escapades unlimited

Nobody consulted me, but...

2010-01-21T14:05:00.001-05:00

I think that "Calliou" ought to be called "Whiney Hiney McWhinerpants".

That is all. Have a nice day.

2009-12-08T12:32:00.005-05:00

Whenever I am not right here on my laptop, or in front of a keyboard, I seem to have a whole bunch of ideas and exciting things to talk about to the near-nothingness that visits this blog. I just feel like I could type and type a very interesting entry, but when it comes down to sitting here and typing it, it either just exits the brain, or it just doesn't seem to be appealing at all. Why is that? I wonder, what makes some people's blogs something that you keep coming back to, but other people like me, just don't ever have anything interesting to say?

Well, let me say this, interesting or not.Pandora.com is pure genius. There are two things that will bring up memories faster than anything else, and they are smells and music. I can hear a song and it will transport me over time and space, back to whatever time my memory grasped that song. Listening to Pandora brings back so many memories that listening to it is like opening Pandora's Box. Oh wait! I get it! That's why it's called "Pandora"! I never said I was a genius.

Not only that, but music can instantly change your mood. What genius to be able to listen to music that soothes or celebrates or energizes. It's just genius. Hear me now and believe me later. And I'm not getting paid to tell you about them.

So hey, it's two posts in a month. Let's hear it for consistency! There's more I want to share so stay tuned!

One of the seven technological wonders that is facebook

2009-11-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

For all one of my loyal readers... wondering why I haven't been blogging in the last year or so? Apparently all of my hours of blogging time has been hijacked by facebook. I really don't know what the appeal is to most people, but for me it is the best way to be nosy without actually morphing into Gladys Kravitz.

Not only that, but I get to play fun games like Farmville where I can while away several minutes of my precious time farming things like raspberries, which harvest in a mere two hours and pattypan squash, which I have never even heard of. Not to EAT this bountiful harvest, mind you, but just for animated computerific fun. Really, my goal is to overtake the level of my niece who hooked me on this time consuming nonsensical game, just to show her who's Farmville Boss.

And speaking of "Boss", I am quite the Mafia Queen. I am only 45 more blackmail photos and untold amounts of "energy" away from becoming a (not quite) actual Mafia Boss. Woo Hoo!

Yesterday, we were telling my 6 year old son that we didn't even have computers when we were his age and he said, "You must not have had any fun then." We neglected telling him about the fun that was Atari, because really that didn't come out until I was much older than he is and because I had the knockoff Sega version. We had one game that I remember. It was a car racing game that was black and white. You played it as if you were controlling the car from the perspective of the Goodyear blimp. I was the champion of that game because I figured out the pattern. My mother was so proud.

I am wondering what I ever did before facebook and computers? Was my house cleaner? Um, no. Was I reading books more? No, because I have read more books this year since school started than I have read since I was enrolled in school full time. More on that in a later blog post. I can imagine that you are sitting on the edge of you seat, so I will end this post there. Just wanted to let you know why I fell off of the blogging wagon, and it is all because of facebook.

Starting over? Again? Really this time? We shall see...

2009-11-29T13:05:00.001-05:00

I am going to try the blogging thing again. I keep forgetting about the blog, because now there is facebook, but I wouldn't want to blog on facebook.

Anyway, I keep coming up with some ideas to try for this blog. And maybe another blog too. We'll see.

I will (re)start with this post.

Yay me. Getting started again.

Just Like Before Kids. (Almost.)

2008-12-01T08:50:00.006-05:00

I don't know about you, but it is a rare day that my husband and I get to go out like we used to BK (before kids). So, when a friend of my husband's told us that he and his band from the mid-1990's said that he was coming into town for Thanksgiving to have a reunion show we called "PaPa" and asked if he would keep the kids for the night.

We prepared for the show by napping the afternoon before, because the music wasn't scheduled to start until 10:30! That is about the time I am usually yawning and stretching and getting ready to go to bed if I am not already asleep by then.

Some of our other friends were going to the show too and we went to dinner with them. We talked about old times, about our kids and about our jobs; basically, the conversation was nothing like the conversations that would have occurred 10 years ago.

We knew that we were a tad early when the mothers of some of the band members walked in after we did. When the show started 30 minutes late, we were rockin' out! That band should have made it big. They were awesome! Talent does not guarantee success, because those guys have some major talent. Never mind that they all have kids and had their pants pulled up too high and are balding. They rocked the house down.

At one point at the beginning of the show, the bass player/singer went to the mic and said "Thanks for getting baby-sitters and coming out tonight." It was funny, because looking around the room was like being at a college party except that we were all OLD and had put on a few pounds. (ahem!) I thought to myself that I wished I could freeze time for a moment, but it was nice to just close my eyes and know that my husband was there and would be there even when we picked up our kids and when our routine starts over again.

I can't wait for the next reunion show. I hope that they don't wait so long this time.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T21:52:00.002-05:00

So, here's what I want to know...

If you do not believe in God Almighty who made heaven and earth and everything in it, why do you celebrate THANKSGIVING? To whom, exactly, are you GIVING THANKS?

So, my last post was in August

2008-11-15T12:33:00.006-05:00

So, my last post was in August.

Great.

Does anyone look at this?

HELLO! (HELLO!)
ECHO! (ECHO!)

Filtering the cobwebs here....

I have some thoughts on this blogging thing and I may actually start up again or start a new one.

Is there any way to blog offline and post later? It seems like I have heard someone say that there is, but I cant remember how they said to do it. I think it is a blog "plug-in" or something.

And before I go, if anyone is still there, I will tell you a hilarious blog I look at daily. It is: cakewrecks.com.

First Day of Bible Study

2008-08-28T15:32:00.002-05:00

Today was the first day of my Fall Bible Study. We are doing Kay Arthur's Return to the Garden: Embracing God's Design For Sexuality.

Really? Yes, it is a Bible study on sexuality. Can you imagine?

What I love about this is the age range of the ladies in the group. There are some who have great-grandchildren to new mothers to young adult women. One lady shared that she is 66 years old and is madly in love with her high school sweetheart since being reunited with him after 40 years. They have both been married twice before and lost spouses both from divorce and death. They are keeping themselves "pure" for each other until they are married after the first of the year. Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard?

I love that.

Today was the introduction and it was a general overview of our culture's emphasis on "in your face" sex and what it does to our view of ourselves and our intimate relationships.

Kay Arthur has quite a testimony that she shared bits of in the DVD today. Put it this way: she is qualified to teach this study. There was one moment when I literally thought, "Did she just say that? I can't believe she just said that!" But more importantly, she said that her goal is to teach each of us how to uncover for ourselves what God's Word says by an inductive method of study. Asking the "5 W's and 1 H" questions to each passage, highlighting key words and really understanding what God says. That is a skill that will go on long after this study is over.

One final thought that I had after the lesson today is that WE are responsible for teaching our children what God's word says and that it is ABSOLUTE TRUTH and what we base our behaviors on. If we do not teach our children, they will learn from the world and what the world shows us is the polar opposite of what God teaches. What a tremendous responsibility!

The Invisible Woman

2008-08-17T12:18:00.001-05:00

I might be the last woman to see this, but I love it. I hope it blesses you as it blessed me.

One final challenge

2008-08-16T11:06:00.000-05:00

Oh, the dreaded exercise. How I hate it. Not so much doing the exercises or being sore, or sweating, or any of that. It is all of the preparation to the exercising. Like putting on a sports bra. And shoes. And clothes.

Carving out time in the day to do the exercising is also a problem. I would like to exercise before showering so that I don't have to waste time showering twice in one day. After all, there are more important things to do during the day like writing self-deprecating blog posts about all of the challenges in my life in order to run off the one person who reads my blog.

What is frustrating to me though, is that I lead such a sedentary lifestyle that I know if I put in a little effort it would yield such a high payoff. But then, you have to put on shoes. and a sports bra.

Putting it in writing is actually helpful, because it makes me see how silly it is not to want to put clothes and shoes on.

To sum up these last few posts, my challenges all boil down to one thing and one thing only. I am LAZY. There is no one to change that, except me and me alone. I will let you know how I progress during the next few weeks, because I am committed to changing some of these (if not all of these) challenges into routines.

Here's hoping.

Still more on my challenges

2008-08-15T10:05:00.000-05:00

Time alone with God.

You know, this is really a topic.

I love God. I love Jesus. I believe that the instant I die, I will be present with the Lord. I watch some christian shows on TV, one of which is Wednesdays with Beth on Life Today. Have you ever seen her on this show? Have you ever seen Beth Moore in anything? She always seems to be SO EXCITED to "get a word from the Lord". Sometimes she says, "Is there anything you would rather be doing besides getting a word from the Lord?" and, "Oooh! I'm so fired up right now, I just can't wait to read you this passage from the Bible."

You know, I'm not sure I have ever been that excited about reading the Bible or "getting a word from the Lord".

Is that a character flaw? Is that something I should be worried about? Am I not spiritual enough? Do I not love God as much as I should? What does that mean?

I have heard people say that when you fall in love with a person that you want to be with that person all the time so that you know everything about them. The point being that because we are supposed to be so in love with the Lord that all we should want to do is be in His word or in prayer all of the time.

I don't feel like that. I feel bad that I don't feel like that. But I don't. What does that do for my testimony?

Don't get me wrong, though. I love doing my Bible Study lessons and I love going to Sunday School and church and learning more about the Bible and how it applies to our current lives. I love all of that, but when it comes down to getting up an hour earlier than everyone in my house every. single. day. to have quiet time, I just don't feel it. It's just not something I feel so compelled and excited about. Now, I know, I could fit the quiet time in some other time of the day and I may do that, especially when I am doing a Bible study, but sometimes I don't.

So, I have prayed to get a longing and a hunger for spending time with the Lord. I guess now, the challenge is actually sitting down and doing it.

More challenges

2008-08-14T10:05:00.002-05:00

So, yesterday, we covered cleaning/organizing.

Today, I thought we would talk about cooking. This one, I think I can get a handle on if I try, but there is the key word: try. The reason for my reluctance to try is that I think that cooking is a terrible job and I hate it. Eating, I love, but cooking is for the birds.

We go out to eat several times a week. This is not good on the budget and is probably not as healthful as eating home cooked food at home.

So, I have identified the problem. I don't like to cook, but eating out is expensive.

Here is the solution as I see it:

1. I need a meal plan.
2. I need a grocery list for my meal plan.
3. I need to discipline myself to actually cook what is on my meal plan so that the food is ready at the desired meal time.
4. I should get started on this right now.

This leads my to my next challenge which is couponing. I really like to get the receipt for my groceries and look at the bottom where it says "You saved $xx.xx today". I love for that number to be really high. What ends up happening, though is that I only buy what is on sale or what I have a coupon for and not so much of what I need. Then I wind up with the pantry filled with strange things that don't go together to make a meal. If I buy only from a list, I end up spending nearly $15,000/year on food, which I blogged about in the beginning of my blog. (I don't know how to link to that specific post, or I would do it here.)

Also, snacks and meals other than dinner? I'm not such a good planner of those either.

So, I'm going to get started on my meal plan for next week RIGHT NOW.

Challenges in my life right now

2008-08-13T10:05:00.000-05:00

Oh, challenges. There are many.

Cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, couponing, bill paying, time alone with God, kids, exercising.

What I really need is a plan of attack. How am I going to get all of these things done? How does anyone get all of these things done?

I am not an organized or creative person by nature, so I am already starting behind the curve on most of this stuff. I have tried and failed at the FlyLady plan numerous times, but I think I see where she is trying to go with it. Do a little bit every day and see how much you progress over time.

I think I need a list or a schedule. My excuses include: maybe summer is a bad time to begin with this because there isn't really a schedule to our days. Also, since I work a totally random schedule, it makes it hard to say that I will do this or that on one certain day of the week, unless I say that about a weekend day, and I like to have the weekend days as flexible as possible. I can't clean with the kids around. There is too much to do.

One of my friends who has been a full time working mother, to a stay at home mother, to a full time student/stay at home mother has a daily chore list. She just looks at the day of the week, and does the chore. If she doesn't get the chores of the day done, she just does them the next week. Sounds like a good plan, but I get bogged down in the planning and not in the doing.

The other major problem to my housekeeping is that I tend to be a hoarder. I have things in drawers and stuffed in corners and in boxes in different areas of the house. If I go through the boxes, I can usually pare them down, but there always seems to be stuff that I don't want to get rid of, but they don't have a place. Some of these things include baby pictures that need to go in albums or scrapbooks. I have some scrapbooking supplies that are in a box and I have no idea how to scrapbook. I guess I thought if I bought the supplies, that it would just occur to me how to do it.

So, I have rambled on, whined and complained about my lack of cleaning finesse. Just wait until I elaborate on the rest of my challenges.

bloggy commitment issues

2008-08-12T09:47:00.002-05:00

It has been so long since I have posted anything that the screen even looks different. Have they changed this thing?

Over the last few days and weeks, I have thought about so many things I could blog about, but I feel that my writing is so inconsequential that it doesn't matter if I write anything or not. But it would be nice to have some things documented if not just for my own reference.

It occurs to me that everything in life is a commitment, from committing to shower everyday to keeping house to blogging. Of course there are priorities in these commitments and so sometimes they may or may not get done in a day. Sometimes showering is a difficult task to get in, but as BooMama says, "We have to have GOALS."

So my goal for today is to get this boggy blog back to it's original grandeur.

100 things about me

2008-04-17T11:06:00.001-05:00

1. I will be 40 this year. (yikes!)
2. My name is not "kardel".
3. I don't know why I decided to use that name and not my real name.
4. Maybe it is because I am afraid of the internet boogy man.
5. I wish I knew more about blogging and the internet.
6. I think of a lot of things to blog about, but forget them when I sit down to write.
7. My husband is 35 and our children are going to turn 3 and 5 this year.
8. I discovered this when I was looking at buying birthday candles for him and I realized that we could re-use them for the kids' birthday.
9. This post is late. It is actually my 105th post.
10. I am never on time.
11. People think I am funny when I am trying to be serious.
12. I spend most of my online time reading blogs.
13. I have read a bunch of these 100 things posts.
14. I never realized how hard they are to write.
15. I am half Norwegian and half Southern. I am a Norwegian Southerner.
16. I like grits and sweet tea.
17. I was born in Georgia.
18. I went to college in Mississippi.
19. I moved from Mississippi to South Carolina.
20. I swore that I would never go back to my hometown.
21. I don’t live in my hometown.
22. I work there. (Does that count as going back?)
23. I was married to the wrong guy for 8 years.
24. We didn’t have any children.
25. He had an affair.
26. Four months after we were divorced, I married his best friend.
27. They aren’t very close anymore, but they still work together.
28. We went on our honeymoon to Holland. (The Netherlands)
29. We were supposed to come back from Holland on September 12, 2001.
30. Then September 11 happened.
31. We got 5 extra days vacation after that.
32. I thought we were going to have to learn Dutch and get jobs.
33. But we didn’t.
34. Two years later, we had our son.
35. He looks and acts a lot like his father
36. Two years after that, we had our daughter.
37. She acts a lot like me.
38. I was 34 and 36 when I had my children.
39. I feel like the oldest parent of preschoolers when around other children's parents.
40. My mother was 36 when she had me.
41. My mother worked full time when I was growing up.
42. I planned to go back to work full time after I had my son.
43. When my son turned 3 weeks old I cried, because he was “growing up”.
44. I decided that day that I wouldn’t let him go to daycare.
45. Now I work part time.
46. I have been a registered nurse for 17 years.
47. That seems impossible.
48. I went to nursing school after my junior year in college because I didn’t know what else to do.
49. I never wanted to be a nurse growing up.
50. No one in my immediate family is in the medical field, except my husband.
51. My husband is a paramedic.
52. I always joke that I wanted to marry a doctor, so I married a ditch doctor.
53. Twice.
54. I worked in the Emergency Room for 8 years.
55. Now I work in Outpatient Surgery.
56. I like my job, but I miss the ER.
57. I have thought about going back.
58. Then I remember why I left.
59. This post is harder than it seems.
60. I have three older sisters.
61. No brothers.
62. I only talk to one of my sisters on a regular basis.
63. She is 12 years older than me.
64. We are nothing alike.
65. My best friend has been my best friend for 27 years.
66. That makes me feel old.
67. She lives in Connecticut.
68. I haven’t seen her in a few years, but I have rarely gone a month without talking to her.
69. Usually we talk at least once a week.
70. She remembers things that happened to me even if she wasn’t there and I remember things that happened to her even if I wasn’t there. We can complete each other’s memories.
71. We never talk about religion, politics or how to raise children, because we are polar opposites in those areas.
72. I like to watch boxing.
73. My favorite boxer is Ricky Hatton. He’s awesome.
74. I am deathly afraid of roaches.
75. It is because I had to look at their legs under a microscope in high school biology.
76. That is very gross, in case you were wondering.
77. I am afraid of heights.
78. I always wonder what would happen if I fell.
79. Ever since I had my children, I don’t want to watch movies, unless they are a comedy.
80. I am afraid of hail.
81. When I was in college, a hail storm broke all of the windows in my apartment.
82. While I was there.
83. I was terrified.
84. Summer is my favorite season.
85. I love to swim.
86. I was saved by the grace of God and the love of Jesus when I was 9 years old.
87. I thank God for that.
88. I did my first Beth Moore Bible study last fall.
89. It was about the Tabernacle.
90. I didn’t think I would like it and I didn’t. I LOVED IT.
91. I cried doing that study.
92. I cry at happy things.
93. I cry almost every week at church.
94. I like to read.
95. I would rather read a paperback than a hardback book.
96. I like fiction best, but also enjoy memoirs.
97. I am a disorganized person, but I wish I wasn't.
98. I like to keep everything.
99. This was really much harder than it seems.
100. I'm glad I'm finished.

I am THAT person

2008-04-16T19:43:00.004-05:00

Do you know that person who doesn't know when to just shut up? The one who insults you without even trying? The total buffoon in social situations?

I am that person.

Yesterday, I ran into some people I knew (of) in high school. I think I said some things that were complete insults to them, but I didn't mean to. I didn't even realize it until today. Now I wish I could go back and not even tell them that I may (or may not) have known them.

So if you meet someone who doesn't know when to shut their mouth, it might be me.

Book Review: Between Sundays

2008-04-12T10:44:00.002-05:00

Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury did not disappoint. She is becoming one of my favorite authors. Her books are strong on character and plot development without being complicated or difficult to read.

This book is a stand alone title. It is about a child, Cory, who believes that one of the most popular NFL players is his dad. His mother died and he is being cared for by his mother's best friend. She wants to adopt him, but can't, because of complications due to his belief that his dad is Aaron Hill, the quarterback of the San Francisco 49'er's. Aaron Hill has some problems of his own and looks for guidance from his teammate and backup quarterback. Fortunately, he leads him in the right direction. While Kingsbury is somewhat predictable in her outcome, this book is worth reading. I highly recommend it.

If it weren't for neighbors, what would we do for entertainment?

2008-04-02T22:03:00.002-05:00

My sister lives in a great neighborhood in a nearby town. The thing is that she lives on a corner. A very busy corner. The road in front of her house has been used as a cut through road from some busier roads, so there is quite a bit of traffic there, so many things have happened at this particular corner over the last 15 or so years she has lived there.

One time a car, which was pulling a boat on a trailer, had an accident right in front of her house and the boat went flying off of the trailer and landed in the bushes of the house across the street from her. She said that it seemed like nobody really knew how to pick it up to remove it.

Another time, she had a girl jump out of a moving SUV in front of her house because she was having a fight with her boyfriend. They called 911 and she refused transport to the hospital. I think she actually left with the boyfriend in the same SUV.

There was the time a man attempted to commit suicide by slicing his wrist in front of her house and bled all over her sidewalk.

There was the time that a hot air balloon basket floated by on her eye level down the street in front of her house.

There have been some criminals being chased on foot in the middle of the night who were caught in her front yard. It could be that they were caught because of her youngest son's interest in digging holes in the yard. I think one of the alleged criminals unsuspectingly stepped into a giant hole and twisted his ankle just long enough for the police to catch him.

I can't think of anymore, but lets just say that it doesn't surprise her (anymore) to wake up in the middle of the night with blue lights flashing on her bedroom walls.

Well, I just want to say that she doesn't have the market cornered on excitement. Tonight, we were sitting outside talking to our neighbors and we kept hearing firetrucks getting closer and closer. I thought they sounded loud, because they cut some trees behind our house, and the road noise seems louder now, but as it turned out, three firetrucks and three police cars actually stopped about 3 houses down from our house. Being nosy and all, we walked down to see what all was going on, and we watched the firemen all decked out in their fireproof suits, go into the house, carry something ablaze onto the driveway and stomp it out. Then, they took a fire extinguisher and hosed it off a bit. After that, the three firetrucks packed up and headed out. It was quite a thrill.

I thought my kids would like to see the firetrucks and the lights and the firemen in their gear, but they were more interested in the dog in the back yard of a neighboring house. "Look Mom, a dog!" Obviously, a good time was had by all.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-04-02T12:20:00.000-05:00

OK. It's almost 4 minutes and it's not wordless, so I cheated again. But I think it's very funny and if you are a fan of American Idol and/or Mad TV you will like it too.

Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ and Wordless Wednesday on 5 Minutes for Mom.

Someday

2008-04-01T22:39:00.002-05:00

I finished reading Someday (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 3) by Karen Kingsbury.

Y'all.

I can not wait for the last book to come out. Since I didn't blog about each individual book in the Baxter Family Series until now, it would be impossible to explain this one book.

Let me just say this. I have dreamed about the characters. I have been mad at the characters. I have laughed. I have cried. I have worried about the characters. I have dreaded that the last book in the series is coming out. I haven't been able to get into any other book since I started reading the series in January.

If you haven't read any of these books, read Redemption (Redemption Series-Baxter 1, Book 1) first. If you don't love it, don't read anymore, but if you are like me, you will blast through the rest of that series and move through the Firstborn series and then through the current Sunrise Series. These books are easy to read, but have exceptional character and plot development. They are rich in content.

I just can't say enough positive things about them. Go get the books and let me know if you don't love them too.

April Fool

2008-04-01T22:32:00.003-05:00

I'm not really a fan of the April Fool's joke.

However, today was an exception. When I woke my son for school today, I told him that it is April Fools Day, just so that if any of the other 4-K goers (some of them have turned 5 already) said anything silly or funny he would know why.

Well, tonight at dinner, he proudly announced that he put a snake in his mouth. When we looked up at him, he smiled and said "April Fool"!

His first April Fool! My baby is growing up!

Spring Cleaning? No Thanks. I'll Read Some More Blogs.

2008-03-27T09:19:00.003-05:00

I might be the laziest person on the planet. I just can't get myself organized. I don't really even want to start. All I want to do is read blogs, read my books, play with the kids, and that's about it.

What I need to do is some spring cleaning.

Not to mention the laundry. How is it that the laundry piles up like it does? I can't seem to get on top of it. It just seems like one minute I will be so proud of myself for having it all done, and the next minute my husband is huffing because he's out of underwear. Shame on me for letting him run out of clean undies.

I have a friend who has two kids and she manages to keep her house clean and organized while also going to school to get her master's degree and student teaching. How is this possible? I've never found the secret. All I have to do is work two days a week and keep the house.

Tell me, how do you keep your houses? What's the trick? Does anyone know a personal organizer? Maid service? Laundry service? Time saving tips and tricks?

Spring Reading List 2008

2008-03-20T09:00:00.005-05:00

I am so excited! The Spring Reading Thing is here!

Last year when I participated, I didn't read as much as I thought I would. So this year, I am going to start small and expand as I read, so come back again.

As I posted earlier, I have been reading all of the Baxter Family Series books by Karen Kingsbury. I am currently reading Someday (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 3). I can not recommend these books enough.

My next book is Between Sundays also by Karen Kingsbury. A friend gave me a copy to read since I have enjoyed her other books so much. I will probably read this one next since I have to wait until the final book in the Baxter Series comes out.

Finally, I have had The Yada Yada Prayer Group (Yada Yada Prayer Group, Book 1) sitting on my nightstand for a couple of months. It is the first book in a series by Neta Jackson. I am looking forward to reading this one!

In non-fiction, I have plans to read and implement the strategies in The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey, however, I don't have a copy of that book yet.

So, that's it for now. If I get through those, I will add on, but this time, I'm keeping it simple. I can't wait to see what everyone else is reading.

You can participate, view reading lists of other people, get some tips and find out what it's all about by clicking here. Many thanks to Katrina of Calapidder Days
for hosting!

Oh, to Win this Prize. Yum!

2008-03-17T09:26:00.004-05:00

There is a contest for $25 gift certificate to Outback Steakhouse at the blog of Chilihead, Don't Try This At Home.

Outback is one of my favorite local places to eat and because we have four mouths to feed, it is a place we seldom go anymore. To say that I want to win this contest would be an understatement. So I will tell you all about what I will do when I win this contest.

First, I will call ahead to get our name on the list. They have "call ahead seating" here. Then I will load up the car with everyone, unless I can find a sitter and then I will leave the kids home with some hotdogs and/or PB&J.

Second, I will sit at the lovely table and look over their special menu items that they have especially because they are celebrating their 20th anniversary this month.

Finally, I will eat like the non-dieting person I want to be. And then I will relish the moment and maybe even order dessert. After all, I have a gift certificate for $25. How awesome is that?

Thanks Chilihead!

If You Need to Purify Water, I'll Ask My Nephew

2008-03-16T20:37:00.008-05:00

Do you remember doing science projects in school? I do. Mostly I remember coming up with a hypothesis and then trying to prove or disprove it. I never understood that. Why wouldn't you just come up with something you want to know and then do some tests to figure it out?

The only project I can remember doing was about the taste of Coke vs Pepsi vs "Big K Cola". Well, I did some taste tests at school during recess. The kids were all too happy to get a small cup of Coke. (That's what we here down south call all carbonated drinks. For example: "Jewgit the cokes at the WalMark?" means "Did you purchase soft drinks at the grocery store?")

Anyway, the kids. They just wanted a little bit of coke. Which was great the first day. I was the most popular girl at school that day. I would give them 3 small cups of each and they would have to guess which was which and tell me which was their favorite. It worked out beautifully for the first day. After that, the 2 Liter bottles lost all of their fizz. Well, who wants flat Big K cola? Nobody. I couldn't get anybody to say that they liked any of them or if they could decide which was which, because, well, yuck.

Needless to say, I wasn't winning any awards for my scientific prowess.

Which is completely opposite of my brilliant 7th grade nephew. He won first place at his middle school, first place in his subject for the region and third place in the region overall. Pretty cool, huh? I am so proud of him. Oh, and his project? He did testing on some creek water in his neighborhood to see if he could purify it for drinking. And that is about all I can remember. That and he said he was dealing with e coli in that very creek water. Maybe next year he can do a project about prescription drugs in their tap water.

I Have A Question!

2008-03-11T14:10:00.004-05:00

There must be a party going on somewhere. I can't seem to get anything done because I can't quit looking at all of the wonderful party posts of the over 1100 partiers. Amazing the turnout those girls at 5 minutes for Mom get at these bloggy festivities.

I figure that I had better start posting this week if I am going to post my 100 things about me during the UBP '08. I am not completely sure I know 100 things about myself to begin with, but here's hoping.

The weather here is very comfortable with temps in the upper 60's, so I threw my kids out into the back yard. I hope they run and run and run and then run some more. We could go to the playground down the street, but they seem to be enjoying the back yard just as well. If anyone is still there from the blog party, I have a question. I was wondering if any of you have/had play sets for your kids and if you have any recommendations for those. We went to Lowe's and Home Depot and looked at what they have and we got a mailer from Toys R Us and looked at what they offer. They all look pretty much the same to me. Is one better/cheaper/more fun/more durable than the others?

I hope to get some good answers to this in the comments. My kids are 2 and 4 and we would like to pick the best one that will grow up with them and that we will enjoy for years to come.

Let's Get This Party Started!

2008-03-09T11:30:00.004-05:00

Click the banner to go to the 5 Minutes For Mom website where the party is going strong!

OK, so I'm like 2 or 3 days late. But I couldn't help it. Friday, when the party officially began, I had to work 12 hours and yesterday I couldn't get into Blogger to post when my kids were occupied doing other things, so I know that you will all forgive me for being just a little more than "fashionably" late to this wonderful bloggy partay.

Let me introduce myself. I am an almost 40 year old mother of a 2 year old and a 4 year old, who will be 3 and 5 within a matter of weeks. I am the wife of a "younger man" He is 35 and doesn't mind calling me "the old lady" since I am older than he is. His friends wonder how he gets away with calling me that, but they don't know that he seldom, if ever, calls me that when I am present.

I am a nurse, but only work part time. It's all I can handle and at the same time, I couldn't handle not working. It's a nice break. I blog about my kids, I post funny videos sometimes, I talk about my futile attempts at losing weight and exercising, and many other random topics. You never know what is coming next.

I participated in the UBP 2007 and found some really great blogs. I hope that I will be one that you come back to during the next year, so come on into the blog. Look around. Make yourself at home. Comment if you'd like. I would call myself a random and sporadic blogger, but I like to think that I will post more often. Maybe. I hope.

Anyway, if you check back very soon, I will be doing a "100 Things About Me" post when it is my 100th post, which is coming in just a few more posts, so stay tuned. I hope to get it in during the festivities of this Ultimate Blog Party '08.

Enjoy!

It Starts March 20

2008-03-06T10:36:00.004-05:00

Callapidder Days Spring Reading Thing, that is. Last Spring I participated in the SRT '07 and it was great fun. I even won a book! Diva Nashvegas by Rachel Hauck; it was actually very good.

This year I have read all of the Karen Kingsbury Baxter Series books, so I will have to pick some books that are equally as captivating. I can't imagine what they will be, but when I get my nose out of the two remaining Sunrise Series books I am finishing now, I will have a better idea of what they will be.

Just suffice it to say that I am looking forward to

Hope to see you there!

Catching up....again.

2008-03-03T16:17:00.003-05:00

It's already March. Can you believe that? I just don't know where the time goes.

Just to let you know a little about what I've been doing the past month or so since I have posted anything.

I have read the entire Redemption Series by Karen Kingsbury, the entire Firstborn Series by Karen Kingsbury and I am into the Sunrise Series by Karen Kingsbury now. Let me tell you it is the greatest diversion from reality I can think of. Especially since the writer's strike took away any decent television. (Speaking of the writer's strike and on a completely unrelated note, did you know that on "The People's Court" when the Plaintiff and Defendant are walking in they don't have a narrarator to tell the summary of what the case is about because apparently no other person who works on the set could come up with anything?) Anyway, I have been knee deep into the lives of the Baxters, the Flanigans and Dayne and Katy Matthews. I thought about blogging about each book, but let me tell you, I just couldn't have done them justice. These books are really, really good. They are easy to read and the suck you in like you know these people and live among them. I have dreamed about them, wondered what was going on with them when the story line would shift off of them. I've even been mad at some of the characters for doing something in the story. The best part is that when you finish one of the books, there is another one that picks up where the last one left off. You don't have to learn another set of characters and you don't have to learn a new author's style. I can not recommend these books highly enough.

The other thing I have been doing is exercising like a mad woman. I have lost only 5 pounds by the scale, but I think my measurements have changed although I haven't really been measuring them. Maybe I should start that so I can update my progress in that area.

My kids and I have been sick sick sick. For our first round, the doctor called it "flu-like cold symptoms" and said treat with Tylenol and Motrin. I felt like we didn't need her to tell us that and I could have saved my co-pay, so in the second round I waited until my son had ear pain before we went to the doctor to tell us that he has an ear infection. I think I have had 3 different versions of the "flu-like cold symptoms" and am dealing with a bit of that now. My nose feels like it is 3 times it's normal size and my head feels like it could explode. So, clearly, I am in a wonderful mood.

Hopefully I will be blogging more often as I am planning to participate in the Ultimate Blog Party on March 7-14. It may be that my 100th post falls during that week and I will post 100 things about me. I have no idea what 100 things about me will be, but I am sure it will be riveting entertainment for the one person who reads my blog and those unsuspecting new folks who will stumble onto my blog.

Anyway, until next time, if you haven't read all of the Karen Kingsbury Series books, GO AND GET THEM and then we can discuss. They are wonderful.

Wordless Wednesday: What were they thinking?

2008-02-13T10:13:00.005-05:00

I know, its a video, but I couldn't resist.

Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ

Bathing suit season, here I come!

2008-02-01T22:54:00.000-05:00

I'm back! And I'm 6 pounds lighter. Yay! Keeping it up is a good thing. I am finally starting to see some results.

I'll keep posting about my losses, because without those, it just isn't a diet, is it?

I'll tell you what I'm doing. Ready? I'm eating fewer calories by replacing my breakfast with a protein bar and eating a very light lunch and pretty much whatever I want for dinner. I also eat fruit or nuts for snacks all during the day. I quit drinking anything but water with lemon. (And coffee, of course.) And I am doing an hour of Gilad about 2 or 3 times a week.

That is about to change though. I just bought a two DVD set of my new pretend boyfriend Gilad's "Express Workouts". Hopefully it will get me moving for 6 out of 7 days a week. And that, my friends is my ace in the hole. I will keep you posted. I'm not brave enough to do the before and after photos, but I'll tell you how it works anyway.

Random Randomness

2008-01-21T10:45:00.000-05:00

First, you won't believe this, but persistence has paid off. I lost another 2 pounds. So my grand total weight loss is 3.5 pounds. No need to stand and clap. Silent kudos will be fine. This is the slowest. process. ever.

Second, my 2 year old is learning to sing the alphabet. She sings sometimes when she thinks that nobody is listening. For instance at the grocery store, she breaks out into "Old MacDonald" E-I-E-I-O! The other day, she was singing in the car and sang, (sing along to get the full effect) "A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-Ellenopidy-"

(The other thing she says that I think is too cute is "Hippopominus".)

And, finally, what would a 4 year old boy's life be without the tragedy of dropping a favorite Hot-wheel into the potty, while you are using said potty. I can tell you that I could have lived a long time without finding out about that. At least he wasn't in mid-flush.

You can't make this stuff up.

2008-01-12T19:46:00.000-05:00

Because I am such a great Mom and all, we went to Wendy's drive thru tonight. The prize in the kid's meals were little stuffed puppies. My 4 year old wanted to know if we could "go online" to play with his "Plushy Pal". (Kind of like his webkinz dog.) I am not making this up.

He keeps calling it his "plushy pal". And he wants to go online to play with it. My how times have changed. In a million years, would you have ever thought to "go online" to play with your "plushy pal"? Or that your children would be asking for that?

I mean, the Jetsons had Astro and all, but he wasn't on a computer screen.

What's a girl to do?

2008-01-12T12:50:00.001-05:00

Clearly it's the "sensible dinner" that undermines my weight loss.

Today, the scale shows only a one pound weight loss overall. How annoying.

At what point do we quit calling it a resolution?

2008-01-09T09:44:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to say that after a couple of very painful days, I am already seeing a difference in my ability to keep up with the exercising and cardio routines.

The scale today showed a total loss of 2 pounds, but that was the very first difference in weight since I started my diet and exercising.

I was really beginning to get frustrated.

How is everyone else doing with their resolutions?

The life of sloth. It is over.

2008-01-03T11:03:00.000-05:00

So.

It is January 3rd. Let me tell you what I've been doing. As is the most popular new year's resolution, I have decided to lose some weight and get "in shape" (whatever that means). I need to lose at least 20 pounds and really tone up.

I started looking for different options. I know that I could just cut back on portions, but I have little to no self control, so that was out. My neighbor told me about nutri-system, and that she lost 26 pounds on that, but it's kind of expensive. And what if I don't like it? I don't know anything about Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers or any of those, so finally I succumbed to the ad about Slim-Fast and since I have no idea how to diet on my own, I thought a meal replacement system that I don't have to think about would be best for me. So far, my only problem has been the "sensible dinner". I have to think about that one.

I don't know about you, but really, Slim-Fast is one of those things you might buy, but you don't really want anyone to know that you bought it, so it figures that just as soon as we put it in our cart and turned the corner my husband saw not one, not two, but THREE of his friends standing in the aisle talking. I only saw one of them looking at it, but I felt like there was someone behind me with a mega-phone saying "SHE'S TRYING TO LOSE THAT LAST 20 POUNDS OF BABY FAT! NEVERMIND THAT HER BABY IS ALMOST 3 YEARS OLD NOW!" Well, after he saw it, I really have no choice but to lose some weight or else I will look like a loser who buys slim fast for fun or something.

The first day I started (December 29, I think) I drank two shakes and ate "a sensible dinner". The next morning I woke up and had gained 2 pounds. But I am persistent. So, I kept going. I'm not seeing any real results just yet, but it hasn't been a week either. I have lost that initial two pounds, but that could be that my scale isn't the most accurate. Or who really knows, maybe I lost it.

As for the getting in shape part of my resolution, I got on my elliptical machine that I just had to have a couple of years ago. My husband left his iPod at home yesterday, so I got it out and put the "ear buds" in my ears. I hate "ear buds". I don't even like the name of them. They finally got in there and then I had to wade through the thousands of horrible songs to find something that I could stand. Just when I was really getting into the groove of the music and the groove of the elliptical steps (ellipsis?), I got the wire of the ear buds caught around the handle of the elliptical and in one swift motion, it jerked the earbuds completely out of my ears and I nearly dropped the iPod. I was thinking that maybe I could just put the ear buds back and keep going, but when I found the ends of the wire, the black foam things were missing. I looked all over the floor, when I realized that they were stuck in my ears! Thankfully they came out easily. (Can you imagine explaining that one in the ER?) Needless to say, that was the end of the cardio session for yesterday.

As for the strength training portion, Gilad from "Bodies in Motion" kicked my gluteus maximus. I can remember when I was in high school doing that show and wondering what was the big deal? Well, that was when I was playing tennis, basketball, and cheerleading every day and I didn't have an ounce of fat on my entire body. Those were the days. The days that will never return thanks to my two beautiful children and my ever slowing metabolism and general laziness.

I'll keep going and checking in with my progress at least to be accountable somewhere. I'm too afraid to tell anyone I see on a regular basis. What if I quit or it doesn't work?

The Party's Over...

2007-12-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone. It won't be long and we'll be saying, "I can't believe it's Christmas already!" Funny how it always sneaks up on us. And comes faster and faster every year.

We started our Christmas festivities on Christmas Eve Eve for my family's gathering. The kids got lots of stuff. Some really good stuff and some J-U-N-K. But don't tell anyone I said that. I wish I knew what to do with not one, but TWO dog puppets that bark to the tune of "Doggy in the Window" and "B-I-N-G-O" and "Its a Small World". However, in the same gift bags with those treasures was two bags of "The Original" Gummy Bears. YUMMY! Too bad the kids like them too. Almost everything else was something we asked for or something that I had pre-approved.

My favorite moment was when I gave a "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" DVD to my sister and wrapped it up from "Hermie". No one knew who Hermie was. Do you?

I'll give you a hint. He wanted to be a dentist. Maybe I should have wrapped it up from Dr. Hermie, DMD. Do you think that would have made it a little bit more obvious?

Our family Christmas on Christmas morning was all for the kids. My 4 year old woke up at 7 and hubs was not going to be home for about an hour, so I told him to get in bed with me and go back to sleep. He laid there for about 30 seconds and said, "I'm going to play on the computer." 30 seconds after that, he came running in telling me that there were presents under the Christmas Tree! He said, "And some of them aren't even wrapped!" I managed to hold him off until everyone was awake and home. Much fun was had by all. Mostly the kids.

Our next Christmas was at my MIL's. Her parents and my SIL and her family were all there. I don't understand how they open their Christmas presents. It's a big melee. They just give out presents as fast as they can and everybody digs into them. You don't get to see what anyone gets and you don't get a chance to take any photos, because you are so busy opening up all of the presents that you have to open. It's a speed race with no winner. There are always tons of gifts wrapped. This year, my MIL seemed unhappy for some reason. She seemed to be sitting and sulking for much of the day after opening her gifts. Maybe she didn't like the kitchen faucet. Or the GPS that we got for her. Or maybe it was my imagination. I don't think anyone else noticed. I might be paranoid. After all, she is my mother in law.

And finally, we had Christmas a couple of days later at my FIL's. That was the best Christmas present for me, because they kept my two little ones for a couple of days. In fact, they are still there as I write. YAY!

Silent night takes on a whole new meaning.

Yesterday, after getting up at 10am, (yes TEN O'CLOCK in the morning!) we went to "breakfast" at IHOP where we laughed at all of the people with their children and wondered if that is what we look like when we are out with ours. Then we went to Target and immediately went to the children's clothing and the toys. Everything we bought was for the kids. What were we thinking? And last night was the grand dinner out at a swanky Italian place here where I enjoyed myself beyond imagination. Just to eat dinner out without having to say, "Get out from under the table!" Ahh. Just savoring every delicious bite. Mmmmm.

We will get them back tomorrow. Today I am cleaning and throwing things out that would never get thrown out if they were here.

Thank Heaven for Grandparents!

So how was Christmas for you?

Not so bad

2007-12-23T08:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I got out early yesterday morning and I got to Old Navy in time to get a $20 gift card. YAY! That means that I got a pair of jeans for ME! I also bought most everything there for people who were difficult to buy for. AND I spent LESS than $100! Everything was on sale and they had some really cute stuff in there.

Then I went to pick up the kids' pictures from Sears and to Target for the kids' stuff. I spent more at Target than I wanted to. Oh well. Then, later, I went to Freds. (Freds is one of those stores that my grandmother used to call a "5 and dime".) Anyway, they had some really good stuff for my 2 year old and it was cheap.

Maybe the strangest gift we are giving is a kitchen sink faucet to my MIL and my FIL and his wife. I got a new one a couple of years ago and I figured that they need one too.

So we only have one thing to pick up today. And then we're done.

How about you? What are you giving? Getting?

The Goose is Getting Fat

2007-12-21T12:35:00.000-05:00

Remember that song, "Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, please to put a penny in the old man's hat"? Well, the code for

youbetterhurryupandfinishshoppingandwrappingforChristmas

is "The Goose is Getting Fat". The kids don't know what it means and it makes me laugh. If I didn't laugh, I would cry.

I have done very little to no shopping and I haven't wrapped a single thing. I have never waited until the very last minute before and it is making me just a little bit crazy. But you see, I can't go when the kids are with me because they want one of everything and I can't buy them gifts when they are with me, so I have to wait until I can either find a sitter or my husband is home, which will be tomorrow and that is the Saturday before Christmas on Tuesday. (Can you sense my desperation?) Which I would imagine will be a hair raising experience.

So, wish me luck. Hopefully there will be many sales and much peace and goodwill toward men. and me.

I'm still here, sort of.

2007-12-18T12:05:00.000-05:00

Where has the time gone?

I cant' believe that I haven't posted ANYTHING in over a month. Well, it isn't because I have been decorating for Christmas, or Christmas shopping or anything like that. (I have done some of that, but that isn't what takes up all of my blogging time.)

Well, you see, I have discovered Google Reader. Thanks, Comfy Denim, for that. (By the way, I tried to go with Bloglines, but I never received the confirmation email from them and so I could never access the site. What is that about?)

Now, it is so much easier to read all of the blogs I love. In fact, it is so much easier to read them that I find myself reading all of the blogs which leaves me little or no time to write anything. In comparison to all of the wonderful writers out there, it seems that anything I would have to say pales in comparison.

So, thanks ComfyDenim. She periodically checks in on me and leaves me a comment just to let me know that there is still someone out there.

Yes, I'm still here. Hopefully, I'll think of something to write about. At least more frequently than once a month.

Blogging issues

2007-11-12T09:06:00.000-05:00

I think blogging is difficult. Difficult because most of the time I feel like I am writing to myself. I usually have lots of ideas to blog about, but it is usually hard to decide what is appropriate for my blog audience of, hmmm, well whoever might stumble upon my blog and ComfyDenim of Notes from the Laundry Pile.

In my "real life", I have seldom come across with a good first impression and a few people who I have become close to have confirmed that they really didn't like me when they first met me. I really wonder if that is why I don't feel comfortable even in the relative anonymity of blogging.

I am even hesitant to write comments on other blogs. I think it comes from feeling intimidated by the "popular" girls and their groups of friends and/or groupies.

I am nearly 40 years old (!) and am still struggling with adolescent issues like "cliques" and who is more popular than whom and whether I would be accepted in their circles. What is wrong with that picture? Does everybody struggle with acceptance or do I have some repressed (or even not repressed) memories that keep me from my true potential of having more abundant relationships with others?

Any amateur psychiatrists want to chime in on this one?

Grocery Budget Reductions

2007-11-06T13:20:00.001-05:00

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that we spend a ~~boat load~~ good bit of money on food. Well, I realized that this is a ~~money pit~~ huge burden on our family and so I have made some changes.

First, I started doing the grocery shopping. When I married my wonderful husband, I found that he was a better cook, house cleaner and grocery shopper than I was. He never needed to plan meals or make out a grocery list, he just always seemed to have everything he needed in his pantry. I still don't know exactly how he did that, because I plan, make lists and it never fails that I forget something.

When my husband went shopping, he refused to use any coupons. He always went to the same grocery store, no matter what might have been on sale anywhere else. He would have gone to this same grocery store even if all of the other stores were giving away free food. I know how easy it is to get stuck in a rut, but when I started doing the grocery shopping, I found out that the one store where he went every week, without any coupons, was the most expensive of all of the grocery stores in our area. (I do like their meat though, and many times, I will go there for meat and a few things they only sell there.)

The next thing I did was start clipping coupons in the Sunday paper. I only clip the coupons for the things we need and use. That way, I'm not tempted to buy anything that will go to waste. I noticed that the grocery receipt says how much money you save and I was very proud of myself for all of the money I saved with my coupons. It still didn't seem to really make much of a difference in our budget. Then I read a blog post somewhere (I can't remember where, or I would link to it here) about a mother of four who doesn't pay for toiletries anymore. She uses coupons and some other deals to get everything without paying for them out of pocket.

This is baffling to me. I have read stories and seen shows about people who buy $250 of groceries and pay $3.24. I always thought that these people were buying stuff just because it was on sale and they had a coupon. I would probably buy this stuff and it would go to waste because I would never use it, plus I would still have to buy the stuff I would actually use and it would cost twice as much to get stuff on sale.

Finally, I have been reading and learning how to do these really great deals. The best information, so far, has come from a little e-course called Supermarket Savings 101. It comes with an e-book, six audio lessons and six bonus books. There is more, but you should check it out for yourself. If you want to see some of the ongoing updates check out moneysavingmom.com.

I can't wait to write more of an update on our grocery budget and how all of this is working for us. I'll keep you posted. Let me know if you have any other ideas for reducing the grocery store budget.

Looking for answers about worms and butterflies

2007-11-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

As I was reading the newspaper one morning, my 4 year old was coloring a picture. He came to me and asked, "Mommy, do worms have ears?"

"I don't know, why do you ask?", I said.

He was coloring a picture and needed to know if it would be correct to draw ears on the worm. I told him that I thought if they do have ears, that they probably wouldn't be the kind that you can see.

Today, he was coloring as I was cleaning up after lunch. "Mommy?", he called. "Do butterflies have toes?"

I'm sure I don't know the answer to these questions. Anyone else know?

Win a Wii? Pick Mii!! Pick Mii!!

2007-10-26T22:17:00.000-05:00

I am already starting to panic a little about Christmas this year and it isn't even Halloween. I just don't know how we are going to stay out of debt and get all of the gifts for all of our friends and family this year, but it has been my goal not to use any credit for our Christmas gifts this year.

I have been trying to plan our gifts and do as much shopping online as possible. I think that by planning ahead I can get a better deal with some of the sales and deals online. For example, did you know you can save money by using coupon codes when you shop online? UltimateCoupons.com offers tons of great online coupons for hundreds of online merchants to help you get free shipping or dollars off your regular purchases.

One of the things ~~I want~~ my kids want for Christmas is a Wii, but they're a little bit expensive. How does a free one sound? You can Win a Nintendo Wii from the ultimatecoupons.com blog EverybodyLovesCoupons. Hurry though. The contest ends on October 31st.

Just nod if you can hear me

2007-10-17T08:14:00.001-05:00

OK, if there is anyone out there to read this post, I need some help.

What is an RSS feeder or RSS reader? Here is why I ask. I have a list of blogs that I like to read daily or at least some days. I just hate to keep clicking on them all day if there is some way I can have an automatic notification that there is new content.

So, I realize that I have been less than regular lately with my own blogging even though I really, really want to participate in the Fall Reading Thing and in some contests and I have some really good stories to tell about things that have happened and blogs and websites I have found.

But that is all for a later time. Please tell me about RSS please. Anyone?

Wordless Wednesday: See ya later! First day

2007-09-05T10:06:00.000-05:00

For more Wordless Wednesday go to Five Minutes For Mom or
Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ

Wordless Wednesday--My Protege

2007-08-29T11:09:00.001-05:00

Tackle it Tuesday: Randomness

2007-07-30T23:11:00.000-05:00

OK, this isn't going to seem like a Tackle post, but maybe I will get around to that.

I'll start by saying that I hate to go to bed. I don't know why, because I am tired and I know I won't want to get up in the morning, but I hate to go to bed. I didn't like it as a kid either. I don't know why, exactly. It's not like I am going to miss anything.

Next, I may have found evidence of a mouse (gasp) in our pantry! (gasp again!) So, my husband set a trap and I am too afraid to look at it before he does. In fact, I am too afraid to even open the pantry door.

I started a new book, Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson yesterday.

So for my Tackle this week, I am going to first, get up. Try not to think of me as an overachiever. Then, I am going to wait for my husband to tell me the news about the mouse and probably scrub the kitchen and pantry from top to bottom (Updated to add: There was no mouse this morning.) and finally, curl up later with my book and hope to make a big dent in it.

And if anyone wants to know about last week's tackle, we survived the doctor with 4 shots for my four year old and a shot and a finger stick for my two year old. I was the only one who cried.

The Best Contest Yet!

2007-07-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a 37 inch Flat-Panel LCD HDTV!!!

This is a TV valued at $799.99 and you can see all of the details about the TV by clicking here. The contest will be open until August 17 when they will announce the winner. Oh, I hope it's me! I can already see it hanging on my wall.

Thanks to Best Buy for sponsoring this great contest. Now go check it out and enter to win!

Wordless Wednesday: What Big Brothers Are For

2007-07-24T22:27:00.000-05:00

For more Wordless Wednesday go to Five Minutes For Mom or
Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ

Also, feel free to read the rest of my blog and leave me some feedback! I love comments!

Tackle it Tuesday: Doctor Goodwill

2007-07-24T07:21:00.000-05:00

Today, I am tackling going to the pediatrician with my two and four year olds for their annual check-ups. I really hope they don't need any shots. They change the immunization schedules so often that I really can't keep up.

Also, I am donating a bunch of clothes to the GoodWill that my mother in law gave me. There are over 30 pairs of pants in there. They are all too long for me, even though they all come up ABOVE my natural waist, and in case you're not familiar with the fashion trends of the last few years, that is just not in style now. See below:

It is my natural inclination to keep all of them just in case they ever come back in style, but our house just isn't big enough.

That's it. Have a fun Tuesday!

2007-07-19T09:03:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, my husband cut the grass early in the morning. On one of his trips through the house from the front yard to the back yard, he passed by me and casually said, "Somebody stole the gargoyle."

I was left with my mouth gaping open in complete disbelief. I could not believe that anyone would come into our flower garden/bushes right under the window of my sleeping daughter and within 10 feet of our front door to take a 25 pound cement statue of a gargoyle. (Not that I am really that attached to it, but it was our gargoyle. My husband had it for years and actually used it for it's intended purpose in a fountain he had at one time.)

Anyway, I told our neighbors, my mother, I sent an email to our neighborhood association and basically anyone who would listen long enough to hear that SOMEBODY STOLE OUR GARGOYLE! RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE! If you've ever had anything stolen, you probably know the feeling I had. I couldn't get it off of my mind.

This morning, when my husband got home from work, he was getting in the bed and as casually as he told me that somebody stole it, he said, "Gargoyle's back."

Again, I was open mouthed saying, "REALLY!?!! YOU'RE KIDDING!?" I then told him that I had prayed about it just last night. He said, "You must have really wanted that gargoyle back."

I explained, "I didn't pray about the gargoyle. I prayed that God would convict the heart of whoever took it and God answered that prayer. That's UNBELIEVABLE!"

Then, he asked, "Well that's why you pray, isn't it?"

And I answered, "Well, yes, but usually you don't get something so concrete!" (Pun intended.)

Get it? So CONCRETE!

I'll wait for you to get it. And laugh.

OK, so in my Daily Devotional this morning, the first sentence reads, "It is the unbelievable, supernatural replenishment that awakens the world to see the mighty power of God." And I believe that even applies to stolen gargoyles. And I'm telling the world. Or anyone who will stop long enough to hear (or read).

Act Like It

2007-07-15T23:16:00.000-05:00

Today I was riding in the car and for some reason, my son decided to turn on his whiny voice and cry and fuss. So, in my most unprofessional mommy thing to do, I said to my 2 year old daughter, "Do you hear the baby crying?"

This, of course, sent him off the edge and he protested, "I'M NOT A BABY! I'M FOUR YEARS OLD!"

I said to him, "Well, you wouldn't know it by the way you're acting! If you're such a BIG BOY, you should ACT LIKE IT!"

Things got quiet in the car after that, but during the quiet time, it reminded me that there is an example of the same thing in adult life. For example, if you have ever, or do proclaim to be a Christian you should act like it. And I don't just mean superficially running around singing "Praise the Lord" with a fake smile. I mean really. I mean a real live imperfect human being who is saved only by the grace of God and not by anything he or she ever has ever or could ever do for him or herself. I mean a person who knows that being a Christian is not walking down the aisle during the chorus of "Just As I Am" and getting baptized, but an ongoing relationship with God Almighty and striving daily to enhance his/her personal relationship with His perfect human son Jesus Christ. And I mean someone who knows why it is important to do that. Someone who knows what an awesome responsiblity and privilege it is to be a Christian; to build a Christian home, and that they need the support and fellowship of other Christians to do that.

It occurred to me that just like my son backslides into acting like a baby, Christians backslide into unchristian-like behavior. Sometimes we just need to be reminded to act like what we say we are. Are you a Christian? Are YOU acting like it?

Contest for a Scanalizer and I want one!

2007-07-07T10:50:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite web sites, 5minutesfor mom, is giving away TEN NeatReceipts Scanalizers!

"What in the world is a Scanailzer?" You ask? Well, let me tell you that it is the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. You can see all about it here.

I think it is the answer to alot of my household paper clutter taming. I like to keep so many receipts, bills, insurance papers, pay stubs and other papers that would be so much easier to keep track of if they were in one nice neat file in my computer instead of in so many ~~piles all over~~ file drawers in my house.

Not to mention that it could be a way to track prices at grocery stores. I posted here about our rabid grocery spending and since then I have started keeping receipts and clipping coupons. The Scanalizer looks like a perfect way to keep up a computerized price book for sales and good deals.

Click here to see the NeatReceipts website and view the demo video. I think you'll like it too!

Wordless Wednesday: God Bless America

2007-07-04T17:21:00.000-05:00

For more Wordless Wednesday go to Five Minutes For Mom or
Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ

Tackle it Tuesday: Accomplishments

2007-07-03T21:30:00.000-05:00

1. I bought the circus tickets. Saved $18.80 for not just doing it on the phone.
2. Went to the furniture store. The stuff that was on sale was junk. Saved gobs of money for not buying anything. At all.
3. Started reading a book. I read 3 chapters. This book is HEAVY DUTY. Have to think about it. I'll review it when I finish. Hopefully soon.
4. Did a load of laundry. Hey, it's better than nothing.
5. Closet 6. Computer desk and 7. My desk will have to wait. Oh well.
8. Bought 10 pounds of potatoes. We'll fire up the fish cooker tomorrow and boil them. I also bought a new potato masher today. I was thinkin' ahead.
9. Web page will wait for another day.
10. Kids and I played outside for a little while this afternoon. We read some books. Sang songs. Listened to our Bible school song CD. You know, all of that fun stuff.

All in all, it was a pretty productive day.

Tackle it Tuesday: Top 10

2007-07-03T10:46:00.000-05:00

This is my list of things to do. I wish I felt motivated to do even one of them.

1. Go to colleseum and buy circus tickets. (If you buy them online or on the phone it costs $18.80 more for 4 tickets. That's ridiculous.)
2. Go to furniture store. (They're having a sale.)
3. Read some of my to be read list. (See my posts on Spring Reading Thing. I was quite ambitious and not so successful, so I still have a bunch of books to be read. Not to mention that I've bought more books since then. I think it's an illness. I just love buying books.)
4. Get a handle on our laundry epidemic. (Nothing new or different.)
5. Clean out my son's closet. (He piles all kinds of things in there. There is no telling what I'll find.)
6. Clean off top of computer desk. (Its a real mess.)
7. Clean out my desk. (It's full of stuff from 3-K and other "important" stuff. If I need anything "important", I'll never find it.)
8. Fix mashed potatoes for 50 people. (We are supposed to bring the mashed potatoes to the July 4th festivities tomorrow. I don't have a clue how many pounds of potatoes to get.)
9. Learn how to make a web page. (Something I've been wanting to do ever since I started blogging. I really want to learn how to design without having to enroll in school for it. I wonder how you do that?)
10. Play with the kids, maybe go swimming this afternoon. (Find something engaging and/or educational for them to do.)

I'll post again if I get anything done.

The Reason for the Name of my Blog

2007-07-01T11:57:00.001-05:00

The last time I went to church was on April 1st. (I feel very bad about this and I figure that confession is good for the soul so I am telling any/all one of you in the bloggy world.) But I'll tell you why.

On April 1st which so aptly is also April Fool's Day, I had nursery duty with the 2 year olds, which is a good thing since it is the room my daughter is in. What I didn't count on is that there would be about 15 or 650 OTHER 2 year olds in there too, one of which was carrying some vile nausea/vomiting and diarrhea virus and another of which was carrying a sinus infection, which we caught by Tuesday night/Wednesday of that week. And kept for the next, oh, month.

I swore that I would never take her back to church until she stops putting toys in her mouth. Or until I thought all of the children would be well and not carrying germs. Ha.

Anyway, every week after we got well, either I would get my son and myself ready to go and something would happen or my husband would not be home to keep my daughter. So of course today is no exception.

I got up and got myself in the shower before the kids woke up. Actually my daughter was awake, but she can usually entertain herself until I get in there. So, as I am rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, my son comes into the bathroom. I said, "Good Morning!"

Instead of hearing the "Good Morning Mommy" that I usually hear in response, he said, "MOM! You're never going to believe this!"

I thought he had a dream to tell me about.

He continues, "Sissy went POOPIE in her BED!"

Oh great.

So, I go in there and find a mess, but one that is manageable. (I had envisioned her with her diaper in her hand and poop everywhere.) Thankfully, it was just a little leakage. So, I get her all cleaned up and before long, I smelled it again.

I was still planning to go to church with my son, until after breakfast when he was supposed to be brushing his teeth. He ended up having some sort of crying jag for no reason discernible to anyone except for him. I still have no idea what happened to him. By the time all of the excitement died down, it was 15 minutes AFTER the beginning of Sunday School.

Next week it is my turn to be in the nursery again. I guess we'll see if any of the 2 year olds who are there have icky bugs to give to the rest of the kids, because if there is one present, we will get it and bring it home and have it for the next month.

At least I'll make it to church.

Wordless Wednesday: Summer picture story

2007-06-27T10:01:00.001-05:00

The anticipation is half the fun.

OK, I know the number of flotation devices is a little overkill.
Nervous mother here.

For more Wordless Wednesday go to Five Minutes For Mom or
Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ

Spring Reading Thing Wrap-Up

2007-06-24T13:18:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that Spring is already over. And I had such high hopes for my reading this spring. I found out that I don't have as much time to read as I would like.

Let's refresh everyone's memory of the books I read and reviewed:

When Joy Came to Stay by Karen Kingsbury
Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid by Ryan Dobson
How to Lead Your Child to Christ Robert & Bobbie Wolgemuth

What was the best book you read this spring? None of the (three whole) books I read this spring would make it to my "best book" list. If I had to pick a best book, I think it would be Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid by Ryan Dobson. In a nutshell, it is a straight-forward look at why it is not necessarily a christian virtue to tolerate everything.

Did you try out a new author this spring? If so, which one, and will you be reading that author again? All of the books I read were new (to me) authors. I would like to read some more of Karen Kingsbury.

If there were books you didn't finish, tell us why. Many of my books were books I had already started and not finished. I was hoping that this challenge would give me the motivation to finish more of them.

Did you come across a book or two on other participants' lists that you're planning to add to your own to-be-read pile? Which ones? The book Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson was one I had read about and bought. I read the first chapter, shortly after buying it but sadly, I haven't looked at it anymore. I am planning to get to it very soon.

What did you learn -- about anything -- through this challenge? I learned that I shouldn't pick so many books. It doesn't change the fact that I still have those books to read, but I shouldn't air my dirty (book) laundry for all of the bloggy world to see. I learned that having a two and a four year old keeps me too busy to read as much as I would like.

Would you be interested in participating in another reading challenge this fall? Absolutely!

Thanks to Callapidder Days for hosting the Spring Reading Thing!

Go Thank a Firefighter Today

2007-06-21T22:16:00.000-05:00

Daddies and sons, brothers and friends. Heroes among us.

Vacation Planning

2007-06-18T22:09:00.000-05:00

Recently, my son who is now 4 has been asking to go to the beach. Every single day he asks, "Are we going to the beach today?" Unfortunately, we live just out of the reach of going just for the day, so I have been trying to find a reasonable place to go for a reasonable price. This is not an easy task, my friends. I have tried some of the online travel agent services, but found that they were difficult to use and lacked much information. Sometimes you can go through a realtor for beach house rentals, but one of the problem I found with that was that you have to rent a house for an entire week when all I want is one or two nights. If you go to the hotel chain web sites, you get a very high rate when there might be a smaller non-chain place next door that is cheaper.

I found a site today that seems to be easier to use and has some really great deals. The site is all about Cheap Hotels.

You can find hotels, motels, resorts, and vacations rentals all over the United States and even all over the world. The prices I found for a vacation rental at the beach, (even at the last minute in the middle of the summer) are better than any of the other sites I have searched and they give information about the location of the beach and activities in relation to the hotel. There is a rating of each hotel listed and all of the amenities that the hotels offer. Special discounts on some of the packages bring the prices even lower. In fact, I found some beachfront vacation rentals that include a kitchen, separate bedrooms and a pool for less than $150/night and there is not a minimum 7 day stay.

And while I was searching, I looked at some vacation ideas for my husband and me to get away from the kids for a few days. You can browse major vacation cities with one click, get rental car and air rates and get rebates and special promotions like coupons for gas just for booking your vacation through this site. They even have a lowest rate guarantee!

I put this site in my favorites so that I can go back to them easily when I am ready to book vacations. It looks like it might be easier to go to the beach after all.

This post sponsored by hotelreservations.com.

All About Animals Day Camp

2007-06-18T15:35:00.001-05:00

This is the week for my son's "camp". He goes from 9-12 this week and the theme is "All About Animals". When I picked him up, he had a bird house that he had painted and decorated. I asked him if he had a good time and if he learned about birds today. He looked at me as if I had asked him if they learned quantum physics and he said, "No. Why would we learn about birds?" So I then said, "Well, what did you learn?" and he answered, "We learned that all dogs need to go to the jap-a-narian."

I wonder what he'll learn tomorrow.

My Disclosure Policy

2007-06-18T15:04:00.001-05:00

This policy is valid from 18 June 2007

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

A Tribute

2007-06-15T10:16:00.001-05:00

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15

I learned this morning that Ruth Bell Graham went home to be with the LORD yesterday. This is a sad occasion for those who are left here a little longer without her. Her husband, the great Rev. Billy Graham released a beautiful statement following her death. Part of the statement said, "Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team. No one else could have borne the load that she carried. She was a vital and integral part of our ministry, and my work throught the years would have been impossible without her encouragement and support... I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

Isn't that a beautiful tribute from a husband? He really appreciated what she was for him and understood that they had a calling together. God did not just call him, but him with her by his side.

I can only pray that my own husband and I can be such a TEAM called to do our job from God, even if that job is only within our own home with our own children and not with the world, as the Grahams have done.

Go to this blog post on 5 minutes for mom for another beautiful tribute to this godly lady.

Wordless Wednesday: Fun in the Sun

2007-06-13T09:35:00.001-05:00

For more Wordless Wednesday go to Five Minutes For Mom or
Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ

Tell Your Blogging Story

2007-06-12T10:16:00.000-05:00

OK, so I'm a day late and a dollar short. It's the story of my life. I seem to be late or last minute all. the. time. Anyway, I see that the Mr Linky on Chilihead's blog is still active, so I'm going to post this anyway.

How did you start blogging?
Actually, I started blogging because I read on the internet that you can make money by blogging. It gave the directions on how to start a blog and I started reading blogs just to see what I wanted to do with mine, you know, if I ever started one. I found some really funny "Mommy" blogs and some money making blogs. Those weren't funny, though. They were mostly boring and so I found myself going back to the funny mommy blogs over and over to read just "a little bit more". I so want to be one of those funny mommy bloggers because sometimes things happen when you have a toddler and a pre-schooler that you just can't keep to yourself.

Did you intend to be a blog w/a following? If so, how did you go about it?
I guess I didn't really go about trying to get traffic to my mommy blog unless you consider entering contests, Mr Linkys for memes or carnivals or book reading or what have you. I have left just a few comments on other people's blogs, but I tend to be a serial lurker. (This shows in my blog's web stats and the number of comments I get, by the way. Almost NO ONE sees this blog and those who do find it by mistake. And stay on it for "0 seconds". However you do that.)

What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?
I hope to one day turn into a really hilarious blogger. Like so many of the people whose blogs I regularly visit. I have not been successful because I am not naturally a funny person. My plan to achieve this goal is to keep reading these blogs and hope that some of it rubs off on me.

Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?
Some of my previous posts are very serious. That would be NOT what I am going after. However, I do keep my options open.

What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?
Good question. I am still on the learning curve and some of the things I still want to know are things like blog design, how to put things like video or other things in my posts and other of the blogging mysteries. Also, where do you find time to blog when there are so many great blogs out there to read? It seems like I am reading all of the blogs and then the whole day (or time to be on the computer) is gone.

Do you make money with your blog?
Despite it being the reason I started blogging, I have not made one red cent.

Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?
No one that I know knows about my blog. Why? Well, I don't really know. I guess I wanted to have a certain amount of anonymity. If they find it, that's OK, but I don't think they will, because none of them are "computer" people and they may not even know what a blog is.

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?
I have no advice. I'm too new at it myself. I guess you should look at your motives for blogging and just do it.

Happy Birthday Bub!

2007-06-03T22:20:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to you!

It is so hard to believe that my baby is already 4. He told me a month or two ago that he didn't think he wanted to turn 4. I asked him why and he said because he likes being 3. Secretly, I was thinking that I don't want him to turn 4 either. That I want him to stay my cute little 3 year old forever.

Really, that's not true either. I do want him to grow into a fine man. I want so much to enjoy every moment of this time with him. I just wish it didn't go by so fast.

Book Review: How to Lead Your Child to Christ

2007-05-24T12:32:00.000-05:00

I finally finished this book. It really is unbelievable how long it took me to read this, but I guess having a 2 and 3 year old is a little time consuming.

The book is How to Lead Your Child to Christ Robert & Bobbie Wolgemuth and I purchased it from Focus on the Family. It comes with a CD that has some favorite Hymns and the book is written with these songs as a basis for the chapters. It is really well written and has sections for parents to read and sections for parents to read to your child.

I have very young children, but I have been taking them to church and teach Bible verses from the time they could talk. For example, I taught my son "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the LORD." When he is disobedient, I have him tell me the verse and explain that I didn't make that rule up, God did. Another good verse is "Do all things without complaining and disputing." When he learned that verse, he could barely say "disputing", but the point was that when he cried about having to pick up his toys, this was another rule that God made up. Not Mommy. (Some of the verses I taught him are even reminders for me when it is time to do the laundry or clean up the kitchen.)

This book has lots of ideas for parents of older (than my) children and a few even for toddlers and pre-schoolers. I think that it will be a valuable resource for my children as they grow older.

I think one point worth remembering (that you don't have to read the book for) is that the best way to lead your child to Christ is to follow Him yourself and be the example for your children. Consistently praying for and with your children and having daily talks about God and Jesus and telling and reading Bible stories together are a good habit to start early.

I'm just wondering, what other ways do you incorporate in your family to help your children find the path to Christ?

Wordless Wednesday: My future's so bright...

2007-05-23T06:46:00.000-05:00

For more Wordless Wednesday go to Five Minutes For Mom or
Check out the Official Wordless Wednesday HQ

Happy Norway Day!

2007-05-17T08:26:00.000-05:00

Something you might not know about me is that I am half Norwegian. Apparently I am in good company as a descendant of Norway. Check out this list of other Norwegian Americans.

Today is syttende mai. It is the Norwegian Constitution Day!

That means everyone should:

1. eat your lutefisk and lefse
2. tell all of your Ole and Lena jokes (be sure to at least look at the Ole and Lena jokes, some of them are really funny)
3. wear your bunad or traditional Norwegian dress
4. have a parade while waving your Norwegian flags

At least that's what we're going to do. Except for the lutefisk and lefse. Yuck. Poached salmon for dinner sounds good though.

Happy Norway Day!

I can't resist telling this one joke my father used to tell. He wasn't much of a joke teller, as he usually told the punch line before the joke, so forgive me if it isn't funny, but it reminds me of him. Ole and Sven had been out in the woods looking for a Christmas tree all day long, and couldn't find one. They were getting really tired so Ole says to Sven, "We're chopping down the next one, even if it doesn't have lights."

Thank you! And Good Night!

Wordless Wednesday

2007-05-09T19:28:00.000-05:00

This was my son's end of the year program for his two day 3-K. I was working and so my husband and his dad went. I got to see the video tape, but my son won't tell me the words to the songs (which are difficult to understand) because he says, "MOM. They're ONLY for PROGRAMS".

Want to see more Wordless Wednesday?
Click over to 5 minutes for mom.

Book Review: Be Intolerant

2007-05-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid
by Ryan Dobson

While this book was not on my official SRT book list, I had been reading this book on and off for several months. It is only 120 pages, but I would always put it down when I felt uncomfortable with it (or myself).

Written by James Dobson's (of Focus on the Family) son, the book is about moral relativism and why it is unacceptable. He calls tolerance an "epidemic" and says that moral relativism is "a tumor on the American Soul". He then explains why moral relativism doesn't make sense and why biblical christianity does make sense. Finally, he writes about how to be intolerant, but not intolerable. He calls it "how to be intolerant in love" and how difficult that can be.

It isn't surprising that most of the reviews on amazon are either passionately for or adamantly opposed to the book. My overall opinion of the book is that it is very good. It is written on a level geared toward young adults. It is something we all need to think about, because just because you think it is "right for you" doesn't mean it's right.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-05-02T08:07:00.000-05:00

"Here Little Girl," (he really calls her "little girl") "let me show you how."

"Now it's my turn."

Want to see more Wordless Wednesday?
Click over to 5 minutes for mom.

New Contests

2007-05-02T07:37:00.000-05:00

There is a new contest at 5 Minutes for Mom and they are giving away Mother's Day Gifts.

The first one is a 4 gig ipod nano which is wrapped up with a box of chocolate. I don't know about you, but I cant think of anything better than listening to your favorite tunes and eating chocolate. Go on over and check it out.

See you there and at the next contest!

I can't believe that I am blogging this. And yet, I am.

2007-05-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

I can not believe that I have watched A'merican I'dol this season. I used to think it was quite possibly the dumbest show. Ever. But boy, I have soooo enjoyed it. I feel like it's something I shouldn't be doing. Like eating chocolate before breakfast or something. And since I can't believe I have watched it, you can imagine my surprise that I am actually blogging to total internet strangers about it. I know all one of you care, too.

Well, let me tell you about my experience watching the show tonight.

"Why should I read your blog post about AI?", you are thinking. Well, it's because I was a teenager in the 80's, AND I used to think he was "so cute!" so I am completely qualified to critique Bon Jovi night. So there.

Phil came out. (Since this is really the first commentary I have written about AI, let me just preface this by saying I mean no disrespect to any of the contestants, but...) What is up with his lack of hair? Every single week, I think, maybe he will grow a little hair for the end of the season. Or does he have some sort of disorder that prevents him from having any hair? What was it that "Powder" had in that movie? But, I digress. He certainly gets my vote for most improved. I think he had several weeks of being in the bottom two or three and yet, he persevered. This week he came out and belted out that song like he was in the running to win the the prize.

Next up was the darling 17 year old Jordin. I love her, but she was way out of her comfort zone tonight. She summed it up herself when she said that this was her week [of pain?] She was off key (and for me to notice that it had to be bad, because I can't carry a tune in a bucket) and she seemed uncomfortable. But did you see her hair? Loved her hair.

Lakisha. She worked in a bank. She had no formal training, except for singing in church. She has a little girl. I would listen to her if she sang the phone book. However, she lacked the spark she had in the beginning of the season. Especially at the beginning of her song. I think she's tired. I know it must be difficult to do this week in and week out for so long. She managed to pull it out toward the end when she belted it out, pointed and sang "This ain't a love song".

Next was Blake. Now, I have to say that I thought he was sort of cheesy with the beat box thing earlier in the season, and that there is something up with his lips, or lack of them, but he has something about him that is, lets say, attractive. or dynamic. or appealing. or something. He was going to sing THE signature Bon Jovi song. "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame, darlin you give looove a bad name..." cue the music... (You know that song just sticks with you like "Ice Ice Baby" doodoodoo doodee doodoo) How could he be so bold? And yet, when he was finished, I watched it again, by the magic of Ti Vo. If you could buy that, I would get it tomorrow. It was even fun watching him. I think the drummer had fun too.

Chris. or Justin. I can't ever keep those boy band singers straight. (Just kidding.) I really like his personality that you can see on the limited amount of non-singing air time that they get. He just seems to have one sound. It can be country, rock, or whatever, he just has the same sound. No variation. While I thought he did OK tonight, I just don't know how he has lasted so long. Do you?

Melinda. Or should I say: the winner of the contest. Hands down. She has my vote. I particularly liked her pre-song interview. She said "Take it to church... I like church!" And she has that humility in her eyes, like she's not sure she can pull it off, and the next thing you know, sweet Melinda is saying "Rock on! Rock on? Rock on!" and she transforms into Tina Turner! Wow! Have a nice day to you too, girl! Rock on! She's awesome.

As an added bonus, we got to see George and Laura. And they tried to be funny. In a scripted kind of way that wasn't very funny.

Wordless Wednesday: My baby is 2 today!

2007-04-25T09:42:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday my sweet baby girl!

One week later

2007-04-22T22:28:00.001-05:00

Now, I don't live in a box without TV or news, but I find that when tragic events occur, as often do, that I do better not to watch all of the news about it. For instance, I heard about what happened at VA Tech and saw that the gunman sent a package to the media and all of that, but I didn't leave the news on constantly. I didn't want to dwell on that. It does something to me.

However, I think that for most of us, it brings up important questions. And it should. I found a post at Everyday Mommy that stirred up my fears and concerns and pretty much said what I wish I could say if I could say it so eloquently.

What bothers me is that some people (even Christians) choose to believe things that are not scripturally based. I know that when things like this happen, I have a special bookmark to a page written by Dr. David Reid. You can go to Devotions for Growing Christians to read about the ever looming questions that surround these tragedies from a biblically based standpoint.

Go now. I'll wait for you to read it and come back and comment.

See you then.

Movie Review: The Lake House

2007-04-22T19:32:00.000-05:00

The Lake House (Widescreen Edition)

I know this isn't the most recently released movie, but I just noticed that it has been on HBO and I TiVo'ed it. My husband and I watched it last night.

I give it 4/5 stars. I really enjoyed the movie. You just don't get better chemistry than Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. I even enjoyed them in Speed. I wonder what it's like to work with an actor years later in such a different role. But, I digress.

I think this movie might fall into the category of "Chick Flick", but my husband didn't mind watching. It is a love story between two people that takes place between them 2 years apart, but simultaneously. (Does that make sense?) The movie is a bit confusing at first and sometimes during the movie, but I felt that the story was, while far reaching, believable. I also felt like there was much left out that I wanted to know. Of course, this would have made the movie about 4 hours long, and nobody wants to know that much detail about anything.

Anyway, I recommend it if you haven't seen it. If you have seen it, I'd like to know your opinion.

Peace on Earth - In Color

2007-04-19T20:56:00.000-05:00

Introducing my brand new niece. Isn't she beautiful?

I am always amazed by babies. For 9 months, you plan, anticipate, imagine, wonder, hope, and anxiously await this bundle of joy. And then, the big day comes. You get to see this brand new person, face to face. 10 fingers and 10 toes. Beautiful. Wondrous. Simply amazing.

I saw my sister-in-law and brother-in-law just before they went to the hospital. They were just two people. Little do they know what they are in for.

In my case, I went into labor at home 4 days before my due date. I was having some contractions when I woke up and when they were still coming after I got up and had a shower, I knew that it was the day. Instead of my husband doing what he had planned for the day and me going to my doctor's appointment by myself, I told him that I thought he should drive me. I finished packing and we left a little earlier than we would have for my appointment.

My husband thought we weren't in a hurry or anything, so he drove all over creation on the way. When the doctor said that I could go home and wait for the contractions to get a little closer, I said, "NO WAY!" It took forever for us to get there and I wasn't about to go through that again. So he sent us on our way to the hospital.

After getting settled in the room, my husband said that he was going to get something to eat. While he was gone, the nurse walked out of the room and my water broke. I couldn't find the call bell. I could not believe the amount of water that was all over the bed. All over my bed!

When the doctor put my epidural in, I was in mid-contraction, and I know I was a bit twisted, regardless of trying to stay straight. All of the medicine went down one leg and not as much the other. I dialated from 5cm to 10cm in 6 minutes. I got a little nauseated.

By this time, I was calling my husband on his cell phone. "Where are you?", I asked as if I was sitting around watching TV. You are not going to believe this, but he didn't go to the hospital cafeteria. He didn't go to a nearby restaurant. No, he went across town to eat sushi, of all things.

When he finally got back, I decided that I wouldn't kill him. Especially since I only had one partially good leg anyway and I thought he might be good to keep around for a little help taking the baby home.

I started pushing and 2 hours later, they handed me my son. Any memories of being completely miserable while pregnant or in labor completely vanished in that perfect little baby's face. I was in love instantly. It was a truly amazing, life transforming day.

The next day, I was a crying mess. All alone with my baby in my hospital room, I cried and thanked God for this incredible miracle. But that moment was cut short by the anesthesiologist who botched my epidural coming back and asking if I was doing alright and if I had any back pain. When she left, there was a constant parade of people from the hospital coming in and out. So many things to do. Birth certificate. Photos. Lactation consultant. Nurse. Sitz bath and that glorious light. Visitors. Family.

On the way home 48 hours later, I sobbed "We're a fahahammmiiillllyyyy!" My husband thought I had gone off the deep end. I wasn't sad. I was as happy as I have ever been in my entire life. And I couldn't stop crying. In fact, my emotions are still not back like they were before I had him.

It has been almost 4 years since that day. I have a whole other story for my baby girl. It's been almost 2 years since that day. My memories and day to day activities are priceless. I wouldn't trade any of it for anything in the whole world even on those days when I think I can't answer another question, or wipe another runny nose, or discipline ever again. I know I'm not alone in my feelings about that. That is one of the best thing about reading mommy blogs, and having friends to compare notes with. We all have some of the same frustrations and joys and challenges.

Sometimes, I think about Mary raising Jesus. Did He ask her 101 questions every 5 minutes when he was 3? Did she realize what an amazing responsibility and privilege she had been given? What about us? Do we realize what an amazing responsibility and privilege we have been given?

I can't wait to hear from my sister-in-law as her baby gets older. I know that she is going to be a great mom. She certainly has a beautiful baby. And she has so much to look forward to and enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday :Where are my pictures?

2007-04-18T21:03:00.000-05:00

So, I haven't posted in a long time and it's Wordless Wednesday and I have such a great picture and story to go along with it, but I cant see any of my pictures on my blog. They are all a red "X" inside of a box. What's up with that? Can anyone else see my previous and current (above) pictures? Or is it red "X" day? How do I get my pictures back?

So, I'll tell you about the photo above, if anyone can see it. Last night we went to this little circus here in our little town. They had brown bears that did some tricks, a monkey that was probably as old as Methuselah, several snakes and some people who did some circus performances. One of the performances was a girl who balanced a long sword on the tip of a shorter sword that she was holding in her teeth. At some point, the long sword fell and hit her right in the cheek! She kept going like nothing had happened, except for the blood (!) that she kept wiping away from her cheek. She lit a torch on another sword, balanced it on her sword in her teeth and climbed up a ladder, posed for a moment and climbed down just in time to get a white towel from the "Ring-mistress" or "announcer-lady" and to rush off behind the curtain. Our friends who were sitting right in front of us never saw a thing.

I was worried about her. I wondered if they have a circus medic? Did she have to go to our local Emergency Room? Did she need stitches? A tetnus shot?

I told my husband, (who was busy trying to keep our nearly 2 year old from climbing down the bleachers at the time) "That sword just hit that girl in the face. Look at that! She keeps wiping blood off of her face! Do you see that?!!!?" My husband's compassionate paramedic response: "What do you want me to do about it?"

Well, just to keep you posted, I think we are just now beginning to get out of the sinus fog that we have been in. My teeth hurt, my head aches and today, one of the docs I work with suggested Mucinex. I have never really considered it. To be honest, I didn't know what it was. I will say though, that it seems to have made me feel a great deal better this afternoon. He also said that we probably have an infection, but that our bodies are taking care of it. Antibiotics might shorten it's course, but we probably don't need them.

I hate taking antibiotics. Mostly because I don't like to remember to take them, but also because there is always a risk of getting rid of the "good" bacteria in some places. You girls know what I'm talking about, yes? If you do, you probably don't like taking antibiotics either.

So, I know it's Wordless Wednesday, but its been so long since I wrote anything that I couldn't resist. Hope nobody minds too much.

I've missed (your name here)!

2007-04-11T19:48:00.001-05:00

I have missed posting. Has anyone missed me?

Well, we have been sick sick sick sick sick.

First, it was the vomiting and diarrhea. Good thing I deep cleaned in the bathroom. My son and I had it at the same time. He didn't know he was going to throw up the first time. He didn't even know what it was. As he was getting dressed into clean pj's I threw up and he was standing at the doorway to the bathroom cheering me on, "Good job, Mommy!" My hubby was working and so I had to be the patient and the mommy. By the time he got home, (8 hours after I called to ask him to come home) most of the fun and games were over. I can honestly say that Sprite never tasted so good as it did that night.

As a bonus, my baby girl (almost 2 now) and I got some nasty cold or sinus infection. I'm not sure which one. Tomorrow, I am going to work at the hospital and will pick some unsuspecting doctor's brain about this and see if we should be on some antibiotics and call the pediatrician.

My baby is having some temper tantrums, but I think it's because she just doesn't feel good. I know the feeling. I have a headache that feels like someone took an axe and wedged it into my frontal lobe. I guess she does too. This is one of the worst things about being a parent. I feel so helpless.

Well, hopefully, by next week we'll all feel better. And hopefully, I'll be able to post more this week.

Wordless Wednesday: Siamese Flower.

2007-04-04T13:59:00.000-05:00

Pretty cool, huh?

To Doctor or Not to Doctor: A response

2007-04-03T21:27:00.000-05:00

I found a post while I was ~~lurking on~~ reading some blogs today. It was called "To Doctor Or Not To Doctor". It is amazing to me that I am a registered nurse (with almost 10 years in the ER) and my husband is a paramedic and we have over 30 years of experience between the two of us.

I have a little secret. We are total idiots when it comes to our children.

Very early one morning when my son was about 24 months, he spiked a fever and threw up some clear liquid. Since we happened to be near the doctor's office, I had my husband take him to the doctor. Guess what? They said that there was no treatment for that, except for (cue the dramatic music) Tylenol.

When my son was 6 months old, he had an allergic reaction to the first formula he ever had. He got a rash all over his head and had some very mild respiratory problems. While I was running all over the house yelling, "Call the doctor! Call 911! Call the ER!" my husband was on serious STOP mode. He was calling the ambulance station to find out what truck would be coming and where they were. Finally, my child vomited the tiny amount of formula he had ingested and his breathing cleared up. We talked to the doctor in the ER and he asked if we had given him any Benadryl. Benadryl? That would have been just too obvious.

My son got some junk in his eyes and I decided that it was pink eye. I even posted about it. They called in a prescription and we gave him some drops, but I'm afraid that what he had was just sinus congestion, not the dreaded "pink eye" that I had imagined.

How many more examples? Probably a bunch, but I can say that I know for sure that there are more to come.

Our pediatrician knows that and expects that. I'm sure they all do. I'll bet none of them are the doctor of their own children. After all, when they are home, they are Mommy or Daddy too, not Doctor Mommy or Doctor Daddy. I once knew a pediatrician who said that when her first baby developed diaper rash, she called one of her colleagues at 11 pm just to check to see if she was doing the right things.

So, in response to the question "to doctor, or not to doctor", I say the answer is YES to both. When in doubt, at least call.

Tackle it Tuesday: Good Intentions

2007-04-03T20:47:00.000-05:00

Well, today I had planned to post my first "Tackle It Tuesday" and it was going to be complete with pictures of our flowers that we planted over the last couple of days. I was really excited to post my first Tackle, because it's such a good one.

Anyway, last night as I was getting some of the pictures ready to post, I hear my baby girl crying. My husband mutes the TV and says, "Do you hear that?" (Which means, "Go see what's wrong with her.")

S0, I discover that she has thrown up. It's green beans. She may never eat them again. I wouldn't either.

That's not all, though. This was not a one time activity. She threw up all. night. long. It was so pitiful.

By about 5 this morning, she had lasted about an hour without throwing up so I put her in her crib and tucked myself into the glider in her room.

At 6, I had a crick in my neck so bad that I thought I would never be able to turn my head again. She was sleeping pretty well, so I got in my bed.

At 8, my son came in and said, "Good morning, Mommy and Daddy!" He was fresh as a daisy. That makes one of us.

Anyway, it seems that she has that terrible vomiting/diarrhea bug. I called the pediatrician's office just to make sure that they couldn't give her something to make it go away. They can't. It may spread to the rest of us. Oh, goody.

So, for my first (unofficial) Tackle It Tuesday, I deep cleaned our bathrooms. Because if we know we're probably going to be seeing alot of the bathroom (and particularly the toilet) very close up, very soon, isn't it better to see it clean?

Family Easter Week Activities

2007-04-02T10:40:00.000-05:00

As a Christian, this is a very important week, as it is called Holy Week in most Christian denominations. Even though I grew up in church, I don't remember any events or activities for this week as a child. I only remember knowing that it was Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I am establishing different traditions with my children and have been trying to incorporate daily scripture and lessons into our routines and story times.

One of my internet resources is Christianity Today. You can find an entire week's worth of family activities to do here.

We actually started talking about Palm Sunday last week when our Bible verse at AWANA was "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Of course, yesterday at Sunday School, they reinforced the lesson. Hopefully, some seeds are being planted. We shall see.

As for the "Easter Bunny", I haven't really decided what to do about that. I am not a big fan of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or things like that. We did do the Easter Egg hunt at church, but really only because I thought it would be a fun day for all (which it was). Where did the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs come from anyway?

Any ideas/thoughts/opinions?

I had alot of fun! Didn't you?

2007-03-31T19:03:00.000-05:00

Today was the Easter egg hunt at our church. It is the third year we have gone and the first with two who are mobile. Last year, my baby girl was not walking yet so she was in a stroller and easy to keep up with. This year, it was a whole different story. Fortunately, my hubby was not working and was with us. I still felt like I was doing alot of chasing and catching and getting kicked in the thighs and getting my ear screamed in.

The church has a routine: first, you come in and they have the inflatables. This always a bit of a dilemma with my son. Do I want to take my shoes off in order to play in these things? or do I want to keep my shoes on and watch? Eventually he will take his shoes off, play for a few minutes and discover that he really just wants his shoes back. My baby girl wanted to jump in the "2 and under" inflatable, but she decided that the first time she fell was enough for her to stop. She didn't get hurt or anything, just had enough.

Next they have a puppet show. This year was actually pretty good, because the side show was my baby walking all around the stage and behind the puppeteer's stage. I would have died of embarrassment if she had taken one of the puppets from back there!

Anyway, they finally turned everyone loose and lined up and said, "On your mark...."

and they were off.....

and it was a success!

And we got to keep the eggs so that we can re-create all of the excitement at home for days and weeks and months to come!

A contest: PICK ME!! PICK ME!!

2007-03-31T13:38:00.000-05:00

Those girls over at 5 minutes for mom have done it again! A new contest to win a Dyson Slim vacuum cleaner!

I don't know about you, but those vacuum cleaners have been on my list of things I want. I have an Oreck now, which is fine, except for the fact that the man on TV says that it loses suction after so long.

By the way, I hope that y'all don't think I am a contest blog. That seems to be my theme lately, but I promise to put up some more substantial stuff soon.

Anyway, if you want to get in on the Dyson contest, click on 5 minutes for mom.

Quirky twinges of regret. Or not.

2007-03-27T07:33:00.000-05:00

So, this morning I woke up to a three year old asking for pan-a-cakes. I thought to myself, "did I really leave those crazy quotes on the quirky quote contest web site?" The answer is YES! So then I thought, "Why? Don't you think people are going to think you're crazy/warped/weird?" Probably. Either that, or I will find a kindred spirit who also thinks that those things are hilarious. So either way, I stand by my entries. Those are probably the quirkiest quotes I can think of. I should win if they are judging on quirkiness alone.

Now, if the contest had been for favorite bible verse, or favorite line from a song or motivational quote or something, I wouldn't have chosen those.

I have so many favorite Bible verses that it would be hard to think of only one. Maybe Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all thy ways and He will direct thy paths."

The song that is going through my head this morning as I wake up is "Who am I that you are mindful of me? How you love me? It's amazing! I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God He calls me friend!" Isn't that wonderful!! (I wish I knew how to post song clips and videos on here. I would certainly make that the song for the day since I can't stop singing it in my head. I like to share the joy and make you sing it in your head all day too.)

And maybe my favorite motivational quote is when Yoda said "There is only do or do not. There is no try." Or something very close to that.

So, on that note, the twinge of regret that I feel for posting a quote that contains the phrase "I fart in your general direction." is overshadowed by the fact that it is still hilarious and it is still the quirkiest thing I can think of.

So there.

Quirky Quote Qontest 2: And now for something completely different

2007-03-26T23:57:00.000-05:00

One more entry, only because I don't think that any quirky quote contest can possibly end without something from Monty Python and I didn't see any on the list yet.

“I don't wanna talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”

Now how's that for a quirky insult? The next time you get cut off in traffic you can repeat this (with a heavy british accent) to the person instead of getting road rage.

Did I mention I have a warped sense of humor?

Quirky Quote Qontest

2007-03-26T23:24:00.000-05:00

I found this contest via a blog called "Notes from the Laundry Pile". One quote from the movie Little Miss Sunshine instantly came to mind. (If you didn't see the movie, you're missing out on most of the humor here.)

"Oh my God, I'm getting pulled over. Everyone, just... pretend to be normal."

My first book review!

2007-03-26T07:42:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally jumped in and read one of the books on my list. When Joy Came to Stay by Karen Kingsbury. I read it in 2 days.

I have never read any of Karen Kingsbury's works, but I know people at work who read all of her series books and seem to enjoy them and I had heard glowing reviews about her online. I really didn't know what to expect when I picked up the book.

According to the back of the book, it is: "the heart-wrenching story of one woman's descent into the shadows of depression, her husband's search for understanding, and a precious child's unwavering faith."

I have to say, it delivered on it's promise to be heart-wrenching. By the end of the first evening, when I was half-way through the book, I was depressed myself. The next morning, I felt like I had to get to the happy ending which was apparently going to happen due to the title of the book. I literally could not put the book down, but at the same time, I didn't want to keep reading. Part of me wanted to skip to the end, but I persisted.

The fact that it is a christian book was also appealing to me as I have never read one before. I like the way she interjects the (presumed) voices of the holy spirit into the dialog of the character's thoughts. She uses scripture to pull out thematic elements.

Overall, the story is about the consequences of sin and trusting God with child-like faith throughout every trial.

So, if you want an easy, engaging, somewhat predictable read that is quite depressing for the first 3/4 of the book, pick up a copy from your library.

A long story with a question: what would you do?

2007-03-25T12:52:00.000-05:00

Today I went to "Big Church" for the first time in a while. See, every week for a while, my 3 year old son didn't want to go to church. He would say that he didn't want to go and he would take his sweet time getting ready, but I didn't realize how much he really didn't want to go until one particular Sunday.

One Sunday that was pretty cold with an even colder breeze, we got to church, (just him and me) and he refused to get out of the car. He cried and fussed and he NEVER does that. The Sunday before, he didn't want me to leave him there, despite my saying that I wasn't really leaving him, but that I wanted to go to my own Sunday School class. He cried and whined that he didn't want to stay, "because they don't have any paint brushes." (?) The teacher found some pipe cleaners and paint and he painted a little bit which made him happier, but then the next Sunday came when he refused to get out. Anyway, he would never tell me why.

One weekend, he went to spend a night with his MeMe and I asked her to find out what was the matter at church and he opened up and told her about "a boy who hit him eleven times."

The next Sunday I told him that I would go to his Sunday School class with him. He was very excited and proud that I would be there with him. (I'm sure that I will cherish that memory when he gets older and doesn't want to admit he has a mother, much less in the same room with his Sunday School class.) I noticed that even though it is a large class of 3 year olds, it was very well organized. One big group game, and then breaking off into 3 small groups of about 5 children each doing different activities involving the lesson.

So, no problem.

That night, he wanted me to go to his class with him, so I did. During the coloring/bible verse reciting part of that class, I noticed a little boy swatting at him like a windmill. (It was apparently having something to do with a lollipop.) Now, if I had been the teacher and not known what I know, I wouldn't have given that a second thought. It really didn't look like it hurt or that he even made contact, but it was enough to prevent my child from wanting to come to Sunday School. I spoke to the little boy and said that we come to church to love God and each other and that hitting isn't very loving. I tried to get him to apologize, but he didn't. It just happened that the memory verse for that night was "...He said to him, Man, your sins are forgiven" Luke 5:20. (When my son said his verse, he said, "...your friends are forgiven". I thought that was appropriate.)

Anyway, I talked to the child's mother, who is in my SS class, and asked her if we could get them together sometime outside of church for a play-date. I was thinking that if they got to know each other better, maybe it would prevent that from happening later. She acted very open to the idea and said that they had been having some problems with him hitting other kids at church, but they thought they were making progress. I never heard from her, and honestly, I never made the first move.

To make an already long story a little bit shorter: while she and her family do come to SS, her child has not been back to the class on Sunday night. I have been volunteering for that class with the kids, (mostly because my son wants me there and it's kind of fun) and they do not come to church at all.

What would you do at this point?

Today's reminder

2007-03-23T09:06:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we just need a reminder.
Shalee's Diner: A Personal Note From Jesus

Non-Wordless Wednesday

2007-03-21T13:48:00.000-05:00

After a particularly difficult day with my 3 year old son, I was tucking him in and he said "Mommy, can we go to the zoo and the beet soon?"

"Yes, we will go very soon, now say your prayers." I answered.

"Well, when we go to the beet, we have to take a bucket and a shovel and some sun scream." He said.

"OK, we'll take all of that. Say your prayers, now." (Trying not to laugh.)

"We have to take all of the puzzle pieces out of the bucket in the playroom, and maybe we can get one of the shovels out of my sand box, and Mommy? Do we have any sun scream? You never know when you are going to get sun screamed."

"Mommy, why are you laughing? What is so funny?"

I know that it won't be as cute or funny reading it, but I guess all of the tension of the day was finally over. And I realized that I would miss him after he went to bed. And that is what being a mommy is all about.

Next topic, I am coming out of the American Idol closet. Yes, I too watch every week.

This is the first year that I have watched, so I don't know anything about any of the other seasons, but last nights show had a pre-teen young lady who was simply overcome with emotion. She was crying like she was at a Beatles concert.

They kept showing her during Sanjaya's perfomance and she was literally sobbing. I thought if he doesn't go out into the audience and give her a hug, I am going to scream!

Really, I thought she just liked Sanjaya, but they showed her during Blake's performance and she was still going. At the end of the show, they called her up to the stage to hug all of the contestants, where she continued to sob some more.

If you watched the show, did you notice that at the very end, when the credits roll, the camera man got a shot of another little girl who was in the audience? She was crying then, too.

Could you read her mind? I could. She was thinking, "How unfair! I actually sat through the show without shedding any tears, enjoying it and behaving myself the whole time and they call that blubbering baby up there on the stage and here I am. It's soooo unfayayayerrr!!!

At least, that's what I would have been thinking. I thought that was sort of hilarious.

Spring Reading Thing Is Here!

2007-03-20T23:01:00.000-05:00

I am so excited!!! I love books and reading and this just puts the icing on the cake. After having a couple of children, I recently realized that I have a bunch of books around the house that I haven't read. Not to mention that the library is FULL of books that I want to read. Hopefully, blogging about these will keep me accountable. At the very least, maybe you will see something you want to read as well. So, without further ado:

Here is my list of spring book reading. These are in no particular order. After reading each of the books, I will write a short review of the book so you can decide if this is for you or not. If you are interested in other books go to this post.

1. Facing Your Giants Max Lucado

2. Facing Your Giants: Study Guide Max Lucado

3. The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: King Solomon's Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness Steven K. Scott

4. ~~How to Lead Your Child to Christ Robert & Bobbie Wolgemuth~~

5. At First Sight Nicholas Sparks

6. Three Weeks With My Brother Nicholas Sparks and Micah Sparks

7. True Believer Nicholas Sparks

8. The Bible in 90 Days Ted Cooper, Jr. Editor Note: I heard about this on Primetime America, (a christian radio show) and while I may purchase this Bible in the future, there is a schedule of 90 days through the Bible that you can download for free here. They also have a blog.

9. ~~When Joy Came to Stay Karen Kingsbury~~

10. Shepherding a Child's Heart Tedd Tripp
with Shepherding Your Child's Heart: Parent's Handbook Tedd Tripp

11. How Now Shall We Live? Charles Colson

Search for other books at the link on my sidebar. Stay tuned for updates! Happy Spring Reading!!

Not for the faint of heart

2007-03-20T09:53:00.000-05:00

As much as I try to avoid the network national and world news, it is hard not to notice all of the frightening things happening all around us. I don't know about you, but I believe what is happening abroad and at home is truly of biblical proportions. The apathy or tolerance for overt sin among most American Christians is appalling. When you think about the "WWJD" craze from a few years ago, what do you think Jesus would do if he were on Earth today? I want my children to grow to understand that they can not let others tell them how to worship or when to pray or what to believe. I want them to know the God I serve, the Creator of all, the Savior of the world. He's STILL got the whole world in His hands and I take great comfort in knowing that, but we can not sit back and watch what is happening and not do something about it.

I received the following in a forwarded e-mail and thought it was worth noting. The email attributed it to Paul Harvey, but according to TruthorFiction.com it is really "from the pen of Nick Gholson, a columnist for the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas, published in September of 1999."

I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin, but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution.

Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game.

So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.

But it's a Christian prayer, some will argue.

Yes, and this is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect -somebody chanting Hare Krishna?

If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer. If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer. If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha. And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit. When in Rome.

But what about the atheists? Is another argument. What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!

Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.

Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grand-parents taught us to pray before eating; to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.

God, help us.

And if that last sentence offends you , well ... just sue me. The silent majority has been silent too long... It's time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority don't care what they want. It is time the majority rules! It's time we tell them, you don't have to pray; you don't have to say the pledge of allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right... But by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back.....And we WILL WIN!

God bless us one and all ... especially those who denounce Him. God bless America, despite all her faults. She is still the greatest nation of all. God bless our servicemen who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God.

May 2007 be the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. Keep looking up.

Everyday I am Thankful

2007-03-17T12:56:00.000-05:00

1. I am thankful that I can open the door to the (frontload) washing machine, even though the handle broke off of it for the second time in the last 3 months.

2. I am thankful that our heat pump went out at this time of year and not in the sweltering heat of summer or during a very cold snap. (How would you explain that to a 3 and 1 year old?)

3. I am thankful that we have a washing machine and a heat pump.

give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Friday Thoughts

2007-03-16T20:19:00.000-05:00

So, I went to work today. It is amazing what 10 hours away from my kids will do to renew my mothering sensibilities. Tonight, I really appreciated the sweetness of my children. Sometimes, I get so overwhelmed and frustrated with the 3 year old who is learning his boundaries. He has been testing me lately and just been defiant. Oh, to have James Dobson here when you need him. Anyway, I came home and they were so sweet and happy and it makes me remember why I am a mother.

My sister called yesterday and asked if we wanted her daughter's maltese. See, they have two large, unruly dogs and now they are taking care of this tiny 4 pound maltese. It isn't working out very well for them, but they have only had the tiny dog for a week. I was quite excited about it. My husband wasn't convinced, but my son has been asking for a dog for a few weeks now and I thought that having a tiny dog like that might be a good way to break him in. Today though, she called and said that they aren't going to give the dog to us just yet. I'm a little sad about that. We'll see what happens.

Oh, I almost forgot. Check out my new banner/button in the sidebar for the Spring Reading Thing. I am so excited about that. I can't wait to see everyone's reading lists. Be sure to post your reading list. There will be lots of prizes and it'll be so much fun! I have tons of books to put on my list. I can't wait to get started. Hope to see you there!

I've rambled enough now. Until next time!

Wordless Wednesday

2007-03-14T08:03:00.000-05:00

Croquet anyone?