No More Pacies!!

Well, John has made the transition to a BIG BOY!! Two days ago (Sunday) we were having lunch when the subject of the pacies came up. Mark asked John if he wanted to throw his pacies in the trashcan or if he wanted Daddy to do it. Naturally, John wanted to do it himself, so bye, bye pacies! I couldn't believe that he actually did it!! He has asked about them (with pitiful eyes) a few times since, but he hasn't cried after them. He's been falling asleep fairly quickly, but hasn't been taking as long naps. He's really trying, but he's taking it a little harder than Ellen did. The Easter Bunny took hers and she didn't give it a second thought. Still, I'm glad that hurdle is crossed. I didn't know how it would go. He was pretty attached to them.

Now, if we could get him to poop in the potty, we would be home free!

Wiggles Concert!

Last night Ellen and I went to a Wiggles concert. We've been one other time, when she was 18 months old. Ellen isn't much into the Wiggles now days. She likes them, but she's more into the Backyardigans. We went to concert because her little friend, Allison-with-the curly-hair and her mom invited us. We loved it! We had great seats. They were 6th row, center! The guys came out into the audience and Anthony stood so close to Ellen and Allison that they could have hugged him! We sang and danced and had a wonderful time!

I'm so glad that Ellen has good friends like Allison. Her mom is great, too. Angela is in the Army. I've never been good friends with a lady in the Army, but we seem to have a lot in common. School will be starting soon and I am anxious to find out if Allison and Ellen are in the same PreK 4 class.

Busy Week

Well, VBS is going pretty well this week. We've had 7 or 8 kids each day in our little class. The hardest part is keeping them occupied without going outside. It has been really hot and we learned that the playground is infested with chiggers. It has been sprayed, but we are unsure if the spray has killed the chiggers and I'm not going to take my two year olds out unless I am sure.

I am running out of time before school starts. I still have a massive amount of work to do in my classroom. I moved rooms this summer from a portable back to the main building. So far I have unpacked 30 boxes and I still have about 12 to unpack. That is not counting arranging all of the furniture. After I get unpacked, I will still need to do all of the normal prep work just to start the year. All of this on top of finishing VBS, and hosting a bridal tea this weekend. I think I need to take a nap!

'Twas the Night Before VBS

Tomorrow is the first day of VBS. I am teaching the two year old class. "Regular" VBS is for ages three and up, but since some of the staff of VBS have younger children, I am teaching the twos. Like I said, it's only for the children of those helping at VBS, but even so I'm expecting 8-10 kids each day. I think I have plenty of help lined up and lots of things planned for us to do. I just hope that we don't have too many criers. I've been going into their regular Sunday School classes for several weeks so that they could get used to me, so maybe that will help the stranger anxiety problem.

Our congregation traditionally has an ice cream supper the night before VBS, and we had it again this year. YUM! I successfully made my mother's butter pecan recipe--a first. Somehow, I always seem to mess up homemade ice cream, but this time I did something right, because it turned out great!

Wish me luck tomorrow at 9 am!

Google Reader

I have just discovered Google Reader! I have read blogs off and on, but it has never been a daily activity. I didn't have a good system to keep up with my favorites---until now! Wow! What a great system for keeping up with my faovirte blogs and when they are updated! Now, I don't intend for blogs to take over my life, but I view them little like I do magazines--a little quick information and entertainment. This has made me more excited about my own blog. I hope I can be better about updating it, so that maybe someone will want to add my blog to their Google Reader. Happy Reading!

Freezer Problems

I am just "sick" over what has happened. This morning when I went out to the garage looking for something, I noticed some water running across the floor coming from under the freezer. Then I noticed that the freezer door was ajar. Everything inside was not only thawed, it was warm. The door must have been ajar for days. It is a big upright freezer and was about half full. I guess that we lost about $150-200 worth of food. It could have been a lot worse. A lot of it was frozen veggies and other things that I had gotten on sale, but still. I hate to see all of it go to waste. Ugh!

Overwhelmed by Stuff

Stuff. I have spent my summer dealing it and it never ceases to amaze me how much time I spend dealing with material possessions. Right now, the back of my SUV is filled with my kids' outgrown clothes that I will be taking to a consignment sale tomorrow. We had a garage sale at the beginning of the summer and I have donated several bags/boxes to ARC, but I still feel that I have--my family has--too much stuff.

I enjoying shopping. I love looking for good deals. It's like a treasure hunt. I also like giving to others, so if I can find a good deal on something to give away, all that much better. The problem is that in the meantime, I accumulate more stuff and spend more money.

I think part of my problem is that I try to be the perfect mom/wife/friend. I don't want to forget someone's birthday. I want to dress my children in nice clothes, and have a nicely decorated home. I don't think I am overboard in all of this. It's just hard to do it all.

Simplify. My goal for the coming months. Spend less time dealing with stuff, and spend more time with people.