30 Day Challenge

I've been motivated to do this by my real life friend Mical's 30 day challenge on her blog Fun and Faithful Tales. Then I found a list of things on One Girl's blog. I'll be doing most of her list but might change a few if I feel like it. ;-)

HERE are the things that I will be writing about in the next 30-days…

•Day 01- A recent picture of you and 10 facts about yourself

•Day 02- The meaning behind your Blogger name

•Day 03- A picture of you and your friends

•Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn't have, or something that you are looking forward to.

•Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to

•Day 06- Favorite super hero and why

•Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has had a big impact on you

•Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why

•Day 09- Something you’re proud of

•Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad

•Day 11- a person you would love to meet.

•Day 12- Your Blog Story.

•Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently

•Day 14- A picture of you and your family

•Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
•Day 16- Another picture of yourself (baby pic!)

•Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

•Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have

•Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them

•Day 20- What does your future hold/where would you like to be?

•Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy

•Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else

•Day 23- Something you crave often

•Day 24- A letter to your parents

•Day 25- What I would find in your bag
•Day 26- What you think about your friends
•Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
•Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
•Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
•Day 30- Who are you?

mom had a bad day... what a day mom had...

So... I have my share of challenging days but the other day was a doozy. On top of having my own three kiddos I was babysitting my one year old nephew. He isn't away from his mommy very often and doesn't nap well anywhere but home. But that wasn't the bad part.

Joe pooped out the side of his diaper earlier today while in his walker so he ground it into the carpet real good... I handled that pretty well but then during his "nap"time he emptied all the drawers in their dresser, took off his pants, took off his diaper, peed & pooped all over his room, and smeared said poop all over himself...

Needless to say I was not a very happy mama at that point. I plopped a poop cover Joe into the bathtub. Christine had just woke up from her nap so I got her up. My overly tired nephew was screaming so I put him in Christine's crib - mainly just to keep him out of trouble but he ended up crying himself to sleep.

I let Joe play in the bath while I sat on the floor in the bathroom, nursing Christine and having a good cry.

Sometimes motherhood is just overwhelming. Its daunting, looking at a poop smeared all over a child and a room. What do you do on those days? Do you cry sometimes like me? This time, while I was sitting there on the floor nursing and crying I chose to pray. Sometimes its all you can do. And it truly helped. It didn't take away the frustration of the situation but I do think it calmed me down enough to be able to handle it without completely freaking out.

Maybe its just me, but there are times when I have to remind myself that God cares. He does. God cares about the big things and the little things just the same. And even when I don't feel like He's close He is right there waiting for me to reach out to receive the comfort He has to offer. I'm glad that I chose to reach out to Him on this day. He blessed me with a certain amount of peace and calm about the situation. He also blessed me by allowing my hubby to come home 15min early to help me finish up the mess. And He blessed me by allowing me time to go out with a dear friend for some girl time. What was a very difficult day ended rather nicely. Thank you God. :-)

Top 100 update

Awhile ago my hubby and I starting watching the AFI's Top 100 movies together. Honestly it has changed the way we watch movies. We're still working our way through the list. We have found a few that are movies that we may not have watched if it were not for the list and that are now ones we will definitely add to our personal favorites list. Here is an update of the ones we've seen and what we thought of them. I'll try to post more detailed reviews another time.

#	MOVIE	our personal ratings
1	CITIZEN KANE	Wani dislike - Hubby like
2	THE GODFATHER	Wani dislike - Hubby like
3	CASABLANCA	Both LOVED
4	RAGING BULL	1980
5	SINGIN' IN THE RAIN	1952
6	GONE WITH THE WIND	Wani LOVE
7	LAWRENCE OF ARABIA	Wani dislike - Hubby like
8	SCHINDLER'S LIST	Both agree good
9	VERTIGO	agree good
10	THE WIZARD OF OZ	both love
11	CITY LIGHTS	1931
12	THE SEARCHERS	1956
13	STAR WARS	agree good
14	PSYCHO	agree good
15	2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY	1968
16	SUNSET BLVD.	1950
17	THE GRADUATE	agree good - not great
18	THE GENERAL	1927
19	ON THE WATERFRONT	1954
20	IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE	agree great
21	CHINATOWN	1974
22	SOME LIKE IT HOT	1959
23	THE GRAPES OF WRATH	1940
24	E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL	agree good
25	TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD	agree good
26	MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON	agree great
27	HIGH NOON	Wani dislike - Hubby like
28	ALL ABOUT EVE	1950
29	DOUBLE INDEMNITY	1944
30	APOCALYPSE NOW	1979
31	THE MALTESE FALCON	Wani dislike - Hubby like
32	THE GODFATHER PART II	1974
33	ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST	1975
34	SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS	good
35	ANNIE HALL	1977
36	THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI	1957
37	THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES	1946
38	THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE	1948
39	DR. STRANGELOVE	agree dislike
40	THE SOUND OF MUSIC	agree great
41	KING KONG	1933
42	BONNIE AND CLYDE	agree ok
43	MIDNIGHT COWBOY	1969
44	THE PHILADELPHIA STORY	agree LOVE
45	SHANE	1953
46	IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT	1934
47	A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE	1951
48	REAR WINDOW	agree great
49	INTOLERANCE	1916
50	THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING	agree great
51	WEST SIDE STORY	Wani like
52	TAXI DRIVER	1976
53	THE DEER HUNTER	1978
54	M*A*S*H	1970
55	NORTH BY NORTHWEST	agree LOVE
56	JAWS	1975
57	ROCKY	1976
58	THE GOLD RUSH	1925
59	NASHVILLE	1975
60	DUCK SOUP	1933
61	SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS	1941
62	AMERICAN GRAFFITI	1973
63	CABARET	1972
64	NETWORK	1976
65	THE AFRICAN QUEEN	1951
66	RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK	agree great
67	WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?	1966
68	UNFORGIVEN	1992
69	TOOTSIE	agree good
70	A CLOCKWORK ORANGE	1971
71	SAVING PRIVATE RYAN	agree great
72	THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION	agree great
73	BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID	agree good
74	THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS	agree good
75	IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT	1967
76	FORREST GUMP	agree good
77	ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN	1976
78	MODERN TIMES	1936
79	THE WILD BUNCH	1969
80	THE APARTMENT	1960
81	SPARTACUS	1960
82	SUNRISE	1927
83	TITANIC	agree epic ;-)
84	EASY RIDER	1969
85	A NIGHT AT THE OPERA	1935
86	PLATOON	1986
87	12 ANGRY MEN	1957
88	BRINGING UP BABY	1938
89	THE SIXTH SENSE	agree good
90	SWING TIME	1936
91	SOPHIE'S CHOICE	1982
92	GOODFELLAS	1990
93	THE FRENCH CONNECTION	1971
94	PULP FICTION	Wani dislike - Hubby like
95	THE LAST PICTURE SHOW	1971
96	DO THE RIGHT THING	1989
97	BLADE RUNNER	1982
98	YANKEE DOODLE DANDY	1942
99	TOY STORY	agree great
100	BEN-HUR	agree good

Anyone seen any Top 100 movies that they'd recommend?

selling?

At the beginning of the summer we stumbled upon a realty listing for a house that we fell in love with. It was everything that we wanted. The one real downside was that it was a bank owned short sale and we could not do a contingent sale (making an offer based on the contingency that we have to sell our home before we finalize the sale).
Rather quickly we listed our own house in hopes that we could sell in time to buy said "dream" home. We worked really hard decluttering and "staged" the house. While we had a couple showings right off the bat, and the feedback has been positive we have not had any serious interest or bids.
It can be stressful having your home on the market. We have been struggling to keep the house in open house condition in case the realtor calls for a showing at any moment. A lot of our belongings were boxed up and put in storage during the de-cluttering.
We are exploring our options as far as other homes listed and there are a couple that we are interested in looking at. We're are currently prayerfully considering if we should keep our home on the market, lower the price or take it off the market completely. As always I'm sure in time God will show us what we should do now.

lunch bunch

We have had a few obligations on the calendar this summer but we been able to have a lot of fun outings too. In particular we have enjoyed going to the park weekly for a picnic lunch w/ my sis and her son (who's almost Christine's age).The local parks & rec has partnered with the libraries and some other local organizations and they give out free lunches and kids books. Some of them even do a story time and craft. I love it! Nate is such a great big brother. He loves Joe and Christine so much. I've also been blessed to be a part of a prayer group that has been meeting at another park. We have some young teen girls watch the kids on the playground while us moms meet and pray at a nearby table.
I really appreciate these women who are so willing to open themselves up and share their struggles and praises. Its such a great time of fellowship, sharing and prayer time. I am thankful for the time we have to share every week.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. - Colossians 3:16

Indiana Nate!

Then we had an Lego Indiana Jones party for him with our families. Most of my inspiration for his Lego Indiana Jones party actually came from this post from Lemon Squeezy. I had fun putting the details together and I know Nate loved it!

Here are a few highlights: The cupcakes had "snakes" in "dirt" & Lego Indy cupcake toppers.I have to admit that I got the Jones soda for the grown ups because I thought it was cute & clever. ;-)
Our friend Jess put together this scavenger hunt for the boys and at each stop they got a piece of the "treasure".
My dad helped out by bringing his wagon and driving the kids around for the whole scavenger hunt. It was one of the kids' favorite parts of the whole party.
Here is a shot of Nate decked out in his Indiana Jones hat and the vest and satchel that I made from a $4 table cloth that I got from Goodwill. I love a good deal!
Here are all the boys after they returned victorious from their scavenger hunt.
What a blessing to be able to celebrate a special boy with our wonderful families.
I'm linking this post up to:

pre-par-tay events

I can hardly believe that my baby boy is SIX! Ah! We were blessed to have a couple of outings to help us celebrate his Super Six birthday.
Chick-fil-A had their customer appreciation day and we all dressed up like cows and got some FREE chicken! Nate loved it!

We also made a trip out to another of Nate's favorite restaurants: Red Robin. We love their burgers! Nate acted all shy when they sang Happy Birthday to him. He's so cute.
Check the next post for details on the Lego Indiana Jones party! ;-)

Handmade Gift Exchange

Linda at Craftaholics Anonymous has hosted a Handmade Gift Exchange again. For awhile I was going back and forth on what to make... after some thought I decided that an apron is a universal gift that most any woman would be able to use in everyday life. I found some adorable fabric at Hobby Lobby and got to work.Here is the email that I got from my gift exchange partner:

Dear Wani, Thank you for the wondrous apron. I love the materials, the way the contrast and yet seem to be made for just this purpose. I love the little pocket which is so important when I cook. I ultimately end up looking for my rings when I finish, searching for the shelf where I stashed them. The pocket saves me time and discovery of that new place. You are such a talent artisan. I sure hope you sell these at craft fairs or such. Again, many thanks. I love this exchange. M.E.

Yay! Its always exciting when you know the recipient of the gift loves it as much (or more) than you do! I was also blessed to receive a handmade item from M.E. - a large handbag and couple of handmade card kits. She's a talented lady!
Thanks to Linda for coordinating and M.E. for being a great swap partner!

Confessional Time Again...

well... I never know how much to share or not share on my blog. Sometimes it feels like no one reads it and I feel free to share more. When I do I end up with a bunch of comments from people that I didn't know even knew about my blog. Awkward? Sometimes, yes.

Anyway - on to the confessions.

I confess: I occasionally will wear a shirt, then sleep in it and continue to wear it the next day... Most of the time the only people that see me daily are my kids. I know they don't care what I'm wearing. And I just as soon do what I can to keep the laundry to a minimum. C'mon, tell me I'm not the only one...

I confess: I have had a real jealousy problem the past few weeks. My mom and sister have been touring Europe. Hearing about all the sightseeing and looking at all their pix on facebook... I've been SO jealous. I've felt like my life is so boring. But gradually I have come to remind myself that my mom has raised five kids and ran a home business that tied her down for many years and she deserves this experience. So, I am happy for them. And I hope that someday I will get the chance to do something that cool.

I confess: I got mooned by a friend recently. And I gotta say, it was hilarious! It is something that wasn't an uncommon occurrence when I was in college but hasn't happened in awhile. We're "all grown up" now and don't behave like that anymore But honestly I think we should let lose like that more often! Its good to relax and be comfortable enough with our friends that we can be silly together! I am thankful for my friends that I can be real with!