Piper's Room ReDesign

Don and I love looking at model houses. It's been one of our favorite past times since we moved to Texas. If you know anything about where we live, you'll know that it's a hot-bed for builders. It was recently cited as the fastest growing suburb in Houston. It's expected to grow by 80,000 people in the next 5 years! Unbelievable. But, with that said, most of the houses are less than 10 years old, so they are building like wildfire out our way. No sign of a recession there.

For the past two weeks, we have totally re-done Avery's room. Gone are any signs that a toddler lived in that room. It is maxed-out-little boy. Complete with a loft bed, school desk, and cool decor - he's sure to be so excited when he gets home. I'll post pictures soon I promise. (PS - please don't share any stories about how your kid fell out of their loft/bunk bed. I'm mortified of him sleeping up there.)

We thought we were home free on Miss Piper's room. Hang some pictures, paint Avery's old bed white for her, and she was good to go! Well, that was the plan until yesterday. I was re-inspired for her room. I've always wanted to do something different, but didn't really want to invest the money because I wasn't completely sold on any one idea. I always knew that I wanted to eventually do a Hollywood Regency style for her - it screams her name. Well, yesterday we saw two rooms that totally blew me away.

Here are the inspiration rooms:





I like elements of both rooms. I like the simplicity of the pink and brown room. It's so clean and so fun with the "wall words", but I love the glam of the black and green room. I think we're going to do a combination of the two. Let's call it "Traditional Hollywood Regency." I'll get back to you with pictures as I progress ... but if I have my way, and can find some great bargains, our little Diva will be set when she comes home from vacation!

iPhone 3G

You've heard the hype ... You've heard the buzz ... You've heard the lines forming outside malls all over the world ... Well, you've never heard a story like mine.

7 hours and 10 minutes after I arrived at the Apple store - I left with a phone. Oh no, I didn't wait in line all that time. That part only lasted the better part of three hours. The other four hours were spent fighting with AT&T.

I was in line with lovely people. Directly in front of me was a family (mom, son and daughter). It was the son's 16th birthday - he wanted an iPhone. They arrived the same time as me - 7:05 AM. After waiting in line over three hours, they were told that since the mom was not the primary account holder on their AT&T Family Talk plan (her husband was) - they couldn't get a phone today. I can't believe she didn't cuss out loud. In front of that family was a woman who worked as a police dispatcher, in front of her was an Asian guy that worked at the AMC movie theater and gave us the scoop on all the latest movies. I feel very abreast now of the summer blockbusters that I need to see.

Oh ... the AT&T part. Long story short - AT&T was not adequately prepared for the day. They didn't have adequate customer service dedicated to the Apple customer needs. They were not able to do the necessary reversals and contractual things that needed to be done on a scale as large as this launch was.

For me personally, they sold me a phone at the wrong price. Once they realized it, they had already run my credit card through. Apple reversed the charge on their end and gave me my money back, but couldn't get AT&T to reverse the contract. Therefore, I have a two year contract with them and no phone. (Let me insert the part about how they deactivate your old SIM card 20 seconds after they activate your iPhone.) Apple tried to sell me another phone, but an AT&T agent that was on the line working with us to sort things out activated the phone in the Apple store before I had paid for it - which left Apple with a phone that they couldn't use and me still without a phone because it was continuing to ring up $200 more than it should have been. Finally ... three hours and thirty minutes later ... from the time that I entered the store after waiting in line, with the Apple store manager and the AT&T highest-manager-on-duty in the US on the phone, they came to an agreement of reimbursement for me. I was mentally exhausted. If AT&T could have figured out how to delete my contract, I would have left immediately. No phone was worth what I went through today.

However, the Apple staff was amazing. Definite kudos to them. They held their guns with AT&T and didn't let them give me the short end of the stick ... and for that I am very thankful. My pocketbook is thankful as well.

Oh, and thanks also to the Apple store folks for bringing us water and drinks when we were in line. I regret now not taking pictures of all the folks in line. Hard to believe that I was one of the first 50 people in line. By the time they started letting people in to activate phones, the line was all the way down the mall sidewalk and around the corner of the mall. It was unreal. That was my only motivation to stay in line.

You might think my story ends there. Oh no. Not for me. Miss Bad luck comes at me with both barrells every chance it gets. I talked the Apple lady into letting me take my phone out of the store un-synced. A big no-no for them, but they were tired of me and I was tired of them. I promised to sync it when I got to work and she finally gave in.

I got to work and looked at my new friend Tim's phone syncing - did the exact same thing as him - NOTHING. Unplugged and changed USB ports. Nothing. Did other stuff that I was unsure of whether I should do. Nothing. Can you believe my cord was bad? As soon as I tried it with my old iPod cord, it lit right up.

Just add this to my "terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day" list.

With all that said, I love the phone now that I have one and it works. I've played with it all night. It does everything ... I love it almost as much as CVS, and that's saying a lot.

Tomorrow, I'm going to replace the cord. I'm sure my Apple friends will cringe when they see me come back. Bless their hearts ...

What's For Dinner?

I love to cook ... correction, I love to bake. Unfortunately, you can't have cupcakes, brownies, the latest and greatest Tollhouse treat for dinner, so it does resort to some cooking. I'm very lucky that Don is a fabulous cook and really goes the extra mile in doing more than his fair share of dinners.

Tonight, I thought I would post one of my favorite recipes. It's so stinkin' easy to make and, remarkably, is very healthy!

I found this recipe on the SparkPeople.com website after the first of the year. We've made it at least a dozen times since then. It's definitely a 30 minute meal :)

FAJITA CHILI
1 pound hamburger meat
2 cans of red kidney beans
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
1 medium onion
Chili powder to taste
Cumin to taste

Brown the hamburger meat, onions, and peppers together. Toss in a pot with the spices, beans and tomatoes. Heat to a low boil and it's done. Last night, we tried topping it with a dollup of sour cream and some cheese. Don liked it better that way. I prefer it as is. (We also had jalapeno cheese bread ... yum!)

This weekend, I'm planning on making Bunco Buns and probably brownies or maybe a strawberry cake ... If they knock our socks off, I'll post a picture and the recipe!

School Supply Mania Begins

Geez o'pete! The school supply list was published today. It's a far cry from when I went to school - show up with a pencil and a spiral bound notebook (of your choosing) and you are set!

Here is the list for Kindergarten:

1 large box facial tissue
18 Pencils (#2)
1 pair blunt scissors
2 boxes of crayons (8 count)
1 box of crayons (24 count)
1 box of Snack Sized Ziploc Bags
1 box of Sandwich Sized Ziploc Bags
1 box of Quart Sized Ziploc Bags
1 box of Gallon Sized Ziploc Bags
1 package of Lined Index Cards – 3x5 – pkg of 100
1 package of Lined Index Cards – 4x6 – pkg of 100
1 Soft Pink Eraser
5 Letter Sized manila folders
3 Pocket folder (regular size) with brads
4 Glue Sticks
3 Medium sized White Liquid Glue
1 Yellow Highlighter
1 Spiral Notebook (no college rule)
1 package of Construction Paper – assorted colors (12”x18”)
2 packages of Construction Paper – white (12”x18”)
2 packages of Manila Paper – 12”x18”
1 box of colored pencils
1 package of white paper plates (Qty 15)
1 plastic school box
1 box of tissues (large)
2 sets of Washable Watercolor markers
2 sets of Washable Watercolor paints

It was against my better judgment, but I purchased a "School Supply Kit" to the tune of $55 from the PTO during kindergarten registration. Basically, this means that on the first day of school, all of the supplies listed above will be on Avery's desk ready for him to start the educational journey of a lifetime.

I can easily see how the above items would add up to over $55. I'm sure that I got a great deal. But, I really did look forward to going to Wal-Mart, fighting the crowd, looking for that perfect pencil box, snatching the last package of Wall-E pencils from the peg ... I was looking forward to it. I think it would have helped emotionally prepare me for my firstborn child leaving the nest.

The teachers are wise to mom's like me. At kindergarten orientation, they drilled into our heads to only buy generic supplies (speaking to those that didn't buy the kits). They end up taking all the pencils, crayons, markers, etc., and putting them into big canisters for the kids to use. They don't actually use "their" supplies. Gone are the days of labeling everything with your name. Now it's all "Community Property".

I'm sure we'll need some supplies for home. We've set up a desk, chair and lamp in Avery's room so that he can do his homework away from the television and noise. He'll appreciate some fancy pencils and markers, I'm sure.

We'll see how I do ... if I miss the shopping, if I feel like the PTO has stripped me of my parental right to be toppled by countless carts at Wal-Mart, if I end up taking an extra four boxes of anti-bacterial Kleenex's just so the flu doesn't go around quite so quickly.

The good news is that Piper will start Kindergarten the next year. She'll go to a private school for kindergarten, so I doubt that they will sell kits. Maybe I can buy all the foo-foo stuff for her.

I wonder how many Hello Kitty and Disney Princess pencils can fit in one of those plastic pencil boxes? ... I'll let you know.

Where Is What I'm Trying To Find????

My purse is a disaster area. I do really well for about 2 weeks. (Same seems to run true with my car.) It is filled with receipts, coupons, children's socks, lipgloss, mints, change, and random junk. It feels so good to clean out my purse. Something about purging the stuff that I don't need anymore and starting fresh with just the things that I need makes me feel better. [Yes, that is a fake Coach wallet. I could never spend that much money on a wallet. I'm far to "cheap" (my husband's words). I'd rather refer to myself as "frugal". I would only buy a Coach wallet if it was (1) on sale above 50% off and (2) I had a coupon. Guilt would overtake me to do anything less than that.]

I guess life is that way too. Every now and then, it feels good to stop and purge the things that are not healthy. I've done that a lot over the past couple of years. It feels great!!!

So, my agenda tonight consists of ... cleaning out my purse. It's time. The car is next. I'm truly embarrassed. It's way out of control.

Oh ... and Little People Big World. Don and I love that show. It's on our "must see" list every week. We don't know when the new season starts, so we just watch the re-runs. And, Jon and Kate Plus 8. Can't miss that either. (Which should be entitled, "How Not To Treat Your Husband". I want Kate to be sweet to Jon. It makes me sad sometimes. I see divorce in their future.)

Our First TX House

(Our first Sunday in the house ... going to church!)

I'm sad today. I found out that our first TX house is now in foreclosure.

I know that a house is merely material, and to be quite frank - we only leased that house. But, the fact is,that it was in that house that our whole lives changed. So many things happened:

• Our marriage improved. When you move to a state where you have no friends and family, you begin to rely on each other.
• Our finances got straightened out. We came to Texas completely drained. We had no savings, no retirement, no nothing - literally. We had completely drained everything we had to survive after having two babies back-to-back.
• We experienced spiritual renewal. It's amazing that when God strips everything material away from you, you begin to realize that it's either get back on track with Him or continue to live in ruin. We chose to get right with Him. Amazingly, after that, we experienced an overwhelming abundance of blessings in all areas of our life.
• We potty trained two kids in that house. This will only seem like a "life memory" to those of you that have every potty trained a child. I think why this is such a house memory to me is that all of our bathrooms had two potty chairs in them - one for each child! And, as luck would have it, we were able to get them both out of diapers at the same time! HALLELUJAH!!!
• I loved everything about that house. It has double ovens ... a huge gameroom ... a large front porch. Things that I have now in our "first mortgage house" (all but the double ovens!), but I think it just the memories.

Now to know that it sits empty ... Knowing that the yard is unwatered, grass is dead, the roses are dying ... it hurts my heart. That house deserves the laughter of children and the love of a family.

I hope someone buys it soon. It was such a great place to live.

Maria Sue Chapman

Last night as we were laying in bed watching the news, a story ran that Stephen Curtis Chapman's five year old daughter, Maria, had been killed in an accident at their home. A pit just came into my stomach that hasn't left since I heard that news.

Stephen is originally from Paducah. So, having lived there for 8 years, you can't help but feel like you know him personally. But, my "relationship" with him officially began about 10 years before I ever thought about moving to Paducah. Stephen was a pace-setter in the Christian music industry when Contemporary music was just being formed in it's earliest state. He, Amy Grant, and Michael W. Smith were the first true pioneers in that genre, and I was a huge fan of all three! His music pulled me through some dark times in high school. I am such a fan of how he has represented his faith and himself. He's top of the list in my book!

More than my respect for him as a person, comes the fact that in just two weeks, I will also have a five year old child. I literally can not put into words how my life would break into pieces if I lost either of my children. I know that God's plan is perfect, and how much more joyous would it be for my children to live in heaven, instead of with me as a mom with all of my faults. But, my selfishness far outweighs what I could hold as "best for my child ... in God's perfect plan". I simply can not imagine the immense grief that their family is feeling on so many levels. They have lost a full-of-life little girl (watch the YouTube video tribute to her on Stephen's website!), and also have five other children to comfort and lead through this tragedy, too. One of those children - that is responsible for the accident - can you imagine the guilt that he must carry? How do you even begin to help him recover?

This is more than my heart and my mind can even begin to wrap itself around. I am praying for this family, and I hope that you will too. I am also praising God for blessing my family with healthy children and for the opportunity to hug and kiss and laugh and cuddle and celebrate with Avery and Piper for another day.