Speaking out again

A wonderful lady I know posted this video to her blog and I agree and like it so much that I am sharing it with you.



What this young man says has not been said enough and unfortunately is never reported in the media. They somehow always find the disgruntled soldier or soldier's family to put on the news...more sensational that way because who wants to hear that things are improving and going well? That sure doesn't help ratings!

And....that's all I am gonna say about that (for now anyway...wink)

Feeling a little sentimental...

I'm sitting here wrapped up in a throw that used to belong to my Gram.

It came in a box today that Mom sent me. I had forgotten she was sending it to me, but I was expecting the au jus mix, remote caddy, toy for The SB, birthday card and camera....but when I opened the box and saw this throw on top, I immediately knew what it was....I picked it up, buried my face in it and sobbed.

Gram has been gone for more than ten years now but I don't miss her any less. I won't ever get to hug her again, but being wrapped up in a blanket that belonged to her is a nice feeling. I think about her a lot, especially because I know my mom would give nearly anything to be able to tell Gram all about Mom's grandbabies.

She has missed some exciting things in my life, but anytime something extraordinary or special happens, I think about her and how fun it would be to share those moments with my little Gram...

Something on my heart...

As the election draws near, there is something on my heart. It has come to mind a couple times and then yesterday in my quiet time, I came across these verses that jumped out:

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Tim 4:3-4, ESV)

So, I implore you all to evaluate where you're at, seek truth and vote accordingly.

And...that's all I'm gonna say about that! :)

Guess what I did today?!

Well, I did something else today that a few years ago I would have probably told you I wouldn't do....I made my own baby food! I've been toying with the idea for a while. Here is why I took the plunge:

1--I raw feed my dogs, but jar-feed my baby?! That's messed up!

2--I can make time for it since I am a SAHM

3--We just got a food processor about a month ago

4--It is WAY cheaper

5--It is WAY healthier

6--I know exactly what is going into my baby's tummy!

7--I get some sort of odd satisfaction from doing things "from scratch"

So....here's my first adventure. I chose pumpkins because it's October, I love the fall and pumpkins are yummy!

Step 1: Go to the store to find a "sugar" or "pie" pumpkin....only to find the only baking pumpkins available are also the only painted/decorated pumpkins?! (Why does that make sense???)

Step 2: Talk to produce manager to ask if there are any non-painted baking pumpkins...to which he replies, "I don't think so, why?"

Ummm....because I plan to bake them?? ha ha

He said the paint is non-toxic and washes off so he will give me whatever painted pumpkins I want for the pie pumpkin price, rather than $5.75 each!

Step 3: Wash silly paint off of baking pumpkins

Step 4: Split pumpkin in half and place face down in 1-2 inches of water in baking pan

Step 5: Sprinkle a little cinnamon to add some spice taste!

Step 6: Bake at about 400 for about an hour

Step 7: Scrape meat out of pumpkin and put it in the food processor


Step 8: Food process. :-)


Step 9: Spoon into ice cube tray (each cube is roughly a serving size...how convenient!)



Step 10: Freeze!

(That's where I'm at now...)

Step 11: Remove cubes from tray, put in labeled freezer bag, and remove servings as needed!

Yay!

I also have sweet potatoes baked and waiting to cool so I can do the same. :-) Then it's peas and green beans and apples and apricots and carrots and bananas and avocados and.....well, you get the idea!

One serving in a jar of organic baby food? $.50


One serving of pumpkin made at home? $.04...yes FOUR CENTS!


The feeling of doing something healthy for my baby? Priceless....

I love give-aways! :)

Ok, in case you haven't noticed, I love give-aways...especially "mama give-aways!" :) So....you have to go to Mom Most Traveled and see her See Kai Run Giveaway!! She does some other great give-aways too, so even if you're not in the market for some ADORABLE shoes for little feet, check in and see what else she might have up her sleeve...and read some reviews! :)

Another fun giveaway!

If you roll on over to Baby Wears Prada, you will see two more giveaways! (They do this all the time...how awesome, eh?) I'm here to tell you about the one for Baby Bella Maya matching blankie and booties! The blankets look to-die-for soft and the booties (0-6 and 6-12 mo) are SO adorable! The combo would be perfect to tuck into a stroller and have the cutie booties peeking out from under the blankie! :) They even have styles for boys!!! :)

Just some pictures

I have put three new posts (or maybe four??) on our family blog as of yesterday!! So if you want the skinny on the last couple weeks with the fam, go check it out! :)

I took some random pictures when The SB and I went to the park so I thought I'd just post them here cause I don't know what else to do with them. :)

(Isn't he the cutest ever?!?)

One of those days

Do you ever have those days when thoughts are pinging around in your head and you can't quite capture them to get them organized? I feel like I'm standing in one of those cool money booths where the money flies all over and you have to grab as many bills as you can!!! (And honestly I would LOVE to be standing in a money booth right now....)

I went to the ladies' bible study this morning and wowza! That's the only word I can grab hold of and pin down right now. I'm sure in a few hours I'll get more to share, but yep....all that I can say is "Wowza". (In a good way, of course!)

And....I've been keeping up with a couple of my blogging friends...ok, so I have NEVER met these people, but my cousin turned me onto their blogs and I FEEL like I know them. My Charming Kids is phenomenal and the last week-ish has been a bit of a roller coaster and when I read yesterday I had giddy "GOD IS AWESOME" goosebumps reading the latest news on unborn baby Stellan!!! And then, this morning, Cous asked if I had been reading Confessions of a CF (cystic fibrosis) Husband and I hadn't....so I went over there to catch up and now I'm having "God you ARE awesome, even when we don't understand it" sort of feelings. I don't know Tricia but right now I'm sitting here at my computer feeling like I just read this sad news as it relates to a good friend.

And...all I am going to say in closing is God is moving here in this girl's heart and there are big things a'comin! (I just don't know what cause all of those thoughts are still pinging!!!)

Til I talk again....

T-Rae :)

Ok, where was I??

Well, the "documentary" was not a documentary at all....sigh. It was a typical Fox News playground argument amongst adults. Why oh why can't the media report the facts and let me make my own judgments?? I don't care what Blah-blah political analyst thinks about what Joe Schmoe down the street said about the facts....I just want the straight facts. Ah well...

Anyway....Milkworks is AWESOME! :) I am not feeling the "roll" I was on so I'll just leave it at that (or not....). It is an amazing set up, with fantastic sales clerks (all of whom I found out in an email earlier this week are breastfeeding educators!) They do various "clinics" on different topics. The one they're focusing on now is on cloth diapering and they show the different styles of cloth diapers, how to properly care for them and help you figure out what works best and how to switch over if you want! I would love to go to one of those, BUT it's at 7 pm and runs for an hour which means it would be a late night for me! I did ask about daytime classes like that and she said they would look into it! :)

Ok, I'll stop rambling about a boutique none of you are close enough to see. ha ha

Here's the link to it though:

Milkworks

Here's the link to the cool mama cards/notes business. You'll laugh, you'll cry....

Motherhood with Attitude

I'll blog about The SB's poor teething struggle on the Family Site later this evening (maybe).

Um, let's see...OH! Spiritual Gifts survey...

So the guesses were:

Faith
Administration
Leadership
Evangelism
Service/Helps
Mercy

Well....I would have said something in the realm of Admin and Leadership too....BUT here's what the inventory said were my top three:

Service/Helps
Giving
Mercy

They "won" by quite a bit too! Next was Exhortation. Evangelism was the lowest.

And actually, I totally agree with the inventory! Those things come naturally to me, really. All of that comes out pretty interesting considering I KNOW my calling is in leading a missions organization, eh??? I can't explain it either...

Some stuff...

Ok, I have a few minutes to quickly get some stuff on here! :)

One of my friends took me to the COOLEST baby boutique I've ever set foot in! I have been to a few here in Ourtown and after the fourth one I called Mom and asked her what about me would bring out the "snotty" in boutique sales clerks, because they all seem to be thick with attitude. I had one lady tell me I could change The SB in the clothes changing room but "not to leave the dirty diaper in there". I was appalled. Seriously....do I look like a rude, irresponsible, selfish type of person who would leave a dirty diaper in a boutique's dressing room!?! Sigh...I haven't been back there. Anyway....we went to this boutique because they were listed as a store that sells our beloved Ju Ju Be diaper bags and they said over the phone they had "quite the stash" and neither of us had seen a "stash" of JJB diaper bags!

After being in the store for less than five minutes, MamaHuskerFan said, "This is like your mothership!" And wow was she right!!! They had a ton of JJB diaper bags, BabyLegs, baby slings and carriers and cloth diapers, and swaddle blankets and all sorts of other fun baby stuff that I love to look at. We spent a long time drooling over the diaper bags and admiring the different styles we hadn't seen before and the patterns we hadn't seen before and sharing with the sales clerks what we loved about JJBs and how they really are the best diaper bag on the market and worth the seemingly high price tags.

The sales clerks were all wonderful! They were sweet, friendly, attentive but not pushy...it was awesome! Initially I thought it was odd that the boutique was attached to a lactation consulting "business". Then, one of the founders of this little set up explained it....MilkWorks is a non profit organization whose goal is to help mamas breastfeed and overcome obstacles in breastfeeding and also to connect moms together for support groups, play dates, etc. BabyWorks is the boutique and the proceeds from there go to support MilkWorks!

There were a few women who founded it together, and for the life of me I can't remember the lady's name I was talking to! But she asked me about my Ergo Baby Carrier and said they were going to be getting some Beco Baby Carriers in.

Ok, this blog entry is going to be cut short because my cousin just told me about a show coming on that I have to watch:

http://www.foxnews.com/hannitysamerica/

Documentary on Obama's early years....I'll get back to MilkWorks later...

Just real quick....

I have some stuff I want to blog about but am currently busy with a poor teething little boy! But...I want to jot this down to remind me and let you know!

1--I'll give the answers of the Spiritual Gifts survey.

2--I'll summarize The SB's poor battle with FOUR teeth coming in at once!!

3--BETH MOORE HAS A NEW STUDY ON ESTHER and I'm PSYCHED! :-)

4--I'll tell you all about an incredible boutique/non profit set up that I LOVE!

5--I'll share with you a fun, tongue-in-cheek and make-you-cry mama site. :-)

So stay tuned.....

Run down of my Saturday...

Today was one of those days when your plan falls through, so you go to a second plan and that falls through....so then you give up on planning all together!

Plan A:

Get up and be on my way to Thetownover with The SB to sit at our garage sale with TheHuskerFanFam by 8:00 and make some mooooney! Hang out there until 1 or 2ish and then come back to Ourtown. Plans ended there...the rest of the day was free-flowing. :-) ha ha

Plan B:

The SB overslept, I wasn't as organized as I had initially though...so the new plan was to get going as soon as possible...which turned out to be 8:50 am. I called MamaHuskerFan who informed me things weren't going as planned there either and I might want to hold off coming for about an hour.

Plan C:

Go back into Ourtown to get cheap gas at Sam's Club, run the Jeep through the new carwash and THEN head to Thetownover for the garage sale around 10:00.

Plan D:

The SB is teething, so he was upset the entire time I was getting gas and washing the car, so I decided to come home before going to Thetownover in order to feed and calm The SB...and THEN leave for Thetownover as soon as possible, hopefully around 11:00 or 11:30.

Plan E:

The SB was too wishy-washy...happy one minute, crabby and sad the next...thus all plans to go to Thetownover were thrown out the window....with a new plan to spend the day hanging out with my poor teething The SB.

Plan F (I should have just stuck with Plan E..but nooooo....):

The SB seemed to be in much better spirits and I got a wild idea to actually USE the carpet steam cleaner Mom got me for Christmas since my living room carpet NEEDS a bath. The plan was to...
1. put together steam cleaner
2. clear out living room
3. move all necessities downstairs so we could stay out of living room
4. have The SB hang out with BigDaddy downstairs while I vacuumed the living room
5. steam clean the living room carpet
6. allow to dry
7. put everything back
8. the end

Somewhere around step 4 my plan went all haywire....

The SB decided he wasn't feeling well enough to hang out without being held and fed. The vacuum belt broke so I called the company who is mailing me another one...on Monday.....which should arrive within 7 to 10 days....which leads me to.....

Plan G:

Take care of The SB until he was in better spirits, put the vacuum back together, put the living room back together, move everything back upstairs and give up on all other plans of planning the rest of the day.

So far, plan G is going according to plan. :-)