Thank you so much to those of you who gave me some lunch ideas. I feel like they should be downing fruits and veggies all the time and get that "Mom guilt" when I give them chips instead. Christopher won't touch fruit and only eats like 2 veggies. Sophie would eat grapes and bananas all day long if I'd let her! (Sometimes I do!) We did have quesadillas the other night and they liked them. I guess I should make them more often! Thanks again for your help!

Does anyone have any good lunch ideas for kids? I'm running dry and need some help. Our days seem to consist of chicken nuggets, hot dogs, mac and cheese or a PBJ sandwich. Sophie still can't have peanut butter, so that's out and she doesn't like lunch meat. Other than that, she'll eat pretty much anything.Today we didn't make it to the store so they are having popcorn, don't worry, it's the 100 calorie kind. I know, it's not the best meal but we are out of everything (except chicken nuggets and she won't even eat them anymore). But she did have some grapes and wheat crackers. If any of you have some ideas, PLEASE let me know!

It's been a long hard week here at the Hemphill household. Brandon was on call last Sunday so, he was home all day Monday. To be honest, I don't even remember what happened that day b/c it feels like 3 weeks ago! I think I ended up waking him so we could go grocery shopping, but he told me he wanted to go and I couldn't start dinner until we got back. (For those of you who don't know me very well, when I have it in my mind that something needs to be done, it has to be done right now. Not in 5 minutes, 3 hours or 2 days, NOW!) So I felt bad about waking him, but we desperately needed to go. This can be a good and bad thing, taking your husband grocery shopping, b/c you know where everything is, he doesn't as well. You have a system for attacking the store, his isn't as planned out. So when he asks what he can do to help all I want to say is, take the kids and I'll see you in 30 minutes. BUT we are there together, so I look at my list and give him 3 items that are in the cold section (thinking it's easy enough for both of us) and off he goes with a kid in tow. We get home, have dinner and honestly, the rest of the week is a complete blur. I don't even know how I remember that day! Maybe b/c it's the last time I feel like I saw my husband. Here is how the rest of the week went:

Tuesday - MOPS in the morning. Sophie falls asleep on the way home. I feed Christopher then put him down for a nap. I shut his door, Sophie wakes up. I play with Sophie, put her down for nap #2, then Christopher wakes up.

Wednesday - We run to Target in the morning. Sophie falls asleep on the way home. I feed Christopher then put him down for a nap. I shut his door, Sophie wakes up. I play with Sophie, put her down for nap #2, then Christopher wakes up. (Are you picking up on the pattern yet?)

Thursday - Christopher and I have a dentist appointment that morning. Sophie falls asleep on the way home. I feed Christopher then put him down for a nap. I shut his door, Sophie wakes up. I play with Sophie, put her down for nap #2, then Christopher wakes up. Sophie wakes up just in time for us to rush to the post office to mail birthday gifts.

Friday - Christopher has Mother's Day Out. Sophie falls asleep on the way home. She naps, I'm terribly upset to see that Ugly Betty didn't come on the night before. Now I have nothing to watch while I fold clothes.

The best part of the week was that Brandon and I got to go on a date Friday night. Our "new" best friends (we make new ones every 2 years when we have to move) here have kids that get along extremely well with our kids. We try to find a weekend once a month to have "date weekend" and take turns watching the kids so the other couple can go out to dinner. We got the first night and I thought we should go to Panera to have dinner and search online for where we'd like to go for our 5 year anniversary this summer. (We thought we'd like a cruise, but decided to use our season passes to Disney instead and go without the kids!) It was the most perfect night!!! Brandon and I were able to sit and talk about so much! I forgot just how much I really loved him and it made me miss him even more for being gone so much lately.

Saturday - Brandon is off to a yard sale he's working. (Raising money for medical trip to Peru in a few weeks.) The kids actually sleep until 7 and 7:45 (NEVER happens!!!). We have breakfast and then head over to yard sale. We stay longer than I thought we would and so we have to stop and get lunch on the way home. Christopher is screaming (can't catch his breathe crying, which he never does... just shows how tired he is) all the way to Chick-fil-A b/c he wants his Daddy and the only thing that makes him stop is telling him he can have his very own lunch and there might be a Franklin book inside. We get home, (not without another meltdown) the kids crash into bed and I take my first shower in 3 days. I'm not lying. I hasn't washed anything but my face in 3 days! I actually let the hot water run out. I'm exhausted and fall asleep in the bed with wet hair. I wake up at 4:00 and thank the Lord that my husband has picked up and been playing with the kids. I haven't seen the floor in our house in days. (mostly b/c of the tunnel that keeps getting pulled out, the only way I could get ready in the morning) The Newells drop their kids off at 5:45 and we play and have a blast until 7:45 when Chrisotpher has his 3rd meltdown of the day and we just put both of our kids to bed and play with the 2 still awake that aren't even ours. (But we'd claim them any day!)

Finally, Sunday - Brandon is on call (again!) and I'm am taking the kids to church even if we have to wear pajamas. I'm desperate for a break and some time with God. I drop Sophie off, she's crying and I just Chrisotpher to run b/c I know she'll stop any minute. I drop Christopher off and he could care less b/c he's found a box full of cars to play with. Church was just the break I needed and (here we go again...) Sophie falls asleep on the way home. Christopher plays in the back yard, I finally get to try my Christmas gift, Bissell Little Green cleaner, and then he comes in b/c he's tired and hungry. He can't decide whether to eat or sleep and thankfully our neighbors, and dear friends, the Ramages come walking up. William and Christopher take off playing. I have some adult convo with Matt and Tiffany and Sophie wakes up. After they leave (another meltdown by Christopher b/c he hit Tiffany in the face with a plastic sword and wouldn't apologize - I'm still embarrassed!!) I feed the kids, put Christopher down, play with Sophie and then she acts tired so I put her down again. I can't believe it. I'M ALONE!!!!! I watched Monk, Psych and started Wii Fit and then they woke up. I didn't care. We played on it together before heading up to see Brandon.

If you think that was a long one, just imagine how I feel. I do find peace in knowing that God never gives us more than we can handle, but like that saying goes, I wish He didn't think I could handle so much! As I look back I realize no matter how frustrated, exhausted, angry, mad, whatever I get, I am truly thankful for 2 very healthy children and a wonderful husband who loves us more than I even realize. I told Brandon at dinner the other night I wonder what our lives would be like if we didn't have kids yet, to which I immediately said, "Boring." He laughed and started naming all the things we could be doing, but we both know we wouldn't do any of those things. I told him I had no regrets and wouldn't change a thing. I AM exhausted and headed to bed to disappear into another book, but I want to end by saying, I love my life!

Sophie and I went to the commissary (on base grocery store for those unfamiliar with military, like I was until 6 months ago when we moved on base) to grab a few things and it took forever! Never go to there during lunch hour. I had to wait forever to check out of the quick, self-checkout lane. Thankfully I didn't have much to pick up b/c Sophie, our little climber figured out how to get out of the seat belt while it was still buckle between her legs and wanted to stand up the rest of the way. This was fine while we waited to check out, but once it was our turn it became a problem b/c I was at the back of the cart and she was at the front. The woman running this area even tried to come help, but Sophie yelled at her and scared her away. So, I just picked her up and set her in the big part of the grocery cart thinking she was trapped. I'm stupid b/c she immediately stood up, put one foot on the 12 pack of Cokes and threw the other leg over the side and started to climb out. Thankfully I caught her before her butt went too far over sending her straight to the floor, but this just made her mad. My older brother was known for being a daredevil climber at a very young age. I loved hearing the stories, thankful that my son didn't scare me like this, never thought my daughter would.


Before I end this second post of the day (I know, I can't believe it either) I have to share with you my ultimate deal of the week. Remember my post about all the baby and maternity items that I dropped off at the consignment store? Well, apparently some of them sold! I went by there to pick up some things that couldn't be sold, not knowing that I'd actually made some money and so I thought I'd look around a little. I had $18 and some change credit plus, everything was 40% off. I ended up having to pay $3.64 and here's what I got:



An apron for Christopher, a dress and skirt (pink and white stripe) for Sophie, What To Expect With a Toddler (had very detailed potty instructions) and a gift for my sister who's expecting her first in July. I was quite pleased!

Here are a few more photos from the week:

Nothing like a tutu and a truck! She still loves Christopher's trucks. I think it's cute!

Here they are having milk and goldfish for breakfast while watching Franklin. This is Chrisotpher's perfect way to spend the morning and I thought I'd see if Sophie could handle it, she did pretty good.

This year we knew we had to do something about our finances, as everyone else in the world is too, and we knew we couldn't trust ourselves to just write it down and follow it. We need very strict rules. So, we decided we'd try the envelope system. For some this may not work b/c spending cash is much easier than not, but for us we hate to see it go. So far we have done really well. I spent about $65 at the grocery store the first week and $75 the second. Now, I'd already stocked up on meat, which is always my down fall when it comes to grocery shopping. That and not planning meals well enough. I was completely surprised at how well I was doing. This has been very hard for me b/c groceries are the one place I can't say no. I don't go in without a list, but I do tend to buy something b/c it looks good, which is never on my list, and that's where I fail. This time I stuck to the list. Unless it was on super sale (like the premarinated steaks I got for $.99 a lb.!). Today was hard though. I went to Target. (dun, dun, duuuuunnnnn!!!!!) Like most women, this is a source of weakness for me. I could spend hours and hundreds of dollars in there if ever given the time and money. And I could do that every week! When we lived in Huntsville there was a Super Target 10 minutes from my house and I would go twice a week, sometimes just to walk around. But now that we live in FL I have to drive at least 25-30 minutes away to get to one. You would think this would help our budget, but no. I just buy more thinking I won't get out here for another month. But this time I was going only to buy a few things, what was on my list. Let's just say I failed. But in my defense, I am about to show you why I did and what I got. Now, Sophie's birthday is next week and we are having a small party, so I needed a few party favors. Thanks to the dollar section I got these items there. (Not bad, it's the dollar section after all.) Then I go past the clothing, I knew this was dangerous, but I just couldn't resist. I did grab one of those pretty, light weight scarves that you see people wearing, and I don't feel guilty about that. I have a budget set for clothing and I hadn't spent one dime yet, and this was only $13. Then I grab another tank b/c I loved the first one I got, but I'm going to take it back. I don't need two, even though I want two. I went to get the diapers and of course, the sale was for the small packs. Now honestly, who need a bag of only 30 diapers? That's a week's worth! So I bought the store brand box with 92 in it. Next I go to the kids clothing section to hit up the sale section and this was where I got excited. I found a tutu (really it's a skirt and a 3T, but whatever!she'll grow into it!), a sweater and a coat for Sophie, all to wear next year. Now this is why I'm excited, the tutu was $2.50, the sweater was $2.25 and the velvet coat was $6.25!!!!

I dug and dug and dug for more goodies, but didn't find anything I liked. Christopher kept trying to help and was grabbing bathing suits and pj's saying they would be cute for Sophie or that he needed them, but I kept putting them back. I also grabbed a b'day gift for my sis-in-law and b'day cards for family (everyone on both sides, except 2 people ,were born between October and March, it's crazy!) and a pan for making quiche (so I don't have to keep buying frozen crust, you know the whole spend money to save money thing), some face wash and makeup remover. It was a lot for me, considering my shopping trips have been small lately, but it's been done. It hurt handing over that cash, but we survived and then went to Chick-a-Flay (as Christopher calls it) for lunch. It was a good day, but this budget stuff is hard. I'm trying and it can actually be fun, but let's be honest, we all know it would be fun to have an endless supply of money and never have to worry about making payments, wouldn't it? Or would it?????

We have been trying to teach Sophie sign language. We did a little of this with Christopher and it was fun, so we thought we'd try again. It's funny b/c "milk" is the first one we tried to teach Christopher, but the last one he picked up. We tried it with Sophie and within minutes she got it. (Probably b/c it has to do with food.) I thought "more" (point finger into other hand which is open) would be a good one to teach next, but she kind of claps so you never know if she's just excited or actually wants more. Maybe both. I tried to teach her "please" (pat your chest) the other day while she was in her booster seat and I could tell she couldn't quite figure it out. Later when we were on the floor I tried again and she actually crawled over to me and pat me on the chest instead of herself. I laughed so hard! No wonder she was confused before, she couldn't get to me to say it! Every now and then she'll get it, but if you are holding her and ask her to say "please" she pats your chest instead of her own. Tonight I was reading her a book and I thought she'd lost interest so I closed it when we finished. I was speechless when she opened it back up and started signing "please."

Here are my two favorite photos that were taken today while the kids were playing outside.