Do a Ditty dum Ditty Do!

Every girl needs a Ditty Bag by Vera Bradley. "Why, Mama Henley, I've never heard of such a thing as a Ditty Bag," I can hear you all say in your best Southern drawl. Well, don't you worry even one little bit, Mama Henley will explain. A Ditty Bag was a genius idea from Vera Bradley. It is a small bag with a drawstring that is LINED with plastic. Yes, you read that right, it is LINED with plastic. If you still don't understand why I am so excited, I will explain. You can pack it with your makeup and it doesn't matter if it spills. Or, you can put it in your beach bag with all of your items in it that need to stay waterproof like your camera, Flip video camera, keys, and money. I often keep an empty one in my beach bag for holding wet bathing suits on the way home! You don't need just one, so you may want to buy two! I promise you will love it. Ours is packed in our beach bag for a boat ride tomorrow!

What Every Beach Bag Needs!

Life's a beach, right? Well, it is here in Florida where the sun is always shining. Where we live it is common to jaunt on over to the beach for the morning or afternoon for a dip in the ocean or a walk on the sand or a grouper sandwich at Frenchy's.

Our family has even driven to Indian Rocks Beach just for a Lighthouse Doughnuts apple fritter on a sunny winter morning. In fact, I think it's time to do that again! In Florida, one spends a lot of time at the beach or by the pool. I can't wait to rent a cabana at the Don CeSar for the day.

Living so close to the beach, it's important to know HOW to pack your beach or pool bag!! I have become quite the expert as I pack the bag for all 7 of us. First of all, you need a durable beach bag. I love the traditional LL Bean boat and tote Bag. With a family our size, we need the extra large. Plus, I love having a monogrammed bag.

Inside the bag, I pack LOTS of sunscreen. We prefer the Neutrogena and Hawaiian Tropic 30 to 50 SPF sticks for faces as they are super easy to apply. I like the new Neutrogena Sport spray, but we have also enjoyed Coppertone and Banana Boat sprays. The sprays make the application much faster, but I am a firm believer in re-applying. Dermatologists often sell some other sunscreens that you may prefer.
I also pack goggles as our whole crew loves their goggles! Target sells nice ones from Speedo with the middle nose piece as part of the goggle itself and those are the ones we love. Be sure to pack those goggles!

Old burp cloths or cloth diapers make a great cloth for wiping sandy eyes and hands. You can read more about it on this Tuesday's Tip.
We also pack beach toys like buckets or shovels, dive sticks, or any other fun pool or beach toy the children may enjoy. The older children like to take their fins to the pool and our little one brings her princess diving sticks and princess dolls that can swim. Of course it is understood that one must pack a camera in a plastic bag, possibly a Flip video camera, some money, sunglasses, and beach towels!
You may also want to bring a cooler filled with LOTS of water, ice, lemonade or juice boxes, snacks like juicy strawberries or cheese sticks and a Diet Pepsi or two for mama. If it's later in the day, you may wish to pack some beverages with a little more punch! We also bring plenty of snacks to share like bags of pretzels or Goldfish. Each child has a pair of beach/pool shoes and a change of clothes, including underwear. The children also wear rash guards/swim shirts as often as possible! Happy Beach Days!

Tragedy at UVA

By now many of you have heard of the absolute tragedy that occurred at UVA on Monday. A beautiful young female lacrosse player was allegedly murdered by a former boyfriend. Both students were from a strong upper middle-class background and were set to graduate in just a few weeks. They were both lacrosse players who were finishing well at one of our leading universities. As you can see from her picture, Yeardley was BEAUTIFUL. George Huguely is a nice-looking All-American twenty-two year old.
My mind is filled with so many questions, including, "WHY?" What on earth made him so angry that he lost it enough to break down her door and then traumatize her to the point of banging her head against a wall until she was left in a pool of her own blood on her bed. Did he not realize the severity of his actions and call 911 afterwards? No. I believe she was found by a roommate. This beautiful young girl will never graduate, she will never see another sunrise, and she will never be a wife or mother. Her parents are left with the knowledge that a boy she once cared for has now killed her... brutally. Why did this have to happen?
If he was so angry, why did he need to hurt her? It is so senseless and now his life is also ruined.
After processing this a little more, I have looked inward. How can I help avoid a similar situation for our daughters? As parents, what can we do to help our children and to shelter them from the evil of this world? Well, evil has existed since the Fall of Man when Eve took a bite of the forbidden fruit. We are all sinful for the Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". We all have the ability to hurt and kill. However, if we have a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, read our Bible daily, and go to a church where we can be taught and where we can worship the one true God, we can learn to turn from our sin. Yes, we will still sin, but when Christ lives in your heart, and you are truly communing daily with Him, things such as this will not happen. Christians are not perfect; I am not saying that at all. I am just saying that when Christ lives in us, our lives are changed.
My prayer is that our children's lives will also be transformed as they are sanctified by His grace each and every day. I also pray that they will have wisdom to choose wisely their friends and later in life, their significant others or spouses. Just recently, I tried to explain to our children that we must all be careful when choosing our friends because we can be guilty of something just by association. Recently some teenagers killed an elderly woman, and one boy was simply there when it happened and he has spent many years behind bars because of it. He was guilty by association. I am praying now for godly friends for our children.
I also firmly believe that trash in is trash out. Our society today is filled with a lot of trash. What we see as innocent lyrics about boy meets girl are not what our young elementary students need to be listening to, focusing on, and learning. I know I am going to step on some major toes with that thought, but it is true. Does your 8 year old really need to know all about sneaking out with a boy or about pole dancing at a club going "Low Low Low"? Now I am a girl who loves to dance, but I have been convicted that the music we let our children hear puts thoughts in their minds. Those thoughts might later become actions.
I know I have opened a whole can of worms here. I am not trying to put myself on a pedestal because I do not do everything right. I am the first to tell you of my many faults. I have more than anyone!!! I just am so heartbroken and saddened by this awful tragedy. I mourn for BOTH families and especially for beautiful Yeardley. After reading about this senseless murder, I am praying for wisdom in raising our children and for Christ to be Lord of their lives and mine. It is by grace alone we all are saved.

How you can help with the oil spill

No matter where you live, you should be considered with the disaster that is happening as millions of gallons of oil are pouring into our waters. The impact is widespread. Seafood prices will rise, we will lose plants and animals and fish, and we humans will also be in danger. This is a mounting concern for all of us. Today I learned of a little something we can ALL do. What part of you attracts the most oil? The answer is your HAIR. Matter of Trust.org is collecting hair and nylons (panty hose) to create booms that will attract the oil and aid in the clean up efforts!! Call your hairdresser TODAY. In fact, call all of the salons in your area and urge them to visit the Matter of Trust website. It will take little effort for them to send the daily hair clippings in to help clean up our shores. Who knew that a little hair goes a long way? Please do your part to help. If you live close to the coast, do what you can to help. If you don't live close to the coast but want to help, find an organization worthy of your donation. This crisis affects ALL of us!!!! Remember, a little hair goes a long way:)!

Tuesday's Tip...ribbon solution

Do you have rolls of ribbon that roll around your gift wrap organizer? Are you always searching for your roll of pink ribbon? If so, you will love my friend, MN's, idea. She has a great room that belongs to her and it holds gift wrap, cubbies, items to return to the store, et cetera. I would LOVE a room such as this. On the counter, she has a paper towel holder filled with ribbon. What a delightful way to store your ribbon! You, too, can be that organized. Simply re-purpose (here you go being green again!) a paper towel holder into a standing RIBBON dispenser! Voila! Aren't you fancy!?!

I have a NEPHEW!!!

I am so blessed to be very close to both of my brothers and their fabulous wives. We have the most precious niece, M, whom we all love very much. Her big, blonde curls and contagious laugh make her the object of all of our affection. She and Hurricane are best buddies and their 7 month age difference is bridged quite easily. They are the best of friends whenever they are together! The hardest part of being so far away is not being near our family on either side. The day to day interactions are greatly missed, though we enjoy our times together on trips home.
Imagine our delight when our first nephew (on my side) was born on Friday night! The little prince was born to my youngest brother and his wife. He is just perfect!!! The pictures they have sent us show another perfect baby. It was all I could do not to abandon my family and hop on a plane the minute I heard she was going to be induced. It was even harder to stay back when I found out they were going to do a c-section. When the first pictures arrived by email last night, our whole family sat around and cooed and cried at his precious little face. What a sweetheart!
Since the prince was born 2 weeks early, it made it more difficult to leave as DH must have help with our 5 children and our helper is not available this week. Therefore, I will wait with my hands tied until the date when my tickets were booked. It'll be here soon and I hope Mama and Baby will need even more help then. This weekend we have been rejoicing over the birth of yet another miracle. Thank you, Lord!!!

Feelin' the Love

Last night was one of our sweetest nights in Tampa. Our dear friends invited us for dinner at their lovely home. Despite the fact that they have 3 young children, the house was quiet and lovely music filled the air. We were invited into the kitchen for a great glass of Conundrum, my "go to" white wine favorite. As we rounded the corner, W said, "Look! This is for you!" She had created the most beautiful movie of our first 15 months in Tampa. Of course I cried. We have been bonding lately over our Macs, and she had taken the time to make a movie of our friendship from its inception to the present. What a lovely gift!
At the dinner table, W had made place cards out of pictures of us. At her own place setting and that of her husband, the pictures were of them with one of us. Is that not the sweetest thing? Then, they served the most incredible dinner of beef tenderloin, fresh asparagus, and creamy mashed potatoes that would make Kim Bailey jealous. YUM!!!!
Following dinner, we retired to the family room where we introduced them to Mad Men. I am not an avid tv watcher, but Mad Men is very interesting. I have a lot of issues with their morals, but the study of the 1960s culture is interesting. I was not born at that time, and I love to see the clothes and how people interacted in society. This was the time of hats and lovely couture, while today we have flip flops and Juicy Couture. W & D were great readers of character in this show. I am not as attuned to the show's characters and the progression of the show, but our friends are smart and they were right on in their character evaluations. We laughed and enjoyed the show before going home! Thank you, W & D, for making us feel so special! We love you:)