It takes a village.

Hey y'all.
I'm back.
Back to living normal life after 3 weeks of having constant childcare help. To say I'm spoiled is an understatement. I'm totally rotten. I've either had my parents with me or they have had one of my children at all times for 3 weeks.

My first day back solo {Tuesday morning}, I thought....."Man, these sure are a lot of diapers I'm changing."

It takes a village.
I miss my village!!!


****.
A few weeks ago I set a goal to wake up at 5:30 AM all because I needed some time to myself. It was going well and then Stephen the Smalls started waking up in the night. Sometimes once, sometimes twice. He goes right back down. But you know, it messes up my sleep. And the Grande's sleep.

You know who else wakes up in the middle of the night at my house?
My other child, Laurie Betty.

Yeah, I wish she wouldn't do that anymore.

Kids, stay asleep please!!!

Last night I let Laurie cry it out for the first time simply because I had the inability to get up out of the the bed.

She lived!
And we are so doing that again tonight if she cries. The only reason we have not done this before now is I was worried that her "crying it out" would wake up the whole household {even though we are all up anyways!!! ha}  But now I'm desperate....desperate for sleep and my alone time at 5:30.

10 Years + Long Drives + Good Weekends

The past decade of my life has been marked by many many trips back and forth to Mississippi. Five, six, and seven hour drives. That's what it takes to visit family.

We have found ways to make these trips better and easier. Ways to make the time pass. Ways to appease babies who grow restless in their seats.

At the top of the list is sandwiches. Make sandwiches to take on the road.
Listen to audio books.
Fun stops.
A good attitude.

All essentials for a day's drive.

And treats!
You must have treats!
Lots and lots of treats!!!

And coffees. Iced coffees.



Somehow we make it. We always make it. Praise the Lord!

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This particular time we came to retrieve our first born who has been staying with my parents for a week.Tomorrow we will take him home and hit the old grind.

We've had a good stay...

We sort of killed three birds with one stone on this visit.

1-Retrieved our child.
2-Attended my cousin's engagement party.
3-Visited with old friends.

a few random pictures thrown in here....

gorgeous flowers leftover from the party

a really good picture of my dad

2 men in a van

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We spent Saturday night dining at DOE'S with these cute, cute, cute friends. These gals are my dad's college roommate's girls. Our fams go way back in time.... to the eighties and beyond. I knew Tommy and Debbie {their parental units} long before they had children, then BOOM....BOOM BOOM {twins!}....BOOM. 4 GIRLS!!! If I were a man I would want to marry one of them....or all of them. But that's against my religion.

Hi S, A, E, and MC!

They are the most delightful ladies south of the Mason-Dixon. And they all have beautiful singing voices. 

I forgive them for making me feel elderly and matronly.

Fun times!

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I'm not going to lie...I have serious case of the-weekend-is-over-and-we-have-a-long-drive-home-tomorrow-blues. And I have a CPR class tomorrow night.

Bummer.
I don't even know what CPR stands for anymore.

*****

To end this all on a positive note I must say a HUGE thanks to all of you. A massive thanks. A morbidly obese THANK YOU!!!

Thanks for reading my blog and being my friend. I have SO much fun here.

And I loved your WORDS OF WISDOM.

Words of Wisdom

Take them or leave them....these are my words of wisdom.

Learn to take your coffee black.

Learn to love eggs and dried beans.

Say no.

Wear lipstick.

Get a hair cut and keep a hair cut.

Always have a good book on hand.

Exercise.

Budget and stick to it.

Have a land line (especially if you have young children).

When in doubt...bring sausage balls.*

*The last one, I must give full credit to my cousin, Bibba. She came up with this bit of life advice when she once had to decide what to take to a tailgate. She settled on sausage balls. People devoured them. So when in doubt of what to bring to a shower, a party, a tailgate, or Sunday school....just go with sausage balls. People will LOVE you for them.

What are your words of wisdom?

It's hot.

Hope this post finds you sitting inside in the cool AC. Because it's too hot to do anything but stay inside and read books and shop on-line.

Today I share a few weather appropriate bits of information.

Pictured below are my favorite and the PERFECT summer baby blankets/ muslin wraps....ADEN AND ANIAS is the brand. They are thin and  made out of a gauze like material. Must haves for all you nursing mamas out there. I say they are even better than those nursing cover up things. They allow for a draft and the material has a tendency to cling over your shoulder. I wish I had known about these when I had Stephen Small.



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Iced Coffee! It seems like I keep running into it all over the web. I just HAD to have some the other night before I went to work for a quick evening shift. The cold brew method is definitely where it's AT.

1/4 cup of coffee grounds per 1 cup of cold water. Allow to sit for several hours in a mason jar {or whatever}. When you are ready to drink it, strain the grounds using a strainer and a paper towel. Let the coffee drip into your cup of choice, add a little water {as to cut some of its strong-ness} and then add lots of milk and sugar and ICE of course.

Serves 1

To tell you the truth, I think McDonald's has the BEST ice coffee. So if you don't feel like making your own brew, then head to Micky D's.

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Muffins --- so these have nothing to do with the heat, but oh well it's muffins. And muffins, well, quite frankly...they ROCK. I made muffins the other day because I love muffins and we are a muffin family. These in particular are carrot muffins that I made using some leftover matchstick carrots. I was super excited about them because my child eats no thing orange. Except carrot muffins. I'm still tweaking the recipe a bit.

This child is muffin obsessed. And you know what.......he comes by it honestly.

*****
Also, this child is a total fish. I think he might be swimming on his own by the end of the summer. Maybe.

What are you doing with yourself and this heat?!

Old Photos

Greetings from the dry, hot, Delta lands. I'm in Mississippi visiting my folks.

This morning I found myself looking through old family photo albums and I came across this particular album from my dad's early childhood. These pictures are just a few {a measly few} of my favorites.

I LOVE these pictures because they are of my family, but also because they are CLASSIC, all American, and of happy times....days gone by.

Seriously, these could be made  greeting cards.

my daddy

born in the 50's

fishing

dressed as a cowboy

this one's probably from a family reunion

a pot luck

look at the clothes

so classic

window shopping on a family trip out west

we have all heard numerous stories of this trip

classic birthday

i like how the kids are huddled around the cake, my dad and his sisters

Okay, now this is my absolute favorite. my grandmother, polka dot black and white halter dress, juggling two babies. i can totally relate.

Fast forward 40 something years and here's me in almost the same dress laughing my head off. Gosh, I wish I knew what was so funny.

I just love the 1950's. People really had style back then. Style and class.

Food Blog

FYI: I have a food blog.
I try to take it seriously.

The reason I started it was to catalog my favorite recipes. Its overarching theme is DINNER IDEAS. Many of my real life friends {some who read my blog and some who don't} have asked for the link. Hence why I'm posting about this today.

semi-easy
delicious
affordable
freezable
seasonal

Those are the qualities I look for in a dinner.

Here's the link: literally, a spoonful

Millie and Me

Me and Millie



Millie and Capt' Steve.... and Laurie

Millie by herself...

Millie is my sister's new baby...less than a week old.

Yay!! It's Friday!

And this lovely young lady is 5 months old!



I know I say it all the time, but it's just SO TRUE...she is so dang sweet.

As for Stephen Small, he's dang sweet too.



We finished vacation Bible school today. The general consensus at our house is we loved it. Love some VBS. Singing, crafts, snacks, Bible stories. Does it get any better?!

My personal favorite is the wordless gospel color bracelet.
Can anyone say old school? It takes me straight back in time to 1988.

In all seriousness, this has been the busiest week I've had since before Laurie Betty was born. And I'm pleasantly surprised at how well we all did. The Lord gave us energy, stamina, patience, and rest when we needed it. SO THANKFUL. It sounds so trivial, but it just doesn't take much to fluster a 2 year old, a 5 month old, and a mama who likes to keep things simple. We made it and we remain un-flustered. Yay!

These little frozen banana pop treats and a small cup of black coffee helped to give me that extra push most afternoons.



Recipe
Cut bananas in two. Insert popsicle stick.
Melt semisweet chocolate chips in the microwave, dip bananas, sprinkle with nuts or sprinkles, place on parchment paper, and put in freezer for a couple of hours.

I prefer to eat mine on a plate with a fork. It's too cold on me teeth.

Yay for the weekend!!!

Life this Week...

....has been so crazy!

Bible school.
Birthing babies.
Working {extra}.
Just being home in general.

Today I was thinking...this is it, the grown up-hood. I'm a real live grown up. I have responsibilities. I work during my free time. I have two Tinys. I shop at Talbots.

I'm very happy being a grown up. Busy, happy, and falling more in love with coffee every day.

She's here!

My sister's baby was born this afternoon.

Millie Lynn Freeman
8lbs 7 oz
full head of dark curly hair
she is a ball of joy
pure joy

pictures soon to follow

Day One of VBS

Today was DAY ONE of VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL!!!
Glorious and prompt exhaustion followed.

Last night I was in a tizzy, preparing for the long week ahead. Stephen Grande asked me "What's the big deal about Bible school?"

{Insert my evil stare}

The big deal IS there are hundreds of tiny children who have to be guided, entertained, transported, taken to snacks, then crafts, then story time, and then recess. They have to be fed and clothed and accounted for every single second. Somewhere in there we have to share the gospel. No, it's not rocket science, but it is certainly not for the faint of heart.

All that to say IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT WEEK! I have the most precious group of 3 year olds who were quick to inform me that most of them are actually 4. Oops, my bad.

Stephen Small has the sweetest teacher {hi Lee Ann!} and class. He especially loves the singing and music.

For an extra dose of good measure....here are a few pictures from our lovely, busy, and HOT weekend!

Publix donuts Saturday morning.

A quick run to the Farmer's market for lemons and tomatoes.

We went swimming. I took my everything bag. Everyone needs one of these!!! Giant size from Landsend. It's classic.

And look at these gorgeous bagels!!! Pioneer Woman's veggie and cheese recipe. We had these for lunch on Saturday. I made them last year and officially made them a summer staple. YUM!

HAPPY BIBLE SCHOOL WEEK!!!
HAPPY SUMMER!!!

Garden Talk

Yesterday, I "guest posted" on JTF III's blog. I asked him questions about knockout roses, homegrown tomatoes, and what is technically full sun. Check it out. 

The zinnias above are from 3 summers ago at our old rental house. It was the summer that I found out I was pregnant with Stephen Small. I remember walking out to my garden every afternoon and just spending time there, admiring it and thinking. Looking back it was a peaceful time. A "calm before the storm." A cute, red-headed storm.

In my planters this year are red impatiens, perfect for the shady spots by our front door. Love this photo of the Smalls....eagerly awaiting his daddy to come home from a long day's work.     

Have a great Thursday! Off to decorate for vacation Bible school!