Sober Doesn't Suck: a guest post

Are you plagued with alcoholic guilt? Do you think about quitting drinking constantly, but are afraid to make that first step or are afraid admitting you have a problem means you will never be able to drink...again? I know how you feel, I've soooo been there. Feel free to read my story of confronting that alcohol guilt over at Sober Julie's site today.

Julie has a new awesome page called Sober Doesn't Suck and there have been some beautiful contributions so far. You can submit your own story, whether already sober or not (even anonymously), or read other stories for inspiration. Julie inspires me, that's for sure!

scavenger hunt sunday

All photos taken today on our trip to the park. 
smile

stand alone

rusty or something old

artificial

artificial park sign: not a beer bottle, but a champagne glass with bubbly. That's a tough problem to have at this park. 

repeating pattern

Bigger Picture Moment: Family First

My church's sermon on Sunday talked about loving your family intentionally and making your life simple enough that you have room for them on your calendar and in your heart. 

While I feel like I do this pretty well in my daily life, I definitely took this as an opportunity to make more of our time together and make the quantity even more quality. 

So, this afternoon while it was 75 degrees outside when we got home from school, we went out in the front yard and played. Played like we haven't played outside since early autumn. 

did you ever have one of these bouncy balls? She loves hers. 

Loudoun asked for roller blades for his birthday and he's getting really good!
He wanted me to tell you  in these letters exactly, he's a GR8 SK8TER, yo!

We had a picnic dinner on the lawn. 

And we finished off the night with leftover cake from Rick's celebration last night 

(he got a promotion!) and we each blew out candles and we all sang happy 

birthday to each other. It was awesome. I want to do that every night. 

forgiveness

Today my kids have:

• Stolen my nail file/buffer and used it as a plastic sword sharpener.

• Brought back out every toy I put away this morning. And more.

• Left capri-sun straw wrappers on the living room floor (do your kids do this?).

• Put a fully chewed piece of gum on the sitting bench under the front window.

• Let the dog out the front door, putting into motion a 35 minute chase down 5 blocks to get the dog back to our house (although, in my kids' defense, this was the fault of our dog...he has no loyalty to our home).

• Opened a 6 pack of paint, used their fingers to spoon out the paint into a shoe box, close the lid and roll around a Bakugan inside to see how much paint they could get on it, all on the front porch with white t-shirts on and no cloth down under the brick. Oh, and then my daughter brought in the sheet of paper that was inside the box and put it on her purple rug to dry. At least she rinsed out the paint brush.

• Whined because I wouldn't let him watch a PG13 movie (he's 8).

• Whined because her brother called her a chicken butt. And I mean whined excessively. 

This was all before 11am.  

After so much snapping and yelling out of pure frustration, which obviously wasn't working, I pulled both of my kids into the living room, sat them on my lap, and prayed with them. Thanking God for forgiving my shortcomings and asking for forgiveness from my kids, and a change of heart to turn around my attitude for the day. We all felt so much better and it was a new start. 

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:25

And we moved on. 

And only a few minutes later, Avalon moved right along and, upset about something Loudoun said, ripped up a piece of her brother's artwork and then proceeded to cry for 30 minutes when I asked her to apologize to her brother. When I was finally able to get audible words out of her, she admitted to being afraid of telling her brother she was sorry, in fear of his reaction.

Whoa teaching moment, were you just set up so conveniently? 

When we don't feel worthy of forgiveness, it is already there for us. We are so loved and He just wants to draw us near, and wants our hearts to turn towards Him. Amazing, right?

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Once that little charade was over, the rest of the day turned around and much roller blading, cooking, photographing, playing and laughing took place.   

This family? We are constantly learning about forgiveness and starting fresh. We fail, and try again. 

Drawing Me Near

Yesterday my heart was reeling with frustration and anger.
Which made my heart ache and I was miserable at work.
I knew how to go to God for help finding peace in the situation.
And He kept me calm all day as I worked and kept focused on Him while doing the job I needed to do.

But I didn't know how to surrender my hurting heart to Him. In that moment I felt too weak.
So He sent a friend to lead the way in prayer.
And He sent friend with comforting and wise Words from Proverbs.

photo credit

And in the middle of an upsetting event, through surrender to the Almighty God, I grew closer to Him.
Which was probably the purpose of the whole event taking place.

Our Lord is beautiful.

mario kart birthday cake: how we made it

I started with two store bought boxes of marble cake mix, per Loudoun's request. I used the mix to make four 8" round cakes. Based on advise from the internet, I made the 4 round cakes the night before I wanted to decorate, wrapped them in saran wrap and put them in the freezer. This locked in the freshness and made icing it so much easier!

I cut little semi-circles in 2 of the cakes, to create the figure EIGHT, for Loudoun's 8th birthday and the racetrack of the Mario Kart racetrack. 

Of course Loudoun didn't have a shirt on. Typical in this household. 

They each got to pick one bag of candy from the cake decorating store. Loudoun picked candy rocks to put around the racetrack. Avalon picked mini m&m's. 

Once the cakes were assembled, it was time to get to decorating. The fun part!

We used crushed Oreo cookies, minus the filling, for the road. The kids split the cookies apart and tried many, many times to lick the frosting away. We donated quite a few cookies to the Avalon and Loudoun fund. I used toothpicks to create the guides for the figure 8.

Once the road was paved, we filled in the pit area with grass and painted lines on the road. 

And finally, we placed the cake topper kit items (purchased on Amazon) around the track. Kit included 6 karts, trophy and finish line flags. We used mini Oreos as little tires in the pit. 

The cake was really easy, the kids were able to contribute to so many parts of the decorating process, and we had such a blast doing it together! 

8 is Great! Except when it's your kid, and then 8 is getting too old, too fast.

5 days old

At the same time I was spending my Amazon Christmas gift card on a present for my son's birthday, my son was spending his Amazon Christmas card on a surprise, out-of-the-blue present for his daddy. He needed my help on the computer, and wanted to make sure I didn't spill the beans to Rick.

Love him.

1st birthday

When we prayed the other night in his room before bedtime, my prayer went on a bit longer than normal, and when we finished he said, "I was praying my own prayer in my head, asking God for wisdom."

Love him.

2nd birthday

He went the whole week without burping or talking about burping so daddy would buy him a shock pen. It was a deal they made, to make me happy (it was a hard task for him, I know!)

Love him. 

3rd birthday

"Mama, I'm gonna make you a promise...I'm not going to move out until I'm 50, 

so you won't be sad."

Love him. 

4th birthday

We bought him roller blades for his birthday, and I spent the entire night before fretting for the safety of his elbows and knees and he went out there and skated like he's been doing it for years. 

Love him. 

5th birthday at Knott's Berry Farm

Once a pretty shy kiddo, he has grown into a confident, outgoing, sensitive young man. 

Love him. 

6th birthday at Benihana

His little sister is his best friend, and her happiness and comfort are always important to him. 

Love him. 

7th birthday

The other parents at school always say, "Oh that Loudoun, he is hilarious!" Yes, he keeps us laughing ALL.THE.TIME.

Love him. 

8th birthday - 2012

Loudoun, I look at you and see such a grown-up kid. Someone with so much love and happiness in his heart. Here's to a great year, bubba. We love you. 8 years ago you changed our lives, and I live everyday so proud to be your mama. 

January Simple Swap: Closet Clean Out

We all want to live healthier, more intentional lives, but sometimes it seems overwhelming and daunting to take even small steps toward our ideals because there are so many steps before us.

Simple Swaps was created by Hyacynth out of a desire and passion to encourage other women on journeys toward living healthier, more inspired, intentional lifestyles through implementing one simple swap per month. 

Each swap will:

1. Take 30 minutes or less to accomplish 2. Be inexpensive to implement or boast overall, long-haul {health} savings 

3. Focus on improving health/eco-friendliness, being good stewards of our resources and/or fostering a creative and intentional life.

Some weeks, all three will be accomplished in 30 minutes or less!

*********

I helped a friend pack up her entire house in one day for an impromptu move to Australia (from Los Angeles), and although I came home tired and sore, I also came home energized to clean and organize. Not my whole house mind you, no that requires visitors coming over to motivate me to clean. No, I was energized to organize my bedroom closet. The friend gave me 8 dresses to take home with me, ones she decided she didn't wear very often, so I came home tried them on, and went to town making room for them in the mess I currently call my closet. I worked in such a fury that I forgot to take before pics...whoops! But I will tell you that in 30 short minutes, I:

• yanked all old, too small, too big, out-of-style and not ever worn clothes off hangers
• stole good hangers from my husband's closet
• pulled out the shoes I never wear from the shoe rack and off my daughter's feet (she played dress-up while I cleaned...her favorites are boots...I don't blame her, they're mine, too)
• cleaned out all the junk in my old purses and put them in the giveaway pile
• Clipped the lift tickets (from my first date with my husband) off the oversized, baggy snowboard pants I will never wear again because it isn't 2000 anymore, and tossed them aside
• went online to look for new snowboard pants for our upcoming Big Bear trip ;)
• Came back and put all of the give away stuff in a bag to take to Goodwill next weekend. 

leftover hangers after clothing purge

Goodwill bag: I weighed this out of curiosity - 18 pounds!

This made room for the new dresses...YAY! But it also made my dressy work clothes hang smoother and nicer without being shoved in together. It made room for my purses, shoes, jewelry and my sanity when I need to get ready. Getting ready at 5:50am is no fun, but at least my closet is organized and roomy now. It's the New Year, you should join us and clean out a closet in your home! If you do, please link up with us at Undercover Mother's site and share your efforts, ideas and epiphanies. And before pics would be nice. ;)

bigger picture moment: thankful for memories

It's a new year, and I have resolved to venture out at lunch everyday and get to walking.
I used to do this before. Walking during my lunch break.
Last spring to shake off the winter feeling.
And in Fall of 2007 when I came back to work from maternity leave.

Has it really been almost 5 years since I walked these streets with her?
So neatly tucked away in a stroller, sleeping cozily in footed pajamas as I rounded block after block to take a break from the office?

Is she really my big girl now, getting ready to enter kindergarten in the fall, not ever needing a stroller anymore? Holding my hand everywhere we go, as we share about our days?

How did the years go by so quickly?

As I rounded all the same blocks yesterday, I was filled with praise from the worship songs on my iPod and praise on my heart for all the memories I keep of my little ones. Most days I feel guilty that I cannot remember more details from my 8 years of motherhood, and I know it will only get worse as I get older.

Memories fade, and I grasp to hold onto them. 

But yesterday I felt complete gratitude for all of the memories I do remember. I spent 45 minutes jumping from memory to memory of her almost 5 years in my life, from the little things she did as a newborn to the big things she is doing as a little girl.

And my heart just swelled. It swelled for the gift of my family, and it swelled for the gift all the days I get to share with them.

And I'm grateful for cameras.

My son will be 8 in eleven days. More to come on how my heart is exploding for that kid.

Edit Me Challenge: Week 1

YAY! Edit Me Challenge is back for the New Year! 

 Here is this week's photo:

And here is my EDIT:

My edit included using Lightroom to adjust the white balance, add a graduated filter, apply a Seim Fix the Flat filter and a Seim Old Film filter. Finally, I used Photoshop to remove a few of the sun spots on the face of this adorable kid. 

Go on over to the official challenge site to check out other entries and/or submit your EDIT entry. 

It's fun!