Update, et al.....

Yo, peeps. Happy Saturday night. We just had a fantastic steak dinner cooked by Spencer on the Big Green Egg. We were joined by my in-laws (shout out to Nam & Pop) and our dear friend, Bobby. It was a good night.

Potty training update - Tait has it clinched. She's rocking the house. We have had 1 accident in 3 days. Today she wore Daisy Duck panties and told me that Daisy will be sad if she tee teed on her. Hey, whatever works, right? I am still putting her in pull-ups for nap and bedtime, but today she woke up from her nap dry. A few more days of that and we'll try panties at nap. And the most exciting part? Are you ready? (I will go ahead and apologize to those of you who haven't gone through this - you won't fully appreciate what I'm about to tell you....) Tait pooped in the potty. 3 times. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?! She has been absolutely terrified of pooping in the potty. But yesterday, she conquered the fear and hasn't looked back. I'm so stinking proud of her! She's proud of herself, too.
As for Camille? Nope. Nada. Nothing. The potty is NOT her friend. We're in for a long one where she's concerned, I'm afraid.

We're attempting church tomorrow, which means we're attempting to put Camille in the nursery. This has not been a pretty scene in the past. I'll letcha know how it goes. I'm fully prepared to spend the service in the lobby. Just keepin it real, yo. (Do you like the way I kinda went a little Jenny from the Block on you there? Seriously, who am I?)

Back to the Big Green Egg I mentioned at the beginning of this post. If y'all have never eaten food from a Big Green Egg, you are seriously missing out. It cooks the most fantastic food. Tonight we had steaks. We have also cooked sausage, ribs, fish, burgers, hot dogs, drunk chicken (whole chicken with the beer can in it...yum), pizza (when the flame is low and the Egg is hot, it cooks like a brick oven), ham, Boston Butt, kabobs, veggies, ... the list goes on. It is easy to use (I even use it by myself when Spencer's out of town) and the food is amazing. I gave it to Spencer for our 10th anniversary, which was a year ago, and we haven't even taken the cover off of our old grill since then.

Ok, well Spencer's home and he's back to his Guitar Hero Addiction. I guess I should get off Ye Olde Blog and watch him play.

Peace out, bloggy peeps.

Oh, and super importantly, please pray for Scott and Kelly and their newborn daughter Harper. She was born yesterday and is having some pretty significant breathing issues that might get her put on ECMO. It's even more of a shock to them since they had no idea that anything was wrong and were fully expecting a healthy baby girl. Having been through the whole NICU experience (Tait), I can testify that it ain't easy. I can also testify that our God is bigger than any health problems, worries, and scary moments. We can trust that His unfailing love and attention is all over that baby girl and He is taking care of her. You can keep up with updates on Kelly's blog.

Now, for real. Peace out.

If I Don't Pull My Hair Out First

I'd love to blog right now.

I'd love to write a post that would make you laugh until your sides hurt.

I'd love to be witty and silly and possibly a little thought provoking and spiritual.

However, I'm potty training. Tait. And. Camille. At. The. Same. Time.

Lord, please have mercy and please give me an extra shot of patience.

For the record, Tait is loving it. Camille, however, only wants to wear her Minnie Mouse panties and NOT TAKE THEM OFF. When she sits on the potty, she screams if she has to take her panties off. Um, seriously, darling, the whole point of this little project is NOT to tee tee in the panties. And I'd like for her NOT to tee tee on the Pottery Barn Kids chair that Santa brought. And preferably NOT tee tee on me.

I know. I ask for a lot.

So, for the next couple of days, I'll be pretty occupied by 2 little girls running around in Minnie Mouse panties. I'm praying for patience, very few mopping the floor opportunities, and minor Minnie Mouse panty accidents.

Thankyouverymuch for your thoughts and prayers.

California, Here I Come....Except I Already Went....

Wassup.

I just got back from San Diego yesterday.

Wait. I don't think I told you that I was going to San Diego. Maybe I did. I have no idea.

I WENT TO SAN DIEGO THIS WEEKEND.

There. We're all caught up.

Anyhoo. I had one crazy fantastic time in Cali. Lemme give a shout out to anyone who might read this blog who might be from San Diego. That place rocks and I want to go back again soon. And your weather is absolutely lovely, especially in the middle of January.

Spencer is out there for a 2 week meeting so we decided that I could go out for the weekend. I flew out on Thursday and came back yesterday. I was able to fly First Class, which was such a treat (thanks to a zillion Sky Miles that hubs has saved up) and really made the 4 1/2 hour flight better. Especially on the flight home, when the guy sitting next to me (I was in the window seat) got on the plane, requested a glass of orange juice, drank said juice, fell asleep, and slept for 4 1/2 hours until the flight attendant asked him to raise his seat back for landing. I'm not even kidding. Surely the dude took some sort of medication that made him sleepy. Good thing I have a bladder o' steel and didn't have to get up or I would've had to climb over Sleeping Beauty. I can't imagine getting wedged in a Coach seat next to him and not being able to move at all.

While we were out there, we went out to the Hotel Del Coronado to visit.


We had heard that the Sunday brunch was the most amazing thing to do there, but at seventy two American dollars per person, and since my entire breakfast repertoire consists of waffles and an occasional strawberry yogurt, we decided against the brunch and instead ate lunch on the pool deck for significantly less cashola.

We also rented a car and took a drive northward up the coast. We spent a whole day in La Jolla, which is one of the prettiest towns I've ever seen.



While there, I saw more Lamborghini's than I have ever seen. They were awesome. We went to "Children's Pool" which is where the seals are.




Real live seals. And not in a theme park. Holler. I love the Pacific Ocean.

We looked for whales, and were told that they could be spotted, but never saw any. Bummer.

We also went to Mount Soledad, which is a Veteran's Memorial on the highest mountain top close to San Diego. You can drive up there and see for miles. It was absolutely beautiful. Here's a panoramic view....





Spencer is out there until Friday, and this is officially the longest he's been away from the kids. To say he's missing them is quite the understatement. We're really ready for him to be home, too. This week, he's pretty much stuck in the hotel 24 hours a day. They have him scheduled in meetings, dinners, etc. from the time he wakes up until he goes back to bed at night. Imagine looking out your hotel balcony and seeing this


and not being able to get out and visit it.

Annoying.

While I was there, I had no access to high speed internet (unless I wanted to pay $14 a day - which i didn't) so I'm behind on my bloggy news. So please, catch me up. What's been going on in your life? I'm back the real world & am ready to reconnect to the real world.

Also, if anyone has any potty training tips for my 3 1/2 year old daughter who has NO INTEREST in using the potty, I'd much appreciate it. It might just be the death of me, Mercy.

Dear Chick-fil-A

Dear Chick-fil-A,

First, let me start off by saying that I think that you are a fine, upstanding establishment. As a matter of fact, as far as fast-food restaurants go, you consistently rank #1 in my book. I fully support your "closed on Sundays" policy and absolutely adore the cows used in your marketing campaign. I find it not only fascinating, but prize worthy that you invented the chicken sandwich. I mean, I consider it pure genius that someone in the Chick-fil-A history books thought to put chicken on bread. Changed my life. I love that my oldest daughter has called you "Chicken Lay" her entire life, and now that she's old enough to know better, she still chooses to call you that. And Mr. Cathy? I could squeeze his cheeks.

Let's just say that I'm a fan.

However, I feel that your downfall is your drive thru. Today, I experienced your drive thru along with my 3 children. As I sat forever in the drive thru line, I couldn't help but wonder why all of your parking lots are so small and your drive thru lines so crowded. However, I understand that other people are Chick-fil-A fans as well, so I let it slide. I was greeted at the speaker with a pleasant and polite tone. Then I drove to the window. I paid with my debit card. Then came the chaos. Apparently, in order to keep the drive thru line moving, the employees in the window have taken up a "throw everything at you at once" approach to handing me my food. I was given 4 bags, my debit card, and my receipt all at once. Then I was given 3 drinks at once - two were stacked on top of each other. I pulled off with bags spilled in my car, my debit card on the floor, and my blood pressure in the ceiling.

I do understand that I know nothing about the restaurant business, but I feel that I could possibly give you some pointers, if you'll spare me a few moments of your time.
First, in the future, please choose lots to build your restaurants on that are considerably larger than the ones you have now. Your parking lots prove to be a driver's ed course on a consistent basis.
Second, when people pay for their food at the drive thru window, please allow them a few seconds to put their change or debit card back in their wallet before handing them their food. I personally prefer not to have to climb around the floor of my car to find my missing debit card every time I leave your drive thru line.
Third, please realize that most people are seatbelted in their car and cannot reach out the window like your employees can. It's horribly difficult to reach with 2 arms and grasp everything that is being handed to you.
Fourth, please hand out the order one or two items at a time. I'm a mom and can multitask like a mom should, but not even I can juggle 4 bags, 3 drinks, a debit card, and a receipt at the same time.

As always, I am a Chick-fil-A fan and will continue to support your restaurant. It would be a much more enjoyable experience with normal blood pressure.

Thank you, and have a wonderful day.

*****UPDATE*****
I received a comment from a marketing director for Chick-fil-A. Totally blew my mind, too. I guess Ye Little Olde Blog gets more traffic than I thought!
Anyhoo, he was super incredibly nice and said he was contacting the Operator of that restaurant personally. He also got my address to send me some free stuff. Holler. (that was for you, Ginger.) Chick-fil-A is an amazing company and their customer service is top notch. Hats off to them.
And for my non Chick-fil-A blessed friends, aka, Adam, Kathie, and Annie, I requested a Chick-fil-A in your area. I'm pretty sure I have NO pull in that department, but I tried. I don't fully understand an area of the USofA without a Chick-fil-A - it seems communist to me.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...Um...Summer?

Whoa, we've been busy. Tis the season, right? Sorry for the bloggy absence, but I've been spending a lot of my extra time trying to pull back out the summer clothes that have been neatly tucked away till, you know, summer. If you looked at my laundry, you would think that either I've completely gone mad or I've taken numerous trips from the tropics to the polar regions in the span of 2 weeks. I mean, I don't think I've ever washed sweatshirts and tank tops in the same load. Until now. And it's still happening. Yesterday it was mid 70's and today it's mid 50's. One consistency has been the rain. Mercy, the rain. My poor kids are starting to get that pale look with dark under eye circles because of the lack of UV rays or Vitamin D or something like that.

Lovely.

Anyhoo.

We have had quite a few "firsts" this Christmas!

Starting with....
MY BABY BROTHER GOT ENGAGED!!!
And to clarify, he's not a baby. He's only 2 years younger than I am, but you know what I mean. His fiancee's name is Lindsay and she's awesome. She's a dancer (professionally - she dances in Taye Diggs' company in NYC and just finished up 3 months of dancing at Disney World - I'm not ONE BIT jealous of her...nope...none), a Southern Girl (I truly think the Southern peeps in NYC find a way to connect with each other), a FSU Seminole, and an absolute doll. My girls adore her. Mary Emma has been waiting for Adam to propose so she could officially call her Aunt Lindsay.

Here are some pics of them...




The last picture is of Adam and Lindsay with Minnie Mouse after one of her shows. The red hair is a wig - she is really a blonde - as shown in the first picture. Lindsay loves all things antique and the ring Adam gave her is early 1900's. The diamond is dated somewhere between 1850 and 1900 and the ring is 1920's. It's gorgeous and we are so proud for them.

Second, Mary Emma learned to ride a two-wheeled bike! The training wheels came off! She's 7 1/2, which is a little late to learn to ride a bike, but let me tell you a little about her. She has an unnatural fear of scraping her knees. She has fallen in the driveway in the past, screamed so loud and hard that we have had neighbors come running out of their house. The fear of falling off of a bicycle and scraping her knees far outweighed the joy of riding a bike. Until last week. Spencer took her to the school parking lot, gave her one push, and she never looked back. We are crazy proud of her.



Third, Tait was ALL ABOUT Santa this year.....from a distance. We kept noticing her anxiety level rising on Christmas Eve and finally realized that she thought Santa Claus was coming to her room. Once we assured her that Santa wasn't coming upstairs, she calmed down and went on to sleep. Camille still doesn't fully understand, but I have a feeling that next year is her year. Plus, if Santa did decide to come upstairs and into Camille's room, she'd totally take him down. That kid can hold her own.

Fourth, my parents's house flooded - the rebuild started this morning and should take about a month. In case you don't fully grasp this concept, my parents are rebuilding their brand spanking new 4 day old house. If you feel led to continue to throw up some prayers on their behalf, I know they'd appreciate it.

Fifth, Spencer left this morning for a meeting in San Diego for 12 DAYS. That's 288 hours. 17,280 minutes. 1,036,800 seconds. Nothing like jumping back into the back to school routine like tackling it as a single mom. However, there is an upside. Thursday through Monday, I will be going out there, too, WITHOUT THE KIDS. I'd say that's a good trade-off.

Sixth, I learned that if I purchase these noisemakers for the kids on New Year's Eve

then I'm not allowed to yell at them for running around for HOURS and shaking their little noisy brains out. Whatev.

Seventh and lastly, Spencer gave me photography lessons for our Anniversary. I start tonight. I am STOKED. I know that I will learn about stuff like aperture, shutter speed, focal points, exposure, and calibrating my light meter (aren't you impressed? Don't be - I copied that off the class website - I have no idea what that means) so that I can become photog extraordinaire. The Pioneer Woman ain't got nothin' on me. Before you know it, she'll be inviting me to her fabulous ranch where I can stay at the newly remodeled (and amazing) lodge so that I can give her some photography lessons. And then I'll leave there to go have dinner with Reba.

A girl can dream, right?

In the words of 2 year old Camille, "Peace Out, y'all."

You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me.

My sweet, wonderful parents decided to move the week of Christmas. Relocate. Sell and buy a new house. Take stuff from one house to the other via moving truck. 2 towns an hour away from each other.

You know, because the week of Christmas isn't busy or anything.

It has been a hectic week and I'm not even the one moving. I know my parents are tired and ready for things to be back to normal.

Not to mention that the house that they left was their dream home. 10 acres, a pond, privacy, huge front porch, 4 wheeler heaven. So their emotions were a little raw about leaving the house.

However, my dad is a pastor and is at a new church which he LOVES. The new town is about an hour closer to us and their new house is new construction. My mom got to pick out everything in the house. They are really excited about the new ministry, house, locations, etc. Just sad about leaving the old house.

They spent their first night in the house Tuesday. Wednesday was Christmas Eve, and they came to my house after their Candlelight Service. They spent Wednesday night and Thursday night with us and went home Friday. They spent most of the day Friday unpacking, mostly in their bedroom and the upstairs bedrooms, and crashed in bed Friday night, exhausted and sore.

At 4:45 Saturday morning, my mom woke to the sound of rain. Their new neighbors had been telling them about a roof leak in their house, so my mom got up to check for leaks. She opened her bedroom door and realized that water was POURING through her ceiling in the den, foyer, kitchen, dining room, and my dad's study. She screamed for my dad who went running upstairs and found a water line broken and water pouring out of the bathroom. There was now 2 inches of water in the downstairs of their house. Dad got the water turned off (can you imagine taking a freezing cold shower at 5:00 am? - Dad said it wasn't pleasant - imagine that) and began grabbing towels, tablecloths, blankets, trash cans, buckets, ANYTHING to stop the water. At 7:00 he called his insurance agent and the builder, who called the plumber. The insurance agent sent a Restoration company to their house to begin the cleanup process. They called me at 8:00 Saturday morning. Talk about feeling helpless. I got on the car and took coffee (mom) and Diet Pepsi (dad). It's all I knew to do.

So to simplify, they will need new carpet/pad/baseboards/possibly sheetrock upstairs. They will need new ceilings, crown moulding, wood floors, paint, light fixtures (water pouring out of the ceiling fans don't bode well for said ceiling fans), baseboards, and sheetrock downstairs.

And their house is less than a week old.

So, if you feel led, I know they'd appreciate your prayers. They are trying HARD to keep their spirits up. It's definitely hard.

Here are specific prayer requests:
1. That the re-build process will be QUICK.
2. That the insurance companies (the plumber's insurance company, the builder's insurance company, and my parents' insurance company) will all get along and at like adults. We all know this is often not the case.
3. That my parents will have a peace about the whole thing. My mom is a "worrier" and doesn't usually go with the flow. My dad is the exact opposite of a worrier and is really laid back - these personalities can clash in stressful situations.
4. That my parents won't be financially accountable for ANY PART of this. No co-pays, deductibles, etc. This was entirely not their responsibility.

Here are some praises already:
1. If this had happened a day earlier when my parents were at my house, the results would've been disastrous. It's a good thing they were home and my mom's a light sleeper.
2. Most of their stuff was still in boxes. The Restoration people moved dry stuff out of wet boxes and repacked them into dry boxes. As far as the unpacking goes, they aren't any further behind than they were before. They just have to wait a while to unpack.
3. My parents bought a new TV on Tuesday. BRAND NEW TV. The last time my parents bought a new TV was probably 1990. This new TV was in the ONE area of the den that stayed dry and is perfectly fine.
4. They have an amazing church family who really cares for their pastor - even though he's the "new guy." They are being wonderful.

I'll keep you updated. It's gonna be a process and will most likely take a while.

I heart you all.

Merry Christmas, Bloggy Peeps!

From my family to yours, have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful new year.