When I went to the eye doctor a few weeks ago, I think I may have horrified her with how long I'd been wearing the same pair of contacts. Well, my prescription ran out, and I have a tiny baby, and not a lot of money, and ... and ...
I tend to misuse my contacts just a little. At the encouragement of my husband, who loves me in them, I started wearing glasses full-time recently.
But I still like to have contacts on hand in case of a special occasion or to wear while running.
To hear about what I did to my most recent pair of contacts and why I love the BioTrue solution MomCentral sent me, watch this video!
I wrote this review while participating in a Mom Central Consulting blog tour on behalf of Bausch + Lomb Biotrue. I received a Biotrue sample and a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.
On Libbie's birthday, October 27, she turned 2 and I decided it was high time we started some Bible learnin' around here. I have long admired Amanda's alphabet crafts at Impress Your Kids and thought that would be a good place to start. So we did A.
Libbie didn't even try to say the Bible verse and was mostly concerned with plastering stickers all over the picture.
It was frustrating to me, and I've gone back and forth on whether it was worth it to do any sort of "organized" craft just because it makes me feel like a better stay-at-home mom if I do. Is it profitable to her at all?
Then early in February, my sweet #sisterchicks and Hillary gave me some gifts for David, and Amanda included a big bucket of craft supplies for Libbie. My sister, the elementary school teacher, dug right in and showed Libbie how to string beads, use glitter glue, and dig a penny out of play-doh. Since then Libbie has been obsessively playing with the crafts any time I will let her (i.e., any time I don't mind picking up streamers and buttons off the floor).
Today I finally found the oomph to do letter B (4 months later, if you're keeping track).
"What letter is this Libbie?"
"14."
"What LETTER is it?"
"Uh ... B!"
I was so proud.
She was still mostly interested in gluing on buttons, but I kept repeating the verse to her all day long. And soon she was repeating it back. And to hear my sweet baby say her first Bible verse is a finer thing--and enough to make a mama tear up.
[there is a video embedded here if you can't see it in your reader. click through!]
"Believe in Jesus and you be saved!" Acts 16:31, New Libbie Version
I've decided crafts are now a good use of our time together.
First things first, favorite cute kid pic of the week. I took David to the doctor yesterday and at 7 weeks he weighs over 12 pounds. Can you say holy moly?
And my favorite new Libbie video of her antics. She is a hoot when she's not being willfully disobedient...
And here are some things I read this week that I think you should read, too!
Fold a Heart into an Envelope Tutorial at Impress Your Kids - I have this project started but I can't even get Libbie to color the hearts. She wants to wad them into a ball. Hrm. I'm not even good at TRYING to be crafty!
Staci is one of my sweet #sisterchicks. She lives in Atlanta, where she is a middle-school science teacher and beloved aunt.
I've been living on my own for 8 years now, but before my parents moved, I used to pop in at their house at least once a week. One time I noticed something that I had never noticed before. I'm sure it was always there, but living in that house, I just never took the time to notice it. I was walking down the stairs to the basement one day and it stood out like a red light.
It's kinda hard to see (you might have to tilt your computer screen), but it's grimy, grubby handprints. I vividly remember always slapping that part of the ceiling every time I went down the stairs. How funny that I never noticed it until I moved away!
So it got me thinking if I had any of those signs of life in my house.
And, lo and behold, I did find something. I have a vanity that was my great-grandmother's that I sit at every day to dry my hair and put my make up on. Well, apparently, I rest my toes on the molding of the wall, and I guess 8 years of doing that has really left its mark.
(Again, you might have to tilt your computer screen)
When I got my new car, I was eager to show it off. When my 5-year-old nephew saw it, he decided he needed to climb all around in it. He also decided to leave his sticky, wet thumbprint on my mirror. I got side tracked before I got a chance to clean it off, so for the longest time it stayed there. Every time I looked in my rear view mirror, I smiled when I saw that little thumbprint.
{Ok, Staci, so this is a post about dirty hand prints?}
There's a Steven Curtis Chapman song called "Fingerprints of God." As I was trying to find a video of that song to include here, I came across this (it's a promo video for some conference). This excited the science teacher in me, but inspired the God lover in me even more!
HIS fingerprints are everywhere!
Wow! Yes, a lot of that was over my head, but nevertheless I heard loud and clear that God is our Designer, our Creator. Imagine the care and precision He took in creating the universe and how that compares to the care and concern He has for us!
Rest assured you are HIS design and He took great care in designing you! You are His creation ... rejoice in that!
(But of course, I have words. I always have words.)
Libbie has been very into music lately. She wants to sing "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children" consistently. Every time we're on the computer, she "wants muse." I think Mr. V is working on teaching her the words to all the songs on Alan Jackson's Precious Memories (one of our very favorite albums).
On the way back from our midwife appointment today, though, she just starting belting out "Jesus Loves Me" in its entirety, completely unprompted. And she sang it in a loop, because every time she got to the chorus she got confused and started over.
Moments like that grab my heart. And make me laugh.
I can't not share this video. She is just too precious.
It might be for the best if my mother didn't watch this video.
Monday night, I got back from the grocery store and was making room in the fridge for new groceries. I pulled this serving dish out of the fridge with the intention of dumping the contents and washing it.
My daughter, who never eats what I make for dinner, decided cold baked pasta sounded pretty good and proceeded to eat half the pan.
It's a REALLY good thing she's cute.
I will classify this under "major mom fail." Because, well, she was eating. So we didn't stop her. Who am I to judge if she likes old, cold pasta?
OK, so Libbie won't actually watch a whole Sesame Street episode. But she does love the characters. Despite her mother and father's immense distaste for Elmo, she became addicted to him after one hand-me-down book.
Now we have several books and know exactly what times Sesame Street and Play with Me Sesame are on TV. It's sort of sad. But it makes me giggle to hear her say with glee, "Er-near!!!" (Ernie.) Just watch the video and try to not smile.
Sesame Street is definitely a thing we love in our house.
Libbie thinks she is BIG STUFF when she plays with her LeapFrog Table. She's loved this thing since her birthday, six months ago, and isn't tiring of it! That's a good life in Toy World, if you ask me.
There are some things this picture shows. Libbie's bright orange fleecey pullover. The fact that I forgot to put shoes on her and didn't realize this until after we were at the park. Her delight at her first real swinging experience.
And there is more I can tell from the video. Her girly giggles, which thrill my heart. Her glee. My hand, pushing her.
But there's so much not there. Not captured. The fact the seat of her pants was wet from her travel down a damp slide. The church bells ringing a familiar hymn as we made our way to the car. The crisp weather, a little too cool for just my long-sleeved tee. My heart, so full.
Those things, I have to keep in my mind, imprinted on my heart. I'm afraid some day I won't remember these sun-drenched feelings, the pure bliss of watching my little girl's wide smile and hearing her happy laughs. But I will try.
Always.
Join in with Wordful Wednesdays at 7 Clown Circus. For those of us who are just no good at not writing.
I'm not usually the type to sit around and watch YouTube videos, but I saw Mary mention this on Twitter Friday, and when I watched it I laughed so hard I cried and probably scared everyone in my office. You have to watch the WHOLE THING--at least up to 4:40 (the angel).
Be back tomorrow with the menu plan! I'm hoping to get a little more back to normal this week.
P.S. My coworkers threw me an incredible surprise birthday party last night. I was so touched! I can't believe how sweet they were and how everyone kept it a secret. Our darling host MawMaw wrote about it here, with some pics. :)
This post is definitely going to scream "I was a major dork." Was? Hmm, debatable. I no longer care about being a dork, so that makes it a little better.
Mr. V and I were in the car on the way to St. Louis this weekend. I had just been talking to my sister, Ashley, on the phone. I've been having major homesickness lately. Not for any particular place, really, because going "home" to Richmond isn't exactly an option now that Mom and Dad aren't there. But for my family. I told Ashley I was thinking about our Hanson days. Yes, the band Hanson, the ones who sang Mmmbop (and yes, that is one of the worst songs ever--however, they DID have other songs! Which were good!).
Some of my best memories are of being in the car with Cynthia, going to pick up Ashley and her best friend Deborah, and them sitting in the backseat of my 86 Plymouth Reliant singing and doing hand motions to "Sure About It."
In the years before Hanson, Ashley and I were not friends. She was in middle school, depressed and angry, and I was in high school and therefore infinitely cooler than she was. When we both got into Hanson, however, we had something to share. We spent tons of time with my best friend Cynthia being ridiculously silly, watching MTV and taping every single time the "Where's the Love?" video was on MTV or VH1. Why? Beats me!!! But it was fun.
After I had talked to Ashley on the phone, Adam and I were talking about radio singles and how the best singles are usually around #3 or 4 on the CD. I told him that Hanson's best single on the CD that I remembered all the tracks was #5 ("Where's the Love"). I was positive I could remember all of the tracks on Middle of Nowhere in order.
You would not believe how much I listened to that CD. I think for about 2 1/2 years it was the only Hanson CD out and I wore that sucker out. For a long time I listened to it every night as I went to sleep. I remember at one point Ashley and I were in the back of our parents' van coming back from King's Dominion and we tried to sing the entire album in order. Needless to say, at the time, it would have taken me ten seconds to list of the 13 tracks. I came up with 11 of them pretty easily. The twelfth came much slower but did come later that night ("Look at You"). But I could not for the life of me come up with the last track. I could not believe it! It wasn't until tonight when we got home that I discovered it was "Yearbook." Who would have thought?
I have to say I miss the Hanson years. It was fun and it kept me out of trouble. Yes, I am probably storing an unusually large amount of lyrics in my head where I could be putting useful things, like the style manual for work and any bit of American history. You probably are too--just a different band.
Love to my Hanson girls--Cynthia, Elise, Ashley, Alena, and Deborah.
(one of our very favorite albums). 
. 
and 
are on TV. It's sort of sad. But it makes me giggle to hear her say with glee, "Er-near!!!" (Ernie.) Just watch the video and try to not smile.
. She's loved this thing since her birthday, six months ago, and isn't tiring of it! That's a good life in Toy World, if you ask me.
