So the Proverbs 31 lady could sew...

But she didn't know squat about operating a computer! I've been sewing lately. Correction. I've been attempting to sew lately. First time. Curtains. Not just your average curtains. No. Fancy curtains. I like to start out with a bang! My mom saw the pattern and said, "You don't start out simple do you?" Well, the pattern said, "Simplicity". I thought that was a clue. But apparently not so. McCalls sounded...complicated. Simplicity sounded...simple. Who knew! So my curtains are so complex that each night I sew just ONE PART, I'm made 4 parts and by my calculations I should be done in 13 more days! Unless I like do something crazy and sew TWO parts in one day. I'm not really the domestic type. I'm not one who really likes to cook or try new things in the kitchen. My husband has decorated my home, not me. Until last week, I didn't know how to thread a needle. Now cleaning, I can do! But last night, it occured to me, all these domesticated women who like sew all of their children's clothing and make all their curtains, and their dog's bed, and their purses, and their toaster covers and their seat cushions and on and on I could go, I bet they don't know SQUAT about the computer! Last night, in between stitches, I was texting and facebooking and working on some graphics in photoshop for work. And it occured to me...I'm kinda like...the NEW Proverbs 31 woman. The Proverbs 31 woman of 2009. I can live with that!

My "Babies" Are 4 & 6!

I know some moms say "time flies" and "it seems like yesterday I gave birth to you"...WHATEVER! It doesn't seem like yesterday. It seems like a lifetime ago! I can't believe Ashton is only 4! Don't get me wrong, I'm loving every minute of it, well, not EVERY minute, but 99.9% of them, but I feel like such a different person in a different world than the lady who gave birth to Ashton 4 yrs ago and the lady who gave birth to Lexi 6 yrs ago! That was, let's see, FOUR houses ago, yes FOUR, in a different state, working in a different career (full time I might add) with a husband in a different career, actually that was 3 jobs ago for Cary, and I felt about 20 yrs younger than I feel today! About the only thing that has stayed constant over the past 6 yrs has been my PETS...Candice and Mr. Baloo! They've stuck with us through it all! But this week we celebrated both girls' birthdays. Ashton was 37 minutes from crashing sister's party four years ago! So March 25th and 26th we celebrate! My mom's birthday is also on the 25th, which worked out fabulously as far as Disney is concerned b/c you get in free on your birthday and we recently got annual passes from Granny for our birthdays so we all went to Disney on the 25th (after school of course). And turns out, if you're a pass holder, you can get $75 Disney Bucks on your birthday rather than the free ticket, so we got our Disney Bucks and headed to the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique for Princess makeovers. It's located in the Magic Kingdom castle. Lexi wanted to be Jasmine and Ashton wanted to be the Little Mermaid. Then we had dinner with Pluto and Goofy.

Then on Thursday, the birthday festivities continued with Ashton's birthday. We had her party at the Lakefront with her classmates from school and then that night had Lexi's party, which she insisted that she just wanted her two best buds from school to spend the night with her as her "party". We ate ice cream and learned how to dance like Hannah Montana with a "how to" video (I'm not kidding), we painted pillow cases as party favors, we played dress up, we slept in a tent in the living room, it really was great fun and Lexi kept saying, "This is the best birthday party ever!" And all I could think of was, "You mean all these years of killing myself with these over the top, lavishly creative parties and all I really had to do was invite a couple of friends over and build them some ice cream sundaes and a tent??? Now that I'm getting this whole parenting thing down pat, it's a darn shame I don't intend to have another one! Which by the way, I know I was tossing that idea around, but let me just tell you, I realized the other day that I would be the 40 yr old mom dropping off my 4 yr old at preschool. Something about that thought drove me to reality and I realized...two's good!

Pet Blessings

Today we were the recipients of yet another amazing blessing. Without going into too much detail, let's just say an AMAZING vet who wants to bless pastors treated our dog, Candice, to some much needed services which probably equaled a month's salary for me. We were blown away! We had every intention of paying, we weren't looking for free services. So it was indeed a surprising and wonderful blessing by an awesome man! (And if you're in need of a great Christian vet in the area, email me and I'll send you his info. If he won't take my money, I can at least send new patients his way and help build his business!) Candice is home from the "hospital" and is recovering beautifully! She's quite perky actually.

On another note, Lexi said the funniest thing today. This morning, we were going through our normal torture rituals. You know...bathing, brushing teeth, brushing hair...pure torture. And while Daddy was brushing the tangles out of her hair, she looked up at him and said, "Daddy, you're so lucky you don't have hair!" (He shaves his head bald.) We both just laughed and laughed. I asked her if she wanted me to shave her head like Daddy's. She declined that option.

2 more days till the birthday fun begins. Lexi will be 6 on Wednesday. Mom will be...I won't tell! Ashton will be 4 on Thursday. It's a busy busy week!

You're a Daddy AND a Son???

Ashton is so funny! Cary was on the phone with his mom the other day and Ashton asked who he was talking to and he said, "I'm talking to my mommy...Mimi." And she thought and thought and you could tell she was processing this carefully. Then she said, "So you're a Daddy AND a son?"

Speaking of Ashton, she is OFFICIALLY paci-free! YEA! The paci fairy came to our house last Friday night. We left them all in a bag under the palm tree in our front yard. The paci fairy left her a new pink baby doll stroller, an Abby Cadabby (Sesame Street) DVD, and a lovie (pink furry and silky blanket). We still can't believe she fell for it, knowing how good and attached she was to her paci. But it really could have been on Super Nanny, it was THAT smooth! The next day, she was like a drug addict going through withdrawal. That day was tough. She was not herself at all. She really acted drunk. I kid you not. She would thrash herself around on the bed screaming for her paci. It was kind of freaky. But we didn't give in. Instead, we gave her a ring pop! Way to be strong huh? Hey, it worked! And this week, she has had more than her share of candy. I guess it's like when a smoker gives up their cigarette and they gain weight b/c they eat more? She's definitely eating more this week. Candy, that is! But she hasn't asked for her paci since that first day. I found one when I was cleaning up the playroom the other day. I snuck it into my pocket and headed straight for the trash can. That would have been tragic if she had seen it. I mean, I literally took trash out of the trash can so I could bury the thing way down at the bottom.

Ashton and Lexi both have birthdays next week, so we're gearing up for that. We have lots and lots of surprises up our sleeves! More to come on that next week!

Holy Cow

We were blessed with a holy cow yesterday. Okay, so I should explain that statement. Cause I know you're going, "huh, wha, Heather did you bring home a COW too?" There's a veternarian in our church, actually there are 2 or 3, but this one man, who just continually blesses our church in so many ways, came to Cary about a week ago and said he was going to have a cow slaughtered and that he would like to bring some meat up for the pastors. So yesterday, he actually came up to the church with three huge coolers packed full of all different cuts of meat. There was so much meat, not only the pastors were blessed, but everyone in the church office was able to partake in the holy cow! I got sirloin steaks, round steaks, flank steaks, lots of ground beef, pot roasts, ribs, stew meat, I can't even remember what all I got. And I know what you're thinking...veternarian....slaughtered cow...mad cow disease???? Actually, this was a PRIZE WINNING STEER at the local rodeo and he bought it and had it slaughtered. So sadly, this was someone's pet, very well cared for pet, but I'm choosing not to think about that. Rather, this was a blessing, a HOLY COW that I'll be eating for FREE for the next month or so! We're very thankful for Dr. Porter (who also offered to clean our pets' teeth for free!) We're praying HEAPS of blessings return to him!

Princess Sparkles

We found the cutest, most precious pooch at church on Sunday. She was roaming the courtyard from 7 AM until 11 AM when I saw her and sent Cary over to check her out and see if she had any tags on. She did not, but she was very friendly and it was obvious that she had been well cared for and definitely belonged to someone. So we brought her home and gave her a bath. Lexi named her Princess Sparkles. She was a shitzu. Very cute. White with light brown patches and black ears. She was a lap dog and great with my girls. We fell in love with her. But all the while, we told the girls we were just babyistting until we could find her mommy because, after all, isn't that what we would want someone to do if Candice ever ran away? They understood and were happy to partake in the babysitting job! Over the course of 36 hours, we all fell head over heals in love with this dog. She was just so dern sweet! We put some signs up around the church neighborhood and knocked on a few doors Sunday afternoon trying to find her owner, but no one claimed her. I even called Animal Control and left a description with them in case the owner called there. Last night around 7 PM, the phone rang. It was a man from our church asking if I had taken the dog on Sunday. I said, "Yes, she's here." He said, "I think her owner is here looking for her." I spoke the woman and sure enough Princess Sparkles was really "Chloe". She had been searching the neighborhood and a man told her, "Oh, yes, one of the pastors up at the church took her home. He knocked on my door yesterday asking if it was my dog." So the woman ran to the church and that's how she tracked us down. We took "Chloe" up to the church and said our goodbyes. The girls were sad. I was sad. Her mommy was weeping uncontrollably. She thought her baby was gone forever! We assured her that we took very good care of her and gave her lots of love. When we were driving away Lexi said, "Mommy, I'm kinda happy now. We did the right thing. It was nice that we took care of that dog for her mommy." I think the girls learned some valuable lessons from this experience. They learned that we take care of all God's creatures. They learned that it's best to do the right thing, even if it hurts a little. They learned that God blesses us when we do the right thing and it makes Him very happy. Maybe one day we'll have our own Princess Sparkles!

I'm Alive!

I think the last 10 days has been the longest I've gone without blogging! It's not been due to a lack of words. Or a lack of time. Or a lack of bloggity topics that really are REAL LIFE in this house. I couldn't make this stuff up, trust me! I guess it's been mostly due to a lack of motivation. There's so much on my mind and on my heart these days, none of which I can share on a public forum! One of my favorite speakers at the conference said, "Everyone's entitled to their opinions. You're just not always entitled to SHARE your opinions!" So true! I have lots of opinions lately. But it's not the time or the place to share them. Ministry life is brutiful! What can I say?

On another note, my favorite subject...the girls, my beautiful, precious, sweet girls...THANK GOD for the girls. If it weren't for them, I'm not sure I would have wanted to get out of bed lately! Lexi continues to blow us away with all she's learning in school. Tonight, she read me a book! Like a REAL book. Not a 4 pager that her teacher sent home. A REAL book. I can't get over how far she's come in such a few short months. This whole public school thing...I HIGHLY recommend it! It has truly been the best thing for Lexi and we couldn't be having a better experience. Although I'd be lying if I said I weren't already praying for next year's most awesome teacher, who already has big shoes to fill! Mrs. F will be hard to top! And I'm secretly praying Mrs. F doesn't retire before Ashton gets to kindergarten!

The girls both have birthdays coming up. I had big party plans, as usual, and then Lexi informed me that she really just wants her 2 best buds from school (who are both precious girls from awesome families) to have a slumber party with her for her birthday. Two phone calls later, the slumber party was set! And I thought of the red, Staples button..."That was easy"! I think I'm just going to do a simple play day at the park with pizza and cupcakes for Ashton's birthday on her actual birthday which falls on a Thursday. Don't you love it as a parent when someone gives their child's party on a non-weekend day? I don't know about you, but our weekends are insanely busy. Ashton just wants her best bud from school, "Bibell" (Isabel), to come to her house for her birthday. So hopefully Isabel will make it to the park! She loves her "Bibell"! When these girls were tiny, I busted my chops to make sure they had the biggest and the grandest birthdays with off the charts creativity. Now that they're getting older and can actually voice their opinions, I'm learning less is more (for them anyways). I still like things over the top myself!

I can't believe it's already March! Where is this year going to already???