Do without

Our friend, Hilary, has a blog that tells of the daily happenings in the Mathews household. It is quite interesting considering they have three handsome little boys all under age three. Basically she is a supermommy and superwife. Hilary's husband, Michael, is Philip's fraternity brother and dear friend from Mississippi State. Anyway, Hilary is wonderfully creative on her blog and her latest post is about the recent Today Show episode that showed a family with four children, going a week without major appliances. This included washer/dryer, computer, TV, and microwave. Hilary listed a few things she and the family would have a hard time letting go. It got me thinking too and I think it's a good thing to think about. So, with credit to Hilary for making me think this evening, here are the things that we would be lost without:

King sized down pillow. Hotels are Renie's personal version of purgatory if she forgets her king sized down pillow.

As much as we resisted getting them until we had to in Kentucky (2001), we would be lost without them, communicating when, where, how, and "honey don't forget the (fill in the blank).."

I'll admit I'm addicted to "swirling, tapping, and buffing" with my Bare Minerals make up. The stuff is amazing. It last forever and given that, ends up being cheaper than what I'd buy in the department store. I cannot live without this stuff.

This is a large baking stone. We make everything on it. When I broke my perfectly seasoned, well-worn first stone, our eating out budget skyrocketed. Philip found me a new one at Williams-Sonoma so we are back to making homemade pizzas, biscuits, nachos, cookies, etc. I don't remember what cooking was like without it.

Trust me friends, you do not want to see me without this stuff. It's a good thing Little Philip is the joy of our lives because those nine months without caffeine were rough on everyone.

Philip and I don't splurge on much but we are coffee snobs. We still miss the little coffee roaster store in Danville, KY where we used to buy our coffee each week. Without such a luxury in the big city of Birmingham, we must have our Starbuck's coffee each morning. Dark espresso roast is preferred.

From a purely practical standpoint, the alarm clock is a must. After both of us come home from work, spend QT with little man and then put him to bed, the third shift starts with laundry, dishes, cleaning, and generally getting ready to do it all over again the next day. Little Philip is a late sleeper so without the alarm clock, we'd be sunk.

Finally, like Hilary's boys, Little Philip has his lovies - "brown dog" and "blue", a puppy and elephant soft lovie which is clutches each night as he sleeps.

Birmingham-Southern College Homecoming 2007

It was Homecoming Week at BSC and Little Philip joined the festivities when possible. He is always a hit with the students. The students have a bonfire each Homecoming week, carefully monitored by the fire department and supervised by those of us in Student Affairs. Mommy was looking rather haggard after a busy week in the office. That and she had to build the monstrous fire behind her in this picture. But it was all worth it to see the Lady Panthers out for the campus to cheer on before the big game.

Budding new artist

Lately we've been trying to get Little Philip interested in some activities to help build his skills in various developmental areas. Would you expect anything less from two parents with education degrees? He has discovered that he loves to color. He will sit down in front of his sketch pad and pat the tablet, asking for his crayons. He is particularly fond of the orange and purple crayons.

Battle Wounds

Little Philip took his first really bad tumble today. He's had "goose eggs" on his forehead before from running into walls and things but this time, his fall broke the skin. He was running through the house and tripped over a floor pillow which sent him sailing into the entertainment cabinet. Daddy insisted on taking a picture. It must be a man thing.

Winter's Chill

Our two cats like to sit on top of the heating grates. Little Philip disappeared for a few minutes until we found him, warming his toes in the kitchen.