Cheerios & Brinner

We've entered the Cheerio stage with JM. Here are some very brief thoughts on our new stage of babyhood...

They're good:

They're bad:

& they're ugly:

You know that sound... don't you? It kinda sounds like this "cccrrrrruuuuunnnnccchhh". But they're worth all the little crunches because they can bring MOST of this screams to a screeching hault.

On the home front today we're running a fever infested household. Well, not a complete infestation... just Morgan and Raiger; they're both feeling pretty pitiful. Annie {our sitter} said she's still willing to come! So I'm locking myself in the playroom and hoping for BIG results!

Let me share a mortifying story. Yesterday Melinda was here {she's the very nice lady who comes 2x a month to clean our house}. I was in the kitchen {trying to stay one step ahead of her} when I overheard Morgan in the den...

Morgan says, "Ms. Melinda, come look at this rug. John Martin spit up all over it. Here and here and here so you're going to have to clean it up real good!"

Oh my, I wanted to die. I ran in there and gently explained to Morgan that Melinda had plenty to do without Morgan pointing things out to her. I tried to explain quickly that what she did wasn't very nice. She didn't quite get it... she said she was just trying to help. I thought I'd die. Melinda went on to say that last time she was here Morgan told her she needed to clean really good under her bed because there's always dust under it when she climbs under... and that Melinda probably needs to move the beds to clean under them "real good". Lord, help me! My 4 year old is going to run our housekeeper off! And I'm going to die of embarrassment.

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What's for brinner, deer?

Last night we had "brinner"-- that's breakfast for dinner-- and Paige was my sous chef. I made homemade waffles {but I whipped the egg whites and folded them in at the end}... I turned around to dig for the baking powder as Paige explained, "I weally yike deese eggies". I looked back to see Raiger with a moutful of raw egg whites, at least they were whipped and stiff... doesn't that help? We ate our waffles with sliced cheddar cheese & deer sausage... it was so good. I used to be a snob about deer meat... I was of the opinion "I don't eat wild game"... but now I have a freezer full of it and guess what.... it tastes REALLY good! I also used to be in the dark about Aunt Jemima "Butter Lite" syrup... if any of you are in the dark... consider yourself "now informed" and buy it at the grocery store.

Ok. I must get to the playroom.

Happy Friday! Mom's supposed to be coming this weekend... I'm giddy, she came when JM was born {June 30} and we've been anxiously awaiting her return since!

Taking and Finishing

Someone asked me if we had any "takers" on the pine cones... we've had many little feathered friends partake and I've already "re-loaded". Here's what we've spotted in the last few days:
Titmice {pictured above}
Mockingbirds
Carolina Chickadees {which look like black-capped chickadees}
Wrens
Nuthatches {brown headed}
House Finches
Cardinals {although they've just been waiting on the ground for seeds to drop}
Eastern Towees {not on the feeders but we spotted a few in the yard and we love these little guys}

Our front yard has been inundated with Robins and they're welcome to stay there because they poop everywhere.

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Do you ever have days/weeks where you feel like you can finish nothing? This week has been like that, here's what I've sought to finish but haven't:
-making a nightgown for Raiger
-writing apron tutorials
-laundry
-sorting through toys for yard sale
-pricing for yard sale

But guess what? There is one thing I've had NO PROBLEM FINISHING:

There was one in there when I snapped the picture... but now it's gone too! :) And earlier this week... I managed to force the Samoas down too! Those durn GIRL SCOUTS! Which one's your favorite?

for the locals: Holding on to Hope

Hello friends!

Our church is hosting a community-wide event the weekend of March 13th, 14th, & 15th... and I want to invite YOU {those of you who are nearby}. The conference will focus on trusting the Sovereign God when your world falls apart. David and Nancy Guthrie will be leading us and along side them will be Reverend Charles McGowan. Charles McGowan spent 12 years pastoring First Pres Dothan and has most recently spent his years at Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville. It was in Nashville that he met David and Nancy and witnessed first hand how they chose to follow God and honor Him when they lost 2 of their children. Since then God has blessed Nancy and David with a ministry of trust and hope to countless of people nationally and internationally.

An excerpt from Nancy's website describes what she and her husband have walked through:

In today's modern world, few parents have to face the bitter task of burying a child that they love. But Nancy Guthrie has faced the grave twice now, burying two children who lived only six months.

When Nancy gave birth to a daughter, Hope, in 1998, club feet, extreme lethargy, an inability to suck, and a number of other small problems hinted at something more significant. On her second day of life, Hope was diagnosed with Zellweger Syndrome, a rare metabolic disorder that is characterized by the reduction or absence of peroxisomes (cell structures that rid the body of toxic substances) in the cells of the liver, kidneys, and brain. There is no treatment and no cure for Zellweger Syndrome and most children with the syndrome live less than six months.

For Nancy, her husband David, and their son, Matt, the diagnosis was devastating and disappointing. Hope’s brief life—a life of only 199 days— made a significant impact on them and those around them, causing them to dig deep into their faith to make sense of such significant suffering.

To have a child with Zellweger Syndrome requires that both parents be carriers of the recessive gene trait for the syndrome. So, after Hope was born, David and Nancy took surgical steps to prevent a future pregnancy. Evidently it didn’t work. Just a year and a half after Hope died, Nancy discovered she was pregnant. And a few months later, pre-natal testing revealed that this child also had the fatal syndrome. The Guthrie’s second son, Gabriel, was born on July 16, 2001, the same day a story on the Guthries appeared on the pages of TIME Magazine. Gabe’s life was also very short, a mere 183 days.

Those who have watched Nancy and David walk through such loss, and the millions who have read their story worldwide in TIME Magazine and USA Today have wondered at their ability to emerge from such sorrow with joy for life and passion for God. Nancy offered many of the lessons she learned from this sorrowful experience in her 2002 book, Holding On to Hope: A Pathway of Suffering to the Heart of God which has helped thousands of people pursue God in the midst of their suffering. She regularly hears from readers who have been touched by the book from all around the world as the book has been translated into German, Danish, Norwegian, Korean and Chinese. The One-Year Book of Hope, provides hurting people with a daily dose of truth from Scripture to guide them toward healing. Publishers Weekly wrote: "Where other devotionals offer tiny and undemanding snippets from Scripture, Guthrie's approach is meatier, and we see her genuinely wrestling with some of the more difficult passages of the Bible. Throughout, Guthrie's soul-searching honesty and personal anecdotes make her a perfect companion in times "

This conferece is free and childcare will be available by reservation (334-794-3128) by Tuesday, March 10th.

Friday, March 13th-- First Presbyterian Church Sanctuary 6:30-8:30-- When Your World Falls Apart
Saturday, March 14th-- Fellowship Hall-- 9am complimentary breakfast & coffee -- 9:30 -11:30-- Questions We Ask When Life Hurts
Sunday, March 15th-- Combined Sunday School classes in Fellowship Hall @ 9:00 am-- Worship Service @ 10:15 in sanctuary with sermon by Charles McGowan

Let me know if any of you have any further questions! Charles McGowan was here this past Sunday and he always presents a powerful message full of the richness and grace of the Gospel. I've had the benefit and blessing of hearing him preach several times and each and every time I am moved to tears! As much as I'd like for you to come to my garage sale the weekend before, I'd much rather you come to this... or how 'bout both? :)

I love a good game of pretend...

School: Morgan was the teacher; the deer, bear, dolls, Paige & John Martin were the students. You should have heard them... it was a hoot! See info on rug below. {you can click on this picture to see it bigger on flickr}

Shortly after I snapped the picture she realized she wasn't "dressed the part"... according to her, teachers always wear short-sleeved dresses with jackets over them... and running shoes. :)

Much better. :) They were playing so sweet and I was so happy for them... until I walked into their bedroom and this is what I found.

Do your kids do this when they dress themselves? It makes me want to scream... and then it really makes me want to scream when Justin says, "Why can't the girls room stay picked up... there are always clothes all over the floor?" I try to remain calm and remind myself of this precious seaon of life... mom would remind me that my room looked like this when I was in high school... I might should get used to this look {and convince Justin to also}!

The little man is getting bigger and so are his eyelashes. I can assure you these did not come from my gene pool.

Do you know of a sweeter scent than Johnson & Johnson's baby wash? Me neither. Ok, well maybe Johnson & Johnson's baby lotion... it's a toss up!

I do not have my new camera yet... remember, that's what the BIG GARAGE SALE {March 7th} is for. We haven't taken Dave Ramsey courses but we are debt free, except the house... which is killing us so don't pat me on the back. I'm afraid to take Dave Ramsey courses because then we would probably sell our house, I'd have to resort to buying generic Nutrigrain bars and I'll be walking around with an envelope of cash... ok, just teasing {kinda}... but I know what he does to you! It's enticing and frightening all at the same time! Our parents were gracious enough to pay for our educations and my smarty pants husband had a full ride at FSU for grad school... all of this allowed us to start our marriage free of debt. So while it's been very tempting to put the new camera on a credit card and pay it off post-garage sale... I'm trying to be a good wife and faithful steward.... which means I'm still shooting with my Canon PowerShot {pictured above}. It's been a good little camera but runs on AA batteries. I swear I've invested as much money in batteries as I would have spent on an SLR. Oh well!

A few of you have asked about the rug in our den. I mentioned it before but maybe you missed it... I've had a few emails so here it is again: Shades of Light: Vibrant Kilim in BEIGE. It's a wool kilim and we will have it the rest of our lives. It was pricey {but that's always relative... it was pricey to me... Ms. Cheapskate} Erika convinced me to buy it several years ago and Justin nearly faints still when he recalls the price tag.

See you later alligators.

This Is for the Birds

Literally for the birds.

This is one you'll want to do outside. We're supposed to have a week of sunshine so we hung ours out in the open... but they would probably "weather" best under the soffit. The girls had a lot of fun making these. It took me back to our early days of marriage when Justin and I made our own suet. We actually packed our freezer full of it one year. This recipe is similar to what we used to make {although we added raisins, nuts, and other dried fruit... the woodpeckers loved it}. You can find lard at the grocery store in the Crisco aisle, it's in a green and white box and made by Armour.

We made our little pine cone feeders on Saturday afternoon as I was trying to prepare for our gathering. Sometimes I think I've lost my mind when I decide to do a "kid project" while getting ready for a "grown up party"... but it wasn't too bad!

We had a great time Saturday night. I did not have to prepare the food, it was a covered dish and everything was delicious. And I'm mad that I didn't take a single picture... maybe next time!

I hope you all are enjoying your Monday! It's sunny and chilly here... everyone is down for naps which calls for some "naptime tea" for this Momma!

John Martin

He's a dirt, truck, tractor and Momma-lovin' boy and I could eat him up!

Thanks, Becky for his sweet outfit! We love it... especially his Momma!

C.H.A.O.S.

Do you suffer from C.H.A.O.S. {Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome*}? Fortunately, this is not a syndrome that afflicts me. Trust me there are other things that will get my blood pumping, thankfully having others over is not one of them.

Today I am preparing for a gathering that will take place in our home this evening. I am expecting anywhere from 25 people to 35 people. This excites me; there's something about being able to open your home {ugly bathrooms and all} to others.

Here are my top 10 reasons to have people in your home:

1. It is GOOD to do SO: "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:25
2. You will fix something fun to eat {but now is not the time to turn your guests into guinea pigs by trying a "new" recipe}
3. You will clean your toilets & sinks.
4. You will de-clutter your kitchen counters.
5. You will get dressed in something fun & put on something other than your “everyday earrings”.
6. You will put on make-up & brush your teeth.
7. You will have coffee after dinner, which is so fun.
8. You will more than likely laugh.
9. You will use a serving piece that you don’t use regularly.
10. You will enjoy all of the above and want to do it again.

*My friend, David, coined this phrase {and if he didn't he's the first I've heard use it} ... {update} ok, thanks for informing me of "FLY lady" never heard of her before... apparently David didn't coin it and perhaps she did! :)
My sweet friend, Allyson, gave me the beautiful turquiose drink dispenser... I think it came from Linens & Things.

This Is My Father's World

This Is My Father's World

This is my Father's world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world,
the birds their carols raise,
the morning light, the lily white,
declare their maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:
he shines in all that's fair;
in the rustling grass I hear him pass;
he speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world.
O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let the earth be glad!

This is one of my favorite hymns right now; I could hear it over and over again. We occasionally sing it in church, if I had anything to do with it, we'd sing it every Sunday. You can listen to it here by Fernando Ortega {another one of my favorites}. I used to not be into hymns... until my husband came along. He has helped me appreciate them; they are now my favorite. Do you know about Red Mountain Music? They re-work old hymns and, like Ortega, are quite good at what they do. If you're not familiar with them, take a few minutes and explore. We love all their albums!

I spent yesterday morning enjoying my Father's world with my husband and my son. Justin's parents own BEAUTIFUL property south of town and we spent the morning with turkeys, White Ibises, Fox Squirrels, and many other signs of life. I left dishes in the sink, laundry on the floor, food on the counters and spent the entire morning with my husband at quite possibly his most favorite place on earth. Trust me, it wasn't much of a sacrifice for me to join him, you'll see why.

Life is good, spring is close, we could see it everywhere.

Hope you all have a delightful weekend.

A Few Minor Details

Wow! Y'all don't miss anything. I forgot a few minor details on the last few posts.... and since you all are so good to ask questions... here are my answers...

the stamped onesies: I used Soft fabric paint by Tulip {from Michael's} and it came in an assortment pack with 12 colors {just like that link shows}. I think it was around $4... but can't be for sure. Make sure you take your 50% off coupon with you! I also used an iron to "set" the paint after it was dry. Just a warm iron and let it sit on there for a few seconds. You should be able to wash and dry the onesies with no problems... but I can't attest to that because I haven't washed mine yet.

the blog move: You can breathe and sleep easy... there were no real life stalkers. Praise the Lord! And my husband had no qualms about our name being all over the blog but I've lost a few hours of sleep over it.... usually after I watch the news or check my blog stats. Anyway, I have been wanting to move to an address that didn't involve our last name so finally I bit the bullet. It was an easy change and I'm glad I did it. Fly Through My Window comes from one of my favorite songs by Elizabeth Mitchell:: Little Bird, Little Bird. {y'all listen to that link... it's a delightful song!}

the blog header: It was designed by yours truly with clip art I purchased online and edited. Seeing as how I'm rather limited with Paint being the most advanced software that I have to create in I had to solicit the help of Sister* who graciously obliged. She put the final touches on it in Photoshop and I am so grateful for her expertise because Paint makes me cuss all day long.

Did I miss anything? Ask away if I did.

*I call her Sister because she is my sister and that means she's required to help me with my blog header. However, she does have a full time job that does not involve creating blog headers... so on her behalf, I ask that you not email her and ask her to design a blog header. Was that too harsh? I hope not... y'all understand, right?

Stamp It Out

I love blogs. I think they are great resources, inspiring, and usually get my creative juices flowing. I read too many of them though. I know that to be a fact. Anyway, recently I've come across some featuring "freezer paper". Like this one and this one. So I grabbed a roll of freezer paper from Winn Dixie and thought yesterday would be the day to try it out. But let me tell you... I am an "instant gratification" kind of crafter... and rather impatient {maybe you can tell that from my recipes too?}. So, after trying to cut some designs out of freezer paper with an exacto knife I said, "ummm maybe in 10 years when there aren't little children watching, panting, asking to try etc". But I had the paper and the paint and I can't waste it. I remembered those cute little stamps. So I stamped the onesies that I intended to paint stencils on. I think they turned out pretty cute. The stamps are all from the $1 rack at Michael's and it says Scrapbooking Supplies {or something of that nature} at the top. If you go to the stamp aisle... watch out, they're EXPENSIVE, I had no idea. So, stick to the $1 rack... unless you have money to spend then knock yourself out! :) The paint is called "Soft" by Tulip. It's fabric paint and once it dried I set it with a medium iron.

I will say stick to the ones with more lines than those with filled space... make sense? I ironed the freezer paper to the inside of the onesie so the paint wouldn't bleed through... although with stamps I don't think that would happen so you could probably just slip a piece of wax paper in there. I also painted the fabric paint onto my stamp and made sure I didn't have too much paint on there.

Happy Birthday, My Love!

Happy 31st Birthday to my best friend, my husband!
I love this man very, very much! He's a wonderful husband and a wonderful father! And he still looks 18... so that means when I look 60 he's going to look 30 and everyone will think I robbed the cradle!
We woke up to birthday muffins.

The girls enjoyed the singing and celebrating as much as he did.
Paige only ate the icing.
I treated him to a very romantic gift: a bee suit.
Unfortunately, I didn't get my act together and it's not here but he was excited when I told him.
Our old neighbor in Anniston keeps bees and has offered to hand them down to Justin.
He's been waiting for this suit before he can go get them. {Don't worry, we're not keeping them at our house.}

Since it is Justin's birthday... let's talk about bacon and/or ham. {Not that either really have anything to do with him or his birthday but generally men really like both... and well, I do too!} I was raised in a "hot breakfast" house. That means that most every morning we had a hot breakfast. Well, what goes around comes around and 'round here we eat hot breakfasts... most of the time. I've mentioned before that we really like eggs and what goes better with eggs than bacon! But really bacon is a mess. The pre-cooked is never as good as the real deal and well the real deal is messy no matter how you cook it. I've tried every method under the sun {even baking it and my oven was covered in bacon grease for weeks}. So last week I decided to forget the bacon... we'll go for ham. It was a huge success and the whole family enjoyed it and I appreciated the fact that it was easy and mess-less. Here's one of our favorites.... a Bay's english muffin {buttered of course}, a fried egg {over easy}, browned deli ham, a scoop of cheese grits, and good ole "grind" from the peppermill. If you don't allow your foods to touch this is not going to appeal to you. But you could certainly seperate all these and it would still be good.

It's really just plain ole brown sugar deli ham {the prepackaged kind by Hillshire Farm}. I browned it in the pan with the eggs and it was delicious.

Ok, speaking of ham and bacon. Do you add it to your peas? {I'm not talking about the English ones}. I've learned living in the south there are other kinds of peas. There are 3 we like that are common around here: white acre, black-eyed, and field. All of which are better when simmered on low for an hour with bacon or ham. But when it's 4:45 and you're just getting a bag of peas out of the freezer {Which someone from church brought you when you had a baby. Don't you love it!? I really do... that someone brought us bags of frozen peas... and I'm not being sarcastic... I think it's fabulous.} Anyway... so when time is of the essence and you must get those peas on and there's no bacon in sight {nor do you want to fool with messing with it} you can pull out this...

Ham bullion. It will make your peas taste so good that your kids will want seconds. This is one of those tricks that I didn't know about until recently. Sister's MIL always uses this and it's a DELIGHTFUL shortcut! So, try it out... it's in none other than the ETHNIC FOOD AISLE at your local Walmart. And will probably be seen with the JAMON side facing the aisle... the back of the box says HAM.

Today is Wednesday, that means "curbside pickup" for not only the garbage men... but me also. I had to cut mom off in a conversation earlier so I could rummage through someone's trash and get this table out... I could at least get $5 for it at the yard sale, don't you think?

But the girls have had a lot of fun sitting at it today so I'm not sure they'll let me part with it. See their stamps? The next post will give you another idea of what you can do with the $1 stamps at Michael's.

Thanks for following me on my rabbit trail of a birthday post!

PTL

Ahhhh... it worked!

PTL.

That's what Shireen kept saying on gmail chat yesterday. I had no clue what she was talking about. I don't text very often and I'm not up with the latest acronynms. I had to stop her and explain that I didn't know what PTL was.... she kindly offered her expertise: Praise The Lord, and also informed me that she didn't know what it meant until someone else explained it to her. So, I say PTL that the blog move seemed to work fairly flawlessly. I'm hoping y'all are comin' with me.

Speaking of things technical in nature.... do y'all Facebook? Do you know what I think about Facebook? Besides the fact that you can waste a LOT of time on there. I think they should have a pop up warning everytime you log on. It would look something like this:

I am not off to check facebook statuses... I'm off to bed!

Good night!

My Last Post...

Dear Blogging Friends,

I'm moving {finally, I've been contemplating this for over a year}. Would you please come with me? Here's my new address... same blog... new address

http://www.flythroughmywindow.blogspot.com/

Sincerely,
Darby

ps- READER READERS and other feeders please add my new address to your feed! :) If you have no clue what I'm talking about just get a piece of paper and write down www.flythroughmywindow.blogspot.com. And then maybe you can come comment over there so I know everyone is still with me! Man, I really hope this works like they say it will!

Swelling Down... Color In

Well we've always had a good nickname for Paige: Raiger. Morgan has always been Morgan but now we may have to call her "bruiser" or maybe "shiner" would be better. I still don't exactly know what happened other than she said she was getting under her bed and hit her eye {really her browline} on her wooden bed rail. When she got up from her nap yesterday she said, "Well it's all better!" What a great little attitude she has but I imagine it will be the better part of a week before it's really all better. We did have our opthamologist friend take a look... he said, "she's fine!" The swelling has gone down, the color has come in. It just doesn't look too fine... unless you're the fightin' kind.

My sweet girl. You can imagine how people reacted at church this morning. A pretty little girl with a big purple eye. She got plenty of attention. Although at age 4 she wasn't too impressed with it. I remember faking sprained ankles/wrists so I could wrap myself up in an ace bandage.... I'm thinking you don't get too excited about "injuries" until you're 7 or 8.

I hope you all are enjoying the Lord's Day. I'm looking at Justin who is sprawled out on the sofa and completely out... I may just have to take a nap myself!

Puppy Love & Goose Eggs

Let me introduce to you my mother-in-law's new puppies {and yes, she bought the whole litter} you'll see why...

They're Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and oh my goodness they're sweet as candy! We went to see them last night and I thought about stealing one for about 30 seconds... then remembered they're cute but they also pee and poop all over the house. I'd rather just go play with them. Their names are Charlotte, Wilson, & Zoe {Zoe is actually going to my sister-in-law's house to live with her King Charles "Charlie"}.

Speaking of sweet... the girls and I had a little Valentine's Day baking session earlier {Strawberry Cupcakes with Buttercream frosting}.

They patiently watched and waited for the cupcakes to rise and bake. {By the way, I ♥ my oven. It's only 30" wide but has 5 gas burners & a double oven. The best of everything squeezed in a small space! So you home renovators make a mental note!} I also ♥ my lemon painting... do you see if behind Paiger and Morgan? Here's a bigger picture {although the picture doesn't do it justice... remember soon I'll have a new camera that won't take "grainy" pictures!}...

It was a gift from a very sweet friend & blog reader, Dianne Ballard! I originally hung it above the door in the kitchen but it wasn't at eye-level and it is too beautiful to not be at eye-level. Everyone who has seen it wants to know all about and I'm always thrilled to tell the story! Thank you, Dianne... it truly looks beautiful against the black counters, white cabinets, and soft yellow walls! You are truly an amazing artist and I'm delighted to have this BEAUTIFUL piece greet me every morning and throughout the day in my kitchen!!

Moving right along to the less desirable {not the sweet child but what happened to her}...

A little HUMONGOUS bump on her eye that seemed to grow and grow until it could grow no more and she can barely open her little eye now... {not for the weak at heart}

She hit her head on her bedrail. I thought I was going to throw up. I've never seen something go from nothing to looking like her skin was going to split open in about 25 seconds flat. I did not remain cool, calm and collected like I should have. All I could think was... what is that? Where did that fluid come from? Is it going to split open? Lovely thoughts. I should have said, "Oh Morgan, you bumped your eye... here, put these black-eyed peas on it {seriously, how appropriate that I gave her BLACK-EYED PEAS from the freezer}. Instead I couldn't even look at her. She said, "Mommy, I need a mirror!" So I brought her one and she said, "Is that going to go away today!?" Hmm, all I could say was, "I hope so!" It will most certainy turn into a big black eye but she's a trooper for sure... much better than her Mommy! She kept saying, "I just didn't know this was going to happen to me today!" Yeah, me neither honey, me neither!

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope it's filled with lots of love and no goose eggs!

Morgan's shirt came from: Smitten & Co.
Someone asked about my rug earlier this week: Shades of Light {in beige}