Gotta love the look on Princess's face!! LOL This is from a hs open house we went to this summer. It was on a Sunday, and Princess had, maybe, a 10-20minute nap...Hence, the "what do you think you're doing with that camera" look on her face :) LOL

Anyways, not a big day here today. Yesterday I got my eyebrows done, and then ate with Mom & Daisy (& Princess & CuteNeice, too) afterwards. Then, I headed back to H. for Awana (oh, yeah, Princess has been going to Awana on Wed.'s now!! She's so stinkin' cute :) Last week she got her "uniform" (it's just a vest) when it was time to go home, and when I showed her she said, "IS THAT MY OUTFIT?!?!" she had her hands clasped together & the biggest grin on her face, and she was so excited about it. Her friend TippyToes has one, and she thought it was neat that they both had one on. I about didn't get it off of her when we got home!! LOL). Anyways, after the drive home, I just was not going to be able to take Princess to Awana, so had King do it. Female problems, again. I got out of the van, came straight into the house & laid down for about 2 hours. It was awful. Thankfully, I feel a TON better today. I feel more like myself, so I'm thinking it's over for this month :) My problem is that I hadn't had a "TOM" since July 4th!! Then, I finally started a couple of days before PraiseFest (I'm sure you really wanted to know that), but it hasn't stopped until, um, well, it still hasn't for sure, but it's been a while. SO, I need to schedule *that* apt. anyway, but now I have this to share with the dr.

Aren't you glad I shared that? It's been frustrating, because for the last 2 1/2 months I've been taking pg test after pg test, and they've all been negative...This happened to me once before, but I had to take a medicine to bring TOM on...but the TOM time was just as long, so maybe it's working itself out...We'll see...

Again, aren't you glad I shared all this with you?!?!

Tonight Princess & I went to Captain D's for supper...FYI, Thursdays are kid's nite, so Princess's meal was only 99cents!! :) SWEET!! Then, we went to Wally World, and spent more than I should've, but got a lot of "filler" groceries, if you know what I mean...bread, pumpkin sugar cookies (the Pillsbury kind), crescent rolls, you get the drift. I got myself a nice little Christmas organizing basket!! It's where I'll keep my cards, stamps, lists, coupons, etc... for Christmastime...and you know it's less than 3 months, now, right? WOOHOO!!

Okay, talk to ya'll later :) Can you believe Baby G will be here in 4 days?!?! YAY!!!

This was from the summer...All 3 girls are SO much bigger now...That's Princess on the left, then CuteNeice in the rocking chair, and that's MathCousin's little girl, BlueEyes...The first of many meetings, I'm sure :) hehe

Not much going on today. We pretty much just hung out around the house today. I've not been feeling very energetic lately (because of the female problems I may or may not have mentioned before, I don't remember), so we've been laying low. Tonight is $.99 Kid's Meal night at "Zoli's", so guess where we're headed in a little bit?!?! LOL This gal at church has all the kid's night info down!! She can tell you where to take your kids on any given night for a kid's meal deal...she's amazing!! LOL She should start a newsletter :) LOL

So, King has an Elder's mtg. tonight, so after dinner he'll go do that, and I was thinkin of FINALLY hitting Once Upon A Child...it's been about a month since I perused their ailes, so it's time to do that again...Princess needs some fall/winter clothes, and I'd like to hit there first. I'd like to see if there are any tricycles there, too. Princess is big enough to actually pedal one and get around by herself on one. I know it's late in the season, but she could still get a few more weeks on it, maybe even a month, and then spring will be here before we know it. I'm wondering if we shouldn't wait until her birthday, though (she'll be 3!! Can you believe it?!?! It's less than 4mos. away!!). Anyways, we went to Meijer's on Sunday night, and she rode that thing all over the store!! LOL Kept her content, and King occupied while I shopped!! LOL Anyways, she did really well on it...

I'm hoping we'll go to the farm this weekend and get some straw & pumpkins, and I'd LOVE a big ol' pot of mums for a little "harvest display." I know, I'm a dork. I'll have to get a pic of my pumpkin tree...it turned out really cute :)

Seeing as how I'm just rambling on & on, I'll go so I don't bore you anymore!! LOL :) I'll have to post a link to the CLM website about fall & autumn celebrations. I found one of her devotionals/writings whatever you wanna call it, last year & it brought peace to my soul...I'm always uncomfortable about Halloween & "celebrating" it. I love to dress up & let Princess dress up & stuff, but I steer clear of all the witches & ghosts & stuff & keep with the harvest celebration. Anyways, she puts it a lot more eloquently & perhaps a little more coherant than I would!! LOL :) Here it is... http://http://www.creativeladiesministry.com/halloween.html

Better go...King should be home any minute!! :)

Okay, thank you all for your encouraging words about being a SAHM :) I agree, if you haven't read Jodi's comment to my last post, brain twin, you got it, girl!! :) Thanks!! :)

I absolutely look at staying home with Princess as such a priveledge & honor, really, even though some days I want to pull my hair out!! LOL, I was just really strugglin' with that the other day :) It's not the first time. And, you're right, I would feel even guiltier if I worked & didn't stay home with Princess...just a different kind of guilt.

Have ya'll ever seen the Oprah or Dr. Phil shows that talk about this "thing" where moms who work outside the home & SAHM's were fighting that their way was the only way, and that there must be something wrong with the other side's thinking? The attitude wasn't different on either side of the argument (work vs. SAHM), but they were both adament about there being a right & wrong side. I think that's ludicrous!! That kind of thinking leaves no room for individuality. We are all different, all have different callings on our lives, and mine (at present) is stay home & teach my two 1/2 yo not to eat crayons :) LOL or anything else besides food!! LOL :) Anyways, thank you to all those encouragers :) You really did build me up when I was having a weak/pity party moment.

I've been reading some in this book that's called "Queen of the Castle" and at first glance, it looks like it's a read for SAHM's only, because the word "homemaker" is used A LOT!! LOL BUT!! She (the author) classifies any mother, any woman who lives in a home (lol) a homemaker. That is our God-given job, since Adam & Eve, and we should be proud that the Lord would bless us with such a responsibility. Does that mean that I won't make King take out the trash or do his own laundry every now & then? Absolutely not, (lol, but the control freak I am, I just nagged on him to leave the laundry alone because he put my "air dry" sweater in the dryer!! ARG!!), but anyways, that's what a "woman's touch" is all about. Not just the decorating or the cleaning, but the complete atmoshphere of our homes.

Very neat book, btw :) The author's name is Lynn Bowen-Walker. Lots of humor, lots of seriousness, and even some devotions & prayer time thrown in there. It's done in a week by week, seasonal basis, so it'd be totally okay to wait until January to get it :) LOL

King's taking his finals tonight, so it's just me & Princess here for supper...we're having leftover pizza...I love leftover pizza, re-heated in the oven or toaster oven...almost better than the original night. I don't do the cold-pizza-for-breakfast thing...just lunch or supper reheated. Very good.

I also started a mini pre-school for Princess today. I have one of those big school calendars where you put the date up every day, and the month changes, blah blah blah. I'm surprised at what all she knows already without having these "traditional" times of learning, ya know? She can already identify her name written down (can't write it, but we'll work more on that when she actually turns 3), and she knows the letter A, and the sounds it makes. It's a little different having "circle time" with one kiddo instead of 5 or 6, because they all work off of each other, but I think Princess will like "playing school." I'm such a teacher dork for getting excited about it!! LOL

I'd better go...Oh, before I do, though, could you keep my friend Gina in your prayers? She's a neat lady I met through Dotti's msg. boards, and I still keep up with her blog. Anyways, a little over a week ago, her 20yo son passed away in a freak skateboarding accident. She has 4 or 5 kiddos, but he was the oldest. They had a memorial service this past Saturday, but as we all know, the hardest part of losing is after everything has quieted down & life seems to just go on, whether we are ready for it or not. Just keep her & her family in your prayers. He was a Christian, so she's resting in the assurance of that...

Anyways, I love you guys!! :) Talk to ya next time :)

Yes, it's been awhile...and, yes, I've been very busy...I haven't been online in weeks!! I feel so disconnected. I feel kinda weird.

So, this is what I've been thinking about the last few days. Busy-ness. And, why I feel like I need to be busy. I'm afraid I've got so much going on that I'm setting myself up for failure & burnout, but I have this need to be busy right now. I think it's a SAHM thing. I really feel sometimes that I don't do anything "worthwhile" with my days. So, hey, we need a Sunday school teacher at church...I can do that, right? So, I teach Sunday School. Well, that's great, but it's only one day, one class, not very many kiddos. Well, I stay at home with Princess, shouldn't I be able to do more?!?! So, hey, there's no women's ministry at church right now (I know, wierd, right?) Well, I'd love for there to be a women's ministry!! Why don't I get that started?!?! I don't do anything but stay home with Princess, right? Well, there's a few other ladies that are going to help with Ladie's Ministry, so that takes some of the pressure/responsibility off of me...besides, all I do is stay home with Princess, so surely I could be doing more...So, hey, now's the time to start thinking about a Christmas play. I only stay home with Princess, so surely I have time to be in charge of that, right? So, there's a Craft Bazaar meeting this week. What are you making for that, Mandy? You only stay home with Princess, right? So, WAIT A MINUTE!! We don't have any clean underwear!! AHHHHH!!

I have a secret to share. I feel guilty. I feel guilty for not doing enough at church; I only stay home with Princess, right? I feel guilty for not doing enough with Princess at home; I'm only doing a few things at church, right? Then, there's family stuff!! I don't want to miss out on any of it!! I really feel like the driving force for all these "commitments" is my guilt for "only staying home with Princess." Like that's not important enough to really do, or something. I LOVE staying home with her. I love being available during the day (except between 1-3p.m. for Princess's naptime!! LOL). I love piddling around the house, and I love cooking dinner for my family. I love being a SAHM!! :) But, I feel like I'm not doing enough. I feel guilty for not doing stuff at church & with family because "all I am is a SAHM." So, I over-commit. Then, the laundry doesn't get done (see last 2 sentences of the previous paragraph!! LOL), things get piled up from our mad dashes between this place & that, and when things slow down again, I have an even BIGGER mess to clean up right before we start all over again with the craziness.

Guilt is powerful.

Okay, enough of that. I was just thinking about it. I was pondering over all these commitments I have, and had a eureka moment when I thought about my feelings of guilt & fear of being labeled lazy because I don't "do" enough. So, sorry if any of that was incoherant, but I didn't make you read it!! LOL :)

The Office & "Earl" have started back up again!! LOL They're hillarious!! I love NBC Thursday's again :) Oh, and Smallville started back tonight...and have you heard?!?! 7th Heaven is back again this season!! YAY!! Those are my 4 shows I DVR all the time, and watch later after Princess is asleep :)

Oh, I wanted to give a BIG THANK YOU to Bethany Praise Team for coming & sharing with us this past Saturday night at PraiseFest!! Ya'll were awesome!! We REALLY enjoyed having you guys!! Even though it was hotter'n Hades in the sanctuary!! Thank you for bearing with us!! :)

I'd better go. I still have to watch tonight's Office & Earl. I might be a little obsessed...

Love you guys :)

Wow, I didn't realize I left such a cliffhanger the other day!! :) hehehe

Princess has been doing AWESOME with the potty training!! Something just clicked last Monday, and she's even TELLING us when she needs to go potty. Sometimes I still wonder if it's not a ploy to not stay in bed at night or whatever, but she's doing REALLY well!! I'm such a proud Mommy!! Now, she still has accidents & stuff, but not all the time, and we've gone full days without one, so YAY!! Okay, that loose end is tied :) LOL

The Vow Renewal ceremony was only a surprise for the bride!! :) Their 10th anniversary was Wednesday, and they had always talked about wanting to renew their vows on their 10th anniversary, and a lot has happened to them, really, so it was a testimony for them, too. Anyways, her husband had emailed all of us church people that he would like to surprise her, because she didn't think they could afford it, but he did, so he wanted to surprise her. He did!! :) We normally have potluck & praise on the last Sunday night of the month, and after clearing it with PastorP, he invited everyone to be there BEFORE 5p.m. (normal P&P time), and he would get her there around 5p.m., and just walk her down the aisle...Well, everything went SO smoothly!! I think I mentioned that I had been there since 3p.m., along with another lady, and we got it all ready. I even sang a song with Worship Minister ("I Will Be Here") while they lit the Unity Candle (and that was SO last minute we didn't even practice first...we should've, I wanted to at least go over it once...but it was a song we both have sung/sang in 1,000 weddings each (hehehe), so we thought we'd be OK, and we were for not having run through it first...not too bad for no practice...Anyways, my friend (the Bride) was SHOCKED!! She had no idea!! And the little touches that we decided last minute to do (cake cutting/feeding each other, a toast with sparkling grape juice, the song during the ceremony) was just a surprise for both of them!! :) It was a lot of fun to make it into more than even the groom anticipated :) So, wasn't that sweet of her hubby? The only thing, and this is just a hubby-thing...we got to talking beforehand about what (I'm gonna give Bride a name) CoolCat would be wearing. CoolCat's hubby had told everyone from the get-go that it was to be VERY casual, to not even THINK about dressing up!! LOL But, we got to talking, wouldn't you want to at least wear a dress or skirt when you renew your vows? LOL Or at least know to look a little nicer than usual? LOL Such a hubby thing to NOT think about :) LOL As women, we were kinda concerned for her :) LOL But, she wore jeans (and she did say that while they were repeating their vows she thought, "I'm renewing my vows in my jeans!!" LOL), but she had on a dressy-with-jeans shirt, if that makes sense, so she looked very nice...but had she known, I know she would've been in a skirt/dress!! LOL :) It was fun :) Loose end tied :) LOL

Was there another loose end? I forget...

Yesterday I FINALLY got my pedicure :) Mom had gotten me & Daisy a gift certificate for Mother's Day, and I FINALLY cashed it in :) Mom went with me, actually, and we got one at the same time...Oh, my goodness, it was AWESOME...If you're ever wondering about a gift for me, there ya go...wonder no more :) LOL I REALLY LOVED IT :) I'm kinda wierd about feet, too, so it was a little wierd for someone else to be cutting my toenails, but overall it was SO NICE :) Then, we went to Wal-Mart because I needed to get another thing of hair color...

So, I had this bright idea last weekend that I wanted to color my hair dar red again (that's not a new thing with me...I love coloring my hair!! LOL) Anyways, I decided on a new shade...Spicy Salsa...Well, I colored my hair yesterday afternoon, and WOAH!! It was VERY red!! LOL Not a "dark auburn" like I usually like...I've never had an experience like that one!! Very weird color...So, I went to Wal Mart last night & got another box that WAS dark auburn, not "spicy salsa" (which is just BRIGHT ORANGE RED, kinda like salsa!! LOL) Anyways, so I colored my hair again last night, and now it's more of a dark purple red...I'm hoping the color will not be as intense this weekend.... LOL

Well, I've got a LOT to do today...Pack, for one...I think we're leaving here around 9/10a.m.ish...we want to get down there early enough to play in the pool before we have to go to Wal-Mart & head to the hill. Tonight, though, we have a Birthday party to go to at Marion's. English's daughter Brilliant turns 4 today!! :) I can't believe it!! :) It'll be 4 years this October/November that I had my 1st miscarriage...I remember English bringing Brilliant to Mom & Dad's while I was recouping after my surgery, and she was such a sweetheart & such a blessing for me to hold...Anyways, didn't mean to get all maudlin on ya :) LOL Anyways, Princess & Brilliant have gotten to play with each other a lot this summer, so it'll be fun tonight to see how Princess handles Brilliant getting to open all her presents :) LOL And Princess not!! LOL :) I think they'll have fun :)

Okay, better go, and get started packing!! :) Tomorrow is Reunion Weekend!! :)
This is Princess & King in front of the Weiner Mobile at the Ohio State Fair AFTER the SCC concert :) I have no idea what Princess is doing :) LOL

This is Princess with Papa & Mammy waiting for the Train Ride at the Columbus Zoo :)

Thought you might enjoy some "mini vacation day" pictures of Princess ;)