Fun Fall Fest

           All week long I have worried about our Fall Fest.  And prayed.  Prayed hard that there would be kids there.  We don't have many kids at our church, and the ones that do come mostly come with their grandparents. The church had been successful with Trunk or Treats in the past, though last year's attendance was slim.   I'm not sure how many people know about our church.  To be honest, I grew up only a few miles away and never heard of the church or even knew where it was until we considered sending Drew's resume there.  We have an amazing Family Life Center and plenty of willing volunteers to work with our kids.  At our planning meeting last Sunday there were thirty people there who had signed up to help.  I was completely amazed and nearly cried.  

            I knew our Fall Fest was going to be good.  We had tons of prize booths (16), plus face painting, pumpkin decorating, cookie decorating, popcorn, cotton candy, a continual hayride, a horse ride, and a bouncy castle.  Plus about 100 hotdogs. Oh, and ice cream.  Gotta love our ice cream machine!!  At 3:30 everything was set up and I couldn't help but think, "This is so wonderful!  I just hope people come!"  Someone asked what was left to do and all I could think to tell them was to "pray that people will come!"  I knew of exactly six kids who were coming for sure (including my two)!  I joked to the one kid that was there helping set up that "wasn't this nice of us to throw a big party for her?"  I was mainly just afraid that we would have a lack of attendance that would discourage our church. 
           In about 30 seconds I went from fear that no one would come to fear that too many people would be there.  People started showing up right at 3:50 and we had a steady flow til 5:00.  I didn't know hardly any of them!  Some had seen our signs, others our flyers.  Some were friends of friends and a few had attended VBS at the church and gotten a flyer in the mail.  A few even came because I had given them a flyer at our garage sale the weekend before.  I was thrilled that my friends Sarah and Terri from Bible study came and brought their kids.  We have been praying for our children's ministry at the Bible study and I was so happy to have them come and support us! 

           Our best estimate is that we had around 120 kids there, and at least 200 total.  I think it was slightly more than 200 though when you count all of our workers and adults.  

            Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord!!

            I had a lot of apologizing to do to God for not trusting enough that we would have a crowd.  He definitely heard our prayers and blessed us!  We have several real prospects that came and a lot of people we will need to contact.

            Next week we will meet with all of our Fall Fest helpers and address the question, "What now?"  There is such potential in Marion and North Lauderdale County!  I am super excited to see how else God will answer our prayers and what He will do in this ministry! 

Adventures in Garage Sale-ing

             Garage sales are quickly becoming a new obsession of mine.  I really enjoy waking up early (by that I mean about 7:30), loading the kids up if I can't talk Drew into babysitting, and riding around town looking for "deals."  I am not the typical garage sale-er, mainly because I don't buy all that much.  Just about everything I see is junk, and I work hard to get rid of my junk so I certainly don't want someone else's.  But, we're not exactly rolling in the dough now that I no longer work, and garage sales fulfill the need for shopping that I have without being all that costly. 

             Last weekend we had a garage sale at our house and it was SO MUCH FUN!  I loved watching people hand me money for my junk!  We did really really well, too, and only had one box of stuff left.  I also passed out Fall Fest flyers and had quite a few people come last night to Fall Fest who said they had met me at the garage sale.  Who knew it'd also be an outreach tool!  Hoping that those same people will also vote for my dad, as I passed out cards for him too at our sale.

             Yesterday I woke up early and decided to check out a few sales.  Trey is in need of a heavier winter coat.  I had a Belk's coupon and was looking there, but knew a good coat would cost at least $25 with a coupon.  So, I decided to scout out some sales.  First one I went to didn't have much, but I did get four children's books for a quarter.  Then I decided to go check out a sale in Bailey.  I was in Marion and knew there was a cut-off road I could take.  

              Now, I grew up in Meridian, but really only lived in Meridian as a driver for two and a half years.  I am really really good at going from my parents house to the following places: FBC Meridian, Meridian High, Mary Alpha School of Dance, the Hicks house, and the mall.  But, I'm not as good at going other places.  I can get anywhere I want just fine, but I don't always take the most direct way possible.  I tend to take major roads and back-track a lot, because that's what I did when I was in high school.  

              Knowing I could cut through from Poplar Springs Drive to 493, but not being sure exactly what the name of the road was, I called my mom.  She told me to cut through on Cook Road.  So, I turned.  I drove and drove and drove.  And drove and drove and drove.  And I knew I had driven too long for the cut-off, but just figured it would hit 493 further north than I had planned.  I finally called my mom when it dead-ended.  She told me to turn right, but I turned left.  This ended up being a good decision because I eventually ended up at Arkadelphia Baptist Church, which is very close to my Aunt Patsy's, and WAY farther north than I was suppose to be.  At least it was something familiar, so I turned right to head south to my parents.  At least I thought I was heading south until I saw a sign that said "KEMPER COUNTY."  This is not good since we live in Lauderdale County and the garage sale was most certainly in Lauderdale County.  I thought about stopping in to say hi to Drew's Aunt Pat, but didn't want to have to call him to tell him I was in Kemper County to get directions.  At this point my mom handed the phone to my dad and he instructed me to turn around and head the other direction (duh!), something I'd already figured out on my own.  

              We finally made it to the Bailey garage sale and I found two nice coats for Trey for a total of $1.50!  Worth the LONG trip, I'd say.  And, Evangeline got to see some nice cows along the way, which she enjoyed!

              I did tell Drew about my little adventure.  He, of course, pointed out that I had grown up in Meridian, had taken that cut-off numerous times with him, blah blah blah.  I mostly tuned him out so not sure what else he had to say about it.

              By the way, I was suppose to make another turn off of Cook Road, or take Buntin-Gunn Road instead to turn off.  

              I think I should download a compass app for my I-phone or learn to use my google maps app! 

What's going on at our house

             Today has been one of those days where we haven't done anything but yet I'm still super tired!  Evangeline spent the better half of her morning running things back to our master bathroom shower (aka "Drew's shower").  I finally followed her back there and discovered: an umbrella, pacifier, ear plugs, my diet coke (that I was still drinking on), her sippy cup, and a flashlight.  That shower is like her very own clubhouse. 
             Other than toting stuff back to the shower, Evangeline's new favorite thing to do is "color."  Anything that writes is a "color."  This includes pens.  She went nuts on Monday at Sam's wanting to "color!" while I was signing the receipt.  Thankfully, the cashier gave Evangeline a pen and paper so she could color, too.  Yesterday I let her "color" with a blue marker while I was working on a poster board for our Fall Fest.  Big mistake.  She still has some blue left on her after two baths.  I would let the child color with her crayons if I could find any of them.  I'm pretty sure she threw them down our vents.  I have a fear that Ming Ming and about six of our pacifiers are down there, too.  Really hoping I'm wrong and these things just "turn up."  Yes, I have checked Drew's shower for them. 
            Trey turned five months old today and celebrated by finally being big enough to pick back at his big sister.  He stole her paci right out of her mouth.  She screamed and screamed and screamed!  That is one way to make Evangeline VERY mad- steal her "Wub Wub."  I know I shouldn't have, but I laughed really hard. 
             Just looked outside and Blue Bell is chewing on another mouse.  Edy and another cat are hanging out in the wood pile near the construction site behind our house.  That little corner has become quite the popular kitty hang-out! 
             I just fed Evangeline some cake and peaches which are now ALL OVER THE FLOOR.  Maybe I can persuade Blue Bell to give up the mouse for some cake???

Bath time

         The first time we ever bathed Evangeline she was two days old and recently home from the hospital.  She screamed and screamed and screamed.  For starters, it was probably too cold for her.  And I put way too much baby shampoo in her hair which took forever to wash out.  Plus, at two days old, she just really didn't want to be bothered, something true of most newborns.  We caught every minute of it on video and plan on showing her friends someday once she's in high school.  :)

         After about her fourth bath, however, she LOVED it, and has loved baths since.  Drew and I have joked that if Evangeline could take a bath while watching Wonder Pets and eating french fries, she would be the happiest little girl in the world.

         Last night, suddenly, and completely out of nowhere, Evangeline refused to take a bath.  By "refused" I mean she threw an absolute screaming temper tantrum when I tried to set her in the tub.  Huh?  Totally uncharacteristic behavior of a child who I frequently find hanging out in the dry tub saying and signing "bath?"  

         WARNING:  GROSS OUT MOMENT COMING.  DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE GROSSED OUT!  WARNING!!!!!

         Saturday night during her bath Evangeline pooped in the tub.  Told you it was gross.  She was screaming "Poo Poo!!!!" and I quickly pulled her out and set her on her potty (which she has still not used though she enjoys sitting on it).  Last night while refusing to get in the tub, she was also screaming "Poo Poo!"  I thought (hopefully) "Oh!  Maybe she has to go potty and doesn't want to poop in the tub again."  Not the case.  She kept looking around the tub for the poo poo and crying about it.  So, I stopped trying to force her to take a bath and figured we'd try later.  She doesn't HAVE to take a bath every night, I thought.  The main reason she gets baths every night is because she so frequently asks to take one anyway.

          This morning I left her unattended a little too long in her highchair with some applesauce.  You can probably picture the scene that I discovered.  The worst part was that she had quite a bit of applesauce in her hair.  So, guess what time it was?  Bath time!  Well, she did it again!  Screamed and screamed all about "poo poo" and "mama out!"  I tried the potty.  Nothing.  I assured her that mommy had cleaned the tub.  With bleach!  If I had taken two baths in it then it was certainly clean!  Reason doesn't work well with a toddler.  I finally had to force her to at least stand in the tub while I washed out her hair (though w/o soap). 

          I am hopeful this is a short phase and she will forget about the poo poo soon.  I am wondering (seriously) if she is OCD and wants to be clean and is grossed out by the poop.  Tonight if she freaks out I am going to try to see if she will get in Drew's shower.  If not, plan C is that I take her to my mom's tub.  I miss my happy bathing girl! 

Now I Know My ABC's

          I realize that Evangeline is way too young to be learning her alphabet, but she has a neat little trick that she can now do.  Show her the letter, "I," and ask what it is and she will say, "I."  I've impressed quite a few people with that until I then showed her an "E" and she also says it's an "I."  Not sure why "I" is her first letter, other than it is one that is in her name and we've been playing with the name puzzle I bought her for Christmas lately.
         A little while ago I was listening as she played with her Leap Frog laptop.  She pushed the "T" button and repeated "T, Ta, Tutull" Then the "O", "O, Ah, Oc Oc."  Very sweet.  I'm glad she likes learning and hope she stays that way!

Cookies

         Today Evangeline and I made sugar cookies together, our first official mother/daughter baking activity.  At least, I decided to make them and Evangeline was happy to join in, as she likes anything that's messy, sticky, and tastes good.  

         I was inspired by several things.  First, my sincere love of cookies.  They really are my absolute favorite food.  Especially iced sugar cookies from Jody's bakery in Hattiesburg.  That's one thing I really enjoyed about giving birth at Forrest General: the promise of Jody's cookies from across the street shortly afterward. I had already eaten a frosted duck before learning that I was on a liquid diet following my c-section with Evangeline. Oops.  I wonder, if we have any more kids, who will love me enough to drive down to Hburg and get me Jodys now that we live an hour and a half away?

        I was also inspired by the yummy cookies I had at my sister-in-law Kelly's yesterday, though hers were made from scratch.  Mine were from a Pillsbury buy-one-get-one-free special at Winn Dixie and I had used the other roll Sunday night at Kid's Rock to make little baskets to place baby Moses (a teddy graham wrapped in a fruit roll-up) in.  

       I wanted to go with a fall theme, so we made a pumpkin, cat, and moon.  The moon was more because Evangeline really likes the moon right now because of always reading Goodnight Moon.  I'm sad to say that our pumpkins look more like ovals and the cat is a big blob.  The moon is pretty recognizable, though when my mom came over she asked if it was a ghost.  I guess that would be more along the lines of fall.  
       Evangeline had a great time playing in the flour, licking the cookie cutters (we probably won't be sharing these cookies with anyone but family!), pretending the cookie cutters were bracelets, trying to sneak cookie dough when I wasn't watching, and throwing little bits of cookie dough on the floor.  Overall, I'd say it was a successful mother/daughter baking experience and I look forward to many more!  Maybe we'll even branch out and ice or decorate them next time!
    

Close Calls

            We've had several "that almost landed us at the ER" calls here lately.  The first was about a week ago when Evangeline did a swan dive off of the couch into the coffee table.  She hit the corner of the table with her forehead really hard.  I was immediately on the scene, but was scared to move her at first.  I slowly sat her up and as I did her eyeballs rolled back into her head and then she kind of had this glazed-over look to her.  I really think she almost passed out!  Scared to death, I shouted for Drew to come in there and by that point Evangeline was screaming her head off and had a huge knot.  After a five minute struggle with the ice pack, she was her usual spunky self again.  She did have a scratch on her head and I think had she bumped the corner at a different angle, she might have busted her head open.  Praise the Lord it wasn't anything worse!
           Last night Drew and I were in the living room and had left Evangeline un-attended in the kitchen (a RARE occurance) watching Wonder Pets on the laptop.  We heard a big thud followed by a wail and soon discovered she had fallen out of the chair.  I was afraid she had hit her face or head, but the injury appears to have been to one of her knees.
          This morning I was doing laundry and I fell stepping down into the laundry room.  I didn't hit the ground, but DID hit the washing machine with my arm.  I had an immediate knot and could not move my arm for a good five minutes.  I called Drew (good thing he's so close by) to come help me out for a few minutes.  Evangeline had taken advantage of my injury and was helping herself to a bag of tortilla chips.  Trey, thankfully, was asleep.  I still have a knot and bruise on my arm, but it looks like I'll survive!  Another Praise the Lord moment!  In this clumsy family, we definitely are needing His protection a lot!

Toddler Fears

          Evangeline has been a super social baby since birth.  She would always go to anyone and everyone at New Henleyfield.  Sometimes when we're out in public she'll reach out for a complete stranger, especially if the stranger has something to eat or drink.  This kind of worries me, and I know I'll have to keep a close eye on her. 

          The first time Evangeline ever showed any real fear of anything was last spring when she met the Easter bunny.  Drew just plopped her down on the bunny's lap and Evangeline went totally and completely ballistic.  I had never seen her scream that much.  Eventually we managed to get a picture of her sitting on my lap and me sitting on the Easter Bunny, and we have the horrendous picture to prove it (which cost $6.00 by the way).  

          Around that time, we made a trip to my parent's house and we wanted her to play with this cute little rocking horse my dad had gotten her.  She took one look at that horse and went into hysterics.  We assumed she was thinking of her experience with the Easter bunny.  We didn't want to hurt my dad's feelings, so we quickly hid the horse away into Katie's room so she wouldn't have to see it.

          Evangeline had a wonderful time at two different petting zoos recently.  At the Queen City Fair (which had an AWESOME petting zoo), Evangeline wandered all around petting and blowing kisses to various goats, donkeys, cows, and sheep.  She fed a camel at the Jackson Zoo.  We felt like she was ready to try out the rocking horse again.

          So, the other night my mom says, "Evangeline do you want to ride on the horse?"  Before I could even get it out of my sister's room Evangeline was screaming.  She said "Go go go go!" and ran to the door.  My dad witnessed the meltdown this time, and we could tell he was disappointed that she was so scared of something he had gotten her.  We let Trey "ride" the horse and he seemed to enjoy himself.  Evangeline watched him ride from the other room but still had no desire to get on that thing.  

          She LOVES animals, at least real ones, but did also get scared when we tried to set her on a pony at the pumpkin patch.  Today when we put on her boots, she said, "cow?"  She remembered wearing those boots to the Jackson Fair and seeing cows.  Smart girl. 

          One day I'm sure she'll be over these fears.  I was apparently scared to death of the Bumble Bee at Show Biz Pizza and have since gotten over it.  I wonder what other fears she will develop?  I hope she's not scared of Santa!

More Stuff

             Tonight I ventured up in my parent's attic in search for more garage sale items.  We have a date set for October 22nd, so we are trying to stock up on anything we think will sell.  
             My search did not uncover anything that I felt like hauling down the ladder stairs for the sale.  In the first layer, I found Katie's leg cast from 1994!  Now, I understand and even appreciate the sentimentality behind keeping the cast.  It was a traumatic time in our family's life and Katie wore that cast for a good two months.  Lots of people signed it.  But, do we really, really still need it? 

             I figured that if the first layer began at 1994, I was in real trouble.  I told my mom that what she needs to do is just bring everything down from the attic someday and go through it all.  She agreed, that yes, someday she needs to do that. 

             I did discover a tub filled with all of my old barbies.  It was the only thing I brought down.  I immediately remembered when I use to play with my mom's old barbies and all the dreams I had once had of my little girl playing with my barbies!  Evangeline really had a good time going through the whole tub.  She especially liked playing with the baby that came with a stroller and swing. 

            Funny though that the barbies did not look the way I had remembered them.  For starters, most were topless and had funky hairstyles.  Also, several were missing limbs.  I had forgotten that one time I had left my barbies at a friend's house and her poodle had chewed several up, including my absolute favorite barbie, Maria.  I was obsessed with The Sound of Music when I was seven and named several of my dolls Maria.  Not sure where Maria the doll (aka "Kid Sister") is.  Probably in level 3 or 4. 

            Strange how I have blocked out the memory of Maria being chewed to bits.  I remember that it was a Sunday afternoon when I went back over to get them and that I cried and cried and then hid Maria under the bathroom sink.  The next day I came down with a bad case of the flu and my dad showed up with a replacement doll, whom I named Michelle.  I named all of my barbies "M" names- I could've been a Duggar.  I rarely got barbies "just because" so this one was really special.

             We took the baby, stroller, and swing home but left the rest of the barbies at my parent's house so that Evangeline can play with them when she goes over there to visit.  One day I'll venture back into the attic and pull out my mom's old barbies, which I'm pretty sure I spotted off in the distance in the attic tonight.  Hers are in much better condition than mine, from what I can remember. 

           

            

Mama's boy

          When Trey was first born, Drew and I could not get over how good he was!  Seriously, he seemed like the perfect baby.  He never cried, slept all the time, and was as cute as could be.  I hate to admit it now, but I remember thinking at one point that, "this having two kids thing is going to be easy!"  I remember the day I changed my mind on that.  We were in Henleyfield packing to move to Marion.  Drew had been working all day at the church and I was home alone with both kids trying to pack boxes.  Trey screamed ALL day.  He screamed in his bed, so I moved him to his bouncie.  He screamed in his bouncie, so I moved him to the swing.  He screamed in his swing, so I moved him back to his bed.  Repeat.  Fifty times.  I remember Drew coming home and looking at me with this, "what'd you do all day look" and me snapping back at him.  He was still functioning under the whole "Trey is a perfect baby who never causes any trouble mentality."  He quickly learned his lesson.
           Trey was jaundiced when he first came home and apparently jaundiced babies like to sleep a lot.  So, this explained the easy baby thing.  Still cute as could be, Trey's attitude definitely changed along with his color.  Even so, there are things about Trey that we appreciated, such as the fact that he is able to put himself to sleep at night all on his own.  Evangeline slept in the swing or my bed for the first six months of her life, but Trey has always slept in a bassinet right by my bed (and occasionally in my bed once he wakes up to nurse). 
           Tending to two babies became a lot easier once I wasn't either packing, unpacking, or recovering from knee surgery.  (Throw in planning a children's camp, directing a children's choir program, and hosting friends from Montana and I had a VERY busy July!).  Trey really doesn't cause me too much trouble any more except for two areas of concern:
            Area of concern #1: Moving Trey to his own room.  I said above that Trey is able to fall asleep on his own in either his bassinet or bed.  This is wonderful.  Not so wonderful is that when he wakes up an hour or so later, he looks around for me.  I have gotten in the habit of patting him and putting a pacifier quickly back in his mouth and he drifts back to sleep for another hour or so.  Doesn't really cause me too much hassle.  Unless he is in another room.  I am much less enthusiastic about a quick pat and a paci-replug from down the hall.  Trey's been in his "own room" for about two weeks now and has only made it to 4:00 one time.  Most nights he's back in our room by midnight.  Last night it was 11:22.  So, what do I do?  I think he's too young to cry it out.  I don't even rock him or anything.  I seriously think he just knows if I'm close by or not.  Which leads to area of concern #2...
          Area of concern #2: Trey throws hysterical fits when away from me for any length of time.  So far, he has done okay in the church, Bible study, and MOPS nurseries.  There have been a few times at church (like this past Sunday) where he started a screaming fit and I had to go get him.  We used to just figure that he was hungry, but now that he is bigger, it's not so much that he's hungry, it's just that he wants me.  Last Friday night Drew kept Trey while my dad, Evangeline, and I went to the Meridian High game.  We were there a grand total of five minutes before Drew insisted we come home.  My  mom kept Trey a few weeks ago while I went to the Sweet Pea Swap.  I ended up having to stay WAY longer than planned and Trey spent a solid two hours screaming.  This led my mom to do some online research and determine that Trey is a "high needs baby." 
          Now, I don't know about the "high needs" thing.  In some ways, Trey definitely fits the description.  He is very aware of his surroundings, wants mama only, can be very happy or very angry, etc.  But, in a lot of other ways Evangeline fit the description better.  I don't think Trey is high needs.  But, that's easy for me to say because all I have to do to get him to stop crying is pick him up!  The best I can conclude is that he is just a mama's boy.  And a sweet one at that!

Jackson Fair

             After we left the dermatologist office, we set off for the fair.  The most exciting part of the day happened in the parking lot as I was pulling out and we discovered that Evangeline was not strapped in at all and had climbed all the way to the back of the van, pulled out the pillow pet that was back there, and was lying down.  Poor baby was already tired.
             We missed our free admission and parking, but that was okay.  After we were there about two minutes both mom and I commented that we would never waste our time with the Queen City Fair (Meridian's fair) again.  This one is just so much bigger and nicer.  And, actually cheaper, too.  We had a nice lunch at the Cock of the Walk booth and then headed to the Midway where Evangeline rode a car ride and together we rode a flying elephant.  I laughed when the man working the cars unhooked Evangeline and left like she would just hop right out.  By the time I had gotten to her she'd already strapped herself back in, ready for another ride!
              The best part was the petting zoo.  Evangeline loved the one in Meridian, and I have to say that it was by far the best thing at that fair.  Even though she is scared to death to sit on a pony, Evangeline is fearless when wondering around a cage full of goats!  I watched today as my precious little girl walked up to the llama, goat, cow, and turtle and blew them each kisses. She went around to each of the food dispensers and got little pellets from the ground and fed all of the animals.  She is so loving.  Her favorite animal at this petting zoo was the camels.  They were a little too friendly and had the food dispenser figured out too easily.  And one bit my mom.  But, Evangeline loved them.  I think she was thinking of Wonder Pets and the poor baby camel that was trying to find the oasis ("The most pleasant of places.... there's water, plants, and a twee there. The camel wants to be there").  She also saw a zebra, but he was in a cage where you couldn't pet him.  She kept yelling, "Hey Zeza" at it, but that zebra just wouldn't turn around!     
               After a tour of the trade room we headed back home, exhausted after a really fun day.  Evangeline only slept a little while in the van on the way back so she went to bed early.  Now, I'm ready for bed myself!

Never yell at your doctor

           One of the prayers I prayed when I was pregnant with both Evangeline and Trey was, "Lord, please do not let my baby be born with a birthmark like Drew's on their face."  Drew has a very dark port wine mark on his arm.  And, guess what?  Both of my children have birthmarks on their faces!  God obviously heard my prayer and decided the answer was "nope."  When Evangeline was born she was a c-section and I didn't get a great look at her.  While I was still on the operating table, Drew came to me and said "Guess what!  She has a triangle-shaped birthmark on her face just like mine."  The way he said it made it sound like it was the most wonderful thing in the world.  And I didn't care one bit.  She is beautiful and her birthmark is beautiful, and really not all that noticeable anyway.
           Even so, we were still concerned so we went to our first dermatologist appointment in Picayune when she was only 10 days old.  They told us it was "raised oil glands"   and that it would probably go away and to come back in six months.  When we switched pediatricians a year later, we wanted a second opinion so our doctor got us in touch with a pediatric dermatologist, Dr. Sullivan, in Jackson.  There was a two month wait, but this was okay because I was due to have Trey in only a few weeks.
            When Trey was born I looked at him and thought "No birthmark!  Yay!" only to discover when they brought him back to me that he had a red mark on his left eyelid and a tiny one on his right.  Drew swears he is the same baby I gave birth to. 
             Evangeline's birthmark, it turns out, really is raised oil glands (though Dr. Sullivan used a much fancier term for it) and there is nothing a dermatologist can do.  She will have to see a plastic surgeon when she is older to have it removed.  Trey's is a port wine like his daddy and needs to be treated ASAP so that it will not spread any further.  Good thing he had an appointment scheduled one month before he was even born!
           Today Trey had an appointment for his latest laser treatment.  I always feel awkward in the waiting room because you can't help but wonder what kind of birthmark each patient has.  You see a little girl and think "why is she here?" then notice some kind of mole.  You try not to, but just can't help it.  My mom came with us instead of Drew this time so that we could go to the fair after we were done.  I had looked online and discovered that there was free admission and parking every weekday from 11:00-1:00 and since Trey's appointment was at 11:15, we were planning on going straight there after the appointment was over. 
            Things didn't quite go as we planned.  The last two times we have gone to this doctor we have had a relatively short wait time.  Today, we waited an hour and a half before even going back into the office.  And, they were not that busy.  The waiting room is super tiny and has nothing at all to entertain a toddler- no T.V., toys, nothing.  I was amazed and very impressed by how well-behaved Evangeline was.  I did whip out my Netflix app on the phone at one point so she could watch "Pe Pe" (Wonder Pets).  She entertained the other waiting families by dancing along to their songs.  I was happy to help make their wait seem a little shorter. 
              There was one other little baby waiting as long as we were.  She was about 6 months old and was there with her daddy and grandmother.  She was called back about 15 minutes before Trey and after 10 minutes the dad came out, obviously annoyed, to grab her bottle.  I heard him mumble something about "the sorry service in this place" but didn't pay much attention to him.  Even though the wait was RIDICULOUS we hadn't really discussed it in the waiting room.
              By the time Trey got called back it was 12:45 and all hopes of getting free admission and parking to the fair was gone.  We went back into the laser room with the nurse and then the Dr. came in a few minutes later.  She was crying!  Apparently that daddy had just yelled at her for having made him wait for so long.  She apologized for crying and said that she got chewed out for something out of her control.  Though she hadn't said it, I knew exactly what the guy had chewed her out for- the wait.
              Let me just say that I really really love this doctor.  She is one of the most compassionate doctors I have ever met.  You can just tell that she truly cares about her patients.  Before Trey ever received treatment, she insisted on performing a sample of both me and Drew so we could know exactly how it felt and wouldn't worry. The last time we were there we talked with a mother whose daughter was seven and had been coming in for laser treatments every eight weeks since she was six weeks old.  At some point the lady's insurance company  had changed and they had denied her treatments.  They decided to stop coming because it was just too expensive, but Dr. Sullivan had insisted on her coming anyway and just lets her come for free now! 
               We had a little mix up with our insurance about the proper paper work being filed to get pre-approved for the treatments.  A few weeks back we received an explanation of benefits from our insurance company saying we owed $878 for Trey's last treatment.  I somehow managed not to have a total meltdown.  We were unsure of whether or not to come again this time because we didn't want to double our bill.  Well, Dr. Sullivan's office said that we absolutely should come and that if it didn't work out with the insurance they would adjust our bill.  So, I was not about to get upset about the $15 extra dollars that we were going to have to pay to get into the fair knowing she may waive hundreds, if not a thousand dollars. 
                My mom said that she overheard the guy yelling at the doctor -something about him having a 1:00 appointment somewhere that he was going to be late for.  He said that he probably wouldn't be bringing his little girl back, to which one of the nurses responded, "what does her mother think about that?"  Good job, lady! 
                 You know, some good things are worth waiting for.  Dr. Sullivan said she definitely saw improvement in Trey's birthmarks and we have noticed this as well.  I am hopeful we won't have to go back for too many more treatments and that if we do, the wait won't be so long.  But, if it is, I'll keep in mind that it's worth the wait. 
           

Stuff

           Today I decided to "clean out" my parent's shed in search for good garage sale items.  My mom basically told me that I could sell almost anything in there as long as they weren't currently using it.  

          I opened up the shed and began the task of sorting.  In one word: overwhelming.  My parents are border-line hoarders.  I can say that b/c I'm pretty sure that they will never read this blog even though I've emailed them the link.  Another reason I can say that is because a good majority of the stuff they've "hoarded" once belonged to me or my sister.  I have seen my mother take things to the Little Theater rummage sale every year since I can remember, so I really have no clue how they accumulated so much stuff.  The thing about their "stuff" is that for the most part I can remember it all once being inside the house.   And, at some point when the room in which it was located was cleaned out, someone deemed the "stuff" too precious to get rid of or determined that "we might need that someday."  Well, someday has come and we still don't need it.  

         I did find some really cool things like:  the mirror off my Nissan Altima I totaled my junior year of college, a square of the wallpaper that used to hang in my room, a shirt that I wore all the time in 7th grade, a brand new box fan that I quickly claimed for our bedroom, one of Jeanna's rubberband balls, some singing and dancing Christmas penguins, a plastic tub that I had obviously packed as I moved out of William Carey- dumped in my parent's shed and never touched again, and 4 different rodent cages.  

         My most exciting find was a Bible story book that I read every single night when I was a kid.  I have wondered where that book went for years and had searched for it in my bedroom at my parent's house with no luck.  I was just thinking about that Bible story book the other day as I was reading through the Bible.  So many of those stories I remembered from reading that book as a kid.  I am thrilled to have found it again!  It was in a box of stuff from Katie's room so she had obviously thugged it at one point after I moved out.  Since it's the Bible I'll forgive her.  :)

         In addition to searching through the shed, I also spent some time going through mine and my sisters' old bedrooms.  I found a letter that I had written to myself my sophomore year of high school to be read my senior year of high school, something our teacher Ms. Edwards had made us do.  I was disappointed to discover that most of the letter contained a detailed explanation of what was happening on The Bold and the Beautiful at the time.  I laughed when I read things like "the trial's still going on" (on B&B) like I would still know what the heck that was or even care.  I also spent a paragraph wondering if Ross would pick Rachel or Bonnie (the cliffhanger of Season 3 of Friends).  Man, I was so shallow back then.

         Katie's room contained mostly craft supplies, Phi Mu t-shirts, and Beanie Babies so I pretty much left it alone.  I DID go on ebay and price the Beanie Babies and discovered that some are being sold for quite a high price.  The problem is that no one is bidding on any of them.  We'll just let Evangeline play with them for now.  

         As I dug and dug through all this STUFF I kept thinking about Matthew 6:19, "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal."  While few people would call my camp craft projects or fifteen dance programs, "treasures," I have definitely been storing up for years.  At some point (most of) this stuff was really important to me.  My priorities have definitely changed.  I don't even want these things anymore and they are MY things.  It's only been a few years compared to eternity.  How much sillier will all of these things appear from heaven?  What is important are intangible treasures that I am storing up for heaven- teaching my children about Christ, sharing Christ with others.  

           Then I began to wonder what will happen to all of this stuff in 100 years?  Where will it be?  In a dump somewhere?  Who will have put it there?  Who will come in and care so little about the box full of arts and crafts I made in preschool that they just throw them away?  Honestly, I'm okay with getting rid of that box right now, but still I'm "saving it."  For when?  For what?  For who?  I have no clue.  

           I really don't know if we will make any money at the garage sale.  I can't imagine who would want any of our junk.  Like I said before, it's my junk and I don't even want it! But, we'll give it a shot and hopefully at least cover the cost of renting the space ($15).  I did find two irons (one of which I assume belonged to me in college, the other to Katie), two baby gates, some doggy stairs that Cookie was too dumb to figure out how to climb, quite a few picture frames, and a couple of tables.  Keeping my fingers crossed. 

           As I've been typing Evangeline has been cleaning out the pantry, her favorite thing to do these days other than take baths or watch Wonder Pets.  Got another mess to clean up!

Another Bible Story

             This story is loosely based on 1 Kings 20. 
             There once was a prophet who said to a man, "Hit me!"  The man said, "No!  I cannot hit a prophet!"  Then the prophet said, "Because you have disobeyed the Lord a lion will kill you as soon as you leave!"  And, when he left, a lion killed him.
             The moral of the story?  You better do what a prophet tells you to do or you will turn into meow mix.

Dog, Cat, Mouse

             Yesterday I got Evangeline ready to go into the backyard and play.  You'd think that since we were only going outside it would not require a whole lot of effort.  You'd be wrong.  First, I have to make sure we are both fully clothed and she has on shoes and socks (if we're lucky!).  Then, there are the things that I tote out there which include: Evangeline's juice cup, a drink for me, Trey's bouncer, Trey, and my cell phone.  I do this all while trying to keep Evangeline from falling down the back stairs.  We are always enthusiastically greeted by Blue Bell (the dog) and Edy (the cat).

              Well, yesterday I open the back door and am greeted by an additional guest, a friend of Edy's.  It was a mouse.  Not a little bitty black mouse but a brown field mouse that better resembled a rat.  I put this on Facebook and one of my friends pointed out that I use to have a pet rat when I was in Jr. High and was never afraid.  This is true.  His name was Pat the Rat and he was much cuter and friendlier than the mousy friend Edy had brought over from the wood clearing near our house.   

               Upon seeing the mouse running all over my patio I screamed and shut the door. Evangeline got quite excited.  She likes mice, you see, because we always read Goodnight Moon and she loves to point out the mouse on all the colored pages.  She SCREAMED "Mouse!!!!" (which really sounded more like "Mou!") then "Edy!  No no!" as Edy chased the mouse underneath the baby pool.  Yesterday we found a similar, but dead, looking mouse in the yard which Drew promptly shoveled away.  So, I called Drew, who had left only a few minutes earlier to come and help.  Our conversation went something like this, "Drew!  There's a mouse running around in our backyard and Edy is chasing it!"  Drew, "And?  What do you want me to do about it?"  Me, "I don't know! Come home?"  Drew, "If I came home I'd be inside watching it the same as you."  Me, "'I guess you're right."  

                Eventually Blue Bell made her way into the backyard and things progressed from comical to violent as she flung poor Mickey all over the yard.  I had to steer Evangeline away from the door by telling her that Blue Bell and the mouse were outside playing so we couldn't go out there right now.  A few minutes later the poor mouse lay dead in the corner of the yard.  Ev, Trey, and I were able to go outside and play and Drew disposed of the lifeless body when he came back home.  

                 My mom said that the mice were probably use to coming into our house since it had been vacant for so long (only about six months).  I did not appreciate this theory.  Drew said that he thought they had been stirred up from the clearing of some trees just caddy-cornered from our backyard and that Edy was bringing them into the yard to play with.  I like his theory much better b/c that means that any relatives are still faraway.  And hopefully in hiding.

The Man of God and the Old Prophet

             I have been reading through the Bible thanks to my wonderful Bible App on the iphone.  I challenged myself to quadruple the readings so (according to my calculations) I should be able to read through the Bible in 3 months instead of 1 year.  I began reading the end of August and should finish sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I have so far read 44% of the Bible, something I am very proud of right now!

             As I have read, I have discovered quite a few stories that I don't ever remember reading before (even though I KNOW that I have had to have read them sometime- at least in seminary).  For instance, the story of The Man of God and the Old Prophet found in 1 Kings 13.  Below is the synopsis that I gave Drew of the story last night:   

             There once was a Man of God from Judah who went to Bethel and spoke against Jeroboam's altar there.  He told Jeroboam that the altar would form a huge crack because of all the bad things Jeroboam had done.  When Jeroboam heard this, he shouted to seize the Man of God, but God caused Jeroboam's hand to become paralyzed.  Then, the altar had a large crack in it, just as the Man of God had prophesied would happen. Jeroboam said "Please restore my hand" so God did.  Then Jeroboam asked the Man of God if he would like to come to the palace and eat with him, but the Man of God said, "No, God has told me not to eat or drink anything as long as I am in this place."  So, the Man of God left.  On his way home, but while still in Bethel, he ran into an Old Prophet.  The Old Prophet asked the Man of God if he would like to go home with him and eat.  The Man of God said, "No, I am not suppose to eat or drink anything while I am here for God has told me not to."  Then the Old Prophet said, "I am a prophet too and God told me it was okay for you to come to my house and eat."  But, he was lying.  The Man of God said, "Okay" and went to the Old Prophet's house and ate.   While they were eating the Lord told the Man of God, "I told you not to eat anything while you were here!  Now when you die you will not be buried in your home land."  So, the Man of God left but on his way home he was attacked by a lion and died.  His body lay on the side of the road with the lion and his donkey standing beside it until the Old Prophet came, got the Man of God, and took him and buried him.  And, the Old Prophet felt really, really bad.   

            Drew asked, "So, what's the moral of the story?" To which I responded, "Do what God tells you to and not what someone else says that God told them to tell you to do."  Pretty good story, I think. 

Lessons learned from McDonald's

         Today was an interesting Sunday because we didn't have any plans after church for lunch.  Normally, we eat with Drew's parents, but they were out of town today.  So, we decided we would just go out to eat the four of us.  But, somewhere quick.

          Initially we planned on eating at McAlister's because kids can get free.  I went there Friday night with my parents and it was empty to the point of me wondering how they stayed in business.  Well, I guess they heavily rely on their Sunday church crowd because they were PACKED.  So packed, in fact, that upon pulling into the parking lot Drew announced "We're not eating here!"  Drew is not the kind of person who likes to wait for food.  So, we went across the street to the somewhat empty parking lot of Pizza Hut only to learn that they do not have their buffet on Sundays (which probably explains why they were empty- another man was leaving without eating there for the same reason as us!).  

           So, we decided to go to McDonald's.  We splurged and instead of ordering off the dollar menu, we decided to get combos!  Evangeline was thrilled to be able to play in their play area, even though she is way too young.  One sign says its for ages 3-12 and another for ages 4-12.  I think the point is: teenagers and adults stay out!  Poor Evangeline could only crawl around the bottom of the slide, but she had a good time while waiting on her daddy to bring her some "bak bak" (chicken nuggets) and french fries.  

           Drew and I each ordered the Angus Bacon and Cheeseburger combo.  Sounds yummy, right?  Yeah, not so much.  Drew ALMOST complained because his two pieces of bacon looked more like one piece but thought better of it, probably because he knew it'd do him no good.  Evangeline ate half a chicken nugget and most of the ice out of her cup. And, they ran out of ketchup.  I didn't know McDonald's could run out of ketchup.  I guess it could be worse. They could've run out of fries.  THAT would've been a disaster worth complaining about.  

           While watching Evangeline play I noticed two signs saying "Register for your child to win a FREE birthday party at McDonald's.  Drawing the 15th of every month!" Then it had a long list of things that went along with the party like 10 happy meals, a cake, a child's toy, etc.  Even though Evangeline's birthday isn't until January, I decided to register.  Drew asked, "Isn't she too young for a McDonald's party?" to which I pointed out that you are never too young for a free party, and he agreed.

           I went up to the cashier to ask about how to enter the drawing.  She had no clue, so she asked her manager, who looked confused and then said, "Oh, we aren't doing that.  You might as well take that sign down."  I returned to Drew slightly bummed, but mostly amused, and told him what she said.  Two minutes later the manager came in to rip the signs off of the wall.  As we left, I pointed out a third sign in front of the cash register.  Drew took it and handed it to the manager, smiling.  

            So, lessons learned at McDonald's today:

            Lesson #1: The McDouble on the dollar menu is just as good as the much more expensive Angus burger.

            Lesson #2: McDonald's can run out of ketchup packets.  When they do, they just run up to Piggly Wiggly and buy a thing of Heinz and give it to you in a little bowl. (Or, at least, this is what we assumed they did).

            Lesson #3: Don't trust every sign you see. 

            Lesson #4: Instead of a Happy Meal, next time we are just ordering Evangeline a cup of ice. 

            Lesson #5: Now we know why everyone was at McAlister's. 

Oh, and a shout out to our church member, David VanDoren, who is working on redoing all the cabinets at McDonald's.  They look GREAT!

Post #1

              What a creative title for my first post, huh?  Almost as creative as the title of my blog.  I asked my husband, Drew, for a few suggestions but quickly turned down everything he came up with (which included "The Hot Preacher's Wife" among others).  

               I have never written a blog, nor have I really had too much of a desire to write one.  However, I keep having these moments of "Hey!  That'd make a really good blog entry" lately.  I am starting a new adventure in life with this whole staying-at-home thing.  Gotta be honest, I'm a lot more tired than I ever thought I would be for waking up at 8:00 most mornings.  I could care less right now about web design or the actual appearance of my blog.  If I ever get my uber-creative sister Katie over here then maybe I'll come up with something a big cooler than "Sample 3" as my layout.  

              The reason I'm worrying with this blog to begin with?  Exactly what the title says- "Things I don't want to forget."  Time flies by so quickly.  Five years ago yesterday Drew and I were engaged.  It seems like it was only yesterday.  Yet, it seems like we've been together forever.  That's how time is.  And, with so much going on, I don't want to forget any of the special moments we've shared as a family.  So, here's to hoping that this blog will help us to always remember what it was like.