baby food/Baby Gray/breakfast/mess

Messy, Messy Morning

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Those rogue waves we talked about at church Sunday? No, this was nothing like that. It definitely came out of no where, though. 

The morning started off as usual, Baby Gray slept soundly until 7:00 or so, and then it was time for him to eat. He ate in his chair, I made some food to put in the freezer for him, all was going well. Then… BAM! I look over to find Baby Gray playing in his chair. Seems fine, right? The issue here was that I didn’t give him was he was playing with. He discovered it all on his own. 

A quick bath in the sink and lots of bleach later, I’m stuck with a messy wooden high chair. The good news: it’s well finished and sealed. The bad news: bleach would most likely strip the finish. I decide (after calling Mr. Gray multiple times and interrupting his productivity at work) to take it outside and hose it off.

Of course, this happens on the first day with any cloud cover in months. Luckily, the sun came out a little while later and dried it right off! The Texas sun had it ready to go by lunch!
faith/fear/Revolution

He Covers Me

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We had a guest speaker at church Sunday. He talked about rogue waves in our lives. Sometimes I approach the thought of rogue waves with great trepidation; I don’t account for God’s love and faithfulness. I can’t imagine my life without Mr. Gray. When he doesn’t answer his phone for a period of time, I begin to assume the worst. I let it get the best of me. It scares me. Sunday’s message talked about how God is faithful through the rogue waves. It gave me such reassurance to remember that He covers me, no matter what the circumstance.

I can’t begin to convey the power of the message we heard.You can listen here. I highly recommend it.
home/jammers/workout

Mom’s Secret Workout

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When I was teaching, stay-at-home moms would come to pick up their children in workout clothes. I never really understood why they needed to be in workout clothes all day long. Plus, some of the moms were clearly not working out.

I didn’t come to appreciate the benefit of workout clothes until I was staying home myself. When we aren’t going anywhere, I don’t see any real reason to get dressed up to play on the floor all day. However, when someone comes to the door at 2:30 pm, it’s pretty embarrassing to be in your jammers. 

Enter: workout clothes. 

Now I can be “dressed” while staying comfortable enough to play with Baby Gray. If someone comes to the door, no problem. Workout clothes are totally acceptable for answering the door. I don’t generally go out in public in them, unless I’m really jogging or working out, but they are great for being at home and being “dressed” at the same time. 

No wonder Pioneer Woman is always talking about not wanting to leave the ranch or her yoga pants!
learning/school/school supplies/shopping/teaching

Supply & Demand

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School supplies have always excited me. When I was younger, we would go to a bigger store in San Marcos or New Braunfels so I didn’t have the same supplies as everyone got from the local WalMart. I would browse the aisles, run my hands over each item, and take it all in. Even if I wasn’t quite ready to go back to school, as soon as they put the school supplies out, I was ready to shop!

Nothing changed when I was in college, except that I got to buy school supplies more often. I needed new supplies for the summer sessions, fall, and spring! Jackpot! I was always on the lookout for something neat to use in my classes. 

Then I started teaching–I just thought college was the jackpot! As a teacher, I could make an excuse for school supplies pretty much any time I wanted. I would shop all summer for things I might need during the year. I even did that the summers I was unsure of my assignment for the fall.

This summer has been a little different. When Target started putting some school stuff in their dollar area in early July, I got pretty excited. Then I remembered I don’t need anything for a classroom or a class this year. As they started rolling out the full-blown school supply section, I realized I had never not bought school supplies. I still walked through and checked it all out. I still use very specific pens, so I checked to see if they were on sale. I journal, so I looked for something funky and cute. Ultimately, I didn’t buy anything because I don’t need anything right now; although, I don’t know that I’ll make it to the beginning of school without a purchase or two from the back to school section. 
Baby Gray/grumpy/teeth/teething

Mr. Grumpus

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I didn’t know what was going on with my sweet boy when he started being grumpier than usual. He’s normally laid back, calm, cool, and collected. He wasn’t grumpy long, and I checked his gums to see if he was teething. No inflammation. Nothing. He had a bit of a runny nose, so I worked on that with the bulb syringe and saline for the last few days. 

This morning, he was being “upside down baby” and there it was: a shiny new tooth! It’s his first one on the top. It snuck right in without me catching it. Baby Gray wasn’t nearly as fussy or upset about it as he was the other two teeth (I can use grumpy pretty loosely with him since he is never really unhappy).

So, three teeth it is! We’re movin’ ’em on in at a pretty steady pace.
blog/crafts/friends

Rescue Me

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Yesterday evening we had a craft night at my dear friend Lo Lo’s house. She is always creating something wonderful. I’m so glad she shared with us. We each made a topiary for our craft. She had previously done a tutorial on her blog, The Rescued Home.

We had such a good time hanging out, talking, crafting, and enjoying some girl time. It was great to see how even though we all had the same goal in mind, we each had a different end product. I love the small variations and how the fit each personality. 

Here’s my topiary! I enjoyed making it; I’ve just got to figure out where I want to put it. We had lots of great ideas for embellishments tonight. I’m thinking I’ll change it up with the season.


crock pot/potato salad/Recipes

Poh-tay-toe, Puh-tah-toe

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I am quite picky when it comes to potato salad. Quite picky when it comes to most food, actually. It’s part of my charm. But…

A couple of weeks ago (I have no clue when it really was; I’ve lost all track of time) we ate at Cadillac Zak & Cadillac MaMa’s for dinner. It’s no secret that Cadillac MaMa is fabulous in the kitchen, and this meal was no exception. She made some potato salad that was delicious! I made it a while later for some friends, and everyone loved it. I thought I’d share. 

Cadillac MaMa’s Potato Salad
(I halved it when I made it for a smaller crowd.)
2 bags of new potatoes
2 packets Hidden Valley Ranch mix (you can probably use an off brand, but I like the real thing)
8 eggs
6 strips bacon, chopped
1 small jar mayonnaise
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
Crock pot

  • Quarter and boil the new potatoes until they are tender, but not so much that the skins are falling off
  • Fry the bacon (don’t drain; Cadillac Mama drains hers, but trust me on this one)
  • Hard boil and chop the eggs
  • Set crock pot to warm
  • Add boiled potatoes, eggs, and cooked bacon (with grease) to the crock pot
  • Pour dry ranch packets over and stir
  • Add mayonnaise while stirring to blend ranch seasoning. Taste as you go, you might not need the whole jar
  • Once the ranch is well blended, add green onions and stir
  • Leave it to warm in the crock pot until ready to serve

I’m so grateful Cadillac MaMa shared this recipe with me! It’s delicious and easy–not to mention, Mr. Gray loves potato salad!
Grammie/Papa

Until We Meet Again

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Yesterday marked one year since Papa passed away. The last time I saw him was Father’s Day of 2010, so the year-mark, while I have known it was officially coming, was kind of in June for me.

I took some time to read the comments on his obituary last night; I didn’t even know they were there until then. One of the first comments is from a family that lived next door to Grammie & Papa when they lived on 59th. We have kept in touch with them long since the house on 59th was gone. It was neat to see their post. The comments are definitely for those left behind, but it is certainly refreshing to see such nice things said about someone we loved so dearly. 

Photo by Sledd Weddings
I posted this photo last year, but it is worth another look. It’s one of my favorites with him. The photo doesn’t do justice to the amount of confusion surrounding the circumstances. This photo was actually taken during my first dance with Mr. Gray at our wedding. What? You read that right. Papa thought he was supposed to cut in during our first dance. I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but I wasn’t going to pass up a dance with Papa. It all worked out just fine, and we got a great memory from it! 

When I think of what Papa might be doing today, or any day, I can’t help but smile. How amazing to be reunited with the love of your life, be pain free, and be with the Lord. 
10 months/Baby Gray/birthday/Rooster

303

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 1 Comment
303 days. 
That’s getting so close to 365. Baby Gray is ten months old today! I still can’t believe how fast time is moving.

The older he gets, the more he entertains us. Just in the last week or so, he’s picked up a few new “tricks” that he uses to show off. 

He can wave hello (sometimes; this one is pretty sketchy).

He waves good-bye to everyone and everything he moves away from. He’s still got that hand turned in (it’s what he sees when we wave at him), but he’s a waving machine!

He can give a high five. This one he picked up on at swimming lessons. Miss Alexis had them high fiving all the time! 

A few other things we’ve got going on at ten months: 
  • He’s got two teeth. 
  • He wears 12 month (sometimes 18) clothes. 
  • He sleeps from 8:00 until about 7:00. 
  • He gets super excited when Daddy comes home in the evenings. 
  • He is almost signing milk and he recognizes the sign for milk, water, and eat.
  • He crawls with one knee and one foot–I’ll have to post a video. He looks like a little monkey! 
  • He pulls up on everything. 
  • He likes all foods that have been introduced to him; he is a big eater! 

It’s been so fun watching him grow and learn. He amazes us with something new everyday.