Tagged

Oooh...I'm so excited - my first tag. My friend Jill tagged me with the following meme:

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was still single (barely) with no children. Life was painfully simple, but I had no clue. I worked in collections at our old company Baysinger Police Supply, and got to track down the people that owed us money. I was very Magnum P.I.

5 Places I have traveled:
Cancun
Cozumel
Cayman Islands
Cabo San Lucas
Lots of ski trips to Colorado
(I didn't plan for each place to start with "C", but that's really weird!)

5 snacks or treats I enjoy:
Wedding Cake
Wedding Cake
Wedding Cake
Wedding Cake
Chips & Salsa
(I'd be soooo in 7th Heaven at a Mexican wedding!)

What would I do if I were a billionaire?
Lots more philanthropy...especially for kiddos in rough situations.
Big fat donation toward Expedition Hope (our church building campaign)
Colorado ski chateau
Caribbean beach house
Private jet to shuttle all my friends to the chateau & beach house

Places I have lived?
Severy, KS (population 300)
Howard, KS (population 750)
Fall River, KS (population 152)
Wichita, KS (population 350,000)
Blake couldn't understand why I never locked my car doors when I first moved to Wichita. Now it all makes sense.

Jobs I have had:
Mary's Drive-In (small town knock-off of a Dairy Queen - I was so underage and so underpaid...in cash)
Bird Cleaner (don't ask)
Lifeguard
Model
Business owner
Each job seems to have been a nice step up from the previous one - wouldn't you say? Well - lifeguard and model weren't bad - but one was seasonal and one didn't work with my wedding cake obsession.

My Sweet Niece

Last night our family went to El Dorado to watch my niece Josie perform in her school's Spring Music Program. The show was called "Just For the Fun Of It" and the songs they performed were just that - Fun! In fact - Blake kept singing about an aardvark throughout the evening after the program.

Josie is a wonderful niece. I remember when she was very small, there were certain characteristics in her that reminded me of myself. I didn't have my own kids at that time, and it was an instant bond. When she was learning to talk, she had trouble saying my name...what kid doesn't? It came out "Ginger" and I've been Ginger ever since! I love it! She's such a pretty girl, and I know her daddy plans to keep a shotgun nearby as she gets older.

After the concert we went to Freddy's for burgers and ice cream. At some point Mason took Max's Blue's Clues blanket, tied it around his neck as a makeshift cape, and began to "fly" around the restaurant. Since there were only a couple of other people there, I wasn't paying much attention - he was having fun and not causing trouble, and my brother was entertaining us with stories from the past. Apparently (thank you Aunt Donna for filling me in), Mason "flew" past a young, blond girl, stopped and said, "You're Hot"! I wanted to die. When I asked him where he learned to say that, he told me that Marcus used to say it about his girlfriend. True. I guess the girl thought it was quite funny, so that's reassuring. I thought later, she'll probably never forget the little boy with the Blue's Clues blanket turned cape telling her she was hot. I bet her daddy keeps a shotgun nearby, too!

Here are some pics of my favorite niece:This year's school picture. My school pictures NEVER looked this good!

Josie at Freddy's last night

Confessions of a Desperate Housewife

It's been 3 months since I had the baby, and I'm still struggling to get my house in order. Now to be perfectly honest, I don't claim to have EVER had it completely in order. I have a house full of boys for pete's sake, and I'm not particularly a neat freak. But I do like order and I do like a somewhat clean home.

I used to be a FlyLady follower, but she's just a bit on the compulsive side, if you ask me. I remember when she wrote, "I often wake up and there's absolutely nothing for me to do." - referencing her perfectly cleaned and organized home. That's when I flew the coop on Flylady. Then I found a book entitled The House That Cleans Itself. Save your money folks. I sat on the couch through a whole episode of Oprah and nothing happened. My house definitely did not clean itself.

I have two main priorities as I work to get back in the swing of homemaking. Number one - I need to engage my boys. I often find myself picking up after them instead of training them to do it themselves. Number two - time management is key, because with a 3 month old, my hands always seem to be full. Planning ahead is a must. I'll work on that.

And finally - my confession - this morning Marcus claimed to have no clean socks. In truth, he didn't have clean socks that he liked. He wanted a particular kind and none of those were clean. I should have simply made him wear what was available, but instead he witnessed the dumping out of my spare sock sack. This is a little (OK - not so little) bag that I shove all the single socks into when I can't find the mate. Periodically, I dump it out and pair up what I can. It's tidy and hidden. What is the alternative? Unless I only wash matched socks, I can't think of what else to do with the mismatched ones. Any ideas are welcome!

A Day In The Life

Things heard and seen in the Baysinger house today:

Marcus: "For my first car you guys can buy me either a Rolls Royce or a Ferrari. I guess I'd settle for a Porsche if I had to."


Max was crying after waking up from his nap...
Mason: (singing) "Hush little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you some handcuffs."
I turned just in time to see him approaching the baby with his handcuffs! Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't been there.

Mason: "Is Chuck E Cheese a long ways away?"
Me: "Not really - it's near your school."
Mason: "That's weird. My dad said it's in California."

Marcus: (staring at his feet) "I wonder if you could flip someone off with your toe?"
Glad to see our parenting skills are paying off, as well as the big bucks we spend on that Christ-centered education!

After I sneezed near Max:
Max: (From the belly) "Giggle, Giggle"
It was a really cute giggle, and we had one of those lovey, snuggly mommy/baby moments for about 5 minutes afterward.

Mason: "I need to use the lavatory."
What 4 year old says that? Was I secretly proud that he did...yes. But now that he's mastered vocabulary, I wish he could at least TRY to wipe himself. Good grief.

Max's Turn

Now where did I put that binky?

It's not that Max isn't as important as the other family members. I don't blog about him very often because he simply doesn't do much. No funny one-liners, no tragic disasters. So here's to my baby. A blogging day all to himself. Isn't he sweet?

Parades and Festibals

At our house everything is either a parade or a festival (which Mason pronouces "festibal" - just like Marcus used to. It's cute - I refuse to correct him). If we walk from the bedroom to the kitchen, it's a parade. If we have people over to eat dinner, it's a festival. In fact, we invited the grandparents over to eat the morel mushrooms last night, and all day Mason prepared for the Mushroom Festibal. He said, "I'll play the music and Grammy can dance." Today, he's preparing for a neighborhood parade. He's creating his list for invitations and I just heard him say that we need to invite Annica and Annica's bird. He also plans to invite his (imaginary) sister. I hadn't heard about her in awhile, but I guess she's still around. He has a makeshift clipboard made from cardboard and a chip clip. He's taking notes and informed me that he needs it because he's the Grand Marshall. Where does he get this stuff? Truth be known - he gets it from me. I'm a festival/parade girl at heart. I suppose it's a small town thing. I come from a town that has a Labor Day festival with a parade so short it literally goes around the block twice - I am not kidding. I still have my baton, and though Blake won't let me twirl it in the yard for fear of what the neighbors will think - I still twirl it inside sometimes. So I guess I have taught my kids to love parades and festivals...I mean festibals. Hey! Maybe I'll twirl my baton in Mason's parade today. The neighbors already think we're weird.

I witnessed something yesterday that troubled me, and I wanted to share my thoughts. I was leaving Dillons at 21st and Rock and noticed a man sitting at one of the Starbucks' tables there. He appeared to be texting w/his cell phone, but something seemed "off" to me. First, he wasn't facing the table, but out toward the checkout lines. He was moving his fingers like he was texting, but he had the phone upright and at eye level. He was pointing the phone toward a young girl (former classmate of Marcus' from CCA) who was dressed in very short shorts. I am about 95% sure that he was taking her picture, and not texting.

Part of me wanted to confront the man, but I didn't. He may have truly been using his phone in a proper manner. Part of me wanted to hover behind him and look at his screen, but I didn't. It was a crowded space, and hovering would have been more like barging. So I left and ranted to Marcus who was waiting in the car. I'm pretty sure I left some sort of scar for life - one of many.

Two thoughts to pass along. First - we don't enjoy the privacy we used to. I hadn't thought about it, but anyone, anytime can take our picture. It's not like they have to haul out camera gear from a tote. It's as easy and discreet as waving a cell phone your way. Second - it's time to start thinking about my favorite topic - modesty. Parents - we have a responsibility to make sure our daughters are dressed appropriately. And please - lead by example. Men struggle with lust - yes - even our Chrisitian brothers. Let's do them a favor and cover up. Don't worry - we can cover up and still be fashionistas!

Last year I wrote an article on modesty for our women's newsletter at church. If you're interested in reading it - click HERE.