Tis' The Season

To be Jolly? Not quite. Tis’ the season for crafting of course! Fall is like open season for crafters. My husband and I have been working hard at our wood working business. We love fall season because it usually helps put a little extra money in our pockets. Who doesn’t love that?

We started our business around this time last year, just in time for our first craft show! When I was younger my family did craft shows, so I knew a little bit of what was involved but not everything. I had several different products that I had made including our Large Scrabble tiles. I wanted our booth to look rustic so we brought two pallets to display my wreaths, plus we brought our own table to save on money. BIG MISTAKE. We had to park really far away in order to set up so we had to make several trips just to make sure we had everything we needed to set up our booth. The night before the craft show there was a big storm which knocked out power pretty much all over our area. Well, the day of the show we arrived and there were no lights on. The power was still out and there were people coming through the doors. There was a question about whether or not they were going to cancel the show or not. In the mean time, it also started snowing. Around 11 AM, the power came back on, so it was a slow start for us selling our items. Overall, it was just ok for our first show. We learned it was worth a little extra money up front to not have to bring our own table, our display should be a little more compact, and business cards would be smart to have!

This year, we have two or three shows that we are looking at. That doesn’t seem like a lot to those who have experience with craft shows, but for us it’s plenty. I already feel like we have stepped up our game. We just got our business cards in and I’m super exited about them. We also have SQUARE. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it means we can take electronic payments through our phone. Since the first craft show, we figured it’s best to have a few great items as opposed to a lot of okay items. We have narrowed our business to large scrabble tiles and rustic signs. We’ve got a pretty good start so far and I’m super happy with how everything is turning out. 

I want to share a sneak peak of some of the projects we have so far. 

So, I have two questions today:

I’m looking for suggestions. What are some of your favorite sayings that you would love to see on a sign?

And, do you have any advice for doing craft shows?

Goal!!!

   

I was talking to a friend last week about goals that I have for this fall. I began to think of all the times in the last year that I have had goals for my children or my house. Maybe it's just deputation or maybe it's just motherhood in general, but do any of you out there ever feel like you have a lot of unfulfilled goals?

For instance, potty training. Do you know how many times I have buckled down and taken my daughter every 30 minutes of the day. We would do so good for about a week and then we would leave for a trip and all progress is out the door. I also had the goal of having a yard sale before the summer was over. Some how, my garage is still completely unsorted and my old belongings still unsold. 

So, I can't give you a list of how to achieve your goals, but I do have the next best thing. Here's how to not achieve your goals. If you follow this list you are sure to not achieve any of your goals, and if you go completely opposite of this list, maybe you'll be able to achieve some of those goals. 

Here we go. How not to achieve your goals:

• Make a ton of goals and start them all at the exact same time so that your life completely changes in a day. Example: potty train your toddler, lose 30 pounds, start an entire preschool routine, start a new spring cleaning schedule, start a new bedtime routine, etc.

• Put no thought or detail into your goals. So you want to start eating healthy starting first thing in the morning. Does it really matter that you've not researched any healthy recipes or gone shopping for healthier alternatives to the cupcakes and Doritos in you cupboard?

• Make plans that will conflict with your goals before they even start. "I'm gonna start my diet on Monday!"... even though you have three family birthday parties that week. I'm just saying, can anyone pass on birthday cake three times in a row?? 

• Make your goals completely unrealistic. So what that I have a two year old and a one year old. I'm gonna completely clean out and organize my garage by myself in a weekend!

• Don't tell a single soul about your goals. No one else knowing = no accountability if you don't accomplish anything. 

• Plan to fail. Starting out with "I'd really like to do this, but if I don't get it done it's not a big deal" is never a good attitude for success.

So, there you have it. Six ways to make sure that you will not achieve those goals. You're quite welcome. I've thoroughly gone over these and tried to plan for success this time. I'll let you know in January how this fall and my goals went! Do you have any goals you're currently working on?

So Long, Farewell ...

 This past Monday I took two of these guys to college. (Hint: It wasn't the one with gray hair.) Our boys are so fun and full of life that it makes it doubly hard to see them go. Even with two of them still living at home, things seem too quiet.

Over the course of the years I've taken five different children off to college. It doesn't get any easier. I've had random bouts of crying for the week before they went off to school. I've had panic rear its ugly head as I tried to help them get together the things they need for college. I've had the occasional words of wisdom that I tried to pass on as they take this step into adulthood. I'm always worried that they're not quite ready or I've forgotten to teach them some much-needed life lesson.

All of my children have endured this odyssey as I struggle with them going off to college. And in their own sweet way they try to help make this transition easier for me. They do things such as:

1. Smash up the front of the car that I loaned them. (Matt)

2. Walk from their job to the college, thirty miles in subzero temperatures until a police car picked them up. (Luke)

3. Call me to moan that they were sure they were definitely failing every class--all while actually getting A's. (Stephanie)

4. Accidentally setting off the emergency system on their phone so that everyone in the family got texts asking for help. (Paul)

Ok that last one needs to be explained, I'm sure.

Last year Paul was at college six hours away. In addition to college, he also worked in a factory there in town, usually second shift. One evening our family was watching television when suddenly, one by one, we started getting texts from Paul. The texts went like this:

"Help me. Please. I'm at latitude 00 and longitude 00."

Now what parent would not panic at that message? Especially when we tried calling back, but he didn't answer. Or rather, the phone would pick up but then all we heard were distant sounds. No voices. No Paul.

Our family is cursed blessed with wild imaginations. I thought the sounds on his phone sounded like he was in the trunk of a car. Luke and Stephanie thought it sounded like water--as in maybe he was drowning? Terry thought it sounded like a fire. Whatever it was, it wasn't Paul's voice, and it wasn't good.

Putting our imaginations and terrors aside, we went into action. I paced the living room while calling the police in Lexington, Kentucky. Terry paced in the kitchen while calling the college and any/all faculty and staff that he had numbers for. Luke paced in the dining room while repeatedly calling Paul's phone. When it picked up, he said things like, "Paul, can you hear me? If you can't speak, but you can hear me, cough. We're coming for you, Bud. Hang on!" Stephanie called a couple of prayer warriors and then gathered her remaining brothers to head to the basement and pray.

What we learned later:

*The Vice President of the college went to Paul's dorm room. Paul's roommate informed him that Paul was at work, and the Vice President found out that Paul had not filled out the notices needed to inform the college of his whereabouts since his work hours had just changed. (Paul got demerits for that the next day.)

*A staff member headed to the place where Paul worked to find him.

*When the staff member got to the factory, he saw several squad cars already there with lights flashing. The police were there looking for Paul as well.

What they found was Paul working hard, with his phone in his pocket. Apparently there was an emergency feature on there so that if certain buttons were pushed in a certain order, the phone would automatically send a help text to his emergency contacts (his entire family). Paul's jeans hadn't dried completely in the laundry and the moisture and his movements had apparently set off the emergency contacts.

Paul had no idea his phone had done anything at all, and the factory is noisy, so Paul never heard our frantic phone calls. The sounds we heard were the sounds of the factory. Which is in no way similar to the sounds of a car trunk, a fire or a river.

The police called us as soon as they had physically seen him, and assured us that they would have him call personal as soon as they finished talking to him. Apparently they wanted to make sure Paul wasn't pranking his family (what awful person would do that?!?), but they were convinced when the college staff member vouched for him and when Paul's phone randomly sent out another "help me" text while the police officer was holding it.

Things we've learned:

1. Our family is amazing when it comes to springing into action.

2. We got Paul a new phone.

3. We were very happy with the speed and lengths that both the college and the police took to ensure Paul's safety.

4. Paul needs to spend the extra quarter or two to make sure his clothes are completely dry.

5. Don't mess with Boyds.

6. We should have known that Paul wasn't sending the texts because he'd have no idea of latitude and longitude.

7. Once the adrenalin died down, we were all exhausted.

8. Tense cop drama TV shows don't go well with sudden emergency texts.

9. Your mom will always think the worst if she doesn't hear from you on a regular basis.

10. When you're in the Boyd family, it's a good idea to keep lots of boxes of hair color on hand for all the grays your children cause.

So now Joel is at college for the first time. Wanna make bets on how long it'll be before I have another story to tell?

There's no such thing as a few quick errands!

A few weeks ago, my husband and I got to go away for a couple of days. Just him and I. That was the first time away since we've been married. Sad, right? Well we had a wonderful time! We were also reminded of how easy our life was before we had kids. While we were gone we made four stops in an hour's time. It's been awhile since we've been able to do that. Those who have children know that making four stops with children takes way longer than an hour. 

Monday, I had errands I needed to run for our upcoming Ladies Extravaganza that we are having at our church. Of course, I had my daughters with me. I had three stops to make, and I only had a couple of things at each store to get. We were off to a good start in Walmart even though I forgot my pre-store pep talk that I have with my girls. Ya know, the one that tells them to behave, stay with me and not to ask for anything. We had to get paint, and that required a lot of questions from the girls: What color are we getting? Why is it shaking like that? Can I mix that, mom? Well the man at the counter heard the last question and gave each of the girls their own stir sticks. The first thing I said was, "don't hit each other". Olivia immediately started playing the drums on my hands while I was pushing the cart. It went downhill from there. The girls started climbing in and out of the cart. Then they needed to go potty. And so on and so forth. 

Next, we went to JoAnn's. I literally had two things to buy, but the girls were not obeying. I told Stella not to touch a toy as we were walking through the checkout lane so she said to Talia, " Grab, that Talia". I love when they work together but not when it's against me. We get to the register and Stella talks to the cashier as usual, telling them her and sisters' names. As I'm getting on my phone quickly to pull up a coupon, Talia is pushing the cart away from me and runs it right into a shelf full of hand soaps. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, a lot like I had lost control, and also very sweaty.

That's not all. Why on Earth would you go to another store? You ask. Good question.

Our last stop was Party City. Have you ever taken small children to Party City? No? Good, don't! My kids were running down the aisles and then they turned around to see who could run back to the cart the fastest. They thought it was hilarious ... I did not. I heard a lot of "Mom, can I get this?" They heard a lot of, "No!" I was still overwhelmed and still sweaty. We made it to the checkout. While I was checking out, Stella started playing drums on a pinata and Talia asked for every single piece of candy down the checkout line. I bought one thing. We were there for 20 minutes.

It took a total of two and half hours to get my three errands done.

How do you shop or get anything accomplished with little kids?

The one that had no point

Here we are again. Entering fall. Last fall my son was only a month old and we packed up and headed to stay with my parents because we had booked three months of meetings up near them. So, my mom came down to help us take stuff up because at the time we had two kids and a Ford Fiesta. Don't know what that is? Let me show you. 

Only one word describes that trip. Tight. Praise the Lord we are no longer in that car. 

We have this now and I fully embrace the soccer-momness of it all. Little tip - don't ever say you'll never get a van no matter how many kids you have. The Lord works in funny ways, hence two kids and a Ford Fiesta. 

Since my son was so little at this time, it was that stage where you have to go to the doctor every other month for shots and a check-up. That didn't work so well for me seeing as we were never home. So I ended up dropping their pediatrician for a while and just getting their shots at the health department... Never on time though. I'm not always so good with keeping up with them. 

So anyways, we're back to fall again which seems to be missions conference season. Our schedule is packed as can be until December. Which is a great thing! But I'm running into that same problem with the doctors. I just got a new pediatrician for my kids and got them all signed up and taken in. I figured since they were older and we don't have to go as often then it won't matter... Wrong! I took them in for their first appointment and due to an error in paperwork (not my error I just want to say)  they weren't able to actually get their shots. So they got their well check up, little man had to have some blood drawn, and I was told they would have to come back in as soon as the paperwork comes through for their shots. That's a problem. There's like a total of 7 days scattered between now and Thanksgiving that this visit will be possible. Can I just say, Yay for doctors visits! 

So, scattered around those seven days for a possible doctor visit we'll be all over the place. We'll be from Indiana to Georgia to Michigan to Ohio to New Hampshire (side note: first time in New Hampshire and I'm really excited about it) back to Georgia back to Indiana to West Virginia back to Georgia to South Carolina to Kentucky. That's all between now and Thanksgiving. Hubby is estimating between 15,000 and 20,000 miles on the van in that time. Imagine that in a Ford Fiesta. No, don't. Even the thought is painful. 

And there's so many changes happening this fall too. My brothers,  Joel and Paul, are going to college so when we go to my parents it will only be Nick and Luke. Ok, so that's not really so many changes, but it's a big one. I don't think there's ever been more than one of us gone at a time. 😭 Not that it'll be boring. When mom gets to writing that post she mentioned about Nick's multiple personalities you'll understand why it won't be boring. 

I bet you're wondering about now what the title of this post means. Well, I sat down to write and didn't have an idea what to write, and it's a Sunday night after a meeting. My brain isn't functioning on all cylinders. So I just started "talking" and at the end I realized there's really no rhyme or reason to today's post. Then came the title.

So, how's your Monday going?? 

Another Day Older ...

If you happen to be friends with me on Facebook, you may have noticed a few people leaving messages on my timeline yesterday. That would be because I matured a little more yesterday. I'm a little older than a half a century now, and since someone who's fifty-one years old ought to have a little wisdom, I thought I'd share some with you. Here's a few gems I've gleaned over the last half century.

1. No one ever died of humiliation. Believe me, I've tried.

2. If you don't eat well and exercise right, you won't have the body of a twenty year old when you're in your fifties.

3. Even if you do eat well and exercise right, you still won't have the body of a twenty year old. You're fifty for pete's sake!

4. Have all your kids at once and get them grown and out of the house all at the same time. Otherwise your older children will continually point out any and all areas where your parenting styles (re: discipline, rules) have changed over the years.

5. When your adult children do point out your parenting flaws, you can respond with, "I know I made mistakes. But evidently God thought you could handle it, otherwise He wouldn't have made me your parent."

6. Children will always try to guilt you into and out of things. The trick is to heap a much bigger load of guilt back on them. For instance:  "You never let me do that at their age" should be answered with, "You put me through twelve hours of labor and a c-section. You didn't deserve to do that at their age."

7. It's okay to admit that you don't know everything. Everyone else figured that out about you a long time ago.

8. Get to know and use modern technology. Otherwise you won't be able to communicate with your children and grandchildren who do all their talking with tweets, emojis and hashtags.

9. Invest in a good beauty routine. There will come a day when you can no longer skip makeup because you're just running a few errands. You'll know when that day comes because everyone you encounter will ask if you've been sick or will tell you that you look tired.

10. Eventually you'll have some aches and pains that can't be worked out with a little stretching. Keep it to yourself. No one wants to hear your organ recital.

11. If you have to ask, "Does this look too young for me?" Then it probably does.

12. You may not know everything, but you ought to know more than you did last week or last month or last year. When you stop learning new things, you grow stale. And boring. And irrelevant.

13. Stop procrastinating. You're not getting any younger!

You'll also learn that not everything ties up neatly, and sometimes your lists don't end with even numbers.

Now it's your turn. What have you learned that you didn't know when you were younger?

My Daughter is Saved!

From the time your children are born, you begin praying that one day they will ask Jesus into their heart and save them. For us, yesterday was that day! 

Stella prayed and asked Jesus into her heart and I am overjoyed!

A couple of months ago my husband was talking to her and she understood some of the things he was saying but he could tell she wasn't quite ready. Since then, she has been asking question and making comments about heaven. 

Yesterday I took her to the grocery store with me and her sisters and as we were checking out, Stella and Talia were singing "Jesus Love is Bubbling Over". I started to shush them a bit but then I thought why? They are happy little girls who love to sing. Then as we were walking to the car, Stella belted out, "Jesus loves me this I know". Again, not in a quiet voice. We got a few stares, but an elderly lady gave her a big smile. We got in the car and started our drive to the church. Stella said to me, "Mom did you know the streets in Heaven are made out of gold." I told her I knew that and I bet they are beautiful. She said, "I can't wait to see them." 

We made it to the church and I was sharing with my husband about the girls singing and what Stella had just told me in the car. Matt asked Stella to come talk to him. He began asking her questions and she was answering them correctly and he asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus to save her. I sat their praying while they prayed. My heart was overjoyed as I heard my sweet little girl ask Jesus into her heart and take her to Heaven when she dies.

Praise the Lord!

Proverbs 22:6 

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Psalm 107:1 

O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Diva in the Making

  Today I want to tell you about this little girl.

 She is two and a half years old, and in the last month she has changed and learned so much.  She loves to sing. After Vacation Bible School she started singing the theme song "Yo Ho" and another song she learned that week "It's Bubbling".  Since then, she has learned several more songs. They are songs we were singing for a while, but it seems like now she knows more than just the last word of every phrase. Since she learns with songs so well, I found some alphabet learning songs on You tube. I thought that would be a good way to start her out. She has been doing really well, but her dad and I might go crazy if we have to listen to "The Letter A sound" one more time.

She's also started talking a lot more. Some of the things she says and does are just too funny. The other day we were sitting on her bed and she said "Momma, I need tell you a secret"... this isn't something we've ever really done with her, so I wasn't sure where it came from. So she leans in to "tell me a secret", whispered a little mumbo jumbo , and then LICKED MY FACE!!! Pretty sure we have her Boyd uncles to blame for that one.

Yesterday, we had a meeting in a church in Ohio, and my hubby was preaching in the service. They gave him the lapel mic and he was getting it put on when she looked at him and said, "daddy, that you microphone?". He said ya, and she said, "Can I call God?" and she leaned in and said "God, hello?... (undiscernable mumbo jumbo)... Daddy, I talking to God."  We pray with her multiple times a day, but we've never used our phones or a microphone for that, so not sure where that idea came from, but it was cute anyways. Then we were sitting in the service and she asked me "What him name?" (The song leader). I said I didn't know his name, and she said "Mayyyybbbbeeee, Bob?".... I just stared at her. My two year old was assigning names to people, and she picked the name Bob of all names. We have no Bobs in the family, nor have we been around any recently. So, I have no idea where Bob came from. She has also recently decided she loves to go to church and see pastor. No matter which church we happen to be at, she is excited as we leave to go see pastor. I think she just likes to say the word "pastor", because it encompasses all older men in a suit...except Bob, of course.

 The other night her daddy was brushing her hair after her bath and she said to me "daddy love my hair" and then when her daddy told her it was beautiful she said "Thanks". Not at all vain... She also loves to show off her clothes. Her shoes and Sunday dresses are a "must admire". She gets dressed and then runs to show daddy, then comes back to show me, then even shows her little brother, who I'm pretty sure will never care. When I get her clothes and have her try them on for me, I always tell her to turn around and show me. So she turns and pops that hip out, and props her little hand on it and giggles. We are so going to have our hands full as she gets older.

This is a "must admire" moment. 

This is the time she thought she needed to wear my mascara.

This is the time she got herself dressed for the day. And yes, she even changed into a new nightgown from the one she slept in.

And last, but not least, this is when she was explaining to her brother that he had to follow her on the leash.... and he thought it was funny... 

 Well, that's our little girl. With all the personality that has been popping out lately I couldn't help but share. And I think that's all for now, because this little girl with so much personality is having a meltdown about her hair falling down, so until next time!

The One Where I Almost Blew Up the Car

Okay since I forgot to post last week, I knew I needed to have a great story for today. No problem. Here's how I almost blew up the car.

The night before we started moving to Michigan from Florida, I headed out to pick up some dinner for all of us. While I was out, I decided to fill my gas tank so that I'd be ready for leaving first thing in the morning. Luke went with me, and for some reason he decided he needed to pick up a few things while we were there. (Who shops at a gas station?!?)

I got the pump situated and then, while the tank was filling, I leaned into the driver's side of the car to put my debit card back in my purse. While I did that, I heard the pump handle click off. I thought that was weird because it was way too soon for the tank to be full. As I backed out of the car, I could see that the pump handle was still stuck in the tank of my car, but the hose had broken off the handle and was spraying gasoline as it did that snaky whipping back and forth thing that hoses tend to do when no one is controlling them.

I hurried over and grabbed the hose because I didn't think spraying the outside of my car with gasoline was a good thing to do. I tried to turn the hose so that it was spraying towards an empty area of the parking lot, but in no time my car was perfectly centered in a very large puddle of gasoline.

I was wrestling with the hose with one hand while I tried to use my other hand to reach the call button on the pump. When I finally hit it, I yelled, "Pump No. 7 is broken and is spraying gas everywhere! Turn it off!"

There was a moment of static and then, "Could you repeat that, please?"

Obviously the attendant was not going to be my first source of help, so I did the only thing I could think of. I started yelling for help like a true female in distress. A man from one of the other pumps came charging over yelling, "Kink the hose!"

Why hadn't I thought of that? Probably because I was too occupied with giving an excellent imitation of bull riding as I struggled with the hose. The man grabbed the hose and kinked it and just that quickly the rushing spray of gasoline stopped. I stood on the little island the gas pump is mounted on, surrounded by a sea of gas, and stared at my rescuer. The man shoved my driver's side door shut and motioned for me to come toward him, away from the gas and fumes that were everywhere.

With the immediate crisis averted, I used the call button for the gas station attendant again. This time they informed me that they had called the fire department, which was apparently standard procedure when a tank hose starts spraying gasoline everywhere. The attendant then came out and said that kitty litter was usually used to soak up gasoline spills, handing me the smallest bag of kitty litter I'd ever seen. I set the bag down to the side of the river of gasoline my car was swimming in and informed the attendant that the spill wasn't my fault and that I didn't want to pay for all the gas all over his parking lot. He offered me a free soda, but when I turned that down he agreed to comp the price of the gas.

Shortly after that we heard sirens and in no time my vehicle and the gasoline river were boxed in by no less than two fire engines and a paramedics' truck. All the firemen got out and studied the problem from different angles. Then one of them went to tell the attendant we were going to need a lot more kitty litter, and another one headed over to me. They couldn't really get at the spill until the car was out of the way, so would I kindly pull it forward?

That just didn't seem like a good idea to me. What if one spark from the ignition blew up the entire car with me in it? And you don't need to look at me like that. If this had been a TV show, you'd be yelling for me to not start the car because it was going to blow up. You know you would! At any rate, it didn't matter. When my rescuer had slammed my driver's side door shut, he had accidentally locked my keys in my car.

Why is it that I got the blame for that? Everyone seemed to assume that I was the ditzy female who had locked her keys in the car. Now, I may have been yelling for help like a ninny, but I'm not the one that slammed the car door, thank you very much. But since the man had been trying to help me, it seemed rude to point out that it was, in fact, his fault that my keys were locked in the car.

I called my husband to ask him to bring the spare key from the basket of keys on the kitchen counter. I knew the spare was there because I'd seen it right before I left the house. Unfortunately, it had moved by the time my husband looked for it.

Right about that time Luke finished up his purchases and came out of the gas station to find his there mom standing in the middle of the gas station parking lot, surrounded by firemen, all staring at me and my car, floating in a sea of gasoline. His shocked reaction? "What did you do!?!?"

I was getting a little tired of taking all the blame, and it didn't get any better when my husband found the key and brought it to us. He unlocked the car door and handed me my set of keys, then started the car and moved it off by a different pump. Then he stood around joking and laughing with the firemen, gas station attendant, and my rescuer.

This happened four years ago, but I still tend to flinch every time I have to fill the car up again. But hey, now I put my keys in my pocket, and I carry a hefty supply of kitty litter with me, so I should be able to handle it if I ever find my car in the middle of a gasoline river again.

Now if I could just find the spare key ...

In My Wildest Dreams

A few days ago there were a couple of terrorists in our neighborhood. I'm not talking about a couple of teenagers that were tee-peeing, and egging houses. These terrorits were the real deal. They were mass destroying everything including cars and houses. I was pretty scared, for my kids, for my family, for my life. I watched as flames errupted and debris was flying around. They managed to hit every house on the block , except ours. Not a single thing was wrong with our house. 

The reason you haven't seen any of this in the news is because this was all while I was sleeping. 

The next day ...

I was just sitting in the living room with my family and I happened to look up and out our front window. There was a car parked in our road facing our house. I gasped and shouted, "Oh no, they're back!" My husband said, "don't panic." I shewed my kids down the hallway and I started to pace quickly when I looked into my kitchen and noticed a man sitting on top of my fridge. Matt said, "that's the CIA agent." He looked more like a state farm agent, he was wearing a headset and kahkis. Suddenly, my house started filling up with cops, CIA, and S.W.A.T. I mean so many people just trying to make sure we were safe from these terrorits. My husband and the "CIA Agent" told my kids to go get some toys from the playroom and told me to go grab some snacks and drinks for them. They told me the safest place for us to be was in the trunk of our car. They said you must keep the kids quiet, so they gave me a friend to help keep them quiet. Also, a laptop because it would be dark. That put me in a huge predicament: should I take Tangled or Frozen? The decision was unbareable so I just brought both. We were told to stay in there until it was all over and someone came to get us.

Then I woke up ...

I'm not sure if it's because of something I ate or because I've been in the Boyd family for too long, but I'm not too sure how this dream came about??

Have you had any crazy dreams lately?

What'cha Wanna Know??

      

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to do an "all about me" post where we all answered the same questions. Well, I was the one that didn't do it because... well, because I got busy and forgot to post that day, honestly. Which is also the reason that today's post is a little late. 😏 So, I decided to go ahead and answer those questions today. 

• Are you named after anyone?

           - All of my mom's baby dolls from when she was little. Apparently she liked the 

                name.

• When was the last time you cried?

          - Probably the last time I watched a movie. Especially if an old man cried in the 

               movie... it get's me every time!

• If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself?

          - well, considering the new me and the old me would have all the same interests, 

               most likely we'd be friends.

• Do you use sarcasm a lot?

          - Why don't you ask anyone who's ever know me.

• What's the first thing you notice about people?

          - Their mood

• What is your eye color?

          - Hazel

• Scary movies or happy endings?

         - It used to be scary movies, but then I got pregnant and my husband told me he

              wouldn't get up and walk me to the bathroom 5 times a night when I was 

              scared.  So, now it would be happy endings. 

• Favorite smells?

         - A citrus clean smell

• What's the furthest you've ever been from home?

         - That's tough. Well, I went to Uganda, Africa, but then that was technically my 

                home. So, probably Spain.

• Do you have any special talents?

         - I asked my husband just now... he laughed... 

• Where were you born?

         - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• What are your hobbies?

          - Reading, doing crafts from Pinterest

• Do you have any pets?

        - Nope. I don't think they would do so well with our occupation

• What do you want to be when you grow up?

         - Always wanted to be a mommy. ✅

• Who was your first best friend?

         - Her name was Ashley

• How tall are you?

        - Depends on what shoes I'm wearing

• Funniest moments throughout school?

         - My mom trying to teach Math. 😆

• How many countries have you visited?

         - 5

• What was your favorite/worst subject in high school?

         - I liked Science, but I never like Math.

• What is your favorite drink? Animal? Perfume?

         - Coffee 💕💕💕, The only animals I really ever like were my two mini 

                dachshunds, and I don't wear perfume.

• What sports have you/do you play?

         - I play volleyball in high school. 

• Favorite memory from your childhood?

         - We had a mini motorcycle in Uganda. Loved it.

• How would you describe your fashion sense?

         - Comfortable

• What phone do you have? 

          - Google Pixel

• Tell us one of your bad habits?

          - If I told you, then I would have to admit they are bad habits.

The One Where I Didn't Post

Sooo ... In case you didn't notice, I forgot to post today. A series of errors happened all at one time (give or take twelve hours) and today's post got missed.

Sorry.

I promise I'll do better. Next week I'll post about the time my car almost blew up at the gas station ... or about Nick's multiple personalities ... or my thoughts on fragrance names for men's deodorants ...

At any rate, next week I'll get it right.

My Kid Said What? Part II

If I was able to keep track of all of the funny things my kids have said so far, it’s possible I would have already written a book. Since I don’t have time to write a book, a simple blog post with a few funny things will have to do. As my kids are getting bigger, it’s so fun to watch their personalities develop. Nothing has changed since my post: My Kid Said What? except I think my girls are getting funnier. 

My kids have a hard time sitting still on our couch. One night, we were in the middle of a movie and Stella rolled right off the couch onto the floor. She casually stood up and said “That was not a soft landing.”

I typically wait until the evenings to fold my laundry while I sit and watch a show to unwind. There was one day I happened to fold in the afternoon, and it was a day that Stella had been a bit mischievous. Our conversation went a little something like this:

Stella: “My brain is telling me to push over your laundry.”

Me: “Your brain may need a spankin’?”

Stella: “But that will hurt my whole body.”

Me: (laughing) “Then don’t touch my laundry.”

I’ve mention before that Talia has pretty bad eczema. She told me once, “I want my itches to go back to them house!”

Our kids get hurt all the time. They have no fear and think they can do whatever they want. Well, my husband got tired of them getting hurt and came up with a saying; he has them repeat it whenever they get hurt. “If you don’t do stupid things, you won’t get hurt.”

Our church has a Men’s softball team and they play on Tuesday nights. My little social butterfly makes new friends at the games and at this particular game, there were two young boys trying to climb trees next the the bleachers. I overheard Stella tell them “My uncles are way better at climbing trees!” Yes, because her teenage uncles are better at climbing than most six year olds…

Talia loves the same drinks as I do. I love Sweet Tea and she loves drinking my sweet tea.

Talia: “Mommy can I have a drink?”

Me: “I’ll think about it.”

Talia: “No, don’t think about it.”

I’m a sucker for an adorable response like that one. 

One of my husband’s favorite snacks are Cheez-its and our girls love sharing with him. Stella said, “Dad, say you’re welcome to my tummy because it is saying thank you for these Cheez-its.” We cracked up. 

Two weeks ago my nephew had his birthday party and my sister-in-law bought a little pool so all the kiddies could go swimming. Well, my daughter Talia wanted nothing to do with it. A few days ago she finally braved the water and decided to get in for a swim. She even came up with a new song. “My Booty’s all wet, My Booty’s all wet” (of course there was a little jig to go with it.)

This past week was VBS and there were a lot of kids around. The girls were so excited. Stella came up to me and very seriously expressed that she had bad news. I asked her what it was and she explained that she had two best friends! What a terrible problem to have as a four year old.  

What have your children done to make you laugh this week?