Nevermind me...

It was still dark when I woke up yesterday morning.  But I knew one thing...Quinn was sleeping on my back.  And I quickly learned a second thing...my pillow was on the nightstand...along with my head.  I had been sleeping half on the nightstand. 

I ever so carefully began the process of shifting Quinn to the middle of the bed.  I didn't want to wake him up.  I also didn't want to wake up Chris.  Or Ike.  Mainly because if Ike woke up he would inevitably wake up Chris or Quinn.

I gingerly lifted my son and slid him over.  I moved my pillow back onto the bed.

And then Quinn rolled over and snuggled into a spooning position with Chris.  And then I heard his tiny, tired, whispered voice from the other side of the bed...

"Dad?"

"Yes, Quinn?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

I laid there, waiting for my son to roll over to acknowledge me.  To tell me that he loves me.  You know, me, the one that he slept on all night.  The one that he forced onto the nightstand.

But no. 

No I love you's for me.  Just a few kidney kicks to round out my slumber.

Such is the life of a mother.

February is my month of doom.

It's February 1st.  February is my month of doom.  Every.single.stinkin.year.

It used to be my favorite month...um, hello, my birthday is this month.  And I must say, I always had a great birthday - shopping and vacations - and then the girls were born 7 weeks early and 3 days before my birthday.  And so there's that.

Then there's just so much else going on...work stuff and shop stuff...my dad's birthday and brother's birthday.  And my car tag has to be paid.

4 years ago we left Q with my mom and we took these sweet little girls to Disney.  I don't think it is going to happen this year, but I can't wait to go back with them soon.  With Quinn and his glasses.

So, February, here we go again.  Please go easy on me.

Never Ending...

Y'all this week seems completely never ending.  Seriously.

Chris had two late nights on Monday and Tuesday.  We ate eggs and toast on Monday and frozen pizza on Tuesday.  Ugh. 

Quinn had a crazy, crazy melt down when I picked him up from school on Tuesday.  He wanted to play outside and was mad that I was there to get them.  Nevermind that it was raining.  He laid down in the lobby of the school (in front of 5 other families) and blocked the door.  The girls and I had to wave good bye and get in the car before he would join us.  He screamed in the car for a good 10 minutes before I pulled into a parking lot.  Big sigh.  The spanking was close.  And then I said this...

Your behavior right now makes me very sad.  I was really happy to see you this afternoon and couldn't wait to get home to spend the evening together.  I was going to make a pizza and we were going to laugh and have fun and read stories.  I'm sorry that you're not happy about this too.

And then, I kid you not, the child said this...

Oh.  Is it cheese pizza?  Do you have a napkin in here so that I can dry this up?

And then he was fine for the whole rest of the night.  What the what.  My kid is bipolar for sure.  There is no other explanation.

Wednesday and Thursday are both dance nights and then we sail into the weekend.

Amen.

an MLK story and one year ago...

There are a few things (ok, quite a few things) that I love about teaching children.  And I love talking about MLK and Civil Rights.  I especially love these topics with small children.  This past week in the library I read some nonfiction books about why we have MLK Jr. Day and talked about what his "dream" was with 1st grade students.

These are some of the things that I learned...

+ a lot of kids think that his last name is Jr.  {makes sense if you think like a 6 year old}
+ they don't know what the word "minister" means
+ his dream, in its smallest form, is translated by six year olds as, we all get to drink from the same fountain  {I hate to rain on this parade, but I've seen how six year olds drink from a fountain and I think I sit that one out}

In one class we had this conversation...  {names have been changed}

 Max:  He said it was ok that I'm black and you're white.  We can still be friends.
 Me:  Yes!  Absolutely!  We can definitely be friends!
Autumn:  And I'm peach!
Me:  Oh, ok!
Sam:  And Isabelle's peach!
Isabelle:  No I ain't!
Drew:  She's not peach, she's mixed.  Jose's peach!
Brian:  He's not peach.  He's Mexican.
Me:  Okay, so let's go back to our story, shall we?

Sometimes, little kids are like a runaway train.  Just sayin.

**************

Last year on MLK day, I slept in, woke up without an alarm, came downstairs, Chris made a pot of coffee for us and pancakes for the kids.  I checked my email at the kitchen table and I already had 4 sales in the shop (kind of a lot of a Monday morning in January) with a ton of traffic from The Pioneer Woman.     She had written a post about earrings from my shop...

...and then I did a little dance in my kitchen...in my pajamas.  Just sayin.

Thank you, truly, thank you, to all of you that were around before PW and to those of you that are still here.  :)

**************

If you have the day off, I hope your three day weekend was wonderful.  Quinn has an eye doctor appointment today and I'm getting my haircut.  The girls have declared it to be a crafting day.  Chris (I'm sure) will be staring at some spread sheets.  And tonight at dinner we'll talk about how the world has changed...for the better...because of this man...

Race Day {and some extras}

So Chan talked us into taking her to a race this morning.  (When I say "us" I mean Chris in this case.)  This made for her 4th 5K.  

Here she is (with her sweet friend, Katie Grace) pre race....

And here she is coming into the finish line...

And here she is when she stopped running to pose for the camera (what the what???  who stops running at the end of a race to pose for the camera???  Um, yeah, Chan.  That's who.)

After the race...

She's so awesome.  Really.  She finished in 36 minutes...which would have been 35 if not for the posing.  Sheesh.

In other news....

This room has.got.to.get.cleaned this weekend.  Today.  Seriously.  It's beyond ridiculous.  (That's why I am blogging though, to procrastinate.)

Gah!  Such a terrible state of a craft room.

I took this picture yesterday after a class left the library.  I hate it when this happens...

I am all for book browsing.  I am not for book browsing and then leaving them on the floor.  Just not for that.  *shakes head*

And this baby is about to be introduced to the world...

I am so in love with it!  Bracelet?  Yep.  Opera length necklace?  Yep.  Double strand necklace?  Yep, it can do that too!  I've wore mine a billion times since I made it a couple of weeks ago.  So in love.  {I'm thinking it will be posted...tomorrow?  Monday?...we'll see!}

Wow, Weekend!

Wow!  This weekend was a whirlwind!  A serious whirlwind!

I spent massive amounts of time making jewelry...keeping up with regular orders...working on the very jane orders...and putting the finishing touches on my new fall and holiday collections.

I had my first real photo shoot this weekend.  And it was surreal.

I'm not gonna lie.  By Saturday afternoon, I was freaking out.  I was wishing that I was a recluse.  I get that lifestyle, I really do.  Hermit-dom doesn't sound like a bad plan most of the time.  Saturday afternoon I was having panic attacks and meltdowns.

My friend, Abby (the photographer), said at one point, "What is the worst thing that could happen?"

And I thought about that and then tried to describe it to her...

Imagine that your photographs are in a show and you have to stand there next to them.  In the middle of the show the pictures start peeling and melting and the easels won't stand and by the end of it people are laughing and pointing.  At you.  At your work.  At something you spent hours dreaming of, planning for, creating, and it breaks and people laugh.  And what if they don't like it...and worse, if they don't like it BUT say that they do because I am standing right there???  Ugh.

But none of those things happened.  Everything went splendidly.  Swimmingly.

Yep, that's right...you see a kid.  Such a sneak peek, right????

And here's me, snapping from the next room over...

And that's when I started to tear up.  You see, I see my jewelry on my mom, on my family and friends, but to see it how I imagine it, to see it like it's in a catalog...to see this sweet lady and her precious little girl modeling my jewelry...the pieces that I dreamed about and made with my own two hands...big sigh...it was a little overwhelming.

Kia and Abby, I never could have imagined a more perfect day!  And the models!  Such troopers!

And there's more.  I've made almost 75 *new* pieces of jewelry for collections this fall and the holiday season.  I have never made that much to stock pile before.  I am so in love with these things and I hope that you will be too.

So, that was my weekend...and this week has the potential to kick the Pendley's booties!

Monday night we're home.
Tuesday night I have PTO and Chris is teaching a class.
Wednesday and Thursday nights are dance nights.
And on Friday, I am leaving to go out of town for the weekend.  A girls' weekend in the mountains.  I am both nervous and excited.

My Weekend in Review {back from the brink of death}

1.  I had a stressful Friday afternoon.  Over silly things.  Does that happen to you?  To make things better. my super fabulous husband fed the children and then ordered hibachi for me.  Yay!

2.  Saturday morning I headed out to have breakfast with Molly.  Yep, you read that right.  I saw Molly two weekends in a row.  It is truly unheard of.  But last weekend was family time with Aunt Molly while Saturday morning was just straight up girl time...much needed girl time.

3.  Just before leaving Molly's, I started to feel a migraine coming on.  Once I left, it was in full force and about half way home I began to wonder if I was going to make it.

4.  I walked in the door and began throwing up.  Seriously.  And then I spent the rest of the afternoon in bed wondering why we don't have black out curtains in our room.

5.  Chris took the children to his parents' house.  It was our first night without all three children since last October...and I had a migraine.  We also had tickets (our anniversary present to ourselves) to see Old Crow Medicine Show and The Lumineers at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

6.  At five o'clock I dragged my sorry self into the shower, got ready and headed downtown.

7.  We had planned on having a fancy dinner out {perhaps at Empire State South} but I ate a bowl of ramen noodles instead.  Big sigh.

8.  We had outstanding seats!  Hooray for us!  The Fox is one of my most favorite places - so, so beautiful.  The Milk Carton Kids played first, then The Lumineers (which is one of our favorite bands...incredible live show...if you get the chance, I highly recommend seeing them) and then Old Crow.

9.  It was so loud and the migraine was no longer dulled, so we left four songs into Old Crow.  So sad.

10.  I slept in the car on the way home and could barely drag myself up the stairs.

11.  I woke up with the migraine.  It felt like someone had stomped the left side of my head in and then threw chinese stars into my eye socket.

12.  I missed going to church (Casey was leading the prayer and Chandler was speaking about Camp Glisson).  Boo.

13.  Around 3 o'clock this afternoon I started to feel human again.  Just in time for the weekend to be over.

14.  Quinn and I watched a movie together while Chris took the girls to meet some friends at the skating rink.

15.  I don't know how this week is going to pan out since I will {clearly} be behind the 8 ball on Monday.

16.  I still have to go grocery shopping.

These Sweet Babies...

...flew away yesterday while we work at school.

The mama built a nest in our hanging baskets (and then the plants died, our neighbors will be glad when we get rid of them) and for weeks now we have stopped on our way up or down the stairs to watch them from the windows in the foyer.  If we counted the time that we watched them, it would have been an hour every day.

They were pretty fantastic.  And I don't even like birds.

A Weekend Wedding

We went to a sweet friend's wedding this weekend.  I say "friend" and it feels a little strange to me.  You see, she was an 8th grade student of mine...and now she is a college graduate, getting married.  YIKES!  She was also the girl's babysitter for 4 years.  And, oh, how they loved her! 

My mom graciously offered to take Q for the weekend.  Yay!

So we got dressed up...

 {what are these poses from casey????  strange, right???}

It was the girls' first wedding (since ours) that they have been too and they were beyond thrilled to have been invited!  We lucked out and one of my most favorite former students and her mother (another favorite of mine) were there - we sat together and danced together (Chan claims Erin as her new best friend)!

It was a buffet dinner at the reception (at the country club!) and Chandler (while not in line with us) went for both the chicken AND beef...and ate.all.of.it.

They also did a marvelous job on the dance floor!

I took my picture on the way there...

 

 And then I took Chris's picture (as he was saying, "What are you doing?  You're not taking my picture, are you????)

And then I captured this little diva...{the other one was sitting behind me and I should have turned all the way around, but I didn't...just like I didn't take any other pictures from the evening...just these...gah!)

 

Stone Mountain

 We finally made it to the Laser Show at Stone Mountain this week!  If you recall, we tried earlier in the summer and were rained out.  {boo!}

This time?  Success!

And...Aunt Molly and her friend Michael were able to join us!  Yay!  Quinn was so happy that Aunt Molly wasn't "stuck in work."  So, really, it was better all round.

Quinn was amazed by the sky lift and wants to give that a try next time we go...

I tried {desperately} to get a picture of all three kids laying on the lawn together...

...and, as you can see, that didn't really work out too well.

So after it was all said and done...

Casey and Chandler said that it was "ish" and Quinn said that it was "boooorin'" but that he did like the fireworks.

Chris and I were shocked!  When we were kids, the Laser Show was like magic!

Big sigh.

I blame this change in tide on technology.  :)

Summer 2012

Today I head back to work and even though it's only August, it is, for all purposes, the end of summer for us.

I have found over the years that there are things that I carry with me from every summer.  Things that instantly transport me back to that moment in time.

What will this summer be remembered as?

...the first summer that Quinn stayed home with us {whew! we survived!}
...the first summer the girls did camp activities

The summer of Downton Abbey and 30 Rock.  The end of the Baxter series by Karen Kingsbury.

The summer that Dad and Ger came to visit.

The summer Casey became a vegetarian.

The summer of sweet tea vodka and lemonade.

The ten thousand dollar summer.  {We joked about it at the beginning of summer and then somehow it slowly became true - carpets cleaned, foyer painted, landscaping, camps, dental work (chris + quinn), treadmill (more on that soon), broken grill, broken air conditioner, signing up for dance + swim, new bed for Chan...big sigh}

The summer that I will miss all year long.

I Quit

Last August, I quit going to church.

I didn't mean to, it just happened.

We had started driving into Athens everyday for work and I needed a break from the drive.  I needed some quiet time.  I needed time for myself.

That, and Chris was teaching a Sunday School class which meant that he and the children would be leaving the house even earlier...meaning I would have to leave even earlier to ride with them and then not having anything to do for an hour before service...or, we would have to take two cars.  I didn't want to do that because one thing that I liked about going to church was that it gave Chris and I time to talk on the ride in.

So, I didn't go for a few weeks.  And then a few weeks became a few more weeks.

I went to the Homecoming service.  Chris and the kids went early.  I was bringing the fumi salad that Chris had made the night before to have at the Homecoming Fellowship meal.  I cried almost the whole drive in to town.  I realized just how loooooooong the drive was from my house to church and that my school was even further than that...and I was making the girls make that ride with me every.single.day.  I was waking my children up before six a.m. to make this long, long drive.  And it killed me.  So I cried on my way to church.

I got there just before 11am and the parking lot was full of cars but there was not a soul in sight.  No one milling around on the front steps or sidewalk like there usually is before the service.  No one.

I took the enormous bowl of salad down to the kitchen to refrigerate it before lunch.  Only the doors were locked.

I marched back upstairs through the education building and there was no one.  Empty.

And then I got to the sanctuary.  It was a packed house.  The choir was in full swing.  And everyone with a key to the fellowship hall kitchen was in that room.  I was stuck with the salad. 

I went back downstairs to double check the door.  Still locked.  I ran into a friend.  She told me that for Homecoming the service started fifteen minutes early.  Chris had forgotten to tell me that, and I had failed to remember it from previous years.

Now, this friend was not someone that I knew very well, but apparently well enough for me to have a melt down in front of.  So that's what I did.

And then we left our salads in a room downstairs and headed back up.  She sat with her family and well, since Chris was in the choir loft and my children were scattered about with their friends, I sat by myself and chewed the inside of my cheek to keep from sobbing in the middle of everything.

Immediately after the service I left.  I avoided making eye contact with anyone and was able to make it out without having to say anything to anyone.

So that was that.  A failed attempt.

I did not go back again until Christmas Eve.  Quinn couldn't handle himself and Chris spent the service in the nursery with him...which is what I did the previous year.  Why we keep doing this to ourselves is beyond me.  It would really have just been better for one of us to stay home with him.  But we're (apparently) gluttons and we tried again and it was a miserable experience.

So that was that.  Another failed attempt.

And now I can't get over it.  I can't make myself get past it.  I just can't.  I tried a few weeks ago and I had such a feeling of dread and anxiety that I couldn't go in for the service.  Seriously.  I got dressed for church.  I drove into town for church.  I dropped my family off for Sunday School and then I couldn't go in.

I consider myself a Christian.  I talk to Him everyday in the quiet of my car on my way to work, in the moments before putting my feet on the floor in the morning and in the moments before I drift off to sleep every night.  I try to behave like a Christian, in a loving, forgiving, kind, nonjudgmental way.

But I've quit going to church.  And that doesn't feel very Christian-y.

You're Already Home Where You Feel Loved*

Hi.  I'm Angie.  This is my blog where I write about...  well, a lot of different things.  It's where I am a writer.  This blog is part of my home.  My home is part of this blog.  This is me...

...trying to look fierce.  Or perhaps the sun was just in my eyes.  Whatever.  Did it work?  The fierce, I mean? 

These are my peeps....

I have twin daughters and a son.  I have a husband and a dog too, but they couldn't compete with the little ones when it came time to collage. They understand.  It happens.

Wife.  Mama.  Daughter.  Sister.  Christian.  And also librarian.  (No, really, its my day job.  I am, in fact, an elementary school librarian.  And I love my job.  My job of helping children fall in love with reading.)  Blogger.  Jewelry designer.  Etsy shop owner.

This is my studio...and some of my fun things...

 

...although, if I am being honest, my table is never that clean.  Unless we're having company.  And maybe not even then.  Do you love the lime and the gray?  Yeah, me too.  One of my better painting decisions.  

I hope you'll stick around.  I would love to have you!

*"Lost in My Mind" by the head and the heart (my current favorite song)

As if I needed something else...

...the girls and I were all loaded in the car this morning (at 6:30am, mind you) only to discover that my battery had died.  And for a plethora of reasons, it couldn't be jumped.  {"plethora of reasons" - that's code for I have no Earthly idea why...}

So I called my principal to let me know that I would be late and emailed a few that I thought might wonder where I was.

At 7:08am we all loaded into the van.  Me, Chris, the girls and Quinn.


We dropped Quinn off at school.  Then we dropped Chris off at the board office.  Then the girls and I drove across town to our school.

We arrived at 8:15.  We had a little over an hour of family at the butt crack of dawn this morning.

Chris told me I could either choose a radio station or the heat, but I couldn't have both.  I chose the heat.  Jerk.

And then we got to do it all again this afternoon.

But this made me feel better...

 

Apple pie, walnuts, caramel sauce...smothered in rum, butter and powdered sugar.  Yes, please.

Friday Night Lights (A Guest Post by Chris)

So, most red-blooded American families probably spend Friday night cheering on their local high school football team, and, while we can hear the local team playing from their stadium less than half a mile away, it is seldom that we actually venture out to see a game. Occasionally, Angie or I will take in a game to see former students in all of their athletic glory.

This Friday night, was not one of those nights, though. So what did we do? Did we take a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood enjoying the slightly cooler weather? Did we all pile on the couch for a family movie night? Or maybe we ran down to dairy queen for ice cream after dinner....

No, this is what we did this Friday night:

Yeah, that's math. And not only is it math, it's the same problem done three different ways. Because, you know, good mathematicians need to have lots of ways to solve a problem.That's how we roll.

Now, before you boo and hiss and call me some sort a tyrant, math-teacher father, let me explain. We got some not so great news about the girls' most recent math test today, and so I decided to do a little mini-lesson while the girls were finishing their blueberries at dinner. You know, kind of like a math pep talk. But then this happened:

Yeah, they pretty much begged to do a math problem on the wall. Pro-tip: your kid doesn't want to do their homework, practice their math facts, do sight words, etc.... let them write on the wall (chalkboard paint recommended).

So now that they have proven to me that they can multiply multi-digit numbers using multiple methods and various strategies,  we just have to figure out how to get them to do it on the test as well as they did it on our wall. Do you think if I emailed these pictures to their teacher, she'd give them extra credit?

A few weeks ago, someone commented on one of Angie's posts that Friday nights will never again be what they used to be, and I think this is proof of the rule.

A Story About Peanut Butter.

Apparently Quinn likes to use peanut butter as an exfoliant.  And now I know.  And knowing is half the battle.

Um, yeah, so that's gross.

You may, or may not, have caught on to the fact that the boy is naked to boot.  Naked.  This may, or may not, have worked in my favor.  I tried to look at it as a positive thing...I'm sure the clothing would have been covered in peanut butter.

In case you were wondering, he had apple slices and I gave him a spoonful of peanut butter to dip the apples in.  I won't be doing that again.

Today was a busy day.

Sometimes busy days sneak up on me.  Today was one of those days.  But first let me say that...

1.  I didn't leave the house.
2.  I didn't get out of my pajamas.

But I accomplished a lot.  And I love days when I don't leave the house or get out of my pajamas.  It's one of those things that has changed about me the older I have become.  I love my house and I want to stay in it.  Enjoy it.  I think that I get this from my father.  He prefers to stay home.  (Unless the other option is going to the gun club.  Then he will always choose the gun club.  Hands down.)

Anyway...it was a busy day in my pajamas.

 

Loralai came over this morning.  These two have big fun together.  Quinn will tell you that Loralai is his best friend.  He dreams about her too.  In these pictures, they both kind of look a hot mess, which is how you know that the playing is good.

I got a ton of laundry done today.  Hooray!  And while that was going on, Chris was making beef stew {sorry, Joy, no pictures...next time, I promise} in the crock pot because it was chilly (you know, in the 70's) today and it made the house smell won.der.ful.  Yum!

I cleaned our bathroom and the girls' bathroom.

I daydreamed about what I want our closets to look like.

I finished reading my book of the week, Just Kids by Patti Smith.  Excellent read.  My aunt was right...fantastic.  But now I am heartbroken and don't know what to read following that.  For the past month I have been reading the Mortal Instruments series, but I finished them.  I have The Power of Six, the book that follows I am Number Four, but I'm afraid that after Patti Smith it will just be a disappointment.  Big sigh.  I am almost considering re-reading The Paris Wife because that book is equally heartbreaking.  But I'm not a re-reader, so even though I am considering it, I know that I won't.

Good grief, what a digression that was.

So I finished my book.  I worked on jewelry.  I listed a few new things in the shop...

 

 

Just Some Randomness

Talk about a post that has a lot to do with nothing.  That would be today's post.  Its really just a random collection of, well, randomness.  :)

During our cheat weekend we went shopping and then swung through the drive thru at this place...

"Yes, please.  I'd like a venti of everything on the menu.  Its a cheat weekend."

No.  I didn't really say that that. (Yes, a part of me wanted to, though.)  But I did get an 800 calorie pumpkin spice (Hello, Fall!!!) latte.  (It may or may not really be 800 calories.)  And then I did a little dance in my seat and sang some Ke$ha.  

Quinn really did want one of everything on the menu and tried to order from the backseat.  We were good parents and got one of their new cake pops for him.  He was cracked out within 45 seconds.  Literally, shaking his head like a wild man.  I'm not gonna lie, it was a little disturbing.  But then 3 minutes after that, there was this...

And then it all made sense.  The crazy head shaking was a staying awake tactic.  Do your kids do that?  When the girls were little, they would pull on their eyelids, eyelashes and eyebrows to stay awake.  Where do they learn this sort of thing?  God knows, its not from me.  I most certainly do not fight the sleep.

Not during the cheat weekend, I made this healthy dessert...

 

I'm sure there is an actual recipe out there somewhere, but I just did what I wanted to do.  Its two boxes of fat free, sugar free vanilla pudding, blueberries, sliced up strawberries and bananas, topped with Bare Naked Vanilla Almond granola (oh how I love the granola.  Just in case you were wondering.  And no, I am not being sarcastic. Love.It.)   It really was yum!  And easy, which is always a bonus.

I found this on the fridge....

Apparently the girls do not have any self esteem issues, but we do need to work on their spelling.  Just sayin.

Last Week was Nothing But a Tease

I have decided that the 5th week of a month and I are going to be besties.  Seriously. 

All other weeks contain 2 to 4 days of after school meetings.  Except for the 5th week, when I only have one.  So I love that week.

The 5th week makes me think that my life might be doable...work, kids, husband, dog, commute, working out, having a jewelry business, blogging and well, I can't leave off the list my nightly reading.  (Which really just needs to be a whole other post.)

Last week was glorious.  It was also just a tease, because this is my first week of the month and I haven't been to the gym in 8 days and there seems to be no end in sight even though tomorrow is Friday.  How is that???

Ugh.  Big sigh.

I've taken blogging to a whole new level though.  I'm at the dance studio.  Being a stage mom.  Blogging in the lobby. 

Ugh.  Big sigh.

I Spy

The other day when Quinn and I were pulling into our neighborhood, on our way home from the sitter's, he said,

"I spy, wif my little eye, somefing dat is my house."

Nice try, pal, but I think we might need to work on your strategy a little bit more.

ps.  Have you paid a visit to this site before? I think you should check it out.  ;)