Friday Night Adventures

The weather has been cold the last few days, so we've been inside a lot. I love being at home, but sometimes I just need to GO somewhere. So this afternoon we loaded up and headed to town for a few errands, boring enough. First stop, Walmart gas station. For some reason it was a mad house, and apparently Greg cut a little red cavalier off when he backed into our pump (not literally, but entered backwards...) Judging from the look he got, the lady might have been waiting there for quite some time, like three years. Oops! Sorry lady! We really, truly, and honestly did not see her or mean to "cut" in line. By the time we got our gas and left, there were several pumps open, so I'm confident she got over it quickly. (Either way, I feel kind of bad, even though it was out of my control)

Next stop, Petsmart for dog food. Nothing exciting there, except we now know that they do not carry any Nemos. Or any other saltwater fish for that matter. Carly loved the goldfish tank, because it is crammed full of the little orange guys. She poked the glass and said, "Dah! Dah!" (I think it means "that") Caleb rather enjoyed watching the dogs getting groomed. "Oh, look, there's some puppies!" he said. (Yes, he actually said those words, and pronounced them all perfectly! Shock!) Got the bug-dog some fancy food for sensitive skin and split.

Next we headed to Toy R Us. I really HATE that store, because absolutely everything in it is over-priced. I went over to the adjoining Babies R Us to pick up Caleb some more Gummy bear vitamins (I know, they are pointless but I just don't care, he likes them!) Also looked for some other things in the ad, which OF COURSE our dinky little store does not carry. Of course. I sometimes forget where I live.... Anyway, Caleb started doing the potty dance, so Greg offered to take him. They were in there for a LOOOOOONG time, considering Caleb's usual MO for public toilets is walk in, take a look, turn around, walk out. So I figured something must be going on in there. I was so happy to find out that Caleb USED a public toilet for the first time tonight!! AND he stood up for the first time EVER. This is BIG NEWS in the Rice family! He sits at home, but we encourage him to stand when we're out (because public johns are just nasty). So this was BIG. Well, apparently in the coaxing stage, Greg promised Caleb a new toy of some sort if he would pee in the big potty, and since we were AT the toy store, it made pretty good sense. The whole instant reward thing works well with him. So Caleb comes out all smiles, telling me he wants a new fire truck. He takes us over to where they had been looking earlier and proceeds to pull a HUGE Tonka Titans fire truck off the bottom shelf. Oh, yes, the one that is three feet long, with lights and sounds and everything. The $50 one!! Greg and I both inwardly start to panic, looking at each other and mouthing, "We did say we would get him a new toy..." eyes wide with the thought of how future potty missions might end up... We tried to convince him of the $30 fire truck, (this one was only two feet long -ha) So I whip out my gift card that I was planning to use for the other junk in the basket, and Greg goes to find out exactly how much is on it.. in the meantime I get down on my knees and talk to Caleb and tell him how I know it is hard to understand but Mommy and Daddy don't have enough money to buy him that big truck, so what if we get him a new train instead. I thank the Lord for my people-smart child because he understood somehow that I was serious and he wasn't getting the truck so he said, with the sweetest little voice, "OK, let's get a train instead." Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE this child? He is truly amazing. Then Greg comes around the corner and says the stupid gift card only has $5 on it anyway... So we go over to the Thomas train aisle and are APPALLED to see the prices on those stupid things. Seriously! And they don't carry the same kind of Thomas trains that Walmart and Target carry. Apparently there is the "cheap" version, and the TRU version. Obviously, we subscribe to the cheap version. So then we had to try to convince Caleb AGAIN to change his mind. This was a little more difficult. I wanted to just run over to Target and get him something that matches the stuff he already has but Greg was more for getting him something right then so he would remember WHY he was getting it. So they set off to look some more, and several minutes later Caleb picked a Matchbox set of tractors and trucks.. for $5! WHEW! I am dreading the day when the boy learns the value of money, because he will know how cheap his parents are!! So that was that!

THEN, since our short trip to Toy R Us turned into an hour, it was dinner time. So we took Caleb to McD's to get a Happy Meal. We really prefer Chick-fil-a, but he picked. I ordered a Southwest salad (pretty much the only thing I will eat at that wretched place) and when I got it the sticker said, "Use by 2:16pm 12/30" It was 6:00pm, so I thought I would ask if they had any fresher ones available. Normally I would not be picky, but I thought there was no hurt in asking. The guy took my salad and handed it over the little shelf to the "cooks" in the back, and he took it back to the back around a corner. I watched him the whole way hoping he was searching the cooler, but knowing he probably wasn't. He brings back a salad, hands it to me, and I took it to our table, noticing on the way that this salad does not have a sticker on it. When Greg looked at it and I noted that out loud, he saw where the sticker had been, and had just been peeled off, leaving some of the junk behind... NOW I was mad. I would gladly have eaten a salad that was four hours old if they'd've told me they didn't have any more.. but that was just wrong. So Greg took it back up there and got the manager-kid.. anyway, we got our money back, and I settled for nuggets (blah) and never once got a remorseful response whatsoever. These are the words exchanged between the manager and Greg. Greg: "It looks like they just took it back and took the sticker off and brought it back up here." Manager: "Probably so." PROBABLY SO??? He did not care at ALL. That I have a problem with.

Then we went to Albertsons and got eggs for $.99, OJ for $.99 and milk for $3.50 and it made it all better.

So, for reasons unrelated to each other entirely, I LOATH Toys R Us and McDonald's.

Mercy

Been thinking about this today. For some reason the Lord has put on my mind the repeating phrase, "His mercies are new every morning." I'm going to look up the scripture reference later, but I know it is there. Sometimes I just have a moment of awe at the utter coolness that every sinlge morning I get to start over. Makes it feel better when you go to bed at night feeling like a big idiot for doing something stupid.

Thank you Lord for your Mercy!!

Lamentations 3:22-24 (New King James Version)

Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”

Pictures of the Birthday Party

So it's only been one week since the party, but it's been a very busy week! Here are a few pictures from Carly's first party!

Cool Daddy!

The table of cupcakes. I did not get a picture of the counter with brownies, apple slices and this AMAZING fruit dip I made (from a mix, of course).

Carly did not even hesitate at the cupcake!

Birthday Brother

Getting into a few pressies!

A Caleb funny

Today Caleb flushed his underwear down the toilet... I was not in there when he did it, but he came running out naked from waist down saying, "my underwear, my underwear!!" halfway freaking out about it. So on my way to investigate I asked him,

"Did you pee on it?"

"No."

"Did you poop on it?"

"No."

... Then I get into the bathroom and hear the toilet running, underwear missing.. Oh great. Apparently it whooshed right down, because it's not stopped up or anything.. I plungered it to be sure.. Then the plunger splashed a little and Caleb got pretty upset. I think that was the point of understanding.

"MY UNDERWEAR!!!!!"

I had to have a long talk with him about what we do and do not put in the potty. (Only peepee, poopoo, and toilet paper. NOT stickers, underwear, cars, babies, big trucks, push toys, etc.) Then what to do if ever something falls in that does not belong there. (Come get mommy or daddy, and DO NOT FLUSH IT!!!) He is sad that his Elmo unders are gone "forever ever ever", although I'm sure he will ask for them again. I do not know if he did it on purpose, was exploring the cause/effect of the flush, or if it was a freak accident.

The world may never know....

It's kinda like the time that I SUPPOSEDLY flushed a $50 bill when I was about 3. I honestly have no recollection, but my mom swears I admitted to it!? Sure, blame the innocent middle child... !

Miss Carly had her one-year-old checkup this week. She is 28.5 inches long, 20 pounds exactly, and has a big head! Her curves are funny to me, as I am a visual learner.. I love to see a graphical representation of growth. I'm a nerd, I know!! Anyway, her noggin is right up there at the top of normal range.. smart maybe? Or just has a big head maybe...

Tomorrow is Caleb's first day of Mother's Day Out. It's just two Wednesdays a month, but I think he will really benefit from being with the other kids. Maybe they will teach how to use the potty! I was completely convinced that $18 a day would be worth it when I took him for one day last semester for a MOPS sterring meeting, and when I went to pick him up he told me, "You go get baby first, I want to finish eating my lunch.." Basically, GO AWAY MOMMY! I stood and watched him for a few minutes and he was giggling at the other kids, having a great time. Convinced, right then and there.


I'm about to start some projects that are going to be so much stinkin fun!! TWO baby crib bedding sets. Today I finished up a couple of dresses that got put aside before Christmas, and they turned out SO SO SO cute!

I'll also be giving a friend and neighbor sewing lessons starting this week. I am using her as a guinea pig to see if I am any good as a teacher. I have had SO many people tell me, "I wish I knew how to sew!" that I decided to try my hand at teaching what I know. I'll let her tell me if I'm worth it!

That's pretty much it around here. Greg is working working working for Farmers and doing a few odd jobs with his yard service. I will get the party pictures up soon. The camera is across the house, and I'm too lazy to get up and get it.. Carly did have a fabulous party though!!

Photo Credits

I just need to brag on the gal who took Carly's birthday pictures.. did she do great or what? Her name is Jessi Hoppmann, and she lives next door to us. She is a student and an early childhood major with a knack for photography, huh? The very best part (for me) is she used my camera, and my computer (neither of which are anything special) to take and edit the photos. She is so talented to catch Carly in those shots, and I am so lucky to have caught Jessi before she gets famous! Anyway, she probably won't read this, but thanks girl!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Carly!

Birthday Pictures of the little Miss

And one of the big brother!

Paint pics

My grandfather Tracy said to me recently, "You really like to paint don't you?" The answer is, well, maybe, yeah, I guess I do. It's not the process of painting that I enjoy. I really hate all the work that goes into it, and the money too, but I love the end result. I am not afraid to see something new on my walls!! The reason he said that was because every place we've ever owned, we have painted at least one room. In Hutto we painted nearly the whole stinkin' house, but hey, we were childless back then with time, and money of course, to spend on it! And it turned out quite nice for us being paint virgins! In Fort Worth we painted a green accent wall in the living room, and I painted black stripes in the bathroom. It sounds horrendous, and looked quite strange with the blue tape stripes, but turned out great too! I hope the new owners like it :) If not, they will have fun covering up black stripes of satin finish! HA!

Now we have painted Caleb's room, Carly's room, their bathroom, the living room, and the kitchen (partially) in our house in Whitehouse. All have turned out beautifully. Except for me accidently getting flat paint for Carly's room.. there are already numerous spots on the wall, grrrr!

So without too many more words, here are the pictures of before and after.

Living room:

I haven't gotten pics with the pictures and art back on the walls yet, but you can see the difference!

The dark brown is not the color we originally picked but this one is growing on us. I think I will go back and get a quart of the dark dark brown and sponge it on over the other for a simple faux effect. Another day, of course..

Kitchen:

We took the curtains down a while back, and painted under the chair rail the same as the living room. Next to each other the two colors looked HOR.RIB.BLE!!!! The lovely pineapples will have to stay for a while while we figure out what we want over them.

For some reason that small panel next to the garage door catches my eye every time I walk into the kitchen!

Peekaboo!

Long Awaited Christmas Pics

I had trouble with the scanner, so these are just now getting up here.