~ finding joy in the little things ~

this and that

2012-02-13T08:36:00.000-06:00

Saturday was good.

Best I've had in quite some time, actually.

Everyone slept in.

We had zero plans.

Tyler fixed breakfast (breakfast burritos with hashbrowns)

while I typed up that quick little post.

(that's a joke, Son)

I gave everyone haircuts,

including Tony. But not myself.

(Although I do cut my own hair - but I prefer not to)

It was the first time

in I don't even know how long

that it wasn't an overwhelming task.

I am so happy to be feeling better!

I figure I'd be rich if I got paid for this.

3 buzzes, 1 with a warm oil massage = $30

2 bang trims, complete with darkened eyebrows and baggie = $15

2 part buzz / part scissors with lemon jojoba oil noggin massage = $40

I made three capes.

Two pink, and one turquoise and white stripe.

Took me like 8 seconds.

Okay,

so maybe I just cut out 3 rectangles of fabric

and pinned or paperclipped them on their owner.

Lexi has just been killing me lately!

She's suddenly transformed from a toddler

to a little girl.

Sooo stinkin ca-ute!

Tyler had an asparagus dish while he was in CA.

I re-created it the other day,

having never tasted it myself.

How awesome am I?!

Josiah had to be forced to try his,

then he proceeded to gobble down 9 more spears.

Snow!

We have snow today!!

Kids will be so happy when they get up.

And Brandon will wish he'd gone down to the shop to grab snow gear

like he thought about doing yesterday.

I'm happy for them

and it looks so pretty out there,

but gosh - snow stuff sure does wreck one's house!

We had another water leak several weeks ago

GAH!

Kacy went to church with Tony yesterday.

The pastors have been preaching through Ephesians.

We're in chapter 5.

Yesterday was verses 20 - 33.

She said she might ought to check the topic

instead of blindly agreeing to come. ;-)

Seriously, though - what a great first sermon for a couple to hear.

As if they were listening, and not thinking about each other...

I'm pretty sure I wasn't paying any attention

when I went to church with Tyler back in the day.

Maybe that's why he doesn't sit by me anymore?

What can I say?

The man just bothers me with his nearness.

I like him so!

Speaking of Tyler,

we had a nice impromptu lunch date Friday

and this was in his bowl of soup

awwww

Kids are up now

and jumping up and down by the window.

Let the chaos begin.

Mama, there's a GIRL in the castle

2012-02-11T11:05:00.002-06:00

(alternately titled 'a really lengthy post' ;-)

When Ton' called me at 10:32 last night,

(he almost always calls me when he's on his way home.

T used to, too.

Just a little courtesy I insisted on when they began driving

and the sweet habit stuck)

"I laughed. I cried. It moved me, Mom" were the first words out of his mouth.

(Ya'll know we speak in movie quotes around here.)

A few weeks ago,

I guess it was when Tyler was in LA,

Tony just couldn't stand it anymore, so he called his pop

and said, "I'm pretty sure I found the girl I can spend my life with."

To which, apparently, Tyler began talking and wouldn't.shut.up.

(He can tend to over-talk sometimes ;-)

After Tyler got home,

we had a few meetings to determine what do with this info.

I mean, how does courting work with someone

who may have never heard of the term?

(And what exactly is courtship anyways?!)

How does Tony protect her heart

and his

in this 'figuring it out' stage?

What about school?

Are we soo weird, that we'll run the poor girl off?

Have we ruined the boy's chances for happiness

with our ridiculous notions?

See - we pretty much think recreational dating is foolish.

And that hearts are best given to one person

and one person only.

Saves a lot of heartbreak that way.

And contrary to popular belief,

that kind of heartbreak isn't necessary for growing up.

(stepping off my soapbox. sorry.)

And everyone knows love is a little on the blind side,

so what if Tony was overlooking some major character quality

that would essentially render them incompatible?
We couldn't give complete and unequivocal blessing

for a relationship

with a girl we'd never met.

So.

About two weeks ago,

after not sleeping for several days,

He talked to her

(it's not as though he never talked to her - duh,

this was a special talk ;-)

"I've never dated anyone, by choice.

I haven't wanted to give away pieces of my heart....

So, what are you doing Saturday evening?

Want to come to my house and meet the fam?"

Poor thing was nervous all week.

I wanted to do something to ease her mind a bit,

but I was afraid I might just freak her out more, so I didn't.

Tyler was a nervous wreck all week, too.

Tony and I were pretty much fine :-)

We downplayed things to the kids,

just telling them Tony had 'a friend' coming over,

and not that Tony's entire life hung in the balance.

Honestly, I was a little afraid if Lily knew she was special,

she might just come out and tell her

"You should marry my brother,

he's old enough to be married now, you know".

(she often tells him that)

Not surprisingly, Kacy is a sweetie and seemed to fit right in.

And we didn't spot any red flags.

Not that we expected to, but the whole love is blind thing...

(Once, T brought a girl over

and in less than one evening,

the rest of the family knew she was not the girl for him.

It took him a little longer to see what we saw.)

Tony was ready to charge ahead,

but Tyler counseled him to wait just a bit,

and do some more praying

and to think of what issues might be 'deal-breakers'

Not terribly romantic,

but there wasn't any sense

in either of them getting terribly invested in one another

if they were incompatible on a serious issue.
He got to work right away on his list.

Last night, they went on a date,

armed with their lists

(he'd asked Kacy to come up with a list of her own, too)

Many of the items on their lists were the same.

Like (and I'm paraphrasing)

"What would your response be

if you were pregnant and found out the baby might have Downs?"

They finished going through their lists,

and Tony had one final question.

He pulled out his Bible and read from 1 Corinthians 13
(he had it memorized, but was afraid he'd get it wrong)
then said, "I don't know if I can learn to love like this,
but I want to try. Would you like to learn with me?"
(swoon)

the foot thing

2012-02-11T00:34:00.001-06:00

So.

I went for what I thought was going to be my last foot appt.

I got my old lady inserts two weeks ago

and for a week and a half went back and forth between them

and the boot,

and Tuesday, started wearing shoes with inserts full-time.

(that's tough on a barefoot gal like me!)

Doc's not happy with how slowly the tendonitis is healing

so now,

in addition to the insert with the mile-high arch

that sucks up my socks,

I have a lovely black lace-up brace thing.

(Which, of course doesn't fit in my shoes.

But I had the Tony dig out a pair of his old* tennis shoes

that'll work fine.)

And I'm still supposed to be elevating my foot

for thirty minutes every two hours.

Which they forgot to tell me last time....

Not that I would have complied,

exactly,

but I always like to know the rules anyways ;-)

So.

That's where I'm at with the foot.

*Tony, like his big brother, has always been fastidious

with his shoes, so even though they are 'old'

they look brand new.

la la la la Lola

2012-02-09T22:07:00.001-06:00

"No looking at the dogs!" I'd told them.

Lily was not even six weeks old.

We'd gone to Family Day at ABF

and I knew the Humane Society would be there

with a bunch of lonely animals that needed homes.

I did not want another dog!

They looked.

And then they drug me over there.

Against my will.

"But Momma, this one is so sweeeet." they said.

Darn it, they were right.

And so, Lola became part of our family.

She really is a good little dog.

She tolerates the girls playing dress up with her.

When I walk toward the couch with a load of laundry in my arms,

she gets down ~ without being told to.

She comes to the kitchen when she hears plates being scraped

but she'll wait to eat - hoping for a little something more.

She knows she's not supposed to, but she'll go get in bed with the boys

as soon as I go to bed. Little stinker!

She loves to play outside

and you already know she loves her rides in the trailer.

She can often be found in front of the living room heater.

I always figured she wandered by, it was warm - she laid down.

Not so; she'll be in another room,

hear the heater kick on,

and come running.

Spoiled thing.

I'm kinda glad they didn't listen to me after all.

a little linky love

2012-02-09T16:33:00.001-06:00

I have a love / hate relationship with links.

On the one hand, I love being pointed in the direction of a good post or article

that I may not have found on my own,

but on the other hand, there are only so many minutes in a day, ya know?!

Without bogging you down, here are a couple of places worth a visit

when you have a bit of time to spare.

Today's post by Ann is one of her best, I think.

Although - so many of them are good...

This video makes me smile.
While tears threaten to run down my cheeks.

Alicia Paulson. Have you 'met' her yet?

I found her blog back when I was trying to grasp how to do hexagons.

(I still haven't started my hexagon quilt....)

She is such a sweet lady and I love her style of photography.

(Plus - her and her husband are Psych fans)

I admit that I sometimes envy her cozy, quiet, slow-paced life.

She probably envies my much louder one.

Speaking of my not-so-quiet-and-slow life,

I've got a bunch of boys to get to TaeKwanDo class.

freckle foot

2012-02-08T17:41:00.000-06:00

Lex' was supposed to be getting ready for bed the other night

when she ran into the dining room,

"Daddy! I have a new freckle!"

Tyler loves the girls' freckles and lets them know how special he thinks they are
(both the girls and the freckles)
and as I listened to them talk, I had the thought
that no one is ever going to be able to tell those girls that their
freckles (beauty marks, whatever you want to call them)
are anything less than lovely,
because their daddy has already convinced them that they are.

My sister has a beauty mark
right on the top of her foot,
a sexy dark circle a little smaller than a pencil eraser.
I used to tease her about it, I'm sad to say.
And because of that she wouldn't wear sandals for years.
Years.
Decades even.
I feel horrible about that!
(although - we're sort of even, because she told me my boobs were ugly
and it took Tyler a long time to convince me otherwise.
But that's neither here nor there ;-)
I wonder though,
if my dad had told her how special and beautiful that distinctive mark was
if my childish teasing would have had such an effect.
I suspect not.
In fact, I think she'd have tattooed a daisy around it
instead of covering it up all those years.

I'm so thankful my girls have a papa who treasures them.

All of them.

Succulent Roasted Cabbage

2012-02-06T16:31:00.002-06:00

Ya'll know I have a really tough time

attaching the title of 'favorite' to anything.

So tough, that I rarely do it.

So when I tell you this is my favorite side dish

and one of my favorite things to eat - period - right now,

you know it's got to be good.

You really must try some!

Just turn on your oven to 375 - 400ish.

Cut a head (or two) of cabbage in half and remove the core.

Slice

cross-cut

generously drizzle with olive oil,

liberally sprinkle with garlic powder and black pepper,

and stir it all up good with your hands.

Stick it in the oven for a half hour or so

Give it a stir and stick it back in the oven for another 15 - 20 minutes.

Longer is fine, too.

Add butter and salt and dig in.

I realize it doesn't look all that appetizing,

but trust me - it's a feature;

everybody will think, "Yuck" and take small portions

and then you can have the rest.

That'll only work one time, though....

Surely this stuff will be served in heaven.

At least - I hope it will be!

(If you want it to look pretty - slice your cabbage, but don't crosscut it.

Using a basting brush, cover both sides of each slice with oil & seasoning

and turn over half way through cooking.

It looks especially fancy with the cabbage cut into wedges,

but it all eats the same)

a wheat free / low carb groundhog day

2012-02-02T23:15:00.001-06:00

Being that Thursdays are crazy busy for us

and we don't even eat dinner 'til 8 or later,

I was going to postpone our festivities until tomorrow

but Tyler wouldn't hear of it.

I made mocha cupcakes (they were a bit dry, sadly)

with a cream cheese and whipped cream frosting.

We went ahead and splurged on Almond Joys for the groundhogs;

figured there couldn't be all that much harm in one tiny fun-size candy bar.

Shockingly, I didn't even eat all of my mine;

I found it disgustingly sweet and not tasty enough to make up for it.

Huh! They've always been on my list of favorites.

Lexi didn't have any trouble scarfing down the 1/3 I tossed though.

Oh my!

Speaking of Lexi scarfing,

that girl can put away some roasted cabbage.

Sister loves the stuff!

(Her momma does too)

Besides roasted cabbage (2 heads - we ate all but 1/2ish cup)

we ate almost 2 1/2 lbs of green beans

lemon pepper salmon (2#)

and

a little bit of mashed potatoes

(I used 6 tiny potatoes and 3/4 of a head of cauliflower.

Most of the fam didn't even notice a difference. Lily liked them,

but noted they 'tasted like broccoli', and Josiah didn't care for them)

Just in case you were wondering....;-)

I'm wondering if we're even going to have winter this year.

circle of quiet

2012-01-31T09:42:00.002-06:00

Thursday, I'll have had it for six weeks

- the maximum time allowed by the library -

but I still haven't managed to finish it.

Which is a bummer; I really liked the book.

I have an old receipt as a bookmark

(do ya'll do this - just grab whatever scrap you can find?)

and I've scribbled down page numbers on it

where I found quotes I particularly liked.

I don't regularly do that.

Well, one time I borrowed The Read-Aloud Handbook

and returned if with about 20 tiny scraps of toilet paper in it

(what?! two squares of toilet paper was my bookmark....)

and when I borrowed it again, happy day,

they were all still in there.

Those are the books I think I should probably just own,

the ones I have all marked up.

Or rather, they would be marked up if I owned them...

- as a side note ~ if you have children

or have any part in the educating of children, I highly recommend

The Read Aloud Handbook -

Anyways,

I only made it to page 111 in A Circle of Quiet,

which captivated me from the very beginning, because I could so identify with it,

when L'Engle wrote: Every so often I need OUT; something will throw me into total disproportion, and I have to get away from everybody - away from all these people I love most in the world - in order to regain a sense of proportion.

Sometimes I feel horrible, because I just. need. a. break.

but somehow, her saying it didn't sound bad at all - just normal.

Some of the other thoughts I especially liked are

When we are self-conscious, we cannot be wholly aware: we must throw ourselves out first. This throwing ourselves away is an act of creativity. So when we wholly concentrate, like a child in play, or an artist at work, then we share in the act of creating. We not only escape time, we escape our self-conscious selves.
Actually - everything on page 11 is great.

from page 43 If we are given minds we are required to use them, but not limit ourselves by them. Continuing on the subject of creativity, page 46 is great, too...

Page 99 has some excellent thoughts, though not related to creativity.

Pages 109-110 had two questions for young people to ask themselves

regarding how their relationship with someone 'special' effects them

(yes - this book really is all over the place.

I think that's part of why I've been so slow in reading it.

I love it; but it requires a great deal of concentration - something that I often lack.)

The questions are: Are you functioning at a better level than usual?

and

How are your relations with the rest of the world?

Of course, she expounds on these questions....

My very favorite quote (so far) from A Circle of Quite comes from page 45

and I think if we could all remember it, the world would be a better place.

Love is not an emotion.

It is a policy.

I'll just need to check it out again in a week or so,

for another six weeks, so I can finish it.

I wonder what other gems I will find hidden in its pages.

five things on Friday

2012-01-27T18:29:00.002-06:00

Tyler has been gone all week.

Last night at dinner Lexi prayed,

"Thank-you that Daddy is coming straight home."

soon...

You know it's rained a good bit here lately.

You also know we tend to have toilet troubles when it rains.

Yeah.

Tyler convinced me that if I just plunged it

while various boys covered up various plumbing air holes

(don't ask)

all our troubles would be over.

I plunged that sucker for ten minutes straight.

I have a blister.

from plunging.

But I still have poop in my pot.

We've got 3 sick kids.

Tummy bug sick.

Poor Lex' has just been miserable.

She asked, "what does miserable mean?"

I told her and she agreed, yes, she was miserable!

My hand-quilting is improving;

I haven't bled on my quilt in three days.

And I've got it down to about 45 minutes per block.

I've also learned that I do a better job

if I don't try to watch a movie while quilting.

Maybe I didn't really learn that though,

'cause I've still been watching old Designing Women episodes

sometimes while I quilt, thanks to the reminder from BooMama.

dipping my toes into hand quilting

2012-01-22T09:21:00.001-06:00

First, I machine quilted diagonally

across the patchwork section. (3.5 hrs)

Next, I free motion quilted some scriptures on the inner border.

(2 ish hours - still have one side to do)

Hand-quilting the pinwheels is next on the list.

As I suspected, I really enjoyed the stitching

and it was a nice break in a busy busy day.

That half a block took 30 minutes.

There are 40 pinwheels.

I'm gonna get faster.

I hope, I hope...

I'm also going to have to improve the back somehow...

basted

2012-01-18T23:16:00.003-06:00

finally!

I let a little thing like my pinwheel blocks being a tad too small

keep me from finishing my quilt.

I couldn't exactly fix the problem

and I wasn't quite sure how to go about tackling it.

I want to be able to use the quilt, but I just dreaded working on it.

I finally gave myself a good talking to and pressed on.

It won't win any prizes in a quilt show
but I'm pretty fond of it anyway.

How to quilt it?

I'm still mulling that over.

self awareness

2012-01-18T17:14:00.000-06:00

I apparently have a thing

for bi-flavored lip balm;

I currently have tubes of

coconut lime,

chocolate mint,

and

raspberry lemonade

roaming about the house.

Oh. And a tube of citrus vanilla, too.

I wonder what this says about me?

six weeks out

2012-01-17T14:06:00.000-06:00

We've been wheat-free for a little over six weeks now.

Off the top of my head, here's what I've noticed:

I should also note that when we dropped the wheat

-and dramatically reduced our intake of other grains and starchy carbs-

we upped our intake of green veggies and healthy oils

(namely coconut oil & palm shortening;

I'd say olive oil consumption has actually decreased,

due to the not making bread & tortillas)

We're also eating a ton of almonds

and a good bit of coconut.

Oh. and grassfed beef - as of 2 weeks ago.

I'd say the most obvious difference

we are all eating quite a bit less than we used to.

Except for Josiah - he is actually eating a bit more.

Jeremiah is able to exercise self control with food,

which is something we have never seen before;

he'll eat a small portion

and be full

and quit eating.

It's really quite remarkable.

Actually, we've all had more self-control food-wise,

and not felt deprived.

Also quite remarkable.

Personally,

I have noticed

(and I fully admit these things may or may not be relevant)

my skin seems clearer,

I had my first pain-free (and short) period in years.

(without taking tons of garlic!)

TMI??

I haven't had nearly as much joint pain as I've been having.

For several months, my hands were often swollen and sore

so that I had difficulty opening jars, writing,

cutting food,

and doing hand-sewing.

I was so sad to think

that I'd have to machine-sew my quilt bindings.

Let's see - what else?

I've lost 11 lbs.

Which I think isn't all that impressive considering

how much weight I have to lose

and the fact that I cut out the bottom level of the food pyramid.

But

when I also consider that

I've done very little exercising

and a good bit of sitting on my rump

with my foot elevated lately,

11 lbs isn't so bad, after all.

Tyler, Brandon, and Jeremiah have all lost weight, too.

The one thing I haven't seen

that I was hoping to - is a surge of energy.

Lots of people mentioned having so much energy

after going off wheat,

but I haven't noticed that at all.

Tyler, though, has not felt as drained as he usually feels.

He'll get some lab work done soon,

which will let us know if this way of eating

has been successful with lowering his blood sugar,

blood pressure, and LDL levels.

Then

we'll take it from there.....

just another duh moment

2012-01-16T12:46:00.000-06:00

So.

I was at Hobby Lobby

doing some shopping for a little family project

when TJ called.

After I'd grabbed what I went for,

I spent a few minutes just browsing the pretties

while I talked with him.

I spotted a cute little metal birdhouse sculpture

that I thought would look awfully cute in the pantry.

It certainly isn't a necessity,

so I figured I'd snap a picture of it with my phone

and ~~talk myself into it~~ think about it for a week or so.

I started digging in my purse

(which is actually fairly small as purses go)

and I felt sick to my stomach;

my phone wasn't in my purse.

I was just sure I'd put it in there,

because I'd added to my 1,000 gifts list

right before I got out of the car.

I started to tell T I needed to go

so I could go look for my lost phone...

bum foot bummer

2012-01-12T16:27:00.000-06:00

I told Tyler yesterday

that I was going to go to today's appointment,

expecting Dr Crotty (cringe) to tell me I'd need to keep wearing my boot.

That way, I wouldn't be disappointed with the news.

Not surprisingly - I have to keep wearing the boot.

(I grossly underestimated how much time I spend on my feet.)

What I wasn't expecting, though,

was for him to tell me that I'd need 'prescription orthotics'.

Forever.

Unless I want to re-injure my foot.

And that,

is a bummer!!

And

it makes me feel really old.

Ben & Lily

2012-01-12T12:16:00.000-06:00

Just in case you wonder what 4-year-olds talk about after church....

"Benjamin told me he was thinking about marrying me.

So, I'm thinking I will probably marry him.

He said he had a dream about that."

"Marrying you?" I asked Lily.

"Not exactly; he had a dream about our anniversaries.

We go out to dinner."

Sarah Beth (Ben's big sis) happened upon them

as they were having this conversation.

She said Ben had a real serious look on his face.

She asked what they were talking about

and he replied, "Just stuff."

Ever the female, Lily added a little more detail.

And she was sure to let SarahB know

they were waiting 'til they got bigger.

I don't know if that'll ever happen,

but it'd sure be sweet;

they could say

in all honesty

they've loved each other their whole lives.

whaddya think?

2012-01-11T16:27:00.001-06:00

I know;
I know.

I'm not big on change.

and yet, here I am, messing with the blog...

I've actually wanted a cleaner look for awhile

and once I clicked on a new template,

I wasn't sure how to get the old one back

so I just decided to go for it.

I don't know that I'm done yet,
but I've wasted a ridiculous amount of time today
messing with it, so I'm calling it quits for now.
That and I've already bugged Lynnet enough for one day...
and my brain hurts.

HELP:
how to I get the header image to fill the space??

shopping with my boy

2012-01-10T21:52:00.001-06:00

Way back when,

back when we were a normal sized family,

living in a normal-sized house,

we were real organized.

We had a cleaning schedule,

a monthly menu,

a regular library day - weekly - complete with a picnic,

and I went grocery shopping every Thursday afternoon,

with 1 kid.

Which kid it was, was based on a 3 week rotation.

I wish I could get my act half as together as it used to be.

*sigh*

Sunday

after church,

I had Tyler drop off Jeremiah and I at Walmart

while he took the rest of the kids and ran to Sam's.

I don't really prefer to shop on Sundays,

but it works for us right now.

And let's be honest,

my not running to the grocery store on Sunday

isn't going to allow employees to not have to work Sunday...

But that's not the point.

The point is - it was really nice,

shoppin' with just my bub.

We checked price per ounce to make sure we got the best deal.

We guessed how much produce would weigh

and then guessed how much it would cost.

(Practical Mathematics, we used to call it)

We talked - although I can't remember about what.

We weren't in a huge rush.
It was nice.
Peaceful, even.

It reminded me of old times.

(Except we didn't get a secret snack.)

working myself out of job and an invitation

2012-01-09T20:59:00.002-06:00

a really long post about not much of anything

2012-01-08T23:56:00.000-06:00

So.

Tyler and I stayed up waaaay too late last night,

messing with house plans.

Once upon a time - we did that for fun.

For fun!

It isn't fun anymore.

In fact,

I kinda hate it ~ there's so much pressure now

to come up with the perfect plan.

And you can forget finding a plan online

or in a book that would be a good fit for us!
Anyways.

We were up past 2.

And still, I couldn't get to sleep for over an hour.

I couldn't take melatonin, since I wouldn't be getting

anywhere near 8 hours of sleep.

Although, now I'm wondering - if I'd have taken a half a pill,

do you think maybe it would have only released for 4 hours??

I haven't been drinking coffee regularly lately;

just don't really want it most days.

But

seeing that I was short on sleep,

I figured I ought to make some this morning

and here is how my day started

once I finally drug myself out of bed:

Apparently, my coffee bag had a hole,

and as I filled my little pot, I dumped an equal amount....

I sent Tyler a text

'I hope this isn't indicative of my day'.

I'll spare you the details, but my next text to him

(sent an hour and a half later while at a red light,

after sighting the train, after leaving the house late)

read:
Things are conspiring against me.

On the way to church, I realized that Lexi hadn't gone potty yet,

so I decided that everyone should go - for good measure -

and told the kids nobody was going potty during the service.

This was going to add several minutes...

After pottying, (what? that's not a word?)

we visited for a few minutes in the bathroom with a sweet gal,

and as we walked down the hall,

(finally - about 5 minutes late)

Lily says with a huge smile,

while practicing her Fancy Nancy walking,

"Well, that was really fun, in the bathroom!"

We should get out more.

We got a little closer to the Gathering Area,

and I could see that there was some kind of celebration going on.

I was trying to remember if I knew what it might be

when I saw Grandma Bess!!

100 year old Grandma Bess!

I guess things weren't conspiring against me, after all.

(as a bonus - the kids were super during church.

All of them. The entire service.

Amen.)

turns out

2012-01-07T15:40:00.000-06:00

we do like

grass-fed beef!

Had our first roast yesterday;

it was scrumptious!

I just cooked it at a lower temp

and for longer

than I normally would.

yum!!

speaking of beef - I never told you about the freezer...

Lana had offered to keep our beef in their freezer,

but I kinda wanted the convenience of having it here.

And also

after we go to the dairy,

our fridge freezers are so full of milk

for 3-4 weeks, while we drink our fresh milk,

that we only have enough room

for about 5 lbs each of chicken and green beans.

Which is 2 meals worth of each - if you were wondering.

So, we really could use the freezer space!

We found a chest freezer online at Home Depot

that was considerably less expensive than comparable freezers elsewhere.

But we aren't really fans of some of HD's policies

and prefer to shop at Lowe's.

We're all for 'voting with our shopping dollars',

but the very real fact is - we only have so many dollars

with which to vote.

Gets tricky sometimes.

Anyways.

We decided to go to Lowe's and see if they had anything

in the store

that we hadn't seen online.

It just so happened that the store manager

(or was it the asst. manager?)

walked by while we were looking at a freezer

very much like the one we'd found online for HD,

priced $118 higher than Home Depot's price.

Tyler explained to him that we aren't fond of Home Depot

and we'd very much like to spend our money with them,

but we just couldn't spend that much more

for a similar product.

Long story short(er)

they came down $79 on the freezer,

so for an extra $39, we got 2 additional baskets,

.2 extra cubic feet (big whoop) and an interior light.

And we got to give Lowe's our business, instead of Home Depot.

And that's our freezer story.

ya think?

2012-01-04T15:35:00.001-06:00

I had the thought,

as I was feeling giddy

putting away my Azure Standard booty,

that maybe - just maybe,

am a little weird.

guess he told me

2012-01-03T12:15:00.003-06:00

We were taking the ornaments off the tree.

Jeremiah handed me one that I wasn't positive was his.

As I skimmed the note from his remaining empty box
I said, "Just wait a second, 'til I see if it's yours."

"Well - it was mine last year"

was his quick reply.

beef - it's what's for dinner

2011-12-30T18:21:00.000-06:00

It's something we've talked about

off and on

for several years now.

We finally decided to do something about it.

Lana started looking for grass fed beef a few weeks ago.

When you cut out grains,

you tend to think a little more seriously

about what you eat

eats.

I took her research and ran with it

and ended up getting contact info for a group in F'ville

that raises cows the way I would want to,

if I were ever going to raise a cow.....

Anyways.

All that to say - we have a half of a cow in our freezer!

More accurately, 3/4 of a half a cow,

since we split it with Luke and Lana.

By my calculations,

we've got 56 meals worth of beef (2 -3 lbs)

averaging $12.88 / per meal

for our family of 5 big eaters, and 3 little ones.

We're pretty stinkin' excited!

I hope we like grass-grown beef....

new towels

2011-12-28T21:51:00.000-06:00

Remember last week - when I said I'd ordered fabric
for a little project?

It's a happy fabric - maybe you've heard of it?

California Dreamin' by the fabulous Jenean Morrison!

We got rid of the dishwasher a few weeks ago;

it's always leaked, but the leaking had gotten worse

and I didn't want my pretty new floor getting messed up.

And besides,

we practically washed the dishes before loading them anyways...

I figured If I was going to have towels on my counter all the time,

they ought to be pretty.

At first,

I was just going to buy new towels.

But where would be the fun in that?

Plus I figured,

to get kitchen towels of any quality,

I'd have to pay a good bit for them....

If I was going to pay good money for something,

might as well be something I really love, huh?

And the best part?

Actually, there's 2 best parts:

I used birthday money (thanks, Mom & Gramma!)

and

I have leftover fabric :-)

i said yes!

2011-12-27T15:15:00.001-06:00

25 years ago,

I got a cute little puppy for Christmas.

Which is nice and all,

except

I was expecting a ring.

a diamond ring.

It was early evening on the 27th of December, 1986.

My family was going to be heading to Illinois soon.

Tyler came to my apartment around 6:00.

7ish, I called my mom and told her

it wasn't looking like it'd be today, either,

and to just go ahead and leave.

Not long after that,

Tyler asked me to get him a piece of banana bread.

I went to the fridge

(I kept banana bread in the fridge?!?)

and there, sitting in my nearly empty fridge

was a little green velvet-lined box

with a sparkly huge diamond peeking out of it.

I squealed and ran to the living room

where Tyler got down on one knee

and asked me to marry him.

I called my mom back and told her not to leave yet

and we ran over to show off my ring.

He never did get that slice of banana bread.

But it's okay,

'cause pretty much every year since,

he's gotten some.

the party

2011-12-25T22:23:00.000-06:00

We changed things up a bit from last year

and had the birthday cake for breakfast.

Once again,

we read from Matthew 25 to find out what gifts Jesus would like.

Without knowing how much money we were contributing,

each kid dug deep into their piggy banks

(which are really just sad wrinkled envelopes)

so they could give too.

Then

we passed out envelopes of homemade cash in assorted bills.

There was an extra envelope with a glittery pickle on it.

A few years before she died,

Granny started the pickle tradition:

She'd hide a pickle ornament in the tree

and whoever found it

got an extra gift.

While ornament shopping,

we found a pickle just like hers

and decided we'd carry on the tradition.

with a twist:

the pickle finder would get an extra $50

to spend on birthday gifts for Jesus!

Jeremiah found it!

I grabbed a stack of envelopes

and a piece of paper.

As Tony determined where to buy what,

I quickly wrote it in a chart.

As people decided what they wanted to purchase

I'd stick the money in an envelope

~~neatly~~ labeled with the item, how much it cost

and which charitable organization we'd buy it from.

From Compassion, we bought Jesus

1 cow

3 goats

a swingset

and

a skilled birth attendant for 1 birth

(guess who chose that ;-)

We purchased

5 chickens

from Partner's International Harvest of Hope

(I also ordered their book!)

From Samaritan's Purse we got

bees for a family, so they could start a honey business

and Lily and Lexi got food for a week for 9 hungry babies

or their nursing mommas.

We kinda hit the jackpot with World Vision.

We gave $73 for clothes and that gift will be multiplied

11 times - providing $803 worth of warmth!

Our gift of $21 for emergency food will be quintupled.

I kinda wanted to specify the food go to Haiti,

since that's where the Hendricks are,

but the money would only have been quadrupled,

so it seemed wiser to just give to the global food crisis.

We also got mosquito nets for 2 families

and gave 50 bucks the the Maximum Impact Fund,

so World Vision could use the money where it was most needed.

This Christmas, all together,

wait - I've got to add it up.....

Oh, YAY!!

Altogether

We gave $691 to feed, clothe, and look after Jesus!

(I feel like it seems like I'm bragging,but that really isn't my heart!

I just want us to be able to look back later and see what we gave,

as encouragement and also as a challenge to live even more generously)

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Thank-you, God, for giving the unimaginable gift,

Your Son. Your only Son.

baby come back

2011-12-25T15:40:00.001-06:00

During the late fall and early winter of '76,

once a week

after school

we'd go to my Aunt Bonnie's house

and the kids would play

while my mom worked on my Christmas present.

I knew whatever it was would be really special,

because she spent a lot of time on it.

I had no idea at the time, how right I was.

Christmas morning, 1976 (8 yrs old)

Johnny arrived in yellow zippered jammies stitched with gray thread

and I loved him immediately.

My favorite Christmas present ever!

Through all of my moves

and purges

Johnny came with me.

In Fort Smith, he lived on the green bench in the upstairs hall.

Ten or so years ago, I found a girl doll with blond braids

at a yard sale

made from the same pattern my mom had used.

I was thrilled to have her,

but she didn't have quite the value that Johnny had to me

and when we got rid of over half our belongings,

she didn't make the cut.

Johnny went into storage.

When he got packed away,

the plan was 1 year.

Several weeks ago,
almost 6 years after my beloved doll got stuck in a box,

we were sorting through our stored items in the shop.

My wedding veil and flowers hadn't fared well in storage

and reluctantly got tossed in the fire with a sigh.

And then,

we got to the box that Johnny was in.

For the record - plastic tubs make much better storage containers

than boxes.

Wasps and mud daubers can still get in and build nests,

but mice

and other critters

can not.

Not knowing this bit of wisdom,

Johnny, dressed in a pair of TJ's preemie jammies,

was in a cardboard box,

and he was apparently the coziest thing in that box,

and the mice had a party with him.

Oh, how I cried.

I was going to throw him in the fire, too,

but Tyler told me not to;

said maybe he could be repaired.

I wanted to believe him, but I wasn't so sure.

Heart-sore, I obediently stuck him back in the box anyways.

Unbeknownst to me, when we went up for Thanksgiving,

Tyler brought the horribly damaged doll to my mother.

And many painstaking hours later,
she had cleaned and repaired him!

Mom said he was bobbing around in his soak water
so she added some weight to hold him under
and when she uncovered him - this is what she found.
He was just waiting to be re-born.

She sent him back as 'a present from Santa' with TJ.
(who had no clue what was in the package).

His jammies were irredeemable,

but Johnny himself

looks good as new.

I'm sooo glad I didn't toss him in that fire!

The little kids didn't see what the big deal was,

why Momma was crying over a doll;

but the big boys, and Tyler,

they knew.

With the exception of photographs,

he is the only piece of my childhood

that survived all my purges.

The one earthly thing

that means the world to me.

Thank-you, Mom, for giving Johnny new life.

And thank-you, Love,

for rescuing him from the flames.

no wonder

2011-12-23T09:03:00.000-06:00

we are in a nutritional mess!

I clicked on a link to get free samples of healthy products

and
saw this

seriously?!

chocolate drops

2011-12-22T23:18:00.001-06:00

For when you want a little something.

Tyler made these so we could have some treats

at my family's Christmas gatherings last weekend.

They got a thumbs up from everyone who tasted them

from my don't-really-care-what-he-eats brother

to my totally buff body-builder sister.

Chocolate Drops

Melt:

4 squares Bakers unsweetened chocolate - grated

3Tbs Xylitol - powdered in a small grinder OR a bit of stevia powder

1/4 c. coconut oil

Add:

1/4 c. raisins - chopped

1/2 c. almonds or pecans - chopped small & toasted

1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

Mix well and drop onto a wax paper covered baking sheet.

Pop in the freezer for a few minutes 'til they harden a bit.

Enjoy!

humble pie

2011-12-22T22:56:00.000-06:00

So.

Guess where I went today.

Mmhmm.

the Crotty Foot Clinic.

I did actually find some more podiatrists in town,

but one of Tyler's co-workers had been to see Crotty & said he was fine

and the earliest appointment I could get was with him.

Of course, my issue was never with the doctor,

just his name.

Or rather the stupid disgusting name he chose for his clinic...

Anyways.

The back of that heel there should be roundy, not pointy.

It turns out
an obese 43 year old woman has no business
trying to do Couch to 5K - at least not the 12 week program.
So,
I will be wearing a boot thing for 3 weeks
and staying off my feet most of the day
(Mmhmm.)
and taking an anti-inflammatory
(which I'm not thrilled about)
and hopefully I will be good as new(ish) soon.

almost Christmas daybook

2011-12-20T08:35:00.000-06:00

right now, I am

wearing

pjs and my much loved 13 year-old robe.

And gators, because my slippers got too holey to wear.

I'm sure hoping there's a pair under the tree.

listening to

not much of anything.

Every once in awhile, the heater will make some noise,

and there is a rooster crowing way off in the distance.

Oh - some dogs barking, too.

thankful

for almonds.

Really! They have made the transition to

this new way of eating

so much more tolerable for us.

thinking

that it's time to make an appointment.

Even if it has to be with Crotty Foot Clinic.

My heel has been on fire for over an hour straight.

Usually, it's just a few seconds at a time,

several times a day.

It is very nearly unbearable.

I am reading

Wheat Belly, Large Family Logistics,

(which was a lovely surprise gift from a sweet lady

I don't even know very well)

and a few books from the library,

but no novels right now.

in the kitchen

I am learning how to cook

all over again.

Some days I am more up for the challenge than others.

Mostly, though,

it really hasn't been too bad.

creating

not much of anything.

There are only so many hours in a day.

Any extra time available is spent studying grain-free eating.

I would really like to get back to my red and blue quilt, though.
I did clean off my sewing desk a few weeks ago.
Oh - and I ordered fabric for a quick little project.
And if I win this giveaway, I'll order some Flora
and make a quilt for the LEM.

looking forward
to my sweet love being off work 10 days in a row!
Part of me wants to pick up and go somewhere.
The saner part just wants to stay home.
I have to remind myself that what I think will be fun
rarely is.

making me think

2011-12-18T10:58:00.001-06:00

"Aunt Marin loves me."

"How do you know that?" I asked her,

"Because she tells you, or how she acts?"

Lex' confidently responded, "How she acts."

a perfect binding

2011-12-16T13:43:00.001-06:00

I had Gramma's quilt finished ages ago

with the exception of the binding.

I was waiting for it to cool off a bit

but also,

I hadn't found just the right fabric yet.

About a week (or a month) ago, I happened to see this fabric

and thought it was the one.

But I realized the zigzags were sideways for my needs.

Drat! The colors were so perfect!

Then I discovered that the same colors were available

in stripes

Sewing the binding on is one of my favorite parts of making a quilt.

Although, my eyes are getting bad,

so I was wearing my granny glasses,

complete with a beaded chain to make them less likely to disappear

and somebody delighted in making fun of me.

I hope she likes it okay,

but I know nothing will top last year's gift.

I'm fine with that.

another 7 quick takes

2011-12-16T01:08:00.002-06:00

I never did figure out how to get a decent cup of coffee with this,

but it's great for brewing a pot of tea.

I've pretty much decided

I'm going to have to see a doctor for my blasted heel,

but I've looked in the yellow pages;

there is no 'podiatrist' heading under 'physicians'

and I've always said if I ever had to go to a foot Dr,

I sure wouldn't go to the 'Crotty Foot Clinic'

(isn't that the most disgusting name?!)

and I really don't want to have to eat those words.

This girl makes me smile.

She makes me awfully frustrated, too;

but mostly, she makes me smile.

if she ain't careful, she's gonna need a podiatrist, too

I got one of those curling wands a few weeks ago.

I love it!

It does take a bit of getting used to

and it takes about 30 minutes to curl all my hair

but

the curl

stays in for days!

My hair isn't really that color.
It's much darker.

pooh.

I'm really proud of my big boys;

They haven't complained one bit about our dietary changes.

Actually, the little ones have done really well, too, considering...

Candlelight.

It's great for helping 'disguise' food.

I made PF Chang (sort of) lettuce wraps the other day

and I knew everyone would like them,

but I also knew the girls would take one look at them

and think they wouldn't like them,

so I put candles and garland on the table.

Worked like a charm.

Santa and the Savior

2011-12-15T11:00:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure exactly why,

but this picture brought tears to my eyes

when I saw it on the wall

as I stood in the checkout line at Hobby Lobby

our Lily

2011-12-14T23:58:00.001-06:00

Oh, how I love this girl!

she can make a mess so fast it makes my head spin

She hasn't quite been herself in a long time.

Mostly, I think she was out of sorts

from having an extra person in the house for so long.

I can sure understand that.

And Marcos had only been gone 3 days

when she came down with a nasty

long, drawn out cold.

Then the Tummy Bug visited

and she never really had it full-fledged,

but she had several days of not feeling too swift.

I'm not quite sure what happened, but Monday,

we got our sweet Lily back!

I've missed her.

Mommy loves you, Precious Girl!!

edited to add:
She'd come in our room in the early morning
and unhappily snuggled between her sister and youngest big brother
(she'd wanted to snuggle next to me, but alas, there was no room)
and this is how our Lily woke up today:
She rolled over to look at me
sitting in the rocking chair with the mangled pads,
barely opening her eyes.
"Oh, Momma, isn't it a beautiful day today?
It's so nice to have the bright sun coming in (it's rather overcast)
and these comfy bed and chair
and all this space!"
And with a sweep of her arm, she bopped out of bed.

Do you see what I mean??

the bookstore

2011-12-12T15:47:00.000-06:00

I went to Books a Million yesterday

for the first time in a really long time.

I could easily spend hours in a bookstore.

(I didn't)

If I ever have time to kill,

I should go.

(Like that'll happen in the next two decades)

A new book store just has the best smell;

I'd forgotten.

All those fresh books.

And coffee.

mmm

A used book store certainly has its charm, too,

but it's not normally its fragrance.

goodbye grains

2011-12-07T15:19:00.002-06:00

I'm not really even sure where to start.

As Americans go,

we eat healthy.

Whole grains, and lots of 'em.

Cold-pressed good-for-you oils.

Honey - raw, of course - and Xylitol instead of sugar.

Whole wheat pastas,

except for the 4-6 times a month

the kids have mac & cheese or curly noodles.

For goodness sake, we drive over 2 hours

one way

to buy our milk.

To say I care, greatly, about the nutrition of my family

is an understatement.

Those 4-6 serving per month of white pastas?

I feel guilty for

every

single

time.

I only buy them because the kids like them so much

and it's an easy thing to fix if I'm gone.

And really, when the bulk of our diet is good,

I figure it can't hurt that much...

Last Tuesday,

I followed a link that Elizabeth shared to this post.

One look at me

and you can see I have 'issues'.

I continue, even with severely reducing my food intake

(of healthy foods)

and exercising some (although admittedly, I could do more...)

I am gaining weight.

I weigh more than I ever have in my life.

In my life, people!

I have been pregnant 10 times!

And then there is the pain.

I've had pain in either my SI joint

or my heel

or both

pretty much every day

since February.

Some days the pain has been debilitating,

sometimes it's just a nuisome.

But I don't think I've had even three pain-free days in 11 months.

Tyler, while his weight is fine for his height,

has a bit of fat in the worst possible place - his belly.

He also has high blood pressure,

liver 'irregularities',

high cholesterol,

and is considered pre-diabetic.

After reading The Post last Tuesday,

I immediately sent it to Tyler.

A few hours later, he sent me a link to this post.

I spent the entire day on the computer.

We emailed.

We talked.
We prayed.
I may have shed a tear or three.

We decided that we would probably do a

60 day wheat free experiment

starting in January.

We watched the documentary Fathead.

And I couldn't bear the thought of feeding my family wheat

again.

Yes.

I have 450# of wheat in my pantry,

and with the exception of Friday, being Jeremiah's birthday

and Saturday morning pancakes for the kids

and a few other times

when the kids have had a tiny bit of wheat in something

We have been wheat-free for a week.

I'll be honest,

when I was looking for ways to help my husband live a long life,

I wasn't expecting to find that we'd need to do something so extreme.

so counter-cultural.

('cause we are so normal ;-)

Most of my research was comforting, actually;

pretty much everything said 'more whole grains'.

That, I could handle.

I also determined we needed more leafy greens

and more exercise.

But the nagging thought was there,

why,

if we are eating so well

(for the most part)

is Tyler having these health issues at a fairly young age?

I pretty much decided he just had lousy genes.

I'd been exposed to the idea of going wheat free before,

but come on - I've got those buckets and buckets of wheat...

And how could that even be healthy?!

Bread is the 'staff of life'.

When I read Dr Davis' Wheat Belly article

it began to make sense.

And as I studied further, it seemed foolish to wait until January.

that is how

a wheat-grinding girl like me

said goodbye - in December, no less

(perhaps temporarily, perhaps forever)

to Saturday morning waffles

and my finally-perfected wheat biscuits

(that I never even got posted, I so recently perfected them!)

and our delicious whole wheat bread.

good mail

2011-12-03T18:00:00.000-06:00

You want to get some good mail?

Sponsor a Compassion child.

Remember just a little over a year ago,

when we chose Sam?

(Only he told me he preferred to be called Blesson, not Sam)

And then, exactly 2 months later,

we got a letter from him and discovered he knew English.

I was so stinkin' happy!

Well, now

there have been enough back and forth letters

that we are responding to things the other person wrote.

Which is just so cool!

Want to know just how precious Blesson's letters are?

That unopened package under the letter?

Fabric.

Quilt binding fabric..

(and just in case you can't read his letter,

Our letters to him are equally precious.

He states, "....I can not explain how much happy...")

need a laugh?

2011-12-01T00:07:00.001-06:00

Go read Heather's post.

That girl

cracks

ornament tradition

2011-11-30T08:58:00.003-06:00

We started the tradition in 2000

in Mexico, actually.

In June or July, no less.

The whole family had gone to Juarez

with the youth group from church to build a house.

When we found ornaments

with a house painted on them,

it was kind of a no-brainer.

We haggled over the price a bit

and bought four.

The next year,

liking the idea of a 'significant' ornament,

we chose an ornament for each kid based on their likes.

(for example, Tony loved to watch birds,

so he got a birdbath ornament)

I just wrote on the bottom of the box

'because you like ___________'

The ornament tradition has evolved over the years

and what we now do is:

Tyler and I go on a date

and we make a list

for each kid of things they've done / like,

areas they've grown in, etc. in the past year

(this could be improved on, by making notes throughout the year)

(Oh. wait. I sorta do that on the ol' blog. Whatdoyaknow?!)

One of the nice side-benefits of this list

is it helps us to look past what we're dealing with

right now

with a child

and reminds us of the 'whole' child.

(For example - Lily has been a whiny crabby pill for several weeks

and when we first started her list

it was sparse;

but as we looked back further over the year

we remembered how amazing she is!)

remember when Lex' hated homeschooling
and was a beastie??

Then

armed with our lists

we start shopping for ornaments.

We often find things to add to the lists.

(the girls love having tea parties,

but we hadn't thought to write that on the list

until we saw a teacup ornament...)

After choosing an ornament for each unmarried child,
(or deciding we'll need to make one)

we buy boxes for them.

(plastic food storage containers are great)

Then

- and here's the most important part -

we write a note for each child to include in the box,

using those lists we made earlier.

Little things that would otherwise be forgotten

(like that Lexi used to call Tony 'Hony')

are also lovingly written.

Every year,

once the lights (at least 600, preferably more) are strung,

and the garland is wrapped around the it,

the kids fill up the tree with ornaments,

one memory at a time.

And when they marry - they'll take it all with them.

As Tony was hanging his ornaments Sunday evening

(and complaining about the brevity of the early notes)

Tyler asked, "What if Tony's wife doesn't like his ornaments?"

(though, I am careful to choose ornaments with spouses in mind)

"How could she not like my ornaments?!"

he asked.

"They are me."

I didn't intend for this to be a WFMW post; but linked there
because I really think this is a valuable tradition and wanted to share.
I apologize for the lengthy post to those who came from Kristen's.
For my friends - well - you already know how I can run on.....

candlelight by K'nex

2011-11-23T15:29:00.001-06:00

I'm not the only one who's been creatin' lately...

you is beautiful

2011-11-22T21:35:00.000-06:00

I was having a boo-rattly day

and I'm pretty sure I know why.

I found out yesterday that my grandma

- the one who doesn't care much for me -

visited NWA, and nobody bothered to let me know.

Of course,

I wouldn't have wanted to go visit.

But Tyler would have insisted that it was the right thing to do.

And I would have agreed with him. grudgingly.

So there's that.

But, also

any mention of Grandma GeeGee

takes me back to awkward adolescence

when she painted my 12 year-old face with her old lady make-up

complete with too-pink rouge and non-sparkly blue eyeshadow

then paraded me in front of my dad

and she told him,

"She's homely. She needs to wear make-up."

He must've agreed

because I was allowed to wear makeup from that day forward.

It was another year before I'd realized

that she meant homegirl was so ugly I shouldn't be out in public.

I thought 'homely' meant somebody who likes to be home.

Not somebody who needs to stay home.

I decided today

that 31 years was plenty long enough to be ugly.

(technically, only 30 years- since it took me a year to realize

that I'd been pronounced ugly. Which I suppose means

I was also stupid. But that just now dawned on me,

so I didn't suffer any ill affects from it.)

So,

inspired by a pillow I'd seen on Pinterest

which was inspired by the movie The Help,

I created a reminder.

In the movie, when Abileen tells Mae,

"You is kind. You is Smart. You is important."

I leaned over to Tyler and whispered,

"She should have told her she was beautiful, too."

Because everybody should be told that.

Consider yourself told.

shoe shinin'

2011-11-21T15:54:00.000-06:00

Well,

the cat's sorta out of the bag.

When Tyler was in the Army and up for guard duty,

if he looked snazzy enough, he could get out of it.

So he'd spend an hour spit-shining his boots,

and I'd spend an hour starching his uniform

'til it could stand on its own.

At least half of the time, our work was rewarded

with Tyler getting the night off :-)

A few weeks ago,

it was time for Tyler to teach Ton'

elite shoe-shining.

cuz 'you ain't fine 'til you got a shine'

And Ton' needed to be fine

for his internship interview with ABF.

Just like the secret to a glass-like shine,

we had to keep it all hush-hush

since Tony hadn't told his boss at MarketPlace

that he might be leaving....

He still hasn't gotten the job yet,

but he's talking to Wes right now...

I'm telling you - ABF takes hiring interns veeery seriously;

Tony has already interviewed with five people!

But if his shoes have any say in the matter - he got the job!

a novel approach to reading

2011-11-17T08:39:00.002-06:00

I finished another book last night.

Fiction, again.

I was sad to reach the end,

to never get to 'interact' with Juliet, Dawsey, Isola

Elizabeth, and all the rest of the Guernsey folks any more.

I've met so many interesting, inspiring people

on the pages of books.

I think I've had it all wrong,

those years I went without reading fiction.

Most 'self-help' books, parenting books,

how-to-be-a-better-wife books, etc

leave me feeling more frustrated than inspired.

More 'I've done so many things wrong, how can I ever get it right?'.
And I've certainly not been sad to reach the end of the book.

A recent read, These is my Words, left me

appreciating my husband more,

thankful for modern conveniences,

and wanting to be a harder worker.

And a better shot.

(Dang! That Sarah could shoot!)

Not too shabby for one book.

And a novel, at that.

Fortunately,

that book has a sequel.

~
So.
What should I read next?

pathetic!

2011-11-16T11:55:00.000-06:00

I am so out of shape; it's pathetic.

I irritated a muscle in my upper arm last night

playing air hockey.

In my defense, though,

I played like a dozen games.

(and lost just about as many)

iPads ought to come with warning labels.

boys

2011-11-14T21:31:00.000-06:00

I'm not exactly sure what this is,

but it's obviously the work

boys

Not long after I spotted the above contraption,

Jeremiah came running in the house,

"You gotta come see this!"

mmhmm.

They were so excited with their amazing find,

they went to search for more.

Boys.

You just gotta love 'em!

Lily 'reads' The Gingerbread Cowboy

2011-11-13T18:25:00.003-06:00

7 quick takes ~ or maybe just 4

2011-11-11T00:57:00.000-06:00

I can hardly believe it,

but Marcos is finally going home!

It has been a very long 8 days short of 10 months.

They have to leave for the airport (1 1/2 hrs away)

at 3 am.

I'm staying up so I can be sure everyone gets up on time;

This is not a flight that can be missed!!

I'm hoping the book I checked out is riveting;

I've got an hour and a half to go

and I'm a wee bit sleepy.

I spent so many stinkin' hours on the phone this week

trying to get everything lined up for him to leave.

(lots of last minute drama!)

Have I ever mentioned I'm not a big phone gal?

I'm not.

We aren't exactly sure what the new 'normal' is going to look like

but we're all looking forward to figuring it out!

blasted chicken

2011-11-10T20:37:00.000-06:00

It's what's for dinner.

sorta gives new meaning to 'Blasted Chicken'...

Or rather

it's what was supposed to be for dinner.

note to self:

do not preheat the oven for Blasted Chicken

if you are using glass pans.

little miss observant

2011-11-10T16:01:00.001-06:00

I was getting dressed

so I could leave the house at 8am

(without any little girls)

when Lexi woke up.

Through slits in her eyelids,

she noticed.

"Why are you putting on those pants?" she asked.

Pretending as if the emphasis had not been on 'those',

I answered, "Oh, I'm just getting dressed for the day."

"But those are jeans!"

my ever observant-even-in-a-sleepy-state girl noted.

Crap!

"Oh. Yes, they sure are." I replied

and repeated cheerfully, "I'm just getting dressed for the day."

"Where are you going?

Those are going pants!"

I think that's what they call irony

2011-11-08T11:30:00.001-06:00

So.

I'm on hold with the USPS

waiting for them to tell me

why

a package that I paid $18.30 for overnight delivery for

won't be delivered 'til the 10th

when it was mailed on the 7th

and I hear

"For delivery you can rely on,

choose the United States Postal service."

Mhmm.

the stain ninja

2011-11-07T16:54:00.000-06:00

The series of texts between my girl and me began with

"Who is the laundry queen??

Oh yes - that would be ME!!"

I'm such a humble soul ;-)

It all started when,

through a series of unfortunate events,

I ended up ruining one of Luke's dress shirts.

I felt horrible

but Lana wasn't overly bummed,

since they'd bought it for half off at Savers

and he'd gotten some use out of it already....

I told her I'd hang onto it and see what I could do.

I get mighty perturbed when laundry dares to defy me.

After several soakings and washings,

I had it wearable, though not perfect,

and washed it one more time.

Apparently

with somebody's new something or other

that bled in the wash.

Sheesh.

Got that out

after another washing

but there was still that one pesky grease spot.

And I was starting to take this personally.

I could have returned the shirt

and he could've worn it,

but golly

I hate letting the laundry win!

(Lana suggested that I may be competitive)

The shirt sat in my basket for a few more weeks.

Taunting me.

I finally bought some more oxiclean

(can't imagine why I'd run out)

and went after it one more time,

putting dish soap directly on the spot

and soaking it in a scoop of oxi in very hot water.

Again.

HA!

My persistence paid off.

The shirt looks good-as-new.
I

am the stain ninja!

I will not be defeated.

(Never mind that I could have probably bought another shirt

with all the water, soaps, and soaks I used....)

I do enjoy a good challenge.

happy day

2011-11-04T09:05:00.001-05:00

The kids and I are heading to the dairy in just a bit.

Tony got ice for us early this morning.

(thanks, Bud!!)

We'll stop at Squash Blossom to buy honey

and maybe a tub of macaroons.

We'll go to the park in Pryor

and have lunch at Pizza Hut.

(did you know their lunch buffet is free for kids under 10?

That means the six of us can eat lunch for $11.75 plus tip.

That, my friends is cheaper than McD's)

It's gonna be a happy day.

the retreat

2011-11-03T20:49:00.000-05:00

I know.

Ya'll are just dying to hear me eat my words.

As I said earlier,

I'm glad I ~~was forced to go~~ went.

Bev Bradley is a great speaker.

She's funny,

she looks fabulous,

she loves Jesus,

knows her Bible,

and was pretty transparent.

Two things she said that I really need to remember are

"Conviction comes from God, and points me to Him;

condemnation comes from Satan, and points me towards myself."

and

"When we obey Jesus, people will be blessed.

When we are overextended

[taking on work that He doesn't have for us to do]

people around us will suffer."

I'd have to say that the biggest thing I went home with though,

was not something that Bev said,

but rather something I wrote down

while we were just having a few minutes of silent prayer

after the last session Friday evening.

As a family,

for years we have prayed that we would 'grow in love'

or that we'd 'be more loving'.

What I wrote was

"We pray that God would help us to grow in love.

I think, what we need instead - what I need instead,

is to grow in the knowledge of His love."

I think Tyler tried to tell me this once,

but I didn't get it.

I suppose I was still trying to do things in my own power..

Until I really grasp

how wide and long and high and deep

Christ's love is for me,

I can't really grow in love.

About a year or so ago,

I sorta quit believing that God loved me.

Me.

Yes, I still believed He was my Savior,

that He loved 'the world' and all,

but I was really struggling with the idea of Him loving

me, personally.

I figured there must be a loophole somewhere.

(Being sick can do strange things to you - I see that now)

Sometimes in church

I couldn't even sing some of the songs;

they just felt like lies.

Two weeks ago on Sunday,

we sang the song How He Loves Us

and I couldn't sing it.

Not because I didn't believe it,

but because I did.

Finally.

I usually read the Bible to see what I need to do,

how I need to live.

But I think that,

for awhile anyways,

I'm going to try to read with the mindset of

increasing my knowledge of God - and His love for me

which,

I think will naturally result in an increasing love for him

and others.

Bev says 1 Corinthians 13 is not an assignment;

it's an invitation.

So, yeah.

I'm kinda glad I went to the retreat.

the sad tale of a toothbrush

2011-11-02T16:26:00.001-05:00

Around here

we usually get new toothbrushes twice a year,

Easters and Christmas.

I honestly can't remember Easter this year,

but judging from most of the brushes,

new ones weren't received.

I would have made everyone wait til Christmas

(sad, but true)

but Tyler was one of the ones with bad bristles,

so he picked up a 4 pack on Thursday.

Or maybe it was Wednesday.

anyways.

We divvied up the toothbrushes based on need

and picked colors oldest to youngest.

(it's almost always youngest to oldest - so we swapped)

Tyler picked one with red on the handle.

I asked him why he picked the pink one.

He said, "It's red."

okay.

When I was packing Friday,

I grabbed my (not new) pink on the handle toothbrush

and tossed it in my makeup bag

along with the almost empty tube of toothpaste

(I all but cut them open to get out the last smidge.

Why shouldn't I? I paid for it!)

When I brushed my teeth hours later,

I discovered

that I'd actually grabbed Tyler's toothbrush,

not mine.

oops.

(I told you it looked pink!)

Sunday afternoon,

I overheard him saying he couldn't find his toothbrush.

I jumped up to get it out of my bag for him

and told him I'd accidentally taken it,

it being pink and all.

Only,

it wasn't in my bag.

I'd left it.

And that is the sad tale of Tyler's ~~pink~~ new toothbrush.

I swear I didn't leave it on purpose,

but I'm buying a different color this time.

doin' the happy dance

2011-11-01T12:30:00.001-05:00

I just got a call from the Embassy of Belize in DC;

The Belizian government has confirmed

that Marcos

a citizen of Belize

and we should have his travel papers next week.

He's goin' home

!!!!!!!

home

2011-10-31T16:11:00.000-05:00

I half circled the big oak tree

and parked the car.

As I reached over

and grabbed my bag, purse and notebook

from the passenger seat,

I pushed the driver's door open with my foot

then climbed out.

I caught a glimpse of Tyler and a couple of kids

down on the hill.

They hadn't heard me drive up.

I walked past the sourpuss on the front porch clipping his toenails

and stepped through the front door.

And I was home.

I hadn't really even missed anybody;

I was barely gone 22 hours,

after all,

so the feeling caught me by surprise.

Home.

With the people I love so very much.

what I'm listening to today

2011-10-30T15:27:00.004-05:00

over and over

and

over

admission

2011-10-29T21:12:00.001-05:00

Okay.

I can admit it.

I'm glad they made me go to the retreat.

The speaker (Bev Bradley) was super

and spending time with Eva was a treat!

I'll share more when I've had some sleep.

7 quick takes real quick

2011-10-28T14:44:00.002-05:00

Let's see how quickly I can do this;

it's 2:31.

I don't really have time to post,

but I'm laying girls down and only one is asleep so far.

I'm heading out to a momma retreat in just a few hours

and I still have a ton of stuff to do.

I'm really not excited about going.

I'm not dreading it like I do family reunions, though.

I guess that's good.

Why am I going, then?

Eva and Tyler said it'd be good for me.

I said, "ok".

Josiah and Brandon were in need of pants

so I took them shopping real quick yesterday.

For the first time in years,

Brandon let me buy him 3 pairs of jeans.

Usually he insists 2 is plenty.

Speaking of 2 pairs,

Marcos has been wearing shorts when it's been chilly lately

in an (unsuccessful) attempt to convince us he needs more pants.

He told me he was 'living with only 2 pair'

but I happen to know he has 9 pairs

and am extending no sympathy.

Last week,

we didn't have waffles for breakfast

because of the run,

so I made them for dinner.

Jeremiah asked if I was serious about waffles for dinner.

He thought that was just so weird.

This morning,

Josiah asked if we could have waffles for breakfast tomorrow

instead of having to wait for dinner.

So I'm going to make them before I go,

and they can just warm them up in the toaster tomorrow.

2:43

Lily joined her sister in sleep,

and I'm gonna go cook those waffles now.

for more quick takes - visit Jen.

orderliness

2011-10-26T13:11:00.004-05:00

When I had my weekend away,

I started a list of habits / qualities that we need to work on.

First on the list was obedience

followed immediately by orderliness.

I take full responsibility

for the lack of both of these qualities

in our home;

When one has to force herself out of bed,

child-training takes a back seat.

At least that was the case in our house.

We operated in survival mode.

Frankly,

I'm tired of merely surviving.

Anyways.

We have worked through the chapter on 'obedience'

in our character training book

and are making some progress in making obedience a habit.

We are continuing to review the verses that we've memorized

and have moved on to 'orderliness'.

We tweaked their definition a bit to define orderliness for us as:

organizing our possessions and time

so that we can use both efficiently.

We've discussed why this is important

and what it should look like in our home.

But.

To be perfectly frank,

the scriptures used for promoting orderliness suck.

Not the scriptures - the application.

I just don't think you can look at God's instructions for the building and arranging of the tabernacle and say, "See, God wants us to be orderly with our things." Or turn to 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 to read about order in the Church and translate that into 'God wants us to have a tidy house". Maybe I'm just missing it.

But I don't 'own' it.

So I can't sell it to my kids.

The truth is,

I am more at peace in a tidy house.

I feel better when there are places to 'rest my eyes',

and yes, when my floors look nice ;-)

There is less work to be done,

leaving more time for other pursuits

and acts of service,

when we take good care of our belongings,

and we don't have to hunt for things,

because they are in their proper place.

And when we don't throw clean (folded!) clothes in the laundry.

And yes, those scriptures do (sorta) show

that one of the characteristics of God is orderliness.

But to extrapolate from that

that we should pick up our shoes?

I just don't see it.

Feel free to try to change my mind :-)

(really! I'd love to be wrong about this!)

prayers of a child

2011-10-23T22:07:00.001-05:00

Lexi loves to pray.

Sometimes, I think it is a power thing,

but really ~ do I dare tell my child she can't pray??

One of the things I love about her prayers,

is that she words her requests as thank-yous.

Instead of, "Please help Mommy be more patient."

she says, "Thank-you that Mommy will be more patient"

"Thank-you that we will be obedient"

"Thank-you that Daddy and Tony will come home safely"...

Today, at church, they showed a video for

Operation Christmas Child.

(Tyler loved the video - I wasn't crazy about it - but that's beside the point)

When Lexi prayed this evening at dinner

(sing-prayed. thank you oo oo....)

one of the things she ~~said~~ sang was,

"Thank you that we can go to the sto oh ore

to buy presents"

And I'm thinking - wow! I guess that video was pretty good

after all - I mean, she's only 2 and she got it.

Then she added,

"for us

for us for us for us"

blond twist to an old game

2011-10-23T07:28:00.003-05:00

You know the 'taste test' game?

Where you close your eyes,

someone feeds you something,

and you have to guess what it is?

Lily plays that game.

By herself.

Thankfully, she gets it right every time.

in which I make a fool of myself

2011-10-22T22:54:00.002-05:00

again.

There is a house on Kibler,

a little further down the road than us,

that just screams 'perfection'.

Every time we pass it,

I tell Tyler I want to look inside.

I'm just sure we'll find something we should copy!

The house has been for sale for ages,

(and we've assumed no one is living there - there's no sign of life)

but it wouldn't be right to waste a Realtor's time,

just because I wanted to take a peek.

We kept an eye out for an Open House,

but never saw one.

Driving past it today,

I was just sure I saw a Realtor there.

There was a car in the driveway

and a man - with what looked like one of those Realtor folders

in his left hand.

Tyler said, "There's no sign."

"Well," I so smartly replied, "that's because they switched realties;

I bet that guy is the new agent."

He turned the car around.

Sure enough, there was a lockbox on the door.

But he didn't stop....

After running our errand,

I convinced him that the agent

(you know - the new listing agent - the one I saw...)

would just be tickled

to let us take a peek at the house,

since he was there anyways, doing the walk-thru.

(I'm thinking now, that perhaps, I hadn't convinced him;

he was simply humoring me." hmm...)

So.

While I bemoaned the fact that we were in the stupid Previa

instead of the much classier Excursion, he pulled in to the circle drive

(not to be confused with the by-the-garage drive,

where the Realtor was parked.)

and told me to wave him in

if we got the go-ahead.

I walk up to the door, preparing my spiel, and knocked.

To my surprise,

the Realtor did not answer the door.

A woman did.

The woman who lives in the house.

The woman who got tired of her house not selling

and took it off the market in February

and is still waiting for the realty to come pick up their lockbox...

I bet she calls them on Monday.

the first 5K

2011-10-22T14:24:00.005-05:00

So.

Today was the big day!

I forgot my camera, so I just have a couple of phone photos.

(you should be able to click on the photo to enlarge it)

starting out

The girls made posters while we waited for the runners.

The first one came through the gate in like 16 minutes!

We went up to the corner

so we could cheer the runners on that last little bit.

Brandon came in 10th in his age group and 79th overall.

His goal was 30 minutes and he ran it in 29:10

Daddy followed a couple of minutes behind,

the 104st person to cross the finish line,

What about Tony, you ask?

Well, Ton' had an ambitious goal of 24 min

and he finished in 23:34
coming in 20 overall

and won a silver medal for his age group!

His friend, Jamie, won a Silver in the 10K in her group, too

He's got good genes and all

but his leg-warmers probably helped a bit, too...

this was just seconds after he finished.

I'm so proud of my guys!

And all my friends who worked hard and finished well.

And all our little spectators - they were super, too!

Since we parked at the library,
we stopped in there
(forked over the $40 bucks to renew our out-of-city cards!)
and got some books.
I got an assortment of fiction / education for myself.
I'm with Susan,
the exercising is a lot more tolerable with a book.
And maybe,
next year when the Survivors' Challenge rolls around,
I'll be running, too.
It could happen.

7 quick takes

2011-10-21T09:13:00.005-05:00

Well.

The 5K is this Saturday.

We're down to only 3 runners.

Since I am not going to be participating,

we decided to not have any of the little ones, either.

I have been using my bike.

Which has a really uncomfortable seat!

Do you call it 'riding' when it's a stationary bike?

I've banned all children shorter than me

from said bike.

Although, if the ones taller than me

don't lower the seat when they're finished,

I may just ban them, too.

Tyler,

I don't have to worry about.

Because of the whole uncomfortable seat thing.

I angry-ate yesterday.

I am not usually an emotional eater,

but a certain someone (who is not family) living in this house

had me awfully riled up.

And I angry-ate.

I'm not sure that flaming hot cheetos is the best food for that.

It got cold!

It's so hard for me to get up when it's cold.

I keep telling Tyler I want to move
to where it's 70 ish degrees year round.
with maybe a few 85 - 90 degree days sprinkled in for swimming....

oh!

I finally found a 'nature table' for the LEM.

I've been keeping my eye out for one since January

and actively looking regularly

since April.

I almost feel a little lost.

I have yet to decide what color to paint it.

If it weren't laminate

(on top of solid wood - no less)

I might actually leave it un-painted,

stain just seems more appropriate for a nature table.

But it is laminate - and ugly laminate at that, so it needs paint.

I need a little help.

It's almost embarrassing.

I tossed around the idea of getting a french press

for a couple of years;

supposedly, they make the best coffee.

And I really sorta wanted to be drinking the best coffee...

Plus, I sorta think that, maybe,

if the coffee was amazing, I might could drink it black??

As you can see, I am now the owner of a gorgeous french press

(thanks, T and Ton'!!)

but the problem is - so far,

all I've done with it

is waste coffee beans.

As in

dump the 'coffee' down the drain

'cause there is no sense drinking it.

Best coffee, my eye!

I really want to love my press

and - more importantly - the coffee it makes.

Currently, though, my press is mocking me.

Any suggestions?

visit Jen for more quick takes

sisters

2011-10-19T19:56:00.001-05:00

I love how much these girls love each other.

(and I just choose to ignore how much they also bicker and scream...)

Today,

Lily was playing while I worked and Lexi napped.

She thought she heard Brandon talking to Lex'

and figured she must be awake

so she jumped up and took off running towards the bedroom
shouting, "Sister! I been waiting for you!"

Poor girl - Lexi was still sound asleep.

completely unrelated - except it kinda goes with the picture:

I drew a stick person the other day of Lexi with pony tails

and she took one look at it and said,

"My ears don't look like that!"

squishing it in

2011-10-18T08:59:00.000-05:00

Every once in awhile,

I'll look on Craigslist at exercise equipment.

I haven't walked (for exercise) since Dollar General opened

the Sunday after Brandon's birthday.

My blasted heel is just not healing very quickly

and every time I think it feels okay for me to 'push it' a bit

I seem to overdo.

I came to the un-appealing conclusion

that the best thing to do, would be to get an exercise bike.

That way, I could get my heart-rate up,

without aggravating my heel.

But there's that whole tiny house thing going on.

I came to the even more unappealing conclusion

that the only spot for this seat of torture

would be where my chair sits next to the bed.

Now,

I've been looking to replace that chair for quite awhile;

the cushions are shot.

But I had hoped to replace it

with something more comfortable. not less.

After overhearing a discussion about me,

I was especially thrilled to find an older, knock-off airdyne

for $75.

Only problem was - it came with 3 other big exercise things, too.

But the guy ended up selling everything separately,

and all he had left when I called on it,

was the bike.

for $20!

SOLD.

And it turned out,

that I didn't have to give up my rocking chair after all;

we managed to fit the beast

in between the cabinets in the dining room

conveniently right in front of the air conditioner.

And it's got wheels, so we can easily roll it into our bedroom

when guests are coming.

I think I got it just in time - what I'd overheard earlier,

was Josiah whispering to the boys,

"The reason we couldn't buy that house

(we periodically look at houses,

on the off chance that we'll find something perfect for us,

without having to build it ourselves.... We'd looked at one Sunday.)

is because Mom is too fat

to fit in the storm shelter."

Saturday morning dirt in the sunlight

2011-10-15T21:13:00.002-05:00

For perspective,

I was going to sweep this pile into my dustpan

before taking a picture.

Considering the size of said dustpan,

I didn't really think it'd help... ;-)

It's just crazy how much dirt I sweep up on a daily basis!

The other day,

my vacuum cleaner bag busted

and somehow

the quart of previously-vacuumed dirt on the carpet

- more so than the remaining 20 lbs of dirt in the bag -

made me realize what an incredible amount of dirt we relocate

regularly.

Something must be done ~ but what??

the stray

2011-10-14T09:21:00.001-05:00

We had a visitor yesterday.

When Lex' saw her on the porch, she excitedly squealed,

"We have two puppies!"

Of course, I let the kids feed her.

What was I supposed to do?!

But then Daddy came home....

He says strays don't belong here.

I nodded my head towards Marcos ;-)

When Tyler prayed last night,

Lexi kept telling him to pray for the dogs.

He prayed for Lola and Bernie.

She reminded him - with her fingers and her voice -

that we have three dogs, not two.

He's right.

He's completely right.

We certainly don't need another dog.

Shoot.

I don't even want another dog.

But she is kinda cute.

It's good that somebody in this house can withstand the cuteness.
And the children's pleading.

'Cuz otherwise,

we'd have three dogs.

very last first 'momma'

2011-10-13T17:25:00.001-05:00

by Lexi, 2 1/2

She drew her first person Friday evening, sitting in Aunt Marin's lap

but in all the hubbub, I didn't save it :-(

but then she drew one for me yesterday,

"Momma - it's you!"

so we're good again.

freeze frame

2011-10-11T16:56:00.001-05:00

I looked out the kitchen window to see

Lexi

completely naked

holding a gun in her right hand

and Josiah's hand in the other.

Their arms were swinging comfortably as they walked.

I wanted to run grab the camera

but knew they'd be gone before I got back.

Plus the window is filthy....

So I just watched - freezing them in my mind.

They stopped abruptly,

Josiah dropped Lexi's hand and snatched the gun.

He shot the bad guy a few times

(I presume that's what he was doing - maybe he shot the sheriff...)

handed the gun back, grabbed her hand

and away they went, arms swinging again.

selfish

2011-10-11T11:30:00.002-05:00

During my un-well time,

I could feel myself becoming more and more selfish.

Or maybe that selfishness was in me all along

and I just became more aware of it.

Either way, I hated it!

But I couldn't seem to do anything about it.

I was forcing myself to get out of bed in the mornings,

to keep people fed and clothed

somewhat educated and reasonably clean;

I had nothing else to give.

I'd get an e-mail asking me to provide a meal for someone

but all I could do was guiltily click 'delete'.

I'd know Lana could use a break,

(what mom of little ones couldn't?!)

but keeping my grand-babies to help out my daughter

was out of the question.

I needed someone to give me a break.
I was needy. Too needy.

And I hate being needy.

Conversations with other people

(although somewhat rare - wonder why??)

were always about me.
My children drove me bonkers
and I've always been a momma who enjoys her kids.
Let's not even talk about my poor husband.

I couldn't see beyond my own pain and distress

and it disgusted me.

I enjoy helping and being a blessing to others,

but it took everything I had just to survive

And I really didn't even want to do that.

No two ways about it - I was selfish.

me. me. me.

Knowing how I love a good fire,

after everyone had gone home Sunday

and the house was straightened

and the kids readied for bed,

Tyler went out and re-arranged the logs

so I could sit out by the fire pit a bit before going to bed.

I was so tired and my feet hurt so stinkin bad

(my heel is still not fully healed, although it is much better)

I wasn't sure I wanted to walk all the way out there,

but with a perfect fire, how could I not?

I grabbed a piece of leftover Baked Alaska

and went to stare at the fire.

Which, of course, is code for 'sit and think'.

I reflected over the past few days

which were crazy for any sane person.

Not once did I feel like it was more than I could bear.

(with help, of course!)
I was only near tears once
and that was after I'd fought for an hour with recovering a chair
and had to give up 'cause the chair was winning
and I had no more time to spare messing with it.

I realized that as my hormones are balancing

and I'm feeling better and better,

the nasty selfishness is disappearing.

I'm human ~ I'm sure I'll still be selfish from time to time,

but it is no longer a defining characteristic.

And I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

whirlwind weekend

2011-10-10T16:25:00.000-05:00

What I failed to mention in my last post

was that we started tearing into the kitchen at noon,

knowing that my brother, his gal, and TJ

would be walking in the door to spend the weekend

in 6-7 hours.

And I had been helping a friend Thursday evening

and didn't get home til almost 3 am.

And the house was a bit of a wreck when we started on the floor.

And the kids wrecked it further

while we were busy...

Mid -project, I asked,

"What kind of people put in a new floor

hours before guests will arrive?!"

Brandon said, "Probably the same kind of people

who make clothes right before walking out the door."

tou·ché

We somehow managed to get the kitchen put back together

and the rest of the house, too, by 6:17!

Friday evening was spent visiting,

making and eating a late dinner of fried rice and eggrolls

and playing Tele-draw 'til almost 2.

At which time

we finally put the kids to bed.

And ourselves....

We were moving a little slow Saturday morning,

if you can imagine.

Tyler and T ran to the grocery store for some meat and potatoes

to add to the waffles for breakfast

since breakfast

was turning in

to brunch.

They got sidetracked by a huge yard sale,

and Tyler called

twice

to tell me that Marin and I needed to sneak out

and head over.

My girls love Marin.

There was no sneaking out!

We managed to leave anyways

and spent about an hour shopping

but the whole time

I was thinking that I really needed to be cooking waffles.

(It takes a long time to make waffles for a dozen people!)

I got home to find that Tyler had found a waffle iron

at the sale!

Only

it doesn't work for my recipe :-(

And what's worse,

it took me 2 cycles (8 waffles!) to figure it out.

When the first batch was a bomb, I chalked it up to

forgetting to oil the non non-stick surface.

After brunch

it was time for Tyler and the boys to head out

for a TKD camping trip

(which they'd shopped for Friday evening,

between cleaning up the house and the guests arrival)

Marin and I had to get down to business and get the list made

and the shopping done for the surprise party

we were having for my sister, Terri, on Sunday evening

that Mom and I decided on Wednesday evening

to throw together .

Oh,

and Terri and James were due to arrive

to spend the night also, in just a few hours

so we couldn't have any party evidence laying around.

This is turning into a book!

I'll skip to Sunday evening

- just know that the hours in between were full....

...with everyone's help

we had a very nice bonfire birthday party

and even pulled off the surprise part

only

instead of shouting "surprise"

to Terri,

we 'surprised' James;

my sister hadn't walked up to the house with him.

We all had a pretty good laugh about that one...

this is the only picture I took all weekend

Gramma called this morning

to say it was the best time she'd had

in as long as she can remember.

Which may not be saying much, but still...

It was a very good - albeit it crazy - weekend

but it was nice to wake up to a rainy slow day

today.

floored

2011-10-07T19:50:00.004-05:00

So.

Ya'll know how I feel about decent looking floors.

Up until about just a few hours ago,

did not have

decent looking floor

in my kitchen.

This is what I had in my kitchen.

Brace yourself.

you can't tell, but that there hole is about 1/2 inch or more deep in spots.
I'm sure eventually, I'd have broke an ankle in it.

That spot remained covered with a throw rug

that had to be moved every time we rolled the dishwasher over

and of course, we had to be careful not to get the dw

stuck in the crevice.

In other spots, we've got the stick on tiles

(which I am a fan of - on a flat surface...)

slip-sliding away

And in places where the floor stayed put,

because of the waviness of the boards

(in addition to the more extreme waviness of the entire floor...)

we have this loveliness

Not good for my psyche.

I have really struggled with this.

I should be content with crappy floors.

I know this.

And yet,

They make me crazy.

Because my mind can't seem to get through to my eyeballs.

This is what the floor looked like

before we put the tiles on 5+ years ago.

I wanted to be fine with a painted floor ~ really I did.

But, I wasn't.

In all fairness, most of the floor didn't look that bad;

most of it looked more like this.

Except for, you know, the holes...

So anyways.

before we could fix the unsightliness of the floor,

we had to fix that blasted hole

with something a little more solid that the Great Stuff

we used last time we fixed the hole.

When Tyler and Brandon were looking for a solution

at the hardware store,

they found plaster of paris ~ which I happen to have...

so I mixed up about 2 1/2 cups

and poured it in.

this looks like a geography project

We'll see how it holds up....
After the plaster dried,
Tyler drug the DW and tall cabinet into the dining room
and we got busy

After we had about half of the floor finished,
we had to move all the appliances onto it.
(Brandon & I were so worried we were going to scratch it!)
We found all sorts of long lost goodies back behind
and under
the fridge and stove
(washer and dryer were moved just last year, remember?)
and,
I kid you not,
a half of a brown paper grocery bag
full of nasty trash.
I spared you the picture of that.

Five hours after we started,

we were looking at this pretty sight.

Ahhh. Much better!!
thanks, Love!!!!

Lexi on a Fall morning

2011-10-04T08:22:00.002-05:00

breakfast in the sun

love that girl!!

43 things

2011-10-02T23:15:00.004-05:00

To kick off my 43rd year,

43 little-known things about me, in no particular order

1. If I had to choose between a cleared off horizontal surface

and clean floors - I'd pick clean floors every time

2. I rarely have clear surfaces or clean floors

3. I have a really hard time picking a favorite - anything

4. My baby toes don't touch the ground,

so I have funny footprints.

5. I found out that my nose was wide in the 8th grade

when David Fulton (who also happens to have a wide nose!) told me

6. To this day, it's still what I see when I look in the mirror

7. I don't multi-task well

8. I've been known to throw away money while on the phone

9. I like a little something in my chocolate

10. I pretty much always have a burn somewhere on my arms
in some stage of healing.

11. I really love a well-organized cabinet

12. I used to insist towels were folded a particular way

13. Now I'm happy if they're folded at all

14. I use The Works toilet cleaner from Dollar Tree - it works!

15. I don't drink sweet tea

16. If it wasn't such a pain to make the bed,

I'd wash my sheets every day I could hang them on the line to dry

17. I had my first baby when I was 18

18. and my last when I was 40

19. I became a grandma (Mimi) at 41

20. I talk to animals (which my husband finds endearing)

21. and other drivers (but only the stupid ones)

22. I still read the comics a few times a week

and usually laugh a time or two (Tyler find this adorable, too)

23. I don't do okra

24. but it's okay, 'cause I do eat eggplant

25. I have to turn my socks inside out to clear out all the fuzzies

before I can put them on.

26.I won't let my kids drink hot chocolate

unless the high for the day is below 50

27. I'm thinking about lowering that to 40;

we went through a lot of hot chocolate last year.

28. I'm a wee bit competitive; mostly with myself, though
(okay - with Tyler, mostly)

29. I love wrapping gifts 'pretty'

30. and once gave my sister-in-law a gift

that she kept for years before opening

31. I don't do chit-chat well

32. I wear the same earring 364 1/2 days a year

33. and call my sister in a panic when I lose one

34. To keep the mismatched socks from getting out of control

I try to match them up every time I have a lone one

(which is pretty much every day...)

35. I'm wishing I was only 35 right about now

36. My first car was a blue Plymouth Horizon, I paid $800 for it

and the gear shift broke when I was driving it home,

so my first stop was the shop.

37. I really don't get the chevron decorating trend

38. But I shouldn't talk - I used to have a toaster with geese on it

39. and a matching coffee maker

40. I save my best bite for last

41. but if the baby asks for it, I'll (grudgingly) give it;

anybody older than the baby gets told, "No!"

42. When I was a kid, I'd make 'long fingernails' out of scotch tape

43. I think a good fire is mesmerizing

That took a ridiculously long time.

27 minutes to come up with the last two,

if that gives you a clue,

but I was trying to come up with a few things

that even my kids don't know.

For fun ~ how about you tell me in the comments

how many of these things you already knew about me :-)

eta
Tyler informed me, I was actually kicking off my 44th year.
Darn it, he's right!
44. I was 16 when I graduated from high school.

telepictionary

2011-10-01T13:48:00.004-05:00

We played the

funnest game ever

last night!

I'm telling you - we laughed so hard

most everyone had a headache!

I learned it from Susan about a month ago

(and you really should go read her post and see their drawings!)

but here's the gist of it

(copied straight from her blog; pretty sure she won't mind a bit)

just in case you don't want to click over.

1. Cut 8 x 11 inch pieces of paper into 6 index-card size pieces each (split each paper lengthwise in half, and then cut each strip into three pieces).

2. If you have five people playing, each person should start with a stack of five pieces of paper. If you have seven players, each person will have seven papers. (Each person starts with a number of papers equaling the number of players.)

3. When you're ready to start the game, each person should write a sentence or phrase (it can be a famous quote or saying, if you like) that the next person will attempt to draw.

4. When each person has written a saying on the top piece of paper of his stack, he passes his entire stack of papers to the person on his right (or everyone can pass left, just so all papers are being passed the same direction).

5. This person will read the sentence or phrase, move that paper to the bottom of the stack, and, on the top piece of paper, draw his best rendition of the phrase or sentence he read.

6. When everyone is finished drawing, they pass their entire stack of papers to the right again, and the picture they drew should be on top (no one should look at any of the papers on the bottom of the stack).

7. This person looks at the picture, puts it on the bottom of his stack of papers, and then writes a sentence or phrase describing what he saw.

8. Papers are passed again, and the next person reads the sentence the person before him wrote. Now he will move that sentence or phrase to the bottom of his stack, and on the top (clean) piece of paper, he will attempt to draw a picture depicting those words.

9. Papers are passed again, and the process continues.

10. When the papers have gone all the way around the circle, it's time for everyone to show their stacks, starting with the original sentence and working through to the last picture or sentence. I think it works best if there is an odd number of people because you start with a sentence and end with a sentence, and you can clearly see how it changed during the course of the game.

We did add a time limit of 1 minute for the writing cycles

and 2-3 minutes for the drawing.

so we could keep the game moving along.

This one started with Brandon
(you should be able to click on each picture to view it larger)

went to Lana

who passed it to Luke.

'this little piggy cried, "wee, wee, wee," all the way home.'

Then to Marcos

Tony was next...

'Hansel and Gretel have a pet pig'

Then Tyler

And I finished the round

See??? Hilarious!!

This next one was the funniest!

I was feeling like a goober

'cause I was laughing hysterically

when I took the pictures just now.

I'm home alone.....

Tyler started it off
and it went around the table in the opposite direction.

'the pretty girl killed a man'

'She was once a sweet girl, but she became a murderer'

It's probably safe to say

that
at least for a time,
(when little ones can be occupied with something else...)
Apples to Apples
has been
replaced.

you been blessed

2011-09-28T20:39:00.001-05:00

I don't imagine this looks like anything more

than a messy pile of laundry to you,

but it looks like love to me.

You see, around here,

people don't fold a load of whites

unless told to.

Usually more than once.

And since it's such a dreaded task,

I try not to ask anyone to do it too often.
This afternoon,
- unasked -
Jeremiah got a load of whites out of the dryer

and folded the entire load!

I saw a stack of towels on the counter
when I came out from putting the girls down for their nap

and wondered what was up ~ I hadn't told anyone to fold them...

He told me,

"You been blessed."

Then he decided he needed to make some little cards to leave,
where he's left his mark.

(well, technically, he made huge cards, I helped him re-think the size ;-)

He went on to do some cleaning in my room, too;
I had to stop him - he was trying to sort stuff
that I've had trouble sorting....

Then Josiah, ever the copier of his big brother

(you may have noticed it on the sidebar..)

got in on the action, too

I found this card where a stack of movies had previously been.

Thanks, Jeremiah (and Josiah) I have indeed been blessed!

Baked Alaska Pie

2011-09-28T11:59:00.001-05:00

I need to get this recipe to Lana

and figured

I may as well post it here.
Ya'll can thank me later...

This is one of only two recipes I have from Tyler's mom

and it's been requested as a birthday dessert

by at least one someone

each of the past 24 years, making it

(not counting cookies) my most-made-dessert ever.

Baked Alaska Pie

(the large family version)

preheat oven to 350

In a 9x13 pan*, put 4 c. Angel Flake coconut

and 1 stick of butter, melted.

(I like to melt my butter in the pan in the pre-heating oven

to keep from having an extra thing to wash ;-)

Mix together, press in bottom of pan and bake 'til golden

(about 1/2 hour)

This will burn your eyes at some point;

it's okay, and totally worth it!

Set crust aside to cool.

A little later, in a double boiler, stirring occassionally

melt 2 2/3 c. mini marshmallows (or 16 large, cut up)

2 - 4 oz packages German Chocolate **

1 - 12 oz can evaporated milk

When the chocolate and marshmallows are thoroughly melted,

remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla and mix well.

Cool to lukewarmish.

(I can just see the offers to write cookbooks flooding my in-box)

A small serving spatula works great for this next part:

Layer 1/2 of a 1/2 gal Great Value French Vanilla Ice-cream

(I suppose you could use another vanilla ice-cream, if you just must)

onto the cooled coconut crust.

Pour the still slightly warm chocolate sauce over the ice-cream.

Arrange the remaining ice-cream over the sauce.

Freeze for several hours

then top with an 8 oz container of Cool Whip

and return to freezer for a few more hours before serving.

mm mmm good!

* you could use the next larger size pan (10 x 14ish?) if you had it.

** Using German Chocolate yields the tastiest results,

but using semisweet chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups)

is almost as scrumptious and lots cheaper!

I knew a woman

2011-09-27T10:33:00.004-05:00

I once knew a woman.

She poured herself out taking care of her family.

She gave and they took

until one day she discovered she was empty.

She’d forgotten to take care of herself

and found herself in a deep dark dessert valley
for more than two years.

She cried out to God but He did not seem to hear her.

She called out to a few friends, but they told her to run to God.

She wanted to die.

She prayed to die.

But of course, God wasn’t listening.

I knew a woman.

And she was me.

I decided in April that I needed to fix my body,

so that when God decided to fix the rest of me, I would be ready.

I only wish I would have gone to see Dr Baker sooner.

I struggle with sharing this part of my life for several reasons.

Mostly because I don’t wish to remember it;

the past 26 months are better forgotten, I think.

I'm not worried that you'll think less of me

(although you may)

because you can't possibly think any worse of me

than I do.

At this point (getting better, but not fully healed)

the only good I can see of my time ‘in the valley’

is my husband’s love.

I have always known he loved me.

Loved me – period.

But for the first time in my life, I felt unconditional love.

Which is different from knowing.

I had planned on waiting until I was fully recovered,

so I could share the ten step program for climbing out of the dessert.

But I’m throwing it out here now

because first of all,

I don’t think there is a ten step program

and secondly – because I want to say

if you aren’t you - seek help now

please!

Don’t wait

until you truly believe the world would be better off without you.

Tyler told me last month

that he really didn't 'believe in' hormone cream

but he could clearly see it was working.

Sometimes God heals people instantly.

Sometimes, he uses modern medicine

(as much as I hate to admit it ;-)

I knew a woman and she was me.

But I am getting better.

boys on both ends of the teens

2011-09-23T07:42:00.001-05:00

Since Ton' was gone most of the day on his birthday last week,

the kids made a bunch of cards for him

(complete with a cereal box mailbox)

he needed a little help reading the ones from Lily

Jeremiah made Tony's birthday banner by himself - spelling and all

it's not T's birthday ~ I just threw this in 'cause I can :-)

Lest you think my boys always look good...

handsome doofuses ~ but still doofuses ;-)

heading to the ugly egg for Brandon's awesome gift

you know how my boys are with shoes? yeah. bikes, too, apparently
(wipe them down after just about every use they do)

it's not Keiron or Luke's b-day either...

Josiah was sooo tickled to find a hat for his bub

that he could afford to buy.

and

completely unrelated to birthdays,

except that I took this picture

walking back to watch Brandon ride his new bike...

I thought the LEM was pretty through the (dirty) window :-)

I like having 'pretty' to look at!!

Yes.

We have tinfoil.

On our house.

Outside.

I know you're jealous.

Happy birthday to my 2 favorite teens in the whole wide world.

I love you both to the moon and back!!!

~~~ finding joy in the little things ~~~

this and that

Mama, there's a GIRL in the castle

the foot thing

la la la la Lola

a little linky love

freckle foot

Succulent Roasted Cabbage

a wheat free / low carb groundhog day

circle of quiet

five things on Friday

dipping my toes into hand quilting

basted

self awareness

six weeks out

just another duh moment

bum foot bummer

Ben & Lily

whaddya think?

shopping with my boy

working myself out of job and an invitation

a really long post about not much of anything

turns out

ya think?

guess he told me

beef - it's what's for dinner

new towels

i said yes!

the party

baby come back

no wonder

chocolate drops

humble pie

almost Christmas daybook

making me think

a perfect binding

another 7 quick takes

Santa and the Savior

our Lily

the bookstore

goodbye grains

good mail

need a laugh?

ornament tradition

candlelight by K'nex

you is beautiful

shoe shinin'

a novel approach to reading

pathetic!

boys

Lily 'reads' The Gingerbread Cowboy

7 quick takes ~ or maybe just 4

blasted chicken

little miss observant

I think that's what they call irony

the stain ninja

happy day

the retreat

the sad tale of a toothbrush

doin' the happy dance

home

what I'm listening to today

admission

7 quick takes real quick

orderliness

prayers of a child

blond twist to an old game

in which I make a fool of myself

the first 5K

7 quick takes

sisters

squishing it in

Saturday morning dirt in the sunlight

the stray

very last first 'momma'

freeze frame

selfish

whirlwind weekend

floored

Lexi on a Fall morning

~ finding joy in the little things ~