Just some snippets from the parties and festivities we enjoyed this past weekend.
And then we went to ‘Vegas for Kids’ here in our little city. The place was hopping and all of the boys had a blast, so did Casey’s pocket book. It was good times though.
Happy Birthday Lukie!!
Ahh the fun never ends around here. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.
I’ve been thinking about my life a bit…
I married the guy I dated at the end of college. We have three boys who somehow all resemble my husband, I thought my genes would be stronger. I drink my coffee with more creamer than coffee. My alarm clock is set for 5:10am Monday through Friday. I blowdry and straighten my hair every third day. I can’t remember the lyrics to any songs other than Jingle Bells and Our God is an Awesome God. I check my weight by how tight my jeans are and 99% of the time my toenails are polished . I love asparagus and spinach but loath broccoli and brussel sprouts. Most mornings I hop I into my SUV and drive my kids across town to the the top-rated schools in our city. On special days, we stop by Starbucks for hot chocolate and bagels, as well as picking up a latte for the teacher. I get to walk my kids to the gate or doorway of school each morning. I enjoy cooking and am currently lusting over the LeCreuset dutch oven at Williams-Sonoma. I don’t own a food processor and think that’s a crime. I’ve never gone hungry a day in my life. My boys have two sets of grandparents who love them like crazy and spoil them rotten. (My 3 year-old thinks life’s biggest injustice is that he doesn’t have a $100 bill.) All while they have so many toys, they don’t even know that I stash some of them away. My hands are always dry because I wash them too much. I have anti-bac/soap/wipes in the diaper bag, in my handbag, at every sink in the house, at the diaper station, in the cabinet by the toilet, and strategically placed at 4 separate places in my car. ( A little OCD?) Last week my biggest travesty was that holes broke through on my designer jeans. Not those jeans. 
As I type this on my fairly new laptop, the current book that I just received from amazon is sitting on the arm of my chair. My cell phone is a foot away along with my DSLR camera and make-up bag. Note, there is no Target make-up in that bag. 
I live in the perfect American box.
Husband, check.
Kids, check.
Home, check.
Car, check.
Two dogs, check.
College education, check.
Credit cards in wallet, check.
Completely unsatisfied and always wanting more, check, check, check.
I believe its time for a change. I don’t like the sort of change I feel coming on. You know, sometimes Jesus prompts us a little out of our comfort zone so He can do great things. Yeah, I’d much rather say I’ll see you after a trip to Nordstrom .
Today is Mr. Dunbar’s birthday. He is old. Like old old. And no matter how old he gets, he’ll always be older than me. That’s why I love him.
Happy Birthday Mr. Dunbar.
I love you.
Always Always.
(this was the only picture I could find of him since christmas.
isn’t he a good dad? taking care of story time with the bible.)
Moving along. 
I am just chugging along this week. My bible study started back , I was engrossed in the conversation that I just about chucked my friends coffee mug across her kitchen counter. Splat went all my coffee. Good thing the mug didn’t break. I wouldn’t be surprised if she handed me a paper cup next week. Then I started talking and lost track of time. Needless to say, I was late to pick up Bogie. So late in fact the teachers called me on the phone. Like “ Hello! Are you going to pick up your kid?” (That means you’re really late.) I was so late in picking up Bogie that I was even late to picking up Monkey. YIKES.
Okay, lesson learned. Than I took Monkey to his new activity class and the teacher was giving me a weird look. So I asked the lady at the front desk if it was okay. She said of course. That is until the actual teacher walked over and said Monkey’s class had just ended. HUH? We missed it? Seriously? I checked my calendar, it said 5:30, should have said 4:30. Great. Winner mom over here.
You would have thought I had totally learned my lesson, right?
Oh no… Today I was running errands and had it clocked down to the minute, to be on time to pick up Monkey. What I didn’t include in my calculations was somebody else needing a potty break. 10 extra minutes it took. AGH. Late again! So not like me.
So tomorrow I’m staying home. And nobody has practice. Hopefully I’ll get them to school on time.
Anyone else ever had one of those days? Or weeks?
I’ve been making a few changes around here.
Living Intentionally
is now “Lady of the House.”
Sort of goes better with the “ladydunbar” URL.
So stay a while.
It’s only going to get better from here.
Out of town cousins were here this week and boy did these guys play, play, play.
In the mud.
On the fort.
In the mud again.
Around and around and around.
There was lots of chasing, and sharing {or trying to"}, lots of “Hey, you wanna do….” and good good fun.
We were sad to say good bye to them last night but excited that we will see them again in a few short weeks hopefully for some snow, snow, snow.
Somebody woke up at 4:22am. Usually its Mr. Dunbar, I hear him stretch and then slip out of bed. But this morning it was the Baby, restless and unsettled. So I got up and fed him, then tried to put him back in his bed. Screams soared, so I picked him back up. Teething sucks. So I rocked him with a blanket over the both of us until I heard him start to breathe heavily and then I got up and tried to lay him back in the crib. Again, screams soared, so picked him back up and tried to rock him again….
As I was rocking him I thought of this year and I wanted to actually categorize and organize my goals. {I’m a bit of a type-A}
Anyhow, in no particular order…
This Year 2012:
Be Content: Focus on the blessings I do have
Be Wise: Spend more time daily in the Word and my understanding of it
Be Healthy: Workout 3-4 times a week, continue to improve our menu with healthy and tasty choices, especially snacks for myself.
Be Smart: Shut my mouth when mean words are ready to fly off of it. Listen, really listen. Watch that checkbook (ATM card actually.) Go back up to goal number one: Be content. And embrace new opportunities.
Be Happy: My life is good. Oh so good. I need to remember this and to treasure the small things and the milestones that will be reached this year.
Be Calm: Things will get done. When I am calm this home is also. So get up earlier if I need to get something done.
These are from the day after Christmas. Remember, calm. Breathe. Calm.
The kid loves the cell phone, do you see him eyeballing it?
Calm. It will get done….
Now I’m off to have a strong cup of coffee, play with a baby, and scrub some floors.
We celebrated a New York New Year’s this year, complete with Apple Cider, swine- wrapped green beans, and no-egg cookie dough. YUM.
Nothing says “Good beginnings” like Martinelli’s.
We toasted and welcomed in the New Year.
2012.
.
Holy Moly.
2012!!
Then we came home, made our kids brush their teeth and went to bed. That’s life.
On Sunday morning, we got up and went to Church. And it was good. Like really good. Like God used Pastor Nathan to tear it up on stage, and it got my mind and my heart situated for a brand new year. Because I was ready, to say Good bye to 2011. Not as ready as I had been in 2010 or maybe even 2009, but ready. Looking back, I think things are actually on the upswing. But looking forward Mr. Dunbar and I are right in the middle of a chapter of life. We are not starting a new one, we aren’t ready to end one, we are just in the middle of one. A chapter I’ll be writing this upcoming year. Care to join me on this journey?
In order to really start the year off right, we had our annual goal setting dinner. Every year since we’ve been married we go out to dinner the first week of January and set goals for our year. Goals for our family, goals for God, goals for money, goals for achievement. Some years have been rough. Some years not so rough. This year it was good. Real good. It was real. Ever had one of those conversations with your spouse? You should.
But before I get too serious, let me show you our dinner.
We ate at Wood Ranch. There is nothing better than a good dinner. Only a good dinner that is free. Gotta love those Christmas gift cards. Thanks Judy.
Fresh baked garlic rolls. YUM. I think I ate an entire basket by myself. Good thing I don’t have any diet resolutions.
Look at Mr. Dunbar smiling over his pulled pork sandwich.
That sauce in the middle, in that little tin cup, A. MA. ZING. Seriously, it revolutionized the sandwich from something that you could make at home to something worth paying for.
Now for my dinner. I ordered the Chop Chop Salad. Do not order this salad. Blah. Blah. Blah. But they did exchange my salad and got me the Natalie, in like 2 minutes flat.
So, I’m still raving about Wood Ranch.
Anyhow, back to the real story. Mr. Dunbar and I set our goals for the year. BIG goals. Bigger goals then we’ve ever set, which is funny because in reality, they are probably the most small goals we’ve ever made, but we are going to really accomplish them. And I’m excited.
That’s why on my new header, whenever I get it up, you’ll see that it says something about an “authentic life.” True, I do live each and every day intentionally. But seriously, my intentional-ness has a lot to do with laundry and dishes, along with math facts and menu planning. With some potty training and video games thrown into the mix. Not headline stuff people.
But my hope for this upcoming year and this blog is that you will see the authentic side of myself and this little Dunbar family. I am deciding to let go of outdated beliefs, old identities, and just plain baggage that I’ve held on to for so long. You know, those truly unrealistic expectations.
I hope you stay a while as we journey through what God has in store for us, as we decide to invest our time in family and fun, and as we conquer each of our goals to get us to the end of the chapter we are in the midst of. I know its not going to be easy. My pulse gets a little faster when I think of what we are going to do this year. I’m still planning on keeping the general gist of the same blog, and perhaps some WIWW (those are harder than I thought) , along with some recipes, and who know’s what else. Hair tips?Genn and I are going to do a Vlog at some point, I’m going to conn her into doing my hair extra big and letting you all see it. Ha. And I’ve got some other ideas of people and things I’d like to introduce here as well.
It should be fun and if nothing else, it will be authentic.
Happy New Year. And Welcome 2012!
