30 Days: Day 5 - Nights with Nothing on the Agenda

I'm so thankful for nights with nothing on the agenda!  We got a movie and enjoyed it with our sleeping little one :)  I had housework and other tasks on my to-do list, but I decided that they can wait until tomorrow.

I love our family and I LOVE our nights "in!"

30 Days: Day 4: Cupcakes

Today's post will be short but sweet...Exactly like my subject!

I'm so thankful for cupcakes - they are cute, yummy, and the perfect late-night snack!

30 Days: Day 3 - Children

I'm going to try to keep this post brief, as I have cloth diapers in the washer, a living room that needs to be vacuumed, a kitchen and hallway that needs to be swept, dogs that need to be taken out, baby shower preparations that need to be taken care of, and a tummy that needs to be fed (my own right now but also Aynsley's in a little over an hour).

Today, I'm thankful for children.  I'm not even talking about my own amazing daughter when I think about this, I'm particularly thankful for the children of others.  One of my best friends, Kristen, has four AMAZING boys (one who is extra-special to me because I was able to be there when he was born) and I love being a part of their lives.  Also, I get to spend my weekdays with sweet Gwen whose wonderful parents, Jimmy and Jessica, are a wealth of knowledge (well, more Jess than Jimmy ;) and a blessing to us.

It's no secret that I love kids; I've been serving in children's ministry in some way, shape, or form since I graduated from junior high.  I just love spending time with kids, so I often volunteer to baby-sit (sometimes I even get kids for trips and sleepovers!).  I love so much about kids - their innocence, the hilarious things they say, the way they mispronounce things, the way that each and every kid is so different.

I am so blessed to be trusted with the children at my church and the children that I get to "steal" from friends, and I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful children in my life!

30 Days: Day 2 - Church Family

Last night, I attended a prayer service held at our church.  During the service, I was pretty sure that my church was going to be day 2...And I was right!  Tonight's prayer service made me sure that my church family is what I'm thankful for today.

This prayer summit has become something wonderful.  Last year, it wasn't a priority for me to attend, so I was only a part of the typical Sunday morning service.  This year, Matt and I planned to attend the evening services (in addition to our regular Sunday morning service) and I'm so glad that we made that decision.

Last night, I took Aynsley (Matt was still asleep after his first night back at work and a morning in court) and was blessed to have one of my best friends keep her while I was a part of the worship team.  The worship was, in a word, wonderful, and tonight's worship time was the same.  Due to Aynsley's current feeding schedule, I'm not able to stay for the whole service, but even those brief moments of worship have helped to encourage me.

Our church family is such a blessing to us, and I could go on and on about the wonderful community that we get to be a part of (and I did so here), but I'll try to keep it brief and let you know how much I appreciate the amazingness that is our church.

We have a fantastic pastoral staff, and I am so glad to be a part of a church led by such godly men and women.  Our church spreads generational lines - we have brand-new babies and we have members in their nineties (I'm pretty sure...).  We have people that remind us frequently that they pray daily for Matt, people who brought us meals during those first tiring weeks as new parents, people who lift us up and support us and encourage us in every way possible.

Just sitting in the pews these last few nights, I realized how thankful I am for so many members of my church family.  We are close with Pastor Carlos and Kristen Lonberger and so blessed by their friendship and their four wonderful boys.  I truly look forward to seeing Sarah Warren each Sunday morning and, although our chats are often pretty brief, she's sarcastic and fun and I love her.  I got to hear a beautiful song from Sarah Smith last night and her beautiful voice matches her beautiful heart - she is one of the most caring people I know.  Pastor Joy is an encouragement to me and I love spending time with her - I feel blessed to be a part of the children's ministry that she leads.  Joy Schroeder has been through such an ordeal with cancer but I always see her with a smile and an encouraging word.  Lindsay Fulda is a beautiful, talented teen that I adore - I can't wait to see what God has planned for her future.

Really, I could go on and on and on and on and on about all of the wonderful people at church (really, I could), but those are a few people who stuck out to me over the last two nights of the prayer services.  My heart is full as I think of these wonderful people and the wonderful place that we get to be a part of here.  I am so grateful for my church family!

30 Days: Day 1 - Sight

I've seen a few bloggers do 30 or 31 days of thankfulness or holiday preparation and I thought a fall blog project might be fun.  We have a lot of computer drama going on at the McDaniel house, so it's a pretty big commitment.  I'm not 100% sure I'll be able to post every day, but I'm going to try.

For a "30 Days of Thankfulness" project, I've decided to write a post each day during the month of November.  Once I decided to do this, I immediately struggled with what kinds of things would warrant blog posts.  Big, important things, like family?  Salvation?  Or small, less important things, like chocolate and picture frames?  I decided that I wasn't going to worry about it or plan it out.  So each day's post will be unplanned (although I have the feeling that Thanksgiving's post might still be family...You know how it goes).  And I'll try not to make the posts too long or boring,  but they might involve a story.  Today's post does!

Most days, I have a good half-hour to an hour stretch of time to myself - everyone in the house (Matt, Gwen, and Aynsley) are asleep at the same time.  I usually take a shower, get ready for the day, eat lunch if I haven't already done so, and relax for a few minutes.

Today, Aynsley woke up early and, as I put Gwen down for her nap, I got Aynsley up from hers.  After I fed her, I grabbed her bouncy seat and a teething toy and set her up in our bathroom.  I took my shower and, once I got out, I started to talk to her (saying really, really cheesy things that I say to her, like "sunshine baby" and "sunshine pie" and other cheesy things that I call her).  I didn't have my contacts in, so I had to squint to see that she was smiling at me.

Thankfully, I put my contacts in within a few minutes and was able to see her bright, beautiful smile.  If you know me well, you know that I have terrible eyesight and need glasses or contacts to function.  I am so, so grateful for my (corrected!) sight.  It's one thing I'm thankful for today.

Without my sight, I would never see the way the wind moves through the leaves in a tree.  I wouldn't see a gorgeous sunset as I'm watering my flowers or the beautiful color of my husband's eyes.  I wouldn't see Aynsley's sweet smile or the incredible blue of the sky when it's that unbelievable color on a clear day.

I am so thankful that I get to see all of these amazing, wonderful things, and so, today, I'm thankful for my sight.

Fall Projects

I am looking forward to getting a few projects done in the next few months!  I have been a pinning fool in the past, and my "Cute Ideas" board was calling my name as I organized my craft supplies last week.  I created a new board, "Fall Projects" to help me get organized about which projects were a priority.

If you take a look at the board, you'll see what I'm planning on working on during this delightful season.

- Christmas card holder - I have been looking forward to making this for months!  I think it'll look awesome when it's hanging on one of the doors in our house, reminding of us of the Christmas cards we've received.  The only supply piece that I'm missing is the craft wire, which I'll pick up soon.

- Laundry room art - I'm still torn on this.  I have washing/drying information hanging in our laundry room (just a sheet of paper hung on the shelf with clothespins) but I think it would be cute to frame the information.  In order to do this very cheaply, though, I'd have to find some cheap frames.  I really want the frames to be white or a fun color to match the blue of the laundry room, but I only have extra black frames right now.

- Ottoman cover - The ottoman in Aynsley's room doesn't match, but it's holding some toys (for Gwen, when I'm putting away laundry or changing the sheets in there).  I'm determined to keep it in there, but I would like for it to look like it belongs in there.  I'll need to spend a little money on some fabric (maybe chocolate brown?) for this project.

- Maternity pants redo - I have a pair of maternity capris that I absolutely LOVE (I had to buy them in March because it was crazy hot and I still had about two months to go), but the belly band on them doesn't fit right.  I'm excited to get this done so that they'll be ready for the next pregnancy, and the only thing that I need to buy is some elastic.

- Baby headband - I would love an orange headband for Aynsley (for a very particular outfit; more on that once I get this made), and I have some orange felt leftover from past projects to make it happen.  I still need to get elastic and some orange fabric or lace.

- Baby shadowbox - I have a little pile of Aynsley's brand-new-baby items - the little shirt she wore in the hospital, two little hats, her hospital bracelet, etc.  I found a large frame that I think will be able to hold it (thinner than a typical shadowbox, but I think it'll do the job).

- Homemade fabric refresher - Although our dogs are rarely allowed on the couch, I find myself wanting to use this often to freshen the couch fabric.  This can get expensive at the store, so I was glad to find a recipe to try out for myself.  There are only a few ingredients and it looks like it won't take long at all!

- Reusable nursing pads - Disposable nursing pads can be costly, so I might try making reusable ones to throw in the washing machine.  The problem is the fabric - since they are designed to stay in a (ahem) sensitive place, it seems important that the fabric be quality.  The link is actually to an Etsy product, but I reviewed her fabric layers in order to see if I might be able to come up with some myself.  If I fail in finding the right fabric, I might save up a bit and order some cute ones from the seller.

- Felt and fabric coasters - I've been wanting to make some cute coasters that will look at home in our living room.  The living room colors are tan, green, and brown and I have some fabric (leftover from a bench reupholstery) that will look great.  I have some leftover brown felt from another project but I might buy another sheet of it, just in case.

I would almost feel overwhelmed by all of these projects, but the deadline I've set for myself is Thanksgiving (and I actually did two of them over the weekend).

Do you have any projects planned for the fall?

If You've Ever Wondered What CMADS Stands for...

One of my best friends has packed up and left St. Louis for a fabulous new job in California.  She has been about five hours away from me for the last few years and now she is…well…a lot more hours away from me.  A blog post about our friendship will not do justice to the awesomeness that is CMADS/LAPTM (more on that later), but it’s worth a shot.

When I went to orientation at Olivet Nazarene University in the summer of 2004, I didn’t have a roommate for room sign-ups.  I had been emailing a potential roommate, but she wasn’t answering my calls once we were both on campus for orientation.  I was talking to my mom about how stressed I was (having a roommate is kind of a big deal) when a girl nearby interjected, saying that she had a friend who didn’t have a roommate yet, either.  This was risky, but we eventually found our way to each other and briefly talked.

This is basically how it went down:

CAITLIN: So…What do you like to do?
LAURRYN: I really like to read.
CAITLIN: Me, too!

We went from there.  We signed up for a room in Parrott Hall.  I’m not sure how much we kept in contact before school started, but I’ll never forget walking into our room on move-in day, seeing a Five Iron Frenzy patch on Caitlin’s bag, and knowing that everything would be okay.

And it was MORE than okay.  We spent the first week eating almost all of our meals together, slowly making new friends.  Over the next four years, we did a bazillion things together.  We both found our future husbands that first semester, we went to concerts, we shopped, we threw parties, we went on trips, we planned weddings, we danced, we had silly and crazy photo sessions, we made up fake names (CMADS – Caitlin Marie Adair Dodson Sansom, containing Caitlin’s full name, fake middle name, and future last name; LAPTM stands for Laurryn Annette Patricia Trojanowski McDaniel) - we had an absolute blast.

I was one of Caitlin's maids-of-honor and Caitlin was my matron of honor, and she threw me an AMAZING baby shower (with awesome co-host Lauren) a few months ago.  We've been there for each other through thick and thin, good times and bad.  I have trouble imagining a more loyal and true friend.

I can't imagine what college would have been like without Caitlin (or the last few years since we've graduated!).  I can’t believe she is SO far away now, but I’m so proud of her for following her dreams and God’s will.  I already miss her so much!

Have fun.
Be careful.
No hickies.
Eat cookies.
Listen to Emery.
Beware of pirates.
Don't watch "Brokeback Mountain."
Don't try to lift a baby panda.
IT'S ALL JUST GOOD ADVICE.