Aren't little old ladies supposed to be...Sweet?

You know how sometimes when you are walking with a shopping cart, the front of the cart can veer to the right or to the left, even though you are intending for it to go forward? Well that happened to me at Sam's. The cart moved ever so slightly to the right and this old lady came cruising up behind me in a powdered cart and she says, "Watch where you're going!" As she was "zooming" away I said, "Excuse YOU, ya ol' heifer." The thing is, I don't care who you are or what your current physical condition is, there is no excuse for being rude. I saw her again a little later and I'm not positive but I think she may be the same lady who confronted me at Wal-Mart a couple years ago. Maybe you don't recall the story. I was minding my own business, wiping down my cart with an antibacterial wipe. She "drives" up to me, again in a powered cart, and says, "Can I ask you something?" "Sure!" I reply...."WHY do you wipe down your cart like that? It's not like you take a wipe and clean EVERYTHING in the store that you touch. You don't pick up a carton of milk and wipe it down do you?!?!?" she badgered. "No." I say, "I guess I'm just stupid! Thank you for pointing it out!" She was speechless. She thought she could just go around bullying people and they wouldn't have anything to say about it. When I got home today I thought, "What would Jesus have done?" Certainly not what I did (in either instance). Maybe I am going to keep running in to this old lady until I am refined enough to keep my mouth shut and treat her as the Savior would. I'm afraid that may not happen for a very long time though. What is it with me and old ladies?

Sweet moments

Yesterday Adley was pointing up in her closet. There are a few items in there that are my reminders of Eli, Will and Ella. Pillows that the hospital gave us, sympathy cards from friends and family, ultrasound pictures etc. I got one of the pillows down and Zane asked me what it was for. I explained that the hospital had given it to us to remember the babies who died. He said, "I'm so glad they are in heaven." I replied, "I am too. I'm glad they are in heaven, they are safe, they are happy and I'm glad that we all get to be with them again someday." Zane says, "Yeah. Me too."

The Incredible Shrinking Woman

This gal is done. Done with eating unhealthy. Done with the flabby arms and belly. Done with being disgusted by what I see in the mirror. Done with being exhausted and miserable. I made that decision after Noah's birthday dinner...(the greasy one I told you about)...The next day (January 15) I started on The New Me. I don't necessarily have a weight-loss goal in mind. I just want to feel good. Inside AND Out. I am no longer eating any wheat (that means bread, cereal, tortillas, cinnamon rolls, etc. NO flour of any kind) and I have cut out sugar as well. I try and not eat ANY processed foods besides a little cheese. If there are more than 2 ingredients listed I try and steer clear. I just completed my first week and I am down 2 pounds. For breakfast I either have eggs or oatmeal with pecans, bananas, and honey. Lunch is generally leftovers. Dinner is a salad with steamed veggies, or Quinoa, Frittata, Soup, etc. I've also joined the old folks as a mall walker-at least until the weather is warmer. I made the above "Motivational Poster". Yes, I know I am not currently an obese black woman but it's hard to find large people in magazines so I stuck with the only one I could find. Ok. Now I have put it in writing for the world to see (even though nobody really reads this) so I better stick to it! UPDATE: January 30 Day 15. I'm down another 3 pounds for a total of 5 pounds.

Too cute not to share

Zane is now officially half way done with kindergarten. He LOVES it. He loves his teacher and she loves him. He has made some great friends. And he is learning so much. Almost everyday he comes home with a picture like the one above. And almost everyday they say, "I like my mom." That gives me warm fuzzies inside. The bottom one is supposed to say, "I like my baby sister." Awwwwww. So sweet.

A vision forever stamped in my brain...

Probably one of the scariest sights to behold: Your baby in the middle of the street. The only thing worse would be your baby lying in the middle of the street. Thank heavens I didn't have to see that. Yesterday there was no school. I had gone to the store and asked Olivia to get Adley out of the car for me when we got back. A few moments later I was in the kitchen and thought, "Where is Adley? I should go check on her." I finished what I was doing and started to head down the stairs when the neighbor boy knocked on the door then quickly ran away. As I got to the top of the stairs I looked out the window to the garage and that's when I saw Adley standing in the middle of our street. I ran to her and as I got closer I saw a CAR stopped in front of her. Cameron from next door was trying to get Adley out of the road but she was like, "I don't know you ...getcha hands off me!" I scooped her up, never making eye contact with the driver-although I should have thanked him or her for paying attention (since I CLEARLY wasn't). I told Cameron thank you over and over again and ran inside with my baby in my arms. Olivia had left the door to the garage open and the garage door was up. I guess Adley decided to do a little exploring. I felt like THE WORST MOM EVER. As I rocked her to sleep for her nap I was overcome with emotions and thanked my Heavenly Father and her guardian angels for keeping her safe. I said, "You know that nothing like that can ever happen to her right?" I was telling my Heavenly Father that I just couldn't handle any more of my babies leaving me. I also told Him that I should have listened to that little voice that told me to check on her sooner and that I was sorry that I hadn't. I asked Him to help me listen to that voice better. Last night I could not sleep. I just kept thinking about her standing in the middle of the street. Which may not have been SUCH a big deal if we didn't live on a really busy street. Or if there hadn't been a car sitting there waiting for someone to get her. I kept thinking "What if they had been texting, or just looked away from the road for even a few seconds?" That is what I call divine intervention. And epic parental failure on my part. :(

Birthday Number Nine for Noah

I am finding myself more and more overwhelmed with just how quickly my babies are growing up. We want them to grow up, right? But it's so hard to accept sometimes. My Noah is yet another year older and it feels like I was just writing about his 8th birthday and baptism. Soon I will be writing about his graduation and mission plans--(fingers crossed). We had a small party here at the house on Saturday night. He wanted a Pumpkin Blizzard cake from Dairy Queen decked out with penguins and snowmen. He's pretty easy to please. In the picture you can't tell but there's a sugar cube igloo (that Greg made) on the cake and the snowmen are made out of marshmallows. Noah is such a funny kid. But not like "Zane-kind-of-funny". Noah has almost an adult's sense of humor (minus the gross inappropriate stuff). He will just quietly say things that are deep yet hilarious. For his birthday he wanted an mp3 player except he doesn't really listen to music all that much so he said he would put church songs on it. Do you get how awesome this kid is?!?! He also got a bow and arrow with a target, some roller skates, a wii game, and a blow-up punching bag. Tonight we went to EE Burger and Ice Cream Shop in Highlandville. You want fried okra, fried onion rings, french fries, fried green tomatoes, fried fry with a side of fry? And for dessert deep fried pies? Well Double E is the place for you! It was so delicious and yet I feel a gall bladder attack coming on as the result of eating there. So gluttonous. So sinful. So wrong...yet so right. We stuffed ourselves silly and now I'm ready for a food-induced coma. Good night.

16 years ago today....

January 9, 1998: I had just been baptized in October. I was dating a guy who lived about an hour away. There was a dance that night at church for singles age 18-30. I knew that if I told my "boyfriend" that I was going to the dance that he would show up and be my shadow all night. I wouldn't get to meet anyone new. So I lied. I told him that I was skipping the dance. And then I went anyway. I had a major crush on my best friend's cousin. And another (smaller) crush on the missionary who baptized me. (I know...that's wrong;) So I went and danced with several guys. Then, a girl came up to me. She said, "My cousin is just sitting against the wall. If he asked you to dance would you say yes?" Sure-I replied. A few moments later, he asked me. I thought he had gorgeous eyes, but I wasn't thinking "This guy is going to be my husband someday." I was a city girl. He was from the sticks. I was a bank teller. He was a rancher. I had one sibling. He had 8. I thought he was a nice guy, just not really my type. The next morning, my phone rang. It was a girl's voice. "Hi. This is Brande Chapman. You met my brother, Greg, last night at the dance. And I was wondering if you would want to go on a double date with him, me and my boyfriend?" Sure-I said. That night was cold and icy. They came to get me in a pickup truck. We headed to the Shrine Mosque for the "Tough Man Competition". Romantic, right? The sidewalks were slick and Greg was sort of "skating" on them. I thought, "Who is this guy and why am I on a date with him?" As we entered the Shrine, we passed the Concessions. Greg asked me if I wanted a beer. Really?!?! Why am I on a date with him? (He was kidding, but I didn't know it at the time). The fights were very boring to watch. Greg didn't speak to me the whole time. I reached up and felt his shoulder. He asked me why. I said, "I am just seeing if it's comfortable, because I'm about to go to sleep." We left the Shrine and headed to Golden Corral----(again, a VERY romantic place). We ate dinner and they dropped me off at my house. I STILL was not thinking that I was going to marry this guy. I wasn't even really thinking about a second date. He asked me out again. I said ok. He continued to ask, and I continued to say yes. Somewhere along the way he wanted to know about me and the other guy-Brian. I told him that Brian was a nice guy but I couldn't really see myself with him long-term. Greg said, "Well, I think you're pretty awesome." I think we both agreed that we wanted our relationship to go somewhere. Several dates later in the wee hours of the morning (February 8th into the 9th) he told me that he loved me. I've had lots of guys use those words before but they never felt right...until Greg said them. It was then that I knew I would someday marry him. And coincidentally it happened exactly 4 years later (February 9, 2002). It's so crazy to think back on that time--How far we've come and what we've been through. I wouldn't trade a single second of it for anything in (or out) of this world.