Dressed for Work

Have you ever started one project only for it to lead you to a much bigger one?

That's exactly what happened to Greg earlier this week. He began a little simple gutter repair around the house and uncovered a real problem area with some boards right in front! So he has been hard at work all week on a new project... tearing down, replacing, painting.

I have enjoyed watching him work. I think it is very masculine to see a man take care of his home, his yard, his vehicle, and by doing so, his family.

I also like noticing what a man chooses to wear for all this work. It seems like every man has his own wardrobe and habits when it comes to his physical labor. I've seen my Daddy in all sorts of work-wear, and both of my grandpas, too.

Greg's habits have changed some over the years.
When we met he wore hiking boots for everything - work, play, church... ev-er-y-thing.

Now that his footwear world has expanded (and no longer includes hiking boots at all) he has different shoes for his work-wear. His current work shoes are his old casual/dress shoes. So after spending a couple of years going into the world everyday with his Dockers, they are now covered in mowed grass and paint.

He wears these without socks.

What can I say? I don't know about you, but I am certain the men in my life aren't the least bit concerned with fashion while they're out sweating.. ya know? (For that matter, I have to question how concerned they are at all about fashion... but that's a different post.)

Greg will often tear the sleeves out of an old t-shirt when it has been relegated to work-wear. He says it's cooler that way. And since I just said I don't think he's concerned with fashion I suppose he's referring to the temperature and not the look when he says it's 'cooler'. You think?

And for the last several years, a cap has always completed his working look. Usually a freebie from a friend at a certain paint store. :)
[If you freebie paint store friends are reading: HI! Send me an email sometime! ;) ]

Of course, any wardrobe calls for accessorizing, as needed. Ear plugs, sunscreen, gloves, masks, the gel-pack cooly down thingie we gave him for father's day a couple of years ago... they all find their way into the mix now and then.

Any way you slice it, tacky, dirty, sweaty.... nothing says love and dependability like a man out working. Add to that his patience with a small child or two getting in the way ready to help at every turn and it just makes a woman's heart melt, doesn't it?

What about you? What interesting wardrobe and working habits does your man have?

Summer-time Salad

Big Mama put out an S.O.S. for summer-time suppers and asked for everyone's favorite recipes.

This is a salad that a lady at our church made several years ago and we took over adopted as our own.

There are so many ways to change it up and it makes a LOT so you can have plenty to share or if you like leftovers it is good to nibble on for days!

Vermicelli Salad

1 24 oz pkg vermicelli
1 large bell pepper
6 green onions
1 small can sliced black olives
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 Tbs seasoned salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup real mayonnaise

Cook vermicelli and drain. Rinse with cold water; let dry.

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and seasoned salt (black pepper is also good to add here!)and pour over spaghetti. Toss, toss, toss.
Add black olives, reserving juice from can.
Finely chop green onions and bell pepper and add to spaghetti. Refrigerate overnight.

Next day, whisk together mayonnaise and juice from black olives and pour over spaghetti.
Toss, toss, toss again!
Add grated cheese. 1/2 cup or so of grated Parmesan is good, too!

This salad is fantastic just like this! I may or may not have been known to eat it straight from the bowl, but I'm not telling. :)

Other options are mushrooms (fresh OR canned) and/or crab meat (we buy the shrink-wrapped imitation stuff). YUM!

Enjoy! And stay cool. And head on over to Big Mama's for lots more summer recipes!

Kids say funny stuff

Allow me to provide a few examples:

Last week after our visit to Fair Park we still had some time to fill before Alan's appointment. Since it is such a short drive over to the airport we decided to go see if we could see some planes taking off or landing.

Even though it was a short drive, Alan fell asleep. He slept the whole time we were there, while the rest of us watched a few jets land. Finally it was time to go on the the hospital. Dale quietly got buckled back into his seat so as not to wake Alan. As Greg backed out of our parking space, we stopped to watch one more landing.

Which was interrupted by a low, yet fierce growl from Alan's half of the backseat.

Hello! Weren't you just sleeping!?

And why are you growling?

One look in the direction Alan was looking and we knew. He was growling at this:
I'd growl too, wouldn't you??

And then....

Earlier this week Dale, Alan, my mom and I were in our van for a quick trip to visit family. We were on our way home when Dale announced in a firm, yet slightly unnerved tone of voice:

"There is a bug back here that I am NOT enjoying!"

And based on the size of it and the way it proceeded to come to the front seat to dive-bomb us, I can say we didn't enjoy it much either!

But we did enjoy the waves of giggles we would get from the backseat by swatting, dodging and opening the windows at 60 mph each time buggy buzzed to the front. :)

And finally....

Alan's favorite food in the world (for now, lol) is french fries. His last batch came from a fast-food drive-through with Daddy a couple of weeks ago.

A week or two later the four of us went through the bank drive through, and guess what Alan thought he was getting?

Yep. The same thing he got the last time Daddy drove up close to a building next to a big ol' window.

Aww. It was all we could do not to go straight from the bank to you-know-where! And if we hadn't already had supper waiting on us at home, we might have done just that!

It's the most - won-der-ful time - of the daaaay!

We recently (as in yesterday) re-instituted Dale's afternoon nap.

This was mainly due to the increasing incidents involving random tears, along with some challenging ... umm...behavior issues.

Ahem.

Clearly, this is a boy who needs his sleep.

Proven by the fact that yesterday, his first afternoon nap in a couple of weeks, he slept THREE AND A HALF HOURS.

Yeah.

So Dale is napping again. And Alan is on his second nap of the day!
Earlier this week we put him back on two-a-days since he insists on getting up at the crack. of. dawn. every. day. these days.

And have you happened to notice what time dawn actually is? Wow. So the younger half of this household is getting more sleep now. The older half is just drinking more caffeine. :)

Ok, so not really. But it was fun to say.

I don't know how we're managing to hold up, to tell you the truth. But I am not a napper. I wake up from naps in worse shape than when I laid down. :( Hot, grumpy, sleepy, and mad that I missed out on 'x' number of minutes/hours of my day. Unless I'm pregnant. And then I nap. :)

But these days, instead of napping, I love the peace, quiet, and freedom that comes while the younger half sleeps. Ahh... I read, I blog, I catch up on housework.

Ok, you got me again. I don't really do housework while they sleep. But it is good in theory.
I could.
I should.
I might.

But not today. Today, after I finish this post, I am going to work some more on Dale's kindergarten plans. I've got a pretty good outline for the first two weeks and am just beginning on the third. I don't want to plan too far ahead, because I want to be able to change things as I go to make them work for us.

Naptime seems to be the only time I can get any planning done, since I like to spread out all my stuff in the floor and look it over. And we know how that goes with a toddler!

So... off I go!

How do you like to spend your alone times?

Why parenting is a two-person job

For a couple of weeks now, I've been trying to teach Dale how to take off his own shirt so he isn't coming to me every time it is time to change.

This winter he had it down: hold on to one sleeve and pull your arms in and go from there. But now that it is short sleeve weather he's having trouble. (Ever gotten 'stuck' in an article of clothing? Frustrating!)

In spite of all my little lessons, Dale just wasn't getting it.

Enter Daddy.

Greg came along and gave one lesson, of a completely different method (which I thought was completely awkward and would never work...)....

.... and now Dale is a pro. After ONE lesson.

It takes two, baby.

Frugal Friday - Family Fun

When Alan has his dr. visits in Dallas, we always have a gap of time to fill between early morning labs and an afternoon appointment. In some of the past appointments days, I have filled that time with shopping.

Not frugal. Even if it is at places like Big Lots and Payless!

This time we decided to make more of a family fun day out of our time-gap. Many places of interest charge admission, and a hefty one at that. We did a little internet research and found some great alternatives!

Our original plan involved a FREE trolley ride to a FREE architectural fountain display.

And then it rained. With only a 20% chance!

But we had a backup plan: an aquarium!
But not THE aquarium. THE aquarium cost $18.95 for ages 12 & up, and $10.95 for ages 3-11. Yikes! That's $50 for just the 4 of us! Again, with internet research, we found a second aquarium. This one cost $4 for adults and $3 for Dale. So we all got in for the price that just Dale would have been at the other place!

Granted, this one was smaller, but with the boys being so young and our time being limited, it was just right for what we needed!

Dale loved every display. He was constanly running ahead - not with boredom, but with excitement to see what was next!
Alan liked the turtles best. And we happened to walk up just in time to see them get fed! After the aquarium we took a walk around Fair Park and found more fun stuff... for FREE! The best was a sculpture thing that actually encourages you to walk and climb... and over the water, no less!

Great fun, great pics, great memories, and great price!

And in the search we found lots of other low or no cost things for a family to do. Be sure to research in your area or when traveling. You never know what you might find!

For great money-saving tips, be sure to visit Biblical Womanhood!

Keeping me on my toes

I can't tell you how many times a day Dale asks the definition of a word, usually a word that's just been used in conversation. Sometimes it's a word he already knows what means, but I think he likes hearing it confirmed. Other times it is a new word for him.

Tonight, as we finished up his bed-time prayers, he picked out a word from my prayer.

"What does 'trust' mean?"

As an answer, I told him to, "stand up."

He did.

I scooped him up and cradled him in my arms. "I am not going to drop you. Do you think I am going to drop you?"

(Giggling) "No."

To make things even more interesting, I swung him upside down, holding him with his knees against my chest. "I am not going to drop you. Do you think I am going to drop you?"

(Laughing) "No."

I swung him up and deposited him on his bed, loving my parenting cleverness. "Trust means that you believe that someone is going to take care of you. We trust that God is going to take care of us. Do you know how we know?"

"How?"

"Because He told us in the Bible!"

"Oh yeah..." The light of recognition flickers on in his eyes. Ahh... teaching moment accomplished...or so I thought:
"...what verse?"

Uhhhh.....

ummmm.....

"Trust in the Lord..." (Prov. 3:5&6) pops in my head. It's been one of his memory verses.

But I want a verse that says, "I will take care of you".

And I can't think of a single one.

I tell him to wait for me there in his bed and I'll be right back. I find my Bible, and Greg, and start scrambling for a verse!

I know there is something I'm not thinking of (just like that person whose name you knew until someone asked you so-and-so's name... and then you can't think of it for the LIFE of you ... or is that just me?). But to get back to him before he loses interest in the conversation, I open up to Isaiah 41:10 and the passages about the birds and the lilies and 'ask, seek, knock' in Matthew 6 & 7.

Dale meets me in the hallway as I'm heading back to his room. "Did you find a verse yet?!?"

So much for waiting for me where I asked him to. But oh if we all had that eagerness for God's Word!

We read and discussed our verses and I tucked him in. Thank goodness for the many questions of children to prevent us from becoming slack!

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. For I the LORD thy God will hold they right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."
Isaiah 41:10,13