i hate this template

why does this stupid blog template not let me space things out in the body of a blog?????? it does it in the preview, but once i post...gone...arrrrrrgghhhh!!!!!! see below for a lovely example.

tagged!!!

so, i haven't blogged in forever...and since sweet ms. kelley tagged me, there's no better time to catch up. what was i doing 10 years ago? graduating from high school and getting ready to attend summer orientation at ut. i think i still have my student id from there. it's funny b/c: 1. i was soooooo young, and 2. my hair blended into the orange background...real attractive. 5 snacks i enjoy: chocolate in any form the new natural popcorn from orville retenbacher in salt & black pepper chips & jack's brand salsa (it tastes homemade) Mayfield's ice cream (i can eat an entire half-gallon by myself...no kidding) did i mention chocolate??? 5 things on my to-do list: if i have to pick just 5, then laundry making pumpkin mini-muffins (yum) vaccuming (yuck) playing outside with caleb (double yum) ironing (double yuck) 5 things i'd do if i were a billionaire: give to the local church bodies that i have been a member of pay off tom's college loans pay off credit cards (shocked...i'm sure) buy our house in nc just so we wouldn't have to worry about selling it anymore buy a new house in nashville wow, buying a new car didn't even make the list... 5 jobs that i've had: wife & mommy accounting clerk at brock mcvey in lexington family court judicial secretary in louisville administrative assistant in criminal defense law firm in k-town camp counselor in k-town 5 of my bad habits: ummmm, i've narrowed it down to one...pride. now, i know pride isn't a habit per se, but it does result in the stubborness, lack of mercy for others, etc. that i do practice every day. and if you really want to know how that pride manifests itself, just ask tom. i'm sure he can rattle 5 habits off pretty quickly :) 5 places i've lived: strawberry plains, tn louisville, ky winchester, ky chapel hill, nc nashville, tn people i'd like to tag (or people i'd like to see start blogging): amanda b. paula g. jeff and ashley stephanie k. 1 more random thing about me: i was voted "most likely to succeed" and was the valedictorian of my high school class. wonder if people will re-think their vote when they find out i'm a SAHM?!?

john piper was in my bathroom!!!

the title for this post was originally going to be "john piper's in my closet"...but since i respect the man, i would hate for any of those words to be misconstrued and be fodder for gossip. anyway, this is definitely a story from the random file. last night, i was getting ready for bed (you know, brushing teeth and washing face) when i heard a voice. i knew that it was a sermon, but i couldn't tell who...matt chandler??? louie giglio??? john piper??? i thought that maybe tom had left itunes playing so i opened the door and checked the computer. it was off. maybe i was mistaken. perhaps someone was talking outside at one of the neighbors' houses. i moved toward the window. no one was out there. i moved back to the center of the bathroom--the only place where i heard the voice. yep, it was still preaching. only one place left to check...the closet. i opened the door and automatically knew where the voice was coming from. tom had gone to the y earlier that day. naturally, he took his toiletry bag so he could freshen up afterwards. he must have stuck his ipod in there and not turned it off because john piper (j. pip in our house) was still taking it to the nations 12 hours later.

bubble mowers and bruises

it's been a random week around here...in case you couldn't tell from the heading. for mother's day, caleb got a bubble blowing lawnmower. i know that mother's day gifts are supposed to be reserved for mothers, but having an ultra cool toy that works both inside and outside, makes my job as a mother a little bit easier. for only $15, caleb and i have had a blast mowing the driveway and carpet. and the very real lawnmower sound it makes drives jack crazy...always a bonus! caleb has been trying very hard for the past week to run. until yesterday, it was cute. he waves his arms trying to get momentum and picks up pretty good speed. his feet don't quite leave the ground which is where his problem lies. yesterday, we were playing ball in the church gym (an afternoon favorite) and caleb took off running. no ball, no nothing in sight to trip him and he fell...face first onto the wood floor. of course there were tears, but thankfully, no blood. he had a small bump on his forehead, but it quickly went away. later that evening, i was getting dinner ready and caleb was hanging out with daddy. once again, he took off running and fell...face first in the kitchen. this time, there was blood. he bit his top lip and it hurt pretty bad. poor little guy, 2 bad falls in 1 day! despite the bruise across the bridge of his nose, he's right back at running again today. you may call it stubborness, but i call it dogged determination :)

water baby

today, caleb and i had yet another first. we went swimming :) our friend paula and her two sweet boys, elijah & ethan, invited us out for free swim time at the y. after the inaugural pack of swim diapers was opened, we plunged right in. much to my delight, caleb didn't wimper once...in fact, he absolutely loved the water! true to form, caleb pretended the kickboard was a car and made the car noise for 10 minutes straight. we stayed in the water so long that his little toes started to get pruney. fun times!!!

a few of our favorite things

since i uploaded the photos in the wrong order, this list is dave letterman style... number three on the list, but number one in our hearts, is jack. he is such a good puppy...a little, okay, alot stinky, but a good puppy. it's so sweet to see caleb play with him. he loves to throw the ball to jack. i have been amazed that jack will restrain himself long enough for caleb to toddle around and throw the ball (usually on top of jack's head). jack has even stopped attacking the ball when i tell him "no!" and lets caleb pick it up to throw again. it's so sweet to see my boys play together. a close number two, is the church bus. caleb has learned the word bus. or as he says, "BUH." you have to imagine the s...it's silent. he requests to go see the bus at least once a day. since we live less than a football field length from the church parking lot, i almost always indulge his request. it's good exercise for a little guy and his momma. tops on my list is neo-to-go. it's convenient and healing all in one little package. i promptly went out and purchased some today after caleb got his first ever skinned knee. he only shed a few tears. i was so proud...okay, a little weird, but still proud!

family fun in franklin

this is the good stuff! riding in style this past week, we had made plans to attend one of the famous street festivals in franklin (just south of nashville). we were pretty bummed when we awoke to rain on saturday morning. however, around lunchtime, the sun made an appearance and we decided to venture forth. after we were lucky enough to find a parking space (who knew that you could cram so many cars into so few vacant fields?), we were greeted by the wonderful smells of food and the sounds of country music (we do live in nashville, would you expect anything less?!). franklin has an adorable downtown. in fact, the street vendors detract from it's architectural and historical beauty. however, seeing all of the local (and some not so local) merchants displaying their crafts was the best window shopping ever. there were quite a few things there that i wouldn't mind seeing on mother's day-hint, hint :) alas, tom and i minded the budget and didn't purchase anything...shocking, i know. caleb was in a relatively pleasant mood considering we didn't leave enough time to walk around before it was nap time. the highlights of the day for him were riding on daddy's shoulders, the balloon, and the mikshakes! who knew that 15 month olds were so proficient with straws? given his gene pool, we should have!!! just glad he didn't give himself an ice cream headache.