Its a long post, but ends with ponytails...

WOW... its been a bit since I have written a decent post. I have been in a funk about blogging. About lots of things, actually. I think I know one reason for this....

I have been convicted lately about how much time I am on the computer. I have become on of many who have been sucked into the "online social network" craze. While it does have its benefits, it lately has caused me ignore other important things in life.. or at least make them less important. I am such a social bug.. I love connecting with people. But it can't be at the expense of my family and close friends. That's ridiculous! Anyhoooo.. I dumped my Twitter account and been on FB not as much during the day. Since then I have been amazed at how much more I have gotten done. Crazy! I seriously thought about dumping Facebook, too.. but I am on my High School reunion committee and we are using FB to communicate info with classmates, so I really can't. Maybe this fall.. who knows. Since blogging was how it all started for me, I WILL keep this up.. I actually enjoy it the most.

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord" (NOT facebook, twitter, blogging.. etc) "and he will grant you the desires of your heart." I feel the "funk" I am in is due to my heart needing to be recharged... with the right things! I am excited for that!

Ok.. off that soapbox now (sorry for the ramble). What else has been going on? Hmmm..

• The basement is SO close to being move in readly.. Doug has been working so hard to get it done.. which is hard when a sweet 2 year old wants ALL of his time when he is home! I am so excited.

• We had a very postive end to a customer service issue we were having with the store be bought furniture from 3 years ago. Long story short.. we got a brand new sofa and love seat for the basement.. for $24!! Seriously!

• Unfortunately we have had a NOT so good customer service experiences with Verizon lately. I have heard SO many people complain about them.. but we have really never had any issues with them (and we have ALL of our services with them... tv, phone, cell phone, internet). Until now. Ugh..

• I need a haircut. And color. BAD!

• I felt God laying on my heart for me to give up something for lent. While it may be a sacrifice for me.. in comparison to what HE did for me.. it's small potatoes! 2 days in.. so far so good. Thanks for the strength, God! :)
  

• We took out and washed Evelyn's car seat for the first time since it was installed (15mths ago...GASP!). Let's just say it wasn't pretty.. how many cheerios can slip inside that thing.. sheesh! It's great to have it clean again!

• My daughter still doesn't sleep consistently at night. Yes, she IS 2. It's painful. We are always tired (hmmm.. that could be part of my "funk" as well). Trust me.. we have tried everything. Both Doug and I weren't sleepers either.. apparently its payback time! FUN! Actually, I am hoping God is just doing this so I will still be used to being tired when we have another one! :)

• NASCAR season has started... I am excited. Let's go racin' boys!

• We are working thru the budget again. It's a good thing.. there is always room for improvement!
  

I wish I could think of more enticing things to tell you about... maybe next time.

Onto the ponytails. I'm ending with this. I'll let the pics do the talking.

I can't begin to tell you how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE being her mom!

That's all I have... enjoy the weekend, all!

Looking back..

February 13th, 2007
(Enlarge to look at her crazy hair! It was like that for months! Man, she was cute, and still is! )

February 13th, 2008

February 13th, 2009

She really hasn't changed much.. right? :)

And some random shots from the week...

At my friend Sara's baby shower. Here is Evelyn checking out baby David with my friend Kori (or Miss Kowee, as Evelyn calls her!). Evelyn LOVES LOVES LOVES babies.. she will make a great big sister someday.... (*sigh*)

Her new favorite place to chat on the phone. Actually, her new favorite place PERIOD. We made Valentine's day cookies today and she got to sit on the counter for the first time and help/watch. Oh, my.. she was SO excited! I can't remember how many times I was asked "please pick me up to sit on counter, mommy" today after making cookies. I guess its really not a big deal.. right? By the way.. she never is up there unattended! And also by the way, she is talking to daddy... she didn't want to talk on speaker phone anymore. Apparently she wanted daddy all to herself for a bit! :) She is becoming quite the talker!

That's all I have today.. I feel like I am in a blogging funk. I need to work on that. Hopefully it will get more exciting again soon!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Getting there...

Believe it or not, we are STILL trying to get completely better around here! Its been going on too long, in my opinion! Thankfully I think we are on the tail end of it... we all have just a tinge of congestion and are just really tired!! We are hoping to catch up on some sleep this weekend.. although I feel like I am SO behind on everything since I pretty much felt like doing NADA this week. I will probably bust my bootie to get back on track instead of sleep. Oh.. the joys of motherhood! :)

Since it IS Friday, I will post a few pics from the week... since, really, I only have a few!


Evelyn's friend Juliet came over the other day. These two were cracking me up as they sat on the chair (and both of them agreed the doll had to be in the middle)! They just kept looking at each other and giggling. It was SO sweet!

Ok.. so I FINALLY got Evelyn to let me put her hair in a "nice" pony tail with a clip in her sideswept bangs (not just one thrown in to get hair up out of the way) for a birthday party yesterday. It was SO cute. However, she would NOT let me get a picture of her, except for ones like this. Stinker! You can kind of see it in the picture.. it really did look cute!

Last but not least.. dear Judi. This is Evelyn and Judi back in May. Judi is our Mom's "Coach" for our MOMS group at church. Our small group has been together 2 years now and Judi has been our "coach" the entire time, offering awesome bits of wisdom and gentle encouragment as we all are first time moms. She has been battling a "cold" for almost 2 months. Today is has been confirmed that Judi has lung cancer and she is in the hospital quite ill. I am heartbroken and on my knees on her behalf. I am hoping for the best for my dear friend...

Give extra hugs to those you love tonight....

Stay tuned..

... We have all been sick over here for almost a week. On top of that I can't seem to sleep lately either. Ugh! I really have no creative brain cells in me to compose any sort of post right now. I am hoping to get all of us back on the healthy band wagon SOON!

I'll leave you with a scanned Evelyn pic from her latest photo shoot. The quality of the scan isn't great.. but here it is...


So.. like I said... stay tuned. I'll be back!