One Nutty Girl » Blessings

Good Morning!

mj — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:50:07 +0000

Good Morning Birdie!

It is 8:36 am and I am whipping out a quick little good morning post! I’m at Wrightsville Beach, NC (since Sunday) with my man. We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary that is actually tomorrow! I’ve been a good little techo girl and have not done anything but spend time with him, except a little Facebooking on the iPhone!

I have not even gotten my new camera out! I just shot these few pictures from our room, a walkout to the beach, while the man is still sleeping.

I could stare at this all day!

So, while I was waiting for this picture to download into my post a bird flew into my room! Oh my goodness, so glad he flew back out! I have now shut the door!

good morning tree!

It is now 8:47 am. Keeping my time online short and sweet! I’ve got a few hours before we depart back home. It was the perfect little getaway. I’m ready to return to the kids and dogs for a few more days until the weekend!

Blessings to all and have a wonderful day!

Be Still Mondays

mj — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:05:08 +0000

Today I want to share a very special moment I had last week with my oldest son, Ethan. A few weeks ago our pastor talked about how our church was partnering up with the African American church a mile away to help feed the children of Haiti. After service I went straight to the sign up table and signed Ethan and I up for the friday night session.

www.feedthehungry.org

I told Ethan all about what we would be doing and he was very excited. Well, Friday night came and I was EXHAUSTED, typical huh? All day long I thought in my head how I could get out of going. My husband was out of town and I needed to drop my younger son off for my parents to watch, and then all the way back over to the church. It just seemed like too much to do after a long day.

I knew deep in my heart that I had signed us up because I wanted to teach my son how we could help others. I focused on that desire and mustered up the energy and arrived at our church with him at 7:30 pm. We had almost an hour of worship, meeting new friends, and learning about the organization called Feed the Hungry we were packing the meals for. We learned how each packet contained rice and important added minerals and vitamins.

This boy makes me proud!

We then were issued our hair nets and headed into the gym to start packing with our new friends. Ethan thought the hair nets were so silly! Or course I had to whip out the iPhone and get a few quick pictures!

Our Team!

Our team started cranking out the manna packets! Ethan was in charge of the sealer while I held the bags in the sealer and then passed them on to be boxed. We were jamming to all kinds of Christian music! Everyone singing and dancing together while we worked. Each team would shout out when they completed a box. My precious boy looked up at me with such excitement and said “Mom, God likes what we are doing here, I could do this all night long”. It was true, I could have done it all night as well. My weariness had disappeared and I was renewed by what we were doing and who were were doing it for, the precious children of God.

Completed Packs

We worked for 2 hours and our team of 9 made 378 bags of rice, which totaled 2,268 meals! The entire room ended up boxing over 338,000 meals that will feed 93 children in Haiti for 1 year! There were several other shifts throughout the weekend. What a great feeling to know that 2 different very different groups of people came together to do God’s work and made such a huge difference in so many peoples lives.

I’m sad that I almost missed the wonderful blessing of doing this with my son because I was too tired.

Today is Be Still Linky Day. I would love it if you would link up anything you would like to share! Have a blessed week!

Does Your Husband Read Your Blog?

mj — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:09:52 +0000

Even though he does not read my blog, I am going to dedicate today’s post to him….and send him the link! My Man turned 45 on Saturday. He is quite easy on the eyes and does not look 45 at all! He puts up with a lot and I want to make sure he knows how much I appreciate him and all he does for me and our family.

Like Father Like Son

He is a wonderful father!

Beach Engineer

Master Sandcastle Engineer!

Other People's Stuff

He endures other’s peoples furniture in our garage on a frequent basis! {BTW I have been tasked with a fabulous $25 coffee table find to work on for a friend…it’s in the garage!}

Constant Color Changes

He is overall pretty calm about the constant color change, construction or rearrangement of things in our house.

Our Baby

He even has to endure my constant photo ops. Here I have forced him to hold our dog like a baby with our niece’s passy in his mouth! Now that is quite a pose! {The red thing in the passy}

I Love You!

He also has some serious style!

He is 5 years and 1 day older than me! We’ve celebrated 10 very special birthdays together! I look forward to spending maybe 50 more with him!

Happy {slightly belated!} Birthday to you D! I love you dear! Please leave me a comment and start reading my blog!

So, does your hubby read your blog? If not, write him a post and send him a link! It is the modern day love letter!

My New Camera

mj — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 03:07:19 +0000

I got my 40th birthday present {a few weeks early} last Thursday! After much deliberation and great advice from some photog’s I went with the Nikon D90! I put it in Auto Mode {because at this stage I have no earthly idea on how to use it!} and snapped a few pictures at the Lake this past weekend.

Nothing like a waffle on a boat!

We were graciously hosted by some dear friends. It was like a being at a bed and breakfast! Leftover morning waffles make great boating snacks!

Boat Cowlick in Action

We boated and relaxed…yes relaxed! My older son has fallen love with fishing. Each morning he would awake and hit the dock and fish. He caught a catfish one morning! I was still out cold and was summonsed out of bed by my hubby to “get the camera!“. I had buttloads of kids swarming me as I tried to snap a photo or two of the “Emperor Catfish”.

My little fisherman

The Big Catch

I will also tell you that our wonderful hostess gutted and filet this guy and one of his friends! I’ll spare you the details, but I do have it on film. My son at the whole fish and was so proud of himself!!

They could be brothers!

Ethan and Evan have been buddies since Kindergarten. They look like they could be brothers with their dark hair and brown eyes. The teacher used to get them mixed up sometimes! I’m so glad they could spend some good boy time together. By the way out of 4 families there were 10 boys and no girls. There was plenty of boy time!

We are so blessed to have generous friends to share a great Fourth of July weekend with! It was a great time to start to play with my new camera!

Inspired by Friendship

mj — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 03:49:13 +0000

She looked at me 8 years ago for the first time and “She Knew”.

She Knew I was a new mom.

She Knew I was struggling.

She Knew I was clueless.

She Knew we needed each other. She just Knew!

Meet someone who I often refer to as “My Soulmate”. This is Bernadette. I’ve never know any other Bernadette in all my life. I believe she was hand picked by God and placed in my life at just the perfect time. Yeah, perfect time….a baby that cried all the time and quite frankly terrorized me. {She had been terrorized too….so She Knew!}

Isn’t she just gorgeous? She is inside too! She has taken care of me all week. My husband is gone for the second week in a row! Thank God I had me some Bernadette. She had me and my kids over for dinner three nights in a row! She cooked for us, served us and cleaned up! She spoiled us rotten!

We totally just crack each other up. I love how she is two fisting a cup of coffee and a glass of wine here. Not to mention the fact that she is carrying mountains of crap around for me all day a few weeks ago at the Drake Naylor Invitational!

We have the same hair dresser, wear the same size {a much better deal for me b/c she is the one with the clothes} and we even have dogs that are brothers! OK, so am I getting my point across or just making you nauseous?

The point is that it is tough being a women. God gave us a big amazing job to do. I don’t believe for a second He gave it to us to do alone. He gave us the ability to encourage, support and love each other in ways that our husbands simply can not do.

I hope each one of you has a friend you can laugh until you pee your pants with {not me I had 2 C sections but it seems there is a group of you that pee yourselves a lot!} and cry big sobs with. Pray with. Confess deep down secrets. Even if that special someone is a friend you have made online. These bonds we form are important. They can be our lifelines!

Sometimes it is hard to reach out to someone that you know may need a friend. Sometimes we say to ourselves I’m too busy or I don’t need any more friends. Sometimes it is easier to be friends with some and not with others. Some friendships are a lot of work, others are just natural and fall into place. Some are healthy and some are not.

I pray that each of you get to experience a great friendship in your life. Bernadette is one of my most treasured…I’ve got a few more tucked away too! I love you all…you know who you are!

⁴² Jonathan said, “Go in peace! The two of us have vowed friendship in God’s name, saying, ‘Godwill be the bond between me and you, and between my children and your children forever!’” 1 Samuel 20:42

Selfish Mommy!

mj — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:16:00 +0000

I’ve just survived {I think} Day 2 of “Summer Home with The Boys”.

I. Am. Mentally. Spent.

I am having a selfish mommy meltdown. I’ve come to realize in the last two days that I have gotten very used to having them get on the bus at 7 am and not return home until almost 3. I’m having some serious transition issues I must say.

More fights to break up

More messes to clean up

8 extra hours of dialogue.

Oh the dialogue in my house is making me cringe. The sound of my yelling voice, the sound of my inside my head voice. {Thankful that the inside my head voice is staying there!} I tried a fake happy mommy voice for a few hours and that seemed to work well for awhile.

I’m so feel so ungrateful. I know I have healthy wonderful children whom I cherish, love and adore. But I’m just in an ill, frustrated, selfish, go away and leave me alone mood.

I want a quiet cup of coffee. I want to go workout. I want to clean my house. I want to finish my project. I want to organize my bills. I want to finish ALL the laundry. I want to do it alone!

Lord, help me not be a selfish mommy, give me strength to love the moment I am in and not desire the situation or things I do not have. Help me love them for the boys they are. Give me strength tomorrow for a new attitude.

Sweet Boy ~ Sweet Shot

mj — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:00:50 +0000

Sweet boy Drake!

This past Saturday was the 5th Annual Drake Naylor Invitational at Shanes Sporting Clays. It was an amazing day! I got to experience it from a different side than I had ever experienced before.

I’ve been smitten with photography for about a year now. I’m still using a little Canon point and shoot, but getting ready for the big purchase of a DLSR camera for the big 40, which is rapidly approaching. Anyway, Trish, Drakes precious mother, and my PIC at Seek the Triad, has the Nikon D90 with 5 lenses to choose from! Trish loaded me up with the camera around my neck and the backpack of lenses and I set out at 8 am to start taking shots of the event.

Wow! I experienced the event so much differently! I wasn’t just there, I was involved. I took over 400 pictures! I have not had time to look at most of them yet. But, here are 3 that I am in love with that I can proudly say, “I took that picture!”

Clay Targets

I love the orange color of the clay targets!

Daddy's boy!

The Naylor family raised over $50,000 for the Greensboro Cerebral Palsy Association! I was so proud to be a part of the day. It touched my heart to see the love and support that so many people gave.

Thank you Drake for being the awesome boy that you are! I love being a part of your world!

Today I’m linking up with Darcy at Life with My Three Boybarians for Sweet Shot Tuesday and Emily at Chatting at the Sky for Tuesday’s Unwrapped.

When Life Comes Crashing Down!

mj — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:28:38 +0000

A few weeks ago I was sitting in my dining room {which is currently under going a conversion to become my new home office!} when all of a sudden I was hit in the head! My mistreatments {as Nester would say!} had finally had enough of their less than perfect installation a little over a year ago. I snapped a picture in case I ever felt like writing about it ~ you never know!

The aftermath...

Today it seems like the perfect picture for how I am feeling {and I am sure many of you too}. Life is just going along fine and then and unexpected crash, a bump in the round, and it leaves you feeling like a pile of fabric on the floor.

I’ve been super busy lately. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends. I’ve pushed myself far. I’ve taken on a lot. Maybe too much. I’ve heard lots of voices that have said, “Stop!”, “Slow Down!” , “Say No!”. I’ve ignored every one of them!

Today was like any other day. Kids on bus, coffee, quiet time, dishes in dishwasher, brush teeth, get dressed and go to the gym. I was super excited because it was the second day of the new session of Seek Fit Club. I’d gotten a little slack and was eager to get there early {work out Geek-hate me if you wish!} to hit some biceps and triceps before class to get the Kelly Ripa Arm Project back in action. You know, the important things in life!

Anyway, about 10 minutes into class I became the Ultimate Dork and fell off the half ball thingy and twisted my ankle and came crashing down on the floor, right in front of all my new classmates, and the Proehlific Park staff at the front desk, including Ricky Proehl! It hurt so stinkin bad and still does!

So, here I lay in a total state of depression! A selfish state of thinking about myself and the impact of not being able to get up off the couch! {yes, about not being able to work out!} This girl does not do idle. I don’t know how to be still, not sit still, but BE STILL. {Maybe Lisa Leonard should send me one of her fabulous Be Still necklaces}

www.lisaleonardonline.com The Be Still Necklace

Anyway, God has spoken and I need to dig myself out of my selfish, “this can’t be happening, I need to get up and move”, pit I am in. He is telling me to Be Still. I am asking Him how?

Thank you reader Alisa for your beautiful and inspiring words in response to my question! Here they are for you all to read:

While you’re sitting there unable to maintain your Martha-like frenzy, be Mary. Since you’re a do-er (I’m afflicted with the same illness and struggle with bein still myself), start by making a list of you priorities. Then sit back and take a long, hard, prayerful look at them and put a little check beside the ones that have eternal, kingdom value. Make a new list putting all the ones without check marks at the bottom of your list. See what rises to the top and ask God to help you see what you need to “do” to focus your time and energy there. Because I know you’re a believer, what will rise to the top are some things that REQUIRE your being still > time alone with God in the Word and in prayer (here’s another list place – re-do your prayer list, praying earnestly for each person on the list as you go), ministering to others with a call or a card, etc…..Lastly, book recommendation:
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World

Happy Birthday to You!

mj — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:59:13 +0000

Oh my! My baby turned 6 today! I am so blessed to be the mother of this child! I’m praising the Lord this morning that he created him and has gifted him to me. It is such a wild, wonderful and often times frustrating gift, but I would not trade the joy he has brought into my life for anything!

Here are 6 things that I love about you.….

Oh those eyes!

1. Your eyes. They are so full of life and expression. They tell stories {many often tall tales!} on their own. I can read everything about you through your eyes. I can see their joy and feel their pain. I can see the love you have for me and others through them too!

No words!

2. Your sense of humor. Only you would get your brother to take this photo for me to find on my camera!

Mr. Adventure!

3. Your adventurous side. You walked at 10 months, you ran at 11 months, you climbed out {and thankfully back in too!} of your crib constantly, you climbed everything, you jump of everything, you chase rabbits and squirrels and birds! You live life! You give me scares, but you have taught me so much through them. You taught me how to let you be you and trust the Lord that He will protect you when I am not there. This is who you are and I embrace you!

One Man Show!

4. Your creativity. You truly are a One Man Show! You crack me up constantly and I find it so hard to be mad at you for very long. I think you totally work that to your advantage.

Cuddle Bug!

5. You still cuddle. You are my total cuddle bug. I love that you still want to hug me and kiss all over me at 6. I love the beautiful words you say to me, like “Mom you are so beautiful in your pink sweatpants and your green eyes. I can’t stop loving you. I’m a magnet to you!” Boy, keep those words a coming. I just eat them up!

Don't grow up!

6. You are growing up too. Hard to admit, but it is happening. I pray that as you grow up I can teach you to be the man that God wants you to be. That you will learn from me and Daddy how much we love you and why we have to “be mean” sometimes. We want you to be a good man!

Happy Birthday Gray Goo! Love, MaMoo

Scenes from Park Slope ~ Brooklyn Part 2

mj — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:00:30 +0000

Still on baby watch in Brooklyn. No new nephew yet. Today we took a nice long walk around Park Slope and hit the playground for a bit. Thought I would share a few scenes with you….

Love the Red Door!

PS 39

My nephew and his girlfriend

the first signs of Spring!

Black Squirrel scores a napkin!

This rare black squirrel was so happy that he scored this lush napkin for his nest!

Enjoy the scenery….hopefully I will have some newborn shots before I have to depart on Sunday!