Oscar night (and back by popular demand. . .)

Pop quiz. . .what's today? No, not Sunday. I mean, it is Sunday, but what comes on tv tonight?? Anyone?? The Oscars. Or, the Academy Awards. Aka--my favorite tv night of the year!!! Pre-kiddos, every year this day/night came around, I was glued to the tv from 2pm-1am absorbing it all. I love movies. Love the artistic side, the critical side, the imaginative side, the emotional side, almost all of the sides of movies. I love the glitz and glamour and as my friend Bec likes to say, I love "watching pretty people do pretty things!"

Last year my sweet sister wrote me a poem for my Oscar night, or my "Christmas" as she likes to call it. It was quite brilliant, so I posted it here. Just today, she sent me my poem for this year, to get all pumped up for my vegging this evening (right now). Once again, I have to share. . .thanks Mary, you rock!! And the winner is. . . .

My Biffer’s Favorite Time of the Year
Written by: Mary Buchas ---MY sister (and a small edit by me)

(To the Tune of: “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”)

It’s my Biffs favorite time of the year

With the red carpet rolling

And big stars a-strolling in designer gear

It’s my Biffs favorite time of the year

She’s the hap-happiest person of all

With Ryan Seacrest a-speaking, Miss Rivers critiquing

When a dress is too small

Biff’s the hap-happiest person of all.



James and Anne will be hosting

Biffer will be toasting

A glass of wine during the show

An award for the Kings Speech

A schoolgirl like screech when

The popcorn is ready to go



It’s my Biffs favorite time of the year

There’ll be Colin accepting

And Biffer expecting

To see her Tommy dear

It’s my Biffs favorite time of the year



Will Facebook be awarded?

Inception be thwarted?

Was Portman really the bomb?

Could Black Swan really win it?

(Even if it’s really weird

Watching it next to your Mom)



It’s my Biffs favorite time of the year

Whoa is that Bellatrix?

I hope all of my picks

Are the top of the tier.

It’s my Biffs favorite time…

I’m sick of writing this rhyme

Lindsay Lohan commited a crime

It’s Oscar night time…for the 83rd year!

family notebook

Last year I read the book, Steady Days, by Jamie C. Martin. It was a great little book, one full of ideas and inspiration on managing my days as a mom and wife. A book that has encouraged me to finally take steps toward getting more organized. I've always thought I am somewhat organized, yet I live in clutter. Though I've still not been able to rid our house of clutter, I've finally created a family notebook that holds important keys to our family's organization. That way, even when my counters are full of clutter, I still know where to go to find things!! My next step is getting rid of clutter so when my boys are asked one day down the road, what is one thing you remember your mom saying as you were growing up, it won't be "Why are our counters always SO cluttered?! You need to find homes for all of these. . ., etc. etc."

Do you see what I mean? Full disclosure obviously. . .

Anyway, here's what is in our family notebook in case you are in need of something like this as well. You may have something like this already, but it has been so good for me, I want to share. . .

First off, I found a 3 ringed, 2 pocket binder. In the front pocket of the binder I keep some character traits and Bible verses we'd love to see developed in our boys. Next, in the front of our notebook is 12 months of calendars printed and hole punched. That way, when I'm making appointments or recording special days at school or needing to plan date nights, I can put it on the calendar and have it right there. Chad can look at this too and update his calendar. I don't have a personal agenda that I carry with me---I have a thousand other things like diapers, sippy cups, Purell, kleenex, etc.etc. So, this one spot in our kitchen is perfect for us!

I then have 7 dividers with index tabs. The first is Phone Numbers. I have a list of phone numbers ranging from our parents, neighbors, church, schools, doctors, to every home maintenance number we call (air, garage, plumbing, car, pest, etc). On the back on that sheet are Take-Out numbers, so we don't have to look things up in a phone book. Saving steps is quite helpful these days! Additionally, though I do have most of these numbers in my cell phone, we are the family that still has a land-line, so I choose to use it when I'm home anyway.

Our nex tab is for birthdays. Though I created my own sheet, here is a site that has hundreds of free printables you can download, among lots of other helpful tips to family/home organizing! I'm very picky about fonts and the way things are laid out visually. I love this site for so many of the items I've used in our notebook.

Our third tab is for Bible verses. I chose it to be third because I had a yellow tab and that makes me think of joy! So, here is where I have written some verses I want to commit to heart as well as some for our boys to learn too.

Our fourth tab is our Odds & Ends Master Plan. I have a sheet, again that I found on the site above, that enables me to list things that need to be done around our house. So often, we come up with things that need to be done, but forget about, when we have time to do them. This can be a place to list things like, buy/change air filters, change lightbulbs, print pictures out for new frames, hang this or that, pull clothes down from the attic, etc. Just a place for me to list things I'd like for us to do or work on that I can get out of my cluttered head!

Our fifth and sixth tab are currently empty, but I plan on using one of them for articles I rip out of magazines that I want to keep and peruse later. I have so many old issues of magazines with dog-eared pages that I want to return to. Therefore I have TONS of magazines sitting around--that equals clutter! So, I can recycle my magazines after I rip those articles out! The other tab, I am planning on using for expenditures. For example, this site I keep mentioning has a printable for health records. I have written down every dr. visit we have had already this year (which in less than 2 months down, has been A LOT). This way, I can look back at the end of the year and know how about how much to budget for next year. Yes, I'm sure there are online ways of doing this--but handheld things seem to work better for me. I'm hoping this and recording other things will help us as we get on track with our budget!

Our last tab is for our Family Mission Statement. Chad and I worked on this at the end of last year. We're still working on it, but we have goals and verses and our family mission laid out. We have it under this tab, so we can go back to it and update it as we see fit!

Behind all of our dividers are 3 separate folders with pockets. One for each of our boys. They hold things like flyers or reminder papers that come home from school, school calendars, or papers with milestones or funny quotes on them, so I can remember to put them in the boys' scrapbooks.

Then finally, I have 3 separate velcro folders, also hole punched. The first contains stamps and note sheets for teachers. The second contains, take-out menus, the third contains coupons. 

Now that our family notebook is up and running, I am feeling more organized already. And though our house may still be cluttered (though that will hopefully will change, just you wait) at least my brain isn't!!

parenting different personalities

Recently, I've been marveling at how very different my children are. My ALL boys children. I don't know why this surprises me. I mean my girlfriends are girls, but are very different--of course we have had different upbringings too. So, I think, okay, let's look at my sister and me. Sure enough, we are quite different from each other too, even with the same upbringing. But, is it really the same upbringing?

The fact is, we do parent each child differently. Sure, from a broader scope, we raise them the same, or at least we try to with our faith, values, etc. But because each child is created differently with unique personalities, we sometimes have to change our parenting steps along the way.

Some of this has come to mind over transitions that have or have not been occuring in our house lately. For example, Luke gave up his paci on his own at 15 months and was the easiest kiddo ever to potty train. Charlie eventually gave up his paci, somehow a lot easier than we anticipated, but it was much later and he's nowhere near ready for potty training at close to 3. But, Charlie can dress himself much earlier than Luke ever did, sleeps later and can play on his own! Miles, too, has his own way of doing things at 4.5 months old!

I am saying none of this to compare them to each other, but to highlight just how different our children are from each other. One needs more sleep, one needs more reassurance, one is more independent, one soaks up every moment of life, one holds back and assesses situations, one does the opposite. Again, I know this shouldn't amaze me, but it does. Sometimes I think, "Wow, it would be so much easier if so and so did this like so and so did!" But, how awesome it is to be able to nurture these little ones with their own unique personalities! I truly believe it helps hubby and I look at life in a different way each time around. It helps us appreciate different characteristics and keeps us on our toes! I am very thankful the Lord has given us the opportunity to learn how to parent each of our children differently and even more thankful for our sweet, unique little boys! Now, please remind me of this when we do finally start potty training Charlie!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We've been pretty busy around here! Valentine's Day cards have been in the works for weeks! For now, my boys are still enjoying hearts and glitter and reds and pinks, so I have been soaking up all the crafting that's been going on.

Luke asked us this morning if Valentine's Day was the most special day of the year. We told him no, but that it's a very special day chosen to celebrate love and to share love with family and friends. Our boys have really enjoyed the build up, the candy, the cards, the crafting, the cookies, the giving. And, tonight we are making a special meal to celebrate the day of love with steaks, roasted asparagus, sweet potato chips. We let the boys pick out a special fruit just for the occasion (after all it's the little things they love) and Luke chose a star fruit, while Charlie chose kiwi.

But, while we have spent a lot of time talking about Valentine's and creating memories for the boys, I also want to let my husband know just how much I love him. I do have 4 special Valentines, but he's my biggest and the most important Valentine!

So, Sweetie, thank you. Thank you for loving the Lord, for loving me, for loving our boys. Thank you for being so darn adorable and sexy at the same time. Thank you for being loyal. Thank you for being encouraging. Thank you for being sincere and genuine. Thank you for overlooking my faults and highlighting the good. Thank you for still exciting me when you come in the door from work. Thank you for all the million things you do and don't do that make me love you and treasure you far more than I ever thought possible! Happy Valentine's Day, Chad! I love you!!!!!!!!!!

a snowy tale

Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen who loved the snow more than anyone they knew! Because they lived in a southern town, they were never pounded with snow like many of their other friends who live north of them. Each year when snow was forecasted, the king and queen were giddy with delight! They would sit with their tea and hot cocoa and watch the snow fall for hours on their kingdom (when they didn't have other pressing business to attend to)! And what was even more exciting, was that the king and queen seemed to have passed their love for snowy weather on to their little princes.

But one day, the queen was talking to her princes about the wonderful news that more snow was on its' way. Suddenly, the princes became discontent and started jibber-jabbering about the summer and all the glorious things they could do when it's hot--like wearing flip-flops and going swimming! The queen became distressed and wondered who had put a spell on them. They had always loved the snowy, cold weather! And just the other day they were adoring their snow boots! She mentioned this to the king and her sister too, and they also wondered what had possessed the princes.

Finally, the forecasted snow made its way to their kingdom, and as the white fluffy flakes poured down, the queen began to hear a change in the princes tunes. Their squeals of delight returned and they were soon begging to play in God's beautiful creation! After they were bundled up and headed out into the snow, they were reminded of many things. . .

like the taste of snow. . .

and just how much fun it is to run around and make snow trails!

The king and queen have yet to figure out who cast the brief summer lovin' spell on them, but they are no longer worried about the princes' love for all things snow. Thank goodness and the end!

the elusive dress. . .found!

Many of you know my little sister is getting married this year! We have to wait all the way until October, but this weekend made their engagement and upcoming nuptials finally seem SO real because . . . my Biffer found her wedding dress!!!! My mom, sister and I searched long and hard one weekend in ATL back in January and came back empty-handed. But, as we headed out of town this weekend in search of the elusive dress, we were thinking positive thoughts and sure enough "the one" was found! It was a quick trip, but she scored, and so will Kevin when he sees her on their wedding day! Wink, wink! :) Anyway, it was such a fun experience! The heavens opened and the light shone down on her when she put this dress on. Brought tears to all 3 of our eyes. What a gorgeous bride she will be in October! I had lots of memories coming back to me from 10 years ago when I was searching for my dress and my little sister was in high school! She was looking at me as such a grown up getting married and had visions of her future wedding and mate down the road. Now I am looking at her, all grown up and taking care of her wedding plans, and I am so excited about what's ahead for them. Marriage is the most important relationship the Lord blesses us with, aside from our relationship with Him, and I can't wait to see how the Lord blesses Mary and Kevin with each other!!

There was a huge mirror inside the botique and since I couldn't take a picture of my sister until she purchased a dress, I had fun taking a few shots of my mom to capture memories from our trip!

Lots and lots of dresses to try on. . .

Mom's face when we think this is the dress. . .

Mom's face when we know this is the one. . .

And of course, no one can see the bride in her dress before the wedding day (except for her mom and sister)! So, here's a peek of my beautiful and uber silly little sister in her wedding dress!

I love you, Biff!

a new read

I am so excited for a new month! The month of love! And, just today, a new book I've been anxiously awaiting, arrived! A friend of mine from a Bible study a few years back sent me an email the other day. She told me of a blog, A Holy Experience, she has been reading that is incredible. I checked it out, and my friend was right. This woman, Ann Voskamp, is an amazing writer, storyteller and she loves the Lord! I poured through her blog one night and discovered she has just published a book. I was very interested and ordered it from Amazon right away! The very next day, I was reading through 2 other well known blogs (I do love to read blogs) and they also mentioned her new book. And after reading further, her book just landed on the USA Today's bestseller list after being released for only 2 weeks! This book, One Thousand Gifts, is sweeping the nation and I cannot wait to delve into it! It's about living a life of joy and of love and learning from the Lord. So tonight, I am planning to pour a cup of tea, sit under a warm blanket and begin reading this highly praised book! What a perfect way to spend the first night in February!