FLYing

For those of you who know me best, you know that deep down inside me is a very messy person which my outer organized person tries hard to control. (Mom, Dad. . . I know you still have those pictures of my room as a child). Ever since I became a mom, the organized side of me has been losing more of those battles than winning.

So a good friend told me about FlyLady.net. It's a wonderful site for people like me, for those who live in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). Flylady is about teaching us how to take babysteps to change our habits, creating daily routines that will keep our houses clean and our lives in more order. It's not about having a perfect home, but learning how to have productive routines so that you don't have to live with all those nagging voices in your head.

I've been Flying now for about a week and a half and I have to say I'm loving it! No, I've not perfected my habits, but there has definately been a change in the state of my house, and Ben has noticed it and is happy about it too. If you've been struggling like I was, you might want to check it out.

Tour de Parents

We just got back from our semi-annual circuit in which we visit both sets of parents (grandparents). It was a wonderful trip with lots of fun things in both locations.

The highlight at Ben's parents was probably celebrating his mom's birthday. Maggie sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her for the first time and we all got a little "verklempt".

While at "grandmoms" house we got to take Maggie to the train. . . It's a small, working desiel train engine that pulls some small cars around a track at the local park. For $1 you get to ride around the park 3 times. Maggie is fascinated by it, but scared too and refuses to ride it. Ok, that's mostly my fault. I pretty much forced her to ride it the first time a couple of months ago because we all just knew she was going to love it. Sure, she was clinging to my shirt for dear life, but we just knew as soon as it started moving she would laugh and smile and relax. . . not so. I think I scarred her for life. Let that be a lesson to you! Never force a two year old to ride a small train. oi.

Despite the traumatic introduction, she still talks about it nearly non-stop. Therefore, while at "grammy's" house in Western NC we decided to show her another train. . . the Great Smoky Mountain Express! This is a disiel train that you can ride through the mountains. Of course we weren't foolish enough to try to get her to ride it, but we did take her to look at the train.

We celebrated the 4th of July in lots of fun ways. . .

Ben, Dad and I took a short hike up to the top of Richland Balsam Mountain (elev. 6410 feet). It was a beautiful hike, even if it was a little hazy out.

That afternoon we played with bubbles and Maggie and I had a blast.

She ended up covered in bubble solution head to toe. We added corn syrup to the solution in order to make the giant bubbles so you can imagine how sticky she was but it was definately worth it.

That night, right before bed, Maggie had her first experience with sparklers! She was definately curious but a little frustrated with me I think when I kept moving her hand away from the pretty bright light. :-)

We always enjoy this time with family and this year was no exception. Hope you had a good 4th of July too!

Clearly Scene

After much encouragement from friends and especially Ben, I've started a little hobby business making cards with some of the photographs I've taken at Bellingrath Gardens and other places. I've set up a blog to display the available designs.

The name of the business is Clearly Scene which is taken from one of my favorite scriptures, Romans 1:20:

“For since the beginning of the world God’s invisible qualities...have been clearly seen,being understood from what has been made..."

When I was in college I took a course called "Drawing from Nature" in which we walked around campus and drew studies of different plants and animals and learned about what we drew. It was a great course which mostly taught me to observe the beauty of everyday things around me. And one of the greatest lessons I learned in that course, which was not on the syllabus, was that creation is screaming "There is a creator!".

As I walked around campus one day, I picked up a petal that had fallen to the ground and looked at it very carefully - the beauty of it, the intricate detail and pattern in one simple petal. I thought to myself "How can anyone say this happened by accident?". Several people have asked me if being a biology major in college didn't conflict with my Christian faith. But I never found that to be true. . . the things I studied in biology and chemistry only testified to me of our Great God who is so concerned with even the smallest details in His creation.

My Little Piccasso

One of Maggie's favorite pasttimes is fingerpainting. She'll point to the closet where I keep the paints and say "Mommy! Pent!" It's been fun to watch the natural progression of a toddler's paintings. This week she made quite the leap in her technique.

First she painted this. . .

Note all the dots.

Then she painted this. . .

She went from just using her fingers to make little dots and lines to getting her whole hand in there and mixing it all together! She had so much fun. . . I wish I had the camera handy to capture the expression on her face.

Coughs and Carousels

Well, Maggie had her first trip to an ER yesterday . . . she got sick and had trouble breathing and they gave her some oxygen and albuterol treatments. . . hopefully she'll be fine in a couple of days.

On Friday (that seems like an eternity ago!) we took Maggie to the Mall to enjoy some carousel money she had recieved as an Easter gift. She had so much fun! She's ridden on this carousel two or three other times so she is finally getting comfortable enough with it to enjoy sitting on the moving horse. Click here to see a short video clip of her ride.

Easter

This was Maggie's first "real" Easter and we had a lot of fun. The week before Easter we got to attend a wonderful Easter Egg Hunt at the Gardens. Maggie's friend, "Whoa" came along and we all had a really great time.

On the Saturday before Easter we made "Resurrection Rolls" - Maggie helped me dip marshmellows in butter and cinnamon and sugar and wrap them up in crescent rolls to bake. They puff up and become hollow (the empty tomb). Maggie had a lot of fun helping me - and the rolls were VERY tasty. . . but I think the symbolism was lost on her. ;-) But I'm looking forward to making that a tradition.

Easter Sunday she had an Easter basket. . . she got some headbands, a stuffed Boz (her favorite TV show) and a Bullfrogs and Butterflies CD (anyone else remember that or is it just me?).

Sunday after her nap we had an Easter Egg hunt with our neighbors and we all had a really good time!

The Furminator

After weeks of constant hairballs, we finally broke down and bought a Furmintor - touted to be the best brush for reducing shedding AND hairballs in cats. Because I'm thrifty I bought it on Ebay for about half the retail price. It arrived today and the package was sitting on the kitchen table. Ben said to me "Let's try this on YOUR hair!". Oh, I died laughing.

After putting Maggie to bed, we closed the cat up in the bathroom to test out the brush (better to contain flying fur!) We were all quite pleased - Ben, Me AND Alley! I managed to get a little video if you want to see for yourself. If you turn up the volume you can hear Alley's purr of satisfaction.

This resulting pile of fur is the result of about 10 minutes of brushing.