The Hair Fix

I thought I’d share with you how we are currently fixing the hair issue I wrote about a week or so ago.
I have turned my daughter into Pebbles.

It’s the only thing I can do that she will leave alone. For the most part. At least she can see now – that was pretty much my main aim in using this ‘do.

I guess as long as she doesn’t start yelling “yabba dabba do”, we’re okay :)

5 Question Friday: 07.30.10

Y'all, I am so glad it's Friday, I can't even tell ya! AND, it's a rainy Friday, which is awesome! Well, it's a rainy Friday morning, anyway. This IS Arizona, after all ... who knows how long the rain will actually last.

  
1. Did you have a favorite blanket or toy as a kid? If so, do you still have it?
I have a doll my mom made me for Christmas one year. Her name is Betsy Ann, and she and Maggie are currently the same size. Betsy Ann lives at my mom's right now, but I'm hoping to bring her home to Maggie's room when she's a little older.

2. Do you dream in color?
Yes, always. Assuming I remember dreaming, of course, which doesn't happen often.

3. How tall are you? Do you wish you were shorter or taller?
I am 5'3". I don't care about taller or shorter, but skinnier would be GREAT.

4. If you could have anyone's (celeb or other) voice as the guide on your GPS, who would it be?
My first thought was James Earl Jones because, well, I could listen to him read a grocery list, but I always think of cars as girls, and as a GPS is in a car, I would probably prefer a female voice. (Fascinating how my mind works, isn't it?) So ... hmmm ... maybe Reese Witherspoon? or Wynonna? Someone with a little Southern in their voice is a must. And if it were a singing GPS, I'd have to vote for Hubby.

5. Do you return your shopping cart to the corral or leave it wherever in the parking lot?
It depends on whether or not I have Maggie with me. If I am alone, I always return the buggy to the corral, but if Maggie is in the car, I will return it only if it's close by. I don't like walking off and leaving her in the car by herself.

29 Random Reading-Related Questions

I'm embarrassed to admit that I have lost the origin of this meme. I got so into answering the questions that I closed the window and thus, the link. If this is yours, please comment and let us all know :)

1. What author do you own the most books by? Probably Jan Karon because I like to have full collections, and I love her Fr. Tim series (my MIL got me hooked)

2. What book do you own the most copies of? Only one of each now, although at one time I owned multiple copies of 2 books because I kept loaning them out and never getting them back: We’re On a Mission From God by Mary Beth Bonacci and Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff by Christopher Moore

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with a preposition? Nope

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? I'm not sure I want to answer this one because then I'll be admitting to having read a few romance novels, and for some reason I find that embarrassing ... but if I'm honest, then it will be Murphy from Born in Shame by Nora Roberts. It's gotta be the Irish in me :)

5. What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding children’s picture books)? Lamb by Christopher Moore – I can probably quote the thing by now. It’s my go-to book when I don't have anything that peaks my interest at the moment.

6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott or anything Nancy Drew

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year? Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood ... probably the first and last book of hers that I pick up. I couldn't even finish it. It was truly awful.

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the last year? One Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

9. If you could force everyone to read one book, what would it be? To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature? I don't really care. Looking at the list for the winners of the past 20 years, I don't know who any of them are, anyway. I'd vote for Dave Barry or Christopher Moore, just because they make me laugh.

11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? Lamb – because I love it so much.

12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie? Lamb – because I love it so much.

13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character. I don’t usually remember my dreams and don’t recall one involving any of the above.

14. What is the most lowbrow book you read as an adult? I don't remember the name but it was a period romance novel set in England where a beautiful farmer's daughter and the 'stable boy' you know then have to elope, only to find out he's rich and snobby with a bad rep, and upset about this marriage. They hate each other, blah blah blah, but of course declare their love just when you think all is lost.

15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? Anna Karinina – that thing took a sweet forever to wade through

16. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve ever seen? Does he have obscure plays? I suppose. I don’t even know who to answer this. Guess I’ll go with Love’s Labours Lost though I don’t really think it’s obscure.

17. Do you prefer the French or the Russians? Probably Russians, but only because I find their history so fascinating. Their books can become a quagmire of words and conflict. Sheesh.

18. Roth or Updike? Never read either and couldn't care less.

19. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? Dave Barry

20. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? Shakespeare

21. Austen or Eliot? Austen

22. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? hmmm … there are so many! Probably A Catcher in the Rye. I haven't read Kurt Vonnegut yet either (I know, I know!)

23. What is your favorite novel? How do I pick?!! Probably To Kill a Mockingbird, followed closely by The Lord of the Rings, Gone with the Wind and The Robe.

24. Favorite play? Love’s Labours Lost

25. Favorite poem? “I Sing the Body Electric” by Walt Whitman and "Hope" by Emily Dickinson

26. Favorite essay? I tend to like the transcendentalists, Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, though it's been years and years since I have picked any of them up. I doubt I've read one since college.

27. Favorite short story? The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin or The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

28. Favorite work of nonfiction? In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

29. Favorite writers? Mary Stewart, Harper Lee

30. Who is the most overrated writer alive today? Dan Brown

31. What is your desert island book? hmmm ... probably The Lord of the Rings. It's long enough to last many re-readings :)

32. What are you reading now? The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

The BBC's Top 100 Books to Read

I came across this while perusing reading lists and thought I'd see how I stack up.

Yes, I read reading lists.

Yes, I am a dork.

The rules: Bold the ones you've read completely and italicize the ones you've read part of. Watching the movie or the cartoon doesn't count. Abridged versions don't count either. According to the BBC, if you've read 7 of these, you are above the average (whatever that is). I think if you've gone through high school English you should hit 7 with no problem. All comments in parentheses are mine.

(PS: I don't know why #33 and #36 are separate as it seems to me #36 is part of #33, but I didn't make the list ... go figure.)


1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter Series - J.K. Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (probably best book ever written)
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (ugh!)
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott (a favorite re-read)
12. Tess of the D'Ubervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
19. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (these characters need to be slapped)
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (literary equivalent to walking through quicksand)
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell (a fave since high school)
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (not even near his best work - completely overrated)
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
47. Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding (for 12th grade English - didn't like it then)
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (my first - and favorite - Austen)
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (TBR)
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
60. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (disturbing - I'll never read it again)
65. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie (TBR)
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville (hate Melville, will probably never finish this one)
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden -Frances Hodgson Burnett (I'll probably gets hounded for not having read this one)
74. Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Inferno - Dante
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - A.S. Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madam Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry (TBR)
87. Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down -Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

5 Question Friday

Do y'all ever get those "Getting to Know You" emails, where you answer questions like "what sounds do you hear right now" and "what is your eye color"? Even when the questions are repeats I can't help myself, I have to answer them and send them back. I have to. So, when I saw this, I had to join in. We'll see if this becomes a regular feature.




1. What were your school colors?
Red and White. I went to Robert E. Lee High School and we were called (duh) the Generals. What can I say, I'm from Alabama. Our arch-rival was Jefferson Davis High School. I loved high school and loved school spirit and (sorta) didn't even want to graduate because my senior year was the best time I'd ever had. Friday night football was a way of life ... and our team was State Champs my senior year which was stinkin' awesome!

2. What's the best compliment you ever received?
I'm totally drawing a blank here. I've gotten compliments on a new hair cut or a blouse color or something of that nature, but the best compliment ever? I'd have to say any time someone tells me that Maggie looks just like me because to me, she is simply beautiful. So, I'll take it as an indirect compliment even if it's not intended :)

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?
Cheap-ish. The good stuff (like charmin ultra-squeezy bunny-soft stuff) is too soft for Hubby, and I can't stand sand-paper, so we compromise on an mid-grade level of tp.

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?
Yep, for my 27th birthday. Yep, I was totally surprised.

5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?
Books. You can never have too many.

This & That

We're having a nice little Alabama morning here ... 83 degrees and muggy as all get-out. This kind of weather makes me appreciate my curly hair, and that's something because we don't always get along.

The Doodle has officially cut a top tooth (did I tell y'all that already?) but this one is causing her a lot more discomfort and/or pain than her bottom ones ever did. And I think because they hurt her so much, her emotions are a bit hypersensitive. A little trip and fall that she has done a hundred times and she would usually bounce back up from now leads to lots of tears and sadness. It's heartbreaking. So, we have lots of cuddle time now.

We are LOVING walking, by the way. Maggie's feet are in a constant state of dirty ...

Every diaper change also gets a foot washing and lotioning now. The dirt doesn't faze her in the least but Mommy can only take so much before we have to wash up ... even if those toes are just going to get dirty again.

We are having dinner with some friends of ours this weekend and I'm so excited about it. Our friend, Scott, is on summer break from seminary but his schedue is so packed that we don't get to see him much. So, along with Maggie's buddy Jack and his parents, we are all getting together Sunday evening for dinner and fellowship. Hopefully this time I will remember my camera.

I have an update about Josie coming soon. Continued thanks for all of your prayers for her.

I recently culled my bookshelves at home and down-sized my collection. I have a bad habit of buying books. I know there are worse things to spend money on but it dawned on me that, instead of buying, I should get books from the library first. That way, if I don't like it, no money involved. Duh, right? My only issue with the library is that I have never been good at adhering to return dates. Which is why I have Netflix for my movie rentals. But, I found a library close to work (so I can go at lunchtime) and found out that I can renew my books online up to 4 times, so this should help me get them back in a reasonable amount of time. I don't know what my hang up is with getting books and movies back on time, but I've probably spent a small fortune in late fees since high school. So far, though, I have not had one late book - and that's an accomplishment, let me tell ya. I may have to reward myself with a pedicure or something :)

Well, I think that's enough randomness for one day. Thanks for hangin' in there with me.

The Nappers

Please note the remote control in Hubby's hand. We are "watching" golf, just so you know.

A Hairy Sit-chee-a-shun

I want to start by stating that I am very happy that Maggie has hair. There for a while, I wondered if the girl was going to go through life with just fuzz.

But now that we have hair, I can't keep it out of her eyes. Ya'll, it is driving me batty. I pull her bangs back with barrettes but that in and of itself is stretching me to the limits of sanity. Maggie always pulls them out.

Always. Always. Always.

I can usually get her distracted and playing immediately after putting one in her hair, but within 20 or 30 minutes she has pulled it out. And started chewing on it, of course. Because I have a nanny goat for a little girl.

Anyway, I am letting it grow out on purpose but what I'd like to know is this: do y'all have any suggestions on how best to keep barrettes or clips in a toddler's hair?

Maybe I should figure out how to make a gummy barrette, that way when she (inevitably) tries the eat the thing, she can just have a little snack and Mommy doesn't have to worry about choking.

Either that or Maggie will just go through her next stage in life looking unkempt in every. single. picture. I. take.

I Don't Know How This is Comfortable ...

... but apparently, it is because this is how the Doodle sleeps. Funny, huh? But totally adorable :)

15 Month Check-up .. and a Few Tears

Maggie had her 15 month check-up this morning. Her weight is 21.4 pounds, and she is 30 inches long. When did that happen? (I'm sure just last week she was my tiny little 4-pound Peanut.) She has hit the 25th percentile for both weight and height, and is growing well and catching up just like the doctor had hoped she would do.

Maggie is doing very well in all others areas, too:

Talking and babbling a lot? Check (double check!!)

Drinking from a sippy cup? Check (we use straw cups - they are awesome!).

Climbing stairs? Check (well, if we'd let her, which we haven't - oh, but she keeps trying!)

Does well in a play group? Check (as long as the other kids don't cry - Maggie seems to have a tender heart and starts crying whenever other babies cry. Even in church this past Sunday. It's a bit pitiful, really, and hard to comfort her because she doesn't stop crying until others do.)

Reading to her? Check (board books are also fun to eat, apparently)

Brushing her teeth? Check.

Switching to whole milk well? Check.

Eating lots of new foods? Check (even after eating her dinner, she mooches off of Hubby's or my plate. Maggie likes all manner of foods, including watermelon, cantalope, strawberries, cauliflower, broccoli, homemade macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, eggs-n-grits (a staple in our Southern home), sausage, pulled pork, pasta ... and anything else she can get from us!)

The only thing we have to work on is weaning her from her bottle. Dr. A said they like to see them weaned from bottles by 18 months-old for developmental reasons. Plus, she said that doing it before the "terrible 2's" hit makes it an easier transistion. I expect Maggie will do well enough with that, except maybe for her last before-bed bottle. That one is a comfort thing and may take a little work, but hey, we've got 3 months or so to accomplish the task, so no biggie. She is a good 'go with the flow' kid and changes (so far) have not induced any drama.

Maggie got 2 shots this morning as well, so that's where all the tears came from (hers and mine ... Mommy can't help crying when her baby gets so upset from shots, which is why Hubby comes, too). Unfortunately, she had to get stuck 3 times because when the nurse gave Maggie the first shot, Maggie kicked hard and the needle came out, so Hubby had to hold her leg to allow the nurse to stick her again. Poor baby girl. She sobbed and sobbed and hiccuped, and it just hurt her Mommy's heart.

Of course, she was fine in a few minutes, and slept all the way to Grandma's house, where breakfast and fun and lots of lovin' was awaiting her.

Nothing takes your mind off of boo-boos like hangin' out at Grandma's :)

April Showers Giveaway

Y'all know I'm trying to find my "blog design identity". Doesn't seem like it's that big a deal except that the one and only time I paid for a blog design I tired of it fairly quickly. It was quite pretty, just not me at all (the designer asked fave and least-fave colors, then used one of my least faves as the main color ... duh!) And since revisions to 'her' vision cost $$, I left it as is and lived with it as long as I could.





So, all of that to say that I came across a delightful blog designer this week whose work is right up my alley. April Showers may just be who I'm looking for! In addition to blog design, she does stationery and business cards and whatnot, and works with an illustrator to totally personalize your stuff. How cool is that?!

She's having a giveaway for a complete blog makeover - open until tomorrow - so hurry over and check out her offerings.

And sign up to win, while you're there.

Or don't. It'll give me a better chance :)

SUYL: Favorite Bible Verses

Today at Kelly's Korner, everyone is sharing their favorite Bible verses, and I figured this is one wagon I can jump on at the last minute without any preparation because I know my favorites already.

So here they are ...

For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope. ~Jeremiah 29:11

This has been a favorite of mine for so long. It's the one I have permanently posted at the bottom of my blog.

Remembering it over and over leaves my soul downcast within me. But I will call this to mind, as my reason to have hope: The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent; They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness. My portion is the Lord, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him. ~Lamentations 3:20-24

This is one I clung to and read over and over and over again after we lost Samantha. I even printed it up with a pretty border and hung it by my desk at work. It is still there and I see it everyday. It reminds me that even though I walk through dark times, my Lord is with me, and that gives me hope.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them. ~Ephesians 2:8-10

This is the scripture Hubby and I choose for Maggie's Baby Be Blessed doll. Salvation is our greatest gift from God and we can do nothing to earn it. Nothing, nothing, nothing. It is all from Him and given in love. AND ... we were created by good, for good, and find our greatest happiness in the service (works) He has set before us. It is up to us, however, to accept the gift and choose to serve. I love this reminder of how much I am *not* in control, and usually need it :)

Be sure to visit Kelly's Korner and check out all the awesome Bible verses. You never know when you may find a new favorite!

Also, be sure to check out this post from (in)courage. It is interesting that it was in my reader this morning when just the other day I asked Hubby "do you have any money we can give that girl?" and he said, "what girl?" He didn't even see the young, homeless girl sitting on the sidewalk outside the baseball park. Are we really so oblivious to the suffering right in front of us? And I don't mean to pick on Hubby because I know I can be guilty of that, too. Hmmm ... food for thought.

Happy Friday, y'all, and hope you have a great weekend!

Moving Furniture

I've figured out something. I tend to treat my blog's design like I want to treat my living room. I change stuff around and live with it awhile before realizing I really want something different. So I change it again.

We have some home repairs and upgrades Hubby and I are planning to start once the fall gets here, so I should be able to update our home a bit in the near-ish future, but until then, I am playing with my blog again.

At least this is free :)

A Long, Lovely Weekend

So ... what did y'all do over the long 4th of July weekend?

Well, we hung out in our pajamas,

explored in our toy basket,

ate lots of watermelon,

watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,

(complete with the Hot Dog Dance)

and went to a baseball game (Maggie's 1st and a First Date Anniversary for Hubby and me).

Whew! Throw in swimming, pulled pork bbq, and a couple of great-aunts, and we had a busy weekend!

Maggie was so cute at the baseball game. She loves to clap and we couldn't have been in a better place for that to happen. Lots of clapping! She also 'talked back' to the vendors who walk up and down the stadium stairs - it was hilarious! She even had the people in front of us smiling. She likes chicken fingers (not the breading, though ... how can my child not like the fried part?) and cheese pizza. Maggie kept trying to get into our kettle corn bag but I had a shining moment of preparedness and whipped out the Cheerios ... she probably ate 1 to every 2 or 8 that she dropped but she was having fun and leaving our kettle corn alone so, oh well with the mess. We just wanted to ensure that the janitorial staff would have work to do :)

Hope y'all had a great holiday, too. God bless you ... and God bless America!

Happy B-day, America!

Extreme Heat Equals No Energy for Blogging (or Anything Else)

It hit 114 degrees yesterday.

Today is supposed to be 115.

That's all I have.