Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Milk Comes From Cows!

My darling preschoolers bring me so much joy and laughter. There are a hundred funny and joyful moments during any given today. This sweet little conversation was the "gem of wisdom" for today.

The scene takes place in my music class with a precocious group of three-year-olds.

Tyler: Miss Mindy. Do you have a baby in your tummy?
Me: Yes! I'm going to have a little girl named Eden. She'll be here around Thanksgiving time.
Sam: Miss Mindy, whatcha gonna feed your baby?
Me: I'll feed her milk.
Sam: Oh, from your breast?
Me: (Flustered, not wanting to explain breast feeding during music time) Um....well..... I'll be feeding her...er,um, mommy milk....from my......body.
Presley: (Exasperated) Sam! (Rolling eyes) Milk comes from cows, silly!

 
 
Gotta love innocence, and correct anatomical vocabulary.


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Maternity Skinny Jeans: An Oxymoron

As a lover of fall- I am so happy with the recent trend of long (read: covering the hiney) cardigans, tunics, and baggy sweaters, paired with leggings or skinny jeans and boots. (English teacher friends: I am almost sure I just committed several punctuation crimes. Forgive me.)

From time to time I enjoy shopping and cruising pinterest for what the young folks are wearing, even though I am usually wearing a mom-i-form that is closer to yoga pants and t-shirts from high school. I am not super stylish, but I think I have occasional cute days with my limited resources and budget.

It is late August and I am due to have my last ever baby in December. Here in Oklahoma the only thing certain about our weather is its unpredictability. But I am hopeful that it will eventually cool off enough for me to want to wear my fall staple of skinny jeans and boots. So I purchased a pair of dark indigo maternity skinny jeans and black leggings online.

I was so excited to try them both on when they came in yesterday. I tried on the super soft, full panel, black leggings first and instantly declared them my new favorite pants. Soft, comfy, perfect with long tees and a jacket. Good to dress up for and evening out, or to kick around the house in. In short, I was in love. Pregnancy perfection. Naturally I was excited to proceed to my skinny jeans which were sure to be a hit.

Note: I own several other pairs of jeans, pants, and skinny jeans that are the same brand and size. They fit just fine. No problem.

I put on the jeans and attempted to pull them up. Attempted. They got stuck on my pregnant ham-hock thighs. Allegedly they were stretchy, but I found them not to budge at all. The top of the pants stopped somewhere around my hiney crack. They were so freakishly tight. So I made the choice to do whatever any self respecting woman would do. I pulled up the navy, stretchy, belly covering material and went to the kitchen to show my husband.

This is mean, but sometimes it is fun to wear something that you know is heinous to watch the man you love writhe uncomfortably as he tries not to say anything stupid. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Honey, do you like my new jeans?

Ryland: (Eyes huge, fear covering his face.) Those are cute.

Me: Are you serious? These are so tight that I look like someone who belongs in a "people of Wal-Mart" picture. I'm returning them.

Ryland: Ok. Thank goodness!

Y'all, they were an abomination. Skin tight with a major muffin top. Bad. Blech. Vom. Whatever you are imagining, it was worse.

Then I danced in them. It was a twerking/booty dance hybrid, except pregnant, and not sexy. My people laughed and then I crisco'd myself down enough to peel off the jeans so that I could breathe deeply again. Sweet freedom.

I will be returning them post-haste.

I told my sweet husband that I was planning to blog about this unfortunate experience, to which he timidly replied, "I don't really know how to say this, but, you aren't going to post a picture are you?".

"I'm too vain for that." I said. He exhaled, clearly relieved. And I threatened to punch him if he ever spoke of "the jeans" ever again.

Why couldn't I have been pregnant when gaucho pants were in style? Stretchy, loose, glorious, perfect for achieving a non-muffin-top style. Please ladies, for the love of future preggos everywhere, let's bring back the gauchos.

Maternity Skinny Jeans. Oxymoron.





Thursday, November 1, 2012

30 Days I'd Like to Re-Live

Please note that I didn't say 30 days I'd like to go back and change. The older that I become, the more I realize the fragile nature and unreliability of memory. And because of that, there are days I wish I could go back & visit- like watching a movie for a second time. You always see things in more detail the second time. And having lived so much life since these days my life experiences have made the memory of these days so much more precious. These are my choices. 

30. The day my brother was born. I was only 3 but I wonder what I thought and felt that day. 
29.The day I received the PLC scholarship at UCO. Life changer. 
28. Any day from my trip to Disney World. 
27. Any day where I used to be a size 6. 
26. Any Friday night I spent in the sidelines as a high-school cheerleader. 
25.The day I moved away from my parents. 
24. A day from one of my summers in Grove at my grandparents lake house. 
23. The first time Ryland kissed me. 
22. Any of the nights I spent in my grandparents' Barnsdall homeplaces.
21. My 16th birthday. 
20. A lazy summer day poolside with my family as a teenager. 
19.Any night where my babies were tiny enough to sleep all night on my chest. 
18.A day from my time as an RA working for my friend Steph. 
17.A day from Energy Camp where I met my Morgan. 
16.Any Miriam adventure from any decade. 
15.Any Falls Creek day from my teen years. 
14. The day Ryland proposed to me over a picnic at Birch Lake.
13.Any Christmas Eve/Day of my childhood. I am so homesick for the magic of those sweet days. 
12.The days that my kids said their first words and walked for the first time. 
11. Graduations- high school & college. 
10.The first time I saw the ocean in junior high. 
9.Any post-football game cruising session with Aubrey and Charity in the Merc. 
8. The first time I ever sang in church. It took so much courage. Still makes me a nervous wreck. 
7.The day after fall finals at college- any year. What feels better than Christmas break at home during college? 
6. My first day as a teacher in 2005. 
5.Any of the days of my honeymoon in Jamaica. 
4.The days I found out I was expecting my kids- June 13, 2008 and February 6, 2010. 
3.The days my children were born. 
2. My wedding day. 
1.  The day that Jesus became more than a story, he became mine. The most important day. I'm so thankful for this. It truly gives meaning & purpose to all the other days. I hope each of you have experienced this "day" in your life. 

What day would you like to re-live? 

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Cousins

Today is one of those days when I am a little wistful and sad.
 
I am the youngest grand-daughter on one side of my family and I am the middle cousin on the other side. I have so many amazing memories with my cousins: matching mullets, rv camping, Christmases sleeping in the same room, four wheeler rides, long afternoons at the creek, sweet conversations and shared memories.
 
Alas, life has happened. We are all grown and spread across the states, and some days I just miss them. I wish we could see each other more. They are some of my favorite people.
 
 My oldest cousin Chris has always been a hero of mine. Heath and Shawn have always cracked me, up their hijinks are legendary. Jennifer has a contagious laugh and gets stuff done! Haley is sentimental and organized always with humor and quick wit. Riann has such a kind, compassionate heart. Emily has a great sense of style and is a fun mom. Danna is my frugal soul-sister and one of my best friends. My girl cousins are an absolutely beautiful group of women. I could write entire blog posts on each of them, but they would kill me. They have threatened. As long as their secrets are safe, then so is my life.
 
The Harmon Cousins
The Clapp Cousins (minus Shawn)


I also get a little sad for my kids. My cousins were close enough in distance that we saw each other weekly if not daily sometimes. God has blessed us tremendously, I am not complaining, I just wish it were possible for Hope and Isaac to see their cousins more often. Their time together is quality, but I selfishly wish there was more quantity. And my goodness, they are cute in a group.
Little Russell cousins.

Nothing like dead fish watching with your cousins.

Cousin breakfast.

I wouldn't change a thing. I know we are right where God has us in this season. But for a few hours I wish I could be in my grandparents Barnsdall homeplaces and laugh with my cousins. I wish my house could be wrecked with the laughter and mess of my kids' cousins. I'm thankful for the role of each of them in our lives. I hope God blesses and keeps them all until the next time we can be together. Which I hope is soon, and more often.



Friday, October 26, 2012

Hottie in Flight

This is one of my very very favorite photos from our annual family lake vacation in July, during my unintentional blog hiatus. My hubs was jumping from the upper deck of a pontoon. I am not a photographer in any capacity, but I got lucky on this shot with beautiful scenery, unintentional good light, and a cooperative camera that I don't know how to use.