S Club Mama

I've been blessed recently to have a few conversations about God with a few people (including the Big Guy Himself). Whenever we stop by Anthony's grandparents' house, we end up talking theology. You know that I believe that we are saved by grace. God sent his only son into this world to die for each and every sin that you and I have committed, will commit, and are committing. It's only by accepting his gift of salvation and turning your life (and a new leaf) over to him that you shall be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. I know diddly squat about many denominations. There are a lot of them, too (Lutheran - Missouri Synod, Lutheran - ELCA, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, LDS, Baptists, charismatics, evangelicals, etc. you get the idea). I can't say that I identify with a single one. I feel that even being raised (and I use that term very loosely because my family was never a church going crowd) as a Lutheran - Missouri Synod, I see loose ends in their

So...I'm lazy and don't want to upload all of these pictures of our new house (again). For all of you who want to see our lovely new home, go here and check it out.

3 - your imagination can take you anywhere! Welcome to Sesame Street Live! I'm your host, S Club Mama! Our first destination on the Street is backstage...or rather a small room that is adjacent to a pool tournament, only cut-off by sheer black sheets. So... 1. close your eyes... 2. imagine you're there (hear the pool balls banging around and the announcer over the PA system)... 3. you're imagination can take you anywhere! Can you see Moose's excitement and joy at not only SEEING his pal Grover but SITTING ON HIS LAP?! And just feel Squirt as he puts a death grip on that Baby Bear's paw! Can you sense how much he wants to eat that fur? Alright...the next place we're going to go is to the auditorium. 1. close your eyes... 2. imagine you're there (can you see all the kids and parents? smell the popcorn and food? see the parents spending their childrens' college funds on Elmo toys/hats/shirts/toys, $4 cotton candy, and $10 Elmo balloons? The toys that Moose

That's right! The day I went to disconnect the internet, my hubby tells me "just have them change it to our new place." Oh yeah! However, it is my goal to not be on here for very long each day! I've actually enjoyed the quietness of our house and time spent with my kids without my beloved cable or internet. So I may not post as much (or just at different times of the day) and I may be slow getting around to you all. But I'm back! And I will post pictures of our new place soon. Let me just say - it's beautiful! And the boys have adjusted well. We're unpacked, pictures on walls even, and the only kink in our move is the colds that 3/4 of us have contracted (Big A isn't sick - thankfully). I've even joined an aerobics class.

Well...tomorrow's the big M day! I'm excited and sad, of course. But I am also very anxious to just get it done...I'm tired of packing. :) I think Moose kind of realizes something is going on. I don't know if he understands "moving" or not, but he's definitely been acting up today. Just a lot of screeching and crying and not listening. Nothing serious, but with him being SO mild normally, it's frustrating. I also think he's missed his daddy a LOT, too. So it'll be very good to be resettled in our new home. Will be talking with you soon.

This post is part of Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop. To read more posts inspired by various prompts, click here . Prompt #4: How many homes have you had? Write a journal entry about ALL the places you've called "home" in your life. One memory. That's all I have from my first home. I was about four, sitting on my mom's afghan in the middle of our living room, watching Fraggle Rock. That's all. Nothing more. It's also my oldest memory. My second house is where I lived the longest part of my life: age 5-18 (and summers of ages 19-20). Two bedrooms, one bathroom, four girls, one boy. Needless to say, it was small. I shared a room with my two sisters: Amber (2 years older) and Alyson (2 years younger). We had a bunkbed. Guess who got to share the bottom bunk? That's right, the younger two sisters. We fought like...well...sisters. She slept many a nights on the living room floor (she just wouldn't lay still and go to sleep, so we'd hit each ot

Moose's Christmas present from his Auntie. Meant to annoy us (partially). {whisper} I really like it! Especially when he sings "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" while drumming along. And when he crosses his drumsticks above his head saying, "Rocking Tristan!" Join in the fun over at Angie's Seven Clown Circus for Wordful Wednesday

I'll admit, the last time I packed was in college when we got married and moved in together. I didn't lift a finger the other 3 times we've moved. I have never set up our apartments - put dishes away or pictures up (at least not initially). This is my move apparently. I have packed away most of the toys, wall hangings, movies, half of my clothes, and other odds and ends. Big A packed away some of our dishes we never use (coffee mugs, glass glasses, etc) and 2 of our gaming systems (I wanted the Wii left out). I'll admit I'm very proud of myself. I was kind of overwhelmed by this packing stuff. I'm sure other women could do it better (or other men for that matter). They would go room by room and label a lot. I pack all pictures together, all books - no matter the room they came from. I do label if it's fragile and what room I want it put into (master bedroom, kids, living room, basement, etc). But it's sad packing. Part of our lives were spent here. This

I called the lady that basically runs the housing authority that we rent through to tell her that we're moving out on Friday. I've already signed a vacate notice but we were unsure of the actual date we'd be moving. She says this is fine and then casually mentions that we'll have to pay for another 30 days. What? When we moved in, she told us that they like to have a 30 days notice but 2 weeks is fine and they would work with us. Now she denies that. Both Big A & myself heard this and have been under this impression all along. Granted when I just looked at our lease it basically says that we will have 30 days past our notice to pay for but in very confusing terms. I tried to explain to her that next time she should be careful of what she says. She went on the defensive, saying she'd been doing this for many years and I'm the first person to mention this, blah blah blah. I said everyone makes mistakes and it's in paper, so for us that's that. BUT for

Is today Monday? Are you sure? It can't be because I had a great day today! Mondays are never this lovely (especially Mondays when my hubby isn't going to be cuddling with me that night). We did nothing special today. Got Squirt's formula switched out (Neutramigen was giving him diarrhea so went back to Gentlease). Exchanged a DVD I got for Christmas. Got some groceries we needed. I received a call on our way home from my friend, Chelsey. She works for a local radio station and had some backstage passes for Sesame Street Live that she wanted us to have. How sweet is that? My Moose is going to get to meet Elmo! I cannot wait until Saturday! After our second attempt at going home, we made a pit stop at our friend Elli's house. Her sister had given her some hand-me-downs and she'd gone through them for clothes for her older son. She had 3 garbage bags full of even more clothes from sizes 4T (what Moose wears) all the way up to 8T (8s? I'm not sure about that)! What

Moving. Oh boy. We got a call about an hour ago. We can move whenever we're ready. This weekend (after Sesame Street, of course) we will be embarking on the new chapter of our life (once again). A new house, a new job, a new community - everything new. I knew this was coming, of course. And yet I'm blindsided. I'm overwhelmed. I haven't gotten to say good-byes (hopefully I will this week at MOPS and church). Packing seems insurmountable. We've started on the things we won't need this week...but there's so much we do need yet. Moving is also going to be tricky with the kids. I've been telling Moose that we're moving again, we won't be living here, remember when we moved in that big yellow truck, etc. He doesn't seem to understand a lick of what I'm talking about. Squirt's already so temperamental, I hope this new environment doesn't throw him off even more. And let me just say I am so glad we haven't started potty training. Any

We celebrated Christmas with my family this past weekend. It was supposed to be a Saturday-Sunday affair, but we decided to surprise my parents and sister by meeting up with them at my sister's game on Friday night. They were so surprised - awesome! And it was a really good game at my old high school (my sister plays for the rival team - she transferred this year). That night we opened gifts. The boys got Sesame Street characters to play with, Up! (a highly recommended movie), a drum set (from my big sister for Moose), some teething toy things & a train (for Squirt), and Thomas the Tank Engine toys (Moose). Probably some other stuff too but I have the worst memory. I got the movie Mad Money, an ASL book (from my sister - thanks), Anthony got Catchphrase, and then my parents got Anthony and I a Wii AND the Wii Fit Plus! Holy cow, I almost cried. I thought we'd get one when they were 20 years old haha! I was so excited!! We saw my grandma that night at her friends' birthd

I don't own many pants (that I fit into right now). - 3 sweats - 1 jeans - 2 cutoff/yoga/sweats - 3 shorts I generally wear the sweats all week unless (for whatever reason) I feel like "dressing up" and putting on jeans with my t-shirts instead of sweats. LOL Personally, if I wouldn't freeze during the winter I would wear cutoffs or shorts just so my pants wouldn't get all that salt on the bottoms ( yuck ). I digress... I do have more pants. in a box. downstairs. waiting to be worn. wanting to be worn. I'm getting there. I think a few more weeks or another month or so and I will be fitting back into my pre-Squirt jeans. I don't think I'll be back to my pre-Squirt weight but the jeans are a start! I have another "pant" goal. To fit into my husband's jeans (not length-wise, although that would be fabulous I don't think I'll be 6'4" any time soon). I know men wear their jeans differently than we women. However, I just tri

This week hasn't been easy with Big A being gone (again). However, I have been trying my hardest to be more calm with my kids, especially the last few days. I know my time with them is going by very fast and pretty soon they won't want to play with Mama or kiss Mama or cuddle with Mama. So it's been better than the last couple week that Big A was gone. And today he toured the home we're going to be renting. It's a parsonage. 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, basement (unfinished), fenced in yard. Oh yes, perfect. I'm so excited (and I haven't even seen it!). Having somewhere to go instead of just being unsettled on that end makes me more excited for this move. I just wish that it wouldn't be taking so long for the church to set the rent (they are getting it appraised next week). They haven't rented it for a few years and when they don't rent it, they don't have to pay taxes on the home. So they don't know what the house is worth or the taxes, hence

- this beautiful post over at MckMama's - a warm oven in a cold house - Cars - Squirt rolling around (happy) - big yawns that beg for a good nap - laying with my family at 4am when Moose decided to get up (I didn't love it at first but it was a nice time to talk and play quietly) - cooking french fries - the call of the weekend...it's almost here! - watching my MIL hold my younger son and play with the older one (we stayed at their house last night) - unpacking at home (there really is no place like it...) What are you loving today?

What is the name of Oscar's pet elephant? Fluffy. That is the answer that won Big A tickets off the radio to... Sesame Street Live!!! How cool is that? Moose is going to have the time of his little life!

Don't worry, I'm not moving..entirely. I have been curious about wordpress since everyone seems to be switching over. So...I started another blog. It's going to be my fitness/weight loss blog. This will still be my primary blog as I'm not sure how much I'll write on the other. But here it is: a new me (and you!)

I've tried writing a post for today a few times. It's not working out for me. I don't mean to complain, I don't. And it always comes out that I'm having the worst day ever when it's not so bad. Let's just say it's Monday. The boys are asleep for now so I'm enjoying the quiet. I got an email from one of our church friends, saying how he and his wife are going to miss us when we move. It about made me cry. It's people that I hate saying good-bye to. Even if I don't hang out with them all the time, but when they've impacted my life like these friends have. My heart hurts to lose friends like that (and I know we can keep in touch but it's different when you live further away, I've learned this). Be praying for my kids. Moose has a bad cough and a rash (that doesn't itch and you can't see but doesn't respond to Hydrocortizone/Aquaphor cream). Squirt has...the squirts (haha sorry bad joke). He doesn't seem dehydrated but

Here's a great meme that I found over at Michelle's Flying Giggles & Lollipops (she also happens to be one of my favorite bloggers, so go over and tell her to have a great weekend)! If you want to join in, stop by Friday Fill Ins ! 1. There are places I probably won't ever make it to - and that's alright . 2. God can blow those clouds away. 3. Standing in the kitchen is really really cold right now . 4. Mama needs a snow day; oh boy. 5. He went out tiger hunting by the light of the blue moon . 6. Abba while I pray please forgive me as I try to keep my mind from wandering . 7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to bed I guess , tomorrow my plans include taking my son to the indoor mall to play on their little play area and maybe some mommy time (because I'm going insane being cooped up without a break for so long) and Sunday, I want to go to the movies with my husband but we'll go to church, eat lunch, take a nap, workou

Well, my dear husband just can't seem to hang on to a job {said in joking fashion}. First he was fired two Julys ago, then we quit in Virginia, and now he's been laid off. 2010 is off to a good start, right? Ok, I'll be honest with you {whisper} my husband already had another job offer . Remember the friend that helped us out before we moved across the country? He wants Big A to come work for him again. Keeping with this honesty bit - I wasn't completely on board at first. I was thinking of all I'd be leaving: a great church, budding friendships, a wonderful library system (chock full of wonderful librarians), indoor play areas for winter time, stores less than 1/2 hour away, and a 3-bedroom apartment with a basement, my MOPS group (as I'm not sure if I'd be able to go to another MOPS because Moose doesn't want to stay in the nursery and some MOPS groups don't let you have your kids in meetings). However, I've been reading Max Lucado's "

Tip of the Week: Although it's cold in many states right now, try to park your car at least halfway through the parking lot. This may mean a slightly longer walk to the store but dress in layers and you (and your family) will be just fine (just know, this is a tip for me because I whine when my husband parks too far away haha). Big A got me 2 workout DVDs for Christmas: Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga & Biggest Loser Boot Camp. He's been working out with me when he comes home from work and on his days off, too. It's great motivation for me to get myself going. He also got me a StayBall (weighted exercise ball) that came with a 30 minute Core Strength DVD. Yesterday, I did the Boot Camp and StayBall DVDs during nap time. Squirt was awake for about 20 minutes of the BC so I had to stop a few minutes to lay him down. But I was feeling pretty good about my workouts. I've been doing them most every day. I think I've not done a workout maybe 3 times since Christmas. T

No I'm not talking about Britney Spears but Brit Hume from Fox News (I think). I believe if Tiger is looking for forgiveness and redemption, he should turn to Jesus Christ.

Just a quick lil' post this morning. Can I just say I love when Squirt is just whining his little face off... and then I have to merely look at him... and his whole face just lights up... 6 month stats: 15 pounds 15.25 oz (25%); 27 inches (75%) {Has anyone ever used Nutramigen formula? We're going to try it starting Thursday, so I was just wondering what it was like....}

We spent our New Year's Eve with some good ol' friends from college. We ate a lot of yummy food, held a ping pong tournament, stayed warm (while some braved the cold and snow outside to play), caught up, and ended the evening playing Wheel of Fortune. It was a grand time and a very much needed time with friends, none of whom we see often enough. Moose made it until we left at 1:20am, then crashed on the way home (what a trooper). I couldn't have thought of a better way to ring in the new year... I'm trying to revamp my blog a little and organize it (somehow). You may not notice many changes, but in my head there will be a few. Stay awhile and look around...