I was all set to talk about Idol...

And then Bible study came along tonight. I am hosting a Beth Moore study at my house and it has been a WONDERFUL group of ladies and amazing material. I have truly been blessed by the company, the lessons and the forced cleaning of my house each Tuesday. If you happen to work with me, then you might notice a small lag in my e-mail return time on Tuesdays because, well, I'm vacuuming. At least I shut it off momentarily if my boss someone calls.

In this {and most Beth Moore studies} we chat for about 45 minutes to go over our homework sessions and then watch an hour long video. This week's video lesson was on meanness and it was full of truth. It was dozens of lessons all rolled into one. It highlighted the background of meanness, how women are really good at it and how we can stop it.

As I was waving the last guest goodbye, I started to think about AI and how I'd planned to write all about it. And even though they are thrusting themselves in front of America to be judged, I just all of a sudden felt convicted about being mean towards these people I don't know. So, in the spirit of "living at peace with everyone", here is my Paula Abdul, super nice version of reviewing Idol.

The contestants this week are singing songs from the year they are born.

Danny Gokey- Stand By Me
The OLDEST contestant, born in 1980, sings first.
Please, PLEASE tell me somebody else out there feels old if he is the OLDEST? It makes me like him even more! He does a great job. I ♥ Danny!
Side note: Wanna know how to make a heart? Like that one right up there? I learned this trick from Darby. Go to Edit HTML in your post, then type &#9829 where you'd like the heart and once you flip back to Compose, there is a cute little heart there! YAY!

Kris Allen- All She Wants to Do Is Dance- 1985
I remember this song clearly on the radio and I think the video. I wonder why he is on the "little" side stage again, but he does a great job! I might just as well ♥ him, too! And I love how his wife looks at him lovingly. Sweet little newlyweds. I'm sure she loves those girls thrusting themselves at him.

Lil Rounds- What's Love Got to Do With It- 1984
I wanted her to do very well, but I totally typed what Simon said before he said it. Since I'm not saying mean things tonight, I think I will quote Simon who remarked, "I'm forgetting why we loved you so much".

Anoop "Anoop Dog" Desai- True Colors- 1986 {Born on the same day as David Cook? What are the odds?}
He did a really good job with this song. I was a little concerned about "the dog" singing Cyndi Lauper, but he pulled it off! And he represented those Tar Heels well. Nice come back Anoooooop. Randy even said, "Dude. You can actually sing." I should hope so in the top 8 of American Idol! Way to go, dawg.

Scott McIntyre- The Search is Over- 1985
I will make no blind jokes tonight. Or funny eye/ expression jokes. I won't even tell Scott to stop talking back to the judges because it's awkward. And I'd hate to say that he stinks, so I won't say anything. You know. Bambi's mother and all.

Allison Iraheta- I Can't Make You Love Me- 1992
The fact that I was in high school when she was born weirds me out a tad. I think I remember driving around with inward teenage angst/ heartache listening and relating to this song in my blue Mazda 626. It was the kind that had a square back- not the new fain-see rounded backs. And she was probably did not have solid poop, yet was enjoying a teething ring.
While there is something wrong with that, she is still amazing. They ♥ her and so do I. Randy even said she could, "sing her face off". Now that's something I'd like to see.

Matt Giraud- Part Time Lover- 1985
He plays the sketchy R & B bad boy SO well! He even scats a little. Who knew? This piano bar man is really talented. Watch out JT! Great job, Matt! All the judges want to name their first born after him.

Adam Lambert- ??
I would love to tell you all about him, but Fox apparently ran over and BOTH {BOTH I TELL YOU} recording devices did not record his performance at all. Poor Adam. I am sure his performance was amazing. Even with guyliner, he is still an awesome "artist"- as Kara would have commented. And the 2.4 seconds I saw of him going to commercial break looked like he was looking normal.

I wonder if this will be controversial. Did this happen to you? And do you exclusively watch this Tivoed? Let me know if you saw Adam and how he did.

Hope you enjoyed this happy, heart- filled, happy version of Idol. Just ignore those things I crossed out. That wasn't me. The devil made me do it.
If you'd like a little more snark, here was my last review.

Head on over to Boo Mama's site for more reviews!

Holla if you hear me

Did anybody see today's Oprah? I watched it tonight after we watched a Tivoed Chuck {if you are not watching that show, then you are missing out}. My mom mentioned to me this afternoon that there was something about a blogger on there that make boo-koos of money, so it piqued my interest. I told my mom that it was either Dooce or The Pioneer Woman {It was Dooce} and she didn't know, so now I HAD to watch Oprah {twist my arm}.

What I didn't expect it to be was one of the best shows I've ever seen!

It was all about moms and how we have certain expectations from movies, sitcoms, parents, friends or self-imposed expectations and how it's impossible to live up to them.
I think the show that I saw last week discussed a lot of these topics, too, but it was good to hear it again {and again, and again}.

Why do we do it? Why do we kill ourselves to make sure our kids haircuts are cute? Or their lunches are acceptable? Or that they try not to call their teacher "stinky" to her face? {Okay- well, that last one would be rude.}

A lot of it was about the ideals that we put on ourselves, too. We try to pass off that we all have it somewhat together, but in reality working moms cry with guilt on the way to work after dropping their kids off at day care and stay at home moms cry with guilt into their chardonnay at 2:00 hoping their child will TAKE A NAP. Neither has the answer.

And how could we? There is so much we're trying to juggle that we can't think straight. We try to make sure that the laundry is folded, dishes are done, bills are paid, soccer snacks are packed, school projects are complete, teacher gifts are perfect, every committee and volunteer board position has been tended to, thoughtful gifts to friends/ family/ in-laws/ new moms are bought and delivered, Easter outfits are monogrammed and also you need to shower today and look like a model. Got it? And I'd like the rest done by Friday.
I don't know the answer to how to STOP this craziness, but I do know that it's real. And that I never, EVER thought I would be caught up in it.

The ironies are thick:
We try to make sure our kids get to church to learn about God's love, but have just screamed at them for 15 minutes to GET IN THE CAR. {At our house we call this "losing your religion in order to get to church" and it happens about, oh, once a week.} And when you throw God into this crazy motherhood equation aren't we all just trying to raise children who want to love and serve God? Should they learn at such an early age that this involves ironed shirts, DON'T SCUFF YOUR SHOES and IF YOU HIT YOUR BROTHER AGAIN I WILL WEAR YOU OUT IN THE CHURCH PARKING LOT, FOR THE LOVE?

Um, I think I might have seen that in Proverbs, but I'm not sure of the verse...

*Ahem* Back to the show. A lot of moms confessed their dirty secrets. Some of my favorite were peeing in a diaper on a road trip so the kids wouldn't wake up, acting a little crazy as a form of discipline and not bathing your children for 3 weeks.

I think my big confession would be that I've sent Ollie to school in dirty underwear formerly known as clean. Oh, yes. More than once. Sometimes the superhero/ white load just doesn't get through the laundry fast enough. And it's not like they're really THAT dirty, right?
I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them right now because I'm tired.

There. I said it. I AM TIRED.

This mom stuff is hard. It's the hardest job I've ever had. And I won't even tell you the corny line that it's the most rewarding, because some days- most days, really- nobody tells you thank you. And that's the truth. It's just plain hard and you suck it up with hopes that one day someone will tell you that you made a difference with your children.
{This seems the appropriate place to tell my mom thank you for cleaning up throw up and such. THANK YOU!}
This story is one of my favorites that has been passed around on e-mail many a time and I still love it. {Please know that I did NOT write it, I just wanted to share it with you.}

You might think that some of these things might not apply to you; they don't all apply to me {I will specifically point out here that I have never used a diaper as an adult}. But, I do know that deep down I am just hanging on each day to make sure my kids don't grow up to be serial killers, tax evaders or heathens. And hope that every once in a while they brush their teeth. Amen.

Yip, Yip, Hooray!

A super shout out goes to my Mother-in-Law this morning. She came to my rescue last night!

I had asked no less than FIFTEEN people to babysit throughout the week and all these teenagers were busy! {Were we that busy??} After some therapy for my rejection complex, I took a deep breath, shook it off and called the Calvary. My MIL cancelled her plans to come over and watch my kiddos, so I could go to a party.

Before you scoff, you should know it was more than just a regular party; it was the Junior League Spring Market Girls Night Out where we got to shop and also got to listen to Vern Yip teach about design:

OH, and we got to hang out with Vern afterwards.

Please note here that I sacrificed the poof from my shirt around the middle {I swear I'm not THAT poofy!} to show you my sassy pink shoes {there is a story with them, but I'll tell you later}.

Don't know Vern? Remember- he was on the original cast of designers of Trading Spaces, hosts Deserving Design on HGTV and does a ton of other things. He was super personable and extremely gracious. Hopefully I can get up some of the fun things I bought in my breakfast room to show you a finished product soon!

Happy Palm Sunday! May your children or husband not beat you with palms {like mine do every year...}.

Rednecks meet Hotel- with Recipe!

Happy Saturday!
Thank you all so much for your prayers for Big Daddy {my dad} with his back surgery. He did really well and is already feeling a little bit of relief! He was harassing the nurses in no time flat, so they released him yesterday afternoon.

Big Daddy and GiGi have been staying at a hotel because in their words, "they don't DO 6 am anymore" and I'm sure they wanted more space to relax without 2 screaming children running around.

Or so I thought.

I saw Big Daddy at the hospital yesterday and as I was leaving I said to get some rest and JOKED that I would bring formerly-mentioned screaming children over to the hotel that night to run around him. He said, "YES! Please do! That would make me feel better!"

What? Who are these people? Apparently grandchildren get some sort of pass.

So, we picked up some pizza a healthy dinner to take to the patient and headed over to the hotel.

They had a lovely suite with 2 rooms, but no coffee table in the "living area", so we just made our own.

Ollie and Henry played trains and we all shouted "CHOO CHOO" and "ALL ABOARD" as loudly as we could. I'm sure our neighbors were thrilled! Then we made a few prank phone calls around the hotel and were on our way.

One other treat I took to the hotel is a great recipe that I found in a Junior League cookbook this week. I made it for our Spring Market that is currently going on and had to make it again! {If you are in Huntsville, I would highly recommend attending. Let me know if you want a ticket- I have some extras.} Please overlook the name. I think I'm going to rename it. It's very similar to this recipe that I shared at Christmas, but I like it a little better because it's EASIER!!

Jeannie's Shingles {I will rename it Yummy Deliciousness}

Ingredients:
Graham Crackers (about 1.5 big packages inside a box)

2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup sugar

12 oz. package of chocolate chips (about 1.5- 1.75 cups)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a large cookie sheet (with sides) with foil.

Cover with graham crackers solid and tight.

Boil butter and sugar for 2 minutes (I stirred the whole 2 minutes after it was boiling to make sure it didn't burn).

Pour over crackers.

Bake for 8 minutes.

Remove and pour chocolate chips over cookies.

Spread chocolate over pan until it's a solid sheet of chocolate on top.

Immediately freeze for 15 minutes (I think this should be at least 20).

Remove and break into pieces.

Yields: A lot! This says 2 dozen pieces, but of course that depends on the size that you break it into.

Enjoy! This is easy and fun and would be delicious for Easter Sunday!

If you need me, I'll be at the soccer fields from now on...

Good Goobley, Miss Moobley

No, that title is not a children's book I'm reviewing {although it should be!}, but it's what my dad used to say instead of "Good Grief".

That's all I can think of to tell you what life's been like around here this week!
We are all healthy, but if errands were a sickness, I should be in the hospital.

Here's the low down on just the family stuff {not included are WORK, meetings, volunteer stuff and trips to coffee shop (3)}:
Monday- soccer game for Ollie {exercise for Mommy and Daddy trying to keep him on the field. He literally stopped and came over to me at one point in the game and said, "Mommy, do you see that bird?" "Yes. Yes I do. Why don't you go chase the ball?"
Watch out David Beckham.} The U4 division is a trying one... for the parents.

Tuesday- clean for Bible study. Hubs gone all night at meeting. So feed, bathe children, try to keep house clean before wonderful women arrive at 7:30. Well- meaning friend asks if I'm sick because I look tired.

Wednesday- Idol is not going to watch itself, people. So glad Megan went home. That weird squawky action was the last straw for me.
Also, my parents arrive in town. Dad is visiting a back specialist that does a new surgery here.

Thursday- crazy thunderstorms that keep tornado sirens going all afternoon. Hubs flies out of here in that weather to Chicago for 4 days. He made it safely, thank the Lord! Mom and dad over for dinner. Dad set for surgery tomorrow morning.

Friday- Henry scheduled for photo shoot for Sew Beautiful magazine! FUN! Dad has surgery first thing in the morning. Would you mind saying a little prayer for my sweet Dad?

I will keep you updated on the photo shoot and the surgery tomorrow!

Good Night, Miss Moobley.