Drop-In Friends....

My house is a wreck today. No...seriously. Look at just my laundry room....

It looks SO bad!

I'm under no illusions. It's a wreck! And yes... on the far wall, that would be some paint that I put up a couple of years ago to see how I felt about painting the laundry room that color. I never wanted to do it because the laundry room stresses me out and I have to spend enough time in there as it is.

I'm showing you my laundry room though to show you what a friend of ours saw today when he came to look at putting in some shelves and more cabinetry. Ok...so I'd tidied up at least the stuff on the floor that was making it hard to walk, but it was still bad.

This friend that came, J, has a really amazing wife who I think is truly great. She apparently thinks I am more well put together than I actually am. It's such a flattering thought that I'm tempted to keep it, but then I'd just be living with a lie, and that's way worse than being honest about who I am...deficiency load and all.

So in order to make sure she knows how very un-put together I am typically, I texted her this picture. And this is just the laundry room. I'm not saying I live with a mess because I really don't all the time, but I have 2 small children who can wreak some serious havoc on a room in about 5 minutes and sometimes it stays that way for the rest of the day. Whatever though...it's real life.

A few years ago when we first bought this house, we were painting the cabinets in the kitchen...they were ugly glossy wood and so we painted them cream. It was a horribly tedious process that we eventually gave up on and paid someone to finish, but we got most of the way done. All of the cabinet doors had been removed for priming and I decided that we needed to have a party for Memorial Day....sans kitchen cabinet doors and all.

I don't know how your cabinets are when you open them, but I have a few that are disasters waiting to happen...the tupperware cabinet in particular. All that business was in plain sight...and we had a party with about 50 people. I'll never forget how many people commented "I can't believe you don't care that you don't have cabinet doors on...I could never let it go enough to have a party with my house in disrepair." I'm pretty sure they all meant it as a compliment, because they're my friends and if they'd judge me for that...well, we probably wouldn't be friends long anyhow truth be told.

So yesterday was kind of a mess around here. And 3 different friends stopped by for various reasons. One had about 20 minutes to kill before we had to pick up our kids from school (and we live behind the school,) one came over for an impromptu lunch when I invited them in the carline, and one dropped by to borrow my coffee urn for a party she was having....and I didn't stress about my imperfect house. Would I prefer it look nice when friends come...yes. Would I avoid letting people come by just because it's not perfect....NEVER.

When I throw a big party or a dinner party, I definitely straighten things up....everyone does, but in daily living, some of my favorite moments happen when friends just drop in for a visit out of the blue. I love it. I love having "drop-in friends" who text you when they're in your neighborhood, or who are out walking and will come in for a cup of coffee, or who need to kill time before having to be somewhere, or will come hang out because they care more about time with people than they do about what everything around them looks like right then. Those are my favorite kinds of people.

I heard someone once say...

"If you want to see me, stop by anytime. If you want to see my house, please call ahead."

So that's my mantra for visitors....I love the time with you way more than the time I spend endeavoring to achieve cleaning perfection. I want to enjoy my life and the people in it, and not "sweat the small stuff." Noone ever dies and people stand up and talk about his or her capacity to keep a perfect home as much as they remember the way they loved others....and I hope that's more what people would remember about me once I'm not around anymore too!

How about you? Where do you fall in the cleanliness versus friendliness question?

DON'T forget that all next week I'll be hosting AMAZING giveaways each day!  Each one will only be open for 24 hours, so don't miss out!  Check back every day for your chance to win really awesome stuff!  And I can't wait to hear what you all think about the new look that Life for Dessert will be revealing then too!!!  WOOHOO!

Bye Bye Baby

Get a load of this guy.

That would be my KINDERGARTNER!

Say Wha????

Yes, I now am the proud parent of a very excited kindergartner.  And I can hardly deal with it.

Seriously.

Today when I dropped him off, I walked him in to make sure he knows where to go and all, and I have to admit that I was honestly a little sad when he bounded into the classroom, put his bookbag in his cubby that he found at orientation the other night, and then said "Bye Mama, I love you.  Have a great day!" before walking off to get started with his own day.

I mean, I'm SOOO glad he's happy to go, but this day has been so bittersweet for me.  Today marks the end of an era for our family.  There will be no more lazy mornings save for weekends and vacations.  I will always be heading out in the mornings to take someone to school.  I won't have all my little chicks home anymore every day.  And the reality is that now, an outside source will tell us when we can vacation, where we have to be every day, how to spend parts of our days (especially once homework begins down the road), and how much facetime my children have with one another.  I find myself wondering....am I ready for this for the rest of my life?  My first response is "no."  And if it weren't for some unbelievable generosity of my family to help us pay for a private school that we LOVE, I am pretty sure I'd be dipping my toes into the waters of homeschooling.  Not because I think any one kind of schooling is better than another...I don't, but because I know that there are certain hopes and expectations that for our family are best met in the private christian school where Tid Bit goes.  But I still have to wonder if I'm the mom that could hack it homeschooling.  If I'd still enjoy my kids as much if I was the one who taught them day in and out...and I honestly don't know. 

Tid Bit in particular is wildly social and came home today just gushing about his first day.  He's worn a proud grin on his face since he hopped into the car and told me about his job this week to carry the 911 box in case of emergencies.  He beamed when he told me that "in K5 every day is different because we're big enough to change it up alot."  He's getting big...and he's so loving it.  I do too, but I see my little boy slipping through my fingers as he becomes a man.  When I stopped nursing I felt my hand open over his life, and today, I feel that grip loosening again.  I want to hold tight to these days of young children, even the days I am at my wit's end and throw eggs at the wall and completely lose it...I want to cherish this time of being over tired, under appreciated, and sometimes pushed to the brink of what seems sane.  These days are so much shorter than the days of grown children will be.  I've heard it said that the days may crawl, but the years will fly by....and I'm already seeing that ring true.

So today I said goodbye to a baby and hello to a kindergartner ....and that my friends is an idea that is hard to loosen my grip on.

Rustic Chic Wedding....Finally Have Pictures!!!

Oh my words....GIDDY as I write this!

You know the wedding I told you about, that I did the flowers and decor for a couple of weeks ago?  The one I told you I was so busy working on that I didn't get to take a single picture of any of the arrangements or staging that I'd done?  The one I'd have been sick to my stomach over not documenting myself had my good friend Kim Deloach not been the photographer?  Yeah...that wedding?

I'm sure you get sick of me droning on and on about Kim's talent....but seriously ya'll....she's talented.  Like....UH-Mazing.  And while I felt pretty good about all that I personally accomplished to help our friends Tonia and Rick to make their wedding day extra special....well, Kim made that all look even better.

Check out these few pictures...and then don't stop here.  I'm posting a link to Kim's blog so you can all check out the full amazingness of this Rustic-Chic wedding at an old church and reception at a farmhouse that's chocked with old town charm and fun!  Seriously...I'm just giving you a taste here...head over to Kim's blog to really feast your eyes on some serious visual candy!  (And pay extra special attention to things like the flowers and staging....those were the things I did!)

I present you my friends....Rick and Tonia Hawkinson!

Before I move on here....I have to tell you how much I LOVED making her bouquet!  After I finished and stepped back to look at it, I honestly cried.  It was really special to be able to make something for them that I knew she'd love...and she did.  Her words to me before they left their reception at the end of the evening were "You saw my vision and made it even more amazing than I'd imagined."

That my friends, is the best compliment I could have ever received! Ok ok....more eye candy!

Cool church huh?  And that little fella just to the right of the bride and groom...the tallest of the little ones, he's mine!  He did such a great job carrying a sign that read "Here comes the bride" right before Tonia processed into the church.  You can see them all below a bit more.  That precious little girl in the top right is Tonia's daughter McKenna.  She is absolutely adorable!

Our friends who own the farmhouse just happened to have this truck and crate of old bottles lying around. (They actually have a real old timey town recreated on the property.  Seriously...there's a general store, a barber shop, an old post office, and more.  And it's all chocked full of authentic period stuff....it's so much fun!)

There was a real deal pig pickin' (as in, you can get it right off the pit, you can see it below) and bluegrass music too.  It was nothing short of perfect.

Recognize that bench in the top right corner of this photo collage above?  Yep, that's the one I made.  Remember it from awhile back?  And, Tonia found those red and white striped paper straws that we put in all the drinks online...aren't they awesome?  I might just have to make sure to always have some of those around from now on...they add instant old fashioned cool factor!

And thanks to another friend who happens to be in the fireworks biz....Rick and Tonia ended the evening with a bang!

Ok...now, head over to Kim's blog to really see the good stuff!  You'll get a lot more pictures of the awesome little town on the property too....it's so so neat!  You. Will. LOVE!

Pencil Pushing....

Tid Bit is starting kindergarten this year.

And with real school, comes a real school supplies list.  Pencils, markers, crayons, folders, and more. 

Towards the end of this previous school year, we received an option to purchase the school supplies in a pre-assembled package for a fee... that was of course fairly more than if we just went out ourselves and bought them.  My thought..."Why on earth should I pay more for pencils, paper, and folders when it's such a cinch to go to Walmart or Target and buy them myself?!"

Last week I thought we'd head out early one morning to Walmart and get a jump-start on the acquisition of school supplies.  We'd go before everyone else and their brother went, and we'd for sure go before the tax free weekend which will drive the masses in search of the same things on my list and leave me coming up void.  Aren't I clever?  "Preparation is the key to victory," right?  (I saw that clever quote engraved on a gun in a movie we watched about hitmen last night...Jason Statham at his finest.)

Anyhow...turns out I was totally wrong.  When I'd first glanced at the school supplies list it seemed simple enough, but when I got down to purchasing everything, I not only realized that some of the things were brand specific,  they were item number specific.  WHAT?!

Did I mention that my child is starting KINDERGARTEN?!?!

I wandered around Walmart like a lost puppy... with 2 kids who were sick and tired of school supplies shopping and beginning to whine and tire of the whole ordeal....right there with you kids....I'm right there with you!

The school supplies section didn't have all of the school supplies that were on my list...and making sure that I had navy blue (the specified color for some of the items) was proving to be a pain in the tookis too.  I grabbed a package of pencils and tossed them in the cart only to realize that the list specified "black pencil and black eraser Ticonderoga pencils, 4-6pks.)  I searched all over and finally found a man in a suit with a Wal-mart nametag stating "general manager" (so sue me if I sound rude, but they're about the only ones in the whole store who can answer any question I have without taking me on a tour of the entire facility in search of something seemingly basic like a pencil.)  He took me to a whole other section of the store and we found a 10 pk of Ticonderoga black pencils...so I bought 3 packages of 10 to make sure I had at least 24 since 4x6=24 and that was how many I was suppossed to have in the end.  Surely this would work, right?

I found what I could at Walmart, save the "green tipped Crayola No-Drip glue", and the "Smead legal sized expandable poly folder in navy blue" which I apparently could only find at Staples...at least there was a SKU number for this item.  So we paid for our 8 pks of Crayola crayons, and 8 pks of Crayola colored pencils, and standard Crayola water colors, and 1 inch navy blue plastic binder, and other super-specific items, and of course our black erasered Ticonderoga pencils...and we headed for Staples to get the one ultra-specific item for a whopping $16.99, and hopefully find the other things that Walmart didn't have.

I immediately found a manager upon entering Staples and asked about the Smead navy blue legal sized expandable poly folder and the Crayola no-drip green lidded glue.  Her reply, "Staples does not even carry the Smead brand, and I've never even seen that type of glue here."

WHAT?!?!?!

I found a folder that I thought would work for $8.99, and then asked about the black Ticonderoga pencils 6pks.  The manager then surveys my 5 year old and 18 month old in the cart and says "Now what grade is this list for again?  Kindergarten?!"

"Yes."

I found more black erasered pencils...in a 6pk.  These are larger and more triangular in shape and apparently claim to be "The World's most comfortable pencil," and they darn well better be since they were $4.50 for ONE 6 pack.  Our list specifies 4-6pks.

I'm thinking after all of this school supply shopping and $25 dollars worth of PENCILS, that my 5 year old will probably be writing in perfect cursive and complete grammatically correct sentences by the end of K5.  

And if not, then next year I'm buying the pre-assembled package of school supplies for twice the price.

I Should Be More Awesome....an Anniversary Tale

I should be more awesome.

Seriously....couldn't we all use a boost in our personal awesomeness?!

Like today, the 8th anniversary of my nuptials to the Hubs, when he fully woke up the mildly fussing baby at 5:20am by messing with him (instead of changing his soaking wet diaper rapidly and getting the heck out of there,)  I got ticked, waved my hand in the air at my Hubs, said something probably very un-anniversary-like, and marched down the hall to try my darnedest to get said baby back to sleep...so that I could go back to sleep and a few hours later remind myself to be nice the rest of the day.

I could probably use a boost in my awesomeness.

I could be more awesome too if instead of serving up leftovers for dinner, I'd take a trip around the corner to the fancy butcher shop and pick up something more impressive to celebrate.

That awesomeness is still in debate, but probably not likely since the Hubs has a basketball game tonight too.

I'm pretty sure that I could use a boost in my awesomeness.

If I were really awesome though, I'd get a sitter and go watch his basketball game at the gym and grab fun take-out afterwards....but I hate basketball, and the smell of men playing it unless I'm in the nosebleed seats at a massive stadium.

I'm nearly certain that I'm not that awesome either.

It's looking like my anniversary day could use a dose of awesomeness for sure.

But here's what would make me the most awesome of all....to actually honor this stuff....the stuff I said and promised on the day we got married:

I, Logan, take you Jeremy to be my treasured husband.  By the grace of God, I promise to respect your spiritual leadership in our home.  I desire to encourage you in your dreams, and to support you in whatever the Spirit calls you to do.  I commit to walk in step with you, to admire you, to serve you in daily life, and to encourage you in your own walk with Christ as the highest priority.  I desire to create a home where you are respected and esteemed, and I commit to joyfully submit to your authority .  I give you my purity and I promise to be faithful to you, and you alone.  All that I have, and all that I am, i now give to you.  Whatever hardships or joys may come, may I keep these vows and strive towards the perfection of them, til death should part us.

I'm absolutely positive that I'm not always that awesome....but I do think it is pretty awesome that with all of me, I want to try.

Happy Anniversary to the man who married me 8 years ago....despite all of my unawesomeness.

Swamp Rabbits...and other fun!

Just had to share about the super fun day that my family had today!  And have to give some serious kudos to my kiddo as well.

Near where we live in SC, there is a relatively newer bike/walking trail that goes all the way from the north end of town to downtown called the Swamp Rabbit Trail.  It's been there for a couple of years I think, but we've just now gotten to the point where Tid Bit can bike at a rate that's fast enough to make it fun for us too.  We bought a chariot carrier (the pull behind kind) for Little Bit to ride and have been doing a pretty good amount of biking around the neighborhood the past couple of months since we got the chariot rider.

We've been telling Tid Bit that when he got pretty good at doing biker safety hand signals, staying in a good line, and pedaling hard that we'd take him to ride the Swamp Rabbit.

So today we went.  And it was a BLAST!  All total we biked about 12 miles and my little man didn't complain even once.  In fact he told us tonight that he probably could have biked "at least 26 miles or something more."  Doubt that, but good for you little dude!

We ran into the parents of an old college friend of mine on the trail and they mentioned a restaurant in an old Hardware Store near the end of the trail, so we headed up that way to finish off our adventure.

We were so glad they told us about it, because it was not only adorable but delicious.  So I'm gonna say, if you're anywhere near Greenville, SC, you need to do the trail (or part of it like we did) and eat lunch at The Cafe at Williams Hardware.  It was a really fun day!  Hope your weekend has afforded you some good family times too!

"These are the days to remember."  

Thank you Natalie Merchant... and yes they are, yes they are!

Mom of the Year: Grocery Cart Lunch Bunch

Yeah, so yesterday I had a crazy day.  One of my dearest friends, Susan, came to visit Wednesday night and we stayed up WAAAYYY too late talking and catching up.  She's a missionary in Guatemala and is home raising support to go back this fall.  She's UH-mazing and has been a dear friend for years.  We had a blast, but I was hating my short sleep choice when Little Bit woke up at 4:30 and was up til 6 before he fell back asleep.  I am not very awesome on 3 hours of sleep....AT ALL!

After Sue left, I had to get to the grocery store.  It was noon and I was short on time.  I HAD to be home for naptime...mostly because I needed a nap yesterday as much as anyone.

So, I thought I'd share with you the uber-healthy lunch that I made for my kids yesterday in my haste to get errands done and to make time for a nap.

Yes, that is the grocery cart.  And yes, that is the freezer case in the background.  And yes....those are chicken fingers and potato wedges from the Publix deli.  I heart Publix...and efficient lunch plans on days when I need a nap.

Blogging from the Bush: Letters from a Sailor

I have a confession.  I haven't posted the letter from my Navy Sailor brother yet because I've been hemming and hawing over if the total blunt truth straight from the mouth of a semi-salty sailor would put you all over the edge with me.

I've sent the letter to a couple of friends to gauge their reactions and we all agree it's completely and harshly stereotypical of sailors, females on board, and human behaviors in general.  The letter contains a lot of truths, some hilarious exaggerations, some offensive generalizations, and a dose of real life on an aircraft carrier for months on end.  That being said....here it is.  If you hate it, don't hate me.  If you love it, send my brother a carepackage.  If you think his letter is offensive but still appreciate the fact that he's out there on a boat for months away from friends and family, send him a letter?  A nice one?! :-)

A few things you should know:  My brother calls me Gogie, I call him Buds.  He is a great and decent guy with a fantastic sense of humor.  I love him to death and if you say anything mean about him, well...do it elsewhere.  This is my blog and I'll not tolerate anyone hating on my family.  Remember my post the other day?! He wrote this letter June 14th...I've been sitting on it that long.  That being said...here you go. 

Hey Gogie,

Sorry it’s been a while, but with all the port visits recently it’s been difficult to sit down for more than a minute or two and write.

So we left Italy and are finally headed out to our area of responsibility, so no more port calls for a while I don’t think.  The entirety of deployment is looming pretty large right now.  We’ve not done very much and have so much left until we can return.  Some people count down the days, but that doesn’t help me a bit.  I like to just kind of zone out so that when I do think about it there’s more chance for a pleasant surprise of a week having gone by without noticing it…Or something along those lines. 

Having been a month out, a lot of guys are starting to get what we refer to as “boat goggles”.  Kind of like beer goggles, but longer lasting and infinitely more dangerous.  The females on board that aren’t worth a second glance are starting to look PRET-TY good.  

      “Whateva bro, I think that snaggletooth is kinda distinguishin’ like.”  

Yeah, that stuff is starting to pop up in conversations, and although it’s not very severe right now, well…5 months from now its gonna be really, really, REALLY bad.  

“Wow!  That chick is pretty hairy but she’s got a killer body!”  “Yeah, once you get past that and her hunchback she’s not bad.  And those festering sores around her mouth.  And her brutish Neanderthal brow. But yeah you should totally go for it!”

I’m not looking forward to that.  But once we do get back to the states the real women are all smoking hot.  It’s an unexpected silver lining.

A pretty interesting phenomenon I see in port is that even though we’re in some pretty awesome and exotic ports, I still see people going out and eating at McDonald’s or Pizza Hut or something along those lines.  I’m kinda embarrassed, actually.  There’s a lack of creativity I guess.

Fortunately tonight my shop doesn’t have much work to do.  We are waiting for another shop to test run a jet before we re-install the motor we removed so they could replace their equipment.  And then once we re-install the engine we have to run it up again to Op check that.  And there are a lot of little tasks to do, too, like corrosion prevention measures, documenting training, cleaning out toolboxes, and finding a working toilet, etc.  

Alright sis, I’ll write some more later,

Love you,

Buds

So, there you have it.  I'll have him get a few others to send in some letters as well and keep up the original "Blogging from the Bush" plan of highlighting a different sailor every few weeks.  So for the next couple of weeks I'll post my brother's address on the bottom of each post so that you can send letters, carepackages, etc to him.  I sent him a package today with 2 loaves of vacuum sealed banana bread, a pkg of new boxers, a funny tshirt, some candy, some beef jerky, and a few other odds and ends.  Thanks for supporting our military...this coming holiday weekend wouldn't be celebrated if it wasn't for our military!  So show some love and send a sailor a package!

 Send a Sailor some love:

AD3 Lane, Landon

VFA-15
Unit 60143
                                                      FPO AE 09504-6201

Standard shipping rates apply (meaning, it costs the same to ship to them as any normal letter)

Keeping it Classy....

You know I've mentioned before that I'm the Care Coordinator for my neighborhood, right?  Well, this past week one of my sweet neighbors had a death in the family, so it's my job to make sure they have some meals, a card, flowers, etc.

This particular neighbor didn't really want lots of meals throughout this week because there are just 2 of them, so I came up with the idea to have neighbors make frozen casseroles, lasagna, etc and drop them off to me to take over all at once today.   This way they'll have meals for when they need them, but don't have a barrage of people coming every day either.

The upside of this role for me has been seeing some neighbors who I haven't had the pleasure of meeting before.

Night before last, a neighbor I'd never met came by to drop off some food, and we got to have a really nice visit.  The Hubs had been out in the yard doing work and had just come in and showered off.  He threw on some wear-around-the-house kind of clothes and came downstairs just about the time I was meeting this neighbor.  Of course he said "hello" and introduced himself and then he went about his business while I chatted with my neighbor.

Later when he and I sat down to eat (after our kids were in bed and the neighbor was gone,)  I looked across the table and noticed he had thrown on a tshirt that he got for free at a work conference.  It was a security software tshirt, and emblazoned across the front was this....

WOW.  Nice to meet you Barbara.  Hope you like "fast and easy" too...or at least aren't offended after meeting us now!

Keepin' it classy ya'll.  Keepin' it classy.