Welcome the newest member of Club Amaro...



Abby has been wanting a pet very badly. Although I think she had her mind set on a cat, she seemed open to starting small. She saved up her money and purchased a male betta fish and some supplies. She named him Jeremiah. I'm not sure why she named him that - I guess it seemed like a good fish name.

Unfortunately, I've been roaming around the house singing, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog....duh nuh nuh...was a good friend uh mine...duh nuh nuh".

He's been in the tank now a few hours...we are hoping that he will adjust to his new and exciting environs, complete with multi-colored rocks and fake plant. I'm not holding my breath.

Hopefully Jeremiah won't be holding his breath either.

I did have to have the little "circle of life" talk with Abby. This is the same talk I have with her when we watch Planet Earth and the cute little gazelles get torn apart by the lion or some such thing. I think she's getting the picture. This is life...animals die, God makes more.

Stay tuned for more adventures with Jeremiah...and hopefully none of them will contain a flushing toilet in the cast of characters!

k

For the past few days, we've had the privilege of hosting my cousin Ashley, and her family here at Club Amaro. Ashley was a participant in the Nashville Country Music 1/2 Marathon on Saturday morning (she did really great, too!).

Now, I don't know about you folks, but I get all confused when I have to start thinking about the correct familial relationship between Abby and the kids of my all my cousins. First? Second? Who knows? Who cares. We just call 'em all cousins. And Abby had an absolute BLAST with them!


What is this they are standing on you ask? That is the Club Amaro PLAY STRUCTURE (or if you are so inclined, "swing set"). Why have you not seen any pictures of my daughter playing on it before? Up till now, she's not been a fan of the structure. For whatever reason: it's not safe, it's dirty, it's wet, there's a bug on it...whatever. I figured eventually I'm going to have to sink a little money into the thing to bring it up to Abby specs.

But guess what happened? Other kids came and played on it without hesitation. And had fun even. Proof:





So the Club Amaro play structure has been kid approved, although it still needs a bit of tuning up. One more thing for the never ending list of home improvements.

In addition to sweaty and smelly kid activity, we had prissy, girly dress up activity as well. Ashley bought some matching dresses for the girls at the Walmarts, which they immediately paired up with high heels from the Imelda Marcos dress up shoe collection in Abby's closet. Get a load of the ankle action. And here I thought you had to go to a special school to know how to do that.

The kids had a great time playing together...and posing for pictures, too! Here are some shots from a local park in town:









I even managed to take pictures of the adults! Here, my cousin and her husband take a moment to pose for the pesky photographer. I know you would all agree with me when I say Ashely looks great for just having run 13.1 miles just a few hours before! What can I say...good looks run in our family. HA!


We were disappointed to see them leave, but surely enjoyed our time together! Thanks again for coming to visit us you guys!

By the way - this is completely unrelated. But I must broadcast the fact that I hate crane flies. I am SO not a fan of them...and if they completely disappeared from the face of the earth, I would be a much happier person. It's not too much to ask is it?

Right now, Club Amaro is wild about birds! We always have been into birds, but our first spring in Tennessee on our own property has got us a little fired up for our little winged, bipedal friends.

Yesterday, we put our first feeder out, filled with black oil sunflower seeds - hoping to get some good cardinal action. We also hung a hummingbird feeder in front of the office window and have an additional bird feeder on standby (waiting to purchase the right kind of seed). Sometime in the next few weeks we will make some suet balls to hang in the trees as well.

One of the most exciting parts of our aviary activity is our backyard bluebird house (pictured above). The birdhouse was built by a young girl named Aubrey. Aubrey and her Dad, Rusty made a bunch of these houses to sell for the purpose of raising money for a local Children's home here in town. (If you would like to read the story of Aubrey's quest to help Good Shepheards Children's home - and you really should! - I encourage you to head on over to this post at the Rutledge Review) We wanted to support Aubrey in her amazing endeavor, so we purchased one last fall. To be honest with you, I did not really think a bird would actually make a nest in it....but what in the world do I know?

Well, a few weeks ago we hung it up, and I'm here to say...WE HAVE TENANTS! It's so cool to look out my kitchen window and watch the momma and daddy birds bring stuff into the house to make their nest!!

My new quest (to be added to the long list of other quests I have) is to have the entire bird population of Middle Tennessean bring their beautiful plumage to partake of the seed bounty of Club Amaro Aviaries. It's not too much to ask, is it?

On a completely unrelated note, Club Amaro is waiting in breathless anticipation for the arrival of the Felts family! My cousin Ashley and her family will be coming to visit for a few days. YAY!! We look forward to having them. Ashley is going to be running in the Country Music marathon in Nashville Saturday morning. I would call her crazy, but since she's related to me, y'all might think that I was crazy too. Hmmm...maybe it's too late for that.

Here's hoping that you are taking in the aviarian pleasures this season is bringing in your area!

k

Today, Club Amaro officially celebrates ONE YEAR in Middle Tennessee. Leaving all we knew in California was difficult and presented alot of unknowns to us...but we put our trust in God and He has been faithful to provide, grow and teach us during the journey. What's on the road ahead? God only knows...so we'll leave it in His hands!

Thanks for taking the ride with us...



Love,
Mike, Kristin & Abby.

Abby tells me about the eggs they are keeping in the class that will be hatching into chickens soon.

"Mom. Guess what. We have chicken eggs in class. We are keeping them in a enominator so they will be warm."

Vocab mishaps are one of my favorite things about kids...a few of my favorites so far:

deorient for deodorant
refrigerlator for refrigerator
cafeterion for cafeteria (she still calls it that!)

Do you have a favorite vocab mishap?

Most of you know that I have a younger brother, Steve, who is a musician now living in Portland, Oregon with his band TapWater.

Although I don't get to talk to him as much as I would like, we do indulge in a little cellular communication fun from time to time. For example, we occasionally send random photos to each other using our picture mail functionality. Here's one I got from Steve just the other day:



We also like to text each other silly words like, "Borte" or "Maroon".

It's just a way to let each other know that we're thinking of the other. At least that's why I do it. Plus, I'm just silly and random (please see this post to understand more about that).

In addition to having a heart full of love for my baby bro, I also carry the scars of morning breath fights, flatulence in the face fights and constant criticism of my inability to produce proper gun noises. And even though I would try and play house with his GI Joes or throw up on him from my top bunk, I think he loves me as well.

So what brings on this random post about Steve? Well, I just read Anne's blog, "Managing TapWater" this morning (she has the tough job of keeping those 6 crazy TapWater boys in line) and found out that TapWater recently opened up for Squirrel Nut Zippers at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland! Now some of you may have never heard of SNZ...but this bands' cds held top honor in my cd collection for quite some time.

I know I am completely biased, but I think the musicians of TapWater really have something going for them! They are incredibly talented and have a real heart for helping the community at large become a better place. And they are downright silly - and you know how I feel about silly.

So, I guess I just wanted to brag on my baby bro and help promote a great band in the process.

If you have a chance, get on over and visit TapWater...leave them a comment and tell 'em the TapWater Sistah sent them.

chicken and ducks and goats and bugs,

k

After many months of being hunkered down in my toiletry stockpile bunker, the Coupon Commando was out for a little whimsy today. I won't bore you with all the details, but I'll give you the bottom line.

Today's CVS trip, without sales, coupons or ECB's would have cost me $43.25. My total? (Insert loud, nefarious laughter here) $10.36.

I've got 3 boxes of Kleenex, 2 tubes of toothpaste, 2 OralB toothbrushes and a bunch of Aveeno stuff. The Aveeno products alone were over $25. I am SO thankful for the Aveeno deal!! Poor Abby has a terrible time with dry patches on her legs (to the point of crying) and really needs the good stuff. I was about 2 weeks away from breaking down and paying full price for some Aveeno lotion - so it was like a little CVS gift to me that it went on deal. Yay!

The savings didn't stop there, people. I really can't even tell you about the insanity that was happening in my shopping cart today at Publix...oh, well, if you insist. Those crazy Publix employees saw fit to put a ton of Kashi stuff on sale, Buy One Get One free. It just so happened that last week at Kroger I picked up a Kashi brochure off an end-cap (ok, I picked up six...they were just sittin there!) that had a bunch of coupons for $1 off. I'm embarrassed at how much Kashi cereal, snack bars and granola I bought.

Are you interested in saving money on your groceries and toiletries? Feel free to review my posts tagged "Coupon Commando" for more information about couponing & CVSing. If you think that may put you on Club Amaro overload, then check out my NEW favorite couponing site, "Southern Savers". This site has some great "getting started" guides including one on the art of CVSing. In addition, it breaks down the weekly sales for most of the grocery chains (at least out here in the South) and has links to Internet coupons! I'm lovin' me some Southern Savers...

Just a side note in case you are thinking I've got some kind of freakish toothpaste obsession (I would venture to say that almost all my Coupon Commando posts have a few tubes in the picture). Our small group at church is providing care packages for a missions team that is going to Guatemala soon. They were looking for 15 tubes of toothpaste. Although it will probably wipe out my toothpaste stockpile, I have NO QUALMS about turning it over so it can be a blessing to others. Our teeth will manage.

Copy that, 10-4, over and out...

Love,
The Coupon Commando

I'm willing to send you 5 bucks if you look at this post title and NOT sing that Janet Jackson song. C'mon... You know you can't help yourself. Sing it with me.

"I'm in...control, never gonna stop. Control, to get what I want. Control, I got to have a lot. Control, now Im all grown up"

Depending on what decade you grew up in, you may find yourself asking, "What is she talking about now". But if you're a child of the 80's like me, you are well aware of Ms. Jackson's tribute to leaving behind her naivete for the greener pastures of maturity. This picture of me I paint for you is not a pretty one...big hair complete with "wall-o-bangs", oversized Au Coton sweatshirt, braces and I'm sure more than a few pimples. An impressionable young high schooler ready to take on the world with my anthems of adulthood.

Lately the topic of control has occupied my thoughts. Category 4 tornado's will do that, I guess. Specifically, I am thinking about how much I can control when a tornado strikes. I've been reading on tornado preparedness...studying about how tornado's form...looking at pictures of tornado aftermath...reading about the most destructive tornado's in the history of the world. I know, I know - that sounds a little obsessive. I promise you I'm not going to turn into one of those freak tornado chasers like Helen Hunt from the movie Twister. I just think it's good to know what I'm up against.


Why do we seek to control things? What is the root of that? I think part of it can be attributed to fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of...fill in your blank.

When it comes down to it - I can be prepared...but I can't control the tornado. Worrying and fretting about tornado's doesn't change anything at all. What worrying and fretting does is causes my mind to be distracted by things that are out of my....sing it with me, now....CONTROL. Jesus Christ had a few things to say on this matter. For example, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matt 6:27). Or if you prefer, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matt 6:34)

Do you have something that you are worried about in your life?

What exactly is the remedy for worry? I suppose each of us has our own way that we go, but as for me, I must choose daily to cast my cares upon the Lord (Psalm 55:22). Jesus is the liberator of fear...but it's something that requires ACTION on my part. That action, in my opinion is prayer...sometimes it's as simple as me saying, "Help me, God!" Sometimes it's more in-depth where I'm pouring out my own garbage at the foot of the cross so he can fill me with the peace that transcends all understanding (Phil 4:7).

Losing control and gaining peace in the process. I need a dose of this everyday. Sorry, Janet...I'm kickin' you to the curb.

k

Tonight, driving down the road we passed a police truck. Attached to the truck was a horse trailer carrying 2 horses. Clearly, it was a "horse unit" and they were either coming or going. I pointed the police truck out to Abby and said, "Oh look, they have a couple of horses".

To which she responded (seriously - and in horror, I might add), "Oh no! Are they taking the horses to horse jail?"

Later on in the evening I had Abby strip down for bath time. Folks, there's something about the removal of the clothes that turns this child into a Broadway showing of Mamma Mia!. And to the degree that I'm trying to take care of biz and get through the bath event is the degree to which she is hammin' it up. I'm trying to wash the stinkin' tub out and she's standing on the stool, wiggling all that the good Lord gave her and singing, "I'm....a nekkid....mole rat".

Whose child is this?



love & nekkid mole rats,

k

Part of me is reluctant to document this episode...mainly because I'm embarrassed that my child actually did this. But the other part of me is thinking...there have GOT to be other kids in the world that do stuff like this.

I was making dinner. Abby was talking on the phone to Grandaddy. All of the sudden, Abby comes in the kitchen - still holding the phone in her hand. She's slightly on the verge of losing it (Dad...you can testify to this, right?). I put my kitchen utensil down and sit on the kitchen chair to see what's wrong. She's got this crazy look in her eye. It was makin' me nervous.

"What is the matter, sweet, loving, daughter?" (Ok, I added that last part in because I want you to believe that I'm a sweet, loving, mother).

"Something happened in my nose!!"

"What?"

"Ummm....something is in my nose!!"

"What?"

"I was holding this thing and now it's in my nose!!"

I love how she didn't come right out and say, "I stuck something in my nose". It was as if she was holding something, and some random nostril vortex sucked it in.

So...I recalled the page in the Mother's Handbook that talks about foreign objects in the nose. I placed my pointer finger on opposite nostril and instructed the child to blow.

From her opposite nostril jettisoned a small, orange, foamie square - a remnant from a fun mosaic project that Grandma sent her. It hit me in the chest (fortunately, I did not sustain any injuries - although there may be some damage that has not shown up yet) and then bounced onto the table.

I then calmly told Grandaddy that we would call him back, because I was about to have a "talk" with the child.

Mike came in right as I was asking, "Why did you think it was a good idea to stick this up your nose?". The look on Mike's face cannot be documented at this time.

While I calmly, and lovingly continued to explain the problem with inserting things into your nostril, a little blood started to pool around her precious little nose hole.

Knowing how my daughter would react to this new development, I asked Mike to quickly retrieve a Kleenex. I dabbed the blood and did a magic trick to hide the evidence.

Abby was very upset and kept asking me, "Did I damage my body??"

I reassured her that her body was not damaged and that there was something really, really cool that happened as a result of what she did. "Huh?" A glimmer of hope sparkled in her eye. I explained to her that she learned a valuable lesson and it didn't cost her but a few tears (and some blood that she doesn't know about).

"So, from now on, the only thing that goes in your nose is your finger...and, even that should be done sparingly!!"

Pick a winner,
k

PS - please...please...please...somebody tell me that their kid has stuck stuff up their nose. I need some love here.

I don't know about you, but when I think of Easter candy, one name stands out above the crowd. The Cadbury Egg. For those not so well versed in the ovi-licous delicacy, it's a chocolate shell filled with heavenly goo that most likely is not made from naturally occurring ingredients (I could be wrong, though).

I would put the Cadbury in the same class as an Oreo in terms of number of ways to eat it. I was curious about how Abby - who has never experienced the Cadbury phenomenon - would approach the task. Personally, it's been a few years since I've had one...but I'm all about poppin' the whole thing in my mouth and just takin' care of biz.

Not Abby.



She's all about the savoring...


This week at I heart Faces they are having an "Amateur" category! This category is custom made for me! In case there was any question, I would also fit nicely into the "Immature" category ;).

Feel free to surf on over to see more fabulous photos!

Today I have done alot of thinking about trees.

I have thought about trees jettisoning into the sides of houses, or falling on roofs, or swirling around in mid air like a piece of hay on a windy day. I have thought about the force it must take for a mature tree to be uprooted from the ground and tossed into the road.



I am thankful that the trees in my yard are still standing. Even the Robin's nest is still nestled in its place on the branch of our oak tree. I am thankful for the hedge of protection around our neighborhood even as one of many tornadoes made its path of destruction only a mile or two away.




I've also been thinking about another tree.



The tree that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ hung on a few thousand years ago.

As our family read the account of the crucifixion tonight, I watched Abby's face contemplate the pain that Jesus must have been experiencing as he questioned, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" I try in some small way to understand the enormous sacrifice that was made on that tree for us...so that we can have access to an abundant, victorious life. In place of punishment, wounding, death, poverty, shame and rejection, Christ freely offers forgiveness, healing, life, abundance, glory and acceptance.

I always want to rush ahead to Sunday...to the "He is Risen" part of my faith...but remembering the tree...hanging out on it and thinking about it....makes Sunday morning even more glorious.

Thanks to friends and family who lifted up prayers on our behalf during our weather drama today...we are so thankful to be safe and warm in our home tonight - with power! Our thoughts and prayers go out to those in our community who were not as fortunate, and especially to the family of the mother and infant who lost their lives today.

Love,
Kristin.

We had the privilege of watching "the boys" tonight while their mom, dad and 2 sisters had an evening out.


Boys. I didn't get the handbook on those. Come to think of it, I didn't get the handbook for the girl either. My Mom, on the other hand always referred to the 'Mother's Handbook' - she even referenced pages ("Well it says on page 732 of the Mother's Handbook..."). I guess I missed that day at the hospital when they handed them out.

As a Mom to one girl, I always feel inadequate to handle more than one child...or...boys. But, I'm easy going and flexible. How hard could it be? I'll pull out the box of Lincoln Logs and they'll play that for 4 hours, then clean it up and go to bed, right? Yeah, right.

Your honor, I submit Exhibits A - H for the jury.










It started off innocently enough with the Lincoln Logs...but once I pulled The Reb out, it was all over. It must have been some boy switch that I didn't know about - whatever it was, it got flipped AND it was contagious. The 3 of them started running and screaming all over the house, trying to get away from the camera. This went on for a very...long...time.

By the way...if you're wondering why Beth Moore is hanging on a shelf next to Rotel and Progresso soup it's because....well, it's a really long story. Maybe for next time.

Regardless of the running and the screaming, I'm a fan of these 2 boys...they are precious in all their boy-ness. I can't help but pondering the future...10, 15 years down the road. What young men they will be. Will they be trying to win the affections of a girl we know? Time will tell, but for now...we enjoy.



Boys - you gotta love 'em...even with a trail of boogies under their nose.

Snips and snails,
Puppy dog tails...

k

What's up y'all...

I know today's post title has got you absolutely breathless in anticipation...but you're just going to have to wait for a minute while I tell you something that I saw yesterday.

I was driving down the road by my house (on the way to some fabulous errand, I'm sure). In order to get the visual, you need to understand the road. If my neighborhood were a song, it would be Donny & Marie's "I'm a little bit country, I'm a little bit rock-n-roll". It's a little bit rural and a little bit urban. It's rurban. Anyway, I digress. So the roads in this rurban area can sometimes have very steep ditches on one side or another (that would be the rural side). I'm very anti-steep ditches, by the way, in case you needed to know where I stand on the ditch dilemma. As if the steep ditch weren't bad enough....you also got 'yer narrow road. When you pair the narrow road with the steep ditch, you got 'yer self a little recipe for disaster.

I know. I'm getting to the point.

Anyway, I'm driving down one of these steep ditch/narrow road streets and up ahead I see a police car parked in the middle of the road. I slow down....because, that's just the kind of driver I am. As I approach, I see a red car precariously situated....half on the road and half in the ditch. The odd thing is that it didn't even look like the person drove off into the ditch (you know, with the front end in the ditch and the back end sticking up) Instead, it looks like someone just pushed it sideways into the ditch so the right side was in the ditch and the left side tires were still on the road. As I get closer, I see what I assume to be the driver & passenger over on the side. Everything looks ok with them....good to see. As I pass the car, I look over to it. Plastered on the drivers side of this red car is a big HUGE sticker. It's bright yellow with black letters. And it reads:



Of course, I didn't have The Reb with me, dang it. It would have been the classic shot. One that would have circulated the internet 10 times over. I could have been famous....forget the I heart faces contest.

I hope I haven't lost you....

Now onto more egg-citing things.

Here is Abby with the latest school project...the Eggcelent Eggciting Eggsperiment. Her teacher asked each student to construct a box that would house a raw egg. The box will be dropped from the top of the ladder of the local fire department truck (maybe we'll see Mr. Ron??). The big question.....WILL THE EGG BREAK. (Did you like my Howard Cosell impersonation?)

Because I know you won't be able to sleep tonight without knowing all the details, I've put together yet another Club Amaro Photo Montage to document the eggsperience.












I know you couldn't tell, but that last picture was totally staged.

Party Time, Eggcelent.

k

In an attempt to try and do something with my camera other than take pictures of all my Coupon Commando excursions, I am taking a step out and trying to actually learn how to use all the bells and whistles. So, I'm reading alot of photography websites and taking in all the wonderful tutorials that are out there. Quickly becoming one of my favorites is, "I Heart Faces". Every week they have a contest with a guest judge and different categories. I've have enjoyed seeing the winners each week and looking at what the judges found appealing.

Anyway - as I come across categories that fit what's going on in my life photostream, I will enter and see what comes up. This week the cateogry is "My friend and I". So, I'm entering this cute photo of Abby and K, which I took after K's bday party last weekend.

I used a few Pioneer Woman actions on it, including "Boost", "Fresh & Colorful" and then a little edge burn. I tried to follow the rule of thirds when cropping (and I'm trying to be better about actually SHOOTING the photo using this rule...but hey, that's what cropping is for, yeah?).

So there ya go...I'm sharing my first contest entry (and first loss, I'm sure) with y'all.

Hey, you have to start somewhere, right? If I'm going to be the next Ansel Adams I better get on it.





smooches,
k

WARNING!
The following content contains DISTURBING IMAGES, GRAPHIC CREVICES and UNIDENTIFIED SUBSTANCES and should be viewed with extreme caution. It is advised that small children and the elderly be kept far, far away from this post. Do not view on an empty stomach, or while eating a greasy polish sausage sandwich. If at all possible, please close your eyes while reading.

Consider yourself warned...



I told you...what are you doing with your eyes open anyway?

I want you to know I am putting these pictures of my feet on this blog against my better judgment. The Reb, in all it's glory could not make my feet look good...and, I refuse to photoshop my feet. Partly because that means I would have to look at them for an extended period of time. Partly because I just have to draw the line somewhere.

I'm now suddenly feeling very vulnerable. Can somebody please have pity and kidnap me away to Bella where I can get a glass of wine and some foot attention? Also, I think my toes need liposuction...is that on the menu?

Ok, enough of that...I promised Abby that I would blog about this, so here goes.

Abby thought it would be a fabulous idea if she treated me to some nail polish. Those of you that know me know that this sort of thing is lost on me. But, I don't dare want to disappoint the youth. So I agree.

First, you must pick your color. Lucky me - thanks to my CVS Coupon Commando excursions, we've got gross green and bluer than blue (hey, when it's free, who cares what color you get)

Hey, I've already gone this far exposing my little sausages to the open air...may as well go for broke and do one of each. "Great!" exclaims Abby. Let's start with blue...gotta give it a good shake, now.









Warning...another foot picture coming up. Just treat it like the sun...a quick glance and then look away.



Now, moving onto the left foot...green is up. Another good shake.



This is actually how Abby was painting my toenails...with her eyes closed:



She was also holding her breath...poor child turned as blue as my right toenails at one point.

Now, take a look...




Don't try to sue me for retinal damage...the well is dry, friends.

Abby had a great time doing my toes...she went on to do my fingers as well...but, I went with the sparkle clear for those. Once my sausages dried, I put my shoes and socks back on. Ahhh..my comfort zone.

Well, this was good for me (I don't know how good it was for you)...sometimes we have to bring our problems into the light (without photoshopping even) so that others can share in our pain. That's really when true healing can take place.

Ohh...my toes are starting to tingle just thinking about it.

Of course it could be that my toe jam is reacting to the paint.

love you guys.

k