My Poor Husband

This is truly a classic cannot make this stuff up story. My husband rarely goes out for lunch. He is a budget minded kinda guy married to a whats a budget kinda girl. So basically he eats peanut butter and jelly everyday to help save money. But today he learned he got a bonus and a bit of a raise so he decided to treat himself to a fine lunch at Back Yard Burger. On these rare occasions when he does treat himself, he picks up a Memphis flyer and enjoys a nice juicy hamburger. So he walks in , places his order and picks up a flyer. Out of the corner of his eye he sees someone waving to him. It is the President and Owner of the company he works for. He too was dining on a fine meal, and with him was his wife. So Tom sets his drink down at a table and walks over to say Shalom. They invite him to join them, so Tom sets the flyer down and goes to get his drink. At this point in the story I think it is important to mention that his boss is a very Godly man, he has published some books on marriage, and is very active in missions work. So when Tom returns to the table this is what he sees.....

Ahh, Summer

Well it appears to be that time of year again, kids are back in school, and I will soon be back to work. This could only mean one thing.... The end of Summer. The summer was really cool. We spent the summer with great friends and family. This summer included a trip to the beach, zoo trips, and many trips to the pool. I almost have a tan to prove it. I think the coolest part of the summer was just hanging out with friends from the preschool and their kids! It was cool to watch Emma playing with her friends, many of them older than her. Ahh the memories of the kids ringing the bell at Arbys to signal yet another fine meal, crashing high chairs at the mall food court, and the pure joy of the 500th happy meal toy. What a summer! One should never underestimate the power of friendship and making people feel special. My friends did that for me this summer. Trips to the mall, pool dates, zoo trips, and Emma's infectious giggling are the things I will remember fondly when I think back on this summer.

Tammy Fay Baker Lives!

So I am amazed daily at the things Emma notices. For example mommies makeup routine. After my shower, I usually sit on the bed and begin the transformation from mom to mommy! For my transformation I like Bare Minerals. But I digress, so today Emma took an interest in some blush and mineral veil. Her application technique was well ok I'll say it -wild. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she applied her blush a bit heavy, and that the mineral veil isn't usually applied with a shadow brush. But hey,really who am I to criticize. I know Tammy Fay has passed, but a little girl from Cordova sure would have made her proud!

A Million Little Pieces

I really must start carrying my camera around with me because I am missing some way funny photo ops with Emma. Since the Olympics were not on we decided to leave the house. We met my friend Carla for lunch and decided to go to Hobby Lobby. I don't think Carla knew what she was getting into. Emma started out in the shopping cart, did you notice I said "started" in the shopping cart. As we shopped along, my sense of smell was alerted to a possible code brown in the beads section. Well of course I don't have her diaper bag so Carla was kind enough to watch her while I began the hike to the car. Well of course do I have any wipes, no, how about a diaper, no. But alas, I do find a Dora pull-up. Thanks Dora. Anyway, I did the best I could with a pull up and wet toilet paper, but I must say the toilet paper was definately not Charmin. One word-chaffing. Don't ask, I didn't have butt paste either. Yeah yeah Mom of the year I already know. But the best was yet to come. So after the diaper debacle she was out of the shopping cart, and she ran and found a big bucket of beads. I shall refer to it as the 1lb Bucket O' Beads (Irish name). So 1lb of beads translates to hundreds and hundreds of tiny ,little, pretty, colorful, plastic beads. Proud of her find ,Emma turns to Carla and I to show us and well, she drops the Bucket O 'Beads. Hundreds of beads go a flying. Thank goodness no one lost an eye, but I must say even if Carla and I wanted to run we couldn't. Everywhere I stepped my shoe was literally shooting beads all over the store. People would just look down the aisle and just walk away. My shopping cart was rendered useless, because apparently a tiny small bead can bring down a shopping cart, who knew. Even on two wheels that cart wouldn't move. I was waiting for the voice on the intercom, "Clean up on aisle 10." A nice Hobby Lobby lady swept up the evidence that Emma had been there, and I decided before we get to the glassware it was time to go.

Stay at Home Moms Take Back the Mall

It finally happened that glorious day that all stay at home moms have been waiting for..........school is back in session. These simple words mean only one thing.. the streets of Memphis are now back in the capable hands of the stay at home mommies. If you read my friend Jennifer's blog this makes much more sense. It seemed like everywhere my friends and I would go movies were sold out, lines were out the door of the pizza places, and it was impossible to even walk into a Build a Bear. So when Emma and i went to the mall today it was like the Lone Ranger and Tonto heading into a ghost town.. No lines, no waiting, ahh this is the good life. Emma and I didn't even have to wait in line to have our photo made in the $3 silly photo booth. Those pictures never really turn out that great, but it is just one of the things that great summers are made of-memories. So moms everywhere rejoice, the mall is ours again, at least until Christmas!

Ode to Lipstick

Well if you have been reading this blog, you know the story about my great desire for this new Urban Decay lipstick. In fact, I drove all over town looking for it, got in a car accident, and now the ultimate act, the finale if you will occurred today. Emma and I were heading out to run some errands and I thought what a perfect time to try out my new fabulous lipstick. So I grabbed the tubes and headed to the car. I set the tubes on the back of the car to help Emma get into her seat. (I think you see where this is going.) After fastening her into her carseat, I cranked up the rental car and headed out. Well as you guessed the lipstick was still on the back of the car as I headed out on my merry way. Two hours later I noticed, hmmm I can't find my new lipstick. And immediately I realized what I had done. I searched the streets in our neighborhood, but no lipstick. I did preserve my dignity and opted not to search the sewer! I won't bother to tell you how much this lipstick cost, but I guess Em will have to attend a local college. Looking back on this whole fiasco I think to myself ,was all of this for some lipstick!!! You can't make this stuff up! Moral of the story:Invest in chapstick!!

Sleeping Beauty

So today I was thinking about all of the great books, magazines, and tv shows, that are suppose to help us be great parents. From SuperNanny, Dr. Dobson, Dr. Spock, and Kermit the Frog, can these people and one puppet really help us raise our children? The answer is I don't know. Being a new mom, I have had the great pleasure of being in many different groups, and read many good books on the subject of parenting. Why might you ask am I talking about this....... well my little Emma is at that age where potty training is starting, 2 year old tantrums have been happening, and when you can scale your crib it is time for a big girl bed, and you just need a place where you can find some good advice. So we are living out what SuperNanny and James Dobson are talking about. So I have decided that none of them really have the answer, but you can take bits and pieces from each and find something that works for you. A perfect example of this is Emma's new big girl bed. The first night that we tried out the new big girl bed, I tried the Super Nanny approach. When she got out of her bed, I escorted her back and told her I loved her. The second time I said mommy loves you, and the third time I said nothing and returned her to her bed. Well on the 100th time, I returned her to her bed without speaking, and it kinda turned into a game of Marco Polo. I would hide somewhere and wait and just as sure as the sun rises she was out of that bed calling for me. So finally on the 101st time I said forget SuperNanny, popped her bottom and said "don't get out of this bed again!" So there ya have it alittle bit of SuperNanny and Dr. Dobson. Anyway this is the second night she has slept in her "Big girl bed." The pics are so cute. I am still not sure which method of parenting is best, maybe I will wait and see what Miss Piggy has to say about it.

When silence is a bad thing Part 2

To say that my 2 year old Emma is active is an understatement. She loves to go go go! Monday morning was a typical morning. It started with breakfast and some playtime. Well, nature called and I headed off to answer the call. As I sat on my throne, I thought to myself it is a little to quiet out there in the living room. So after washing my hands, I started out on my search for little Emma. Our house isn't that big, so I thought this shouldn't be to difficult. Of course Emma is at that age when you call her or tell her to come here, she runs away or just flat out ignores you. So I had to ask myself "Why am I still standing here calling her name?" Anyway, I headed to her room, and I hear "hurry mommy, hurry mommy." As I walk into her room this is what I saw........

It all started with lipstick

I must say things have really been busy this summer. As everyone prepares to head back to school, I thought I would head out into the mall jungle and do some back to school shopping myself. Ulta advertised this cool new lipstick by Urban Decay. I was intrigued by this new fall line, so my little toddler Emma and my good friend Mitzie headed out to buy some cool lipstick. We arrived at Ulta store joyful and excited. I could swear I heard Chariots of Fire being played as we raced to the door. We found the Urban Decay section and were ready to be impressed. Impressed would not be the word I would use to describe what we saw. Empty shelves everywhere. At the exact moment we laid eyes on the empty shelves Billy Joel's Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word song started playing. Ha. Anyway we left the store and decide to try one more store. Struck out there also so we decided to head home. I was driving on Germantown Parkway going North. A car turned left in front of me and we slammed into the back of her car. In fact, my little Accord knock the back end of of her Corolla. But here is the crazy part, the driver kept on driving. Yes I said it she left the scene!!!!!!!!!! First I checked on my daughter Emma, then my friend. Everyone seemed ok, we were visible shaken, but blessed to be alive. My friend happened to get the tag number as it dragged along Gtown Pkwy, and we sat and waited for the police. Kids have a funny way of bringing things back into perspective. As we sat waiting for the police, my daughter says "cookie", "cookie" , "cookie and drink please." We totally forgot that we bought cookies from the Cookie Company. Luckily the icing on the cookies was not damaged in the accident or I would have been really mad. I wish I had a picture of the cookies because one cookie was a big blue smiley face, and the other cookie was a white dove. Classic!