As promised...only later than expected. Pictures of the wedding.
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Stormy weather

For those of you who may not know,our little family just endured the worst storm I have seen in years. We weathered it under our house. Literally under it. We have a garage, that is under our home, but we have all seen the YouTube videos where the wind just sucks the doors off. so we literally went into the crawl space of our home. My prince was convinced that was the only place for us to be safe, and I do what he says. I was never scared, and never heard the storm, but believe me, we felt the effects. We lost power for a while btw 24 & 36 hrs. And saw the damage. The town just south of us, and by just south, I mean 2 miles is destroyed. One of my favorite restaurants, gone. CRAZY! Many people lost their life, and many have seen theirs forever changed. As, many of you know, I work at my church. Our pastor of visitation lost his home. GONE. Just like that. A gas main busted and we left our neighborhood because the smell was so strong. It was wild. We literally have someone's mortgage papers from Tuscaloosa in our yard. at the same time that I am in awe of a storm that has that kind of power, I am in awe of a God that is with you in the best and the worst. He is working in Gardendale, Al. He is in Tuscaloosa Fultondale, Pleasant Grove, Cullman, and every where those storms blazed a path yesterday. It reminds me of the song "I will praise you in the storm...and I will lift my hands, for you are who you are, no matter who I am..." I praise God that he is who he is, and he is for me, for those who lost businesses, family members, homes, and those just watching on tv. We are blessed to be his children.


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My five year old's mouth is going to get me beat up!

To say Cinderella has the mouth of a 30 year old is an understatement. Anyone that knows her knows that, but two recent cases have me reeling and quite honestly afraid to go into public with my girl. The first was Monday afternoon when we were out for a family walk. An elderly couple rounded the corner to come down our street and my Cinderella literally yells "hey old lady". I, of course laughed, as I always do when I am uncomfortable which is a signal for both of my girls to repeat the greeting at the top of their lungs. I had to compose myself, and call them down. My husband was no help!
Then there was yesterday. I picked up Cinderella from preschool for ballet. We were waiting for the elevator(a special treat for her) when a mom walks by talking to her daughter. The mom happened to say "ain't" which cued Cinderella to say "ain't is not a word". To which I again laughed (I know that is terrible) and then had to tell her it wasn't her place to correct adults. To which she responded "well mom, what was I supposed to do?" how do you answer that one?


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Lily, Flower, Butterfly, Sally, David, and Delphine

Tonight was a good night. It wasn't a busy night. We actually got home at a decent hour, played, ate dinner, bathed, got the kids in bed, and I had time to post this blog. It was wonderful. On nights like this, it is amazing how much more I enjoy my family. We actually sat down to dinner, granted calling it dinner is a stretch...canned biscuits and turkey bacon...but the point is we all sat around the table isn't it? Anyway, my little Cinderella starts naming the characters on her princess placemat. She names them : Lilly Flower, Butterfly, Sally, David, and Delphine. It's silly I know to think that is really neat that she named her placemat, but what I loved the most was that I was there when she did. I am always rushing...from one thing to the next. But tonight it was about them, and I realized that it needs to be about them all the time. It needs to be about the characters they make out of play dough, the dances the perform during dress up, the pretend games during bubble baths... and more than that, I need to be there! In mind, not just in body. Today I watched a video of kids saying what they loved about their mom. It made me think about what I wanted my kids to say about me, so I will close with that thought. I hope if asked what my children love about me, they will say
1. She loves Jesus
2. She loves and respects my daddy.
3. She loves me! I know she loves me because she is happy with me, cries with me, cheers me on, is my energy when I am tired, and really took the time to get to know me and to make sure I knew Jesus.

A tall order I know, but hey, we all have to have goals don't we?


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I purged, I'm tired, now I must blog

Well, it's official, I am cleaning out the stuff. By stuff, I mean...everything. Well it feels like everything when I am going through baby clothes, my clothes that are two sizes too small, toys - you get the picture. You could call it spring cleaning, but that isn't really what it is, it is more necessity cleaning. Bottom line, the space my stuff ( I refuse to call it junk because I would like to think that junk wouldn't still be here taking upthis valuable real estate...) is worth more to me than the stuff itself. And neither my worth, nor the worth of my girls is tied to the outfits they wore the first week of their lives. So, I can part with them. I am giving myself a bin for each girl to place my absolute favorites in then I will be able to hang on to some of the most special ones. I have added some pictures of the girls in some of the outfits I intend to put in the bin, after all - let's face it, this blog is kind of boring, so I figured pictures of my beautiful children will make up for that. Did I mention I purged the crib set? You know the cute little pottery barn bumper and quilt that I just had to have so we could have the perfect room for such a perfect baby. Yep, gone. That one hurts a little, but again, the value is in the kids, not the stuff. I have a very wise friend that is "coaching" me on my purge. She says that if I gave her one day we could get my whole house done. I beg to differ, I worked for several hours tonight, pausing of course to paint the fingernails and toenails of my princesses, and I still only did Belle's room. What is the deal? Where did the stuff come from? Who is the closet monkey that sneaks out, and pulls random things into my baby's closet. I know it couldn't be me. I would never shove things in a place where they didn't belong. A place for everything and everything in it's place. That's my motto. ( I will wait while you catch your breath from the hysteria that overtook you with my last quote) Anyone who knows me knows I am messy, scattered, and slightly disorganized. But some think it's "Cozy" Well, my coziness has gotten to us all. We have some major purging to do. We have some major regrouping to do. Alas, Rome wasn't built in a day, this is a work in progress. I will keep you posted.

One Follower

I just sat down after a very long day, it is 10:00 p.m. and I am just starting to think about what I need to do before bed, ie: laundry, load the dishwasher, bleach something (I will get more into that later). Anyway, I signed on to my blog because my mind is racing and I felt the need to write something to settle me down. As I began to start a new post, something caught my attention. To the right, up in the corner, in blue is written, one follower. I am pausing for you to laugh, or to say "I am not surprised" or maybe "She has one follower?"

Yes I have one, my prince. My sweet, dedicated, loyal, loving, compassionate husband. My lone follower. It struck me this time, (although I see that everytime I log on) the signifigance of him being my one follower. That is him, my support, he is with me through it all. If I get a whim and think we should make a change, or if I get sad, happy, overwhelmed - whatever, he is there. Holding my hand, loving me, smiling at me, just being whatever I need at that moment.

It has been that way for nearly 15 years. He has been by my side. His support and love amaze me. His loyalty and dedication to our family have shown me a side of him that I could have never known existed until we had our children. The way he can do manly things like push ups, or hammer something, then come in doctor a booboo on our baby's knee all while singing her "You are my sunshine" is wonderful to be a part of. I need to pause, because I just read back over this and I feel like I have just accepted the academy award for "best actress" and I am thanking my husband. But all of this is true. He is amazing. He works full time, takes work on the side, and goes to graduate school all to better himself and our family. He knows the value of hard work, yet balances that with the importance of our family time. Can you tell I love him?

The "one follower" is also ironic because he's not a follower. He sets his own path, makes his own way, and leads our family in the best way possible. It is wonderful to know the decisions he makes for us come with prayer, evaluation, and a coin toss...kidding about the coin - not the prayer and evaluation. He weighs the consequences and makes decisions based on what works for us.

Just the other day, I was telling a friend that I really caught a glimpse of Christ's love when I had my children. That unconditional, no limits, no bounds, unearned love that we read about... but that isn't entirely true. I began that understanding when I stood before God and made vows to love and respect him forever, and he made them to me. I am in this life we've made together, and never once could I imagine another life would be better. He's my one, follower, leader, best friend, lover, partner - for life.

Green with Envy Part 2

Baking Soda - It's not just for Baking

A few weeks ago I introduced you to my journey toward more natural living. I have really high ambitions, but am completely satisfied with taking baby steps toward a more earth, family, health friendly lifestyle. So today I thought I would pick a product and tell you the many things I use it for. So I started with my favorite. Baking Soda. This blog will be a multi part blog because I use baking soda for many things, but today I am sharing my house hold uses for it, I will post the health uses another day - when the "Green blogging" mood hits me. Where was I? Oh yes, home uses for baking soda. I will list - it's easier to follow.

1. Place a teaspoon in a vase to make cut flowers last longer.


2. Spread some on the windshield of your car to repel rain.


3. After feeding your baby, wipe his shirt with a moist cloth sprinkled with baking soda to remove the odor.


4. Soak dishrags in baking soda and water to remove the smell.


5. Sprinkle along window seals and in basements to repel cockroaches and ants.


6. Scatter it along your flower beds and gardens to keep rabbits from eating your flowers and vegetables.


7. Sprinkle anywhere you want to absorb odor - shoes, slippers, garbage cans, diaper pails, litter boxes... you get the picture.


8. Wash your fruits and vegetables with it.


9. Soak 1 cup in your toilet for an hour before flushing, it will clean and deodorize your toilet bowl.


10. Use it to scrub sinks, porcelain and plastic tubs.


11. Sprinkle on couches, carpets, or any upholstry and let it sit an hour or overnight before vacuuming for a home made dry cleaning option.


12. Combine with water to make a paste to polish stainless steel... I learned this from my many many many restaurant days.


13. Scatter it on your garage floor, scrub, then rinse to cut the grease and oil spills in your garage.


14. 1/4 cup white vinegar and 2 tbsp. baking soda and 1/4 gallon of hot water make a great all purpose cleaner for the home. A few drops of essential oil - I like lemon or orange to give that clean smell in your home.


15. Flush 4 tbsp with hot water down your drains weekly to clean your drains.


16. Make a thick paste of baking soda and water to scrub your enameled cast iron pots and stainless steel pots and pans clean.


17. Make a paste to and rub into clothes to remove grease spots.


18. Run your coffee maker with a baking soda solution to clean then rinse.


19. Combine 3/4 cup with 1/4 cup salt and 1/4 cup water to clean your oven.

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