I Suck

no really, I suck.... at blogging.  I believe the two critical elements of blogging are pictures and consistency.  Yeah, I got neither of these.

But if you love me just keep waiting for that little notice that I finally got around to it.

Thanks for hanging in there.

Here's what I've been up to.  

• cooking mini quiches for a ladies brunch 
• helping my hubby with some rotten siding
• window shopping (not the fun walking kind, the 'oh crap that window is rotten too' kind)
• keeping kids away from nails, insulation, and old windows
• keeping healthy food readily available to hubby and kids
• creating a nursery volunteer sign up card
• taking kids to playground with friends
• having friends over for pizza and great "deck weather"
• watching my friends' two little boys and letting them, along with my little princess, play in the mud hole under the tire swing.
• meal planning, grocery shopping, and essential food prep (veggie tray, pizza crust,etc)
• shesh, the every morning scramble for breakfast and cold lunch prep simultaneously
• playing catch the laser with our dog
• handling & praying over our first call from the school counselor over our boy's (a little too blunt/rude) drawing of a previous teacher and some rude words spoken.......
• ....then posting Proverbs 12:18 all over the house, and teaching it to the kids
• filling out a ton of paper work: 3 awana registrations, 2 info/phone sheets for school and one boy scout info/phone/medical form
• taking my mom to wal-mart and cost-co for the necessary 2-48oz. bottles of Ranch, and for my mom 6lbs of m&m's!!! 
• fabric shopping to find the closest match I can to my cousin's wedding color (clover)
• making a tie for a reluctant 6&11/12 yr.old to be "ring guy" in said wedding
• making ribbon/elastic headbands for the 9 & 3 yr old "flower girls"
• attack cleaning my kitchen (all appliances,cabinets, floors, chairs) ..stove did itself though
• receiving, sorting and organizing tons of random beginning of the school year papers 
• and although I am just now remembering to mention it, I have been doing a great Bible study called Knowing God by Name and posting them all on notecards on my wall.
• did I mention that I keep a 3 year old entertained with minimal t.v. usage?

Okay, so that's what has been keeping from taking stunning pictures of my kids and posting them along with sweet motherly sentiments.  

As I heard at a Beth Moore conference recently.  "I am only 35%"  (meaning I do not have it all together) and I am not afraid to say it.  

Uh-Oh Mommy

I know that I should be blogging about the first day like the other mothers, but I took the pictures and it was really uneventful.  If you don't know me already I'm not terribly sappy.  So I am choosing to check back in with the "event" of my morning. 

So as it is with the first step of prayer, I will start this with confession.

I was on my laptop, checking in with the facebook page to be exact, and I ignored the sound of the chair being pushed across the tile floor.  But then I heard a disturbing sound.....the sound of 2, yes two pounds of M&M's spilling down and bouncing all over the tile floor.  Then a sweet little 3 year old voice saying "uh-oh Mommy".  I did take a picture but it just doesn't do it justice. And just incase you were wondering, all but about 1/2 a cup under the stove were recovered, and of course we kept them...they're m&m's!!

Pride goes before the Fall

Westwind Softball team
Originally uploaded by thetowfamily

If you haven't heard me talk about our new church Westwind..shame on me, because it is one of the most exciting ways that the Lord is working in our lives right now.
One of the things we did this summer was played softball with the Waukee Park and Rec program. It was a great way to get our name out in the public and have have fellowship with our new church family.
Tuesday night was our last game, and the pastors bought us and our families pizza, so we stood around and fellowshiped more, laughed more and ate more.
So here's why the title:
One of the most fit and naturally athletic girls(along with other great qualities) there was Hannah Safford (she's the one holding the bat in the picture). She was standing next to my daughter and her friend Grace showing off her muscular legs, and describing them as speedy. Well I could not let my daughter think I was some old crotchity woman (oh yeah, I made up that word) so I stood there and flexed my calf muscle too. And this would be a good place to interject that my legs are pretty much the only place that is "muscular" on my body at all. I mean come on I have had 3 babies, and two of those my abdomen was sliced open and sewn back together in it's stretched out state. So in my pride (and somekind of insanity) I accepted her challenge to "race". Yeah, you can see where this is going...can't ya?!
So yep we raced...she won...but only by about oooh...15feet.
And if that wasn't bad enough, I tripped and I did it good. It would have been a good youtube bit. Luckily I only walked away with a bruised knee and a bruised pride. But it was worth it for the memory.
Thanks Hannah, for not smokin' me worse :)