Even Bigger News!

Yes, it has been a long time since I posted. No, the news is not that I updated. I'm not going to pretend to be more busy than other people who blog, but mothering a 2 year old and being pregnant sure do a number on the old brain! Most days I find it hard to string together 2 or more coherent thoughts. Anyway, enough excuses. On with the news...

IT'S A BOY!!!!

Joshua Ray finally decided to quit being stubborn and overly modest! Of course we are thrilled to death. I really thought I had my heart set on another girly girl, but find myself anxiously anticipating the prospect of being a boy mom.

Please don't tell me to rush out and get a copy of James Dobson's "Bringing Up Boys". I'm sure it's great, but he and Gary Ezzo are on my list of so-called "experts" to ignore the most. I prefer experts like Lori Haynes, Lori Dossey, Cheryl Wallace and the many others who have been there, done that in the trenches. Experts whose credentials are clearly on display every playgroup, Sunday School event, and worship service. Experts who freely admit that they are not experts, have made many mistakes, will make more mistakes in the future, and continue to do the best they can with God's guidance.

Okay, off the soapbox, LaRae. I think the most exciting thing to me right now is the chance to do a cowboy room for Joshua when he gets older. I'm enjoying putting together Katelyn's big girl Fairy Princess room and can already see Joshua's big boy Cowboy room in my head! I really just can't wait for 3 more months to pass and for the little guy to be in our arms!

Alright, time to go finish getting ready for Bunco. Gotta finish the cake, make the salad and set the tables!

Love to you all and thank you for your prayers!

BIG News!

If there is anyone out there who hasn't heard, Katelyn has some news to share with everyone. See below. Yes, it's very exciting, isn't it? We finally got brave enough to add another one to the Price clan. Funnily enough, this baby will be due 6 days after Katelyn's 3rd birthday. Big sister may be having an early birthday party to accomodate Mommy's growing belly and fatigue! Anyway, Katelyn is soooo thrilled (even though I don't think she really knows how much this is going to rock her world). Since watching "Meet Blue's Baby Brother" she can't decide if she wants a brother or a sister, but she does know that we should name it "Sprinkles" (Blue's brother's name) no matter what! That's going in the baby book for sure!

So, there you go. New blog. Exciting news. What more could you ask for?

VBS Reflections

This feels like a school assignment, but several people have suggested I write my reflections about VBS while it's fresh so I can remember next year what worked and what didn't. I thought if I put it here, other people could add their remarks, too. Hopefully, you'll be nice! :) So, here goes...

What Worked:

• Wade as Emcee. Once again, Wade brought his unique brand of good-natured leadership to the VBS assembly. He gets the kids excited and does a good job of reminding them why they are there-to learn about Jesus. I love the science experiments, too, if only to see him sweat whether it will really work or not.
• The costumed mascot. This year Linda did a great job as Cammi. The costume was great, thanks to Glenna and her little band of sewing elves! I'll get to the drawbacks down below.
• The Music. Anyone with a kid who was at VBS can attest that this music got in their kids' head and hearts. I would rather hear Katelyn sing, "I will be real like Jesus," than "Fruit Salad, Yummy, Yummy" any day! What a powerful tool.
• Decorations. This was a hard theme to decorate for-especially the assembly area. Anne and Kelli and their helpers did a great job transforming the stage each night, and I was really impressed at how much they were able to use things we alread owned. Jennifer's registration booth area was truly impressive. Joanna, Jen K, and Tracy did a great job of transforming the hallway, and Beri came through with her own awesome travel posters when none were forthcoming from travel agents. It's always gratifying to hear the kids breathe, "Whoooaaaaa!" when they walk in the door!
• Toddler Class. I know there were some glitches to work out, but overall I was excited to have something to offer our younger members. Most of them truly enjoyed VBS (most of the time) and not traveling from place to place seemed to help keep them settled.
• The Volunteers. A big thank you to EVERYONE who helped. Even people who don't get as excited about VBS as I do came to worknights and made a big contribution of time, energy and creativity. Hats off to the people who really made VBS work!
• Adult Bible Study. Finally, all those people milling around were able to get some study time for themselves! I think this was a great addition.
• Mission Project. Making the blankets was not as easy as we thought it might be, but I think it's important to teach our children to do things for others around the world that might not be as fortunate as we are.

Room for Improvement:

• Communication. I learned the hard way that timely, informative communication is really important, but not really easy. I don't know why it was so hard for me to send an email to Kelly for a bulletin announcement, but it was. I also need to learn how to communicate my point concisely but accurately. Apparently, some of my announcements were confusing to those who had not been at the original planning meetings. I need to get the "vision" across early to all my volunteers.
• The Costume. There has to be a way to get a fabulous costume without breaking the bank or Glenna! I'm thinking of partnering with my parents' (much bigger budgeted) church next year to share some expenses/workload.
• The Storyteller Room. For some reason, people in Bible Times costumes with a spotlight shining on them are terrifying to toddlers and preschoolers. I also got frustrated with the fact that there was more focus on the travel theme than the Bible Story theme. Crafts and Snacks centers did a great job of trying to review/preview the bible story and make a connection there, but I felt that the kids remembered more about the skits/puppet shows than the bible story. Someone suggested having the Bible Story skit during the assembly so that person only has to do it once and maybe it won't be so "up-close-and-personal" to the little ones. Then we could have a center that reviews and applies the bible story for each age group. The skits from opening assembly could also be done here, since they are not terribly long. This bears some further thought.
• The Music. I want to have a music center next time, perhaps in conjunction with the game center. Dancing/choreography could burn off energy and still give them a chance to learn even more songs.
• The Skits. Anne and Jon did a fabulous job and the kids totally loved "Emma and Nathan". However, why does the girl always have to be the ditzy one? And why can't they talk about the bible story? I tink there's room to revise the skits given and make them truly awesome!
• The Toddler Class. As mentioned, there are some glitches. Too many kids in a small room, for one. The crafts should have been modified or even changed completely for that class. Next year, it's entirely possible that we may have enough kids for a 2's class and a 3's class. I think that would help a lot. The fact of the matter is, though, that's a tough time of day for that age kids, especially if they've been away from mom and dad most of the day already. The other fact is, their little souls are important and impressionable, too. Not to mention that their parents are very involved in VBS. I think they are an important age group to reach with the message of Christ. They are never to young to brainwash, er, teach. ;)
• Planning. I think we wasted a lot of valuable planning time this year by making a committee decision on what curriculum to buy. Next year, I think Co-Directors should pick and have a first meeting to show off the theme and start planning right away. I also think this meeting should be in February or March at the latest.
• Job Descriptions. Apparently, some people didn't know exactly what they were getting in to when they signed up for their jobs. Last year we printed an insert for the bulletin outlining what all the jobs were. I think we should definitely do that again.

That's my $0.02! Please feel free to share your thoughts, too.

By Popular Demand

Okay, sports fans, here it is...the moment you've all been waiting for...I'm updating!

Not much going on in the world of LaRae that isn't related to Little Bear or Vacation Bible School. I did get enjoy a premiere of Rachel's new venture-Heritage Makers-and booked a party for August 1st at 7 pm. Check out the website and consider yourself invited if you read this. I also got a chance to hang with some of my old homies from FBE. Even though only one person is still there, we still have a connection through all the blood, sweat, and tears we expended together on those kiddos over in The Branch. Can you believe my first class of 3rd graders will be sophomores next year? I'm not that old, am I?

Anyhoo, I have been really enjoying the season finales these past few weeks. Unlike Paul, I don't get excited about what the fall lineup will be until it starts showing up on my Tivo a couple weeks ahead of time. Why torture yourself with all the potential greatness during the long, dry summer of Sex In The City and Seinfeld reruns? I do find myself wondering if Summerland will make another summer appearance. I know it's a stupid show, but I always loved Aunt Becky, and I guess I always will. LOST was awesome, but I'm really getting into the whole LOST Experience online. If you haven't been, you should definitely check out The Hanso Foundation website. You may want to go here to help you find all the easter eggs and secret passwords, though. I find it creepy and eerie, even though I know it's just an ABC attempt to get you online and keep you hooked during the summer. So far I've seen shameless plugs from Sprite, Jeep, and monster.com. I know I'm a geek, but I love it.

At any rate, I spend way too much time online reading other peoples' blogs and not nearly enough time posting to my own. Next time, some more cute Katelyn stories. There are about a million!

Love ya'! Mean it!

edited to correct a terrible misspelling!

A to Z Me

Okay, I'm going to copy Jo, copying someone else and do this, too. Come on, everybody, jump on the bandwagon with us! :)

Accent: Southern (especially when I'm mad!)
Booze: Chocolate Milk Shake with Bailey's
Chore I Hate: Sweeping and Mopping (which is probably why I have ants)
Dog or Cat: Neither, as my husband is a prude!
Essential Electronics: Digital Camera, DVD player in the minivan, laptop, TiVO
Favorite Cologne(s): Eternity
Gold or Silver: Gold
Hometown: Woodstock, GA
Insomnia: What part of "I have a 2 year old" don't you understand? I'm always ready to fall asleep!
Job Title: Chauffer, Event Planner, Personal Assistant, Housekeeper, Cook, Nanny, Mommy
Kids: Katelyn, 2 years
Living arrangements: 3 bedroom home
Most admirable trait: Loyalty
Number of sexual partners: mind your business
Overnight hospital stays: one-when I had Katelyn
Phobias: home invasions, spiders, heights
Quote: "The secret to getting ahead is getting started." "T-I-double Guh-errrrr. That spells Tigger."
Religion: Christian; Church of Christ
Siblings: one sister
Time I wake up: when Katelyn demands my attention
Unusual talent or skill: Able to pick up a quarter with my toes, can make gunshot noises with my booty
Vegetable I refuse to eat: sweet potatoes
Worst habit: biting my nails/cuticles, potty humor
X-rays: huh?
Yummy foods I make: Mexican Chicken Casserole, Eclair cake
Zodiac sign: God said "No!"

And, I'm outtie!

As Promised...

here are the pictures of Katelyn from a few weeks ago. She asked me to take her picture. Then she throws herself down and screams when I try to do so.



So I decide to take a picture to show her how she looks when she does that. At the flash, she stops screaming and sits up like, "Huh?" Then she sort of smiles, so I take another picture.



Finally, she decides to stand up, pose, and say, "1, 2, 3...cheeeeese!" What a ham!



Anyway, that's life with a 2 year old! BTW, yes, her shirt does say, "My mommy is the prettiest." And don't you forget it!

Spring Sing, Workouts, and a Certain 2 Year Old

Went to Spring Sing at Harding this weekend. Didn't really see many people we knew (or least, not many we cared about seeing-not you, Eric). Unfortunately, today's college students are apparently unable to put on a show of much quality, at least in my old fogey eyes. The first half was strictly a yawn, except for the Jazz Band, always a crowd favorite. Allen had a hot trombone solo and even got a closeup on the big screen. This made Katelyn grab my chin, point my face towards the screen and proclaim, "A-yen!" Quite possibly the cutest moment of the weekend. Overall, the trip was good. I love to get nostalgic, so walking across campus was kind of nice. I find myself already wondering if Katelyn will go there or opt for the closer to home ACU. Of course, she may decide to go a completely different route, which could be fine, too, depending. Back to HU, they are facelifting a lot of the old, decrepit buildings. This is fine, as most of them were of the pre-fab-looking variety of the 60's and 70's. However, I heard they will be "doing" Pattie Cobb dorm next. This frightens and potentially aggravates me. Pattie Cobb is the last historic building left on campus-from when HU was Galloway Women's College. If they mess up the beautiful brick facade, the wide balconies on either end, or the awesome "Hercules" columns at the entrance, I will be quite peeved. That said, I have to believe that administration has more sense than that and the improvements will be interior only.
Anyhoo, I'm sure anyone who's not from Harding could care less, so....what's next?

After 2 weeks off, I finally got back to the gym today. Between visiting family, a stomach bug, and going out of town, I was afraid I would never get back. Don't misunderstand. Anyone who knows me IRL, knows that I am far from a buff fitness freak. However, since the new year, I have been making an effort to workout 3-4 times a week for my overall well-being. Time for Mom to do something for herself, ya' know? I haven't really lost weight, but my shape is changing and I am slowly able to build up to a faster, longer treadmill walk. My favorite thing is the water aerobics, though. I discovered a new class called Hydrocycle which is exactly what it sounds like: a special stationary bike designed to sit on the pool bottom. Fun workout! I've found that I can push myself a lot harder and do a lot more than I thought I could when the choice is to keep going or wimp out in front of a whole class of other people. So, for once, my neurotic worrying about what others might think of me actually benefits me! Today was grueling, though. I have a feeling I may hobble into church tomorrow night...

Katelyn is full in the throes of being a 2 year old. When I'm on the other computer, I'll publish my pics of her tantrum to charming in 15 seconds act. It's really quite hilarious, if I do say so myself. Honestly, if I keep my perspective and just laugh at her, I do pretty well. And, no, I don't laugh in her face while she's pitching a fit (usually). Would you laugh at a ranting woman in the throes of PMS? It feels as if that's what this is, really. A preview of what life with a PMSing adolescent girl will be like. Ew, not thinking that far ahead anymore. Scary.

I think I've rambled enough. For my 2 or 3 readers, I hope you're not expecting any great philosophizing from my site. It's mostly a place to get out my thoughts and record what's up with us here in Carrollton. I have discovered a fairly large contingent of VRCC bloggers out there recently. So here's a quick shout out to all of ya'll. If I was a little better, I could link to all your blogs, but I'm doing good to bookmark them in my own Favorites folder on IE, so...sorry. Have good and get give. LaRae out.

Ah, well...

I'm not savvy or patient enough to figure out how to change my "look" without a template. So, anyway,
GO GATORS !!!!!

It's Great...To Be...A Florida Gator!

Well, sports fans, they said it wouldn't happen, but here it is! My Florida Gators won the 2006 NCAA Basketball National Championship last night. I know we're supposed to be a "football school", and in this case that worked to our advantage. It's like no one even saw them coming, least of all UC"we've got such a great legacy"LA! Anyway, I'm going to try and change my layout in honor of the Gators. Have a great week everyone. Oh, yeah. A big shoutout and congratulations to my good buddies, Kent & Jill, on their exciting news! Can't wait to see ya'll.

Happy Birthday to....Randy!

I love my husband, even though he's now OLD! Hee, hee. Randy turned the big 3-0 Friday. We are now going to El Fenix for his birthday with some friends. (I know, syntax was off in that sentence, but it's too much effort to hit the backspace.) It was supposed to be a surprise, but Randy's parents ruined that for me. After telling us they weren't coming here this weekend after all, they called at 2 pm Friday to say they were packing their clothes. Randy's dad is supposed to go to a retirement dinner tonight for some guy with Mack Trucks (?). Then he wants Randy to go with him, at which point I say, "No!" and look like a real weirdo. So, I threw the surprise part out the window and told him we were meeting Team Deister and the Hylemon Horde at his fav restaurant for his birthday. Jo made a Superman cake that she is bringing, too. SHHH! THAT part is still a surprise (I think). Anyway, everything else is pretty boring around here. Got the automatic door on the van (yes, I'm that lazy) fixed, carpets will be cleaned Tuesday (goodbye juice stains) and my parents come Wednesday (hello, Grammer & Grandaddy). Big fun should be had by all next week. Jo and I have made about 200 bows now and are almost ready for our first sale at Lewisville High School on April 22nd. Hopefully we can make enough to pay for subsequent shows that we want to do. Wish us luck. Thank you and good night!

A Much Needed Update

OK, Kent, don't faint; I'm updating my blog. I hope to be better at this from now on, but no promises!
So much is going on, I don't really know where to start. I guess it should be with my pride and joy. Katelyn is getting so big! She's almost 2 (five weeks to go) and is practicing for the terrible twos on an hourly basis. I try to remember that she just wants to assert her own personality, and I really can't blame her for that. She gets it all from me. But sometimes, I just want to say, "Please do something the easy way for once!" Mostly, she keeps me chuckling as she parrots everything I say and is branching out on her own with new words I don't think I've even used around her. The other day, she knocked over her tray table with her crayons on it. No big deal, really, but she looks at me, puts her hands on her cheeks and say, "Oh, gosh!" I died laughing and she looked at me like, "This isn't funny. My crayons are all over the floor!" She's counting to 10 and is now trying to learn her alphabet. At this rate, she'll be reading by her next birthday, which is no surprise if you know me at all.
Alright, enough about Katelyn, even though she is the inspiration behind my latest venture. Most of you know that I sell Discovery Toys, but that is a lot of work and I'm not one to pressure my friends into buying things, even if they are really awesome educational products. So I'm backing off on that-I'll still send out each season's catalog and sale announcements, but no more begging people to have parties. Anyway, anyone with a little girl knows that the most important accessory to keep people from saying "Oh, what a cute little boy!" is a hairbow. I've spent as much as $10 on one bow (shh-don't tell Randy), but what is a bow, really, but a few scraps of ribbon glued to a clip. So Jo and I decided to try our hand at making them. We all know that any information you could ever dream of needing is available on the internet, so we "googled" hairbows. I mean if you can find instructions for a bomb online, surely you can find how to make a cute hairbow. Not so, my friends! As I've already pointed out, hairbows are a hot commodity (that reminds me of a silly song on one of Katelyn's CDs, but I digress). That being so, no one is really willing to part with the knowledge of how to make them and risk losing well-paying customers in the process. Now, you can buy instructions for $20-$30, but that's quite an investment for someone as clumsy as I am. Finally, we found a sweet lady who had published how to make korker bows. These are really cute and relatively easy, so Jo and I bought some ribbon and dowel rods and we're off. Two Sister Boutique Bows is officially my new business (along with Jo, of course, she's the other sister)! If anyone is interested, we can custom design a bow to match any outfit. Give us a shout at twosistersbows@gmail.com.
My other big venture right now is in a completely different arena. I've joined Lifetime Fitness and am seriously trying to get in better shape. Unlike the myriad crazy people at our church, I am not training for a marathon, just trying to be better able to keep up with Katelyn and feel better about myself along the way. Wish me luck-so far so good.
I've spent a lot of time reading other people's blogs lately, and here are a few of my favorites:
Kent Benfer-my good buddy.
Reverend Mommy-I just love her screen name!
Church Chick-Reminds me of my mom.
Church Marketing Sucks-Great resource and lots of good, hilarious links.
I hope everyone out there is doing great. I've got to go curl some ribbon...

My Addiction

So I have a new addiction, as my husband calls it. I already read like crazy and can tune anyone and anything out while I'm doing it. Now I've discovered a new online game. I've been through Snood, Zuma, various incarnations of Solitaire, and now I'm on Slingo. It's Bingo mixed with slots and it is completely mesmerizing. I play at www.slingo.com and you can join up for free. You get a bank of "coins", buy into a game room, and start earning more coins. It's not seeing my coin balance go up that excites me, though. It's just playing the game and watching where I'm ranked against the other players. I go up, I go down, the darn devil gets half my points, and I just can't stop playing! The last few nights I've even missed out on precious sleep because I couldn't bring myself to turn off the laptop. So, check it out. I promise it's fun and you can chat while you play, so you might make a new friend. Gotta go slingo while Katelyn is still napping!

New Space

Well, I decided to move my blog over here and see if I'm any better about posting. Highly doubtful, but completely possible! So, for the 2 of you who may read this, here goes.

I took Katelyn to the playplace at Willow Bend Mall today and made another little girl cry. I know it sounds awful, but it was so not my fault! The girl was probably 3 or 4 and she was running around with her little sister by the arm. They came around a corner and plowed into Katelyn, knocking her to the ground. Now, Mama Bear wanted to come out full force, but it was an innocent accident, so I just smiled at the girls and asked Katelyn if she was okay. The older girl said, "Sorry, ma'am," and I said (very sweetly), "It's okay, just be careful, cause there are lots of little ones here today." She nodded and headed toward her mom, then burst into tears. Let me tell you, I felt horrible. If I had known she was so sensitive, I would never have said anything at all, but I'm so sick of people bringing their too big kids to a little kids play area and letting them run wild. It's not that big of a space and it also says to please not run. Of course, not one but me, Ms. Anal, reads the rules, I guess. Because it also says no food or drink, but I picked up (and even pryed out of Katelyn's mouth) about 5 pieces of crackers and such today. Arrrr! Anyway, Katelyn had fun. She walked up to a little boy about her size (even though he was probaby 2 1/2) and yelled "Ya, ya, ya!" right in his face. She loves to do that to unsuspecting kiddos. Anyway, this one yelled right back and she took a step back and stared at him like he was the coolest kid she had ever seen. They spent the next 10 minutes standing on the bench babbling at each other and bouncing up and down. It was really cute!

After we had lunch, I stopped in bath and body works to pick up some necessities. Yes, Randy, bubble bath is a necessity! Katelyn spied a bright pink rubber duckie and had to have it, so I added it to my little pile. She held that thing and chewed on its bill until naptime, when I tried to replace it with her baby doll. She was having none of that, so she is now sleeping with a pink plastic duck tucked under her arm. It's really rather hilarious to see. I should take a picture, but I am afraid of waking her up. I hope this isn't the new lovey we have to use every night. It's just not very cuddly, in my opinion, but I guess it's not my opinion that counts on this issue, huh?

Well, I need to go do some actual housework, so I'll call it a day here. If any of you are in the path of Katrina, I hope you're doing alright. Our prayers are with you.