in the works

well, i'm sure yall are tired of looking at how much i was loved. we are home from dothan and i have 3 words to say...

sweet.........fancy............moses!!! yall, i KNOW i am deaf in my right ear from my child screaming her honkin' head off for 2 hours of the trip home.

some highlights...i got to see my family of course. i got to spend some time with some of my rock star high school buds (booooo to the mexican connection for moving!) and we were actually asked to leave. fortunately it wasn't for anything like disorderly conduct, but rather b/c they are now a hole in the wall needed the table. at least those chicken nachos were still good. even though they were the same price for half the size.

lowlights...my kids didn't sleep all that well, mainly ally claire. and guess who is in a room with her? you got it. however, as soon as we hit troy, micah, luke and seth all started snotting up. micah had just gotten over strep. so i head out friday in the madness for some meds to help him get better.

anyway, we are home. the only pictures i took was of my dad's hornet nest that we found the day after my kids had been playing outside. and i had never seen one. but it looks just like the one in My Girl in the forrest scene when Veda and Thomas J knock it down...you know the one...(thanks God for no stings. you know i couldn't have handled one more thing. again...control issues.) i was informed that there are some things that haven't been addressed here on the tucker times, but i forget that everyone reading hasn't been with me everyday since high school. and at one time, i had completed a 100 things about me. i know i posted it on myspace, but can't find it to save my life!! so, i'll be working on that. tomorrow is a day off. we aren't doing anything but maybe unpacking. i know we shouldn't skip church, but we seriously need a recovery day. however, i did promise a certain redhead (luke) that we would put up the tree. he was soooooo good the whole time we were gone. i'm sure he must have a head injury.

ps--ROLL TIDE!!! {and i don't know how i wound up with so many auburn fan friends. i must just not be a good judge of character ;0P } yall know "i love you more than my luggage!" and if you don't know where that line is from, we are breaking up!!

I am loved!!! (and the things i love)

squeeeeeaaaalllll!!!! i have been loved!! look what i got!!

My friend, Kellie sent me this, the rules are to list 5 things you love, link back to me and pass along to 5 friends.

i just can't believe it. i link to a lot of my friends (and watch out...if you write something super cute or make something super cute, i feel a guest blog spot coming on!) but i didn't know i was a fun read. thanks kellie! that just made my little day!!

5 Things I love...

1.) Family. In these days when I don't get to see my family nearly as much as i'd like, and when I am about to see them in 2 days, i am just so extremely thankful for them. and don't think i have forgotten the 4 that actually are forced to share a house with me!! they will surely earn their angel wings for that tast. i love them. i love to sniff them (even snorgle them--thanks erika for that word!) and they pretty much make my day, even when they aren't making my day!!

2.) I love my blog friends. Y'all have no idea how much i love to get on here and see what you are up to. I love knowing that folks in the carolinas are up to the same thing i am and that folks in colorado are too. wait...nevada is farther than colorado...i know almost a countrywide full of ladies up to something. that is neat!

3.) I love being all domesticated. I love being home with my kids, cooking and sewing (or at least trying to) and just making my house a home. i think i'm discovering i'm a dabbler. i like to do a little of everything. b/c i see all the things my smartie friends do and think "i can do that". truth is, i can't. but i sure like trying!!

4.) i love knowing that if anything happened to my hubs job, i could probably have a job pretty quickly. working where i did i made a ton of contacts and having my nursing license allows for me to help out if and when it is needed. i love that security.

5.) I love that my Jesus and my God allows "do-overs." when driving, i am queen of the u-turn. my life isn't much different. when i feel like i have only been giving him the left overs or sometimes starving Him to death, He allows me to come back and get all up under that wing. My fussing and whining are nothing to him. He hears it. But it doesn't scare him away. and all i can ever do it just keep running back over and over.

5 folks i love:

Dana

Hillary

Paige

Susan

Kristen (speaking of guest blog, click here for a totally good motivation to get in your quiet time today!)

I'm gonna be good and keep it at 5...because if you are on my blog roll, i love to hear what you have to say!

getting reacquainted

i haven't sewn a stitch in over 6 months until yesterday. our pesky little adorable crafty friends have inspired me. Yall make me feel the need to be a better mama, especially during this holiday season. (Dana, i'm dying to know how you found PJs to tie dye. Kera, i covet those cute boy/girl holiday shirts. and i believe we have all seen the better version of the following crayon bag over at the Stickler's.) so i got out my sewing machine and embarked on making one of those cute crayon bags for our friend maddie with some scraps i had from making burp cloths.

and while getting reacquainted, i remembered why i hate it when i put my sewing down for so long. my best friend becomes my seam ripper. not necessarily for bad seams, but because my brain is out of shape. see, i am completely self taught, and while that doesn't excuse me b/c i'm sure the rest of you are also, i just haven't dared to do enough projects that require much "put it together" thought. my next project is gonna be the typical a-line dress/shirt with the cutey little pants that go under them. i'm so stinkin OCD, i think about it too much. so i'm loading up my material and taking it with me to see my mama on friday. i also put together a little diaper and wipes carrier with some scraps.


i'm gonna end up redoing the crayon bag b/c if you click on the picture please don't, you'll see that the crayon pocket isn't even and after getting all wrapped up in lining it, i forgot to do the pocket lines first. it's that kind of thing that drives me a little batty.

sister seems to be teething (again!!) but is being so super sweet. she is working on sitting a little more. and that girl is a sho nuff bouncer. she LOVES it!! she has been using the regular doorway jumper, but once she is done with her swing, i'm gonna move the jumperoo in...if her chunky hiney can fit in it!! i will have the swing, and 2 strollers plus a car seat to take down to the consignment shop!! it's very bittersweet for me. i'm not sad that she is the last, but i'm sad it is going so quickly!!

and the little men...they are up to their shananigans as usual. it's fighting about something most of the time. it's making huge messes. it's typical brotherdom. but it's also cute things like this


and this.

you never know what you'll see around my house.
(why yes, that is a dinosaur trying to eat the bag of pepperments and old valentine's spiderman suckers!)

pregnant ladies...

why do celebrities hate their babies? http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20238396,00.html

seriously?? i mean don't they realize that they are just begging for a seriousl tale whoopin' on the playground? all i can say is thank goodness they don't live in alabama b/c it would be a guarantee for little bronx wentz. and don't get me started on mowgli...

australia...here i come!

more like a bad week, or 5 years...whatever. read this series if you haven't.

Thankful Thursday

1. I'm thankful my hubby recognizes the importance of my having alone time. i had to get out and breathe last night or the population of my house was about to start dwindling...quickly. thanks babe. i enjoyed eating alone, reading alone and shopping alone. i'm refreshed.

2. i'm thankful this weekend is Christmas on the Square in Athens. it is an annual even where the stores around the downtown square open their doors on a sunday afternoon for a little holiday shopping. i go with my friend brandy and it is a wonderful little burst of estrogen for me. and this year i have a girl to shop for which makes it soooo much better.

i'm noticing a retail therapy theme. moving on...

3. hand-me-downs. love them. love to get them. love to give them. somebody we know is about to hit the motherload!!

4. thanksgiving is next week which means DOTHAN!! i only get to go home a few times a year, but i cherish every single one of those trips. the 6 hours it takes us to get there is totally worth it.

5. holiday traditions. we have a few that we do around here, but nothing set in stone. this year, since our little family is complete and the boys are older, we are gonna cement some of our faves and have a snuggly good time during these holidays.

6. 2 new cd's to listen to. taylor swift and faith hill's christmas cd. crap...guess this should have been #3 along with the other retail stuff.

7. snuggly pjs, hot chocolate, house shoes and clean babies. what could be better?

too cute tuesday

girls' weekend!!!!!

so, i have had a case of the "it's been raining on and off and getting too honkin cold" blahs for the last few days and i thought to myself "self...you need a pick me up. a get away if you will." and so, in stealing, in a way, from Darby's summer vacation blog (thanks for your new search box by the way!) we are going on a girls' weekend. we are not taking our kids and we aren't worried about them for one little second. we are getting together to giggle and remenisce, and for those of us who have only met through the blogs, we are playing 20 questions...or at least tell me about your pre-blog self! money is no object because the government decided that what they would do with the bail out money is set aside a fund for mommies that need a vacation. so, please come and play with me. tell me where we are going. tell me where you want to eat. or leave me a favorite recipe that we must all walk away with so we can remember our weekend (or week!!) together!!



so...who's up first??

a tired mama and a sick daddy

i like to think i know those closest to me very well. turns out, i do. micah came home from work on tuesday and i was finishing up cooking supper. he was telling me something and my back was to him and i cut him off mid sentence. i spun around and said "are you getting sick?" and he said "i don't know." i said "well, you sound weird. i give it 3 days." fast forward to thursday night when he got home. he walked in and was giving us all of his "hi's" when i said "stop right there. you sound like you have a cotton ball in your throat." let's go look. and there was the tell-tale white patches. and i also knew he felt like he was running a little low grade fever and he just gets a look about his eyes. kinda haggard looking. anyway, i called in a favor where i used to work to see if micah could go ahead and see the NP and get a rapid strep on friday morning. i slept on the couch b/c i can NOT afford to get sick. i also read a....(i want to say friend here, but we're not really friends b/c we don't really know anything about each other, but i feel like we are more than acquaintances b/c i have been on a retreat with her church and totally stalk her blog every day...) anyway, i read her post about the Neti Pot. i had heard of them before, but now that i knew someone with actual experience, i decided to have micah go get one so he could "roto-rooter" those sinuses. (still praying it isn't strep. still knowing it is.) can i just say that if you have any kind of sinus issues, get thee a Neti!! micah was very apprehensive at first, but he is SOLD i tell you. and of COURSE i got a picture and he said i could post it...but i'll be nice. and ours looks like an actual miniature plastic teapot! watching him do that thing is stinkin hilarious. i mean, it's not normal to see a waterfall coming out of the other side of someone's nose!! so he goes to the doc the next morning, and of course...strep. (for those keeping up still...this diagnosis came on day three.)
now for the not so smart part of my otherwise extremely intelligent hubby (lisa, you can vouch for him!) it was one of those times i was hearing him, but not listening. (hey, i had 3 kids to keep away from him and alllll the house stuff to do, and i didn't sleep a WINK the night before b/c micah was hocking up everything from his toes and i was trying to sleep on the couch.) he said something about antibiotics and taking one every 3 hours. i didn't think much about it b/c i was just thinking every 4 hours...until 9 pm that night (he started at noon) when he said something about the fact that he had taken a whole day's worth of antibiotics already...my tired brain did the math and i nearly DIED when i realized it had only been 9 hours. i absolutely FORBID him to take anything until noon the next day so that he wouldn't completely wreck his kidneys. i think he was missing getting some snuggle time with little miss most of all.

i got a little more sleep friday night, but still not adequate. but at least micah was feeling better and not contagious anymore. oh, i forgot to mention that while the boys were at preschool thursday i had to speed clean my house so it could show while i went to pick them up. last night my sleep got interrupted by my little night visitor who hasn't been to see me in about a week. so i was up with him for around 2 hours. so i'm tired. but today i am taking my biggest little man to the movies. we are going on a double date with ellen and maddie to see madagascar 2 and i can't wait!! (i didn't get to go with him to his first movie b/c we had just gotten home with AC from the NICU.) and speakin of AC, she is fighting with me a lot these days. reason is that she can roll from belly to back, but not the other way just yet. she is a belly sleeper, so when she rolls over, she just hollers. so i have started putting "bumpers" (rolled up blankets) down her side to try to keep her from rolling over and getting stuck. temper butt. had to do the same thing with one of the boys.

hope yall are having a great weekend! and if you hung in to read this, you are a true stalker and i love ya!!

why didn't yall tell me??

i didn't know christmas was coming before thanksgiving this year!! now, i may inadvertently step on a few toes by saying this, but i'm just gonna do it. yall...it it NOT quite time to put up the christmas decorations. getting them out, probably. looking in walmart or target and getting all festive, absolutely. but santa sittin' on your honkin' porch with your wreathes all up and your tree plainly visible from the road. no ma'am!! please...one holiday at a time. i LOVE thanksgiving. it is fall still so it's not cold. and it typically involves all of the family without all of the presents (sorry...just a little preseason bah humbug...even though, if there is a kid within 50 feet, i want to get 'em something and be first in line for Santa's village!)

anywho, i have a dilemma that i'm sure i'm gonna have to whip out the sewing machine to solve. (and this is where i am really wishing you holly homemakers who i am completely jealous of would pick me out some super cute fabric b/c i'm not good and mixin' and matchin'). the dilemma is this...back before seth was born, i bought these super cute quilted stockings.

(i bought 4 b/c we KNEW we were gonna have 2 kids. we always said 3, but said we'd finalize that decision once the 2nd got here. still don't know why we said that. we always new we wanted more than 2.) anyway...i got them at walmart. dummy only got 4. we are now a family of 5. now, the 5 is a permanent thing. trust me...it is permanent outside of Divine intervention. so now, my stockings won't match. guess who doesn't sell them anymore??? ANYWHERE?!! have i mentioned that i'm a little OCD?? so now i'm on the hunt for cute fabric and need to get to sewin' so i can get my friend harriette to get to monogramming. somebody help me.

anyway...MERRY THANKSGIVING!!!

Ally Claire is 5 months!!!

Happy 5 months itty bitty pitty sissy!! we are just head over heels in love with you little darlin'!! you have had a big month! we keep hitting lots of firsts and i am trying to savor every one of them! for instance:

you turned into a giraffe...

you can almost roll over both ways...

you have found your feet...(check out those chunker legs!!)

your hair is getting long enough to stick up...

you found your tongue (which makes trying new foods challenging...)

and for the last time, you rode in this...(b/c you already meet the max requirements) and it's sad b/c you are our last

and you upgraded to this...

time is flying by. i can't believe you'll reach your 1/2 year already next month. you also love your "johnny jump up" and are really starting to take to your right thumb. i know, people who have had a thumb sucker say that i'll regret it later. but that's later. right now it is darn cute and i'm NEVER having to chase a paci, especially in the middle of the night. now THAT is sweet!! you are a precious angel girl and i just can't wait to see more of you. (and your daddy and brothers are pretty smitten too!!)

praying for our kids

i don't know about yall, but sometimes at the end of my day, i'm not even sure what else to pray for my kids about. there is the obvious of keeping them safe and healthy and for their future. but a LOT of times, i forget to pray for the virtues that i hope are bound up in their little hearts. i found this (after spying it on the fridge of jon & kate gosselin...yes i'm an addict and secretly long to be their friend.) and have placed it on our fridge. so that way, everytime i am fixing a cup or getting out a pudding (which as yall know is multiple times a day) i take a quick glance and can say a specific prayer for my little'uns.

hope yall have a great weekend!!

(that's baby becky, and not ally claire, by the way!) pics of her to come on monday!!

*EDIT** ask and you shall receive! praying for husbands...

i'm sorry...i laughed at the wording of #17!

in other news...

there are 49 days until Christmas and i am finding myself in even more dread than when i woke up this morning.

for this morning's viewing pleasure, a few eye candy posts from the vault. enjoy!!

Tasty Tuesday

Confetti Meatloaf

(makes 2 loafs, but is easily split)


2 lbs lean ground beef
2 cups ground Stove Top stuffing mix (i use a small food chopper)
4 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
4 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp spicy mustard
2 eggs, beaten
salt, pepper, garlic powder (just enough to season)
veggie mix (i grind 1 cup carrot, 1 cup celery, 1 cup onion and 1 cup bell pepper in my mini chopper b/c it holds one cup. this mix is also good for other meat sauces like spaghetti.)


Mix all of the above ingredients together in a bowl and divide into 2 loaf pans. (one can be frozen for later.) bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, depending on the thickness of your loaf pan. then cover with sauce and bake an additional 15 minutes. if you need this to bake quicker, or you want to be sure to get a certain amount of servings, then divide it out into a muffin tin!


Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp worcestershire
1 Tbsp mustard

Menu Monday

cause i'm bored and avoiding TV and all the ads today...

Sunday- chicken enchiladas, rice
Monday-meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas
Tuesday-me out for ellen's bday, boys hotdogs
Wednesday-chicken casserole, butter beans, and some other side
Thursday-BBQ pork loin, baked beans, corn on cob
Friday-Swedish meatballs, rice, green salad

i'm tweaking my recipe for meatloaf today, so i'll try to remember to post it tomorrow. also, in all of that goodness, do you know what my kids will eat??? cereal. i tell them they have to try one bite. if they don't...cheerios. i just don't believe in sending them to bed hungry b/c they are huge, growing boys. but it does mean they only get one thing. i'm sure i should be stricter, but none of you have had an hour and a half stand off with a stubborn mule who will just hold a chicken nugget in his mouth...CHICKEN NUGGET...yeah. you do what you can.

transparancy

Create in me a clean heart
Oh god and renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from thy presence, o lord
And take not thy holy spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me

these days i feel God putting a ton of things on my heart and sometimes i feel so overwhelmed by it that i just don't know where to start or what to do with it. so i guess i start with me. our country is in need of prayer. my children's attitudes and behaviors are in need of prayer. but most of all, i feel like my heart is in need of prayer. God tells us to seek Him first. Lately i feel like i have been completely lazy in that area and seeking requires action. in my days where i feel like i just go in circles, sometimes i feel like the last thing i have is energy to seek. and like i said in an earlier post, He asks me to seek Him first. i think "first" there can mean the obvious of seek Him above all else, but also, before you do anything else, before you roll out of bed, seek Him. seek His guidance. (for us mamas...seek His patience...even though we don't really want to say it b/c we know He'll just give us situations that will test that patience!!)

anyway, i hope you are using your monday to pray. pray without ceasing.