Living not striving…

Despite many attempts to figure out how to make things work I am having to sadly part ways with freeblogit.  It is sad since this site has been good to me.  I kind of feel like a sell out but watching other blogger friends navigate so easily while I struggle… I just decided it was time to move on.  So as of tonight, thanks to Mark, you can now find me at www.erikaivory.wordpress.com .  I imagine you can find my old stuff here for a bit but soon this will be deleted.  So come on over and any new info will be at my new site.  Thanks old friend:)

This is what Eli says each morning when I present him with a pair of shorts that have… pockets.  This is apparently his new obsession.  He must have pockets to stuff with gumballs, squishy plastic frogs, rocks, dandelions, bugs or any other treasure he comes upon.  He gets really excited when he wears the few pairs of shorts he has that have several kinds of pockets.

This started about two weeks ago and for a few days I tried to fight the trend and in a no-nonsense way dress him in whatever shorts I decided were appropriate for the day, even if they did not have pockets.  Sometimes giving in to these little battles frustrates me.  Eventually I realized that it was futile and ridiculous.  Let him wear pockets!  Honestly most of his shorts have pockets anyways.

I still think it is the cutest thing though when I present him with his clothes and he breaks out in his super sunshine grin and squeals, “Pockets, yea!!!”

Unfortunately someday it will most likely be much more difficult to bring him such joy:)  So for now each day I find an outfit with pockets.  Now he is requesting pajamas with pockets.  I have tried to explain that they don’t really make pajamas with pockets.  Sigh.  Yes do comment if you know who sells pajamas with pockets (on the pants not the shirt), but I don’t know how far we will take this obsession….

I sure do love that smile though!

His little imagination is wide open these days.  This morning I was trying to do housework but instead while unloading the dishwasher we were surfing.  Then in the playroom we were fighting with light sabres and then paddling our pirate ship with guns and pirate hooks.  Later in the day we were also in a band and made a guitar and microphone out of tinker toys.

(Don’t get the impression that all I do is play with my kids.  I wish I did it more often because it really is fun and a large part of why I stay at home with them.  BUT more often than not I get way too caught in housework and my To Do list.)  Enough about that.

Then I got tickled when he came out with this get-up.

I remember when I was pregnant with my first little one I attended a church party and one couple with a four year old were moaning about bedtime.  They were saying how their little girl will just scream and cry and get up out of bed and make bedtime such an ordeal.  I seriously remember being baffled and thinking, “What is their problem?  They are the adult, she is a four year old child!  Put her in bed, shut the door and make her stay!”  What a judgemental know-it-all I was!

Eli gives me a run for my money.  I wish I could say bedtime is peaceful.  But many nights it ends up with a spanking because he simply will not stay put!  Tonight before I had to spank him I sat by his bed to pray and talk, hoping this (since we already did bath and books) would help him wind down.  Well, he decided to tell me a bedtime story.  I am biased I realize, but he does amaze me with his wit.

He said that today he saw an “astronaut going to moon with thing on his head and I waved but he didn’t wave back.  But then he kicked me so I had to go to doctor.  Then doctor popped astronaut ’cause it not nice to kick.  Then space man caught moon and made it break up into pieces.  But I was like astronaut and used my wings to fly and catch all pieces of moon.  So tomorrow daddy has to take his hammer and fix it up so we can see.  And mommy did you know inside pillows are candy?”

Wow, no wonder he can’t fall asleep.  With stories like that flying around in his head it makes sense why he is up and down and up and down!

I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, although I try to hold my own in most conversations.  I do hate to admit though that when it comes to politics I rely strongly on Mark to keep me informed and make wise decisions.  I can follow Sean Hannity a bit, he at least keeps my attention for a little while and I even read his book.

But I have to admit that I am fascinated by Sarah Palin.  I can’t wait to read a biography on her.

Some reasons I find her incredibly interesting:

-she was a hockey mom

-she is from Alaska (who do you know that is FROM Alaska?)

-she has 5 kids (I come from a large family)

-she had a baby late in life and he has Down’s

-she does not come from a political background, yet has risen to vice-presidential candidate

-she is married to a man’s man

-she has made many political stands to reveal fraud and push for what is “right”

-she points at the camera and grits her teeth:)

-she is standing behind her 17 year old who is 5 months pregnant in the midst of this campaign when it very realistically could have been easier to just not run

-she was gutsy enough to sell a jet on ebay

-she actually is pretty and feminine in a “girl next door” kind of way

-she named her kids Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig

I would love to meet her.  Not sure about all of it of course, but in many ways I’m thinking she rocks.

At around 8:00pm this evening, Wednesday, Sept. 3rd my sweet little sister Maura Prelich gave birth to her second child and first little girl, Layla Destiny Marie.  She weighs 7 lb 3 oz and is 19 inches long.

I can hardly wait to meet my precious little niece.  She appears to be a feisty little one.  She arrived in this world a little earlier than we expected.  You see the midwife was called and on her way but Layla decide to make her debut with just her mommy and daddy in the room.  So her daddy truly stepped in as her true knight in shining armor.  Go Ben!  You rock!

I will share pictures as soon as I can get some.  What a great story, huh?

Cindy Foote

I have shared a blog entry from my sweet friend in Texas a few months back.  She is awesome and tonight I hope at least a few of you will check out her journey and thoughts again.  Warning: her blog entry is really long, but so authentic and I truly believe will really resonate with many if not most of us.  Of course it is from a woman’s perspective but I challenge some of you men to read it (particularly the last half) because I know that a lot of wives/women out there feel the way she does.

So take a look…. www.followthefeet.blogspot.com

Wish I had pictures to share from today.  We all went to Charleston for the day to spend some time with the Pereas.  My sister Kelly and her husband Richard and their 8 amazing children moved to South Carolina a year and a half ago to start a church. They are an incredible family and we love spending any time we can with them.  We always learn something about parenting and our children have the best time. They adore their cousins.

The plan was to spend the day on the beach and even though it poured with black skies the last half hour to the beach, we decided to forge ahead and see if the sky might clear.  I am so glad we did because the skies cleared and we had a glorious day playing on the beach.  Since the Pereas moved from Colorado the beach of course was a novelty to them but believe it or not this is the first time we have all been on the beach together since they moved.  So I really, really wanted the kids to play together on the beach at least one time this year.

It was a perfect day.  We picnicked, made sandcastles, played forever in the water and crazy high waves, went out for ice cream and then finished the day getting baths and playing together until we absolutely HAD to make the drive home.  I am so thankful that the Pereas followed the Lord’s call on their lives.  They sacrificed so majorly to leave a great church, so many wonderful friends and family to come to South Carolina.  It has not been easy at all.  I am also so thankful the Lord called them to our state.  I love that my kids can know their cousins and play together and share life together.

We serve an amazing God and today was an amazing day

McCall has been asking Mark for over a year to take him to the climbing wall.  We really weren’t sure if he was ready for it and it just never worked out to take him.  So this weekend we set aside time to go on “dates” with the boys.  McCall has had a rough two weeks adjusting to school and we recognized he seems to need some extra attention.

So Friday night I took him out to Barnes & Nobles and found him a craft book and then we went home and made cookies together. (What? Yes I like doing both of those things, but he really did want to do them!  I did not manipulate him)  Mark took the two little guys to the new Rita’s ice cream place (we had coupons of course) and then to the pet store.

And Sat night I took the little guys to Barnes & Nobles (they do like the stage and train table) and then home for cookies.  Mark and McCall went to the climbing wall.  McCall climbed 3 1/2 times.  Mark said he was amazing!  He was so proud of him.  He was apparently like a little monkey.  I was a crazy climbing kid apparently my mom recollects and so it was fun to see him take to it so quickly.  He didn’t want to leave but Mark had to convince him that he was tired.  So we have now found a fun new outlet.  I have tried for several hours to post the video through youtube and vimeo but to no avail.  Seriously all my techy friends what is my problem?  Would someone please set up a tutorial for me?  Maybe I can post it eventually.

And by the way for those of you that know me well and know my aversion for anything “crafty.”  When I came downtairs this morning McCall found a great idea from the book I bought him.  I vaguely remember him asking me EARLY this morning if I knew where a shoe box was.  Well, he decorated with cut-outs and twine this box  and then sponge painted it two layers and three colors.  It really is lovely but WOW lots of paint everywhere and lots of mess  Lord stretch me to help me encourage his gifts and interests!

A few weeks ago on a particularly difficult day a group of my wonderful friends cleaned my house for me.  Apparently they tried to vacuum my floor and realized that they might have to pitch in and buy me a vacuum.  You will all be glad to know that problem is finally solved.  Last weekend I temporarily lost my cool and literally tossed four (no you did not misread I said FOUR) broken vacuums out my door onto the porch.

I have been telling Mark for months that we need a new vacuum.  He was fine with me getting a new one but I just kept putting it off and trying to “make do.”  That was dumb!!!  Mark was out working in the yard that day so McCall ran outside and apparently told him that “Mom is losing her mind.  You need to come inside.”  Did he come inside?  Oh no!  He is no dummy.  He knows that when I am losing it like that the best thing to do is stay out of the way for awhile.

Here is a picture of the culprits, devil vacuums!

I did some research about prices,etc.  So Friday I became friends with our local Oreck salesman in the Florence Oreck showroom and this is my lovely new friend!

It is not the most flattering picture of her but she really is lovely.  Lightweight, trim, not very noisy.  No bells and whistles but I love that!  I am glad to get the floor vacuumed I don’t make it around to the corners or drapes (who has drapes?) and forget the couch cushions.  Anyways those little extras were the downfall of those other four vacuums. They always broke!!!

Okay I’m getting all worked up again…. I need to go vacuum the upstairs and calm down.