The Boyfriend Jean

I have to say that the boyfriend jean isn't a trend that I thought much of until recently. I think (thought) it can look pretty sloppy, and I am not into sloppy (although you probably wouldn't think that if you saw me in my yoga pants on a daily basis.).

And then, I saw someone who pulled of the look perfectly. She looked adorable, and everything changed for me as far as the boyfriend jean.

What do you think?

On One Hand

On one hand, I am really excited because I feel like everything is really falling into place for our move.

Two weeks ago, we closed on our land near the farm. One week ago, we got an offer on our house. A day later I got a Facebook message from a builder who had heard we were building and was interested in doing our construction; I had never met this contractor (we have mutual friends), so his message was totally out of the blue.

I feel totally at peace with this move and that this is the direction that we are supposed to be going.

I am so excited about our house plan. I have been looking through every design magazine/blog under the sun dreaming of floors, countertops, furniture, and fixtures. I can't wait to plan everything out for our new house.

But.

On the other hand, I have started to get these little panicky feelings every once in a while. It will hit me suddenly that this move is real, that it is imminent.

Miss Priss and I had a conversation on the way to school the other day about how much she is going to miss her school next year.

I went on a walk along the waterfront and over the bridge one morning, and it occurred to me that I won't be seeing that beautiful view every morning soon; I had told myself when we moved here that I would never again take it for granted, but, in the almost-seven years since, I have.

We had our BFFs, my sister, brother, and their families over for dinner Saturday night, and I realized that it was probably the last time we will ever have people over in this house.

My uncle came into my office this morning to tell me that he had heard that we had sold the house and that he was sad to see us go, and my aunt called to tell me the same thing.

Little (and big) things keep making me sad, and I know it will only get worse as August approaches.

I know we are making the right decision to move, but that does not mean that it isn't going to be one of the hardest things that I have had to do. I love our life here -- but, then again, I hate our life here. If only we had a normal life here...

So, over the next few months, you will probably hear a lot of contradictory things from me -- excitement followed by terror; happiness followed by sadness.

I don't have a mental problem, I promise.

I'm just moving.

A List

1. Yesterday was one of those days where I just should have stayed in bed. It stunk.

2. I totally understand why they don't allow people to bring guns into government buildings. It is because the people in those buildings make it impossible for one to get anything done in said buildings, so one would be likely to take out one's gun and shoot someone just to make oneself feel better.

No, I am not a violent person. I was just on the verge of tears yesterday when it took me three tries to get into the courthouse with Bubba and Sassy; evidently we are very dangerous people with my cell phone and camera in tow. Once we finally got in the building I still could not get the certified copy of my marriage license that I needed because I didn't have exact change of five dollars.

And that is why I pay my taxes...

3. I have been making a lot of delicious smoothies lately, and I am going to give you some recipes soon. This time of year always makes me want smoothies.

4. I am starting tennis lessons tonight, and I started a Beginner Ashtanga class last Thursday. Both classes are in the evening, and both last an hour-and-a-half. By then end of both, I will be so skinny you won't be able to see me -- or at least my bandas will be happy.

5. My sister and I are taking the girls to their first concert this weekend. They are beyond excited. I can't wait to see their little faces! They have made posters and everything.

Okay, that's it...

Weekend Tidbits

Did y'all all have as dreary of a weekend as we did? Yuck, yuck, yuck.

The Farmer and I had a pretty productive weekend even with all the wet weather. We went to Supper Club in our new town on Friday. We have had the best time going to Supper Club for the past three months. Everyone has been really welcoming, and it seems that the chillens are going to have plenty of kids to play with out of the Supper Club group. Really, it fills me with relief! I am so not good at meeting new people, so this has helped me ease into our new social scene. And hopefully I can get the kids together with some of the other children before school starts so that they will at least recognize a few faces. For Miss Priss, this will be her fourth school in four years (and this is the first time we've moved!), and she is a lot like her mama, so I just worry about her.

The Farmer brought home a bunch of watermelon boxes, and we have spent a lot of time packing today. We filled up about a million boxes, and it seems that we haven't even made a dent in this house. It just goes to show how much junk a family of five can squeeze into a teeny tiny space. I have no clue how we will get it all out of here.

Wait...Packing?

Yes! We have a contract on our house! As my grandmother says, the Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we will close on June 2nd. I am beyond ecstatic, and I am praying that nothing will fall through. Will you pray that for us, too?

Our move will definitely come at an interesting time. We won't have started picking tomatoes yet, but we will be pretty darn close -- we will just be in that frenzy right beforehand where we are making sure we have all of our ducks in a row. The Farmer will be picking watermelons, but he will be at a little lull since it is right after Memorial Day. The kids and I will move to my in-laws' beach house for the summer while The Farmer will move to our farm house. In August, the kids and I will join The Farmer in the farm house while we wait for our house house to be built. So, on June 2nd our furniture will move to the farm house, but in the meantime we have to find somewhere to put the furniture that is in there now. All while both The Farmer and I are getting busier with work by the day!

Now, I am not complaining. I would much rather have this problem than not have this problem. It just gives us a lot of logistics to figure out.

I also spent a good portion of this dreary day cooking. Our book club/bunco group always does a sign-up for meals for any of our members who have new babies, and it seems our membership is popping out babies left and right these days. So, I decided to fix meals for everyone at once. I have been making Spinach Lasagna Rolls from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes . They are really, really good, and I highly recommend them whether you are watching your weight or not! (I am also giving the new mommies brownies, so I am not hinting that they need to go ahead and start watching their weight...).

So, I am sure that is all information that you could have done without, but there you have it...I am nothing if not thorough. Here's to a lovely week!

Big Fun Was Had By All

A couple of weekends ago, my beautiful friend got married. It was a great because I got to get together with all of my best Clemson girlfriends/sorority sisters and their hubbies, and that is always a wild time.

(This was also when I fell down the stairs.)

Here some pictures from our weekend. The beautiful bride & groom:

All of us girls with the bride:

And then the craziness started:

And continued on into the night:

Gosh, I love those girls!

Currently Jamming

I LOVE One Republic, and I have been listening to this song on repeat lately. I love it -- and I really love rocking out to it in the car! So, if you happen to see me, just look the other way and pretend you don't know me...

I hope you're having a happy day. My parents and friends made it safely to Tel Aviv! Thanks for the travel prayers!

Two Things

I am off in a minute to Nanny's funeral, but I wanted to check in with two quick things today:

1. Today a big group of people from my church is heading to Israel (assuming they get to head on from New York -- dang volcanoes! They are en route to JFK now). This group includes our rector (I guess you would call him our head minister -- we're Episcopalian!), LP and The Minister, and my parents, as well as many other people I love. So, please take a moment to say a prayer for them, if you wouldn't mind!

2. Hop on over to my friend Jen's blog. She is celebrating her blog birthday this week, and I guest posted today. And, if you aren't already reading NOLA Girl, then you should be!

See you tomorrow! Smooches!

Loss

A good friend of mine lost her grandmother yesterday, and I have been praying for her family nonstop since I heard the news. They know that she is in heaven now, but I still know how terrible it is to lose a grandparent.

I haven't lost many people close to me, and I realize that I am very fortunate for that. My kids have almost all of their great-grandparents on my side, and I love that they get to grow up knowing them.

The only one who is missing is my grandfather. He died almost seven years ago, when Miss Priss was a baby. He knew he was close to the end when she was born, and he would just hold her and study her little feet and hands like he was trying to memorize everything about her. I am so glad that she got that special time with him, even though she doesn't remember it.

Granddaddy died one summer evening with all of us around him; I didn't think that I wanted to be there when it happened, but now I am glad that I was there. He left this world surrounded by everyone he loved.

He died at 6:22, and I will never forget that. For years, I have felt that that time has haunted me. It comes during the time of the evening when I am trying to cook dinner, get the kids bathed and ready for bed, and I am constantly looking at the clock. I seem to always look at the clock at 6:22, and I have always wondered why I had to remember that awful time every day.

But recently, another thought occurred to me: instead of looking at 6:22 as a curse, why don't I think of it as a blessing? Because now, even seven years after his death, I still think of my Granddaddy almost every day. Instead of thinking of it as a time to forget, I decided to think of it as a time to remember.

I know that we all have our own ways of dealing with grief, and I pray for my friend and her family as they go through theirs. And I pray, that even when it has been seven years, they will think of Nanny often.

What Happens

Do you want to know what happens when you miss a step wearing 4-inch heels? I will show you:

And that's just my arm after 5 days. You should see my legs (I would show you, but they didn't photograph well...).

Somehow I caught myself after 5 or 6 steps, or who knows what I would have looked like. And luckily there were only 3 or 4 people who witnessed this very graceful fall.

So embarrassing.

***I told The Farmer that I was taking these pictures in case I ever wanted to use them against him in a court of law. He told me that I certainly wouldn't get any money out of him because "you can't get what you've already spent."

Oh, that guy...

Sassy Says

Sassy has some pretty good quotes. Nothing gets by her, and she has a comment for everything. Here are some recent ones:

1. We were visiting with our friends, LP and The Minister, and we were discussing their daughter's first birthday. I asked LP and The Minister if their parents were coming into town for the baby's party. LP said "Oh yeah, Minister, I forgot to tell you, your parents are coming!"

Being the child of divorced parents, The Minister asked "Which ones?"

Sassy looked at him like he was missing a few brain cells, and said "You have more than a mommy and a daddy?"

The Minister said "Yes, Sassy, welcome to 2010."

2. This also involves LP and The Minister.

We had them over for dinner one night, and LP, The Minister, The Farmer, and I all sat around talking. Sassy sat right beside us taking in everything we said. At one point, The Minister said something (and I can't remember what it was), and Sassy said "You know you shouldn't say that in front of me, because I'm just going to repeat it."

I guess we are forewarned.

3. The girls are doing Upward Cheerleading this spring. They did soccer in the fall, and it was a huge disaster on all fronts -- basically they hated it from the first moment they set foot on the practice field, and halfway through the season Sassy decided to just wear her Clemson cheerleading uniform to the games rather than her soccer uniform. This did nothing for The Farmer's mood -- he was her coach, and he was pretty much volunteered into the job.

Cheerleading has gone much better. In fact, every day after school, Sassy asks if we are going to cheerleading today.

However...

Last Saturday was the girls' first game. We got there, and Sassy turned into this shy, clingy child -- totally unlike her. She stayed like that for a while, so The Farmer took it upon himself to get her excited.

He gave her this little speech: "Sassy, you are a wild woman around our house! You are so loud; you are never quiet! You have been wanting to do this cheerleading thing, and now you are just hanging onto Mommy and Daddy." Then, as he pointed at her chest, he said "I know you are a wild woman in there -- let it out, get excited!"

Sassy just looked at him and said "No, Daddy, that's just Jesus in there."

The Farmer decided he had nothing to argue against that!

Oh, Pictures

It's too late for this chick to post anything profound, so I thought I would post some more recent pictures. I know you're so excited. But, the people in the pictures are cute!

I just love this one of The Farmer giving Sassy and Bubba a talking-to on Easter Sunday. He was giving them some helpful suggestions on how to behave at Easter lunch with the family:

We tried to get a picture of my parents with all six of their grandchildren. We were successful in getting the picture, but not so successful in getting a good picture. Oh well, there is always next year...maybe then I won't have to bribe Bubba with jellybeans (but not likely). Again, at least all the people in the picture are cute:

We went on our first boat ride of the year a couple of weekends ago. It was pretty chilly while we were heading out, but once we got to the beach we warmed up nicely. Bubba fell asleep in the boat, so we covered up his little face so he wouldn't get sunburned (we probably should have thought about his legs, but luckily they didn't get burned.):

Some of our good friends and old neighbors came into town to stay with our BFFs, Muffie and The Architect. We all got together downtown to catch up one night while they were here. It was the perfect spring evening: a nice breeze, good friends, and a band playing in the gazebo. We got a few shots of all of our chillens (1 seven-year-old, three-four-year olds, three two-year-olds, & 1 9-month-old -- obviously we were all pretty much on the same track for having kids):

So, that's it for today. I hope you had a lovely Tuesday! Peace out...

She's A Beauty!

I was in the market for a new spring/summer bag, so I asked my good friend, Jen, for some suggestions. She did a little research (she is a great personal shopper and trip planner!), and posted some really good options on her blog.

I fell in love with this one, the Cole Haan Amalfi Hobo, and I ordered it right away.

(images from 6pm)

It came on Friday, just in time for me to take it to my friend's wedding, and I love, love, LOVE it!

Thanks, Jen!

The Dream Has Died...Or Has It?

I was in the J.Crew outlet about a month ago doing a little retail therapy, and I tried on a pair of their white matchstick jeans. I immediately had a problem. I loved the idea of white skinny jeans -- they would look great with a cute top and some cute sandals in the spring and summer. However, the matchstick jeans were doing nothing for my thighs. I attributed that to the cut of the J.Crew jeans (a lot of their pants are cut kind of slim through the thighs -- which is a place where I am definitely not slim), and decided that I would find myself a pair of white skinny jeans that worked.

My friend, LP, and I went to Atlanta the next weekend, so one of our missions while we were there was to find me that pair of skinny jeans. And I must have tried on 15 or so different pairs, but the result was the same every time: they didn't look good through the thighs.

I left Atlanta thinking that my dream of white skinny jeans had died. I decided that I could get away with a darker skinny jean, but the white ones just made it too obvious that my legs look like drumsticks.

But I just can't stop thinking about those white skinny jeans...

Maybe I am just a glutton for punishment, but I can't help it. I want to find the perfect white skinny jeans for me! I am thinking about trying these two pairs from Lands End Canvas:

(not skinny jeans)

(skinny jeans)

(I am not sure why LEC is only letting me get butt shots of the jeans on here...I tried to get a better shot for you, but I don't have that much patience...the post before this took me forever because the internet went out last night, and I had to rewrite most of it today...blogger isn't my friend today.)

Anyway.

I know that the top pair are not skinny jeans. I have some white jeans that are long and cute with heels, so I am thinking that maybe I will be satisfied with a boot cut white jean that I can wear with flats (?!?!?!) so I may give those a try.

The bottom pair are LEC's version of the skinny jean. I think I may try them so that, if they don't work, I can at least say that I exhausted all possibilities.

So, have any of you found any great white skinny jeans? Is that perfect pair out there? Or should I just give up the dream once and for all?

She Gets It

I have learned a lot of things from my three children.

I have learned to have a great deal of patience, and I am sure that is a lesson that I will keep on learning until I draw my last breath. I have learned how to make a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich -- or to cheat and just buy the Uncrustables. I have learned how to distract a child from a temper tantrum. I have learned how to do multiple things at one time while holding at least one child. I have learned how to survive on little to no sleep, and I have learned how to sleep with a kicking, thumb-sucking toddler.

Basically, I have learned to be a mom, and a fairly good one at that (in my humble opinion ;-)).

Lately, I have learned a lot from Miss Priss about being a Christian. She, at seven, has come to know what it has taken me a whole thirty years to know.

Miss Priss does not compartmentalize her Christian self from her everyday self -- they are one and the same. Being a Christian is not part of who she is -- it is who she is. She is constantly thinking about and talking about God, and she is always telling others about Jesus and His role as her Saviour. She is constantly striving to be more like Him even though she knows that she can never actually attain that goal.

How do I know all of this?

Some examples...

We were riding in the car one day, and the Eric Church song Love Your Love the Most came on. It is a country song about how this guy loves all these things -- Nascar, his mama's cooking, Jack Daniels & Coke, etc -- but what he loves the most is the love of his girlfriend/wife/whatever. Miss Priss said, "You know, Mommy, he must not be a Christian because Christians love God the most -- even more than mommies or daddies or boyfriends or girlfriends."

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5

Miss Priss makes it well known that she is a Christian even through her school work. Her class has to do sentences with their spelling words each week, and she uses that time to talk about God. Some of the sentences that she has written this year include:

The Bible is full of true stories.

Jesus said follow me.

I will always love God the most.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Miss Priss wants others to be Christians and to be saved like she is. She told me the other day that she was going to take a little craft that she had made at Children's Chapel and give it to a girl in her class -- then she could tell the little girl about Jesus and about how He had died for her.

And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

One day when it was just the two of us, Miss Priss said "Mommy, I try really hard to be just like God wants me to be. You know, like Him. But I just can't do it. I try really, really hard, and I pray to Him to make me more like Him, but I just can't do it."

(Aside from nearly breaking my heart in two that she said that, I explained to her that none of us is perfect. Jesus was the only perfect human -- and he was also perfectly God at the same time -- and all we can do is try to be as much like Him as we can; and, when we fail, we just have to try again.)

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do...For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:15,18

Now, I realize that Miss Priss is seven, and she hasn't learned about being politically correct. She hasn't learned that others aren't Christians and honestly don't want to be. She doesn't understand that there are other religions that people practice. She doesn't understand that it isn't "cool" to talk about being a Christian to her friends who aren't.

I pray that most of those things are lessons that she never learns. I pray that she never tries to separate her Christian self from her everyday self. I pray that more of us become like her and make being a Christian not just an attribute of who we are but the very essence of who we are.

Was it not Jesus who said that we should all have the faith of a little child?

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. Mark 10:15

So, while there are plenty of things that I can teach my daughter, I can also learn a lot from her...and I do every day.

Help This White Girl!!

Y'all, I am white.

And I don't mean pretty, creamy white. I mean I am fish-belly white. I mean so-white-there-is-sort-of-a-green-tint white. And to top it all off, I have those lovely red bumps all over the backs of my upper arms and on my thighs.

Really, it makes for a pretty picture.

Ahem.

And, now that we have finally entered spring, my whiteness is really being shown off, so I am now in search of a tan.

But, because we are all aware of the dangers of the sun (hello, basal cell carcinoma), I am trying to become a little less white by artificial means. I have been using the Nivea lotion that is supposed to give you a little color with each application, and it does the trick. However, it stinks. I mean, it really, really stinks. I can hardly stand to smell myself, and it is hard to not smell yourself -- it isn't like you can hold your breath all day.

So, I am looking for a good sunless tanner. This month's Coastal Living has an article on the best self tanners, but I am not sure how much faith to put into their knowledge of beauty products. Here are some that I am tempted to try:

The Best Overall:

I am thinking that this one may be the best bet since it is the best overall, but the magazine doesn't mention anything about its smell. And I am picky about the smell.

The Best Instant Tan:

No 1 Scent:

So, do any of y'all know anything about any of the above self tanners? And, if not, do you have one that you swear by?

Please help this white girl get a little less white!

(all images from Coastal Living)

More Easter

One thing that I have learned with kids -- especially those pesky, yet sweet, little boys -- is that it is nearly impossible to get a good family picture. The girlies are more than willing to pose for pictures, but sometimes I wish they would just act normal! Bubba needs to be bribed with something -- yesterday it was jellybeans -- in order to stand still for half a second and sort-of smile.

Here are some of the pictures from yesterday:

***As a side note, if my girls are this beautiful at 7 and 4, I am in for some major trouble when they are 17 and 14, and I am already trying to prepare myself!

***Another side note: we went to Stride Rite to get Bubba shoes for Easter last week. We picked out some adorable Sperry loafers that Bubba said he liked. When it came time to get dressed for church yesterday, Bubba refused to wear them. He went to church sporting his Rainbows. It was a battle I wasn't willing to fight -- and he still looked adorable!

Happy Easter!

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

P.S. While my face is a lot rounder than I would like for it to be, it looks even more round in pictures. I need to know how to change that, or else I am just going to stop being in pictures...

Good Friday

The kids and I have spent a wonderful day together -- a little bit of work this morning, church, lunch with friends, and now, naptime! I hope you are enjoying your Good Friday as well!