New Beginnings

Yesterday was a very busy and productive day for the Sheffield family.  Got up cooked breakfast, kids ate 5 eggs between them and grits and part of my breakfast bar!  Then a little after nine Gramma came by she brought Neil a book bag and a new book and brought Camden a finger paint set.  Then we loaded up the kids and headed to Grenada.  Mama has opened a bookstore (Yellow Bike Books) and we wanted to visit her at the store.  There is an Italian resturaunt in the shopping complex where her store is with tables in the courtyard right outside her door.  It was perfect for Mama so she could eat lunch and watch her store at the same time and the food was great! My grandmother met us there and it was really great visiting with all of them. Mama's store looks great and the kids had a blast.  I tried to take a few pictures but none of them were great because I am not the best photographer and its a little hard to focus on two toddlers and a camera at the same time :)

The store consists of 3 rooms and a storage room turned breakroom/puppy room.  The first room is the one you walk into when you enter the store and it has art, cooking, inspirational, Mississippi books, and gifts (cards, soaps, etc...).  My favorite part of this room is the huge bay window that looks out onto the courtyard.  The room to the right of it is the kids room and she has a table and chairs in there for the kids to sit at that's just their size. The room to the left has an assortment of reference, school readings, literary classics, and youth books.  As you can see from the pictures Neil liked this room best because of the green chair.

Neil and Chloe sharing doggie toys

Camden informing me she was too busy to smile because she was helping Nana

                                                                    Granny & Gramma

                                                                     Neil's favorite chair

 Main room

 

 Courtyard

Front Window

After our visit we came home and I put the kids to bed and started supper for a friend who just had a baby.  The kids got up, we delivered the food, and headed to another friend's house to drop off the kids.  I had a meeting at the kids preschool and got supply lists (which the nerd in me was very excited about) and got to meet their teachers and see their classrooms.  I was really excited and so glad they are going to be in such a wonderfully structured Christian environment!!

After the meeting visited a little then headed home to start bath time for kids. Both were sleeping soundly by 8:02 and thankfully I was caught up on everything for the week so I got to sit and relax on the couch for a couple of hours before Marvin got home. 

The Paci Came Back

Last night I caved and begged Marvin to bring home a new pacifier for Neil.  He hasn't been doing good at all and I am not strong enough to fight him at this point. So my sweet little man came back today with his "pap pap" which he calls it and it has been much better!  So looks like we will be crossing this bridge another day. But in the mean time I have a happy little man....

                                                              My sweet little messy man.

Brotherly Love (and sisterly)

As much as it stresses me out when my kids fight it overflows joy in my heart that much more when they get along.  I am so thankful they have each other to play with!  It was definately worth the 6 months of extreme stress to get to this point. Neil is finally able to climb onto the little slide (with the help of a pink step I engineered) that we got on his birthday back in April.  He is so proud of himself and they have been spending hours a day playing on it together.  Since we haven't had a lot of rain lately there is a ton of loose dirt under it and the dogs have been sleeping under it to keep cool.  Camden loves playing in the dirt and that's why she is missing her shorts she was covered in it.  She also like covering the dogs and whatever or whoever else will sit still long enough for her to dump a big scoop onto.  That may be the reason Neil isn't so keen on the dirt, she has been dumping it on his head since he could sit up.

                                                 Sheba decided to watch from a safe distance

On a side note I was able to get a card reader from Wal-Mart for $8.oo!

It works perfectly and I'm so glad we didn't have to start looking for a new camera right now.

12 hours and counting...

Last night around bath time I noticed we were missing Neil's pacifier. We have lost all but that one and I was usually dilligent about keeping up with the last one but somehow yesterday it got misplaced.  I just knew I would find it before bedtime but I didn't.  I was even in the yard last night at 8:30 with a flashlight looking for it! Marvin worked late so I couldn't run to the store and get another so we just made do without it (meaning he got to fuss for 30 minutes before finally falling asleep).  Still no sign of it today so it looks like my baby is paci-free...that is if he makes it through nap-time with not a lot of mess. So if today goes good and I don't have to buy another one his Daddy will be proud!  I really think I am just as attached to him having one as he is and I'm sure it's because I know he is my last baby and part of me wants to keep him that way...

On a technical note the cord that connects my camera to the computer decided to die so until I get a card reader (and I pray that solves the problem) I can't upload any pictures to the computer.  I'm sure this is trivial to most people but I really am a nerd when it comes to cataloging and organizing my pictures so getting one will be a priority for me. (that is unless they end up costing an arm and a leg)

Time to go hose off the kids!

Bunco Babies

Thursday, August 11th we had a double baby shower for our Bunco group at my house!  I was so excited to host it and am so happy for both of the mothers-to-be.  We really have a great group of ladies and I am glad to be a part of their group! 

                                          Just like any other bunco meeting we had lots of great food!

  Amy did the wonderfully beautiful and delicious cake!

Lola's Last Day

Last Monday was Lola's last day with us so I wanted it to be special for her.  We decorated cupcakes and the girls had a blast making them and of course eating them :)

Neil was more into the eating than decorating.

Lola was my little artist and actually came up with the smily face idea.

She placed each sprinkle on by hand!

His grace is sufficient for me!

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

This is a verse I have known and probably quoted before.  However, before now I have never really understood it or had to really apply it.  The background of this verse is Paul writing to the church in Corinth and before verse 9 he talks about his pride wanting to boast about all God has revealed to him.  So God allows what he calls "a thorn in my side, a messenger of Satan" to torment him or remind him of his weakness.  He said 3 times I pleaded with God to remove it but God replied "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness".  So Paul starts to boast in his weakness instead of his strengths so that Christ may have the glory.

We have had to "trust" God to provide since I've been home with the kids.  And I have always considered myself a strong Christian and someone who has a strong faith.  And I really thought I was putting all my trust in God these past two and a half years. A couple of weeks ago I realized that was the farthest thing from the truth.  I told myself and everyone that I was trusting in God to provide all the while having a back-up plan (a savings account at the bank).  So even though I said I trusted God to provide, what I really meant was that if he didn't we would be ok anyway because of our savings. Pretty arrogant huh?  Marvin has taken over the budget shortly before we moved so I haven't had a real grasp on our finances until the last week in July. 
After our vacation and Camden's finger incident settled Marvin and I sat down for one of our monthly budget discussions.  In the discussion it was revealed to me that in October of this year if something didn't change in our finances I would be looking for a job or we would be living on the street. 

No more back-up no more savings no more relying on our own means or devices.  We decided to start praying every night together and on our own that God would show us where He wanted me to be.  I really have felt a "conviction/calling" to stay home with our children but I quickly realized that if God wasn't behind us 100% there is no way this was going to continue through the rest of the year. 

Its been 15 days and all I can say is God is awesome and His mercies are wonderful!  Things are falling into place step by step everyday and Marvin and I both believe this is what God wants for our family. I am so thankful for a loving, patient God who is willing to look past all of my arrogant plans and show me that His way is best and His timing is perfect!

These past few days I have had the song by Mandisa stuck in my head.....link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZI2gOBvBHk

Cat Nap

We got Sheba the 1st year we were married from my grandparents house.  She is really a great cat (not at all noisy like Sandy) and she likes to get in the strangest places to sleep.  I think she does this in order to stay out of the kids reach and sometimes I don't blame her :) 
Out of all of our pets she likes the kids the least and it may be beacuse of her accident or because she is the oldest. But she was my first "baby" and now that the kids are older she doesn't get neglected as much as she did when they were infants.

She was asleep until the camera flash woke her up

                                     Here she is just out of reach but still in the room with everyone.

Boxes, Babies, & Bedtime

July seems to have vanished into thin air and the second week of August is here and I have no idea where last week went either.... I've been clearing off my camera and found a few cute pictures of the kids and wanted to post them before I forget. 

                                                           My little laundry helper...
                                                                 

John got a new lawn mower and he gave the kids the box to play in.  With this heat, I decided it needed to be an inside box :) Neil and the cats have really enjoyed playing in it.  Camden doesn't have a lot to do with it unless Lola is here and they have a blanket over it with a flashlight inside and tell spooky stories.  I think she is growing up and I'm not prepared at all for her not to be a baby!

She is one brave cat for playing with this little guy!

He looks so big here!

Camden's new infatuation is with Play-doh

I love these little night gowns!  They remind me of things we used to wear as kids.

Now you see them...

Now you don't!

The kids introducing Nana (hidden behind Neil) to Brownie.

One Happy Fly Lady Here!

Most everyone that has talked to me for any length of time has probably heard me mention The Fly Lady.  For those who haven't had the pleasure of hearing me ramble on about this, she is basically a lady who wrote a book about how to get your house (and in turn she believes your life) in order and keep it that way.  Her tips have helped me out tremendously since we live in town now.  Before I read her book, and a especially since I've had children, I was terrified of unannounced company!  Marvin can attest to our scrambling around the house to try and get it to look presentable every time someone called to say they were on their way or even worse were in our driveway! I am so glad to not have to worry about that anymore.  I am not saying I am a perfect housekeeper by any means but since I've implemented some of her steps our home has maintained a decent level of "clean". I hope to get even better as the kids get older and are able to help me instead of hinder my progress. There really is no better feeling for someone as OCD as me to know that anytime day or night I am prepared for company. 
Now, I said all of that to say this....I finally have a "shiny sink"!!!!!!!!  One of the Fly Lady's main principles is something like the entire house follows the kitchen's example.  And the first baby step in her program is to wake up every morning to a "shiny sink" or a clean sink.  We have been religiously cleaning our sink every night and it is almost always clean in the mornings, however it is a really old white painted sink with lots of stains.  So no matter how much your scrub, bleach, or scour it still looks gross and no where near "shiny".  We actually bought a new sink a couple of months ago (along with 2 new toilets) and Marvin has finally had time to install it!  So now I have a brand new shiny sink and I plan on keeping it that way.  Who would have dreamed seven years ago I would get so excited about a sink and enough to take a picture of it!

Summer-time with Lola

This summer we have had the pleasure of keeping Lola Harris a couple of days each week.  She is 5 and has been really good for both of the kids!  We have really enjoyed her and Monday will be her last day, I cannot believe summer is ending so soon. I'm glad Camden will be going to preschool in September because she is really going to miss Lola. Below are a few pictures of the kids and their playtimes this summer with Lola... 

Rainy days = movie day

They love Tangeled and The Letter Factory

Camden loves showing Lola all of her seashells

This is where we spent most of our outdoor time.

         

Family

The weekend after we got back from vacation Marvin's sister and brother-in-law from Maumelle, Arkansas came home for a visit.  We really enjoyed visiting with them at Marvin's mom's in Inverness and again at our house for supper the next day.  I hate they couldn't stay longer, Camden and Neil really enjoyed visiting with Aunt Leah and Uncle Brian was a hit with Neil and kept him laughing. Below are a couple of shots which no one will like but they are the only one's I have from their visit!  I'm hoping Leah got some cute ones while they were here and next time I talk to her I need to remember to ask.

Granddaddy and Neil playing with a duck on a stick

Camden and Gramma

                                    Gramma with two of her daughters and Brian (Leah's husband) on the right.