Twilight Saga = My Personal Brand of Crack

And so... I am off to finish my Christmas shopping... hopefully by noon... so I can go see New Moon at 12:20 by myself... aka without children.

Maybe now that I will have seen both movies... and read all 4 books... twice... I'll be able to continue sampling my friend H.'s brand of crack and try to learn to knit.

Yeah! I Passed!

I thought I failed...But I passed!

...my certification test to officially be a CNA, certified nursing assistant.

Really it's not rocket science, but people tend to get tripped up on the skills exam by forgetting small steps. You are tested on handwashing and 4 other random skills out of about 25 possibilities.

I missed a couple little steps on one of the skills. You have to pass all 5 skills to pass the exam...

I thought that I had NOT passed as my group was waiting for our results...

But I did it!!

I just feel... relieved...

one more step towards my chosen career is out of the way.

Woo Hoo!!

Can't wait to get back in school in August!

Help! I've Been Bitten!

Yes... I've been bitten. And it's not pretty.

Bitten by the vampires of Twilight. It's quite pathetic actually.

We bought the movie last week at the request of Rob; he wanted to see it again before New Moon came out. He has read all the books. Jake has read Twilight and New Moon.

So... I watched it, prettymuch out of parental obligation... but partially to see what the heck the big deal was.

I can't say it was AWESOME!! or anything, but it did hook me in enough that I wanted to read the book.

Coincidentally, Jake won a New Moon triviacontest the next day at school...
The prize: Twilight, in paperback.

That was Wednesday at 3 pm. It's now Monday at 11:45 am, and I have puchased AND READ the all 4 volumes of the Twilight Saga. That's two thousand, four hundred, and forty-four pages in less than 6 days, with 2 work shifts, Thanksgivings, and a little sleep in there.

Ahhhh... my own personal brand of heroin.

(Needless to say, nothing else much got done all weekend... much to My Love's consternation.)

Rob saw New Moon over the weekend; I promised Jake I'd take him soon, at least sometime over Christmas break.

Now it's time for some catch-up housework... while Twilight is on in the background of course!

PA. THE. TIC.

Thanks For Today - The Power of the Pooch

Maybe my Thanks For Today should be something quite profound on the day before the actual Thanksgiving holiday, but today I am thankful for my dog. I considered myself more of a "Cat Person" until about 7 years ago, when I had a couple cats that really liked to urinate on my furniture. Having to get rid of my living room couches was a pretty quick "Cat-Person CURE."

My husband let me pick out a beagle puppy for a wedding gift. And even though my puppy Zeke has been a real pain in the hiney many times, he has still converted me into a definite "Dog Person." Zeke kind of annoys my sister, so it was especially funny when she sent me this video. It's kind of cute and cheesy, but also.... profound... and illustrates why I am such a sap for my dog.



Some people would argue that cats are like this too, but cats are very prone to PMS-y kinds of random crabbiness. Dogs just love.

Pay it Forward...as promised

Here's the deal... this is a blogging Pay it Forward. One of my former posts (maybe in March?)tells you how much I love the movie, but this idea actually came from my dear friend H.... who got it from someone else... and so on.

The first 3 people to put comments on this post will receive a handmade gift from me within the next 6 months. The recipients then each post a similar "Pay It Forward" post and likewise give handmade gifts to 3 people, within a designated timeframe of their choosing.

Woo Hoo! Let the gift-o-rama begin!

(H, I can't wait to get my socks!)

Thanks for Today - Lifetime Friends

My thanks for today is for my good friend H. She inspires me in so many ways in the (mostly) graceful ways she lives her life. She loves deeply. She knows how to laugh. Given her childhood experiences, these two things alone are nothing short of miraculous. I wish she gave herself a little more credit.

She is a thoughtful giver; when she gives you a gift, you know it was picked with very specific thought for you and your needs/wants/loves... not just to fill an obligation. She always remembers my birthday, even though I always seem to forget hers. She sends me Mother's Day cards.

She is my "2 am" person... you know...

the person you can ALWAYS call, even at 2 am.

She appreciates the finer points of warm brownies and ice cream.

We can talk every day or once a month and it's still like coming home.

So my love, as I visit you today with excessively chocolate cake in tow (Happy Birthday, a little late as usual), I hope you know how much I love you and how awe-struck I am by you.

Thanks for Today - Laughter (a.k.a. All Rocks Go To Heaven)

I love to laugh. Our women's retreat last month actually had a Certified Laughter Leader. I had no idea what this was until I went, but her job is to get people to loosen up and laugh. You basically do all these quite stupid things and force yourself to laugh, until pretty soon you are laughing so hard at ... well you really have no idea why you are laughing, but you can't stop.

For instance, turn to your neighbor, shake their hand, and greet them in Hawaiian.

"A- LOH- Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Or the "Roller Coaster Laugh."

Totally ridiculous. And you feel totally stupid, until you realize that everyone else is acting as mental as you and then you just relax and laugh... and laugh... and laugh...

{ I'm so glad I had the forethought to pee before it started. }

Laughter has healing power, for body and soul. I am so thankful for this gift, for a God who loves me enough to want me to have joy and laughter.

So here's your laugh for the day....
(A friend sent this to me. Thanks, T!)

Do Dogs go to Heaven?

Absolutely unreal that this actually happened!

These two churches face each other across a busy street.

My Guilty Confession

Maybe I really still am 14...

I admit it; I'm a Taylor Swift Fan. For those of you who missed her on SNL, here's a replay of her musical monologue.... very funny.



PS... I also really LOVE, LOVE this new tune from Miley Cyrus... I don't care if she doesn't really listen to Jay-Z (neither do I!), but I always have to jam a little when I hear it. Added bonus: totally embarrasses my kids when I do this in the car! Go ahead & boogie! Ya know ya wanna!

Thanks For Today- Gratitude in Hardship

Blogging is an interesting beast to me.

I primarily started doing this on the prompting of my dear friend H.

But there are perks.

I didn't grow up close to my extended family, but thanks to dedicated grandparents on my mom's side we always felt part of the family. Well, time passes. I was one of the older grandkids, and as I got married and had kids, traveling cross country became nigh unto an impossible financial challenge and my younger cousins have gone and grown up without my permission. I remember them being preschoolers and now most of them are married and many have preschoolers of their own. Most of my girl-cousins blog, as well as most of my boy-cousins' wives. So now I am getting to know my extended, extended family... and it is very cool.

My cousin Justin has a lovely wife (I think we've met once...?) who posted the following tidbit. Now I know some of my readers are not LDS (my whole family is) but I thought this was an excellent message regardless of denomonational preference.

Thanks for Today.

Today I am thankful that I can have peace and joy through Christ, even and especially when it seems like the hard times in my life will not let me up for air.

{And thanks Echo for sharing this in the first place}

Thanks for Today - A Great Big Cyber-Hug for All You Fellow Blogger-Moms

I don't know if anyone else reads random blogs of people they don't know, but I do. I start at someone I know, then look at their sidebar, see a post title that looks interesting, and before I know it I am reading about the crazy life of a complete stranger. One such blog gave me the idea to practice some November gratitude, blogger-style. So every day (that I have time/ remember) I'm going to blog some gratitude.

Today I am thankful for all my fellow mom-bloggers. It's amazing to me when I read about those I know and love, and the complete strangers, how similar many of our struggles are and yet how unique and gifted each of these special women are.

I was reading a Christian fiction series recently called "The Sister Circle." It was about women: how we are made to be compassionate nurturers, how God loves each of us, has a plan for each of us, and how intertwined our paths really are.

So Thank You, women of the blogging world. Thank you for sharing your joys and sorrows, triumphs and tragedies, and little windows into your worlds. You have surely enriched mine.

Small Addiction

{I wish I knew why my camera won't upload pictures so I could show the photographic evidence for the post. ARGH!}

Anyway, Monday morning, I was feeling very out of the loop after a long weekend with no compuuter, so I put some water on to boil for Cream of Wheat -still a favorite comfort food- and sat down to quickly check my email and the blogs I read. Some time later, I smelled a distinctive "hot" smell.... you know, like when your curling iron has been on too long or something has dripped in your oven and is now smoking madly. I suddenly remembered my breakfast plan and quickly checked the stove. I had boiled the pan dry! All I had left was a nice area of hard water scum and a very hot pan. I had to take a picture of course... so sad the camera is rebelling. Do they have therapy for blogging addiction?

Sleep & Leaves

With my new work hours, I have an entirely different relationship with sleep. A.K.A. I can't ever seem to get enough, even on my days off. I worked Monday night, but I don't go in again until Saturday night. So yesterday (Tuesday morning... otherwise known as when-I-get-off-work-from-Monday) I took Rob & Jake to school and then went and got some badly needed groceries. I got home and put away the must-be-cold things and then I went to sleep and slept 10:30 am - 3 pm. The kids got home and I went about the usual evening stuff. Bedtime came and I was out like a light somewhere around 10:30 pm. Got up with my hubby at 4:30 am and made him some coffee (the {almost} ultimate act of love), then stayed awake and read. By 11, I am falling asleep.... UGH!

So when I took the dog out, I decided to stay out and rake some leaves....

We have a huge maple tree in out front yard that I absolutely love. The only thing that would make it better would be if the leaves turned a brilliant red, or even orange, in the fall instead of a nondescript yellow. Bu anyway... my front yard was relatively covered in leaves. The back yard is too, but to a lesser extent and will havt to be another day.

I was raking them out to the street when I started thinking about fall when I was a kid. We lived out in the country on about an acre of land that bordered a patch of pine woods on one side. In the front yeard, we had 3 big trees; I think they were oak, but my kid-mind didn't store details like that. I used to LOVE fall. We had leaves everywhere. I remember spending whole days out playing in the leaves, making piles and jumping in-swinging into-burying each other under them. I would also go down to the old lady down the street's yard and play in her leaves so my brothers and sister wouldn't mess up my creations. You see, I would use the leaves to design a house (walls, furniture, the works) and then play in them.

I have no idea what the ultimate destination of my childhood leaf piles was... here in town, we just get them out into the street and they come down the street with a bobcat and a big vacu-sucker machine.

But... I was feeling notstalgic....So, while my neighbors all have their leaves neatly in the street or just mysteriously vanished, I raked mine into a BIG pile in the middle of the yard. An afterschool surprise for my boys.

~~I hope they enjoy it 'cuz my arms and shoulders are killing me!~~

Moms... This One's For You!!

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make Mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair.. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1.. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean.. I'd get rid of that.
2. I 'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

No Point At All...

There is no point at all to this video except that I think it's way funny!



Enjoy!

PS... Happy Birthday Grandma!

Evolution of a Clown Cake

First, you need an idea.

I came up with this crude little sketch at work, about 4 am. This clown cake was to be chocoalte. I recommend Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge. (If anyone has a nice dense chocolate cake recipe, I would love to have it! Until then, Duncan Hines has the best cake mixes on the market.)




Now it's time to select pans and bake. Since I make wedding cakes, I have "petal pans." I chose the 15" petal pan for the face...

a 1/2 sheet for the hat...
and a 6" petal for decoration on the hat. I had some left-over batter, so I made 2 - 6" squares.

This is kind of hard to see, but I traced the pans and made cutting templates. I trimmed the top of the large petal flat, so the hat would butt up against it. Then I scooped out two of the bottom scallops to make a chin. The 1/2 sheet was cut into a hobo-type hat. I actually made the hat taller and used the small squares for the bowtie. The small round cut-out was for the nose and the other for the center of the bowtie.

I cut everything out and froze the shapes overnight to make them easier to handle.

Then, made up a heap of icing and

TaDa!!!

I bought an icing tip and an 18" decorating bag before my last wedding cake and it is an awesome time-saving combination. Also, true RED (and black) icing takes an insane amount of gel food coloring.

I used a new icing recipe this time and I really like it. It is easy to make and use and it tastes better than most "white" icings. It makes up a bunch, but stores for 3 months in the refrigerator (or so the recipe says). It comes from The Taste of Home Baking Book.

Bakery Frosting

2 cups shortening

1/2 cup nondairy creamer (like powdered CoffeeMate)

1 tsp clear vanilla or almond extract

1 package (32 ounces) powdered sugar

1/2 to 3/4 c water

Beat shortening, creamer, and extract. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Add enough water for desired consistency. (Less water for piping/decorating; more water to spread easily) Store in refrigerator for up to 3 months. Bring to room temp. before spreading.

Another Jewel from Will... a.k.a. "DMV Style Healthcare"

I fought Facebook for quite a while, but I signed up earlier this year after succombing to peer pressure. Reconnecting with a couple good, good friends - that I had completely lost track of with really no hope of relocating - has been an unexpected blessing. One such friend is Will. He and I were two peas in a pod our freshman year of college at Idaho State. He didn't return the next year and I left midway through sophmore year.... I tried a few times through the years to find him, but he seemed to vanish like a fart in the wind. God has taken us both on amazing journeys that have led places that neither of us would have imagined way-back-at-19-when-we-knew-everything.

Anyway, this amazing friend of mine somehow finds the coolest video tidbits. I am very anti-"government-run healthcare." Here's a funny little spoof... "DMV Style Healthcare"



Too Funny! But So True!

The New Schedule

So... I really like my job. The hours take some getting used to, but I am doing pretty well with that so far. (I seem to sleep really well every other day.) One of the residents today told me I was "a good girl." I take that as very high praise from her. I've also decided that getting Parkinson's disease now ranks high in the list of things I fear the most.

My "Cake Lady" hat is back on too. I was asked to make a clown cake for a women's retreat this weekend. I got the basic design sketched last night at work and spent some time looking at pictures of clown faces. I'll post a picture of the finished product next week. Unless of course it totally flops, then there will be no photographic evidence.

Good News, but.... Scary?

So, I am excited to announce that I have a job.



I had interviewed 2 different places; this is not the one I planned to take. I don't know why God wants me here, but I am sure that this is where I need to be right now. I was waiting for over an hour before my interview (the Director of Housing was dealing with "a situation"). The Director of Nursing, who did the initial interview, finally came by and got things going.



She started out by saying, "We'd like to hire you." I felt such peace, such confirmation that it was the right thing. She didn't mention that she wanted me for night shift until later. By then it was too late for me to back out; I already had my answer. I try not to argue with God too much; even if I win... well it's usually much more difficult than if I had just listened in the first place, so here we are.

This is a very good thing for our family financially right now. I am entering the health care field which I am excited about (at the bottom of the food chain, of course, but that's OK). It's close to home. It pays well. It's got good benefits and a 401K. I don't have to wear scrubs. The facility is beautiful. The management team seems really great; the head of the facility is actually a good friend of a good friend, which is reassuring. All this is good, but I am still majorly stressed and aprehensive.

What makes me really nervous is that I am going to be working the NOC shift... which means, I put my kids to bed, snuggle with my sweetie a bit, then head off to work, and work 11 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. Then I come home, kiss my kiddos good-bye before school, maybe drive the older ones to school, and then come home, have breakfast, and try to go to sleep til they get home and wake me up.



Now, I know that lots and lots of people work third shift. It's not that I think I'm too good for that or anything; in fact, I offered to work nights. I'm absolutely petrified of failure, and I'm worried that I won't be able to handle this. I LOVE SLEEP! I'm not sure 6 or 7 hours is going to cut it. And what about the weekends? What if I fall asleep in the middle of the shift? (There's a workout room in the lower level and I may go get my blood pumping before my shift and on my lunch break to help me stay awake.)



I have also not been married long enough that I don't care whether or not I sleep with my husband. And frankly, I don't plan to ever become that way. I love snuggling with my hubby. I love that we still sleep tangled and roll over to find each other even in sleep, even if it's just with fingers or toes. I'm going to miss that 5 nights a week.



I'm not sure when I start at this point, but it will be soon, probably within the next week. I know God has a purpose in this new adventure far from my comfort zone. Wish He would clue me in on what it was...

My Sweetie

Now, I acknowledge that he's quite a bit older than I am... a self-described dinosaur-type, grumpy old curmudgeon at times...

But look at that grin!

I think he's just so cute... gray hair and all.

This is My Sweetie, Tom, with Ben and our friend Drew at an antique car show that Tom's Model T club puts on every year. The club has a guy that brings his antique, steam-powered tractor and steams sweet corn. It is awesomely good corn!
I had to miss it this year due to a scheduling conflict...
and I really missed it!

(Notice that Drew has a gun. His main love in life is anything army related; guns definitely qualify... Gotta love boys!)

Tom with one of his best buds for the last 40+ years, Steve.

Just a couple of good ol' boys, sittin' in the sun enjoyin some fresh sweet corn. Life is good!

(Drew belongs to Steve.... I thought DREW was totally over-the-top into army stuff, until I met Steve's older brother... holy pajamas!)


Tom's contribution to the car show... his 1924 Model T...

it's old, but cute too!

Innocence Lost, Part II and a bit of "Mom"ism

The boy involved in this incident confessed to police last night. Not only did he confess to the incident with one girl, but also "numerous other girls." He is now facing multiple felony counts of sexual assault to a child. He will be 18 very soon; what a way to start your adulthood.

How do our young people become SO LOST that they lose all sense of right and wrong?

I am pretty right-wing conservative. I take some flack for that in the contemporary world, but I make no apologies for it.

I absolutely do not support homosexuality as a birthright, but consider it absolutely A CHOICE. This boy's mother made the choice to become involved with a live-in same-sex partner after being divorced from his father. What kind of example does that set for an adolescent boy... anything goes? How can we possibly expect children to grow up with any sense of appropriate sexual behavior when adults in their lives model deviancy?

I would also guarantee that this boy was exposed to/familiar with pornography. You don't go from A to Z without steps in between... or a "slippery slope," to coin my husbands favorite phrase in regards to all those little gray areas: r-rated movies, TV shows with raunchy humor, magazine covers that idolize that party-girl image... even Disney cartoons are full of inuendo and exceptionally skinny women in skimpy costumes.

I think that as the mother of a teenage boy, I am more conscious of these things than I have ever been. He thinks he needs a girlfriend to fit in. I guess he's a lot like me at that age... which scares me, because I was really messed up, and nobody realized it.

By the way, to all you not-yet moms or young moms...

the 2 curses of your mother's really do work...

1) I hope you have a child just like you...

It works because you find little bits or big bits of yourself in all your kids

&

2) As a kid you say, "I'm never going to do blah-blah-blah like my mom....

but you find her words coming out of your mouth...

and then you slap your hand over your mouth in astonishment and think

I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT!!!

Innocence Lost

I am so sad, and so angry this morning. I am also exceptionally proud.

We found out this weekend a 13-year-old girl that I know is a victim of a statutory rape and sexual harrassment. Her step-bother inadvertantly discovered the harrassment, and then the rest came out.

I am so,so sad for her... because society told her that her worth was gauged by her ability to be "sexy" ... and she's just a little girl. She has been acting strangely since this happened, very emotional and snippy with people. Now we understand; she is so lost and confused and hurting... and so ashamed.

She. Didn't. Tell. Anyone.

I am angry with her mom, whose views are that of a catty 15-year-old cheerleader... that her daughter got what she wanted, she should just buck-up, get on some birth control, and move on. So what that kids now call her a slut and a whore. Deal with it. Oh, and what's wrong with her sister's boyfriend sneaking in and spending the night; she's 16, and they only got down to their underwear... no big deal.

I am so proud of her dad and her step-mom, who are dealing with this situation with love and compassion to their daughter, and yet still taking the legal steps to protect her. Prosecuting the boy, getting the girl and her sister out of a situation where their mother is not acting in her daughters' best interests. I am proud that they have used the struggles they have faced to do what is right for their daughter. They have a long road ahead of them, but I applaud them every step of the way.

And I pray for them. I pray especially for this girl. That she will realized that she is so loved, by her parents and by God.

I Guess I'm One of The Stupid Parents...

My friend Will had this posted on his facebook page. I guess I'm one of those parents this guy is talking about, who is not smart enough to effectively raise my children for the left-wingers...




Then again... our current administration really doesn't think that having children is all that important; they are trying really hard to sneak in public funding of abortions as health care "reform," according to this article.

And last, but not least, at least someone knows how to make a little light of this situation....

It's Hard For Congressmen to Apologize

because you know that politicians rarely apologize for anything...

As my wise friend Will also said, It's good to know that God is in control, because there seems to be no room for him in the US anymore.

Blogging Slackeritis

I have some guilt over my summer case of Blogging Slackeritis. I have friends and family who have moved and had babies and other ambitious stuff and still managed to keep their blogs somewhat updated. And while I read everyone else's lives on a regular basis, I just haven't managed to update mine. But with my children back in school, and the fact that I am not working a paying job yet, I really have no excuse.

So... a few updates for those of you who actually read this... I am absolutely horrible about remembering to take pictures, but I did find a few.

Summer is church camp season around our house, and this year was no exception.

This was our Vacation Bible School group in the end of June. The front scene was supposed to be an oasis with palm trees (put it together for $4...pretty proud of that). It was a fun week with the kids, and all the adults that helped were really great to work with. Ben is upfront in the yellow (his t-ball shirt); Alex is on the middle-right in the stripes; and Jake is in the middle-back in the light-colored tie-dye.


A couple weeks later was Camp Tenderfoot, which is a 4-day camp for kids ages 8-11. The couple I'm standing with brought this insane 3-D puzzle which we worked on during our down time. Since they did the programming and I did the cooking, I had more down time. I seem to have inhereited my mother's addiction to jigsaw puzzles, becasue I was determined to have it done before the end of the camp. I think we got it done the last night, about 11:30.


And now for the boys...



No, this is not a mugshot, this is the first baby I birthed. It's often hard for me to believe that he is starting to look like such a man. Rob's stats... 6'2" tall, about 190 lbs, size 15 (or 13 EE) shoes. He started out as this... well, this was about 4 months old... isn't he cute!!


Jake is a budding teenager, and I'm sure within a year or so I will be lamenting him growing up (literally). Our friend had a costume party in June right after school got out. Since the boys had their mohawks, we let them be punk rockers.


Jake added our spare dog collar and a chain leash (from when Zeke was a pup and used to chew on the cloth ones). Someone at the party dubbed his costume "Freak On A Leash" whick Jake thought was very cool.

Ben's was different colored on each side. He did wear a shirt.

Alex's photo op actually came on the first day of school. He got home to find this huge toad outside in our carport.
He enjoyed holding it for awhile until he realized it had pee'd all over his hand... and I really mean ALL over (who knew toads had bladders that big?) which I totally laughed at. Is frog pee still considered wart-inducing? Hee Hee

And, of course, because I'm a sap for my puppy... I had to include one of my puppy.


The Babe is my friend's Lovey who incidentally shares Zeke's birthday. Lovey is 1; Zeke is 3. So the Babe and his big sis Flower were hanging out at my house one day. Zeke found a toy of the Babe's that he thought was really fun. The Babe thought Zeke was really fun and he kept following the pup around the living room. Zeke finally retreated to the top of the couch where the Babe could just holler at him, but couldn't reach him to smack him in the face and pull on his ears. It was pretty funny.

I am immensely grateful to Grandma Sandy for the few days respite when she took the kids on a sight-seeing trip to St. Louis and stuff. She came home very ready to give them back; she doesn't miss long car trips with kids (and the constant squabbling that goes on in the back seat).

Ummm... Excuse me?!... What did you just say?

My dear friend H. has often used her blog as a political forum; I have generally tried to steer clear of this. H. often found tidbits of information about our current Mr. President that the media tried really hard to hide/ignore/underplay during the election, like the fact that Obama is vehemently (not moderately) Pro-Abortion. In a speech to a Planned Parenthood gathering in Illinois, Mr. Obama said that if one of his daughters got in trouble/made a mistake... he wouldn't "punish them with a baby."

So pardon my gagging/dry-heaves/eye-rolling-disgust when I see in my Father's Day Sunday newspaper a big picture of him with his daughters on the front page of the "Parade" magazine in it... with the big caption

'If I Could Be Anything, I'd Be A Good Father' by President Barack Obama

Ummm... What!? Why is it when you want a child it is a gift or a blessing but otherwise a punishment? And how does promoting the death and destruction of unborn babies make you the poster child for fatherhood?

Gotta Love Google

Now and then I get nostalgic... I know, no one is shocked by that... but lately I have been thinking about my friend Kim from years back. We were really close and then life just got crazy for both of us. I was going through a divorce, working full time, and then I had baby #4. She also had a baby... I think #5... her husband got his Ph.D, and then they moved. That was about 7 years ago I think..... then *POOF* she was gone.

So anyway... I was thinking about her... tried to find her on Facebook without success... so I Googled her husband, Mr. Ph.D., because he wanted to teach college and usually college professors have to do research and publish stuff, so I thought I would be able to find him.

On about page 3 of the Google listings, I clicked on one that looked promising and there was his big toothy grin from the faculty page of a university in their home state where he has taught for 6 of the last 7 years. With am email address. So I sent him this "I'm an old friend of your wife's" type email .... and we'll see.... Sometimes I wonder why I am such a sap... but you gotta love Google!

Multitasking 101

For the record, books on CD from the library are an awesomely good thing. I love to read, but I often find myself so enthralled by a good novel that I neglect everything else in my house... little things like laundry and dishes, and big things like my kids and fixing meals. Now... I MULTITASK! I "read" my books on CD while I fold laundry and do dishes and bake birthday cakes (yes, the Cake-Lady strikes again). And the CDs are broken up into 3-minute tracks, so it's pretty easy to find my place again if the boys need something. Reading indulgence without the guilt! Ahhhh!! How cool is that!!

Sticker Shock

I ran to the store for a few items the other day. While I was there I had the realization that school was getting out and I have to feed my kids lunch everyday from here on out. $300 later....Goodbye grocery budget.

My heart goes out to my homeschooling friends who do that year-round.... I really like the fact that mine eat lunch at school and it's one less meal to cook and one less set of dishes to do. How spoiled I am!

Wedding Cake

Decorating cakes is a little hobby I have. Recently it came in very handy. One of the boys needed a little reading tutoring; one of our friends from church is an awesome tutor. Her daughter was getting married. We swapped a semester of tutoring for a wedding cake. We improved our reading comprehension by 2 1/2 grade levels in a semester and they got just the cake the bride wanted. Her cake was my 5th wedding cake; it was set up on the covered back of a grand piano.

Blogging angst....

I think the previous post took me an hour and 3 years off the end of my life. Just a few rants... I mean questions...

Why is it that the formatting/spacing looks one way when you are putting the post together and completely different when it actually posts so you have to change it 3 times to get the spacing and stuff to not look like blindfolded monkeys actually did it?

And why is it that when you upload a picture... it always puts the picture at the top and puts like 5 extra lines at random places all over the post... so that everytime you put in a picture you have to move it... and double check and redo all the spacing in the whole post or it would be 20 pages long??

Anyone have any tips?

A Fun Tradition & Updates

A Fun Tradition...

Because I have all boys, I save a lot of money on haircuts with some very basic "buzzing" skills and a decent set of clippers. They all get buzzed every summer and sometimes in between. Something that has become a tradition is the "Last-Day-Of-School Mohawk." Today, being the last day of school, 3 of them got designer mohawks.

As my cute boys....

And as "My Homeboys"

Rob, at 14, is aparently too old for this nonsense. Translates to: Some girl told him he should let his hair get a little longer cuz it would be cuter... UGH! Oh, and Jake doesn't really have his ear pierced. It's magnetic; a flashing duck mascot from the baseball game they went to last night.






Update #1: Treehouse



View from the outside, the floor is 9' off the ground. They climb up to the top of that ladder and heft themselves up inside. We have become one of the most popular places in the neighborhood for boys... and we have alotta boys around here.

Views from the inside,

complete with carpet and quite a nice roof.
and ... Yes, Alex & Jake have already slept out in it.



Update #2: "Happy Wife, Happy Life"

And Round #1 of the Paint Wars goes to Cassie, because (as my wise husband says) "Happy Wife, Happy Life." So my living room is becoming blue. That is Blue... not another shade of not-quite-white that maybe kinda looks a little blue-ish in the right light... but blue... that looks BLUE! It took a year of patience, non-nagging patience by-the-way... but I got my way.


Maybe patience really is a virtue...
hmmm... who knew!?

It's Official!

Final grades are in and I officially graduated with a 4.0 GPA. WooHoo!!!!

(Thanks, Mr. Biochem-Professor-Man for grading on a curve!)

Helloooooo Summer... Vacation?

Ahhhhhh!!

School is officially over for me for the summer, and possibly for a year. I have decided to wait on School A. I am on a waiting list for an Associate Degree Nursing program and it looks like I will be waiting until fall 2010. I am often amazed at the ease of the decision-making process when you stop worrying and just listen to what God tells you. Mine was a gentle reminder of my priorities.

I was lying in bed one morning, savoring the quiet before the daily storm, when I remembered why I do well in school. I do well because I keep my priorities in line with what God wants for me. Or I try to anyway. My family committments and my jobs from Him come first, and I do what I can with school (God blesses me with good recall for tests). I know many people who spend more time studying than I do, without the same grades to show. I know I do not do it by myself. Why would I want to mess up such a good system to be in a hurry?

So, I have the summer off. HA HA HA

Before the boys get out of school, I am cleaning my house thoroughly, moving kids bedroom arrangements around, making a wedding cake, starting VBS planning, and cleaning some more. After they get out, the boys have 6 weeks of M-F morning activities like tennis, T-ball, and swimming lessons. I'm hoping to get some painting done in my house (still). and Bigfoot is hoping to get a summer job now that he is 14.

The "camp" season starts in the midst of this with VBS at the end of June, then a youth retreat and kids camp in the middle of July, all of which I coordinate. Family Camp is in the beginning of August. I teach a kids class for the week, make desserts for dinner (for 50-60 people) every night, and am responsible for planning (aka delegating) some of the afternoon and evening activities.

Sometime in there I need to test for my CNA certification so I can get a job after Family Camp and work through the school year I am waiting through.

I am going to try to find some time to read a couple Jodi Picoult novels and sit by the pool a little, but I ask you, my fellow moms.... is summer really a vacation?

oh and

PS... I did graduate, but my final grades are not in yet. I'm really hoping my biochemistry teacher grades on a curve.

Now off to clean!!!!

School...

Please pardon me as I am entering that wonderful season called "Finals!" The time loved and hated by college students everywhere. Loved because it means you are almost done! And hated because... well that one is kind of self-explanatory I think. So please excuse my sad lack of posts for the next couple weeks while I study and try not to fall off my academic pedestal.

The good news is that I get to graduate! OK... so it's only an Associates of Arts & Sciences and really means absolutely nothing in terms of money-making potential, and I still have 2 more years of school to get my nursing degree......
BUT! ... it means I finished something!!!! Yeah!

On that note...

I have recently started that application process for a different nursing program than the one I originally planned. The "Plan A" school has me wait-listed and it doesn't look like I'm going to get in this fall as I had anticipated.

So, enter "Plan B." I was kind of wishy-washy about Plan B, but it became very clear to me that I needed to do the leg-work and let God work everything else, so here I go on the merry-go-round of application & waiting... again. Plan B school has different deadlines and it may be possible that I get in to and start a nursing program this summer ... like 2 months from now. Unfortunately, I won't know if I get in or what my schedule will be until the latter part of June and the program starts in July. I hate being in limbo.

But... God has a sense of humor. He knows I hate being in limbo, so he seems to put a lot of it in my life. I think I am supposed to be learning patience or something. Apparently, I am not doing a very good job.

In the mean time, I am trying to plan summer activities for my kids, church kid and youth camps, etc. not even knowing what my own schedule is going to be.... UGH!

Deep Cleansing Breath...

In-Through-The-Nose.... Out-Through-The-Mouth....AHHHH....

But God knows... and He will work it out...

(He better cuz I sure can't!)

Sometimes it's just cool to be a mom

So... my little Bubba came in the house tonight and said, "Mom, can I tell you the truth about something?"

I am bracing myself for the "Don't be mad, but I broke blah-blah-blah on accident" line when he says...

"It's just cool to be a boy, Mom." And goes back out to the treehouse with the 4 or 5 other boys who were climbin up and down the ladder and shootin' each other with Nerf guns.

I love boys!

My Love, My Boys, and a Treehouse

When I met my husband he was 48. He had no children and hadn't really planned to have any. But we fell in love and he knew that I was a package deal. None of my boys have any contact with their biological counterparts. It's "inconvenient" for my ex to have a relationship with his sons. Bubba was an unexpected blessing; unfortunately his other half has never really viewed him that way. So essentially, none of them had fathers, just chromosome donors. (I do get some financial support from my ex for the boys, but he would even like to stop that if he could.)

When My Love and I married, he had just turned 50; I was 32. He is such a gift from God to me and my children. Anyone who knows him, knows that he doesn't do things halfway. He has approached his fatherhood in the same fashion he does everything else. All or nothing.

Whether he planned to be a Dad or not, he's very good at it.

Last week was spring break for the boys. I still had classes MWF, so My Love spent most of the week with the boys working on a project. Did I mention My Love is a carpenter?

We have 3 pine trees in our little backyard, set in the back corner in a triangle. He "helped" the boys build an awesome treehouse. Well, a 3-tree-house actually. The first step was a platform.

Next came the walls. They built them on the ground and hefted them up.
Once up, the side walls were nailed in place.
The end walls were built up on the platform.

The door is a trapdoor in the floor.

The windows are similar, cut out of the walls and hinged down.

And then everybody helped paint.

We've even had our first official treehouse injury when Monkey Boy didn't realize that The Thinker hadn't closed the door after he left and he stepped in it and almost fell out of the treehouse and 8' to the ground.

He caught himself and was fine after a couple days of sore ribs and a lesson in "Watch Where You Walk" and "Respect for the Treehouse." It has antibiotic goop on it, so it looks worse than it is. He was pretty bruised though. And very, very lucky.

I realized that I don't have a picture of the finished product, with the roof and everything. I'll have to add that later. The permanent ladder still needs to be installed.... but it's pretty cool!

And God Is So Good, He's So Good To Me!