Smokin' my last cigarette......

Ever heard that song from the Fray, 'You Found Me'? 

I found God on the corner of 1st and Armistad

Where the West was all but won

All alone, smoking his last cigarette

I said "Where you been" he said "Ask anything."

Well aside from the fact that I do need to smoke my last cigarette (The day will come, I swear!), I just had one of those moments that cause you to stop and think.  I was at work, smoking outside by myself and a lady came by and asked me for a cigarette.  She looked homeless and harmless, so I gave her one.  She proceeded to ask if she could sit and smoke with me.  We had a conversation, which was pretty much small talk.  She's homeless, no job, out tonight because it was a beautiful night.  She was going to go to the Julian Center, but she didn't want to waste the night and they have a 10pm curfew.  She asked me about my life, where I work, was I married.  We both went on our way and I told her to stay safe. All in all, not a very spectacular conversation,

BUT......

I love those moments that make you stop and be grateful for what you have.

I wanted to run inside and give her my lunch, but I didn't.  It wasn't very portable, and she probably wouldn't have waited.  On my way in, I said a little prayer for her and then gave thanks for all my fortune.  Some days you forget, you know.  You get caught up in the daily grind and forget how lucky you are to have the things you have.  I probably can't list all the things I am grateful for, but these are the few that came to mind:

• 
  
  Jack and Evelyn
• Leland
• Our families
• Our friends
• Our health
• Our jobs
• A roof over our heads
• Food on the table

I know these are just the basics and I really am grateful for so much more in my life, but still....................  We have so much, some people have so little or nothing at all. So maybe I didn't "find God" like in the song, but I definately found a reminder of how blessed I am, which is pretty darn close!  Just a random thoughts post I wanted to share. 

Now go out and be grateful!

Sledding and Knitting

Well, it finally snowed again.  I was waiting ever so patiently for a big snow so we could take Jack sledding.  We missed the last one, timing is everything.  We went to Ft. Benjamin Harrison State Park where they have an awesome sledding hill.  Maybe too awesome!  We started by just pulling him around and the look on his face was priceless.  Pure Joy!  Jack would have been happy with just being pulled around on the sled, but I wanted to go down the hill!  Luckily he was too excited to be scared.  Or maybe the other way around, not sure, but it was fun.  The first time we went down, we turned and twisted, got up speed, then finally CRASHED!  I thought Jack was going to cry, but as soon as we stopped moving, he said........

"I wanna go 'gain!"

So, we hiked back up the giant hill.  Actually I carried him.  Boy, am I out of shape!  We got to the top, I caught my breath, then we got situated and went again.  Same thing, except this time, we got a splattering of snow on our faces.  Jack didn't like that too much!  He started to cry this time and I thought, "Oh crap, maybe this was too much for him" but then we both started laughing and I decided that we should not press our luck anymore.  Leland then took Jack around on the sled a little more and then we went to get burgers.  Pretty good trip, if I do say so myself!

Oh yeah, when Leland was pulling Jack around he heard some kid tell his dad:  "Daddy, those are the sleds that crash!", in reference to our sled.  Now you tell us!

A couple more things:

Evie was in the car with Leland, sleeping (Evie, not Leland)

I finally finished knitting my hat!  See I'm wearing it in the picture, let me show you again:

I got the pattern from this website:

http://ttwcreative.blogspot.com/2009/02/got-blues-berini-new-free-hat-pattern.html

It's called I got the blues berini, but obviously mine is pink.  I used Cotton Ease from Lion Brand Yarn in Azaela.  It's a cheap yarn you can find at Michaels, and I love the way it knits.   I think I needed one more row of the pattern to make it more slouchy, but oh well.  It's a finished project, which is a rarity for me! 

I'mmmmm Baaaaaaaaackk!

It's been so long since I posted, I had to go back and see what the last thing was that I wrote!  January has gone by fast, but nothing really exciting happened.  How does that work?!  This past week, Evie had a pretty bad cough and a double ear infection.  Poor thing!  But aside from the nasty cough and a little clingyness, she was her same old cheerful self.  That little stinker!  Although, it sucks trying to manage getting my hours in at work, it was nice to be home with the kids.  On Wednesday we just hung around the house and played.  Jack painted and colored, we played games, and napped.  It was pretty awesome!  Here's some pictures:

Notice Evie's cool new boots?  I've been eyeing these at Target for a long time, and finally took the plunge and bought them.

Such a trooper!

Getting ready to paint.

Whatya doin' Jack?

On Friday, we did a whole lot of nothing, except get ready to go to Mawmaw and Papaw's house.  But look what Evie found........

She just reach up onto the table and stole Jack's pizza, then proceeded to eat it like she was a big girl or something!

Sweet Baby Girl

Now, you all know I love my kids the same, but there is something about a little girl.  You know what I mean!  I don't know what it is about all the pink, and dolls, and hair bows, but it makes me all squishy inside.  Evie got a baby doll and stroller for Christmas from her Nonna and Papa and she absolutely loves it.  She's almost walking now, but she can practically run when she's using this thing! 

She also loves giving her babies open mouthed kisses.  It's so cute, but I havent' been able to get a picture of it yet.  Damn sucky camera!  This next picture makes me laugh:

It looks like she's trying to watch her show and everyone is talking. 

"Can everyone keep it down!"

And you know you can't resist it, I know I can't............naked baby pictures!

Oh yeah, I just realized something.  In almost all our pictures, our house looks a complete mess.  That's because the cleaning lady didn't come to our house that week, she called in sick with the flu.

SYKE!

That's just the way it goes.  We try, but it is usually that messy.  Oh well, just a little humor for the day!  Keep on truckin'!

I JACK TRAVIS!

One of Jack's latest "things" is whenever call him a silly name, like, sometimes I tell him 'You know what I mean, Jelly Bean.', he will say 'I not Jelly Bean, I Jack.'  It's pretty amusing.  When he gets really worked up (hyper, not mad), he starts yelling I JACK TRAVIS!  Mostly it's when there's people around, so I get the sneaking suspiscion that he showing off!  This is what I JACK TRAVIS!  looks like

See that box he's standing on, this is his latest obsession.  Everyone always say, kids don't need toys they just need a box.  Well it's true.  I reorganized the toy room and got rid of some stuff, so I had an empty box.  It has turned into Jack's favorite new toy!  He puts all his cars in it, turns it over and beats on it like a drum, but most importantly he calls it his new bed.  He will get a pillow and blanket and make fake snoring sounds and pretend like he's sleeping.  It's hilarious!  We let him crash out it in one night for our own humor.  Don't worry, we put him in an actual bed later!

I think he partied a little too hard that night!

The End!

Happy New Year!

Just wanted to send a shout out........HOLLA!...............to my friend Janel.  Thank you for encouraging my creativity with your gentle nagging by saying "Miranda, it's been a while since you updated your bloooogggg"  So here I am writing a post!  Christmas was awesome for us.  Minus a few mandatory bickering episodes it was very, dare I say, relaxing.  I was on call this Christmas, so we got to be home for Christmas morning.  I only got called in once on the day after Christmas, so it really wasn't that bad.  My family came to visit on the 26th and despite my house seeming like it shrunk overnight, we had a really nice little Christmas party.  And now, what you've all been waiting for................................

I am telling you, this kid loves CHOCOLATE! 

He didn't even care about his presents when he saw the M & M's.

And now for some presents...

Me and Evie.  She was hungry.

We had a pretty lazy day just hanging around the house.........

Exploring

Making shifty eyes

And relaxing, wait, is Jack throwing a fit?!  Well, hanging out on the couch.

More pictures and stories to come!

Oh yeah, and we got to eat Chinese Take Out on Christmas day! 

Everyone in America should try this, it's awesome.