Apple of My Eye

The day is upon us. The day when you meet the person who will spend time with your precious angel from the Lord for 5+ hours a day, Monday-Friday, or some variation. Meet the Teacher is less than a week away.

We waited and waited for those letters to come in the mailbox. That little piece of paper brought a range of emotions: happiness, frustration, disappointment, uncertainty. Will this teacher really be able to appreciate how smart, funny and special this child is?

Nothing like a new school year to get you on your knees. God knew who your child's teacher would be this year and know without a doubt, He has a plan for them. Remind me of that when I open my boys' teacher letters next Tuesday.

My mom-in-law is the Queen of Susus. What are 'susus' you ask? Susus are little gifts that she finds and sends for no reason, just to say she was thinking of you. As a former teacher, I am very careful what I give or bring to the classroom of my boys' teachers. And as one would guess, I usually steer clear of bath products, coffee mugs, stuffed animals and wooden jewelry because I received a lot of it when I taught. So heartfelt, but still too much bath gel isn't a blessing. BUT, when my friends, Leigh Ann & Julie, let me in on their Meet the Teacher susu secret, I had to share.

Gourmet Apples and More is a little shop right in front of Champion Forest Baptist Church that sells chocolate-covered creations. They have chocolate-covered rice krispie treats, pretzels and as you would guess, apples! But these aren't just any chocolate-covered apples, they are works of art. To give you an idea, they have Plain Jane (dipped in caramel and then dipped in chocolate), Rocky Road and Heath Bar. The apples on their website are the large variety which run $14ish and the smaller size are $6ish. And when I spoke to the sweet man who was answering phones today, he said they will last 2-3 weeks in the fridge. They open for the season on Monday and will be open from 10-6 daily. Bless his heart, he had been receiving phone calls from several spirited ladies that day, frustrated that the store had not been open for the private school meet the teacher events.

So as summer draws to a close and you have a bit more spring in your step, remember to bless those sweet teachers as they begin this new school year. Nothing says love like chocolate!

One Stop Blogging

Everyone has their guilty pleasures. Some read magazines, some watch reality TV, some scrapbook. We ALL have our things that we do when we have the "I Just Don't Want Tos". I am a book and magazine girl, so it was only natural that blogs would grab my interest because it involves reading. I know, I just might be a closet nerd. I can receive that.

I am not willing to divulge just how many blogs I have bookmarked in my 'Favorites' to read, but I am slightly embarrassed to say I have more than once wasted valuable sleeping or folding laundry time by clicking through them. And then you know how it goes....curiousity gets the best of you and then you are clicking on blogs of people you don't know because surely they are worthy to read because someone has taken the time to link the blog to their blog... and on it on it goes. I am still just baffled how the 6 degrees of seperation lives on...even in the blogging world.

Well, today, I am offering a way to have the best of both worlds. You CAN lose yourself for a bit in the world of blogs and keep your family clothed and fed by using a little site called Bloglines.

This little treasure enables you to add the blogs you read into one place and then updates your tab when the blogs are updated. How great is that? Now, the one downside I can see if that you can only see the first part of the post and if the post includes pictures, all may not be shown. But it does have a way for you to click right to the blog and then you are golden! I am loving the fact that I can jump on, read some new posts, and then jump off. How great is that!

Their site has lots more options that I didn't investigate, but I think it is worth a look. And it just might keep your kids from having to go into the 'emergency' underwear supply.

Shaken or Stirred

I drink a lot of water....and sometimes I just want to drink something that has flavor, if you know what I mean. Couple that with the fact that I am a marketer's dream and now you know why I love those little skinny powder packets you can add to bottled water.

My quest for flavor began with the Lipton Green Tea to Go in the Natural Mandarin & Mango flavor. Loved it, best when cold. Then I moved onto the Crystal Light varieties. Let's just say they taste a bit more artificial than others and are very strong....always add more water than necessary (for that matter, all of these drink additives can stand a bit more liquid than called for). And be prepared for your tongue and anything that colored liquid touches to be a different color....yes, even countertops. When we traveled to Disney, we took along the Propel Fit Powder in the lemonade flavor and that, along with the Country Time Lemonade, were a huge hit.

My two latest finds are the South Beach On-the-Go Tide Me Over in Natural Tropical Breeze and Moo Magic. Tide Me Over is a nutrient drink enhancer (how's that for fancy?) that has a wee bit of fiber, hence, it fills you longer. I really like the Natural Tropical Breeze flavor but have not tried the Strawberry Banana, was scared of it tasting like a scratch n' stiff sticker. I had heard about Moo Magic but never seen it. Well, that changed today at the local Wal-Mart. It comes in two flavors, chocolate and vanilla, and you add it to 8 oz. of milk for 8 calories. Yeah baby! Rumor has it that Big Lots carries the Vanilla flavor.

And my last additive is this. I add it to my yogurt in the morning and you cannot even taste it. Let it be our little secret....if you tell anyone I take fiber, I'll deny it and you'll just look plain silly for even suggesting that I would take fiber. Perhaps this was an overshare, but somewhere, out there, there is a woman with sore jaws crying out for more fiber. She just can't chew anymore to reach her goal of 25-35 grams a day! Don't fear the fiber!

Old School

We are in an interesting place with regard to what we allow our boys to watch on tv. Both our boys are very interested in sports, so naturally, we watch a lot of ESPN and Fox Sports. The upside is that I am a baseball and college football fan, so we have great family time watching it together. The downside is the questions we get (WHY do they have to have so many ED commericials?) and the comericals we have monitor (does shave gel REALLY need women in bikinis to market for them?). I mean, for the love, my 8 year old son was busting out the Viva Viagra song a few weeks ago. I almost spit out my drink! I gently told him that was a song we didn't sing and he wanted to know if Viagra was a bad word. I assured him that it was only a bad word in Spanish. Imagine how hard we laughed when one of our babysitters recounted to us that JT asked her if she knew Spanish and if she did, did she know what Viagra meant. Good times....good times.

Believe it or not, there are still things on Noggin and Disney Channel that both my 6 and 8 year olds will watch. I am aware that most people think these show are for preschoolers....I totally get that, but I am just not ready to take the obvious next step, which is some of the shows on Disney Channel at night. No judgement , just our choice. We are weird like that.

I had heard about a cable channel that had old school cartoons like Tom and Jerry, Pink Panther, Deputy Dog, Pound Puppies, etc and just hadn't done any digging to figure out where is was located. But then as we were looking at the Program Guide one day, Boomerang was just one channel up from Noggin. Now my boys are big fans of Tom and Jerry and Pink Panther. I even found a Tom and Jerry Collectors Set for JT's birthday and then found a similiar disc for Pink Panther. These have been great for roadtrips and brought back a bit of variety for rainy days and hot summer afternoons.

So now, I just have to explain that even though the Inspector from Pink Panther says, "Shut up, stupid and idiot", we don't. But it beats my sons tellling me or some other girl that she is "Freakin' hot" Love those writers for kid's shows!

Choosing to Live

For months, many of us having been praying for Stephen Curtis Chapman and his famiy as they choose to believe God for who He is through their grief. The family was featured on Good Morning America this morning. Click here to see just how they are choosing to continue to live and also choosing to cling to the Hope they have through their grief.

May we, the Body, continue to go before the Throne on their behalf.

On a side note, they will also be appearing on Larry King Live Thursday, August 7th.

*Update: 8/8 - Here is the link to the recap from the Larry King Live show. There are so many parts of the story that hae stuck with me, but there is one particular part that is brought to my mind daily. It was retold during the GMA inteview, but just after the accident occurred and Stephen Curtis and his wife, Mary Beth, were driving to the hospital, he yelled out the window to his son who was involved in the accident, "Will Franklin, Your Father loves you!" This precious son, whose life changed in an instant, heard from his father that indeed, no matter what, His father and HIS FATHER love him. Cling to that today.

Below are links to the Larry King Live Interview on You Tube. There are several instances that were offensive, in my opinion, due to the lack of sensitivity of Larry King toward the Chapmans and then I just was astonished by how they handled each question with such grace.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Shop Around the Corner

If you are a lover of Target like I am, you know they carry pretty much everything a gal can hope for. Where else can you buy a great new pair of capris, dog bones, light bulbs and foot scrub? And 'fess up....how many of you have hidden some very fun purchases in the name of it just showing up as 'Target' on your Quick Books? The Red Circle is near and dear to my heart and the Mother Ship often beckons me home when I have been away too long.

But, sometimes even Target doesn't have the perfect gift.

You know, like when your kiddo has been invited to his tenth birthday party of the year and you really would like to bring a gift that will not only be admired by the child but also will save the mom from having to cling to the gift receipt in effort to return it for something that might hold their child's attention for more than a few days.

My good friend, Brandi, has four daughters ranging in age from 4 months to 8 years. She, hands down, is the queen of catalog shopping. That girl alone keeps those brown trucks moving. She taught me some of the best toys are found in catalogs such as Toys to Grown On , Sensational Beginnings, and Constructive Playthings. Each one of these companies has really great unique toys that can't be found in most stores.

Imagine her joy when a little toy store called Learning Express opened in the Cypress area and they DID carry all those cool toys in the catalogs. Instant toy gratification and no shipping fees, bonus!

Learning Express is owned and operated by two of the spunkiest and knowledgeable gals you'll ever meet, Shannon Fritz and Kristin Janger. I just LOVE them, they are a blast! Their store is divided into sections (outdoor, science, arts and crafts, games and puzzles, babies, preschoolers, etc) and has great toys and educational products for all ages, babies through pre-teen. The staff is super friendly and they are so happy to offer age-specific suggestions for your shopping needs. But wait, there's more! Not only do they gift wrap for free (yes, EVEN at Christmas time) but they have a VIP program which takes the sum of 15 purchases and gives you the average in store credit. How sweet is that? Did I also mention that they offer Birthday Bucket service? When you child is having a birthday party, your kiddos are able to choose some of their favorite things and put them in their bucket. Then you put enclosure cards in the inviations saying selections have been made at Learning Express. It totally takes the guesswork out of birthday party shopping. This is particularly helpful when you have been invited to a party of a school friend you may not know as well.

To recap...you park close to the door, have a personal toy guide to help make your selection, gift wrapping is included and your purchases are tracked and then an average comes back to you as store credit. Love the Learning Express!

So the next time you are meeting a friend at Newks for lunch or see a movie at the Cypress Cinemark, pop into Learning Express and check out their Scrabble necklaces, Magnetic Mosiacs, Magformers and Pump Rockets. One visit and you'll be hooked!

And did I mention they are opening a new store in the Copperfield area? Yes! Two locations very, very soon!

Update: 8/7 My friend Sherry reminded me that they will ship your purchases as well! Check our her comment on how she tackled Christmas shopping!

Seriously??

You know you have one... a word that is your 'catch-all' word, the one that covers a range of emotions: happiness, unbelief, sarcasm, disappointment. Maybe it is 'Dude' or 'Wow". I have to say that I picked up, 'Seriously' from a fiery red-headed friend of mine that happens to be one of the owners of a truly cool toy store , which I will blogging about this week. I use this word a bunch.

For example, I was at Wal-mart a few weeks ago with my two boys trying to do some grocery shopping for what we NEEDED, not what they WANTED. We headed to the check-out, minus white powdered donuts and Count Chocula, and I scanned the lines and chose one because it appeared this precious girl was almost finished. As it turns out, she was NOWHERE near finished. She proceeded to pull out 3 ads from competing grocery stores and haggled with the brand-new-wide-eyed cashier over the sale price of every item in her basket, because everyone knows Wal-mart has a low price guarantee, right? Oh, help me!

So, of course, 'Seriously' covered quite a few emotions during that 30 minute ordeal. At one point, I wanted so badly to ask her, "Seriously, can you please just take his word that the baby carrots are the price they say they are?" I eventually got out of the line and made a bee-line to the express line. At this point, I had no concern that I had more than 20 items. For the love!

But today, my darlin' 8 year-old son gave me a whole new reason to use my word.

After church and lunch today, we took a long-awaited trip to Crave Cupcakes in Uptown Park with our good friends and fellow dessert-lovers, Mrs. Becky and Mr. Chappy. As you walk up, you can see the cupcakes being iced and the finishing touches being added. And it is obvious the word is out because the place was packed! Lucky for us, they still had a great selection to choose from. We came home with Vanilla, Red Velvet, Key Lime, Candy Bar and Chocolate Peanut Butter. So far, the ones we have tasted make you want to slap your granny... All of us except for John Tyler. He took one bite... then another... and then told me he just didn't really like it.

Now, I KNOW he is my son because I endured 6 hours of back-labor to bring him into the world AND he might be a tad high-strung, just like me (no comments, please!). But it was the next sentence that left my mouth open-wide. "Mom, can I please have some apples and carrots instead of my cupcake?"

Seriously? I just paid $3.25 for a little piece of heaven with buttercream icing and the dude wants apples and carrots. Hmph.

Well, I guess his title of being a 'Weddding Buffet Eater" because of his standard diet of apples, carrots, cheese and crackers was not too far away from the truth. And anyway, who can trust a kids who wears a chicken balloon-animal on his head. 'Nuff said.