nerd alert

after a not so great visit to the wal mart optical ( the dr is great for adults, kids, not so much) we took Dominic to Dr Lisle who did his initial vision screening at school. Dr Lisle determined that Ds eye muscles were weak and working extra hard to focus at a distance which translates to uber hard work focusing close up.

he says theres a good chance that we can strengthen those muscles because he is still so young. Dominic goes back in a month to see if theres even a slight improvement, then back in 6 months to hopefully change the prescription.

in the last week

we have:

had multiple storm systems move through

had dominics first trip to the optometrist

worn shorts

had lunch with faraway friends

had dinner with faraway family

worn coats

had dominic second trip to a different optometrist

taken in a flooded out friend

voted multiple times for Broad Street Brewing Company (have you voted? do you want to?)

picked out dominics glasses

played 2 games of scrabble

fallen off the healthy eating wagon

gotten back on the wagon however briefly

made a trip to cocoa safari

gone to an egg hunt

annnnnddd

had our first Easter as the new pastoral family at Kent Baptist Church, Kent, IN

wowie...Ken gave me a hard time last night for not posting for a week

i guess i had ALOT to blog about but was so busy that i just didnt do it.

so what do you want to hear about first?!

how about a short one?

our friends Lori and Paul live right by the river, on the KY side. absolutely perfect in the summer, nice breeze, comfortable back deck where you can watch the river. not so perfect in the rain drenched spring that we are having this year.

last friday i helped Lori take everything off the walls and shelving units so that they could pull the mobile home to higher ground. theirs was the last one scheduled to be moved, it finally got moved on sunday, the road was half closed by that time....they made it out to buy groceries and bring their daughter over here to spend the week (theres a school trip this week that she did not want to miss). Lori and Paul went back to move the deck furniture, move the dog pen and tie down the steps and deck (just in case). by 2 hours later the road was flooded over... only a monster truck is getting through that. so they are on a staycation on their own swampy island with 3 other families...thank goodness they went to the grocery store.

they expect the water to recede off the road on sunday.

meanwhile, we have had the privledge of keeping their 13 year old daughter :) she is one of my favorites. and she loves to play scrabble.

ten things i love

i got tagged! i havent been tagged in FOREVER! so, holly here they are

1. dog wood blossoms

2. cheese (a..duh)

3. my porch

4. Yuengling

5. up cycling

6. the end of the evening when me, my kindle and my hottie (cloth bag filled with rice and microwaved) snuggle in on the corner of the couch

7. the ocean

8. getting revelation

9. coffee

10. vintage

and i love my blog friends! oops, thats 11.

pass the chocolate!

2 weeks ago, i noticed my pants getting a little snug in the belly, i attributed it to minor medical situation and a few stressful issues i was dealing with, it will go away i figured.

then i cut back on coffee...big time, down to one cup a day and no cokes for caffeine boost. my blood pressure was a little elevated when i want to the DR last month...stress, yes, but i figured the major amounts of caffeine i was consuming wasnt helping. apparently that coffee was keeping my digestion going at a good speed.

last week, i had one pair of jeans that fit, and one that i was wearing using the old pregnancy trick of fastening your pants with a ponytailer. um, wow, i cant believe i just told you that, it WAS quite embarrassing when someone told me my zipper was down.

Ken said "just go get some new pants"

no, no i wont go buy new pants. instead i found a book at the library, a new arrival, the belly fat cure. i decided to read it through see what Jorge Cruise had to say. its pretty simple you try to eat no sugars (youre allowed 15 grams a day) and you eat 6 servings of healthy carbs per day (whole grains and such) it allows everything else (not to excess mind you). the book is SUPER easy to use and has great sections about how to exchange the stuff youre eating now to a healthier alternative..like switch flour tortillas for corn tortillas (corn tortilla with melted cheese and a hard boiled egg is a great breakfast!)

the most difficult thing about it is staying away from sweet drinks (soda, juice, sweet tea) and not eating chocolate (thankfully i found a yummy sugar free peppermint patty at CoCoa Safari)

it seems to work pretty well! im not like...WOW, i just dropped 2 dress sizes in a week!! but i am impressed with how easy it is to stick with. im also glad that my pants fit again.

people pleaser

Galatians 1:10

Do you think that i am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the one i am trying to please. Am i trying to please people? If i still wanted to please people then i would not be a servant if Christ

i dont like to admit it, but I am a person who wants to please people, i feel the unrest if i think someone is mad at me or if i think they disagree with me, or if i think i offended them somehow.

i remind myself that they choose to be offended or that not everyone can agree with me all the time and that some people ( gasp) may not even LIKE me (i know, who would NOT like me).

as the school year draws to a close we have had numerous people ask us if Dominic will be going to the Christian Academy next year. the answer is no next year he will start first grade in public school. the next question is usually, is it because of the cost?

No its not because of the cost, its because as Christians we are called to a mission of going, and making disciples, and showing the love of Christ to people who are not believers.

its really difficult to live that mission when everyone you hang with is either already a believer or claims to be.

the asker today was someone i respect immensely and of course, someone i did not want to displease. i found this conversation really uncomfortable as she listened to my reasons of wanting dominic to realize that not everyone is like us, of wanting him to be able to have to opportunity to be a good example to others, of wanting him to be able to relate to all different kinds of kids, and to be there to show the love of Christ, she had that look on her face that i immediately read as disapproval (although i may be wrong, she may have been thinking and listening really closely). that made me nervous, it almost made me second guess my reasons.

then i realized that Ken and i have talked this over thoroughly, we feel like this is the best decision. and no matter how much i respect someone, i cant change my mind to please them, im not accountable to them. im accountable only to God.

another shirt makeover

im on a roll!! i have had this shirt for a few months now. i have never worn it. why?

see, its a bit wide at the bottom. this was a problem. i bought it at my favorite store ever. Ann Taylor? NO, silly, i cant afford to shop there!! Good Will.

i LOVE Ann Taylor, the fabrics are so nice and soft, the colors are always the best of the season (in my small town opinion) and i comb our local good will for someone elses Ann Taylor cast offs. so im sure Ann would have a bone to pick with me, since she isnt seeing any of the profits from my love affair with her designs. and i am proud to say that my closet full of Ann Taylor clothes has cost me less than 100 bucks in the last year. yay for frugality.
so heres what i did to correct the problem with this beautiful top.

what do ya think?

SUPER easy, the most difficult part was winding the bobbin with the elastic thread, it kept getting away from me.

you have to hand wind the elastic thread so its wound fairly tightly, so that when you stitch with it, it springs back and creates the gathers.

i started stitching around the bottom and just kept sitiching following the last row as a guide, around, and around and around, without stopping, its one continuous line of stitches. how much easier could that have been
ta-da!!

what will she make over next?