Loving With Action
I have another story to share from this weekend, and once again I am amazed by how things come full circle by the simple orchestration of His hands :)
You may have heard of an organization called
World Vision, basically through their program you can sponsor a child for $35/mo. That money goes to help provide them food, nutrition, water, health care, education, spiritual support, ect. The best part is that one day you may even get the opportunity to meet a child you've sponsored, if you ever happen to travel to that part of the world.
So let me back up a bit and tell you where my story begins. When Mr. B was deployed to Afghanistan I had heard about sponsoring a child from the Christian radio station. Right after Mr. B had gotten to Afghanistan he began to tell me of the poverty of this third world-like country and the children he was seeing on the streets. His story along with hearing about this company and researching them started to plant a seed in my heart.
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An Afghan father and his children digging through the trash. Despite the cold sweater weather the little boy has no shoes
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| Mr. B said the children would come running up to the cars yelling and begging |
First and foremost I wanted to make sure the organization was legit, I have been known to be skeptical about things. After some research I found that indeed it was a valid organization and that children's lives could be changed through it. I started to look through the photos of the children to sponsor and for some reason felt that I should sponsor a little girl from Peru. I found one that I wanted and then emailed Mr. B to ask his thoughts.
Mr. B replied back that he thought it was a good idea and to go ahead. I was so excited so I quickly returned to the website and to my dismay found that she was gone :( I looked for another child but was disheartened so I decided to wait a few weeks until Mr. B got back and we could look together. Of course those of you who have experienced reintegration know that this time in your life is very busy and hectic trying to make up for all those lost months apart, so it got put on the back burner. Christmas came and our church had some children you could sponsor so I went out to get one and they were all gone! Apparently the interest was high and the number of children was low, so once again I walked away empty handed.
A few months ago again I was feeling that we needed to sponsor a child so I went to the website and searched and there was not even one little girl from Peru, again I was disheartened and resolved to try again later. I have to say that I have NO idea why I was so stuck on a girl from Peru, it is just something I cannot explain. Again this summer I was helping a friend get ready to move to Germany and I seen the picture of her sponsored child, a reminder that I still needed to do the same.
This past weekend at WOF (Women of Faith) they had several World Vision tables sat up, and the speakers gave info and even played some videos about World Vision. On Friday they showed a picture of a baby girl from Peru and again I was feeling the conviction that I needed to sponsor a child. At break my friend and I went to the table near us and there were no girls from Peru. I seen they were giving away a book and tote if you sponsored a child at the event. The book was Out Live Your Life by Max Lucado, this made me take note as we're leading a small group soon with Fearless by Max Lucado and Out Live Your Life was one of the ones I considered and also wanted to read. I left that day not sponsoring a child.
Saturday morning the minute I got up it was on my heart and I just knew I had to be obedient and sponsor a child. I prayed that if God wanted me to sponsor one He would give me a sign and have a little girl from Peru at the table. On our first break I told Christy I needed to get to the table and find my girl from Peru. We searched the table to no avail, there were two boys from Peru but no girls. I walked to the end of the table and asked the volunteer if she had any others sorted by country because I really wanted a girl from Peru. She handed me a stack of about 10 from Peru as I looked through them I seen: boy, boy, boy, boy, and then:
There she was! The ONLY girl in the pile! I knew she was meant for me. I signed up and couldn't wait to share the news with Mr. B, who had no idea I would be coming home with a surprise. I really did not think he would mind since we had already talked about it in the past. Truthfully I was so convicted that I felt like I would be being disobedient if I didn't so I went with the conviction hoping it would not be an issue with him. I texted him a picture of our World Vision 'baby' and thankfully he and the kids were happy about the news.
I am so excited about Preyty! Bea has already been praying for her in her nightly prayers and I think and pray about her often. Look at her, she is so precious, how could I not help her?!
I think about these verses:
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If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."
-1 John 3:17-18
Our Pastor had used this verse a while back and it's been with me since, it was part of the motivation for helping the homeless with our last small group and serving at the Salvation Army kitchen. It has also changed my daily perspective quite a bit as well, instead of just praying for others I'm trying to be more aware of when action is called for and making sure I'm obedient to that nudging. While this is often uncomfortable for me I know that growth is so I take comfort in that fact. I am in just the beginning of my journey loving with action, sure it's taken a long time to get here, but better late than never right?
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"
-Matthew 25:35-40
I love this verse because it really has changed the way that I view and interact with others around me. Sure all those around us may not be Jesus but it sure wouldn't hurt to treat them like they are. My airport conversation has left me realizing that conversations with everyday people can really make an impact. While socializing with others my come easy for some (Mr. B included) I do like to socialize...with those I know. It's much harder for me to be comfortable striking up a conversation with those I do not know. Since that airport encounter I now see everyone I encounter as a potential person who has something important to share and may enlighten my outlook on life. Just yesterday I had a fascinating conversation with the cable guy, who wanted to share his story about his military experience, the good, the bad, & his regrets. While he probably wasn't Jesus or an angle in disguse, he was someone who had a story to share and was worthy of me taking a few mintues to listen and interact with him. I'm starting to see that I may have been missing out on quite a bit and I'm excited to see what is in store ahead.
Message in Disguise
I shared this store with my new WOF Warrior Wives friends but I also wanted to share it here as well. I did have to modify/edit it some for the blog version since some it you needed to be there to 'get' it without additional info :)
I had an amazing weekend, to say the least. I came into the weekend with no expectations and left filled with Joy :) One of the speakers at the WOF conference had specifically spoke about being happy vs having joy, after this weekend I understand what they meant. While this weekend was one of very little physical sleep it was just what my weary soul needed. Since Thursday night I had only had about 13 hours of sleep, yet while my body was weary my soul is renewed and ready to run full force ahead into whatever life has to throw at me knowing that God is right there with me.
Sunday morning the alarm went off very early at 4:30 am, especially since Christy and I were up until 1:30 am, but lack of sleep was more than worth it for all the wonderful fellowship this weekend. I made it to the DFW airport and managed to not only check myself in but find my gate as well, while some may consider this trivial it was a monumental milestone for me ;) I couldn't help doing so with a smile, despite being incredibly tired my face chose to radiate the joy that was acquired this weekend. While I was sitting at the gate waiting to board the plane with that goofy smile on my face I noticed a guy sit down near me. Immediately I had a sense that he was one of 'us' yet he also had a beard so I was intrigued because I know 'military' members do not have facial hair like that. I took Andy Andrews advice and became a noticer (Andy Andrews was an amazing speaker at the conference). I watched the guy look through some things in his bag and indeed I seen a ID card. After a few minutes he turned and spoke to me, he told me that he was more than ready to get home and sleep in his own bed. He'd been traveling for the past several days from Afghanistan and due to missed flights he had spent the past 6 nights sleeping in different airports. I learned that while he was prior military he is currently a civilian contractor, so while he is not one of 'us' in the sense of being active military he is one of 'us' in the sense that he knows and lives our lifestyle. I always feel a kinship with those who share our lifestyles as you just cannot explain the triumphs and trials to those who do not understand, and those of you who are are one of 'us' know exactly what I mean. He told me had been in Afghanistan since November and was only going to be home for 3 weeks before heading back, his job is one where he's only in the US for a few weeks at a time, then back overseas. I described it as a 'turn and burn' and he told me that really sums up his life. He was telling me that it was a hard lifestyle and that he often feels burnt out, that he was worried his dogs wouldn't remember him. Then he told me that last night at Dallas Fort Worth he had slept in a chair exactly like the one we were sitting in. It was cold in the airport and he was wearing khaki shorts and a short sleeve polo shirt, he was also used to temperatures of 120 degrees so he was freezing and trying desperately to sleep. He told me that he curled up into a fetal position on a chair and was finally so tired that he was able to drift off to sleep. I told him I did not realize that the airports were still open 24 hours, and he said neither did he but they didn't kick him out, which was good because he had no where to go. At some point he woke up in the middle of the night and found that someone had taken pity on him and had covered him with a blanket and put a pillow under his head. This really touched me, there are still good people in this world!!! On the flight I thought about it and I realized while military members often do not receive thanks I'm sure as a civilian contractor his thanks was even less. I prayed that he would make it home safely that night and told myself if I seen him after the flight I would thank him and tell him to take care of himself and not let himself burn out, others counted on him.
As would happen I did not see him after the flight, I was on a vital mission to make it to my connecting gate in the few minutes that I had before boarding. And as I think about it I realize that his life and mine are more parallel than I originally noticed. That this weekend God did for me what he did for him. God found me curled up in a fetal position trying to 'sleep' and just get through each day, he used this weekend to wrap me in a blanket of love and provide me with a pillow of mercy, and I needed that more than I even knew! Not only that the same advice that I was going to provide to the guy about burn out directly applies to me, that God wants me to take care of myself....to take time out for me to recharge...there are others here depending on me and just 'getting by' is not what He has in mind. On the flight I feel asleep for a quick nap with a smile across my face, and still now I can't help from smiling! I pray that the joy from this weekend stays with me for a long time, the world looks so much better through joy filled 'glasses.' I noticed today at the airport that Andy Andrews was right, when you smile those around you can't help but smile. As I walked through the airport with a smile on my face I noticed the smiles of others lighting up around me. How easy it is to lose that joy in the daily tasks of life, I want to not just be 'happy' but to live with joy, something I am much more aware of now.
In addition I also wanted to share how I KNEW that I should go this weekend, that God had so carefully orchestrated me being there, and I have to tell you things like this blow my mind!
In July my kids were going to VBS on base through the chapel. One of the nights it was my night to pick up the kids (Mr. B and I were rotating) and I went to the table to check them out. As I walked away a lady, who I did not know, called me back and told me that I needed to take one of the fliers. I grabbed a flyer and read it as I walked away. I could hardly believe when I read that it would be for a FREE weekend at the WOF conference in Dallas, TX. I just had to call the contact listed. She gave me some additional info and Mr. B right away told me that I should go if I wanted to. I tried to find a few local spouse to go with me but that wasn't working out. As I was sitting at the computer my friend Christy, who lives in OK, came to mind and I wondered how far she lived from TX so that maybe I could see her that weekend. I googled it and found it was 4 hours, and just mulled it over a bit. Later that afternoon I talked with the local POC again and she happened to mention that the event was not specifically for people in AL, that women from all states were coming, I immediately asked if I could call my friend Christy and invite her. I called Christy and she did not even have to think about it, she checked with her hubby and he was available to watch the kids!! I was so excited! I had really wanted to go but as I told the ladies at the last dinner I really needed a wingman for this first solo trip and praise God that he sent Christy to be that person! The only expense I occurred was the cost of the flight, and it was more than worth it!!! The hotel, food, conference tickets, transportation, ect was all taken care of by an amazing lady named Peggy and her team of volunteers. I am SO thankful that God had me at the right place and the right time to have the privilege of attending the Warrior Wives weekend, as the next night I looked and there were no more fliers... was all of it a coincidence? I think not!
Love You More Book Review
Love You More: The Divine Surprise of Adopting My Daughter by Jennifer Grant
This book is the personal journey of Jennifer Grant who adopts her child, Mia, from Guatemala. Things did not always go as planned or expected and Jennifer, one who likes to make things happen immediately, learned that waiting on God is not always easy. Jennifer shares about the trials, tribulations, and most importantly the triumphs of the adoption process and how families come in many shapes and sizes.
Having never experienced an adoption this book provided great insight into the process, both the procedural and personal side. I found this book engaging and easy to read, the only part that I struggled with was the history of Guatemala, while I'm sure it is important to her since that is where her daughter is from, it left me hoping the chapter would soon end and get back to the 'good' stuff. Overall I'd recommend this book as a good read, especially if your interested in a personal glimpse inside the adoption process. Also included at the end of the book are resources for prospective adoptive parents (if that is something your leaning towards) as well as discussion questions.
BookSneeze® has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review, all opinions are my own.
Warrior Wives Weekend!
Wow, what a weekend! I left Thursday for Dallas, TX for the Warrior Wives weekend at Women of Faith, and I got home yesterday. It was an awesome weekend filled with many amazing women. While I knew that I was going to get to hang out with Christy after almost 3 years, the rest of the experience was amazing as well, so everything else was just the cherry on top!
This weekend was monumental for several reasons. I was united with a great friend after several years, it was my first time EVER away from the kids & Mr. B, it was my first Women of Faith conference, and it was my first trip where I literally had no idea what to expect and didn't care...I just went and knew I was supposed to be there.
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| Me at the hotel, sending this pic back home for Bea who texted from Mr. B's phone that she loves me so much! |
Truthfully it was odd at the airport, I'm normally the one dropping Mr. B off and sending him on his way to where ever he happens to be going at the time, this time I was the one leaving. I was a bit nervous at first but since it was a direct flight it was pretty hard for me to mess anything up. And even on the way home having to transfer in NC I was able to successfully do so in the 20 minutes provided. It was so great to walk through the exit at the Alabama terminal into the arms of my waiting kids and hubby. Sure they 'hopefully' missed me but they survived and I did not worry about them while I was gone, it was a freeing to know that I can take a trip and everyone survives back home.
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| View from the plane ride to TX, I'm always amazed by God's creation! |
While the Women of Faith conference was great the heart of the experience was the time learning and sharing with the other Warrior Wives, that was the highlight of the trip.
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| Christy & I outside the American Airlines Arena |
At the conference my top 2 speakers were Patsy Clairmont and Andy Andrews, they were so relevant and real...it just spoke to me. Andy Andrews lives in Orange Beach, AL so I thought that was interesting as well!
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Patsy Clairmont
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| Women packed the arena all the way up to the top seating, it was amazing when everyone was singing the worship songs! |
I feel like there is so much to say and express about the trip and yet other things that only those who were there would 'get' so I'll have to work on several more posts with more info about the trip. On a side note we got to drive over the area where JFK was shot, so it turned out to be a bit of a historical visit as well!
Subbing & Ants = Pesky problems
Yesterday was my first day of subbing for the 2011-2012 school year. I was with 17 Kindergartner's all day, it went well BUT I forgot just how worn out subbing can make me! I was so exhausted when I was done and I had a headache by noon. Hopefully next week's 2 days with first graders won't be so exhausting.
After work I took Bub to get a new haircut, football practice has begun and it was getting long. It's much shorter now but still looks cute. Should be a bit easier to smash his head into the helmet now :)
Then after getting home it was time to battle the ant invasion we have going on. They are attacking the laundry room, where we pen Mac during the day when we are not home. I just can't stand the thought of them crawling on him...gives me the creeps, LOL.
I found they were coming in the back door in the dining room and marching to the laundry room, so I took care of that area and cleaned all the ants up. Then I found they were coming in the laundry room window. When Boo went to get his shirt for school from the rack by the window, he found ants crawling all up and down the arms of it! CREEPY!! I filled in the cracks where they were coming in and cleaned them up. Then I found they were coming in by the dryer vent....seriously this is insane! We've lived here over a year and never had a problem like this but then again the house is on the down slide again and we all know 'good' things happen in groups, ugh. I cleaned that area up and hopefully have it down to a dull roar until the bug guys can get here on Friday (provided by the base for free, but they aren't necessarily the best at getting the job done). Then we'll call in the real bug guy when I get back from my trip.
Wham, and then like a quick kick in a the teeth, tables are turned and the situation changes. I just got a call from the school saying that basically the secretary from last year (who passed away a few weeks ago) must have forgot to renew my subbing package and I'm no longer on the payroll. As a bonus I won't get paid for working yesterday and won't be able to sub next week. I have to re-do ALL the paperwork (and it's a HUGE process) and then wait the 6-8 weeks before subbing. Gee, that sounds like so much fun...why didn't I think of it? Seriously annoyed right now!!! Trying to find the silver lining I guess I can say that I'm glad we found this out after one day of subbing as I'd be way beyond annoyed if we hadn't found it out until after I'd done the two more days next week!
I am SO glad I'm headed to TX for a much needed break, can't wait to get outta AL for awhile! Something has gotta give...and soon...I just pray it's not my sanity ;p
Reupholstering Dining Room Chairs
Since the first re-upholstery project with the bar stools went so well we decided to tackle the dining room chairs.
Actually it wasn't much of an option...the chairs had light striped fabric that was horrible at showing stains and spots and it was just too much to try to keep clean. Especially since we'll be leading a small group at our home this semester, I just don't have an hour a week to clean the darn chair seats...and even then some still looked sketchy.
Redoing the dining room chairs was much easier than the round bar stool seats. I was even able to do them by myself (well Mr. B did unscrew them from the seat and screw them back on). My hand was sure sore from the staple gun by the time I got done though! Don't think I'll be doing another project for awhile ;)
The old ugly and hard to up-keep chairs:
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| These babies will be a snap to wipe down as needed, no more ugly stain spots! |
Broken Bone Necessities
After Boo's recent broken arm we've found a few 'necessites' that are much needed for the duration of the cast. Despite all his injuries it's been awhile since he's actually be in a cast, like since he was 7! And of course no one else has broken anything to even need a cast.
While he did fracture his ankle in July it went better than expected. With his ankle he got lucky and was able to wear a boot cast so he was able to take it off to bathe...unfortunately that was not the case with his arm, he's in a full fledged cast.
For showering the Dr told us to wrap it up in a garbage bag, and yes we did do that the first day BUT it was a HUGE pain! We wrapped the cast up in the garbage bag then used rubber bands and tape and prayed that it would hold during the shower. It did but he had to tear the bag off to get his arm out, so there was no reusing it. I realized that there had to be an easier way!
I started looking online for shower bags and found some at the local superstore, so I swung by to grab one. Of course they do not carry them in the stores even though the website did not say 'online only' sigh. So I called a friend who has boys like Boo (many injuries) and asked where she got hers. A trip to the local CVS resulted in success! The shower bag is amazing..it says you can even swim with it but we won't press our luck, LOL! He's had no issues with leaks and can even get it on and off himself which is a huge plus. It was only $12 bucks and I somehow have the feeling we'll get our money's worth out of it.
Another issue we were having was dealing with a STINKY cast!!! Despite being injured Boo is still outside at practice with his team every afternoon and that makes for one sweaty cast arm. He got his first cast (from the split) on Friday (the red one) and after 1 practice by Monday it was putrid. When he got in the car after school on Monday it was bad! In addition to the smell it was also making his arm itch like crazy. So once again I headed to the Internet to find some solutions.
And I found really there was little that can be done for a stinky cast, some said baking powder but on the outside of the cast, and I just wasn't sure about it. I did a bit more research and stumbled upon the
CastCooler and the reviews on the site were great. I went and checked it at Amazon and more good reviews, as I was a bit skeptical about dropping $40, you know me and my cheap ways ;p
I decided to order it, figuring that if it did work we'd at least get our money's worth before Boo heads to college, LOL! It arrived on Thurs, which was the day of his first game, so we did not get home until midnight that night. I would NOT recommend trying to figure out how to work it at midnight when everyone is grumpy and tired and there is still homework to be done! Things did not go so well that night with it and we resolved to try again the next day.
On Friday when we see the Dr. I asked for a new cast because his was so smelly, the Dr happily obliged. The idea was now to use the CastCooler to keep the cast from getting really stinky. We tried it out on Friday after school and it works great! It really helps with the itching too. I plan on having him use it everyday after practice this week in order to keep the cast from getting too smelly over the next 3 weeks. Sure the Dr said we can go back and get a new cast anytime but really who has time to make extra trips to the Dr for the 'fun' of it? I'm hoping this one can last the 3 weeks and then we'll be done!
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| We've been using the shop vac, which is great because of how powerful it is, it provides good suction and circulation. Even more surprising was that he came home on Friday with signatures on his cast! He went a whole week with the red one and didn't let anyone sign it! |
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| While it is kinda loud, he can still sit and watch TV while he uses it |
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| Side view with shop vac in background |
What in the world did we do in the days before the Internet...how would I have found such contraptions?! I'm so glad for the people who came up with these ideas as they have made my life much easier the past few weeks :)
Let the Season Begin!
Boo's Varsity football team had their first game this past Thursday, which was also Mr. B's birthday, so I'll pick up where I left off from the Mr. B's birthday post.
Originally Mr. B was going to go to the game and I was going to stay home with Bub & Bea since it was a school night and we knew it would be late since it was an 'away' game. While it was away it was here locally so I decided that we should all go and support the team and hang out with Mr. B on this birthday.
It was a 'white' out and all our fans were supposed to wear white shirts, it was amazing to see all the white shirts out there! It looked much more impressive than the other sides 'boring' hodge podge of assorted colors :)
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| See Boo? Taken with my cell phone |
Kick off was at 7 pm, but the first quarter lasted for almost 45 minutes! Needless to say the game was loooooong! Our team lost 21-14, but they gave it their heart and hopefully this was a good learning experience for the first game of the season. The game finished after 10 pm and then we still had to wait for Boo to ride the bus back to his school & get his stuff before we could drive home.
As we're waiting on the bus to pull out so we can follow it back to the school we notice that we have 1/4 tank of gas. Mr. B decides that he'll fill up the car for me at the gas station by the school so I don't have to worry about it before Boo's Dr. appt. in the morning. So at 11:00 pm we're at the gas station, filled up the car, and are ready to drive to the school to get Boo. Mr. B attempts to start the car and.....NOTHING! We try again, still a no go. I get out the manual and find the 'emergancy start up method' and we give it a try, it yields no result.
We call our friend (and Pastor) Mr. M and ask if he's still at the school waiting on his son. Thankfully he is so we ask him to grab Boo and come give us a jump at the gas station because at this point we're praying it's the battery. Mr. M arrives around 11:15 pm goes to get out his jumper cables which he then realizes are in his son's car. So Mr. B runs in to the gas station and buys a new pair. We jump the car and it starts right away. Praise God that it was just the battery!
We make it home finally right around midnight, Bub & Bea feel asleep on the drive from the gas station. We get them in bed, get the house settled and Boo set up doing his homework. YES, he had Honors Chemistry homework to do! He finally gets done and the rest of us get to bed around 12:30 am, way to late for this lady!
Friday morning everyone was dragging after 5 hours of sleep. Boo & I went to his Dr. appt for his arm check up and all is well, looks like he avoided surgery! He got a new (purple) cast (school colors are purple & black) and will be in it for 3 weeks then he's out of the cast! Dr. said he can't play football until he has full range of motion back which may take 1-2 weeks so we'll see what he says in 3 weeks.
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| New Purple cast |
Mr. B went out to start the car this morning and it was dead again. A quick jump with the Tahoe and a quick visit to Auto Zone for a new battery fixed the problem.
Mr. B is 35!
Wow, that's halfway to 70!!! I hear it's all downhill from here.....LOL!!!
Yesterday was Mr. B's birthday, and it also turned out to be a rather eventful day!! Which I'm sure just shocks you all ;p
First and foremost while it was Mr. B's birthday yesterday we are in fact not actually celebrating until today. Boo had to be at school super early (6:15 am) for a pre-game breakfast meal & worship and had his first game last night so we didn't get home until really late (more about that in the next post).
Mr. B did have the day off so we (he & I, as the kids were in school) were able to hang out for the day, and that's always nice. We went to a burger burn at lunch for his work...and boy did things get wild around there!
Turns out there are a few Airmen who were more then happy to drop their $$$ to make sure that Mr. B got a pie in the face! Happy Birthday to him, huh?! The 'pie' consisted of mainly chocolate & carmel syrup with a bit of whip cream.
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| This Airman was more than happy to drop $$ to be the one to actually hit Mr. B with the pie...wonder what Mr. B did to him?! LOL |
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| Hit with a Pie in the Eye, with a rub in the hair to top it all off |
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| A big sticky mess |
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| You know he's dying inside with his OCD issues, LOL! |
His work center did buy him 2 cakes and sing Happy Birthday to him as well, so I guess that makes up for the 'Pie in his Eye' LOL!
When we got home Mr. B made an attempt to make a Red Velvet Cake, I had gotten the recipe from a friend. I did help him but I had gotten a call from a friend earlier in the day saying that she was going to need help packing/moving today & tomorrow so I was trying to spread the word and get a few things taken care of.
I do have to say that the cake is very YUMMY but it sure looks UGLY!! I guess that's why you can't judge things by how they look....
We made a 'mini' version for yesterday and a bigger one for today...we didn't complete the big one yet...not sure if we will....
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| The front |
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| The back |
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The scary looking big version
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We had a few things working against us with the cake, first being that we're often liberal with the directions. Your supposed to cook it in layer pans, but we decided to be lazy and just do a sheet pan and a small bread loaf pan...as you can see from the results above...not the best idea. Then it called for cocoa and Mr. B found that we had none so he used hot chocolate, I'm pretty sure any real 'chef' might've spanked him for that one, LOL! Despite these issues it was 1) edible and 2) delicious so all is well!
Next up was Boo's first Varsity game of the season, obviously he wouldn't be playing but we wanted to go and support the team and school, I'll blog about that in the next post.
Bathroom Repair Day 2
This is what the bathroom looked like at the end of Tues..and will continue to look until Friday...and NO the toilet is not hooked back up yet...sigh....I miss having it there at night! Getting everyone ready for school/work with one shower is really not that fun, but at least it's only for a week :)
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| All the tile is GONE!! |
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| This new shower is going to be so much easier to keep clean, the tiles kept getting moldy! |
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| And it even has built in shelves, funny how small things can be a luxury |
Baby Bear
Yesterday I had the opportunity to photography this beautiful 12 day old baby boy. He was quite alert and awake for the majorty of the photo shoot but he did great with me moving him into all kinds of positions. Loved being able to shoot outdoors as well, the weather was great!
And I was even able to figure out how to make a collage with Lightroom, it was a good day! I'm loving Lightroom more every time I use it!
Labels: newborn photography
Bathroom Repair Day 1
Yesterday was Day 1 of the Master bathroom repair. Initially when the guy got here he told me that he thought he'd be done by Wednesday, an hour later after a more extensive look, it now looks like by Friday. Somehow I'm not surprised, we just roll with it as usual :)
Here are some photos for the day:
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| Bye, Bye nasty floor |
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| Check out our old nasty floor in the tub, ewwww |
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| Close-up |
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| The end of Day 1, Mac making sure things are good |
And if that wasn't fun enough, you know having your Master bathroom ripped up and having to share with the kids for a week...here's what Mac decided to do to liven things up:
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| Mac literally peed all down the hallway!! Ugh!! I mean seriously it couldn't have just been 1 spot?! |
Wow, I wasn't planning on shampooing the carpets last night, but after that little (or HUGE) event I was forced to...sigh. And Mac had been doing so good too, staying downstairs with me (sure I had to bribe him at first) but this afternoon he snuck off for a sneak attack and boy oh boy he got me good!
