Christmas in September!

Today was the day... the day that I hauled my butt over to my mom's and climbed up in the attic to go through the fall/winter clothes that Abraham and I have. We have limited space in this apartment (have I mentioned lately that it is a small space??!) so we store stuff, okay lots of stuff, at my parents!

Anywho... I love going through the clothes for Abraham! It's like Christmas. I have 2 mom friends with boys older than Abraham who have passed clothes to us, which is so fantastic! You wouldn't believe the amount of clothing that we have gotten from them! Course when your Bubba is as tiny waisted as mine is some of the stuff won't fit him for like, 3 years!

This is what was pulled out of the attic for Bubba - some of which is going to consignment and the rest is ours!

Then came the dreaded task of putting away the summer stuff and getting out the fall/winter stuff. Yes, this is an all day project folks! It's not so much like Christmas for me with my clothes because I'm reminded of how ill-fitting my clothes are. Just gives me more motivation to LOOSE WEIGHT!! And since I have won THIS I am on my way!!

This is what my bedroom looked like as I pulled most of my summer stuff out of the closet and transferred the fall in. Michael always laughs at me with my TWO wardrobes! He has clothes for all year round - including his shorts which he will wear in the dead of winter, no lie! Must be that Georgia blood in him! :)

Finally I got it all done! The fall clothes smelled like attic so they got washed and hung to dry last night. The leftover clothes are sorted into the Goodwill pile and consignment pile. I have off on Tuesday so I guess that Abraham and I will be running around town trying to get rid of all this stuff!!

What did YOU do this weekend????

Weekend Cleaning

This was the scene this weekend after we took a good hard look around our apartment at all that hadn't been cleaned, probably since we moved in. One of those things was our blinds. Oh my head.. the dust and grime that was on those things was, to say the least, embarassing.

So they came down and got washed. Since our apartment has limited space - had we been in a home I'd have taken them outside and hosed them down - they ended up in the shower, which really isn't conducive to cleaning blinds!

The pictures don't do it justice --- the mess that I made was unbelievable!! Good thing it was in the bathroom!

For what it's worth...

For what it's worth...

This thought might only apply to working moms (but maybe not). I had an epiphany the other day as I was doing the million and one things that I do at night. In a span of a little less than 3 hours, I had: made dinner, cleaned up dinner, made lunch for Michael, swept and mopped the kitchen floor (it's small don't get too excited!), threw a load of wash in, cleaned the bathroom (it's small too!) read with Abraham for 20 minutes, put him to bed, worked on stuff for school, and worked on stuff for my Masters (and this is no short task).

Phew! That wore me out just typing it! As I sat on the couch with Michael, huffing about there not being enough hours in the day to do all that I need to do... I began to wonder what exactly was making me feel that I HAD to do all that in one night. I don't know, and maybe I'm off base on this one, but I think that I have serious issues with GUILT when I don't do the things that I FEEL I need to do. I think that I feel I am supposed to do those things at night because it is what is expected of me as a "GOOD" mom - that is what I to do to care for my family - even if it means not spending time with Abraham when he asks me to play with him or sitting on the couch and talking with Michael about his day. Don't get me wrong, some of that stuff does HAVE to be done, like feeding my family, but when it takes away from time with my boys, that is what bothers me.

I really think that there are nights that I make myself do all that STUFF and kill myself, not getting enough sleep, because I have found that my worth as a"GOOD MOM" is caught up in what I DO. When is that really it?

I don't know if any other working moms have ever felt this way but I sure do - just being REAL here! It is really hard to work all day long, in a job that can be somewhat stressful at times, then come home to what looks like MOUNDS of work.

But my worth as a mom isn't in what I DO but who I AM and the TIME that I spend with my son and husband. Love is spoken loudly in the time that I spend with them... not in the lunches that I make or the clothes that I clean.

Here is what I concluded:

MOMS don't always get their kids yearly pictures taken - but they DO love on their screaming baby girl who needs her mommy. :)

MOMS don't always get the laundry done - but they DO spend time playing "cars" with their son.

MOMS don't always get posts on their blog - but they DO sit down and have dinner with their kids, asking them about their day.

MOMS don't always make dinner every night - but they DO cuddle in bed with their kids, reading books before bed.

I'm not 100% sure where this post is or was going. All I know is that I am a WORKING MOM who is realizing that I don't have to DO anything to make me a GOOD MOM... I just am!

For what it's worth...

** Disclaimer: I am by no means minimizing all the work that SAHM's do on a daily basis. Please know that I admire all SAHM's and I acknowledge that you work hard at home during the day as well. My mom was a SAHM and so was my sister up until recently - so I know that it takes a lot to keep a home running. **

For what it's worth...

Okay so this won't apply to many of you but let me just say for the record - IF you happen to be a parent of a student in the public school system and IF you were to ever have the urge or the thought to go to a teachers house, unannounced, to "just say hi" or to chat about school related topics ---- DON'T!! Please don't. Respect the privacy and the family time of your child's teachers. Understand that when we leave school we have many other responsibilities that we have to take care of and to have a parent show up at our door -- really is unfair.

You might be surprised at the fact that there have been parents from my school (recently) who have done just this and quite frankly... it is disturbing. I guess that is part of the danger of living in the same neighborhoods that your students live in (not me but a colleague).

Seriously tho folks, really... I'm just saying...

For what it's worth...

Singing with the computer

This was the scene last night about 8:30 pm - trying to go to bed.. okay so not trying very hard. Abraham decided he wanted to hear music on the computer so I played some of his favorite songs for him to hear: I like it, I love it by Tim McGraw; Hold on Tight by the Electric Orchastra and When the Sun Goes Down by Kenny Chesney and Uncle Cracker.

Cheese!!

Playlist.com for all your music needs!

Jesus Loves me was the last song that I found for him. The boy loves music and can sing! (I tried to upload the video of him singing but it 's not working!)

Picture taking - Abraham style!

I'm pretty sure that Daddy helped with this picture!!

This is definitely NOT a pretty picture!

Sweet Feet! Hard to believe how big they have gotten!

I see my bum Momma! Simple things amuse simple minds :)

Yes, Momma helped with this one too!

Steven Curtis Chapman on The Early Show on CBS

It just constantly amazes me how our Father can take what we see as horrible and tragic and uses it for HIS good and to bring honor to HIS name. I am so thankful for the way that the Father has used the tragedy in Steven Curtis Chapmans family to honor HIS name. What amazing platforms SCC has had to speak the name of our Lord and to share with the world HIS love, grace, peace and HOPE! This man is as genuine and humble as they come.

As a family who has experienced deep sorrow in the past 3 years, I pray that we have been that same testimony of HIS grace, peace and HOPE to those who hear our stories.