My Ebenezer

It's no secret that I have a tendency to be a Control Freak Extraordinaire. I may try to keep it a secret, but I don't think I fool anybody. :) The Lord has been working on me about this, and I've been trying to just relax in a lot of ways. Today I decided to let go of one more area. I'm in charge of bringing some sort of breakfast food for the refreshment table at church on Sunday mornings. A couple months ago I began providing a sign-up sheet in case anyone else wanted to sign up to bring something. However, even if someone signed up, I would bring something anyway "just in case" that someone forgot or couldn't for whatever reason. No more. What's the point of having someone else provide the breakfast if I'm going to do it myself anyway? Right. There isn't one. I was defeating the purpose of the sign-up sheet (to give others a chance to share and to relieve some of the pressure from me having to produce every week) and displaying a rather ...

In the course of my life, I have had 3 haircuts that have made me cry: 1. 9th grade when my mom cut my bangs too short. Sorry Mom! Thankfully it was only that one time! :) 2. About 4 years ago when the lady cut it weird and too short. A double whammy! 3. Yesterday. Being a person who only cuts her hair 2 or 3 times a year, I was looking forward to my Spring Haircut. Get out the warm clothes, cut my hair; they go together. I secured a babysitter (thanks, Jen!) and headed out. HA! Headed out? Get it? That was for you, Lori Miller. :) ANYWAY! I should mention that I **always** have trouble explaining to the hairdresser what I want done. Pictures are no help, because usually I want something like what is shown in the picture, but not exactly. This particular time I brought 3 pictures in. I started stammering through what I wanted done and asked "does that make sense?" about 4 times. I could have answered my own question though. "NO it does NOT make sense!...

I'm still not sure I'm doing the whole coupon thing just right. Maybe it just takes time, but it seems like others (*cough*, Melanie ) are able to seriously score deals and I'm just getting my toes wet. Anyway, here's what I got at Publix this morning for $39.85. I saved over $57. I'm pretty satisfied, but wish I could get over the hump and have a real "wow" dollar amount to post. Included in the photo are: 4 large jars applesauce 2 pkgs cream cheese 2 pkgs cake mix 1 box cereal (free!) 2 bottles Ocean Spray juice 1 bag pita chips 2 cans diced tomatoes 2 bowls cool whip 2 pints specialty creamer 2 tubes sausage (hiding behind the strawberries) 1 pineapple 2 pkgs strawberries 1 Sara Lee pound cake 2 pkgs bacon 2 pkgs butter 2 containers pulled pork (each one feeds 6) I am so thankful for the opportunity to save money on our groceries!!

Several people have asked me this question over the last few weeks. The answer is... I wish I knew! We are so close and yet so far away over there at Cellar Circle. The problem is that Josh already has so many units right now in need of fixing up (which, when they're renovated have the potential to bring in income), plus the operating rentals in need of time and energy, that Cellar has repeatedly been moved to the back burner. Believe me, I'm ready to move in!! I've spent a couple hours over there this week raking the yard and pulling weeds so the grass will be able to "breathe" again. Our new windows are scheduled to arrive and be installed the first week or two of April. Other than that, the project sits. I'm learning to sit and be patient too. Learning, but not quite there yet. :)

Noah, age 2 1/2. What is the typical age that a kid learns to ride a two-wheeler? Anyone? I think I was 5. How about you?

That Noah is learning to ride a 2-wheeled bicycle WITHOUT training wheels? Believe it! Josh and I got him a little bike complete with training wheels for his 2nd birthday, which he LOVES. For the past couple of months I have noticed that he wasn't relying on the training wheels much anymore and was just curious if he could do without them. (We had attached the triaining wheels so that they didn't rest on the ground at all times if that makes sense.) So yesterday we took Noah to the park, found an empty lot and took off the training wheels. He did remarkably well!! He needed a little push to get going initially, and then he was off and pedaling on his own! He rides like a champ. He's working on stopping, since that is when the bike is most tippy--we're trying to teach him to remember to put his foot down when he's ready to stop so the bike won't tip over. Other than that, this kid can ride a bike! Guess who forgot to bring the camera? Guess who is still kic...

I'll be honest. I tend to think if I don't have pictures or a video to post, I don't have anything worth blogging about. That in the absence of pictures, there must be an absence of interest in my blog. BUT!!! I'm failing to remember that this blog was created for me. ME! And I'm comfortable enough with myself that I don't always have to have a snazzy picture to dress things up to make a post. So here I go; pictureless, but fabulous nonetheless. And I'm humble too! :) I need to mention that I found out yesterday that my niece Rachel is expecting a baby!! (I'm assuming I can share this, since she posted the news on facebook, so it's fair game, right? Isn't that the rule?) And I went through all the same feelings I normally do. Ecstatic joy for her, and a moment where I almost couldn't breathe for me. Rachel and I grew up together. We got each other. We were going to be those old ladies who sit on the front porch in their rocking ch...

I *think* it's safe to say that Spring has come? Who knows, maybe we still have a frost or two left, but I surely hope not! The last week or so we've stayed solidly in the 60's, with a couple of days around the 70-degree mark, which in my opinion is why people move to Florida in the first place! Take a look at one of my favorite sights: a vivid spring-green tree next to about as blue a sky as you can find. . Switching subjects, I took a video of Noah the other day demonstrating a new skill--the fine motor skill of being able to control how many fingers you are holding up. Is there a more concise way of saying that? He's been working on holding up 2 fingers (which comes in very handy when someone asks how old he is. Now he doesn't just get to SAY "2", he can show them!), and the other day he was so proud of himself that he could successfully do 1-5. I love watching Noah learn new things, and to me part of the cuteness of this video is watching the gears tu...

A friend of mine posted the link to the following, which I pasted here. It was such a good reminder!! It’s easy to think the grass is always greener in your neighbor’s yard. And perhaps it is. At least the part you can see. But remember… When you’re weary of fixing another meal and doing dishes yet again, somebody wishes they had food to put on the table. When you’ve folded and put away a(nother) mountain of laundry, somebody wishes their children had proper coats and hats to wear to school. When you’re groaning over the highest heating bill yet this year, somebody wishes they weren’t so cold. When you’re losing sleep and gagging over a child’s stomach bug episode, somebody is praying for a miracle over her child’s hospital bed. When the exhaustion and nausea of the first trimester are about to do you in, somebody is weeping (yet again) over a negative pregnancy test. When your headache intensifies over your teen’s college financial paperwork, somebody is visiting the site of her ...

I went to some yard sales on Saturday for the first time in months. (Did you miss me, Yard Sales? Because I missed you!) I got several things, including a few toys for Noah. I'm in the process of weeding out toys he's outgrown and replacing them with more age-appropriate ones. I love Mr. Potato Head. Noah loves him too, only he keeps calling him Tomato Head no matter how many times I correct him. So here's to you, Tomato head! May you occupy my son for many hours on end. Riiiiight. As if any toy could live up to that high standard!

Today it was 74.8 degrees outside my window! I went out there to read in the glorious sunshine. Bliss. I babysat Brianne this morning, which proved to be an indescribable blessing, since she occupied Noah. I have come down with Noah's sickness, but the Lord has given me an extra measure of grace in that it hasn't left me knocked out on the couch as I feared it would. My sinuses are indeed clogged with pressure and my nose is a faucet, but I have enough energy to go about my day; albeit as long as I'm near a tissue box. Praise the Lord! The two kids and I went to the park to celebrate such a spring-like day and we all enjoyed ourselves. I have 5 loads of laundry waiting to be folded, and yet here I sit, blogging. It only bothers me a little bit. Noah has been increasingly difficult to deal with, and has been testing me at every turn, watching me to see how far he can go before I mean business. I'm on to him (and sad to say, he's on to me too!). My glasses have had a ...

When I was 5 years old, I wasn't much different from the person I am now; I cried easily, I smiled a lot, and I loved chocolate. :) See? Not much has changed. One particular time, my craving for chocolate was so intense that I began scouring the kitchen for anything chocolate-esque. The first thing I came to was a canister of baking cocoa. Sweet! Or so I thought... Thinking I had stumbled upon a veritable chocolate goldmine, I grabbed the biggest spoon I could find and dug in. I didn't hold back. I enthusiastically shoveled that scoop of cocoa into my mouth. Words fail me to describe my (literally) bitter disappointment. The coughing and gagging that ensued were not pretty. And I've never ever been tempted to eat baking cocoa again. Ever. *shudders* Fast forward to today: Noah, in all his Bad Cold Glory, hasn't been himself so we've been doing a lot of hanging out together and baking. Today he wanted to make chocolate cookies (a little man after my own heart!). ...

The two of us making banana bread today. Noah has been slowly coming down with something over the last couple days. He started with a cough, added a runny nose yesterday, and today has a fever in addition to it all. Poor guy! It's heartbreaking for me to hear him coughing even in his sleep. At times he gags *almost* to the point of throwing up; thankfully for my sake, he hasn't done that yet. I'm such a ninny! But you knew that by now. ;) I was supposed to babysit Brianne today, but I called Jen to let her know about Noah, and she (wisely) decided to keep Brianne away. So instead of going to the Library for storytime, Noah and I had our own storytime this morning, just the two of us. Despite him being sick, we had a grand time! I gave him my undivided attention and we read, he took a bath, we made banana bread, and we even played outside for a little while. It's remarkable to me how much more fun it is to play with him when I don't have a To Do list a mile long com...