When I look at Avery I see so much of myself. His personality is a carbon copy of mine … especially from childhood.

He’s cautious.
He’s kind.
He’s a people pleaser to the core.

I value those traits in him, but they sometimes scare me to death as well.

Last night, I realized when looking at his folder that he had gotten in trouble at school the day before for messing around in line in the hallway. He “forgot” his folder at school that night. Later, he reluctantly admitted that it was so I wouldn’t find out.

This is the third time this 6 weeks that he’s gotten in trouble for something of this nature. And, although, he’s an excellent student and this is not cause for alarm … it sends me over the edge. Each of the times, he’s explained what happened and it boils down to defending himself (mostly from “line cutters”).

Defending himself. It makes me furious.

“Why?” you might ask. “You are totally over-reacting.” Is that what you’re thinking?

My fear is that this will begin the spiral that I felt as a kid. I surrounded myself with friends who ran over me. I look back now and remember the teasing that I endured just to have a friend to play with at recess. I can recall doing poorly on a test and throwing the paper away before I left the class so that my mom wouldn’t see it.

No parent wants their child to fall into the same traps that they did. Seeing them make those mistakes and attempting to steer them in another direction is the most trying thing that I’ve had to deal with as a mom.

Avery is a wonderful child. Bright, honest, compassionate, gifted, and wise beyond his years. He knows the difference between right and wrong, and has involved parents who love him very much. I know that he’ll fine. In fact, he’ll be better than fine … but this parenting business and trusting that you’re doing the right thing is tough.

… and I mean TOUGH.

During the big freeze a few weeks back, I wrapped our gas pipe instead of the water pipe.

Such is my life.

Typical.

This past Sunday, Dr. Ed Young (Pastor of Second Baptist Church – Houston) delivered one of the most powerful messages that I’ve ever heard.

Kudos to a pastor that has the boldness to speak on the faults of our government. Democrats and Republicans alike should hear this message. It takes no prisoners, but speaks the truth.

Click on the following link to see a video of this amazing message – A Broken Washington (The first couple of minutes celebrates the Katy HS football team! Go Tigers!!!)

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will HEAL THEIR LAND.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

I’m so blessed … my mother-in-law is coming to visit this weekend. For two weeks.

You read it right. I’m blessed and excited.

Sandra is a complete God-send to me. I enjoy visiting and spending time with her. I really lucked out!

My husband is the oldest of five boys. I can not imagine the chaos that Sandra lived with during the years that they were all at home. The stories are hysterical. Many of them involve rotten fruit, shag carpet, or some sort of sporting event. How she balanced life is beyond me. I struggle with two kids. I can’t imagine adding three more to the mix.

Sandra has embraced the daughters that she has now – the wives of three of her sons. She treats us like gold. I always cringe when I hear the horror stories of my friends and their in-laws. I feel so bad for them. Anthea, Kathleen, and I really have it made!

Now, if Don can make it these two weeks, we’ll be home free. Did I mention that I look so much like his mom that most of the time people think she’s my mother? Oh, and that our personalities are nearly identical?

Bless his heart – he married his mother!

If you have considered doing at Project 365 – today is a great time to start! So what if it’s January 14 … start today and run it through January 14, 2011.

I’m [going to be] using a kit from Becky Higgins. It will be back in stock next week on Amazon. Please don’t buy your kit before checking to make sure that I’ve already ordered mine. I don’t want you knocking me into backorder status!!!

Even though I don’t have the kit yet and I haven’t printed any pictures, I am finding that this will be a rewarding project. It’s amazing that even over the last 13 days, I can look through the pictures and say “Oh My Goodness … I forgot about that.”

Here’s my favorite picture yet …

January 9
Biggest Freeze of the Season – 23 degrees last night.
Our pipes froze and I had to wrap them with towels in order for them to thaw.

I’ll admit it … I’ve had baby envy for the past couple of weeks. Everyone I know is pregnant or having a baby. Two friends are even having twins [eeks!].

There’s nothing better than a newborn baby. The way their little bottoms fit right in the palm of your hand when you’re holding them; the sounds they make in their sleep cooing and sighing; the way their little bodies fully engage in a good yawn.

Oh … I love a newborn baby.

And, I was ready to get one!!! (PS – my husband, never for one minute, signed on to this idea!)

Well, God was hearing my prayers and he gave me a swift reminder of new-babydom last night.

Piper fell asleep last night around 5:00 PM. We thought she was asleep for the night since she had missed her nap the day before. Don carried her up and put her to bed and she never flinched.

Until 9:30 … when she crawled in bed with me and asked “could you get me some dinner?”

She was wide awake!

… and long story short, she was still wide awake at 3:00 AM. And, then, all the late night/early morning feedings, teethings, fevers, etc., came flooding back.

Thank you, LORD. I got the memo! I’ll stop at two babies and call it a day!

Several weeks ago, I was selected to review an Oral-B Professional Care 1000 Rechargeable Toothbrush. Reviewing a toothbrush was not #1 on the list of products that I’d “love” to try, but I use one everyday – so after thinking about it … I decided to see what the “big difference” was.

The toothbrush I received was an electric toothbrush. I’ve never used one in my life, so I was excited to try it. However, upon doing some initial research, I discovered that this Oral-B rechargeable brush retails for around $80. As thrifty as I am, I absolutely could not EVER imagine spending $50 on a toothbrush. Since starting The Grocery Game, I’ve stocked up at least 30 toothbrushes and I haven’t paid more than a quarter for any of them!

I’ve been using the toothbrush for about 3 weeks now. Since they sent two different brush heads, Don has been using it as well. We both LOVE it. The charger is relatively small and sits on our vanity without being obtrusive. I haven’t left the brush off of the charger yet, so I can’t comment on how long it stays charged.

You know how your teeth feel after the hygienist cleans them during an office visit? That’s how your teeth will feel after using this brush. Both Don and myself have commented that we are brushing longer. I don’t know why that is, but we are …

If you are in the market for this type of toothbrush or if a dentist has recommended that you go to an electric toothbrush, I HIGHLY recommend this model. I have a dentist appointment in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait to see if my dentist notices anything different.

My gums feel fabulous … and I guarantee, I’ve never said that before!

Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review, however I did receive the product free of charge. This is my true opinion of the Oral-B Professional Care 1000 as of 1/9/2010.

So far … so good!

I’ve taken a picture everyday. [Honestly, I almost forgot one day, but remembered before I went to bed!!!]

Many people have asked what I’m using for a kit … I’m waiting for Amazon to make available Becky Higgins’ new Project Life kit. You can read about it here.

If you’ve ever considered doing this project, it’s not too late! Read about it today and get in line for when the albums are stocked again.

Living in Texas has put a little crimp in my winter snow day dreams. We got a dusting of snow in early December with less than .0008″ accumulation and the Houston Chronicle hailed the event as “Storm’09″. Wow. Really?

When I think of a snow storm, I think back to my days as a little girl in Kentucky. WBKO would run the ticker across the bottom of the screen saying we were under a “Winter Weather Watch” and then a “Winter Weather Warning” … so exciting. This was only surpassed by the time at which they started running the school closings. Come on “OHIO COUNTY SCHOOLS!!!!”

We always got out of school. In fact, if snow was predicted many times we got the day off. [Remind me to post sometime about when we got out of school for two days when some wacko predicted an earthquake. One day for the day it was supposed to happen and the day after to help with the cleanup! True story!]

My kids will most likely only get “hurricane days”. They aren’t as pretty as snow days. And it’s not as fun to play outside during a hurricane.

In these next few days, when 80% of the country is getting snow and posting cute pictures of snowmen and little children bundled in jackets that are too large … just let me live vicariously!

I’m not a huge goal setter. I’m driven and fairly spontaneous, so things tend to just happen to me. Saying “I will live in the big house on the hill by the end of this year”  isn’t my cup of tea (no offense to the goal setters out there …). Being a working mom, wife, church volunteer, etc., doesn’t leave me much time for dreaming … but there are things that I’d like to do this year. As with every year and every resolution, I’ll be ok … fatter, but ok … if they don’t come to pass. However, I thought I’d give them a go by at least posting them on this site!

1. Lose 25 pounds. I gained 15 pounds when we moved to Texas (ahem … thanks TexMex food!) and last year due to stresses at work and some unexpected, albeit good family changes, I gained another [almost] 10 pounds.

2. Do a 365 Photo Gallery. I got through mid-February last year, but life took over and I abandoned it. I’m using a great new site to help me keep track this year, so I’m really excited.

3. Do 100 scrapbook pages (any size). My husband put together a great organizing system for me over the holiday and everything I need is literally at my fingertips!

4. Organize a “girls group”. I haven’t made any super close friends since I’ve lived here, but there are some great gals that I’ve gotten to know a lot better over the past year. I’d love to start a movie night, game night, anything-else-that’s-fun night with a fun group of ladies. (If you’re reading this and want in – let me know!)