Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I Heart Tarjay!

Oh, I love Target! This morning, Derek watched Ella Grace and I went on a few errands. I took a little time to go to Target to browse. I just love that place. I really didn't know what to do with myself, actually being able to look around since I was by myself. I wasn't making a mad dash with a list. I had no list and nothing in particular to get.

I have been wanting to get Ella Grace a purse. I ran through the Toy Department and saw this and knew it was perfect for her. It included all her favorite things...sunglasses, makeup, cell phone, and keys. She loved it, and I have had the best time watching her carry her little purse around with all the treasures inside. It made me think about my mom telling me how much I loved my purse when I was little and whenever she had to discipline me all she had to do was take my purse away. She said it was punishment enough because being without my purse would break my heart. Isn't that funny?!



It won't be long until I will begin potty training Ella Grace. She is already very interested in it and sits on her little potty a lot. My sister gave Ella Grace all of my niece's old baby books and there is a book called "Bye Bye Diapers" that features baby Miss Piggy. It has a picture at the end with Miss Piggy wearing big kid pants. Ella is all about pointing out Miss Piggy's panties. So, I bought these today. EG LOVES dogs and cats, so these are perfect. I think they are about the cutest things I have ever seen.


I am trying to get Evan interested in board games. Right now, he is enjoys computer games more. I picked up this game for him. I think he'll like making the hippos eat the marbles. I have vivid memories of playing this game with my best neighborhood friend, Tracey. I loved it. Maybe Evan will, too.


So, I used my time alone at Target to buy toys for my children! Ha!

I want to thank you all for your encouragement and prayers this week. Tomorrow is the big day and I'm starting to feel a little freaked out. I keep trying to tell myself it is just me telling about Evan, one of my favorite people to talk about, to a group of people that need to know about him. It's helping a little, but as the time draws near I am feeling more nervous. I practiced it a couple of times today, and I cried both times! Now, I'm kind of worried about that. I just don't want to do the "ugly cry" where they can't understand a word I'm saying. Oh, good grief! Ha! I just want to make the most of this opportunity. Thank you all for being so sweet to me. I'll definitely give an update tomorrow.

My friend, Abby, sent this to me today, and I thought it is pretty funny, especially when I think about how many times I've told my mom while taking care of Evan and EG, "Mom we don't do THAT anymore," and her reply is always something like, "Well, I'm surprised I was even able to raise three girls and you all survived." Ha! Maybe you can relate to some of these, too.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's & 80’s!!

  • First, we survived our mothers who took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
    Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

    We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took
    hitchhiking.

As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster
seats
, seat belts or air bags.


Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.


We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.


We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because:

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!


We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.


We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.


We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They
actually sided with the law!


These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!


The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good ..

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and
lucky) their parents were.


Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

15 comments:

Candy said...

I LOVED this post!!! YES, I LOVE Target too, but I always spend WAY too much in there and have to be careful. EG's purse is too cute!! I hope Evan liked his game. Ethan loves board games and playing cards. That is what he and I do everyday while Ella naps. Fun, fun!! I love EG's panties! Ella has been sitting on the potty and playing on it for a LONG time and we may be nearing getting serious! You are going to do great tomorrow! I know you have lots of people praying for you, remember that! :)
I LOVE the list of things that we survived, all very funny and true!! :)

Rachel Wheat said...

Ok, we just bought the book, "No More Diapers for Ducky" and Noah loves it!! By the second week of reading it, he was ready for his own Thomas The Tank Engine undies. Those books work miracles!

Becky said...

Oh I bet EG was in hog heaven with her new purse and her new panties! And I bet Evan is enjoying his Hungry Hippos. My girls had the Hungry Hippo board game and they had a blast with it!

Also, I remember when Cortney was little she would stand in the seat beside me as I drove. OH MY HECK!! I should have been arrested, but it wasn't against the law then. And I remember as a little girl, I used to lay in the rear window of my grandparents car. It's a wonder any of us are alive! HA!!!

Good luck tomorrow.

Angela said...

I love Target, too! What is it about calling it Tarjay that makes it seem so much more cool?

Isn't it nice just to get away without having to rush around every once in a while?

I know you'll do good tomorrow. Try not to worry. I'll be praying for you.

Lauren said...

Love, love, love the purse and accessories! I will be praying for you in the morning. You will be AWESOME. Speak from your heart. They'll see the rest.

Jacquie said...

Good post! Those Target moments are sweet, but I'm at the stage now that I can literally spend hours in Target or Wal-Mart looking at everything and no kids are home waiting on me. The time flies so fast.

I'll say a prayer for you tonight. God will give you the words and the strength tomorrow. I've had to give speeches and I couldn't tell you a word I said, but God gave me the words at just the right time. (And I'm an ugly-crier!)

Megan L Hutchings said...

I am so glad that you got a little alone time at Target ;)! Shopping by yourself is completely different than with your family...even though you always seem to buy more for them. I can't wait to see pictures of EG walking around with her little purse and Evan playing Hungry Hippo =)! You know how much I love board games!

You are going to do great today! You will have so many praying for you!!!

LOVED THE LIST!

Heather said...

I'm praying for you, and I just know you will do great!!! I can't wait to hear your update. I love Target, too. I have to be careful when I go there because I always spend too much money! And, I loved the list, too. Oh, how true!! I'm praying for you!!!

Kelly said...

I loved this list. It cracked me up! SO TRUE!!!! I think about stuff like that when I worry myself to death about whether I'm doing everything right for my pregnancy and how 30 years ago - they didn't even know all the stuff they "weren't supossed to be doing" and we all turned out okay!
Praying for you today. I hope you do cry - because I think it will make it just that more impactful!

Betsy said...

I woke up thinking about you this morning, Leigh Ann! I am anxious to hear how it went. But I know you did awesome!

I LOVE Target!! Adorable stuff for reasonable prices! That's what I'm all about!

Your list was SO TRUE!! We all made it through alive & so will our kids! :)

Megan said...

I love Target and miss living close to one. Can't wait for an update about your morning!

Katie said...

Hahahahaha! I laughed at so many things in this post! I love that your momma took away your purse as "punishment." That's great! :o) I always loved my high heels and purses when I was little! When Momma was potty-training me, (it was a hard battle, I'm told )she said the only way I did was after she got me a pair of silky panties...b/c I wanted silky panties sooo badly. And voila! It worked! I also laughed about the "ugly cry" b/c I always fear that when I talk about things that are really important and emotional. I will definitely be saying prayers for you! I'm sure you will do great...God will be with you! :o)

Abby said...

I have a feeling you will have EG potty trained way before Fletcher! He could not care less. He'll sit on it for about 3 seconds and say "I peepee!" Um, no you didn't dude. I guess girls are a lot easier to train than boys anyway. Maddy trained herself; I think I'm going to pay for that one with Fletcher!

Maddy still loves to play with her purses. That is so fun that EG is doing that!

Heather said...

I always do that same thing when I go to Target. (which I am addicted to!) I always come home with stuff for my little one. They just have the best stuff!!!1

Lindsay said...

Oh, Tarjay is the best! ESPECIALLY if you're ALONE there!

New to your blog - I too have an Ella Grace - who turned three end of May! Good luck on the potty training. I have done sticker charts, full-blown bribery and still nothing. She's good at holding pee pee until I remind her she needs to go, but no such luck on the poo....gross! Surely she won't go to kindergarten with a diaper...

I need to read on and see what you're going to speak about!