Adventures in La La Land

To celebrate 6 years of wedded bliss, Justin surprised me by planning a weekend trip. We dropped Lucy off at my parents' on Thursday night. It was admittedly difficult, but she had a blast and didn't miss us at all! Our first stop was Cadillac. Justin and I spent a day there when we were dating (7 years ago!), so he thought it'd be fun to kind of re-create that date. We stayed at McGuire's hotel which was really nice. [We did not stay at a hotel on our original date. ;-)] We ordered room service from their in-house restaurant. It was quite disappointing. But it was fun having it delivered right to our room! The next day, we slept in to our heart's content. (Not really - we had to check out by 11, and we both can sleep in way later than that!) Then we hit the town. Downtown Cadillac was having sidewalk sales. We decided to park the car and walk around, and my first thought was "do we have the stroller?" Haha. Funny how ingrained that kind of thing is. A...

1. Lucy and I went to the Sand Lake library last Saturday.  Justin and I drove past it a couple months ago and I was amazed at how big and beautiful it was. But I just finally got around to going.  I clocked it - it's literally 9 miles from our house. And it's a.m.a.z.i.n.g. It's just new and cozy and beautiful. It had a huge kids' area with tons of books and a puppet show booth and lots of toys and interactive activities. I'm in love. I got a little emotional sitting there thinking of the memories Lucy and I will make there. My dad took us to the library every Saturday. I still have vivid memories of climbing up the step stool to reach the counter, talking to the "library ladies" and reading every single book in the young adult historical fiction section. (And then later, every single book in the "inspirational fiction" section.) I can't wait to take Lucy there when she's old enough to appreciate it a little better . . . and check out so...

1. I just heard a little giggle from Lucy. I looked over and saw her standing on an overturned pizza pan jumping up and down. Haha. 2. I :heart: chocolate chip waffles. 3. So excited for our surprise anniversary trip in 2 days! 4. I've been trying not to listen to country with Lucy, but I'm annoyed by the cheesy Christian radio stations. Anyone have suggestions for not-too-annoying Christian kids' CDs? 5. I ordered 200 prints from Snapfish today. Yikes. I have to get scrapbooking. 6. One (and only one) of my legs is peeling from the sunburn I sustained 2 weeks ago! I take great delight in peeling my skin off in big pieces. 7. Lucy just learned to "woof" when asked what the puppy says. 8. I have to go get packing for this weekend. It is incredible how much a one year old needs for a two day trip. She does NOT travel lightly!

Hello, everyone! It's that time again. Your favorite time of the week when you get to read all about my riveting life! Let's jump right in, shall we? 1. I got very little sleep from 5 a.m. on this morning. No, it was not because of Lucy - our actual baby. It was because of Lola - our stupid cat!!! I don't know what her problem was, but she crawled all over us crying alllll morning. And when that didn't get our attention, she started playing with the window blinds - which are so loud. I finally got up to make sure the house wasn't on fire or there wasn't an intruder in our house or anything. I even checked to make sure Lucy was still breathing. Everything was fine. Seriously, Cat. Not cool. 2. More bad news: the ants are back! Gahhhhh!!! As I was putting Lucy in her high chair this morning, I noticed them crawling all over the floor. Upon further inspection, I noticed them all over Lucy's high chair too. Gross!!!!! I promptly threw the chair outside on th...

Thanks to my cousin Esther, I finally got my hands on a copy of the book, The Help  by Kathryn Stockett. I'm not much of a book reviewer, but here are my thoughts. It was a really good book, but based on all the recommendations and rave reviews, I expected it to be an amazing  book - which, for me at least, it wasn't. It was a great story. It was heartbreaking because it's based on real life - on a sad part of history that actually took place.  I had a surprisingly difficult time keeping all the characters straight. There were a lot of white women and they each had a corresponding maid. I could not remember which white woman went with which maid. Even at the end, something happens with a guy named William Holbrook and I remember thinking, "Wait - who is this? Who is he connected to?" I'm not usually so dense. The author did a great job of creating suspense. I was nervous the whole time. I read the book in one day - partly because I'm compulsive like th...

1. This week, we went to my parents' pool and I laid out for 3 hours without an ounce of sunscreen. I got totally fried. It's amazing how different my skin is since getting pregnant. I never used to wear sunscreen and I never burned. But this is my second pretty bad burn this summer. I'm such a wimp and it really huuuurts!!! I am fortunate, however, that my sunburns usually turn into a nice deep tan. Sigh . I loooooove being tan. I know sun exposure is so bad for me and I'm probably going to die of skin cancer, but man I look so much better when I'm tan. (How's that for vanity?!) 2. Remember my list of things I want to do this summer? I would like to add one: Go to a flea market. Does anyone know of any good ones in the area? 3. Lucy's new favorite thing this week is: "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!" When I say, "One fell of and bumped his head" she smacks her head. Haha. And she loves to point and shake her finger when we get to...

Thanks to Hip2Save, I've gotten some great deals on magazines. I get Parents, Parenting, Martha Stewart, Woman's Day, and FamilyFun. FamilyFun is definitely my favorite of all those because it has the most practical, realistic ideas. Seriously. Am I the only one who reads parenting magazines and thinks, "You're kidding me, right?" Here a few examples from this month's Parents magazine. 1. First of all, the recipes are a joke. Here's one that promises to entice kids to eat their veggies: Edamame and Sweet Corn Succotash with Marjoram. Ok, I'll admit that I'm a midwestern girl and we're not known for our eclectic veggies, but honestly I don't even know what Marjoram is and I've never had (or seen) edamame. What kid is going to be excited to eat that? [pg.64] 2. Oh, here's a section on health I thought was hilarious. It's for moms who are battling bloat. These are the food groups they suggest avoiding: fatty foods, gas producin...

I think in Facebook phrases. And sometimes I want to post everything that comes to mind, but I'd clutter up people's newsfeeds and drive them crazy. So I decided to put it here instead. 1. I almost want to quit drinking Dr. Pepper because I hate the commercial with Fergie so much. 2. I have a box of Tastefully Simple warm spinach and artichoke dip in my cupboard. I want to eat it soooo badly, but I don't have any swiss cheese . . . or crackers for that matter. 3. Lucy was scared of the storm today. And I'm not gonna lie, we sat in the basement for a little while. It looked like a hurricane out there!!! 4. I need to get pregnant again so I have an excuse to eat whatever I want. I have been binging a lot lately. 5. I'm disappointed by the lack of "Bachelorette" discussion on facebook. Is no one watching this season? 6. I spent all of Lucy's afternoon nap scrapbooking today, but only got 2 pages done. I was sooo stuck. But I'm happy with t...

1. So I got my mani/pedi last Saturday. I've gotten my nails done a handful of times, but I'm no pro. I always feel like such an idiot.  First of all, why are all nail salons run by Asians? Seriously. I would really appreciate someone who speaks fluent English.  I don't know what I'm doing and it'd be so helpful if I could understand what the nail technician was telling me! Case in point - while she was doing my fingernails she kept saying, "You want de-zah?" I just kept saying "I'm sorry. I don't know what you're saying." Awkward! She finally said, "Like . . . flower?" Design! Ahhhh! Regardless, I enjoyed the pampering and I tipped her well - scrubbing people's feet and clipping their toenails is disgusting. Haha. 2. Lucy has a couple new words I feel the need to report. My favorite is "amen!" When we pray at meals, as soon as I say "amen" she echoes it after me (enthusiastically). It sounds kind o...

I can't believe it's July already. Summer is slipping away too quickly.   I had so many things I wanted to do this summer while I'm hardly working, and I haven't done any of them! So I'm going to write them down here. I won't be devastated if we don't do all of them, but I do want to cross a few off the list! 1. Take Lucy to the beach 2. Take Lucy to the zoo 3. Go tubing down a river 4. Go to Michigan's Adventure 5. Take Lucy to the children's play area at the gardens Anyone know of any deals for the zoo or Michigan's Adventure?

This is part two of my review on Spiritual Parenting by Michelle Anthony.  If you want to read part one, scroll down to the entry before this one. 7. The Environment of Course Correction Don't just punish . Discipline.  Get to the root of the issue. Use the circumstance as a teachable moment. Bring healing from sin. 3 Steps based on Hebrews 12:11-13 1. It must be painful - Different pain for different children. No "one size fits all" discipline. This is the punishment part: spanking, time outs, natural consequences. 2. Build them up in love.  - After the punishment, say "I love you." Make physical contact - touch, hug, etc. Explain the need for discipline. - Offer words of encouragement: Give your kids hope that they can do better next time. Pray for God's strength to help them obey. 3. Make a straight and level path . - Tell them what it means to change and that they'll need God's help - Give them "an idea of how they can navigate ...

I finally finished Spiritual Parenting .  It was a great book and it opened my mind to a lot of things.  I thought I'd share a few of my notes with you.  I'm going to do this in two parts because otherwise it'll be waaaay too long. The author (Michelle Anthony) describes 12 "environments" she believes are vital for spiritual parenting.  Here are my notes on the first 6. 1. The Environment of Storytelling Children are ego-centric. Teach them they're not the main character by telling The Big God Story .  [Anthony sells a children's book by that title.  I'll probably look into getting it.] The Big God Story is all the main stories of the Bible told as one big story in chronological order.  It makes Jesus the hero. 2. The Environment of Identity We need to help our children find their identity in Christ. Anthony told a story in this chapter that blew my mind.  She and her husband went away for the weekend, leaving their 16 year old daughter ho...

All winter as I trudged through a foot of snow carrying Lucy in an infant carrier, as I bundled us each in thermal underwear and fur-lined coats, every time I scraped a thick layer of ice off my van, I dreamed of a weekend like this past weekend.  It was perfect.  The epitome of summer.  A little taste of heaven.   Saturday On Saturday, we stayed home most of the day.  I did a huge portion of the housework that needed to be done and Justin did lots of yard work.  When Lucy went down for her afternoon nap, I finally cashed in the mani/pedi gift card Justin got me for Mother's Day.  And when I got home we went to Golden Corral to celebrate the healing of my mouth. :-) I paid for that later, but I'll spare you the details. ;-) Sunday Then Sunday, the festivities began.  After church, we went to my parents' house for an all day party.  We always have a ramshackle group of friends, family, and a few stragglers. This year I think we counted 23. ...

1. I read a book this week.   Learning  by Karen Kingsbury.  It's the sequel to Leaving and part of the Bailey Flanigan series.  It was pretty cheesy.  I doubt most of my readers would like it. But I like that stuff now and then. :-) 2 books down, 8 to go. I seriously only have like one more chapter of Spiritual Parenting .  I really like it, I just feel like I have to have the time to devote to sitting down, really reading it, taking notes, etc. 2. Speaking of parenting . . . I'm pretty sure I win the "Worthless Mother Award" this week.  I felt awful all week and spent most of my time languishing on the couch.  They say moms don't get sick days.  I've always taken that to mean the moms are the ones suffering - they still have to take care of their kids while they're feeling awful.  But the kids suffer too. :-( 3. My mouth is finally doing better.  Day 6 after surgery was the turning point.  We went to Big Boy and I ordered...