What a mess!

Yikes, what a mess. I make Emily clean her room so it rarely gets this messy. However, when it gets this bad, she just doesn't know what to do because there is just too much stuff.
I asked her if she wanted to help me clean or if she wanted me to clean.
Because she knows that when I clean...
I get rid of stuff. She told me that she wanted me to do it. Here's what I took out. I don't think the camera captured all the junk that I removed.
All the boxes and their contents will go in the trash. The two garbage bags of stuffed animals will go into the attic until we make a trip to Good Will and I'll take at least half of them there. The My Little Pony items are stored in my closet. Here's the results:



Emily is extremely happy with her room. I bet that she doesn't even miss a thing that I removed. Plus, she will make a point to keep it straightened up for a couple of weeks without even being reminded.

Mama's been shopping

The night before last, Emily asked where her silky pajamas were. I told her that she had out grown them. We have a game. I pretend that I'm mad that she has been growing and she just giggles with pride. I bargain shop and a lot of times I can find pretty much everything that she needs at the consignment sales that are held twice a year. Then when I find something special, I don't feel guilty about paying a little more for it. Unfortunately, this past season of sales have left a void in her wardrobe. One, it's harder as she gets older to find things that look new. Two, I think she is at a tough size. Three, I'm not letting her wear a lot of the styles that are out these days. Yesterday I actually got to take a lunch break and I went to Marshalls. I'm thrilled to no ends to find a pair of pajamas and two complete outfits at one place that actually fit her.

Spring has sprung

Last week when Hartford was working late, I picked up Emily from the YMCA and asked her what we should do. She decided that she wanted me to push her on the swing. We had a blast, she was all giggles.

Grayson Days

Hartford and I can recall when Grayson Days was just a small event. Now there are so many people that you can't stir them with a stick. But Emily squeezed into the crowd to get her Whoville hairdo and I made my way and purchased Emily a memo pad for her butterfly themed room. All and all it was a good morning out of the house.

Can you say SPOILED?

Since Emily was so disappointed on Friday morning and was convinced that her Daddy had tricked her, he did this Saturday morning for her.

Pancakes

I am blessed with a husband that not only cooks, but enjoys to cook and moreover, cooks well. This morning he came upstairs and announced to me and Emily that there were pancakes downstairs with our names on them. Emily and I rushed downstairs for our breakfast. Hartford stayed upstairs since he isn't a pancake person. When I handed Emily her pancake, I saw the grave disappointment on her face. I gently asked, "What's wrong?" She replied, "Where's our names?" I decided to contain my laughter. I tried to explain that it was just an expression and he just meant that he had made us pancakes. She didn't accept the explanation and furthermore, she was convinced that he tried to trick us. Wnen I was pouring the syrup, she asked, "at least can I have an E?" I obliged and I also made a M on mine to stand for Mom. That seemed to ease her disappointment a little.

When Hartford came downstairs, I announced that we needed to talk. I explained that Emily was disappointed that our names really weren't on the pancakes. He summed it up too well when he said, "Little Miss Literal strikes again." We all laughed and Emily seemed content at last.

Bucket List

One Sunday the preacher spoke about the movie called The Bucket List. I was immediately hooked and wanted to know more. It turns out that a bucket list is a list of things that you want to do before kicking the bucket.

For weeks I have pondered upon this and I have discovered some amazing things. First and foremost, I am truly blessed. I've been unaware that I am living a dream come true. I'm happily married and enjoying my child. I have allowed small things to blind me. Now, I choose to place those small things into my side vision so that my direct vision will allow me to experience the joys of my life.

I realize that this list will always change as I will continue to change. I choose to put some things on it that never may come to pass and that is totally fine.

Here goes:

Regarding day to day with Emily

1-Enjoy Emily. When I told my Daddy that I was pregnant, he replied, "Now you'll have someone to play with." Amen!

2-Share my faith and my passions with Emily.

3-Teach Emily things so that she will have the tools to become successful.

4-Allow Emily teach me when I need to be taught.

5-Confirm to Emily that who she is makes a difference.

6-Encourage her when she needs it.

7-Allow Emily to fix her own problems.

8-Truly listen to Emily.

9-Watch the clouds with Emily and name their shapes - again.

10-To be Emily's mother first, then when the time comes be her friend.

Regarding my hubby:

1-Convince Hartford beyond any doubt how important he is in my life.

2-Buy Hartford a gift that he loves and wouldn't exchange it for the world. That one will be a tough one.

3-Eat Manicotti at Radford's Macado's restaurant with Hartford and re-live some of the wonderful memories from our early years of marriage.

4-Walk in the gentle rain hand in hand with Hartford.

5-Eat a candle light dinner at home just the two of us.

6-Go dancing with Hartford.

7-Ride roller coasters with Hartford and pretend we are in our twenties again.

8-Jet ski with Hartford.

9-Travel and have adventures with Hartford, i.e.

a-defy gravity and ride a hot air balloon
b-see Mt. Rushmore
c-visit the Mayfield Dairy Farm and eat yummy samples
d-visit California again
e-visit Callaway Gardens
f-do a huge Disney trip again and park hop with Emily too
g-see more plays at the Fox Theater with Emily too
h-visit a small full of life town and relish it beauty and simplicity
i-fly in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon
j-go to Europe
k-Eat more meals good enough to be my last meal at Wolf Gang Puck restaurant

Things to learn or do myself:

1-Write a book staring Missy cat. Who knows maybe Emily will one day illustrate it.

2-Help with Bible school - again.

3-Paint a picture with Emily's name in the middle of it.

4-Learn to sew and make doll clothes.

5-Make an enemy for life by acting upon for what I believe in.

6-Write a letter to everyone whom I love.

7-Make a difference to someone on their death bed.

8-Make a difference to a stranger.

9-Make people laugh.

10-Blog often.

11-Learn healthier habits.

12-Let someone else have the chance that I missed.

13-Live in a way to have a honorable reputation.

14-Take pictures of everything from scenery to the moments of everyday life in order to celebrate the beauty in every thing.

15-Always scrapbook.

17-Go on scrap book retreats.

18-Find joy every day.

19-Inspire someone to greatness.

20-Get a pedicure

21-Have a maid every two weeks

The End.

Walking to School

We are blessed to live close enough to Emily's school that we walk her to school in the mornings. Since Hartford works from home, he normally walks with her. However, once in a while, he is unavailable so I get the privilege of walking with her. These times are truly priceless. Some mornings, she runs with pure excitement from the anticipation of the day and it is hard to keep up with her. Some mornings, she pokes around and I fear that we will never get there. On these morning, she isn't poking around to poke, but to explore. Some days she has stopped to explore flowers or crawling critters. Some days she has stopped to explore icicles hanging from all the mail boxes on the street. Some days when it's cold outside, she comes to a sudden halt to just watch her breath. Some days are just days that she talks nonstop. Today was one of those days.

She began talking about her old tennis shoes and how she couldn't believe that they were so worn out that I had to throw them away. She stated that she loved the silver tennis shoes that she was wearing so much that she wasn't going to let me give them away, sell them, or throw them away even if they were worn completely out because she is going to keep them forever. She wondered if shoes were made in gold color too. She thinks that having a pair of shoes that were both silver and gold would be neat.

As we were passing a mound of fire ants she completely changed the subject to ants without missing a beat. And to think, I never knew there were so much to say about ants. Then out of the blue, she spotted our shadows. She remarked that in 17 years or months, her shadow will be as tall as mine. As I was relishing every word, she stopped in the middle of a sentence, let my hand go free, looked quickly at me and said, "Stop!" and running away from me she yelled, "there's no time for a hug and a kiss, I got to go." And before I had time to reply, "have a good day," she was out sight.

I quickly finished walking to the curb and secretly saw her waiving hi to the teacher standing at the bus lane as she ran past her and I saw the smile that came across the teacher's face. Who Emily is makes a joyous difference!

Spring break

Spring break officially starts the moment I clock out from work today. I hope it is at 5:00. The last time that I planned some days off from work, I ended up staying until 9:00 to get everything done that could possibly be done. Today, however, I'm begging for work. There's never a happy medium.

We will start driving to Tampa Florida in the morning around 4:30. We plan of visiting Busch Gardens. Then, in the middle of the week, we will be driving up to Orlando, Florida to visit Sea World. We got most things in the suit cases but regardless, there are things that we packed that we will wonder why we packed them and there are things that we have forgotten and will wonder how in the world we could have forgotten them. I keep telling myself that there no doubt will be a Wal-Mart or two to buy those things that we forgot.

Money is slim for this trip. But there are times that one must escape from reality regardless of the cost. We have packed peanut butter and jelly and microwavable soup, so at least we won't need to eat out every meal, thus cutting down on the guilt.

God knew us before we were born

All my life I have heard that God knew us before we were born. I had always considered this as the truth without realizing the meaning of the truth.

I was overjoyed to be pregnant and could hardly wait to know if the baby was a boy or a girl. The ultra sound had been scheduled and there was absolutely no doubt that I wanted to find out. Actually, the sooner I found out the better, I had plans to make and dreams to dream. I counted the days until I would find out this great mystery. Shockingly, the ultra sound didn't tell us anything. Ugh, I couldn't believe it. I just had to know, I had to plan, I just had to know. But, the doctors wouldn't do another ultra sound just because I had to know.

I was bummed. I had my heart set on knowing, besides, I was getting pretty annoyed with people asking me if the baby was a boy or a girl. One Sunday soon afterwards when the preacher was preaching that God knew us before we were born, my mind and my heart were opened. Not only did a light bulb go off in my mind, but also my heart melted. I realized that the baby I was carrying was already loved by God and He knew him or her by name. I couldn't help but praise God for loving my unborn child and knowing it by name and then His love overwhelmed me even more as I realized that it was true of everyone including me.

What comfort and peace this knowledge brought to me. Now that Emily is here, I often wonder what she will be when she grows up, then I remember that God knew her before she was born so I shouldn't worry about it because He knows her future. I continue to pray for His help so that we may raise her so that she walks in His will.

I couldn't pull it off

Oh well, I tried my best to fool Hartford yesterday when I got home, but I was laughing too hard to pull it off. Emily got a kick out of me trying to fool him.

Maybe next year.

April Fool's Day

Hartford tried, but he didn't fool me or Emily. As I was getting ready this morning, he went into his closet and proclaimed that we have a mouse. Since I wasn't wearing my hearing aids yet, I asked him to repeat himself. By the time that he got the the phrase out again, I put two and two together and wished him a happy April Fool's day.

He laughed with glee as he rubbed his hands together and said, "Emily's turn." He went to wake her up and he excitedly said, "Missy had kittens!" Emily rolled over and asked him if they were artificial?

Oh well, maybe next year he will have better luck.

I think this year will be my year. I'm going to go home and when I walk into the house, I'm going to tell him that he's going to kill me because I hit the garage door again. Since I just hit the garage door last week, he will probably believe me.

If I'm not at work tomorrow everyone will know that he didn't appreciate my joke on him. Hee, Hee.