No Pink for Me

Another Birthday, Another Post! WHAT?!

2011-07-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Judah, our baby, turned 4 years old. It is nearly impossible that this child should be four. I don't have any idea of where the time has gone. Cliche, I know, but it is so true. I am so glad to be out of the threes with all of my kids (although I wouldn't hesitate to have more kids to go through the threes with. Just sayin').

2007

2008

2009

2010 (Someone was introduced to Home Alone!)

2011 before we left WA

Dear Judah,
Wow! You have been incredibly patient as you've helped all of us in our family celebrate our birthdays! First Mommy's, then Daddy's, then Jayden's, then Josiah's! Now you finally get to celebrate your birthday and as we are apt to do in our family: we'll celebrate in little ways all week long! On your birthday DAY we went to Sea World (yay for season passes!) and McDonald's for lunch and then on to have cake AND brownies with cousins who are in town. Birthday presents were of the Thomas and Cars 2 variety with a little Captain America thrown in for a kick!

Judah, you are a delight to your Mommy and Daddy. You have Daddy's sense of humor and are always worried whether I am "happy to you". Baby boy, I couldn't be any happier "to you" than I already am! You make me smile on days when I'm overwhelmed and think that I canNOT do one more thing. Yet, you raise those crazy eyebrows and tell me some ridiculously hilarious plot and I suddenly have to just squeeze you and kiss your sweet cheeks!

I hope you will find your delight in the Lord, dear Judah, and that He will make you smile. We know that all good things come from our Father, and you are one of those very good things that He has blessed my life with. I love you, Judah-boy!

Love,
Mommy

Happy Birthday, Baby Jayden!

2011-06-07T00:57:00.000-07:00

Jayden,

You are, unbelievably, six years old today. In my wildest imagination, I didn't see this day coming. This day that my middle boy, my one who has my temper, my one who needs to be held more than any other, has turned six.

You have grown up so much in the last couple of years. You went from being "violet" with your temper to beginning to learn how to control it. You've become a better playmate for your brothers and even a better cuddler! Sometimes, like today, you break my heart with your sweetness, telling me that I sing pretty and that you like my songs. And you think that I can make anything! So I find myself trying to please you by making your quilt and making you, of all things, a stuffed rhino! You're a creative kid who doesn't let the normal "this is going to be too hard, so let's don't do it" get in your way! Make Luke, your leopard, a roller coaster? Sure, let's get on that!

You have grown in the usual ways, of course, as well. You've become an excellent reader, way better than I would have expected at your age. You are brilliant in math, much like your father. You have a killer throw and an amazing golf swing. You're our most natural athlete but you've got stiff competition in your brothers! I love to get your notes that you give me: "Jayden loves Mommy. Mommy loves Jay." Or my favorites are the ones that read: "Jay loves Jana. Jana loves Jay."

Your love of color and crowns, animals (real or stuffed), chocolate milk, and peanut butter...all of these things make you awesome. You are still our "best eater," willing to try anything whether it's seafood, chili, sushi or Texas Texas salsa. I love your adventurous palate, and out of everyone in our family, I love cooking for you the most.

Out of all of these things, Jayden, the one thing that makes me happiest and that gives me hope for the future even on our bad days is this: you love Jesus. You want a relationship with Him. Now, you may not always like to go to Sunday School (the whole "I have to be away from Mommy and Daddy thing" kind of ruins it for you) but I know that you love Jesus. And you know that He loves you.

Jayden, I have prayed for God to use your passion for Him. I know that He will do it.

Never doubt that I am your biggest fan, Jay, and I will call you Baby Jayden as long as you want me to.

Love,
Mommy

Come On In, The Water's Freezing!

2011-04-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

We've arrived in San Antonio, and boy, it's hot! Since we've arrived and for the next few days or weeks, we'll stay in hotel until we find a house to rent. The hotel has an outdoor unheated pool and the boys have been insistent that they be allowed to go swimming. We've been here since Wednesday night, and today, we acquiesced, only so they would realize that even though it's stinkin' hot outside, the water is not quite warm enough. We've told them and told them, but in this case, experience was the best teacher. After swimming for a bit, Josiah's lips were blue and he said, "Why would anyone want to swim in that???" Hmmm. I don't know. But one thing we do know, Daddy is a better daddy than I am a mommy! He went in with them, so Judah and Jay could go into the "deep" end (5 ft.).

After a quick shower and a wrap up in robes, they're warming up!

We enjoyed worshiping with other believers this morning, but we did miss our church in WA. This church has AWANA, so Josiah is kind of interested in being a part of that which is kind of surprising, but he had visited AWANA with a friend in WA, so maybe since he kind of knows what to expect, he might not be so intimidated. He has decided that he wants to live in Texas forever. He might have gone too far though when he said, "I like the Longhorns." I told him to get out of the van. I don't kid about these things. If he's not going to be an OU fan, he can root for A&M, but UT? Wars have started over less.

Past and Present Colliding

2011-03-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

When I was little, I had a monkey that I don't really remember anything about except that he was always there, and his name was "Monk Monk." I don't really even remember not having Monk Monk, so he must be pretty old (I'll be 38 this year!). I think he belonged to my older sister who was 15 when I was born, and that means he was probably passed down through all 5 of us kids!

Last night, in an effort to clean out and de-clutter as much as possible, I decided to go through my boxes in the garage that contain all my dolls, Barbie dolls, and stuffed animals from my childhood. I think I've written about one of my dolls that my grandmother had made, but one of my other treasures (oh, I have a few) is Monk Monk. Yes, I still have him, and yes, he smells a little musty from formerly living in a house with smokers plus being packed away for many years. But when I introduced him to my boys last night, I had one taker who was ready to love on an old monkey, a monkey who might need a stitch or two in the right places to keep him together for another few years. So, here they are together: two of my treasures; one from my past and one who is my present.

I think Monk Monk is gonna love this kid!

All About Granddad

2011-02-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

To a special Granddad, Happy Birthday! In case you can't see the picture, it says "You 'light up' our life!" You know, because you work with electricity? That was Mommy's "bright idea." (And the hits keep coming, folks! Thank you! I'll be here all week (and the next week, but maybe not the week after that!).

Truly, Father of my DH, you are a treasure to our family. My boys just mentioned yesterday (Judah, actually) about you and Grandmom taking them to McDonald's to eat when you were here in 2009. I love that they have memories of you, and I'm looking forward to us making more while we're a wee bit closer for a time.

I thank you and Grandmom for raising such wonderful children who love the Lord, and I thank you especially for the one that I snagged. You all joke and say that I'm a saint for dealing with him (and some days you are so right), but really, he's the one who God dropped into my life to save me from my crazy self. You've instilled great qualities such as hard work, perseverance, and most importantly, dedication to our Lord in all of your bunches of children's lives. Thank you! We love you!

The Bible in 90 Days-The Beginning

2011-01-03T18:52:00.000-08:00

This will be my third time reading through the Bible in 90 Days with Mom's Toolbox. Until last March when I finished the first time through, I had never read the Bible all the way through with a plan. I've read all of the books of the Bible, but I had never read the whole Bible from cover to cover.

That all changed when I stumbled upon the B90 program and thought, "Surely I can do this." Lo, and behold, I did! And then in the summer, I did it again! I mentored a group the last go around and will be doing that again this time.

Why would I encourage anyone to read through that many pages of THE most important book that fast? Several reasons, I think. One of the main ones is the fact that the Bible is one story, God's story. When one reads through so quickly, the main themes continue to 'stick out' and the repetition helps. From one 'story' to the next, one can see God's themes: calling, restoration, judgment, grace and mercy. Ultimately, of course, all of these themes point to their fulfillment in Christ.

Another reason is the sense of accomplishment that I felt that I stuck with it. It actually takes discipline to actually accomplish this task. I can't think of many tasks that require the discipline yet is really not that hard. It's not "hard" to sit and read for 45 minutes to an hour daily for 88 days, yet somehow I always find other "shiny things" that get my attention and take my focus off the Word. BUT when I'm accountable to others (Amy, other mentors, my mentorees) suddenly it's not any harder but easier!

Anyway, for all that, I'm happy to be joining in again. If you're interested, and haven't signed up to read along with us, hop over to Amy's at Mom's Toolbox and sign up (you don't have to have a blog to join in!).

Phoenix Red Rising 8/27/08-12/29/10

2010-12-30T11:56:00.000-08:00

January 2010

It was time.

She'd spent a year and a half being sick after every meal, yet she only perked up her ears whenever you spoke to her. She chased balls and rocks or anything that moved, cars being a favorite, but even cars weren't that interesting anymore. And I hated throwing balls to her because she'd still chase enthusiastically, but she didn't have any extra calories to expend. She was still so beautiful and so loving, but she was miserable. To hang onto her any longer was for my benefit alone.

I stayed with her til the end, and the end came quickly, leaving the vet to reassure me that I'd made the right choice. Maybe the right choice but a hard one.

Layla is a bit confused right now, wondering where that young whippersnapper is hiding, wondering if she's sneaking up on her even now.

As Judah looks at these pictures, he said, "But she's not hurting." Not anymore, Baby, not anymore.

From Us to You...

2010-12-25T10:46:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night...

God Eternal, squeezed into the body of a baby, God and Man, come to face our temptations, to live a sinless life, to die a painful death, to save us from our sin.

Fall Into Reading Wrap Up

2010-12-21T10:09:00.001-08:00

I enjoyed participating in Katrina's Fall Into Reading Challenge this time. I didn't finish all of the books that I had challenged myself to read, but I also added in a couple (code for about 10) extra "fun" books (a couple by Laura Childs, a few other mysteries) that weren't on my original list.

Here's how I did:
I finished The Hole in Our Gospel by Rich Stearns. In a word? Challenging. Painful. Convicting. Okay, that's three words, but choose one and it applies.

I didn't (that is...DID NOT) finish reading Good and Angry (did buy it, though so I can finish it later) or Shepherding a Child's Heart.

I finished all but one of the Aimee Leduc Investigations books (I have it now from the library and will finish it this week). I also finished Piece de Resistance and Savannah by the Sea. I didn't even start Pride and Prejudice. I did purchase Walking the Choctaw Road, and I look forward to finishing it soon as well.

I have definitely always had a bent toward fiction (especially mysteries), and I didn't vary much from that! I think all of the 'extra' books I read were mysteries as well! Next time, I'll stretch myself a little bit more (just a little bit, though!).

I look forward to joining the Spring Reading Thing that Katrina hosts as well. Maybe I'll stretch then!

I'll be reading the Bible in 90 days again beginning in January, so I won't have as much time to read 'extra' stuff then.

Though maybe I will take time to update my blog a little more than once every three months... we'll see :)

And...Done

2010-10-04T22:38:00.001-07:00

I almost forgot to update my blog tonight for the B90 challenge. I finished on Wednesday night, and e-mailed Amy at Mom's Toolbox, so I kind of shut down for a day or two mentally after that. (Well, even more than usual.)

My overall thoughts? Wow! God's Word is amazing. Once again I am reminded of how much He loves us and longs for us to know Him as His Word portrays Him and not how "the world" says He is.

I loved reading through so quickly, even if I was behind much of the time. I don't think we get a good picture of how it all ties together sometimes because of the way we approach reading through the Bible in a year. I always felt frustrated by that approach and never accomplished it. This time, though, I did it in 87 days. All the glory goes to God! He is the one who is faithful and He alone is the one who can satisfy me.

Thank you, Amy at Mom's Toolbox for hosting this, for challenging us, and for encouraging all of us to get to know God and His Word more fully. Amy has a great ministry of sharing short devotionals, and I would encourage you to check them out at her site.

B90 Week 13 or "Holy Cow, We're Almost Done!"

2010-09-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Day 85 of the Bible in 90 Days, and I'm right on target to finish in 88. There was a time in the middle (almost the whole middle!) that I was behind 10 or more days. Then, even though I had finished in March, I was beginning to consider giving up. But then I was reminded 1) how good it felt to have accomplished such an awesome goal, 2) there are others who are reading for the first time and would my giving up (if they even knew) be an encouragement to them (Galatians 6:9-10)? 3) Discipline is not my strong suit, so giving up would be so easy. Continuing would be harder, so I decided to be like Paul, to beat my body, to make it my slave (OK, not my actual body because the treadmill and I are still not friends) so that I would not be disqualified for the prize. I know that my salvation isn't based on my works (Thank you, Jesus!), but we are called to show our faith by our works. My work this time was to finish and to finish well.

If you are still struggling with finishing, keep on keeping on. Drag out your "sticktoitiveness" and "just do it," "get'er done." (Any other silly slogans that I can use to encourage you to go for it?) If you have finished, will finish in 90 days, will finish in more than 90 days, let us know! Amy, over at Mom's Toolbox, wants to know if you're reading along with us and when you're finishing. Go there and be encouraged. Praise be to the glorious God and Father of us all for His precious love letter to us.

Fall Into Reading 2010

2010-09-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is my first year joining in the low-pressure reading challenge known as "Fall Into Reading." Katrina over at Callipidder Days created and hosts this challenge, and I've been wanting to join. The challenge runs from September 22 until December 20th.

I love to read!! With the Bible in 90 Days Challenge, books have been piling up on my bedside table, so I'm looking forward to plowing through some of those. Here's my list (although, I'm sure I'll add and detract as I go along, but at least these are my planned 'escapes.')

Non-fiction:

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. I am actually almost half-way done with this one, but I had to put in aside for the B90 challenge. Great and convicting read.

Good and Angry by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller. I (again) have started this one, but (again) had to put it aside for a bit.

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. We're actually going through this (DVD) on Sunday nights at church, so I am looking forward to reading (all) of it.

Fiction:
Piece de Resistance by Sandra Byrd. The final one in the series, so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it!

Savannah by the Sea by Denise Hildreth. Again, a third in a series that I read a year ago. I've waited a long time to read this!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. A classic that deserves another read; in honor of my friend, L, who loved Miss Jane Austen.

The Aimee Leduc Investigation Series (or as many as I can get my hands on!) by Cara Black. I've read a couple of these but look forward to reading more.

Walking the Choctaw Road by Tim Tingle. I recently read one of his children's books, so I look forward to reading more of his stories about my ancestors, the Choctaw.

I am also going to try to read a couple of non-school related, simply-to-be-a-good-mom/homeschooler to my three boys, particularly my oldest two. If I could get the younger one to stop bouncing off the walls (he's three), I'd read to him more, too! Of course, all of this is in addition to the study I'm leading at church, "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and teaching Ephesians on Sunday mornings.

Thankfully, this is a low-pressure challenge!! Check out Katrina's blog at Callapidder Days to see what everyone else is reading. You might be inspired to pick up a new book or you might be reminded to pick up the one you forgot you wanted to read!!

B90 Week 12

2010-09-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe we're already into the Acts of the Apostles! This has been a great week of reading through (in a timely manner, no less!) the Gospels.

One of the themes that I kept being convicted by was Jesus' harsh words concerning riches and his concern for the poor. Even the "kingdom of heaven" parable from Matthew 22:2-14 reminded me of how easy it is to get caught up in the riches of this life, storing up our treasures on earth, if you will. Here Jesus is referring to those who were "invited to come" but they were too busy going to their fields or to their business to pay attention to the one who had invited them to the banquet. So he 'took care of business,' and invited all the 'nobodies' to come. I was struck by the things that distracted the ones who had been invited initially were the things that distract me so often. To compound my conviction, my husband and I visited a mall this weekend, looking for a certain pair of shoes that will hopefully help me with my aching feet. However, I spent the time there trying not to get physically ill at the worthless, vain consumerism that drives us all.

I'm not getting on a soapbox here, because, heck, I was looking for new shoes! However, I know that if my memory hadn't been refreshed by these verses, that my "want-o-meter" would have been turned completely on just by being in certain stores like REI or even the Build-a-bear where they have a new Star Wars Bear (how cute it was!). I think I was kept from temptation simply by being in the Word!

How about you? Has anything you've read this week been a reminder/conviction to you of something going on in your life? Leave a comment here or check in with Amy over at Mom's Toolbox. We're almost done! Plans are in the works to start anew in January 2011.

B90 Week 11

2010-09-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'M CAUGHT UP! Or I will be tonight when I read through Mark 9:31. There have been some LONG reading sessions this week, but it feels so good to be caught up! Can you believe that this challenge is almost over? Only a couple more weeks, and October will be upon us (I KNOW! It really shouldn't be moving this fast!).

A few verses that stood out to me in my marathon reading session came from Hosea. Hosea 10:12 says,

Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord until he comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception.

I'm also leading a study called Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss right now, and mercy, those words are powerful: you have eaten the fruit of deception. I haven't ever necessarily planned to plant wickedness or reap evil, but that in effect, is what I've done if I've ever chosen to believe a lie or a subtle half-truth that contradicts what God has said or portrays Him in a non-biblical way. I don't want to be like the Israelites and try to "dig my own cisterns" or "carve my own gods."

Another verse that I held onto this week was Habakkuk 2:3 which reads, "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy." And at the end of chapter 3 verses 17-19

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

.

And of course, after all the mayhem, destruction, and pain in the OT, it was refreshing to enter the NT! As I read through Matthew this morning (all of it), it struck me anew what a short earthly ministry (and really, earthly life) Jesus had.

Check in with Amy at Mom's Toolbox to see how everyone else is doing. And go encourage someone today!!

B90 Week 9

2010-08-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

Suffice it to say that I'm still behind, but only 3 days now! (Again!). I've been reading all weekend and had planned to catch up even more today, but a headache is plaguing me, so I'm going to check in now and call it "good."

Check in with Amy and her other readers over at Mom's Toolbox to see how everyone else is doing! Drop them an encouraging note, if you can!

"All Because of a Newspaper"

2010-08-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

"And the newspaper isn't that great. I guess as far as newspapers go, it's good, but still."

These were the thoughts that were swirling through my head at 4 a.m. When DH went to bed, I decided to put Layla and Phoenix in the outdoor kennel to try to curb Layla's new found love of newspapers. (She's actually just being her sweet, helpful self since all she usually does is take the plastic off. She's just trying to help!) She usually sleeps outside while Phoenix sleeps in our laundry room with the door partway open. But I thought since Layla hates the kennel and Phoe seems to like it, that maybe if they both were in there, it would be fine with Layla. They both resisted little when I put them in and fed them.

I stayed up late catching up on my reading for the B90, then I had done a little bit of planning for our homeschool (not much, just enough for the next two weeks while we still have "extra" kids). I went to bed around 12:30 and read a few pages of "Pocketful of Pinecones" by Karen Andreola. I turned off the light around 12:45 and was looking forward to sleeping. We have been sleeping with our window open since it's nice and cool outside. I could hear the coyotes yipping at the moon, but they don't bother me. However, I should have known.

Phoenix started barking at 1:30, so quickly I went out and got her since I know our neighbor had gotten off work at 11:30, so he was probably just settling down. I had to wrestle with her to get her in the house since she wanted to be with Layla (and poor Layla is left in the kennel at this point). Phoe resigned herself to the laundry room, and I went back to bed.

At 2:30, SWK started "Mommy"ing from his place on the top bunk in their room. He'd dropped Brown Puppy. Are you kidding me? This same dog who he's had since he was 1 but paid no attention to until 3 months ago? That dog? The one that Bounce has slept with the last five years but gave up when SWK decided he needed to sleep with it? That dog. He'd fallen off the top bunk (the dog is stuffed by the way, so it hadn't hurt him), and SWK needed the dog! So, since I'm the good parent (Kidding. I kid. Kind of.) I got up and retrieved the stuffed Labrador. (Get it? Retrieved the Labrador. Okay, it wasn't that funny at 2:30 either!). I huffed my way back to bed (my attitude wasn't great by this point. Poor SWK!) and thoughts swirled.

At 3:15, I could hear Layla whining (softly) from the kennel which is not far from our bedroom window. What the? I am not bothered by the (what sounds like) 50 coyotes but let one of my dogs (or kids) whine, and I can't go back to sleep?

At 4 something else happened, (kid, dog, husband???), but I woke up (had I really been asleep?). I laid there and thought, "All of this because of a newspaper?" DH woke up sometime after 5:30 (and it seemed like he was loud this morning. Were you, DH? Were you???), I turned my alarm off at 7 and SWK started "Mommy"ing again at 7:50because he was wondering if our "extra" kids were here yet. Yikes! I jumped out of bed and ran and got my non-pajamas on. They finally showed up at 9. (I could have been dozing!)

Needless to say, I'm slurping up the coffee today, and thinking of buying my neighbor a post and a box for his newspaper. And on second thought, is it the dogs (stuffed or otherwise) or the newspaper that's causing issues? I'll let you know after I finish my pot of coffee!

B90 Week 8

2010-08-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well, hello there! Where have you been? Oh, yeah, it's moi that's been absent for a bit long! There's much to tell but the days have been short and there never seems to be enough time to catch up on it all...including my Bible reading! I'm still about 3 days behind, but I'm still reading!

Actually, I just finished the Psalms last night and then read about 10 chapters in Proverbs today. It was the first time I'd read all of Psalms 119 since my friend had passed away the week after our Psalm 119 Bible Study ended. All kinds of thoughts swirled around as I read, but suffice it to say, that the Lord's word is good.

Since DH spent the day at home with the summer cold that we've all had, I had to use the time to accomplish some things that can only happen when there is someone to entertain Ju Ju. So I painted the office (oh, yes, that project) and I also mowed the lawn, reprimanded Layla for chewing up the neighbor's newspaper, apologized to the neighbor, etc. etc.

So, there's still much to say, but for now, I think I will go hang out with my children for a bit. DH and I spent the weekend away (10-year anniversary) and some lovely friends cared for our kids while we gone, but my boys like having their mommy and daddy home!

Check in with Amy at Mom's Toolbox if you're reading along with us and need some encouragement!

B90 Week 4 or "Vacation Is Killing Me"

2010-07-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

We're still in Texas, "vacationing" or as I like to call it, running crazy with children! Yesterday we went to Glen Rose to the Dinosaur Tracks State Park. Unfortunately, the Creation Evidence Museum wasn't open, so we only got the "millions of years ago" view of everything, but the dinosaur tracks were pretty impressive. More on that later.

One of the great things about the trip is that my sister drove the entire way, so I spent a good majority of the time reading and catching up! I was one complete week behind and now I'm only three days behind! I did manage to read part of that late night before last (as in I stayed up til 3 after waking up from getting the boys to sleep!)

If you're reading, have you checked in with Amy at Mom's Toolbox? There's a great encouraging post over there from Kari who read the Bible in 66 days! Check it out, and if you want to start reading with us, it's not too late!!

Kids and Kittens

2010-07-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

Look what we got!

We're visiting my Cowgirl sister and her family, and a couple of days ago we saw a sign.

Not that kind of sign.

But it was a sign for free kittens! Score one for Bounce and SWK. Of course, we still have to deal with the whole "taking them back on the airplane" issue, but first things first.

The little white one came named as "Spot" (that may change), but the little grey one is unnamed as of yet. We're thinking "Anna Grey." Any thoughts?

Okay, DH, you can relax and NOT call. We're not bringing the cats home. My sister wanted them, so we're leaving them here. But I'm sure I will have at least one sad little boy coming home with me. He's attached already!

Wishful Thinking

2010-07-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Since we've decided to take the house off of the market for awhile, I decided that I must paint! I love to pick out paint and to do the actual painting, but the prep work (clearing the room, taping, etc.) not so much.

The room we're (that would be "we" as in "I" am doing the painting and "DH" is doing the paying for the paint) is our "office" (I love quotation marks, but beyond that, they do serve a purpose). We call it our office even though we keep our computer and other officey stuff in the main living area (we have a "Great Room" situation), so I'm sort of claiming the office as a schoolroom/craftroom/playroom for the chill'uns. (Actually, they just tend to make it the playroom on their own. They tend to follow me wherever I am). The school work usually takes place at the kitchen table (again, we don't have a dining room that's separate or that would be my ideal school area).

Here's the room I'm planning on painting:

And it's usually only this clean when we were showing the house!

And here's the color, a lovely greyish/blueish-turquoise called "voyage" and a lovely "sand pearl," a fancy-shmancy name for a tan-ish cream.

I had thought, "Sure, it'll be easy to get all this painted, rearranged and ready to go all before Saturday when we're leaving for Texas." That way when we get home, I can get lesson plans done, laminating for chore charts and a modified workbox system (a help, I hope, that will encourage the boys to see what they need to do and more importantly, get it done!). In addition to painting, I also love to give myself lots of stuff to do before a deadline, so I get stressed out BUT I usually do get a lot more accomplished that way. It's sad, really.

I picked up a sample today of the two colors to see how well they will cover the Philadelphia Eagles green (Glidden has great team colors, by the way). I am contemplating buying the Behr paint from Home Depot that has the paint and primer all in one, so I thought I'd check that sample out today.

When we returned home from our plethora of errands, I quickly slapped some paint on the wall to see which wall would look better with the blue color, etc. I had a couple of fascinated lookers-on, but thought nothing of it since I said the actual words, "That's wet; don't touch!"

Imagine my surprise and utter shock (insert eye roll here) when I came back in to take a picture of the color and found this:

Somehow, I don't think the painting is going to go as easily as I thought! I think there's a reason why I always paint after the little people go to bed!

But (total side-note here; I know you're shocked), wouldn't that wall with the window look lovely painted the blue color with "built-in" shelves? Painted white, of course. However, it would be totally a waste of time to paint that wall and then fill it with books. I don't subscribe very well to the theory of wasting space on your bookshelves. In fact, we still have 15 boxes of books (quite literally) stored in the garage. (I know! I have culled, people, til I can't cull anymore!)

B90 Week 2

2010-07-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

After a great week of "meeting" the ladies I'll be mentoring, it seems kind of a let down to say I'm a day behind, but so be it.

One of my most insightful readings actually occurred on Day 2 (not that there weren't others during the week, but maybe this one was the one that caused me to think the most?). In Genesis 17:2, the Lord is speaking and He says, "I will confirm my covenant between me and you and I will greatly increase your numbers." As an English degree-holding-person, I cringed when I actually paid attention to that sentence. "Me and you?" We know that in a sentence, "me" actually comes after "you." Maybe it's politeness or whatever, but it is grammatically incorrect to refer to yourself before the other person.

Unless you're God (which, I'm gonna bet, you aren't...and neither am I!).

When my boys get rowdy during prayer time, I tend to remind them, "Boys, we are talking to the God of the Universe, the one who created you and everything here. Let's show a little respect and pay attention, huh?" You know what? He doesn't need to be reminded Who He is. I am going to also bet that some of this has to do with English/NIV/etc. But seriously, God is the one who created Covenant and He's going to be the one who upholds it, so if He (the Creator of the Universe) wants to put Himself first, who am I to say it's grammatically incorrect?

I also love Exodus 13:14 (referring to the Passover), "when your son asks "What does this mean?" the Israelites were to tell about God's deliverance from the Egyptians. It reminds me that I should be living my life in such a way, that my boys ask, "Why do we do this, Mommy?" I usually get asked that about church. "Why???" (usually on Sunday mornings when our routine is a lot different!). My answer is usually something like this, "Because in this family, we love Jesus, and His Bible tells us to gather with other people who love Him, so that's why. We're being obedient to Jesus." Only, we need His help to be a lot more obedient than the Israelites! (I haven't gotten to the part where the golden calf "jumps up out of the fire" but I know it's coming!"

How's you're week? Have you kept up? Feeling discouraged? To paraphrase Dori from Finding Nemo, "Just keep reading! Just keep reading!" It'll be worth it not only to finish, but to know God better in the end! I won't be so excited to tell Him about all the hours I've spent watching television or hanging out on the computer, but I will be excited to tell Him how much meaningful time I've spent in His word. Go check in with Amy at Mom's Toolbox to see how everyone else is doing!

B90 Day 1 Kick off

2010-07-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

(How exciting was that title, by the way!?)

Last night, after a very late night for our boys (it doesn't get dark here until at least 9:30 and even then, the sky was still fairly bright), I fell asleep with SWK (after midnight). I forget how narrow a twin bed is! He crashed on his bike yesterday (there was a dog, a rock, and another boy involved, but only SWK reaped the "rewards.") All is fine, but we continue our tradition of some sort of major/minor scrapes/bumps/broken body parts/etc. for the 4th of July. He left some skin from his elbow on the gravel on the road, but otherwise, he's just very sore and will probably have a nice scar on his chin.

All that to say, that when I woke up this morning, I was a wee bit tired. I wanted to just make my way to the coffee pot and the computer, as is my morning custom, but I know how important it is to do my Bible reading first thing; otherwise, it just "sorta" gets squeezed out. So, while SWK lost brain cells playing a video game (everyone else is still dead to the world), I did my reading for the day, Genesis 1-16:16. This time I have in mind to make notes (itty-bitty ones) of two phrases or words: "For my namesake" referencing the Lord, of course; and "orphans/aliens." I know what God's heart is regarding them, but I want to keep track of the many times it is mentioned throughout Scripture.

Of course, there are many things that I took note of today, (not relating to the above) but here is one thing I wanted to share. In 15:1, after Abram had encountered the kings and given his tithe to Melchizedek, the Lord told him, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." In the footnotes, it mentions that the verse could also be rendered, "Your reward will be very great." I think that those are one and the same. If the Lord is all the reward that we ever receive, how much greater could it be? He is all that we need and all that we could ever hope for.

In verse 15:6, "Abram believed the Lord, and he (God) credited it to him as righteousness." That's where I fail sometimes: believing God. That is the root of my problem; I don't truly believe Him. How else can I explain my unfaithfulness? If I truly believe Him, won't I rush to spend time with Him every day? Won't I open my arms to the poor and needy? Won't I disciple my children and others the way I've been commanded? Won't I trust that He has my good and His glory in mind for all things? Of course, I say that I trust Him, that I believe Him, but my actions show otherwise. Help me, Lord, in my unbelief!

Check in with Amy at Mom's Toolbox to see how others are doing and learning from our Great Reward. We are just starting today, so it's definitely not too late to join us!

Baseball, hot dogs...

2010-07-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

It is for freedom that we have been set free! We are free from sin and death, but we should also be free from all the "stuff" that so easily entangles us. I don't think God has allowed Americans to be free simply for our own benefit. We've been blessed, so let's not waste that blessing by being a hoarder of blessings or of material wealth (Oh, I'm so stepping on my own toes! Get OFF!).

I've been reading The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, and it is rocking my world! Another book that I've read recently and went through with a small group is Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Believe me, if you don't want to be challenged, DON'T READ THESE BOOKS! However, if you think the "American Dream" seems a little counter-Biblical, then check them out. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Through the Bible

2010-06-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

Beginning January 1 this year, I read through the Bible. Even though I hold a seminary degree, it was the first time I read through the Bible. I've read every book in The Book, of course, and I have studied some of them extensively (some with Precepts Ministries, so you know it was in depth!). But I had never read Genesis through Revelation. When I finished in March, I was proud of myself that I had stuck with it, even when it was hard. I'm not always the best at finishing something, so I was (a little) proud. But mostly, I was humbled. Humbled that this love story that God has written to us involves me. I am one of those that has grieved the heart of God, just like the Israelites. They had seen God's faithfulness, yet they continued to have their hearts swayed and their focus recast onto worthless idols. I give them a hard time, railing on their failures, even as I have the entire book (they only had the Pentateuch at times, then our Old Testament) and yet still wander away from my loving Father's will.

So, all of that to say, that I'm going to be reading through the Bible again with Amy from Mom's Toolbox. I'm also going to be mentoring other readers who may be reading through for the first time. As a mentor, I don't have to read through again, but I want to! That's how good our God is! I'm asking you for a couple of things, my (two) dear sweet readers, would you pray for me, that God would change my stubborn heart to be more in alignment with His? Would you also pray for those who are reading through for the first time, that they would get even a glimpse of His glory? And would you also consider joining me on this journey? I promise it'll be worth it. Follow these links to get to Mom's Toolbox to sign up. You don't have to be a blogger; you can check in with her by commenting each week. I'd love to know if you are signing up, but make sure and sign up with Amy, too. Here's the basic info:

Blogging through the Bible in 90 Days with MomsToolbox.com begins July 5. Participants will read every word of the Bible, check in weekly on MomsToolbox.com and be encouraged in their journey into God's Word.
Those interested in learning more, should follow this link: http://www.momstoolbox.com/blog/bible-in-90-days-reading-schedule/

To sign up, please follow this link: http://www.momstoolbox.com/blog/2010/04/05/bible-in-90-days-sign-up-for-the-july-2010-edition/

My Seven-Year-Old Second Grader

2010-06-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today is SWK's seventh birthday. When I went into sing and wake him up this morning, he asked what time it was. Then he said, "I'll wait to actually turn seven at 11:24 this morning, but I'll go ahead and be a second grader." Um, okay.

This kid is one of the sweetest you'll ever meet. He's tender-hearted where little kids are concerned and hero-worships the big kids. But most of all, he loves Jesus.

Dear Josiah,

You are my precious boy and you're seven years old now. I can't believe how time has flown. You were so tiny when we brought you home from the hospital, and I sat on our bed in the warm house just marveling over how beautiful and tiny you were. Daddy was on his way to get Grandmom because she couldn't wait to see her new grandson. She was right to come since you would need her to hold you while Mommy tried to catch some sleep. You liked to hang out with Mommy...a lot, so Mommy didn't get a lot of sleep unless Grandmom was there!

You are a kind, sweet boy who loves to learn new things and find out "why." I pray that you will continue to keep that curiosity and desire to learn. I also pray that as you grow, your love for Jesus will increase more and more. Your tender heart will be a good thing and a painful thing someday. Daddy and I both see you getting your heart "broken" by some girl because you love deeply, but we also want your heart to be broken for the things of God, those things that break His heart. May your heart always be compassionate to those who have little or those who just need to be loved, like the man on the street you saw this week. You told me that if he came to our car, that we needed to give him some money because we had some and he needed help. Your innocence reminds me of how we are supposed to love the people that God has created and Jesus has died for. May you never desire anything less than God's glory and His will for your life.

Most boys your age wouldn't be interested in a new baby or in helping out anyone else, but you usually jump to it. Today you saw one of our new babies at church, and you had the most tender smile on your face. You love the little ones, and are very kind to all children.

You're a good boy, my friend, and I love you so much. And remember the song I made up for you: "Josiah, Josiah, I love ya Josiah, You are the best, You are the bomb, I'm so blessed to be your mom." I am blessed, Josiah. You're a blessing to me every day. I'm glad we get to homeschool, so I can see you all the time!

Love,
Mommy (or as you've started calling me this week "Mom")

Job Security

2010-06-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

Cake Decorators: You have no need to be afraid of me. Zilch.

Jayden wanted a "Lego Batman" cake for his birthday, and while I'm in awe of some cakes I've seen (not Lego, but nonetheless), I'm too, shall we say, cheap to pay for them. So, I made his cake. He wanted a strawberry cake. So I felt a little like the Shelby of Steel Magnolias (one of my favorite movies) when she was talking about the groom's cake that was in the shape of an armadillo, but it was a red velvet cake "with gray icing! I can't even begin to think about how you make gray icin'! It's gonna look like we're hackin' into a poor armadillo!"

I know what you mean, Shelby. I really do. I felt bad for poor Batman, and only partially because it looked like we were hackin' into him. Mainly, I felt sorry for him because...well, you'll see.

I started out by making a copy of the front of the Wii game "Lego Batman" but that was gonna be a small cake, so I enlarged it and free-handed some extra-large wings. Oh, the gory details shall not all be mentioned here, but let's just say that Batman's middle? Stuffed. Batman's helmet-hat-thingy? Glued together in spots. Cake? Tasted good! And Jayden? LOVED IT! (The only other problem (besides an ugly cake) is that SWK has decided he wants me to make Mr. Freeze for his birthday...um. Great.)
Monday (Memorial Day when we actually had tons of people from church for a picnic/party) I got up early and dashed to town to find the can of spray (seriously, like an aerosol can for your cake) to make the marshmallows actually look like Lego knobs and not like domino dots. But I forgot to get a picture of the after.

Residual damage? Lots. I have pictures of several people's tongues but for their privacy (and who really wants their tongue on the internet? I mean, yuck!) I will just invade my own children's privacy (oh, that reminds me of a funny story...another time).

Five Years Ago...

2010-06-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

I was hanging out in the hospital, waiting for an epidural to take effect (oh, yes, I did!), and waiting to add what I was sure to be a girl to our family. Um, nope, he was and is a boy, through and through.

Dear Baby Jay (even though you are five years old today, you have declared
to us that your name shall forever be "Baby Jayden" or "Baby Jadon" ("because
that's how it's spelled in the Bible"),
You are a sweet, loving boy who loves to be held. Every night, you ask me "Will you give me peanut butter on a spoon and chocolate milk in the morning and will you hold me?" Your love language is touch. Whenever you get in trouble, your first instinct is to want to be held. If you get hurt, you need to be held. If you're happy, (after the literal hand-stands) you ask to be held. Seeing a theme here, kiddo?)

You also have a temper and are very passionate (I say you get it from NawNaw, but it probably came through me directly). I pray for you that the passion that God gave you will be directed toward following Christ whole-heartedly. I pray you will be passionate about the orphans and the injustice in the world. I pray that you will be able to direct that anger that bubbles up into a righteous tool to defend the poor and the needy in Jesus name.

I see wonderful things for your future, Baby Jay, and I know that God will use you. You told us last year that you had asked Jesus to come into your heart, "you know, when I was three?" I believe that you do love Jesus with all of your heart, and Daddy and I will raise you (with God's help) to want to serve Him and be a disciple, a learner, one who is willing to go wherever He leads you, whether it's safe or not. I don't pray for safety long-term for you, Jay. I pray for wisdom, and I pray for a magnificient obsession with the things of Christ. May you always love Him like you do right now. May you always believe and know that Jesus can do ANYTHING He wants. May you be willing to have Him do whatever He wants with you, and Lord, help me to always pray this way. Mommy and Daddy love you, sweet Baby Jay. You're a delight and a treasure, and you've grown up so much in these five short years. You make me laugh every day with your quick wit and your love of numbers. You are your Daddy's boy, and I'm proud to be your Mommy.

Love,
Mommy

At the blueberry fields when you were 1

Your 2nd birthday

Number 3!

Finally 4!

AND NOW YOU'RE 5 (yes, really!)

Better Late Than Never, I Suppose

2010-05-27T13:01:00.001-07:00

Our little family on Easter. Forgive SWK's seemingly psychedelic shirt. I suppose that's why one is not supposed to wear a gingham shirt for professional portraits? Oh, and DH is NOT saying "You da' man." He's trying to get Ju to actually look at the gal who's taking our picture!

A Recap of 2010 (Or "Why I've Stopped Wearing Eye Makeup")

2010-05-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

This year (especially since February) has been the roughest year on record for me since 2000. I know it's been especially tough on our church family as well.

As all three of you may have noted, I've not been in a "write-y" mood as of late. I have many words, but it hurts a lot to write and even to pray during times like these.

Since February, our church family has lost 7 members. These were not just "on-the-membership-roll" members either. This morning we learned that a gentleman whose wife passed away 18 days ago also passed away last night. They were married for 60 years or so. Many years ago, this couple was instrumental in beginning our children's ministry, and both were gracious, lovely, God-fearing people. Like all the others who have gone before them, they will be missed greatly.

The day after my birthday, on which we buried my friend L., DH and I found out we were pregnant. It came as quite a shock, but it was exciting too, as this meant that I was pregnant while L. was still with us. DH and I were both convinced that we were having a girl, but since finding out we were pregnant, I had a bittersweet feeling in the pit of my stomach. We had grieved so much in the last weeks, that I was afraid to find joy in our new circumstances.

May 2nd was the 10 year anniversary of my mom's death (2000, the best and worst year of my life prior to this year), and Sunday morning found me weeping, at times uncontrollably. DH and SWK comforted me as we sang in worship, "How Great Thou Art."

May 7th, I went in for the 9-week appointment to see the ultrasound of the baby, and I told my doctor, so he could gauge me in the next few months of pregnancy, that I felt a sense of dread. I wanted to be excited about the baby, but there was a "feeling." I wasn't sure what it was, but there were a couple of reasons: I'm 37, so that always weighed on my mind; We've been under a lot of stress with our church family; etc. etc.

When it came time to see the baby, the baby had stopped growing at 8 weeks, and there wasn't a heartbeat. My doctor patted my leg and reassured me that it was none of the above reasons but that something in the baby's makeup was not "compatible with life." He also reminded me, "You knew. You knew something wasn't right." Yes, and I think that was God's protection for me. I chose that day to wait to allow my body to miscarry on it's own. But by the next Tuesday, after spending the majority of the day in bed, I knew I couldn't wait; I have three precious boys who need me to be a mommy to them. I made an appointment for a D&C for the next week (DH was going to be out of town over the weekend). Normally, I'm not a person who likes to ask for special things, but this time, on Thursday, I felt compelled to ask for another ultrasound. I needed to have peace that the first ultrasound was correct. The nurse I talked to was so gracious and got me in right away that day to have another ultrasound. The result was the same, but I had a peace that I didn't have before. I had woken up that morning praying for peace. I received an e-mail from a friend later that morning, and the subject was "Peace." The e-mail said:

Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands.
Elisabeth Elliot

God gave me peace, and I don't know why He chose to give us this baby for only 8 weeks, but I have a peace about it that surpasses my understanding. On that first Tuesday, when I called to schedule the D&C, I received an e-mail from my friend who'd just lost his wife L. The link was to an article by R.C. Sproul, For My Good? I read the article and wept because I know that my God is good, and all things that He does or allows is for my good and for His glory. That doesn't mean I don't weep at the thought of the baby I won't know, but it does mean that I can rejoice in the way my God has taken care of me in my sorrow.

I had the D&C on Tuesday and all went well. I don't know what the future holds for our little family, but thankfully, (however trite it may be) I know WHO holds the future. Psalm 119:68 (one of my verses to memorize from our Sweeter than Chocolate study): "You are good and You do good. Teach me Your statutes." He is good, and He does good, even when we don't understand. Just clinging to that can make all the difference in the world.

In Case You're Wondering...

2010-05-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

Remember the post about Ju moving into the "big" boys' room. Yeah, that only lasted one night. We have since moved all the toys back to their respective rooms, beds back where they belong and the only remnant of my craziness is Ju's dresser is still in the SWK and Bounce's closet. I like it there because I can take care of putting clothes in drawers or laying out clothes all in one fell swoop. Of course, that's assuming that I actually put their clothes away. Most of the time, this mean Mommy makes the big boys put their own clothes away *gasp*!

The second night I went to put Ju down, he said, "Hate dis woom. Me my woom." Rather than argue with him and wake the other boys up, I picked up his toddler bed, his 2700 animals and blankets he "has" to sleep with (sorry, GDad!), and moved his tiny heiney back to his room. Done deal. He's not ready, and really neither am I. I'm okay with rocking him a little longer and taking a little longer to tuck him in bed.

De Wone Wane-ja

2010-04-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

Personally, I think this is what the Lone Ranger would look like if he were an Australian golfer. Either way, I've said it before and I'll say it again: This kid is cute!

A (Tulip) Field Trip

2010-04-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

The boys and I took a field trip (literally) to the tulip fields up north with our homeschool friends. Here are some highlights:

Bounce said he wanted to look like "Two Face" from Batman

The area where we went is famous for its tulips. The fields were a little muddy (and I had laundry from SWK's adventures to prove it!), but the flowers were worth the effort. SWK was able to spend time with his friend C. (the only other boy on our trip this time), so it was doubley good.

On the way home, the "big" boys and I had a really good conversation about heaven and "the other place." Deep conversations for a 4 and 6 year old. Bounce asked the question I have always wondered, "Why would anyone NOT love Jesus?"

The New Pedi Craze

2010-04-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

Every night, Bounce asks me the same question, "Mommy, in the morning will you give me chocolate milk and some peanut butter on a spoon, and will you hold me?" And every night, my answer is the same, "Yes, I will." So, when morning rolls around, Bounce gets his pb on a spoon and Carnation Instant Breakfast chocolate milk. Sometimes the pb gets eaten while they are warming up for the day by watching a video, so he usually eats in on the couch in the living room. (DON'T JUDGE ME!) Most of the time, that's it, no serious side effects. But occasionally...

I'll give one guess who was involved. I heard him saying, "Mommy, wipe...wipe." Yeah, um, a wipe wasn't going to take care of this, so we headed to the bathroom. However, I seriously considered letting Phoenix have a morning snack before I started in with the soap. If I thought she wouldn't have taken more than just the peanut butter, I might have! What tastes better than peanut-covered-piggies, after all?

Sorry the pictures are a little fuzzy. I think I need an eye exam since I have to rely on my eyes to make sure the pictures are focused.

Final Post for the Bible in 90 Days

2010-03-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

Catchy title, eh? Amy over at Mom's Toolbox asked us all to either write a post or link up our 88 Day Finishing post to share a little about our experience reading through the Bible in 90 Days. So here are my thoughts.

First, I've read the Bible many times. But straight through? Never. I am seminary trained, yet have never finished that "resolution." So, yeah, I'm excited I did it, and that I did it in 88 days (especially since there were weeks where it felt like I was 5 or 6 days behind!).

Second, I saw so many words, phrases or themes that I'll be hunting for the next time I go through. A few examples: "for My namesake," "orphans," and any prophecies or references to Christ's coming.

Third, will I do it again? Definitely. Will I challenge and encourage others to do it with me? Yes! It's amazing. Yes, I did have to give up my favorite hobby of reading mysteries and fiction and even some parenting books. But you know, I didn't really miss them? How could I? I was reading the most amazing love story. Ever. Oh, and who better to learn how to parent than from The One who knows the best?

Fourth, oh, there are so many thoughts besides four but one of the best reasons to read it through is because I know the end of the story! Christ has conquered death! And we are more than conquerers in Him. Praise be to the God and Father of us all! Come, Lord Jesus!

So, in case you didn't get it, I was challenged, but oh so encouraged as I read through these last 90 days. Amy will be hosting another group in July, so if you're interested or "just need to do it because I haven't before," I promise you'll be blessed.

Happy Birthday G'MOM

2010-03-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

Grandmom, you're a treasure to us all, and I couldn't be happier to be part of this crazy, wonderful family. Thank you for putting up with Jess all these years and for making him he is the man he is today (all the good parts anyway; the parts that make me a saint, we'll blame on someone else! (at least for today!)).

We love and miss you and Granddad lots, and we wish you could be part of our boys lives more. Ju Ju saw a picture of you a couple of nights ago and said, "Ga-mom and Ga-dad."

You are loved!

Oh, and no, Ju doesn't have any pants on! Keepin' it real!

Bible in 90 Days--Check In --I Did it!

2010-03-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

I finished reading through the Bible in 88 days (I finished last night around 11:00). This was such a rich experience, and it was, of course, made all the sweeter by getting a glimpse of heaven through John's eyes in the book of Revelation. Come, Lord Jesus!

I was longing to get to the part about heaven because we had a shock to our church family this weekend. One of my best friends had a brain aneurysm on Friday afternoon, and she went to be with the Lord. Oh, how she's rejoicing at Jesus' feet right now. But oh, how we're hurting and reeling from the shock. My friend was only 38 and in great condition. She was actually an organ donor, so the doctors were amazed at how well she kept her body. She was an exceptional human being who let Christ's light shine brightly. She loved children and was the type of person who asked to keep my kids or her brother's kids on her day off. Who does that? She was beautiful in her humility and passion for Christ, His Word and His Church. She made sure of her election and calling, so I'm sure she received a rich welcome into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior.

She prayed for God to glorified in her life, and He was and He will be. Please pray for my friend's family. They have felt God's peace, but in the coming days, they will need Him to continue to uphold them.

Check in with other readers over at Mom's Toolbox. Amy also has some suggestions for how to continue to read the Bible after this challenge is completed. Go check it out, and be encouraged.

How Old Do They Think I Am?

2010-03-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

At Christmas, I found a copy of The Lone Ranger at Target in the dollar bin, so I picked it up and gave it to the boys for a present. Now, for little boys who have "grown up" watching Star Wars and The Incredibles, The Lone Ranger didn't look very exciting. "Um, thanks Mommy." But I had watched many an episode of The Lone Ranger, and he and Tonto rank right up there with Half-pint and Mary in my opinion. So, I've waited patiently to introduce them to the wonders of "Hi-o Silver!"

This week was the week that my boys found out about the Masked Man and his loyal sidekick. They are in love. We've watched the three episodes that were included on the DVD at least 4 times, and they have been The Lone Ranger with their little Lego guns at least twice that many times. Ju has even requested to wear his bike helmet so he could be "de Wone Wane-ja." There have been bodies sprawled all over the floor and the carnage has been great.

This morning, SWK (who I may have to start referring to as "Kimo Sabe") asked me this morning if people drove cars back then, referring to the Southwest Territory where the Lone Ranger made it his mission to make the country safe and law-abiding, to bring one hundred men to justice for every one of the Texas Rangers who died at the hands of the evil Cavendish gang. (I may have watched the three episodes a few too many times.) Oh, so back to the car question, I said, No, people didn't drive cars back then.
"Because of all the rocks?" he asked.
"Um, no, because cars weren't invented yet."
So he pondered that one for a while, then came back with, "So, did your family have horses and one of those trailers with four wheels to carry your family in?"
"Hmm. You mean, a wagon?"
"Yeah, a wagon. Did your family have one of those wagon thingys?"

My birthday is next week, and I'll probably be licking my wounds until then.

Grow Much?

2010-03-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

SWK was looking kind of tall this morning, so I went to measure him. When we got to the wall where we have piece of paper hanging to track their growth, I found that DH had just measured him on Sunday. Apparently, I'm not the only one who has noticed that he has grown almost an inch in 2 months. On the height predictor sites, he is predicted to be 6'4" when he is fully grown. Right now, he's still my baby even though he is 51 and 5/8" tall. He'll be 7 in June, and he's still very slender. I had to ratchet up his belt on Sunday to keep his pants from looking like he was a rap star. Size 8's are long enough, but mercy, he still needs the elastic inserts that come in Osh Kosh pants.

When he saw the above picture, he said, "Why does my toe keep coming out?" I told him, "I think you're too long for them now." "NO! I'm not!" He still likes his footed pajamas! And really, who doesn't?

Bible in 90 Days Check In #11

2010-03-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's hard to believe that we're almost 90 days into the "new year." And we're almost finished with our Bible Reading Challenge. I am a couple of days behind still, but I'm on page 928.
As I read the Gospels, I think it became apparent to me that I'd neglected reading them for awhile because (especially in Luke), I kept finding verses that seemed a little unfamiliar. I know I've read all of the Gospels through and several times at that, but my focus was different this time. I loved reading Jesus' monologue in John 10 and his prayer in John 17 again, and it was ironic because I had just received an e-mail asking for help to explain the doctrine of eternal security. In Baptist circles, it used to be called, "Once saved, always saved." I think it is more properly termed, "If saved, always saved." If we are in the Father's hand, NO ONE can snatch us out. What a joyful thought! We did nothing to earn getting into His palm, and we can't do anything (and neither can Satan) to get out.

That thought just reminded me of a porcelain sculpture that someone gave my sister when my niece was born. The sculpture was of a large male hand, and it had a little girl standing at the wrist of this hand, and her head was resting in the palm of the hand. What a beautiful reminder that we can rest in HIS hand!

My niece had a birth injury that resulted in Cerebral Palsy, and she wasn't expected to live but to 6 months old. My sister received some flack from people who professed to be Christians. This one particular lady asked my sister, "What did you do to deserve this?" She was asking my sister the same question Jesus was asked, "Who sinned, this man or his parents." "Neither," Jesus replied, "But this was done for the glory of God." And my niece? She'll be 35 this year, and God has used her life to make us all more compassionate, patient, loving people. I definitely would say that her life has brought more glory to God!

All that to say, how're you doing in your reading? Check in with Amy at Mom's Toolbox. If you're behind, don't give up! What can you (and I!) cut out this week to finish on time? If you're REALLY behind, don't give up! Keep going! And if you're on schedule or ahead (!), go encourage someone else listed at Mom's Toolbox.

Bible in 90 Days Check In #10

2010-03-16T16:08:00.001-07:00

Well, this is late, but I'll post it anyway. I have been continually amazed that as I'm reading (behind still; I'm on Day 72 and should be on Day 75), I keep running into the same texts in my other Bible study or in other conversations. Today, as I was finishing my study for tonight (Sweeter than Chocolate), there were references to readings in Matthew. A few weeks ago, it was readings in Jeremiah and Daniel (Psalm 119 talks about the psalmist adversaries throwing him into a pit, so we were looking up other references of men being tossed into pits). I opened up an e-mail from Proverbs 31 ministries today and the devotional was about the parable of the seed and the soil from Matthew. Read that last night in my 90 Days Bible. Coincidence? I think not. God is showing me lots of applications for my life, but I know that when He is at work (and we make ourselves available to Him and His word) then He is going to surround us with reminders of how He's working. He's good like that. In fact, Psalm 119:68 says, "Thou art good and Thou doest good; Teach me Thy statutes." He is faithful to teach us, to establish us, to work on us if we are faithful to show up. So, hopefully, you're showing up to meet God with His Word. Check in with other readers at Mom's Toolbox

Well, It's Official.

2010-03-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

I'm nuts.

The boys have been fighting a lot lately, and Ju sometimes gets left out of their playtime (when they're playing, not fighting; he always manages to get in on the fighting!). I think because they have all been sick, winter (even thought it's been sunnier here than usual), and we are ALWAYS together, they are getting on each other's nerves (and may I say, mine?!). I think the tendency would be to separate them a little and give them some space, but I decided to try something different and throw them together MORE! Like I said, I'm nuts.

I got a "wild hair" yesterday and suggested to the big boys that we move Ju in with them. I thought there would be "No's" and weeping and gnashing of teeth. They were insanely excited about the possibility. To test them on it, I told them that if we were going to move beds around, that the toys in the big boys' room would all need to be cleaned up and moved to Ju's room (hereafter referred to as "Ju's, d'oh I mean, the playroom"). They swooped in like little vultures and cleaned up their room in a little over forever (or in human terms, 20 minutes). I vacuumed, sucked up any left-over Lego (I kid. Kind of), and pulled in Ju's little toddler bed.

Which leads me to a tangent (did you honestly think you'd get through this post without at least one?): Ju's bed is the kind that you just put the crib mattress on, and call it a toddler bed. Has anyone ever slept on one of those? I mean, anyone over 36 inches tall? I have. Um, it's a little short for me, but you gotta do whatcha gotta do. This past week, with all three having colds and coughs, I've slept in Bounce's bed twice with him, Ju's bed, and my own bed by myself once. Ju's made himself at home in our bed a couple of times. Oh, and even the time I slept in my bed alone, I had to share it with DH. What is up with that???

So, back to the drama of room-changes. When I got out of the shower last night, Ju was standing in the bathroom and was a little disoriented plus with the onset of his second round of coughs, he needed Mommy. So, DH and I made room for him in our bed. Usually, this results in Ju sleeping between DH and me. Ju sleeps on my pillow about 5 inches from the side of the bed. I get the "extra" 5 inches. If anyone knows me in real life, they know I take up more than 5 inches! I don't usually mind because I've always loved having my boys sleep with us. Ju has been the first to take full advantage of that (partly because he's the first that DH has allowed to take full advantaged of that!). Only last night, probably because of his cold, Ju was like a spinning top. Actually, as I've said before (on here?), he couldn't have turned anymore if he'd been a rotisserie chicken.

The true story of how this new room arrangement will work will probably take weeks to tell. We had a team meeting before the boys went to bed to discuss the very real possibilities of immediate and drastic action being taken should one of the big boys wake up Ju in the mornings (SWK wakes up EARLY!). Ju also made known his predisposition and preference for Mommy's bed. "Me not seep "j's" room; me seep Mommy's bed."

I just asked SWK if he was quiet this morning when he woke up, and he said, "Yes. I just stared at Ju last night while he was asleep, and this morning, too. Only he wasn't there this morning."
I asked, "Why were you staring at him?"
He said, "Because he's so cute."
I asked Ju, "Are you cute?"
He had been smiling this whole time, and said, "Yeaaaaah." Like he was from the South or like he was his Mama's child.

This might work out. Or you'll hear me weeping and gnashing my teeth!

Bible in 90 Days--Check In #9

2010-03-09T22:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday seemed to pass in a blur as did the entire end of the week and weekend. Something was apparently going on hormonally or otherwise. I'm not one to blame my actions or generally my attitude on "hormones," but something was off-kilter, just ask DH. I, to put it quite frankly, was in a funk. I was behind in my reading (still am, still reading), my Bible study, and the list goes on. Two kids (now three) were sick (again), and I still can't pinpoint exactly why, but I was not happy nor was I joyful.

But I'm still reading, still seeing God work, and am still being amazed at God's great love for us. His plan for the Israelites, "I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." How great is our God!

I finally finished Ezekiel and am into Daniel now, so I'm still a good bit behind, but I'm trekking on and will (capitalize that!) WILL finish in 90 days! Are you with me? Check in over at Mom's Toolbox to see how others are persevering! I hope you are too!

The Family that Prays Together...

2010-03-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Like Bounce, Ju Ju has taken quite awhile to start talking a lot. But within the last few months, he has just taken off. At Christmas time, he would say something and the boys would interpret it as "Fat Santa." Um, not sure about that, but generally we do pretty well at figuring out what he's referring to.

About two months ago, when we would pray at meal times or at bedtime with the boys, we'd hear this little voice pipe up, "Me pay." So at first, after either DH, SWK or I would pray, then this little voice would say, "Me pay," and we'd teach him how to say "Amen!" Then we'd all clap. Now, the clapping started with Bounce. When he was about two, he would clap after praying and say, "Yay, Jesus!" Two years later and we still clap after praying and say, "Yay Jesus!"

A few days after "Amen," I thought, "Well, if he wants to pray, we should teach him!" So the next time he said, "Me pay!" I said, "Dear Jesus" He'd follow along, repeating as best as he could. Now, SWK and Bounce jump in to lead him as he prays. Last night it sounded like this after I prayed with the boys at bedtime:
JJ: Me pay! (and he folds his hands and bows his head onto Bounce's bed)
Bounce: Say, "Dear Jesus"
JJ: Deah Jee-thus
Bounce: Thank you for dis wonderful place
JJ: Tank you 'ful pace
Bounce: I said, "wonderful"
JJ: 'ful
Bounce: Thank you for loving us
JJ: Tank you wuff us
Bounce: We love you
JJ: wuff 'ou
Bounce: Amen
JJ: 'men! (clapping follows).

The only problem with this incredibly sweet scenario is that I think Ju Ju is clapping for himself, but we'll work on that! What's even sweeter is that Ju Ju and Bounce's relationship has always been, shall we say, violent? I love that Bounce (who has also never volunteered to pray at meals by himself) will willingly jump into help Ju Ju pray. Now, if I were really cynical, I would say it's because Bounce can tell Ju Ju what to do, but I'm not (really) that cynical. I just choose to believe that Bounce is helping his little brother to grow up and love Jesus!

Sweet Moments

2010-03-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

Last night the boys were supposed to be picking up their room, getting pajamas on, the usual routine that they still haven't picked up on. (Hey! it's only been 6 and 4 years...Why rush things?) I think I get frustrated with them the most at bedtime simply because of the reminders. Haven't we ever done this before? Why do they look at me with wide-eyes and blank looks? Argh! To say these are sweet moments...would be a lie.

The sweet moments happened last night as I went into our office/multi-purpose/don't-have-a-solid-plan room. I went in to look for some Latin curriculum that we'll be pulling out in the next few days. SWK followed me in and asked to look at one of his albums. So, I pulled one out for him (kudos to me for not getting frustrated that he was supposed to be cleaning his room), and he plopped down to look at himself as a baby. Here came Bounce to join the party, so out came one of his books. Enter Ju Ju who wanted to see his book. (Why he needed to see his book when he could have been Bounce's twin, I don't know!) We spent a good 15 minutes just looking at their books and reminiscing. The word reminiscing is a funny one since most of what's in their books they will never remember. If SWK didn't read the journaling that I wrote beside the picture, he'd just make up his own story, then he'd make one up for Bounce. Ju Ju was most fascinated with the pictures of him in his book with his ducks. In fact, at one point he ran and got his ducks so they could see themselves in his book. Funny, funny kid, that one. As he looked at his tiny baby pictures, he said, "Baby. Cute baby." He saw one of GMom and thought it was Mrs. Rita, our friend from church. I quickly corrected him and then I thought, "Hmm, it must be time for GMom and GDad to come see us again!" (That was a hint, if anyone is still reading this ol' blog!)

I read to the "big" boys some of the letters I had written to them in the backs of their books. I try to write on each page, but when I finish one of their books (usually from one birthday to the next), I try to write a letter to them about what they liked that year, some of their favorite foods and funny sayings, and then I always encourage them to "follow hard after Jesus." I write to them some of the things I have prayed for them i.e. for Bounce's strong will and determination to serve him well when he grows into a man, for it to help him to be God's man and stand strong in tough times. I could see in SWK's face as I read to him that he loved hearing those words of encouragement and love. Maybe I'm doing something right??

I love my "job" as a Creative Memories consultant, and nights like last night when my boys were enjoying their albums reminded me that I'm not only enjoying a "hobby" but I'm keeping their stories for them and hopefully, I'm reminding them of Whose they are.

Bible in 90 Days--Check In #8

2010-03-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Shocker: I'm still behind!

This week my heart has been heavy for an older gentleman and his wife. They were the first ones to welcome me to my current church and were a great support to me in the college ministry where I worked. We said our good-byes to him three years ago when the doctors had given up all hope. He was ready to meet Jesus then, but the Lord has seen fit to keep him here on earth. This past week, he fell and broke his hip, but he has refused all treatment. On Thursday he had to be moved from rehabilitative care back to the hospital because he had contracted pneumonia and then it was discovered that his kidneys were failing. He has fought the good fight and is ready to see Jesus. Friday his family and he agreed to begin hospice care, so he is being kept comfortable. He and his wife "celebrated" their 66th wedding anniversary on Saturday. I've spent a lot of time this weekend reading II Corinthians 4 and 5. Our earthly tents are so fragile, but our heavenly dwelling awaits us. What a blessing to know that Mr. S will soon see our Savior face-to-face.

In Jeremiah 17, there is a reference to a dry wasteland where there is no water. We are like that when we are separated from God and His word. I really "got" that word picture when I was reading through Jeremiah at night on my travels from Oklahoma to the Pacific Northwest and drove through northern Utah and southern Idaho. The only land that was green were the areas that had irrigation systems. The rest of the land was a dry and sandy area. How like my life when I am away from God and the living water of His word! I have nothing to offer to anyone. But when I am rooted and growing, being fed and watered by His wonderful word and time with Him, I am much more fruitful.

If you've been reading your Bible in 90 days or have just made a commitment to read your Bible daily, don't give up! If you fall behind or miss a day, dust yourself off, and "get back on the horse!" It's like in weight loss, if you have a bad day or a bag of chips, don't give up! Start over with the next meal or the next day. And on that note, I've lost 12 lbs so far!

For more updates, head on over to Mom's Toolbox!

Bible in 90 Days--Check In #7

2010-02-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm still behind, but I'm still being amazed at God's love for Israel, His desire to see them be the People He wants them to be. They (like me) continually get sidetracked, defeated, repent, and return to God's care. Hit "Repeat." I'm in early Isaiah (about chapter 18) and determined last night as I was reading that I'd like to read through again this year (maybe not in 90 days! But completely through again) and mark the prophecies that I see concerning Christ in my regular Bible. Isaiah is full of them, of course, but I know that they are throughout the whole Bible. I look forward to that challenge later.

Life has calmed down somewhat. We did have someone come in on Saturday to check out the house. They called as I was going into the next town over for my Weight Watchers weigh-in and meeting, so I weighed in, skipped the meeting and high-tailed it home to spend the next several hours cleaning. Thankfully, this time DH was home to help clean and more importantly, to entertain the boys so I could pretend I was Super Cleaning Woman (aka my dear MIL!).

They worked some more on the basketball goal that we bought last week which called for a rousing game of 2-on-2 on Sunday. That was fun even though there were moments that we had a Little Tikes car turning circles in the middle of our "court" which also happens to be Ju Ju's driving area. I look forward to many more pickup games with "My Boys."

The Bible study that I lead on Tuesdays (Sweeter Than Chocolate by Pam Gillespie of Precepts International) is going well, and I'm enjoying that time with the ladies and of studying Psalm 119 in more depth. How sweet it is!

Last night, we had our first official/unofficial meeting for our formal/informal co-op/support group of homeschoolers. Basically, it's four other ladies and me and we met for coffee and birthday cake sans children. We all met through our Homeschool P.E. group at the Y, and we've continued to do activities together with our passel of children. We decided to make it more formal while still remaining oh-so-informal. Not sure what that means? Us either!! But our kids have fun together, and the moms all enjoy each other's company, so we'll just go from there.

Okay, enough chit-chat for today! I gave up blogs for Lent (except my own and Amy's at Mom's Toolbox since I'm committed to finishing the 90 Day challenge). So, I must go educate my children!!

If you're reading through with us, check out Mom's Toolbox, and see how other readers are doing.

Bible in 90 Days--Check In #5/6

2010-02-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

My apologies for not checking in last week. Excuses abound but suffice it to say that if you want to try to sell your house, even though it has been shown only once since October, you need to (in no particular order):
1)have your husband go out of town for several days;
2)determinedly decide to work on the 4 year-old's quilt that you've been promising;
3)spread said quilt-in-the-making ALL over the kitchen;
4)have at least one child (and if possible, two) have a cold and cough going on;
5)decide to paint your bathroom that's been getting on your nerves since you first painted it three years ago;

Then on the Saturday morning that you're trying to get it all cleaned up and second-coated, have a real estate agent call and say that they will be there Sunday morning (when you were planning to stay home from church with said-sick child). Clean like crazy, pick up said-absent husband from the airport, clean some more, fall in bed exhausted, wake up, clean like crazy, send family (minus sick kid) to church, grab sick kid, head out for two hours while the real estate agent shows your house. Come home, realize that the agent did not leave a card (did she show up????). Spend the day in a clean house, reading Bible, watching The Game, head to night church, and have husband call and say that someone is coming to show the house Monday morning. Oh, well, at least the house is mostly still clean!

So all that to say, that I was still only two days behind on Monday last week, but I didn't have the wherewithal to write a post.

This week's update: I'm still two days behind! I'm in the middle of the psalms and loving reading every one of them. I catch myself singing parts of them that are the basis for so many worship or praise songs. I also enjoyed reading Psalm 91 last night. It is still one of my favorites, and by having read it so many times in the past (because it is a favorite), I've found I've memorized a lot of it. I also loved the psalms that were a recounting of the history of Israel especially having just read the story of Israel again within the last few weeks. Everything is still fresh, so it sounds familiar.

If you're reading through in 90 days, how are you doing? Check in with other readers at Mom's Toolbox.

Oh, and by the way, Bounce's quilt: not finished. The bathroom? It looks great! The colds and coughs: all done!

Bible in 90 Days--Check In #4

2010-02-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Bounce and Ju were both sick on Sunday morning, so I stayed home with them. While they played cars and did constant "replays" of every action for my benefit, I read my Bible. In fact, by the time DH and SWK came home I was only a day behind. I still have to finish reading Day 31 (only 5 pages left) and Day 32 tonight, but I'll get that done, and then (big sigh of relief)I'll be caught up. So, short and sweet, but here nonetheless!!

Oh and in my catching up, I was reading about the kings of Israel and Judah yesterday, and I loved, loved, loved reading the dedication and desire of King Josiah's heart. What a godly man with such stinky examples. For any little "Josiahs" I know, I hope that "they" will have better examples and be even more in love with Jesus than their namesake was. Was that clear as mud? And I loved David's prayer in I Chronicles 17:16-27.

Last night, during prayer time at church, we were focusing on Adoration, and the attribute that kept coming to mind is God's holiness. How many times has He tried to show Israel/Judah that He is holy and that He expects holiness from His people. Through reading about all of the various kings, it really struck me how they seemed to constantly be trying to figure out a way to please both God and man, and they always wound up pleasing man and being led astray by other gods/women/power, etc. Basically, there were very few who were totally sold out to the LORD and those were the ones that God used in good and powerful ways. He used the others (along with the Assyrians) but I wouldn't say it was in "good" ways! A holy God demands holiness. Thankfully, through Jesus Christ, we can experience that. What a blessing! What a Savior!

Head on over to Mom's Toolbox to check in with other readers! Remember, don't give up!

Obsession

2010-01-26T11:10:00.000-08:00

Or if your a fan of Tiny Tunes and Elmyra, you'd call it "Ob-sess-i-own." Regardless, I think Ju Ju has one. I've mentioned his love of Thomas, but these days "choo choo chain" can be anything from our dining room chairs, to a line of cars on the street, to...well, anything. As I was cropping pictures and he saw them, he said, "Choo Choo Chain!"

Nothing is safe. Oh, and don't judge us because we have a pink Barbie car; when it costs a quarter, who cares what color it is?! I guess I could whip out some black spraypaint for plastic and make it a cool black car, but will I...um, probably not. I'll just quietly pass it on to someone else before any real memories start to form for the kid.

Bible in 90 Days--Check In #3

2010-01-25T18:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm still behind, but I'm still plugging along. I finished I Samuel last night and will begin reading II Samuel tonight. I have been trying to get in a few minutes of reading all day today, but we had a minor emergency here. The house seemed to have exploded this weekend.

In fact, in our school time, we took a detour from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to 1939 and WWII. I gathered the boys after lunch today and explained the term "blitzkrieg." Now, I wasn't really sure whether we were going to perform one on the house or whether one had already taken place. It was bad.

So, the boys spent HOURS in their room listening to a Magic Treehouse Book on CD and "cleaning." I say "cleaning" because there sure were a lot of Lego figurines/ships/houses that were magically built while they were supposedly "working so hard." Whatever.

But now the house looks inhabitable and if someone (please, someone) calls and wants to look, we won't have to scramble so hard to clean and hide things.

But tonight, tonight I will read at least one day if not two. Head on over to Mom's Toolbox to check in with other readers! Remember, don't give up! Amy also has a cool "Kings" chart to download and print to help you keep track of all of the kings listed.

I heart Sharpie Markers

2010-01-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

I'm being brave again today and joining Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family.

This is not a paid post (that is just laughable that anyone would pay me to write about anything). That being said, I love office supplies. I love office supply stores and the office supply aisles at department stores (namely, "The Wal-marts"). I particularly love (not like I love Jesus, DH or the kiddos (or even my dogs)) Sharpie markers. We use them a lot around our house, so we have several handy. Sometimes, too handy as the artist in the family tries to use them in various places that aren't meant for Sharpie (permanent) markers. Since I do some freezer-cooking (extra chili, etc. that I freeze for later use), I usually write on the freezer bags or on a label to remind myself what I've stored. But as I mentioned in an earlier post, sometimes my thoughts don't actually have a follow-through. I might be headed to get the Sharpie to label something and something else shinier gets my attention. Invariably, there will be something in the freezer that's kind of a "hmm, hope this is still good" package.

All this to say, I would encourage you to keep a Sharpie close to the freezer. I, *always* mark my freezer stuff. Except that Tuesday morning, I put some blueberries in a bowl with some soy milk for Ju Ju, and some Fiber One cereal with blueberries and soy milk in a bowl for me. My first thought as I poured the frozen blueberries in the bowl, "Man, I love these fat, plump berries! I'm so glad we took the time to pick them this summer!" Then, I caught a whiff, and thought the blueberries smelled a little off, but I knew they were good since we'd just had some the day before. Thankfully, I took a bite of my "blueberries" before Ju Ju did and realized why they smelled a little "off." Olives are good, just not with milk!

Sharpies (and actually finishing the labeling) work for me! Click on over to We Are THAT Family to see what works for other people!

Phoenix Update

2010-01-19T09:51:00.000-08:00

Seems like I'm updating a lot, huh? Well, I am. But I just saw one of my beautiful girls this morning as she was eating her breakfast and thought, "I need to put that picture I took of Phoe the other day on the blog." So I am. I so rarely follow through with a thought that I'm congratulating myself today. You'll just have to follow along!

Phoe seems to be doing pretty well with the simple modifications we've made to her eating routine (feeding her up on the counter so she has to stretch out and reach it, smaller amounts more times during the day, and soaking her food). She rarely gets treats anymore as they cause her to gag since she can't swallow them quickly like a normal dog would be able to.

I took this photo the other day when we were leaving to run errands, and she was playing ball with me before we left. Isn't she gorgeous? She's still thin and probably always will be. On one hand that's bad because you want to know she's gaining weight by looking at her, but on the other GSDs are supposed to be on the thin side since hip dysplasia can be such a problem. She doesn't act "sick" at all and definitely isn't as downright skinny as she was a few weeks ago when she was diagnosed. She's only had one of the violent "getting sick" (to put it oh so much more delicately than it really is) episodes since December 5th, so I think she's doing pretty well. I still need to take her in to get a Bordetella vaccination, so we'll have her weighed then.

Bible in 90 Days--Check In #2

2010-01-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

Wow, so last week was a catch-up week, and it's amazing how "things" can easily take priority! Last Monday, after posting, around 2 p.m. the boys and I were leaving to do errands, and I realized my keys were missing. Um, I kind of need those! Ju Ju has a habit of "storing" things for us, so the big boys and I began the search. At 5 p.m., we still hadn't found the keys and the electricity went out. Huh? So, a quick call to DH assured that pizza would arrive with him, and we kept looking for keys. SWK and I took time for a quick game of ConnectFour and Battleship while the little boys played with big blocks. Of course, all of this was by candlelight. Very Abe Lincoln-ish (nevermind the fact that Connect Four and Battleship weren't invented when Abe was reading by candlelight!) After a bit, I realized that the keys were not going to be found (oh, and yes, we did stop and pray!), so I broke out my reading light and Leviticus. I read all of the book of Leviticus on Monday. Can I just get an AMEN on the whole-being-so-very-grateful-that-Jesus-came?

So, long story short, we finally found the keys at 8:45 that night (!). All the while, Bounce kept asking, "Isn't Ju a good hider?" Um, yeah. Oh, and the offender? I would ask him where they were, and he would shrug his shoulders and say, "Um.." and walk off. It's a good thing he's cute!

I read Numbers over a couple of days and I kept remembering what a former supervisor kept reminding us: "I know you all are just interested in the spiritual part of meeting students, but numbers count! There's a whole book in the Bible dedicated to them!"

Saturday and Sunday were dedicated (no pun intended) to the book of Deuteronomy and the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God...) was even referenced in our pastor's sermon on the Trinity. I was reminded even more as I read Deut. 6 of why we homeschool.

I have a couple of more thoughts on Deuteronomy, but I think I'll hold onto those today. It's onto Joshua this afternoon and tonight. I'm on Day 16, so I'm still a couple of days behind. If you're joining me and are caught up: YAY! and what have you given up to keep up? If you're like me and are a tad behind, what will it take for you to catch up? AND don't give up! God's Word is so full of encouragement and so many reminders of His grace. Give yourself a little grace and just jump back in. Even if you don't finish in 90 days, if you don't give up, you WILL finish!

Head on over to Mom's Toolbox to check in with some other readers.

Ju Ju MacGyver

2010-01-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoon, the only "work" I did was making two trips out to the shed to find a game the boys had seen out there. It's called "The Marble Race," and they got it for Christmas a couple of years ago. The object of the game is to build this contraption that you can roll marbles down. However, since we've had the game, we've managed to lose almost all the marbles (This could also be a metaphor for my mind). However, the boys rounded up a couple and were having a grand ol' time before we had to pack up and head out to church that night. Later that night, I was walking down the hallway, and I heard the yell that said that Ju Ju had gotten into something he wasn't supposed to in the boys' room. SWK was doing the "GRRRRR..JU!" So I walked into their bedroom, and sure enough, Ju Ju had pulled all the heads off of the 50+ mini figures that SWK and Bounce have in their Lego collection. He was using them as marbles for the marble race game.

Apparently, it was a novel idea, because the next day, SWK was using the new "marbles" to play the game.

Bible in 90 Days--A Check-in

2010-01-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

Well, as I mentioned, I'm still behind, but I'm getting closer to being caught up. I'm just starting Leviticus, so I'm about 3 days behind. Yesterday, I was able to have a marathon reading time between morning worship and evening worship and I even squeezed in a nap! Ironically, I was reading through a lot of Exodus yesterday, and one of the main commandments that kept repeating over and over was "Keep the Sabbath holy." Even though I've never liked doing "work" on Sundays, sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the hurry-hurry of our world and forget about the Sabbath rest. God rested and He said it was a good thing, so I plan to be much more intentional about resting on our Sabbath (Sundays). With three boys, that "resting" won't always include a nap, but it can include intentional "down-time." Of course, that means that I have to be more diligent during the week to get everything done that I need to. I think that will be the hardest part...being diligent!
By the way, I'm completely inept at these skills of linking and "blah, blah, blah" so I'm attempting to link up with Amy at Mom's Toolbox. You can check it out and see how others are doing on their reading. If you have a blog of your own, you can link up or you can leave a comment here as well as at Mom's Toolbox.
(hey, look, I might have done this right!)

Just In Case...

2010-01-09T19:08:00.001-08:00

If you're following and reading through the Bible in 90 Days and you can't find the bookmark I mentioned, here's a shortcut.
Honestly, I'm a little behind, but that's okay because I'll finish. Today has been a day for a headache, so Ju Ju and I took a nap on the couch (love those!), so even if I had spent the time reading, I wouldn't have been able to concentrate because it was one of THOSE headaches. The kind where I'm almost positive a little temporal release (literally, punching a hole in my temple--hey it's biblical (not good for the one it happened to..but my initials are J. L. (look it up in Judges, I believe)) would feel better. (And in case you tired from all those parenthetical statements, so am I!) A few ibuprophen, a lot of caffeine, and some sleep, and I'll be good to go tomorrow. If I can just make it through tonight's round of baths and bedtime routines!

New Year/New Vocab or "New/New for Ju Ju"

2010-01-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

Ju Ju is adding words to his vocab every day, and he loves to repeat whatever we're saying to practice new words. He's slowly starting to string words together, but usually, it's limited to "Mommy! Sikkie (silkie)" or "Mommy! Duck!" These are shortcuts to say, "Mommy, you get my silkie. I'm much too busy to walk the three feet to where I left it." or "Mommy, you get my duck since I'm so far from my room where I just came from to go back there and get it." you get the idea.

Here are some recent vocabulary additions:

"Maf?" SWK struggles with the motivation to finish his math work every day. He knows exactly what he's doing, but he just doesn't want to sit there long enough to do it. So Ju Ju picked up the pencil today, and said "Maf?" I asked him if he wanted to do math, and he said yes. But when I picked up some scrap paper to draw out some "math" problems, he wanted to work in SWK's workbook. Since there are some problems that are repetitious, I usually mark them out for SWK, so I let Ju Ju "do" those problems. "3+4+7=14" and then I helped him write "14". Which led to a new word: "fohr-teen." He's saying "maf" right now as he's laying on the table (wait...wasn't that a New Year's Resolution last year?)

"Peh-cy" "Jah-mes" and "Thomas": Those are pretty self explanatory if you're in the know about "Thomas and Friends."

And my all-time favorite: When he opened my junk drawers yesterday and found some magnets, "What de heck?" I'm not sure where he picked that one up. Ahem.

90 Days? We Can Do This!

2010-01-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

Bible in 90 Days ~ Will You Read with Me?

One of the bloggers I read pretty consistently is Toni from The Happy Housewife A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a challenge from her and her sister-in-law, Amy, about reading the Bible in 90 Days. Click on the links above, and join me in this challenge. I'm joining because I need the accountability and when I try to read through the Bible in a year (as I do (and fail at) every year), I tend to lose momentum. I have enough guilt about not finishing God's Love Letter, so don't go there, but why don't you join me? Click around on the above links to find out more information. If you don't want to buy the 90-Day Bible, you'll find a bookmark to keep in your Bible with the readings listed. C'mon! If I can be brave, then so can you! I was brave just trying to get all these links and doo-dads on here! Happy New Year, Everyone!
Here's another link:
http://www.biblein90days.org/

Shortest Post...Ever

2009-12-28T22:08:00.000-08:00

Saturday, I felt a little like the mouse in "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..." I took out some trash and while I was outside, I decided to clean up the toddler bed we had in the shed. So I cleaned up the toddler bed outside (did I mention that it was 30-something degrees outside and getting dark?) which reminded me that I still needed to clean out the van (driving around with DH does that to me (or rather, he does!). So I put in the new filter for the Shop-Vac and got a couple of trash bags for all the Lego and trash that I knew I would encounter. Sure enough, I wound up with two Wal-mart sacks of toys, Lego, and socks (Ju Ju has an annoying habit of de-socking himself in the van if he's in there for more than 2 minutes, and since we live 15 minutes from civilization, well, let's just say that there were a LOT of socks). Then I collected a sack of lollipop sticks, Capri-Sun wrappers and straws, and a sausage biscuit from McD's that Bounce had squirreled away in a compartment (no, it wasn't gross, just hard). Finally, I vacuumed up the remnants plus a dog's worth of hair from Phoenix. Meanwhile, I was thinking dark thoughts about two little boys in particular who "cleaned up their Lego out of the van." Whatever.

After the van had been thoroughly de-reeked, (except for washing the window (again, cold and dark...who'd know if there was a streak or not?), I headed inside to yell, I mean, speak strongly to aforementioned little boys about the dangers of leaving Lego in my van or about absentmindedly dropping lollipop sticks on the floor. (Something along the lines of: "I am pretty sure that this house of ours is not a barn nor a bar, so therefore, since you have not been raised in a barn, let's not just drop things on the floor when we're through with them, eh?" Pretty tame, don't you thing?)

This is a complete side-note: Ju Ju knows where my espresso stand is that I frequent more than once a week, so as we drive by (which we have to if we're going to...anywhere), he starts clucking his tongue to ask for a lollipop. He does the same thing as soon as we hit the front door of Mrs. Rita's house because she keeps a stash of them for any kids who frequent her house. He's cute, I tell you. Demanding, but cute. All that to say, that I usually stop to get him a lollipop (they're free), but since I'm there I get coffee, too. Ahem.

Anyway, back to Saturday, so by this time it is time to make the pizza dough, so I started that, loaded the dishwasher, and started taking down a crib. Bounce thought I was going nuts, but he was loving the new toddler bed and even requested one for "his next bed."

So, I finished taking down the crib, got the kids in the bath, took down the tree and ornaments and other decorations (those which Ju Ju had not already taken down; Mary and Joseph seem to have taken a hiatus from Baby Jesus), and finished the pizza (plain cheese, no sauce for the boys and Canadian bacon, feta cheese, olives, and artichoke hearts for DH and me).

Of course, the whole point of this post was to let you know (like you care) that for the first time in 6 years, DH and I slept in a house of our own with no crib set up in it. Not, "slept in a house with no one in the crib" because that's a different post altogether.

I think the longevity of this post lets you know that I'm not dealing well with not having a crib. DH? I think he raised the roof in his exultation and joy.

Merry Christmas..

2009-12-25T13:37:00.000-08:00

To you and yours from me and mine! Santa dropped by last night after the boys finally went to sleep last night around 10:20. After our Christmas Eve service, where I read the Christmas story to all the little kids from Sally Lloyd-Jones' Jesus Storybook Bible, we came home to eat "dinner." We had pizza rolls (the hors d'oeurves of choice) and soft pretzels, the boys unwrapped their Christmas Eve present of new pajamas (grown-up plaid for SWK, Where the Wild Things Are" for Bounce, and Thomas (of course!) for Ju Ju). Then we watched a little Rudolf before the intermission of chocolate chip cookies and white donuts (Hostess powder...don't inhale..you'll choke!); then we finished up Rudolf and brushed the sugar off the pearly-whites, and shuffled them off to bed. Oh, yeah, the big boys were able to open their gift of watches before bed, and Ju Ju got a stuffed Thomas with a book that makes NOISE (what was I thinking?). For a long time after they went down, I could Thomas and Percy "toot-toot"ing from Ju Ju's room. But the big boys, for all their talk about wanting to see Santa, were out like proverbial lights. DH and I spent the rest of the night watching a movie, wrapping presents and taste-testing chocolate and white milk.

DH and I had a friendly wager going to see if SWK would wake before or after 7. Surprisingly, he didn't come into our room until 8:55. He and I laid in my bed until 9:05, and then we got up to get more white donuts and milk. SWK discovered the note Santa left saying thanks for the milk and cookies and encouraging the boys to always love Jesus with all their hearts. I let SWK check out the stockings, and it wasn't long before we were joined by a couple of other kids and a daddy. After reading the Christmas story and asking questions, the tearing into gifts began (it was actually quite organized with us all taking turns). Now I'm off to figure out how to knit. Only I've already tried and I can't even understand the directions (I was even reading the English version). There may be no hope for me as I have trouble with right and left and I seem to be all thumbs. (Added later: DH has helped figure the stinkin' directions out, so maybe (probably not) there's hope for me!)

Oh, and don't worry, Santa dropped off lots of Lego and Thomas paraphenalia. Ju Ju has already shared his new Thomas blanket from Aunt Cowgirl with Phoenix. He's sweet like that! (You'll also note that those pajama bottoms of mine? I've had them as long as I've had DH! I've sewn them up multiple times; I think DH is so glad! Or maybe he'd just as soon burn them. I like them.)

Bounce received Play-do for Christmas and boy was he happy to do this:

I think Ju Ju is worried about Phoenix, too, so he was checking her out with his new stethoscope while she was looking at him like he was nuts. Who says German Shepherd's are vicious?
SWK is so grateful that Mommy allowed Santa to bring Bionicles into her home. I think I'll find Santa before next year and have a little chat.
To add to our tradition of non-traditions, we're having gumbo for dinner/supper tonight. We had hot dogs two years ago; DH's choice...there was football to be watched. This year, I had visions of pork tenderloin with a raspberry chipotle sauce, but since DH and I would be the only ones to enjoy that and I'd have to make noodles and sauce for Bounce and Ju, and a PB & honey for SWK, I skipped it. I thought about making pizza, but since Ju Ju and I fell asleep on the couch around 4:30 (the time I needed to start the dough) and didn't wake up until 6, um, that wasn't happening either. So Zatarains it is! Merry Christmas, Y'all!

It's Christmas Eve! (A Confession)

2009-12-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, we'd all trek down to Grandma's house (she lived a whole 1/4 a mile away, if that) on Christmas Eve night to open presents with her and my busload (several busloads, I think) of cousins, aunts and uncles. I was always a shy kid, so it was kind of painful for me even though I'd "grown up" (I was all of 5 probably for my first memory of this tradition) with these people. But I loved my Grandma. Oh, she was the perfect combination of someone you loved on and held in reverence. She smelled like Coty powder and Oil of Olay. If I knew how to link such things, I could show you a picture of the Coty box; I still remember what it looked like and Grandma has been gone for over 20 years.
One of my most shining moments was the year that Grandma bought a Cabbage Patch (registered trademark symbol goes here) Doll for my cousin. When I saw her doll, I just knew that Grandma had bought me one, too. Only she didn't. She had made me a little Indian doll with handmade clothes and a little plastic face. I was crushed. I took my mama to the bedroom (or maybe she took me...it's a little unclear) and just sobbed that I had wanted one, too. Mama was very wise and told me, "Jana Rae (not my real name...mostly), someday, you're gonna look back on this day and regret it. And you will treasure this doll. Right now, you are disappointed, but you'll be glad you have this doll. Now go say "Thank You" to Grandma." So I did, but my heart was black for a long time. I do regret that initial reaction (yeah, I was a kid, but still!), and I wish I'd been more gracious.
Now, Grandma is gone, and all I have is a Christmas quilt that she had not finished (a sweet lady from my home church finished it for me), sweet memories of her, and that doll. I miss my Grandma and I wish that my boys had a chance to meet her. They would have been just like me: heart swelling with love and just a little bit in awe of her.
Now, that I'm older, I could focus on the mostly agreed upon fact that the cousin who received the CPD was, in fact, a favorite, but I choose to treasure that handmade doll; or I could focus on the many years where we didn't receive all the presents (or hardly any) that we wished for, but I choose to remember the sacrifices that my mom and dad made; Or I could focus on all the ways that someone somewhere did something to my family or me, and I could be bitter. But because of His great love, I can forgive and I can rejoice that I have any family memories, good or bad. I can also be content...most of the time.
My little family here has so much more than what I had growing up, but I still see the need to teach my boys that we need to be grateful for everything we have and to bless others with what God has entrusted us. We try to teach the boys about contentment and gratefulness, but I know that come Christmas morning, they may be disappointed because they didn't get everything that was on their (multiple) lists. I've tried to prepare them, but can we ever prepare them enough for life's disappointments?
As I told DH last night on the way to some friends' house for dinner, "I wish we lived closer to family, so the boys will have Christmas memories of cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. I just want that so much for my boys." So, clearly, they come by this propensity towards discontentment quite naturally.

I think it's because of our sin nature that we always want what we don't have. We know that there's something better out there, and in case you don't know, that Better is Jesus. He doesn't always give us what we want, but He's already given us what we need. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord." That's what we need. Not more stuff, more money, more time, or to be closer to our family. We need God's forgiveness for our black hearts, and we can have that through repentence and faith through Jesus' work on the cross.

As you celebrate Christmas this year with your family, enjoy your traditions, your treats, and your gifts, but don't forget to celebrate the baby in the manger, the man on the cross, the Giver of Salvation to all who will ask.

I Blame DH

2009-12-23T11:41:00.000-08:00

When my children look back on their childhood and have to go to therapy two times a week, I want them to remember that it's mostly their father's fault. It's his father's fault when SWK was explaining about his new obsession, "Battleship" and said, "Y'know how you say "A1..." and I start rapping, "A1A Beachfront Avenue." It's DH's fault that SWK knew exactly what I was referring to. Poor kids. I think we should skip the college fund and go straight for the therapy fund.

I just typed out the long explanation of what is wrong with Phoenix, and Blogger lost it. Argh. So, here's the long story short: Phoenix has megaesophagus, we're feeding her up on the counter to allow the food to fall into her stomach because her esophagus doesn't push the food into her stomach. We'll do what we can as long as we can and as long as Phoenix is responding. She's happier right now and looks like she's gained some weight since the diagnosis two weeks ago.

In other news, Ju Ju has discovered being "ne---ked" (that's how he says it) and he's loving it. So, I'm off to redress the child, feed the dog (again), and perhaps clean a little house, wipe a little heiney, etc. You get the idea...another day in (my) paradise!

We're Still Alive...But Barely

2009-12-18T13:21:00.000-08:00

So, it's been a month. Did you miss me. Hello? Anyone here?

Today is my Aunt B's birthday. Happy Birthday Aunt B. (Not the California Aunt B., but the Oklahoma Aunt B. and certainly not the Aunt Bea from Mayberry). Anywho, we're still here, but we've been dealing with LIFE (as it were) so I've even been absent from the computer on some days.
We've been to California, I've been to Oklahoma/Texas, to the vet(twice), to the doctor (twice) and to Crazy quite a lot. I like Crazy; it might be my favorite place. (By the way, SWK is excited that I finally used the 'z' in my typing.)
We're still working on learning to tie someone's shoes, putting eye drops in someone else's eyes, and dealing with Dr. No aka Bounce.
Well, that's the long and short (okay, mostly the short) of it, and I'll give the long versions later. But for today...to the vet again.

A Really Useful Engine

2009-11-18T09:38:00.001-08:00

Ju Ju has discovered Thomas The Tank Engine. You can imagine my joy. We had to borrow a DVD from the library of "Doo Doo" (that's "choo choo" to your un-Ju Ju'd ears) because we have antiquated VCR tapes of Thomas but no DVDs. Normally, VCR tapes are fine; however, last week apparently our VCR decided to take a holiday for an indeterminate length of time until DH can wield the powerful MacGyver knife and fix the darn thing. I would fix it (I did the last time), but this time the problem seems to be bigger than digging out Lego pieces (12) and DVDs (out of the VCR) and taping shut the DVD side of the VCR/DVD player combo. Someone (who shall forever remain...Ju Ju) was putting extra stuff in the magic black hole. But, once again, I digress. So, Thomas has joined our family again, and Ju Ju is busy building "Doo Doos" with the kitchen chairs. He inherited SWK's old Thomas shirt that has also seen Bounce's skinny self. But now that Thomas is seeing wear every day, I had to visit the secondhand store that specializes in kids' clothes to find another Thomas shirt (yes, I could have bought it new, but why?). While I was there, I also found a pair of Thomas thermal pajamas for the Shrink. So between his new wardrobe and my washing machine, the kid can wear Thomas for several weeks in a row and at night, too (!).

Pumpkins vs. Perspective

2009-11-02T17:07:00.000-08:00

October 2009
October 2008 They've grown...a little!

Bounce

On Wednesday, I had thoughts of taking the kids to the zoo as it was probably the last sunny day for awhile and our pass expired on the 31st. I lolly gagged around long enough that I realized that it was too late to go. Then I remembered that we hadn't made our annual pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch. So, we rushed around and got out the door. Since we were going to the patch we always go to, I decided we should probably stop and get cheeseburgers at My Cheeseburger Place (which by the way, should I ever open my own cafe, that's what I'll call it: My Cheeseburger Place. That should make it easy for people to find, yeah?). So, we moseyed over to the pumpkin patch after scarfin' down our burgers. By the way, this is also the same patch where we got Landon two years ago (May he rest in peace (or pieces?...sorry).
Anyways, I was taking pictures of the boys on the old tractor there when I noticed my camera wasn't allowing me to manually zoom the shot. The lens was stuck, and when you have an SLR camera, that ain't good! So, long story short, my lens was broken (literally there was a piece broken inside the lens). I was downtrodden, broken and ready to throw a pumpkin at someone. The boys and I gathered up a few pumpkins and paid, then headed out to get corn dogs for SWK since he didn't eat lunch with the rest of us earlier.
I called DH to wail and moan about my lack of pumpkin pictures and the fact that my camera was busted. I then drove over to a friend's camera store and he said, "What you need...is a new lens." D'oh!! I was afraid of that!
So, then I got a grip and realized that it was a camera lens. It wasn't my child who was broken (except by original sin, and that's an entirely different post). It wasn't my van which is also a small thing when compared to world hunger and the orphans of the world. In the scheme of things, a lens is a very small thing.
But I did miss my pumpkin pictures! Oh, and of the 68 pictures I took, I think 2 are worthy of showing here. Sad. But at least I can look at these boys in real life every day. What a blessing!

I'm Blank...

2009-10-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

I'd love to tell you about our exciting day...only we didn't have one. We've not had one for days. So things are kind of boring around here. If you count three boys running and growling at each other as boring. Or if you count Mommy going nuts for the third time in a day as boring. Right now, SWK is "spanking" Ju Ju (it's a good thing we don't have Ju Ju completely potty trained and he has on a diaper right now!). Ooh, I've got something: they were just chasing each other down the hall and Ju Ju whacked his head on the corner (the corners are reinforced with steel i.e. drywall flakes off pretty quickly; oh yeah, and it hurts when you hit it). Everybody paused just a minute, and then Bounce gave me an "instant replay" of what happened. He also likes for me to "pause" when I'm reading a book to him. *"Crazy kids," she says under her breath.*
Ju Ju was also just making himself at home with my Diet Coke from McDonald's. Oh, yes, we put the kibosh on that behavior quickly. Like that child needs any caffeine. Only he did finish my coffee again this morning.

And in other news, SWK has become money hungry. He has realized the power of a dollar (which according to the news, it's not so powerful any more...BUY GOLD! (oh, maybe that wasn't the news!)). He is all about saving a dollar, but by golly when that dollar is in his pocket, it burns a whole in it. Of course, I'm his enabler, and I will occasionally drive him to the local Toys R Expensive place. Generally, we're trying to teach him to put 10% in a giving envelope, 10% in a savings envelope and the rest in spending. But to help him develop some saving 'sense' (I make myself laugh), we're not letting him spend it until he has at least $25 (he decided on the toy he wants, and that was the amount we settled on as our "target"). So he asks for jobs to do around the house so he can earn some money. Unfortunately, he hasn't figured out that lots of little jobs add up to a big amount. Nope, this kid comes to us with "Mommy, do you have any jobs I can do for $5?" Good grief. He even asked me the other day if maybe I wanted to get a job at Wal-mart. "Why would I ever do that?"
"You know, so you can make some money to buy some toys." Yes, we're working on that contentment problem (I'm not sure where he got that...certainly not from me *smirk*). He also got the "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" speech.

SWK just tackled Ju Ju and felt of his tummy. "Oh, it's fat." Great. They're listening for his heartbeat right now. These kids. They're crazy. It's great that we're homeschoolers because I'm afraid to send them out in public!!
Then they do something crazy like this, and I want to keep them little forever: Bounce made a cross out of his pretzel, and he's decided to "keep it forever because I love God."
Oh, and in case you're wondering, Ju Ju is fine, although he is a little hyped up. I forgot to say that he helped me reorganize my spice drawer today. By "reorganize" I mean that he pulled all of my spices out and located them to various parts of the kitchen while I was helping SWK with math this morning. Thankfully, that did leave me an empty drawer to wipe down. He's such a great helper.
And all that to say, I don't have much to say today.

In Case You Need Fashion Advice

2009-10-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well, if you need fashion advice and you've come to me...excuse me while I DIE laughing, 'cause that's just...sad. So very sad. DH mentioned last night that when I get almost to my goal of weight loss that our "deal" (we're very big on making deals) included my getting a complete wardrobe budget to buy new clothes. I snickered impolitely and said, "That's probably gonna be a cheap deal knowing how much I LOVE to buy clothes." I hate shopping (unless it's at a thrift or a craft or a book store, then move out of the way!). In case you weren't aware of my fashionista know-how, I spent three (or four) years loving my navy blue shirts, khakis and white t-shirts. Yes, I know. And they were "topped" (really, "bottomed") off with Adidas footwear. This was not a uniform, per se. Only it was. It was my uniform. I like (and still do) navy blue, khaki and white together. It's how I roll. Only I don't wear "the uniform" anymore but that's only because I can't find the right khakis anymore. *Everyone breathes a great sigh of relief!*

So, my post was actually about this:

To accomplish this pulled-together look, you'll need: a Superman cape, a ninja mask and tie, a Venom pj top, Lightning McQueen pj bottoms (that are too small apparently), Power Ranger shoes (that light up), two pair of soccer shin guards for your arms and legs, and the can-do attitude to pull it all off convincingly. By the way, his name is Super-Ninja and yes, he does wear this quite often. Today it is the ninja mask, a regular sweatshirt and pants (hey, I think they're navy blue and khakis!) and Buzz Lightyear gloves. He plans on going into town this way. And just so you know, I will let him. Ju ju wore a Batman mask into Wal-mart the other day. At first I was concerned and thought, "what if they think an extremely short Little Person is trying to rip them off?" but then I got a grip and away we went. I worry about things like this. I know. I know.
So, when I took Bounce's picture, of course, the other two had to get in on the action. Unfortunately for you, Ju Ju had already dispensed with the outer garments and was wearing only his undergarments (or "underwears" as we are apt to call them around here. Are you scared that I homeschool?? I am.)
Notice the sticks coming out of SWK's clothing. Those are his arms and legs.

Somedays (and especially since we just got haircuts this week) he looks like a Auschwitz survivor. He eats, I promise. At My Cheeseburger Place, he can throw down two corn dogs and then wants something else to eat. He ate two pb&j sandwiches one day for lunch last week. TWO WHOLE SANDWICHES. DH brought home a pizza (1) a couple of weeks ago and I got one slice (1). Are we going to be able to afford these boys when they become teenagers?
See how I can take a tangent?

2009-10-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been absent for so long. I received an e-mail from one of my three avid readers who is desperate to read of our daily saga here at the homeplace. The e-mail stated, "September 22nd. Seriously???" Really? I hadn't realized it had been that long. I guess it has. I have written a couple of posts, but either the pictures were taking too long to load, or I had to "finish it later." Only, as you've guessed, later hasn't arrived yet. So here are a few random things on my mind:
*We have a new pastor (who hasn't arrived yet), so unofficially my duties on the search committee are complete (I guess they aren't official until he starts preaching!!).
*I know how to sew capes for Lego guys now. Aren't you glad?
*I also know how to fix a Play-doh toy gone awry.
*I have also figured out a short-cut to having a dust ruffle (my secret involves matching curtains and Velcro).
*Our house is apparently never going to sell (it's only been two weeks), and I'm exhausted from picking up said Lego and Play-doh.
*Phoenix is going to advanced obedience training tonight. She needs it as she almost ate the garbage man AND his big truck today. He didn't even pick up our garbage because he was scared of her.
*Said garbage man also tried to run her over.
*Layla, oh yeah, Layla didn't even bark.
*What we have is probably not the flu, but if I could get a day off of work if it were flu, I'd call it the flu.
*oh, yeah, I don't have a job.
*Well, kinda I do. But my bosses are short and well, bossy.
*People are difficult, but God loves them anyway.
*And I'm talking about Christians here (particularly the "difficult" part).
*Homeschooling isn't happening today. I'm calling in a sick day. (I called DH and told him I'm sick. Does that count?)
*We've also had fruit roll-ups and fruit snacks before lunch. Call the authorities.
*I made a great salsa on Friday (recipe from a friend at church). I think it was good, only I burned my tongue on Thursday with chili from Wendy's and still can't taste anything.
*Which helps in my quest for losing a few (like the weight of my thigh) pounds.
*Ju Ju has taken to whining with his bottom lip turned in to his teeth. Not attractive, and certainly not pleasant to listen to.
*Yesterday, I asked who had scattered counting bears everywhere and Bounce said, "That would be a Ju and a Duh." Yep, that is the answer to a lot of the questions around here.
*I would like to think that I could write a simple post everyday and post it for the three people who read this drivel, but apparently that is beyond me. Why, I don't know, when I'm swamped with material.
*I need to learn French (because I like it) and Spanish (because it's more useful around here and I already know some).
*I am so lazy that neither is likely to happen in the next few months (or years. Hey, I know me!).
*My new motto is "Finish the job." I tend to multi-task like most women. Only I get really sidetracked and can't remember what I was doing. I tend to follow tangents (Yeah, they call me Tan-jana for a reason) and forget to go back to the original thought/job. So, I'm trying to Finish the Job before I start a different project. Right now, this mostly translates to finish the dishes before I..." or Finish folding the clothes before I...
*I'm looking for a new motto (this one is getting old).
Well, that's what's on my mind. Oh there's so much more but I must take care of children (durn needy things!).

There Was Great Jubilation

2009-09-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

In April (possibly May but definitely before June) we turned off our TV. Meaning, we cut Dish *Work out of our lives. Since we live among the tall trees, we weren't able to get anything on our black box o'death without the Expensive Companies, so we have settled for watching DVDs or *gasp* VHS tapes. DH and I purchased MacGyver DVDs and have enjoyed them immensely, but that too came to an end a couple of months ago. So, we bought the Greatest American Herofirst season DVD and then after that we bought the first season of Magnum P.I. We usually watch one or two a week except maybe on Friday or Saturday when we get wild and crazy and watch two. During the day when I need to rock Ju Ju before nap or at night when DH isn't home, I'll watch Alias if I have it available from the library. Otherwise, the boys may watch a video (or 12) during the day, but otherwise...nada. Well, that's not completely true. We did get a converter box when they were all the rage back in June or whenever. But still the TV didn't pick up much (unless you're GMom and can somehow still get your Gaither fix!). Then GMom and GDad left, and SomeOne (I don't mean Jesus) lost the remote to the converter box. We think that SomeOne's name may begin with a "Ju" and end with a "Bees" with a "Ju" in the middle for good measure. We have scoured the house (and since we getting ready to sell, I do mean "scoured!") and cannot find the little rectangle of power anywhere. I think the remote had the same fate as the seven (7) sippy cups that we've "lost" since Mr. No entered our lives. (By the way, we had those sippy cups almost 5 years, then SomeOne joined our clan, and lo and behold we have had to buy 4 more of which we have two, so in case you're not good at math, that brings the total up to 9 that we have lost. If we'd been cats, well, nevermind considering what happened to our cat. Another story, another time.)
Man, I can digress. So, we lost the remote, and with a big game on Sunday night, there was almost weeping and gnashing of teeth. After church on Sunday, rather than fellowship with other families (we'd had enough of that, ThankYouVeryMuch), we drove all over town trying to find another converter box (they were popular in June, not so much in September). We found one at Tar-jay, and surprisingly, it was $10 cheaper than the other that we had bought at K-Smart.
When we arrived at the Casa (we had Mexican food for lunch and that always makes me want to speak Spanish), DH installed the new converter box on the TV in the living room, and LO AND BEHOLD, we actually received regular channels like Fox, NBC, etc. Like, for-real channels. So, like my title says, "There was great jubilation."
Except from me.
I, for one, have not missed it as much as I thought I would. I don't hear "I want such and such" with the exception of Lego. Before we turned off the television months ago, I'd have to listen to the "Gimme's" all the time. Now, with the exception of certain movies they'd like to have and the Lego fanaticism, I am not subjected to that. On a side note, I am subjected to the information that SWK gleaned from the TV (before we lost the remote) about my use of the flat iron. "That is really damaging your hair! You need to use such-n-such shampoo!" To which I reply, "Thank you Paul Mitchell. I'll work on that." I also know that I've gotten a lot more done since we've cut the cord, so to speak, and I could easily become a TV-aholic again. There are some funny shows and some crime shows that I LOVE, but you know what? I've not missed them. I have survived, and most days I don't even think about any of them. (I would, however, like to figure out what the heck is happening on LOST.)
All this to say, I think I'm good without the black box o'death or at least without the wee little box that has given us "all" those channels. If they could make network TV work without all the garbage, then I might be in...especially if The Closer is still on. See, I don't even know. And I've survived.

Happy Fall, Y'all

2009-09-22T01:28:00.000-07:00

October 2008

I love autumn! I guess the autumnal equinox doesn't technically occur until 2:18 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, but I'm going to bed after midnight on the 22nd, so as Bounce puts it so eloquently these days, "Blah, blah, blah." (I don't know where he picked it up. And I wish it would stop but he usually does it when SWK is trying to manipulate him in some way, so they usually get a two-fer on the "talking to.")
So that was all I was gonna say, "Happy Fall!"

In Which We Train the Dog

2009-09-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well, Phoenix is a year old now, and I see signs of puppyhood ending and the dreaded adolescent stage might be upon us. She's testing us to see who's really in charge around here (and as I noted in our last post...it's up for grabs!). On Saturday, I was trying to chat with Layla, and Phoe (pronounced "Fee") kept playfully biting Layla on the neck trying to keep her from visiting with me. Apparently, it's a way of showing dominance, so I just grabbed Phoe on the underside of her throat (the way a momma dog does when her babies get unruly) and laid her out on the ground, told her firmly, "No." She wiggled a bit and then laid still, so I let her up. The next time she went to jump on Layla while I was petting her, I just said, "No!" and she jumped over next to me. Some days it works and some days...not so much. Anyway, now that our lives may be slowing down a bit (we may be getting a new pastor in a month or so!!), I hope to spend more time training Phoe. Layla, well, Layla's the best dog ever, and Bounce and I came to an agreement that she was OUR dog. Phoenix is mine, and the family has privileges, but Layla belongs to Bounce and me. Since we'll be putting our house up for sale in a couple of weeks, I need to get Phoenix prepared to live around people more so than what she is, so that'll be a big job. She's a great dog, but she'll occasionally try to eat the Fed-Ex man, so we'll have to work on that!
Saturday, we were working outside, and Bounce had something in his hand, and he's at just the right height to entice Phoenix accidentally. She was very interested in whatever it was, and he knows to turn away from her, but she's pretty persistant. I told Bounce, "Tell her 'Leave it.'
Obediently, Bounce said, "Phoenix, leave it." He said it in such a sweet way that I didn't think she was going to take him seriously, so I said, "Tell her firmly."
He tossed over his shoulder, "Fernly!"
I love that kid!

Labor Day Revisited

2009-09-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

In light of the previous post, I thought I'd better come clean. We didn't really give Ju Ju the day off.
Some background for the uninformed (or as we like to say around here: the clueless): I'm teaching the boys that when they are finished with a meal, they are to clean up their spot by cleaning their plates into the trash and putting their plates, silverware and cups into the sink (they still mostly use character plates that are plastic, so don't cringe too much!). Ju Ju is really getting into this part, so he's always ready to help someone out (SWK--who is a master manipulator) when asked. "Tay," he says if asked to help out. (By the way, have I mentioned how cute this critter is??)
Tonight, I made pizza (last minute, but still muy "delious") (No, that's not misspelled...ask DH for the story). The boys prefer it without sauce and since I didn't want to whip up any marinara, I just made theirs and then I made mine with mozzarella and tomatoes (from my garden!) with a bit of garlic powder and basil. It'd make you cry it was so good..Oh, and it was thin crust, but I rolled the dough up and tucked in some mozzarella so it would kind of have that stuffed crust thang going on. Like I said, "Delious." Okay, here's a picture.
Back to the real story (boy, can I tangent or what!?): I also whipped up some Choc-oat chip cookies with wheat germ and flax seed (don't knock it til you've tried it! My boys (and I) LURVE them!). SWK made the comment as I was putting some cookies into bake, "Wow this is just like a restaurant!"
"How so?"
"You're cooking and Ju Ju is our servant!"
At first, I thought he meant "server" but now that I think about it...
Makes you wonder who's really in charge, huh?

Happy Labor Day!

2009-09-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Since we respect the law and see the need for a break, here you go:

Hope you have a great day! Now, get back to work!!

And So It Begins

2009-08-13T10:19:00.001-07:00

We've had a "loose" tooth for quite a while in this house.

Now it's not just a "loose" tooth...it's a gone tooth.
Just so you know, if you're so inclined, using your teeth (especially ones that are already loose) to pry apart Lego toys will really help in the loosening process! SWK came running in yesterday morning to say, "It's really loose now!" I actually got a little squeamish thinking that I was going to have to help him pull it out. I remember my daddy and his "string theory" (hint: it didn't involve physics. Well, I guess it kind of did). Anyway, we went on about our day, and I told SWK to just keep wiggling his tooth with his tongue (not his icky fingers) and we'd check on it later. After we got home from going to the animal farm with some friends, SWK was watching "The Horned Avenger" and shouted, "My tooth came out!" I nearly dropped my measuring cup! (BTW, I made an Asian Pepper Steak last night with brown rice and kind of combining a couple of recipes and my own cleaning-out-the-fridge method, and it was pretty darn good...DH even liked it!)
Back to the tooth: Yea! I didn't have to pull it! So, last night the Tooth Fairy visited. This is what she left:

Ten bucks, a note, and a Very.Happy.Boy. (The note said, "For the boy who sleeps here and had a little fairy kiss.) *That Tooth Fairy is awesome* I guess we'll be hitting up Wal-mart later to check out the Lego! Oh, yes, he did. He woke me up at 7:15 this morning to let me know that SHE had visited and by the way, how much do Lego Racers cost?
(For the inquiring minds: the first tooth is special, after that, I've heard that the Tooth Fairy rates dramatically decrease! Although, I somehow always got a lot of money for my teeth. I think my whole family must have helped the Tooth Fairy out on at least the first one: $15. And in 1979-80, $15 was a lot of money! Well, actually, it still is!! It'll buy a round of cheeseburgers and corn dogs with a diet coke or three at My Cheeseburger Place! Not that I would know anything about that. Ahem.)

Rites of Passage

2009-08-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went picking blueberries at a local farm. We've done this for a few years now (at least three) with the exception of last year since Ju Ju had just had his surgery and couldn't have cared less about picking blueberries! Sometimes we go a couple of times, and sometimes we go with friends or family (Cowgirl and Firecracker went with us a couple of years ago...and let me just say, as I was a week and a half away from delivering Ju Ju, that blueberries on the bottom are hard to reach!).
Of course, I always feel like I should pay the owners of the farm a little extra for all the sampling that has gone on in the name of, ahem, research.

Three years ago

A couple of people have grown quite a bit and another has joined the crew. Except that while Ju Ju was DEFINITELY there in body (and spirit), he was kind of a drain on the system. Bounce was my best picker (blueberries, not noses), and I relied on SWK to keep up with Ju Ju who liked to, shall we say, wander.

The quote of the day goes to SWK. After I had been on them for quite a while to pick up toys because "Daddy will be home in a few minutes," SWK said, "He's coming!!"
I thought he might have seen him drive up, so I asked, "Oh, is he here?"
SWK said, "No, I just know he's coming 'cause I have a sense...you know, like Spiderman? A sense of humor just like Spiderman."
Um, I think he's referring to Spidey's spider-sense, but I'd much prefer a sense of humor!!

Life is a Beach

2009-08-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my friend Chef, her nieces, nephew, and my crew all went to a local man-made island with sandy beaches (a rarity in WA). We had to take a small boat which launches every 15 minutes to get to the island, and we got there right at low tide. You can only swim on the west side of the island as the east side is fairly deep. WEST SIDE!! (sorry, flashback). The west side is so shallow, and especially at low tide, you can walk really far out. The only downside was that Ju Ju still is not especially fond of sand, but he gradually loosened up a little. Mainly, he just wanted to eat "'nacks." SWK, of course, played with Chef's nieces who are 7 and 5 and are good friends of ours. Bounce, of course, played by himself in the wet sand and had a great time, never complaining unless he got cold. It was in the 70s with a little bit of wind, so it was a bit chilly at times, but it would have been a perfect day to go to the beach with a book and blanket sans children. However, since that's not likely to occur in this lifetime, it was still a pretty awesome day!
And photos to fill you in on the visuals:

Someone thinks he needs coffee to deal with this treachery. Doesn't he look like a little old man?

This one makes me think of the "Chariots of Fire" theme song. Not sure why. Maybe it's the ribs sticking out or something?

We're so ill-prepared for beach life that I grabbed four of my big spoons to facilitate digging. I think I made it home with all four!

This picture describes Ju Ju perfectly at the beach. Either he won't move (literally will stand still until I pick him up) or he is saying "Blech!" the whole time! Usually, it's "Mami...blech....Mami....blech!" AND standing still!

The Pig

2009-08-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is a short one, but I had to share it.
For Bounce's second Christmas, we gave him a toy pig that sings when you put "coins" in it. He was a little interested in it, but you know those darn two year olds. However, this newest two year old has discovered it, and he is having fun with it this morning. Only he can't open it, so technically, I guess I'm having fun with it, too.
This is one of the songs that the pig sings:
(To the tune of London bridge)
Put some coins right in the top
Clink Clink Clink
Hear them drop
Open up the door and then
Play again.

For some *reason,* this little ditty always makes us laugh.

Considering who I live with, I guess it's only fitting that we have a pig who sings about clinking.

Who Am I, Again?

2009-07-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet husband has reminded me, "It's been awhile since you've updated your blog."
Yeah, I know. It's hard to know what to write some days.
Then I get this:

Hey Toots!

I realize you've been busy lately, (visits from family, children with
infectious diseases & what not.) However; do you think you could find time
to possibly update your blog? It's been 21 days since you've updated. 21
DAYS!

Please forgive my grammar or lack thereof as the more anxious I become,
the more my lack of caring about punctuation kicks in.

BLOG ALREADY!

v

So, here I am today with updates:
Ju Ju turned 2 yesterday. We had a low-key celebration with our friends who help me out so much when I have appointments and such. We enjoyed having them out, and we kind of got to bless them a little bit as well. We're having a heat wave here (a serious one of degrees upwards of 100), and hardly anyone here has AC. We do, so we invited them out to get them out of the house and from sitting in front of their fan for a few hours. Thankfully, last night actually cooled off a bit, so it was nice to have our windows open (partially, so the axe murderer would have a harder time getting in!).
Anyway, one year ago yesterday, the kid looked like this:

Yesterday was this:

But my favorite is this:

Reminds me of another kid I know.

Other happenings:
My sister, Cowgirl, and her son Firecracker spent a week with us. I'll find some pictures and post them later (sooner than three weeks...maybe).
We lost Batman only four days after we got him. I think he got too cold, but in all fairness to the Man who suggested we set them outside for a bit, the Farmer didn't project the longevity of Batman to be that long. Really, DH, it's not your fault. (Okay, a little bit of it is.)
SWK had the dreaded disease MRSA for a few days, passed it on to Firecracker before we figured out what the heck was going on. All is well, and no one's leg rotted off. Which is good, but not having to have the wound drained is even better. The doctor was almost gleeful in projecting that we would have to drain it, and he proceeded to talk about it (including the words, "you'll have to hold him down, it's going to hurt" in front of a very imaginative 6 year-old). We've got two more days of powerful antibiotic (which has done nothing for the summer cold he has as well).
Robin (of chicken fame) also met with his demise yesterday. I don't think I'm cut out to be a chicken farmer. Unless they're simply for laying because to actually have to kill a chicken to eat it? Yeah, I could become a vegetarian really quickly. Robin's left leg had splayed and I tried to fix it, but not only was it not getting better, but the other was starting to splay as well, so the humane thing to do was... well, it wasn't fun, and I cried. This was yesterday.
So there were a few days where I wasn't sure my name was "Jana" or "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman." In fact, last Saturday, after I had worked on the chicken's legs, gave the dogs their flea medicine, gave SWK his antibiotic, and then bandaged his wound again, I was quite confused.
Today, I vacate. I am picking up a youth from church who we rented through the servant auction at church, and she's going to watch the kids until DH gets home. And I'm going to do some school-planning, some clothes shopping, and some general sitting-at-Starbucks-staring-into-spaceing. I'm so looking forward to it! And you know what? I'm doing it again tomorrow!
So that's it, that's all we've been up to. Oh, and pastor search committee meetings, church council meetings, finance meetings, birthday parties, MacGyver watching (we're on the final season *oh dear!*), and general running around like a chicken with our head cut off.
Crud.

Mr. Memory

2009-07-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

I had to leave the dinner table just now because I had to write this post.

We were discussing our cheeseburgers, and DH being DH said, "I love hot food. I also like to eat cow muscle. I think this burger is a cow heiney."
I felt a little nauseated, but still the discussion carried on. DH said, "Yeah, I like to eat dead animals. I also like to eat live animals, too, like Landon and Thor (the neighborhood dog who disappeared last week..don't worry, he reappeared!).
SWK said, "Landon was Fiona."
DH: "Huh? Who was Fiona?"
I explained, "Remember when we got Landon? We thought he was a Fiona, but we found out that Fiona was really a Landon?"
DH: "Really. I'd forgotten that."
I said, "Yeah, we were gone somewhere for a couple of weeks, and the Haynes' said "Fiona is a boy" when we got back.
SWK ran over to the map on the wall and said, "No, this is where we went" and pointed to the flag of California. We went to California for Thanksgiving 2007.
DH and I looked at each other and laughed because of course, SWK would remember that! DH said, "You remember everything."
SWK said, "Don't I have a good memory? Do I remember everything better than everybody?"
DH said, "Yeah, you're pretty good. What's your name?"
SWK said, without missing a beat, "Just call me Mr. Memory."

Meet "Batman" and "Robin"

2009-07-10T12:33:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when you are a little spontaneous and drop by the local farm and market stand, where, by the way, they also have a goat who feeds himself if you put the food in a can. When you are too kind-hearted to allow a pseudo-mother hen (one who has been "asked" to take in a couple of orphan chicks) to continue to peck at these invaders. I saw this heartless wench pecking at the black baby and his sister(?), and we rushed to the front of the store to ask the Farmer's Wife (that's what she goes by) if any of the baby chicks were for sale. She said yes and so I told the Farmer which ones we wanted. After much confusion, we finally figured out which ones I was talking about, and he gave them to me, for free. (I had actually already given his wife the money ($2), so I told him we'd call it good). Because the little black chick was abandoned at birth..er, hatching the day before, Mr. Farmer didn't think he'd survive. Alas, we're on day three of chick-raising. Oh, and the old saying about "there being no such thing as a free puppy/kitten" also holds true for chickens. So far, I'm out $36 for the pleasure of raising these cuties. So, no guinea pigs yet, but Bounce is Jonesing for one to add to our ever-growing menagerie. On a funny (probably not-so-funny to DH) note, when we stopped to get a lamp for the growing chicks, we saw at the local co-op that they had baby rabbits for $10. I almost got one, figuring if DH is going to shoot me over the chickens, we should probably just get it all over with at one time. So far, he's handled it very well. Oh, and it probably helped that I did show a bit of restraint and didn't get the rabbit!

Necessities

2009-06-25T09:58:00.001-07:00

When one is ready to travel, one must accessorize. One needs protection from the blazin' sun on a 68 degree day, and one must have traveling companions. A bear and a smallish duck will do in dire circumstances, circumstances in which your mother-person has decreed "No" to double-big ducks in the van. One should also take a bowling bag in case the opportunity arises to throw a few strikes and show up one's lesser bowling creatures. These are just a few of the necessities one cannot be without when traveling.
They will also work if one is also just taking one's father-person to the airport so he can beat the socks off of other bowling people at a bowling tournament. Go Daddy! (Or rather, "We're glad you're home!")
Oh, and on another note, Ju Ju added another word to his slowly-expanding vocabulary. I told him to come out of SWK's room earlier, and he said (and I quote), "No." To quote SWK, "I was, like, WHAA??" Yes, we're raising great orators 'round these parts!

Three More Sleeps

2009-06-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

At our house, we count down by using "sleeps." As in, "Three more sleeps and SWK will be 6." How in the world did this happen? Mercy. DH and I joke that we've kept them alive for awhile now. But I've kept SWK alive longer than I've ever kept anything alive...well, except DH. I've kept him alive for almost 9 years now. Of course, he also works away from home, so that has probably helped.

Speaking of keeping things alive, did I mention that we received a fish from a "friend?" Yep, a Betta named "Fishy." So, like a dutiful homeschooling mama, I looked up "Betta" on the internet, found out that we should at least have a five-gallon tank for said fish. So, I casually mentioned it to DH that we should probably get a little bit bigger tank than the small plastic box he was in. Next thing you know we have a 29-gallon tank, a big buffet (which I'd been wanting anyway) to put it on and a very happy "Fishy." The only problem is that "Fishy" doesn't like too many other fish, only ones that are boring colored, do not have flashy fins, and especially no other male Bettas. 'Cause "Fishy" is da Man..er, the Fish. Seems to me that he was a little high and mighty for someone whose ancestors have survived in mud puddles in the Far East for generations. But alas, Fishy enjoyed his new digs for about 2 weeks and then we went to the pet store on Bounce's birthday to add more fish. Since we were quite limited to what we could add to Fishy's domain, we settled on five little tetras (a school-type fish, unlike Fishy's Lone Ranger approach). We were encouraged by the fish-guy known to us affectionately as "Jeff" (since that was his name and all) to put Fishy back in his little house and use the 29-gallon tank for friendlier fish. He told us that Fishy was probably stressed by all that space and would re-adapt well to the smaller box.

So, we brought the five "babies" home and put them in the tank after taking our sweet time to adapt the water temps and all. (Very boring for someone like me who likes furry WARM-blooded creatures and not scaly cold-blooded ones, but I digress.) We named the babies Ralph (SWK thought it was after someone on The Simpsons, but I was thinking Happy Days.), Potsy, Chachi, Richie, and Fonzi. All went well.

Until a week later on Sunday afternoon. Apparently the babies were too small for the water filter that we have and the pull of it sucked them in. We watched one as he broke free from it, and then Fishy (not, I stress, NOT a murderer but simply opportunistic) ate him. Gulp, gulp, gulp and number 3 was gone (probably Chachi). Apparently number 1 and 2 had already met their fate with said filter and Fishy. DH and I quickly scooped up Fishy (after cleaning out his smaller box) and relocated him to a detention center. Fishy was in time-out. Okay, now we were down to two small fish and a Betta in a box. We turned off the filter until we could figure out how to keep the babies from taking a deadly spin inside. Only, you can't leave the filter off for very long without running the risk of the water getting all skanky. So, after a few days, we turned the filter on "just for a little while." Except that we forgot to warn the survivors (Ralph and Fonzi) not to swim too close because like, I am with a good murder mystery, they'd get sucked in. I had to make the dreaded phone call to DH one day, "Then there was one." Yep, Fonzi had taken the plunge, uh rather, had been taken in by the plunger. So, we were left with Ralph and a Betta in the box. Fishy was looking a little shell-shocked by the whole ordeal and kept swimming around with a look that kinda said, "Didn't I used to live in a mansion? Now I have to live in this studio apartment? Where are my amenities? Where is my treasure chest? Where are my ficus trees and my bubbles? Where are those tasty little snacks?" Yes, things were not going so well for Fishy (whom my dear sweet, loving DH has hoped will die so we could get some "cooler" fish. Speaking of cold-blooded...). Finally, after much swimming to and fro, Fishy succumbed to sheer lack of space (I told Jeff that he didn't look stressed to me in a 29-gallon tank; he looked like he hit the jackpot!). I quote DH when I told him of Fishy's demise, "YES!" (This from the same man who gave me a sympathy card "on the loss of your pet" on our anniversary. He said he's hoped to make it home to take care of Landon and Layla before I got home, but in hindsight should probably have gotten the "Happy Anniversary" card which would have been so much more appropriate since it was like, our anniversary and all.) I held a private funeral and flushing for him (Fishy, not DH; I let him do his own flushing). Honestly, it was about 4 days before SWK (the self-appointed aquarium keeper) noticed that Fishy was no longer on the counter. Since then, Ralph has been renamed "Mur-freeze" (we love all things Batman) and survives in a 29-gallon tank all by himself.

I think we're getting SWK a guinea pig for his birthday. I'm sure things will go much better with that.

We gave up television three weeks ago, but we haven't missed any of the drama since we have enough of our own!

This Kid Is CUTE!

2009-06-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

And that's all I have to say about that.

Growing Up

2009-06-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Bounce turned 4. Yep, the temper-tantrum-throwing threes are gone. YES! Thank you, Jesus! Only, they somehow have carried over, but that's a story for another paragraph. First off, since I'm too involved at church, Sunday is a meeting day for me as well as a "Day of Rest," so we invented a birthday weekend for our boys. Now, me, I get a whole week for my birthday (usually), but boys are expensive, and when there's three of them, you have to make provisions. So, we went to IHOP (culinary delight of 4 year olds and pancake-lovin' brothers) on Friday night as well as the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory because we weren't high enough on sugar already. After we returned home, we let them open the box from Grandmom and Granddad that had arrived that afternoon. Much light-sabering and double-duck-carrying went on before bedtime!

Then on Saturday, we took the boys to "My Cheeseburger Place" (not the real name, but it might as well be) and the park, then we went to buy more fish for our aquarium (again, another story for another day). Afterwards, on to home and birthday cake and baths (not in that order), throwing in a couple of Lego boxes on the way. I know, I know, I gripe about the Lego, then like a FOOL! go and buy more. I'm a sucker for these kids and the subsequent sore feet and tuchuses, too. When I put Bounce to bed Saturday night, I told him, "You'll be four years-old when you wake up in the morning. Did you know that four is a big boy age? Yep. Four year-olds don't throw fits, whack people or "huh!" hatefully. Four year-olds learn how to say what they want nicely, and they control themselves. Three year-olds are still babies, but not four year- olds. Are you ready to be four?" Solemn look and a head nod. Yes! Thank you, Jesus!
Finally, Sunday morning, we woke Bounce up with "Good morning, Happy Birthday, hurry up and get your clothes on, we're gonna be late!" Pretty normal, except for the "Happy Birthday!" thing. Because he's four now, Bounce was able to come upstairs to "Big church" where he was an angel. He doesn't/can't whisper because he is his father's child. Can. Not. Do. It. Only he did. Perfect, I tells ya. Perfect. After church, we went for a cheap lunch and then we did the unthinkable. We took a four year old and his much wiser, more influential, more manipulative almost-6 year-old brother to Toys R Us to pick out a birthday present because DH has fond memories of Scrap's Mom-Mom (his grandmother) taking them shopping at "Harry's" (she must have been a saint!). We had an hour; it took 40 minutes to narrow it down to a couple of Spiderman/Transformer things. Ridiculous. SWK did all he could to talk Bounce into Lego, and it was almost a done deal several times, but we safely navigated those aisles of dangerous territory to make our way to the other side of the store.
Sunday evening: "Mommy, I wanted those Lego! I didn't want a stupid (don't gasp...we're working on it!) Spiderman toy!" (I promise, people, we did not influence him...that much!) Follow all this with a bunch of whacks on my legs. GRRR!
So, we had the conversation: "Bounce, listen, you are four. Not three. You WILL NOT whack me, and you WILL NOT throw a fit. Do you understand? If you keep throwing fits and whacking me, I will send you BACK to three. Do you understand?
And you know what? It has worked...so far.
I don't know how I'll do it, but I will follow through with this threat if I have to. I will. And then I'll be kicking myself for going back to the temper-tantrum-throwing threes.
I sketched the following as I looked at his profile in church. He was so good! I am in love with all three boys' profiles. I don't know why, but I just love them, and I ache at the thought of the days to come when those cute little noses will grow and those chubby cheeks will thin out and become more manly. I love these boys!

Oh, and this one? He enjoyed the cake, to say the least!

The True Story of the "Piggys"

2009-05-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

A few minutes ago, SWK, who has recruited Ju Ju to watch Star Wars with him, was lovin' on Ju Ju. He was doing the "This Little Piggy" to Ju Ju's feet which, by the way, is quite a feat. Not only does Ju Ju have the chubbiest toes ever, he is also extremely ticklish! But, once again, I digress. Here's how the apparently true story of the piggys goes:
"This little piggy went to market, this little piggy went with his parents to Florida, the next piggy stayed home, this little piggy got eaten by a bear, and the last little piggy went 'oink oink oink' all the way home."
We may need to work on our rhymes and such. Or, SWK could be "gifted" like his father at making up weird lyrics to established songs. I'll try to nip that in the bud!

In Real Life

2009-05-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

"In Real Life" is a favorite saying of my boys. It can either be a question or it can be a statement as in:
"I don't wike him...IN REAL LIFE!" or "We're going to the ferry? IN REAL LIFE?"
So, for DH's birthday, we bought him a fire pit, and when I was getting it out of the garage, I almost died, but that's another story for another day, but I will tell you that we have to clean out the garage before August! So, last night, we roasted marshmallows over a fire pit. We had fun, the boys ate lots of marshmallows (most of them untoasted because they don't really like them toasted; They did like to stab them and eat them off of the skewer, however), and everyone smelled like smoke when it was all over. Good times. After we came in, SWK created this while he was supposed to be getting pajamas on. He said, "This is Daddy, and he's roasting marshmallows." I was kinda thinking Daddy looked angry.
So, imagine this scene, but imagine it IN REAL LIFE!

Oh, and SWK wanted me to put the picture "Online, so I can sell it and make lots of money." How much? "$700, so I can buy whatever I want." He might be a businessman at heart.
He also might be a little greedy, as this morning as we were waiting for our friends to show up for a cookout today, SWK asked, "Are our customers here yet?" Thankfully, he didn't try to sell his creations to any of our customer/friends. Oh well, there's always eBay!

Happy Birthday, Dear Husband

2009-05-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

Or Dan, as some may know you...or Jess, as others know you. I love you, and I'm blessed to be your wife. I'm grateful that you love Jesus and His church as much as I do. I'm glad you're the father of our children, some of which kinda look like you in the picture below. You're a great provider and leader, and you're my best friend (Amy's my BestFriendBestFriendBestFriend). I love that we have fun together, and I like to solve problems with you.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for doing a great job. He may be a horseboy sometimes, but most of the time, I can overlook that.

Oh, and yes, you're a great bowler, too. I love you, and I hope we share many more birthdays together!

Help! Lego Is Taking Over!!

2009-05-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, many times I've mentioned that fact that Lego is growing and expanding at our house, right? Ju Ju and Bounce are now into Lego as well, and I'm continually putting "ships" on display at Bounce's request. I found Ju Ju Bees hidden behind the couch the other day, and this is what he was doing:

I think he may be aware that those Lego are off-limits. What do you think?

But to further illustrate that we may have too many Lego, yesterday we were driving up north to see my "BestFriendBestFriendBestFriend" Amy, and SWK said, "OW! Something is bothering my...my..."
And with a mother's intuition, I said, "Your tuchus?"
"Yes!" Pause. "Oh, it's a Lego! How did a Lego get in my pants?"
See my point?

Blessed to Be Me

2009-05-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't trade places with anyone else in the world, but I am grateful to those who have "mothered" me along the way. Thank you and Happy Mother's Day to all of you terrific mothers especially to the one who raised my husband.

Grandmom's Gonna Love This!

2009-04-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

The truth of the matter is this: she won't see the three gorgeous little boys at first, only the big gorgeous one that she birthed 36 years ago. He is one of her nine "favorite" kids, so I don't blame her for being captivated by him. I think he's pretty alright myself.
But in case you do see the three gorgeous little boys, aren't they awesome? The picture with SWK and Bounce was taken at my cousin's house in OK, and the other was taken on Easter at the church where my brother-in-law is pastor. We took a couple of the three boys together, but the results were just too painful to post. Imagine a 5 year old trying to keep a willful 20-month-old in line. Yeah, not so pretty.

Oh How They Grow!

2009-04-27T09:30:00.001-07:00

As every parent knows, the time goes by so fast, and it seems like those little ones that once played with your toes are now big enough to eat a grown man. Huh?

This was taken January 5th (the morning before the evening that Ju Ju broke his arm).

And this one was taken this morning (no broken bones on the schedule as of yet).

As for Phoenix and her bark, all seems to be well. At least when she was barking like crazy to get outside to the garbage man, she seemed just fine! So, who knows what was wrong with her? She was on antibiotics for a week, but that really didn't help, and she was still a little hoarse when I picked her up after our vacation. But now, she seems better. So, if we can keep her from eating foam and rocks (yes, rocks) maybe she'll survive. She's almost 9 months old and weighs almost 60 lbs. She might be a big girl. Like her mom and sister. Oh dear.

What to Do When You Have "Stinky" Boys

2009-04-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

Ever since SWK was a baby and would sit in a exersaucer-bouncy thing while I dressed for the day, I would pretend to put deodorant under his arm. With the cap on, I would tickle him under his arms with the container, and make a "shukashukashuka" noise (doesn't sound quite the same when you type it!). Then with Bounce, same thing. Now, it's Ju Ju's turn, and every morning as I'm (finally) getting around and I put on the necessities of life, he starts pointing and "Uh Uh"ing (He's not talking much yet!). So I "shukashukashuka" him as well, and he giggles, and we're good.
Well, now SWK is moving swiftly towards being a young man of 6, and he's discovered Daddy's deodorant. When we were at my sister's house, he ran up the stairs and in no uncertain terms informed me that his arms were dry and were in need of Daddy's "stuff you put under your arms." I didn't go into the details that "dry is good" when it comes to your underarms, but helped him with this easy request.
Imagine then when we get home and he comes to our room and informs me that he needs some "privacy" and swipes DH's deodorant and heads to his room, takes his shirt all the way off, and proceeds to...well, you get the idea. I asked what he was doing, and again, he said, "My arms are dry, so I need this stuff." Um, okay.
So he comes back into our room and sets the deodorant down, and then Bounce says, "I need some "private-cy." Huh? So, SWK helps him take his shirts completely off (which had taken me a better part of an hour to actually get him to put on!), and SWK shares with his brother the delicate art of applying deodorant.
Oh, if only this attitude will still apply when they are young men of 11 and 13. I'm not holding my breath now, but I probably will then!

Is This Thing Still On?

2009-04-20T10:49:00.000-07:00

Well, mercy. As DH keeps reminding me, it's been forever since I've been on here. There are a lot of reasons for that, but the main one is that we've been out of town for two weeks, were home for two and half days and then I was gone again. I'm home now, and as of right now, don't have plans of going anywhere. I guess.
The boys and I flew to Dallas and spent a week with my sister's family and then DH joined us after that first week. Then we spent another week there, visiting family, having an Easter reunion and just enjoying being close to loved ones. I loved visiting the church were my brother-in-law is the pastor. Everything is done so well there, and I loved attending the worship services, especially the concert done on Palm Sunday. It was absolutely beautiful. The second-to-last song (there's a fancy musical term for the type of anti-climatic thingy but whatever) was so awesome that a gentleman in the front row couldn't help himself and said, "Oh YES!" Of course, that was about the resurrection Sunday and the empty tomb, death being defeated, so yes, it was an "OH YES!" moment. Couldn't blame the guy!
We had a great time, and for me, it was hard to come back to WA. We had a cousin reunion, and more than anything, I regret that my kids won't have those memories of growing up with family, especially cousins, all around them.
Here's our little family on Easter Sunday. And yes, there is a little sunburn on the "white boys." All is well now, but everyone was aglow for Easter morning!

Phoenix Are a Gradjiate

2009-03-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

I saw a shirt today that said, "My German Shepherd is smarter than your honor student." Think anybody would be offended if I purchased that and wore it proudly? She did in fact graduate obedience class tonight. Tonight of all nights. The night she was trying to vomit at every drop-stay, sit-stay, etc. She has apparently ingested (i.e. chewed to smithereens, swallowed whole) and accidentally sent some FOAM down her windpipe! It was my fault as I mistakenly assumed my dogs were capable of refraining from tearing into a small piece of furniture that was destined for the thrift store. I set it on the driveway as a stopping place between the oh-so cluttered garage (sorry, again, Dad!) and the full-of-strollers van. However, I forgot to finish the process and the next morning..ta-da. Pink foam all over the yard and a puppy who is horking like crazy. Now, she doesn't bark...or at least nothing comes out. So, we visited the vet today to see if we could figure out if that is indeed what's wrong with her, but short of sending us to a much more expensive vet who actually has a deep throat scope (my technical term), we still don't know anything. Ideally, she'll show some more definite signs in the next couple of days (before we travel to OK/TX), so we can get this taken care of. Otherwise, DH is in charge...oh dear. Pray for Phoenix. And I'm being serious! Maybe she's not smarter than the honor student. That kid probably would have at least put ketchup on it or something!

Talking 'Bout My Girls

2009-03-18T23:22:00.000-07:00

My dear MIL asked about my puppy Phoenix, so I thought I'd better do a quick update on my "girls." Phoenix is approaching 7 months old (on the 28th), and she's getting ready to graduate from the beginning/intermediate obedience class. We go on Tuesdays for our girl-time at the local pet store where her classes are held. She's one of two German Shepherd Dogs in the class. The other is a male 6 month old, Sam, who is a black and gold color. He's absolutely gorgeous, and if my DH wouldn't shoot me, I'd beg the woman who owns him to sell him to me. However, there's the whole three large dogs issue! There are a couple of Shih-tzus in the class (same owners), a poodle (who Phoenix tried to eat this week...well, not really, but she did try to bite her head, so I think that probably would have caused the same stress on the owner). There's also a beagle and a Sheltie. All very nice dogs, but unfortunately, they're not as smart as Phoenix. It's true. She only missed nine points on her "pretend examination." Since we're leaving to go to OKLAHOMA (and texas..yes that was intentional), she's going to hopefully graduate next week instead of the week after. So far, she's learned to heel (we're still working on the automatic sit), sit-stay, drop-stay, come from a distance, and stand-stay. She also has pretty good manners, like sitting before the door is opened for her to be let out. She also apparently likes Ju Ju Bees since she lets him lay all over her. I even heard him trying to tell her to "come," and apparently, she's no dummy because he had a treat and she came right to him!
Now, my other girl is Layla-girl. SWK calls her "our princess." Whenever we come home, Layla runs to greet us (Phoenix is left inside when we're away), and SWK makes over her like she is, indeed, a princess. A big, hairy princess, but nonetheless. She's never been a ball-driven dog, and that's always frustrated DH. Part of the issue when she was younger is that our neighbors had a dog who loved to fetch. He didn't like to bring the fetch-ee back, but he would always run after whatever it was we threw for Layla. So, Miss Priss, being the submissive one, would let him get it or if she did get it, she'd give it up to him.
So, tonight I was playing ball with Phoenix, and Layla would start out after it like she wanted the ball, too. She'd be about halfway across the yard when Phoenix would get to the ball, so Layla would turn around a have a smile on her face. I could see the wheels turning, and I think she was thinking, "Oh good, someone else to get the ball! I'd rather have a back rub!" And she would run back to me and sit on my feet and lean into me until I would rub her back.
The boys say they like Layla better because she's a nice girl. I think once Phoenix grows up a little, she'll be a nice dog, too, but she's a little, okay a lot, more active than Layla has ever been. Here's a picture that completely illustrates the differences in the two dogs. Phoenix is our guardian and Layla is our laid-back girlie. Layla will bark, but don't expect her to back it up whereas somedays I'm afraid Phoenix is going to eat the UPS man!

Happy Birthday, Middle Sister

2009-03-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

I called you today to wish you a "Happy Birthday," and you congratulated me on keeping up the blog and making it "almost informative!" (I took that as a compliment...I think it was meant that way!). "Except you didn't post today." I said, "Today's not over yet!"
I, a daughter of a man who also had many great plans, had planned to have this post up by midnight last night (Sunday). However, since I was laying in bed Saturday night when I thought of it, I forgot about it until I was almost ready for bed Sunday night. Which meant there was no way it was getting done until Monday night. So, to my sister in OK, it is still your birthday in WA! I love you! Here's a couple of great photographic hightlights of your (many!) years!

Now, in case anyone doesn't notice in that bottom picture of my middle sister and me, I'd like to point out that Ju Ju gets some (not all) of his good looks from me! I've always loved this picture of the two of us because it let me know that even though I was an "Uh OH! Baby" and not everyone was completely excited that I joined our family, if you look really close, you can see that I am loved. If anyone sees my sister soon, give her a hug from me (unless you're a stalker, then don't!).

My Husband Did This

2009-03-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

My DH, as many of you know, has cold hands. No warm heart, just cold hands. I kid, I kid! But he's gone to doctors, chiropractors, etc. to try to figure out why his hands are always so cold, but to no avail. He constantly wears "hand cream" (I call it "lotion"), and we have bottles of the stuff everywhere. As a consequence of the cold hands, the man will not eat certain things the usually accepted way i.e. he uses a fork for pizza. He doesn't want to get food on his hands because he can't put his hands under his legs if there's stuff on them. Understandable. Weird, I think, but understandable. However, he has done the following to my children. My sweet, unassuming, homeschooled children. Can you imagine the ridicule they'll receive at school someday? Oh wait, school is at home, so maybe they'll be okay. Doubtful, but again, just something else to take to the therapist someday. That's our job, right? To provide them with plenty of material for the therapist someday? We're doing a great job!

Yep, SWK is eating Doritos with a fork, and Ju Ju is downing Cheetos with a fork. Of course, he also brushed his hair with the fork...and he's never seen The Little Mermaid!

Anybody Still Out There?

2009-03-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back. Probably still not everyday, but better, I promise. I think. The last couple of weeks have been a little tiring. That's my excuse, anyway. To put it a succinct way: Kids + Germs = Inevitable. And another equation: Ministry = People = Pain. I questioned my brother-in-law who's a pastor about the timeline for when ministry didn't include people because that would make things a lot easier on me! Oh well, we'll just trust that the Lord's grace and love is sufficient for even me.
On a less whiny note: SWK has started "first grade." Kind of. I finally decided that I cannot spend tons of money on curriculum just so I wouldn't have to be more disciplined. I am certainly not saying that packaged curriculum wouldn't be a whole lot easier and maybe even better, but the plain fact is the reason I was contemplating it is because I know me and I know how lazy I can be. And that's the only reason I was looking at it. Maybe when he gets a little bit older, and I can justify spending that much because it won't be just him but also Bounce, I'll go back to it. Or it could be next week. I'm fickle. I'll admit that in my confessions as well! So we're on to using our original plan which was to basically use the Bible and The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. That's sort of the guide, and it includes a lot of suggestions and reading lists, etc. We just started the First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and we've been using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading for a while now. We're trying to find our place in Saxon 1 Math. SWK's gifted like his father in math, so it's a struggle to keep him challenged and not just do busy work. So, rather than just bore you with more details, there's lots more, but I'll post a couple of photos instead.

This one I call "Preventative Measures." You'll note that we all take them. I weave the body pillow that cradled my pregnant body into the bunk bed ladder to prevent Ju Ju from breaking another limb, and the boys climb to the top to play with certain toys. Poor Ju Ju. You'd think he'd get the hint, but the picture that I took before this one included him climbing up the end of the bed. He's definitely committed. As I told our nurse when we were there for immunizations last week, I think Bounce's broken leg was a fluke. Ju Ju Bee's, however, I think is going to be a lifestyle. Calgon? Calgon? (Do they even make Calgon anymore?)

Is There a Problem?

2009-02-23T11:15:00.000-08:00

Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Besides the fact that my linen closet is a wreck?

Now, That's Funny!

2009-02-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

I just thought I'd write a short post and let y'all "hear" some of the funny things my kids say. You know, the ones that make me turn my head away from them and smile, so I won't hurt their feelings or cause them any more long-term angst. Usually what I really want to do is double over laughing, but I figure I've given them enough fodder for years of therapy already, so I try to keep the laughter to a minimum.
The background for most of our life is the fact that my boys live and breathe "Star Wars," so almost everything I hear I have to keep this in mind. A few weeks ago, Bounce had made a Lego "gun," and he was waving it around and saying, "I killed dem. I killed the bad duys." I told him then, "Hey kid, you're too violent!" Just this week, Bounce was saying it again, waving this massive Lego gun around and promising death to all, and SWK jumped in and said, "Bounce! You're too violet! Isn't he too violet, Mommy?" I, of course under my breath, said, "Um, yes, he is looking a little purple today." Huh?
This morning, the "big" boys were watching a movie in the office (where the dinosaur VCR is!), and I took them some blankets in to cuddle up with. Ju Ju Bees toddled in with me of course. He then proceeded to try to steal the remote. Bounce wouldn't let him, so Ju Ju threw his own sippy cup at Bounce. Bounce got all up in arms and yelled at Ju Ju (this usually happens about 27 million times a day!), and when I asked what was going on, Bounce explained that Ju Ju was trying to steal the "commode." Wow, that's heavy, man!
Have a happy Saturday!