Give me Five Friday: Five things I've been doing in GA

This week has found me back in the great state of GA for a visit. I haven't been home in a year and a half. (Actually it's been one year and seven twelfths, but a year and a half is simpler to say.)

I do pretty good in MD. I stay pretty content, but I never really realize how much I miss Georgia until I am back in the great state. So for today's five...

Five Things I have Been doing in Georgia

1. Eating- I have a list of restaurants I have to go to while I am here, and I have also been enjoying my Mom's cooking. Tuesday night we had a meal of mostly vegetables...corn, fried okra, squash, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, cantaloupe, mexican cornbread, and blackberry cobbler. It was the type of meal I hated as a kid, but I love now.

2. Visiting with Friends- Along with my list of restaurants to eat at in GA, I have a list of people to see. Everyday, I get to see a different friend, and the time spent with them is so special to me.

3. Trying to keep my boys from being absolutely rotten. This is a very hard job. They are getting so spoiled that I have to work double, but it's worth the work for them to know they are loved.

4. Soakin' it in- There's something absolutely wonderful and heart filling to be with people that have known you forever, have seen you at your worst, and still love you anyway.

5. Missing Shad- My husband, being the hard working man he is, had to stay home while we get to enjoy our time down here. It stinks because when I'm in Maryland I miss GA and when I'm in GA I miss Shad in Maryland. However, being homesick or missing someone has a blessing in it. When you do get to be home or with the one you love, you appreciate them that much more and see it for the treasure it is.

Give me Five Friday: A story in five pictures

Today's five is very simple...

A story in five pictures

Brandon: Whatcha doin' Collin?
Collin: Eating grass, and you?

Brandon: Ewwwww! Mom why are you still snapping pictures? Get the grass!

Brandon: Give it to me!
Collin: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!



Collin: That's right Brandon. That's right, just focus on your tractor while I eat this delicious piece of grass. Collin 1 - Brandon nothin'


Brandon: Did you say something Collin?
Collin:Oh...nothing...nothing at all.

Give Me Five Friday- {the five dadas}

Last week, Collin said his first word, "Dada." Because his vocabulary is only one word, Collin has to use "Dada" for many things. Today's five is a glossary of Collin's dadas

the five {dadas} of Collin

1. dada (with high pitched squeal)- This means "I love this. I want more of this."

2. ah dada - This is the dada he uses when he is feeling cool. I think he is saying, "I'm the man," when he says, "ah dada."

3. dada (with clenched fists)- This happens when he is frustrated. It is usually accompanied by a cry so high that he would make Mariah Carey jealous of the note he is hitting.

4. dada (while looking at one of us)- When he looks at me and says, "Dada" that means "Hi Mom." When he looks at B and says, "Dada" that means "Hi Brandon." When he looks at Shad and says "Dada" that means "Hi...Dada"

5. daaaaaaaaaadaaaaaa - This is when he is really concentrating. Usually when he says this dada he is trying to figure out one of life's great mysteries like, "Why isn't everything edible."

Give me Five Friday - {five things my dad loves}

Father's Day is this weekend, and in honor of my dad, I thought for this Give me Five I would share some of my dad's favorites. He guestposted for me here and explained why he comments on my blog as #3. If you want a sweet a touching comment, you just need to read his comment underneath Blessings #60.

Five Things My Dad Loves

1. barbque- I have talked about his love of barbque before. Honestly though, he's an expert.

2. Old Cars - Some people rescue animals, but my dad rescues old cars. He has the crowded driveway to prove it. He and my mom both have always gone to car shows, and thanks to them, I can identify the make of most classic cars which really impressed Shad when we started dating.

3. Local culture- He loves...LoVeS...LOVES to visit new places and find the best place to eat, or a unique local store. He loves to find out what makes a town special.

4. His motorcycle- Because he loves local culture so much, he loves to take his motorcycle out on backroads and discover new things.

5. ME! - From as early as I can remember, I have known that my dad adores me. I guess I've always known he was wrapped around my finger, but I never used that to my advantage...{much}.

Now as a parent myself, I'm paying for my "abuse" of him DOUBLE by being wrapped around the fingers of my two little boys. There's your father's day gift dad, from me to you...I am reaping what I sowed...DOUBLE!

Give Me Five Friday: Five of my favorite blog posts

Last night, I worked on a project (I'll talk more about that in a few weeks). Anyway, I got all the way done, and it was BEAUTIFUL! I just stared at it with a smile on my face, but then after about a minute, I noticed two letters were separated more than they should be and the dot over the "i" was not in the right place. Unfortunately, this was not a quick fix, and I had to start all over again!!!

For this reason, my mind is gone this morning. So for today's five is five blog posts I love. (Click on any of the titles to go to the post.)

1. Confessions of a Reluctant Renter - I am loving the new decorating site Content to Rent. This post is exactly how I feel. Some women get "baby fever" where they want to have a baby, but I get "house fever" where I want to buy a house, more specifically a tan house with black shutters and a red door. (I've had some time to think about it.)

2. Crate Stairs by Funky Junk Interiors- I'm not quite as "junky" as the writer of this blog, but I love...LoVe...LOVE how she incorporates "junk" in her house. I have a big weakness for old crates, and I love how she made her stairs look like them.

3. The Jesus Juke by Stuff Christians Like - You may read this, and not like it or be offended. However, this is a phenomenom that used to annoy me so badly. Jon Acuff put a name to it for me. I get really bothered by fake spirituality, but that another rant for another day.

4. Bassett Hounds Running: Northern Oklahoma Edition, The Pioneer Woman - If you can read this and not laugh, you are much stronger than me.

5. How to Be a God seeker, Ann Voskamp - I love this post, I had to read it a few times to get it (I'm not very deep) but I love this post. I read it over a year ago, but it often pops up in my mind as I go about my day.

Give Me Five Friday - {Pixar Movies Make Me Cry}

Cars 2 is coming out towards the end of this month, and it is kind of sad how excited I am about it. Every year, Brandon and I go and see the Pixar movie in the theater, and every year, at some point during the movie, I cry. I don't normally cry during movies. I didn't shed a tear during The Notebook (okay, I'm lying, I boohooed during that one). For some reason though, Pixar movies make me cry.

Every year, it's exactly the same...

Brandon: *whispering loudly* Mommy, are you crying?

Me: *hoOoOnk the nose* *sniff* *sniff* Brandon, just watch the movie.

Brandon: Are you crying?

Me: Yes I am. Now quiet Brandon.

Brandon: Why are you crying?

Me: Do you want some more candy?

Brandon: Candy!!!

{five Pixar movies that made me cry}

1. Finding Nemo - In the beginning, when Merlin's wife and gazillion kids die, my eyes got teary.

2. Wall-e- After he saved the world and Eva puts him back together, and he doesn't remember her and is just a robot and not sweet little Wall-e, I cried and said, "Why am I crying over a robot who doesn't even talk?"

3. Cars - When Sally tells Lightening about how the town used to be, and they sing that sad song and it shows the map and what the interstate did to the town, I cried and said things like, "Stupid interstates.I'll never ride on another one again!"

4. Up! - When they have a miscarriage, then his wife dies then he sits in his chair but she's not in her chair, and he's all alone, I boohooed, and fussed at Pixar for making me even think about all that during a nice happy movie. Squirrel!

5. Toy Story 3 - The part where they were all going into the fire and they hold hands made me cry. However, during a scene in the beginning that shows a picture of Andy as a little boy surrounded by all his toys, and then it flashes to him grown up, I wailed, and rubbed Brandon's hair and said things like, "You are growing up too fast!"

After the incident last year during Toy Story 3, I'm surprised Brandon's agreeing to go to another Pixar movie with me. I've seen the previews, and I'm really hoping this is a cry free movie for me...so's Brandon.

Give Me Five Friday: {brandon's commercials}

Brandon loves commercials. It seems like he only has to see a commercial once to start repeating it, so we have to be ready with the remote when commercials air. Here are just a few of his favorite commercials.

{five of Brandon's commercials}

1. The Empire Carpet Commercial - This was the first commercial he ever noticed when he was around two. Suddenly, he loved to sing, "Eight hundred five eight eight two three hundred EMPIRE!!!" If we ever need carpet, Brandon knows the number to call.

2. A few months ago, he looked at me with a very serious face and said, "Mom, depression hurts." I would be alarmed, but I realized he had seen the Cymbalta commercial.

3. I knew we were in trouble when he saw the "smoke free cigarette" commercial. Sure enough, just a few days later, he would pretend that he was smoking. After some long talks, and an embarrassing incident with a sucker stick in front of a teacher, he now knows that smoking is not good for your body.

4. There is a toilet paper commercial where the man says, "Honey, could you toss me a roll?" and the toilet paper cuts his hair etc. I haAaAaAate that commercial because now, every time Brandon goes to the bathroom he says, "Mom, could you toss me a roll?" At first, I would run and get him toilet paper every time, but then one day I realized he had toilet paper and he just liked reenacting that commercial.

5. The new commercial he is quoting is by a settlement company that gets a person their money from a structured settlement right away. Brandon loves to quote what everyone in this commercial says over and over again, "It's my money and I want it now." It is not so bad, but I just know he is going to yell that in public one day, "It's my money and I want it now." I will look like the worst parent ever and say over and over again, "It's just a commercial!"

Give me five Friday: {five nicknames for my boys}

When I was in college, I would called my dad, and every phone conversation started the same way...

Steph: Hey Pop!

Dad: Hey Bubba!

After, several months of this, I realized that my dad called me "Bubba." So one day I asked my dad if he even realized he called me "Bubba." He had no idea he was doing it. I guess it's just one of those nicknames.

Now, as a mother, I do the same thing to my boys. I call them some pretty crazy nicknames.

five nicknames for my boys

1. B- If you've read the blog or my facebook at all, you may notice that I use this nickname interchangeably with his name. Brandon is not a name you can shorten very well. Bran...too much like a cereal! Ban...I used this for a year, but it didn't stick. Too many letters! B...just right!

2. sweet pea- This is the one "normal" nickname that I'll call my boys, but I probably only have a few years left with that nickname. I doubt they will want me yelling, "Bye sweet pea," out the window, when I drop them off for middle school.

3. hambone - I didn't realize I used this name so much, until a few months ago. I usually say, "Good morning, Hambone!"

4. stink - I don't know how it began. I think it one may have been little stinker, and it just got shortened to "Stink." Used in a sentence: "Come here Stink." If I say that in a store, I get some strange looks, so sometimes I catch myself and say, "Come here stink.....erdoodle!"

5. you lil' varmit - This one...I have no clue about. I think it's from vermin or varmint, a word for rats. (Wow, what a sweet term of endearment!) I think my mom may have used this, because I have no idea where this came from. I can just picture it now, when I drop the boys off at middle school

Steph: "Bye, you lil' varmits."

Boys Friend: Dude, what is a varmit, and what is up with your mom?

B and Collin: She's southern.

Give me Five Friday: {five things I have missed about Brandon}

I know I've mentioned it, but I'll say it again, Brandon has been gone all week visiting my parents. He has had a blast! I called last night, and he was having a snack of peanut butter ritz, peanut butter grahm crackers, cheese, and a pickle, only at Mimi's. While he has been having a blast, we have definitely missed our little guy. So today's five is...

{five things I've missed about Brandon}

1. "Hey Collin!" - To get the full affect, you need to say that in a low voice like a monster. As I was talking to B on the phone last night, he asked to speak to Collin. As soon as he had Collin on the phone he said, "Hey Collin (in monster voice)" Suddenly, I realized Brandon says that at least five times a day, and I missed hearing it.

2. His mischievious little smile.

3. Hearing "Mommy I know I love you," and seeing him flash the I love you sign in sign language at me. Those two things melt my heart (and he knows it).

4. I have this conversation with B everyday, I promise, everyday. I have missed it.

B - What are we going to do today, Mommy?
me - Probably, clean and go the post office.
B- What are we going to do after that?
me- eat lunch
B- And after that?
me- take a nap
B- And what are we going to do after nap?
me- Mommy has to go to Sylvan.
B- And what am I doing?
me- Hanging out with daddy.
B- And what am I doing after that.
me- going to bed.
B- For a short nap?
me- no for a long time.
B - How long?
me- a long time
B - And what am I doing after that?
me - waking up. Now, that's it. That's all you need to know.

5. I have missed that piece of my heart that Brandon holds in his hand. I love that boy hook line and sinker.

Give Me Five Friday- {Brandon's Bible Verses}

For the past three weeks, I have been subbing at a Christian school for a teacher on maternity leave. Brandon has been able to go to kindergarten while I teach. While in kindergarten, B has been learning some Bible verses. The other night he decided to recite some for us. I knew the first few, but after that I think he started improvising. Here are a few of the verses he said.

{Brandon's Bible Verses}

1. Keep thy tongue from evvvvviiiiiil. Matthew 19:19 (He really stresses the evil when he says it.)

2. Don't get on the train tracks, because you could get hurt. Matthew 19:19

3. Don't stick your tongue out at evil. Matthew 19:19 (I think this is what he think, "Keep your tongue from evil," means.)

4. Thou shalt not commit "redultery." (When he said this one, Shad and I had to have him say it again.)

5. Don't turn where the sign says turn left because you could hit the sign that says turn left. Matthew 19:19 (He "quoted" all these verses while we were driving.)

If you notice he gave every verse the reference of Matthew 19:19. I think he thinks if it has a reference, it's a verse. I know it's probably not a good idea for him to make up Bible verses, but we had one interesting car ride. I think it came out of Shad asking him, "Now what does that mean?" on the first verse, and Brandon took it from there. I looked up his favorite reference Matthew 19:19 and it's about honoring your father and mother and loving your neighbor. Good choice Brandon.

Give me Five Friday- {Squirrels!}

In case you don't know, I love my husband. He handsome, quirky, and an all around amazing guy. (You should read the comment he wrote and surprised me with on the (in)courage post yesterday.) One of Shad's quirks is he does have some...(how do I say this)...attention issues.

Have you ever seen the movie Up? Do you know how the dogs would be talking and then suddenly say, "Squirrel!" The first time Shad saw this he laughed his head off and said, "That's me!!!" So today's five is in honor of Shad's "squirrels," the things that always catch his attention.

{five of Shad's...."Squirrels!" moments}

1. "Brandon!"- Brandon and Collin always have a way of getting him off course. Sometimes it's because they do something cute, and sometimes it's when they do something bad. To be honest, who can resist their cute faces? They are a "Squirrel!" for me too.

2. "I love this song"- Now, I do this one too. If he says this all conversation stops so we can listen to the song.

3. "Do you think this is worth something?"- Shad often says this in thrift stores. I know if I hear this, Shad will be intently Googling when we get home.

4. "Did you see that?"- We can be driving down the road, rushing to get to where we need to, but if he "sees" something on the road no matter what we will have to stop and see what it is. I could fuss and ask him not to turn around and get it, but I know he won't be able to think about anything else. Besides, many times what he sees is something really cool!

5. "Does this looked cooked to you." -If Shad says this statement, I know where his attention will be for the next three hours. I've blogged about that phenomenon before here.

Give Me Five Friday- {things that makes my life easier}

{5 things that make my life easier}

1. Moby baby carrier- I've been subbing this week, and Collin has been with me while I teach. (It's not nearly as hard as it sounds.) This carrier looks a little crazy, but it does not hurt after ten minutes like most carriers.

2. E-MEALZ- I'm going to calculate this as a blessing soon. I've you used it about a month and love it!

3. Bottles with drop in liners- Collin had to switch bottles, and the one he liked happened to use drop in liners. This is so convenient when we are on the go.

4. Shad playing basketball- Shad has missed playing basketball for years. Now, he gets to play every Sunday night after church. He loves it, and a happy Shad, makes us all happier.

5. B playing outside- Just like Shad, a happy Brandon is a happy family. Thank you warmer weather.

Give me Five Friday - {things I may have done this week}

I've had a busy week, so I'll recap it in this Give me Five.

{five things I may have done this week}

1. I may have wasted two hours of my life watching the Bachelor. (By the way, it's great to love your job, but when you love to embalm people that's just creepy! If you watched it you know what I mean. )

2. I may have washed out and reused a Sonic cup one time for my tea. That styrofoam makes a drink taste better! I'm sure there is probably some chemical that leaks out when you rewash the cups, but they must be tasty chemicals because my tea was great!

3. While I was working in the kitchen, Shad yelled out the final jeopardy question. I may have felt like a genius because I knew the answer, but then I may have been humbled when I realized it was "Teen Jeopardy." At least it wasn't "Celebrity Jeopardy."

4. I may have put a bib on Collin with the name "Brandon" embroidered on it. He was drooling like Beethoven the St. Bernard, and I was running low.

5. We live in an older home, and I may have forgotten Shad was in the shower and cut the water on in the kitchen. When Shad yelled out, I may have snickered to myself, and I may have hesitated about five seconds before I cut the water off.

Again, I'm not admitting to anything, I'm just saying I may have done these things.

Give Me Five Friday- {5 more words I shouldn't say}

One of the first Give Me Five Friday was 5 words I should never say. Well, it has been a few months, and I have some new words to add to that list. Again, I believe I have aged out of slang. Although some might be able to pull it off, when I say these words, they just sound lame.

{5 more words I should not say}

1. That's how I roll- I used this phrase the other night, and that "that sounded lame" feeling came back again. It's what prompted me to add to the words I shouldn't say list. I wish I could pull this phrase off, but that's not how I roll.

2. Using text in conversation speech - I don't text, so when I use text in speech it sounds really awkward. For example: "That totally made me LOL!" "You're so crazy. J/K" Although, I tried to pull off BTdubs (BTW, by the way) in conversation. I so wanted to be able to say this but BTdubs it sounded lame.

3. Fill in the blank nation- For example: facebook nation, bulldawg nation, people who like to do math nation. I can't do it!

4. Emoticons- I have typed just a few emoticons. Just like lol, I type it, but then it just looks weird. I don't know why I can't pull them off.

5. Wait for it- I really love this phrase, but I have to stop using it because I...wait for it...use it way too much.

Give me Five Friday - {showing LoVe}

Valentine's Day is Monday!!! I loved Valentine's Day even before I had a Valentine. I always believed you don't have to have A LOVE on Valentine's. You just need to have LOVE. So this week's five is in honor of V-day.

{five ways to show love}

1. A Helpful Act- Find what someone needs, and help them out.

2. Food - A meal or a baked treat is an excellent way to show someone love, and it gives me an excuse to try a new recipe!

3. Plan an Adventure- This is my favorite way to show love to my family. I love planning a day for one of my guys. Find something they like and make it an adventure! Try to visit as many of their favorite stores as possible, plan a progressive meal at several different restaurants, do a scavenger hunt around town you can make anything an adventure!

4. Personalized Gift- I'm not talking about towels with someone's initial. A personalized gift finds someones quirks or a thing they love and recognizes that. Just last night, Shad got me some Valentine Peeps! (I love Peeps! I tried to join the fan club once.) Personalized gifts aren't really about the gift itself, but it's more about the thought. Personalized gifts are a way to say, "I pay attention to you!"

5. Card- Sometimes the right card can say what I feel, but wasn't eloquent enough write. When I shop for a card I keep looking until I tear up. That's when I know I've found the right card

I hope your Valentine's Day brings you lots of love! To show all the people love that take time to read my ramblings, Calculating Blessings will be giving away $20 off at Dayspring online to one of you readers! The giveaway starts Monday, so come back Monday to enter!

Give Me Five Friday- {signs of a bad day}

The boys and I have had a few bad days this week. These haven't been "down in the dumps" kind of bad days, but rather "things aren't running smoothly" bad days. I thinks it's a combination of B being cooped up way too long, me having too little patience, and Collin refusing to take a bottle. (Don't worry. We switched bottles and fixed that last problem.) So today's five is in honor of our bad days.

{five signs the boys and I are having a bad day}

1. It's lunch and we are still wearing our pajamas.

2. Mt. Laundry is reaching record heights.

3. There is lots of crying and whining (and that's just from me).

4. When Shad walks in the door for lunch he hears, "Just fix yourself a sandwich."

5. I have to count "1...2...3" a bunch.

On these bad days I always think of the quote from Anne of Green Gables. "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it." What bothers me most about bad days is not the boys messes, but my own mistakes. Those times I let my temper show. However, I'm so glad we can say a prayer for strength and try all over again tomorrow. I'm glad God's mercies are new every morning. "After all...tomorrow is another day!" (I couldn't resist another movie quote!)

Give Me Five Friday- {rules of facebook}

Shad has resisted joining facebook for a very long time now, but this week he gave in and followed the social networked masses. So today my five is for him.

{my five rules of facebook}

1. Don't write the mysterious status just to get attention. For example, "Steph is sad," or "Steph is excited." This is inevitably followed by the "What's wrong," comment by someone. I may be just be sad that I hit my toe, but when people see, "Steph is sad," they always think worst case scenario.

2. Tone is not typed so be aware of these signals. ALL CAPS IS LIKE SHOUTING. Use it sparingly or for something really important. "That's so funny:)" is very different from "That's so funny:(" "You're so crazy;)" is very different from "YOU'RE SOOOOOOOO CRAZY!!!" Always use j/k or just kiddin' when you use sarcasm. Sarcasm is dangerous on facebook. I have a friend that uses "hee hee" for his sarcasm, I think that's genius.

3. Be aware of what is public and what is private. If you write on someone's wall everyone sees it. If someone is friends with both of the people involved, the wall comment shows up in their newsfeed. If you post on the wall, make it positive, funny, or simple. If not send it in a message.

4. Now that Shad has a profile, I must be careful that I am logged in as myself. If I comment under Shad's name, that could result in some really awkward situations.

5. When you take a quiz on facebook, you don't always have to publish the results to your profile. There is usually a skip button somewhere when it says publish. I learned this the hard way when I took the "What type of hair do you have" quiz. The result was nerd hair...NERD HAIR! Now, I'm a proud nerd, but I don't want nerd hair. I thought I HAD to publish it to my profile, and had to endure the resulting jokes.

Give Me Five Friday- {Goodwill finds}

The week of Goodwill is coming to a close, but wait I've still got one more Goodwill post in me.

{five cool things I've gotten at Goodwill}

1. my green desk thing- I talked about that here

2. my plates- I LoVeD my set of dinner plates from Pier 1. Shad found another set of four of them with these awesome salad plates and matching bowls.

3. Shad's bowling ball bag- He uses this for his basketball clothes when he plays.

4. my canning jars- I got my first two jars at Goodwill!

5. my gold dress- This was my all time favorite Goodwill find! I loved this dress and it's amazing cape. I found ever chance I could to wear it. Black and white does not do it justice. It was this color. In this picture, we had to dress up like Hershey's kisses for spirit week. I was a Hershey's kiss with almonds.

Give Me Five Friday- {faces}

Often, Brandon teaches me lessons. One lesson I have learned from Brandon is that a smile is not the only face one can make for a picture. In the beginning, I would get frustrated with him for making faces, but after I got so many cute pictures of his “bad” faces, I decided he was right. Earlier this week, I started snapping pictures and these are some of the faces he gave me.

{five faces of Brandon}

Give me five Friday- {okay}

There is one word in my extensive vocabulary that Shad does not appreciate, okay. He claims that I “overuse” this word. I totally disagree. Okay is a versatile word that can mean many things. However, I realized though that in Shadese (the language of Shad) okay only has two meanings. (1. Yes 2. To agree with.) In Stephaniese, Okay has multiple meanings all based on tone and body language. So for the sake of clarification, here are the meanings of okay in Stephaniese.

{five meanings of okay}

1. {*sigh*okay}- This means, “I don’t agree with you at all, but I am choosing to give up.” The sigh could also come after the okay.

2. {okayeeee} - This means, “Wow, great idea. Let’s do that!” Listen for the drawn out e.

3. {okay}- This is my conversation filler. Some people use uh huh or mm hmm. This lets you know that I’m listening.

4. {okaaaaay}- This means, “I’m getting annoyed.” It’s usually a good idea to take this hint, and stop whatever you are doing

5. {oooookay} - This means, “I think you are crazy.” It is often accompanied by an eye roll.

I showed this to Shad after I wrote it. He stills holds that there are only two meanings of okay. What’s my reaction? *sigh*okay