Quick 5

Does anyone else get the feeling that this warm February is setting us up for a yucky, cold March?  That would be just like March, wouldn't it?

1.  I think I finally finished my signature wall!  I call it my signature wall because I think Pinterest told me to.  Anyway, I found the two final pieces on clearance no doubt, and now I feel like our dining room/living room is complete.  Lee was concerned that there was too much clock, because we have another clock not 10 feet away from this one, but I rationalize that the other clock is on a wall that faces a different way.  Plus, it wasn't about the functionality of the clock; it was that the clock was round and had the right look.  It's about the art.

2.  Last Saturday Alaina, Joya and I had a girls' morning.  We went shopping for Bria's birthday presents, and then we went to Gunther Toody's for lunch.  If you ever want to win the hearts of my girls, just take them to a restaurant.  The up side of not getting to go out to eat very often is that any restaurant in any form is a real treat.  We got there right at the end of breakfast, so it was super crazy and we had to wait almost 15 minutes before a server even came to our table, but they gave us a free colossal cinnamon roll for our troubles.  I'd say it was worth it.

3.  Bria turns 2 next week.  And for the past week or so, almost every day, she asks to go potty.  Usually when I'm cooking dinner.  My very first thought when she asks is "UGGGGGGHHHHHHHH."  Like she's just trying to steal my attention away, because she thinks that my preparing food for her is the ultimate abandonment.  And that she has no idea what she's asking, so why bother?  But what do I do?  I leave the stove and oven and I take her to the potty and I strip her down and I sit her on it.  There have been no deposits yet, of course.  She's not even two.  But maybe, just maybe, she's learning something and will decide to potty train herself way before August, which is when I was kind of expecting she might take an interest.  Or maybe, just maybe, I'm getting my hopes up for nothing and she really is a genius who found the magic words to get me away from cooking dinner every night.

4.  In big Alaina news, she learned how to tie her shoes this week.  Tying her shoes has felt like a big mommy fail to me.  Like she should have known already, but every time I think to teach her we need to have her shoes tied NOW so we can go NOW.  And then I don't think about it until the next time we need to GO.  But this week, with just a tiny bit of guidance from her dad, she figured it out.  Which once again led me to conclude that we as parents freak out too much.  Kids will learn and grow and we don't need to force them to be experts at life at the tender age of 6.  Kind of like potty training.  Don't freak out if you kid isn't fully trained at the age of 23 months or 2 1/2 or even 3.  It will happen.

5.  I just want to take a moment to give a shout out to our Children's Ministry department.  Technically I'm a part of the Children's Ministry department as the nursery director, but if the Children's Ministry department was The Office, then I would be sitting in the annex with Toby.  But from the annex I get to observe and be privy to some amazing things. Today most of them leave for Winter Jam, the winter camp for 4th through 6th graders.  They have been working so hard on this camp, coming up with every single detail from scratch.  Every game, every group time, every devotion has come from their love of kids and their desire to teach them about Jesus.  Alaina is still three years away from being able to go, and while the thought of her going to a sleep away camp for two nights without any family there makes me so nervous, I can't wait for her to go with these people, who love her so much.  So, while they are frolicking up in the mountains, just me and Lindsey and Shelly will be representing the CM Leadership team, and Lindsey and I will be representing the CM church staff.  I hope no one throws up, because our children's pastor Jeff is the one who takes care of that, and he won't be here this weekend.  Anyway, if you ever get a chance to participate in some event our Children's Ministry puts on, you should take advantage of it.  You won't be disappointed.

I hope your weekend is full of pink and red and hearts and roses!