Top 5 in 2010

I decided to close out 2010 with my top 5 posts, based solely on number of hits. This top 5 list by no means represents what I feel are my best posts, but I did find it interesting that I got the most traffic when I linked over at someone else's site. Doh!

Oh well, I don't write for the numbers, I write what's in my heart and hope to create a history to look back upon later.

5. Not Me Monday

4. You capture: Quiet

3. P A T I E N C E: Where can I buy some?

2. Show us your life: Collections - Sippy Cups

1. Show us your life: a typical day (Kelly sure has a big reader base, and what a sweetheart she is!)

I want to wish everyone a very happy, safe and peaceful New Year. More posts to come in 2011.

God bless.
-R

A new Home away from home

Earlier this year, I attended a local church for the first time in my adult life. I was led to Jesus last December, and it took me a little while to get up the nerve to walk into a church. I asked my kids if they wanted to join me, and both shook their heads no. I didn't want to push them, so I went by myself.

I didn't like it. This church. This one so close to my house I could walk there in 3 minutes.

It was small and quaint, and I guess some people look for that, but for me, spending 15 minutes on the meet and greet portion was the exact reason I was afraid to show up in the first place. Don't get me wrong, they were all very nice people. But I wanted to slip in and hear some Words that moved me. Spoke to me.

Which brings me to another point. This pastor didn't really teach out of the Bible. He led a very feel-good sermon without a lot of content. I felt like the whole main point was missed, without Bible references scattered throughout.

So, I didn't go back. My family didn't want to go either, so I got my Bible fix elsewhere-online, podcasts, etc.

That was until last week when something struck me to ask my kids again. This time, they were very excited. Funny how a year can help you grow out of shyness.

So, upon the recommendation of a close neighbor, we tried a church in the next town over. I wanted so desperately for the church on our block to work, but it wasn't meant to be. So, off to the recommended church we went.

First we dropped off Loudoun in the lower elementary group. He walked right in and barely looked back. I was so proud. A year ago, he might have cried in the car ride over, or clung to my side when it was time to go in. He strutted in there like he had peeps to meet and God to learn about.

Next we headed over to drop off Avalon with the 3 year old class. She was super excited on the walk, but the minute we walked inside, she froze, her eyes started to fill with tears and her lower lip quivered. I had this fear of being the mom who handed over the screaming toddler, to a church lady. Not cool. But the teacher stretched out her hands and said, "would you like to see everything we have to play with here?" And Avalon went right to her. Phew.

What happened from there on my adult journey into the worship center isn't much of a story, except to say it was completely awesome, the music was so good, the pastor taught out of the bible, and I was moved to tears many times. It was what I was looking for.

The real part that gets me is God has been working on my kids' hearts (and mine) for a year now, and showed so many signs of his Power and Plan that Sunday. We all got there, we all loved it, and we all want to go back. We found a church to call home.

My little helper(s)

We baked cookies today.
Sugar cookies.
From scratch.
Avalon wanted to be involved in every step.
Loudoun not so much.
He added the egg.
She added the flour, sugar, vanilla, everything else.
She turned on the mixer.
She LOVED putting flour on the cutting board.
She rolled out the dough.
And she stamped out almost every single cookie
using holiday appropriate cookie cutters.
I might have done 1 or 2.
Avalon and I iced and sprinkled.
Loudoun decorated 1 cookie, because I made him.
And then he went back to playing Angry Birds.
After eating 2 cookies each,
we decided we did NOT need dozens of cookies in our house
(I decided)
so we took samples to our neighbors.
They loved the 3 year old decorating job.
I loved the family time.

We might buy the ready-made dough to make cookies for Santa in a few weeks. Or, maybe we'll do this all over again.

Real Estate

Avalon wasn't feeling well today and Rick's company holiday party is tonight, so the kids and I are kickin' it and I thought it would be the perfect time to put together some gingerbread houses. Don't be impressed, it was a kit... I am not handy enough to have all the pieces on my own. 


It was pretty funny because the box said it was a village instead of one big house, which I thought would be great for the kids to each have their own couple of houses to make, but the individual houses ended up only being the size of a house for maybe a spider or a fly. Literally. 


Luckily, Rick was around when we first started and helped figure out the structure of the houses. I would have FAILED. We would still be sitting around the kitchen, walls and roofs scattered about, some vulgar words flying out of my mouth, and the kids would have their faces buried in the icing, passed out. 


I'm so glad it turned out better. 

Loudoun's chapel. You could tell, right?

Avalon's cottage

And finally, Mom's creations. 

1/2 a chopped-off house and what looks like an outhouse. 

I'm not sure if more icing went in our bellies or on the cookies. I know the answer to that for the marshmallows. 

Cleaning up the Earth, one street at a time

Loudoun asked me if we could work on a recycling project. When I questioned the details he had in mind, he further described that he "wanted to walk the neighborhood and pick up trash and make everything prettier for people."

He's 6. I love that about him.

So, when we got home from work and school yesterday, we grabbed the puppy, grabbed a plastic bag for each kid, and headed for the main boulevard to make sure we found some good pieces of garbage. The kids were so excited...each time they saw a piece, they ran for it and counted out loud. They took turns picking them up..."you can have that piece," "I'll grab the next piece." Sharing trash. My kids are awesome.

Avalon was most excited about the In and Out wrapper she found. Loudoun was most excited about the Tommy's chili burgers wrapper he found. Both outstanding finds, if you ask me.

On the walk back down our block, the three of us talked about what we had just accomplished and how good it made us all feel inside. Sweet kids with big hearts, I tell ya.

Dreaming of beer

Last night I had a dream that I drank a beer. I was sitting in my garage next to an ice chest (it felt very American Beauty-ish), filled to the brim with ice and one Corona right in the middle. My family had just left for errands, and I lifted the ice chest lid, saw the beer, and instantly popped it open to take swig after swig after swig, until it was all gone. The beer took 30 seconds to drink, but the guilt lasted hours after it set in immediately.

I wondered if this counted as giving up my sobriety...of course it did! I wondered if I needed to start my sobriety date all over again at day 1. Of course I did. But if I was the only one who knew I drank it, did I really have to? Maybe I could just not tell anyone. No wait, of course I did. It wasn't like me to keep a secret like that. OK, did I have to walk into my AA meeting and confess to everyone? Wow, all of a sudden that beer didn't seem worth it.

When I woke up, I told my husband about the dream. He didn't seem phased by it, I mean, it was only one beer. And when I looked at the big picture, I could see why. One Corona, to most people, is nothing. But one beer is not typical for alcoholics, and it isn't typical for me either. My guess is if I had stayed asleep, engaged in that dream, I would have obsessed about beer number 2, 3 and 4. Those extra beers obviously weren't in the magically placed ice chest, so if they also weren't in the fridge or pantry, then a trip to the market probably would've been in order.

In my real world, it isn't about the 1 beer I did or didn't have.

• It's about 9/8/09 and never losing that sobriety date. I learned that in my meetings. Cherish and guard that date as the basis for your sobriety. I know I can never drink again, and one drink would ruin that.
• It's about where my new life has led me.
• It's about not hiding behind alcohol.
• It's about facing all of my feelings and thoughts and being ok with the good, bad and ugly ones.
• It's about remembering that everything in my life is in the hands of my higher power.

I've heard many recovering alcoholics talk about having dreams where they drank and woke up terrified. Maybe this is to remind us that no matter how normal we think we have become, we still cannot go back to drinking.

Crafts

 

+ Popcorn and popcorn bags

(notice the popcorn already in his mouth!)

 

+ a new movie

= Fun family movie night.

Shutterfly, you are so awesome!

I recently ran across a promotion from Shutterfly from several other bloggers' sites, and I was so excited about it, I had to share it with you!

I have always liked receiving friends and family holiday cards in the mail this time of year (duh, who doesn't?), and ever since getting married and having 2 kids, I have made it a point to send out my own cards to family and friends. The hardest part has been getting my 2 zesty, energetic, sassy kids to sit still for a picture, because once I have that, picking the card design out at Shutterfly's website is fun and easy.

Actually, I take that back...there are so many to pick from!! The design options seem endless, but typically I have an idea of what I'm going for each year and they always seem to have what I'm looking for.

This year I was thinking of a more elegant theme, since last year was pretty goofy (think reindeer ears and sticking out tongues). I think I have it narrowed down to this holiday card or possibly this one.

In the past I have used their website for birth announcements, thinking of you cards and invitations. All really cute stuff!

I know that once the holiday season is over, my Shutterfly experiences don't stop! Because kids grow so fast, time flies by and printer ink runs out quickly, I love using Shutterfly for creating photo books and printing out copies of all of our photos. Grandparents definitely love receiving all of the above!

If you're interested in blogging about Shutterfly and getting in on this promotion, all you have to do is click here and fill out the form. It's easy!

Happy holidays.

1, 2, 3 coincidences? I think not.

Have you ever had a God moment that left you in utter shock and amazement?

I have been praying over something personal, details not important, for the past 3 days. I have been asking God for guidance on how to deal with the issue, and to provide me with peace and understanding in the situation. I purposely did not act on the situation, so that I could pray on it and wait to see what God's will was for me.

It didn't take Him long to answer.

The first answer I received came in the form of a very specific sermon I listened to in my car. Everyday I listen to pre-recorded sermon series (there are usually 10-20 sermons in a series) on MP3s to and from work, one each way since I have a 45 minute commute. So this may not seem very obvious as a sign. But the 2 days before I starting praying about this specific issue, I opted to listen to music instead of the sermons, and therefore this specific sermon directly addressing my issue came the day after my prayers. Otherwise, I would have heard it 2 days prior, and probably not even made the connection.

Some skeptics might just call this coincidence. I can see that, and actually, I questioned it, too. I apologized to God for not quite "knowing" if this was Him answering me, and if it was, I still wasn't very clear on what to do with it.

I kept praying.

The next day I opened my Bible Reading Plan on my phone and picked up from where I left off reading weeks ago. I have multiple sources for reading various books in the Bible, so it's not like I stopped reading altogether. I fully understand that one needs to stay in the Word to stay in His Will. But the verse I left off on spoke DIRECTLY to the issue I was facing! Like, almost word for word.

OK, you doubters, there's 2!

And shortly after that Bible verse spotting, I opened my Blogger reader and spotted a post from a Christian blogger, speaking of the exact same topic!!! It's not like this blogger to discuss such a personal topic very often, so to read about it at this moment spoke volumes. Not only was her post insightful, but all 200 comments on the subject matter gave me so much support for the issue I have been trying to resolve.

There's 3, HA!

You can't argue with that.

But here's the thing. Regardless if believers or non-believers see those as signs from God or pure coincidences, I know in my heart that God heard me and answered me. And do you know how amazing that feels? I am 1 person, with 1 circumstance among billions of people and trillions of circumstances, and because God loves me and hears everything and knows everything, He reached down and helped me. Little ol' me! I feel the love from Him and the peace I desired and it's all because I went to Him for help.

God could reach down and perform one-off miracles to try and make people believe in Him, but I think there's more miracle in how he orchestrates all of our lives and intertwines them all together.

Wow.

Did you know they sell cuteness in a box?

Because they do.

I found it at Target, and not only is the toy itself cute, but it amplified Avalon's cuteness as she played with it......for hours!!!!

This play stylist kit has everything!

Our main concern was keeping all of the little parts away from the puppy.

Yes, the blow dryer actually works!

Complete with pouch and hair clips. 

And my appointment began. 

I think she was putting eye shadow on my teeth.

At least she got the eyebrow brush right. 

And blush is important. 

What do you think, is hot pink my color?

I wish she could straighten my hair for me everyday!

She already has a love for nail polish. 

The extensions are my favorite part of the whole toy!

I have one happy stylist on my hands.