Come Shoot The Breeze With Me…

Once again, a little moment to chat. Pour yourself a tall glass of southern iced tea, grab a rocking chair on the front porch and sit and shoot the breeze a while.

First off, a big congratulations to the winners of the Spring Organizational Challenge. Way to go!

• Whole Room, 1st Place: Marianne of Wigglywourms
• Whole Room, 2nd Place: Stacy (Aussie in America)
• Whole Room, 3rd Place: Cindy of Life with Littles
• Small Space, 1st Place: Tammy of Tammy’s Times
• Small Space, 2nd Place: Kimberly of Temporary? Insanity
• Small Space, 3rd Place: Haley of Love, Life, Family

Congrats to all those who completed their challenges!

Wow… there has been so much going on lately. Since finishing my bedroom challenge, I have started working on our kitchen and adjoining laundry area. I’m going to take this project slow and easy! I’ll start with things like reorganizing the cabinets and the space for function, but I’ll probably end up painting in here, too, and making new curtains, etc. It’ll look good when it is finished! Simultaneously, I am working on cleaning and organizing my car – keep an eye out, you’ll probably see that surface in a Tackle It Tuesday soon. 😉 It feels good to be getting control of things one little step at a time. I just hope I can finish it all with my sanity intact. 😛

Speaking of my bedroom makeover, one good thing that came out of it was a new paddle! Yup. Big Daddy got a great big paint stir stick while he was at Home Depot. He then wrote their names on one side in big black marker, “The Punisher” on the other side (I came up with that,) 🙂 and hung it on a nail in the hallway, accessible to all the open areas of the house and viewable by all. I don’t like to give swats, but I will when it is necessary – and we have a three swat limit to keep things in check though often only one or two is needed…especially with duh duh duuuhhh “The Punisher.” It isn’t hung in the hallway for scare tactics, but really to keep it from getting lost! It’s also helpful to have it handy to keep me consistent. I am a firm believer that regardless of what disciplinary methods one might choose, the most important thing is to be consistent with it so that the boundaries are clear and understandable. I also couple discipline with scriptural truth. Besides, we all have a good dose of humor in us and we get a good kick out of referring to it as duh duh duuuhhhh… The Punisher. The kids still view it as something to be respected and avoided, but not as something hateful and mean. Besides, it’s just fun to say. Duh duh duuuhhh…The Punisher!

On the other hand, there was something else that “came out” of the bedroom challenge – literally. My Hershey Kiss shaped fish bowl that I placed on my dresser is no more. In hind sight, it might not have been wise to leave a glass fish bowl within climbing reach of an 18 month old. The bowl was so heavy and so bottom heavy that I wasn’t afraid of it tipping over or being pushed off. I really only thought the real danger was him sticking his hand in and trying to grab the fish! The other day as I went into our room to put my shoes on, Little Prince followed and climbed up on my bed to stare and point at the fish. “Shish! Shish!” I let him get by with it for a minute because I was only going to be a minute. And then I heard the big “thwack!” I turned around and he had picked up a votive holder and smacked the fish bowl with it, creating a big spider web crack down the side that was slowly growing. The baby is okay, the fish is okay, and the bedroom furniture is okay (it never broke open like I was afraid it would do while I was rescuing the fish), but the bowl is not okay. Now Esau (he’s red) is living in his little plastic tub he came in until he gets a new home. I haven’t decided exactly where I am going to put him yet. 🙂 Yes, Esau is new – Jonah got old and died. We also now have Sunny in the old fish bowl on the kitchen counter. Yes, he’s yellow. 😛

Well, that’s probably enough chit chat for now.. let me live you with some links that caught my eye this week:

• I watched Giada make this non-breaded Chicken Parmesan recipe on the Food Network the other day. It looks positively YUM and so easy – I’m definitely putting this on next week’s menu.
• My mom sent me this link for the “New 7 Wonders of the World.”
• Here’s a great website for kids, teaching them about electricity and safety! It might be a tad boring in a few places, but it does have important safety info and if you click on Safety Rangers there are more games and an opportunity to order a free Safety Rangers kit for your kids.
• Click here for a free “Milk Matters” coloring book about milk, calcium and brushing your teeth.
• Both of the above links were found at a new website I discovered, MySavings.com. I ordered some other free stuff, too! Can’t wait to get little freebies in the mail to spice up the usual bills.;)
• On another topic, our church has started uploading sermons online, which I think is really cool. For starters, I’d recommend this recent message.
• And speaking of my church, we recently finished our cd project, Songs of Grace. (If my pastor can plug it, then I can, too, right?) 🙂 I must say that I am humbled and so excited to have been involved in that in even a small way. It was fun and I think it turned out very well. All the songs on it were written and performed by church members (#3 is mine), which I think is really cool – that God has inspired/blessed so many of our members in our small little church.
• Congratulations to my brother and his wife who recently announced their first baby which is due December 23rd! Here’s wishing you the best pregnancy and delivery!! (I’m so glad my kids finally get to have some cousins.) 😛
• Stay tuned in the future weeks for some bloggy changes and additions around here…I’m not saying what. It’s a secret. 😛

Well, you all have a blessed weekend.

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24