Excuse my laziness. Summer is here and I’m feeling it already. My days of sleeping in are long gone, but I still enjoy a lazy, rainy day in my pj’s with the boys, and lately, we’ve been spending about three hours a day by the pool. It is divine. We pack a lunch, go the pool from about 10-1, and by the time we get home, the boys are completely worn out, Owen goes down for a nice long nap, and I get to chill out with a book or a chick flick for a little while. Now that you know what my schedule has been like lately, it will come as no surprise to you that I’ve done almost NO housework! I’m here every single day and I still keep my house “tidy”, but it is SO dirty right now!
So, the purpose of this post is to tell you what I’m going to do…as soon as I get up from the computer! I’m going to set my kitchen timer for 30 minutes and in that time, I’m going to vacuum the whole house, dust, clean both bathrooms, and sweep the kitchen floor. I’m not kidding. I can do it. And when I finish, I’ll feel SO much better! I challenge you to do the same. Make a short to-do list and set that timer for thirty minutes. You’ll be amazed at all that you can accomplish in such a short period of time when you have specific goals in mind! Good luck!

~audrey

I was trying to get dinner ready this evening and I knew I remembered seeing Joshua in the office.  He was sitting on the floor messing with the “kids books”.  The kids have about three shelves in the office for their books.  They usually stay rather well organized and on the shelves, except for the bottom shelf that is easily reached by the little boys (Owen and my friend’s son Jonathan)….those shelves usually look chaotic and sometimes don’t have a single book on them because they are all over the floor of the office…and every other room in the house!

As I pulled the chicken off the stove, Joshua ran in and said, “Mom! You’ve GOT to come and see what I organized!”  My heart leapt  for joy at the thought of one of my children having a desire to get things organized…but with three boys, I wasn’t getting my hopes up!! LOL!  This is what I saw:

Not only did he organize them according to their height, but he also pulled all of the books to the front of the shelf which is something I always do. It looks neater and keeps the shelves from getting dusty! Definitely MY kid! 🙂

~audrey

A few nights ago my husband had to work late with my father-in-law, so I decided to try and make it a special night for the boys. We went to the store and used the “Red Box” to rent a movie. I didn’t let the boys see what I rented so it would be a surprise when we got home. We also got popcorn and M&Ms for a special movie treat.

MOVIE NIGHT!

I just had to add this one because you can see the light of the glow sticks.

Jesse, Owen and Joshua already in "the zone", watching the movie. 🙂

When we got home, we closed all of the blinds and made a tent out of dining room chairs and bed sheets. And for the ‘icing on the cake’, I brought out a bag of small glow sticks. We brought all of our pillows and blankets into the tent and settled in for our movie. “Hotel For Dogs” was the feature presentation. 🙂 It was a cute movie and we hadn’t seen it yet, so the boys actually WATCHED the entire thing. Once the movie was over, they helped me clean up…even vacuumed the popcorn off the living room floor. All in all it was a great little date-night-in! I love having boys. Mine certainly have a special way of making me feel like a princess.

I have to add that today is my birthday and my in-laws kept the boys last night. My mother-in-law said, as Joshua came in the kitchen this morning, the first thing he said was, “Well, today is the big day for the birthday girl!” My sweet little man.

~audrey

I don’t know how many of you are on facebook, but I am, and it can be quite addicting and time consuming if you’re not careful. I should start this by saying, I LOVE FACEBOOK. I check my facebook almost every day and I have a few friends that I would probably lose contact with if it weren’t for facebook…that is my disclaimer. LOL!
I have noticed lately that facebook has become a place for a little subtle competition between the housewives. Many of my ‘friends’ are housewives and/or stay-at-home moms (like myself). So, I find it hilarious to see just how many ‘status updates’ are about who worked out this morning, who made a gourmet meal for dinner, who lost weight on their diet this week, who has a “date night” with the hubby tonight, and who takes the best pictures (it seems like at least 50% of my friends have become professional photographers in the last year or so…don’t get me wrong, most of them are REALLY good and extremely talented…it’s just funny how many of them have gone “PRO”). Another thing I’ve noticed is just how many “mommies” are posting pictures of themselves in their bikinis for all the internet world to see. Yes, I’m slightly jealous/envious of their post-partum bods, but I’d like to think that even if I did wear a size 2 after having a baby, and I did choose to wear a bikini, I have a little too much modesty to post them on the internet.
Most of the comments under all of these pictures are of pure jealousy and how much they are “hated” for being so gorgeous and skinny…then the ‘owner’ of the picture comments back, “oh girl, you made my day. all I’ve eaten today is an apple and a diet coke, I feel so fat…” blah, blah, blah.
I do think that it is our job as women/wives/mommies to encourage each other, support each other, hold each other accountable, build each other up…but it doesn’t all have to be made public. We don’t have to SEE the fake boobs your hubby purchased for you a few years back to know that you are a beautiful and successful woman…and throwing your kids into the pic doesn’t make it any less obvious.
Let me also say that I am completely guilty of some of these things (not the skimpy pictures…because I have none! LOL!). I’ve posted plenty of status updates about my children’s accomplishments, where my hubby took me for dinner, a long-awaited girls’ night out, etc. It’s just the phoney stuff that cracks me up…like the perfectly POSED pictures that are claimed to be one of those ones the “hubby took while I wasn’t looking”….um, right.
There is nothing WRONG with anything that I’ve mentioned in this post. I just HAD to state the obvious…all in good fun. 🙂 Keep the entertainment coming!
Have an awesome weekend!!

~audrey

We’ve had our garden in the backyard for two weeks now and everything is growing beautifully.  We should have lots and lots of veggies by the beginning of July.  We even had to add another 4′ X 4′ section to allow more space for our pumpkins, cantelopes, and watermelons.  However, little by little I’ve noticed something has been nibbling on my squash leaves.  I decided to ask for help from my facebook friends and fellow gardeners.  We’d like to keep this garden as organic as possible.  The response was great.  A few people told me about planting marigolds around and in your garden to keep away harmful pests.  Another tip was purchasing ladybugs from a local nursery to release in the garden and the ladybugs basically kill the harmful pests.  The thing to remember is, some insects are good for your garden.  Some insects will leave your plants alone and feed on the harmful insects.  The final tip was to mix up a ‘recipe’ that you spray on all of your fruits and veggies:

1quart hot water

1 garlic bulb

1 small onion

1 tbspn cayene

1 tbspn liquid handsoap

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a blender and let it steep for an hour, then add soap. Pour into a spray bottle and spray on all of your fruits and veggies.

I planted the marigolds today.  I may try the spray a little later in the week if I notice continued nibbling.

Have a great weekend.  We’re going to have rain here this afternoon, so we’ve been working our tails off in the backyard since about 8am.  I’m sure our neighbors love us!! My hubby is building an addition on the back of our house and the saws and air compressor are pretty loud for a Saturday morning!  🙂

 
~audrey

I suppose this is a tribute to my sweet Grandma.  After living her entire adult life with diabetes, her kidneys are failing and her body grows more frail everyday.  She has withered away to a mere 115 pounds and sleeps around the clock, only to wake up for a few bites to eat or to say hello to a visitor.  The doctors don’t give her long to live.  They say when she stops eating, she’ll go quickly.  We beg her to eat, but her weak body would simply rather rest.  The boys and I met my brother in Greenwood yesterday, where my grandma lives in an assisted living facility.  We had a nice visit.  Something about the presence of children brings out life in the eyes of the eldery.  They brighten up and smile from ear to ear as my three little boys walk slowly down the hall, staring at all the men and women in their electric scooters and wheel chairs.  I can’t help but wonder who they all used to be.  Doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers?  All that is left is a frail wrinkley body and a small amount of silver hair.  Some are missing limbs, some can hardly hold their own head up, but almost all of them have lost the sparkle in their eyes.  They look lonely and defeated.  I don’t want my grandma to die alone.  On my way to Greenwood, my mind wandered back 15-20 years when I used to spend weeks at a time at her house during the summer.  She was the best cook I’d ever known.  I think I always went back home with a little belly from all of her delicious baked goods and extravagent breakfasts.  I remember waking up to the smell of buttermilk biscuits and Grandma’s famous chocolate gravy….oh my goodness.  🙂

Her house always smelled good and was always clean.  She had plastic fruit and silk plants in every nook and cranny of her little three bedroom house.  Aside from her family, my Grandma had a great love for jewelry and shoes.  She had a large jewelry armoire that she would let me explore everytime I visited.  She always gave me the freedom to try on every ring, every bracelet, and every necklace.  Her earrings were too heavy for my young ears, so I would simply pick up every pair and hold them up to my ears in front of the mirror, imagining how beautiful she must look as she wears each pair.  Her closet was lined with shoe boxes.  Front to back, top to bottom, and side to side, shoe boxes everywhere.  She has a small foot and I always LOVED it when I found a pair that fit my feet!   Often times she’d let me keep a pair of her shoes or a piece of her jewelry.  You see, I was not only the first girl on either side of the family, but I was also the very first grandchild to my Grandma and Papa (my dad’s side of the family).  I grew up always feeling like the favorite.  I’m sure my brother and two other cousins felt the same way.  Grandma and Papa had such a special way of treating us that always made us feel like “the only child”. 

I can remember Grandma chasing my brother and cousin Michael around the house with the fly swatter when they’d done something worthy of punishment.  I remember countless trips to the mall, where Grandma would get her hair done and then buy me a new outfit.  I was with my Grandma at the Hot Springs mall when I tasted my first Chick-fil-A sandwich.  That was the beginning of a lifelong, bitter sweet relationship…with Chick-fil-A! 🙂

I used to sit in the living room with Grandma and help her fold clothes while we watched soap operas.  Her cookie jar was always full.  At Christmas time, she had a large, plastic, light-up nativity scene that she would put in the front yard by the bird feeder.  I loved her house at Christmas.  There were always SO many gifts and she always had funky lights on her tree, like the kind that blinked to the beat of Christmas carols.  I grew up thinking Grandma and Papa were rich.  In reality, they were simply a middle class couple.  My Grandpa was retired from the army and was working as a manager for Roadway, and my grandma often did odd jobs, like work in the gift wrap department at a local department store.  They always had good food on the table and showered us with gifts for every occasion, or for no reason at all.  They were/are the best grandparents in the whole world.  I wish I hadn’t waited so long to tell them just how much I love them and just how much they mean to me. 

Our visit yesterday was a sweet one.  I plan to go back by myself sometime next week.  Although she’s had poor quality of life for the last couple of years, I hate to see her go and dread the day that I receive that news.  I find joy and peace knowing that she’ll have a brand new body as she enters the gates of heaven and I’ll see her again in eternity. 

God Bless you, Grandma.  I love you forever.

~audrey

Today I took the boys to Washington Farms to pick strawberries. We met my friend Mary and her two girls mid-morning and had a blast! It was about an hour and a half from our house and we were praying HARD for sunshine. The forecast said severe thunderstorms in the afternoon so we went early and prayed for the best! It was absolutely perfect. The sun peaked through the clouds a few times and there was a gentle breeze to assure we would not get too hot. After we filled our buckets, there were goats to see, fun on the slides, and a “corn box” to play in. Definitely our best “field trip” yet! We’re going to make a family trip back to the farm in the fall for pumpkin season…hayrides, corn mazes, bale jumping…fun times.

~audrey

Today marked another year of attempting a vegetable garden. I say “attempt” because we’ve never actually eaten a veggie or piece of fruit from our own garden. Each year I either plant them too late or I let one too many days go by without watering the garden and they die! Well I’m determined this summer and I think we’re off to a great start. The boys and I went and bought veggie plants and seeds while Josh worked on the renovations on the back of our house. The great thing is, we were all five out back together all day long. It was a perfect “work outside day”. And the bonus is, I don’t think anyone got sunburned! We have an 8’x4′ garden that is divided down the middle because we have about half plants and half seeds. This is what we planted: cantelope, watermelon, squash, zuccini, cucumber, cayanne peppers (for my hubby), pumpkins (for the kids), green beans, onions, carrots, broccoli, and two different types of lettuce. I wish I had gotten some pictures of the boys helping, but there wasn’t a single moment when my hands were not completely covered in dirt so I left my camera inside until we were finished. :

As I type this now, dinner is on the stove and the mud puppies (aka, my children) are in the bath. They will soon transform back into my sweet smelling angels and should be dreaming in their beds in an hour! 🙂 What a great Saturday.

~audrey

Not only do I NOT have cancer and therefore do NOT have to have surgery again…I’ve also lost seven pounds since surgery and am continuing to lose.  I suppose I didn’t need that half of my thyroid afterall!  🙂  Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement.  You’re all great!!

Be blessed!!

~audrey

I’ve been in a funk lately. I’m not sure what started it, or if it came on slowly. Master’s week definitely wore me out, and the stress of our EXPENSIVE van repair also weighed heavy on my nerves. Regardless of the cause, I don’t like me lately. Sounds funny, but it’s so true. Mostly it’s been directed at my poor innocent husband. I have to apologize daily for my awful attitude and responses to his innocent questions and remarks. During the day, I’m great. The boys and I have had really good days lately, and together, we’ve been very productive. It’s like a switch is flipped around 5:00pm and by the time Josh walks in the door….look out! Anyways, I’ve been completely aware of my nastiness and have been trying very hard to snap out of it. Prayer, scripture, more sleep…nothing has been working so far. This past Sunday I decided I was going to make some drastic changes to my ‘normal routine’. I’ve known for a while now and have been trying to fight the fact that our family spends entirely too much time in front of the television and the computer. I justify it with, “they’re playing educational games”…”it’s our time to unwind after the kids go to sleep”…”at least they’re not fighting!”…the list goes on. But the bottom line is, when we’re in front of a screen, we’re not building each other up, we’re not glorifying God, we’re not interacting with anyone or anything, and we’re certainly not being productive. If anything, we’re losing brain cells, allowing someone or something else to think for us, and also allowing images and ideas into our minds and hearts that probably do not need to be there. My plan was as follows:

I would go back to getting up around 6am (way before the kids). Have a quiet time everyday (or as often as possible!). NO T.V. except between the hours of 3pm and 5pm. No television or computer time for me and Josh until after the kids have gone to bed, and even then, try to stick to one or two shows and then turn it off. We, as a culture, have totally allowed multimedia entertain to rob our families of our values and our relationships. Things like facebook and myspace have taken the place of real face-to-face fellowship and we’re becoming numb. I do not want that for my kids or for my marriage.

My mother-in-law sent me the perfect email yesterday that completely solidified what my goal is in all of this. Basically it was the story from 1Kings 19:19-21 when Elisha makes the decision to follow Elijah, and in doing so, completely destroys everything that would allow him to come back to his “former life”. He burned his tools he used to work, and then killed and cooked his oxen. It was his way of saying, “This is it guys! God has called me to follow Him and I’m not turning back!” What a great picture of sacrifice and the desire to change. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not planning on burning the computer or busting the television screen, but I will forever hold that picture in my mind when I’m tempted to sit down “for just a few minutes” to check my facebook, or when I’m tempted to turn on the TV for the boys so I can get my own things done around the house.
I’ve seen incredible results in the children just in the past three days. They are getting along better, the house stays clean because the boys have been outside the majority of the day and they help at least twice a day with chores. Laundry stays under control because, afterall, what else am I going to do?? 🙂 Not to mention, as a result of them playing outside all day, they are exhausted when bedtime rolls around. This new change makes me very excited for the summer. It has also helped my patience tremendously. When I’m not so focused on what I’d rather be doing, whether on the computer or in front of the TV, I’m calmer with the boys. I have the patience to muster up a godly response and even give godly wisdom.

With all that said………..I’M NOT GOING BACK!! I will not let my family slip back into mental numbness and I will not jump on the bandwagon of raising a generation of “vidiots”…my children will not be fat, violent, lazy, and dumb because they spent their childhood entertained in front of a TV or computer screen rather than outdoors being KIDS. My marriage will be strengthened because we’re choosing the high road. The less comfortable option. The choice that forces communication, love, and patience.

Ok, I’ve stepped down off my soapbox now. Forgive me! 🙂
I hope I’ve encouraged someone out there struggling with their children, wondering what they’re doing wrong…that just might be the same thing I was doing!

~audrey