These Kids Love Their Aunt Emily!

Hey y'all! I've been hanging out with my Texan sister all weekend and I just said, "y'all". Did you hear it??? She's rubbing off on me! Hey, if you're reading this...please would you stop and say a quick prayer for my Uncle Mike (actually he's Joe's uncle, but in my heart, he's mine as well!) He was in a bad snowmobile accident on Monday and was seriously injured and in quite a bit of pain, I hear. Please pray for healing for him. Thanks so much.

You know if you let the dog out and she poops and pees on your front porch, it's pretty darn cold out. -8 degrees out at 7:30 this morning. And that's without wind chill! BRRRR!

AND THE WINNER IS........

..............JENN! And to avoid any confusion, since there were several Jenn's, Jen's, Jenny's, etc. This would be the amazing, funky Jenn that lives next door to my sister! I have to admit my first thought was, "Ooh! I hope ZUZU likes it!" Congratulations, Jenn! I will get it to you soon!

Last Call To Enter The Drawing!

I'll pick the name at 9 PM (ish). So check back!

GIVEAWAY!!!

In honor of 'all the excitement' of opening my Etsy shop, I'm giving this away to one lucky person! It might help with the Spring Fever that's starting to creep in :) If you want a chance at winning it, please leave me a comment and I will enter your name in a drawing. I will announce a winner Sunday night! Anyone can enter...friends, family, blog stalkers are all welcome!

My Etsy Shop Is Open!

Yee-Haw!

Today at preschool I was told that during class the teacher wanted all the girls to raise their hand. When they noticed Lily didn't have her hand raised they said, " Lily, you should raise your hand. You're a girl!". To which Lily replied, "I'm not a girl. I'm a cowboy!" This either has to do with the fact that a Texan is coming to visit us in 10 days or because I bought her a pair of pink cowboy boots yesterday.

Guess who's winning the Football playoffs contest in our household.
Is it Joe? NO.
Is it Jackson? He wishes.
Is it Noah? NO, but he is in 2nd.
Is it Lily? If it's not pink and princess...she doesn't care.
Is is Laura? Why, YES! It is! Thanks for asking! Yeah, baby, yeah! I will crush you, family. You'll all be making ME supper when I'm done with you!

P.S. Is It Wrong To Steal A Library Book In The Name Of Jesus?

My Boy.

I was reading Noah a book from the library last night. It was a sing song-y rhyming book about brothers who were picky eaters. I got the middle of the book and out of the blue, saw a page that said this,

"Try this side dish and don't make a face
We're all the atheists, so there's no need to say grace."

DUDE. SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Take a deep breath, Laura. Let's not blow a gasket in front of your son.

Noah asks me why I stopped reading. I decide in my head, 'Sure, I'll read what it says and ask him what he thinks about that.' After he asked me what 'atheist' meant and I explained, there was silence then Noah decided to blow a gasket for me....

"WHAT?? JUST WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE THANKING FOR THE LIFE THEY'RE LIVING?? THEMSELVES??" and with a hand on his hip and a snap of his fingers, "I DON'T THINK SO!" (think Claire Huxtable on a really bad PMS day.)

Two things were revealed to me through this gasket-blowing extravaganza:
1. Noah might just turn out to be OK.
2. He's inherited his mother's smart mouth. (Actually, it's MY mother's smart mouth, but I'll take the credit this time.)

On another note, as I'm writing this, I've been watching Noah play with Play-doh and he is strategically piling it around the island in our kitchen. I asked him what he was making, and he replied, "Piles of poop." I suppose he can't be deep and philisophical ALL the time.

Big News!

So, my goal for this new year is to get my art shop open online through Etsy.com. It is a very cool website where you can sell your artwork all over the world. I've bought a few things for myself, like a cool print from an artist in Australia. Next time you're at my house, ask me, and I'll show you! I'm a little scared of the outcome. I'm not sure what the worst case scenario is, but I'm scared of what that might be! Maybe nobody will buy anything? Maybe someone will post a note saying my art is the most 'butt-ugly' thing they've ever seen? OK. Maybe I'm overreacting. It's a self-confidence thing...or lack thereof! I DO feel like God is calling me to do this, so I better listen and just go with it. I think my sister is working on opening up her online shop as well, so maybe we can drag each other through the process. Things aren't so scary when you've got a friend to go with you! I'll keep you updated and let everyone know when it's official. If you think of it, say a little prayer for me.