One Thousand Gifts {#521 - #540}

I am grateful...
521) for the excitement that comes with changes.
522) that I've come to know myself just a little bit more in the past 6 weeks.
523) for compromise.
524) that the teeny potted plant Abby gave me for Mother's Day held on despite drying out and shriveling up.
525) for green leaves on the trees.
526) to get the chance to pass more belongings onto others who can love them more.
527) that I overcame my fear of the grill a couple summers back.
528) for end-of-the-year school performances.
529) to have such a generous baby-sitting arrangement through the summer.
530) for sidewalk chalk.
531) that I've had a couple workouts this week when I've wanted to push it just a little bit harder.
532) for a new showerhead that doesn't drip nonstop.
533) that the girls' winter clothes are almost all donated or packed up.
534) for the opportunity to stay home with my kids over the past 8 years.
535) to be able to admit that I may have stayed home a few years too long.
536) that I will be able to get a little break from my kids this summer.
537) that my kids will get to take a little break from their friends this summer.
538) for neighbors who turn on sprinkler for my kids.
539) for cloudless blue skies.
540) for quiet walks.

Sorry for the picture-less post today. It always feels a bit naked around here without photographs. There should be some new Instagram pics to the left of this post. As you can see, I've done a bit of Starbucks this week. :o) 

A Few Quick Things

1-- My Week 17 post is up at Case of the Wednesdays.

2-- This is DBlog Week for the Diabetes Online Community. I won't be taking part this year, but it would be great for those of you {especially those without diabetes} to read some of these. I just can't write about diabetes the way I used to be able to...it makes me crazy! Click for the list of topics and participants.

Date Night: Hudson, Ohio

Actually, this was a date afternoon, not a date night. It isn't always possible to get a sitter, so sometimes we take advantage of the girls being in school and meet up for lunch. Usually we do this during Steve's lunch hour, but this time he was able to get a little more time.

One thing that didn't make my original Date List was the idea to explore nearby towns, but we'll pretend that's on there from now on because I love the idea!

We have several small towns here in Northeast Ohio that make great places to visit for a quick date--there are so many fun restaurants, bars, and little shops! I wish I could say that we tried a new place for this date, but Hudson is a town where we have spent a lot of time already. Once I finished work and Steve finished his run, we decided to head out to First & Main for some lunch and shopping. There are so many fun shops in downtown Hudson, and I often end up there with the girls for sweet treats  {Lulu's frozen yogurt, Mainstreet Cupcakes, etc.} and shopping {Little Red Wagon, Nicky Nicole, Gymboree, etc.}. It was fun to get to go as grown ups and do a little walking and shopping without the kiddos.

My favorites from here would be Heather's Butt Rub

and the Jalapeno Dip. Both are super yummy. I promise.

 
The main reason I pushed to head to Hudson for our date was because I wanted a gluten free cupcake and knew that a little cupcake shop in town {Mainstreet Cupcakes} only sells them on Fridays.

The gluten free flavor this week was Red Velvet. There were only two left at 11:30 am, so I went ahead and bought two. Why not, right?

We also both wanted a burger and there's a great little burger place {Flipside} down there too. They have the best sweet potato fries I've ever tasted {I have a major love of sweet potato fries in general but these are fantastic}. We spent most of our lunch time talking about plans for the next couple of years--what to work on in the house, job decisions for me, career goals for him. It was nice not to be in a hurry and to get to eat a meal without any sisterly fighting going on around us.

That brick building just across the street there

is the Hudson Library. I used the old Hudson Library 

a lot in high school and college. The thing is, I stink 

at returning books. My family used to joke that

this library was built mostly from my late fees. :o)

For those who care about how my blood sugar handled sweet potato fries and a cupcake, I can go ahead and tell you that I had to treat a low about 2 hours later. I'll call that a major WIN! 

 

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My friend Michelle told me about The Dating Divas, and I'm so glad she did. Definitely check out the site for some great date ideas. 

I found this great list of Rainy Date Dates on $20 Date Night.

the THREE {May 10, 2013}

This Week: Night Terrors ~ Jamberry Nails ~ Bike Helmets

1) Night Terrors... For months now, we've been having pretty decent sleep issues with Abigail. I mentioned them in another post not too long ago. She had her yearly check-up on Monday, so I told the nurse practitioner what we were seeing. Basically, Abby struggles to fall asleep and then every night wakes up screaming and crying between the hours of 9:30-11:30 pm. Some days she says her tummy hurts. Other days she says her head hurts. She has even woken up hot and drenched in sweat or freezing with chattering teeth. It's scary. We can never tell if she's awake or not but lean toward the idea that she's not. A few weeks ago, we started a 5 mg dissolvable Melatonin tablet and found that she went to sleep right away and over the course of 10 days she only woke up screaming 2 times. When the NP heard all of this, she read me the description of Night Terrors. I hadn't given this any thought before because I was under the impression if Abby was really dealing with these, that she would be acting in a way that would indicate a nightmare {i.e. she would be scared or panicky}. Turns out, with night terrors, kids often have no memory of a bad dream...they just wake up the way Abby does. The NP's recommendation was that we continue the Melatonin because sleep deprivation just makes the terrors worse and wait for Abby to outgrow this phase of life. We'll see how this goes!

2) Jamberry Nails... My friend Melissa recently started a new career as a consultant for Jamberry Nails. I couldn't make her open house, so she came by and helped me put on my first wraps. LOVE them! The photo on the left is Day 1, and the photo on the right is Day 7. The wrap held up, but that nail polish?

3)  Bike Helmets... My kids HATE to wear helmets when they their ride their bikes and scooters {I used to insist on them but when a lot of their friends weren't wearing them, I totally gave into my kids' whiny make-mom-question-herself tactic}. But after a stern taking-to at each of their check-ups, I'm feeling convicted that helmets aren't optional. It's not like someone just said, "Hey, let's recommend that kids wear these hot plastic things on their heads so we can make them miserable!" There's actually a reason helmets are important. Sure, I didn't wear one as a kid and I turned out fine, but there were obviously enough serious head injuries to make pediatricians everywhere start suggesting helmets become commonplace. So guess what we're doing this weekend? Watch out, Target! I'm going to be bringing two unhappy, picky, whiny bike riders into your store in the near future. Is there such a thing as a comfortable {preferably pink} bike helmet???

Currently {May 2013}

 

Spring!!! Now if only all this blooming wasn't giving me hives and giving my husband sneezing fits...

reading  :::  Until a few weeks ago, I wasn't doing much reading. Then I picked up A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans and haven't been able to put it down. I get the criticisms of the book, but at the same time the grace this book communicates is unmatched by any other book I've read about women and Christianity. I'm so happy that I took a friend's suggestion and purchased it. Her focus on getting caught up in the Bible's message of love and compassion has been heart-changing. 

watching  :::  Not much other than the news and news-like programming. The girls keep losing their screen time privileges, and that means I don't watch much tv either. I did finally watch Argo a few nights and loved it. In a crazy twist of fate for someone who likes guys' hair shorter, I may have fallen in love with Ben Affleck's hair in that movie. Ben is still kinda meh for me, but that hair...love it.

planning  :::  Setting the kids up for success this summer. I was convicted that as a mom, it's my job to know my children and not be afraid to be strict about what behaviors/activities we are/are not ok allowing. Since I'll be working this summer, bedtime is going to remain at the same time as always {though, even if I wasn't working, we'd probably still do it this way}. I know I'm going to get a lot of sass on this one! Seriously though, knowing that my kid melts down when tired and then letting her stay up late because I feel guilty making her go to bed while it's still light out? Yeah, I don't consider that to be stellar parenting on my part. We have experimented with occasional later bedtimes over the past few months and have found that if we plan far enough in advance, we can occasionally allow the kids to stay up. But it takes work, loads of patience, and the realization that it can't happen very often. Hopefully this plan works and despite it being so different from those around us, we can stick to it with as little drama as possible. 

laughing about  :::  This parody of the Dove "Real Beauty" sketches.

 

eating  ::: We cleared off the patio, brought the cushions up from the basement, and finally got rid of some outside toys (playhouse & swimming pool). Now we have more room for our patio umbrella table, grill, and chiminea! We've spent a couple nights grilling over the past week or so...LOVE IT. I have a feeling we'll be using the grill instead of the kitchen a lot this summer. We used a new marinade for our steak last night...it was delicious and simple. I only marinated the meat for about an hour, and it was so yummy. Just make sure that the wine you buy is wine you'd drink! I made roasted potatoes, turnips, & red onions to go with it, along with my mom's pasta salad made with gluten free pasta. It was too chilly to eat outside, but I'm ok with cooler weather. 

Red Wine Marinade

8 oz. Good Red Wine

2 tsp Onion Salt 

1 T Oregano
Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

working on  :::   Earlier in the year, we planned to put the house on the market at some point in 2013. Despite changing those plans, we now have dozens and dozens of boxes in our garage. I decided to take advantage of that and pack up the things we no longer use on a daily basis. When I've done this in the past, I put the date I packed it on the box and donated the entire thing to Goodwill after 6 months. This time, the things I packed up are going to get about 2 years to prove their worth {a lot of Pampered Chef products and business supplies!}. My main goal is to clear out the armoire in the great room so I can get rid of it. After 13 years, I'm kind of over it.

 

wishing  :::  I'm wishing I had never gone red with my hair {kinda}! While I adored the color, the upkeep was just so expensive {I come to this conclusion every.single.time.} that I had to stop. Unfortunately, red is irritatingly hard to get rid of and cover up. I swear it's going to be a year before this process is over. Of course, I knew that going in. It doesn't make it any less annoying though--especially when you factor in the fact that the blonde growing in looks a tinge gray in the right light.

looking forward to  :::  Enjoying the rest of our Spring. I don't pretend to like Summer. In fact, I hate summer here in the Cleveland area. It's so disgustingly humid. June-September here is just miserable for me. I don't mind heat, but I'd rather freeze to death than be able to feel the warm, heavy air on my skin. So for that reason...I'm going to soak up these next few weeks before my own personal hell descends upon me. I love the crisp air and sunshine, and I really like the way it can get warm in Spring but not too sticky.

thinking about  :::  The way gentleness, patience, grace, and loads of prayer can work together to change a heart. I'm forever changed after watching this played out in the life of another person recently. I vividly recall times in the past when I was angered over others responding to my righteous {or so I thought} indignation over another's behavior with, "I'll start praying for that." Now I look back at those moments and realize that those people knew the secret all along.

Feel free to copy this Currently post format and post one on your blog. This format is a combination of Currently posts from other blogs I love...play around with yours and see what you like. Then, come back and leave a link so I can read what is going on in your life!

One Thousand Gifts {#501-#520}

501) The discovery of Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus alive in Cleveland.**
502) My safe, healthy children
503) The reminder to never give up hope
504) Comic relief in the form of the neighbor who is reported to have helped rescue the women & children {Watch the video you find at this link.}
505) Beautiful weather
506) Watching the girls play outside
507) The time, love, money, and energy each of my girls' teachers invests on a daily basis {Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!}
508) Being able to pass toys we no longer need onto others
509) Having coffee at my kitchen table with a friend I just don't get to see often enough
510) The way my nephew says my name {Aunt Aim!}
511) The hope and excitement that comes from change and even just from the potential for change
512) Having the opportunity to work this summer
513) My mom's willingness to help out with my girls while I work
514) Collecting items we no longer need and either throwing them away or donating them
515) The "magic" of exercise for my mood
516) Getting answers about what has been going on with Abby sleep-wise {night terrors}
517) Sidewalk chalk artwork
518) Rediscovering the piano
519) The way banning my kids from tv, friends, and electronics {because of behavior} brings out their creativity
520) The brief but tranquil moments when my girls truly seem to love each other

{520}

...holding hands... 

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** More on yesterday's news.... I remember disappearances of Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry like they happened yesterday. I was in my early 20's when they went missing and have always admired the way their families refused to let Cleveland and the nation forget about them. On a more personal note, the home these women {along with Michelle Knight, a woman I had never heard of before} were found in is just blocks from streets I used to walk on a regular basis when my husband interned at a nearby church. I even remember delivering a Thanksgiving turkey to an apartment complex right near this home. It's just so unreal. I shed tears and yelped when I turned on the tv at 6:40 pm last night to see our local news reporting the story. Knowing the way the church we worked with back in 2003 has always prayed for and loved the community surrounding them, these girls have been covered in prayer for a very long time without the church members/staff even realizing on whose behalf they were interceding. I don't even have the words to describe my disbelief and joy to hear that these women are alive. Many, many prayers to these women as they rejoin society as adults and adjust to their new life.

Monday Monday

I'm at Case of the Wednesdays today!

I have at least 1 post planned for this blog this week...WooHoo! One more than last week!