"Fall" in Love with a Smoothie

As I've mentioned before, I'm a lover of all things Hungry Girl. Nothing new there. But a while back she posted a recipe for a pumpkin smoothie, and I've been tinkering around with it for about two weeks now. I haven't changed much, but I wanted to post it here in case anyone else is interested in a little pumpkin pie in a glass. :-)

About a month ago, I took a tip from my mom and started having a smoothie for lunch. At first I thought she was crazy -- how could a smoothie fill you up for lunch?? I've been making smoothies for breakfast for about three years now, but I didn't think it would make a very good lunch. But I was wrong! The fruit, the pumpkin (counts as a veggie for me), and the protein powder make this smoothie very long lasting...and tasty! Play around with it and adjust to your taste buds. I hope you enjoy it!

Pumpkin Smoothie

1 c. frozen fruit (I usually use just under 1 cup. HG recommended peaches, but I've also used a mixed bag of strawberries, peaches, melon, and pineapple)
1/2 banana
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 scoop vanilla or chocolate protein powder
1/2 c. skim milk
pumpkin pie spice, or cinnamon & nutmeg (to taste)
stevia, or sweetener of choice (to taste)
1/2 c. ice chips

Add everything but the ice into your blender and mix until the ingredients are combined. Add the ice and blend until combined. I like a thick, milkshakey smoothie, so you can adjust the liquid amount until it reaches the desired consistency that you like.

I always eat my smoothie with two rice cakes, and this routine has saved me a lot of standing in front of the frig going, "Hmmmm, now what do I want for lunch?" It may seem boring to have the same thing for lunch everyday, but it works for me. Give 'er a whirl (pun intended)! :-)

Oh, and if you don't have Halloween candy lying about and a husband who brings home Godiva chocolates from work, substituting this smoothie for your usual lunch may even help you control your daily calories and shed a few pounds. Or in my case, help make up for one more delicious bite of Godiva...

Don't Miss This Hug!

I wanted to share a little Kaden blurb from today. Kaden was in "quiet time" (the replacement for nap time) in my room, and I was working on my laptop in the living room. Our rules are that he's supposed to stay in the room and play quietly or rest until Laney finishes her nap. Now of course, he doesn't always follow those rules -- he likes to call for me, ask me questions, request more drinks, make small talk, etc. -- but he's only supposed to call for me for important stuff (like if he jumps from the ceiling fan and breaks his leg). :-)

After several reminders about the rules behind us, he opened the door, poked his head out, gave me an impish grin, and said, "Mommy, I have something to tell you. You don't want to miss this hug I have for you."

Is that precious or what?! Yes, he broke the rules; yes, he tried to manipulate me with cuteness; and yes, he knew it would work.

Get over here, baby, I do need that hug.

P.S. Can I add something here? Don't wait until your child asks you for a hug -- initiate the love!

Low-Carb Noodle Heaven

Back so soon? Yes, I know. I decided to get in a quick entry on my newest gluten-free noodle find. :-) I first heard about these through Hungry Girl, who sends out daily emails about various food-related products and issues. I enjoy reading her stuff, and she comes up with some great swap recipes for common high-fat, high-carb recipes. She also lists Weight Watcher points, in case you're interested in that kind of thing. She is a HUGE fan of these Tofu Shirataki Noodles, and I looked into getting some from the company I just linked to. However, I wasn't sure I'd like them (tofu and yam flour?!), and to get the best price you have to order 12 or more bags at once.

One day I was shopping at our local Publix, and low and behold -- there they were! Granted, I think they cost me about $2.89 for one bag (almost $1 more than the bulk price), but since I could purchase just one and try them, I allowed them to jump into my cart (this happens a lot to me while grocery shopping -- okay, any shopping!).

After investigating the bag, I confirmed that they are indeed gluten-free. Yay! Here's some other info from the bag:

"What is Shirataki? Shirataki is composed of thin, gelatinous strings made from yam flour from the Konnyaku root and has very low caloric or digestible food values. This traditional Japanese food is enjoyed for its simple taste and unique texture."

Nutritional info: 2 servings per bag. In each serving: 20 Calories, .5g Fat, 15mg Sodium, 3g Carb (no sugar), 1g Protein. Ingredients: Water, Tofu, Yam Flour, Calcium Hydroxide

So here's the scoop on what I thought of them...Yum! Now, I must tell you that I don't have very discriminating taste buds (I think this is hereditary thing -- Sorry, Dad!). I like regular tofu, which I know some people don't. I'm not nearly as "choosy" as Josh is about how things taste (I think he's normal and I'm just abnormally un-picky). Anyway, these noodles have a little bit of a vegetable-ish flavor, more than regular noodles (which of course makes sense since they're made from yam flour). They also have an "al dente" bite to them -- slightly springy instead of your normal al dente. All those considerations aside, they are my new favorite noodle.

If you're at all curious, I encourage you to give these a try. They're not wheat noodles, but considering the carb count and, for me, the fact that they're gluten-free, these tofu noodles are perfect. Put your favorite sauce on top of these babies, and you, too, will be in low-carb noodle heaven!

So Where Have I Been?...

My faithful readers (all two of you that are still here!) have inquired as to where in the world I've been lately. "Why haven't you been blogging?" they ask. Well, I don't have any big reasons...I've just been busy, I guess! A few days after my last post, I started a long-ish project, and the following week I was offered a short, 10-day project that I just wrapped up on Friday. So now I have some catching up to do on the first project.

In between freelancing, I've been...

...shoe shopping for the kids (they both outgrew their shoes at the same time, plus it was time to get fall shoes anyway)
...switching out the kids' clothes (packing away summer, bringing out fall!)
...planning my Christmas gift list
...doing a little Christmas shopping
...trying to figure out what to tell the grandparents to buy for the kids for Christmas
...working on a new budget now that Josh has a fixed salary
...helping Josh investigate options for our refinance in January
...deciding what the kids will wear for Trick or Treat
...attending a 4th birthday party for Kaden's friend Hannah
...joining the family at Pumpkinfest, a really fun fall festival in Franklin (Kaden's first pony ride!)
...planning a Halloween potluck at our house for a few friends before Trick or Treat

And, uh, yeah...that sounds like most of it. :-) Throw in lots of laundry, dishes, and regular household and family caretaking stuff, and I just haven't had much time for blogging. I have lots of things I want to write about, but I can't seem to find time at the moment. So I'll try to come back soon, but no promises at the moment. I have a feeling the next two months are going to be busy ones.

I hope you all are enjoying fall, wherever you are! :-) Oh, and if you'd like to receive our family pictures for a monthly pictorial update, leave me a comment with your email address or email me at (the name of my blog)@gmail.com.

Thankful!

I have a few moments to blog, and I wanted to post a thankful list -- I haven't done it in a while! Here are a few notable things making the list this week...

1) I'm so thankful for Josh! I have a husband who loves me enough to listen to my needs and to do his best to love me the best way that he possibly can. It's not always easy to do the give and take that's necessary in a marriage, but it makes me feel very loved when Josh is willing to sacrifice or make little changes just to make me feel more loved. I am very blessed to be married to this man!

2) Opportunities to help my friends -- I love having time off from work so that I can be more involved in people's lives. A listening ear, sorting and loaning clothes the kids have outgrown, or wherever I see a need ... it's a blessing to be able to give to people I love!

3) Fall is in the air, and that makes me very happy. It's my favorite season, after all, and I'm loving the cool mornings, sunny afternoon, and chilly evenings. Time to pull out the fleece jackets, heavier blankets, and long-sleeve PJs. Time to have campfires, watch movies by firelight, and carve pumpkins. There's a crispness to the air this time of year that I just adore.

4) I got the kids' blankets made! They are both snuggled in their beds under their blankets as I write this, and that makes me feel warm all over. :-) As it turns out, making things with your own two hands for the ones you love the most is a very heart-warming endeavor. I'm not sure my sewing skills are quite up to par, but I can cut and tie knots with the best of 'em. (Kaden's blanket is pictured above.)

5) I'm working on a new budget now that we have a more fixed income (because of Josh's job change). I think I'll be consulting my Dave Ramsey book before I get too far into this. We haven't had much of a budget since we lived in Ohio, so I'm going into relatively uncertain territory here. ...But I'm excited!

Well, there are the top five. I hope you're all doing great wherever you are at the moment -- I'm sending love from Tennessee!

P.S. The message I mentioned a few posts back from Ed McGlasson about the blessing of the Father (and how fathers/parents follow that example w/ their children) can be heard here. I failed to link to the message at the time, and I wanted to include it here. I highly recommend checking it out.

Refined?

I received the following story as an email forward several months ago, and it's been sitting in my "For Blog" folder in my inbox. Well, today's the day. As far as email forwards go, I usually get the same ones about 300 times -- however, this was something new, and I hope it encourages you as it did me. I love hearing natural/physical examples that help me understand spiritual concepts, and this is one such story:

Malachi 3:3 says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy. I look for the reflection -- when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you -- His perfect character more fully developed in your life.

Busy Bees

It's been a while since I last wrote! We have been busy bees here in the Hesse house. My parents came to visit for a long weekend (Thursday afternoon to Monday afternoon), and we had a really nice time together. Here are some highlights...

1.) Yard work! Havings helpers here is so nice so we can tackle projects like cutting the hedges, chopping firewood, and planting fall flowers. Unfortunately, only 5 of my 24 pansy plants survived, but I won't point the finger (although I will tell you that it wasn't MY fault!). It seems that every attempt I make at introducing some color to the front of our house is foiled in some way. Besides the bummer of that, another failed flower attempt only darkens my reputation as having a black thumb. I do have 2 indoor plants growing -- and two herb boxes! I swear! I guess I'll have to settle for a little fall scene of already-grown pumpkins. I can't mess those up, right?!

2.) The Zoo! My mom and I went with the Souders to the Nashville Zoo. We haven't been there for about a year, and Kaden was so much more into it this summer. He's become fond of snakes and crocodiles recently, so he especially enjoyed those displays. It was a gorgeous day here in the Tennessee, and we had fun catching up with Erin and the boys.

3.) Homemade applesauce! You can see some of the finished product in the picture above, along with the beautiful posies my parents brought for me. :-) Dad was the apple peeler, and Mom and I were the stir-ers, spice-ers, and jar-ers. It is seriously tasty stuff, folks. I grew up on homemade applesauce, and I'm really happy to have it in my own home now. Plus, I learned how to can! Canning is very simple, but something about it seems uber-domestic, doesn't it?

4.) Dinner @ Daddy's restaurant! My parents really enjoy Italian food, so we took them to Josh's restaurant on Saturday night. We had a tremendous dinner, and we all enjoyed the charming, intimate atmosphere. We took our new portable DVD player for the kids, and it worked like a CHARM. That thing is worth its weight in gold, I tell ya. Both the kids loved playing with balls of pizza dough, too. It was a very fun evening!

5.) A great church service on Sunday! We had a guest speaker -- Ed McGlasson, who authored the book The Difference a Father Makes. I haven't read the book, but based on the message he taught based on the same subject, I highly recommend checking it out. Whether you are a dad or if you just have a dad, McGlasson's book is for you! My parents and I give him a teary two-thumbs up! :-)

6.) DIY Tailoring! Josh got a few new suits for work, and two of them had unfinished hems. Instead of paying for a tailor, we decided that we had enough other potential uses for a sewing machine that it warranted buying one. Neither one of us are experiences sewers, but lack of experience never slows Josh down. (That's one reason why I love him so!) With my mom's assistance, Josh tackled his pants and won! They came out great! Plus, we've already done a pillow for Kaden's room (we being Josh and Kaden). As you can tell, I have not tried my hand at sewing yet (my last experience was Home Ec in Jr. High), but I bought fabric yesterday to make a pink pillowcase for Laney. I also bought fabric to make no-sew fleece blankets for the kids (more on that when I get them both done).

7.) Family Campfire! We enjoyed our first night by the fire for this fall season. Complete with S'mores and careful restraint of Kaden to keep him a safe distance from the fire, we had a great time. Josh and I both love sitting out by the fire, chatting, and enjoying lots of marshmallow roasting. Bring on fall!

Speaking of which, the kids and I are on our way outside to enjoy some of this great fall weather. I hope you all have a beautiful evening where you are, too!

Pink Gives to a Good Cause

The ladies over at 5 Minutes for Mom are having a great giveaway -- a PINK Dyson vacuum! Even better, Dyson and Target are donating $40 of each vacuum to breast cancer research.

Now, I just happen to be in grave need of a new vacuum (as in, my vacuum deserves to be buried underground, never to see the light of day again)...and since I have grown into a love of pink, I'm adding my name to the raffle. Part of the entry deal is that you blog about the giveaway (or promise to talk about it with other friends if you don't blog).

If you fall in love with the vacuum and don't win the giveaway, you can always buy one at Target (if you have a spare $399). Yay!

Pass the word!

To Share or Not to Share

I recently read this post about what and how to teach your kids about sharing, and I found it quite interesting. Prior to this, we've always done the "who had it first?" thing. Now my whole philosophy is changing! All because of one post! Well, okay, actually two.

For the most part, Kaden doesn't usually have a problem with sharing his toys. However, the older Delaney gets (and the more interested she becomes in his things), the more territorial he's getting. Oh, and Laney? Yeah, um...not a sharer. She's a feisty one, I'll tell ya. If she has a toy, she does not care whose toy it is. It is hers. And that's the end of the story. She doesn't have a lot of words, but she has ways of getting her point across. So we have a few things to work on with Laney and sharing.

I'm thinking these new ideas on "some toys are his, some toys are hers" -- and that they get to decide what happens with their own belongings -- might help.

Any comments on this one?

The Saint Who Was Also a Priest

I have another traveling story, for good measure. On our first flight, we didn't get to preboard (as parents traveling with small children usually do), because the plane was very full and, as I mentioned yesterday, we were flying standby. However, they did allow me to board with the kids after all the "A" people boarded. (Yay!) There was one row left in the way back that had three available seats, so we headed for that one, hoping against hope that we would be fortunate enough to secure one of the few extra seats. Laney was technically a "lap child," but since she doesn't understand that concept, it is really helpful if I can score a little maneuvering room for her. That hope for an extra seat was later dashed, but that's another story.

When we arrived in our seats, Kaden quickly spotted a friendly-looking chap in the row behind us, and he struck up a conversation with him. As is his new custom, he started the conversation with this: "Hey, who are you?" This time he added, "You're on my plane!" I could tell this guy was good with kids when he replied, "Yes, well, thank you very much for letting me fly on your plane." Kaden thought that was pretty cool. This guy obviously understood how this was going to work.

The man made small talk with him, asking the usual questions like what is your name (Kaden's answer sounds like "KadaWallceHessee," which usually earns confused looks); how old are you (Kaden holds up three fingers and says, "This many!"); and where do you live (K: "I'm going home to Daddy!" Man: "Where's Daddy?" K: "My home." M: "Oh, where's that?" K: "My home." M: "Ohhh, I see.").

Turns out the friendly guy in the back row was a man named John, who lives in Murfreesboro (near Nashville) with his wife and four kids. John told Kaden all about his three daughters and one son, and he told us how much he missed them and that he couldn't wait to see them. His story of missing family sounded very familiar to us! John instantly recognized the fact that I had my hands full, and he kept Kaden occupied in conversation for quite a long time. He also made silly faces at Laney, which thoroughly entertained her.

The seat belt light stayed on for most of the flight, so we didn't talk to John much through the short flight to Baltimore. However, we reconnected after our landing, and we found out that he was on the same flight home to Nashville. We walked with him for a while to our new gate, and he told me that he was an Orthodox Christian priest and that he grew up in Tennessee, went to seminary in PA a few hours from my parents' house, and then moved back to the Nashville area to serve in a church. He was a very kind, gentle guy, and I could tell that having four kids of his own had made him very comfortable conversing with preschoolers.

Fast forward a few hours. We boarded our second flight, and Kaden insisted on sitting in the last row of the plane, just like his new friend John had done on the first flight. At first I protested, not wanting to walk to the back of the plane with Laney and our 4 carryons in tow, but Kaden had his heart set on it, so off we went. After a while, we saw John coming down the aisle, and he parked himself right in front of us. Thankfully, this flight was very empty, and we got a row to ourselves. John got his own row, too! Anyway, Kaden started talking to John again right away, and they chatted back and forth until the plane took off.

Toward the end of the flight, Kaden decided he wanted to sit in John's row until we landed. John asked Kaden about all of his "favorites": favorite color, food, animal, etc. It was really cute to see Kaden interacting with an adult. He's very talkative at night (maybe he's a night person like Daddy?), and he was really talking up a storm. I was proud of the way he held up his end of the conversation. John told Kaden that he has a son named Jonah, and he asked Kaden if he knew of any other Jonahs. Kaden thought about it for a few seconds, and then replied, "Yeah, I do!" John said, "Is it from a Bible story?" Kaden said, "Yup, he got on a boat and then he got lost!" John chuckled and said, "Yeah, I guess he did. And he had some pretty uncomfortable accommodations for a few days, didn't he?" Kaden shook his head in agreement. I'm not sure he knows what "accommodations" are, but I guess he thought that sounded right.

As I was thinking about our travels yesterday, I realized how thankful I was that John was there on both flights. He didn't do anything amazing, but he was a friendly face, someone who understood the trials of traveling with children, and he found little ways to help me out on both flights. Just talking with Kaden and helping to pass the time was such a blessing. I doubt John will ever read this post, but I just want everyone to know -- I think he's a saint!


P.S. If you see parents (especially one parent!) traveling with kids and you're able to lend a hand or strike up a conversation with a child to entertain them for a few moments, please do it! Father John was a definite God-send to me, and you could be that blessing to someone else!

My Day, MasterCard Style

I realized a few days ago that I haven't updated my blog in quite a long time. Well, the short story is that I've been in PA since last Thursday night. Here's the longer story...Josh's grandparents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows in a full-out ceremony, and we decided at the last minute that we could get away. We arrived around lunchtime on Friday and left after the ceremony on Saturday night. We drove through the night to my parents' house and arrived around 2am on Sunday morning. Josh took off after breakfast to drive home (because he had to work on Monday), but the kids and I stayed for the rest of the week. I was planning to fly home on Wednesday or Thursday, but I decided to stay until Friday because my brother's birthday was Thursday and also because I wanted my sister-in-law to take some pics of the kiddos, and she was only available on Thursday evening.

So that brings me to Friday. I was flying standby again (thank you, Luci!!!), and I had quite an adventure traveling with two toddlers. I think it was the truest test of patience I know. And yet -- we made it! No major meltdowns, no injuries other than a scratch on Kaden's leg from the people mover, and best of all, I still have my sanity. To summarize, in MasterCard style, here's my day in a nutshell:

Time we left my parents' house: 9:45am EST
Time it's supposed to take to get to the airport: approx. 2 hours
Letter on my mom's gas guage while sitting in gridlock traffic on a bridge: E
Time when I realized I wasn't going to make my 1:40 flight: noon
Number of times Kaden peed into Oma's empty tea bottle while stuck on bridge: 4
Temperature inside the car with A/C off due to lack of gas: 1000 degrees (give or take a few)
Sign on gas station door after finally making it off the bridge: No public restrooms
Route number we went the wrong way on (but eventually made it back to the highway): 60
Number of times Kaden asked, "Are we at the airport yet?": approximately 85
Time it actually took to get to the airport: 4.5 hours
Number of flights I missed while sitting in traffic: 2
Total number of hours I singlehandedly entertained the kids while waiting for flights: 4.5
The name of my new best friend: Mr. Toshiba DVD Player
Number of times the three of us trekked into the potty for Kaden: 3
Number of chicken nuggets to satisfy 2 hungry kiddo bellys: 8
Number of times Kaden approached a stranger and said, "Hey, who are you?": 10
Number of times I gave Kaden the "some strangers aren't nice" speech: 3
Number of times I said, "Kaden, keep up with Mommy!": 25
Number of times I said, "Kaden, don't run too far ahead of Mommy!": 30
Number of times I said, "Kaden, please just keep your hand on the stroller!": 35
Number of times Kaden rode the people movers with his arms draped over the handrail: 14
Number of Starbucks stops for Mommy: only 1, but the caffeine did the trick!
Time we boarded our 2nd flight from BWI: 9:25pm EST
Number of carryons (not including one stroller and one baby carrier): 4
Number of minutes it took Kaden to fall asleep after takeoff: 3
Number of minutes Kaden slept before peeing his pants by accident: 2
Number of Kaden potty stops on 2nd flight: 3, including the intial panicked, wet pants trip
Number of times Laney puked on herself: 2 (her belly was upset, I guess?)
Number of times Delaney pooped up her back on the 2nd flight: 1
Number of wipes I had left at this point in the trip: 0
Flight attendant who gave me wet paper towels to wipe the bum: Christine (Thank you!)
Kaden's question to the pilot on our way off the plane: "Hey, are you the pirate?"
Number of hugs, kisses, and squeals of delight when we saw Daddy (and cries of utter relief from me!): At least 3 from each of us!!!
Time we arrived home safe and sound (Praise the Lord!): 1am

A day with both of my angels, stuck in traffic, stuck in airports, stuck in confined spaces?

Priceless. :-)

Newsweek on Celiac

For anyone who's interested, Newsweek just ran an article on celiac disease. It's always exciting to receive national press on the condition/diet that I deal with every day. Check it out if you're interested! Oh, and FYI, I heard the print version has more callouts with lists and other sources of info.

So You Want to Be an Author?

Have you ever wanted to see your writing in print? I know I have! Well, that dream may be closer than you think. Check out Blurb, a really neat company I found through another blogger that lets you create your own book from your blog. How neato is that?

And it's not just for blogs. They make photo books, cookbooks, portfolios, poetry books, text only books, etc. -- just about anything you could need or want. And the prices are very affordable (especially softcover books). I haven't created a book yet, but it's definitely on my "to do" list. If anyone out there has used this company, I'd like to hear about your experience! Once I get caught up on our family photo books (mainly Delaney's baby book), I'll move on to printing my blog. ;-)

That could take a while...

Super Saturday

In lieu of Thankful Thursday, I'm bringing you a belated grateful list. I didn't forget, and I didn't have a million things to do this week...I just didn't get it done! We have had a really lazy week. Josh took a week off before starting his new job, I don't have a project, and we've just been enjoying some time at home with very little agenda. I told Josh yesterday, "We should have gone on a trip!" He's going to get very little (if any) vacation for the first year, so it was nice to have some quiet days at home before we start this new phase.

So here are some things I'm thankful for this week:

1) I finally hung up our family pictures in the stairway to downstairs (see the pic above)...and we've only lived here for (almost) two years!! These pics have been collecting dust in a box in our room, so it's defnitely much nicer to have them out where we can enjoy the memories that these pictures represent. I'd like to get a few more frames for some other pictures to add to the collage, but the project it mostly done. Check!

2) We finally bought a new 500G hard drive that we can back up both of our laptops to ... on a regular basis! We lost data from two hard drives last year (including all the pictures from Laney's first 5 months of life), so we have learned our lesson that backing up is important. Especially since we do so much of our personal and professional business on computers, it's important for us to back up all that data. And particularly all those precious pics of our children! Five hundred gigs should last us for a while.

3) My son likes broccoli. This is like the news flash of the century!!! For those who have been reading for a while, you know that Kaden is not a veggie lover. However, we persisted -- we continued putting veggies on his plate and requiring him to at least have one bite. And then, out of nowhere, he decided he likes broccoli. He even asked for seconds! (And there was no cheese sauce in sight!) I'm really not sure what happened, but I'm enjoying it for as long as it lasts. Perhaps we can parlay this success into other veggies!

4) Kaden started preschool this week, and we had such a quiet Thursday with just Laney at home! He has a great teacher, and I'm looking forward to everything he's going to learn this year. I'm very grateful b/c the director was flexible with us in letting us send him only one day a week, which is the perfect amount for me. I like the experience and socialization and learning that's happening at school, but one day is enough for us at this point.

5) Our friend Jeremy came over on Thursday night and it was really, really great to reconnect with him. We hadn't seen him since May, and our visit was long overdue. I was really grateful for the chance we had to sit down and get caught up.

6) We found out this week that Josh's restaurant is discontinuing their Sunday brunch, which means that he will continue to be free on Sunday mornings. We thought that he may have to miss church occasionally in order to work the daytime shift, but now that they're cancelling it, work won't interfere with going to church as a family. That was a big praise this week!

Well, everyone -- I hope you have a great weekend. Josh starts work tomorrow night, so we're about to start this new phase of life!

The Invisible Woman

I received this story as an e-mail forward from my friend Stephanie, and I really loved it. I'm copying a portion of it here, but since it's from a book, I'm going to post the link to the rest of the story, where it was reprinted with permission (I'm not sure what the rules are on this copyrighted stuff!). The article is by Nicole Johnson, a speaker and author who travels with Women of Faith as a dramatic sketch artist. I believe the material is from her book of the same name: The Invisible Woman: When Only God Sees.

This is a story for all of the invisible cathedral-builders, commonly known as mothers...

It started to happen gradually …

One day I was walking my son Jake to school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when the crossing guard said to him, "Who is that with you, young fella?"

"Nobody," he shrugged.

Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My son is only 5, but as we crossed the street I thought, "Oh my goodness, nobody?"

I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to my family - like "Turn the TV down, please" - and nothing would happen. Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, "Would someone turn the TV down?" Nothing.

Just the other night my husband and I were out at a party. We'd been there for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the conversation, I whispered, "I'm ready to go when you are." He just kept right on talking.

That's when I started to put all the pieces together. I don't think he can see me. I don't think anyone can see me.

I'm invisible. Read More.

A special thanks especially to my mom and to the other special women in my life who became invisible for me, working behind the scenes and sacrificing to meet my needs and help me succeed. And now, I've taken up my own cathedral-building work. Thanks for inspiring me!

Funny eBay Post

I saw this on another blog about a week ago, and I just had to share it here. This lady cracked me up! You may have already seen it -- sorry for the repeat if you have!

Funny eBay Post - Mom Selling Pokemon Cards

As a sidenote, this is my 100th post on Blogger. Cool, huh?!

Have a great day, everyone!

EDIT: When the eBay post expires, that link above will no longer work. Here's a link to the author's blog where she has copied the eBay auction text.

Congrats Are in Order!

We finally got the good news today on Josh's job! Enough with the hinting!
Josh has officially been promoted to Asst. Manager at Ristorante Volare, the other fine dining restaurant at Opryland. We're very excited about this new chapter, and it's been really neat to see how God has orchestrated all of this. Josh has his sights on moving up through the Food & Beverage department, and we're excited because he's going to get a lot of great business experience, since each restaurant is its own profit center in the hotel. The F&B execs hand-picked Josh to take this job, and it was very gratifying to see that other people are recognizing how talented Josh is. I'm very proud of him! He's built a solid reputation at Opryland for being a great people person, gifted salesman, hard worker, and a man of integrity. I am beaming with pride. :-)

If you live in Nashville, check out Josh's new restaurant for your next date night! It's a beautiful Italian restaurant and very romantic.

Congrats, sweetie! I love you!

Thankful Thursday!

Since I make the rules around here (and since I didn't post for Thankful Thursday last week), I'm doing two posts in one day. Yeah, I know. I'm crazy like that.

In no particular order...

1.) A break in the heat! It has gone back to August weather in the South instead of "we're-sitting-on-the-sun" weather. I'm very grateful. The thin layer of sweat on my brow that has been with me since the end of July is actually gone...at least for now. Our AC has been keeping up, and we bought a window fan to bring in cooler air at night.

2.) I attended a new Bible study last night on the Book of James, and I am really looking forward to it. It's the first thing I've done at our new church, and I enjoyed it immensely. I got a lot out of the study, and we only looked at one verse!

3.) Still no word on Josh's new job, but I'm thankful for the waiting period. It's not what I would choose, but God has been orchestrating this whole thing, so I have to trust His timing in this limbo period, too. One of these days I'll be able to fill you all in on the details.

4.) Kaden was having a rough week last week (due to being off his schedule and not getting enough sleep), but we're back into the groove now. And wouldn't you know it? His attitude and behavior have gotten back to normal, too. He's so good at night (doesn't act tired, is calmer than during the day), and sometimes we let him stay up too late to do something special with Daddy or watch a movie or something. But I always end up regretting it b/c even though he doesn't SEEM tired at night, he really does need the sleep. If he doesn't go to bed by 9pm, I usually have to pay the price the next day! So...I'm thankful that my boy is back.

5.) I think I've said this here before, but I am just so amazed at how different Laney is from Kaden. She's so ... GIRLY! It's great. She has become obsessed with accessorizing. She's totally into dressing up, putting on shoes, sunglasses, hats, watches, bracelets, and carrying purses. She cracks me up with the outfits she puts together. And she's only 17 months old! This girl has personality, I'm tellin' ya. Watch out, world!

Well, I have two files waiting for me to edit them, so I had better get to them. Have a great week!

Oh, Irony, How I Love Thee!

The same afternoon that I blogged about the witty Miss South Carolina, I received a package filled with clothes for the kids from my grandma. And wouldn't you know it?! This shirt was in the mix:

If you can't read it, it says,

Little Miss America

How funny is that?!

Beauty vs. Brains

Okay, so I will admit that as a girl growing up, my sister and I used to watch the Miss America pageants each year, pen and paper in hand (so we could rate them ourselves -- we were nerds like that!), eagerly waiting to see who would be crowned the prettiest, bestest, most wonderfulest girl of all. Kind of a Cinderella thing, right? (Minus Prince Charming, but they threw in diamonds, cars, trips, and such, so that kind of evened out.)

Beauty pageant queens have kind of fallen from grace as of late--remember the Donald Trump/Tara Conner debacle? Beauty pageants have long been the bane of feminists everywhere because they elevate the female shape and beauty and pretty much ignore the fact that we women have brains, too!

Unfortunately, in the quest to incorporate more "intellectual" activities into pageants, some girls who are decidedly lacking in that area have been caught tragically in the middle. They have coaches who throw words at them -- apparently "South Africa," "China," and "Iraq" are high on the list -- but what does a girl do when she doesn't know where those countries are or how to speak knowledgably about them? This girl gave it a valliant effort...check it out:

What is she talking about?

Mario Lopez looks so confused. And so am I. This girl is pretty and all, but she's not doing much for the cause of championing beautiful, intelligent women. I feel sorry for her, really!