVED them. And it took up about an hour that we would have spent out side- due to the rainy weather.....we stayed inside and put puzzles together!!



Not to mention it is busy work- for busy hands to be doing something useful!! I know we own at least 20+ puzzles. From LARGE floor puzzles to 100 pieces dinosaur puzzle (only one 100 pieces one) Most of the ones we like are non other than Melissa & Doug!!! They are SO DURABLE.....and if you have boys......you know what I mean. A puzzle piece might just become a hammer or a sword....never know??



What do you do for inside play on a rainy day??

Mollie

Spring Cleaning.....the Medicine Cabinet

This month I really wanted to do a month of organizing and how to clean out some closets and how to put them back in order.....yeah the middle of the month has passed and we are rolling right into May before you know it. So I will try to do some random tips here and there. I tried to take pictures as I would clean out a closet, drawer, and cabinet.....Oh My!!! I cannot I am letting every one see my mess!!!



The first one is easy and took under and hour. You can do that while you kids take a nap or even while the are doing some busy work. Some times when I have BIG projects that need to get done- because company is coming I will out on a movie the haven't seen in awhile- that takes care of about an hour of time for me to get what I need to accomplished!



So here is my medicine cabinet....I actually think it is suppose to be a linen cabinet.....because there is a lower part for a hamper. BUT...it works for me best as a medicine cabinet. Seems as if at the end of the winter- it looks as if a spring tornado has already hit it!! I try to clean it out as we go- otherwise it is about 6 months or so. I take all....EVERYTHING out and wipe down the cabinets. While they are drying I usually take all the meds- in different totes or boxes and put them in the kitchen or dining room table.

As I sort I have a trash can by my side- to THROW away all out dated meds. I then have other piles. Boys OTC, Boys prescripts, Adult OTC, Adult Prescipts, then my first aid kit, a pile of spoons or oral syringes, and my trust otoscope! I sort in to piles then I place them in their home in little $1 baskets you can get at the dollar store. It holds medicines up right and when you are looking for something....just slide it out and see them all and then slide it back into place. I label all sliding baskets to know what is in there- and who it is for.

Here is the FINISHED product in under 45 minutes. Now the lower shelf is my new found love of Young Living Essential Oils!!! I have them on had and usually use them prior to any meds!! Along with healthy eating to try to get better asap!!

My Next project it the boys room......Ugh!! I just took a few pics the other day as we were cleaning out things.....and was thinking it would be great to post how we do things at our house!!

Mollie

Who Planted all these WEEDS in my flower bed??

We got to go outside today and enjoy all this beautiful weather we have been blessed with lately!! As I grabbed my gloves to pull a few weeds in my flower beds I was thinking back to my flowers last year. When we pulled out all the shrubs and planted new things. That was a lot of hard work. I was wondering what would they look like when EVERYTHING is in bloom this year??

Here are just a few pics of lily's from last years bloom. One of my very favorite flowers is Lily!!


Well then of course as I was pulling weeds- which looked more like some HUGE turnip greens... for all I know they probably were!! I was having to really pull hard and put a lot into it. It reminded me as I was showing my rear end to the Highway traffic. You know when your a kid and everything you parents do embarrasses you??

Well one day as our school bus was driving up to our house my mom was hammering in a garage sale sign into the ground....straight legs and bent over right in front of the SCHOOL BUS FULL of KIDS!!! Ugh!!! Can you imagine.....I was so embarrassed- here I was had to get off at my stop so EVERYONE would know it was my MOM!!! Not like they didn't know I lived there any way!!

So I told my mom "Mama would you please NOT bend over like that....you need to squat and do things- so your rear end is not up in the sky!!" Let me tell you my mom has LONG legs too....little body though. She is only 5'3" so when she bends over she can lay her hands on the ground FLAT!!!


Honestly, from then on I don't ever remember her squatting or standing to remove weeds from flower beds or anything else....just a kid thing- you forget I guess. Or maybe she did start kneeling... I don't know??

Well, as I was in the flower beds today I was trying to get some of these HUGE weeds out.....and so it seemed easier to PULL standing up and bending over rather than on my knees or squatting down to pull. What do you think I looked like to the cars passing by.....hmmmm "There's that lady with her rear end up in the air again!!" It hit me.....honestly, it took every thing I had to get up off the ground each time I got down- but nothing to just stand back up straight!!

So, here I was my mom bending over.....although my kids don't know I am not cool yet- they still think I hung the moon!! And not that my mom was NOT COOL.....all our friends LOVED her....and over course we do too!!! But I always said to my self....."when I have kids I am gonna have them young so I will be a cool mom".......seems like all my friends moms & dads were really young.

Guess when I had my kids.....28 & 30......guess when my mom had us.....28 & 30!!! You see isn't there a saying... what goes around comes around or maybe one that says you'll pay for your raising.....or how about you'll EAT THOSE WORDS!!! Oh every day I get older and wiser just like my mom.....and I am so grateful she is such a sweet and caring person!! And I'd give anything to live closer to her so we could bend over for all the cars & school buses to see us picking weeds!!

Love you Grana!!

Mollie

AAACHHHHOOOOOOO!!!

Two words.....PINE POLLEN!!! Not a friend to many in South Arkansas at this time. Don't try to wash it off....it will be back just as soon as it is gone!!

EVERYTHING is coated with a YELLOW DUST of pollen.....red noses everywhere. If you walk in the grass....your feet are yellow!!!

Puffs PLUS are your friends!!! Keep your windows closed otherwise everything in your house including your puffs will be yellow with pollen!!!

I have lived here for 10 years now.....I have NEVER seen it this bad.....just ROLLING through the air and hanging around!!

It is as if it has snowed....it is just yellow & 70ish out side!!

Mollie

Happy Birthday Poppie

To My Dad, who is now the grandfather to my children too!! You are a wonderful man, I love you so much- you have taught me so much in life. You taught me to work hard and do a good job of what ever you do.

Thanks, for being a great example as a parent. I hope I can do as good of a job as you did!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Mollie & Boys!!

My New Do.....growing it out AGAIN!!!

Well, I have decided to grow out my hair again.....for the reason #1 I am going on my mission trip to Peru and need low maintenance hair. I am trying to pack light & also I have a feeling I will not have all the time in the world to do hair & make-up.

Each time I wear my hair this way everyone just LOVES it....I was looking back at a album the other day. It is me & B and the last 10 years together....it actually goes back to dating so I guess that would be 14 years. Anyway.....he has not changed much......but, oh my the hairstyles Mollie has had. It is funny....straight, curly, flipped out, long, blonde, brown.....you name it- I have had it.

I asked B the other day....how he likes my hair best. His response, "Babe I love you for you- not your hair....I'd love you if you were bald!!" Gotta love it!!! I love him!!

So what do you think of my Hair??

Mollie

Priority Mail.....

Well, lately you can probably tell I have been absent. I am doing a 10 things on that soon....on the 10th!! Seems like each week that last few weeks I am the stay @ home mom.....who is not @ home!! Ever feel that way??


If it is NOT one thing it is ANOTHER!!! In fact T has asked every night at bed time...."where do we have to go tomorrow??" Ugh how frustrating is this that my child feels I am dragging them around from here to yonder.....(oh that was bad....I have lived in the south too long when you say yonder when your typing!! HA!!)



Ok remember that MOM's HEART conference a few months back that CHANGED my LIFE FOREVER!!! I cannot stop thinking about every thing they said....I second guess every thing I do each day and whether I am making good choices??


So the other day I was thinking....just in case you smelled something burning....it was my brain!! I remember Sarah one of the speakers talking about how your life is a STORY.....you are the characters and you write it.....you determine if it is good or bad.


Then I thought back when I was a child, I LOVE to be creative and paint. I would set up an easel and paint....painters cap and all.....I have always been EXTREME in all I do!! HA!! So, I thought well if life could be a BOOK....it could also be a PAINTING???

Just as you paint you put color in you creation- it might be a sad painting or a happy painting?? Either way you are responsible for the brush and you control it.....when you are painting you have to take a step back and look at WHAT the outcome is every so often. When you do that you may see something that needs a little more color- or see something that needs covering up.

Life is the same way- when stop and step back and look at your to do list or look at your calender...you might see somethings you need to remove or add to. Priorities!! What is MOST important and WHAT do I need to do to make it work the BEST!!



I will tell you that the last two weeks I have woke up before the kids and got myself dressed- then dressed them as soon as they woke and we were OUT of the house in no time. Kudos to ALL YOU MOMS who work OUT of the HOME each day.....I have no clue how you do that- two weeks for me was enough.....what was I doing?? Like I said stay tuned on the 10th of April you can see my list!!


So after I looked at my painting in life- I then thought if I had a job description and had a PAYING job with money.....how would I be doing?? So if my husband and kids were to pay me with MONEY would I deserve my pay.....yes I know kisses and love pay a LOT more than anything GREEN.....but do you see my point.



Was I doing my job to the BEST of my ability?? Let's see.....hmmmm.....Can you yell at your boss if you get mad and NOT get fired?? Can you be behind on a deadline and not have dinner so you must order out and not get fired?? Can you put one thing off to do something less important and NO ONE has any clean clothes to wear?? Then you will find yourself working over time.....that's the case in my JOB.....means lack of sleep- therefore the RAT RACE is even harder on less gas!!


Yes, I definitely have appreciated my family a lot more and been a lot different since I have gotten fueled at the Mom's conference....but it is so easy to run on empty or low fuel.....and you cannot do that long- you will eventually have to get out and PUSH your self to the side of the road. Which is where I am at!!



I have found myself once again putting house work before my kids and husband. I do in fact think that taking a break from the computer mostly facebook- for Lent, has proven to be VERY rewarding. I am strictly using it for communicating with friends and QUICK check-in's with those in need.....prayer request things like that. Otherwise I will get so caught up with who sneezed and when.....and how loud it was.....and where it was......get the point!!



So my friend when it comes to priorities- this poor little blog I have had for a year now....it is getting added to the lower part of the list. I just love writing and telling funny stories- but most of that time when I am.....some thing is lacking in other places.....house work usually. When my kids are sleeping....I am blogging....and when they are awake....I am cleaning.



This month however I am SUPER CLEANING....stay tuned for those QUICK CLEANS!! HA!! Oh My....I didn't even get through with this post and lost the point again....when I am not spending time with my family....I AM SUPER CLEANING!!!

I have found it VERY VERY VERY rewarding also to wake before every one in the house on these busy days.....and read my bible, talk to the Lord about the day- and look to him for guidance. I love that Proverbs has 31 chapters.....and most months have 31 days....so that is a chapter a day!!


I do love my husband and I have found the last few weeks.....he still loves me too- especially when I don't have a computer in my lap!! HA!

And my kids.....well those times are few and far between....I told B the other day- T grew up so fast I feel like I have missed parts of his life......C is just 2 but it has gone by so quickly too!! I want to walk in the park slowly, take time to smell the roses.....when there not covered in POLLEN!! Pick up rocks and skip them in a pond.....feed the ducks while we are at it.


Just like my theme song says.....wear your red dress, use your best dishes, makes a BIG mess and make lots of wishes.....have what you want but want what you have!!!


So here I go again....


Thank you all so much for reading so faithfully- I love to share my thought and my heart!!

She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed!

Proverbs 3:18

Mollie

Play Date @ the Park

Here are some picture from our Easter play date @ the Park. We had a Picnic & Easter Egg hunt!! Lots of fun and lots & lots of SUPER CUTE KIDS to take pictures of...... I am so thankful for such good friends and great kids for my kids to play with. I wish we would get together more often.....but it seems like we are all so busy!! Glad for the moments we have together as friends!! God has truly Bless us a lot!!

Mollie