The Combs Krewe

I've seen and pinned lots of ideas on Facebook and Pinterest about keeping babies and toddlers busy. I love the idea of sensory bins and busy bags and water tables but today I thought I'd share a few things that have been working for us.  If you have toddlers you might... Keep a basket next to your bed filled with books you'd like to read, your journal, etc. and of course pens.  Skip cabinet locks. Keep your costume jewelry in a low drawer. Hand them a coloring book and crayons. Watch them throw them down one at a time saying uh oh each time.  Sadly I didn't get a picture of their banana smashing adventure or their favorite educational activity: tearing the entire toilet paper roll into tiny pieces and/or putting an entire roll of toilet paper directly into the toilet.  What are some of your favorite ways to keep baby busy?  Anyone want to babysit? 

They say confession is good for the soul and since I missed church this morning, I thought I'd do a little something good for my spirit. Here are some things I've been keeping to myself that have made me feel wholly inadequate lately. 1. I have never eaten quinoa. 2. I don't even know what steam punk means. 3. I've never done a Beth Moore Bible study or heard her speak in person. I'm afraid this might be the reason Jackie hasn't gotten a ministry position yet...his wife isn't a true Southern Baptist lady. = P So there. I said it. What secrets have you been keeping lately?

I have a long history of crazy insane dreams. Judging from last night's samples, I'd say that history is sure to continue. I think I had three dreams which I tried and tried to remember but only one stuck. My mom and I had been selected to go on a trip to the moon as part of a reality show. Oddly enough, my mom was completely okay with this. I, however, was experiencing some apprehension. We were going through several training exercises one of which was riding a truck up a spiraling roller coaster-like track straight up into the sky. I didn't know how I was going to do it. Apparently Jackie had already been to the moon, so he was trying to give me a little pep talk. He seemed to think it was no big deal. The dream ended with me overcome with thoughts of fear and inadequacy. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I thought. I should be happy!  Usually I can relate my dreams to something happening in my life. My brain goes ninety to nothing all day long and I often...

Last week it rained for several days straight here. I, for one, loved it. In fact I was considering how lovely it would be to live in Seattle and always have the promise of drizzle on the windowpane. Others do not share my passion for wet weather, however, and when the sun finally came out on Friday everyone was ready to hit the playground. Unfortunately, in case you hadn't heard, we have a little flooding problem in NOLA and the playground is no exception. My friend, Melissa, had been letting Jathan play at her house with his best buddy, Jacque. She texted me and said they were headed to the playground and wanted to know if she should send Jathan up or let him play warning me that boys cannot NOT play in the mud. Of course it was okay with me if he got a little dirty, 'cause you know I'm cool like that. I grabbed my camera and headed downstairs with Ryland to let him join in the fun. When I got to the bottom floor, this is what I saw: Jathan was having a blast as I e...

When I choose something to wear, I take the hanger off the rod, remove the article of clothing from it, then hang it with other empty hangers so that when I go to hang things back up all I have to do is grab the entire group of hangers. However, when Jackie chooses something to wear his hangers end up like this: That means I have to dig them all out in order to have enough hangers to hang his clean clothes up. It first occurred to me that perhaps because he doesn't hang the clothes back up that it simply doesn't occur to him to put them in one neat place. But then I thought that even if I weren't hanging up the clothes I would be afraid to just pull the shirt off the hanger with it still hanging up because it could break. Then I thought, maybe it's weird that I think so much about this that I've created an entire blog post about it. Nah. Totally normal, I'm sure. I know that I'm not the only wife who faces this dilemma so guys, what's up ...