Thank you, Oprah!!

Oprah arranged for a sale for all her viewers - 50% off everything at Payless, but the deal ends tonight (10/30)! Go here to print your coupon!

I got everything shown above for just under $50. Some of the items were on clearance. So, I saved over $50!!!

Here's what I got, in case you can't tell:
1 pair of tennis shoes for me - $4.50
1 pair of thick tights for Mary Frances
2 pairs of thin tights for Mary Frances
2 pairs of leggings for Mary Frances
1 pair of black dress shoes for Mary Frances
3 pairs of dress socks for Ray C.
1 AWESOME pair of black heels for ME
1 beautiful red belt, also for me
1 bag of socks for the boys

I'm probably going back tomorrow to get a pair of black "converse" for Chase that will be $9 with the sale!!

Remember, EVERYTHING is on sale. I saw some awesome purses that would have been only $10. I just couldn't justify buying them for myself. Let me know if you get something!

If you are interested in all the crazy deals I get, check out these websites:

www.hip2save.com
www.couponmom.com
www.thegrocerygame.com

Sick

"The doctor said popsicles are good for me."

Chase has been sick since LAST Friday night! He had Croup over the weekend and then went back to the doctor on Tuesday or Strep!! He felt awful over the weekend and the beginning of the week, but we've been enjoying the last few days at home! However and I am SICK of staying home!! I need some interaction!

Mary Frances noticed Chase staying home this week and has developed the "I Want to Stay Home" Flu! She tried it yesterday but still went to school after I checked her temperature and it was normal! However, today it was 100 all day. So, I let her stay home assuming she was probably getting what Chase had - which one I do not know!

Anyway, when I told her she could stay home, it was all she could do to hold her smile in and try to look sick! After about 30 minutes, she said, "We can have a pajama party!" She had fun for a while, but by nap time, she was wishing she'd gone to school! She HATES naps!!

So, she is doing fine now - no fever. We'll wait until she wakes up to make a determination for tomorrow! She is coughing!

Fall Festival

Chase was sick last week. So, we had to split up for the fall festival, but Pam managed to snap this shot during the few minutes that I was actually there! Mary Frances is dressed up as a Fairy Garden Princess - complete with pink hair! Curly is a cross-dresser in Mary Frances' tutu! We would have gotten away with fooling everyone if he wouldn't have hiked on everything he saw!

Oh well, Godfrey said it's okay since he's a French dog!! :)

Weekend in New Orleans

Ray C. and I spent the weekend in New Orleans WITHOUT kids! We had a really good time We were there to celebrate the wedding of Brandon and Gabby (our youth pastor and intern)! What a fun weekend. Here are random pictures of our weekend!
On Sunday, we had brunch at The Court of Two Sisters! It was delicious! Can you tell?

We were able to spend some time with our worship leader and his wife (Josh and Bethany). We walked Bourbon Street with them after the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, but I'm sure that was because we were back at the hotel by 10:00. When we came back from the wedding on Saturday night at midnight, it was much more lively!

Josh and Bethany had a good time dancing once she finally drug him out to the floor!

Brandon and Gabby were so sweet! They are a precious couple, and we are really looking forward to hanging out with them more and watching them as they begin their ministry together! (And, yes she did smash the cake in his face!!)
Brandon had a letter delivered to Gabby every few hours all day on Saturday! It was so sweet, and she was so excited every time she received one. The picture below is of her reading the final one just about 30 minutes before the wedding!

While walking Bourbon St. on Friday, we decided to enjoy a true Jazz club instead of all the other craziness going on! We really wanted the New Orleans feel, and this band delivered! They were great!
I was so excited we talked Josh and Bethany into leaving their baby, Bella, with grandparents for the weekend! Aren't they so cute?
This is Brandon and Gabby with her granddad! I must say that he and his twin brother are GREAT dancers. They danced more than anyone else at the reception, and I got to dance with her great-uncle. It was so much fun! I wish I had a picture! I just can't get Ray C. to dance with me. I think he wants to. He just doesn't know what to do!

There's Something Different About the Baby

I am reading "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. (I just realized that is was one of Oprah's Bookclub Choices!) Anyway, I have really enjoyed the book but wanted to share an excerpt with you about "the baby". I know I have heard people for years say, "There's just something about the baby...," and I find myself saying the same thing, but we just can't put our finger on what it is. I always add, "I love them all - not one more than the other, but there is still something different."

In this book, the character, Orleanna Price, describes it beautifully. I got chills reading it and wanted to share it with you - especially moms! Here is what is different about the baby...

"A mother's body remembers her babies - the folds of soft flesh, the softly furred scalp against her nose. Each child has its own entreaties to body and soul. It's the last one, though, that overtakes you. I can't dare say I loved the others less, but my first three were all babies at once, and motherhood dismayed me entirely. The twins came just as Rachel was learning to walk. What came next I hardly remember, whole years when I battled every single day of grasping hands and mouths until I could fall into bed for a few short hours and dream of being eaten alive in small pieces. I counted to one hundred as I rocked, contriving the patience to get one down in order to take up another. One mouth closed on a spoon meant two crying empty, feathers flying, so I dashed back and forth like a mother bird, flouting nature's maw with a brood too large. I couldn't count on survival until all three of them could stand alone. Together they were my first issue. I took one deep breath for every step they took away from me. That's how it is with the firstborn, no matter what kind of mother you are - rich, poor, frazzled half to death or sweetly content. A first child is your best foot forward, and how you do cheer those little feet as they strike out. You examine every turn of flesh for precocity, and crow it to the world.

But the last one: the baby who trails her scent like a flag of surrender through your life when there will be no more coming after - oh, that's love by a different name. She is the babe you hold in your arms for an hour after she's gone to sleep. If you put her down in the crib, she might wake up changed and fly away. So instead you rock by the window, drinking the light from her skin, breathing her exhaled dreams. Your heart bays to the double crescent moons of closed lashes on her cheeks. She's the one you can't put down."

Sneaky, Sneaky

Just before Mary Frances walked out the door this morning, I heard her open the pantry door and wondered what she was doing. When I asked she didn't answer. So, I walked in the kitchen, and she pointed to her backpack with a frown.

After investigating the backpack and not finding anything extra, I noticed that something was actually missing - her LUNCHBOX! I said, "Mary Frances, did you put your lunchbox away?"

She shook her head and said she wanted to buy lunch at school.

Well, if you read my blog much, you already know that the children are allowed to eat lunch at school every Friday. For some reason, that is a treat to them! But, for Mary Frances, that just isn't enough. She does not understand why I have to pack her lunch everyday!

So, I had a very sweet conversation with her explaining that I do not want her to be sneaky. I told her she can always tell me how she feels. I also explained that I understand that she wants to buy lunch at school but that the lunches I pack are much healthier. I went on to explain they have a lot of grease and fat in them that is not in the lunch I make.

So, she wanted to know what fat is. I just told her it is bad stuff in the food that is not good for our bodies. I told her that the schools try really hard to make healthy lunches, but they aren't as good as the ones I make.

So, she was still sad and pressed me to let her eat at school more often. So, I told her that maybe next week she could eat there twice.

Then, she said, "Will you come eat lunch with me tomorrow when I buy lunch?" So, I went to my calendar and told her I was writing it down. Her face lit up, and she gave me a great big hug. Ahh...she left happy! It was a good discussion!