Up

Possibly the best thing I have seen today. I could seriously squeeze that cute kid. In the meantime, Loulie is sticking to her guns on wanting to be a "bawawina" for Halloween. She suggested yesterday that Bert be one too. And though he will go to great lengths to please that child, I have not seen him running out the door to purchase some Baryshnikov tights. Bert as a ballerina?--talk about a haunting Halloween! 

What is your child dressing up as? What do you think of parents dressing up with kids--cute or ridiculous? I'd say in the below picture, my vote is completely adorable!

                           

                                                                                               via here

P.S. Have you seen the Up house?

Pile Up

How did the end of September come so quickly?! I am backed up on blog posts, on work, on cleaning, etc. I finally found my desk last night and at least caught up on work emails. Loulie has been sick all week--high temp on Tuesday, fussy and just not herself. It has made it hard to get things accomplished with her so clingy and miserable but I have to admit it has been nice to have her usually busy body snuggled up and wanting to rest with her mama. That rarely happens anymore so I have made it a point to stop and cherish these fleeting moments.
But with a sick child and lots to do, I was high on stress yesterday and completely overwhelmed.  As I was sorting through piles on my desk, I found a list of grace prayers that a precious friend handed me this last week. My eyes immediately fell to the fourth prayers and I thought I would share it with you in case you are having that kind of day. 


When life piles up, give thanks...

"When stress mounts, I'll dismount it with gratitude. It's impossible to simultaneously feel stress and gratitude at the same time and I choose to feel thanks at all times!"
                                                                   -Anne Voskamp, Grace Prayers for Joyful Parenting

Milestones Part 1

I was not prepared to be as unglued by an event as I was the 10 year anniversary of September 11th. I was as overtaken with grief watching the coverage yesterday as I remember being 10 years ago. And as I watched Obama read Psalm 46, it occurred to me that the grief felt and tears shed across America yesterday were a blessing. That many times we grow immune to sadness and pain and especially evil. And the fact that our church was filled to the brim, that people paused everywhere to remember and that tears were still being shed shows me that there is still a hope, a unification and that America's best days don't have to be behind us. I enjoyed reading and hearing about where everyone was that fateful morning but something that I think doesn't get touched on enough is how much that day REALLY changed the way we live. 

I remember in the days and weeks following the attack, there was this fog of fear that hovered everywhere--this uncertainty. At 20, staring adulthood in the face, the attacks began a snowball that resulted in a depleted job market, our country at war and month after month of more terrorists threats. This new world was not the most welcoming to someone coming straight out of school with hopes of beginning their career, one day starting a family and seeing a bright American Dream ahead of them. No, what I remember is always being scared. As I've read others' blogs, people have touched on fear of starting a family, fear of traveling, fear of opening a new business, fear of even opening a letter. In the first years of a new millenium, that's what most of us were blanketed in--fear. 

But like with every other situation in life, I look at what I am scared of, what may be happening in that moment and realize that there is actually nothing to be scared of because at that moment we are already living through and surviving the thing we feared most. So ten years later after unimaginable horror, it is a blessing and a comfort to see that thought our nation has gone through a tough decade of war and bad job markets and new presidents, that as indiviuals, the fear has subsided--that new businesses were open, that children were born and that even though we remember the sadness of that day, the fear has subsided. And all of that can be attributed to a gracious and merciful father under which our country was founded. That He can take the most painful of situations and use them for good. I remember reading an article in Time several months after the attack that discussed the decrease in divorces, the rise in job satisfaction, an increase in purchases of the Bible, etc. That in the terror of that time, people began to give thanks and appreciate life for each grace filled day. So ten years later, I am thankful that babies have been born, that fear has subsided and I pray that we will never become immune.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you 

as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" John 14

A turn of events

We got all prepared to hunker down for Irene last Friday. Flash lights, bags of ice, umbrellas, movies, charged up phones and computers. Loulie was slightly perturbed--you can tell she is completely bummed that Irene was going to ruin her weekend plans. 

Turns out that once again Charleston got lucky. And though I am very grateful, I can't help but feel terrible that the north got it so bad while we dodged another bullet. 

As it turned out, Loulie got to go through with her plans to head to Knoxville for vacation with Lovey and G while Bert and I stayed here to get some work done.

She was pretty excited and I think she forgot about us the second she pulled out of the driveway. 

And thank God she has been gone this week--yesterday our neighbor was robbed in his home. Luckily, he thought quickly and held the robber at gunpoint until the police came. So while I was running errands in Mt. P, I get a phone call from two friends asking why my yard was covered in crime scene tape with 7 cop cars parked out front. To say that I had a mini stroke in the middle of Target and went 70 over the Ravenel is an understatement. It is a blessing that no one was hurt but this comes off of a dog attack a street over last week and Bert's car getting broken into three weeks ago. I promise we don't live in the ghetto but I have joked a few times in the past 24hrs that I feel  like Tupac and maybe I should write a song 'bout livin in da hood!
Yet while I lean to the ghetto side of defense, Bert has taken up with the SC backwoods mafia. ABC was here today doing a story on the rise in crime due to the current economic situation. I won't even tell you what he said but in addition to being able to see the house from space due to our new outdoor lights, I am now the proud owner of a machete--like I would even know what to do with it. :)


In all serious, please add our safety as well as our neighbors to your prayers--I may joke about this but it has gotten me somewhat worried. It also makes me sad for the people that are so desperate they feel that robbery is the only way for provision.


I'm leaving for Knoxville tomorrow to go get my Bug--I am so excited. hopefully, my next post will be full of all happy events instead of hurricanes and thieves.

Little Mae Mobley has me all wound up...

I've been up since 5:00 this morning which is completely unheard of since I have never been a morning person. But as I learned last night, in a few years this will become my normal. My friends and I had a much needed and much anticipated girls night to see The Help followed by dinner. Most of my friends had kids start kindergarten last week and since I love having friends a few steps ahead of me, I am always listening with ears wide open. I had been praying for these friends all last week as they embarked on this new stage and here is what I have gleaned from their experience so far...
a) I have never had to be anywhere consistently at 7:30 in the morning. My brain does not start working until about 9. As much as I hope to one day make the morning ride to school as pleasant as possible for Loulie, I know I will be that mother driving mascara-less in my nike shorts and sleep shirt through the carpool line only to realize that LB has left her lunch in the back seat. I know this about myself and I accept it--I just hope the rest of the PTA does too.
b) I am going to be completely devastated in 4 years when the Bug leaves me to go to school. I know I will be all like "Wait, you wouldn't let me shower by myself for years and now you're leaving. What am I supposed to do all day?!!!" So I've decided I will just go back to school wither her--it will be like Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School. Considering I don't remember a lick of algebra and my high school history teacher never bothered to cover WWI or WWII (sorry Dad--private school prob wasn't worth it), I think going back with Loulie is the perfect solution.


And bless her heart. Between spending all day Saturday with foster children at the beach, Tuesday night with children with special needs, seeing sweet little Mae Mobley in The Help last night and reading Bringing Up Girls; I am all kinds of wound up and mind buzzing on being thankful for that sweet bug and loving on her. I'm like white on rice with that child and I'm sure she wishes I would just stop reading these books and giver her a break.


But in all serious there is a time and season for everything and since I know busy schedules and early mornings and homework are all ahead of us in a few years, I want to be conscious and thankful for this time now.


Cheers to early mornings and carpool lines and to friends paving the way for me--I hope you are all taking notes!

Because I just can't help it....

Some Things...

1. Last week was like tenth level of hell hot so we've spent a lot of time indoors which would explain why the majority of this post is on movies. We saw Crazy, Stupid, Love the other night--excellent! Definitely worth the cost of a ticket. Also, did you know that Tuesdays are $5 nights at Cinnebarre?

2. Rent Mao's Last Dancer like now! Pretty enlightening and in lieu of recent headlines, makes you still thankful for democracy. And if you need a good inspirational, slightly teenie bopper flick, grab up Soul Surfer at the redbox. I say this because I am always wanting good suggestions for movies and books. We rented Limitless the other night and in addition to being completely stupid, it was just gross. Sorry Bradley, your good looks didn't make up for this one. Does anyone else hate it when you waste 2hrs on a terrible movie or book. I've just done both and it always makes me mad because I keep thinking that time could have been spent doing something so much better. But the first two movies I named--very inspiring and worthy of two hours on a hot summer night!

3. Go Georgia Girl! Did anyone watch the SYTYCD finale? Though I am not a crier I found myself choked up most of the show. Those dancers are incredible. A friend and I were talking about how much dance has evolved since we were kids and how the dancers today just seem to be stronger and capable of so much more. It has been 4 1/2 years since I graced the ballet barre but I miss it all the time.

4. Trader Joe's--I love you! Thank you for selling bunches of lavender for $3. You make me happy and my kitchen smell wonderful. And now I don't have to stop in Atlanta to buy my tea tree shampoo and conditioner. (True story--every trip to Atlanta, I would stop to buy a bag full--ridiculous)

5. I just finished this. I've made a pact with myself--no more projects, sewing, painting, etc until my house is completely organized so this is probably my last summer design. But I have had this chambray since June and wanted to do something with it.

Hope everyone has a good week!
XOXO

I'll be honest

I could write a cute little post along with a tutorial covering all the fun indoor things Loulie and I have done to escape this wicked heat. One where she is wearing some precious outfit and we have created some kind of killer kid craft out of flour and water. Instead, I'll just post this...

Because this is the reality. This child had taken two baths before lunchtime even began today. I have decided to just leave the water in the tub because chances are there will be at least two more. Instead of carting her in the 110 heat index to the pool or children's museum or aquarium; I decided we'd stay here and I'd let her make play dough. This was the result--an entire bag of powdered sugar dumped on the floor with a Loulie bug rolling in it. The "creative" part was how she tried to eat the sugar off of herself! Let me just say, gymnastics is paying off for that girl.
So no pics of fun trips or weekend boat rides this week--I am in the trenches, where the REAL fun happens!