End of the Month Review: February.

Still cranking and haven't thrown my goals in the toilet YET!  2 months down, 10 to go.

The update on my Areas of Balance - my 2011 theme. In no particular order.

Spiritual: Reading the Bible in a year
So I'm WAY behind on the track I was following...as in, 163 chapters behind.  But LO, there is good reason.  See I happened upon the Book of Acts.  And then I stayed.  And then I stayed some more.  Track was telling me to leave, go on to greener pastures of Romans and I'm all, listen yo, there is some sweet goodness going on in Acts and I'm gonna stay here.  Dwell if you will.  And I'm getting more out of reading the Bible than I have in YEARS so I'm sticking around Acts as long as I want.  Track, I'll come back to you, don't worry.  Your train was just moving a little too fast for me.

Physical: at least 3 days exercise
BOMB!  P90x got the best of me and I gave Tony What's His Name the bird and walked away.  One saving grace....softball started yesterday so if I can pop in one or two more exercises per week, I'll be good to go.  And my tight pants will appreciate some extra room up in there.

Work: Grace Graffiti schedule
We're getting this thing down.  We have our monthly staff meeting, at least 1 work day or night when we're all together, and I have my set time each day to getting my responsibilities done.  So far, so good.  Now, go buy all our stuff so we can feed our starving kids.

Family: date day
Presidents Day spent at the beach IN FEBRUARY!  We all loaded up a picnic, played in the sand, screamed at the freezing ocean temps, held napping babies, and fried my legs in a beautiful striped pattern.  Perfection.

Marriage: date
A real date this month!  A real "Get out of the house and take the minivan with empty carseats" kinda date.  The in-laws came to town and babysat so the Husb and I could go out.  Shopping and dinner all by ourselves with nary a worry about things on the home front.  My Valentine.

Money: budget
Somehow, SOMEHOW, we had money leftover this month.  Can I tell you the last time that happened? I think it was back in '03.  We still can't figure that one out. But it's perfect timing because Big Sis ain't got a spring wardrobe because she grew about 7 inches last week and apparently public schools require clothing EVERY DAY.  They're so high maintenance.  So, now we've got some funds to get her un-nekkified.

Home: order
Order?  Yeah, there's none of that going on here.  Let's check this one off as a FAIL!  Maybe I'll come back to this one when all 4 are in college and not at home making messes.  Though, I kinda like them at home, even with their messiness.

It's off to March we go...

Enter the Twindom

My house is hilarious.  And there's 2 little people that make me crack up from the moment I walk in their room each morning.

Maybe it's because I see this.  "Well, hello there twin. I sure did miss you while I was sleeping 8 inches away."

And a typically ornary little man always starts off the day with a huge smile and much laughter.

Uh oh, the 4.2 minutes of smiling and laughter are done and furrowed brow has emerged. Whatchu talkin' bout Willis?

Tiny Miss always likes to tell me who poo'd each morning.  It's a contest she plans on winning.

"Hehehehe, I pew-pewed Mommy!"

Anything they can fit in together, they do.  Maybe it's a reminder of the shared womb.  This was a quaint little reading spot filled with 4 squished little legs and a whole bunch of books.

 "Mommy, you're cramping our style."

Who is this man-child taking up this crib?  Last I checked he was a 5 pound preemie.

In the words of J.Lo, my love don't cost a thing.

All of my loves are asleep or at school right now. I'm like a giddy kid on Christmas morning waiting for us all to be together so we can have our final celebration of this "love" weekend, complete with our traditional heart shaped pancakes for dinner.

 

The in-laws came to visit this weekend and with that, brought their babysitting expertise so we had no choice but to take full advantage. The Husb took me to our favorite hole in the wall, Georgia Sea Grill, where he almost had to remove me from said location because I thought licking the bowl of their AMAZING crab soup was proper etiquette at fancy restaurants. Husb didn't agree. Oh wells. Like putting lipstick on a pig.

It was probably the best date we've ever had. Wow. That's a big statement. It must have been the 5 hours of uninterrupted conversation. And the food. And the ambience. Oh yeah and definitely the company - that hottie who kept bringing me flowers and trying to pay for my dinner.  :)

I know many people hate Valentine's day for various reasons, but I love having a whole day/weekend dedicated to showing my loves just how much I love them.

Much like those heart shaped candies that taste like sweet chalk.

I dedicate those Sweethearts to you bunch of crazies I call my heart...
Husb - Me + U = ♥
Big Sis -  XOXOXO
Buster - Be Mine
Tiny Miss - Too Sweet
Wild Man - Marry Me
Mr.Biggles - U R Purr-fect!

Happy Valentine's Day.

Table for 2, please.

I'm hoping these guys are each other's Valentine's date for at least the next 25 years. They've got a good system of supply and demand.

Wild Man supplies.

Tiny Miss demands.

And we all live happily ever after.

FREE STUFF!

Hey kids....we're offering FREE JEWELRY over on our grace graffiti blog. All you have to do is comment and your chances at winning are HIGH! Good luck!

Go Pack Go!

Yay! My favorite team won the Super Bowl!!!!

Not that I give one iota of energy to the NFL. I actually didn't know who was playing the Steelers (only know that because my neighbors have balloons and paraphernalia all over the outside of their house). Google informed me who was playing and what colors were appropriate for each team. And that was the only necessary information I needed.

So based on our limited closet options, the Akins 6 had to become a House Divided. 3 Steelers and 3 Packers. Big Winners on the right.

This cheering section was definitely the loudest. And apparently Mr.Bright Red in the middle did not get the memo to wear team colors. He instead opted to single out Hines Ward and show some individual love while the rest of us followed directions and dressed appropriately. Team players, people. Team players.

Packers, be honored that your fair weathered fan here brought home a VICTORY just for you. Even though I watched nary a play the entire night.

Good game, cheese heads.

Miracles, part 2.

(My dad wrote a great blog about Miracles so I'm giving part 1 to him. Here's the addition...)

I, too, am a believer in miracles.

I am also a realist.

Which means a lot of "miracles" go by my eyes without ever receiving that tag from me. I'll tag it instead with "good meds", "ironic", "coincidence" or even just a "huh?".

But this one's got me stumped. The Believer and The Realist are at odds.

My little Wild Man has had a lot of trouble keeping food down for nearly 2 years. We've learned to deal with it as a normal part of our routine. Case in point: the barf bowl that accompanies every meal.

We got a new doc on his case. Got some great headway into what could be causing this. Set up an appointment for a fairly invasive test that would have required him to be put to sleep. Left the office with a sense of hope and dread all at the same time.

So we did the only thing we knew how to do as parents.

We prayed.

For calm. For confirmation. For good results. For his safety.

The boy hasn't been sick ONE TIME since we scheduled the testing. Not ONE TIME. The Realist was scared to say it, thinking it may just be a phase. And it may. But all I know is he hasn't been sick ONE TIME! (have I said that already??)

The Believer cancelled the appointment.