38 RAK for the 38th bday

 

I turned the ripe old(ish) age of 38 on the 6th of this month.

 

Half way to 76.

 

(Yikes.)

 

 

Anyway, I wanted to do something different than the normal

 

"it's just another day"

 

routine.

 

I once read a blog about how a lady did one RAK for every year she was old.

 

I thought:  genius.

 

 

Then, I read this blog.

 

This is the younger sister of a student who was killed in my high school.

 

Instead of holing up every October, she does RAK's and encourages everyone to do the same.

 

So, I'm going to file this birthday under #AdamsActs.

 

So...38th birthday, here we go!

 

1.  The night before my birthday, I left a gallon of cider and donuts in my friend, Leah's, car. We had just recently had a conversation that about the weather and how it made her want to eat donuts and drink cider.

 

 

 

2- 13.  I made a pan of cinnamon pull-apart bread, put it in individual containers, and brought it to the faculty and staff of our school/church.  The following were recepients: Pastor, Joel, Debi, Anne, Kristin, Ashley, Jennifer, Yvonne, Diane, Ellen, Chris, and Dawn.

 

 

 

 

14.  I sent a Redbook subscription to my mom.

 

 

 

15.  I sent a long-overdue baby gift to our new nephew.

 

 

 

 

 

16.  I gave a little boy 2 quarters to play a claw game.  I was going to tape it to the machine, but he was there checking out the toys, so I thought I'd save WalMart the left over tape residue.  :)

 

 

 

 

17.  I prepared the coffee pot for Dave so when he got up in the morning...well, read the note.

 

18.  I dropped a mum plant off at my friend, Barb's house.  She has amazing gardens, and I just know she will take good care of it!

 

19.  I dropped some peanut butter M&M's off in Melody's van.  I went incognito on this trip...so it was a surprise to her! 

(finger inserted to protect the innocent)

 

 

20.  I dropped dark chocolate covered acai berried off to my sister-in-law.  I didn't go incognito on this one simply because their dog wouldn't have it.  BUT I did get to chat with Marianne and got a birthday hug out of the deal, so I'll call that a win!

 

21.  I purchased a busy bone for Ally.  Dogs need kindness too. 

 

 

 

 

22.  I brought Marie Catrib's to my friend Michelle and we lunched together.  I also introduced Baby L. to the AMAZING chocolate pudding there.  Oh my word.

 

 

 

23.  I dropped off a devotion book to my friend Rach's house.

 

 

24.  I left another devotional book on my friend, Abbie's, car while she was working.  :)

 

25.  I took the carpool kids through the drive thru for ice cream cones on the way home from school.  (I got to be the cool mom today!)

 

26.  I emailed action shots to the other parents on C's soccer team.  (Normally, I would have just deleted them after several months post season...)

 

 

 

27.  The lady that did my last pedicure was GREAT with child and told me she was having a girl.  I dropped of a baby gift to her husband.

 

 

28.  I did a drive-thru pay-it-forward at Biggby.  (Where I also got my free birthday drink.  Mmmmm)

 

 

 

 

29-32.  I filled 4 carts at Aldi with quarters.  Some mama who only has nickels and dimes in her change compartment will silently thank me.  :)

 

33.  I left a cookbook on the front seat of my friend, Sarah's, van.  (This was also an incognito mission.)

34.  I sent two of my favorite coffee flavors to my favorite pen pal in Texas.

35.  I sent Gina a card.  Just because.

36. I stuck a sweet note in A's lunch box.

 

37.  I made C's favorite dinner. (It's literally called C. Casserole because the boy will eat 1/2 of the 9x13 in one sitting.  True story.)

 

38.  I planned a hot date for my husband and me to go out for dinner.  Secured the babysitter, fed the kiddos, made reservations, paid out of my lunch (and grocery) envelope.

Whew!

 

38 RAK's done!

I learned something going through this: doing these RAK's...I felt more and more energized as we went along.  Like they were filling me instead of me filling them.  It made me want to do more and more.


Perhaps that's how kindness works. 

All I know is that the world could use more of it.

 

Pass it on.

 

Pay it forward.

 

Be kind.

 

 

Phoning it in- dumb edit button edition

I have a dumb phone.

 

 

That's the opposite of a smart phone.

 

I can't tweet from it.

 

No instagram.

 

No pintrest.

 

No facebook.

 

I make calls.

 

 

I text.

 

 

Occasionally I take pictures.

 

 

 

I'm ok with that...

 

 

 

...because the darned thing is a huge distraction,

 

 

And I can only imagine how much worse it would be if I could do all those things.

 

 

The other day, I was bored waiting for soccer practice to end,

 

and I found something new in my dumb phone.

 

"Edit"

 

Which...is a discovery, of sorts...

 

but you need to know that pictures are about 1"x 2" on my display...

 

So...not much to see to edit.

 

But- when armed with a straightened paperclip, you can make a mean arrow.

 

 

 

Frank's Red Hot sauce.

 

He puts that sh*t on everything.

 

No kidding.

 

Everything.

 

 

And also, dear husband....the geek grin?

 

Nailed it.

 

 

 

 

A aged up in to kid-pitch in the baseball league.

 

He's turning out to be a decent pitcher.

 

He's strong.  Which means his pitch has "heat."

 

Now, we just need to keep him over the plate.  :)

 

 

There's a lot of pressure on the pitchers - even at this age.

 

He handles it well, though (which actually surprises me!)

And managed to get himself out of a pickle a few times.

 

And other times- gave up 4 runs in one inning...

 

...but we're not going to talk about that day.  :)

 

 

 

The Monday after Easter, I promised the kids I'd take them to CatchAir-

 

(a new play place here)

 

It was fantastic.

 

Everyone else was in school- so we had the place to ourselves.

 

But this is my middle child

 

being a middle child...

 

 

breaking the rules. 

 

(There was another inflatable next to this one, and C skipped over-

and tried to do a "sneak attack" on his brother)

 

 

 

 

Dear idiotic Meijer shopper,

 

When I can't even fit my DUMB phone in between our mirrors,

chances are I will not be able to open my door to get in my van.

 

I understand I'm "thicker" than some,

 

but when I opened my door, there was approximately 2" of open space.

 

I don't know many people who are only 2" thick.

 

Thanks for making me climb through the passenger side of my car.

 

#jerk

 

 

 

 

 

 

She's a problem-solver, that one.

Problem (for her):  There's something on the counter that I want.

Solution (for her):  daddy's lunch box will make an excellent step-stool

 

Problem (for me): she can reach the counter.

 

 

Yep, she's grumpy.

 

Lots of emotion balled up in this little spit-fire.

 

But her piggy tails look CUTE!

 

 

Phoning it in #hashtagedition

I haven't done a post like this in a while.  Time to purge the phone.  :)



An oldie.  A newborn hospital shot.  GAH!  Hard to believe it was only 4 months ago. 

And also, hard to believe it was already 4 months ago.

#timewarp



I used to work for a local web site.  I'm on hiatus....possibly indefinitely, possibly not.
All of us are busy moms, so a few meetings were spent on Google chat.
I thought it was cool.
I am on the bottom row- far right.  You can only see the tip of my head for a reason: I'm in my pajamas.
The lady in the main frame is my friend, Michelle.  And also this is her photo ID on my phone.  :)
#himichelle



Walgreens has a large clearance aisle right now.
I went for Mucinex, and spent $22.
In my defense, all but one of the items purchased I would have bought at Meijer tomorrow.
Now, I just need to go grocery shopping in four days.
The last item I picked up was this nail polish.

St. Patrick's Day is coming up, you know.

#ihatebeingpinched




This photo is blurry.  But it's one of my MOST favorite outfits of Baby L's.  And she was so very happy to model it for me.  :)

#twoteeth




Selfie with baby in the Baby Bjorn.

#productivityatitsfinest

And also, I don't wear make up during the week - unless I have to.

#avertyoureyes





I purchased a Living Social Deal with my friends Melody and Jill.

It was  fun night!

I got to play with fondant, learn how to make it myself, and she made gluten free cupcakes just for us.

Even though I didn't eat any of them.

Dude...she flavored the frosting with bubble gum flavor.

#yuck



I received an awesome surprise in the mail.
My friend (and my mom's friend) Debbie sent me all kinds of clothing goodies, but this was in the bottom of the box.
A quilt.
Debbie makes the MOST BEAUTIFUL quilts.
They match the colors in Baby L's nursery.
And the words "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Goodnight Moon" are stitched into the quilt.
Along with stars, clouds and a moon.
#amazingtalent
#humbled





#valentinebaby



She is cutting teeth.
Yes, it's early for her to be cutting teeth.
I have no idea.
But she's cranky, in pain, miserly with her smiles, and frequently tearful.
#poorbaby



#bigbrothersrock




I took this picture in church.
I took this picture in church???
Apparently, I did.
Look at this picture.

#ohmyheart



If you've met my husband, you'll know why I took this picture.

#acornandtree
#contractorintraining



That milk mustache looks so..... #thug




#justtoocute




C. spent four hours quietly playing with Play Doh.
It was an amazing afternoon.
After all his "work," this is what he presented me with.

#iamapervert





I share this next picture in order to share a story.
This was taken on our bed shortly before we left for the boy's school Christmas program.
Dave walked in to get dressed.  He took one look at her, said, "Baby L., you look so beautiful."

Then, he scooped her up in his arms and proceeded to dance with her right there at the foot of our bed.

Is it possible for me to love him anymore than I already do?

#exponentially

Thursday Miscellany in pictures

Thursday Miscellany seems to work well for me.  :)

So, here we go!

Today was our last (ever) meeting with our Bright Beginnings lady, Miss Kathy.

We did a 5 year old Ages & Stages Questionnaire- and even though C. isn't quite 5 yet,

he passed with flying colors.

We won't be seeing her for #3 simply because there's a LONG waiting list of families waiting for home visits.

So, we're going to let her use her services on first-time families instead of us old-hats.

She and her husband have become regular customers of D's business, so we'll still see them around.

She gave C. a little see-ya later present.

We'll have lots of fun this summer fine-tuning our "listening ears."

Last night, C. and I finished planting our garden.

Back to front:

tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant, red bell peppers and bush beans.

Aside from the 1/2 quart of strawberries in the fridge, this is the only fresh fruit I have left in the house.

This is an emergency in my book!

Our finished concrete pad.

I cannot tell you how much cleaner the stairs (in inside the doorway!) are since this pad was installed on Saturday.

I can't wait until the entire driveway is done!

(Answer to your question:  4 years from now)

Ally waiting for me to return inside from taking the above picture.

She's a little Houdini who is getting off her chain.

She loves to run.

This is currently the bane of my existence.

She's lucky she's so cute.

C. was upset that Ally got on the table and ate all the peanut butter out of his cup.

He was making a funny face while crying.

He also rocks when he's tired, nervous, or upset.

So, here....he's crying and upset.

It's an interesting picture, no?

Also note:  he dressed himself this morning.

A (close to) record high day today, and my boy comes down in (too short) jeans and a turtle neck.

Then he got over the peanut-butter-incident-of-May 24, and decided to place some pretzel rods above his ears.

"Mommy, take a picture of me!"

Ok.

This deserves a picture. 

Our basement floor clean. (and vacuumed, I might add!)

The couch void of laundry waiting to be folded.

(It's folded, in a laundry basket waiting to be brought upstairs. hehe!)

Never mind the pile of clothing on the lateral file waiting to be ironed.

Hey....it's progress.

This is my summer strategy for good behavior.

I picked up these jars at Wal-Mart of $3.97 each.

(by the way, the EXACT same jar is $5.99 at Meijer!)

I wrote chores and fun activities on the back of post-it notes so the sticky side would keep

the papers folded neatly.

Pink ones have chores such as:  sweep the kitchen and bathroom floors, dust the furniture in your bedroom, clean the toilets, vacuum the basement, pick up rocks in the yard and bring them to the rock pile, clean out the van, etc.

Our Summer Fun jar will be used as rewards for good behavior and ideas for days we have a free day.  Ideas were taken from this post, my MOPS newsletter (thanks, Ingrid!), and my own imagination.

Some items cost money, some don't.

Blue papers are indoor activities (for rainy days, or lazy days...(calling a spade a spade)).

Green papers are more active and require a nice day out.

Either way, I'm hoping for a fun, memorable summer with the boys.

I wanted to post this.

C. drew this at school during "free time."

I asked him to tell me about it.

He said,

"I drew a picture of Heaven.  See?  Jesus is in blue in the middle, it's very colorful there,

and the streets have gold."

Sigh.

Then....last night I caught A. in a(nother) lie.

I grounded him from all screens for 2 days, and I laid out some sentences for him to write this morning.

When I got out of the shower this morning, he left this in the bathroom for me to find.

(Coincidentally...he wrote it on the BACK of C's Heaven picture- above).

What did I think when I read that?

He used the possessive apostrophe appropriately.

Although we need to work on the correct spelling of "poop*."

And last, (but not least!!!)

I'm at 19 weeks today!

Almost half way done with this pregnancy.  :)

My Dr's appt on Monday went swimmingly, and he upped my weight lifting status since there's been no drama for the last 4 weeks.  I can now lift 20 pounds...max.

Strawberry picking, here we come!

The ultrasound appointment has been set for a few weeks from now-

the boys are EXCITED to go with me.

Sorry for the quality of the picture-

C. has been taking them, and as noted above, he's got an "issue" being still. 

*sorry I talked about poop on my blog.  A. started it.