Would you hire us??? Never mind, we'll do it for free!

For as long as I can remember, I've enjoyed matchmaking.  My past record isn't so great... okay, I stink at it, but my luck is changing!  I've actually successfully connected a few couples in the last few months.  Remember that it's only my job to introduce/fix you up with someone who I believe would be compatible with you.  If you date a few weeks and then decide it's not going to work, that is not a strike against me.  If you share the same interests and find each other attractive, then I've done my part.  I can't go on dates with you and make it work out, people! 

Danna and I share this little hobby, and together we make a great team.  It was actually Danna's idea to hook up Dan Morgan and Whitney Gibson a couple of months ago and it's been a LOVE MATCH for sure.  Danna was so excited when she called me to inform me of her GREAT idea.  I really didn't do anything except encourage Dan, which wasn't hard at all to do.  If we ever do start a company, it will be their picture  on the billboard for sure.  Aren't they cute???

So, this brings me to the reason for this blog.  I have an idea that I wanted to run by you all.  If Danna and I did start a new business (hypothetically speaking, of course, since I don't have time to start a new business!), how do you think this one would go over...  We could call it "Creative Coincidences".  Basically, it works like this... Client (we'll call her Missy) comes to us because she has her eye on a certain guy.  He'd then become the Target (we'll call him Billy).  Missy has seen Billy around and likes what she sees.  She may even casually know him, but not well enough to engage in conversation.  Missy decides that she needs help getting Billy's attention.  Enter Danna and I... we scheme (or "creatively plan" as I prefer to call it) to put Missy and Billy in the same place at the same time.  Or we go undercover to investigate Billy to find out what he likes, so that Missy and suddenly become interested in the same things.  Or we disable Missy's car so that it breaks down in front of Billy's house, etc.  You get the picture.  Now, calm down, I know some of you may be freaking out.  You probably think this is stalking.  Just hush, it's not. 

Or, in another scenario, we may actually know of two people who we think would make a cute couple.  For whatever reason, one or both of them may be resistant (ahem...cough cough... not calling any names!), but Danna and I really feel strongly that they need to give it a shot.  We could put our creative planning in action and arrange several random moments where their paths cross.  Since neither party asked for our services, we would have to do this pro bono, but that's okay.  After they got married, they might make a donation to our company or something.  We can work out all those details later.

So what do you think?  Could it work?  :)

 

Yuri and Gigi play hair salon!

I knew this day would come.  I HOPED it wouldn't, but deep down I knew it would.  Having already gone through this age with two girls, I KNEW it would happen.  Yuri and Gigi played hair salon.  With. The. Real. Scissors. 

They were supposed to be taking a nap, but I kept hearing giggles.  Like not typical giggles... weird giggles.  I went in to check on this and this is what I found...

I got pretty hysterical, but Karlie (bless her heart!) was nearly beside herself.  If you know her, you know that little things going wrong tend to set her off.  The thought of her baby sisters with military-style haircuts could be considered one of those things.  She actually had me laughing, so Yuri and Gigi caught a break! 

For the first half hour, Yuri and Gigi blamed each other.  Nobody would accept any responsibility at all.  Then, Gigi came upstairs, looked in the mirror and said "Ms. Hopey is a good haircutter.  Yuri is not a good haircutter".  I knew then that Yuri was the guilty party (which, I must admit, surprised me greatly).  I came down to Yuri's room and said "Look at me in the eyes.  Did you cut Gigi's hair?".  She didn't answered, but she dropped her head and wouldn't look at me.  That was close enough to an admission for me to convict! 

Compared to the number Haley Rae did on her hair when she was 3, this wasn't just terrible.  When Yuri cut Gigi's, she must've been going for the Posh Spice look.  It actually turned out pretty stylish!  Hope told her to tuck one side and swing the other, so she's been walking around the house tonight saying "tuck... swing... tuck... swing" 

Here's her finished look:

 It is apparently harder to cut your OWN hair than someone else's because Yuri struggled with her own 'do.  She chopped layers ALL OVER HER HEAD.  We didn't have a choice but to stack it up, and it STILL has short layers that stick up.  She wasn't happy about any part of the situation, and hopefully it'll make her THINK next time before she gets crazy with the scissors. 

The funny thing is that I didn't recognize the scissors.  When I was telling Momar about it, she told me that she had been missing a pair of scissors since she wrapped presents on Christmas Eve... right before WE ARRIVED to open gifts.  The best we can figure out, the girls smuggled the scissors home with their gifts and were waiting for the perfect opportunity to play hair salon.

It all turned out fine.  Nobody got scalped and they still look like little girls.  And since Willard loves short hair, he's happy as a clam. 

You know I can't stay mad at them anyway.  Look at these faces.  If they're not sweet, I don't know what is!!!

The flu!

Well, I've been basically homebound with sick kids since Saturday.  I've watched hours and hours of movies on ABC Family, which has actually been nice.  Since Karlie and Gigi preferred to be piled up on the couch, I just joined them.  Yeah, yeah, I know it would have been the perfect time to catch up on laundry or ironing or paperwork, but I just wasn't in the mood.  It was also the perfect time to read some paperbacks and watch funny Christmas movies!  We all need some downtime every now and then, and I've taken full advantage.  I'll admit I'm kinda stressed out because I have only bought about 25% of the Christmas gifts that I have to buy, and I have no idea when I'll get to shop, but.. whatever... no sense in worrying.  If I have to hit Wal-Mart in the middle of the night, so be it.  It's not like worrying is going to change anything.  I plan to have a Merry Christmas, sick or well, prepared or not prepared --- and I hope you do too!!! 

The Gilgal Girls!

You may have seen several ladies in the community walking around in hot pink t-shirts with "The Gilgal Girls" emblazoned across the front.  My Sunday School class (lead by Susan Hensley) finished a Beth Moore bible study back during the summer.  One thing that stuck out for us was when she mentioned the word "Gilgal".  The literal meaning of the word is "circle of stones".  We got to discussing it, one thing lead to another, and we ultimately started referring to ourselves as "The Gilgal Girls". 

It makes sense, really.  Stone is just another word for rock, and we truly are like a circle of rocks for each other.  When I was going through period of panic and heartbreak over the possibility of losing Yuri and Gigi, these were the women who listened and prayed and encouraged me.  They kept reminding me that God was in control, even when I tried my darnest to take matters into my own hands.  And when I was having a hard time with the idea of Hunter spending his summer as a missionary in Serbia, they reassured me that he would be fine.  Anytime someone in the class needs prayer, or if something happens in the community that we feel is important, we send out a mass text that always starts "Hey Gilgals...".  When we see those words, we know that a fellow Gilgal needs us. 

If you're reading this and you don't have a church family, come join us at Danville Baptist.  Sunday school starts at 9 a.m. and preaching at 10:15.  You too can be a Gilgal Girl!!! 

Ho-Ho has his work cut out for him!!

Most little girls around the age of...oh... let's say 3 or 4... ask Santa to bring them a baby doll, a Barbie, or maybe even a bicycle.  Not Yuri and Gigi. No, that would be too easy.

Yuri has asked for a kangaroo, a rollercoaster, and a gun.  Gigi has asked for an alligator, an elephant, a panda, a knife, a fly swatter, and a flashlight.  When I show them stuffed animals that look like the aforementioned items, they say "noooooo!  I want a REAL one!"  Sigh. 

Gigi also has a fascination with Superman (or, as she calls him, "Hooperman").  She wants Santa to bring Hooperman to our house to play with her.  Nice, huh?  Well, lucky for her, I happen to know someone who will make a GREAT Superman.  He has (kind of) agreed to dress up and come by on Christmas morning to play with her.  Thank you, Will Edmondson!  You're going to look marvelous... cape, tights, boots... it's going to be AWESOME!!!! 



Random babble....

Well, I'm basically just blogging because I haven't done it in so long.  It's my goal to blog at least twice a month.  I haven't been inspired to blog about anything specific, so this one is just random babble. 

As usual, there's craziness around my house.  We're in the process of painting and putting down new flooring in all the kids bedrooms.  Plus, everybody is playing switch-a-roo again.  Haley Rae is graciously giving up her big bedroom (the old master suite) for the babies.  Okay, so maybe she's not THRILLED about it, but she has agreed to do it without too much fussing.  She's never home and she doesn't need all that space.  Yuri and Gigi need more room because of their kitchen, the tent, the 4 billion stuffed animals and baby dolls, etc.  So, Haley is moving to Karlie's room, Karlie is moving to the babies' room, and they babies are moving to Haley's room.  Whew.  I'm worn out just typing it.  Not looking forward to moving all that furniture!

Dear Hunter - I have not forgotten that you are also my child, but since you NEVER come home (and when you do, you stay with Taylor or Josh/Sean or Momar), I didn't find it feasible to keep a room empty for you.  However, when you are here, I will make sure you have a bed to sleep in.  It may have pink sheets on it, but it will be all yours while you're here!

Those of you who know Karlie well will appreciate this... she told me the other day that she really wanted to move back into her old room (currently the baby room).  I said "but why?  it's the smallest room of all".  She said "because it's square.  I don't like my new room because it's uneven.  Bedrooms should be square".  My sweet, OCD child.  She's moving back in to her old room and she's just barely changing the color.  We're going from "Lovely Lilac" to "Grape Popsicle". 

Haley Rae hasn't decided on a color yet.  She has pretty much narrowed it down to either "Xavier Blue" or "New Fushcia".  Like I said, she's not exactly thrilled about this musical room thing.  She agreed to it, in exchange for new paint, new floors, and new bedding.  Then about 30 minutes after agreeing, she sent me a text and said "oh, and I also want curfew extensions".  Haha.  Nice try.  Not happening. 

We had revival this week and it was great.  I just love our music.  The choir is awesome, and the youth band always rocks it out, and I never fail to be moved to tears when Holly Little sings.  She has no idea how talented she is!  

Wednesday night when I went over to the Forte to get Yuri from Children's Church, she was talking and cutting up with Sydni Clayton and Shelby Beck.  When we started home, she started saying "I want to sing the Shelby song".  She said this over and over and over, but I had no idea what she was talking about.  FINALLY, when she started trying to sing it herself, I realized what she meant.  She wanted to sing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain".  You know.... "shelby comin round the mountain".   haha.  So just MAAAAAYBE I have an bit of an accent when I sing! 

HALEY RAE!

 

I think everybody has that one kid who is the "strong-willed child". Yeah, well, that's Haley Rae. It started the day she came home from the hospital. I put this adorable little pink one-piece outfit on her, and she started screaming. She wouldn't even stop long enough for a good picture. That day pretty much set the pace. We could do things the way Haley wanted to do it, or we could do it the hard way.

I sent her to pre-school when she was 3 years old because I really felt like she needed to be around someone other than me. One little ripple in whatever she wanted and we're talking MAJOR meltdown. I thought going to school would teach her compromise, etc. Ummm... not so much. We drove up the first day and she screamed bloody murder. For the next week, the teachers would have to physically pry her fingers off the carseat to get her inside the building. Finally, Haley says "I won't cry if that other lady will get me out". So some poor lady who didn't even have car duty agrees to meet us outside every morning and get Haley out. Geez. Then, I found out that she was standing behind the door in the classroom and pouting until snack time. So what does her teacher do? Moves snack time to 8:45! Basically, sending her to school just re-enforced what she already knew.... pitch a big enough fit and you get your way. Nice...

Haley Rae is A LOT like her daddy. If you know her, you know that's true. Her stubborn streak MIGHT even be wider than his. I remember one Sunday night before church - we were just about to load up and leave when Willard realizes Haley didn't pick up her blocks out of the den floor (she was probably about 4 years old). It went something like this:

WILLARD: Pick up your blocks so we can leave.

HALEY: No, I'm not picking them up.

WILLARD: Yes, you are.

HALEY: Nope.

WILLARD: I'm going to spank you if you don't.

HALEY: I don't care.

********SPANKING*********

WILLARD: Now, pick them up!

HALEY: No.

WILLARD: I'm going to spank you again.

HALEY: I don't care.

********SPANKING*********



To save space, I'll just say "repeat this scene 8 more times". Hunter got so upset and kept saying, "I'll pick them up, Daddy. I will." He didn't want to see her get any more spankings, but it didn't seem to bother her. Finally, me and Hunter went and got in the car, but we never made it to church. After 20 or 30 minutes, I guess Haley got bored with the whole thing and finally picked up the blocks, but by that time it was too late to go to church.

She's also got some of me in her in that she HATES to lose. Even when she tries to act like she doesn't care, you know it's just killing her. She's very competitive and has little patience for those who aren't. I think that's probably why she excels in sports. She's the last girl in her grade to still be playing 3 sports. It's incredibly hard to do that these days. Sports aren't seasonal anymore. Sometimes she'd have all three sports in one day. To her credit, she never complained. Well, I take that back, she complains like crazy, but she loves it.

Another thing she got from me - she has a soft spot for babies. Her tough guy act crumbles when she sees a baby.  She is a great big sister to Yuri and Gigi and loved them from the first time she laid eyes on them. Haley Rae is actually the one who declared that we'd be making a run for the border if DHR tried to take them away from us. She said "they WILL NOT take my baby sisters from me" and she meant it. I don't think DHR knew what they were up against. It could have gotten really ugly, so it's a good thing it all worked out.

When Haley was in 3rd grade, she came in and told me that she wanted to be in the Christmas pageant at school THE NEXT DAY. So, in a panicked state, we ran to the mall and got a little red dress and some shoes. I rolled her hair myself and she looked pretty darn cute. We got to the middle school gym and she saw all the people coming in and sitting on the bleachers. She says "What are all those people doing?". I say, "they came to watch the pageant". She says "WHAT??? I am NOT walking out there in front of all those people". Great. I told her she didn't have a choice. So, I went and sat down, not knowing what in the world to expect when she walked out. Well, she walks out like she's done it a million times, without an ounce of nervousness, and WINS! Since that pageant, she's been in several more and always does well. She never gets nervous and I guess it shows!

We tease her about her attitude and her stubborness, but it makes her who she is. She's the one child of mine that I will never worry about someone taking advantage of. She won't take crap off anybody, and that makes me very proud. 

She beautiful, opinionated, and talented – and I’m proud to be her mama!!!