Records

What was your first record? Not 8-track (gasp!). Not tape. Not CD. I mean a real record. I'm sure most of you remember that's all we had when we were real young. It wasn't anything for me to get out my old Fisher-Price orange and white record player and bust out some Elvis Presley. Of course, my Dad was extremely picky about what records I could play on my player; most of his records were "too good" for a cheap needle. But, I do remember a few 45s of Elvis and some record that Avon put out. The only thing I remember from that record is a song, "You can be a winner if you try." Still remember the tune too.

To this day, Dad still has a ton of records and a fairly decent player. Most of his older records (mostly Wings and the Beatles) were able to be salvaged after the tornado and some are goodies he happened to find at garage sales every now and then. What am I saying? He's obsessed. If there's a garage sale with records advertised, he's there. He's the FIRST one there.

I digress.

He's even found me some that I enjoy playing on my own player. Let me tell you...if you love nostalgia, buy yourself a record player and order a few of your favs off of e-bay. It is pure joy, I tell you. Pure joy.

Some of the gems dad has found for me are: The Beatles' Second Album, Close to You by The Carpenters, Chicago, Whitney Houston, Elvis, Mary Poppins soundtrack,Carole King Tapestry, Bye Bye Birdie soundtrack, Music Man soundtrack, Sinatra's Sinatra, The Sound of Music soundtrack, West Side Story soundtrack, Forever Frank Sinatra, Air Supply and my newest, Johnny Cash.

(If you're smiling at this point, you need to come over and jam with me and Whitney. It is a sight, honestly, but my kids love it).

I'm so glad Dad found Johnny Cash. He's been on the search for several months now. The song I wanted the most was "Walk the Line". Love-that-song. But, this record didn't have it on there. Oh well...it's Johnny Cash. There isn't one bad Cash song.

I brought the record home, popped it on and began to listen. The first song's bass was very familiar. Could it be? Oh yeah, it was meant to be. The owner put the record in the wrong jacket. We have found "Walk the Line."

My cup runneth over.

I heard that you can go to any music store and get records again, brand new, for about the same price that you can buy a CD.

Fabulous.

There's just something about a turntable.

We've been here all along

We have been here all along. The summer went exactly as I had hoped it would. Memories were made. Stress was gone. We had a ball.

We traveled.

I celebrated.

We took chances.

We loved on our family.

We cheered.

And now, I'm back.

This and That

Last night, I cuddled up under the covers and listened to the pouring rain and thunder. It was so sweet to the soul. I needed that in the worst way. It was one of those moments in life that I just wanted to giggle with delight. Pure joy. For weeks now, I have been going through the motions of life without enjoying each little piece. Last night, I remembered that His mercies are new every day. His mercies are new with each rain drop. Even this morning as everything is plush- green and the birds chirp outside the window while searching for their morning food, I remember that His mercies are new every morning.

Katelyn is at that age where she says new words every day. She just amazes me. She tries to keep up with Luke, often giving him a hard time, but mostly watching his every move. Last night, she said "milk" with the "k" sound and all.
She is in full toddler mode with a definite pre-2-year-old attitude. She's a great screamer, loves to run away from me....very quickly, I might add, and exclaims "NO!" quite frequently.

Luke and I have been reading "Because of Winn Dixie". It is one of my favorite books of all time and Luke is enjoying it too. There are many underlying messages for adults as well and the life lessons learned are numerous. We have the movie, and Luke is looking forward to watching it when we're done with the book. He is so creative and has quite the imagination. When asked (well, I guess you wouldn't even have to ask him) he'll tell you about his imaginary pet, "Foto" or Star Wars on the Wi.i that he plays at Papa and Grandma's.

Bill's almost done with his school requirements. He'll be done working at school June 15th. Can you say, "Honey-do list"?

This week is the first week of summer for me. VBS starts Monday and softball starts Thursday. Once VBS is done, a HUGE weight will be lifted off of my shoulders, but that's a whole other tale of If-I-knew-then-what-I-know-now, things would be totally different.

We're planning a trip to Dallas in July and I am excited. We'll be staying with my cousin in her beautiful home with an in-ground pool. Fantastic. I am jealous of all of my friends who have been and are taking vacations. It's always so refreshing to go some where. I contest that it's so important, especially for stay-at-home moms.

What a long, boring post. My apologies to you who had to endure that. And, since I can't think of a creative way to end this post, I'll just....end it.

The Currys...EXPOSED

Over the years, I have been the subject of much ridicule when it comes to my cleanliness.
Let's face it...
I love a clean house.
I cannot function properly without my house being in order.
Friends have mused, "Tiff, I see a pinch of dust on that end table. Better get your rag!"
"Is your house EVER messy?"
I definitely get a bad rap.
So, today, you will see the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
This is what my home looks like on a daily basis.
It's lived in. It's played in. It's eaten in.
It's raw. It's unleashed.
I'm sure it will make most readers' jaw hit the floor.
Truth be told, I am worried about the state that some of you will be in when you...
DISCOVER THE TRUTH.

Ah, yes. When you come to my house and walk through the door, you will most likely see this:

Aside from a few toys here and there, the living room is always the most presentable, awaiting any unwanted, I mean, unplanned guests. But it's what you don't see that's the kicker. It's what's behind closed doors.

No, no, no. This isn't just a bad case of the "which shoe should I wears"?.
This is a horrible case of, "I'm too lazy to pick up my shoes".

Below you will see what appears to be a pack 'n' play. Looks can be deceiving. It doubles as my husband's clothes hanging service; AKA clothes "hanging" around until my wife puts them away.

Just a teeny example of dishes that are left out. This particular popcorn bowl and cup have been lurking since Tuesday night. Nevermind the sippy cup of milk I found underneath a blanket in the toy room. I think it's safe to say that curdled milk in a sippy cup definitely warrents an automatic toss in the trash.

Ah, yes, breakfast. I had to move coloring books and Candy.land out of the way so my children could partake.

This is a fairly organized closet, but to me, it's just a sign of things that need to be done.

Bill's closet in his bathroom is definitely his area. I did, however, organize it last week.
That lasted.

Bill's bathroom. Enough said.

This is where it gets scary, folks. These are my laundry piles.

So, as you can see...I'm like most of you. I have messes. Sure, my messes may not last very long, but they are messes. It represents life. It's truth.
I could have showed you even more, but I thought I'd spare you the details of Luke's bathroom escapades or the sugar ants I found in my kitchen last week.
It just goes to show why I have a love-hate relationship with a messy house.
I hate it because it makes me cranky, stressed and to be frank, a little witchy.
I love it because when it's all cleaned up, the kids are in bed and I'm relaxed, I can take a deep breath and actually...
breathe.

Resurrection Cookies

This is something that we all must do with our kids! What a way to teach our children about the true meaning of Easter. Thanks, Paige!
Note: I chose this specific website link because of the layout, not the "If You're Happy and You Know It" tune. How annoying!

http://my.homewithgod.com/mkcathy/holiday/eastercookies.html

Just in time for Easter

Luke and I have been discussing Jesus' death quite a bit this week. It has to be a difficult concept for a four year old to understand as well as difficult for a Momma to explain.
I teach the Bible Story to the 4 and 5 year olds at Awana, and last week was the story of the crucifixion.
Deep stuff.
Deep stuff for me...
not so deep to Luke.
I mean, what's so hard to understand? God loved us so much that he sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross so that we could be saved from our sin.
Luke has thought and thought and thought about it this week,
but at the same time, he didn't act confused or worried.
It was what it was...no questions asked.
Yesterday, Luke was sitting at the kitchen table while I was making lunch and he said, "Mommy, I want to go to heaven some day."
I froze.
I turned.
I looked at him.
I walked over to him.
I knelt down and looked him in the eyes.
"What did you say, Luke?"
"I want to go to heaven some day."
I took Luke into the living room, sat him on my lap and right then,
Luke asked Jesus to "come into his heart and live".
I was overwhelmed.
It was never meant to be hard stuff to understand.
It's quite simple, actually.
Luke has it right.
The truth is...
it's not about a certain prayer.
Or a moment.
It's about Luke coming to a point where he truly believes that Jesus died for him.

It is hard for a four year old to understand that someone we cannot see can be "in our hearts" but he compared it to the only thing he knew and understood well...
Bl.ue's Cl.ues
In every episode of the show, Blue and Steve skidoo into a picture...
much like Mary Poppins, Bert, and Jane & Michael Banks once did by "popping" into one of Bert's sidewalk drawings.
So, with all that he could, Luke explained, "Mom! Jesus just skidooed right into my heart!"

What a day. A day I will never forget.

Blogging...the good, the bad and the ugly

I have to admit; I am a horrible blogger. I really do like to blog because I like to write. And, I like the fact that I can look back through blogs of years' past and reminisce. But, there are some things that I do not like about blogging. My biggest pet peeve is downloading pictures. I think a blog with pictures is WAY more interesting than no pictures, but it takes extra time. I always think of tons of cute things to talk to you about, but get lazy in putting it into words. I've been wanting to post this video of Luke for the past week, but I know how long it will take to download it, so I skip it. Am I pathetic or what?
My friends' blogs inspire me. I wish I could be as creative as some, but then that wouldn't be 100% "me". Even now, I read back on what I have wrote and I think, "What a bunch of mumbled-jumbled disjointed phrases! Why would anyone want to read this?"
I've been meaning to change my Valentine's Day background and family CHRISTMAS PICTURE for months now and do something a little more creative. Truth is, it takes time to mess with the layout and having a different picture would actually require me to take another family picture.
I'm beginning to sound a wee bit lazy. And, yes, I'd have to agree with a little bit of that. I am bloggy lazy. I think I'm bloggy lazy because I'm not lazy in any other aspect of my life. Here are just a few of the things that occupy my time:
1. Maintaining a home
2. Preschool with Luke
3. Giving Katelyn snacks
4. Training for a 1/2 marathon
5. Supporting a successful independent business
6. Coaching a summer softball team and scheduling games
7. Playing with kids
8. Practicing the Easter cantata for our church (which you ALL should come. It will be fabulous)
9. Co-chairing Vacation Bible School
and for all of you who can't stand it when lists end with an odd number, this if for you...
10. Blogging on a very part-time basis

Now, I know that I choose all of these things, but at times, I feel like I have no choice. Do you ever feel that way? A lot of the things that I choose I truly love doing (and I can't say that training for a marathon is one of them).

I honestly do not know where I'm going with this blog. No where, probably. I want to do better. I have so many ideas floating around in my head. So, my question for all of you is...what time of day do you blog? How do you fit it in? What do you do about pictures? Isn't it annoying to you?

What a boring post. If you've made it to the end, congratulations! Now you can inspire me, or give me a swift kick in the pants.