This smile gets me every time!

Here's my happy boy! I just needed to share his picture because his personality really shines through. Note the crazy hair. It looks like that more often than not. He says of this picture, "That's Eric and Mick-a Mouse." I hope to share more pictures in the future ... but with dial up it may take a day or two to load them! Have a great day!

The sun just kissed me!

Hurray for these past few days of springlike weather! Eric and I went for a walk around the neighborhood yesterday, and today we were outside blowing bubbles after we ran our errands. Tomorrow is supposed to be close to 70 degrees, too! I might break out the sidewalk chalk!
As we started our walk yesterday in the afternoon sunshine my precious little boy said, "Oooooo! The sun just kissed me, Mommy." He giggled like it tickled and went on about his business. And I could not have been happier. (When we are in the car and the sun is in his eyes I am the one telling him not to cry because the sun was kissing him.)
Not a block later, he continued to amuse me by playing with his shadow and talking to it as we passed a white building and big parking lot. I could have stayed all day watching them jump together and dance, lose each other and then happily find each other again. Peter Pan would have been proud.
We also found a scary playground ...scary because of all the "big" kids with skate boards, profanity on every surface of equipment, empty beer cans, cigarette packs, and 2 teenagers making out without a care in the world of who saw them. There was a nice dad and his daughter though too. Eric spotted the slide before I could properly assess the situation and get us out of there. So, I thought to myself, don't be so uppity Jennie, just let the kid play. As long as there is no broken glass, needles or anything else to get hurt on, you will be fine. And so, we took a few turns down the slide and up and down ladders and steps before leaving. And Eric said hi to the 2 necking teenagers and I wished I could be as friendly and innocent as he was. And even more, I wished the 2 necking teenagers were more innocent, too ... at the very least more respectful of a mom and her 3 year old going to a park where 3 year old should be able to run and play without seeing young teenagers pretending to be grown up.
After the park, the walk just wasn't the same for me. Or Eric ... he cried when I made him leave the park! At least until we found our shadows again!
Lest you think this walk was all so deeply profound, let me tell you that if I told Eric, "Please hold me hand," once, I told him a hundred times! And most of the time, he didn't cooperate, and that sent me into the "You'll get hit by a car", or "Someone will take you" or "Mommy is trying to keep you safe" lecture. And by the end of the walk, he was getting the "You're never going to go for a walk with mommy again" and the "If you're too tired to walk and hold my hand, then you must be ready for bed" speeches.
Thank goodness for shadows and sun kisses to erase the memories of the last part! They must be erased for Eric too for as good as he listens! Ha!Ha!

Down but not Out

I've been on pins and needles the past week wondering about a job I interviewed for at a local private school. It was for an office assistant position that was a 10 mo. job which of course would mean summers off to be with my little Eric. Now, I've been on the fence about going back to work, so this seemed like a pretty ideal arrangement.

Well, the Lord has other plans for me. I just received the "dear john" letter today that said I was great but that they decided to hire someone else. And I sort of anticipated this letter since I knew they were in a hurry to fill the position.

But it feels like the pits. It's hard not to take it personally, although I know it's not. And I really did ask God to close the door on this job if it wasn't His will. And I know but I know that God is in the midst of this decision. He is telling me the time is not yet right to go back to work, and that something else is going to come along.

So, I'll just keep trusting Him, and trying to be faithful.

And to cheer myself up, I'm going to post my new resolutions to get over not getting this job. I'm going to tackle potty training full force. I'm going to pray for God to help renew my spirit about housecleaning and home management. Since I have been looking at day cares and preschools, I'm inspired to work harder at building learning activities into Eric's day. And on April 3rd I'm going to a Women's Luncheon with my sister! And of course, I'll keep my eye on the classifieds too!

I only hope Kevin will get over it as well .... The dollar signs in his eyes are just puddles now. While I'm not a fan of SpongeBob, I have to say that Kevin has reminded me a little of Mr. Crabs lately. Maybe there are other lessons for us to learn here as well ....

Cleaning, UGHHHH!!!!

Well, here I am at the computer when my to do list of cleaning chores is a mile long.

It's not that I don't like things neat and clean. I do. I really do.

But for some reason, my get up and go, gets up and goes when I have to do housework. I am ashamed to admit it. But it's true.

The only time I can get my behind in gear is if I am expecting company, and only then do I shift into turbo.

Thus the solution should be to invite company to my house at least twice a week.

And so, I have invited Gail and Susan and their kids to lunch on Friday. (I just hope they don't bring their white gloves! ha!ha!)

Keeping up with Gail!

I love reading other people's blogs. There are about 3 or 4 that I regularly check out. I say that nonchalantly, but sometimes I go to their blogs before I read my own e-mail. I don't know these women personally, but they do inspire me. They make me laugh and cry with stories from their lives -- their ORDINARY lives. They love Jesus, their families, their friends and they try to live their lives making a difference. They are the kind of women I try to be and the kind of women I would love to have as friends. (They are also really great writers, too.) So I read their blogs regularly and was thus inspired last summer to start my own blog.

But ...
I only wrote one and didn't think anything I had to say sounded very good after that. I wrote a few more blogs, but deleted them because I didn't like my "tone" or thought my writing wasn't good enough.

Then...
My best buddy Gail (who I actually know personally!) started her own blog, and I am so proud of her. And I love to go to her blog now and see what she has written. When we were together yesterday (in person!) I shared with her how happy I was she was blogging when she reminded me that the ONLY post I have on my blog is "Happy Birthday to Me!"

How narcissistic am I? So, I decided I'd better put on at least one more post.

And because I love and admire Gail so much, I am usually tagging right along behind her, so don't be surprised if I try to keep up this blogging for awhile.

Thanks for visiting!