Process vs. Product

Our kids are process people, not product people. They love to create and then love to share what they have created.

We have two drawers in the backroom designated for craft stuff. These were stocked by Ms. Jennifer Moody, who let us have a ton scrapbook and crafting supplies when she shut down her scrapbook business. (Shout out! (Yes, I did just do a shout-out and a name drop, thank you.) )

Several mornings a week, Claire and Paul will roll out of bed and start crafting while they eat their breakfast. I never know what's going to appear. It could be a dangerous animal or a pretty picture. They love doing it, but once they are done, they usually give the craft away to someone. They don't mind because it's the doing that they love.

It's the same with baking. About once a week we bake cookies or a cake or another snack. The kids get to have a bite or two, but then they enjoy sharing our baked goods with the neighbors and other friends.

In my morning meditations today, I was thinking about how life is that way and how this trait will help them as they get older. Adults often spend long periods of time creating projects for the home or work. Sometimes we get to keep and enjoy them, but many times they are delivered elsewhere. In their school careers, they will spend hours on projects and papers that will often be graded and then discarded.

If it's only the finished product they enjoy, then they miss out on the fun of creating. In life, we only get to keep memories, and we have a hard time keeping those. I am happy that my children do not cling to material possessions and items they have created. Then they get the joy of the journey as well as the excitement of sharing it with others.

Grace

Growing up in the Baptist church, I occasionally heard the word "grace," but never related to it. To me the word was a cross between style, balance, and something about Jesus' crucifixion. It wasn't until Adam and I joined a Methodist church and later started birthing babies, that I really understood it.

To me, grace is getting something you don't deserve, but desperately need. Every day I experience grace in my life.

I started noticing it when I was pregnant. People would give me their seat. I would be forced by friends to sit down and raise my feet. A friend volunteered to take my hall duty so I wouldn't have to walk pregnant. My principal let me wear Adam's Birkenstocks to school every day because my feet were so swollen they wouldn't fit into anything else.

Once I had Claire, the grace extended to her. Strangers would try to comfort her when she was crying. Her daycare teachers were very supportive. When I locked her in the running car and waited for Adam to rescue me, I was offered cold water.

Sometimes grace comes with large actions, but usually I notice small, thoughtful ones. When I feel overwhelmed, someone appears to comfort me. When I've got full hands and struggle to open doors, the door always magically opens from the other side.

Recently, I was feeling sad that my parents aren't grandparents to my children. I have fond memories of both sets of my grandparents and sometimes am sad that they will never have experiences like I had. They basically only have one set of grandparents. That same day, we had to get my tire repaired at Discount Tire. Claire befriended a lady who was a grandma and was doing all sorts of grandmotherly things with her. Like I remember with my grandmother, she had a purse full of candy and surprises. She had fancy kleenexes and showed Claire how to fold them in a way to swaddle her miniature doll.

This lady eventually had to leave because her car was ready. Not 30 seconds later, another older lady arrived and sat in the same seat in the waiting room. She immediately bonded with Claire and pulled out a notebook she kept in her bag for her grandchildren. She started teaching her how to draw different animals. Paul was asleep on my shoulder during this entire experience, so I was so grateful for not one but two ladies that bonded with Claire and kept her entertained since I was held down by a sleeping child.

I was overwhelmed. Sure, my kids only have one grandmother that they see regularly, but they are surrounded by love and have countless "grandmas" everywhere we look. That's grace.

David Sedaris is Awesome!

Recently my friend Amy bought a ticket to go see David Sedaris, but she couldn't go, so she sold it to me. Sedaris is one of my favorite authors; he is hilarious. Adam and I have talked several times about buying tickets to see him, but it always seemed like an unnecessary expenditure. Since Amy needed to sell her ticket though, I decided to help a friend out.

My favorite book of Sedaris' is Me Talk Pretty One Day. I read that book on a road trip with Adam and was laughing so hard that I had to read much of it aloud to him. Of course, that was before we had kids...Now, I'd just have to get him to read it himself.

I was the third wheel on a date with my friend Cara and her husband Ken. I didn't mind; they let me hitch a ride to Dallas and talk their ears off. Apparently I need to get out more because I swear I took five breaths the entire night. I was going blah blah blah blah blah.

As well as reading a hilarious essay about poop and snot in China, Sedaris told a few jokes. Here's a couple that I remember:

How did the Mexican cut his pizza?
With Little Caesars.

An old man gets ready for bed one night and the doorbell rings. He answers it and a snail is there, wanting to sell him magazine subscriptions. This angers the old man, so he kicks the snail as hard and as far as he can, then slams the door and goes to bed. Two years later, the doorbell rings again. It's the same snail, who says, "What was that for?"

The people watching last night was excellent as well. Among the crowd were young gay guys, elderly people, and couples. It was quite a diverse group. My favorite was the 70+ year old lady who had pig-tails and eyeglass reachers. I like to imagine that she rode her motorcycle to the event.

Thankful Tuesday

I've been trying to think of a pattern I could repeat one day a week on my blog. My friend Rebecca does "Truth Be Told Tuesday" and it's pretty funny, but I wanted something that was a little more "me."

So Tuesday is hereby declared Thankful Tuesday.

Today I am thankful for

1. The sunshine and cool breeze. This morning I drove the kids to preschool with my windows down and Adele pumping out. The temperature was just perfect and everyone was in good spirits. Claire even told me, "I'm cool like that."

2. My dog Wesley Eugene. Wesley will turn 9 this summer. He was my first baby and an answer to my first round of baby fever. This weekend when we went out of town he stayed at a friends' house. Although he doesn't get as much attention as he used to, I was aware of his absence and further aware of how much I love that little Yorkshire Terrier.

3. My church family. Last night I went to prayer group and Bible study with laundry detergent on my shirt. There were some comments of concern, "Are you okay? You have stuff all over you." and some smart-aleck jokes, but I love that I can show up as I am and be loved. Some days I'm able to make an effort to look more polished, but other days I just show up and say, "This is me. It's the best I can do. Thank you for accepting me."

4. Tomatoes! For the first time ever, I am actually growing vegetation! Squash and okra are sprouting in my flower bed and I have a pot with about five tomatoes on it. I call it a cheater plant because I bought it at Wal-Mart when it was already blooming. I figure if I can't keep that alive, then there's no hope.

5. Birkenstocks. I got a new pair for my birthday. I wear them every single day. I used to wear flip flops all the time, but I started getting back pain. Now that my feet have more support, my back pain went away.

6. Our swimming pool. It's not warm enough to swim yet, but soon we will be jumping in the water every afternoon. How cool is that? We have a swimming pool in our own backyard! We also have a play set and a trampoline. Our backyard is fantastic and I do not take it for granted.

7. A working washer and dryer. This weekend I drooled a little over Adam's cousin's high-efficiency washer, but really, I'm grateful for my own. Every day I do a load of laundry. I can't imagine the hassle it would be to have to go to a laundromat. I'd have to buy more clothes for one problem, and save all my quarters for another.

8. Low-maintenance hair. I think God knew what he was doing when he created me. He knew I wouldn't be a primper, so he gave me hair that fixes itself. I love it! I wash my hair, brush it, throw some mousse in it, and I'm good to go. If I'm feeling extra fancy, I spend an extra 30 seconds braiding it. Sure, I could spend more time, but why?

9. Wide hips. I'm not a skinny waif, and as a mother, I am grateful for that. I can't get knocked down easily, and my lap has room for not just one, but two kids in it! Every time I feel down about not being thinner, I think of what I do with all this lap space and I'm grateful.

10. My left-brained husband. Adam sees the world as black and white. I see all the colors of the rainbow. It's nice to have someone around who's different from me and has more focus to detail. He takes care of balancing the checkbook and making sure all the crumbs get wiped off the table, because frankly, he's better at it. I love him for it, because if it weren't for him, all the cabinet doors would be open all the time, and I'm sure there'd be a spot on the table turning into compost.

Easter Weekend Activities

We just wrapped up a wonderful Easter weekend, and I'm glad it's over. If I don't step on another plastic Easter egg for a year, that will be fine with me.

The kids got to dye eggs twice, once with Daddy and once with Grandma. Here they are with Sarita.

Easter weekend included a funeral for my great aunt Mary. She was elderly and very ill, so it was expected. I'll miss that tiny spitfire of a woman. Here the kids are with my cousin Jeff.

My dad's side of the family is all buried in Emhouse, Texas, regardless of where they lived. It's a nice, quiet cemetery in a town of population less than 200. My grandfather was born there and my grandmother grew up in neighboring Corsicana.

We spent the night with Adam's cousins, the Myers' family. Here are Claire and John after Easter lunch.

This was the first Easter in recorded memory that didn't feature a visit to a church. Usually Adam and I pick one of the family's churches out in East Texas to attend, but this year we slept in and just enjoyed spending time with family. We're at church 51 weeks out of the year, so I think it's okay to miss one. We did talk some about the resurrection, but not making each other get up early to attend church where we don't know a soul and just consciously taking the day to relax, was awesome.

Claire and Paul hunted eggs on the same yard that Sarita hunted eggs on when she was a kid, and that Adam and his sisters hunted eggs on when they were kids. I guess you could call it the Barton homestead.

Adam and I had very different childhood experiences with Easter. His family apparently boiled and dyed eggs, hunted them, and then threw them at one another. There was no refrigeration or consumption of boiled eggs. My family, on the other hand, boiled and dyed eggs, hid them, and then ate them. We went with Adam's tradition this year. It resulted in some stinky, runny eggs and some ants. We did have fun throwing the eggs on the street in front of Adam's uncle's house, however.

Here's a car driving past our cracked, rotten eggs.

This Easter was focused on relaxation and family. I think we might have started a new tradition.

Egg Hunt Day

Today was Easter party day at preschool. The kids brought baskets and eggs and enjoyed Easter activities all day.
Here's part of Paul's class lined up to get the eggs. Since it was rainy, all hunts were indoors.

He looks cute, except for that darn carpet burn on his forehead.

Here's Claire hunting for eggs with her class. I took several pictures of them, but those four year olds move so fast that most of my pictures are blurry.

After all the eggs had been found, she sat down and voluntarily counted her eggs. She knew she was only supposed to have twelve so she took the others and announced that she would re-hide them. She wanted to make sure that everyone else had twelve, too. I love that girl!

The Importance of Five Minutes

I recently read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. In it she talks about being aware of how much time everything takes in your day. It made me start watching how much time it takes my kids to do an activity.

I've noticed that five minutes seems to often be enough. They can sit down and play with something for longer, but five minutes seems to be the minimum for satisfaction in play. I had been in the habit of saying "No" often to a craft or activity idea, thinking that we didn't have time.

So now I ask myself, "Do we have five minutes?" The answer is usually yes. I do have five minutes to swing you before I have to send that e-mail. I do have five minutes to let you paint a picture. We can read that book for five minutes. Sure, you can play karaoke for five minutes.

I'm always conscious of being on time to the next activity, but even if I squeeze in five more minutes, we're usually not late. And allowing ourselves five minutes leads to more quality time together. The kids are happy, and so am I.

A Day in the Life

Yesterday we started the day spa style. We all soaked our feet in our foot bath (courtesy of Anabelle Garay) and then exfoliated and painted all our toes.

Don't we all look beautiful? You can probably tell that I let each kid paint one of my feet. I'm glad I don't have three kids, because then I'd have to grow a third foot! Yes, I let Paul paint his toes, too. He's still 2, and I figure one day he won't want to anymore.

Then we headed to Target for some shopping. We only had a few items to buy and the kids wanted to bring their shopping cart and stroller, so I let them. It was so cute.

Here they are in the frozen foods.

Other parts of the day included cleaning house, making Daddy lunch, and politicking. We are official campaigners for our local city councilman, Jungus Jordan. Unfortunately I didn't get to take any pictures yet of us campaigning. Last night at the campaign kick off rally, our job was to greet people and encourage them to vote for Jungus. The kids were pretty darn good at it.

After such a serious, grown-up event, we tempered it with some silliness at Braum's.

We started the day with spa treatments and ended with ice cream. What could be more perfect?

Hospitality Head-On

I have shared before that one of my Lenten practices this year is hospitality. I'm really making an effort to talk to others. I've been doing well and making new friends in unusual places. Saturday I shared a laugh with a lady at Wal-Mart whose husband was yelling down the aisle at her, frustrated because he couldn't find the right kind of Coke and because he had children with him. Adam acted the same way when I made him come to Wal-Mart with me. So, I counted that as a victory, but then I realized I was running out of time and needed to get home. I still had Costco to get to. So when I was at Costco, I was weaving around people with my humongous basket and checking items off my list as quickly as possible. I had tunnel vision and was feeling important and accomplished. "Look at me! I just passed right by those samples! Oh yeah. I haven't bought any impulse items! I'm in a hurry and I can't be distracted! I'm important and focused!" That worked great, until I was in the produce room and literally ran right into a lady. (With my body, not my cart, thank God.) I was so embarrassed and apologized repeatedly, and then I realized it was Stella, a friend from church! I apologized again and then explained to her how busy and important I was before I fled the scene. Then I realized that had I taken one more minute out of my day, I wouldn't have run into her, and I could have actually had a conversation with her about how she was doing, and not about how busy and important I was feeling. I get the Grrrrrr.....

Shaw Kemp Open House

Our library friend Magunn and her mother Laurie alerted us to this free festival in Weatherford. They've taken their family there yearly for a long time, and told me all about it. It's called the Shaw-Kemp Open House, and it's absolutely free!

For more information, click here.

Apparently the Kemp family has owned the property for nearly 200 years. They have kept everything in working order and moved several historical buildings to the site. Not only that, but they have fields and fields of bluebonnets. We got to go in and out of all the buildings, including the residence. There was a free hayride and lots of folks in costume. We had a blast and spent ZERO money!

I highly recommend this to anyone; the family does it once a year.

Here's some photos from our time:

This lady was playing on a washtub. Stacy and Baby Marijn posing next to her.

One of the buildings was an old schoolhouse. Claire and Paul both took turns writing on slates.

This lady and her dog, Tinkerbell, were both dressed as Minnie Pearl.

They had a real jailhouse. We tried to leave the kids there, but apparently it wasn't that real.

Main Street Arts Festival

Yesterday we went to Main Street Arts Festival in Fort Worth. Believe it or not, they actually have several free activities for children. We did all the free ones and a couple cheap ones and I walked out only $13 poorer.

The Tabernacle of Praise had a booth set up. They were telling me how awesome their church was. If you go there on Easter Sunday, you get a FREE 8x10 portrait of your family! He also told me that last week they went to a gas station in Benbrook and gave every customer $20 in free gas. And apparently, soon they will give away $1,000 in free groceries! It almost made me want to go to get the free stuff! Oddly, he didn't tell me anything about God or Jesus, but of course I didn't mention my religious beliefs, either.

Paul chose the ever-masculine ladybug for his face painting. After it was over, I was a little disappointed, because $5 didn't even buy us both cheeks! Even Paul said, "I wanted two ladybugs!" He still was happy with his one, though.

I let each kid spend $5. Claire chose to make sand art instead of face painting. I thought I would have to help, but she actually did it all by herself!

Here she is posing with her sand moon art. This was a bargain. I heard other moms complaining to their children, whom they bought the $10 bottles for, that their kids weren't putting enough sand in fast enough! It took Claire about 10 minutes to fill this tiny bottle. I'm glad we chose the small one.

This clown offered balloon sculptures for a smile and a tip. When the line started forming, though, he dropped the smile off the requirements and said that you had to give him a tip. Hmmmm. I'm glad we saw him on the first day, when he still retained some cheer. I imagine today that he'll be a grumpier clown.

Claire got a flower hat.

Paul got a sword. Claire immediately tired of her flower hat and gave it to Paul, who wore it proudly. He also tried to stab several people with his sword. Everyone was terrified.

One for You and One for Me!

In the car, the kids and I like to look out the windows at the world around us and appreciate all that is around us. Some people get frustrated with road construction, but seeing the huge equipment and the workers is very exciting to our family.

"Ooh! Look at that digger!"

"Ooh! That man waved at you!"

"Ooh! They're digging a hole! Look there's an airplane in the sky!"

The kids also like to holler greetings at the construction workers and any other car with its windows down. They are disappointed when they don't get a wave back, but ecstatic when they do.

I also constantly scan the construction crowd to find a lady construction worker to prove to Claire that indeed, girls can do everything boys can. Believe it or not, in the last week, I've found two attractive lady constructions workers.

We started playing a game where we assigned people and objects to each other.

"Look! There's a digger for Paul! Oooh! And another one for Claire!"

We try to find items in twos so one kid doesn't get disappointed. When there's only one, like the moped we saw the other day, the kids have a discussion about how they will share.

"Well Paul," Claire says, "I think I should ride it first since I'm bigger and then you can ride in the basket on back."

It's always fun and sometimes hilarious to hear what they claim as theirs, like explorers on the frontier. "Look! Trinity River for ME!" "Oooh! Bridge for ME!"

Yesterday, though, I nearly snorted with laughter when Claire claimed the motorcyclist in front of us.

"Look! There's a man with no hair for MEEEE! Sorry Paul, there's only one man with no hair."

One day she might actually be claiming a man with no hair for herself, but I'll be damned if it's not at least 30 years from now.

Spring Love

Spring is my favorite season. The flowers are in bloom, the weather is perfect, there's Easter and various birthdays, and I just can't help from being happy. Today we enjoyed the weather by walking to the library. The kids slept in so I gave them breakfast in the wagon and we pretended they were at a restaurant on wheels. Luckily one of the diners finished her breakfast before we mounted a giant hill, because this waitress/cook has a hard time hauling a wagon of two kids up a steep hill. I also practiced my hospitality skills by offering several sincere compliments and introducing myself to several moms that I see every week but never knew their names. The best part about today's adventures, though, was picking buttercups and rubbing pollen on our noses.

The kids loved doing this, but unfortunately the time I used the camera, the pollen didn't show up so much. Oh well. Happy Spring!

Hospitality at Wal-Mart

One of my Lenten practices this year is increasing my hospitality. I'm usually pretty good at this, but somedays I am tired and don't feel like extending anything beyond my nose. My particular focus is greeting others even when it makes me a little uncomfortable.

Yesterday the kids and I were anxious to get to the zoo to see the new dinosaur exhibit. However, we were also out of milk, butter, eggs, and sodas for Adam's office. We were rushing around so we could run to Wal-Mart, grab our groceries, and hit the zoo.

When we walked in, I noticed the greeter was a darling elderly Asian woman. It occured to me that I should greet her but I thought to myself, "I'm tired and I have to get in and get out because we're going to the zoo!" But no. When you feel the urge to extend something to another, you better do it, or you will do it anyway. At least that's how it goes in my life.

So I had decided I was going to ignore the cute greeter but just at that moment Claire decided it was time to start singing "Row, row your boat." She started belting it out loudly as I was arranging my shopping cart.

Then the little lady came over and said, "What you singing? I know that song!" And believe it or not, she started belting out "Row, row your boat," as loud as she could sing it with Claire. It was hilarious because she was a TERRIBLE singer, had a thick accent and was LOUD. We giggled and talked to her and then she kept on singing, even when we were halfway through the store we could still hear, "Row, Row, row YOUR BOAT!!!"

I said a silent prayer of thanks to God for overcoming my laziness so I could get a giggle and a blessing from the crazy Wal-Mart greeter.

Blackberry Bush

About six years ago, when I was still a teacher, one of my friends gave me a cutting from her blackberry bush. I was very excited about it and went home and planted it immediately. My thought was that it would grow in the corner of my flower bed and I could save money on buying blackberries.

The first year, it didn't do anything. I vaguely remember stepping around something kind of spiky next to the pool.

The second year, a couple of blackberries sprouted, but they were immediately eaten, and I couldn't figure out what that spiky vine growing was. Sometimes I just don't connect the dots.

The third year, and each year subsequently, I have gotten zero blackberries, but the vine has taken over my little flowerbed! Apparently the blackberry "bush" didn't grow to be a bush, but a vine that is choking everything else out.

Each spring I put on my garden gloves and pull up the sprouts. I always get part of the root but not all of it. Every time I think I have it cleared out, it just grows back. It's quite frustrating and painful if you step on it.

Last week when I was pulling up the sprouts, I thought about how life is sometimes like a blackberry bush. Something small and good, if unchecked, grows into something bad that takes over your life. Also, if you're completely oblivious to the vine that is taking over your flowerbed, you're likely to get a thorn in your foot.

Loose Dogs! Again

We love our neighborhood. It's so quiet and friendly, with one exception. The neighbors across the street have at least seven dogs, and they let them run loose regularly. It frustrates me and infuriates Adam. So what do you do when your neighbors let their dogs run loose and the dogs come poop in your yard and bark and growl at you and your children? First we tried to be neighborly. We'd alert the family that their dogs were loose and chase them back home if possible. When that wasn't effective, Adam went over one day and told them their dog had just pooped in our yard and he expected them to come clean it. The lady said, "Sure, I'll be right over!" Then she got in her car and drove off. Adam scooped the poop and returned it with a note to their front porch. When that didn't change the situation, we called Animal Control. "Sure, we'll be right there to pick the dogs up," they said. Unfortunately Fort Worth is a big city and they always have other calls more pressing than ours. The dog catcher has never been able to catch these dogs. When that didn't work, we decided to approach the situation from a legal standpoint. We knew for a fact that they had more dogs than the city allows. We called code compliance and they sent an officer out to investigate. The neighbors claimed that not all the dogs lived at the house, that some of them were "just visiting." They didn't get a ticket, just a warning. And believe it or not, that didn't fix the problem, either. So last week when Adam was home and the dogs were out again, he got angry and called Animal Control again. They suggested that we start documenting the problem with pictures and go sign an affidavit. Supposedly this will cause the neighbors to receive a citation and will fix our problem. So here's a picture of a loose dog in our driveway. Unfortunately this is their cute, fluffy, and friendly dog, and not the giant menacing ones. We'll see if this makes a difference.

Happy birthday to my MIL

April is my favorite month because of the weather, the flowers, the birthdays, and Easter. I missed noting that my Uncle Greg's birthday was the day after mine, and on April 25, my niece Morgan will turn 11. Today, however, is my mother-in-law's birthday. Sarita will have to tell you herself how old she is; I can't remember and it's not proper to ask a lady her age. When I was in high school and college, I enrolled in several Spanish classes. In each class, you have to choose a Spanish name, so my name was always Sarita. In fact, I still have a couple of friends that call me that. So it was pretty funny that not only are our birthdays so close together, so are our names. Sarita was raised in Chandler, Texas, a suburb of the metropolitan Tyler area. She's familiar with rural life, so last year when Claire's pet chicken pooped on her head, she didn't even get upset. She's got lots of crazy stories about animals around the house and yard. Until a few years ago, Sarita was a special education teacher for high schoolers. Not only was she dealing with all the angst that comes with that age group, she was teaching the emotionally disturbed students. That alone qualifies her for sainthood in my book. I admire Sarita for her thoughtfulness and generosity. She never lets anything go to waste and always thinks of who could use something she has. A stale roll is given to the kids to feed ducks with, and old sweaters are packed up for the homeless. She's a huge scrapbooker and saves all her little clippings and unused stickers for the kids to use with crafts. She also sends off for free samples and passes them around the family and gives the leftovers to the homeless. Even her magazine subscriptions don't go to waste. She and Adam's dad, Stan, live in Grapevine, and she used to drive all the way to John Peter Smith to take her already read magazines so the waiting room would always have current magazines. Now that her health isn't what it used to be, she saves all her magazines for me to take to church for homeless ladies to read. At my house, we have a special drawer we call "Grandma's drawer." After I cut my coupons, I put the leftovers in there and when Sarita and I see each other, we exchange bags of coupons and other items. She always has a bag going for each family member, and you never know what you're going to find inside. Mine always has coupons, duck bread, random canned goods, and whatever she got free in the mail she couldn't use. In the family I was raised in, holidays were strictly family time. So the first time I saw that Stan and Sarita had invited extra people to their Christmas celebration, I must be honest and say that I was a little taken aback. But then I realized that the cashier at Wal-Mart didn't have anywhere else to go on Christmas Eve and how kind and generous it is to invite strangers and casual friends to celebrate with your family. Now every year I look forward to whoever shows up because it always makes it interesting. Sarita is always thinking about others. I also love how down to earth she is. There is not a bone of pretension in her body, so many people easily relate to her. Last week, she and Stan celebrated 37 years of marriage and today she celebrates 25 years of life. Yeah, I know the math doesn't add up, but just go with it. Happy birthday, Sarita, my favorite mother-in-law!

Happy Birthday to Mi!

Today is my paternal grandfather's 86th birthday. In honor of his birthday, I thought I'd share some of his history with my readers. His name is Jerry McClellan Baker. McClellan is a family name, but I must ask again where it comes from. He was born in Emhouse, Texas, close to Corsicana (home of my grandmother). His father died when he was six and his mother moved him and all the kids to her parents house. They survived the Great Depression with a garden and lots of creativity. He dropped out of high school to join the Navy. He worked on a hospital ship in WWII and walked the streets of Hiroshima three days after the bomb hit. After the war, he met my grandmother, Margie, in Corsicana. When I asked him what he first liked about her, he said, "She was a girl." I asked him what she liked about him and he replied, "I imagine that she was glad I was a boy." He got his grandpa name when my cousin Jeff couldn't say the words "my granddad." Jeff could only come up with the word Mi, so from then on he was called that. I love my granddad because he's a saver. He saves all his beer cans for me to take to church to recycle. He has a little shelf in his hallway that he puts all his empty beer cans in, not because he can't put them in a bag himself, but because the kids love throwing them in the bag. He saves all his complimentary address labels for Claire to play with. Ensure bottles are repurposed as spittoons and a empty bottle of nosespray is filled with glass cleaner for his eyeglasses. Rather than buying new eyeglasses for himself, he wears my grandmother's old frames. He is also thoughtful. He makes sure he always has corndogs, steak fingers, and strawberries for each time we visit him. He make sure the garage door is lifted when we come to visit and often backs out his car so I can park in the garage to not overheat my car's interior. He listens to Rush Limbaugh every day and always has a political opinion to share with me. "Look at all that snow. How's that for global warming?" or "Michelle Obama took all the fat out of my gravy." These are entertaining to me and sometimes spark a thoughtful discussion. Sometimes I just listen. In his working days, he climbed electrical poles for TXU. He still wears his uniform daily, unless it's a special occasion. He broke his hip in the 1980s and walks with an elevated shoe and a cane or walker. His house is covered with pictures and he tells me often how satisfied with his life he is. I love to hear his old stories and actively try to record them. Whenever he would repeat a story, I used to stop him to let him know that I remember it and appreciate his stories, but I've stopped that. Now I just listen to them again and enjoy that he is telling them to me and that I don't have to remember them myself yet.

Employment

Since January, I've been the communications coordinator at Arlington Heights United Methodist Church. I'm in charge of the newsletter, the website, and various other church publications as needed. While the kids are in preschool, I get to sit in my office and pretend I'm an adult. I love it! Here's some pictures of my office: This would be my bookshelf with my shrine to cute kids...mine and Miss Marijn Joan Koons! This is my wall of original artwork. On the left is a self-portrait by Claire. In the middle is a real oil painting depicting faith as a tree. My friend Robin Stout painted it and I was so honored that she let me have it! It's so pretty. On the right is an Allison Smith pastel design. I love to stare at it.

Look! I look important and busy!

Robin took these photos and said, "You're so important and busy that you have to work on two computers at the same time!" I was cracking up when she was taking the pictures. That's how serious I am. If you look in the background, you can even see my college diploma framed! Woohoo! I'm a grownup!

Birthday Reflections

Today is my birthday. I'm 33 and happy to be 33. I don't want to be in my 20s any more. Maybe as I get older that will change, but I'm happy right where I'm at. I'm more comfortable in my own skin at 33 than I was in my 20s. For my blog of the day (and I'm super proud of myself for blogging every day for approximately 8 days) I thought I'd reflect on the last year and hope for the next one. In my 32nd year, I

1. Potty-trained a two year old boy.


2. Started getting up earlier consistently and journaling, praying, and reading the Bible.


3. Began appreciating being called "Ma'am."


4. Slowed down my printed book buying and began transferring my reading to my Nook.


5. Had several nights reading quietly next to Adam. I love that he has become a reader!


6. Admitted and accepted that I'm a bad driver. No wrecks this past year, though!


7. Got a job! I'm the communications coordinator at church!


8. Lost some friends and got some new ones. Somehow it always happens that way. I'll mourn the loss of a friend to a move or a severed relationship, and then the next day casual friends start popping up out of the woodwork and becoming true friends.


9. Caught up and kept up with some old friends. I always love when I can keep enjoying a joke that was cheesy 15 years ago.


10. Enrolled the kids in preschool.

In my 33rd year, I'd like to:

1. Appreciate the moment more. I am currently making a conscious decision to do this. I recognize what makes me happy and I'm trying to stay in the moment and enjoy the happiness.


2. Continue to de-clutter my house. Yesterday I saw some novels that I wanted to read that were FREE! I picked them up immediately but then set them back down so I wouldn't have that extra clutter in the house. I've got plenty to read.


3. Get off junk mail e-mail and USPS mailing list. I want to save time and a tree!


4. Read what I want and not force myself to finish a book I don't like.


5. Get Claire reading fluently before kindergarten.


6. Teach Paul to write his name.


7. Save.


8. Eat better and exercise.


9. Recognize what makes me frustrated and try to get over it or fix it.


10. Go on a trip. (Adam and I are about to celebrate 10 years of marriage!)

Silly Hat Day and other photos

For some reason this morning, I can't figure out how to order these darn pictures. Oh well, I'll provide captions.

This is Paul after a long day of grocery shopping. He took his nap under his bed. Not sure why.

This is us celebrating crazy hat day at Aldi. Paul's wearing my Shamu hat, I'm in a police hat, and Claire's in a pink cowboy hat. I kept calling it Crazy Hat Day and Claire kept telling me her hat wasn't crazy, it was "real."

Pre-grocery trip, we were selecting what crazy hats we would wear to make things more interesting. The kids also brought their rubber rats to the store.

I took pictures of the kids in Bluebonnet Circle the other day. This is the first year I've noticed the bluebonnets in Bluebonnet Circle.

Who loves Mommy?

American Ninja Warriors

We have discovered a new TV series that the whole family loves. It's on G4 and it's called American Ninja Warrior. We also enjoy Ninja Warrior and Jump City Seattle. All of these shows are about male athletes pushing themselves to the limit and doing risky and exciting tricks. Several consequences have followed our television watching. On the show Ninja Warrior, which is filmed in Japan, Makoto Nagano is the big star. He is Japanese, of course. Recently we went to the local garage to get my car inspected. The mechanic is of Asian descent. Claire whispered in my ear, "He kind of looks...." I didn't understand what she said. Then she said it again. Preparing for her to make a comment about his race, I was thinking of how I could address the issue. Then I understood what she said. "He looks like Makoto Nagano." No compliment could have been greater. Uncomfortableness avoided. Another consequence of watching these shows as a family is that the kids want to imitate Makoto Nagano and the other stars. They've been doing flips off of their bed and jumping off furniture. We try to discourage this, but sometimes fail. Of course they're not really performing dangerous tricks, yet. Here's a video of Claire being a Ninja Warrior on her bed.

Confession that I'm a Walmart shopper

When I was a school teacher and was part of a dual-income family, I enjoyed telling people how much I loved buying all my groceries at Tom Thumb. Sure it's more expensive, I'd say, but you get great customer service and I use coupons, which really drives the price down. They do have fabulous customer service. All the employees knew me and one lady even knew our dog! I was against shopping at Wal-Mart. In fact, I boycotted them for about 7 years. I was quite adamant in this. Adam and I disliked Wal-Mart for their huge building, huge carts, and incompetent staff. One day, however, I had to go to Wal-Mart to buy my blind friend Jo some special seat cushions. Of course that was the day that my coworker saw me in the parking lot. I still maintained that I was not a Wal-Mart shopper. When I quit work, I started grocery-hopping as my friend Mary Annelle calls it. I would read all the sales papers and then do most of my shopping at Tom Thumb but go to other stores for their sales items. Due to realities of life, I eventually had to drop Tom Thumb off my regular rotation. What happened next was a snowball effect. I would pop into Wal-mart for one thing, a non-food item and then I would remember I needed cereal. Cereal is a full dollar cheaper there. I felt good because I bought my one item and remembered cereal. But then on the next visit, I remembered more that I needed. Then I started bringing a list. Now I am an official Wal-Mart shopper. I am still frustrated by the huge carts and huge store, but I have found competent employees who are both intelligent and friendly. Some items are so much cheaper there that it doesn't make sense for me to buy it anywhere else. My name is Sarah, and I am a Wal-Mart shopper.

My Awesome Sisters-in-Law and Niece

These are my sister-in-laws. That's Amanda on the left and Angie on the right. Today for the best birthday present ever, they came and cleaned our house. All of it. It was amazing.

Adam took the kids to a coin show so they weren't underfoot. Amanda and Angie and our niece Morgan, got busy. You wouldn't recognize my house, so I took pictures. I also want to memorialize the event before the kids get home.

Here's a bookshelf with only vertical books! There are no papers or piles of paperbacks! Amazing!

They even organized the pool towels! Incredible!

Look! This is Paul's room! There are books and boots, all in the right place! Unbelievable!

Here's the kids bathroom! No toys or towels underfoot! Breath-taking!

Here's Claire's bookshelf! I'm speechless!

This is Claire's room. That brown stuff on the floor is carpet! There's a bedspread on her bed! There are stuffed animals stacked neatly!

I took more pictures, but I didn't want to rub it in how awesome my house looks. No, Adam doesn't have a brother, but Amanda's single! I am humbled and exhausted. Happy birthday to me! (And it's not even my birthday until Wednesday!) Best birthday present EVER!