Randomness

I don't have a main topic for my post today, it's just a lot of randomness that thought I would share.

-Here's when you know you are desperate for sugar. Yesterday afternoon I was getting dinner started and thought that we really needed a dessert. Unfortunately we cannot afford to go on a Blizzard run every night so I thought I would bake something. I did not want to go to the store so I started digging. I had a half a bag of butterscotch chips and a half a bag of chocolate chips. I had all ingredients for cookies or brownies except for brown sugar. I decided to google it to see if there is a way to substitute for brown sugar. Sure enough...you can make your own!!! All you have to do is mix white sugar with molasses and ta-da, you have brown sugar. I did not have molasses but I read that you can use maple syrup instead. I made butterscotch, choc chip cookies and they ed out great. Scott had no idea that I had messed with the recipe.

-Do not walk to pick up your child from school when it is 90 degrees outside. The hormones must be getting to me, but I thought it would be a good day to get some exercise. Boy was I WRONG! Reece loves his umbrella stroller and he was excited so we were on our way. I had ALSO forgotten that from here to the school is pretty much all up hill. By the time we got there I considered hitching a ride home with someone. I also did not realize that since I was standing outside of the school I got Ethan first. THEN we had to walk down the entire line of cars in the pick up line. I kept seeing people I know and I am sure they thought I was 1)crazy 2)really skanky & sweaty. Ethan thought it was cool to walk home. We all downed a bottle of water when we got back and I went straight to the shower. Needless to say I will be taking my car today.

-Maternity clothes STINK! They are out in full force here and let me tell you I am not happy. I remember when I started wearing them with Ethan I was so excited and proud. Now I just look like a barn. I realized that when everyone told me I wasn't showing yet, they were lying. I have been showing in my REAR this whole time and everyone was too polite to tell me.

-An awesome website Money Saving Mom . You will not be disappointed. This a blog that tells about free stuff at restaurants, deals at all kinds of different stores, and links you to some awesome coupons. You can end up getting stuff for free or for less than a quarter with the coupons and deals. It is so cool!!!! A big shout out to Allison for showing me this site and for making me even more obsessed with saving money!

-Speaking of saving money...Chic-Fil-A is giving away free chicken strips on Labor Day!!! Anyone who wears a football team logo gets a free 3-piece chicken strips. Needless to say we will all four be there with our shirts on. Do you think I could get double if the logo is on my belly for Baby K? I wonder if the deal includes kids? I may need to do some more research!

-Happy football season to you all. I will officially lose my husband on Saturday when he enters the world of College Football. Then it will get worse when the NFL joins them. He is so obsessed with it and his fantasy teams that he can usually not even talk or focus after church on Sunday. When I am chatting with someone after church I can always see him out of the corner of my eye giving me the death stare that we need to GO. Don't even suggest stopping to get a Sonic drink. Since our church gets out at 11:30 he uses this time to "fix" his lineups and do whatever he does before the games start. He will return to me in February and then say about a million times "Man, I miss football". Heaven forbid this baby be born on a Sunday. Yikes, I hadn't thought of that yet since I've never had one during football season.

On a side note, I hate that SKANKY always comes up as a misspelled word.

Save the date for Sept 8

Be sure to check my blog on Sept 8. That is when we will find out what we are having! I went to the doctor today and heard the heartbeat and everything is well at 18 weeks.

Now I'm just ready to find out if it's a boy or a girl!!!!

What do you guys think? I'm feeling boy (my mom says not to confess it), Scott and Ethan say girl and Reece, well, doesn't realize what's going to rock his world in January. My brother-in-law Kevin has been 5 for 5 on predicting my kids and his kids and he says girl (I call him the Baby Whisperer).

A trip and school

No, I haven't been sitting at home crying about Ethan starting Kindergarten. I had to go out of state. My Grandma passed away on Wednesday so my parents, sister and I flew to Ohio for 4 days.

It was a sad trip, but a good trip. My Grandma had 10 kids, 28 grandchildren, and 18 great grandchildren. WOW!!! Not too many people can say that! Talk about a big group. I had not seen any of my family in several years so it was a good trip to see them all and catch up. I wish that ALL of the family could have been there, but it was good to see all of the ones that were there. Although my grandma lived in Ohio I have many fond memories of her throughout my life. Let me just say that no one can count Yahtzee dice fast than her! You would roll and before you could even look at what you had she would call out the total of the dice. She also loved game shows, sports, flowers, and playing putt putt.

It was also fun having a trip with my parents and sister. It was just the 4 of us and that hasn't happened in a long time. We sure did miss the 2 husbands and 5 kids that we left here, though! We had a lot of tears, but lots of laughs. It was a good time to reflect and remind myself just how important family is in my life. I am very thankful for that!

Well, today was the BIG DAY! After getting in late and about 3 hours of sleep I could barely pry my eyes open to get Ethan to school! He woke up at 5:45am and crawled in my bed. He said "Mom, I think we are a little too early for school." Oh my! He was bouncing off the walls all morning and could not WAIT to get there. He walked in like a champ and had the biggest grin ever! When I took his picture he said "I'm not going to say cheese today when you take my picture, I'm just going to say First Day of School!!!" So funny. Reece insisted on getting a name tag when we got in there and I think that he thought he was going to get to stay. When I told him to tell Ethan goodbye he fell in the floor crying. Since he was making a scene it was hard for me to be emotional so it was good!

When I picked him up he came running to the car with THE BIGGEST smile I have ever seen on that boy's face in his life. I will never forget that moment.

Vacation

Well, Scott's vacation is over (booo) but we had a great week! We went to Branson early last week and had a great time. It was nice to get away for a few days. I know that Branson is not all that exciting, but it's good for little kids.

We got there and checked into the hotel and Ethan thought it was AWESOME that our hotel had 9 floors or "bunks" as he called it. He was so excited that we got to eat breakfast on the 9th floor. We asked him what his favorite part of the trip was, and he said going to the 9th floor to eat. Can he be any easier to please or what?



We played putt-putt twice which is fun for all four of us. It was SO HOT, but we still had fun and it was really shady where we played.

We also ate out plenty and only made one really bad restaurant choice. It's sad when the best part of the restaurant is the corny karaokee singer singing country songs and taking requests from the people eating.

Silver Dollar City was fun and the boys had a great time. Ethan is now big enough to ride a lot of rides so that was great. Reece could only ride a few rides and Scott had to ride with him because of the prego Mommy who is still feeling ugh and going in circles would not be wise.

That night we went down to Branson Landing and shopped around and ate at Joe's Crab Shack. It was so good and Scott paid a tribute to the Deadliest Catch as he chowed down on his crab. We love that show. Reece was sleeping in the stroller when we got there and he ended up being the biggest crab there when he woke up. They had shirts that said "I'm bringing crabby back" and I wanted to get him one, but they didn't have one in his size. I'm still thinking I should have gotten one for me because it would have been just as appropriate...hee hee.

All in all it was a fun week and a great vacation. Here are a couple of pics.

On a side note...Kindergarten countdown: 6 days. Sniff sniff.

A good weekend

We had a great weekend this weekend! I'm still mad about the heat, but I won't continue on that.

The biggest thing that happened is that BETH MOORE was at our church this weekend. Well, not in person, but via satellite so it was close enough, right? It was so great and I got so much out of it. I have looked at my notes several times since yesterday just still soaking in everything she had to say.

She spoke on having a 100-fold harvest and letting God's word have maximum impact in our lives. She talked about expecting a test, protecting our heart, and retaining the word. She spoke a lot about a touchy subject with me: anxiety.

Anyone who knows me knows how anxious I am and how I worry about everything. I even have been known to worry about worrying. That's pretty bad! It doesn't matter how many times I read it or hear it, it always helps to hear this verse:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

It was so great to have that reminder put into my head and to be reminded that being anxious about things is showing no faith.

The one thing I will take with me the most is when she said this: "God won't change your life if you won't let him change your day."

It was a wonderful experience and I love all of the women at our church that worked so hard to put it all together.

Scott is on vacation this week!!!! Woo Hoooo!!! :)

Tomorrow will make two weeks until school starts. I am very nervous but very excited for Ethan. I am not worrying about it because I am believing in my faith that he is going to do great & that this is the school where he needs to be. I couldn't be more proud of him. He has grown so much and is so energetic and excited. We went for his kindergarten registration last week and seeing him go off with the teacher and then come back with the biggest smile on his face brought tears to my eyes. Then it set me over the edge when they took his picture. I will never forget the way that boy looked standing there against the wall. So much excitement, wonder, and love. I pray that he always keeps his loving spirit and his excitement for everything that he sees.



I have a feeling there may be some more sappy kindergarten posts as it grows nearer, so get ready!