Gerbera daisys, the water timer and the goodwill

I knew last night that my fuse was getting thin...Grace has gotten in the habit of staying up late, which is good for me in one sense because I get more morning sleep, but is bad in another because I don't have any time away from her unless I am asleep.

Last night I snapped at her... she was being loud, talking incessantly about God knows what and all I wanted to do was hear the glorious proposal that was about to take place on the Bachelorette. So I said... "Grace, would you just SHUT YOUR MOUTH!?" Well, that really did her in... I hurt her feelings more than I ever I have I think, her lip poked out and she melted into a puddle of tears. So after much apologizing and asking of forgiveness, she gave me a hug and said "OK, mommy" and everything was back to normal.

Today hasn't been much better. I just feel like I am at the end of myself, I have no patience, I am tired, about to burst into tears all the time, and am feeling so inadequate as a person and as a mother. So I took her to story time at the library. She usually loves that, so after a few temper tantrums trying to get out the door (which didn't help the patience issue) we made it. It went pretty well, but we decided to leave before the art project, which didn't really suit Grace. See, they were painting with this foam paint that stains everything and is made with some sort of indelible ink... and the outfit that she had on was really cute and I didn't want to ruin it... So I dragged her out the door.

Thinking that we had done something for her this morning, I thought it was time to do something for me. So we went to the Goodwill. Now, don't get me wrong, Grace loves shopping, so this wasn't torture for her by any stretch of the imagination. Armed with a few snacks and juice we started shopping. She wanted in the basket, out of the basket, she wanted to run in between all the clothes, play peek a boo and pick out everything... this was fine with me, at least she was entertained... then it happened....

Grace was running behind me with a bag full of Kix cereal in her hand... and somehow there was an explosion of Kix all over the Goodwill! Oh LORD... these little balls of cereal fun were strewn all over the floor in the main aisle! Without prompting, Grace bent down to starting cleaning up, which I was proud of her for... But she was eating every other one! Yes, off of the floor at the Goodwill! Even I think that is gross...but what could I do?... So she picked up and ate most of the kix off the floor.... Ok, you can turn me in to child services if you want... but it's been one of those days.

We finally made it home and I noticed the 30 gerbera daisy plants that I had planted earlier in the summer. I've been trying to water them, but it's been hard to remember lately. Today their foliage looked green and pretty healthy, but they were just dry (or tired) enough that they couldn't pop out a flower. I mean, that's how I feel!!!!! Now if I was smart I would hook up the automatic watering timer that would take care of all this for me, but I don't know how to do it, and my husband has just had a lot going on... but where's MY automatic watering timer?

In the few minutes of quiet that I had before grace wakes up again... I read these verses:
(these are from the new living translation)
Isaiah 43:20
"Yes, I will make springs in the desert, so that my chosen people can be refreshed."
Isaiah 44:1-4
"But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one. The Lord who made you and helps you says: O Jacob, my servant, do not be afraid. O Israel my chosen one, do not fear. For I will give you abundant water to quench your thirst and to moisten your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit and my blessings on your children. The will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank."

Well, there it is... my automatic watering timer....I just find it comforting that in these verses God reminds me that He will take care of everything... that I don't have to be 'ON' all the time and that he will take care of my children... that they will thrive because HE will take care of them... so the pressure is off me. The only thing I am commanded to do in these verses is 'listen to Me,' 'do not be afraid' and 'do not fear.' He's got this one...I guess I need some rain and refreshing, but don't we all?

Tiny Home Vacation

Chris took Thursday and Friday off work this week. It was so nice! Thursday we went to the pool and for a snack at Dip-n-Dots. Friday we went to the zoo! It's been quite a few years since Chris has been to the zoo....and Grace loves the zoo, so we had a lot of fun! Here are some pictures:

Grace enjoyed the fish!

We were able to see the zoo keeper feed the tigers turkey broth popsicles!

Finally, we got grace a little 8 dollar pool so that she could 'swim' easily when we didn't have the energy or time to pack up and take her 35 minutes to the actual pool. It's worked out nicely! She likes it!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

I knew that Chris would be a great father before I married him... that was one of the criteria of course... but I didn't know HOW great he'd be. About 10 minutes ago (on father's day), he was on the floor cleaning up 100's of rice kernels that had missed grace's mouth and landed so nicely all over the kitchen floor. He was doing this because he knew that if I bent over to do the same, everything I just ate would come up too.
I guess this would be a good time to clarify the above statement. Well, I guess you could say that we are unexpectedly expecting.... YUP....almost 3 months now... and I have been really sick. The past few months have been hard, and Chris has been nothing but solid. He will keep grace up until 10 just so that she will sleep in an extra hour or so for me in the morning. He comes home from a long day at work and picks right up and plays with grace for hours... on the golf course, in the yard, reading books etc... because by that time the only thing I can do is lay in bed. No complaining, no hesitation, he takes care of everything. That is just the epitome of his heart. He is a servant and has a tender, caring heart. He truly wants to be there for us, no matter how tired he is and no matter how long his day was.

I can not imagine life without him. Grace looks into his eyes with so much trust and pride and that makes me happy. He works long hours most of the year, but makes up for the lost time with Grace for sure. She misses him, and he misses her. The time he does have with her does her heart good.

I am so thankful for this man that God brought me, and I know that no matter what comes our way, we can handle it... or at least he can... and I can try to follow his lead. So needless to say, I am really scared of what is ahead, especially since this is so much of a surprise, but knowing I have someone who will stand for us when I can't is so comforting.

Happy Father's Day Honey! And thanks for being so awesome! We love you!

TOOTUMBERS

I would like to announce to the blogging world that my child has just eaten tootumbers (cucumbers) on 2 consecutive days....! This is momentous because usually grace only likes select things... none of which include vegetables...(except veggie burgers, because I'm sneaky).
Today grace ate more tootumbers than she did cheese! That is truly a miracle!
That's about all I have to announce today... but I'll include some cute pictures.

Playing golf the day before she got her real pink golf clubs...

At the Zoo with Izze and Papa

Smartie pants or should I say smartie shirt....

Two or three times a day Grace and I have a fight. I can predict exactly when this is going to happen: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.... Sometimes if I'm lucky, she will eat something wholesome for lunch... but my luck has run out these days. Today I fixed the old faithful, ham, cheese and sliced apples.... all of which she asked for, by the way....
I try to ignore her for the first few minutes of lunch, going about my business, emptying or filling the dishwasher, picking up random socks or toys from the floor... or just simply trying to figure out what I want to eat for lunch. This usually works.... she'll eat at least a few bites. Today she ate the cheese and 2 bites of ham, but no apple. Cue fight....

Today I simply asked her to take a little bite of her apple. She thought it was hilarious to bend down and eat the apple like a cat, basically, plate to mouth... Hey, I'm willing to put up with cat-baby if she is getting the nutrients. But she promptly spit out the apple. I told her she needed to chew it up really good and swallow it so it would go into her tummy.

Something about this phrase intrigued her and I could see her wheels turning. I went to the microwave to heat up my soup, and 2 minutes later turned around and noticed that all the apple slices were gone! Hooray! She ate them...!

I said, "Grace, did you eat all your apples for mommy? What a good girl!"
She says " Apples in tummy!"
I am thinking this is wonderful until I notice a bulge in her shirt....
"Grace, what's that?"
She promptly lifted up her shirt and there were 3 apple slices stuck to her tummy!
"Apples in tummy mommy!" She is grinning from ear to ear!

I am assuming that since I said her apples needed to go in her tummy, she thinks she obeyed me perfectly...or maybe she's trying to pull one over on me again... Hummm...

"JoJo"

Grace and I try to get over to JoJo's at least once a week. It's been a little longer this time, but today we went for a visit. For those of you who don't know, JoJo is my grandmother, Grace's great grandmother. Grace is fairly opinionated and stubborn (in a good way, of course). And some days she hasn't quite made up her mind about JoJo. She always LOVES JoJo, but she doesn't always like her. We can't figure out if it's the glasses or what...?

Anyways, today was totally different. We went over to see JoJo... well, Grace wanted to know where she was at all times, she wanted to follow her everywhere, she wanted play and read books with JoJo. We dropped her off at the salon to get her hair cut and ran to get her a few groceries... Throughout Kroger, Grace is yelling "JOOOOOJOOOO Are you???" meaning, JoJo, where are you? She saw an older lady with dark hair walking down an isle... she burst into laughter and says "JoJo, silly JoJo"... the lady wasn't JoJo, of course and when grace realized that, she gave the lady a horribly mean look and said "No Leelee" (meaning, NO, you can't have my slammy..")

We went back to get JoJo at the salon and the whole time she is paying, grace is hugging her legs, laughing. We then go to Panera for a delicious lunch, and Grace only wants sips of JoJo's water and wants JoJo to hold her slammy. I basically wasn't in the picture at all... That was fine with me.

Grace wanted to go back to JoJo's house to play after lunch... they had a ball. (Well, grace did for sure) Grace learned how to count more consistently to 5, she read books, sat in the fun chair that goes up and down, ate more food and basically played with everything in the house. Meanwhile, I am laying my lazy self on the couch closing my eyes for a nap. Yep, it was LOVELY.

An hour after naptime has usually begun, I tell Grace that we have to go home... she wasn't happy... I finally managed to get her onto the porch, and all she wanted to do was give JoJo more kisses and hugs. It was really cute.

Grace was asleep before we were a mile away from JoJo's house.... tired and happy.
Thanks for a fun day and lunch JoJo!

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I've posted. I'll explain that one day. But here are some quick pictures with our new camera. We took grace to the pool this weekend, and got a couple of cute pictures there. We got a couple more today at the library and the park. Enjoy.
I know this post is kind of boring, but maybe the pictures will make up for it????