Offering Thanks

I heard one of my favorite Nichole Nordeman songs today. Every Season. If you've never heard it, go listen here. It is beautiful!

Depending on what's going on in my life, I relate to each of the different seasons in the lyrics. Today I was captured by the autumn lyrics--it's the last day of September and the wind has been howling and stripping all the trees of their beautiful leaves! The song also alludes to autumn being a season to offer thanks.

With that in mind, here are a few things I'm feeling thankful for this evening...

--The girls are feeling much better. Their fevers were almost non-existent today. They spiked again before dinner, but it feels like the worst is behind us. I am so grateful.

--So thankful John works hard to provide for us and that his hard work allows me to stay at home. The girls are staying home from school again tomorrow (fourth day this week) and I realize what a blessing it is to not have to worry about choosing my family over work. I do NOT take that for granted. Ever.

--Grateful for friends and neighbors who have called to check on us or offered to run by the store for things we might need. I've said it before but we have THE best neighbors (and friends). I feel like they'd do just about anything I asked them to do. Such a blessing!

--Thankful that I had some time away last weekend. John felt bad that I came home and jumped right into caring for sick kids, but really, it was nice to have that break. I'm grateful he was willing to play nurse and let me get away! Also a little bit thankful that everyone wasn't sick when I left or otherwise my mom-guilt would have taken over and I'd probably have stayed home.

--Very grateful that John and I are still feeling well. Will had a super mild case of something last week, but honestly, I'm not sure it was the flu. I didn't take him to the doctor because I thought he just had a slight cold. The girls have been SO much sicker!

--I LOVE our church. I was so sad when I dropped Will off tonight that our family couldn't all be there. I've been so surprised--in a good way--about how much I'm enjoying going on Wednesday evenings. Another big blessing!

Those are just a few things I've been grateful for this week. What about you guys? Anything you feel like offering thanks for? 'Tis the season, you know.

Reader Request: Lunchbox Ideas

My college friend, Deena, asked me back in May if I would consider doing a blog post on packing school lunches. I was so tired of packing lunches in May that I told her I'd be happy do it if she'd be willing to wait until the fall. Well, I totally spaced it until I found her email buried at the bottom of my inbox last month. I'm most definitely back in my lunch-box-packing-groove these days.

Deena was mainly interested in ideas for different kinds of food to pack. You guys probably have some good ideas to share as well. Here's a list of the stuff I typically buy/pack for my kids. I try to choose something from every group (except treats), and I try to rotate things so the kids don't get bored with their choices.

Meat/Protein:

Peanut butter & jelly (or honey) Thankfully we're not a nut-free school.

Almonds

Turkey

Salami

Soy nuts

Sunflower seeds

Roasted pumpkin seeds (I buy these at the health food store).

Hot dogs - we like this brand

My kids don't like ham or bologna (bologna, blech!) or most any other lunch meat. They don't even really like sandwiches that much. Most of the time, I just put a few slices of turkey or salami in their lunch.

Dairy:

Yogurt-I stock up when these are on sale.

Cheese

Pudding

My kids are not big on dairy products! Pudding is probably more of a treat than a dairy product, but my kids eat so little dairy that I'm okay with it. It's hard for them to get all their daily servings in.

Carbs:

popcorn (I have one of these poppers and I buy my kernels in bulk. SO much cheaper--around .75/lb--and did you know popcorn is a whole grain?)

Pirate's Booty

Z-bars (my kids like chocolate chip and blueberry)

pretzels

granola bars (The girls like this brand)

trail mix

graham crackers

cheese crackers (CheezIts or Goldfish)

whole grain crackers/regular crackers

dry cereal

muffins (carrot/apple & flaxseed are our faves!)

Sarah begs me to make these bars all the time!

Veggies:

Carrots

Sugar snap peas

Veggie chips (used to buy some in a blue bag at Walmart but can't find them there anymore)

I just bought these potato snacks. They were very good. But I consider potatoes a carb instead of a veggie.

Hummus (only one of my kids will eat it though)

I think veggies are hard. Sometimes it helps to have a side of ranch for dipping.

The stuff above is what I pack week after week. However, I have one child who LOVES veggies and will ask to take leftover broccoli or green beans or asparagus or edamame or spinach in her lunch. I KNOW! She's the exception to the rule...and a nutritionist's dream child. My other two are pretty anti-vegetable.

Fruit:

Fresh fruit in season

Fruit Leather (I buy this and this)

Applesauce

Pineapple cups. The only fruit cups I will buy (other than applesauce) is pineapple because it's the only one I can find that doesn't have HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) added to it.

Raisins/Craisins

Dried apples

This one is EASY for my kids. They love fruit, and I bet yours do too.

However, these are some things I like to keep on hand for when I don't have something fresh on hand, or for the winter months when my kids are tired of apples/oranges.

I really only buy juice boxes when they're on sale and I have a great coupon. I make them drink lots of water (the mean mom!) However, lately I have been buying Gatorade for my older kids...I think it helps them rehydrate after PE. It's super sugary though.

If I DO pack a juice box, I count that as their fruit serving for lunch.

Treats:

Pudding cups

Cookies

Rice krispie treats

Sweet breads (banana, zucchini, pumpkin)

Oatmeal creme pies (mmmmm...)

Treats are just that...a TREAT...and not an everyday addition to their lunchboxes.

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My middle-schoolers can use a microwave to heat up their lunch. Will sometimes takes a hot pocket or some frozen taquitos, but the girls never want to. They prefer a cold lunch. I've never packed soup or leftovers. They just aren't that interested, unless it's pizza, and then they fight over the leftovers. They like it cold though. Weird.

As far as lunchboxes go, everyone has a soft, insulated one. I think that the BentoBox is so cool (and eco-friendly), but a bit too pricey for me. I feel like we're pretty "green" but I definitely use WAY too many plastic bags...because it's just easier.

I very rarely buy individually packaged snacks (bars and cheese sticks are exceptions) because it's just so much cheaper to do it myself. I'll often take a bag of baby carrots and divide it up into smaller bags when I get home from the store. Same with grapes and pretzels and nuts/seeds and crackers. Then I can just grab and go when I'm packing lunches in the mornings.

I tend to pack lunches before school each morning, but if I know I'm going to be rushed I do it the night before.

I take nutrition pretty seriously, and that's why you don't see lots of junk food on my lists. I do buy junk food (Doritos are my weakness) but I try to limit it. I also try to avoid sugar, but I should confess that haven't been very diligent about it for awhile now.

I'm obviously no expert, but just like many of you I have been packing lunches for years! Please, please, please feel free to help me out of my rut and share your great ideas!!! I'm always on the lookout for new and healthy (or semi-healthy) ideas.

It was only a matter of time... (Scroll down for Update)

The flu is rampant here. Especially the H1N1 strain.

Does anyone else think H1N1 looks like it should be pronounced "hiney"? Swiney-hiney is what I jokingly call it. And this morning, my girls tested positive for the swiney-hiney flu. It was really only a matter of time.

Technically they tested positive for Type A influenza, but the doctor explained that it's too early for Type A to show up so they're just assuming all positive Type A tests are cases of H1N1. (Evidently, I just forked over $70 for someone to assume.) (Oh, please don't worry about me overusing parentheses again. I thoroughly annoyed myself in my last post).

So...the girls are home with me today and they're camped out on the sofa watching Scooby-Doo and all things Disney. They don't know it yet, but I'm going to make them watch our classic sick day dvd, Anne of Green Gables, after lunch. They'll be home tomorrow too since they were still running a temp this morning and they need to be fever free for 24 hours before I'm sending them back to school. That means we're watching Anne of Avonlea tomorrow.

I just cleared my schedule thru Wednesday, but I'm not sad at all to have several days in a row at home! Especially since I was gone all weekend.

Speaking of the weekend--I had a GREAT time on my retreat. I just love the women I go to church with. They're simply amazing, and it's so encouraging to hear their stories and to get to know them better. The scrapbooking wasn't bad either! I think I ended up with nineteen completed pages. That's not a record or anything, but I was happy with it. I did a lot more talking and laughing than cropping this time around, and it was so good for my heart!

The coolest thing happened on the way home from the retreat. We were driving into Colorado Springs and my friend who was driving slowed way down, and in a really calm voice said, "I'm slowing down because there is a bear". It was a black bear cub and it crossed the highway RIGHT IN FRONT of her car. It was amazing. And it happened way too fast for me to grab my camera.

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE seeing bears? I feel so fortunate to have seen quite a few since we've lived here--all from safe (enclosed) distances. I know so many folks who have lived here all their lives and never seen ONE. I'm always awed by them!

I have a bunch of thoughts still swirling around in my head...but I have two darling little swiney-hiney girls who need my full attention, so I will save those thoughts for another day. Ciao!

UPDATE: Saying "swiney-hiney flu" is MUCH more fun than actually dealing with it. The high fevers my girls have been running are scary. They've still got a temp this morning so no school tomorrow for either of them.

As for Anne of Green Gables--we had some dvd player issues yesterday so I think we're going to have a marathon viewing day today! They also love Little Women and Sense and Sensibility too. We'll see. We've got some great options. Popsicles, anyone?

A Weekend Getaway, A Clarification, and (way too many) Parenthetical Ramblings.

I'm leaving in a little while for a scrapbooking weekend in the mountains. Yippee!

My church does this twice a year and I've pretty much decided that the only way I'm going to chip away at my family albums is to go on these retreats because I just don't find the time or motivation to work on them at home. I've been preparing all week in an effort to maximize my time and productivity! I printed out pics for all of 2007. I would love to finish most of that year's album. Stay tuned...

I brought my suitcase upstairs earlier (in addition to my huge scrapbook haul, I must also pack clothes and toiletries for the weekend) and it reminded me that I've been meaning to clarify something.

I made a rather bold statement in June about being Queen of the Carry On Luggage. It's true, I can fit everything I need for a week in my carry on bag (the reason I do this is two-fold: I do NOT want to pay extra to check a bag, and I am paranoid about my bag not arriving at my destination with me).

My dad died on a Sunday morning and John was in Phoenix at the time. I booked a flight to Arkansas (via Atlanta...and yes, I know that it makes absolutely NO sense to fly to Atlanta, then back to Arkansas, but whatever) and I had about 45 minutes to pack, get my kids squared away and leave for the airport.

I went downstairs to get my regulation size carry on bag only to realize that it was in Phoenix with John.

I called my dearest friend, Debbie (who is a gift from God! and who was picking me up and driving me to the airport) and asked her if I could borrow a carry-on bag (with wheels and a handle because I had a layover in Atlanta and there was NO way I wanted to haul one of my four remaining wheel-and-handle-less bags around the ATL airport for 2 hours).

She graciously let me borrow her bag and I threw my stuff in it once she got here.

And here's the clarification I need to make. Her regulation size bag was smaller (MUCH smaller) than mine. I could NOT fit everything I needed in it. It was a good 6 inches shorter than mine, and at least two inches narrower (if my math skills are up to par that's about one foot of area that her bag was lacking.) Makes a difference. A huge difference.

So...now I'll just say that I'm the queen of MY (slightly larger, but still regulation size) Samsonite carry on. Just thought I should clarify that for those of you (ahem, Kellie) who thought I was an amazing packing guru (or slightly crazy).

I intend to have a GREAT weekend and I hope the same for you!

Every Once In a While I Surprise Myself

aLet me just start by saying that I'm not a decorator.

I very rarely get the itch to rearrange furniture or overhaul a room. Once I get a room arranged the way I like it (usually with someone else's help) I leave it that way until I move or until that person visits again and helps me!

But...every once in awhile, I have a flash of decorating brilliance and an idea in my head actually comes out as I'd hoped.

Such was the case this past weekend.

Last fall, John's parents bought the girls' a set of bunk beds and while they were visiting they helped me paint their room to match their new bedding. We got them a few accessories but the big wall over their desk has been bare for almost a year.

I've had an idea in my head for awhile for a custom wall hanging, and this weekend I set out to make it happen.

The biggest surprise? I was finished in about an hour and it turned out just as I'd hoped!

Here's a picture of their bedding:

Playing off of the circle theme, I created this:

It's VERY fun!

I also spray-painted a chair (that I bought from a friend) to match their desk.

Side note: It was windy when I was trying to paint, so I moved the chair into the garage, which turned out to be a very bad idea. John's car was parked on the other side of the garage, and while it looked like the paint was only getting on the chair, it wasn't. He had a nice film of white paint on his windshield Monday morning and he wasn't very happy with me. Learn from my mistake--never, EVER use spray paint in an enclosed area!!!

When I was putting the chair back at their desk, I decided to jazz it up with some paper circles left over from the wall hangings. CUTE! I wasn't totally finished when I took these pics (had to cut more circles...) but you get the idea.

The girls are happy and mama is happy too! And that big wall over their desk looks much less bare! Now if I could just find the perfect floor lamp. Pretty sure I can't make one of those!

Total cost for the wall hanging: less than $20.

The three-pack of canvases was $8; the scrapbook paper was $3-4; I was out of Modge Podge and it was $7 (for a BIG jar).

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Fall officially begins today.

That means that yesterday was the last day of summer.

Evidently that meant nothing to mother nature since it S-N-O-W-E-D at my house. You read that right. SNOW. On the last day of summer.

I love snow. I really do. I just prefer it to snow during the winter and not in the summer, fall, and spring. I want to enjoy a bit more of fall before we see more of the powdery white stuff.

It snowed on and off all day yesterday, but very little of it stuck. Thank goodness. More snow is in the forecast, but by the weekend we'll be back in the 60s/70s. I'm heading to the mountains this weekend and hoping that this crazy weather doesn't affect the fall foliage!

Here are a few pics I took for the amusement of all you Southerners.

See my roses? They've been gorgeous all summer, but those are probably the last blooms I'll enjoy for long while--overnight temps in the 20s/30s will make sure of that.

Happy Fall Ya'll! Who wants to come play in the snow with me? Smile.

Life is sweet!

If you give your child some candy...

...specifically this kind of candy...

she might decide she doesn't like it all that much...

and she might decide to spit it out...

IN the drawer where mom keeps her jewelry (I know!)...

and mom might decide to wear this beautiful necklace (that she won from a giveaway on Boomama's blog eons ago)...

and mom might not notice the dime-sized chunk of hard candy stuck to the necklace until something feels oddly sticky on her neck...

and not wanting to ruin the precious stones and beads, mom will likely break a nail trying to scrape hard, sticky candy off of her beautiful necklace...

but mom won't be able to tell that it's all off because the candy is the same color as the bead it's stuck to...

and so mom will put it back on and her neck will feel all sticky again...

and mom will angrily call her children into the room and ask what kind of children dispose of used candy in mom's jewelry drawer...

and the one with the gap-toothed smile will say, "Sorry, mom"...

and the mom will be overwhelmed with love for the freckle-faced, gap-toothed girl in that moment that her frustration will melt (just like the candy on her neck) and she'll decide to wear the sticky necklace for the rest of the day...

and when her hair gets tangled in the stickiness she'll smile because she knows that life is short...and so very, VERY sweet.

The small things...

I've always loved "the small things" in life--a warm cup of tea, a shared smile, a sunrise, the smell of babies. I'm certain I could fill page after page after page of small things that I love.

It's been a little over a month since my dad died.

I've been aware of some "big things" that loom on the horizon--his 64th birthday next month that won't be celebrated, his absence at the holidays, the first Father's Day that I don't buy him a card. Big things. I'm aware of the emotional upheaval that can come with the big things.

It's the small things that have caught me off guard though...

Opening the cabinet and noticing this mug that he gave me (and replaced when I broke it).

Scrolling through my contact list in my cell phone and seeing his name.

Watching Razorback football and knowing how much he loved it.

And holding John's book in my hands while realizing that my dad would never hold it, or read it, or have the chance to tell my husband how proud he was of his accomplishment.

The small things.

They have undone me lately.

I think I've exhausted all the words for random...

Our weekend has been super lazy.

We had planned to go camping with some friends this weekend but backed out after we saw the weather forecast. It's been cold and rainy which is perfect weather for watching football and napping, but not so great for camping. We made a good call. Football + Naps = A happy Mer!

We really have done a lot of nothing--slept in, read, watched a couple of movies (this, this, and I hope to persuade John to watch this one with me tonight), watched football, played games, napped, finished up some homework (weekend homework makes me grouchy) and went to church. That's about it. Aren't we boring?

Know what I was doing on this same weekend last year? I was hiking up Pikes Peak with three of my dearest friends. That is a memory I will treasure forever! I wrote about Part I here, but I never finished Part II. How lame is that???

The kids are begging to play a game right now (they're split between Yahtzee and A-Z, Jr.) so I'm going to join them.

Before I sign off I want to let you know that John is giving away several copies of his book on his blog. You can click here to enter his giveaway.

Hope your week is great! I'm afraid my lazy weekend is going to be a distant dream come Monday morning. That's okay though. My week holds the promise of some very good things.

10 on the 10th!

10 Things That I'm Enjoying These Days...

1. Reading. I love to read. But sometimes I go through spurts where I can't read enough, and other times I don't even want to pick a book up. This summer, I really wanted to read but found that I couldn't stay focused long enough to finish anything I started. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. I'm loving it again. I have just a few more pages in this book, and it is the best book I've read in ages. I finished reading this one and enjoyed it, but it was a tad depressing.

2. New Hand Soap! I'm a bit of a hand soap snob. For my kitchen & bathrooms, I buy the antibacterial pumps from Bath & Body Works. Last weekend I bought this scent and this scent, and they are making me all kinds of happy. They both smell so...fallish!

3. Redbox free rentals. I've had two free rental codes this week. Who can pass up free movies? We subscribe to Blockbuster.com and get to swap our mailers in for free rentals, but the stores recently changed their return policy and it takes sweetforever to get a new movie in the mail. Redbox has remedied the in-between wait time for me (for this week, anyway)!

4. Walking with my neighbors. Several of us have been meeting to walk each morning. It was as simple as throwing out an invite--"Who wants to walk in the mornings?"--and we have a nice little posse of friends hitting the trail for exercise and conversation. I love it. Because I really love my neighbors.

5. Trader Joe's Roasted Gorgonzola crackers. Oh my gosh--yum! My aunt (who is lucky enough to live close to a Trader Joe's) introduced me to these crackers last month. She also gave me a ton of TJs loot, including four boxes of these. We're down to the last box and there might be some weeping and gnashing of teeth when we finish it. I love them with a wedge of this cheese and an icy cold Dr. Pepper--which is what I've had for lunch every single day this week.

6. New mascara. I'm usually a loyal L'Oreal girl, but I bought a new kind/brand last weekend and I'm loving it! It's this. The wand is super flexible and the mascara doesn't clump or wear off. It was cheaper too. Woohoo!

7. Our fall schedule! Everything from school to church to home and homework is just falling into place beautifully. 

8. Pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks. Oh dear. I have such a weakness for these. I had two last week and I've had to steer Minnie-the-van away from the Starbucks drive thru every morning this week so I don't go broke on skinny-2pump-no whip-Pumpkin Spice lattes! (Oh dear, I've turned into one of those people.)

9. Arkansas Razorback football! It might possibly be the best thing about fall. I love it so much. My husband doesn't share my affection, but he loves me so it's all good.

10. Speaking of my husband, I'm enjoying him these days. He just finished up a huge freelance project that consumed so much of his spare time. The extra income was nice, but we're all glad he has more time to spend with us. He and I are going to watch a movie in a little while (the free Redbox one!) so I'm trying to get this post wrapped up.

Ya'll wanna join the 10 on the 10th fun? Just post a list of 10 things (anything your imagination can come up with) on your blog and link up here. Easy-peasy!

Glasses

I woke up this morning excited about going to the moms' group at my church. It's not MOPS, but it's sorta like it I guess. Actually, scratch that. It's nothing like MOPS at all. It's basically just a fun time of sharing and fellowship. Our pastor usually leads the time and he's a creative guy so we usually end up doing something...creative.

I walked into our meeting room to find a display similar to this one. A huge grouping of glasses.

Hmmmmm... I like creative. I like thinking outside of the box. It stretches me a LOT because I'm very left-brained, but the more I do it, the more surprised I am by how much I like being stretched. I was curious about all the glasses...

Big. Little. Short. Tall. Wide. Narrow. Stemmed. Unstemmed. Plain. Functional. Decorative. Fun. Ordinary. Shot glasses. Wine glasses. Juice glasses. Water glasses. Beer glasses. Martini glasses. Champagne flutes. Frosted glasses. Glasses with handles. Glasses with polka dots (pink polka dots). Margarita glasses. Souvenir glasses. Lots and lots of glasses. (I'm hoping you get the picture.)

After a little chit-chat, he asked each of us to look carefully at all the glasses, then pick one that symbolized our summer. 

I picked one that looked a lot like this. In case you can't tell, it's a shot glass. Now before you get all Prohibitionist on me, let me tell you why I chose this.

Before the summer began, our family made a list of all the fun things we wanted to do. It was a GREAT list. Summer is my favorite season of the year and I try very hard to make everything about it feel markedly different than the rest of the year. 

This summer was nothing like I envisioned. One week after school let out my dad got really, really sick, and a few days before school started, my dad died. Most of my summer was spent shuttling back and forth from Colorado to Arkansas. A lot of time was spent apart from my family, and when I was with them, I felt distracted. Instead of summer feeling full and spacious, it felt squeezed (see the shape of the glass above). Instead of summer spilling over with fun, I feel like I only managed a few small drops of fun for my kids. 

Next, he asked us to select a (different) glass to symbolize what we hoped for the season of fall. I chose this wine glass. 

A good wine is to be sipped and savored. A proper glass allows the wine to "breathe". I know that fall hasn't "officially" arrived, but so far this season has been pretty mellow--like a good wine. I've literally scraped my plate of responsibility clean. I'm enjoying a slow pace. I'm resting and taking care of myself. I'm feeling myself settling into a good routine at home and with my family. A couple of times I have found myself a little overwhelmed, but I've been able to step back and remind myself, "Not right now". 

I'm sipping and savoring this new season that is upon me. It feels spacious.

Lastly, he asked us to choose a glass that represents what our spiritual life is like right now, or what we wish our spiritual life would look like. 

I chose this frosted mug because honestly, I feel sorta frosty towards God these days. Cold, aloof, and a bit apathetic. 

It's honest. 

I don't expect myself to stay there, and I don't really need people telling me why I shouldn't stay there either. God is a big God. He can handle my emotions. Every single one of them. I'm offering Him the truest things I've got these days and I think it's okay to wrestle with Him a bit. I think it grieves him more when we're not honest with ourselves about what we're feeling, or when we try to cover it up because it somehow feels "wrong". 

I will tell you though, that just like a frosted mug loses it's frostiness when we hold it in our warm hands, I've felt my icy edges soften as I've allowed God to love me. And I'm confident that my heart won't stay this way forever...I just need some time to examine what I'm feeling and take it all to Him.

I loved my time this morning. Loved listening to what other's shared. We're all in different places and we all bring different things into a group like that. I left feeling loved, encouraged, and dare I say hopeful? 

Once again, credit for the creative exercise goes to my pastor(s).

Rambling...

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.

I love weekends, but I especially love them during the school year. We're still adjusting to the pace of the school week and everyone in our family is very tired by the time Friday rolls around. The fact that this is a three-day weekend for us is even better! 

Not much on the agenda for us. A little SEC football (Woo Pig Sooie!), some reading (Olive Kitteridge), and hopefully lots of lazing around. I'm happy just thinking about it! 

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It's feeling more and more like fall here. We've had some warm days this week (even turned on my A/C this afternoon) but our mornings are quite chilly. Love it! Coffee just tastes so much better on cool mornings. I had my first-of-the-season Pumpkin Spice Latte this week. That, and the fact that I noticed a few leaves starting to change colors today are a sure sign that fall is just around the corner!

Something about fall makes me want to cook! I had fun adding some soups to my new menu plan!

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Will missed two days of school this week because of a sore throat, cough, and a low grade temp. There is so much going around the schools lately. I decided he needed to stay home and rest...and he did just that. He's much better and will be back in school tomorrow. And sadly, he'll probably bring make-up work home over the long weekend. (Ugh. Don't want to think about that!)

Add the two days he missed this week to the first two days of school that he missed and we're up to four. My kids are so disappointed they're out of the running for the perfect attendance award. Believe me, we've never gotten one of those!

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Speaking of school...I thought Lisa (my smart friend) had some really good things to say in this post. I happen to agree with her.

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I helped out in Abbey's classroom today. They were doing a science lesson on soils and afterwards they got to examine the worm habitats they made last week. I had great empathy for the non-worm-loving kids who sat quietly at their desks and left their habitats sealed. My daughter, however, dug all of her worms out and played with them on her desk. Needless to say, the spaghetti I thought about having for lunch was not all that appealing when I got home. 

*Everyone wiped their desktop down with Clorox wipes when they were finished. I included that tidbit for all of you fellow germaphobes.

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I believe I've mentioned a time or two how much I hate texting on my cell phone. I plan to upgrade my current phone to one with a full keyboard when my contract expires in a few weeks, but until then, I found an interesting article about sending text messages from your email account in a back issue of RealSimple magazine. 

Here's the deal: If you know the person's carrier, you can type their phone number followed by these addresses in the address space of the email.

Alltel: @message.alltel.com

AT&T: @txt.att.net

Sprint: @messaging.sprintpcs.com

T-Mobile: @tmomail.net

Verizon: @vtext.com

Virgin Mobile: @vmobl.com

ex: To: 5014556789@vtext.com (type the area code and number, no spaces!)

Cool, huh? It really works; I successfully sent a text to John, Will, and Sarah yesterday morning. 

Sometimes when I'm at home and get a text from John, it's quicker for me to sit down and respond via email than on my dinosaur keypad. It's also useful if you don't have an unlimited texting package on your cell plan.  (I'm sure if you have kids with cell phones you have unlimited texting though, right?!?)

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Alright...that's enough rambling. I don't think I can hold my eyes open any longer!

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I'm going to close the comments on this post. Not because I don't love hearing from you (I do, I do, I do!) but because:

1. Sometimes it's nice to have an empty email inbox. Especially on a long weekend.

2. There is no pressure for you to find something in this crazy post to comment on.

3. I feel less guilty about not commenting on all of your blogs (which I've been terrible at lately).

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Hope everyone has a great (long) weekend!

BIG!

I left you a little teaser yesterday about some exciting news at our house.

Wow. Who knew you all were so good at guessing? Thanks for filling up my inbox with your curiousity. But...

No, I'm not pregnant. 

No, we're not moving back to Arkansas. 

No, we're not buying a new house. Or a new car.

No, I didn't get a job.

The big news is that John's book comes out TODAY!

I'm so proud of him. I re-read the book last week and my heart is just bursting with pride for him! It's fantastic. 

He told me I could do a giveaway...and I will get to that soon. For now, I just want to rejoice with him at seeing a dream realized. 

It's like Christmas...in SEPTEMBER! Thanks for being happy with and for him.