Sorry :(

sorry.  savannah says it all the time now... except her's sound more like "sawry."  so cute.  {except when she took off her diaper in the crib and when i came in said "sorry."  that was just gross}

but, i digress.

i'm so sorry, y'all.  i usually am good about responding to comments.  not lately.  gigantic fail.

gigantic fail because i really love comments.  soo... just getting it out there that i am so sorry i didn't respond.  i meant to.  please don't stop commenting.  i will do better. 

and thank you, thank you.  the overwhelming positive energy from you all on facebook and my little comment section about savvy's costume and chloe's return.... makes my heart happy.

ummm... i just threw up in my mouth a little, because one of the most insincere people i have ever personally known always said "thank you, thank you."  i promise -- i was being sincere.

but if you can tell me who said "thank you, thank you" i will figure out a prize and mail it to you!

xoxo, s

halloween costumes... and good news

so, first, the good news.

chloe came home!!!  last night.  praise god.  really.  i prayed for that little cat... "keep her safe and healthy.  if she wants to come home, please help her find a way"  

i prayed that over and over. 

and all i can say is that god is faithful. 

faustino had a journal club meeting after work and didn't get home until 9 or so... we chitchat-ed a bit and then he had to get something out of his car that i am sure pertained to the big presentation this morning.  while he was out there, his phone started ringing {it had to do with the presentation} and i took him the phone.  he then stayed outside and talked on the phone awhile {he is not a soft talker, and he likes to pace... both are no-no's if anyone is trying to sleep in the house} and he was talking and walking all over the front yard.  and then he started to hear a meow.

and then he saw her.  he came in got me {still on the phone!} and i went outside and plucked her off of my neighbors porch.  it looks a lot like our porch... was she confused?

i told you she wasn't very smart.

so thankful for the timing of everything -- that faustino would be outside in our yard for an extended period of time.  so thankful he heard her.  i could go on... but there aren't really coincidences, are there? 

the even more amazing thing?  she isn't hurt.  at all.  she has a rough spot on her ear, but i can't really tell what its from.  a fight?  a scratchy branch?  who knows.  it's not something you would take a cat to the vet over...

de-clawed, stupid, cat.  out in the big bad world of feral alley cats.  and busy streets.  from friday at some point until tuesday night.  incredible.  

the only problem was that she was so gross.  i mean, a long hair cat was NOT made to roam outside.  at all.  i will spare you the details but suffice it to say that i was thoroughly grossed out by all the nastiness on her belly and it was not mud.  she was quarantined to the bathroom and i had to stop what i was doing and groom her.  shave her fur.  bathe her.  so not fun.  wow, folks.  i could never work at glamour paws.  or petsmart.

and really, she was so nasty, it would have been embarrassing to even take her there.  and it needed to be done right away.  it was 911.

and then i had to thoroughly disinfect the bathroom.

lord.

but still.  so incredibly thankful that she gets to come back and live her little life in our nest.  and now it looks like she could win worst pet hair cut ever.  EVER.  if you laugh at it, you can pony up the cash for a pro.  its not in the budget around here...

i'll get a picture of her at some point so you can feel bad for her.  i'm sure, that just like people hair, it will grow ;)

and now... halloween costumes.  it's supposed to be cold/wet/more seasonally appropriate later in the week.  so i had them don their costumes and pose for some photos.  i didn't even bother to move the plants that need to be planted from the background.  just keeping it real. 

our owl and red iron man.  i made the owl... inspired by a pin from pinterest that took me to this tutorial for an owl costume... except i ditched the mask and bought a winter hat from target for $12. 

and ethan's costume he originally picked out in costume express... you know?  the junk mail catalog that comes in september?  well... $45 before the gloves and accessories... before tax and shipping... uhhh... no.  so i lucked out and got this costume at JBF.  for $15.  and the quality of the mask is way better than the ones at target... and the accessories are at least $15.  i just had to do a little repair and buy a light for $10.  so... $25 vs. $50+  :)

so these are my two goofsters. 

i don't know what i said... but they reacted the same way.  :)

fun times. 

xoxo, s

bullets!

hi y'all.  lot's of randoms today... so i will resort to bullets.

::  thanks for the kind feedback from last week.  makes a girl feel good.  :)  maybe i should add more substance to blog, eh?  i'll try.  sometimes its a little scary to put it all out there.  i try to be open and honest on here, but i do not want to over share.  i'll work on some stuff... 

::  savannah is quite the chatterbox lately.  i've been counting and she knows over 100 words!  incredible.  ethan didn't talk this early at all, so it really blows me away to hear little things come out of her mouth.  ethan thinks it is fun to teach her or get her to say a word on cue "sa-nana.  say, applesauce!"  and she will.  so fun.

::  i will dwell on the loveliness of the above bullet when ethan pushes, pulls, hits and demands that she get out of the way or stop playing with his things.  sibling squabbles are not fun!  and i feel like they are here to stay.

::  saturday.  i made a cassorole that i thought would be awesome.  F A I L.  fail x 100.  i usually whip up really good stuff in the kitchen.  i taught myself to cook from lots of cookbooks that i read, cover to cover, in college {i like a recipe to go off of, but can tweak it.  i definitely have a comfort zone.  i am lacking the whole, i-watched-my-mother-make-it-this-way-a-thousand-times-and-this-is-my-twist.} but for the most part i don't suck at cooking.  if given ample allotments of time and money, i really love cooking. but this was not good.  at all.  it involves mayonnaise {already not my favorite} and artichokes {this is a bad combo}  argh.

::  i lost a bet to faustino and now have to eat the entire disgusting casserole on my own.  i just ate a big plate full and think i am going to die.  oh, people.  mercy.

::  friday night around 11:00 i started thinking, where is chloe?? {my himalayan cat that i have had since my sophomore year at baylor} and i looked EVERYWHERE.  she's gone, y'all.  gone.  i really don't know how she got out, but she is gone.  i am hyper-vigilant about the cats not getting out, and chole never runs for the door when its open.  so sad.  i am absolutely sick.  she's declawed and a little stupid, and i fear for her survival.  last year when we lost hobbes, i held fast to the fact that he is a smart cat... but chloe...  can you add a cat to your prayer list?  is that totally silly?  i just want her furry little self to come home safely.  and i know you must think i am awful - losing a cat last year, and now this year... i promise this is completely strange.  you can read about hobbes' escape and return from last year...

::  because chloe is super laid back and not very interactive with the munchkins, they don't realize she's gone.  so at least i don't have to field 37 billion questions about it.  and endure ethan rolling the window down and calling out her name like he did last year for hobbes.  it killed me.

::  saturday morning.  we did have fun at a bounce house party.  of course, ethan didn't bounce.  he's not a bounce house bouncer.  the couch?  yes.  the bounce house... not so much.  but really, i don't blame him.  i have nightmarish thoughts still about the time as a very young child {ethan's age??} about when i was at the "yamboree" {longview folks, you know what i'm talking about} and was playing in a bounce house in the midway section of the fair and was sucked into the edge of the bounce house while big kids jumped nearby, further wedging me down between the floor and the wall.  i was screaming.  i think someone must have dug me out but i don't remember anything after that.  and don't want to.  it must have been horrid.

::  ethan helped me decide on accessories for an outfit i wore this week, and my husband said that i have hit a low point in my fashion-ability when i seek the council of a three year old.  just wait til' residency is over.... hahahha.  just kidding.  well, kind of...

::  i dressed up another time and ethan told me i looked very pretty.  {think:  blouse and shorts and lipstick verses yoga pants and a tshirt around the house}  perhaps i need to dress up more often?!!

::  i started and finished little savannah's owl costume.  so cute.  yes, i wanted her to be a little lamb.  but this was easier/cheaper.  and money talks.  so thanks to some pinterest inspiration, she's all set.

::  maybe i'll do a little halloween photo shoot tomorrow. 

::  we celebrated sue's birthday...

:: and then went to a halloween trunk or treat carnival at the kids' school.  fun times.  i now have my bribes fully stocked.  :)

::  the lord has blessed me with a napping preschooler.  hallelujah!  almost everyday.  really.  did He know that i was at the brink of my sanity??

::  we are the humbled, thrilled, beyond grateful recipients of hand-me-down clothes for the kids.  last week it was cool enough to need a winter coat, and it was ethan's first time to see it.  he was so excited that he won't separate himself from it and sleeps with it every night!!!  i showed him a sweat shirt and he has been sleeping with that one, too.  lordy!

::  think how happy kids who really need a coat are when they get one.  the kids in the foster system.  or homeless kids.  so sad.  that motivates me to really find ways to give to children in need.  and to involve my children.

::  and one last thing, because it sounds like savannah is beginning to wake up.  do you have an iphone 3gs??  have you done the software update??  i am dying to... but scared.  please, do tell!  my inner nerd is dying for a 4s because i want Siri....


xoxo, stephanie

the bane of my existance.

is my kitchen floor.  i'm kidding.  really.  i'm just exaggerating, of course.

i think i need a disclaimer.  i am so grateful.  so, so, SO grateful.  my cup overflows.  please don't take this as whining... i'm not.  i'm just stating the facts, friends :)

***

and also, my many friends with housekeepers... just pretend you understand, k?  :)

***

and one more thing.  i'll throw in a couple of photos of the kids.  because really, you don't just want me to show you tons of tile pics.

***

i cleaned my kitchen floor this past week.  i made quick work of what was before a dreadful task... thanks to my mother-in-law, who saw a random tidbit on television.

shaving cream will clean unsealed slate.

this is revolutionary news to me.  maybe you are martha stewart, and already know this.  or maybe you are a better housewife than me, and instinctively know.

i did not.

so after a trip to the dollar store to buy shaving cream {i wasn't about to use faustino's on the floor} and 2 scrub brushes from the walmart {not my favorite place. at. all.} from last summer when i was really only thinking about cleaning my floor, i was ready to begin.

let me just say, for those of you who are not familiar with this particular thing, unsealed slate is porous.  maybe all slate isn't as porous as mine... i've only lived in one house {this one} with slate.

and as a side note, slate does best on a very sturdy subfloor.  now, i don't know much, but sturdy and or stable is not the way i would describe the flooring or foundation of my nest.  {examples:  there was the time back before i was married where the house shifted so that i had to enter through the side door because the front door lock was stuck.  that was fun... and just as recently as last weekend i was doing the victory dance because the house shifted in the last cool front and i can fully shut the kids bedroom door!  and open their closet all the way!!!!}  so some of my tiles and grout have gotten a little shifty.  and that's okay.  but i am a perfectionist sometimes, and this is a contributing factor to my inability to get it perfect!!!! 

so, when i first moved into my little home, all by my lonesome, after college, i LOVED my slate kitchen tile.  i worked all day, then came home in the evenings... faustino was in medical school, his family lived in town and his mom is an awesome cook.  what i am trying to say is that it was easy to love my floor back then.  i wasn't home to get it dirty.

and then i got married.  started cooking more.  staying home more.  using my house.  and the floor got dirty.  and it baffled me.  i would mop.  it wouldn't get clean.

getting it wet was disgusting.  how on earth could i clean it???

i did try to google it, but didn't get meaningful results.

i ended up scrubbing with rags and dawn and clorox wipes for HOURS.  e l b o w g r e a s e.

i almost finished.  but i stopped caring.  well.  nix that.  i stopped caring about finishing the last 8 tiles.  i DID care about anyone tracking dirt in/spilling things on my floor.  i was crazy.

but over time, it got grungy again.

i adopted the "we just won't eat off the floor" attitude.  if people all over the world could handle a packed dirt floor, i could handle a dirty slate floor.

when savannah started crawling, i just didn't let her in the kitchen.  i would pick her up and redirect.  oh! my baby!  get off that nasty floor!!!    

but then i heard about the shaving cream.  minimal elbow grease, people.  amazing.

but it does take a while to do it and so, while mopping up shaving cream, i was thinking.

thinking about how i am so incredibly accepting of our house now.  i am happy to live here.  really.  slugs and all.  well.  i don't know about that.

i remember thinking when we got engaged that after we got married, maybe we would move.  but that wasn't a fiscally prudent decision.  so we stayed.  and i remember thinking that when we started residency that maybe we could buy a house.  we looked at houses.  and quickly realized that this is where we needed to stay.  and then, as close as 6 months ago, i thought we could potentially be moving into a bigger house down the street.  guess what?  we didn't.

so this will be our home the entire time i have lived here.  since i graduated from baylor in 2004.  all the way until residency is over.  our little house has been the birthplace of many of my most treasured memories.  i became an adult, started a life, got married, had babies, christmases, holidays, birthdays, on and on.

i think god has been working on my heart.  my spirit.  humility.  compassion.  sacrifice.   

so as i scrubbed my tile, wiping away dark gray shaving cream sludge, i thought about our home.  and as i dug shaving cream out of the holes where grout is missing i thought about teaching contentment to my children.

how do you teach your children the peace of knowing your place in the world - being content with the little bitty home filled with love and a lack of window treatments - but at the same time, give them the energy to reject things they don't like and to strive for better?  how??  how do you teach that balance.  or rather, paradox?

it seems so contradictory.  but i firmly believe that one must be somewhat unhappy with where they are in life, in order to propel oneself forward to "better" circumstances.  perhaps i should just say "different" circumstances, since better is certainly quite subjective.

and although you can apply this to a financial/monetary scenario, it encompasses many things that are far from fiscal.

i understand, or try to at least, this in my own life.  but to teach my children... 


i want to my children to have the gift of peace.  but i want them to desire to innovate.  to stretch.  grow.  become more of what they already are.  become the best they can be.

so... i leave you with that.  shaving cream.  slate tiles.  the war of contentment and striving for excellence.  a photo of my grimy floor.  half cleaned. 

and gee, if i had a housekeeper, would i ever ponder deep subjects??

last week is over! + a link to our family photos!

last week was a long week of half done projects and running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  faustino was at a conference in florida, and i had a week to "accomplish lots of messy projects" like... cleaning out closets.  and cleaning out toys.  and scrubbing the kitchen floor cinderella style.  you know, because if he is gone, i can do those drag-everything-out-to-organize-it projects.

these kind of projects give me heart palpitations.  really.  i text pictures to jenn with all the clothes spread out everywhere... and seriously.  so bad.  it made me feel like a hoarder.

i managed to get it all sorted and picked up by the time he came home.  thank. god.

i really thought i would get everything done.  i did not.

but i fully enjoyed my kids.





i also got some quality time with my mother who came so that i could get my hair cut.  wonderful.  and i used a different salon this time.  why didn't i change stylists a long time ago?  my old stylist was so frightfully negative.  the new stylist was l o v e l y.  i highly recommend ale at esoterica.  

also, ethan played lots of mighty world.  do you know about mighty world?  they are big boy toys with little pieces... he plays with them when savannah naps, and is so cute about cleaning it up.  love.







and i also did the dreaded search to find what we would wear for our family photos....it ended in success.  you can see the previews on sabrina's blog.

i am so so so so so so happy with the previews.  i have a very sweet and talented friend, no doubt.  i feel blessed so far beyond what i deserve.  so, thank you, sabrina, for capturing my family with your camera.  and i will shamelessly plug sabrina.  she has a gift.  you should have seen how ethan was doing everything she asked.  amazing.  so, go.  book your photos with her.  :)

xoxo, s

time flies

when you are trying to tackle projects.  except... i can't cross much off my list.  b u m m e r

and how on earth did that happen?  i tried so hard!  do y'all ever underestimate how quickly you can get stuff done?? 

happy monday, folks

its blurry.  but aren't they cute?  they want to sleep like that every night.  i have to be the bad guy and put savannah into her crib.  soooo cute.

so while they snuggled with their grammy in the beautiful dreary weather this weekend, mama and daddy drove to my friend jenny's wedding in houston {fun!  and fancy soul food was on the menu - YUM!  more shrimp and grits for me!!!!} and i got to visit my friend, jenn.  and yes, i got to hear her adorable son say the too-cute-for-words "hi, y'all."  m e l t. 

jenn and jenny in the same weekend.  i think i confused my mother in law with the same name-ness of it all.  but for clarity, this is jenny.  this is jenn. 

now that's settled.

i talk to jenn like 11 times a week.  i mean, a week were we hardly talk is like, we only talked 4 times.  i'm not exaggerating.  it will be nice when she lives a little closer and maybe we can get together more often.  i mean, the last time i was at her house, she was pregnant, i think.  or maybe not yet pregnant.  with emma.  i mean, it was such a long time ago.  i remember her showing me the crib...but i don't remember the chaos of a baby.  and now her "baby" just turned 5!  maybe we should try a little harder to get together, eh?  :)

and last night, i was catching up on the tivo {and recovering from too much food, champagne, and driving in the rain}... and i made a TO DO list this week.  holy moly.  i almost added read the entire bible and become fluent in italian to it just to make me smile.  there is no humanly way i can cross all that off.  but i am going to try.

there are lots of big projects.  like organize all the kids clothes/drawers/closet.  and that is a major task.  we are short on space... so if you could just appreciate that fact for a moment....  ahh.  scary.

and clean my kitchen floor with shaving cream.  i'll report back on that one.

and i am itching to sew savannah a skirt.  and... we are taking family photos this coming weekend.  what. to. wear.?????????????? hate deciding that!

and i am going to try really hard to not stay up until 3 am every night.  

must run.  i have a lot to do.  and it starts with taking my kids to the park! 

xoxo, s

the third decade.

first blogger changes.  and facebook.  and pinterest.  and it's not like i am still getting my internet from an aol cd, but i am feeling behind the times.  resistant to change.  i know i will like it eventually, but, ugh.  it's new.  and i have to think.  and ewww... i like autopilot, thankyouverymuch.  plus, i don't want to spend my time figuring out how to do whatever i used to know how to do just fine.  i still haven't taken the plunge to update my mac to lion.  change is hard for me.  y'all, too?  do you have a blog with blogger?  did you switch back to the old interface after a week because, like me, you didn't want to deal with it?

i'm feeling like an old person in the world of technology.  i guess i should mention that i turned 30 last week.  kids that were born in the 90's can buy beer.  the girl that babysat savannah the other day wasn't yet in kindergarten when our old red car was manufactured.  for reals.  i am so old. 

and i know its a "milestone birthday" and all, but it really didn't feel that way... but not in a bad way.  i'm just not a big birthday person.  i'm not the one that wants to tell everyone, or throw a party for myself, etc.

i did have a nice dinner with faustino at ellerbe.  and that was a treat.  and i ate bufalo {which i guess is like a water buffalo. it was a new food for me.}  and bread pudding.  heaven.

and my mother and ethan bought some bundtlets from nothing bundt cakes for me.  and we sang... {kids like that sort of thing} and bundtlets are good.  and i might have had the leftovers for breakfast the next day.  and i might have distracted the kids with the tv so that i didn't have to share.  poor form, i know.

the week before my parents were in town and we went out for a quick lunch and celebrated both my sister and me, since our birthdays are two days apart.  well, more like, 5 years and 2 days.  you get the point.

and facebook o v e r w h e l m e d me with happy birthdays.  and that was really stinking cool.  i have never been a big facebook happybirthday-er.  but.... i might have to change my ways.  it was quite enjoyable to see so many people write on my wall.  do y'all all read the blog??

flattered. 

anyway, i am thinking that rather than do a january - january goal setting/resolution thing, maybe it should be a birthday - birthday thing.

it sounds much less stressful for some reason.

and let's face it.  i haven't been so great on this past year's goals.  or resolutions.  really.  like, i won't even link to them because... it's embarrassing.  fail.

so, i'll work on this new method.  year 30.  i'm still fine tuning some of it... but let's just say it should begin with exercise.  :)   and probably less food.  because really, i love to eat.  not junk really.  just... bacon.  and bread with butter.  mmmm...

i'll make a list and get back to you.  promise.  i think i need to be  r e a l l y  specific. 

but for now i think i'll watch tivo'd parenthood... xoxo, s

firehouse fun

on friday we went to a birthday party for ethan's little friend william, and we had so much fun.

{SIDE NOTE -  he was OBSESSED with william all during the last school year and summer.  fake-calls him on a fake-cell phone and tells him about what he is doing.  before we do something important, like get dressed, he'll say --"wait.  i have to call my william.  william, i am getting dressed. okay. bye."  poor thing wasn't in his class this year.  but mom to the rescue -- he sees him on thrusday when i go to my bible study.  don't think it wasn't one of the reasons i started going to the bible study.  it was.  ethan finally has given it a rest asking to see william everyday.}

i totally TOTALLY splurged.  sister had a babysitter.

why?  because we went to the firehouse.  and let me just tell you, i made a wise choice.  my knows-no-limits-to-her-energy savannah would not have been a welcome sight by those firemen.  sister wouldn't have been up for following the rules. 

and firehouses have rules.  and these little boys were eager to follow them.  and the payoff was worth it.  i wish you could have felt the excitement radiating out of ethan. 

i took a video of him at this point too... they were watching a fire engine back into the firehouse.  wow.  i mean, i thought they would jump out of their skin with excitement.  really.

and ethan got to do fun stuff... like sit in the firetruck.

and see things like, the jaws of life.  we parents stood around in the back the whole time with OMG expressions on our faces -- "ahh!!! don't tell my baby about using an ax to cut a whole in the roof of a burning house!  don't tell him about the jaws of life!!  or the wall with the photos of the fireman that have lost their lives.  or even all the stop, drop, rolling...  I DON'T WANT HIM TO LEARN ABOUT THE SCARY STUFF."  we all felt that way.  but really, it's life.  and they will learn.  so we didn't say anything... but gee, i was happy he didn't ask any questions on the way home!

but he totally asked questions while we were there.  in fact.  he was the only one.  every time.  raising his hand... several questions in a row.  it was almost getting embarrassing!  but it was cute, too.  i love his inquisitive mind.  but this is why i am mentally exhausted by bedtime!! 

he saw the pole that they slide down that is hidden in a closet.  and yes.  he's tried sliding down a few things that aren't poles since then :)

and he had fun with his friend.  which really melts my heart.  its a beautiful thing to see my son make friends with people. 

so friends, if you are looking to have the coolest birthday party for your preschool boy, then copy william's mom.  because this might have been the highlight of their little lives.